-A Static Feeling-

Coalback paced restlessly, it had been hours since the storm had passed, even fewer since they had returned to the town, and he was in a cage.

“I motherfucking hate cages.” He muttered darkly, swinging a hoof against the bars of the cell and creating a dull tone.

“Save your strength, Coalback.” Rainbow’s voice called, however her tired voice only managed to enrage him further. “It was hard enough convincing the ponies that Celestia should decide our fates, it will be impossible to stop them if you freak now.” She yawned, her own head poking out from the bars of her cell across from his.

Coalback growled, the sound not entirely his own. He continued pacing, literally stomping a groove into the floor. “It’s just the fact that these ... these ponies can see the threat bearing down on them, and that they choose to ignore it!” He ranted, lifting his back hooves and cracking them against a stone wall. He winced pulling back and stretching the muscles in his hip.

“You’re still not healed? Even after all the magic that was used on you?” Rainbow asked, her voice betraying her own annoyance.

Coalback looked at the stream of orange light dancing across the floor between their cells before answering. “It’s fine. I just need to take it easy on hitting things for awhile.” He snorted, closing his eyes in frustration. “I just need to think, maybe if I-”

“Don’t even think about using the crystal again!” Rainbow said quickly, cutting him off in the middle of his thoughts. “You said that you nearly had a blackout last time. And I’m still pretty mad that it wasn’t exactly, you who was there with me either.” She huffed, crossing her hooves and looking back at him crossly.

“I was still there, Rainbow.” Coalback insisted, stopping his pacing to press his side against the bars. “And I’m just as pissed as you that it overstepped its bounds like that, but what’s done is done. And I don’t think that I can convince these ponies without it.” He started, his words degrading to helplessness as he spoke.

“It doesn’t matter!” Rainbow insisted, standing up from her prone position and glaring daggers at him. “If that thing is as old and as powerful as you say it is, then why let it put you through this kind of stuff?” She pointed, referring to the slightly exposed crystal hanging from his neck.

“I told you, it’s part of the contract!” He defended, drawing a frustrated groan from Rainbow Dash as she began her own pacing. “There are rules, regulations, limitations. Ones that even the most mischievous demon’s respect. And it is no exception, and neither am I.” Coalback continued, his voice starting to slip into that lecturing tone. “I am bound by the exact words of our contract, and so is it. Unfortunately, the topic of total possesion never came up. And yes, I do realize how stupid that is.” He finished quickly, stopping Rainbow from putting in the comment he knew was coming.

She stomped a hoof in anger and frustration, backing up to place a strong buck against the bars of her own cell. She made just as little progress as Coalback had, and only succeeded in falling flat on her face as her knees gave out under her.

She groaned again, lifting her head to glare at him. “Tell me again, why it is that you agreed to let that thing fuck with your head.” She growled, snorting in frustration as she stood again.

“I was exhausted, starved, dehydrated, sick, half frozen, and on the edge of madness. Admittedly it was a very appealing offer at the time, as unwise as it was. But it did help me, Dash.” He said, his tone going soft as he put a hoof up to the bar. She paused, he never just called her ‘Dash’. “While its methods and theories were strange, they were most definitely effective. The Wolf uses its connection to the shadow of the mind to open our perception fully, and the Guardian helped me sort things out. It started introducing myself slowly to my own subconsciousness, where the Wolf had simply opened a floodgate.” He sighed, looking down at the crystal, and the ‘Guardian’ housed within. He had explained once how the Guardian had greeted him, but never gone into full detail.

“Then tell me the whole story, of how you found it.” She said, laying back down in defeat. She couldn’t bear to stand anymore, her own exhaustion finally winning out, and it took a lot to drop the Rainbow Dash like that.

“Okay, but it’s going to sound really strange. You don’t yet have the context to make sense of some of it.” Coalback sighed, settling down himself. He had no more patience for the rage in his heart, and simply pushed it to the side where it could bubble over later. “I had fled very far North, past the place where the ground froze and never thawed. I had been running for months, covering the distance stretched by continents, and found myself in a small village, just below the line that separated land,” He paused for a brief moment, slipping into a dramatic storytelling tone naturally. “from ice.

