Changing Expectations: Reflections

by KKSlider

Phasma Is Considerably More Evil But He Is The Main POV Character So It’s Okay 4/4

The wait was long. Isolated out in the middle of nowhere, the Division-P agent’s call for backup would take a while. I questioned them on the fact that they didn’t bring all their guns out to arrest me, but they didn’t have any real answers.

No backup plans, no emergency teleports, no supplies in case they got stranded out in the snow forests and plains outside. Absolutely nothing.

“Idiots,” I mumbled.

“What?”

I looked up and saw Daring Do looking at me intently.

“I said you got a smoke?”

She frowned, “That’s not what you said.”

I grunted, “No, but I think I’ve made my point on your ‘plan’ very clear.”

The pegasus glanced over at the other side of the rapidly-cooling carriage, where the Elements were huddled together. Some of them had taken the news better than others. All of them were still quite upset with me, given that I freely admitted to killing anyone who threatened me.

“I expected you to fight,” Daring said. “Your kind always does. Nopony just… surrenders. What’s your angle?”

Sweetie Drops watched our conversation with a curious eye. She apparently shared this line of questioning.

“My kind?” I quoted.

Daring nodded to me, “You know… bad guy? Villain?”

I smiled, “Villain. It was certainly fun to play the part. Just wish people I cared about would stop dying.”

“None of this would have happened if you just surrendered from the start,” Sweetie chimed in.

“Oh, gee, why didn’t I think of that?” I mocked her. “I suppose I got distracted sometime between my friends and subjects getting slaughtered, and mother dearest throwing me around like I’m a volleyball. From the start– do you have any idea how many people died that night?”

Daring nodded, “Four hundred changelings, Thirty-four Royal Guards. The number has been going up since. Though I’m sure you’ll be happy to hear that they’ve been increasing in equal numbers. Sometimes there’s even more Royal Guards fallen than changelings.”

I slumped, “Four hundred on the first day of defeat. More since. Though most of that was from our little civil war… Four hundred out of twenty thousand… That’s what, two percent? Two percent of our entire species dead in a single day. I barely got out alive. Sometimes, I start to question if I did. But then I remember.”

When I didn’t continue, Daring raised an eyebrow, “Remember what?”

Instead of staring her down, I switched my focus to the specter of Oestridae. Sloth stood patiently in the group of ponies, the pastel mares unaware of the murdered changeling in between them.

‘Convince the Elements of Harmony not only to spare me, but to turn against Daybreaker. Panar, I haven’t a snowball’s chance in hell.’

“I’m tired, Daring Do. Tired of fighting. Not personally, no, I could go to bat against every last one of you murderers and still have enough in me to give Daybreaker my all. No, I’m tired of losing. Tired of hearing every single report from our skirmishes with Division-P. Tired of hearing who we lost this time. Tired of wondering if today’s the day the door gets kicked down and a team of War Mages burns us alive. You want to know what my angle is? I want the Elements of Harmony to end this nightmare, and kill Daybreaker.”

Twilight split off and marched over to me.

Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang.

“If you’ve got something to say to us, then say it.”

“Eavesdropping, little unicorn?” I asked rhetorically.

Twilight glared at me, “The whole train cart is thirty hooves across and it’s one room. We can hear everything you say. I want to make sure I heard you correctly, what did you say?”

“I asked if you had a smoke.”

She shook her head, “A recent study found that those things are linked to cancer, you know.”

I leaned back against the wooden crate behind me, “A cigarette contains over seventy known carcinogens.”

Twilight blinked in surprise, “That’s… not something I’ve heard about. But if you know that, why are you asking for one?!”

“Forget it,” I sigh, trying to ignore the shivering.

Twilight snorted derisively, “One more question to ask later, I suppose. I… I hope you’re nothing more than a liar, King Phasma. If even a fraction of what you say is true…”

I shrugged, “There’s a lot of chemicals, but a lot of them–”

“Not smoking!” Twilight yelled, stamping a hoof.

The outburst put everypony on guard. I sensed the hostility a moment before she snapped, and had the wisdom to at least suppress the reflex to hurl a spell at her.

She ran a hoof through her mane, “Harmony, what went wrong? Why’s the world upside down?”

“The Nightmares,” I reminded her.

Sweetie Drops butted back in, “If what you say about them is true, then… Princess Daybreaker also accused you of being possessed.”

