Equestria Delivery

by JLB


CHAPTER ZERO: Exposed. THE END.


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April 3rd, 1002 AD NM - 11:49 AM
Canterlot, Equestria
Donut Joe’s Bar

An athletic yellow pegasus mare rocked in her chair, pushing against the table leg with a hind hoof. Sitting opposite her at the table was a lean marble white earth pony stallion, who tapped one of his forehooves against the table, keeping his eyes at the watch on his hoof. He passed another hoof through his curly blonde hair and shook his head.

“Could you have found a lousier place to pass the time?” the mare asked. “I swear, this is just sad. I could have leisurely walked to the palace and back by now, Pillbox.”

“You’re awful jittery today. If I didn’t know you any better, I’d have thought you were excited for the wedding,” the stallion replied, sighing. “It’s a big deal, after all.”

“No need to remind me.” The pegasus stretched her wings and groaned loudly. She stared at a waiter that passed by. “Heard enough buzz all about it, If you get what I mean.”

“Show me a pony who hasn’t, Roadrunner. We just need to sit tight until the spicy elements roll into action.”

A pair of armored guards cantered by, clopping loudly against the cobbled road. The mare winced and rubbed her temples. With a muffled whine, she stopped rocking her chair and sat down on her haunches, her forehooves drooping down.

“I don’t like weddings. I’d rather be anywhere else. You know I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t…” Roadrunner rolled her eyes. “...invited.”

“While I get your distaste of weddings, I’m thinking there’s more to your case of jittery blues. Come on now, I’m a doctor.” Pillbox met the mare’s sharp gaze with one of his own. Roadrunner tilted her head and scrunched her mouth. “As much as you are an athlete, Road, yes. For a long while now. It’s the doping again, isn’t it?”

“Doping, huh?” The mare raised an eyebrow and perked up her ears. Eventually, her eyes widened and she nodded repeatedly. “Ah, yeah, yeah, uh, that. Look, you talk about it like… Urrrgh. I haven’t been doping. That’s the problem. My body, it ain’t liking this, not one bit.”

“That’s just how it works. You get used to the effects, and when they go away, it’s worse than when you began. There’s a reason it’s…” Pillbox paused, scratching his cheek. “A bit of a no-no. I know I wouldn’t use so much of it in your place. Look where you’re at right now. I bet you would’ve ignored the invitation if the dealer wasn’t there.”

Roadrunner rose from her seat and looked around, scanning the few ponies sitting in the cafe’s small terrace and eating their food. She glanced at the cafe interior, tilting her head, watching waiters roam around. Rolling her eyes, the pegasus flexed her neck and leaned against the railing by the table she and her companion sat at.

“Look at this stupid thing in the sky,” she said, pointing a hoof at the pink bubble that encircled the city. “You know I’d have skipped out. This is a mess.” The pegasus’ ear flicked and she frowned, rubbing the back of her neck. “I mean, you can’t see the sun, you can’t see the clouds, the wind is all filtered or something, and this shade of pink? What sort of fruitcake runs the Royal Guard, anyway?”

“Well, I can’t help but agree here. What a ghastly barrier. I suppose they couldn’t cook up anything better on such short notice.” Pillbox shrugged, also frowning. “What with the mysterious threat against Canterlot and all.”

The pegasus grit her teeth and pushed her hooves into her eyes, shaking her head. She turned to the earth pony and looked him in the eyes, talking quietly out the side of her mouth.

“You know, if I were to attack Canterlot on the day of a Royal Wedding, I’d probably have thought a little better than to let them set up a defensive barrier and get on high alert with guards all over the city,” she said. “I can’t help but feel like this mysterious threat is a little bit stupid and whatever’s being plotted is going to turn into a complete clown show.”

“I see where you’re coming from. You became an athlete to get away from having to take orders, after all.” The stallion raised his hooves and shook his head. “But, come now, once today is over you’ll stop being so glum. Remember, this is all just chemistry. It’s how we are. We see this thing through, as silly as it may be, and we get to move on with our lives. Away from all this unpleasantness.”

Roadrunner took a breath and prepared to speak before abruptly stopping. She hung her head and closed her eyes, taking a couple of seconds to exhale instead. The mare’s wings twitched as she rubbed her forehead.

“You really think so? Because, I mean, think about it. It’s the Royal Wedding. Things will be… different after this. One way or another,” she murmured through her teeth, leaning closer to the stallion. “We’re not going back to business as usual.”

“Maybe we pull our weight and all goes well.” Pillbox nodded and looked back in her eyes. “Remember, there’s still plenty of our acquaintances who arrived on short notice, before the whole commotion with the threat.”

The mare took a short jump away from the railing and stomped toward the cafe window. Squinting at the interior for a short while, she turned back and waved the stallion over with her hoof. He followed, catching the door behind the mare as she stomped in the direction of the cafe’s washroom.

Roadrunner busted through the door and stood in front of the mirror, gritting her teeth and blowing strands of her mane away from her eyes. She looked back and squinted, walking past the cabins, knocking on each, finding them all empty. Pillbox’ voice could be heard from outside as he shouted at a waiter.

The mare was splashing her face with water when the stallion came in, closing the door. He rubbed his chin and nodded his head, a green glow forming around the handle as well as an empty space above his head shaped like a jagged horn.

“Come on, Nexus, don’t do this to me. If you pass out right now, I’ll have to eat this garbage all on my own,” Pillbox said, maintaining his voice, but speaking in a different, sharper tone. “The best we can do here is a drone’s insides. That’s just messed up.”

“Nah, I’m, I’m holding up alright, I’ll live. It’s just that… urgh, my head. Gimme a favor and tell me the truth,” Roadrunner chided, staring at the mirror, droplets falling off her face. “Can you feel her right now? Is she there?”

“It’s… well… It’s been a little tense since she had that shouting match with Shining’s sister last evening.” Pillbox stood to the pegasus’ side and looked at his own reflection. “I could hear her seething in my mind, and I was on the other side of town. I think I felt her order Kinesis, or Phase, to track her down and bring her back, but that unicorn’s not been staying alone.”

“Crap. I thought I was just having a bad dream, with all those voices.” Roadrunner’s voice pitched down, sounding more masculine. “So, what about now?”

“Quieter than before, worse than usual. Spill it if it’s important, we might not have much time.”

“I don’t think I want her to win, Synth. Actually, I think it’s gonna be pretty shit if she does.”

Synth slowly turned to Nexus, his eyebrow raising up. He puffed his cheeks and let out a short raspberry, shaking his head. As the earthen stallion rubbed his face, the pegasus mare sighed.

“Yeah, real surprising coming from me, I know. But don’t lie to yourself, Synth. You’ve lived among these guys for just as long as I have,” the mare said, her masculine, quiet voice reverberating. “I mean, the moon still had a face on it when she sent us out.”

“Lots of time to forget you’re just blending in with future food.” Synth puffed his nostrils and smiled. “Our choices aren’t great. Have plenty of sustenance and feel bad for the rest of your life, or keep pretending to be a pony and survive off scraps.”

“Come on, you’re the only other synaptic with half a brain, you gotta—”

“Nexus... I’d usually smack you on the head for this, but I think you may be right this time around,” Synth said. Nexus exhaled loudly and spun in place, shrugging and flexing the pegasus’ wings. “I’m not liking this at all.”

“Yeah! Finally! For once! If only you’d listened then, Synth.” The pegasus raised a hoof and flexed. “Drinking Chrysalis’ puke so you don’t turn feral is pretty disgusting. I mean, it’s what those dumb drones have in their heads, and it’s clearly nothing pretty.”

“Enough already! Should have known better than to compliment you... The Queen clogging your head is one thing, but you’ve missed out on a whole load of nonsense.” Synth stepped away and shuddered, flexing his neck. “All she ever prattles on about, even to us, is this damn wedding. Her plan’s got more holes than a drone’s leg, but it’s ‘this day is going to be perfect this’ and ‘I’m going to have it all’ that. She has drones down there in the caves, guarding the Princess - drones, not even synaptics! Your pony fascination is pretty stupid, but Queen Chrysalis...”

Nexus raised a wing and turned a faucet on with a hoof. He splashed some water on the pegasus’ face.

“Color me surprised. Look, Synth, this really just makes things better. Things are going to go down soon, no one will miss us,” he spoke in a quick whisper, getting closer to Synth and putting a hoof on his shoulder. “Without this bitch breathing down our necks, without her voice in our heads, we could just… Find a place. Adjust. Live on.”

“Nexus, just because I put myself on the line smuggling you the Queen’s brain juice, all so you can live with the pretty ponies, away from us ugly changelings…” The earthen stallion rolled his eyes and took a step back.

“I’m not saying we get married, moron. I’m saying we - yes, us ugly changelings - find a decent community to keep on living in, and find someone to, y’know, feed us consensually.”

Synth frowned and shut his mouth tight. He paced back and forth between the line of cabins and the mirror, puckering his lip. Nexus approached the door and perked up an ear. After a few moments of listening, he shrugged to himself and returned, staring at Synth. The earth pony groaned.

“Sorry to say, but I’m not seeing how we’re getting away from here with a bubble around the city, and hundreds of Chrysalis’ drones lurking around.”

“Hey, according to you, I’m the resident pony lover - so please believe me when I say we can just talk our way around the guards. And drones, let alone hers?” Nexus spat on the floor. “Worst comes to worst, I can wrench the juice out of their empty heads. Last I checked, I could still get my body into fighting condition.” The pegasus’ hoof briefly turned chitinous, with a sharp, jagged edge, that swiftly grew into a sharp, thin appendage, before fizzling back out.

“Well, damn me, Nexus, you’re a synapse potent changeling. I never knew.”

Nexus groaned and stomped his hoof.

“Come on, what else do we do? Sit around and hope she loses? Find her and kill her?”

“Well, that’d mean one of us has to take over as Monarch.”

“Screw you, Synth. I didn’t bring this up for you to consider it, I brought this up so you came to your senses and joined me in legging it out of here before whatever happens, happens!”

“What crawled up your—” Synth began, before leaning forward and falling down on his knees. He took deep, strangled breaths. His eyes bulged, a light shade of their natural cyan glow emitting from beneath the green eyes of his disguise.

There was a dull hum. A sharp, hissing voice became audible. The pegasus’ ears trembled as she looked around, her breath becoming scarce. The voice was not coming neither from outside the washroom, nor from inside it.

Nexus reached out toward the other changeling before freezing in place. The mare’s mouth quivered. Groaning, he lunged toward the earth stallion and smacked him on the head, which caused the glow to disappear.

“No, not now, not now…” Nexus whispered.

Scrambling against the floor tiles, he bucked at the door and sped out of the cafe. He dragged Synth in his hooves, propelling himself forward with the pegasus’ wings.

“Oh my gosh, do you need a doctor?!” a waitress cried out as the two flew past her.

“SCREW OFF, HE IS A DOCTOR!” Nexus shouted in response, the pegasus mare’s voice blending together with the changeling’s.

Synth started to move in the mare’s hooves when they crossed the street. His eyes glowed again, and his mouth moved as he mumbled under his breath. Nexus pushed through streets, tumbling over pedestrians and nearly running into several carts.

