The winds were out of control, howling just behind the walls while thunder roared again and again and again, filling the air with its terrifying power and anger. The Doors was shaking from every impact it was receiving from the things it was containing. The chains themselves were being stretched to their breaking point, the Skies only knowing how they could still be holding.

And I was right in front of them, terrified beyond reason. I had somehow pushed the bed further away from the Gate and put all of my energy into reinforcing the chains as much as I could during Sky only knew how long. I could already hear the horrors hidden beyond the metallic panels whispering incomprehensible words to me. But, maybe worse of all, he was laughing about as much as he was roaring with every assault against the seal.

"Poor, poor Traitor, still believing he has any chance of getting away with crimes," he chuckled, his voice resonating in the room. "You can't fight against any single one of them, Traitor, and they are countless!"
"That's not possible!" I screamed back. "You shouldn't be able to be this powerful yet!"
"I have the power of Gods helping me, brother!" he roared. "I am breaking free now, and when I have, I will make you P̣̗̹͉̰͇̩̐̊͋͐͠Á͙͉̗̜͆ͩ͊͐ͣ̀Y̮̠̠̠͓̮͋͛̍͠ for your treachery!"

The Gate was hit one more time and I heard something break. I watched in horror, falling on the ground when I tried to step back, as one of the chains fell apart, quickly followed by the others, breaking one after the other. Soon, none of them were left, and the sounds stopped. I could only hear my own panicked breath.

Dark smoke started to leach into the room from the slight gaps of the Gate, staying next to it, and I could hear them moving just beyond the impossible doors. I whimpered when they started grinding on their hinges as they were slowly being opened from the intside. Dark light and mist were pouring from the space beyond the Gate and invaded the area surrounding it. As my eyes were glued on the moving, breathing abyss invading our soul, I could feel their disgusting eyes looking back at me. Their whispers were slowly gaining in intensity, effectively deafening me.

I crawled back to the bed, trying to block their view of Recto, still sleeping in the bed. I just knew they would hurt him if I ever gave them the chance, and even though I already knew it was all over for me, I was ready to fight as hard as I could before I even let them touch one of his hairs. They started to laugh as they realized what I was trying to do, their voices themselves tearing parts of my mind apart as it tried to understand them.

Eventually, the door opened itself enough to let something bigger try to make its way to this Sky-forsaken place. My breath picked up even more as I viewed his eyes glowing from the dark mists from beyond the Gate. I hadn't seen these eyes in twelve years and yet, it was still too recent. I could feel my resolve leaving me as the sheer terror made me want to puke. He hadn't even moved yet, still a few meters beyond the Gate, but I could already feel his power invading my soul, taking over.

"Ì͚̖͈͔̣̅ͫ̚'̼͓͈̠ͅv̞̺͈̳͇͇̌̈ͤ͐é̊́ ̤͚̘̰̓̓̊̃̈́̍b͙̪͙̤͆̍eͥ͌ͬ̽e͕͙̭͔̟͗̒̃̿̓̚n̩͙͙͔͎̝̆ͯ̌̆̃ͪ̏ ̲͍̖͓ŵ̱̠͔a͖͉̝̥̻̒̚ͅi̜̯̤͈̣t̠̫͔̭̫ͭ́͆̎͒́͂ī͓̬̳̞͍̀ͫ̔͛ͦ̍ñ̉g̻͖̥̟͊̉ ̞͕͔̄̃ͯ͊̓ͯ̉s͙̬ͧ̆ͥo̩͇͎̘̪̗̿ͯ ̘̗̞͇̀̋ͮl̙͆̀͋oͤͩ̈̓̎ṇ̤͉̩̖g̯̝͕̠ ̯̺͇̾̊̾f͇̤̗ͥō͉͉͈̞̳̫̾̏͂̅̈́r͎͆̂ ̝̭̞͙̽̐̉̈̓ͦ̍ͅt̟̗̥̠̻h̞͉̳̦̺̃̊ͩͣ̽ͤͦȉ͈͔͈̠̣̰͒̃ͤs̠̗̦͈͎̓ͦ̅̉̔ ̩̯̘̖̝ͤ͂̌̓m̘͓̺͒̊̎ͭ̐̇ͪo͙̙͓̼̱̹̊ͮ̇ͮ̐ͧͅmͦ̈́̃̍e̞̞͖͎͑̊n͚͔͎͓͓͕ͫ̽̈ͭ͐̽͗t͛.͉̪͉͎͋̅̍ͮͧ̇ͨ..." he said, his voice horrible enough to finally make me empty my fictional stomach.

He made his first step in my direction and I tried to step back further, even though I knew it was pointless.

"I'ͧ͆̆̉l̐ͯl͗̈̄̈ ̈́̋́̉̔̿f͚̘͕̹̬i̫̤͙͙nall͗̈y̽ b̖͕̫͈̙̃͂̊̈e̮̪͙͕̥̮ f̴̃̌ͫ̀r͍̗͈͇͓̦̠̃̿̒̋͌̾e̝̻̣͖̤͛͋ͪ̈̌̓͛ȩ͇̱̳̭̙͔͓ͪ̆̈́̍̈ ̖̼̲͙̂ͨ̎̅͒̚ͅͅaͧͫͪ̉ͮ̑̈͏̰͚̫̯͎͓g̬͙̲͖̮̍͆̆ͩ̄̕ȃ̜̦̤̰͔̔ìͪͩ̈́̑̆̽nͬ̅̌҉!" he said as he reached the Gate, stopping there for a second.

He slowly extended an arm as if to taste the air from this side of the Gate and shivered slightly with excitement. His eyes focused on us and he let his arm fall to his side. His unmoving, terrifying smile sharpened a bit.

