Chapter 24: The Storm's Shade
"And because pegasi can move clouds by pushing them, there is no reason to have wind at all. It serves both good and bad purposes; good ones being pulling kites for the kids and turning the big fan turbine thing of a mill, but it serves bad purposes because it ALWAYS blows your hat away when you're not ready to catch it. Also if the wind gets going fast enough it can not only blow away a hat, but a whole picnic blanket, and just like that your Saturday activity is ruined. Not even gonna mention what happens when it gets to your newspapers. Have you ever noticed that when your newspaper does get blown away by the wind it's always when you're reading a funny story or article? It's like you're about to get to the punchline, then BAM, wind kicks up and your paper is flying away laughing at the joke you didn't get to finish." We had been flying for five minutes and I already wanted to throw Hofnarr off. Me and Hofnarr were seated in front with Blast Shield behind us. Of all the cuffs, chains and binds that Blast Shield had used on Hofnarr, not one of them could make him shut up. With a large storm behind us, the pegasi pulling our chariot worked overtime to get us back to Canterlot sooner rather than later. Sadly, Hofnarr was a condition that they couldn't out-fly.
"And then there's the jet-stream, which is like wind on steroids meets super strength. Why is that a thing? It's like, if you get caught in one of those you'd better hold on for dear life and hope you land somewhere nice."
"Why do you talk about things no one cares about?" Blast Shield asked as he lightly banged is head on the side of the chariot.
"Which brings us to currents, which are basically jet-streams underwater. And it's also something where if you're caught in it, all you can do is hope for the best. Never you mind that if you're in one you're deep underwater and will probably drown before it's done with you. But onto a less grim subject. Let's talk about―"
"How about shutting the fuck up?!" I shouted as my left eye twitched. Hofnarr simply stared at me with a blank face as I savored the silence.
"I have a question." Hofnarr said after a few seconds of beloved quietness. "What do we do if someone needs a restroom?" I heard Blast Shield slam his head on the chariot with a groan of annoyance. "It's a legitimate question!"
"I don't care if Canterlot's ten minutes away or ten hours away. It's going to take too long." Blast Shield remarked as Hofnarr chuckled.
"You're too easily stressed, dude. You're gonna get your blood pressure too high and feel all tired and all kinds of other things I'm not even gonna mention because they're so horrible that they'd give you nightmares. Speaking of nightmares, Princess Luna oversees your nightmares, right?"
"Yes..."
"And so she also oversees your dreams, right?"
"Yes..." I said, somewhat curious as to where he was going with this.
"Then does Princess Celestia oversee your daydreams or does that still fall to Princess Luna?" Drawing a blank, I looked to Blast Shield, who raised his right hoof and opened his mouth, but after a moment he said nothing and let his hoof drop back down. Hofnarr just smiled at this. Then it faded with what he said next. "Something else occurred to me. We haven't had lunch!" Hofnarr exclaimed with a look of panic on his face. "And we still didn't bring any snacks! If we crash this time we're dead for sure and we'll go down is history as the guys who didn't even get a last lunch! It'll be a story that'll make everyone who hears it sad."
"WHY WOULD WE CRASH?!" Blast shield snapped.
"Well for starters there's a big storm behind us and who knows, maybe there's an asshole of a dragon around here just waiting to make a sad story."
"Hofnarr, look over the side of the chariot, then tell me about how many seconds you'd have to realize you talk too much before you hit the ground." I said as Hofnarr peered over his side of the chariot.
"I am so freaking high right now..." He said as he pulled his head back. "And since you mentioned hitting the ground, let's talk about gravity."
"NOOOOOOO!" Blast Shield and I shouted in dread.
"As I said before, gravity does a lot more harm than good, because it makes you fall, usually with enough force to cause serious pain and damage. And if it weren't for gravity, nothing would fall because of an earthquake. Also it's because of gravity that only things with wings can fly. If there wasn't any gravity then everyone could just swim through the air which could potentially be less tiring than walk with gravity. Think about it and it makes perfect sense!"
