> War Machine
>  by DannyJ
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: The Phantom of Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starlight took a long drink from the water fountain, its cool, rejuvenating water acting as a sort of mental detox for him. He needed it now. His upcoming exam in his Advanced Magical Theory class weighed on his mind. A few locks of his black mane fell in front of his eyes as he enjoyed his refreshment. He grumbled as he moved them back out of the way, and continued mulling over the many aspects of the exam that he had rigorously studied for.

Things like advanced aura manipulation and even a newly learned chameleon spell were fairly simplistic concepts for his self-proclaimed "super intellect", yet overconfidence would do him no favors. In his mind, he was certain of his own superiority, but one had to account for variables. He would only look all the more foolish if he boasted of the certainty of success, only to unknowingly neglect some vital element and fail.

Never again.

When he heard the sharp, clamorous ringing of the bell, he knew that it was time to get moving. He broke away from the stream of the fountain and turned it off, having already drank several bottles worth anyway, and obediently followed the bell’s unspoken orders. He wordlessly moved to join the pandemonium of a school hallway during the transition between classes.

Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns might have been an upscale establishment, but with the increasing amounts of students that it got from all all over country and the comparatively small institution that housed them all, it got a tad crowded.

The hallway was crowded to the point where even navigating the fairly simple layout of the corridors was a feat in and of itself. Once one was in the hallway, they became part of a collective, and Starlight was shunted along a predetermined path by the throng of other ponies. He could not turn around at any point. He had to go with the flow. It was like being in a river, and trying to swim against the current would just cause him to drown.

He regarded the ponies shoving into him from behind and to his sides with disdain. Even in such close quarters, they could have at least tried to show some kind of courtesy. He rolled his eyes and shoved them back, moving abruptly past them and ignoring their protests. After he made his way through the mob of commuting students, occasionally grouching at ponies who had the nerve to bump into him, he arrived at the cafeteria.

The room was a large and regal looking but still fairly plain room with banners of Celestia’s sun cutie mark hanging from the ceiling everywhere he looked. It also housed an array of wooden tables, that all had the same symbol emblazoned on them in their center. The banners and tables were equally spaced out, and a lunch line in the back passed right in front of the entrance to the kitchen, necessitating that other ponies regularly move aside as staff entered and left the kitchens through it.

He reluctantly joined the queue to get his lunch from what resembled an efficient factory assembly line. He looked at his food tray once he received it and was unimpressed by what he saw.

Mushy looking beans, some soggy cornbread, and a single potato that he would have to go through the trouble of opening up and meticulously adding butter to before it was acceptable to eat. That was the meal that he was presented, and it was frankly beneath him. He thought that he deserved far better than this mediocre excuse for food, but he spared the lunch mares his usual rant on the poor quality of the day’s meal. That took effort that he was unwilling to expend today.

He saw a table with two other ponies, a unicorn stallion and mare around his age that were sharing some friendly conversation, and decided that he should join them. They were as good company as any.

"Good day to you both," Starlight greeted as he took an empty seat at the table. "Well, as good of a day as you can have with this second-rate slop of a meal anyways..."

He levitated the tray over and placed it in front of himself, and pulled himself up onto the seat with his light purple forehooves. Looking down at the underside of his left one, he frowned as he saw that he had stepped in something and not noticed, which he wordlessly wiped off on the underside of the bench.

Meanwhile, the two other ponies at the table stopped talking. The atmosphere had become immediately uncomfortable as Starlight intruded into the conversation, which he had not noticed since he was too preoccupied with his hoof now, and they sheepishly looked to each other for a moment before the stallion tried to respond.

"Uh... it’s not that bad," he said, trying not to sound like he was contradicting Starlight. "I’m just grateful that we even get food for free like this."

The mare whispered something into the stallion’s ear, and before Starlight could retort, he found that his only company had taken their food and retreated to a different table, hastily making some excuse about seeing a friend of theirs and going over to see him. As they left, he could only sigh.

"Peasants..." he muttered to himself, shaking his head.

Starlight was used to eating lunch by himself. In fact, it was almost a routine thing to him by now. Nopony ever seemed to want to be around him for some reason; he didn’t know what he was doing wrong. He was just acting like his mother or any of her friends always did. But then again, his mother was a mare of class, and he couldn’t expect the customs he learned from her to mesh well when dealing with the common rabble.

He finished up the rest of his meal alone, and after waiting at his ghost town of a table for another fifteen minutes, the thunderous staccatos of the bell sounded throughout the building. He got up, put away his tray, and went with the flow of bodies that were all migrating towards the once again bustling hallway.


***


Starlight shortly arrived at the examination room for his Advanced Magical Theory course. It was a spacious room that resembled an amphitheater, with desks on each step that all faced towards a huge chalkboard with a large, mahogany teacher’s desk off to the side. A few high windows allowed some natural light to leak into the room.

The room was already crowded with ponies at the desks, most of which were looking nervous and stressed over the exam. Many of them were desperately skimming through their notes, and Starlight even saw a few hurriedly scribbling down formulas that they should have had memorized on small, ripped fragments of paper to use as cheatsheets.

He briefly considered stopping Professor Eclipse, the wizened old stallion moderating the exam, to inform him of this development. Then he decided against it. While he didn’t like other ponies breaking the rules, and he wasn’t exactly popular anyway, he knew he would not help himself by playing snitch.

Starlight found a seat at the back corner of the room and took out a quill and some ink from his saddle bags. The bell once again loudly announced its presence, which signified the beginning of another period.

"Today you will be taking unit five’s final examination," announced the professor as he took his own seat between a desk and the massive chalk board.

A collective groan of despair chorused throughout the room. Starlight though instead looked eager.

"Now, don’t give me that!" the professor scolded. "I know this material might seem out of your reach, but don’t forget who you are. You’re here because you’re the country’s best and brightest, or at least have the potential to be. You hold the future of Equestria in your hooves. Besides, you’ve all had more than sufficient amounts of time to study for this, so get out a quill and ink and cease with your complaints."

The students all drew the requested materials from their various rucksacks and saddlebags, like Starlight had already done. The old unicorn then began distributing the exam papers to everypony. With his levitation magic, of course. Professor Eclipse never missed an opportunity to avoid actual physical movement, and instead reclined in his chair as he floated the exams over to where they needed to go.

"Alright, this goes without saying, but no talking, no note passing, no looking at other students, no materials other than your papers and other exam materials, especially not your notes. You should have memorised them by now, so put them away. And if you’re found to be cheating in any way for any length of time during the exam, you will be disqualified entirely."

His eyes swept the room.

"You have an hour. Begin."

The silence in the room after that point was almost absolute. The only sound heard was the scratching of quills on parchment and the occasional cough or sniffle. Starlight immediately got his brain into gear and blocked out all other thoughts that didn’t pertain to the task at hoof.

The young stallion couldn’t really be said to show all that much respect in his day to day life. There were precious few other ponies that he didn’t regard as beneath him, yet he respected this institution and its rules because of what it gave him in return for that respect. He had knowledge, and whether he obtained it from class or from the libraries in his spare time, he was thankful for it.

Knowledge, he knew, was the key to success. He couldn’t remember who told him that, but whoever it was, he was grateful for their wisdom. If knowledge was power, that made him powerful, and he never wanted anypony to forget it. That was what this exam was for. He wasn’t learning anything new from doing this, but once it was all over, he’d have a piece of paper to prove his value to anypony who would dare question it.

He had always had what some might call impossible goals. He wanted to create his own business empire, that would go on to develop revolutionary new spells and technology to deter the threats to Equestria’s very existence like the Elements of Harmony did. He wanted to one day be the beloved hero himself. He wanted to make billions of bits, live in a upscale Canterlot mansion, and earn great fame and respect. Some days, he dared even dream of immortality.

Oh yes, many scoffed at his professed desires. They said that no one single pony could ever hope to accomplish even half those things. "Be realistic, Starlight," they would say to him. But they were the ones who asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. It wasn’t his fault his answer hadn’t changed since magic kindergarten. If anything, he thought that showed he had conviction.

Already though, he was coming to the end of his paper. His scribbling looked a little messy, but he made short work of the remaining questions and began reading it back.

They said that if you finished the exam early, use the time left to check your answers and make any necessary changes. That was a suggestion suited to those who finished five to ten minutes before the deadline though. He finished the whole thing in nine minutes. Even though he double-checked all his answers, that only added another two, mainly because he made no changes. He was certain that everything was correct.

With that, he got up and carried his paper over the teacher’s desk to turn in. Unsurprisingly, he was the first one done. The elderly unicorn looked up from the book that he was reading to give Starlight a friendly smile as he slid the paper onto his desk.

Starlight remembered the first time he had done this. Theoretically, he was supposed to sit in place until the hour was up, and then the exam invigilator(s) would come around and collect the papers. That’s what happened for everypony else. Except that this finishing early thing was a common occurrence for Starlight, and in his normal classes he’d often just give in his paper directly and then leave to do something else.

Exams were meant to be different from regular classes, but they didn’t enforce that rule on him here either anymore. He’d complained so loudly about the pointlessness of being made to sit around for an hour "just because everypony else is stupid" that the staff complied with his demands, mostly just to make him shut up about it.

"You show great potential, young stallion," the professor said in a hushed tone, to avoid disturbing the other testing students. "You do your work with unprecedented amounts of focus and passion. I can see a bright future for you, no matter what it may be."

Starlight grinned. It was only natural that he would receive special praise. Magical study was his special talent after all. This was indicated by his cutie mark, which was an arcane symbol of an inscribed triangle with various other shapes and details inside. Not uncommon in Canterlot, where many unicorns with magic-related talents had cutie marks of ancient runes, celestial bodies or other abstract imagery. He still wasn’t sure what specific spell formula the symbol actually came from though.

"I only do my best, sir," Starlight responded rather loudly, obviously wanting his classmates to hear, unlike the professor.

Just that slight disturbance was enough to draw the attention of most of the easily distracted class. Sufficiently pleased with the scene he had caused, Starlight then turned and started strutting over to the doors leading out of the hall. He felt like a celebrity walking down a red carpet, and quietly but shamelessly reveled in the attention, however brief it was.

As he left the hall, Starlight decided to head back in the direction of the water fountain.


***


The bell announced to the students, some of which who were still rushing to the completion of their exam, that the last period of the school day was over. Collectively they began gathering up their papers and leaving the room, and they looked relieved to be doing so. At least, those who were finished did.

In the congested halls outside, the rest of the students were joined by Starlight, just returned from the library; he was willing to walk out of the exam early, but rarely did he ever leave the premises before the normal time. In front of him, he levitated a book on the genealogy of Canterlot’s noble houses, which he remained engrossed in even as he weaved through the crowd.

During his stroll towards the exit, he overheard four ponies from his Advanced Magical Theory class talking about him. Two mares and two stallions.

The mares looked like they were related thanks to their similar colors, both having a sort of mauve-ish coat and light red manes. The colts however were completely different, one being a yellow-coated stallion who was as big as an earth pony and had the physique of a bodybuilder, and the other being small and weedy, wearing glasses, and having both his coat and mane different shades of blue.

"Did you see how fast that one guy completed the exam?" one of the mares asked. "I wonder how he does it? I barely got it finished, and I was really rushing through that thing."

"Yeah. He even got praise from Mr. Eclipse, and he’s harsh as all hell," the big pony pointed out.

"Who are we talking about here?" asked the other mare.

"You know the guy," her sister replied. "The one who interrupted the exam and left about ten minutes in? With the... the legs? And the—"

"Oh! Okay. I know who you’re talking about. Yeah, I’ve seen him before. What was the guy’s name again?"

Starlight came strutting up to the circle of ponies and cleared his throat.

"Good day to you all," he said, amiably as he could manage. "That exam was pretty simple, don’t you agree?"

They all gave him that stare, similar to the one that he received from the ponies at the lunch table earlier. It was partly annoyance, partly disdain and resentment, and partly... sympathy. That was the oddest part about how they looked at him. There was the distinct impression that they didn’t like him, but they felt bad about it for some reason.

Starlight recognized the look. It had been leveled at him often enough. Though even after all this time, it was why they disliked him in the first place that still mystified him. The pity he understood completely.

"It was the questions about how humidity affects the accuracy of a teleport spell that got me," Glasses replied. "I just can’t remember those formulas. How do you do it so easily?"

"Oh, well, intellectual greatness isn’t achieved so easily. I work hard to maintain it. Don’t feel bad if you can’t match it; few can."

The other ponies’ expressions didn’t change, but the bodybuilder looked significantly more irritated by this.

"Listen here, you snob," he began. "You don’t just get to—"

He was cut off by one of the mares, who pulled his head away and hissed something Starlight couldn’t hear into the stallion’s ear. Whatever it was she said, it got him to roll his eyes and sigh, before turning back to Starlight and speak to him again in a more friendly tone, though an obviously false one.

"Uh... sorry. Didn’t mean to get angry. Say, I don’t think we’ve met. What’s your name?"

"Oh. Sorry. I’ve just come to assume most ponies know me by now. I hate to brag, but I am rather famous around here. My name is Starlight Hocus Kadabra. And yours is...?"

"No problem. Mine’s Endurance. The mares are Sidestep and Nimble, and this is Silver Quill."

Silver Quill, the one with the glasses, also spoke up at this point.

"Say, uh... You want to join us for a bar run at the Drunken Dragon?"

Starlight blinked.

"Really? You expect me to go a bar?" He sneered at the thought of it. "That shoddy hole-in-the-wall breeds nothing but drunken idiots who drain from society, and I, of all ponies, do not intend on becoming one of them, thank you very much. I wouldn’t mind something cultured, but that dive... definitely not."

Silver Quill was receiving glares from the rest of the group now, and he gave them all an apologetic look.

"I’m not opposed to some other kind of social outing though," Starlight considered. "We could arrange some other destination? Perhaps one a little more... restrained?"

"Uh, yeah..." Endurance agreed. "Sounds good... We’ll be in touch, Starlight. See ya around, buddy."

"And you too, my good fellow!"

As the other ponies all left together and Starlight began trying to find his place in the book again, he didn’t hear Nimble’s sigh of relief and thanking Celestia, Endurance’s admonishing of the other stallion, or Sidestep’s last comment.

"I thought we’d never get away..."


***


Though he’d been spending his time since leaving the exam in the school’s library, it wasn’t where Starlight had obtained the genealogy book. That had been something he’d picked up from the Canterlot Library in the city center, and since he was already coming near to the end of it, he’d had a mind to go there to finish it and return it to take out something new before he left. Otherwise he might spend the night without a book.

He was glad for the opportunity to be outside though. Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns was many things, but it was not spacious. And he hated crowds.

Canterlot itself wasn’t so bad. The streets tended to be a lot clearer, and the environment in general was just nicer to look at. Interiors could range from opulent and flashy to simple and utilitarian depending on the building, but Canterlot’s architecture was really quite beautiful. The skyline was full of spires and towers, and it was all clean and white. Not like Manehattan, which was all grey skyscrapers and pollution.

Starlight heard the usual sounds as he passed through the city. The clopping of hooves on cobblestone, carts and carriages creaking along the road, and the unmistakable sound of street vendors shouting at the passing ponies about how they should buy their stuff.

Groups and couples of higher-class ponies pointing their noses up into the air passed by him. Multitudes of exotic shops and stands that showcased overpriced items from all over the world were lined on the sides of the streets. And the Canterlot equivalent to rush hour was in full swing as various ponies in suits and other formal wear could be seen either walking or riding carriages in both directions.

Fortunately, it was nowhere near as bad as the hallways of the school. The city and streets were open enough that there was never any risk of bumping into anypony. Not to mention it was mostly other adults on the street (Starlight liked to consider himself an adult) instead of other careless teens.

Then again, one could never be entirely free of riffraff.

A lone earth pony stallion with a tattered, dirty bowtie was playing an old guitar on a street corner. He had a trilby hat sitting upside down in front of him for the purpose of holding the money of whoever was charitable enough to toss him some. His music wasn’t that great, and much of it was out of tune, but it was obvious that he was giving it his best effort.

Some of the passing ponies who weren’t too busy sticking their noses up in the air deposited their spare change into his hat. Every time they did, he’d take a split-second break from his tune to give them a quick "thank you" in a gruff voice.

While playing, he’d look at the ponies that came near him as they passed on the sidewalk. Many of them seemed to be intending to ignore him and pass on by, but that brief moment of eye contact kept guilting them into giving him something anyway, no matter how small.

Some kind of psychological trick, Starlight deduced. By sharing eye contact, it became impossible for them to pretend they hadn’t noticed him and walk on past. For the unicorn, the only real mystery is why nopony else seemed to be able to see past the hollow manipulation and ignore him as they had intended to.

As he passed by, the vagrant tried the same trick with him. He looked at Starlight. His expression wasn’t tear-filled, or pleading. He just looked weary. But then again, making himself look pathetic wasn’t really the point. It was just to force passing ponies to acknowledge him. So Starlight did exactly that.

"Get a job, street trash," he said as he walked on by.

The earth pony took another break from his terrible music to respond, though this time not with thanks.

"Screw you too, scabby."

As Starlight continued down the sidewalk in the direction of the library, the music gradually fading from his ears, he rolled his eyes once again.

Haven’t heard that one before.


***


His time at the library was brief. Starlight was an exceptionally fast reader, and he concluded with his book shortly after arriving. He did as he planned, returning the book and taking out a new one for the rest of the night and possibly tomorrow as well.

Starlight’s new pick was a historical account of the settling of Fillydelphia, the first part of a series. He was tempted to get the rest as well, but he didn’t want to check them out in case he read through the first book and decided it was too boring to continue with. That had happened before.

As he walked back home, the day was just beginning to die. It wasn’t very late, but already the sun was setting and the night was assuming control. Street lamps started to come to life one by one and illuminate the twilight. Shopkeepers were all coming out of their places of business to close up shop and go home for the day.

Starlight hated how early it got dark this time of year. Despite his name, he really wasn’t fond of the night. It was cold, you couldn’t see things, and everypony knew that night-time was when street thugs liked to go on the prowl. In other cities, at least. Canterlot was a safe enough place that Starlight had no fear of getting murdered, but still...

It wasn’t dark yet, of course, but Starlight was still anxious to get home. In daylight, he would sometimes dare to continue reading as he walked, but he knew that he walked a lot slower when he did. If he didn’t keep a brisk pace, then it’d really be nightfall by the time he reached home. And mother did worry so when he was out alone in the dark.

On his way back home, he even saw the earth pony vagrant from earlier, just beginning to pack up and no longer playing music. He gave Starlight a dirty look as he passed. Starlight ignored him.

"Asshole," the earth pony muttered when he thought Starlight couldn’t hear.

"Gutter filth," was the unicorn’s much louder response.

After that, Starlight’s trip continued without incident. He left the city center and made it all the way to his home in the uptown district before it got properly dark. It was with great relief that he opened the front gate and strolled down the garden path.

With his magic, he lifted a gnome on the edge of the lawn and pulled a key out from underneath it, with which he unlocked the front door. He floated it back to its proper place as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"Starlight?" a voice called from upstairs. "Starlight, dear? Is that you?"

That was odd. Normally, he called out to ask if she was there.

Starlight’s mother appeared at the top of the stairs. She beamed as she saw him and moved down them as quickly as she could manage considering the dress trailing around her legs. She was a unicorn (of course) with a scarlet-red coat, an orange mane and tail, and gold-yellow eyes. Her current ensemble was pink and green dress with all the accessories. Pearl necklace, silver earrings, you name it.

Likely she was going out to a party tonight.

"Starlight, darling, thank Celestia you’re home!" she shouted out as she crossed the foyer, a Canterlot accent thick in her voice.

Starlight smiled, happily surprised by the warm reception. He wasn’t used to his mom being so glad to see him.

"I desperately needed somepony to tell me if this dress goes with my mane or not!" she exclaimed, sounding as desperate as a mare dangling over a shark tank.

His expression quickly deflated into one of disappointment. 

"Oh, sorry to worry you... I was just in town," he mumbled.

"What have I told you about prowling the streets like that? There are all sorts of dangerous thugs and hoodlums creeping about, but that’s not really important right now! I have a dinner party that I have to attend tomorrow, and I simply need to know your opinion on the dress."

Starlight took a good look at the dress that she so badly wanted his input on. It looked good enough to him, but he wasn’t really sure how much his opinion was worth. His mother had always gone on at length about clothes, so he knew a bit, but not much of it stuck due to his tendency to block out her ramblings on fabulousness and what was "in" and what was "out".

What he did know though was that he didn’t want to encourage her panicky madness either way.

"Relax, mother, your dress is fine. I’m sure that yours will be the best one there."

He said that completely without enthusiasm. His mother was more worried about the appearance of her attire rather than him. Rarely was he ever disappointed with her anymore, but somehow she managed it again today.

"Oh, thank you darling," she said with a sigh of relief. "I just needed to know. I have a reputation to uphold, you know."

"You’re welcome. I’ll be taking a shower now."

He moved past her and started climbing up the stairs, towards the bathroom. His mother did not appear to notice his scowling. Scarlet Kadabra was not the most observant of mares.

His house wasn’t the largest one, but a large house wasn’t necessary when the only ponies that lived in it were him and her. It made things lonely sometimes, but it had always been like that, for as long as he could remember. He sometimes felt that he should have gotten used to it by now, but he never quite did. Why that was, he wasn’t sure.

Scarlet had always told him of how she had found him when he was a just a foal, in a basket outside her door. She said that she took him in out of the kindness of her own heart. Raised him as if he were her own. And while that last part was certainly true, he found it hard to believe that she adopted him purely out of kindness.

Admittedly, there wasn’t any other obvious motivation, but she wasn’t exactly known for being kind and generous. He loved her dearly, but that simply wasn’t the kind of pony she was. He often felt like she was his real mother, because he couldn’t have envisioned her raising somepony else’s child purely out of charity and goodwill.

Then again, she had, so maybe he just didn’t know her that well. Not that he could be blamed for that. They didn’t really interact that much.

The Kadabra family home was a lot more spartan than one would have guessed if they’d ever met one of its two residents. The family were at a low point right now, so Scarlet had fired the maid in order to keep up her ridiculous spending habits. Treading through the house, Starlight could see that the effects were beginning to pile up in a very literal sense.

There was clutter everywhere, mostly mounds of clothes scattered on the floor. Scarlet’s habit of throwing parties had contributed to the mess in the form of wine and food stains on tablecloths, couch pillows, and pretty much every surface that could show it. Used plates, glasses, and silverware could be found piled up on tables, yet to be attended to.

The whole place looked like a lazy teenager’s bedroom. Which was ironic, because Starlight’s room was actually the cleanest place in the house.

He reached the bathroom, which was also thoroughly untidy, mostly due to the ridiculous amount of cosmetics strewn about. He cautiously stepped over the minefield of floor detritus to the shower and started to run the water. While he waited for it to heat up, he looked at his fatigued reflection in the mirror, sighing as he saw them again.

Several smooth, hardened chips of flesh dotted his purple coat. All of them were fairly small, but very noticeable. No hair grew out of them, so they weren’t covered by his coat, and to make matters worse they were much darker than the rest of him and tended to be shiny in light, making them extra noticeable.

They were dotted randomly all over his body, most in very awkward places. The worst of all was the one right between his muzzle and his right eye, but he also didn’t like the one on his forehead, or the one on the side of his neck that meant he couldn’t lean his head too far to that side without it digging into him.

It was very much like having a series of permanent scabs. They’d been with him his whole life. He had tried picking at them until they bled, but the damned things kept growing back, like they were meant to be there. Eventually he’d given up and just taken to covering them with makeup of the same color as his coat, or wearing a cloak that covered most of his body, or both. Unfortunately, the cloak always made him sweat, and it’d come off before the end of the day. It was even worse in summer.

It didn’t help that they itched like crazy, or that at least one was always digging into him no matter which way he positioned himself. They weren’t exactly flesh; they rested on top of his skin, but their undersides were attached to him. A bit like being covered in dozens of barnacles, only tearing them off made him bleed all over the floor.

About the only good thing that could be said about them was that they weren’t cancerous, whatever they were. He could live with them, but it would be a very uncomfortable life. And even if they were itchy, irritated the skin, and made him look like he had broken out of a quarantine somewhere, they didn’t do much to impede on day-to-day life.

Though his disproportionately-sized forelegs did. Starlight reflected on this too as he lifted his right so that it could also be seen in the mirror. It was huge enough to be an earth pony’s, and yet his left was small enough to belong to a colt ten years his younger. For most, one uncommon affliction would be enough. Not for Starlight though. He also had mismatched limbs that made walking difficult and caused him to frequently stumble. Not to mention that they gave him trouble when climbing up stairs or running unless he was careful.

He liked to think of it as the universe giving him a friendly reminder that life was not fair, and that that no matter how good things are going for you, there will always be something or somepony out there to make you feel miserable again.

At least, that was the lesson he took from this.

It could be worse, he thought to himself as he stood there, staring at his reflection. I could have been adopted by rock farmers.

One thing that should be known about Starlight: No amount of humbling physical disabilities would ever stop him from feeling superior to everypony else.

By then, there was more than enough heat, so he happily climbed into his shower and embraced the water. It had a calming effect on him. Even books were second to a nice, hot shower on his list of favorite things to do. Under the warm water was one of the few places where the itching stopped and he felt truly comfortable, and the total privacy allowed him to relax his mind just as much as his body.

Much as he considered himself an intellectual, even he liked to switch off and not have to think too hard every once in awhile. It was those moments of true peace like these that made life worth living.

"Starlight! Come out of the shower! I need you to do something for me!" the voice of Scarlet called from the other side of the bathroom door.

And it was moments like those that made him wish he were dead.

"Yes, mother," he yelled back, trying his best to hide the fact that he wanted to murder her for the interruption.

He grudgingly turned the water flow off, crawled out of the shower, and started to dry himself off. He quickly opened the door to see Scarlet on the other side, with a small piece of paper.

"What?" he said flatly.

"I need a few things from the grocery store. We’ve got nothing for dinner tonight. Would you be a dear, and go fetch them for me?"

She seemed oblivious to everything wrong with this situation. She was the adult who was meant to be responsible for this kind of thing, not him. He was doing something while she was not. Earlier she said she was worried that he was out alone that late, and now it was even later and she was asking him to go out alone again. Not to mention the fact that she was clearly an idiot, and Starlight was of the opinion that stupid ponies were meant to serve their intellectual superiors, not the other way around.

He took a deep breath.

Respect your mother, Starlight.

"Fine," he answered. "Just give me the list and I’ll get on with it."

She gave him a cheery smile and floated a hastily scrawled list up to his face. Starlight grabbed the list with his magic, and gave it a once over. Then she gave him a pouch with a few dozen bits in it.

"Thanks, dear," she said with a warm smile. "You’ve no idea how important this is to me, what with Clean Sweep gone and—"

"Yes, yes, I know! I’ll get going. Just give me a moment to get ready..."


***


It was well and truly dark out when he left to get the groceries. His mother couldn’t have picked a worse time to send Starlight off on this errand, but nevertheless he had to persevere.

The worst part though was that he hadn’t the time to reapply the makeup he usually used when going out. At this time of night, there weren’t many ponies out, so it didn’t matter as much. However, he would have to interact with at least one, namely the cashier, and he never liked having to do that while exposed. The pitying looks were bad enough when they only saw the legs.

It did serve a purpose though. Ponies were far less willing to fight or stay angry at a cripple. It made them feel bad, you see. Starlight didn’t really consider himself a cripple, because he could walk fine if he was careful, but others seemed to disagree. He didn’t complain about that, as ponies tended to get upset with him an awful lot, and it was good to have that sympathy-inducing appearance to defuse those situations.

He just wished they didn’t get so angry at him in the first place, or at least that they explained what he was doing wrong. He’d been called a snob once or twice, but he really didn’t see how that was so. He merely stated facts. What was everypony’s problem? Was "snob" just a general insult that common folk used for ponies they were jealous of now?

Idiots. The lot of them. Learn the meaning of words before you use them!

While Starlight would have liked to wear his cloak out tonight, he couldn’t. The thing was currently lost in the wash, and had been ever since the maid had left. He had to look around and find it at some point. That was a long-term project though, because the house was full of clothes piles that it could be hidden in, so he hadn’t had the cloak earlier today and he still didn’t have it now.