“It was a tiny place, I doubted it even had more than a single sheriff, if that’s what they called them there. Constable, maybe.” Coalback shrugged. “I decided to risk getting a warm meal, prey was scarce here this time of year. I was swaddled in random skins and clothes taken from victims of my growing madness.”

“Victims?” Rainbow asked, her eyes staring wide at him. “Does that mean that you- you know?” She continued, shrinking as she noticed his visible cringe.

“Yes.” Coalback choked out. “I was not myself, the rage and hunger would take me over, even if I never changed.” He shivered. “I ended up with some money from them as well, and their clothes kept me warm. I hated killing them at first, I hated myself for a long time. Once I tried to kill myself by standing in front of a freight train.” Coalback sighed. “At that point I had just become numb to the deaths of the ones around me. No longer blaming myself, but instead the monster that had taken roost in my skull.

“I heard about the Northern Lights from that village. A traveler from the North, one whose ancestors had lived there for thousands of years, had somehow made his way to that side of the hemisphere. I ended up taking his advice and hopped a train heading to a country that’s Northern shore actually connected with the ice, Russia.” He turned to her, a sad look in his eyes.

“Wait, what were you fleeing from?” Rainbow asked, remembering the words in his pause.

 His face went blank, some distant memory coming back to light for him. He turned away so that she couldn’t see his face anymore, but she could hear the shaking in his words. “There are some things that I don’t think I can ever talk about, Rainbow. Please, don’t ask me to tell you about those days.” He took a shaky breath.

Rainbow stopped herself from saying anything, unsure if she would be able to console him, or only upset him with the effort. She had only seen him cry when he had nearly been on the verge of a breakdown, if just the mention of his travels was enough to do that, then it must have truly been a harrowing experience for him.

“I ate there, filling my belly with meat before I ran as far and as fast North as I could. The ice around me stretched forever, and I ended up so far north that I could not see the sun anymore. It was the time of the noonday moon, fitting really.”

Coalback stood up, grabbing a small jagged white rock in his hoof and moving to the smooth back wall of his cell. He pressed it against the stone and slid it across in a large arc, the white stone creating a line like chalk on a board. He continued to draw as he spoke. “I ran for a long time, the ice and snow slowing me. I used the stars to guide myself farther and farther North, but eventually the sky had become so foreign that I was sure that I simply ran in circles for days.

“I eventually stopped on an ice shore, the cold sea becoming my final barrier.” He finished the drawing taking a step back from it and staring up at it.

He had captured the image in such efficient movement that she had barely registered its creation before it was done. How he had captured such a subtle change in grays and whites with nothing more than a rock was like a magic all its own. It was as if Coalback had simply opened a window to another world on the rear of his cell.

“I didn’t know you could draw.” Rainbow said, her mouth moving on its own as she stared at it.

Coalback turned to her, returning the deformed stone to the floor. “I laid myself there, ready to die in the cold, and be happy for it. I would die, and the world would be free of another monster. But I never saw the lights, and I never got my answers. I closed my eyes, sure that it would be the last time.

“But, I woke up to a voice.” Coalback said, his words shrinking to a whisper as he sat back down against the bars of his cell. “It said, ‘My name is Deo Interficientis, but when I walked among the living they called me, Knight.’ I had no Idea what to make of this, my eyes were closed, but I could still see his. They were a brown color, red streaks running up and down through it. They were soft eyes, gentle and comforting to me after so many disgusted glares. I responded almost unconsciously, some instinct telling me that I had to insert my dominance.

“‘You are omega.’ I said to him, inserting the strongest growl I was capable of making. Which wasn’t all that impressive, looking back on it. Some part of my head had labeled this voice as an exile of a pack, which was ridiculous since I had only just met them.

“Omegas are the lowest rank of the pack.” Coalback explained. “They are the ones that watch the pups, former exiles, sick or old ones. I don’t know why I did, it was ridiculous to assume that.

“But, Knight seemed satisfied, even entertained by my stubborness. He said, ‘Very well. I am your omega. And you, are a guilt tortured shell.’ he was almost sad when he said that, I could see it in the eyes that weren’t actually there. I ended up opening my nearly frozen eyelids, trying to spot the one talking to me.

