The Unforeseen

by Shadow Beast

Act 3: Endlessly Falling

Mercy trotted through the Everfree forest, unsure of where he would go. With his wing broken and the Hive destroyed, there was no one he could turn to now. The noises of beasts echoed through the forest, and the glowing eyes of monsters followed him from the darkness. The mystery and danger of the Everfree forest scared the changeling more than the dragons that had tried to kill him that month or so ago. Fallen branches broke under the weight of monsters hiding around him. He trotted deeper, a little bit faster with each step. The sounds kept with him. He hoped it was just the trees and that there was no danger nearby. He was wrong.

A low growl from behind caused the changeling to curiously and anxiously turn his head. A large creature not unlike a wolf, but made up of branches and leaves approached him from the bushes. It was followed by several others. The creatures began to chase the changeling, who had no choice but to gallop as fast as possible. Mercy wished that his wing had not broken so he could just fly away. Pain came to his wing. He began to remember the beginning of his changeling life... how beautiful he thought the wing was in total darkness. Now it was damaged and worthless, as ugly as the pursuing creatures and just as beneficial to his life expectancy. Despite the pain and the weariness, he kept running. A cold, pungent air that was the monster’s breath chilled his flank but only made the changeling gallop faster than before. The trees made it difficult for him to see the way forward, and the sound of gnashing teeth and wooden paws striking the ground did not help this perception.

Finally, he saw what looked to be a clearing up ahead, where sunlight shone through the darkness of the trees. He galloped towards it, unaware of what lay ahead. Distracted by the light, he tripped and fell to the ground. He turned to see what had caused him to stumble, only to see the three monsters behind him be hoisted into the air by a net. His gaze lowered, settling on the trip-wire that had caused him to fall. He took the moment to sigh in relief. Then a blow to the back of the head sent him into darkness.

Mercy awoke in a daze, unable to move his legs. A rope had been tied around him. He is in a room of some sort, resting on something soft and plush under his ensnared hide. Looking around, it seemed like a large couch in somepony’s house. There was a fireplace across from him. The monsters remained trapped in the net, motionless. Mercy wondered if it were some kind of defense mechanism, or if his mind was playing tricks and it was just a bag of wood. But it was the same net.

“O good,” a feminine, but strong voice interrupted. “You’re awake.” There was a slight twang in the voice, but it was off and on, as though half of the accent was trying to be hidden. Mercy couldn’t tell which half.

Mercy turned his head to find the source of the voice, only to find a black coated mare sitting in a seat he had not seen. Blood red swirls marked her legs, giving an illusion of splashing. Her flank beared the mark of a dream-catcher with owl feathers, and her eyes were greenish blue. Her mane alternated black and red as it made its way from the top of her head to the back of her neck. She smiled insincerely.

Mercy looked at her in Fear, as they had been warned in Basic Training about ponies with black and red coloring. They were rare indeed, but this is what would make them terrible disguises. The way they stand out in a crowd would make a changeling more easily spotted, and these ponies do not normally keep to themselves. It would be as dangerous as taking the form of a princess or any other pony with both wings and a horn. The worst part is that the colors blend to create less than happy thoughts. The ponies themselves yield much less love than others, and some changelings would prefer griffins to these creatures. It was even rumored that there was a black and red alicorn that corrupted all it touched.

“What do you want from me?” Mercy asked, hiding his Fear and struggling in an attempt to get out of his ropes.

“A changeling with a broken wing goes galloping onto my land with a pack of timberwolves and demands an explanation from me?” she scoffed. “So what do they call you?”

“My name is Mercy,” he answered. He maintained a serious tone, not wanting to give any sign of weakness.

“Is that a family name?”

“What’s a family?” Mercy asked. The term sparked a strange feeling... but he couldn’t place the definition.

“It’s who you are related to,” she explained, like your parents and siblings.”

“We don’t have parents,” he said, getting another strange stigma from the word. “We’re born from cocoons.”

