Chapter 9: Silver Tongued Liar
“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.”
- Dalai Lama
Chapter 9: Silver Tongued Liar
Nightmare Moon POV
Roughly 1000 years ago…
He was staring at my night sky again. In the space of two weeks, my little moon had been married, and become a widower. Yet he wasn’t staring upwards because of that. He always did this around midnight. No, it was tradition that caused him to stargaze; to appreciate my night sky like no other. He was like my children of the night, but my actual blood. I flew to join him on the grassy knoll that lay several meters from the battlefield. He didn’t move a muscle, but I knew he was aware of my presence.
“You’re truly not upset, are you?” I asked.
“Why should I be? I barely knew the mare,” he replied dryly. “From the few days I knew her, she showed herself as nothing but a selfish, vile mare. Why you selected her as my fiancée, I will never know.”
“At the time I met her, she was quite polite, actually. Though she was clearly unintelligent.”
“Really? I consider getting drunk on a blimp and flying it over the enemy border so it gets shot down the height of intelligence,” he said with obvious sarcasm. “Natural Selection has been proven right again.”
“Do not speak such blasphemous words. The old gods will punish you for sure. Make sure to hold your tongue in the future. Evolution, what a ridiculous notion.” He merely rolled his eyes and we both fell into silence again.
Making the night sky had become a simple routine. When this war began, my sister and I drew a treaty that stated that day and night would continue as normal until there was a winner. When we win, night would never leave again, and this world would adapt to the new order, whether it wanted to or not. Of course, my army would not be aware of all of this, but I would cross that bridge when the time came.
“You have done well, little moon,” I assured him.
“I have, but our armies are failing. We must do something soon, or we run the risk of losing this conflict once and for all. Perhaps a direct confrontation is in order.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“Maybe we should allow her forces to come to us, and take them out in one attack. A battle between you and Scorching Sun will definitely lead to you as the victor.”
“Perhaps you are right. I will hold it under consideration.” I suddenly felt something nudge against me. My son held out a small yellow sweet in his hoof as an offering to me. I let out a hearty chuckle and gently took the sweet with my magic. “I see despite your maturity, your sweet tooth has remained.”
“You know better than anypony that my teeth will fall out before I have my last sweet,” he replied with a smile. I could not recall the last time he had smiled like that. As I popped the sweet in my mouth, I draped a wing around him and gently pulled him into a hug. He did not struggle, but instead embraced the gesture by nuzzling up to me. “I saw your scientists working on something made for me.”
My breathing stopped for a moment, and I swallowed the mainly whole sweet. My eyes glanced down at him to see him now looking at me with worry. He blinked several times, as if he was recalling something he did not wish too. “What did you see?” I asked.
“Lots of metal and foreign technology.”
“What you saw was something we have developed over several weeks. What we used to create you was from my sister’s scientists,” I confessed. It was strange. I had never mentioned this before, but I surely thought I would have by now. Despite the admission, he didn’t seem surprised, or at the very least, he didn’t show it. “What we’re building is insurance, and that is all I wish to mention at this time.”
“I thought you’d say that,” he replied. “Very well, let’s enjoy the night then.”
“Yes, let’s.”
That would be the last precious memory of my colt I would ever have. The two of us together, looking up at the sky.
Guardian POV
Present Day…
My tree was beckoning me. As I pushed past the branches and foliage in my way, I breathed a sigh of relief as I felt myself grow closer to it. This forest was unnatural. It decided its own weather, and the paths were never constant in their direction. It was as if the forest rearranged itself. That was the one consistent thing about this place. If I didn’t have my connection to the tree of life, then I would have surely lost it years ago. Who knew what existed further in the Everfree? I had never explored enough to find out, for I have never felt the need before. But venturing to Canterlot of all places had fascinated me to the point where I was now considering it. I would likely not see it through, but I suppose it was nice to dream.
To dream. What use was there to dream? Dreams can only come true if one works for it. Dreams do not come true by sitting around and hoping, but there are some dreams that can never come true no matter how hard we hope and work for them. Some of us end up alone forever. Well, I’m not as alone as I once was, I suppose.
