The Rule of King Cocoon of the Changelings

by Hooves Like Jagger

21st: Role Restoral

The Rule of King Cocoon of the Changelings

“Hello again, ponies! Guess who’s back in town!”

I like to think I know Cocoon pretty well due to our former working relationship. We meet, we exchange a few angry words, and then we try to kill each other. The situation has been complicated slightly due to recent events, but when I saw he’d actually come here to Canterlot I knew we’d be sorting out our new relationship real quick. I’d hoped for a civil, if not frustrating and dangerous, discussion of future arrangements. I know Cocoon; I know how he likes to operate.

Bursting into the throne room and announcing his presence isn’t very Cocoon-y. I thought he would have at least tried to sneak up on us so he could wait to reveal himself until the opportunity to display his odd sense of humor reared its ugly head. No, there’s something wrong with this picture.

I realize I’m the odd mare out here, wondering why Cocoon is acting out of character all of a sudden. The Princesses and Sweet Tea are no doubt wondering what evil Cocoon has brewing in his brain. While I don’t have to feign my surprise at his appearance, I restrain myself from calling him out. If I hold out, more information may come to light.

“Guards!” Celestia calls, rousing every armored stallion within earshot into action. Each one points their spearhead at Cocoon, but keeps their distance.

“Come now, Celestia. Is that any way to treat your old pal?” Cocoon starts laughing, but his laugh is more of a maniacal cackle this time. I thought he was crazy before, but apparently there was an even deeper madness available for him to fall into. As he raises his hands to the sky, I fear the worst.

“Get down!” I grab Sweet Tea and huddle on the ground, throwing up a barrier over us. My warning comes not a moment too soon.

“Arcane Nocturne!” Cocoon shouts some spell that rocks the room and sends a wave of searing heat over my shield. When the commotion dies out, I open my eye without realizing I ever closed it. It’s dark and I know now that I’m afraid for sure. This situation is real dangerous.

All the drapes in the room have been shackled shut somehow. Only the chandelier and candles along the wall burn with sickly, green flames. All the doors are shut and all the guards are nowhere to be seen.

“You say we’re ‘old pals’, but this is the first we’ve met, Cocoon,” Celestia says, stepping down from the throne and cautiously approaching the changling with her sister right behind her. The pair look undaunted, as one would expect from the rulers of Equestria.

“Oh, yes, Cocoon… that’s right,” Cocoon mutters as he approaches. He scratches his head with one hand and his beard with the other. “That name is the trapping of a mistaken identity. No, you may call me by my true name now: Starswirl the Bearded!”

“So, I was right about the green star, Draco.” Luna steps out in front of her sister and confronts Cocoon straight on. Cocoon keeps his eerie smile while the princess of the knight glowers at him. “I don’t know how you did it, but you put it up there as some kind of sick show of power. One star doesn’t make you Starswirl, you misguided coward. I’ll put you in the ground for tarnishing my mentor’s good name!”

Cocoon’s reaction to Luna’s last remark could only be described as utter confusion. He opens his mouth as if to speak, but then stops. His lip curls up in disgust, like Luna had just described the contents of a week-old trash heap to him. The bump in the road he makes his cocky attitude disappear for a moment so he might seek clarity.

“What the devil did I ever teach you?” Cocoon asks, poking Luna with a finger. “I’ve only just begun to teach you what happens when you cross the greatest wizard that ever lived!”

“It seems you know little about who you claim to be,” Luna says, lashing at him. “If you’re really the renowned Starswirl the Bearded, you would know it was he who mentored the young Royal Sisters after the defeat of Discord.”

“Has it really been so long that they could falsify all history?” Cocoon claws at his clothes, apparently distressed that some perceived part of the history he’d made up wasn’t working out. “When was my master ever defeated? He’s going to help me realize my greatest dream!”

“To help all ponykind through the conventions of magic?” Luna asks. Her question sounded a bit like something I’d read in one of those elementary magic tomes, many of which I believe are just excerpts of longer books Starswirl wrote.

“No, that’d be stupid and a waste of my time. Helping ponykind… hah!” Cocoon says, spitting on the ground after the words leave his mouth. “No. He’s going to help me bring an end to this world!”

Luna turned back to Celestia. They shared a look that spoke volumes about what they thought about what Cocoon had just said. It was their turn to be confused by the turn of events. Celestia stepped forward, joining her sister on the front lines of conversation.

