Collision Code

by SSJRandomMaster

Rating: teen
Tags: Comedy, Self Insert, Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Human, Anthro, Main 6
Length: 424110

A hidden message leads to two friends getting themselves stuck in Equestria. Meanwhile, a long-forgotten evil begins to make its move...

The barriers between our worlds have always kept them separate. But because of a message missed by all but one, this barrier was broken. Now two friends find themselves in the land of Equestria. It is a land that is similar, yet different from the one we all know.

Now stuck in a new world with no hope of returning home, they must adapt to their new bodies. Neither of the two friends know that their presence has set off a series of events that they have never experienced before in any sense of the word.
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Update 1/10/2017: Updated the character tags.

Published 2014-08-31 16:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-10-06 18:09:46 UTC

Act 1 Chapter 1

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Act 1 Chapter 2

Act I: Collision of Worlds

Chapter 2: Communication Breakdown

It wasn’t anything new—since coming to Ponyville, running became second nature for Twilight. As she ran through the Ponyville streets, she began going over what little she knew about the situation.

A dragon landed in the center of the town, and began breathing fire… Twilight thought to herself, The closer I get, the less I’m sure of what’s really going on…If we had a rampaging dragon on the loose, we’d have more damage than just this…

The purple alicorn looked around, seeing a surprising lack of fire and other miscellaneous property damage. She could hear the panic as ponies were still being shuffled to safety, but she couldn’t hear any other signs of calamity—and she knew very well the sound of that by now.

It’s still a problem, just a different problem… Even if the rampage isn’t…extensive, the dragon’s still disturbing the peace, and it has to be dealt with somehow…

It wasn’t long before she happened upon a familiar face, kneeling down next to a couple of ponies—a unicorn and an earth pony, clearly in full-on shock. The familiar face in question was none other than Rarity, another unicorn with a rather elegant fashion sense—though today she was wearing what most would consider her casual clothing, but even those seemed elegant in their own way: white shirt, black pants, high heels.

“Rarity!” Twilight called out, running towards her. As she drew close, she could see the ponies had more or less passed out from the shock. Rarity had been tending to them, but she did hear Twilight’s call all the same, and she turned around to look at her.

“Twilight, it’s horrible!” Rarity squealed as Twilight came close. Instantly, the alicorn princess began to reconsider her stance on the dragon.

“What happened?!” What did the dragon do?!

“I broke a nail!” Rarity held out her left hand, showing her index finger’s nail had been, at worst, slightly chipped. Twilight stared, eye twitching, at the chipped nail for a few suspended moments before speaking again.

“What about the dragon!?” Twilight’s patience was not to be tested right now (even if it was Rarity blowing things a little out of proportion), and her voice showed it when it exited her mouth at a higher volume than normal. Rarity put her hand down in response, embarrassed. She had all but forgotten about the dragon, and it showed.

“Ah, yes, well…” Rarity began, getting back on topic, “The dragon is still in town, and Fluttershy—poor dear—has joined Rainbow and Applejack in trying to apprehend it. He seems to be rather…elusive. He’ll just disappear every now then.”

How could somepony lose something that big…

“This would explain why he hasn’t been caught yet,” replied Twilight, “I don’t get it…why would he drop into town, and then hide for this long without doing anything else?”

“Twilight, do you think it is possible that he may have entered town by accident?” Rarity asked. Twilight blinked, and looked back to Rarity.

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, before I joined in on helping keep the town under control, I happened to run into him…or, rather, he ran into me…”

“What happened?”

“It was…strange. The moment he did run into me, he merely looked at me. I was on the verge of screaming, but before I could, the strangest thing happened…”

“That thing being…”

“He backed away,” Rarity summed up. Twilight could only regard the unicorn with a skeptical look as she continued, “I swear this happened: he took a few steps away from me, then turned and ran in the opposite direction—“

“That’s what happened to me too!” an all-too familiar voice squealed from her right. Twilight jumped and yelped as the voice sounded. Even after a year of knowing her, she still wasn’t used to her friend’s inexplicable ability to teleport herself everywhere.

This was Pinkie Pie, an earth pony who was every bit as pink as her name would suggest. The party mare wore a white T-shirt, with a heart over the bosom area under a blue vest. This was completed by a short pink skirt held in place with a purple sash. However, for some reason, she was wearing blue boots that were better suited for a thunderstorm than a sunny day like this one.

“I was running with a group of ponies, and then we all saw the dragon, then the ponies were like ‘AHHH!’ and then the dragon was like ‘Arahgah!’ then the ponies ran in one direction while the dragon ran the other!” Pinkie explained it so happily that both alicorn and unicorn had to wonder if she thought it was all a funny game.

This aside, however, Twilight began to wonder what exactly was going on. Rarity and Pinkie’s accounts of their time with the dragon were more or less the same.

“If that’s what happened, then it looks like the dragon’s trying to avoid pony contact…” Twilight said, more to herself, “But if the dragon wasn’t trying to cause a trouble…then why did it breathe fire on first contact?”

“Twilight?” Rarity asked, breaking the lavender mare out of her trance at once.

“Okay,” Twilight responded, “I need you two to keep the townsponies as calm as possible…I’ve already sent a letter to Princess Celestia about the situation, so we should be getting some kind of help soon, so keep an eye out. In the meantime, I’ll go join the others…”

Rarity and Pinkie gave a small “hmph” of agreement, then the three mares split up.

The only way I’m gonna know what’s really going on here is if we manage to get the dragon under control…

Corey had nearly gotten to town when he began to hear the distant sounds of panic. When he did hear them, he had only one thought on his mind—something was in the middle of happening. It seemed like a contrived coincidence that he’d arrive in Ponyville when something big was going down. If a vine tried to ensnare him, he was going to punch something out. Or try to, anyway.

The human-turned-unicorn was now running through the streets. He could hear the sounds of crisis loud and clear now, but the streets seemed to be mostly clear, save for a pony here and there—who, mercifully, had hands, identifiable feet, and appeared to walk on two legs just like him—passed out on the sides of the road, looking like they passed out from…shock? Confusion? Terror?

Whatever this thing is… Corey thought to himself, Must be something bad...With this in mind, there’s only one thing to do: time to channel what little I can learn from video games.

With this in mind, the green unicorn slowed his pace, walking as slowly as possible, touching the ground with his heel first, toe last with each step he took. He hunched over as well, making himself smaller.

How to walk as quietly as possible so I don’t draw attention!

Corey wondered exactly what was going down. Ponies were panicking, the town streets were devoid of life, there was something tall, dark and reptilian in his peripheral vision—

Wait, what the hell—

He turned his head towards where he saw something huge running down the adjacent street—or at least, he thought he saw it—it could have been just the frames of his glasses and he got confused with the stress of what was going on. However, given the frames of his glasses only took up so much of his vision, and that object was clearly massive, Corey decided to not take chances.

The former human decided to get things moving, running as quickly and as quietly as possible in the direction he saw the unidentifiable creature proceed. He slowed down a bit, hoping that if he did come across the cause of the panic, it didn’t hear him approaching, and more importantly, didn’t see him.

Corey looked around carefully.

Where’d you go… Corey thought to himself, really hoping that whatever it was wouldn’t get the drop on him right then. He slowly looked around, just in time to see a black tail slither around the corner at max speed. The male quickly reacted, shuffling as fast as he could to that corner and pressing himself flat against the nearby building. He even tried to suck in his belly a little bit just to make himself as flat as possible.

He waited a few seconds before he dared to peek around the corner.

Definitely saw something before… Corey thought, But by God, he’s a slippery son-of-a—

The sight of a black and blue head poking back out of what could have been an alleyway of sorts caused Corey to duck back around the corner, holding his breath. He closed his eyes, awaiting the sound of feet stamping his way. After several tense seconds, the unicorn dared a second look. His subject was moving quickly out of his sight. He got a good look at it: wings, black scales, ruined-looking clothing…

So this is what feral dragons look like here, huh? But who is he…he’s not one of the dragons from that episode, so…Just who is he?

“That was quick…”

Corey froze, letting out a strangled yelp. He knew the voice, but it didn’t change the fact someone got the drop on him. He turned around, and was met with a sight he sort of expected: Twilight with wings. That didn’t bother him. What did bother him, however, was her follow-up comment.

“You must be the help that Princess Celestia sent…”

What is she talking about… Corey thought. He didn’t know where to start in terms of describing exactly how wrong she was about that, but that was beside the point.

“You thought to sneak up on the dragon while it was distracted,” Twilight said, “In practice, a lot more effective than charging it head-on, even if it hasn’t really been attacking.”

But this is the first time I’ve put it in practice, and—why am I not saying this out loud?!

“But you’re going to need to catch it…” Only now did Twilight seem to be truly looking him over, “Hmm…There are some other ponies already pursuing it…”

Corey sharply inhaled, ready to say exactly how wrong she was, but the words caught in his throat. He needed to say something, how he was about as equipped to take on a dragon as a four-year-old was equipped to take on Hulk Hogan. Even with backup as capable as who he was sure she was referring to.

“Here, follow me!” she said, not letting him go on, evidently more focused on the eight foot reptile running through the city streets. Corey watched her for a few moments, his eyebrows creased in frustration.

Why did I get involved… With a sigh, Corey quickly took off after her, If this gets resolved, I might be able to state my problem anyway, so as long as I’m not eaten alive…

Corey trailed Twilight by just a few steps, a single thought running through his mind.

Doesn’t change the fact that this is going to suck…

“Lost him again!”

John stared up into the sky, his back against a wall in an alleyway. He had to have taken this kind of hiding spot at least five times in the past several minutes. He watched a rainbow trail fly right past him, having been hearing that voice—character, a lot since the chase started. Quickly, John chose to go the opposite direction of where he knew Rainbow had just flown.

Over time, even though he barely had any time to stand still and collect himself, he was able to start putting things together. He knew now where he was and what he was, but how it happened wasn’t too clear. But it was still the last thing on his mind.

It wasn’t like he could blame the town full of ponies for reacting the way they were. He had accidentally caused a panic to take the town, and he couldn’t communicate at all. Well, he may have had a chance earlier, but when he sighed fire, all chance of doing so went up in smoke. His only option now—the only one he could think to undertake, was to get out of town as quickly as he could. However, that proved to be easier said than done. Nine times out of ten, when he left cover, he didn’t make it far before some other bystander would see him, and pass out from shock or run away in terror.

He could only turn around and sprint away from those ponies; John figured he’d already done enough damage as it was.

“There he is!”

The fact he was being chased by not one, but two stubborn mares did not make things easier on him at all. Again, it wasn’t like he could blame the ponies for how they were reacting. He’d probably have done the same if a dragon landed in the middle of town out of nowhere. John quickly turned the corner, checking over his shoulder. His pursuers were out of sight now, so he made his next move. Leaping forward into a roll, John dove into the nearest hiding spot: a bush that managed to conceal his considerably larger frame.

He waited in silence, willing himself to slow his breathing. It really wouldn’t do him any good to get excited now. He could only wait, as the sounds of rapid wingbeats and footsteps grew closer.

“Dagnabbit!” This was Applejack, he could tell by the accent. This was followed by something being tossed hard on the ground, “How’s he keep givin’ us the slip!?”

Good question. How do you keep losing sight of me?

“Rainbow, you see ‘em?”

“No luck, A.J., I’m gonna circle around town again, you keep checking the ground!”

The sound of rapid wingbeats and a “fwoosh” went off; Rainbow had just left. Applejack’s own footsteps began to become more distant—he could hear the cowpony boots clicking on the ground for several tense seconds. John did not even move, knowing the slightest movement would cause the bush to rustle. Even for a few seconds after the sounds ceased, John did not dare move. However, once he was sure he could slip out unnoticed to the next hiding spot, or even out of town altogether, John prepared himself.

Okay…three…two…one!

John hopped out of the bush, intending to sprint full speed hoping he’d be able to increase the gap between himself and the others. But, before he could even take two steps, he found himself face-to-face with the worst possible citizen of Ponyville.

Of all the ponies in this town, why’d it have to be you, Fluttershy?!

The pegasus in question was looking up at him, her blue-green eyes wide with fear, only making a small squeak when he had leapt directly in front of her. John himself did not bother making a sound, already knowing any attempt to communicate would make her fall over, stiff as a board. Or, it’d get him staring straight into the face of Cthulhu. Whatever the case, John didn’t want to hang around.

John raised his claws, lowering his body, trying to show he meant zero harm. He took several slow steps back, trying not to startle her further. However, before he could think of taking off…

“Gotcha!”

John couldn’t react quick enough to stop the rope from being thrown around him, pinning his arms to his sides as the rope tightened. One strong tug later, John found himself yanked off his feet.

“Quick, tie him up!” John initially struggled, until it occurred to him what exactly his body did before without him meaning to. He was a dragon, and he wasn’t sure how much damage he could cause if he got too into it.

Besides, he had done too much damage. He had no other options—he was caught. As he laid down, his arms firmly pinned to his sides and his entire torso tied up wrapped up in ropes, John had only one thing on his mind.

All things considered…I guess there are still worse ways to spend a weekend…

“How does it keep giving us the slip!?” Twilight shouted in frustration, “Adolescent dragons are up to ten feet tall, bigger than the average pony at any rate! And Ponyville isn’t even that big of a city to begin with! How has he stayed out of sight this long?!”

Corey didn’t know what to make of that. He awkwardly paused, not knowing offhand what to say. So, he said the first thing that came to his mind.

“Well…at least he isn’t causing any more damage?”

To this, Twilight sighed, “I know, but…”

Corey tilted his head, unsure of why she sounded…well, unsure of herself. “But…?”

Before she could answer, though, a voice called out from above.

“Yo, Twilight!”

Both alicorn and unicorn looked up again. Corey found himself greeted with yet another familiar yet unfamiliar sight: an anthromorphed Rainbow Dash hovering in the air, looking proud of herself. She wore a purple t-shirt and blue jeans with a pair of running shoes—shoes that seemed to be more for show than for their use—overall, not that surprising, really.

“Rainbow!” Twilight said, “How’s the chase going?”

The cyan mare motioned just over her shoulder with a thumb, still looking just a little too smug. Corey could see a familiar face hunched over, carrying something big, black and blue.

It was Applejack dragging the dragon, the latter bound by a rope and looking more or less defeated. The earth pony was wearing an orange plaid shirt, tied up just above her stomach, exposing it, and a pair of jean shorts. The look was completed by a pair of cowpony boots.

Fluttershy followed a bit behind, as though afraid the dragon was going to break out. Twilight released a short sigh.

“Oh…” She said, turning to Corey, “Well, looks like we didn’t need your help after a—“

Twilight cut herself off, Corey briefly looking to her and back to the captured dragon. The dragon seemed to be…confused, looking right at him. The feeling was mutual.

“Uh…” Twilight said, “I…I’m sorry, I never got your name…”

“Oh, uh, it’s Corey…”

The moment Corey said his own name, the dragon seemed to come alive, flopping around onto his stomach. The others jumped—Fluttershy into the nearest bush. All eyes were on the dragon, but the dragon was now looking directly at Corey.

“Woureh?” The dragon slurred, no one understanding him. Corey paused, squinting at the dragon. He couldn’t piece it together, given how far off it sounded from common English, but…

Did he just say my—Corey remembered what had happened before. In all the excitement he had nearly forgotten it. Right before being flung here to Equestria, both he and John appeared to be downloading a file. He wasn’t quite sure if John had been pulled in, but then he heard the dragon… Could it really be?

Without saying anything else, Corey began to take small steps forward towards the dragon. He was aware all eyes were on him right now, but he couldn’t worry about that fact.

“Don’t get too close to him, no tellin’ what he might do.” Applejack warned Corey, but he ignored her warning. If he was right about this dragon’s true identity, he didn’t need to worry.

Corey stopped just short of the dragon, kneeling down next to him. The whole time, the two hadn’t stopped looking to each other. It was like the black and blue reptile in front of him knew him, but there was only one way to be sure.

“What’s your name?” Corey asked, ignoring the confused murmurs behind him for the moment. The dragon looked conflicted, as though he didn’t know what to say. But that wasn’t the case—Corey may not have been an expert emotion reader, but he could tell that the dragon was trying to say something—its jaw was opening and closing, almost as if he were testing it. Corey waited for the awkward mouthing to end. The dragon took a deep breath, and Corey felt himself flinch just a little, expecting to be barbequed.

“Yeeeahhn…” It was a slurred word.

“’Yeaahn’?” Rainbow asked, “What kind of dragon name is ‘Yeeahn’? Even ‘Spike’ sounds better than that!”

“I’ll just…take that as a compliment,” Twilight responded. Yet Corey remained hung on how the word was said.

That wasn’t him slurring the word…That was him trying to sound it out…In fact, it sounded like how he said my name…But that itself doesn’t make sense. Dragons in this world can talk, even if this world is a little different from how it usually is…

Corey paused, as a thought occurred to him. He himself was a unicorn, but Corey was almost positive that if it came to using magic, he couldn’t do it.

So if this dragon can’t even talk…what does ‘Yeahhn’ mean… ‘Yeahhn’… ‘Gee—yawn…’

“John!?” Corey said, at a much louder volume than he intended.

And at last, a horse crossed a finish line, John thought to himself, realizing at least Corey found his way through that Olympic feat of finding out who he was underneath the scales—nodding at this. However, he could see the others behind Corey, reacting with shock…and maybe even disgust—he couldn’t tell.

“Wait, you know him?” asked Twilight. Corey froze at this, but he took a deep breath. John knew it was up to Corey to tell them what was going on. John couldn’t even hope to help him here unless he could write things out. And given his arms were bound, that wasn’t going to happen. Corey’s face was full of confidence he could work it out, which gave John hope.

“Uh…yes. He’s a friend of mine…”

Okay, okay…Good start…

“And…” Corey paused as though not knowing anything, “I sent us here…”

An awkward pause ensued.

Okay, a little clumsy, but I think you can recover…

“Wait, you mean you sent him here?!” Rainbow shouted.

“…Uh, what…” Corey started to falter, and only now did John realize something incredibly obvious, something he should he realized from the get-go.

Wait, I have to rely on Corey of all people to explain something like this?!

“Well, I mean, didn’t I say ‘I’ sent ‘us’ here…” Corey sounded confused, but this wouldn’t stop Rainbow from jumping to conclusions—John knew that all too well.

The human turned dragon could only think of one thing to do in this situation. He knew that the obvious route: escaping, wouldn’t work out well at all, and it wasn’t like he felt like fighting or running away anymore since it’d just be more fuel to the fire. So, with all that in mind, John’s great course of action was to slam his face onto the ground. Repeatedly.

We’re done for…

Author's Note

And things just got more complicated. We'll see where this goes...next time.

Act 1 Chapter 3

Act I: Collision of Worlds

Chapter 3: The Extraequestrials

It wasn’t long before Corey found himself in the Golden Oaks Library—his initial destination before everything with the dragon happened. However, he wished it wasn’t under the condition that said dragon happened to be John. Now, he was situated in a chair in the main area of the library, dead center. John was a short ways behind him, still bound and not gagged. John hadn’t made any further attempts at communicating, nor had Corey.

Corey hadn’t been tied up…yet. He could feel the pressure on now. Surrounding him, more or less, were the mares who had been involved with catching the dragon. Fluttershy was on the other side of the room, about as far away as she could get from the dragon. Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack, on the other hand, were more or less directly in front of him. The pegasus mare looked like she wanted to deck him then and there and be done with it. The earth pony looked unsure, but equally ready to do what she felt was necessary at the moment. Twilight, however, didn’t look nearly as upset—not to say she wasn’t, given what they were currently blaming him for.

“Alright,” Twilight said, “We’re going to give you the benefit of the doubt. You seemed like you knew what you were talking about back there…”

“Why are we doing this again?” Rainbow asked, turning to Twilight, “He did just say he sent the dragon here.”

“Rainbow, I ain’t likin’ the look of things here either,” Applejack responded, “But he seemed like he knew what he was sayin’. Either he was tryin’ to tell us somethin’ important, or he’s nuts…”

Corey tried to suppress the urge to swallow the lump in his throat, Well, fetch a straitjacket, because when you hear my story—

Twilight gave her friends an uneasy look before turning to Corey, her face going from uneasy back to stern.

I am on trial, and I’ve been here less than an hour… Corey thought, What the hell did John do to get them this upset!? He didn’t seem to do much more than scare everypony. No collateral damage was caused from what I could see besides that!

“Alright, ‘Corey’,” Twilight began, only to be interrupted.

“Ain’t a name I’ve heard…” Applejack commented, “That really your name?”

“Corey is my name…” Corey said, trying to keep himself calm. Panicking wouldn’t get him anywhere, and he knew this. “The dragon is named John. I’d imagine it sounds odd to you, but I swear those are our names…”

“We’re listening…” Rainbow continued, not at all changing her overall disposition.

“So, tell us your story…” Twilight said, “What did you mean earlier when you said, ‘I sent us here’?”

Corey took a deep breath, then two, to compose himself. He was fairly sure this wasn’t going to be believable no matter how he spun it, and he really hated explaining things. But, since John couldn’t talk, it was all him. With this in mind, he began.

“Alright, I guess I should start by saying…we’re not from here, at least, not in the sense that someone would say that…” Corey started. The mares before him immediately looked confused.

“…Uh…what?” Twilight asked.

“It’s…How do I say this…” Corey faltered, failing to maintain eye contact, his eyes sliding across the room like a person on ice, “Um…uh…That’s…basically...Have you heard of…the multiverse theory?”

“The multiverse…theory?” Rainbow cut in, confused.

“The multiverse theory…” Twilight repeated, before launching into an explanation, “Where a set of infinite universes exists, and each one can be different from the other in a variety of ways…”

There was a pause, “…I...have heard of it…Wait, are you trying to tell us you’re from a parallel world…?”

“Well…yeah,” Corey awkwardly said.

“I…can’t say I believe you. Not when you look like…” Twilight motioned to him. Corey looked down, realizing once again he did look the part of a normal pony. “And I haven’t heard of a single pony who has perfected universal travel, except in fiction…”

“I haven’t heard of anyone on my end either that has…” Corey responded, “But I swear I’m not lying about any of this…I don’t usually look like this, you know…”

Before anypony could stop him with another question, the green unicorn launched into an explanation, without slowing down whatsoever.

“I…” He already hesitated, “I received some sort of message on my computer…”

“’Computer’…?” Twilight parroted, but Corey continued onward.

“It was in a lot of code, code that, as a programmer on computers, I could piece together bit by bit. It took me a while to do it, but after I did, I ran the code, which caused something…odd, to happen. I’m not sure how, the code seemed like it wouldn’t do anything, m-methods here and there that pointed to nothing, but when it did happen, it attached itself to Sk-Skype, and began to download or upload, I’m not sure which. Either way, when the download finished, I woke up n-not too far outside the town.”

Nopony could say a word, still stuck on half the things the pony they were sure was insane was trying to convey.

“Hold on—“ Twilight tried to interrupt him, but Corey kept going.

“As for why John’s here too, I was t-talking to him over my c-computer using…using Skype,” Corey continued his tale, “This is actually the first t-time we’ve seen each other since we b-became friends…”

“Back up!” Rainbow finally interjected, “What is all this about? Code, computers, Skype!? I don’t know what any of these are! How do we know you’re not just making this all up to save your hide?!”

Applejack remained silent for a bit, as though considering what Corey was saying. However, her opinion wasn’t too high.

“I’m not making it up…” Corey continued. His voice was still calm, but his face…

He was obviously panicking now.

“Girls, if you would…” Right there, a few steps from the accused unicorn, they fell into a huddle.

“What do you two think?” Twilight asked.

“You actually believe his story?” Rainbow questioned.

“He sounds like he knows what he’s talkin’ about, but…” Applejack said, “He could just as easily be lying through his teeth and believin’ his own lies…”

“Or he’s a madpony who can’t even explain anything…”

The others glanced over to the captured dragon, who Corey had referred to as “John”, and “a friend”. The reptile was currently slamming his face into the floor.

“Then again, I ain’t totally sure what’s going on,” Applejack continued.

“I’m not sure…He goes on like he knows what he’s talking about, but…” Twilight looked up, “I don’t know…”

“I’m thinkin’ he escaped from a loony bin not too long ago…” Rainbow whispered. “Not sure how much longer I can keep it down…”

The mares quickly broke their huddle, Twilight speaking again, “You didn’t explain any of this: what is a ‘computer’?”

Now Corey looked like he just tripped over an exposed root, “A computer is…is…A computer is…a device…where things happen…and those things can keep going…It’s what things called ‘programs’ do, and I know how to code those, and…and…”

The dragon once again slammed his face into the ground.

He seems to know what these things are, but he can’t put it into words… Twilight thought, I’m…not sure…

“Your story is interesting, ‘Corey’…” It was still awkward to say, “But it’s hard to believe. The multiverse theory is just that, a theory. Like I said before, nopony’s perfected such a thing outside of fiction. You might know of all these things we barely know, but it could have been from another work of fiction that I haven’t touched yet…”

“You? Not touching a book?” Rainbow asked. “Sounds just as fishy as what he’s been spouting…”

“I want to believe you’re not making this up,” Twilight continued, “But I can’t. I need physical proof that you’re not just spinning words. What proof do you actually have that this all happened?”

The green unicorn’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. It closed, but to open again without result. It seemed to be sinking in now.

“You don’t have any, do you?” Twilight asked.

“Well, I guess we’ve talked long enough,” Rainbow scoffed.

“Well, I suppose we’d better go into the other room…” Twilight said, “If you’ll excuse us?”

“Of course…” Corey whispered, nodding. His voice was low and…surprisingly hoarse sounding, for lack of a better term. Which was weird, considering he couldn’t have even said that much. The dragon continued to remain perfectly still, more or less.

The three mares—no, four, Fluttershy had already relocated to the next room as soon as Twilight had brought it up. Rarity and Pinkie were still tending to the shocked ponies that had come into contact with the dragon. They were sure to arrive soon enough. While Twilight would have preferred to have had all her friends present, she surely could understand the simple fact they couldn’t be present for Corey’s explanation.

And she was sure that no matter how many times she heard his story, it still wouldn’t add up completely.

“Alright girls, what do you think?” asked Twilight, breaking the silence of the room.

“I think he’s nuts!” Rainbow announced as bluntly as possible, obviously not caring if they heard from the next room. The others turned to her, brows arched. “Oh c’mon, I can’t be the only one thinking it!”

“I’ll admit that Corey’s story may seem a little—“

“Crazy?”

“Convoluted,” Twilight ignored Rainbow’s aside, “But be that as it may, I’m not so sure we should dismiss everything he’s said so quickly.”

“You’re sayin’ that you believe his multiverse story?” asked Applejack, “Didn’t you say it was just a theory?”

“I did, and as I said, there is no known proof that it is possible to travel between parallel universes. But then again, there was no proof that a pony could simply turn into an alicorn until about a month ago.”

Twilight had a point; all the mares in the room remembered very well those events. The capabilities of magic were still surprising them, even after everything they’d been through since meeting.

“So you’re saying that it might be possible,” All heads turned to Fluttershy, who had spoken up for the first time since the conversation had moved to the library. She shrunk just a little from the sudden attention, but kept right on going anyway, “But…we don’t know it yet?”

“Hey, just because magic can do a lot of things doesn’t mean it explains everything,” Rainbow continued, unconvinced. Twilight put her hand to her chin, contemplating this.

She’s right too, just because somepony makes a claim they can do something through magic, doesn’t mean the claim is true. Twilight said, On the other hand, if we went purely by appearances, this case would be open-and-shut, no doubt about it. Still…

“I guess you’re right…”

“Well…um, w-what about the d-dragon?” asked Fluttershy.

“You mean the dragon that terrorized the whole town?” questioned Rainbow, “What about him?”

“W-well…I-I was just…wondering if…um, he was really so bad?”

There were two things seriously wrong with that statement on the surface: one, it was Fluttershy of all ponies who was saying this about a dragon, and two, well, Rainbow’s expression after her meek friend suggested this.

“Are you serious, Fluttershy?!” Rainbow shouted, “Do you remember what he did?!”

“What…did he do?” Applejack asked, looking out the window, “No fires were started, nothing was destroyed other than the road where he made his landin’. Outside of that, he seemed to be desperately avoiding doing any more damage than he already had. Does that really sound like somethin’ a terrorizin’ dragon would do?”

Another good point… Twilight thought to herself, when something else occurred to her, something that was pretty obvious in hindsight, “Not to mention, he has wings. If he wanted to get out of town, he could have just flown away, but instead he ran around. But was that because he refused to fly, or because he couldn’t fly?”

“How could a dragon that old not know how to fly?” Rainbow cut in yet again.

“It’s possible,” Twilight said, “If he didn’t grow up as a dragon to begin with…”

The room fell silent again. Things were slowly beginning to come together.

“So maybe both of them did come from a parallel world or whatever,” Rainbow said, “Then why do they look like they do, and why are they here now?”

“He tried to explain that, but he totally lost us, remember,” Applejack reminded her, “Talkin’ about weird stuff that don’t even exist here…”

“I just remembered…” Twilight suddenly said, “When I heard about the dragon, I sent Celestia for help. When I first saw him, I thought Corey was the help…but now I see that definitely isn’t the case regardless…Whatever the case, you’d think we’d have gotten a response by now…”

All eyes turned to the door as a loud bang, accompanied by a flash, filled the room. Immediately, all present became worried, in their own unique ways of course.

“Don’t tell me he just—“ Twilight started.

“That punk!” Rainbow interrupted, leading the charge towards the door.

The next thing Twilight knew, Rainbow had practically barged through the door, but stopped just a moment later. The others soon realized precisely why she had stopped. There was a tall figure in a long, regal white dress, her exposed fur a distinctly white-pink, if anything…not that’d you’d be able to tell from a casual glance. Her mane and tail—multiple colors—flowed gently, despite the total lack of wind in the room. She also had gold gauntlets and boots. Her wings were gently folded, and one could see a unicorn’s horn coming out of her forehead.

She appeared to be looking over the two alleged dimension-hoppers. Corey hadn’t moved an inch from the chair, but appeared to be slouching over more in the chair. John also hadn’t moved at all, flat on the ground, looking up at the newcomer with wide eyes. A silence hung for a moment, but it was Twilight who broke it.

“P-Princess Celestia?!” she gasped, completely startled. As though realizing they were there for the first time, she turned her head up and turned towards them. Each of them immediately moved to show respect; Rainbow landing on the ground to kneel.

“I apologize for the unexpected intrusion,” Celestia responded, the group slowly rising back to a standing posture, “And I also apologize for not replying earlier, but I was investigating something important.”

“Something…important?” Twilight questioned.

“Yes, but your letter actually helped me,” The solar princess continued, “A few minutes before I had received your letter, there was a magical…disturbance, of some kind. Even now, I do not know all of the details. It wasn’t until I read your letter about the dragon suddenly appearing in Ponyville that I realized there might have been a connection.”

“I should mention, there were actually two, but they happened so close together it was like it happened all at once—but from each of these, an object of some kind had come out.”

At this point, the seeming implausibility of Corey’s story didn’t matter anymore. The pieces moved together quickly in Twilight’s head.

John couldn’t fly because he wasn’t born a dragon, he was made one…which means Corey wasn’t born a unicorn either… Twilight thought, They both had no idea the other was here…Which means…But then…

“So, then, those…those objects…?” Fluttershy began.

“No way…” Rainbow’s expression had turned to shock when she finally realized what had happened.

“Even though it still doesn’t explain the holes Corey’s story had,” Twilight responded, “at least we know something more important. He—and John—are from a parallel universe, where such things like ‘computers’ and ‘Skype’ do exist!”

“So…he was tellin’ the truth this whole time?!” Applejack exclaimed, utterly dumbfounded, either because she didn’t see it, or she just couldn’t believe such a fantastic story.

“Well,” Princess Celestia paused, turning back to Corey, “You two appear to not mean any harm in any case.”

“Guess we’d better untie the dragon, then—“ Rainbow started.

Snap!

All eyes turned to John, who was finally standing, stretching his arms and—rather awkwardly, his newfound wings. The rope that had bound him for the past several minutes was snapped to pieces around him. Everypony—everyone—paused at the sight.

“So you could have just done that whenever?” Rainbow asked.

John attempted to answer, but apparently thought better of it, instead nodding.

“Didn’t mean ya’ll had to do it,” Applejack pointed out, “Those don’t grow on trees, y’know!”

John’s response: an innocent-looking smile. Keep in mind, he was still a dragon, so the result was…less than innocent-looking.

“So…” Princess Celestia paused. For a few moments, Corey stared blankly, as though he didn’t quite understand why she’d done so. Eventually it occurred to him.

“Oh!” Corey shook his head, “Uh, I-I’m Corey, he’s John. I’m guessing he can’t talk…for some reason.”

“Corey,” The solar princess continued onward, “If you would, explain what happened to you before you got here, if you can?”

The second time around wasn’t any easier to hear than the first. Granted, Corey did pause to try to explain some of the stuff on his end this time around (keyword being try), but even then, it didn’t quite add up.

So he got a message, with some code—text that when assembled, creates a program—something that runs on a computer and does something. When he ran the resulting program, Skype started to act erratically, and the next thing he knew, he was here…

Twilight had to admit she took away a lot more from this than she had the first time around. Princess Celestia hardly showed much of a reaction to Corey’s story, seeming to take careful notes of not only what Corey was saying but how he was saying it. After a year under her wing, Twilight had to guess that her mentor was making sense of what Corey was trying to convey but failing.

“Sorry if…sorry if anything…seems a little off,” Corey finished, seeming to be slightly more comfortable talking about his situation now that someone could back him up on his story, “I’m…I’m just not that great at explaining things, and with everything that’s happened, I’m not—“

Corey came to a halt when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up, seeing the solar princess looking down upon him with the same kind of gentleness that was present when she walked on four legs—a gentle, warm smile. Even before she had spoken to him, there was a presence about her, one that Corey felt was warm and comforting.

“You need not apologize,” she said, “You have done all you could to explain what happened, and I could not ask for more.”

By now, it was no secret Corey was already stressing over the predicament he was in. The circumstances only made it worse: having to explain it alone, John having royally (and inadvertently) pissed off the locals, not fully understanding what had happened himself. But with those simple words, Corey’s stress melted away.

She’s every bit as kind as the show says she is… Corey thought quietly to himself.

“However…” Celestia said, “What you just explained has revealed something even you haven’t noticed as of yet. This ‘computer’ that you spoke of was the source that let you cross into our world, and it appears that it did not make the jump with you…”

It hadn’t really occurred to Corey that the laptop he owned was that important to the story until she brought it up. Now that he was thinking about it, he was sucked into his laptop screen. He still wasn’t sure how it worked that way, but whatever the case, once he assembled the hidden message and ran the code, he was here, without his computer.

And here, technology like that does not exist…which means…

For the first time, Corey truly realized what kind of situation he was in, his eyes widening. He cast a quick glance to John; sure enough, the dragon’s own eyes were wide.

“…Which means…w-we’re stuck here…”

Author's Note

And that's where I'll leave off for the moment. Drop a comment if you liked it, what needs improved, and such.

Act 1 Chapter 5

Act I: Collision of Worlds

Chapter 5: The Overview

All in all, Twilight Sparkle had never thought she’d see the day where creatures from another world came to hers. Never mind the fact they’d be somehow morphed into something that didn’t look alien to her world—though she wasn’t quite sure why it happened all the same. And yet, here two such creatures were—one resembling a unicorn, the other an aged dragon (more aged than Spike, anyway). Such an opportunity couldn’t be missed.

“You really wanna do this, Twi?” Rainbow asked, “I mean, they just got here…”

“We don’t know how much longer they’ll be here,” Twilight responded, “For all we know, Princess Celestia could be making arrangements to send them home as we speak! I simply can’t pass up an opportunity to learn about another world—now that I know at least one actually exists!”

Corey and John looked to each other. If anypony paid special attention to Corey’s face, they’d have probably seen the briefest twinge of terror on his face. Incidentally, now that he was sure that things would be fine, his face hadn’t had much of an expression at all.

“Suit yourself,” The cyan mare said.

Since Rarity and Spike had yet to return—most likely because Rarity was still thinking of what she could do to help John’s situation—Twilight had taken the opportunity to construct a survey.

And she was about to start it.

“I have put together a list of questions I want to ask, before Rarity comes back,” Twilight said, in a tone of voice that was stern—one that, had Corey and John not been informed she was going to ask them questions, would have tipped them off she wasn’t going to back down from this. The list hovered in front of her—cloaked in the same magenta glow as her horn was, along with a quill and ink bottle.

“Uh,” Corey stuttered, his right hand obscuring his lower jaw, letting off awkward smiles, “Guess it’s not every day a primary source just…just drops into your laps, huh?”

John shot Corey a small look, the latter seemingly not noticing.

“I’m glad to see you understand,” Twilight said with a smile, “Alright, so my first question…” She held the quill with her left hand, tapping a part near the top of the list. “What do you guys usually look like, back in your world?”

“Um…” Corey said, attempting to answer, “Uh…For me, at least, not all that different—John wasn’t eight feet tall and doesn’t usually have scales, so he’s different—You see, we’re…uh…normally these creatures called…’Humans’…? Physically, not that different, but…but we can’t use magic or fly—and our ears are on the sides of our heads, and…I think, that’s more or less it—Oh! And we don’t have tails either!”

“Minor anatomical differences from ponies…no magic…” Twilight said, “I assume your world has no magic whatsoever, then?”

Corey nodded with a small, awkward grunt, while John nodded too.

“No magic?” Rainbow questioned, “How does the weather work then? I mean, does anypony control it?”

“Well, no,” The unicorn said, “It just kinda…happens.”

“The weather cycles like in the Everfree Forest?!” Rainbow asked, “Get out! The next thing you’ll tell me is that the animals in the wild don’t need special care!”

The ensuing silence told Twilight—and Rainbow, all they needed to know.

“Oh…oh goddess, you’re not joking…” said the pegasus, lightly shocked.

Twilight scribbled down the information she just heard, nodding, almost unfazed by that revelation.

It is a parallel world without magic, I suppose that much was to be expected, but still…

“So are all the humans in one country?” Twilight asked, earning her two very confused glances, “I mean…well, we’re in Equestria, and you’ll find mostly ponies in this country, but then we have dragon country out to the southeast, and griffons in another country, and so on…”

“Uh…no,” Corey said, “There are different kinds of humans all over the world…I forgot to mention, we aren’t covered in fur—or at least, not so much you can’t see the skin underneath—yeah, um…some people are…peach-colored, others, uh…chocolate-colored…” His face pinched a little, “Just some of the tones you’ll find. But no one over there’s like, green or blue or jet black or anything…”

“I see…” Twilight continued to scribble down notes, “All of this is very interesting…I might be able to find something on humans at least…Hmm…So, what’s human culture like? Is it any different from ours?”

Corey seemed to bristle. His face seemed to contort in discomfort, and he offered naught but a simple, “Um…uh…”

At this point, John put one of his massive hands on Corey’s shoulder, getting his attention.

“Oh, you want to take it from here?” Corey asked.

John gave a simple nod.

“Uh…alright,” Corey said, looking…relieved, maybe? “Makes sense…I really wouldn’t be able to offer much anyway…”

The dragon only nodded again, this time in a sort of understanding manner. Twilight felt somepony nudge at her side, and turned to see Rainbow, now looking slightly amused. With a simple scoff, the newly coronated princess turned to John.

“So…” Twilight glanced to her list. “Hmm…” She floated the list over to John. “If you can, keep it concise—I still have more questions to ask…”

John began to go to work, writing away, the quill scratching away. It took him a short while to get all his thoughts down. Corey just seemed to wait, taking glances at the paper’s direction. At one point, he fiddled with his glasses, but he pretty much offered no help to John.

John finished his answer, and passed the paper over to the lavender alicorn. It wasn’t too hard to read what John had wrote down.

“A lot more cultures than I can count…” Twilight repeated aloud, reading the human-turned-dragon’s answer. “Could you give me an estimate, so that I can have an idea?”

John wrinkled his nose, clearly thinking. Corey didn’t seem to respond at all. After several seconds, John made a motion towards the paper. The paper went back to John. He wrote his answer, and Twilight read.

“Fifteen, off the top of your head?” Twilight asked. She looked off to her left, as though considering something. Her focus entirely on John now, she decided to pass him the list, only on the blank side of the parchment. She hardly made two-sided lists, and given the time she’d figured she’d have to work with, hadn’t prepared an extensive one—extensive by her standards anyway.

“Would you mind writing down anything about the cultures you know about?” Twilight asked. It took a long while—John would often pause to think of what to write next, but she remained focused on the quill scratching its way across the paper, trying to predict what she was about to read, and yet knowing it was impossible to truly do so.

Eventually, though, John managed to finish his written work, and turned it back over to Twilight, who began to go over the writing there.

…a culture a human is part of depends on what part of the world is born in, similar to our world…

Corey had slipped away from the group when John took over the interview, somehow having managed to avoid being spotted. Actually, Twilight had seemed far more focused on John’s notes than anything else at the moment. As for Rainbow, she looked like she was mentally nodding off from all the nerdy indulgence Twilight was doing.

Go ahead and let her know, Corey thought, Not like I can really say anything…besides, we know how…volatile I can get when it comes to that kind of thing…

He turned out the window, seeing shapes—distant pegasus ponies, no doubt—working on…something, he was sure. The former human stared out the window, looking through what he could see.

Even if nothing bad’s happening here right now, I still feel stupid for putting together the code… Corey thought, But why? Why was there code that did this? I’d have maybe understood it if it were a virus…a thing that was an insanely elaborate way to print “Thanks for watching the episodes, brony!”…but why did it do this, of all things? Why did it warp me and John here…?

“Hi…”

Corey was called out of his thoughts real quick by the sound of Twilight’s voice—yes, when he turned to the voice, he saw her looking at him. Behind her, he could see Rainbow with the paper with all of Twilight’s notes…setting them aside before turning to John.

“O-oh, h-hey…” Corey stuttered, not paying too much mind to that, more worried she was trying to talk to him. And…standing right next to him.

“You were so quiet I didn’t notice you had walked off…” Twilight said, “Everything alright?”

“Sorry, I—uh…” Corey stumbled over the ability to form speech, “I just wasn’t sure I-I’d be able to answer any of your questions. Like you saw…I’m not that good in…in conversation.”

“Well, you were under a lot of stress at the time,” Twilight was obviously trying to give him comfort, something which Corey had to give her credit for, “But now that everything’s fine, maybe we can try again?”

“I…uh…” Corey said, “Okay…?”

Anypony paying attention to Corey’s face might see the discomforted, shifting emotional expression on his face, almost as if he didn’t know what emotion he should have all of a sudden.

“So…um,” Twilight did catch the awkward tic, but it didn’t stop her. She cast a quick glance behind her—Rainbow was turned to John, but she couldn’t tell what was going on over there—but Corey was surprised to see her horn wasn’t lit up—she wasn’t floating the list over. “What do humans…” She paused, casting another glance behind her, much longer than before. Corey could just see her lower jaw slightly contort, as if she were biting her lip.

Does she want her list, or something…? Corey thought to himself, but Twilight soon turned back to him…shaking her head slightly?

“What do humans do for fun?” Twilight questioned.

“For fun…” Corey began to think.

Don’t wanna go into video games since I don’t have a visual aid…same with animating…She’d get sprites confused with mythical sprites…That leaves…

“Well, some humans tend to…make up stuff…like stories!” Corey hit his mark, and he felt it deep down. He felt safe talking about that particular hobby.

“Stories? So your world has books too!” Twilight responded, but Corey kept going.

“Right! Some of us do it for a job, others do…do it as a sort of…hobby…” Corey felt only a little hesitant in admitting this next part, “I’m one of them…”

“Really?!” Twilight asked, “so…um, how does…how does that work?”

Corey paused. Is she trying to make me feel comfortable…

However, he soon cast aside this thought in favor of his answer…

“I don’t know where to start, really. It feels like...like I can do anything. Like, I can free myself from the shackles of daily life, and just go into something I made up, and build everything as it goes. The feeling is hard to describe, really…It’s like…like…the pen is merely a medium to transmit a river of creativity to the paper. The paper then stands as a tome to all of that!”

Listening to him speak now, you’d never guess he was the same guy who fumbled so badly explaining human technology—something’s he’s supposed to be a pro in, or something like that… John thought to himself. For that matter, you start wondering how he can’t talk to girls…

“You must write a lot, huh?” Twilight asked.

She’s clearly not asking him any of her questions anymore… John mused, watching the spectacle. Meh, whatever.

“I’ve been writing on the side ever since I was real young,” Corey confirmed, with all semblance of skittishness and anxiety vanishing now. “It’s been something I’ve worked at since I was incredibly young.”

John heard somepony on his left snicker. It wasn’t hard to realize who it was. Rainbow looked to him with an all-too mischievous grin. She made a small motion towards them, but didn’t say anything. Not that John needed to hear her speak to know where she was going.

John knew there was only one way he could get this pegasus to respond to his concerns. He took a deep breath—through his nose, before pressing his clawed hand to his throat. He reached out, touching Rainbow’s shoulder.

His face contorted, his throat tightened, and he began to, very carefully, force air out of his mouth in conjunction with moving his tongue. He spoke, very clearly, one word.

“Don’t.”

Equestria’s capital city, Canterlot, was a fair way north of Ponyville. Towards the center of the much larger and louder city, stood Canterlot Castle, the home of the rulers of the land. Currently, the solar princess, Celestia, stood at the balcony of one of the towers, her gaze directed at the village she had just left. Her thoughts were entirely on the unexpected visitors she had left in the care of Twilight and her friends. She couldn’t help but wonder what was going through their heads, faced with a world unfamiliar to them, and in such unfamiliar bodies.

But with any luck, they shouldn’t need to worry for long. They should be able to return home… she thought to herself, Provided that he’s able to send them back.

She gazed out towards Ponyville for a few moments longer, before she closed her eyes, letting out a small sigh which came sort of close to a scoff.

“I would much appreciate it if we could skip your surprise appearance…” she mused, seemingly to herself more than anypony else, but Princess Celestia was not alone. Behind her, a large painting began to move and twitch, like something was inside of it. And indeed something was—it was beginning to remove itself from the canvas close to the bottom of the painting. It revealed itself slowly, sounding like a slice of cheese being peeled off of a piece of plastic.

The first thing to come out of the painting was a pair of black dress shoes, closely followed by brown dress pants. Next was a torso, covered by a yellow long sleeved collared shirt which was left untucked. The hands of the creature could not be seen, tucked away in the pockets of the pants. Finally, the head came out, the flesh gray and aged—a small white beard off the tip of the chin, and his eyebrows matched the beard. His hair was also white, but only towards the front while the rest was black, running down to the back of his head. Coming out from the top of his head were two horns, one ram horn, one elk horn.

It was Discord himself, spirit of chaos, and up until recently, malignant. Now, however, he seemed to be changing his ways for the better.

“Sorry, but as they say, ‘old habits are hard to let go of’,” he said, taking one last step forward and popping completely out of the painting. On his back were two wings: one blue pegasus wing, one purple bat wing. “Well, as requested, I have arrived.”

He bowed, spreading his arms slightly. The bow was only halfway done, though.

“Thank you,” Celestia said. To say that there was no reason to be concerned Discord was free wasn’t exactly true, but to say that he had stayed true to his word so far was true—he hadn’t done anything that could be considered him relapsing into his old ways, at least, not yet, “Now that you are here, I wish to speak to you—“

“About the temporal distortion from earlier?”

Celestia paused, raising a brow, “You already knew?”

The spirit of chaos only chuckled, “Well of course…”

One snap of the fingers later, Discord vanished, appearing a second later next to the solar princess, leaning against the railing of the balcony.

“I can pick up any form of imbalance that could transpire around us—I’d have to be a fool to allow something like that to slip by me unnoticed. That said, I still don’t know what exactly came through, so would you mind filling in the blanks?”

“Two beings from another world, one whose inhabitants are referred to as ‘humans’,” Celestia summarized.

“Humans, eh?” questioned Discord, for the first time showing what could have been interest, “Tell me, what do they look like?”

“Their appearances had changed the moment they entered our world,” Celestia continued, “One is now a unicorn, the other changed into a dragon…early adult stage, to be precise.”

Discord chuckled again, “Was that the dragon I’ve heard of recently, the one who attacked the town?”

“The attack was merely a misunderstanding. Once he was finally confronted, it was confirmed he was no threat. Now he and his friend are with Twilight awaiting for my return, which brings me to why I have called you,” Celestia finally turned to face Discord directly, “Your magic allows you to bend the reality around you to your will. So, would it also allow you to open a portal back to where they have come from?”

Discord placed one hand to his chin, seemingly going into deep thought after Celestia made her request. His moment of pause wasn’t for long, however. He put his hand back down upon railing, and gave his answer.

“Yes?”

A slight smile began to spread across the solar princess’s lips.

Well, that was easier than—

“And no.” Discord added a contradiction to his answer.

“What do you mean?” Celestia’s smile faded as she asked why Discord’s answer was as it was.

“The distortion that occurred closed as quickly as it opened, leaving no trace behind. By extension, it left no trace to its source,” Discord raised one hand, extending the index finger, using his magic to form a small white orb.

“As you know, with each universe that exists, there are an infinite number more,” The orb moved forward slowly, as more orbs seemed to come out of it, filling not only the outside but the inside room as well, “And with each world, there is a difference from the other.”

The orbs began to change, some changing colors, others changing shape, and still different ones changing size.

“Trying to search each of them individually would take far too long. Even if we had them narrow the list down to universes with humans, that would still leave far too many to search.” Discord closed his hands, causing all the orbs to change back and come together into one single orb, “Sorry to say, but without a way to trace them back to their original world…they’ll never return home…”

Princess Celestia frowned.

“You know, you shouldn’t scowl like that…” Discord said in a mocking tone, “They say it causes wrinkles…”

The solar princess’s attention was elsewhere, however.

So even Discord is unable to pinpoint alternate worlds…I had hoped I could tell them good news about the prospects of their safe return home, but…it looks like I’m going to have to be the bearer of bad news…

Some time had passed at the library. Rarity and Spike had returned, the former ready to construct what was now taking shape as a sort of coat for John. John, meanwhile, had to do his best manikin impression so that she could go to work. Corey stood off to the side, eyes half-closed, looking towards the ground. Twilight was currently looking over the notes from earlier, waiting for Rarity to finish. Rainbow, meanwhile, leaned against the wall, looking half-asleep.

Why do I have to close my eyes, again? John wondered to himself, standing precisely still. He couldn’t see anything through his closed eyes, and as such, was starting to get curious as to what exactly the unicorn mare was doing. Slowly he tried to open one eye, hoping that he could get a glimpse of—

“Uh-uh!” scolded Rarity, covering the eye John tried to open, “No peeking, you don’t want to ruin the surprise, do you?”

John groaned a little, closing his eye again.

Now, Rarity, I know you have talent here, but I’ve only ever seen you design dresses, the dragon thought as his vision once more resembled a wall of darkness—the inside of his eyelids, Honestly, I’m afraid I’m wearing something like one right now. Wish I could say this out loud…

“And…” Rarity began, “Voila, it is done!” There was no mistaking the pride in her voice. John heard the sounds of something being moved—perhaps by magic? “Now open your eyes and see!”

Well, here goes nothing… John thought to himself, taking a deep breath, not knowing exactly what was covering him. Slowly, his eyes opened, and after they saw his reflection in the mirror in front of him, his eyes went wide in surprise. Whoa!

John found himself rapidly taking back all the complaints he’d had just two seconds ago, taking in the sight of his reflection. Over his upper body was a dark blue hooded sweater. However, Rarity wasn’t satisfied with just that; also on the design was a dragon’s head over the left arm and torso in black, contrasting with the blue.

“Well, what do you think?”

Writing my response… John paused, won’t be enough…

The human-turned-dragon took a deep breath, directing all his attention to his throat, making sure the air was going to the right spot. He turned to Rarity.

“Thank…you…” John rasped. Rarity was a bit shocked.

“Oh, he spoke!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Yup,” Rainbow cut in, “He said one word not too long before you got back…” She walked up to John, examining the new hoodie for a few seconds, before giving her own comment on John’s new wardrobe: “Nice threads.”

“I’m glad you all like it so much!” Rarity chirped, “I even made sure to include holes on the back for your wings.”

John turned around to see two wings perfectly sticking out through the back of the sweater, from about where his shoulderblades were.

Not bad… John thought to himself as he looked further at his wings, which were folded, So…how do I use these things?

He tried to focus on his wings, to see if he could feel the muscle on his back. One eye closed as he felt something twitch—faint, but still there. One moment later, his own wing snapped towards his nose, slapping him square in the face.

John blinked, not expecting the action to happen. Behind him, Rainbow broke out in a fit of laughter.

All the while, Corey could only watch in envy. Not because John had just gotten fitted, certainly not because John played the role of manikin, but because of a much simpler fact. He lost control of separating his thoughts from voice once again.

“How can he be so calm…”

“What do you mean?”

Corey straightened up in posture. Did I say that out loud…

He looked over, seeing Twilight—of course, she was close enough to hear him.

“There’s a very good chance we might never be able to go home…” Corey stated, slowly moving his left hand to his forehead—minding the horn he was very aware was there this time—before resting it there, “How come I’m the only one who’s a nervous wreck…”

“Everypony copes differently, I suppose,” Twilight said in a reassuring tone, putting one hand on Corey’s shoulder, “But try and stay positive, I’m sure that Princess Celestia will return soon with good news…”

Corey turned his head to look at the purple alicorn, who was looking upon him with such a sweet, reassuring smile that he couldn’t help but feel compelled to relax.

At least, until a flash of light filled his vision—made worse by his glasses. Corey blinked, seeing the solar princess herself.

She’s back…Hope it’s good…

All heads turned to Princess Celestia. Corey couldn’t see her facial expression straight away. John didn’t quite get a good look either. She seemed to be dodging meeting their eyes directly for a time, her head hung. However, she seemed to quickly gather herself, looking up to address them—and the whole room.

“I am sorry, but your stay may be longer than you expected…” Her voice was sympathetic, but Corey just felt pathetic upon realizing what it was she was trying to tell him. The despair that had been eating at him ever since he realized what the code had done finally got past what little optimism he had left towards his and John’s situation.

Well, this is just perfect…we’re stuck in Equestria with no way back home…due to some code I decided to run…

The thought in Corey’s head that echoed most of all was:

It’s all my fault…

Author's Note

And there it is. The news has been delivered. Now, where will we go from here? Only one way to find out...

Act 1 Chapter 6

Act I: Collision of Worlds

Chapter 6: Glint in the Darkness

This entire situation was abnormal. Not one thing about the situation at hand was like it was back home. Back home, John was someone that rarely, if ever, allowed something to get to him. He always found a way to shrug off something negative. But this time, it wasn’t meant to be. It wasn’t something he could move past.

It hadn’t been too long since Princess Celestia teleported to the library for the second time that day to deliver some news. At first, the humans were full of hope. Those hopes were dashed as soon as she spoke.

We’re really stuck here… John thought to himself, We’re stuck here for the rest of our lives…but all things considered, I should be taking it harder than Corey…soon as he heard, he started hyperventilating…and passed out.

John was in the next room over, glancing back to the room where Corey had been left to recover. However, he soon turned his gaze to the nearest window. He could see signs that the town had recovered from the shock of the earlier “attack” they’d suffered through. It was like nothing had ever happened.

I can still see their horrified faces… John remembered vividly the events immediately after his arrival, They took a look at me and assumed I’d be trouble…I still don’t know how I’m the one still standing after hearing that horrible news. He could see his reflection in the window now, his eyes focusing on that, and his face bunched up in frustration at the now draconic face that stared back at him.

At least Corey’s able to blend in as a unicorn. No one would give him a second glance. But me…I became a dragon… John released a small sigh, white smoke coming out as he lowered his head. He reached over his shoulder with his clawed hand, pulling his hood over his head. Guess I should get used to hiding my face…

At that point, John figured he’d just enjoy the relative silence, at least until Corey came to. However…

“So this is where you snuck off to?”

In response to the voice, John raised his head, looking over his shoulder. Standing in the doorway with her arms crossed was Rainbow Dash, staring at him with an arched brow. John stared back at her for a few moments, before he dropped his eyes.

“Yeah…” he rasped, turning his head back towards the window, still only able to speak in monosyllables.

“I take it you’re kinda bummed, huh?” Rainbow asked him. John could hear her footsteps approaching him, but didn’t respond vocally.

And your first clue was…? John responded to her question, though he didn’t really say it.

“Yeah, I guess I can get how that could be a downer…” Rainbow continued, leaning her back on the window frame.

John didn’t answer, not that he could.

“What, not gonna answer?” questioned Rainbow, noticing his total silence, “Fine by me,” She shrugged, before giving him a small grin, “I’ll just keep talking…”

Now John made a noise—a small groan.

She could go on for hours about herself. It wouldn’t make me feel too much better…

“So let’s see, you’ve been sent to another world, and just found you’re pretty much stuck there,” Rainbow summarized, “But look on the bright side!”

I’ve been trying to…

“Now you get to be a dragon!” Rainbow cut in, “You’ve got to admit that’s pretty awesome!”

John paused, realizing something was off about her comment, That doesn’t sound like—

“Not as awesome as being me, but close enough,” Rainbow finished.

And there it is… Yet, even as he thought that, John couldn’t resist letting out a small chuckle.

“Praise Celestia, he makes a sound!” Rainbow called out, raising her hands sarcastically, “So now that you feel like saying something, maybe you’d like to say what’s really bugging you.”

John turned his head away from the window to look at her, his best surprised expression plastered on his face.

“What, you think nopony noticed?” she asked him, “You were pretty much shrugging off the fact that you were in another world. Now, all of a sudden, you’re all depressed. So what’s the deal?”

John looked away from Rainbow for a moment, looking back at his reflection in the window, and the town outside. He closed his eyes, bowing his head and choking out his answer.

“Fear…”

A few moments passed as Rainbow took in what he was saying. Eventually though, John heard the sounds of a raspberry filling his ears, blown by Rainbow.

“Are you still thinking about that? It was an accident! Once the town knows it, I’m pretty sure they’ll let it go,” Rainbow responded, blowing past the incident.

John could only turn to her with a skeptical look. Rainbow rolled her eyes and went on.

“Here’s an example: remember Spike, the other dragon?” she asked him.

John nodded.

“Well, long story short, he turned into a giant greedy dragon at one point—wasn’t long ago, really—and pretty much terrorized the whole town. But by the end of the day he went back to normal and the town forgave him. And do you know why?”

Must have missed that one… John thought to himself, not knowing the answer offhand. So, he merely shrugged and awaited her answer.

“Because it was an accident,” she said, “See where I’m going with this?”

Okay, I misjudged. She’s actually able to comfort me…Didn’t think she could be that deep…

“Forgive…and…forget,” John managed, pressing his hand to his throat at least once to make sure that he was saying the right thing.

“Bingo!” Rainbow said, reaching for John’s hood, “So give it some time, I’m sure once we tell them that you’re cool, they’ll move on.”

As she removed John’s hood, she continued, “And if they got a problem with that, I’ll give them a reason to be afraid!”

Rainbow punched the palm of her hand, a loud smack, resulting in John chuckling.

Her approach may have been the bluntest… John noted, But it worked somehow…

The dragon cast one final glance outside, reflecting on what had just happened.

It’s still not easy. I’ll never see anyone I knew back home again, I’ll never see my home again…But now, I’m starting to wonder if it’s really as bad as I think it’s going to be…

“Hey, I think he’s waking up!”

The voice echoed in his ears. Corey let out a small groan. Thoughts began to go through his mind, one at a time…

What happened…? Head…hurts…can’t see…

He felt his eye muscles twitch and realized that his eyelids were shut, so obviously he wouldn’t be able to see.

I feel like I just threw my head into a boulder or something… Corey thought, gritting his teeth and applying one hand to his face—his glasses were still there, they didn’t feel damaged. So was that horn on his forehead. Yet, when he forced his eyes open…

Can’t see…

At first, everything around him blurred together; he couldn’t see a single thing, but eventually, the image began to focus: first, he was able to identify a large purple blob right in front of him. However, his eyes managed to focus quickly, allowing him to make out exactly who it was.

“T-Twilight…?” His voice sounded raspy, even groaning at a low volume.

“Oh good,” she gave a smile of relief, “You’re awake!”

Corey tried to get up, but immediately his head seemed to hurt a lot worse. It nearly forced him flat on his back again. However, pressing his hand harder to his face, he managed to pull himself up into a sitting position.

“What…happened…?” He asked the first question that came to his mind.

“You went bonkers and passed out is what happened!” Corey turned his head—it had been Rainbow Dash who said that. He took a brief moment to look around—it seemed like everypony was there.

“Blunt…” Including the still near-mute John, summing up Rainbow’s explanation neatly. Rainbow turned, sticking her tongue out at him. Twilight gave her a glare, but quickly returned her attention back to him.

“What Rainbow means is…” She hesitated. However, she looked into his eyes, nodded to herself, and continued on, “After…after Princess Celestia returned, you were given some pretty bad news…”

Corey blinked, but eventually, the memories began to return as Twilight continued on.

“After that, you started to hyperventilate, saying some things we couldn’t understand. We tried to calm you down, but…before we could, you lost consciousness…and hit your head on the floor. You’ve been out for two hours…”

“I am sorry, but your stay may be longer than you expected…” Corey remembered the disappointment in her words, in her face, What…what do I do now…

His head lowered as it sunk in all over again, his right hand pressing to his face, under the glasses this time. There was nothing he could do now to hide what he was feeling, his hand shaking—no, his whole body began to tremor, and his breathing rate began to spike.

I…I’m…I’m alone…There’s nothing left for me here…I’m…all alone…

“Easy, Corey,” Twilight tried to say something to him, but Corey wasn’t listening at all now, “Just…just try to relax…It…It’ll all be okay.”

John knew full well what Twilight was trying to do, but he knew from prior experience it was no use.

I can’t say anything to him, either…I doubt he’d listen right now anyway. He wouldn’t even stop to read it, I’d bet. Once he gets started…

“No…” Corey sounded like he was deliberately trying to hold his emotions in, and he wasn’t very good at it. “It won’t…”

You won’t stop him… John thought.

“It won’t…be okay…” Corey struggled to his feet, eyes not meeting anyone’s, “It…it’ll never be okay…”

“Corey—“ Twilight tried to stop him, but Corey was as far from being in a listening mood as John feared he was. Without warning, Corey bolted…towards the door of the library. Twilight followed him, worried.

“Corey, wait,” Twilight called out to him. Corey halted at the door, his shoulders slumped, “You can’t just run off!”

Without any warning at all, Corey turned around. John immediately knew what his expression was despite the fact it was his first time really seeing it.

It was Corey’s angry face.

“Leave me alone!” His voice broke just a little as his anger blew up…at Twilight, causing her to take a small step back. Corey paused, looking at her. John could see it very well in his face.

He looked completely horrified. Corey looked down, but he couldn’t even muster an apology, turning tail and running with no more than a grunt, heading into town.

Of all the—I’ve gotta…!

John immediately moved to go after him, but somepony immediately put herself in his way.

“Whoa, whoa! Hold it, big guy!” Rainbow interrupted, being that pony, “You run out there now, and we might have a repeat of earlier, and I don’t think you want that.”

John paused. It was night now, but there were probably still ponies out. If he ran out, they’d see him.

“Well, we can’t just leave him alone in the state he is in,” Rarity said, looking towards the door, “The poor dear was so distraught, there was no way he could think straight…”

“I know…” Twilight said, walking up to the door, “I’m going to find him…and see if I can try to calm him down again…”

Before long, Twilight had vanished from John’s sight as well, out looking for him.

“And she just leaves us alone…” Rainbow groaned, sitting down, “Now what do we do?”

John kept looking towards the door that Corey had bolted through.

I can’t help him…not this time, no matter how much I want to. Not like this, John thought to himself, a little afraid to breathe right now lest the incident from earlier repeat itself, I have to trust Twilight to do this…but until then…

John sat down on the floor, focusing entirely on where his vocal cords were. He uttered a sentence: two simple words.

“We…wait…”

He ran as far as his legs could take him—surprisingly far, considering it was the first time in a long while he’d actually done any strenuous running. But that didn’t even register with Corey right now. He sat on a bench in the town square, slumped over, holding his glasses in one hand. Drops—tears, were dripping off of his hung head. Yet, Corey made no sound. His body, however, wasn’t still. He was still trembling, his other hand pressed firmly to his face.

Damn it all… Corey thought, I’ve really done it this time…why is this happening? Why was that code there? Why did it do this? Why did I take the time to compile together a mysterious code? Now I’m stranded in a world where that skill is meaningless, with just John…no family, no other friends…

His shoulders shook as what happened over the past several minutes caught up with him.

And to make it worse, I took out my anger on the wrong kind of people… He could still see her face when he’d snapped at her, They have nothing to do with what happened. I feel horrible…I don’t think I could face them right now, after all that.

Corey’s slump seemed to get worse, and he took a deep, shaky breath.

And at the rate I’m going, I’m going to have a lot of trouble here…

Corey sat in silence. It was late, so nopony was around to see him. He was totally alone.

“Oh, there you are!”

Corey immediately stopped shaking, and swiped an arm over his face. However, he didn’t dare put his glasses back on, at least, not yet.

Did she come to find me…?

“Corey,” Even though he was looking down, away from her, he could see her legs as she stood off to his left. Corey turned his head away, trying not to let her see him like he was, nor able to look her in the eye after snapping at her.

“I…” She paused again, as though trying to think about what she was going to say next, “I can’t imagine what must be going through your head right now…”

Corey shifted as she sat on the bench next to him—he could tell it was her without even needing to look. He continued to be silent. Twilight said nothing for a few moments, as though processing his lack of answers.

“Corey, please, just…”

A hand touched his shoulder. Corey turned his head, his eyes dodging Twilight entirely, looking off behind her and down. He knew his face probably had tear streaks on it—much more visible since his face was covered in fur now, and he knew she saw them—her hand had removed itself from his shoulder.

“Listen to me…” Twilight said, after an uneasy pause, trying to complete her thought, “I’m not going to pretend to know what you’re feeling. You’re in a world that’s not like your own at all, surrounded by life you’ve probably never seen.”

Corey closed his eyes.

“But you can’t shut everypony out,” Twilight continued, “It won’t help…”

“I…” Corey started. His voice sounded unusually raspy—odd since he hadn’t really sobbed aloud, “I…I know…I know…b-but…”

“But…?” Twilight asked.

“It’s...I’ll never go home again…” Corey responded, “I…I was going to school in computer-related stuff…and then…this happened…”

Twilight paused, “You were…?”

“I-it doesn’t matter now, anyway,” Corey once again dodged Twilight’s gaze, returning to looking down towards his feet, “I’m not going to be able to go home…”

There was a short pause between them. Corey awkwardly tapped on the bench with his left hand.

“I…I…” Corey stuttered, “I’m sorry…that—that I snapped…”

“D-don’t worry about it…” Twilight said, sounding surprised. “From what you told me, I can’t say I can blame you for snapping like you did.”

Another awkward pause ensued. Corey felt like he needed to say something else, but he wasn’t sure what he should say.

I…I don’t think I could…ask her to help me anymore than she—

Corey’s thoughts were cut short by a simple command.

“Corey, look at me.”

Corey tried his best, finally putting his glasses back on as he did, but he couldn’t look her in the eyes.

“I know that you’ve been through a lot, just today…” Twilight said, blowing past the fact he wasn’t looking right at her, “I know…that you’re probably hurting a lot, right now…”

She paused again.

“But…since you’re going to be here for…” Twilight stopped, seeming to think about her next words, “Longer than you thought…”

Corey sighed, speaking his words just a little too quickly, “It’s fine. I already know that much…”

“Why not…” Twilight continued, as though Corey hadn’t spoken up, “Why not learn to live like a unicorn?”

For the first time since she had found him, Corey looked at Twilight—looking up so that he could see most of her face. He still didn’t have the heart to look her directly in the eyes.

“I…” Corey started, “But…I…”

“I’m not holding that against you,” Twilight repeated, “You’re obviously under a lot of stress. I may not know what it’s like to be in a world that isn’t your own…but…”

“Twilight…” Corey was at a complete loss for words.

“Now…” Twilight started, “Come on…” She stood up, holding out one hand to him, “Let’s head back to the library.”

Corey looked at her hand like it was some kind of alien tendril, “Uh…”

“I know you need some place to stay…” Twilight said, giving him a small smile, “You and John both. And I’ll teach you how to be a unicorn…I’ll teach you how to use your magic.”

“I…I don’t know if I can…” Corey responded, looking around uneasily.

Twilight continued to hold out her hand, “It can’t hurt to try…”

Corey closed his eyes. It still hurt hard that he was likely to never return home again.

And yet…this kindness she’s giving me, even after I acted like a jerk… Corey thought to himself, It’s still…soothing, somehow…

With that in mind, Corey finally came to a decision. He reached out for her hand, grasping it tightly, causing her to gasp. She helped him to his feet, smiling.

At last, Corey gave a small smile; awkward, yet sincere.

“Alright…I’ll…I’ll g-give it a shot…” Corey said.

Author's Note

And that's the last update from me until next Wednesday. Just wanted to get this first arc out of the way before anything else. As always, comment and criticize if you feel the need. And even if you don't. I want to hear what I can improve on.

Act 1 Chapter 7

Act I: Collision of Worlds

Chapter 7: Some Adjustments

Equestria Log – Day 4

It’s been two days since we’ve come to Equestria. Two whole days since I found out we’d never be going home. That situation hasn’t changed, and it doesn’t look like it’d change. This world is far less technologically advanced than home…it’s been rough adapting to the sudden change, picking up the pieces. I don’t know how John hasn’t breathed anything more than smoke by now…

The ponies here are pretty nice, even if some seem a little less…”hinged”, than others. The tour of the town went off well. At the very least, I know the local culture well enough from firsthand experience, I think. Haven’t been hanging around at the library too much the past couple of days. That might change, though.

I still can’t believe I’m really stuck here until I die. I can’t believe this happened when I ran that code. But, whatever the reason, I’m going to have to deal with it. Still… why could I see the message where John and the others couldn’t? Why was it in Java of all things? What’s this all about? Who knows, maybe the answers will come up soon enough. Maybe there is a way home, and no pony knows it yet. Doesn’t seem too likely, though.

In other news, I haven’t started magic yet, believe it or not. Part of the reason I haven’t been hanging around in the library is because Twilight’s been busy trying to put together a lesson plan to get me started. I don’t know why, but I’m honestly scared of what she’s going to have me do…

John seems to be able to go out in town now without ponies panicking. It helps that he’s beginning to learn how to speak more clearly without blowing smoke. Still, I don’t think he’s quite there yet…

Corey sat at a desk, alone, upstairs in the library. In front of him was an open, nearly blank notebook of sorts. It hadn’t been hard to adapt to using a quill instead of a pencil or keyboard to get his thoughts down. He just needed to remember to re-wet the end of the feather every couple of sentences.

Of course, even being in a new body, even writing with a feather, my handwriting’s still terrible… Corey thought, trying to finish his journal entry, a neutral expression on his face, I could write down the whole “other side of the fourth wall” thing and nopony’d be able to read it…better safe than sorry, though.

He continued to write down, the sound of scribbling filling the room, along with Corey mumbling incoherently as he scrawled his own thoughts within the notebook.

Today’s the day Twilight’s supposed to start teaching me. She was going to make sure she had something put together by now…. Corey thought, It’s actually pretty early for me. Wonder what today’s going to be all about…

“Hey,” This was Spike, walking into the room. Corey immediately finished the sentence he was on, shutting the journal afterward. “Twilight said she’s ready to start…”

“Okay then,” Corey said calmly, “Better not keep her waiting then…” He looked around the room.

“What’re you…” Spike stepped forward a bit.

“Nothing, nothing,” Corey responded, “Guess John’s still out around the town…”

“He’s been tryin’ to give back ever since he scared everypony,” Spike said, “Most ponies are lettin’ him.”

“Well then…” Corey stood up. As he began to walk towards him, Spike turned around, leading him, “So, you know anything about her lesson plans?”

“You should I know I happen to be her number one assistant,” Spike said, “Of course I would know…”

Corey could have sworn he heard him start to snicker as he passed into the room—something that didn’t make him feel too good about what was about to happen. He hesitated a bit, before just power-walking his way into the room.

What he saw next made him literally shiver. His eyes went wide. His mouth began to open. His body slumped over. He had no words. The giant pile in front of him was ridiculously huge. No—not pile. There were several stacks in front of him that were taller than most ponies.

Twilight came out from behind a few books, smiling to him, “Well, Corey, I see you’re ready to start…”

She apparently didn’t notice Corey’s expression. Spike, however, did, judging from the fact he burst out laughing. Though already Corey was dialing down his reaction, trying not to let Twilight in on the fact he wasn’t exactly studious as a student, he was already forming some snark.

He let it out, deep in the back of his skull.

Twilight, I know you were preparing a course for me… Corey thought, And I’m no stranger to required reading…

His eye twitched, and he reached up to his face to adjust his glasses, which had gone askew during his rampant face-faulting.

But this is ridiculous!

It was pretty early in the morning. The town still wasn’t fully active at this point in time, just a few early birds going about their daily lives. The morning was more or less normal, save for one detail: a large crate was being moved through the city streets. That in itself wasn’t abnormal, except for the fact there was no magical glow around the whole crate, no team of ponies moving it. Underneath the crate was a large black and blue dragon, hefting the huge thing over his shoulders like it was nothing.

How’d I end up doing this again? John thought to himself. Didn’t plan on moving things around today. I was going for another walk when somepony decided to interrupt me.

A few steps ahead of him was a pony in a blue postal worker outfit—gray-furred, blonde mane and tail, slightly messy. The pony had a pair of wings poking their way out of the outfit. It was Derpy Hooves, who John remembered to be a meme in her own right.

Right…She had a delivery to make, she couldn’t lift it on her own and asked me for help… John remembered, glancing up to the heavy crate atop his shoulder. And I said “yes”.

Everypony in town had been told John was no threat by this point. He was able to walk around town freely now without anypony starting a fuss. As a result, he’d taken up giving back to the community as a means to apologize for the panic he’d caused by accident—in case anypony wasn’t convinced.

“Alright Mr. Dragon, we’re here!” called out Derpy, stopping in front of a house, standing straight and tall with her arms stretched behind her back. John grunted slightly, moving the crate over and placing it on the ground gently. With the weight off his shoulders, John glanced to the front door of the house, and was able to read the name on it.

“Derpy…Hooves”…? John’s eye twitched as he read the plate, “Wait…this is your house?”

He still had to focus to speak, but it was becoming more natural now—he’d had to learn to talk quick with his community service stuff.

“Well, duh,” Derpy turned to him, “This is my delivery…”

“You deliver…your own mail?” John asked, not knowing what else to say offhand.

“Yeah, this way I’ll know it’ll be delivered on time!” Derpy chirped, turning to the crate.

John tried to formulate a response, but no words would come out. All he could do was force air in and out of his lungs. However, he eventually came to a conclusion, straightening his posture and closing his mouth.

Pretty clever… John thought to himself. Now he had a different question then.

“So what’s in the crate?” John asked, pointing to the crate.

“Month’s supply of muffins!” Derpy said once again.

John gave a mild chuckle, Of course…

A short time later, John was on his way through Ponyville, as he had been before the unexpected interruption. Derpy apparently didn’t need his help from that point onward, so John merely said his goodbyes and left her to her business.

What else is there to do…? John thought to himself, slowly looking around. I could just walk out of town again…

He paused, sighing—thankfully not producing flames this time.

Back home, I wouldn’t be outside so much… John pondered, pretty much alone at this point in time. Unless I was with friends, I’d just be content to stay at home. But now that I’m here, it’s the total opposite…who knows, maybe it’s the dragon in me. They usually go out into the wildnerness—except Spike, who was raised from birth by ponies. Guess it really doesn’t matter. Gives me something to do.

With that, John decided to continue his walk, wondering exactly what he’d do with his new life today.

Magic…willpower…possible to do many things with the proper application…stored someplace close to the heart…friendship…love…

Corey had to give Twilight credit on something: when it came to things like this, she was completely thorough. Unfortunately, she was a bit too thorough. It had barely been even an hour since he started and he had already been asked to read through three books. While Corey was a professional skimmer by trade, this was utterly ridiculous.

The books were thicker than his calculus books, and he had to find who-knows-how-much information about the concept of magic. If he had a chance to go back to Earth and tell people exactly how wrong their headcanons were, he would…provided his brain could handle all the sudden influx of information.

Magic…emotions…power can corrupt…

Spike couldn’t properly contain himself. It was a bit too much to ignore. At first, Corey tried to deal with the workload Twilight had left him. He tried as hard as he could.

Then he marathoned his way through at least two books trying to find relevant information. He didn’t read them—he’d lived with Twilight long enough to know when a pony was actually reading something versus skimming it, and that colt—human—pony guy was definitely skimming. And even skimming these books was doing a real number on him. He was slowing down, his eyes wide, beads of sweat dripping down his face. He wasn’t even mumbling to himself anymore, just trying to hold it together.

However, it wasn’t to last. Corey finally gave in, banging his head on the table in frustration.

At this, Spike finally burst out laughing. However, it wasn’t long before somepony stepped in.

“Spike!” At this, his laughing fit came to a stop. He turned, seeing Twilight staring back at him, hands on sides, and her foot tapping steadily on the ground.

“I’d appreciate it if you kept it down, Corey’s trying to study!” Twilight scolded.

“Emphasis on trying…” Spike responded, starting to giggle again.

“Did I not give you enough chores to do?” Twilight arched one brow. Spike took the hint, taking his leave to attend to those chores. Once he was out of earshot, Twilight turned into the room where Corey was studying. She walked in with a smile on her face.

“Who’s ready for a pop quiz?” Twilight asked, barely able to contain her excitement, holding up the quiz next to her with her magic.

“Eh?” Corey asked, raising his head from the table, “P-pop quiz? But…” He looked over to the clock on the wall, “It’s only been two hours…”

“I know!” Twilight responded, completely oblivious to Corey’s slight breakdown—which was still underway, had she noticed his twitchy eye, “Time sure does fly, doesn’t it?”

Using her magic, Twilight moved away all of the books near Corey.

“This should be an easy one…”

Being a college student, Corey was no stranger to the concept of pop quizzes. He was no stranger to the concept of quizzes. However, as the quiz made impact with the desk, Corey realized her expectations may have been a bit much.

Twilight, the name “quiz” generally implies it’s not that long… This thing is ten pages…front and back…

It took all of his reserves to not headdesk on realizing what was going on.

“And I’ll let you use your notes for it.” Twilight continued to give her instructions. Corey glanced to what notes he did prepare.

All one page of them? Corey thought to himself, Two hours wasn’t enough time for this kind of thing…

Corey looked to the quiz, and barely noticed when Twilight set a kitchen timer on the table, a glow still around it.

“You have one hour,” The glow vanished, and the timer began to tick, “Good luck!”

Twilight made a quick exit of the room. Corey continued to stare at the quiz, totally unsure of what to do. There were so many questions to this, and he was sure in his mad skimming he didn’t remember even half of what these were.

Corey removed his glasses, holding them in his left hand. He could only let his head fall to the desk again with a loud “thump”.

I suddenly don’t want to be a unicorn anymore…

There was something fishy going on, and Twilight knew it. She stared blankly at the pop quiz. Each page, each question—it all seemed impossible, even for someone like him.

“He didn’t answer a single question…” Twilight muttered, unable to process the information.

“Shocking,” Spike said under his voice, shelving a couple of books.

“I don’t get it,” Twilight said, having not paid Spike’s comment any mind, “I gave him all the information and time he’d need…”

“Don’t you mean ‘you’d’ need?” Spike asked, walking past Twilight with a cart of books in his hand.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Twilight asked, placing the quiz down and turning her head towards Spike. Spike took a couple steps more on his course before he stopped.

“Well, every time you study, you close yourself off in your rooms with a ton of books for a couple of hours and cram all of them.”

“Well yeah,” Twilight admitted, “What’s wrong with that?”

“Ever think that not everyone can study the way you do?” Spike asked, leaning on the cart. The cart began to move, and thus he turned to grab it before it went flying out of his personal space.

“I’m sure they could if they tried.” Twilight said honestly.

“Sure they could…” Spike snarked, going back to his chores.

With all that over, Twilight returned her attention to Corey’s blank quiz. She soon began to come to a conclusion.

“I know!” Twilight said, “Maybe he wasn’t sure of which books to read!”

She stood up, making her way to the next room, “If I number them in order, he’ll know which books to read and when! That should help!”

However, as she walked towards where she had left Corey, thinking about what Spike had said.

“Spike’s just being negative…I’m sure everypony can do it if they put their minds to it…” she thought aloud to herself, “He’ll see. Once I sort things out with Corey, he’ll be just like I was.”

It wasn’t long before, hearing herself, she stopped in her tracks.

“Just like…I was…” With that, Twilight quit thinking aloud, remembering details of her own foalhood.

That’s right…Back when I was learning, I was already ahead of the curve. It didn’t take me long to move up to the advanced courses. I wasn’t in classes with unicorns that were my own age. I studied so hard even the teachers couldn’t keep up with me. All this did was just give me more to study…and I loved to study…I still do.

She reached the door of the room where she’d left Corey to do more work. Now, she noticed exactly how stressed he was with the workload she’d so unceremoniously saddled him with. One hand was trying to scribble out notes, the other hand running through his mane. He hadn’t even noticed that she was there. She took a second look at the curriculum she’d arranged to give him.

This is basically what I read in a weekend. I’ve read all those books myself, some of them twice. That’s why I gave them to him… A hand went to her chin, But nopony in this town that I’m aware would gladly read so much. And Corey’s not even really a pony to start with.

Her hand moved over her face now, as she sighed.

That’s just completely unfair. I shouldn’t have done that to him…

Corey’s focus was entirely on the books in front of him. He hated disappointing people, and right now that was exactly what he’d felt he’d done. He was trying to make the most of what he had to work with. However, he noticed a familiar color glow surrounding him, and the books surrounding him began to move.

Corey’s surprise was compounded when he’d realized Twilight was standing in the room with him.

“You know,” Twilight started, beginning to shelve the books one by one in their rightful places, “When I agreed to teach you magic, I was excited about the idea. I was going from former student to new teacher with her own student. I couldn’t wait to share what I knew with you.”

By now, the last of the books hit the shelves.

“But when I think about it, not even my own teacher did that. And, she’s an immortal goddess. You can only imagine how much she must know.” She laughed just a little. Corey would have said something, but he couldn’t even find his words.

“I guess she realized what I’m realizing now. I can’t just ask you to read something and leave you to your own devices. While that may work for me, to ask you to do the same was unfair, and I’m sorry for that.” As she continued to talk, Twilight pulled over a chair with her magic and sat down in it, sitting across from him.

Corey looked around self-consciously, unable to say anything.

I should have expected as much… he thought to himself, So why am I so shocked she changed her method up?

“I said I’d teach you how to use magic. That’s what we’ll focus on for now…if you’re up for it, that is,” Twilight finished.

Corey blinked, realizing he needed to say something. He set the quill in his notebook and moved it said before turning to face Twilight—though once again his eyes dodged hers.

“I’m listening…”

“Okay, but before you can use magic, you need to understand just what it is. So, are you ready?” Twilight asked.

Corey could only nod.

“Alright, so…Lesson One: What is magic?”

There was a pond not too far outside of Ponyville. A small rock had just been thrown in it, displacing the water just a bit. The rock was followed by several smaller bretheren. Eventually, the rocks paused for a moment.

A few seconds later, a large rock—the size of two grapefruits—crashed into the water with a loud splash.

On the far side of the water, John stood, having thrown the rock into the water. He was slightly annoyed.

How do people skip rocks… John thought to himself. I’ve been trying for a while now and not even a single skip.

“It’s all in the wrist,” said a familiar voice, from directly above. John looked, seeing Rainbow Dash slowly descending from the sky above. She touched down, taking hold of a nearby rock and threw it towards the pond. The rock skipped five times across the surface of the water before sinking to the water, joining John’s many failed attempts from earlier. John turned his head towards Rainbow, who was polishing her nails on her chest.

“Show-off…” John grumbled flatly.

“Yeah, I know, I’m awesome,” Rainbow said, completely ignoring what John was saying. John knew enough to know she did it on purpose.

“How’d you know I was here?” John asked, “Never tell anyone where I’m going…half the time I don’t even know where I’ll end up.”

“I saw you leave town this morning,” Rainbow responded, “Figured I’d tail you and see what you’d do.”

John regarded her with slightly narrowed eyes.

“Don’t judge me…” Rainbow crossed her arms, “But now that I see that you aren’t up to anything too important, there’s something I want to do with you.”

Rainbow flapped her wings, beginning to hover off the ground.

“Do what now?” John asked.

“I’ll tell ya when we get there,” Rainbow said, “Just follow me for now.”

She began to fly in one direction, mere feet from the ground.

“Can I…get a—“ John couldn’t even finish his question before Rainbow gave her answer.

“Nope!” Rainbow called out, not even looking back. The dragon followed her for a few seconds before letting out a small sigh.

I have a feeling this won’t end well for me… thought John to himself, following her.

Author's Note

And here is where we start the once a week updates until I run out of chapters. Gonna shoot for an update every Sunday if I can manage it. If not, no big deal. I do have other things I need to worry about.

As always, comments and criticism would be appreciated.

Act 1 Chapter 8

Act I: Collision of Worlds

Chapter 8: Lesson One

It wasn’t long before Twilight had reorganized her teaching strategy. Corey had to sit tight for just a bit. The stacks of books had long since vanished. In their place was but a single book, which Twilight held herself for the time being. After she’d flipped through the book, nodding every now and then as her magic swept through the pages, she turned her full attention to Corey, sitting across from him as before.

“Before you start using your magic, you need to understand the force that you’re using,” Twilight said, “With that in mind, I want to know something: what comes to mind when I say the word ‘magic’?”

“Well, um…spells?” Corey responded, going with the most basic thing he could think of—it wasn’t exactly hard to do.

“Yes, that’s right,” Twilight said, “But that’s not the only use magic has. Unicorns can cast spells, but they’re not the only ones who can use it. Pegasus ponies and earth ponies also have their own magic unique to them.”

“Really?” Corey asked. Internally, however, he added, Act like you don’t know at least that much already…

“Absolutely. The weather, for example, in every single town or city in Equestria is kept in check by the pegasi. With their own unique magic, they are able to manipulate clouds and regulate the weather. Their magic also grants them the ability to stand on clouds as if it were solid ground.

“As for earth ponies, their unique magic grants them a connection with the ground beneath them, one that unicorns and pegasi can’t match with their natural abilities. They have the greenest thumbs of the three types. Also, most earth ponies are physically stronger than the other two pony races.” Twilight explained.

“I see,” Corey said, nodding, “So magic is a big part of life here…”

“Exactly,” Twilight continued, “Earth, pegasi, unicorns, and several other species on this planet have some form of magic inside of them. Each of us are able to channel the magic that is inside of us in our own ways…”

Corey trailed off, but it wasn’t because he was bored—far from it. What Twilight had just told him seemed oddly familiar.

Don’t say a word about Ki, don’t say a word about Ki, don’t say a word about—

“So it’s like Ki?” Corey asked, immediately horrified at the question he’d unleashed.

Dammit!

What horror he felt at asking the question faded as soon as he noticed Twilight’s smile.

“That’s exactly it!” she said, clasping her hands together, “I didn’t know people in your world used Ki…”

“O-oh no,” Corey responded, “T-that isn’t right. It’s just a concept that’s…very well known in our world.”

And Changelings are really space aliens who change their form to suppress their true power…

“Many people believe that with proper training, we can tap into the Ki inside of us and be capable of amazing things.” Corey finished his explanation, trying very hard to not launch into full nerd mode.

“Is it true?” Twilight tilted her head.

“To date, there hasn’t been any concrete proof…” Corey said, “But…I’d like to believe it is.”

“Well, I can’t speak for your world, but here, that concept is very real,” Twilight said, “And today, you’re going to see it firsthand…”

“Are we there yet?” John asked, still following Rainbow. They’d long since left the pond, and Rainbow was still leading him through forests, seeming to follow a river leaving out of the pond.

“Almost,” Rainbow said, still hovering ahead of John.

“Still not going…to tell me where…we’re going?” John made sure to space out his words carefully.

“You’ll find out when we get there,” Rainbow didn’t even turn to say something to him, “Just be patient.”

Of all ponies to tell someone else to be patient… John thought, I can feel the irony in the air. Why is she being so secretive about where she wants to take me? Guess I’ll just have to wait and see…

At least ten minutes passed with John still following Rainbow before John finally noticed a real change in the geography. They were slowly moving uphill. In the distance, he was able to hear something—a roaring sound, a sound he was somewhat familiar with.

Is that a waterfall? He asked to himself.

It wasn’t long before Rainbow finally stopped. John finally could see where she wanted to take him. He now stood at the top of a very tall cliff. Towards the side, he could see the waterfall he’d heard. The water dropped straight down until it met the large lake at the bottom, from which a river washed, no doubt leading to that pond John had been at earlier.

If he knew how to whistle without breathing fire, John would have done so in amazement.

“So this is…what you wanted…to show me?” John asked.

“Well, yeah, but I really brought you here for another reason.” Rainbow responded, finally turning to face him.

“And what’s that?” John questioned, looking out over the vast expanse.

“So something came to me yesterday,” Rainbow said, touching the ground for the first time with two feet, “You’re a dragon.” Rainbow poked him in the chest. John regarded Rainbow with a confused expression.

“Yes…” John then raised his hand, pointing to the nearest tree, “And that’s a tree.”

“Okay, smart-ass,” Rainbow put her hands to her hips, “I’ll get to the point. You see, I am, hands down, the greatest and fastest flier in Equestria, no doubt about it!”

And there’s the speech about how awesome she is, John said, I was wondering when she’d give me one…

“I won the best young fliers’ competition, mastered the Sonic Rainboom—“ John didn’t even respond, “—Long story, I’ll tell you some other day. And on top of all that, I’m the top flier at the Wonderbolts Academy, which is a big deal for pegasus ponies.

“Clearly, I’m the best, but sometimes I like to prove to everypony else that I am. And I don’t see any better way than to beat a dragon at a flying competition, so that’s where you come in…” Rainbow finally got to the point, and John had to comment.

“But I don’t know—“ John tried to protest, but Rainbow quickly cut him off.

“You don’t know how to fly, yet!” Rainbow said, “But you will soon, because I’m gonna teach you!” She pointed her thumb back to herself, “And when you finally meet my standards, we’ll have a race to see who’s fastest!”

At this, John finally turned his gaze back down the waterfall, and he thought over what Rainbow had proposed to him.

I wonder what it would feel like to fly… John thought, I mean, really fly, under my own power. No planes, no helicopters, no machinery, just me and the open air. I know I’m not the only one who’s wondered this before. But back home, this would never happen. But now I have a chance at it, and Rainbow Dash is offering to help me. What do I have to lose?

“Sounds like fun, how do we start?” John asked, turning to face Rainbow directly, “Where do we start?”

Rainbow walked up to John, placing a palm on his shoulder, turning him around.

“I had a hard time figuring that one out. You’re not a pegasus, so chances are I can’t teach you like one. So, I took a trip to the library and checked out a book on how some animals in the wild teach their young,” Rainbow began to explain.

If John had hair, it’d be starting to stand on end right now.

“In the end, I chose the style mommy birds use to teach their chicks.” Rainbow summarized.

Well, that doesn’t sound—oh wait, mommy birds teach their chicks by… John realized precisely what was about to happen, but before he could even make the appropriate response, the ground under him disappeared, and he was now pushed over the cliff.

Gravity asserted itself almost immediately after John realized there was no ground under him, and he began to plummet towards the pond.

“Start flapping!” Rainbow shouted down after him.

Even though he was falling down towards the water below—something that by all rights could be fatal, John found it in him to apply the palm of his left hand to his face.

Just start flapping… John thought as time began to slow around him for a time, Use muscles I wasn’t even aware existed…

John tried to use his wing muscles, but as expected, the most his wings did was twitch violently in place. He couldn’t even manage a single flap. He hit the water at full velocity, making a gigantic splash. It was a wonder he didn’t splatter, but then again he wasn’t a human anymore.

John resurfaced, seeing that Rainbow had slowly descended to where he was. She was a few feet above the water. He hoped she could see the anger he was feeling at this.

“I told you to flap,” Rainbow scolded, her arms folded.

John’s snout disappeared under the water, and he grumbled something incoherent.

“Well, you know what they say,” Rainbow said, pointing up to the top of the cliff. “If you fall, get back on the cliff!”

John let out a groan, managing to get himself out of the water. It was going to be a long walk. Yet, as he began to make his ascent to try again, John’s thoughts returned to Ponyville.

Wonder if Corey’s having any better luck with his lessons…

“Now, to help you ease into magic use, the first spell you’ll learn is one that all three tribes can do…” Twilight began. Corey was a bit stunned—a spell that all three tribes could use? When did this happen?

“Really?” Corey voiced his questions in the simplest manner possible.

“Yes, this is a spell that every pony learns at a young age,” Twilight clarified.

“Sounds…” Corey said, “Simple enough.”

“Great! Now…” Twilight gave what, to her, was a simple order, “Show me your cutie mark.”

Corey’s entire thought process was obliterated, overtaken by an extremely loud, internal scream of terror.

Back at the ledge, John looked down to the water below. Each of his scales and his pants were soaked with water from the pond. By now, he’d removed his sweater so it wouldn’t have gotten totally ruined from the repeated impacts. It now hung on a branch of a nearby tree, dripping with lake water. He’d leapt off the cliff countless times, having been unable to come up with any better solution to his flightlessness. This time would add to the total.

Here I go! John thought, leaping off the cliff like all the times before...except the first time. Just like all those times, he was falling at a great speed.

You know, after doing this so much, I think I’ve gotten used to this… John thought to himself, Alright…now, let’s see if I can make my wings work this time…

Every failed jump caused him to have to hike his way back up to where Rainbow Dash was waiting. During each walk, he’d tried to make the muscles in his wings work. Each time he made a little progress—now, if he really concentrated on his wings, he was able to make them open and close.

With the panic from falling no longer present, John found it was easier to focus on the muscles controlling his wings. And, with a single, concentrated thought, John’s wings sprang open, jerking his body backwards as they caught the wind around him. John smiled, satisfied with the first big step he’d made.

At the very least I can now cushion the fall…

“Look out!” Rainbow shouted, causing John to do a double-take. He looked down for the first time, realizing the pond was gone, replaced with solid ground. John looked around, realizing a simple fact.

I’m off course! John thought as the panic began to return, It must have happened when I opened my wings…

John cast a quick look back, seeing Rainbow flying towards him, but there was no way she could make it in time. He hardly called himself a religious man, but the only thing he could think to do was to pray as he waited for the inevitable impact with the cold, hard ground.

Author's Note

And here's where we leave off for another week. Drop a comment if you like what you've seen so far or whatever.

Act 1 Chapter 9

Act I: Collision of Worlds

Chapter 9: Something Else To Do

“C’mon, c’mon, where are you?!” Rainbow grumbled to herself, panicking. It hadn’t been long since John had started trying to learn to fly. Now, however, she feared the worst. Not long before she’d gotten below the tree line, Rainbow watched John fall towards the hard ground instead of the pond. She had taken off just a few seconds too late, hoping to save him. Instead, all she wound up doing was watch in horror as John’s body disappeared below the trees, followed by the sound of a very hard impact with the cold ground.

Rainbow didn’t even want to imagine what she’d see if she found John, but she couldn’t stop the images from coming. And, in addition, she was having a hard time finding John. No matter where she looked, she couldn’t find any sign of him, not even—

How can there not be a body? They don’t just disappear like that! Rainbow continued to search, her worry growing at every second’s passing, What if the crash buried him?

She was currently breaking out into a Corey and/or Twilight-level panic now, surveying the ground as she landed on solid earth.

There’s so many rocks and holes around here…It’d take too long! What if he doesn’t have that kind of time? What if…?!

“Hey!” Rainbow cupped her hands around her mouth, shouting around the rocks, “If you can hear me, say something!”

There was no answer. For a few brief moments, Rainbow assumed the worst. However, something happened. The ground at her feet began to shift.

“Huh?” Rainbow asked, feeling it. She realized she wasn’t really standing on solid ground, but a large boulder-sized piece of shale. One that was moving straight up, as if it were being lifted, “What the—“

She hopped off of the rock, taking a few steps back from in. After a few moments, whatever anxiety she had about the situation was lifted. Under the large rock, lifting it off the ground, was John, lifting it up off his back with little effort. After doing this, the dragon surveyed his own body, seemingly in total disbelief.

“I’m…alive…?” He hadn’t even noticed she was right in front of him, looking at his own hands as though he’d just realized they were there, “How am I still alive?”

“You’re seriously questioning that!?” Rainbow yelled, immediately getting John’s attention, “You just fell like thirty feet to the ground and you don’t even look hurt! Why are you questioning it?!”

John looked down—it was true, his body didn’t seem to have even a single scratch on it from the fall.

“I don’t feel hurt either…” John spoke up, loud and clear.

“I noticed,” Rainbow said, the shock of the moment finally subsiding, “Just what are you made of anyway?”

John didn’t answer straight away, lost in thought over his apparent survival—no, not even survival, the fact he no sold such a bad fall.

That fall should have killed me… John thought to himself, At least, it would have if I were human…you know what, don’t question it, just be glad you’re completely fine.

“Should I try again?” John asked.

“Hay, no!” Rainbow shouted, “I just about had a heart attack from all this. We’re calling it a day. Tomorrow, I’m taking the fall with you so this doesn’t happen again.”

John found himself wondering how it felt watching his fall. However, he soon banished those thoughts.

“Well, for what it’s worth…” John said, still making sure to pause so he could direct his air to the right spots—an act that got easier with each complete sentence he said, “It was a fun first day.”

“That’s ‘cause you have an awesome teacher like me,” Rainbow boasted, crossing her arms, “Class dismissed, I’ll see you here tomorrow!”

With that, she turned, taking off full speed into the sky, leaving behind only a rainbow blur in her wake. John watched her leave until she was well out of sight before turning his gaze back to the top of the cliff, looking up at it for a few seconds. Eventually, he let out a defeated sigh.

“My sweater is still up there…” he groaned, beginning to take the long walk back up the cliff to retrieve it.

