//------------------------------// // S2 Episode 11: Royal Meetings // Story: JTHW: Journey To Hearth's Warming // by Lighttone GryphonStar //------------------------------// The morning sun's light traced over the honeydews that soaked every blade of grass that laid thick over the near-flat plains around the capital of the Unicorn Providence. The city itself made this so more noticeable as it quickly reflected the light back with a much greater force than a drop of clarity around. The city shined with so many mirrors that covered nearly all the walls and even some roads. It was truly a sign of incredible beauty. Twilight noted while looking out the window of the titan airship that this place would have been adored by her friends, like Rarity and Fluttershy. To her, the place seemed a bit too bright, but they would have loved it. The Titan airship landed softly on the outskirts of the city. "Take some notes, Starlight," she quickly commented, hoping her student was looking as well. "Starlight... " She, however, frowned at no answer and deadpanned upon turning around, noticing Starlight had already left to the front. "Huh, I guess a closer experience would be better than anything, but I still expect some notes." She walked to the exit as well. As she passed, Twilight noticed Adagio also getting ready to leave. "What? Do you sense one of your sisters out there?" "Won't know until I get out there." "Don't be concerning yourself," Lady Cat walked up. "She is going to be spending the day with Fredricson and me." "Oh, that sounds like fun." Twilight smiled and got to the door. "And where are you off to?" "Where else? I'm from the future. I want to meet the legendary unicorn herself." Twilight laughed as she left. "Huh, your hopes are too high." ****** Outside the airship, Silver Pear and Fredricson were hauling out some empty boxes, while Rex and Clover were looking over the city with some scopes. Starlight was rolling in the grass. Truthfully, it had been so long since she saw and felt such fresh green. "STARLIGHT!" Twilight's annoyance snapped the unicorn free from her happiness. "Oh joy. Calm down. Teacher, I'm just enjoying something I haven't felt for two years." "There was grass just outside the previous town we lived in." "Yes, but that was always so rough, barely ever without snow covering and rarely, if ever, kept clean." "Just get up. We have notes to take." Twilight puffed a notepad on Starlight's face. "Really?!" Starlight huffed as she pulled the notepad off. "I'd rather do anything else." "But, the research!" "That of which has nothing to do with friendship as far as I can see." Starlight jumped up and puffed the notepad away. "Fine, that how about you help Silver Pear with shopping?" Fredricson popped the idea forth while placing the last box down. "I would do it, but Lady has me taking the little one out for some childhood fun." "Wait, me and Silver Pear." Starlight's eyes went wide. "Yeah, won't it be fun, Lovely--” Silver Pear's hand was crushed in magic before it got within range of Starlight's rear. "Uhh..." Starlight's eyes wandered back and forth between Twilight and serious unneeded notes and Silver Pear's slowly growing purple hand. "Fine, shopping would certainly be useful." She dropped her magic grip and walked over to Fredricson. "What do we need?" "Everything is here on this list." Fredricson handed her a blue paper with writing. "Okay, doesn't seem like much." Starlight quickly scanned over the blue paper before putting it in her pocket and turning away. "Wait, take this with you." Fredricson handed her a package. "Don't open this at all under any circumstances until the right time." "Okay?" Starlight raised an eyebrow to his words but took the bag just the same. Fredricson gripped her hand tightly, and spoke with great tone, "I mean it, no opening it at all until the right time!" It was loud, but it was certainly discerning for the unicorn as she walked off. "I... I guess I'm on my own." Twilight turned away. She wanted to have some fun with notes, but she often had to remember that plans can change extremely quickly. She herself was a prime example of that since if everything had gone to plan long ago for she wouldn't be trapped in this distant past. However, things looked up as she saw Rex and Clover walked down to what seemed to be the central road of the city. "That's it!" She smiled into a poof. Appearing right in front of them, she quickly made her claim known. "Can I join you two? If you two are going deep into the city and not somewhere..." Her words drifted as a random thought was quickly smashed into her mind for more important thoughts. "Actually, we are going to see Princess Platinum herself." "Really!!" Twilight jumped with joy. "What an incredible coincidence? I was just planning that very idea. I could go with you." "No," Rex coldly walked off. "Not a chance," Clover quickly followed behind Rex. "What?" Twilight's mane went as flat as her joy. For a moment she was tapping into her inner Pinkmania Diane Pie and it certainly wasn't a pleasant sight. However, just as quickly as everything went flat, she jumped back to life and followed them, anyway. "Okay, but I'm going to see the princess either way and since I've never been to this city