• Published 25th Apr 2016
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Lyra-7% - Meep the Changeling



A technoarcane device sends a human version Lyra on a journey through the Equestrian Multiverse.

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7 Waking Darkness

Lyra Heartstrings - 20th of Leaffall 06 EoH - Afternoon

Multiverse Location: Equestria, Equis #15 - The Simulacra

It hadn't taken much time to get enough wood together to make a small fire. That was fortunate, since by my estimate, we had forty minutes till this river was set to flood, and well, with all that fur it would take at least twenty minutes to warm up. Well, warm up as much as the world would permit right now.

I’d never seen a seasonal change in person in real life before. Took me a little bit to realize that the season was changing, and that’s why it was cold. Fortunately it wasn’t quite winter yet. If the air were much colder, Trixie would be dying from that plunge into the river. It was still warm enough where my small fire could warm her back up in time.

I was starting to suspect that passing through the portals had messed with Bon somehow, because by all rights, it was far too cold for her. A warm blooded mammal warming back up after a plunge like that, sure. A cold blooded tropical reptile? Yeah, no.

Bon should be dead, or seriously injured, or at least very very still from losing all that heat. But much like the Radon, she just didn’t give a darn. Slipped off my shoulders, coiled up next to the pony and chilled out for a bit, then moved around the bank a little, poked a stick about with her nose…

Yeah, something was up with her. I just wish I had any point of reference to begin finding out what.

After I’d gotten the fire going, I sat down next to it myself and took my survival kit off my waist to make sure each pouch on the belt had remained water tight. Some of the things inside shouldn’t get wet. Especially the spare battery for my maser, I did not want a short causing it to explode on my hip.

“How are you not cold?” Trixie asked after a while.

The mare was still shivering under the blanket, having refused to let me make it into a lean-to to trap and reflect the fire’s heat to make a sort of oven she could sit in. A bit dumb, but well, I’d want to hold onto my body heat too.

“What do you mean?” I asked, looking up from checking the battery pouch. “From falling into the river?”

“Yeah. You’re in some armor, and those boots. But that’s it. Do you have a warmth charm or something? Can I borrow it?” She asked pleadingly.

“I never got wet. This isn’t my skin, it’s a jumpsuit. Waterproof clothing,” I explained.

“Oh,” Trixie said, ears drooping in mild disappointment. “So, you’re not a lizard-person?”

I looked up and sent the command for my helmet to lift the outer reflective-gold visor so she could get a look at what little of me was behind the eye-slit. “No… We’re primates. Specifically simians… Uh, if you got that. Not sure how good my translation is right now.”

Trixie let herself droop down to lay flat, my statement somehow having taken the wind out of her sails.

“Darn it. I’d hoped I’d at least die knowing one pony who mocked me was wrong about something…” She muttered bitterly.

I rolled my eyes and went back to checking through my kit. “I know you almost just died, but you’d figure you’d be happy to be alive. The heck kind of bug crawled up your butt and died?”

Trixie barked a short but loud laugh that made me jump a little. “Heh… That’s three kinds of funny,” she said, shifting closer to the fire.

“Care to let me in on the joke?” I asked, starting to feel concerned about her mental health.

Trixie paused for a moment then nodded, as if answering herself. “Fine. It won't change anything. First off, I’m dieing.”

“You’ll be fine,” I interrupted. “We have more then enough time to warm you up then move.”

“From something else,” Trixie deadpanned.

“Ah… Sorry,” I apologized, frowning behind my helmet.

Trixie paused again, looking at me with an odd analytical expression. “You know, I think you actually are. I never thought a Neighponese speaking human would be the first person to actually be sympathetic towards me,” she muttered.

“Oh! I’m still speaking Japanese? I thought it’s switched to Equish,” I said hoping to keep the conversation rolling along.

