//------------------------------//
// Sign the Contract 
// Story: The Immortal Dream 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

Slowly, Faye came to.

Head groggy, she tried to focus, pulling together whatever she could remember about her situation. Luna... Aegis... Nanzanaya... Connecting to the castle with her bracelet. Halcyon being taken.

Halcyon was still missing. And, now, so was her bracelet.

Cold isolation washed over her like dark rain as the room came into focus around her. She was inside a bubble of some sort, transparent and glowing and held about a pony's height off the floor, being generated by several crystal spikes pointing towards it from the floor and ceiling of the room. It felt completely unremarkable, devoid of both temperature and texture, just barely large enough for her to pace in a circle without hitting a wall.

Her bracelet leg boot was completely destroyed, and her coat singed enough that it was probably a goner, too. But beneath the shredded remnants of the boot, her leg looked perfectly fine. Nothing at all like Mother's crippled side. It was as good as new.

Memories of how she got here and what she had done started bubbling up like blood from a wound. Halcyon's curiosity had taken them up into the tower, and then it had placed her in charge, while Halcyon went to spy on Nanzanaya... Halcyon had been taken. And she panicked in response. She had drawn on any form of power she could reach for, anything to hide behind, anything to protect her, and had connected with the castle as a result.

Right in front of its ruler.

Faye's stomach crawled as tendrils of inevitability wrapped themselves around her barrel. She couldn't blame this on Halcyon. Halcyon hadn't even wanted to go up the tower; she only did it to look for Nanzanaya after the zebra ran off! This was Nanzanaya's fault, or... or...

Hers.

She couldn't run from it, or deny it. There was nothing to hide behind anymore, and nowhere to run. If she hadn't tried to become another pony to cope with her life, hadn't used magic she barely understood to physically do so, maybe she wouldn't have panicked when that coping mechanism was torn away. If she just could have lived with herself without trying to hide...

Her emptiness whispered through her ears, and she clawed at them with her hooves to make it stop. Bereft of purpose, substance, form and function, a core of nothing roiled in her heart, hideous and inescapable, a permanent reminder of everything she wasn't. Where did she go from here?

Coming to Equestria had been a mistake. She didn't need the help of anyone here to stop the war in the north and save Coda, not that she would be able to get it. Who could keep fighting if she just opened herself up and swallowed all the discord that was causing it? Engulf the windigoes, engulf Chrysalis's own power and hatred and whatever else drew her to invade other countries. It was the one thing her emptiness could do: absorb other things, just like it yearned to do.

She was the only one holding herself back. She had other powers, too, ones she was too afraid to even try to master, and others she had somehow still managed to keep completely hidden from Halcyon. But the more afraid she was, and the less other things she felt about herself, the more she saw that fear reflected back in her emptiness, like the worst version of herself was staring at her from her reflection in a pool.

...She blinked. That wasn't her reflection in the containment bubble. It was just Procyon.

"Well, this is a fine mess," Procyon said, acknowledging that she had been noticed. "What now?"

Faye just shook her head. "I don't see a way forward," she whispered. "Where do I go from here?"

"Are you asking where we go, or how we get there?" Procyon tilted her head. "For us, it seems like a pretty important difference."

"Both," Faye whispered. "All of Halcyon's goals are smashed to pieces because we couldn't see them through. Equestria will never help us now. But even if we had something new to do, would we be able to do it?" She looked at her bloodstained hoof. "It's so ironic. When I first made Halcyon, she was terrified of her own potential because I didn't want to find out what our powers were capable of. It turns out being able to do too much is the least of our worries."

Procyon hovered in midair, folded her forelegs and looked away.

"What would you do if you were in charge?" Faye breathed. "For that matter, why haven't you ever asked to be?"

"I'm not sure I can be," Procyon explained. "Remember, I erased myself from existence. Even if some aspect of our magic was able to claw part of me back, I'm still not really here. It's just a feeling I get... I don't think I could take control even if all three of us wanted it."

Faye looked away.

"That said," Procyon went on. "I don't know what it feels like to be you, right now, but you're clearly miserable. And it might be that some of that is being caused by the hole I left when I disappeared. You remember Halcyon's interactions with Coda. She didn't carry herself as if she was living behind a mask, or as if it was as hard to be her as you find it being you. In other words, not all of your current problems might come down to being a changeling queen."