“Do I look possessed? I’m still me.”

“You changed,” Applejack called out from her spot between me and the more sullen and withdrawn Elements of Harmony. “Your eyes and magic used to be as orange as… well, oranges.”

“If you were possessed by a Nightmare,” Twilight continued, “that could be why you have k– hurt so many ponies! If Prince Phasma kept the invasion nonlethal, and it was the Nightmares responsible for starting everything…”

In the middle of the pony huddle, Oestridae was shaking his head.

‘What do you want me to do, then? Say it was all me, but also they should still kill Daybreaker and not me? Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re going to say. I started this, figure it out. Figure out a way to tell them all I’m… a villain– super villain without getting them so riled up that they don’t kill me. And still convince them to go after Daybreaker. This was a stupid idea, but it’s all I have left...’

“Look, girls,” I interrupted their brainstorming. “I’m… not a good person. There’s no shining light at the end of the tunnel. Trust me, I know.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked, turning back to me.

I examined one of my hooves, “I admit, I’m not sure what to say here. I’ve killed people. Most of them, I don’t even think twice about. One or two, well… I hope that whatever world they find themselves in, it’s a better world than the one I took from them.”

“Only one or two?” Applejack questioned.

“You don’t sound very remorseful for all the…” Rarity trailed off.

“I’m sure you all appreciate honesty,” I said, standing up and walking up to Twilight. “So I’ll be completely honest here. I need you all to take down Daybreaker. I would also love it if I didn’t die along the way. And in order to execute this masterstroke of manipulation… I don’t know what to say or do to convince all of you. The only thing I can think of is how easy it would be to rip you apart and leave your bodies out in the snow. I mean, honestly, no immediate backup?! All it would take is a single strike against any of the six of you, and I can take the rest of you out one by one.”

The ponies reeled back, the Agents swiftly stepping in between me and the Elements.

“And you,” I looked down at the Division-P crooks. “I don’t even need you two. I could drain you dry of your emotions– leave you nothing more than withered husks– and I wouldn’t lose a single minute of sleep!”

“Like we’d give you the chance!” Rainbow taunted.

I laughed, “You wouldn’t be involved in the decision making process, Loyalty. Just how far away is your backup, exactly? It’s been an hour and they’re still not here!”

"Let's just calm down, now," Applejack said. "We're just talking. That goes both ways, Rainbow."

"I need an answer," I said, stepping towards them. "Daybreaker will kill or enslave the changelings if she isn't stopped. Do you understand this?"

Twilight shared a worried look with her friends, "We need more time to think about this, and to investigate what you claim…"

"That's as good of a start as I can hope for," I sigh. "Fine, then. We'll be in touch."

Sweetie edged closer to me, "You're not going anywhere."

I snorted, "I think you'll find that I-"

I stopped mid-sentence with a deep frown. The teleportation spell had fizzled out right as I tried to cast it, yet none of the unicorns present had not done anything to stop me.

"... Have been interdicted," I growled. "How?!"

The Division agents shuffled to keep themselves between me and the Elements.

"Our backup arrived thirty minutes ago," Twilight announced. "We pulled everypony to here, even the ones waiting at this train's destination."

"Didn't want our boys to go in without full-force," Daring explained. "We're not going to have a repeat of Seaddle."

Slowly, I backpedaled towards the train door behind me. The Agents kept their distance with me, shuffling forward to keep me in striking distance. As I opened the door and leaned out, bracing against the cold wind, I saw a battalion of Royal Guards surrounding the train, hunched down against the snow.

Their horns and spears were pointing right at me.

"... Any of you got a light?"

---

My chitin itched as we waited, and I readjusted my posture for the fiftieth time this hour. Even with the chair dragged over so my back was to the wall, I still felt exposed. In fact, I felt as naked as the day I was hatched.

… Not even my usual jokes distracted me from the stakes at hoof.

I kept one eye and ear to the door as I gazed out the sitting room's massive floor-to-ceiling window that took up the wall to my left. Canterlot looked gorgeous with its coat of snow.

'It's here, and so damn close! I bet all the drones in Locksdale can feel my Weave. What are they thinking? How many of them are still breathing?'

The door opened and my heart leaped into my throat.

The six War Mages stepped aside to let the newcomer in. My breath left me in a relieved wheeze when I saw that it wasn't Daybreaker who had arrived. Instead, it was the abject failure who decided to grace me with her presence.

