It took four minutes and fifty-eight seconds for Dr. Path to appear, flashing into the clearing in a burst of magic. Broken was beside him, the scarred stallion’s legs crumpling as he landed; Path glanced at him in apparent concern, but started walking towards Pipsqueak. Four seconds later, Rainbow Dash and a pegasus guard landed, the guard moving to Broken while the rainbow-maned mare trotted up with Path.
It took the psychologist ten seconds to demand that Pipsqueak be brought to a hospital.
It took eight minutes for Rainbow to find a stretcher large enough to carry Pipsqueak. One for her, Twilight, and Path to position him and shift him onto it.
Six minutes to convince Pipsqueak to let go of Twilight’s hoof so that he could be carried. Half-of-one to convince Rainbow to fly ahead to warn the hospital.
Ten minutes to carry Pipsqueak safely to the edge of Ponyville. Six to get him to the hospital. Two to get him onto a gurney and into surgery.
A half-hour and the arrival of four Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, three fillies, one dragon, and several guards before the light went off. Two minutes for two stallions in scrubs to exit the surgery room and announce that Pipsqueak was physically safe.
All in all, it took one hour, ten minutes, and forty-two seconds for Twilight’s mind to start working again.
“…the glass was the most worrisome part, but luckily there’s no evidence that any splinters broke off and entered his bloodstream.” The surgeon was saying as Twilight actually started listening. “I would recommend that he avoid strenuous physical activity, but given how potent his healing spell is, I’d say he’ll be right as rain within the hour.”
“Is his leg in any danger?” Path asked. The surgeon shook his head.
“It was already healed by the time we got to it. Did a diagnostic, there was evidence of damage but nothing substantial. I’ve seen worse from a stubbed hoof, to be honest.” The surgeon swallowed, glancing at Path. “I’m aware that this may be classified information, Dr. Path, but that spell-“
“Going to have to stop you there, doctor.”
“Ah. Right, then…” The surgeon cleared his throat. “The anaesthetic should be wearing off fairly soon. We’re moving him to a room nearby, but I’m going to need to have everypony except his closest vacate to the common room. Can’t have this many ponies visiting a patient all at once.”
“His ‘closest’?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Er, his parents, legal guardians, siblings, spouse…”
Path glanced at Twilight. “That would be Ms. Sparkle and me. Legal guardian and assigned psychologist, respectively.”
The surgeon nodded. “Right, then. If the rest of you would follow Mr. Flag to the common room?”
Twilight watched as everypony stood. Broken left the room almost immediately, his expression blank despite his guard escort. Twilight frowned as she watched him move; he was clearly in pain, his magic not enough to overcome his injuries. Nopony else appeared to notice.
“Y’okay there, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, voicing the concern plain on everypony’s faces. Twilight blinked as she realized that she was being addressed, but nodded.
“This whole… thing just caught me off-guard. Still trying to sort everything out.”
“If y’need anythin’-“
“Don’t worry about me, AJ.” Twilight gave a small grin, which the farmmare returned. The others gave further words of support, Spike grabbing Twilight’s hoof and making her promise that she was alright. Just as they were turning to leave, Sweetie squeezed in-between her sister and Pinkie Pie.
“Pip’s going to be okay, right?” The filly asked, her voice high. “I mean, I know the doctor said he was fine, but that’s just with his leg and stuff, and I didn’t mean to make him try to run away…”
“That wasn’t your fault, Sweetie.” Twilight sighed. “This is… this was something that needed to happen. Pipsqueak’s been through a lot, and he needed help to realize some of the bad things. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Twilight gave another smile as the filly sniffled and nodded. Path coughed as the surgery doors opened, and soon he and Twilight were walking alongside an unconscious Pipsqueak.
“You’re sure that you didn’t remove any more spells from him?” the psychologist asked. Twilight nodded.
“I looked, but I made sure not to touch anything.”