“You’re sounding a lot like Starswirl when we first met him,” she said. “That was back when he was working for Discord.”

“Nothing’s changed, Celestia,” Cocoon replied. “You might have stopped me and sealed me away all these years, but I’m back now to finish what I started.”

“So then you remember how our last meeting went. You remember being defeated and being freed from Discord’s brainwashing?” Luna asked, but the question didn’t sit well with Cocoon.

“Defeat, yes. Brainwashing, no. You ponies say the darndest things,” Cocoon mutters, scratching himself with both hands again. “Look, I didn’t wake up so I could chit-chat. I have an Apocalypse to cause and I need complete control of the heavens. That means you two have gotta go!”

“I won’t underestimate a changeling twice, Cocoon,” Celestia warns him, taking a few steps backwards with her sister. In the background, I can hear the guards trying to break down the door to enter the throne room. The time for battle is slowly falling upon us. “You don’t stand a chance. The Starswirl of the past had a whole magical repertoire at his disposal, but all you’ve managed to do is light some candles and put one star in the sky. While the former is impressive, just know cheap tricks won’t save you here.”

“Come now, it’s like you don’t believe I’m the genuine article,” Cocoon says with a scowl on his face. Between all the confusion and insults, I’d venture to guess he’s feeling very dangerous right now. “Could a poser pull this out of his sleeve?”

Energy gathers in Cocoon’s hands in a magical cadence I can feel resonating in my very bones. The very shadows start to churn as he actually begins to weave a spell, and no small spell at that. I saw him shoot lighting and fire off a star, but until now I didn’t fully rationalize what it means for a changeling to do real arcane magic. I’m not sure if what Cocoon has cooking is natural, though. The magical tension is laden with dread and fear. Even Celestia and Luna are taking an extra cautionary step back. Cocoon’s hands glow a sickly green, coating the ground around him with a dismal light.

“Arcane Phantasmagoria!”

There is a pulse. Nothing happens at first, but the silence feels unnatural. My ears perk up, picking up a trickle of sound just low enough to hear. It is a rattling, steady and constant as if it were the marching of a band of soldiers. The trickle becomes a flood, but I can’t find the source of the noise. Like the end of a bad dream, the entire flood is silenced by the sound of the throne room doors bursting open and the guards rushing in. The rattling seems to vanish as soldiers bark orders and dozens of armored ponies flood inside with spears at the ready. They charge at Cocoon, who stands about like there isn’t a thing he needs to worry about.

“No, stay back from him!” Celestia shouts.

His confidence is founded, I would say.

What happens next can only be described as a nightmare peeling itself out of dreams and landing with a rattle into the waking world. Up from the flickering darkness around Cocoon’s feet and the dancing edges of the torchlight along the walls, slender, ebony creatures peel themselves off of flat surfaces and stand like shadows against our vision. They walk upright and hold crude, long weapons in their thin fingers. The guards find themselves set upon on all sides by these creatures. I light my horn in preparation to fight, but that’s the first mistake I make.

“No! The skeletons live in the light!” Luna warns me, but a little too late. From the edge of the light I give off, more of these creatures pop up. Instinctively, I fire a blast at the first one that manages to menace its weapon overhead. The beam of light warps the creature’s chest, parting the front before impacting the back. The front closes like a cage, trapping the light inside. The creature continues its advance, more of them sprouting from the edge of the eerie shadows of its chest cavity.

“These things are skeletons?” I ask, examining the figures again. I’m sure I’d remember seeing something this freaky in an anatomy book. They’re nothing like the bones inside a pony, but something about them is reminiscent of Cocoon. “What do we do?”

“Starswirl used this spell when we had to fight him,” Luna tells us, squaring herself between us and the skeletons. Celestia joins her while I try my best to form a second line of defense with Sweet Tea staying safe in the back. “They are fragile things.”

With one swift turn and buck, Luna obliterates an entire wave of skeletons approaching us. The one bearing my energy like a desk lamp breaks apart and clatters into nothing with the rest of his friends. The light dissipates, leaving us in the dark again.

“We have to douse the torches!” Celesta tells me. “The spell only works in shadow, not complete darkness.”

“My sister and I will fly up and put them out. Try and keep Cocoon busy.” Luna is able to give her order just before she takes to the air with her sister. I take a look back at Sweet Tea, who I failed to notice is very shaken up right now.