Finding his way back to town wasn’t too difficult, though if John hadn’t remembered the route Rainbow had taken him down earlier he would have gotten lost.

Wouldn’t that have been a highlight…? John thought on that one, before quickly dismissing it, Ah, who am I kidding, nothing could top what happened today…wait until everyone hears about that one!

The only thing he really felt at that point was the actual impact. No real pain, nothing shattering, just the sensation of colliding with another mass.

John passed through the Ponyville streets, which by now had become a lot more active than earlier. The town overall was sending him mixed messages. Some of the locals offered a friendly wave—the ones who had allowed him to help them over the past few days. Others tried to stay out of his path, not offering him much more than maybe a fearful look.

Can’t blame you guys—I’d probably react the same way if a dragon came out of nowhere… John thought.

There were the small few who were giving him openly unfriendly looks—the most disheartening of all, but John knew well enough acceptance could not be forced on a group.

I’ve just got to hope that, through being myself, that the locals will grow to accept me with time… John pondered, Something that I have plenty of…

It wasn’t long before John reached the library—the place he and Corey had stayed for the past couple of days. Once inside, he didn’t have to look far to find his friend. He sat at a desk, book in one hand.

“Still learning?” John asked.

“No, class ended not too long ago…” Corey responded, “And I decided to read a book to fill the time…”

John took a look at the title of the book and raised a brow.

“Of Parasprites and Stallions?” he thought, So are all the novels here like this—pony versions of ours? I live here too. Might want to check on that at some point…

For now, though, John decided to sit down next to Corey. He took notice of the apple that was on the desk.

Doesn’t the student give the teacher the apple? John thought to himself, swiping the apple while Corey’s attention was on the book. Eventually, Corey reached for it, only to notice John was eating it.

The annoyed look was something John hadn’t seen Corey really throw out in a while, and it was refreshing to see it make its triumphant return. However, it only lasted a couple of seconds. With a dismissive wave of the hand, Corey turned his nose back to the book.

“So,” John bit down on the apple, “How’d your first lesson go?”

“I showed Twilight my cutie mark…” Corey said, about as casually as if he’d swatted a fly. That wouldn’t have been so bad by itself, but the subject matter, coupled with his unnaturally light tone was what struck John.

John spat out the hunk of apple he’d been chewing in surprise—the bits of apple had been roasted, and as John continued to reel from what Corey had just revealed, John coughed up small clouds of gray smoke.

“What?” Corey asked, turning to him, obviously getting it straight away, “Oh…” He glanced to his book, nodded, and then closed it before turning to John.

“H-hold on, it’s not as bad as you think it is…” Corey stuttered awkwardly—the way his face lit up as he did so did not help.

“You should have bought her dinner first…” John choked, willing himself to not breathe fire right now.

“It’s not like that!” Corey said, “See, first she showed me hers…”

John shot Corey a look that rivaled the one he would often give his computer monitor back home.

“No, it’s not—“ Corey started, unable to keep focus anymore, his thoughts clearly going a mile a minute now, “I mean, she just—and then—you see…”

“Stop!” John’s mouth expelled black smoke as he extended his clawed hand and slammed it over Corey’s snout as the unicorn’s voice became muffled. After taking a few breaths to try to get himself focused, John tried to speak up again.

“Alright…let’s try this again…what happened…during your lesson?” John asked.

“W-well, the subject came up during my training,” Corey responded, “You see...”

“Sounds…” Corey said, “Simple enough.”

“Great! Now…” Twilight gave what, to her, was a simple order, “Show me your cutie mark.”

Corey’s entire thought process was obliterated, overtaken by an extremely loud, internal scream of terror. His face barely matched what he was thinking, but it was enough for his teacher to see something was wrong.

“What’s…?” Twilight said, immediately before her face lit up in realization, “Oh! Right…I guess I should show what I mean…”

She held her hands out in front of her. Her horn didn’t light up this time, the glow instead coming from her hands. After a few moments, the familiar image of Twilight’s cutie mark materialized in front of her—a full-color projection of the image.

“It’s a spell that every single pony can do as soon as their get their cutie mark,” Twilight said, “When they discover their special, unique talent, their body reacts, and they automatically project the image. After that, they can do it at will.”

“Oh,” Corey said. He held his own hands out in front of him, “I see. Well, I guess I should give it a shot…”

He tried to focus his mind on the concept he’d learned not more than ten minutes before. It was similar to Ki, a concept which he’d only heard of in fiction. As a kid, he would often pretend to use it. Now, however, he had to see if he could get it to work.

He stood there, trying to relax, thinking of nothing but seeing if he could pull off the “Display Cutie Mark” trick. Whatever he did, didn’t work. Corey tried a couple more times over the next few minutes, but continuously failed to produce any results.

“Nothing…” Twilight said after his fourth attempt.

“Yeah…” Corey said, putting his arms at his sides, “W-would I even have one?”

“What?” Twilight asked, “I mean…why wouldn’t you? At your age--”

“I…I wasn’t even really born here, and all…” Corey reminded her, stuttering now.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out…” Twilight bowed her head, now sounding awkward. Corey turned directly to face her. She seemed definitely conflicted now. “But… it’s…usually what ponies do when they’re…close…”

Corey began to feel just as conflicted, more so with what she just said.

“No choice…” Twilight said, “If we want to know whether or not you even have one, you’re going to have to show me the other way…”

Corey blinked, and sweated just a little as his face unexpectedly turned red. His reaction embarrassed him far more than the simple thought that he was going to have to drop his pants.

“D-don’t worry! It’s not…that revealing…” Twilight said, “I guess… Anyway, a pony’s cutie mark is located on the back, towards the shoulder blades.”

Corey blinked again, this time merely processing what he was told.

Less awkward, Corey thought, Then again, I’ve never liked being shirtless back home…

However, Corey had no other choice. By now, he really just wanted to know if he even had one.

“W-well, if it’s the only way we can find out whether or not it’s there…” Corey said, already taking his jacket off…

Corey’s face lit up unnaturally as he remembered the feeling of that moment. He usually didn’t care if he had to do such a thing—provided he needed to. It also didn’t help he seemed to be about the same age as Twilight.

“So did you even have one?” John asked, seemingly blowing past the awkward look on Corey’s face.

“Well…” Corey trailed off, trying to remember, “If you can believe it…”

Corey stood, top half now bare. Something about the situation made him realize he wasn’t quite as lean as he once thought he was in the new body. Maybe it was the fact a female was looking over him.

He couldn’t see Twilight now, his back to her. His arms curled around his stomach area, as though he were trying to hide what remained of his girth.

“Well?” Corey asked, already sick of standing around with no shirt on, “Do I have one?”

“Yes…” Twilight said, sounding unsure, “I’m not sure what it means, though.”

“I have one?” Corey questioned, pausing, looking over his shoulder, trying to see it for himself, “What’s it…look…like?”

“It’s…” Twilight started, “It looks like a...black thought cloud, with…a lot of green…numbers in it. I can barely make out the numbers, though.”

“Can you see what the numbers are?” Corey asked yet again, having an idea of where this was going. Twilight responded to this question by inquisitively putting a single finger to Corey’s shoulder, which caused him to flinch a little.

“They look like…a bunch of zeroes and ones…” Twilight said, sounding confused, not noticing Corey’s discomfort at being poked.

All of a sudden, Corey understood what his cutie mark was supposed to be…

“So…” John said, nodding, taking another bite of the stolen apple, “Your talent is…”

“Coding,” Corey responded, turning back to his book, “Like I thought, my unique skill lies in something that doesn’t even exist here…”

“Well, look on the bright side,” John said, after a brief pause.

“Bright side?” Corey asked.

“You have the most original ability on the planet,” John responded, raising a finger as he took yet another bite.

“Great, but that’s not the problem,” Corey said, “In case you haven’t noticed, there is not a single computer in this world. How am I going to use that skill of mine without one of those?”

After a brief pause, John gave his answer: “I have no idea…”

Corey set down his book and lifted his glasses slightly, putting his palm to his face, letting out a grumble that vaguely sounded like, “Helpful…”

“Well, if you can’t use technology, why not use magic?” John asked.

“Don’t think it works that way…” Corey responded, massaging his forehead, already tired of this conversation.

“Worth giving a try though, don’t you think?” John followed this question with yet another crunch on the apple.

“Yeah, I’ll get right on it after I finish another impossible feat,” Corey mumbled, turning back to his book.

“You mean like sending two guys to another dimension?” John asked.

For a moment, Corey couldn’t respond. Even after a few days of ruminating on the matter, he still hadn’t come up with an explanation for how the code worked. He felt that he needed to inform John of this.

Before Corey could answer, a high pitched squeal interrupted the otherwise meaningful conversation.

“Hi!”

John’s apple sprayed out of his mouth once again, while Corey fell out of his chair. After recovering from the shock, he looked up, spotting Pinkie Pie—not that he really needed to see who it was to know who it was. That squeal could be identified through the way it pierced Corey’s eardrums alone.

“See you’re laying down on your studies, huh, Corey?” She asked with a bubbly giggle.

“How do…you do that?” John responded, which was a valid question. Corey had experienced firsthand Pinkie’s odd ability to teleport herself into rooms without even needing a door.

“No time to explain!” Pinkie said, turning towards John, “Take this and follow me!”

John stared at the object that Pinkie had just forced into his right hand—a fork, with complete confusion.

“What’s—“ John tried to start.

“No time!” Pinkie moved behind John before John or Corey could even notice her move, grabbing him by the hood of his sweater. Then, to both of the boys’ respective surprise, Pinkie dragged John out of the room with no demonstrable effort.

“How are you—“ John tried to question this as well.

“Sssh!” Pinkie gave him this for his efforts. Corey stood back up in silence, shaking off his shirt and jacket, trying to figure out what was going on.

Pinkie just dragged John off…to what, I’m not sure. It’s Pinkie Pie, the pony who exists in and out of the fourth wall… Corey thought to himself, She handed John a fork, but who knows what that’s for…oh well.

He quickly moved back into his seat, sitting back down and picking up Of Parasprites and Stallions, picking up where he’d left off.

“He did offer to help anypony who asked…” Corey chuckled to himself.

It had been over an hour since the lessons had ended. Twilight had spent most of the time pondering the information Corey had told her after he showed her his cutie mark. She wasn’t sure what to make of his situation, but had nonetheless been relieved there were no hard feelings from the whole ordeal. Last she left him, he had started Of Parasprites and Stallions by Inked Pin. It was a book she’d read through a couple of times before.

I wonder how he’s enjoying it… Twilight thought to herself as she walked through the hallway, towards where Corey had been left to his devices. It couldn’t hurt to ask, could it?

She stopped at his door, which was half open. Twilight nearly passed through the door all the way, but decided to knock anyway. She wouldn’t want somepony just barging in on her when she was trying to read. Besides, it was common courtesy.

“Come on in,” Corey said, turning his head slightly.

Twilight passed into the room, her main question already on the tip of her tongue: “So how’s the book?”

Corey didn’t respond straight away. Twilight could see he was still reading the book, which in itself was understand. However, as she drew closer, she realized just how much Corey had done.

He’s already most of the way through the book? Well, to be fair, I did kinda overload him earlier… Twilight remembered.

Finally, Corey spoke, “I have to say, I’m surprised.”

“Surprised?” Twilight asked, “How so?”

“Well…” Corey paused, looking over his page briefly before closing the book…without a bookmark. Twilight flinched just a little.

“If you want, I could get you a bookmark…” Twilight responded.

“I’ll know where I am in the book. No worries,” Corey said, turning to her, “Anyway, I’m surprised…I thought this book would be like one I read back home some time ago.”

Now that was certainly interesting. Twilight had to learn more.

“A book you read back home was like this one?” Twilight asked, moving over to the chair she’d left and taking a seat, “Do you remember any of it?”

“Well…” Corey started, leaning back with one hand to his forehead, just to the left of his horn, massaging his forehead, “The book back home was called Of Mice and Men, and that novel isn’t so…idealistic, I guess would be the word. The book was written before I was even born.”

“So was this book,” Twilight said, one brow raised at Corey’s statement, “Well, for me anyway. Now, what makes you say that the book is idealistic?”

Corey’s eyes were slightly wide at this comment.

“What?” Twilight asked, “I really don’t get the chance to discuss this kind of thing with anypony else…”

“I…see…” Corey responded, looking vaguely like he was thinking about it, “Now…how do I put this? Well, the book in my world took place during probably one of the worst economic disasters in world history. Not a single developed country back home wasn’t affected by it…”

Twilight listened intently—it was context to Corey’s world’s version of the book, as well as interesting extraterrestrial historical knowledge as well. From his account, the author of Corey’s version of the book was someone who lived through that time; that human didn’t have much reason to have such an idealistic outlook given how bad things were. Whatever the case, Twilight Sparkle sincerely hoped never to experience this “Great Depression” thing.

“…and, even though the books seem to have similar titles—though I don’t know what a p-p-parasprite is…” Corey said, trying to wrap up his explanation.

“You don’t want to know,” Twilight nodded, recounting that little experience.

“The books are…different,” Corey said, “There’s a lot of…very controversial things in my world, things that are…absent from this world’s version.”

“What do you mean, exactly?” Twilight asked.

“Well…” Corey looked away completely, having been more or less unable to meet her eyes—something which he’d had trouble doing anyway, so Twilight didn’t take it as a bad sign, “I may not know how this world’s version of the story ends, but I do know how my world’s ends…”

“And…” Twilight tried to get the info out of him.

Corey’s gaze shifted a bit, though it was clear he was uncomfortable. Twilight thought she’d had an idea.

“If you’re worried about spoilers, don’t worry,” she said with a reassuring smile, “I don’t think…” She paused awkwardly, immediately reminded of Corey’s very unique situation, “…Well, you know...”

“Well…” Corey said, “It…it doesn’t end well.”

The tone of his voice suggested he was uncomfortable with talking about the ending. Whatever it was, Twilight did not know, but when she took into account what Corey had told her about the context of his world’s version of the book, she had a funny feeling the tale took a much…darker, turn.

“I…” Twilight started, “I see. Well, you haven’t finished the book yet, right?”

“I—“ Corey said, before immediately blinking and looking down to the book on the table, “Oh, this book…Right. I…haven’t.”

Compared to earlier, Corey’s face didn’t turn so red, but he was still blushing. Twilight didn’t get why he was doing it now.

“Well…” Twilight said, nodding towards the book, “Why don’t you…finish the book, and maybe we can compare the books in full?”

The alicorn could barely hide her excitement at the prospect of doing so. The human turned unicorn was a little unsure if he could hold up through such a thing.

On the balcony, just outside of the royal bedchambers stood the two rules of Equestria. Neither looked to the other; their attention fully centered on the cycle between day and night. Celestia’s horn was glowing a brilliant shade of amber as she willed the sun to move. And indeed, it began to, descending from the sky. When the sun began to go below the horizon line, Luna moved into action, her horn lighting up bright blue. The moon began to rise, along with the rest of the night sky, as the sun finished its hours-long arc across the sky for the day.

Now, not only was it officially night, but it also signified a change of hands in who dealt with the royal duties. Like the sun, Celestia too would rest for the night. Like the moon, Luna would now watch over the kingdom. Now that the change was completed, Luna turned to her side and gave her sister a warm smile.

“Pleasant dreams, sister!” Luna said, bidding her sister goodnight.

“Thank you, and have a pleasant night as well,” Celestia responded, both returning to their chambers.

It had been a long day, though Celestia could not say she wasn’t used to them after living for so long. Even now, though, it was a blessing to be able to rest her head for the night and relax. More so that her sister had returned—something which she would be forever grateful to Twilight and her friends.

After removing her regalia and placing them safely in their box, Celestia made her way towards her bed. Already her eyes were feeling heavy as sleep called to her. However, something much more urgent began to call to her attention.

There was a loud clamoring and clattering, and a loud slamming noise that filled the halls. Along with that, a panicked voice.

“Where is the princess?!” it shouted, its call echoing in Celestia’s head as a sign that all was not well.

“By the goddesses!” Another voice shouted, filled with concern and fear, “What happened to you!?”

“No time!” the first voice said, “I must see the princess!”

“You can’t see her in your condition!” a third voice joined in, having apparently heard the commotion. There was more of a commotion, grunting and more clattering—the sounds of what could have been ponies trying to hold this determined one back but to no avail.

“Get off!” he shouted, “I must tell her!”

There was no point in not hearing her subject’s distress. It sounded too severe to overlook. With that in mind, Celestia made her way towards the door. However, before she could get there to hear what the problem was, the doors slammed open violently.

She gasped as she saw the figure that had been causing the panic. That much at least seemed obvious: it was one of the Royal Guards of the daytime. A light gray unicorn pony, who was battered and beaten, his armor damaged in several places, and slashed open in another. His mane and tail, silver in color, were both slightly singed. He had a couple of severe wounds that were bleeding, staining his fur and what was left of his armor. His eyes were wide—perhaps from shock.

“P-princess…” the guard wheezed, his previous strength seeming to vanish. By now, the two other ponies that had tried to stop him from barging in were directly behind him, their own eyes wide. The injured guard began to wheeze, “It’s…it’s happened…”

He only managed one step towards her before his knees buckled, causing him to fall to the floor. Finally, Celestia called herself from her shock, making her way to the guard’s side. Sleep could definitely wait now.

“Call for medical attention, immediately!” Celestia commanded the other two guards. They saluted and immediately ran off to fulfill the request. She then knelt down at the guard’s side, seeing his condition. His wounds were certainly grave, but he’d live if he got medical attention.

The guard was fighting to remain conscious, trying to relay his message—he’d obviously been through a lot, though.

“It’s…it’s happened…” He groaned, repeating himself.

“Do not speak right now,” Celestia said softly, trying to be reassuring, “Conserve your strength.”

“They’re…they’re open…” The guard continued, ignoring her, weakly raising himself upwards.

“What....” Celestia’s face became stern as she considered what the injured guard was telling her, “What’s happened?”

“The gates…the gates…” The guard coughed, extending his hand outwards, forcing himself to relay his message. A message that left no doubt in Celestia’s mind the gravity of the situation at hand.

“The gates…are open!!!”

Author's Note

I'm pretty sure some of you might know where this is going. Well, you're going to have to keep waiting. And with this, we have reached the end of Act 1. Significantly shorter than the original (by about half the length). And from here on, is where things get messy.

So anyway, that's that. See you next week, same time, same...URL.

Act 2 Chapter 1

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 1: Trouble Brewing

It had been a pretty uneventful night in Ponyville. Ever the early bird, Twilight Sparkle was up and about, going over her notes that she’d compiled trying to come up with Corey’s lessons. While Corey hadn’t yet been able to produce an image of his cutie mark yet, Twilight had enough faith that he’d be able to it. However, once he was done with that, the real magic education would begin.

Corey wasn’t up just yet—one thing she’d learned about him was that he was a very heavy sleeper. And he tended to snore a lot, too. John, meanwhile, was the early bird by far. He’d already been up and left to do his volunteer work around the town, whatever that would be.

As far as sleeping was concerned, John seemed to prefer sleeping out on one of the library’s balconies. Corey, meanwhile, took up a spare bed opposite Twilight’s own in her room. She didn’t mind the extra pony in the room, but when he started singing the song of the sleepy…

Twilight’s ear twitched as she registered that Corey was starting to snore again.

It’s a really good thing I’ve learned utility spells… Twilight thought to herself, Number 39, “Earplugs”…

As far as Corey was concerned, she decided to let him sleep. He was obviously still adjusting to the way things worked.

“So, Twilight,” Spike said, walking by her desk, “Who’s worse?”

“Huh?” Twilight asked, looking up from the notes she had to see Spike.

“Who snores worse, Rainbow or Corey?” Spike asked.

“I don’t think it’s really fair to say which,” Twilight said, “He doesn’t always snore, but when he does…”

Both looked up, the sound of another snore echoing from upstairs.

“And then you have Rainbow, who always snores, but I don’t think it’s as disturbing,” Twilight continued her dissertation on snore volume, “But that could be just because we’ve known Rainbow for almost a year, while we’ve known Corey for less than a week…”

“I don’t know,” Spike looked up towards the room again, “But, hey, at least—“

Spike never got to finish his sentence, belching out a familiar green flame, barely having time to turn his head away before upchucking a letter. Spike held out one hand, catching the scroll. It was practically second nature after so many letters were exchanged.

Twilight blinked, both looking at the letter.

“A letter from Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked, reaching out for it. She unfurled the scroll, and began to read.

To My Faithful Student:

Please gather your friends and meet me in the library. This is an urgent situation I must discuss with you all in person. Write me back once you’re all gathered.

--Princess Celestia

P.S. For their own safety, please exclude Corey and John from this group. I believe they have enough to worry about on their own without worrying about this…

Twilight’s eyes widened as she read the letter and re-read it. What was the “urgent situation”, and why were Corey and John to be kept in the dark? In fact, now that she thought about it, it seemed like Celestia had drafted the letter in a hurry. It was definitely her usual style, sure, but it seemed less like her usual, “flowing” style, and more like a scribble—not illegible scribble, but there were small details Twilight couldn’t overlook.

“What happened?” she wondered aloud.

John had seen a lot of Ponyville over the course of his time there. He was sure he had yet to see the whole of the village. However, as of this moment, he was seeing an entirely different side of Ponyville; rather, a different angle. Currently, though not by choice, John was staring at an upside-down Ponyville. Only thing was, the town wasn’t upside down. John himself was—hanging upside down by his feet thanks to a snare.

How did I fall for this again? John thought to himself.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Dragon Catchers, yay!” three voices shouted from below him.

Oh yeah…That’s how… John thought, Last time I let kids talk me into standing on an “X”…

John ran a hand across his face as he remembered how easily he was tricked, and by the Cutie Mark Crusaders of all ponies. Right now, the three fillies stood directly below him, looking around their bodies. Had he not heard Corey’s own account, he wouldn’t have known why they were doing it. However, since he had, he made an educated guess.

They’re looking for the projection of a cutie mark…

“Nothing!” said Sweetie Belle, looking down on herself along with her friends. She wore a white dress over a purple blouse.

“Well, what do we do now?” asked Scootaloo, wanting to quickly change the group’s new objective. She wore a dark yellow tanktop over an orange T-shirt and short gray pants.

“You know, that rope is holdin’ him pretty good,” Apple Bloom observed, looking up at him, “Suppose we try to get cutie marks in knot tyin’?” She wore a yellow T-shirt with blue overalls, and as always, the red bow in her hair.

“Sounds great!” Scootaloo said, pointing off in some random direction, “Let’s get more rope!”

“Thanks, Mister Dragon!” all three called out in succession, zipping off.

“Glad to—“ John only realized exactly what happened a few seconds later, “Wait, let me down first!”

By the time he realized it, though, it was too late. The little foals were already well out of earshot. John released a groan as he allowed his arm to droop towards the ground, the ends of his arms about a foot or two from the ground. This was then followed by a sigh.

Not many ponies come through here… John thought, How long am I gonna be here?

“Eep!”

John blinked, knowing that “eep” well enough. He looked around the area, trying to find its owner. Eventually, he noticed something not too far off: someone hiding around the corner of a house. He couldn’t see the whole body, but when he squinted, he saw a yellow hand that was squeezing the corner slightly.

“Fluttershy?” John asked. The hand squeezing the corner tensed. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, slowly, a pink mane became visible, and soon, the rest of the pegasus pony.

“O-oh…” Fluttershy stuttered, sounding like cornered prey rather than a concerned friend, “H-hello…”

Still afraid of me? John thought to himself, not surprised at all given what he was, It’s okay. It’ll probably take some time before she’ll stop being afraid of me. Well, it’d still be a challenge…but I like challenges.

“Say, could you maybe untie me?” John asked, breaking the shaky silence. Fluttershy shrunk a bit, taking a couple of small steps backwards.

“O-oh, I don’t know,” she said, looking away, “I-I have to be somewhere…a-and I’m kind of in a hurry…”

Sounds about right, John thought, but if I didn’t know better, I’d say she was trying to spare my feelings…oh well, best not push it.

“Fair enough,” John waved, “Go on ahead…”

Fluttershy paused, obviously not expecting that kind of response from him.

“A-are you sure?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, go on,” John assured her with a wave, “I’ll probably find a way down eventually.”

With that, John looked down towards his feet—towards the top of the tree, staring at the snare that bound him.

“Let’s see…” John started, winding up for some kind of lunge or curl-up, “Maybe I can…”

John lunged, trying to grab the rope. However, he missed, falling back to his starting position, the world around him starting to spin.

“Yep…there’s the head rush…” he observed, rubbing at his eyes a bit to try to clear his vision. John lowered his arms, the world around him still spinning, but less so. Despite the distortions, he could make out a figure beginning to move close by. Blinking his eyes repeatedly to clear up his line of sight, John managed to slow the spinning to see a surprising sight.

Fluttershy? John was a little surprised to see her of all ponies moving close to him, What’s she doing…

A few seconds later, John barely heard her musing about pulling something, and a few moments later, he learned exactly what it was: the rope holding the snare in place. The knot came undone, and John cleared the remaining distance to the ground…with his head.

“Oof!” John grunted, flipping over on his stomach a few moments later.

“Oh, d-dear!” Fluttershy realized what had happened, looking over to him from just behind the tree, “I-I’m sorry, I d-didn’t mean to!”

“No problems here,” John said, reaching out one hand, “I barely felt it…”

“A-are you sure?” Fluttershy asked, “You don’t look so good…”

“No need to worry, I’ll be fine when the blood rushes out of my head,” John responded, but Fluttershy didn’t look overly convinced of his self-assessment. To try to convince her he’d be fine, he got up, despite the pounding in his head, leaning on the tree with his elbow.

“See, feeling better already,” he said, “Like I said, no need to worry. Besides, didn’t you say you have somewhere to be?”

“O-oh! Right,” she took half a step away, “Um...n-nice meeting you again.”

A moment later, Fluttershy took off. To where, John didn’t know, nor did he really care. As soon as she took the next corner, John allowed himself to fall over on his back with a louder “thud” than he thought he’d make.

“Full conversation, she was close to me, and said it’s nice to see me again,” he said, lying on the ground. A moment later, one of his fists was raised in the air in triumph, “I’m making progress. Now, I just need a better way to show her that she doesn’t need to be afraid of me…”

John abruptly felt awkward. It wasn’t until he double-checked his surroundings that he understood why.

“And I’ve got to stop talking to myself…”

Twilight paced back and forth through the lobby nervously. Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack were there already. Fluttershy, surprisingly, hadn’t arrived yet. She’d already written the note to Princess Celestia, but hadn’t sent it yet, waiting until after everypony was present to send it—as instructed.

“All that’s left is Fluttershy,” Twilight said to herself, moving around.

“I’m sure she’ll show up,” Rarity said, glancing towards the door, “But it isn’t like her to be running so late…”

The others couldn’t exactly take comfort at this, least of all Twilight, especially after this morning’s report. Or lack thereof. However, before anypony could voice their worry, there was a sudden knock at the door—soft, but there.

“I’ll get it!” Pinkie chirped, hopping over to the door quickly and opening it, revealing who was knocking, “Look, it’s Fluttershy! Don’t need to worry about her!”

“Um…g-good morning, everypony,” Fluttershy greeted, taking a few steps forward, “S-sorry for being so late…I had to h-help John out of a tree, and—“

The unholy sound of a demon assaulted her ears along with everypony else’s, causing Fluttershy to dive for cover behind the nearest creature—which just so happened to be Spike, who cast a slight glance over his shoulder.

“W-what was that…?” she said, peeking out from behind the baby dragon.

“It’s…” Twilight said, already walking to Spike with the note in her hand, “Corey. He’s still asleep.”

There was an uneasy pause as everypony took in that information. Rainbow Dash eventually snorted, amused.

“That’s no way to behave in the presence of a lady…” Rarity said, only to wince a moment later as Corey let out a louder snore.

Spike took the note to Celestia and sprayed it with his special fire, transporting the letter to the princess.

“Well, Princess Celestia said for Corey and John not to be involved in this meeting,” Twilight said, “I figured it’d just be easier to let him sleep. And John…you didn’t tell him where you were going, did you Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy shook her head, wordlessly saying “no”.

“Though…” Twilight turned to her room, her horn already lighting up in a magenta glow. A bubble of the same color briefly appeared over the wall and door, before fading out, “I’d better make sure he doesn’t hear anything…”

“Soundproofing charm?” Spike asked.

“Yes,” Twilight replied. “That should last through the meeting…”

A few moments later, a tremendous bang resonated through the room, followed by a flash. Everyone turned to where the noise came from to see Princess Celestia standing there.

“Princess…” said Twilight. This was the third time in a week she’d teleported in abruptly, but each of those times was due to an important reason.

“Greetings, everyone,” Celestia greeted, “Thank you all for coming.”

“So what’s the matter, Princess?” Rainbow cut in, trying to get to the point.

“In a moment,” Celestia cut her off, her horn lighting up. Applejack, who stood near the window, noticed an amber bubble surrounding the library, but once again, it only showed up for a few seconds.

“The soundproofing charm…?” Twilight asked, alarming everyone save for Celestia.

“That is correct,” Celestia said, turning around, “I’m sensing another one just upstairs…”

“Corey’s still asleep upstairs,” Twilight confessed, “I decided to let him sleep and made sure he couldn’t hear us…”

“And that we couldn’t hear him,” Rainbow said.

Celestia looked up for just a little longer, towards where she now knew Corey was. Apparently not detecting anything contrary to what Twilight said, she turned back to the group.

“I must apologize for the…extreme, precautions,” Celestia said, “But you will soon see why they are needed.”

Save for the greeting, Celestia spoke in a stern tone, not far removed from other times when she’d contacted the group to help solve a problem. This cast a shadow over the room, one that only seemed to deepen when she finally began to speak again.

“Before I begin, I must ask a simple question: what do you know of the gates of Tartarus?” Celestia asked.

“Tartarus?” Rarity asked, sounding like she knew the name from somewhere.

“It’s the place where the worst of the worst go for their crimes,” Twilight said, “The gates are guarded by not just a special unit, but by Cerberus, who was away from the vault for a time. I…uh, had to go make sure he went back to his post when he wandered here…”

“Tartarus was a prison for the most heinous of criminals across the land, not for just Equestria’s criminals, but the worst of the worst from all around the world,” the princess said, “It was constructed by my father, a long time ago, for that purpose, for creatures so far beyond redemption there is simply no alternative.”

A cold chill went up everyone’s spine as they considered why they were talking about such a place now, but it was Applejack who spoke up.

“And…” Applejack faltered, but pressed herself to speak what was on her mind, “You’re tellin’ us about this kinda place…It don’t sound good.”

Celestia distinctly frowned—quite a feat considered she was already scowling a bit at the news. In fact, now that Twilight really thought about it, it didn’t look like Celestia had gotten too good a rest last night.

“The gates to Tartarus were opened last night,” Celestia flatly announced, causing the entire group to gasp. She continued on, delivering the news as directly as possible. “We do not know the full details of what happened as of yet, or if any prisoners escaped. We managed to get the gates closed late last night. Princess Luna took over gate duty after the fact.”

“Tartarus…” Twilight said, “A breakout?!”

“What kind of monsters could have escaped from such a place?!” Rarity shrieked, “I shudder to imagine…”

“We all do,” Celestia said, “Unfortunately, we are still assessing the situation. We have no idea the extent of the breakout. The poor guard that managed to report to me on the situation…He was badly injured.”

An uneasy silence took over the room, the weight of the situation putting a complete damper on the mood. Even Pinkie’s hair, usually poofy and cheerful, had flattened a bit; that was how heavy the news was.

“C-C’mon,” Rainbow spoke up, “It’s not like we haven’t dealt with this kinda stuff before, right?” She looked around from pony to pony (to dragon).

“While I commend your optimism, Rainbow Dash, I fear that this could very well exceed the dangers you have all faced before,” Celestia said, “You faced Nightmare Moon, but beneath the terrifying mare in the moon was Princess Luna. You have faced Discord, but there are lines even his former self would not dare cross.

“They only being you’ve faced that would be on par with what we could be facing is King Sombra, but thanks to Cadence’s shield, you were spared any prolonged contact with him. But believe me when I say that if he had his way…” Princess Celestia paused, closing her eyes, an unmistakably sickly look on her face. This alone put even more of a damper on the group’s mood, wondering exactly how easy they had it before.

“It is just fortunate that he did not,” she finally said, ending the silence, “These prisoners will not hesitate to cross a line that you have not yet seen, and they will do so without any remorse. Some…may even enjoy it.”

If the situation had any physical weight to it, it would have crushed the group almost instantly. But, even without the physical aspect, it did crush Rainbow’s previous optimism, and Fluttershy stumbled, falling to her knees, her eyes small and shaking. Seeing the fear in her subjects, Celestia moved to try to give some comfort.

“Believe you me when I say that I will do everything in my power to protect you and everypony else,” Celestia made her attempt at assurance, but it was clear to her that the fear had already made itself a home in their hearts.

I cannot blame them. These are dire times… Celestia thought.

“R-Rainbow,” Fluttershy found it in her heart to stutter out a sentence, though her voice had mostly left her, “I-Is it okay if I s-stay with you for a-a while?”

Rainbow looked over to Fluttershy, putting one palm on her shoulder, “Sure thing, ‘Shy.”

“I understand your fears,” Celestia said, “But I will make sure that nothing happens to you or anypony else. This, I promise you…”

Corey finally awoke, the morning having mostly gone. The sun was nearly at the top of the sky—it was nearly noon. He rose up, stretching. One hand went to his eyes as he threw the blanket off his body with the other. He looked around, sighing.

“If it wasn’t a dream the last four times…” Corey said to himself, shaking his head as he got out of bed, “What time is it?”

Corey glanced to his left, then to his right.

“How does she do it?” Corey wondered to himself, “Get up so early on a consistent basis…”

He reached over to the nightstand next to his bed, putting on his glasses before heading to the bedroom door, opening it slowly. He poked his head out of the room, looking around the lobby area, seeing if he could find any sign of the creatures he was now living with.

“Twilight?” Corey said, looking around, “I’m up…”

No response. Corey looked around, and decided to take a few steps out of the room.

“Twilight?” Corey asked, a bit louder and more firmly, “Are you here?”

Still nothing. Corey was starting to wonder where someone was. Even if Twilight wasn’t here for whatever reason, Spike would have at least said something. What was going on?

“Uh, anybody home?” Corey asked, looking around, walking through the library house. It wasn’t like he was exposed in any manner, so he wasn’t too worried if someone saw him fresh out of bed. He decided to make his way towards the kitchen—he needed to find something to eat, even if no one was around. Even if it was just toast.

However, as he crossed the threshold, he noticed something: a certain purple pony sitting at the table, a half-full mug of some liquid in front of her. However, before Corey could say anything, she looked up, gasping.

“C-Corey?!” she said, “Y-you’re awake?”

“I was…” Corey tilted his head, noticing something else off about the picture, “I was asking if you were here…”

“Sorry, I…I guess I must’ve been…” she looked away from him, one hand to her chin. Corey couldn’t help but notice the pensive look on her face.

“Are you…” Corey took a single step forward, hunching over, “Are you feeling okay?”

Twilight gasped, standing up.

“Of-of course!” she said, nearly knocking over the mug as she rushed to her feet, “N-never been better!”

Corey took a step back, not sure what was going on, “Are you sure?”

“Everything’s fine!” she said, perhaps a little too quickly.

Corey looked around, really wondering what had happened, mumbling to himself, “Did…did I miss something…”

“No, not at all!”

Corey grunted as he was abruptly spun around. A couple of moments later, he found himself being pushed out of the kitchen.

“I…” Corey could at least detect the urgency in the mare’s tone. She wanted that subject changed, but why?

“You’ve…you’ve still got a lot on your plate…” Twilight said, her tone less…sharp, for lack of a better term, “Don’t worry about it…”

The more you say that, Twilight… Corey thought, unwilling to prod further, afraid she’d launch him magically next. The more I worry…

Author's Note

And here's where we start Act 2. Let's see if I can get through Act 2 this time around. This act will be roughly as long as the old Collision Code's Act 2 was planned to be (in terms of chapters).

Act 2 Chapter 2

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 2: Tension

The royal Canterlot hospital had seen a good number of guardsponies from time to time, whether it was a training accident or some other workplace-related hazard. However, this was the most they’d seen since the scuffle with the Changelings. While they’d all survive, some were less lucky than others.

A light gray unicorn was flat on his back in one hospital bed, his hospital gown draped over him like any other patient. Bandages covered most of his body, including one side of his face.

The other ponies around him were his comrades down there in that horrid place. All of them had experienced the same terror he had. Were it not for what he had done, his comrades may not have seen the light of day again.

Now, however, Noble Sword remains in slumber, having passed out since delivering the message to Princess Celestia. His body jerked around as he grunted lightly, as though he were fighting some unseen enemy.

“Watch out!”

Noble Sword ducked low as one of the prisoners clawed out at him with his intensely sharp claws. He had no time to drum into his head the details of this prisoner, more focused on just staying alive, planning to report this to the Princess as soon as possible.

All had seemed normal…until the guards had gotten close enough. Just behind the gates was a festering crowd of prisoners, held back by elite guards from the day’s Royal Guard and the night’s Night Patrol.

Noble Sword and company had managed to get close, but, like a massive zit, the gates of Tartarus had burst open—a full-scale prison riot had erupted. The elites had somehow failed to contain the rioting prisoners, fueled by what seemed like a need for the freedom they did not deserve.

The elites had already been through hell and back; some of the prisoners also looked significantly banged-up. It only got worse from there. The crazed prisoners drew energy from their drive for freedom—he wasn’t sure where it was all coming from. Nopony could tell him.

Noble Sword struck back with a laser spell, knocking his aggressor back a bit. However, as expected of an inmate, it wasn’t enough to take them down. Suddenly, a crushing blow struck Noble from the side, putting a dent in the side of his breastplate. Noble stumbled, managing to right himself.

There was no time for him to really register the newcomer, either, especially since the newcomer—he had to be maybe twice the height of the average pony—began to charge him, the intent to kill in his eyes.

Noble Sword’s magic began to manifest itself. His horn lit up in a red-violet light, and a moment later, his left and right forearms grew magical blades—meant for use in this kind of situation, of course. He stood his ground, aiming to disable his new assailant with an “X”-slice.

However, his blades didn’t even make it past the creature’s hide. The blades on his arms skidded to a halt against his skin and actually chipped, and a moment later, Noble was lifted from his feet by the strike, his armor getting another huge dent in the center of his chest.

Noble stood up, looking around. It was a horrible, horrible mess, and he grit his teeth.

“Darn it…” he said, looking back ahead of him as the large prisoner leapt towards him, aiming to continue the fight.

“You feelin’ powerless yet?!” the prisoner roared, Noble quickly raising his chipped arm-blades, trying to defend from the prisoner’s claw attack. Not only was his hide insanely durable, but so were his claws. While the prisoner’s attack didn’t penetrate the magic, it did cause his swords to shatter the rest of the way. A follow-up claw came down, coming dangerously close to putting a gash through his eye.

Noble Sword already knew he was starting to bleed, even as he was knocked back again, this time from this prisoner’s kick. This was the one that shattered his armor, and he went flying back, eventually sliding to a halt on his back. He looked up, trying to get on his feet.

“Can’t…let this guy out…” Noble grumbled to himself, trying desperately to get himself back into fighting condition.

“Noble!” A voice shouted, and his opponent turned his head. Two of the ponies from his squad were coming to his aid, looking only slightly better than he did.

“Brave?! Proud?!” Noble shouted the names of his comrades.

One was an earth pony with a bulky build wielding a large hammer, striking the large prisoner hard enough to manage to make him take a step back. This was Brave Hart, red in color with a dark blue mane and tail. The other pony, Proudshot, was a pegasus pony, dark blue with a goldenrod mane and tail. He held a bow and arrow in his hands, three arrows set for an attack.

Proud, as he was called, released the string of his bow, sending them flying towards the wayward prisoner. These arrows would have totally ineffective were it not for the fact the arrows were enchanted with the element of ice. The arrows soared towards their opponent, making contact with his body, each arrow exploding into solid ice.

“That won’t hold him for long!” Proudshot shouted, landing in front of Noble.

“We have to send notice of this to the Princesses,” Brave said, joining his comrades, holding his hammer in both hands.

“There won’t be time!” Proud shouted, “By the time it gets there, it’ll already be too late!”

The three stood close together, racking their brains, trying to find the best way to get the message out.

“Even the fastest pegasus among us would take over an hour to get there…” Noble panted, having finally gotten to his feet, “And that was if he was healthy!”

“We don’t have direct lines to the princess either,” Brave said, “That would make it easier…”

“And we can’t just keep fighting…This isn’t going to end well if we just keep fighting like this…” Proud pointed out. The prisoner was beginning to shake off the effect of the ice arrows, looking over his opponents menacingly, like a predator waiting for its prey.

At once, Noble Sword came to a decision.

“There is one way…!” he announced, gathering all his focus.

By the time Brave and Proud turned to see him, they saw his horn glowing a brilliant red, his entire body seemingly glowing with yet-unseen power.

“Noble, no!” Brave shouted, “Canterlot is too far! If you try to teleport straight there, it could take up more magic than you have!”

“If I do nothing, the result’s going to be the same!” Noble shouted, “This is the kind of thing we’ve trained for, remember?! ‘To protect and serve together’…that was the pact we made as kids, right?”

Brave and Pride both hesitated, but eventually gave a slow nod, knowing he was right.

“Lay your trust on me,” Noble grunted, only now becoming aware of how much magic he was using up, “I promise that we will live to fight again!”

The magic on his horn and in his body reached its critical point. At that moment, there was a violent flash that enveloped Noble’s vision…

Noble Sword gave a sharp gasp, sitting straight up in his bed, sweat coming out of what felt like every pore on his body. His entire body immediately screamed at him in protest, and he immediately slumped backwards with a groan. Finally, his eyes opened—and he realized he was only able to see out of one eye. He patted at his face with one arm—even that act sent his nerves on a hissy fit.

“Right…” Noble grumbled to himself, “Last night…”

He looked slowly around the room, seeing a lot of familiar ponies resting up. They were probably in no better condition than he was, and Noble began to worry.

“Did…” Noble said aloud, “Did I make it?”

“Do not worry,” a gentle voice said from his left, causing him to give a knowing gasp, “You have done your duty.”

Noble gently turned his head towards the voice, seeing Princess Celestia standing there, overlooking not just him specifically, but the whole room.

“P-princess…” Noble groaned, trying to lift himself up again.

“No,” Princess Celestia said to him, in a gentle voice, “It’s okay. Please do not push yourself any further.”

“The gates—“ continued Noble, trying his hardest to convey the situation he wasn’t sure if he had managed to tell.

“We know,” Celestia said, “We know very well what happened down there now. After your…report, on the incident, Princess Luna came down to help resolve the issue. Still, we’re trying to figure out who escaped and how this all happened…”

Noble paused, looking down towards his sheets now. He felt ill, knowing this had happened the way it did.

“If only I’d realized it sooner…” Noble said after an uneasy silence, “Maybe we could have—‘

“Calm down,” Celestia said, all calmness herself, not letting her tone betray the uneasiness she felt knowing that Tartarus had, even if for a little while, been compromised, “Nopony had any way of knowing that this was going to happen. You did what you could, and because of it, nopony from the squads was mortally wounded. For now, take a rest. You have done your duty.”

Noble continued to look up towards the princess for several seconds, but he had no words to say. He looked around the room—truly looked around the room, for the first time. He could see many familiar faces from the battle that night.

“They are here today, thanks to you…” Celestia said.

Noble at last closed his eyes, letting out a small sigh of relief. He allowed himself to lower back onto his pillow, feeling comfortable for the first time since the riot broke out. Within seconds, he was back to sleep. Not that Princess Celestia could blame him. She sat there for a while longer, looking over the injured.

I can not thank you all enough for your efforts, Celestia thought to herself, Were it not for your brave sacrifices—

“Sister…” The voice was familiar; Celestia turned to see who it was. At the door was Princess Luna, in her royal battle armor—the same color as her usual regalia, but far more protective. Aside from a few scuffs on the armor itself, Luna was completely unharmed—seeing her sister unharmed, Celestia sighed in relief.

“Welcome home, Luna,” Celestia said, walking over to Luna. However, as she got closer, Celestia quickly took notice of her sister’s expression. It wasn’t a proud look; one that let you know everything was alright.

“What happened?” Celestia whispered—even that would be pushing it, she spoke so quietly. Luna looked around at the guards who were bandaged up in the room, before looking back to Celestia.

“Come with me,” Luna said, taking half a step away, “There is something I must share with you…”

John had found himself a nice open area on top of a hill to lay back on. After the blood that was in his head had finally begun circulating normally through his system, John decided to take some time to himself for a change. He looked up into the sky, at the clouds, something he hadn’t done in years, as he indulged in his rest.

Wonder what it’d feel like… John thought to himself, reaching up to the sky with one clawed hand. To stand on a cloud? Maybe I’ll get a chance one of these days. You can stand on clouds here, after all…

Much as he liked just lying back and thinking about things, it wasn’t something he found entertaining in large doses. Picking himself up from the ground, John began to think about other things, or rather, people.

Wonder what the others are up to… John thought, Other than Fluttershy, I haven’t seen any of the others…usually I’d have run into Rainbow practicing or Applejack going in or out of town by now. But then again, Fluttershy did say she had somewhere to be…so maybe they’re all together?

John began to make his way down his hill, wondering exactly what was going on. It certainly made sense that they’d be together. Yet, previous experience from the show told him that it could be bad; however, John dismissed this—since he and Corey entered Equestria, it had been peaceful. He had no reason to worry about it.

Eventually, John managed to make his way back into town. At first glance, everything looked normal. Everypony in the town seemed to be going about their business, walking around on the ground or flying over his head. Speaking of which, as John continued to look into the sky, he noticed two certain pegasi up there.

“Hey, it’s Fluttershy and Rainbow,” John said to himself aloud, seeing them flying in his direction. He raised a hand to them in a wave.

“Hey Rainbow,” John raised his voice just a little—not too much, he was in the middle of town, “When’s the next—“

As if they hadn’t noticed him, Rainbow and Fluttershy kept going past him.

“Flying…lesson…” John watched them fly off for a few seconds more, before shrugging, “Guess they didn’t hear me. They were pretty high up. Oh well, guess I’ll try to catch her later.”

With that, John began to walk back towards the library, one thing on his mind.

“Guess I’ll see what Corey’s up to,” John said, chuckling to himself as Corey’s sleeping habits popped up in his head, “If he’s awake, that is…”

Corey held his hands out in front of him, cupping them like they were full of water, eyes closed, focusing. He’d been at this step for at least an hour after getting back in his regular clothes and otherwise just preparing for the day. Of course, he hadn’t had much luck in his previous attempts.

Twilight was more or less reading one of the beginner’s books, trying to figure out what to do next, despite the clouds in her head. She would occasionally glance over to him, but mainly left him to his devices.

What should I teach him first…? Twilight thought, looking over the pages, I guess you can’t go wrong with levitation…but what else after that? It’s not like I can teach him self-defense spells without him knowing something’s up…

She looked over to him, his face strained with focus.

He’s already been through so much… she thought to herself. As she looked to him, she saw something come off of Corey’s hands: a pulse, green in color. Twilight paused, seeing this.

“Is he…” she said aloud to herself, seeing it. A few moments later, small, indiscernible shapes began to form around Corey’s hands.

It happened all at once from there. Another pulse of magical energy came off of Corey’s hands, then another. After the third pulse, a black mist seemed to form, and the green zeroes and ones began to fill the mist. Twilight suppressed the urge to call out to Corey to tell him what was wrong—he’d spent quite a while trying to get this far, and she didn’t want to risk him losing his concentration now.

Instead, Twilight rose from her seat and walked up to Corey, reaching out to touch his shoulder. When her hand made contact, Corey turned, eyes open, apparently not noticing the magical projection over his hands. All he could see was her smiling back to him.

“What?” Corey asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

Twilight didn’t say anything; she only tilted her head slightly, motioning him to look back to his hands. Confused, Corey followed the direction, and eventually, he saw it, letting out a gasp.

“I…” Corey started, staring at the binary cloud, “I did it…”

“I knew you could do it,” Twilight said.

“Up until now…that made one of us…” Corey said, “Part of me wondered…if I’d ever be able to pull it off, but now…”

Twilight giggled a little as a memory washed over her.

Reminds me of when I first used magic… she thought to herself, Though…it wasn’t as…controlled. But still, I bet I felt the same way…

Twilight blinked, realizing she was now looking up towards the ceiling. Had she zoned out? Whatever the case, she had to get back on track as a teacher.

“Now that you managed to use the spell, we need to work on your control a bit,” Twilight said, moving her head to look back to Corey, “It took you nearly—“

She halted, looking at Corey now. He hadn’t changed back into whatever he looked like before; he certainly hadn’t undergone any massive change. But it was the smallest change that counted.

He’s…smiling. Twilight thought, looking at his face. It’s not like I haven’t seen him smile before this, but now… Twilight continued to stare at Corey, who continued to smile at the projection of his cutie mark. There was a certain sparkle in his eyes, a glimmer of pride she hadn’t seen in him since he first arrived. It’s like all of his previous smiles were just a mask…Is this…is this the real him?

Corey eventually noticed Twilight wasn’t looking at his projection anymore. When he looked back to her, he saw that her focus was now entirely on him—a fact that suddenly made him very uncomfortable.

“W-what’s wrong?” Corey asked flatly.

Twilight realized she was staring, and very lightly blushed, realizing what she was doing.

“O-oh, it’s…it’s nothing,” Twilight said, looking away slightly, “It was just…well, your smile…”

“M-my smile…?” Corey asked, his eyes wide, “W-what’s wrong with…?” Corey’s projection disappeared, as he moved his hands to hide his mouth.

“N-nothing!” Twilight said, turning back to him, “Nothing at all! It’s just…well, for the first time since I met you, you actually looked happy…”

Corey blinked, unsure what exactly she was talking about. But any response he had was shot down by Twilight’s next statement.

“You have a really nice smile, you know…”

“O-oh…” Corey stuttered, his face rapidly flushing.

Fatal error at response.exe. Reboot in Safe Mode?

“Um, thank you…” Corey said, “Y-you have…you have a nice smile too…”

Why did I say that?! Corey thought to himself, embarrassed at his reaction.

Twilight blushed slightly, and the air in the room changed again—now a fog of awkward had settled into the room, and for the life of her, Twilight couldn’t figure out an answer to the new question that plagued her.

W-what…what just happened?

Author's Note

What happened, indeed...And that's where I leave off for another week. See you all next time.

Act 2 Chapter 3

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 3: Progress Report

If there was one thing that anyone knew about Corey, it would be his total lack of ability to deal with an unfamiliar situation. And right now, that situation involved figuring out what to do right after complimenting a girl on her smile. Even if said girl was a pony…

What do I say now? Corey thought, No one’s said a word for so long…wait! I know! I can try to shift the subject back to the lessons…That should work! Just say you’re going to try projecting your mark again…

It was certainly a foolproof plan, as well as the most obvious one. However, Corey found that over the course of the next several seconds, he hadn’t said a single word; not even moving an inch from his spot.

Say something, damn you!! Corey snapped at his own mind.

Voice.exe not found. His mind droned back; Corey could have sworn he heard a Windows error sound accompany the error message.

Oh come on! When did I run on Windows Vista?! Corey argued back, completely oblivious to the mare beside him. She stood next to him, staring off into space, deep in thought.

What…just happened? Twilight thought to herself, All he did was compliment me on my smile…why am I at a loss for words? It’s not like I haven’t been complimented before, right?

How many of them were stallions? Her mind asked back at her, Specifically, ones not related to you.

Twilight blinked, That’s…right. The only other ponies who ever complimented me like that were my friends—most of whom are mares. And we’d always throw compliments like that around…I mean, sure, I do have friends who are stallions, but none of them ever said anything like that to me…oh! Why am I at such a loss…

Neither one could bring themselves to say anything. The dense fog of awkward that had settled into the room continued to thicken. All they could do was stand in silence, awkwardly looking away from one another, trying to shift the focus but not seeing any way to do so—

“Hello?” A familiar voice came from the other room, “Anyone here?”

Both Corey and Twilight turned their heads towards the door of the room—that was the way out they were looking for.

“We’re in here!” Both called out at the same time.

Did we just… Corey thought, turning to Twilight; she turned back, having realized it herself. Both subsequently blinked.

So close! Twilight thought, not sure what to think all of a sudden about that kind of thing.

“Hope I’m not interrupting any…thing…” John came into the room, pausing as he stepped through the doorway. He took notice of how close they were standing together, and quickly moved to say something lest he start giggling—a grin was already forming on his mouth, and he tried hard to suppress that.

“Oh…um, is this a bad time?”

“No, not at all!” Twilight said, talking just a little faster than normal, “Actually, Corey just finished his first lesson and now he’s taking a break.”

Twilight found it in herself to move once again, making her way to the door.

“I’ll make us some tea…” she said, leaving the room. John looked back at Twilight as she left, confused. He turned to Corey, who also watched her leave with a puzzled—no, troubled?—expression on his face.

“What was that all about?” John asked.

Corey didn’t respond straight away.

“Corey?” John asked again, finally getting his attention.

“I’m…not sure…” Corey finally said, pushing his glasses back up onto his face and turning away.

After a few minutes, the tea had been prepared. Twilight poured a cup for John, Corey, and herself.

“Let me know if you need anything else,” Twilight said, “I’m going to take care of something real quick.”

Twilight quickly walked out of the room without too much more said. Once she was gone, John and Corey picked up their respective cups from the table. The two sat in silence for a few seconds, before John spoke up.

“So how’s the magic lessons going?” John asked, taking a small sip of his tea. He winced at the taste, but only slightly.

“Well,” Corey started, fiddling idly with the cup as he tried to gauge the heat of the tea, “I’m making some progress. Managed to project my cutie mark, though it took a while.” Finally, Corey took a small sip of his tea.

“How’d it feel?” John asked.

“It felt…” Corey said, pausing as a very notable smile began to spread across his lips, “Amazing…It was slight, but once I noticed I’d actually done it, I could feel the magic I was giving off. It was the first time since lessons started that I actually believed that I could do it…That—that I can actually learn how to be a unicorn.”

Is this really the same Corey from when we first arrived? John thought to himself, noting Corey’s reaction now versus way back then, After Celestia told us we were stuck here…I’d never seen so much despair in a person—pony, before. But now he looks…happy?

“So what about you?” Corey’s face went back to its natural blank slate as he asked his next question, taking another sip.

“Huh?” John asked.

“What have you been up to?” Corey said again.

“Oh,” John recovered from his slump, “Well, Rainbow’s offered to teach me how to fly…”

Corey looked to John and raised a brow.

“Can’t say I can see it…” Corey said, “So how’s she going about it…”

“Well, do you know how birds teach their young?” John answered with another question.

Corey stared at John for a few seconds before starting to snicker, “You just let her push you off a ledge?!”

“She blindsided me!” John said, “She took me to the top of a waterfall, told me she’d teach me how to fly, lead me to the edge and—“

John only now realized the look Corey was giving him as he went on. Only after Corey started to full-on laugh did John realize exactly what was wrong with his explanation.

“I should have seen it coming,” John groaned with a facepalm.

It took a bit for Corey to control himself, but as soon as he did, John continued on with his story.

“Anyway…” John cut in, making sure to redirect the conversation towards what they learned, “I started to learn how to control my wings,” John opened his wings and flapped them, hard, but just once, “Haven’t tried to take off on my own yet, but I’m making progress.”

“Guess we’re both getting used to our new bodies,” Corey said, looking down to his tea, looking at his reflection, “Still hard to believe we’re in these bodies sometimes…”

“Yeah,” John said, “Bet the guys back home wouldn’t believe it either.”

At the mention of “home”, both friends went into silence once more. Since the first day, neither had mentioned their homeworld to one another.

“…h-how often do you think of it? Home, I mean,” Corey asked after a few minutes of silence. John placed his cup down, letting out a small sigh.

“I’ve thought of home since the moment we learned we were stuck here…” he said, “Sometimes it makes it hard to sleep at night.”

For the first time since arriving, Corey noted that John definitely seemed bothered—his laid-back demeanor had vanished, the much larger dragon hunching over in his set.

“It’s…kind of been the same for me…” Corey said, “Only time I can get my mind off of it is during my lessons…even if only for a while, they help me forget,” Corey took in a shuddering sigh as emotions began to wash over him, emotions he’d tried to forget from that night.

I wonder how they’re doing right now… Corey thought to himself, Mom…God, I don’t want to imagine how she must have taken it… Dad…I’m sorry…My sister…can’t be taking it well…either. Ivan…Leo…how are they holding up now that we’re not around…

Corey had hung his head, and had realized his eyes were starting to water now.

You don’t even realize the niche you have in your world until after you lost it… Corey thought, How will everyone remember me?

John didn’t look at Corey, too busy thinking about his own personal life.

What do they think happened to me… John thought, How are they coping with me being gone? I…I can’t get the image out of my head, of my family sitting around, crying, wondering if I’m okay…

“John…” Corey said, his glasses on the table, rubbing at the bridge of his nose, not looking up to him, “Think we’ll…ever stop thinking about it…?”

“Doubt it…” John responded, sighing again, “But maybe with time…it’ll get easier…”

Both Corey and John went totally silent, a somber cloud having found its way into the room. It settled in, and refused to leave.

Twilight stood outside the hall, just to the side of the door. Her brows were furrowed, and she was frowning. She had just about made it back to the room when she heard their conversation. She had tried to give them privacy, but when she heard them start talking about home, she found it impossible to move away. Now, she wished that she had, as the cloud that was in that room was starting to affect her once again, creating a pit in her stomach.

I knew they were having a hard time, but this… Twilight thought, This…

She hung her head, turning her head away from the door.

This confirms it… Twilight continued, They are already going through so much…I can’t let them know about the breakout. I hope everything’s going to be fine, and that they’ll never have to know what’s happened…

Once Celestia and Luna left the intensive care unit of the hospital, they both made their way towards the roof. As they walked, Celestia couldn’t help but notice the troubled look on her sister’s face. Something was wrong. There was no doubt about that, but she knew there could have been quite a few things that were giving Luna trouble. At the moment, there was one particular possibility that crossed Celestia’s mind more than once, and she prayed that she was wrong.

Once on the roof, Celestia locked the door behind them. For added protection, Luna cast a spell that caused the light to refract away from them such that nopony could hear them. After Celestia put up yet another soundproof barrier encompassing the roof, she turned to her sister, and began to speak.

“No one should be able to hear us now,” Celestia said, walking up to her sister, “Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

Luna didn’t turn around straight away as she prepared to speak. Soon as she gathered herself, she turned towards her sister, and began her report.

“I’ll begin with what I’m sure we were both worried of from the moment we heard of the break out,” Luna said, “Tirek is still in his cell.”

Celestia couldn’t withhold her sigh of relief.

He was possibly the greatest threat, out of all the prisoners in Tartarus…and yet... Noting Luna was still uncomfortable, Celestia’s relief suddenly went back down.

“If this is true, then what is it that troubles you?” asked Celestia, not liking the fact her sister didn’t look relieved at that news.

Luna looked away for a moment. With a sigh, she turned back to Celestia, and said: “As of now, three prisoners are unaccounted for.”

Celestia felt her heart lurch—it was exactly what she feared. There was no telling exactly how many escaped, or how far they could have gotten by now.

“I will assemble a team,” said Celestia as she turned towards the door, “With any luck we can find them before—“

“There’s more.” Luna cut her off midsentence. Celestia stopped; this had to be more important information.

“Celestia, tell me, how many levels are there in Tartarus?” Luna asked.

“Don’t you know, Sister?” asked Celestia, “There haven’t been any alterations to Tartarus for eons. We should both know the answer…eight? Is that not right?”

“What if I told you…that I found a ninth?”

Celestia froze; she’d been to Tartarus before to lock away prisoners. Not once had she ever heard of that before then.

“How?” Celestia asked.

“It happened when I went to Tirek’s cell,” Luna began, “As I said, he was still there. But before I left, I found something else that I have never seen before.”

Celestia would have answered with another question, but found that it would have been redundant.

“On the very edge of the eighth level, I found a staircase that lead downwards. Around it were the scattered remains of what we thought was the impregnable wall. I followed the path down to a ninth level, only to find that not only was it no bigger than a normal room, but that it only had a single cell.”

Luna paused, clearing her throat.

“This cell was like nothing I have ever seen before. There was powerful magic behind it; magic more powerful than what our combined strength could manage. And…it was empty.”

Celestia felt a cold chill run down her spine as she processed this information.

I don’t understand…why would there be another level in Tartarus for just one prisoner—one prisoner with a specially designed cell as well? It doesn’t add up…All this time, I’d thought I’d known everything there was to know of that place…but it would seem not…

Day 5

I actually did it. I projected my cutie mark. I can actually do magic. I’m actually going to learn how to be a unicorn. If anything…it’ll soothe the pain of…not being able to see home again.

I can’t believe it, though. I’m wanting to be happy about what I’ve done—I should be. I need to be. I sort of am. But there’s just one thing that’s holding me back. Maybe I shouldn’t worry about it, but…

Twilight was nice to me, right from the start. I know what it’s like to be the one that everyone has doubts about…time and again I managed to prove them wrong. However, that was the one time I genuinely feared I wouldn’t. Even when she had every right to assume I could have been a sick monster that sicced the least destructive dragon in the history of man ponykind, she still managed to treat me nice.

She didn’t even hold it against me when I’d lashed out at her. Ever since I dropped in, she has been nothing but supporting of me, trying to help me out when I was feeling down. But now, she’s the one that seems to be worried about something.

Something tells me I shouldn’t stick my nose in her business—whatever it is that’s bothering her…But…but…

I can’t just leave her like this…from the moment I woke up she was worried, and even now she still can’t seem to settle down. I want to do the same thing for her that she did for me. Even if the situations aren’t similar.

Well, I guess that’s that, huh? Better try to get some sleep. Gonna start learning magic tomorrow.

--Corey

Author's Note

And here's where we leave off for another week. Pretty much all I have to say on that.

Act 2 Chapter 5

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 5: Crashing Down

For the past few days, Corey had fallen into a routine. Every morning after breakfast he and Twilight would retreat to a lone room in the library. Once settled in, Twilight would supervise Corey as he went through his lesson. On occasion, she would give him verbal guidance.

At the moment, Corey was focused on the lesson that he had been working at for the past three days: the quill levitating in front of him, his horn and the quill both cloaked in a green light. Corey watched the quill move slowly left and right; guided by his will and nothing else.

I’ve gotten better over the past few days, Corey thought, I can mostly think about other things now while doing this.

He took a quick glance over to Twilight. Normally, she’d be watching his progress closely with great interest. And while she seemed just as interested in making sure he could learn how to be a unicorn, there was something off. She was looking at him, sure, there was no denying that.

It’s almost like she’s looking a million miles past me, Corey noted her ghostly stare, And I’m not an idiot; I can tell she hasn’t been sleeping as well.

That wasn’t the only thing that was off; there were bags under her eyes, and dark circles that showed under her fur. Her mane, which was usually well kept, had become frizzy against her best attempts to hide it. Corey tried to return his attention to the task at hand, but found himself unable to banish his worry.

She’s getting worse, thought Corey, I know she’s not good at hiding things, and worse at dealing with stress. And, if I didn’t know better, I’d say it was tearing her apart…

How much longer are you planning on waiting? An inner voice asked him.

I’ve already asked her what’s wrong, Corey thought, And she won’t tell me a thing. What else can I do?

If she won’t tell you, then press the issue. Make her want to tell you.

You of all people should know me better than that, Corey argued back, starting to feel annoyed now. The quill briefly teetered in response, but it wasn’t anything Corey couldn’t handle right now.

I’m telling you this because I know you better.

The inner voice went silent after that, leaving Corey alone in his thoughts. He took another look to Twilight. Her eyes looked heavy, and she looked like she was trying not to fall asleep. It was easily the worst off she’d been since she started acting so strangely. As he continued to look into her direction, Corey couldn’t help but shake a feeling of déjà vu. Eventually, Corey managed to figure out what it was.

It’s just like on that day…

Corey closed his eyes, cancelling the spell with the quill falling point-first to the table, causing a highly audible tack sound against the silence; enough to catch Twilight’s attention.

She shook her head, looking up at Corey to see him looking back at her.

“O-oh,” she said, trying to figure out what had happened, lost entirely in her own thoughts. Eventually, she saw what had made the noise, looking down to see the quill on the table. Looking back to Corey, she asked, “Did you lose focus again?”

“N-no,” Corey looked away slightly, “I, um, I put it down on my own.”

“Oh,” Twilight smiled, but Corey could see the hints of it being forced; it just wasn’t her smile, “Well, that’s great! You’ve made fast progress on summoning your magic,” She rose from her seat, “Now that you’re getting a hang of it, we can—“

Twilight was cut off by a yawn, which Corey knew was a byproduct of missing one too many hours of sleep.

“S-sorry about that,” Twilight said as she recovered, “Guess I’m still a little sleepy. How about we take a little break, maybe have some coffee?”

Corey didn’t even get a chance to give an answer before Twilight turned on her heel and began to walk, very slowly towards the door. He didn’t even have one. All that was on his mind now was how this situation reminded him of a day not too long ago, one that he couldn’t forget no matter what.

The day when a pony needed a shoulder to lean on, and the day another pony provided it.

“T…” Corey stuttered, forcing himself to keep speaking, “Twilight?”

Twilight stopped, turning around. Time seemed to slow down for Corey as she did, his only thoughts on what he was about to do. Or try to do.

I know this isn’t my strongest suit, Corey thought, But I’ll be damned if I don’t try.

“Yeah?” asked Twilight after turning to face him.

Now or never…

“W-why won’t you tell me what’s been bothering you?” Corey asked, noting the change in Twilight’s expression when he got the question out. It was something he’d already seen before, something he’d seen over the past few days. Twilight had put on her mask, the one that said “everything’s fine”. It was a convincing mask, certainly enough to throw Corey off for a time, but after so long and after her decline as of late, he’d learned to see through it.

“C-Corey, I told you,” Twilight stuttered, “There’s nothing—“

“Before you say it,” Corey cut her off, “I want to say something first.”

I learned to code in Java. I can do Calculus II with enough prep time. I’m learning, slowly but surely, to control my magic, but somehow, this is harder still, was something Corey added mentally.

“I-I still remember the day I learned I’d be stuck here in Equestria for my entire life. It…it almost broke me. The idea of knowing my whole life had just changed permanently in an instant. I…I wasn’t able to hide the f-fact I was scared.”

Corey stopped as he looked up to Twilight. It took every ounce of self-control he had, but he’d managed to take one step forward.

“I…I can’t keep a lid on my troubles. Not like you have been.”

Corey wasn’t sure if it was a good thing that Twilight looked taken aback by this, but there was no turning back now. Twilight, for her part, didn’t know why she was taken aback. Maybe it was the fact he’d finally caught on that something was happening, or maybe it was what he was saying. She couldn’t tell.

“W-what I’m trying to say is,” Corey continued, once again doing the thing where he missed her eyes, but it was…different, somehow. Almost like he was trying to find them and couldn’t, “When I needed it, you provided a shoulder for me to lean on. All I’m asking is that you let me do the same.”

The room fell completely silent after that. Twilight’s jaw had slacked a bit. She stared at Corey for a few moments. Eventually, she bit her bottom lip, and turned her head away.

“Corey, I…” She sighed, “I’m…not sure if you could handle knowing—“

At this point, a hand came down on her shoulder. She looked up, seeing Corey was the one who had placed his palm on it. There was a smile on his face, one that was reassuring.

“Let me worry about that,” Corey said.

Now, things were different. As she stared into Corey’s face; his smile, for the first time since hearing the news, for the first time since those updates starting coming in, Twilight felt herself calm down. Maybe, she could trust him, the unicorn standing before her. If she did tell him, maybe it’d be okay.

Twilight closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, preparing herself for what was to come. That whole thing had been so much information to take in. Eventually, she looked to him again, and began to speak.

“A few days ago—“

“Twilight!”

The sudden shout got both of their attentions. Corey and Twilight looked towards the entrance to the next room to see Rainbow standing there, panting. She had one hand to the frame of the door. In the other, she was holding something.

John’s sweater… Corey thought to himself, his eyes going wide as he realized what the cloth was.

Oh no… Twilight thought to herself as she took a few steps towards Rainbow.

“What happened?” Twilight asked.

It didn’t take long for Rainbow to catch her breath. She gave a very simple answer:

“We’ve got trouble.”

A few minutes before, Rainbow Dash had taken John back up to that cliff where she’d started teaching him how to fly. Along the way, she had taken it upon herself to put special emphasis on her past achievements. Of course, it was just to keep the two of them entertained.

“And at the last second,” Rainbow said, “Just before they hit the ground, I swooped over and grabbed all of them and flew them back up to the stadium!” It was the story of how she’d won the Best Young Fliers Competition several months ago, by saving several ponies’ lives in one supersonic swoop.

“So yeah, not only did I save all of them and won the competition, but I can also use the Sonic Rainboom whenever I want.”

Of course, John knew the story very well already, but he listened nonetheless. However, once Rainbow finished, all John could think of was one single question, one that made its way to his tongue.

“What’s it feel like?” he asked.

“What’s what feel like?” Rainbow asked, turning slightly too him.

“Going that fast,” John clarified, “What does it feel like?”

Rainbow looked up past the tree line and to the sky, a smile spreading across her lips.

“Calling it awesome wouldn’t do it justice,” Rainbow began, “When I’m going that fast, the wind flowing through my mane and the world around me becoming a blur, I can feel a rush. And I don’t mean like a shot of adrenaline. No, this feels a whole lot better than that. When I’m at those speeds, I feel…alive.”

John was speechless. Up until now, all he’d heard from her was light-hearted, laid-back monologues about how amazing she was, among other things. Well, except for one occasion that John remembered very well. This was the second time John had ever seen Rainbow acting so…deep.

Flying means a lot more to her than I thought, John thought.

“While we’re on the subject,” said Rainbow, “You’ve gotten faster over the last few days, which is good. It means we can move on to the next step up in your flying lessons. This is gonna be your last jump?”

The two had finally reached the cliff’s edge.

“So, this is like a test then?” John asked, unzipping his sweater.

“Exactly,” Rainbow responded, “But this time you’re gonna be timed.”

“How long do I got?” John questioned.

“Ten seconds,” John expected the word “flat” to follow, but even though it didn’t, he still let out a small chuckle.

Still saw it coming, John thought. He walked over to the edge and passed Rainbow his sweater. Putting on his best confident smirk, John turned to Rainbow and uttered two words.

“Don’t blink,” he said, just before leaping over the cliff edge. Rainbow watched him fall with an arched brow and a small smirk on her face.

As John fell, he could only smile. The fear of falling from that high up had completely vanished a while ago. The time he walked away from that nasty, should-have-been-fatal fall contributed quite a bit to that feeling.

Ten seconds, starting now! John thought, opening his wings and catching the updraft. He slowed down, but not by much. He continued to go down at a fast speed, but a speed well under his control. As he fell, he looked around him, he started to wonder one single thing.

How much am I gonna be able to see higher up? If I could fly higher… John continued to look around, Right now, though, I’ll just settle for this.

Suddenly, something caught John’s eye—from the corner of his vision. He couldn’t make out what exactly it was, but it was enough of a glimpse for him to pause mentally.

“Huh?” John grunted, looking over to his right where he’d caught that glimpse. Not too far over in an opening in the trees, John saw something moving. Several somethings, to be correct. It was hard to tell from the distance, but he could tell they were walking on two legs. “What the…”

Rainbow watched as John changed the angle of his wings, causing him to very quickly slow to a complete halt. John remained suspended in the air.

What’s going on? Rainbow asked herself, looking over to where he was looking, unable to see anything from her angle, What’s he looking at?

Curious, Rainbow jumped over the edge and flew down to him.

“What’s up?” Rainbow asked.

“Over there,” John said, pointing over to where he had been looking at. Rainbow followed his claw until she found what he was pointing towards. Seeing the bipedal…things, whatever they were, caused her to put up a confused expression.

“Know what they are?” John asked of her.

“Not a clue,” said Rainbow as she shook her head. The two of them watched as the strange creatures moved, but only for a few seconds before John gave a shout.

“They’re heading towards town!” John’s eyes widened from the realization. Rainbow did a double take on the movements of the strange creatures.

“You’re right!” Rainbow said, “If they keep going, they’ll…”

Rainbow halted, her mind rapidly racing back to the meeting she’d had over at the library with her friends and Celestia. She knew they had been warned to keep an eye out for anything strange.

I’d say this is pretty strange... Rainbow said as the realization finally came full circle, I know she said not to handle this stuff alone. But, should I really tell the others about—

Rainbow quickly realized she was short one adult dragon on her left; John had just dropped from the sky, picking up speed. Before he got too low, he opened his wings again and began to glide forward with the momentum. Quickly, Rainbow followed.

Looks like he answered that for me, Rainbow thought.

In no time, Rainbow and John were both over the creatures. Even now, at this distance, Rainbow couldn’t make head or tail of these things. They looked like plain sculptures. As they were currently above them, the creatures, whatever they were, did not pause for an instant. They kept right on course.

Clearly, John wasn’t alright with that. John’s wings shut, allowing him to drop to the ground quickly. In a matter of seconds, John made contact with the ground, which cracked and even cratered in the ground, sending up rocks and dust. The creatures paused, turning to John.

Rainbow landed next to John not too long afterward. And now that she was face-to-face with the creatures, she realized she had absolutely no idea what she was looking at. John didn’t seem to be able to figure out what they were either.

Each of the creatures looked virtually identical. They were all the shape of the ponies from this Equestria; or at least, the same size. They were naked, featureless creatures, not unlike the manikins that littered the Carousel Boutique. But the strangest, most chilling part of these creatures was the hollow eyes, filled with a red light, in addition to the strange red markings that went down the creatures’ limbs, which glowed far less aggressively. All of them stared quietly back at the two.

“Five…six…seven,” John observed, counting the number of creatures, “So, where are you folks heading?”

The manikins didn’t answer, not that they could. They all stood there, their stances strangely…cautious. But despite the fact the manikins hadn’t so much as moved, there was still an air of uneasiness. And Rainbow couldn’t help but feel something was amiss with the way they were—

“Rainbow, you need to get out of here,” John spoke up.

Rainbow looked to him, ready to demand why she should, but at that moment, the creatures all began to glow brighter. Their bodies jerked. The next moment, one charged straight at the two. Or at least, that’s what it looked like at first. But the moment Rainbow caught sight of the creature’s soulless eyes, something clicked in her head.

It’s coming straight for me! Rainbow realized, but before she could form an appropriate response, someone else had already reacted; John had put himself between them, his wings outstretched by some instinct. The moment the creature had gotten close enough, he lunged forward, ramming his shoulder into the creature’s torso.

The hit succeeded in throwing the creature back towards its twins. It lay unmoving for a few seconds. At first, both Rainbow and John had thought that was it for that one. But, all at once, the manikin stood up again, a visible crack on its chest.

“Goddess, what are they made of?” asked Rainbow. John didn’t answer, his mind too preoccupied with something else.

It completely ignored me and went after her, John thought, What’s going on here? I guess I’ll find out later. Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty, and she’s clearly a target. There’s no way it’s a coincidence!

“Rainbow,” John said, taking a step forward, “Go get help.”

Rainbow looked at him, feeling somewhere between insulted and concerned. Insulted that he told her to go get help, and concerned that he was even offering to go it alone.

“No way!” Rainbow shouted, “If they want a fight I say we give it to them!”

John paused. He expected this kind of answer, knowing full well her ego wouldn’t allow her to run away from this. But, he wasn’t about to let that stop him.

“Rainbow, I know you’re tough, and I know you’re fast,” said John, “And I also know that you’re smart. One of them took a hit from me and got up with only a crack. And there are six more in this group,” he turned his head to look back at her and asked a single question, “What do you think are our chances?”

Rainbow wanted to answer, completely assured they could still win. But she still knew John was right. John was stronger than she was and it looked as though even he might have trouble fighting them off.

“But how long do you expect to last if I leave you alone with them?” she asked of him.

“C’mon, you’re the fastest pony in Equestria,” John chuckled, “I’m sure you’ll be back before I have time to break a sweat.”

John took a few more steps forward. Rainbow found herself rising into the air, still debating on what she should do.

“You sure you can handle them ‘til then?” she asked.

“Trust me, I’ve been in plenty of fights before,” John assured her, giving her a thumbs up. Rainbow looked to John again. He looked sure that he could do this. And, he was a dragon after all; one that had previous battle experience.

Of course, John thought, all those fights required a controller, but she doesn’t need to know that.

“I’ll be back soon,” she said, “Just don’t get hurt!”

Rainbow took off in a rainbow blur towards Ponyville, leaving John to the group of seven. Their gazes followed Rainbow until she was out of sight. Their bodies glowed once again, and their heads turned towards the dragon.

“Looks like you get it,” John said, “If you want to get to her, you’ll have to go through me!”

There was a heavy silence in the library as Rainbow finished recounting her tale on the trouble. Corey and Twilight had both given her their full attention. Twilight glanced over to Corey. She hadn’t intended on letting him know every last detail she knew about the situation with Tartarus, but as she heard that John had seen the end result of something she hadn’t heard of, something in her mind clicked.

Corey and John are going to wind up getting dragged into this, Twilight thought to herself, In spite of how much I worried about not letting them know. They don’t deserve to—wait a second.

At that moment, something that hadn’t quite occurred to Twilight clicked in her head. John had been left to himself against strange manikins, ones that were quite durable. Even if he had asked to be left to himself…

“And you just left him there?!” Twilight shouted.

“He said he could handle himself,” Rainbow said, “Said he’d been in plenty of fights before…”

In Mortal Kombat, maybe, Corey thought to himself, finding himself at odds with not only John’s supplied fighting history, but the fact that there were strange manikins running around, Still, those creatures’ attacking…is that the reason Twilight was worrying?

Corey closed his eyes, taking a deep breath through his nose. Nothing about what was going on was appealing. There were very tough manikins out there. John was engaging them, and soon so would Twilight and her friends. While he was sure they could handle themselves, a single thought ran through Corey’s mind.

Why don’t I feel right just sitting here?

“We have to go get the others,” Twilight finally said, “C’mon, we’ve gotta get going!”

“Way ahead of you,” said Rainbow, already making her way toward the door, Twilight moving that way as well.

The word worked its way out of his mouth before he was even aware he was saying it.

“Wait!”

Twilight halted in the doorway, Rainbow a bit further ahead of her. She turned back to Corey, not quite understanding why he was suddenly standing up so tall straight away.

“Corey,” Twilight responded, “I’ll explain everything later, I promise, but right now we—“

“I know,” Corey responded, “We’ve got to go help John.”

Twilight looked at Corey, still not quite understanding what it was he was doing. That is, until he started walking towards her.

Wait, he wants to--?!

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said, “I don’t think you should come with us. Not to this.”

Corey stopped mid-step, “And why not?”

“I don’t think you’re ready for—for something like this,” Twilight said.

“But John’s out there,” Corey continued, “I can’t just sit here and do nothing!”

“Twilight!” Rainbow shouted from what could have easily been the front door, “We need to get going!”

“I’ll be along in just a second, Rainbow!” Twilight shouted back, before turning back to Corey, “I know he’s your friend, and I know that you don’t know what’s going on and want to, but I can’t ask you to come along. You’ve just barely started learning magic and…and…”

Corey sighed, “And I haven’t ever done something like…like whatever it is you’re about to do, right?”

“Yes,” Twilight said, “So please, just…just sit tight here. We should be able to handle this on our own. I know it’s not something you’re comfortable with right now.”

Corey’s shoulders slumped, and he released a second sigh. It was clear she wouldn’t let him go, and it wasn’t like he could follow them where they were going, either.

“Alright…” Corey said, “I’ll stay here. You know what’s going on better than I do, anyway…”

“I wish I could say that,” Twilight said, turning her back to him, “But—“

“Twilight!” Rainbow called up again.

“I’m coming!” Twilight shouted back, already heading out the door, “Spike, I’m going to need you to watch after the library while I’m out!”

“Why,” Spike called out, from where, Corey didn’t know offhand, “What’s going on?”

“Something just came up! I’ll explain it later!” Twilight said in a rush, “John’s in trouble right now!”

“Wait, what--!”

The next thing Corey heard was the door slamming. He gazed out the nearest window, and could just make out the two retreating forms below as Rainbow and Twilight, going to retrieve their friends. From there, they’d be able to help John out with whatever those creatures were.

“Do you know anything about what’s going on?”

Corey turned to see Spike standing in the doorway, looking just a little annoyed about being left behind without a proper explanation. Corey shrugged, looking back out the window.

“Sadly, I don’t,” Corey said, “Partly because I didn’t even know something was wrong up until now.”

“And why didn’t you go with them?” Spike asked.

Corey sighed, continuing to look out the window.

Because against what John is—a durable, strong adult dragon—and what they are—strong girls in their own right—as I am now, I don’t even hope to compare to them…

At once, Corey realized he was clenching his fists. With yet another deep breath, he relaxed his fists.

“Because right now, I’d be in the way…”

Author's Note

And so we finally get into some action here. So yeah...just uh, get ready for things to very slowly get heavier.

Act 2 Chapter 6

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 6: Simple Differences

When John sent Rainbow back to Ponyville, he did so with a plan in mind: while she gathered the others and lead them back to the site of the battle, he’d take care of as many of the strange creatures as he could. It seemed like a relatively simple plan. He’d already cracked one of them before. It stood to reason that he’d be able to break them with a clean enough hit.

I guess not everything goes as planned, John thought to himself, assessing his situation, I think I may have bitten off a bit more than I can chew.

The strange creatures’ movements were too random for him to keep up with. He’d take a swing at them only for them to dodge it. And he was outnumbered seven to one on top of it all. John watched as the creatures now moved around him in a circle. Their soulless eyes never once looked away from him.

Wait it out, John, he thought to himself, Let them come to you. Charging them isn’t going to work.

Soon, one did in fact charge him, the one who was directly in front of him, to be exact. He was ready for this one, pulling one fist back, ready to strike. But before he could make his move, he felt something grab hold of him. Looking to his side he saw a second creature had snuck up on him the moment his attention turned towards the first one.

He knew right away what it was trying to do; lock his arm so that he couldn’t use it in the fight.

“Nice try,” John said, “But I still have my—“

Before he could finish, two more creatures had tackled him head-on. Normally, he’d keep his balance, but that wasn’t an option this time; something attacked the back of his legs to be exact. The surprisingly coordinated attack was enough to cause John to slip off of his feet, falling. However, he never hit the ground. Instead, the creatures behind him caught him and tossed him into a nearby tree. His back hit the bark hard, causing the tree to vibrate, the bark to crack, and him to grunt.

“Dammit!” John growled to himself, annoyed, No matter what I do, I’m still at a disadvantage!

He didn’t have forever to sulk about this; looking up, he saw his opponents were on the attack again. He rolled away the moment one of the creatures attacked. Its fist hit the bark of the tree, causing it to rattle slightly.

Recovering, John dug his claws into the ground and launched towards the creature that had attacked him. But the others weren’t too far behind; three of them successfully rammed into his side and caused all four to once again roll across the ground. John tried what he could to reach out for one of them, but they were too fast for him; all quickly jumping away from him.

John skid to a halt after a few more moments, quickly standing up again. He was growing more and more agitated; the reason why he was starting to breathe so heavily. He looked back up at the creatures that stood in front of him.

One…two…three…four…six… John counted, trying to get his bearings, Wait, six!?

John realized one of the creatures was missing. He tried to look around for where the seventh might be. He couldn’t spot it no matter where he looked, but his instincts took hold of him and told him to look up. In a moment, he understood why; the next thing he saw was the seventh creature coming down on him for another attack!

Quickly, John jumped back, out of the creature’s path; less than a second later, it crashed to the ground, cratering it slightly.

“Close one…” grumbled John as he swiped the back of his hand under his chin. But he didn’t give himself too long to think about that, knowing how nimble the creatures were. He decided to try to emulate their quick response times; leaning forward, John started to run right for the creature that had attacked him.

With any luck, I can attack it before it can move!

This hope was soon dashed. The creature was already prepared for his rush; with two hands full of dirt grasped in its hands, the creature threw it into John’s eyes, effectively blinding him. John immediately slammed both his palms over his eyes as they began to sting, coming to a full stop mid-step.

“Son of a--!” John cried out in anger, trying to wipe the dirt from his eyes.

In this moment, the creatures made their move. All seven rushed in at the same time, all tackling him at once. With their combined weight, they managed to force the dragon down, and began pummeling him. They made sure to keep him off balance, preventing any chance of him getting back up. However, there was just one thing they failed to take into account.

“You guys…” John growled, eyes shooting open, pupils going from dots to slits, “Are really starting to piss me off!”

With all of his might, John forced all the creatures off of him, unleashing a bloodcurdling roar that echoed all around. The creatures all went flying from his strength, some rolling across the ground. One found that its luck had run out; it had been sent straight up.

Its friends could not reach it quick enough; the airborne creature could only fall helplessly when gravity asserted itself. And as it fell, something much worse than the cold hard ground was waiting for it. John stood there, looking up, watching the creature fall, his fist pulled back in anticipation, waiting for the right moment like a predator stalking its prey. Only when creature and dragon were face-to-face did John finally strike.

His fist made contact with the creature’s head, instantly cracking it on impact. But he wasn’t satisfied with just that; he dug deeper into the punch, shifting more of his weight into it. The creature’s head could take no more, caving in and shattering under the force of John’s punch. When the head had been crushed, the creature’s body hit the ground, the red glow on its body fading away. John stared down at the limp body, making sure this time it wouldn’t get up.

“Now then,” said John as he turned towards the others, “Who’s next?”

The creatures gave no response, not that John expected one. John began to walk forward, unsure why he was going so slowly. The creatures backed away at first, unsure of what to do now that one of their ranks had been demolished. But one was brave enough to try, charging forward without its friends following it. John stopped walking at that moment, watching as it came closer.

“Guess it’s you,” John said flatly, his voice and body showing no inclination to move from where he was standing. Not even when it was right in front of him, ready to strike; John didn’t even try to defend himself. However, that was because he knew he didn’t have to.

In that moment, just before it made contact, something struck the creature from its side. It was a bright, magenta, glowing object, and it left a sizable hole in the creature.

The creature fell straight to the ground, skidding to a halt only inches away from the dragon it intended on attacking. The other creatures turned their heads towards the source of the attack. Even John turned ot see it, but he didn’t have to find out what it was; he already knew.

“The calvary has arrived,” John said with a small smirk. The calvary in question stood not too far away, all standing side-by-side.

The Mane Six, also known as the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, was the first to take a step forward, the look on her face screaming that she was ready for a fight.

“Sorry we’re late.”

It hadn’t been too long since Twilight and Rainbow left. When it came down to it, Spike supposed that it was probably something dangerous they’d gotten into; in short, nothing too new. However, what was new about the situation was that he had company that didn’t consist of animals that sought to ruin his day.

It was a unicorn who was growing increasingly restless. And, in an attempt to relieve his restlessness, he was currently floating a glass ball--a paperweight--around, trying to do anything to get his mind off what was going on. Judging from the way the paperweight jittered in his magical grasp, it wasn’t working.

But hey, Spike thought, watching him, Better he did that with a paperweight and not an ink bottle.

Corey continued to float the paperweight, strain evident on his features. He knew from previous experience that at least Twilight and her friends could handle themselves in situations like what Rainbow described. Or at least, situations like she described.

There was nothing from the show about those things that Rainbow was telling us about, Corey thought, This isn’t anything that’s happened before. So what’s going on here?

The magical glow around the paperweight and Corey’s horn dimmed. Briefly redirecting his attention to what he was doing, Corey quickly regained control of the paperweight, which once again jittered as his thoughts and emotions began to very quickly wander away from what he was doing.

And on top of it all I don’t even know what’s going on out there. I still don’t know what was getting Twilight so worked up in the first place! Corey thought.

All at once, the glow around Corey’s horn and the paperweight dimmed, allowing the paperweight to fall. Noticing what had happened, and minding the sudden surge of pain from the base of his horn, Corey reached out awkwardly, bobbling the paperweight around in his hands before finally getting control of it. After that little bit of physical stress, Corey sighed.

“Maybe I shouldn’t work with fragile objects while under this kind of stress,” Corey mumbled to himself, reaching out to the nearby desk and setting it down.

Spike decided to quit watching Corey at this point, figuring there was nothing else to gain from simply watching him. He still had other stuff he needed to do, and Corey tended to keep mostly to himself anyway when left on his own. It wouldn’t have been that much trouble to leave him in the room alone.

Corey sighed. He wanted to sit down right now, maybe with a book, but right now the last thing he could do was be still. He wanted to be able to practice magic while the others did whatever, but he was too worried to concentrate. He was quickly figuring out something really important.

Waiting on something like this really does suck… Corey thought to himself, And it’s a lot worse than it is just watching from the outside since there’s no convienient way to pass the time. Can’t focus, can’t sit still. I’m too worried.

Corey turned to one of the nearby bookshelves, not really seeing anything that looked really interesting on them. However, he needed to do something, anything, to take his mind away from what he was dealing with. For the life of him, Corey couldn’t fathom how John possibly decided taking on seven unknown creatures by himself was a good move when he couldn’t even speak without breathing fire not too long ago.

Probably a show of gratitude if anything, but still—

There was the sound of glass breaking, and Corey instinctively froze. He knew that wasn’t the paperweight. And it was too close by to be anything anyone else could have dropped. He didn’t even know what Spike was up to, but he knew it probably wasn’t him to just break things unprovoked. Which left only one possibility.

Somepony’s broken in?! Corey thought, I…I have to do something…

Corey hesitated, slowly making his way towards the door, his feet making almost no noise against the wooden floor of the library despite the fact he was wearing shoes. He slowly made his way towards the source of the noise, not at all confident in his ability to ward off an attacker.

Corey made his way towards the stairs, looking around carefully to see if he could spot the intruder. His nerve was getting the better of him now, and he wasn’t quite sure what he would actually do. His mane caught a slight breeze, and he turned.

The window over in the kitchen had been shattered, glass all over the floor and counter nearby.

Something’s broken in, Corey thought, And since I don’t see any blunt objects around, that means it did it under its own strength, whatever that was.

Suddenly, Corey heard a small, sharp grunt in the opposite direction. He turned, just in time to—very clumsily—catch a small body being thrown into him roughly. Corey stumbled backwards, off-balance, his eyes wide not from the fact he’d just caught a thrown Spike with his torso, not from the fall onto his rear end that resulted from that, but from what he just realized had gotten the drop on him.

It was about the size of a human…or a humanoid pony. It was featureless and clothless, save for the glowing markings on its body, just as Rainbow had described. Its hollow eyes glowed as well, looking directly at him. Corey felt shivers dance down his spine just from looking at it. Probably the most damaging evidence of all, though, was the fact the creature had been damaged. A crack down its chest, just like what Rainbow had said John had done to one.

It’s…one of the creatures… Corey stared at the creature like a deer staring straight into a pair of headlights, How…how’d it get all the way over here?!

Spike shouted something, but it didn’t quite register over the sound of the blood pounding in his ears. Then again, neither did anything else. Everything seemed to slow down around Corey as the creature began to move towards them.

What do I do? Corey continued to fret, I have not been in any real fights in my life. I have only just started to learn magic. And even though leaving me behind seemed like the best idea, now it’s up to me to stop this thing, and I don’t know what to do…

“Snap out of it!” A purple clawed hand snapped right in front of his nose, accompanied by what sounded like a demon roaring. However, it registered to Corey that it was Spike talking to him.

Corey looked to Spike, and back again. Everything began to move at normal speed.

It all happened in a blur. Corey wasn’t even sure when he’d stood up. He wasn’t even aware that he’d moved. Next thing he knew, he was trying to get a good hard grasp on the creature’s fist. His entire arm shook as he tried to hold back the force that the creature exerted. Corey’s eyes were still wide with fear, sweat was trickling down his forehead; cool, moist, and there.

When did I—Corey didn’t have time to think, spotting the thing swinging its other arm at him. Corey ducked underneath the second punch, the punch whizzing past his horn and through his mane.

“Corey!” Spike called out. Corey briefly looked back and to his right. Sure enough, there he was, looking at him. He was scared, there was no hiding it. Probably just as scared as he was, maybe a little less, but either way—

The manikin swung his fist back, catching Corey on the left cheek. The force of the hit caused Corey to stumble back several steps, holding his cheek as pain began to make itself known. His glasses askew from the hit, Corey began to tear up just a little from the pain and fear he was feeling at that moment. His eyes darted around the library as he tried to figure out what he should do.

It’s just me, Spike, and a library. We don’t have that much of a chance… Corey thought, Only one choice…

Corey’s first instinct was to take Spike and get out of there, but he ignored that as a memory that he’d momentarily forgotten about returned to him.

John stayed behind because he probably thought Rainbow was a target, Corey continued, And given Twilight has wings—

“Damn it!” Corey swore, running forward towards the creature again as a realization dawned on him.

“What are you—“ Spike started, unable to finish his sentence. Corey caught a knee to the stomach for his efforts, having the wind knocked out of him.

“Spike,” Corey coughed, already slumping over. It was clear he was trying to keep on his feet, but he wasn’t doing a very good job of it, his knees shaking, “Get help…”

“Wait, what?!” Spike asked, “Are you sure? I mean…”

“I don’t think either of us can do this,” Corey said, “And someone else had to have seen this thing wandering around!”

“But…” Spike protested.

“We don’t have time for this!” Corey couldn’t let Spike know that he knew what was in the library that the creature might want. The creature looked over to Spike, seemingly thinking that Corey wasn’t a threat. Willing himself back to his feet, Corey rose to his feet, getting his arms underneath the creature’s armpits, putting it into a full nelson.

The creature paused for a moment as it registered it was in his grip, but Corey soon found himself clinging to it for dear life, teeth grit, a vein on his temple pulsing, his arms already crying for mercy as the creature proved very strong.

“Just go!” Corey cried out, closing his eyes. He heard the sound of shuffling, very briefly, before his attention returned to the creature in front of him struggling to give chase.

“No, dammit,” Corey groaned, trying to keep from being flipped over the thing’s shoulders, “Why don’t you focus on me, you little—agh!”

Ultimately, Corey’s efforts failed, and he wound up flipped over on his back hard enough that he felt the floor and room quake. Corey grit his teeth as pain shot up his back, and he shut one eye, the other half-closing as he tried to keep an eye on his opponent. The creature was moving, one arm swinging back now, hand curled into a fist.

Corey let out a small gasp as he rolled out of the way, the creature’s fist hitting the floor of the library hard enough to make a crack in the wood floor. Corey looked up, finally fixing his glasses as he took in the situation he was in for the first time. The creature, seeing it missed, looked up, its hollow glowing eyes now focused on him.

Well, this is a fine situation I’ve gotten myself into, Corey thought, gritting his teeth as the creature moved, And there’s no getting out of it.

Corey kept his eye on the creature as it stood up straight before charging him again. Corey tried to brace himself, more concerned with figuring out a course of action. Despite his best defenses, he wasn’t prepared for the shoulder charge that lifted him from his feet and sent him rolling along the ground into the kitchen, eventually impacting with a chair and causing it, the table, and the chair along the other side of the table to slide just a little bit as he slid into it.

Corey slowly rose, holding his side, one eye closed. He could feel his pulse pounding. Already fatigue was starting to set in, and he’d barely actually started to fight. He knew he stood no chance against it alone.

But it’s not going to stop me from trying, thought Corey, glancing slightly behind him to one of the chairs. The creature began to rush him again. Corey picked up the chair by its back and swung, catching the side of its head with the furniture. The green unicorn set the legs down for just a moment, trying to catch his breath and adjust his grip on the chair before he tried to attack again.

The creature’s body turned, but Corey couldn’t see if he’d inflicted any notable damage. Quickly, Corey went for another chair shot, landing this hit too. Once again, the creature’s body pitched around with the hit, but didn’t really budge. Corey’s eyes flicked downward, looking at the crack that was on the creature’s body.

Could that be a weak spot? Corey thought, setting the chair down and adjusting his grip. The boy threw out yet another hit with the chair, aiming right for the crack, pushing with all his strength.

The impact happened, striking the creature on the side. Corey watched as the crack began to spread—just a little—and slightly smiled as his tactic began to work. But then, the creature’s arm came down firmly on the legs, and Corey found he couldn’t move it. Next thing he knew, the chair was jabbed back at him, sending him off balance and causing him to lose his grip.

Corey took a couple of steps backwards as the monster dropped the chair in front of itself. Looking around, Corey tried to assess his situation.

Everything in here can be turned into a weapon in some way, Corey observed, But most of it won’t do me any good. I’ve gotta take this outside. At least that way others could see me and help, possibly.

Corey grit his teeth as the creature picked up the chair and threw it to the side before running towards him again.

Provided I can survive, of course!

The fight against the strange creatures continued to rage on, each of the Mane Six (and John) giving it their all in their own ways. But no matter how many times they would hit their targets, or how hard they did, the creatures continued to rise again.

“Shoot, these guys are tough,” commented Applejack as she wiped some sweat from her forehead. One of the creatures charged her, but its efforts were only met with a strong kick to the head, causing it to stumble backwards and fall over. Much to Applejack’s frustration, this wasn’t permanent, “Rainbow wasn’t exaggeratin’ about them…”

All her years of applebucking—that is, giving trees really strong kicks—gave her legs enough strength to break the bark of a tree if she needed to. But the bodies of these creatures were so sturdy she could barely even leave a mark.

The others were not having better luck. Pinkie was making do with random party supplies that she fired from her trusty party cannon. That did little more than stall the creatures. Unlike Twilight, Rarity did not have a library of spells to choose from, and was thus using levitation to use whatever she could find around her as a weapon. Rainbow’s speed far outstripped the creatures’ by far, allowing her to strike as many times as she wanted without risking being hit back. However, she wasn’t a heavy hitter, and all she did was more or less manage to make them stagger. Finally, there was Harry, a bear that happened to be the largest animal Fluttershy cared for. The bear had come to help her with this, but even he couldn’t do much more than leave scratches on the bodies of the creatures; the bear, whose paws could easily break a pony with no demonstrable effort.

There were only two members who could actually break the creatures with their attacks, but they were having the hardest time of all with the fight. John’s draconic strength was enough to break them with a single good punch, something which the creatures knew and were effectively avoiding so far. Twilight was having a similar problem; though she had the range, she couldn’t aim at the creatures easily enough with a laser spell.