"Oh, brother, I'm B̝͖̻̖̖ͤÄ̸̖̲͕̬́̃͒͌̐̐C̜̻̈́͂͑ͥ̒͜K̼͈͈ͤ̇ͨ͜ ! Aren't you going to give me a hug?"
"Go away, monster!" I screamed back. "You shouldn't exist anymore! I killed you!"
He frowned for an instant, as most of their voices chuckled darkly. His smile returned quickly. "Oh, that you did, T̶̄ͧ̚r̦̳̘͓ͥ́a̫͍̾̐ͅî͚ͣ͋ͩ̉t̛̥͇͈̪̦ͦ̂̃o̵̰͎̭̥̳̍̈́̋̌ͫṟͪ. But our friends simply didn't want to have any of it."

He caressed some of the shadows surrounding him, his gaze not moving away from us. The Whispers said something I couldn't understand, and he nodded, somehow understanding what they were saying.

"Father created us for one purpose, brother. And our friends are here to help us do it. I'll fulfill our d̟̩̗̲̜̮̖e̞̼̣̤̦͕͑ͅs̚͠t̫ͩi̢̞͍̥̫̭̖̩n͓͚̰͉̰͑̅y͎͓̺̆̈́̆ͮ.̖̅͗ͨ͗͗̀ ̜͕̩̼̥͇̩́̆̉̋͑Ḭ͓̲̘ͮ̆͌ͦ͑̉ͬͅ'̲̹ͪͨl̘̯̪̳̾ͯ̚͡l͕̬̪̝̰͖̃ͧ ̧̺̄ͮ̉̔͂ͧ̓o̼̳̱̘͇͇̫̾̆p̠̹͓̾̎̍̾ͤ̚ê̝̯̳̦ṋ͓̫̫̪͊̀̅ ̵̹̲̼̫̂͌͊͆͑͋͋ṭ̘̣̻̱̓̇ͣ̈́h̻̝̋͗ͫ͗̾e̡̜͑ ̨͓̝̞̳ͥ̎Gͦ͊͗̽̐҉͇͍̱̤ͅả̺̙̗̺̝̤́t͖̞̣̘̲͈ͯ̌ĕ̲͉̦̝̪̝̈̂ͤ̚!̶̲̜̦̺̥̱ͪ̽ͥͫ̌"

The shadows exploded in a hurricane, laughing and approving, scorching everything they touched.

"But first, I'll have to dispose of you and of that... thing you like so much," he said. "I wouldn't like you to stop me like last time."

He stepped in my direction, and I just knew it was the end. I braced myself and waited for it.

Instead, gigantic candy canes fell from the ceiling, embedding themselves into the ground and blocking his path, making him step back in surprise. The shadows cried in a cacophony of screams as they were sucked back into the void they came from. Two bisons dressed in pink tutus popped out of nowhere and started to close the Gate, but he stopped them, pushing from the other side.

"What is this?! That's... That's Father's power! How? Why is He helping you?!" he roared, making the thunder come back as he was slowly pushed back by the nonsensical bisons. "I won't be trapped here again! I don't know what Father is doing, but N̼̺͓̼̗̜͗͋̎́͌O͎̺̮̐̉ͦ̑̈ͪT̸͉ͤ̌ͬ͂H̸͖͖̭͋̍̌Ȋ̩͉͕̓N͓̗̓ͤ̊̈́͛ͨ̚Ğ̬̤͛ will force me back there alone with t͓̞͙̦͈̩͆͒ͅh̰̹͕͈̯̰̫ͫ́ͭe̲̳̬ͥ̔͑ͯm̮͎ͭͧ̏ ever again!"

The bisons started to be pushed back as the Whispers from behind the Gate were starting to help him keeping it open. I shivered as his blood-lust-filled eyes flashed in my direction, pure hatred powering them.

"I̭͇͕̞͇ ̲͔̬̭̉̾̚ͅǎ͖͌͆̒̐̿͊m̝̰̤̫͎̻̯ ̳̲̪̔̔̌̃̏K̲̯̱͊ͩ̃͌ͨ̈́̄á͛ÿ́̑̊̇ͥͧ̈!̝̪̖̘̙̖̽̽̔ͅ ̜̿͂I̲̪̗̱̩̞͐ͧ̊ͥ̈ͅ ̤̖̱͓̠͋̋ͬͥͧ͛h̞̦̉̒aͯ̽̃̍ͬͪv̖̩ͥ̾ͦ̿͛e̥͑ͪ̏ ̳̲̱͈̩̺̱̀̊ͧ̒̐G̦̪̀́͑ō̟̖̲͇̞̦ͪ́̐̚d͈̯̗̦͙ṣ̱̰̱͗̂ͫ̌ ̩̩̻̼͍̉̄͐̈̌s̙͎͙̖͚̖ͭ͆͛ͥ̐̓t̥̣̥̟͉̗͍͆̂̊͒̅̔ͫả̲̱̖̲̮n̅̓̀d̦͎̪ͦ̉̂̇ ̝͎͎̩̲ͥ̑̿̃͗b̆͋͗ͭ͑y̠ͮ̈́̃̓͐̓ ͇ͪͬ̑m̋ͤ̓͌́̆͗y͎̤͐̆̂͑ ̘̗̱̮͇̟͑̌̈́̓s̥͖̅ͫͭͧ͗̔ỉ̺̥̲̮̭̭̆̄d̰̬̳̘̻̫e̥͎͖̦͙͈͓!̙͕̹̜̰̣̫ ̞̳͎̱̥̬̙ͭ͌͂ͤͨͣI͆ ͤ́̋̅ͮ̀͒W̳̖͍̲͎̾͛Ọ͈͈̤̘̫̟N̗̬̆̄̍̄'̘̌T̻ͪ̌ͧ̾͗ͫ ͛͒ͧ̀ͣͫ̉Fͣ͊Ạ͎̞̦ͧ̑̂̏I͔̼͆ͯͭ́͐̋L̳̑̇̆̌͐ ͓̻͙̈͊̌̔ͬ̚A̻͔̪̜̹͍͒͒̂̍ͤ͂G̬̻̤͆ͩ̎͐ͣͬ̍A̠̪͓͈̙̩̭ͦI̙͔̗͊ͧN̩̄͆ͪ̅ͦ!̹͎" he said, his voice resonating with the power they were filling him with.