“Uh, stay close!” I’d rather fight without having to worry about her, but I don’t have much of a choice. No matter how fragile these skeletons are, I can’t ask her to attack them. She nods and trots close to my hindquarters as I charge towards Cocoon’s position. I charge my horn and fire off a right at his head, but he already saw me coming. He puts his hand up and catches the shot as if it were a baseball. Just by closing his fingers, he fizzles the spell into nothing.

“Well met, Ms. Louise.”

I skid to a halt just short of the boundary line where skeletons are crawling out of the nothingness. Thankfully, the shades seem more interested in fighting the guards who are spawning just as quickly out of the open doorway.

“Snap out of it Cocoon, this isn’t you!”

“C’mon, call me Starswirl,” he says to me, but I’m still having trouble believing any of that. “The person called ‘Cocoon’ was just a temporary identity change. I’d forgotten what my real goal was, but I suddenly remembered everything! Wonderful, isn’t it?”

“What exactly did you remember?” I ask. Out of the corner of my eye, I look up to see how Luna and Celestia are doing. The torches are still burning. Skeletons are climbing through the holes in the darkness to grab onto the torch mounts, so putting them out requires more effort. I need to keep Cocoon’s attention away from them for as long as I can. With any luck, Starswirl here will have just as much love for chit-chat as Cocoon.

“I finally found a safe passage home,” Cocoon says, much to my surprise.

“That’s impossible!” Even more surprising is Sweet Tea coming out from behind me and confronting Cocoon. “There is no way home! Yer just bluffin’!”

“That’s where you’re wrong!” Cocoon swipes his claw down towards Sweet Tea in what looked like a simple, aggressive gesture. Out from the shadows, massive fingers arc out and come crashing down around Sweet Tea. Withdrawing his hand, he drags her to him with this impromptu cage. I jump over the shadow line after her, but skeleton hands reach up and pull me down. A pair of the “fragile” creatures pin me down, keeping me from doing no more than glaring up at Cocoon as he traps Sweet Tea in a black cage.

“There is only one way for the two of us to get back home safely,” Cocoon says to her, sounding happier than I’d ever imagined he could sound. “We have to destroy this world!”

“What? No! You can’t do that!” Sweet Tea argues, and I have to say I agree. If I had to choose between sending Cocoon home and letting everyone in the world live, I think the obvious choice stands out. “How can you be sure that’ll even work?”

“I wouldn’t understand someone as unenlightened as you to pick up on the specifics of my plan,” Cocoon says, dismissing her perfectly good points with a passive wave of his hand. “Just remember to thank me when you return home.”

“I can’t let you destroy the world, Cocoon,” I shout at him. “That’s wrong, just plain wrong.”

“Wrong?” Cocoon walks over to where I’m pinned down. He gets down on his haunches and looks me in the eye. “The morality of this situation is overridden by the realities surrounding it. Do you really think ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ play a part in this? This is a matter of what I do and what you do. I understand that you don’t want your world to be destroyed, like an immune system battling an infection. These are the roles we are cast into. Neither you nor I do it because it’s right; we just do it. I just have to make my way home. It is my… prerogative.”

“You don’t have to be an infection,” I tell him. “Why don’t you try coexisting?”

“That doesn’t align with what I want, unfortunately,” Cocoon says right back. “What forces a soul down a path other than the one of least resistance? It’s a strong desire, my friend. I thought you, of all ponies, would understand what wanting something badly can make a pony or person do.”

“Do you realize what you’re saying?” I ask him, losing hope of finding any shred of sanity within this Cocoon.

“Do I really have to spell this out for you?” Cocoon stands back up and cackles some more, obviously amused with himself and drunk on power. I’m afraid to find out what he’s thinking, but I have to listen to him. “I don’t care what happens to all you little ponies. As long as I get what I want in the end, I don’t see why I should regret it in the slightest. If my success brings the ruin of so many others, then why would it be allowed to come to fruition unless my desire was the greatest? Shouldn’t the greatest effort and the strongest desire be granted the highest achievement? Isn’t that how the world should work? The man with the greatest hardship will be the strongest for it, right?” At the end of his shouting, he clenches his forehead and grunts a bit. At first whatever is bothering him seems tame, but little by little his snarls and groans escalate until he is roaring in pain.

“What’s wrong with him?” Sweet Tea asks over the commotion, but as soon as she’s asked Cocoon stops making noise altogether. Panting a little, he manages to compose himself to some degree. It’s obvious he’s pissed about something.