Faye's backwards ears perked just a little, still filled with the sound of the void.

"I don't deserve to come back, and I don't particularly want to come back, either," Procyon told her. "I had my reasons for leaving, and they haven't changed even after I've felt how boring nonexistence can be. I've made my peace with being an observer. And besides, the hole I left doesn't exist cleanly for me to fit back into, anyway. You've grown while I was gone, into something more than an administrative shell. Still, maybe thinking about things from this angle rather than the I'm-a-changeling-queen angle will get you and Halcyon closer to a way to live with yourselves."

"Halcyon might not be coming back," Faye whispered, her eyes snapping to Procyon's. "And even if she does, what then? She's breaking down too. Our relationship with Corsica is in dire straits. Trying to hide behind her is no longer working, but it's all I know how to do."

"Then there's a goal for you," Procyon said, pointing a hoof at her. "See how long you can make it before bringing her back. Even if you get the gemstone back, don't immediately use it. Don't worry about what you do in the meantime. As both of us know, if you could remove your mental blocks, this entire mission in Equestria would be unnecessary to everything we want to do in the north. I bet it'll be easier to live without Halcyon if you tell yourself you wouldn't use her right away, even if you had her. And maybe you'll find a new, better way to cope along the way."

Faye bowed her head. That sounded like the very last thing she wanted to give herself to look forward to. If she pinned her hopes on that, what kind of hopes could she even have?

Procyon saw the look in her eyes. "Hopes of finding a new path, beyond the ones you know lead to dead ends."

"...Right." Faye squeezed her eyes shut. "If you're certain. I guess there's not much else I can do right now, is there."

Procyon saluted, then sank into the floor.

Faye took a breath, then raised her voice. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

Might as well let the world know she was awake now.

A figure stepped into sight from around the corner. It was Seigetsu.

"You're still not done with me, huh?" Faye asked, looking the special inquisitor up and down.

Seigetsu nodded, standing roughly at eye level with her due to the raised containment field. "I've been thinking about what I've seen, and trying to determine what your goals are and where you stand."

"And?" Faye swallowed. "What have you decided?"

"As you know, Equestria delegated protection of the Aegis over to my people," Seigetsu explained. "As the ranking representative of Cernial, that does give me a great deal of say in matters of its security, even though I have just handed her back over to Equestria. As such, it wasn't impossible for me to convince Her Majesty that the investigation of you be placed back under my care."

Faye watched and waited.

"What you did with this castle was very foolish," Seigetsu went on. "Frankly, I think you're lucky that its actual ruler has been asleep this whole time. I don't believe you acted with malice. Merely an unprecedented degree of carelessness. I do find it most suspicious that you made your way here so quickly once everyone's backs were turned. But you also did me and my country a service when you intervened in my battle against Duma. So, I'd like to hear your side of the story."

Faye swallowed.

"And for your sake," Seigetsu added, "I advise this time not leaving anything out. I can guarantee you will not find a more sympathetic ear with the power to let you out of this cell."

"Alright." Faye took a breath. "You... You're sure about this, right? I don't have a whole lot of other options, and I'm not sure how much worse my situation can get from here. But that's the thing about ponies who have nothing to lose. There's nothing more you can do to hurt me. If you betray me again, I won't have any more reason to continue helping you."

"Putting aside the matter of whether doing what I told you my job was counts as a betrayal, I understand and agree," Seigetsu said. "Now then. My ears are open."

Faye tried to shift a little to hide her bloody leg. "Okay. That green jewel that was taken... It's a coping mechanism. It's magical, and it's unique to me. I'm not very trusting, or stable, and I rely on it a lot. So, I freaked out when it got stolen. Without it, you might as well think of me as a completely different pony from the one you know."

Seigetsu nodded slowly.

"I didn't come up here purely for fun," Faye went on. "I was chasing the zebra - Nanzanaya - to try to keep her out of trouble. Do you remember in Snowport, how Duma mistook me for his collaborator?"

Seigetsu listened impassively.

