//------------------------------//
// Chapter 17: Visiting Hours Are Over 
// Story: My Life as a Hybrid 
// by ChaosDoomscythe 
//------------------------------//


My Life as a Hybrid
By: ChaosDoomscythe/Doomscythe01
Chapter 17: Visiting Hours Are Over



Celestia screamed. She screamed and hollered and struggled with all her weakened, feeble might, but nothing she did could dislodge him from her horn. He wasn’t just biting it, or trying to bite through it, or even simply burning it- he was jerking his head back and forth the in an attempt to rip her horn right off her head, right out of her skull. He was roaring and growling like some kind of a raving mad animal or beast as he did, moving harsher and fiercer as his rage continued to amplify his strength. Celestia kicked and pushed pulled, but still, the near feral being above her would not stop, and the pain was beginning to overwhelm her. Her screams were beginning to die down into groans, then whimpers, her voice having finally gone hoarse from the strain place on it throughout the fight. 

Her only saving grace had been her magic, which had taken on a will of its own and coated her horn in an attempt to preserve itself. Her magic had created a simple yet powerful shield which was doing its best to protect her magical foci, but his own magical incinerating flames was burning through her magic as fast as it could summon itself from her mana pool. As his rage and anger continued to power his own magical reserves, hers continued to weaken, and it was draining her physical strength as well as the pain. Once her magic, vast as it was, ran out, her horn would lose its protection…

And she would be an alicorn only in name, assuming she survived this brutal encounter.

The pain began to overwhelm her. Her struggles grew weaker and weaker, and her vision blurred in and out. Her eyes fluttered open and closed. Her hearing was beginning to fade. She saw blackness creeping up from the corners of her eyes, and knew she was going to lose consciousness. Even then, she could still see the blood red fury that was his eyes, glaring maliciously down at her own bloodshot magentas, something in them seeming to truly relish in her agony and misery. As her body began to still and she felt her mind fad into blackness, she only prayed that her sister and subjects remained safe…

And that Shadow Flare somehow found peace with her death.

Just before her consciousness was lost, a rainbow colored blur slammed into the black mass on top of her, sending all three of them rolling. The action caused new pain to flare, which somehow jerked her consciousness back to the brink. As she lay there on her side, her vision came back enough to see Rainbow Dash and Shadow Flare, rolling across the courtyard until they both crashed into some obstacle. There was a purple flash in the corner of her vision, before the blurry image of her student appeared in front of her vision. 

She started speaking, saying something, behaving frantically. She didn’t even really feel it when magic started covering her body in a meager attempt to heal her many, numerous, and excruciatingly painful wounds, not that she could feel many of them at the moment. Celestia tried to pay attention, but her gaze and attention kept migrating back towards the mare and stallion that were fighting tooth and hoof with each other. Before long, an orange and pink blur jumped into the fray, doing their best to help stop and restrain them before they were all blown back by a small explosion of flames. The enraged stallion jumped into the air, then flapped its massive wings and shot back towards Celestia, only to be intercepted and shot down by blue and pink beams of magical energy. He hit the ground hard, but quickly rolled onto his hooves in time to be tackled once more by a white blur. There was a blue flash next to Celestia, and a pink blur, Cadence, stepped into view near Twilight before erecting a shield around the three of them. She watched as the white blur, whom she recognized to be Shining Armor, and the black blur continued to struggle until the Shadow managed to overpower and pin him.

Unfortunately, Shining proved to be a challenge, as the Shadow was immediately blasted in the face with a powerful magical beam.  He was sent flying in the sky, only to be intercepted by the Rainbow Dash and slammed back into the ground. After a short struggle, and with an aggravated roar and brief burst of flames, the Dash was sent flying through the air. Unable to correct her flight path in time, she crashed into the ground and tumbled a little before stopping. Just as the Shadow got back up and attempted to give chase, a pink shield appeared over it. He slammed into it again and again in an attempt to break through it, to no avail. 

With a sudden roar, the Flare looked like he himself exploded inside the shield, flames covering the entirety of the space inside of it. Only seconds after, the dome itself seemed to evaporate into nothing, and the black blur shot out of the flames on a direct collision course towards Shining. Stunned from what he just witnessed and with no time to react regardless, Shining was slammed into and roughly pinned onto the ground. Before Shining could even attempt to fight back, his entire form was immediately consumed by a flurry of flames and he screamed in shock and surprise. 

Celestia’s ears twitched when she heard both Twilight and Cadence scream from in front of her, obviously worried about the captain of the guard and prince of the Crystal Empire. Before long, the flames disappeared entirely only to reveal Shining Armor completely unharmed, at least as far as Celestia’s blurred vision could tell. Just as Shadow raised a foreleg in preparation of a punch, a lasso wrapped around him and he was very forcefully yanked right off of Shining and into the air just high enough to get blasted by a massive ball of something… something sparkly. There had been the faint sound of a boom right before he got hit, but Celestia couldn’t tell exactly what it was. 