Seeing that whatever was helping me wasn't wining anymore, I braced myself, shot a last glance at Recto sleeping form, and stepped forward. I activated my own magical power and recreated the chains he had destroyed just moments ago. They surged to the Gate and encased it in a new cocoon of metal, shielding me from seeing him. I then pulled them tighter and tighter, helping the two bisons closing it. With the three of us, we were finally overpowering him. We were wining!

"N͔͓̭̼͔̜͆̿́o͢!̘ͤ̈ͨͭ̆ ̬̱̏N̶̻̲͎͂̿͐ͭ̋o̭̤ͫͥͮͣ,̩̭̘̟̯̭͌ͧ͂ ̲͓̯̭̅̌n̯͇̻̒̑ͩo̬̗͉̐̑,̵͎̝̳ͫ͌̈́̉̑ ̙͛̇ͤͯ̿̉͛n͙͓͕͉̙͕̊͒ͣͩͬ̓ͨo̶̻̼̤̦͊͒͂͛̈́,̹͓̖̟͇ ̘̠̞͉̘͖̰̎̐̂Ǹ͔̪̯̬̰̰̩ͥͯͪ͆Ó͔̟̙̥̫ͯ̇ͯ̃ ̶̖̩̼͓̣͒͊̇ͣ̌ͅͅ!̛͉̐͆͋̓̈́ Ị̍ͤ̏͛ͨ̑ ̫̫̝̃̔ͣ͑̍̃D̹̰̬̪̋̒̀̈ͪ̚O̼̮͖̓ͣN̝̻̞̰ͭ̉̂̽́ͭ̈́ͅ'͇̺͕̤̍̐̅̋͛͐̐ͅŢ̗̩ͪ̌̑̈́̚ ͉͆W̩ͨ̈͊̈́͡Ạ̜̜̬̫ͦ̕Ṅ̥̮̣̪͙̖̹̄ͯ̚Ţ̣̹͚̪̻̗ͦͮͭ ̧̘̳͕̣̞̲͌̓̇͑̓̓T̙̪̱̘̘̯ͅȌ҉̻ ̧̬̥͐ͥ̌̓G̱̥͈̹͂ͣ̅͊̀O͖̭̻̹̣ͦ̑͊ ̜̉B̺̥̳̤̓A̓̑̓̾҉̻̫͚͎͈C̵̘̙̦̝̪̱̹Ḱ̪͕̫̃!̤͎̝͍̙̘̣̄͌"

The Gate finally closed, putting an end to his screams of rage. I fell to my knees, out of breath. We weren't safe. He could probably break free again. And I didn't have to power to hold him back at all. I hadn't even finished to think these depressing thoughts that something happened to my chains: they glowed in some color that I didn't even recognize. I screamed in surprise, fearing that maybe one of them had damaged my new chains already, until I felt them actually strengthening, some ungodly amount of power being poured into them from somewhere. Looking around me, I could see that the candy canes and absurdly dressed bisons had disappeared.

I took a few moments to make sure that he wasn't breaking free anymore and moved back Recto's bed to the center of the room, where it belongs. I was too weak to wake us up on my own for the moment, so I waited, inspecting the new chains I was somehow given, until I heard a gentle knocking coming from somewhere. I jolted back, searching for the knocking's origin, and discovered a wooden door that I felt was leading to the outside of the room, into the desolated lands. That wasn't normal. There was no such door in this room, normally. And I could have wondered about its origin for a long time if I didn't hear a voice coming from behind.

"Recto? Verso? Are you in there?" I heard Luna calling.

I quickly thought back to the situation of my body in the real world. I was unconscious, that was certain, and I had screamed in pain just before falling unconscious, surrounded by Twilight and her pony friends. They probably called for help, as it probably looked like I was having a horrible nightmare from the outside, and asked the princess of dreams to come help me. Was it possible that it was her that helped me fight him back? Improbable, since she didn't even know of his existence and hadn't displayed even a fraction of this power when I fought her.

Still, she was technically on my doorstep. I glanced back at the Gate, hoping nothing would try to come out of it again, and went to open the door.

"Verso!" she cheered happily when she saw me. "Are you okay? You were... having quite a lot of a problem in the physical realm."
"We're alright, Princess," I answered, my exhaustion audible. "And thanks for not carelessly breaking into our soul without an invitation."
"Is Recto..."
"Recto is safe too, of course," I told her.
She sighed in relief. "I am happy to know you are feeling fine at last. Princess Twilight Sparkle contacted me right after I sent you back to her, saying you just passed out after you randomly screamed in pain while you were talking with her and her friends. And when I arrived, I found you whimpering and screaming in your sleep, your own magic completely out of control! I've been trying to contact you through your dreams for hours now!" she added, shivering. "I don't know what was happening here before Discord intervened, but I kept arriving in a hurricane and couldn't reach you. What happened to you?"
"What was that about Discord intervening?" I asked quickly, forcing my exhausted mind to make connections.
"He arrived just a few minutes ago when your magic was at its worst and did something that calmed you down. I don't even kow how he learned that you were in peril, though..."