“Mhm. Don’t worry. I’m fluent. Your accent isn’t an Equish speaker’s accent, so I’m guessing you don’t speak it as your first language either? Just keep speaking Neighponese. Equish is really complicated…” Trixie asked before resuming. “So yeah. Dieing. I don’t have that long left either… I’m supposed to meet my sister today. Return a book I stole from her, tell her sorry for everything.

“That’s one layer of funny. You saved me so I can die in a few more hours. It’s ironic. The best kind of funny.”

I gave her a sympathetic wince behind my helm. “Owch… Poison? Minor disease? I have a shot here to flush poisons, not sure it would work on a pony but-”

“It’s too late for that,” Trixie said with a dismissive hoof wave, “this is long term exposure kicking in. The next layer of funny is well, the expression you used. Everything is that little thing bothering me. My whole life. It’s been a complete failure.

“You… Nevermind. You don’t want to listen. No one ever does.”

“Tell me, we have time to kill anyways,” I asked, hoping she would open up a bit.

If she actually did have no hope of living much longer it would suck to die that bitter. If she could pull through, it sounded like she needed someone to talk to. Badly.

“Alright,” she sighed, “I’ve spent the last thirty years of my life as a traveling performer… A friend of mine died, you see? She wanted to be a famous magician, it was all she would talk about. She was not any good with magic, but she had come up with a great character for her performances, and she could at least do sleight of hoof tricks well.

“But she died. Her family didn’t know… She would visit me at my home in the woods near Trottingham. Timberwolves got her one afternoon. It was my fault, I was supposed to have driven the pack off the previous day, but I’d procrastinated. I found her, and she gave me her hat before she passed on.”

“Owch,” I winced, thinking of what it would feel like to die from a pack of wolves ripping me apart. “I’m sorry that happened to her, and you.”

Trixie nodded slowly. “I felt like I owed her, so… I used a few tricks. Assumed her identity so I could at least make sure the world remembered her name as a magician. Went so far as to steal my sister’s spellbook so I could have some unique magic to show off. I thought I could do it. I knew her so well, I even knew how to act for her stage persona… But I didn’t do it right.”

“Wait, you stole her identity?” I asked, lips pursing in confusion.

“Yeah. Stupidest decision I ever made. I just wanted her name to be remembered how she wanted it to be. But I’ve ruined it completely! Ponykind hates Trixie Lulamoon, and it’s not even her fault,” she lamented, letting her head rest on the ground.

If someone was willing to confess something like that, then they seriously believed they were dying at the very least. I was sitting in an alien world, forced to work in a certain way, listening to the deathbed confession of a person… More than a little uncomfortable, I felt the need to at least let her go with a clear conscience.

“So, did you too look alike? How did you sully her name?” I asked, not really wanting to know. Still, she needed someone to care.

“I’ve always been good with illusions and transformation. I altered my appearance. It’s been… I can’t remember what I really look like…” She explained slowly. “But I remember how I act, which is the problem. Never been a good actor.

“Everypony could tell something about ‘Trixie’ was off. I’m…abrasive, territorial, aggressive… Can’t help it. Can’t suppress it. They never put two and two together, everypony she knew came to believe she’d changed as a pony. Turned into a jerk.

“Eventually, I wasn’t welcome in Trottingham anymore. So I took to the road, figured it would be a good excuse to get on the whole ‘become famous for her’ thing. After all, ponies with no knowledge of how the old Trixie was would react to me differently, right? Heh, no. It’s like the universe itself let’s people know something’s wrong about me...

“It never worked out. Ever. I couldn’t even get people to like me in Ponyville. Ponyville! A town under the direct rule of someone who literally holds the title ‘Princess of Friendship’... Hay, even Princess Twilight hates my guts. That’s how bad I messed her life up.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that silly sounding title. Trixie shot me a hurt-but-expected-it-look before turning her head away.

“I wasn’t laughing at you, It’s just that title is so fracking silly sounding. Like, does she actually rule over the concept of friendship?” I asked, hoping to contextualize my laugh for her.