“It’s nice to see the Everfree hasn’t changed a bit. Or maybe it has, it’s rather difficult to tell,” the Doctor was muttering to himself again. I had raised no objections to them coming along, although I would have preferred to go by myself. I must admit that I often found myself amused by the Doctor’s ramblings, even to the point of chuckling. As long as they did as they were told, there would be no problems. Knowing Fade’s general mannerisms though, that would be unlikely. Still, I have had to slow my pace considerably. If I had traversed through the trees, I would be there already. Walking was not my preferred mode of transport, especially in the Everfree, where the majority of predators could be found skulking about. Then again, any predator that dared approach us would be a very foolish creature indeed. A pack may have the audacity, but they would meet a very quick end.
“Tell me, Doctor. Have you been to the Everfree before?” I asked.
“Yes. It’s a rather odd place. My TARDIS doesn’t like it here. In fact, she tends to try and avoid landing directly inside of it. Perhaps it’s to do with magic, as she’s never agreed with it. I once tried to fuel her up with magical energy and I ended up crashing through Cleopatra’s wall… again. I looked very different from the last time I saw her. Cleo still flirted a lot though, which says quite a bit.”
“That ship of yours,” Fade interjected, “exactly how big is it?”
“Do you mean the inside or the outside?”
“Uh… outside I guess?”
“Not very big. Enough to fill it up with a lifetime supply of cheese. Cheese for everyone as Lord Sheograth use to say. Actually scratch that, forget the cheese. That can be as much of a celebration if you don’t like cheese, do you like cheese, Fade?”
“… Not really, no.”
“Then congratulations to you.”
“Quiet. I can hear something,” I commanded. Their voices were not hushed, and in fact they were rather high pitched as they talked amongst themselves. The Doctor took out his little device and, like I had seen many times before, a small blue light and high pitch sound emitted from it. He pointed the device towards the sound.
“It’s nothing mechanical,” he said as he switched it off. “There’s over three of them. It would appear that you have some guests at your tree.”
Nothing else needed to be said as I shot upwards. I latched onto a branch and pulled myself up until I was out of sight. I slowed my breathing and inched my way across the branches. The trees were so close together that one could simply continue without having to jump to each branch. My large body had one unfortunate side effect. I couldn’t avoid making very small sounds, and in my worried state, I was making too many mistakes. I could have simply charged my foes, but recent events had caused me to act much more cautiously, so I opted to attack them when they least expected it.
I could still hear the faint sounds of chattering, but the voices that echoed around sounded strangely familiar. They were high pitched and joyful, not the noises somepony attempting a malicious act would make. As I drew closer, the sounds became instantaneously recognisable, and a large smile began to form on my face. My friends were here. Three of the only ponies I trusted in the entire world were by my tree. I still snuck upon them though, as they ventured in unprotected, and that deserved a good scare.
In a moment, I was above them. The forms of orange, white and yellow ponies were below me. The three fillies were discussing trivial things such as cutie marks and school and other things I couldn’t care less about. Still, they were friends, and if they wished to talk to me of these things, I never shooed them away. I fell gently, the web above me stopping me from falling straight to the ground, and when I had lowered myself far enough, I captured the three fillies into my arms and embraced them. At first they shrieked in fear, but all at the same time, they recognised who I was and embraced me back.
“Guardian!” They cried in unison. My companions came running through a bush, presumably because of the noise, and discovered a most unusual sight. The one called Scootaloo was the first to let go. Her cheeks a bright red at her display of affection. She coughed lightly and threw back her mane to look “awesome,” in her words. Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom let go at the same time, looking up at with unbridled glee. Any anger I had felt for them being here alone had swiftly departed. Problems arose when Scootaloo realised the ponies close by.
“Crap, Guardian, you need to go!” She cried, jumping between me and the Doctor. I felt a small sense of respect well up for the little filly, but I shook my head and gently placed a limb on her shoulder.
“It is alright. They are friends,” I assured. The Doctor took a couple of steps forward and looked down at the small filly.
“Scootaloo, I’m surprised you don’t recognise me. Then again, I did have a sharper chin the last time we met.” Scootaloo tilted her head in confusion, and the cutie mark crusaders walked up to her side. “Also, I had a distinct lack of hooves. In fact, the more I think about it, I looked completely different, didn’t I? Sorry, I’ve been like this for a while now and meeting my past forms has made me completely forget I used to be humanoid.”
