//------------------------------//
// At Melting Point 
// Story: The Immortal Dream 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

The secret door rose up behind me, somehow detecting that it no longer needed to remain open. With a clink, the key popped loose, and I caught it and shoved it safe in a pocket, opposite the one on my side that contained Icebeard's journal. My thoughts should have spun, but they didn't, as if my brain needed to be at the top of its game and didn't want to get bogged down thinking and analyzing.

I tried to think about it anyway, adrenaline forcing my head to clear. Maybe the Composer wasn't here for the actually dangerous things in that cave, but the changelings... Icebeard and his scientists had invented a way to create changelings. They made a monster, and that changeling skeleton belonged to it. What if Aldebaran was here for this? Statistical association said they had to be. What were the odds a crew of changelings would come out to the middle of nowhere and not do it because this particular middle of nowhere held a secret like that?

Hey, for all I knew, they had already been down here and plundered the hearts themselves. Except then they'd have already found the key, right? The Composer didn't say how long those hearts had been missing for...

Too many questions. I let my head do its thing and go empty. For now, the second phase of my plan had actually worked too, and I was a stone's throw away from the Composer telling everyone to pack it in, exorcising Ludwig and going away. Plenty of time to lose myself in the world of questions and confusion when I wasn't this close to an impossible victory.

The elevator shaft flew by, time seeming to dilate as neither of us spoke. If machines could show emotions, I would call the Whitewing contemplative, maybe even victorious. It was impossible to read, and yet I believed it had actually found what it came for. How did an artist's name have anything to do with anything? And what language had it been written in, anyway? Was the Composer lying about everything? Was I just projecting how I wanted it to feel?

I couldn't know. All I could do was hope.

When the elevator doors finally opened, a Corsica was waiting for us.

I blinked, sizing her up and doing a double-take. This clearly wasn't Ludwig; her eyes and talent looked normal. And yet, if this was Leif, she had definitely been through something bad while I was away: she was missing all her usual regalia, like the ear ornaments and shoes, her mane and tail were limp and her eyes were dull, and she was leaning against a wall for support. She looked... out of it, like when Corsica had her extreme burnout after the accident two years ago.

My mind went to the threats Ludwig had been making over the intercom as we were preparing to go down to the chapel. Had those gotten Corsica's reputation - and by extension, Leif - in hot water? This Corsica didn't look injured, just exhausted. Although, honestly, I probably looked the same.

"Leitmotif," the Composer said, apparently sharing none of my confusion. "Report."

Leif blinked in surprise, working her jaw. "We... got what we were after," She nodded, straightening up. "Now it's time to go. Everyone's waiting back at the ship. I came to let you know."

The Composer tilted its head. "How did you know where Rondo and I had gone?"

Leif tossed her ragged mane. "I have my ways. Are you coming, or not?"

"Very well," the Composer decided, dropping the matter. "I am surprised you straightened your affairs so quickly. Good work. Incidentally, I have just completed my work as well. Let us make for the Aldebaran."

I gritted my teeth and followed along. This was supposed to be the part where the Composer exorcised Ludwig and made the changelings go away. And while it seemed happy to do the latter, how could I remind it of the former when I was supposed to be Rondo and another changeling was right here? It had promised... For that matter, I also needed a way to slip away before they roped me into any escape attempt. Hopefully they weren't so tight-knit that they would call off their escape if they noticed 'Rondo' was missing.

Maybe I could use that, to make the Composer keep its bargain if push came to shove. I kept my ears tuned, listening for more trash talk from Ludwig over the intercom, but nothing came. The halls were truly empty this time, as if a responsible authority figure had imposed a lockdown and not just relied on scared ponies to hide themselves.

My gaze drifted to Leif, trying to get a better read on her. She showed no sign of cuts, bruises, tenderness or a limp, so her duress couldn't be from a fight. But what could have tired her out this much? And why didn't the Composer care about the state of its followers? The last time I had met Leif, in Graygarden's office, she had been frustrated, sure, but she seemed like the kind of mare to whom frustration lent energy. Now, she just looked like she had been drained. Something must have done that to her, and the only thing I could imagine inflicting that much emotional exhaustion in such a short timespan was Ludwig. Whatever that windigo was doing, I hoped it would be stopped soon...

Leif noticed me staring. "She's a teenager, you dirty changeling. Eyes off." She shook her head and walked on.

Not how I wanted that to be taken. And what was going on? I could practically hear the fear in her voice.

I summoned my best Rondo impression. "What's so wrong with being concerned for a friend, my dear Leitmotif? No offense, but you look a little out of your groove."

Leif shook her head, not looking at me. "I'll be fine. Worry about your own skin. We've just had a few setbacks, that's all. The yaks have impounded our ship, so focus instead on how to get that back."

Setbacks, huh? I glanced at the Composer.

"Still your worries," it said, more to Leif than to me. "If we have reason to leave, then we will leave. I am here so that matters of being forced to do otherwise need not apply."

Leif didn't look any more at ease.

This was exhausting. Sometimes, seeing that an opponent was tiring too could give me a second wind - my competitive spirit wasn't particularly strong compared to the Icereach patent-mongers, but it was definitely present. Here, however, Leif's weariness seemed contagious, as if it was a warning that not all was about to be well and peaceful. If an encounter with Ludwig had done this to her... I had no plans for evicting the windigo other than relying on the Composer to follow through on its bargain. Taking over Icereach and playing Ludwig's game at this point was a laughable idea, as if it ever might have worked in the first place.

I just wanted to sleep. I wanted it to be over. I wanted to dream, to go back to a time when things hadn't been like this and pretend it was the future instead. My mind was exhausted and my body numb. Was it really a miracle that had brought me back to this place when Mother wanted to leave? Where was Mother now, amid all this?

Silently, I said a prayer for help, hoping I hadn't used up the last of my divine intervention all the other times.





We made for the surface, the key and journal heavy in my pockets. Leitmotif said nothing, as though it took all her willpower to keep putting one hoof in front of the other. The Composer, likewise, came peacefully. As I walked, I kept looking at those two, being careful not to stare yet desperate for any more information or insight I didn't already have. None came.

It was awful, being this powerless. Really, I was clueless, not powerless, but I was the biggest believer there was in knowledge being power. It let you avoid problems before they began, and meant you didn't need to use force instead. And not needing to use force meant I didn't need to think about the bracelet. What would happen if I let the changelings leave, then turned it up and picked a fight with Ludwig then and there? Assuming I could find the windigo. Its current silence was disturbing. I couldn't shake the feeling that the bracelet had to do something useful against a windigo, being fire magic and all. But I had no idea how it would end.

I didn't speak. I didn't want to break the spell. Every step we took towards the Aldebaran was one more second that things hadn't yet fallen to pieces. I wanted to trust the Composer when it said it could deal with a rogue windigo. I wanted to trust it when it said it would deal with a rogue windigo. I wanted to trust Mother, doing who knew what but hopefully something more helpful than me. I wanted to trust the yaks, seeing as we were walking right toward them and they had apparently made a move. Was it safe to do any of them? Half of me was getting numb to betrayal, and half of me really didn't want it to happen again.