"You know Hofnarr, I wouldn't mind you talking so much if you didn't talk about things that either didn't make any sense or just plain weren't important." I said with an annoyed sigh.
"Important things are too mainstream." Hofnarr said with a chuckle. "But I suppose we could talk about something more relevant. Like who could've sent you that letter."
"Is that a subject you actually care about?"
"I don't care, but I am curious nonetheless. It most likely is not a trap of some kind, but I have no idea what kind of changeling would take the risk of sending a letter like that. Even if it doesn't say this changeling's exact position, we do still know that it came from Ponyville and it will be waiting for you."
"Speaking of the letter, are you going to tell Princess Celestia about it or 'share this with no one?'" Blast Shield asked.
"I'm not sure yet. I don't think Princess Celestia would do anything bad to this changeling, but what if whoever this is decides to not help me because I told the Princess?"
"Well in that case you could always just tell the Princess after it's done helping you." Hofnarr suggested. "It's not a question of will you get helped or not, it's a question of who's trust you're going to betray. Either you tell Princess Celestia, thus betraying this random changeling's trust, or keep this a secret from Princess Celestia and thus betraying her trust. Although I guess her trust wouldn't be betrayed as long as she never found out.”
Hofnarr said as he looked to the storm behind us. "However you could also look at this as who do you trust more. If you do tell Princess Celestia, it shows that you trust her not to do something unpleasant to this changeling, and if you don't tell her it shows that you trust that this isn't a trap of some kind." Hofnarr finished as me and Blast Shield stared at him.
"You really weren't joking about being smarter than you seem." I said as I turned forward again. A couple of minutes had passed while Hofnarr talked about dragon fire breath being a side effect of living in or near volcanic areas, when I thought of something. "Hofnarr." I said getting his attention.
"What is it? Can't you see I'm giving very important lessons about the strength of a Leatherback Baloth?"
"What are the chances that the one who sent this letter is someone from Queen Chrysalis' kingdom? I know that Gezähnt isn't the only changeling who knows me."
"I might be able to give you an answer if it weren't for the fact that I have no idea who your friends were. Do you know the names of any of your former friends?"
"I don't know if he was my friend, but I at least knew a 'Colonel Tödlich.'"
"Again, that isn't his style. If Colonel Tödlich did try to contact you, he'd be a lot more direct about it. He'd probably just shapeshift into a guard, walk up to you and begin questioning you. He'd also only do it if the Queen told him to. But I don't think it's anyone from our kingdom; that letter suggests that whoever sent it learned about you from the newspapers, which would imply reading the newspapers, and no one in the Kingdom of Queen Chrysalis reads an Equestrian newspaper. They have no reason to; we're kinda in the mind set of 'they don't care about us so we don't care about them.'" Hofnarr said as looked ahead.
"In any case, you should probably tell the Princesses. That way if it was some kind of trap they'll know to send someone to look for you or something." Blast Shield said as we continued to make our way to Canterlot and I thought about the changeling near Ponyville.
Another half-hour passed before we finally reached Canterlot. By then the pegasi moving the storm had made the rain start to fall, and it was coming down hard and with constant lightning. As our chariot landed Hofnarr leaped over the side of the chariot. Which was impressive since he was still in wing and leg binds.
"Being in the middle of a dark rainy storm with lots of lightning and thunder is a little scary. Not that I was scared or anything."
"You practically screamed every time there was a lightning bolt. I'm surprised you didn't start crying for your mother." Blast shield remarked as he and I got off. Once we did, the pegasi who had pulled it detached themselves from the harnesses and began to walk away.
"Nah. I learned to stop crying for my parents a long time ago." Hofnarr said as he walked back over to us while Blast Shield gave him a puzzled look.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Blast Shield asked as Hofnarr sighed.
"Nothing. So do I get a room or am I still stuck in a cell for another day?"
"For now, the cell. Princess Celestia will decide if you get a room to yourself or not." Blast Shield said as he began leading Hofnarr back to the dungeon. "You coming, Fragment?"