Path sighed. “Good. I, um, I apologize if I’m appearing… irritated, or tense… I’ve been kicking myself in the back of the head for not seeing how much Pip was struggling with earlier than this.”
“You invited him for a talk, we just never got around to it. And that was only a few days ago.” Twilight flicked an ear. “If it helps, he seemed to respond better to Pipsqueak than Pip, after he…” she trailed off, unsure how to describe it. Path seemed to understand, giving her a nod as the nurses brought them to an unoccupied room. The conversation lulled as the medical ponies shifted the stallion into an actual bed, gave him a few final checks and attached a few monitors; only when they left did Path respond.
“It could be significant. Depending on how much the Raising compulsions affected him, we could be looking at a full regression to his seven-year-old mentality. Or ‘Pip’, the name, could have been assigned to him by Dawn, and he wants to disassociate himself from her. Or-“
“Mungh…” the pony on the bed groaned. His hoof slid around beside him on the bed; Twilight quickly put her own hoof into its path, and he groaned again, higher pitched, when his hoof found it.
“Pip? Pipsqueak, can you hear me?” Path asked. The pony’s eye screwed further shut, but he nodded. Path nodded as well, apparently to himself.
“Hey, Pipsqueak, this is Dr. Path. Do you remember me? From Canterlot?”
Pipsqueak nodded again. His mouth opened.
“M… mi…” He swallowed, wincing. “Twi…”
“I’m right here, Pipsqueak.” Twilight said, wiggling her hoof in his grip. Pipsqueak opened his eye and turned his head, squinting at the light. He looked at her for a few seconds before his eye closed again, and he took several fairly deep breaths.
Then he was suddenly sitting up, his heart monitor tipping as the wire that connected it to its patient was suddenly tugged. Twilight managed to grab it in her magic, righting it in a position slightly closer to Pipsqueak’s current location; the other wire was more lenient, but she moved its monitor to match its counterpart just in case. Path had moved to Pipsqueak almost as quickly as the pony had sat up, one hoof on the earth pony’s chest to stop him from moving further forward.
“Whoa there, Pipsqueak, we need you to stay down for a little bit, alright? There’s still a few things we need to sort out with you.” Path gave a practiced smile as the pony in the bed glanced at him.
“…‘m head still hurts…”
“Yeah, I figured that. Just lay back down, there, there we go…” Path patted the now-somewhat-horizontal pony’s chest. “Right, so according to Ms. Sparkle, you have a whole mess of spells that have been cast on your mind. Compulsive spells, we think. Did you know about those?” Pipsqueak was still for a moment, then shook his head. Path clicked his tongue. “Well, they’re what’s making your head hurt. Ms. Sparkle and I need to take a look at them, see if we can’t move them – or remove them – so that you’re not in pain any more. Are you okay with that?”
Pipsqueak nodded, taking another deep breath as he did so. Path patted him on the chest again before lowering his horn to the other pony’s head. The doctor stopped an inch from Pipsqueak’s head, glancing at Twilight. She nodded at the unasked question, and Path nodded back before making contact.
There was a bright flash and a loud snapping sound.
As the afterimage faded from Twilight’s eyes and her ears stopped their high-pitched whine, Twilight was greeted with the sight of Dr. Path slumped against the wall, the toip of his horn blackened and smoking. Pipsqueak was sitting up again, teeth bared and eye screwed shut with one hoof pressed against his temple; the other hoof was still holding her own in a steel grip.
“Pipsqueak, are you okay?” the mare asked. The earth pony nodded.
“I… am fine.” His jaw flexed between words. “Is… Dr. Path…?”
“Whaohawow!” The mentioned stallion sounded, his head whipping up to reveal widened, bloodshot eyes with pinpricked pupils. Twilight and Pipsqueak watched him carefully as he shook his head wildly, the unicorn slowly extricating her hoof from the earth pony’s grip. She approached Path as his head-shaking was slowing down.
“Doctor?”
“Ho-wow that hurt!” Path said, his eyes seeming to focus on the tip of Twilight’s ear.