The mare’s eyes darted swiftly, focusing on guards whenever they came into view, which would cause him to change directions and go down alleys, hiding between buildings. Nexus glanced at the bubble in the sky and his grip on Synth loosened, leaving the other synaptic to fall down on the ground of the cul-de-sac they had reached. The pink shield rippled, being banged at by hundreds of small black figures.

The changeling looked ahead, where the city streets were cut off by one of the mountain’s natural drops, and moved to pick Synth back up. The earth pony grit his teeth, through which the changeling fangs were showing. His eyes were shut tight, and his hooves knocked on his head. The hissing voice grew louder.

Nexus was picking him up when armored hoofsteps came from up the road. He paused to look around. He began to raise his forehooves at the Royal Guard approaching the two of them when his eyes rolled back and his knees buckled.

NEXUS the voice hissed directly in his mind. The mare’s mouth moved to coincide with the voice’s speech. GO TO PALACE

The changeling threw his head back, pushing his hooves against his head. The guard paused a short distance away from him. They spoke, their words remaining inaudible over the noise of the voice.

I AM DISCOVERED

OUTNUMBERED

SHE KNOWS

The guard squinted and took a step back, their jaw hanging open. They gasped, staring at the green sparkles coming out of the two changelings’ eyes and mouths, as well as their invisible horns.

GO

Nexus’ lips mimicked the words, distorted, echoing buzzing and clicking coming out of his mouth. Clutching their teeth, the Guard cantered towards him.

AND

The pony stopped in front of the changeling and raised an armored forehoof. They took in a deep breath.


April 3rd, 1002 AD NM - 1:19 PM

KILL. THEM. ALL.

The guard’s breath expired in a wheeze as they fell backwards, Nexus lunging forward with a shrill, reverberating scream. In the fall, the pony’s helmet flew off. Before the grey stallion brought up his hooves to protect his uncovered face, the synaptic was on top of him, drooling cyan saliva and hissing loudly. The changeling’s disguise flickered off, exposing his tall, black chitin frame.

The pony opened up his mouth, only a muffled whimper coming out. He coughed and gurgled, swiping at his throat when Nexus’ sharp foreleg stabbed through it. Blood sprayed all over the changeling’s face and chest, dripping into his open maw and coating his fangs.

The sharp cyan glow of Nexus’ eyes toned down in spurts as he contorted over the dead stallion’s body. His wings buzzed loudly, jittering against his flank. With a moan, he threw himself back, the glowing settling to a lower extent. Rising back up, he stared at the body laying in a puddle of blood, its hooves clinging to its neck, and then at himself, covered in fresh blood. Nexus’ vertical pupils shrunk as he swerved in place, gasping, before vomiting a stream of cyan substance filled with green chunks.

The changeling looked around. There was loud shouting, sounds of armor clanging and magical explosions coming from nearby streets. There was buzzing of changeling wings in the air. The voice’s words kept being distantly repeated, echoing from within all nearby changelings with some delay. The pink bubble over the city was gone, replaced by dozens of dashing black dots with cyan highlights. Synth was nowhere to be found.

His teeth clattering, Nexus galloped toward the city wall and the exit visible a few sloping streets down the quarter. Having made it down a block, he collapsed, his eyes flashing cyan and his mouth opening on its own.

NEXUS

The changeling’s eyes returned to normal when he was halfway down another street, heading in the opposite direction. The Royal Palace’s spires were visible further ahead. A large chunk of the roof of one of the parts was missing, smoke coming from within. Nexus’ hooves ground to a halt, scraping against the cobblestone.

His eyes darted around. Drones flew above the street, circling a small number of pegasus guards. Up the block, at the crossroads, two guards were holding off a large pack of over a dozen drones. Civilian ponies scampered around, running for the nearby buildings - shops, houses and cafes.

A pony ran out of a diner he stopped by, nearly running into him. She screamed, staring at his bloodstained chitinous hide, and immediately darted back in. Nexus shook, his eyes glowing brighter again, and followed her into the building. Shouting followed immediately. Ponies gathered behind a single guard, who stomped their hoof and pointed at Nexus, shouting.

P A I N

The changeling’s hooves dug into the floor tiles as his neck tilted and his wings buzzed. He grit his teeth, hissing. The lights in his eyes fluctuated. He began to approach the guard, moving his hooves little by little, his entire body tensing up. Nexus’ head shook when the pony took a step back and began to charge at him.

The changeling’s body swerved, dodging the guard, hitting their side with an elbow as they passed him by. The guard’s armor clanged against the floor tiles. Nexus hopped on top of them and dribbled bits of synapse on their face, his jagged hoof raised and shuddering in the air. When the pony began to wrestle from underneath him, the changeling groaned loudly and brought his hoof down, the bladed end scratching the helmet.

As his forehoof made the impact, Nexus’ eyes returned to normal, the jagged end softening back to normal. Letting out a hissing growl, he grabbed the guard’s head, raised it close to his face, and stared in the stallion’s eyes, puffing his nostrils. His horn lit up, and his pupils widened, before being replaced with the guard’s, as well as the rest of his body. The magic began to fizzle as it formed the suit of armor around his chest and hooves, creating replicas that lacked the ornaments.

Before the pony continued struggling, Nexus smashed this helmeted head against the floor, repeating several times before the guard cried out and began trying to put his hooves up. The changeling jumped off, leaving the guard stretched on the floor, clutching his head. Nexus tilted his head, locks of a grey mane falling onto the side of his head, and approached the guard again, kicking him in the abdomen and grabbing the helmet.

The changeling looked back at the civilians huddled in the corner, who looked on shaking all over, their jaws hanging off. Several of them shouted as he looked, one pony barreling through the diner’s window with a lengthy screech. Nexus scowled, put on the helmet and ran for the staff door. Making it inside, he knocked away a loudly screaming pony in an apron who thrust at him with a broom, and climbed onto the roof through a maintenance staircase.

THE COURTYARD

His disguise flickered temporarily, shifting through images of the grey guard, the changeling, and the yellow pegasus. He waddled to the railing and peered over the diner’s sign. The palace, several streets away, was surrounded by a swarm of drones, which was continuously holed through by magical bursts of varying color. The guards that were not tied in combat with drones were rallying in its direction. A few straggled, staying with civilians as they hid inside buildings and alleyways. Teleport spells fizzled and popped all around, percussing through the steady buzz of changeling wings and loud shouting.

Nexus cracked his neck and took a running start, leaping on to the roof of a building across the street. His wings beat, appearing through cracks that had fizzled into the armor. It sealed itself back as he ran onward, crossing the shorter gaps between buildings with regular jumps. The short, two-story buildings stretched in the palace’s direction with only occasional alleyways in between. The changeling’s eyes darted around, locking onto guards below and the occasional pegasi flying by. He continued undetected above the fighting on the ground.

When he approached the end of the block, the buzzing of wings got louder, culminating in a group of three hissing drones lowering their altitude and circling around him. Nexus planted his hooves in place and bent down, the silhouette of his horn glowing in thin air. The drones floated motionless for a moment before their blank eyes began to glow. They twitched and set off towards the palace.

One remained in the air, setting down in front of Nexus when the others flew away.

HER FRIENDS HOLD US BACK

The changeling shouted in the pony’s voice and rushed the drone. The momentum took both their bodies off the roof and onto the street, creating a loud, wet, clangy impact as the drone was crushed between his weight and the cobblestones.

I HAD CONTROL

After flexing his limbs after the impact, he smashed its skull with a hoof and shuddered as the vapor of the drone’s leaking synapse passed into his body. Several voices picked up in near vicinity, Nexus spinning in their direction. Exhaling, he saluted with a synapse-covered hoof at a pair of cheering guards, before taking off up towards the center of fighting.

Having barreled through a railing in the alleyway, he paused and rubbed his chest with a synapse-stained hoof. The synapse disappeared, and the changeling shuddered again, swiftly licking his lips. He gulped and moved onward, before stumbling over and clutching his head, his disguise flickering.

NEXUS

The changeling growled and threw himself at the walls, kicking against the ground. Nexus’ eyes rolled back as he settled in one place. He bit his lower lip, creating trinkles of simulated blood when it switched back to the guard. Nexus took slow, deep breaths, and put a hoof forward.

I AM IN PAIN

He was galloping up a street. The sharp chitin on his forehooves clattered against the stones. cyan drool dribbled out of his open maw. His eyes refocused moments before impacting a backpedaling guard, and his own guard visage reappeared, putting simulated armor in ahead of impact. The mare he rammed into was launched back, hitting a light post with her head, bending the pole.

Nexus spat on the ground and groaned. He spun his head, backing away from the pony as she recovered. The road he stood on sloped upwards past the damaged light post, crowded with civilians scampering to get to the top. No more guards appeared in the vicinity. The sounds of fighting were louder, the buzzing of drones having become a consistent, low-pitched hum, interspersed with hissing, chittering and clicking. Piercing loud magical explosions sounded off in the near distance.

As the female guard began to get up, the changeling turned around and bucked her in the abdomen, the simulated armored horseshoe of another guard leaving a dent in her chest plate. The pony yelped in pain and went into a coughing fit. She remained on the ground, clutching her chest, as the changeling backed away, his disguise fading away.

Nexus headed for a wide alley, wheezing and shaking. Luminescent slime oozed out of his half-opened mouth. He raised his head, squinting at the shape of the Palace visible beyond the small houses, shops and gardens ahead. An entire tower was missing, the white marble charred with smoke. Drones swarmed around the remaining walls and turrets. Colored flashes of spells cast off on the walls and gleamed off the armor of guards. A loud, reverberating, chittering feminine screech came from the palace grounds, continuing to echo despite Nexus putting hooves over his ear holes. The synaptic gurgled and vomited out a brief cyan stream.

As he cleared his throat, he froze. A trio of guards skidded to a halt, having entered the alley from the other side. The two earth ponies stayed in place with their own mouths hanging open, while the unicorn took a second before crying out and pointing at Nexus. Her horn began to light up. The changeling spat out the last of his vomit and nearly instantly flashed into the yellow pegasus. He took up into the air when the unicorn’s projectile passed through where he used to stand.

Speeding upwards with the mare’s wings, the changeling crossed the street the guards came running from, flying over the horde of glow-eyed drones. The mare’s ears twitched when the changeling passed her eyes over the figure at the back of the drones. He squinted at the royal guard that stood at the back of the horde, surrounded by the bodies of several others. After a moment, the guard was replaced by a bulky synaptic covered all over in blood.

Nexus scowled and shook his head, turning towards the palace. Flapping the mare’s wings, he made it to a large garden. Drones swarmed in the air, most flying past, some stopping and hissing at the pegasus mare before being shoved or bucked out of the way. Another loud feminine cry came from the palace, this time a pony’s. Nexus grit his teeth and sighed, flying onwards.