“Yeah, she does,” Trixie answered bluntly.

“R-really?” I asked, completely taken aback.

“Yes,” she answered again.

“All- Alright then,” I said, quite confused. Ignoring the obvious ‘how?’ for the sake of keeping my brain intact. “Please go on, I’m interested. Just you know, sad story. Sudden humor.”

Trixie turned back to face me, and nodded. “Okay. Sorry about that. Just… forget it. Yeah, so… I might have been able to succeed. But early on in the ‘kicked out of home’ part of my life, I stopped off at Ponyville. Twilight wasn’t a princess then. Just some normal pony. I’d never have tried to upstage an alicorn as part of my act, that’s just stupid to try.

“I might as well have done that though. She was a powerful enough mage to ascend after all. I didn’t know… So I failed. Acquired a reputation as ‘that boastful idiot who tried to take on Celestia’s personal student. It became impossible to get an audience. Wound up having to do heavy labor for a living, all the while some especially… patriotic ponies would vandalize my wagon. I don’t know why… Ponies can be so very stupid.”

“I guess every species has it’s fracking poop-heads,” I said bitterly, wincing at the terrible sounding curse after I’d finished it.

Trixie triple blinked at me. “That was odd… You should work on your insults in this language.”

I nodded, deciding that was the best lie to roll with. You know. To avoid telling the dying girl who’d lived a miserable life that her universe overrode free will...

“Anyway,” she said, resuming her confession, “I knew I had to do something. I had to leave Trixie the legacy she wanted. I knew if I could beat Twilight at a magical competition, I’d turn the rep around. So I tried to find a magic boosting charm, and I did. It was cursed…

“I put the amulet on and it instantly twisted my desire to restore my reputation into a malevolent hatred… I wound up taking over the entire town. I… I think I would have gone full Sombra if Twilight hadn’t gotten me to take the amulet off. I couldn’t control myself. At all… The only reason she got me to take it off was it made me need even more power.”

“Ah, I see where this is going,” I said, nodding slowly. “You found basically the One Ring, it corrupted you with it’s dark influence, and yeah good luck ever being seen in a kind light ever again…”

Trixie nodded. “Exactly. But it was an amulet, not a ring.”

“Yeah, I know. I was drawing a comparison to a dark artifact from an ancient human story,” I explained. “The One Ring. A ring with an inscription on it that housed part of the soul of a dark lord, granted power to whoever put it on, and compelled them to go and fight that Dark Lord, so he could kill them, get the ring back,and then return to life.”

“Good comparison,” Trixie shuddered. “Although… An ancient story… You don’t suppose there’s a connection there, do you? I mean, your species apparently exists. Or I’m seeing things because I’m dieing.”

I shook my head slowly. “Unless writing on that amulet read ‘Ash nazg durbatulûk’-”

I stopped speaking with a yelp! The fire had literally started to die as I began the quote, only to spring back to life the moment I had stopped.

“Okay! I’m not going to finish that quote!” I exclaimed fearfully.

“Why?” Trixie asked, tilting her head to the side.

“The fire! You had to have seen that,” I said, pointing to the crackling flames.

“It’s a fire. They do that,” she deadpanned.

“Look, I was talking to what I can only presume is a Dread Old One less than an hour ago,” I said urgently. “Then I say a few words in a language of dark magic and a fire decides to dim. Now, yeah, I might be seeing patterns where none exist but I’m not taking that risk!”

“... Whatever,” Trixie muttered.

“No, seriously. I- Right… You live in a magical world. That’s probably normal for you,” I mused.

“I live?” She asked, looking up. “Meaning, you come from another world entirely!?”

“Uh, yeah… I said that before,” I pointed out.

She smashed a hoof angrily into the ground. “Great! I learn there are other worlds I could apparently travel to on my deathbed! Ugh!”

“It can’t have been all bad, there had to have been some good times,” I pointed out.

“The best thing to happen to me is my sister came to visit me. And my family banished her for it,” Trixie spat.