“Are you alright? Should I-“
“Oh, no, no please no additional anxieties on my account, Ms. Sparkle!” The stallion stood, shook himself again, then nodded several times. His eyes were still wide as he put his gaze on Twilight. “By my own sensory input, I’m not suffering any permanent injury, but a large electrical shock as I appear to have just experienced might have triggered heart arrhythmia or general nervous system or organ damage or failure, so I suppose we’ll just have to hope that I’m not going to collapse in the near-future.” Path blinked several times, his eyes going to Pipsqueak. “That is a mighty powerful anti-intrusion spell you’re carrying around in there, if I might say from experience!”
“I… apologize, doctor.”
“Apologize? You weren’t the caster.” Path blinked again. “I’m presuming that what just occurred to me is exactly as much of a surprise to you as it was to me, Ms. Sparkle?”
“Er, y-yeah, that didn’t happen when I looked.” Twilight put a hoof on Path’s back, gently pushing down to encourage the stallion to sit. He did so, seemingly surprised that he was standing.
“Well that’s precisely the problem then! Dawn put some spell on Pipsqueak’s mind to stop anypony else from tampering with it, but your and her magics are so similar that the spell thought you were her!” Path blinked again, several times, and his eyes became somewhat normal. “Hoo, wow, that was a hit…”
“Are you sure you’re okay, doctor?” Twilight asked again. Path gave her a smile and a small nod.
“I’m sure. Didn’t really hurt all that much, just woke me up.” Path stood, moving to the other side of the bed from Twilight; Pipsqueak was still sitting, teeth still clenched and eye still tightly shut. “Pipsqueak, on the other hoof… you alright there, buddy? You’re looking not-so-okay from out here.”
“Head… really… hurts…” the seated pony bit off. Path glanced at Twilight.
“Right well, we’ll need to do this by proxy, then.”
“Proxy?” Twilight’s brows furrowed. “You want me to go back in?”
“I did mention that you weren’t supposed to do it without me. I never said you could never do it at all.” Path shrugged. “The spells are almost certainly what’s causing his pain, and we can’t do anything to help him while they’re still going.”
Twilight bit her lip, but nodded. She turned her attention to Pipsqueak. He caught her eye and gave a quick nod, lowering his head towards her. She brought her horn to his temple. Twelve distinct spells flashed immediately to her attention; she tried not to worry about the ones that had disappeared between Fluttershy’s house and the hospital.
“Twelve spells,” she said. “They’re all crossing each other.”
“Right, so, Twilight, I need you to look around for the largest spell. The brightest one, biggest one, however you’re interpreting it.”
Twilight delved. “I have two. One’s pulsing really bright, the other is steadily brighter.”
“Is the pulse brighter than the steady?”
“I think so.”
“Cut it first.”
The counterspell leapt through Twilight’s horn as soon as she called it. She caught a second of the thread’s dissipation before Pipsqueak jerked his head away, a small groan escaping his throat. Path caught him in magic before he could move too much.
“Hold on, Pipsqueak, I know that hurt but it’s going to make you better. Other than that jolt, does your head hurt less now?”
Pipsqueak was still and quiet for a moment, but before Twilight’s anxiety could grow he was nodding and taking another breath. She gave him a small smile before going back in. It took her a few moments to recognize what was off.
“Dr. Path, four of the spells are gone.”
“Gone? That… could be a good thing. You just cut the pulsating one, right?”
“Yeah, but now there’s only seven here.”
“Hmm. Gives us an idea of what’s going on…” Path muttered a few things outside of Twilight’s hearing. “Don’t worry on it yet, just cut the other one you mentioned.”
Again, the spell was instant, slicing the hot thread along its apex; this time, however, Pipsqueak didn’t move, allowing Twilight to watch as the cut thread disappeared. The other remaining threads seemed to shrink, within seconds merging into the morass of grey spells that coated Pipsqueak’s mind. Twilight leaned back, letting out a breath. She opened her eyes to find her subject giving her a dull stare.