“Wait, aren’t you that pony that Rarity really likes?” Sweetie asked. “You’re the Doctor, aren’t you?”
“Nah, the Doctor was much taller, and he didn’t have fur,” countered Scootaloo.
“Hold on a second. Ah recognize yer voice,” interrupted Apple Bloom. She squinted her eyes at the Timepony, and as the image became blurrier, she compared her mental image of the Doctor she knew, and found they matched. Their eyes were exactly the same, apart from the obvious differences, their facial structure were also very familiar. “Doctor! That’s you, ain’t it?” The Timepony nodded, and found the three fillies tackle him next. The sweet moment was short lived when Apple Bloom caught sight of Fade standing off to the side. “Hey mister, wha’ happened to ya?”
Fade gazed down at the filly. “Don’t play with matches, kid. That’s all I’m going to say on the matter.”
“I wouldn’t advise you girls to go for a firefighter cutie mark anytime soon,” added the Doctor. One more look at Fade caused all the fillies to nod their heads. For a moment, all was right in the world. My tree was safe, the fillies were safe, and I could breathe easily knowing those few I could trust still held that trust in high regard. The calm that took me over quickly dispersed, however, when I heard a bush rustle.
Without even thinking, a web shot latched onto something in the bush, and I pulled it out with all of my strength. The unicorn went flying and slammed into the closest tree. This started a chain of events, and three other unicorns jumped out from nearby foliage and mercilessly attacked, regardless of the young ones close by. I could hear their screams as the Doctor grabbed them and desperately ran out of the way to protect them. Fade threw off his jacket and bandages in record time to hide, but his jacket was left filled with holes from stray blasts.
Rage now controlled me, and I slammed a hoof into the skull of one of the unicorns. I didn’t care which or how hard, just to stop them before they went too far. I latched onto a second unicorn and began to swing him around, but a stray bolt landed on the back of my head. I released the unicorn who managed to scurry away attacking the other pony. I was far too quick, so he opted to run as well. He came to a stop and fell to the ground suddenly. His eye was swollen, showing that Fade had punched him out cold.
“I see you have improved your strikes,” I commented dryly.
“Eh, had enough of the whole ‘weak punch’ gag. Really went for that one.”
I looked down at my potential prey as Fade bandaged himself. I think ‘defenceless’ was the right word for it. I could kill him easily, snap his neck, break his body, even eat him, but the sound of tiny hoofsteps running towards me stopped me from doing so. “Guardian,” called out a southern voice. I turned to find young Apple Bloom in front of me, along with her friends.
“Are you girls alright?”
“Yeah, the Doctor took us behind a tree until it was safe,” Sweetie replied.
“Ah hell, my freakin jacket!” We turned to find Fade examining his torn clothing. The tone of his voice signified his great annoyance, and I couldn’t fault him for it. “I’ve had this thing for years, and now I’ll look like a broken hobo.”
Sweetie jumped up and down and ran up to Fade. “Mister, I can help!”
Fade looked downwards at the small white form in front of him. “How?”
“My sister can fix your coat! She does stuff like this all the time. Follow me!” Sweetie latched on to Fade, and the invisible stallion found himself being dragged along by a hyperactive filly.
I chose not to interfere, as it was an opportune time to get one of the cutie mark crusaders away from any more danger, but I knew it would be harder to convince the other two to leave willingly. Scootaloo lightly jabbed an unconscious unicorn while ‘Bloom reprimanded her for doing so. Then I realised something.
“Wait, where did the Doctor go?”
Shadow POV
I couldn’t help but marvel a little at this mare’s house. The Elements of Harmony were considered Equestria’s greatest champions against evil. I had never met them myself, but the stories and what the elements represented were more than enough information for me to connect with them. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis and many more had fallen before them, but from what I had heard, they were generously modest in their income. This Rainbow Dash seemed to live in a villa. The structure was two stories tall at least, but it must have had more rooms than most pegasus homes due to its massive width. On top of that, it had a rainbow fountain coming from the side of the home.
“Yeah, I know.” I looked over to Spitfire, who was grinning at me. “Even my house doesn’t look as good as that one.”