"You're alive," Princess Luna breathed. "All this time, you survived…"

"Why are you here?" I asked, glaring at her. "Cone to fetch me and drag me to Daybreaker?"

Luma walked further into the room, towards me. She froze when I abruptly rose from my seat and faced her. At the same time, the six mages took up battle stances behind her. Luna's flicked upwards to my horn.

"... You don't have a suppression ring," Luna pointed out.

Daring Do, from her seat across the room from Me, addressed the Princess, "Your Highness, the Elements decided to… forgo that security measure in favor of avoiding a fight."

Luna glanced at the Agent, nodded once, then stepped closer to Mr. Slowly, she lifted a hoof and reached out to me.

"Why are you here?!" I growled.

Her hoof faltered, "... I gave up on you."

"Oh, you gave up alright," I hissed.

Luna set her hoof down and cleared her throat, "Forgive me, Phasma. We never really properly met, have we? Only briefly, during that fateful night…”

“If you’re going to start quoting poetry or singing…” I trailed off. “You’re far too late.”

Luna looked hurt, and I easily sensed sadness coming from her, “On that, we can agree. I apologize for failing you, Phasma. But I shall not again. This time, things shall turn out for the better–”

“Cut the crap already!” I snarled. “I’m about to face Daybreaker, the scourge of the legions. There’s nothing better about this. If you were hoping for some chance to,” I did air-quotes with my hooves, “‘save me,’ then you’re going to be disappointed. Either Daybreaker is about to kill me, or they are about to kill Daybreaker. And I get the feeling that I know which is more likely…”

I withdrew into myself, tucking my legs against my barrel as I stared at the ground.

‘I might have done a decent enough job at convincing the Elements that Daybreaker needs to be stopped, but they need evidence. They want time. Daybreaker won’t be giving me any of that, I suspect. Either she’ll kill me, or she’ll…’

I heard Mother Dearest’s voice whisper into my ear, “Oh, I don’t think Daybreaker has any reason to bestow that fate, nymph. But if we are going to rot in a prison cell, Phasma, then I will be more than happy to take control and leave you where I found you…”

A blue hoof reached out and touched the armrest on my right side, and I flinched back in surprise, almost toppling over. The alicorn’s cyan eyes studied me.

“Do not give up hope, Phasma,” Luna said. “My…. new sister may be temperamental at times, but she will have many reasons to keep you alive.”

“That’s not exactly reassuring,” I whispered. “You know what she is, don’t you? Have you spoken with the Elements yet?”

“The mares did not tell me a single thing that I did not already know,” Luna said, the cold pain of sadness cutting through me at such a close distance. “Celestia…. I will save her, too. I’ll save everypony, Phasma. Just… hold on. I know you can do that. Harmony has given me a second chance to set things right.”

I sneered, “The Goddess abandoned us. We make our own luck, pony, and I have cast my die. Let’s hope I wasn’t a fool for throwing everything away for this small chance. Now, go, before I start taking my frustration out on you for your failure.”

She withdrew her hoof, “... I am not Nightmare Moon. You know this. You’ve said as much on the night that this city burned. You are frightened, Phasma, but I promise you that you won’t perish.”

“There are fates worse than death.”

She paled, “Yes… you’re right about that. But none of that is welcome here in the Palace. Not even Daybreaker would abide that.”

I almost told her that Daybreaker’s more ‘friendly’ ways of dealing with me would result in that fate, but I spied the demon once more, lurking behind Daring Do as a floating body of one of my siblings. The damned thing was as subtle as a brick when it came to threatening me, but it was quite the fucking brick…

“I wish I could offer you advice,” Luna said, slowly stepping back. “I wish there were some clever words to say, some wisdom to impart. The truth is, I have no idea what to tell you, other than I will save you from the Nightmare possessing you, Phasma.”

I rolled my eyes, crossed my forelegs, and turned away from her.

“I’m not the one who’s possessed, Daybreaker is,” I lied.

“Your eyes are red, Phasma. Even without such an obvious detail, I can smell the Dark Magic within you.”

I turned back, but she was gone, the doors swinging shut. Where she once stood, I saw myself, looking down at me.

“We lie in the same grave, Phasma,” Sloth said. “If I get buried, so do you.”

“You’re the fucker who’s making it obvious,” I hissed.

“What did you say?”