On top of all that, the creatures seemed to have no limit to their stamina; not once had they shown any signs of slowing down since the beginning of the fight.

And that could be a problem, Twilight thought to herserlf, While some of us are able to fight, that’s not the case for everyone here…Even Pinkie has her limits; Rarity isn’t that battle savvy; if Fluttershy’s bear runs out of stamina, all she’ll have is the Stare, and I don’t think that’s going to work…Think! There has to be a way to shift the balance, but how?

“Twilight, look alive!” Applejack called out. Twilight turned, seeing one of the creatures rushing her. She was too late to respond; however, she didn’t have to. Before the creature could get any closer, Twilight watched as a lasso came down around its torso. Half a second later, the creature was yanked away by Applejack, who held the other end of the rope.

As she watched Applejack spin the creature around with her rope, something caught the corner of her eye; John chasing after another creature. As she saw this, and Applejack’s demonstration, something went off in Twilight’s mind: a light bulb.

“That’s it!” Twilight called out, “John!”

John stopped mid-step, looking back to her. All he could see was her point at Applejack, who was more or less tending to the same creature she’d just saved Twilight from.

“To Applejack!” Twilight elaborated, a little to John’s confusion. She then turned her attention to Applejack and shouted another command.

“Applejack, to John!” she said to Applejack, pointing at John. Both looked to one another for a brief moment, each trying to figure out what Twilight was trying to say. But soon the dots connected, and both John and Applejack smirked.

The next moment, John rushed at Applejack while she continued to spin the ensnared creature with her lasso. When John was close enough, Applejack gave it one last powerful swing before she let go of the rope, letting the creature soar away from her, and towards the readied fist of the dragon. John threw out his punch as soon as the creature entered his range, landing a solid hit on the creature’s back.

Just like last time, the creature’s body instantly fissured under the force of his attack. And to ensure that the job was finished, John changed the path of his punch, aiming straight down. John’s fist, with the creature still on it, slammed into the ground with all of John’s weight thrown into it. Satisfied with the results, John straightened himself up, flashing a thumbs up to the two mares.

“Change in tactics girls,” Twilight shouted as loud as she could so the others could hear her, “Subdue them however you can; give John or me a big enough opening to finish them!”

The others had no objections.

Rainbow was the first to act to the change of plans, grabbing on to one of the creatures and lifting it up in the air.

“Comin’ at ya, Twilight!” Rainbow said, tossing the creature downwards. Twilight was ready for it this time, her horn glowing brightly as the creature fell helplessly. When Twilight fired off her laser, all the creature could do was flail as the laser made its mark, shattering the creature’s head.

“Two down in the span of a minute,” John thought to himself, “Alright, now who’s next?” John wondered, looking around for signs of an opening. Something tapped on his shoulder and John whirled around to find Pinkie standing next to him.

“Brought you a present!” Pinkie said with a smile. At first, John didn’t get it, until Pinkie stepped to her side to reveal one of the other creatures on the ground, inexplicably tied up in ribbons and wrapping paper. John smirked at the sight as he cracked his knuckles.

“Just what I’ve always wanted,” John said, walking up to it. A couple seconds later, John brought the hammer down on its head, shattering it. Turning back to Pinkie, John rubbed the back of his head.

“Oops, I broke it…” John said innocently, earning a giggle from the pink pony.

Rarity and Fluttershy had worked together; with Harry’s strength, he lifted the last one up by its throat against a small tree. Rarity, using a few vines and leaves, managed to form a strong enough binding to tie the creature in place, ensuring it would not move.

“Such a shame to see such fine material go to waste,” Rarity commented, “But what can you do?” Turning to Twilight, who was already on standby, Rarity gave her remark, “They’re all yours, darling!”

Once Rarity, Fluttershy, and Harry got clear, Twilight unleashed one last laser at the tied-up creature, striking it through the head once again, ending the battle right then and there.

“Oh yeah,” Rainbow gloated, landing next to Twilight, “Who kicked butt? Us, that’s who!”

While Rainbow continued to gloat, Twilight walked over to the creature she’d just destroyed.

I’ve spent my whole life reading magical reference guides, but I’ve never seen anything like these things before, Twilight assessed, squatting down in front of it, The markings on their bodies disappeared the moment they were destroyed…

She reached out to touch one of them. As soon as her fingers came into contact with the surface of the creature, the body crumbled to dust completely.

“Twilight!” John’s voice called out to her; she turned to face him, “We have a problem…”

“We only took down five of them,” John pointed out.

“Well yeah,” Rainbow said, “But you took down the other two, right?”

John didn’t answer, prompting Rainbow to ask again.

“Right…?” Now there was an air of uneasiness around them. John looked back to her with a serious expression, feeling the tension grow.

“I only took down one,” With John’s admission, everyone went silent after that. During the commotion of the battle, not one member of the group performed a headcount.

“One got away,” Twilight summarized, “It took advantage of the confusion and slipped away, but to where?” As the group continued to ponder the possibilities, Twilight’s mind began to go into overdrive, as it usually did when she became stressed.

Wait, where did Rainbow say they were heading before she and John stepped in? Twilight thought, finding herself going back to that time in the library when Rainbow came in holding John’s sweater. As soon as it clicked, Twilight’s eyes went wide.

“Corey!” Without saying more than that, Twilight took off, kicking up enough wind to catch everyone’s attention.

“Whoa!” commented Rainbow, “When’d she learn to go that fast?”

“Where do you think she’s going?” Fluttershy asked, standing only slightly behind Harry, who was sniffing the air in confusion.

“Ponyville,” John said, catching the others’ attention, “The creatures were heading towards Ponyville!”

Corey wasn’t even sure how he was still alive by this point. He’d been lifted off his feet at least three times since the fight started. At least Corey had managed to lead the manikin outside…by taking a knee to the stomach hard enough to send him off his feet. He landed hard on his back, his glasses bouncing on his face slightly from the impact. Corey groaned, feeling completely sore.

Dammit, Spike, Corey thought, What’s taking you so long?

He looked up, adjusting his glasses as he struggled to sit up. He could see the creature with glowing eyes and body now looking right at him, standing in the open doorway. It looked at him, seemingly waiting for signs of life. Well, who was Corey to disappoint?

I can’t believe this, Corey thought, his eyes wide. One hand went to his side as he tried to get on his feet. This place should have been the safest—

Corey realized the skin on the side of his face was crawling. Using his free hand, he swiped at the feeling. Almost immediately, shock began to set in. On the back of his hand and on the cuff of his jacket was a red liquid.

Blood? Corey could hardly stop himself, his hands shaking as he stared at the blood, his eyes wide, pupils shrinking to the size of pins. He looked back to the creature, wide-eyed and slumped over, drenched in sweat both from the exertion and the stress. His breathing pattern had begun to speed up once again; he was in fact hyperventilating as he took in the situation in full, I can’t believe it…I…I might actually die here. Here! Of all places to die by something this violent, here!?

Once again, the sound of blood pounding in his ears took over, and the only other sound he could actually hear was his own heartbeat; fast and loud in his chest. His perception of time slowed down again, the creature charging at him yet again.

No…

Corey stood up straight, his arms dangling to his sides after he managed to stand.

No.

The creature was now well out of the door, half the distance between the library and him. Corey’s hands clenched, and his jaw set, his teeth grinding together. All at once, Corey moved, the creature now inches from him, ready for another strike—

“No, dammit, no!”

Knowing it was his last punch either way, or at least believing it to be his last punch, Corey thrust his arm forward. Even though his eyes were closed, a white light suddenly thrust itself between his eyelids.

Admittedly, Twilight’s confidence in her flight wasn’t all that great. When it came down to it she only barely knew more than John did. Yet, here she was now, flapping her wings furiously as she made her way back towards the library. She didn’t care too much for form right now; too worried about what she felt was happening.

Please don’t be in danger, please don’t be in danger, Twilight thought to herself, I left him behind thinking he’d be safe. But one of those things got away, and now…

She tried to get herself to calm down about the whole situation, but it was utterly useless. Twilight was worried out of her mind now. The fact one could have gotten to town was bad enough, but she feared the worst. She could hear the wind behind her; it was probably Rainbow flying after her. She was at least sure they had followed her as soon as they realized they were short one—

No! Twilight thought, coming to a sharp halt as she reached the library’s airspace. It was exactly the situation she was most afraid of. The door to her library was wide open, and one of the manikins they’d fought, eyes glowing red, was rushing a Corey who, Twilight realized, was barely even standing up straight.

It all happened so fast, but the event was so jarring that it remained burned in Twilight’s memory. Twilight tried to move down so she could bust up that last one, but Corey suddenly stood up straight. His horn suddenly burst into a green light, far faster than it had during any of his practice sessions; perhaps the fear of the whole situation had motivated him. Corey jerked into a combative pose, and with all of his might cried out three words, at the top of his voice.

“No, dammit, no!”

But that in itself wasn’t the strangest part. What happened next was something else Twilight hadn’t seen before, though she’d at least read something about it. She couldn’t quite make it out from the distance, but she swore that over Corey’s forearm, bright green runes appeared, just as Corey swing his fist forward, meeting the manikin dead on.

The runes vanished just as quickly as they had appeared when Corey’s fist made contact. The next thing Twilight knew, a shockwave of tremendous force burst out from the creature. The creature’s entire upper body exploded, the chunks spraying backwards towards the library in a conic shape. At the same time, Corey was violently thrown backwards like a ragdoll; the shockwave having affected him, too. Something fell from his head at this point as he went.

Twilight quickly cast a teleport spell on herself in response, warping herself directly into her path. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered why she didn’t give herself a little more time before he careened into her to try to slow him down. Twilight fell backwards, holding on to Corey, his momentum carrying into her, flat on her back, where she was reminded she did in fact have wings now. And wings tend to sting a little when you suddenly fall onto them.

Once she was done wincing from having her wings suddenly clamped on by her and Corey’s combined weight, she looked down. Whatever Corey did had taken a lot out of him. He was completely limp; however, a quick double-take revealed he was still breathing and was in fact still alive. However, as she looked to his face, the first thing she saw was red; a cut on his cheek. It wasn’t so bad it’d need any special kind of treatment, but it was still concerning to say the least.

He’s hurt… Twilight thought to herself, noting that the whole fight had probably taken a long while. She looked ahead to the shattered manikin that was the cause of the cut on his face and probably more than a handful of bruises. But still, to think he was able to even do that much…What did he do…

“Twilight!” Rainbow shouted, catching Twilight’s attention, “What was that explosion just now?! Did you—“

“No, I didn’t have anything to do with it,” Twilight said.

“Then who?” Rainbow asked, looking around.

“I…” Twilight started, looking back down to the unconscious Corey, “I don’t know how, but he did…”

Author's Note

And there's the end of the first ever fight of the story. Well, that's that for this week. See you all later.

Act 2 Chapter 7

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 7: Shadows Out of Sight

Pins and needles filled his consciousness. Those annoying pricks became more and more painful as time went on. Eventually, it became time for Corey to awake, his first waking breath taking the form of a groan. One of his hands went over his face, minding the horn—he’d woken up too many times to know that his life in Equestria was not a dream. Corey sat up, realizing he was on a soft surface that felt very familiar.

One of his eyes creaked open. He was met with a sight he didn’t expect offhand to see: the very familiar sight of Twilight’s room. His other eye opened; both eyes opening wide. Everything was silent; at least, he couldn’t hear anything yet. Corey’s head rotated as he surveyed the room.

What happened? Corey thought, rubbing his still sore forehead, Last I remember, I was…

His hand went to his face, where he vaguely remembered he was bleeding from. He felt the feeling of gauze; a bandage was over his cheek now. Corey lowered his hand, stunned.

“Did I…make it?” Corey asked, one hand going to his face, “It’s all a blur…I—I can’t remember anything…I must have passed out again…”

A sudden, loud noise from another room in the library startled Corey, causing him to look towards the closed door of his room. He found himself clenching his teeth, feeling a sudden feeling of déjà vu overcoming him.

“Please…” Corey grumbled, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. Another loud bang came from what sounded like downstairs, and Corey immediately tried to stand up and move towards the door.

His body vehemently protested this; his knees buckled under the pressure and he staggered, slumping forward. Eventually, Corey fell flat on his stomach, letting out a sharp grunt as he was forcefully reminded he was in a fight earlier. However, his paranoia was getting the better of him, and he needed to confirm that everything was really alright. So, with a few small grunts, Corey rose to his feet and began making his way to the door again.

Another loud bang; it sounded like it came from the right. Corey opened the door and quickly began to walk out of the room, only to bump into someone he didn’t notice straight away. Quickly, Corey instinctively reached out, trying to correct his error.

“Oh!” Twilight cried out, stumbling a bit before Corey caught hold of her arm. Steadying herself, she realized who it was that bumped into her, “Corey!? You’re awake?”

“S-sorry,” Corey said, immediately looking away, “I, uh, just woke up, and heard a loud bang…I wanted to make sure…”

“Don’t worry,” Twilight responded, “All of those creatures were dealt with. No more have shown up around here since then.”

Twilight looked over Corey as he finally released her. Even though she was happy to see he was awake now, a second look at him revealed his knees were wobbling just a little. His posture was also off; though he almost always had his shoulders down and was always hunched forward a bit, he seemed to be more front-heavy than normal.

“That’s,” Corey started, his legs shaking as he moved his foot back, “Good to hear…”

His knee buckled as soon as he finished taking that step. Corey fell flat on his rump, a sight which caused Twilight to gasp.

“Corey!” Twilight leaned forward, looking down towards him, “A-are you…”

“I-I’m fine,” Corey didn’t even sound convinced of that; he was wincing. His legs shifted a bit before they began to move, “Considering…”

Corey’s legs bent at the knee and his arms moved directly to his sides, but as he attempted to push himself back onto his feet, something very obvious occurred to Twilight: Corey couldn’t even stand in his current condition.

“You shouldn’t be up right now,” Twilight said, standing up straight. Casting a levitate spell, she began to tug Corey upwards, gently, until he was on his feet. She didn’t stop casting the spell just yet; physically helping him walk, she began making her way towards her room.

“Here, let’s get you back in bed,” Twilight continued, “I was about to come in there to check up on you anyway…”

Corey cast a small look back at her; she wasn’t sure why he seemed surprised for a half-second when he saw that. However, he seemed to relax and didn’t object to Twilight’s suggested course of action. Soon as they passed through the doorway, Twilight spoke up again.

“What happened here while I was gone?” Twilight asked, “Would you mind telling me what happened?”

“Well,” Corey groaned, “After…after you two left, I continued to try to practice floating things. But I couldn’t really focus too well. I was too worried about what was going on.”

Twilight nodded, letting Corey sit down on the bed. He let out a small groan as he did so, and let out a few more grunts as he started to lie down again.

“I really can’t blame you for being worried,” Twilight said, “None of us really knew what was going on.” Her gaze softened as she remembered she still had to tell Corey what was up. But, she felt that could wait, just a little longer.

“So, what happened?” Twilight asked again, refocusing the conversation, “Just tell me everything…”

“Alright, well, uh, I decided that I wasn’t going to be able to, um, to concentrate…”

Corey began to tell his side of the fight, though it was clear his memory was a little fuzzy. It was almost as bad as listening to him try to explain computers. He said that he heard glass breaking downstairs; that much checked out. He went to go investigate it, and the creature eventually threw Spike at him; the last absolutely clear memory he had of the event. After that, it seemed like Corey was trying to remember important details; his face showed strain from that moment onward. It was clear that from then on the details began to run together.

However, when Corey began to describe what he had tried to do in order to resolve the situation, Twilight had to stop him.

“You sent Spike for help and tried to take it on by yourself?” Twilight asked, “I mean, it makes sense, but why didn’t you try to get the help too? You knew you were outmatched…”

“I…I don’t know,” Corey stuttered, looking away, “I wasn’t thinking. But it didn’t seem to want to let Spike go, so…”

Corey continued his recap. The fog seemed to be incredibly dense inside his head as he continued onward. At some point, he revealed that he’d decided to try to get the fight outside. He had tried to lead the creature to the door with limited success, but eventually; he wasn’t sure when it happened, but he’d managed to lead it to the door.

“…the absolute last thing I remember is being knocked out of the door and outside…” Corey finished, “After that…” Corey closed his eyes, his brows twitching as he tried to urge a memory out, “Nothing.”

Twilight sat across from him, nodding, a stern expression on her face as she took in his tale. Eventually, she spoke up again.

“Are you sure you don’t remember anything else?” Twilight asked.

“Y-yes,” Corey nodded, “I-I told you what I could clearly remember. There were a few fragments in there, but I’m sure they were part of the fight. But the last thing I remember was being knocked outside…”

There was a silence in the room. Corey felt it was time to ask the question that was on his mind.

“Well, since I-I’m okay now,” Corey said, “What happened? Did one of you make it back and finish it off?”

“No,” Twilight said simply, “I still don’t know what you did, but you were the one who finished it off.”

Corey’s gaze shifted at this, and Twilight soon found herself looking at an unfamiliar sight: two hazel eyes looking right into hers. Twilight blinked at the sight. She wasn’t sure why, it seemed…weird, somehow. Besides the fact that it was the first time he’d looked into her eyes.

“Really?” Corey asked dryly, clearly not believing her, “How did I do that, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Well,” Twilight started, putting her palm to her chin, “After we managed to fight off the group that had assaulted John, we realized we were missing one—the one that came here.”

“How’d it get this far out?” Corey asked.

“Can’t say for sure,” Twilight said, “All I really know is it managed to give everyone the slip. When I realized what had happened, I had rushed back here, hoping that I was wrong and that you and Spike were safe here. But I came back to find you outside, clearly beaten up and facing down a creature I’d hoped you wouldn’t have to.”

Corey watched Twilight intently, wondering what happened now.

“It ran at you, and you screamed, throwing out a punch at it,” Twilight said, “But when you did, your magic surged. And with the surge came a spell I’ve never seen before.”

Corey shifted a little in the bed, blinking as she said that. Corey wasn’t sure if he could believe it, but Twilight didn’t seem to be lying to him about this so far; she wasn’t looking away, she wasn’t freaking out, she was talking to him very clearly, and seemed to be struggling to believe it herself.

“When you threw out the punch, green runes appeared over your forearm…” Twilight said.

“R…runes?” Corey asked, unsure if he heard her right. Twilight, however, heard a sort of knowing tone in his voice.

“Do you know what those are?” asked Twilight in response.

“Well, so-sort of,” Corey responded, looking slightly away, “But I’m probably not thinking of the right ones…”

“Would you like me to tell you what they are?” Twilight questioned again, “I can explain them if you want me to…”

“N-not yet,” Corey stuttered, “I want to hear the rest of this…”

“Well, there’s not much else to it,” Twilight responded, “But when your punch hit the creature, the runes seemed to trigger a reaction; I’m not quite sure of what exactly happened, but I know that the end result was an explosion of tremendous force. It blew the creature’s upper body up, and had enough force to also knock you off your feet.”

Corey looked again to Twilight; it wasn’t quite as direct as it was when she first told him that, but she could still sort-of clearly see his eyes. He blinked a couple of times; he looked in a couple of other places. It was clear to Twilight that he was having a hard time believing her.

“Corey,” Twilight said, getting his attention. A slight smile on her face, she continued, “I’m still not sure what you did, but please, believe me. You were the one who saved you. I wouldn’t have said what I said if I didn’t see it with my own eyes.”

Corey’s gaze shifted away again. He looked up towards the ceiling. Even though Twilight could no longer see his face directly, she could see him start to smile. Just like when he’d first successfully projected his cutie mark, it was a brighter smile than he normally had; one that showed hope and confidence that he could move on to a life here, one that showed he could advance. He reached up to cover his mouth for just a moment, but allowed his arm to rest at his side.

“I…” Corey started, failing to hide any excitement in his voice whatsoever, “I see.” He finally rolled his head over to face her again, “So…what are runes?”

Twilight blinked. Maybe it was the fact he was actually smiling again, but for a moment she’d almost gotten lost. And that was the second time since she’d gotten him back into the room where he could rest.

“Oh,” Twilight said, “Well, runes are, by themselves, a sort of writing system used by ponies of all kinds eons ago.”

“Sounds about right,” Corey said.

“Well, that’s basically what they are,” Twilight said, “But a single rune can mean several letters at once. It was essential to how spells were cast back in the days; even unicorns, who could tap into their magic reserves on their own, had to use them due to the speed they could be cast once written out.”

“So,” Corey responded, trying to understand what he was being told, “What you’re saying is that they were essentially portable spells that any pony could use?”

“That’s exactly it,” Twilight smiled to him again; Corey finally shifted his gaze away for a few moments. She continued, “Runes were used very often back in those days, but…”

Corey looked over again, “But…?”

“At some point, any information on runic magic just…cuts off,” Twilight said, “Like it suddenly dropped off the face of the earth without a trace…”

“So, y-you’re saying I wrote runes with…with my magic, which in turn created some kind of spell on the spot?” Corey asked after a small pause.

“Y-yes,” Twilight said, “I’ve never read about any kind of magic like that. Usually the runes themselves are inactive until ponies activate them; it’s a similar force to projecting a cutie mark, from what I’ve read. This is the first time I’ve seen runes used to cast spells on the spot while themselves being generated by a unicorn’s spell!”

“Wish I knew how I did it,” Corey groaned, leaning back.

Twilight paused, looking aside. Her palm went back to her chin as she thought back to what she saw earlier today.

I’ve never seen runic magic until today, Twilight said, But I haven’t seen the magic that gave those creatures life either…I might be overthinking—No! I can’t be. But still…

Corey watched Twilight’s expression, unsure of what she was thinking about; that is, until she said something to herself.

“I’m definitely going to be up late trying to find out…” Twilight whispered.

“Haven’t you done enough of that recently?” Corey asked her. Twilight immediately whipped her head around to look at him, having not expected him to hear her.

“H-huh?” Twilight asked, looking to him. Corey flinched only a little bit, but he’d already said it out loud.

“I…” Corey started, “H-haven’t you…Haven’t you kept yourself up all night enough recently?”

Twilight’s mouth hung open at the question; she wasn’t sure how to respond. Corey wasn’t sure how to take her silence either, and kept right on going.

“I mean, I-I’ve seen you go downhill the past few days,” Corey said, “Worrying yourself sick over something, I didn’t know what; I…I still don’t know what. I-I just don’t think y-you should…should worry yourself sick over it…”

Twilight finally stopped faltering as Corey continued on. She sighed, looking down, her hands resting on the bedside.

“I…I guess you’re right,” said Twilight after a moment of silence, “I spent all this time worrying about getting you involved…and it happened anyway. I know I owe you an explanation now more than ever…but…but I’m afraid of what could happen when I tell you…”

Twilight shifted a little as an unfamiliar feeling came over her hand. She looked down, and was promptly bewildered to find Corey’s hand holding hers.

“Y-you don’t have to,” Corey stuttered again, “N-not if you don’t want to. But please…don’t torment yourself over it.”

Twilight looked up, unable to stop herself. For the second time that day, their eyes met. His eyes were alight with concern; there was no mistaking it now that he was looking right back at her. It was almost the same look he’d given her before Rainbow barged in to tell her what was going on. Except his expression had an urgent quality that wasn’t there before.

She couldn’t quite understand what that feeling in her chest was; it was there, but only for a moment. Twilight gave a small smile to his expression. Corey’s gaze flicked away for a moment again; he looked slightly uncomfortable, but nonetheless returned it.

Twilight closed her eyes, her smile soon fading as she recalled what she was told. Corey said earlier he’d want to worry about whether or not he could handle it, but she wasn’t sure how well he’d take it.

Their worlds were nothing alike, from what she could gather.

“Okay,” Twilight released a small sigh, moving her hand slightly. Corey lifted his hand, unsure if she wanted it back; unsure how long he’d been holding on to it. He eventually rested his hand just centimeters from Twilight’s, “A…a few days ago…”

The others didn’t even know Corey was being informed of the events that took place a few days ago. However, the remaining Bearers took it upon themselves to explain the situation to John in light of what had just happened. Given now he was more or less involved in the whole thing.

Rainbow had taken charge in recounting what they were told; John was completely silent the whole time. John didn’t even really react too much when he heard the gates of Tartarus were forced open.

“So that’s about it,” said Rainbow, “After that we tried to act like nothing happened, while trying to get ready if something did.”

“And on top of that we had you two to worry about,” Applejack chimed in, “Ya’ll were tryin’ to adapt to a new life here. We didn’t wanna add anythin’ else to your plate.”

The others gave a collective nod of agreement. The room fell totally silent, all eyes now on John who had yet to say anything. John himself was far too deep in his own thoughts, slowly taking in the information the others had shared with him.

Something’s not right… John thought to himself, I just got told that all hell literally broke loose. Anyone who heard this would be completely terrified. Heck, even they admitted they were shaken. But…

John paused, directing his attention towards his chest. His heart was beating slowly, rhythmically as he stood there, processing the story.

Why am I so…calm?

“John?”

Hearing his name snapped John out of his thoughts. Only now could he see the others looking back to him, all concerned.

“Sorry,” John said, rubbing the back of his head, “I guess it’s a lot to take in all at once.”

“Can’t say I blame you,” said Rainbow, “We were all the same way when we first heard this. You also gotta promise not to tell anyone. We only told you because we’re afraid what happened today might be connected.”

There was an air of uncertainty in the room as Rainbow finished her statement.

“Soon as he gets up, we’ve gotta tell Corey ‘bout this too,” Applejack said, “May not be good for him, but like Rainbow said, what happened might be related to that breakout.”

At this, John’s thoughts went to Corey. As far as he knew he hadn’t woke up yet. Twilight had went upstairs on her own to see if he was alright; she hadn’t come back yet. Now, John wondered if she had taken it upon herself to tell Corey the situation. And if she had, John had one question on his mind.

How’s Corey going to handle this?

“And—and that’s what’s been going on,” Twilight finished, her eyes closing, an uncomfortable look on her face. Corey laid back in the bed, his eyes wide. He knew, more or less, what Tartarus was, but he couldn’t imagine what or who else could have possibly come out of there.

A breakout at Tartarus!? Corey thought to himself, struggling to absorb the information, From the sounds of things, it’s not who actually did break out; but then, if it’s not him, who could have escaped?!

As he continued to process the information he was told, his breathing rate began to quicken, and his heart rate began to steadily increase. He felt sweat began to form on his brow. It wasn’t by any means an alien feeling; Corey knew he was starting to feel fear all over again.

What kind of monsters did they lock away in there, other than the one? Corey thought, his mind rapidly whirling about, Murderers? I didn’t even think they had those! But they do…they do! And the gates of that place were wrestled open and some of the worst scum on the planet managed to get out?!

Twilight watched Corey’s response. At first she would have dared say he was taking her story in stride. Now, however, she could see the warning signs: the million-yard stare, the quickened breath, the sheen of sweat. It was clear he was unraveling at the seams. Already she began to regret telling him the news; alas, she couldn’t take it back now.

“I-I’m sorry,” Twilight stuttered, having dreaded this kind of response. Corey’s eyes briefly glanced over to her at the sound of her voice, but he remained facing the ceiling, “I know this must be a lot to take in, Corey.”

“A place designed to hold in the worst this world has to offer,” Corey said, his voice sounding dangerously monotone; not unlike when he first woke up after realizing he’d gotten himself stuck in this world, “The gates broken wide open and some managed to get out…of course it’s a lot to take in.”

“But…” Twilight paused for a moment, reaching out for his hand, which by now had curled into a fist, clutching the sheets beneath them. He hadn’t moved it from where it was since the start of the story, even when her hand went back to herself.

When she finally took hold of it, she realized his hand was clenched so hard it was trembling. Corey failed to respond to her touch, still looking up at the ceiling.

“Corey, please, look at me,” Twilight said. Corey released what only vaguely sounded like a sigh and turned his head to face her, “I promise you, I won’t let anything happen to you…”

Corey found he couldn’t say anything. It was comforting, at the very least, to hear such a good thing. Maybe, maybe he could—

No, came that inner voice of his again, overcoming his initial thought processes.

What? Corey thought.

Is this really what you want? asked that inner voice, To just sit back while everyone else protects you?

Corey’s response changed before it even left his mouth.

“…No.” Corey said, ending his pause.

“Corey?” Twilight asked, immediately concerned.

“Up until today, when I was up against that creature,” Corey responded, “I…I never really knew what it f-felt like to be…to be useless. You all fought six and came back completely unharmed. I barely even ‘fought’ one…”

Twilight felt the hand she was currently holding grab the sheets tighter.

“And look at me now, barely able to stand on my own…my own two feet.”

“But that’s not your fault,” Twilight said, leaning towards him just a little, “You’re still learning the basics of magic.”

“That may be, but…but,” Corey continued, “Didn’t you say I used a spell on that creature? One that used runes? Even if by accident, isn’t it possible I could do it again?”

“Well,” Twilight paused, “In theory, I suppose so.”

“Then please…” Corey said, turning to face her directly for the third time that day, “You have more knowledge on this stuff than I could ever hope to have. Please…please teach me how to use the spell again. So that if—“ Corey paused, wondering if the word “if” was really appropriate, “—if this ever happens again…I won’t be the one everyone worries about…”

Twilight’s heart bled out for Corey, it truly did. She understood the feeling of being completely powerless in a situation all too well. And it was a feeling you did not want to feel more than once. Even so, she was still concerned. Corey managed to survive his encounter by the skin of his nose. And even that was down to luck.

But would he be as lucky a second time? Twilight thought, looking up to meet Corey’s eyes. There was fear there, there was no questioning that, but after a double-take she could see something was mixed within it, an emotion she’d seen many times from her other friends enough times to be able to pick it out with a little effort.

Determination… Twilight thought, And once a pony finds it, there’s no getting them to back down. His heart is set on this...and I don’t think I have the heart to refuse…

“Okay,” Twilight said at last, “I’m not sure how, but I’ll help you try to reuse that spell.”

A smile began to spread across Corey’s face once again.

“But on one condition,” Twilight added quickly, “We still don’t know much about this spell other than it knocked you off your feet and drained you of a lot of magic. So until we can get a better understanding of how you use the spell and why, you can only attempt it under my supervision.”

Corey didn’t voice any objections, not that he had any to begin with. Knowing he had her support was enough for him. He loosened his grip on the bed at last.

That spell was enough to destroy the creature I fought with just one hit. If I can master it, I’ll be able to help them, Corey thought.

“Thank you,” Corey nodded slightly.

Twilight stood, extending her hand out to Corey.

“Think you can stand now?” she asked.

“I can try,” Corey said, taking her hand once again. It took some effort, but he managed to stand himself up. His legs still felt heavy, but not nearly as much as they did before. If he focused on it, he could manage to walk around without falling.

“Good,” Twilight said, “You should be better after a good night’s rest, then we can try to figure out that spell. But until then, how about we check on the others?”

Corey nodded, taking a few, slow steps forward. As he tested his ability to walk, Twilight’s thoughts went back to what had happened earlier, and felt the familiar feeling of uneasiness creep its way into her heart.

That attack couldn’t be a coincidence, Twilight thought, If it was connected to the breakout, then this won’t be the last strange thing we’ll see. If it does happen again, we’ll all need to be ready…

Inside a dark cave, far removed from society in general, there were stirs of darkness. Echoes of cries of revenge bounced around in the moist cave air. However, one chamber of the cave was lit up; two figures stood within it with what looked like holographic screens surrounding them. One wore a cloak, and was the size of a regular pony. The other was exceptionally larger, even bigger than the black and blue dragon seen in one of the screens.

Of course, those screens weren’t just any screens. They were replaying scenes from the action from earlier. Currently, two of the screens were actually showing static; the other five were shot from a point of view that suggested they were from the viewpoints of the strange creatures themselves.

“I must say, I expected the Six to play their part,” said the smaller, pony-sized figure, its voice distinctly feminine, “Those two newcomers, however…when did they get there?”

“What’s the dragon doing fighting alongside those ponies?” scoffed the larger figure, its voice distinctly masculine, “Stupid. I could crush him in an instant.”

“Of that, I’m not so sure,” the feminine figure said, looking up to a screen just before it turned to static—John having punched out one of the creatures, “As unskilled as he is, he was still able to stand up to seven of the manikins on his own for a while.”

“I don’t get it,” said the larger figure, “Why’d you send just seven of those things? Why not send the rest of us and just be done with it?”

“Patience,” said the smaller figure, “I merely wanted to establish the players before we began making our moves…”

“ ‘Establish the players’…” said the larger one.

“Is there an issue?” The smaller one’s voice gained an icy edge to it, her head turning to the larger one. The larger one took a step back, distinctly…afraid, perhaps?

“No,” the larger figure said, “But from what I’ve seen, the only ones I’ve seen that can actually fight out of all of them are one of those pegasus ponies and the earth pony…”

His gaze went to the sight of one of the screens. It had been a bit hard to make it out ever since John had tossed it off, but it was now facing down a green unicorn. The manikin charged into what looked like a glowing punch, but what made it glow, neither could tell; the picture was too blurry. The next moment, the holographic screen filled with static.

The two watched the remainder of the battles, until each screen was filled with static.

“Overall, I’d have expected more out of Celestia’s pieces,” spat the female figure, lifting her hands and dispersing the screens. The cave darkened as the screens went away, “But nonetheless, her players are locked-in now. As for us, we’ve had ours since our escape.”

“So now what?” asked the larger figure.

“Patience,” The smaller figure sneered, causing the larger one to draw back, afraid, “You will play your part very soon. But first, I need to make sure the opposition knows what they’re dealing with…”

Author's Note

And that's how we end this one. So what's going on now? And what does that mysterious pony-sized cloaked creature mean by "pieces"? Find out next week!

Act 2 Chapter 8

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 8: Step Up: Game Start

Equestria Log – Day 9

You know, I’m having doubts that I’ll be able to do what I want to, but I’m not content with just sitting behind the lines. Even if it means I’ll be working harder than I ever have before. I can’t say what I’ve chosen to do is in any way sane or thought-out. But after what they’ve done for me, it’s the right thing to do.

For whatever reason, I was writing runes against that creature. Whatever I wrote or cast or whatever was enough to one-shot it. If I can figure out the mechanics behind the runes, I might be able to find a way to use that spell again.

So, today begins what is likely the first time I’ve ever done serious studying. Twilight seems to insist on getting together what we can find out about runes, if anything. I’m still going to be learning regular magic too, but I want to try to learn the runic stuff too; it could possibly be a greater asset than I think it could be.

I’m going to be a bigger help than before, Twilight. This much, I promise you.

Twilight had to admit she never thought she’d be walking her way back through the Everfree Forest. It wasn’t exactly a place a pony could go for a pleasant walk even in the middle of the day. However, it was something that she felt had to be done, in the name of knowledge.

First thing in the morning, Twilight had gone to visit each of her friends, asking her which ones would accompany her on a trip through the Everfree Forest. All but one declined for various reasons.

“Gotta say, never thought we’d be back here again,” Rainbow observed, looking across the bridge she’d fixed so long ago, “You sure there’s anything worth lookin’ for in there?”

“Well, it seems like a good place to start,” Twilight said, “This is the castle that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both grew up in when they were young.”

“And?” Rainbow asked.

“There might be something here that can give us some insight into the creatures we encountered,” Twilight continued, “And possibly contain information on runic magic I haven’t seen yet.”

“You think something like that,” Rainbow commented, pointing to the dilapidated castle across the bridge, “Would be in a place like this?”

“It couldn’t hurt to look,” Twilight said.

“Hey, what’s taking so long?!” Rainbow called out, her and Twilight’s heads turned to look back down the path. John was walking up to the group, looking maybe mildly annoyed if anything. A few steps behind him, dragging his feet, was Corey.

“It wasn’t that much of a walk,” John grumbled to Corey, turning to look at him.

Corey looked down, grumbling something that John either didn’t pick up or chose not to respond to. After a few more seconds the two reached the others. John looked up towards the castle, blinking when he realized where they were. Corey, however, continued to face towards the ground. And there was an odd noise coming from him.

“Are you—“ Rainbow blinked, looking over to Corey, “Are you out of breath!?”

“No,” Corey snapped, looking up.

Before Rainbow could comment on Corey’s response, Twilight stepped in.

“Well, it looks like we’re all here,” she said, attempting to end the conversation before things got ugly. Twilight took a step onto the old rope bridge, which creaked as she put weight onto that foot, “Let’s go ahead and go inside. Careful, now…”

As Twilight continued to make her way across the old rope bridge, followed by Corey, Rainbow hovered at eye-level with John.

“Touchy…” she whispered, earning a sigh from John.

“You don’t know the half of it,” he said, taking his first step onto the bridge.

The instant his weight shifted, the bridge let out a very loud creak. Twilight stumbled, reaching out for a rope to steady herself; Corey froze and grabbed both ropes for support. John too froze, looking down to where his foot had made the creak. The others were a bit ahead of him now. They all turned back to the start of the bridge, seeing John frozen in place on the bridge. Rainbow let out a small chuckle, but said nothing.

“John,” Corey groaned from where he was stating, “I don’t know if the bridge can take you like you are now…”

John blinked, re-checking himself. In that moment, he’d forgotten he was a dragon, and as such, had a much larger and heavier frame than he did back on Earth. More importantly, he’d also forgotten something else that came with being a dragon.

“Hey, who’s been training you to use these things?” Rainbow’s voice piped in, coming along with a very light tap on one of the very large wings that were on his back. She hovered next to him, a confident smirk on her face, “Here, I’ll show you what you gotta do…”

By now, everyone had pretty much made it across the bridge. Rainbow backed up a bit before flying across the gap, not even touching the bridge or even hovering over it.

“Just like that, John!” Rainbow called across the gap. Corey seemed confused, until he turned his attention back to John. He stood there, watching. Everyone was now watching him.

Gliding across the gap? John thought, looking across the gap once again, I could make it…Maybe I’ll take her up on it, see if I can do this.

John backed up a bit from the bridge. He took a step to his left, so he wouldn’t even need to worry about breaking the bridge if he missed. With a few steadying breaths, John prepared himself for the riskiest flight he’d ever taken.

Don’t miss! John reminded himself. With one last intake of air, he rushed forward, opening his wings to catch the wind from his running start. As soon as he felt he needed to, he took the biggest jump his body would allow him to. His wings caught the wind, and he gained a little height as he began to glide his way across the gap. He continued to clear the gap, the others looking on.

“He’s already gone this far?” Corey wondered aloud, watching John’s trajectory in the air carefully. It seemed like he had the height and distance down.

“Yeah, I know, I did a—“ Rainbow caught something, and instead let off an “—uh” instead of a brag. Now that John had cleared most of the distance, something else very important came up. John’s face had changed from a confident look to one of abject fear, and he was losing height faster than he was gaining distance.

John crashed hard into the rock wall chest-first, causing him to cough a little. However, his clawed hands quickly found traction on the rocks, saving him from falling down.

“John!” Corey called out, taking a few steps forward before rushing over to him, “Can you get up?”

“No, no, it’s cool,” John said, slowly maneuvering one of his clawed feet to try to climb back up. His first attempt did him no favors; he lost traction and slipped a little. However, on his second attempt, he managed to get a good grip and began making his way back him. Corey had his hand extended to try to help him up, but soon regretted it when he realized just how hard a dragon who’d just almost taken a nasty fall can grip his hand.

“Seriously, John,” Rainbow said, “What’s it with you and crashing into things?”

Soon as everyone had gathered around the doors following John’s mishap, Twilight got the group to re-focus on the goal at hand.

“Alright,” said Twilight, “Let’s see if we can find what we’re looking for…”

With that, she pushed the doors open, allowing the group inside. The castle interior looked no better on the inside than it did the outside. Walls were cracked, windows were shattered, and part of the ceiling above was caved in.

It was almost exactly as the show depicted it, Corey and John knew this. Even so, Corey and John stood in awe. It didn’t matter how many times they’d seen it in the show; it didn’t compare to seeing it up close and personal.

So this is where it all started, Corey thought, images of the battle between the Mane Six and Nightmare Moon resurfacing in his mind as he looked around.

“I take it neither of you have ever been in a castle before?” asked Twilight, noticing the looks of wonder on their faces.

“Not many castles close to where we lived,” said Corey. John merely nodded in agreement, still looking around.

“Doubt they could compare to this, though,” John added.

“And this is just the surface,” Twilight said, “Actually, this’ll be a first for all of us. The last time Rainbow and I were here we didn’t exactly have the time to see what this castle had to offer.”

John and Corey knew this much already. Twilight also gave herself a moment of pause, remembering that fateful night. How long ago was it? Still less than a year, she remembered that much. To her, it was far more than the night when Princess Celestia was reunited with her sister, Princess Luna.

It was also the night in which Twilight met the greatest friends a pony could ask for.

“Come on,” she said at last, turning to the others, “It might take some time to find the library here.”

“So where do we start?” asked Rainbow, looking around. The part of the castle they were in now had several entrances to different hallways. Directly in front of them was a staircase upwards which probably lead to more stairs.

“That’s a good question,” Twilight said, hand to chin as she began to think it over, “Probably isn’t worth wasting time on trying to figure out which to pick first. Probably best to go with the closest hall,” Twilight pointed to that particular hallway, “And go from there.”

No one had any objections. All three followed close behind Twilight as she made her way down the hall. Rainbow began to hover next to Twilight as she walked, eventually striking up a conversation. A little ways behind them, Corey and John did the same.

“So I take it you were told about the breakout too?” asked John.

“Yeah,” Corey said.

“How’d you take it?” John questioned. Corey paused as the memory of yesterday afternoon washed over him.

“Not so good,” Corey sighed, “Took all I could not to have another panic attack. It was just too much to take in. Yesterday’s attack was one thing…” Dropping his voice super low in volume so Twilight and Rainbow couldn’t hear him, he continued with, “You’d almost expect it, given this world’s track record…”

“But after hearing what could have been the cause,” Corey only raised his volume just a little afterward, “To find out the very gates that held back the worst of the worst were wrenched open,” Corey paused yet again, a small chill dancing its way down his spine, “The thought of it was terrifying.”

Can’t blame you, Corey, John thought, thinking back to when he found out about it, It’s a normal response. But what does that say about my own?

“How about you?” Corey asked, breaking John from his thoughts, “How’d you take the news?”

John wasn’t sure how to answer this, partly because he still couldn’t believe how little of a reaction he’d had at the time, and partly because he knew Corey could get a little…volatile. It was more the former fact, though; everyone else was afraid, all worried about what could happen. And yet all he did was shrug it off…

“I…had my share of problems when I found out too,” John said, “I had a hard time falling asleep last night.”

Corey looked over to John, seeing him rub the back of his head and look away as he did so. Though both of those seemed normal in themselves for John, it still didn’t seem right.

“John, are you sure you’re—“ Corey couldn’t finish his sentence. From ahead of them, a good ways ahead of them, there was a loud scream; worse still, Rainbow and Twilight were nowhere to be seen.

“What happened?” John asked.

“Don’t tell me…” Corey responded, remembering something very important about the castle from previous viewings. John remembered it too; both boys took one look at each other. Realizing both of them were on the same page, both took off into a full sprint down the hall.

“Twilight!?” Corey shouted back.

“Over here, hurry!” Twilight called back; her voice sounded closer than it did before. Up ahead, the two saw another door, “Sweet Celestia, I can’t believe it!”

The two pressed forward towards the door, still hearing Twilight the whole way. They were fifteen yards and closing from the door.

“There are…”

Ten yards.

“There are…!”

Five yards.

“So many!”

Corey and John burst through the doors, ready to help if needed—

“Books!!!”

Corey and John paused, finally taking in the picture ahead of them. Twilight stood in the center of the room, several books floating around her as she twirled around gleefully—were those stars in her eyes?

“What…in…the…” Corey asked, looking around for the first time.

“As you can see, she found the library,” said Rainbow, who Corey and John both only now realized was standing next to them with her arms crossed.

John and Corey continued to look around, the shock of hearing Twilight scream. What Rainbow said was true, they were standing inside a library; a rather large one at that. Putting two and two together, the two men realized they’d jumped to the wrong conclusion; the scream Twilight uttered wasn’t of terror, but of joy.

John sighed in relief, applying a palm to his face. Corey released his own sigh, but his palm went directly over his heart, which was still beating hard; more from the fear reaction than the run, Corey realized.

Should have known… Corey thought, But after what just happened, am I really wrong to have assumed something worse…?

“Well, don’t just stand there!” Twilight said; a few moments later, the others in the room were pulled towards her via her magic, “We have little time and a lot of library to search through! We’ll each take one of the four corners and see what we can find!”

Wasting no time at all, Twilight picked the corner that she believed had the most books and began her search.

“This is gonna be a long day…” Rainbow groaned, hanging her head.

“I’ll just…stand here and keep guard,” said John. It wasn’t like he hated reading, but from the looks of any of the corners, it seemed like too many books to sift through—

“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow said, grabbing John by the ear, “If I have to, then so do you…”

Corey watched, mildly amused, as Rainbow began to drag John back towards the books. Quickly, Corey turned before anyone could see his smirk, and took in the corner closest to him.

“Hard to believe he’s a dragon sometimes…” Corey observed, taking a deep breath before walking over to the shelves.

The library’s collection of material was vast. Even with each of them taking a corner, there were still a lot of books to go through. Each bookshelf held hundreds if not thousands of books of varying size and length. It was surprising to see that despite the relative condition of the castle and how long it had been since any of the books were last used, that the books themselves were in good shape. But even though the books hadn’t been lost to the sands of time, it only meant there were more books for the team to search.

Even after an hour of searching, they had only made a fraction of a dent to the collection. Worse, none of the books they searched through had any information on what they were looking for. After some time everyone was called towards the center of the room by Twilight.

“Any luck?” she asked.

“Whole lot of nothing on my end,” said Rainbow, leaning on one of the desks around them.

“Same here,” John said, “Lots of novels and stuff like that, but nothing close to what we’re looking for.”

Twilight bit down on the tip of her thumb; she was afraid of that. Turning to Corey, she asked him a simple question.

“How about you, Corey?” she asked.

“I-I actually found some reference guides,” he said. At first, everyone looked hopeful, until Corey added with a sigh, “But none of them had information on runes.”

The others let out a collective, small groan. So far, all their searching was utterly fruitless.

“Looks like this was a waste…” Rainbow said.

“We don’t know that yet!” Twilight interjected, “Let’s take a little break and try again. We’ll change tactics and all focus on the same side of the library. Since Corey was able to find some reference guides, we’ll start over there.”

Rainbow gave a dismissive scoff at the idea, but didn’t say anything else.

“Actually, I’m going to search a little longer,” Corey said, already moving back towards his corner, “Hey, John, could you help me?”

John followed Corey after a couple of seconds without giving a vocal response. When they were a ways away from the girls, Corey stopped, appearing to inspect the shelves.

“Where are we starting?” John asked.

“Actually, John,” Corey said, turning to look past John to make sure Twilight and Rainbow hadn’t followed; they hadn’t. With that in mind, Corey dropped his voice in volume just a little, “I just wanted to get out of earshot.”

“And why do you want to do that?” John questioned, raising a brow. Corey motioned for John to come closer. John followed the non-verbal command; only then did Corey speak again.

“I was thinking, you remember the episode where we saw the inside of the castle, right?” Corey whispered, “From the…current season? And Inspiration Manifestation, too?”

John nodded. He remembered very well; Spike found a hidden book in the library and took it to a struggling Rarity. Needless to say, things spiraled out of control from there.

“Yeah, I do,” John said, “What about them?”

“The information Twilight had on runes were limited to just basic things about them; that is, what they were and what they were used for in the old days. She said there was nothing else out there…all the information seemingly vanished. I don’t think something like that would just vanish without a reason. It’s got to be hidden somewhere in here, in those passageways we saw…or ones like them,” Corey explained, keeping his voice low.

John looked around, scanning the covers of all the books on the shelves. Slowly, John began to understand exactly what Corey was trying to say.

“So you think it’s hidden?” John asked, “Like that book? It’s possible…something like that being removed from public view? You wouldn’t want just anyone to find it. But what are the chances this library will have something?”

“I’m not sure,” Corey said, “But you know what?” Corey paused, as though trying to choose his words, “It’s gotta be worth a shot if--!”

“Okay, okay,” John cut Corey off, knowing full well where that tangent was going, “It might be worth a shot, but how are we going to go about this?”

Corey looked back to the bookshelves, a dour expression on his face.

“Check everything that works,” Corey said, as seriously as if he’d just reported on a terrorist attack, “If we use every haunted house cliché we can think of, maybe we’ll get lucky.”

John understood well enough what Corey was getting at, and gave him a nod.

“Keep checking the shelves, I’ll check other things,” said John, already moving away to do whatever. Corey turned back to the shelves, and began resting his hands on the tomes that were lined up there. However, Corey began to tilt each book, one by one to see if something was holding.

Biggest cliché of all, book switch, Corey thought, haphazardly testing any books that he felt looked suspicious.

Snap!

“What was that?” Corey asked, whipping his head around to the sound. John stood next to a headless statue, clearly hiding something behind his back.

“Um…there was no switch to be found under the statue’s head…” John said, bringing the broken head into view.

Corey groaned and applied his palm to his face, shaking his head in disapproval. Corey turned back to the books once again while John tried to find a way to hide the stone head. Eventually, John gave up and very clumsily rested it back on the statue as best he could.

That’s hardly noticeable… thought John to himself, looking at the askew, cracked head on the bust.

The two continued to search for hidden switches for a few more minutes; nothing turned up.

“John, you found anything?” Corey asked, annoyed, having moved a few books aside to look behind them at the shelf itself.

“Nothing,” John said with an annoyed sigh, “Guess clichés just don’t hold up like you’d expect.”

“Dammit,” Corey sighed, “Really hoping they would have…”

“Still no luck, huh?” The sound of Rainbow’s voice got their attention. Both Corey and John turned to see her and Twilight walking up to them, having no idea of what the two boys were trying to invoke.

“Well, hopefully, we’ll have better luck together,” Twilight said, turning to Rainbow, “Rainbow, how about you check the top shelves?”

“Sure thing,” Rainbow began to float upwards towards the top of the bookshelf. The search continued from here, the team tackling the shelves from two different points. It looked like it would be a long day of searching, with a lot of doubt if they’d find anything at all in the old library. However…

“What the hay?” Everyone looked up at the sound of Rainbow’s question. They saw Rainbow, whose hand was clenched tightly around a book, pulling on it. However, the book seemed to be superglued to the shelf.

“What’s wrong, Rainbow?” asked Twilight, calling up to her.

“Stupid thing won’t budge!” Rainbow shouted, putting her other hand on the book and beginning to tug even harder on it. This didn’t work. Eventually, she began to move into position.

“Rainbow, don’t do that!” Twilight called out, seeing Rainbow putting her feet on the shelf just below the offending book for leverage. Rainbow didn’t listen, her focus entirely on the book that refused to budge. In this position, Rainbow gave the book one last hard pull back. Only then did the book finally come out of its place.

“Finally gotcha, you little—“ Rainbow’s gloating was cut short when the only thing holding her up shifted, and she began to fall, caught off-guard…

“Gotcha!” John called out, placing himself under Rainbow with his arms held out in front of him. It wasn’t too hard a catch to make; Rainbow pretty much fell right into his arms. With this in mind, John unleashed his next statement, “Had a nice fall?”

Rainbow let out a groan, smacking him over the head with the book that had been so hard to pull out.

At that moment, there was a loud sound; one that matched the sound of a latch coming undone. Suddenly, the bookshelf in front of them started to move up, taking the wall with it. Everyone watched in awe as this happened. Eventually, a hollowed out path was revealed to be behind the bookcase. John’s eye twitched as he took that in.

Oh sure, but when we want to find one, it doesn’t pop up… John thought.

“Hey, you can put me down now,” Rainbow said flatly. John looked down, only now realizing he was still carrying her.

“Maybe I don’t want to?” John joked, smirking down at her.

“Don’t make me hit you again,” said Rainbow as she held up the book again to show her threat was not idle.

John chuckled a little at her response, which earned him the promised whack over the head. With that, John finally put Rainbow down. All four of them began to enter the passage. Once they’d entered, they could see it wasn’t a hallway, but a path to a spiral staircase that lead downwards. Along the stone walls were strange green crystals that lit up the passageway with an eerie glow of the same color. But even with the help of the light, no one could see the bottom of it.

“Wonder what’s down there…” John whistled, his curiosity at its peak.

“Only one way to find out,” Twilight said, taking the lead as she began to make her way down the stairs. Corey followed soon afterward; John and Rainbow going down after him. However, the group didn’t get too far down before Rainbow, looking down the middle of the spiral stairs, spoke up.

“You know, I could just fly down there and bring whatever I find back up here,” Rainbow pointed out.

“And if you couldn’t, we’d still need to go down there,” Twilight said back.

“Okay, but we still have wings,” Rainbow argued, “We could just fly down there, it’d be a lot faster.”

“Not all of us,” Twilight said, motioning towards Corey, “Not going to leave him behind to go down alone.”

“Oh, come on,” Rainbow groaned, “All the spells you know and you’re telling me you don’t have one that would help him down?”

Twilight halted, pondering it for a moment. However, she eventually thought of a simple one that would work.

“Actually, I think I have just the thing,” Twilight said, raising one finger up.

“Perfect,” said Rainbow, already beginning to hover in preparation for her flight down, “I’ll see ya when ya reach the bottom!”

“Bet I can beat you there,” said John.

“You’re on!” Rainbow shot back.

With that, John jumped off the stairs and made use of gravity to take him down. Rainbow flew downwards under her own power. Soon as they were out of sight, Twilight put her focus into a spell. A magenta platform soon appeared in the center of the spiral stairs.

“And here I thought that Applejack was the only one who shared Rainbow’s competitive nature,” she said, stepping onto the platform.

“You don’t know the half of it,” said Corey, deadpan, as he joined Twilight. With a flash of Twilight’s horn, the platform turned into an elevator and began to descend.

When the platform finally reached the bottom, Corey and Twilight were immediately greeted by the sight of Rainbow performing a victory dance as John watched with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

“I take it you beat him?” Twilight asked of Rainbow.

“I don’t wanna talk about it…” John said flatly.

“He chickened out and opened his wings before we reached the bottom,” Rainbow gloated.

“Didn’t you say you survived a thirty foot fall?” asked Corey to John.

“Doesn’t mean I want to make a habit of it!” John shouted back, “Anyway…we found something when we get here too.”

John pointed down the path as he said this. All heads turned ahead, down a corridor with more of the luminescent crystals. At the end of it was a large wooden double door with a large amount of details. Also, there were two alicorns, one on each door.

These alicorns on the door, Twilight thought, They don’t look like how the Royal Sisters were depicted in ancient texts!

“Have you tried opening it?” asked Twilight.

“Yeah,” Rainbow said, “But it’s locked.”

The group moved towards the door, Twilight going slightly ahead to inspect it. She placed her palm on the wood. As soon as he did, she sensed something was off about it.

“You’re right, it is locked,” said Twilight, turning to the others, “But not in the traditional sense.”

“Magic?” asked Corey.

“Most likely,” Twilight responded, turning back to the door and putting her palm back on it again; her horn alight with a magenta hue, “Give me a second. I should be able to undo it.”

Everyone watched as Twilight’s horn began to glow brighter, her magical hue starting to coat the door.

“Alright, now one little spell and—“ Twilight was cut off by a surge coming not from her, but from the door, one that shot out and knocked her off her feet, “Ack!”

Twilight fell backwards, on to the ground.

“Twilight!” Corey was, surprisingly, the first to respond, already moving towards her, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah…” Twilight groaned, sitting up, “The lock on the door was more powerful than I thought. It rejected my spell and repelled the source of it; unfortunately, it was me.” As Twilight got to her feet, Rainbow did a double take.

“Um, Twilight,” she said, “You might want to take a look at this…”

Twilight looked to Rainbow first, but then took a look back at the door when she realized not just Rainbow, but everyone regarded the door with a renewed sense of wonder. As soon as she saw it, she adopted a similar expression.

“It can’t be…” Now there was something on the door that wasn’t there before Twilight had attempted to unlock it. There was something written in white all across the doors, and it was glowing brightly. But it wasn’t in English.

“Runes…” Twilight mumbled, in complete disbelief, “It can’t be a coincidence…”

All this time had been spent searching on the runic language; now a door was covered in similar runes to what Corey had written the day before.

“Think what we’re looking for is behind those doors?” John asked, walking up.

“Maybe,” Twilight said, “But it doesn’t matter, I don’t know anything about runic magic, so I can’t unlock the door.”

A feeling of frustration began to settle in at this point; they were so close, but a barricade separated them from what they wanted to find.

“Well, this is under the Princesses’ old castle,” said Rainbow, “You think any of them might be able to?”

“It’s possible,” Twilight said, “But even if they do, it doesn’t change the fact that we won’t be able to open the doors, for now, at least. Let’s head back. I’ll send Princess Celestia a letter as soon as we get back to Ponyville.”

Already Twilight had begun moving back towards the stairs, already composing her report as she went. However, the mention of someone’s name caught her attention.

“Corey?” This was John’s voice, “What are you…?”

Twilight turned. Corey was standing up a little straighter than normal, walking towards the door, looking right at the runes that marked it.

“Careful, Corey,” Twilight warned, fearing it would only knock him back too, “You don’t want to get too close to it.”

Corey didn’t even seem to hear the others. His attention was solely on the door now, as if he were in a trance. As soon as he was in front of it, Corey raised a hand and placed it on the door. At first nothing happened; not even a repelling force.

“Does it only repel magic?” Rainbow asked, just before something changed.

The runes on the door changed from pure white to a bright green shade; without any warning at all. Then, the runes began to move. Corey looked up to the runes, now clearly looking confused.

D—Did I…? Corey thought to himself, his palm still firmly pushing against the door.

Everyone stared, their mouths hanging wide open, as the runes eventually began to circle around the door. Soon, the runes began to slow down. The very moment they stopped, the runes vanished and the doors opened automatically. Only now did Corey finally lower his hand.

“I…” Twilight asked, walking up to him, “How did you do that?”

“I…I don’t know,” Corey said, looking to the hand that had done the job, “I just touched it, and…”

Twilight was speechless; when she had tried to unlock the door, she was knocked to the floor. But Corey; without even being aware of what he had done until after the fact, had caused a reaction in the runes that granted them access.

But why… Twilight wondered to herself. However, she soon managed to force the question into the back of her mind. Right now, the door was open. So, they were free to see what was so important that it required ancient magic to lock it away.

“Come on,” Twilight said, walking through the doors. The others followed her into what was a very small room. In the very center of the room, they spotted a pure white podium. And on top of it was what they believed they were looking for, a book, and a rather large one at that. Twilight studied the cover of the book; however, she noticed something important.

It had no title. However, the runes that decorated the front of it was proof enough.

“Is this…?” Corey trailed off, pointing at the book.

“I think so,” said Twilight, using her magic to levitate the book off the podium. This time, there was no magical backlash to accompany it here. She looked to the book as it floated in front of her, “Looks like we’re getting more information than we bargained for.”

“Think we’ll be able to cover it all?” wondered Corey aloud.

“I’m sure we can, and besides,” Turning to face Corey, Twilight offered him a confident look, “We’ve got plenty of time…”

Princess Celestia sat alone in her throne room with a piece of parchment levitating in front of her via the use of her magic. The parchment was the latest letter from her former student, Twilight Sparkle, and it detailed the events of the day before. How many times had she re-read it? Celestia had lost count by now. Ever since she learned of the breakout from Tartarus, Princess Celestia had been wary of an attack. But the one Twilight had described in her letter was not what she had expected to hear about.

“Seven clay-like creatures, each with markings and eyes that glow red,” Celestia repeated the description of the creatures as it was written on the parchment. Off the top of her head, Celestia believed it to be some form of puppeteer magic.

This kind of magic is not unheard of, but it is not something just anyone can master, Celestia knew of one who had the power to control, but she needed to be in constant contact with her victim in order to sustain it. But the magic behind the creatures that attacked Twilight and her friends was on a level of its own. It didn’t just give motion to several inanimate objects but also simulated the movements of a living creature—a feat that not many magical creatures, living or dead, had been able to accomplish.

Is it possible that someone in Tartarus is behind this? Are the escaped prisoners already making their moves? This was a thought that had haunted Celestia since the count of escaped prisoners began. She knew that they were out there, plotting. And nothing could tell her exactly how far their sanity had gone in their years behind bars.

“What do I do now…?” Celestia asked herself, “If I continue to keep this from the public, then no one will be prepared if the prisoners should finally reveal themselves. But if they do know of what happened, it could cause a widespread panic, one the prisoners could take advantage of.”

The amber light around the parchment faded, letting it flutter gently to the side. Celestia ran her hands through her mane, which even now continued to flow as if wind were blowing through it despite her mood.

I do not know where I should go from here… Celestia thought to herself.

“Frustrating, is it not?” Celestia sat up straight as the sudden voice echoed all around her. She searched her surroundings, but found that no one else seemed to be in the room with her, “All the years you’ve ruled over this land, all the conflicts you’ve handled personally…you’ve gained quite a lot of experience under that crown of yours…”

By now, Celestia was on her feet, walking down the steps of her throne room as she searched everywhere she could think of for the source of the voice. All the while, it continued to talk to her.

“But now you’re faced with something you’d never expected to face. The very gate constructed to protect your followers from darkness had just set them free. And now, you find that you haven’t the knowledge required to fix it.” The voice capped off its round of mocking with an amused-sounding laugh.

“Show yourself,” Celestia demanded of the voice, only to be met with more mocking laughter that seemed to echo all around her.

“Very well,” said the voice. At first, Celestia was met with silence, seeing no signs of anypony around her. But then, she heard something. A slight noise, sounding like the tiniest shuffles of feet. Her eyes searched the room again.

“Down here, princess,” The voice directed; Celestia looked down and was met with a strange figure. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary rat. But when she looked close, she saw it was far more. This rat was not made of flesh, but clay, but that wasn’t all. The creature’s eyes and the markings on its body both were glowing bright red, just like Twilight had described with the creatures in her letter.

As the rat stood before her its body began to glow brighter, a small ray of light erupting from its back. Celestia found herself taking a step back in anticipation for what would come. Looking up, she took notice that something was formed in the light in front of her. A figure had projected itself inside of the light; tall, definitely, but that was all Celestia could distinguish for the figure’s body was covered by a red cloak; matching the glow on the rat below it. And even though it was just a projection, the figure gave off an aura of power and control.

“Greetings, Princess Celestia,” spoke the figure. Despite the deep tone of the voice, Celestia had reason to believe that it was being altered. Whoever this was had taken steps to preserve his or her identity, “Tell me, how are things in Tartarus?”

At this, Celestia felt a chill run down her spine. Though the figure hadn’t said it directly, the way it spoke of Tartarus, she knew one thing for sure.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” asked Celestia, “You broke open the gates of Tartarus?” she demanded of the figure.

“Indeed it was,” said the figure.

“How?” Though the figure’s face was covered by the hood, Celestia saw the smirk that had spread across it.

“Come now, princess, do you really expect me to share my secrets so easily?” asked the figure, “If you wish to find out the means, you will have to figure it out yourself.” Celestia expected as much, but it still frustrated her. This figure had come to her and revealed its hand in the opening of the gates; however, Celestia felt there was something more to it, something unsaid.

“What is it that you want?” asked Celestia.

“I have been away a long time princess, trapped alone in my cell. What I want…no, wbat I demand is entertainment,” the figure said, “So today, I wish to extend an invitation, an invitation to join in my little game…”

There was something off about the way the figure used that last word.

“Game?” asked Celestia, completely flatly. She couldn’t see the face of the cloaked pony in the hologram, but taking in everything; the magic that was being used to animate the rat, the magic used yesterday, the almost business-like tone the hologram took with her…and of course, what seemed to be a disregard for how many lives were involved, “What game is this?”

“It’s a thriller,” the hologram’s lower face was visible; a smile appeared on the mouth that was visible, “A game that pits the ones cast into Hell, against those who supposedly walk in the light. The game that will show just what kind of creature a pony is when pushed…”

“How can you treat something like life as a simple game?” Celestia demanded of the holographic projection, “It’s something that’s meant to be precious…something that shouldn’t just be treated as—“

“Save me the lectures, Celestia,” the hologram snapped, the smile only slightly fading, “Believe me, you say that now; that is certainly why Tartarus has no…capital punishment. But trust in me when I say that we do not share the same views.”

“We?” asked Celestia.

“The other escaped prisoners and myself, of course,” the figure explained, “Who do you think has kept them from making themselves known?”

Celestia did her best to remain calm, but it was hard now that she knew someone had taken up a leading role among the escaped prisoners.

“But that will change very soon. Both sides have already set their pieces. All that remains is for the kings to make their move…”

“Kings? Pieces?” To Celestia, this figure was describing a chess game; however, once the figure raised its hand and swiped it, she was immediately assaulted by the sight of several other projections; not other figures, but movies, in a sense—clips of yesterday’s battle between Twilight, her friends, and the creatures that had attacked them.

“I expected as much out of the Elements of Harmony to attend,” Next, the figure snapped its figures, two more images appearing, “But these two were a surprise.”

Celestia’s eyes grew wide. In one of the new screens, clear as day, was John, fighting a couple and doing reasonably well. One of them, though hard to make out for some reason, still featured Corey fighting one of the creatures alone.
“No!” Celestia snapped, “You have no right to command who is involved in this!”

Her anger began to peak; in the wake of it, her body began to steam. Ignoring Celestia’s outburst, the figure continued on.

“I have that and more,” the images around the figure began to shift into something else. In several, she could still see the Elements. However, she could tell this wasn’t a back recording—it was a live feed! It was showing them, in real time, just going about their lives.

“As you are aware, my little friend here was able to sneak past your guards without being spotted. It would be a simple matter to get to anyone else.”

“Even them,” The images shifted again. Some came from the hospital; Celestia could see the guard that had barged into her castle that fateful night along with his friends. Others revealed ponies that Celestia knew, some workers in the castle. Other revealed ponies close to the Elements; their family, friends, even their pets. Celestia’s fist tightened as her fur began to glow.

“I see you understand now,” said the figure, “But I can promise you that they will be untouched, so long as you follow my set of rules.”

It took every ounce of self-control Celestia had amassed over the centuries she’d been alive to not erupt in fury then and there.

“Speak…” she commanded, her voice making no effort to conceal the anger she felt.

“At any point in time, I will send out any number of my pieces. You can feel free to respond with any number of your own,” said the hologram, “A piece is no longer valid if it, for some reason, drops out, or, if it is destroyed in a significant way. ‘Destroyed’ need not imply death, but think about who you’re up against before you make your move…”

“Naturally, I will not be announcing any of my movements; I don’t expect to hear anything from you regarding yours at this point in time. You may make preparations to engage my forces, but I’d be careful about leaving your loved ones unguarded…” This figure was doing everything it could to push Celestia, but she wasn’t going to give it the pleasure of seeing her snap.

“Is that all?” she asked.

“One more thing, the only ones allowed to engage my pawns are yours. I’ll even allow your guards to join in. But under no circumstances are you, your sister, or the lord of chaos himself allowed to intervene in this confrontations, or else there will be a suitable punishment.”

With one more snap of the figure’s fingers, all the images around it shattered away from view like panes of glass.

“I hope you are quick to remember, because I will not be stating the rules again. I recommend you inform your pawns. They’ll need to get ready before my next assault. Which may be sooner than you think,” as the voice faded away, so did the projection of the cloaked figure, leaving behind only the small rat.

The small artificial creature might have run away or evaporated into dust like the others, but it didn’t have the time. As Celestia stormed past it, its body was quickly reduced to nothing but ash that blew away by some unseen force.

Making her way to the door, she opened them with nearly enough force to break them right off the hinges. As she made her way down the hall, she could no longer her the guards that were calling out to her.

“I don’t have time to waste,” she said to herself, “I must prepare them for what is to come…”

Author's Note

And here's where we see the big plan to what's about to happen. I'm not quite sure what else to say. Until next week.

Act 2 Chapter 9

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 9: A Game Changer

John found himself spending yet another day in town. As it turned out, Rainbow’s hands were tied with work. This obviously meant his flying lessons were on hold. Fortunately for the dragon, he didn’t find himself in a position where he had nothing to do. Another one of the locals had asked for his help, and he was more than happy to oblige. This time, it was the earth pony, Bon Bon, who had brought him back to her candy shop. And what she needed help with was certainly something unusual by his homeworld’s standards.

“Well,” John said, staring in amazement, “You don’t see that every day.”

John and Bon Bon were currently standing in the latter’s kitchen, staring at her oven. Right now, however, the oven was acting more like a flamethrower than anything else. Bon Bon herself was wearing a plain, cream-colored long-sleeve shirt, tucked into a light gray long skirt, with a teal baker’s apron over her front.

“How’d this happened?” he asked.

“Asked my roommate to put some cake batter in the oven for me,” said Bon Bon, “I think she messed with the gas value…”

“The instructions weren’t clear!” another female’s voice shouted from the other room.

“I’m surprised the place hasn’t already burned down yet,” John observed, motioning around him; there wasn’t even any evidence that the oven was malfunctioning this bad until John saw it himself.

“I like to take precautions. You can see why,” Bon Bon said, “So I made sure to fireproof the kitchen. Unfortunately, we aren’t, so we can’t get close enough to the oven to shut it off.”

Already John knew where this was going. He’d seen dragons in the show jump into a pool a lava as if it were nothing; they were about as fireproof as one could get.

“On it,” John said, removing his sweater and putting it on the nearby counter. As he walked up to the fire, he held his hands out towards the fire. As a simple test, he put it into the path of the fire.

As expected, John thought, slowly moving his hands through the stream for a bit longer, a smirk forming on his face, It doesn’t hurt.

Now that he knew for sure he was fireproof, he continued forward, his entire body now surrounded by fire.

“The bottom part of the oven comes off,’ said Bon Bon; John able to hear her clearly. John looked down, seeing the part she was talking about. After he removing it, he saw there was an opening, “Inside, you should see a red valve; use it to switch off the gas.”

The valve wasn’t hard to find. Reaching down, John took hold on it with one hand and proceeded to turn it. The fire instantly began to die down as he turned it, eventually going out completely as the valve finally hitched to a stop in his grasp.

“That should do it,” said John, standing up and turning back to Bon Bon.

“Well, that worked out better than I thought,” Bon Bon observed, digging into a bag that was nearby.

“Well, the instructions were clear,” said John, at a volume just over his normal speaking tone.

“I heard that!” the same voice from the other room yelled. At this, John and Bon Bon shared a small laugh.

“Here, take this for your troubles,” she said, tossing something to John. After catching it, John looked down at his hands to get a closer look. It was oblong-shaped, crystalline, and red in color, no bigger than his palm.

“A gem?” asked John.

“Yeah,” Bon Bon answered, “From what I’ve heard dragons collect and eat them. I’ve had this one for a while now but don’t really have any use for it myself. I figured you’d want it.

John looked down towards the gem again. Afterward, he looked back up to Bon Bon and smiled.

“Thanks,” said John.

After saying his goodbyes, he took his sweater and walked out of the shop, putting it back on in the process. As he walked through town, he continued to eye the gem in his hand. Since he’d arrived in town, it never once crossed his mind to try to eat one. But he had the perfect opportunity now…

“Well, down the hatch it goes,” John said, lifting the gem into his mouth. His dragon teeth easily cleaved through the gem entirely like it were a potato chip. The instant the gem broke in his mouth, John paused, his eyes opening wide.

I can’t believe it, John thought, But this is the greatest thing I’ve ever tasted! The texture! The flavor! The…the…what…

John couldn’t finish his mental review, spotting something in the distance, or rather, somepony. Even though he was mixed with the citizens, John had no trouble spotting him. He was slightly tall, seemed adequately built, and had a familiar color scheme.

He knew the character well. He’d made rare appearances in the show after his introduction, and right now, he should have been far north of Ponyville. Yet here he was now.

But why is he here? John thought to himself, confused.

Corey had spent the rest of yesterday practicing his magic control, not feeling up to going through the big book on runes just yet. However, now that it was a new day, it was time to get moving. He was ready to start learning just what he could do and if he could somehow replicate the results from his runes using tips from an ancient book, locked away behind a special door.

“Ah, Corey,” Twilight said to him as he entered the room in which he’d done most of his studying since starting his magic lessons, “I guess you’re ready?”

Corey looked ahead of her, towards the book on the desk. The single source that could be found on runes in that old castle sat there, beckoning him to read its words. And who was Corey to disappoint?

“Yeah,” Corey said. He’d gotten up earlier than normal for the second day in a row; it showed in the way he sounded: dry and not much life to his voice, “Hope it can tell us something about…about the runes I was using…”

Twilight looked at Corey as he passed by, still not sure why he’d been able to open the door on contact when even she couldn’t open it herself. However, she put that aside for the time being. She had, somehow, managed to restrain herself from opening the book until now, and couldn’t wait to get started.

Besides, she mused, quickly following his lead, it wouldn’t be worth asking him the question since he doesn’t even know why it happened…

Corey sat in his usual seat, Twilight taking hers across from him, just as usual. Corey slouched over a bit and sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Twilight wondered how he hadn’t noticed yet.

“Alright, let’s get started,” said Corey.

Twilight could barely hold herself from opening the cover to the book, swinging open the front covet with her magic. Already, she was looking at the table of contents. Corey looked open the pages as well, eager to find out just what kind of information the book was going to provide him, when he realized something was off. The book had small print, and even this close, sitting with the book more or less in front of him, the letters looked more like a large blur of gray and black than anything else.

I…I can’t see… Corey thought, his hand reaching up towards his face. Only now did he fully realize there was a problem, patting at empty air where there should have been a cool, smooth sort of surface there. My glasses!

I can’t believe I’m getting to look at information this old! Twilight thought, completely overcome with excitement at the thought of being able to turn the pages of the ages-old book before her. She was about to find out more about not only runes, but history in general. Plus, it was a new book. And a rather sizable one at that, too. She doubted she’d ever get tired of flipping through the tomes of ages of old—

“Twilight…” Corey’s voice came through to her, clearly panicky and agitated. Twilight blinked, only just now fully remembering she had something else to do with the book. She looked up towards Corey to find his eyes were wide, and he was patting at his upper face slightly. Only when he spoke up again did she realize what had dawned on him, “Where are my glasses?”

“Oh,” Twilight’s ears fell just a little, but they quickly flicked back up, “Well, during your fight, they broke…”

Corey’s ears fell, and he blinked. His eyes still wide, he asked, “How bad was it…”

The mare paused for just a moment. She was unsure how she should answer his question; at least, she was assuming he was asking what happened. The dry tone to his voice made it come off more like a demand.

“The…” Twilight hesitated for a moment, “The right lens had shattered; the frames were broken; even part of the left lens was completely shattered; the rest was heavily cracked. I think it was the force of your spell that did it.”

Corey took in the information he was told, blinking lightly. His eyes went slightly wider as he processed it. There was a moment of pause before Corey let out a heavy sigh.

“Dammit…” Corey slouched forward in the chair, putting one palm to the bridge of his nose, “How’d I not see it before?”

“I’m wondering that myself,” Twilight said, sounding strangely undisturbed, but why? “You didn’t seem to need them until right now…”

“My eyesight isn’t so bad I can’t live without them,” Corey said, sounding down on himself and not looking up to face her, “But it’s just bad enough to where I can’t read things far away or too small…”

“With everything that had happened,” Twilight said, “It probably slipped your mind…”

“Probably,” Corey sighed again.

“Corey,” Twilight said, standing up as Corey looked up towards her. The book could wait just a little longer, “Hold on a second, I’ll be right back.”

Quickly, she left the room, leaving Corey alone with his thoughts. He sighed heavily, leaning back in his chair. He looked back to the book, closing his eyes as he took in the sight of the blur on the pages. He gritted his teeth just a little.

I don’t want to be read to like a kid because I can’t see the print… Corey thought, And I don’t know if we can just sit around while I wait for a new pair. The thing that happened yesterday; that breakout…I can’t be the only one feeling like there’s a connection…

Corey’s gaze soon went back towards the doorway. Twilight appeared there once again; something in her right hand. Quickly, she strode into the room, rapidly making her way over to him. As she drew closer, Corey found himself able to make out what the object in her hand was, and blinked.

Are those my… Corey thought, squinting. Twilight eventually made it to her seat across from him once again, and set the object down where Corey could see it clearly, unobstructed by the lavender-furred hand, They…are…?

“But I thought—“ Corey said, looking up to Twilight, caught slightly off-guard, “Is this a new--?”

“No,” Twilight smiled just a little, “They’re the ones you were wearing when you first came into our world. I tried out a spell I haven’t really had to use…”

Corey looked back down to the glasses on the table; of course, she probably repaired them with a spell. But admittedly, Corey had his doubts.

The lenses were completely shattered, Corey thought, She said so herself. And my eyesight needed corrective lenses; these aren’t just for show, or for reading…

Something occurred to Corey at this point. He quit looking at the glasses for a moment, and his gaze flicked up to see Twilight, waiting. With a sigh, Corey reached out for the glasses, unfolding the sides and, while looking at the book’s text, slid them on, eyes closed. Feeling that they still fit on his face even now, he opened his eyes.

The crystal-clear words that were on the pages revealed themselves to him. Corey blinked, looking around, finally wearing his glasses for the first time since the fight. Maybe it was the fact he’d gone two days without wearing them, but not only was the book’s text clearer, everything around him seemed to be sharper than he remembered it being.

“They work…” Corey said, closing his left eye to find that the right lens worked even though there hadn’t been anything left from what he had been told, “I think they work even better than they did before!” He finally directed his gaze towards Twilight, who was now giving him a pleased smile, even looking just a little proud that he’d said what he had.

“The spell I used did its job,” Twilight summarized, her hands now resting on the book, “It not only fixed them back to how they looked before, it enhanced the lenses themselves. I also made sure to make them stronger so that they wouldn’t be so fragile if you should get into another fight again or manage to replicate the spell you did. So--”

Twilight felt a small gasp escape her mouth, feeling something clasp down on her hands. She looked down just as her arms moved up slightly, seeing a pair of green-furred hands rather firmly clasping hers. She looked up, seeing Corey offering her another genuine-looking smile and a look into her eyes.

“Thank you,” said Corey with a sigh, still holding on to her hands. Twilight paused, looking down towards her hands, and back to him. Something inside of her changed; she wasn’t sure what it was, but she felt her heart rate jump for just a second.

“Um…” Twilight started. Corey’s gaze flicked downwards. He blinked, then looked back up to her again.

What… Corey thought, that smile frozen on his face as he suddenly felt his face start to heat up fast, What did I just do!?

Both looked at each other, neither knowing what to say and only vaguely sure what to do next. The two remained locked in that awkward pose for a few seconds longer, when suddenly, there was the sound of a knocking downstairs.

A distraction! Corey thought, immediately standing up and moving towards him, letting go of Twilight’s hands.

There’s something I can do! Twilight thought, also standing up. Corey was the first to start moving away from the desk, already completely around it by the time Twilight started to move.

Corey’s rapid motions towards the doorway were soon cut short. Out of his nervousness for what had just happened, he wasn’t paying attention to his footing; somehow, he wound up putting his right foot directly in front of his left, effectively tripping himself up. Corey stumbled heavily, clearly about to fall.

Twilight, for all her magic and smarts, didn’t quite think to break left or right when Corey staggered around off-balance. She bumped right into him, somehow hitting his front side, knocking him the rest of the way off his feet. Twilight let out a scream in surprise as she fell too as well.

Corey hit the ground back-first, bumping his head on the ground, letting out a sharp grunt. The slight weight of Twilight followed, landing on top of him. The next thing Corey knew, there was the rapid sound of what sounded like shoes pounding the wooden floor, followed by a very familiar-sounding male voice.

“What’s going—“ The ample concern died out in the voice as both Corey and Twilight looked up, seeing who it was, “…on…here…”

Both Corey and Twilight were looking upon a very familiar face. A white-furred male unicorn now stood in the doorway. His non-furred hands were a dark blue color; the fur cropping off at his wrists. He had a two-toned blue mane and tail. He was somewhat well-built, wearing a red jacket over a black shirt. The shirt had a purple shield with a magenta star on it. He also wore a surprisingly casual pair of blue jeans, considering who he was. His brows creased, his blue eyes studying the scene in front of him intently. Eventually, he spoke up again.

“What’s going on here!?” he repeated, now sounding very angry.

“Shining!?” Twilight screamed, her cheeks slightly pink considering what had just happened. Below her, Corey let out his own statement.

“W-w-w-wait! I-I can explain this!” He said, his face red and his voice filled with fear as he realized exactly what had happened. Shining had just seen Twilight on top of him—did Twilight scream? Corey didn’t exactly remember…

And this is how I die… Corey thought to himself.

After what had happened the previous day, Celestia still chose to set up shop in her throne room; it was something that had to be done. She sighed. Shining Armor had to have made it to Ponyville by now…

The course of action I took may have been a little extreme, Celestia thought to herself, going over more of what she knew about the situation, But these are dire times we’re living in. And like it or not, there’s no other option: Corey and John are in this. Cadence understood just as well as anyone else how bad it is…

Celestia knew the feeling that had settled into her mind all too well. Though she never showed it, she had been worried whenever her student and her friends went up against Equestria’s enemies. However, after so many times she knew they could handle it. But now, not only did she have to worry about them and the rest of her subjects, she had to worry about two more that had shown up recently.

Two formerly human creatures who knew not what they were up against; even if Twilight and the others had filled in the blanks, they did not know the extent of it. Two creatures who came from a world without magic, forced into a magical conflict for the fate of the world that they hadn’t even been a part of yet.

She had to worry about those two most of all. She had no idea if Corey and John would be able to withstand what was going on. Though at present, she had no idea what to do about John. That said, she still had some idea of what she could do to try to help Corey out.

It’s all on you now, she thought, I just hope that what Shining Armor will do will be what Corey needs here…

“…and that’s why I’ve come here now,” Shining finished, an air of complete unease settling on the room in the wake of his story.

“One of the prisoners…contacted Princess Celestia directly??” Twilight asked, clearly disturbed by this revelation, “And what’s more…”

She cast a glance to her left. Corey’s hands were squeezing his knees tightly. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates, the pupils shaking. Whatever lights that were in his eyes seemed to have vanished, looking at the floor beneath his feet.

“We tried to keep him, and his friend, out of danger,” Twilight said, “But because both of them had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, they’re both involved in that prisoners’ ‘game’??”

“Unfortunately, it looks like it,” Shining said, looking at Twilight. He then turned to Corey, who was still privately freaking out, still looking at the detail on the wooden floor, “But I didn’t come all this way just to scare you two with the bad news.”

Twilight spotted Shining’s look, and took a quick glance over to her right. It had been awkward, the position she was in when Shining first arrived, but she had a feeling Shining’s glaring had nothing to do with that this time.

“I was asked, by Princess Celestia, to provide some help, straight from the academy,” Shining said.

Corey twitched a little, and some other emotion than dull, numbing fear had worked its way into his eyes. He looked up, still slouched forward, and finally said something.

“F-from the academy…?” he asked. At this, Shining stood up, walking around the table, stopping in front of Corey.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Shining said, “I had years to learn the stuff I’m going to pass on to you. It was demanding, exhausting, and at times even terrifying.”

Corey already didn’t like where this was going. Twilight said nothing, looking to the others with concern in her eyes.

“But we probably don’t have that kind of time,” Shining continued, “If you thought what you were dealing with here, with that one doll, was tough,” At this point, he roughly clamped down on Corey’s shoulders, practically forcing Corey to look him in the eyes, “I’m not sure how you’ll hold up through the crash course I’m about to give you!”

“Shining,” Twilight said, her concerned eyes looking back and forth between them, “You’re…”

“I’m going to be the one training him from here on, Twilight…”

Author's Note

And that's how the plot thickens some more. Yeah. Well, see you next week!

Act 2 Chapter 10

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 10: Why Military Drafts Suck

“…that’s the situation as it is now…” Twilight finished, her voice fighting to stay audible despite the bad news she’d just revealed. Several pairs of wide eyes looked back at her: each of her friends, new and old, looking to her with varying expressions.

Fluttershy’s body was shaking, much like it had been when they first heard of the breakout from Tartarus. But this time, it was worse. Her breathing had sped up, and her palm was firmly placed on her chest. Pinkie Pie was in no better shape. Though she wasn’t shaking, one could see the total shock on her face, her jaw slacked. It wasn’t the comical shock she usually had; it was far worse. All the life in her hair seemed to have drained away at the news, a portion of it covering the right side of her face now.

On the other side of the room, her hand gripping the table tightly lest she fall down, was Rarity. One hand was over her mouth, her eyes not seeing anyone around her, but lost in the mists of memory.

“Rarity, I-I saw a rat!” The fearful voice of her kid sister echoed through her mind. A cold chill ran down Rarity’s spine; she realized that the rat Sweetie Belle had seen, and Rarity had never found, was no rat.

The feeling in the air around them was different than all the other times it had settled in. Ever since the girls in the room officially took up the title of “Elements of Harmony”, they had faced many dangers head-on. But when it came to it, most of the dangers were pointed straight at them and no one else. But now they weren’t the only ones. Their families, friends…everypony they cared for, were being dragged into this affair without even knowing of it.

Applejack, Rainbow, and John all sported mostly identical looks of disgust.

There was a long moment of silence, before someone spoke up.

“You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me!” Rainbow yelled, “So we’re bein’ forced to play by…whoever’s rules!? Or else, they’ll…they’ll…”

“It would seem so,” The mere thought that someone could see such a life-or-death situation as a simple game was enough to turn Twilight’s stomach inside out, but she held herself together, just a little, “All of us who were around to fight the creatures are being forced to act as…as pieces.”

All eyes went towards John for just a moment, but he felt that they had lingered on him for several minutes. He could see it—they were worried about him. But John wasn’t too worried about himself at this point.

“Even Corey?!” John asked, slightly more forcefully than he thought it would come out, Fluttershy jumping at the slight guttural growl that had worked its way into his accent. Twilight gave a rough sigh.

“Yeah, even him,” Twilight said, shaking her head, “The figure had told Princess Celestia that the ‘pieces’ were decided the instant that battle ended.”

“No…” John said, “I’m probably not one to talk, but if anyone I knew from back home wasn’t a fighter, it’s him! He barely seemed to move. He spent more time sitting still than…pretty much anyone here!”

Rainbow looked as if she wanted to say something to that, but clearly felt that it really wasn’t the time.

“Speaking of Corey,” Rainbow said, looking around, “Doesn’t he usually just stay here most of the time? Where is he now?”

The others finally seemed to notice, for the first time, that Corey was not in the room.

“He already knows,” said Twilight with a sigh, “And right now…right now, I’d say he’s in good hands…”

It was early afternoon now, the sun having passed the zenith in the sky and was slowly making its way down the western skies. In about four or five more hours, the sun would have completed its trek across the sky. Since Shining had announced the reason he was here, he had already taken his first steps in training Corey. The two were now slightly removed from Ponyville, a small clearing not too far from the Everfree Forest, but close enough to the town that it wouldn’t be a real issue.

“Alright, Corey,” Shining said, turning to him just after surveying the area, “What do you know?”

Corey blinked, unsure of what exactly Shining was asking of him. However, he had some idea of what to start talking about, and began to explain.

“Well,” Corey said, debating if he needed to bring up runes at this point in time when they weren’t even really a thing he could control, “I just learned to start really controlling my magic. I am aware that it’s there and I can use it to float things,” Corey reached up to adjust his glasses for a moment, tugging them back on his face.

“And…” Shining started, pausing a bit, looking Corey over, as if debating the best way to say what was on his mind, “Physically?”

“Well…” Corey trailed off, feeling himself grow slightly self-conscious, “Not that much. Back home I never worked out, and even here, until a couple days ago, I really didn’t have a reason to think I’d need to. I was actually wider than this before I came here…”

Shining blinked upon hearing this. He blinked a second time, his gaze shifting from scouting to serious.

“I guess the only way I can know for sure is something quick and simple. Something I’ve had to do every day since joining the academy,” Shining said.

“I think I know where this is going,” Corey said, trying not to groan as he took a few steps towards Shining, “So how far are we running?”

Shining cast a look back to Corey that sent shivers down his spine. It wasn’t like he gave Corey a psychopathic glare or anything, but it was still unnerving all the same.

“That’s just part of it,” Shining said, “I’ll be taking you through everything we had to do. I need to know what kind of colt I’m dealing with…”

Corey tried as hard as he could to not clue in Shining that maybe this wasn’t the best way to “condition” him physically. Earlier, when he first saw Shining, he had a feeling he was going to die by his hands. Now…

This is the murder weapon… Corey thought, Not magic, knives, magic knives, or anything of the sort. I’ll die of overexertion…

Or, you’ll pull through and become strong enough to help the people, ponies, whatever; that you care about… His inner voice talked back to him again, Best not keep your spotter waiting.

But this isn’t gym—

“Hey, what are you waiting for?” Shining asked, arms folded, waiting for Corey to step into line beside him, “It’s not like we really have a choice here…”

“Fair point,” Corey conceded aloud, more to his inner voice than to Shining, finally taking his spot at Shining’s side. It was then, Shining turned into the forest ahead, and uttered four simple words.

“Try to keep up,” he commanded, taking off at what was, for him, a pretty steady pace. Corey quickly took off at just short of a full sprint. Shining kept ahead of him. Despite the fact they had taken off running into a forest, Shining managed to keep them on a beaten path; the only hazards that Corey seemed to need to deal with was the occasional root here and there.

At some point, Shining stopped for a moment, looking back at him. Corey was easily more than thirty paces behind, the only thing keeping him going at any sort of speed sheer willpower. His legs felt like two rods of pain connected by nerve-filled jelly, vaguely attached to the rest of his body. He was already breathing hard. As Corey went to catch up, Shining immediately took off running back towards that clearing.

Corey let out a strangled gasp that barely represented speech as he turned around, following Shining again, shambling along, struggling to just stay upright as he shuffled again after the much more fit former captain. How long had they run? It felt like forever. How far had they run out to? Again, Corey wasn’t sure; his legs were telling him one hundred miles, his mind told him ten. But deep down he knew neither of them were right.

In light of the situation, knowing Shining Armor was in town did bring a small sense of relief into the room.

“But that ain’t enough!” Applejack shouted, “Sure, your brother can protect the town, but we got family all over Equestria! Who’s gonna protect them!?”She demanded, clearly worried for her extended family; a family, Twilight remembered, spanned practically the whole country.

“Princess Celestia said she’d keep them under careful watch until this is over. But ultimately,” Twilight swallowed hard, not liking the way this sounded, “The best way to keep them safe is to play by the rules of the game.”

“And how do we know this psycho will, too?” Rainbow cut in, “Last time we had to play by someone else’s rules, he ended up cheating mid-way in!”

Twilight wasn’t sure how she should respond, knowing full well who Rainbow was talking about. And what she said was true in any case; no one had any way of knowing if the escaped prisoners would keep to the rules as well.

“And what about them?” Rainbow said, motioning over to Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity, “We’re not dealing with foot soldiers this time, Twilight; we’re not focused on just one problem! We’re dealing with murders straight from Tartarus itself! How are they supposed to be able to stand up against something like that?” Her voice was filled with more concern than anger; more concern than her voice usually had when talking about a friend’s weaknesses.

Twilight looked over to where Rainbow was pointing; their expressions hadn’t changed, even after all this time. None of them looked back at her; deep down, they knew Rainbow was right. They didn’t have the strength from years of farming; the stamina of an athlete, or even the magical know-how of somepony who spent years studying it. While they’d managed before, this time, the problem, they feared, was way over their heads.

Twilight let out a sigh before starting to speak again.

“Princess Celestia said that ultimately, she has to choose who goes to confront the prisoners. But her biggest fear is that if we split up, that this other pony will send another against whoever stayed behind,” said Twilight, “Though I’d hate to admit it, we don’t have a choice. We need to stick together now more than ever.”

“Then what do we do now?” asked Applejack, “We can’t just sit around and wait for when they decide to attack again.”

Twilight looked up to see Applejack—and the others—staring back at her. They knew the reason why. If any single pony in the room had a contingency plan for a given situation, it would be here. If anyone in Ponyville had an answer to your question, it’d be her. But this time…

“I don’t know…” Twilight said, after thinking it over. For the first time, her vast stores of knowledge had failed her before the real action had begun. At this, the entire room fell completely silent and still. The idea of having to just wait in fear for what was to come was too much for them.

“I do,” All heads turned to John. His back was now to them, his legs carrying him towards the door. Wordlessly passing through it, he closed it behind him. Once outside, he continued forward; in a time like this, what else could he do?

“Hey!” In an instant somepony dropped down in front of John. It was Rainbow Dash herself, “Where are you going!?”

“You heard Twilight,” said John, “Another attack could happen at any moment. And right now, none of us are ready for it. Right now, Corey’s being trained so he can be prepared for what is to come. I plan to do the same.”

Rainbow looked into John’s face as he spoke, never once breaking eye contact. The look on his face reflected nothing but unshaken determination.

“You don’t gotta do that, you know,” Rainbow said, “This wasn’t supposed to be your fight. Yours, or Corey’s. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. You don’t have to fight with us.”

John stared back at Rainbow. Eventually, a small smile appeared on his lips, memories of his own first days coming back to him.

“You didn’t have to give us a chance to explain ourselves,” John responded, “You didn’t have to give us the benefit of the doubt. And in the end, you never had to believe a single word that came out of our mouths.”

One of John’s scaly hands made its way to Rainbow’s shoulder.

“But you did,” he continued, “And not only that, you were quick to accept us both as your friends. You even went so far as to help us adapt to our new lives, our new bodies. And the only reason you needed to do so was because that’s the kind of people—sorry, ponies, that you are. And right now, you’re all in deep, and could use as much help as you can get. And we’re going to be that help, because that’s the kind of people we are.”

Shining made his way easily back to the clearing, maybe slightly winded from the effort. It had been a while since he’d had to actively go through the conditioning. In total, Shining guessed he’d managed to get the five miles in. Now, Shining looked back, squinting down the path he’d taken off. For a few moments, he blinked, immediately feeling himself grow worried, just a little.

“Did I lose him…?” he asked, his eyes slightly wide. However, as he caught sight of something emerging over the horizon, he sighed, “Nope…”

Corey staggered into view, barely even able to walk. He was covered in a heavy sheen of sweat. His breathing was haggard, fast. His glasses were dangling off his nose, barely even able to stay on his face. As he finally staggered back into the clearing, Shining hesitated. Corey had no idea what was about to happen next.

“How…” Corey wheezed, finally falling to his knees after taking only a single step past Shining, “How…far did…we…?”

“That was five miles,” Shining said.

“Five…miles…” Corey said to himself, “Well…the conditioning thing is over now, right…?”

Shining hesitated for just a moment, but he knew he couldn’t wait too long for Corey to even catch his breath. He looked down to Corey, who was barely able to lift his head up to look back.

“That,” Shining said, “Was just the warm-up…”

“Warm-up!?” Corey weakly squeaked, falling the rest of the way on his stomach. Shining grimaced. He had a feeling Corey wasn’t that strong, but even so, it was somewhat disheartening to see. However, he knew he couldn’t go easy on him.

“Well, since you’re already in the position,” Shining said, crouching down next to him, “Think you can do twenty push-ups?”

It was hard for the friends to part ways, knowing what was ahead of them. However, in time, the others had, one by one, left the library until it was just Twilight again. Day changed to night, the stars dotting the skies one by one. All day, ever since her friends had left, Twilight sat down with the old book, carefully studying the text as she had intended to before Shining showed up with the bad news.

However, after calling it a day, tired of looking at the tiny text and having amassed quite the pile of notes for Corey to later sift through, Twilight felt herself grow worried. The sun had set about an hour ago. Neither Corey nor John had returned since they left. While John did tend to be out a little late on some days, and Corey was out with someone she trusted very much, she still couldn’t help but worry.

I hope they’re alright, said Twilight, though the worry would not leave her be, They have to be! Shining used to be the captain of the Royal Guard in Canterlot! Even if he’s technically retired it hasn’t been that long!

She tried not to think about it, urging herself to keep calm. Now, more than ever, she delved into that breathing technique her former foalsitter once taught her not that long ago. Just then, she heard a rhythmic knocking at her front door. Hoping it was who she thought it was, Twilight quickly stood up, making her way for the door.

“About time you two got home—“ Twilight said, only to find herself staring into a very massive, sweater-covered chest. She looked up, seeing John, and instantly felt just a small pang of disappointment, “Oh, John…”

“What is it?” He sounded more tired than annoyed at her disappointment, “I always make sure to come back here at night…”

“It’s nothing, really,” Twilight said, moving aside to let John enter, “Come on in.”

John walked into the house. He paused, looking around. Eventually, he turned back to face her.

“Waiting for Corey to return?” John asked. Seemed like a simple enough question.

“Yeah, Shining never said when they’d come back,” Twilight responded, still looking at him, “I figure, it’s the least I can do.”

There was a bit of a pause, a much more comfortable silence than the one from the afternoon meeting. Eventually, though, John spoke up yet again.

“You really care about him, don’t you?” John asked. Yet another innocent-sounding question. And who was Twilight to deny her friend a simple answer?

“Well, of course I care,” Twilight said, “He’s—“

Twilight halted. She was still looking over to John. He was smirking at her very slightly. It became very apparent that John wasn’t asking about Shining all of a sudden.

“Oh, you mean—“ Twilight said, finding herself stuttering. Her reaction embarrassed her far more than the realization. Far more than it should have, “Well, I-I mean, of—of course I care about C-Corey! I-I thought you meant…”

“I wouldn’t expect you to not care about your own brother,” John snickered, obviously enjoying Twilight’s reaction. She suppressed the urge to chew him out for it; she already had at least two potential sources of ridicule for that kind of stuff, and one of them wasn’t even her friend until a little bit ago.

“Well, I care about both of them,” Twilight sighed, a feeling of frustration replacing the heat on her face, “John, is this really the time to be poking jokes?”

John’s expression became slightly serious now. With a shrug, he said, “Always find time to laugh when you can. The chance might not appear later…”

Twilight might have responded to John, but before the words could leave her mouth, there was a knock at the door. Both heads turned towards the door. Twilight quickly moved towards it. This time, she checked the peephole. On the other side, she could see a rather glum-looking Shining, and a slouched-over shape that sort of resembled Corey.