“I thought the elements didn’t receive any money for their work. I believe only Twilight Sparkle does, but only because she is a student of Celestia’s. What does she do for a living?”
“I think she’s a weather manager. I bet you she built this place by herself, ‘cause there’s no way you can buy a place like this with that income. The endurance she must have used to build a place like this definitely proves she’s wonderbolts material!” Spitfire seemed quite pleased.
We flew over to the house and I suddenly found myself questioning the position that I was in. Was there a proper way to address her? She was a hero of the country, and a well-respected member of this community. I might offend her by not bowing, or perhaps miss speak and cause unwanted controversy. We landed in front of the door and Spitfire wasted no time in knocking to make our presence known. We could hear muffled footsteps approaching, and in a sudden moment of panic, I propped my spear up and bowed down when the door was opened.
“Oh my…” A soft, gentle voice greeted my ears, but I did not move. I waited to be told to stand by one of this country’s greatest-
“Shadow, what are you doing?” I tilted my head to Spitfire who still standing and looking at me as if I had grown an extra head. My cheeks felt warmer as I stood up and looked over the mare that had opened the door.
It was certainly not Rainbow Dash. She was a pegasus, but she had a butter yellow coat and a long pink mane. She seemed like the complete opposite of Rainbow, as she was much softer and more bashful than the owner of this house. Then I realised who she was. Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness. I half considered bowing again when the mare addressed us.
“H-h-ello there. How may I help you?”
“Hey there, don’t mind my friend, she’s just a little slow today,” Spitfire said while waving a hoof. I felt like retaliating, but then soft yellow hoofs found their way onto my face.
“Oh dear, you must be tired. Here, come and lie down.” I felt myself get gently dragged away to a cloud couch. I couldn’t fight her off as her gaze had somehow paralyzed me for the moment. I could hear Spitfire snickering behind me, but I tried to block her out. My honour had taken a heavy blow this day. I was laid down when I finally started to get the feeling back in my body, and I gently pushed her away.
“I’m fine, thank you. She was merely joking. It was a poor joke mind you, but I suppose not everypony can have the gift of a sharp wit.” That wiped the smug look off of her face. She glared at me, which only caused Fluttershy to look more nervous than before.
“O-oh, um, I’m sorry, can I help you?”
“Yes, we are looking for a pony by the name of Rainbow Dash.”
“Yo, somepony call my name?” A raspy voice called out to us, and a cyan pony flew down the staircase. She was focused on me, and judging by the rainbow mane, I knew I was looking at the pony we sought. She had a look on her of brash confidence, and it wasn’t completely undeserved if the legends were true. She flew over to me, completely missing Spitfire who looked on with a smirk. “Who are you?”
“My name is Shadow Heart. I believe you know my accomplice.”
Rainbow turned around and froze on the spot. She let off what I can only describe as a high pitch squeal and jumped up and down on the spot. “Hey there, Dash, what’s up?” Spitfire asked with a wink. Now it was clear what their relationship was. Spitfire was an idol to Rainbow, while Dash was simply a fangirl. A term I often hated, but I felt was appropriate in the current situation. It was quite amusing to see somepony as highly regarded as her practically melt on the spot in front of Spitfire. I guess this is why you’re never supposed to meet your heroes; they rarely turn out as you suspect.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash slapped herself over the face with her own hoof, and shook her head free of her own foolishness. She lightly coughed and stroked a hoof through her mane. “Uh… hey, what’s up?” Spitfire laughed gently and reached out a hoof.
“It’s good to see you Dash, how’s it been?”
Rainbow shook her hoof gleefully. “Great! Ya know, practicing my tricks and stuff, making sure I’m at my maximum level of awesome.”
“Oh really? Then perhaps you can help me and my friend here?” Rainbow’s face lit up even more, which I doubted was even possible. “Of course, but only if you think you’re awesome enough.”
“Heh, who do you think you’re talking to?”
I butted in before they could continue to pat each other on the back. “We will require you to help us locate a dangerous fugitive. A changeling, to be precise.” Both Rainbow and Fluttershy went wide eyed at this announcement. Fluttershy seemed practically nervous.