The crisp night air chilled him without it. He could see his breath in front of his face as he walked down the illuminated streets of Canterlot towards the 24/7 market on the edge of the residential zone. Already the houses were disappearing to give way to stores and late night eating and drinking establishments. Canterlot’s nightlife could hardly be described as busy (not like Las Pegasus or Manehattan anyway), but it was there.

He saw the night-goers prowling the streets and hanging around outside of bars, trying to decide where to spend their hard earned bits. They were mostly groups of friends and couples, all a lot less formal than the kind of ponies he saw around here in the daylight.

While he wasn’t near the downtown area, he could still just barely detect the thumps of music being produced by the neon-drenched night clubs further into the city. Idly, he wondered if Endurance, Silver Quill and those mares were out there in the middle of it all. They were probably laughing over a round of beers right now.

While he didn’t approve, Starlight would be lying if he said he didn’t get the appeal. He wondered if he’d be less lonely were he born a savage like the rest of these detestable creatures. Alas, he was too cultured and intelligent to debase himself in such a way, and he would never truly know. Such was the price of genius.

He caught sight of his destination, the Evergreen Market. It was essentially just a corner shop that was big enough to not limit itself to newspapers and chocolate bars. Probably intended to be that originally, but however small it was compared to the big supermarket chains, it had everything they needed, and it was local. The clear glass door had a sign on its exterior that read, "Like an evergreen, we’re always ready to do business!"

He proceeded to enter the market and pull out his mother’s shopping list. The list commanded that he buy eggs, bread, wine, cheese, some produce, and a lot of cosmetics. He complied, and started to scour the store for the requested items.

He noticed that he was getting very peculiar looks from his few fellow shoppers, but as usual, nopony wanted to be a dick about it. He received no comments, and whenever he met their gaze, they all realized that they were staring and promptly looked away. A mare he passed in one of the aisles gave him an apologetic look as her son skittered away from him. He ignored them. He didn’t like kids anyways.

Once he had collected all of the items, he headed over towards the cashier to pay. On his way down an aisle, he sighted a sign that showed that there was a sale on kumquat-flavored pudding, which was basically ambrosia to him. The sign excitedly claimed that it was only two bits. He added the pudding to his assortment of products and continued to checkout.

He reached the domain of the market’s depressed and very tired looking cashier and started to levitate his items onto the table. The transaction went smoothly until they ran into a complication of enormous magnitude.

"What?! The sign specifically said that this pudding was two bits!" he yelled with more volume than was necessary. "You’re a cashier! Your job isn’t that complicated! Get the prices right and take my money! That’s all you have to do! What kind of imbecile are you that you can fail even that?!"

"Sir, that sign is two days old," the sleep-deprived cashier murmured. "We forgot to take it down. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but can you please just calm down?"

"Calm down? Calm down?! I’m as calm as anypony that is being robbed of their money is! There is a sign that clearly proclaims its price being two bits. Not three bits, two bits. Is it too much to expect that prices be consistent?!"

"Rules are rules, sir. I can’t go against store policy. You’ll have to take it up with my manager."

"Oh, I’ll take it up with your manager alright! And tell them of your incompetence! You will rue the day you dared try to rip me off! I’m not some simpering peasant who will sit by and accept this kind of treatment!"

The cashier let out a long, tired sigh.

"Sir, if I just sell it to you for two bits, will you please just leave?" he bargained.

"I’m glad to see that you’re thinking straight at last. Now, finish my order."

The cashier began packing his groceries for him.

"And update your signs according to the proper prices next time, moron."

The rest of the purchase went normally, and the unicorn left the store afterwards with a large, brown paper bag in the grip of his magic. He began cantering back towards home with a bit more speed in his gait. He didn’t want to keep his mother waiting for too much longer, or spend a second longer in the vicinity of such fools.

One day I will destroy all of these ponies...


***


Starlight went back the way he came, passing by all the same clubs, bars, and stores that he did before. The ponies outside had changed this time, and there was a different gang hanging around outside that bar he passed. He ignored them and kept walking on, determined not to waste any more time being out here in the open.

For some reason, his mind drifted back to that street musician from earlier in the day. He wondered what he was doing right now. It was winter, after all, and the stallion was clearly homeless. He did feel a slight amount of pity for anypony that was forced to sleep out in this, especially considering the volume of the other ponies out on the town right now, and that awful club music assaulting his ears.

Though then again, maybe being forced to experience this all night would be karmic justice. With any luck, it’d teach the vagrant to stop inflicting his own awful music on the world.

As the homes began reappearing, he put that behind him and concentrated on the route back to his house. Like he always did, he kept a lookout for a small side route that would take him straight to his street. Luckily, he discovered a little path between two lines of back gardens that were cut off by a wooden fence. He spotted it a few houses down and quickened his pace to reach it sooner.

As he turned into the pathway though, he froze. Standing in the middle of the the path, just yards away from him, was some kind of nightmare creature.

It wore a formal-looking suit, giving it some distant echoes of civility, but there ended all similarities the thing had with common ponies. It stood up on its two hind legs, but seemed to have no balance problems at all. Its forelegs dangled at its sides, unused. And its skin... it didn’t have skin. It was made of fire, or at least it had the appearance of such.

Its round head was just a glowing orange ball, and on the end of its forelegs, its hooves were the same. In fact, it was glowing like that all over, it’s just that the glow was most noticeable over the areas not covered up with clothing. Most frightening of all, it lacked any wings, but it floated just slightly off the ground.

Initially it was faced away from him, but when he stepped into the alley, it twisted its head around to look at him. He got a good look at its facial features. Its eyes were tiny compared to ponies, and black as night. They especially stood out when everything else about him was so bright. And even though it was harder to see through the fiery energy, he could make out a mouth too. Not a muzzle. Just a mouth. And it was giving him a wide, toothy grin.

It’s okay. Be brave, Starlight. You’re a student of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns! You can take care of yourself! You can stand up to this thing, whatever it is!

He took a tentative step forward, ready to confront the specter.

"Hel—"

The creature cut him off, talking to him in a distorted voice that was heard both by his ears and in his mind.

"Starlight! Good that you’ve shown up. I’ve been looking all day for you."

Scratch that, no I can’t! Run away!

Starlight let out a very feminine scream and galloped away as fast away as he could. He stopped deliberately pacing his strides with each leg correctly, and just ran as instinct told him to. The result was that he didn’t move that much faster than normal, and now he hobbled along, bouncing from side to side with every step.

He fled into the street he had just came from and ran down the middle of the road. Though he didn’t look back, behind him the fiery phantom emerged from the alley, poking his head around the corner. Starlight wasn’t getting very far very fast, so he nonchalantly drifted out of his hiding place and began slowly floating down the road after Starlight. Despite his lack of speed, he was gaining quickly on him.

"Come on, kid. Let’s be civil about this."

His mouth didn’t move when he spoke. He didn’t even change his facial expression. Starlight looked behind him to see his pursuer getting closer, and began screaming even louder. It was his hope that somepony in the houses would look out the window and see them. Maybe some kind soul would call the police and save him.

"God, will you just calm down? You’re going to make a scene," the spirit said as it floated around in front of Starlight and blocked his escape. "Listen, my name is Ambition, and I think we can—"

Starlight charged and unleashed a spell on the demon, firing a bolt of raw magical energy into his chest. The projectile passed right through his torso, not even impacting the suit. The thing still had not stopped grinning, and continued to hold that exact same expression as it looked down at the spot where the spell would have impacted, back up at him again, and then tilted its head as if to say, "Really?"

This wasn’t going well. Starlight hastily drew on all the magic he had left in him, getting ready to try something extremely stupid and dangerous. Before his aggressor could move for him again, Starlight disappeared in a flash, utilizing a spell that even for him was more than a little tricky. He appeared again just a little further down the street, singed all over and limping away as fast as he could.

Looking back, he saw Ambition still staring at where he was before. Then the demon looked over his shoulder and spotted Starlight. The extremely slow chase resumed.

"Really now?" he called. "This is embarrassing. Look, I just want to use your body so that I can overthrow the government. It’s really not much to ask."

While doing his utmost to escape, Starlight couldn’t help but scold himself for making such a foolish move. Teleportation was still somewhat out of his league, and it was a miracle he hadn’t torn himself apart by accident, especially considering that he hadn’t actually been directly taught about it and he cast that spell using just what he’d read about its mechanics.

Never again! I swear! NEVER using that again!

He screamed like a little filly again as Ambition once more appeared in front of him.

"Starlight, this is childish. We’ve got work to do. Would you please just stop with the dramatics?"

"Why is nopony coming to help me?!" the frightened stallion called out.

"Because this is Canterlot, and showing compassion to another pony here is considered a major faux pas. Now stay still. "

Ambition shot forward, far faster than he’d been moving until now. Starlight saw his fiery forehooves moving up in front of him, except that they weren’t hooves, but something else. They bore more similarity to claws of a baby dragon than anything else. And they were dexterous too, as he felt when the claws wrapped around his head. For fire, they didn’t feel all that warm. He gave one last scream as Ambition lowered himself so that he was level with Starlight, and then headbutted his victim.

Starlight stumbled back when the impact happened, but he didn’t actually feel it. He had felt those claws, but not the impact of Ambition’s head. And now the demonic specter was gone, as if he was never there in the first place.

Oh, thank Celestia...

He stumbled over to the closest sidewalk and collapsed, panting in exhaustion and quietly thankful that whatever he had just experienced seemed to have passed. Was that a hallucination? A dream? Was he going to wake up soon? It had felt real, and this still felt real, but...

There was a slight tingling sensation in the front of his brain. It wasn’t painful, but it felt peculiar. His eyes widened and his breathing picked up again. 

Looking for me?

Ambition’s voice echoed in his mind, quieter than before, and no longer distorted, but just as unnerving.

"Wh-where are you, m-monster?" he stuttered out, trembling.

Why, I’m right here beside you! As close to you as I could possibly get, I’d say. To put it simply, I’m in your mind. I’m the consciousness next to yours. And now, it will make this whole process a lot easier on the both of us if you didn’t resist as I assume control over your body.

"You will leave my body this instant, you cur!" Starlight demanded.

Hey, bro, don’t go all ‘innocent victim’ on me now. I would have asked for consent, but you’re the one who started making a scene. I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. Besides, it won’t hurt. I think. Never done this before actually, but you know what they say. There’s a first time for everything.

Starlight steeled himself and stood up again.

"You are not taking me over!"

Come on, Starlight. I am FAR from the first guy to have tampered with your mind. If anything, you should be familiar with being so utterly dominated. Though, I guess not. Memory magic and all.

"What are you talking about, demon?!"

Hold on. Let’s go digging in this sandbox a bit and see if we can find some buried treasure underneath all the trash and broken glass.

There was a flash of memory, and a sudden clarity in Starlight’s mind. For his part, he felt like he’d been bucked in the face, and he reeled with the impact as the scene played almost before his eyes.

"Starlight, your daddy’s gotta go to work now."

"But why does he hafta work, mom?"

"Daddy has a very important job, darling."

"What does he do?"

"Well, sweetie, it’s like this..."

Starlight yelled out. His head thumped painfully even before he fell back and hit it on a street light.

"What is that?! What was that?!" he demanded.

Not done yet. Let’s try another.

Starlight once again screamed as his head was assaulted with sharp pain.

"Hey, kiddo! How’re you doing? Look how big you’ve gotten! Ha! You still studying your magic?"

"Sure am, Uncle Viper!"

"Well, you keep at it! Talented little tyke like you? You’d make a great Purifier."

"Oh! I didn’t hear you come in. What a surprise!"

"I do apologize, Miss Scarlet. I just needed to see Clairvoyance. Work trouble again. You know how it is. Is he around here anywhere?"

Starlight buckled to his knees.

"STOP IT!"

Not until I break you!

"Son, it’s very important that you understand what I did for a living. And it’s even more important that you know why it was wrong."

"Why?"

"Equestria is veiled in darkness, my boy. We need to bring it back into the light."

The young unicorn had his head to the ground, hooves covering his face, and was grinding his horn against the pavement. Doing so was immensely painful for him, but he kept at it anyway, trying to use the pain he was causing himself to block out what Ambition was doing to him. These memories that he was digging up were painful in a whole different way, and his brain was pulsing like it was about to explode.

"Celestia, please! Just stop!"

No! Your memories have been seriously fucked with, and I’m going to fix that right here and right now! It’s time to stop living the lie, kid!

"No! Don’t! Take me, but don’t harm—"

"You talk too much, traitor. On your knees!"

"Agh!"

"Don’t worry. We won’t hurt them. And Starlight still has a mother, so take comfort in the fact that he won’t be an orphan."

"Dad!"

"Stay back, son!"

"You had this coming for a long time, turncoat. I hope it was worth it."

Starlight collapsed onto the pavement. He was panting more heavily than he had after the chase, but the pain was easing slightly. He rolled over onto his back, and stared up at the sky. He could almost see that psychopath’s grinning face before his eyes. The truth was beginning to sink in.

He wasn’t adopted. He had never been fatherless. He was raised by his real parents all along. There were family friends and a happy uncle and a bigger house. There was a tragedy when he was fifteen. It was taken from him, somehow. His memories were altered, along with his very sense of self. Everything was a lie. If there was one thing out of the flood of information that stood out the clearest though, it was those two words. "The Purifiers."

He could no longer take the mental strain of the countless resurfacing memories. He began to lose himself, drifting into a state of semiconsciousness where he couldn’t feel his body anymore. All feeling left him, replaced only by a numbness as he was left in his state of shock.

Echoing in the back of his mind, he heard Ambition’s sinister chuckling.

Starlight Kadabra is dead. Long live Starlight.

> Chapter 2: Living the Lie
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A young Starlight watched and listened as his father dryly walked him through the usual steps. He was trying his hardest to pay attention, but dad wasn't making it easy on him. Clairvoyance was reciting from the magic textbook with all the enthusiasm of a stallion going through leech therapy, and Starlight could not miss the bags under his father's eyes.

He was a seafoam green unicorn with a stringy, pale yellow mane and a cutie mark of an equine brain. This place was his study, which until now Starlight had not been allowed into. It was a cozy room, with its own fireplace and an entire wall of books just behind father's desk. A makeshift classroom that included a blackboard on wheels, a coffee table from downstairs, a couch pillow to sit on and a small stack of beginner-level spell books filled up most of the room now.

For reasons Starlight didn't quite understand, his dad had insisted on homeschooling him. Most unicorns his age were entering magic kindergarten right now, making friends and learning. Starlight had instead spent a little over a week listening to dull lectures and reading from boring old books. And it didn't help that the vast majority of them were all about health and safety while spellcasting; possibly the most boring subject in the world.

"...Alright, son. I think that's enough theory for now," Clairvoyance announced. "It's time for the moment you've most likely been waiting all this time for." 

Starlight perked up instantly. Clairvoyance chuckled at his son's reaction. 

"That's right. It's time for some action!"

The stallion magically lifted a quill off of his desk and floated it over to the coffee table where Starlight was sat. He let go and let it drift down to settle in front of him.

"It's very simple. All I want you to do is to try some basic levitation. See if you can lift the quill."

Starlight shot his dad an "are you serious?" look. He knew that he was five, but it was a quill, a feather, an object that was notorious for being virtually weightless. He could probably levitate it by blowing it upwards with his mouth. There was no way that he had been sitting through over a week of this stuff just so he could lift a feather around.

Clairvoyance once again read his son's expression and didn't wait for him to speak up.

"Son, don't give me that look," he snapped. "Start channeling your body's energies towards your horn, and focus on the quill there, just as we practiced."

"Daddy, this is boring! I shouldn't even be doing all this stupid learning stuff! I should be doing something fun, like everypony else is!" Starlight groaned.

Clairvoyance let out a sigh.

"Listen, Starlight, I don't mean to be too hard on you, but you need to learn discipline. You also need to know the importance of learning and knowledge. Knowledge is the key to success. Without knowledge of something as rudimentary as levitating a feather, how can you expect to accomplish anything else? How do you expect to make it in life?"

Starlight frowned as he considered this.

"Knowledge is power, Starlight. Remember this as you go through your studies, because that is where you be drawing much of it from. Whether it's power that you use to protect, to heal, to thrive, or even to strike down evil, you will want it, I'm sure. And I want what's best for you. I really do. So please, just bear with me here."

He took a moment to let his father's words sink in. After a moment, he nodded and set his sights on the quill. Just as they had practiced, he went through the motions, focusing his magical energy on the quill in front of him. A purple glow surrounded it, and he watched as it lifted into the air. Suddenly, he could almost feel the thing. It was like having another limb that he could move anywhere.

"Look, daddy! I'm doing it! I'm doing it! Look!" Starlight yelled out.

Clairvoyance gave a slow, approving nod and a light laugh.

"I see, I see. Geez, and you thought that it wouldn't be exciting. You did very well. I'm proud of you."

He trotted over to the coffee table and sat down next to it, watching the feather up close as Starlight began to twirl it around in the air.

"You'll be an excellent mage some day, just like my father, and his father before him. I can just feel it."

Starlight kept smiling as he played around with the feather. He began to move it in a figure-eight motion.

"Well, I guess that's today's class concluded. You'll have to keep practicing with that until next time, of course. Next lesson we'll probably try some heavier stuff. What are you going to do with your time now?"

"I'll keep trying magic," he replied simply.

Clairvoyance beamed at his son. As he did, he watched the figure-eight turn on its side, so that the motions of the feather instead formed an infinity symbol. His smile faltered ever so slightly, just for a second, but it quickly returned. He playfully ruffled Starlight's mane and began to usher him out of the study.


***


Starlight broke out of his trance. Instead of gasping and looking around frantically, like any normal pony in his situation would, he found that he could not gasp, move, or manipulate any body parts at all. He was still looking through his eyes, hearing with his ears, and he could feel everything that he normally felt while in control. However, control was definitely something that he did not have right now.

What in Equestria...?

He finally paid attention to the worn, wooden surface that his eyes were fixed on, unable to tear them away from looking down at it. A white plate was placed in front of him. It had some sort of reddish-brown thing covered in unidentifiable sauce placed on it, with a few greens acting as garnish. He couldn't for the life of him tell what he was looking at. Much to his disgust, there was a large mug of ale accompanying the mystery food.

Then he noticed the taste and realized that whatever was in front of him, he was midway through chewing it. It was foreign to him. His palate had never experienced anything like it, and he really couldn't think of a way to describe the flavor without anything similar to compare it to. He had by this point already deduced that Ambition had taken over while he was out, but he was almost afraid to imagine what kind of place he had dragged him to during that moment of vulnerability.

Starlight could hear a low roar of chatter and occasional obtrusive laughing in the background, along with the sound of utensils clanging against plates. There was a strong smell of salt, booze, and grease. With every passing second, the whole situation looked worse and worse.

Typical den of ruffians. I bet that monster feels right at home here.

Oh, look who finally woke up.

Starlight mentally winced as the voice of the devil himself sounded in his head.

You! What have you done to me?! I demand that you relinquish control of my body immediately! Get out of my head! Stop flooding my mind with these... these... fabrications!

Hey, hey, just calm down. You're fine. It's perfectly normal for this to happen after getting memories back, even if I am returning them gradually. You're just going to have to deal with it for a little bit longer.

This is NOT a discussion! OUT of my body, demon!

Come on, don't be so judgmental. I'm no more evil than you are. I'm only a spirit trying to achieve my goals, just like every other guy out there. I just so happen to need your body for that. Besides, I can be a pretty nice guy. I thought that I would make it up to you with a quality dinner and a nice drink. Oh, and don't worry about the age law. The guys at this bar don't seem to really give a crap! Here, have a swig!

Starlight then found himself magically lifting the frosty mug and guzzling down its amber contents against his will. It burned his throat as it went down.

To him, it was like drinking his own stomach acid, but even before ever tasting a drop of it he had never liked alcohol. He viewed it as a crutch that the stupid used to make themselves happier without having to think. Sure, when he got older he planned on partaking in wine like any proper and sophisticated pony would, but he saw that as a totally different thing from guzzling down whatever cheap booze one could get in some run-down bar.

With an involuntary turn of his head, Starlight saw that all the bar's patrons were griffons; creatures that were pretty far up there on the list of things he wanted gone. They were everything he despised. They were brutish, classless, crude, unintelligent, unmannered, and they even ate meat as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Such brutes didn't belong in a high-class, cultured city like Canterlot.

That's when the realization hit.

Oh, dear Celestia. Please tell me this food isn't what I think it is?!

Starlight's body placed the mug back onto the bar's surface and produced a satisfied "ah".

It's a venison steak. Great, isn't it?

If Starlight were in control, he would have been physically ill.

I... I can't even... I want to be sick, but I can't...

Oh, yeah. I forgot about that whole "pretty much everyone is a vegetarian" deal. I guess it's a good thing you're not in control then, because I intend to eat all of this. You have no idea how long it's been since I've actually felt the sensation of taste. Even if these teeth are God-awful at chewing it, I want to enjoy this while I can.

Get out. Get out, you sick, depraved MONSTER! GET OUT OF MY BODY RIGHT NOW, AND STOP DEFILING IT WITH YOUR FILTH!

Starlight mentally slammed against Ambition, imagining himself physically tackling a representation of the entity as he struggled for control.

Kid, I am the spiritual incarnation of ambition and I am many thousands of years older than you. I guarantee you that my will is stronger than yours.

GET! OUT!

Starlight summoned all the mental strength he could muster to try and once again become the dominating consciousness in the body. He could feel his hoof beginning to tremble. At the same time, he felt his eyes dart down to look at it. Ambition didn't seem to expect him to do that.

Okay. Credit where it's due. That's impressive. But don't think I'm not going to fight back!

In his mind, Starlight smiled at his minor triumph. His physical body fell off the barstool, and he began writhing about on the floor as he pushed in one direction and Ambition in the other. To the observing griffins, the struggle made him look like he was having a seizure. The establishment's bartender, a gruff-looking griffin with a mustache, moved over to near where they had been sitting and leaned over the counter, frowning at them.

"Hey, pony. You okay?" he asked with a hint of concern.

"Y-yup," Ambition answered. "Don't y-you worry about m-me. I'm d-doing just p-peachy, so j-just keep t-tending to that b-bar of y-yours."

Starlight, stop this shit right now before you get us caught.

You mean before YOU get caught! And what do you think I'm TRYING to do?!

At this point, each consciousness had about half of the body. Giving up control of a back leg, Starlight focused his efforts on the battle for his mouth and vocal chords. He seemed to succeed in ousting Ambition for a moment, and immediately put them to use.

"No! Help! This evil spirit has been possessing my b-body! C-call the Royal Guard! I implore y-you!"

The bartender tilted his head in confusion.

"Uh, what?"

Damage control time! Ambition declared as he tore control of that area away again.

"F-forget what I j-just said! Don't call the guard in here! Just i-ignore everything that I'm a-about to sa—"

NOPE.

"Please, sir, you need to call the guard immediately!"

The griffin bartender looked at Starlight as one would look at an underwater fire.

"You know, I kind of respected you for having the guts to barge into a griffin joint and chow down on meat like you did, but you need to beat it if you keep acting this crazy. You're going to scare off my customers."

Starlight didn't answer, as the battle for his body was getting too intense. He needed to keep focus. Still the twitching and spazzing continued, and still more heads turned towards them.

Fine. If you're going to be a problem, you can have another time-out.


***


A seven-year-old Starlight looked with disdain at his reflection in the hallway's mirror. He was wearing a complete tuxedo getup, which looked pretty ridiculous on somepony his age, and he was not too happy about it.

"Mommy, why do I have to wear clothes? What's the point?" he asked an equally dressed-up Scarlet, looking down at the ground. "Can I take it off? Clothes makes me feel all tight and stuffy."

His mother sighed.

"We've been over this, darling. Clothes give prestige, and no son of mine will go around looking like some clothesless bumpkin on such an occasion. Have you forgotten that some very important ponies will be joining us for this dinner tonight? Besides, your... attributes are better concealed when you are wearing these."

"But moooooom, I don't want to wear clothes, and daddy says that my body is special and perfect the way it is!" he protested.

Scarlet gave her son a glare.

"Young colt, you will wear them, and you will lis—"

They were interrupted as another pony entered the room. A unicorn with a coat like coal and a deep red mane knocked on the door to catch their attention. Scarlet was startled when she saw him, but he only smiled at her.

"Good evening, Scarlet. I thought that I'd just let myself in here. Hope you don't mind."

His voice was like silk, and Scarlet eased up significantly and returned his smile with one of her own when he spoke.

"Of course not! You just... caught me off-guard. Heh."

"Uncle Viper!" Starlight blurted out as he dashed over to the stallion and hugged one of his forelegs.

"Oh, hey there, sport! Ha, you look like you're about to eat dinner with royalty with that thing on! Seriously, Scarlet, it's just a little get together with me and the guys. You could be a bit more casual about it."

Starlight turned to look back at his mother and gave her a smug look of triumph.

"Haha... I suppose that I just can't control myself when it comes to fashion," Scarlet said with a strained smile. "So, where are the other agents on this fine evening?"

"Oh, they're probably going to leave for the restaurant pretty soon. I just decided to come over here a bit early to chat it up with my old buddy, Clairvoyance. Where is that crazy stallion?"

Viper looked around over his shoulder.

"Don't ask me. I don't where he is at least eighty percent of the time, and he still has the nerve to call me his wife," Scarlet huffed.

"No worries. I'll just give him a ring," Viper said as he closed his eyes in concentration.

His horn glowed as he cast a spell that looked like it required barely any energy, but great amounts of concentration. Seconds later, as if on cue, Clairvoyance teleported in almost right beside Viper in a flash of light. Everypony jumped back in surprise except for Viper, who just grinned at him.

"Sorry. I wasn't expecting you," Clairvoyance explained. "I was just taking care of some business."

"Come on, I thought that you were retired now. What's with all this 'business'? They're not still sending you on assignments, are they? I don't have to talk to Blue Chip and tell him my buddy's too old and frail for all this now, do I? Eh?"

He gently nudged Clairvoyance's shoulder.

"Oh, it's just something that I do in my free time," the other unicorn responded, chuckling with him.

"Ah, alright! I won't be nosy with you. I won't be that guy. But are you happy to see me or what?! I mean, it's been almost a month since we've done anything together! We should chat some. You know, about the good ol' days? Maybe junior over here can listen in and finally hear about how much of a hero you were!"

"Viper, you know that I want him out of all that," he whispered, leaning in closer. "If you want to talk about my career, then we can go to my office upstairs."

Starlight just stared at his dad as if he were made of gold.

"Wow, my daddy's a hero?!"

Clairvoyance shifted his gaze back to his son and sighed.

"No, no, I was ju—"

"Oh, you bet your dad was a hero!" Viper interrupted. "He was one of the best damn Purifiers I've ever seen, and that's saying something. He did all sorts of great stuff for Equestria. Like this one time where he single-hoofedly beat out this entire gang of these huge, ferocious minotaur thugs with just his horn and his wit. Or when he captured the boss of a massive crime syndicate. Oh, and this other time where he—"

"I THINK that's enough for the time being, Viper. He's just too young to understand the things that I did back then."

"Wow, that's so cool! What's not to understand? You beat out a bunch of bad guys! Why didn't you tell me that you were so awesome, daddy? And what are the Purifiers? Are they some sort of superhero league? Are you a superhero? What's your superhero name? What's your superpower? Ooh, ooh, can I be your sidekick?"

"No, son, it was simply an old job that I did; nothing more," Clairvoyance answered.

Scarlet had until now stayed well out of the conversation, but Starlight looked over to her, inviting her to contribute. She flickered her gaze between the two other stallions in the room.

"Well, to give my opinion on this matter, I think that our dear Starlight deserves to know," she offered. "We really do need to stop shielding him from this. Besides, you know how children are; the more forbidden something is, the more they want it."

"He's seven for Celestia's sake!" he thundered at both of them. "Can't he just live in ignorance for a bit longer? The rest of Equestria does!"

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" Viper responded, sitting down and holding up his forehooves in surrender. "He's your kid. It's not my place to decide what he should know. We can just go talk about this stuff in your office if you want."

"That would be great."

As the two stallions started to make their way up towards the study, Starlight wanted nothing more than to follow them. He waited until his mom left to go groom herself some more, and then went off in pursuit.