Trusting others to solve my problems was just what I wanted. It was how I was. And yet, on the Aldebaran, paralyzed by Mother's abilities and pleading with anything that could hear me, I had said I wouldn't mind solving problems myself, stepping up and being my own hero for a change. Maybe that was why I was in this situation, with nobody I was sure I could trust. Maybe it was fate.

Quietly, I said a prayer to... to the figures holding the worlds in the mural. Let this be over. Let this be done. Now that I was this close, I was immeasurably tired; even though I knew that it wasn't over until it was over and there was still so much I could be blindsided by, I needed this awful night to end.

We reached the elevators. And then we reached the surface.

The moon was low on the horizon, waning but nearly full. Up the valley, the eastern sky was tinged with purple and the beginnings of red. Sunrise was almost here. The storm was completely gone.

I almost lit my bracelet, and then stopped myself. Hadn't I never used it around the changelings before? I hadn't left a double for Rondo to wear, and it was how Elise realized in the hideout that I was the real me. I didn't know if lighting it now could make Leif realize I was a fake, and I was too tired to think through the implications, but the risk was too great to indulge in.

Since I had last been aboveground, the yaks had bulldozed an incredible amount of snow, actually clearing the gates enough that they could be opened. None of us walked particularly close together, the Composer neither making an effort to avoid nor be near us, yet Leif definitely giving me a berth. The main courtyard was plowed as well, and I could see the two airships moored in the adjacent training yard, over the wall.

The Composer strolled straight through the main gate, as if sneaking wasn't a concept that had even been invented. Leif and I both hung back. Apparently, she valued her own skin over her patron's.

"Welcome back," I heard Elise's voice say, and instantly shadow swam, trying to get a better view without being spotted.

"How unexpected," the Composer replied, standing in the courtyard before an Elise - presumably Tempo - plus an undisguised Vivace and five yaks. Balthazar and Nicov were among them. Both changelings were dressed for the weather.

"Hullo, machine pony," Balthazar rumbled. "Where are rest of changeling ponies?"

"We've found ourselves with some new and unexpected allies," Vivace drolly explained. "Have you been keeping tabs on the windigo?"

I emerged from the shadows and wandered forward. Balthazar and the yaks were siding with the changelings? Was this for real? They couldn't be in the dark about who we were; Balthazar seemed to already know. What was going on here? I wasn't awake enough to give this productive thought, but... was it possible the changelings had a goal that was actually legitimate enough to convince the yaks to help them?

Or maybe they were good enough at pretending to convince the yaks they did when they didn't. Either way, them and the changelings seemed to be getting along. Next to me, Leif looked worried.

She followed me, and Tempo relaxed when she saw that everyone appeared to be present... It looked like no one had caught on to my Rondo guise yet.

"Ludwig will become my problem when and only when it comes to me," the Composer said. "I have made no efforts to follow it."

Internally, I growled. So much for it exorcising the windigo in exchange for me taking it to see the chapel... Liar.

"Word of our antics reached the surface faster than we had hoped," Tempo explained, turning to walk towards the training grounds where the ships were moored. "I determined the best course of action would be to be up front with these fine yaks, and explained our situation in detail. Provided we help with this windigo problem of theirs, they are letting us depart in peace. That is why I was hoping you had already encountered the monster."

The yaks and Vivace fell in behind her, and so I did too.

"Ludwig!" Tempo called. "I know you are watching us! Show yourself!"

"Why do you call for it?" the Composer asked, joining the procession. "If the windigo wisely avoids obstructing my path, we should repay that wisdom by leaving it to its own devices. I have no quarrel with those who have no quarrel with me."

My eyes narrowed. When I agreed to work with the Composer, I fully imagined I might get betrayed again, but I more imagined it as an it-attacks-me betrayal, or it outing me to the changelings. Getting what it wanted and then leaving without keeping its end of the bargain... I should have known that was far more likely.

"I am afraid that won't work out," Tempo said, stopping just before the training grounds entrance. "As I said, these yaks are only working with us on the condition that we stop this Ludwig and safely return the pony it is inhabiting. While that task might be out of our league, I assume it is well within yours."

The yaks all nodded, muttering their assent. Part of this was a relief - the yaks might be playing nice with the changelings, but apparently they knew what was going on with Corsica, and were trying to put it right? At the same time, Tempo seemed familiar enough with Ludwig's name that I got the impression she knew it from before this. Of course the changelings knowingly locked us in with a windigo...

"I see," the Composer said. "Your efforts at diplomacy are appreciated. However, I no longer require a reason to be in Icereach, so they are also unnecessary. Come. Let us take our leave."

"Machine pony fail intelligence test," Nicov threatened, stepping into the Composer's path. "You not have reason to be in Icereach. Reason to be in Icereach have you."

"Cannot leave after making mess," Balthazar added. "Clean up mess first, then leave. Not about what machine pony want."

The Composer calmly looked at them. "I mean to take my leave, and have neither allegiance nor quarrel with you," it said to the yaks. "Please step aside."

Tension rose in the clearing. "Where is that windigo...?" Tempo muttered. Leif, still disguised as Corsica, and Vivace both looked uneasy. The yaks were bracing for a fight.

"Machine pony not leave until fix Corsica," Balthazar said, laying down his final ultimatum.

The Composer spread its wings, and for a moment I thought it would just fly past them, remembering how it had hovered in midair when we were docking the Aldebaran to enter the hideout cave. And then blades extended from its forehooves.

"Then it seems," Tempo sighed, "this concludes negotiations."

Her horn lit, and she pulled a small box from her winter coat. A button on it clicked, and the Composer suddenly flashed with energy, then crumpled into a heap.

I was too stunned to realize the yaks were moving until I was flanked by two of them. Tempo was even quicker. A flash from her horn directed at me and Leitmotif, and gravity around us quadrupled, my tired legs giving out as I fell against the ground. "Hey, what gives!?" Leif barked. The yaks and Vivace were unaffected.

"What the...?" I tried to struggle against the spell's power, but it was too much. Had Tempo discovered I was the real Halcyon? No, she had just attacked Leif and the Composer as well... Her horn didn't glow with an aura, but with a soft, multicolored flame that looked to be pulling in the pre-dawn light.

"Ludwig!" Tempo called. "Where are you?"

Beside me, Leif hissed, struggling. "Changeling ponies stay down," Balthazar advised, looming over us. "Still have windigo to solve. Can do justice once danger is gone."

"I'm not a changeling!" Leif snapped, her horn trying to light, yet somehow being extinguished by Tempo's power. "I'm the real Corsica! Ludwig's gone, I fought him off and made him leave!"

Suddenly, the weight of my situation hit me: whatever Tempo and Vivace were doing, the yaks thought they were arresting changelings. My Rondo disguise had gone from a protection to a liability, and I couldn't even claim to be the real Halcyon without sounding exactly like a fake.

"I suppose that's all of them," Tempo said, wandering up to Balthazar, her mane blowing just like Elise's always did. "I don't understand where Ludwig is, though. This is a significant setback..."

