A Demon's Second Chance

by Perfectly Insane

Chapter 34: Seeing Black

Author's Note:

Yahallo! Sorry this took so long, I got very sidetracked with gaming. Anywho, please leave your thoughts in the comments, thanks for reading, and enjoy!

Walking through The Whitetail Woods for the third time wasn’t any easier than the times before. In fact, with Shining breathing down my neck quite literally, and two bat ponies not far behind, it might have been worse than before. It was only a small relief to know that a few dozen other night guard were in the other parts, likely taking out every changeling sentry along the way.

Mind you that didn’t mean we wouldn’t run into any on the way to the cave. Just that we wouldn’t have to worry about any others pouncing on us once we do.

A lot of it looked the same, but every now and again I’d spot something familiar; a rock with a particular shade of moss covering it, a tree with a hole in it for some creature that lived there, all of which helped me recall the way to the cave. I wasn’t entirely confident it was the right way, but I got the gist enough to know I’d get there eventually.

It was just a question of if i could get there soon enough, the uncertainty of not having an answer left me with the putrid taste of discomfort in my throat.

“Chara.”

I jumped a bit as Shining quickened his pace to meet mine, walking alongside me and whispering so quietly I wouldn’t have been able to hear it were it not for the fact that I’d gotten used to nigh silent conversations talking with Fluttershy.

“You mentioned that they have at least one changeling in Ponyville, right?”

Though he was clearly talking to me, his eyes darted back and forth with every step we took, scanning as far as he could in the dark. His free hand tightly gripping the already drawn sword, with his horn dimly lit to guide us.

“Yeah.” I thought back to when I was in the cave, encased in that cocoon of disgusting slime and looking at the pods that lined the ceiling like some kind of organic stalacites. Two came to mind, which had captured ponies aside from the animals. Maybe it was something the goo was doing to me, or just the position I was in, or just the fragility of memory, but I couldn’t remember anything that stuck out about them aside from both of them being blue. “But they have two captured ponies.”

“Two? But you’re sure there’s only one changeling in Ponyville?”

There was a streak of panic in his voice, hooves briefly dragging before moving swiftly again.

“I know there’s at least one. There,” my tongue felt heavy in my mouth as I tried to speak, made denser by the drifting thoughts churning into realization. “Might be another one. I don’t know.”

“Why didn’t you tell the princess that?”

I recoiled, hearing how tightly he said those words through clenched teeth without having to look.

“I didn’t realize it until you asked.” I stopped for a moment, mentally cursing myself as my muscles felt weaker. I very nearly stopped entirely, before shaking my head and reminding myself there wasn’t a second to be spared. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s,” He loudly sucked in air, before just as audibly sighing. “Fine. It doesn’t change what I was about to suggest.” Shining moved a little faster, overtaking me by inches. He didn’t move any farther, likely because, as much as he wanted to lead the way, I was the only one who knew where the cave was. “There’s two ponies it could be, and we have two nightguards. Princess Luna needs to know as quickly as possible who the imposter is, the sooner she knows the safer we’ll be. I think we should have the two with us fly to Ponyville with the two ponies intact and inform the Princess when they do.”

“What?” I asked a bit louder than I intended to, causing said Nightguards to flicker their ears. “And Chrysalis? Don’t we need them to fight her if she’s in the cave?” My heart leaped to my throat as I very briefly forgot how to breathe.

“If she’s in the cave, which is a big if, they’ll prioritize saving whoever’s been captured over fighting her.. So there’s no problem there.”

“And if we run into her on our way back without them?”

“If that happens…” he trailed off, biting his lip before hanging his head. He moved closer to me, a lot more so than I was comfortable with, but I tried to ignore it. “I didn’t want to mention this to the princess, but I think they’re more of a liability than they’d be useful. Chrysalis can mind control. If there’s even a chance that I’d have to deal with fighting two trained nightguard on top of the queen, I can’t risk it. I’ve trained too hard every day since my own wedding to risk it, especially when Ponyville’s in danger.”

His voice grew more intense with every sentence, somehow staying at the same volume. If the nightguard heard they didn’t show it.

The term ‘mind-control’ sparked a fear in me that gripped my very soul. Changelings from my world didn’t have such a horrifying ability in the stories I was told. Then again, nor did they feed off love in such a direct way. She didn’t do that to me or Trixie in the previous two resets, maybe because she didn’t feel like she needed to.