“Oh, there they are now!” Twilight’s elation quickly turned to concern, seeing Shining’s expression, “But Shining looks…”

John moved behind her, but Twilight didn’t turn straight away, “Did something happen?”

Twilight hesitated for a couple of moments, but eventually opened the door to let the two outside in. Only now, with the door removed, could she see what was really going on.

Shining stood straight and tall, as he usually did when he was healthy. But, on his left, one arm being held over the glum-looking Shining’s shoulders, was an extremely exhausted-looking Corey. His eyes were half-closed, his other arm hung completely slack in front of him, same with his upper body, and his mane and tail both looked very, very disheveled compared to when he’d left. When—supported by Shining—Corey stepped into the house, he let out a small groan, and he clearly was having trouble even moving his legs.

“Corey…!?” John said, taking in the sight of his friend’s condition. Corey’s head bobbed as he tried to look up. Here, Twilight realized Corey was, yet again, not wearing his glasses.

“Oh…” The noise was a very gravelly-sounding groan, “H-hey, John…”

Shining looked concerned, almost…regretful?

“Geez,” John sounded completely taken aback, “You look like hell…”

“Feel—“ Corey paused for a moment, wincing, “Feel it too…”

“Think you can make it back to your room?” Shining asked. Corey offered him just a small look; it seemed like he could barely turn his head to look at him.

“We’ll see,” said Corey. Slowly, Shining lowered Corey’s other arm until it hung slack over at his side. Then, Corey took a single step forward, and Twilight honestly felt her heart sink just a little.

Each step Corey took wasn’t even a step. He was dragging both of his legs, swaying dangerously from side-to-side. His arms jittered with each “step” he took forward. Corey looked down, seemingly bewildered to see the condition he was in. But it was pretty obvious what had happened out there. Despite the fact he looked as though he were ready to fall over, he seemed to be making his way just fine, so eventually, Twilight turned back to Shining, who was now looking at John.

“So you must be the dragon I’ve heard of,” Shining said.

“That’s me,” said John, walking over to him, “I’m John. And I take it you’re Twilight’s brother?”

“That’s me,” Shining said, putting out a hand, “Name’s Shining Armor. Twily there tell you anything about me?”

“Don’t think she had the time…” John said, taking Shining’s hand and shaking it. After that, their hands returned to their sides. Shining’s other hand went into his jacket pocket, and withdrew something: Corey’s glasses, neatly folded.

“He kept losing them at some point,” Shining said, “He just decided it’d be easier to give them to me until the day was over. Pretty sure he’s gonna want these back tomorrow morning…”

“On the subject,” Twilight said, “What exactly did you do out there?”

“Same stuff I did back at the academy,” Shining said, “Five miles, twenty pushups, the standard physical conditioning stuff,” The glum look, which had vanished after he had started talking to John, had returned.

“Didn’t go too well?” John’s voice was low, whispering his question. On cue, there was a highly audible thud in the next room, followed by a very sharp-sounding grunt. All heads turned.

“Corey, are you alright!?” Twilight asked, being the first to say it.

“Fine,” Corey groaned, sounding anything but, being out of sight. Specifically when, a couple of seconds later, more grunting could be heard from the next room, followed by another thud. John turned his head.

“Do you need help in there?” John asked, looking over to the next room. There was a bit more struggling from the next room, followed by one last thud. After a few more seconds, Corey’s voice was heard again.

“Y-yeah…I don’t think I’m gonna be picking myself up…” Corey croaked from the next room, clearly still attempting to get to his feet anyway.

“Don’t strain yourself,” John advised, “I’ll help you the rest of the way.”

Briefly, John turned to Shining, collecting Corey’s glasses before walking out of the room, leaving Twilight and Shining alone. Shining’s almost guilty look hadn’t lifted ever since the subject of Corey’s “conditioning” had come up. Twilight looked over to the other room, already dreading the worst. However, she had to know.

“Tell me,” Twilight said, “How’d he do…”

Shining released a heavy sigh, massaging one temple. Eventually, he spoke up.

“If this wasn’t something he had to do,” Shining said, in a completely serious, concerned tone, “He would not have made it past basic training. He was already completely out of breath by the time we finished the warm-up.”

Twilight’s heart sank. What could she say to him to try to argue the case?

“I don’t know much about what John can do,” Shining continued, noticing Twilight’s silence, “I’m not sure if he’ll need any work or not. But Corey...actually, this seems like the best time to ask; I couldn’t really get much out of him. What have you taught him?”

“He doesn’t know much beyond what most unicorns would know,” Twilight commented, remembering all those days spent around that desk, “Projecting the cutie mark, levitation…” Twilight paused for a moment. She felt unsure if she should tell him.

“Anything else he can do?” Shining asked, having noticed her pause. Twilight bit her lip a little, but ultimately decided it couldn’t hurt.

“Yes, there is one other thing he can do,” Twilight said, “But I’m not sure how he’s doing it. Somehow, he’s able to use runic magic…”

“Runic magic?” Shining questioned, “That stuff hasn’t been used in eons; you know that…”

“I know,” Twilight said, “But that’s why it confuses me. He has runes, but he doesn’t even know how he’s using them. Both times he wasn’t even aware he was doing it until after the fact.”

There was an uneasy silence for what felt like forever. Neither of them were sure exactly what to make of the situation.

“Man, oh man,” Shining sighed, sounding worried, “I knew I was handling somepony that was unskilled, but someone like this requires me to take it slow. And I can’t take it slow, not the way things are…”

Twilight looked to her brother. This was the first time she’d seen Shining at a complete loss for what to do. Well, when he was of sound mind and body, anyway.

He was the captain of the Royal Guards…A post he dreamed of holding as far back as I can remember, Twilight thought somberly, And yet, he doesn’t know how he can help Corey out.

“Honestly?” Shining finally finished, going over what he was worried about, “I don’t know if he’ll be ready when the next attack happens…”

Twilight’s brows furrowed, and she cast another look back to where she knew her room was; the place Corey was probably lying down in. She knew he was likely in horrific pain, judging from the way he was moving around, or the way he couldn’t move. Unconsciously, a single name wormed its way from her vocal cords.

“Corey…” Twilight whispered, unsure of how to help him, or help Shining help him.

Even Corey’s snoring sounded slightly off, when he’d finally gone to sleep. As the night continued on, one-by-one, the rest of the inhabitants of the library went to sleep. Shining seemed a little concerned that Corey and Twilight had been in the same room, but seeing that they were on opposite ends of the room, let it go.

Twilight had resumed looking over the book on runic magic, trying to see if she could find anything else that could help Corey. In the dim candlelight of her room, the text was more or less illuminated enough. Shining had gone to bed; the siblings had figured they’d catch up tomorrow morning. Neither had really felt up to it beyond the usual questions: “how’s Cadence,” “how’s Spike”, and a few others that wouldn’t have generated much discussion. The situation was too heavy.

Shining slept in a bed a few feet away, directly on her left. He let out a snore or two here and there, but it wasn’t so constant.

Twilight was so engrossed in her book she hardly noticed a dim green glow that was building behind it. However, when she did notice it, her brows furrowed. Trying to write it off as her imagination, she soon found herself lowering the book when the glow began to fluctuate slightly.

“Corey,” Twilight whispered; loud enough that if he were still awake he’d hear her, but quiet enough to not disturb her brother, “You should be resting right…”

The sentence broke off in her mouth as she realized Corey was still asleep; his snore sounding slightly more normal now. She set the book aside, seeing a green glow covering Corey’s body from the neck down. Rising from her bed, she started walking over to him to examine what was going on. Only when she got close enough to see it did her step quicken; she was now right next to his bed, looking down over him.

The green glow on his body consisted of multiple small runes which hovered centimeters above his body. Twilight looked over him, wondering what was going on.

He’s clearly still asleep, Twilight thought to herself, eyes half-closing as she mulled it over, He probably isn’t even aware he’s doing it…

For a few moments, Twilight debated waking Corey up to tell him what he was doing, but decided against it.

I can’t do that to him… Twilight thought, letting out a sigh, He’s been through everything today, and he’ll need whatever energy he can get for tomorrow when he has to do it all over again…

Author's Note

Here's the end of this week's update. Don't know what else to say. So yeah, we're pretty good.

Act 2 Chapter 11

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 11: The Power of Determination

For the average citizen, it was a restful night. They had no idea of the ongoing situation. They lived in utter safety, assured that nothing serious was going on. Of course, several creatures living in Ponyville knew the truth. A few of them were already up and about, the sun barely completely up. And at least one of them had a particularly restless night.

Shining Armor wasn’t quite like his sister when it came to stress. But it didn’t mean it didn’t affect him all the same. He had been up at almost the same time Twilight got up, maybe slightly earlier. Corey was still out like a light. Though his breathing sounded more normal, he hadn’t been showing many other signs of life.

He sat in a chair in the living room area, an empty plate in front of him and a half-empty mug of tea on his left. He cast another glance back up towards the bed room. Corey wasn’t snoring anymore, but he hadn’t yet come down. He was probably still asleep…or struggling to move around to prepare for the day.

Given the condition he was in when he got home, Shining thought, returning his gaze towards his mug, He’s probably still very sore. He won’t be in any shape to continue…

Shining grabbed the mug and took a sip from it, still in deep thought, I know he’s not fit for this kind of thing, but what choice do either of us have? He seemed to understand why, in any case. But I don’t know. In my time in the Royal Guards, I’ve never—

“Have you come up with anything?” asked Twilight, taking a seat across from him. Shining jerked his head up to look at her, called out of his thoughts by the question. He blinked, then offered a sigh.

“No,” Shining said, “You?”

“I could try to learn spells that could at least relieve the pain,” Twilight said, “But the stuff you’re asked to do in the Royal Guard was…”

“Demanding,” Shining sighed, rubbing at the back of his head, “Even if you were along to relieve the pain he was in, his muscles would still probably buckle under the pressure. And, I’d want you to try to get yourself ready too…”

“I’m not…” Twilight paused, “too worried about myself…I’m more worried about everypony else.”

Shining leaned forward, pushing the empty plate aside, “Twily—“

“I mean, I’m not thrilled about the situation, of course! Being a piece in some sick creature’s ‘game’,” Twilight said, “But whoever it was dragged everyone else into it too. Even Corey, who wasn’t even there with the rest of us and still wound up in a fight! Rainbow and Applejack probably have the least to worry about when it comes down to it. John, I’m not so sure; he seemed like he could handle himself.

“But then you have Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy, three ponies who I don’t think ever really lifted so much as a hand against anyone,” Twilight continued, “Rarity got out of a predicament by annoying her kidnappers—that won’t work this time! Fluttershy…I mean, what can I say? I’m sure I saw her wrestling a bear once, but I’m not even sure of that!”

Shining blinked, wondering when that one happened. While he tried to figure out what Twilight meant, she kept right on going.

“And Pinkie…I mean, I guess she’s gotta be able to work with tools. Seems like she’s always building things, but those are for parties!” Twilight finished, “I don’t think we’re ready for something like this!” Having said her two cents, Twilight slumped forward a bit, leaning on the table slightly for support.

Shining finally stood up, having heard more than enough of this. He walked around the table, before placing both of his hands on Twilight’s shoulders, making her look up to him.

“Twily, I know that you’ve been able to push past crisis after crisis,” Shining said, “All six of you. You’ve saved me twice. I’m sure you’ll be able to push through this one too.”

Twilight bit her lip, “But what about—“

“I can’t speak for what they’ve been through,” Shining responded, “We don’t know what it’s like where they’re from; it’s not like this, I’d bet. But even then, I’m willing to say they’ll stick by your side too.”

Shining stood up straight, releasing his sister’s shoulders at long last.

“Even though it could be because he knows he doesn’t have any other choice,” Shining said, “Corey knows what he’s going through is for the good of everyone around him. And even if he can’t stand it, he knows he’s gotta keep going.”

He turned on his heel, facing the room he knew Corey was still in.

“And it’s about that time for him to get out to the training grounds,” Shining finally finished, starting forward. He walked into the next room over, turned towards the stairs and looked up. His ear twitched as he registered the sound of movement behind the door; specifically, the sound of a doorknob turning. He took three steps forward, and was just about to turn his head to face the stairs when the door swung open.

Shining’s eyes went wide as he saw who was walking out of that door. It was a green unicorn, wearing a slightly different, open, gray jacket. He had swapped out his shirt for a plain green one as well, and he wore a pair of lighter gray sweatpants than before. His posture was noticeably improved from last night, and he was no longer limping. His arms were able to move freely again; no longer limp at his sides. He had finally reached the stairs to go down, his eyes half-closed, when Shining finally came back to his senses.

“Corey!?” Shining yelled in confusion, getting his attention immediately. Corey flinched a little in response and poked at the inside of one of his ears tenderly.

“Good morning,” Corey said, sounding a bit unsure himself.

“You’re not sore?” asked Shining, taking a couple of steps up the stairs towards him. Corey continued down the stairs, more or less closing the distance.

“I’m not anymore,” he responded, stamping one of his feet lightly on the steps, “I don’t know why, but I feel fine. Maybe better than I’ve been in a while, to be honest.”

“No problems moving?” Shining questioned, still confused, “Last night, you weren’t even able to stand up on your own for long…”

“I don’t know what happened,” Corey said, shrugging, any look other than confusion vanishing from his features as he did so, “When I went to sleep last night I felt like I was falling apart, but when I woke up, I realized I was completely fine again…I didn’t believe it until I started moving around…”

Shining blinked for a few seconds, processing the information he was told. Eventually, though, he remembered what he had gone upstairs to do, and promptly refocused, snapping back into his trainer mode.

“Well, we’ll see if you’re really ‘better’ in just a little bit,” Shining said, at a volume just below a yell, “Let’s go, soldier!”

It wasn’t too long afterward that Corey found himself once again at that clearing not too far outside of town. Shining lead him towards the start line. As Corey prepared for the hell that Shining called a “warm-up”, he looked around, almost convinced he’d find the remains of last night’s effort strewn about the area.

He took his spot next to his trainer, ready for another day of being completely exhausted about forty percent of the way through.

“Alright, let’s go!” Shining shouted, practically leaping forward and starting the five mile dash.

With a sharp grunt, Corey followed, just as he had before. His focus was entirely on running, already convinced he would be totally out of energy before the end of the run, never mind the end of the exercises.

Shining continued forward, hearing the sounds of breathing behind him. While this was certainly a repeat of last night, it sounded more natural than it did before. Also, it sounded a bit closer. Shining turned, seeing Corey much closer than he expected to see him, head lowered. Shining blinked, turning forward as he approached the halfway point.

What happened? Shining thought to himself, He was already on the ropes at this point in the routine yesterday…

Shining briefly slowed his pace as he hit the halfway point, allowing Corey to very briefly catch up before beginning the trek back to the clearing. Corey gave a huff, but kept right on going. At some point on the return trek, Shining took a look back again. Only now was Corey starting to wane just a bit.

After a bit longer, Shining slid to a halt, his five miles complete. He turned, half-expecting to have left Corey behind completely once again. To his surprise, Corey was not only not out of sight, but was still a bit closer than before. He blinked; Corey was still visibly tired from the exertion of the warm-up, but at the same time he was still clearly keeping an actual pace and not dragging his feet through the rest of the run.

“Alright, the warm-up’s done,” Shining said. Corey slowed to a halt in the clearing, hands to his knees, audibly breathing hard. However, he wasn’t going to be able to rest for long, “Now, twenty push-ups,” Shining clapped his hands together, “Go!”

Corey immediately fell over on to his stomach; it wasn’t a total collapse, but one that was more controlled than last time. Yesterday, Shining remembered, he could barely do even one without his arms shaking visibly underneath his jacket sleeves. In addition, his form was slightly off during the whole affair.

Yet now, Corey’s form for doing the exercise was slightly better. He was still grunting a bit as he pushed his body weight off the ground, and it still took him quite a bit to reach ten. By the time he reached his twentieth, his arms were still getting sore; evident from the way they shook.

“Alright, then it’s twenty crunches, right?” Corey groaned, already flipping himself over.

“That’s right, now you’re getting it,” Shining said, “Once you’re done with that we’ll be shifting gears a bit! Change things up a little…”

“Change things—“ Corey groaned, finishing one before starting another, “—Up? How—so?”

“You’ll find out…”

This wasn’t the first time that John had found himself staring up at the waterfall where he’d made his jumps. And he knew that it wouldn’t be the last time.

“Not by a long shot,” John whispered to himself, removing his sweater and placing it off to the side for safe keeping. However, this time, he removed it at the bottom of the waterfall, staring up towards the cliff where he’d started his flight lessons. He wasn’t going to be making his way up; at least, not in the usual way.

Up until now, I’ve learned to control myself while falling, John recapped, walking to the edge of the sparkling pool of water below, But going down is just part of it. Reaching his destination, John stopped, his gaze focused on the top of the waterfall the entire time. After a deep breath, John crouched down, placing one palm on the ground as though he were at the starting line to a race. As soon as he was ready, John opened his wings, the force of which causing a small gust of wind.

I don’t know what we might be facing, but if any of these attacks come from the sky, I have to be ready for them, John thought, both wings raising up in preparation for flight. Finally, he brought them down as hard as he could, jumping up at the same time. The results were just as he had hoped; his wings caught the air and lifted him off the ground.

As he found himself steadily climbing, John smirked.

I didn’t know if this’d work, John thought, his view of the top of the waterfall getting closer, But it looks like I’ll have this down soon enough—

John’s thoughts were cut short as he found himself off-balance. His body arched forward, his view altering to look downward at a quick rate. John tried to correct himself by flapping his wings once more, but it only made things worse.

Unable to stop himself, John made a nose dive into the water below, quickly sinking to the bottom. While under, John let out a small gurgle of annoyance.

This is gonna take a while, John thought, quickly righting himself and swimming back up to the surface, Can’t say I didn’t expect it, though.

John reached land at last, climbing out of the pool and looking up towards the sky once again. His eyebrows arched, a serious expression on his face, John made a silent vow.

But I don’t care how long it takes! I’m reaching the top, and that’s a promise!

With that in mind, John prepared for another attempt. He didn’t even seem to notice that somepony was not too far away, watching him…

“C’mon,” Shining said, “You have to be faster than that!”

A small violet jolt of electricity soared at Corey, who just barely managed to duck down and allow it to soar over his head.

“You didn’t tell me we were doing this--!” Corey tried to register a complaint about the rather sudden change to the regimen, only to find himself needing to shuffle quickly to the left.

“Neither will the enemy!” Shining shouted, “I may not be going for the kill here, but I can guarantee you the kind of creatures you’ll have to face won’t be so kind!”

Corey began to wonder what exactly was kind about this whole exercise. After Corey had finished his crunches, Shining had taken a short break. They hadn’t returned to the library. Instead, Shining himself demonstrated his own signature spell, the one he was the best at, a barrier that could do whatever the caster needed it to. Then, Shining had said Corey was to do this live, feeling it would come out of necessity.

Which brought Corey to his current predicament: he hadn’t really cast a spell quick enough to react as Shining demanded it. On some occasions, Corey would pause to try to channel his magic to his horn, only to quickly find Shining taking aim at him. He would get too nervous and instead resort to dodging out of the way.

Shining had taken time to at least instruct him on the basics on the spell: it was a weak stun spell. It wouldn’t cause Corey to lose consciousness, “in theory”, but it would probably still hurt like hell if it did connect. And Corey didn’t want to risk it.

Corey wove, the shots missing him by mere centimeters—some passed by so close he could feel the shot causing his fur to stick up where it was passing by. Eventually, though, a lifetime of not moving except when needed caught up to him.

Corey dodged left. However, he stepped on his left foot wrong, causing him to slip and start falling over onto his left side. His eyebrows arched and he let out a small grount.

“Dammit!” Corey grunted. Slightly left of him, Shining took aim, his horn alight with a violet glow. Quickly, Corey closed his eyes, trying to focus, knowing he probably wouldn’t have the time to dodge again, “C’mon, c’mon!!”

“Gotcha!” Shining shouted, the familiar sound of a spark impacting Corey’s eardrums. Corey felt his magic pulse a little, but it wasn’t enough to create the kind of shield he felt he would need.

The shot landed on his left shoulder, and instantly Corey felt the force of several thousand volts enter his body, replacing every synapse in his body with a pain response. The effect itself only lasted maybe a second, but to Corey it lasted a lot longer. As the effect died down, Corey stood up again.

“Dammit,” Corey groaned, pain being replaced by anger as he glared up at Shining, “That hurt!”

“That’s the point,” Shining said, blinking as Corey’s horn lit up slightly brighter than it had before he got hit, “You’d best start moving again, or else!!”

Two more shots came forth from Shining’s horn. Corey grit his teeth and turned to face Shining directly, his fists clenched.

“No, dammit!” Corey shouted. He had maybe a quarter-second to impact by the time he finished, but abruptly, a green bubble—or at least, part of one, materialized in front of him, effectively blocking the strikes. Shining blinked, the hue around his horn vanishing as he took it in. Breathing heavily, Corey’s arms fell. As soon as they did, his shield vanished in tandem with the glow on his horn.

It wasn’t the whole thing… Shining thought, But still, already?

“No breaks!” Shining shouted, shaking himself out of his thoughts almost as quickly as he had lapsed into them, “An enemy won’t let you have that luxury!”

Corey looked up, and just about got nailed again when Shining fired off another shot at him. He almost fell over trying to get out of the way.

“Keep this up!” Shining said, “After this we’re going to physical combat training!”

Corey let out a small groan of annoyance, just before letting out a short gasp as he dove down to the ground to avoid another one of the taser shots.

John made several attempts to get to the top of the waterfall. Each of them ended the same way: John taking a dip into the pool of water at the foot of the waterfall. But each time he fell only served to make him more determined.

“This time for sure,” John said to himself, readying himself for yet another attempt. Just like all the other times, John jumped off of the ground, using his wings to propel him into the air. And just like those other times, he was gaining altitude. After so many attempts, he’d managed to learn to keep his balance. It took a lot of effort, though, just to get to that point. It wasn’t long until John reached the point he always achieved before losing his balance.

“But not this time!” John said aloud, now having control over his balance. With this control, he gave his wings another powerful flap, strong enough to cause John to soar upwards even higher than before. A grin split his face as he continued upwards, “That’s it…”

This was his best run by far; he was already halfway up the waterfall now. Nothing seemed to be going wrong…except for John’s hubris. Too overcome with the fact he’d surpassed his previous record, John lost focus. When he went to flap his wings a third time, everything went south. Before he knew it, John found himself off-balance again. His body tilted backwards against his will, and John reached out in vain towards the top of the waterfall.

“So close!” John grunted, not wanting to give up but unable to correct himself fast enough. In the end, gravity won out, and John found himself landing in the water like all the previous attempts. John slowly sank into the water, now lost in his own thoughts.

That was the farthest I got so far, John thought to himself, If I could just keep my balance… He racked his brains for an answer to that problem, but none sprang forth. Ultimately, John decided he’d spent more than enough time underwater, and once more swam back to the surface. Usually, coming out of the water would be followed by returning to the edge of the pool in order to try to lift off again. However, this time, something—or somepony—was already there.

“You’re going at it all wrong, you dolt,” It was the only other pony who would know where to find John at this time of day, Rainbow Dash; her arms crossed as she stared down at John with an amused look on her face.

“When did you get here?” John asked, “Didn’t hear anypony else flying around here…”

“Been here a while,” said Rainbow as John finally pulled himself out of the pool, “Thought I’d see how you were handling…”

“And?” John said, appearing hopeful.

“I have to say,” Rainbow said, as bluntly as she possibly could, “I expected better from you.”

John’s shoulders slumped as he gave Rainbow an unamused look, “Well, I sort of have gravity working against me this time.”

“Excuses, excuses,” Rainbow responded with a finger wag, “Gravity wouldn’t be a problem if you were doing it right.”

“What do you mean?” John asked.

“I’m talking about your approach,” explained Rainbow, “I watched you for at least three of your tries, and I know what your problem is.”

John opened his mouth to ask what she knew that he didn’t, but she was already telling him the answer.

“You seem to be thinking that flying is about wing strength,” Rainbow said, tugging on one of John’s wings for emphasis.

“Isn’t that a part of it?” John asked, not at all uncomfortable with that.

“Yes, but there’s more pieces to it than that,” Rainbow continued, taking a step back, “Aside from wing strength, a flier also has to keep another thing in mind when flying, and that’s their skill. You can have all the wing strength in the world, but if you don’t have the skill to use it, then you won’t be taking to the sky any time soon.”

As Rainbow spoke, John made sure to listen to every word she was saying. When she had finished, John cast a look back to his wing.

“So this whole time, I’ve been trying to muscle my way up?” John asked, turning back to face Rainbow, “That’s it?”

“That’s exactly it,” Rainbow said, “And trust me, if you try to force yourself into the sky, it will resist you.”

Rainbow took a few steps away from John, John giving her a little space. She now stood in the same spot that he was standing when he made his numerous attempts to scale the waterfall.

“When I was watching you try, I noticed that one flap of your wings took you a quarter of the way there. And that was with you relying on strength alone,” Rainbow said, opening her wings as she did, “And this is what happens when you add skill.”

Without saying anything else, without even jumping up for the head start, Rainbow gave her wings one strong flap. The end result completely dwarfed all of John’s past attempts. Rainbow continued to climb, John watching as she broke his record in maybe a second or two. Before he even processed what he was seeing completely, Rainbow had reached the top of the waterfall.

Her rising slowed as she reached the top of the waterfall; she began to flip upside down. After a few more seconds, Rainbow began to fall. This whole time, John noticed that Rainbow seemed to be in complete control of her trajectory. Rainbow continued to fall. Just before she could hit the water, Rainbow corrected herself, slowing to a halt, winding up hovering just above the water, her feet just touching the surface of the water.

“See what I mean?” Rainbow asked.

John had been unable to give a response; his facial expression had been one of utter awe, a look Rainbow never got tired of seeing on the faces of others. Aside from the quick glances at her in the sky, John never once saw Rainbow really flying. Until now…

“Whoa…” John said, earning a chuckle from Rainbow.

“Close your mouth, John, you’ll catch flies,” Rainbow finally said, having taken enough pleasure of the jaw-drop she’d made him do. John blinked, only now aware his jaw was unhinged. Quickly, John’s mouth slammed shut, and for the first time, he looked away from Rainbow, slightly embarrassed he wound up doing that, “Moment’s over, move on.”

“Now,” Rainbow quickly changed the subject as she hovered over to him, “C’mon, I was by your side when we went down the cliff, and I’m going to be by your side when going up.”

With an extended hand and a smile, she added, “Because that’s who I am.”

Equestria Log -- Day 13

You know, Journal, I guess what they say is true. “No pain, no gain.” Ever since Shining came to town I’ve been worked to the bone and back on a daily basis, until I’m too exhausted to be able to move. But then, come next morning, I’m completely fine and ready for the next day. I still don’t know why it’s happened, but I can’t complain. Because of it, the whole training aspect of my life has been going more smoothly than I expected. Well, except for one thing.

Shining, of course, saw my extreme recovery rate and has been taking full advantage of it. Each exercise has been expanded day-by-day, and combat training—both magical and physical—has been getting more and more brutal with each passing day. Whatever the day’s regimen consists of, I’m always pushed to a new limit, each one higher and higher than before, and each limit break ending with the same result as the first day.

There is an awkward scribble on the page, as though the writer was interrupted and didn’t lift the quill when his body jerked.

It’s almost time. Well, I’ll try to keep logs as long as I can…provided I have the strength to move my arm enough to write it. See you later.

--Corey

Author's Note

Here's where we leave off for another week. Yeah. Running out of back chapters...

Act 2 Chapter 12

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 12: It’s All Here

In light of the current situation, Corey usually didn’t have much free time. What time he had to spare in a day was sucked into Shining’s training of him. However, today, Shining had decided to go on ahead of him. He wasn’t sure what Shining had in mind for the regimen today, but Corey suddenly found himself at a loss for what to do to fill the time.

However, as he tried to walk towards the stairs to head towards the living room to just wait for the inevitable exertion, he heard the rapid steps of someone behind him. Corey stopped, turning in place to see who it was.

“Twilight?” asked Corey upon seeing her. She continued to close the distance until she was in front of him.

“Corey,” Twilight said, “I think I found something big in that book!”

“Big, how?” Corey asked, blinking, unmoving. Twilight didn’t want to wait for him to move, evidently, for one of her arms shot out, the hand gripping Corey’s forearm and pulling with more force than he thought Twilight would pull him with, and he found himself taking rapid steps just to stay up.

“Here, you need to have a look at all this stuff anyway!” Twilight said, “Quick, before Shining has you going out there again!”

“Fair point,” Corey conceded, straining slightly to speak while keeping his balance. Twilight continued to pull him right along. Mentally, he added, Not like there was time for it the past few days anyway…

Twilight continued dragging Corey until they were in the room where he had started learning magic. Twilight slowed her pace, but still held on to Corey’s arm the whole way. Even when she stopped by the desk, using her magic to float at least five pages of notes in front of them, she still held on. Corey looked over to Twilight, only to be interrupted when Twilight finally began to speak once again.

“Look here,” Twilight said, using her free hand to point at the notes, “It looks like runic magic can be used for the same things that unicorn magic is used for now…” She pointed to one set of notes, “These runes appear to cause a barrier to appear. It can actually be fine-tuned to appear over specific parts of the body. And here, you have a sort of anti-gravity field.”

Twilight used her magic to shuffle through the notes, bringing her hand to her chin, “And where was it now? A-ha, there!” Her finger shot out, pointing out another few lines of notes, “I think I found something similar to what you used on the creature from earlier!”

Corey followed her finger. Near it was a set of odd scribbles, followed by bullet points below it.

“Hmm, ‘increases kinetic output; can be used to increase the effect of physical power’,” Corey read, “That’s…incredible! Was there anything in there on how it was used?”

He looked over to Twilight, who looked back to him with a frown.

“Unfortunately, there are no specific ‘how-to’ guides on how to cast any of these specifically,” she said, “What I can tell you is that runic magic requires some kind of magic source; meaning they can be used by any living creature with magic.”

“I see…” Corey couldn’t hide his disappointment, “Nothing specific…”

“Still, I have to say,” Twilight said, glancing down to the desk at the book, which Corey only now realized was open as he followed her gaze, “This book has been very enlightening. I didn’t think I’d be reading this much. But…”

Corey looked up to Twilight, feeling alarm swell in his chest, “’But’…?”

“There’s more to this book than it just being a guide book,” Twilight said, floating her notes off to where she had pulled them from. She then put her other hand down, on a paragraph on an open page. Her finger pointed at the opening word, “I think it’s a log…here, listen to this.”

Corey looked down again. This time, Twilight read the passage aloud.

“She came to me again, her quest to learn…” Twilight read, “While it was refreshing in the beginning, it has now begun to worry me…”

Both of them paused as the words sunk in. Eventually, Twilight spoke up again.

“Could this be a teacher’s book we’ve stumbled upon?” asked Twilight, seemingly more to herself now than to Corey, “And who was this student that had her teacher so worried…”

“I don’t know,” Corey said, “But that doesn’t sound good…”

“When I read this, I knew I had to tell you…” Twilight turned to face Corey again, her voice breaking off as her gaze lowered slightly. Corey followed her eyes, and looked down to his arm which was still at his side. Twilight’s purple hand was still gripping his forearm tightly. There was an awkward pause. Corey looked up to Twilight, aiming to tell her to let go, only to realize she was still looking to his arm, and noticed that her cheeks were starting to pinken just a little.

This moment of pause from Corey was all the time it took. He felt her fingers moving around on his forearm, and the sensation of the touches sent shivers down his spine. His cheeks reddened quickly, and through his mind a single question began to fire off repeatedly.

What is she doing what is she doing what is she doing whatisshedoing???? Corey thought, his voice catching in his throat. Thankfully, before things could get any more awkward, Twilight looked up to see just how uncomfortable Corey was getting. Then, she looked back down, and let out a strangled gasp as her face changed to bright red. She immediately pulled her hand back, holding it over her chest as she tried to say something.

“I-I-I’m sorry,” Twilight stuttered, her face remaining red as she tried to explain away what she was doing, but no explanation came, “I-I-I…oh, um…I…I…”

“I-It’s…” Corey started, “It’s…no problem…But—“

“I—I just noticed I was still holding on and it felt so…so…” Twilight’s voice faltered, “Different…”

“D-d-different…?” Corey questioned, looking to the arm that Twilight had just made it her duty to start touching, a nervous edge to his voice as he pulled his other arm out of his jacket. “I…don’t know…”

The jacket came off completely, floating to the floor. Corey re-examined his arm, and touched it in the spot where Twilight’s hand rested, expecting his finger to sink into his skin at least a little. Instead, his finger bent just a little on the surface; he had hit muscle.

“What…” Corey said, continuing to poke his arm in other places—the same thing happened. Instead of his finger sinking, his arm muscles seemed to repel the force his finger was giving. He moved his other hand towards his stomach; the same thing felt like it was happening. Also, Corey’s stomach was a lot further in than he remembered it being, as he discovered when he went to feel it.

“How am I…?” Too lost in the fact he’d changed more than he realized, Corey’s hands went to the hem of his shirt and began to lift…

“Ahem!”

Corey froze as he realized what he was doing, his hands slowly lowering down until his shirt was back in place. He knew that sound very well, but he was too afraid to look. Twilight turned her head and looked.

“And just what is going on in here??” Shining asked, walking up to the still frozen Corey, “I go away for five minutes and come back to…to…”

Shining trailed off. Corey wasn’t sure why, but for some reason he felt like the fury he heard was…declining?

“S-Shining, it—it wasn’t…” Twilight said, still lightly blushing, still sounding like she understood absolutely nothing of what had just happened.

“Your face says it all, Twily,” Shining continued.

Corey still had no response, his arms dangling uselessly at his sides, his eyes wide and his voice box failing to be of any use other than to emit pathetic squeaks.

“And you,” Shining said, tapping Corey’s shoulder, “Keep your shirt on and follow me!”

Now, even if Corey had recovered, he would have been too embarrassed to say anything. Instead, Corey quietly tried to salvage what little was left of his dignity, and followed Shining out of the room, dragging his feet.

Twilight watched them the whole way. As soon as she heard the front door shut, she pulled over a chair and sat down, running her hands through her mane.

What did I just let happen!? She thought to herself, as the memory of what had come over her continued to haunt her…

At some point during the trip back to the training area, Corey had finally started walking normally. Despite the fact he knew he would need to be fully alert when he got to the training site, his mind continued to be on the scene in the library.

What happened back there? Corey thought, one of his hands going to his forehead, And why did I think pulling my shirt off on the spot was in any way a good idea!? Twilight was still standing right there! And why was she acting so weird anyway!? She was rubbing my arm like—

“Hey, it’s about time to get started,” Shining said, snapping Corey’s mind out of his thoughts, “You ready?”

Corey blinked, and took a couple more steps forward before taking a second look at the area around him. While it was the exact same place he had been for most of the past few days, it still had something new in the area; four things made of solid earth, each at least eight feet tall.

“Where’d the boulders—?” Corey started to ask, but was interrupted.

“I’ll explain after the warm-ups,” Shining said, “But first…”

Corey sighed, still wondering where all the boulders came from. They weren’t there the day before. Since Shining had left early to get everything ready, Corey assumed it had something to do with that, but held his tongue as he took his spot at the starting line.

The run itself was the same as it had always been: five miles. Just like with the days before, Shining saw Corey’s performance had improved from the previous day’s run. Even after the run, Shining could hear his breathing was far steadier when he paused to catch his breath. Though he was still hunched over with his hands to his knees, it was clear he was improving.

Good, Shining thought to himself.

“Alright,” Corey said, having finished catching his breath, already moving to put his palms to the ground, “Now for twenty push-ups, right?”

“Forty,” Shining said.

Corey paused. Then he looked up, giving Shining a confused look.

“You heard me right,” Shining said, “Today, we’re doubling each rep,”

Corey gulped slightly as a realization dawned on him, He’s serious…

Ultimately, it didn’t matter what he thought; he knew he had something he had to do. With this in mind, Corey finally looked down towards the ground, and began his first of forty push-ups.

Shining watched, his arms folded over his chest, as Corey went through each of the workouts. Interestingly, even with double the workload, Shining observed that Corey’s stamina was still holding up through it all.

Even better, Shining thought, smirking slightly.

As he finally finished, Corey was winded. However, this time, he didn’t even look like he was about to fall over. Corey’s head was bowed, but he remained firmly on both feet.

“Still standing, huh?” asked Shining.

“I’m as…” Corey wheezed, breathing hard, “Surprised as you are…”

“Now,” said Shining, turning around and starting to walk away, “Let’s move on to the next part of your training.”

Corey looked up. He took one step, then another, following Shining with no trouble despite the fact he was still winded from the warm-ups. At first, Corey expected Shining to turn around and try to shock him again; it wasn’t exactly out of the question given the way combat training usually presented itself. However, as Shining stopped in front of one of the new decorations for the training site, Corey wondered if this was the case.

“Now, you were asking about the boulders earlier, right?” Shining asked. Corey gave a small nod, not feeling up to answering, allowing Shining to continue with, “Well, I brought them here.”

Corey looked up to face Shining directly, disbelief evident on his face.

I won’t even ask, but now I have to wonder, Corey thought, Are these the result of a spell, or did he carry these here? And if so, did he take them all at once or one at a time…how long was he gone?

“Why?” asked Corey, trying to shut up his thoughts before he got lost in them again.

“For the past couple of days, I’ve done what I can to train you physically, but I can’t just keep your focus on that alone,” responded Shining, resting one hand on the boulder, “As unicorn ponies, our physical strengths can only get us so far. So, to make up for that limit, we also work on mastering our magic.”

“Originally,” Shining continued, “I was going to teach you a new spell, just in case you ever ran into a situation where you couldn’t muscle your way out. But, then I remembered something Twilight told me. Something about when she saw you fighting one of those creatures I was told about.”

“You’re talking about the runes, right?” Corey asked, already having mental flashbacks to that moment…what little he remembered of it.

“Exactly,” said Shining, “From what Twilight told me, you managed to take one of them down in a single punch. And intel says that something like that wasn’t an easy feat. In fact, only three of those involved were able to break one of the creatures: Twilight, John, and you. I may not know much about runic magic, but I know one thing.”

Shining looked over to the boulder, taking a couple of steps back, “Anything that happened once, can happen again.”

Corey realized what Shining was asking of him, and raised his right hand slightly, looking down to it. His fist curled and uncurled several times, as though he was analyzing its color and texture all over again.

Increasing kinetic force, thought Corey, recalling what he did know of it, A single punch that shattered the creature that John had trouble busting up at first…But can I really do it again? It was entirely by accident that time, and I don’t even remember how I did it. I—

Something hit Corey in the chest, and he instinctively raised up his hands to catch it before it hit the ground. Once he looked down to it, he realized what it was. It looked similar to what a boxer would use…

“A knuckle guard?” questioned Corey, continuing to look it.

“Won’t help if you break your hand,” Shining responded, throwing the other knuckle guard over to Corey. After a few more moments of hesitation, Corey donned the knuckle guards, and walked over to the boulder Shining was standing next to.

What happened at that moment? Corey thought, trying to think his way through what he was told, I had just realized I was in a pinch. I apparently screamed something, and the spell went off on its own. Hmmm…

Next thing Shining knew, Corey let out a scream, throwing out a punch with his right hand. The punch struck the boulder, leaving virtually no evidence that the event occurred; no crack or anything else. Corey took a couple of steps back, his face contorted in discomfort.

“Nope, that didn’t work,” Corey said, lightly waving his punching hand. It wasn’t like it hurt or anything, but the equal and opposite reaction from the rock did catch him off guard.

“And not even a spark,” Shining commented, “Well, if at first you don’t succeed…”

“Try, try again,” Corey finished, standing up straight again, preparing himself mentally and physically for yet another attempt.

The next stage of John’s training, while more difficult than the first stage, had one pro that the first stage lacked. Since his goal was to fly up towards the top of the cliff, any failures would quickly take him back down to the first step.

If anything else, John thought to himself, preparing for his next attempt, It saves me some time. Like all the previous attempts, Rainbow hovered beside him, waiting for him to start. Even though Rainbow showed that he didn’t need to do it, John still started his take-off attempt with a strong jump. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt it was natural for him to do it that way.

Here we go, John thought, now at the peak of his jump, giving off one strong flap of his wings. Not missing a beat, Rainbow took off after the dragon, having no problem keeping up with him. With each attempt, Rainbow made sure to be close behind John, monitoring how he was using his wings through the attempt. With each failure, Rainbow made sure to inform him exactly what he needed to fix in his form.

With each failure, John was made aware of the faults in his flying. With each subsequent attempt, he tried to make the corrections Rainbow pointed out to him. It wasn’t long before John not only began to see, but actually feel the difference from before to after Rainbow began to help him. Each take-off took him even higher than the previous, and each time he felt himself beginning to adapt further. Even now, the amount of focus he needed to maintain his balance mid-air had diminished.

And now, after many failures, after so many attempts, John found himself almost half-way up the cliff, all under the power of a single flap of his wings. However, this was as far as one flap would take him; he began to feel himself slowing down as gravity started to pull him back down. Making sure not to let himself slow to the point of stalling, John quickly gave his wings another flap, adding one more push to his ascent. Just as John had hoped, the propulsion increased his speed again, and he was now climbing higher than before.

Almost there! John thought to himself, seeing the top of the cliff drawing closer. However, before he could climb and higher, he was suddenly thrown off-balance. A strong gust of wind hit him from the side, pushing him off-course. Having lost his bearings for a moment, John found himself falling yet again. However, this time was different than the others. Even when falling, he wasn’t as helpless as he was through previous trials.

Opening his wings once more, John quickly tossed his weight, which successfully shifted him upright again. Afterwards, he turned his attention to the ground below, slowing down his descent as he drew closer to it. Before he knew it, John was back on the ground, looking up at Rainbow, who was descending down towards him.

“What just happened?” John questioned of her as she landed in front of him.

“Strong air current,” Rainbow said simply. John opened his mouth to make a reply, but quickly closed it again. It didn’t take him long at all to realize where it had come from, or why it had to happen in the first place.

“Have to be ready for anything, right?” he asked.

“Exactly,” said Rainbow. John nodded to her and made his way to the starting spot once more. Though he was a little disappointed that he couldn’t reach the top after getting so close, he knew deep down that what Rainbow had done was necessary.

Anything can happen up there, especially here in Equestria, John reminded himself, And if I don’t adapt to it quickly enough, I could be done for…

Corey knew the day was going to be a long, long day. The past few days’ worth of experience had taught him that. However, at least those days were padded out with stuff happening to him and he was actually moving more. For the past hour at least, Corey had been trying various ways to get the spell to work again. Shining watched the whole time, but he hadn’t really said too much other than urging him to try again.

The boulder still remained just as sturdy as it had been, not even a hairline crack to show that Corey was even doing anything to it. Corey threw out yet another punch, this time with his left arm. His fist impacted the stone, and was met with the same result: the force he put into the rock coming back out at him and pushing his arm away. By now, Corey had been prepared for the pushback, but after this failure, he let his arms slack to his side.

“Damn,” Corey groaned, closing his eyes as thoughts began to overtake him. He vaguely heard something—Shining talking to him, maybe. However, he was already beginning to get lost in his own mind.

It’s no use, Corey thought, I can’t even get a single fragment of a rune to show up.

Giving up already? There it was again, that inner voice that always seemed to manifest itself whenever he was having doubts. This is something that’s only going to help you if you can get it right, and you’re just going to turn your back on it?

I can’t even remember how it happened to begin with! Corey thought, It was in the heat of the moment and I didn’t see you doing anything back then!

You’re focusing on what happened, his inner voice countered, And not why it happened.And it happened because you had nothing else you could do.

Memories back to return to Corey. They were fragmented at first, just like before, but the fragments began to come together as he was forced to remember more and more of it—the memories seemingly pouring in from a source Corey wasn’t even aware he had.

That’s right… Corey thought, Even with every advantage I could somehow take I couldn’t even really scratch it. I was convinced I was about to die in this world…a world I thought the only way that could happen was by freak accident or by natural causes.

And think about this, The inner voice continued, If you don’t master this spell, you will be just like you were then, extra conditioning or not.

But what else can I do? Corey thought, I don’t even…

Another wave of memories cascaded over him, ones he wasn’t fully aware of until he had been forced to look back on that moment. He now remembered the sight of his own blood, and how it made him feel. He was afraid for his own life, but it was…a different kind of feeling, somehow.

Magic is derived from will,, Corey thought, the memory continuing to wash over him as fragments of the final moments of his battle played over and over again, And my will was…my will should be…

Shining wasn’t sure what had happened. After his latest failure, Corey had spaced off right in front of him. His shoulders had slumped downward, and he was looking towards the ground, his eyes distant.

“Did I…break him?” Shining wondered, having been unable to get Corey’s attention. Just then, there was a green spark on Corey’s horn, followed by two more, before the appendage became wreathed in a torrent of green magic.

That’s not a normal spell…is this…? Shining’s question was soon answered when Corey’s arm moved yet again. It was pulled back at an angle now, the fist pointing down towards the ground. And then, as Corey’s horn pulsed with magic, Shining saw it. At first, there was one odd, glowing, green symbol over Corey’s forearm, but then several more began to surround it. Corey’s closed fist began to glow.

Corey moved again, letting out a loud scream as he punched the rock again. This time, when his fist made contact with the boulder, the glow seemed to go into the rock, and a moment later, the rock cracked heavily, deep cracks running through all of it. The next moment, the boulder exploded, sending small chunks and dust back away from it. Shining instinctively took a step back and raised one hand to shield his face from the dust. Once the effect had cleared, Corey was once again frozen, this time in the ending pose.

He actually did it… Shining thought, unable to contain a smile, I thought it’d take him longer to do that spell again…

Corey remained in the punching pose, his gaze locked on the destruction he caused. Slowly, but surely, Corey returned to a normal standing posture, slowly looking towards the hand that had produced the impact. His hand flexed as he remembered what he had to do.

I can’t ever forget how it felt then, Corey thought, To be unable to even protect myself, let alone anyone or anything else I care about. It’s a feeling I don’t want to feel again. And by remembering how it felt back then…I won’t let it happen again…

As the preparations on one end of the spectrum continued, so too, did preparations on the other end. In that same cave from before, one chamber was lit up with a scarlet glow. The echoes of whatever kind of magic being used could be heard all throughout the cave. In another chamber of these catacombs the escapees called their base, one hulking figure in a cloak stood at his full height, towering over two other cloaked figures in the same room.

The tallest of them had his arms folded, one foot tapping the ground impatiently. The smallest of the group, no taller than a pony, leaned against the wall, all calmness. Another figure was there too, sitting in the room, though from his frame it was clear he was bigger than a normal pony. His hands were on his knees, and it was almost like he was meditating.

The sounds of magic continued to echo around them, and eventually, the tallest one roared in annoyance. The cloaked figure who was sitting down looked up, while the one leaning against the wall took a look over to the one who made a noise.

“I can’t stand it!” the tallest one shouted, looking like a predator ready to pounce, “Why can’t she just send one of us out already!? If she sent me out there I’d deliver more than just one win! I’d wipe them all out!”

“You know the rules, Lyon,” said the pony-sized one, casually waving one of his arms in a carefree manner, revealing one regular, pony hand, “And much as it annoys me I can’t go and finish what I started, the rules are the rules…”

“The hell with the rules!” Lyon roared, striking the wall hard enough to cause at least the chamber to shake, “We’re the worst of the worst! We shouldn’t be making rules to begin with!”

At this, the one who was sitting stood up to his full height and moved his head. Though his eyes couldn’t be seen in the dimly lit cave, it was clear he was looking at Lyon. He eventually spoke up.

“Hold your tongue, Lyon,” said the third prisoner, raising one arm to point a clawed finger in Lyon’s direction, “You know full well what happened to the last guy who spoke out against her…”

Lyon paused, his arms slowly lowering. The cloaked pony on the far well resumed folding his arms, and the third prisoner merely stood there, lowering his own arm as the memory they all shared washed over them…

It wasn’t too long after they had all broken out. It was a simple matter for each of them to slip away. Lyon may not have had much upstairs in terms of brain power, but he could count. At that time, there were six others besides him. By now, each of them had taken a cloak—again, one for each of the seven escaped convicts, and thus all of their features had been obscured from one another.

“All of you too, huh?” asked one of them. Lyon turned his head to look.

“Judging from how puny you are,” said Lyon in response, “You’re a pony, aren’t you?”

“What’s it to you?” responded the cloaked pony, “Surprised I’d be down there or something?”

“While I enjoy the fact we’re technically out of there,” said another, with an eight-foot-tall frame; still smaller overall than Lyon, also male, “Now we’re back where we started.”

“I just want to know who called on me,” said one more, one red scaled hand messing with his cloak.

“Someone’s awfully sure of themselves,” said one other who was smaller than Lyon.

“Why shouldn’t I be?” asked the red-scaled escapee, letting down his hood, revealing a lizard-like face. The top of his head was black-striped, the rest of his body a brilliant scarlet, “I’m the Salamander…” One scaled hand became engulfed in orange flames.

“Salamander…Salamander,” commented the cloaked pony, “Oh! You were thrown down there for—“

“Ahem!” A feminine voice roughly coughed, getting all seven’s attention. Standing at the entrance to the chamber was another pony-sized cloaked figure. She surveyed the group, looking back and forth between them.

Another one!? Lyon was on the verge of roaring in anger, Because of him, I was thrown in there to begin with…

“I see, so all seven of you made it out safely,” said the newcomer, “Good, so my escape plan was a success…”

“You were the one, then?” asked Salamander, “Who opened the gates?”

“I wouldn’t take all the credit, but I did help each of you out of there,” said the pony, taking a few steps closer.

“Why?” asked another escapee; Lyon could tell it was a she from the voice, at least.

“Well, that’s simple,” the newcomer continued, “I want each of you to be part of a game of mine. And don’t worry, I promise it’ll be enjoyable…so long as you listen to what I say.”

Lyon would have voiced his dissent, but Salamander was way ahead of him.

“Get real!” he shouted, stomping one of his feet, “You expect me to listen to you?”

The newcomer paused, stopping her steps as Salamander pointed one scaled finger at her.

“The only reason you want our help in the first place is because you can’t do anything yourself! Is that right?” Salamander questioned, “Please! You can’t boss me around! And what’s this game you want to play? We’re all out now! So why should we—“

“I don’t like your tone…” the newcomer interjected, raising one of its arms. The hand fell out of the cloak, revealing a gray tone to it, though it was hard to tell in the dim light. The fingers of the hand snapped, and for just a moment, something scarlet appeared.

“And just what—“ Salamander took a step forward, but halted as his body pulsed red. There was an awkward pause, followed by a terrible scream from the lizardman. This was soon squelched out by the sound of Salamander choking on his own blood; it suddenly began to pour from his mouth.

“Dead before he hit the ground…” mused one of the escapees, his voice of dull shock as he watched Salamander’s lifeless body twitch, facedown in a pool of his own blood.

“Anyone else wish to voice their opinions?” asked the newcomer.

Not one other escapee had anything to say to that.

“Good,” she said, “Now, as I was saying, I’m about to start up a game. And don’t worry, you’ll enjoy it, as long as you listen to me…”

Lyon barely suppressed a snarl as the memory finished replaying in his head. He wasn’t about to go out that way. The prisoner that had pointed at him slowly sat back down, and released a heavy sigh.

“I’m not fond of playing games with my victims myself,” he said, “But what else am I to do?”

“You’re not fun,” said the prisoner leaning against the wall, “Just wish she’d let me go. I’m itching to finish some business…up north now, I think.”

Before Lyon could voice a retort, the voice of his boss boomed throughout the caves, carried by an unseen force.

“Lyon, could you come to me? Same place as before?” she asked. Lyon looked up, once again about to snarl.

“Well, well,” said the cloaked figure leaning against the wall, “Looks like you’re up.”

Lyon knew enough to not retort, feeling he really didn’t have a say in the matter, and didn’t wish to keep his new boss waiting. He knew the room well; it was where he’d seen the pathetic excuse for fighting that the other side had put up. It wasn’t hard to find his way back to that chamber. When he entered, the boss turned to him, her hood still up to obscure her face.

“Ah, right on time, Lyon,” she said, motioning behind her. Lyon walked into the room.

“You wanted me for something, right?” Lyon asked.

“Correct,” the boss of the escapees said, “Why don’t you have a good look behind me…”

She raised her arms again, and the light in the chamber intensified. Lyon blinked. He could see more of the creatures she’d sent out earlier during her little “test”. There were quite a few more than there were back then. They were all currently inactive, though, seeing as how they weren’t glowing.

“Your time is coming, Nemean Lyon,” said the boss, turning her back to him, “Get yourself ready…”

Author's Note

And there you have it! I will see you next week at the usual time. Until then, stay tuned.

Act 2 Chapter 13

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 13: Exponential Escalation

It had been the most intense period in their lives so far, counting their times back in their world. Both John and Corey went at their respective trainings, giving it their all to master what they were trying to. As the time went on, a small part of them began to believe that perhaps that the attack they were expecting would never come.

Yet, now, everyone, them included, had those hopes dashed. The situation they were preparing for was now drawing closer. On top of the hill where John had spent the better part of his days learning to fly, the human turned dragon in question stood at the edge of the cliff, staring off into the distance.

It really was wishful thinking after all, wasn’t it? He thought to himself, his face set.

“We got word that something’s coming from the west,” said Rainbow, “It’s heading this way.”

“How many?” asked John, turning around to face her.

“Can’t tell,” Rainbow said, walking up so that she was next to him, “But I’d be willing to say it’s more. Ready?”

Rainbow now looked off into the distance. John was as well.

“Yeah,” John said.

Without a single word more, both Rainbow and John opened their wings. This was followed by both giving their wings a powerful flap that sent both of them into the air. All the practicing had finally paid off for John as he now floated next to Rainbow.

I may not be on par with her yet, John thought to himself as Rainbow and John flapped their wings yet again to change direction. Now, both of them were heading towards Ponyville, But finally, I can fly.

In the streets of Ponyville, two ponies in particular were walking around—Twilight and Corey to be precise. Twilight had a clipboard on hand with a quill floating next to her. On a lesser note, Corey wasn’t wearing his usual jacket.

As they looked around, every now and again, Twilight would scribble down some notes on what it was she was seeing. Though everything she was seeing was mundane, the reason they were conducting the check was clear as day...at least, to the two of them.

“The local school is still in session so we’ve gotta watch out for that,” Twilight said, looking over her writing, “The townsfolk are conducting business as usual, for the most part. Overall, the locals are acting like nothing’s wrong…”

“I guess warning them—“ Corey started.

“Is not an option,” Twilight continued, “It would probably just make things worse in the long term if we tried to help them, and I don’t want to be the one causing a panic.”

“Right, right,” Corey said, looking out into the distance, going silent, with a sigh. Twilight continued to glance upon her clipboard for a few moments longer before finally turning to him, her eyes half-closed.

“We’ve still got a little more to…” Her voice trailed off as she realized where he was looking. Or rather, how he was looking in that direction. His eyes were distant, unseeing of everything in front of him. There was also a small amount of sweat starting to form on his brow. In addition, his hands were down at his sides. They were twitching a bit. Seeing his expression, Twilight’s concerns shifted just a bit, “Corey? Are you—“

“Huh?” Corey’s eyes blinked back into focus. His hands were still twitching a tad. His face showed a sudden amount of discomfort, and with one trembling hand, he swiped away at the sweat, before looking to it, as though surprised that sweat was a thing. Afterwards, he finally said, “S-sorry, Twilight…It just hit me what was about to happen…”

“What’s about to…” Twilight mumbled, processing what he was saying, “Oh, I get it. You’re...” She put a finger to her chin, “You’re scared, aren’t you?”

Corey flinched just a little, probably not expecting her to just completely call it like that. But, nonetheless, she was right.

“Y-yeah…” Corey stuttered, his eyes now trailing towards the ground. He pushed his glasses up with his thumb, “It’s just…I haven’t ever really been a part of something like this, I mean, until the last attack happened, but even then…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Twilight cut him off, closing the short distance between them as she continued, “What you’re going through right now…it’s completely natural.”

“I know, but—“ Corey tried to say something.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Twilight said, “I’m worried too…if I didn’t have to do this kind of stuff a few times before, I’d be just as bad as you.”

Corey couldn’t quite say anything now, blinking, but it didn’t quite stop him from thinking, I know you know what it’s like, but…

“Listen,” Twilight continued, now floating the clipboard and quill to her sides. She took one of Corey’s hands in her own, which called Corey straight out of his sudden surge of pessimism, “I know it has to be hard on you. Just do what I do whenever this happens…and I’m feeling unsure. Whenever I have doubts, I like to close my eyes and remind myself of what I’m trying to protect…”

Corey’s eyes focused again, only to close. He wasn’t even sure why he did it offhand straight away until his mind caught up to the rest of his body.

What…I’m trying to protect…

Not too far outside of Ponyville; still far enough that nopony would be able to accidentally walk into what was about to happen, a team was standing in wait. One member of the group, now decked out in his old suit of purple-and-gold Royal Guard armor, was Shining Armor himself. Beside him stood Applejack and Pinkie Pie, along with several other guards as support, sent down from Canterlot earlier that day.

“You sure they’re headin’ this way?” asked Applejack, clearly restless from the wait.

“I’m sure,” said Shining, “All intel says that they’re going to cross through here soon. We just have to wait it out.”

“Um…” Both Shining and Applejack looked over toward Pinkie. She had an unusual look on her face, one of uncertainty.

“Are you sure I should be here?” she asked, waving her arms for emphasis, “I don’t think I’ll be much help…”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” said Shining, “From what I’ve heard, you had no trouble subduing these creatures before. Something like that can make all the difference here.”

The assurance was enough to cause Pinkie to return to her normal self, even if it was only a start. She gave perhaps the smallest smile that she’d ever smiled since looking upon the Sonic Rainboom all those years ago.

“Exactly,” said Applejack,” You tie them up, and let the heavy hitters break them down,” she said, patting Pinkie on the back.

“Speaking of…” said Shining, looking up. All the others followed his eyes, seeing the last two members of the frontlines about to touch down. Before long, both John and Rainbow touched down near the others, joining the group.

“Looks like we’re early,” Rainbow said, walking up to Applejack, “Ready to kick some tail?”

“Just try not to slow us down,” said Applejack with a competitive smirk. With the team assembled and ready, all that was left was to play the waiting game. But it wasn’t for very long. Within a few minutes, in the distance, something could be seen approaching.

“Everypony, prepare yourselves for battle,” commanded Shining as he took his place in front of the group. Not long afterwards, he was joined by John, who stared into the distance to better view the oncoming threat.

“They’re finally here,” he said, more to himself than anyone else.

“Remember, we have to ensure that they don’t get past us,” said Shining, “The longer we can keep Ponyville from knowing about this, the better.”

John nodded in response, lost in his own head now.

It won’t be like last time… John thought to himself, still not letting himself live down the fact that he’d allowed one of the creatures to get away from him during the last encounter. Soon, the army of creatures grew close enough that they were able to spot their interceptors, stopping as soon as they realized it.

There was a tense moment of pause, both sides seemingly sizing up the other, trying to figure out their next move. But ultimately, it was the creatures who acted first, quickly charging towards the intercepting team. But the team of ponies and dragon were ready for them, having been preparing for their arrival. It was time to make their stand, here and now.

“Here they come!”

John was the first to charge, kicking off the ground as hard as he could, running full force towards the oncoming creatures. The others followed close behind, each following in a set line of defense. Shining Armor was right behind John, followed closely by Rainbow, then Applejack, followed by Pinkie, and finally, the remaining guards.

John charged directly towards the oncoming group of creatures. The fact that he would be outnumbered the moment he reached them didn’t matter to him. However, this was because he wasn’t running into engage them—not yet, anyway. First, John had to make sure to play his part of Shining’s plan.

When the time came, John leapt into the air, rising higher with the aid of his wings. He climbed until he was just above the creatures, then with another flap of his wings, he dove, and fast. His aim was right in the center of the horde, raising his arms in preparation for an attack. Even before he could reach them, the creatures were already on the move to avoid him. But John didn’t stop; continuing to fall towards the ground, John brought both of his arms down with all of his might, knocking up rocks and dust as he created a crater in the ground.

As a precaution, the creatures backed away even further from the dragon, anticipating another attack. But little did they know this was the desired result; the horde had divided itself.

Shining’s got some impressive game plans, John thought to himself, rising from the ground, No wonder he made captain.

Soon, the others joined the dragon; with the first stage of the strategy played out, it was time for stage two to commence.

The group chose their sides: John, Rainbow and five of the guards facing one direction; Shining, Pinkie, Applejack and the remaining guards facing the others.

While fighting as a team is important, it also works both ways, Shining mused, preparing to issue orders, That’s why we needed to cut the horde’s numbers…

“Alright, everypony,” Shining called out, “Stage two: don’t stop until they’re all a pile of rubble!”

The others didn’t need to be told twice, and they certainly did not intend to allow any of this creatures to remain standing. Without another word, both teams rushed their target horde.

John and Rainbow took point in their charge, Rainbow flying ahead of John; John himself running a few feet behind her. Rainbow reached one of the creatures, which was fully intent on intercepting her. However, its speed was no match for hers. Quickly, Rainbow dipped down and shifted her body weight so that she was charging feet first. With a strong kick, Rainbow was able to sweep the legs of the creature, causing it to flip forward from the force. Its first full rotation, however, would be its last; the moment its head came back up, it was met with the impact of a strong scaly fist.

And that’s one! John thought as his punch slammed straight through the creature’s rock hard head, shattering it. Just like his first encounter with them, the creature’s body fell limp after its head was destroyed. But just as quickly as the creature was destroyed, the others reacted, jumping at the dragon.

“I don’t think so,” John grumbled aloud, overpowering the creatures on top of him, scattering them towards the waiting guards. Each guard was armed with a weapon, one that could deal a high amount of blunt force. Quickly, each guard took up the mantle of fighting with the creatures, ensuring none would be slipping away this time.

As this went on, the team on the other side of the battlefield were also doing what they could to fight off their part of the horde. Shining Armor made great use of his shields, using them not only to keep the creatures within their range, but also protect anyone in danger of being attacked.

“It’ll take more than that!” Shining yelled at one creature, who was pounding away at his shield. His horn lit up brightly, and as it did, the shield he was creating glowed too, eventually releasing a strong pulse that launched the creature back.

Though at first it seemed as though the creature was unharmed, as it rose from the ground, it was clear that was not the case. Cracks ran along its torso and neck. It prepared to attack once more, but it didn’t have a chance. After seeing the opening Shining provided, one of the guards quickly delivered a hard shot with his weapon, breaking it with the powerful strike.

Not too far from that, both Pinkie and Applejack were standing side by side, Pinkie’s party cannon ready to fire.

“Remember the plan, Pinks,” said Applejack, preparing herself for her chance to attack.

“But don’t you remember last time?” asked Pinkie, “Last time you couldn’t even…”

“Trust me,” Applejack assured her, “I wouldn’t be here if I weren’t ready.”

It was at that moment that one of the creatures leapt at them. Pulling the string of the cannon, Pinkie fired a confetti blast at the creature, successfully binding the oncoming attack. Now that its body was rendered immobile, Applejack made her move. Jumping forward, she slammed her boots into the chest of the creature, forcing it to the ground. The two skidded along the ground, but only for a few yards until it came to a stop. Quickly, Applejack brought up one of her legs, aiming her foot just over the creature’s head.

For a brief moment, a glare seemed to emanate from Applejack’s boot. But before anypony had time to wonder what it was, Applejack brought her foot down. The last time Applejack struck one of these creatures as hard as she could, it did no more than knock it back. But this time, something different happened: when the boot made contact with the creature’s head, cracks began to form on it.

Pinkie looked on in surprise as Applejack brought her boot up once more before slamming it down again, smashing the creature’s head entirely. Hopping off the downed creature, which was already disintegrating into little more than dust, Applejack turned back to Pinkie.

“See, told ya I had this,” she said, pointing a thumb to herself.

“But…how did you—“ asked Pinkie, only to be met with a small chuckle from Applejack. Applejack quickly extended out her leg so that Pinkie could have a clear look under her boot. Pinkie quickly noticed the underside of Applejack’s boot didn’t look like it did before. The color completely clashed with the rest of it; were Pinkie Rarity, she might have delivered a scolding. The sole of the boot appeared to be made of a different material.

“Metal?”

“Steel,” Applejack said simply, bringing her foot back down to solid earth, “Realized leather wasn’t hard enough to break these varmints, so I traded up for something that could do the job.” She explained.

“A.J., watch it!” shouted Rainbow, just as Applejack caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Quickly, Applejack ducked underneath the creature’s swipe, delivering a super-hard back kick to the creature’s chest, not only lifting it off its feet, but causing ample cracks to appear on its torso.

This battle went in their favor, or at least, it seemed that way to the frontlines. Even if they had been split up, they were able to hold their own against the attacking horde. During the fight, John had found himself surrounded by the creatures, waiting for their next attack. It came as fast he expected, one of their members able to reach him first. John was quick to react, reaching out, he grabbed it by the torso and dug his sharp claws into it.

With his grip as tight as he could get it, John used the creature as a weapon, striking away his assailants one by one until only one was left. Bringing back his temporary weapon, John reached out and grabbed the last charging creature by the head. He jerked the creature off of its feet and slammed it hard onto the ground, cracking the ground and the creature slightly. Finally, John brought up his other hand, it still holding the first creature tightly and brought it down on the last creature that had attacked him just as hard as he could.

The force of this maneuver not only broke the torso of the creature on the ground, but also the torso of the creature he’d used as a weapon. Rising up, John looked around. The other guards were holding off the other creatures. And to the other side of the battle, the other team was having no issues holding their own.

“Looks like we’re in control,” Looking to his side, John saw Rainbow landing next to him, saying pretty much exactly what was on his mind.

“Yeah, looks like it,” John wanted to believe that, but as he looked around, all he could feel was uneasy.

But why? John thought, The battle is going our way, so why do I feel something’s…off…

“Hey, cheer up!” Rainbow shouted at him, getting his attention by lightly punching his shoulder, “We’re winning!”

“And let me tell you something,” Rainbow continued, her eyes closing in confidence, “If this is the best these guys have, they’re in for—“

Rainbow let out a gasp; John had just grabbed hard onto her arm for a reason she couldn’t explain. She looked to him, and he looked back, a grim expression on his face, a look that she’d never seen John have before. Before she could get the question out, the dragon gave her a hard throw, and as Rainbow flew back, the last thing she saw was something falling in an arc, something huge. And the only thing that was in its way…was John.

“Look out!” cried Rainbow, but it was too late. The large object; a massive boulder, Rainbow realized, crashed hard on the dragon, the sound startling seemingly every living creature around. Even after the boulder crashed, the boulder skidded along the ground, not stopping until it hit a tree, heavily tilting it in the opposite direction of the impact.

Dazed, Rainbow slowly walked up to the boulder, expecting it to start shifting, even a little. But when no movement occurred, a slow realization hit her like an oncoming train. Her eyes went wide with horror.

“John…?”

Within the city limits, not many were aware of the chaos going on outside Ponyville. They didn’t know what was going on. The park, however, was a bit more barren than expected. Other than maybe a few ponies going about their usual routine, there were some sitting on the park benches, eyes strangely focused on something outside of town. One of them sat down, reading the paper. Towards the entrance to the park, waited Rarity and Fluttershy.

“They should have been here by now,” said Rarity, biting her lip as she looked around.

“Could something have happened?” worried Fluttershy.

“I don’t think so,” Rarity assured her, looking around, “If it had, I am positive the town would have been in an uproar. Still…” Her voice trailed off as her gaze locked in the distance down the street, and both Rarity and Fluttershy could see two familiar faces approaching.

“Oh, there they are now,” Rarity said, watching as Corey and Twilight drew closer. Twilight reached them first, followed very closely by Corey.

“Everything’s normal,” Twilight said, “I guess that means nopony knows yet. This was the last spot to check, too, since it leads directly into the city from the outside. So…”

Her clipboard floated gently into her grasp as she took in the scene in the park.

“I see…” Rarity trailed off, understanding now why Corey and Twilight were running behind schedule.

“Anything happen here?” Corey asked, Twilight still going over the scene in the park.

“N-no,” said Fluttershy, “Nothing’s happened yet.”

“Good, it looks like John and the others are cleaning up out there…” Corey said, looking out across the park. From here, no one could see the battle raging outside the city limits, “The attack should have definitely come by now…”

Twilight continued to survey the park. Ponies were on benches, but they seemed to be waiting for something. Not that they concerned Twilight at the moment. There was the odd pony or two that were out and about, but the park was overall deserted.

“Everything’s as expected,” Twilight summarized, looking to her clipboard, “School’s in session, the walkways are populated, and the park is, for the most part, empty.” She floated the clipboard and quill away.

“Alright then,” Corey said, looking back towards the park, “I guess all we do is…”

His words broke off as he gazed out into the park, his eyes squinting. The others around him quickly followed his gaze. Fluttershy and Rarity both let out a gasp as they spotted something on the other end of the park. Twilight’s eyes went wide.

“No…” Corey whispered, his eyes wide and shaking.

Rapidly approaching, from the other side of the park, was a sight Corey dreaded having to see ever again: a humanoid-looking creature, dark gray and covered in a red glow. And, to make matters worse, it looked like there were a couple more approaching.

What’s going on out there!? Corey thought, taking a deep breath as he tried to ready himself for what was to come.

“Looks like they’re coming in!” Twilight said, “We’d better cut them off before…”

Author's Note

And that's how this battle opens. Don't have much else to say really.

Act 2 Chapter 15

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 15: Sudden Breakthrough

There was a sudden moment of pause. The four manikins—one damaged, its side broken off from an earlier attack, each leapt away from Corey, one whose forearm was still crumbling after their opponent unexpectedly crushed its hand.

Corey’s body stopped emitting runes at this point. He slowly rose to his full height. Anyone close enough to see him would have noticed he had undergone a slight change. Corey was a little taller now, and his arms, at least, had bulked up significantly.

“I’m not letting you through…” Corey mumbled, his eyes fierce.

Then, he lurched forward, going after the one whose hand he had crushed. In one swift moment, he brought his arm forward. Unlike before, he didn’t bother casting that impact spell. His arm still carried quite a bit of physical force; it impacted his target’s chest so hard his fist wound up buried within the surface, cracks appearing around the immediate impact area. The glow on the manikin flickered for a moment, during which Corey removed his fist.

The manikin whose side was missing moved in, aiming to kick at him. Corey turned his head, ducking down underneath the kick to the left, bringing up his right fist into the back of its knee. This time, his arm went through the much thinner leg. Using his momentum from the uppercut, Corey dragged the manikin off of its remaining foot, throwing it into his other opponent. On impact, the leg of the improvised weapon snapped off, causing the two manikins to fall to the ground on top of each other. His hands free, Corey closed his eyes, focusing, his horn lighting up in a green hue.

The other two manikins quickly leapt in, aiming to cut him off. Abruptly, a shield appeared around Corey and the two damaged manikins, keeping the other two manikins from attacking, as well as off-balancing them. The shield vanished soon after, but Corey already gave himself plenty of time to prepare his move.

With a strong yell, he buried his fist into the two manikins with another power punch. This time, his forearm glowed with runes. His fist disappeared into the legless manikin’s back. As soon as the runes finished travelling into the new wound, a forceful shockwave exploded outwards, causing a small crater in the ground at Corey’s feet and blowing both of the damaged manikins away. The one whose side and leg had been earlier damaged almost vanished from the force of the shockwave, chunks of it flying in all directions. The one with an indentation in its chest had its torso blown out, its glow shutting down for good. Corey fell forward, having off-balanced himself slightly with his own attack.

“What’s he doing…” one of the guards questioned, more stunned than impressed that the pony who had just seconds before been beaten down by four assailants just took down two of them in rapid succession.

“He’s turned this thing on his head!” Another observed.

“Well then, who are we to be outdone by someone as green as him!?” said another in response, hearing the second guy.

“He…is green…” said a fourth, clearly not getting it.

Corey, still down on one knee, looked down at his handiwork, almost stunned at what he had just done. However, his face quickly adopted a serious scowl once more. From the corner of his eye, he could make out a shape trying to lay him out: a manikin’s foot. His torso moved, allowing him to block the attack with both arms crossed above his head. From this position, he focused magic into his horn. The manikin tried to increase the force he was pushing down on Corey’s arms with. For a few moments, Corey felt himself start to bend under the force.

All at once, Corey shifted his weight straight upward, his horn still glowing as he rose upward, flipping over his opponent. This seemed like bad timing, however; his other opponent came up behind him, ready to strike—

Corey heard an impact from behind him, the manikin’s punch flying past the right side of his head. From the corner of his eye, he could just make out a blunt object of some kind falling on his right.

“Get him!” a slightly distant voice shouted; probably one of the guards, considering the voice was male.

Quickly, Corey brought up his left fist and made contact, turning slightly to see that he had struck a manikin in the face with a solid punch, causing the manikin’s head to crack slightly. While it staggered off-balance, Corey turned his attention to the downed manikin. It was getting back up.

It never got the chance, though. With less than three yards between the two, Corey’s laser didn’t miss. The green light travelled from his horn straight between the manikin’s eyes, searing a giant hole in its face and through its head, only exploding when it hit the ground behind him. The manikin stopped abruptly mid-action, the glow in its body fading out as it flopped back over, lying still.

Turning around again, Corey clenched his right fist. The manikin, its head cracked, quickly tried to reach out at him, punching at him. Corey moved his head, his hand once more glowing. His fist made impact with the manikin’s body, and once again, a shockwave of force exploded in the direction of his punch, causing the torso and head to detonate. The arms went flying in opposite directions and the legs fell backwards.

Corey slowly pulled his arm back, looking to his fist and the muscles on his arm that were still swollen.

Runic magic has let me push my physical strength beyond what I usually have, but how long can I keep it up? Corey thought.

Just then, he heard the sound of what vaguely sounded like a brick breaking, on his left. He looked over, seeing a guard slamming a hammer down on a downed manikin, its head shattering under the weight of the impact. As he looked around, he realized everyone else was fighting back once more.

“Is this…” Corey began, seeing Twilight shooting off yet another laser through a manikin. The archer that had always been over at Rarity’s side was firing off more enchanted arrows, making his mark and blowing up another one. Rarity managed to land a decent hit as well, managing to get a creature through the arm to protect another guard, who quickly doubled back.

Corey shook his head, suddenly feeling his muscles flare in pain.

No time to think about it now! Corey thought, We’ve got the advantage, at least in morale…and these things aren’t unlimited in number! Press the attack while you can, Corey!

The frontlines had assembled for one reason: to prevent the incoming attack from reaching Ponyville. And at first, they succeeded in their goal. But, due to a scenario they had not anticipated, most of the frontlines was now on the sidelines. John, who had up until now been thought killed off, had taken it upon himself to fight along against the new enemy that had just appeared.

The enemy in question was one of the escaped prisoners, a massive, powerful lion by the name of Lyon. On his own, the lion had proven more than a match for every single member of the frontlines. His hide was strong enough to endure the sharpest blade, and his physical power alone capable of shattering Shining Armor’s shields. Up until now, hope that someone could match such a monster was slim to none. But now, another surprise was in play.

John and Lyon appeared to be evenly matched.

Though Lyon had at least two feet on him, John didn’t allow it to make much of a difference. Hovering mere feet off the ground, the dragon rushed the lion with one fist pulled back. Once he was in range, John threw a punch with all of his force. Lyon was able to react, raising both of his arms for a cross block. This block, however, did not hide the fact there was force behind the punch; Lyon skidded back a few inches.

After the punch had connected, Lyon retailiated. He brought back one of his massive fists down on John before he could get away. Unable to dodge, John quickly raised both of his hands, catching the punch with them. The punch pushed him down to solid ground, the ground cratering the moment his feet made contact with it. John struggled with the sheer power his opponent had, making a small observation.

It’s like a building’s pushing on my hands! John thought to himself, grunting from the force. The weight left in an instant, however; Lyon’s fist rose from John’s palms. However, before John could react, he saw something else coming towards him: one of Lyon’s massive legs heading for him. Unable to react in time, John found himself being struck hard in the chest with enough force that he was sent flying back.

John recovered quickly, planting his feet on the ground so that he could skid to a stop. After doing so, John placed a hand on his chest. For the first time since John arrived in Ponyville, he felt a sensation that seemed to elude him.

Pain… John thought, recognizing it, Falling so far didn’t do it; a rock falling on me and knocking my lights out didn’t register…but just one kick…?

“No doubt about it,” John mumbled to himself, rising to his feet, “This guy’s dangerous…”

Getting into a readied stance, John watched as Lyon rushed him again. The lion let out another power punch towards the dragon. John turned his body slightly, putting up a guard against the attack. The force behind the punch still caused John to lose ground, his clawed feet unable to find any traction—at least, until he remembered his feet were clawed.

Digging his foot claws into the ground, John managed to gain traction and more importantly, his footing and stop Lyon from pushing him. John then moved his arms over, shifting Lyon’s arm outwards. Lyon tried to pull his arm back, only to find John had a firm grip on his wrist. John turned his body further and managed to lift Lyon up off the ground and flip him over. Only then did John let go.

John decided to not waste any time and launch himself high in the air, making sure he was directly above the lion. Once he was high enough, he launched himself downwards, both hands held out as he prepared to smash down on him. Lyon was quick to recover, however. Lyon rolled away to avoid the attack. Without Lyon on the receiving end, John crashed into the ground, leaving a large crater.

“Alright!” John said, digging his claws into the earth, “Try to dodge this, then!” John pulled up with all of his force, ripping a large chunk of dirt from the ground. With a roar, John tossed the chunk towards Lyon, who was just getting up himself.

“No need!” Lyon roared, pulling back one fist. Letting out a feral bellow, Lyon punched the chunk into pieces. However, as Lyon began to go back to a ready pose, he noticed something had reached him. John had flown using the chunk as cover; Lyon was caught by surprise. John quickly used the force of his own strength and the speed of his flight to deliver a powerful punch to the lion’s face.

Lyon’s body fell back from the punch, but John was not done with him yet. John landed square on the lion’s chest, continuing his assault.

This is it! John thought, If I can knock him out now, we’ll have won!

John, encouraged by this thought, quickly began to rapidly deliver punch after punch to the lion’s head, trying to watch for him to lose consciousness between each punch.

“Look at ‘im go!” Applejack shouted, watching the fight go on along with everypony else that was still conscious, “John’s got him on the ropes now!”

“Hit him once for Rainbow, Johnny!” Pinkie Pie shouted, holding the same level of excitement. Yet, despite all the cheer around him, Shining remained stoic; an unreadable expression on his face, he studied the scene before him.

This doesn’t make sense, Shining thought, Yes, John may match him in terms of physical strength, but how is he going toe-to-toe with a seasoned killer from the depths of Tartarus? From what I’ve been told, from what I’ve seen, John isn’t that trained. He’s just making things up as he goes. While it’s worked for him so far, it also means John has no discipline in his fighting style. Someone like Lyon should have skill that would tip the scales in his favor, but nothing’s being shown. But why?

Shining thought about this further, and something hit him.

Oh no… Shining thought, but before he could voice his concern, John’s attack was halted.

John threw out one more punch, but Lyon grabbed on to his arm. Though Lyon had been punched in the face several times, he didn’t even look like he was starting to bruise. Lyon’s eyes opened, piercing into John’s. John could see something different in those wild, soulless eyes, but John couldn’t place it.

“Finally…” Lyon snarled. Before John could even begin to react, Lyon’s head impacted with his body with enough force to send him spiraling away from the lion. John was able to right himself quickly, his head slightly spinning from the damage he’d suffered. He shook his head to snap himself out of it, but the moment he did, he noticed Lyon was right on him again.

John’s first instinct was to fly, to try to get some distance between them so he could think of another move to bail him out. But as he took the sky, he found he wouldn’t get far. Before he could get out of reach, Lyon had grabbed on to his arm, arresting his escape velocity.

“No more running,” Lyon roared, slamming John’s body on the ground with enough force to cause him to bounce. The impact knocked the wind out of John for a moment; long enough to keep him from putting up a guard. Lyon let out another powerful attack, landing another strong punch to John’s chest which caused him to fly back, crashing through a tree.

John coughed as he rolled on the ground, pushing himself off of it so that he could right himself quickly. That last attack hurt, and it hurt a lot. John was at a complete loss.

Up until now, I’ve been matching him blow for blow, he thought, Now I’m being thrown around like I’m nothing…what’s changed!?

“He’s regaining his edge,” Shining answered, not to John, but to someone else on the sidelines who’d asked the question.

“What d’you mean?” asked Applejack.

“Prisoners in Tartarus aren’t just allowed to move about as they please,” Shining explained, “They’re locked up in cages, so that they can be better contained. Because of this, prisoners often go years without moving very much. Those who are combat savvy can suffer from that. In time, their skills grow dull, and their combat ability will diminish. Although Lyon is powerful, he was no exception.

“John was only able to match him thus far because Lyon probably wasn’t training himself enough to regain his full combat ability,” Shining continued, “But fighting someone who could match him in strength has caused him to slowly regain all that skill he lost.”

“So the longer this drags on…” Applejack trailed off.

“The less likely we’ll walk away from this…”

At first, their situation had slowly become utterly hopeless. The seemingly uncountable numbers of manikins, with their unbelievable durability and strength, seemed ready to overwhelm the fighting forces in the park. However, with the group’s second wind, the manikins began to crumble almost one after another. Now, anyone with fingers could count how many were left. And they could count it on one hand.

Twilight evaded an attack from one, her horn alight with a magenta hue as she leapt backwards with the assistance from her wings. The manikin quickly looked over to her, moving for another attack. However, Twilight was ready, and in a split second, a magenta light blasted forth from her horn through the manikin’s chest. The glow in the manikin died down, and a quick follow-up shot ensured it stayed that way, her opponent starting to crumble to ash from the second attack.

Quickly, she surveyed the area. The number of manikins was far less overwhelming now; in fact, by her count, she could see three, and all of them were being tied up.

Two of them were currently dodging blue shots from Rarity. She was still more or less close to the two guards that had, for whatever reason, remained close to her side since the battle took off. Or at least, one of them was still there, readying another arrow that he was enchanting, his horn alight with an orange hue.

The manikins were easily evading Rarity’s shots, the mare in question seeming to show signs of fatigue. It was clear she wasn’t quite used to using the spell as she had been for so long, but she had to keep it up. Eventually, due to their dodging, the two wound up a bit too far apart, and that was when the sword-wielding guard that had kept himself so close to Rarity finally showed himself.

“Got you!” shouted the earth pony, leaping out and managing to stab his blade into the ground, managing to slam it through the manikin’s foot, pinning it. At that point, he shouted to the guard wielding the bow and arrow. “Now, Straight Shot!”

“Got it!” the arrow-wielding guard said, letting one fly. The manikin struggled, only succeeding in pivoting around trying to get free. The arrow struck it dead-center in the back, and a couple of seconds later, the manikin found itself without a torso. Its legs remained standing, the foot still pinned by the blade.

The other manikin had taken the time to try to rush off, but Twilight was already on top of it, letting a laser fly. Though she missed her initial target, the laser still managed to hit it through the lower leg, slowing it down long enough for Rarity to take notice.

“You won’t be entering Ponyville today!” she said, letting one last shot go with a huff, making her mark through the torso of the manikin from the side, effectively taking it out once and for all. The manikin crumpled to the ground, defeated, its glow fading fast.

“Is that all of them?” asked one of the guards.

“Hyarrgghhh!!!” shouted a masculine grunt from across the park. All heads turned to see Corey, both of his hands locked around the closed fist of a cracked manikin.

Corey’s eye twitched slightly, his arms doing the same after another tick. Quickly, he shoved the manikin’s arm aside, throwing out a punch as soon as his hands were free. His punch landed, cracking the manikin’s torso even more. Immediately following this attack was another, a kick into the creature’s side that cracked it even more. By now, the manikin took another swipe at Corey, who leaned back, his horn lighting up.

Gotta make this count… thought Corey, aiming at the manikin. His foot slipped as he went to stop leaning back, but not before he managed to shoot off one last laser, managing to hit the manikin where it was already damaged, changing the deep cracks on the manikin’s torso into a break, defeating it then and there.

Corey fell backwards onto his hands, his knees bent. He didn’t stay in that position for long, immediately rolling to his left to avoid the debris from the manikin as it fell at him. With a heavy sigh, Corey stood back up, and, his body briefly glowing once more, his muscles contracted back to their previous size. As soon as he did, something hit Corey hard: a feeling that as of Shining Armor’s involvement in his life had become incredibly familiar.

I’m a bit afraid to move right now… Corey thought, taking in the feeling of soreness that went from his shoulders to his ankles. It felt like a large amount of pins and needles were dancing on every fiber of his muscles. Corey stood, his arms at his sides, straightened up to his full height. His arms twitched once, once only.

What the hell happened out front, though? Corey’s thoughts returned to the game plan, trying to move his head, but his neck protested the attempt to look over slightly to where he thought the frontlines were. The plan was for us to pick off the stragglers, not take on the whole un—

His introspection was cut short by the sensation of all those pins and needles suddenly digging into his biceps, and digging deep.

“Corey, you did—“ Twilight said, congratulating him. Somehow, she had given him a hug from behind without him realizing it. Normally, Corey might have frozen and blushed from the reaction that a female was hugging him, but his body wasn’t the most receptive of much of anything right now. Twilight couldn’t even finish her sentence.

Corey let out a loud scream of pain, his eyes bugging out and his arms lifting up as he yelled. Immediately, Twilight pulled her arms away, concerned, as one hand went to her chin. Corey doubled over, falling down onto his knees, which elicited—ironically—a much more subdued grunt.

“Are you alright?’ Twilight asked, “I didn’t think that they…roughed you up that bad.”

“It’s not that…” Corey said, one hand slowly dragging across its opposite arm. He could feel his muscles twitching, “I think with what I did…I think I pushed my body too hard. I started feeling the burn before, but it finally hit me all at once…” He let out another groan, shrinking down a bit as his body continued to rage at him for pushing it so hard.

Twilight looked to Corey, not sure what to tell him. On one hand, she wanted to say something about how he dipped into his reserves and managed to come up with another runic spell seemingly on the spot; something that she felt he could be proud of. However, at the same time, she could clearly tell he overexerted himself; probably unavoidable given the circumstances…

“Princess,” said one of the guards, walking up to her, “Are you injured?”

“No more than everypony else here…” Twilight said, “I should be alright…”

“What happened out there?” asked another guard that was nearby, “We wound up having to fight off what felt like an entire attack force, and we weren’t prepared for that!”

“Some of us should go out there and see what happened…” Twilight observed, “I don’t think they would have come through like that unless there was a reason for it…”

“I’ll—“ Corey tried to stand, but his legs merely twitched when he tried to move them. Twilight set her hands down to his shoulders, and felt the muscles underneath throbbing from their overuse.

“No, it’s alright,” Twilight said.

“You put in work today,” said the guard, “More than you could have been asked to. Now let us finish the job we were put here to do…”

“Could you guys see what happened out there?” Twilight said, biting her lip as she glanced out to where she knew her brother and friends were.

“No problem,” said the guard, immediately shouting out to the others there, “Hey, everypony! If you’re still able to move, follow me out to the outskirts!”

There were some grumbles of pain, but those were lost in shouts of agreement. The guards began to, one-by-one, march towards the guard, who himself began to lead the group away.

“Thank you,” said Twilight.

“Please, don’t thank us,” one of the guards said as he passed, “It’s not over just yet!”

With that, the remaining plainclothes guards began to make their way in the direction of the frontlines, leaving the remaining ponies in the park behind. Twilight soon turned her head to Corey. His eyes were closed, his palms resting on the ground.

“C’mon,” Twilight said, “We should pull back a little.” Her horn lit up a bit. Corey soon felt a slightly familiar force gently tugging him upward, helping him to stand. As soon as his feet made unaided contact with the ground, Corey felt himself stagger, only to be once again supported by Twilight, this time, physically.

“Alright,” Corey said, “Lead the way…”

John did all he could to fight back. But as the battle dragged on, Lyon got the upper hand. They were just about equal in strength; there was no doubt in his mind about that. However, there seemed to be a key factor to this that John was slowly coming to terms with. No matter how he tried to twist it to make it acceptable, a base fact was becoming unmistakably clear to him.

He’s better than me… thought John. And no matter how he tried to fight back, it only became clearer with each rebuffed attempt.

John had managed to land a couple more hits since the balance shifted to Lyon’s favor, but John’s attacks didn’t seem to harm Lyon for long. Now, John stood panting heavily, clearly having taken a savage beating; bruises all over his body. Lyon stared down at him, not even winded.

“You were stronger than I thought, dragon,” Lyon said, “But in the end, you were still no match for me.”

“Hey now,” John panted, “Battle’s not…over yet…I’m still standing!”

“Not for long…” snarled Lyon, charging towards John. Though John’s stamina was low and he was in pain from constant attack, he wasn’t about to back down. John braced himself, charging forward again, letting his wings increase his speed. Lyon threw a punch, John barely able to dodge, the massive fist brushing his face as it soared by. John quickly threw a hard punch into Lyon’s stomach, Lyon twitching slightly from the impact. However, he did not double over.

Instead, he brought down both his fists on John, causing him to land hard on the ground. But John wasn’t good to let himself be stopped, not yet. John quickly kicked off the ground as hard as he could, bringing up his fist to land another hard blow just under Lyon’s chin. This time, Lyon’s head pitched upwards from the force, but it didn’t last long. Lyon recovered, grabbing John by the leg with one hand, and slamming him hard on the ground.

John let out a grunt from his back making contact with the ground and tried to roll away, but Lyon hadn’t let go of him. John saw Lyon had cocked one fist back, his face only inches from John’s own.

“I remember you put me in a situation like this. Tell me, do you think you can hold up?” Lyon asked. John couldn’t move, but he had a highly appropriate retort on hand.

John spat right in Lyon’s face with only a single moment of hesitation. Snarling, Lyon raised his hand and brought down his fist on the dragon. Though John managed to put up a block, it did not change the fact it was a powerful hit, enough to break the ground around him. And Lyon was not about to stop there. Again and again, Lyon brought down his fists onto the pinned dragon, each punch causing the ground beneath him to crack further.

Not good, John thought to himself as he blocked each strike. I can’t keep this up…and if my guard gets broken, I’d be knocked out or worse in just one attack…I’ve got to get out of this! But how? Ugh—He’s got me pinned! And no matter what I do, nothing seems to phase him…if he didn’t have to breathe, I’d say—

John’s thoughts trailed off.

Breathe…that’s it! John thought. Just one problem…I can’t do anything while I’m pinned like this!

John gazed through the small gap in his guard. Lyon was bearing down on him for one more hit. But before he could, a violet light came into view from his right—a laser shot, that struck Lyon on the side of his head. Lyon halted, flinching as both of his eyes closed. John saw his opening.

Now or never! John immediately dropped his guard and grabbed on to Lyon’s arm. Calling on all the strength left in his reserves, John forced Lyon off-balance, causing the lion to hit the ground face-first. With Lyon no longer bearing down his weight on John, the dragon was finally able to get up from the ground. Quickly, John moved, jumping on to Lyon’s back just as he was getting back up. John wrapped one arm around Lyon’s neck and locking it into place for a chokehold.

“What the!?” Lyon roared, John having a firm hold on him.

“You may be a better fighter than me, but how well can you fight when you can’t breathe?” John asked, a smirk on his face.

“As if I’d let—urk!” Lyon choked, John tightening his grip around his neck. But even though John was making every effort to cut off his air supply, Lyon was not prepared to give in. He could reach John and began taking shots at John. But no matter how hard Lyon hit him, John did not let go.

“Fight all you want! I won’t let go until you’ve blacked out!” John’s words resonated through Lyon’s mind.

“As strong as you are, even you have your weaknesses…”

Lyon suddenly began thrashing about in rage. John kept his grip on the whole time. Yet, despite the fact John was still holding on tight, Lyon managed to choke out another roar.

“No! I won’t be beaten like this! Not…again…!” Lyon’s strength was slowly starting to fail him, the corners of his vision darkening.

“What a pity…” As he faded, Lyon began to hear a very familiar voice in his mind, “After all of your talk about this dragon, he still managed to beat you. Disappointing. I expected far better of you, Lyon…”

“N…no!” Lyon wheezed, “I can still…win…!”

“Who are you…talking to…” John strained, his focus breaking for only a moment. Lyon was too distracted by whatever it was to take notice.

“It’s far too late for that. Your forces have been defeated and you’re not too far from defeat yourself,” The female voice mocked him, “It’s time to run back to your master, with your tail between your legs…”

“But…” Lyon snarled.

John suddenly felt Lyon flinch in pain, and not from the chokehold.

“That was not a request!” The voice called to Lyon again, Lyon feeling a sharp flash of pain in his chest. Lyon moved despite John’s best effort, one of his hands pressed to his chest, the other going into his loincloth and withdrawing something…a small, glowing stone that had a red light to it.

“Hear me, Dragon!” roared Lyon, the glow spreading across his body, “You will suffer for this humiliation!”

Before John could respond, there was a bright flash of light from just underneath him. John landed chest-first on the ground with a sharp grunt.

“What the…?” John looked around. All he could see were the members of the frontlines…and more guards who seemed to be coming to their aid. But they weren’t fast enough.

“Where’d he go!?”

A short time later, everypony regrouped in the library. Other than Rainbow Dash sporting a bandage wrapped around her head, everyone didn’t seem to have suffered any major injuries. Everyone seemed down on themselves as Shining finished telling the group what exactly had happened on his end during the skirmish.

“So he was strong enough to keep you guys on the ropes…” Twilight said, putting one finger to her chin, her eyes wide, “Just what are we dealing with? He had you all thinking he’d…and then, on top of that, John couldn’t even touch him when he remembered his fighting skills…”

“I know…” Shining said, “We held up well given the odds, but we need to make sure we’re ready, because we’re going to have to face him again…”

“But how!?” Rainbow said, just before she pressed one hand to the back of her head, the outburst reminding her of the injury she’d suffered.

“Easy, Rainbow, take it easy,” Applejack said, “But she’s got a point. That lion was tough…and on top of that, we don’t even know what else they got up their sleeve.”

“There’s just one thing I don’t get,” Shining said, “He vanished. I didn’t quite see what he did, but before I knew it, he’d vanished in a red light, and John fell onto the ground…”

“The escaped prisoners have some level of organization,” Twilight observed, “A fact that worries me.”

The room fell silent for a moment. Everyone already knew they had no choice but to be a part of the game, but things looked pretty bleak. The discussion continued onward; no one knew what to make of the end of the fight, but one thing was becoming clear, one thing that two others in the library had begun to realize to some extent as well…

Upstairs in the bedroom, Corey laid out on his bed, flat on his back. His body was still reeling from the effects of his newest spell. There were bandages wrapped around his torso and arms, and a few patches on his face and head. Any attempt he made to move resulted in a sharp surge of pain through his muscles.

Not too far from him was John, leaning against a nearby wall. His body wasn’t as badly beaten as Corey. At least, John didn’t have any visible bandages on him. If he did, they’d have been under his sweater. He did have clear bruises in a couple of exposed spots.

Other than the barely-audible chatter from the other room, there was silence. Both were still processing what had happened that day. John finally moved, whirling around and punching the wall he was leaning on. Though John held back, his fist still cracked the wood. At the noise, Corey moved; though he couldn’t move his neck, he could move his eyes towards where he knew John was.

“John…?” Corey asked.

“Was this the best we could do?” John asked out loud, “Even after everything we did, all the prep time, all the training, was that all we could do?!”

“We still managed to win,” said Corey in response, “It could have been worse than what it was.” John turned his back to Corey now, taking in a deep breath.

“But that’s it, Corey,” John sighed, “It will get worse…he’ll be back, I know it, and when he does…” He exhaled once more, “I got lucky today. But I know he won’t fall for the same trick twice. The next time we meet….I don’t think I’ll stand a chance…”

The room fell silent again for a short time. Corey wasn’t sure how to weigh in at first.

“No one’s expecting you to face him alone,” Corey said at last, “We’re all prepared to help you if you need it.”

“How?” John asked, turning to face Corey, “No one else can risk getting near him, much less put up a fight against him.” Sighing again, John turned his head away, “There’s no way around it. I have to be the one to fight him, alone.”

If it had been any other day, Corey might have said something about the irony of the situation. His focus, however, was on something else.

“There’s always another way, John,” Corey said, “Especially here in this world.”

John didn’t respond to Corey straight away. Letting out another sigh, he made his way towards the door. As John reached the door and began to open it, he finally found words.

“Sorry, Corey, but I can’t see one,” he said, walking through the door and closing it behind him, leaving Corey alone in the room with his thoughts. And his thoughts were pointed back towards earlier; the battle he was in.

There is another way. There always is, Corey repeated, reliving a key moment from his battle in his head, And I think I might’ve found it…

Author's Note

And that's how we end there. What else can I say, really?

Act 2 Chapter 16

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 16: There is a Limit…

John’s night was utterly sleepless. His dreams were nightmares; constant replays of his battle from earlier. Over and over, he relived the sensation of being totally outmatched by Lyon. No matter how much he tried, it always ended the same way. And each time the replay ended, he could only feel himself grow more and more bitter towards himself. He was strong; stronger than he could have ever hoped to be when he was human. And yet, it wasn’t enough.

Lyon was better than him. He knew how to fight; countless battles with other opponents had given him experience. John, on the other hand, had never been in a fight when he was human. His only previous battle experience had been against those manikins; creatures he could break with a single solid hit. There was no getting around it—the difference between the two was too great.

Even though they had all managed a win that day, even though the others assured John that he did a good job, and even though Corey of all people was being mildly optimistic (better than his usual disposition), John couldn’t relax.

“He’ll be back…” John knew this to be a fact, and it was something he couldn’t stop reminding himself of. Even if he had managed to get the upper hand in the final moments of the fight, he hadn’t been able to finish it. While the details still weren’t clear, the fact was, Lyon escaped. His final words before he warped away to God-knew-where haunted John.

“Hear me, Dragon! You will suffer for this humiliation!”

John knew deep down this vow of revenge wasn’t a bluff. He knew Lyon would be back; it was only a matter of when.

He’s out there, he’s getting ready… John thought to himself.