My mind rushed informations. Kay had just said that what allowed me to defeat him was 'Father's work', though our biological father didn't have any power of any sort. But then, he also said something about that same entity having made us for the sole purpose of opening that damn Gate. And the thing leeching inside the pink pony's brain that apparently knew a lot about us talked about a Father too... And the power Discord had at his disposal, able to nearly single handedly beat the crap out of the Whispers behind the Gate... Not to discount the fact that he apparently brought me to Equestria because he felt guilty about something he had done to me...

"Is Discord still around, Princess?" I asked, trembling as I felt the familiar fire of anger building inside me.
"I believe so," she hesitantly replied, probably catching on the signs of my growing rage.

I don't know how I could still be thinking clearly at this point, but thank the Skies for it. I glanced at the Gate inside, making sure she couldn't see it. I knew I was too exhausted to wake up safely on my own. Kay was still trapped behind it, but he could very well try and break free again, and I wouldn't be able to hold him off for a second in my current state. Being alone at the commands in my current state would have destroyed the seal on its own.

I tried to cool down, which isn't all that hard when you're on the verge of passing out from exhaustion in your own mind. I just don't know what length I could have reached if I had had an ounce of power left in me back then, but it wouldn't have been pretty. I weakly glanced back at Luna, who had a mix of worry and curiosity on her face.

"I am beyond exhausted, Princess. Could you tell Discord that I want to talk with him when we wake up?"
"I can," she confirmed. "And I will, once you tell me what happened to you. It wasn't natural, Verso, and it could do plenty of damage if it happened again without anyone to help you."

I clenched my hands into fists and looked away. Don't I know it... I thought of an easy lie to tell her. There was no way in hell I was going to let anyone in this world know exactly what lurks in the dark corners of my soul.

"This is something that can happen when I go too far over my boundaries, like staying alone in control for too long and using too much of my magic at the same time." Not technically a real lie. I mean, I didn't exactly test it yet, but I'm not going to take the chance.
She narrowed her eyes anyway. "Lying to me would be a very poor idea, Verso. I hope you understand it well?"
Damnit. Maybe I should have faked evading the question until she forced me to get the lie out. "Would you please stop thinking I have some kind of nefarious scheme, Princess Luna?" I asked, trying to make her feel uneasy enough to stop prying. "I thought you had finally understood that I am not some kind of manipulative mind predator?" She looked away and sighed. Success.
"I'm sorry. I simply don't want to take any chance. Your magical outburst was... something. Princess Twilight brought you to your room, and you effectively destroyed anything that isn't part of the castle itself."
Huh. "I'll see that when I wake up, Princess. Right now, I need to rest, unless you want to risk another 'outburst'."
"I'll leave you alone, then. I would like to talk with you when you wake up, though. This place is..."
"None of your concern," I completed harshly. "We've made peace and I am happy you didn't try to intrude further into our soul, Luna, but I still don't want anything entering this place."
She glared at me, disappointed and probably frustrated with the fact that I didn't let her have it her way. "So be it. I'll transfer your message to Discord. Rest well."

She vanished from this realm and I walked back inside. I cursed my inability to get sleep the way Recto could -closing his eyes, having dreams and waking up what seemed like a moment later, replenished- and sat next to his bed, hoping it would make time go by faster. At least, it was quiet.

I woke up yawning and stretching. And incredibly hungry. Seriously, the second I had woke up, our stomach immediately growled loudly. I looked around sleepily, searching for our clothes, as Verso visibly had the strange idea of going to bed completely naked. I also noticed something strange about our bedroom, but I simply couldn't put our finger on it. I shrugged and kept looking around for our clothes, that I simply couldn't find.

"Verso, do you know where we put our new clothes?" I muttered, yawning in between. "I can't find them."
Mmh? Oh, you woke up... he said, his voice so tired it made me want to go to sleep again. I zoned out, and didn't even realize.
"That sounds weird. Are you okay? I don't think I ever heard you sounding so tired."
Yeah, about that... We had some kind of a problem shortly after I finished my talk with Luna.
"Did you upset her again?" I asked as I opened a random drawer that I didn't remember was there the day before.
No, I... Well, I maybe did end up upsetting her, but that's not the point. The point is: this isn't our bedroom.
I stopped searching, instead just looking at the disposition of the room. "Oh. Well, that explains why I can't find anything. Did you destroy the room again?" Maybe he had another nightmare.
Sort of. I fear I may have burned everything in there.
I gasped. "Was it because of a spider?"
Wha... No! Of course not!
"Good. 'Cause spiders are scary. They're everywhere, always looking at you with their little eyes. I mean, they have eight of them! What kind of creature has eight eyes? I'll tell you what kind does: the bad kind. They..."
Recto, he said with a drained voice. We are getting off topic. The problem is...
"Hey, I heard his voice!" Rainbow Dash said as she rocketed into the room, throwing our door open violently. "Are you up yet?"

We locked eyes. She was in our room. Looking at us. While we were completely naked.

My awesome totally deep cry of surprise was definitely masculine as I hid behind the closest piece of furniture, our face feeling like it was on fire. Rainbow herself flapped backward, surprised by my reaction.

"I... Don't ponies know how to knock?!" I asked.
"What's in the hay is going on in here?" asked Applejack as she rushed inside too, making me scream in a perfectly manly fashion again.
"Why do you keep coming in here?!" I hissed. "I'm not dressed yet!"
Applejack blinked. "Beg yer pardon?"
"Get out!"
"But..."