“However, no being of flesh was before me. But in the snow piled around my face, in plain view over my icy nose was a gem.” Coalback reached up and tapped the object around his neck. “I was captivated by it for the longest time, listening to it talk to me. It explained so much, and still had barely even made a scrape on the vast amounts of knowledge that it held within.

“It eventually offered to assist me. It knew that I sought to recompense for my crimes, and continued to tell me that it wanted just the same thing. But in its current situation it could do little, it told me that it had taken nearly all its strength to come to me as it was. It told me that it knew how to help me, and where we could go to be redeemed of our innocence.

“I thought that this was ridiculous, of course.” Coalback sighed, looking back at his drawing as he continued. “But it insisted that there was an upcoming calamity, and that I might be the only one who could help him prevent it. I dismissed it again, ready to return to my slow death. But it continued, saying that my mixed blood was the only thing that could possibly match it, if not overcome it.

“At first I was confused as to its meaning, but it explained. Any of the magi that he could have chosen, were too weak of the body for his purpose. But mine was strong even after months of hardships. However, any other of my kind, the only ones who could have had the strength of flesh to be useful, were weak of mind and devoid of magical affinity. But because of the circumstances of my upbringing, I was the perfect vessel.” Coalback squirmed in his spot, stopping as he tried to adjust to a more comfortable position and to stretch his back at the same time.

“So it does have a name.” Rainbow mused, staring down at it again with an inspection filled glare. Coalback eventually settled into a more comfortable position again, and turned to look at her.

“Yes, but be careful to say it.” Coalback shook his head. “It was dangerous for me even to mention it to you, even if you never remember it again. Names have extreme power, the older something is, the more they are attached to it. Just saying the name of a spirit thrice is enough to summon it, and they are not always happy about it.” He looked at her, a reprimanding stare in his eyes. “Be very careful with that knowledge.” He warned, watching carefully as Rainbow swallowed loudly.

Rainbow was unsure of what to think. What Coalback was describing was so similar to an old mare’s tale that she had heard as a filly that it was disturbing. About Bloody Maree, and how saying her name three times in a dark bathroom would make her appear in the mirror. It was even scarier knowing that she had actually done it on a dare in flight school.

Coalback continued, obviously satisfied that Rainbow realized the gravity of the knowledge he had given her. “Its words eventually struck a chord in me. I was weak, he could empower me. I was confused and lost, he could to show me the way. I needed his help, and suddenly I was more than happy to take it.

“He spoke an oath, ordering to follow its words in exact. It said that it would help me to control myself, it would grant me the power I would need to continue and to prevent harm to others. And in return I would allow it a new vessel, and the warmth of a body once more. And to help him prevent the past from becoming the present again.

“I never realized that when I touched it that it would burn its power into me like a branding iron. That was the first time it took total control, I wasn’t fully unaware of what it did however. It was my body after all. It wanted to repay me for my cooperation. It took me back to a city, clothed me, and fed me properly. It then proceeded to find as many beautiful females as it could fit in a bed with me.” He chuckled at Rainbow’s sudden jump from her prone position.

“What happened?” She asked, confusion and surprise filling her as she tried to process what he just said. “You don’t mean that you- it- ...” She couldn’t even bring herself to say it, Coalback had never acted like he would be the pony to do that sort of thing.

“Yes, it seduced and then proceeded to couple with as many beautiful Russian females as it could find. It somehow explained to me that I had been holding back too much, telling me that it had actually done me a favor. And honestly, I was much more relaxed afterwards. Although I never did that again, mind you.” He said, noting the almost appalled look on Rainbow’s face.

“Jeez, Coalback. I just never thought that you had ever really done anything like that. I mean, I know that things work differently where you come from, but I wouldn’t think that you would do a one night herd.” She said, looking at him with a new light.

“I assume that is like a one night stand? Except with a group?” He said, switching instantly to his curious innocence that was hidden under a playful smirk. She had to wonder if he was acting at this point for her benefit.

Rainbow crossed her arms and gave him a reproving glance. “Yeah,” She mumbled, annoyance glaring in her words as she finally dropped the subject. “Where is that guard!? I want to talk to my lawyer!” She yelled out, getting up and banging on the bars loudly.

