The Dark Mare

by MagnetBolt

Twin Shadows: Fortune's Folly

“You know, I've been studying you ever since you sent those unfortunate stragglers to the guard.” Typhon levitated a few papers to one side of his head as he opened up a small bag, taking out tools one at a time and putting them on a small steel table next to where Loopy was restrained. He had repaired his disguise, and appeared simply as a normal unicorn now. “I thought to myself, well, it's one thing to leave the hive. That's unfortunate, but frankly you're a pretty rubbish changeling.”

“I took out almost a dozen-” Loopy was cut off by a glare from the larger changeling as he stopped his careful examination of a scalpel's blade to look at her. He put the blade down carefully and loomed over her, his fangs inches from her ear.

“Starving, injured changelings trying to get a meal together so they could return to their hive. Yes. I am aware of what you managed to do. I'm not terribly impressed. And from what my associates have told me, you haven't been very impressive in the other little trials we've sent your way.” He pulled away and took a bundle of long needles out of his bag, unrolling them to make sure none had bent or broken.

“What are you talking about?” Loopy croaked.

“You are weak,” Typhon replied. He picked up the scalpel and examined it again, before beginning to slowly sharpen it, his magic gleaming along the edge of the blade. “You're not fit to be a scout, not that you ever were. Two failed missions and you desert on the third.”

“I wasn't wanted back at the hive,” Loopy mumbled.

“A failure is never wanted! But you could have been successful!” Typhon slapped her with a hoof, Loopy's head twisting to the side with the force of the blow. Restrained as she was, she couldn't get away from him or even try to avoid the attack. “You could have drained the ponies here and returned to the hive with the others.”

“Funny thing, the ponies here appreciate me more than anyone at the hive ever did,” Loopy said. One of the fangs in her mouth felt loose from the slap. Typhon lowered the scalpel to her leg, idly scraping the blade on the thick chitin, not quite cutting into it.

“Yes. That's the most common reason for scouts like you to go rogue,” Typhon agreed. He sighed. “You don't understand the hive, not really. You're not attached to it like the rest of us. You need to leave for weeks or months at a time, just returning for a little while before you leave again.”

“Stop that.” Loopy shivered at the touch of the blade.

“I think we should get to know each other. I know a lot about you already, of course. I've been doing this for years now. It isn't easy keeping changelings secret with pathetic specimens like you running around. Before Canterlot that was my main job, making sure the right reports were lost or altered and witnesses forgot what they saw.” He cut slightly into her chitin, scribing a thin line on her leg that slowly started bleeding.

“Don't!” Loopy screamed, trying to pull away, the restraints holding her firmly.

“Of course after it all happened I was the first to put together a few reports and present them to the Princesses. They thought I'd dug it all up with hard work and put me in charge of finding the rest of the changelings. Whenever locals find a changeling, I swoop in and save them, and make sure they haven't revealed anything. And if they're rogues, well, sometimes we get a body to show the Princesses instead of a prisoner.”

“J-just get it over with, whatever you're doing,” Loopy said, as the blade slipped into one of the holes in her hoof, the edge of the scalpel running along the inner side of the cavity with a feeling somewhere between pain and an unbearable itch.

“I will, once you understand,” Typhon said, moving the blade away. “I want you to know what's happening. This isn't about just you or me. I take no pleasure in doing this.”

“Then don't! Let me go and- and we can just walk away from this!”

Typhon chuckled at that. “You aren't walking anywhere. Not for the rest of your life, though that isn't a long time now.” He paced around her, Loopy not able to follow his movements in the shadows with her empathy crippled and her body restrained. “Now be quiet while I try and explain. As I was saying, I take no pleasure in this. I suffer just as much as my subjects, but it is necessary. Without this pain, they, you, wouldn't learn anything before the end.

“Do you know what the hive has been through in the last few years? Don't answer, it's a rhetorical question.” Typhon smiled. “I know you don't particularly care and you're about to say as much. Please, humor me. I want you to understand why this has to happen.”