before now I'll just have to follow you, anyway." "Great..." Rex deadpanned. His reaction only brought greater joy from Twilight as she whispered under her breath, "We even deadpan to the same thing." "What going on back there?" Clover popped some words out that quickly caught Twilight's attention. "Nothing... It just I was getting hungry and wondering if we could stop for breakfast on the way." Twilight got to moving as fast as she could to catch up with them. "As a friend of mine always said, an excellent breakfast means an excellent day." "And where did this friend get that phrase from?" "She stated the letters T and V, but I never understood what she meant by that." ****** Deep underground, another hunger echoed forth from the stomach of a crystal pony and he pulled his face further and further away from the meat in front of him. Star Stone's willful determination was firm, but his own stomach was losing the fight. He was pushing back now with so much force that the back of the chair was digging into his flesh. "Just do it already!" The griffin roared beside him. "You gave up first. You don't have the right to lecture me?" Star Stone spat back. "It's so simple and actually quite tasty once you finally do it." The changeling beside him swooned with delight. "Never, never!" Star Stone shook harder in his chair. Despite his words and rage, nothing would get through at all to what remained of his former allies. They had long finished their plates and had been fed three other meals afterword. They had long shown their weakness. The only thing that brought hope to Star Stone now was why Indigo Frost had still not arrived yet to make his demands, as his allies had promised. Star Stone was waiting for that icy beast to walk through the door and shout never right to his face. His will would have to settle for the surrounding ones, even if most of their minds were long gone. The future satisfaction of giving his answer to Indigo Frost himself was the only thing keeping him going now. Yet, deep inside his stomach was something matching the roars. This feared him greatly, but he couldn't give up... could he? Would Indigo Frost ever walk through that door? Every day he stared at that door and all he would get was the occasional voice from one of Indigo Frost's allies, but not from him. The legendary him, a being that at the time Star Stone doubted even existed. But today, he knew this would be different? He had this feeling deep within him that the door would open today. He didn't know when, but he knew it would happen today. Much to his luck, unbeknownst to him, there was someone on the other side of the door. This, someone, was hesitant to step in, yes, but he wasn't Indigo Frost. Instead, He was someone else entirely, and he watched the door just as closely, almost perfectly, mirroring the watch of the crystal pony on the other side. In the end, the only thing stopping this war of wills was each other. Only time would tell which one would win. ****** Back in the city, Twilight quickly satiated her hunger with a salted biscuit. Rex was munching on some hay fries, and Clover was sipping on some coffee. The three walked through the central road, which gave a perfect view of most sights. The buildings were a shine of light blues and reds while the roads were a bold contrast of black and grays. Fine eateries could be seen far and wide interchanged with even finer clothing shops. From the outside, each building seemed to be made of almost pure mirrors, perfectly reflecting all the faces that walked by them and other buildings that stood still across from them. "Oh, the significant center of unicorn life, Geländehorn is far more beautiful than the history book could ever describe." Twilight gave one of her best star-struck faces. "Hmm, I never considered it that beautiful..." Clover mused. "When I lived here I mean." "Wait, were you born here?" Twilight practically jumped closer to hear more. "No, this to be the last stop on trades," Rex quickly interrupted. However, the answer made things even more confusing for Twilight. Twilight tried asking for more as to the reason for Rex's words, but she quickly felt a coldness from Clover that was much stronger than before, so she backtracked. "Nevermind that. Clover... Clover the Clever right?" "Yeah, that is my nickname." Clover let down her guard only a little. "I've read so much about you. From your spells to your knowledge, but one thing, especially now, has been bugging me. And how do I put this lightly?" Twilight reached into her pocket. "Put what lightly--" Clover's words were stopped as Twilight floated a picture in front of her. "This... it describes you as a... stallion..." "Wait, what? A STALLION?!" Clover nearly crushed her drink. "Wait... why?" "Hmm," Rex finally stepped closer. "It looks like because they were mistaking you for your brother." "Brother?" Twilight pulled the picture back in confusion. "No, but you're wearing the same type of clothing in this picture. Plus, the history books never mention a brother." "Clovis the Coward," Clover quickly answered in annoyance. She puffed the drink to the nearest trash can and crossed her arms over. "He is under the ownership of Lord Red." "Ownership? Lord Red?" Twilight felt as if the name