If we put her in a corner, I had a feeling that’d change.

My throat tightened as I tried to imagine what that was like. To lose control of your very mind, to be forced to watch as you move and do things you have no say in. All at the whim of someone else.

In an odd way, I suppose that wouldn’t be all that different from what I experienced with Frisk; minus all the sensations. I’m certain that was why the idea of it made me want to stop where I was.

“What about me? What if she,” I found myself wringing my wrist, more on my right than my left. The symbol on the back of my hand glowed as dimly as a firefly in the night, and growing weaker every time I checked it. It was hard to believe it would last until tomorrow. “tries to mind control me?”

“No offense, but I’ve seen how you fight. I’m fairly confident if she get’s desperate enough to try that, I’m confident I could handle it. At least, more than two trained night guard. Especially if Chrysalis has her anti-magic rocks.”

“That reminds me.” I contemplated asking for a weapon, the context would make it more than awkward. Still, we could run into her at any moment, and a little awkwardness wasn’t something I was unfamiliar with. “Can I have your dagger? Luna suggested I should have it for self-defense if nothing else.”

He gave me a sideways glance, grip tightening on his sword as he clenched his jaw. Then he unfurled his right hand, reaching down and grabbing onto the handle of a knife attached to a sheathe; I hadn’t even noticed that there.

“Here.”

He steered his gaze back to the front of his, tossing the dagger at me without even looking. It caught me off guard as I fumbled to catch it, managing to hold it in my left hand. It was…smaller than the one I conjured, and thinner too. The handle was made out of a softer material, not digging into my skin nearly as much as I was used to.

Out of morbid curiosity, I pressed my pointer finger against the tip, trying to gauge how sharp it was. With a prick that somewhat burned, it poked into my skin until it hurt. I didn’t bleed, but just a bit more pressure and I would have.

My knife was much sharper than this one. Then again, this knife wasn’t likely to leave me exhausted the moment it left my grip, nor could its existence be wiped out by a rock.

“Thanks.”

In a moment of absent thought, I tried to pocket it, only to realize it wouldn’t fit in the pocket of the pants Rarity made for me. I could hold it, but that would get uncomfortable very quickly. My only other option…

I tugged on my backpack strap, reluctance to put on the hoodie heavier than the weapon in my hand. I stopped for a moment, biting my lips before sighing and closing my eyes. The nightguard waited as I pulled out the hoodie, its soft fabric tight on my skin for a moment before I settled into it. I let the dagger sit in my hoodie pocket, barely noticing the added weight.

I got lucky, finding the cave before Shining realized I was doing little more than fumbling around in the dark. The entrance itself hidden behind some bushes, only found because we were actively looking for it. It was just large enough for one person at a time to go on through, devoid of any light aside from the one Shining provided for us.

Like a match dipped in water, that snapped out once we got farther in. The floor was littered with the pointed rocks that had painted my demise more than once, spread out and hard to count. Fortunately, we didn’t have to shuffle in the dark for very long. There was a very faint glow around the corner, coming from the pods that hung from the ceiling.

It was the same amount as last time, with animals of various shapes and sizes, and two ponies. They were too swamped in the green goo for me to recognize them. The nightguard didn’t hesitate in flying up to them, one making a wide incision into the pods while the other hovered under it. With incredible caution, they pulled the ponies out and floated them to the ground, gently placing them down.

I walked up to them, trying to make out their features. I had to squint my eyes, made only more difficult by the slimy layer of mucus they were covered in. Eventually, it was the swirled, pink mane that led to my realization of who I was looking at.

It was Mrs.Cake.

I took a step back, my eyes widening as it hit me how obvious it was in retrospect. The forced smile, her forgetting my name, how much she didn’t want to be around her own foals.

Everything really was clearer in hindsight.

“Do you know her?” Shining asked as he crouched down, placing a hand on her chest. She was just barely breathing, the rising of her chest barely noticeable.

“She works at Sugarcube Corner. She must…” I trailed off, picturing Mrs.Cake approaching the table in silence with her tray of cupcakes. Of course it was the cupcakes. “The one who replaced her must have been the one who po-”I choked. “Who was going to try to poison them.”

Shining’s leer darted to me for a moment, narrowing before dropping back to her.

“Then I guess we know who the imposter is.” Shining stood up, walking over to the other pony on the ground right as the night guard set her down. “What about this one?”