"No. I'm going to have lunch and then get some sleep. But first I'm going to put my cloak away." I replied. As I was about to start walking back you my room, Hofnarr shouted:
"USE YOUR WINGS! The more you use them the faster you'll get good with them! Practice makes perfect and all that stuff." With that in mind, I started flapping my wings and began to fly back to my room, carrying the letter from the changeling with levitation. After so many hours using them I had gotten pretty good at not crashing or losing balance in general. However my confidence in my flight wasn't as good. I would constantly stop long before I would've hit a wall, a bust, or in one case a guard. After weeks of just walking around, it felt weird to be using my wings for general mobility. It was a short and somewhat uncomfortable flight back to my room. I landed in front of my room's door and opened it. The first thing I noticed as I stepped into my room was the brown paper bag on my bed.
"More mail for me?" I asked myself as I magically removed my cloak, placed it and the envelope on my bed, and focused on the bag. Walking up to it, I saw that the words 'for Fragment from Pinkie' were written on the side, which reminded me: "But... I never even sent my letter." As I said that I noticed a small note with my name on it next to the bag. Picking up the note with my magic, I began to read.
'Dear Fragment
I know you have been having a hard time lately, with Striker's death and Cyclone Shade, and I know you said you weren't going to let it get in your way, but even if you are not showing it I know that you are in pain. So I sent your letter to Pinkie Pie after you returned from the hospital the day Striker died. I'm sure that even without being here she can lighten your day. I hope you don't mind me just taking your letter too much.
Sincerely, Princess Celestia.'
I put down the note as I continued to process what it said. I was very surprised that Princess Celestia took and sent my letter to Pinkie Pie, but I was far from upset. I didn't have a real reason to be. She did me a favor. I smiled thankfully as I put Princess Celestia's note down and opened the bag Pinkie Pie sent. Like the last time, there was a burst of confetti, this time it was less surprising. I reached into the bag and pulled out an envelope with a stamp of what looked like Pinkie's cutie mark on the front. I opened it and took out the bright yellow paper within.
'Dear Fragment
OH MY GOSH you're a dad?! That's so cool, right? When you come back to Ponyville I think I'm gonna give you a BIG being a dad party! But wait, that means you're at least 25 or something, right? Do you know how old your foals are? Are changeling kids called foals like ponies? I told Twilight and the others and everypony was REALLY surprised that you're married and stuff. We all have A BUNCH of questions. Twilight wants to know more about what that meanie changeling said and Rarity wants to know what kind of magic Princess Celestia is teaching you. Fluttershy is wondering who the Princess will get to teach you flight. Hey, speaking of the magic you're learning did you learn the spell that the Princesses use to send letters? 'Cause your letter arrived from Spike burping it up.
We all also read about you in the newspaper! Well, Rarity's the one who read it, but she showed it to the rest of us, so I guess we all read it, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash are still kinda uncomfortable with the idea of you being around, ESPECIALLY after we got back from the Changeling Kingdom. Oh yeah, WE WENT TO THE CHANGELING KINGDOM! Queen meanie pants foalnapped Rarity and Applejack's sisters and made us go to the Changeling Kingdom to get them. And then when we did get there she tried to get Twilight to become her student instead of Princess Celestia's. But we beat her and rescued the C.M.C! C.M.C stands for Cutie Mark Crusaders! They're the fillies you talked to before we brought you to Canterlot! I think I should stop because I've almost run out of room to write on this page but maybe if I write really small I can keep going. When do you think you'll be able to come and visit? WAIT! Maybe WE could come visit YOU! Unless you'll be visiting soon. Write back soon!
Pinkie Pie
P.S: Your cupcake's in the bag. Don't forget to give Striker his!'