“You're really hung up on me understanding,” Loopy said, quietly.

“I'm something of a teacher,” Typhon explained. “Today I'm teaching you why you have to die.” He stopped where Loopy could see him. “You probably aren't even aware of why we attacked Canterlot. Did you think to ask any of the changelings that ended up here?”

Loopy shook her head.

“Our stores of emotional energy have been pushed to the limit for a long, long time. Longer than you have been alive. But one thing led to another and things finally started to collapse. No larvae have hatched since Canterlot. There's just not enough love to even hatch their eggs, not that the Queen would want to bring them into the world just to starve slowly.”

“I didn't know it was that bad,” Loopy whispered.

“No. We might be the last generation of changelings, little scout. Think about that. And the blame falls squarely on you.” Loopy gasped at a sudden burst of pain as a needle pierced her chitin, Typhon slowly driving it into her hoof. “You and the changelings like you, who abandoned the hive. And more than that, you even hurt your own kind when they were most in need.” Typhon shook his head.

“They were going to hurt my friends!” Loopy said, shaking with pain. The needle rotated, making her tense up, and then retracted.

“They were only ponies. Do you know what you could have done? Helped your own kind and traded this town for the lives of your brothers and sisters. It's more than a fair trade. You would have been a hero.”

“I am a hero,” Loopy groaned.

“You're a traitor who has decided comfort and a warm meal is more important than her family!” Typhon shouted, slapping Loopy again. “Do you know what Queen Chrysalis did when she found out about everything you did?”

“She probably swore eternal revenge.” Loopy spat out a clot of ichor, trying not to let on just how much she was hurting.

“She wept! She openly wept in front of all of us!” A needle pierced Loopy's thorax, slipping between the broken plates from where El Toro had shattered her body. She screamed before magic forced her jaw shut. “She was reduced to tears because she'd failed us so badly. And then, yes, she swore eternal revenge on you. She wants this entire town leveled so other rogues will know the price they pay if they betray the hive.”

“I need him awake,” Songbird said, slowly, like she was speaking to an especially dull child.

“And he needs to rest!” The doctor replied, the mare putting a hoof on her shoulder and trying to push her out of the room. Songbird knocked the hoof away.

“You don't seem to understand. I'm ordering you to wake Captain Shield up! He can rest when this is over!” She shoved the doctor back, the mare falling back and landing on her flank. The pegasus loomed over her.

“I'm not one of your soldiers that you can just order around!” The doctor picked herself up, red with anger. “This stallion is my patient and I am not going to let you or anypony else put him at risk! He's suffered severe magical strain! If he doesn't get rest, he could suffer from chronic pain for the rest of his life!”

“This is a matter of life and death,” Songbird said, glaring at the doctor. “If you don't wake him up, I'll have you arrested for obstruction of justice and I'll do the same thing to every doctor here until one of you cooperates.”

“None of us are going to just let you push us-”

“And if none of you are willing to cooperate, Private Kicker says he took some classes on veterinary medicine. I'll give him a needle and the first stimulant I can find and we'll just have to hope for the best.”

“You wouldn't!”

“Try me,” Songbird replied. The doctor met her gaze and for a long moment the two just stared at each other.

Then the doctor blinked, and turned away. “I'm making an official protest to your superiors,” she mumbled.

“You can do that as soon as he's awake,” Songbird replied, sarcastically. The doctor walked out to the nursing station and opened up a small icebox, taking out a bottle and a syringe. Songbird walked with her, making sure she didn't try anything. The doctor hesitated as she returned to Brass Shield's bedside.

“Even if I wake him up, he isn't going to be fit for anything, you understand? We sedated him so he could rest. If he's really important to you, you'll let him do that.”

“If I don't have him make this right...” Songbird swallowed. “He'd rather die than just stand by and let somepony come in and strongarm things.”

“Oh yes, because you're not doing that,” the doctor glared at her.

“This is different!” Songbird snapped.

“Holding my patients hostage is hardly different,” she said, gesturing with the needle. “Whatever you're worried about, it can wait a few days.”