I blinked and looked over at Daring Do. I averted my gaze, staring down at the ground again and turning away from the door. There wasn’t a point to keeping the pretense of being alert for threats.

---

For the second time in my second life, I found myself walking up the Canterlot Palace’s main hallway to its throne room, unsure if I was going to die or not. I had been told that ‘everypony’ was waiting for me, and was being escorted by Daring Do. Now, the secret agent was actually walking behind me, alongside six fully-geared war mages, but I still considered that being escorted.

The whole place had finished its repairs since the duels between Celestia, Chrysalis, myself, and Daybreaker. I had to compliment the ponies: I couldn’t tell what was new or what was original. Everything from the new stained glass windows to the marble columns seemed as old as the rest of the Palace.

As I admired the windows, my distorted reflection glared back at me.

“You should have ran after delivering your side of the story to the Elements.”

“Wouldn’t have believed me,” I whispered back to the Nightmare.

“What was that?” Daring asked from behind me.

Sloth, appearing only as we passed by each window, snarled at me, “Perhaps, but we wouldn’t be facing down certain death!”

“Everything or nothing,” I sighed.

I caught the war mages whispering to each other, “– that we’ve been hunting? Seems like a washed up lunatic.”

“Quiet!” Their sergeant barked. “Eyes forward, prisoner!”

I rolled my eyes but complied nonetheless. I was happy to ignore Sloth. Unfortunately, he kept talking.

“There’s always time to escape,” it said. “Thankfully, you had the brains to stand your ground and refuse chains and a suppressor ring. When I say run, you better run, because if I have to take direct control, I won’t be giving it back. We’ve made it this far together, Phasma, don’t throw everything away on a fool’s hope.”

I whispered through clenched teeth, “Isn’t this the second time you’ve given me this ultimatum?”

We arrived before the Nightmare could answer. The pair of large double doors before us slowly swung open as the Royal Guards eyed me suspiciously. The conversation in the throne room fell away as we stepped through the opening doors.

In addition to the thirty guards spaced out along the room, I saw the Elements of Harmony gathered at the base of the thrones, as well as Princess of Food Mi Amore Cadenza and her fiance Captain Shining Armor. Above them, on the thrones, sat Princess Luna and her older sister…

Daybreaker.

The Nightmare-possessed alicorn rose from the throne and stalked down the raised dias towards us.

“Why is he not in chains?!” Daybreaker demanded.

“Because I asked nicely,” I countered.

Her fiery mane whipped back and forth as she growled, “Such pleasantries are to be denied to murderers like you!”

“Takes one to know one, Daybreaker,” I spat back.

The Princess of Food interrupted us, “King Phasma is making an… allegation, Auntie. He says that you are possessed by a monster, like how Luna was with Nightmare Moon.”

Daybreaker paused, examining the smaller pink alicorn by her side, “... Don’t tell me you believed that. The best lies are shrouded around kernels of truth– my appearance and demeanor did change after my fight with Queen Chrysalis, but I had lost everything… Anypony would be changed by something like that.”

Cadance glanced up at Luna, who remained stoic, save for a very small shake of her head.

I came to a halt before the pony congregation as Daybreaker pointed at me, “This wretch is, and always has been, an unredeemable murder, a rot that seeks to destroy Equestria from within and from without. He is the one possessed!”

Twilight cleared her throat, her nervousness almost hidden to the non-changelings, “Your Highness? King Phasma has shared some… disturbing news about Division-P. He claims that the changeling holding facility at Locksdale prison is… Uh…”

I began listing off the intel I had gathered, “Torture, mutilation, starvation, experimentation, execution, non-existent living conditions… the list goes on.”

Daybreaker narrowed her eyes, “Our enemy would claim that we devour the souls of fillies and colts if it meant shaking our faith in Equestria, Twilight. I had hoped that you understood this…”

“If it’s all the same, Your highness,” Applejack interceded, “we’d like to be absolutely sure.”

Only I detected the wave of rage that Daybreaker kept suppressed, “... Of course, Applejack. We can investigate this liar’s claims immediately with a visit to Locksdale, and all of your worries will be put to rest.”

“Better go before she can sweep it all under the rug,” I said.

Daybreaker rounded back towards me, “You. You had escaped from me in Manehattan– a failure of mine which has cost many lives. I’ve made many mistakes in my long life, changeling, but I’ve never made them twice. This ends today.”