Reaching into the bag again, I felt two cupcakes. Looking into it I saw that one of them was the chocolate mint for me, and the other one was a vanilla cupcake, which I instantly remembered was what she had given Striker last time. I let out a sad sigh as I thought about what to do with it. I wouldn't feel right eating it, nor would I with just throwing it away. So I took out my cupcake and rolled the bag shut with Striker's cupcake inside. I slowly ate my cupcake as I walked over to my closet. I opened it, hung my cloak on a hanger, and took out the bag of writing supplies Princess Celestia gave me. Once I finished my cupcake I began to write my reply:
Dear Pinkie Pie
First of all, I don't know how old my sons are, but if I had to guess, then assuming the flashback I saw them in wasn't from too long ago I'd say that Käfer (youngest) is about ten years old, and Hornisse (oldest) is about fourteen. So I'm probably older than 25. And if it's okay with you, Pinkie, I'd rather not have a party for being a dad. Because I haven't even seen them since I've had amnesia, so it would seem really weird to me. As far as what the 'meanie' changeling said, I think I'll save that for when we're face to face. And to answer your question, I have no idea when I'll get to visit Ponyville so if you really want to you can come here and visit.
As for what I've learned, as far as magic goes I've learned teleportation, wards and magic bolt. I've also gotten good with levitation. Today I started my flight training with the help of one of the other changelings, Hofnarr, and help from Spitfire, Captain of the Wonderbolts. I haven't gotten much accomplished yet but that's where my flight training is. There isn't really much to say in that area. But there is something that you should know... Striker's... dead. Two days ago the three changelings we had here were broken out of their cells. At one point the 'meanie' changeling tried to talk me into helping him and the others escape, but I refused and we got into a fight. Striker showed up and tried to help me and got bitten. We didn't know it at the time, but changelings have neurotoxic venom in our fangs that is used to make the bitten hallucinate so that if a changeling's cover is blown it can escape while the victim is going crazy. But the changeling Hofnarr told us that you can die from it if you're overdosed. There was nothing we could do for him.
This is all I'm going to put in this letter. I've had a long day and a hard week without enough sleep. Like I said, I don't know when I'll be coming back to Ponyville so if you want you can come here.
Fragment
I placed the cork back in the inkwell and put away the quill as I finished writing the letter. After giving it a quick look for spelling errors and finding none, I folded it up and tucked it and the envelope from the changeling under my wing. I put the writing supplies back in my closet then left the room to get some food. Once I reached the dining room I was surprised to see that there was already food set at one end of the table, and Princess Celestia sitting at the other end of it. I gave a quick bow and said: "Good evening, Princess."
"Hello Fragment." She replied with a small smile. "How did your training go?"
"Plenty of interesting things happened." I answered as I levitated the changeling's envelope over to Princess Celestia. She took it into her own magical grasp and started reading it while I began eating my food, silently awaiting her reply. She read the letter top to bottom at least twice before she folded it back up and spoke.
"Do you or Hofnarr have any idea who sent this?" She asked at last as I sipped my water.
"Not one. I suggested it might be someone from Chrysalis' hive, but Hofnarr doesn't think it's likely."
"And what have you decided if you're going to meet this changeling?"
"I guess I could see what he wants. From that letter it sounds like he wants to teach me things you can't, probably things like shapeshifting and wall crawling, but Hofnarr could teach me that stuff anyway."
"If you do talk to this changeling, would you please tell him or her that I would like to talk?"
"Of course." As I finished the food on my plate, a question occurred to me. "Will Hofnarr be getting his own room in the castle? I know I asked you the other day, but other than annoying us he didn't cause any real trouble."
"That's not quite what Blast Shield told me." I raised a brow when I heard that. "I asked Blast Shield to tell me what happened at the academy, and he told me that you almost crashed into the ground and then you did crash into a window under Hofnarr's watch." Princess Celestia said seriously.
"Me almost crashing into the ground wasn't Hofnarr's fault. He tried to use the Hive Mind to tell me not to go into the clouds because they could be part of an obstacle course. He just forgot that the Hive Mind hurts me. He was watching out for me. As for the window, it was a poor judgment call I'll admit, but when Spitfire came to bite our heads off, he took full responsibility for it." Princess Celestia maintained her serious expression as she answered.
"I think he should have a little more consideration for the well being of others before I let him have his own room. It's not that I don't trust him, Fragment, it's that I think he would cause trouble by accident, based on his current behavior."
"I... guess that makes sense. But I still think he deserves a little more than a cell after everything that's happened to him."