“You don't get it! He relieved me of command and the only pony that can make this right is-”

“Is injured and shouldn't be bothered with your- with your petty little power struggles!” The doctor shook with rage. “You should be ashamed of yourself! You want to force him out of bed just for that?! If you act like this all the time it's no wonder you were-”

“Doctor, the shouting isn't helping much either,” Brass grumbled, from his bed. The doctor jumped in shock, dropping the syringe.

“Brass!” Songbird yelled, running over. The unicorn opened his eyes and gave her a tired look.

“No yelling, Flight Lieutenant. I feel like somepony used my skull as a battering ram.” He touched his horn and winced.

“That's pretty accurate. El Toro put you right through a wall,” Songbird said. “We really need you, sir. Subcaptain Typhon is taking everything over with his own men. He has the changeling locked away and won't even let us see her.”

“I thought you'd be happy about that,” Brass said, his voice barely a whisper.

“Sir, please. You always tell me to trust my gut, and I can just... I can tell there's something wrong.” Songbird took a deep breath. “I need you to tell him that I'm in command. You're the only one who can pull rank on him.”

“Hmph.” Brass grumbled, sitting up. He looked down at the doctor. “Get me something for this headache. Songbird, you get my uniform. I'll need to at least look like I'm on duty.”

“You-” Songbird smiled. “Yes, sir.”

“I'm just going to have a little chat with him. If you're wrong, I'm busting you down so hard you'll have to take orders from Private Kicker. You understand me? Because I don't want to have to repeat myself with this blasted headache.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Then get that bloody uniform and tell Typhon I want his flank reporting to me at once.”

Loopy squeaked, unable to scream, as Typhon lowered a scalpel towards her eye. Just as it got too close for her to focus on, Typhon stopped and frowned, straightening up. Nothing had changed in the room, but Typhon looked towards the door like he'd heard something.

“How annoying. It looks like I have to take care of things with my other job. I'm going to have to ask you to wait and think about things while I'm gone.”

Jetstream tossed and turned in her bed. She wasn't used to sleeping on a mattress to begin with, and every time she closed her eyes all she could see was Loopy lying in bed, hurt. The image was different every time as her imagination tried to fill in the injuries she hadn't seen.

She sat up in a cold sweat, feathers in disarray. She had to find Loopy. Something inside her couldn't rest, like a sixth sense warning her that she was in trouble. The pegasus groaned as she felt a headache coming on, rubbing her eyes. If somepony had been watching, they would have seen a green glow pulse behind her eyelids for a moment.

Tossing her blanket away, Jet got out of bed and quietly trotted to the door. She poked her head out as she silently cracked it open. The hallway outside was empty.

She walked out, looking behind her to make sure she was alone, then set off towards one end of the hospital, something telling her the right way to go.

Typhon stepped into the room, frowning at the sight of Brass Shield waiting for him and sipping a cup of tea. The Captain motioned for him to sit. Typhon did so, watching him closely. The Captain was wearing his uniform armor, but had bandages under it around his neck and horn.

“I wasn't aware you'd recovered so quickly,” Typhon said. “I was busing seeing to the changeling's treatment.” He glanced at the room. It was one of the break rooms, though the nurses had been kicked out and Brass was looking over some paperwork. To Typon's eye it looked like a number of random reports and unfilled forms.

“I've been told as much,” Brass said. “I need to be brought up to speed. I heard my Flight Lieutenant's report, now I want yours.”

Typhon's expression darkened for a moment at the mention of Songbird, then snapped back into a smile. “Of course, sir. I've made sure she's stable, but she hasn't woken up yet. Things are delicate right now, so I can't recommend you see her.”

“It's part of my job to check on her,” Brass said. “I also need to get an estimate of when she can be transported to Canterlot.”

“Oh, everything will be ready soon,” Typhon said, with a smile. “I just need some more time. I was in the middle of a medical procedure when you called me up here. I was rather distressed. I need to get back to her soon.”

“I thought she was stable,” Brass noted.