sounded familiar to her, but she couldn't place where she had heard it before. "An ancient unicorn nearly as old as Starswirl and under the same freedom as Starswirl. The two stand above the rest for the unicorns and alicorns. Starswirl and Lord Red are often treated as if alicorns themselves." "Huh, I guess that makes sense. I knew Starswirl was famous for the alicorns. I just didn't know if there were others of such rank and prestige." "There used to be six others in the same rank, but they are long dead or..." Rex's eyes drifted over to the shadows for a moment before looking back forward. "To put it simply, Lord Red is the writer of most history books nowadays. It's no surprise Clovis would be placed in later books instead of you." "I guess you're right. However, that is going to change." Clover hovered a quill out of her pocket, "Lord Red will hear from me, or so help me..." "Enough you two. Twilight, if you wish to follow us, then keep the questions on the matter at hand. We need to get to Princess Platinum's castle." "To stop the war, right?" Rex sighed at her words as his only answer. At first, when this alicorn almost demanded to join them, he seemed annoyed at the idea, but then his mind wandered back to Starswirl's reasoning for bringing her onto the ship. Yes, she had powerful dark magic, but he seemed more curious about her face. Rex had considered a few possibilities, but each one was quickly stomped until now. Her curiosity, her reasoning, and even her face all seem so familiar, and truthfully talking to her had actually brought forth a smile, that of which very few beings could ever do to him. Rex was curious to find out more about this Twilight Sparkle. However, he noticed Clover's uneasiness around her and wish not to push for anything that might set her off. Rex pushed his thoughts away and to the mission at hand. ****** On the other side of the city, Starlight tried to keep herself calm among the unicorns as she strolled out onto the road. The two had been walking around for two hours. "Kind of strange, isn't it, Lovely?" Silver Pear spoke up beside her. Starlight jumped slightly at his words, "Yeah, it certainly is..." "This city always seemed so perfect when I, and mother used to come here. Crispy clean streets and quiet conformed citizens. It's not that Princess Platinum is a dictator, more that she can't stand chaos in any form in her sight." Instantly Starlight's eyes fell, "Great? How are we going to get these supplies?" "Well, what's on the list?" She reached into her pocket and grabbed out the blue paper, and opened it up. "Hmm, get some books, eggs, bread, grain, hay." "Sounds easy." "Yeah, that part is, the other side of the paper isn't." Starlight flipped the paper over. "Okay, let me hear it." "Black sand, red starch, and blue grain. All of which is extremely illegal. Not to mention this..." She brought the paper closer to her eyes to get a better look. "El Llama from a place called Diamondback Gust." She scratched her head in confusion. "What is an El Llama? I mean, he can't expect us to go find a llama or something like that." "Whatever it is, most of that stuff can be found in the Gross." "Wait, what now?" "The black market here." "What?!" Starlight jumped slightly. "I thought the princess didn't like crime." "No," Silver Pear waved his hand. "She just doesn't like the sight of it." "What? Then where do I find it?" Starlight lowered her eyebrows in confusion. "Just follow me, the Gross is this way, m'lady." Silver Pear bowed to her and pointed his arms to his left, and turned toward a nearby stairway that led underground. After crossing a few floors underground, they came upon a far more different variant of the city above. This place was dirtier, covered in grease, and stank badly. "So, this is the Gross. I can see where it gets its name." The two walked through the underground market, taking in the sights and grabbing what they needed. There were many creatures hidden underneath this city. From batponies to griffins to even hippogriffs and jackalopes. Many of them were on the move, while others were just simply sightseeing. Starlight raised her eyebrow as she walked. "What's wrong?" Silver questioned. "First time in a black market?" "No, not really. When I was younger, I would sneak into these places all the time to get ingredients for dangerous spells and such.". "Oh, my Lovely was once a criminal." Silver's arm raised up and padded her back. Her head fell slightly, "Well, I wasn't always under the teaching of the Princess of Friendship." Suddenly, Starlight's head shot right up as she felt the hand slowly lowering. She looked at Silver Pear with a glare, knowing all too well what he was up to. "Don't worry, Lovely. Mom had me memorize every part of the Unicorn's black market encase she needed to get some not exactly legal foods." "Oh, really?" Starlight let a clever smile slip out as her horn glowed. Silver Pear's hand became enveloped in her magic. His eyes widened as he felt a hand now rubbing his ass. He smiled and turned to grab the hand. Thinking it was Starlight's hand, he kissed it lightly. Instantly he pulled back upon realizing that it was his own hand. He turned away from anypony and spat out as he waved his hand back and forth. He