I smiled, “Martyr me, then. With my death, no pony would stand by your side if you hurt my changelings.”

“Is that why you didn’t flee or fight back?” Daybreaker questioned, before glancing at the Elements out of the corner of her eyes. “I’m not a murderer, King Phasma. That role has been sufficiently overbooked by your kind.”

“There’s a smoldering ruin in Manehattan that says otherwise.”

“I seem to recall that particular building having housed dozens of infiltrating changelings at the time, and I was working to protect my ponies…”

“Liar!” I yelled before turning to the other ponies. “Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Daybreaker is a monster who will end the changeling race if you don’t save us! There is no escaping her Rage, only ending it! You have to destroy this Nightmare!”

“The only Nightmare here is you, Sloth,” Daybreaker said. “I have done nothing wrong. I can present every action I am accountable for for all to see. I have nothing to hide. But you? Hooferville, Manehattan, Seaddle… You bring death to wherever you go.”

My blood ran cold, “Hooferville was not my fault! Your Royal Guard attacked me! If they were needed for the defense of the town, they shouldn’t have gone picking fights!”

“They were enforcing the law, as their duty demands,” Daybreaker countered. “Because you brutalized them and put all of them in the hospital, dozens died days later when the defenses fell. This is all to say nothing of the crimes you committed in Seaddle and Manehattan! What excuses do you have for those?!”

“I offer none,” I spat. “I will do whatever it takes to save my people.”

“And you claim that I am different?!” Daybreaker laughed. “Twilight, Applejack, the difference between us is as clear as day.” I gagged at the pun while she continued, “There is only one true course of action here: use the Elements of Harmony on this criminal. Harmony will burn away the darkness within him.”

“I came here without a fight,” I told them. “I put my fate in your hooves, because nothing less could convince you that I am being honest here: Daybreaker has to go!”

“This was not the plan!” Oestridae’s ghost hissed at me, pressing a hoof to my chest. “You are supposed to convince them, not put things to chance!”

The mares were clearly torn between us, sharing a few whispers that I was too far to overhear. They looked to Cadance and Luna for guidance.

Cadance had her eyes glued on me, “I have witnessed firsthoof what you are capable of, changeling. But… I don’t trust Division-P. I… Princess Luna?”

Luna leaned back on her throne as the ponies looked up to her for guidance. At such a distance, I had no idea what emotions she was experiencing, and was as blind as everyone else was to her thought processes. My concentration on reading her expression was shattered by a sudden pain lancing through my head.

‘You trust these fools too much!’

I blinked and shook my head. The sound of whispers grew louder and louder with each beating of my heart. The room started to spin as the pain intensified.

‘I will not leave my fate up to chance! I will not have my life decided by the whims of mortals! You’ve had your chance, Phasma.’

I wobbled on my hooves, faltered, and fell. The world went black as I fell.

‘N-No!’

It was not my body that hit the floor, but my mind. One second I was looking at the ponies, hoping that they would side with me, and the next I was in a dark, empty space. Sights, sounds, and other senses filtered through like hazy echoes, save for the whispering. It was louder than ever. It was louder than any other sound. It drowned out the sound of my breathing. It drowned out the sound of my own heartbeat.

At last, I understood them. They spoke in my own voice, lulling me to sleep.

‘The last seal breaks. Your voice harmonizes with mine.’

‘Ouroboros, the snake that eats its tail, the infinite loop of unending death.’

‘This is not the beginning. This is not the end. It simply is. We are as we always have been. Something more than those around us.’

The only outward sign of what had taken place was Phasma stumbling and catching himself a moment later. We froze like that, tilted at a wrong angle, resisting gravity’s pull. Slowly, we righted ourselves. Everyone else was too consumed in their arguments to pay us any heed. Everyone else save for Wrath.

“Enough talk,” we whispered. “There has been too much of it already.”

“Something we can agree on,” Daybreaker whispered back.

Despite the distance between us, our voices were perfectly clear and loud in each other’s minds. We were of a piece, of course: the umbrum.

Instead of trading insults, making demands, or conversing further, we leapt into action. The umbrums’ dark energy flowed through our veins and suffused our entire body. We dashed forward, not through physical space but through the gap between worlds. Outwardly, we were nothing but a shadow. Inwardly, we launched ourselves at the blood red sun daring to stand against us.