“A-are you sure about that?” She asked. I raised an eyebrow, and she explained further. “What I mean is, are you sure there is a changeling here of all places?”
“It does sound suspicious, considering you all reside in this town. I suppose the saying, ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’ applies here?”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” added Spitfire. “Basically, tomorrow we’ll both need to survey the area, and keep our eyes out for anything suspicious. We have a friend who can help us out.”
“I’m game,” replied Rainbow with plenty of enthusiasm. Her spirit was commendable, and hopefully, she would prove as useful as predicted. “You and me, Spits, we’ll take this guy down…”
“Ha…” I shoved a forehoof in my mouth went the laugh came out, but the damage had been done. All eyes turned towards me, and I suddenly became the most fascinating thing in the room.
“What was the laugh for?” Asked Spitfire in a monotone voice.
“Well… not to sound rude, but, you have yet to prove your combat effectiveness.” Rainbow looked ready to tackle me, but Spitfire placed a leg in front of her.
“I’ve got this, Dash.” Rainbow backed away as if she were a child being scolded by a parent. “What do you mean?”
“I will be blunt. I am not satisfied that you have proven yourself in combat yet. At the most, you have tricks and speed. Not much else, if your recent performances are anything to judge.”
“… Oh, I see,” she said with a malicious grin. “I get dropped by Carnage once, and everypony thinks I can’t cut it in a scrap, huh? Well I’ll just have to prove you wrong then.” She marched right up to me and got straight into my face. Fluttershy had ducked behind the couch, while Rainbow looked on in stunned amazement.
I stared at her. “What did you have in mind?”
Silver Tongue POV
We all stared blankly at the pink pony lying on her back. She had come from out of nowhere, and I can only assume he did this out of instinct, but Carnage had held his hoof up so she ran straight into it. He did everything out of instinct, didn’t he? Why does he have to push me away? Why did he have to say those things? I mean, I would be lying if I said there was no truth to them, but still, they hurt.
Damn it, deal with it later, Silver, I berated myself. Think about what’s happening in front of you.
Before I could approach the pink pony, she shot up in the air. It was like she had just brushed off the pain when she landed on her hooves. There was no sign of any physical damage on her body, and she somehow had a big smile on her face. Her poofy mane and bright pink coat were extremely garish, not to mention eye catching. Everything about her caught your attention; it was difficult to look away when she came at you. She looked over us again, and started to bounce up and down before jumping straight in front of Carnage. A less than wise strategy.
“Hey there! You’ve got a mean punch, mister!” She chirped. Carnage just looked at her blankly.
“You shouldn’t run at ponies like that,” he stated. “Some of us have a tendency to defend ourselves against crazy mares charging at us.”
“Aw, but I wasn’t charging! I was running to greet you! All of you are new in town! In fact, I can sense a whole bunch of new ponies in town! Are they all friends of yours?” She said without taking a breath.
Carnage deadpanned. “… Possibly.”
“That’s super neat! So what are your names?”
Once again, we had forgotten that Mimic was even there, but she poked her head back into our pony made circle. “Um, I’m called Sun Drop. That’s Mr. Carnage, and she is called Silver Tongue. It’s nice to meet you.”
The pink mare bounced over to ‘Sun Drop’ next. “Hey there, my names Pinkie Pie,” she said while shaking Sun’s hoof.
Of course. She fits the psyche description and everything. I’ve even seen pictures of her. How did I not recognise the Element of Laughter? How distracted can I be about few home truths? I looked over to Carnage, but his full attention was on Pinkie. Pinkie’s tirade had no end as she blabbed on and on to Sun Drop.
“It’s so great meeting new friends. What do you do? Are you coming to live here? Do you like cupcakes? I loooooooooooooovvvvvvvvvveeeeeee cupcakes! I love them so much that one time, when Dashie went away for a week, a pony made up a nasty rumour that I made her into a cupcake. But I’d never do that since I love Dashie and she’s my friend, plus she would taste awful, don’t you think? Who would want to eat pony cupcakes? Jelly foals though, now that’s a different story. They don’t actually have pony in them, but they’re so yummy that…”
“For the love of Luna, WOULD YOU SHUT UP!?” cried Carnage as a vein on his forehead looked ready to explode. “You’re like a pink fluffy nightmare. What on earth do you want!?”