While also being blue, this one was a unicorn, and covered in a much lighter gleam of goo. They were wearing a familiar hat and cape, with sparkles and stars I couldn’t mistake for anyone else.

“Its—”

Trixie started coughing, jumping upward and just barely scraping her head past Shining’s without colliding. Her eyes shot between him and me before she moved as far from us as she could, not quite managing to stand up. It was too dark to make out her face with any degree of accuracy, but her frantic movements were obviously those of panic.

I heard a familiar clacking noise as she moved, drawing my attention to her neck. My spine went cold once I saw she was wearing that amulet, the same one that nearly strangled me once I asked the wrong question.

It was made worse by the fact that she intended to use that amulet on Twilight, whose brother was standing right beside her. I couldn’t let her say that, or Shining might insist on doing something drastic.

Or, would that be for the better? If we just took her back to Ponyville with that amulet with everything going on, and she was dead-set on enacting her revenge, then it would make everything a thousand times worse. Then again, if he tried to forcefully take the amulet from her…

I needed to get that amulet away from her.

“Is this—” Trixie tried to speak, only for her hoarse voice to crack as she cleared her throat. “Some kind of trick? Are you attempting to deceive Trixie?” She wrapped her arms around herself, literally shaking as she kicked away as many of the rocks as she could. Her eyes shot between Shining and I in a frantic burst, scrunching her eyebrows as her horn sparked. Embers of blue magic flew in various directions from the tip, but none of them condensed into a spell.

I glanced at the nightguard, who were checking over Mrs. Cake once more. Shining had an expression I hadn’t seen on him yet, scrunching his brow and leaning his head forward. It was like he was trying to recognize something he forgot. I could make out him muttering something, barely intelligible and along the lines of ‘couldn’t be her’ before it got too quiet to hear.

“T-this isn’t a trick.” I stepped forward, holding up my hands and trying to appear as non-threatening as possible; which wasn’t very difficult. “The Nightguard is in the forest clearing out the changelings, we were sent to save anyone they’d captured in the hive.”

I could feel Shining’s confused leer drag to me, piercing into my back with questions that only grew with every word that I spoke.

After a few seconds of tepid silence, broken only by the sound of desperate grunting as Trixie tried and failed to cast a spell, she opened her eyes and scanned the room, eventually resting on me as her stare bounced up and down.

“What in Tartarus are you? Some kind of deformed minotaur?”

I recoiled a bit, the memory of some of the minotaur pictures I saw in Twilight’s books came to mind. I ran a hand up my face, hovering over my ears before shaking my head and burying my insecurity back into my mind to bother me later.

“No, I’m a human. That’s not really important right now. Listen,” For just a second, the gem in the center of the amulet gleamed, and I saw my reflection. Barely more than a vague outline, with my crimson eyes sticking out like two torches in the void. They captured my attention, pausing even my words in my throat as I could look nowhere else.

There was a tugging at my heart that dragged my entire body with it, pulling my hand outward as I took a step forward. Without a sound, it had called to me.

“Hey.” Shining moved up to me without a sound, or maybe I was just too zoned out to notice. He placed a hand on my shoulder, his whisper like an amplified shout. “What are you doing? You’re talking to her like you know her.”

Fatigue and terror spread from where he touched me, yanking me out of the strange stupor I found myself in. That churning in my soul faded away, leaving me dazed as I couldn’t even muster the strength to shove Shining’s hand off of me.

“I…” My voice was weak, struggling to condense everything I was feeling into words that suited them. I shuddered as I took a step away from Shining, which prompted him to retract his arm. “Kinda do. She did a favor for me once, I owe her.”

“Really? Trixie Lulamoon did you a favor?” He said through clenched teeth, keeping his voice just low enough to where Trixie didn’t hear us. Though her face did contort into one of confusion as she watched us. “The same Trixie who brought an Ursa Minor to Ponyville because her ego was bruised? Who endangered not just the element bearers, but all of Ponyville? What favor could she have possibly done for you that’s worth excusing that.”

“She didn’t…” the idea of bringing up Snips and Snails danced on my tongue, but carried the weight of doubt. Trixie told me that in another loop, and I couldn’t even say how true that was. I couldn’t explain to Shining how I knew that. I peered over my shoulder at the entrance, thinking for a second that I caught a glimpse of something moving in the dark. “We don’t have time for this; the changelings could retreat to here at any second. We can’t just leave her here.”