“My memories have been tampered with,” he says. The complaint is one I remember hearing from Cocoon the last time I saw him. “This is troublesome, but once I return home I should regain what I’ve lost.”

Taking another look around me, and I can see it’s gotten darker. I can hear the guards more clearly, probably due to the dropping number of skeletons they have to plow through. I just need a little more time. If I can keep him talking just a little longer, we can get the jump on him.

“If your memories have been tampered with, how do you know you’re really Starswirl?” I ask him, gaining a funny look in response. “Last I heard, Starswirl was a unicorn and not a changeling. He used his magic to help ponies, not hurt them. He was a good guy. He held his students to high standards which he upheld himself. He lived a life of service and then died an old, old pony.”

“No… I’m quite sure that is all untrue,” Cocoon replies with yet more casual dismissal. “Sure, I was once a unicorn, but I’ve obviously been reincarnated into this form. And yes, I used to be a ‘good guy’ as you so aptly put, but that was before I found the truth.”

“And what truth would that be?” I dare to ask. Cocoon grins wickedly down at me, his eyes glowing against the growing darkness. He wraps his fingers around my neck and hoists me up into the air. He doesn’t choke me, but he digs into my neck with his claws. I wince as he draws blood struggling against him, but his strength is almost unnatural now. I can’t get free, but the worst part is I can’t reason with this monster.

“My main goal has always been to return home in one piece, but frankly that prospect looked awfully bleak. After many hardships and dead-ends, Discord finally revealed the true way home to me. I used to think him my enemy, but now I see we really want the same thing in the end. Now, not only can I return safe and sound to my home, but all the other humans will be returned as well! The whole of Equestria is a trivial price to pay for this luxury!”

“You’re mad!” I scream at him, but he tightens his grip. His claws dig deeper and my breath cuts off. I fight as hard as I can, but it’s still no use. I feel myself getting weaker and weaker, slipping into unconsciousness.

“I’m just a product of my environment.”

There is a great rush of air before I find myself sprawled out on the ground. I recover as fast as I can, but my head swims and spins like a top. A moment passes and I find myself aided upright with a helping hoof.

“Has Cocoon gone completely off the deep end?” Summit asks. I feel the blood returning to my head, but most of it goes into my cheeks. Summitplunge rescued me again! Now isn’t the time for swooning, so I get my head back in the game.

“He thinks he’s Starswirl the Bearded, but some version that wants to destroy Equestria!” I tell him. The lights in the room are all put out now and the guards have our position surrounded. Cocoon has backed off, taking Sweet Tea and her cage into a ring of skeletons that remain from the light emanating from his magic. The Princesses land outside the ring, both looking a little worse for wear in the dim shadows. It’s obviously been a tough fight.

“That’s a yes, then?” Summitplunge replies, stepping between me and Cocoon (he’s so brave!). The tables have turned, but once again Cocoon doesn’t look ready to give up. If anything, he looks annoyed.

“Come quietly and maybe we’ll listen to whatever story you’ve got cooked up in that head of yours,” Luna orders him, but Cocoon makes no move to throw in the towel. Celestia puts a hoof on Luna’s shoulder, indicating towards Sweet Tea with her head. “Oh, it would seem you’ve taken to kidnapping again.”

“I’m insulted that you’d assume I would ever hurt her,” Cocoon says, with such indignation I can’t bring myself to believe he isn’t telling the truth. “You think blowing out a few candles is going to put me in the corner? Honestly, I expected as much from your brash sister, but I always pinned you as a bit wiser, Celestia. Would I be Starswirl the Bearded if I only had one spell at my disposal?”

Cocoon raises his magic charged hand towards the ceiling, obviously preparing for another spell. Everything switches to slow motion as he puts his middle finger and thumb together. Celestia and Luna charge forward, along with the rest of the guards. The skeletons form a tight barrier around Cocoon. Manes flutter in the air of movement. Tails swish in the action. Cocoon squeezes his to fingers together, until the middle finger releases to click against his palm.

“Arcane Catastrophe!”

Flames spread outward from Cocoon’s hand. The surge of heat passes through ponies without harming them, but everything else flammable in its path explodes into a roaring inferno. In one move, the walls are painted with red light and flickering, dancing shadows. From these new boundary lines, even more wicked creatures from our nightmares emerge.