Once he reached the door to the office, which was locked shut, he heard voices and laughter from the other side. He could pretty easily make out what they were saying, but it mostly just them reminiscing about the "good ol' days" they mentioned. He couldn't really make much sense of what they were talking about, but he still listened in with mild interest. It wasn't until they started talking about him when he really started to pay attention, and pressed his ear right up against the door.

"I actually wanted to ask you about something."

"Well, ask away then."

"It's about Starlight... I know that you might be heavily against this, but I really think that it would be in your and his best interests—"

"No. Just no. I told you to keep him out of this. I'm not going to let you indoctrinate him into becoming some killer."

"Hey, hey, just hear me out. I only want what's best for him, just like you do. He's obviously a talented young colt. I mean, he's seven years old, and he can do how many spells now? Five? That's way more than either of us had at that age! Face it, he's going to be an expert magic specialist for somepony, and there's no way that some government department is not going to snatch him up as soon as they can.

"And honestly? It might as well be the Purifiers. Those deformities of his? Our people wouldn't care. I mean, you've seen the HQ recently, right? We have way bigger freaks working as our Celestia-damned janitors, let alone the field agents, science team, upper management, and don't even get me started on the Director!"

"Were you going somewhere with this?"

"Yeah! I'm just saying, if anypony is likely to give him a good chance, it's the Purifiers. He'll have room to reach his full potential while still being free of prejudice. And you can hardly say that of a lot of the other departments, right? I mean, would you rather he get sucked up by the fanatics in the Royal Guard, or those vultures from the Magical Regulation Commission?"

"Viper..."

"Or worse, what if he ends up an enforcer for the Church of the Holy Sun?"

"Viper—"

"I mean, I respect all religions and all, but damn, there's crazy, and then there's those guys."

"Viper! I appreciate your good intentions, but the answer is still no. He can live a perfectly normal, happy life without joining an organization devoted to killing ponies. I don't want him to become some pawn like I did!"

Starlight pulled his ear away from the door with surprise.

"Clairvoyance, you know that we only kill to save more lives."

"Oh, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about how you wipe ponies' 'tainted' memories."

"But that's not killing them, it's only purifying them!"

"It's wrong! You're destroying who they truly are, which, in my opinion, counts as killing!"

"The only thing that they could have truly been was a threat to this country! Damn. I mean, you're still my friend, and I can accept a few differences of opinion, but don't be like that. Don't forget all the good we did and act like it was all for nothing. I know it got a little dark there at times, but you and me? We saved ponies. We made a difference."

Starlight could hear his father sigh.

"I guess..."

"And hey, you keep quiet about all that too, especially at dinner tonight. You know that I'd never think you're some kind of traitor, but if the bosses ever heard you talking about what we do like that, like you were some kind of Descendant..."

"I know..."

"Particularly if it were the Director. That little 'retired' checkbox on your page might mean to the rest of us that you contributed years of loyal service, but to the Director, it just means that you went from 'asset' to 'liability'. If he thought you were guilty of something, he wouldn't hesitate. Just sayin'."

"You're right... It was for the greater good. It's... it's just that I feel so guilty sometimes for what I did back then. I don't want my son to have to go through the same thing."

There was a brief silence.

"We were the heroes, Clair. The good guys. We kept this country from falling apart. If you don't want to go through with it and get your son involved though, then I completely understand. I was just throwing it out there. Besides, I'm sure he could get in at CSGU if he wanted. Kid like that has a world of other options."

"Heh. I bet he could. He hasn't been joking around with his studies. I'm so proud of the colt. In fact, sometimes I—"

Starlight felt the sneeze coming, but was unable to stop it. The talking behind the door immediately ceased.

There was a moment of quiet as Starlight stood there nervously, hoping it hadn't actually been noticed, even though he knew it was in vain. Seconds later, the door was surrounded by a green glow and slowly swung open. Inside, he could see his father sitting behind the desk at the back of the room, and Uncle Viper standing just to the side of it. Without needing to be told, he stepped inside and approached the desk. The door shut behind him.

Starlight cringed in expectancy of punishment. Instead, Clairvoyance addressed him calmly, only asking a simple question.

"How much did you hear?"

"J-just some parts where you were talking about how you were a superhero, and some stuff about you not liking being a superhero or something. An-and some stuff about me."

In the background, the trio could hear Scarlet calling out.

"Starlight! Where are you? It's nearly time to go!"

Clairvoyance sighed.

"We're going to have a talk after dinner," he said solemnly. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble."

"Come on," Viper added. "We'd best be getting to the restaurant now."


***


Starlight's head impacted the paved surface of the sidewalk outside of the bar. A pony walking past glanced down at his sprawled body, but just passed it off as another crazy drunk getting into trouble, and continued on without comment or concern.

"And stay out!" called a griffin somewhere behind him.

Starlight groaned loudly into the cobblestone, and began to push himself up onto his hooves again. It was in that brief moment that he registered that he was back in control again. Before he could seize the opportunity though, Ambition resumed his iron grip.

Christ! That couldn't have been more than forty seconds you were gone in that flashback! Did you somehow skip some of it? Because you're not supposed to be able to do that.

The unicorn struggled against him again, once more seeming to regain control. He used it to lean down and place his horn to the pavement. Starlight began hobbling along, the tip of his horn scraping against the stone and leaving a long, white mark behind him as he walked. He visibly winced from the pain it caused him, and he could almost feel his horn getting blunter with every second he abused it in this way, but Ambition's control did seem to wane.

I'm not hard-wired into this body like you are, kid. All this that you're doing isn't going to hurt me. You can try self-harm all you want, but any time you do, I can just let up control and kick back for a bit.

"That... is precisely... the point... you MORON!" Starlight shouted aloud.

Further ahead, the other pony looked back in concern. When he saw that Starlight was up from the gutter and walking in his direction, he quickened his pace and disappeared around a street corner.

He moved at a snail's pace like this, but Starlight didn't plan to let up. He kept his head to the ground as he moved along, but still looked upwards and to the sides for any clue of where he was. He had landed on a sidewalk that lined a wall of several commercial buildings, which a nearby sign named as Emerald Boulevard. That was a fairly major road, and if followed long enough this way it eventually passed right through his neighborhood. Ambition had probably come down here in the other direction to reach the griffin bar in the first place, considering Starlight had been possessed not far from his home.

The night had also matured since that initial encounter and the subsequent black-outs. The stars were now out. From the looks of it, he would have guessed it was around ten o'clock now. For a brief moment, he felt guilty that his mother probably didn't have dinner tonight because of him, but then reminded himself that it wasn't his fault that some crazy spirit that looked like it came straight from the deepest pits of Tartarus had come to steal his body so that it could overthrow the government.

Nevertheless, he had a destination to reach now.

You had better not be planning on telling on me to the Royal Guard, because if you are, you're making a huge mistake. It will not end well for either of us.

"Oh-ho! I know!" Starlight responded with a manic grin. "That's why we're not going to the Guard! I know exactly how to deal with you!"

You're not gonna try suicide, are you? Because that'll just kill you. It won't harm me. And I'll still eat your soul.

"Nothing quite so cowardly," Starlight responded smugly.

I was kidding about the soul-eating, by the way.

"I know."

It was a joke.

"I know. It wasn't funny."

Starlight continued his trudge along the street, making sure to never cease the painful horn grind for even a moment.

Look, this could be a whole lot easier on both of us if you just stopped being selfish with your body, and let me do what I need to do. Come on! It's a win-win!

"How could that possibly be even close to a win for me?!"

You get the pleasure of helping me overthrow the government.

"I would never be a part of such anarchy!"

But you're a teenager! Whatever happened to "fight the power" and "fuck the police"? Isn't that what your generation are made of?

"My generation are drunkards and fools, and the ponies who indulge in that mentality are even worse than the rest! Now shut up!"

My God, you're really going to make me spell it out, aren't you? Look at the damn memories, Starlight. Do you seriously not see where I'm going with all this?

"The only place you're going is down, you vile creature!"

Though Ambition was not in control of the mouth right now, Starlight could hear him sigh.

Okay. I thought you intellectual types liked subtlety, but if I REALLY have to beat you over the head with it, let's go deeper.


***


Starlight closed the doors to his bedroom and at long last threw off his uncomfortable tuxedo. He looked over to his bed, where a book was already waiting for him. Jumping up onto his mattress, he magically grabbed the book and opened it to a page that had previously been bookmarked. As he tried to continue with the latest of his favourite fantasy series though, Starlight's reading was interrupted by the sound of a knock on his door.

Without waiting for permission to enter, Clairvoyance opened the door and poked his head inside.

"Starlight, I think it's time we had that talk I mentioned."

Starlight's father strode into the room and closed the door behind him. Reluctantly, he lowered the book and sat up. Though he wasn't sure what their talk was going to be about, he assumed that he was likely in trouble for spying, despite the earlier assurances. Dad wasn't carrying himself like that though. He didn't seem angry. In fact, if anything, he seemed a little sad to Starlight.

Clairvoyance sat down right beside Starlight's bed, and took a moment to gather himself, as if trying to find the right words.

"Son, it's very important that you understand what I did for a living. And it's even more important that you know why it was wrong."

"Why?" Starlight asked, furrowing his brow.

"Equestria is veiled in darkness, my boy. We need to bring it back into the light."

"Is this about that superhero league that you used to be a part of? 'Cause I'm really sorry for listening in on you and Uncle Viper."

Clairvoyance paused again.

"Yes, it's about them. But Starlight, they aren't superheroes. They might try to act that way, but they're all really just villains. They're the bad guys; our enemies, and the enemies of all free people."

"B-but isn't Uncle Viper one of them?"

The older unicorn slowly nodded. Starlight gasped.

"Does he know?! What if they get him?!"

"Yes. He knows."

That stopped Starlight's panicking for the moment, but confusion took its place. He sat still, trying to process that for a moment.

"But he... but Uncle Viper is so nice..." he muttered. "Are... are you really sure the Purifiers are so evil? I mean... what do they do?"

His father looked away from him.

"They think that they have the right to control and manipulate the entire country and all its people, right down to the very memories that we hold dear. They say that they're 'purifying' everything, but really they're just molding the world into what they want it to be. If they decide that you're a bad guy, then they'll come for you when you least expect it. They'll use their magic to tear open your mind, and they'll take away everything that makes you you.

"It's meant to be a more ethical alternative to just killing them. If you ask me though, it's so much worse. Ponies deserve free will. In fact, not just ponies. All races. Griffins, zebra, whatever. The point is, the ability to make our own choices, to have that freedom and to not have the will of organizations like the Purifiers forced on us, is the most basic right of any Equestrian citizen. And despite what most ponies on the street think, we don't have that right. We're lied to, Starlight."

He looked down at his hooves.

"But... they only do that to bad guys, right?"

Starlight looked up again as Clairvoyance turned to face him again. He looked so tired.

"That's what they say. But they have a pretty broad definition of who the bad guys are. It's not just ponies who hurt other ponies that they do this to. Even just causing problems for the government is enough. I've known them to memory wipe journalists who they just thought were being too nosy. Take them away, make them disappear, make all their friends and family forget they were ever there. And that's what the Purifiers do, Starlight. It's sick, and no just government would allow a group like them to exist."

"So... if the Purifiers are the bad guys, then how come you were one? You aren't a bad guy."

"Understand, I wasn't the same then as I am now. I joined of my own free will and justified everything that I did by claiming that it was for the greater good of Equestria. Just like they tell themselves, and they tell us. I wanted to do my patriotic duty, but I only succeeded in being part of the force that oppresses this country. Thankfully, a friend of mine helped me to see the light, so I quit."

It hadn't escaped Clairvoyance's notice that his son had scooted away from him a little bit.

"What happened next?" he asked with some trepidation.

Clairvoyance quickly looked behind him at the bedroom door.

"What I'm about to tell you, you must not tell anypony else, or even mention around anypony besides me and your mother. Not even your uncle. If the Purifiers found this out, our whole family would be in grave danger. Do you hear me?"

Starlight nodded.

"Good. Well, okay. There is a group out there devoted to destroying the Purifiers and putting a stop to all this horribleness. They want Equestria to really have the freedom it thinks it does. They're called the Descendants. I joined up with them years before you were born, and I am still currently a part of it. I send them reports on Purifier activity which I learn about through my interactions with agents that I used to work with. Agents like your Uncle Viper. Basically, I'm a spy."

The young colt began to come closer to Clairvoyance again. He smiled slightly as he saw that.

"So the Descendants are the good guys?"

He again paused before answering.

"Sure. I guess you could say that. More importantly, they're our only hope, and we can never let the Purifiers get to them. That especially means that Viper can never learn that I'm a part of all that. He's a good stallion at heart, but son... you can't trust him. He's like me when I first started out. He fully believes in what the Purifiers are doing, and he thinks he's helping Equestria this way. I don't know what he'd do if he found out, but I'm willing to bet that he'd choose them over us."

"But can't you try to get him to stop, like how your friend helped you?"

"I do try, Starlight. I try every time I see him. But it isn't easy to change a pony's entire belief system."

"When I was listening to you talking in the office, he said he wanted me to be a Purifier," Starlight said. "I don't have to be, do I?"

Clairvoyance smiled and patted him on the head.

"No. You don't. The Purifiers have a special academy where they train their agents. Viper wanted to send you there at the end of the summer, but I've already arranged for you to attend Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns instead. Assuming you pass your entrance exam of course, but I don't think you'll have trouble with that. You'll stay there for a few years, safe and sound, and maybe when you're old enough you can be a Descendant too. You'll need to study and work hard there though. You remember what I said about knowledge, right?"

"Mhmm. Knowledge is power."

"Excellent. Never forget that."


***


Starlight awoke to find himself still walking in the same direction he had been before, only now without his horn scraping against the ground. Rather than resume what he was doing, he instead broke into a gallop down the street. Well, a slightly fast limp, at any rate.

He was doing his best to ignore the vivid flashbacks that haunted him. His only thoughts were getting back home and resisting Ambition. Still he told himself that the dawning memories were false, and that they were just Ambition's tricks. His pace became faster, and he began to take notice of his surroundings once more, looking around at the neon-drenched street and the various street lamps, whose spotlights he was constantly passing in and out of.

Even during all that was going on in his head, he still couldn't help but appreciate the sight of Canterlot at night time. The glows of the signs and street lamps illuminated the city in a warm artificial light. To some, they probably seemed like trivial things, but to him they represented how much ponykind had progressed from the days of tribes fighting each other in the mud. He loved progress, and even though he might of not thought much of the ponies that made up the society he lived in, he still wanted to see it advance, grow, and maybe someday rule the stars.

That, and the lights were just pretty. He almost saw it now; what the other ponies all liked so much about going out on the town at this time of night. As this demon continued to mess with his mind, conjuring up these images seemingly for no reason other than to hound him to suicide, he began to wonder if he'd wasted his life.

You know, I can't help but hear you keep telling yourself that I'm just making all this up. For real though, I couldn't make it up if I tried. These are your memories, alright? All I did was unlock them.

"You're lying! I think I would remember having a father!" Starlight shouted.

As he went along the street, he noticed a mare leaning against a wall of what looked like a bar up ahead. She'd been outside smoking, but he had caught her attention with his rebuttal to Ambition. At the risk of looking like a schizophrenic, he decided to keep their interactions in his mind for now, and he gave her an awkward smile as he passed. She just looked slightly creeped out by the scabs and the legs.

Come on, haven't you been paying attention? The Purifiers wiped your "impure" memories. You should be thanking me for bringing them back again!

But there's no way that these "Purifiers" actually exist! Starlight mentally snapped at him. We have fair and wise rulers! They wouldn't let anypony do such things.

I remind you that one of those "fair and wise rulers" almost killed every living thing on this planet because she was jealous. I know; I was there.

It wasn't her fault! Luna was possessed by an evil entity! She's no more to blame for that than I am for the act of barbarism you committed in that griffin establishment!

Ugh. It's always the same excuse. Just blame Nightmare! Listen, unlike you, I actually knew the guy you're being so quick to judge. Yeah, he was a huge dick, but you're VASTLY overestimating him. You think it's easy to control an alicorn princess? It's not. Look how much trouble I'm having with you, and you're just some scabby loser with an attitude problem.

Starlight outwardly growled at that.

The fact is, Luna didn't have to go and fuse with him like she did. In the end, it was her choice. You can blame the big bad spirit all you want, but if it wasn't a willing partnership then Nightmare would have accomplished precisely nothing.

I'll stick to official history books for my information, thank you very much. You're obviously just trying to turn me against my own rulers, which will not work. I'm not some idiotic peasant, and I have no desire to lead some pointless, sentiment-fueled revolution!

You'll think different when you remember everything clearly. And while you're busy doing that, you could let me take over for a bit. I know it must be hard to deal with all these oh so mind-blowing memories AND keep in control of that body of yours. How about you share the load?

I'll never give in to you, demon!

Fine. Delay it all you want. I'm actually a pretty patient guy.


***


Starlight trotted back down the steps that led up to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. He had just passed his entrance exam with flying colors, and couldn't wait to get home and tell his parents. A scroll bound in a red ribbon floated just in front of him, and he was beaming. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the world was beautiful.

"Hey, Starlight! Wait up!"

Further up the steps, a familiar black unicorn rushed down towards the young colt. Starlight stopped as instructed, waiting for Viper to catch up with him.

"I know you're eager to get back home, sport, but your parents won't be off for another hour yet! Slow it down a bit!"

"I know, Uncle Viper! But I passed! I got in the school! I want to show them!"

Viper gave a small chuckle.

"Yeah, but we've got all the time in the world, don't we? You'll still see them later. For now though, I was thinking that since you did so well, you deserve a reward. I thought that I'd take you to get some ice cream, if you're up for it?"

The already huge grin on Starlight's face became even wider.

"Yes, yes, yes! Let's go right now!"

"Ha! I knew you would! Come on. I know a place just down the street."

The eager colt happily followed Viper down and onto the streets of Canterlot, and the duo made their way towards the promised ice cream parlor. Two blocks down, they stopped on a street corner in front of a building with a sign above its doors that read "Dairy Princess". A little bell rang as they swung open the glass door and stepped inside.

The parlor wasn't very crowded, with only a few ponies scattered about on different tables enjoying their treats. The walls were decorated with murals of various different dairy desserts. Right beside the cash register was a glass display that housed a plethora of different ice cream flavors.

Starlight rushed straight over to the display and started to ask for samples. After trying nearly every flavor, he settled on getting a couple of scoops of their new kumquat flavor. Viper just settled for a small cup of vanilla. He soon paid for their frozen desserts, and the two found a small table with their own respective pillow cushions to sit on.

"So, Starlight, you can really do some magic, huh? I guess you have your father to thank for that. He was always a nut for that kind of stuff. The proctors at your exam really went on about you."

"Yeah, but all they really asked me to do was simple stuff like levitate things, illumination spells, and a few basic elemental spells," Starlight replied as he scarfed down his ice cream. "I really didn't do anything too awesome."

"Oh, don't be so modest! You did great! Keep scoring high like that and you'll get into the Purifiers like it'll be a public school."

Starlight stopped eating and started to fidget around with his spoon.

"Hey, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, I'm just nervous about... school."

"Oh, you can't fool me. It's what your dad keeps saying, isn't it?"

Starlight's eyes widened.

"Come on, don't look so surprised. I know your dad's probably been giving you that same rhetoric about how morally wrong it all is every night since he told you about what we do. No disrespect to the stallion, he's a great guy and all, but believe me when I say that he really has the wrong idea with the Purifiers. For an ex-agent, he's a bit of a bleeding heart. It's really not as bad as he might make it seem."

Starlight responded with an unsure grumble and shook his head slightly.

"Ah, I shouldn't bring up such a serious topic here. You're years away from times like that. You should enjoy your childhood while you still can. It's really not like you HAVE to go to the academy to be one of us. If you decide to join up later, the doors will always be open. And if you don't, you don't have to. Now cheer up! That ice cream isn't going to finish itself!"


***


Exhaustion was beginning to set in as Starlight kept up his rough journey. Fortunately, Ambition seemed to be going the same way that he was, and they were already leaving the more brightly-lit area of Canterlot and reentering the residential zone. He was still holding out against the spirit's advances, but the emerging memories were becoming difficult to deal with for their vividness.

They didn't play out like a movie would, as they had when Ambition first started, but instead felt like he was really experiencing it all. Just like an actual memory of something he had really experienced. He wouldn't even admit to himself, but he knew in the back of his mind that Ambition was right; the memories were his. It was all true. With each one that resurfaced, he could feel himself getting weaker and weaker.

What do you even hope to accomplish by going home, anyways?

It seemed that Ambition could read his thoughts. Unsurprising, given that he was in his head, but Starlight had until now hoped that he could not.

Well, for your information, demon, I'm counting on my mother to help me.

Oh, so you're more of a momma's boy type.

I am not a momma's boy!

Hey, I don't blame you for being one. I mean, you are kind of a snobby deformed freak. Who else are you going to be friends with?

What?! I-I'm... Take that back!

I'm just being frank here. You're a pretentious ass, and you look like a science experiment that went horribly wrong. I'd have thought that being so hideously ugly would make it kind of difficult to foster such a massive superiority complex, but you proved me wrong!

I don't have a superiority complex!

Oh, you do. I don't even need to look at that many memories to tell that. Just today's alone are enough.

Do you have any respect for privacy at all?

It's nothing personal. I just needed to know more about your life, so I could better impersonate you when I inevitably take over your body. But hey, not everything I saw in here was that bad. I saw all these crazy goals of yours like wanting the be an immortal bigshot. That's great. I can relate to that kind of stuff.

Like you would understand my plans. All you probably want is power.

Yes, exactly. Though I think it's rather foolish to tell the spiritual incarnate of ambition that he's unable understand your ambitions. Yours are simple. I can see a lust for power, fame, fortune, and some sort of vague notion of societal progress. In a lot of ways, we're very alike. If you'd stop fighting me, I could be your best friend in the whole wide world.

Don't ever use any sort of comparison between me and you. I'm a law-abiding, mannered, sophisticated, contributor to society, and you're just... you're just evil!

Oh, goodness, I'm so offended! Listen here, kid. Morality is a lie. There's no such thing as heroes and villains, and even if there were, you still wouldn't be a hero. You're far too unlikable for that.

You obviously don't get how life works, but rather than waste my time listening to you and trying to teach you how things really are, I think I'm going to do more important things with my thoughts.

Like thinking of how to defeat me? Because I've got bad news for you, Starlight. The reason you're not having a tougher time fighting me for control is because I'm honestly not trying right now. You're going to the same place I was headed anyway.

I'm not listening!

Now you're just being childish. Let me put you in another nice flashback. Take a quick break. I'll walk us the rest of the way home.

Starlight caught sight of his street. He was about to complete the last leg of his miserable journey. Yet, he couldn't feel at all happy about it. Ambition really had been walking his body towards home during all the black-outs, just like he said. The demon clearly wanted him to go there, and Starlight was leading this monster right to his mother. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it earlier. Stupid.

He almost cried out as he began to fall back into another memory.


***


Starlight walked into the spacious foyer of their home with a big smile on his face. He turned to look back out the front door, and waved goodbye to Viper at the end of the garden path. Clairvoyance also waved and smiled. The black unicorn returned their gesture, and then began to walk away. As the door closed, Starlight noticed the smile disappear from his father's face.

"So what did the two of you do this time?" he asked frankly.

"We went to the movies and saw the new Iron Mare. He got me popcorn, soda, and all this candy. It was awesome!"

"He's been taking you out every week since that entrance exam, I've noticed."

"Yeah, because he's super nice, and he says he thinks I deserve it."

Clairvoyance sighed.

"Son, listen to me. The only reason Viper acts like that is because he wants to use you. He might have of not flat-out stated it yet, but he wants you in the Purifiers, and as harmless as this whole thing seems, he knows that by winning you over, you're more likely to join. It would be better if you just stayed away from him for a bit."

"Why would I stay away from him, though?"

"Not all the time! Just... you know. It doesn't help to get to close when he's a part of what we're trying to fight. I don't want you to get tangled up with his business with the Purifiers, and I certainly don't want him to do anything to you if you did get involved. Viper's a good stallion and a good friend, but he just blindly follows whatever the higher-ups tell him to do. If one of his superiors told him to kill you, he would do it."

"He wouldn't!"

"Oh, but he would. He would do it happily if it meant contributing to the 'greater good'. I've seen him do atrocious things in the name of that stupid notion. I've seen myself do even more... But you don't need to know all those details. All you need to know is that you should trust me, and keep away from him for a bit. I'm not saying to cut him off completely. That would look suspicious. But some distance would help."

"Okay. If you say so, dad."

"That's what I like to hear."


***


Starlight burst through the threshold of the door, still struggling to keep his body balanced and Ambition at bay. He tried to call out for his mother, but all that came out was a strange, convoluted moan. It at least still seemed to work to some effect, as Scarlet came rushing down the stairs to meet her suffering son.

"Starlight, darling, what is the meaning of this?!"

"T-there's... mo-ster... he-help..."

He could feel Ambition allocating every bit of influence that he had left to obstructing the functionality of his vocal chords. Before, in the bar, he'd been able to force control for a brief moment by putting his all into holding that one specific area. Now though, Ambition was doing the same. Almost the entire rest of the body was Starlight's, but the hostile spirit was determined to not let him speak the truth.

Why do you have to be such a problem?

"Dearie, stop talking like you're being possessed and tell me what's going on."

Tears began falling down Starlight's cheek as he desperately tried to tell her.

"I-I... a-aaaa!"

Please, why can't you just stop?!

Why? So you can tell the world where I am? I'm kind of trying to lay low here. I've done well enough so far, and I'm not going to let you ruin that.

"You must be terribly ill to be talking in such a manner," Scarlet deduced. "Don't worry, darling! I'll get a doctor right away. You can just go up to your room and rest."

Starlight's mother rushed out the door, leaving him all alone with the monster. Having a medical professional look at his condition was better than nothing, but it didn't bring much comfort. Hopelessness began to consume Starlight. He continued to just stand there crying, staring out the front door at the darkness of his garden. Mother had forgotten to lock it when she bolted out. He was almost on autopilot when he magically closed it again.

Shhhhh... time for bed....

He almost didn't resist this time as Ambition took over the motor functions again. Against his will, he felt himself hobbling up the stairs and down the hallway, occasionally tripping over the clutter of his untidy home until he reached his room, which, in contrast, was actually fairly spiffy.

Stepping into the familiar nest of books, scrolls, and other assorted documents normally gave him a positive psychological effect. He often felt better in a room which he spent a lot of time in. He knew where every book he owned was, the ideal times for reading with the natural light that came through his two windows, and even how many floorboards made up the surface of the room.

None of it was helping right now.

Why do you need me?! he mentally screamed. Why couldn't you take ANYPONY else?! I'm worthless to you! I'm not cooperative! I've got all these physical problems! There are plenty of magically stronger unicorns in Canterlot! Please, I'm begging you! Just find somepony else! I'll never breathe a word about you to anypony! Or you can just erase all my memories of you! You're in my head, so you can do that, right?! I'd be happy to forget all about this! Just please, let me go!

No. It has to be you, Ambition coldly replied. It was always about you. Those Purifier fucks need to die. I'm fighting a war here, Starlight, and you're my weapon.

Starlight climbed right on top of his made-up bed and slipped under its warm covers. Despite it all, he kept crying and shivering. He had lost. All he could do was to make himself comfortable and wait out the storm.

At some point, he must have fallen asleep. He didn't know at what point occurred, but his dreams were a strange cascade of random images and out of context sentences, most of them spoken by strange ponies whose voices were only slightly familiar. That word kept repeating though. Again and again.

Purifiers, Purifiers, Purifiers, PURIFIERS.

Eventually, Starlight was shaken awake by a white-coated, red-maned unicorn stallion with a lab coat and stethoscope. He was still in his room. The lights were on. His mother was leaning against the doorframe, for once seeming very concerned for her son. The doctor did as well, a slight crease on his brow as he focused on his patient.

"Please, son, I need your attention. You need to answer some questions for me."

"Doc... pl-ea... he-hel... m-mon-er!" Starlight practically gargled out, still sounding like he was speaking something closer to gibberish than actual language.

The doctor shook his head.

"You were right, Ms. Kadabra. He really doesn't sound too well. Okay, Starlight. If you can understand me, just hold still and let me run some diagnostic procedures on you. This shouldn't hurt too bad."

"Neyghhhh... m-mons... h-hell—"

This brief moment of consciousness didn't last long.


