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Awakening3,947 words
Arrival2,972 words
Covert2,326 words
Firsts3,234 words
Unknown2,252 words
Parasite7,935 words
Betrayal3,923 words
Aftershock2,583 words
Learning3,773 words
Journey (Pt 1)4,427 words
Journey (Pt 2)5,487 words
Journey (Pt 3)5,653 words
Callings4,183 words
Imprisoned3,585 words
Wraith6,917 words

Learning

I sat outside for some time, thinking as I stared at the sky, waiting for Lulamoon to finish her meal.

I had told her that she was going to be my servant, but as it was she was near useless. She had put up a better fight, and if this mare couldn’t at least match her, then I would have to do something about it.

My thoughts flashed to the saddlebags and books I had kept. There were bound to be a few spells in there Lulamoon could learn. Even if she couldn’t put up a decent fight, then the least she could do was be useful for... something. Anything. I didn’t care. So long as I didn’t get stabbed in the back again, it didn’t matter to me.

Deciding that I had given the unicorn enough time to eat, I got up and walked back inside the castle. Lulamoon’s original enthusiasm at actually having something to eat had obviously gone down, as she was chewing her meat with a repulsed expression, but her jaw was working fast enough to show that she was probably enjoying the flesh in spite of herself.

I chuckled to myself at the unnatural diet perversion I had forced her to enjoy.

Lulamoon turned her head to look at me, shrinking slightly in fear. I walked up to her, staring into her eyes. I held my gaze unblinkingly, while Lulamoon’s occasionally flicked to something else in the ruined hall, and eventually she lowered her head. I observed her for a moment longer before letting out a grunt of approval and turning around, walking over to my saddlebags.

“I hope you enjoyed your food,” I said aloud. “Because from now on, you’re only going to be fed when I say so.”

“W...what?” Lulamoon asked, partly upset, partly afraid. I allowed myself a small smile.

“From now on,” I continued, levitating out all of my spellbooks and looking through them. “The rule of hoof is that you get to eat whenever you manage to learn a spell of my choosing.” I glanced over my shoulder. “I’d say that’s fair, wouldn’t you?”

Receiving a slow nod in reply, I smiled widely, and, from the way Lulamoon flinched, frighteningly. I began looking through ‘Beginner’s Guide to Combat Magicks’, flipping through the pages half-heartedly before tossing the book over to Lulamoon. She flinched again as the book landed in front of her, spilling open and presenting itself to her.

“I assume you at least know how to read?” I asked sarcastically, receiving a curt nod in return. “Then start reading that book. You will be able to cast magical bolts by nightfall.”

Lulamoon looked up, out through the ceiling of the hall, her mouth dropping open when she saw that it was already midday, the sky just beginning to tinge orange. “But it’s evening already!” she said exasperatedly.

I shrugged. “Then I hope you can read quickly.”

I turned and began heading back under the castle, leaving the mare alone to her studies. A sudden... urge had come over me. I felt almost compelled to look around Parasite’s lair once more, as if I had something to find.

I frowned as I noticed that the chandelier was no longer lit, lighting up my horn to compensate. I began rooting through Parasite’s things for a second time, looking for whatever it was that had brought me down here. Nothing had changed since I had last looked, however, and I quickly became frustrated.

With a snarl, I whirled around and blasted a stone slab that rested directly behind me, shattering the rock and sending broken glass and liquids flying every which way. I stood still for a moment, trying to calm my heavy breathing. As the dust settled away from the slab, however, the light from my horn illuminated a hollow interior. My eyes widened in hope.

Walking over to the damaged stone, I peered inside and saw a variety of objects resting within. Black plates that reminded me of my carapace, several round rocks with identical intricate carvings, inkwells, a leather-bound book sealed with an obsidian chain, a quill, and a black and red amulet that resembled a pony princess were all strewn about. But it was the book that caught my attention.

Levitating the tome out of the stone, I placed it in front of me and sat down, unsure of what to do. Hesitantly, I moved my hoof to touch the book, gently brushing the chain with just the tip of my hoof.

immediately, the book jolted into the air, and the chain exploded, shattering into uncountable pieces. I flinched, but when I opened my eyes, I saw that the shards simply hung in the air, a set of bright green runes flickering in the cloud of shattered chain. Quickly, the shards combined back into their previous state, but this time the chain simply hung from the binding of the book.

The book remained hovering in the air, and as I watched, it slowly opened itself, flipping through pages and pages of writing, until it stopped almost halfway through itself. There was writing on the left page, but the right was blank. Slightly on edge, I began reading the entry.