“We can’t just take her to Ponyville, either. Think about it: she just so happens to be near Ponyville when the changelings show up to be abducted? No way,” He wasn’t even bothering to mask what he was saying anymore, raising his voice as he gave Trixie a leer that would stop anyone from speaking a word. “I guarantee you she was here because she had some scheme in mind. The second we take her back to Ponyville, that’s the first thing she’ll do!”

I swallowed the urge to correct him, biting on my lower lip until the cold air stung the wound. I couldn’t verbally admit it, but he was completely right. The only thing he hadn’t guessed was that the amulet was exactly the ‘scheme’ she was planning. Though, that meant if I could get it away from her, then there’d be nothing to worry about.

“Please, let me talk to her first. I think I can convince her to leave Twilight alone.”

“Do you now?” He scoffed. “I really doubt that you—”

I brought my hand to my mouth, chewing on my thumb’s fingernail, which stopped Shining mid sentence. He glowered at my hand, his lips curled into a sneer as he tightly clenched his jaw.

“Seriously? You’re pulling that on me?”

It took me a moment to realize what he meant, my heart sinking to my stomach when I realized it was my right hand and I was flashing him the symbol on the back of it.

“No, no. I didn’t mean to—”

“Sure you didn’t.” The spite in his voice was visceral, eyes stabbing me with guilt. He began walking toward the nightguard, pausing only next to me as he sharply inhaled. “Fine, have it your way. But the second I think she’s going to do something that endangers the bearers, I’m arresting her on the spot; crest or not.”

Shining didn’t give me the chance to defend myself as he moved back to Mrs.Cake, barely giving the Nightguard more than a glance. I rubbed my pendant, awkwardly meeting Trixie’s trembling eyes as she stared at me with a mixture of dread and expectation on her face. Like it or not, I was getting the chance.

I carefully approached Trixie, getting as close she would let me before she tried to further dig herself into a corner. It was hard to tell if it was because she thought we were changelings messing with her, the conversation she heard at least half of, or that she had no idea what I was.

In all honesty, it was likely a mixture of the three.

“Um…” Trixie pressed her lips together, making a groaning noise that I could only barely hear. What should I say? The first time we met, I had a bag of money and that was a good enough impression for her to not care about anything else. The closest thing I had to that now was a single cupcake in my backpack. “I’m Chara, a human. Luna sent The Nightguard here to rescue anyone the changelings abducted. And I—” She didn’t relax at all, either not believing me or just too afraid to listen properly.

My eyes once more lingered to the necklace. It didn’t reach out to me this time, no shadowed reflection, no gleam. Just a stone in a pendant.

Something about it still unsettled me.

“Need your amulet.”

Like every other awkward thing I’ve said recently, that was met with a few moments of silence. Trixie blinked, visibly tensing up before somewhat relaxing as she reached for her amulet, holding it in her hands. Dropping it and letting it clack against her chest as she glanced back up at me, tilting her head as her muzzle twitched.

“First, prove to Trixie you are not a bug. And to do that, you should, hmmm,” Her chin fell to her chest as she tapped the gem, briefly frowning before her eyes widened as she turned back to me. “Look into Trixie’s eyes! Yes, she recalls reading somewhere that changeling eyes reflect the world as upside down. If that is not the case, then Trixie will trust you don’t have plans to put her back into those,” she stroked her throat, curling her lips as she leaned back. “Pods.”

I should have expected that’s what she’d ask, it’s the same thing she asked of me last loop. I mentally braced myself, running my hands up my hair and closing my eyes to suck in the dry air. I curved my back, bending down close enough so Trixie could peer into my eyes; our faces inches away from touching.

That familiar burning sensation in my brain that came with eye contact seared my mind with a growing intensity, made only worse when Trixie moved closer in like she was trying to read a word she’d never recognized before. I tried focusing on the spot between her eyes like countless times before, but that was getting harder with every second.