Soon after, however, her hearing managed to recover just enough for her to hear yells and commands being thrown about, mixed in with furious roars. However, as her exhaustion finally started to catch up with her, Celestia’s vision once more started to darken, her body far past its breaking point and shutting itself down to recover. Still she managed to catch a few more things before she was dead to the world. The rope and sparkly substances still coving Shadow’s now heavily blurred form were suddenly incinerated, but before the stallion could do anything, he was once more tackled by the Rainbow Dash. Before he could retaliate, the speedy mare managed to shove him over to a mostly clear area before, it kicked away from him and retreating as he slammed heavily into the ground. Shadow quickly got back up and roared once more, but it cut off suddenly, and he seemed to freeze at the sight of something.

The last thing Celestia saw before she blacked out was the light of the Sun being blocked out as the sky turned black.






I simply laid there in the bed, strapped down, staring at the ceiling. The blank, white tiled ceiling.

I hate this moon damned room.

It had been two day since I learned I was the new host of the Nightmare. I hadn’t spoken a single word since I found out. After attempting several times to get me to say something, Luna, spike and the others started worrying about me until, Sky Shock told everyone that I just needed some time to think to myself. Aside from medical officials who had to run several tests, Sky managed to usher everyone out of the room with a select few allowed to stay behind. 

Aside from the four guards posted at each corner of the room to keep watch on me, the only ones left in the room were Sky Shock, Spike and Fluttershy. Spike stayed right next to my side the entire time, and while he tried speaking to me a few times, I never responded. It wasn’t because I was ignoring him, or that I was being disrespectful, I was scared. Scared that I’d somehow fuck things up and make him leave. Scared that I’d say the wrong thing and he’d go back to hating me. I knew it was irrational, I knew it was, but that nightmare I suffered through managed to terrify me in a way I honestly didn’t think was possible. It managed to shake my resolve on a lot of things and amplified my fear of being alone a great deal. 

I am so impossibly thankful that Sky’s been able to pick up on my moods for a long time now, because he managed to reassure Spike that my silence wasn’t his fault.

“Your name’s Spike, right? Hey, don’t you worry about a thing. He’s really shaken up right now, so I don’t think he’ll be talking to anyone until he’s ready. But, if you’re as close to him as I think you are, then you stay right there, next to him. Trust me, your presence alone is going to make his recovery that much faster.”

I don’t know how that blind Pegasus can pick up on so many things, but GOD DAMN if he isn’t good at it. I had acknowledged his words by turning my eyes towards Spike just as he turned to me, and gave a slight nod and small smile. That seemed to reassure him a great deal and managed to calm him considerably. That brought a little happiness to my own broken heart at that moment before the darkness of my situation clouded it over again. Still, I was glad for any amount of happiness I could get, from myself or from others, regardless of how small. 

Fluttershy, bless her kind soul, was fretting over my, quite frankly, broken condition like a true mother hen. She was constantly asking if I was okay, if I needed anything, if I was hungry, if I was hot or cold, if I was comfortable (or at least as comfortable as I could be given I was strapped to the bed), and many other questions. Sky, who had never seen anyone worry over someone else so much before in his life, had to request the mare to actually stop worrying over me. Multiple times. When she asked why he wasn’t worried about me like everyone else was, his response was simple and to the point.

“…It’s because I know him, and I know how he feels about others worrying about him. While he can’t stop other beings from actually worrying about his well-being, even when it’s warranted, he kinda hates it.”

That made both Spike and Fluttershy look at each other, blink, then they looked right at me. I had just continued staring at the ceiling. Honestly, when you spend a good chunk of your life with people hovering around you and worrying over damn near every action you take (or dont take), it gets annoying really freaking fast. Granted, considering my condition at those particular times, it was perfectly well warranted, but still. Annoying. 

Fluttershy later had a mild panic attack when the doctors finally came in to examine my body and its injuries. They became worried about my condition when they discovered that shortly after I had woken up, my body stopped any and all healing processes. Sky had to pull the mare aside and force her to do some breathing exercises to calm her down, then went about explaining why that was since I was refusing to speak to everyone.

He told them that because I was still in my changeling form, I was stopping myself from healing intentionally. Back in our home town, after numerous injuries the two of us had obtained, doctors in the village discovered something unique to my biology that took my mother and several other changeling medics to figure out. Apparently, because I cannot alter my form like other changelings, and am restricted to two forms and only two forms, while as a changeling, I gained control over my entire molecular structure to a certain degree, but only when it came to healing and regenerating tissue. 

I could amplify the speed at which one wound healed itself by taking available resources from other areas of my body and directing the energy somewhere else. The most common resources used are usually my emotions or the emotions of other around me. For the fastest results, joy is preferable, which is why I often request hugs from pinkie when I get injured. She’s like a walking pile of happy feel goods.  IF I don’t have any emotions that will particularly help me, then copious amounts of food can help instead.  The energy and granted to me from emotions, or the material I absorb from eating allows me to create whatever substance needed to repair damage to my form. I’m even capable of prioritizing which wounds required healing the most, and healing specifically just those wounds while leaving others untouched. The more resources available to me to use, the faster I heal.