"I'll tell you what. If Hofnarr doesn't cause any major problems, and shows a bit more thought in his actions, I'll arrange for him to be given a room. Sounds fair?"
"Sounds fair." I agreed and finished my very late lunch. As I reached the door out, I turned back around to Princess Celestia. "And Princess." I said getting her attention. "Thanks for sending my letter." I said with a small smile.
"Would you like me to send your next one?" She asked with her own smile.
"Sure." I said as I levitated my new letter to her. Her horn flashed brightly with gold light and when the light faded the letter was gone. I nodded and headed off to bed. I slept for a few hours before I was woken up for dinner. After an uneventful meal I went back to bed...
It was a hot and cloudless day as I walked through the streets. There were dozens of changelings around me going about their lives. I was carrying a sadlebag and heading towards a large stone building.
"And what, you're just going to go off and get yourself killed? Is that what you really want, Dunkel?" I was asked by the changeling following me. He was roughly the same height as me and was slightly less muscular than me.
"Why does this bother you so much? The military pays more than enough and I'll be able to help changelings while efficiently serving the Queen."
"Do you really think that's what's going to happen? You'll get killed on the battlefield like one third of our soldiers are. This is a bad and desperate idea and you know that!
"I didn't tell you about this so you could try to talk me out of it, Bruder, I told you so you could be informed." I replied as Bruder got in front of me, stopping me.
"This goes against everything you've believed! You're going to kill others at the command of the Queen or whoever your commanding officer will be!"
"That's not what the military is, Bruder. I'm going to be protecting the kingdom." I replied as I moved around Bruder. "And by the way, beliefs can change."
"So you're leaving. Just like that? You're abandoning us?" Bruder said as I continued walking. After a moment without an answer from me, he yelled "Fine! But if you come back, don't expect me to be here," angrily as he turned to walk away. Once I reached the the large wood doors of the building I heard hoofsteps behind me.
"You going to tell me what that was all about?" The changeling asked as I opened the doors.
"It's nothing, Abgrund. My brother just needs some time to cool down." I told him with a sigh as we walked inside and my vision instantly went black as I heard the word "Fragment" shouted throughout my head.
"Fragment!" I heard as I was shook from my sleep. Opening my eyes I saw Hofnarr with a panicked look on his face.
"What are you doing in my room and why are you waking me up?" I said as I cast a light spell and looked at my clock, seeing it was three in the morning.
"It's the assassin!" My attention was instantly brought back to Hofnarr as those words reached me. "He's back and tried to take me again!"
"Tell me the details and follow me." I said as I quickly got out of bed and we headed for the door.
"I was just sleeping my cell when a guard was slammed into the bars of my cell. The pegasus shot some kind of dart at me but missed, then when he opened my cell I punched him and ran." Hofnarr explained as we stepped into the hallway. It was still raining hard from the storm over Canterlot. Bright flashes from lightning followed almost immediately by their thunder. The castle's hallway was very dark, and given Cyclone Shade's color, it'd be easy to hide.
"And so you ran to me? Why didn't you go to a guard or something?" I asked as I kept the light spell going and began walking in the direction of the of the dining room. There was no way that we could beat Cyclone Shade on our own, so I knew we'd need to find help of some kind.
"I didn't know that was your room. I was just getting away from the nut job as fast as I could. And I haven't seen a single guard this whole time." Hofnarr said quietly as we moved through the hallway, while I used my light spell to try and spot anyone.
"First thing we need to do is get help, then we can at least try to find and hopefully capture, Cyclone Shade."
"You can try," a voice said from behind us. Hofnarr and I turned around as fast as we could, but when we looked we saw no one. "Hahahaha... Having trouble, little bugs?" Cyclone Shade asked from what sounded like above us. Looking around, there was flash of light from a lightning bolt showing me that Cyclone shade was across from us near a window. Seeing him I instantly turned my light to him and when he came into the light the first thing I saw was an evil smile on his face.
"What do you want with me?!" Hofnarr shouted as he got behind me and Cyclone Shade just laughed.