A tight formation of absent-faced drones with bright glowing eyes flew straight at him, ignoring the pegasus’ movement as she dove underneath them. Upon rising, the changeling froze, his eyes peering through the disguise with a bright cyan light.

aaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The first scream echoed back. The pegasus’ body plummeted down into the garden, as did the bodies of multiple other synaptics. They all shouted, copying the piercing voice.

chhhiiilllDDDREEEEEENNN

Nexus’ pegasus body hit a massive, thick lilypad floating in the garden’s pond, submerging him briefly before floating back out. The glow of his eyes flickered off as he gasped and rolled around. His slit pupils darted back and forth, staring at the sky, while the pegasus’ body heaved and shuddered. Voices of ponies emerged from the shore, a few meters away, blending together as they turned to shouting. Nexus propped himself up, finding balance on the floating pad, and began to unfurl the pegasus’ wings before his jaw hung off and his eyes rolled back.

...Ikrix...Pulse...Spire...Kinesis...Hornet...Phase…

He was hammering his hooves against the wet soil, luminescent drool dripping from his fangs. Pausing, Nexus moved his head, his eyes following with a delay. He stared at a civilian pony laying on the grass in front of him. They were crawling away, leaving a small trail of blood that poured out of their broken nose. Nexus choked and swayed, unsteadily stepping to the side, stumbling as his body flickered between disguises. The ponies’ voices began to distance as he barreled into the garden proper.

He dodged armored silhouettes that reoccured between the trees, running between thickly placed trees. Groups of ponies populated open spaces, with guards staying at the perimeter. The racket and calls for alarm dropped in volume as the garden grew thicker. With an echoing gasp, they disappeared, overshadowed by the voice.

...AsphyxShiftIrisThoraxSearinoxParallaxPolistaeSpecula…

Nexus pulled his foreleg out of a tree trunk. The leg’s sharp, jagged end tore through the wood, releasing with a crack. He raised his scythe-like forelegs to his face and rolled his eyes, gurgling. His mouth moved, following the voice. The changeling squinted and huffed, shaking all over, and his forelegs reverted back.

Getting up and moving towards the sounds of battle, Nexus cleared the thick, dark grove, stumbling through swarms of fireflies and swatting away moths. Narrowly avoiding walking into a tree, the changeling looked up at the sun, obscured by hundreds of drones. Slowly, he began to backpedal, and as another scream began to sound off, he started into a gallop through the grove, running back into the garden’s depth.

...larvacyanincendrixsynthliqoimagocorpus…

The changeling stood on the roof of a building overlooking the palace square. His nostrils puffed. A tight group of drones surrounded him, their eyes glowing, along with his horn. The palace grounds were visible down below, with hedges and fences being scaled by charging drones. A clearing was situated near the smoking hole that lead to the palace proper.

Nexus’ pupils dilated as he scanned past a small number of armored guards at the outer edges. His mouth watered and he began to hiss, staring at five ponies contained within the clearing. The changeling’s breath ran ragged, his chitin emitting a squeak as he slowly turned himself away from the scene. With a breath and a muffled moan, he bashed a nearby drone, hammering its head with his hooves before its synapse spilled on the ground. Nexus gulped before biting into the glowing neural cortex, and sucked it up, sputtering and coughing, the hot liquid burning at his chitin.

The glow of his horn faded, and his eyes turned to normal, while the voice faded away. The changeling charged through the drones and took flight, speeding to the nearby platform that opened into a sheer drop down Canterlot’s mountainous base.

...pharynxdopplemiasma N E X U S

Nexus stumbled backwards, pulling his foreleg out of a guard’s neck. Loud clattering, clanging and growling surrounded the area. The changeling swayed on unsteady legs, his eyes going from the fresh blood covering his body to the corpse on the ground. Multiple other guards behind it were being beaten down by a horde of drones. Nexus began to back away as shrill wailing mixed in with the clanging and hissing. He walked into a deformed hedge figure.

A synaptic walked up to Nexus and stared at him. Their eyes were glowing bright cyan, obscuring the pupils. They stayed in place for a moment, their mane flowing in the wind generated by magical blasts. When Nexus began to back away, their wide open eyes abruptly turned into a frown, and they shoved him away with a snarl. The changeling flailed, rolling a short distance after losing balance. Rising and looking up, he shuddered, his eyes taking on the cyan glow. He lay on the ground in front of the clearing.

An orange earth pony, coated in sweat and bleeding from several cuts, bucked away drones, knocking rows away with each kick. A pink earth pony dashed from side to side in a blur, pushing drones into cyan magical bursts released by synaptics, some of the blasts burning through her puffy mane. In the sky above, a blue pegasus sped around groups of aerial drones, at least several dozen following her. At the broken palace steps, a yellow pegasus fluttered over Shining Armor. His eyes darted sporadically, scanning past several surrounded guards, landing briefly on a purple burst of magic hitting the wall within the palace.

In the middle, a smaller white unicorn, a mare, stood in place with her head held high, her teeth grinding, bleeding through her nose. Her horn shone with a subtle blue aura, which went into the transparent field around the ponies, upon entering which the drones lost momentum and opened themselves up. Nexus winced as multiple drones were launched over where he lay. Taking a sharp breath, he stopped a nearby drone and supported himself with its back before kicking it into the barrier.

Within the palace, Queen Chrysalis’ body smashed into the wall, oozing green and cyan out of gaping wounds. Nexus crouched and squinted, looking first at the mares in the field, then at his forelegs.

NEXUS.

He jumped in place, bright cyan light bursting through his eyes, nostrils, mouth and ear holes. Coming back down, his body contorted, a distorted, echoing guffaw coming out of his wide open mouth. His knees bent, bringing his chest to the ground. The flashing light taking over his eyes sent the pupils in and out of dilation. When a new wave of drones rushed at the mares, his horn was set alight, and Rainbow Dash’s visage came over his body.

The pegasus’ hind hoof kicked at the ground and her wings flapped hard. There was a shrieking cry in her voice. Rainbow Dash’s body avoided the trajectory the real Rainbow Dash was at, knocking down several flying drones on its way. It neared the center of the clearing.

The pegasus’ teeth ground together, fangs phasing through, dribbling with shining saliva. Down below, Rarity’s eyes turned to the changeling. The unicorn tilted her head and took a step back, mouthing inaudibly. The blue aura faltered for a second, and the pegasus’ body moved to point its hind hooves at her. Rarity’s eyes darted, following the multicolor blur of the real Rainbow Dash. While she shouted, the changeling darted towards her.

The field reappeared, slowing his descent, but the remaining speed was enough for the impact to launch the unicorn several meters away. As the barrier disappeared entirely, Rainbow Dash got up on her hooves and emitted distorted huffs, stomping past Applejack, who struggled with a drone on her back. There was a long, high-pitched noise as smoke filled the clearing, coming from where Pinkie Pie rolled on the ground with a large hole burned in her mane. Fluttershy’s voice picked up in the distance as she left Shining Armor and ran towards Rarity. The disguise fizzled off Nexus’ body.

Rarity was crawling back when the changeling leapt on top of her. His eyes ceased flickering for a moment while he raised his forehoof. The mare’s voice cracked as she stared at him, shaking her head and putting up shaking hooves. In a cyan blur, the changeling’s forehoof grew into a scythe-like appendage.

Nexus looked away when it stabbed through the mare’s chest, coming out the other end. It struck with enough force to get lodged into the ground. With a heavy quake and a nearby hissing scream, the light in his eyes went away.

He spun his neck, tracking the others while pulling at the foreleg lodged in the ground, when a gust of wind hit him in the face. It was paired with a bright blue flash, which persisted for a few moments before dying down. The wind did the same, with the changeling’s body rising into the air, only kept attached by his leg in the ground. Nexus grunted, shielding his face with the free hoof. When he landed back on the unicorn’s corpse and opened his eyes, both the drones and the mares were gone.

The palace was in ruins. Within, Shining Armor stood on kneeling legs, his horn charred and fizzling. Nexus lost breath and froze in place when he looked at Queen Chrysalis, whose bleeding, smoking body was pressed into a wall. He began to heave and wheeze in unison with her. His eyes shrunk, trembling, like Chrysalis’ did.

...Cadence..” Nexus’ mouth moved, silently repeating her words. His lips and tongue grazed over Rarity’s dead body. “...Don’t do this, or she…

“Where is—” Shining Armor’s voice echoed in, both from the distance, and from within Nexus’ head. “Where is she? Answer me!”

“Don’t even listen to her!” a younger mare screamed loudly. Nexus’ mouth went into a heavy scowl when Twilight Sparkle stomped closer to Queen Chrysalis’ pinned body. “She has done nothing but lie! Look at what her army is doing - we can’t stand for this!”

...She is hidden…” Nexus coughed up green slime that did not originate in his throat. “...My children, I won’t be able to…

Nexus winced and whined, shaking and bending his spine. In the palace, Chrysalis slid down from the imprint she left in the wall, a smoking scorch mark in the center of her cracked green chest plate.

“Listen. To. Me!” Twilight Sparkle’s voice reverberated through the area, and within his thoughts. “I refuse to be fooled by you, not any longer! None of us will! You lied, you cheated, you stole my brother’s love and you wanted Equestria all for yourself! Your let your changelings rampage through this city like wild animals - but we beat you! My friends are out there, fighting your army, getting hurt because of you! I did not fall for your tricks back when I first saw you, and I will not do it again!”

The changeling struggled to pull at the leg lodged within Rarity’s body. It only moved a few inches, leaving him shuddering in place while mimicking the Queen’s movements. A tall, dark blue figure walked closer to Twilight Sparkle, Shining, and Chrysalis. The alicorn looked away from the Queen and stared at Nexus.

“Twilight? Oh no, Twilight, your friends—” Princess Luna raised her voice, her words layering over themselves in Nexus’ head. Twilight had by then begun screaming into Queen Chrysalis’ face.

“You… wanted to turn my friends away from me! Just like Discord did! You’re… just as bad as him! You’re WORSE!” Nexus winced at the shrieking volume of the mare’s voice. Princess Luna looked away from him and began to pull at Twilight’s side. The purple mare swatted her away. Nexus’ carapace moistened from the mare’s heavy breathing against Chrysalis’ snout. “Me and my friends can find Cadence without your help. You… What you did… My brother, this city… Ponies have died! My friends could have been killed!”

“Twilight—” Luna began, never finishing.

“...Stupid pony, you don’t understand, my army...”

Twilight Sparkle smashed her forehoof into Queen Chrysalis’ face and backed away, panting. Luna was silent, supporting Shining, who half-sat, bleeding. Princess Celestia cautiously approached the unicorn from the back.

“What you don’t understand is that unlike your awful hive, Equestria is a wholesome unity, made up of wonderful individuals!” The mare stopped, taking a breath. A brief, choked sob reverberated in Nexus’ mind. “Like my friends - and you thought you could turn them away from me! But you, you are EVIL!”

Nexus’ pupils filled his irises when Twilight’s horn lit up brightly, and a concentrated purple beam hit Chrysalis in the face. The Queen’s head split open, letting the beam reach her neural cortex. The changeling’s body twisted as bright cyan light came out of every orifice.

There was a blazing, flaring black flash and a scratching, roaring whir of wind. A stallion shouted loudly, getting cut off when an explosion went off in the palace. Pieces of debris flew through the air. The overwhelming black flash changed color in rapid bursts, green tentacle formations taking it over. The changeling’s body rose into the air, Rarity’s corpse being moved slightly on the ground.