“… Whoa, you’re a real grumpy pants today. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”
Carnage looked ready to lunge at her, but Question stepped into between the two. “Now, Miss Pie, he’s had a rough morning is all. I would just leave him alone if I were you.”
“Awww, I’m sorry to hear that. But I’m sure you’ll cheer up at the welcome to Ponyville party I’ve got planned for you guys!”
There was a momentary pause, and no pony dared to speak. The plan to move about quietly and integrate without anypony noticing had just gone out the window, and we were facing this new problem from what Carnage’s new found foe had presented. He took a large inhale and turned his neck until we all heard a click. Sun Drop took a couple of steps backwards as Carnage walked straight up to Pinkie. I braced myself for anything. A war veteran being antagonised like he had been all morning was not a great combination if you expected survivors.
“I… appreciate your attempts to welcome us to your town. I am afraid, though, that we will have to decline your invite-”
At that moment, an idea came to me. We had to blend in, but it would create suspicions with most of us around town, even if we kept contact to a minimum. No, that just wasn’t going to work. We had to present ourselves as a friendly group that’s passing through. A simple group of friends working together. Perhaps we could pass ourselves off as musicians, or actors, or something along those lines. Ironically, Pinkie may actually be helping us.
The problem was Carnage. In his present state, and his current attitude towards me, there was absolutely no way he would agree with my idea. He would brush me off and take his own route as the leader. He was so convinced that I’m trying to manipulate him that it’s scary. So, I guess in the end, I really had no choice when it came to what I did next. Before Pinkie was able to reply, I interjected.
“We would love to come to the welcome party.” All eyes turned towards me. Question’s was neutral, Sun Drop’s was confused, Pinkie’s was overjoyed, but Carnage looked horrified. Before he could say anything else, Pinkie leapt up into the air a final time and produced a cannon from seemingly nowhere. She fired it and confetti shot out and rained on top of us.
“Hooray, you’re all going to have so much fun! There’s no time to lose though, here are your invites!” Again, from seemingly nowhere, she pulled out several pink cards and handed one to each of us. Carnage wordlessly took one with his mouth agape. “Alrighty then, everything is on the cards. See you later!” And like that, at a speed Spitfire would have been impressed by, she took off in a flash.
The atmosphere suddenly grew very tense. Carnage collapsed in defeat, while Sun Drop took several more steps backwards. There wasn’t hate or malice in his eyes, just tiredness. He looked so dreadfully tired, like he had been stomped on twice in one day. There were so many things I could’ve done, or rather, should’ve done in that moment. I could have tried to explain. I could have lent a comforting wing. I could have even let him scream and shout at me to make himself feel better. I didn’t do any of those things though. Instead, I flew away.
I didn’t look back, I just flew away. If you would have asked me why, I honestly couldn’t have told you. I had had enough at that point, and I was barely keeping it together. I flew up to the point where if I looked down, I couldn’t see them, and settled down on a white, fluffy cloud. I couldn’t remember the last time I had rested on a cloud. They always felt so soft and inviting, but I was so used to the streets that the thought of resting on one never crossed my mind. As I was here now, I could let me defences down.
So I began to cry.
I couldn’t help it. It all just came out. It wasn’t a waterfall of tears; it was quiet sobs and puffy eyes at the most. What I’d done, to a friend, to somepony I liked, was hard to put into words, but all at once I felt guilty. It was so easy to play off that I did it for the order but now, I began to question myself as to whether I really had to do what I did. Carnage was never unreasonable. Hot tempered, yes, but he was somepony you could talk to and get a fair and balanced opinion. How many other stallions and mares have I manipulated or seduced, then just left them more confused than before? It was necessary most of the time, but here, what if he would have agreed without the manipulation?
I snuggled up into the cloud, losing myself in my own self-hate and began to drift off to a nap. Maybe things will look better when I wake up, I thought.
Ulysses POV
I hated this place. Yet, at the same time, it felt nostalgic. This made me hate it more. It was too much like the Divide. I found myself constantly looking over my shoulder, half expecting a random NCR soldier to pop up from nowhere. This place was idyllic for some. The idea of living in a small community that all knew each other and were generally welcoming to strangers seemed like a paradise for many. Not for me. At least, not anymore. I’d rather live alone now. It’s better that way.