“... That explains why you didn’t just go back home after the amulet thing,” I said after a moment of silence.

How the heck can a family be that cruel?

“Yeah… Even worse, I was going to reveal myself to Twilight. My real self. She would understand then, she had to have known about us back then. That mare reads everything,” Trixie grumbled. “But then, our Queen decides to invade Equestria’s capital! Yay pointless war. So if I revealed myself I’d be locked up as a prisoner of war… So I had to stay Trixie. A pony everypony else hates… And bathe in that hatred all day for the last six years. Hence, the dieing.”

“Well… I don’t have anything I could say to help you feel better. But I really am sorry your life sucked that bad. I can understand a little. My father died when I was eight, and my best friend in the world died several months ago. I imagine your pain is much greater, but I do have a point to empathize from,” I said sympathetically.

Trixie gave me a grateful smile. “Thanks for listening… Even if you are just a hallucination. Oh right. The joke. That’s part two. I have nothing to be happy to live for.”

“What’s part three?” I asked.

“Uh, you don’t know?” She asked giving me an incredulous look. “I admitted to taking over a pony’s life and mentioned the Canterlot Invasion of-”

Trixie trailed off noticing the complete lack of comprehension in my eyes.

“Do you not live on this continent?” She asked. “It would explain why nopony I know has seen a human before.”

Oh dear sweet mercy… The universe itself was deleting information right from her head! It wouldn’t let things remember there were other universes! I had to get the heck out of here! Thirty hours was way too far away!

“Y-yeah… Something like that,” I said at last. Doing my best to push the fear away.

“I’m not a pony. Not realy. My birth species are shapeshifters. We’re called changelings… I’d give you our proper name but mammal's can’t pronounce it, and I’ve been a pony for so long I can’t remember how to change back,” she sighed sadly. “Not that I’d have the energy too if I could.”

I was taken aback by her revelation for a few moments, but in the end concluded that shape shifters were less implausible than alternant-earth creatures speaking a language identical to Japanese. This made the likelihood that Trixie was insane less probable than telling the truth.

Then I remembered Sky mentioned he lived in a changeling city. The species was a real thing here. Or at least in a parallel universe, meaning probably here too. I decided to humor her.

“That’s pretty cool. What’s your natural form look like?” I asked. “I know you said you don’t remember what you look like, I mean-”

“Oh, my species. Yeah. We look like insectoid ponies. Black exoskeleton, a colored shell, gossamer wings, compound eyes, but otherwise like a pony,” she muttered, sounding oddly tired. “That’s the third layer of funny. I’m a bug that’s kind of inside a pony.”

I couldn’t help but smile slightly at that, and chuckle. “Okay, that is a little funny. Even after you explained the joke.”

“Heh… Yeah.” She groaned, standing up and making the blanket crinkle. “I should go. I need to make it to my sister. She’s waiting for me, and I already can’t feel my hooves.”

“What are you dieing from, exactly?” I asked watching her stiffly pull the blanket off and turn to walk back to her cart.

“It’s…hard to explain,” she sighed. “I don’t have the energy to go into it that much. We don’t eat matter, we eat energy. Emotions. Positive ones. Things like hate are toxic to us, and if emotions are directed at you, you always absorb some of the energy.

“I have to feed this pony body solid food too, but even shifted, I still need emotional energy. I got enough to survive by hiding out in public… But I got a lot of negative too. Constant low level exposure from everyone around you for years. Always deadly.”

“You…eat emotions? Like… How? Yeah, I’m going to go with how.” I was entirely unable to comprehend that.

“I don’t know! We just do. I’m not the same caste as my sister. Magic isn’t my thing,” Trixie grumbled limping her way away, clearly intent on moving on.

“Where are you going?” I asked. “You want help?”

She paused for a moment, looking back over her shoulder at me, clearly stunned. “Y-you’d help me?”