This unique level of control over my own body allows me to, alternatively, stop the healing process altogether, which was actually useful when I ended up breaking a hoof, and had to stop it from healing before the bone set itself.

Of course, after learning about this, the ponies became horrified when they realized I was intentionally not allowing my body to heal itself, and when they questioned me as to why, I adamantly refused to answer any of them. When they grew tired of demanding answers from me, they decided to try using healing spells on me to force my body to heal. I tried to coat myself in fire to simply burn away whatever magical spells they deigned to use on me, but even I should have realized that these straps holding me down were blocking my use of magic. They were heavily enchanted too. I counted my blessings anyway, however, when it was revealed their healing spells wouldn’t work on me anyway. My natural heavy resistance to magic, coupled with the fact that healing spells of any kind required large amounts of magic to cast, meant that the unicorn doctors and medics were literally just tiring themselves out with seeing little to absolutely no results.

Left with no choice but to allow me to suffer silently in pain and agony, the doctors did what they could. They changed bandages, made sure my IV was working and the heart monitor was still functioning properly, along with a few other miscellaneous doctor stuff that I could never be bothered to remember, and they were out the door. Unfortunately, this left me with my little brother, my older little brother, and the mother hen to take stock of my injuries and wonder how I could possibly survive and stay so silent despite the severe pain I must be going through.

And truth be told, I had been and still am in so much pain and agony it’s a wonder I haven’t snapped yet. Sky’s Wall Rock Crush (patent pending) is capable of and has done severe amounts of damage to me before, depending on the size of the boulder he uses and the hardness and durability of the wall I’m trapped between. My body was completely covered in dents, bruises, cracked and bleeding chitin, a few shattered scales, I had a black eye from a punch Luna gave me, a chipped fucking tooth, and that’s just what’s visible on the outside. Inside is much worse. Many of my bones had been cracked, at least two fractured, several bruised organs, bruised spine, some internal bleeding and one organ that had actually ruptured. Those last two I was actually required to heal, but I only allowed it enough to ensure I’d survive. I had bandages covering most, if not all of the cracks in my chitin, though some of them still bled slightly, despite the creams and sealants they tried to use on me.

Despite all the torment I’m putting myself through, as far as I’m concerned, it’s worth it for the time being. And, quite frankly, a part of me feels like I deserve it.

I was offered food a few times, but I refused each time with a slight shake of the head, and doing even that small movement hurt plenty. The ambient emotion in the air around Canterlot is enough to keep me adequately fed, even if I find the taste of it to be very, very ‘snobby’.  I didn’t see anyone else in the last two days except for one pony. Pinkie Pie dropped in for a brief visit. She set a vase with flowers in it next to my bed on a table, gave me a sad, knowing smile, the softest hug I think she’d ever given anyone, and then left after saying hi to everyone else in the room. It wasn’t much, but it did manage to make me smile, which I believe she was going for. But asides from that, I haven’t seen anyone else for the last two days.

It kinda made me wonder what everyone else was doing, but I’m fairly certain it has something to do with how to get rid of this parasite that’s currently residing in me. I don’t know if they’ll be able to think up something, but considering the Elements of Harmony can’t be used on me for fear of turning me to stone or worse, and the only other method that has been tried probably won’t work on me anyway…
I honestly have very little hope of them finding a way to purge it from me before I end up doing something either completely stupid, drastic, or both. 

But I will not be succumbing to the Nightmare again if I can help it.

I just hope I have the strength to fight it off next time. But hope is something I seem to be in short supply of right now.

I was broken out of my reverie by the sound of the door opening. I saw out of the corner of my eye that it was nearly night time. Spike was dozing in and out lying next to me, but he seemed to have snapped awake at the sound of the door and sat up to see who was coming in. Fluttershy was been sitting in a chair next to the table that held the flowers, tending to them, but her attention too was caught by the door opening. Sky was curled up in a two person couch on the opposite side of the room next to the window, pretending to be asleep with his sunglasses on. I didn’t see it, but I’m fairly certain his ears twitched at the sound, though I heard no movement from him to signify he was done playing pretend.

I did see one of the solar guards posted in a corner suddenly get up and walk away from his post. Seconds later, a thestral night guard took his place. It was time for a shift change, though something was off to me about this one. The thestrals, while always taking their job seriously, are still somewhat laid back and relaxed. Even despite the things I’ve done, they remained so even around me. The thestral I saw in my peripheral looked tense, like a coiled snake ready to spring. That was the first thing that gave me the odd feeling. The second was the smell that suddenly filled the room. It was familiar to me. Very familiar. The third thing that tipped me off was-

My eyes shot to the blue sparkling mane that suddenly appeared overhead, making me temporarily forget about what I was thinking of before turning to their source. I hadn’t even noticed she was in the room. Soon after spotting it, my eyes slowly turned until I was looking into her stunning cyan eyes, though I couldn’t help but notice they looked sad. That, in turn, made me feel sad.
Princess Luna looked me over in my entirety, taking in all of the bandaged and still uncovered wounds spread across my form before her gaze once more met mine. 