"I think she's the one he mistook me for," Faye continued. "And I think she mistook me for him, as well. Whatever sign they have they were trying to seek each other out by, I somehow accidentally have it too. I wanted to stay close to her to try to learn more about it, and figure out what Duma thought he would be helping her to do."

"Is that so?" Seigetsu finally looked intrigued. "And what is this sign?"

Faye hesitated. "A third eye in the middle of our forehead that's only visible to others who have it, too. And we can't see our own."

Seigetsu stiffened. "What kind of eye? What does it look like?"

"You recognize this?" Faye's heartbeat rose.

"Answer the question," Seigetsu urgently demanded.

"It's golden," Faye said. "And slitted. Wider at the top and bottom than in the middle."

Seigetsu slowly exhaled.

"What do you know about this?" Faye pressed.

"As Special Inquisitor I am permitted access to some sources of information I cannot simply share without reason," Seigetsu explained. "Tomes and scrolls locked within the Convocation's forbidden archive being a prime example. How much have they told you of this eye, and do you know why you or any of them have it? For that matter, have you ever met anyone else with it before?"

Faye swallowed again. "Duma didn't tell me anything. Nanzanaya told me I have it, and it's what lets me see it on others. She called herself a priestess and said someone with it was prophesied to help her with her mission here. She seemed happy that her prophesied helper was someone who didn't know anything about it, and said she'd teach me in exchange for my help."

"Help doing what?" Seigetsu pressed.

"She didn't tell me the details yet," Faye said, hanging her head. "But she wanted Equestria's military to get involved in defending their border from Abyssinia, it sounded like. There's probably more to it than that."

Seigetsu nodded. "I explained to you before that centaurs are akin to Abyssinian nobility. Yet this Nanzanaya is working to secure Equestrian intervention against Abyssinia, and by your account she and Duma are aligned. Have you any thoughts or explanation on this?"

Faye shook her head. "Maybe Duma wasn't actually an Abyssinian agent. Maybe Nanzanaya is a traitor to her country. Maybe both of them are fighting for something other than a nation. There are too many possibilities to make a good guess."

"I would remind you of your consorting with windigoes," Seigetsu said. "Abyssinia is the Kingdom of Monsters, and windigoes are among the most mythical types of monsters. Is there any connection here?"

"I don't think so," Faye insisted. "Ludwig - that's the windigo who was in my bracelet - was a northern windigo. His job was to guard a particular cave with a teleporter inside that was involved in the windigoes' plans for the north, and to be a power source for the teleporter. It sounded like he had been there for a long time. I can't see what this would have to do with Abyssinia, and he never mentioned it to me. All the windigoes I know of are currently focused only on the north."

"I see." Seigetsu clasped her hands behind her back. "Once again, have you ever met anyone else with this eye?"

Faye nodded. "Once. A mare in Ironridge. We didn't speak with each other."

Seigetsu appraised her, then slowly nodded. "If I let you free, right now, what would you do?"

Faye's brow shadowed. "...Try to get back my emerald. And also my bracelet. And then I don't know."

"How would you feel about making a bargain for your freedom?"

Faye raised an eyebrow.

"I will request custody of your emerald," Seigetsu said. "And your bracelet. Nanzanaya will be released unconditionally. From now on, you will work for me, pretending to be her prophesied accomplice, assisting in her plans and learning what you can. I will follow your travels at a close distance, and you will report everything you do and learn about her to me. These two treasures of yours will serve as collateral to ensure your loyalty, and I will keep one or the other on my person at all times. You can have the other, and can trade which one is in my possession at any time. This will remain in effect until such time as I decide otherwise. And should you prove sufficiently trustworthy in helping me unravel this mystery, in payment I shall see to it that you are allowed to peruse the Convocation's forbidden archives to see for yourself what information we have on this third eye."

"Is that all?" Faye chuckled weakly. "Getting hired under pressure by someone I don't trust? You'd feel right at home in Ironridge. I'll... take your bargain."

Seigetsu bowed. "Your acceptance is appreciated. Remember, the quicker you are able to earn Nanzanaya's confidence, the faster we can finish this and you can be free of our arrangement. Excuse me while I collect your belongings. I will return to let you out as soon as they are in my possession."