When the spell went out, the city was quaking.

Nexus lay on top of the dead mare for a short time, unmoving. Then, he shook and let out a long, drawn-out series of growling clicking noises. His forehoof returned to its normal shape, the soil it was stuck in spreading out. His orifices lit up with a bright green light. Many other green lights came from all around, seconded with more clicking and growling.

Rearing and buzzing his wings, Nexus spread his saliva and stared at the ponies within the palace with blank eyes. The purple mare was sitting on her haunches with her hooves around her head. Between her and the Queen’s headless corpse was the white stallion, whose front was charred to the bone. Nexus reared and hissed as the purple mare’s horn lit up, followed by a long, wailing shriek.

He galloped back, running over Fluttershy’s mangled body, and joining a large mass of hissing, growling, salivating changelings that radiated green.

A thick purple orb landed in his wake, scorching a number of feral drones and leaving a crater in the ground. He weaved through the feral changelings, bypassing a tight circle that was ripping into the pink earth pony. Twilight’s screaming blended into hers, before Pinkie Pie’s cut out. Nexus skidded to a halt, watching the next projectile. His blank eyes passed briefly over the mare’s body being torn in half, with a dense group of drones hammering their hooves against it on both sides.

The green light in his eyes weakened for a moment, temporarily flickering cyan, before returning. He ran further away before another spell burned a path through the drones.

The changeling vaulted over the fence and landed on the back of two drones bashing a dead guard’s head into the road. He buzzed his wings, getting up, and shoved his way through a tight string of feral drones.

His neck spun to the side, and he followed in that direction. He rammed through drones that gathered near a crater in the wall of a building. Rainbow Dash gradually dislodged herself from the imprint, falling down on the ground and coughing up blood. Nexus ran off before the mare was swarmed.

He whimpered, his blood-stained hooves briefly budging. Gurgling, he shook his head and grabbed the nearest drone, which flared bright green in his face. Nexus shut his eyes and threw it down as it wrestled against his grip. He brought his hind hoof down on its face, tilting sideways when it landed multiple blows against his legs and flank. Its head cracked.

Nexus scowled and choked down a whine while removing the rest of its cranial carapace. The green lights began to come back on, but he bit into the drone’s cortex and sucked at the steaming liquid. The liquid itself had turned green.

Nexus backed out once the cortex had run dry, the glow failing to return. A feral synaptic stood in front of him as he rose from the ground, staring with blank, shining eyes, while his mane moved in the air. The feral changeling breathed deep, puffing his nostrils and slowly tilting his head.

Nexus backpedaled when the synaptic began to bare his fangs and growl. He mouthed to himself as his eyes passed over Applejack’s corpse that lay behind the feral synaptic, surrounded by several dead drones. Nexus suppressed a gurgle welling in his throat and turned around, slipping through a row of drones that scuttled in the wake of another feral synaptic.

The other changeling’s dark green magical burst thinned them out, burning into the pony herself. The next moment, a massive purple beam burst through the fence, disintegrating the entire line of drones and leaving a gaping hole in a building.

While Nexus navigated the feral horde, shoving and kicking away thrashing drones, he made distance from Twilight’s magical assault. Chittering, clicking, growling, snapping bones and tearing flesh drowned out the mare’s sharp, wailing screeches and booming bursts of magic. Two more voices were audible before little else was audible on Nexus’ end of the street, where a crossroads was fully packed with drones, which picked apart bodies of several guards and civilian ponies situated in the middle.

His knees occasionally budging, he slipped past multiple synaptics, which clicked and growled, drones halting and moving after them whenever they came close. Breathing through his teeth, Nexus forced himself through the tight, rapidly contorting herds. Near a flower store at the corner of the palace-side street, two herds bumped into one another, leading to the synaptics at their charge leaping at each other.

Nexus took a step back as they fired their horns, dark green blasts hitting in all directions. He lit up his own horn, the pegasus’ disguise beginning to appear, before fizzling out. Hissing, the changeling buzzed his wings and ascended the roof of the store, grabbing onto parts of the decor with his hooves. When he looked down, one of the synaptics was kicking at the other’s face, distorted laughs blending into the noises they made. The dead synaptic’s herd joined theirs. Nexus winced.

There were fewer feral changelings in the streets further away from the palace. Surviving royal guards held alleys and buildings, groups of drones funneling into chokepoints and battering at the armored ponies. Pegasus guards dashed across the skies, heading to different parts of the city. A large shadow passed over Nexus as he jumped across rooftops. He looked up and followed the route of a pegasus-pulled convoy of empty chariots. It was heading to the palace, while more similar convoys were visible in the distance, aiming for other parts of the city.

The changeling paused and bit his lip. He let out a stifled whine and cleared his throat, resting his hooves on the edge of the roof. Almost immediately, he crouched, putting only the top of his head over the railing. A short distance down the road, a thick crowd of ponies grouped together at the remains of a marketplace. Pegasi with binoculars floated above them, while earth pony and unicorn guards held at the perimeter, some taking cover behind destroyed stalls. Most of the crowd were civilian ponies, which remained in the center of the marketplace. One of the pegasi turned around, pointing at an arch with a hoof and talking. Nexus leaned in closer, watching in the direction the guard pointed.

A half dozen guards emerged from under the arch, escorting more civilians. They were stopped before being able to join the crowd, the two groups of guards beginning to talk over one another. Three fillies ran out of their escort, rushing to the marketplace guards. They shouted, a white blank flank unicorn being the loudest and most audible.

“We need to get back, please! My sister is in there, I won’t leave without—” the filly screamed, eventually being cut off as all three were immediately dragged into the bigger crowd. The other civilians and the guards bunched up together, trying to get in as well.

“Everypony, calm down! Foals go first! Then the mares, then everyone else!” a magically amplified order came from the side of the market.

Nexus breathed in and shut his eyes, bending down and grunting. His horn sparked sporadic green sparks, his visage blurring for a moment. The blur persisted for a second before fading off, his body staying the same.

“So much for Roadrunner…” the changeling mumbled and spat on the ground.

After pacing back and forth for a short while, he jumped down the building and headed to a parallel street. Shortly after he made it into the alley, another group of guards and civilians made their way through. Nexus hid behind the corpse of a guard that was stuck in a synapse web. The changeling clicked and gurgled, putting his hooves to his mouth, but continued after gulping down and breathing in.

Nexus’ eyes widened as he snuck through on to the street. It was vacant of guards or changelings, with dead bodies nearly everywhere. Drones piled up on bodies of guards, liquifying into steaming green synapse. Mangled corpses of regular ponies were strewn around, some of them dismembered. Nexus jumped when a magical burst sounded off up the street. A long-haired synaptic stood near a building, ponies huddled by the closed doors. Green bolts fired from his horn seared through the bodies of drones that followed him.

Nexus flexed his shoulders and exhaled, descending the street, his hooves clicking against the stones as he avoided stepping on corpses. His eyes darted, scanning the bodies. Clicking his tongue and frowning, the changeling bent to the ground, turning over a few ponies that were left laying face down. The shadow of an escort carriage passed over the street, heading in the direction of the marketplace. Nexus stomped his hoof and left the gashed, disfigured corpses behind.

The street led into a small plaza, which proceeded into a steep set of stairs. The fountain in its middle continued to work, washing over the bodies of a guard and a synaptic. Nexus cantered inside, passing through an archway. He jumped over a large piece of debris left from a collapsed statue to the entrance’s side, immediately scanning the area for bodies. Taking a step back, he nearly tripped, as a soft object nearly gave way under his hoof.

Looking behind, Nexus stopped. He eyed the body of a light purple, blonde unicorn filly, which lay face down, mainly intact, save for its lower half being buried underneath rubble. The changeling breathed slowly, fangs biting into the chitin of his lips. He emitted a low hum, going into a low, whistling moan. Grimacing, Nexus pulled at the filly’s mane, looking at her face, which suffered no damage safe for bruises and the blood around her snout.

“Oh, fuck me...” he muttered after a gulp. “This is how it’s gotta be, huh?”

Nexus spread his shoulders, took in a deep breath and looked in the dead filly’s yellow eyes. His lips trembling, he touched horns with her, putting hers at a spot where his horn jagged. Hoofsteps sounded off behind him, stopping abruptly.

As he slowly exhaled, the changeling’s horn lit up, sending a spark into the filly’s, which briefly activated a weak, transparent magical aura. His green aura merged with hers, and the filly’s body began to shake, as did his.

Nexus’ body began to blur. It twisted and morphed, green tendrils shooting off, reaching into the filly. Whistling and scratching accompanied the cracking of chitin, and a deep hum resonating from within the changeling. His voice broke through with a cry, starting quiet before turning into a prolonged shout, which then began to crack, gaining a higher pitch.

Behind the hazy blur and the green tendrils, his body had shrunk, chunks of excess chitin popping off and littering the ground. When the changeling’s cries were completely replaced by the filly’s, his body fit size and proportions, the back forming after the front had been finished.

The echoing undertones disappeared from her whines and screams, which then gradually quieted down into sobs and wheezes. The filly breathed and cleared her throat, at which point there was a loud pop. The blurry aura and the tendrils faded away, leaving a copy of the dead filly next to her corpse. As the residual humming disappeared, shouting, clicking, and loud clopping of hooves became audible again. Her ears folded.

“I’m Dinky… D-doo?” the filly slurred, taking unsteady steps. “I… I’m adopted… I live here, but my mom—”

Dinky’s body fell over as she fixed her eyes on a figure on the other side of the plaza. It was pegasus mare, clothed in a tight, dark orange straitjacket, with belts hanging off its sides, and cut up sleeves dragging behind the hooves. Her eyes, the same yellow color as Dinky’s, were staring at the filly’s corpse. The mare’s jaw hung agape, while her head jittered and one of her eyelids was twitching.

The changeling rose to the filly’s hunches and gazed at the mare. Dinky’s horn briefly sparkled. Her whole body shuddered and began to rise.

“Wait… but—”

As the clopping and shouting continued around the plaza, another carriage flying it over, the mare slowly turned her head and glared at the changeling. She never blinked, tears rolling from her bloodshot eyes. Taking wide, stomping steps, the pegasus closed distance with Dinky’s body, clattering her teeth and taking choking, sporadic breaths.

Dinky’s mouth opened to speak, but she only let out a squeak as the mare roared, banging her hooves on the ground. Spreading tears and saliva over the filly’s body, she leapt at it and clutched its head in her hooves. Her eyes continued to stare, the vessels beginning to pop out. With another roar, which made her voice crack and turn into a hoarse whisper, the pegasus began bashing the filly’s head against the pavement.

Nexus swatted at her with the filly’s small hooves, which the mare ignored. Red blood began to sprinkle onto the stones, immediately starting to lose its color. Dinky’s yelling gave off an echo, occasionally dipping lower. A guttural, chittering noise left the filly’s throat. The mare raised her, pushing their faces together. She was still crying.

Dinky’s body dropped to the ground as the pegasus lost her grip, yelping and snapping around. A synaptic stood behind her, staring at the scene with clear, unlit eyes. The synaptic’s long horn lit up, and a bolt was shot in the mare’s direction. She rolled off to the side and pounced once her hooves touched ground. The other changeling was knocked down, and the mare choked down a sob before letting out a scratchy growl. Bending down, the pony clutched a pointed rock in her hooves and smashed the synaptic’s face with it.