“Yeah. You are walking like you have shrapnel in you, your cart’s broke, and you claim you’re dieing. I think you need a little help,” I informed, standing up to stomp the fire out so it wouldn’t burn down the forest.

“Horse apples,” she cursed. “I forgot the cart… Yeah… I’ll need help. I agreed to meet my sister at the Castle of the Two Sisters. It’s a ruin in these woods. She sent me a letter saying she was there to finish some study or something. If you follow this trail for an hour or so, you can’t miss it.”

“And you’re telling me because… ?” I asked as I bent down to let Bon quickly climb up onto my shoulders.

“So in case I don’t make it you can bring her the book. She probably doesn't need it anymore. It’s a beginner’s book. I just want to give it back,” Trixie explained, limping along until she reached the bridge only to stop before setting foot- er, hoof onto the plank and rope structure.

“You know, I’m dieing but I’m still afraid I’ll fall in again,” Trixie called, a hint of amusement in her voice.

“What’s it look like and where is it?” I asked with a short sigh.

So much for not interacting with things here… But it’s not like I couldn’t help somone out with a last request. Even if she were a total liar I’d still feel compelled to help someone out like this.

“It’s a small brown leather book with silver lettering. It’s on top of the bed,” she informed as I reached the bridge. “Don’t worry about the cart. Ponyville just has to have it’s big winter skating rink, so this part of the river will flood up enough to sweep it off the trail when the pegasi come through later.”

“Alright, and if not… ?” I prompted, quickly crossing the very creaky looking bridge.

“Well, Princess Twilight uses this path the most. Frankly, I think it would be fitting for her to have to move it out of the way,” she spat bitterly.

Not really wanting to get involved with anymore than I had to, I gave the shapechanged bug a nod and opened the cart’s door. The interior was spartan, but clearly well lived in and well cared for. Someone had lived their life in this thing.

Somone who this seemingly conscious free-will robbing universe had doomed. I could feel it. That weirdness Sai had mentioned when we arrived here. The whole cart felt wrong. Like something which shouldn’t be lurked within the walls, waiting for the chance to doom anyone who dared provoke them.

Not wanting to incur its wrath, I ignored everything in the interior of the wagon, grabbed the book off the bed, and quickly recrossed the bridge, breathing heavily with dread.

“What’s wrong?” Trixie asked fearfully. “Are there monsters? There shouldn’t be any this close to Ponyville this time of year.”

“N-no… Just… Your cart is really creepy,” I said simply.

“Claustrophobic?” She asked, eyeing the book in my hand as a look of satisfaction crossed her face.

“It’s not important. Let’s just get this over with. This place creeps me out,” I explained.

She nodded and turned around, slowly walking up the path as I fell into step alongside her. “I can’t blame you much. These woods are kinda scary. The path is usually safe though.”

The two of us walked for what felt like an eternity. A cliche thought, but for once, it really did feel like forever. With each step the forest became just that more sinister. A mere half hour in and I swore I could see vines moving just behind the treeline, as if eagerly waiting to reach out and ensnare.

The light that came through the treetops become more and more dim as well, going from fairly bright to very dim at just the right speed to make you not notice the transition until it was over with. And that just made the movement behind the treeline that much worse. Every single second spent within the tree top tunnel screamed ambush so loudly I could almost see the words.

That would have been a proper hell on it’s own, but on top of that it became quite clear that ‘Trixie’ really was dieing. She began to stumble and stagger on level ground, sometimes failing to keep moving in a straight line. By the forty five minute mark, her rear left leg locked up completely turning stiff as hardened steel.

I wound up having to carry her. A real pain as she was the size of a large dog. The only thing which worked was the fireman’s carry, putting both her weight and Bon’s weight on my shoulders and spine. At least she wasn’t that heavy.

I still felt like my back was going to herniate my entire spine though.