“How are you feeling, Shadow?” 

I don’t care what anyone else ever tells you, I did NOT fucking wince when she asked me that.

Having decided that I’ve had enough time to sit, think, and mope, and not at all wishing to disrespect Luna in any way right now, slowly, I moved my head so it was more directly facing her. After moving my jaw around to make sure I could talk without my mouth hurting too much, I opened it to respond to her.

“Oh… you know…” My voice was a gravelly piece of shit right now, but I didn’t care, so long as I could talk to her. “It just hurts when I do… anything really. Ow, my everything…”

I saw Fluttershy and Spike both turn to me in surprise due to the fact that I actually responded, but those surprised looks turned into tiny smiles when they realized I was basically back with them. Luna had a small smile at my little joke, but it quickly turned to a frown. I was happy I at least got her to smile, but I knew that the time for joking was over.

“The medics have informed me of your situation.” Her eyes narrowed at me a little. “Why are you not allowing your body to heal?”

I didn’t respond immediately. A part of me didn’t want to tell her because I knew it would make her worry even more for me, and I hate when people worry about me. I ended up getting far too much of that over the years after Shadow died, and I really didn’t want any more of that. But I knew that this wasn’t something I could really skip out on, so I took as deep a breath as I could without too much pain flaring up before I gave her my honest answer.

“Because if the Nightmare takes over again, it will be in no condition to do anything.”

Based on the looks on their faces, I’m fairly certain no one had expected that response from me. She looked at me in surprise for several quiet moments before she let out a sigh. She moved a little closer towards the bed and then sat down next to it.

“I’m sor-“

“Don’t you dare apologize to me, Princes,” I had cut her off. I knew where that was going, and I wasn’t about to let her go down that path. “The only one here at fault here is the Nightmare. If anyone needs to apologize, then it’s that parasitic abomination.” I paused for a quick moment, before adding something else. “And… I need to apologize as well.”

“What possible reason could you have to apologize for, Shadow Flare,” she asked. I don’t know if she was really just trying to look past my previous actions in light of the current situation or not, but she should know what I’m apologizing for.

“Honestly, I’ve got quite a few things to say ‘I’m sorry for… But I think the biggest reason for me to apologize is because I hurt you, princess.” She looked surprised at that, but before she could say anything, I continued. “I don’t regret what I did, attacking Celestia as I had. I don’t. Even now, I still feel justified in my actions, but I never wanted to hurt you. I still went along with my plans anyway, though despite knowing what killing your sister would mean for my friendship with you.

“When you showed up on the battlefield, and I saw the look of pain and betrayal in your eyes, I just froze. Even through the anger that had clouded my mind and made everything hazy, I still saw that look on your face.” I turned my eyes away from her, and stared back up at the ceiling. “And when I did, I just stopped. Seeing the hurt in your eyes and knowing that I alone was the cause of that… I just locked up completely. Something inside of me broke, and I knew that our friendship was pretty much over at that one moment. 

“So… I’m sorry, Luna.” I closed my eyes, feeling very low at the moment and not wanting to see whatever look she had on her face. “I’m sorry for betraying your trust. I’m sorry for betraying our friendship. And I’m sorry for causing you pain.”

The room went silent when I finished. As everyone digested what I just said, in the silence of the room, I started to think about everything else that had happened since I attacked Celestia. Everything that happened since I came to Canterlot. Everything since I arrived in this world. I’ve had so many good times with my adoptive family, all of my friends.  But all of the good that happened in my life, in my mind, is almost always overshadowed by the pain and tragedies I’ve had to suffer through. It makes me wonder why I didn’t just move onto the afterlife when I dies instead of being forced to come here. I honestly thing it would have been better if I had instead of being sent here. Maybe then mom, dad and Shadow would still be alive.

I don’t know that for certain, because no one knows what the future holds, but… I can’t help but think it might have been better if I never came here. I know it would’ve been better for the girls. Before I came here, I remember watching the show up until then end of season 4.  I know what’s supposed to happen, but with my sudden involvement throwing everything out of whack, I can’t even tell what the next event to happen is going to be. Guess that’s just going to have to be a surprise.

I was brought out of my thoughts when Luna finally responded to me.

“Shadow Flare…” She paused and took a deep breathe. “I accept you apology…”

I waited, because I knew there was going to be more to it than that. I wasn’t wrong.

“But I do not know if I can forgive you for what you’ve done.”

I let out a breather I didn’t even know I was holding. But still, I nodded my head in acceptance of her response.

“That’s just fine… I didn’t expect you to forgive me.” I wanted a change of subject. “How are the other’s doing?”