"That, my little prey, is confidential information. Unless you have a few thousand bits that you don't need with you." Cyclone Shade said as I shot a magic bolt at him which he easily dodged. "And hello to you too, Fragment." He said as he flew into the darkness above us, forcing me to try to locate him again. "How is your ear doing since our last encounter?"
"Like the rest of us: better off without you."
"I could help you with the 'off' part. Hahahaha!" Cyclone Shade said. Normally I'd just try to find and fight him, but I figured that if I could keep him talking and passive long enough then maybe a guard on patrol would find us and help. There was another flash of lightning, which briefly revealed where Cyclone Shade was in the area.
"What kind of pegasus are you anyway? Doing whatever you're told as long as you're paid enough."
"Oh, no, no, no. That's not how I work at all. I'll do anything violent as long as I'm paid enough; I'm an assassin, not a whore." He answered as I stepped a little closer to Hofnarr as I continued looking for Cyclone Shade.
"Point is you don't care what or who you kill as long as it pays." I countered as I caught sight of Cyclone Shade for a moment before he flew down and into another direction out of the light.
"What does it matter? Everyone dies sooner or later, I just prefer it be sooner."
"You're a heartless murderer."
"Is that the best insult you could come up with on the spot? How sad. Oh, and if you think somepony's going to save you, you can stop believing that now. None of night guards are near this hallway and they won't be. I've made sure of that."
"Like when you broke Jäger and Gezähnt and I out, you always knew when there was a patrol!" Hofnarr realized.
"Good to see that you're keeping up with this. Now then, Fragment, you can either walk away and let me take your friend, or you can stand here, have me kill you, and I still take your friend. Choose wisely." Cyclone Shade said as I looked at Hofnarr. I could see the fear on his face as he tried to get more behind me. He was terrified, probably for his life. I was not going to let Cyclone Shade get him that easily. I dispersed the light spell and wait for a moment. After a few seconds of relative silence, there was flash of lightning. In that moment I saw Cyclone Shade standing a few feet in front of me, and as the rumble of thunder came I quickly fired a magic bolt at Cyclone Shade. This time he didn't have the chance to avoid it.
"RUN!" I shouted as we began running down the hallway, with Hofnarr keeping close. As we ran I could hear Cyclone Shade laugh menacingly.
"Where do we go?!" Hofnarr asked as I looked for anyone who could help.
"I'm not sure. I think if we reach some guards we'll be okay. At least for a little while." I said. I constantly looked over my shoulder for any signs of Cyclone Shade, seeing none every time however. After we turned a corner I ran face-first into the chest plate of a guard, with enough force to fall back onto my flank.
"What's going on, Fragment?" Sinistar asked as I stood back up. As I stood I saw that Sinistar had five other guards with him, two unicorns another batpony an earth pony and a pegasus. And none of them looked happy to see us.
"It's Cyclone Shade! He's back and might try to kill me!" Hofnarr said as the guards gave each other puzzled looks. Sinistar, however, looked very serious,
"Both of you come with us. We're taking you to Princess Luna. She'll decide what we do next." Sinistar said as he began leading us to the throne room.
"Oh, Sinistar, so willing to ruin the fun." Cyclone Shade said with a laugh as we all looked around trying to find him. With another lightning strike, Cyclone Shade was revealed, along with his insane smile.
"Come on." Sinistar said as we began walking away, with Sinistar staying in back watching out for Cyclone Shade. The unicorns were using light spells to keep most of the area lit, but it did little to comfort Hofnarr. He was in the middle of the group looking around like he was paranoid. In his position I probably would be too.
"What, you're just going to walk away? Without even saying goodbye?" Cyclone Shade said as we kept moving. Sinistar was keeping a close eye on the ceiling above us and the hallway behind us. I used my own light spell as a spotlight looking for Cyclone Shade. "Well I suppose that's not exactly hard for you do, is it? Now who is it that I know that might be able to tell me about that..." Sinistar said nothing and I wondered if Cyclone Shade was referring to whoever Storm was. I also wondered how Cyclone Shade knew about this.
"How far away is the throne room?" I asked Sinistar.