***


A thirteen-year-old Starlight stood behind the door, confused. He hadn't even known that Viper was here today, yet when he'd come through the front door, back home from school, he'd heard their voices in the kitchen. Apparently, neither of them had heard him coming in, and they were just continuing their conversation. Rather than barging in and interrupting, the curious stallion sat just beside the door and listened in.

Perhaps eavesdropping wasn't the most honorable of practices, but it had been how he learned of his father's former occupation in the first place. Stopping and listening sometimes yielded great returns.

"...I worry about him sometimes, Viper. I've had so many sleepless nights over what he's doing and what he could be up to, that..."

"Hey, it's okay. I know. That stubborn stallion never answers me when I ask him about how he spends his free time. I've worried too, sometimes. So what is it then? Who are these friends of his that you're so worried about? My old pal isn't in the mafia or anything, is he? Heh."

"Clairvoyance's friends are... well, they're not the mafia, goodness no, but they're not nice ponies. We don't have them around here like we have you, of course. I'd never allow such a thing. He does spent a lot of time with them though, and sometimes I just think... they're a lot more trouble than they're worth."

"You know, Scarlet, it doesn't help when you tiptoe around the issue. It's all well and good asking me for advice, but I can't help if I don't know who we're even talking about. Who are these guys, and what's so bad about them?"

"Viper, you're Clair's friend, aren't you?"

"Yeah..."

"And you're my friend too, right?"

"Of course I am. You, Clair, Starlight, you know I love all you guys like you were my own family."

"It's just that I want to feel like I can trust you with this, because it's... well it's a pretty big secret, and Clair would kill me if he knew I was about to tell you. You can't tell anypony this."

Behind the door, Starlight's eyes slowly widened and he began to back away from the door.

No way. She isn't going to tell him...

"Well, obviously I can't make any promises, but like I said, I'm your friend. If you can't trust your friends, who can you trust, right?"

Scarlet sighed.

"Clairvoyance works for the Descendants."

Starlight could only hear what was going on in that room, but he could still feel the mood change. The air became tense, and when Viper's voice returned, the casual demeanor and warmth seemed to fly straight out the window, replaced with absolute stone-cold seriousness.

"What?"

"He's... been a part of them for years, Viper. Ever since I was pregnant with Starlight and he first left the agency. I mean, I was always sort of on the fence about the whole thing anyway, so I supported him when he said he had to 'take a stand' against it all, but I did feel bad we had to be so false whenever you came around, and... those Descendants... they're not nice ponies either, Viper. Their little revolutionary war was way beyond me. I just wanted to be there for Clairvoyance. But they wanted to involve me too, and... for all the horror stories I've heard about what you've done and what the Purifiers have done, they're really not saints themselves. In fact, they even..."

Scarlet seemed to be trying to say something more, but instead made a strange noise. Starlight had until then just sat and listened in horror as she spilled all their secrets, but now he recognized the sound. She was sobbing. His mother was in tears. Viper remained quiet throughout.

After almost a minute, though it seemed like hours, he broke the silence.

"I see."

There was the sound of hooves clopping on the kitchen floor.

"W-wait! You're not going to harm him, are you?! You two are friends, right?! All I want you to do is convince him to quit it all! The Descendants... it's too dangerous for him, Viper! For all of us! If the rest of the Purifiers caught him at this, they'd... You can make him stop before it comes to that, can't you?!"

"I can't promise you anything."

"B-but what about me and Starlight? You can't possibly think of doing anything to the colt! He's only thirteen, and he needs his father, and he looks up to you so much even if he does agree with Clair!"

Viper sighed.

"Like I said, I can't promise you anything."

"At least tell me if I'm ever going to see my husband again?!"

"That's up to my superiors... I-I... need to leave. You've made a good decision in telling me this. I'll need to inform the rest of the Purifiers of this, but I'll do what I can for Clairvoyance. This information will help Equestria become a better place, I promise you."

"No! Plea—"

The popping sound of a teleportation spell interrupted her pleas. The sound of sobs followed shortly afterwards. No longer needing to stay concealed, Starlight pushed open the door and inched his way into the kitchen. Hunched over the wooden table in the center, Scarlet had her face buried in her hooves. She slowly looked up at him, mascara running down her face from the tears.

Neither of them said anything. Starlight simply walked over, took a seat next to her, and pulled her into a hug.


***


The doctor curiously looked over the spasming body of Starlight, and took a worn-out breath.

"Hmm, all the readings were normal, which is strange because of the bizarre condition this young stallion seems to be in."

"Yes, this is rather perplexing... Would you mind monitoring him for the rest of the night? It looks like the poor dear could explode at any second."

"That's what you called me out here for, ma'am. Don't worry. I'll take care of him to the best of my ability."

Scarlet gave the stallion an appreciative smile.

"Thank you ever so much. You've no idea how much this means to me."

"Oh, it's nothing. Now, you should go get some rest as well, Ms. Kadabra. It's pretty late now."

"Gladly. Thanks again for being such a gentlecolt, Dr. Scope."

"You're welcome. Goodnight, Ms. Kadabra."

Scarlet promptly left the room, leaving only the doctor. In his bed, a near-delirious Starlight looked up at the other stallion through blurred vision and tried to call out to him. In his addled mental state, he begged for his father to come and help him and pleaded for his uncle to show him mercy. Outwardly though, all the doctor could hear was more gibberish from pony obviously not of sound mind.

And in the depths of his brain, Starlight heard the echoing chuckle of Ambition.

Oh, Starlight... I think I'm beginning to sense some acknowledgement of the truth in this awful little mind of yours. You know what happened now, don't you? This is what I meant before when I said that you were dead. Who you are now is a laughable parody of what you were meant to be. I am going to kill you, Starlight Hocus Kadabra, and I'm going build a war machine out of your pieces.


***


Clairvoyance and Starlight sat close together, barricaded inside the dark, musty basement. The older stallion was merely grim, his eyes pointed to the ceiling and his ears twitching with even the slightest sound above them. His son on the other hoof was trembling uncontrollably, held in his forehooves. Neither of them had spoken for a long time, but the silence weighed on them.

"Son, there's no need to be so panicked. It will all be alright," Clairvoyance whispered, finally breaking it.

"No it won't!" Starlight retorted in a somewhat louder voice. "We're the most wanted targets of the most powerful organization in all of Equestria! This cannot possibly be alright! They've already taken mother, and soon they're going to take us too! We're just waiting for our deaths here, dad!"

Clairvoyance let out a quiet sigh.

"Yes, you're right. Not everything is okay, but our situation isn't as bad as you think. They will most likely not kill us. I'm almost certain that their mission will be to capture us and wipe our memories of 'impurities'. They might be tyrannical, but they're not bloodthirsty."

"But you always said that purification is basically death anyway!"

He sighed again, and closed his eyes.

"I know."

Starlight bowed his head.

"What will happen to us afterwards?"

"They'll probably allow you and Scarlet to live something close to your current life. Well, that's until they recruit you once you graduate. For me, I fear it will be worse. They'll probably rewrite my memories to make me think that I'm a completely different pony. They'll erase every bit of evidence that I ever existed. They'll allow me to live, but the pony I was will die and be forgotten, and some new stallion with my body will go and live a new life somewhere out there.

"I don't know what kind of life. Depends on the agent who catches us and the officer who reassigns me. If we get a true believer like Viper, I might live a happy life with a new family somewhere, so they can pat themselves on the back for serving the greater good and reassure themselves that they didn't just murder me. Then again, we might get somepony vengeful, or one of the sadists, and I could be shipped off to one of the colonies to mine coal for the rest of my life. Pretty much the only thing I can say for sure is that my years of service would have earned me a purification instead of a simple death."

"And I'll just forget all about you and our time together?"

"Sadly, yes. They'll take away your memory of everything you knew about me. Maybe some of what I taught you will bleed through, but for the most part, you'll only remember being raised by your mother. I couldn't really say what kind of stallion you'd have grown into without me, but... you'll be different, Starlight."

"I don't want to be, though!"

Clairvoyance hugged him tighter.

"They're not going to do to you what they will to me. You'll still be you, Starlight. Just a different you. But when they try to change you, just focus really hard. Try to remember everything that I taught you, and maybe, just maybe, those lessons will stick."

Their talk was interrupted by some heavy knocking on the basement door, which they had barricaded from their side.

"Open up or we're blasting through!" a gruff voice sounded from the other side.

At that moment, Starlight felt his stomach turn.

"Looks like our time is up," Clairvoyance muttered.

"I'm scared, dad."

"So am I, son. So am I."


***


Starlight looked around his cozy lamp-lit room from his bed. He was no longer wriggling around like a fish on land. No more memories were resurfacing. Even Ambition had stopped vying for control of his body, and he could barely even feel the dark spirit's presence anymore.

He hadn't felt so relieved in years. He scrambled as fast as he could, falling out of his bed and landing on his back on the carpet. Then he began laughing. He laughed like a maniac, holding his stomach and turning over onto his side so that his cackling was muffled by the carpet. The tears streamed down his face once again, but it was no longer out of despair as it was before. Now he cried just because he was laughing so hard. His mind was finally clear again.

Looks like you've finally finished the exciting finale of your memories. So are you starting to get it now?

The laughing wound down. What had began as an uncontrolled giggling began to descend into a pained wailing.

"WHHHHHHHY?!" he screamed out. "Why can't you just GO AWAY?!"

Starlight had been so certain that this monster had been gone. He could almost physically feel the sudden lack of pressure over his brain. Yet Ambition was still there. How could he still be there?

That wonderful feeling you're experiencing isn't me going away. That's just what it feels like when all the memory locks are gone. I bet you never even noticed that fog looming over you all these years, but that's what the Purifiers and their memory spells do to you.

"I don't care..." Starlight murmured. "Please, just either let me die, or let me go..."

Okay, well, just hear me out. I think we got off on the wrong foot here. Maybe trying to take over your body by force was kind of a dick move on my part, but I tend to stick out in my natural form and I needed a hiding place. So let me reintroduce myself. My name is Ambition, and I'm honestly not here just to try and steal your body. In fact, I want to help you.

"You're just saying that because you failed to control me..." the unicorn bitterly responded.

I do admit, your resistance has forced me to adapt my plans a bit, but my goals are unchanged.

"And what are your goals?"

Well, let's start with the basics. Those memories I've been showing you are real. Clairvoyance really was your father, and he was a stand-up guy who I had a lot of respect for. That "friend" he mentioned, who set him on the right path and got him to join the Descendants, was me. I know the guy who runs the organization too. Dude named Bastion. Me and him are pals.

Starlight raised an eyebrow and looked up at his own forehead, where presumably Ambition was located.

"You and him are what?"

Nevermind. Point is, your dear old dad was doing spy work for them, and he was gonna help me and the others bring down the Purifiers, who I have grievances with for various reasons that I don't want to go into right now. Scarlet then went full bitch mode and screwed up all our plans, as you saw, and this unfortunately led to the whole deal collapsing. Clairvoyance is gone, you and your mother had your brains scooped out, and I have only just arrived to fix it all. You're welcome, by the way.

"But why?! What good does telling me do?! I'm still useless to you!"

Au contraire, my friend. You see, your father is alive. This is a very good thing for me, because if we want to get the ball rolling with destroying the Purifiers, we need to get him back. Fortunately, as I have demonstrated with you, I can restore memories. What's more, I know where he is. All I need is a willing agent whose body I can stow away in for the journey. This is your father I want to rescue here, so we share a common interest. And whether you know it or not, you were born to fight Purifiers. I can use a guy like you, and I want us to partner up.

Starlight clutched his head and stood up, pulling himself off the floor. He looked around his room. The curtains were drawn, but he could tell by the lack of light from the other side that it was still dark out. Wondering where the doctor from earlier disappeared to, he stepped back over to his bed and lay down on it. He opened his mouth to speak again, but then remembered that his mother and the doctor were probably still in the house somewhere, even if he couldn't see them.

Instead, he replied mentally.

This sounds incredibly dangerous, Ambition. I do want to help, but if everything that you and my new memories have told me about the Purifiers is true, then surely they'll see this coming? What will they do to me if I'm caught helping you?

Oh, don't be like that. What else are you going to do? Just sit here, live your fake life, and wait until they come along to brainwash you into becoming one of them? Because if you say no when they approach you, that's what they'll do.

Well...

You've got one alternative: help your father, and carry on his wishes. Otherwise you're going to be a Purifier whether you like it or not. There are precisely two sides in this conflict, Starlight. Pick one.

Starlight stared up at his ceiling.

Fine, he relented. But we play this smart! We do it my way! The school term concludes tomorrow. I'm not going anywhere until I've finished all my business and made excuses for where I'll be for the next few days. And once we've found my dad and he's him again, you go with him to the Descendants to do your thing, and let me go back to my own life. I want no part in this civil war business, and I'd much rather just lie low and let the rest of you deal with it.

That's disappointing, but fair. Very well. I'll respect your choices on this matter. We'll see if you keep to them though. Once you see your long lost father again, I think you'll feel differently about leaving him again so soon. Because I meant what I said before, Starlight; this isn't who you're meant to be. I think I may just be able to bring out the old you again before all this is over.

"Hmph."

With that, Ambition went quiet. Though he didn't see or feel the spirit leave his mind, this time his presence really did seem to lift. Finally feeling like he was alone in his own head again, the unicorn began to drift off into a deep, restful sleep. The horrors of the day were behind him, and tomorrow promised to be at least marginally better, even if his whole world had been shattered.

Questions plagued him as he began to sink into unconsciousness though. He realized that he'd just made a proverbial deal with the devil, and he still didn't even know exactly what Ambition was. Certainly he knew that his new "passenger" was some kind of spirit-y thing, but that told him almost nothing. He remembered his earlier claims that he once knew the spirit that possessed Princess Luna. Did that mean that they were from the same "pantheon"? Perhaps related, even?

What was he getting into here?

> Chapter 3: Talking to the Voices
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starlight opened his eyes hesitantly that morning. He was still in his bed. The curtains were still drawn, but sunlight peeked through into the room anyway. The unicorn could see falling dust in the light. For a second, he felt the same way he usually felt every school morning, eager to get to whatever the new day had to offer him. This didn't last long before he remembered what he had to do today. He lifted his head off of the sunken pillow and let out something between a yawn and a long sigh.

Rarely if ever did Starlight dread the coming day when he woke up, but he knew that today he would be forced to help advance a certain spirit's shadowy agenda. Normally, Celestia herself could not convince Starlight Kadabra to do something that he did not want to do. He always got his way. Everything in his power would be done to make sure of that, and he had always been successful up until this point. This was the first time he had ever met a force powerful enough to compel him to obey like this.

Aw, cheer up.

And Ambition himself wasn't helping matters.

"Please be quiet," Starlight replied, muttering under his breath.

Starlight literally dropped out of bed, rolling off the side and landing in a heap on the floor. Not his normal way of getting up, but this wasn't a normal morning. As he sat up again and looked to his alarm clock for the time, he was even more discouraged to see that he had slept in by an entire three minutes. This day had already started disastrously, and it could only go downhill from here.

Come on. You wanted to be famous, right? How famous do you think you'll be after you're deemed the hero of Equestria? Even if you won't be along for the full ride, I'll put in a good word for you. It'll be great!

Starlight scowled and started stumbling across the room to begin his morning routine. This state of semi-awareness was another abnormality. Starlight would usually be very enthusiastic and full of energy. Nothing like this. What he was feeling now was still a huge step up from last night, where he would have described himself as 'suicidal' more than anything, but this was still no way to live. He expected that this was what commoners felt like when they awoke, shambling from room to room in a state of living death, bumping into things like blind toddlers. It was so undignified.

"I'll be happy about my rewards when I get them. Until then, I feel like I'm going on a suicide mission at the whim of some radical demon."

I thought we were past name-calling?

"Oh, be quiet. It hasn't even been a full day yet. And you aren't exactly the most pleasant of ponies, if I can even call you that."

Hey, the better we get along, the better we'll be able to pull this off, and the higher chance you'll have to live.

Starlight stumbled through into the cluttered bathroom, switched the light on, and started running the water for a shower.

"Just don't disturb me too much from now on, and we'll be fine."

No, Starlight. I'm talking talking about cooperation. Teamwork. You know, the thing that you majorly suck at? We can't just shut each other off. Besides, I'm bored in here. There's nothing else to do besides watch your lame memories and listen in on some of your lame thoughts.

Starlight frowned and looked up at his own forehead again.

"Fine," he yielded. "Just make sure it's something relevant if you insist on bothering me during my daily activities. I'm going to be enjoying a hot shower for now, so if you've nothing important to tell me, kindly remain silent."

Yeah, yeah.

He went to inspect his image in the mirror next. He had the look of a pony who had gotten little to no sleep the previous night, with bags under his eyes that were themselves reddened and bloodshot. But though he lacked any energy or enthusiasm this morning, he really didn't feel tired at all. If anything, though he hadn't noticed it earlier, he was more awake than ever. That feeling of living death wasn't fatigue. It was emotional in some way. Physically, he felt great. It seemed like he had gotten something out of last night's horror at least.

Starlight took his shower without further interruption from Ambition. The cascade of warm water was just as pleasurable to him as ever, but he was unable to forget that this could well be the last time he experienced it. He could never be happy in the present when his future was so grim. Starlight climbed out later feeling not nearly as relaxed as usual, quickly dried himself off, and got to work on his morning routine.

This regimen included brushing and flossing his teeth, rinsing with mouthwash, and combing his mane for the first stage of basic hygiene. Then he had to take care of the disguise portion, standing in front of the mirror again and vigorously applying makeup to the dark scab things wherever they were visible. It took twelve minutes for all of them, what with some of them being difficult to reach even with magic, but it was worth it to make them blend into the light purple of his coat. It wouldn't hold up to close inspection, but they wouldn't be noticed at a glance this way.

And finally, there was clothing. Except that his one and only cloak had last been seen being taken to the wash by the maid on the day she had been fired, and ever since then even its continued existence was an uncertainty. That mare had never liked him, and he didn't put it beyond her to have burned it on her way out. Or possibly given it away to some street urchin. So no clothing today either, same as every day since she'd gone.

With all that taken care of, he returned to his room to scrounge around in search of his locker key, which he could scarcely be expected to get through a day without. After finding it on the floor, he picked it up and hid it away in his mane just behind his horn; if he had no cloak, he had no pockets.

Ambition interrupted with an observation.

Say, whatever happened to that doctor? Wasn't he supposed to monitor you through the night? I don't see him anywhere around.

"I don't care, Ambition," Starlight replied.

It's just weird. He seemed like he was here on a house call, and I distinctly remember him promising to stay overnight and make sure you didn't choke on your own vomit or something. Where is he?

"I..." Starlight stopped. "I don't know. Does it matter?"

I'd say it's absolutely critical. Anybody could be a Purifier agent out here, and they probably know that I'm gone from their facility by now. I made a very loud exit.

Starlight looked left and right to make sure he was alone, and then stared up at his forehead again.

"Well, what do we do if he is?" he whispered.

Depends on if he already suspects I'm in you or not, and on how important he is. If he already suspects or he's of significant strategic value, I'd probably recommend taking a cleaver to his skull.

The unicorn stood completely still, staring upwards with his mouth slightly open and a single eyebrow raised.

"You have something severely wrong with you. I'm going to forget you said that."

Despite Ambition's protests, Starlight did not begin searching for the missing doctor, instead heading downstairs to prepare himself breakfast as he usually did. He was already behind schedule this morning, and he had no desire to delay further just to satisfy the voice in his head.

Reaching the especially messy kitchen, Starlight utilized his levitation to clear some of the clutter off the table, creating an island in the sea of food scraps, wine glasses, and stained clothes to place a single plate down. Some days he would be elaborate with his morning meal, but this was not one of those days. He lazily emptied some plain alfalfa out from a jar and onto his plate and seated himself to begin eating.

You could say it was peasant food, but it still required the least effort to prepare, and today was not a day for putting effort into things.

What the fuck is that? Ambition mentally shouted as Starlight picked up a load of it.

It's alfalfa. It's a type of edible plant. I don't like it, but it serves its purpose.

How about you have a real breakfast? You can have eggs or bread right? We're not eating grass.

A sly smile appeared on Starlight's face. Acting quickly, the grinning unicorn shoved several bites worth of the plant into his mouth, making sure it's raw flavor got fully detected by his tongue.

I'm really trying hard not to hate you right now.

You made me eat a dead animal. You had this coming.

Okay. Screw you too. All I have to do is disconnect myself from the tongue, so don't feel like you really got me. Your suffering doesn't have to be my suffering. Although you did make me want to throw up for the few seconds I was tasting that cow food.

It was still worth it to make you suffer for just a little bit.

You're pathetic, and nobody will ever love you.

Starlight scarfed down the rest of his hastily-prepared meal and set the plate aside on top of a pile of other plates. It was a depressingly large pile, and he got the sinking feeling that it would keep building up until he personally set aside an afternoon to wash it all up. He could never envision his mother doing it. Damn that maid.

That was all a concern for later. With a shrug, Starlight stood up and made for the front door.

Is that it? Ambition inquired. Aren't you going to look for your mother and say goodbye? Or aren't you even the teensiest bit curious about that doctor?

Starlight opened the door and stepped out into the morning sunlight. He turned back to the door as he closed it.

"Why would I say goodbye? We never say goodbye in the mornings."


***


It was not much later that Starlight arrived at the foot of a familiar pathway. It led up to the top of a hill, where the assorted spires and other stone structures of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns were situated. A black, wrought-iron fence with its metal shaped into elaborate and regal designs surrounded the base of the hill, reminding those on the outside that private land was contained within, and that entering was an exclusive privilege.

The looming buildings cast a long shadow in the morning that would blanket the hill and protect Starlight's eyes from the sun beaming down from the east. Groups, pairs, and lone unicorns of all sorts could be seen making the trip up the hill's narrow gray cobblestone road. It seemed that he had arrived on time (as he always did), in spite of how careless he had been back at home.

Passing through the fence's gates as they magically swung open in anticipation of the students, Starlight began trudging up the steep incline, grumbling at it like he always did until he reached the flattened hilltop.

Now the real activity of the academy could be seen. Professors with their stacks of papers, janitors and other maintenance workers hauling around cumbersome equipment, students with their saddlebags and whatever they couldn't fit in them, a few soldiers of the Royal Guard with their spears, and various other ponies were all buzzing around and flitting between the buildings. Though a few pegasi and earth ponies were among the janitors and guards, most of the crowd were unicorns, and many of them held their objects in the uniquely-colored glow of their magic. The school was awash with color.

Resigning himself to the likelihood of spending another day having no personal space, Starlight made a beeline for a large, unidentified building with a domed roof.

Hey, partner, where are we going?

He almost replied aloud, but Starlight caught himself and remembered to answer with his thoughts.

To the administration building. I need to warn them of my absence so that arrangements can be made.

What absence? I thought this was the last day of term?

I don't know for sure how much of my time you're going to waste on this quest. I need to account for the possibility that I may need to take days off of next term as well.

Aren't you the responsible one? Just make sure to make up a good lie about why you're going to be gone. We don't want any suspicion on us.

I planned on it. I'm not stupid.

The administration building was named as such by a bronze sign on its exterior just next to a pair of glass doors. Shoving his way way past two students standing in front of the door and talking, Starlight entered.

The interior was strangely modern, as opposed to the aged stony masonry outside, suggesting that there had been renovations over the many years the school had been in existence. The floors were a polished white linoleum, the walls were flat and smooth with a baroque wallpaper covering, and the ceiling was dotted with circular electric lights.

The corridor that they were in was lined with several wooden doorways, each with a fancy golden number plaque and a doorknob perfectly proportioned for an earth pony's hoof. The doors all had their own window in the top-middle section that would provide any passersby with a limited view of the slightly varied office rooms. Compared to the outside, the building was sparsely populated and very quiet.

I know you aren't. Now can you just get this day over with? We need to leave Canterlot before they track me down.

What are you being tracked down for? I'm guessing it's not just because you're some idiotic anarchist?

I did some bad things.

Of course Ambition would consider the whereabouts of a missing doctor to be vital, but actually interesting and possibly crucial details, like what he actually was and what he did, seemed to only warrant vague responses like that one. With an audible grumble, Starlight started off down the corridor at a quick pace.

No. No! No! Don't give me some simple cryptic answer that tells me nothing. You seem to love to keep me in the dark. I want to know what happened, and you're going to tell me!

Alright, alright! I didn't know that you cared so much. Here, I'll tell you a little story.

But like that, they had reached the office that Starlight was looking for towards the end of the hallway. It was where any student would go if they needed to enroll, request a class or schedule change, or turn in any other sort of paperwork. The door was open, and inside he could see a bored-looking unicorn mare, who sat at a large desk that divided the whole room. The office as a whole looked almost like a bank.

Well, that would be a start, I suppose. I'd like to hear this story, but hold that for later. I need to talk with the staff right now.

Fine.

Starlight quickly thought of an excuse for the time he would miss, and approached the desk. The mare on duty had a drab, forest-green coat with a maroon mane that was tied up in a bun. As Starlight approached, she looked up at him over a pair of round glasses, set aside the magazine that she had been reading, and gave him a smile.

"Can I help you, sir?" she asked.

Starlight gave a small, fake laugh.

"It's 'may I help you', actually," he responded in his attempt at a friendly tone.

The office worker twitched slightly, but did not stop smiling. Instead she produced a small, fake laugh of her own.

"Actually I was asking if I had the ability to help you, making 'can' acceptable in this situation."

Oh, this will be good...

Starlight didn't bother with the laugh this time.

"Actually you were asking for permission on if you could help me or not, making 'may' the grammatically correct word. And even if you were asking if you had the ability to help me or not, that would be stupid in the first place, because there is no possible way you could know my problem if I've just met you."

The mare dropped the act too, removing her glasses and no longer smiling.

"Actually we are speaking informally, so even if I was asking either of those questions, I would not have made a mistake."

Starlight slammed his larger forehoof on the front desk and leaned in, complete fury etched on his face and a tone of malice in his voice.

"Actually this would be regarded as a formal situation since you are currently at your place of work and are addressing what would more or less be your customer, you incompetent fool. If you really regard your job at one of the top schools in the country as informal, then perhaps I should inform others of that!"

The office worker backed away and attempted to reply in a calmer manner.

"Fine. I made a mistake. Can you please just drop it?"

Starlight leaned in further.

"I don't know. Can I drop it?"

The dark green unicorn rolled her eyes and gave out a sigh.

"May you please drop it?"

Starlight retracted his forehoof from the desk and stood back again. This time though, he tilted his head back and looked down his nose at the mare.

"Good. Learn from your mistakes. Now, let's get off that absurd tangent you started and on to my reason for coming here. I will be absent for possibly the first week or so of the next term, and I need you to make sure that it is excused."

"What's your excuse? That's quite a while," the mare said as she pulled over a blue logbook and opened it to the middle.

Starlight looked down and acted out a solemn demeanor.

"A close relative of mine passed away... Her funeral will be held sometime in those weeks, and it will be some distance from Canterlot. I don't know when I'll be back. Two weeks is the worst case scenario."

The mare gave Starlight a sympathetic look, though he couldn't tell if she was being genuine, or if her sorrow was just as fake as his was. Still, she reached to the side, grabbed a pen and began scribbling something in the book. Leaning over, Starlight could see that it was an absence register, and for a school such as this he was shocked by how many other names were already on there for this week alone.

"Name?"

"Starlight Hocus Kadabra. Student number five-six-eight-four-nine-two."

After adding those details, she closed the book again and looked up at him.

"Your possible two week absence has been noted. If for any reason it may take longer than that, though I should hope it wouldn't, notify us by post, and please do it two or three days in advance if sending by Equestrian Mail." She put the pen and book aside. "Sorry for your loss."

Starlight said nothing and turned to leave, nonchalantly walking out of the office and into the empty hallway again. With the mare now behind him, he gave a satisfied smile and started towards the exit at a brisk pace. In his head, he heard Ambition laughing.

Hahaha! Whew, that was good! I take back everything I said about you. You're hilarious. I just love how much of an ass you are to people!

The unicorn held his head up.

I was simply doing my duty to society by educating her.

Ha! See what I mean? Great stuff. Shame you won't be like this forever.

Starlight dropped his head and widened his eyes.

What?