Twilight had been far more helpful than I could have hoped for. She was able to supply us with information on all of those who had entered and left Ponyville in the last four months. Our changeling would be one of these individuals. They would have to register on the counter if taking permanent residence, and if they were disguised as a regular, then they are marked down anyway, as the only practical way out and into Ponyville is through the train station. The mayor’s office held everything we needed. I briefly wondered how the others were getting on, but the concept of trusting others to succeed was foreign to me, so I expelled it from my mind.
We were just outside of the mayor’s office now. Twilight had led us here so she could authorise our usage of the files. Normally, I would have just taken them, but Carnage would have frowned upon it, so I held back. I was on one of the many chairs in the waiting room, and Vinyl had made a point of sitting next to me while humming a song I did not recognise. I had several options open to me. Stare blankly at the wall, stare blankly at the ceiling, or look over my shotgun. I chose the latter. I pulled it out of its holder strapped on my back, and rested it on my lap. The grip was firm, and the design was charcoal black. The barrel had only recently been cleaned, and I quickly checked to see if it was still loaded. Two shells were there; ready to be fired at any moment.
“How many ponies have you killed?” I looked at Vinyl, who was sitting upside down on her chair, staring at my gun. I quickly looked at the secretary in the far corner, but she seemed too focused on her hoofs to notice.
“Enough,” I replied.
“Figured you’d say something vague and mysterious like that. C’mon, give me a real answer.”
I paused. I looked up at the wall in front of me and thought back. There was no clear answer that came. There was simply too many to count. “Don’t know,” I said truthfully, “but there have been many.”
“Y’see, that’s what I have trouble getting.” She looked depressed now, as if she was thinking about something she regretted. In situations like these, I suppose it would help to ask for specifics. I had nothing to do anyway.
“Oh? What do you not understand?”
“How you can be so calm about all of it. I’ve never killed anypony until a little while back at that warehouse.” She still didn’t look at me, and instead, focused the barrel of my shotgun. “Like, how are you so calm about killing a pony? Do you feel anything?”
“No.”
“But how though?”
“Not sure. I suppose I’m numb to the feeling.”
“… You mean, you’ve done it so much now, that you just don’t feel it anymore?” She carefully moved off the seat and sat back down again the right way up. The whole time, she looked down on the floor, studying every fiber of the carpet. She raised her glasses and placed them onto her horn, revealing her blood red eyes. Her gaze locked onto mine and I saw something I hadn’t expected. Sympathy. “Dude, that’s messed up. I feel so sorry for you.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. The comment struck me as odd, as I did not feel bad about it. “Why do you feel sorry for me?”
“I get why you’re all so emotionless now. You lost a lot, huh?”
“Yes. My home was destroyed, along with those I cared about. How did you know?”
“I didn’t, it was just a guess. I figured it had to be a little more than all the ponies you’ve killed that made you so… deadish.”
“Deadish?”
“Yeah, like, you don’t react to anything like a normal pony would. I don’t know; this all makes more sense in my head. But I’m kind of glad that I feel guilty for those changeling’s deaths.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I guess… it reminds me that I’m still me. That I haven’t lost myself. That’s kind of deep,” she said with a chuckle.
What she said gave me pause. The idea that not feeling was a bad thing. Even when it came to killing another, it made little sense. Surely it would be better not to have emotions complicate matters when you take somepony from the mortal world. I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I didn’t. I began to think about my own actions, and asked myself if I had really changed as much as I thought. I could barely remember what I used to be like. All I could really remember is a desire for peace, and that it was taken away from me.
My head snapped towards the sound of a door creaking open. Twilight appeared with several folders in her magical grasp. “Thanks for your help, Mayor Mare,” called out Twilight. She walked towards us with a genuine smile and placed the files on a chair. I quickly placed my gun in its holder, and Vinyl covered her eyes with her glasses. “Okay, the top file should have everypony who’s entered Ponyville in the last four months. To simplify things though, per to your request, I asked for a separate typed up sheet with the names.” She floated the sheet towards me, but snapped it back at the last second before I could grab it. “I don’t think I have to mention that you treat this matter delicately. Don’t go harassing any of these ponies. Only one of them is a changeling, so please be respectful.”