“Hmmm, Trixie’s reflection looks fine.” She pulled away, shambling to her hooves and managing to get her balance. Trixie fixed her cape first before the rest of her clothes, then tried her best to wipe off the layer of goo that encrusted her skin before placing her hands on her hips and facing me. “Very well, Trixie is willing to hear offers, but this amulet cost Trixie a bag that weighs likely as much as you do. Not to mention its instrumental in her plan of revenge against Tw—”

“Don’t!” I jumped forward, outstretching one hand and placing my finger against my lips in a shushing motion. Trixie recoiled, but stopped talking. I peeked towards Shining, who was helping the nightguard as they released animals from the pods. Some of which stayed unconscious, others woke up immediately and ran out from the cave.

“That’s the Captain of The Royal Guard, and Twilight’s brother. So, please don’t talk about your revenge scheme against his sister.”

I pleaded with her, trying to keep my voice to a hushed whisper. The surprise on her face that I expected to see passed very quickly, slipping into a sneer that lingered on him and hovered over to me.

“Of course. Her mentor is Princess Celestia, her friends are the Elements of Harmony, and her brother is the fucking captain of the royal guard.” Trixie swore, glancing away for just a moment before her eyes darted back to me like she noticed something. “What was that?”

I raised an eyebrow, peeking down at my clothes to see what she was referring to.

“What are you talking about?”

“Trixie…” she paused, staring at me before slightly shaking her head. “Nevermind. She doesn’t plan on giving up this amulet. If the shopkeeper is to be believed, it should give her powers to match that of an alicorn; which is more than enough to handle Twilight.”

“Wait, so,” I idly moved my tongue in my mouth, trying to better understand her logic. “You just want the amulet to beat Twilight? You don’t actually care about being powerful?”

“Of course not! Trixie is already far more great and powerful than the average unicorn. Twilight is just…” She scoffed, crossing her arms and tapping a finger against her elbow. “Not the average unicorn.”

“Then, why don’t you,” It dawned on me that I had no idea how a unicorn's magical skill actually worked. If it was something they were born with, or they honed it like any other skill, or if it was some mixture of the two. I almost didn’t want to finish my question, if only I had something else to say in its place. “Get better at magic? Wouldn’t it be more satisfying to earn it?”

“It would be satisfying to beat her in general. But, you’re correct that getting the same opportunity she has and beating her to show my superiority would be preferable. However,” Trixie raised a single finger, tapping it against her horn. “Trixie’s magical potential is unmatched, but she is restricted by self-tutelage. Twilight Sparkle was taught by Princess Celestia herself, there’s no better teacher in all the world than that. So, unless a new Alicorn that can do illusion magic has sprouted up, this amulet is not leaving Trixie’s neck.”

“Ilusion?” I repeated, more to myself than her as I tried to jog a memory. “You specialize in illusion?”

“That is what Trixie meant to imply, yes.”

“Where have I…”

Luna.

She specifically mentioned her expertise in illusion, and how she’d never had a student before. Would she even want one? The way she talked about it, she seemed almost jealous of how Celestia had an entire school and Luna hadn’t even had one student. Then again, that could be just because she didn’t want one.

Luna was really indirect about answering that, I should have tried asking her again.

“What if,” could I really just say on her behalf that Luna would happily take on Trixie as her student if I just said so? If not, she’d be really upset at me; I might end up ruining whatever relationship we have.

The alternative was letting her keep it, which would put Twilight and herself in danger. Really, it just came down to what I was more willing to risk. That was a question with an obvious answer.

“I could get Luna to teach you?”

Trixie stared at me.

Then continued to stare at me.

And kept staring.

Then, she started laughing. Really, really obnoxiously; catching the attention of Shining and the Nightguard. Eventually, she stopped, her smile dropping once her eyes met mine again.

“Oh, you’re serious.”

I nodded.

“Alright, Trixie wil humor you. How is she to believe you even know Princess Luna in such a way?”

“Uhm,” I wringed my wrist. “This.”

Trixie craned her head, examining the moon on my hand.

“A luminescent tattoo? Trixie could get one of those for five bits.”

“It’s not a tattoo. It’s a symbol of authority that Luna herself gave me.” I examined it again, finding that the glowing was getting dimmer and it was resembling a moon less and less. “I can ask her to meet you, but I can’t guarantee she’ll take you as her student.”

For once, I had no idea what she was thinking. Her face contorted into a half-sneer, the only sign she was conscious was the occasional flaring of her nostrils as she breathed. With a particularly hearty sigh, she held the gem of the necklace, peering down at it before squeezing her eyes shut.

“Trixie wants this in writing. We will form a contract.”

I couldn’t help but let out a sigh, a very brief respite of relaxation washing over me.