slowly stopped as he heard Starlight's giggle. He spun around and found her standing by a shelf of books, acting as if she didn't see a thing. He quietly walked over as his eyebrows fell and he smiled. "Are you two done yet?" Starlight chimed as she heard his footsteps stop behind her. "Ha, ha, ha. Hilarious, Lovely." "What?" Starlight giggled again. "I thought you and your hand would make a cute couple. After all, you two share similar tastes." She reached out and pulled out a book. She looked at its title and her eyes widened. "Really again?" "What?" Silver walked to her side to see what she was looking at. "Another new spell book published by this H. P. Bloodcraft." "Well, yeah, he has written most of the spellbooks in the world." "Most spell books of my days were written by many writers." "Well, that is five thousand years from now. There are not as many creatures trying to learn magic in this time." Silver grabbed the book out of her hand. "Coming from the earth pony." Starlight's eyebrows went flat and her arms crossed over. "Hey, don't be racist. We earth ponies have magic as well." Silver Pear placed the book back up. "Really?" Starlight turned and leaned onto the bookshelf. "Like what?" "Well, aside from our incredible ever expanding strength," Silver Pear flexed the stuff in his hands. "Right, right?" She turned away. "Well, what's wrong with his writing, anyway?" "My father always told me never to read from just a single source. But this timeline only seems to have one source of magic to gather from." "Hmm, this is the first time you mention your father." Silver Pear smiled. "Yeah, well, truth be told, Firelight was my foster father. I never knew my true father." Starlight pulled out another book. This time, it was a history book. "Firelight loved history. He used to write essays on it all the time. And he always found it best to find out what really happened while to look at every angle." "Every angle, huh." Silver Pear's eyes wandered down to a certain angle he would rather look than any book. "I mean it, Silver." Starlight's horn glowed and pulled the earth pony's eyes away from the sight of her rear. "This has me so confused about Indigo Frost." "What do you mean?" "All the angles, he killed Crimson, kidnapped your mother, has been gathering the alathar, wants revenge on Twilight. Some of these may be connected, but the ones that aren't are so vastly apart." Starlight flipped through the book so fast, but quickly came to a stop. She held her finger on a certain page before pushing into Silver Pear's sight. "And then there is this?" "What?" Silver Pear looked over. It was a page on the alicorn families. "What about them? The alicorns have been around for a long time." "That just it though. Ever since I got here it's been bugging why none of Firelight's books, even his oldest, never mention more than just two. Celestia and Luna are the only alicorns, as of note, in his old books, yet in this time they are everywhere." "Huh," Silver Pear took the book from her and looked closer, and scratched his head in more confusion. "That is rather strange." "For the longest time when I and my teacher first got here, I would try to get her to notice, but she doesn't." Starlight walked over to a counter and placed down some money. "Instead, she hides in her own notes and the training she gives me." "You never told me any of this before. Why now?" "Well, well, Crimson's death..." "What about it?" "Ten days have, and she hasn't shed a single tear. Not once..." Starlight took the stuff once it arrived and walked over to another counter. "Ten days and all she does is bug me on training, take more notes and now even kept a close eye on Rex. It is as if Crimson never meant a thing to her." "Crimson meant a lot to her. He meant plenty to me and you too." "Yes, but, but, but..." Starlight's magic faded, and she dropped the stuff. Silver Pear moved quickly to catch it all, but not quick enough to stop small tears from hitting the ground. He placed down the stuff and rushed his finger over to stop more tears from falling from Starlight's eyes. "Why is she so cold? Is that what you are wondering?" "She's not cold." Starlight pushed his hand away. "More like... she doesn't want to look..." "She doesn't want to look back..."an unfamiliar voice spoke forth. Silver Pear and Starlight's eyes raced over to their right and they saw Starswirl standing by, drinking some chocolate milk. "What are you doing here?" Starlight slowly stood up. "I was right, wasn't I? Twilight acts a lot like him." "Who?" Silver Pear questioned. "Her f--" "No," her words stopped him. "I see." "I mean, not quite. Things are a bit more complicated than that. Twilight is not Rex's daughter. She is his des--" Starlight was stopped by a finger over her mouth. "Don't, I love a good mystery. What you have given me is plenty of clues." Starswirl turned away. "As I don't want spoilers, make sure you don't give any to Rex... or Clover either." "Okay..."Starlight tried to smile. Starswirl noticed her concern out of the corner of his eye. He snapped his finger and cotton candy on a stick appeared in both of the pony's hands. "Eat up, have fun. The past is the past and, and the future is the future. Both of which are always out of