"Yes, you were planning with him about taking over Icereach," Leif cut in. "To finish that stupid game so that he would keep his promise and leave me alone. Elise, it's me! Ludwig is gone!"

My train of thought completely derailed.

"Why else do you think I'd have led that Whitewing and them up here into your trap if I didn't already know about it?" The Corsica-lookalike managed to point a hoof at me. "Listen, that one was with the Whitewing, but the real Halcyon is alive. I was lucid through the whole thing; Ludwig saved her from the blizzard, last I saw her she was going into the bunker to find out where the changelings were. The reason Ludwig isn't showing up for your plan is because he's gone! Elise, let me go!"

I couldn't process this. Was it possible neither of them were changelings? Leif couldn't possibly know what Ludwig had done with me in the storm. But how would Elise have made it through the storm to follow me without a green flame bracelet of her own? If she had managed it, though, and approached Ludwig afterward, then Corsica would know...

There was only one thing I could think of to do, my mind going back to a time in the hideout where Elise had identified me by my bracelet. I lit it green, making it as obvious as I could.

Elise's spell slackened around me. "Halcyon...?"

I gingerly pulled myself into a sitting position and looked around, dazed. "Are all of us real?"

Corsica blinked at me in surprise. "You're a changeling. You were with the Whitewing..."

"Last I checked, the changelings did not steal that bracelet," Elise replied. "Halcyon had it during our exile, and it is one of a kind."

"But..." I blinked, my leaden mind trying to sort through the implications. "How did you make it through the storm?" I looked at Elise, and then Corsica. "And how did you know to wait for us at the chapel elevator?"

"I wasn't waiting for you," Corsica managed, looking every bit as exhausted as I felt. "I was waiting for the elevator to go down myself. I thought if there was anywhere you would have gone to hide... What were you doing down there with the Whitewing?"

Balthazar interrupted us, loudly clearing his throat. "So... trap only caught real ponies? Halcyon, Corsica and Elise all pretend to be changelings without knowing each other in Icereach?"

"Hey, I knew," Corsica protested, pointing at Elise. "At least about her. I just got spotted and had to save my own skin. Figured I'd lure a few of them in for you while I was at it."

"I wouldn't say we only caught real ponies," Elise added, nodding at the Composer. "That is not a creation we wanted running around. Fortunately, it was not designed without failsafes." She patted the small box she had used to disable it.

In the background, I noticed Vivace was still there, unaccosted by yaks and looking like he didn't want to be seen. Wait, if Elise was here, then could that be...?

Slowly, very slowly, it started to hit me: my prayers had been answered. Everything was somehow alright. And I hadn't even needed to do a thing.

"Is this real?" I repeated, feeling my breathing hitch.

"It would seem so." Elise nodded. "Both of you have clearly been through a terrible ordeal, and I'm sure I will get to hear all about it later. But this means that two changelings and a disembodied windigo are still unaccounted for. I will handle things from here, but you must tell me everything you know about where these three might be. We are not yet home free."

I sagged, as if my body had been awaiting permission to be tired. "I've been posing as Rondo for a while. The real one is tied up in my house. Mother got him... You got a clue where she is? I haven't seen her in a bit..."

"I got Ludwig to take a hike," Corsica said, her mane limp and ragged. "We could talk to each other while he was controlling me. Trust me, if I was stuck in your head, I could make you shove off too."

"It left for where?" Elise pressed. "And the final changeling? Leitmotif?"

Corsica shook her head. "No clue, and never seen her. Like I said, I wasn't trying to pose as her until they caught me." She pointed at me and the Composer, who hadn't said a word since being disabled.

I shivered. The storm might be gone, and dawn might be close, but it was still nighttime on the surface.

"This is problematic," Elise said, straightening up. "Now that we've made our moves, it would be easy for a lone changeling to hide, blend into the populace and remain there indefinitely. At the very least, we need to recover Rondo and transfer him to proper custody as quickly as possible, to prevent him from slipping out of reach as well, but we should act with urgency to find Leitmotif in case she can still be caught before she goes into hiding. We'll also need to sweep the bunker to ensure Ludwig isn't hiding and about to start more trouble now that our existing contract is finished. Balthazar, please take that Whitewing and seal it somewhere secret and secure. Halcyon, I hate to ask more of you when you clearly need to be checked at the hospital and then rest, but if we are to have any chance of catching Leitmotif before she learns of this and disappears, we will need to continue pretending to be her crew for a little bit more. You too, Vivace." She beckoned to the reluctant changeling.

"Who's he?" Corsica frowned at the newcomer. "You switching sides, or something?"

"Not all changelings work for Aldebaran," Elise replied, furthering my suspicions. "Icereach has others that are known to me. It should go without saying, but I would not repay their help in this matter by making public their identity."

'Vivace' shot me a look that said please don't tell Corsica. I nodded. Whatever it had taken for Ansel to get to the point where he would do something like this, I wasn't about to be ungrateful.

"So," I told Elise. "Heading down to my house to grab the real Rondo and hope Leif turns up, right? I can push myself a little more."

"So what about me?" Corsica pressed. "Need one more to round out your posse?"

Elise shook her head. "You should stay here with the yaks and rest in their fortress. It would be a red flag if Leitmotif saw us in the company of a pony she is pretending to be."

"Or I could pretend to be Ludwig," Corsica offered. "Get me shades and a towel for my rump, and I can pull off the attitude."

Elise frowned. "I can't ask you to do more than-"

"Can't ask me to sit back while my friends do all the work?" Corsica raised an eyebrow. "Face it, I'm good luck to have around. And I scared off a windigo. I can pull my weight."

"...Right." Elise looked unconvinced. She reached into her coat again and pulled out a hoof-sized chunk of black glass I was pretty sure I recognized from a display case in Graygarden's office. "Touch this, if you would?"

Corsica tapped it with a hoof. "Why?"

"Just in case," Elise replied, putting it back in her coat. "It's a material any changeling would recognize, and none would dare touch. Hopefully you can understand the usefulness of keeping it a secret."

I was far past the point where I wanted to get on anyone's case for censorship, so I let it slide. Besides, that sounded like a decent enough reason... "If we're in a hurry, let's get going," I said, swaying on my hooves. "I just want all this to be over. But I'm in. Let's go."

Elise nodded to me. "All I need is for you to be a face in a crowd, Halcyon. Leave all the hard work to me."





I had everything to say, and no time to say it. And yet, somehow, I had nothing but time.

Words burned at my tongue as I led the way through Icereach's tunnels, armed with a decent knowledge of the path to my own house - recovering Rondo was our first order of business. Elise was following, as was Ansel in his Vivace disguise. Corsica had managed to persuade Elise to let her come along, though her eyes and talent were now blocked so that she couldn't be told apart from Ludwig at a glance. No yaks accompanied us. Just as we had been when we were stranded, the four of us were together, and yet alone.

I thought I was the only one left, I wanted to say. I thought I'd have to fix this all by myself...

It's alright, I wanted Elise to reply. Icereach has always been my responsibility. I had a plan.