The entire room breaks out into fighting again as the skeletons rampage forth and attack with new fervor. Small, imp like skeletons prod at guard’s feet with barbed sticks while enormous, gangling ones rip themselves from the sides of pillars to try and smash ponies with unruly clubs. Amid the confusion, the Princesses take wing again and begin casting spell after spell in their defense. The guards are being overwhelmed though, and the fight looks hopeless unless the inferno can be stopped. I don’t see that happening without some serious firefighting, but there is one other option to end this madness.

Cocoon uses the confusion to make a break for the door with Sweet Tea in tow. I take to my hooves and run after him. Bony hands reach out from between flames and smoke to grab me, but I’m far too nimble to be caught by these lumbering frames a second time. It doesn’t hurt that Summit flies at my side, kicking away any skeleton that dares get too close.

We make it out of the throne room by some miracle and continue chasing Cocoon down the hall. His phantoms don’t follow us here, but Cocoon is hard enough to chase even without them. He moves quickly for something with only two legs, even while carrying Sweet Tea in his cage. I don’t know what he’s planning or where he is going, but I can’t let him get there.

“Hey, what do we do once we catch him?” Summit asks a question I’d been wondering myself; however, Cocoon has made it clear where he stands right now. If he can’t be convinced, there is only one other option.

“We put him down.”

“I was afraid of that,” Summit grumbles in reply. We bank hard left down the hallway, but we only catch a glimpse of Cocoon’s mantle fluttering around the end of the hall. We pick up the pace and gallop after him.

“Conflicted about taking him out now?”

“It isn’t what you think,” he replies. “It’s just… we haven’t got the greatest track record against him. The last couple of times we squared off against him, we didn’t exactly hold our own. Even with help, he was strong enough to come out on top. After hearing his side of the story, you know as well as I do that in any of our encounters he wasn’t aiming to kill us. Now he’s completely nuts with a larger arsenal of magic at his disposal. I just get the feeling we’re trying to catch a bug bigger than our net.”

“This is the job we signed up for,” I tell him. “Changelings must not be allowed to cause trouble for the citizens of Equestria. If he’s going to play for keeps this time, then so will we.” I say this, but deep down I know Summit is right. Cocoon is far more powerful than he previously was. I don’t know whether he’s actually tapped into Starswirl’s memories and if he did how he managed that, but it’s clear that his newfound power stems purely from some sort of knowledge. He’s still just a changeling; he can only use his magic for so long. We can’t overpower him right now, so we’ll just have to wait until we can.

“Listen, we just need to convince him to expend all his energy. For all we know, he’s already running low. Those two stunts he pulled in the throne room couldn’t have been inexpensive moves. We just need to catch up with him, force him to fight, and he’ll be sure to burn himself out.”

“There’s a plan.” Summit laughs a little. He looks down at me and grins. “But what exactly is he gonna try to burn himself out on?”

“Focus on not dying,” I order him, getting him to laugh a little.

“How about I watch your back and you watch mine?”

Swoon.

We focus on running/flying as fast as we can. We get out of the hallways as Cocoon takes us on very stair oriented journey through the castle. He is heading upwards for some reason. Wherever he’s going and whatever he’s got planned, we have to get catch up before it’s too late.

We go up and up and up until there isn’t any farther up we can go. We find the door to the Canterlot observatory torn off its hinges and the starry sky set before us. Against the stars stands the silhouette of the ex-king and current madpony… or madwhatever. He has placed Sweet Tea aside so he can raise both hands towards the sky.

“Cocoon!”

The night is silent. Cocoon stands with his hands outstretched while we take up battle positions behind him. Slowly, his shoulders slacken. He drops his hands to his sides and sighs, but he doesn’t turn to face us.

“Now, now… I appreciate the concern, but I’ll rejoin the fray shortly. I just need a little recharge is all,” Cocoon says.

“I don’t see anypony to sap love from out here,” Summitplunge replies. “It looked more like you were stargazing.”

“You’re wrong on both accounts, Plunger.” Cocoon snaps his fingers. Suddenly, the air is filled with buzzing as a group of changelings emerges from the shadows. We ready ourselves against them, but they don’t make a move towards us. Instead, they move towards Cocoon, each one carrying a peculiar item with it. Piece by piece, we watch as the changelings outfit Cocoon in the armor we saw him use back in the desert.

“What’ve you got planned, Cocoon?” I dare to ask. A changeling places the helmet over Cocoon’s head. The entire suit of armor twitches a few times, but soon afterwards it starts to heave and slacken like an organic body. Cocoon turns to face us, another changeling replacing his mantle onto the back of his armor.