"While you're at it, could you get me some new clothes?" Faye's backwards ears fell. "I... ruined mine, and I can't function when others are looking at my body."

Seigetsu nodded, turning to leave. "That should be easy enough to arrange."





Twilight, Starlight, Corsica and Rainbow Dash looked awkwardly around at each other as Nanzanaya leaned casually against the couch.

"Okay," Starlight sighed, focusing on the zebra. "Maybe I'm crossing some zebra cultural boundary by pointing this out, but you're definitely crossing a cultural boundary here by spying on us and taking Twilight's money to buy food."

Nanzanaya's eyes widened. "Is that how hospitality works here? Oh, well! Water under the bridge, right?"

"My research budget is not for frivolous expenditures," Twilight added. "Anyway, more importantly, you were spying on us! And you're already supposed to be in Princess Luna's custody for whatever it is you were doing upstairs, remember? Has it ever crossed your mind that we might have been discussing things others weren't meant to be privy to?"

"I meant no harm by it!" Nanzanaya cheerfully insisted. "Besides, I'm your friend by association, so we're practically family, right?"

Upon seeing everyone's looks, she deflated slightly. "This isn't really getting me anywhere, is it?"

"This is a private residence, you know, buddy," Rainbow pointed out. "Give us one good reason we shouldn't call the guards on you."

Nanzanaya sat down. "For one, I can be of great use to you. From your conversation, I gather you're concerned about the giant crystal towers and accompanying breakdown of the natural order that appear whenever something happens to what you call Flames of Harmony."

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "What do you know about those?"

"Well, I live in one," Nanzanaya explained, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "So do all the zebras where I'm from. You wouldn't happen to be interested in seeing it for yourself, would you? It sounds very relevant to your interests."

"The one due south of Equestria?" Starlight guessed. "What do you want from us?"

"From your nation, or from you in particular?" Nanzanaya shrugged. "I suppose the latter would depend on just how capable you are. An excellent place to start would be getting my benefactor Halcyon out of jail, seeing as she's a lot freer with her hospitality than you seem to be. But if you were feeling generous, I wouldn't say no to some help ensuring the survival of my people, either. That's what I came to this land to get, after all."

"Let me guess," Starlight sighed. "Whatever it is involves me doing something other than sitting around and trying to enjoy my life?"

Nanzanaya blinked. "Actually, I haven't the faintest idea who you are, other than that you seem very knowledgeable. Mostly, I need military action. But if any of you are in a position to advocate for that, I could throw in a second crystal tower to sweeten the deal..."

Rainbow narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?"

"A humble emissary from the Aptann Valley." Nanzanaya bowed. "Nothing more and nothing less. Anyway, I should mention that the primary threat to our nation is a fortress that's been built out of another such tower. Any invading force attempting to eliminate the threat would undoubtedly set hoof in the place. Are you at least interested enough to allow me to share dinner with you? Because I really am starving."

Twilight considered this. "Fine. But I'm contacting Princess Luna anyway, and if you're not supposed to be here, you're answering to her."

She opened the door. Standing on the other side was Seigetsu, her fist raised to knock.

"Oh!" Twilight took a step back in surprise.

"Hello there," Seigetsu greeted. "I've come to..." Her eyes found Nanzanaya and Corsica. "I see you are entertaining guests."

"You could say that," Rainbow complained, watching as Nanzanaya shoveled down as much food as possible before anyone could take it away from her.

"For what it's worth, we're not trying to hide her if someone's looking for her," Twilight pointed out. "She just showed up here. Also, I'm guessing you're actually a lot more important than I thought you were, even though I just know you as a trade representative."

"Her Majesty has decided to allow that zebra to go free," Seigetsu explained. "After consulting the facts, it was determined her part in this was a misunderstanding. I would commend you for looking after her, but Equestrian royalty hardly need me advising on their activities."

"Her part was a misunderstanding?" Corsica perked up, her mane in a bedraggled state emblematic of too little sleep. "What about Halcyon's?"