“Thank you, Milady.”
A spike of ice shot up Twilight’s spine.
“Pi-“ Her voice cut off, strangled. She breathed, swallowed, tried again. “Pip… Pipsqueak, are you alright?”
“Yes, Milady. By the lack of a burning pain inside of my skull, I am presuming that you have succeeded in removing the compulsive spells that were causing my earlier discomfort?”
“Er… yeah…” She felt her voice go on autopilot as her brain began panicking. “When I cut the bright spell, the others just… went back to normal, I guess.”
“That’s what I thought.” Path nodded as he spoke. “Those two spells were holding the rest of them up, probably contradicting them in terms of allowances and causing a magical backup. Why Dawn didn’t put anything in to smooth that kind of thing out-“ The psychologist stopped suddenly. He stood, taking a few steps over to Twilight. When he spoke again, his voice was softer. “What’s wrong, Twilight?”
The mare coughed wetly. Her brain was spinning, seeing the pony on the bed and tearing itself apart trying to sort him as ‘Pip’ or ‘Pipsqueak’. She opened her mouth, a small squeak escaping.
“Milady?” Pip asked. She blinked, trying to force her eyes to focus on him. “Milady, is something wrong?”
“I…” she managed to say, and suddenly the rest of the thought spilled out. “I thought I got rid of you!”
Path blinked. Twilight blinked. Pip blinked.
“Would you like me to be ‘gotten rid of’, Milady?” Pip asked blandly. Twilight started a nod, changed it to a shake midway, and just ended up pulling something in her neck.
“I… no. I don’t want to get rid of you, I just…” she growled, wincing as the pain behind her horn returned alongside the new neck injury. “I thought we’d gotten past this, this ‘milady’ and ‘I have no emotions’ and ‘I talk like a dictionary’ crap! You, you, were there for once, the real Pip, Pipsqueak, this, this foal in a stallion’s body who’s completely bucked over in terms of everything he’s based his life on and is willing to express how pissed off and terrified he is! And now, now I cut two spells away from your head, spells that were forcing you to, to, to do things that you shouldn’t need to do, and now you’re suddenly back to how you were before! What the buck is that?!”
Path’s eyes were wide. Pip’s eyebrow seemed mildly arched.
“If I may address your worries, Mi-“ Pip coughed. “If I may address your thoughts?” Twilight gave a small, sharp nod. Pip took a breath. “I address you as ‘Milady’ because that is the title to which, in my memory, you are assigned. If you wish, I shall avoid using the term.” Pip blinked. “Would ‘Miss Twilight’ be more acceptable?”
…It’s a start…” Twilight answered weakly. Pip(squeak) nodded.
“As you say, Miss Twilight. On your claim that I ‘talk like a dictionary’, I must remind you that I have spoken in this formal manner for approximately two-thirds of my chronological lifespan, as per Lady Dawn’s instruction. For me to begin speaking in a more informal manner except under considerable duress is unlikely simply due to the fact that I am so accustomed to this formal manner, ignoring the effects of any intrusion by compulsive spells.
“Your claim on my emotional expression is similarly explained. As the First Guard of the Revolution, I could not allow my emotional state to compromise my duties, and as such I have trained myself to suppress any emotional turmoil.”
“Er, if I could cut in, here?” Path asked. Pip nodded, and the doctor continued. “Doing that, keeping how you feel bottled up, is a really bad idea. Not good for your mental state. Among other things, it can lead to severe loss of control when you’re too overwhelmed by what’s going on to ‘suppress emotional turmoil’.” Path grimaced. “I think you’ve dealt with that first-hoof.”
“I can say with certainty that I have.” Pipsqueak nodded again. He turned his attention back to Twilight, who was watching him worriedly. “Is something else the matter, Miss Twilight?”
The mare sighed. “I… I just expected more of a change. You’re still talking like you were, you’re still acting like you were… I’m worried that you’re still thinking like you were.”