reach. Even for a time traveler. Look only at the present." "Alright." Starlight finally let go of her fear and smiled properly. "Good. Speaking of the present. Why are you down here?" Starswirl turned back around with more curiosity. "No mystery this time, just curious." "Fredricson sent us down here to get supplies. Most are illegal so there was little where else to check." Starlight held out the blue paper. "Really," Starswirl's face lit up with a crooked smile that was completely unfamiliar to Starlight. "He gave you the blue paper... I'm assuming it came with a bag right." "Yeah." Starlight pulled it away from the latch on her side. "Oh, good. You haven't opened it yet." Starswirl stepped closer and tapped on the bag lightly. "Good, good, make sure you only open it at the absolute right time. No eventually. And make sure the item from Diamondback Gust is the very last item you get." "Okay..." She pulled away slowly and even more confused than ever. "I must be going. I have plenty of work to do." Starswirl puffed from sight rather quickly. ****** Noon arrived in quick succession. Rex, Clover, and Twilight finally arrived at the chinese style castle that stood at the very center of the city. It was a rather unusual contrast with the rest of the building, as it was the first one they found that was totally made of stone and completely devoid of any mirror or any reflective objects of any kind. The stones were of a fine grade certainly but seemed to be caked in dust, outside a few small clean spots around the massive doors and windows. Twilight knocked on the door with confusion, yet still, cheer. After a moment passed with no answer, more confusion filled her mind. She knocked again, assuming that they simply didn't hear her the first time... Only for no answer at all. "Hmm, are we sure anypony is even home?" Clover walked over and jabbed her bow staff into the door with enough force to tear the wood and yet no reaction. Twilight was caught completely off guard by Clover's action. "Watch it--"  "Hold on," Rex held his hand out to both of them. Clover backed off, followed slowly by Twilight. Once they were clear, he held his hands together in a triangle shape. "Shadow Spell One, Tracer." On that, a single tail of shadow shot out of his own shadow and raced to the door. "Trace on." Rex's left eye went completely black. "Okay, I'm in." "Oh, incredible!" Twilight quickly puffed a notepad into her hand and quill into the other. "An extra line of sight." She quickly took down all the details she could observe. "What do you see?" Clover questioned. "Hmm, three guards, possibly two more, that might have just left. Their footprints pepper the floor." "Oh, it's that accurate--" "Shush," Rex silenced Twilight. "The first three guards are clearly close enough to hear the knocks but not close enough to hear everything going on the other side. "They are ignoring me huh," Twilight, and she turned right back to the door. Her horn quickly lit with magic. Before Rex could even react, she placed her hand onto the door and spoke, "Darkest Laughter!" Without warning, the door vanished from sight. "Well, there goes our simple way to enter," Rex deadpanned, as his eye reappeared. Twilight's face went instantly sheepish, especially when the door crashed down behind them. "Okay... May have been wiser to channel Fluttershy than Pinkie Pie." "Was that a dark magic spell based on one element of Harmony?" Clover questioned with a raised eyebrow. "... Yes..." "Next time use a small variant of that spell." Rex huffed as he passed by. "... Right, I'll remember that." Twilight knew she moved completely backfired. She wanted to impress Rex with her use of dark magic, but this only showed lousy control. The guards quickly closed in with spears ready. Rex quickly noted that despite their movement being quick, their stances were absolutely terrible. Something was certainly off, he could tell purely from these actions alone. "Look, we simply wish to talk to Princess Platinum," Rex raised his hands up in surrender, bringing much shock to both Clover and Twilight. "We wish no harm. We are only here to ask for her help." "..." The guards gritted their teeth before slowly dropping their weapons. "She is in the garden." One guard walked forward, "I will lead you." "... well," Rex raised an eyebrow but followed the guard anyway. "Cool," Clover followed. "Okay, I guess things worked out after all." Twilight could only rub the back of her head in confusion. "I hope Starlight and Silver Pear have fewer problems than we are clearly going to have." ****** On the other side of the city, deep within Gross, the two reached their last stop. Starlight held up the blue paper once more to make sure and gave it another read. "Diamondback Gust..." "That's what the sign said," Silver Pear pointed out. "Yeah... but there's nothing here." She threw her hands out to emphasize this. Indeed, there was nothing laid out, no one creature of any kind standing at the counter. In fact, the only thing in sight outside of the dust that caked everything was a bell. "Could that be the El Llama?" Silver Pear pointed to the bell. It was rather strange. The bell looked to be almost brand new. A distinct cleanness was a very stark contrast with the rest