Oh, relax. I just meant that with your old memories leaking through, you'll start to revert to your old personality. You know? What you were like before they removed all your father's influence? Just trust me; it'll be a big improvement.

Starlight stopped walking altogether. Looking up and down the hallway to make sure that they were alone, he sat down on the floor.

Well... make it stop! I'm perfectly fine with how I am now. I have been raised to be a respectable stallion, and I don't want your weird memory tampering changing that!

That's a no-can-do, buckaroo. This comes as a side effect of getting your memories back. There's no stopping it. But don't be so pouty. You'll still be the same pony. It's just that you'll notice a change in your behaviour. It's like going through puberty! If ponies do that.

Starlight frowned.

I still don't like it.

Of course you don't. You're difficult like that. Now get to class. I'll tell you that story I promised while you're sitting around, doing nothing.

Starlight felt like arguing the importance of his classes to Ambition but decided against it. Today being the last day of term, he probably really would be doing nothing. Besides, he had better things to focus his thoughts on. Without further argument, he stood up again and headed towards the exit.


***


Alchemy was never a particularly enthralling class for Starlight.

The professor charged with teaching it was a withered old unicorn mare who had been a member of the staff at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns for most of her long life. She was shale-gray with a white and wispy mane and tail. Her pale, tattered lab coat could be seen on her at all times, along with her weathered safety goggles. Starlight watched her, alone at his desk, while she moved between the others and watched the experiments.

Many of the students liked her because she wasn't as dry as the professors. She liked to teach hooves-on, had them all in a lab rather than a classroom, and had her students learn through practical experiments with chemistry sets rather than sticking strictly to the books. Starlight never liked her or her teaching style for all the same reasons, criticizing the pointlessness of the experiments when they could learn the outcome from the books much faster.

The lab itself was also something he could find fault in. It looked ancient, and he suspected that it probably was. Unlike the administration building, the walls were a bumpy conglomeration of rounded stones and the floors were made up of rough, mossy stone bricks. A few small, rectangular windows punctuated the wall to his right, allowing beams of sunlight to poke through in tight bundles.

The whole space would have felt like the room of some primitive castle, which was essentially what the science building was, but many things threw that theme off. From the ceiling, bars of fluorescent lights were hung, beaming their artificial glow, and each table currently had its own myriad of chemistry equipment on it. Beakers, droppers, flasks, and of course the chemicals themselves could be seen around in various jars or bottles.

Having never gotten much out of the experiments, which were meant to just be fun for the students, Starlight had long ago stopped having to do them. The teacher's only condition was that he wasn't allowed to be idle. If he didn't want to do the experiments, he had to work out of a textbook instead. Since that was exactly what he wanted to do anyway, this arrangement worked well. Except for the fact that she wasn't one of the ones that let him leave early when he had nothing to do, so this was one of the classes where Starlight had to deliberately slow down his writing pace to avoid catastrophic boredom.

Starlight. Hey, do you want to hear that story or not?

Though today, there looked to be no risk of that. Starlight's eyes continued to move back and forth along the page, but he was no longer reading from it. Instead, he smiled to himself as he gave his answer.

Start off with where you were imprisoned. You've made it fairly obvious that you were.

Alright then. I'll start with the Royal Vault, the shithole I was in for a very very long time.

That statement gave even Starlight pause.

That's impossible. Besides being a repository for possessions of the royal family, not a prison, there have been no recorded break-ins in its entire history.

Ha! I guess there's a first time for everything. And no, it's definitely a prison, but I'll get to that. Let me set the scene for you...


***


In a dark, steel box, the entity known as Ambition dwelled. His dim glow illuminated the cell just enough to make out some of the various complex rune symbols, all pulsating with arcane power. They dotted every inch of the wall, ceiling, and floor, and were the only things to actually look at in the otherwise desolate container.

Ambition would have been awfully bored in such a empty and unchanging place but for his ability to hibernate. He couldn't move, feel, or think in his state of stasis. It was like death. A complete, silent oblivion where he wasn't even aware of his own existence. The centuries passed by in quick bursts, as he would periodically wake from his sleep feeling like no time at all had passed. From his perspective, it was almost like he was leaping forwards in time rather than living through it.

Though, it was not uninterrupted. He could be awoken from his rest by exterior forces if they so willed it. An effect of the runes, he assumed, but if one of the ponies on the outside pressed the little button to communicate with him in his box, he was compelled to wake up and answer them. He had been forced to do so many times before. He hated it.

So it was not in the best of moods that Ambition was roused yet again by the buzzing sound from the communication channel. One particular rune on the back wall glowed a bright purple as the sound pervaded the room. In the middle, the fiery spirit turned around to face the rune, his face still fixed in a permanent grin despite his mood.

"What?" he shouted. "What now?"

This is why he didn't expect it when he then noticed a tiny, shadowy-black cloud of magic in his cell. The magical cloud bopped his forehead and flew over to join the larger mass of dark energy that was busy prying the vault door open. Ambition didn't know what was going on, but he spirit lunged towards the door to assist the swirling mass of magic.

He put every scrap of energy available to him into the push. The door was squeaking and moaning from the force being exerted upon it. Slowly, the runes on the barrier started to fade away. This was something which Ambition could never have hoped to do by himself. Whoever his ally was, they were powerful. The slab of metal soon reached its limit and burst from its hinges.

Ambition flew out of the vault just as fast. He turned his head all around, eager to catch sight of his rescuer, but all that greeted him was an empty hallway. A mortal would have made an expression to properly communicate what they felt at that moment, but Ambition's face was more like a mask, and so it did not. Instead, he could only let out an anguished scream from his unmoving mouth.

An alarm went off with an ear-splitting shriek, accompanied by the red glare of rotating siren lights above. Ambition now wished more than ever that he could crease his brow in the manner that mortals did. Now he would have to escape a Royal Vault on full alert, and he hadn't a single body to work with. Only his voice was capable of expressing the emotions he felt.

"Goddamnit!"

He picked a direction at random and swiftly floated down the reddened corridor.


***


Okay, I just have to interrupt you here. Your story is flawed. I've read that no amount of force can open the safes of the Royal Vault. They were designed by the finest spellcrafters of a generation to be completely impregnable. There is no way you got past them.

Starlight was still looking down to occasionally skim over the neatly printed paragraphs in his textbook. The teacher had since gotten up to the front of the class and began talking again. He didn't know when that happened, but he seemed to notice that the experiments were over for everypony else. He ignored her now, focusing on Ambition while listening to her with one ear in case he heard any important words such as 'quiz', 'exam', or 'project'. Unlikely on today of all days, but there could still be work to do over the holidays.

Weren't you paying attention? It wasn't me that escaped. Someone busted me out. I don't know who, but obviously those vaults aren't as foolproof as your books tell you. Look at me. I'm living proof. Well, I say "living"...

And what possible incentive would anybody have to break you out of prison?

I don't know. Perhaps they wanted something from me, but chickened out at the last moment before actually saying 'hello'? Back in the ancient times, some ponies believed that if I found your ambitions great enough, I would grant your wishes like some kind of genie. Lies, of course. I have no power beyond what my host gives me. I just liked having a cult. Those idiots wasted their lives worshipping me in the hopes that I'd grant them great wealth or whatever other crap they wanted. It was hilarious at the time, though depressing in retrospect.

A bell rang. Starlight head snapped up. He hadn't even been aware that it had been close to the end of the period, but the students were already leaving the room. Ambition's storytelling took longer than he thought.

"Goodbye, everypony! See you next term!" the professor called out.

Starlight ran to the back of the room and shoved the textbook back onto the pile he got it from. He then grabbed the pen from his desk and rushed to the front to drop it on the professor's desk.

"Thank you, miss. I'll see you next term," he said mechanically, before trotting out of the room as fast as he could without it turning into hobbling.

What was that all about?

Break time. I need to get to the water fountain.

Okay...

In seemingly no time at all, Starlight was out of the science building altogether and heading out towards the much larger main building.

Don't stop. Continue with the story as we walk. I still have questions. Like how you just conveniently knew which direction to go.

I didn't know where to go, actually. You'd know this if you held off on questions until after I finished. Instead you're interrupting me and getting me to go off on a tangent. Now can you please stop?

I was digging for crucial information, and I will continue to do so.

No, you were digging for useless details and things that even I don't know the answers to. Now shut your hole if you want to hear the rest, because I could easily decide to withhold this all information if I felt it wasn't worth my time telling you, and you couldn't do a thing about it.

They entered the main building and joined a crowd of other unicorns in a congested corridor inside. Starlight said nothing, either aloud or in his head, as they followed the hallway. Ambition could only guess that this was the way to the water fountain.

I'll take your silence as understanding. But anyways, I had just left my cell...


***


A vast labyrinth of corridors seemed to make up most of the vault. Each one that Ambition had encountered ended with a fork, giving him the option to turn left or right.

Everything about the passageways were identical. The ceilings were always high enough to belong in a castle's throne room, and the space was always narrow enough to be an aisle in a library filing room. There were always the same torches that lined the walls, at the same intervals, being held up by ornate gold holders, all of the same design. The floors and ceilings were a consistently flat, well-maintained stone brick surface, with not a single brick daring to protrude out of place.

The only thing that kept Ambition from thinking he was going in circles were large numbered plaques marking each of the containers that lined the entirety of the walls. He navigated his way with the numbers, following the direction where the numbers got smaller. His reasoning for this was that if he could reach the very first vault, there was a good chance that the exit would be nearby.

He had began at his cell, container 4317, and had rode the numbers freely down to container 1047 in the short while he had been free. He had seen literally no-one, so he encountered no resistance. Without the incessant blaring of the alarms and irritating lights, he would have thought that nobody cared. The incompetence of the Royal Vault's security was astounding.

He wasn't complaining. His current form was in no condition to fight off heavy security, especially after expending so much energy on blasting open that door. If a large group came, he would have to rely on sneaking, which was a problem because he would have nothing to hide behind. The only thing he could do to avoid detection would be to float up to the ceiling and hope that they wouldn't look up, which is exactly what he did when he heard voices coming from around the next corner.

"Come on, Shield. Don't be a wimp about this," a gruff stallion's voice said.

"I'm not being a wimp. I'm just being rationally afraid. Do you know what kind of stuff they keep in this vault?" a second masculine voice responded.

"Yeah, I've heard some stuff."

"Well, then you would know that they don't just keep dusty old museum pieces in these things. Before he got promoted, my CO used to tell horror stories about the things that the higher-ups keep in here. What if one of those got out?"

The voices were getting louder, and the shadows of the two were creeping up the red-lit wall far below. Ambition floated back and partially phased through the wall, hoping to give out less light and be less obvious this way.

The armored figures turned into the hallway. Ambition stopped moving and remained still as the the duo passed under him. He was now able to see who he had eavesdropped on. The two guards were unicorns, ash-grey and both wearing full sets of gleaming, golden armor. Despite their horns, they both used a forehoof to clutch their spears, pointing the tip straight up as they walked. They weren't his targets, but he couldn't pass up an opportunity. This was exactly what he was looking for: a good disguise.

"Then we'll do our duty and stop it from leaving. Personally I've been aching for some action. We almost completely missed that changeling invasion from being stuck down here. I only got to kill three bugs in an entire city-wide siege. That's pathetic. And we wouldn't have even had those if we'd shown up a minute later."

Ambition lowered himself and tailed the guards, waiting for the perfect time to lunge into one and start the takeover.

"You know, Brass, I worry about you sometimes," said Shield. "You're really not supposed to enjoy violence."

"Ah, maybe not. I guess it is a little messed-up of me. Seriously, though, you know how boring it is down here. Am I really so wrong for just wishing something exciting would happen?"

"No, but that's not the same as hoping there's something down here to fight. If you knew what these containers were made of and what spells the eggheads put on them, then you'd know we haven't a chance in Tartarus of beating something that could break out of one."

"We've got reinforcements. And besides, if something really has broken out, then obviously we were able to defeat and imprison it at least once before. I don't think it's the end of the world if one prisoner escapes."

While both of the unicorns were distracted by the conversation, the fiery phantom shot forwards and into the body of the closest guard. He intentionally chose the more frightened one, Shield, as his host. It would be far easier to conquer a scared pony with less willpower. Such victims had a much harder time resisting.

Shield immediately stopped walking as Ambition inhabited him, losing all motor control the very second he entered. Brass kept walking for a few steps more but stopped and turned around as he noticed what had happened. In his mind, Shield was surprised for a moment, but quickly began panicking.

Oh, sweet Celestia, what is going on?

"Hey, what's the hold up, Shield?" Brass asked. "Now's really not the time to take a break."

He gave an uneasy laugh as his partner remained still and staring off into space.

Just relax. I promise it will be over soon enough.

W-what is that voice? Why can't I talk?

"Shield? Hey, Shield?"

Brass! Help me!

Shield's body started undergoing violent spasms of movement. Gurgles of words slipped out of a quivering mouth. Eyes bulged out. It was the death throes of his control over his own body. Ambition reigned it in as quickly as he could, not wanting to risk any possibility of his new host learning how to effectively fight back. Brass looked on with wide eyes, dropping his spear and jumping to his partner's side. He put a hoof on Shield's shoulder and shook him, trying to snap him out of it.

"Shield!" he shouted. "Come on, buddy! What's wrong?"

Why can't I move? What's happening?

My name is Ambition, and I'm borrowing your body for a bit. Now, I would suggest blacking out in total fear. It's really annoying to hear you scream and yell, and you're kind of at my mercy right now.

The shaking stopped, and Shield blinked. Ambition was now in control. He turned his head to look the other guard in the eyes.

Good to see you have some sense.

"Shield? Are you okay now? What was that?" Brass asked in genuine concern.

Ambition tried out his horn. His magic had a teal-blue glow in this body, and he used it to lift the spear out of his hoof. He twirled it around experimentally.

"I'm fine," he answered. "Just a bit of a panic attack I think. Not sure what went wrong there. Do you think I should see a doctor?"

"Whew, that's a relief. I thought you were—"

Ambition thrust the spear forward, stabbing the other guard straight through the eye. Brass began screaming as he bled all over the floor. His wailing was joined by his partner's, as Ambition heard Shield in the back of his mind, crying out in horror. He pulled the spear out and thrust it in again, and again, and again, each time drawing more—


***


Okay, stop!

Starlight pulled his head back from the water fountain and stumbled away from it. A long line of other ponies was gathered behind him, and the ones nearest to the front all gave him a dirty look. They always did that. Starlight had long ago stopped caring about them. If they had such a problem with him taking a long time, they could have gone to one of the other water fountains. He had no sympathy for stupid ponies. 

He paid them no attention. Instead, he trotted away as quickly as he could and walked up the corridor until he reached the stairs to the upper floor. All that was on the upper floor was the library and some classrooms, so nopony was using the stairs. They had already left those classrooms to head to the lunch hall or courtyard, where most students spent their breaks. It was a sufficiently quiet place for Starlight to lean against the wall and take a deep breath.

You did what?

I stabbed him to death with a spear. Didn't you hear me the first time?

That's murder!

Congratulations. You can use a dictionary. What's your point?

Starlight's mouth physically hung open. He sat on the floor and leaned back against the wall, covering his eyes with his hooves.

Ambition… He had to struggle to not yell his mental messages. Just... Why? What reason did you have for killing that innocent guard? That was simply monsterous!

I had a reason. Didn't you hear me say that he was a threat to me?

Yes, but you never explained why he was a threat! You also never explained why you couldn't just ignore him and move on without having to kill anypony in the process!

Starlight pulled his hooves away and looked left and right to make sure nopony else was coming. He stood up again and sighed. He went over to the stairs and began climbing to the upper levels. Ambition didn't know where he was going, so he just answered his question.

I thought it should have been obvious. He was working for the Royal Guard. Don't get me wrong, they're no Purifiers, and I certainly don't hate them as much, but they're all branches of the same tree.

It wasn't his fault that he was sent down to do his job!

Didn't your parents ever tell you that life isn't fair? If not, they should have.

Shut up! What you did wasn't just unfair to him, it was absolutely immoral!

Again with the morals. You really won't get far clinging onto those things.

Starlight reached the upper floor and headed down yet another long corridor. In the back of his head, Ambition grumbled to himself, starting to get very bored with the scenery around here.

Like you would understand morals, you murderous savage!

I do understand them. And that's why I ignore them and don't let them get in the way of my goals.

Well, unlike you, I have a conscience.

And do you think that this makes you better than me? I'm a free man, while you're slaving away in this boring, grey place all year. I'm a centuries-old spirit who has been worshipped for my virtues, while you've done nothing of value in your life other than pass some exams that will permit you to do actual interesting things later. That, and being born when God clearly planned for you to be a miscarriage. I eschew morals, and I get things done because of it. You meanwhile claim superiority because of your morals, while failing to notice that you make everyone's lives objectively worse with your mere presence.

They reached the end of the corridor and turned a corner into another. This one was filled with sets of green lockers on both sides, stretching to the far end. It was almost entirely empty right now, with only one other pony there searching through one of the lockers at the far end. Starlight kept walking.

It makes me better because I am dutifully following a set of rules that keeps civilization from descending into chaos. If everypony behaved such as you do, this world would be devoid of any progress or structure. It would be the reign of Discord all over again.

I don't know about that. I've seen some pretty big countries made up mostly of selfish assholes like me, and they did pretty well for themselves.

And what countries would that be, hmm?

Starlight approached one of the lockers and drew the key that he had hidden in his mane earlier. As he opened his one, he could hear Ambition laughing.

Trust me, you've never heard of them. The names would be meaningless to you.

"Uh-huh."

The locker was completely filled with books. Whether they were textbooks, workbooks, library books, or just stacks of essays that looked like books when bunched together like that. It was almost ready to burst. Starlight used his levitation to pull a pair of books out of the middle of the pile without collapsing the rest of it. They were a textbook and a workbook, both apparently for a history class.

I still think you're a violent thug.

Ambition groaned. Look, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, violence has a time and a place. You'd be amazed by how many problems it can solve.

As Starlight took a pen from the locker as well and began to close it, another pony walked by him, heading back to the stairs. Starlight turned his head just in time to recognized who it was. His yellow coat and bulging muscles made the other unicorn easily identifiable.

"Endurance!" said Starlight, smiling. "Hello again!"

Endurance froze, one of his forehooves still hanging in the air mid-walk. He sighed and lowered it, before turning around to face Starlight and putting on a false smile.

"Hello there... Starlight, isn't it? It's, uh... nice to see you again."

"Likewise."

Starlight felt Ambition scan his recent memories.

...And here's a perfect example of that.

On the outside, Starlight's smile dropped. He looked up at his own horn, and even Endurance seemed to notice something was wrong, as his already fake smile became even more strained.

...What?

Assuming direct control!

Ambition was completely in control again. It happened so fast that Starlight barely had any time to stop him. Before he could even say anything in protest, Ambition had already taken his textbook and magically slammed it into the back of Endurance's head at the speed of a runaway train. The other stallion dropped like a sack of hammers, and Ambition wasted no time in stomping on his horn with Starlight's larger foreleg, putting the pony in immense pain.

What are you doing, you psychopath?!

"Talk behind my back, will you?" Ambition shouted in Starlight's voice.

Endurance groaned as he tried to get up, rubbing his horn. Ambition grabbed the book again and brought it down on his head a second time, knocking him back to the floor.

"Think I didn't hear you as you were leaving the other day? Nopony disrespects me! I am Starlight Hocus Kadabra, you worthless piece of trash, and I will not take such treatment from the likes of you!"

Ambition then began to beat him with the book again, repeatedly.

"Agh! Damn! Ow! Stop it! Stop it! Celestia, please!" Endurance begged, each plea punctuated by another strike.

Stop it, Ambition! You're going to get me into trouble! You're hurting him! This is pointless! What are you even trying to prove?

"Apologize!" Ambition commanded.

"Agh! Okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, alright?"

Ambition still held the book over the bruised and beaten stallion, but withheld from hitting him again.

"You're sorry, what?"

Endurance's eyes looked up and down the corridor.

"Sorry... sir?"

"'Sorry, master'!"

This time he hit him directly in the horn again, causing another painful wail to echo through the halls. In his own head, Starlight was whimpering at the thought that somepony else could show up at any moment.

"Sorry, master!" Endurance amended. "I'm sorry!"

"That's better." Ambition leaned in and used magic to haul the other unicorn up onto his hooves again. "Give me your lunch money."

"...What?"

"I said give me your lunch money!" Ambition screamed as he got up in his face.

A bead of sweat ran down the other pony's face, but he reached into the saddlebags he carried on his back and removed a small wallet with his teeth, since he no longer had use of his horn after it had been repeatedly struck. He tried to open it and give Starlight his cash, but Ambition just snatched the whole thing.

"You're my bitch now," Ambition stated plainly. "You do what I say, when I say it, and I don't want to hear a single word of disobedience from you. Step out of line again, and I promise that what I just did to you, I will do a million times again to poindexter and the twins. Clear?"

Endurance nodded quickly. Ambition let him go, and he fell to the ground again.

"I'd also suggest not telling anypony about this. You can go tell the staff that you were mugged by a cripple if you want, but that's the thing..." He leaned in so that his face was near Endurance's again and grinned. "Nopony will ever believe you."

Watching the scene from within his own mind, Starlight remained stunned into silence. In the physical world, Ambition turned away and headed back down the corridor towards the stairs, wearing a satisfied smile and almost skipping along. When they turned the corner again and were out of sight, he tossed Endurance's wallet into the nearest trashcan and started whistling a tune to himself. In his mind, Ambition sung the lyrics to accompany it.

Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain!

What, the hell, was that?

Ambition stopped whistling. He stopped walking too, but Starlight quickly realized that it was because he had returned control of the body to him. Picking up where Ambition had left off, he resumed walking, still heading towards the stairs.

That was a demonstration of the power of violence. Now that guy will never give you shit again. You're welcome.

He never did in the first place!

Oh, but he did. You just wilfully ignored it because you wanted to believe that you had a friend in that group. Trust me. I saw yesterday's memories. He and the others hated you as much as everyone else around here hates you. And to be fair to him, you completely deserve it. But we're partners now, so I felt like I'd do you a huge favor and get you some respect. Even if it did come through fear. Again, you're welcome.

But you can't just go around doing things like that to ponies!

Starlight, there is no force on Earth, in Equestria, or in the realms between that could get me to spend another boring day in your crappy unicorn school. After this, the whole rest of our time together will be spent traveling. So you know that I am being completely honest when I promise that I will never beat up one of your fellow students again. Okay?

Ugh. Fine. It was foolish of me to waste my time trying to get you to see sense anyways. At least I doubt that you can do anything worse in the few hours you have left here.

That's the spirit! But we're waaay off-topic now, so can I pick up where I left off?

Yes. By all means, continue with your horror story.

With pleasure.


***


After stabbing the guard multiple times and incinerating the body, Ambition had moved on. Brass wasn't the last guard to get in the way, but the same fate befell the others. Ambition cut through the rest of them using the exact same tactics. He'd impersonate his host, get up close, kill them with something sharp, and then he'd burn them just to be sure.

Now, he was approaching his destination. Ambition trod over another four piles of freshly-made ash that lay on the similarly colored stone floor. His body was quivering, fueled by the familiar rush of adrenaline. His breaths were short and deep. His eyes were wide. His heart beat furiously, blood pumping through his veins. It wasn't that the physical activity was too strenuous for this body. It was just that it was so exciting. He was alive again.

He had disposed of what had to be a dozen guards by now, rampaging down the bright red hallways of the vault. It was easy. All he had to do with a group of guards was say that he had gotten separated from his squad, join up with those he encountered, and cut them all down or blast them from the rear before they had time to react. It was brutally effective, as evidenced by the trail of incinerated bodies behind him.

Meanwhile, the original owner of this body helplessly watched as his own horn and hooves were used to carry out all of these atrocities, unable to do so much as cry for those he had slain.

Hey, this is it, right?

Ambition had arrived at the end of the hallway, but this time there wasn't another connected passage. It ended in a large steel door, looking to be made out of the same material used in the containers, complete with the mess of runes that covered it.

Y-yes, this is the top-secret p-place. T-that means I can I g-go now, right?

Of course not! You've been a big help in the slaughter of all of those pesky guards, so I'm going to let you help me infiltrate the Purifier headquarters. All you have to do is sit back, relax, and let me use your body as a disguise and/or weapon!

T-then can I go?

Sure, I don't see why not.

Oh, thank Celestia.

Hey, don't thank her. Thank me. I'm the one who's helping you here. But nevermind that. How are we going to get past this door? You work here, so you tell me.

Uh, I guess just wait until somepony opens it from the other side.

There was a short wait, but not long after, the metal door swung open. A squad of six ponies, most of them unicorns, marched out of the opening in a line. They each wore a red robe and a painted metal mask. Every mask was unique and represented a certain animal. The one in the front, a light orange unicorn mare, looked to be the squad's leader and was donning an especially intimidating mask that depicted the head of a crimson dragon. The group abruptly stopped when they spotted the lone guard waiting outside the entrance.

The mare in front was the first to speak up.

"Soldier, I need a status report on the situation in this vault," she ordered. "And wipe that smirk off your face. It's unsettling."

"Of course, ma'am. My squad was attacked by the creature just moments ago. I was the only one who got away. The others were all... reduced to ash."

There was no visible reaction from any of them.

"I'm assuming you saw the creature. What are we dealing with?"

Ambition chose his words carefully.

"It was... a ghost, ma'am. A fiery ghost. It was grinning and... I'm not sure how to describe it."

The mare sighed and turned to one of her squad, a Purifier in a jaguar mask.

"Take him to the Director. We need to get as many details as possible."

The Purifier in the jaguar mask saluted. "Yes, ma'am!"

The mare turned back to Ambition.

"Under any other circumstances, I would never allow you to enter our headquarters, but this is a dire situation. My lieutenant here is going to take you to be debriefed. Do not separate from him. Unauthorised personnel in the base are usually shot on sight."

In his mind, Ambition grinned. Outwardly, he gulped and gave the mare a nervous smile. She tilted her head in the direction of the door behind her, permitting him to enter. With that, he saluted and galloped off into the dim passage that stretched past the doorway. He couldn't have asked for a better set of circumstances.

The passage was simply a tunnel carved straight out of solid rock, with no installed floors or walls. The only thing separating it from a natural cave were some torches planted along the walls and the occasional cobwebbed support frame. Escorted through by the nameless lieutenant, Ambition waited until he was certain that they were alone and unobserved to leap from his host and into the Purifier in question, taking control immediately.

What the...?

Shut up. Do as I tell you to. Then you get to live.

A quick search of his host's most recent memories turned up the name of the mare who he had encountered, Captain Light. Ambition added the captain to the list of ponies that he had to kill. He noticed his host's unicorn horn during his search. That was good. He was worried for a moment that the Purifier underneath this mask might be one of the rare earth ponies or pegasi in their employ. As he always did when he possessed a new unicorn, he decided to do a quick search for any unique spells that this one might know for him to add to his arsenal.

Inside the Purifier's head, Ambition was given pause as he inspected the memory of the pony's name that he stumbled across. It said he was called Clean Slate and that his cutie mark (a flash of light, supposedly the result of a spell being cast) indicated a talent for memory spells. Yet that was just surface. There was clearly more buried underneath. The spirit mentally smiled as he probed at the memory lock.

Oh, this is priceless.

What are you doing, monster?

Like tearing off a band-aid without regard for the pain, Ambition ripped off the memory lock by force. An entire lifetime of memories flooded out and bludgeoned the already mentally fragile Purifier some more. He was called Burning Bright. He specialized in light magic. His cutie mark was light from his torchlight spell. His best friend and partner had been a private detective. A mare hired them to track down her missing coltfriend, who turned out to be one of the Purifiers' victims. They had somehow missed the mare. Burning Bright and his partner came too close. They found the Purifiers, or rather, the Purifiers found them.

Cue the pony who had spent the last seven years as Clean Slate suffering a horrible identity crisis. Ambition had to tune out the sound of him screaming and crying in his own mind, outwardly showing only a flinch. As he returned to the real world, he looked back over to the Royal Guard pony that he had just left, who was now backing slowly away from Ambition.

"C-can I—"

Ambition wrapped his magic around Shield's head.

"You're still standing here? God, you just have no self-preservation instincts at all, do you?"

He unceremoniously snapped his previous host's neck and tossed the body aside. Burning Bright led out another scream that not even Ambition could ignore, but he quickly reminded his host to be silent again and let out another spell to incinerate the body he had inhabited not a minute ago.