After about an hour, the trees began to thin out again. The light grew just a little brighter, and the two of us emerged into a huge clearing where a massive canyon-like rip in the earth split the part of the forest we stood in from the rest of it. The path continued to another rope and plank bridge which spanned a narrower section of george and connected the path to a winding section of gravel-strewn sand that led up to a crumbling ruin of a once great castle.

If the two towers on the east and west walls had fallen, the keep would have looked like a large pile of stones bound together by moss and overgrown by plant life, which for some reason was perched atop a squarish wall. Whatever this old castle used to look like was impossible to tell, but my best guess based on the odd patch of sloping roofline labeled it as a high gothic design.

“So, this the castle?” I asked Trixie, mostly to check and see if she were still with me.

“... I can’t see. But there’s only one castle in the Everfree,” she said after a short moment.

“Alright, we will be there in a few minutes. Hang on… Come to think of it, where will your sister be in the castle? It doesn't look too safe, I don’t want to explore and cause a roof to fall on us,” I asked, needing some kind of running commentary from her. Especially as I got ready to cross the narrow plank bridge over what looked like an eighty foot drop.

“It’s fine. Once we get inside, I can call her. She’ll come,” Trixie informed.

I nodded and very carefully crossed the bridge. To my absolute delight it was clearly new. The boards hadn’t even weathered yet. Someone had put it up this year, maybe even in the last few months.

“Someone came here recently. They made sure this bridge wasn’t crap,” I told Trixie as my boots clicked against the planks.

“Probably Twilight,” Trixie muttered exhaustively, “she has been salvaging the library here.”

I nodded to myself, realizing she was fading quickly. There wasn’t much time left. Putting on as much speed as I could under the heavy load I sprinted up the gravel path towards the castle’s doors.

My back felt like someone beat it with a crowbar as I slowed down to climb the short staircase and open the two massive rusty iron-shod timber doors. A quick test let me know the doors opened outwards, and as I opened one door they let me know they were old enough to hate moving, creaking and grinding with the sound of rust and age.

“That sound hurt… Are we inside?” Trixie asked hopefully.

“Yeah, we are,” I replied, taking in the sights with some awe.

The castle’s interior was much better preserved than the exterior. The entrance hall stretched on for a long ways, ending in a grand staircase that split in two directions, probably going to the castle’s now collapsed wings. Huge archways created eight hallways, four on each side, spaced apart at regular intervals with dark purple tapestries placed tastefully between them.

The entire hall was built to draw your eye to a single huge stained glass window at the top of the stairs that depicted what looked like the new moon hanging in the sky over the earth, with the sun coming out from behind the moon in a stylized eclipse. So much work and care had gone into that work of art that it single handedly brought a measure of cheer and majesty into the decaying structure. A diamond that somehow made the pig’s trough look better.

<Microwave broadcast detected,> Chere.ly suddenly informed, ripping my thoughts away from the amazing stained glass. <Public frequency in use. Playing message.>

The signal resolved into an audio file, playing before I could react to the fact that I was receiving a transmission. Let alone that it was Trixie’s voice in the message. <Sister, I’m here… I don’t have long. A friend carried me here. She looks weird, but is nice.>

“She should be here soo-” Trixie started.

<How the heck are you sending a microwave transmission? Has your species worked out neural link biomods too!?> I sent back, using my Direct Net capabilities for the first time in days due to the sheer joy of experiencing it again.

“Wait! How can you use telepathy!?” Trixie exclaimed out loud, voice ringing with shock.

“Direct mind to mind communication and sharing of information is a thing my species genetically altered ourselves to do,” I replied out loud, not wanting to give her a heart attack. “It’s probably our most important invention ever.”

“That’s…so weird,” Trixie said, sounding more in pain now than shocked. A bad sign…

“Our hive mind, and our shape shifting… Those are our unique traits. I never thought another species would have one too. I wish I had the time to get to know you,” she added.

Realizing I was holding her on my shoulders and that would be awkward for her when her sister arrived, I knelt down, and gently set Trixie onto the moth eaten shreds that were once a carpet. And just in time, as the moment I had set her down a disk of green light swirled to life on the floor ten or so feet ahead of us.

