Emoshy woke up on a cold stone floor with a headache.

- Where am I, am I alive ? she wondered, thoughts hazy. I think, therefore I am alive... Right ?

The vampire pegasus flapped her wings slightly to see if she could move. She felt feathers there, which reassured her : she was back in her pony form.

After some effort, Emoshy managed to get up and looked at the unfamiliar spot she was in.

There were a lot of bats on the ceiling. The floor was cracked stone, so the walls, and there were brambles. Through the windows, the dawn glow allowed the vampire pegasus to see every detail of this unknown place.

Although the exit was behind her, the mare decided to go on the opposite side, intrigued by this place.

With her little pain still present, she only walked at a moderate pace, which gave her time to see the small, insignificant details, like the purple bat on the ceiling or the purple and yellow saddle sitting in a corner.

But eventually, she looked straight ahead and saw something, unlike the saddle or the bat, extremely rare; an Alicorn with an ethereal mane.

The latter's aura was elegantly melancholic, probably because she had the same celestial mane as princess Luna's, but dimmer.

The majestic mare, who until then had been sitting staring into space, stood up hastily with an expression of anger evident on her face.

- What are you doing here ?! she asked Emoshy. You want to kill one more pony ?!

The vampire pegasus didn't fully understand the meaning of these words, all her attention being devoted to trying to recognize the familiar voice of the Alicorn.

- Who are you and what are you talking about ? she asked uncertainly.

- ... My name is Hope Light. said the Unicorn after a sigh of exasperation. And no need to pretend you're not guilty, we saw what you did.

- Emo', what's happened since Shadow's proposed vampire pegasus with incomprehension.

The question threw hazy memories in Emoshy; she remembered her fight with Apple Wolf and above all, remembered the latter's death.

- ...I-I killed Apple Wolf ? she asked, stunned by the realization.

- Aren't you happy with yourself, that's what you wanted, is it not ? the Alicorn asked angrily. None of this matters to you, you only think of yourself, you are a monster.

The Alicorn's last words had one more shock effect on the vampire pegasus who, with tears in her eyes, suddenly compared herself to the malicious vampire from her old flashbacks.

As Emoshy tried to stutter something despite the salty pearls rolling down her cheeks, Hope Light stared at her with incomprehension.

The unicorn did not understand the reaction of the vampire pegasus; the look Emoshy had given her after killing Apple Wolf clearly showed mischief and didn't have an ounce of remorse... So why was she crying now ?

- Uh... Why do you put yourself in such a state ? Hope Light asked, confused, approaching her.

Emoshy didn't respond, mainly because her crying made her unable to speak clearly, but also because she felt something was wrong; as if a part of her had been stolen from her.

In the inner world, she then looked carefully at the rest of the system one by one and understood : Shadow was no longer there. It was strange though, she had had fragment's integration before, and she didn't feel like that afterward.

- We don't know any more than you Emo', already long before your fight with Apple Wolf everything started to get blurry... Glow replied in a sorry tone while the others gently nodded their heads. We woke up the same time you woke up, and Shadow wasn't with us.

The vampire pegasus didn't have time to think more about it because the voice of one of her friends brought her back to reality. Her vision was blurry, but she could make out Dream's features.

- Emoshy, why are you putting yourself in this state ? she asked, her reddish-pink eyes filled with incomprehension. You... You regret taking action ?

No answer could be given because a certain robotic pony joined the two mares.

- Emoshy, Dream ! she exclaimed, approaching the vampire pegasus and the Alicorn. What are you two doing here ?

- 'Bot, you know very well what I'm doing here, I told you. Hope Light replied, before looking at her former interlocutor with a dark gaze. As for her, she finally realized the seriousness of her actions.

Emoshy lowered her head and closed her eyes, feeling her sins crawl on her back. She made herself very small and cried as silently as possible.

Suddenly she felt something cold covered in faux fur on her back, pulling her into a warm embrace.

- Oh, poor little Emo. Pinkie 'Bot soothed, gently stroking her friend's mane, trying to comfort her.

- How do you manage to want to console her ?! She killed our friend !

- You haven't seen everything. the robotic pony simply replied. You don't know what actually happened.

- ... And what happened in this case ? the Alicorn asked in confusion and a small spark of curiosity in her eyes.

Emoshy also looked at the robotic pony, still confused about the situation. What was 'Bot talking about and how would she know something that she herself didn't know ?

- I asked Solar to get the only information I need to figure it all out, and it shouldn't be long until she comes. she replied simply. She knows about it better than I do.

Emoshy looked at her friend in surprise and incomprehension, a perfect mirror of Hope Light's expression. Solar, what was she doing in all this and what did she know about it ?

There were a few minutes of waiting, but soon the fiery mane unicorn teleported to the three ponies.

- Apple Wolf told me what Emoshy told her after the bite... Solar Ignis began before levitating a paper in front of the robotic pony. But it's hexadecimal.

- What ?! exclaimed the three ponies in unison.

- But I don't know hexadecimal ! Emoshy added, making the fire unicorn sigh in relief.

- Exactly ! Solar exclaimed before turning back to the robotic pony. Can you translate what that says for us ?

- Uh... It's been a long time, I remember how to turn it into binary, but not how to translate it... breathed Pinkie 'Bot, lowering her eyes. But, if we go to Crystal's empire, we can ask my sister.

- Wait a minute. said the Alicorn as she grabbed her saddle with her magic.

She used her magic to make her wings disappear, make her mane smooth and silvery as well as hide her cutie mark with her purple saddle.

- I would like to prevent other ponies from discovering my existence. she explained simply.

The fire unicorn and "Dream" therefore used their magic to teleport the whole group to the empire. Once there, they made their way to the beautiful and sparkling palace of crystals. They saw Princess Flurry Heart in the distance and, with her, a robotic pony.

Probably because of a frequency sent by Pinkie 'Bot, her sister came to meet the four ponies. The princess looked at them with shining orchid eyes but did not approach.

The robotic pony had an innocent aura but also slightly dark, but less strange than that of her big sister. She seemed like a pony that could be trusted, someone who would take good care of ponies with kindness and wisdom; which matched her apparent work as a paid companion of the princess.

- Cake ! 'Bot exclaimed with a desperate tone in her robotic voice. We need your help decoding something !

- I already told you that, unlike you, I want to be called by my real first name, big sibling. her sister hissed wearily. And why didn't you just send me the code ?

- Because it may have something to do with her, Liba. Solar replied with a serious tone. She knew hexadecimal as well as binary, didn't she ?

The robotic pony didn't answer, surely in shock at what she, her sister, and Solar knew.

Emoshy watched them speak, confused. What were they talking about ? Was she the only one who didn't know what was going on when it involved her ? Why was no one paying attention to her when she had killed a pony ?

- So you can help us Liba ? Pinkie 'Bot asked pleadingly.

The robotic pony nodded seriously and asked what she needed to decode. She received the paper and began to read it.

- 49742773206D652C204368617269736D6120436F72E280A62041637475616C6C792C20536861646F77206E6F772E203D29200A. Liba murmured, her expression gradually becoming more and more serious.