“For the last time, I am Starswirl the Bearded!” he shouts. He throws his arms towards the heavens and clenches his claws as if to scoop up the darkness. “The stars bend to my very will! When I am low on power, I need only to ask for their assistance!”

Stories from my childhood reran in my head. Ponies said Starswirl could call upon the stars to grant him power, seeing as he put many of them in the night sky and they were constructed from his own energy. Legend even had it that he once swallowed a star to become even more powerful and increase his connection to his “children” as he would often call them. Honestly, if Cocoon pulled off something like that, I would believe he’s Starswirl.

“You really are crazy,” I tell him. I don’t believe him for a moment. Whatever he’s going to try, it sounds like it will provide an opening for us to attack. “You hold no sway over the stars.”

“I’m tired of you nonbelievers! This oughta shut you all up!” Cocoon shouts at the top of his lungs, stretching his arms as high as they could go. “Celestia and Luna managed to defeat me by dislodging Animus from me all those years, but once I call him back I will have enough power to make it rain down stars! Combined with the magical power of this armor, the entire world will be my plaything! Say farewell to the world you love because I’m about to crush it beneath the fire of astral magic!

“Now come to me, Animus!”

Before either Summit or I can move to attack, there is a bright, golden flash. We freeze in place. I don’t know about Summit, but I can feel something coming. I can feel the approach of an immense, unimaginable power. I felt this before, when Cocoon killed Dnaglefreed by creating a star. This time, however, the feeling has been magnified ten-fold. As the world around us becomes bathed in gold, the pressure only increases.

From the heavens, a golden star is descending onto Cocoon. His claws twitch in anticipation as the gold orb comes within reach. The first claw sinks into the shining surface, making it emit a soft chime. Cocoon stretches up and takes the star in both hands. He digs his claws with a whole chorus of bells and guides it to his chest. The mass of the star sinks into his armor, disappearing bit by bit and returning the night to its normal, dark state.

The green gems on Cocoon’s breastplate light up like new, golden stars. Fractures spread through his entire armor, each crevasse emitting more and more intense, golden rays. Rather than break down, Cocoon’s armor begins to change. The jagged plates collapse into one, smooth surface. The plates in the armor thin out, revealing ebon black mail around the joints. The claws fall away, giving way to simple gauntlets. All of Cocoon’s ornamental horns break off while the fangs on his helmet melt together into a single plate. We watch his visor split into two, thin eyes. The brim of his helmet expands outwards while the dome turns into a curved peak, forming an all too familiar mage’s hat. As if to silence any question of Cocoon’s true identity, bells ring into life around his hat’s brim, the tail of his cape, and the peak of the hat. The shine fades away, leaving only the newly transformed Cocoon behind.

“That’s… impossible…”

“And yet here I am! My full power has been restored to me!” Cocoon cackles madly. He stretches out one hand towards us. In a flash, we find ourselves locked in golden cages. Summit kicks and rams against the bars while I shoot spells at them, but nothing works. These are truly the works of a master wizard. These are the works of Starswirl the Bearded.

“Congratulations!” Starswirl turns back to the horizon of Canterlot. “You’ve got front seats to the end of the world!”

He throws his hands up again, and all we can do is watch and pray that he doesn’t have what it takes to actually end the world. He’s got a whole sky of stars to work with, so our prayers end up feeling like wishful thinking. We listen to him chant the name of star after star to call upon their power, the golden glow around him increasing with each name uttered. It strikes me that this is it; we lost when it counted the most. It’s over.

“… Wait… this arrangement… what does this… wait! What is this?! No, no, no!” Starswirl suddenly grips his head while his golden glow turns erratic, flashing and fading without warning. “What are these? What are these memories? Animus? Why are you betraying me? Why are you showi- guh?! GRAAAAAAH!”

What happens next can only be described as an explosion. With Starswirl at its epicenter, the entire observatory is subjected to a quickly expanding mass of magic, debris, and the sound of bells. Our cages ironically keep us safe from the sudden radiation, but I’m forced to shut and cover my eyes to avoid looking directly into what may as well be the sun. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I’m benching on it being good.