Shining had taken time afterward to explain to him what had happened during his fight with Lyon. His opponent had slowly been regaining his fighting talent as the battle dragged on. This information only served to put even more weight on his shoulders. He knew that when Lyon returned, he’d have trained himself to get back to his full fighting ability. And John knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop that terrible beast; at least, the way he was at this moment.

I have to find a way to get better—learn to better handle myself in battle, but how?

This was the question that ate away at him more and more. He knew he didn’t have long to mull over his option.

If I don’t find a way, now, I won’t stand a chance against him come the next attack!

An entire night and morning had passed since the battle. While it was clear their town defense strategy had, for the most part, worked, it hadn’t been without its problems. Twilight and Shining were still reeling from how yesterday’s battle had actually turned out. They, along with everypony else, had discussed at length what had happened. Now, their attention turned to the future. Like John, they too were worried about not if, but when, Lyon was going to strike again.

“A massive lion, whose hide makes him nearly invincible to conventional attacks…” Twilight mumbled, going over the description again, “I thought for sure that I’ve read something about him before…”

“You have?” Shining asked, pausing as he realized what he had just said, “Guess I shouldn’t be so surprised…”

“It’s been a while, so to be sure, I checked around earlier,” Twilight paused, just before a book floated into view, tugged upon by her magic, “I managed to find something about it in Tales of Old: Myths Explored.”

After flipping through several pages with her magic, she paused. With one finger on the page, she began to speak again.

“Does this sound familiar: ‘a monster of black fur, mane of silver, who walked as though he were Pony yet had no kind words for any living thing. When he looked upon things, his red gaze would crush any lesser creature who dared to glance back. He could not be harmed.’” Twilight read from the book.

“That’s exactly what he looked like!” Shining said, “I guess this makes the second legend from one of those books that turned out to be true…”

“Actually,” Twilight said, “This book also gives us some proof that the myths within could have happened. In fact, it says here what happened to him. As it turns out, he did in fact terrorize Equestria a long time ago, a bloodthirsty warrior who wanted to challenge the best. Towards the end of his reign of terror, it says here that one strong Earth pony stood up to him. The battle was an uphill one, but after so long, the bloodthirsty, seemingly invincible lion was defeated, and sent to Tartarus for his crimes…”

“So…” Shining leaned back, “Does this book give us any insight on what his weaknesses are? If someone in the past beat him once, we should be able to beat him again…”

Even though the weather hadn’t changed much since yesterday, Corey felt like the day was so much nicer than before. Maybe it was because, this time, the others didn’t know of an incoming attack, and as such, neither did he. Even though his body didn’t ache as it did before—the same recovery he’d been pulling since his training began worked out for him one more time last night—Corey had still been ordered to take the day off.

With all that in mind, Corey still opted to take a walk around town. Well, maybe “around town” wasn’t the best way to summarize it. He knew precisely where he was going. He was heading back to the park, if only to relive those critical moments where he turned his luck around in that battle.

I need to do this, Corey thought, If only to re-affirm why I’m doing what I’m doing now.

He continued to walk along, his ears deaf to the world around him. His eyes were firmly set on the beaten path from the library to the park. In fact, his eyes were so focused on the path in front of him, he didn’t even notice he was about to walk into a foreign body.

“Oof!” A sharp, masculine grunt snapped Corey’s mind back into objective reality—he was in fact surrounded by other ponies, and he was not able to walk through them.

After Corey took a couple of steps back in surprise, his eyes took in the sight of the pony he had collided with. The pony was a unicorn male, judging from his sharpened snout and even sharper-looking horn. His base fur color was a pale crimson, his eyes indigo in color. His dark red mane was cut short, parted around the horn. His tail was the same color as his mane and of a similar length, and had clearly been taken care of. He wore a closed, dark purple jacket. His legs were covered by a pair of blue jeans, with a hole through the left knee. His shoes were black in color, and appeared to slip right on.

“S-sorry,” Corey stuttered, fiddling with his glasses slightly, “Wasn’t paying attention to where I was going…”

There was an uneasy pause. Though Corey wasn’t quite looking at the pony he’d bumped into, he could still see him. The red unicorn seemed distinctly—surprised, maybe?—to see him. No, he definitely looked offended?

“Well, I guess—“ Corey started, already moving away to let the pony he’d bumped into past.

“Oh, no, it’s my fault too,” said the pony, his voice light, one hand going behind his head, “Just wasn’t paying attention. Taking in all the sights this town has to offer…”

Corey blinked, now able to bring himself to look back to the pony he’d walked into.

“I just haven’t had too much fresh air!” This was followed by a light-hearted laugh.

He seems nice, Corey thought to himself, feeling his previous worry that he’d offended him somehow melt away.

“Oh, I’m not known to get out much either, believe me,” Corey said. He still felt like going to the park, but it seemed like it could wait. He did have all day, after all, “So, what’s your name?”

“Oh, I’m...Maudlin Prose,” the pony said, “And you’re…?”

“C-Corey,” Corey stuttered, “I was just on my way to do something.”

“So was I,” Maudlin answered, rubbing the back of his head, “But I sort of got lost!”

Corey gave a faint smile now, “Really? Well, where were you going?”

“Well, I was hoping to meet Princess Twilight,” said Maudlin, “But I’m new, so I don’t know my way. Do you know where she lives?”

“Yeah, I know where she lives,” Corey said. A few moments of hesitation later, he added, “Actually, I’m heading there now,” Turning on his heel, Corey started walking back, “I’ll show you the way.”

“What a coincidence!” Maudlin cheered after probably a few moments of hesitation on his part, quickly falling into step alongside Corey, “Though, I’m wondering, why are you heading there?”

“I live there,” Corey responded, from the very top of his head. There was a few seconds of pause following this.

“Wait,” Maudlin said, “You live there? In the same place as the princess? How’d you manage that?”

Corey bristled unconsciously. Even now, he was still feeling a little guilt over the “how” of that one, “It’s…complicated.”

“Say no more,” said Maudlin, “I understand.”

“You do?” Corey asked, mentally scolding himself about the way he did so, Don’t sound too hopeful, he doesn’t know what you were…

“Of course. Gentlemen never kiss and tell,” Maudlin said. Corey immediately felt as though a fist slammed straight into his stomach, his face heating up.

I expected John…or Rainbow, to give me trouble over that! Not someone I just met! Corey thought, unable to respond. Thinking desperately of a way to shift the subject, Corey asked the first question that popped into his head:

“So why do you want to meet Twilight?” Corey released a sigh when Maudlin gave a chuckle, hoping he wasn’t going to press the issue.

“Oh, I’m glad you asked,” Maudlin said, “I’m actually writing a book. A book that chronicles my meetings with royalty…”

“You write?” Corey turned to Maudlin, a kind of excitement in his voice that wasn’t usually there, “So do I!”

“Hm, interesting,” Maudlin said, “What about?”

“I’m trying to document what happens to me. It’s just something I do,” Corey walked ahead.

“Just a record of what goes on with you day by day?” Maudlin asked, “No offense, but how is that interesting?”

“I wish I could say more,” Corey said, “But let’s just say, living with a princess does put a lot of things into perspective…”

Minutes passed as Corey lead Maudlin back the way he’d taken from the library. It wasn’t that hard to retrace his steps; most landmarks in Ponyville were hard to forget once you’d lived there—especially when buildings can literally be shaped like gingerbread houses.

“And here it is,” Corey said, motioning to it as he saw it, “Golden Oaks Library. The place where Princess Twilight calls home.”

“She lives…in a library?” Maudlin sounded moderately surprised to hear this, “Then again, a castle would have stood out in a town like this.”

“Yeah, it would,” Corey responded, continuing to trudge straight towards the door. However, he stopped after a few steps, realizing Maudlin’s shoes weren’t tapping the ground close to him. He turned, confused, “Hey, what’re you…?”

“Huh?” Maudlin asked, seeming to come out of a trance.

“Didn’t you want to meet her?” Corey asked, “C’mon, I’ll introduce you.”

Maudlin blinked in response. Corey could tell he was surprised.

“R-really?” Maudlin seemed really excited, something Corey couldn’t fault him for; were their roles reversed he would have been equally nervous, if not more so.

“Yeah. I’m sure she won’t mind meeting you,” Corey said. At this, Maudlin once more shuffled into place close behind Corey. For Corey, the library door was maybe a hundred yards or less away. However, for Maudlin, it must have seemed like an incredibly long distance. Corey’s ears twitched. Maudlin’s feet had stopped pounding the ground for the second time. Corey was within ten feet of the door; Maudlin several feet behind him. Maudlin seemed to be twitching on the spot, his gaze lowered.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Corey asked, “Nervous?”

“Y-yeah,” Maudlin said, looking back up to Corey, “Lost my nerve. Guess after all this time, I…I just can’t bring myself to be around a princess anymore…”

“C’mon, she doesn’t bite,” Corey turned to face Maudlin directly, extending his hand out. Maudlin, however, didn’t seem interested.

“I…think I’ll pay her a visit some other time,” Maudlin explained, turning on his heel and starting to plod away, “Can’t be in front of a princess while I feel like a ball of nerves, after all.”

“Oh, okay,” Corey said, “I get it. Well, I won’t press the issue. Sure she’ll still be here when you compose yourself!”

“Yeah, I’m sure…” Maudlin said. Without breaking his stride, he turned, raising his left hand and waving, “See ya later, Corey. And thanks for showing me the way!”

“No problem,” Corey said, waving back.

That night in Canterlot, Princess Celestia sat alone behind the desk in her room. The lit candle beside her was her only source of light. There was a look of contempt in her eyes as she stared down at the creature sitting on her desk—another rat, the same as the one from before. This time, however, it wasn’t here to deliver a message.

This time, it was here to show her the battle that had unfolded in Ponyville. Through the projections that were created by this rat, Celestia witnessed both battles, as if she had been standing there herself.

I know this isn’t the first time they’ve had to deal with a difficult situation, Celestia thought, watching over the feeds, But to see it happen with my very eyes, and be powerless to help them…

Celestia felt her heart sink as she remembered that feeling—the feeling of seeing so many get hurt over something that was seen as nothing more than a game to someone else. And on top of it all, the feeling of believing someone to have died in the mix. Though the day had been won in the end, she still couldn’t shake it. She knew deep down this was merely the first—no, second, in what was likely going to be a long line of battles. And she would be forced to see all of them—each and every battle that came after this one. And if each was as bad as the last one, she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep herself under control.

Her thoughts were soon derailed the moment she heard several knocks at her door.

“Come in,” she said, her gaze never breaking contact with the rat. She heard the click of the door opening, closely followed by the footsteps of someone walking, but still, she did not turn.

“And here I thought Luna would be the one to sulk in the dark of night,” said a voice. Celestia closed her eyes as she recognized the voice, and all she could do was let out a sigh. At least, at first.

“Please not now, Discord,” Celestia responded, still not looking up at him, “I’m not in high spirits at the moment.”

“Can’t say I don’t blame you,” said Discord. Celestia’s ear twitched. There was something about the way he said it.

Is he…being sincere? thought Celestia.

“But don’t worry, I’m not here to pester you,” Discord made his way around Celestia’s desk, “I’m only here to deliver something.”

He placed something on the desk—several closed folders which had a photo clipped to them. The picture on folder on the top of the stack was someone that Celestia quickly remembered. It was of Lyon, the very lion that had attacked the day before.

“The count is up to five now,” Discord said.

If she had said she was surprised, Celestia would have been lying. Deep down, she wished these prisoners were the only escapees, but something deep down told her there was more.

“Thank you,” she said. With a simple nod—disturbingly simple considering who he was, Celestia realized—Discord made his way out. Not one word further was spoken, at least, until Celestia looked up, seeing his retreating form.

“I take it you have read through these already?” Celestia asked. Discord hadn’t yet reached the door, standing several feet from Celestia. It took several long moments for Discord to respond, almost as if he was in deep thought.

“Yes, I have,” he said flatly.

“Tell me, is it as bad as I suspect?” At this question, there was another pause. Discord still didn’t turn to look.

“In the past, I thought there was nothing I wouldn’t do to have my fun,” said Discord. For a moment, he turned his head back to look at the folders he had placed on her desk. When Celestia caught her gaze, she realized very quickly there was a look on his face that Discord had never had before. Not even when he had been sealed up the second time.

It was a look of genuine disgust he was casting at the folders.

Again, he turned away from Celestia and continued to make his way out of the room. But, just as he was closing the door behind him, Discord said one last thing, three words that Celestia never thought in her life she’d ever hear Discord say.

“I was wrong.”

Author's Note

The end of this chapter might be really controversial, it might not be. Guess I'm about to find out. That's where I leave off for another week.

Act 2 Chapter 17

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 17: …That Must Be Broken…

The day started like the days before the attack did: Corey and Shining would go to the “training zone”, wherever that was, and spend practically the whole day out there. This left Twilight pretty much all alone with her work. Which, considering the situation at hand, consisted of poring over any notes that Princess Celestia sent her, or looking more into the tome that she and the others had uncovered that day. Today, she was finally looking back at those old pages.

For the most part, Spike did what he could to help her, but at the moment, he was elsewhere in the library, tending to some chores that had been piling up from the past couple of days. This left Twilight completely alone at her desk, writing yet more notes on the runic language.

Okay, so that combination was used to contain creatures within, Twilight noted, This, then…

At once, Twilight paused. She stared at the runes she’d been writing down, as well as the runes still within the book. Though she still didn’t know how they translated to English, if they did at all, Twilight could see something on the surface she hadn’t quite thought about in detail. A memory came back to her; the battle at the park. Corey had used runic magic extensively—all one spell that he knew for sure up until he buffed his physical strength. Closing her eyes, letting her quill float instead of holding it in her hand, she tried to think of how they looked. The quill responded, drawing a line of symbols. As Twilight finished recalling the runes Corey used, she opened her eyes, and looked down at the page.

Glancing between the book’s pages and her own, newly drawn line of runes, Twilight blinked.

“Am I seeing this right?” she questioned aloud, her right index finger hovered under the runes she’d just drawn, her left under the runes in the book. There was no mistake about it.

His runes are…different, somehow, from the ones in this book… Twilight asked, His symbols don’t match the ones here…

She glanced up from the symbols, across the desk. Only when she saw empty space did she remember where Corey was.

That’s right…he’s still out with Shining… she thought to herself, lowering her gaze to the papers. It seemed like just yesterday that Corey had his first lesson. Well, first proper lesson; Twilight still didn’t know why she’d dumped all that work on him and expected him to just cope. And as she began to recall all the days they’d spent cooped up in this room, the memories began to wash over her like a river.

The moment that really stood out first was the time when he’d projected his cutie mark successfully for the first time. The look on his face—that smile he gave, marked the first time she’d truly seen any real life out of him. He had quickly receded back into his shell afterward, but it didn’t take nearly as much to draw him out. The memory of what he’d said about her smile abruptly washed back.

Why did that bother me…? No, no, maybe “bother” isn’t the right word…

That subject was quickly dropped, however, as another memory stood out among them. It was right before she went to go help John against the very first wave. Corey had more or less begun to master levitation. She wasn’t really paying attention, her worry pointed elsewhere. He had known there was something wrong, but didn’t press the issue—at least, until that day. It was probably the first time he’d ever even come close to looking straight at her.

“Let me worry about that,” he told me, she thought, Why does remembering that…make me feel so…light?

Twilight sighed, wondering when she decided to get so sidetracked with that. Those were nostalgic times, to be sure, but times had changed now.

Twilight, you’ve got to get a hold of yourself, she thought, We all have a job to do. Thinking about him won’t help… The least you can do to help him is go over this book, and point out anything you—

“Twilight?”

She knew the voice all too well, jumping slightly in response. One hand to her chest, she looked up. Standing in the doorway—no, leaning on one side of it slightly, looking mildly fatigued at worst; clearly having finished a round of exercise, was Corey.

“Corey?” Twilight lowered her hand to the desk, regaining her composure as she spoke, “I…I, uh, thought you’d be out with Shining all day again.”

“After the run today,” Corey said, “Shining and me went our separate ways.”

Now that sounded a little fishy to Twilight. Corey apparently caught some kind of look on her face, because he continued onward.

“We came to an agreement,” he left the doorway at this point, walking over to her, “I asked him if I could try a few days off, training on my own.”

“What?” Twilight asked flatly, unsure what to be more surprised by. On one hand, she was surprised Shining actually allowed him to go through with it. But, on the other… That really doesn’t sound like Corey…

“I told him I had an idea,” Corey began to explain, finishing his trek across the room to her desk, “Well, more like a plan. I’m starting to understand—at least, I think I am—how my runic magic works.”

“You are?” Twilight asked, looking to the blank parchment on her right. She didn’t need to ask him to explain. He continued talking. As he spoke, she realized there was a certain quality to his voice that he didn’t seem to have before.

“Every rune spell I’ve used so far has been on a subconscious level,” Corey said, “The impact spell, I had to relive how I felt at the moment I used it in order to ‘remember’ how to use it. The unlock spell…I’m still not completely sure how that worked. As for the other spell I used two days ago during the battle, the only thing I did was will myself to be stronger. My magic took care of the rest.”

His voice, Twilight thought to herself as she scribbled away, making sense of what Corey was telling her. Yet, she couldn’t shake it, He sounds more confident, more sure of himself than I’ve ever heard him.

“No matter what, my will had guided the use of my runes in the end. The impact spell was due to my will to survive at that instant. The ‘strength’ spell, as I’ll call it, was my will to become stronger to combat the threats. My plan, then, is to get this under control. I feel that if I can do that, I should be able to help out a lot more when the next attack comes.”

Twilight looked down to her papers. She had heard every single one of his words. Yet, something didn’t register in her. He had a plan of action, for sure, and it seemed sound judging from what he’d said.

“Then…” Twilight began, “Why are you here? You sound like you know what you’re doing…”

“I can’t execute my plan the way I am, not like this,” Corey said. For the first time since he started talking, he sounded less confident. Even then, however, he didn’t seem like he was going to back down anytime soon. He still seemed convinced of something even as he continued onward, “I had to re-create the feeling just to ‘remember’ my impact spell. If I have to wait for my life to be threatened, and then remember how that felt each time I need to learn how a spell works, I’ll never get anywhere! I need to ‘fix’ how that works.

“If the runes really are guided by my will, then I should be able to have control over what I can do with them. But I don’t have that level of control. I don’t even have the know-how,” At this point, Corey paused, and an unsure look passed through his eyes for a moment.

Several points in Twilight’s head clicked all at once. She wasn’t sure why, but a feeling of excitement began to course through her. Barely managing to compose herself, she finally managed to get her words out.

“W-what are you saying?” Twilight asked.

“Twilight, I can’t do this without you,” Corey said. He said something else, but for a moment Twilight felt herself get hopelessly lost in her thoughts, unable to hear what else he had said.

Why…why am I so excited? Twilight thought, H-he’s just…he’s just continuing his lessons…so why…why is my heart--?

“T…Twilight?” Corey asked, tilting his head to one side. This brought Twilight back to reality.

“Y-you’re saying,” Twilight struggled against herself, her cheeks pinkening as she tried desperately to just move past what Corey had just said, “You…you want to continue your lessons?”

“Y-yeah,” Corey said. Even when he stuttered, he didn’t seem to lose any significant steam.

Twilight wasn’t sure what compelled her to do it, but the next thing she knew, she had stood up from her chair, and put both of her hands on his shoulders. Corey flinched just a little, but offered a small smile regardless. Twilight returned it.

“I’d like nothing more…”

While Pinkie had her own room on the second floor of Sugarcube Corner, there was another room she used regularly. This room was in the basement. This was where she stored her various party supplies, and a few contraptions she’d built over the years. At that moment, she stood in that very room. In front of her, on top of her working table, was an incomplete party cannon. Her original cannon had been broken beyond repair during the battle with Lyon. So now, she was left with little choice but to build a replacement.

“Could you pass me that screwdriver?” she asked, tightening a bolt on the cannon with a wrench. Sitting not too far from Pinkie was Fluttershy, who had agreed to help Pinkie with her project.

“This one?” Fluttershy reached out for the tool in question as she talked.

“Yup!” said Pinkie, switching tools and going back to work, “Thanks for helping me today.”

“You’re welcome,” said Fluttershy. During the silence that followed, Fluttershy looked down as a small frown formed on her face, “To be honest, it just feels good to be some use to somepony.”

Pinkie stopped working on her cannon and looked up to her. Though Fluttershy had always been adept at hiding her face behind her hair, Pinkie was able to spot the look on her face.

“What do you mean?” she asked. Fluttershy didn’t respond at first, her eyes drifting further away from Pinkie, her mind in deep thought. Eventually, Fluttershy gave a small sigh, turning her eyes back to Pinkie, she continued onward.

“Pinkie, do you think I belong in this…game?” asked Fluttershy. Pinkie didn’t respond straight away, feeling like this was a loaded question. She wanted to be careful with how she answered, knowing just how fragile Fluttershy could be.

“This isn’t a game, Shy,” said Pinkie, “Games are supposed to be fun! Games make ponies laugh and smile!” Putting her screwdriver down, Pinkie sat down in a highly twirly office chair of sorts. As it spun once, she looked up at the ceiling, “There’s nothing fun about this at all!” Pinkie wasn’t the only one who thought this; it went without saying that the others would have agreed with her wholeheartedly. But even so…

“That’s true, yes,” Fluttershy said, “But you never answered my question.” Pinkie scrunched her muzzle slightly, a small part of her wishing she could have just dodged the question.

“To be honest, there are a lot of us who don’t belong in this not-game,” Pinkie said, “Dash and Applejack are both strong. They can fight their own battles alone if they have to. Twilight’s one of the most powerful ponies I’ve ever seen. John’s a dragon, and if you saw the fight he put up, you’d know he can handle this. And from what I’ve heard about Corey, it sounds like he’s found his own boat to ride around in.”

Fluttershy realized this was probably the longest Pinkie had ever spoken without just rambling nonsensically about what was on her mind.

“I mean, they can take care of themselves and each other, but then there’s the rest of us. We’re not in their league,” After Pinkie finally finished speaking, there was another silence that pervaded the room.

“No, you’re wrong,” Fluttershy said, catching Pinkie’s attention, “The only one who’s out of her league is me.”

Pinkie blinked at what Fluttershy said. Up until now, she’d just gone with the belief that Fluttershy, Rarity, and she herself were the weak links to the team. Was she missing something?

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that you and Rarity are more helpful than you think,” said Fluttershy, “Sure, Rarity is a fashion designer, and she will try to avoid getting her hands dirty unless she has to. But she’s a lot stronger than even she knows. Not to mention what she was doing during the attack; somehow, in a short time, she learned how to fire a laser like Twilight. That alone proves she can keep up with the others if she needs to.”

Pinkie thought it over for a bit, and she quickly realized what Fluttershy was saying was true.

“But what about me?” she asked, “I can’t fire a laser like Twilight and Rarity! I can’t fly like Rainbow! And I’m pretty sure no mare alive is as strong as Applejack!” she summed up.

“It’s not about what you can’t do, Pinkie, it’s about what you can,” said Fluttershy, earning a confused look from Pinkie. Fluttershy then pointed at Pinkie’s new cannon, “I mean, look at this. You built a cannon that fires confetti. I watched you build it and I still don’t know how you did it,” Getting up from her chair, Fluttershy then turned her attention to some of the other things Pinkie had in the basement.

“Not only that, but you also have those umbrella hats, and a bike that can fly,” Fluttershy continued, “With the things you’ve built already, Celestia knows what else you could build if you put your mind to it. But me, what do I have to offer? Other than being able to talk to animals…”

Pinkie opened her mouth to answer, but quickly found she couldn’t think of one. Fluttershy had always, always been the kind, gentle one—hence why she was the Element of Kindness—the one who tried to find a solution where everyone could be happy. But that wasn’t an option this time, no matter how much they wished it could be. The silence dragged on for a while longer with Pinkie being unable to come up with something to say. However, Fluttershy got the message.

“Thanks again for letting me help you, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said, breaking the silence, “I should go. It’s almost lunch time.” Fluttershy made her way towards the door. But Pinkie wasn’t about to let Fluttershy leave just like that.

“Fluttershy, wait!” Pinkie called out, zipping over to her as she was about to go upstairs, “Not everypony starts off as a fighter. Some never have to fight at all! But if push comes to shove, we all find a way.” This wasn’t something she’d come up with on the spot; nor was it the beginning of an improvised music number—Pinkie didn’t have the time to do that yet. It was her speaking directly from her heart. Fluttershy did stop for a moment, but didn’t say anything to Pinkie as she left the building.

Pinkie, left alone with her own thoughts, felt down on herself. She’d wanted to have been able to give Fluttershy a better answer, but she couldn’t think of anything at the time. But, she also had something else on her mind. What Fluttershy had said about her contraptions struck her in a way she couldn’t understand. Yes, she built them with her own two hands, but she’d never really thought about it. And now, as she stared around the room at all the devices she’d built, she felt as though she was looking upon them for the very first time.

Celestia knows what you could build if you put your mind to it…

Fluttershy’s words echoed once again through Pinkie’s head. This time, something—a bell, perhaps?—began to chime. But whatever it was wasn’t important now. At that very moment, Pinkie was struck with inspiration.

Outside of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash was walking through a path that she had taken a few times before. Her head was still bandaged, the doctor having ordered her to refrain from flying until the cut had fully healed. Though she protested, her friends insisted that she follow those orders. But though she was grounded, Rainbow wasn’t going to let that stop her from doing what she had set out to accomplish. There was someone she was looking for, someone she’d wanted to talk to since the fight with Lyon, but she hadn’t gotten the chance.

The walk was longer than she remembered. Then again, it was a walk now, and not a flight to where she was going, but she got there eventually. It was the very cliff where she had started teaching John how to fly. Rainbow found her luck had changed—John was sitting on the ground level, his head craned upward as he stared up at the waterfall.

Rainbow walked up toward John, silently at first. He was unable to hear her light footsteps over the roar of the waterfall.

“Should have known you’d be here,” Rainbow said as she reached John’s side. John jumped slightly at hearing Rainbow’s voice. He turned his head towards her, only to see her smirking back at him.

“Oh, hey, Rainbow,” said John, turning his sight back to the waterfall, “How’s your head?”

She grumbled slightly, putting a hand on the bandage. Just from touching the wound, she could still feel a dull pain.

“Better than yesterday, I guess,” she said.

“That’s good to hear,” said John, a slight smile forming on his mouth.

The only sound that could be heard after that was the sound of the rushing water. Both John and Rainbow stared up at the cliff for several minutes.

“I never got to thank you,” said Rainbow.

“Thank me?” John questioned, turning to her, “For what?”

“For what you did that day,” once again, Rainbow put a hand to her head, “If it wasn’t for you, this would have been a lot worse.”

John trembled, just a little, at the mention of worse.

If I was just a second slower… John thought, just before forcing himself to trail off, not wanting to think about it further. Even though he trembled only slightly, Rainbow looked over to him. She saw the serious expression on his face.

“Something’s been bothering you since that fight, hasn’t it?” she asked, John closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He wanted to try and forget about the whole fight, even if only for a bit. But he knew now it wouldn’t help him.

“He got away,” John finally said, “Lyon tossed me around like a ragdoll. I was losing that fight eight ways to Sunday. Even though I managed to find a way to pull off a come-from-behind victory, he still got away. And ever since then, this feeling just keeps building inside of me, and I just didn’t know what it was. At least, not right away.”

John stood straight up, “I’m scared. For the first time since this all started, I’m actually afraid. Not about what could happen to me, but about what could happen if I can’t fight anymore—of what could happen to my friends if I can’t protect them.”

John clenched his fist as the feelings all built up inside of him again. His mind reached the worst possible scenario once more—if he were to fail, he could see it now…

The feelings suddenly stopped building at the sensation of a gentle touch on his fist.

“You’re not the first,” John looked over to see Rainbow holding his fist with both of her hands, her brows furrowed as she stared at him, “I’ve told you before that we’ve been in dangerous situations. I know what it feels like, to be afraid of what would happen if you failed. Of being worried about what would happen to the ponies you care about because of it,” As John heard Rainbow talk, he could feel himself calming down, releasing the grip he had on his hand.

“But I can’t afford to let ‘what-ifs’ control me. I have to rely on my abilities and the trust I have in my friends. And hope that somewhere down the road we’ll find a way to save the day,” Rainbow continued onward, “Even if Lyon did get away, it doesn’t change that you still managed to win in the end. It doesn’t matter how many times he comes back, because if you stand by your friends, then you will always find a way to win.”

And she does it again, John thought to himself, letting out a small chuckle.

“Thank you,” he said, turning around and placing his free hand on Rainbow’s shoulder.

“No problem,” said Rainbow, as she let go of John’s hand, “Tell anyone what I said today, and I’ll kill you,” she said, poking John on the chest.

For the first time since the fight with Lyon, John laughed.

His talk with Rainbow helped lighten John’s spirit by a large margin. But even if he was feeling better about himself, it didn’t change an important fact. Lyon was still going to come back soon, and right now, John knew he still wasn’t ready for that moment. But even so, he longer felt himself stressing out about it. Maybe, it was because Rainbow’s words were still hanging over him.

“I just have to wait and hope for the best, I guess,” John thought to himself, finally entering the library. The first thing he noticed was just how empty the building was. No sign of Twilight, Corey, or Shining.

“Where is everyone?” asked John, not expecting an answer.

“Corey and Twilight are upstairs,” John turned towards the corner of the room. Spike was sitting on a sofa, reading a comic book, “Shining’s still out.”

After answering John, Spike put his comic off to one side and reached into the pocket of his shorts. He pulled out a rolled up parchment with a light blue ribbon tied around it.

“What’s that?” asked John.

“Yours,” said Spike, tossing the parchment over to John.

John quickly, carefully unrolled the parchment and began to read the writing on it. After a few seconds of reading, John’s eyes opened wide, a different set of words now re-joining Rainbow’s over John’s head.

“There’s always a way…”

As Corey’s previous words echoed through his mind, John found himself smirking once again.

“So there is…”

Author's Note

And here's where we leave off. Unfortunately, due to a very hectic college schedule, I'm not as sure I'll be able to go at the rate I've been going. So, with that said, I'm going to change this story to bi-weekly updates. That is, you won't be seeing a new chapter for another two weeks (unless I change my mind).

Act 2 Chapter 18

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 18: …To Advance

It was like the old days of last week. Each day, Corey and Twilight would retreat to that room where he’d done his studying, and she would supervise him as he floated a given object. However, that was where the similarities ended. Ever since Corey had asked to start up his magic lessons again, the speed at which they progressed was increased dramatically. Though Twilight managed to keep the required reading down to a minimum, the practical lessons had been fair game for it.

Corey stood close to the center of the room, his horn alight with a bright green glow. Cloaked in that same glow, orbiting his body in different directions, were several unlit candles. Corey’s eyes were open, and they followed the movements of candles that happened to pass through his vision.

Twilight looked on, smiling as he continued onward. Her smile faded just a little, as she reached for another candle from a small, neatly arranged pile on her right.

“Alright, one more,” she said, holding it up. Corey’s eyes focused on Twilight and the candle she was holding. The candles orbiting around him slowed in response, but remained moving. Corey’s eyebrows twitched, but he continued moving the candle from her hand.

Corey grumbled to himself. Twilight’s brow creased when she heard it, but straight away, she saw no reason for concern. That is, until she saw the candle stop about midway between the two of them. Corey was grumbling louder. The movements of the candles he was holding became erratic, and the glow on his horn fluctuated. As she looked to the candles, she realized some of them were beginning to melt. Taking a quick look at Corey, she saw a warning sign that his emotions had begun to get the better of him.

“Corey,” Twilight took one step forward as she said it. Corey’s ears twitched, and he seemed to focus on her, “Remember, don’t force the magic. Let it flow freely.”

Quickly surveying what he was doing to the candles, Corey closed his eyes. He took one slow, deep breath. The candles started to resume orbiting again, no longer melting in the magical grasp. The one Twilight had given him to add to the “solar system” of candles had joined the others, and it too begin to orbit around him.

“Pick up the pace,” Twilight said, returning to her original position, still keeping an eye on his technique, “In another three minutes, we’re adding one more!”

“Right,” Corey said. As he did as he was told, still watching each of the candles, Twilight began to think about what she was seeing.

He’s gotten much better now, she noted, The fact he can watch each of the candles go by, and talk to me while doing this proves he’s improved.

Corey wasn’t the only one who had set out to better himself before the next attack. That battle days ago awakened a desire in everyone who had taken part in it. All of them wanted to ensure that next time, it would be different. Far outside of Ponyville, even further than Corey and Shining’s training spot, the latter stood in the center of an open plain. His top was cast aside and he was panting heavily with sweat running down his brow.

Surrounding him were several unicorn guards, each of them charging up a spell, their horns alight with different colors.

“Should we stop for a break, captain?” asked one of the guards.

“No,” said Shining, standing straight up, “I’m not stopping, not until I’m satisfied.”

Shining’s horn began to glow brightly—even brighter than the guards had seen from him before. The moment his spell was cast, a large dome began to expand from him, expanding until it was several feet in radius.

“Everypony set?” he asked the waiting guards, who all gave a collective “hmph” of agreement.

“Fire!” On command, each guard fired a laser towards Shining’s shield. The force of each laser hitting the shield caused it to vibrate violently. As Shining fought to maintain his shield, visions of the battle with Lyon flashed through his mind.

His shields had been broken as though they were nothing—the shields he prided himself in—the same ones he swore would protect his loved ones, were shattered.

“Never again…” Shining grumbled, his shield beginning to glow.

“No matter what it takes, I will protect them!”

Back in the basement of Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie was hard at work. Her hair was held back in a ponytail—strangely, even then, her hair still seemed inflated like a balloon. There was an oil stain on her face. Her attention was completely focused on her working table, her eyes filled with determination as she worked. The whole basement was filled with even more party supplies than usual. The basement also had scorched spots in various spots on the floor.

Beside her table was a bulletin board with several blueprints nailed to it. The way they were drawn, however, did not appear to have any rhyme or reason to it. However, Pinkie Pie had no trouble reading them at all.

Pinkie continued to work on her project carefully. At least, until her ears twitched, registering a click that came from the object close to her hands, followed by a ticking sound.

“Uh-oh!” Pinkie said, diving under her work table, plugging her fingers in her ears. Eventually the ticking stopped, and there was an explosion of light and sound. Everything went silent, and the light that flooded the room faded away.

Slowly Pinkie raised her hand from under the table, both hands over her ears as she eyed the mark on her table—the same as the scorch marks on the floor. At the center was her new creation—or at least, what was left of it.

“That makes five,” Pinkie said, rubbing the back of her head, “Oh well.”

She picked up the ruined object, and tossed in the trash. In that bin were other objects similar to it, in various states of ruin.

“Trigger’s still so sensitive,” she observed, collecting more supplies, “But this one turned out better than the others. I’ll get this. I just know it!”

With no more than a skip, Pinkie went right back to work on attempt number six.

Even though the threat of another attack was close, it didn’t change the fact that Applejack had obligations to tend to. Chores still needed to be done. The farm still needed to be tended to. But that didn’t mean Applejack couldn’t use those two facts to her advantage. Applebucking was a great workout for one’s legs. However, Applejack found a way to make that workout even better. Though steel boots were out of the question when it came to the orchards, she had another idea. Bound to her calves by ropes were two sacks—one for each leg. Each weighed about thirty pounds.

Tilting her Stetson up so that she could get a better view of the tree in front of her, Applejack readied herself. Lifting one of her legs, she delivered a kick to the tree. It rattled, several apples falling off. Already dreading the final result, Applejack began to count the apples that had fallen.

“Twelve…” she grumbled in disappointment. Were this a normal day, Applejack would have been able to shake a tree dry in a single kick. But with thirty pounds on each leg, her kicks were no longer accurate. Yet, even though she was frustrated, she knew it was a necessary sacrifice. If she could strengthen her legs to a point where she could kick a tree as effectively as she could without them, then she would have considered it progress.

“Stronger,” Applejack said to herself, preparing herself to try again, “Have to get stronger…”

In Fluttershy’s backyard, not too far removed from her home, several tin cans were lined up on display. Any and all animals in the area took their position on either side of this, standing as far away from it as possible. And in the center of the two lines of watching animals was Rarity. Her eyes were locked on to the cans several yards away from her.

Her horn began to glow as she prepared herself to cast a spell. She focused her gaze on the can in the center of the lineup. It took a few seconds, but her magic eventually went to the very tip of her horn. Another second more, a brilliant, blue beam of magic shot out directly at the can she aimed for.

Or so she thought…

The beam soared towards the can, but it did not hit its mark. Instead, it listed to the left as it continued to fly, and flew between two cans, continuing onward.

“Confound it,” Rarity huffed, stomping her foot on the ground, “I can push a thread through a needle, but I cannot hit the side of a tin can?”

“Oh, but you were really close that time!” said Fluttershy from the sidelines.

“Thank you darling,” said Rarity, “But close simply will not do. I may have learned this spell, but I have not quite figured out the aim just yet. But if I keep at it, I am sure it will pan out!”

Mildly pumping her fist once, she turned to Fluttershy completely, “Thank you for allowing me to use your backyard for target practice.”

“It’s no problem at all,” Fluttershy said with a small smile. Rarity nodded to her for a moment. As Rarity turned her attention back to the cans, ready to try again, Fluttershy’s smile began to turn upside-down.

It’s not like I can help any other way…

Rainbow had come to understand that wound care was an incredibly annoying process. Not only was she still not allowed to fly, but she also had to change her bandages every few hours.

“At least the cut’s getting smaller,” she tightened the bandage around her head. It was nearly healed, so she wouldn’t be grounded for much longer. Even so, she had found a way to avoid doing nothing at all.

Rainbow’s time had previously been dumped into her wings and only her wings. Though her lifelong wing training had kept her slim, it was hardly ideal for what was going on. The rest of her body was still somewhat weak—no, not weak. She just had room to improve.

Now decked out in her training gear, Rainbow was jogging through town. With the added resistance of wrist and ankle weights (borrowed from Applejack), the run was more difficult, just as she wanted. Every now and then, Rainbow would feel a slight pulse in her hand—right on her wound. Soon after the fight, she’d remembered what happened to her, about how the broken cannon thrown at her had caused her injury.

“If I had just noticed it sooner…” Rainbow thought to herself. She could have avoided it if she had. But she didn’t notice it, a fact that bothered her even now. Every time she felt the pulse in her head, every time she remembered getting knocked down, Rainbow would just increase her speed, hoping to leave that feeling of failure behind.

Eventually, even a pony like Rainbow had to stop and catch her breath. After a long while, she’d reached that point, by which time she’d lapped the town a good few times. She didn’t lap the town as many times as she would have flying, but for a run, it was a respectable amount. Rainbow sat for a moment, slowing her breathing as she looked up to the sky. She would join it again soon, and when she did, she vowed to be better than she was.

Soon, she was rested and ready to go again. Getting up, she stretched her legs and took off. Her run went on for several minutes. She planned to lap the town several more times before she would call it a day. But she didn’t quite reach that point—something caught Rainbow’s eye.

“Huh?” she asked, stopping in her tracks, jogging in place. Off in the distance, she could see someone standing alone clear as day. Curious, she decided to see who it was. As she got closer, it became clear.

“John?” Rainbow questioned as she got close. He was standing alone in an open part of the hill. His head was tilted upward, toward the sky. She continued to move towards him, aiming to ask him what he was doing. But before she did, something else entered her view.

Descending from the sky was a pony—a bat pony, much to Rainbow’s surprise. He and John shared what looked like a greeting, before they started talking. Rainbow didn’t know what they were talking about, but she’d be damned if she wasn’t going to get some kind of insight.

“Hey!” she called out. John turned his head, seeing her. The bat pony tensed up, as though expecting an attack. John raised a hand. His new friend (as far as Rainbow knew) relaxed his stance a bit.

“Rainbow?’ John questioned, as Rainbow began to move closer.

“The heck’s going on here?” Rainbow asked, a puzzled look on her face. John looked to her for a moment. His brow twitched a bit.

“I’m, um…going somewhere,” John said.

“Where?” Of course John should have expected such a question to follow.

“I don’t know,” John answered. Rainbow stared at John for several seconds, trying to make sure he wasn’t trying to lie about what was going on.

“Okay…” Rainbow paused, “Then when will you be back?”

John looked away, rubbing the back of his head, “I don’t know that either…”

By now, Rainbow was convinced something was up. To her, it seemed likely that John was lying to her, which served to irritate her.

“So you’re going somewhere, but don’t know where, and you don’t know when you’ll be back?” she asked. John merely nodded, increasing her annoyance, “Do I look stupid?”

“We must make haste, dragon,” said the batpony; only now did Rainbow realize the kind of armor he was wearing. Instead of white and gold like the Royal Guards she’d seen, it was black and blue, “It will be a long flight.”

“Just give me a minute,” John said. The bat—no, guard, nodded his head.

“Listen,” John returned his attention to Rainbow, “I know it doesn’t sound like I’m being legit at all, but I am. I don’t know where I’m going because I wasn’t told.”

“What do you mean?” Rainbow questioned. John started to answer, his mouth opening. But it closed just as quickly. Reaching into the pocket of his pants, he pulled out the parchment Spike had given him.

“This ought to explain it,” said John, passing the paper to Rainbow. Initially, she hesitated, but eventually took it from him. It took several seconds for Rainbow to unroll it and read the writing on it. It took a couple more seconds for her to understand what she’d just read. And when she did, her eyes opened wide.

“Wait, do you know who this is from?” she asked.

“I do…” John nodded. Rainbow looked down to the parchment one last time before rolling it back up.

“So you were just going to leave without saying anything?” Upon catching the look in her eyes, John felt a feeling of guilt blossom in his chest.

“I wanted to talk, I really did,” John finally spoke up, “But everyone was busy. They’re all preparing themselves. I couldn’t bring myself to bother them. So in the end, I just left a note, hoping you’d all understand.”

“Well, I guess,” Rainbow folded her arms over her chest, “But you still could have tried. Maybe then, we could have all seen you off.”

During the silence that followed, John stared back at Rainbow, a smile growing on his face.

“Well at least you’re here to see me off,” John put a hand on her shoulder, “That’s something, right?”

Rainbow looked up at John with surprise. But the eye contact they’d had was only for a moment. John soon turned around.

“I-I guess,” she stuttered, wondering why she was doing so, “S-so you don’t know when you’ll be back?”

“No, I don’t,” said John flatly, “But I promise, I’ll be back as soon as possible. I won’t leave you guys alone when the time comes.”

“You’d better keep that promise,” Rainbow warned, wagging her finger.

“Don’t worry, I intend to,” with that, John turned back towards the guard, “Alright, I’m ready!”

The guard complied quickly, his bat wings opening wide. John’s wings also opened, following close behind.

Rainbow hadn’t turned around when John and the guard flew away. If she did, however, he surely would have noticed the pink on her face.

A couple of days had passed. John was no longer around the library. Though things seemed like they had fallen back into the days before Shining arrived, with John helping around town half the day, and Corey and Twilight holed up in that room, it wasn’t the case. Twilight still wondered what John had received that made him have to leave without explaining too much, but if that was how he was to prepare for the next attack…well, he should have still told someone.

But Twilight wasn’t out and about looking for John. She had been asked to walk to the outskirts of town. She knew where she was going. Corey had been a bit too…descriptive, in telling her where he was going to be today.

Last night, during their lessons, Corey had a breakthrough. As a result, he decided to leave the library for the day. Twilight wondered what kind of magic she’d see this time. She had left the town, heading southwest.

“Let’s see,” she mumbled, pushing one finger against the bridge of her nose, “He said, ‘When I start to see rocks, turn right’. And if I keep going that way, I should find him.”

After several minutes of walking through the trees, sure enough, she encountered some small rocks, stuck in the ground. As Corey had told her, she’d turned right. As she looked to the ground, she realized there were uncountable small pebbles strewn about. Twilight continued to look around, and as she continued, she realized the pebbles weren’t randomly distributed. They seemed to form a path, same with several other pebble paths she realized were near.

Curious, Twilight drew closer to the one closest to her, and ran one finger through it, feeling nothing but coarseness as she did. Looking to it afterward, she realized it was covered with a layer of gray dust.

“I wonder…?” Twilight started. After a moment, she smiled, walking down the path she was supposed to take.

About two minutes later, she reached a clearing. Remnants of boulders and scorch marks littered the area. There were a few unbroken rocks around as well, each at least the size of a regular pony. Then, after taking a second look around, she saw him.

Corey was leaning against one of the boulders. Clearly, having his shirt off wasn’t nearly as big an issue as it once was for him. He hadn’t yet noticed she was there, his glasses off and his eyes half-closed. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen him with no top. Of course, back then he wasn’t as…fit.

Cutting herself off, hoping discussing whatever he was doing up here would distract her from those thoughts, she opened her mouth.

“There you are,” Twilight said, beginning to move closer. Corey looked up to her and gave a small smile, clearly much more comfortable with the situation.

“Okay, good,” If anything, he sounded relieved, “You found your way alright.”

“Hard to miss the dust paths coming from here,” Twilight smiled, “Those really let me know I was on the right track. But where’d they come from?” The smile faded, replaced with a puzzled glance back the way she came.

“One of the first things I did after getting set up was testing how my new control affected the spells I did know,” Corey said, “Not only did the impact spell come out faster, when it took effect, it was more concentrated into the one point.”

Twilight gave a small nod of understanding, smiling. Then, her mind rewound and repeated Corey’s statement.

“When you say ‘set up’…” Twilight trailed off, motioning to the unbroken boulders.

“Oh, yeah,” Corey said, “Right after I did the daily run. I wondered where Shining pulled these from. Didn’t take me that long to find out.”

“You moved them here?” Twilight asked, an image of Corey floating them here with his magic ingraining itself into her mind’s eye. However, she still had to be sure, “How?”

“Well,” Corey looked around, eventually turning to the boulder closest to her and walking over. Twilight watched as he crouched in front of it, “Basically…”

Runes appeared over his arms—Twilight blinked; they seemed to be writing faster now. They spread over his body, and one moment later, Corey’s body changed. His exposed muscles suddenly gained mass, and he lifted the boulder over his head with both hands.

“Just like that,” Corey said, his back still to her.

No response.

“Twilight?” Corey asked, setting the boulder back down. His muscles contracted back down to where they were before as he turned back to face Twilight.

Twilight’s eyes were wide with surprise. Her cheeks were stained with a pink color, her mouth slightly ajar. Corey tilted his head to one side.

“Twilight,” Corey took a step towards her, “Are you okay?”

Twilight blinked, one hand going to her jaw and closing it. However, her blush only grew worse as she realized what she’d been doing, “Huh—what? I-I’m sorry…Uh…w-were you still explaining?”

Something in Corey’s head clicked when he saw her reaction. Her blank, blushing expression, the fact he just lifted? It seemed too much of a coincidence. Especially when a memory passed over him—how Twilight reacted to his arm a few days ago.

“I…uh,” Corey started, glancing over to where he’d been sitting, really wishing he’d had his shirt back right now, “No, th-that was…that was pretty much it…”

There was an awkward pause. Twilight’s gaze shifted to the ground, trying to get her senses back. Corey shuffled about, kicking the dirt once lightly. Eventually, it was Twilight who found her voice.

“Y-you know, Corey,” Twilight looked back up to face him, “I…I’m impressed at how far you’ve come over the past couple of days. You’re able to control your magic so much better now…”

“I…” Corey jumped at the chance to move as far away from what had just happened, “I couldn’t have done it without you. B-besides,” He caught the return of an embarrassed look on her face, and tried to steer the conversation, “John left to get better. I couldn’t fall behind…”

“Corey…“ He kept right on going, Twilight’s voice just quiet enough to escape his notice despite the fact they weren’t too far apart.

“Next time, I…I won’t get pushed around,” Corey continued, “I want to be strong enough to stand on my own…”

Another pause. It wasn’t nearly as awkward as the previous one. Twilight looked to Corey. More accurately, her head was turned in his direction, but her eyes were closed. Her hands came together over the center of her chest.

“Twilight?” asked Corey, turning to face her completely.

“Corey, there’s something I’ve been meaning to say since the last attack...” Her eyes opened, one arm going to her side.

Had Corey still been the same brand of wimp he was when he arrived, he would have definitely taken a step back when she said that. His heart rate rose in alarm all the same, however.

“And over the past couple of days, too,” Twilight took two steps toward him, “No. Even longer, ever since you found out you were being forced to be part of some sick pony’s game. You didn’t have to be part of this fight. At any point, you could have tried to stay on the sides, and I would have understood if you did. I…I don’t know what it’s like back where you came from. But I can’t imagine it’s anything like this!”

Corey wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find the words. And a small part of him urged him to keep silent.

“Instead, despite your fears, you put yourself through all this,” Twilight was another two steps closer now, “You never complained. At least, not that I’ve heard. Even when your body cried out for rest, even when your mind screamed for you to run, you kept going. You’re…you’re doing everything you can think of, just to help us in this fight.”

So is John… Corey thought.

“I…I wanted to thank you,” Twilight turned slightly away, and here, Corey could see it, glinting in the sunlight: a tear, maybe two, sliding down her cheek, “For that. You’re giving all you can give…more than that, even!”

Corey’s heart was beating a little faster than he wanted it to, but it didn’t matter. Corey took a step forward, saying the first thing that came to his mind:

“I’ll give even more than that, if it means keeping you safe!”

Corey froze immediately afterward. Twilight blinked. There were those butterflies again…

“A-and the others, too!” Corey continued, blushing furiously as he tried desperately to stutter his way out of the corner he’d talked himself into, “They mean…a lot to me too…”

“O-oh, of course!” Twilight raised a hand to her jaw, blushing just a little, “I…I thought you meant that…”

The two stood there, alone in that clearing, for a few seconds more. The sounds of nature were the only real sounds to be heard.

“Thanks,” Twilight repeated, “But…I want you to promise me something…”

“What?” Corey asked, looking away a bit.

“If…if it feels like it’s going to start overwhelming you,” Twilight said, “I…I want you to tell me—tell someone, and take a step back. I really appreciate what you’re doing, but you should know by now this isn’t fun and games…”

“O-okay…” Corey responded, more dumbfounded than anything else.

“W-well…I’ll see you later,” Twilight said, “Keep up the good work!”

“I…I will.”

Twilight walked away, one of her hands over her heart. It was still beating faster than it usually did.

What’s happening? Twilight asked herself, I...I’ve never felt this way so often…

Corey released a sigh, alone in the clearing once more. His mind was still on what had just happened. He understood Twilight’s gratitude, at least, he thought he did. He was an alien, who had, one way or another, ultimately decided he was going to fight their battles. He had something that was worth the trouble, for sure.

Hey, you.

Corey continued to go towards an unbroken boulder, aiming to see what he could do with a strength-enhanced impact spell next. Maybe after that, he could try something new—

Don’t you ignore me…

Corey grit his teeth. What did that inner voice of his want now? It seemed to be content for a change, at least, until now…

What? Can’t you see I’m busy? Annoyed, Corey continued his path, though his pace had slowed.

Busy ignoring your own feelings, maybe… Corey paused, maybe ten steps from the boulder.You’re doing it again…

Doing what again? Corey had hoped playing innocent might get his inner voice to shut up. He was wrong.

His inner voice snarled, Cut the crap. You know damn well what. Letting your feelings for a girl just fester, and grow, while you let them carry on, blissfully unaware. You’ve done it with just about every girl you’ve ever had a crush on!

And…?

When are you going to speak up? She deserves to know how you feel!

M-maybe…But…she’s still a pon—

Look in a mirror lately? His inner voice was way ahead of him, Shouldn’t be too much of an issue…

I…I just don’t know…

Look, Corey, His inner voice sighed, You don’t have time to argue with me about this. But think about it, like you always do. But this time, do something about it!

After that, his inner voice clammed up. Corey sighed, crouching down a bit, one hand to his face. Like it or not, his inner voice was right. Both about his past with girls, and his present with Twilight. The truth couldn’t have been any more obvious.

But his inner voice was right about another thing.

“I can sort this all out later…” Corey said, “I…I have to keep my training going…”

Author's Note

Okay, so I lied. I just wanted to get through this part of the act before I switched to biweekly. Same time, just on the 22nd of February now. 'Til then, everyone.

Act 2 Chapter 19

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 19: Escalating Evil

Ponyville had been quiet for days since the previous attack. The citizens had continued their lives, blissfully ignorant of what had happened, or what could happen soon. That is, except the few who had been there and prevented it from reaching them. Even as they continued to pretend nothing was wrong, they continued to keep out a watchful eye. But they weren’t just watching, they were also preparing themselves. They were making sure they’d be ready for when the next attack occurred.

Almost two weeks have now passed since Lyon’s vow to return. And yet, there were no signs of him. But he wasn’t the only one who had vanished. John had also not returned from wherever he’d run off to. With so much time elapsed, the team was beginning to wonder which one would make his return first. The wait was brutal, making every team member restless.

That wait came to an abrupt end. Something had happened in Ponyville—something awful. The town, previously surrounded in a pleasant aura, was once again erupting in the sounds of panic. And over the sounds of screaming, a terrifying lion’s roar could be heard echoing through the air.

This roar wasn’t an intimidating one, or at least it wasn’t meant to be. The roar was meant to let everypony who knew the truth know of one very simple fact.

“Twilight!” Corey yelled, running down the steps of the library.

“I heard it too,” Twilight called back, making her way towards the door, “He’s in town!”

Corey grabbed his jacket and hastily threw it on as he followed Twilight outside.

This is it! Corey thought, noting his fear was oddly…diminished, The day’s finally here! Day after day, I’ve been pushing myself beyond my limits. Now that the day’s here, I want to show what I can do. There were no “ifs” as he would have usually put in his assessment of situations. There was no denying he was still feeling the fear, but determination was currently overpowering that seizing feeling.

Corey and Twilight ran through the streets. The sounds of screaming lead them to where the attack was happening; though the sounds of panic were far-reaching, they seemed to be concentrated especially in one area. As they followed the clamor, they realized several townsponies were running in the opposite direction—worked into such a frenzy that it was hard to dodge them at times. However, this clued them in: they were heading in the right direction.

Pinkie Pie and Rarity soon joined them. It wasn’t too long before they reached where the attack had occurred. Many homes had been severely damaged, as though the windows or walls were pried open with two massive hands. Part of the street had been torn off, no doubt thrown through the other windows that weren’t torn clean off the walls. There were still ponies in the area, completely paralyzed with fear. But there was one thing missing: the lion who’d caused it all.

“Guys, over here!” This was Rainbow Dash, beckoning the group of four to come to her. Her head wound had healed for at least a couple of days, the bandages gone. Behind and to the left of her, Applejack was crouched in front of a trembling civilian.

“It’s okay, he’s gone now,” Applejack tried her best to calm the civilian, “Please, tell me what happened?”

The pony took in several, shaking, deep breaths—or at least, as deep as she could make them. Eventually, she was able to make words.

“B-b-big…b-b-b-big l-l-lion!” Her voice trembled as she tried to explain, “B-big, c-cage…h-h-he t-took…hos-hostages!”

On these words, everyone took up a look of disgust. Corey’s eyes narrowed, and his jaw locked as he took in the news.

He’s after us, he bitterly spat to nothing but the inside of his skull, Why’s he bringing others into this!?

Corey’s fists tightened. He would have continued to stew in the unsettling fury that had boiled up, but a hand came down on his shoulder. Turning to its owner, he saw Twilight. Though it was clear she didn’t like the situation either, she shook her head slowly at hm. Realizing what he was doing, Corey closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

“Did he say anything?” Applejack asked the pony, having allowed her a little more time to gather herself.

“B-before he left…” The pony struggled, the shock of the moment still there, “He screamed, ‘Come back to where this began!’”

The words meant nothing, or next to nothing, to anypony who had heard it at the time. But to those who had battled the lion the pony spoke of, it was all they needed to know.

They knew where he had taken them.

He could never forget the spot where his pride was lost. Even though the only landmark was the city less than a mile away, Lyon remembered very well where this was. Carrying the cage over his head, which contained at least seven ponies of varying size, color, and race, Lyon had made his way for this clearing at blinding speed.

Only when he reached the edge of the clearing, towards the forest, did he finally set the cage down. Gazing upon the trembling forms of the ponies within brought an unsettling smirk to Lyon’s face. He glanced into the cage for a few minutes more, before turning around, facing the city he’d ransacked.

That should have gotten their attention, thought Lyon.

The time continued to pass since Lyon set down the cage, seeming to drag on to him. Slowly, but surely, his teeth bared in impatience. Surely those ponies cared for their own? His eyes darted back to the cage as he weighed a disturbing option.

Shall I challenge them one by one? Lyon thought, These ponies definitely stand no chance against me. But such an easy challenge…

For a few moments longer, he stared out to the settlement.

“Perhaps…” Lyon started to turn, keeping one eye on the settlement. Then, he saw signs of movement in the distance, and turned his body around again. There was a throng of pony-shaped figures coming towards him. As they neared, he could see some familiar creatures.

His mouth curled once again, baring his teeth. His brows arched, and he slowly moved forward. Continuing to glare in their direction, one simple thought echoed through his mind.

It’s payback time…

Lyon forced himself to wait. Every fiber of his being wanted to pounce on the ponies that were approaching him, but he’d figured that since they actually showed up, he’d wait just a little longer. Eventually, the throng of ponies reached him.

“So you showed up,” Lyon snarled, loud enough so that the arriving ponies could hear him.

“Damn right we did!” shouted Rainbow.

“You mess with Ponyville, you mess with us!” Applejack added. Lyon wasn’t listening. Now that the group had stopped a safe distance from him, Lyon’s eyes could scan the group. Someone was missing. Someone who dwarfed each of the ponies in height.

“The dragon isn’t here!?” Lyon roared. Most of the party exchanged confused glances.

“That’s right, John hasn’t come back yet…” murmured Twilight.

“That coward would humiliate me in battle, only to turn tail and run away!?” Lyon snarled, eyes darting about wildly.

“Don’t talk about John like that…” Corey grumbled, tightening his fists.

“He’ll be back soon,” Applejack said, “Til then, you’re stuck with us.”

Lyon scoffed loudly. Even underneath the glowering eyes, the clenched jaw, and the almost feral posture, people could see a storm brewing. One that was even worse than before. Eventually, his gaze rested on it.

“I will not stand for it,” he growled, “I will not be ignored! Of you, he is the only one worthy to face my wrath…”

“It won’t be like last time!” Rainbow shouted, just before flinching. Not from the soul-piercing gaze Lyon threw the group, but from what he did as he did so.

Lyon’s claws raked along the top of the cage, making a horrible screeching sound, the ponies inside the cage now petrified with fear. Some of the ponies across from Lyon unconsciously reached for their ears.

“If he is not here in five minutes, one of the hostages will pay!” Lyon vowed.

Based on their last encounter with Lyon, they knew that it would take a lot of force to move him. It would have taken too much time and effort to get him far enough away from the cage before he brought harm to one of the hostages. So, the group had no choice but to comply for the moment.

None of the ponies knew time could move so slowly. It wasn’t the wait that was making it difficult for them, though. It was the fact they had to wait on John. John, who himself had no idea when he’d be back, who hadn’t sent word to anyone since departing. He’d been gone for almost the entire time between the two confrontations.

“Three minutes…” Lyon snarled, scraping his claw across the top of the cage.

“What if he don’t show?” Applejack said, voicing what everyone was thinking. No one had an answer, continuing to watch Lyon for signs of movement. As time continued on, Lyon continued to stand close to the cage.

“Two minutes,” Lyon called out when the time came. His claw continued to grind against the top of the cage, this time with such force sparks were flying.

“He’s not going to make it,” Twilight said. No one said anything to correct her. Time was running out, and there was still not even a little sign of him.

“He’ll make it,” Rainbow said, arms folded over her chest.

“How do you know?” asked Applejack.

“Because when he left, he promised me he wouldn’t leave us to fight him alone,” Rainbow said.

Everyone fell silent once more. It wasn’t that they doubted John made the promise. They doubted if he was going to be able to keep it. Lyon was right there, grinding his claws against a cage he got from who-knows-where, staring at them intently. John, on the other hand, likely had no idea what was going on.

“One minute,” Lyon said slowly, his claws slowing down, but still scraping the top of the cage enough to cause a horrid noise. The seconds seemed to pass even slower now.

“Rainbow, it’s fine and all that you trust his word,” said Twilight, “But we’re running out of time. We have to face the facts…he’s not going to—“

“No,” Corey cut in, stepping forward again, “If he promised he’d be here, then he’ll be here. Back home, John was someone who stayed true to his word when it came to helping someone else. I can vouch for that myself. So if he says he’ll be here, I’ll trust he’ll make it in time…”

As if to spite his confident manner of speaking, time continued to creep by. Eventually, Lyon stopped scraping his claw on the cage, and sneered wickedly.

“Time’s up!” yelled Lyon, flipping open a door on the top of the cage, “I knew it! The dragon you all trust is nothing more than a cowards who abandoned you!” He reached inside, grabbing one of the hostages, who let out a bloodcurdling scream.

“Now, watch the consequences of allying yourself with him!” Lyon said, preparing himself. Everyone immediately prepared to find some way to cut him off—John may not have shown up, but they would be damned if something were to happen to one of the hostages.

But, just before either side could make a move, everyone heard something. It wasn’t a scream, but it was as loud as one. And it wasn’t coming from the pony Lyon was holding, or the others in the cage. Lyon paused for a moment. The sound continued to grow in volume. It was a familiar sound, yet no one could pinpoint what it was. At least, almost no one.

“Wind?” Rainbow had heard the sound—being a fast flier, she was used to hearing the high-pitched whistle of the air rushing by her ears. Her ears twitched twice more, and turned to point where the sound was coming from, “From behind!”

The very instant after Rainbow finished saying her words, something rushed past her and the others—something huge and fast. The next thing anyone heard was a hard impact, and a very sharp grunt from Lyon.

Rainbow turned her head back to see that Lyon’s face had been knocked back. His hold on the hostage had been released. Both the hostage and Lyon fell simultaneously. Lyon hit the ground, but the hostage did not. She was caught by someone else. A familiar, large figure, wearing a familiar-looking sweater.

“John!” The team called out. The dragon turned to regard his teammates.

“Hey guys, did I miss anything?” asked John, slowly walking over to the group with the hostage—who had passed out with fright

“What took you so long?” asked Rainbow, flying up to him, “Do you have any idea how down to the wire you were?”

John didn’t know the answer, but he had a pretty good idea based on what was happening when he arrived.

“Sorry, I tried to get here yesterday,” John said, “But I kinda got lost on my way.”

Rainbow could only facepalm in response.

“So, you chose to show yourself after all,” said Lyon, slowly rising from the ground. The very instant John heard his voice, his expression changed to one the others hadn’t seen from him before. Gently, he placed the rescued pony down, and turned to face Lyon.

“After everything I went through to get ready, there was no way I’d miss a rematch,” John said, beginning to move towards Lyon. Lyon stared as the dragon approached him. Instantly, he noticed something.

His eyes are different… noted Lyon. It was true; John’s eyes had a certain fire that wasn’t there before. The two stood several feet apart for a time. Neither made a single move, almost as if waiting.

“He’s not planning on fighting him alone, is he?” asked Twilight, only to be met with silence.

“No, he’s not.”

All eyes turned to the source of the voice: Corey. He began to walk forward now.

“What?” asked Twilight.

“I know it might be sudden,” Corey said, turning his head back to them, “But can you guys hang back for this one?”

Everypony was shocked by this request. Corey didn’t make it more than three more steps.

“Hold on!” Twilight said, stepping in his way, “You’re telling me this whole time the two of you were planning to fight him alone?”

Corey gave a short nod, “Yeah, pretty much…”

Twilight didn’t know what to think. Lyon was an escaped prisoner from Tartarus. He was a deadly force to be reckoned with in just about every sense of the word. He’d overpowered John and shattered Shining’s shields before. Now, barely two weeks later, Corey was trying to convince her that he and John could handle him?!

“Why?”

“To prove something,” said Corey, “During the last attack, we both barely managed to come out on top. Since then, we’ve been preparing ourselves for this, a rematch. Okay, I didn’t fight him before, but I know I’ve gotta fight him now. We need to prove to ourselves that we can hold our own.”

The whole time he spoke, Twilight stared at him, her brows arched. The way he talked about it, his expression…it was clear to her he’d made up his mind on this. Corey broke eye contact, beginning to walk past her. Only then did Twilight find her voice.

“But…but what if you get hurt?” she asked.

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” said Corey, walking over to John. It wasn’t long before Corey ran into a different kind of resistance.

“This battle is between me and the dragon,” Lyon roared in warning, seeing Corey’s approach, “No one will interfere!”

“What’s wrong, Lyon?” mocked John, “Afraid to fight a dragon and a pony?”

“Hold your tongue, dragon,” Lyon snarled, “So long as I have these hostages, I command that—“

Lyon expected to start scraping the top of the cage once again, but instead his claws touched something else—what felt like smooth glass. He turned slightly, seeing something familiar was blocking him from it.

“A shield?” asked Lyon, confused.

“Sorry, Lyon,” said yet another voice everyone recognized, “But that’s no longer the case.”

All heads turned to see Fluttershy, and close by, Shining Armor. Upon realizing who was talking and recognizing him as the pony with the shields, Lyon laughed.

“I broke this once,” Lyon said, pulling his fist back as high as he could, “I’ll do it again!”

Lyon brought his fist down with all of his might. He made contact with the shield. To his surprise, the shield didn’t even crack—it merely rattled.

“What!?” Lyon shouted in shock.

“Did you think I wouldn’t prepare myself for this?” said Shining. The cage began to slowly move his way, still encased in his shield spell, “You don’t hold the cards anymore. Your fight…is with the two in front of you and no one else.”

To emphasize his point further, Shining created another shield, one that was big enough to surround him, the others, and hostages, cutting them off from the battlefield-to-be.

“Perfect,” John commented, his concerns about the others’ safety evaporated, “So Corey, how was your training?”

“I think I’ll manage,” Corey said, “How about yours?”

John didn’t answer right away. He merely chuckled as he unzipped his sweater and tossed it aside. His exposed torso was covered with several things that were absent before.

“Scars?” asked Rainbow. They weren’t large by any means, but they were noticeable. He had many spread out all over his torso.

“I gained what I was lacking,” John said.

“Then that makes two of us,” Corey commented.

Lyon roared in anger, getting their attention almost immediately.

“Enough! You can have the fight the way you want it!” His feet dragged along the ground, uprooting the grass as he got into a ready stance, but it was clear he wouldn’t stay that way for long, “It makes no difference to me! You’ll both fall by my hands!”

Immediately afterward, Lyon launched himself at the two. John quickly began running towards Lyon as well. Corey, after a few moments had passed, began to follow in his steps. Lyon and John met pretty much in the middle. Lyon threw out one punch, which John just barely managed to catch. He returned with a punch with his free hand, but Lyon caught this punch. The two began to test each other’s strength, each pushing to try to overpower the other.

He hasn’t changed… thought Lyon blankly. If he thinks he can come at me the same way as before, he’s sorely mistaken…

Lyon soon began to push harder on John’s hands. At first, it seemed like a visual representation of what happened last time. John began to slowly, surely lose ground. Both fighters’ clawed feet began to dig small trenches in the ground. Suddenly, Lyon felt himself jerk forward just a little.

What!? Lyon looked up. Even though John’s head was lowered, Lyon could see what looked like a smirk on John’s face. Almost immediately, John began to push back. Lyon dug his claws into the dirt, but slowly but surely he found himself sliding back.

Lyon roared, yanking his arms up. John stumbled. Seeing his advantage, Lyon quickly extended one leg out. One slitted pupil jerked back to face Lyon, and a moment later, John put up a block over his chest. Just in time, too; John’s clawed feet scraped through the dirt as Lyon’s hit took effect.

Lyon would have pressed the attack further, but the sound of a foot jumping off the ground caught his attention. Lyon’s eyes became bloodshot when he noticed Corey preparing what looked like, to him, a glowing punch. Lyon quickly turned his body, catching the fist with his own. He would have then tossed Corey over his shoulder, perhaps tried to get him with his claws, but a tremendous force suddenly slammed into his paw. While his arm didn’t physically sustain damage, the sensation of having his forearm suddenly jerked back caused a shooting pain in his arm.

Letting out a savage roar, Lyon began to take aim.

“Watch out!” shouted John. Corey gritted his teeth, his horn lighting up. Part of a barrier manifested as Lyon’s claw came down. At the same time, he started moving.

Lyon’s tremendous hand smashed through the barrier, but Corey barely managed to move out of the way, his eyes wide at the crater Lyon’s hand made in the ground.

If I had been a little slower--! Corey quickly abandoned his introspection when Lyon turned his head completely to face him. Corey’s horn lit up again. Lyon swiped his claws at him once, Corey juking backwards to dodge the attack. He did so again, but as he went to dodge this one, Corey stumbled again. Lyon seized his chance and went for another attack, sneering.

“Got you now!” Lyon snarled, only to be met with a black fist slamming the side of his face. The impact caused him to miss a now-rolling Corey. Corey quickly got to his feet.

“Thanks,” Corey said. John said nothing, flashing a very quick thumbs-up in Corey’s direction before going for another attack. John went for another punch. Lyon’s attention was now focused on John, and this time, he managed to put up a block. Lyon threw out a kick. John blocked this with his forearm, letting out another punch with the other arm. Lyon once again found himself eating a dragon’s fist.

Lyon bared his teeth in anger. When John went for another punch, Lyon caught him in an arm bar. He then roughly tossed John’s arm aside, landing a powerful punch to John’s own face, causing John to stagger back. Lyon pressed the attack further. John moved his head, a punch just barely missing his head. When Lyon went for another kick, John blocked this, only to find his follow-up attack blocked in turn.

Seeing an opening, Lyon finally landed a kick to the center of John’s chest, knocking him on his back. Sneering, Lyon began to go for another attack. He heard the ponies gasp and smirked, feeling their fear.

Then, he felt a heat impact his back. Though his hide protected him from any real damage, the force was enough to make him flinch. Turning, his eyes wide, he saw Corey, one hand raised. Lyon roared in rage.

“Enough of your cowardly attacks, unicorn!” Lyon rushed Corey head on, as he slowly lowered his hand, “Fight me head-on!!”

Corey’s response was anything but expected.

‘If you want…” Corey said, standing straight up, arms at his sides. Lyon understood his stillness as taking him up on his challenge. Letting out a tremendous roar, Lyon leapt up, dropping an elbow down at Corey.

The impact of the strike was so strong, an explosion of smoke kicked up from the point of impact. John flinched, and everyone uttered a gasp at what they had just seen.

“Corey!” Twilight screamed.

“That one was a direct hit…” Shining said.

There was an unsettling silence as Lyon stood up, the dust from his attack finally clearing. When it cleared, they saw Lyon looking down. They couldn’t see the expression on his face. Yet, something about his posture seemed…off.

“Is he…?” Rarity began. However, a loud, angry roar was what tipped them off that something wasn’t quite right.

“Where did he go!?”

At Lyon’s feet, where a completely shattered Corey should have been, was an empty, now dirty gray jacket.

“You’re too slow!” This was a voice that sounded cartoonish. Yet, underneath the delivery was a familiar tone that no one missed. A blur slowly slid to the side of Lyon. Lyon turned in shock and anger.

“You didn’t just say that…” John groaned, as his gaze flicked down, all the way to Corey’s feet. He could see a rapidly dimming green glow. Corey quickly cocked back his right fist, runes appearing all over it. Lyon began to move to attack, trying to trip Corey. Corey leapt up, aiming his fist right for Lyon’s chest.

The punch hit, and the runes quickly traveled to the point of impact. Lyon let out a roar of surprise. The concentrated kinetic force exploded, and he was lifted from his feet by the strike. Lyon coughed unexpectedly as he landed on his back several yards away, his mind unable to comprehend what had just happened.

A…a pony…Did this…to me…?!

“So that’s what he did!” Twilight screamed, a hand still over her chest from the previous fear reaction, “You had us worried, Corey...”

“What did he do?” demanded Rainbow, wondering just how Corey managed to get out of the way, “Teleport?”

“No,” said Twilight, “His feet…he cast a runic spell on them that increased his speed! He dodged Lyon’s attack before any of us realized what was going on!”

“Whatever John did must have worked too,” Shining said, “I saw him fight last time too. He actually fights like he knows what he’s doing now.”

John jerked violently as he sneezed, his focus completely on the fight.

“Bless you,” Corey said.

“In just a week and a half, they’ve completely reinvented how they approach this kind of thing,” Shining continued, “The only question now is, ‘can they really win on their own’?”

“Really, Corey?” John asked, rubbing his snout, “’You’re too slow’?”

“I couldn’t resist,” Corey rubbed the back of his head. Lyon slowly began to show signs of life, his head lowered. Both of their attentions shifted to him, but John kept going.

“And that other spell you used,” John continued, “Was that what I think it was?”

“Yes and no,” Corey responded.

“How did you--?”

“I’ll tell you after this.’

Lyon finally got to his feet. Or rather, his feet and open palms. Growling could be heard coming from him.

“They’ve really made him mad now!” Pinkie said, “Just look at how he’s standing! He’s standing like a cavepony or something!”

“You…” Lyon snarled, slowly rising from the ‘cavepony’ position and back to a more upright position, “I’ve had enough of you!”

His head raised, revealing wide, bloodshot eyes, twin pools of rage and absolute hatred. Corey and John got ready.

“This is only getting started,” John noted, “You’d better be on your guard.”

“Same to you,” Corey said.

Lifting his head to the sky above, Lyon belted out his most terrifying roar yet. Then, he slowly lowered down.

Author's Note

And so that's where we leave off until the next update. Til then, everyone.

Act 2 Chapter 20

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 20: The Human Spirit

Lyon broke into a sprint towards Corey and John once more. As he drew closer, he lowered his hands, claws fully extended. John and Corey both fell back. Lyon tore past where they were, bringing his hands forward with great force.

Corey grunted—Lyon just threw dirt up, and he moved to shield his eyes before the dirt could get in them or on his glasses. His ears twitched as he registered movement, and he looked up and to his left, seeing Lyon rushing at him. Corey took a step back, just before runes appeared over his torso and arms. The exposed muscles on his arms gained bulk, and not a moment too soon. Lyon threw his forearm down, Corey catching the forearm with both hands.

Corey’s body bent downward, his legs bending at the knee to try to keep himself from losing his footing. Lyon’s forearm soon retracted. Corey looked up, and gave a sharp grunt of surprise as Lyon continued to attack.

Dammit, I’m not in a good spot… Corey thought, the repeated strikes slamming down on him.

“Watch out!” someone shouted from the sidelines. Corey looked up. Lyon was preparing to bring both fists down on him. His eyes had, just for a moment, left Corey. Quickly, Corey cancelled his strength buff. Runes began to write over his feet, glowing green in color.

Lyon brought his fists down, but Corey had backed up at immense speed. It was just for a second, however. Raising both of his hands, fingers spread apart, runes began to appear, traveling from his fingers to the center of his palms at incredible speeds. Green laser shots began to shoot out of his palms, no bigger than the palms they were being shot from.

“He’s firing the spell from his hands,” Shining observed, “But why? He already knew it before.”

“Maybe it’s easier for him to aim it this way,” Twilight said, “He seemed to be having trouble aiming it during the last fight.”

“Well, it ain’t doing squat,” Rainbow pointed out. It was true; Lyon had raised his own hands, and was batting the shots away one by one as they approached. The ones he couldn’t get to hit him, but it didn’t seem to do too much. Just then, a shape appeared behind him, causing Corey to stop firing. He rested his arms at his sides and appeared to be taking a small rest from the whole thing.

Lyon lowered his arms, only to be hit in the back of the head. With a snarl, he turned around, seeing John pull back his forearm from the hit he’d just administered. John began to give chase, Lyon blocking this hit. He returned with a punch, which hit home, John’s face pitching back. Using this momentum, John leaned back, raising one leg up, hitting Lyon’s stomach. John avoided Lyon’s counter-attack; Lyon blocked John’s punch.

The two continued to just trade hits, blocking and dodging whenever they could. Eventually, though, Lyon managed to one-up John. Lyon slashed at John with his claws. While John was slightly off-balance from avoiding this attack, Lyon quickly threw out a punch with one hand, smashing into John’s face. He staggered back, eventually managing to stop. John turned his head back, but kept it lowered.

“John…” Corey said, looking up from his brief rest.

“What a ridiculous fight,” Lyon scoffed, glaring at John as he got into a ready stance once again, “A mythical creature such as a dragon would fight like a pony…”

John said nothing, still facing the ground. Lyon registered the sound of movement, but he’d figured he’d swat that fly if it got too close.

“You’re pathetic, Dragon,” Lyon continued, “And that is why you, and the pony you insisted on fighting alongside, will end here—“

John suddenly looked up, taking a deep breath. Lyon’s eyes widened, but he barely had time to get them shut before John made his move. John exhaled with great force, and as he did so, a steady stream of orange flame flowed from his mouth, all over Lyon’s upper body.

This is something I had to learn to control to prepare for today, John thought, I’m going to make you eat your words!

Lyon continued to keep his eyes shut. He could feel the heat and knew if it got into his eyes, it would really be bad for him. He began to take steps towards John, slow, sure steps. Eventually, he stopped feeling a stream of heat. But, just as he opened his eyes and readied himself for an attack, he found he wasn’t looking down at a dragon, but straight ahead at a unicorn, one glowing fist pulled back.

Too caught off-guard to react, Lyon found himself being struck dead-on in the face. A second later, that blasted spell generated a second, much more powerful force, and Lyon’s head pitched back hard, his body following suit. He flew back several yards before sliding on his back. Lyon got up, rubbing the back of his neck.

I can not believe it… Lyon looked up, seeing Corey and John side-by-side in front of him once again, awaiting his next move. How are they able to match me? Why is the pony able to stand against me like this? And when did the dragon learn to fight??

“Enough!” Lyon roared, bringing both his hands above his head, “You will not defeat me!”

Neither Corey nor John could get a retort in. Lyon brought both his hands down on the ground with tremendous force, enough to cause it to break and kick up a large amount of smoke. Corey and John took a few steps to the side, away from each other.

“What’s he…” Corey began, but before he could finish his thought, a tremendous roar was heard. Not two seconds later, they could hear several voices shouting a warning. Though all of them said it differently, they all said the same thing in the end.

“Look up!” John shouted. Corey did so, and recoiled just a bit: bearing down on them was Lyon, both hands raised in preparation for an attack. Both Corey and John began to try to move away, but it was clear that Lyon wasn’t aiming for them anyway.

Lyon slammed into the ground hard, leaving a crater. The sheer force of his ground pound also released a tremendous shockwave as the remaining force shot out. John managed to hold his ground, but Corey found himself staggering back uncontrollably.

“Corey! You okay!?” John shouted, though Corey couldn’t see him through the dust.

“I think so!” Corey said, managing to right himself.

“Not for long…” came the snarl of an angry Lyon, as he rushed out of the smoke, straight at Corey. Corey readied himself, cocking his right fist back. Lyon cocked his left fist, and swung down towards Corey. Corey swung up, impact spell at the ready.

Their fists met, Corey’s spell cushioning the impact of Lyon’s fist. Then, the extra force exploded outward, knocking Lyon’s fist away. However, Lyon wasn’t done. Spreading his arms out, Lyon began to attack again. Corey raised both his arms in front of him, runes appearing over his arms and torso.

Just as Corey’s muscles gained mass, he felt a dull pain shoot through his arms. Lyon had extended his legs out, kicking him back. Though he had managed to block the attack, Corey was still lifted from his feet, sharply grunting as he landed flat on his rear. Corey’s muscles contracted as he stood, a bead of sweat running down the side of his head.

If I didn’t bulk up my arms, Corey thought, That would have been the end of them!

Flinging his arms about to try to get them to feel better, Corey kept one eye on Lyon. Lyon began to rush him again. Gritting his teeth, Corey lifted his left arm, his hand glowing with runes. Lyon was almost on him when Corey slammed his impact spell into the ground. The force kicked up a large amount of dust, and left a crater that was equally as impressive as the one Lyon left behind. Lyon held his ground against the force, but his vision was blocked.

Taking advantage of this, Corey quickly gave Lyon the slip. John stood outside the smoke, arms crossed.

“Take a knee for a sec,” John said, “I’ll take it from here…”

John began to dash into the smoke. It wasn’t long before all present could hear Lyon roaring in anger once again.

“Come now,” he shouted, the dust from Corey’s attack finally starting to clear, “I said for you to stop running!”

“Making space is part of battle too, Lyon,” John said, causing him to turn. Just as he did, John had inhaled, and began to breathe more flames in Lyon’s direction. This time, Lyon was prepared, and raised his arms to block the fire. John began to walk toward Lyon, sustaining his flames all the while.

John couldn’t see in front of him while breathing fire too well due to the wall of flames. He didn’t notice straight away when Lyon moved, and by the time it registered, it was too late. A fist swung, and nailed John in the stomach. John’s mouth snapped shut for just a moment as he emitted a grunt, pain exploding from the point of impact. When his mouth went ajar again, black smoke began to come out. However, John wasn’t completely knocked stupid.

Lyon went for another attack, aiming to knee John in the chin as he fell, but John threw out his arms, catching the knee. Opening his wings, John pushed Lyon’s knee back in tandem with one strong flap. John flew back away from Lyon, while Lyon stumbled, momentarily off-balance. Hearing movement, Lyon turned his body and kicked out. Corey ducked underneath this kick.

The kick, however, wasn’t really meant to hit Corey; it was more an effort to regain his balance. Lyon punched out at Corey once again, only to find Corey catching his punch with both of his hands, his muscles bulked up. Yet, Corey felt his heels dig backward as Lyon’s fist pushed in.

More runes drew themselves over Corey’s body, and his muscles increased again. This was only for a moment, but it was enough to toss Lyon’s hand off, the sudden strength catching Lyon by surprise. Corey’s muscles contracted down one size, as runes began to appear over his left hand.

“Let’s see how a joint spell works!” Corey shouted, angling his fist up, uppercutting Lyon straight in the solar plexus. Half a moment later, a tremendous shockwave slammed into his stomach as well, lifting Lyon off his feet with a painful roar. Lyon landed on the ground hard enough to crater it somewhat, eyes closed. He didn’t appear to be able to move.

Corey finally released his spell. Pain shot through his punching arm when he ended the buff, and he looked to his left. His arm slowly went limp, and Corey stared at it as if it weren’t his arm anymore, but a sock that had been grafted on in its place. Corey tried to raise it up again, but all his arm did was twitch. Clicking his tongue, Corey realized what had happened.

Guess I’m not ready to combine the two spells just yet… Corey thought, But it looks like it worked…

John flew high above. Seeing Lyon laid out on the ground, John changed his directions, and aimed himself for Lyon’s chest. One second later, he dove directly towards it.

“Almost there,” John observed to himself, the wind deafening him as he began his crash course, both arms extended, hands clenched into fists, “Just one more…!”

John continued on his downward trajectory. Five hundred yards. Three hundred yards. Three hundred feet. One hundred feet. Fifty feet. Twenty feet…

Suddenly, he felt his body stop all movement, and his eyes went wide with horror at what he saw. Lyon wasn’t out, or at least, wasn’t hurt enough to be out. His hands grabbed on to John’s arms, right around his forearms. Though John’s attack still hit, the force behind it had been lessened down to Lyon’s technique. Corey’s eyes went wide as Lyon stood up, still holding on to John’s arms.

“No…” Corey said, stunned, “Is he even hurt…?”

John struggled with the grip, trying to flap his wings to get enough force to break free. But Lyon wasn’t letting go. Lyon eventually moved, unbalancing John by yanking his arms out. Unable to collect himself, John received a heavy, freight-train force kick to his chest. John coughed, eventually landing with a thud next to the limp-armed Corey. Lyon slowly cracked his neck afterward, brushing his chest.

“Dammit,” John coughed, “I thought we had him there…”

“So did I…” Corey panted, flinching as his arm flared up. His free hand went to his bicep, applying pressure in a futile attempt to relieve the pain.

They had done well so far. They actually seemed to have the upper hand at a couple of points. Yet, no matter what they did, Lyon got right back up, only getting angrier and angrier as the fight dragged on. Worse, Corey and John were now showing signs of fatigue.

“They can’t hurt him,” Shining finally said, breaking the silence.

“But that guy’s reacting to all their hits!” Rainbow protested, “He’s clearly feeling it!”

“Yes,” Twilight said, looking to Corey and John, “But even though their attacks, their technique, has improved greatly…Lyon’s natural durability isn’t anything to scoff at. Just look! After every spell Corey landed, even after taking blows from John, Lyon’s still moving around as if nothing happened! He doesn’t even seem winded…”

“Not to mention,” Shining continued, “I think Corey’s last attack may have taken a toll on him. He must have been hoping it would have done the trick…”

“So how are we supposed to beat someone like that, if their attacks can’t really leave a mark?” Pinkie asked, “I mean…”

“I don’t know,” Shining said, “But one thing is for sure, if Corey and John are to win, they’re going to need to find some way to get around his defense.”

Corey grimaced, increasing the pressure on his arm. That last spell really did do a number on Lyon. At least, that’s what it looked like. Yet here they were now. John had just gotten the wind knocked out of him, and Corey was now short an arm…

“So what now…?” John asked, just before coughing again.

“You fought him before,” Corey said, “Don’t you know?”

“I managed to get him in a headlock,” John said, “Cut off his air…”

“I see…” Corey said, something beginning to form in his mind, “So then, what do you think we should do?”

“He won’t fall for it again…” John groaned. Just then, Lyon gave a savage roar, getting their attention.

“All you creatures are is talk!” Lyon began to charge them again, “I will shut you up once and for all!”

John grunted, “We need to come up with something…”

With that, John took off running, trying to repel John’s attack.

“John!” Corey called out in concern.

John didn’t listen to Lyon, already within five feet. The two locked hands once again, but this time, John couldn’t dig his claws into the dirt hard enough. He scraped back several yards before Lyon threw his arms up. Lyon then nailed John with the back of one fist, knocking him to the side. Then, his glare was focused on the pony who had given him more trouble than he could accept.

Corey looked up, his gaze slightly unfocused. His left arm twitched again as he tried to move it. He moved his right arm into place at his side. Lyon sneered.

“Whatever you’ve been doing has taken its toll,” Lyon declared, rushing Corey, “Just another weak pony with a few tricks up his sleeve!”

Time slowed down from Corey’s perspective. He began to think hard about what was going on.

If memory serves, John got him in a headlock, Corey thought, He had to breathe like everyone else, and that’s how they ran him off last time. We can’t scratch him on the outside, but…

Corey watched as Lyon got close to him, and leapt out of the way of the running clothesline, to his left, his arm trailing limply behind him. Runes appeared over his leg, the strength in that boosting. Lyon turned to him as he tried to jump-kick into him, but his efforts were blocked by a huge forearm. Corey landed, only to immediately have to hop back as Lyon’s massive clawed hand slammed down. Corey landed awkwardly, and grit his teeth.

Dammit, not now! Corey thought, It’s sink or swim right now…

Corey looked up. Lyon bared his teeth and snarled. Corey’s horn lit up, erecting a shield. He didn’t have the time to complete the spell. Lyon’s foot smashed through the shield, then into Corey’s chest. Though the shield had cushioned the force of the lion’s paw, it didn’t completely protect him from all of it. Corey felt all the wind leave him as he coughed, not sure if his ribs survived the hit. Corey went flying for yards before landing flat on his back hard enough to bounce once before landing on the ground.

“Corey!” Twilight screamed. Everyone tensed up.

“This ain’t lookin’ good…” Applejack said.

Corey struggled to his feet, rubbing the back of his head and neck with his good arm. He coughed roughly a few more times. Lyon slowly began to advance, raising one clawed hand. Just then, there was a roar. This time, it wasn’t Lyon’s.

Lyon paused for a moment, but before he could do anything, he felt something wrap around his neck and constrict. John’s head peeked out from behind Lyon’s shoulder for a moment. From what Corey could see, his pupils were slitted. Lyon choked again, and fell to one knee.

“He’s got him!” Pinkie cheered. Several long seconds passed. For that time, it seemed like John had him. Just then, Lyon’s eyes opened, wide with rage. He managed to choke out two words.

“Not again!” Lyon suddenly stood up, wrestling John’s arm off of him. Turning his back to Corey again, Lyon tossed John over his shoulder, causing the dragon to flip through the air once before landing flat on his back.

“You thought the same thing would work on me twice?” Lyon asked.

“Can’t blame a guy for trying, right…?” John said.

“Well, now it’s over for you,” Lyon said, raising one clawed hand, extending it outward.

“That’s it, we have to get in there!” Shining said, “At this rate…”

“Hah!!” Corey shouted from a now-standing position, his good hand raised. A single bolt of energy, larger than what he’d conjured before, shot at Lyon. Lyon turned, but this time caught the blast in his hands and crushed it between them with sheer strength. His teeth bared in annoyance and rage as he stared at Corey, who was panting.

“You…” Lyon snarled, his brows twitching in complete rage, “You…”

“What’s wrong?” Corey asked, one brow raised, his good arm now in a shrugging position, “You’re having trouble managing just one pony and a dragon?”

Lyon roared once more. Corey took a step back, but remained in virtually the same position.

“That’s the last thing you’ll ever say!” Lyon shouted, the claws on his feet digging trenches into the ground.

“Corey…what are you doing?” John asked, slowly rolling over onto his forearms.

“I’ll make sure you won’t rise again!” Lyon began to rush Corey, murderous intent in his eyes.

“What’s he doing!?” Shining asked. His horn stopped glowing, and his shield around the group had just started to fade, when someone pointed out.

“Wait, Corey’s—“ Twilight started, analyzing it. Lyon was closing the distance fast. John was staring at Corey for a moment longer, visibly confused. Corey’s good hand was now raised to his face, fingers splayed out over his cheek. Runes were writing right in front of him. They were green, like usual, but as soon as they changed color to a white-yellow color, Twilight understood what was happening.

“Everypony, don’t look! That spell is…!” Twilight said, turning her head and closing her eyes, just as John started to do the same. Seeing the signs, everyone immediately moved to shield their eyes.

Lyon was just in front of Corey. Blinded by rage, Lyon didn’t immediately move to attack Corey until it was too late. Corey cast his spell, and the runes converted into a flash of light, intense enough to blind anyone who dared to look at it. Lyon’s eyes were wide open with rage when it happened, and he roared in complete agony as the light burned his eyes. He shut them tightly, but the damage was done.

“What have you done, pony!?” Lyon demanded, his voice intensely angry. Corey scrambled away, Lyon blindly slamming one open palm into the ground. Corey had already vacated the immediate area, falling back a safe distance away from the raging Lyon. Turning to John, who was staring at the blinded Lyon with wonder, Corey gave a shout.

“John!” Corey shouted. John looked, still puzzled, “The outside…he’s durable on the outside!”

John heard Corey’s words, but he wasn’t immediately aware of what Corey was getting at. Then, he remembered the epiphany he had last time…

But inside’s a different story… John winced, realizing what he was being asked—no, needed—to do. This is gonna suck…

Quickly, John began to move. At the same time, Lyon turned towards him, his eyes still tightly shut. John lifted off so he could get a better angle, just as Lyon began to lift his torso, and bellowed the most angry roar yet.

Now or never! John thought, launching forth.

“You will pa—“ Lyon’s roar was cut off by two draconic hands prying his jaws apart and holding them there. John hovered there, took a deep breath and lowered his head.

“What’s he—“ The pony who asked never finished their question, turning away as fire began to spew from John’s mouth, directly into Lyon’s throat. It only lasted a few seconds, but for Lyon, time stood still as, for the first time, he felt true pain as the fire filled his torso with a searing, creeping pain. It was almost enough to make him pass out, but Lyon somehow managed to hang on.

Roaring in agony, smoke now spilling out from his ears and mouth, Lyon grabbed John again and threw him away. Lyon roared again, much more raspy and hurt-sounding than before.

“You…will…”

Lyon didn’t get to finish the vow of vengeance. Corey blurred right in front of him, preparing his right arm. His fist glowed and he let out another jab at Lyon’s solar plexus, and for the second time in less than a minute, time stood still. Where before, the second, much more powerful impact would send a shockwave through his system that would at least cause him some minor pain here and there, this time, when the shockwave rippled through his insides, Lyon felt every single Newton of force ripple through his hide. His hide was thick, almost insurmountable, but the force that made it past, combined with the internal injuries, caused Lyon to gurgle. Lifted from his feet one final time, Lyon landed flat on his back.

This time, Lyon didn’t move, letting out a gurgle as his body twitched in a feeble attempt to rise. Eventually, Lyon let out something that could be recognized as speech.

“I…lost…?” Lyon wondered aloud, his voice raspy from the sudden influx of pain and damage he’d suffered.

There was stunned silence throughout the clearing for several long seconds, followed by the sounds of cheering. With all this over, the cage was opened, allowing the ponies inside to run free, the danger passed. Most began to run back towards town, not wanting to hang around much longer. A few hung around, feeling somewhat safe. As Corey’s attention turned to the hostages, he heard a voice he’d heard before.

“Hey,” As Corey turned his head to the source, he could see a familiar face. A red unicorn pony in a closed jacket—Maudlin, “Corey!”

“Eh? Maudlin!?” Corey stood up, having been sitting since the end of the fight, staggering a bit since he couldn’t use one of his arms, “You were caught too?!”

“Was working on something when that lion attacked,” Maudlin said, shortly before shivering, “He really gave me a scare…”

Corey’s good hand tightened for a moment before relaxing, “Yeah, well…the point is it’s over now. You’re safe, and so’s everyone else he caught…”

“You were amazing out there!” Maudlin peeked around Corey for a moment, “Both of you were! Wish I could have done some of that!”

“It took a while to get some of that down…” Corey said, just before his left arm flared again, “Ow…! Yeah, wasn’t a good idea to use those two spells together yet…”

John remained close to Lyon, if only to make sure he wasn’t going to get up again. There was some commotion back towards town. All heads turned towards it, but when everyone saw what was going on, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Five plainclothes guards, similar to the unit from the park the day before, were running up to the group.

Briefly acknowledging Princess Twilight, they moved over to Lyon. He was still flat on his back, staring almost blankly up at the sky, in complete shock.

“Is he dead?” asked one of the guards, crouching down next to him.

“I don’t think so,” John said, feeling a little concern worm its way into his voice nonetheless.

Another one of the guards crouched down next to Lyon, reaching out for his neck area.

“Careful,” warned a third guard.

The second guard continued to try to feel around on Lyon’s neck, searching for a pulse. Suddenly, Lyon rattled, and his head barely turned. Instinctively, everyone tensed up.

“Get your hands off me…” Lyon rasped with a grunt. His arms twitched, as if he was trying desperately to reach out to make his wish a reality, but they wouldn’t move.

“He’s alive,” Shining observed, “But it seems like he can’t fight anymore now. Get ready to capture him. Maybe we can get some information out of him…”

Lyon gave a disturbing, raspy laugh, “You think you ponies can get anything out of me? I can assure you that even if I have been bested, you won’t be getting anything from me…”

Corey sighed, clutching his arm once again. It really seemed like he was going to be defiant right up until he got stuffed back in Tartarus. He supposed he should have expected as—

A feeling of intense cold suddenly seized him. It was as if pure evil had just passed him, leaving nothing but frigid air in its wake. The feeling only lasted maybe a second, but before Maudlin or anyone could ask what had him so chilled, Lyon suddenly arched—his back lifting off the ground.

Lyon’s eyes had gone wide with what could have been fear, or anything. Lyon’s mouth opened, and he gave a hideous, choking cough. Twilight and a couple of the guards stepped back—Lyon had just hacked up blood. His body soon hit the ground once more. The guard who had tried to feel for a pulse before managed to recover quickly. He knelt down, trying to find a pulse. Failing that, he listened for breathing. Eventually, the guard stood up.

“…He’s dead…”

Author's Note

Well, what have we here? Only two chapters left in this act. In two weeks, the next chapter will go up...
See you all then.

Act 2 Chapter 21

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 21: Clear Skies…

It had been a long day since the battle. After Lyon’s unexpected death, his body had been transported to medical examiners to confirm what killed him. The doctors worked tirelessly to find the cause of death. They had initially written it off as little more than the internal trauma from having fire breathed down his throat, but when one of the doctors noted the hue of the blood was bright red, they had stayed on the case.

“Honestly, I don’t know why we’re bothering,” said one of the doctors, “Even if one of them managed to kill him…”

“It’s more for closure than anything,” another said, “If we can show it was something else that had killed him, they won’t have to live with the blood on their hands. Even the blood of the absolute lowest can leave a permanent stain…”

“True,” the first doctor admitted, “So, if his blood was that bright, it had to have been oxygenated…”

A third doctor came in. The two doctors turned to acknowledge him, and immediately bowed their heads as a sign of respect.

“This is the deceased prisoner?” the third doctor asked, looking to the first two.

“That’s right, Doctor Esk,” said the first doctor, turning to him. Esk looked over Lyon’s body.

“I apologize for not coming in sooner,” Esk said, “I had other patients to tend to…”

Esk rested one hand on the patient, closing his eyes. Within the doctor’s closed lids, he could now see a near-perfect X-ray of the patient’s insides, where his hand made contact. Or, at least, it would have been if the patient’s hide wasn’t so thick. A bead of sweat formed on his brow as he steadily increased the magic he put into the spell.

The two doctors looked on as the doctor continued to examine the corpse. Eventually, the doctor stopped over where his heart would be, and his face pinched in concern as he realized what was happening.

“Doctor?”

“His heart burst,” said Esk, “Do either of you have a report on the battle?”

“According to Captain Armor,” said the second doctor, scrambling for the papers. Once he found them, he began to read from them, “According to Captain Armor, he lived two minutes after being beaten.”

Esk closed his eyes for a while longer, “Well, at the very least we know those involved in the battle do not have blood on their hands. From the looks of it, it looks like his heart was blown up from the inside.”

“Then…” the second doctor said. The first doctor was already writing it down.

“Cause of death: heart was detonated…”

His head swam with uncertainty. He wasn’t even sure why he cared that things turned out the way he did. He also noticed that unlike before, his body hadn’t healed overnight. Corey sat on one of the couches in the library, his left arm bandaged up and put into a sling. It still hurt to try to move it, but he could actually move it somewhat now. Yet, Twilight ordered him to keep it still however possible, and so he resigned himself to resting up.

Corey sat on his bed, trying to gather himself before Twilight came in to check on him this morning. The image of Lyon dying right in front of him was burned into his memory. In addition, the feeling of extreme cold he got right before still hung over him, like something was telling him it was about to get ugly. He tried to forget the feelings by reading. In front of him on the bed was a book.