of the stands' broken down look. "Doubt it..." Starlight deadpanned. "We should at least ring it. It would be rude to simply just stand here." "I guess that's true--" Starlight rang the bell and exhale. "I hope this isn't anything stupid. I mean Fredricson does work for the future Dis--" Without warning, the two fell through a trapdoor. Moments later, they found their rears in a lot of pain as they attempted to get up. Starlight dusted herself off. "Ouch, that hurt a lot." Silver Pear, meanwhile, stood absolutely frozen, staring out at something in the darkness. Starlight was very confused by his silence and turned around, only to find that he still didn't move. She tapped his shoulder and instead of an answer; he backed away slowly. Her eyebrow raised even higher, and she finally asked, "What is wrong with you, you damn perv?" "Naga..." He softly whispered. "Naga, what is that, some sort of sex joke?" Starlight gripped his shoulders and pushed at him. "Giant snake..." "Okay, now I know you are making a dick joke?" Starlight closed her eyes and huffed before finally turning around. Suddenly, her ear flicked at the sounds of hissing. Convinced that Silver Pear was now in front of her making noise, she opened her eyes and yell, "Okay, I get it. The mares are always talking about your size. Well, frankly I... don't... give... a... shit..." She slowly stopped at the sight of a massive head of a snake at least three times her size staring back at her. "Curse you, Dis--" Before Starlight could finish, Silver Pear pulled her away, yelling even louder. "NAGA!!" ****** Deep underground, the hunger grew louder within Star Stone's stomach. The urges pulsed through his body, and yet he tried his hardest to fight it. Despite his headache begging him, his dry throat demanding him, and his eyes blurring everything, he refused each call by pushing himself further and further away from the plate. The chair was now tearing deep into his back. He looked to his left and right. Sorrow filled his face at the sight of his former allies now leaning over, attempting to lick at the blood pouring from his back. He turned his head away from them and gritted his teeth. "Please..." He begged. "Make this end." He lifted his head to the door. "I refuse to give in to your ways... You damn Wendigo!" There was no answer... "Face me! Look at me before I die!" Star Stone poured forth his last struggles. Again, no answer... "DAMN IT!!" Star Stone shredded his throat with one last roar before finally dropping his head. A moment passed, and the door finally opened. Someone walked in and Star Stone could only smile. He thought in this one moment he had won. However, all that changed when he lifted his head up to see who actually walked in. "Sage... Brimstone ..." Star Stone looked in shock to the ifrit as it stood in front of him. "Lord Frost is not here at all. He never was." "Lord... Frost..." Slowly, the connections moved in Star Stone's head. That Sage would refer to this Indigo Frost as Lord only brought forth rage in his mind. But what brought out more than anything was the fact that Indigo Frost was never there at all. All this time, he had only been sensing Sage and nothing else. This final realization made everything snap. The confusion was completely gone... The rage was completely gone... The hope was completely gone... Star Stone's eyes went completely blank. All the work he had done until now was for not, the beast was never there. Every ounce of everything that had kept him going was now gone and something finally climbed out... ...Hunger... Without warning, Star Stone's body jolted erratically. Despite his mouth being once dry, it was now filled with foam and he roared outward with a voice that sent chills over everyone in the room. The others near him hissed at first before almost kneeling away from him, screeching in total fear. It was like they were dogs bowing down to an alpha. The alpha pushed forward, ripping his arms at his binding with so much force that his bones cracked aloud. Finally, the binding tore, and the alpha jumped forward. His legs weren't free, but that didn't matter as the tendons in his feet quickly split open. Free, the alpha rushed forward and gripped Sage by the throat, and punched him hard into the ground. Sage struggled at the chips of bone sticking out of the hand that was now choking the life out of him. The alpha smiled at this and leaned down to Sage's face and growled before slowly opening his mouth... "So... this is it?" Sage glared at the teeth, the breath, the blank eyes that only had his own face, no, his flesh, as the only thing within the mind of the monster hanging over him. As the teeth closed in one last thing flew through Sage's mind that made everything completely clear. The last words his new lord told him before he left this day. "Privilege, rights, name, friends and even family, it means nothing. When all things fall, that is what I plan to push this world to accept. In the end, nothing matters more compared to the urge to survive. Some ponies do it because it’s right, others do it because they have to.” Sage's fears faded, and he smiled, speaking aloud the last words that were given, "But mostly they do it because deep down they are… all monsters.” ******