"It's near the end of the next hallway." He replied as we heard Cyclone Shade chuckle.
"Come on, Sinistar, tell them all about what happened. I'm sure that they'll find it to be a truly wonderful story." Sinistar didn't show any kind of reaction. "You know everypony wants to know." Still Sinistar remained unresponsive to Cyclone Shade.
Then Cyclone Shade dove into Sinistar from above. While the guards quickly took fighting stances and Hofnarr got behind them, I fired a magic bolt at Cyclone Shade but he used Sinistar to block it. Sinistar then punched Cyclone Shade in the face as Cyclone Shade threw a knife into the leg of one of the unicorn guards. I used levitation to grab and pull one of Cyclone Shade's legs to the floor while Sinistar tried to punch him again. Cyclone Shade pulled another knife which he used to slice Sinistar's attacking leg, then he threw another knife at me, cutting my face. Cyclone Shade threw a small black ball into the other guards, exploding when it hit the floor and knocking guards back. Cyclone Shade threw some kind of powder at me which got into my eyes, creating a painful burning feeling in them. Remembering that the same thing had been done to Sinistar, I began flapping my wings to blow the powder away. Even with the powder cleared it was difficult to see exactly what was happening, however the pain was fading. As my eyesight returned I saw the other batpony and the unicorn with the cut leg were unconscious, and Cyclone Shade was flying down the hallway he came from.
"Why did he flee?" One of unicorns asked while the earth pony tended to the other unicorns leg and Sinistar looked around.
"Where's Hofnarr?" He asked as I noticed he was gone.
"Shit!" I said as I took off to catch up to Cyclone Shade and Hofnarr.
"Fragment, wait!" Sinistar called but I paid him no heed. As I turned the corner there was another bolt of lightning, showing me Cyclone Shade flying quickly down the hallway with Hofnarr ahead of him. Knowing that Cyclone Shade's flying was far faster than my running and Hofnarr having said that changelings can't fly as fast as pegasi, I did the only thing that came to mind to catch them. I charged my horn and in a flash of green light I teleported to near Hofnarr. Seeing that, Cyclone Shade flew over me while I shot a magic bolt into his flight path, knocking him out of the air and into Hofnarr. After giving Hofnarr a quick punch in the face, Cyclone Shade got up and turned to face me.
"You are quite the troublemaker, you know that? Why is it so hard for you to just let me do my job?"
"Because your job means hurting and killing others."
"Hurting Hofnarr, yes. Killing him, no. The one who wants him was very unhappy to learn I killed that other changeling. My pay would likely be halved if I killed this one too."
"What does your employer want with them?"
"Don't you think that if I were going to tell, I would have the time this one asked?" He said with a motion to Hofnarr "But no, that is something you are not to know. Now then, am I going to kill you too, or are you going to stand down?" Rather than answer I just fired a magic bolt at him. "I'll send your eyes back to your Queen when I'm done." He said as he threw a knife at me which I blocked with a ward.
He then pulled out three more knifes and threw them at the ward, but these ones passed through my ward like it wasn't even there. Two of the knifes stuck in my chest while the other one cut my leg. As I magically pulled one of the knifes out and shot a magic bolt at Cyclone Shade, as I saw that there was some kind of symbol on the blade of the knife, glowing red. Cyclone Shade flew above me then slammed into my ward, breaking it. Cyclone Shade Punched my face then flew back off of me. I tried to get back up but got hit across the back of my head with what I assume was Cyclone Shade's hoof. Using teleportation to get up, I saw Cyclone Shade flying down at me. I ducked and rolled out of his way and shot magic bolt into his side. Turning around, he flew further above me and dived toward Hofnarr. I jumped to Hofnarr and punched Cyclone Shade before he had a chance to touch him. With a frustrated grunt, Cyclone Shade pulled another black ball and threw it at my head, but I caught it with levitation and threw it back.