There was a sound of snapping chitin. Raising her hooves high, the mare sobbed again, puffing her nostrils. Before the rock came down, it was stopped with a green aura, leaving the mare to lose balance. While her hind hooves temporarily dislodged from his, the changeling wriggled away and kicked her in the chest. As the mare bounced back a short distance, he got up and let out a sharp hiss.

The pegasus crouched to pounce again. Before she took off, the changeling’s horn illuminated. The rock shot up from the ground, slicing through the air. A loud yelp came from the pegasus, followed by a wheezing gurgle, with which she collapsed onto the ground, He hacked and roared, bucking the mare’s side and turning her over. There was a wide, long, gaping wound in her neck. Her breaths whistled and gurgled. Blood streamed out of the wound as the mare moved her lips, making incoherent, raspy noises.

“Crazy whore,” Synth said. He smashed the rock into the mare’s eye. “Get lost.”

He kicked her again as she lay bleeding, her limbs twitching. Turning around to where Nexus lay in the filly’s body, he covered his face with a hoof.

“Nexus, you idiot…” Synth sighed, kneeling down next to him as he moaned in the filly’s voice. He took her body in his hooves. “What did you do to yourself?”

“This is so fucked up,” Nexus whispered, coughing.

“You bound yourself to a cadaver. A foal’s cadaver, Nexus.” The long-maned synaptic shook his head, rubbing the large gash over his left eye. “I really should leave you behind…”

Synth’s horn lit up, giving him the disguise of a burly, brown earth pony royal guard. He put Dinky’s body on his back and cantered towards the marketplace.


---


July 24, 1003 AN - 11:28 AM
Packsmulle, Equestria
Muffin Corner

...claiming that Princess Mi Amora Cadenza and Royal Guard Captain Shining Armor could have prevented the tragic losses Equestria sustained in the Crystal Empire. Sovereign Princess Twilight Sparkle urged to avoid blaming the changelings for…

Nexus heaved and let out a wet cough. Green droplets fell on the floor, some of the liquid seeping through the worn floorboards. Pressing his forehooves into the reading table, the changeling groaned, arching his back with a series of loud popping, hissing noises.

His jagged hooves grazed against the newspapers, crumpling them and leaving a few small tears. Nexus shut his eyes and rubbed his head when the voices of the crowd outside picked up again. A gust of wind from the window threw some of the newspapers to the floor. Propping his elongated, sunken-in snout onto crossed hooves, the changeling skimmed through the nearest paper.

...the rotation of the celestial bodies. Concerns were also raised regarding the stability of the magical order of things, as little progress has reportedly been made on restoring the functionality of the Elements of Harmony. The Princess used the opportunity to blame the continued inflammation of the Wedding War…

Behind him, a grey earth mare lay on the bed, her chest slowly raising and lowering. Her abdomen and head were covered in bandages, which glowed a soft green. The light was particularly bright around the abdomen and the right side of her head. She had no right ear. Her eyes were closed.

The changeling slowly slid off the chair and took gentle steps towards the bed. His body wavered on the disproportionately tall, thin legs. A loud bang sounded off in the distance, followed by a light quaking. Nexus’ eyes darted to the folding table next to the mare’s bed, and the metal tray on top. The tools, vials, syringes and bandage rolls on top of the tray shook slightly, all staying in place after the quake had settled.

Nexus yawned. He winced as the chitin on his skeletal face creaked, a small chip falling to the floor. Having rubbed his face with a thin, porous hoof, the changeling grimaced. A weak green light came from beneath the chip. Exhaling, he pulled the chair over from the reading table. Shutting his eyes and biting into the chitin of his lip, the changeling levitated over a newspaper, lifting it by the corner. Most of its pages fell out, spreading all over the floor. He groaned.

...Princess once again argued against calling the ongoing conflict a ‘war’, criticizing the media for creating the monicker. She stated that rash decision-making was the catalyst for the events that have seen hundreds killed, including the Princess’ own friends and family members, adding that if the changelings were better understood…

“Ugh...There’s just no more good news, is there? Am I gonna have to make shit up so I can read any of this to you?” Nexus said raspily, after clearing his throat. “I’m sorry I’m so weak, Wander. I can’t even carry books yet. But it’s gonna be fine, you hear?”

...the recent uptick in violent behavior among ponies. While most such incidents fall under actions done in self defence under perceived threats from changelings, there are confirmed cases of intentional murder, including spree killings. Increasingly, the initially dismissed cases like the Cricket Hunter, the Second Bearers and the Seashore Killer are being looked at with..

“We’ll get out of this ditch. We’ll go somewhere nice. Synth will fix me up and I’ll help you get better. And screw everything else,” he whispered, leaning closer to the mare and putting a hoof on her shoulder. “Maybe it’s gonna get better? No Queen… Your new Princess seems like she’s come around, too…”

Nexus stifled a cough and spewed green droplets onto the side of his foreleg, having rushed it to his mouth. He heaved, clinging to the chair with the other hoof. His breath was coming back when there was a loud knock on the door, which then swung open. Nexus yelped and fell on the floor, leaving traces of chitin on the floorboards as his face pushed into them.

Making loud snapping noises, the changeling rolled around and got on his back. Looking to the entrance, he rolled his eyes and exhaled. There stood Synth, packed with large duffel saddlebags, looking the room over. He hung his head and beat his hoof against the floor.

“There’s less time than I thought,” he said, walking closer to Nexus. The taller, thinner changeling gasped and hissed as he was pulled up and put on his hooves through telekinesis. “We should be leaving before tomorrow.”

“What? Is it her?!” Nexus asked, shaking in place. “I told you she’s after me!”

Synth placed one of the bags on the reading table, flattening the newspapers. He pulled out several bubbling green vials. Before Nexus could reach out, the scar-faced synaptic uncorked one of them and shoved it in his mouth. The skeletal changeling’s body tensed up as he gulped it down.

“Don’t give me that traumatized talk, you walking cadaver. It was just another crazy bitch. Seashore Killer... urgh, these idiots. Stop chasing shadows, Nex, it isn't a dead crazy-ass mare you have to worry about, it's a bunch of living ones."

Nexus growled and raised a hoof. Synth glared at him, and the skeletal changeling backed down. He frowned.

"The ponies have gone and lost it, Nexus. You didn't even see much of anything when it happened. There’s real shit to worry about,” Synth barked in response while Nexus went back to emptying the vial. “Packsmulle isn’t safe anymore. It’s not the Seashore Killer, it’s not the bug hunters either. After what happened at the rehab center, the whole city is filled ES/AS. That alone is already pretty bad. Thanks again for giving me another cripple to take care of, by the way.”

“Fuck off, dude,” Nexus said in a steadier voice. He straightened his back and flexed his neck. The chipped portions of chitin on his carapace grew back. A light green glow came from his eyes, mouth and horn. He licked his lips. “I wasn’t going to just dart away with nothing to show for it. I wasn’t going to that stupid place to have a pony tell me how I can be one of them! I was trying to find someone for me, and I did! Unlike you, I actually want to get some genuine food.”

“Since when did you start making sense?”

“Since you said we didn’t have much time, so I gotta save myself a rant about how my ‘romance’ is dumb.”

Synth sighed and nodded at Nexus. He continued while removing items from the other bag, placing them on the medical tray by the mare’s bed.

“Everyone has lost it. The idiots who helped us hide here… They poisoned the water supply and broke the weather, now they want to march at the ES/AS. There’s gonna be other synaptics helping them.” The long-maned changeling clicked his tongue. He mixed liquids from several vials together and poured the resulting liquid on a bandage. “It’s going to be worse than May, Nexus. When ES/AS clean up, they won’t be holding back. With our luck, we’ll have more ponies cracking and cleaning house. We’re leaving town.”

“...I guess we are.” The thin changeling sighed, taking a steadier stride towards the window.

A mock-up changeling parade float hovered in the distance, surrounded by a dozen ponies wearing identical black hoodies and face-masks. There were armored troopers surrounding them from all sides.

“We’re going to Carol City. It won’t be that pretty, but there’ll be plenty of work,” Synth said. Nexus looked away as he slowly removed the bloody bandages from the mare’s abdomen and head and replaced them with new ones. “Much easier to stay undercover. Most of their crime is ponies, so we won’t get hounded.”

“Carol? I don’t know…Don’t they have a Proxy in there? This shit sounds dangerous…”

“If they do, that means they aren’t regular cheeselegs like the ones we had to work with here. That means we can actually stick around. Stop being such a pansy, Nexus, all Proxies are good for anymore is bragging rights.” The scarred changeling checked the bandages and nodded to himself. “If anyone tries to actually use them and band us together, it’ll be suicide. I’m sure they realize that.”

“I still don’t like it.” Nexus returned to the bed. He nodded at Synth and put a hoof on his shoulder, which the bulkier changeling swatted away, frowning.

“I still don’t like having to put up with your bullshit. I still don’t like doing you favors all the time. I still don’t like having to pull your weight.”

“Fine… I’m sorry, Synth. You know I don’t like leeching off you.” Nexus lit up his horn, briefly turning into a disproportionately tall, skinny-faced, pale unicorn with a fading purple coat and blurry yellow eyes. “I’d still look like a foal on stilts if you didn’t help me. Doubt I’ll glow blue ever again, but… Just tolerate me for a while longer, and I’ll be able to help you in return. I’ll pull my weight when we get to Carol, okay?”

“I’d hope so, Nexus.” Synth sat down on the chair by the bed. The mare whimpered quietly and coughed, shifting slightly. Both changelings looked at her, and then at each other. Synth sighed. “I’d hate for all this to have gone to waste. This had better have been the right thing to do.”

“This world has gone topsy turvy, dude. Ponies are cracking, drones are learning to think for themselves… The sun and the moon are all cold.” Nexus sat on the floor next to his partner and put a hoof on his shoulder. Synth rubbed his face with a hoof. “The only right thing to do is to cling to what we know. There’s so little that’s certain in this dumb world.”

“Certain? Like you being a complete mess?” the scarred changeling grumbled.

“Yeah.”




Equestria is gone.

The glow of the crystal device faded, and Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes. In the distance, the broadcast still echoed, her words coming from numerous speakers with some delay. The wide videodrome panels attached to towering crystalline buildings in front of the palace lacked the advertisements and news scrolls, displaying her cutie mark instead.

She glanced to her side, her gaze landing on a messy stack of papers illuminated by the dim light from the windows. They lay in front of her on the desk, with a pair of large stamps overlapping next to the dotted line on the bottom. One of the stamps depicted Twilight’s cutie mark, the other a thick, lily-covered letter G. The last line bore the words ‘Twilight Sparkle, Sovereign Princess of Equestria’, written in rough, faltering lines, several blots of ink surrounding it. Her eyes grazed over the line above, where a longer, less legible signature was done in swirling cursive.