***


Back in the present time, Starlight was now in the middle of his history class. While he had previously sat in place and perused his textbook, the teacher's voice in the background expositing on a few details for those interested, hearing that last part caused him to drop the book on the desk and sigh. He tried his best not to outwardly show anything, but still he stared down at the desk, looking to all the world as if he had suddenly spaced out or was falling asleep.

That... I can't even see how that was necessary.

Are we doing this 'morality' thing again? asked Ambition.

Starlight realized that he had dropped his book and noticed the looks of concern that the pony next to him was giving. He tried to give them a reassuring smile, but it felt instead like he was just showing his teeth, so he quickly picked up the book again and hid behind it.

No. We're not. It's clear to me that trying to reason with you as if you weren't a psychopath is pointless.

Oh, give me a break! "Psychopath"! What, in the sense that I don't have emotions? Well, we both know that's wrong, otherwise I wouldn't get so pissed by how much of a little bitch you are!

Starlight buried his face even further into the book.

Ambition, I don't care. Shut up and continue with your story.

No. I'm putting this to rest right now. I don't think you fully appreciate just how much letting a single witness escape alive would utterly—

I. Don't. Care. You're still a treacherous murderer no matter how many weak justifications you might come up with, and you have no right to lecture me about anything. I accepted your abuse before, but that was when I still thought that you were relatively harmless. A menace, but not a killer. Like Discord. Only now, you've told me that you murdered helpless ponies in cold blood. You've lost all my sympathy, if you ever had any at all, and I have no time for your crap. Finish your story and get this over with, you disgusting creature.

Ambition was quiet. In the silence, Starlight drew himself up again, no longer hiding away in the book. He returned to reading it in earnest, indignant and sneering down at it. The pony at the next desk gave him an odd look but was ignored. When his voice returned, Ambition spoke softer now.

Very well. You've made your position clear, and I can respect that. So, as I was saying...


***


Ambition soon came to a steep set of stairs that rose up into a worn old wooden trap door. After rushing up the stairs, he swung open the shoddy hatch and poked his head out to quickly scan the space above. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all a smooth sheet of solid, dull gray concrete, only interrupted sometimes by a metallic air vent. A single light bulb hung above in the center, leaving any part of the room not near it in gloomy shade. Strewn about the fairly small space were various supply crates and barrels, pointing to it being some sort of storage closet.

Thinking he was alone, he climbed up and found himself in the sights of an impressively stout aquamarine earth pony stallion, who had been somehow hiding well in one of the darker corners of the room. The wolf-mask and signature red robe marked the now alerted guard as a Purifier operative.

"Hold it right there! What are you doing back from patrol already?" the agent barked as he dashed over to put his face in the room's recent visitor.

Ambition just stood still and inspected the hulking earth pony, who apparently didn't grasp the concept of personal space. He wasn't accompanied by a large group, so he was presented the choice of taking his body and using him as a new host, or killing another Purifier.

After a few moments of thought, he decided to go with the second option. The pony did look to be in top shape, and there was always the perk of guards being able to get around the facility better than the agent he was currently using, but this mundane earth pony body wasn't worth the risk. Ambition had a well-controlled and able body. Why would he leave that? Killing the guard would be much less hassle. And much more fun.

But before he proceeded with the murder, he needed to get information. There was more purpose to him coming here than to just escape and wreak havoc. No, he had a plan for what he would do when this day came, and it started with him getting access into the Purifiers' reassignment archives, or at least, the next best thing: the mind of the archive's manager, the Coordinator.

"I am back here on direct orders from Captain Light, sir. She requested that I deliver a report to the Coordinator on the situation in the vault. Is he in today?"

The masked stallion quickly retracted his head and backed away but kept his eyes glued to his visitor.

"Yeah, I guess you check out then. The Coordinator should be in his office right now. You know where that is, right? Room 518 on floor 14B."

Ambition saluted. He really didn't know if he was supposed to but he thought that it looked convincing.

"Thank you, sir."

Right before he opened the door to leave the isolated room, he built up charge for the spell that he had become very accustomed to, and discharged it right into the agent's center of mass, reducing him to a pile of steaming ash. As a slight precaution in case any other agent were to encounter the conspicuous pile, he scattered the ash around the floor. It wasn't perfect, but it would at least stop others from noticing if they were just passing through.

How many more are you going to kill? asked Burning Bright.

Hundreds, if I get my way.

Make it thousands. Kill them all. They deserve it. I see that now.

Exactly. You see my perspective, don't you? I did the whole world a favor by blasting that fucker. I'm just here because I want to do the right thing.


***


Starlight dropped his book again and scoffed. The pony who'd been sitting next to him was still giving that look, but now he was packing away his things into his saddlebags. Starlight was too, as history class was wrapping up. A bell rung in the background as the students filed out of class, some of them stopping to say a quick goodbye to the teacher. Starlight did not, instead trotting straight out at as quick a pace as he could manage and moving past as many other ponies as possible in the corridor. It was clear now, but soon the congestion would begin.

You really told him that? That you were doing the right thing? Starlight asked once they were out of the class.

Yeah, I told him that. What's wrong with it?

Starlight twitched slightly.

I thought you despised morals? You literally slaughtered a dozen guards just on the suspicion that they would later be a nuisance!

The halls were already beginning to fill up. Starlight passed several more classrooms, each with open doors from which poured even more students. Most seemed to be heading in the opposite direction from him.

Oh, I do. Don't get me wrong. It's just that a lot of the times, I put on act to make people like me more. It helps in controlling an unwilling host if they agree with me or support me on some level. Making out like I'm some great hero trying to save Equestria from the evil Purifiers makes it harder to hate me, so they don't fight so much. It makes them doubt themselves. Makes them hesitate. Sometimes, they'll even outright surrender control to me willingly.

You're making it harder and harder to trust you with every word you speak. Whenever you tell me anything about yourself or the Purifiers, how do I know whether you're being honest with me or not?

Starlight, buddy, think about this. How could I be lying about how bad these guys are when you remember them taking your dad away in an uncorrupted memory?

The corridor opened up into a large, open hall where there were dozens of long tables with plastic seats waiting. Already a few of them were completely full. It was a big room but not nearly big enough to have a place for every student at once. That's why there were rotations. Upper years came in and ate first, and the lower years would get their turn later. But everypony was expected to eat quickly and get out as soon as they were done, not wait around for their friends. Having better things to do at lunchtime, no friends, and being in the top year, this arrangement could not have been more perfect for Starlight.

He pushed aside two more ponies in his way and made a beeline for the queue that was lining up on the far side of the hall.

How do I know it hasn't been corrupted by you in a further attempt to trick me? Couldn't you have done exactly what you claim the Purifiers to do?

No. First, my memory work isn't alteration. I lock or unlock existing memories, hence why you can still remember your fatherless life and why you're still such an asshole. Two, memory alteration was hardly even a theory back when I was around to learn about it, so unless you think I studied it while serving my sentence in the Royal Vault, or you're accusing me of inventing the goddamn stuff myself, what you're saying doesn't make sense. And C, if I've been telling you nothing but lies, then you would be worthless to me as a host, what with the hostility, the physical disabilities, and your frankly abhorrent personality. You wouldn't be worth the effort.

Starlight maneuvered around the last table and joined the end of the line.

"Hmph."

And besides, you're missing the most important aspect of this. Namely that if you paid attention to the story, you'd know that manipulating a host to make them easier to control involves endearing myself to them. If I were going to lie to you, I'd tell lies to make you like me. So, are we good now?

Not entirely. I believe you, for now, but you're definitely not some hero like you made yourself out to be, and I certainly don't trust you anymore, if I ever did.

Hey, when did I say I was a hero? I never claimed I was doing this for Equestria, or for freedom, or justice, or any other similarly nebulous concepts that heroes like to prattle on about.

That was obvious enough. So what's driving you? World domination, or something of that sort?

Ah, maybe someday. But right now, I'm honestly just reacting. Playing the hand I'm dealt, you might say. I made some enemies, the Purifiers among them, and they need to go before I can do anything.

The line shuffled forward. Starlight grabbed a tray from a nearby pile.

With all the senseless murder that you've probably committed, I'm not surprised.

Hey, what I did wasn't that bad. I'm the one who's been mistreated here. They were going to keep me locked up forever. Everybody about drowned themselves in tears and regret when Luna was sent away, but no-one so much as batted an eye when I was sentenced to basically the same thing. And my prison sentence didn't even come with a chance of parole!

If you're trying to get me to pity you, it won't work.

Yeah, I guess it wouldn't. I'll just get on with my story then. I think you might find this next part interesting. It relates to your dad.


***


Ambition loudly knocked on a thin metal door with the numbers "518" neatly painted on in yellow. He passed through several maddeningly similar concrete halls and stairways to reach this point, and it'd all be worth it for this. He'd been quietly dispatching as many other Purifiers as he could risk without raising the alarm early, but he had only claimed the lives of three operatives so far. He risked it only when the conditions were perfect. The halls had a low concentration of staff members, but being seen by just one could cause the whole complex to go on red-alert. And no individual target was worth risking getting caught for. Except for one.

The door opened to reveal Ambition's prime target, the Coordinator. The unicorn stallion had a thin silver coat and a gelled-back blond mane. Like all the others seen in the HQ, he was wearing the usual uniform, with a mask depicting a lion.

"Yes, yes, what is it? It had better be important to interrupt my work," the stallion said, running his eyes over the visitor. "I'm assuming it would have to be for somepony of your rank to been sent all the way over here."

Ambition wanted nothing more than to just roll his eyes and reduce him to slag where he stood, but he needed his mind intact, necessitating that he pull off a clean possession job.

"Yes, sir. I was told by Captain Light that I was to deliver a report to you on the creature that escaped from the vault just recently. We're not sure the situation can be contained much longer."

The stallion's expression couldn't be seen behind the mask, but the long sigh made it clear that he understood the gravity of those words.

"Well, hurry in and tell me every detail. I need to make sure we know what we're dealing with. If it's what I think it is, then we've got trouble. We must take steps to properly arm ourselves."

The robed stallion backed away from the doorway, prompting Ambition to enter.

Okay, here's the plan. The second he closes the door, I'll shoot out of you and take over his body. Once I win out, which I should, I'll signal you by stomping my hoof. Really, all you have to do to not screw this up is stand in front of the guy's desk, so this should be easy.

Sure.

And one last thing. If I seem to be taking too long to seize control, I need you to restrain him. It helps a lot. Resist the urge to break his neck, if you can. I kind of need him for the moment. Wish me luck!

They crossed the threshold, and the Coordinator closed the door with his magic. He turned his back to them and trotted over to his desk, which was messy and piled-up with paperwork. While his target was exposed, the true ghostly form of Ambition darted out of his previous host and hurtled into the other unicorn's body, intercepting him mid-walk and seemingly without the stallion noticing. The junior Purifier could only stand between the desk and the door, waiting for his signal.

The Coordinator sat down at and picked up a quill and parchment. He placed a heading at the top of the paper and cleared his throat.

"Go ahead with your report, then. What did the thing look like?"

Ooh, ooh, I know!

The veteran Purifier immediately stopped what he was doing and tried to channel magic towards his head. He recoiled when he found the flow blocked. It was already too late.

Whew, you almost got off a spell there. That sure would have been bad. But now that you can't use any magic to fight back, this should be quick n' easy.

The body started the normal cycle of spasms that possession victims went through, but this time it ended somewhat prematurely. Only moments after it began, words of Ambition's victory were clearly spoken through the now smirking unicorn's body as he tapped a hoof on the table.

"Hey, partner, I did it. The wimp hardly put up a fight. Hold up while I get some information from him."

Burning Bright nodded and continued to wait in place. The Coordinator seemed to zone out, managing to give the impression that he was staring off into space even while his eyes weren't clearly visible. Inside his mind, Ambition raked around for signs of what he wanted, taking no care to avoid potential damage.

Well, it seems that you have me beat. I suspected that a fragment got out. I won't be stupid and hopelessly try to fight back. I couldn't even commit suicide at this point.

Smart move. Now, I can get the information I need from you by you telling me, or by probing your brain. The latter might leave you a vegetable if I choose to not be gentle about it. Which way is it going to be?

I suppose I might as well just tell you. It's pointless either way.

Great, I need to know is where a certain ex-agent named Clairvoyance Cortex is. Worked with Viper.

Yes, I remember him. He was found to be working for the Descendants. I personally wanted to kill the dirty traitor, but more wanted to see him live, so we let him off with reassignment. We wiped and replaced his memories and he was shipped off to Baltimare. He's an old hermit now, and he always has been.

I knew the idiot would get caught. Say, he had a family right? A wife and kid? What happened to them?

They were left alone, but their memories of him were wiped. Clairvoyance was trying to indoctrinate his child, and his wife voiced concerns about him to Agent Viper. We did them a favor and removed his corrupting influence. Scarlet Kadabra is now a perfectly content single mother, and her adopted son, Starlight Kadabra, is by all reports growing into a promising student. Equine Resources are watching him very closely.

Oh, well aren't you guys just the best? That's all I needed to know.

I'm guessing this is when you kill me, then?

Kill you? Oh, no. You can still help. I'm getting a free ride out of here with this body. But I have to take care of something first.

Without any hesitation, Ambition utilized his new body to fire a bolt of raw magic toward his partner. Burning Bright somehow saw this coming, however, and just barely managed to scrape up a weak arcane shield in time. The beam collided directly with the barrier. The Purifier was spared a fiery instant death, but was also shot back into the hard concrete wall at remarkable speeds. He was winded, and a couple of teeth were knocked out of him before he crumpled to the floor.

"W-what are you doing?" the pony shouted between gasps for breath.

Ambition strided over to the helpless body of his victim, and stepped down on his throat. He removed the mask covering the Coordinator's face to show Burning Bright his frown.

"As you can see, I have a new body, meaning there's no real advantage of keeping you alive. I just can't trust that you won't turn against me. Sorry about this, buddy."

"W-wait, s-stop! I promise I won—"

The agent's pleas were silenced by the deafening crackle of magical energy. Ambition sighed and proceeded to collect up the resulting ash pile and hide the evidence in one of the desk's drawers.

You're the lowest form of monster I've ever seen. 

Oh, and why's that?

The only way you seem to be able to accomplish any of your goals is by manipulating others.

Wow. Of everything I just did, that's what you pick up on? You know what they say about glass houses, don't you, Mr. Erase-People's-Memories-So-That-They'll-Do-What-I-Want-Them-To-Do?

Shut up! Don't make such an absurd comparison. Our organization is perfectly justified in everything we do. We benefit the whole of Equestria. You're a monster who seeks only personal gain!

Correction: I am the only honest man in the room.

You are a monster, and you—

I really don't feel like having this argument. It's going to be a lost cause trying to get you to like me. I know that you've been told all about how me and all the other fragments are just evil in every kind of way.

So far, everything I've been told about your depravity was massively understated.

Well, I'm always trying to exceed expectations. Now, let's leave this boring place, maybe kill a few dudes on the way out, and find a place to get some food once we're out on the town. You were really hungry. I guess it's that office dedication.

If spirits could die, you would be damned to a hell deeper than the darkest pits of Tartarus.

That's a good observation! It's great to have you aboard.


***


I have a question.

As Ambition's story was cut off yet again, he noticed that they were already out of the queue, out of the lunch hall, and in an empty, dark classroom at a desk. Starlight was even already pursuing a textbook. Ambition privately resolved to pay attention in future and not get lost in his own storytelling again. Time was flying by today.

Is this one actually important, or are you going to start another argument or ask about some minor pointless detail?

The door opened, and an orange unicorn mare with a two-toned mane and a cutie mark of a blackboard entered the room. She regarded Starlight briefly, nodding at him, before taking her seat at the front desk of the room and opening up a ring binder folder. She picked up a pair of spectacles lying on the desk and started to read through it. She didn't even bother turning on the lights. Starlight ignored her too, returning his attention to the textbook in front of him.

Details are imperative, but no. I would like to know how you just knew that my father had been taken. You wouldn't have gone to the Coordinator if you didn't think he had already been relocated.

It was a hunch. An educated guess. I figured he'd get caught, considering how much of a risk-taker he was, and I was also pretty sure they wouldn't have killed him, given how much he'd done for them and how well-liked he was. Viper especially was very close with him. I'm smarter than you think I am.

And how would you have gathered so much information about him during your time in the Royal Vault?

That's a good question, and I can tell you another good story to answer it, but we're kind of getting behind on our current one due to someone continually nitpicking my every sentence. So I'll give you the abridged version.

Starlight rolled his eyes.

Fine. You've already told me that you met with him at some point during his Purifier career.

The bell rung. The unicorn looked up from her register and used her magic to flip on the lights.

Very good. Me and him had a chat once. Probably the best I had in that jail.

Wait, so are saying that the two of you communicated while you were still inside the Royal Vault? That's absurd.

I know it sounds weird, but the guy came looking for me for some reason. His curiosity brought him to my container, and with a little help from some magic—

What kind of magic? And who in the Purifiers told him about you? Is this just a commonly known thing in the organization, or is the knowledge only available to the higher-ups? Also, how would he just be granted access to roam the vault like that? I know he was a Purifier, but it still se—

Stop, you're doing it again.

Students began pouring into the room and taking their seats. Starlight resolutely ignored them.

Oh, fine. Get on with it then.

As I was saying, we talked. I quickly figured out that he worked for the Purifiers and convinced him to quit.

You really just convinced him to quit such a job with a quick chat?

Shut up, for God's sake! And no. Not just that. I used my brilliant skills of persuasion to convince him that the cause of the Purifiers was wrong. You might be surprised to hear it, but he and I had quite the debate on the subject of morality. I may not believe in it, but I know that he did, so turning him against the Purifiers was a simple matter of explaining to him how most ponies would consider what they did to be morally wrong. And as weird as it was for me to play the part of somebody's conscience, I played the role well enough to make him switch sides.

I planted the seeds of rebellion in him. I got him to find and join up with the Descendants. And, yes, I learned a lot about him and your mother, too. He came back several times through the years for repeat visits, during which I got to know him even more. After you were born, you became a frequent recurring topic. "Is he healthy, though? I worry about him so much." "He's growing up so fast, I don't know what to do!" "Do you think I'm being a good father by getting him involved in all this?" Yada, yada, yada. It all got very samey after a while, but I listened, because it's building that personal relationship with him which is what got ol' Clairvoyance on my side in the first place.

But I wouldn't give me too much credit, because he was already starting to question the Purifiers when he got to me. He wouldn't have broken protocol and paid me a visit if he wasn't. I just tipped him over the edge.

At the front of the class, the teacher put away her ring binder and picked up a piece of chalk. The last few stragglers came through the door and took their seats just as she finished writing up a series of equations. She turned to face the class, and the math lesson officially began. For once, Starlight tuned her out.

I bet you're still proud of yourself.

Yeah… I gotta admit, I was pretty good, but there was one thing I couldn't convince him of. He thought that it was a good idea to be a spy for the Descendants, since he was so cozy with the Purifiers, even when it was inevitable that he would get caught. I couldn't get him to change his mind, so against my better judgement, he went and played double agent. I'd hear back from him sometimes about what he'd done, but eventually I stopped getting visits. I guessed that he'd gotten caught, and I was right.

I assume that's all that happened, then?

Yup. And aren't you proud of your pops for throwing himself in harm's way for the good of justice or something like that?

I don't see why I would be. He made a stupid decision that jeopardized his entire family.

You know, I really like the way you think sometimes. It reminds me of an old friend I used to work with.

"Any questions?"

That was the teacher asking the class. Starlight ignored her.

"Good. Answer the questions up to question eighteen, and we'll leave it at that for now."

Starlight idly realized that he'd missed the page number, and she hadn't noted it on the board. He also didn't have a partner sharing this desk with him, unlike most of the other ponies in the class, so he couldn't even look over to see what page everyone else was turning to. This was Ambition's fault.

Do I dare ask about this old friend?

If we can finish this story that you have done such a fantastic job of slowing down, I'll tell you about it.

I'll try to restrain myself, but I doubt I'll succeed.

Just please try. Now, uh, where was I? I keep on forgetting because of these tangents you get us on.

You were leaving the Coordinator's office, I believe.

Ah, yes. The great escape.


***


Ambition paraded himself around the darkening sidewalks of Canterlot, still inhabiting the Coordinator's body like he was wearing a skin suit. His stolen body was still in full uniform, sporting not just the Coordinator's work clothes, but also his mask. The denizens of Canterlot didn't know what to make of him. The more fashion-conscious were shocked and appalled by his appearance. Kids scurried away from him. All the other ponies just seemed to regard him as a weirdo and crossed the street when they saw him coming, though Ambition gave overtly friendly greetings to everyone he passed. Usually, he'd accompany them with phrases like "Don't mind me, citizen! I'm just off to brainwash some ponies! Purifier business!"

The sun was barely peeking out over the horizon and street lights were already starting to come alive to compensate for its absence. The night sky was creeping up from the east and the swirling reds and pinks of sunset were fading away in the west, a sight that Ambition might have found pleasant if he at all cared. At the moment, he was preoccupied with something else.

When they came to a stretch of road with no other ponies, Ambition reinitiated conversation.

So, you know any good dives around here?

And why would I have anything close to a reason for telling you?

Well, aren't you hungry? Come on, it helps both of us.

I would go for days without eating if it meant putting you in mild discomfort.

You know, I was thinking about keeping you as a long-term host, but I'm not so sure now. You really have an attitude problem going on there.

An attitude problem? Are you taking any of this seriously at all?

Ambition spotted an alley that interested him. In the passage's gloomy shade, a group of three filthy, laughing earth ponies stood around in a circle, some of them leaning against the alley walls. They all had bottles of alcohol, and a few were smoking something that Ambition seriously doubted was tobacco and passing around a tin of something. Some were wobbling about and almost losing their balance.

Of course I am! Maybe you just need some friends. Ooh, how about those guys over there in that alley? They look friendly.

Ambition threw off the Coordinator's mask and took a sharp turn. He began strutting down the alley with his head fixed upwards and his eyes practically closed, trying his hardest to mimic one of the city's many pompous citizens. The three earth ponies glanced at the incoming visitor, but paid it no mind, as they were far too caught up in their own merriment to care.

What are you going on about?

See, they're ignoring us right now, but that won't do. You need to be assertive if you want friendship. I bet they would notice you if they weren't so busy with that drink. I'll get rid of it. For friendship.

Ambition stopped a few feet away from the huddle and gripped all their drinks in his silvery magical glow. Seconds later, several shards of glass lay scattered on the pavement, golden liquid stained the ground, and three huge, drunk, and very angry earth ponies glared down at the perpetrator, demanding an explanation.

Oh, Celestia! Why did you do that? They'll kill us!

I'm just trying to make you some friends.

"Oi, whadja do that for?" the closest one slurred.

Ambition answered in the most authentic stuck-up Canterlot accent he could muster.

"Well, excuuuse me. I simply couldn't stand watching you waste your life drinking. I did you a favor. Honestly, go do something productive."

Please, don't you want my body? If they kill it, you'll have no host, and you'll be vulnerable! Aren't you thinking?

Yes, I was thinking. I'm leaving to find my new body, and I need you dead, a job I faithfully leave in the hands of these noble citizens here. It's great for me because it looks like an accident. Well if you consider an accident getting mauled by three huge earth pony thugs.

An especially tough, leader-looking type who was ridden with scars stepped up, grabbed Ambition by the head with just his hooves, and lifted him up. Their faces were level, with the earth pony snarling and angry, and Ambition in the Coordinator's body just giving a smug smile in response.

"I oughtta strangle the life out of ya!"

Ambition didn't flinch and instead acted appalled.

"Dear, Celestia! The only thing more horrendous than your stench is your manners. I do something for you and this is how you repay me? I demand that you get your fat oaf face away from mine and apologize this instant!"

The hulking pony snorted.

"Oh, I'll give ya somethin! Come on, boys! Lets give this gentlecolt here a proper apology."

The other two goons followed their orders, surrounded their target, and started to close in.

Whose body could possibly be better than mine? I'm a high-ranking Purifier official with a good amount of magical energy to work with!

Canterlot is hardly lacking for magical talent. Besides, you said it yourself. You're a Purifier. I don't want that. I know of a better host, right here in the city. Why would I choose to fight a dragon with one of its own torn-off claws, when I have access to a perfectly good magical sword of dragon-slaying?

Please, I can't die right now! I can tell you everything about the Purifiers! I can tell you where each base is! I can give you names!

Eh, I already looked at what you knew. Nothing new, really. I'm going to go look for my new body, so bye. Oh, and it took a while, but I blocked the magic flow to your horn. Have fun.

Ambition shot down, out of his body, and through the ground to avoid notice. While underground, he moved behind the gang and flew up again. Ascending all the way to rooftops of the buildings above, the Coordinator's pleading screams could still be heard. Ambition took a moment to sit on the edge of the roof and watch the beating in progress. He didn't leave until gang did, fleeing the scene once they all realized that they'd committed a murder in their drunken states.


***


And that's it! It took us over five hours, but I guess we at least got to get some good bonding in.

Starlight was packing up again, having just finished all his mathematical work for the penultimate class of the day. Unsurprisingly, he had finished first, just in time for him to shift his full attention to interrupting Ambition's vivid storytelling with more questions.

I wasn't "bonding" with you. I was gathering valuable information. Don't think that I'll feel closer to you just because you shared with me all about how you murdered several ponies and became a fugitive.

Says you. You haven't been scared of me or calling me a demon. I think that's progress.

I think you're delusional.

Starlight left the room, now enroute to his Advanced Magical Theory class via the congested hallways of the Sunrise Complex. His favorite class awaited him, even if he appeared like he wanted nothing more than to murder everyone clogging up the hallway and yelled at anyone spending more than a second to stop and talk to a friend.

I think you should be nicer if you want to keep learning things from me. I planned on telling you more today if I felt like you deserved it.

While that is legitimately tempting, I am about to attend a very important class and do not need to be distracted by you. Save it for later.

Fine. Have fun being a nerd.

Advanced Magical Theory wasn't far from the mathematics room, so the journey didn't take long. As Starlight stepped through the door to the classroom, he did intend on having fun for once. The day after an exam marked the first day of a new unit, unlike all the other classes which used it as an excuse for a break. This meant that he would now be exposed to brand new information and spells. This didn't happen often enough. The end of a unit was always marked by heavy revision of everything that Starlight already knew. He wasn't even sure that he needed to revise at all for some classes, but he did so anyway, just in case he forgot a single important fact that he might have needed to know at some point. It was just him being thorough.

The eager unicorn trotted across the room and snagged a seat at the very middle front desk, his ideal location. He had arrived early, so he made use of the extra couple of minutes to get out a quill and ink pot, his fat textbook, and his third notebook for the class.

By the time the bell had rung, the classroom was filled with chattering bodies. The talk soon withered away with the arrival of the teacher through the entryway. He was late, an uncommon occurrence, but Starlight was sure he had a good reason behind it. If there was any staff member he respected at the institution, it was Professor Eclipse. He was logical, did everything by the book, and accepted precisely zero interference when he taught. These were all qualities of an effective teacher.

Buckling down in his pillow cushion, and coating his quill tip with a fresh application of ink, he got ready an hour of advancement.

The hour seemed to pass in a flash for Starlight after that. Ambition kept quiet, the professor ran through the basics of the new theory with them, and the whole class dutifully took their notes in preparation for the next term, when it eventually came. Starlight took five pages of notes (more than anypony else) and had plenty of follow-up questions when Eclipse was done talking, as he always did. For the first time that day, things seemed to be going well.

Once it was over, Starlight reviewed the notes he had taken over the period. The bell had rang over a minute ago, and all of the other students had left, but he adamantly stuck to his seat until he was sure he understood every aspect covered in the day's lectures. Once he was thoroughly satisfied with his review, he packed up and left for the doorway. Right as he was going down the center aisle of desk, however, he heard the voice of Professor Eclipse call out for him.

"Starlight, I would like to see you at my desk."

Starlight wondered what he had done. Was it his astounding exam score? Or maybe just his all-around perfect performance in class? He couldn't decide, and instead just hurried over to meet with his teacher.

"I do hope you understood the lesson," the wizened old stallion said with a friendly smile.

Starlight enthusiastically nodded. "Yes sir. I still need practice on those new channeling techniques you discussed, but, other than that, I feel very confident about this new material."

