In Canterlot, in a deeper room inside the Palace that had also been enchanted to keep sounds from escaping, a similar conversation was taking place. Though Sombra had told Twilight that Celestia would tell her everything on her return, they simply didn't know when that would be. So he'd agreed that it was most prudent to inform her now.
Not that it made Twilight feel any better. She was already processing so much that had happened in the past few hours, this was just one more thing reminding her of the weight of her responsibilities. It was all she could do to keep her emotions in check while she listened to Sombra. Trixie and Spike were on hand as well, their presence doing something to soothe her. Though not completely.
"Multiple Demon Beasts," Twilight repeated. "And how long have you known about this?"
"I confirmed it not long after your coronation. Celestia's intention was to tell you after the bachelorette party." He shook his head with a low groan. "I tried to push her, to tell you before her departure today but-"
"Well that's very helpful!" she shouted. "So nice that you meant to tell me, that makes all the difference to the fact you NEVER DID!"
"Just so I'm clear," said Trixie, her voice shaking a little, "how worried should I be that there's more than one of these things?"
"You manage to get a look at that big crater in the Everfree Forest?" Spike looked grim when she nodded. "Yeah, Wrath did that and he wasn't even fully unleashed. Gave me these scars too."
"O-Oh. Okay then." Trixie suddenly looked very pale. "Don't mind me, just gonna be silently freaking out. Or m-maybe not so silently. Oh Celestia, we're all going to die!"
"And on top of that!" Twilight went on. "Not only are there more than one of these powerful, highly destructive forces but our biggest enemy has possession of them! Not to mention we still don't know where he's hiding or what exactly he has planned! Have I missed anything else?!"
"Uh, there's still no word from Celestia or Luna, Cadence hasn't sent a response yet and Ray was one of the ones kidnapped?"
"Thank you very much, Spike!" She slammed her head on a nearby desk. "Please, somepony tell me there's some actual good news. Something, anything!"
The moment was drawn out into long, uncomfortable silence. Trixie was huddled in her cape. Spike tried and failed to start a couple of times. Sombra still looked shamefaced from his chastising earlier.
It was just too much. Her mentor wasn't here, everypony was looking to her for answers and she was about three seconds away from screaming at the top of her lungs. The city was in a state, ponies were either injured or dead and she didn't know what else to do. She half expected the world to just explode right that second.
A frantic knocking made her stop. Sombra went to see to it. She could make out hushed voices. Not in the mood for any more secrets, she stalked over just as the former king turned about.
"The changeling princess, she has awoken," he said at once. "She wants to speak to somepony in authority."
For the first time since all this happened, Twilight dared to hope. At last, some kind of lead! Samore could tell them what she knew and it would be the first step to finally turning things around. She met the guard outside, hurrying down the halls towards her room with the rest of her friends following closely. The door was unlocked and they were admitted inside.
A pair of orange eyes looked up to meet them. Right away, Twilight could tell her bearing was that of another royal. Her posture was straight and proud, her manner was like she'd been expecting them to be here much sooner than they had arrived.
"I said I wanted to speak to one with authority," she said with undisguised impatience. "Bring either Princess Celestia or Princess Luna at once. This is a matter of gravest urgency."
Sombra approached with an incline of his head. "Highness, with all due respect, you stand in the presence of royalty at this moment. This is Twilight Sparkle, Equestria's newly crowned princess."
"And capable of speaking for myself, Sombra," she snapped, doing her best to match Samore's gaze.
"Twilight Sparkle?" She cocked her head. "I've never heard of you. To what do you claim to be princess of?"
"I am…" She considered it for a moment. "I am the Princess of… of Friendship. As it stands, I'm the current authority in Canterlot right now."
Samore stared at her. She blinked. Her eyes flickered to her friends, then back to Twilight. She blinked again and tilted her head.
"You're serious?" she asked.
"What is that supposed to mean? Of course I'm serious!" Twilight showed her wings for emphasis. "I may not be what you expected, but I'm all of you've got and we need to know what you know. Canterlot has come under attack and every indication points to Fallen Soul being the culprit. You were his captive, you know where he's hiding and we've been waiting a long time to speak to you so tell us what you know, right now!"