“Well, I suppose a family can be just the ponies you really care about...”

“There is one changeling...”

“The Queen?” she asked, slightly condescending.

“No... I’m actually part of a small group that doesn’t care too much for the Queen,” Mercy explained.

“Not all changelings follow the Queen?” the mare asked, sounding confused.

“That’s right... although anyone who defects is likely to get killed.”

“So how many are you?”

“Three of us...”

“So they’re your family?”

“Were my family,” the changeling corrected. “One of my friends has turned against me. He’s tried to kill me twice now...”

“Well, you’re safe here... for what it’s worth.”

“It’s not worth much...” His gaze went back to the ropes around his limbs.

“So I’m guessing this one ‘friend’ of yours is the reason you have the broken wing?”

“Pretty much. The timberwolves didn’t help either...”

“You’re not planning some kind of invasion or anything?” she said, cautiously approaching her captive.

“Definitely not. We just failed no more than a day ago. The entire Hive collapsed.”

“That so?” The mare thought for a few seconds, then untied the changeling. “I suppose you’re not going to harm me, then.”

Mercy sat up on the couch. “...I never got your name.”

“...Nightshade. I try to keep my name a secret since I don’t trust most ponies.”

“But you live in the middle of Everfree and can practically hunt the supernatural predators! What’s there to be scared of?”

“Monsters are easy... you just gotta be the best monster. The concept’s simple enough: the best monster is the one who can keep on killing without getting caught herself. Of course, that doesn’t work with politics. Everything beyond that is just conspiracies and the true monsters that make me look like a first-time camper.”

“You don’t trust your own government?” Mercy asked, wondering if ponies were just as bad off as changelings.

“Definitely not.” She shook her head. “There’s a lot of conspirators in there. So tell me, changeling, how did your Queen get into the royal wedding?”

“The Wedding Invasion? That happened a few weeks before I hatched from my cocoon, and so I have no idea...”

“Shame... thought I’d finally get a straight answer.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I really need to get on my way again soon. That changeling that harmed me is out to kill himself... and the one changeling I trust wants me to stop him.”

“That sounds... stupid. You could stay here...”

“I have an obligation,” Mercy explained, slightly anxious to get out of the pony’s house. “He’s still part of my family.”

“I suppose that’s true,” she said. “If it were my family, I’d probably turn down shelter to go save them too.” She smiled at the changeling. “Good luck, Mercy.”

“Have a safe life, Nightshade.”

Mercy trotted out into the forest, and after about five hours of trotting he found himself in an open field. Canterlot could be seen in the distance, and he felt that it may be the best place for him to start. Another changeling watched his approach.

“Mercy?” Vertigo said from afar.

Mercy turned to see his old friend fly down from above the trees.

“Vertigo?” he said in disbelief. “How did you get out of the Hive?”

“Foresight... he used a teleportation spell to get me out, but didn’t help anyone else. He looked me right in the eye and told me to just run away... run back to the griffin kingdom I know so well.” She sighed. “But I can’t do that... I won’t just run away! Not when my friend is going to take his own life. I lost Night Jumper... I'm not losing him!”

“Why didn’t you follow him? Or try to talk him out of it at least?”

“He teleported away as soon as his last word was said. He didn’t even wait for my reply...”

“How is he going to take his own life?” Mercy asked, wondering where they should go.

“He told me that his death would come before the end of the year... and I asked him if he could stop it, and he told me that he would be the one to take his own life,” she sighed in exasperation. “He gave no details...”

“If he’s foreseen it, then there won’t be a way to stop it.”

“What do you mean?”

“He once told me that if you have seen your own fate, there is no way to stop it... but if you see another’s, then there’s a chance.”

“Then we do have a chance!” Vertigo said excitedly.

“But he’s seen it... it’s unavoidable.”

“Yes, but we have as well! Meaning it is avoidable if we intervene!”