“The girls are doing just fine.” She said. I drew my eyes back to her as she continued. “Mantle and Rainbow Dash suffered some bruising from the battle, but have since recovered. Aside from a few guards, nopony else was, thankfully, harmed, and even then, of those that were, they weren’t hurt by much. Twilight and Celestia are working overtime with our top scientists to improve your vest. We may need input and assistance from you in order to make I operate more efficiently.”

I nodded at that. They’d probably need knowledge of the spell I had sealed around my mana core and its spell matrices to figure out a way to bypass it. That way, it could drain my negative emotions without casing me extreme pain and exhaustion in the process. That’s going to be a fun conversation.

“And the others?’

“Everypony else is occupying their time trying to brainstorm ideas on how to remove the nightmare from you.” After that sentence she frowned slightly. “We have had little success, unfortunately.”

“That sounds about right… This is not at all going to be a quick or easy thing to solve.” 

“No… No it is not, Shadow Flare.” I felt Luna place her hoof on my own shackled one, and looked over t her. “But please… Have faith. We will find a way. You just have to believe.”

I closed my eyes and let out a small sigh, nodding. Yeah…

Luna left shortly after that, the both of us giving each other quiet goodbyes, and Luna nodding towards Spike and Fluttershy before leaving. She’d likely have said something to Sky if she thought he was awake, but didn’t so didn’t. 

Speaking of Sky, the moment the door’s closed and the princess was out of earshot, Sky suddenly sat up and looked right at me. I returned the look from out of the corner of my eye. We both noticed it, him likely faster than I did, but we decided not to draw attention to it at the moment. Instead…

“Wow,” he spoke, causing me to blink. He looked at the door, then back at me. “When you fall for someone you fall hard.”

Thank god for black scales and chitin or that blush I was sporting would be super visible right now. I heard Spike and Fluttershy snickering and giggling respectively at his remark. I scowled at him.

“You shut your snarky horse mouth, Sky.”

He just smirked at me. “What? You don’t want your feelings-“

“Thank you, Sky Shock.”

He paused, and one of his ears tilted at the tone in my voice. He heard the sincerity in it. 

“…For what?”

“For showing up when you did. If you hadn’t, I shudder to think of what might have happened. So thank you, for saving them… And myself.”
I was immediately confused by the sudden swell of anger I sensed from him, and the frown that covered his face. I was about to ask what was wrong, when he turned towards Fluttershy and Spike. 

“Could you two please leave for about twenty minutes? Radiant Nova and I need to have a talk.”

Oh.

Oh Shit!

He just used my name.

Spike and Fluttershy looked confused at the name he used for a moment, before they both realized who he was talking about. Realizing that this was going to be a serious conversation between just the two of us, they both nodded and quietly left the room.  Soon enough, they were out of earshot for me, but not Sky. He waited another minute or so before his ears twitched. Then he got up out of his seat and made his way right next to me. I shivered because I knew, whatever was about to happen, it was going to-

Pain.

Pain!

PAIN!

He wasted literally no time in driving the tip of his right hoof into my ribcage. I let out a brief shout before gritting my teeth, my breathe coming out in short bursts as I tried to deal with the sudden onslaught of pure agony. I heard the heart monitor start to pick up, and did my best to keep it steady. The meditation I learned from Zecora those few months ago helped a lot in keeping the body regulated. If my heartbeat got too high, it would draw seriously unwanted attention to us right now. We did not need a bunch of nurses and doctors rushing in to try to find out what the problem was, only see see my supposed best friend kicking my ass.

Suddenly, he drove the hoof in a little deeper, and I groaned and whimpered. My body was trying to move away from him, but each of the straps and shackles pinning me to the bed made the motion almost entirely useless. Almost because all the moving and squirming only served to cause all my other bones, muscles and pain laced injuries to suddenly flare up, causing me even more suffering.

I almost didn’t hear him speaking, the pain beginning to cloud my mind and make me desperate to get away from it.

“What am I to you?”

After several moments of panting harshly with my teeth grinding against each other, I could only groan out a single word to him, pain lacing my voice.

“B-b brother! AGH!”

He never once let up on me.

“I’m your brother?”

“Y-YES!”

“Really? Am I? Because I don’t feel like it.” He pulled his hoof back only to swing it forward in a punch at the same spot, causing me to briefly scream before I could clamp my mouth shut. My eyes slammed closed as tears started rolling down my face, all the while he continued to dig his hoof in my side even further. “You ditching me like you did without a single word of warning doesn’t sound very brotherly to me.”

“I-I-I-I‘m s-s-ssssorrrrryyyyyy….” I only just barely got that one out.

“You’re SORRY?!” His other hoof suddenly reached forward and grabbed my muzzle, wrenching my head towards his and causing my neck to scream at me. I opened blurry eyes just in time to see him take off his glasses and throw them aside.

Neither of us heard them clatter to the ground.