"Halcyon's circumstances are somewhat different, given that she attacked the castle," Seigetsu said. "I was able to put in a word in her favor, but the situation is still somewhat delicate. I believe that you, Your Majesty, would have an especially relevant appreciation of the importance of the Crystal Heart."

"You could say that," Twilight admitted.

"Is Halcyon awake?" Corsica interrupted. "And can I talk with her?"

"Yes." Seigetsu nodded. "Although her release is also imminent, provided some necessary collateral is put up to ensure this incident will not happen again. Your Majesty, do you still have the green jewel that was entrusted to your care earlier?"

Starlight lifted it in her aura. "This?"

Seigetsu extended a hand. "If you would?"

"You're just going to keep that to ensure she behaves?" Corsica raised an eyebrow. "And did she agree to this, or are you just counting on her not flipping her lid again the moment she sees someone with it that's not her?"

"She agreed to it," Seigetsu promised. "Though it is slightly more involved than that. For that matter, I am also looking for the bracelet she wielded in the Aegis vault."

Corsica held up a foreleg. Around it was Halcyon's bracelet. "You mean this?"

"Well." Seigetsu crossed her forearms. "That was easy."

"You want both of these, huh?" Corsica stood up, flaunting the bracelet and taking the emerald in her telekinesis. "How about I, and everyone else here - sans the zebra - come with you, see how she's been treated, watch you let her go, and if she tells me to my face that this was the deal, then I'll give them to you?"

Twilight and Rainbow were watching with curious expressions, both clearly trying to figure out why Seigetsu had so much say in this. Corsica stood with a challenge in her posture, trying to ignore how much debt she was incurring on her strength of will. Nanzanaya kept eating.

"That sounds perfectly fine with me," Seigetsu said. "Anyone who would like to is welcome to come along."

She departed, leaving Twilight and Rainbow glancing between her and Nanzanaya.

"Go knock yourselves out." Starlight waved them along. "I'll keep an eye on this hooligan. Might as well enjoy whatever peace and quiet I can get before I get asked about windigoes again."





After Seigetsu left, Procyon didn't return. Faye simply existed, alone with her void, for long enough that she knew only the sensationless touch of the containment field and the rush of emptiness in her ears.

Could there be merit in what Procyon said? Was it possible that not all of her woes could boil down to being a changeling queen, that some instead could be consequences of splitting herself up like this?

If Procyon was telling the truth, she hadn't been alright before that. Not if Procyon had wished to disappear the way she had. But...

She shook her head. Having something else to blame it on wouldn't change what she was. The only thing that could get rid of this emptiness, she knew instinctively, was having something to fill it with. That was just her lot in life. And having experienced trying to fill it, even a little bit, with her own desire to get to Snowport on the road from Sires Hollow, that might not be something she would ever be comfortable doing.

If only the world had more changeling queens. Someone she could look to as an example.

But it didn't. As far as she knew, it only had two: one who was evil, and another who needed an example to look up to even more than she did.

Memories of conversations flashed through her mind, of ponies making comments back in Icereach about how she and Ansel had basically raised themselves. Not true, Faye would always counter. Sure, they didn't have a father, but Mother had given everything to get them to Icereach and safety. She had given far more over that year than most ponies gave in their entire lifetimes. She had been a great parent, only she had put in all the work up front. And it had been enough.

...Now, for the first time, Faye wondered if those ponies might have had a point. If Chrysalis had been in her life, and had been a normal parent instead of a genocidal maniac, what could she have learned from her about how to live with who she was?

It was a pointless question to think about. Chrysalis was irredeemably evil, and no amount of thought or action could change that. It was too foolish to even consider.

For some reason, the idea filled her thoughts anyway.

It only dissipated when footsteps announced the return of ponies - several, by the sound of it. Instinctively, Faye lay down, trying to hide her bare leg from sight.

From around the corner stepped Seigetsu, accompanied by Princess Twilight, a cyan mare with a remarkable every-color mane, and Corsica.

Corsica was wearing her bracelet.

Faye's eyes widened, memories from her infancy rushing in of Mother wearing that bracelet, her side consumed in a blaze of green. "Take that off!" she demanded, the visions morphing before her eyes until it was Corsica writhing on the ground, unable to protect herself or even stand as unchecked power crippled her body. "You have no idea how dangerous that is! Get rid of it, now, hurry!"