Mercy thought about the implications of changing the future, and shrugged off the more terrifying ideas. “Where should we start looking?”

“I’m not sure...” she said, scanning the horizon. “There!” she said, spotting out the castle in Canterlot. “If I know him, he’ll be hiding somewhere around there...”

The two changelings headed for the capital city of Equestria, donning their pony forms in fear of what may lie ahead. Without a giant shield covering the city, it was very easy for them to get inside. They wandered the streets, but did not find a single sign of Foresight’s presence.

A month passed as they blended in, eavesdropping on the ponies until the first clue came to pass: The Canterlot Archives received a new entry...

The Earth pony and pegasus slyly made their way inside the greatest database in Equestria after hearing of a mysterious article posted in the... fiction section. Without any better leads, they agreed there could be worse things to do. After searching the halls and finally locating the shelf of the newest entry, they were shocked to find a story that was not fake at all. It was a pony, very gifted, that would end up saving Equestria, nay... the whole world with their heroic deeds! Parallel in almost every way to the legends passed down by the changelings. Yes, the changelings have stories of “Daring Do,” but this entry was quickly stowed aside. Then they found the newest entry, titled the third book in a series of “The Changeling Chronicles,” by a “Shadow Beast.”

“Who’s this traitor?” Vertigo asked.

“That pink pony spoke of a shadow... hay, so did Foresight at one point. I think it’s just a pen name for the deserter Masquerade.”

“That would make sense,” she said, skimming the second book in the series. “Funny how the truth sits right here on dusty shelves.”

“The shelves aren’t that dusty...” Mercy noted after wiping the underside of one with his hoof.

“Well, all three books look barely worn compared to the Do stories... it’d be a shame if it weren’t a relief.” She put the second book on the shelf and began skimming the third. “It seems Foresight was a bit closer to Masquerade than we thought...”

“He did say that he wanted to take the changeling’s place.”

“But that was before Masquerade was vilified... Strange, it seems he knew he would desert all along. And worse than that: He says he’ll be catching up to that changeling...”

“So if we want to find Foresight... we have to track down the changeling who destroyed the Hive.”

“And delivered victory to the ponies!” Vertigo added. She skimmed the last couple pages in hopes of another clue. “It says here that he’s on the Moon now...” She looked up from the book to see Mercy glaring at her. “Oh, don’t blame me! Besides, I heard that the ruler of the Moon... a ‘Luna’ or something... she’s been in Canterlot the past couple of weeks. We have to hope that Masquerade came here as well.”

Vertigo and Mercy made their way to the castle in hopes of getting a glimpse of Luna and her associates. Stalking Masquerade would be all they would need to find Foresight. Peeking through a window, they found Luna... and Celestia, the ruler of Equestria. They eavesdropped on their conversation.

“It has been a full day since they have departed,” Luna said. “How do we know they have not failed?”

“Do not worry, little sister, Twilight will succeed. ...But is it Twilight you’re really worried about?”

“Midnight left for the Crystal Empire a week ago. He said his stalker wanted to meet him one last time. I only allowed him to leave because I believed the Empire would be safe by now...”

“Looks like we’ve got our answer,” Vertigo whispered with Fear in her voice.

The two made their way to the train station and asked for a couple tickets to the Empire. The price was steep, but not having to do any grocery shopping in an entire month was able to cover it. They boarded and the train slowly started on its way.

“The Crystal Empire sounds rather... vague,” Mercy said, breaking the boring silence of the commute. “How are we going to find Masquerade when we get there?”

“It’s not as big as it sounds... the years have shrunken a once beautiful nation into a single capital city.” Vertigo’s eyes avoided Mercy, and her Fear was difficult to hide. “I would dare to assume that Masquerade would venture to the great castle in the epi...center. Of the city.”

“Is there something wrong?” Mercy finally asked.