“Stable isn't the same as well. A pony with four broken legs can be stable, but they aren't walking anywhere.” Typhon glared. “Now, can we please end this little farce?”

“What are you talking about?” Brass asked.

“You clearly aren't well enough to assume command again,” Typhon said. “Someone just dressed you in armor and threw you whatever papers they had on hoof and you're trying to act like you're fine when you should be in bed with nurses feeding you by hoof.”

“I'm well enough,” Brass said. “And seeing as how I outrank you, I get to decide if I'm fit for command.”

“Only until I find a doctor to declare you medically unfit. Which should take about ten seconds, seeing as we're in a hospital and you're obviously still injured.” Typhon stood up.

“Seeing as how we both agree I'm in charge, at least for right now, we need to have a talk.” Brass smiled. Typhon growled at the small trap he'd talked himself into.

“Stop right there!” Shouted somepony. Jet found herself picked up by the scruff of the neck with magic, raised into the air and turned to look at the helmeted, armored guard. She felt a sense of dread looking at the masked face.

“I-I was just looking for somepony,” Jetstream said. The guard turned his head like he was listening to something.

“Confirmed as one of the secondary targets. Preparing to eliminate.” Two knives floated out of his harness, suspended in his unicorn magic. Jet's eyes went wide.

“W-what?! You can't! I didn't do anything!” She struggled, trying to get away as the knives spun, readying themselves. She whimpered as they surged towards her and her vision was fulled with a blue and gray blur. The knives flew into the wall, sinking in to the hilt.

Jet looked at them for a moment, shivering as she realized that it had almost been her. She looked up at the pony standing over her who had knocked her out of the way, and found herself looking into golden eyes. She couldn't help but look past them to where leathery wings were extended from his sides. The batpony stepped away.

“Are you alright?” He asked. Jet nodded slowly. The faceless guard pulled four more knives from his gear, the blades orbiting around him, facing outwards. The blades snapped into formation, and before the unicorn could launch them, a second gray shape bucked him in the head, the knives falling to the hospital floor shortly before the unicorn collapsed.

“These special operations types are a bit brutal, aren't they?” Said the second batpony. He looked over at his partner. “Nice save.”

“I do my best,” the other one said, with a small smile.

“Who are you?” Jetstream asked, standing and backing away. The batpony who had saved her reached into his cloak and produced a silver badge.

“My name is Gray Cloak, this is Drakewing. We're with Internal Affairs.” He put the badge away. “We were investigating Subcaptain Typhon and this little crisis turned a simple job into a field mission.”

“My partner isn't a fan of working outside of Canterlot,” Drakewing explained.

“Gray, we got run out of town the last time we were in the field,” he countered. As he spoke, he stepped over to the prone guard and lifted the helmet up. Without the masked helm he seemed a lot less intimidating, but his coat was ragged and his eyes were sunken.

“Looks like our suspicions were correct,” Drakewing noted, as Gray used a hoof to open one of the guard's eyes and saw green and red veins coloring the whites of his eyes. “Clear signs of long-term effects, just like Shining Armor.”

Typhon sat up, turning his head as if listening to a distant sound. He frowned, ignoring whatever Brass Shield was babbling on about.

“So that's what this is about,” he said, standing. “You're just trying to distract me while your minions do your dirty work. Clever, but it won't work this time.”

“Minions?” Brass asked, standing slowly. “I have no idea what you mean.”

Typhon glared at him before throwing the table aside with magic to crash into the wall. “You're either too smart and suspicious for your own good or you're stupid and your own underlings are acting on their own. Either way, you've outlived your limited usefulness.”

“You know I was actually calling you in here to discuss how you and Songbird could get along better, but I'm starting to think that she might have actually been right about you.” He paused. “For once.”

“I hope she hasn't said too many awful things about me. I'd be so embarrassed.” Typhon's horn started throbbing with arcane power, and he smiled at Brass Shield.

“I have to get to Loopy,” Jet said, her eyes flashing green. Gray Cloak and Drakewing looked at each other, then back to her.