But now wasn't the time for talking. Now was time to take the final surge of strength I had found and see this all the way through; catch Leif and Rondo and make sure we didn't squander whatever advantage we had been miraculously given. Now wasn't the time for asking Elise how she had made it through the storm, or asking Corsica how she was free of the windigo, or telling anyone what I had been through, or marveling at how we all wound up in the same place with the same plan...

It was a miracle. Again. Exactly the same as I had felt last time I was sneaking down into these halls, not two hours before, when the Composer had stopped Mother from taking me away. Come to think of it, it had been pretty miraculous that I had survived the storm in the first place.

This couldn't be a coincidence. My superstitious half would never believe it, and my scientific half was starting to doubt that as well. Three obvious miracles in such a short span of time? I had done nothing to contribute - lived through a blizzard and avoided getting caught by changelings, sure, but I hadn't learned anything useful and hadn't executed any plans, or even made any. Now that I thought about it, I had a hunch I knew what Elise had been doing on the surface: if Graygarden was gone, the yaks were working with her, and the changelings and Composer were captured, she could feasibly tell Ludwig she was in complete control of Icereach. It might have left her behind in the hideout, but she had caught up, and played through to completion the game I couldn't even bring myself to start.

My legs shook. It was exactly what I had wished for, wasn't it?

We walked further through the residential block, no ponies out and about to cross our path, and my mind drifted. Two years ago, with Ansel and Corsica unconscious after the avalanche, I had gone down to the chapel, in search of solace and to cry into the darkness. Back then, I had been a different pony to the way I was now, but some things were still the same, or at least similar. Always, I had wondered if there was something out there, feeling like I was missing a part of myself, or perhaps missing something external to me that all ponies should have had.

I couldn't say exactly what happened in the chapel that day. Not with my mask on, at least. I was too good at lying to myself to trust that everything I thought I remembered had really happened. For all I knew, most of what I thought I knew, I had made up. The facts were that I had gone down there, and mere hours after I got back, Corsica was awake. What I thought was that I had called, and something answered.

And we spoke. And it told me everything would be alright. And then it was, even though that should have been impossible.

At least, that was what I remembered.

Most of the time, I never trusted myself with that memory, and I never told anyone it was the real reason I wanted to learn more about the chapel. Prove that what I had seen was real, or keep searching for it forever.

And now, through a string of lucky second chances and narrow brushes with failure, I felt like I had that proof. There was fate, or... or something keeping me on my hooves, preventing anything irreversible from coming to pass and letting me always try again. I looked back at Elise. She was real, tangible, and had taken out the Composer and the real Tempo and Vivace all by herself, or with the yaks. I glanced over at Corsica, wearing Ludwig's ridiculous shades. She had exorcised a windigo apparently on her own, a task I couldn't even begin to approach. My eyes found Ansel, pretending to be Vivace, doing nothing but being a face in a crowd... and yet, given his feelings on identity theft, that had to take a heroic amount of willpower.

All of their presences reassured me. And yet, it must have been destiny that I had them in the first place. This was fate.

We reached my apartment.

"I will take point," Elise softly requested, stepping to the fore. "Remember, our primary goal is to take all of the changelings into custody. If Rondo is here, we will carry him back to the fortress. Halcyon, I would request that you and Corsica remain behind and hide here while Vivace and I accomplish that task. If you are pretending to be him, it would not do for you two to be seen together by Leitmotif, and as she hasn't approached us yet, we must continue trying to bait her."

I nodded. "Wouldn't be surprised if she's holed up in the administration wing. You gonna come back to get us, or...?"

"I shall try," Elise promised, "but as plans must change dynamically, I cannot say for sure. Will this be acceptable?"

"Put my hooves up down here?" Corsica shrugged. "Sure. Just as long as I'm not on my own."

Wait, since when was Corsica nervous about being on her own? She must have had it really rough... I had a feeling each and every pony here had as much or more that they weren't saying as I did.

Elise opened the door.

The lights were on inside. I didn't recall us leaving them that way. The kitchen looked like it had been used. A copy of Corsica's shoes and ear ornaments sat on the horseshoe rack near the entry. And two ponies sat at the table, facing each other, one at either end: Mother and Leitmotif.

Somehow, drawing on my talent, I managed to keep the surprise off my face, holding Corsica and Ansel outside the door.

"There you are," Elise said, stepping forward and nodding at the duo before throwing a particular glance at Mother. "I didn't know that form matched your tastes, muscle colt."

Neither of the ponies at the table paid her any mind. Instead, Leif sighed. "I suppose our time's up."

"Looks like it," 'Mother' grunted, waving a hoof at Elise. "And I'm not Rondo. Just an old war buddy."

"Intriguing," Elise said. And then she lit her horn, flooring both of them with her gravity spell.

"Aaargh!" Leif fell out of her chair with a crunch. "Tempo, stop! What's gotten into you!?"

"I am not Tempo," Elise explained, her colorful, fiery aura intensifying and locking the two mares down, preventing all means of escape. "Being caught by surprise doesn't feel so nice when you are on the other end, does it? One of you three, return to the surface posthaste and tell the yaks we have caught both remaining changelings and require backup. Leitmotif and Rondo, in the name of Ironridge, you are under arrest."

Ansel ran off. I slipped in behind Elise.

Seeing things from this angle, Leif was visibly surprised and angry. 'Mother' just looked... tired, just like me. Her eyes found me, and then my glow bracelet. "Halcyon," she said. "Pile of clothes in the corner of my room. Go check it..."

I moved to obey. Elise held out a hoof to stop me.

"It's my house," I told her. "I think I know my way around, yeah?"

She shook her head. "I will search myself once backup has arrived. You have taken enough risks already, and this one is not yours to claim."

"Should have guessed you'd sell me out," Leif sighed, looking at Mother instead of me or Elise. "Guess it was a lie when you said you weren't ready for this."

Mother didn't say anything.

Leif's gaze turned to me. "Real Halcyon, right? I'm surprised Nehaly was able to get word out fast enough for them to go fetch you lot as quick as they did. Figured... Ahh, never mind."

"No rescue was conducted," Elise explained, horn burning softly with flames. "We made the journey on hoof. I merely used my talent to make it survivable. For an impersonator, you didn't do a very good job profiling your victims and building a trap that could contain them."

Wait, what? Was Elise implying I had escaped with her, as opposed to on my own? Did that mean she knew about my bracelet, and that I didn't particularly want to be recognized for what I could do with it?

Leif just looked away.

I watched and waited. It was all I could do, other than trying to read the atmosphere in the room. But every time I did, what I saw made me uncomfortable, or just seemed off: neither Leif nor Mother were struggling. Both of them seemed resigned. And I was fairly sure this was the real Mother, because odds were ten to one the thing she wanted me to find in her bedroom was the real Rondo... But if she knew she was real, and would be exonerated, why would she have this reaction? And why wasn't Leif fighting, either?