The light and dust settle rather suddenly. When I manage to take a look out of my cage, I see Starswirl. Still decked out in his armor, he is lying on the ground in front of our cages. The fact that they are still intact indicates that he is still alive. He further proves this by slowly getting to his feet. Even as I watch our enemy get back up, there is something missing from the scene. I sense no malice, no anger, and no confusion. Starswirl just stares down at his hands, as if seeing them for the first time. Once he’s done with that, he looks at me and Summit.

Starswirl snaps his fingers.

I wince, but nothing happens. When I open my eye, I see my cage disappearing from around me. Summit is freed as well, leaving us completely mobile while Starswirl makes no move to defend himself. Instead, he does the exact opposite; he gets down on his knees and bows.

“Can you forgive and old wizard for his transgressions?”

“Wha… what’s going on?” I ask. I had to ask. I have no idea what’s going on! Starswirl was just threatening to end the entire world a few seconds ago, and now he’s apologizing? He also called himself an “old wizard” which I guess is more in line with being Starswirl.

“My memories were scattered, but now that my full power has been restored I was able to right the all wrong in my mind,” Starswirl tells us. “You see, a long time ago I accidentally allowed Discord to creep into my mind and convince me that I could only safely return home if I destroyed this world. It was ironically the vast power of Animus used against me that kept me from reversing my corruption. Now, however, Discord has been foiled by Animus’s power. Now I remember everything… at least, everything an old man can be expected too!” Starswirl laughs at his own joke, but he stops once he realizes that is completely inappropriate given the current situation.

“So… all along Cocoon was…”

“Yes, Cocoon and Starswirl are one and the same. It is a long story, and I’d rather tell it once. Please, gather the Princesses so I might clear up this mess once and for all.”

“Will do!” Summit turns and runs back out of the observatory. I turn to follow him, but I feel Starswirl’s hand on my shoulder. He turns me back around and faces me. For a while we just stare at one another, but I can’t read his expression through his mask.

“Please forgive me,” he says, breaking the silence. “At the end of the day, we have faulted one another. Cocoon in his limited knowledge did things I am not proud of, but as Starswirl it pains me to leave things as they are. Allow me to show you the depth of my sincerity.”

Starswirl touches his thumb to my horn. Without warning, he invades my entire being with his own magic. The frightening speed with which he breaks down all my defenses nearly gives me a heart attack, but he doesn’t do anything malicious with his power. Instead, I feel as if I’m being healed. The process is slow and I can’t tell for sure what he’s doing, but I’m able to relax and accept it.

“Back in the forest, Summit hesitated when I turned into you, right?” he asks me, but I’m at a loss to respond. I remember it well because I was surprised for the same reason he was. “When I transformed, I transformed into an unscarred version of you, didn’t I?”

I nod slightly in response. I remember it vividly, along with the rest of the events from that day. It puzzled me for the longest time, but I had put it out of my mind. The reason I wanted to forget it is simple: it’s a painful memory. I’m still not used to these scars, and I’m far from sure I’ve forgiven Cocoon for what he’s done.

“Changelings cannot emulate imperfections or scars on ponies they’ve seen, even if they’ve only seen them in that state. They store the data of the ‘perfect’ form in their minds. It is a hindrance to their camouflage, but the data itself is useful to us.” Starswirl removes his thumb, but his other hand moves up to the bandage around my eye. It feels irritated for some reason. Again without asking permission or anything, he removes the bandage. I’m about to yell at him, but he conjures a reflective surface before me.

“… I… I’m…”

“What I have done I now have the power to undo. Your image bears the scars of my mistakes no more.”

I’m exactly how I was before the incident with Cocoon. There isn’t a hint of scarring on me. I remove the rest of my bandages, but don’t find one inch of scar tissue. I’m free of all burns. I’m free of gashes. I have both my eyes back. I’m healed.

“And this is… permanent?” I ask him, ready to wake up from this dream at any moment. Starswirl nods and I don’t wake up. It’s real. It’s all real! I throw my hooves and him and squeeze hard against his armor. He puts his arms around me and squeezes back. “I’m sorry too.”

“You already have my forgiveness. I’m far too old to hold a grudge.”

We stay embraced for a moment, until a distant groaning stirs me back to reality. Beyond me, Sweet Tea is still in her shadow cage. It seems she probably wasn’t protected from the explosion. I’m glad to know when she comes back around she’s waking up to good news.

“You should probably take care of Sweet Tea,” I tell Starswirl, who immediately drops me and bolts upright.