They didn't have the time to protest any further before they were wrapped in a purple aura and dragged outside. They doors closed themselves in the same way, and I heard miss Twilight from the corridor:

"Calm down, Recto," she said in a calming voice. "We've put you clothes in the dresser."
I blinked and looked at the big purplish dresser I was hiding behind. "Huh. Thank you, miss Twilight!" I called as I quickly opened it and discovered our older set of clothes. "I wonder what happened to those miss Rarity made us," I muttered while I dressed up.
That may be related to the problem I was talking about. We had some sort of magical outburst yesterday. I don't know the full consequences yet, but I was told that it was pretty bad.
"Bad like bad bad or like BAD bad?"
Uh... BAD bad?
I gasped again. "BAD bad? NOOOOoooo!"
I am so completely lost right now...
"How could we destroy another glass of chocolate milk?" I cried.
Oh, Skies... he groaned. I'm too tired for this shit...
"Is everything alright in here?" miss Twilight asked from the corridor, sounding puzzled.
"How could you let us do that, miss Twilight? That is a crime against everything that tastes good!"
"I... What?"
For fuck's sake, Recto, CALM DOWN! Verso shouted with an upset tone, making me stop crying over spilled deliciousness. No glass of milk was harmed during our outburst!
I was finally reassured. Then worried again. "What could have possibly happened that would reach that BAD bad on the bad scale then?" I gasped for the third time. "Did you turn someone into a potted cactus?"
I don't think so, Verso patiently said. I just know that most of our room was magically burned. Which means that I probably destroyed what Rarity made us.
"Oh..." I moaned, saddened. "I liked those... They were green!"
Yes, he said on the same patient tone.Yes they were. Now, I think Twilight wanted to talk, and the fastest we can get this over with, the longest I will be able to rest peacefully.

I picked ourself up and went to open the door, revealing a puzzled miss Twilight. Behind her, Rainbow Dash was moving a hoof in circle a few centimeters away from her temple, while her eyes were crossed and she was sticking out her tongue out, earning a quick glare from Applejack next to her. She immediately stopped when she saw us, though, and blushed a bit, looking away.

I sometime fear that Rainbow Dash may have some mental troubles. You should talk with her too one of these days.

"Good morning Recto," miss Twilight said after she shook her head a bit. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked, her horn lighting up with purple magic as she scanned us.
"Pretty fine. I'm rather hungry, though," I said, another loud grumbling from the depths of our stomach confirming my words.
Applejack snorted. "That don't surprise me, with y'all sleeping for nearly a whole day."
"What." That wasn't really a question.
Oh, so that's why it felt so fucking long.
"It's nearly time for sunset, Recto."

I stared at miss Twilight silently for a solid five seconds before I walked back into the room to get a look through a window. And the sun was setting alright: only half of it was barely visible over the horizon as it was slowly disappearing between two mountains.

That's not going to mess with our sleep schedule at all, Verso grumpily noted.
"Aw, we missed a full day!" I whimpered. "That not fun!"
"We can go grab something to eat if you want," miss Twilight said as she started leading to the kitchen. "And then, we can start discussing what happened," she added, eyeing us.
"Yay, food!"

I joined the three ponies on our way to deliciousness and nourishment. We got there quickly to find Fluttershy and miss Rarity drinking some tea and chatting happily. Spike himself was wearing a cute little pink apron and gloves as he was getting some cookies out of the some contraption -an oven, I later learned. When we arrived, the three of them immediately turned their head in our direction. Fluttershy squeaked and tried to hide behind her mane, which by the way isn't a very effective way to hide yourself, whereas miss Rarity calmly laid her cup down on the table.