The professor beamed at Starlight.

"Nothing surprising there. Your magical prowess is nothing short of incredible. In fact, your scores place you in the top five percent of all students to ever attend this institution. Did you know that?"

Starlight didn't know that. The news left him with a smile that was possibly even brighter than the professor's.

"I see that you didn't. Well, it's true. And that is why I've come to ask you about joining an organization that is in need of your type of talent. I know you've yet to properly graduate, but that you will, I think, is a foregone conclusion. So rather than waste your time here any longer, we want to take you on right away. It's a government agency. It's not known to most of the public, but the services it provides are vital. Think of it as Equestrian society's clean-up crew. You'd be taking a job that requires extensive magical knowledge, creativity, skill, and ambition."

Starlight could feel his stomach sink.

Okay, gimme the wheel. I'm killing this snake.

No, please just hold on! All I have to do is reject the offer, and he'll go away! There's no need to kill him!

There's every need to kill him. If the Purifiers have less recruiters, they'll get less agents, which means they'll have less power. We made a deal, remember? You help me with the Purifiers, I help you get your dad back. Don't bitch out on me already.

Out in the physical world, the professor kept talking.

"Of course, you'd start out as a junior member, but the pay is good at whatever level you join, and we allow for a certain degree of independence." Eclipse shrugged. "And besides which, if you're any good at the job, you tend to rise through the ranks quickly. The Purifiers, as we're called, reward those who get the job done, and do it best. Age and experience is nice, but we're one of the few organisations who don't snub younger applicants just for being younger. You'll have a hard time climbing any corporate ladders at your age anywhere else, but the Purifiers have no such prejudice."

I said I would help you, yes, but killing him would only hurt us! If we were to just murder him right here, we would attract unwanted attention to ourselves!

I like that you're thinking about that, but killing this guy is worth it. I know him. I had my suspicions already, but it didn't click until he started the propaganda spiel. He's the head honcho of the Purifier recruiting operation. Getting rid of him is a good way to cripple the organization.

"Erm, are you okay there, Starlight?" the elderly unicorn asked with concern. 

Starlight mentally scolded himself. He had been silently glaring up at his head for a little over half a minute.

"Oh, yes sir. I apologize. I was just thinking over the offer."

"Well, perhaps I should provide you with some needed clarification of our purpose. The Purifiers are a righteous force, working to maintain the purity and peace of our nation. The agents are a kind of secret police working to cleanse the land of any evil, making it a better place for all. I know you've always shown an interest in societal progress, and it's for that reason that I think a job in the organization would be ideal for you. Part of cultural advancement is weeding out rogue elements."

Okay, I'm not going to listen to another sentence of this bullshit. Don't worry, this will only take me a few seconds.

Starlight feel a familiar sensation sweep across his body. This time, however, it was stronger. As he gradually lost control, his insides started to burn, like his blood was undergoing a transformation into molten lava. The pain distracted him from fighting back, and before he knew it, he became a spectator in his own body. Ambition took over in a matter of seconds.

"That is an interesting offer, professor," said Ambition with Starlight's mouth, "but I'm afraid I have to decline."

Before Eclipse could react, Ambition magically grabbed the sharpest thing in sight, an ornate letter opener laying the desk, and stuck it directly in his target's neck. Professor Eclipse gasped and let out a squeak, and then he began gurgling. He dropped to the ground, falling sideways off his desk and letting his blood pool beneath him. Much to Starlight's dismay, Ambition strolled around the desk to inspect the still-moving body.

The blade was embedded deeply in the teacher's neck, leaving him desperately flopping around, gasping for breath like a fish out of water. A steady stream of blood flowed forth from the puncture, forming a growing puddle of red on the blank white floor. The dying unicorn all the while tried calling out for help, but could only produce incomprehensible croaking noises. Ambition smiled at him and leaned down to whisper into his ear.

"Rot in Purgatory, Purifier."

Eclipse let out a final gasp, and then went limp. His eyes didn't close, but remained staring up at the ceiling, glassy and dead.

"Well, that's that." Ambition said to himself as if he had just finished up some yardwork.

It was a stark contrast to the way his partner was taking the situation. The mind of Starlight was hollow, a dark void replacing his usual stream of inquisitive thought. The cold reality of death had momentarily frozen him. However, the utter numbness only lasted so long before a tsunami of feelings engulfed him.

He felt powerless and used, like the tool he thought himself to be. Guilt barraded him, insisting that he was responsible. Usually he could just use reasoning to get over any horrible event he read about, whether it be a death in a fictional story, or a real bloody war in a historical text, but in his situation, he found that any attempts at trying to use reason had been mercilessly crushed by the overwhelming sight of the struggling of his beloved teacher. Panic started to join in the mix. What would he do now? What kind of life could a murderer like him lead? How long before the law came to punish him? What would a punishment for such an unforgivable crime be? His thoughts raced faster and faster until Ambition intervened.

Would you stop being such a drama queen and try to be useful? We need to hide the body. Got any ideas?

Starlight didn't respond.

Ah, fine. I'll take care of it.

With a sigh, Ambition charged up his incineration spell with Starlight's horn and used it to reduce the corpse of Professor Eclipse to ashes. A scorch mark was left on the floor, but it was better than a puddle of blood. He checked the other surfaces for blood spatter, but found that he'd gotten lucky and caught it all except for the blood on the letter-opener. He dealt with said letter-opener by cleaning the blood off with a piece of paper, and then incinerating the paper too, adding its ashes to Eclipse's.

Satisfied for the moment, Ambition collected up the ash and dropped it into a plastic wallet that he removed from the back of a ring-binder folder on Eclipse's desk. Then he turned his attention to the scorch mark, erasing it somehow using a spell that Starlight had never seen or heard of (and which felt wholly unfamiliar), but which drained a surprisingly large amount of magic. Once he was done, he picked up the plastic wallet and headed out of the room to find a window, where he dumped it out over a flower garden.

Now with the gruesome sight of the body out his eyes, Starlight began regaining his composure.

Give me control of my body. I have to return home and prepare to leave.

Ambition raised Starlight's eyebrow.

That's strange. I thought you were going to chew me out over this little fiasco. I feel like I should be impressed.

Shut up. I have plenty to say about this, but it can wait. For now, I want to put some distance between us and here, and put this horrific event out of my memory while I recover. Nopony else knows of what happened here, and I would rather it stay that way.

Ha! Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but there's a problem with that. See, disposing of the body only means that he'll be reported as missing instead of murdered. It'll take a little longer for them to figure it out, but the Purifiers will place priority on finding him, and it won't take them long to work out what we did, especially since they probably have you on record. We need to get moving soon.

Panic once again blitzed Starlight's mind. Now the logic was against him. He couldn't win if the Purifiers came for him. They most likely had the resources to track him down within hours and possessed a vast number of elite agents, each one more than a match for the lone, locomotively-challenged mage-in-training that he was. 

He would get captured. In his mind, that was a certainty. But what would they do with him? Would they kill him to make things even? Would they manipulate his memories to make him forget about who he was, and cause him to live some dirty peasant life like they did with his father? Or would they brainwash him to be their agent like Ambition warned him of?

Jesus, just calm down. Listening to you think is like listening to a hundred nails in a blender.

Starlight mentally scoffed.

Yes, because in the face of certain death or severe punishment, I should just naturally be calm! Certain death which is your fault, I remind you!

I'm not going to give you control until I know you won't do something stupid. Going crazy over this won't help either of us.

As much as Starlight hated his partner, he had to agree with him. He usually knew to keep calm in the face of a difficult situation, and here he was, nearly losing it twice. The panic had been so distracting, he was only just then registering that they were out in the hallways rather than in Eclipse's class.

Ugh, fine. I'll stay calm. Now grant me control my body before you murder the population of Canterlot.

That's more like it. I'll switch over control to you now.

Unprepared for the sudden change, Starlight clumsily flopped onto the hard floor. Grunting and getting back to his hooves, he found himself to be in absolute control once more. He looked around the empty halls, glad that nopony else was around to see him acting crazy.

Man, you sure are a clutz.

Starlight narrowed his eyes. He wanted so badly to retort with something angry or sarcastic, but held himself back. At that moment, he wanted nothing more to do with the murdering parasite. But he couldn't get rid of him, so all there was to do was ignore him as hard as possible.


***


As Starlight began to near the black gate that marked the school's exit, his face visibly drooped. He stopped before crossing the threshold, sighing and looking back up at his long-time sanctuary. This could be the last day he ever spent here. Before, he'd thought this adventure with Ambition was nothing but a brief diversion, one day to form a single bizarre chapter in his autobiography. Now, that looked unlikely. Now, it was more probable that Starlight would spend the rest of his life as a fugitive because of what Ambition had wrought here. He tried not to think about it, and to tell himself that they might not get caught, or that he might clear his name, but nothing worked. He knew he was dead.

He turned around and proceeded through the gates, and was pleasantly surprised when he recognised the unicorn trotting up the path towards the gate, reading a book as she walked. Starlight couldn't help but smile at the sight of her, despite the general misery that had characterized the rest of the day.

Twilight Sparkle was the only student that ever earned his respect, both for her academic record and her various achievements outside of education. In fact, she was something of a role model, as she displayed nearly every commendable quality. She was always the top of her class, always on time, always organized, and always reading. Not to mention how she was the personal student of the princess and a semi-famous hero of Equestria. Starlight had only ever had minimal contact with her, as she was a few years above him, but their brief chats (usually about something related to their schoolwork) were always the highlight of a day. In many ways, he considered her his only friend. The school really lost something for Starlight when she left for Ponyville.

"Hey, Twilight!" For some strange reason, Twilight didn't seem to notice him as she passed by. He frowned, and tried shouting louder. "Twilight! Hey! It's me!"

The mare pulled her head up from her book, and looked around for the source of the voice. She smiled as she noticed Starlight hobbling over to her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there. It's, uh, Starlight, right? We talked a few times."

Starlight returned the smile and nodded.

"Yes, and we ate lunch together sometimes too! I've been hearing so much about what you've been doing since you left! Most of the plebeians in this city don't seem to pay any attention to the news, but I do! Nightmare Moon, Discord, and I know you were involved with stopping the changelings and King Sombra too! We should all be thanking you."

Twilight blushed.

"Oh, don't praise just me. There's no way I could have accomplished any of those things without the help of my friends. And besides, I can't really claim credit for those last two..."

"A valid point," said Starlight with a shrug. "But enough of the past. What brings you back Canterlot this afternoon?"

Twilight briefly pointed to the castle looming high above them. "I have a meeting with the princesses at seven o'clock, and until then I have enough time to visit some ponies. I just came back from my parents' house. I never planned on running into you, though. Um… How have things been your senior year?"

"Oh, it's been just as easy as last year, but I would lying if I said I haven't learned anything."

"That's great. I hate to go so soon, but I really do have to pay my old teachers a visit. They would kill me if they found out I was in Canterlot and didn't check in to see them. I know I haven't seen Professor Eclipse in ages."

Starlight's smile faltered for a moment.

"Oh, well... perhaps we can fully catch up more on another occasion."

"I look forward to it!"

She smiled and waved goodbye before she turned to leave. Before she got too far, Starlight almost found himself shouting for her to stop. A desperate idea popped into his head. She was his friend, right? Friends assisted each other in dire times, right? If he could just tell her about the Purifiers and what they've done, surely she would be against them. An intelligent pony like her would simply have to. There was no way this could be done alone.

He shakily opened his mouth to call out to the departing mare, but before he could get off a word, his jaw involuntarily jerked shut.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no! You are not doing something that stupid! Shut your mouth right now before you actually get us both killed.

Starlight used his larger foreleg to stomp the ground.

But why? he demanded. She would be a valuable asset if we could convince her of our cause! Besides being Celestia's star pupil, she's a national hero! The mare is bound to have some political influence!

You really think you could convince Celestia's most loyal little pony to just up and destroy an organization that Celestia founded and supports? No, you would have just told her of our plans, which she would have passed along to to her very favorite mentor, and then we'd get abducted by some ponies in dark suits and animal masks on a lonely road somewhere. I just saved our asses.

Starlight cocked his head, now simply confused instead of angry.

What? Celestia was responsible for all of this? Now you're talking crazy. She's a princess of Equestria! A paragon of morality! There's no way that she'd let an organization like the Purifiers exist if she knew about them. It's not in her nature! She's being deceived, somehow!

Seriously? You really couldn't pick up what's going on here from the context clues?

What do you mean?

Nothing. I just thought you would have twigged on that a government organization as massive as the Purifiers is not going to escape notice! Come on, I thought you were smart! This isn't some backwater record-keeping office in the sticks we're talking about! It's the fucking Ministry of Love! It has thousands of staff, facilities in the royal palace itself, its actions are sanctioned by Equestrian law, no matter how secret the laws are, and they're funded by millions of bits every year from the tax office's black budget! There is no possible way that most of the entire upper level of government hasn't at least heard of them, and that includes your precious pony princesses, who would have had to personally sign most of the documents allowing their existence!

The realization started to sink in. Now that Ambition had said it, it seemed painfully obvious.

I-I... It's just that... Oh, fine. But she would have to have founded it with good intentions!

Sure, but you should know by now that everyone working for the Purifiers has "good intentions" as well, and you know what kind of stuff they do. I'm sorry that I just proved your religion false, but religion is bullshit anyway, and no, I don't care about how insensitive that makes me sound.

Starlight realized that he'd been standing in place and staring at nothing for several minutes now, and kept trotting back down the path. Twilight was already gone, and it seemed that nopony else was around either. He decided it would be best if he wasn't caught standing around like a zombie, or worse, arguing with his horn. He put his mind back on Ambition's words as he walked.

You didn't disprove my religion, because I am not a sun-worshipper, he said with a harrumph. I do have faith, however, and I'll freely admit that you've definitely shaken it. It seems you're determined to destroy everything good in my life.

By the way, Santa isn't real.

Screw you.

Haha! Now pack up, say any goodbyes necessary, and we'll be heading out. We really need to get out of the city by, at most, the end of the day.

Starlight sighed.

It shouldn't take me but an hour to prepare myself.

Super.


***


A little less than an hour later, Starlight stood across the table from his mother in their home, talking to her as she absently read through a magazine while occasionally muttering assurances that she was listening. The remains of a meal was lifted off the table, and even as he stood talking to her, Starlight was using his magic to dispose of it and throw the plates and cutlery in the sink. Why he was bothering, he couldn't have said. Neither of them were willing to do any actual washing up.

Ambition for his part ignored the conversation just as much as Scarlet, instead focusing on the utensils floating around in the background of the messy kitchen and taking in the sight of how disgusting it was. Yet even he paid attention again when he heard Starlight say those fateful words. So did Scarlet, who suddenly put down her magazine and looked up at her son with a concerned expression.

"Say that again? Did you just say you were going to leave? Tonight?"

"I... I did," Starlight confirmed, seeming unsure of himself.

"Dear, I'm not sure what you're trying to tell me. You don't actually mean to leave, do you? Leave for where? Where are you going? And why at this hour?"

Starlight held his head up high and tried his best to look like a stallion. "I do actually mean to leave. I'm going on a journey away from the city, and I'm not entirely sure when I will return."

The mare shook her head and crossed her forelegs.

"Absolutely not! No proper mother would let her children run about the country unsupervised. You could get ripped apart by some forest monster or mugged by hoodlums! And don't even get me started on how uncultured non-Canterlot ponies are. You want to stay here."

"I'm sorry, mother. Your concern is rational, but I have made up my mind. I'm nearly eighteen years of age. I'm not a colt anymore and do not need to be treated as one. I have full rights to make my own decisions."

Starlight watched his mother sigh in defeat. He knew that she knew arguing with him was useless. He never conceded defeat, as he was always right.

"Oh, fine. I obviously lack the ability to convince you. Just please try and remain safe and return soon."

The stallion nodded.

"I will definitely attempt to do so…"

Starlight paused. The next part of his response was supposed to be a goodbye, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He had already said it to his school, and now he was just one goodbye away from leaving his comfortable home life. After one phrase, his old life would be almost entirely erased, or at least very distant. Everything had changed. His memories, his goals, and life were all different and all terrifying. Now here he was about to complete it.

"Goodbye, dear," she said, taking the choice away from him. "Make sure to pack something warm." 

She stuffed her face back into the magazine. Starlight sighed and quickly made his way out of the living room and over to the front door, where his saddlebags were waiting. For a moment, he was left wondering why he cared all that much. Scarlet hadn't even cared enough to demand answers about where he was going or why. She hadn't even offered to help him in any way. In any other mother, the negligence would have been astounding. For her, it was depressingly predictable.

Starlight stood silently in front of the door for a moment, the only sound that could be heard being the straps of his fat saddlebags rubbing over his coat and irritating a scab, and Scarlet turning the pages of her magazine out in the kitchen. Starlight wondered if she'd drown in her own filth here without him, or if she'd stop spending so much and rehire the maid. He pushed the light wooden door open and started on a route that would take him to the nearest train station.

He was scarcely out of his street when Ambition started feeling conversational again.

Okay, so here we are at the beginning. You have a lot of food and water packed, and not books or something stupid like that, right?

Starlight pointedly ignored him.

Ah, hell. Even if you filled both bags with supplies, it still wouldn't be enough. We're going to have to buy more on the way there. This is a couple-weeks trip, not some day-hike. Hope you brought money.

You're obviously terrible with travel. Riding a train to Baltimare and back will take a few days at most. And of course I brought money, moron.

Oh, no. We're hoofing it there.

Starlight stopped in place.

You cannot be serious! That's around three hundred miles!

We're an easy target on a train. It's too regulated. We want to take some sketchy back road where they won't find us. There should be an old road leading out of the eastern part of the city, so that better be where you're headed.

Can we not at least use the main road? You can't possibly expect me to make a trek like this on some rocky dirt trail!

Yes I can. The main roads have all the same problems. Now hurry up and get there.

I'll most likely get injured from such conditions. This is absurd.

Well, it's either that or getting captured by Purifier agents in the first day.

Starlight groaned and changed his course, heading towards the east end of the city rather than downtown. He knew the road Ambition was talking about, although calling it a road was giving it too much credit. The east road was a dreadful winding dirt path that led down the mountain, which could hardly even be called a hiking trail. Needless to say, he was not looking forward to the journey ahead.

This journey was going to kill him.
> Chapter 4: The Long Road to Baltimare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A panting Starlight lumbered down the path in front of him. The road was even worse than he had imagined. Rocks protruded from a thin layer of grainy dirt that marked the loose trail. The spiky death-traps were all over the place, threatening to drive right into his flesh if he took his eyes off the ground for even a second. On top of that, the raw gusts of high-altitude wind constantly beat him, slowing him and Ambition even further.

The trail hugged the mountain's side and spiraled around it. While at some point lower down it would surely open out onto larger cliffs, meeting the train tracks and the main road again, right now it was dangerously narrow. Starlight had been on the precipice of a lethal fall for the entirety of the trip so far. In the place of a proper railing was a crumbling stone wall that would be right at home in some half-buried ancient ruins. When combined with the uneven ground and his hobble of a walk, there could be no denying the danger of the situation.

Though, there was one redeeming factor, he supposed. The view to his right side was breathtaking. It was like looking down at a highly detailed three-dimensional map. He could spend over an hour just picking out the different landmarks that dotted the landscape below. Even the view of the lower parts of the mountain was nice. As unnerving as it was to look over the edge, it was almost worth it to see the great rivers and waterfalls further down, which originated all the way up in the city and would eventually lead down to Canterlot Basin.

Unfortunately, Starlight couldn't help but keep his eyes on the ground immediately in front of him. Beautiful as it was, he couldn't walk and admire the scenery at the same time without his nerves getting the better of him, forcing himself to instead keep his attention was on the hazardous ground.

"I need to take a break..." he said, coming to a stop by the side of the road.

Starlight leaned against the mountainside and breathed deeply, taking a moment to look out over Equestria. He heard the low rumbling of Ambition's voice in his head, answering him.

For the fifth time, no. It's been ten minutes and you've been going at the speed of snail the entire time. I mean, come on. I knew you were some hardcore nerd, but this is ridiculous.

Starlight gritted his teeth. "Well, maybe if we didn't go down this Celestia-forsaken 'road', we would be making some actual progress!"

What? Haven't you been on a hiking trail before?

"No, I haven't, but I'm pretty sure that they can't all be absurd death traps! Have you even taken a look at my surroundings?"

He gestured to the edge of the path and the sheer drop below. Almost as if to illustrate his point, a large chunk of stone broke away from the crumbly wall and tumbled down out of sight.

Yes. Well enough to see that you're overreacting. It's perfectly safe. It even has a wall to make sure clutzes like you don't fall and die. Sure, it might be a bit rough, but it's not going to kill you. If anything, this is helpful. Maybe you'll finally learn how to man up.

"What does that even mean? What the hell is a man?"

It means to toughen up and stop acting like you're five. God, I really have a lot of work to do with you.

Starlight scoffed.

"Yes, because ignoring obvious dangers and being reckless is so adult."

There is a fine line between being aware of a danger and needless bitching.

Starlight stomped the ground with his larger foreleg in preparation for a retort. Instead, he yelped out in pain and collapsed onto the dusty trail as he accidentally drove a rock into the underside of his hoof. His eyes watered as he pulled himself up and removed it.

"Owww!" Starlight yelled, tightly holding his throbbing hoof. "Y-you see! This is what happens when we traverse a minefield of a road like this! It's not safe to put my hooves on! Now I'll be stranded here until my wound heals!"

Oh, come on! What wounds? You're not even bleeding! We're not losing time because you can't handle hitting your hoof against a rock! Get up and stop being a wimp!

"I understand the severity of the situation, I really do, but I simply need a moment. Surely we can spare at least that!"

No. We can't spare a moment. I don't think you understand just how fast the Purifiers work. It kind of borders on unreal.

"If I remember correctly, you claimed that they wouldn't be able to find us if we went this way," Starlight growled, glaring at his own horn.

It doesn't matter what I told you. What matters is what I'm telling you right now, which is to get your ass in gear and cover as much distance as you can before night comes. You can rest as much you want then.

"Fine," he conceded.

Starlight firmly believed that a pony of his caliber shouldn't have to take orders, and shouldn't need to be told what to do. Still, he definitely saw reason behind what Ambition said, and it wasn't really following orders if he was doing it for his own reasons. If the Purifier HQ was really in Canterlot, they needed to get as far away from the city as soon as possible. It just made sense. He would have to somehow bear the pain and exhaustion and soldier on. But he wasn't doing it because Ambition told him so. He was doing it because he came to the same conclusion independently and agreed with the assessment. Clearly.

Attaboy. Make me proud.

The aching unicorn climbed back into a wobbly standing position, shook the dirt off, and continued trudging down the trail.

Starlight had started off weak and continued to be so. Humiliating and bruising falls were commonplace. The kind of terrain he was on was virtually nonexistent in the real Canterlot. Before, the choppiest surfaces he had experienced were the occasional badly-maintained cobblestone walkways. But as he spent more time on his journey, he became more accustomed to the road and keeping his balance.

Once two painful hours had dragged by, he stopped falling for good. The rocks started to become less threatening once he learned how to keep his steps high and stay away from the edges of the trail, where the rocks were in much higher concentration. He could even go for periods where he didn't have to look at the ground. With his grand conquering of the road, it was more or less smooth sailing. His pace became strong, or at least as strong as his stumbling gait ever could get anyways.

Time flew by, and every so often Starlight would look up at the sky to see how long he had left until nightfall. It was already late when they had left the city, but now it was rapidly approaching sunset. If anything, the view was even more gorgeous in the waning daylight. It allowed Starlight to relax his mind somewhat, even if the ever-present threat of walking the mountain trail in the dark if they didn't move fast enough loomed over them.

Then fatigue seemed to catch up with Starlight. He had been at least slightly panting the whole way down, more than once having to wipe off sweat before it poured into his eyes. It had been inconvenient, but now his pace was starting to deteriorate. The sweat was actually running out, now only a dried, salty residue strewn about his fur. Blurred vision and lightheadedness even started to emerge. His body was like a rubber band that was gradually being stretched too far. A breaking point had to be reached eventually.

The unicorn's drenched and aching body gasped for air as it dropped down onto a patch of soft grass, and his eyes remained wide open and watering as he stared over the edge at Canterlot Basin, now so close he could almost taste it. After hours of trooping downwards, he had finally reached the bottom, but at some cost. He didn't know if he could get up. He didn't know if he could even survive this. Literally running out of sweat was usually a sure sign that a pony was close to death.

Starlight rolled onto his back and looked up in awe at the Equestria's crown jewel, halfway up the great mountain. The looming, deep-purple body of rock was overwhelmingly huge from this perspective, forcing the unicorn to tilt his head back as much as he possibly could to see the lofty snow-capped peak. It had taken him hours of constant descent just to get here from its midpoint. He gave a defeated smile. As possibly the last thing he ever saw in this life, he couldn't really complain. It looked pretty.

While looking to the higher parts of the world, he also saw the fiery hues of sunset starting to build up in the western half of the sky. Night would be arriving soon. Starlight waited to get his breathing under control and tried to speak, but only let out a weak croak. He decided to communicate by thought instead.

This looks to be a good stopping point for the day.

No, it isn't. One, we have plenty of daylight left. Two, this spot is waaay too open. And three, we might have a lot more vertical distance from Canterlot, but horizontally we still have a ways to go.

Starlight rolled over onto his side and moaned.

"With the energy I have right now, there's no physical way. I can't keep up a brisk walk. I would basically be limping."

Then limp! Just keep moving! If we can't reach the forest south of here soon, there's no doubt they'll see us.

Starlight ignored the command and instead closed his eyes. He knew that this situation was nothing to take lightly, but he was sure this investment of time in resting would pay off. Surely a short nap wouldn't put that much of a dent in their time. He smiled again as he drifted off, completely forgetting that he still lay in the middle of a road.


***


Starlight awoke to the sound of his own voice.

"Yeah, I completely feel you. Sure, the main road is a bit more maintained, but going down the trail is so worth it. It just feels so much more... natural going down a loose road, you know?"

"Sure do," a feminine voice responded in a clear country accent. "It's good to see that folk from the city can appreciate nature."

Starlight had been in this situation before. This time, instead of a griffon bar, he found himself on the open road, sitting on the front bench of a rickety wagon. Although from his current point of view he was limited to an expanse of flat, grassy ground with a few isolated patches of wild flowers, the sound of rummaging of hollow barrels in the back made it apparent that they were hitchhiking on some type of cargo vehicle.

Several thoughts came to him in rapid succession.

His first thought was to go back to sleep. Night had yet to come, but he still wanted to get back to his nap and sleep off his exhaustion. His second thought was to notice that he actually no longer felt so battered or exhausted at all. In fact, he felt like he'd drank, eaten and rested recently, and the various pains from earlier accidents had already faded. Really, he felt much more lively. Perhaps he could take control again again now.

His third thought was to dismiss his second. He felt less tired, but he figured it might be a good idea to go back to sleep anyway. Even if it wasn't nighttime, it was rapidly approaching. Besides, Ambition looked to have the situation under control. He had taken care of their body, arranged transport, and was conversing with a mare right now. It would be nice to let him take responsibility for a while after a whole day of suffering on his behalf.

His fourth thought was a tinge of panic that dug into his skin when he suddenly remembered that Ambition, the same being who had used hijacked bodies to murder over two dozen ponies in the last couple of days, was in control of his body. What was he thinking? He couldn't trust this monster to take charge for a second. Who knew what he planned to do with this mare?

Starlight fully came back to the waking world screaming.

I would like control back immediately!

Oh, you're awake. It's about time. Here, take it. Oh, and a 'thank you' would be nice. With this ride I got us, we'll reach the forest in no time. All you have to do is sit back, relax, and enjoy the countryside. Maybe enjoy some pleasant conversation. Her name is Cherry Blossom. I think she likes you. Well, she likes me anyway, because I'm charming like that. Make a move if you are so inclined, and don't say I don't ever do anything for you.

Starlight regained control with a jolt. Experimentally, he stretched out his back and forelegs to get the hang of things again, staring at his own hooves and checking for blood.

Uh... thank you. You haven't killed anypony... have you?

Of course not. You've been out for less than an hour. Calm down.

"It's a bit hard to do that when I'm stuck with an unstable, psychotic demon!" Starlight shouted out, before quickly clamping his hooves over his mouth.