“Dang, I’m already forgetting things again! I tell you, never live to be as I as I got… or am… I’m not sure what my age is technically,” he goes on as he heads towards Sweet Tea, still mumbling about how age should be measured in his case. I just smile and watch him for a moment until the sounds of hooves coming onto the terrace rouse me back to reality.

Summit and the Princesses appear in the doorway, all three of them looking incredibly shocked to see me, Starswirl, and stuff not blowing up for a change.

“Lou? You look… you look…!” Summit starts to stutter, visibly sweating and going red.

“Better?” I ask, teasing him by swishing my tail at him. It feels good to have a tail again!

“Well, I wouldn’t say better but, uh, I well… you’re…”

I shut him up with a kiss. I’m too happy to be overly cruel right now. We stay embraced until I hear Princess Luna clearing her throat. We quickly separate and stand at attention.

“Summit filled us in a bit,” she says to me. “Is that truly Starswirl? He and Cocoon were indeed one and the same? He has stopped aggressive activity?”

“It seems that way,” I reply, trying to sound as official as I can under all this emotion. “He says the power of Animus was restored to him, allowing him to mend his fractured memories. He’s got some explaining to do, but he’s peaceful now.”

We all turn to look at Starswirl, who appears to be in conversation with Sweet Tea. I can’t hear what they’re saying or make out their faces, but the scene is peaceful. The sight even gets the Princesses to visibly loosen up.

“Well, today has sure been interesting,” Celestia says with a heavy sigh on the end. “I just hope the action is over.”

“I would not savor another fight with Animus infused Starswirl,” Luna chimes in. “I’m glad he’s appears to be on our side at any rate.”

We all start to walk to where Starswirl and Sweet Tea are talking. Their chat seems animated. In fact, it seems a little too animated. It’s okay for them to be excited or even a little frustrated, but something seems off. I chalk it up to Sweet Tea’s stubbornness when it comes to issues with Cocoon. Nothing seems off until Starswirl conjures a dagger and plunges it into Sweet Tea’s heart.

Comments

[Poppa Dragon]

THIS IS OUTRAGE
Why does the world always get saved. I want to see read the would burn

[Luckyfanisaac]

“You say we’re ‘old pals’, but this is the first we’ve met, Cocoon,” Celestia says, stepping down from the throne and cautiously approaching the changling with her sister right behind her. The pair look undaunted, as one would expect from the rulers of Equestria.

I think it would be better if it was"her throne" since Luna is also there and they don't sit on one throne.

[Luckyfanisaac]

“Nothing’s changed, Celestia,” Cocoon replied. “You might have stopped me and sealed me away all these years, but I’m back now to finish what I started.”

Why and how did they in prison Starswirl? And where did you learn/read this?

[Luckyfanisaac]

Energy gathers in Cocoon’s hands in a magical cadence I can feel resonating in my very bones.

Looked at the definition for that and this is what came to mind...

the drum beat

Same for this line...

It is a rattling, steady and constant as if it were the marching of a band of soldiers.

[Luckyfanisaac]

Cocoon squeezes his to fingers together, until the middle finger releases to click against his palm.

Correction: Cocoon squeezes his two fingers together, until the middle finger releases to click against his palm.

They should recognize the snapping for Discord.

[Luckyfanisaac]

I don’t know whether he’s actually tapped into Starswirl’s memories and if he did how he managed that, but it’s clear that his newfound power stems purely from some sort of knowledge.

Correction: I don’t know whether he’s actually tapped into Starswirl’s memories and if he did how did he managed that, but it’s clear that his newfound power stems purely from some sort of knowledge.

[Luckyfanisaac]

“Congratulations!” Starswirl turns back to the horizon of Canterlot. “You’ve got front seats to the end of the world!”
Start at 3:04
0:19

[Luckyfanisaac]

“Dang, I’m already forgetting things again! I tell you, never live to be as I as I got… or am… I’m not sure what my age is technically,” he goes on as he heads towards Sweet Tea, still mumbling about how age should be measured in his case.
doctorwhotv.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/davros-stolen-earth-palm.jpg

[Luckyfanisaac]

We all start to walk to where Starswirl and Sweet Tea are talking. Their chat seems animated. In fact, it seems a little too animated. It’s okay for them to be excited or even a little frustrated, but something seems off. I chalk it up to Sweet Tea’s stubbornness when it comes to issues with Cocoon. Nothing seems off until Starswirl conjures a dagger and plunges it into Sweet Tea’s heart.

WHAT!?! Abrupt ending go.

It was all a trick.