Vertigo sighed, and her eyes turned to her companion. “I’ve been told... there was a huge war between a changeling hive and the crystal ponies. The Crystal Empire generates more love than even Equestria, but it had a dark secret. A great, evil monster appeared during the hive’s siege, and wiped out the changelings with a single spell. The few survivors joined Chrysalis’s Hive and passed on their plight. Foresight and I were some of the very few who actually believed their tales.”

“You think the monster is still there?” Mercy asked, now with Fear in his voice as well.

“Not even the rulers of Equestria were sure this place was safe,” she said, solemnly.

The train screeched to a halt on the icy rails; they had reached their destination. The two changelings departed, looking onward into an endless blizzard and hearing nothing but the ice cold wind until the train’s engine screamed again. In the distance was a flicker of light, the Crystal Empire. The two began to gallop through the snow towards it.

“I can smell it from here! Once we breach the Empire’s perimeter, we should be fine!” Vertigo yelled over the wind to Mercy.

“Good thing too! Of all the times for me to have a broken wing...” he said, his hooves cold in the snow.

A bellowing howl froze the changelings in the snow. They turned to find a cloud of black smoke with two flaming green eyes. The stench of Fear and Rage filled the air to the point that Mercy could not tell who it was coming from. The eyes reached out of the darkness on a large head not unlike a unicorn’s. It’s horn glowed a bright red and his eyes smoked in a strange shade of purple. Fangs could be seen as it opened its mouth to emit a growl, and its horn bubbled with dark magic so foul that Mercy could feel his stomach churn. With a flash of green, their changeling forms were exposed, and the monster screamed with displeasure.

“CHANGELINGS?!” it said in the deepest voice the changelings had ever heard. “I HATE CHANGELINGS!”

“Mercy, RUN!” Vertigo screamed.

Without hesitation, the changeling turned and galloped as fast as he could towards the light. The light grew closer and closer. His legs and breath became weaker and slower. His ears became alert to new noises.

There were none.

He was alone.

He turned around to see Vertigo facing the monster. Its horn bubbled. Her head turned for one last look at her friend Mercy. Her figure shook in the distance, but not from the cold. She opened her mouth, as if to scream, but green goop poured out instead. Her body convulsed even more. More goop to seeped from her eyes, ears, and nose. The holes in her legs leaked. She slowly collapsed into a bubbling puddle.

The very little that was left of her body turned to ash and blew away with the wind.

Mercy’s breathing grew erratic. The eyes of the monster that had just murdered his best friend now set its fearsome gaze upon him.

He turned and fled.

He galloped even faster than his legs could normally carry him, but the monster was gaining distance. With one last jump and a painful fluttering of his wings he passed through the barrier. He turned with newfound strength to see the shield.

It flickered. The dark cloud moved closer.

It flickered again. The dark cloud was just inches away now.

It stabilized.

With a sigh of relief he turned from the shield and made his way toward the castle. Without a crystal pony form or even his earth pony form, he was happy to find that the residents seemed to be having a large festival. This left a large gap in the castle’s defense, allowing Mercy to enter without any problem. He carefully and cautiously made his way through the shining corridors of the castle, until he came across the throne room. For some reason, a large shadow was cast by the throne over a poorly placed stairwell. He wondered how anyone was supposed to get an audience with the Queen with the stairs in the middle of the floor. The darkness itself seemed to not be caused by a lack of light, but an overabundance of Rage and Fear; it was almost sickening. Looking down the hole, he could hear voices. Both seemed oddly familiar, but he could not make out the words. Mercy made his way down the rocky steps, eventually getting within eavesdropping range of the two characters at the bottom. He realized they were changeling voices.

“...now you are ready to destroy us!”

“That’s not even possible, you doppelganger!”

“Nonsense! Just look at this door... it’s so perfect in its design!”

“What’s on the other side? What spell did you use?!” Fear filled the air, but it could have just been the dark aura encasing the staircase.

“A time spell,” the familiar voice said calmly. “...on a crystal door! Don’t you see it?!” as the voice grew more excited, Mercy finally recognized Foresight’s voice. The other must’ve been Midnight.