"Recto, dear!" she called. "Are you feeling okay? After your outburst yesterday night, we were all so worried!"
"We are," I answered as I sat down and grabbed one of the still warm biscuits. "Verso's little tired, though. I don't think he'd be able to follow your lessons, miss Twilight."
"That's fine," she said, sitting down to. "I wasn't planning on doing any more of those yet anyway, not until I know precisely what happened to you."
Sky fucking damnit.
I nodded and started to munch on it, appreciating the warm sugary treat. I then remembered what bothered me earlier and turned to miss Rarity. "Oh, and I am so, so sorry that we destroyed the clothes you just made us! I liked them so much!"
"Don't worry a thing, dear,"she replied, smiling kindly. "It was an accident and they were just clothes. I'm already relieved to know you are not hurt."
"But..."
"No buts. What's done is done anyway. Now, I think we all want to know: what exactly was that all about?"
"I have no idea. I was already sleeping, so Verso was the only one in control when whatever happened happened." I gulped down the cookie while they were sharing a glance. I then noticed something was missing. "Hey, why isn't Pinkie Pie here?" I gasped. "Did we burn her too?"
"No!" miss Twilight answered, somewhat horrified. "Thank Celestia, you were alone when it started being dangerous around you. No, she's still working at Sugarcube Corner. She'll come soon, though."
Ask them what happened on the outside from the moment I fainted.
I did just that. "Well, when we were lecturing you about the dangers of disappearing without a word," started miss Twilight,"you suddenly screamed and fell to your knees, clutching your head with your hands. It looked like you were in great pain. You screamed a second time and fainted before any of us would react."
"I was so scared that we somehow did that..." Fluttershy squeaked.
Miss Rarity nodded and continued. "And even when you were unconscious, you were mumbling and whining in your sleep. You looked absolutely terrified!"
"We tried to wake you up," miss Twilight continued, "but nothing worked. So I carried you back to your room and contacted Princess Luna via Spike. She teleported herself in and we were explaining what happened when we heard and explosion in your room. When we arrived, you were screaming again and your magic was out of control, shooting lightning and burning everything around you while your body spasmed. I concealed the effects as much as I could and Princess Luna tried to contact you through your dreams. It went on for a long time and it didn't seem like you were getting better. Your body looked like it was attacking itself with magic, and that was horrifying to watch. You also started 'leaking' some sort of dark smoke that looked somewhat familiar, even though I can't put my hoof on where I've seen it before."
Familiar? What does she mean, 'familiar'?
"And then?" I asked, grabbing another cookie. It was pretty interesting so far, and the cookies were really tasty too.
"We didn't know what to do, and Princess Luna couldn't reach you in your sleep. We were really scared for you when Discord appeared out of nowhere soon after that black stuff started to appear and shoved us aside without any explanations. He got next to you and and poked your forehead. It nearly instantly calmed you down and your outburst ended there. When we asked about what he did to you, he told a joke and disappeared again. Princess Luna then talked to Verso and said you would be fine."
She didn't tell them what I told her?
"Verso says that he explained everything to Luna. She didn't tell you anything?"
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Nah. She even advised Twilight not to take risks and stop teaching you magic until she was satisfied with your explanation!"
What a b... Well, I guess I did brought this one on my head.
"So?" miss Twilight asked, intrigued. "You do know what happened to you, then?"
Let me out. It'll be faster to explain that way.
But you're tired! You shouldn't over exert yourself.
As long as you don't go to sleep while I'm out, I'll be just fine.
I let him out after I swallowed the chunk of biscuit in our mouth. "As Recto said, I'm rather tired, so I'll make this quick: I am not meant to control our body on my own, so it's rather taxing on my mind. And using magic when I am alone in the commands makes it even worse."
Applejack looked at us like Verso was an idiot. "Well then why are you doin' it right now! Ain't that mighty dangerous?"
"I'm not alone. Recto is still there, unconsciously supporting our body so that I don't have to."
"But how does that explain anything?" Rainbow Dash intervened. "Okay, you get tired. Big deal! Nopony turns into a magical powerhouse when they're tired!"
"Shut up, Skittles, you're missing the point." Rainbow Dash's face turned red and she looked like she was about to yell at us when he continued. "I wasn't tired. It's more of something like being overloaded."
Miss Twilight nodded, looking like she understood. "And it's this 'overloading' that started everything."
Verso nodded. "Exactly." Applejack flinched for some reason. "Its like using a cog as wheel: it works for a moment if you force a bit, but it will break sooner out later."
"Is it common for you?"
"Thank the Skies, no!" Verso answered, smiling. "It has only happen once before, years ago. And that was when nobody helped. Now, I'm not exactly sure about what Discord did, so I'll have to talk to him soon, but I should be fine as long as I don't assume complete control on my own for a moment."
"That's good to hear, dear."
"But what was that black thing?" miss Twilight asked.
Verso twitched, but didn't lose his smile. "I don't know how it works for our body," he explained, making Applejack flinch again. "I was honestly too busy making sure my soul wasn't torn apart." Applejack looked like she was about to say something, but he interrupted her. "Now, I'll return to the background. I have to rest a bit after all."

He left the commands and sat back, watching. I listened to another growling from our stomach and looked at miss Twilight with my serious face on. Spike and Rainbow Dash giggled.

"Now that Verso explained everything, can we go eat something? Cookies are good, but Verso says we kinda need to eat correctly."
"Of course. Spike! Do we still..."

She was interrupted by the sound of the massive amount of trumpets that appeared out of nowhere and played a deafening royal introduction that blew most of the ponies away. A red carpet unfolded from the door and mister Discord entered, wearing the outfit of a royal announcer and carrying a big scroll. He let it unroll in front of him as he cleared his voice and it easily reached far behind us.

"Hear ye, hear ye! The human creature residing within these rooms and referring to itself as either Recto or Verso is hereby summoned by our fair rulers of the land and protectors of the realm, the great and eternal princesses Celestia and Luna, blessed be their name. He is asked to come forward and shall follow us to his destination in their royal court."
My gaze was switching between mister Discord and miss Twilight. I settled it on mister Discord. "But I'm hungry! Can it wait until I've eaten?"
"He will also be served chocolate milk on the..."

I didn't even let him finish his sentence before I bounced on him, grabbed his fuzzy lion paw and turned to give a final glance at miss Twilight.

"'Kaythanksbye!" I turned back to look at mister Discord. "Gimme the chocolate now!"

Mister Discord grinned, snapped his claw and we disappeared.

We reappeared in some sort of blank void and I immediately knew something was wrong. It took me a little while to realize what though, but when I finally did, I nearly fell to my knees: I couldn't feel Recto in our head. I closed my eyes and accessed the room, something I really shouldn't be doing when I'm in control, and sighed in precious relief when I found him still sleeping in the bed, like he always does. An instant told me he was fine, just that he was forced to sleep for the moment. And I knew exactly why, as the perpetrator of the crime was floating upside-down just a few meters away from me.

I was angry when Luna asked Recto to sleep.

I was beyond enraged that he fucking dared to force him.

"What have you done to him, you skydamn motherfucker?!" I roared. "Wake him up now!" I tried to access my magic to strangle the fucking chimera, but I was unable to reach it for some reason, turning my rage into panic. "What's going on? What have you done?!"
He chuckled and traced half a circle in the air, effectively rotating me so that we both had the same way up. "Calm down, my dear Verso. I just think you and I have a bunch of things to talk about. And don't worry about your little brother, he will stay calm."