A quadruped form rose up from the green portal, at first appearing to be a silhouette, and setting me instantly on edge. But after a second I was able to make out a smoky gray mane and tail, along with gem-like blue eyes and a splash of blue on the back along with two large brown leather saddlebags.

So, this was a changeling. Trixie was right, they did look like a bug version of a unicorn. Tall, slender, a bit shiny, long twisty horn. Kinda creepy realy. Especially when she raced forward towards me with a distressed cry.

If the universe hadn’t frozen my hands, I would have fired a shot in reflex. This universe was really getting under my skin...

<Atiniir! Why didn’t you tell me you were being poisoned? I would have done something!> she lamented, the ‘telepathic’ cry containing both words and vague images.

“Is that my old name? I’ve forgotten it… And a lot… I can’t remember much,” Trixie muttered.

<Why aren't you hugging me back? Please move your forelegs, you can do it. I know you can!> her sister pleaded.

“No chance… I’m amazed I’m still talking. Lyra, can you pass her the book please?” Trixie asked me without turning her head.

I nodded and held the book out. “Here you go.”

The changeling’s horn glowed a dull green, her kind of fiery aura gently plucked the book from my hand and pulled it over to her before setting the book down on the floor.

<You… You didn’t need to do that. I’d have given it to you. I understood why you left us, I would have done the same thing for a friend,> her sister mentally sobbed.

“No. I did. I took it. I didn’t ask. But you have it now. So it’s okay? Right?” Trixie asked pleadingly.

Her sister nodded once. <It’s okay, sister. I love you.>

“Good… That’s good,” Trixie said before sighing happily and going as limp as her locked up legs would allow.

I watched as the insectoid pony vocally sobbed over her dead sister. The image burned deeply into my brain, ripping the impression her appearance had left cleanly but violently from my mind. Exoskeleton be damned, I could see the pain on her face and in her eyes just as well as if she had been human. This was a person, one who most definitely needed time to grieve.

“I’m sorry for your loss… I lost my father a long time ago. I barely knew him… I can only imagine your pain,” I said sympathetically after a few long minutes.

“I don’t speak that language,” she replied in what Chere.ly flagged as Equish.

I silently ordered her to switch my language to match.

“I said that I am sorry for your loss,” I repeated. “I’ve lost family too… Do you need someone to talk to?”

She shook her head slowly, “No… I… It’s against custom and tradition to talk about this to strangers… But thank you. Why didn’t she tell me it was this bad for her? I would have done anything to find her a way out of that town!”

Her shoulders shook with each sniffling sob, making her emotional death even more painful to watch.

“From what she said, I think she cared about you too much. Didn’t want you to get hurt. Would you like me to leave you alone?” I asked.

“Please… I- I need to be alone with her for a while,” the changeling asked.

“I understand… I’m sorry. I wish I could have done something to help her, or get here faster,” I turned to leave, thoroughly disgusted by this monster of a world.

“W-wait a moment,” the changeling called.

I turned back in time to see her take a small silver ring out from one of her saddlebags, and pass it over to me with her magic.

“You helped her. She was dieing and you helped her get to me. I can’t… Take it. I don’t need it. Haven’t for a long time,” she muttered, eyes turning back to her sister’s slumped form.

“Thanks… What is it?” I asked carefully.

“It’s an ear-ring with a telekinesis charm. I used to use it when I had to be a pegasi or an earth pony… I… I don’t need it anymore. It should work for anything… Including whatever you are. Just put it on… Will the thing to move… Should move anything you could lift normally… Tha-thank you for making sure she got here,” she finished, her tone conveying an air of finality. She needed to be left alone.

“Thank you,” I said one more time, tucking the ring into a pouch while turning and leaving the hall as quickly as I could manage.