Twilight took a deep breath and held it for a while, closing her eyes again. Her legs lifted her off her seat, but she plopped back down moments later, leaning back until her head met the back of the chair. Her lungs emptied, and her body trembled slightly. She quickly inhaled again and held her hoof to her chest, then slowly exhaled, extending her hoof outward. The outstretched limb shuddered and quickly flew back to her chest. She repeated this multiple times, taking increasingly quicker breaths, getting louder each time. She opened her eyes, lips parted slightly, and her chest shook as a series of sobs erupted from her.

Twilight bit her lip, holding back the next bout of sobbing, and her hoof pressed firmly into her chest. The hammering from within rang out in her ears. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, making her blink several times, but it only gave way to more, blurring her vision.

The air wavered around her horn, a faint glow pulsating within. The alicorn shivered, and her cutie mark let out a brief flash of light once the sensation reached her tailbone.

Twilight got up from her seat, walking past the now inactive phonocrystal, her legs stumbling over scrolls and other items littering the floor. Up ahead, six multicolored ornaments floated at eye level, growing increasingly brighter, their native colors blending together. The alicorn focused on the bright purple glow in the center, groaning as the vibration in her horn steadily grew into a throbbing pain.

The star-shaped gem gave a low hum, replicated by the objects surrounding it, their colors winking in and out in a chaotic rhythm. Twilight was only a few steps away when her body locked up in tension. Her teeth ground together from the immense pain shooting through her whole body. Her hooves scraped along the smooth marble floor as they dragged her forward, finally coming to a halt before a golden pedestal. She raised her head to stare at the bright purple gem in the middle, the metal that encased it clattering as it vibrated.

Her chambers' ornate doors flew open, letting in unicorn guards in pulsating crystal gear, who shouted loudly, none of their words coming through. They flailed their hooves, immediately backing away from the building purple glow. A half dozen griffons in suits lagged behind, abruptly stopping at the sight of the Princess. One of them, a taller, more ornately dressed female griffon, raised her voice, rushing into the chamber while the griffons stood in place and the unicorns began to raise magical barriers. The Empress stretched a talon towards her as the flow of air pushed her back.

Twilight closed her eyes and inhaled one last time. She lowered her head and exhaled, bringing her fizzling, cracking horn to touch with the Element.

For a few moments, the voices went silent, as did all other external noise. Only her own heartbeat remained. The light became excruciatingly bright through her clenched eyelids, and a low rumble could be heard in the distance, steadily growing in volume until it surrounded her as a deafening roar. She then felt a brief moment of intense pressure and heat, every inch of her body crushed by a mighty force, which faded away just as quickly.

She opened her eyes again, staring at the Element of Magic resting idly on a wooden pedestal.

To her right, a parchment was carefully rolled open on a writing stand, the words “Dear Princess Celestia…” scrawled on the top, a fresh pot of ink and a quill next to it. A neatly made bed was at the far end of the room, thick tomes on magic theory resting on the nightstand. There was a small cot with a mangled blanket and cushions near the foot of the bed, littered with half-opened comics and crumbs of multicolored gems. The window was open, the curtains gently swaying in a breeze that passed through her body. Outside, the birds were singing. She turned toward the window..

Looking through the opening, she saw a wall of white, rippling energy expand outward in all directions, steadily revealing more of the world, while the loud noise faded away as the distance increased. Her vision was murky, walls appearing to shift between solid and translucent, while the air itself was a dim, purplish haze. Houses appeared, nondescript equine figures milling about among them. In the distance, the towers of Canterlot appeared among the mountaintops.

Twilight stood still for a few moments, her jaw hanging agape. Eventually, her hooves slowly turned her around and took her toward the door, which vanished as soon as she reached out to touch it. It revealed a long corridor, where fluorescent lights illuminated dull white walls, contrasting with the grey tiled floor and the occasional corkboard full of news clippings, pinned notes and marker signs.

She headed forward, glancing through one of the doors to the side, which led to a spacious office, filled with taxidermied animals and trinkets, pictures and portraits lining the walls. Folders, hoof-written and typed notes as well as other sorts of loose papers littered the whole room, moving around with the wind coming from the balcony behind the main desks. A cream-colored stallion sat in front of one of them, his red-and-white toothpaste mane unkempt, the red moustache at the end of his protruded snout moist and untrimmed. His cheeks were sunken in, and his bloodshot eyes looked over paper after paper which he signed, holding a pen with a shaky telekinetic grip.

Twilight looked at the vacant desk to his side. Half the papers the stallion signed went there. A white suit and blue shirt hung off the back of the chair, and a straw hat with a blue band around it sat in the middle, near a turned-over picture of two identical looking cream colored unicorns, one of them clean shaved. She raised a hoof to her mouth, her eyes slowly darting from the empty desk to the moustached stallion, and then back again. The stallion groaned and pulled out a tall bottle filled with amber liquid from under his desk, gulping from it.

Twilight walked over to him, phasing through the dozens of Majority Solutions papers, and stopped when the stallion looked up, his eyes meeting hers, staring right through. Flam cleared his throat, wet spots staining the papers scattered before him, and smacked the call crystal on his desk. There was a loud knock on the door, and when Twilight turned around to face it, she stood in between two rows of seats on an airboat. A tall figure stood near the airboat’s exit, little more than its silhouette visible as the lavender haze spread outside the round windows. Motes of light traveled along the interior, wisping it away as it began to shake. Twilight could see her hooves meet a solid floor, but she heard no sound, apart from the faint rumbling in the distance.

“This was overdue,” a voice came from the figure. It was a tall female minotaur in a black business suit. Her eyes were obscured as the square glasses on her snout reflected the explosion’s light. Her thick blonde braid swung in the air, while the minotaur herself remained still. “One thing never changed about Equestria. Only you deal in absolutes. Any investment in you is always a disappointment..”

“Investment?” Twilight replied, shielding her eyes from the bright light.

“You were always going to crumble. There was always going to be a crisis like this. Ponies are weak, they cannot deal with violence and disorder,” the minotauress said. “You came to rule over them. You know best of all that there were parties looking to take over. To move Equestria away from your outdated rule.”

“And… you?”

“I saw how you acted. I know you knew it. That change was needed. But you held back. You let them change your direction. You made yourself think you were wrong. Things had never been worse. You cannot blame anyone for taking action then.” The minotaur looked away from Twilight and took her briefcase into both hands. “ I have ways of steering a head of state, but only if they are rational. You made graceful degradation impossible. So I found associated parties. All the old had to go. It could have been easy, Sovereign, if you had never chosen the worst of both worlds. You could simply have bent knee and no one would have been the wiser. Now we’re here.” The minotaur turned back to look at her. “I hear, see and feel you. Not them.”

Twilight nodded, eyes losing focus. She began to turn back.“You really wanted to make this story yours, didn’t you?”

Lockvara scoffed. “It is a mistake I won’t ever make again. ”

“No.” Twilight muttered. “We’ve been making the same mistakes for a long time now.”

As the alicorn walked, spiraling steps appeared underneath her hooves, leading her to descend. When she emerged onto the next level, the lavender explosion burst from behind her and spilled into the street, freezing in place. Twilight walked along a paved road, passing stores and apartments. As she walked, they grew. A small group of ponies hid under a bridge on the far side of the beach, sitting gathered around a barrel fire, passing around a lighter to ignite their smokesticks. The reddish glow revealed their scarred faces, and each time Twilight blinked, they wore different ones.

As she approached them, each step made it a different town. The time of day changed, the location they were in, the ponies themselves did too. Twilight walked through all of Equestria, which blended together into a blur of riots, violence and unrest. She lost her breath and began choking, swaying on unsteady legs as she stood between sleek crystalline buildings, frozen in the moment their material began to give way to the explosion. Clearing her throat and huffing for air, Twilight Sparkle looked up, standing in front of a line of troopers in heavy, crystal-reinforced armor. Once she blinked, she stood by the barrel fire, surrounded by the ponies she initially saw, each of them wearing a bird mask, the empty eyeholes staring at her.

They looked away from her, one by one. She did too, clutching her chest and coughing. She walked away, stepping into static droplets of rain. The lavender haze followed her step by step, taking over more and more of the waterside seawalk. The alicorn raised her head, looking at the blank shining moon in the sky.

Twilight paused, having walked up to a portion of the sidewalk surrounded by loose strips of thin, yellow plastic flapping in the wind, the words “POLICE LINE, DO NOT CROSS” emblazoned on them in black letters. There was a heavily mutilated body stretched out in the middle of the road, covered by a blanket, soaked red. There were other bodies, too, obscured by thick leather sheets, cyan and green vapors emerging from underneath. Police in grey uniform surrounded the scene.

She shifted when one of them looked at her - a bulky, white earth stallion with a brown handlebar moustache. He was standing next to a police carriage. As he moved, the lighter he held for the older pink pegasus to his side remained floating in the air.

Twilight tilted her head to the side. “I… know you, do I?”

“Well, I definitely know you, Princess. But it’s looking a lot like there isn’t an easy answer for who we are and where we stand.”

“It's always a difficult question...” Twilight replied. “It used to have an answer. I know it's different now. If I could just..."

Thorn chuckled and shook his head, reaching up with a hoof to scratch his head. “You know, no matter what, I don’t feel like I belong. Isn’t that strange? It should be so simple. Protect ponies. Now here I am, and no matter how I do it, it doesn’t feel right.”

A pair of copies appeared next to him, each with their own variations in appearance - a trooper in heavy crystal armor, with a spiked, electrified shield, and an overgrown stallion with sunken-in cheeks, wearing a postal uniform, with a rubber mask tucked into a saddlebag. Twilight’s eyes rolled back, and the explosion sped through the scene.

“Maybe it really isn’t that simple,” she said, heaving. “I thought I knew how magic… harmony… friendship… worked. What if this is all leading somewhere else?”

“Less obvious leads to follow? I tried that, Princess,” Thorn said. “But I don’t think I like where these leads are going. Maybe there’s no place to be anymore.”

“There’s always an answer for everything. Maybe if we looked further...”

“Maybe it’s not us who are here to make sense of this, Princess. Maybe we don’t have all the evidence. Maybe that’s why things keep going wrong again and again.”

Twilight’s body jerked as she found herself back at the crime scene, looking at Thorn, who removed his hat and took a hoof through his brown mane. The explosion lingering behind her reflected in the stars of his officer’s hat.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t think that’s a question you should ask me. I tried to fight. I tried to run. I tried to take it out from within. It always goes wrong....” He paused. “But something is different this time. Princess, why are we tal—”

Twilight opened her mouth, only to pause when the stallion’s form wavered and began to fade away. Her mane waved in the air as the explosion proceeded.

When she opened her eyes, the overcast sky was replaced by a bright ceiling materializing in thin air, covered in stars and rainbow patterns, while the mare saw dozens of crude crayon drawings taped onto the walls forming around her. She found herself in a row between benches, each of them littered with textbooks, papers, pens and pencils. Through a nearby window, she caught glimpses of foals running back and forth, the muffled sound of their chatter seeping in.

Her ears perked up as a noise came out from nearby. When Twilight turned to look, she saw a pony curled up on the teacher’s desk, rocking back and forth with her forelegs wrapped around her hind legs, head buried between them. She had a white coat and a rather messy, pink and purple mane, her clothes vaguely resembling that of a schoolfilly’s outfit. Most of the fabric appeared to be torn, burned or repurposed from other clothes.