“Ok, though I don’t know how t-”

“You will do your utmost to assure a meeting takes place between Luna and I. If not,” she placed her finger on my chest, causing my heart to skip a beat as my breath hitched. “Not only will you return Trixie’s amulet, you will assist her in her endeavors until T—” she paused, eyeing Shining before pulling away and turning back to me. “Trixie’s adversary is humiliated, defeated, destroyed and… whatever other words that end with ‘ed’ that Trixie can think of in that time. Are we clear?”

I chewed on the urge to back away from her, the way she poked me lingered on me a lot longer than it really should have.

“Yes.”

“Good. Then all that’s left,” Trixie raised her chin, horn briefly sparking just to burn out again within seconds “is to get out of this cave so she can cast her magic and produce a contract. And find her wagon, and take a bath. Trixie feels,” she ran a hand down her side, pulling it away and then flicking whatever substance was on her at the ground. Sneering with a barely held back gag. “Gross.”

“Alright.”

Trixie started to make her way to the exit of the cave, spotted by Shining who said something to one of the night guard and began following her. I too paced behind, though keeping an arms length from her and the batpony to the best of my abilities.

It didn’t take us very long to get outside, the beams of moonlight that shone through the trees didn’t illuminate very much, but Trixie approached one of the lit up spots and raised her arms in triumph; leaning on her hooves and stretching every inch of her body.

“Ah, the moon has never been so succulent! Now then,” with a twirl, Trixie pivoted to face me, horn glowing with vibrant blue energy. With a poof, there was a scroll in front of her, though noticeably smaller and paler than the one Luna had made. With a concentrated scowl, she formed a pencil in her magic and began writing. “for the contract. Give Trixie a moment to write it up. It’s been quite a pause since she’s had to evoke one.”

She began writing. Though, at a much slower pace than Luna or Twilight; they may have spoiled me for the average writing speed for a unicorn. I turned to the nightguard and he just looked…bored and frustrated at the same time.

“So,” A tingle of curiosity sat on my brain as I realized that I’d signed a contract without even really knowing how they worked. There wasn’t even any mention of contracts in the books I read. “What exactly is a contract?”

Trixie’s writing stopped, she leaned away from the contract and peered at me.

“You made a contract without knowing what one is?”

“Uhm,” I was tempted to bring up that I’d already signed a contract without entirely understanding what they were, but I felt that wouldn’t make her less upset. “Maybe.”

“Stars, who is Trixie making pacts with?” she said to herself as she continued writing, hiding most of her face behind her hat and the scroll. “A contract is the most basic of basic; any unicorn with the ability to cast a spell can do it. They are deceptively binding and versatile, however. Once your name is signed, the conditions must be met and terms set forth must be carried through. If failed within the set time parameters, the one who did not carry through their side will suffer established consequences. Trixie has already informed you what shall happen if you disappoint. For Trixie, she fully intends to give you the amulet, however just to dot all the wonderful I’s in her name,” she got to the end of the contract, scrunching her nose as she wrote something down and then pulled away the pencil “There. If Trixie does not give you the amulet, you may have her other prized possession: her wagon!”

With that, she flipped the scroll around to face me, grinning with apparent pride. It hovered over in her magic, lowering it to my hands for me to hold while I read as her pencil placed itself between my index finger and my thumb. Trixie’s writing was the most egregious I’d seen, so many letters scrunched together that they looked like foreign symbols of some long, forgotten language. I had to squint my eyes just for them to seem legible.

As I signed my name, I wondered what fail conditions Luna had set on our contracts. In the moment, I had trusted her completely and barely skimmed it, made worse by my ignorance at anything to do with said contracts. Would she even put one in?

What would happen if I go back on my word and decide not to tell Luna the truth? Or even lie to her?

Was I really considering that as an option?

My hands trembled as I finished the ‘a’, pencil and contract vanishing before my eyes with an audible whooshing noise. With that, Trixie brought her hands to her neck, taking a trembling breathe as her hands quivered, hesitating for just a second before touching the amulet. I saw her pupils constrict, her chest tighten, and every muscle coil as she placed fingers one by one on the edges. She actually struggled to lift it, her face paling as the amulet came off of her.

“Here.” the suave had left her voice, despite her attempts to speak with some semblance of her usual confidence. “Take it.”