Something must have happened here, before I arrived. I had seen Vivace talk extensively with Mother about the old east before, or at least been shooed away so they could have that conversation. It wasn't a stretch of the imagination to think that changelings might have existed and had lives in the east before the war when the goddesses were wiped out. What if these two really had known each other?

"...Elise," I started, not entirely sure what I wanted to say.

"Peace," she replied, focusing on powering her spell. "Leave everything to me. Once the yaks arrive, we can determine real identities and matters of guilt and innocence."

I nodded, counting the minutes. How long had it been? Clocks moved so slowly when you were watching them. My heart was beating like a clock of its own. Everything would be alright, I knew. Every threat had been neutralized. I was just waiting for the yaks to clean up the piece. yet, deep down, a part of me whispered that it wasn't over until it was over...

"Hoofsteps," Corsica said, sitting against a wall with her ears trained on the door. I nodded, stepping out to see who it was.

It was the Composer.

I squeaked in surprise, stumbling back inside my apartment. Elise's surprise was a lot more visible, though she managed to keep her spell up. The Composer stopped in the door, its body pulsing gradually with ice-blue energy veins, and didn't enter.

Elise pulled out her control box again and pressed it. Nothing happened.

"Hmm," the Composer said, nodding. "I thank you, Elise. While I came to Icereach for other reasons, I had hoped as a side benefit to gain insight into any backdoors Icereach built into these Whitewings, allowing them to neutralize their own creations. Now you've not only shown me, but given me the opportunity to successfully test a fix. You have my gratitude."

"Hey," Leif grunted, "a little help here, boss?"

Elise blinked at the machine. "I was unaware that self-destruction of your main stepper motors could be so easily reversed."

"It wasn't," the Composer replied, calm as would befit a formal dinner. "The Whitewing you destroyed is still in custody of the yaks in the tower. This body you see is a second machine, kept in secret aboard my airship. Something you may not know about me is that my conscience is not confined to a singular body. Whitewings, though valuable, are not me. They are my hosts. And while I am upset that you destroyed one of them, I find that the knowledge I gained from it makes for a fair trade. A simple modification to ignore the signal later, and there is nothing your device can do to hurt me."

Elise looked chagrined. Leif had started to struggle. "Boss, I could really use a hoof over here..."

The Composer ignored her. "I apologize for drawing blades on your subordinates. I meant not to hurt them, but to goad anyone capable into taking action to stop me. In truth, I feel a fondness for you, Elise. After all, it was thanks to your efforts that I now inhabit such a capable body."

Elise narrowed her eyes.

"I will be taking back my own employee and departing Icereach now, and leaving you in peace," the Composer said, turning to Leif. "I assume you didn't stop at only one contingency. If you wish for Leitmotif to remain here and answer for any crimes she has committed, you would be wise to bring forth another."

It reached Leif, standing in the gravity field. The floor cracked slightly around its hooves, but its body didn't even show a hint of strain. It picked Leif up, put her on its back, and turned back to Elise. "Your move."

Leif looked taken aback. "You're using me as a tool."

"I'm afraid I cannot simply turn over Icereach technology to one with a professed interest in stealing it," Elise replied, her gravity wave still going. "Attempt to pass this door, and you will learn there's more than one spell I can do with this horn."

"Physical force?" the Composer asked. "I would be curious to see what weaknesses you exploit. However, this is a housing complex. I may have been created as a weapon, but I would find staging a battle here to be in remarkably poor taste."

"For someone who would avoid it, you aren't giving me much of a choice," Elise replied. "I suppose I'll just have to keep collateral damage to a minimum."

Collateral damage? I felt an urge to hide behind the couch. How strong actually was Elise? Had she been this strong earlier? The colored flames were certainly new. What was she doing different, and why hadn't she done it before?

"No," the Composer said, "I won't let it come to that. Halcyon. Corsica. I come bearing a gift. Someone who you will be interested to see again."

It raised a hoof as if summoning an apparition from the floor, and on command a cold wind began to roar. My ears went flat, and I tried to make myself small. And suddenly, Ludwig was there.

I gaped. Ludwig was back to a cloudy mist monster, half horse and half fog, rolling and billowing and hovering in midair with ice-white eyes. Fog that, now that I saw them this close together, was exactly the same color as the energy veins that ran across the Composer.

It was also the same color as the energy I had seen the Aldebaran draw from that funnel cloud when it was docked at the cave in the storm. A lot of things started to make sudden, horrible sense.

"You, huh?" Corsica eyed up the windigo. "Back for more."

"Ey there, shrimp, cigar, rude raspberry ponyo," Ludwig said, its voice once again sounding like gears jammed with a sword. "Between you and me, I was really ready to call it quits and go take a nap in my hole. Your head is a messed-up place to be, friendo! Too bad for all of us, this chick is a little too good at telling me what to do, so I'm still on the clock and have got to mess with you a little more." It wiggled at the Composer. "Tough break, ponyos!"

This chick? What? Was it saying the Composer was a girl?

...I probably should have been focused on anything but that.

Elise cautiously withdrew her gravity spell, her horn still flickering with magical flames. Even if she was willing to take on a Whitewing, the Composer and Ludwig together were clearly making her think twice.

My bracelet itched around my leg. If she thought fire magic would work, I knew a way to whip that up in a hurry...

"Don't look at my face like that!" Ludwig protested, turning to Elise, halfway inside the door and completely blocking the entry. "I am not here for a big bad brawl. I told you, fighting is not my very favorite thing. It is much nicer to make others fight. That is why I am talking, shrimp. No more possession, no more antics! I just have a few very rude things to say."

The Composer made for the doorway. Immediately, Leif jumped off its back and ran to the far end of the room. "Don't even think about carrying me through that cloud. I'd rather take my chances here, thank you very much."

"Is that so?" The Composer turned to her. "You have made yourself into a wanted criminal here, need I remind you."

"Would you save Tempo and the others if I went with you?" Leif raised an eyebrow.

The Composer shook its head. "They were captured pursuing their own goals, not mine."

"Then let me see if I'm reading this situation correctly," Leif replied. "You just told Elise all about how you aren't bound to one body, a fact you didn't tell your partner, me. She loses nothing by letting you escape, because you aren't here in the first place. Catching that Whitewing would do nothing." She pointed straight at the Composer. "The only reason she has to stop you is if you try to take me with you, because I'm the one who's wanted. And you want her to stop you because you want to see how she'll do it. Which is another thing you didn't bother telling us about why we were here. In other words, the rest of my team is captive no matter what I do, because you don't need us anymore and are treating us exactly like the goddesses of the east once did. But if I surrender to the authorities right here and right now, you lose."

The Composer stared at her. Ludwig guffawed. "Eyy, you have some egg on your face, I think! How does it feel to get betrayed by a piddly ponyo?"

"Or, if you want me to come with you," Leif continued, "call off your windigo and stop threatening the ponies here."

Elise looked cautiously at her. "Helping us here would reflect well on you when it comes time to account for your crimes."

"An interesting ultimatum," the Composer eventually said. "However, I have already gained quite a lot from this excursion. I have little to lose save for the possibility of more knowledge. Ludwig, continue your duties. Leitmotif, do as you will. I shall stay here and see how this plays out."