Eventually, there was a knock at the door. Corey’s ears twitched to recognize the sound.

“Come in,” Corey said, looking up towards the door. It opened, revealing Twilight. She walked into the room, going straight over to the side of his bed.

“Good afternoon, Corey,” Twilight said, smiling lightly, “Just came in to check on you.”

“I’m…fine,” Corey said, looking slightly down, “Arm’s not feeling much better.”

“Liking the book?” Twilight asked of him.

“Yeah,” Corey said, glancing upon the book’s pages for a moment. He looked back up to Twilight, and asked her a question, “Uh, do you want to sit down, here? Or…”

“Oh, uh…” Twilight looked back, “Yes, I wanted to talk to you about something anyway.”

Corey nodded. His eyebrow twitched a little as butterflies began to flutter in his stomach unrelentingly. He forced himself to not look awkward as he mumbled the page number to himself and placed the book off to the side, closing it. He could see Twilight flinch, but she kept faintly smiling. She sat down on the edge of the bed, slowly turning to face him.

“I’ll…I’ll just get straight to the point,” Corey noted with more dismay than he cared to admit was there that her smile had faded, “I’ve been thinking about it a lot…what you did yesterday. It was…it was completely reckless!”

Corey’s gaze fell to the bed. He knew that. From the first second of the confrontation down to the last. And he had to admit, he wasn’t really sure if he was going to make it after that spell combo backfired and Lyon stood up.

“Yeah, it was…” Corey said, just loud enough for her to hear. He knew she’d been worried, too, “I…I’m sorry that I worried you…”

“Corey, I…” Twilight started, “I was prepared to chew you out for what you did there…but—but that changed as I watched the fight. I…I’ve never felt so worried for somepony before…every time I saw him rush you…every time I saw you get hit…Every time I wasn’t sure if you’d get back up…!”

Her voice broke. It was hard to tell, but it tipped Corey off she’d been dwelling on it. The realization washed over him, and a pit in his stomach dropped. Now he felt awful.

Twilight paused, taking in a deep breath to calm herself. When she finished, she looked him in the eyes. Corey couldn’t help but return her gaze.

“Corey…please,” Even her eyes pleaded to him, and by God, those eyes… “Promise me you’ll never do something like that again.”

Even looking to her eyes did little. Corey’s stomach dropped again, and he swallowed hard. His mind raced, and he wasn’t sure what to say offhand. Then, something came out of his mouth, something that was in no way influenced by his rational mind.

“I—I… don’t know if I can…” Corey said, looking back down towards the bed.

“Why?”

Corey bit his lip for just a second.

“B—because, if it means keeping you safe,” Corey wanted to abandon that train of thought now, his face heating up as he realized there were no brakes that could stop it now, “I’d gladly do it all over again.”

Twilight looked down, her face rapidly flushing pink. She wanted to say something to him, tell him he was being irrational, but every time the thought occurred to her, something within her chest told her not to do it. She stared at the bedspread.

Corey finally fought against the intense gravity that pulled on his chin and looked up to her. She was looking to the blankets. A thought worked its way forward to the forefront of his mind, and echoed within his skull.

So…cute…

Twilight slowly stood up, her face still burning a certain color. She managed to say something to him.

“I…I can take care of myself…” she finally said, looking away, “I-it’s you I’m…worried about.”

“I know, but…” Corey hesitated, old fears of days long behind him resurfacing.

Tell her, you idiot! His subconscious screamed at him, Tell her how you feel!

“You…” Corey’s voice died out in a squeak. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find the words. Instead, he changed the subject, “I…I understand, but…I…I can’t promise…”

“It’s okay…” Twilight said, briefly turning to him, a sheepish half-smile going to her face, “I’m…I’m just going to go take care of some things.”

“O…okay…” Corey nodded twice. Only when Twilight left the room did Corey finally settle down, his face finally fading back to its green hue. He weakly reached for the book to try to pick up where he left off. Even so, a familiar pain began to work its way into his chest. He’d failed to say anything, like usual.

Twilight…

Twilight shut the door behind her. Her face slowly began to cool off as she realized she wasn’t in the same room with Corey anymore. Even now that she was out of the room, Twilight couldn’t help but notice her stomach was still full of butterflies. At least, that’s what it felt like. Walking as quickly as she could through the house, trying to take her mind off of it, the events swam through her mind.

She raised a hand to her chest. Her heart was still beating faster than normal. As her mind brought her back to what had just happened against her will, she suddenly felt an urge to lean against a wall and melt.

“Get a grip, Twilight,” she said, “H-he’s just being…ir-irrational. Right?”

He is, and he knows it, she thought to herself, her voice now retreating inside, But the look in his eyes when he says it…He means it. I…I should be worried. He almost gets himself killed and says he’d do it all over again for my sake! But he knows I can take care of myself—I mean, I’m the one who taught him!

But as much as she tried to convince herself that her concern was natural—the kind of concern any friend would have for another, she knew deep down it wasn’t the case. She really did worry about him more than the others, especially when he gave her cause. In fact, even now that Corey proved he could handle himself, for the most part, she still felt herself worrying. Stopping alone on one of the libraries’ many balconies, she gazed up towards the skies. They were still just as clear as ever.

“Why…” Twilight said, “Why do I feel this way around you now, Corey? And what is this feeling?”

Raising one hand to her chest, Twilight closed her eyes. Their recent conversations slowly began to replay in her head. And as each subsequent memory began to wash over her, she slowly felt herself begin to overflow with a feeling she’d only really seen others express. It both concerned her, as well as filled her with a certain kind of happiness she found she couldn’t describe.

And… her mind thought, replaying some of the things she saw while Corey was practicing, I mean, he wasn’t…bad-looking or anything before, but now he’s…really cute now, and—Ugh! C’mon, Twilight, focus!

Then, she remembered how he’d shyly tapered off just before she’d left the room. He looked like he had something on his mind, something about her. As soon as she realized she was worrying too much about what he might have said to her had he continued, it finally occurred to Twilight what was going on inside of her. More specifically, her heart…

Slowly, her eyes opened, stopping halfway. Twilight leaned forward. She offered the faintest of smiles.

“I know what the feeling is…” Twilight sighed, “Corey...I’m…”

John hadn’t escaped the fight with Lyon unscathed. But, he was a lot better off than Corey was. He could still move about, only sporting a few bandages. Unable to bring himself to stay indoors, he decided to see how things were in town.

The town was quick to begin repairing the damage that was caused. It was as though they’d already put what happened behind them. However, given what John knew Ponyville had to deal with on a daily basis, he assumed they were somewhat used to things like this happening—from time to time, of course.

That’s good, John thought as he went through the town, noting how nopony seemed to be tense like they knew something was wrong, It means we can still try to hide what’s going on.

John had also noticed how the townsponies all looked at him now. When he first touched down, it was a mix of frightened looks and casual glances. Mostly frightened looks, though. Now, however, there were smiles in all directions. There didn’t seem to be any fear in the crowds anymore. John could only imagine the reason for this being that word got out about his heroism.

It was a small silver lining, but at least something positive had come from all of it. With the town busy repairing, and nopony really seeming to ask for his help, John made his way out of town. This time, he chose to travel by air rather than on foot, spreading his wings as soon as he was safely away from most ponies.

Ever since he’d learned to fly, John had never found time to enjoy it. Now was different. As his wings brought him higher into the sky, he couldn’t help but smile.

“It really is amazing up here,” John said to himself.

Soon, John found himself out of Ponyville’s airspace. At that moment, he decided to pick up the speed. He had gotten faster than he was before. But he’d yet to find out his limits in that front. He was just about to test those, when something rushed past him at a great speed.

John blinked for a moment as he tried to figure out what it could have been. The rainbow trail left behind was a dead giveaway. Looking ahead, he saw her: Rainbow Dash floating in the air, staring back at him with a grin.

“Oh, hey Rainbow,” John said.

“Looks like you’ve gotten better at flying since you left,” Rainbow observed, “How about we put it to the test?”

She had asked a question, but had no intention of waiting for him to answer. Instead, she took off. It took John maybe a moment to catch on, and quickly, he took off after her.

John made quick work closing the gap between them, but he could only get so close to Rainbow—not that it was a surprise he couldn’t catch up completely, let alone overtake her. She had spent years. John knew there was no way he’d be able to match her in only weeks. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t try.

Putting as much as he could into it, John increased his speed further, which managed to pull him up next to Rainbow.

“Not bad,” Rainbow said over the rushing winds, “But it takes more than speed!”

Rainbow began to descend towards the trees, John following close behind. Once the two were below the tree line, they were quickly met with a set of obstacles: oncoming trees. The two found little trouble dodging the trunks. John specifically finding himself having fun as he avoided each of them.

It wasn’t until they’d reached the end of the trees did John realize where they were: right back at the base of the cliff where John’s flying lessons had first begun. Once over the pool of water, the two quickly changed direction and flew straight up. They cleared the top of the cliff in no time, but they didn’t stop there. They continued to climb until they reached the clouds. Only then did Rainbow finally stop. Turning her head down, she watched John catch up with her.

“Looks like you’ve improved since you left,” she said.

“After everything I did to prepare, I would hope so,” John chuckled.

“About that,” Rainbow said, “Now that you’re back, maybe you can finally shed some light. Where the heck did you go?”

John chuckled again, wondering how Rainbow would react to his answer. Truth be told, he was astonished by it when he first arrived.

“Tartarus,” Rainbow went silent at John’s answer, her eyes wide. They only got wider as John continued, “Princess Luna asked me to come to her there. Like her letter said, she promised that she could prepare me for the upcoming battles in this game, but I wasn’t prepared for what she had in mind.”

“Let me guess,” Rainbow said, punching at the air, “She had you kicking Tartarus villain butt?”

“No, actually I never saw the inside of it,” John clarified. Rainbow stopped.

“Then where’d you get those scars from?”

“From her,” Again Rainbow looked shocked, “For the last week, Princess Luna trained me herself.’

The two were silent for a long moment as Rainbow processed what she just heard. For the whole week he’d been gone, John had been sparring with one of the two sisters.

“That’s…that sounds awesome!” Rainbow exclaimed, “What was it like, being up against her?”

“It’s hard to put it in words,” John began, “Even before we started, I could already feel I wasn’t in any way a match for her. The first thing she did was remove my need for sleep. So aside from short breaks, all we did was train day and night.”

John glanced down to his hands. They didn’t look any different after the training, but he still felt they were different from when he first became a dragon. Now his fists were seasoned with the spice of battle.

“I didn’t think it was working at first. But as it went on, I could feel it. I was getting faster. I was learning to react to battle. I guess the real proof it worked came from that battle.”

“I’ll say. You really showed him a thing or two.”

The two of them chuckled as they went silent. John stared off into the distance, taking in the sight that he couldn’t experience back home.

“A part of me thought you wouldn’t show,” Rainbow’s voice called him away from the sights of life above the clouds and back to her, “We hadn’t heard from you since you left, so we had n o idea when you’d be back. When Lyon attacked…I was afraid you wouldn’t have been able to keep your promise.”

Rainbow looked away for a moment, rubbing her shoulder.

“But… I’m glad you did,” she said. John noted the smile on her face and couldn’t help but smile back.

“Me too.”

Author's Note

And that's that. This week you're getting a second update on Wednesday, and with that update, Act 2 draws to a close. As always, drop some kind of comment or something I guess.

Act 2 Chapter 22

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 22: …Or Not

Princess Celestia had never completely gotten used to the enemy’s ability to bypass her defenses day after day. Each time a battle happened, she would see a new rat confront her with the news. Twilight had sent her a report on the most recent one. She’d also gotten the autopsy reports stating how the prisoner died. From what the doctors could gather, the battle hadn’t killed him, but given the measures taken to subdue him, it was a bit hard to believe.

As expected, he wasn’t hurt by most of their attacks, Celestia thought, watching the battle replay with those same holograms. She had understood with shock—mostly—that Corey and John had taken it upon themselves to try to handle him alone. Something no one asked them to do. However, after how they had prepared for the inevitable, right along everyone else, it was almost understandable.

I have not seen Corey’s magic before, she had noted, Twilight had reported other incidents, but even now that he’s managed to control it, it is still something I have not seen.

She had tried to keep a neutral countenance during the replay, just as she had always done, not wanting the prisoner to see if she was having an effect on her. However, as the battle gradually neared its end, Celestia just about flinched as Corey got knocked to the side. Then, it all came to an end. She saw Corey fill the “screen” up with light, and a few moments later, John was breathing fire down Lyon’s throat. Celestia stared.

That’s the way they figured out how to get around his hide? Celestia thought, watching as the battle screen faded, not too long after Corey used that impact spell he seemed to be fond of. When it did, the same hologram of the leader appeared, their voice still disguised by some sort of magical filter.

“That is what happened during that battle,” said the prisoner, spreading their arms out, “As you know, I have eyes everywhere.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Celestia asked, “Didn’t you order this--?”

“No,” the prisoner responded flatly, “If I had you might have been able to catch it.”

Celestia fought the urge to blink, “You mean he—“

“Nemean Lyon acted alone,” the prisoner said, their hands going to their sides. The left hand came forward, palm open, “He had violated the rules, so I made sure he faced the appropriate,” The hand closed, “Penalty.”

“Penalty?” Celestia blankly repeated, taking in the new information, “Is that to say that you…”

“Don’t act so surprised,” the prisoner lowered their hand. Though the hood of their cloak was up, Celestia could make out a half-sneer on the pony’s face, “In a game, both sides must abide by the rules. He had acted without my consent. Either way, he would have faced a penalty.”

Celestia stared to the hologram, still feeling unsure. Something was telling her that if Corey and John hadn’t overcome Lyon, his so-called “punishment” would not have been so harsh. It was clear how Lyon met his end now. His insides being burned hadn’t done it, nor did any of the other attacks. It was the action of the prisoner that took pleasure in taunting her after each battle. But before Celestia could voice her concerns or realization, the prisoner continued talking.

“It is what it is,” the prisoner said, “One of my pieces has been defeated. But I am not through, not yet.”

“What are you planning?” Celestia asked.

“Where’s the fun in telling you about it?” asked the prisoner. Celestia’s hands tightened. Still this prisoner treated life like it was a common thing, “You don’t announce your next move in chess…”

Celestia remained silent, waiting for the prisoner’s hologram to go away. However, it remained, as a tense silence permeated the room.

“Just know, my next move is already under way…” said the prisoner, spreading their arms out, “That is all.”

With that, the hologram faded. Celestia stared at the rat as it shuffled back out of sight, letting her anger show. At the same time, her concern went through the roof. One single thought went through her mind as she considered what she could have meant.

Their next move is under way… she thought, trying to figure out what that move could possibly be, But what was the meaning behind that? Have I missed something?

Corey’s left arm was feeling even better than it had before, but it still wasn’t one hundred percent. Though his focus wasn’t completely on that. In fact, he found himself even more interested in the book he’d been reading before. His reading pace had all but stopped, trying to make it as slow as possible.

The reason why he was choosing to immerse himself in reading to that extent wasn’t because he’d been surrounded by books ever since coming to Equestria. Rather, it was because of Twilight, who was sitting off to the side on the chair, a book of her own spread over her face. Hers was lifted by magic, Corey holding his in one hand.

Corey looked up from his book, seeing she was still in that spot where he’d last seen her. He himself hadn’t moved since this battle of wills began, sitting on the couch seat furthest from her, but still slightly facing her. He let out a sigh, trying to focus on the words on the pages rather than the mare over there. However, losing himself in the pages was harder than it should have been for him.

Why can’t I focus on this? Corey thought, the silence in the room leaving no noise for him to focus on, to distract him from his encroaching emotions.

You know the reason, Corey, his inner voice hissed, You have nothing to distance yourself from your emotions, so they’re coming for you. I told you to tell her, and you didn’t listen to me…

As Corey and his inner voice argued, he failed to register that Twilight had slowly began to move the book. No sooner than the book had passed her eyes did she turn her head to look to him. She saw his nose firmly in the book, but she could tell from the look in his eyes he wasn’t really looking at the pages.

Not like I’m one to talk… Twilight thought, This is the first time in a while I’ve been reading simply to dodge talking to somepony like this…it’s so hard to focus on the pages when you have these emotions clamoring inside of you, begging to make themselves known…

Her attention shifted back to the book, but she could tell her eyes were going right through the pages. This whole time, she’d been trying to focus on it, anything, just to try to get her thoughts straight. Deep down, though, she knew she was lying to herself if she thought she didn’t feel something. Slowly, Twilight’s book lowered again.

This time, Twilight’s eyes went wide. What she saw when she looked to him again made her heart jump in ways she hadn’t felt too often before all this: Corey was looking right back at her.

At the same time, both of their faces started to pinken, and they both quickly ducked back into the safety of their books, Corey making sure to pull his book up to his face. The room was dead quiet, save for the sounds of footsteps approaching from another room.

Spike was walking through, his hands free. He had just got done with shelving some books that had recently been turned in. Passing by the living room, he couldn’t help but notice the two of them had fallen dead silent. Spike may have been a child, but he had a gut feeling something was up between the two. He wasn’t numb to the fog of awkward that had settled in.

In fact, Spike was just about to say something about it. There was something going on in here that was just as clear to him as anyone else. He inhaled, ready to tell Twilight to quit stalling, when a hand came down on his shoulder. Spike let out a gasp—Shining had just arrived.

“Shining?” Spike said, “When did you…”

“I see I’m not the only one,” he said in a quiet voice, looking over to the two with a very faint smile, “And man, oh man, Cadence would have a field day with this…”

“I can only imagine,” Spike dropped his voice low now, “So, what have you been up to?”

“Actually Spike,” Shining said, taking a quick glance back up to Twilight and Corey, “Think we can take this to another room?”

“Huh? Why?” Spike asked.

“Oh, you know,” Shining said, “Better give them some more time alone…”

“Not that they don’t have a lot of that already. Yeah, you’re right.”

Corey’s ears twitched and he stuck his snout as far into the book as it would go to hide the color on his cheeks. He’d always been really bad with eavesdropping. If he’d cared more, he might have snapped at them by now, but he managed to hold his tongue and try to focus on it. He could hear two sets of footsteps heading towards the kitchen. With a shaky hand, he lowered the book. Twilight had buried her face into the book even further, but he could see her magic was just a little on the fritz.

“Twilight…” Corey said in a weak voice, trying to sound detached, “Your magic…”

She had barely enough time to get her hands under the book before her magic completely fizzled out. Twilight had a perturbed look on her face, and Corey could just make out the vanishing traces of a blush on her face.

“Y-you heard them, t-too?” Corey asked. Twilight looked over and Corey’s gaze shifted down.

“N-no, of course not!” Twilight looked away, facing a library shelf on her left, “T-they were only ten feet away! Didn’t hear a peep out of them!”

The two heard Spike belch from the next room, followed by a deadpan “Excuse you” from Shining. Twilight looked over, and then back to Corey, who looked down once she looked over to him.

“I…I think that was a letter about Lyon…” said Twilight.

“Oh, t-that…autopsy, right…” Corey said.

“You know it’s rude to read other ponies’ mail, right?” Spike was heard asking from the other room.

“I’m sure Twily would understand,” said Shining, causing Twilight to blush a little—odd since Corey had already heard that name during the last several days and she didn’t blush then. There was a silence that felt natural for a change.

“Well, Corey,” Twilight said, standing up, “I guess I can go get that letter, and see if…”

“What!?”

The sound of an incredibly furious Shining burned away the awkward almost immediately. Corey stood up in alarm. The awkward was instantly replaced with concern, both Corey and Twilight wondering just what kind of news could have caused such a reaction…

It hadn’t been long since the rat’s departure. Celestia was going through some more paperwork, some indicating that Lyon had passed and wouldn’t be returning to Tartarus. She was just about to get on that little bit of documentation, when there was the sound of a commotion outside.

“News from the Crystal Empire!” a frenzied pony shouted from outside, just managing to be above the commotion. Celestia instantly felt a sense of déjà vu, mixed with instant concern given what she’d just heard. She immediately looked up towards the door. The commotion outside was replaced with different shouts, and within moments, the door opened.

By the time Celestia saw the guard, carrying a single piece of parchment, the commotion outside had died down. As the guard began to rush over to her desk, Celestia felt the air grow even tenser.

“Princess Celestia,” the guard said, sounding just a little out of breath, and a bit less frenzied, “This just came in…”

Celestia took the letter in her magic, already unfurling the parchment as it floated over to her. Given everypony who had heard this news fell silent and let this pony pass with little hassle, she had a feeling this news wasn’t pleasant. No sooner than when her eyes scanned the paper, Celestia felt concern and anger worm its way directly into her heart.

“Princess Cadence was attacked!?” she whispered, unable to hide her shock. At the same time, though, now she knew.

That is where you’re striking next? Celestia thought, trying to calm herself down, We must move to defend…

“What do we do, Princess?” asked the guard.

“I must send this report to Twilight at once,” Celestia said, “She deserves to know this information…”

The news of the attack on Cadence spread around the group quick. Twilight instantly filled with worry. Shining had nearly crumpled up the letter when he read it, but managed to hold himself together. Over the course of the afternoon, the news had spread from friend to friend. Within a few hours, everyone was ready to leave.

“I still cannot believe it,” Rarity said, “Such a wanton attack on a head of state…How did they manage to do it?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out!” Twilight said. Shining remained silent.

“Is this everypony?” asked Shining, looking around. His brows had been set into a permanent arch, and would likely stay that way until they got up north.

“No,” said Rainbow, “Fluttershy’s still gotta come!”

“Look!” Pinkie said, “There she is!”

All heads turned to where she was pointing—no, dashing. Sure enough, Fluttershy was walking towards them. Her head lifted in surprise when Pinkie appeared behind her.

“Fluttershy, you’re here!” Pinkie said. Her hands found their way to Fluttershy’s shoulders and she began to push. Though at first, Fluttershy did, in fact, get pushed forward, once Pinkie had already pushed her about half of the remaining distance from where she was to the others, she realized something important.

“Where’s your bags?” Pinkie asked. Fluttershy looked away from the others for a moment.

“U-um…” Fluttershy stuttered, no steam to begin with, “I’m—I’m not going.”

There was a pause from all the others. But it didn’t last too long.

“What? Why?” Rainbow was the first to break the silence.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight took a few steps towards her, “Why aren’t you going?”

“I’d…I’d only get in the way…” Fluttershy said, her gaze now transfixed on the floor.

“No, Fluttershy, don’t be silly!” Pinkie said, now moving in front of her, somewhat between the others and her now.

“You’re just as much a part of this as any of us!” Applejack said, “We can’t just—“

“What have I done to help!?”

Fluttershy’s shout definitely got everyone’s attention. The loudness in her voice caused just about everyone’s eyes to go wide. Even though she gradually lost steam as she kept talking, it was clear this was something she wasn’t going to be talked into.

“Please, can any of you name one time I helped out during any…any of the attacks?” Fluttershy said. Someone inhaled to try to speak, but she quickly added, “O-on my own? Not asking anyone else to do it?”

The group stood in silence for what felt like forever. None of them could come up with anything to even meet Fluttershy halfway, let alone say if she actually was of help. Her point more than proven, Fluttershy continued.

“I-I’m sorry,” Fluttershy had somewhat returned to her normal mood now, “But I can’t…I can’t go with you.”

Her head turned towards the ground, Fluttershy slowly began to walk away. Rainbow finally began to move.

“Wait, Fluttershy—“ Rainbow said.

“No,” Shining interrupted. His eyebrows had somewhat relaxed now, his attention momentarily diverted from the north by what happened, “We can’t force it on her. If she feels she’s not up for this, then she’s not up for it…”

“So, that’s it?” Rainbow asked, “We just let her stay?”

“Looks like it,” Applejack said with a sigh, “We can’t force her to go. But we’ve all got someplace we need to be, too.”

“Maybe we can talk about it with her later,” Twilight suggested, “But right now, we have to keep moving.”

With a heavy weight on their shoulder, one by one, everypony went into the car. Corey and John were the last to go in. Shining stopped at the door, letting Spike pass by him.

“You two coming?” Shining asked.

“Yeah, we are,” Corey said, blinking. It had been a short while since he watched Fluttershy leave. She was nowhere in sight.

“Something wrong?” John asked, turning around to enter the car.

“No, it’s just…” Corey began walking towards the car as well to join with the others, “About feeling useless, I can relate…”

The catacombs were as deep underground as ever. They were still dimly lit by her magic. And, she remained in her so-called war room, alone. As she’d expected, the Elements of Harmony and Celestia’s other pieces had gone to the Crystal Empire. It was time for round two of the war to begin.

Though she knew that she was far from done, she had to admit it was a shame to have to punish Lyon like that. However, he had stepped out of line, and had to be taught a lesson. With her next move underway, she began to plan her next move—

Wait. A screen from Ponyville. It was showing Kindness’s cottage. The door swung open, revealing…

“She stayed behind?” she hissed, looking up to face the screen directly, “This will not do.”

Looking to the screen depicting a very downcast Fluttershy, the prisoner began to mull over her options. She could have informed Celestia of the breach, but as far as she was concerned there was no need. However, the rules clearly stated all pieces needed to participate in some amount, to be within reach. She couldn’t just let this go.

A sneer slowly split her face as she came up with a plan. It was true that this pony had dared to try to drop out of her game, but who was to say she really had. Lifting a hand, she hovered it over the screen.

“So she wants to remain in Ponyville while her more capable friends are away?” she asked herself, her sneer unbreaking, “That’s just fine…”

Turning from the room and walking away to fetch one of her fellow escapees, her sneer grew to unimaginable malevolence.

“It’s time for a penalty round…”

Author's Note

And with that we come to the end of another arc and another Act. Act 3 is where a lot of stuff's going to happen. We'll see quite a bit happen in the first part. Won't say much more than that...

Until then.

Act 3 Chapter 1

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 1: To the Frozen North

The train had long departed from its station and was heading north. It was still a long, long trip between Ponyville and the Crystal Empire, though. Looking out the window of the train, Corey could only wonder what happened. The others all sat in various spots around the train car. John stood against one of the walls, tapping his arm with one of his claws.

Still can’t believe this happened, Corey thought, Maybe they targeted Cadance because Shining got involved.

Corey watched the scenery pass. While it still looked relatively warm outside, soon, it would look very frosty.

“I still can’t believe Fluttershy wanted to stay back!” Rainbow said.

“It’s not like we can blame her, Rainbow,” Applejack said, looking over to her, “She felt she wasn’t cut out for this whole thing. Even more so than she probably felt every time we went up against the odds…”

“But we came out on top before,” Rainbow protested.

“Much as I dislike it, you have to understand that were not going to change her mind,” Rarity said simply.

‘Well, I—“ Rainbow would have continued speaking, but she didn’t get the words out. The doors to the front of the car opened, and all heads turned. Shining walked through, still looking mad.

“Shining!” Twilight called out.

“Like I thought,” Shining said, “We pretty much have the back of the train to ourselves.”

“That said,” Twilight said, “I think we should tell the others what we know of what happened.”

“Yeah,” said Rainbow, “Not like we could really talk about it earlier anyway. Still needed to keep the whole thing under wraps.”

Shining hesitated for a moment, his eyebrows arched. Twilight looked over to him, concerned. However, he managed to compose himself, and cleared his throat.

“What I’m about to tell you isn’t easy to say,” Shining said, “But since we’re all on our way up there, you need to know this. Cadance was…she was attacked by an unidentified assailant…in the Crystal Palace earlier today.”

An unsettling silence settled over the car, as those that hadn’t already read the letter tried to process what they had heard. John shifted, his eyes now looking directly to Shining; same with everyone else. Corey slowly closed his eyes, already knowing that much.

Why her? Corey thought, Weren’t the other princesses aside from Twilight not allowed to be involved?

“But how…?!” Rarity gasped, her eyes wide.

“Shouldn’t the guards have done somethin’ about some crazy pony!?” Rainbow asked, alarmed.

“They should have,” Shining said, “We don’t know everything, but somehow, he’d managed to get in the palace itself. There was a brief struggle. Cadance managed to ward off the assailant, but she didn’t completely get away unscathed.”

“How bad was it?” Applejack asked.

“She did get injured, but it didn’t say much more than that,” said Shining.

There was another uneasy silence that followed, no one knowing what they could say. Eventually, someone spoke up.

“Was there anything else?” asked Rainbow, standing up straight.

“No, that’s it,” Shining sighed, “We weren’t told much else. All we can do is wait until we get there…”

Shining turned away, looking out the window to his side. He could see his own reflection in the glass. He could see the unease he was feeling clear as day—an unease crafted from knowing his wife had been attacked. Not just that, but the fact he wasn’t there at her side, again, when it happened. It was hard on him, but all he could do now was wait. Wait, and hope to get back at whoever it was that did that to her.

After being briefed on what had happened at their destination, the group was left with little options on what to do. It would take the rest of the day to get there, so until then, they had to try to pass the time. Most had decided conversation was the best option, choosing to keep it light-hearted to at least give them some relief of the tension that was in there.

Others, however, found it hard to sit still. Rainbow Dash had boasted on at least two occasions she could beat the train there. Shining was another one suffering from the wait; the information on the attack was so limited he didn’t even know if his wife was alright. All he could find comfort in was the fact Cadance’s condition wasn’t critical—else, it might have been noted.

Another was Twilight. Cadance wasn’t just her foalsitter from when she was young. She was also like the sister she never had, even before the wedding. She looked up to her, and a small part of her aspired to be like her. Now someone had just attempted to take her life—she’d be lying if she said this didn’t bother her.

Last but not least was Corey. Of everyone else, he had remained the quietest. He couldn’t simply flush away what had happened to Cadance out of his mind. He shifted about in his seat, and more than once he had placed his hand on the wall. Unable to sit still, Corey found himself walking to the end of the car, exiting through the back door. Though they were the only ones there at the moment, Corey had thought he’d managed to slip out without the others noticing. But he was wrong. At least one of them had saw him exit.

Corey leaned on the guard railing, fiddling with his glasses with one hand.

How’d this all happen… Corey thought, The Gates of Tartarus breaking open, a psychopath challenging us to a game…an actual attempt on the life of Cadance—Twilight’s family…This just isn’t the world I thought I knew…

Corey’s ear flicked. Over the sound of the wheels clattering down the rails and the air passing around him, he could just make out the sound of a doorknob being turned. He turned, still keeping his hand on the rail.

John stepped outside, closing the door behind him. He turned briefly to it, seemingly to make sure no one else followed him. He took one step forward.

“Corey,” John said, “Something on your mind?”

“What do you think, John?” Corey’s eyebrows pinched downward, and his voice gained a disproportionate amount of annoyance in it. He blinked, fiddling with his glasses, “Sorry…”

“It’s about what happened with Cadance, isn’t it?” John asked.

Corey sighed, “Not just that. It’s everything that’s happened since we got here.”

“Not exactly how you’d imagined living here would be?” John walked toward Corey, eventually standing at the guard rail next to him. Corey gave another sigh.

“Well, yes, and no…” Corey said, “I mean, of course you’d expect crazy stuff like this to happen, but it’s not this extreme,” His arm flared up, and Corey rubbed at it, “We could have died, you know. And now Cadance was attacked by an assassin. You know just as well as I do that it’s probably another escaped prisoner behind it!”

“I didn’t think they could actually have this kind of hell in this world,” Corey continued, looking out into the distance, “It’s different, and far more dangerous, than what the powers-that-be in our world had to do deal with. Everything looks so peaceful here, but I never thought that vicious criminals like this could be here. They’re no different than the ones back home. It just stands out so much more here…”

John raised an eyebrow. This was starting to sound very familiar, but he didn’t say anything. Corey kept right on going, tapping the knuckles of one hand on the railing.

“To think that creatures this vile could be running around out there, ready to kill. It’s sickening to think about; either here or back home. People like that…can’t be allowed to go on!” Corey struck the rail hard enough to cause a noise with the side of his fist, “It’s even worse here…back home you have people in power who lie, you have people killing each other over nothing, and you have people using a mask to torment others. No matter where I go, I see sacks of crap…” Finally, Corey leaned against the railing, eyes closed. He removed his glasses, rubbing at his closed lids, “Vaccums of what’s good in a world…that’s all they are…”

John frowned. He knew the warning signs when he saw them. And all that was a pretty big warning sign. Yet, at the same time, John noticed something else. Even though the signs were there, there was still something missing.

“You know I’m surprised,” John said, leaning on the railing.

“About what?” Corey asked, turning to him.

“I’ve known you for a few years now, Corey,” he said, “And in those years, I’ve learned something about you: that you are an angry little fellow.”

John smirked; Corey stared over to John, one brow arched.

And just where’s he going with this? Corey thought, waiting. After a bit more silence, John let out a small chuckle, turning his head up.

“Or at least, you used to be,” he said, “We haven’t been here long, yet in the short time we have, you’ve become someone different. And not in a bad way. I’ve seen you get even angrier at things that don’t even compare to what we’re dealing with now, in no way. Sure, you’re not happy about it, but I can tell you’re trying to keep yourself calm, at least. That’s leagues better than what the old you could manage.”

The two went silent after this once again, the only sound around them being the clanking of the rails against the wheels and the wind rushing past the train. All the while, Corey mulled over John’s words. He knew for a fact John was right; he had gotten angry over the game, but even then, he wasn’t nearly as angry as he should have been.

“I think this world has something to do with it,” Corey finally said, taking a couple of steps towards the door.

“What do you mean?” John questioned, stepping once away from the rail.

“The world itself,” Corey said, spreading his arms out, “The ponies who live here. Just seeing them somehow makes me feel calm. Shows me that even if there are a few dark corners to it, I can still rely on the majority of the light.” With one final sigh, Corey looked up, seeing that the sun was close to setting.

“Bet Twilight was a big help…”

“You have no idea…sometimes, she just knows how to help me calm down when I’m getting frustrated,” Corey smiled, allowing himself to think back to all the times she had. It would have been an entirely pleasant experience had it not been for one simple noise.

A snicker, coming from John. Corey looked up towards him to confirm this, and saw that John was in fact covering his mouth, trying not to laugh. Only then did Corey realize what he said, and how it could be interpreted.

“Walked right into that one…” Corey groaned, applying his palm to his face.

Back inside of the train, Rainbow Dash had finally brought herself to take a seat right across from Twilight.

“How you holdin’ up, Twi?” she asked.

“Huh?” asked Twilight, having been staring out the window. She hadn’t even noticed that Rainbow had sat down, “Oh…Rainbow. I’m…I’m doing fine,” She smiled weakly, “All things considered.” She added as she went back to staring out the window. Rainbow could see the look in Twilight’s eyes; the worry that she had for Cadance was almost palpable. She had some idea of how Twilight was feeling. Had it been someone of her own family that had been attacked, she would have felt the same way for sure.

“You know we’re gonna find who did this, right?” asked Rainbow, getting Twilight’s attention once more, “And when we do, we’re gonna show them why you don’t mess with us.” To emphasize her point, Rainbow flexed her arm, clenching her fist. Twilight couldn’t help but giggle; Rainbow’s optimism never ceased to amaze her.

Seeing Twilight laugh was a start, but Rainbow had a feeling it wouldn’t last too long. She wanted to find a way to keep Twilight from worrying, even if only for a few more minutes. It was a wonder she didn’t think of that diversion sooner, but now seemed as good a time as any to use it.

“You know, I never asked,” Rainbow said, “How’s it feel to be a teacher?”

Twilight’s ears perched up a little at hearing this, and her smile grew stronger.

“Well, I would have preferred to it be under better circumstances, but it’s still nice to have somepony to share my knowledge with,” As she spoke, Twilight’s voice seemed to grow lighter, as did the look in her eyes, “And I probably couldn’t have asked for a better student. Corey’s a lot more open to learning than I thought. Not only that, but he put up with me when I started to overdo it a little,” Twilight rubbed at the back of her head, a sheepish chuckle escaping her as she remembered that first day.

“Hey, at least it paid off,” Rainbow said, “I mean, did you see the spells he used when he fought that lion guy!? Bet he could topple a house with that punching thing…and then there’s the spell that made him all buff…”

Twilight let out a small chuckle as she thought about that spell, remembering the first time she saw it up close.

“You should see it when he doesn’t have a shirt on,” As the words left her mouth, Twilight immediately realized the combination she’d uttered and clasped both hands over her mouth as tightly as she could. Her face immediately lit up red. But the deed had been done, and Rainbow had eaten up every single word.

“Without a shirt,” Rainbow grinned slyly, “You say?”

“I-I mean, if you happen to see him use it when he’s not wearing one, which I did!” Again Twilight caught what she said, and her face grew even redder, “N-not that I wanted to see him like that,” And that didn’t sound that good either, “N-not that there’s anything wrong with his body, because there’s not, I mean—“ Finally, Twilight decided it was best to give up. The heat coming off her face was dangerously close to starting a fire, it felt like.

“I’m just going to stop talking,” she said, covering her face and sliding down in her seat. Rainbow stared at the state Twilight had put herself in, one brow arched after hearing the whole display.

Whoa, she really has it bad…

The sun set, the moon rose, and soon, one by one, everyone was starting to turn in for the night. Corey and John had both long since rejoined with everyone in the car. Corey had pretty much remained close to the window he’d been staring out of the whole time, speaking to others as needed. In general, everyone seemed to want to talk about anything to get their minds off of what happened with Fluttershy or what happened to Cadance, at least for the time being.

Removing his eyes from the window once more, Corey looked around. He could probably count on one hand now how many of the car’s occupants were awake. Twilight still seemed to be awake, going over a book she’d brought with her for the ride, in the bed parallel to where he was sitting. Shining was standing up at the door, probably making sure everyone else went to sleep before he did, though his head was lowered.

Just about everyone else was sleeping soundly. As it turned out, the group actually had access to two cars in the back; the one just in front of the one Corey was in now was the one that contained most of the beds. Though, not everypony had made it safely to their beds. At the end facing the door to the “balcony” of the caboose was John, who was slouched over in a sitting position, and Rainbow Dash had clearly fallen asleep with her back to his.

Corey blinked as he registered this fact, but didn’t bother trying to point it out to anyone. He looked around the car again. Corey was just about to get up to prepare to go to sleep himself, when Twilight looked up towards him. Barely registering this fact in time, Corey managed to look back at her.

Neither of them said anything of note, just staring to one another as though trying to get the other to say something. Eventually, though, Twilight broke first.

“Corey?” Twilight asked, “You’re still up?”

“Y-yeah,” Corey said, rising from his seat, still looking over to her, “Not tired yet.”

“Oh, I see,” Twilight almost put her nose back into the book she was reading as Corey walked over to her, but she managed to keep looking over to him, “Um…it’s a long ride.”

“Yes,” Corey said, looking away for a moment, And not even a Game Boy around to keep my attention until I fall asleep…

“Don’t you have anything to read?” Twilight said, taking a quick glance to the book she was reading.

“Well, uh, no…” Corey said, “I wasn’t really thinking about…”

“Well,” Twilight said, nodding towards the book floating in front of her, “I’m just starting this book. Maybe….maybe we could read it together?”

Corey blinked, initially unsure of whether or not to accept. It really would have been awkward to be read to now, especially with John now being aware of what may or may not have been going on between Twilight and himself. But at the same time, he found it impossible to just say “no”.

“O…okay…” Corey said.

Twilight gave him another smile, and moved over in the bed to give Corey a little space.

“You won’t be sorry,” she said, though she quickly flinched as her arm rubbed a bit against his. The bed was just wide enough to contain the two of them, so they laid back in the bed, shoulder-to-shoulder, a glowing book hovering maybe half a foot, if that, away from their faces.

With the two as comfortable as they could be in their new position, Twilight decided to start reading in a hushed voice. Corey tried to keep up with her as she read it, though his speedreading habit was hard to let go of.

Eventually, Corey’s eyes began to get heavy. He didn’t even remember drifting off to sleep, a soft, slight weight resting on his shoulder…

Author's Note

And here's how we start Act 3. What else can I say?

Act 3 Chapter 3

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 3: From the Cold Hearted

All in all, Twilight Sparkle had no idea why she’d decided to look into the book some more. It had drawn such a rise out of Shining he tightened security after only skimming the pages and reading one entry. Despite her brother’s warnings, Twilight had opted to look into the book herself. Now that she was poring over the pages, Twilight was feeling something she’d never felt before, and hoped to never feel again: regret for opening a book.

I don’t believe it… Twilight thought, shutting the book in front of her, feeling every fiber of her body fill with horror and disgust at the content she’d read, I should have listened. This is the most disgusting account of anything I’ve ever seen in my life…

She sighed, leaning forward into her palms, trying to purge what she’d read from her mind before it consumed her completely. Reminding herself that the one who attacked Cadance was a dangerous psychopath who had—apparently successfully—done similar things before, was not going to be good on her.

“Twilight?” She nearly jumped at the voice, even though she knew before looking over to him that it was Corey who had asked the question. He stood in the doorway, tugging at his glasses a bit as he looked over to her, concerned.

“Oh, Corey,” Twilight said, “I thought you were out looking around a little?”

“I changed my mind on that,” Corey walked over towards her, offering a tilt of his head, no doubt seeing the look on her face, “Hey, what’s…”

He caught sight of the book, and she turned back to it. Even looking at it while it was shut made her feel uneasy.

“This journal,” Twilight said, “It’s filled with some of the most depraved thoughts I’ve ever read. This is the one book I will never pick up again. I could barely even read any of the entries!”

Twilight looked down to the floor, memories of those horrid sentences flowing freely through her mind. She physically shivered as she tried to banish those memories with no success.

“And it’s me we’re talking about,” she continued, “If I can’t stand to read something…”

“Twilight,” Corey cut in before she could finish, but when she looked up to him she realized he wasn’t looking at her. It didn’t take her long to guess what he was looking at, “I...I can read it if you don’t—“

“No!” Twilight stood up, causing Corey to take a step back, “I…I’m sorry. But this…Look, I know how you reacted when you heard what Lyon did. I was standing right next to you. But the acts described in this book, whether real or made up…They’re even worse.”

“I know that,” Corey said, his voice twinged with concern, “But someone has to process it…Maybe we can find out some kind of motives from it…Maybe.”

“I can tell you,” Twilight cast another look to the journal, “You won’t find anything that can help you figure things out in there. I thought the same…and now I can’t even stand to look at it…”

Corey looked to Twilight, but she still looked to the journal. Eventually, she turned away, her ears folding down, looking like she regretted even giving it another glance, her gaze on the floor.

“Well, I guess that’s not true either,” she said, “If you’re getting anything from this book, it…it shows just what kind of person Cadance had to deal with that night. I can’t believe someone that sick could so easily sneak in and get the drop on her…If she hadn’t been able to…”

Corey was struck silent. He didn’t know if he even could say anything. But that nagging voice at the back of his head wasn’t about to just let him not try.

“I…” Corey said, “I…”

“There’s nothing to be said, Corey,” Twilight said, “There’s nothing else you’ll get out of that book other than disgust…”

“I know that,” Corey said, “Seeing what it did to you and your brother… I can’t imagine what’s in there. I don’t know what I can say…All I know is…All I know…”

He ran out of steam, and he looked away for a moment.

“All you know…?” Twilight parroted, looking back up to him.

“All I know is…” Corey closed his eyes halfway, “If something like that happened to you, I don’t know how I’d act…Even the thought…”

One of his fists tightened, and he closed his eyes. Memories of a past life washed over him, and he couldn’t banish them straight away.

“Don’t think like that!” Twilight said. Corey flinched and looked back to her, “If all you do is think about everything bad that can happen, you won’t be able to get anywhere…”

Corey only watched as she continued on.

“I mean, I’ve been in dire situations before,” Twilight said, “It’s terrifying, of course, to think that someone like that can be running around. While this situation is different, it can still be overcome! Just like how you overcame Lyon. We can do this as long as we stick together…”

After the assault on her, Cadance hadn’t been able to move as freely as she would have wanted. Not only did her injury make it difficult to walk, but the increase in patrols made it so she had to be under constant watch. Only this time, it wasn’t so bad. Her escort was her own husband. With her arms wrapped around his, the two walked down the halls. The walk was taking longer than it normally would, but she wasn’t about to complain. For now, she was taking the time to enjoy the fact that was able to hold Shining near her.

“I want to believe that, but right now…it’s hard.”

Cadance blinked for a moment. That wasn’t Shining’s voice at all. It was the voice of one of the newcomers that Twilight had introduced to her.

Corey, was it? she thought to herself.

“Trust me,” This was Twilight’s voice responding to him; she knew that voice anywhere, “I know the feeling. But I’ve come to learn that it’s a lot more reliable than you would think.” They weren’t too far away, and Cadance began to form a hunch on where they were.

Are they in my room? Guided by Shining, who also seemed to be listening in, slowly made their away towards the door of her room. Shining was ready to march right in, but Cadance tugged on his arm to get his attention. When he turned to look at her, she pushed one finger to her lips. Shining cast her a confused look, but went with her suggestion.

“And like I said, you’ve managed to hold your own before,” Twilight’s voice had a reassuring tone, “Your talent with magic is something I haven’t ever seen before.”

“T-thanks,” Corey stuttered, “But it’s only because you taught me so much on how to control my magic. If not for you, I probably wouldn’t be where I am now.”

Cadance heard Twilight giggle slightly, before she spoke up again.

“Well, I’m glad my teaching is paying off,” she said, “And it’s really been fun having a student.”

After that, there was silence. For that few moments, Cadance began to wonder if that was it. But then…

“M-maybe,” Corey’s voice came out sort of small at first, but quickly gained strength, “Maybe, I can teach you something sometime."

Cadance must have twitched a bit too hard, since Shining cast a look to her and mumbled, “Oh, I know that look…” Her eyes were now sparkling, and one hand had gone to her cheek, the other still helping her to cling to Shining for support.

“Well…there’s still a lot I’d like to know,” said Twilight, “But since this all started, I’ve never had the time to ask…”

The silence that followed was a lot tenser than before. At least, for Cadance. She didn’t know what he was about to say.

“Th-then…” His voice sounded very uncomfortable, but it still had the same strength that it did before, “How about a promise. When all this is over, when we…we have time to sit down and relax…I-I promise to answer every question you have. No matter how long it takes.”

“I’d like that…”

Cadance tugged on Shining’s arm slightly. When he looked to her, she caught his raised brow. She nodded, as if to say “I’m done here”, before both began to move on. With her eye trailing back to her room, Cadance could feel a smile etching itself into her face.

She knows how to pick them…

After leaving Twilight and Corey alone, both Cadance and Shining went to what had served as Cadance’s new room. Once they were inside, Shining helped Cadance on to her bed where she laid back with a relaxed sigh. He watched as she laid back, trying to catch her breath. Even now, walking to her room was physically challenging.

“It’s really good to have you back,” said Cadance with a loving smile. Returning the smile, Shining reached over and placed his palm gently on her cheek.

“I promise I won’t leave your side again,” he said softly, leaning in closer. He planted a very soft kiss on her lips. The two then went into total silence, doing nothing more than enjoy each other’s presence. Being next to her, knowing that he could protect her if something happened again finally let Shining feel at ease. But there was still something eating away at the back of his mind. The only real words that the attacker had said.

“You’ve grown so much…”

The words made Shining feel uneasy every time the words replayed in his head. No matter how he thought about it, all signs pointed to the same thing.

“He knew you…” Shining mumbled, breaking the silence.

“Who did?” Cadance asked.

“Your attacker,” said Shining, “You said his only words were ‘You’ve grown so much’, right?”

Cadance nodded, staring at her husband as another silence overtook them. His eyes were distant, no doubt contemplating what he was going to say next.

“Does this mean he knew you when you were younger?”

The mere thought was enough to send a shiver down Cadance’s spine. Now it wasn’t just the possibility that her attacker was one of the breakouts, but also someone she may have known?

But who? she asked herself. Over time, Cadance had made a few enemies, though none of them were provoked by something she did. But for the attacker to have said what he did, to speak to her as if he had known her at a young age…

Cadance couldn’t think of a single soul who she had met who’d fit the—

“Wait…” Cadance sat up suddenly, only to wince as her side reminded her it hadn’t healed yet.

“What’s wrong?” asked Shining, reaching out to her. Cadance didn’t respond, her eyes staring off into empty space. Shining noted with dismay fear was clouding her vision once again.

“I…I think I know who he was.”

After the group had finally settled themselves in, they all sat in the throne room. They hadn’t given it much thought before hearing the full story of the attack. But now that they did know what happened, they’d realized finding the attacker wouldn’t be nearly so straightforward. Unlike Lyon, this prisoner seemed to be capable of hiding his appearance. And if he could disguise himself as a crystal guards, chances were he was masquerading as someone else by now. All that said, it brought them to one single question.

“How are we goin’ to find him?” Applejack asked, “He ain’t gonna just let us find him…”

“Maybe Twi knows a spell that can find someone using a disguise?” asked Rainbow. The others mulled this over for a moment. It seemed possible. Even if Twilight didn’t know a spell like that, there was a chance she could find one.

“But even if she does,” Rarity said, “We would still need to find him…”

“But going out looking for him might not be the best idea,” said John, “Whoever it was managed to slip past trained guards unnoticed. He even waited until the dead of night to make his move. If anyone here were to be unlucky enough to corner him—or be cornered by him, it won’t be pretty.”

“Then what do we do?” asked Pinkie. No one answered, not that they could if they wanted to. As the others began to think to themselves once again, John made his way over to the window of the throne. Looking into the distance, he could see the empire. Hundreds upon thousands of civilians, and one of them wouldn’t think twice about ending their lives.

John didn’t know the answer to Pinkie’s question offhand, but he knew one thing for sure. The last confrontation drilled it into his head. There was a way to do this.

“There always is…”

Ponyville had remained quiet since Twilight and the others left for the Crystal Empire. But even so, Princess Celestia couldn’t bring herself to relax. There was an attempt at the life of her niece as well as knowing that Twilight and her friends would have to confront the attacker. And knowing she couldn’t lift even one finger to help them only served to drive the stress home. For now, all she could do was rally her guards, ensuring that they continued to remain hidden as they guarded Ponyville—and Fluttershy, who had stayed behind.

She also had to keep up the charade that all was fine, but that was proving difficult. Even now as she sat on her throne trying to focus on her work, all she could think of was what had happened recently. Her mind betrayed her as she wondered what could happen to the others up at the empire.

No! Celestia thought to herself, lightly shaking her head, They will get through this…they always do…

There was a knock at the door, and Celestia leapt at the opportunity to get out of her own head.

“Enter,” she said. Shortly after the door began to open. Celestia blinked in surprise when she saw who was on the other side.

He bothered to knock? Celestia saw Discord on the other side. Even with the contempt he’d shown the records, he still had some level of jovial-ness in his personality left over.

“Is this a bad time?” he asked.

“I don’t think there will be a better one anytime soon,” she sighed.

“Fair point,” said Discord, only to surprise Celestia yet again, “By the way, I made a trip to Tartarus.”

Of all the places for Discord to go, Celestia had never imagined he’d go there willingly, for any reason.

“While there, I had Luna show me that mysterious hidden cage,” Discord walked over to Celestia—he hadn’t floated as much since the whole “Tartarus records” incident. Eventually, he came to a stop at the stairs leading up to her chair, stopping with his foot on the bottom one.

“What did you discover?” she asked.

“Some powerful magic went into that cell,” Discord said, “I dare say it could have held me as well. While I cannot tell you who was being held in it, I can tell you how they got out…”

Author's Note

And the plot thickens even further...Blah...

I can't really say much else, honestly. College is slowly sapping my spirit.

Act 3 Chapter 4

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 4: Monkey’s Paw

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Twilight said, looking down into Pinkie’s outstretched hand, which clutched what looked like an oversized party popper. However, on closer inspection, the pull string part at the top had been removed entirely, replaced with a different top; a weird sort of thing at the top with a long spike that extended half the long of the device had replaced it. Attached to that piece, was a small ring.

Corey and John also eyed the very clearly modified party popper, with wider eyes than they should have.

“Something wrong?” Rainbow asked, looking over to them.

“O-oh, no, nothing,” Corey said, shaking his head.

“Yeah, nothing,” John nodded, “Just…surprised…”

How the hell did she turn a party popper into a grenade? thought Corey, looking back at the device. There was a long moment of silence before someone asked a simple question.

“So, Pinkie, what’s it do?” Twilight asked. Pinkie’s ever-present smile grew slightly wider. She took a few steps back.

“Here, I’ll show you!” The pin got pulled at this point. Corey’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull, but before he could do anything, a dragon’s wing shot up, Corey barely reacting in time to duck out of the way.

“Hit the deck!” John shouted, his voice stern and serious. In no time at all, John closed the distance, grabbing the modified party popper and falling down on top of it.

“John!?” Twilight asked, clearly alarmed.

“Save yourse—“

At that moment, there was a bright flash and an impossibly loud bang (muffled only by John’s body). Everyone turned away for a second, shielding their eyes as the device went off. When they turned away, they saw a dazed and confused John, wrapped up tightly in several strands of confetti.

“W-what…happened?” John looked around, eventually realizing he wasn’t sporting a giant burn mark on his chest (at best). He looked down at his body, seeing the confetti binding him. When he saw it, he began to squirm around, no doubt trying to free himself.

“John, you don’t gotta be rude!” Pinkie said, hands on her hips, pouting. Twilight blinked.

“Um,” she said, still confused about John’s outburst, “Nice job…Pinkie?”

Rainbow hovered her way over to John, who was still struggling to get free.

“What was that all about??” she asked of him, spreading her arms out.

“I panicked!” John grunted, still struggling with the confetti bindings, “Ugh, stuff’s durable…”

“And flame-resistant!” Pinkie chirped proudly.

“Seriously!?” John said, still doing his worst imitation of a snake, letting out indistinct grunts and grumbles all the way. Rainbow, who was more or less right next to him, let out a few snickers before eventually bursting out laughing.

“Could someone help out John?” Twilight asked.

“Sure, I’ll just…yeah…” Corey said, slowly moving over to John’s position.

“Well, I guess since we’re all here, we should probably get planning…” Twilight said. Her brows briefly creased as John continued to strain against the impossibly tough confetti, but quickly relaxed as she began her explanation.

“I’ve gone over everything a few times. I think I know what we can do,” Twilight continued, “We need to keep eyes on the outside as well. So…” She glanced over to where John was. Rainbow was still next to him, doing nothing to help. John continued to squirm around like some kind of worm, and Corey was frantically tugging on some of the confetti, shouting something about how he wanted to save his magic for later.

“Rainbow and John will cover the outside,” At the sound of his name, John paused, “You hear that?”

“Yeah, me and Rainbow are—dammit—going to fly around—why’d they make confetti like this…” John strained some more, “Outside, right…?”

“That’s right,” said Twilight, “You two should be able to cut anyone off out there and spot if there’s incoming attackers as well. Then, we have Corey and Applejack.”

Corey looked up, a strand of confetti now between his teeth, one foot pressed firmly between John’s wings, John still squirming, grunting incoherently. Applejack also looked up.

“They’re going to help Shining keep watch over Cadance,” said Twilight, “Both of them have strengths that could help out if the attacker manages to get to her room by some reason. Plus, Applejack should be able to bind whoever it is if she can get that lasso around him.”

“Sounds about right,” Applejack said, “I’ll do my best.”

Corey didn’t say anything, still preoccupied with trying to free John from his bindings.

“Next, Pinkie,” Twilight said, “You have…a strange ability that I’ve never been able to figure out…But it would serve useful. You can get into the strangest of places without anypony ever finding out you were there. I’m thinking you could probably get the drop on Cadance’s attacker, especially if you have more of those…what are they called?”

“They’re Super-de-Duper Party Poppers!” Pinkie said, winking and flashing a “V” sign with one of her hands.

The sound of bindings snapping, followed by a relieved “Woo-hoo!” echoed through the room, while everyone processed the long name Pinkie gave to her invention.

“Uh…right,” Twilight said, “Anyway, I’m confident you should be able to fill that role quite nicely.”

“Okie dokie, loki!” chirped Pinkie, saluting.

“Now then…Rarity,” Twilight said.

“Yes, Twilight?” asked Rarity in response.

“I want you to help Pinkie out with her job here,” Twilight said, extending one of her arms up.

“With all due respect, Twilight, I do not see how I can help her,” said Rarity.

“We have to try to stay together,” Twilight pointed out, “I feel like putting you and Pinkie together would be the best way. You’ve learned some combat magic now, right?”

“Yes, I have,” Rarity said.

“Then you can back up Pinkie in case the attacker isn’t so easily taken care of,” Twilight said, “We have no idea who we’re dealing with. It’d be better to stick in groups of two if possible…”

There was a small silence afterward. Rarity looked at Twilight for several long moments, weighing what Twilight was saying.

“Very well,” said Rarity, though the tone of her voice suggested she wasn’t totally convinced with this.

“What about you, Twilight?” asked Applejack, “What are you going to do?”

Twilight took a deep breath.

“I have a job too,” she said, looking slightly away. More observant people could just make out the beginnings of a sweat bead on her brow, “Don’t worry about me…”

The room remained silent for a few more seconds. Everyone looked to Twilight once more.

“So, one more time, from the top…”

With everyone’s attention undivided, Twilight recapped the plan, making sure everyone could hear their roles this time.

“Alright, does everypony know what they are going to do?” she asked, after going over the roles assigned. The others nodded in agreement. They all knew very well that they couldn’t afford to mess up here. But, while everyone understood their roles, their respective goals, there was one thing they hadn’t heard about.

“And you, darling?” asked Rarity, turning to Twilight, “What is your part in this?’

Up until now, Twilight never said anything about it. Twilight looked up to Rarity, a small, confident smirk on her face, reflecting on the brilliance of her plan…

“I—“ Before Twilight could specify, though.

“I know who he is!” The sound of Cadance’s voice made everyone jump—no one had expected her to shout out like that. All heads turned to the door; sure enough, there she was, supported by Shining.

“Who?’ asked Twilight.

“The one who attacked me…” Cadance, still helped by Shining, walked over to the others. Only now did everyone realize there was a rather thick folder in her free hand, looking like it might burst with the amount of paper inside of it, “It wasn’t the first time he’d made an attempt on my life…”

Holding out her hand, Cadance allowed Twilight to take the folder. She unfolded it, but she hardly had to read even the first page before horror spread across her face all over again. Seeing this sudden surge of unease from Twilight made everyone want to know what she had just read about; it sent a chill down their collective spine.

“All of you need to listen carefully,” Cadance advised, “I’m about to tell you just what you’re up against.”

The others didn’t comment on her words; all of them gathered around Twilight. None of them looked to the folder. None of them even made a grab for it. Instead, all of them focused on Cadance, everyone waiting for the information.

“Several years ago, while I was still young, I became an alicorn princess after unlocking the true meaning of the magic of love. Most of you know that,” Cadance started, “But what you don’t know is that the moment I did, a large target was placed on my back.”

To some in the group, the idea of a royal figure being a target wasn’t new. Neither was the idea of Cadance being a target, given the whole wedding fiasco. However, no one said anything, continuing to listen to Cadance’s story.

“That target was drawn on me by the very pony who attacked me,” It wasn’t lost on anyone she had said pony specifically, “Someone who had made a name for himself all around the world.”

One question filled everyone’s mind, but only one of them knew how to word it.

“What was it?” Corey asked, dreading the answer.

“The Princess Slayer.”

All eyes turned to Twilight. She turned her face away from the now-closed folder, visibly disgusted and horrified at what she’d seen, and the new information.

“That’s right,” said Cadance, “No one knows his real name, only his title. And as the title suggests, he only had one target: princesses. When it comes to his target, he will do whatever it takes to get them, regardless of where in the world they live…or how old. But, his luck ran out with his final target…”

“That was…you…” John said, stating what was on everyone’s minds perfectly.

“Yes,” she said, “I wasn’t told until I was old enough to handle the news…but the Princess Slayer had made an attempt to target me, and he failed. Before he could get close to me, Princess Celestia had already discovered and confronted him herself. Needless to say, he didn’t stand a chance. She wasn’t lenient either; for all the crimes he’d committed worldwide, he was banished to Tartarus where he would never see the light of day again…or so we thought.”

An uneasy feeling spread across the room once again. It wasn’t just the news they’d heard, but another blood-chilling realization had dawned on them.

“Wait…so if he only targets princesses,” Rainbow said, trailing off.

“Th-that means…” Corey’s stutter was not out of awkwardness, but out of fear, but he couldn’t say it either.

“He might come after me…” Twilight said, her gaze focused on the ground.

No one knew what they could say; the room fell completely silent. Eventually, though, someone had to say something.

“Are you gonna be okay, Twilight?” Applejack asked, “I mean, it can’t be easy knowin’ something like that, but—“

“No, no,” Twilight said, looking up. She had a composed look on her face, “I’ll be fine. Yeah, it’s really…concerning that a known serial killer is likely targeting me…but we all knew we’d be targeted sooner or later, anyway.”

Applejack tilted her head, but didn’t offer any resistance to this explanation, “Yeah, that’s about what I thought…”

Corey was standing up straight, his arms crossed. Though his facial expression hadn’t changed much, his foot was tapping the ground impatiently.

“Now…” Twilight said calmly, “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go…look around one more time. I need to make absolutely sure I didn’t miss anything…”

All eyes were on Twilight as she turned and walked out of the room. As far as they could tell, she seemed to be in no more a hurry as she usually would be when double-checking something. She had scarcely left the throne room when someone else began to make some noise.

“I’ve…” Corey started, suddenly sounding like he didn’t want to be in the room, “I’ve gotta go…” He paused again, immediately turning around before anyone could see his face fault, “To the bathroom.”

“Because we totally needed to know that,” Rainbow retorted, but Corey had already started moving for the door. His pace was quick, frantic, and for a moment it seemed like he was telling the truth.

However, as he left, he turned again to the right. This in itself wasn’t anything to cringe about. But, there was one detail that completely destroyed Corey’s façade.

“The bathroom’s on the left…” Shining said.

And when Twilight had left, she had turned right. The same direction Corey had just moved down…

“He still needs to work on subtlety…” John remarked, shaking his head.

Though he trailed Twilight by several steps, Corey managed to avoid being seen by her. Or by anyone else, really. After what he’d just learned, he definitely didn’t want a guard getting the wrong impression. For at least a minute, Twilight just seemed to be wandering aimlessly. Something which definitely didn’t add up.

He didn’t understand why no one else saw it. Maybe they didn’t feel like pressing the issue? If that was the case, what the hell did he plan on doing? Knowing his own history, Corey knew doing that would probably just make it worse…

Suddenly, Twilight stopped. Corey froze, wondering if she’d heard him coming. Taking a quick glance left, he saw there was a part of the hall that jutted in, like a doorway, and moved to hide there, pressing tightly against the wall.

Moved too quick! Corey realized, sucking in his stomach out of habit in a feeble attempt to conceal himself further, She had to have noticed that!

Corey waited for Twilight to say something to him. Acknowledge she knew he was there the whole time, put on her brave face again, and do whatever. But the hallway stayed completely silent. Confused, Corey put one hand to the doorway and peered out, looking at Twilight again.

Her back was to him. She was squatting down, her knees bent sharply, her wings open, angled around her as though mid-flap. Corey quickly did a once-around: no one was around. She seemed to think she was alone.

“I-I…I…can’t believe it…”

Corey’s head snapped back to Twilight at this, realizing her voice was not at all normal. It was trembling, slightly higher in pitch...

No, Corey numbly realized, clutching the wall tighter—if not for the fur covering his hand, his knuckles would have been seen turning pasty white, Not just her voice…

Though she was clearly trying to hide herself in a private little ball, he could see that her wings were now moving, the feathers at the very edges twitching. Her body itself also seemed to be jittering in place, ever so slightly. One of her hands went to her cheek, the other still around her legs.

“T-that…monster’s….going to…” She couldn’t even finish her sentence, changing to a different subject, “Cadance…me…he’ll...”

Corey had seen and heard enough. That inner voice of his was telling him to approach her and try to say something, but the rest of him was thoroughly overclocked. If he had tried to approach her, he knew what he’d probably sound like—anything but comforting. He pressed his back against the far wall, a dangerous feeling swelling in his chest and threatening to burst out.

S-she’s…terrified… His voice had totally caught in his throat; any attempt to call out to her was useless anyway. Corey slumped against the wall, his jaw, eyelids, and both of his fists clenched shut, She read that guy’s journal, didn’t she...? And now she fears she may very well be in the same position as…as…

He stopped himself before he could go further, but already his mind was made up. He took another glance at Twilight. She seemed to be getting somewhat of a grip on herself now, but the damage had been done.

“T-the others are…counting on me…” Twilight whispered to herself, feeling the fear clawing at the inside of her head all the same, threatening to eat her alive, “I can’t back out now…”

There was a sound behind her, like a burst of wind. Twilight jumped when she heard it. It took a great deal of courage, but she turned around. Nothing was there. Looking around again, she was completely alone. No one was with her.

“M-must be…my imagination…” Twilight said, “I’d…better head back all the same…”

With the sun setting, the group found themselves seated at the table in the castle’s dining hall. Corey and Twilight had both rejoined them separately sometime after excusing themselves. Everyone else had their own theories as to why, but in the end, all of them chose not to delve into it. With all that they’d learned today, it was understandable that it would shake some of them. For now, they all chose to simply enjoy each other’s company as they prepared to eat the meal that had been prepared for them.

Before they could dig in, however, the group’s attention was caught by the sound of Cadance tapping a fork on her glass.

“Attention everyone,” she said, everyone else looking towards her, “Now that everypony is settled, I feel that I can finally do this the right way.”

Putting her fork down, Cadance took hold of her glass and rose from her seat.

“On this night, I’d like to propose a toast to everyone sitting here today. To old friends who continue to stand by my side, and to new friends who have chosen to brave the danger along with us. With all of you here today, I can say without a doubt that for the first time since my attack, I truly feel safe. And I know that if we stand together, we can overcome whatever the future has in store for us.”

One by one, the others rose from their seats, each of them lifting their own glasses, raising them into the air to meet Cadance’s toast. All of them could feel it in their hearts that Cadance’s words were true; they could—no, would overcome any and all challenges, no matter how—

“My, my, what an admirable display…”

In that moment, everyone went into high alert. Before Cadance could even react, she noticed a shield being formed around her. Everyone looked around frantically; they knew they’d heard the voice, but they could not pinpoint the source.

“Now, now, there’s no need for hostilities,” At that point, something dropped from the high ceiling and landed hard on the center of the table. The others looked down on it and quickly recognized its form. Though it was shaped like a rat, it shared the features of the manikins they had earlier done battle with. They watched carefully, preparing themselves for any form of attack, but none came. Instead, a bright red light began to emit from the creature’s back. And from within the light, something began to form, a cloaked figure that towered above them.

“Who the hay?” asked Applejack, the others not knowing the answer. None of them had seen this before. Except for Twilight—her correspondence with Celestia since the start of all this had given her valuable information before. One such letter, she had heard of this very kind of event.

“You…” Twilight said, “You’re the one behind all of this, aren’t you!?”

The others turned to Twilight in shock for a single moment, before turning back to the projection.

“That is correct,” said the figure, “I am the one who started it all.”

A surge of anger quickly passed through everyone. Everything that had happened. The fear, the pain, the danger…it was all caused by who was standing before them now.

“So, you decided to show your sorry face, huh!?” said Rainbow, just about ready to climb on the table, “If it’s a fight you’re looking for, we’ll be happy to give you one!”

Despite the threat, the figure only laughed, “Relax yourself, Elements of Loyalty, if I desired battle, I would have done so already,” it said, “I have only shown myself today so that I may have a small talk…”

“Like we’d have anythin’ to say to you!” shouted Applejack.

“You elements are not who I desire to speak with,” said the figure, “My words are for the two who have fought by your side alone. To begin with, I’d like to inform you that I know of how you came to be what you are now: travelers from another world.”

Both John and Corey were caught off-guard, each sharing a very short glance at one another. This figure had been watching all of them; they knew at least that much. It was entirely possible the prospect had been brought up by someone else discussing it.

“What do you want with us?” asked Corey.

“I simply wish to share some information with you, something I’m sure you will want to hear,” Neither responded, waiting for the figure to elaborate, “As you may have guessed, I was a prisoner being held in Tartarus, as well. I was placed in a form of dimensional stasis; my imprisonment was intended to be eternal. That is, until that day came. Something happened that rose my subconscious from its deep sleep for a brief moment. That moment was all that I needed in order to make my escape…”

Dimensional…stasis…? John thought, trying to process the information.

A brief moment… Corey thought, trying to figure out what the figure was talking about, But what could that have--!

Corey’s eyes snapped open, hit by one of the worst realizations he’d ever had in his life.

No… Corey looked over to John; John looked equally horrified. Both had come to the same conclusion almost simultaneously. Both heard the figure start to cackle, the mocking undertone only adding to their disgust with what they now knew.

“I see that you’ve already figured it out,” it said, “That’s right…that brief moment, the one that insured my freedom…was an imbalance in the dimensional barriers. The one that sent you two here…”

The others let out a small gasp as they heard this, their gazes turning to the two former humans. Their bodies were physically trembling with what they had heard. Corey couldn’t even meet their eyes, his glasses having a sheen on them that would have seemingly obscured his vision. John was looking to the figure, his pupils narrowed to slits, but not retaliating further.

“It seems you two need some time to let this sink in,” the figure said, clearly amused, “Very well, I will make my leave. Worry not, there won’t be any hostility from my pawns on this night.” The figure’s image began to fade away. But before it could vanish, it chose to get in some final words.

“Think of it as my thanks… for making all of this possible,” With the figure now gone, the rat evaporated into dust, leaving the others alone. The others continued to stare at the stunned Corey and John. They slowly began to move towards them, trying to show any form of comfort. But their consolations fell on deaf ears. Each of them were in their own worlds now. The figure’s words haunted their souls.

More so, a different set of words began to echo.

The fear…the pain…the danger…

“You know what? Screw it… I’m going to run it right now, and see what happens!”

All because I chose to run a piece of code…

Author's Note

Afraid it's only going to get worse from here, really. Don't know what else to say.

Act 3 Chapter 5

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 5: Alienation, Round Two

He couldn’t eat, much less think straight, after what had happened at the dinner table. Despite the others’ attempts to reassure the two that they were not at fault; that no one had any way of knowing their arrival would unleash any of what had happened, it fell on deaf ears. Corey wasn’t sure why he didn’t immediately react, not that it mattered much.

Night had fallen on the Crystal Empire by now. Even though whoever the mastermind was had given them assurance that there would be no violence on this night, everyone was still more or less wary of leaving others to themselves. The others had put up some resistance to the idea, but ultimately, they couldn’t move past the wave of denials that came out of him.

Corey was now meandering the palace halls, no sense of direction in mind, his pace even slower than usual. His gaze was lowered to the ground, his left hand closed around his glasses. His right hand slowly came up, applying pressure first to the bridge of his nose, then his forehead.

“Damn it…” he mumbled, “How’d it all end up like this…”

“Think of it as my thanks… for making all of this possible,” The words continued to echo in his head unmercifully, memories replaying in his mind as the voice seemed to grow more and more mocking with each repetition: the attack on Cadance, how scared she was; Lyon’s second attack, the terrified townsponies; even when one of them made it to the library…

“I did this…I did this…!” Corey’s voice cracked, and his hand drove itself against the corners of his eyes, trying to seal his tear ducts, “To this world, of all of them...”

He continued to move about slowly, paying no attention to where he was going. Corey eventually felt his leg hit something, and he looked up, startled, the bridge of his nose slightly moist. Due to the lack of light in the room, Corey couldn’t really see what he’d hit, or where he was. He slowly slid his glasses on with a small groan.

“That’s right…” he mumbled, the image now much sharper. He had somehow stumbled where the attack had happened. Even now the room hadn’t been picked up yet. There were still signs of struggle in the room, “Cadance’s room…”

Then, he looked back down to the thing he’d bumped into. Corey could make out the shape of a black book on the light-colored dresser. He’d realized almost immediately what it was, and looked down at it, his eyes squinted from the torrent of emotion raging inside of him.

“That’s…the book…” Corey said, slowly reaching down for it and picking it up, “The book that angered Shining even more and terrified Twilight… because of its contents. This is the journal of the…Princess Slayer…isn’t it?”

Corey stared at the book, his free hand closed tightly into a fist and shaking. The hand that held the book was also shaking.

What do I do…? Corey thought.

Don’t even think about it… his inner voice warned, You know what this kind of stuff does to you…

Ignoring his inner voice, Corey slowly reached towards the cover, his hand shaking.

Hey! Are you even listening!?

I have to know… Corey thought, images of the trembling Twilight appearing in his mind’s eye once more, joined shortly by the sight of the injuries Cadance had suffered.

No, you don’t! His inner voice sounded different, almost familiar, but Corey was in no mood to place it, Can’t you listen to reason just once!?

Pipe down… Corey commanded, his hands finally easing.

Excuse me?

I said “pipe down!” My mind’s made up… This is something I have to do!

The book sprang open in his hands, like the jaws of a crocodile. There was no turning back…

The night had been a restless one; not only did they receive their own first contact with the one behind it all, but they had also been given a piece of information that shook two of their own to the core. Neither John nor Corey had said a word to them or to each other; Corey relying on non-verbal cues to even attempt to communicate. Both simply excused themselves without making much of a sound; each split up shortly after. The others weren’t sure what to do; in the end, they’d all reluctantly decided to give them their space, and hope they could reach them in the morning.

The sun had rose not too long ago, the mares all grouping up in the dining room with Cadance once more. Breakfast was quiet, everyone staring down at their plates, trying to keep from saying what everyone was thinking. But eventually, the silence grew too much to bear for one.

“Alright, enough of this!” Rainbow said, standing up from the table, “What are we gonna do about it!?” She looked around the table. Not one seemed to have an idea, “C’mon, there’s got to be somethin’!”

“It’s not that simple, darling,” said Rarity, “We all want to do something to help them, but what do you say to someone in this situation?”

“Rare’s right, Dash,” said Applejack, “Those two have been helpin’ us fight pretty much since they got here. Now, suddenly someone drops in and pins the blame for all this on them…”

“But how do we even know this was for real?” asked Rainbow, “How do we know this isn’t just some trick to try and turn on each other or something!?”

“I thought about that too…”

All heads turned towards the door of the dining hall. John was walking through the door. The very first thing they noticed about him was how different he’d seemed compared to the night before. Last they saw him, he was shaken, unresponsive, and had an expression of horror plastered onto his face. Now, however, there was no trace of that on his face. All that was there was a smile.

The others watched as he reached the table, finding himself a seat. They weren’t sure what to say. All of them had expected him to be heavy with guilt. But he looked as though last night hadn’t even happened. For a while, there was an awkward silence. Looking around, John finally noticed the confused, at best, looks on their faces.

“Listen…” he said, sighing, “About last night…”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Twilight cut in, “It doesn’t matter what we heard last night. None of us here are blaming you or Corey for anything that’s happened.”

John looked towards Twilight, then to the rest of the group. He could see they all shared the same feelings as she had. John let out a small chuckle.

“I appreciate that. I really do, but I still have to say this,” he said, rising from his seat, “Last night took me by surprise. The whole idea that all this could be our fault…Corey and I…all we could feel at the time was guilt,” John paused for a moment, letting out a small sigh, but then he looked up, and grinned, “But I’m not going to let it anymore. It doesn’t matter if it’s true, or a lie, I’ll still fight with you until the end.”

The others could hear a slight relief in John’s words. It seemed like he was able to bounce back on his own.

“That’s telling ‘em,” Rainbow said, throwing an arm around John’s shoulder, “As long as we stick together, we’ll kick every last one of their sorry asses right back into Tartarus!” She held up her other fist.

“Count on it,” said John as he bumped fists with her.

“Great, now that we’ve got that out of the way we can focus on our strategy,” Rainbow said, “C’mon, I’ve got a few ideas where we might be able to be outside…” Complying quickly, John followed Rainbow towards the door.

“Looks like everythin’ worked out just fine,” said Applejack, leaning back on her chair.

“No, it hasn’t.”

Applejack looked over to the chair next to her. There, she saw Pinkie with a rare expression on her face: a serious one.

“What are you talking about? You saw the look on his face.”

“Just because someone’s smiling doesn’t mean they’re happy,” said Pinkie, her gaze watching John’s retreating form. The others took a moment to look over to John. He looked fine to all of them, even now as he was walking away with Rainbow.

“Are you sure?” asked Twilight.

“Trust me, I know smiles, and I know when someone’s just making one up,” said Pinkie, “When you don’t want your friends to worry, you’ll just wear a mask to hide how you really feel. And that’s what John’s doing now.”

The others looked again at John as he disappeared around the corner. Their hopes that at least one of the two had been able to bounce back had been dashed.

“Though,” Pinkie said, “I’ve seen a lot of masks…but I’ve never seen one as good as his…”

This is always the best part. Often times, the sneaking around looking for materials is merely the prologue for the real thrill to come. Sometimes I don’t get the time to work with my muse for too long. In those cases, it’s always such a shame I have to dispose of it so soon…

But not this time. Guess the shop I raided wasn’t as well-kept as I had thought. I was able to obtain my raw materials with little trouble. It had tried to cry out for help; always such a trifling thing that happens. Thankfully, I was able to silence it and smuggle my materials out before anyone could notice…

I’d imagine it’s a priceless thing they’ve lost, but with how I’ve set things up, I should have plenty of time to finish my latest masterpiece. Where did I last leave off?

Ah! Yes, now I remember, vividly…

The muse, littered with patches of red and purple, dangles there, head lowered, no doubt exhausted from the…sculpting, I had to give it. It fought it a bit, but I’d been able to subdue it as before. Arms are bound above the head, feet only just barely touching the ground.

At the time, I had felt my time was growing short. Had I but known, I would have saved it for later. At the far corner of the room is something of my construct; a branding iron. A simple “S”, now red-hot from the flames I kindled personally for it. I’d walked up to my tool, and lifted it up. This was always my favorite part.

“It’s a shame, truly,” I say to my muse, but it doesn’t respond, obviously, “I fear our time together is drawing to a close. I prefer to take my time with this…but being who I am, I can’t ever stay around for long…”

“So,” The iron is now firmly in my hands, and a pleasant feeling of a smile tugs at my mouth, “I think it’s time I leave my mark on my latest creation…”

The red-hot iron naturally wakes it from its rest, the deep searing against its stomach causing it to wake up with an ear-splitting scream…

How I love that sound…

He could barely fold the corner of the journal to keep track of that one entry, his hand trembled so badly. Corey rested his hands against his forehead, his glasses coming off his face in one swift movement. He physically shivered, feeling completely ill. Good thing he couldn’t eat last night…

This is no art… Corey thought, It’s the inner workings of a monster…A complete monster…Someone who, if allowed, will revel in the suffering of his victims…How can someone like this exist, even here??

Corey wanted to scream out, but he didn’t want to draw attention to what was in front of him. Frustration mixed with anguish, and Corey furiously rubbed at his eyes. He slowly reached out for his glasses, holding them in front of him. He couldn’t believe what he’d just read.

“What have I done?” He croaked, his voice cracking just once, “What did I let out…”

Corey weakly slid his glasses over his face, “A madman…a madman, who’s after princesses…”

Corey pushed out his chair, staggering a bit as the sleepless night caught up with him. His eyelids were heavy, and he was slightly slumped forward. His eyebrows, which had long ago stopped arching, slowly began to slink downward.

“I need…to take a break…” Corey grumbled, making his way towards the door, his jaw shaking.

His vision was blurry from a mix of the fact he’d forgotten his glasses on that desk, he hadn’t slept too well, and he felt dangerous feelings beginning to swell all over again in his chest, even worse than it had been when he’d spotted Twilight trembling. Though even the image coming up in his head made it even worse, Corey didn’t have the strength to push it away. All of this mixed with the all-consuming guilt he’d felt last night. It was an incredibly volatile concoction, one Corey wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle this time.

Get a grip, dammit… he thought, trying his hardest to go to where he vaguely remembered he was supposed to be. Of course, being that he’d only been in the castle a short time, he slowly plodded his way through the castle corridors, aimlessly wandering about. His gaze faced the floor the whole way, which did nothing to help his already badly damaged sense of direction.

He walked around, feeling more like he was moving through a dense fog than a castle hallway. Eventually, though, he bumped into something and stopped moving, his hand going to his forehead as he took a couple of slow steps back.

“Oh, Corey,” The voice was so familiar, yet seemed so distant, “Wondering how you were doing…”

Corey looked up. The thing he’d bumped into was no wall. It was easily over seven feet tall, had scales of blue and black and was far more draconic than he was—John.

“It’s fine, really,” Corey grumbled as he lowered his head again, only to feel a sleepless night catch up with him as he nodded once, his eyes fully closing for a moment.

“You sure?” asked John, “Cause you really…don’t look it…”

Corey’s head snapped up to face John. Doing this only served to imprint in John’s mind how off Corey truly was. His eyes—what little of his eyes were exposed between the narrow opening his eyelids provided, were red. The fur underneath them was matted, possibly even moist. His mane also seemed a bit messier than usual. And his eyebrows were arched. Clearly, something was eating at him.

“You’re still torn up over last night, aren’t you?” John questioned again, when Corey failed to say anything.

“Of course I am!” Corey’s voice was sharp and loud all of a sudden, a tone which John very nearly missed if not for the fact he’d heard it so many times before, “I don’t get how you can look so calm. It’s not like a convicted prisoner—no, prisoner seems too light—a monster; one coming from the depths of hell--!”

“Tartarus,” John corrected, almost sighing. He should have expected as much.

“Tomato, to-mah-toe!” Corey retorted, throwing his hands in the air, “Their leader thanked us for…for…the group’s whole escape…And it probably did happen that way!”

“Yeah, I know. It’s not like I wanted to be thanked by someone like that either, especially over something that was just an accident,” John said, “Believe me, I agree with you, but…there’s really nothing to be upset about…”

That was the wrong thing to say. Something that John had, sadly, forgotten about since it’d been a long time since he’d last had to hear it…

“Oh? Nothing to be upset about?” Corey questioned, shaking his head with a loud, angry sigh, “We all get attacked by strange creatures, the likes of which no one has seen…that’s a nice walk in the park, right? Then, after working hard we both almost get killed to one of the breakouts, Lyon, I think? Nah, that’s a swell, swell time!”

John registered the sound of movement. That wasn’t good. John motioned to Corey, but he was far from done.

“Then, after that, we both almost die again to the same guy even after getting lots of prep time…near-death increases! Woo-hoo! That’s not even getting into all the innocent bystanders he kidnapped to get our attention! Next up, we find out Cadance gets attacked by a very, very sick individual—and it’s not even the first time! But oh no, it gets better!” Corey’s tone had been getting progressively sharper, “Next we find out that her attacker’s a psychotic killer who murders princesses for a living! Super happy fun times…”

“Corey—“ John couldn’t even finish saying his name.

“I’m not done,” Corey said, “Then, we find out all of the above is more than likely directly connected to us showing up here in the first place! That’s really cool! Do you even care at all, John??”

“Of course I do, Corey,” John snarled, shaking his head again, “But—“

“You really don’t look like it,” Corey said, “It’s almost like you never cared to begin with…”

Corey looked up at John a bit more before giving a small “tch”, shaking his head and walking the other way, leaving John alone in the hall.

Corey’s anger had been so focused, he’d been able to filter out everything that wasn’t John. However, because of this, he hadn’t noticed that Rainbow had been standing a few steps behind him. He also missed the group that had come to check on what was the cause of the shouting they heard. By the time everyone else arrived, Corey had just reached the apex of his rage.

Now, all were struck silent at what words had come out of his mouth. Corey had simply walked away without saying anything.

“Harsh…” said Rainbow, not knowing what else she could say. Twilight, meanwhile, snapped out of her moment of shock and quickly walked up to John.

“Um…I-is everything okay?” she asked.

“Did any of that sound okay to you?” Rainbow asked, pointing down the hall. Both looked towards John. No one could see his face; he was still watching towards the very hall that Corey walked down. In her mind, Twilight could only think of the last words Corey had said before walking away.

“It’s almost like you never cared to begin with…”

Since they’d arrived, Twilight had seen them. Each of them had the other’s back, making sure that the other was okay or helping them as needed. Their teamwork against Lyon was certainly nothing to be ignored, either. Did what they heard last night cause this? Did it cause a wedge between them?

Was that really what they wanted? Rainbow might have had the right idea after all, thought Twilight. And if that was the case, from prior experience, she knew that they needed to fix it before it could get any worse. But first, she had to know. How did John react to what had happened?

“Oh boy…” John sighed, rubbing the back of his head as he turned to the others, “Sorry you had to see that,” John didn’t even look angry. If anything, he looked apologetic.

“What exactly was that all about?” asked Twilight. John turned for a moment to look down the hall again, letting out another sigh. He’d known Corey for quite a while now, and the answer came easy to him.

“From past experience, he was venting.”

“Past experience…” Twilight repeated, the implications striking her, “Wait, you mean he’s done this before?”

John said nothing at first, standing in silence. The others didn’t know Corey like he did. They hadn’t been around him when he was like that. They didn’t know about some of his…quirks.

“How do I put this…” John mumbled. Eventually, he gained volume, and said, “There are things that Corey has a hard time dealing with. The thing he’s always had the most trouble with is his anger. I’m sure you’ve seen signs of it by now.”

Twilight recalled all the flare-ups Corey had had over time. Of all those times, not once did he seem like he was about to explode like that. Only once had he come close, but it was easily understandable why he’d reacted then.

“To be honest, I’m surprised he hasn’t overflowed sooner. With everything that’s happened, he should have gone off the handle not too long ago. From what I can guess, something’s been keeping him under control…”

No one seemed to catch it when John’s gaze flickered over to Twilight.

Or someone…

“But after everything he’s done to try and keep himself under control, last night was the final straw. To have someone like that—and of all of them it had to be the one that started up this game—placed the blame for everything that’s happened on him…it was more than he could stand. All of that pent-up stress and anger hit him at once. And when it drove him to the point where he couldn’t contain it any longer…”

“He has to let it out…” Twilight finished. John looked over and nodded, “But why on you? Why would you let him do that to you if none of this is your fault?”

“Because I told him to,” everyone went silent for a moment. John could see their frightened looks, like he’d just said something dangerously outlandish, “Look…like I said, there comes a time when Corey can’t handle what builds up in him. When it does, something in Corey comes out; something he’s not proud of, something he wishes he could control. But he can’t. And each time it takes over, he always does something he regrets doing later. Because of this, there was a time he was honestly afraid he’d drive his own friends away.

“So I gave him a safe way to let it out,” John shrugged his shoulders very slightly, “I told him that whenever he was in a situation where he couldn’t hold it anymore, that I would take it. And after he was done, he’d make his apology, and we’d move on like nothing happened.” John paused, letting out a sigh as he turned once again down the hall.

“But this time’s different,” he said, turning fully to where Corey had last been seen walking along, “I don’t think it’s something that can go away from just yelling…” John began going in Corey’s direction.

“What are you going to do?” asked Twilight.

“Worst thing you can do when he gets like this is leave him alone,” said John, “Even if he might not want it, I’m gonna make sure he’s okay.”

Without waiting for anyone to respond or saying another word, John continued onward, a good idea of where Corey might be in his mind. But as he walked, there was one thought in the back of his head, the one thing he didn’t tell the others.

This runs deeper than anything from the past… he noted, an uneasy feeling growing within him as he recalled each time Corey’s temper flared, This is on a scale none of us could have expected...I’m not sure what it’ll take to help him now…

Author's Note

So yeah, things in this arc are going to thicken. I don't know what else to say.

Act 3 Chapter 6

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 6: Try to Keep It Together

Why did he always come back here? It seemed like it was only making him feel worse. Not that Corey was in the state of mind to realize that. He stood in the center of the room. The room finally looked a bit better, though the hole Cadance had made was still there. Looking out the hole, he could see nothing but gloss; he still had yet to retrieve his glasses.

One hand went to his face, followed by the other.

I feel awful… Corey thought, More than I already did before… John cares, it’s obvious he does. This is no different from how it was back home. Why…why can’t I keep calm? I was doing so well before…

Slowly lowering his hands, Corey glared out into the distance.

No. He knew full well why he couldn’t. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t simply stop himself from acting on his wrath. Even the tiniest of things could incite it, and each time he let off an angry tirade, Corey only felt worse afterwards. His anger, his vitriol, his utterly acidic words, always let out at the wrong people.

But here, it was different. John wasn’t a monitor away anymore; he was right there in front of him, and yet John still let him ramble on like a jaded old man until he was done. But this anger within him was far stronger than any of that, and he hated the feeling more than anything else.

What made all this worse was Corey’s inevitable regret when what he’d actually done hit him. He would realize he was in the wrong, just about every single time, but he was too weak to try to change himself.

And on top of all that, no matter how much I scream at John, no matter what I do with that journal, it doesn’t change what happened… Corey rubbed at the bridge of his nose as he felt his eyes start to sting a little, In the end, it was my ignorance that lead to all this…and to the monster that created the journal doing as he did…

The sound of movement registered behind him, and Corey lifted his arm reflexively, whirling around—

“Whoa, easy,” John raised his hands, “It’s me.”

Corey blinked, lowering his arm slowly. Had he been any more caught up in the torrent of self-loathing, he might have opened up another hole in the wall…

“John…?” Corey said, before releasing a half-hearted scoff, “What’re you doing? You should know by now—“

“Corey, I do know,” John said, “That nobody should talk to you until you’ve calmed down. But this time, I don’t think it’s going to be that simple…”

Corey sighed again, though due to how little sleep he’d gotten it came out like a yawn, “Is it ever?”

“Well, no,” John said, “But this time, it’s different. Compared to what you snapped over before, it’s night and day. Unlike before, where your anger was fueled by just ideas of something bad happening, this time, the evil has a face. It has direct influence on the world around you.”

“And it doesn’t help that I ran the code that caused all of it…” Corey raised one hand slowly, before letting it drop.

“No one’s blaming us,” John said, shaking his head, “We had no way to know that the code would have sent us here, let alone let criminals loose. They all understand that.”

Corey couldn’t respond. Maybe the lack of sleep had rusted his voice box shut for the moment, or maybe it was what John said.

“Plus, it’s not worth beating yourself up over,” John continued, “We’ve taken down one of them, and we can do it again, right?”

Corey didn’t answer again. Something was brewing inside of his skull, the sound of the bubbling drowning out most of John’s statements. He did understand, sure, that they had nothing to do with it in the end; they didn’t intend on any of this happening…but it didn’t erase his guilt. And it certainly didn’t erase that disturbing imagery.

“…you could have hit me, you know…”

Corey was immediately called out of his thoughts by John’s statement. Startled, he cocked his head up towards John, “What…?”

“You know,” John said, “Two characters get into an argument…then one of them starts swinging…”

Corey scoffed again, shaking his head, “Isn’t it usually the one acting like a douche that gets hit?”

“We’ll call that plan B…” John said, lifting one of his clawed fingers.

“Sure, sure…” Corey let out a groan as he started for the door.

“Hey, now where are you going?” John asked.

“I…still have a job to do…” Corey responded, leaning against the door frame as he passed through it, “And even though I lost a lot of sleep last night…and I can’t say I’ve eaten…I have to try to do my part…”

“But…” John said. Corey snapped his head back to look at John, exposing those same tired eyes that John had saw before. Behind them was a quiet flame, but John wasn’t quite sure if it was out of determination or anger. Or…

“I can’t rest…” Corey continued, “And neither should you…with a monster like that on the loose!”

Was it fear he saw in his eyes?

It wasn’t long after breakfast that Twilight’s strategy was put into motion. Just as planned, everyone made their way to their stations. Pinkie and Rarity’s stations were closest to the front door of the palace—one of the most heavily guarded places. Rarity had to hand it to Twilight—in a flash, she’d managed to reorganize the entire guard inside to her specifications. Their goal was to be the second line to try and stop the assailant should he make it past the lookouts outside the walls.

On paper, it seemed foolproof. But no matter how sound a plan is, the effort would be rendered meaningless if those involved don’t do their jobs. And right now, Rarity was having doubts about that very thing. Sure, if the attacker was spotted, she’d have dozens of trained guards to help her, but that wouldn’t be easy. For somepony with the ability to disguise his appearance—he could be standing right next to her and she wouldn’t even know.

She also, at present, wasn’t sure where Pinkie had vanished to, and she had been standing next to her only moments ago.

“Psst, Rarity!” The voice was a sharp, peppy-sounding whisper; unmistakably Pinkie. Blinking, she realized the source was above her head. Looking up, she noticed Pinkie staring down at her.

Had it been any other day, she’d ask how Pinkie fastened a rope to the ceiling without any seeing, or when she’d changed into her spy outfit. But for now, she was glad at least one of them was able to do their job.

“Yes, Pinkie?” asked Rarity.

“Did you spot him yet?” Pinkie asked.

“No, Pinkie, not yet,” Rarity shook her head light, “Though, if he’s in disguise, I’m not sure what I would be looking for.”

Neither did Pinkie, and she was told specifically not to grill every guard in sight. If anything, their only chance to find an imposter would be by their activities. One way, everyone knew, would make it easier is simply keeping an eye on any and all exits. This was due to one rule everyone inside the castle had to adhere to, regardless of position.

Until the attacker shows himself, no one is allowed to leave their post.

So, until the next attack actually occurred, they all had to deal with the hardest part of all. Due to not knowing when the next strike would happen—within a few hours or even days—everyone had to deal with what would most likely drive some of them insane.

Watch and wait…

If one managed to make it past Rarity, Pinkie, and over twenty guards out front, they would have to pass several more trained guards and navigate a maze of halls. The place Corey and Applejack were guarding was not Cadance’s room, but a room towards the center of the castle, one floor down. Each of them took up a spot on opposite sides of the door. Both stood in relative silence, only the sounds of guards on patrol and whatever Shining and Cadance were talking about in there as a sort of ambience.

“I wish he would show himself…” Applejack said, “Just standin’ around, waitin’ for him to make the first move…it’s killing me.”

She glanced over to Corey, who nodded twice. His glasses shone a bit as light glided across them, but other than that, he didn’t really respond. He also seemed to be slumping backwards against the wall. She looked around again, nervously watching.

There was a slight rumble close to her, and her ears perked up. The silence continued, but now Applejack was on high alert.

“Corey, did you hear that?” Applejack asked.

There was no response. The rumble grew louder, and only as she turned to where Corey was did she see where it was coming from.

Corey had slumped against the wall, his eyes shut, and he was dozing off. Applejack’s ears wilted and she ran a hand over her face.

“Is he really nappin’ right now…?” she asked, more dumbfounded than anything else. However, her confusion quickly turned, and, very briefly adjusting her hat, moved to wake him up. This wasn’t exactly helping anyone. As soon as she was close enough, she firmly brought her hand down on his shoulder, and began to shake him.

“Cor’, wake up,” Applejack said, “This ain’t naptime!”

“Agh!” Corey said, his eyes shooting open, his eyes looking no better than they did when he’d first got them. He staggered forward a bit after coming awake before shaking his head once again, “Sorry…Guess I didn’t sleep as well as I thought…”

More like didn’t sleep at all… Corey thought to himself, pushing up his glasses to rub at his very dry-feeling eyes. He straightened up his posture.

“You sure you’re feelin’ up for it?” Applejack asked.

“I really don’t have a choice,” Corey said, shaking his head, “Cadance is in the room behind us. We were both meant to stand guard here. Can’t just go off and do whatever. Besides, it’s against the rule anyway…”

“Guess you’re right,” Applejack said, taking a few steps back, “Still, don’t think it’d do us any good if you’re noddin’ off.”

“I know…” Corey said, “I know. It was just one bad night. I’ll manage somehow…” One of his hands smacked against his head as it slumped forward again, “I hope…”

Applejack looked as though she wanted to say more, but didn’t seem to want to press the issue. For whatever reason, Corey was grateful she didn’t want to pry just yet. He wasn’t sure if he could take it. However, as the minutes ticked on throughout the day, Corey had to wonder…

What’s Twilight doing right now…? For that matter, where is she?

The outside of the castle appeared to be the least secure area. This, however, was an intentional flaw. Without the presence of several guards in the area, the civilians were able to move freely without having to worry about an increase in security. However, as they lived their lives, they were also completely oblivious to the set of eyes watching them carefully.

Atop the castle, hidden from sight, were two figures trying their hardest to keep their presence unknown.

“I hate waiting…” said a voice with a notable sigh. This, of course, was a clearly agitated Rainbow Dash.

“That makes two of us, but there’s not much we can do about that,” This was another voice, that of John. Though both sounded close to each other, neither one was visible. The higher areas of the castle were void of anything but the flawless surface of pure crystal. That is, until something began to shift and the crystal seemed to be rising from the ground. Now, it appeared to be made of silk cloth rather than hard rock.

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” From under the material, Rainbow’s head popped out, turned to the spot right next to her. A larger part of the castle shifted in front of her, and John’s own head came into view, “Besides, why do we gotta hide? Aren’t we supposed to be the first line against this guy?”

“Because we don’t want to be the first one spotted,” John said. That was what Twilight had told them beforehand. It was the reason why they were stationed above the castle and why she’d had Rarity fashion a fabric that matched the castle itself so it could be used as a camouflage. The reason for all this was as John said—they had to be the first to spot the attacker.

One reason: they didn’t want to tip off the attacker that they were watching before they could even spot him. The other was that, if at all possible, they could drop down for a sneak attack before he could get too close. But while those were Twilight’s stated reasons, John had his own personal reason as well.

He didn’t mention what happened after he’d talked to Corey, merely saying that everything had smoothed over. With things so close to being set, John couldn’t bring himself to actually say what was worrying him. He still remembered—vividly, the look on Corey’s face right before he left, presumably to get his glasses. It was a look of pure, primal fear that John realized simply hadn’t been in his eyes before, at least, not that he’d seen. And because of that terror in Corey’s eyes, John felt himself growing afraid for a different reason.

He was terrified of the thought that Corey would find himself in the same room as the attacker.

I can’t let that happen… John thought to himself. That was why he was glad to have this post. He was fully prepared to give it his all; should he spot the attacker first, he planned to do all he could to take him down. So just as he did before, John continued to wait, his eyes scanning the surrounding areas for even the slightest thing out of place.

For a while, everything remained silent, something that was most likely common for the area. But that didn’t keep the thought out of the back of John’s mind. The thought—the fact that the silence would eventually be broken, and it was.