“And why is that?” Drake asked, keeping his voice level.

“She needs me,” Jet said, simply. She started walking as if she knew the way to go. She got about three steps before the window next to her shattered, one of Typhon's armored pegasai flying right through the plate glass to tackle her into the wall, Jetstream crashing into the wall hard enough to put a hole in the drywall.

The pegasus flicked his wings, and blades appeared along his flight feathers. He loomed over Jetstream for a moment before Drake knocked him out of the way.

“Wingblades. Haven't seen those in years,” Gray noted. Drake blocked a swipe with an iron-clad hoof, the weapons raising sparks from the contact.

“Not since that assassin a few years back,” Drake agreed. He punched the pegasus, forcing the lighter pony back a few steps. Before he could follow up on it, he turned and ducked as two more armored pegasai burst through the window.

“I think this counts as being surrounded,” Gray said, pulling Jet to her hooves. “Ma'am, normally we'd have all sorts of questions for you and I'd be very concerned about what could be going on with your mind, but there's a significant number of ponies trying to kill you.”

“And us!” Drake said, parrying another buffet of wing attacks. The other two pegasai flicked their wings, extending the hidden weapons.

“And us. We can take care of this mess but it'll be easier if we don't have to protect you. I want you to go find somewhere safe and stay there until this is over.”

“Somewhere safe...” Jet shook her head and started running. Drake watched her go before being distracted by a blade being shoved towards his neck.

“She's going the same way she was before,” Gray noted.

“Determined filly, isn't she?”

Songbird paced up and down the corridor outside the waiting room, throwing glares at the two masked guards who were stationed at either end. She was working herself up to a really great rant for when Brass finished with his little talk when her train of thought was derailed by the sound of a table being thrown from inside the room.

The guards at either end of the hallway started moving, no doubt having heard the crash themselves. Songbird reached for the doorknob, and a knife slammed into the wood next to her hoof. She flinched back, which saved her life as a second blade sliced across the right side of her face, close enough that even though she moved it opened a long cut on her forehead and sliced the strap of her eyepatch, sending it fluttering to the floor.

“What are you doing?!” Songbird yelled, looking between the two unicorns. With her right eye uncovered, the plain-looking hospital hallway was overlaid with a kaleidoscope of colors. Bright green tendrils writhed through the aura of the two unicorn guards like octopi swimming through an ocean, threads linking them and stretching outwards into some kind of ethereal web.

“That's not normal,” Songbird said to herself. As more knives flew towards her, she braced herself and crashed through the door, rolling to a stop right between Typhon and Brass Shield where the table had been. She looked between them. “Um, hello.”

“Where is she...” Jetstream whispered. She spotted somepony moving and ducked back into the shadows. There were no doctors or patients but there were guards patrolling the corridors silently. Jet shivered with fear. If it wasn't for the feeling inside her driving her on, she would have just found somewhere to hide and hoped she could stay there until it was all over.

She slipped into a room and out a door on the opposite side, avoiding the guard. Jet fluttered her wings, silently and carefully flying down the hallway. Poking her head out at the next junction, she found herself looking at an operating room, with a pegasus standing guard outside.

Jet ducked back around the corner. She needed to get into the operating room. She looked around and grabbed the first thing at hoof, a bedpan. She tossed it down the corridor and ducked into cover. Predictably, the pegasus guard ran to investigate the noise, leaving his post.

Jetstream smirked and quickly flew past where he had been, opening the door and closing it silently behind her.

“There,” she whispered. “Now I can-” Jet turned around and her eyes went wide. Loopy was lying on the table, blood leaking from wounds in her chitin. The changeling opened her eyes and looked back to her, breathing raggedly.

“Took you long enough,” she whispered.

“Am I interrupting something?” Songbird asked, looking between Typhon and Brass Shield.

“Songbird, I owe you an apology,” Brass said, carefully. “It looks like you were right about Subcaptain Typhon. Next time you tell me you have a gut feeling about something, remind me about this if I try to ignore it.”