“Are you referring to my support of Lady Dawn, Miss Twilight?” Pip asked. Twilight nodded. “I have not intended to cause you to worry, Miss Twilight. While I am still attempting to fully understand everything that has happened, I can assure you that I now recognize that Lady Dawn is in no way a good pony. I have not suddenly forgotten about what was revealed earlier today, nor shall I ignore it.” He took a breath, in and out. “If you wish me to speak to Dr. Path about… what has happened to me, what has been done to me, I shall. If you feel that I-“
“Pipsqueak, stop.” Twilight raised a hoof. Pip halted his speech, his eye focussed on her. “I don’t want you to think that that’s my choice, okay? It’s not, it’s really… you’re the one who’s gone through all of that, you’re the one who’s suffered, you are the one who’s in control of how you deal with it. If you want to talk to Dr. Path, or somepony else who can help you, then you need to decide that for yourself. I’m not… I can’t make that choice for you.”
“To the best of my knowledge, Miss Twilight, given my chronological age and your status as my legal guardian, you are the one in control of my speaking to a psychological expert in a therapeutic context.”
Twilight sighed. “I still don’t think-“
“Miss Twilight?” Pipsqueak said, cutting her off with a soft voice. “Given my recent… revelations, regarding Lady Dawn… I don’t feel that I can trust myself.” He blinked, shifting his eye to stare into hers. “But I do feel that I can trust you.”
Twilight’s throat seemed to close, and she had to swallow several times in order to open it again. She glanced at Path, who gave her a sympathetic look and an apologetic shrug, before turning her focus back to Pipsqueak. She watched him for a few seconds before taking a breath.
“I’m not going to say that you have to talk to Dr. Path.” she stated. “But I think that it would be best for everypony if you did.”
Pip exhaled, giving a nod. “I thank you for your opinion, Miss Twilight.” His ear twitched, and his eye shifted to the door. “There is a guard coming down the hallway, Miss Twilight. Rather quickly.”
Mere seconds later, Twilight could hear the sound of boots hitting tile, stopping at the door. She moved and opened it, finding a somewhat surprised guardspony with his hoof raised.
“Er, ma’am, Broken Shield has requested a meeting with you. He claims that he wishes to talk.”
Twilight sighed. “Thank you, I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Ma’am.” The guard nodded, stepping back as Twilight closed the door.
“I would suggest that you meet with Broken Shield, Miss Twilight.” Pipsqueak said as soon as Twilight had turned around. “If he wishes a peaceful discussion, it would be best to go quickly. He is a fairly impatient pony.”
Twilight grinned before she could stop herself. “Yeah, he’s not exactly one to wait around… Are you two going to be okay here?”
“I’m sure Pipsqueak and I can talk some things over while you’re gone.” Path said, catching Pip’s eye. “Provided you’re comfortable with it, of course.”
“I cannot think of any objections.” Pip replied. Twilight smiled.
“I’m glad that you’re feeling better, Pipsqueak.”
“I am glad to be feeling better, Miss Twilight.”
Broken Shield was waiting outside of the hospital, leaning against the wall as five guards watched his every move. Twilight thanked them and waved them away, waiting until they had all backed up at least a pony’s length before turning her eyes to Broken.
“Is he still out of it?” the stallion asked, as soon as her gaze was on him. Twilight shook her head.
“We severed two of the larger spells on his mind. The rest went back to normal, and so did he.”
Broken stiffened. “He’s still loyal to her, then? After-”
“No! No, no.” Twilight raised a hoof. “He said that he’s still thinking things through, but he specifically mentioned that he knows that Dawn isn’t a ‘good pony.’”
Broken stayed still for a few moments before visibly deflating; all four of his legs seemed to give, his forelegs barely catching him and pushing him into a sitting position. His head stayed low, however, even as Twilight took a step towards him.
“I killed four of them.”
“What?”
“Four Risen. Maybe five.” Broken shrugged. “They were monsters, ruthless, relentless, terrifying beasts. We lost, at least, three ponies per Risen anytime we met them. I… I could never understand how foals could be turned into those things.”