Twilight held her breath as she moved closer, only to pause when the mare stopped her movements, slowly lifting her head. A pair of bloodshot green eyes stared back at the alicorn, and the pony’s face twisted into a grimace.

“What? Who are you? What do you want from me?”

“I just—”

“Where are they? Have you seen them?” The mare’s voice cracked constantly. It went from a high pitched, feminine tone, to a raspy, low, smoked-through voice. She took frantic breaths each time she paused. “No! Don’t take me! I’m not leaving without them!”

“Who are you—”

“They were right there! What do you mean you can’t find them?! I don’t want to go!”

Twilight bit her lip, staring at Sweetie as she clung to the desk with all her might, eyes darting back and forth. She looked around the class, shuddering as she saw a tall, muscular, famished figure, covered in scars, bruises and tattoos, who clawed at their eyes with their hooves, periodically stopping to bash their head against the wall, making no noise.

“Rarity? Is th-that you? I’m scared…”

“Rarity?.. She’s—”

“Why am I here? Why am I still here?! Where is it, can you— can you see it?!" The filly pointed her hoof at the figure bashing its head against the wall. The figure looked back. "Why are we still going? A-are we there y-yet?..”

Sweetie Belle let out a tiny squeak as Twilight embraced her, chest shaking as she let out a few sobs of her own. The filly gave a deep sigh, her forelegs weakly returning the embrace.

A long, dark hallway appeared beyond the exit of the classroom, a bright light coming through the doorway at the far end.

“Huh?” The filly pulled out of her embrace and hopped off the table, landing on a quartet of stubby legs. She looked down the corridor, a pair of silhouettes appearing against the glow of the opening beyond. Giggling, she raced toward them, even stumbling a few times as her legs carried her swiftly across the hallway. Once she got close enough, the glow intensified, forcing Twilight to shield her eyes.

“This should look pretty to you, yeah, pony?”

Twilight blinked to clear the spots out of her sight. The walls were now irregular stone that glistened with the moisture that eroded it over centuries, with lumps of fluorescent material strewn about, illuminating the porous cave formation.

In front of her was a clump of large, egg-shaped sacs, blurry forms twitching within. Dark equines marched back and forth between the nest and the openings along the chamber’s walls, either bringing new eggs or carrying away the wriggling creatures that emerged from them. Directly to her side was a drop, leading into a body of water. Inside it sat a changeling creature several times her size. It had a long, thick neck that supported a large head with two blank, brightly shining cyan eyes, chitinous tentacles hanging off it. Gills on each side of its bulbous, limbless, whale-like body filtered jets of water each time it shook, taking a breath to speak in a choir of voices. There was a dominant, rash, masculine voice with an accent.

“What?”

“Life. Look at it, there it is. Lots of life. All of these drones, all they gotta do is run around, obey every order, and eat what they’re given. The smarter ones push them around and help find more food. Real nice and transparent, a purpose for the rest of your life.” The creature’s chitin creaked as it turned to glow its eyes on Twilight. “A ‘special talent’, you could say… Come to think of it, you did say that. Sounds so remarkably stupid when someone else says it, huh?”

There was a brief thrum in the air, a wave passing through it, even creating fluctuations in the perpetual glow. The drones briefly paused, their eyes flashing, after which they moved much faster, their movements less fluid, while some of them even tried to keep their heads low. A bluish glow came from one of the openings of the cavern, and a new group of changelings marched in, some of them tall, muscular figures on their hind legs, chitinous pairs of horns jutting out of their foreheads, while others had makeshift talons and paws instead of hooves, the wings on their backs more prominent.

Twilight narrowed her eyes at a group of changelings that had the most pony-like features, including pupils, albeit slitted, and manes in different shades of green and blue. Her eyes ended up pausing on one in particular, who stood slightly taller than the others, with a longer snout, and a messy, mop-like seaweed-green mane on top of his head. While every other drone and synaptic cast at least a glance her way, this changeling constantly averted his eyes, and even moved out of her line of sight behind one of the bigger creatures.

“It’s not that simple… We have our own paths, our own choices.” Twilight covered her face with her hooves, sitting down on her haunches. “We’re… We’re different…”

“That’s funny. Looks like your little dream of ponies and changeling coexisting is one huge, massive, bulging blunder.” The Proxy’s tentacles swiveled as it shook its head, emitting a deep, guttural chuckle. “So what is this picture on your butt? Is it you blowing up this world you’ve messed up trying to fix your mistakes? Always were gonna ruin everything for everyone, were you, Princess Twilight Sparkle?”

“That’s… what always happens, isn’t it?” Twilight said quietly.”

“No.” The Proxy’s voice echoed through the hive. “Sit here and mope if you want. Boo, hoo, hoo. My friends all died, my teachers blew themselves up, my country is fucking stupid and doesn’t understand what I want it to do. Now I’m gonna be sad and level it all.” It gurgled. “Look at these changelings. Life as straight as a rail. Serve your Monarch. Feed on emotions. Get fucked when your Monarch does something dumb. Do you know what my purpose was?” The Proxy’s eyes opened even wider, engulfing Twilight in thick cyan light, obscuring the lavender explosion that had been creeping through the hive’s holes.

The alicorn scowled, looking at the huge squid-headed creature, her ears flicking as she saw the water bubble around its man o’ war body. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped, averting her eyes. The Proxy continued:

“I’m here because my rulers are lazy, cheese-legged nitwits! I’m not a powerful magical pony Princess who gets to grow wings and talk about friendship…I am what I am because I willed it to be so. I took my opportunities instead of taking it on my pretty little face. But even I am a changeling, still. I know what we’re here for. I know what we’re capable of. These degenerates, they can change how they look, how they act, how they blend in, but they can’t change the hunger. YOU can’t change the hunger. Do you know what happens to this world of yours without your little tantrum? I do. I HAVE seen it. I HAVE won, Princess.”

“...do you know why I tried to take your people in?” the alicorn said, gritting her teeth. “I thought I could find something that’d change your ways. I thought I made a mistake, that your species doing what it did was my fault. But I see I’m not the only one whose… very being is in error.”

“I did not betray my nature. We are what we are, and you know damn well we will always be what we are. But what did you do, Twilight Sparkle? How’s that friendship and unity working out for you, you purple pony princess?”

“You’re despicable. Your species is trouble enough by itself, but you… You. Creatures like you, you’ve done the damage even I couldn’t!” She stomped at the hive’s texture. “If not for you, maybe it could have worked! Maybe it’s your fault!”

“Yes, that’s right. Show us all your true colors, Princess!” Proxy lingered on that word, hissing it out in a multitude of voices. “Good thing your ponies were blind, deaf and dumb. Anyone who figured it out, you called them criminals and terrorists, anyway! This is why I, when I win, I wrap you all up in cocoons and keep you on life support, so all you do is feed us. You can’t even create love on your own anymore! Remember that when this all happens again, and I win.”

The mare’s hooves shook, and she let out a wail, her body lunging at the creature as it let out a loud, insectile chitter, the congregation around him following suit, turning into a chorus of droning laughter. Before she could make contact, however, the figures vanished, and she tumbled to the cold stone floor, sobbing quietly as she buried her face in her forelegs.

“It hurts when mistakes start piling up, Princess,” a different voice said. Twilight inhaled smoky air and began to rise, looking at the five griffons sitting at a round table. “Maybe it’s just our nature.”

The alicorn stood in a VIP section of a restaurant, bright lights coming from its dancefloor, visible through the tinted door window. The colors and the blurry avian figures did not move. From a large, wide window behind the griffons’ seats, she saw a snowstorm, which mostly obscured a mountainous landscape. The snow was not moving either.

Twilight focused her eyes on the griffon that sat in the middle, a stocky, older magpie. She squinted and scowled, before ultimately staying silent, exhaling with a rough huff.

“Failure is a good teacher, Princess Twilight. When you fail, it hurts. When all your plans come crashing down. When nothing is how it should be.”

She looked at the other griffons. None of them paid attention to the alicorn, a crane twirling a pen in her talons before tracing a signature on a paper, a raven continuously pouring himself glasses of wine, a hawk smoking cigarette after cigarette, producing the smoke filling the room. Another one, an albatross even older than the magpie, sat slumped, the tip of his beak touching a lightning bolt styled cane. His eye stared directly into hers, albeit covered up by his long silvery plumage.

“But that is only if you recognize any of it. When you see that you’ve failed. That you’ve made mistakes. That maybe...” Engels put his claws on the table and scattered the papers. He winced and banged a fist against the table before resting his beak on it. “Maybe there’s something very simple that you missed.”

“Something simple?” Twilight shook her head. “Maybe, for you. Maybe you should just have approached me.” She sighed, her voice croaking. “Maybe I’d like to see you try to fix all this. With something… simple.”

“Simple and easy aren’t the same thing, Princess,” the griffon said. The others kept performing the same motions, even as the objects on the table had shifted. The albatross sat upright, smiling and shaking his head at her. “I hope you recognize that, eventually. This can be something great. It just needs to align…”

The alicorn closed her eyes and shielded herself with a hoof as the explosion bled through the mountainous vista. She coughed after one last puff of smoke blew in her face.

Her ears flicked as she heard the sound of waves crashing against the shore, and when she lifted her head, she flinched back from a big drop of water landing on her nose. Her belly rested on the soaked planks of a wooden beach platform, the umbrellas and chairs toppled over by a strong wind coming from the sea. Large droplets from the sky, tapping sharply all over her body, while the salty spray kept hitting her in the face.

Twilight slowly got up again, staring at the dark clouds looming over the water for a few moments, after which she climbed off the platform and marched across the deserted beach. Palm trees swung idly along the shore, a few having succumbed to the gale and now lying half-buried in the sand. Up ahead, a long pier made of stone stretched out from the beach, with a tall post at the end, a red light flashing on top of it. Just beyond the horizon, she could make out the dark peaks of the mountains on the far end of the bay, while behind her, ponies were making their way to carriages, dumping surfboards, towels, coolers, and other belongings into the backs before hurrying off into the mainland. Others sought refuge among the numerous hotels and apartments lining the shore, the windows all over their faces slamming shut.

The alicorn dragged her hooves through the sand and onto the cobblestone, glancing left and right as the wavering scenery dissolved all around her. Darkness was closing in, consuming the buildings and making the ponies among them vanish, while the same wave erased the mountains and the waves of the sea up ahead. The wind made it more and more difficult to advance, and the rain was now making her wince as it hammered her body non-stop. Her eyes, however, now fixed on one specific spot under the warning signal - an equine shape curled up at the base of the metal post, their silhouette winking in and out to the rhythm of the red glow.

Twilight marched up to the figure, stopping near the figure, her legs shaking. The pony she had been walking towards wiped the wet, hay-colored strands of her mane out of her face and lifted her head to look up at the alicorn. Behind the mare’s back, Twilight noticed a pair of wings opening briefly, then curling back again.