What the… John looked down to his feet. It was too brief for him to be sure, but he swore he felt something. Not just that, but he was sure he’d heard something too; a voice, maybe?

John looked over to Rainbow, but she looked as though she neither heard nor felt anything. Because of this, John began to question if he really did himself, or if it was just his nerves.

Was it nothing? John tried to convince himself so, but it continued to bother him. He felt something and heard something, but then it went silent again.

But what could it have been? What’s under us? Though John hadn’t seen every spot inside the castle, and he certainly didn’t have the best memory, he tried to map out the inside based on where he was now, The throne room is down that way…we’re around this corner…so then what room would that be…

The gears continued to turn in John’s head, hoping to figure it out soon. And soon it did—the gears finally clicked into place, and John’s eyes shot wide open.

“No!”

“John!?”

Without responding to her, John leapt from the roof, leaving a confused Rainbow behind. John dove until he was almost at ground level, then he flared his wings and charged for the front door…

Corey and Applejack continued to guard their post, the former trying his best to keep his eyes open. But with everything being so quiet, that proved far easier said than done. But that changed when he began to hear a commotion coming from far down the pathway leading away from the room.

“He’s making his way down the hall!” a voice shouted in alarm.

Quickly, Corey and Applejack both snapped to attention, readying themselves. Corey’s fist began to crackle with runes as it began to glow green; Applejack’s lasso slowly began to whirl.

Within a few seconds, the sounds of doors banging open violently was heard not even ten feet away, and something quickly entered view.

“John!?” Corey said, but John didn’t respond, instead flying right past them, down the corridor.

“What’s he doin’!?” called out Applejack. Corey wasn’t sure himself. All he knew was that John had forced himself into the corridor without a word.

But then, where’s he--? Whatever the case, Corey’s eyes opened wide. John was supposed to be outside; the rules dictated he wasn’t supposed to be away from his post. So in the end, Corey leapt to only one conclusion, and his fist quickly uncurled, changing into an open palm.

“It’s him!” Corey’s magic flared violently in response to the intense emotion that bubbled inside him, and a powerful bolt of magic, only slightly smaller than his whole hand, burst forth from his palm. The beam soared at what Corey thought to be an impostor. It looked as though “John” would be nailed, right between the wings, but at the last second, he took notice.

With speed and luck, John ducked down out of the way, the bolt narrowly missing his wing. The bolt instead hit another door just beyond him, and caused a minor explosion. “John” was now firmly on the ground. Applejack and Corey charged him, both convinced they had their man.

But before they got too close, the door that Corey had hit finally crumbled down to nothing, along with some of the surrounding wall. This revealed a scene that nobody had expected to see. Inside was Twilight, down on one knee and bleeding. She wasn’t alone, either—not far from her, something was impaled to the adjacent wall, something obsidian black and unrecognizable to anyone. In an instant, it exploded in a flash of light, leaving everyone silent once more.

But this time, the silence wasn’t a lullaby to Corey. He stood there, his feet rooted to the ground in shock. He couldn’t have moved on his own even if he wanted to. He hadn’t heard a thing from this corridor, and he’d been standing no more than ten—maybe twenty feet from this room. And yet now that the door had been removed, he could only see a bleeding Twilight.

The others rushed to aid her, but Corey was completely numb to the world. One question repeated over and over again in his already guilt-ridden mind.

W-what happened…?

Author's Note

Maybe it's because I'm writing this while completely exhausted, but... yeah, there's not a lot for me to say about this chapter.

Act 3 Chapter 7

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 7: The Best Laid Plans…

After what she’d heard and read about the new threat, she had briefly second-guessed herself on doing this part. But, everyone else was doing theirs, and thus, Twilight decided that she wouldn’t back out of it.

Her role in the plan was simple. In a different room, within maybe twenty feet of backup in case the Slayer fell for it, Twilight would pretend to be Cadance. It was a simple series of spells that Twilight did to produce the Cadance disguise; complete with bandages to pretend to be injured. The wait was brutal- lying down on a bed to try to draw out someone she knew full well wouldn’t mind killing her too was nerve-wracking.

But eventually, something did happen. She didn’t know how it got in there, nor did she immediately see it. She registered the sound of movement just behind her, and quickly, Twilight teleported away—in so doing, her disguise fell away as well. Now herself, she’d appeared within five feet of the bed.

“Alright!” Her horn lit up as she shouted, coating the room in a soundproof barrier, “I’ve got you now, so—“

The words broke off in her mouth as she realized she definitely wasn’t staring at Slayer, but rather a beast. To be more specific, a beast with immensely sharp claws, judging by how easily it had cleaved through the bed on which she had been “resting” not even a few moments before. She couldn’t place any real distinct features, but it definitely wasn’t like the manikins.

“What…” Twilight blinked in shock. The beast lunged. For whatever reason, Twilight didn’t immediately move, probably still stunned. She ducked down low, only to feel a hot pain drag across her shoulder, gasping.

Did he fall for it, or did he know—She didn’t have the time to complete her thought, teleporting away as the beast charged her again. This time, she vanished off to one side. Crouching down on one knee, she steadied herself, firing off a magenta bolt from her horn. The blast made impact on the beast's side, causing white cracks to appear on the point of impact. She fired a couple more as the beast turned. One impacted with the center of the beast’s chest, causing more cracks to appear on it; but the other seemed to be ignored as the beast ran at her.

Twilight gasped once more, realizing the beast seemed to have gotten faster. She quickly rose, this time managing to avoid it.

It’s a magical construct, she realized, Made of dark magic…

The beast moved again, thrusting its arm at her without moving. To Twilight’s surprise, the clawed arm detached, and in her moment of shock the white-hot pain dragged across her thigh, drawing more blood. Twilight turned, realizing the thing’s arm was rebounding at her. Quickly, she shot a laser out towards it. Her shot was precise, and she sighed as it fell to the ground, motionless, sparking.

However, she turned her head back to the beast, only to find it had moved in. With little time to react Twilight erected a magical barrier, but she didn’t have time to complete it as she raised her arms. She stepped back a bit, but one of the claws penetrated the barrier, driving into her forearm a bit. Twilight gasped, trying to move back, but found that the claw had hooked slightly. Quickly, the beast moved, taking out its clawed hand and thrusting it out again. Twilight barely managed to step aside, but the slice nicked the side of her stomach.

If this keeps up--! Twilight’s body fell, but the beast brought its arm down on air; Twilight had teleported again. Now a good seven feet away, Twilight fell to a knee. Her eyes glowing as her magic surged, fight-or-flight now in full force, Twilight sighted the disembodied arm she’d shot down. Quickly, she reached out with her magic, and threw it just as the beast rushed her one more time.

The beast’s arm ran right through the cracked chest, shattering it. A black smoke immediately began rushing out of the construct from the exploded chest. The beast’s back eventually hit the other wall just as the door exploded to cinders beside her…

Panting, Twilight could only wonder one thing, as the others took note of what had happened…

How did this happen?

The others stood in silence as Twilight recounted the whole incident from her angle, her wounds having long since been treated. The guards had resumed their positions as well. It was hard to believe; they had all thought that Twilight’s strategy would work. Yet, for all her effort, the Slayer managed to slip under their noses. And on top of that, they were dealing with a magic they hadn’t seen since the Crystal Empire first reappeared.

It was as terrifying and as powerful as it had been back then, and it certainly held true even now. This time, there was no shield keeping it at bay; the enemy had already long since breached the empire’s perimeter and was now actively seeking blood. It had hurt two of their friends already, and showed no signs of stopping.

Everyone had a hard time dealing with what had happened as well. Both Rarity and Pinkie were downcast; they felt they’d somehow let what attacked Twilight slip right by them. John, on the other hand, couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief, knowing he was right in following his instinct. At the very least, he’d managed to rally a group. Rainbow, however, was clearly mulling over the fact she hadn’t noticed what he did and hadn’t charged in with him as a result.

Applejack had been visibly beating herself up the whole time; she’d been standing the closest, and yet she hadn’t heard the commotion from just down the hall even a little. And as for Corey, no one knew where he was. He’d simply vanished from sight after the medics began to treat Twilight’s wounds. But it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was likely taking it the hardest.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were going to pose as Cadance?” the silence had finally been broken with Rainbow’s question. Twilight looked up to her friends. Obviously, that was the one question that had been hanging over the group since they’d found out.

“It was too risky,” Twilight said, “Our opponent, this…’Slayer’, can be anyone he wants to. I couldn’t risk telling you what I was going to do and have him finding out. And I wasn’t about to use anypony else as bait, so….it had to be me.

“I’m sorry,” If there was one thing above all that Twilight hated, it was lying to her friends; she’d seen what kind of damage that could do before, and yet… “I didn’t have a choice…”

Rainbow looked over to Twilight and let out a small sigh, walking up to her friend and giving her a hug.

“I’m just glad you’re okay, Twi.”

They all were. With everything that had happened recently, they’d had to deal with the fact their friends were putting themselves in far more danger than ever before.

“So what do we do now?” asked Applejack, “Even with everythin’ you put into the plan, he still got to ya, so what’s the point?”

“Actually, no he didn’t,” Twilight said, “Fact is, it was his magic that snuck past our defenses, and I was able to take care of it. All he did was give us an advantage.”

With a confident look (and a small wince as her side flared up), Twilight rose from her sitting position and stared at her friends.

“Now that I have a better idea of what we’re dealing with, I can place the proper countermeasures. This time, if he plans to get to any of us, he’ll have to finally show his face.”

It’s not every day I get to say this about my work, but oh, how I love it when my muse gives me a particular reason to start molding them to my image. Had to do a bit of travelling to get to this one, but if it means serving the populace, then so be it.

This piece I will call, “Avaricious Gluttony”. You see, the people of Saddle Arabia, at least in these parts, are impoverished. Even now they are starving and resorting to robbery and mugging just to get by. But the muse, this time, openly didn’t care about any of them. It instead took all the money for its own purposes. I’m surprised I was able to get past the security protecting it from people like me.

There are many countries out there just like this one. Equestria is but one of them; each of them holding on to rule solely for their own vanity. I’m going to put an end to it.

Anyway, back to my sculpting. I hadn’t been gentle with it by any means. I could tell it outweighed its so-called “subjects” by a good few pounds. Security was an issue; it had hogged a good deal of the guards, to be expected with this particular brand of material. It was only fitting I caused a diversion within the castle so I could get their precious piece out unharmed.

I had just managed to get out of town with my prize when it awoke. It began pounding on my back, with the kind of strength you’d expect out of something so spoiled. It screamed at me, asking me if I knew who it was, along with a bunch of other threats I frankly didn’t care for.

“I don’t care who you are,” I finally said after taking it in to my humble little prison, where it so rightfully belonged along all my others, “You’ve let your people starve for too long…”

The pre-sculpting phase began. I took special care of the face and upper body, using my own two hands, making sure to rearrange the face to how I perceived it. A hell of a lot uglier than any makeup pilfered money can buy; the muse’s true face. But I couldn’t be satisified with just my blunt tools. Thankfully, I’d mastered the black arts for just this purpose…

All the while, it was screaming. At first, it was still reprimanding me, but as the days passed and my crafting continued, it changed over from cries of anger, furious denials about what I could and couldn’t do to it, to even better things. The sobs of some object who knew its time was coming. Those are often even better than the screams…it lets me know I’m doing my job right.

Well, I guess it’s time to apply my signature again. It has been missing from its museum for quite a while now. They’re bound to find me soon.

But it doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun first…

Corey’s stomach very nearly turned. Why he chose to read this when the shock and anger of seeing Twilight hurt was still fresh in his mind was a mystery to him. Immediately after closing the book, he realized his hands were trembling. More so, he was sweating. Not that he hadn’t been before coming in here, but it had only made the problem worse.

One trembling hand practically yanked his glasses off his head and let them clatter to the desk he’d been reading at.

“He thinks… himself… a great… hero…!?” Corey said, through a trembling jaw. Leaning over, Corey buried his head into his hands, shivering as his mind struggled to process what he had read and what had happened all at once.

“Twilight…was hurt…” Corey’s thoughts had long since moved from internal to external, the massive overload he’d gotten from it all creating a bad storm inside his own head, “And I didn’t even know…By someone who thinks…he’s doing the right thing, no less!”

Corey tried to stand up, but his body didn’t immediately follow his will. He shook violently in place, trying to control himself, but to no avail.

“It’s happened again…” Corey mumbled, “I can feel the rage clawing at the inside of my skull, begging for a release…But I’m not so sure I can… I’m not ordinary anymore. I haven’t been…”

Corey glanced up to the book. It had pinned itself against the wall above him now—no, his own magic had gone off, and was punishing the source of his anger now. He violently shook his head, and the book fell spine-first towards the table. Immediately, Corey felt a surge of panic as the book started to open, and moved to close it. Even if it was the thoughts of one of the worst individuals Corey had ever had the displeasure of knowing that he existed, it was still evidence. It was hard to resist the temptation to just blow it up and be done with it, all the same.

“I can’t be here…” Corey snarled, finally willing himself to stand, “The last thing I want to do is give the sick bastard some gratification by burning his book with my own hands…”

Snatching his glasses from the desk once again and putting them on, Corey slowly made his way out of the room, trying his best to put on a mask and already knowing it’d be cracked nice and wide before he ever reached the others. Not through the anger that one could probably feel in the air around him, but just because of how he’d reacted after seeing Twilight hurt…

John really had to hand it to Twilight; even though she had just endured a dangerous battle, even though she had sustained injuries, she still kept going. Looking over the blueprints of the castle, Twilight was already making tweaks to her strategy. Her plan was to prevent any outside magic from entering the castle and forcing the Slayer to confront them face to face. But Twilight wasn’t the only one trying to make some kind of change to their approach.

Borrowing one of the crystal guards, Rarity stood in front of him, her horn active as she stared in his direction. Rarity was focused in silence, but with each passing second, she seemed to be getting agitated. Finally, Rarity closed her eyes and let out a defeated sigh. The blue glow on her horn faded as she realized one single thing.

It’s no good…

As anyone knew, Rarity’s magic allowed her to track all forms of crystals. It was useless, however, in terms of tracking anything else. Rarity had hoped, however, that being in the Crystal Empire would make a difference.

Sure, she had been able to see the various crystals around her, but that was only because the castle itself was made out of them. The ponies that lived inside of it, however, were a different story. Even though their outer appearance matched that of a crystal, they were still organic. Allowing the guard to return to his post, Rarity sat with the others, silently thinking to herself.

There has to be something I can do…anything…

However, her focus, along with that of everyone else in the room, was diverted the moment they heard the doors to the room open. All were silent as they saw who had entered: Corey, who up until now had vanished after it was discovered that Twilight had been attacked. They weren’t sure what to expect when he returned, but if last time had been any indication, they’d have bet on pent-up rage. And that’s exactly what they saw in his face; this time, there was something else along with it.

The anger was there, that much was certain, but there were signs he was trying desperately to keep it under control. It wasn’t just in his face, but also in his body language. To an experienced observer, it appeared as though Corey was holding the weight of a world on his shoulders, and that world was just about to crush him.

“And just where did you disappear off to?” Not everyone was an experienced observer though; Rainbow Dash herself was no exception. Ever since Corey had left without saying so much as a word before hearing Twilight’s story, she’d had more than an issue with it.

Corey looked up towards Rainbow and took in a deep breath, “I just…I needed to clear my head…”

That’s a lie, That inner voice came back again, Tell them what you were really up to! Or are you afraid of what they’ll say if they find out? Corey shook his head, banishing the thoughts from it. He had neither the energy nor the time to argue with it right now.

“Oh sure…” Rainbow said, “And while you were stopping to smell the crystal roses, did you happen to forget that we still got a madman on the loose!?”

Anyone who wasn’t inches from Corey could see as his fist tightened in response to that last comment. People who were a little closer could see the veins on his hand starting to pop out. No one knew what would happen next.

“That’s enough!” called out Twilight, gaining Corey and Rainbow’s attention, “The absolute last thing we need is to turn on each other. If you’re anger, then make sure to point it only at the one who deserves it.”

Rainbow’s mood seemed to soften quickly. Bowing her head, Rainbow looked over to Corey apologetically before walking away. At the same time, Corey’s fist uncurled as he bowed his own head. His palm met his face, and his mouth moved just before he let out a short sigh.

“Now Corey, please join us,” Twilight said with a smile, “I’m about to share the change in the strategy.”

Corey nodded quietly and joined the others at the table. Everyone could feel a small relief in the tension, but they couldn’t help but feel it wouldn’t last, specifically for Corey. But none of them knew more about it than John did. As he watched Corey sit down, he could see it. There was something building up inside of Corey, and it was building up even faster. Now that they were sitting around the same table, he could see the strain Corey was going through emotionally. And all he could think of was when the strain would be too much to bear for him.

At some point it’s going to give… John thought, Problem is, who’s it going to be pointed at when he finally erupts?

Author's Note

Things are just getting worse and stuff. Don't really know what else to say.

Act 3 Chapter 8

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 8: The Iceberg

Truly, the world seems to love throwing material at me. Not too long ago, a new princess had been crowned in Equestria. And then, of course, I’m freed from Tartarus. It almost feels like destiny unfolding, that a new muse has been given to me as I exit.

Nonetheless, I do have some business to finish with the other recently crowned princess as well. I hear it has moved into its own country up north by this time. Well, no matter. I’ll still get that material all the same. I won’t be caught again—not that I have a choice, but oh well.

I know not what I’ll do to this, “avatar of friendship” just yet, but I do have plenty of tools at my disposal to make sure that she won’t escape from me.

I have caught sight of the newest muse a few times by now. I cannot fathom how it got to where it is. Up until I’d come out and learned what had happened during my time away, I hadn’t even known we had another one. In fact, most didn’t seem to know who it was. There’s something wrong with all that; with that much status, it should be known.

But that can change if I can bypass her defenses. I’ve already passed part of it not too long ago. I know exactly where she is now. It’s interesting how a simple disguise can fool them all… And once I have my muse in my studio, I’ll be ready to make sure everyone remembers who it was…

I wonder what its screams will sound like…

Oh, enough pondering. I’d best start making my plans to finish what I started. And if the new muse starts getting in the way, I’ll just use them both. That would certainly be a first—a sculpture of two… Ah, but I’m getting ahead of myself…

Corey let out what could only be a dry, shuddering heave as he shut the book violently. His glasses, already badly askew on his face due to how badly he had adjusted them after finishing his reading, clattered to the desk as he leaned forward, his head slamming into his hands. The heels of his palms rubbed at his eyes.

“That was the last entry…” Corey snarled, vocalizing the only thought in his mind that wasn’t being drowned out by the crackling and “whooshing” of the blaze that now threatened to consume everything around him, “I’m not…I can’t…”

Corey was too afraid to move beyond standing up. He couldn’t even compose himself enough. He knew that if he could look into a mirror, he’d be horrified at the utterly enraged-looking unicorn staring back at him, but even that didn’t stop him from feeling every last bit of rage that threatened to consume him.

He glowered at the book on the desk, looking at it like he was about ready to start burning not just it, but everything it touched while it was up here. Like it was the book’s fault for his reading it and getting mad about the contents. Corey shook his head violently.

“At least, now I know,” Corey said. Though everyone had their suspicions, he knew beyond a shadow of doubt that they were true. The Slayer did have his sights set on Twilight, and he already knew more than enough about what he had in mind for her if he ever got hold of her, “But I’ll be damned if I let him…” Corey lowered his head, a shadow casting itself over his eyes.

“Oh, Corey,” Corey’s eyes opened wide as he heard her voice. Quickly, he turned to see Twilight standing at the door, “There you—“ The sentence broke off in her mouth. Corey realized that she wasn’t looking at him, but past him, directly to what was on the table.

“Corey… what have you done?” Usually, the sight of Twilight was one of delight; one that soothed the flames in Corey’s heart. But today, it was different. Twilight had just caught him doing something she’d specifically forbid him from doing. It had the opposite effect.

“Twilight, I—“ Corey trailed off, a part of him feeling she already wasn’t listening. Twilight’s horn lit up and her magic wrapped around the book on the table, willing it to her hands. Only after the book was in them did she finally speak.

“How much have you read…?” For the first time, her voice was low, hostile. Finally, Corey managed to stand straight, his body fully turning towards Twilight. Usually, he’d avert his gaze in some way, but strangely, he didn’t.

“All of it.”

His answer didn’t help with Twilight’s mood. She looked down at the cover of the book in her hands. Anyone with half a rational brain left could see the disgust in her eyes.

“It all makes sense now,” she said, “The lashing out, the lack of sleep, it’s all because of this!” The book slammed hard into the ground courtesy of Twilight’s hands, “You knew what this book was doing to you! You even promised me that you wouldn’t! But you did anyway…why?”

“I thought if I could see just how he thinks, then I could get in his head…then maybe I could take him down…” Corey said.

“And now he’s the one inside yours,” Twilight retorted, “Did that ever occur to you?”

“”I can handle it…”

“No, you can’t!” Twilight raised her voice and started to march the rest of the way over to Corey, “You’ve been unfocused, you’re angry all the time, and Celestia only knows what would have happened if I hadn’t stepped in earlier.” Now, Twilight stood mere inches from Corey.

“Of course I’m angry! How could I not be?!” Corey’s own voice raised, much to Twilight’s surprise, “Have you even read what was in that book? The things the guy has done!?” Corey took a step forward.

“Believe me, Corey, I know exactly what he’s done,” said Twilight, “I read the same pages you have; I’ve pictured the pain he caused more times than I wanted. But unlike you, I knew when to stop. I knew when to turn away before the words started to eat away at me, just like it’s doing to you…”

Corey’s breathing began to grow noticeably irregular, the heat of his rage starting to swell.

“I don’t care,” He clenched his fist slightly, “I don’t care what the book does to me…I’m not going to lose to—“

“You’ve already lost!” Twilight snapped back, “Look at you, this book is destroying you from the inside out, and all because you let it. Everything you’ve done until now is only going to hurt you and the ones around you.”

Corey opened his mouth to respond, but closed it and let out an annoyed grunt. He turned his back to Twilight and took a few steps away. Twilight couldn’t help but notice he was trembling.

“He’s going to hurt everyone more,” Corey said, turning back, “I can’t let that happen.”

“That doesn’t justify what you’re doing to yourself, Corey…”

“What about them, Twilight!?” Corey pointed straight at the book, past Twilight, “Where’s their justice?! Everyone he hurt, everyone he’s killed, where’s their justice?”

Twilight faltered for a moment, but she didn’t back down. Instead, Twilight took one more step forward.

“They got theirs, Corey,” she said, “He was captured, he was sent to Tartarus.”

“But it wasn’t enough!” said Corey, “The moment he got out, he was back to his old ways…What’s the point of a punishment if he’s learned nothing!” Corey didn’t even seem to be aware his hand was closed tightly, causing the vein to pop out again.

“The only way someone like him can learn…is if they know the pain that they cause others…Only when they know the suffering that they’ve caused…”

Twilight’s eyes opened wide at Corey’s words. She could not believe what she was hearing.

“Are you even listening to yourself!?” she asked, “What you’re suggesting here—how does that make you any better than him?!”

“I am nothing like him!” Corey’s eyes became sharp, angry, his fist now trembling violently, “I’m trying to stop him! I’m trying to do everything I can to make sure he never tries to hurt anyone ever again! Don’t you dare compare me to him!” Corey’s hand glowed, his runes violently swarming around it.

Twilight backed off a bit. At this point, she really wasn’t sure what Corey was about to do.

John said he’d had trouble with his emotions, but… she shook her head lightly; it somehow escaped Corey’s notice, I didn’t think this was…

“I don’t care what it takes…” Corey snarled, “The moment I see him…I’m going to strike him down for good!”

“Corey, you can’t—“

“Shut up!”

Showing he no longer cared to listen, that his rage had deafened him, Corey lashed out. Bringing his glowing fist down, Corey smashed the table near him, shattering it to pieces. An unsettling silence followed, the only sound that could be heard was Corey’s heavy breathing after letting his frustration out. And as the moment passed, Corey’s mind returned to him. He looked down at the table, as if he’d only just realized what had happened to it.

He then looked to his fist, opening it slowly and seeing it shake. It wasn’t from anger, but from something else.

What did I just… He was afraid to look, but he did anyway. Corey looked up at Twilight, and in her eyes he saw something he hadn’t expected to see: fear. But this fear wasn’t pointed at anything. It was all directed at him. Corey slowly extended his hand towards her, but he recoiled when she took a step away from him.

“T-Twilight…I—“

“No, Corey, I’ve heard enough,” Twilight’s voice was painfully hollow, and so quiet for a moment Corey didn’t immediately understand what she said. Lowering her head, Twilight turned her back to Corey and began making her way towards the door, “I’m sorry, Corey, but I can’t allow this. You may not care about what this is doing to you, but I do.”

“W-what are you saying…” Corey asked.

“I’m benching you, Corey,” she said, “Until this is over, you’re not getting anywhere near him. You’re going to stay here and wait,” With that, Twilight left the room completely, magenta flaring around her horn.

“Twilight, wait,” Corey finally moved, trying to follow after her, try to apologize—anything, “You can’t be—“

His trajectory was cut off inches from the door. After getting a good look, he realized what it was: a barrier, one that would prevent him from leaving the room. Immediately, Corey’s mind went into a frenzy.

“Twilight, wait!” His anger was replaced with something else: fear. Complete, white terror. He tried to get her attention, but it was no use. She never answered…

As Twilight walked away, she felt something pierce through her chest like a heated blade. It wasn’t physical, but with how it hurt it might as well have been. The barrier was part of her new plan, but she never thought she’d have to use it on someone she cared for. But it was necessary. At the rate he was going…

“I’m sorry, Corey,” Twilight whispered, feeling a hot tear slide down her cheek.

If it wasn’t for the fact his chest felt hollowed out, Corey might have wondered why he wasn’t crying at max volume. With his back to the barrier, Corey sat on the floor, his hands pressed against his face. The tears had already spilled past his palms, running down what remained of his face. In between the gasping for air and the near-silent sobs, Corey’s thoughts found their way to his mouth.

“Twilight…” he said, “I’m…I…I can’t…I was…only…” Corey’s shoulders shook, “I’m sorry…I didn’t…That wasn’t…”

You’ve really done it now… his inner voice came back, Not only did you get found out, you hurt her…

Corey let in a heaving gasp of air, but no words came out. He had never remembered being this upset, this hollow, but it wasn’t exactly something new.

Whenever he took things too far, whenever he felt like he’d given in too much to his rage, he’d wind up doing this—crying to himself alone, fearing that this time, he’d done it. But it hurt far worse now. There was no internet separating him from the person he’d spoken to. There was nothing stopping him from doing something physical he might regret—

You’ve hurt her…

And there was no feeling worse than making the one you knew you loved scared of you, upsetting them, hurting them.

“I’m…s-sorry…” Corey moved to stand, to try desperately to get anyone’s attention. But his leg faltered, and Corey slipped and fell onto his side. Corey tried to lift himself up, but his mind wouldn’t let him.

His worst fear of all was coming true. Worse still, it felt like there was nothing he could do to fix it. Not this time.

“Please…don’t leave me here alone…”

Twilight hadn’t made it too far past the end of the hallway that room was located in before leaning back against the wall for support. The tears hadn’t stopped flowing, but why? Hadn’t she done the right thing just now?

Why does it hurt so much… Twilight thought, He wasn’t in his right mind…if he saw Slayer, there’s no telling what would happen…I couldn’t take the risk! So why…why do I feel…

“Why…” she whispered, putting both her hands to her face, the tears still falling. It was hard to believe, but somehow, sealing Corey up in the room to prevent him from doing something else he’d regret only made her feel worse, “I did it because I didn’t want to see him get worse…”

She had heard him calling for her, but the voice had eventually faded away as she made her way away from the room. That was closer to the Corey she knew, for sure. But what scared her was the display of rage she’d seen from him. In that moment, she didn’t think it was Corey anymore.

Twilight put her arm up to her face, wiping away the last of the tears. Whatever happened, the deed was done. She had to hope that Corey would eventually come to terms with the decision before anything worse happened. Yet, as she began to walk the rest of the way to rejoin the others and tell them what had happened, something echoed in her head.

The words of a kind, if reckless, former human.

“… if it means keeping you safe, I’d do it all over again…”

Twilight stopped only a few moments to wonder why those words had stuck with her and why they had only reoccurred to her now, but forced the thought aside. There was still something that needed to be done, and right now Corey wasn’t in the kind of shape to help anyone.

“I’m sorry…” Twilight said again, another burst of tears threatening to come, “Please…don’t hate me for it…”

Twilight’s friends had been pulled from their posts and told to meet inside of the throne room. Though they were confused as to why they did what they asked, they also believed that any questions they had would be answered the moment they gathered. As they entered the room, the first thing they noticed was Twilight, and that something was off about her.

She was averting her eyes from them, but they were still able to see what could have been wrong. Her eyes were red, but it was clear she wasn’t suffering from allergies or anything like that. No, they knew what the most likely cause was. There were still moist-looking trails on her cheeks. Had Twilight been crying?

“Everythin’ alright, Twilight?” asked Applejack. Twilight didn’t immediately respond, only worrying the group more. They’d already noticed that Corey wasn’t present, which left them to guess why.

“There’s been a change of plans…” Twilight finally said, “While the strategy is the same, who is involved will change. Until this is over, Corey is strictly forbidden from helping…”

A collective gasp filled the room. Though everyone wondered what could have happened to cause this change, only one of them had an inkling.

Corey…what did you do…? John thought to himself, his brows furrowed.

“What do you mean?” Rainbow asked, “With what we’re dealing with, we need all the pony-power we can get!” The others all agreed. As it stood, they were dealing with someone else who could use dark magic; they couldn’t afford to weaken their ranks now. They all turned to Twilight for an answer, wanting some kind of explanation as to why she’d done this.

Her eyes were glued to the group, her arms wrapped around herself, as though she were trying to hold herself together.

“You all remember…that book found at the scene of the attack, right?” Twilight asked. When the others nodded, she continued, “That book belonged to the Slayer, and in it, he wrote everything he ever did in graphic detail. I read the book once and I couldn’t get past more than a few pages…” Twilight paused, taking in a deep, shuddering breath. The others could see it in her eyes, hear it in her voice; this just wasn’t something she was handling well.

She could have stopped now and the others would have figured it all out, but she didn’t. She kept right on going, her story not over, “Unfortunately…Corey found the book as well…and he read it. All of it. I don’t know what he’d read, what horrible acts he’d seen on those pages, but they definitely took their toll on him.

“He’s found a hatred for this Slayer greater than anything I’ve seen, and I’m afraid of what would happen if they were to end up in the same room,” Again, Twilight paused, looking towards the ground, “I’m sorry if this is an inconvenience, but I didn’t know what else to do…I was just—“

Twilight stopped the moment she felt something touch her shoulder. She looked over, seeing that it was Applejack.

“We can’t change the past, Twi,” she said, “All we can do now is hope for the best.”

Twilight looked to Applejack for a moment and nodded. There would be time for regrets later, but right now, she had a job to do.

“I’m going to get some more guards here to help make up for Corey not being here. Everypony else, you know what to do…and good luck,” Everyone else nodded and began to exit the room; even Applejack, who thought she’d try to find some guards as well.

John would have been the last to exit, but he felt someone tug on his arm. When he turned to see who, he saw that it was Twilight. Already, he could tell she was having a hard time looking him in the eyes.

“I know the others trust me, but…” Twilight looked up slightly, “Corey was your friend longer than anyone’s known him. Please…tell me, did I make the right choice?”

John looked at Twilight and let out a slight sigh, “Whenever Corey gets the way he does, I usually just let him vent. Heaven only knows I’ve had enough patience for it. But sometimes, it just wasn’t enough. Sometimes you have to deal back what he can dish out before he can learn a lesson…”

Placing a hand under her chin, John raised Twilight’s head the rest of the way so she could see his eyes.

“But the fact that this time it was you who did it, I think that it might pay off even better than everything in the past,” he said.

“What makes you say that?”

“Because there was one thing I noticed since we arrived in this world. The Corey I knew was changing, and for the better. At first I thought it was just because he was here; this world void of the same darkness that he’d seen back home. But after some time, I found out what the real reason is… you.”

Twilight blinked as she felt her heart skip a beat at John’s words.

“The fact is, you do something most others can’t do,” John continued, letting go of her head, but never breaking eye contact, “You make him want to be a better person.”

Twilight didn’t respond, not that she had one to begin with. John shook his head lightly.

This was something she needed to sort out for herself. With no more than a light tilt of his head, John excused himself and left the room.

By now, night had fallen on the Crystal Empire. This didn’t change what their jobs were.

John and Rainbow resumed their position on the roof of the palace. Both focused on the task given to them. John’s resolve was even stronger than before; a resolve to ensure that the Slayer never gets anywhere near Corey or the others. This breakout from Tartarus had already caused his friends both new and old more than enough pain, and not just physically. And it did not sit well with him.

This has to end, before any more pain can be caused.

He didn’t know much in terms of going up against magic, especially the magic Slayer was wielding, but it didn’t matter to him. He was fully prepared to put himself in harm’s way if it meant taking him down. He had been prepared for this, even before Corey had started to show signs that the book had an effect on him. But the problem with being prepared for anything is that sometimes, life loves to throw in surprises.

One of them was the sound of screaming; not from one voice, and certainly not from inside the castle walls. It sounded as though dozens of ponies were screaming in fear.

What? John stood up from his position, allowing the fabric to fall off his back. With each second that passed, the screams grew louder, more numerous. Rainbow joined him in standing up. Neither said anything as the screams echoed all around.

No…no… John begged mentally, but just as he did, he was given a second surprise. A loud crash sounded from a far-off block of the empire. Both Rainbow and John quickly saw the dust and debris fly into the air. They watched in shock as a towering building fell over, crashing into the one next to it.

“It’s him!” Rainbow said, her wings flared in anger, “He’s attacking the civilians!”

John would be lying if he said he didn’t care, but he didn’t say anything. He was lost in his own thoughts as he tried to come to a decision.

This is a trap, I just know it! It was an obvious conclusion: the Slayer was trying to draw them away from the castle.

But as clear as that was, as much as John was sure that going over there would be exactly what the Slayer wanted them to do, it didn’t change the fact he was now faced with a hard choice. He could stay, keep watch, and hope that the moment he spots the Slayer, he’d be able to strike him down—and run the risk of every minute that passed resulting in more innocents being harmed.

Or he could charge towards the trap and do everything he could to help save the townsponies and trust that his friends could take care of the Slayer without him…and run the risk of returning to a sight he dared not imagine. John bared his fangs as he grit his teeth, clenching his clawed hands into fists hard enough to risk drawing his own flood.

In the end, John made his decision. Quickly, he jumped off the castle and opened his wings. With Rainbow following close behind, the two followed after the signs of chaos. The choice was made. There was no turning back now.

Good luck, everyone…

If there was one thing of the patrol that got to Rarity, it was the unsettling silence that came with it. Well into the night, it would be obvious that ponies would be settling into bed, but this silence seemed almost unnatural for a city like this. Though she might have questioned this more, the truth is that she was far too focused on her task. While the guards held their positions, she instead moved around the area, her eyes scanning every inch of the room around her.

I’ve memorized almost every corner of this room, and the position of every guard, Rarity thought to herself. If there was one thing she knew best, it had to be her attention to detail, something she picked up in her years of fashion design. So if someone was off by even the slightest of margins, she’d know it instantly.

Time continued to pass and for a while Rarity wondered if this night would go by without any results.

How many more nights are going to pass before he decides to show himself, was the thought in the back of Rarity’s mind. Just how patient would this Slayer be if it meant finding the perfect opportunity to make another attempt?

These thoughts and more crossed her mind, but eventually they were silenced. This was due to a sudden break of the silence in the room. All heads turned to its source: the front doors of the castle. They started as light thumps, but with each they began to grow louder, until eventually one thump rattled the door and those inside. And then it was quiet again. This time, however, all guards were on full alert, each of them now facing the door.

And then everything came alive.

The door suddenly exploded out of its hinges, flying into the room. Some guards dove out of its path, but Rarity wasn’t able to move as quickly, but fortunately she didn’t have to. Before the door could get too close, Pinkie dropped down from above, a rope tied around her waist. At the last moment, she grabbed Rarity by the shoulders and yanked her off the ground and out of harm’s way.

“Thank you, Pinkie,” Rarity said, sighing in relief. But she didn’t have time to relax, looking down at where the door used to be, she saw what had ripped it off its frame. It was a creature almost as larger as the door itself, its shape unlike anything Rarity had ever seen before.

“Is that what attacked Twilight?” wondered Rarity.

Already back on the ground, Rarity saw two guards rush the strange creature. However, they were knocked aside with relative ease.

“This could be trouble,” said Pinkie, and there was no doubt about it. This creature was obviously bigger than the one Twilight faced and was more than likely stronger as well.

“Pinkie, you know what to do,” she said, “Make sure to slow that down as much as you can.”

Pinkie saluted just as the rope around her retracted, pulling her back up to the ceiling. While Pinkie went to work, Rarity had her own way to help. Even at a range, she could still deal some damage to the creature. Quickly her magic flared around her horn as she charged as much magic as she could for a laser.

But as she charged her laser, something caught the side of her eyes. Though she knew she should be focusing on the creature trying to force its way in, she made a quick glance. What she saw was one of the guards. He appeared to be limping away from the creature. In her mind, Rarity pieced that it was one of the guards that it knocked away. But before she could look away, something about the guard got her attention.

What’s this? She thought to herself, there was something about this guard that just seemed off to her. She continued to stare at him as he limped, unknown to herself that her eyes were beginning to glow the same blue as her magic. In that moment, something in the guard’s appearance changed: his skin, his armor, everything started to go transparent. What she saw caused her to let out a sharp gasp.

From her eyes, there appeared to be something inside of the guard—another body within, perhaps? And in that moment, the guard took notice of Rarity’s gaze and stared back. Every nerve in her body went numb. All she could see were a pair of soulless eyes that seemed to threaten her own soul.

That is not a guard!

Acting on instinct, Rarity turned her body towards the guard just as her magic reached its peak.

“He’s here!” she called out.

Just as she fired her laser towards the odd one out, the other guards heard her scream just in time to see the explosion. They looked on in confusion as to what was happening, but everything soon became clear along with the smoke. At first glance, it had appeared to be another guard. But further inspection showed his body was chipping away like peeling paint.

The guard stood straight up, a long smile spreading across his face as he chuckled.

“Well now, in all my years, I’ve never had someone see through my disguise before,” A piece of his face fell right off as he chuckled, as if it were made of plaster, “I’ll have to keep an eye on you after today.”

All that could be seen was a small part of the true face under the mask—a single indigo-colored eye stared back at Rarity, the soul-rending glare causing her to tremble.

Quickly, the other guards formed around her, prepared to fight off the revealed imposter. But he only looked back and laughed.

“Surely if you all came after me, I might be defeated,” he said, “But tell me, what would happen if my friend over there were to be let loose into the city?”

The guards paused, looking over to the rest of their ranks that were trying to fight it off. If it got outside, there was no telling what kind of panic it could cause.

“That’s what I thought,” the imposter said coolly as he made his way up the stairs leading to the next room. Rarity’s body still trembled even with the imposter’s back to her, but she couldn’t afford to be paralyzed with fear, not now of all times.

Her hand moved, and swung just as hard as it could, slapping her own face. The sudden jolt of pain was just enough to bring her back to her senses, and she was able to function once again.

“We can’t let that creature roam free. The faster it’s defeated, the faster we can go after him!”

The other guards nodded. There were more guards deeper inside of the castle, and the commotion this creature had caused surely alerted them to the danger. So for now, their goal was right in front of them, to take down this creature as quickly as possible.

Author's Note

There we go. The final battle for this arc has been set up.

Act 3 Chapter 9

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 9: Fracture

John and Rainbow soared through the sky as quickly as they could, the sounds of destruction and screaming guiding them through the night.

“I see something!” Rainbow yelled out from ahead, both of them slowing to a stop over the buildings. What they saw was nothing short of monstrous. A creature much like what Twilight had described. However, this one was vastly larger than what they’d heard.

The monster had to be at least twenty feet tall, easily far larger than Lyon. This creature wasn’t bipedal, however; it walked on six large legs, each of its feet causing the ground to crack upon it stepping down. It had two large arms which swung around to damage the surrounding area. Oddly enough, though, it had no head, only what appeared to be a large eye on its chest.

“Whoa…” was all John could say to its appearance.

“Any idea how we’re supposed to take that thing down?” asked rainbow. John put a hand to his chin for moment, trying to devise a strategy.

“From what Twilight said, this thing is made up of dark magic—that means it’s not really alive, and probably can’t feel pain,” John surmised—all facts that were inherently obvious.

“And how does that help us?” Rainbow asked, turning to him with a raised brow.

“Because on the flip side of that,” John said, bringing his closed fist down into his other hand, “It means we don’t have to hold anything back.”

While there was a plus in not having to worry about going too far, there was still a danger in going all out: the creature was still close to the buildings, and there were scared civilians running amok, trying to get away from the thing.

“We have to lead it away from the townsponies first,” Rainbow said, motioning to the east, “If we keep going down that path, we’ll reach a park. That’s probably the best place we can take him.”

“Okay, I’ll get its attention. Try to help anyone you can until we get there.”

With a nod, both John and Rainbow dove down as quickly as they could. John chose to fly until he was directly in the path of the creature, just short of the creature’s eye. Without a word, John took in a breath and let out a strong flame. The fire engulfed the creature’s eye. The monster let out a muffled-sounding roar as it raised a hand against the flames.

“Do I have your attention now?” John asked, backing off. The creature’s eye briefly moved about before locking on to John. It began to move forward to reach for its assailant, but John was well out of range.

“What’s wrong, can’t keep—Whoa!” John was cut off, quickly shifting his focus to dodging. One of the creature’s arms extended out towards him at blinding speeds, trying to ensnare him. And it wasn’t the only time he would have to. One after another, the creature continued to stretch its arms at him. Try as he might, John couldn’t dodge all of the lightning fast strikes, and eventually wound up taking a hit.

With a grunt, John spiraled backwards, falling hard to the ground as a result.

“Damn,” John groaned, getting back to his feet, “That thing hits—“

He halted, his eyes widened as he looked down the block either way. The giant he’d been fighting had vanished. Immediately, his mind began to race, trying to figure out where it could have gone.

Did the magic dispel, did it hide behind a building, can it turn invisible? His mind raced with the infinite possibilities, but in the end he managed to narrow it down to one.

“Above!” Just as he heard Rainbow’s voice, John noticed a large shadow casting around him. Looking up quickly, he saw it. The creature was high in the air above him and closing the distance to the ground rapidly. John had to think fast; if something that big fell from that height, there was no telling what kind of damage it could cause. And with so many ponies running around frantically, there was no way that no one would walk away unscathed.

Without any other option, John did the only thing he could think to do. With all his might he flew straight up towards the falling creature, bracing for impact. John collided with it, and immediately began to feel the force of a skyscraper bearing down on him. He didn’t falter, instead moving his arms into position and putting all his strength into making sure the giant didn’t hit the ground at terminal velocity. Though they were slowing down, John was convinced that it wasn’t enough.

Luckily for him, Rainbow noticed what was going on and flew into action. Descending to where the creature would make impact, Rainbow began to fly around it as fast as her wings would allow. The speed of her flight started to make the air spiral until a large vortex was formed below the falling creature. The moment it made contact with the vortex, its fall slowed to a stop almost instantly.

“What the--?” John asked, the weight on his shoulder almost completely gone. With his focus completely on stopping the fall, he hadn’t even noticed that Rainbow had set up her own defense until now. He let out a small sigh of relief, glad that Rainbow had his back in this battle. But he would have time to thank her later; for now, they had work to do.

“Rainbow, can you move the vortex?” he asked, raising his voice to make sure he could be heard.

“On it!” Rainbow yelled without needing to have John clarify. With the creature still within the vortex, Rainbow began to move it down the road. With no scrambling civilians in their path, it was a straight shot.

The creature tried to escape its confines, extending its arms to try and grab for something. John deflected each of its attempts before they could even leave the vortex. Finally, they reached the opening to the park; an area where they would have enough space to let loose. Just as the vortex began to die down, John flew at the creature as fast as he could, delivering one good punch to its eye. The creature flew back for several feet before rolling to a halt on the ground.

“Sucker’s sturdy,” John grunted as he shook his fist. Within seconds, the creature began to pick itself back up, and its angry eye now trained on the two responsible for getting in its way.

“Hope you’re ready, Rainbow…because this is where the real fight starts!”

Corey didn’t need to be told that something was going on. He could hear the thunderous crashing, the shouts for “more guards”, “more guards”, and the yelling of pain. Corey wasn’t specifically able to pick out any voices, but it was better that way.

Ever since hearing the commotion, Corey had stood up, and had begun swinging at the barrier separating him from the ongoing fight against…whatever it was. Though, Corey had a strong guess as to why everyone was in a frenzy—a fact that resonated with him.

He threw punch after punch at the barrier, his mind going a million miles a minute as he tried desperately to break past Twilight’s magic. All he was doing was hurting his hands, but he didn’t care, overcome by emotion.

“He’s out there!” he yelled, “I have to get out there…I have to stop him! I have to!”

No matter how much he yelled at the barrier, no matter how hard he hit it, it wouldn’t even crack a little. With each passing second, Corey’s desire to get free continued to grow, his punches weakening as his desperation slowly gave way to despair. He eventually stopped, one fist trembling against the magenta surface. Even now, not so much as one crack was showing.

“Please…open,” he said, his voice low. The sounds of battle echoed around him, the screams of pain of whoever was getting in his way strong now, “I have to help them…”

“The sweet sound of begging…”

As the words echoed around him, Corey raised his head. As soon as he did, he saw the hallway outside had changed. The lights, which had been shining brightly just a moment ago, had been snuffed out like candles.

“Oh, how I’ve missed it after so many years…”

Due to the darkness and the fact he still hadn’t picked up his glasses, Corey couldn’t see very far down the hall, but he could hear the approaching footsteps. Someone was coming, and he had a pretty good idea of who it was.

He could see signs of movement in the darkness after a few moments; the voice’s owner was almost in sight. It got to a point where he could see something in the shadows—but that was as much as he could see before the footsteps stopped completely. Corey couldn’t see his face, but he knew there were a pair of eyes in the darkness staring back at him.

“Well now, I was hoping I’d find you,” His voice was low, but calm. However, there was a mocking tone to it. Corey had only heard him speak just once and already his rage had been set ablaze once more, “I see that you’ve found my book,” And at the mention of that book, Corey could hear the pride in his voice; at least, that’s what it sounded like.

“Thank you for taking such good care of it,” The voice’s owner continued, “Would be a shame to lose such good memories.”

His rage more than beyond renewed, Corey slammed both of his closed fists on the barrier, causing it to tremble like a plastic window into the outside world.

“You son of a bitch!” Corey screamed, his hands resting on the barrier, “All that pain,” His left hand came down, “All that suffering,” His right hand came down again, “You’re actually proud—“ Both hands again, “of it!? How!?”

At the same time, Corey now had no doubts about who he was speaking to at that moment. The Slayer, the man who had wrote down his diary of horrific events and passed it off as art, was now standing less than ten feet away, directly in front of him. And he could do nothing about it!

“Come now, Corey, I’m sure I’ve told you before…” The figure in the darkness—Slayer, began to move into the light. Finally, Corey believed he’d be able to put a face to the monster that wrote that book. But as soon as he did, Corey’s entire being was filled with shock. It wasn’t the fact that the Slayer looked even crazier than he’d imagined him to be that did it, though.

It was the fact it wasn’t the first time he’d seen him.

“I’m a writer.”

“M-Maudlin…?” Corey’s entire body went numb. The “Maudlin” he was looking at now compared to back then… it was like they were two entirely different people. He remembered that Maudlin had a slightly paler color to him, though that might have been the blood on him talking—no doubt from his current victims. His expression, his eyes, instead of being warm and friendly, were cold and savage.

His smile didn’t fade, but his voice sounded lightly disappointed, “What’s wrong, Corey? You don’t look happy to see me… and here I thought we would be good friends.”

“Maudlin”—no, Slayer, walked closer to the barrier. Corey’s fists tightened, his knuckles cracking from the force.

“It was you this whole time…” Corey said, his voice quaking. His mind went back to when he’d met Maudlin for the first time. The words he had said, the hobby that he shared with him, it all started to click in that moment, “You…you actually told me what you do…You were pretending to be someone else…and you still didn’t try to hide it!”

“And if memory serves, you were impressed by it,” Slayer said, “In fact, you were even going to introduce me to Princess Twilight herself.”

Corey’s blood ran cold as he remembered that fact as well. He had brought Slayer straight to Twilight’s doorstep, and he didn’t even know it!

“I know what you’re thinking…and you’re right, I could have,” said Slayer, “But it would have been too easy…taking you down and running off with her. Where’s the fun in that?”

Slayer raised up his hand and placed it on the barrier, and their eyes met. Corey didn’t even care for the utterly soulless stare that was thrown in his direction. All he could feel was rage, especially as Slayer kept talking.

“But it’s different now…” Slayer continued, “Now I can have all the fun I want.”

“I’m warning you,” Corey slammed a hand on the barrier again, “If you go near her, I’ll—“

“You’re not exactly in a position to be making threats, trapped in there…” Slayer interjected, tapping lightly on it, “It’s funny, really. Here, I’m the prisoner from Tartarus, yet you’re the one in a cage. I wonder, just what could you have done to be in this position?”

Corey let out a guttural noise in frustration, but didn’t vocally respond.

“But still, that’s quite a reaction for a friend,” Slayer said, “I wonder…is it truly possible that you see her as something more?”

Corey went silent, watching as Slayer paced the floor just inches from him. However, the silence was all Slayer needed to hear. He laughed for a few moments before turning back to Corey.

“Well now, this changes everything…”

“What are you talking about…?” asked Corey. The grin on the Slayer’s face was still just as despicable as before.

“The reason you’re in this barrier…it’s for your own protection, isn’t it?”

Again, Corey didn’t respond.

“If she’s willing to do this to keep you safe, then you must have a special place in her heart…and if that’s the case, then I know the perfect way to hurt her…”

Slayer’s horn began to glow, and soon so did the rest of him, covered in a black-blue light.

“Physical pain is one thing, but there is nothing more than painful than attacking the heart. So I wonder…” Slayer’s voice seemed to change altogether the whole time. The glow soon began to die down, “How much would it hurt her, if the one to do so was someone she cared for the most?”

The glow completely vanished, and Corey’s eyes shrank to the size of pebbles. Standing on the other side of the barrier, staring right at him, was a perfect copy of himself, down to every detail. It was even wearing his glasses.

“N-no…” Corey said, realizing exactly where this was going.

“Sit tight, Corey,” he said, in Corey’s exact voice, “This won’t take long…”

Corey could stand it no more. With a renewed vigor, Corey began to slam away at the barrier, now using his magic. He shouted the names “Slayer” and “Maudlin”, following them up with threats. All he could hear in response was the taunting laughter of Slayer—who was still using his voice to do it. The laughter was moving away each passing second.

“You’re not going to get away with this, do you hear me!?” Corey screamed, slamming over and over at the barrier, his rage giving way to full-blown blind fury.

“Slayer!! I will make you suffer!!”

Twilight could hear the commotion going on around the castle, the sounds of destruction, the screams of the guards being swept aside. She could hear all of it, and as much as she wished she could go out there and help them, she had to stay. It was here that the trap would be sprung, one she was sure would finally manage to subdue the Slayer. But as true as that may be, it didn’t make this any easier for her.

“Just hold out a little longer,” said Applejack, “I know it’s hard, but we can’t back down now.”

Twilight looked to Applejack and nodded. There wasn’t any room for error. All she could do was focus on the task at hand. The sounds of combat were growing closer with each passing second. But then, they stopped, leaving behind nothing more than unsettling silence. Everyone stood there, unsure of what to make of it.

Did…did they stop him? Twilight asked herself. Sure, that was definitely a possibility, but with everything she’d heard, she thought it would take a lot more than that. The silence continued to stretch on; seconds, minutes, they all seemed to blend together. Eventually, Twilight began to stir.

“I’m going out there,” she said.

“Twilight, wait!” Applejack said, “We don’t know what’s going on out there! For all we know he could be setting his own trap.”

Twilight bit her lip as she thought this over. If the other defense points had managed to beat him, they would have surely informed them by now. But on the other hand, if there were no more guards in his way…

It was a hard choice either way, stay here and wait, or go out and risk the whole plan. But before she could make up her mind, something happened. The doors to the room began to move and everyone inside snapped to attention.

“Wait!” Twilight called out, raising her hand towards the guards. The guards were confused, but heeded her request and held their positions. As the doors opened further, the one behind them was revealed.

“Corey!” Twilight stood in shock. Corey was breathing heavily as he leaned against the door. But what really got Twilight’s attention was that he was covered in blood, “Corey, are you—“

Twilight moved towards him, but Applejack got in the way, “Twilight, wait! Remember who we’re dealin’ with? How do we know if it’s really him?”

Twilight blinked and looked back to Corey. All she could think of was how hurt Corey could be right now. But Applejack was right; their opponent was someone who could change his appearance.

“Corey, how’d you get past the barrier?” asked Twilight.

“I didn’t…” Corey said, “He used something…not sure what…Next thing I knew, the barrier went down and he attacked me. I managed to fend him off, but I’m not sure for how long.”

He tried to take another step closer, but his legs gave out on him. He fell to his knees. Twilight tried again to run over to him, but again, Applejack stopped her.

“Twilight, please, you have to believe me,” Corey looked up to her, a weak look in his eyes, “I’m sorry for what I did, I really am. And I don’t blame you for keeping me in that room, I just…I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Applejack could hold Twilight back no more. Without a second thought, Twilight ran past her and towards Corey as quickly as she could. But in her moment of worry for him, she didn’t notice something in his hand: a knife carefully hidden in his palm.

But before Twilight could get too close, something happened. The wall exploded and someone jumped out from the smoke. The very first thought that occurred to everyone—Slayer had finally arrived. But to everyone’s surprise they saw another…

“Corey!?”

The second Corey (who was not wearing his glasses) ignored Twilight’s words, his eyes sharp with rage as he stared down his other self. His feet began to glow as runes surrounded them. In a blur, he charged the other Corey, tackling him away from Twilight.

As both pushed their way towards the wall, one Corey’s fist began to glow violently, more runes appearing. Upon impact with the wall, there was another explosion that shook the room. Everyone watched as the smoke cleared, unsure of what had just occurred. But just as the smoke cleared, as the two Coreys became visible again, it all became clear.

The Corey that had been pinned against the wall had defended himself from the other Corey’s attack. But he did so using something everyone knew was something Corey couldn’t do: a barrier made of black magic.

“Well now, you actually broke through the barrier?” the fake Corey said, “Impressive…”

He broke out into a fit of insane laughter—still in Corey’s voice.

“What are you laughing about??” Corey demanded, sounding as though he would break at any moment. And he was asking the most likely creature by far to cause that break.

“Tell me,” Slayer said, sounding as though he wasn’t in the middle of a fight at all, but the middle of a diner, having a casual chat, “What’s the best part of a hunt?”

Corey snarled, not wanting to respond to the question. He had an idea of what it could be for him, though—

“Don’t have an answer?” Slayer asked, “Well, it’s not like you would come close anyway. The best part…is the hunt itself. Watching your prey desperately attempt to survive but to no avail…and at the end, watching those last gleaming shreds of hope die out!”

On his last word, Slayer’s barrier seemed to explode, causing a shockwave that knocked Corey away from him. Corey grunted, feeling himself go off balance as he was pushed back. However, he managed to stay on his feet, skidding back a few yards until coming to a stop.

“And believe me when I say I will enjoy snuffing out yours,” he said, his eyes slowly shifting over to Twilight, “All of yours…”

Just by the look on Slayer’s face, Corey could sense the intent behind them…not that he’d need to in order to know what Slayer had in mind.

“Over my dead body!” Corey raised his hand, sending runes into his palm. The resulting bolt flew out at Slayer. Just as before, Slayer’s dark magic forged the perfect defense against his attack, deflecting it with ease.

“Trust me, that will be very soon…”

Without responding, Corey put some runes on his feet, charging at Slayer with great speed. It appeared as though it would be a full frontal assault, and as a response the Slayer manipulated his magic to counter. From the center of his shield, one large spike shot outwards. However, it just cleaved through the air—Corey had vanished from sight.

Through his movements, Corey made his way towards Slayer’s blind spot, an impact spell already charged in his left fist. As hard as he could, Corey shot his fist forward, hoping to strike Slayer in the back of the head. But his attempt was for nothing. At the last moment, Slayer’s head moved slightly out of the way, enough to avoid the attack.

How…? Corey thought, but didn’t have time to complete that train before Slayer snapped his head back to look at Corey, a cocky grin on his lips.

“Did you really think you could fool me with that?” he asked, snatching Corey’s wrist, “Pathetic!”

His elbow crashed into Corey’s stomach, knocking the wind straight out of him. That moment of weakness was all Slayer needed. His horn became shrouded in a mist of black, and in an instant, a mass of magic appeared around Corey’s body, like a straitjacket—only this straitjacket extended down to Corey’s legs and to the floor, holding him there like a malformed cocoon.

“I must say,” said Slayer, taking a couple of steps back, “I’m rather disappointed in—“

“Now!” From below his feet, there was a bright magenta glow. Slayer looked down for just a moment before turning to who he knew was the cause. Twilight was staring back at him, her magic flaring with the activation of a spell. He cast a sinister grin in her direction as his horn began to glow again, but then something shot up from the ground—several chains composed of magic. They wrapped around his ankles, wrists, neck, and his horn, seemingly dispelling the magic that had gotten there. The chains then pulled him down to the ground until he was down to one knee.

“Do not let this opportunity pass!” he heard a guard yell. As he looked up, he saw the guards who had until now remained idle bearing down at him with great intent. But as they drew close, not one failed to notice that in spite of his current position—in spite of his current inability to move, he didn’t look worried. In fact, his smirk had seemed to grow to a full-blown insane sneer.

Finally, he let out a chilling laugh as his magic began to flare, and to everyone’s horror—especially Twilight’s—his bindings shattered like panes of glass. After seeing this, the guards froze, but this would be their biggest mistake of the night. Now free, Slayer unleashed a powerful shockwave of magic, knocking the guards away. But his attack didn’t just hit them, it continued on to where Twilight and Applejack had been standing.

And despite their best efforts to defend themselves, it was too late. The force of the attack knocked them back as well into the wall. The impact was hard enough to crack the wall, and both fell to the ground.

Though the moment passed in mere seconds, it all played out in slow motion for one witness. Still bound in Slayer’s magic, Corey saw everything that happened: watching Twilight get knocked back, the pain in her face when she hit the wall, and seeing her body lay motionless on the ground. And to top it all off, Slayer’s face after it happened. There was no denying it. He enjoyed every second of it.

But Corey wasn’t going to allow it.

“Bastard!”

Slayer turned back to where Corey was, more of those runes of his shrouding his whole body. His body seemed to double in size for just a moment, but it was enough to break the bindings, shredding the mass of energy around him like it was wet tissue paper.

“No more…” he said, his body lighting up again, “You won’t hurt anyone ever again!”

He launched forward, his speed even greater than before, so much so it caught Slayer by surprise. The next thing he knew, something rammed him with great force. Both he and Corey shot towards the adjacent wall, crashing through it like it were made of paper.

The blast through the wall caused the two’s momentum to slow. As they passed towards the center of the next room, Slayer finally broke free, knocking Corey away and knocking him back again. Corey landed flat on his back, but quickly rose to his feet as Slayer landed on the ground.

“It’s just the two of us,” Slayer observed, “But tell me, what exactly do you intend to do all by yourself?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Corey asked, his eyes glowing from the magical surge, “I’m going to put an end to your ‘career’…”

“Oh? But I’m a whole different game from Lyon,” Slayer said, clenching his fists, his horn becoming enshrouded in black magic once more, “And if I remember right, you had help and still just about lost to him…”

“Things are different now!” Corey shouted, raising his hands and letting off two green orbs of magical energy. Slayer easily dodged these, only to find a blur at his side, finding himself being punched in the face. As he began to look up, he saw that Corey had vanished again.

Stomping one foot and lifting his hands, Slayer let out another shockwave of dark magic, cutting off Corey’s follow-up attack. Once again, Corey slid back on his feet, but didn’t fall down. He raised up, lobbing another orb in Slayer’s direction. Slayer’s hand, coated in magic, swatted away the bolt, letting it crash somewhere else. Corey rushed him head-on in his moment of distraction.

Corey punched out, Slayer moving his head and throwing a punch of his own. Corey blocked this one, responding with another kick that Slayer blocked, sliding back a bit. Just then, two hands came down hard on his shoulders, and Corey kneed Slayer square in the chin. Taking advantage of his success, Corey immediately ducked low and knocked Slayer flat on his back with a sweep kick, sending him down to the ground.

Charging magic into his fist, Corey immediately slammed his fist down, only to have the force of the shockwave dispersed by Slayer’s defense once again. Stumbling back, he received a kick to the chest for his efforts. Slayer then extended his hands, sending black tendrils from his arms at Corey. Quickly, Corey raised a hand as runes formed in front of him, forming a barrier. The tendril slapped the barrier, leaving a gash in it.

He leapt back, away from the magical shield as the second tendril shattered the barrier with a blunt “punch”. As the two tendrils began to reach out for him, Corey sped up between them.

Slayer retracted his tendrils as Corey came closer, smirking, “You really don’t want to give up, do you…”

Corey didn’t answer, charging an impact spell in both of his fists. He swung out with the first one, which pushed Slayer back—he had put up a barrier in response to the attack. However, his barrier soon dropped, and Corey moved in again, punching out with his right hand.

What happened next, happened in slow motion. Corey’s fist reached out for Slayer. Slayer’s smirk seemed to grow as he moved his arm up, behind the area of contact for the impact spell to work. His forearm made contact with Corey’s, and Corey felt what seemed to be sharp nails dig into his arm, piercing through his skin. The impact spell went off uselessly, causing a shockwave to be sent straight past Slayer.

“W-what the…?” Corey grunted, his arm beginning to flare in pain.

“I think I’m done playing around here,” Slayer said, “I do have business to attend to…”

Corey strained to get his arm off, but it only seemed to make the problem worse. It felt like the more he struggled, the more the nails dug in.

“I was watching your battle with Lyon, remember?” Slayer said, his eyes meeting Corey’s once again, “I know exactly how you fight! There is nothing that you can do that I haven’t seen already…”

He kicked out, making contact with Corey’s stomach. The nails—which Corey now saw were spikes on Slayer’s arm, were made of dark magic, and they cut open Corey some more as he sailed back, landing on his back. His left hand squeezed at the new wounds, his right hand flexing its fingers to make sure it still functioned.

Corey made his way to his feet, throwing his bloodied jacket aside, revealing the fresh wound in all its glory. He growled, and started speaking again.

“Even if that’s true,” Corey said, “I’m not letting you past me!”

“You must have a serious listening problem,” said Slayer, still using Corey’s own voice, “After all, the others who read my art didn’t make it past a page…”

Corey’s fists both tightened, ignoring the pain in his right arm when he did so.

“But you,” Slayer smirked, “You read all of it, despite their warnings. I wonder…what does that say about you?”

Corey’s anger surged again, his eyes glowing brighter. His horn’s aura became erratic, even worse than during his training. He blurred towards Slayer, who readied himself for his oncoming attacks.

“Shut up!” Corey yelled, as soon as he got close, throwing an impact spell out. Slayer easily avoided the attack, “Don’t you dare act like we’re the same!” Yet another failed attack; a kick that Slayer jumped over. As Corey clenched his right fist hard enough that his knuckles cracked audibly, he began to again throw an impact. This time, Slayer blocked it with the shield.

“I didn’t like your work! It was easily the worst example of what someone could become!” A few more attacks, missed or (painfully) parried without any damage done to Slayer, “But what it did…” He backed off, charging a bolt, which physically swelled in his palm as more green runes went into it.

“Was give me more insight on you!” Corey released a massive ball of energy, the force of the launch enough to cause him to fall backwards. The magical bolt hit seemed to hit Slayer dead-on, an explosion kicking up. Corey, who had fallen onto his back, slowly stood up, watching the smoke disperse.

Just as he began to make out a rounded shadow in the smoke, it seemed to stretch out at him. In his moment of hesitation he found himself suffering a cut on his side. Another tendril appeared at his side, Corey narrowly ducking under it. He started moving towards Slayer, guided by nothing more than instinct. The tendrils from the shield scraped him up some more; a cut on his upper arm, on his left leg, his right leg. Eventually, Corey took off at a full sprint, his fist at the ready with yet another spell.

Corey’s hand was soon ensnared, and soon the rest of him was wrapped up in the bindings. They violently lashed downwards, slamming him to the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Afterwards, they began to reel him in towards Slayer.

“It’s like I told you,” Slayer said, “It’s useless…”

Slayer released Corey, and leaned back, still behind his shield. A massive, shadow fist came out, sending Corey flying back towards the wall he’d wrecked. Corey hit the ground back-first, but hit so hard he bounced over onto his stomach. For a few moments, he just laid there. Slowly, though, his hands began to move.

He could hear his footsteps getting ever closer. Corey staggered a bit, winding up down on one knee as Slayer finally began to speak again. Corey closed his eyes, trying to regain some of his focus, already knowing that in itself was impossible.

“This is where your story ends, Corey,” Slayer said, “As for mine, I think I’ll have a good chapter to write about my experiences up here. Worry not, you’ll get a mention, but you should know the book’s focus as well as I do. Oh, I can imagine it all so clearly…”

Corey snarled, feeling odd. He didn’t respond other than that.

“But here, why don’t I give you a sales pitch?”

Corey jerked to his feet as fast as he could, but didn’t move to keep attacking. Something was keeping him anchored to the spot. He knew now he’d never been this angry in his life; so much so he couldn’t hurt the cause of it for fear of what he’d do. All he could feel was a black fog slowly gliding into his mind, preying on the rage he was feeling.

“The stubborn knight who wouldn’t quit getting in my way…turned into my personal pincushion…” Seeing that he didn’t get quite the kind of reaction out of Corey he was looking for—his posture was still that of one ready to battle, so Slayer kept right on talking, “And, as for the princess he was trying to save…what to say…I think I know how to create that part of this scenario.”

At the mention of Twilight, Corey’s temper flared all over again, even worse than before.

“Maybe I’ll tell her what I’ve done to you…break her spirit, before I break her body…”

Corey silently snarled, and as he did so his eyes sprang open. Slayer couldn’t put his finger on it, but they seemed…different. It didn’t matter to Slayer.

“Tell me, what sound do you think she will make… when I clip her wings!?”

At that moment, two perspectives diverged.

Corey looked up at Slayer, his eyes wide. They were still different. His senses were overwhelmed by that black fog, preying on the anger he felt, as well as the hatred that had built up over the course of the preceding days. He felt no more than a sudden, dull thud into his left shoulder as anger finally overtook him…

Slayer smirked, a tendril extended perfectly through Corey’s left shoulder. That expression of fear on his prey’s face was by far the best part of the whole night. After a night’s worth of no challenge, it was refreshing to finally get his payoff. Corey hung his head, seemingly defeated.

“As I recall,” Slayer said, “You didn’t beat Lyon with one arm on your own…”

Corey didn’t respond. He didn’t even look up to regard his words.

“I thought so…” Slayer sighed, moving in closer as the tendril retracted.

“I can’t imagine she’ll be out cold for long, so I’d better hurry and finish with you…” Slayer paused in front of the inert Corey, raising an arm, his horn coating in black magic.

“Now then…what shall I do to you, in order to paint the perfect picture for it?” asked Slayer.

The answer he got was beyond what he expected. He didn’t even notice that Corey’s left fist had clenched, that green runes that were slowly losing their brightness had begun to swirl into it until it was too late.

A crushing blow struck his chest, shattering his ribs and sending him flying across the room. He landed on his back. After a while, he began slowly sitting up, one hand to the new injury, coughing.

“What the—“ Slayer groaned, startled. He looked back up to Corey.

Corey’s bloodstained body was slowly darkening. An aura of black smoke—at least, that’s what it looked like—slowly began to form around him. Then, Corey’s head slowly moved, and his eyes opened. They glowed for just a little bit, but the change from before was clear.

The whites of his eyes had turned green, the irises crimson. A purple fire seemed to extend from each eyeball, making his eyes look even angrier than they already were. He slowly raised one finger towards Slayer.

“You’ve just made your coffin, Slayer,” Corey said, his voice hollow and lifeless, as if the darkness that had overcome him had sucked it all out, “And I’m going to cut you down so you can fit in it…”

Author's Note

And here's where we leave off for another two weeks. Yeah, some of you probably saw this part coming up as far back as Act 2, but there we go.

Act 3 Chapter 10

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 10: Wrath

Slayer didn’t know what could have brought on this change so suddenly. It was like the Corey he’d been fighting before didn’t even exist. Where before he could see the traces of desperation, of fear, of hatred, in his eyes, now his eyes were no more than twin flaming pools of absolute rage. No, no, more than that.

In those discolored, flaming eyes, he could see pure killing intent within them. And Slayer didn’t need to be told it was all pointed at him.

What’s going on? he thought, trying to compose himself in the face of this strange happening, This has never happened before. I’ve faced things…Lots of them. I’ve even stared down Princess Celestia herself, and even then it didn’t faze me.

Corey took but a single step forward, and he felt his breath pause for just a second. And that, was when he knew.

Is this… what fear is!?

Corey slowly raised his other hand, finger extended. His horn slowly gained a black aura, matching the smoky one that still surrounded him. Runes, black in color, traveled down his arm to the tip. Whether it was the realization he could very well be staring into his imminent demise or the fact the attack travelled at astounding speeds, Slayer felt something no wider than a pencil pierce through his own shoulder, and the burning pain that followed. It was nearly enough to make him take a knee.

Slayer put one hand over the new wound, grimacing. He looked up to Corey, managing to finally find words.

“T-this is new…” Slayer stumbled a bit over his own words, the situation at hand too unreal for him to accept.

“First, your shoulder,” Corey said, still in that lifeless monotone. He slowly lowered his finger, and again, runes began to travel down it, “Next, your knee…’

Another attack came his way. Now that he was watching Corey intently, he could just make out the black laser blasting forth from the tip of Corey’s finger. He barely managed to get his magic to flare in time, covering just enough area to cover the width of the—

Slayer felt something puncture straight through his knee, and looked down, stunned. It was only for maybe a second, but the pencil wide blast had pierced straight through the shield—and his leg.

A concentrated magic shot… Slayer thought, forced to get down on one knee, I should have guessed…
The smoky aura finally faded into nothing. Corey’s gaze was unblinking, and still just as hateful as it was before the attack. He was not the least bit satisfied despite inflicting two serious wounds.

“Do you truly…” Slayer said, struggling to get on both his feet again, “Truly, intend to kill me?”

“In due time,” Corey’s voice fluctuated only a bit, but he was still lifeless in tone overall, “You’re going to answer for every. Single. Thing. I saw in your book, first…”

Slayer scoffed, finally on his own feet, “You really think you’re in a position to judge—“

He stopped, realizing Corey had finished from his line of sight. Before he could look around, though, he heard the monotone right behind him.

“No games…”

Slayer barely had time to turn around before he was punched square in the face, his jaw rattling from the force. He staggered backwards, every other step marked by pain due to the injury he’d suffered. However, he managed to plant his feet, and his horn flared with his magic. He wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

“Fine!” Slayer said, tendrils extending from his hand towards Corey. He stood still for a moment. However, he eventually began to move. His body blurred, seeming to vanish for a moment before reappearing past the lash of one of the dark constructs. A second one came for him, but Corey vanished again, reappearing somewhere else, even closer than he was before. This process seemed to repeat itself, Corey getting closer with each attack.

Slayer spread his arms out and leaned back, sending a dark spike out at Corey as he drew closer. Corey ducked down, moving his head, his body jerking slightly as the spike grazed his right shoulder, drawing blood. Corey moved the rest of the way in. Slayer instinctively drew his constructs back, creating a shield made of black magic—and not a moment too soon, for Corey had thrown out an auraified punch—no doubt that speed buffing spell.

Corey vanished from sight again, and Slayer heard an impact from above, Corey kicking at the shield. As he temporarily “stuck” to the surface in that position, Corey’s fists clenched. Slayer had attempted to counter-attack, but Corey was once again speeding out of sight, reappearing in front of him again. Black runes surrounded both of his hands as he threw them forward. Both of the impacts went off near-simultaneously, though for Slayer it happened in slow motion.

The first impact went off, cracking the shield. The second, which came only a couple moments later, shattered the shield entirely. He didn’t have time to contemplate why, though, for one shoe came up, slamming into his jaw, lifting him from his feet.

An aura appeared around Corey’s legs as he jumped up, boosting the strength in his legs enough to catch Slayer in mid-air with another powerful kick, this time to the stomach. Slayer wasn’t sure what he felt breaking that time, but he knew it wasn’t his spine. He fell hard to the ground—hard enough that he left an imprint on impact. As for Corey, he used the momentum from the kick to flip backwards, landing a few yards away.

Slayer coughed into his hand, realizing that was indeed blood coming up. He slowly struggled to his feet, trying his best to get back to his feet.

“How ironic,” Corey said, his voice changing just a bit more. Slayer knew why-it almost sounded like Corey was enjoying this, “The predator, who has preyed on so many, is now the prey!”

Slayer looked over, glaring at Corey as he finished his sentence, only to see Corey with one hand raised, a black energy orb heading towards him at unrelenting speeds. Slayer’s eyes widened as it made contact, kicking up yet another explosion of energy. Slayer fell back, his body steaming from the explosion, his Corey disguise having holes in some places, and looking like it was melting off of his skin like hot wax, revealing the red fur underneath.

Breathing heavily, Slayer moved to get up again, once again facing Corey. There was no room for error. Slayer knew that if things progressed as they were, he was more than likely going to die. Much as he hated to leave without doing what he came here for, retreating was ideal.

Slayer turned his body over to Corey and slammed the ground, magic coursing through his horn to his hands, causing a massive amount of dark magic spikes to cascade towards him. Without even waiting to see if his diversion worked, Slayer began to limp as fast as he could to the nearest exit. He didn’t make it more than ten steps before something green and angry blurred in front of him, slamming yet another punch into his stomach.

Slayer fell onto his knees, holding the new area of pain. Quickly, though, he stood up, desperately throwing out even a punch. Corey raised an arm to block. Slayer tried a kick, and once again, Corey blocked.

“You really think you’re winning!?” Slayer yelled, even as his many attacks were being parried, “I can see it in your eyes…you’re starting to become just lik—“

He was cut off by the sensation of his face, specifically his jaw, breaking, an untold amount of teeth being jarred loose. Corey slammed the open palms of his hands on either side of his face.

“Don’t talk like you know me,” Corey said, slowly removing his hands, “Because you don’t…”

A follow-up punch to the jaw sent Slayer’s world spinning. By the time he saw Corey again, his leg was glowing with black runes, an aura appearing around it. He didn’t have any time to react before the leg made contact with the center of his arm, pinning it to his chest as the impact spell went off, shattering the arm along with causing a lot more untold damage.

Slayer coughed again, his now broken arm hanging limp, falling over onto the one good leg he still had. He found he couldn’t find air, it coming to him in heaving gasps. Corey stood not more than three feet away, watching his struggle.

“How does it feel to be the helpless one?” Corey asked.

Unable to speak, Slayer let out a guttural growl, forming a blade of black magic on his good arm. Though he couldn’t understand what he was saying, his thoughts were still clear.

I’ll skewer you!!!

Corey moved out of the way of the attempt, his body blurring for just a moment as he moved out of the way and to Slayer’s side. He grabbed on to Slayer’s wrist, ignoring as the blade dug into his palm, and brought his other, auraified arm down hard. At the same time, Corey’s other hand became auraified as it closed, shattering the blade.

Slayer shouted in pain, his other arm now useless entirely. He staggered backwards, ,but didn’t make it to the ground. The hand that Corey had injured now clutched him by the shirt collar, and pulled Slayer up so that their eyes could meet once again. Slayer threw the worst glare he could ever glare at a pony, but Corey was unfazed.

“I don’t know why you’re mad at me,” Corey said, “You brought this on yourself through your actions.”

Slayer struggled, trying to get some magic in his horn to do something. Through his pain, he charged a shockwave spell. At the very least, it would get Corey off of—

A very crushing blow to the left stomach brought that plan crashing down hard. And another to the right stomach. Another to the left chest…

“We’re far from done here, scum…” Corey said, continuing to pound Slayer with his free hand.

The battle outside of the castle had raged on for what seemed like forever. Rainbow and John had managed to keep the creature contained in the park, but that was the easy part. Taking it down was a different story. No matter what they tried to do, the creature merely bounced back each time. Now the park lay in ruins, some parts of it set on fire. Rainbow and John floated in the sky staring down at it, both breathing hard.

The creature, however, showed no signs of slowing down. Wasting no time, it continued its attack. However, John was more or less used to its method of attack, finding little trouble knocking away its arms when they were close to him. Flying at it with great speed, he managed to land another blow to the creature, the force behind it causing it to skid back.

After that, he continued to land one punch after another, but with all his effort, he wasn’t sure if they were making any progress. The creature’s magical form was without a doubt sturdier than cold stone or flesh.

“Look out!” Rainbow called out, but John wasn’t able to react in time as the creature’s palm swatted him away and towards the ground.

John flew downwards and his body made contact with the grassy ground below, the ground giving way under the impact of his body.

“You alright?” Rainbow said, flying over to his location. John groaned lightly as he pushed some debris off of him, surfacing from the crater.

“I’ll live,” he said, shaking his head.

“Just what it Tartarus is it gonna take to bring this thing down?” she asked. At this point, it seemed like it would take nothing short of dropping a skyscraper on it to finish the job.

“We just have to keep trying! I’m sure we’ll—“

John halted, something had changed about the creature. Its eye, which had always been following them suddenly began to glow. Something was different now. After the glow faded its whole body seemed to shift, several spikes jutting out of every inch of its being.

“That’s new…” Rainbow said.

“Rainbow, we have to get back!” John called out, every last fiber of his being telling him that they couldn’t remain where they were. In that moment, the spikes began to shoot out of the creature’s body. In response, John and Rainbow flew back as fast as they could. But they weren’t nearly quick enough, and soon they found the spikes were on top of them. John quickly got into a defensive position. Even if his scales were strong enough to withstand the rain of spikes, he could still feel the impacts.

Rainbow, on the other hand, started moving at high speeds to avoid them. At first, it seemed as though they would both manage to get away just fine.

But then, Rainbow’s luck failed her. A spike managed to clip her shoulder, causing her to slow down in pain. She tried to continue, but another one caught her side. And as several more spikes grazed her body, she started to scream in pain.

John, hearing this, dropped his guard and flew in Rainbow’s direction, wrapping his body around hers, using it as a protective shield. No longer able to keep in the sky, both fell to the ground. John continued to defend against the attack all the while. Soon, the attack died down, and John finally stopped, placing Rainbow down against the remains of a tree.

“You okay?” he asked.

Rainbow didn’t respond, one hand clenching her shoulder, the other nursing her side. Both were bleeding from the attack. She had several other wounds, but they didn’t seem to be as bad as the first two. John himself didn’t quite come out unscathed; he could feel his own blood trickling down his back, some of the spikes lodged into his scales as well. But he couldn’t even feel them now; all he could focus on was Rainbow’s condition.

He knew she needed to get her wounds treated, but there was no telling how much longer this battle would go on.

Unless…

“Stay here,” John said softly, standing up. His head turned towards the creature, which was now staring down at them, “I’ll handle this.”

John started to walk towards the creature, and as he did so, Rainbow noticed the spikes embedded in his back.

“H-hey, you’re not leaving me behi—“ Rainbow tried to get up, but her movement caused her fresh injury to flare up, forcing her back down. Though she hated to admit, she couldn’t even move, much less fly in her condition. As she watched him walk away, all she could do was offer him some sage advice.

“You’d better not lose…”

John didn’t respond. However, Rainbow also couldn’t see his face. If she did, however, she could tell John didn’t intend to lose. Once he was far enough away from Rainbow, and he was sure that the creature’s attention was pointed directly at him, John took to the air once more. He stared it down fiercely as he rose to the sky, his hands tightened into fists.

This time, it was John’s eyes that changed. His pupils, which were normally rounded, suddenly stretched vertically, turning into very narrow slits. He let out a rather feral-sounding growl as his wings arched, and suddenly he dropped down towards the creature at a faster speed than before, as if the spikes in his back now meant nothing to him. In response, the creature began firing out more spikes, directed specifically at him. But they did nothing to slow him down.

Extending his arm out, John’s claws extended out. Putting every last ounce of strength in his arm, he struck the creature in the eye one last time, shoving it down. This time, however, was different from the others. Not only did the impact crater the ground, but his claws successfully managed to pierce through the protective layer, causing the creature to roar. But John wasn’t done just yet. Bringing down his other arm, he dug his other set of claws into the same hole. A chilling roar escaped his mouth as he forced his arms apart, splitting the new orifice even wider.

John opened his mouth, preparing to breathe even more fire into the wound while it was open. But just before he could let his fire blow, something happened. The creature’s body began to shift and deform. Again, it roared, but for the first time, it sounded like it was in utter agony. And finally, much to everyone’s surprise, the creature’s body faded to nothing.

No longer having a platform to stand on, John fell to the ground. His pupils returned to normal as confusion set in, black smoke spewing out of his nose as the flames fizzled harmlessly in the back of his throat. John blinked several times as he looked around. He was sure he hadn’t done anything to the creature that would have caused it. However, seeing Rainbow against the tree, John reminded himself he didn’t have to time think about it. Rainbow needed medical attention.

Rarity had been up against foes in the past—foes that were certainly vile in their own right. This, however, was the first time she’d ever had to come into direct combat with something of this size. The strange creature of black magic left behind by the Slayer was doing everything in its power to ensure that no one could leave to help the others. But what their group may have lacked in raw power, they more than made up for it in sheer numbers and tenacity. Through their efforts the team had managed to damage it, evidenced by the several pieces of guard weaponry embedded into its ‘skin’.

But that did little to slow it down. Rarity was sure there was a way—there had to be.

“I got what you asked for!” called out Pinkie, carrying something that was wrapped in a tarp in both of her arms.

“Show me,” said Rarity. Pinkie nodded and unwrapped the tarp. Within it, she revealed several hook-like objects made up of things from around the room. And to each of those was tied a rope made of her special confetti.

“This is perfect,” said Rarity, “Quickly, hand them out to the other guards; they already know the plan.”

Pinkie nodded and handed over one of the hooks to Rarity before taking off towards the other guards. She passed out as many as she had; in total, twenty. As soon as all the hooks were passed out, they moved in towards the creature, which now seemed to be eyeing the group as they encircled it. Each group threw their hooks into the air. As they soared, they latched on to the creature, and at the same time, each pony began to pull with all their might.

The creature tried to fight it, but as more guards grabbed on to the rope it soon found itself overpowered and forced to the floor. But the creature was far from ready to surrender; though it was pinned, it continued to thrash about. And while it seemed to have an infinite pool of stamina, the others did not.

“I don’t think I can hold out much longer!” called out one of the guards. The other guards made no response, but from the sounds of the grunts and panting it was clear they were in the same boat. It was true: in due time, their strength would give out, allowing the creature to attack once again.

Think, there has to be something we can do… Rarity’s mind raced at a mile a second. She knew her laser would be able to injure the creature slightly, but it wouldn’t come close to destroying it. So, desperately, she tried to figure something out, something that could be done to give them the upper hand or even end this once and for all.

But, then something caught her eye: a glimmer of light that twinkled above her. Unable to ignore it, she found herself looking up. What she saw as the chandelier that hung above. It was comprised of dozens of crystals that naturally produced light. It was a beauty of massive size…and most likely just as heavy. There was a sparkle in her eyes—and as an idea struck her, Rarity let out a small gasp.

“Everypony, please, hold on until I give the signal!” Rarity called out, letting go of the rope, “Pinkie! I need to get up there!”

Pinkie followed Rarity’s finger until she too saw the object Rarity was pointing at. She understood what needed to be done. Wrapping her arms around Rarity from behind, she quickly fastened a rope around both of them.

“Keep your arms inside the ride at all times!” Pinkie said as the rope yanked them up off of the floor. As the elevated Rarity’s eyes were already locked on to her target, her horn flaring as she charged her magic as quickly as she could. Soon she found herself level with her target: a strong piece of diamond that fastened the chandelier to the ceiling.

With her spell charged, she fired a laser straight towards it. The power behind the shot was enough to shatter the diamond in an instant. With nothing holding it, the chandelier was free to fall, straight down to the creature was pinned.

“Now!” Rarity called out, the signal she’d promised the guards, but none moved.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t heard her, the moment they noticed the chandelier falling they understood full well what they needed to do. It was far too early to move, though; letting go now would allow the creature to move, and risk it avoiding what could be their old chance to win this battle. No, they had to wait, just long enough to where there was no chance for it to escape.

All time seemed to slow down as it drew closer; every eye was glued to what was happening. The right moment to move was approaching. And soon, it came. Just as the very tip of the chandelier touched the creature, every guard dropped their rope and began to move as quickly as they could. Though it was by the skins of their backs, the guards managed to avoid the falling object as gravity brought it down full force.

As the shaking stopped and the dust cleared, everyone looked on towards the wreckage. The chandelier had managed to completely bury the creature. At first, it seemed as though they had won, but then something began to move. The crystals began to shift and turn out of place as they slowly began to lift off the ground. Everyone stared in shock as the creature revealed itself from under it, lifting the chandelier up.

But it wasn’t undamaged; several of the crystals were embedded into its skin. Everyone saw this and prepared themselves. Even if the creature was still going, there was little doubt that it was crippled now. But as they prepared for round two, it became clear that there was no need. The creature let out a weakened roar, halting mid-lift. The creature fell once more, causing an explosion of smoke from underneath the rubble. The magic making up the creature finally vanished from sight.

The guards stared in silence, unable to believe that it was over, but as it settled in, they all let out a roar of triumph. However, there were two who didn’t join in. Now that the creature was dealt with, both Rarity and Pinkie had no reason to stay. Quickly, the two of them ran up the stairs, heading for the others.

All she could feel was a tremble, but it wasn’t coming from her own body. It was coming from the surface below her. They were short, lasting no longer than a second each time, but each tremble was stronger than the last. Finally, one of the trembles was so strong that it shook her entire body, and with that, she awoke.

W-what…? she thought to herself. Though her eyes were now open, all she could see were blurs. She blinked several times, trying to clear up the image. After a few seconds, she began to see clearly. First, she was reminded of where she was: the throne room in the Crystal Palace. Next, she noticed several guards knocked out all around her on the floor. Some seemed to be trying to move, but couldn’t muster the strength.

Finally, her eyes lay on who was right next to her.

“Applejack?” Just like the guards, she too was unresponsive.

But why, why were they unconscious? Why was part of the room destroyed? She couldn’t remember any of it.

“Who…who could have—“ Twilight let out a small gasp as her memories caught up with her.

“Corey!” Without thinking, Twilight pushed herself off of the floor as quickly as she could. A jolt of pain coursed through her, starting at the back of her head—no doubt from where she’d hit the wall. But that didn’t matter to her now. She had to get up; she had to find Corey; she had to, with any luck, try to save him…from himself.

Staggering to her feet, Twilight used the wall for support. Slowly, she began to move, using the sounds of battle as her guide.

He lifted the bastard by the collar of his shirt once more. Slayer hadn’t tried much to escape for the past minute or so. His eyes were blank, and his red fur and clothes were all stained with blood. This time, it was definitely mostly his own. In fact, his already half-melted disguise of himself had vanished around a minute ago.

“Passed out, have you?” Corey questioned, his voice still lifeless. He nodded as Slayer completely failed to respond other than a gurgle as Corey shook him lightly, “Hm. Looks like you lucked out…at least a little bit.”

Corey turned, his arm enshrouded in a black aura once more as he threw Slayer towards the opposite wall with great force, enough to crack it when Slayer made his impact. Slayer’s body jerked, but even that wasn’t enough to elicit more than a small noise.

“But, your dues are nearly paid,” Corey continued, walking over to him, his left fist clenching hard, black runes swirling into it at an alarming rate. His fist slowly began to vanish into a black magic cloud, as he slowly walked towards Slayer, “All that’s left for you to offer is your life. You obviously won’t feel it, but that’s okay, I suppose…”

“As for how your life will be removed,” He stopped, mere feet from Slayer. The magic on his fist was super concentrated, enough so that it took a bit of effort for him to move his arm. The weight was causing the ground to crack, “It will be ironic, for sure.”

Corey slowly lifted his fist in front of his face, sneering. The mere thought of being able to erase the bastard from existence finally caused the first true change in his expression.

“I’m going to turn you into your favorite paint!” Corey declared, his monotone breaking into full-on angry yelling, “See you in hell!”

This was it: the end to all of the pain; all of the suffering, past, present, and future. Bringing down his fist as hard as he could, there was nothing that could stop him now…or so he thought.

“Corey, no!” Corey did a double take, hearing the voice. In a blur, something got between him and Slayer, something that Corey hadn’t expected.

Twilight!? She didn’t know why, but Twilight had put herself directly between him and Slayer, and did not move. It was close, but Corey managed to cancel his spell just before his fist hit the ground. The flares around his eyes had died down a bit. He closed his eyes, slowly exhaling a breath he only now realized he was holding. But, now that she was safe, he had a very pressing question on his mind.

“Twilight…why…?”

After all that Slayer had done to her family—and even her, why did she get in the way like that?

Twilight didn’t have an answer at first, staring directly at Corey. She could hardly recognize him now. His hatred, his fury, had taken over. She’d tried to avoid this, but it had happened anyway. And now, he was at the point of no return. But still, behind those discolored eyes, she could see it. There was still a chance to save him…

“I can’t let you go through with it, Corey,” she finally said.

“Why not?” he asked, pointing a finger which Twilight could see was stained with blood, “He deserves this and more…don’t you see that?”

Twilight moved towards him, pushing the pointed finger back in as gently as she could. Afterwards, she took hold of his hand. Corey flinched at the sudden touching, but didn’t move to retract his hand. His eyes slightly changed now, but it wasn’t quite the eyes she’d seen before.

She didn’t falter. She looked right back into his eyes with furrowed brows, “Yes, he’s done horrible things. Yes, he deserves to be punished. But this isn’t the way!”

Corey grit his teeth as he closed his eyes. Even now, Slayer’s punishment was on his mind—the extremely deserved punishment he’d earned through his actions…

“Then what is?” asked Corey, opening his eyes, “All that time in Tartarus hasn’t done a thing. Now that he’s out, he’s just going back to what he’s done before.”

Twilight could see it. His eyes weren’t on her. He was looking back at Slayer, who still had yet to move.

“And I…I won’t allow him to make someone else another chapter!” Corey said, looking back to her.

“But at what cost?” she asked, “I understand how you feel. You want to stop him from adding another chapter to his book. We all do, but…are you willing to make him the first of yours?”

Corey froze. His eyes altered again. That purplish fire had vanished entirely. He had never killed someone before. And it certainly hadn’t ever been a thought in his head until…

“But this is different!” he said, “He’s killed so many, and I…I won’t…”

“Until we face someone worse?” asked Twilight, “There are more out there, Corey, and if you do this now, what’s stopping you from doing it again?! At what point will the line completely vanish from your sight??”

Corey’s breathing began to quicken, his eyes darting around the place. His expression, his eyes, became softer. Twilight could see it. The Corey she knew was starting to return, but he wasn’t back yet.

“But…they are…” he said, “A-And…And I’m…not…”

It was weird. Up until that point, he was convinced what he was doing was the right thing. But now, he didn’t know. Now the question came up in his mind: what was the right choice?

“I know you’re not…” Twilight’s other hand came up slowly, placing it to the side of Corey’s face, “But if you go through with this, will you really be able to say that?”

Corey’s eyes changed again, the green fading now. He looked to Twilight, and then back to the wall behind her. There Slayer was, still broken and unconscious on the ground, coated in his own blood. Now, he was wondering at what point he took control of the fight. At what point did Slayer lose consciousness?

And at what point did he fall so far he could torture someone else without a second thought?

It all started to hit him all at once. He blinked, his heart racing as he took a step back, finally, for the moment eluding Twilight’s touch. The anger was completely gone from his expression; replaced by fear, remorse.

“W-what…what did I do…?” Corey’s voice cracked a bit as he lifted his trembling hands into his view. His palms were stained with blood, fresh red stains. And he knew it definitely wasn’t all his own. The world fell away once again as what he’d done overcame him.

“I—I could have stopped…I should have stopped!”

At last, Corey broke down, tears streaming down his face. He fell onto his knees. Twilight closed the distance before falling over onto her own. Her arms found their way around him. She too was shedding tears—not of remorse, but joy. She’d finally gotten through to him.

But as they embraced, and as they cried, neither noticed what was happening. Slayer, who had remained unconscious until now, was finally waking up. Opening one eye—the other seemingly failing to open, he saw that the two were no longer paying attention to him. But he knew he definitely couldn’t do anything about it. He only had one chance, one option.

Through the pain of his broken bones Slayer managed to reach into a pocket on his clothing. From it, he pulled out a stone much like the one used by Lyon. Gripping it tightly, the stone began to glow, enough to catch their attention.

But as they finally turned to face him, all they could see was him staring back at them as the light slowly engulfed him. And when it died back down, he was gone without a trace.

Author's Note

And there you have it. Yeah. Not sure what else to say here. See you all in two weeks.

Act 3 Chapter 12

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 12: Open Hearts

Twilight jogged through the halls at a steady pace. Just as her friends told her, she was set to find Corey. But she had no idea where she’d start her search; if he was even in the castle to begin with. But still she searched and hoped, hoped that around each corner she’d finally find him. Soon though, as she searched the castle up and down, Twilight couldn’t run any further and had to stop. With a hand to the wall beside her, Twilight took a moment to rest, trying to catch her breath quickly so that she could continue searching.

“Where are you…?” she asked, believing she was alone in the hall. She was wrong.

“Who?” Caught off-guard, Twilight jumped a bit. But she recognized the voice, and as she turned, she saw that it was exactly who she thought it was.

“Cadance?” her sister in law was standing not far from her, casting over a smile.

“W-what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be resting?” questioned Twilight. Cadance simply chuckled and made her way over to Twilight.

“I’ve rested enough, Twilight,” when Cadance was within arm’s length, she raised her hand and placed it on Twilight’s cheek, “You on the other hand, look like you could use some yourself.”

She could see it in Twilight’s eyes. The exhaustion wasn’t physical; clearly mental in nature. But Twilight didn’t care. In her eyes, there was something more important to tend to than some sleep.

“I can’t, not now… I have to find Corey!” she said.

Cadance tilted her head. During the battle, Twilight and Shining had her in a secure area removed from the chaos. Now that it was over and she’d returned, she still didn’t know everything that had happened. But there was one thing she’d overheard after the battle with Slayer. That after the dust had settled, one of Twilight’s friends was worse for the wear. Now that she’d managed to put a face on it, and noticing the worry on Twilight’s own…

“Tell me what happened,” Cadance said, but Twilight took a step back, her face showing strain, showing haste.

“I’ll tell you late, but right now I can’t afford to waste time!” Twilight turned, ready to continue her run. However a hand came down on her shoulder, causing her to stop before she began.

“And what are you going to do when you find him?” asked Cadance. Twilight paused. She had been so busy trying to find Corey that she hadn’t even thought of what she’d say when she did. Twilight half-turned back, her eyes glued to the ground in thought.

“I-I don’t know, I’ll think of something,” she said. Using both hands, Cadance turned Twilight around the rest of the way, both hands on her shoulders.

“Twilight, I know you,” said Cadance, “You’re the kind of pony who won’t do anything with a plan.”

“But—“

“No buts,” said Cadance, waving a finger, “If you aren’t sure what to do, then you might accidentally make things worse. I can feel it, how badly you want to help him, and I want to help you do that. But I can’t accomplish that unless I know the full story.”

Twilight bit her bottom lip, trying to figure out what to do. She wanted nothing more than to just run and find Corey, but she knew Cadance was right. She didn’t have a plan, she didn’t know what to say, all of it was completely out of her element. If she wanted to help Corey, then it was clear she would need some help, and who better than family to do it?

“It all started when we found that book…”

Twilight told Cadance everything she could, trying not to leave out any details. At this point, she knew for a fact that hiding anything wouldn’t help Corey. Cadance simply stood in silence the whole time, taking in everything she’d missed since going into hiding. She had to admit, some of the things she’d heard took her by surprise. But still, she remained quiet, giving Twilight as much time as she needed. Eventually, the tale began to catch up to today’s events.

“When it was all over he seemed…” Twilight shivered, “Empty…broken. I found out later; after his wounds were treated, he just wandered off, and I don’t know where he is.” Finally, her story had ended. Cadance now knew what had happened.

“Wow, that’s…quite the story,” said Cadance, still processing everything she’d heard, “Sounds like the two of you went through a lot during all of this.”

Twilight nodded. Every twist and turn over the course of the last few days was more than she’d ever experienced in her life.

“But it also sounds like he was able to overcome it,” again Cadance put her hand to Twilight’s shoulder, “Because of you.”

Twilight looked up to her in surprise for a moment before looking away.

“I…I just did what I could. If it had been any of the others, I’m sure they would have been able to do it too,” she said. Modest as Twilight was, Cadance didn’t agree. She knew there was more to it than that.

“I don’t think it’s that simple, Twilight,” she said, “From the moment I saw you two together, I noticed something. All friends may share a bond, but what you and he have seems to be stronger.”

You make him want to be a better person.

Twilight wasn’t sure why John’s words resurfaced now, but it caused her to blush—small, but there.

“I—We’re just friends…” she said, turning her face away from Cadance, hoping to hide the evidence that threatened to set her face on fire. But it was far too late; she’d already seen it, and already an idea was forming in her head.

“Do me a favor,” Cadance said, “Close your eyes.”

Twilight paused for a moment, confused as to her request. But she nodded and did as she was told, closing her eyes and waiting for what to do next. Unknown to her, Cadance raised a hand, her magic forming around her horn as well. In front of Twilight, a heart shape began to appear, one that was gray in color.

“Now, I want you to describe Corey to me—the way you see him. Try not to leave anything out, okay?”