A blade of black flame met one of red fire. Wrath snarled back, growling through gritted teeth as we held our blades against each other. With a heave, it pushed us off. The ponies blanched, surprised by our sudden apparent teleportation and strike against Wrath.

Then, Wrath was upon us.

It was a fight like none we had ever faced before. The last time we met, it took everything we had to dodge her attacks– we were at almost every single moment on the defensive. This time, it was a dance that shattered glass and solid stone alike, each step threatening to rip limb from limb. We cast and discarded spells like a bored human would change channels on a television: never staying for more than a few seconds, sometimes less than a single one, and always a blur of activity.

Swords, shields, lasers, elemental spells, kinetic force, transmutation, and many more types were thrown out and countered between heartbeats.

Parry, thrust, riposte, pirouette, dive, roll.

Daybreaker had power. We had flexibility.

Block, counter, block again, teleport, heel turn, kick, closed change.

She had speed. We had versatility.

Our dance was not limited to the ground, either. Both of us had wings and the intelligence to use them. Her giant pegasus wings cut through the air like a well cut arrow. Our insect wings, in contrast, let us dodge and strafe in ways that constantly left her baffled and wrong-hoofed. The entire throne room was our battleground, with errant charges and flanking maneuvers taking us through shattered pillars, darting through the grand vaulted ceiling, and through the occasional wall or window.

In short order, the Palace’s throne room was once again a growing heap of rubble. Between slashes and blocks between conjured blades, we saw that the ponies had all congregated together behind Shining Armor’s shields, hoping to avoid the wild blasts of magic we scattered across the room.

Both of us began accumulating wounds. There was only so much we could do against Wrath’s relentless onslaught, and in short order our chitin was cracked in more places than we could count. But as we blood seeped through the cracks, Wrath’s own dripped from the various cuts we had inflicted with well-placed attacks.

Wrath had been expecting us to be on the defensive again. But after our humiliation in Manehattan, we learned all I could about maneuverability and deflecting attacks rather than fully blocking them. Any beam of solar plasma shot at us was quickly redirected away. Any jab or cut from a blade was parried away and followed up with an attack of our own– up to and including a shoulder-check if needed.

We fought as dirty as we could. Throwing our physical and magical weight against her when we could, biting and kicking when we couldn’t. Wrath’s hot rage grew and grew as we literally nipped at her heels, drawing blood and ire in equal measures. Her decorative peytral and horseshoes began to drip molten gold as she let her fire overtake her.

Their constant use of fire against us was painful. Our body was blistered and burnt in more places than it was cracked.

Laser, shield, ice spear, belly-flop, roll, leg sweep into an enhanced buck.

The blood was roaring in our ears. Our heart beat hard in our chest. The smell of burnt fur and chitin filled our nostrils. The taste of fear was in the air.

Wrath was quick to catch onto any trick we used against them. Our teleports were quickly countered by strong area-affecting spells. Dodging under or around them was put to an end by an empowered hoof kicking out to break ribs. We had more than enough tricks to win any other battle, but this was a duel between gods, and they had more time to grow accustomed to their form than we had. One by one, our fighting techniques were picked apart and countered by the creature of the same twisted fate. Time had rusted their movement, but not her mind.

When they paused, we took the opportunity to catch our breath. We stared Wrath down, panting heavily and trying to get the pain in our chest under control.

“There!” Wrath called out, pointing to us. “Don’t you see?! It’s as clear as day, Twilight!”

We didn’t need a mirror to know what she was talking about. We could feel it coursing through our body, mind, and magic. We could feel the energy pushing life back into our muscles, knitting our chitin, and spilling from our eyes in pure magical energy. The green vapors trailed behind our head as we stalked around Wrath.

Wrath glanced at the Element bearers, “Dark magic! He’s possessed, you must use the Elements upon him!”

“Enough, Wrath!” We called out. “There is room for only one monarch on Equus! You wish to control the sun. He wishes to devour it. But I shall set things right, and put the heavenly bodies into their own cycles! I am sick of this world’s perversion of the heavens. After I kill you, I will free the sun and the moon! So let it be written! So let it be done!”

This time, it was our turn to lunge. Wrath cast a well-aimed beam of fire hot enough to melt steel, aimed straight at our face. We didn’t dodge away, We didn’t teleport out of the line of fire, and we certainly didn’t bother trying to block it.