“You're both about to become quite familiar with the feeling of your guts,” Typhon said. “That was a threat, in case it wasn't clear.”

“Yeah, I got it,” Songbird said, standing. She looked at Typhon and blinked at what her eye revealed. “Woah. You're-”

“Conversation over, killing time now.” Typhon's eyes flashed with green light and the wall exploded as the unicorns blasted through it with magic bolts, filling the room with dust and splinters. Typhon stepped back. “I'm going to go finish up, but I think these two will be able to give you more than enough entertainment.”

“When he says entertainment he actually means they're going to murder us,” Brass mumbled. Songbird glared at him and was about to say something, but was cut off by a blade coming right for her, only stopping an inch from her forehead, held in place by a flickering field of magic, flashing between green and gold.

Brass grunted, straining himself fighting back the force of the other unicorn's magic.

“Songbird, please get out of the damn way so I can let this thing go!” The Flight Lieutenant's ears folded back and she ducked, the knife snapping forward and slamming into the wall.

“Thanks, Captain,” Songbird said. She smiled at him, but her face fell as she saw a trickle of blood work its way down his face from the base of his horn. “You're-”

“Alive, for the moment. And I'd like to keep it that way.”

“Right,” the pegaus said. “Just hang on, sir.”

“What do you mean hang-” Songbird grabbed a fire extinguisher with one hoof, spinning in midair using her wings to throw it at the masked unicorns. One of them reflexively threw a knife at it, the red cylinder exploding as it was breached. The wave caught her wings as her shoulder hit Brass, carrying them both out the window.

“Songbiiird!” Brass yelled, holding onto her for dear life as they fell in a shower of broken glass.

“Loopy how did this-” Jet's eyes teared up as she looked over her friend. She still wasn't used to seeing her as a changeling, but that was a distant second to seeing her so badly hurt.

“Typhon's kind of an asshole,” Loopy said, wincing as she spoke. Her voice was rough and strained. She tried to make another quip and groaned, slumping.

“I've got to get you out of here before he gets back,” Jet said, her voice filled with determination that was just barely strong enough to push the trembling tones of terror aside. She started at one of the restraints, trying to figure out how it worked.

“Don't bother. I can't walk and you can't get out of here carrying me.” Loopy looked away. “How did you even find me?”

“I just had a... feeling,” Jetstream said, her voice going dull for a moment. She shook her head, clearing the fog from her mind. “I'm not just gonna leave you here. We can figure something out. I just have to come up with a way to get you out of the room, then we can work on getting you out of the hospital after we do that.” She sounded desperate.

“A feeling.” Loopy repeated, deadpan.

Jet smiled. “I don't know. Maybe it was the power of love!”

“I know a thing or two about the power of love,” Loopy joked, coughing and immediately regretting it. “And it usually doesn't provide directions.”

“It doesn't matter,” Jet said, tears in her eyes. “I love you and I'm going to get you out of here!”

“What are you-” Before Loopy could finish, Jet hugged her broken body, and the changeling felt energy flowing into her.

“Well, that was an annoying distraction. But my drones should be able to clean up this mess, and in the meantime we have a little something to finish,” Typhon said, stepping into the operating room. None of the soldiers outside had seen anything, so he was confident in his privacy.

Loopy didn't reply. Typhon frowned and assumed his true form, black chitin appearing in a wash of green fire. He couldn't sense anything from her.

“Oh my.” He looked into her blank, lifeless eyes. “Were you worse off than I thought? I consider myself something of an expert and you should have been able to hang on for at least a few more days...”

Typhon touched her, and felt something off. Her body was stiff and... with a sudden realization, he took the restraints from one hoof and pushed her up. There, between her wings, was a long opening along her spine. The corpse was nothing but an empty shell.

“Clever girl.” Typhon said, just before a hoof impacted with the side of his head hard enough to send him crashing to the ground. Before he could retaliate, a horn touched his, and he felt something grab ahold of his stored energy and pull at it.