Real smooth there, partner.

This accidental outburst quickly earned him a stare from the earth pony mare sitting opposite him and a backward glance from the stallion pulling the wagon.

Starlight was forced to pay attention to the other passenger for the first time so far. He noted her cutie mark of a double cherry coupled with a golden bit, as well as the brown ten-gallon hat on her head and weathered red bandana tied around her neck. All were obvious signs that he was dealing with some kind of uncultured hick. This wagon, he further surmised, was returning from Canterlot after either delivering or selling a large amount of cherries. They were probably now heading back to whatever farm this mare spent her life working on instead of getting an education.

"Oh, sorry. I was... simply thinking, about..." Starlight tried to recall the last thing she said before Ambition gave up control. "...About my partner. He detests nature. I wouldn't want to bore you with the details, though. Sorry. Forgive my outburst."

The mare raised one eyebrow at him.

"Well, that's a real shame..." she replied, seeming unsure of her words. "Say, is somethin' wrong? You sound... different."

Starlight hadn't expected observation skills of this level from his adversary. She not only had suspicions about his partner story but also noticed the slight change in diction between him and Ambition. He had to step up his game.

"Ah, you're starting to see the side effects now. I feared as much."

"Oh, my. You're not gonna need to get to a hospital, are ya?" Cherry asked, the skepticism in her tone fading as she placed a hoof on his shoulder.

Starlight shook his head.

"No, I'm quite alright. Well, physically at least. You see, I forgot to bring along my medication, which keeps me under a sort of light sedation. I see that's worn off. It's really rather sudden. The upside to this is that I have more cognitive function and am more myself, but the downside is, well... sort of frightening. I might do some extremely erratic things."

She gave him an apologetic smile.

"I reckon that's why you shouted out that nonsense a second ago. Darn, that sure sounds rough. Sorry if I offended ya."

The idiot took Starlight's story without a question, which wasn't really her fault. After all, it was good enough to fool Celestia herself.

"Not at all. I'll just remain silent, so as not to rile myself up any."

Cherry Blossom nodded and turned back to face the darkening road.

"Sure thing. Just tell me if ya need anything."

Great work there, Master Ruseman. I'm slightly proud of you, even if you did make yourself sound like a mental patient.

Starlight snagged a canteen and some alfalfa jars from his bags. He could finally have some time to relax and recuperate.

His meal was short and furious. Usually he would eat a meal like dinner in a slow, dignified manner. He had to show his superior table manners when with company. Given the setting, however, he was beyond caring today. He shoveled it down and tried to remind himself that he couldn't show a lack of table manners when there was no table either. The bumpkin beside him still dared laugh, for which he would have retaliated for if she hadn't given him tribute in the form of about a dozen cherries.

Once he had more than his fill, Starlight slumped back and watched the countryside roll by. It took him about five minutes to figure out that mindlessly gazing at the landscape was painfully boring. It was unchanging to an unsettling degree. He could have been staring at a big green piece of paper if not for the trees in the distance. A few wildflower patches broke the monotony every once and a while, but even they started to become repetitive. He could now see why stupid ponies were attracted to rural areas. Their surroundings were so simple and provoked so little thought, it was perfect for them.

I think that once we get all of this over with, I should write a book. I'll call it Musings of the World's Most Stuck-Up Unicorn. I can see that thing getting published in a heart-beat.

I don't see how making logical connections makes me 'stuck-up'. I'm simply stating facts.

Oh! Another quote for the book!

Starlight huffed. He didn't even know why he bothered carrying on conversations with the soulless monster. He surely had better ways to entertain himself.

With nothing to do but stare at the cooling sky, the hours dragged by. Actually, dragged was an understatement from Starlight's perspective. The hours were more being scraped against a bed of nails, occasionally pulling its blood-stained self out to achieve a miniscule amount of progress. Starlight found himself pining for the mountain trail, where at least the constant stinging pain provided a distraction and there was something nice to look at. Now all he had to do was idly sit against old rotten piece of wood, and all he had to look at were the same dull sights, only with increasingly less light to see them by.

He looked into the opening of his saddlebag and sighed. He had packed in as many food and water containers as was physically possible, but didn't even think to bring along one book. Maybe if he had brought along a survival guide of some sort, Ambition wouldn't have nagged him out about it.

I still would have.

Oh, great. It's always nice to have a reminder that I don't possess a single private sanctuary.

What? It's not like I listen to every last one of your thoughts. I just keep an ear out for mentions of anything important. That and your hilariously oblivious mental rants.

I see. Is that all you wanted to tell me?

No, actually. You might have noticed that this clunky old wagon is hardly even moving. Tell them to hurry it up. I would do it myself, but you complicated things with that story you made up.

Starlight glanced down at the ivory and tan meathead responsible for pulling the wagon, an earth pony just like Cherry. Decked out in the same accessories, he looked to be another rural simpleton. However, this one was most likely even worse. He didn't even have to learn basic math like the Cherry must have had to, if she was indeed a salespony as well as a farmer, as her cutie mark led Starlight to believe. All this guy had to do was pull a cart from point A to point B, which was a job most animals could do just as well, if not better.

Starlight hadn't noticed it before, but the driver was practically taking a slow stroll in the park. They had to be going less than walking pace. He couldn't even well perform his one exceedingly simple job. Ambition was right. This had to be fixed.

I agree, this cart could actually be getting us somewhere if that stallion responsible for pulling the cart would stop lazing about.

Great, remember to be assertive.

Starlight thought he heard Ambition snicker, but ignored it, cleared his throat and turned to face the mare. She probably had more influence on the beast below than he did.

"Excuse me, but we seem to be going painfully slow. How much do you pay that stallion?"

The driver looked back to scowl at him. Cherry, however, remained amiable enough and quickly responded.

"Oh, that fella's paid by the ranch, so I wouldn't really know. And sorry bout' the speed, but he looks like really tryin' his best."

"If this is his best, it's a miracle he got hired for this job in the first place," Starlight sneered. "Can you not get him to go faster?"

Okaaay, tone it down there, Mr. Rogers.

What? Did you not ask me to be assertive?

Yeah, A for effort and all, but we need to be on their good side.

I'm going to get my point across. Nothing more.

The mare frowned. "You sure you're not havin' another one of those episodes?"

"Yes, I'm sure! Now, please tell you're slacking partner over there to start earning his pay!"

"He's doin' just fine!"

"He's slacking off!"

Starlight…

Tension swiftly escalated between the two. Both were right in each other's faces, neither one relenting eye contact for even a moment.

"Says the pony who's just sittin' there, bein' deadweight! Show some gratitude!"

"I don't need some uneducated hick telling me what to do!"

Starlight, stop.

"Uneducated hick? I knew you Canterlot folk were all the same!"

"What? That we're all more intelligent and cultured?"

At this point, they were both practically butting heads.

"I'll tell ya what ya'll are! You're a buncha stuck-up, phony, head-in-the-clouds, know-it-all snobs!"

"Oh, now I see you've descended into petty insults!"

Starlight, seriously.

"Ya just called me a 'uneducated hick'!"

"Because that's what you are, and wasting my time trying to get you to see that is futile! Now for the third time, tell your partner to go faster!"

"If ya want'm to go faster, tell him yourself!"

"I will!"

You know, it's not too late to just apologize and continue getting a free ride.

Starlight immediately swung the squeaky wagon door out, seeing that the vehicle had now come to a halt, and leaped out, stumbling greatly from the fall. In less than a few seconds he stomped his way over to the stallion and gave him a dead eye stare.

"Move. Faster. Now."

The stout earth pony responded by smiling and taking off like a rocket down the road, leaving a slack-jawed unicorn behind in his dust. Starlight didn't shout or give chase to the quickly disappearing wagon. He instead just fell back onto the side of the road and curled up in a ball, not making a sound and staring off blankly into the distance.

This is your fault, you know! You could have actually listened!

Starlight didn't respond.

Oh, come on. It's fine.

Still nothing.

Okay, well, not really. You fucked up majorly back there. But that's not the point. Just get up and keep going forward. We're almost to the forest. It's going to be okay.

Okay? Okay? Everything was on that wagon! Everything! Those... those criminals just took all of my food and water! We've got nowhere to go to resupply, not without getting inevitably captured anyways! And this is all your fault! We could have simply enjoyed a leisurely train ride if you hadn't gone and murdered a senior Purifier officer in broad daylight!

We are not going to waste time doing some pointless 'who did what' game. If you want to count all my sins, you can do it at the end when we're not fleeing for our lives. You should be smart enough to know that arguing won't get us anywhere. Now are you going to stop having a fit, or do I have to walk your awkward body into the forest myself?

Starlight rose to his hooves. Seeing the dense treeline ahead, he sighed.

How am I supposed to get food and water in the forest? There won't be an inkling of civilization anywhere!

We'll just have to live off the land for a bit. 

What, like savages?

Pretty much, but for tonight we don't need to focus on that. You stuffed yourself pretty well on that wagon ride. Just follow the road a little ways up and you can have a good long rest.

I intend on it.

Starlight, now with some sort of tangible goal in sight, started at good canter towards the darkening treeline in the distance.


***


Starlight was slogging through a mass of overgrown ferns, bushes, and low-hanging branches. With every moment that he pushed deeper into the forest, he noticed a difference in the messy thickness of it all. Moving forward felt less like walking and more like digging a tunnel in an underground of green rock. He couldn't even use a simple light spell in the fear that it would help potential predators more than himself.

Night was in full swing, transforming the previous winter nip to a ferocious bite. What had been an inconvenience before quickly became a crippling obstacle. His whole body shivered in a futile attempt to maintain homeostasis, and his appendages were gradually turning numb. But what really tortured him the most were his his numerous scabs. The disgusting chips of flesh, when exposed to such frigid air, felt like several ultra sharp needles being poked into him all at once. It was only now that he truly appreciated what he'd had with the wagon.

"Please tell me we're far enough... I don't know how much more I can take," he gasped.

Hmm... We should be about a quarter of a mile away from the trail. We're pretty much in raw wilderness here. Let's set up.

Starlight reached a small clearing in the foliage and sat down to catch his breath.

"Set up?"

Yes, set up. Place down a sensor rune that will detect anyone trying to sneak up on our little camp here.

Starlight looked around the small clearing.

"That's... actually very doable. The radius will be short, but it's dependable and won't be affected by the foliage if I cast it right, which I will."

Good. Just make sure to etch it with half-inch lines. This is one of those weird runes that doesn't follow the standard 0.3 line thickness.

"I was planning on it."

Starlight got up and walked around the clearing, mentally working out where to place the runes, when he stopped in place and looked up at his forehead again.

"Hang on, where did you learn about rune construction?"

Oh, I learned all about 'em when I was in the mind of this one unicorn... I can't remember her name, but she was a real wiz with the things.

"I'm guessing this was before you were imprisoned?"

Right you are. Being inside a pony's head and having access to all their knowledge means that I collect a lot of it myself. I'll freely admit that I'm probably not actually that smart, but my technical knowledge and skills are unmatched. If you think me knowing about that rune was impressive, you'd go crazy if you saw some of my more advanced spells.

"What kind of advanced spells?" asked Starlight, scratching the floor with his hooves and keeping an eye on the trees.

Well, for one example, do you remember that spell I used to remove the scorch-mark back at the school? The one that drained most of your magic at the time?

"Yes..."

Localized time distortion spell. Literally reversed time for the scorch-mark so that it never existed. Can only manage it on a really small scale, of course, but still.

Starlight froze in place, his jaw almost dropping.

"Shut up! You're telling me that you know chronomancy?"

I knew the guy who invented it, so yes, I'm acquainted with the theory. It does take difficulty to pull off, though. A spell like that has a lot of moving parts.

"Chronomancy. Seriously?"

I'm proficient with most other forms of magic too. Pyromancy is easily my strongest suit, as you could probably tell by my appearance. I'm also pretty good with summoning and necromancy, but I don't have much use for those skills.

Starlight shook his head and went back to pacing around the clearing. He stopped at one point and placed a rock down. Then he picked up a nearby tree branch. He used his hoof to estimate the length of the branch and placed it on the ground.

"Hey, how is your spatial magic?" he asked without drawing his attention from the measurement.

Decent. Why?

Starlight reached the point he needed to and threw away the tree branch, marking a point on the ground by placing another rock.

"Could you help me out with my teleporting some time? I basically have it. It's just that some would say I haven't perfected it."

You bet your ass you haven't perfected it. You almost killed yourself the last time I saw you use it.

Starlight's cheeks reddened slightly.

"I was fleeing for my life. You should take that into account before so hastily judging my execution."

He could hear the spirit chuckling in his mind.

I'll tell you what. The first time we get a chance, I'll teach you how to teleport properly. But for now, you need to get the rune up and get a good rest. There'll be plenty of time tomorrow.

"I'll get right to it."

Once satisfied that he had the locations right, Starlight mentally ran through the process, recalling all his classes on the subject. After taking a few moments to calm himself and find his focus, he pointed his horn to the ground and etched a somewhat simple hexagonal symbol into the bare dirt with a thin laser beam, the edges of which were connected at the points he'd marked with the rocks. Once complete, the lines sprung to life, glowing with Starlight's magical aura. He removed the rocks and threw them away.

He fired another spell just to the right of the rune, a portable fire spell which he learned back in his first year of the academy. It was a simple, self-contained magical flame sustained by his own energy, not reliant on an outside fuel source. It was one of the most basic pyromancies, but that didn't diminish its usefulness. The warmth it gave off was all the shivering unicorn could have wished for at the moment.

Now that's an interesting one. It's like Sun Bringer's fire spell in function, but the structure is simpler. Seems like the magic was refined somewhat in the last thousand years.

Starlight raised a hoof and pointed it at himself, trying to emulate the gesture other ponies used when they gave him a stern lecture. The fact that Starlight had to point at himself rather than at any other tangible presence made it lose something.

"Before you demand I take this fire down, I'm going to already say no. If any agent gets close enough to detect it, they would have already picked up on our presence anyways."

No, I agree. I was actually just about to suggest this very spell. It's ideal for our circumstances, considering its smaller size and lack of smoke.

"Oh." Starlight awkwardly lowered his hoof. "Well... thank you. I suppose I'll get some rest now."

Just don't sleep past noon or something.

Starlight positioned himself close to the fire and got as cozy as he could on the dirty forest floor. Usually he would not stand for such obscene sleeping conditions, but then again, he wasn't feeling like he usually felt. He had experienced a lot of new things today, most of them agonizing. All he wanted to do was curl up by the fire and peacefully drift off to sleep, which is exactly what he did.


***


A hazy dream subsided and rapidly faded from memory. A nameless unicorn clutched at all the details he could reach, trying to keep them when he fell back to the real world. His thoughts were of shadowy figures in suits and masks, of a demonic, fiery ghost that stood on the other side of a classroom with a sinister grin, and of dark mare that watched him from the shadows. She was ever-present, but her features were vague. Soon, the dream's nameless protagonist forgot that she was even there, let alone what she looked like.

Then he forgot that he was not a nameless hero, like a brave knight of legend or a brilliant sorcerer, and remembered that he was merely Starlight. His armor and lance crumbled to dust, revealing a coat covered in scabs, and his spell-books burned in an inferno that consumed his surroundings. Figures approached through the flames. Starlight screamed and cried, before jolting awake with his eyes wide, white noise blasting in his ears.

Acting on the same reflexes which his alarm clock set off every morning, he lifted his upper body and reached over to turn off the nonexistent timepiece, only to hit his hoof against a stick. His mouth was agape as his mind tried to catch up with the situation. He turned his gaze over to the rune symbol in open dirt, which was, as he feared, flashing brightly to further get his attention. It was like he'd just been sentenced to death. A Purifier agent was within radius, probably poised to attack at just the right moment.

Starlight had never felt his heart beat so fast, even back on the mountain trail. Logically, he knew he should be doing something instead of just lying there there with his hooves over his head, but fear had frozen all movement save for quivering.

Hey! This is no time for fucking around! Move! Do something!

I-I can't! I c-can't fight! They'll k-kill me!" Starlight stuttered out loud, not having the focus to mentally say anything.

That's the thing! They won't kill you, but we can kill them! And remember, you have me! I have years and years of magical combat experience! I can advise you! And on top of all of that, this is probably just one scout! The odds are so stacked in your favor with this fight, the agent might as well be handing themselves to you on a silver platter!

Starlight's mind was a battlefield. Logic was trying its best to push back against the onslaught of fear that had washed over him. However, the points that Ambition had brought up were starting to turn the tides. Slowly but surely, logic started to regain its position. The trembling unicorn reluctantly rose to a standing position and looked around the curtain of darkness surrounding the clearing. It didn't take him long to spot the loose, shadowy form of a pegasus up in the tree branches. Starlight shot up a ball of light from his horn to better see what he was up against.

He immediately regretted it. The white magical glow illuminated the pony, except it wasn't a pony. Starlight had read about these types of creatures and had been unnerved by them even when they were just a text description to him. He'd even seen one once or twice during the rare times he was in the city after dark, as many of them comprised the night guard. That hadn't helped. And now he was staring directly at one of the crossbreeds known colloquially as batponies, its face obscured by a mask depicting a grinning crocodile, but its race still apparent by the bat wings and the dark gray coat that all of their kind seemed to have.

Thestral! We've got a thestral! Fire spells, Starlight! Burn the wings and take out its flight! They're useless on the ground!

The freak was perched on a thick branch above him, with its disgusting bat wings folded at its side. Even through the agent's crocodile mask, Starlight knew that its eyes were fixed on him, making the calculations necessary to swoop down and rip his throat right out of his neck. The vivid image of his mangled corpse took hold of his mind. In Starlight's mind, logic gurgled incoherently as a spear was thrust through its back, and fear screamed at him to run for his life.

Starlight's mad gallop to get away was the fastest he had ever gone. He didn't even check to see if the batpony had followed as he bolted off even deeper into the forest's thicket. He was certain that the crocodile agent was in pursuit, however. He could hear the disturbances in the tree branches right behind him.

You idiot!

There were few things going through Starlight's head. He knew he had to move forward and he knew he had to breathe. The fleeing unicorn was so absorbed in moving as far away from his pursuers as possible that he didn't even try to avoid the usual obstacles of the forest.

Soon his mane was tangled with briars, thorns decorated every square inch of his coat, some drawing blood, and his muscles were sore and tender from several bruises that he had earned from ramming into tree trunks. This also reminded him that his injuries from walking the mountain trail hadn't gone away. Some of the old bruises were still there and still hurt like hell. The scabs didn't help either, each of them screaming at him every time they scraped against something.

He ignored everything. All the pain, all the cold, and every angry message Ambition tried to get across to him. He had nothing close to an idea of where he was going. The concept of time had gone away. It was like he had turned off most of his senses and just let autopilot take over.

But as adrenaline started running low, consciousness began its return. It seemed like Starlight had managed to get away. Before, he had heard the rustling of tree branches above as monster gave chase. Now, there was nothing but the sound of his own gallop and the wind blowing against him. He had to be in the clear, so Starlight came to a halt and rested his tormented body against a smooth-barked tree. As his breathing slowed, he looked down at his own hooves with astonishment. The mixture of blood, dirt, and leaves that covered them looked absolutely savage.

See? It would have been so much easier if you would have just killed the guy! Now we're lost and have an even more crippled body! Thanks a lot!

"I was scared!" Starlight gasped. "I mean, I was rationally afraid! So I ran! Next time I'll fight... I swear it."

No, next time you won't fight. They'll be traveling in a full team. That scout was just one of member of it. We're not risking a fight like that in our current condition.

Starlight started hearing voices off in the distance behind the tree, along with the same rustling tree branch noise from earlier. He whimpered and crouched down as low as possible, hugging the tree.

"I can hear them! What am I to do?" he whispered. "I can't keep outrunning them!"

The best choice is to hide. And talk mentally. Batponies have good hearing.

Starlight collected himself.

Right, like in that log just ahead.

No! Are you insane? They know that we're in this area now, and they're probably going to search this place from top to bottom! Even if they don't, they'll at least check the obvious hiding spots like that!

And how do you propose I hide without a hiding spot?

Can you turn yourself invisible?

Of course I can't! Invisibility is one of the most advanced techniques in academia!

I thought that you at least had one talent!

Most of my professors don't even know that spell! If I haven't mastered teleportation, why in Equestria would I know invisibility?

Mother of...

I can do a very deceiving camouflage spell! Will that work? The forest is pretty dark, so...

The voices grew louder.

God, just... just let me take over. I'll handle this.

Starlight quickly relinquished control to the phantom and once again became paralyzed in a spectator state. Ambition started channeling the needed energy towards his horn. A hazy purple aura surrounded his body, and before he knew it, he had turned perfectly transparent. He couldn't even see his own muzzle. Starlight attempted to focus on memorizing the technique that Ambition just used, hoping to remember the mechanics of the high-level illusion spell, but his thoughts were pulled away once a familiar voice shouted out for him.

"Starlight, I know you're out there! I just want to talk!"

That voice. He knew that voice, but he couldn't remember who its owner was. The name was on the tip of his tongue. If he could just get a glimpse of the group...

Ambition, could you turn your head to see who our foes are?

Starlight's head craned out from behind the tree to see the group of Purifiers. The squad was comprised of four unicorn agents, each one carrying with them the incredibly bright glow on their horns. The team was a wave of fluid motion, each one dashing and darting around, checking under rocks, in bushes, and in just about every other crevice he could of imagined hiding in. Alongside them was his very own Uncle Viper, wearing a pale-blue basilisk mask. He seemed to be leading the group.

The sight of the red and black unicorn came with many mutually contradictory thoughts.

His memories insisted that this stallion was basically family to him, that he was supposed to mean something. He was the one who would treat him to ice cream every friday after school. He was the one who would take him on walks around Canterlot, introducing him to hidden gems of the city while warning him of spots of danger. He was the one who always gave the perfect birthday present and the one that gave equally valuable advice. He was the one he was always happy to see. But Viper was also the one who destroyed it, the snake who, by choice, tore his family apart. How could he trust someone who wasn't loyal to those he was closest to? How could ever condone a betrayal with such implications? He would never be able to. Yet he still wanted to.

"Starlight, I know that you remember. I'm sorry, alright? I never meant for it to end the way it did. I tried my best to convince them to go easy on all three of you. I even tried to save Clair! Honestly, I did!"

Starlight wasn't sure if he was telling the truth, but it wouldn't have surprised him if he were. Viper was always close with them all; it's just that he was closer with the Purifiers.

"Starlight, I know who you're working with and what he's making you do. Whether you're with him willingly or not, you can't do this. Fight back against him and let us help you! You can't trust him, Starlight! He's a fragment. You know what those are, right?"

Starlight thought for a moment. No, he really didn't know what the fragments were, and Ambition hadn't once told him. The question had been ignored or avoided every time it had come up. Now he was more curious than ever.

"They're parasites, Starlight! They're monsters that are a threat to the stability of this nation, and you're with one of the worst! He'll use you to get what he wants and won't give a damn about your well-being! You can't let him fool you!"

Something inside of Starlight felt compelled to run out to meet agents. They were most likely only after Ambition. He wouldn't have to keep up this absurd quest and eventually get mauled by some monster or die of thirst somewhere in the forest. Home was just one call for help away.

Woah, woah, woah. Starlight, are you really going to listen to this guy? Even if he was telling the whole truth about me, which he's not, there's no way they're just going to let you go scot-free. Remember what they have planned for you? They're both our problem. Not just mine.

How can I trust you? It's their word against yours.

Well, you can't. You can't trust anyone here, really. But it's all about risk and reward. Both I and the Purifiers can manipulate your mind and do far worse things to you than kill you, but remember that you've already fought my influence before. You can resist me, but you can't resist a memory-wipe. And remember that of the two of us, the Purifiers are offering a return to the status quo, while I'm offering you your father and a life without false memories. Even if you don't trust me and it comes down to a gamble, this isn't fifty-fifty. Bet on the guy with the better odds. I know our little quest took a bad turn in the first day, but it's only going to get better from here. We'll get through this, and that's a guarantee.

The temptation died away, again replaced by fear as the search party neared closer. One of the agents soon came face to face with his crystal-clear invisible body. The batpony from earlier seemed to look straight through him. It was strange to feel fear when he didn't have influence over anything in his body. He couldn't tremble or do anything he would have normally done. Somehow, it made him feel even more helpless.

"Starlight!" Viper called out to the forest again. "I know that he must sound convincing right now, but he's just manipulating you! Whatever he's promising you, you won't get it! Just come with us, and we can assure your safety! Please, don't let him win!"

The words struck harder when they had an agent this close. Starlight would be lying if he said he didn't feel the same temptation creep up. However, temptation didn't have time to sink in. It wasn't long before the batpony was out of his face and looking around another tree. And after a few more minutes of tearing open the area to find them, Starlight saw Viper, now with his head held low, hold up a hoof as some sort signal. The four agents teleported away immediately afterwards, making a sharp pop sound before the forest returned to it's usual quiet ambience.

Ha, we did it! Well, I did it, but that's it for me. Keeping up an invisibility spell like that for nearly five minutes is draining. You can take over.

Starlight once again found himself in control. For a minute he just sat there, leaning against the smooth bark of the tree until his breath slowed.

Well, are you waiting for them to come back? Get the hell outta here! It doesn't matter where, just leave!

Ignoring his body's cries for rest, he strained himself onto his hooves and started to stumble off in a random direction.

Whew, that sure was a close one. I gotta admit, I never thought someone like Viper would be after us.

"Why not?" Starlight muttered as he trotted around some exposed tree roots. "He does anything he's told to do. "

It's slim chance that he was told to do this, though. I wouldn't expect you to know this, but that mask you saw on him, the basilisk, is one of the most senior levels.

Starlight stopped walking.

"So you're saying... He's the boss now? They wouldn't send him on some field mission like this because he's too important?"

Exactly. Not the boss, obviously. That's the Director. But an agent of Viper's caliber would never be out on the ground like this. Hell, he's technically not even an agent anymore. If I remember correctly, a basilisk mask signifies the rank of a county manager. And if that's what he is, then Viper's jurisdiction covers Canterlot, Ponyville, most of the eastern Unicorn Range, and probably Foal Mountain and the Everfree too. Not the most densely-populated area, I know, but that's a wide sphere of influence.

"Which means he must have chosen to come out here of his own accord..."

True, but don't think he did it for you. He probably just went so he could bring me and you back like some sort of trophy. He thought that you would fall for his emotion trap. Good thing you aren't too much of an idiot.

"Erm... thanks. But do you have any idea of where we are?"

Not a clue.

Starlight tried to look around for anything that would tell him their location. He knew that they were still deep within some kind of forest, and that he couldn't even see the moon through the thickness of the trees, but that was all. Were they even still in the same part of the forest? Or was this the same forest at all? There was no practical way to tell the difference between this area and the previous one.

He then noticed that it was raining. Why hadn't he realized that earlier? No, wait. He hadn't noticed it earlier because it had only just started. It had just spontaneously started to rain, and in seconds it became an absolute tempest complete with gusting winds and thunder claps. Starlight ran for the nearest tree and hid under it, wondering where the weather had just came from.

Just as he questioned why the storm started up so erratically, it all stopped just as suddenly. There wasn't a moment of it letting up or dying down. It just stopped, like someone pressed a button and it all went away. That's when the grim realization started to sink in. There was no mistaking this kind of weather.

"Ambition, I think I might know where we've wandered off into..."

Ambition was quiet for a second.

The Everfree Forest, right?

"And... are you even the slightest bit panicked that we're in the Everfree Forest?"

No. We're in one of the safest places in the country right now.

Right...

Starlight must have been getting delusional. He just needed to sleep. If he could get sleep, all would be better in the morning. He would not be a filthy mess. He would not be covered in thorns and briars. He would not be bruised and battered to point of limping. He would not be on the verge of hypothermia. And he wouldn't be lost in a monster-infested forest without any food or water.

The unicorn staggered over to a hollowed out tree and climbed inside so as to have shelter from the weather that was starting pick up again. With his last increments of energy he managed to pull some rocks and tree branches over to cover the hole he'd climbed in through. This time, he bothered with neither campfires nor security spells. Once his body was nestled up inside the cramped space, he closed his eyes and relaxed. After a hard night, he drifted off into what he hoped would be an uninterrupted sleep.

That night, he dreamed of fire.