Instead, as we galloped towards Rage Incarnate, we filled our being with all the dark magic we could muster and simply slipped between the cracks in the world. Our body turned to shadow as we dashed straight through her attack. The beam distorted and displaced the shadows, but did nothing to harm us.

When we phased back into reality, our right hoof was already launching upwards to upper-cut Wrath. The parasite spun from the hit, flying upwards and backwards several paces before it stabilized itself.

Blood dripped from its nose.

We charged again.

We wanted to rip Wrath limb from limb. We wanted to inflict upon it all the pain and death the parasite had caused our race. We wanted to kill the Nightmare, and we were going to make it quick.

The last thing we saw was her horn glowing greenish-red before a light of those same colors filled our vision. We felt ourselves tossed through the air. Now, we had both thrown each other across the room, through pillars and walls, and into the ground many times. But when the light faded, there was only darkness.

Wrath had predicted where we emerged from the shadows, and had struck me right in our face. We couldn’t feel our face from the mouth up. In addition to sight, we had also lost most of our ability to smell.

But we could taste its rage and mirth. We could feel each ripple of magic in the air. We could hear them just fine. Wrath had scored a good hit, but we were far from done.

“What’s done in the dark will be brought to the light!” The insufferable Nightmare cackled.

We turned towards the monster’s voice, “I will carve your fate into the very stars themselves, so that everyone will look up at the night sky and see your failure!”

The font of hatred moved. Moments later, the magic in the air wove and rippled as a spell was hurled our way. We ducked to the side, letting a fireball sizzle past me, and spun around, striking the Nightmare’s intended destination with a roundhouse kick that was strengthened with some of our dwindling love reserves. The blow cracked a magical shield that came into being between our hindleg and its face.

Once more, we danced across the Throne room. It was a shorter, close-quarters dance, almost like a waltz. Wrath used their speed to catch me off guard more often. We used the fact that we no longer even had to look at the Nightmare to constantly throw out unexpected attacks.

When the cascade of spells failed, we were on the ground, biting, kicking, rolling, spitting, snarling, yelling, and firing off useless lasers that always missed their marks.

“Now!”

The blistering form that filled our senses with its hate vanished moments later, leaving me behind in a crater of crushed marble.

‘... That wasn’t Wrath’s voice.’

As we struggled to our hooves, we sensed it before we felt it. A wall of energy, so dense, vast, and absolute that it left us staring at it like a blind deer in the headlights. We could feel the emotions poured into it, every last scrap of love, happiness, kindness, and the other irrelevant sensations. we felt its speed from the gust of wind and chips of broken stone thrown into our face and chest. When it hit me, we felt the power of the Elements of Harmony coursing straight through me, burning away the dark magic that suffered every inch of our being.

As the mountain of magic crashed down upon me, we screamed as we were burned alive.

---

The pain faded. The smells faded. Everything faded… save for sound. There were voices in the distance, but I couldn’t make them out. The ponies, I knew that, but who was saying what…

I tried to blink my eyes open and look around to see what was going on. The first thing I noticed was that I still couldn’t see. In short order, the memory of what had just happened returned to me. My eyesight was destroyed by Daybreaker, and it would not be returned until I found the time to use a changeling healing pod.

The second thing I noticed is that I didn’t look around. I didn’t raise my head, I didn’t groan and cough, I didn’t place my hooves beneath me and push up from the ground. I didn’t do anything.

I wasn’t doing anything.

‘No…’

I tried to stand up. I tried to shake my head. I tried to twitch a hoof. I tried to scream.

‘No! No no no no! Please, no! No!’

I couldn’t breathe. I felt phantom pressure on my chest and the horrible feeling of utter stillness where my heart was. I was suffocating– I couldn’t breathe! I couldn’t open my mouth, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t scream for help, I couldn’t breathe!

‘Someone help! I don’t know– help! Help me! Someone, please! It can’t end like this…’

The voices were my only connection to the outside world. I focused hard, ignoring the utter stillness of the world to try to listen to the distant ponies.

“... again?” One distant voice called out. The higher, raspy voice belonged to Element of Loyalty Rainbow Dash. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“You’re using a powerful artifact that nopony fully understands,” she said. “Indeed, nothing might happen, or I could be banished to the moon for a thousand years….”

“No!” Luna called out. “You will not suffer such a fate!”

“Don’t worry, Princess,” Twilight said. “We’ll… figure this out.”