She tried to make it sound like it was an order, but her hysteria had risen with every word that came out of her mouth. Samore's expression was unreadable but Twilight saw her eye ridges raise and she could have sworn the faintest hint of a smirk cropped up.
"I would speak with you alone," she said. "Have your entourage wait outside."
"We're her friends, not her entourage!" Spike crowed. "You can't tell us what to do!"
Twilight took a couple of breaths. "Spike, go wait outside. I'll call you if I need you."
He looked uncertain, but he nodded and filed out with the other two. Sombra lingered in the door for a moment before closing it behind him. The moment she was alone, she regretted sending them away. But she had to do what was necessary for this information.
"You really are new, aren't you?" Samore started to walk around her, eyes looking over her. "You may have the title of princess, but not the bearing of one."
"What does that matter? I am a princess, whatever you think."
"A fact which no true ruler should ever have to remind others of," she retorted. "Princess of Friendship. What does that entail, exactly? Do you host dinner parties and social gatherings? Did you make 'friends' with just the right people, enough to somehow land yourself in this position with the right strings pulled?"
"I didn't need to have any strings pulled! I earned my title!"
She waved a hoof dismissively. "Yes, I'm sure you shook a lot of important hooves and smiled when you needed to, gradually stepping up until you stood above the rest. Only now, you're starting to realise it's not just waving and wearing pretty dresses, is it?"
"I've never thought that!" she shouted. "I don't know who you think you are that you just assume-!"
"You witnessed death today, didn't you?" She said this matter-of-factly, as if discussing the weather. "The death of one of your subjects. I can see it, all over your face."
Twilight stared, dumbstruck. How could she know that?
"Don't look so surprised," said Samore. "I hold the same title you do. The difference is, I was born into it. I remember the first time it happened for me. He was young, a drone. He was barely able to stand, he was so hungry from how little he had been able to eat. Yet he was commanded by my mother to give up what love he had harvested to me. I watched as the light left his eyes and his body was taken away."
She didn't seem very concerned, talking about this. It was like she was recounting a story she'd been asked to tell so many times before and had grown bored of it. But even so, the question came almost unbidden from Twilight's lips.
"How… how old were you?"
"Only a week just hatched. Before I became…" She trailed off, going quiet for a moment. "I have some advice for you. Twilight Sparkle: close your heart to it. Whoever your first one was, they will not be the last."
Twilight blanched at her coldness. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Samore scoffed. "You ponies, you sell a grand delusion of harmony and friendship. All of you equal and united together. Yet there are still those who rule over others, those stronger and more powerful who stand above. Only in times such as these does that truth become clear, when those you rule are willing to lay down their lives to protect you. As should be expected of them."
"No, it shouldn't!" Twilight retorted. "Nopony should lay down their lives for me! Their lives are worth just as much as mine!"
"That's not what they believe. You've begun to see it already. We changelings know the truth of this. Rulers rule and servants serve. This is the way of things. The sooner you accept that, the easier it will be for you in the long run. There's no sense wasting time in mourning over them when your energies could be better spent on other things. I'm sure your princesses have already realised this themselves."
The memories flashed before her. Flash Sentry, diving in front of the robot's blast. All of those other guards, whose names she hadn't even learned, following her to fight it despite the danger. Not all of them making it back. She'd known this, she must have and yet she'd done it anyway. Did they follow her because they wanted to or because they were expected to? Their deaths… were they her fault?
She was about to argue against Samore, on the point about her teacher especially. But then she thought about it again…
She recalled other times. Battling Discord on his return. Doom when he took over Ponyville. Rallying Ponyville's citizens against the changelings, the diamond dogs too. Venturing to the North against Sombra. All of those times their lives had been in danger, the enemies they'd faced because of her… because of Celestia putting her on that path, the path that led her to getting these wings. Not for the first time, a question rose in Twilight's mind:
Did she actually want this? To be a princess? Was it because she thought she was fit to be one or because that was what Celestia had decided for her?
Samore wasn't looking at her. The way she'd spoken about these experiences, so distant and jaded. The thousands of graves at the Gates of Tartarus, that marked the cost of stopping Wrath. Celestia had done that too. Had she been like Samore, back then and all of those other times? Was this what Twilight was going to become, now she was a princess?
"No… no, you're wrong." Her voice shook a little, trying desperately to believe those words herself. "It isn't like that. My friends and I, we'll… we'll work together to stop this and we will. We always have and always will."