“And here I was trying to save my strength.” Coalback muttered under his breath as Rainbow continued to make as much noise as she could. She was rewarded for her efforts shortly, the door at the end of the hall opening with a loud groan.

An earth mare walked in, her form hidden under a police officer’s uniform. And following close behind her was a familiar lavender unicorn.

“YOU!” Rainbow exclaimed suddenly, jumping at the bars and attempting to strike at her former friend. However, Coalback’s reaction was much more relieved.

“Twilight, thank goodness.” He said, standing as Twilight fled away from Rainbow’s cell. “I take it that you found my note?” He said, drawing Rainbow to pause.

“Coalback?!” She exclaimed, a sudden sense of betrayal sprinting through her at the sight of her stallion openly greeting the traitorous unicorn. “What are you doing? She was the one helping those stupid stallions!” Rainbow yelled, pointing an accusing hoof at the cringing unicorn.

“I know, I told her to.” Coalback said calmly, looking at her with a reprimanding glare. “She has been our inside hoof, she has actually been distracting them more than anything.” He said, giving an approving nod at Twilight as she slowly relaxed again.

“Wh-whuh?” Was all Rainbow could say.

“False leads, inaccurate potions and mixtures, unnecessary tasks, and falsely labeled meanings. Just a bit of misleading and stretching the truth, really.” Twilight said, levitating a ratty notebook out from her saddlebags. “It was exactly where you said it would be, I was able to get in and save most of your things before the stallions got to it.” She levitated the notebook over to Coalback, but he waved it off.

“You hold it for now, did you bring me some clothes?” He asked, watching her carefully pull out the folded underclothes of his armor.

“They wouldn’t let me bring you the knives, but I have the saddlebags. They’re empty though.” She continued, pulling out the empty bags and floating them to him alongside the clothes. Coalback took them gratefully and started to put them on, not pausing when Rainbow Dash finally found her voice again.

“What in the hay is goin’ on?” She exclaimed, jumping up and hovering in the limited space of her cell. She looked at Coalback who merely looked over at Twilight as he continued to struggle with the clothes himself.

“You tell her, she’ll need to hear your side.” He said quietly, going back to the clothes as he struggled with the fasteners on it.

Twilight turned away from him, however she did remain next to his cell and didn’t move toward Rainbow. “Shortly after things calmed down, Coalback sent me a note. It just appeared one afternoon on a parchment I had planned on using to contact Celestia about the whole thing.

“He had left instructions, a rather long list of them. First he asked that I retreive several thing from your house, I was able to teleport up there and use the cloud walking spell to get it before the stallions got to it.” She said, a little bit of a guilty shift in her eyes.

“I thought that they took all those things!” Rainbow said, pressing against the bars.

“Well, they did get a lot of the stuff. I had to run away before they broke down the door, but I got all your important things, Dash.” Twilight said, adding a subtle edge to the mention of her personal belongings, giving her a moment of pause. “You can get them before the evacuation starts. Unfortunately the police want you two to remain under their watch during the hike.”

“Hike?” Coalback asked suddenly, his head threaded through the neck of the shirt while the rest hung around his shoulders. “What about the train? It wasn’t knocked over during the storm was it?” He asked, a pinch of panic slipping into his words.

“I know you planned on packing everypony on the train, but most of the tracks have been flooded and refrozen. The tracks are completely unusable, we’re stuck walking.” Twilight sighed, turning back to him and leaving Rainbow to wonder what was going on. The police mare remained stoic, watching her wristwatch.

“Damn!” Coalback cursed under his breath, twisting an arm as he tried to thread it into the shirt. “This complicates things immensely. The contingency plan is in place?” He asked, looking at her. But he continued before she could actually answer. “How did you convince them to get moving? No, don’t answer that! Just get us moving so that we can go.” He stated simply, finally succeeding in getting his arms into the shirt. He continued fluttering his wings to move them into their own sleeves.

“Not happening.” The police pony said flatly, continuing to glare at her watch. “Five more minutes, Miss Sparkle.”