The pegasus’ eyes were mismatched, one of them slightly off-center, and she blinked repeatedly, the wrong eye always ending up in a new, misaligned position. Twilight watched the purplish raindrops touch the mare’s head, trickling down her mane and her cheeks to mix with the tears streaming from her eyes.

“Why did this happen?”

The pegasus did not speak. She blinked again, the wrong eye turning upward.

“Why did it have to be me? I… I never wanted any of this. I just want my friends back. This is too much.”

For a couple of moments, the mare did not even move, merely kept staring back at Twilight. She then exhaled and turned her head to pick up a soaked, worn brown satchel at her side. She set it down before Twilight and opened it, pulling out an envelope, which she gave to the Princess. The purple mare gasped as she noticed that the pegasus’ eyes finally managed to align. It was her turn to blink constantly, and she turned her attention to the letter, using her magic to pick it up and open it.

Dear Ditzy,

I sent you the books I promised. I even found some Canterlot Elementary textbooks, and with Dinky starting school next week, these should help her practice reading and writing. I also added some of my foal’s stories from when I was a little filly, such as Starswirl’s Journey and The Wishing Pond. Lots of pictures, just like you asked. I hope Dinky will enjoy them.

Sorry I could not bring the books myself. The whole library is being re-shelved today, so I only had time to package these books and write this letter. I hope the two of you are doing well. I know the past few years have been difficult, but there’s no need to worry. I managed to learn the hard way more times than I can count, but as long as you have friends close by, everything will turn out alright in the end. Do know I appreciate you reaching out for help. You would be surprised by how rarely I get to help others with books, so please don’t feel like it was a bother.

I can understand why Dinky feels so nervous about school. My own first day at Celestia’s school is a tale all on its own, I wouldn’t wish a rough day like that on anyone. And just before I arrived in Ponyville, I was busy worrying about Nightmare Moon’s return, while my mentor tells me to go ‘make some friends’ away from Canterlot. At the time, I was angry and confused, but now I’m glad I didn’t listen to myself.

It’s perfectly natural to be afraid when we’re thrown outside of our comfort zone. In the end, it’s just another chapter in life, and we have to deal with it and move on. I will have my friends to keep me safe, and you and Dinky will have each other, all of us bonded together in harmony. New environments and situations are something that we’ll have to face again and again in our lives, and it’s always best if you get to learn smoothly.

Your faithful friend,
Twilight Sparkle

The parchment slowly drifted to the ground, landing in a puddle, the ink bleeding off the soaked page. Twilight smiled, blinking at the tears forming in her eyes.

“Thank you.”

The pegasus nodded in response, returning the smile. A bright flash came from overhead, and Twilight looked up to see the individual forks in the lightning bolt, steadily growing and branching out across the sky. Instead of the crackle of thunder, she heard the low rumbling again, while the brightness of the light did not dim, but instead grew stronger with every passing moment. Soon enough, the lightning was replaced by the lavender haze of the Element’s explosion. Twilight exhaled and closed her eyes.

The deafening sound quieted down. When nothing proceeded to happen, the Princess opened her eyes and immediately took a step back, her mouth open wide. She stood in front of her own body, topped with the head of a vulture, whose eyes glowed pink. The mare winced and kept walking back, gritting her teeth and whimpering, her breath growing short.

She knelt grasping her head with her hooves. With an abrupt gasp, her eyes shot open. The mare looked at the mesh of colors that surrounded her and the Vulture, carrying them through darkness on the wave of light produced by the explosion. The Elements floated up above, all of them fizzling and broken. Energy coursing through them formed the contour of a large treehouse.

The alicorn began to rise and looked back. Within the purple maelstrom she had created, innumerable scenes were displayed, each within its small rectangular section. Each of them was being rewound at a high pace. Twilight looked at the entity.

“So… here we are” Twilight muttered. “This is it.”

“Yes,” the figure replied. “And you know what comes next.”

The mare hung her head and nodded with a deep sigh. “It was all for nothing in the end.”

“For you. On some level, you knew. You’ve kept knowing, each time.”

Twilight let out a low chuckle, while more tears ran down her cheeks. She fell on her haunches, forelegs rubbing together. “That’s how it started… I never could have stopped. My friends would have done the same… for me.”

“They’re not here. Things are still out of place..”

“Is anything going to get better? I won’t really remember any of this, will I?” The mare rubbed her temples. “Is this… even happening?”

“It will happen again, and again, and again. Until it doesn’t. There are good pieces yet in this carcass. They’ll be plucked, one by one, as we find them.”

“We?” She took in a breath and reached out towards the figure with her body. “Tell me, what do I need to do? How do I stop this? How do I remember… how do I do anything?”

“Not you.” The Vulture shrugged with Twilight’s own shoulders and shook its beaked head. “This isn’t your story. Look at me, Twilight Sparkle. You don’t think what you’re seeing is objective reality, do you?”

“But—”

“Symbols are important. You are the end of the old. The new will be plucked until it can stay.” The Vulture stayed silent, its beak closed shut. “This used to be your story, Twilight. But these aren’t.”

"...no need to fight it, then."

"I'm glad you understand."

Twilight opened her mouth. The purple-tainted world froze all around her for a moment, then collapsed inward, a brief sense of tremendous pressure hitting the alicorn before everything went dark.

R

*********

Carol City, Equestria

Ditzy sat on a deckchair, sipping from a juice box that sat on the table next to a plate with a half finished muffin. The dark shades over her eyes reflected the bright sun rays. Sun sparkled over the ocean waves as they washed over the shore. Chatter came from a group of ponies gathered around a snack kiosk. A kite hovered in the sky. A dark grey griffon flew nearby, fiddling with a kite of her own.

She lowered the book in her hooves and leaned forward, turning her head to where a group of foals were playing ball. The mare looked at Dinky for a few moments, exhaling. Beginning to recline, she paused as the ball was kicked towards the unicorn filly. Turning and bouncing it with her flank, Dinky sent it flying into the air. Another unicorn filly, a white one, lit up her horn, but the green aura that formed around the ball fizzled out. It was accelerated, flying even higher up, and landing deeper into the ocean, near a couple of swimmers.

Ditzy sighed and got out of her chair, leaving behind the book and the juice box. The pegasus flexed her wings, then her neck, and slowly stepped towards the shore. The two unicorn fillies ran in the same direction, outpacing her. Ditzy’s ear flicked at a louder voice coming from where the fillies played. A white unicorn mare was speaking, waving her hoof at the running fillies, but the other fillies - two earth ponies, brown and yellow, and an orange pegasus - squealed and shouted loud enough to drown her out. A taller mare, a purple alicorn, walked up to the white mare and put a hoof on her shoulder and beckoned to head back. Ditzy smiled and raised her pace, nearing the fillies in the line of wet sand.

When she got there, Dinky stood in place, waves splashing against her hooves, while the other filly went deeper into the water, waving her hooves. Ditzy looked to where the ball landed. Her ears flicked.

An emerald green changeling was swimming towards the shore, carrying the ball with one hoof. There was a cyan swimsuit over the carapace on his chest, several small gems protruding beneath it. He had stubby, backwards-pointing purple horns on his head, with a few rows of nubs between them, covering the top of his head. The changeling was tall and lean, nearing Ditzy’s height while still half submerged.

“Hey, yeah, over here, over here! Thank you, mister!” the white unicorn filly shouted, jumping up in the water as he approached. “Sorry if it hit you, I’m a little—”

The filly paused, no longer jumping. She mumbled and took a step back, staring at the changeling. While he rose to stand on his hooves in the sand, the changeling also began to stare, his purple eyes squinting. Dinky opened her mouth and let out a squeak, but stopped and never continued, her ears folding.

Ditzy watched the changeling, breathing loudly through her nose, her wings jolting with tension. They stayed like that for a time, looking at each other, each slowly backing away. The ball fell back in the water and floated on the waves.

“Hey, fillies, uhm... is there something?…” the changeling said quietly before shaking his head. His ears batted at the air.

“Uuuh, mister Changeling? Did you—” Dinky spoke, stopping when Ditzy took several brisk steps and put a hoof around her shoulders.

Ditzy and the changeling looked at each other. His eyes fixed onto hers, hidden behind shades.

“Pah, there you are. Come now, what is taking you all so long?” the unicorn mare said, cantering up to the scene. She stopped near the white filly. “What a kerfuffle over a—”

The mare turned her head at the changeling, who shrunk in response. He mouthed silently. The mare tilted her head, her long, curling blue mane dangling in the air. Slowly shaking her head, she put a hoof on the filly’s head and drew her back.

Nobody spoke.

Ditzy breathed loudly, her wings having spread out. Dinky’s lips curled as she clung to her mother’s hoof. Rarity had her mouth open while rubbing her head. Sweetie Belle sat down, looking at her forehooves and blinking repeatedly. Nexus moved his eyes from pony to pony, his glistening, transparent tail dragging across wet sand as he took unsteady backwards steps.

A pony approached from the lifeguard station further up the beach. The earth pony stallion chewed on a donut, stopping to take another bite before looking up at the scene. He stopped chewing, crumbs staying in his moustache. He frowned, shut his eyes and rapidly shook his head, strands of brown mane sticking to his forehead.

“There a… there a problem here, ladies?” Thorn said, his eyes remaining shut. He then gulped and motioned with a hoof. “And… mister?..”

“We, uhhh—”

“I think—”

“Just, hold on—”

“I gotta—”

Ditzy slowly moved her head, breathing loudly through her nostrils. The purple alicorn had walked in front of the playing fillies. Twilight Sparkle looked at the six that had gathered by the water. She hung her head for a moment, before shaking it and straightening her neck. Ditzy and the rest had turned to look in her direction. She smiled and waved over to them, walking back to her part of the beach.

“No… Nothing’s wrong. Sorry.”

The lifeguard opened his eyes, squinting at the other five before blinking and taking a breath. He wiped his moustache and took another bite before heading back to the station. The changeling flexed his neck, shook his head and went back to the water, swimming toward the buoys, where another changeling and a pony waved at him. The white mare let out a short laugh and exhaled, turning back and bringing the ball along with her magic. The white filly rubbed her temple and shrugged, grabbing the ball with hers and rushing back. Dinky looked up at Ditzy, who closed her eyes, smiled and nodded, the shades sliding down her sweat-covered snout. Her hooves left the pegasus’ leg, while the filly herself remained.

Ditzy took another glance at the unicorn mare, who briefly returned it, before huffing, raising her head and cantering off. The stallion took another look back, squinting at the pegasus. She shrugged and smiled, and he did so in return before entering the station.

“Sorry, mom,” Dinky said. She turned her head toward the ocean, where the changeling arrived by the buoys. The other changeling splashed him with water and gave him a tap on the head, while the pony laughed. “I… uh… I wanted to go somewhere like this for a long time. It’s been really fun today, but…”

The mare looked down, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m a bit afraid.” The two were silent for a few seconds. “This ocean… I like swimming in it, but I look at it, and it’s just… I dunno how to say it. It’s so big, so deep, and when it’s far from the beach, it gets so dark. I’m feeling kinda queasy.”

Ditzy lowered her shades, looking at the sunlit ocean. She breathed in and smiled, patting her daughter on the back.

“It’s okay, Dinky. The ocean isn’t as scary as it seems.”