"How noble," she remarked, glancing over shoulder. "I've said my piece. What you choose to do with it, is up to you."
Twilight's ire snapped her out of her reverie. Regardless of how true the things Samore was saying might be, she was getting really annoyed by her attitude. She'd dealt with enough today without this being added on top.
"I didn't come here for advice on being a princess, Samore. You have information that can help stop what's happening and I'm the only other princess in Canterlot right now. So you're going to tell me what I want to know, right now."
Samore looked around at Twilight, quirking an eye ridge.
"Very well." She turned fully to face her. "There are matters we must speak about, yet there is one of great importance that I am unable to." She briefly opened her mouth wide, showing a familiar seal hidden at the back of her forked tongue. "This holds my tongue, whenever I try t."
Twilight knew it. The same one that Ray once had, that prevented him from speaking of Wrath. That just confirmed it. Trying to ignore the new anxiety welling in her, she used her new power as an alicorn to dispel the seal.
"That's better." Samore smacked her tongue a few times. "It feels strange, now it's gone. You know what my nature is then?"
Twilight nodded. "You're the host of a Demon Beast. One of my friends is too. He's been taken by Fallen Soul and we have reason to believe other hosts have too, but we don't know what for."
"I can't say I know his purpose either, but when I learned that was the reason he had taken me, I knew I had to get away." She looked down at her chest. "The one within me, she is called Lust or that is the name she prefers. She has been with me since I was young. My mother claimed nobility for choosing me for this 'honour', but in truth it was so she could deny me the throne. After all, the host of such a creature could never be trusted to rule, and it let her keep me locked up to be frittered away the moment she had the chance for the power she always craved."
"From what we saw of her, that checks out." Twilight hesitated. "You know she's dead?"
Samore didn't reply immediately, not verbally. Rather, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Twilight could've sworn she heard the changeling's breath shudder.
"I suspected. How did it happen?"
"She was killed by the Beast inside my friend, Ray. He's the host of Wrath."
"Hmm." Samore looked thoughtful. "She has spoken of others like her. Lust, that is. She is rarely silent. She likes to whisper sweet nothings into my mind, trying to tempt me into using her power. With it, I'm able to influence the minds of those around me, with far greater ease than most changelings would if they were controlling another for their love. I have learned to tune it out, mostly."
"I see." Twilight looked at her warily. "You'd better not be using her powers right now."
"If I were, you would certainly not be able to ask about it. I learned long ago that such power is not to be used lightly, although…" She glanced away. "With the way that we changelings feed, sometimes she is able to… slip in a little of herself, shall we say."
Twilight nodded. "Ray is like that too. Wrath starts to come out whenever he gets really angry. It makes him more powerful, but he loses control as the rage takes him over. It's… not pretty."
"I imagine not. And it is this power the one called Fallen seeks to harness." She hissed through her teeth. "He is a fool to think himself capable of doing so."
"That isn't stopping him from trying. So where can we find him?"
"That," Samore said with a smirk, "I am happy to tell."
The doctors had told them not to exacerbate their injuries but with their prompt treatment combined with Zecora's medicines, they were on the road to a speedy recovery. Thus they'd been able to leave the hospital. The journey to Canterlot was being held in a largely sullen silence. They didn't even have the benefit of other ponies with them on the trip.
General travel to the royal city had been suspended in the wake of the attack, but special dispensation had granted them permission to travel. It meant they had the train to themselves. Most of them were in the carriage nearest to the engine, scattered about. But Dusk was at the opposite end, leaning on the small balcony there to watch Ponyville get steadily smaller.
He just couldn't be in the carriage with everypony else. He couldn't bring himself to speak to any of them. Nopony said it, but he could tell they didn't want to speak with him right now. He couldn't blame them. Dusk kept thinking, over and over again, that things might have been different if they'd known. If Ray had known…
His guilt spiked again at the thought of him. He cursed himself for being so tight-lipped, convinced he was doing what he thought was best. Ray might have at least had some warning, been able to act or get away. But he didn't and it was all Dusk's fault…
He could still hear Fluttershy's shouts, echoing in his ears. Feel the lingering stares of everypony on him, saying nothing and yet he knew what was on their minds. Even worse, what was Twilight going to think? The attack on Canterlot was no doubt part of an extended effort to keep her attentions away from Ponyville, prevent her from coming to their aid in addition to whatever had drawn the princesses away. Assuming that Celestia and Luna didn't already know.