“The mayor has decided to wait until tomorrow morning.” Twilight said annoyed, rolling her eyes.

“WHAT!” Coalback roared, making them all jump, even the static police mare was shaken. “Even when the other pegasi saw the storm on Canterlot, and the black smoke from the marching army!!!” He said, fury suddenly boiling into every tightly coiled fiber in his body.

“I know I know I know!” Twilight said, putting her hooves up and trying vainly to calm him. “They won’t listen to reason, but I was hoping that if I could get you to show them what those things could do, then maybe-”

“To come to a battle of wits with these brainless mules would be unwise and unsafe!” He said, pacing around his cell again and tossing his head angrily. He returned to that verbose way of speaking that had peeked out while he was in Canterlot. “These facetious fools in the high houses of this infantile nation have outright denied that they have a lion with its jaws around their throat!” He exclaimed, turning around and striking against the bars of the cell again.

The entire hallway shook with the intensity of his strike, the bars that he had kicked bent outward like soft clay under his hooves. Twilight jumped away quickly, backing against the bars that she had previously avoided with the same fear. Coalback yelled out in pain, his hips twisting in an unnatural direction as he fell to the floor and writhed around. Even the police pony started to panic, she had obviously never seen those bars give way.

“We have already lost too much time! If those ponies aren’t in the foothills by sundown, there will be blood in the water!” Coalback growled, visibly fighting past the pain in his hips. He twisted around, the leg moving back into it’s socket with a sickening sound. He let out a strangled yelp and gingerly stood again. He glared at the police pony. “If you don’t open this door, I’m going to flatten this building.”

She jumped as he talked to her, his voice absolutely dripping in perfect rage. Rainbow could actually see the capillaries in his eyes darkening. The mare ended up just shaking in her place, eyes locked in fear onto Coalback. Rainbow dropped to the ground behind her, and leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

“You should probably do what he says, I don’t think Coalback is in the mood for unnecessary delays.” She said, fighting past the unnatural feeling of fear that was flowing from Coalback’s raging form. The mare jumped again, reaching back and fumbling with her keys in her mouth.

She rushed forward, her legs shaking violently as she struggled with the lock. Coalback paced back and forth in front of it, keeping his eyes on the pony like a tiger stalking his prey. A low growl was slowly creeping out of his throat.

She finally turned the key in the lock, pulling open the door and darting away from him as he jumped gingerly out from the cell. He was crouched low when he landed, looking more predatory than pony. He turned an eye to the police mare and growled out an order. “Get me the mayor.” He snarled, his mane and the fur on his neck stood up on end, the longer mane bending down but still growing taller.

She turned and ran in a hurry, running into the doorframe as she fled. As she disappeared, Coalback growled loudly, shaking himself to knock off any of the rage that still clung to himself. He stood back up straight, simply breathing loudly for a moment as he collected his thoughts. He looked around, his eyes passing over the other two mares and falling onto a bench on the floor. He limped over to it and wrapped his hooves around it, lifting it up on one end.

“What are you doing?” Twilight said, fear and surprise making her voice rise a few octaves.

“That fucking retarded mare didn’t even unlock Rainbow Dash.” He said, grunting as he pushed it up against the crossed bars of the door on Rainbow’s cell. “These are half-pin barrel hinges. With the right leverage, the door will lift free.” He said, leaning down on the bench, and true to his word, the door lifted free and fell to the floor with a violent crash.

Coalback turned toward the exit of the modest jailhouse, he hadn’t even know that Ponyville had one. He carefully limped toward the exit, the sunlight from the descending sun turning his back golden. Rainbow rushed out, pushing on Twilight to get her moving again. They caught up to Coalback quickly, his right back leg held up so that it didn’t hit the ground.

“Coalback, you can’t be okay.” Rainbow said, hovering over him and placing her hooves gently on his shoulders to try and slow him. “You should just take it easy, we can get this settled ...” She looked over to Twilight, a question in her eyes. “Won’t we?” Actual worry started to creep its way back into her. They were running out of time, and if they didn’t make it there would be consequences that she couldn’t even imagine.

Her mind darted back to the flight out, their view over the entire valley. The clouds had spread like a blanket over everything, small pillars and twists of fluffy white rising on what was left of the updrafts from the storm. They had emerged facing Canterlot, what they could see of it.