“All I see is a glowing wall... explain how this is helping us ‘catch up.’”

“The time spell is a temporary fix, but put through the multiplicative powers of the Crystals and strewn out across the Door, we have created a portal to the past!”

“And anything that goes through it stays there... but this door was only guarded by darkness and a staircase, it can’t be that powerful...”

“Actually, it’s a beautiful fail-safe that I’m using to create this portal. You see, if a changeling tried to force it open with magic, the levitation power would be amplified and the door would simply fly around the room. If it is charged with Fear or Hate, which can be triggered remotely by Sombra, then it becomes a gateway to a changeling’s imminent doom. It was the perfect defense to stop us from getting to the Crystal Heart, an artifact that could keep an entire changeling civilization going for eons. Love and Light must be put into the door to put it on the same plane as the Crystal Heart, but no changeling would dare pay such a price.”

“Ingenious. If not completely disturbing... What kind of magic does he use to kill the changelings?”

“Well, Sombra has the capacity to take away Love and Light in all he surveys. These are essential nutrients for a changeling, so if one were to come in contact with Sombra’s magic, well... have you ever put salt on a slug?”

“That sounds... painful.”

“I’ve heard it’s more pain than a thousand lives can handle... and that was from just a witness!”

“And if this time spell doesn’t work?”

“Midnight Masquerade! You’re going to look your old friend in the eye and ask if it doesn’t work?!”

“Well...” Midnight had a realization. “Wait, what do you mean, ‘old?’ Is that ‘former’ or ‘faithful?’”

“You will ask yourself that in overdue time and the answer will still be unclear.”
Masquerade sighed. “Is there a reason why I’m even bothering going into the past? I mean... if you failed your mission then--”

“There was a troublesome assassin attempting to track me down. I made sure you did not follow the same fate.”

“Is that a guarantee?”

“On this side of the gate, there are no guarantees.”

“Fair enough.”

“I sense your despair, but just remember: It’s me you’re going to kill in the past. Then every failure and every war we’ve been a part of will no longer matter! And many ponies will get a second chance at life! Remember that...”

Mercy peeked over the edge of the stairs. Midnight did not look Foresight in the eyes, but simply nodded and trotted through the door. With a bright flash he was gone, and yet the door still glowed as if the portal’s energy wasn’t fully used. Foresight stared at it, crooking his head to the side, then slowly looking down at his hooves as if expecting himself to fade away at any moment.

Mercy trotted down the stairs with full weight in his steps. Foresight turned to the source of the noise, only to find his worst nightmare had become reality.

Mercy looked him in the eye, infuriated. “You coward! Is this how you try to kill yourself?! By sending someone else to do it?!”

“You’re not supposed to be here! You were never supposed to be here!” Foresight almost screamed.

“Did you really think that killing yourself was the answer? After all the good things you did for Vertigo and me...”

“Vertigo... she was one of the few I genuinely saved. I wanted to see her prosper so badly, but of course, I probably never will.”

“Vertigo and I came to save you, you realize? That monster outside cornered us...” The shock on Foresight’s face turned to pure horror. “She sacrificed herself to get me here... to stop you.”

“I told her everything to make sure she didn’t follow me!” A large frown bent the changelings snout. “And she wastes her last breath on you...”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Haven’t you ever wondered why I was chuckling when I saved your sorry flank from the pit? It’s because at that moment I realized that I had seen you before: the face of every other I had saved that didn’t mean anything to the Hive. You were falling, and the only way to save you is to send you flying. Both are means of travel by air, but with exception to you... well, you die either way! There’s no saving you! I just wanted to see how angry I could make the Hive...” A terrified chuckle echoed from Foresight’s snout. “But then Vertigo returned... she took you under her guidance. That is the only thing that saved you. Then you were named ‘Mercy,’ a term I had forbade the Queen to ever use for a name! I couldn’t risk anypony named Mercy ever existing! She back-stabbed me... like she’s done countless times before in my past lives... so I send you to the chef, because he would kill the Breeder of my team, but there’s that scar! Across your chest! Ready to be intersected... why can’t you just die and let me die! Chrysalis killed me, now it’s my turn to kill myself before I ultimately destroy myself! Don’t make me suffer death three times... I don’t think I can take three deaths!”