Corsica took a step back in surprise. "This?" She held up her bracelet leg, then slipped it off, depositing it on the cold crystal floor. "Okay, there. You're welcome. Better?"

The visions faded like smoke. Corsica was fine. Faye couldn't stop her shoulders from trembling.

"Here we are, then," Seigetsu said, nodding at everyone in the room. "Your friends wanted to see for themselves that you had agreed to all the conditions for your release. Namely, the use of collateral."

As Corsica set down her mask, also in plain sight, Faye's skin grew clammy. There it was. Halcyon...

She swallowed. "The deal is, Seigetsu gets one of those. I get the other. She follows me around until I've been proven to be trustworthy, and we can swap who has which one at any time I want. So I have access to both of them, but never at the same time. Right?"

Corsica raised an eyebrow. "You agreed to that?"

Seigetsu nodded. "That is the gist of it."

"I agree," Faye confirmed, trying her best to keep her voice from shaking.

Seigetsu snapped her claws with a spark of magic. "Then let the shackles be released."

The crystal pylons projecting the sphere flickered and faded, and the sphere winked out, depositing Faye roughly on the ground.

Halcyon and her bracelet were both right in front of her.

"Well then?" Seigetsu folded her hands behind her back. "Which one will it be to start with?"

Halcyon. Halcyon. Halcyon. Halcyon-

But she was helpless without the bracelet.

But without Halcyon, she couldn't hide. She would have to stay up front. And it wasn't like she could bring herself to properly use the bracelet, anyway.

She reached for her mask...

As both of us know, if you could remove your mental blocks, this entire mission in Equestria would be unnecessary to everything we want to do in the north.

Procyon's words echoed through her head, and she hesitated. She couldn't stay up front. Letting Halcyon do it was the only way. And besides, how would Halcyon feel if Faye didn't choose her? The bracelet was just power. The mask was a person.

Halcyon is me, though, she thought to herself. An idealized version of herself, according to her own flawed ideals. And if there could be a third way...

Her hoof touched the bracelet, and it quickly slid into place on her exposed leg. "This one."

"Very well." Seigetsu pocketed the mask. "Should you change your mind, I won't be difficult to find. You are free to go where you will. Here is your other request."

She dropped a worn traveler's cloak at Faye's hooves. It wasn't high fashion, but seemed appropriate enough to what she would usually wear. Unfortunately, it didn't come with boots.

"Good." Faye's throat was dry. "Because I probably won't last a day before I do need to switch. I..."

Corsica's gaze followed the mask, concern written on her face.

"Can I go somewhere where I can lay down, please?" Faye whispered.

Seigetsu stepped aside, motioning that all were welcome to leave.

"Well, let's get back to home away from home," Twilight said. "We can catch a train to Ponyville in the morning. It's a long ride, so you'll have plenty of time to tell me all about what you thought you were doing, messing with the Crystal Heart like that. Also, you should really see my friend Rarity about that garment."

"Yeah, uhh..." Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck. "It's got real... rugged... charm?"

Faye tried to follow, and tripped before she could even get to her hooves. She hadn't realized how badly her legs were shaking.

Corsica noticed, though. Quietly, she stepped over, knelt down, and hoisted Faye onto her back, burned coat and all.

"What-?" Faye's senses rebelled at the close contact, as usual.

"Hey, idiot," Corsica greeted under her breath, heaving herself upright with Faye atop her. "You're welcome. For this, and everything else."

"What did you do?" Faye mumbled, not able to summon the willpower to resist.

"Made some friends and salvaged your agenda," Corsica said, tromping along heavily after Twilight and enduring a snicker from Rainbow Dash. "You owe me big for this one."

"Salvaging my agenda?" Faye's backwards ears rose just a little.

"Turns out I've got natural charisma," Corsica grunted. "More than certain batponies and zebras I know. If you want to pay me back, for starters, deal with your new marefriend before she gets too badly on Twilight's nerves. And if you really want to go above and beyond?" She jostled Faye in a way that may or may not have been deliberate. "Giving me the time of day every once in a while would do more than you think."