It had been shrouded in the storm, its arm had passed only a few hours ago. The boiling shards of dark storm clouds impacting the side of the mountain range and shooting up like an angry sea against a rocky shore. The sight had been sobering, watching the power of a storm, in the dead of winter, rip at the capitol city of the country that she called home.

They had stared at that hallow scene for a while, enraptured by the sheer power of the tempest in full view to them, much different from being buried in it. They had only turned away when the smell had reached them. It was the smell that made all creatures, predator and prey alike, cringe in disgust.

Burning flesh.

They had turned to the source of it, the both of them fighting back the nausea and disgust that came with its pungence. They saw the smoke before they saw its source. It rose like a tall black snake into the sky, scales of billowing shifts accented its shape, giving it a deformed and sickly look. Below it, a mass of bodies and beasts marched, their shapes just visible through the breaking clouds there.

There were thousands, tens of thousands. A mixture of those strange bipedal monsters, and something smaller, something faster. Small flashes of green flame popping into existence for moments at a time. Changelings, she had had to explain to Coalback what they were but he had understood as far as she could tell.

Spread throughout them were larger creatures, their lumbering forms being indentured for the carrying of their freight. They were burning the forest down as they walked, creating a highway for the trail of death that they sought. It was staring into the gates of Tartarus, unable to look away from the suffering and torture that resided there.

Rainbow shook herself, bringing her attention back to the present and the last words of Twilight’s response as they left the prison. “... if we keep them calm, it’ll work.” She finished, her words directed to Coalback as they shambled along.

He had begrudgingly accepted the helping wing from Rainbow that now supported him and sped them along. They lurched forward, moving toward the city hall that was located nearby, but maddeningly far away. Another thought darted through Rainbow’s head, a tangent she hadn’t expected herself to go on.

“I thought you said that you were studying to be a doctor, Coalback. What was all that stuff about ‘half-barrels’ and ‘leverage’?” Rainbow finished, adjusting herself so that Coalback leaned against her in a more comfortable way.

Coalback looked over to her, his ears falling flat to his head as they continued to walk. “Well, that’s what I always wanted to do. And I ended up doing some medical work with the family when I showed interest.

But, with me being an omega of the pack myself, I ended up training with metalwork and engineering more of. I ended up having quite the- uh ... talent for it? That sounds right, talent.” He finished, trying out his words again as he tried to explain. He chuckled under his breath. “I’m starting to become quite the ‘jack of all trades’ it’s taken me five years to realize that.” He stumbled on his left front hoof for a second, his wing extended and rested on top of her on instinct.

“AH!” Rainbow spat, catching the both of them as she tried to support his full weight. “Dude, why are you so heavy?” She grunted, continuing their movement toward the city hall that had grown closer, if only by a third of the way.

“Don’t complain, it’s why Knight and I were able to fight through the storm. My body is more densely created than almost any other creature, so I weigh a lot. One of the gifts of being one of the Blaidd-Ddyn, one of many.” He replied, taking his own weight on the three hooves he could use.

She took another look at him, examining him one last time before they entered the city building. One of his shoulders looked deflated, the muscle that had once been there was gone. The weapon he had described must have knocked out more than he had been willing to admit, every motion of that arm seemed to pain him.

As they approached the door, Twilight asked another question, her curiosity expressed through the excited glimmer in her eyes that she only ever got when a new subject of study presented itself. “That’s something else I wanted to ask you about, Coalback. These notes, while some of them were confusing as the words didn’t decipher correctly like you said they might, the drawings and notes I could decipher were fascinating.

“Like your first account of your first change,” Her neck worked up and down, a silent swallow. “while disturbing, was very fascinating. And the drawings that you created were just as much. I assume that most of them were of the Wolf transformations, some of the bones and muscle structures were completely alien to me.” She opened the door to the building stopping her recounting to look up at him with begging eyes. “Could you help me with some of the details ... later?” She smiled sheepishly, trying her best to look innocent.