“You think a simple sorry is going to cut it?!” He ground his hoof in harder, and my body jerked in response. My eyes shut once more, the tears flowed harder, and I couldn’t do anything more but let out a pathetic whimper. Suddenly the hoof pulled away, and I gasped loudly, taking deep, panting breathes despite how much it hurt my diaphragm to do. Opening my eyes once more and looking at his milky red ones, I took a very shaky breathe and spoke.

“I-I didn’t… didn’t want you getting… c-caught up in the fal-*cough* fallout of my actions… Didn’t want you getting… hurt or blamed…”

“That’s not your decision to make, Nova. It is mine and mine alone. If I feel like getting imprisoned with you, then buck the sun and moon, I’m getting imprisoned you dump pile of manure!” This was the first time I heard him speaking with such vehemence in his voice, especially at me. “We are a team; a duo; brothers in all but blood. If you’re going to do something foolhardy and dangerous, then I’m going to be right there next to you. You think you were the only one who was hurt when they all died? They were my family too! They’re the only family I’ve ever known. You’re the only family I’ve got left, Radiant. How do you think I’d feel if I lost you?”

I couldn’t stop the slight smile the came over my mouth. “P-pissed for start-“

His hoof holding my muzzle reared back and then rocketed forward, clocking me right in my mouth. MY head slammed backwards, before he grabbed my muzzle and jerked me forwards again. My neck hated me right now, and blood was now flowing out of my nose. I didn’t know he could hit hard enough to crack the scales around my muzzle, but surprise! 

Sky was seething at me.

“YOU DON’T GET TO JOKE! NOT AFTER YOU BASICALLY ABANDONED ME!”

That made me freeze with my eyes wide.

“I…I didn’t-“

“Yes you did! You left me there, Nova! What would I have done if you died?! HUH?! What would I have had left?!  You were gone for days, and I had to hear from a unicorn mare that she teleported you somewhere and didn’t know where! Then, months later, I heard from some random passerby that one of the Princesses was attacked! Didn’t take me long to put two and two together! I rushed here as fast as I could to come and help you, and what do I find? YOUR DUMB FLANK POSESSED BY A NIGHTMARE SPIRIT!”

I said nothing. I couldn’t say anything. He was right. I had abandoned him. I had abandoned my best friend, my brother, and left him behind. 

“We said we’d be there for each other. We said that we’d always have each other’s backs. I would walk through Tartarus with you and back, right by your side if I had to! That’s what we agreed upon! We made a pact, Nova!

“…and you turned your back on me.”

My eyes just stared into his, my pain long forgotten, but my tears didn’t stop. I had hurt him too. I seem to keep doing that. Hurting the beings closest to me. 

Gonna have to work on that.

“I-… I’m so… so sorry, Sky,” I croaked out. “I-…..” I didn’t know what else I could say. I feel so fucking shitty right now.

Sky just stared at me for a few moments. Before letting my muzzle go. I could feel his anger at me draining away and petering out. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breathe. “Apology accepted. But…” His eyes opened a sliver, and I could see the glare in his face.

“If you ever abandon me again… I will never forgive you.”

I nodded at him, and managed to swallow a few times, ignoring any discomfort I had and answered him.

“Never again. I’ll never leave you behind again. I promise. From now on, we fly together, brother. Blazing Winds for life. ”

He gave me a small smile at that, and nodded back. “Blazing Winds for life.”  He held his hoof out to the side. His glasses floated back to him in a sickly green aura, and he placed them on as though nothing had happened. He walked away and sat back in his seat, relaxing himself. 
His next words ensured I wasn’t about to be able to quite yet, but then, we both knew this was coming.

“You’re turn, Chrysalis.”

The guard closest to the door chuckled before walking forward towards my bed. In a powerful flash of green the thestral transformed into the Queen of changelings, and my aunt. The other three guards shed their disguises as well, revealing three armored changeling lieutenants. Aunt Chrissy walked right up to me, and used her magic to bring over a few napkins to try my tears. After doing so, and I’d had a moment to try to block out the remains of my pain, she lowered her head so it was lying next to mine. I turned my head to face her head on, though mine was sideways. She smiled cheekily.

“Hello, dear nephew. How are you doing on this fine, bright and sunny day?”

I smiled back at her. 

“Oh you know, just got my ass kicked by Sky, so nothing new really. How are you?”

She chuckled once more. She and I have actually become rather close in the wake of Shadow’s death. In fact, a lot of things changed with her afterwards, even more so after the failed invasion of Canterlot. She became kinder to members of her family and her hive. She no longer enslaves changelings to make her forces stronger, and any ling still in the hive is there of their own free will. She released the changeling she had once forced into it, and even somehow managed to repair any of the ones that suffered some kind of mental damage as best she could. She’s grown as a ruler to her kind, making sure their needs are met as best as they could. 

It also helps when I single hoofedly feed a majority of the hive with enough emotion to last them about 6 months. 