‘I need help! Someone! Help!’

“– on the changeling king again, right?” The Element of Honesty asked, almost too quiet to hear.

“We will,” Twilight Sparkle said.

“... Once the war is over,” Daybreaker added. The rest of the ponies mumbled confused responses before the monster continued, “You all know what that murderer has done. If we let him wander the halls, or even risk keeping him in a cell, who knows what will happen. Don’t you think that the tribe capable of infiltrating anywhere will work to free him– and then what will happen? How many ponies will be murdered in the escape attempt?”

“You’re saying just leave him like that?” Applejack questioned.

‘Get me out of here– wherever here is! Help me! Help!’

I tried to thrash against whatever held me, but to no avail. I couldn’t even feel anything. I didn’t feel the pain of broken chitin, or the gnawing of hunger, or the endless whispers from that demon that clung to my mind. Simply… nothing.

“I don’t know,” Luna said, continuing a conversation I was only partially hearing. “I just–”

“We will go to Locksdale,” Daybreaker interrupted. “We will see everything that is going on. If I am right, then there is nothing to fear. If the changeling villain was right, then we will put an end to all of it.”

“.... We’re going right now,” Twilight insisted.

“Agreed,” Rarity added.

The rest of the Elements added their support, and Cadance too.

“What do we do with… him?” The Captain of the Guard said.

Daybreaker’s voice called out, “... Take the statue somewhere secure. We will find a place until it is safe to free him.”

‘Statue?! N-No, don’t– get me the fuck out of here! Someone, please, help me!’

“.... Fine,” Rainbow Dash huffed. “But we’re not letting the Elements out of our sight!”

The sound of hoofsteps approached me. It was the soft clip-clop of hooves on the marble floors, coupled with the slightly high-pitched sound of bits of gravel scraping against the hard floor. A faint clanking of armor made itself known, identifying the ponies as Royal Guards.

“Just when the place is back to new,” a mare whispered.

“Like mother, like son,” a stallion whispered back. “C’mon, I’ll take the rear if you take the head.”

“... Be careful,” a third pony said softly. “Bring him to the vaults for now. We’ll find a proper place soon.”

‘Luna?! Nightmare Moon?! Envy! Whoever you are, just help me! I’ll do whatever you want, give you anything and everything– just help me! Please!’

The crinkle of magic surrounded me, but once again I felt nothing. Before, I would have sensed the movement of magic around me as the telekinesis was used. I would have felt the emotions of the ponies that surrounded me. There was nothing but the dead stillness now.

Luna was close now, speaking to my face, “... Sleep well, Phasma. I will find a way to get through all of this with no more ponies getting hurt. I’ll protect your changelings for you. I will get the Bearers to turn against Daybreaker for good.”

‘No! Help me now! Luna! Please!’

“Uh, Princess? Something we should know about… the Princess?” One of the guards asked.

‘Don’t leave me like this! Please… Luna, don’t leave me like this! Kill me!’

“... You’ve heard everything, young colt,” Luna mumbled, ignoring my cries for mercy. “But I understand that it may be hard to hear.”

The mare pawed the ground, “I mean… it doesn’t make sense? You changed appearance, Your Highness, when you were, uh… Nightmare Moon, but if Daybreaker is just the same… wouldn’t the Prince of Dread have changed appearance, too? And name?”

Luna sighed, “Get him to the vault, Cadet.”

‘Luna! Kill me! Don’t damn me to this, end it! Luna! Please! Please! Luna!’

Comments

[ObsPerson]

And now, Phas is given the ol' Discord special. No wonder he's insane. Mans trapped in a statue for thousands of years.

[tsaukpaetra]

He's undead, the end! 🎉
Honestly surprised the Elements didn't diffuse and attack Daybreaker as well.

[KatieBreeze]

Our dance was not limited to the ground, either. Both of us had wings and the intelligence to use them. Her giant pegasus wings cut through the air like a well cut arrow. Our insect wings, in contrast, let us dodge and strafe in ways that constantly left her baffled and wrong-hoofed. The entire throne room was our battleground, with errant charges and flanking maneuvers taking us through shattered pillars, darting through the grand vaulted ceiling, and through the occasional wall or window.

I wish I could see Rainbows reaction right now, after being so sure she and her friends would be able to take on Phasma...

[HK-FortySeven]

Here lies Phasma
He never scored