He smiled, even if it was a bit forced. “Maybe later, but I should try and explain as much as I can soon. I can tell that ... things ... are about to ...” He sniffed at the air as they walked into the building. “Something smells strange.” He said suddenly, stopping in his tracks as his eyes fell on the mayor.

She was standing near the center of the main hall, shuffling through several reams of parchment and talking to a scrawny looking intern. He sniffed at the air again, directing his nose toward the mare. “What did you say those things were called? Their exact names.” He said, his voice lowering to an almost inaudible whisper.

“Changelings?” Rainbow replied, confusion dotting her eyes at his sudden inquiry. “Why, what’s up?” She asked, trying to divine some sort of reasoning to his seemingly random sniffing.

“I don’t like that smell, that’s not a pony smell, for sure.” He nodded, confirming his statement with another sniff and a nod of his head. “Take me to the mayor.” He finished darkly, his eyes narrowing as he locked onto her.

They complied, moving forward so that he could walk more easily. As they moved forward, approaching the silver dyed pony as she looked up to them. She smiled warmly, opening her mouth to greet them as she waved off the skinny colt.

“Ah, I’d like to say that it’s good to see you, but under the circumstances ...” She paused, her voice quickly dying to a dark tone as she watched Coalback. “Is there something wrong, sir?” She continued, her eyes growing suspicious as she watched him sniff the air again.

“You could say that ...” Coalback said in a low tone, his eyes narrowing. “You look strange, Mayor. Have you been sleeping well? ... eating well?” He finished, turning his low hung head to stare at her with one eye.

“Just fine, if it’s all the same to you. Although having a monster terrorize the town can get to the best of ponies.” She said, and at first her voice seemed offended. But as she spoke, it seemed to take on an almost snide tone.

Coalback jumped up, lifting a hoof and pointing it at her eyes. “Demon of deception, reveal yourself before any more harm has come to these ponies. Release the one you have impostered and leave this place.” He growled, his words taking on a very serious tone, like he was addressing a pony that had insulted him.

The mayor looked surprised, almost insulted. “What are you talking about? This is becoming ridiculous, I think I’ve had enough of this. Now if you don’t mind-” She said, starting to turn away, but Coalback drew her to pause as he blurted out.

“I name thee,” He said, his voice echoing with a force of will that made the mayor stop as if suddenly frozen on the spot. “Changeling.” He said, spitting out the word and making the mayor flinch. “Reveal your true form, Changeling!” He shouted, lunging forward and away from the two mares supporting him.

The mayor screamed out, green flames bursting forth and tearing away parts of her form. She screamed the entire time as the disguise fell away and she revealed her actual, insect-like shape. Coalback tackled the changeling to the floor almost as soon as the transformation was complete, knocking the creature to the floor and using his body as a deadweight to hold her down.

She screamed out, hissing and screeching as she tried to squirm away. Coalback growled in a way that was definitely not natural for a pony to make, instantly silencing the changeling. “So that’s how they are doing it, isn’t it? Influencing the diarchy through disguise and lies, or simply ensuring that prey is available for the army? What was your plan once I showed up?” He pushed a hoof against the chitin covered, pony-like shape of the changeling.

Something made a cracking sound, the changeling reacting with a pained screech. Coalback snarled again, moving to bite onto the more flexible ear of the changeling but snapping his jaws shut just beside it. The changeling flinched by reflex and started breathing heavily. “I shan’t be allowed to tell you!” It responded, squirming again as it tried to get out from under him.

Its head shot back, connecting with a loud crack against Coalback’s chin and breaking the skin there. He grunted, trying to keep his hold as the changeling’s arm broke free. It reached up, and using the holes in its hoof to scratch at his face. Coalback flinched back, shutting his eyes tightly so that they couldn’t be scratched. He snarled again, struggling to regain control of the changeling again.

It was nearly as strong as he was, even if he was injured and weakened. They grappled for what felt like an eternity, their hooves pushing against each other. Coalback reprimanded himself mentally, he never was good with close quarters combat. But then again, nothing had ever matched him, not in a long time.

Rainbow and Twilight could only look on with desperation, Coalback and the changeling struggling on the ground. The horn of the changeling lit up momentarily, but its concentration kept breaking as Coalback struggled with it.