He sighed again. Maybe it was appropriate that he was about to become a prince. He certainly seemed to be picking up a lot of the same habits of the noble class. The same ones he'd called them out on at the Star Celebration Ball and here he was, doing the exact same thing. What a hypocrite he was…
The door behind him opened and closed. He looked around to see Doom, bandaged and sullen.
"Something I can help you with?" Dusk asked curtly.
"I doubt it," he replied. "That one, Grace. He was… formidable but I held my own against him. You're welcome, by the way."
"Yes, well done. Now, if all you've come to do is gloat, get it over with and leave. I'm not in the mood."
Dusk looked away. Doom made no moves to go. The silence stretched on for a long, long while.
"I knew you would do this. This is what you always do, when you're at your most pathetic."
"It's for the best," Dusk replied. "They don't want me around right now."
"They told you this?"
"They don't have to. If I hadn't kept this to myself, if I hadn't…" He hanged his head. "But I did and now… now our friend has paid the price. We don't even know where they've taken him or what they'll do to him when they-"
"Enough." Doom had walked over to stand next to the bed, not looking directly at Dusk. "You do this as well. Wallow in shame and self-loathing. You truly are pathetic."
"And what do you do?!" retorted Dusk. "Come along and kick me when I'm down, remind me of how much better you're supposed to be? Well, you're not! You never were and never have been!"
"Then prove it, Dusk!" he barked. "If you wish to continue spiralling into despair, then do so. But I intend to find that abomination and scatter him into so many pieces, even he won't be able to remake himself. Take that anger you feel towards yourself and direct at those truly deserving of it!"
"You…!" Dusk had to take a moment while he processed those words. "Are… are you trying to be motivational?"
"Don't be ridiculous," he snorted. "I simply cannot abide the one meant to be my brother behaving in this manner and having it reflect poorly on me. Besides, none of your friends desire my company."
"Did they tell you this?"
"They don't have to." His eyes flickered to Dusk. "Don't think this means anything."
He managed a smile. "I wouldn't dream of it." Something else occurred to Dusk. "Doom? I'm curious, how much do you remember about the night of my bachelor-?"
"If you even think of that occurrence again, I shall grind your bones to powder and scatter it to the winds," he growled.
Despite the anger behind the threat, Dusk found himself restraining a chuckle.
"Actually, I've quite forgotten what I was going to ask. Don't let me keep you, brother."
Doom grunted and stared in the same way Dusk had been. Returning into the other carriage, Dusk began to wonder if he'd ever truly understand the volatile pony completely.
Though he was reluctant to admit it, Doom was right. Perhaps they might have had some expectation of their intentions if he'd told them, but they still would have been taken by surprise and still would have had to fight them, like Strongheart had said. Things may have turned out the same or they may not have. It didn't matter now, because this was what had happened. All they could do now was try and deal with the aftermath.
And right now, he thought as he made his way into the second-to-last carriage of the train, he wasn't the only one who could do with some company.
He could see him at the far end, the changeling now and again peeping around to look through the glass pane where everypony was gathered. None had noticed him and he didn't look like he was being invited in either, nor did he make moves to join them.
Even now, Dusk was reluctant. Every memory of their attack on Canterlot and Ponyville came back at that moment. They told him it was best to just leave him, that this was probably another deception.
Then, he remembered Gilda and her accusations of prejudice. Samore, risking her life to help save him. Parlix, betraying his queen's cause because he knew it was wrong. He tried to keep these things in mind and approached Thorax. He could hear him talking aloud to himself as he approached.
"I-It'll be fine. G-Gilda seems to like me and Fluttershy might want to… no, I-I can't. They're all so worried about their friend a-and everything, I can't just…" He trailed off when he noticed Dusk watching him. "O-Oh. He… hello."
"Hello."
"How… how long have you been there?"
"A few seconds or so."
"O-Oh."
They lapsed into awkward silence, filled only by the steady sounds of the train. Dusk cast about for something to say.
"Are… are you alright?" Dusk asked after a long while.