Commander O’Shovah,

I consider myself fortunate, then, to no longer be part of the Hive Mind. I apologize, I did not know mention of an Elite so far from home would cause such unrest with you and your siblings. Queen Chrysalis was very clear in her statement of my mission, though. Given your last message, I will begin preparation for the arrival of Commanders Dostya and Orlok immediately. However, I respectfully request that Commander Orlok not come to either the Everdeep Castle or Ponyville until I have pacified the populace. The reach of ponies has grown farther and stronger in the time we have been gone, and unless we are moving ahead with the Kroniid Grahmindol, I do not think it would be wise for him to come here.

Respectfully,

Parasite

By the end of the entry, my head was pounding with a massive migraine. I tore my eyes from the pages, falling to the ground and clutching my head tightly. The names... they seemed so familiar...

When the throbbing faded, I stood up, noticing that the book still hovered in place. I moved to close it, but froze when text began appearing on the left page, as if the ink was being poured onto the page.

Whoever Has Discovered This Book,

I am coming.

You have one chance.

Give us back our brother.

Commander Dostya

My eyes widened, a grin blooming on my face as I remembered my dream from the night before. If it really was more than a dream, and this book wasn’t some hallucination, then I had to get back to Ponyville soon. I flipped the cover of the book closed, watching as the chain shattered and reformed once more, sealing the tome tightly. I left the book on the floor, heading back upstairs.

I emerged to find Lulamoon standing all fours, eyes closed and teeth gritted, her horn sparking with magic but never actually becoming a full aura. I glanced up to the sky to see that all the blue had faded, a bright orange replacing it. Lulamoon’s deadline was approaching quickly, the very nature of the Everfree working against her.

As quietly as I could, I slowly walked over to Lulamoon, eventually moving so that I was just out of her peripheral vision, allowing me to stand next to her as she concentrated on learning her first bit of combat magic.

Eventually she let out a large breath, head dropping low as she panted for air. Her eye cracked open to read the book in front of her, her expression becoming steadily more worried.

“I have to want to hurt somepony...” she said aloud. “But why isn’t Revenant enough?”

I felt my lip curl into a snarl, barely keeping myself from making the sound to match as I waited for Lulamoon to do something worthwhile.

“I can’t think of anypony else... so how can I want to hurt them?”

I blinked. She was either extremely focused on the present, or she actually couldn’t think of anyling else. I decided to speak up.

“Oh come now,” I said, startling the unicorn in front of me and making her whirl around with a yelp. “You must be able to remember someling else. Someling that you hate.”

I walked out into the center of the hall, Lulamoon turning back around to watch me.. “Take me for example. I hate all ponies, sure, but there are two a absolutely despise.

“The first... Pyrite Dreams. Do you know what she did to me?” Lulamoon opened her mouth to respond, but I cut her off. “She became my friend. Great, right? Who doesn’t want a friend? She even let me stay at her house for a while. Sure, we had a rough start, but we warmed up to each other pretty quickly.”

I gritted my teeth as I continued. “One day, she had the bright idea to go rooting through this castle. I was right behind her, and if it wasn’t for me, she’d have turned back around and we would probably still be friends. But I guess I can’t say that for certain... Anyways, we ended up fighting another changeling, and ended up killing him.

“Fast forward a little bit, and we’re back in Ponyville, with a mob of ponies to greet us. And despite the fact that we... no, that I had probably just saved their lives, you know what they did? They kicked me out. Six ponies kicked my flank all the way back to the Everfree. And Pyrite did nothing but stand there as they exposed me and beat the tar out of me. All she did was say ‘sorry’, then turn around and side with ponies I bet she hardly knew.”

Lulamoon’s expression was one of surprise. She probably hadn’t expected that I had ever been nice enough to be friends. She looked down at the ground, and for a moment I almost wanted to get in her head, just so I could see what she was thinking.

“So... who was the other one?” she asked.

I sighed. “The other one... she was the one who exposed me as a fake. A fraud.” Lulamoon’s head snapped up. This caught my attention, and I locked eyes with her before continuing.

“She and her five friends...” An eye twitch. “They showed everyling in Ponyville that I was a changeling. They were the ones to drive me out.” Her mouth opened slightly, her breathing becoming slightly faster. “I hate all of them. But this one, she was the one who got all of Ponyville together for when she exposed me with her fancy magic.” Her entire body visibly tensed as she broke eye contact and lowered her head. “Her name was-”

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!!” Lulamoon yelled, springing to all four hooves as her horn lit up with a bright pink glow. A beam of magic shot out from her horn, just missing me and hitting a barrel in front of a pillar, causing it to explode in a shower of rainbow colored liquid emotion.