“Twilight! Do something!” Rainbow yelled out in desperation, unwilling to come close to Coalback while he was in the middle of a fight. She had seen him strike out, he might only see her as another threat if she tried.

“I-I can’t!” Twilight stuttered, shaking her head in her panic, that feeling of helplessness washing over them as Coalback locked the changeling in place with one of his arms under its chin. He squeezed down on it, just barely cutting off its airway. They continued to struggle as Coalback rolled back over so that he was on top of the changeling again.

“If you do not tell me, I will take what I want to know.” Coalback said darkly, his lips peeling back to reveal his alien teeth. But when the changeling didn’t respond other than to double its efforts of escape, he used a hoof to knock its head against the ground. “Very well, you have brought this on yourself. You know, it took me a very long time to figure out how to do this. I hope you appreciate the hard work that went into this.” He said, his mouth twisting into a short grin that ended at the surface and never showed in his eyes. In those greyed disks, regret swam like a serpent through water.

He grasped onto the changeling’s head, he lifted it off the tiled floor and held it firmly so that is couldn’t struggle. He pulled his own head back, the muscles in his neck tensing as he coiled like a snake for a strike. “You may feel a slight tingling sensation.” In one fast and lethal movement, his head shot forward, connecting just above the changeling’s horn with a loud snap.

Something sparked, it was like blue electricity shot between them. It arched upwards along the horn, like when something powerful discharges into a nearby object. The changeling screamed, a primal shriek of pain and fear. Coalback’s eyes flashed open just as soon as the changeling screamed, his whole body tensed as the arc disconnected from him.

The entire building had gone eerily silent, the changeling had started to convulse, its compound eyes clouded over. Coalback made a choking sound, his eyes losing their greyed out quality, if only for a moment.

They changed, they weren’t just a dull green anymore. They practically glowed in iridescent, shifting tones. The grey backed away, flowing away like his eyes had suddenly surfaced from cloudy water. But they disappeared back into that grey tone almost as fast, barely giving Rainbow enough time to react as Twilight shouted to her.

“He’s entered the hive mind! We have to break the physical contact before he’s overcome by it!” She yelped, rushing over to Coalback and throwing her shoulder against him but making little progress.

Rainbow shook herself out of her stupor to rush over as well. She barreled into his side, making his body rock over the shaking changeling. They both backed up, ramming into his side again and sliding him sideways over the smooth chitin. “Can’t you use your magic?” Rainbow grunted, backing away again to prepare for another ramming.

“I don’t think that I can, he described his rings as some sort of leaching enchantment.-” She grunted as they pushed against Coalback again, making another few inches of progress. “They would just suck up any magic that I tried to use on his body, both directly and indirectly. I don’t know how it works, and he admitted that he didn’t know either. But either way, I can’t use my magic on him unless he gives me explicit consent.” They rushed forward again, finally pushing Coalback far enough for his body to slide off on his own.

Coalback instantly recovered from his frozen state, he took a loud open breath, his limbs shaking as he finally disconnected from the changeling. The changeling collapsed, its own lungs pumping like bellows as it recovered from the experience. Coalback coughed, a loud, wet noise that ended with him spitting out a discolored glob from his throat.

He continued to cough as he motioned at the changeling, he finally managed to choke out something before the coughing continued. “Restrain it-” He continued to cough, curling in on himself as he tried to recover.

Twilight jumped up, casting a spell that wrapped the changeling in heavy chains as she did. Rainbow moved over to Coalback, putting herself against him so that he would know that she was there. She put a hoof against his strained face, rubbing another along his back.

“I’m okay.” He said, the coughing dying down and stopping as he cleared his throat again. He turned and spat out another discolored glob.

Rainbow backed away as he shifted into a sitting position, his legs tucked under him as he continued to try and catch his breath. “Quick thinking on that.” He mumbled, rubbing a hoof on his temples. “But I did find what we needed.” He said, looking up at the two mares.

“What did you find?” Twilight said after Rainbow remained silent, shifting her gaze between them and the now tied up changeling.

“One thing’s for sure.” He said, smacking his lips together and trying to remove a disgusting taste from his mouth. “That Discord character of yours, has friends in high places.”