I clenched my fists, seriously weighting the pros and cons of punching a god chimera in the face to see if his giant fang would come out.
"Wake him up this instant," I hissed. "It is our choice whether or not he goes to sleep."
"After I helped you seal him back? That would be pretty inconvenient. I don't really want him to be awake in this Era. No, I believe we will have a little talk, and then you'll have one with the princesses, and then I'll just send you back to the Palace of Harmony."
"You..."
"Oh, but where are my manners. Please, take a seat!" he snapped his claw and I was forced to sit in a chair. "Besides, I'm sure you have a lot of questions to ask, and I have a lot of answer to deny you. So please, fire at will!"

Oh, by everything that is holy for every last creature in the world, you have no idea how much I wanted to strangle him until his eyes pooped out of their orbits. But the fact that I couldn't use magic and that he willed cuffs into existence to prevent me from moving my arms from the armrests were doing much to stop me from at least trying. He just waited, sipping on a liquid cucumber sandwich, until I calmed down a little. When I decided that committing deicide would be a poor idea, I stopped trying and settled with glaring at him as much as I could. He smiled.

"Now, onto the recent matters: Yes, I know of your little hidden mind-mate. Yes, I helped you stop him from taking over and doing something rather bad. Yes, Kay has heard of me through all of his cute little friends. No, I won't answer anything about how they know me. Yes, he grows in power since you arrived in Equestria. Yes, you should be fine with what I did in your soul chamber as long as you don't outright let him take over. No, I won't comment on anything he told you while he was breaking free. Do you have anymore questions?"

I kind of didn't really have any. He answered or straight up told he wouldn't say a thing about most of them. I thought for a moment, until one question I always had to hope to see answered imposed itself on my mind.

"Could you kill him?"
"He is part of you, boy. I didn't went all the way back to your time just to kill you myself."

I clenched my fists. I didn't like that answer at all. But there was another, maybe more important, question I had to ask.

"And what about helping..."
"No. That's final."
"Why not?!" I screamed at him. "What I have going on right now has already failed so many times! I can't..."
"Put your past behind you, boy. Like it or not, I won't intervene more into your soul. It is in balance for now, that's all you need to know."
"No its not!" I finally erupted. "I don't know how long I will be able to make it work! I already lost most of my control trying to keep it functioning and I've only been doing it for little more than a decade for Sky's sake! Who knows how long it will take for either my body or my souls breaks apart for good?"
"I'm sure you'll find a way," he answered, grinning like the asshole he is. "You're in magical pony land after all. You have so much more possibilities than you had on your little planet."
"Are you saying that there's a way?"
"Oh, there is. Multiple ones even. But I'll let you decide whether or not you want to try doing such things when you learn of their prices."
"I..."
"Now, I had promised the silly princesses to bring you to them. And I also promised your little friend some prize. Take this," he said, snapping his claw again and making a glass of chocolate milk appear out of nowhere for me to catch. "Now, remember: Kay won't be able to break this seal, but that doesn't mean he and his friends will stop trying to find a way around it. And he should soon be able to keep you company during the nights again. Now, have fun with the magical pony princesses!"

He snapped his claw again.

We immediately reappeared in the Throne Room in Canterlot, a glass filled with precious and delicious liquid now in our hands, making me squee in happiness as I immediately downed it. When I was finished, it disappeared on its own and I started looking around. Mister Discord was nowhere to be seen, but Luna and miss Princess Celestia were sitting side to side on the throne. Well, more like miss Princess Celestia was sitting on the throne and Luna was sitting on a cushion next to it, but that's pretty much the same. Around them were several bored-looking guards. I think one of them was even snoring lightly with his eye open, which was really funny.

I waved at the princesses as I walked in their direction. Some of the guards furrowed their brows when I did, but none of them moved.

"Hello, miss Princess Celestia!" I happily called from across the room, waking the snoring guard up. "And hello, Luna! How are you?"
Miss Princess Celestia cracked a warm smile like she usually does. "We're perfectly fine, Recto. Thank you for asking."
"How come I don't get a 'miss Princess' before my name?" Luna asked, looking displeased. "You are aware that my sister and I share the power, don't you?"
"That's because miss Princess Celestia is someone I think I should always be really respectful with. Like a mom. Or Santa!" Luna didn't seem to like my answer, and even miss Princess Celestia apparently didn't know how to take it. "Whereas you, Luna, I feel more comfy around you. Like a friend. Or Santa!"
Luna blushed a bit and miss Princess Celestia chuckled. "I don't figure Discord told you why we wanted to see you, did he?"
I shook our head. "Nah. Mister Discord said that you wanted to see us, but that's all. And he gave us chocolate! It was great!" I gasped when I came to a sudden realization. "I should have brought cookies too! I'm pretty sure they would taste even better with the chocolate milk! And we could have shared! Why didn't I think of that! You aren't mad, are you? I'm sorry! I'll bring cookies next time, I promise! Even better idea: I'm pretty sure I could find some in the kitchen. We should go get cookies!"
They blinked. "I don't think now is the time to eat baked goods, Recto," miss Princess Celestia said.
I gasped again. "There's a time to eat them? That's awful! Why can't we just eat cookies all the time? That just silly. If they taste fine, you should be able to eat them whenever you want! Are you going to tell me there's a time to eat cakes too? That would be absurd!"
Miss Princess Celestia muttered something darkly while Luna smiled, amused by what her sister said. "You do sound full of energy at least. That's good to hear after your 'accident'."
"Of course I'm energetic! We've just slept a whole day! That's the first time it happened! Well, I think it is, because you know, it's kinda hard to know if you slept an entire day when the sun doesn't shine down where you live, but you get the point. And I'm hungry too! I ate some cookies but I don't think it was enough. And Verso says that we should eat healthier food anyway. Are cookies unhealthy? Please tell me they're not! I mean, I'm pretty sure they're not. Something that tastes this good obviously can't be bad for you. Just think about it: your body tells you it tastes good, so it must be! It all makes sense, right?"