As soon as the amulet fell into my hands, I felt that pull again; that tentative tug at my very essence. I didn’t let my gaze fall to my reflection again, pocketing the amulet and stuffing it as deeply in as I could manage to.

Trixie stared at me oddly for doing so, about to say something before peering past me at Shining and the other Nightguard coming out of the cave with Mrs. Cake in tow. He first turned to Trixie, then to me, and then to the nightguard.

“Shadow,, help Vola escort these back to Ponyville and guard them until the princess informs you the emergency is settled.”

“Sir.” the nightguard nodded, approaching Trixie and extending a wing in a direction.

“Well, Trixie guesses anywhere’s better than here. Even if that anywhere is…Ponyville.”

“What about you and Chara?” the other night guard asked, carrying Mrs.Cake’s unconscious body with relative ease.

“We’re going to search for any stragglers and then make our way back to Ponyville.”

“Sir, our orders were to—”

“Your orders were to follow my orders. And I am ordering you to take them back to Ponyville.”

Shining barely flexed, hardly raised his chin or tightened his jaw, yet his voice reverberated with such authority and stainless steel that it was like the Night guard had been struck. He tensed up, straightening his posture as his wings held closer to his sides. With a reticent nod, he and the other Night guard guided Trixie and Mrs.Cake through the woods. Leaving Shining and I in what was very likely the most awkward silence I’d experienced in my life, which was saying quite a bit.

“Chara, if you want to go with them, you can.”

Shining waited until they had just left our sight to say that, horn sparking as he retrieved his sword from its sheath. It hovered beside him, moving up and down so slightly I had to look for it to notice.

“Why?” I turned to him “What are you going to do?”

“If I know Chrysalis, as well as how these zealots tend to work, she’ll prioritize herself over any of the changelings. She’s a lot of things—cruel, conniving, desperate—but she’s not stupid. She won’t take on Luna and the entire nightguard at night. Especially not when it was by total surprise and she wasn’t expecting it. Her forces are spread out and completely unprepared, fighting back at this point would be stupid. Instead,” he scanned the forest moving over to a seemingly random bush. “She’d try to escape and regroup with the other zealots if at all possible. Likely having some escape route planned out from beforehand. Sure, she could turn into a bird or something and just fly away, but then she’d be leaving all these anti-magic rocks around. So,” he began poking around bushes, scraping the tip of his sword against the dirt and making a trail before abruptly stopping. “She’d take as many as she could with her; they’re too valuable not to.”

I took a few steps forward, trying to peek over his shoulder and see what he was poking. They were tracks of something with hooves, but not as deeply as ponies. They went off into the woods, where the tracks ended as soon as they met grass.

“Jackpot. I think these are hers. Changelings are a lot lighter than ponies, you wouldn’t recognize the difference if you didn’t know what to look for.”

“You’re going to follow her?”

“That’s why I suggest you go with them.” he said as he stood up, gesturing towards the direction the nightguard went. “I’ve already explained why I want to handle this alone, but I can’t force you. If you want to come with me, then at the least I’d like you to try to take away her anti-magic rocks and hide them somewhere she likely has them in a bag or a container of some kind. You’re fast, I can give you that much.”

My hand fell to the dagger in my hoodie pocket, pressing against the handle as I imagined using it to attack Chrysalis. There was an odd prickle in my chest, right where I’d stabbed myself. I began tracing my finger on that spot, expecting the bump of a scar in that spot; it never appeared no matter how many times I traced it.

“I,” it would be so easy to go with them and leave it to Shining, to catch up with Fluttershy knowing that Luna was guarding us and that everything was going to work out. Shining was as well able to defeat her as Trixie was, and I thought things would work out then. Me being there may not have helped much, but the last time she had the advantage of every changeling at her disposal.

Maybe this time, I could be useful.

The weight of the amulet in my pocket felt heavier, for just a second.

What was the alternative? Letting him fight her himself, and taking the chance he’d fail? That he could have succeeded if I had been there? If I could help, shouldn’t I?

“Want to go with you. I’ll stay out of your way, I promise.”

There was a small upturn of his lips, just a barely noticeable smirk.

“Good. Then let’s go.” He turned around, following the tracks in the direction they went, quickly sunk into the trees and bushes until he was barely visible.