She is still, however, kind of a bitch when it comes to dealing with other races, especially with most other ponies. There are very few exceptions for ponies she’ll tolerate, Sky shock being one of them, and even then, it’s only because of how close the two of us are and how protective he is over me and vice versa. She also still holds a bit of a grudge against the Crystal rulers, but eh. Can’t win them all.

“I’m doing well, nephew. As is the hive. We’ll last another two and a half months before we need another feeding.” I smiled, happy to hear they were still doing well after everything. “But you know as well as I that that’s not why I’m here.”

I sighed at that one, figuring it would come to this. “I know, aunty. I’m in bit of a… Well the only word that comes to mind is ‘shitstorm’. Yes, I’m in a bit of a shitstorm here.”

“You and your foul language.” She chuckled while shaking her head a little.

“Hey, it’s what makes me who I am. But this just makes me wonder how you even knew about my little situation in the first place?”

“Oh, please, child!” She snorted, rising up and placing a hoof on her sternum. “Give me some credit. I Have very knowledgeable sources that-“

“You have changelings spying on me at all times don’t you?”

She pouted at me. “Just take all of the wind out of my wings, why don’t you… Well, not all the time. Just during certain times of the day, certain times of the night, when you’re eating, washing, using the little colt’s room-“

Right, and this part of the conversation is over.

“SO! Why are you here, exactly?

She smirked that little victorious smirk she like to give me when she knows she won something. I wish I had something to counter that, but at the moment, I didn’t. 

One of these days…

“I am here, nephew, to offer my services. Should you require assistance, just ask one of my lings. We’ll do anything we can to help.”

That’s a fucking trap if I’ve ever seen one.

“What’s the catch?”

Her smirk widened a little. “Why, whatever do you mean?”

Commence eye roll. “Oh please. You and I both know that, family or not, you don’t offer ANYTHING for free. So, what’s the catch?” 

Her smirk turned into a smile.

“Oh, it’s nothing much. Just a little old favor I’ll ask of you at some point in the future. A favor that you’re not allowed to refuse when I ask of it.”

TRAP! IT’S A MOON DAMNED TRAP! PROCEED WITH EXTREME CAUTION!

“It’s always something with you, isn’t it?” I just got a giggle in response. I rolled my eyes again. “I’ve a few questions for you. How’s your knowledge on soul magic?”

Chrysalis lost her smile. Actually she straight up frowned. “Unfortunately, not as in depth as I’d like it to be. Why?” 

“I was wondering if you could research some kind of spell that might be able to purge a soul-based parasite. Think you can find something? I’m kinda…” I motioned to my restraints, “tied up at the moment.”

“I’ll get some of my top changeling on it, and have some scouts search the equestrian libraries, and a few more obscure locations. I’ll get back to you on whatever I find.”

I nodded as best I could with a small smile. “Thanks aunty.”

She smiled back at me and leaned forward, placing a small peck on my forehead. “You’re quite welcome, my nephew. Just remember, you now owe me an irrefutable favor.”

Shit.

I just sighed, and nodded. Chrysalis giggled once more, then turned and started walking back to her post, but as she did, I was suddenly struck by a large amount of pheromones that brought a slight haze to my mind. I tried to shake it off, but my gaze was instantly drawn to my queen, who looked at me over her shoulder.

“By the way, nephew, I’ve been meaning to ask.” She shook her backside at me a little, drawing my gaze there. “Do you still find me-“

“Sexy as hell- STOP THAT!”

Immediately after the words left my mouth, the pheromones were just gone, and Chrysalis was nearly doubled over laughing at her prank. Sky just sat there chuckling behind one of his hoofs. For a while now, every so often whenever we met, she’d do that to me. Hit me with a burst of her pheromones them make me comment on her allure or sex appeal. 

And she’s been doing it since I was a teenager.

ONE OF THESE DAYS…

Suddenly, everyone in the room turned towards the door when we felt the emotions (or heard them coming in sky’s case) of multiple beings coming towards my rom. We thought it must be Fluttershy and Spike returning. Chrysalis turned to me briefly and spoke. 

“Looks like visiting hours are over.”

Then, with a series of wing buzzes and clicks, chirps and chitters, she resumed her post near the door, and every changeling in the room, sans myself, turned back into a thestral guard. Sky laid back down, resuming his previous position before the others left. Moments later, Fluttershy and Spike came back in. Fluttershy took her spot next to the window, and Spike climbed back up on the bed. I smiled at him, and he smiled back. Before anyone could say anything however, I saw Princess Luna step halfway back into the room. She looked over at me and gave me a small smile, but it dropped entirely when she turned and looked right at the guard standing post at the door.

She looked right at my disguised aunt.

Red flag! Red Flag!

“Guard, would you come with me for a moment? I have a task for you.”

Every changeling in the room except Chrysalis tensed up slightly, myself included, but my aunt kept her composure and never broke character. She saluted at Luna, responded with a ‘yes, Princess, and followed Luna out. The door closed lightly, but to me and the other changelings, it was like the slam of a cage and we were locked in. Now normally, this wouldn’t have been such a bad thing, Luna asking a guard to complete a task for her. What made each of us panic was the pure unfiltered suspicion and distrust we all tasted off of her when she addressed the disguised changeling queen, that told us everything we needed to know.