Shocked and slightly demoralized by his former friend’s speech, Mercy got on his knees. “Alright,” he said in a somber tone. “Fine. If you want me gone, I’ll go. But only if it means that you live to see tomorrow.”

“After everything I said... everything I’ve done... why do you still want me alive?!”

“You saved my life. Twice. I owe you more than I can give. Now why don’t you don your pony form and just trot out of here?”

After a pause, Foresight’s head went down. He nodded. With a flash of green, the plum coat and black and red mane of Midnight covered up Foresight’s body. “And you call me a coward...” he said, chuckling. “With that poor fool gone, I get to take his place!”

“What about your eye?” Mercy asked, noticing the large, hideous gap of magic in his pony face.

“That answer will come in due time, my old friend,” he said, turning back toward the glowing portal. “For now, you must hold up your end of the bargain. If you want to die without hope, go through that door. If you want a chance to survive, and watch me fade away, close the door.”

“Will you survive? ...if I go through the Door?”

“Of course,” Foresight answered, smiling.

“Will you live your life to the fullest?”

There was a short pause. His smile began to fade. “...Sure.”

“No regrets? Just living the dream that you deserve?”

There was a much longer pause. “.........okay,” he answered with a straight face.

A tear dripped down the pony side of Foresight’s face. It looked away as Mercy turned toward him. He turned from Foresight to the door. He nodded in ultimate understanding. He trotted toward the glowing door, and slowly put a hoof through it. Feeling no pain, he walked into the blinding light.

Mercy was gone.

The dark wall was once again visible, just as he found the Door earlier with Midnight at his side. The crystals bubbled. He trotted up to the dark Door with his eyes closed. Eye contact would result in his death. His magic grabbed the Door, and he was ready to slam it shut. But then he asked himself why. Why couldn’t it just end here? Why would his double failure stop him from just ending it? Two voices fought within the mind. For the first time he owned both voices... and the mind.

Why would you fear your third death? Just open your eyes, you fool! End it now!

No... wait... Mercy... He never wanted to hurt me...

He doesn’t understand! Only you understand! This goes beyond any of them! Open your eyes to the Truth and open your eyes to death! It’s the same thing!

No... I can’t...

DO IT! Feel Death’s embrace!

He opened his eyes to the darkness. The sharpest pain he had ever felt coursed through his eyes. He turned from the darkness, slamming the door behind him with his magic. His entire body screamed at him. The battle in his mind raged on.

It’s done! Why do you resist it? You’ll finally be free!

Mercy... Mercy had faith in me! Why can’t I have faith in me?!

What are you talking about?! You are worthless! Pathetic! You are nothing!

And who said that? What did I do?!

His body writhed in agony. His vision grew blurry. His bluish mane fell out tuft by tuft.

You worked so hard only to fail. You try to help the hopeless--

Mercy had more hope in him than even Vertigo! I didn’t try; I succeeded!

And how long can you keep lying to yourself?

Mercy has faith in me! Why can’t you?!

I am you... you are me...

No, you’re not a part of me... not anymore. You’re from that monster that only tried to kill me! ...the Draconequus!

His legs grew weary. His wings began to burn.

You’re still going to die no matter what!

His head throbbed in pain. His changeling horn snapped in half.

This is the end...

Yes it is... Goodbye, Foresight. I hate you...

The changeling collapsed to the ground. His mouth opened and his lower fangs fell out. Green goop leaked from his mouth. The last thing he could hear was the screams of the crystal ponies at the fair.