He jumped and flew over it then swooped down and punched me. Then he pulled out a glass vial with purple fluid in it and flicked his right hoof, making a blade come out of the bracer. He slashed at my neck with the blade, which I dodged, then he smashed the vial on my head, its effects becoming instantly apparent. My vision blurred and it became hard to focus. Moving faster than I could react, Cyclone Shade punched me in the jaw, knocking me away from Hofnarr. I tried to charge a spell, but couldn't. I was only barely able bring my forelegs up to block in time as Cyclone Shade leaped at me with his blade. He pushed the blade closer to my neck while I used my weakening legs to try to stop him. After a few more seconds of my strength failing, Cyclone Shade stopped pushing and slashed the blade across my left eye. Reflexively I moved my hooves to my eye. Then Cyclone Shade stabbed my stomach, and as he raised the bracer's blade over his head I heard him grunt. I was losing blood at a rather fast rate, and when I looked at Cyclone Shade, I saw him pull a dart like the ones from his bracer out of the back of his neck. He turned around and we saw Hofnarr backing away from Cyclone Shade.
"You little parasite." Cyclone Shade said as he tried to raise a hoof to hit Hofnarr, but he stumbled to the floor. As my vision began to fade, I saw Hofnarr standing over Cyclone Shade. With an almost proud smile on his face.
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No Kuno is!
Great chapter!
3631082
Thank you.
3631063
I'd challenge that.
3631346 Good luck with that!
3630487
Thank you.
"I am so freaking high right now..." He said as he pulled his head back. "And since you mentioned hitting the ground, let's talk about gravity."
"NOOOOOOO!" Blast Shield and I shouted in dread.
YES!!!!
Hofnarr for the win! Not bad, darkie... Not bad at all
3632381
Next chapter, we take a look into the madness of Cyclone Shade.
3632387
I've lost my sanity before. Not fun
Hehehe I'll remember that one
3635867
I had forgotten that you weren't caught up.
In the comics the changelings try to invade Ponyville (but the main 6 beat them of course, capturing 3 changelings in the process) but when the captured ponies are freed they find that the C.M.C are missing, then Chrysalis sends a crystal ball map thing via Spike (I don't know how she knew how to do that) and she tells the main 6 that if they want to save the C.M.C they must come to the Changeling Kingdom within three days time.
Simultaneously there's a comet called the Secretariat Comet passing over Equestria for the first time in 3,000 years (because everything evil was around a multiple of a thousand years ago) which for some reason amplifies magic.
Twilight tries to contact Princess Celestia for advice but gets some kind of automatic reply saying that she can't be reached at this time, so the main 6 go off to the Changeling Kingdom while Spike continues trying to contact the Princess.
Skipping the exact details, I'm gonna say that when the main 6 get to the kingdom Chrysalis reveals that she wants to consume Twilight's magic, but after a short battle she tells Twilight to become her student instead of Celestia's because "it was a waste of talent to take after a goody two-shoes." But of course Twilight says no, kicks Chrysalis's ass, and save the C.M.C. In a side comic at the end it shows Spike go to Canterlot to get to the Princess and finds the city being attacked be giant mutant cockatrice.
3646813
I try my best.
3651455
Why? ... WHY?! I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I'VE TOLD EVERYONE ELSE WHO'S ASKED THAT!atypicallyrelevant.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/because-fuck-you-thats-why-.jpg
What you need is a laptop! That's what I use most of the time.
Sorry I was away from your awesome story for so long Darky.
One thing was a bit lazy of you I think. Calling him brother as a name. I'd say something like Finster, Nacht or Schatten would fit in better. But that's just my crazy thoughts. 
But now I'll try to get back into reading more.
To the chapter. Well. It was interesting getting CS back in and getting him caught.
And Fragment got a brother. Yay!
And by the way. Good to see you in the MLP fanclub.
Dragon
You put Cyclone Shade in there alot.
Love the fight scene though
Hofnarr you sly changling
holy shit!
i can breath now
i was sooo scared for Hofnarr! i was like NOOO dont hurt him! D:
and then he got the best of him hahahaha! >:D
Hofnarr certainly picked a fine time to come back.
He actually raises a good point. Hofnarr and I would get along. I, too, like to talk about pointless mind exercises.