“Broken-“
“We found Luna in her room. It had been torn apart from the outside, but she hadn’t been hit by any debris or magic or dragon’s fire. She’d been stabbed in the back by the same dagger that slit the throats of the two guards.”
Twilight’s stomach fell. “Pip didn’t remember anything after he killed Luna…”
“Luna was still alive.” Broken continued, still staring at the ground. “She was breathing, barely, but she’d lost too much blood. Celestia ran to her, tried to stop the bleeding, revive her somehow. Couldn’t do anything. Luna died in her sister’s lap.” Broken’s voice cracked. “Celestia was screaming for her to come back, demanding it, shouting at her in the Royal Canterlot Voice. Said that she’d lost her once, she wasn’t losing her again.” He took in a shuddering breath. “She just sat there, just… just holding her sister, for, for... didn’t move from that spot, not for anypony or any reason.”
“Broken…”
“Luna’s eyes were open before she died. I, I saw the look in them, and I couldn’t place it until that thing came to Canterlot with Dawn. She’d been betrayed.” Another breath. “I couldn’t, I can’t… Dawn didn’t compulse anypony. I know that. I watched her interrogate ponies, torture them, manipulate them, break them. She broke me, for Faust’s sake. But she never, NEVER, compulsed.” Broken had shouted the second last word loud enough that the guards all started towards them; Twilight waved them off, though they settled closer to the stallion than they’d been before. “That means that he would have had to go along with it willingly. Along with everything willingly.”
Twilight watched Broken. She took a breath, in and out, before speaking. “Yeah, he did.”
“But he was a foal. He didn’t understand, he thought that he was doing the right thing by brutally murdering everypony that Dawn pointed him at.”
“That… seems to be the case.”
Broken took a few breaths. He raised his head, and the look on his face was one of controlled neutrality. He took one more deep breath in and out.
Then he twisted and bucked the hospital hard enough to send a loud crack from the point where his hoof met the wall. He moved away from the building, cursing and limping for two steps before he was tackled by the guards. Three magics and four forehooves held him to the ground, only backing off when he didn’t move for a full minute; even then, the guards remained a single pony’s length away, far closer than they had been. Broken stood shakily, his eye fixed on Twilight.
“Do you, do you know what it’s like- no, you don’t, not even going to- grah!” Broken cut off in a growl, but curled in on himself rather than lashing out.
“Broken, it’s okay.” Twilight stepped forward and set a hoof on his shoulder. The stallion started at the contact, but didn’t move away, keeping his head down.
“No, it’s not. For nearly ten years my worst enemy has been a bucking foal. I’ve seen him tear guards in half, gut Loyalists with their own jawbones, he murdered a fucking Princess-“ Broken cut himself off, but started again a second later. “And now, now I can’t hold any of that against him, because I know that Dawn could have bucked his head over hard enough that, that nothing he’s done was really him.” Broken took a breath, raising his head and meeting Twilight’s eyes again. His gaze was angry, not at anypony but just generally frustrated.
“It can’t be easy, learning something like that about somepony you hate.” Twilight said carefully, patting his shoulder before removing her hoof. Broken barked a laugh and rolled his eye, but there was no amusement in the laugh, and his mouth was thin.
“It’s almost a relief, actually. Some stupid little voice in my head is telling me that this is a good thing, and I’m almost inclined to agree with him. That my daughter’s best friend wasn’t naturally evil, that I couldn’t have seen it coming…” Broken shrugged. “One less thing to worry about killing me, one less thing I need to kill, I guess.”
“Glad to hear you looking on the bright side of things.” Twilight gave a small smile. Broken stared at her for a few seconds before sighing, his eye flicking to the sky; Twilight followed him, watching as her namesake time melded the day into night, the sun dipping below the horizon as the moon rose-
There was a distinct screeching sound in Twilight’s head as her thoughts ground to a halt.