Then there was silence.

Foresight died.

Mercy’s hooves once again struck cold, snow-covered ground. He trotted forward a few steps to find much warmer ground. Dirt lay beneath his hooves, completely infertile. He looked up to see clouds of strange colors flying through the sky and the sun and moon moving erratically as well. Was this is a place beyond time? Had he broken the gate when he passed through it?

“MONSTER!”

The cry snapped Mercy out of his trance. He galloped toward the source of the noise, only to find Midnight Masquerade attempting to hide his eye from two armed pony guards. The guards did not seem to care to believe Midnight’s cover story. One of them lunged at him with a spear. The changeling dodged it, then grabbed the spear with his magic. With a quick counterattack, the now unarmed pony was stabbed through the neck. A quick flurry of attacks saw the other bashed in the head, causing him to stand upright and expose his chest for Masquerade to embed the spear. The impaled guard collapsed dead on the ground. Midnight's eyes dodged the blood as his hooves dodged the bodies. His head turned either way to ensure there were no witnesses. Mercy caught up to him. Midnight’s head turned slightly so that his left eye could spy the changeling.

“A scar?” Midnight muttered under his breath.

“You must be Midnight Masquerade.”

“I will deny that. Who are you to know such things and have a battle scar?” he asked in a cold tone of voice as his head turned completely, revealing an exposed changeling eye very similar to Foresight’s.

“Where did you get that scar? It looks like Foresight’s...”

“O, I see! You must be that Assassin that he was warning me about!” he noticed, taking a few more seconds to get back on topic. “...If you must know, Chrysalis gave this to me when I got kicked out of the Hive as it fell. Probably because I’m the one who caused it to fall.” A frown on Mercy’s face provoked him. “And I suppose your Queen never told you why I’m wanted? I must say, you must be awfully stupid to follow me here.”

Rather than explain the situation and probably get his throat stabbed, Mercy decided to try to negotiate. “I swore to my Queen that I would stop you. But you have a point. If this is the past, then my efforts would be meaningless.”

“Maybe you’re not such a waste... I could use your skills!” Masquerade’s horn shone with green magic as a spear floated in between the two and dropped. “Why don’t you help me kill Foresight? He helped me intercept the invasion force and is the reason we’re both stuck in the past! With him dead here... well, we’d be sent back to the present! Slightly altered, I’m sure... but for the better!”

“But if he is the reason we are here, and we kill him... how does he die in this ‘better reality?’” Mercy noticed.

“You should stop over-thinking things,” Masquerade said plainly.

“But why do this if you’d be forced to do it again? Wouldn’t this make an endless loop or something?!”

“I told you to stop over-thinking it! From what I understand, time travel doesn’t work that way...”

“What if you’re wrong?”

“Then I would know.” Masquerade’s ears perked up and he glared at the changeling. “If you think your stupid mind games are going to stop me from killing Foresight, you’re wrong.”

“It seems like this whole place is like a mind game...” Mercy said, as a large building floated effortlessly in the air a few paces ahead. “What happened to this place?”

“Discord happened. Now, do you want to help me kill Foresight or not?”

“Why do you even need my help? I heard you were a ruthless killing machine back in the day...”

“Don’t remind me...” he said, with Regret in his voice. “It’s just that my wings have been broken for a while, and I know that young Foresight could be in any of these floating buildings.”

“I have a broken wing too,” Mercy admitted, wondering if the standard wing was really this fragile. “So I guess I can’t help you.” He turned and began to trot away, hopeful that he could flank the former Executioner when he was least suspecting it.

“Wait!” Masquerade cried out. He caught up to Mercy and attempted to explain. “Foresight warned me that the spell he put on the Door had a side effect, so I won’t actually be able to touch him. Doing so would cause a paradox that could actually be harmful... but you shouldn’t have a problem since you went through after me! It’s just the residual magic covering me that would conflict with Foresight’s... horn, or something... like that. I think that’s what he said.”