"I-I'm okay. I mean…" Thorax fiddled with his hooves. "Well, I'm really hungry but uh… I don't expect you to help with that. A-Are you alright?"
"Relatively speaking," Dusk answered. "Look, I… I owe you an apology. I didn't think about the situation going on in front of me and my… my feelings towards changelings, they… coloured my perceptions. You tried to help and I… I only made a mess of things. I'm sorry, Thorax."
Thorax stared, apparently in shock. Dusk didn't know what else to say and began to feel awkward with how long he was waiting.
"You're… apologising to me?" asked Thorax.
"That was the idea," he said with a forced chuckle. "You don't have to accept it, if you're not ready to-"
"No, no, it's not that!" he said quickly. "I just… well, I know how ponies feel. A-About changelings, I mean. Not that I blame you, I don't. The invasion and what we did, it… it wasn't right."
"Were you there?"
Thorax nodded, looking ashamed. "I-I tried to stay out of the fighting, I really did. But even then, I could see what we were putting you through. All just to feed on your love. I know this won't mean anything but… I'm so, so sorry."
Any lingering suspicion Dusk may have felt was replaced by overwhelming pity. He crossed over to Thorax and sat next to him. The changeling still looked very taken aback by this, but didn't get up and go.
"I appreciate that. Thank you, Thorax and for trying to save my friend as well, both of them."
"You're welcome," he murmured. "You must be really worried about him."
Dusk nodded. "I am. But I'm also worried about what our enemy might do to him. He… he has something, something very powerful locked away inside him and I think our enemy plans to use it somehow."
"Like he did with our princess," said Thorax. "When the news broke that Chrysalis had traded her daughter for a failed invasion, it really didn't go down well with the other colonies. Everyone was fighting but no one was actually trying to do anything to fix it and I… I felt like I couldn't stay with other changelings anyway. So I left, hoping I might find her. Sometime ago, I detected the lingering presence of another changeling, a royal one, and followed it to Baltimare."
"You were tracking her?"
"I-In a way. A changeling always knows another changeling. There's special pheromones we give off that only we can detect and any changeling of the royal caste…" He blushed. "L-Let's just say that it lingers. I was following it and caught rumours about something that happened at an old theatre."
"That was us. My friend and I came across her with Gilda, the griffin we were with. She was helping take her to the princesses, to tell what she knew about Fallen. Our enemy," he clarified.
"Then she is alive!" Thorax beamed. "Oh that's great news! Once I bring her back to the Hive, she can help fix everything."
"It may not be that simple," said Dusk. "Our princesses will want to know about Fallen from her and if what I suspect is true, he'll be after her as well. We'll have to make sure he's stopped."
"O-Oh dear." Thorax shrank again. "That sounds like it's going to get… nasty."
"Not a fan of fighting?" asked Dusk.
"N-Not really."
Dusk smiled. "Then we have that in common. But we have to do what's necessary, to protect our homes and stop those who would tear them down. One way or another, I'm going to rescue Ray and stop Fallen, whatever he has planned."
"Then um…" Thorax shifted a bit. "I-I'd like to help as well. I know what you said already, b-but I still feel like it's partly my fault he got caught and your friend Fluttershy has already been so nice to me. If um… if you don't mind me tagging along?"
"Not at all. I think perhaps, in light of the circumstances, we'd best start over." He held out a hoof and managed a smile. "Hello. My name is Dusk Noir and I'm pleased to meet you."
"Um… I'm Thorax." He shook Dusk's hoof, managing a shaky smile. "I-I'm pleased to meet you, too. Does… does this mean we're friends?"
Dusk hesitated a moment. "I'm… not sure I'd go that far. Nothing against you, I just… I still have some things to work through."
"I understand. But for what it's worth," added Thorax, "I-I really hope we can be friends, Dusk."
"I have a feeling, Thorax, that given enough time, we will be. Now, I think you'd best come with me," he said, standing up from the seat. "We'll be in Canterlot soon and the princess will want to hear your account."
"O-Okay." He rose tentatively. "You think it'll be okay? W-With me being there, I mean."
"I'll make sure of it," promised Dusk.
Managing another small smile, Thorax followed Dusk to the doors out of the carriage as Canterlot pulled into view. It didn't completely assuage the guilt or the worry he felt, but it was certainly a start.