“Don’t worry Twi, we’ll be careful,” Vinyl assured. Twilight seemed satisfied and handed me the note.
· Big Macintosh
· Lyra Heartstrings
· Fluttershy
· Twilight Sparkle
· Cloudkicker
· Rainbow Dash
· Question Mark
· Rarity
· Thunderlane
· Zecora
· Applejack
· Pinkie Pie
· Note Worthy
· The Guy from Quills and Sofas
The list ended there, but I was confused by the final name. “What does it mean, “The Guy from Quills and Sofas”?”
“Oh, nopony actually knows his name. I know, it’s weird, but when anypony asks, he always just tries to sell you a sofa. And on the sheets he has to sign, he just places a small ad for his shop.”
“I see…”
“Why don’t we just get the guards to round them all up and cast a changeling reveal spell or something like that?” Asked Vinyl. She had a point, but as Twilight was about to point out, the law got in the way.
“We’d need solid evidence, not just suspicion. It’s technically an invasion of privacy, and as much as I would like to catch this changeling, there are reasons that law is in place. Now if I may, I’d like to ask you two a question. Who exactly are you work-“
“PPPPAAAARRRRRTTTTTYYYYY!!!!”
All we turned to look at a pink blur heading straight towards us…
???
“Sir, we have received a message from one of the unicorns at the tree.”
“…”
“It isn’t good news. The attack was a disaster, and apparently it was the spider alone that stopped them. I think we have a serious problem, sir.”
“… Tell both Chrysalis and the Master to proceed as normal. Then, send more Templars to intercept them by tomorrow. I want this taken care of as soon as possible.”
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I would have said Carnage was in the right earlier; but since we have seen Silver's side of things, the facts aren't quite matching up to his accusations.
WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT THIS GOD DAMN TREE
3657775 It's Guardian's tree
Also, it being called the tree of life might give you some idea of it's relevance
3657775>>3657782
And y'know...
Global Warming.
3657791
static1.fjcdn.com/comments/holy+_51823d1c2ce051862f5c5a03ef20d99c.jpg
is ther a refference there BECAUSE I DONT FUCKING GET IT... sorry but really i get that its called the tree of life which gives a slight hint to its ability or something like that but why is it so damn important and what kind of spider is guardian based off of that has been bugging me ( no pun intended and yes i am aware they are not bugs they are arachnids
and i am bad with grammer)
3657892 Look on google. It's biblicle, that's your clue
3657892
The tree stops mega-corporations from deforestation.
That is true magic, Twilight is not the real Element of Magic, the tree is.
HL2.exe is not responding.
3657939
Moth of god... HE'S GOT IT!
3657946
Moth of god?
OH F*** MOTHRA!
GET GODZILLA!
3657948
IT'S OVER 9000!
3657957
[citation needed]
Nice!!!!!!! Love it!!!!!!!
They could also came to Ponyville with big baner "Changeling, we came to hunt you" Now changeling know that something is not good
Carnage really needs to open up to Silver, this may lead to a certain downfall in his character but I think it's about time that he finds a mare that actually has feelings as opposed to his so-called wife from 1000 years ago.
3657892
Guardian comes from his own story. If you want to know everything we know about the tree of life (or the tree of the moon depending on how you translate), go read it. I think it's called the legend of the arachnapony.
I feel ya Carnage, I feel ya.... I always feel a sort of nagging feeling to choke Pinkie everytime she starts talking.
Sorry but it's true. I love her but she can be so damn annoying!! 
Anyway love this story! Your so awesome to be able to think of all of this! Hope to see a new chapter soon. This story is like a drug.
So keep up the amazing work!!!!
...
Cheese?
...
W...
Wa....
Wabbajack.
WABBAJACK WABBAJACK WABBAJACK WABBAJACK!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
...
Hail Lord Sheogorath...
Not meaning to rush but please update ASAP
3746229 I'm not really sure when the next update will be. I've made some good progress, but don't expect it this month.
That is fine.
Sheogorath and Discord happened upon each other one sunny afternoon.....there were no survivors.