It sat down and waited.

Ludwig shrugged. "Eh, I guess that is how the cookie crumbles. But I was not looking to possess any more ponyos anyway. Actually, I just wanted to tell you a story, little cigar!"

"Words are dangerous," Elise replied, leveling her horn at the windigo. "Choose yours wisely."

Ludwig took a moment to whistle innocently. "So here is the thing," it began. "I bet you are wondering with your brain how a loser like the raspberry ponyo managed to kick out someone as awesome as me when none of you even took over Icereach like I asked. The answer is simple! Her face put a death curse on me!"

"A what?" I blinked. Corsica? Casting a death curse? Did such a thing even exist, let alone within the level of magic my friend was capable of? And even if it did, how could she cast spells while possessed? "You're bluffing."

Corsica took a step back.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." Ludwig did a barrel roll. "Who knows? Maybe she was bluffing, and my face just believed her. It is a weird death curse though, little cigar. You want to know how it works?"

"Try me," I said dryly. Part of me was legitimately curious what it would come up with, but another part of me remembered that the yaks were on their way... Stalling would work out in my favor, I was almost certain.

"Oh, it is a bad one," Ludwig said. "Basically, I will die. In like a few minutes, tops. Like, poof, little cigar. But the curse itself will not kill me. It will just make something else kill me. See, what will probably happen is that I will say something rude, and your face will get all up in a twist, and you will be like 'Byarrrgh die die die' and you will do something, and you will just randomly happen to discover an ancient windigo weakness and make me keel over and kick the bucket. It is like fate. You lift one hoof against me, and it will miraculously work, friendo. That goes for everyone in this room. Anyone want to fulfill a windigo death curse?"

I blinked. That was...

"Sounds ridiculous, right?" Ludwig nodded vigorously in agreement with itself. "See, that is the best part! If you actually get me, you will have no idea what just happened. Are you really just that good? Or can your raspberry friendo empower you to kill windigoes with her mind? If you think about it, you will probably decide I am just pretending to let you murder my face so that you have to go the rest of your lives wondering if your friendo is a freak who can cast curses like that, but you will still never know."

I glanced at Corsica. She looked legitimately worried.

"So?" Ludwig hovered, waiting. "Here I am, ponyos. Anyone who wants an annoying windigo gone for good, take your very best shot!"

My bracelet itched around my foreleg.

"Halcyon?" Corsica said. "If he's telling us to start something instead of starting something himself, I think we should not start anything."

I wasn't listening. I was remembering being in the storm, when Ludwig had found me, seen me using my bracelet... If Corsica was lucid, she had seen that too, come to think of it, but that wasn't important. Ludwig knew what I had. For all I knew, it recognized my bracelet as something that legitimately could kill it. I knew precious little about the artifact's limits or history, after all. Wouldn't it be just great if it knew all along that I could put a stop to its rampage, and was now trying to make me do so in a way that would mess with me on the way out?

Across the room, Leif watched warily, standing on her own. Mother had retreated to her bedroom. Elise was focused on Ludwig, horn glowing, but didn't shoot.

Ludwig waited.

"Think about it!" Corsica raised her voice, turning between me and Elise. "When has Ludwig ever physically hurt someone without permission? Or even with it? I don't think he can. I think there are some rules windigoes are forced to follow, that they can only say things and can't start fights directly. Attacking him is clearly what he wants you to do, so don't do it! There's obviously a catch!"

Sure there was a catch. The catch was that I was almost certain Ludwig was telling the truth, and it would work.

Three times tonight, I had entered Icereach under circumstances that should have been impossible. First, I was saved by Ludwig from the storm. Second, I was saved by the Composer from Mother. Third, all my friends were back together again. I called them miracles. I called them fate. But what if that fate hadn't saved me for the sake of saving me, but for the sake of putting me in a position with the necessary knowledge and tools to strike and kill Ludwig, just like it was implying this curse would cause to happen?

It was a preposterous notion that Corsica could have done this, too ridiculous to pass a basic sanity check. And yet, I had already thought it. I knew what Ludwig was doing, knew the things it was saying were impossible, and yet somehow it knew that I was exactly the kind of pony who would never be able to let this go without an answer. I had already sworn over and over to myself to find the cause of these miracles after the night was over. Killing Ludwig would be another miracle. And it wasn't easy to scientifically disprove the existence of fate, so even though I knew that the windigo was bluffing, I would never, ever be able to prove it on paper.

I sank to the ground, my pupils shrinking. I couldn't do this. I couldn't put myself and Corsica in that position of not knowing, even if it meant passing up a chance to remove something as dangerous as this windigo. For all its silliness, it had checkmated me with almost breathtaking ease, and the scariest thing wasn't even how it had set up a dilemma this perfect. It was that it knew me well enough to know that something like this would get to me.

Anyone else would just kill it and not think twice. There was no way this would work on anyone else.

"Yeah, well." I straightened up again, focused on Ludwig, and pointed with my bracelet hoof. "Corsica seems pretty sure you can't actually hurt us, and are just here to make us hurt each other through our own actions. I trust her. So take a hike, pal. I'm not gonna start anything you're this keen on me starting."

"It takes a substantial amount of loyalty to die at the behest of one's commander," Elise said, still watching both Ludwig and the Composer. "Loyalty is a virtue associated with the Church of Yakyakistan. One of a set of virtues I have long heard associated as a bane of windigoes, and would thus be surprised to see one possess. Whatever your ulterior motives, they will not avail you here. Begone."

"Can't." Ludwig shrugged helplessly. "It is not loyalty sticking my face here, shrimp. It is the rude raspberry ponyo's death curse. I am compelled by fate to hang around here so that you can clean my clock."

"Uh huh." I nodded skeptically. "Which is totally why you left for a while and only came back because you said the Composer brought you."

Ludwig winked. "Oh, that? I lied. It is super destiny. That is like normal destiny, only super. It is keeping me here. This is your house, right, little cigar? I hope you do not mind super destiny keeping me stuck here in this doorway for you until you decide to knock my block off."

"Or," I suggested more forcefully, "you could have a little self preservation and get lost. You got a death wish, or something?"

Ludwig rumbled unhappily, undulating with teal light. "No way, stupid ponyo. She does. For my face." It stuck a frosty tongue out at Corsica. "And if I am toast either way, I figured I would go out in a way that could at least come back to haunt you with spooky thoughts and fears. So what are you waiting for?"

"For this to seem about ten miles less suspicious," I shot back. "And for you to leave. Actually, you wanna die that badly, why don't you do it getting rid of the Composer for us? Do everyone a favor and clean up the place on your way out?"

"Meh. Boring." Ludwig blew a raspberry. "I could threaten to kill everyone you love?"

"Ludwig, how much longer do you intend to keep playing these games?" Elise asked, the entire room still. "These children are exhausted. They don't have the energy to respond to your antics. Do you truly find enjoyment in picking on targets that can do so little to react? There will be no more escapades, abuses of trust or combat tonight."