“So I really have to kill Foresight...”

“You have the privilege,” Midnight corrected. “I’ve been assured that the Hive doesn’t care much for him... it’s mostly an assumption.”

“He wasn’t that bad to me...”

“Let’s stop talking about him,” Midnight promptly interrupted. “He was a nightmare to me back in Canterlot. I’m only here because... well, I lost my job on the Moon and he promised to leave me alone after this. I hadn’t realized the new nightmare I’d be facing.”

“I think he looked up to you...”

“You mean he was jealous of me?” he corrected again. “The fool thinks too much of the past.”

This confused Mercy; two months ago he would have sworn that Foresight only knew Midnight through the stories they’d tell. “How far back to you two go, exactly?”

“All the way back,” Midnight answered as if it were nothing. “There’s not much more than that... and I prefer to not know about his more recent endeavors. When he dies today, none of it will matter anyways.”

The two changelings wandered the deformed land, sticking to cover to avoid detection by the few able guards. Eventually, they found other changelings. All of them looked like drones, but one of them caught Midnight’s eye.

“There he is! Just go to him and kill him with the spear!” His voice was too excited for Mercy’s liking.

“How do you know that’s him? It could be any--”

“It’s him,” Midnight interrupted. “Foresight told me before I came in here and I have a very good memory.”

“Can you remember why you aren’t supposed to touch him?” Mercy challenged.

Midnight snarled at him. “What are insinuating?! You think I’m a coward like him? Of course I’m going to pay more attention to the details of where he is rather than dwell on how I can’t touch him!”

“Then why go through all the trouble of coming here?”

“I knew I could work something out! I’m not as stupid as you are...”

“You just get some lackey to do your work because you’re ‘smarter’ than them?” Mercy chuckled. “You’re no better than the Queen!”

Midnight tackled Mercy. They fought through the senseless streets. The Assassin continued to insult the Executioner, knowing that Foresight could escape if Masquerade was too distracted. A guard saw the two fighting and attempted to intervene with his spear. The weapon found itself lodged within its own wielder again, but pulled out this time to face a traitor.

“Last chance, you waste of ash...” Midnight said, out of breath with few scratches from the scuffle. “You kill Foresight, or I kill you.”

“I’m not going to kill anyone! You’re worse than the Queen for trying to--”

The spear thrusted into Mercy’s beaten body, stopping his breath. He fell to the ground, spear still inside his chest. Midnight stood over him with a demented grin on his face.

The unearned sense of satisfaction left him unaware to the monster suddenly behind him. It was a beast unlike any other, but like every other at the same time. A mismatched array of creature parts making up the ruler of this chaotic world: Discord.

“O how funny!” the monster laughed. “You come to my land and defend yourself, only to kill what could have been your only friend!” He rested the arm of an eagle on the Executioner’s head, somehow removing the changeling’s pony form. “And here I thought changelings were so boring...”

“He’s not my friend. He doesn’t even have a name!” he defended.

Discord chuckled. “Let’s see about that!”

“My name... is Mercy.” The Assassin couldn’t control what came out of his mouth, but something told him that it was the only thing keeping him alive.

“You see?! Perfectly innocent!” Discord laughed.

Midnight shook his head in Regret. “No... he wanted to kill me!”

Mercy’s mouth moved again. “No... just to stop you... to save Foresight...”

“What have I done?” the Executioner wondered, with the scent of Fear matching his Regret.

“Sounds like you’ve learned a valuable lesson! Everypony is expendable!” Discord said, looking straight into the changeling’s eyes.

Midnight’s head shook in denial. The monster behind him disappeared. With a bright flash, the changeling’s horn grew longer, and his mane turned completely blue. He turned to the fallen changeling, smiled, and trotted away. It would be the last thing that Mercy would see.

Darkness clouded his vision.

All went numb.

That familiar image stayed in his head until his final second passed.

Foresight?!

...