She knew. 

I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but she knew exactly who that was. I was officially completely terrified for my aunt’s safety now. She’s still considered a fugitive by Equestria and the Empire. And I couldn’t do anything to help her in my condition.

Dammit! To any benevolent gods or deities out there who might be listening, please, please don’t let anything bad happen to her!

Hm hm hm hm…. Nothing will save her now…

YOU CAN FUCK RIGHT OFF!!!





Chrysalis knew she was in deep manure. She, like the other changelings, tasted the emotions of the princess she was currently following. She knew the lunar alicorn knew who she really was. She could do nothing about it at all, however. She couldn’t perform a shift, she couldn’t risk fighting back, not without exposing herself and placing her nephew, and her hive, in further danger. She had used to the hive mind to calm down the changeling in shadows room and ensure that they kept him safe, despite their wishes to protect her. She was adamant in her decision, however, and made a decree that should anything happen to her, they were to Take Shadow and flee to the hive as swiftly and as quietly as possible.

She was not going to risk bringing harm to him, not after what she did all those years ago.

The changeling queen had promised herself, and her diseased sister, that she would always do her best to look out for her little nephew. While she had offered to allow him into her hive mind to keep an eye on his mental state, he had refused, saying he didn’t want to be a part of that, that he wanted the privacy of his mind to stay private. After he lost his parents and briefly lost his mind, she almost decided to force him into it anyway, but upon meeting and speaking with Sky about it, he convinced her to leave him be, and that he would try to help his brother first. If he ended up unable to help, or Shadow’s mind spiraled further out of control, then she would be free to step in. Shadow was incredibly lucky that Sky was able to help him recover, but to this day, that agreement remains intact.

It was a conversation Chrysalis and Sky had that Shadow never learned about.

Chrysalis was brought out of her thoughts when Luna opened a door to a room and walked in. With no other choice, she followed the Princess in, the door closing behind her. Chrysalis felt magic behind her, and turned just in time to see a blue glow fade from the door.

‘Locked in’, she thought. ‘Well… at least they’re being civil… for the moment.’  She turned back around to take in the rest of the room.

It was a simple sitting room, with two long couches on either side of a table with a glass tea set ready and waiting. There were no windows in the room, nor any other entrances or exits. The room was sparsely furnished besides that, but that’s not what really drew her attention.
It was the other Alicorn occupying the room that did.

Princess Celestia sat there, facing Chrysalis as she sipped from a cup being held in her hooves. She was no longer injured as far as the eye could see, with the exception of her horn, which was still covered in bandages. Luna walked over and sat next to her, before her horn lit up and she poured herself a cup of tea. Celestia set hers down and then motioned a hoof to the couch across from them.

“Please, have a seat. There is much we need to discuss…”

A pause.

“Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings.”

The mentioned queen frowned, before shedding her disguise in a powerful flash of green and black flames. Soon, the changeling queen stood tall and proud, and to the surprise of both princesses, she looked healthy. Not malnourished, nor did she sport any holes in her body anywhere. Her horn, while still crooked and bent, also lacked holes in it. 

Keeping her eyes narrowed on the princesses, she cautiously approached the offered couch and relaxed on it. Princess Luna poured another cup of tea and offered it to the queen, and Chrysalis accepted it with her own magic. After taking a small sip, she lowered it slightly before speaking.

“So… What is it we’re here to discuss exactly?” She had to stay calm, and play nice with these ponies. One wrong move, one wrong word, and Shadow might be in danger, more so than he already is.

“We’re here to discuss how to deal with a problem of ours.” Princess Celestia spoke in a calm and calculative voice, but Chrysalis had been at this game just as long as the Solar alicorn.

Luckily for them both, the third member in their little group had little patience for these games and decided to get straight to the point.

“Queen Chrysalis,” Princess Luna had a small hint of something in her voice when she spoke, almost like…

‘A plea… is she…?’

Taking a deep breath, she looked the queen in the eye.

“We would like to formally request your assistance in helping cure your nephew, Shadow Flare, of his current ailment.”

There was silence for a very long time in the room as Chrysalis stared at Luna. During that time, she did her best to sense the emotions the smaller alicorn was trying to suppress. But Chrysalis was a master of hunting emotions, and what Luna tried to hide Chrysalis dug up with ease.

But there was one emotion that was buried so deeply in her, it was entirely possible even the Lunar Princess didn’t know it was there.

‘Oh, my, what’s this? Is that what I think it is?’ With a mental chuckle, the Queen silently mused to herself. ‘Well then, I suppose Sky was right. When they fall…’

On the outside, Chrysalis slowly grew a smile on her face, her fangs poking through nicely. There was an opportunity here for her and her kind, and she was not about to waste it.

“Let’s begin negotiations, then, shall we Princesses?”