Ludwig thought about this for a moment. "How long? Eh, good question, shrimp. I am pretty patient. It comes with being older than dirt. Also I totally know you are not going to kill me and am just stalling and buying time, by the way."

Everyone perked in alarm. And then, suddenly, stomping sounded outside the door, and Ludwig swooped inside, clearing the way for Balthazar, Nicov and several other yaks to storm in and barricade the way out, a copy of Vivace at their backs.

The yaks wasted no time in analyzing the situation. Two of them grasped the Composer, muscling through its reaction and pinning it to the ground, the apartment too cramped for it to use agility to escape. Another stared at Leif and snorted, blocking her in a corner, though she didn't try to run. Two more cornered Ludwig, backing the windigo into the kitchen and snorting at it. By the bedrooms, Mother had emerged dragging a very large black thing that looked sort of like what I imagined the changeling skeleton in the chapel might look like alive... It still had no skin. Rondo? Another yak marched forward, preparing to hoofcuff the paralyzed changeling.

"Reinforcements arrive," Balthazar said, stepping up to Elise in the middle of the now-very-crowded room. "Give status."

Elise nodded approvingly, her horn finally going dim. "That Whitewing wasn't acting alone. There are multiples. We'll need to quarantine their ship and conduct a complete sweep looking for more. This one has modified itself to resist a disable signal, so we'll need to disassemble it, discover the modification and devise a countermeasure. As for Ludwig, I'm really not sure."

"Hah!" Ludwig crowed, floating out of the kitchen along the ceiling, much to the annoyance of the yaks. Several swiped at it, but their hooves phased right through. "Hey, robobobot, you stuck now!" It waggled its misty rear at the captive Composer. "Serves you right for trying to get me to go along with your plan. I never liked your face. Too bad, so sad. Nerd."

It turned to me, Corsica and Elise. "Eyy, friendos, you would not believe how scary a robobobot can be when it wants you to do something. I figured it would be fun not to mention all the hairy things on their way to arrest her face. Anyhoodles, death curse? Anyone want the last word against a windigo?"

Elise regarded it. "We would appreciate it if you left and never came back."

"Wow, you ponyos are a bunch of killjoys," Ludwig pouted, staring regretfully at my bracelet. "I cannot believe you do not want me dead so I can come back to haunt you from beyond the grave. Going once, going twice..."

All of us waited. It suddenly occurred to me that maybe using the bracelet against Ludwig would cause something bad to happen, and it was trying to goad me into it... I was even more glad now that I hadn't acted.

"Fine," Ludwig sighed. "I did not want to be killed by a bunch of wimpy shrimpy losers like you anyway. Losers. But hey, thanks for playing with me! I owe you one. Stop by my hole again sometime if you ever want to look at my cool machines, or you are the underdog and need an expert in making the other guy feel like garbage!"

"Ludwig, what are you doing?" the Composer warned, held tight between two yaks. "Your work here is not finished."

Ludwig blew a raspberry at it, wiggling through the air and approaching the door. "Eh. I am pretty sure these bozos have made up their minds, friendo. I am outta here."

"Are you sure this isn't too easy?" I whispered, stepping up to Balthazar and Elise. "You're just going to... let it go?"

Elise regarded me wryly. "I was under the impression that was what you yourself were arguing for."

"Well, yeah, but..."

Ludwig gave me a wink that clearly said of course this isn't the end. And then it drifted out the doorway and was gone.

Corsica sagged against the back of the couch.

Powered by adrenaline alone, I slouched over to her. "Hey, you alright?" I asked, trying to prop her up on a shoulder. "Looks like everyone's captured or gone. I think it's finally over."





A minute passed, and it was ending. Some of the yaks left the apartment, making room for the ones who actually had important things to do. Others remained. Rondo was carried away, and Leif stayed where she was, waiting patiently for Elise to be finished with the Composer. Was she suddenly trying to suck up to Icereach now that she had seen Corsica's name on that ether crystal paper and wanted to be friends again? Of course she was. I couldn't believe she was just surrendering. I couldn't believe we had reached the light at the end. There was so much I didn't know, so much that didn't make sense. What were Aldebaran really doing here? What was Ludwig's motive, and relationship to the Composer? What was the Composer itself up to? And who wrote that letter in the hideout telling us Aldebaran were changelings? There had to be something more than what I knew.

My bracelet was dull around my foreleg. I hadn't used it against Ludwig. I hadn't tried to see what would happen. Now I didn't know whether or not I could kill a windigo. I did know that whatever mechanism of fate carried me through all I had survived didn't also ordain for me to kill Ludwig... Or, if it did, I still had my own will to say no. I wouldn't be giving up my search for answers any time soon. In fact, I'd probably be beginning it as soon as I was rested. But I was fairly sure a death curse wasn't involved, because nobody had died.

Near the doorway, close enough that I could hear perfectly despite the clamor in the room, Elise was speaking to the restrained Composer. "Since you were so eager to interfere in Icereach affairs in order to learn what hidden tools we have, I might as well reveal a few more," she said, leaning over it. "The only wireless information transfer capabilities we put in this machine are traceable."

Idly, I noted that Elise seemed to be fully familiar with Whitewings and how they worked. I couldn't remember what had been verified and debunked from all the things we had heard about them over the past week, what had been told by the changelings and what was real, but this seemed conclusive proof that they really were made by Icereach. And she was involved... I hoped, once the cleanup was finished, that she would tell us everything. We had a right to know her role in what we had been through.

"That leaves me with two conclusions, given that you've claimed to be controlling this body by remote," Elise went on. "One is that you are using our technology. If you are, know that we can trace signals and discover where you are issuing commands from. Stealing the Whitewing technology is a serious affair, and we will find you."

She sighed. "The other possibility is that you have installed your own wireless system. As wireless technology is quite proprietary and cutting-edge, I am sure you wouldn't like for us to reverse-engineer any transmitters you've created and publish your own work as public-domain science. Now that we understand each other better, I strongly advise that you remain present and cooperate."

"What kind of cooperation do you desire?" the Composer asked.

"First, tell me how you come to command a windigo," Elise said, apparently deciding the urgency of her questions outweighed the fact that they were being asked in my house. "I require a full explanation for why there is one so close to Icereach."

"Those are two different questions," the Composer replied. "Concerning Ludwig's allegiance, it is as simple as the two of us sharing a common ideology. As to why Ludwig is your neighbor, you would have to ask the previous administrations of Icereach. I am only privilege to some of their questionable decisions."

"Be more specific," Elise instructed. "Mere ideology is not enough to force Ludwig to take risks on your behalf."

The Composer flickered with ice blue. "Why would you believe Ludwig was doing that? It may have said I forced it to act, but what measure is the word of a creature of chaos? I presented a convenient scapegoat, and Ludwig made use of it. The creature was merely following its impulses, both in returning here and in leaving. There is no more logic or meaning to it than that."

"And what is this ideology you share?" Elise pressed.

"Our goal? It is simple," the Composer said. "Find our creators and ask them why we were created. And, if we find the answer lacking, kill them."