I hardly had time to start moving, stumbling over my own feet as I tried to catch up. He wasn’t moving particularly quickly, but with such drive and fluidity it was hard to tell which way he was going to go next. Shining kept lowering his head, eyes bouncing between in front of him and something on the ground or on a tree or bush; I couldn’t even see what he was examining so closely.

Despite how cold it was in the woods, there was sweat on my back that had me biting my tongue just to ignore. My hand had slithered its way into my hoodie pocket and held tightly onto the handle of the dagger, more out of a need to hold on to something than any actual desire to use it; and to keep it from falling out.

Any moment now, we’ll run into Chrysalis, who’s been backed into a corner and onto the retreat. No changelings to help her, but maybe that’s what made her all the more dangerous. I wanted to ask him what his plan was, how he was going to beat her. Problem being that, even if some cohesive words came out of my quivering lips, he wouldn’t respond or just signal for me to stay quiet.

All that preoccupied my worries was the knife in my hoodie, and the emptiness of night. The lack of sound somehow left me more unsettled than anything before, every step amplified like a light would be surrounded by shadows.

“Wait.”

Shining halted, raising his chin and peering into the darkness. I did the same, leaning down and trying to hide behind a tree the best I could. He shifted around in the dark, the only thing illuminating him was the magic coming from his horn, and the sword enshrouded in the same blue glow.

There was a green flash, and then a small bolt came out of the woods towards Shining. He reacted swiftly, bringing his sword around and catching the brunt of the magic in the center. The blade held before reflecting the magic towards a nearby tree, vaporizing a hole in it as it gave in to its own weight and fell.

Enough force was behind the spell that forced Shining off his hooves, tumbling outside of the bushes we were hiding in right out of sight. I followed, finding myself in a clearing.

The same clearing Trixie and I were in the last loop.

“Of course it's you two! The little troublemakers that were.”

Chrysalis entered the clearing opposite of us, her horn steaming as that clacking noise rang out in the night. This time, a small saddlebag was attached to her side, closed but filled to the brim with those same jagged rocks in the cave.

“Chara,” Shining stumbled to his hooves, the magic around his horn flickering out until eventually disappearing entirely. The sword fell to his hands, falling into his grip as he twirled it to face Chrysalis. A furious scowl etched its way into his face, practically snarling as he sneered. “Get the bag. I’d feel a lot more confident in my sword skills if you did. I’ll handle the rest.”

Chrysalis’ vibrant eyes turned to me, then glanced down at her bag as she held it closer to her side.

“Just you try it. I’ll do to you what those mutts couldn’t.”

She dug her holed hooves into the ground, entire body glowing like a firefly as she began to condense her magic, a bubble-like shield forming around her.

I pulled out my dagger, barely able to hold it in my hand from how sweaty my palms had become. As soon as I did, I felt this tug from my pocket. This absolute yearning.

It was like with that statue.

For a moment, there was a disconnect between ‘me’ and ‘my body’. I watched as I reached for the amulet in my right pocket, bringing it to my neck. Maybe it was just the moonlight, but it seemed to radiate some kind of black light.

It was cold to the touch, and made me shudder when I placed it on my neck. Reaching around and hearing the click of the clasp.

Right where it belonged.

Comments

[Aresnightsworn]

Time for Chrissy to dance with the demon

[Velvet-Fresh]

Megalo lives again

[Shadic Midnight Blitzer]

Wonder what LV the Amulet will artificially give Chara (in term of stats). Can't immediately be 19, can it? I feel it'd probably be closer to the LV that you'd have while fighting Undyne the Undying.

So like LV 10, still a hard fight but possible to overcome.

[Kichi]

With the title, the only thing I could think was the song "I'm seeing a red door and I'm going to paint it black"

[Diamondized]

This may end badly. I wouldn't be surprised if wearing the amulet results in a reset.

[TrueEnder]

oh shoot, it's going down. this is about to get dangerous.

i'm going to be honest, i just finished binging this on a whim, not really expecting too much. i have never been more glad to be more wrong about my initial impressions of a fic. i've gone from curious to engrossed to legitimately invested, and over half of that is due to your characterisation of chara and those around her. it's just really compelling to read, and i'm hotly anticipating what you've got in the works. 👍

tangentially, while it had clicked that mrs. cake was a changeling... trixie. now there's something i barely saw coming. i mean i had some vague suspicions, but by no means was i certain. well played.
and of course, this means that there was, actually, a changeling in canterlot... whoops.