I blinked in surprise. Not only had Lulamoon cast a magical beam, which was more difficult than a bolt, she and I also apparently had grudges with the same troublesome unicorn. I waited until Lulamoon calmed down and stopped seething before I spoke to her again.

“So... you DO know someling other than me.” I said, interested in what she had to say.

Lulamoon put on the largest and most disgusted frown I had seen on her yet. “It’s hazy... I can’t remember anything important. All I know is that I HATE her. All of this is her fault, I just know it.”

I nodded. “In a way, I suppose it is.” I walked up to Lulamoon and placed a hoof on her shoulder. For the first time, she didn’t flinch.

“I think it’d be best if you went to sleep, servant,” I said, not receiving any acknowledgement. “We’re going to Ponyville first thing in the morning.”

“Why?” she asked.

I removed my hoof from her shoulder and grinned. “Because if I’m right, we’re going to see quite a show.”

“What if there isn’t anything?”

I shrugged. “We’ll need to go past Ponyville anyway. We’ll skirt around it either way, and if there’s something going on, we’ll check it out.”

Lulamoon nodded and laid down, curling up with a sigh. I walked to the opposite side of the hall and did the same, closing my eyes and letting myself drift off to sleep.

***

It was time.

My eyes shot open and I stood up, forcing myself to ignore the grogginess in my body. I stood up, yawning and shaking my head to help myself wake up. I glanced down next to me, looking at my saddlebags and the books that were stuffed inside. For a moment, I almost took them, but then decided against it. I didn’t need reminders of Pyrite. I was going to leave her, and Ponyville, behind me.

I glanced over to see Lulamoon still asleep. I buzzed over to her, jabbing her swiftly in the side to wake her up. The unicorn yelped to consciousness, grabbing her side as she stood up. “I’m up!” she yelled.

I nodded and motioned with my head towards the doors to the castle, setting off at a brisk pace. A look skyward presented a very early morning, the sun just beginning to rise, but the sky was already tinged a bloody red. Lulamoon fell in behind me, and we began making our way to Ponyville.

The Everfree was deathly quiet, the sound of our hooves the only noise that could be heard. It was slightly unnerving. Red light filtered in through the tree cover, not even a breeze disturbing the giant limbs.

With my initial drowsiness wearing off, I was beginning to feel excited about returning to Ponyville. There was certainly going to be something big going down, but it’d be luck if I was there when it happened.

“Uh, Revenant?” Lulamoon piped up, a nervous tone in her voice. “What are we supposed to expect when we get to Ponyville?”

“We’ll get chased down if we get spotted, that’s for sure,” I answered. “So we’ll have to observe from a distance, or at least keep out of sight.”

The silence fell once more. No more words were needed. We kept quiet until we reached Ponyville.

***

We exited the Everfree and were immediately greeted with the morning sky. It was still colored a bloody red, the occasional cloud providing what looked like texture, but otherwise was just as red as the sky. I pulled Lulamoon off of the trail, in order to avoid anyling.

“Follow me,” I said. “I’m going to fly above you, so I can get a better view of where we’re heading.” I bared my fangs. “DO. NOT. RUN.”

I waited for a fearful nod, then took to the sky, buzzing up until Lulamoon looked like a filly rather than a mare. I started flying forward slowly, keeping an eye out for both airborne pegasi and any ponies on hoof. The skies were unusually clear of pegasi, and if the sun’s position was any indication, then I should have see at least some movement from Ponyville.

As we approached the town, I saw a HUGE cluster of ponies gathered on the opposite side of Ponyville. Confident that Lulamoon and I could approach unseen, I buzzed back down to the ground.

“Come on,” I said. “They’re all concentrated in one area. We can skirt around the outer buildings without being seen.”

Switching to a full-on run, I lead Lulamoon up to Ponyville, the two of us darting from building to building, alleyway to alleyway, completely unseen. We slowed down as we approached the gathering of ponies, stealthily remaining behind a house near the forefront of the mob while still within earshot.

At the head of the group was none other than Twilight Sparkle, her friends, and Pyrite Dreams. Both Lulamoon and I wanted to attack them right then and there, but I managed to keep both of us hidden and under control.

I looked down the road, following the gazes of the ponies.

What I saw made my jaw drop, and gave me another migraine.

A lone changeling approached Ponyville, undisguised in broad daylight. As it came closer, I saw that it’s entire carapace was tinged a dark crimson, and it’s eyes weren’t blue, or even red like mine, but a very light, stale shade of green. Even more shocking was the four long wings folded against it’s back. The changeling itself seemed larger than me, similar in size to Big Macintosh but skinnier.

This was, undoubtedly, Commander Dostya.