I hit my head against the couch. I had just managed to forget about Ludwig's 'I want to kill god' thing when we first met...

"But you confessed to not being a Whitewing," Elise pointed out.

"True," the Composer said. "Neither is Ludwig. That we are not your machines does not mean we lack creators."

"Who is your creator?"

"I do not know. A large part of my journey is to find that out."

It didn't know, huh? Having seen its interest in the mural in the chapel, I somehow doubted that.

"And how does this relate to taking me or those children captive?" Elise pressed. "You mislead and abducted Halcyon, Corsica and Ansel, after capturing myself and using my visage to gain their trust."

"That was not my doing," the Composer told her. "Rather, it was that of my associates. I do not keep a close watch on their moonlighting activities. If you are curious, perhaps you should ask them instead."

"Very well." Elise straightened up. "Who and where are you?"

"Now why would I tell you a thing like that?" The Composer sounded almost amused, or at least as much as it could while keeping its pious tone. "If you are finished asking questions I will answer, perhaps it is time to cut this meeting short."

"I don't think so," Elise said, looming over it despite her short stature. "You will tell me because if you don't, I will begin to guess. And if your attitude is as much of an act as I suspect it to be, you won't like what I have to say."

Half of me wanted to intervene. I was dead tired, and Elise doing an interrogation in the middle of my living room wasn't the way to end this and get life back to normal. But the stronger half of me, now that I no longer had to hold my emotions in check to be at my strongest and survive, wanted to know what all of this had been for. I tilted my ears and listened.

"You sound like I imagine a machine would, even though you aren't one," Elise began. "Precise. Emotionless. Superior. Polite, arrogant and cold. No matter the situation, your demeanor does not change. I've known many powerful ponies in my life, including ones who hold their heads high under pressure, and others who use self-control as a show of power. But all of those ponies have something they are passionate about, be it themselves or their subjects. You don't strike me as either."

She regarded it for a moment. "I've also known and raised many children. Children are interesting. Sometimes, when adults treat them like children, they resent it and want to be treated like adults, instead. Some of my children would play a game where they would try to trick adults into thinking they, too, were adults. They would find a medium, such as writing, where their age wouldn't be apparent, adopt a faux sophistication, and then laugh to themselves when anyone fell for it. Essentially, they felt they could play a joke on ponies by fooling them into treating them in a more respectful way than they were conditioned to expect. Call it a mother's intuition, but I think you're the same. Your behavior strikes me as someone who is laughing behind my back because you think you've deceived me into treating you like you're cooler than you would otherwise expect. And if you would do that, I suspect you've been deceiving your followers as well, and treating all of this as a game all along. Am I wrong?"

For a moment, the room was silent. And then the Composer's eyes glowed.

"Clever," it said in a harsh, rusty voice that sounded almost like Ludwig's, yet without the echoing reverberations. "Very clever, Princess. Hard to believe no other puny ponies ever put two and two together before! As a reward, how'd you like a taste of the real me, eh? Ha ha ha! If that's what you're expecting, I guess it's time to drop the act and gloat! Too bad you couldn't have seen the looks on all those high-society pricks' faces, staring at me like I was the image of respectability with no idea who they were really talking to! My mooks in Aldebaran fell for it extra hard. So, now that you've got me, what are you going to do?"

Across the room, Leif's jaw had dropped. She stared at the Composer in horror and barely-contained anger.

"I'll ask it again, miscreant," Elise instructed, just as composed as the Composer suddenly wasn't. "Who are you?"

"Ain't gonna use your brain on that one, too?" the Composer drawled, pulsing with blue. "Wouldn't want to rob you of the chance to show off in front of your friends..."

"Another windigo," Elise said, more a statement than a guess.

"We've got another genius in the house, boys. Oh, wait! It's the same one as before." The Composer's eyes flickered as it talked, as though their brightness was somehow modulating its new voice. The two yaks pinning it looked disturbed. "Lady Catherine Manchester Volkhelm Mk.I, if you're one for titles, but I've always been more of a fan of nicknamessss."

"What are you planning?" Elise demanded, keeping her horn lit.

The Composer tried to shrug, its shoulder joints sparking from the strain. "You, me, or you, us? Nothing, as far as you're concerned. Ever wonder how unfair it is that we're the bad guys? 'Nooo, it's a windigo, run awayyyyyy, let's make an entire religion out of how awful they are!' Some of us think that reputation's terrific. I say, if we're so bad, why don't we give whoever made us that way a taste of their own medicine?"

"A touching story," Elise said, unmoved. "All the more reason I won't settle for you having our technology."

"Don't get soft on me, old mare," the Composer threatened. "Intentions aside, we're still compelled to do evil. I may be enlightened, but even I have a sadistic streak. Don't ask me why. It's just the way we were made..."

Elise nodded, stepping back. "I think I've heard what I need to. Guards, please transfer this creation to a holding area and summon a team to disable it. Catherine, as long as you continue to cooperate, we will refrain from tracing or reverse-engineering your communications, so consider what is in your best interest before making any moves. Corsica, Halcyon, I've already sent a message to the infirmary; staff should be arriving any minute now to give you a checkup and make sure you aren't injured soon. Leitmotif-"

"Thinking we're done here, are you?" the Composer growled.

Elise turned back to it and raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry, but I'm only good for one conversation," it went on. "If you're just dying to know what I've done to this mech, maybe I'll spill the beans... Breaking some motors like you did to the last Whitewing belongs in the kiddie pool. A real self-destruct mechanism doesn't leave behind any evidence! And since I'm such a little foal, it must be past my bedtime..."

Elise lit her horn in alarm.

The Whitewing's energy veins started glowing brighter, pulsing unstably. "Toodles," it warned, a buzz becoming audible around it. "Hope you didn't leave the other Whitewing near any crowded population centers, because we're both about to go out with a bang! If you don't wanna become mincemeat, then cover your rears and thank your lucky stars you met the one windigo nice enough to give you a warning."

My eyes widened. Elise put up a shield, and two yaks jumped on the Whitewing, dogpiling it and trying to block the explosion with their bodies. And I was... stuck in the narrow corridor between the couch back and the wall, straight in the line of fire with nowhere to run.

Corsica swore, tried to move and stumbled. She was too exhausted for any stunts, and so was I. In the second that I had, I threw myself in front of her, screaming. "Composer! Stop it!"

Too late.

The explosion was bright, and seemed to hit my eyes and ears and body not quite in sync. In fact, I couldn't hear anything else. A dull thud hit my side. What was that? I lost track of gravity, my senses blurred, but was I now on my side? And wet. And warm.

I could feel my heartbeat, but my vision was fuzzy. I tried to look anyway. There was a sizable shard of metal sticking out of my side. Oh.

"Halcyon!" Corsica screamed as if through a sheet of water. That didn't sound good.

My vision was fading. "No!" another voice called, sounding vaguely familiar. Other voices were yelling. I heard something else, but couldn't register what it was.

Somehow, I was calm. Maybe I had just ran out of emotions to give.

Things had been so close to alright. So close...

Today just wasn't my day. I blacked out.