He tried to recover, but it was stronger than him, tearing at his energy and grabbing most of it before it was forced to let go. Typhon scrabbled away, panting and looking at the one who had attacked him. Loopy grinned at him, whole again. Her chitin was soft and pale, but her injuries were gone.

“Fear and loathing. Disgusting. But it suits someone like you,” she said.

“You molted to provide a distraction and regenerate your body,” Typhon said, impressed. “You're quite resourceful for a failure. But where did you get the energy to do that?”

“Unlike you, I have ponies that care about me. I-”

“Not more of this power of love nonsense. I heard enough of that after Canterlot.” He sneered.

“Too bad. You get to hear it again.” Loopy grabbed the bundle of needles Typhon had been using to torture her and flung them at the other changeling rapid-fire. Typhon danced back, deflecting them. Just as he got to the door, Jetstream dropped down, hitting the base of his horn with her hoof. Typhon gasped as his horn cracked.

“How was that?” Jet asked, flying away from him as Typhon touched his horn and winced.

“Perfect,” Loopy said.

Gray and Drake backed into each other as the armored pegasai closed on them. The two batponies were covered in small cuts and exhausted, already at their limits. The next attack would finish them. The pegasai tensed, and Gray and Drake braced themselves.

And then the helmeted guards collapsed. The two batponies looked at each other, confused.

Songbird looked up. The unicorns were looking out the windows at them, and as they watched, a huge rock was torn out of the ground, looming over them and held by their magic. Songbird closed her eyes and tried to shield Brass.

There was a crash as the rock fell. Songbird opened her eyes. It hadn't landed on her. Otherwise it would have been much harder to open her eyes, being dead and flat. The rock had fallen straight down, the unicorns who had been holding it collapsed and halfway out the windows.

“My hivemind!” Typhon gasped. “You-”

“You're all alone,” Loopy said. “Unlike me.” Jet stood next to her, smiling. And shaking a little with a mix of excitement and fear. Loopy's empathy had come back once his horn was broken, and she could almost weep for the return of her senses. But only almost. She still had a job to do.

“Unfortunately that does seem to be so,” Typhon agreed, standing up straight. His feelings vanished as he shielded them again from Loopy's senses. “I am impressed. It's no wonder the others were having a bit of trouble with you.”

“So I think it's time I got a little payback,” Loopy said, narrowing her eyes. “Maybe we'll see how you like being broken and cut up.”

“No, I rather prefer being the torturer than the torturee.” Typhon smiled. “You've ruined years of planning. I compliment you on your resourcefulness and luck. As I do not enjoy fighting a losing battle, I am forced to retreat.”

“You say that like we're going to let you go,” Jetstream said. “You're going to pay for what you did!”

“My dear, you do not have a choice. But don't worry. You haven't seen the last of me. Remember this moment the next time you try to get to sleep.” Typhon took a step back, and green flame appeared in a circle around him. He laughed as he sank into the ground, vanishing.

Loopy watched him go. The moment he was gone, she slumped down. “Ugh...”

“Are you okay?” Jet asked, kneeling down to look at her.

“I just had to force a molt in like ten seconds and throw a regeneration spell on top of it to keep my body together. I feel like I ran a marathon. But I feel better than I did on that table.” She smiled, showing fangs. To her credit, Jet didn't even flinch.

“I told you we'd think of something.” She smiled and nuzzled the changeling.

“Yeah.” Loopy sighed, looking into Jetstream's eyes. They flashed green, and Loopy's smile faded. “Oh no...”

“What is it?” Jet asked, confused.

“It's um... nothing,” Loopy lied, resting against Jet, her mind racing through all the things that could be wrong. Had she screwed something up when she'd pushed energy into her after the ice witch had almost killed her? She'd already messed up once with Songbird. If something happened to Jet...

“I love you,” Jet said, closing her eyes and resting against Loopy, the sensation making the changeling shiver, her soft, unhardened chitin making her sense of touch more intense.

“I know,” Loopy replied, feeling the strings of sweet love pouring from her, the same energy that had let her regenerate and molt in the first place. “That's what I'm worried about...”