I was completely drained. It’s one thing to see someone die in battle, it’s another to see… To see that. I needed a nap. Maybe I could just sleep off the rest of the time I would be in this hell.

There was no way I was going to go back into the forest. Not with the moving shadows, slithering vines, and darkness beyond twilight. I walked along the base of the castle for a while, eventually finding a softish looking patch of moss and laying down on it.

“Well… Frack this place, eh Bon?” I muttered, giving her a quick stroke.

She nodded. She distinctly nodded! There was no way around it this time.

“And what’s with you?” I muttered, exhaustion taking hold.

Bon coiled around me gently, giving me a sort of full body hug as I half fell, half willed myself to sleep.


An ocean of gray sand stretched out forever, shining brightly but painfully, reflecting the harsh white light directly into my eyes. There was no escape from the light. It burned with a rage and hatred that was directed at me.

Suddenly, shelter! Impossibly, something existed in this lifeless land. A metal skeleton of a four legged beast, it’s bones covered in scraps of golden hide.

I crawled into a hole in it’s underbelly, it’s belly little more than a empty bowl. A space scarcely big enough to curl up in. But it was dark, and the light didn’t shine like death. It was a mercy.


“Lyra, wake your bipedal butt up! I want to leave this place, not open a darn base camp!” Sai shouted, snapping me out of my sleep.

“Huh? What? How long was I asleep for!?” I exclaimed groggily.

“About fourteen hours. We’re good to go. Wherever we are right now has a much higher magical ambience than where we were when I made the first estimate,” Sai replied.

That’s when I noticed it was dark, almost pitch black. The dark of a new moon.

I shivered feeling a rush of adrenaline coming on. “I never nap for that long! Like, ever.”

I quickly ordered my suit to run an integrity check. Everything came back as being perfectly fine. Though certain filters were starting to get full.

“Yeah, it’s got to be this place. I vote if I ever pick up this universe's…quirks again, we quickly jump back through the portal before it closes,” Sai said bitterly.

“Agreed. Let’s get the heck out of here,” I agreed, standing up and checking for Bon.

She wasn’t on my lap, or next to my impromptu bed...

“Bon?” I called fearfully.

With a rustle of grass, Bone came slithering out of a dense bit of vegetation, revealing a small hole in the castle wall. She had been inside… Why? Exploring?

“Come on hon, it’s time to go,” I said, starting to believe she could somehow understand me perfectly well.

Sure enough, as I flipped the leather cover off the manipulator’s face, Bon climbed up my leg, quickly coiling around my waist and shoulders.

“All aboard?” Sai asked.

“Yeah, we’re blowing this Popsicle stand,” I said, pressing the button I decided in that moment to call the ‘escape key’.

“... Did that sound better in your head?” Sai asked as the portal flared to life with a slow hiss and a flicker, as if something was trying to force it shut as soon as it op-

“Oh, like heck you are!” I shouted at the universe, sprinting forward, jumping at the portal before it could smash the portal closed!

I hit the portal, the familiar sensation of being yanked through by an unseen force was accompanied by a sharp pull backwards! For a moment I felt like I would be split in two, but finally surged forwards, a deep angry rumbling, almost a growl, booming behind me.

The other side of the portal faded into existence around me. More trees. A cedar forest, but their leaves were green, and my suit reported the temperature was a nice warm seventy nine. Birds chirped happily, and my suit reported a pleasant breeze drifting through the trees. The world felt…right.

“Sai, picking up that fucking evil here?” I asked, sighing in relief as my intended curse split the air like a good fuck should.

“Not a motherbucking bit of that eldritch shit here. We’re safe,” Sai confirmed.

“Good. Never. Again. Ever!” I groaned.

“In the name of Equestria, stand and be recognized, mage!” A woman’s voice demanded with a military bellow!

I spun around, almost causing Bon to fall off my shoulders, immediately yelping and jumping backwards to gain some distance between myself and the glimmering silver tip of a halberd that threatened to lance through my belly!