“Broken?”
“Hm.” The grunt was somewhat dismissive, but Twilight ignored the tone.
“If Luna had been killed… how did the sun and moon move after the Revolution?”
Broken blinked, not speaking for a few seconds. “Dawn was able to raise the moon by herself before she killed Celestia, but the effort nearly knocked her out cold. She barely had enough strength left to cut Celestia’s head off.” He grimaced as the memory struck him. “Unicorns used to move the sun and moon before the tribes united and the Princesses arose. My guess is she rounded up the ‘best and brightest’ pinheads she could find and siphoned their magic into some spell that kept everything going. Most of the unicorn nobles disappeared after the Revolution, they were probably the first ones used.”
“Dawn moved the mo-“ Twilight started to say, before Broken’s hoof shifted to catch her jaw. He shook his head slowly, the look in his eye brooking no argument. Twilight nodded, and she quietly waved off the guard that was preparing to jump Broken from behind. She waited a moment, then tried again.
“Er, could you explain why Dawn was an alicorn?”
“She wasn’t.”
“But at Fluttershy’s-“
“She was a unicorn with wings. Nothing more.”
After a half-minute of silence, it became clear that Broken wasn’t going to say anything more on the subject. Twilight moved to the last of her questions, somewhat frustrated.
“You said that Dawn didn’t compulse anypony?”
Broken nodded. “The one line she wouldn’t cross. Got me as to why.”
“Broken, I know you don’t agree, but Pipsqueak was, is, being compulsed. There are so many spells on his mind-“
“I’m stopping you there. These spells, they’re like little lines? Get pulses of magic through them on occasion?” Twilight nodded. “Those aren’t compulsions. Those are oaths.”
“What?!” The mare stared in shock at the stallion. “Oaths aren’t compulsive! You can break them, do the exact opposite of what you swore to do-“
“-and you get knocked out, right?” Broken asked, then continued without waiting for an answer. “My guess is, like everything else, my oaths are stronger than yours. They discourage an action in this world and actively prevent that action in mine, with accompanying difference in how much damage they do when you violate it. They knock you out, they kill me.”
“But there’s no magic involved! You can swear an oath to earth ponies and pegasi, they can’t cast a spell on your mind to force you to go along with it!”
“Not in oaths between ponies, no. But to the Princesses, the Guardspony’s Oath? If there wasn’t magic, then they couldn’t do anything. Pol- ehem, Shining Armor said that violating oaths knocks you unconscious. QED, magic oaths.” Broken smirked at Twilight’s look. “Simple, when you think about it.”
“But… but…”
“Listen, if you don’t believe me, check me.” Broken swung his head down. “My oaths to the Princesses should still be active.”
Twilight blinked. “You’re… okay, with me poking around in there?”
“Just look, no touch.” The stallion said. “I feel too much magic, my horn’s close enough to your eye to hit your brain.”
Twilight felt a bit of bile rise in her throat, but she nodded. Leaning down before better judgement could get its claws in her, she touched her horn to his head.
Unlike Pip’s, there was no giant tangle of threads surrounding Broken’s mind. Twelve lines coursed around the mass of Broken’s psyche, each glowing a dull red from the magic flowing through them. Twilight could feel the magic on each line, an odd feeling rolling up her back as her mind assigned each thread an owner. Four very close to Celestia’s magic. Two that were Celestia’s magic. One very close to Luna’s, two very close to Cadance’s.
And three whose magic was very close to Twilight’s.
Twilight jerked her head back, nearly falling completely over before she caught herself. Before she could say anything, the stallion stood, walking over to her with an undecipherable look in his eye. She could hear the guards shift in their armour, but none moved to interfere. He leaned his head down to an even level with hers, his voice blithe and flat, the corners of his mouth twitched up in a smile.
“See you tomorrow, Twilight.” Broken raised his head, giving her a wink. Before she could respond, he was walking away. Twilight couldn’t help but notice that, through his screen of guards, he was limping heavier than before.