The Commander had a small harness on, a white flag raised high. It approached Ponyville slowly and deliberately, giving off an air of command so definite that a few ponies began shifting uncomfortably. Dostya stopped directly in front of Twilight, looking down at the unicorn with a disgusted expression.

“Where is he?” she, definitely a she, demanded. A moderate eastern accent distorted her words.

“Who?” Twilight asked, standing her ground

Dostya’s lip twitched in a snarl for a brief moment. “Where is Revenant?”

“He’s gone,” Pyrite interrupted. Dostya raised an eyebrow. “We chased him into the Everfree Forest.”

“If you want to go looking for him, go right ahead,” Twilight said. “But otherwise, leave. We don’t want your kind here.”

The changeling Commander hissed lowly. “You will go into the forest and retrieve him, NOW. Hurry up, I’m not a patient changeling.”

“Who are you to tell us what to do?” Twilight asked angrily, slightly bolstering the crowd’s courage.

A sadistic grin broke out across Dostya’s face. “Who am I?” she repeated, backing up slightly and standing tall, her wings spreading out . The Commander levitated her harness off of her, stabbing the flag into the ground.

“My name is Dostya. Commander Dostya. I am the commander of the Skywing Battalions. I am one of the five children of the King and the Queen.” She narrowed her eyes. “Not a very long list, but it’s more than you will ever be.”

“We’re not going to do what you tell us just because you’re royalty,” Twilight said defiantly. “Now leave Ponyville!”

Dostya bared her fangs. “I will not leave until you return my brother to me! Give him to me or your town and your lives will be forfeit!”

Twilight’s pet dragon suddenly emerged from the crowd. “Oh yeah? You think you can take all of us?”

The changeling smiled wickedly. “Maybe not. But I don’t have to.”

Dostya opened a small pocket on her harness and pulled out a circular stone, identical to the ones I had seen in Parasite’s lair. Whirling around, she threw the stone high into the air, until it was just a speck in the sky.

“Pfft,” the dragon laughed. “What’s that suppo-”

The stone suddenly exploded in a small green blast, which expanded into a green ball of energy, then abruptly collapsed back into itself...

...and then transformed into a gigantic changeling.

The new changeling fell to the ground, the earth itself shuddering as it landed. My mouth dropped open at the sheer size of the changeling. It towered over the buildings of Ponyville, even the town hall. It’s carapace was pitch black, glossy and with an extremely small repeating hexagonal pattern, and it’s eyes were were a bright, glowing orange.

The changeling had, miraculously, not landed on anyling, Dostya standing between it’s forelegs.

“ORLOK!” Dostya yelled. “THEY’RE ALL YOURS!”

Dostya’s horn lit up, and a green swirl appeared behind her. She stepped back into the swirl and disappeared, the swirl vanishing shortly after. The collective of ponies gaped at the spot where she had vanished, before they were shocked out of their amazement.

Commande Orlok lifted his head and roared.

The sound made the building Lulamoon and I were hiding behind tremble, and the ponies in front of Orlok clutched their ears in pain. The second commander lifted up his hoof, sending already dazed ponies scattering as he took a single step forward.

Orlok’s wings buzzed to life, lifting him into the air. The commander suddenly barreled forwards, flying through Ponyville and tackling town hall.

I gaped as the structure collapsed effortlessly under Orlok’s body, now nothing more than a pile of timber. The commander jumped back to his feet much faster than his size should have allowed, and his horn lit up as he let out another roar.

Magical bolts began firing from Orlok’s horn like rain, obliterating a cluster of houses in explosions of wood, magic, and fire. Lulamoon let out a gasp of horror as we watched the commander destroy Ponyville. Screams of ponies filled the air as he continued his work, switching between rapid-fire magic and simply crushing, swatting or slamming into what was left of the town.

“Let’s go,” I said, pulling on Lulamoon’s hair to snap her out of the horrified trance she had fallen into. We ran away from Ponyville as fast as we could, following the same road Dostya had come in by. We ran until Ponyville was almost beyond the horizon before we stopped to catch our breath.

I glanced back toward the destroyed town, watching black coils of smoke drifting up into the slowly bluing sky. From this distance, I couldn’t make out a single intact portion of Ponyville. Only Orlok was clearly visible, the echoes of his roars managing to reach me and Lulamoon.

I chuckled loudly. Those ponies had gotten what they deserved. But these changeling commanders... I didn’t trust them, not after Parasite. They were determined to find me, so I’d have to lay as low as I could. That meant no more ‘adventures’.

“Come on,” I said to Lulamoon. “Let’s get going.”

“Where are we going?”

I shrugged. “Somewhere away from all that.”

With resigned sigh, Lulamoon nodded, and we continued down the road.

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