Luna massaged the rim of her snout with a hoof as if she was in the process of having a headache. Miss Princess Celestia was writing something on a scroll, some sort of hidden intensity coming out of her eyes, as if she was writing something that could change the entire world. Her horn lit up brighter and the letter burned immediately, sent to its destination. She then cleared her throat.

"As much as this conversation is pleasant and is deriving toward a certain topic that always deserves my attention, we need to have a talk, Recto. First, what happened to you yesterday?"
"Verso said he explained everything to Luna when she came in his dream. He was pretty upset when he had to explain everything again to miss Twilight and her friends earlier."
"He only gave me a rough explanation because he was exhausted," Luna said. "We'd like to hear a more complete one."
I nodded. Well, Verso here's your cue to explain everything again. As he didn't answer immediately, I realized that I could barely feel him in the deep recess of our shared mind, either brooding or ignoring everything that happened around us. Verso? Are you okay? Or maybe you're trying to sleep again?
My voice seemed to wake him up slowly and his soul took back its usual place. Sorry, I was... elsewhere. He croaked. I'll explain them, just leave it to me.

He took control and quickly repeated exactly what he told miss Twilight and her friends. They both looked at each other when he said that he didn't know what mister Discord ad done, though.

"We sent him to get you so that he could explain it to you. Didn't he?"
Verso flinched and looked away. "I am still weak from all this and I'll go back to rest."

And, without another word, he did, fading out of our mind like he usually does. I shrugged it off and smiled back at the princesses.

"Now that it's been taken care of, will you send us back to miss Twilight or do we get the pleasure of dining with you?"
"Don't... Is he already sleeping?" Luna asked, upset.
"Yes. He just said he was going to! You should listen to him a bit more. I thought you two were friends now!"
"'Friends' might be pushing it," she muttered back. "He didn't answer!"
"Yeah, but we didn't talk with mister Discord. And you didn't answer me either."
"I'll send you back to Twilight, Recto," miss Princess Celestia calmly said. "Rest well."

Her horn lit up and we reappeared in miss Twilight's castle. Most of the ponies had disappeared but we were immediately assaulted by pinkness incarnated, who jumped at us to try and break our ribs with a warm hug.

"Recto! You're here!" Pinkie Pie joyfully said as she crushed us with her forelegs. "I was so worried that I had missed you! But you're here! You know this calls for?" I somehow squeaked something, her hug too powerful to let me talk correctly. "Exactly! A party!"
"Pinkie Pie? Who are you talking with?" asked Twilight as she entered the room, reading a familiar letter. "You're supposed to help me with Princess Celestia's requ... Oh, Recto, you're back!" I weakly wheezed something. "Pinkie Pie! Let him go! He can't breath!"
"Oh? Oh!" She dropped me and I greedily breathed as much air as our body would let me. "Sorry!"
"That's... nothing," I weakly said, still out of breath. I then turned to miss Twilight. "Can we still eat something? I'm still hungry!"
"Of course! It's perfectly timed too: Princess Celestia asked me study the relation between appreciating the taste of food and its effect on the body! Pinkie Pie and I were about to start with cupcakes! You will be a perfect guinea pig.

Best. Day. EVER.

I went back to our soul antechamber to think about what Kay and Discord had just revealed. Most of it was pretty heavy stuff. First, that Kay wouldn't be able to evade except if I let him out, which wouldn't happen unless hell had finally frozen over, which meant I was virtually freed from his threats for the moment. The fact that Discord had something to do even with our problem back on Earth and was somehow linked to Kay and the Whispers from behind the Gate was disturbing, but it it wasn't like I could do anything about it.

But there was clearly some piece of information that was so much more valuable than the others to me. There was not only one, but several ways of getting everything right! I looked at a wall and willed another room into existence. Something that Recto wouldn't feel and that Luna wouldn't find even if she invaded this room once again. With Recto awake and the new seal Discord had given me, I could freely go there and plan.

Its walls were giant white screens that I would be able to write on as I would desire. In the center of the room was a computer that would let me access bits of my memory as I needed it to confirm a theory or another. I walked to the wall in front of me and started writing down my plan, starting with the beginning and declining it again and again into different steps. Of course, my own lack of knowledge about the magical arts left blanks all over the place, but I hoped it would straighten itself as learned more about it.

It took me a few hours, long enough for Recto to eat, interact with with Twilight and the pink horror, and get tired again. Of course, I knew that I probably would be forced to leave this room when he would fall asleep, as I would have to use more of my subconscious to make our body work, but that wasn't important. As Recto slowly fell asleep, I looked one last time at the first two steps of my plan.

"First, learning more attack spells with Twilight. Then, to the Everfree."

Author's Note

Hello again! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter at least as much as I enjoyed writing it.
We now have more infos: Kay is the name of the one beyong the Gate! What is is relation with Recto and Verso? What does Verso need help about exactly? Why does food that tastes amazing is usually either bad or really bad for your health? Will Recto finally get over his chocolate milk addiction. I'm serious, that's becoming a problem.
All these questions and more wiil probably not be adressed in the next chapter.
What will be talked about in the next chapter, though: Fire, Kitty Cats and Giant Snakes!
See you soon in the Chapter 19: Waltz of the Forest!