Twilight twiddled her thumbs for a moment, biting her bottom lip. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt anxious about this. Still, she trusted Cadance, and if this would give her a clue on how to help Corey, then she was willing to try.

“I’ve only known him for a short time, but I feel that I’ve grown to learn a lot from him. At first he was scared, distant…and a little awkward,” Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at the memory of Corey’s early attempts at communication, “But I guess it was just the shock of finding himself in a new world. Once he started to open up though…that’s when I started to see the real him. He’s so open to new things, always wanting to learn more, and maybe a little critical about his own abilities.”

Sounds familiar… thought Cadance, suppressing a giggle of her own.

“But then there are these moments…moments where he really seems to light up. During those times he’s just filled with this confidence, this joy…and every time I saw it, I just wanted it to last a little longer.” The heart in front of Twilight, which had up until now been gray, began to flicker, color showing up.

“But when the attacks started to happen, I was afraid he’d close himself off again. Maybe he did for a bit, but that was short-lived. Next thing I knew, he was preparing himself for it as well. He hardly even knew the basics of magic, yet he was willing to put himself in danger.”

“Takes a good friend to put himself in danger for some else,” said Cadance, “Or was there another reason?”

A small blush appeared on Twilight’s face, and the heart began to glow brighter, flushing red.

“I…I once talked to him about the dangers, and that’s when he told me,” Twilight paused for a moment, the words echoing in her head, “T-that he’d do anything, if it meant he could protect me.” Again she stopped, clearing her throat as a smile spread across her lips.

“But…” Her smile faded and her brow furrowed. The heart in front of her, however, didn’t lose any of its color or glow, “That all changed when Slayer showed himself. I’ve seen Corey angry before, and with good reason. But this…this wasn’t just anger. It was an obsession, and though he wouldn’t admit it at the time, it was clearly hurting him. It pushed him to a point where I couldn’t recognize him anymore.”

“I…I never want to see him like that again. I never want to see him hurt so badly ever again. That’s why I have to find him, that’s why I have to—“ Twilight opened her eyes. She could now see the heart floating in front of her. It was glowing bright red and beating, and the sight of it took the words out of Twilight’s mouth.

She’d seen this spell before; she knew exactly what it was supposed to do, and it only surprised her even more. She looked past the heart to Cadance, who was staring back at her with a large and warming smile.

“Do you understand now?” asked Cadance. Twilight stood in silence. Her eyes went back to the heart still floating between them. Slowly, she reached out to it. The moment her hand made contact with it, the heart vanished.

“I…I do.” Twilight said, finally.

“Then, do you know what to say?”

Twilight’s moment of surprise passed, a smile returning to her face. With a look of confidence, Twilight nodded, and turned and ran down the hall. As Cadance watched Twilight run, she leaned against the wall, her arms crossed, a smile on her face.

I’m proud of you, Twilight.

With her resolve rekindled, Twilight continued through the castle, though now she was sure of what she would do, she still needed to find Corey. But during her search, something caused her to stop, a sound that echoed through the halls. She didn’t know what it was at first, but then she recognized it. It was like something had just crumbled to the floor.

Slowly, she walked down the hall and took the next corner. There, she found someone walking towards her.

“John?” she asked in surprise, she’d thought John would have joined the others in the throne room by now. John looked up to Twilight. In his eyes, Twilight saw something that was out of place for him. He looked…sad.

“Is everything alright?” she asked. John looked down for a moment, letting out a sigh as he looked down the hall behind him.

“Things could be better, Twilight,” he said. Twilight was confused at first, until she remembered what room was down that hall.

‘You’ve talked to him, haven’t you?” she asked. John went silent again, his fists tightening in what seemed to be frustration.

“Yeah, he’s…I can’t help him, Twilight,” he said, “I tried…but I failed. There’s nothing I can do now.”

Twilight could feel it, the utter defeat in being unable to help a friend. Reaching out, Twilight placed her hands on his shoulders.

“You’ve done everything you can, that’s all anyone can ask for,” she said, “Now it’s my turn, and I promise, I will bring him back.”

John looked back to Twilight, a sign of hope in his eyes. Twilight nodded at him and pressed forward, now knowing where he would be. And as soon as she reached the door, she saw him.

“Corey…”

He didn’t seem to notice her just yet. She slowly walked towards him. Twilight couldn’t see his face, but she could already take a guess it was that empty, lifeless stare again. As she drew closer to the open hole in the wall at which Corey stood, her eyes flicked over to her left. There was the remains of the desk Corey had destroyed in his anger the day before. And amidst the dust and debris, she could see them.

His glasses… she thought, gently moving the other stuff aside. The lenses were dirty from where they had been for the night, but other than that, weren’t too harmed. Retrieving the glasses, Twilight began to work her magic. At the sound of this, Corey’s ears both twitched, but they remained folded down at the sides of his head. He turned his head slightly to look, but quickly turned away.

“Please…” Corey said, his voice sounding weak and so, so tired, “I don’t have anything to say, Twilight. It’s not going to make a difference anyway.”

“You…” Twilight started, “Corey, it’s not…”

“It’s not a big deal…?” Corey asked, turning to face her, “I just about killed someone with my bare hands, in cold blood. I definitely didn’t make it quick either…”

So this is what John was… Twilight thought, Has he…given up?

“Corey, please, just listen to me…” Twilight pleaded.

“What can you say that’ll take back what I’ve done over the course of the last few days?” Corey turned to her slightly, but seemed to be deliberately avoiding her eyes, “Even though the moment’s over, I can still see it all around me… In the end, I became a monster. I’m surprised people still look to me.”

“Corey…” Twilight said. She finally walked over to him. Corey caught this and drew back. He looked over to her for just a moment before looking away, scooting over a bit more than necessary, “I’m not going to abandon you for this one thing. Yes, you behaved irrationally; yes, you were unapproachable; yes, you did bring it onto yourself, but between everything that happened to you in this short amount of time, it’s not like I can’t understand--”

“It’s not an excuse, though,” Corey’s voice fluctuated a bit, but he still remained cold, “My wrath got the better of me, just like it always does, only this time, it was even worse. In the end, I’m just a monster now, unable to control his emotions and lashing out on whatever’s giving him a reason…I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to—“

“Corey, look at me,” Twilight said, bringing her voice down. Corey’s eyes closed, and his jaw set. Twilight slowly reached out for him, and his arm moved slightly, but it wasn’t enough. He turned his head ever so slightly, but still refused to meet her eyes, “Do you remember the first lesson you learned?”

Corey said nothing, but his eyes flickered just a little.

“Magic is guided by will…” Twilight repeated, “If you had really been ruled by your wrath, there would have been nothing anyone could have done to stop you. You’d have kept going.”

“It doesn’t…” Corey’s gaze flicked away again, and his shoulders started to shake, “But it doesn’t excuse what…what I did before then…”

“You weren’t thinking straight…” Twilight said, “I guess I should have seen the signs sooner. But after what we heard…that your arrival also may have—“

“Did,” Corey said flatly, “Did let out all those criminals…”

Twilight blinked, taken aback by the sheer guilt in his tone, “You weren’t in the right state of mind to make the right calls. And then you began taking it all on yourself, right?”

“Not that I really have a right to anymore…”

“You didn’t have to,” Twilight continued, “You never had to in the first place…”

Corey seemed like he wanted to say something else, but Twilight gently put both her hands to his face. This got his attention even more. He stared blankly, but she knew that he was definitely not looking away now.

“I’m here, Corey,” Twilight said, “I’ve always been here, and I want to keep being there in the future. From the moment I met you I’ve felt this urge I couldn’t explain…” It was a bit of a stretch, but given how long it had been since then, it wasn’t like she was lying, either, “An urge to see you happy, to shoulder any pain you may feel…because…Because I care for you Corey, more than I knew.”

Corey’s eyes shot open at this. He made a move that felt like he was trying to pull away, but he didn’t move an inch.

“So please,” Twilight said, “Stop trying to shoulder everything alone, because you have all of us. And you have me.”

Corey’s eyes filled with tears, and he turned his head. It was too late, though; they started to fall, and with them, came a complete deluge of emotions that spilled out along with them.

“How can I not??” he asked, “I was the one who ran the code that caused all this! I wasn’t even sure what it’d do and I got a friend of mine—I got me—stuck here for it! Worse…I let out that bastard too!”

“I-it’s okay,” Twilight said, putting her hand to his shoulder, “No one’s blaming you…”

“I…I didn’t know it at the time but I almost lead him right to your doorstep…! I fell for his act!” Corey strained, his tears still not stopping.

“W-wait…what??” Twilight asked, alarmed.

“That red guy…after Lyon…That was Slayer all along…” Corey said, looking over to her, “And I didn’t even know it… He was after you.”

“He…completely played you…” Twilight’s ears wilted, “But…you ran him off. You saved me…”

“And just what kind of person…” Corey continued, still caught up in the flow of emotions, “Can make everyone around him afraid of him… Even the one he l-loves…!?”

The way his sentence broke at the end, followed immediately by the expression he’d made afterward, told Twilight all she needed to know. Her ears perked up, and she put a hand over her heart. Corey closed his eyes, his right fist clenching over his chest.

“What am I saying…” Corey said, his voice going back to sad, moving to stand, “I can’t expect…I can’t expect you to—“

He hadn’t even taken his first step before she stood up, grabbing his arm in one swift movement. Corey stopped dead in his tracks before he’d even started following them.

“Corey, don’t turn away…” Twilight said. As soon as Corey turned to face her, he felt something encircle him—two arms, around his shoulders, pulling him close again.

“T-Twilight?” he asked, blinking, his breath hitching slightly.

“I won’t let you out of my sight…” Twilight said, “Not until I’m sure you’re better for this.”

Corey’s arms twitched once. Then, after some hesitation, they eventually found their way around her. Twilight couldn’t help but gasp.

“Twilight…I’m so sorry…I shouldn’t have—“ Corey started in again.

“Shh…” Twilight said, “You don’t need to tell me.”

They remained in that position for several long moments, neither wanting to let the other go. Twilight eventually pulled back a bit.

“Here…” she said, smiling as she reached into her pocket, where she’d put his glasses since finishing with them, “Put these back on.”

Corey reached out for the lenses. After a few seconds of fiddling with them, he slowly put his glasses back on. Though he knew for sure she was there, after so long of not wearing them, he could see it completely clearly.

“What do you see in front of you?” she asked.

Twilight was standing not more than a foot from him, if that. He could see the pleasant, warm smile she was giving him, the mild blush on her face, even the signs of fatigue in her expression.

“I see…” Corey said, rubbing his eyes, the faintest beginnings of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, “An… a-angel, who I owe a lot to right now…”

“H-huh?” Twilight stuttered, the blush growing deeper, her smile faltering, “I-I wouldn’t go…”

Corey put one hand out to her face, gently resting the palm on her cheek, “T…Twilight, I’m done.”

“What…What are you saying?” Twilight asked, “Are you…?”

“No, I’m not dropping out of this so-called game. I’m in it whether I want to be or not, after all…” Corey said, “But I’m done being ruled by wrath and rage. I promise you…and everyone else, I won’t let myself fall that far ever again…”

Twilight finally returned his gesture, putting her palm to the other side of his face.

“You won’t,” Twilight said.

The two looked into each other’s eyes for a bit more, before pulling each other into a hug again.

“I’m so glad to have you back, Corey,” Twilight said, “Even if it’s just a start…”

“Thank you, Twilight,” Corey whispered as he trembled in her arms, “For everything you’ve said…”

Corey wasn’t sure how much time he’d spent in Twilight’s embrace, but it was long enough for him to weep away most if not all of his sorrows for sure. When it was finally done, Corey pulled away slowly, taking a deep breath to compose himself.

“Feel better?” asked Twilight. Corey leaned back for a moment, looking into the sky again.

“Yeah, I actually do,” he said. From the corner of his mouth, Twilight could swear she saw a form of smile on his face. For a while, she just joined him, staring into the sky of the Crystal Empire, doing nothing more than enjoy the moment.

“Do you want to regroup with everyone else?” asked Twilight, “They’ve been worried too, you know.”

Corey went silent for a moment, looking down towards the city as though deep in thought. Eventually, he finally stood up from the floor, dusting himself off and rubbing at the matted fur on his face.

“Can you go on ahead?” he asked, “There’s something else I have to take care of first.”

Twilight tilted her head at that, wondering what that could have been.

“But don’t worry,” Corey said, finally starting to move towards the door, “For sure, I’ll come back, soon as I’m done.”

John walked through the halls at a slow pace, trying to delay rejoining the others as much as possible. He wasn’t sure if Twilight had successfully pulled Corey out of his funk, but it still felt disheartening to know he could do nothing. He knew deep down he definitely never wanted to see an empty, lifeless shell that used to be Corey ever again.

“John!”

There was the sound of rapid movements behind him, the sound of footsteps. And even though the tone was slightly off, there was no mistaking it. John turned around, seeing Corey running up to him, his glasses back on. More so, the life in his eyes had returned.

“Corey?” John asked. Corey slowed to a stop, pausing to take another deep breath, “Feeling any better?”

“A lot…” Corey said, tapping one foot, “I still owe Twilight a lot of stuff, really.”

“She’s probably the most powerful motivator I’ve seen in your life in a long time, really,” John shrugged.

“But the same goes for you,” Corey said, “Even if I wound up at the same place a month later, even if I took my anger too far, you still at least tried to help me out.”

“Yeah,” John sighed, “But still…”

“I’m tired of being in the cycle, John,” Corey said, “I know I’ve said it before, but after seeing the end result up here,” He shivered, keeping his arms folded, “I mean it this time. Every time I get close to the point of no return; even when I get to the point of no return, someone always manages to pull me away before I pass it.”

“It happened again, too,” John said.

“But I definitely can’t let that keep happening,” Corey said, clenching one fist in front of his face and looking at it, “Especially now. I have strength, I have superpowers. I can’t just follow my emotions every time. You said before, when we were on the train here, this world was changing me. Well, I want it to be for the better. I don’t know exactly how that’s gonna happen. But I’m hoping to find it out sometime soon…”

“You have any ideas on what to do?” John asked, noting as Corey’s stance changed. He stood up slightly straighter. His arms were folded, and towards the end of his speech, he seemed to be restlessly shuffling his feet.

“I think I know at least part of it,” Corey said, his face slowly morphing into a mild snarl, “The first step I’ve got to take is to put this whole fight behind me. But that won’t be easy…forgetting that whole run-in with Slayer—the bastard—will be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done…”

John couldn’t doubt it. Corey’s battle with his anger was a hard-fought one for years now. He’d always been on the losing end, and over time his sanity had slowly eroded. However, this time, when he made the assertion, he seemed completely sure of himself. He knew there was a challenge and was accepting it head-on, rather than typing what may as well have been a noncommittal statement.

This time, he was going to try to do it.

Extending his hand, John placed it on Corey’s shoulder and smiled.

“You can do it, Corey,” he said, “I know you can.”

The day passed, everyone in the Crystal Palace unable to contain their excitement at having chased out Cadance’s attacker for a good long while. Though worries were high that there would be a new one at first, reports of Slayer’s final condition left many relieved about how unlikely it was he’d bother them again anytime soon. Some hoped he was scared off for good, but others didn’t get their hopes up. Whatever the case, the fear was gone, replaced by a collective sense of accomplishment for all involved.

It was that night. For a couple, it seemed like déjà vu, but it didn’t matter. Princess Cadance had decided to hold a second banquet that night, and most of everyone had gathered around the table, save for two. This time, it was a celebration of what all had been done.

“I hope we don’t get interrupted again,” said Cadance, “But with all that has happened since you all came up here, there’s no other way I can think of but to try this again.”

“On this night, I’d like to propose a toast. Because of all your hard work, the Slayer was forced to retreat,” Cadance said, “Without your help, he’d probably still be roaming these halls, this city, trying to continue his reign of terror. And because of that, we’ve all come back stronger for it. To all of you, I owe many thanks…”

“It can’t be all of us, though!” Pinkie chirped, pointing out the obvious, “Twi and Corey aren’t here yet!”

The others directed their attention to the empty seats, which were more or less next to one another. Cadance merely let out a small giggle.

“I’m not worried about them,” she said, “After all they’ve went through, I think they deserve a little rest. We can continue without them…”

“Yeah, ‘rest’…” said Rainbow to John as Cadance continued talking.

“I somehow doubt that’s where it’s going…” John said.

He had been through an emotional upheaval unlike anything he’d ever experienced before, and now he knew he never wanted to experience it again. From the intense guilt he’d felt for accidentally causing the whole ongoing mess in the first place, to the anger he felt for the Slayer’s actions carrying him far beyond the limit he could handle, this entire fight up north had been one emotional rollercoaster. If not for her, he wouldn’t have been able to pull himself back together. Physically, Corey still had bandages covering most of his body, not that you could see that with the clothes that were covering it.

She’d seen what the Slayer was capable of, and was afraid. But that fear had soon been replaced with concern as she watched Corey decline. She had been disappointed when she’d learned he went against her wishes concerning that book, but after the dust had settled, she’d understood it. It didn’t make his behavior any less straining on her; for a time, she’d questioned her feelings and wondered if he’d ever be okay. She hadn’t come out unscathed either, but compared to the damage Corey had sustained in his battle, it just wasn’t as much.

They had both suffered strain, mentally and physically. Without even knowing it, they were worrying about each other, being more or less oblivious to why the other was worrying. But finally, the situation with the Princess Slayer, had passed, at least for now. With the dust settled, and the pieces coming together at last, they had finally elected to take a well-deserved rest.

He was glad to have met her, and to understand she truly cared for him even when he didn’t care for himself. She was glad that she was able to, once again, turn his eyes back towards the light. She was surprised to see the contents of his own heart, but knew she felt the same way. Corey and Twilight were oblivious to each other’s feelings no more, and were now sleeping in the same bed.

Both were on their sides, facing each other, fast asleep. Twilight’s head rested against Corey’s chest. Each of their arms were close to them, but still had enough reach for them to meet in the middle. Their hands were clasped together, fingers intertwined.

Author's Note

What's this? An early update, on a Monday? What's going on here? Well, one year ago today, I released the first set of chapters. So I decided to put the update up today as a sort of "celebration", if you will.

As for this chapter itself, as you can see, the road to recovery is finally beginning. Well, see you all next Sunday, for the regular update and the end of this arc.

Act 3 Chapter 13

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 13: Return to Home

“Alright, I think that’s everything,” said Twilight, looking to her now full bags. It was time to head back to Ponyville—to home, “Hope the others are getting ready to go as well.”

“Yeah,” Corey said, causing her to turn to him. He was reaching down to put on a fresh shirt, one that wasn’t tattered from a fight. Twilight noted the numerous bandages that covered his body. In particular, the one that covered his shoulder and wrapped around his torso caught her attention, “As pretty as this place is, I don’t think we’re in a position to hang around.”

“After what happened between Lyon and Slayer,” Twilight noted Corey’s pause at the mention of the latter’s name, “I’m not so sure we can take it easy. Who knows when they’ll strike again…”

“Yeah,” Corey flicked the shirt out and began to lift it over his head, “Especially since we know just how depraved they—“

He gasped and flinched, dropping the shirt as his hand shot up to his bandaged shoulder.

“Corey, are you alright??” Twilight asked, moving over to him, one hand going to his back, the other to his chest.

“My shoulder…” Corey groaned, looking over to face her, “It just flared up…”

Twilight looked to Corey for a bit longer, “I…I see. Do you want me to help you out…?”

“No, no, I think I’ll be able to put my shirt on…” Corey said.

“Okay…” Twilight responded with a nod, letting Corey go. However, though she was happy to see him showing some life, there was something that was bothering her.

He usually heals overnight, she noted, So why is his magic not healing him?

Everyone had the same thoughts. There was no telling how long they could stay up north. By noon time, everyone was ready to leave. Now, they were gathered on the platform. Cadance, Shining, and a small platoon of guards were there to see them off.

“Once again,” said Cadance, “Thanks for everything.”

“I just wish we could stay to help with the repair…” Rarity lamented, regretting having to use that chandelier.

“Don’t worry. That stuff can be repaired. Lives, however, can not.”

“You’re staying up here, Shiny?” asked Twilight.

“You’d better believe it!” Shining put his arm around Cadance for emphasis, “If that guy comes back, he’ll have to deal with me!”

“I’m hoping that we don’t have to see him again,” said Cadance.

“B-but…!” Corey said, stepping forward, his voice cracking with worry.

“What is it, Corey?” asked John.

“I…I don’t—“ Corey faltered as he looked towards the ground, “It’s just…”

There was an unsettling moment of silence. Shining suddenly closed the distance between himself and Corey, putting one hand to his shoulder. Corey looked up, confused.

“I think I know what you’re trying to say,” Shining said, “And believe me, you don’t need me anymore.”

“W-what?” Corey asked, shocked that Shining had read him, but even more since he’d said that of all things, “B-but I…”

“You’ve already shown—twice—that you can handle yourself. What happens next is all on you now,” Shining continued, removing his hand, “Just about any sane pony would have had their resolve shaken by what you went through. But I know you’ll find it again. And when you do, you’ll be stronger than ever.”

“You…really think I can?” Corey asked.

“Someone who was willing to let themselves be pushed to the point they couldn’t move—on a daily basis—won’t be lost forever,” Shining said.

“He’s right,” Twilight added, catching Corey’s attention.

The train’s whistle blew loudly, catching everyone’s attention.

“Last call for passengers!” shouted one of the attendants, “Train to Ponyville will be departing soon.”

“Don’t keep beating yourself up over it,” Shining stated, “That’s an order.”

“I—Okay!” Corey stated.

With that, everyone began piling in to the train car. Goodbyes were exchanged between everyone, and finally, everyone was leaving. The train puffed once, twice, then began to chug its way out of the Crystal Empire.

“I hope they’ll be alright on their own…” Shining said with a sigh.

“I think I know what you mean,” Cadance said, nodding to him, “Slayer was just one of the breakouts, and like Lyon he had them on the ropes. And unlike Lyon, Slayer can leave lasting damage…”

“That only begs the question…” Shining continued, “Who’s next?”

“Still,” Cadance put a hand to her husband’s shoulder, “They have a strong team. And strong bonds. Even if one does get emotionally wrecked, the others aren’t going to let them stew in it.”

“You’re right,” Shining said, “So far, they’ve been coming out of their experiences better. When I’d first saw Corey, I could see it. He really didn’t want to do it. Yet, he forced himself to…”

“And I think I know just why he did~” Shining turned to see Cadance with an incredibly sappy look on her face. He knew that look anywhere, “I really have to say…Corey and Twilight are absolutely adorable together…”

There was a collective pause as Shining suddenly felt himself go through all his memories of seeing them together. And yet, not once did it cross his mind since this all started…

“W-w-w-what!?” Shining shouted, his eyes wide, “I-I…How’d I not see it before?”

“Truth be told,” Cadance said, “I’m not sure…”

The train to Ponyville chugged along, exiting the wind barrier around the empire in a matter of minutes. The spring-like outside changed in a few moments to that of a winter tundra. This time, at least, the train remained warm, allowing those inside to enjoy the ride back.

Still, they couldn’t help but think back to all that happened over the course of a few days—to have discovered what could have caused the breakout; to see one of their own wage a battle not only with the escaped Slayer, but with himself as well. He wasn’t alone either; some others found themselves being challenged during the battle. But by the end of it all, they’d somehow managed to overcome it, just as they had before. And while not all have become stronger for it just yet, they believed it was only a matter of time. For the moment, as the train continued to make way for their destination, there was but one thought that passed through everyone’s mind.

“I’m glad that’s over,” said John, everyone humming in agreement. Sure, there was no telling when the next attack would happen; what they would be dealing with next. Right now, they were satisfied with being able to put this one behind them.

“You can say that again,” said Rainbow, her arms crossed as she lay back on her chair, “Another dirtbag showed his ugly face, and we whopped him like all the others. Plus, I got to fight a giant monster,” A proud look crossed her features.

“Weren’t you sidelined for that?” asked Applejack, as she looked over from the seat behind Rainbow’s. A small blush appeared on Rainbow’s face as she was reminded that she couldn’t see the fight until the end. Rainbow sunk into her seat a little as she began to pout.

“Weren’t you sidelined too, Applejack?” asked Pinkie. Applejack soon found herself in the same position as Rainbow. The others all shared a collective chuckle. While the wounds from the battle had healed just fine, their egos would take considerably longer.

“Come on, guys,” Twilight said, “It was a hard battle for everyone, but we all won in the end. Isn’t that enough?” She put her hands to their shoulders, one to Rainbow’s and the other to Applejack’s.

“Yeah, I guess,” Rainbow was still pouting despite her answer.

“Hard is an understatement, darling,” Rarity said, “With the creatures we’ve faced it’s hard to believe that the city wasn’t leveled.”

She paused for a moment, turning her gaze to look out the window.

“To be honest, perhaps Fluttershy’s choice to remain behind was a blessing in disguise.”

Though originally the group had been saddened when Fluttershy made her decision, it really did seem like it was the right call.

“She’s got a point,” said Applejack, “With everythin’ we had to deal with, there’s no telling how Fluttershy would have been able to handle it.”

Rainbow rose from her sulk at last, letting out a small sigh, “I’ve always tried to help Fluttershy not run from her problems. But I guess you’re right. She was better off staying out of this one. Least we know she’s safe.”

As the others began to talk amongst themselves, mostly discussing what they’d do when they got home, Twilight noticed something. There was someone who had been withdrawn from the rest of the conversation, doing nothing that would bring attention to himself. Leaving the others, Twilight moved over to him, taking a seat right across from him. His eyes were glued to the icy scenery outside, deep in thought.

“Corey?” At the sound of her voice, he jumped, turning his head to look at her, “Are you okay?”

Corey took a deep breath for a moment. He wasn’t actually looking through the window. In reality, he was looking at the reflection in it: his own reflection.

“I…yeah,” he said, turning to face her, “I’m just thinking is all. Nothing to worry about.” He gave a weak smile, one that did little to clear Twilight’s worry. She knew Corey was still trying to recover after what happened. Right now, she wanted to give him the time to do so, and chose not to push the subject.

“Okay,” she said, “But if you ever want to talk,” she reached across the table and put her hand on his, giving Corey a warm smile, “I’m willing to listen.”

Corey looked down at the table, where their hands connected and interlocked his fingers with hers.

“Thank you…”

I shouldn’t be surprised about it. I really shouldn’t be. And yet, how can I not be? Ever since I saw her trembling in that hall alone—after hearing exactly what he did for a living before his incarceration and after his escape—I wasn’t myself. It just kept getting worse. Before I knew it, I was once again caught in a vortex of hate—both for myself and for the bastard behind this attack. I felt no one was going to pull me from it.

And what’s worse, even if he was the scum of the earth, even if he does horrible things because he wants to… It didn’t excuse what I did. I’d almost killed someone in cold blood. Ivan and Leo probably never expected it to get that bad. Hell, no one did. And yet…after all that, after all I’d done under the influence of my wrath, everyone still stood behind me.

It all was because I tried to do everything myself. And in the end, it nearly destroyed me…

Corey quit looking out the window, taking a slow look around the train car. There they were, only slightly worse for the wear. Maybe he was responsible for all this, even if only indirectly. But it didn’t matter. Just like Twilight said…

In the end, she was able to pull me back. She was able to save me from me. And I owe her a lot for that; for all she’s done for me since I landed here, really. Especially since now I know how she feels.

He smiled slightly again, looking out the window.

I don’t know how I’m going to do it. But if there’s one thing this whole situation has taught me, it’s that I have to change.

Closing his eyes, images of everyone began to circle through his head. He’d been blind to the truth for so long, when it was right in front of him. It always had been.

And… this time for sure, I won’t revert to my old ways. I know who I’m fighting for. And I can’t do that fighting, if I’m too busy fighting them simply to act on cold-blooded impulses.

Time passed as the train made its way to Ponyville, enough for the sun to set and rise again to mark a new day. The cold tundra of the north was replaced with the grassy plains of much warmer climates. From their car, everyone could see the mountain which housed Canterlot on the very top in the distance. They were almost home, and couldn’t have been much more excited for it.

“We’re almost back,” Applejack said, leaning out the open window for a better view. She took a deep breath of that Ponyville air—something the Crystal Empire’s air could never match in her book. The others quickly joined her, staring off into the distances. Soon, their home town came into view, the rooftops of each home quickly approaching.

But while most were excited at the prospect of being able to return home, to sleep in their own beds, and to return to some normalcy for however long they could, one wasn’t excited at all. Which was strange, as she was considered the most excitable of all of them.

“Pinkie Pie?” questioned Twilight. All heads turned to look to Pinkie, and all noticed she was far from cheerful, “Is everything alright?”

Pinkie didn’t answer, staring straight at Ponyville, her ears noticeably twitching.

“Something’s wrong…” she said. The others looked confused. From the distance they were at, Ponyville seemed to be in one piece. But on the other hand, they all knew of Pinkie’s strange sense, one that could predict just about anything with scary accuracy.

“Whatever do you mean?” asked Rarity.

“I…I don’t know,” Pinkie shook her head, her eyes displaying nothing but worry, “It’s just…something happened while we were away!”

Everyone went silent, unsure of how to respond. From their point of view, Ponyville looked fine. If something had happened, there would have been some sign of it, right?

“Okay everyone, relax,” said Twilight, “I know we were all worried about Fluttershy staying behind, but you have to remember that she wasn’t all alone this time. She had Spike with her, as well as the Royal Guards. If anything happened, she would have had the guards to protect her, and she would have been able to get word to the Princess.”

She then turned her attention to the distant Ponyville, “Plus, we’ve seen what the escaped prisoners are capable of. If one had attacked, we’d have seen some signs of it by now.”

Everyone looked back towards Ponyville, able to see more of it now. What Twilight said was true. Everything looked fine, and there were no signs of an attack. As this sunk in for everyone, they were finally able to relax.

“She’s right,” said John, “As far as we know, these prisoners are being sent one at a time. And we were already dealing with one of them over the past few days.”

John leaned back on his seat and looked out the window again, “Everything’s fine.”

The train soon began to slow its speed, getting ready to dock at the Ponyville station. But as it slowed to a stop, those inside quickly noticed something was off. There were guards posted at the station in full armor. To everyone’s knowledge they were informed to remain in civilian clothes as to hide their presence from everyone in town. And it wasn’t just the station. Beyond the windows, they could now see far more guards in town than were previously posted.

“It’s like the whole town’s in lockdown!” observed Rainbow in awe.

“But why…?” asked Twilight, but as soon as she uttered the latter word, something clicked in everyone’s minds. They all turned to Pinkie, and she looked back, each as concerned as the others. Without saying so much as a word, everyone jumped from their seats and quickly made their way out of the train. Some of the guards tried to get their attention, but not one listened to their words. Right now, they had a destination in mind; at the moment, nothing else mattered.

They ran through the streets as fast as their legs would allow, crossing through Ponyville in a matter of minutes. As they did, they took note of everything around them. Guards, guards everywhere; not many of the townsponies in sight. They all really began to fret about what had happened while they were away. But none of them had time to stop and ask questions. There was exactly one person they wanted to talk to.

Soon, they reached the other end of Ponyville, taking the dirt road that lead to her cottage. The run was short, and soon they found Fluttershy’s home coming into view. And as soon as it did, Rainbow took notice of something.

“Look!” Rainbow raised one arm to point, never breaking her stride. Everyone saw it: the front window’s glass had been shattered. Her worry at its max, Rainbow shot ahead of the others, kicking the door down as soon as she reached it.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow shouted as soon as she was inside. But when she did, she saw that the home was void of signs of life. This, along with the fact there was no immediate response, only made things worse, but just as she was prepared to expect the worst, something happened.

“Rainbow?” At the sound of the voice, Rainbow turned her gaze to the kitchen doorway. There she was. By the time, the others had caught up and entered the home. Everyone’s eyes immediately glued to Fluttershy as they studied her. Though she was smiling, she was also worse than when they’d left her: there were bandages wrapped around her torso, and most of her mane—before shaped in a heart around her head and upper torso—was now short, barely even reaching the bottom of her neck.

“Glad to see you’re—“ Fluttershy couldn’t finish her sentence before being cut off by everyone swarming her for a group hug.

“Oh good heavens, what happened to you?!” Rarity said. Fluttershy simply hissed for a moment, clearly in pain.

“G-girls…I’m happy to see you again, but I’m still a little hurt,” Quickly, the others released her, taking at least one step back to give her some air. Fluttershy hunched over for a moment, taking in deep breaths.

“Are you okay?’ asked Rainbow, placing a palm to her shoulder.

“Yes, I just need to sit down.”

Rainbow didn’t have to be told twice. Slowly, she helped Fluttershy to her sofa. Once seated, Fluttershy seemed to look better now…at least, enough to talk.

“Fluttershy, just what happened while we were away?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She could remember it all so vividly, and she knew that she’d never forget it.

“It all started after you all left…”

Author's Note

So yeah, there's how this arc ends. We finally get to see what Fluttershy was up to all this time. I hope you enjoyed this arc. See you all in two weeks.

Act 3 Chapter 14

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 14: Regrets

It’s hard to say when all of it started. So much had happened in the short time you all were gone that I’d lost track of the days that had gone by. But if I had to make a guess, I’d say the best place to start would be just after you all left in the train…

They had all said their goodbyes and promised they’d return just as soon as they could. One last time Rainbow tried to convince Fluttershy to change her mind and stay with them as they went to the Crystal Empire. But her mind was already made up; she’d already convinced herself that she would be of no use to them. She believed she was only a liability. All she could do now was wave goodbye as the train set off, praying that they would be safe.

She stayed at the station, watching the train move away until it was finally gone from sigh. She looked down to the ground, letting out a small sigh.

“This is the right choice…” she said to herself, “They’re better off without me.” Again, she sighed. With nothing else left to do, Fluttershy turned around and walked out of the station.

There was no point in dwelling on it any longer. She’d made her choice and there was no turning back now. All she could do now was move on, try to return to a normal life, and pass the time until her friends returned. She took a moment to enjoy her surroundings, the peacefulness of Ponyville, the happiness in the faces of everyone she passed.

Why can’t it always be like this? she wondered. Why couldn’t the town always be this peaceful? Why couldn’t everyone always be this happy? This was something she’d asked herself on more than one occasion. However, no matter how many times she asked, no matter how hard she’d searched, there was never an answer to be found.

All she could do was push forward and hope that a time like that would come one day. So, she began to head home, doing just that. She walked, thinking about what she had to do today. What could she do to pass the time until the moment when her friends would return to Ponyville?

But as she made her way, as she planned out the remainder of her day, there was just one thing that she didn’t expect. One thing that she should have realized tended to show up unscheduled. When she was close enough to her home, Fluttershy noticed that something—or rather, someone was standing outside her door, waiting.

“Discord?” she asked in confusion. Discord was leaning on the wall, twirling a cane in his hand.

“Hello, Fluttershy,” he greeted.

Normally, Fluttershy would have been glad to see him, as she would be if it were any other friend of hers. But the longer she stared at him, the more she noticed that something was different. This was Discord, someone who was generally very laid back. For the first time since Fluttershy had gotten to know him, Discord seemed genuinely worried.

“Is everything alright?”

Finally Discord stopped twirling his cane and stood up straight, “We need to talk…”

Once inside of her cottage, Fluttershy began to brew some tea for the two of them. Discord sat patiently as she did so. And yet, as Discord gave her time to prepare, this only served to make her worry more. He hadn’t told her what he wanted to talk about, and in truth, she didn’t give him time. Somewhere in the back of her head, Fluttershy feared it was he had to say. However, she knew she could only stall for so long, as eventually the tea had finishing brewing, and it was time to serve.

After pouring a cup for both of them, Fluttershy took her seat beside Discord and waited in silence. Discord was the first to partake in the tea, letting out a small sigh after taking a sip. She could see the troubled look in his eyes.

“So… you decided not to go with them,” Discord finally said, finally breaking the silence that hung over the room.

Fluttershy turned her head away, hiding behind her hair as she always did. But she wasn’t able to hide for long. Before she knew it, her hair that had draped in front of her began to shift, moving until her face was once again visible. A hair clip of a pink butterfly materialized, snapping into place to prevent it from falling again.

“I’ve enjoyed coming to learn about you, Fluttershy,” said Discord, “In the time since I was freed, I’ve learned a few things about you. Most notable being how you try to hide from something you truly believe you cannot handle,” He leaned in, putting a hand to her shoulder, “But you can’t hide from this. I will say this now, no one is angry at you for the decision you made. And no one blames you for being afraid. I just want to talk to you, to try to figure out why—“

“I’m weak…” At Fluttershy’s words, Discord paused, his brows furrowing slightly. Now it was his turn to remain silent and listen to what Fluttershy had to say, “It’s been like that for as long as I can remember. No matter what I try to do, no matter how hard I try to keep up, I’m always falling behind. And this is no different; if anything, it’s worse. At first I could deal with it because I wasn’t alone; both Pinkie and Rarity shared the same feelings as me. But that changed, and suddenly, I was the only one left on the sidelines.”

“I thought I’d have gotten used to it by now, but I can’t just stand on the sidelines being protected while everyone else is doing everything they can to fight. It’s not fair for them to have to hold back just because they want me to be safe,” At this moment, Fluttershy looked down, staring into her reflection in her tea, “So I made the best choice and stopped being their burden.”

Discord stared at Fluttershy for a moment, leaning back in his seat as he hummed to himself.

“I don’t buy it.”

Fluttershy blinked and looked up.

“But it’s the truth!” Fluttershy said, “I’m always the first to get scared, always the first to try and run. How can someone like me be any help to them?”

Her face pleaded for an answer. Discord shook his head for a moment before taking another sip of his tea. This was the very same pony who had decided he was worth saving. He knew full well why she’d dropped out—if the reports of the breakouts’ crimes were enough to make him flinch, certainly it’d be much harder on the others, especially Fluttershy. And yet, he still found something wasn’t adding up.

“I’ve learned a lot about you, Fluttershy, and a lot more of the adventures you’ve had with your friends. The things you’ve overcome as a team, but more specifically, the things you have overcome yourself,” Discord placed his cup down, staring into Fluttershy’s eyes, “Let’s begin with the time you stared down a fully matured dragon, and if memory serves, none of your other friends were capable of it.”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to respond, but Discord was far from done.

“And that’s just one example. How about the time when you beat a cockatrice in a staring contest?” he asked, “Even the bravest of ponies wouldn’t dare go near one, let alone scold one while being turned to stone. Tell me, does that sound like something a ‘weak’ pony could do?”

Fluttershy went silent for a moment longer before letting out a small sigh, “It’s not that simple,” she said, “You know about the Stare, and you know what it can do. It’s the only defense I have, and if that doesn’t work, then I have nothing,” Fluttershy got up from her seat, carrying her cup to the sink and dumped its contents, “That’s why I’m weak, and that’s why it’s better for everyone if I just backed down now…”

That’s what she told him, and Discord could tell she was continuing to tell herself that. But no matter how she tried to convince herself of it, she wasn’t about to convince him.

“You’re right, it isn’t simple,” Discord stood up—Fluttershy finally noticed that Discord seemed to be using his legs a bit more than normal, “But that’s only because I think there’s more to it. More than anyone else knows, and more than you’ve been willing to tell us.”

Fluttershy seemed to flinch slightly. Her back was to Discord, expertly concealing the fear that was slowly crawling into her expression.

“I…” Her shoulders slumped, “Everyone has something they aren’t proud of, Discord.”

“Believe me, I know all about that and more,” said Discord, “But I don’t think the same applies for you,” He turned Fluttershy around, allowing her to look back at him, “And if you’ll allow me, I’d like to show you.”

She stared at him for a moment, confused, “How?”

Discord raised a finger and slowly moved it until it lightly touched her forehead.

“If you trust me, then all you have to do is close your eyes and relax. Then you’ll know when to open them again.”

Fluttershy did trust him, even more so when it was clear he was actually trying to help. So after taking in a deep breath, Fluttershy closed her eyes and waited.

Fluttershy wasn’t sure how long she’d kept her eyes closed. Somewhere around a minute would have been her best guess. She wasn’t sure when she’d be allowed to open them again, but still she waited, believing she’d know it when it came. But as she waited, something hit her—a pleasant scent that wasn’t there before, accompanied by a breeze of air that could only mean one thing.

Are…are we outside? If ever there was a “right” moment to open her eyes, Fluttershy felt it would be now. So she did just that. When she did, she was in total surprise by what she had seen before her. She was no longer standing inside, in the safety of her kitchen. For some unknown reason, she was now standing in the center of a large meadow. A rainbow of colors layered the fields—an assortment of hundreds, maybe thousands of flowers.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Fluttershy turned her head to see Discord materialize from out of thin air. She looked at him for a moment before looking back at the field they stood in, completely baffled by it all.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“I suppose no one would be capable of identifying it at first glance. Let’s see, how shall I explain this?” he wondered as he rubbed his chin, “Everyone in this world, be they Pony, Griffin, or whatever, has a nature, something that defines who they are. Of course, some try to fight their nature, attempting to become something else.

“Sometimes they are able to accomplish this. Though, for some, it requires something a little…eye opening,” Discord gave an awkward pause, clearing his throat before continuing, “But until that moment, one’s inner nature stays the same. Deep inside of you, in a part that only you and those that you trust can reach.”

Fluttershy was a little confused for a moment, trying to take in everything Discord had said. But slowly, it began to sink in, and she put one hand to her chest.

“Exactly,” he said, “All that you are, your true self, it all resides in here,” With a wave of his arm, Discord motioned to all that was around them, “Care to see more?”

Fluttershy turned back to Discord and nodded. The two simply walked in silence, taking in the sights around them. Discord wasn’t surprised by what he saw. There was no doubt that Fluttershy’s inner nature matched the one she usually showed. But that wasn’t what they were here to confirm.

“Not that I don’t enjoy this, but why did you bring me here?” Fluttershy asked. Discord didn’t answer at first, his eyes scanning the area as though he was looking for something.

“As we see now, this is your nature: calm, pleasant, approachable to just about everyone you meet. And yet, your Stare seems to be the exact opposite of everything we see now. Something like that doesn’t simply come out of nowhere. That means somewhere deep in this field, we’ll find the source of it all.”

He didn’t hear a response from Fluttershy, and after a few seconds her gentle steps faded from his hearing as well. Discord stopped, turning to see her standing still, her eyes glued to the ground. He stared at her, puzzled at first, wondering what she might be thinking of, but soon enough, he realized the reason for her hesitation.

“You know where, don’t you?” he asked.

“No, not exactly,” Fluttershy said, shaking her head, “But…I can feel it.” She turned her body until she was facing almost the opposite direction. But she didn’t take a single step further. Discord could see the worry in her face. He could sense her unease, but he didn’t bring her just to give up.

“You have no reason to be afraid. Nothing can hurt you here.”

Discord’s reassurance gave Fluttershy comfort enough to take the first step in the right direction…

Fluttershy lead Discord deeper into her mindscape, her only guide being the sensation of something calling to her. She wasn’t sure what they were looking for, or what they would find, but she continued onward. As time went by, she began to think that the field was nothing but endless flowers. But soon something began to change, the endless meadow subsided as trees came into view. And between these trees was a dirt road which continued on. Oddly enough, however, this road seemed familiar to her.

“I think we’re getting closer,” she said, the feeling she had growing stronger than it had been before. They were almost there, but still she wasn’t sure just what there was. But she continued on anyway, feeling that she would know as soon as she saw it. A few minutes passed, and Fluttershy began to notice something.

Before, their path seemed random and unfamiliar. But that started to change. Suddenly, Fluttershy found that she recognized her surroundings.

It couldn’t be…could it?

Fluttershy’s walk changed into a full sprint, curiosity taking over. As she made her way through the forest, she saw that the trees gave way to an opening up ahead. At that moment, she saw it. At first, she just stood there, baffled with what she saw, giving Discord ample time to catch up.

“Fluttershy, is everything alright?” he asked.

“That’s…my cottage,” There was no mistaking it, Fluttershy was staring at the spitting image of her home, “Why would this be here?”

“It’s hard to say,” said Discord, “Anything seen in here is merely a manifestation of who you are, something that can be deciphered. But if I had to guess, I would say that this is where you originated—that is, the place where your nature was born and raised.”

Discord took a few steps forward towards the home before looking back at Fluttershy, “Shall we?” He asked, beckoning her to follow.

The two then walked into the home, up close, they could see it was an exact clone of the original to every last detail. There was just one thing that was different: the inner cottage had no door. Not that it was missing or had been removed. In fact, it seemed like there was no door to begin with.

Curious… Discord thought to himself. This was just the first mindscape he’d actually explored and even he was mildly surprised to see this development. Still, he wondered what it could mean.

“Is this where the feeling came from, Fluttershy?” he asked. Fluttershy continued to inspect the home, still trying to figure this out for herself.

“No…” she said, “But it feels like…maybe,” She began to move around the perimeter of her house. Discord followed her lead once more, eventually coming up on the other side.

“I think it should be… around here.” Fluttershy paused as she looked up, only to be once again caught off-guard by what she was seeing. It was her cottage again, one standing behind the first. But at a second glance, she realized the second cottage was far different from hers—not just in how the house itself looked but the surrounding “yard”, as it were.

While Fluttershy’s cottage was just as bright and warm as it was in the real world, right down to the atmosphere surrounding it, this new cottage had none of that at all. The second cottage was worn out, almost broken down, planks nailed over every dusty, broken window. The grass around it was yellow if not missing, while the surrounding trees were dead, some even tipped over. Most notably, the sun didn’t even seem to fully reach the second cottage; a dark cloud hovered in place above it.

Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel fear at looking at it, and yet there was something about it, something she recognized.

“I think we found it…” she said, her body visibly trembling. Still, she moved forward towards the other home. Discord followed close behind, unsure of what to expect from this new home. Everything seemed alright. Then Fluttershy took a step on the creaky bridge leading to the second cottage. They heard something, a guttural roar…or howl? Whatever it was caused Fluttershy to step back.

“W-what was that?” she asked. Up until that moment they hadn’t seen or heard any other signs of life. So what was making that noise? There were many theories, but Discord could think of only one that explained it.

We aren’t alone here…

This time, Discord walked across the bridge. The sounds died out again until Fluttershy began to follow his lead. The growls were angry. Finally, they reached the home, only then did they notice another key difference between it and the other cottage. Unlike the “light” cottage they’d seen, the “dark” cottage did have a door, which wasn’t just locked, but was chained shut from the outside. Oddly enough, the floor just under the door showed drag marks, a sign that the door had indeed opened before, if only slightly.

Slowly, Discord reached for the door, wondering what was behind it.

“Don’t!” shouted Fluttershy, and in that moment the door began to rattle violently. Something on the other side was trying to break out. It continued for several seconds before coming to an end, the eerie silence returning.

“It…It’s her…” said Fluttershy, finally knowing what it was she was sensing. And now she knew the third guest in her “nature”.

“Who?” asked Discord, turning back.

“Me…the other me.”

Author's Note

And here's how this mini-arc starts. It pretty much takes place parallel to the last one, so yeah, same time, different plotline, but we'll see exactly what lead to everything that we saw last chapter. And stuff. Blah. See you all next update.

Act 3 Chapter 15

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 15: The Chilling Penalty Starts

Both Discord and Fluttershy stood in silence, their sights locked on the door in front of them. Something was behind it, that much was clear. But what it was still remained a mystery. Fluttershy seemed to know, but her answer only raised more questions.

“Me, the other me…” That was what she had said when she’d realized what that awful noise was, but Discord didn’t know what she meant. As far as he knew, all the split personalities he’d created in the past had been erased after his defeat…hadn’t they?

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” said Discord. Fluttershy took another step towards the door, resting one palm on it. Just as it had before, the door began to rattle violently as something banged at it from the inside, screeching. This time, Fluttershy didn’t recoil, her brows simply furrowed as she stared at the door, waiting for the ruckus to stop.

“You said it yourself. All that I am, my true self, that’s what we’ve seen. But this is the only part that isn’t me. This house, the one inside it; it’s all that I’m not and everything I’ve never wanted to be. The other me, the one locked inside, is my opposite in every way…as well as where the Stare comes from.”

Discord paused for a moment, taking in what he heard. The mere thought of something that was the opposite of Fluttershy in every way, right here inside her own psyche... That was a terrifying prospect to consider. Even though the Stare didn’t affect him, he’d dreaded to think what would happen if any more than the eyes were revealed of the savage behind that cottage door.

“But how did she come to be?” he wondered, never once betraying the uneasiness inside him. Fluttershy looked down for a moment, rubbing her shoulder as she let out a sigh.

“I…I made her,” she said, looking back to the door,” Growing up was hard for me. I was small, I was slow, and I was weak. Because of all that, I was almost always the one that got picked on, and though I tried to play it off as no big deal, it hurt. It hurt a lot. But what could I do? I couldn’t stand up for myself, and I couldn’t fight back. So I just repressed any negative emotions I had. It wasn’t healthy, I knew that even then, but I didn’t have a lot of options.

“I did it for most of my life, just tucking them away so that nopony could see them. But somewhere along the way, they started to have a mind of their own. And at the center of all that, she was born…”

Again, the creature within the dilapidated cottage screeched, as though it was listening to the conversation.

“Has she ever come out?” asked Discord.

“Only a few times…” she said, “The very first time was when I had also realized she existed…before I’d even moved to Ponyville. I was being bullied when Rainbow wasn’t around. Suddenly, she came out and…” Fluttershy paused, trembling, “He stopped bullying me from that day on. After that happened, I was terrified with what she could do, so I locked her away to keep her from hurting anyone else. But I think that locking her away…only made her worse with time.

“The second time…was when you let her out with your magic. That time, I’d managed to hold her back. She was mean, but I kept her from doing anything worse than what I did do that day.”

At that news, Discord loosened his tie for just a moment, clearing his throat. So that was what he’d let out. And experiencing guilt was still a fresh experience, though certainly dulled by recent events for sure.

“Sorry about that, by the way,” Discord said quickly, but Fluttershy waved her hand dismissively.

“The final time she came out was probably the worst. It was only a few months ago, when a minotaur named Iron Will came to town. Around that time, the fact I was a pushover started to get to me. And…in a moment of weakness, I turned to him for help, thinking that maybe he could teach me to better control her. At first, I thought I could, but I was wrong. Without me noticing, she’d started to take control.

“And she wasn’t just mean, she was violent. She threatened ponies, she hurt them. By the time I was able to lock her away again I was scared that I’d have lost my friends. Luckily, I didn’t, but from then on, I was scared that it might happen again. So I haven’t tried to use her…not even the Stare. I’m just…too scared of the risks…”

Fluttershy fell silent after that, looking to the ground of her mindscape. Discord turned back to the door, deep in thought.

There was no denying that this other Fluttershy was dangerous if left unchecked. But there was also no ignoring she had the bravado that the true Fluttershy lacked. If something like this could be harnessed—and pointed at the right target, of course—there’s no telling what could result.

“What if there was no risks” he asked, “What if she pointed her violence to those who really deserve it?”

“I told you, there’s no way to control her!” Fluttershy said, looking up.

“But what if you could? What if you could take control of her strength, more than you’ve ever managed to in the past?” he asked, “You’d finally have what you wanted, you’ll be able to fight alongside your friends.”

Fluttershy opened her mouth in response, but quickly closed it. The mere thought of no longer being a burden was enough to tempt her. But still, she feared the risk, the risk of what could happen should something go wrong. If something were to happen and her other self would take control again, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to lock her away again.

She wasn’t sure what to do, and Discord could see this. He didn’t want to make her choose, but he also couldn’t pass up this opportunity to ensure her safety. Especially since he couldn’t lift a finger to protect her.

“How about a compromise?” he asked, lifting one arm slowly before snapping his fingers. The door to the cottage, originally wooden, shifted to one of solid steel. There were now several locks seen on the outside as well, and in the middle of all that was a key hole.

“There,” he said, “With this new door, the only way for her to get free is if someone undid the spell I just cast, or…” Discord then extended his hand, revealing something to Fluttershy, “If someone has the key.”

Fluttershy stared to the key for a moment before shakily reaching out and grabbing it.

“I…I don’t understand,” she said, looking at it in her own hands.

“To put it simply, while locked away, the other you cannot get free. But with this key, you’ll be able to tap into her strength, and with it you will be able to point it at whoever you want. All you have to do is use that key.”

It was hard to believe. All her fears and all her concerns about the other “her”, solved by something as simple as a key? She’d known of Discord’s powers since she’d first met him, but still, she’d wondered one thing.

Could it really be contained? Could she really trust it to help her fight beside her friends?

Some time had passed since Discord gave Fluttershy the key to the door. Afterwards, the two of them had left her inner nature and returned to reality. Discord, having done what he set out to do, excused himself. This left Fluttershy all alone with her thoughts once again. Now, she simply sat in her kitchen, staring at her empty palm. Of course, the key was not with her when she returned, but Discord assured her that she’d have it whenever she needed it.

But having access to the key wasn’t her concern at the moment. It was the question of whether or not she should use it. Should she finally let out what she’d spent most of her life trying to keep locked away? And above all else, the same question kept nagging at her.

Can I trust her…?

From the moment her other side was born, she had done everything she could to keep it locked away. Her fear of what she was capable of only increased with every incident she caused. There was virtually nothing that could stop her when her other self had a target in sight. But if she truly had control over it, and could point it at those who would hurt innocents, was it worth the risk?

It was a hard choice to make, certainly harder than anything she’d had to do before. There was too much to consider, too much to weigh. The only certainty she had was how long she had to make her choice. Her friends had already gone, so at the very least she had until their return to make a choice; maybe a little bit longer.

It came as a slight relief, knowing that she had some time. Right now, she had too much to think of to make a decision now.

“Maybe I just need some air,” she thought aloud to herself. A brief walk through Ponyville would clear her mind, help her to relax. With that decision made, Fluttershy walked out her front door, making her way back into town.

At least, that’s was the idea at the time. Just knowing I had so much time to think about it was comforting for me. I thought that I could go at my own pace, and make my decision when the time was right. But it wouldn’t be long before I found out just how wrong I was.

Time raced onward, and soon the day was done. Though she tried to clear her head, Fluttershy wasn’t any closer to a solution than she was before. She had spent most of the night thinking it over, wondering just what was making her so hesitant. She thought that maybe a good night’s rest would help her, to give her a new perspective come the next morning. But as she slept early into the morning, her sleep was disturbed.

She awoke to several loud bangs. At first, she froze, not knowing what the cause was. But as her sense caught up to her, Fluttershy realized something simple.

Someone’s at my door, With that thought in her head, Fluttershy tossed her sheets to the side and made her way out of her room and down the stairs. By now she was able to hear someone calling her from outside.

“Fluttershy, are you here!?” the voice called out. She’d know that voice just about anywhere.

“Spike?” she asked as she opened the door. When the outside was revealed, Fluttershy saw the look on the young dragon’s face. He seemed…panicked?

“Finally!” he said, sighing.

“Spike, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“You have to come to town!” Spike wasted no time in tugging at her hand, “Mayor Mare is calling a meeting for everyone in Ponyville!”

“But what…what happened?” Fluttershy asked, as her heart rate began to rise in alarm.

“A foal went missing overnight!” said Spike. As soon as he did, Fluttershy felt her heart sink, the fur on the back of her neck standing on point. But before she could say anything else, Spike finally managed to pull her along with him, leading her into town. The two made short work of the run, finding themselves in Ponyville quickly. Once there, Fluttershy was able to spot the mass of ponies gathering around Ponyville Hall.

Once mixed with the crowd, Fluttershy was able to catch her breath, just in time for Mayor Mare to take the stage.

“Thank you all for gathering in such short notice,” she said, “On this morning in Ponyville…we have received unfortunate news. Upon awaking with the rise of the sun, a single mare, one of our own, was treated to a sight no mother should ever have to witness. She had found her foal gone without a trace.”

The crowd immediately reacted, a collective gasp followed by several conversations consisting of hushed whispers. They were confused, afraid, and wondering what had happened to the child.

“Ponies, please!” the mayor called out, raising her hands. The crowd quickly began to quiet down, “If you will allow, the mother would like to say a few words.”

Mayor Mare took two slow steps away from the podium, motioning her arm to the mare standing far from her side. Now that she was facing the crowd, looking up for the first time since the meeting had been called, they could see the signs of stress in her eyes. Her eyes were stained and red from nonstop crying, her body trembling as she leaned on the podium. Standing in front of the crowd was not a mare, but a hollow shell of one.

“I…” Her voice was trembling, filled with sorrow, “I don’t k-know how this could have h-happened. I have no enemies as far as I know…I don’t know who could possibly do something like this!” She hid her face in the podium, on the verge of a breakdown. Soon, she pulled herself back up, “P-please… I beg you all, please help me find my foal! I’ll do anything to have her back…”

At this point, the mare broke down completely. The mayor stepped in at this point, giving the distraught pony a hug before addressing the crowd once more.

“I am putting up a reward to anyone who can come forth with any information leading to her foal’s whereabouts. And mark my words, whoever is behind this will suffer the consequences.”

The crowd rumbled in agreement. This would not stand, not in their town. But as they talked, planning on what to do, Fluttershy felt a tug on her arm once again. Looking down, she saw Spike looking back up at her, a flat look of disapproval on his face.

“It’s them, isn’t it?” he whispered. Though he wasn’t as involved as the others, he had been there when the news of the breakout had happened.

“W-we…We don’t know that, Spike,” Fluttershy said, though the lump in her throat betrayed her words.

“It has to be. Who else could do something like this?” he asked. Fluttershy’s heart raced once again as the implications washed over her.

But it made no sense. Why would they strike at the Crystal Empire, just to strike back in Ponyville next? Was it a distraction? Was it all just a ruse to drive the Elements of Harmony away so that they could strike Ponyville one more time while they were gone?

No matter what the answer was, it didn’t matter, all Fluttershy could think about was what was going to happen now.

My friends were gone, and even if it was a trap, I knew you wouldn’t be back for days. Which meant that if this turned out to be one of them, I’d have to face them… alone.

The weight of it all: the sudden foalnapping; the chances it connected to the “game”, and the possibility that she’d have to face it alone… It all crushed her at once before she knew it. She didn’t expect this; she wasn’t even ready for this. Unable to cope with it all, Fluttershy did the only thing she could.

Her legs carried her back home as fast as they could, nothing registering to her other than the clear path she had to take. Once home, Fluttershy slammed the door behind her, placing her weight on it as she leaned back. Only when she was safe did her legs give out on her. She slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor.

“What do I do!?” she asked, her whole body trembling as she ran her hands through her mane, “I can’t fight them… not alone!” She’d seen firsthand what Lyon could do, and she knew what another had managed to do to Cadance. These weren’t just everyday bad guys. These were monsters, and she was in no way equipped to fight them.

“But you’re not alone,” Fluttershy nearly jumped out of her fur. Looking over to the side, she saw Spike was standing near.

“H-how did you get in?” she wondered.

“I jumped on your back before you ran,” he said, having known more than enough about her to predict she would, “But back to what I was saying: you’re not alone. There are still guards posted in Ponyville, and if anything happens they’re ready to fight!” Spike began to punch at the air to emphasize his point. And he was certainly correct, but it didn’t do much to ease Fluttershy’s worries.

Whoever did this was skilled enough to be able to break into someone’s home and kidnap their foal without making a sound. Could they really face someone like that? Would they even be able to find who did it before they could strike again? So many questions flooded Fluttershy’s mind, enough to have her shrink into a ball. She could vaguely hear Spike’s voice trying to call her out of her shell, but it was no use.

So many things could go wrong. So many ponies could be hurt. Worst of all, she was powerless to stop it as she was now. Fluttershy managed to get a grip, sitting up and staring at her open palm. Again, the image of the key Discord had given her in her mindscape appeared.

She had thought she would have had the time to come up with an answer, time to figure out what she should do. But now, that seemed like some innocent fantasy that harsh reality came crashing down upon.

I-I’m not ready… she thought, closing her hand as though the key was actually there, I don’t know if I can make that decision. Will I… Will I have to let the monster inside of me roam free again?

Author's Note

Here we go. Yeah. Keep going I guess.

Act 3 Chapter 16

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 16: A Prisoner To Their Own Fear

Some time passed. The whole town, including me, kept searching for any signs of the missing foal. The guards got involved too, searching in places that others couldn’t, but no matter how hard or how far we searched, we couldn’t find a trace. Over time, I just got this sinking feeling that something bad was going to happen…

But…but not even in my wildest dreams, would I have expected what happened next.

As the early morning hours dragged on in Ponyville, Fluttershy walked through town with two of the guards, still searching just like many of the other search parties. Beside her was Spike; since the others had left for the Crystal Empire, he’d stuck by her side. It was refreshing to have the company, especially after what had happened. By that point, the search had covered various portions of the Everfree, and not a single cue was found.

“Just how did the foalnapper manage to get in and out of the home without so much as a sound…?” pondered one of the disguised guards.

The other stopped in his tracks, blocking the path. Unable to completely conceal his frustration, he scoffed, “This happened because we’re still hiding ourselves from the enemy… if they knew we were keeping watch, then maybe they’d be less brazen in their actions!”

“It’s not our call to make,” said the first guard.

“I know…” the guard that was blocking the path said, turning to the other one, “It’s just… we were sent here to protect everyone while this ‘game’ went on. And yet, we haven’t been able to do even that, much less fight back against the escaped prisoners.”

Fluttershy’s heart bled out for the guard. She knew that feeling all too well and still had it weighing her down. She was still plagued with a decision that could either help or hinder her in the future. Recently, though, she was starting to lean in one direction. As time passed, with no signs of the foal, a fear began to make itself known in Fluttershy’s subconscious. She was starting to feel this was just the beginning—that this foal would be just the first in a line of victims.

Fluttershy knew she couldn’t let that happen, regardless of what she had to do to stop it. Pausing in her walk, she looked down at her hand. Discord had told her the key would reveal itself when she needed it. Since then, however, she hadn’t tried to summon it. Now, she wondered what it would take to do so.

Maybe…it wouldn’t hurt to test it? she thought to herself. If anything else, she could show herself that she could get it at a moment’s notice. The guards and Spike stopped when they noticed she was standing still, looking back to her in concern.

“Fluttershy?” asked Spike.

“You three keep searching,” said Fluttershy, “There’s something I need to take care of.”

At that moment, she turned her back to them, intending to test the key in the safety of her home. But she didn’t get further than a single step. The instant her foot touched the ground, everything around her came crashing down with a horrible sound, loud enough to be heard all around Ponyville. It was a blood-curdling shriek; drowning in sorrows and repeating endlessly. Everypony within earshot froze, but as the screams continued they all began to run to the source.

Or at least, most of them ran. Fluttershy instead took to the sky, leaving behind the guards and Spike as she followed the despairing shrieks. She touched down soon after, just as several other ponies arrived on the scene. But, as her eyes locked on to the source of the screaming, Fluttershy, along with those arriving, immediately felt the pits of their stomachs dropping; their blood running cold as the sight overwhelmed them.

It was the mother from before, the one whose foal had gone missing. Kneeled down at the stoop of her door, she wailed in anguish. In her hands was a small rag, stained red and dripping. What utterly sealed the deal on this absolute horror…was the single arm dangling out, limp.

Any younger pony in the area was quickly moved away to spare them the nightmares. Many of the onlookers began to tear up from the sight. Others were moved to disgust, hands going to their mouths as their stomachs protested the situation. A brave few walked up to the mother, if nothing else to try and remove her from the bloodied cloth. It was in vain; she continued to cry and scream.

But what other response did she have? How else could any mother respond to the grim discovery that their only child, still very new to the world, was dead?

Minutes later, Spike had found himself back in Fluttershy’s cottage, pacing the floor outside of a locked door. From the other side, he could hear her heaving repeatedly. He didn’t know what it was she saw. By the time he’d reached the scene, there was too large a crowd for him to see past. All he could hear was the dismayed screams of a mare. He’d tried to see what it was that had the crowd equal parts saddened and sickened, but before he could, Fluttershy grabbed him, running just as fast as her legs would carry her.

When they’d arrived, the first thing she did was hastily write something down on a parchment and had him send it to Princess Celestia. He didn’t know what it said, but he sent it as asked. He still had questions. However, right afterwards, Fluttershy broke down completely and ran for the bathroom. Now, all he could do was wait for her to come out. He didn’t have to wait much longer.

Eventually, he heard the water running from the other side of the door. Soon after the water stopped, the door opened and Fluttershy walked out. Now that Spike could get a look at her, he understood that something horrible had happened. She was trembling, one hand on the frame of the door for support. She was staring far past Spike as well, into the infinite beyond behind him. Her appearance greatly worried Spike.

“F-Fluttershy… what happened?” At the sound of his voice, Fluttershy blinked once, seeming to come back into reality. It wasn’t long before she was kneeling down and pulling him in close for a hug.

“Something bad, Spike… something really bad,” Fluttershy finally said, grateful she’d spared him from seeing it firsthand. But by this point, Spike wasn’t sure he wanted to know anymore. Especially if it had Fluttershy in this kind of state.

“Y-you were right, Spike,” Fluttershy said, “It is them.”

Any doubt she’d had up until that point was gone without a trace. She knew now they were in Ponyville, and were far more ruthless than before. And, they’d already claimed their first victim.

“What happens now…?” asked Spike.

“I don’t know, Spike,” her hold on him tightened, “I really don’t know.”

Celestia sat in her throne room alone. Strict instructions were passed along: no one was to enter until otherwise noted. She didn’t want anyone to see her right now, not in the state she was in. At this moment, the Princess of the Sun was giving off an aura that no one had seen for eons. Not long ago, she’d received a letter via her connection to Spike. And what she had read caused a flame to spark deep within her. Even now, the letter lay in front of her, every word read several times over to make sure there was no mistake.

There was no denying it. A life had been snuffed out, that of an innocent soul who had yet to live her life. Deep down, she’d thought something like this might happen, but she never could have anticipated the impact it would cause. Now, she was dealing with a load of pent-up aggression towards someone she could not touch, at least for now.

“That’s a good look in your eyes,” the voice was not surprising to hear. The prisoners’ leader always seemed to talk to her within minutes of bad news coming her way. Another creature showed itself to Celestia, making its way to the bottom step of her throne. Her gaze towards the creature alone threatened to burn the creature to ashes, yet none came as Celestia waited. Soon, the projection showed itself again. And once again, the one responsible for all of this remained cloaked, their voice still disguised by a filter.

“Seems Equestria’s perfect princess is finally showing her darker side,” said the figure, “Seems to be going around a lot lately.” A mocking chuckle escaped the figure’s mouth. Celestia didn’t bother responding, simply staring daggers at the figure as it continued to speak.

“By now I’m sure you’ve learned of what happened. Such a tragedy, is it not?” the figure’s voice made a poor attempt at empathy. This only served to anger Celestia further, yet still she remained silent, “Pity though…this could have been prevented… were it not for such a selfish act by one of your pawns.”

At this moment, the sun flared.

“Enough!” Celestia said, her hair lighting up in flames, returning to her Royal Canterlot Voice which echoed throughout the castle, “I have endured your mockery, your scorn and your twisted ideals of a challenge. But I won’t stand to hear you blame anyone under my sun over anything you have caused.”

With every statement, she went down the steps from her throne until she was directly in front of the figure, able to see the malevolent smile on the hologram’s face.

“You can say whatever you wish, but it doesn’t change a thing. This game is played until one side loses, Princess. No one is allowed to leave until it is done. And yet, one of your pawns thoughts that she could. Because of that, she must now suffer the consequences…something you would know as a ‘Penalty Round’.

“And this is just the beginning. If she refuses to fight, the bodies will continue to stack. With her allies currently preoccupied, she has no other allies outside of your pathetic excuses for Royal Guards,” Again, the figure let out a chuckle, “I wonder, will she continue to cower as more blood falls onto her hands, or will she make a stand…only to fall in battle…”

No sooner than the hologram faded away did it get turned into ashes in an instant. Several parts of the throne room were scorched as well, but the state of the room didn’t matter to Celestia. That could be fixed. The loss of a life, couldn’t. Past her breaking point, Celestia made her way to the entrance and opened the doors. Several guards were gathered outside, having heard her shouting earlier. None of them got a chance to speak, not that they could, seeing their leader in the state she was in.

“Gather as many guards as we can spare,” she said, “I will give further instructions when they are together. But for now, until an unknown future point in time, Ponyville is on lockdown.”

Word of what happened spread fast. With it, the whole town grew afraid. The one who did it was still out there, and they knew what they were capable of. It was around that time that I got a response from Princess Celestia. It was a request…

Fluttershy found herself in front of Mayor Mare’s office. Slowly, she reached out to knock, only to stop a few inches short. Instead, she pushed the door open. Inside, she could see the mayor sitting at her desk with a stack of papers on it. Her appearance was slightly disheveled, not unexpected from someone who runs a town, but Fluttershy knew that wasn’t the cause. At least, not this time.

“Mayor?” At the sound of Fluttershy’s voice, Mayor Mare looked up from her paperwork to look to Fluttershy.

“Oh, Fluttershy,” she forced a smile, “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in. Can I help you?” The whole time she talked, she was trying to fix herself up. That, however, was a lost cause. Fluttershy looked down for a moment before closing the door behind her.

“Mayor, something terrible has happened,” she began. The mayor let out a small sigh.

“I…I heard,” She ran her hands through her mane, “I just got the autopsy reports on the foal and…” A look of pure discomfort spread across her face, “just who could do something like this, Fluttershy? Where could someone like this possibly have come from??”

Fluttershy rubbed her arm as she looked away. She wasn’t sure if this was going to be easier to harder now.

“I couldn’t tell you who…” Fluttershy said, “But…I can tell you where.”

Just like the Princess asked me to, I told Mayor Mare everything. After what happened, she felt that keeping it a secret wasn’t going to help anyone anymore. She didn’t say a word at first. I just kept talking, trying not to leave out any details.

But I was so ashamed to tell her that I had stepped down…I just couldn’t do it…

And by the time I was done, I could see it in her face. Mayor Mare was terrified.

With the truth finally revealed to the mayor, it was time for the next part. When the next train arrived in Ponyville, the visitors who walked out shocked everyone at the station. Royal Guards, possibly hundreds in total, marched out of each car, each of them suited in their traditional white-and-gold armor.

No one knew what they were here for. This was far too many to be for a simple visit from Princess Celestia. Some thought it was in response to what happened to the mother’s foal, but this seemed like an extreme response, even for that. Any attempt to talk to the guards fell on deaf ears. All were marching towards a single location.

Town Hall.

As they continued to march, other townsponies began to follow out of curiosity. By the time they’d realized where they were going, they noticed that Mayor Mare was standing outside her office. There was a ghastly look on her face. When the guards finally stopped, the mayor made her way towards the microphone. She paused for a moment, seemingly staring at every single pony in sight. Finally, she cleared her throat and leaned in to speak.

“My fellow ponies,” she began, her voice low and uneasy, “I know we have endured a harsh few days; something we would want nothing more than to forget. But I am afraid that is not our choice… not anymore. Not long ago, I was delivered a message from Princess Celestia herself, something that very well may shake you all.”

Mayor Mare removed her glasses with one trembling hand and cleaned them off, “Several weeks ago… the gates of Tartarus were forced open.”

The responses were immediate; a massive flux of fear and panic spread among the civilians. The mayor simply raised her hands and waited for them to settle.

“Fortunately, the gates were closed thanks to the guards on site that night and Princess Luna. But several of the prisoners still managed to escape. And now, those prisoners have joined forces against us. As of now, we are a part of their game, and they see us as nothing more than pieces on a board.”

“But the princesses w-will stop them, right? They have to!” a spectator called out.

“Unfortunately, they can’t,” the mayor said, “They have been handicapped in this game, not allowed to help directly. If they try to, then the escaped prisoners have threatened to reopen the gates for good… which brings me to the guards who stand before you today.”

She briefly made a motion to the group of guards.

“Until this is over, they will remain in Ponyville to protect us. Unfortunately, many things will change now. From this moment, a strict curfew will be set. Nopony will be allowed out after dark. Furthermore, a guard will be stationed around every home and business; some will also serve as escorts to anypony who needs to venture outside the borders of Ponyville.” Mayor Mare paused, letting out a small sigh.

“We are faced with an enemy that we have never faced before. Now, more than ever, we must stick together. Because only together will we be able to overcome this,” Only then did Mayor Mare step down from the microphone. One of the guards took her place, beginning to get into the details of what would happen now. Leaving him to his business, Mayor Mare walked back to where Fluttershy was standing, listening in.

“You didn’t tell them about us…” she said, “About the others…about me, how we’re the ones they’re after. Why?”

Only after the doors were closed did Mayor Mare turn to Fluttershy.

“Because then they’d question you all at every point in time. The guards aren’t just here to protect us; they’re meant to be someone who they can look to for protection. If they find out that you and the other Elements of Harmony are who’s really fighting for us, then everyone will turn to you. And right now, I think you have enough to shoulder as it is.”

Mayor Mare put a hand to Fluttershy’s shoulder, “So please, let us shoulder this burden. Celestia knows you have much more to shoulder than we do.”

Fluttershy didn’t respond, left in total silence as Mayor Mare walked back to her office.

But what could she say? What could she tell the mayor now after what was just said?

I can still remember the look on her face. She was scared, that much I was sure of. But there was something else in her eyes: hope. And it was all pointed at me. She really believed in me when I hardly believed in myself…

Author's Note

Blah, yet another update. Not much else to say here.

Act 3 Chapter 17

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 17: Forced Open

Everything in Ponyville seemed to change after that. The streets suddenly became empty. Now that everyone knew the truth, they were more afraid than ever. Doors were locked, windows were boarded, and businesses closed. Nopony wanted to be the next victim. Now locked in their own homes, guards standing outside their doors, I realized something.

Even though they were the victims, even though they did nothing wrong... it was like suddenly, they were the prisoners.

That night I had a guard watching over my home, but still I couldn’t sleep. But that wasn’t because I was afraid for myself, but for everypony else. I spent most of the night awake, waiting for something to happen…

And it did.

Fluttershy rose from her bed the moment she saw the light of the day shining over the horizon. Even she wasn’t exempt from the curfew. That didn’t change the fact that she wanted desperately to go back to Ponyville, to see for herself if the guards had kept everypony safe. As far as she knew, the night had been silent, not even a peep heard from the guard standing outside. Deep inside, this gave her some hope; whoever did this probably couldn’t sneak around with so many guards around.

Fixing herself up quickly, Fluttershy scurried down the stairs, walking past a still sleeping Spike on her sofa. She opened the door intent on flying towards town, but the moment she did, she was blocked by a shadow in front of her, one that was moving towards her. Fluttershy let out a small cry as it struck her and she fell to the ground. For a moment, she was panicked, enough to wake up Spike.

“W-what… what’s happening?” he asked, trying to gather himself from being woken up so abruptly. Fluttershy, in the meantime, was struggling on the floor, thinking she was being attacked. However, she soon noticed that there was no opposition. Finally calming down, she looked to see who was on top of her; with a gasp of shock, she’d realized it was the guard. But he wasn’t asleep, he was unconscious, and from the looks of it, brutally beaten.

Fluttershy’s fear turned to worry as she pushed the guard over, immediately moving to check his vitals. His neck still gave off a noticeable pulse.

“He’s still breathing,” she noted as well, letting out a sigh of relief. However, this relief was short-lived as the realization washed over her. This guard, bruised and bleeding…he didn’t just happen to fall through her open door in that condition, he had to have been propped up against it.

Suddenly, the guard’s body jolted and he let out a gasp, looking around frantically.

“R-relax, you’re safe!” said Fluttershy as she tried to keep him still. The guards took several deep breaths before calming down. As soon as he was, Fluttershy asked him the one question that mattered, “What happened?”

The guard couldn’t answer her. Not for lack of trying, but each time he tried to form a word all that came out was an incoherent rasp.

His throat is… thought Fluttershy as she checked the guard’s neck to confirm her suspicions, Collapsed…

That explained why the night was so quiet. It wasn’t that he didn’t make a sound, it was that he couldn’t make a sound. But right now, “hows” didn’t matter. She needed to do something about the guard’s condition.

“Spike, quickly, go get my first aid—“

The window behind her suddenly shattered, causing her to duck her head and cover the guard, shards flying around her, waiting until she was sure that it was done. When everything went silent once more, Fluttershy raised her head again and looked back. Her front window was now destroyed, but that wasn’t where her focus was. Her focus was on the object that was on the floor not too far from it.

From the faint light through her window, she could see it was a brick, and something was tied to it. Fluttershy’s heart raced just looking at it, her hand trembling as she went to pick it up. She unraveled the twine around the brick, freeing the papers wrapped around it. She held them in her hands for only a few seconds before her pupils shrank in horror.

There were a total of five pieces of paper, but four of them turned out to be pictures. Three of them were each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the final picture was of the Cake twins, all taken from their rooms as they slept. Tears welled up in Fluttershy’s eyes as she stared down at the pictures.

They were going to be the next victims.

Several guards converged on Fluttershy’s cottage, the injured one having long since moved to get medical attention. Of the guards stationed outside the victims’ homes, two had been incapacitated in a similar fashion. The other two guards stood in the cottage, their heads bowed in defeat. It wasn’t just the fact that the homes they were tasked to protect had been infiltrated without their knowledge that hit at their spirits. It was the fact that while two of their own had been attacked, they themselves were left untouched.

“Dammit!” yelled one of the guards as he rammed his fist into the wall, “Our first night on patrol…our very first attempt to bring some safety to this town and we weren’t able to protect anyone!” Again, he hit the wall. This time, everyone heard a small crack, and it wasn’t from the wood. While he vented, another guard was staring at the items on the table. The brick, and what was tied around it: four photos.

“Is this all that was tied to it?” the guards asked Fluttershy. She looked down at the table, again looking at the images on the photos.

“Yes…” she said, turning her gaze away. The guards let out a small sigh. All that they had was proof that the children had been taken. But there were no leads as to where that could have been. The last victim was returned within twenty four hours of her initial foalnapping. If that was the killer’s M.O. then they knew they didn’t have much time.

“Chances are, they won’t try for another victim while the foals are in their possession,” he said, rising from his seat, “I’m putting out an order to every guard in Ponyville for a mass search. We’ll turn over every single stone until we find them!”

With no more than a nod, the other guards in Fluttershy’s home began to make their way out the door. Before the last of them could walk out, he paused and turned to Fluttershy.

“You know the area better than any of us,” he said, “Is there anywhere you can think of that they might be?”

Fluttershy remained silent for a bit, thinking of a place, “There’s a cave not too far from here, up in the mountains. A while back, a dragon made its home there, but moved away soon after. Far as I know, nopony ever goes up there because of the climb.”

The guard nodded at the information and thanked her before marching the rest of the way out the door. Now all that were left were Fluttershy and Spike, left behind while the guards did what they could to find the missing ponies.

“What do we do now?” Spike asked. Fluttershy didn’t say a word, simply gazing outside her home as she watched the guards walk away. When they were out of sight, Fluttershy finally moved, making her way upstairs.

“Fluttershy?” Spike called out to her, but Fluttershy didn’t seem to hear him. Curious, Spike followed her to her room. Once inside, he watched her dig into her closet, pulling out a small chest made of familiar-looking crystal.

“What’s that?” he asked, pointing to it. Fluttershy turned to Spike as though she’d just remembered he was there. However, that lasted only a moment, as she looked back to it.

“Back when we defeated Sombra, we were given gifts by some of the Crystal Ponies,” she placed the box down and undid the lock, opening it to reveal what was inside, “This is what I was given…”

The tone of her voice, coupled with what she took out of the box, sent a small shiver down Spike’s spine. Inside of the chest was a blade made of jade, a sheath made of the same material as the chest beside it. Fluttershy stared at the blade for a small while. Not once since getting it had she viewed it as anything but decoration…until today. Pulling both items out of the box and sheathing the dagger, she put the weapon in her pocket.

“W-what are you gonna do with that?” he asked, his worry finally hitting its peak. Fluttershy let out a sigh and turned to Spike, staring to him with furrowed brows. She took a step closer to him and kneeled in front of him. Placing her hands on his shoulders, Fluttershy pulled Spike in for a hug.

“Stay safe, Spike,” she said, only serving to scare Spike even more.

“What do you mean??” he asked, “What are you going to do!?”

Fluttershy didn’t say anything else. Without a word, she made her way out of her home and took to the sky. As she flew, she pulled out a folded piece of paper from her pocket…the note that she didn’t tell the guards about.

Come to the highest peak of the Ghastly Gorge, and come alone. If you tell anyone where you are going or bring anyone with you, then their blood will be on your hands.

The note was clear. It no longer mattered how scared she was, or how useless she felt. She wasn’t going to allow them to die, even if it meant she would have to fight alone.

“Ghastly Gorge…”

Fluttershy had visited this area on several occasions in the past, and though it had several dangerous creatures in its depths, Fluttershy was never afraid of it. This time was different, however. Now her visit came with a risk. Somewhere in this large trench, the Cake twins and the Crusaders were being held captive. And at that moment, whether or not they’d be returning with her depended on what happened next. But first, she knew she had to find them.

Taking to the skies once more, Fluttershy began to scan the area, searching for what might be the highest point in the gorge. There were several points that rose above it, each rising higher than the last. As the time passed she wondered how long it would take. The gorge stretched on for miles, and she wasn’t sure how long the foalnapper would wait.

“Fl……shy!”

Fluttershy paused for a moment, her ears flicking up at the sound. She began to look around, convinced she just heard it.

“Fluttershy!” Again, but much louder. At first it sounded like an echo, but she quickly realized the shout was clear. It couldn’t have been too far from where she was. She continued to look around frantically, trying to pinpoint the source as it continued to call for her. After a few tense seconds, she finally found it.

High above her, extending from the side of the stone wall was a large branch with a rope tied around it. At the end of the rope was a net; a net which held the kidnapped foals. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were all calling to her for help. They also held Pound and Pumpkin in their arms, trying in vain to calm them.

“I’m coming!” Fluttershy called out, racing towards the net. However, as she drew near, fully intent on freeing them just as soon as she could, Fluttershy was off-guard.

“Look out!” One of them called out, too late to warn her. Fluttershy didn’t get a chance to react as something crashed into her from behind, getting a firm grip on her long mane. Before she knew it, she was rammed into the near wall.

Fluttershy screamed in pain as her head bounced on the hard surface. It didn’t end there as she was forced back down, watching as she continued to fall, dazed from the first hit. Finally, she slammed into something else, her face buried into what felt like a mix of straw and tree bark. She tried to lift her head, but the force pushing down on her proved stronger.

“Pathetic…” This new voice was feminine, deep, dominating and scorn-filled, “I was hoping to have my chance against the blue one. She might have put up a decent challenge.”

Fluttershy felt the force reverse, her head now being forced upwards so she could see who had attacked her. A small trail of blood leaked down her forehead due to the impacts.

“Instead, I’m stuck with this!” Again, she felt a pull on her, one strong enough to pull her to her feet. Finally, Fluttershy could face her attacker.

Her attacker was a foot taller than her. The exposed parts of her skin were pale white, the rest of her body covered in matted green feathers. She had wings, but her wings and arms were one and the same. In the back of Fluttershy’s mind, a memory began to come forth.

A Harpy… she thought, going over what she knew. Harpies weren’t native to Equestria. Their homeland was almost on the other side of the world. Though they weren’t as strong as Griffons, Harpies, she knew, were one of the most vicious predators to take to the skies. It didn’t take long for the dots to connect.

“You…” Fluttershy said, “You killed that foal…”

As soon as she did, the harpy gave a sickening, prideful smile.

“That’s right. And soon…” One of her hands went up to point towards the net, “They will be next.”

It hadn’t even been two minutes since Fluttershy first encountered the harpy, and already she was at a disadvantage. With only two hard blows, Fluttershy had been rendered immobile, her head still throbbing with pain. Furthermore, the harpy had a firm grip of her mane. Try as she might, Fluttershy couldn’t break free.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to experience this,” the harpy sneered, satisfaction in her features, “The total look of hopelessness in my prey’s eyes. And right now, I have plenty to choose from.”

“No, please!” said Fluttershy, “They have nothing to do with this! Just let them go, it’s me you want!”

Again, Fluttershy felt her mane being tugged on, letting out a yelp of pain as she was nearly pulled from the ground.

“You of all ponies have no right to be making any demands!” the harpy hissed, “And what I want is irrelevant…” With her other hand, the harpy placed a talon against Fluttershy’s throat, just enough for her to feel the sharp tip.

“I could end you here and now…snuff out your light and leave your remains to the vultures,” To make her point, the harpy slowly moved her talon across Fluttershy’s neck, sending chills down her spine, “But that’s not what I was ordered to do…”

Fluttershy was already feeling her nerves leaving her; at that moment, she couldn’t bring herself to talk. The threat of the talon “slipping” kept her mouth shut.

“I’m here because of your cowardice; because you thought that you could simply leave before the game was done.”

Fluttershy let out a small gasp, staring back at the harpy with a look of disbelief.

“What I was ordered to do is to ensure that you suffer… for all that has happened up until this point was because of the choice you made. That foal’s blood, as well as all of my other victims, will now fall on your hands. And I will enjoy making you watch every second of it until the moment when you finally break. Only then can I end it all, and when the time comes, I will return what remains to your friends.”

The harpy’s voice never once lost the cruel, heartless tone. Every single word dripped with bloodlust. But she didn’t know that most of her words had gone unheard. From the moment Fluttershy had heard what had brought all this pain to Ponyville, she had been lost in her head.

It was my fault all this time… all because I was too scared to fight…

Slowly, Fluttershy began to reach into her pocket. The harpy didn’t even notice.

Too weak to be of any help to anypony… always hiding behind something…

Fluttershy recovered her hidden weapon; the jade blade. Fluttershy finally snapped out of her mind, unsheathing the blade from her pocket, she swung the razor-sharp blade through the air.

She moved just fast enough for the harpy to be unable to respond. Meeting no resistance, Fluttershy sliced off a large portion of her mane. Finally free, Fluttershy fell to the ground, but it wasn’t for long as she stared up at the harpy. She needed an opening, just long enough to make her move, and she had a good idea on how.

In that moment, that door in her head creaked open just a bit. Her eyes now filled with the strong ferocity of her Stare. The harpy looked at her, a look of surprise in her eyes. Fluttershy had thought it worked; her Stare hadn’t failed her before (except on Discord). Seeing her moment, Fluttershy lunged forward, hoping to disable her opponent. But before she could get in range, the harpy smirked, and something happened.

In that moment, a wave of fear hit Fluttershy dead-on. Not only did she stop dead in her tracks, but she fell back to the ground. She couldn’t explain what happened. It wasn’t just that her Stare had failed her on a much more dangerous adversary, but it was as if it had been thrown right back tenfold.

In her past, Fluttershy had experienced many different levels of fear. Up until that point, she thought that dragons were her worst fear. But that was trumped in that instant; the very moment she was hit by the harpy’s gaze, her whole body simply froze. Even now that the wave of fear had stopped, she could still feel it in her bones, in her very soul. Now, all she could do was sit there, her body paralyzed as the harpy stepped closer.

“Well now, that was a surprise,” she said, kneeling down, “To think that someone like you could manage such a gaze.”

Her hand shot forward, wrapping around Fluttershy’s neck and forcing her on her back.

“But I have witnessed things that would shatter your fragile mind, both here on the outside, and in that infernal hell-hole. It will take a lot more than a simple glare to win this game.”

Slowly, the harpy raised her hand, “To survive, you need not only the will to fight… you need the strength to do what others will not! That is the key to survival!”

The hand came down, the talons plunging into Fluttershy’s shoulder. The sudden jolt of pain snapped Fluttershy back into reality. Fluttershy screamed in pain as she grabbed on to the harpy’s wrist with both hands, trying to yank it out. She didn’t have the strength, however, and instead the claws only dug in deeper.

“And those who lack it…can do nothing more than struggle as their end draws near,” Finally, she removed her claws from Fluttershy’s shoulder, her claws and palm dripping with her blood. Moving her hand to it, she placed a single talon in her mouth, savoring the flavor, “Oh…you are delectable, much better than my last meal…”

Fluttershy let out a small gasp, her pupils growing wide as the statement washed over her.

“The foal…you…”

The harpy gave a wicked laugh in response, her fangs shown to be stained red as she did so.

“No sense of time…no need for sleep, not even a sense of hunger…I felt nothing while I was imprisoned. Yet still, I craved for one thing and one thing alone, the satisfaction of the hunt…the kill! Even after finally seeing the light of day once again, I had to restrain my bloodlust until the day I was finally let loose. Finally, I was free to sedate my hunger!”

The harpy finally released her hold on Fluttershy, taking a few steps away from her with her back turned.

“Oh, but in my haste to once again taste flesh, I found that I was out of practice. I usually take my time with meals…play with them…tenderized…and seasoned,” she turned back to Fluttershy, her brows furrowed with a frown on her face, “To my displeasure, she came out tasting horrible. Sadly, I had little option. I had to send her back.”

She let out a small, disappointed sigh, before quickly sneering once more.

“But worry not… because I will have plenty of time to hone my skills,” her gaze shifted back to her captured prey. Fluttershy sat quietly, sitting up right as she placed a hand over her injured shoulder. Her eyes opened wide as her head was tilted towards the ground, but while she appeared to be awake, her eyes were void of any signs of consciousness, as though her mind was in a different world.

For a second time, Fluttershy found herself staring at it, at the broken-down reflection of her home. She stood at the other side of the bridge that connected to it, staring with a solid expression to the dilapidated cottage. As she took her first step forward, she once again heard the shriek, but she did not flinch this time. She simply continued to walk forward, locking her eyes onto the reinforced door put there by Discord. In her hand was the very key that could unlock it, and free the beast within.

Only when she was a step away did Fluttershy finally stop. She gazed at the keyhole, then down to the key in her grasp. She could hear the pounding from the inside. Her other self wanted to be let out, and Fluttershy was going to grant her wish. But first…

“I need you to listen to me,” the beating stopped, everything going silent, “For years I kept you locked away, afraid that you might hurt somepony or worse. But I’ve come to realize there are some who kindness can’t reach.”

“So I need to fight your battles again, is that it?” For the first time, her other self spoke. While her voice was identical at the core, everything else was different. The voice was full of anger, and full of strength. Strength that Fluttershy needed now more than ever.

“We may have different minds, but we share the same battle. This is our fight, no matter how you want to look at it,” she said, “But if you’re going to fight, then you have to fight on my terms.”

There was no response for a time, but Fluttershy was patient.

“Fine…” her other self said.

Satisfied, Fluttershy inserted the key into its slot, and turned it. As soon as she did, there was a light that shone from around it. The sound of locks coming undone echoed. When the light faded, the door began to creak open, revealing something inside. From the shadows, she stepped out. Outwardly, she was a spitting image of Fluttershy, right down to the clothes that she wore. Aside from the clothes on her other self being slightly ripped in places, there were two differences that really set them apart. Her other self had a single black streak in her mane, and a totally dominant look in her eyes.

“So, is this how it’s going to be now? I stay locked away until you need me, then put me back in my cage?” she asked, her brow furrowing as she spoke. Fluttershy stared back at her other self for a moment. Then, she looked to the key on the door.

The very next thing her other self knew, Fluttershy broke the key. Now holding the broken piece, she looked back to her.

“I’m not afraid of you anymore, and I won’t keep you locked away. From now on, this is your home just as much as it is mine,” Fluttershy then smiled and extended a friendly hand.

“So let’s fight together.”

With her gaze locked on to her catch, the harpy’s mind flooded with what she might do with them, never once paying attention or noticing what was happening behind her.

Her face hidden by the darkness, her head bowed, Fluttershy began to rise again.

“Your name…” Fluttershy said, getting the harpy’s attention, “You have one, right?”

“So you can still stand, can you?” the harpy asked, but Fluttershy was adamant about getting an answer.

“I want your name,” her voice was more commanding this time, and the harpy didn’t like it.

“I see you still haven’t learned your place,” the harpy observed, “Maybe I need to teach it aga—“

In that moment, Fluttershy lifted her head, allowing the light to reveal the rest of her face, once more using her Stare. This time, it gave off an even greater intensity than usual. The harpy paused for a second as the feathers on the back of her neck stood up, her instincts telling her that there was danger. The harpy lowered her stance and extended her claws as her eyes went slit.

“You may call me Silver Talon, and I take it back,” One last time, the harpy grinned, but this time, it was filled with the joy of battle, “You might have some fight in you after all.”

Author's Note

And here we are and stuff. Now I guess next we'll see how "Fluttercruel" fights.

Act 3 Chapter 18

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 18: Flight of Brutality

Though Fluttershy had finally released her other self, she was still at a disadvantage. Her body had already been damaged while her opponent hadn’t been scratched at all. Even though she was injured, even though she was bleeding, she found herself calm. Right now, she was concerned with the children hanging not too far away, and her opponent before her. Silver Talon was staring back, her stance lowered, prepared to lunge at any given moment. The talons on her feet scraped at the wooden surface of the nest as both stood silent, staring each other down.

Neither blinked, simply waiting for the other to make a move. Talon moved first, charging at Fluttershy, using her wings to propel herself faster. When close enough, she lifted her left talon up, aiming high and extending it out. Though the attack was swift, Fluttershy was able to react just in time to avoid the attack, rolling a safe distance away.

Talon wasn’t about to let her get away, however. Using her one foot on the ground, she turned her body around, lunging once more. Fluttershy had yet to get up from the ground; seeing her chance, Talon dove towards her. Before she could attack, Fluttershy’s body turned at a great speed. In that moment, Talon felt a pain surge on the side of her forehead, a flash of white temporarily blinding her.

She rolled on the nest for several feet, almost falling off the edge, but she managed to grab on just in time. Shaking her head, she placed a hand on the part of her head that throbbed painfully. With a scowl on her face, she looked back to Fluttershy. She was standing once again, looking down at her. In one hand was a large piece of wood that came from the nest. One end of it was broken, letting Talon know exactly what had struck her.

“Are cheap attacks all you’re capable of?” she said, rubbing her forehead. Fluttershy tossed the stick away, extending her hand and beckoning Talon to come closer with her fingers.

“Come find out,” she said, a small smirk appearing on her face. Talon began to grind her fangs in response to Fluttershy’s sudden ego boost.

“Why you little…!”

She’s mad… said a meek voice in Fluttershy’s head, but that only increased the smirk on her face.

Good, The crueler personality said back.

Talon charged once more, running at Fluttershy this time. Fluttershy put up her guard, prepared for Talon’s attack. As she grew closer, Talon suddenly made a sharp turn. In an instant, she had vanished from Fluttershy’s sight. The next instant, Fluttershy felt a sharp pain in her back. She grunted in response, but didn’t lose her composure. She turned quickly to see Talon’s claws soaked in blood from the new wound, prepared to go for another.

Flapping her wings, Fluttershy was able to fly backwards just fast enough to avoid another cut. The fabric of her shirt wasn’t so lucky. As she landed, she found Talon was on top of her once again, thrusting both hands at her.

With no time to avoid them, Fluttershy had only one option. Before Talon’s attack could make contact, Fluttershy grabbed Talon by the wrists, stopping her attack. Talon was far from done, however. She continued to push her weight, causing Fluttershy to slide back.

“I will admit,” Talon said, “You are filled with surprises today. But no matter how many you throw at me, there is still something you lack.”

Once more, Talon pressed down with her strength, forcing Fluttershy down to a knee.

“Expertise, my dear; that is where the gap between us truly lies,” she continued, pressing down a bit more, “I have honed mine through hundreds of prey, growing more and more skillful with each. But you, even with your newfound bravado, are not a fighter. So tell me, what could someone such as you possibly have any expertise in?”

Fluttershy didn’t respond at first, bowing her head as she let out a breath. She then looked back up at Talon with unshaken eyes and said:

“Biology,” Fluttershy abruptly let go of Talon’s wrists, the sudden vanishing of the counter weight causing her to fall forward. As she did so, Fluttershy came up, lunging her head forward as hard as possible, colliding with Talon. As her head-butt collided, there was a splash of blood. It wasn’t her own.

Talon staggered back as Fluttershy finally made some distance between them. The first thing she noticed as the blood flowing down her face. Checking it, she found that the cut was just above her forehead, the same spot where Fluttershy had hit her mark with the nest part. She tried to wipe away the blood, but no matter how much she tried to get it off, it just kept flowing.

“It’s no use,” said Fluttershy, “Unless you properly treat that wound, the bleeding won’t stop any time soon.”

Talon growled at Fluttershy, instantly noticing that her vision had been impaired due to the flow.

It’ll throw off her depth perceptions, but she’s still dangerous, thought the meek side. The aggressive side agreed completely, but knew she had to remain calm. They were still at a disadvantage in terms of damage. And as Talon said, Fluttershy’s body was not built for a deathmatch, let alone a battle. But still, she had something that would help even out the ground: Fluttershy’s vast knowledge of nearly every creature around the world...and her newfound willingness to use it to her advantage.

This time, it was Fluttershy who charged, using her wings to add to her speed. Talon was fully prepared, sure that her combat experience would make short work her the moment she got close. In an instant, Fluttershy vanished from Talon’s sight. Caught off guard, she stepped back, looking around in an attempt to find her. All she managed to find, however, was a sharp and painful jolt of pain run through her from behind.

Quickly, she turned around, swiping her claws through air as Fluttershy avoided another claw strike by hopping back. Talon tried to step forward to pursue, only to find herself limping as the pain continued to pile on.

“W-what was that?” she stuttered.

“That…was one of your kidneys,” Fluttershy said, “I don’t know how many you’ve torn open to sate your appetite, but I do know that no matter how many times you’ve seen the inside of someone, you’ll never know how the body works like I do.”

Talon didn’t appreciate the mocking undertone in Fluttershy’s voice. She dug her talons into the ground and pushed herself forward as hard as she could, propelling herself above Fluttershy. Talon brought down her legs and swiped at her. Though Fluttershy avoided this strike as well, only losing a bit more of her mane, she also played into Talon’s claws. Talon continued to drop, opening her mouth wide and biting down on Fluttershy’s shoulder hard.

Her razor sharp teeth cut into Fluttershy with little effort causing her to yelp slightly in pain. She intended to pull back and take a chunk of flesh with her, but she didn’t get the chance. Her head was locked in place; Fluttershy had wrapped both arms around it as hard as she could. Using Talon’s body for support, Fluttershy brought her knee up with as much force as she could muster. The strike not only sent another jolt of pain through Talon, but also succeeded in opening her mouth as the wind had been knocked out of her.

“And that…was your liver,” said Fluttershy as Talon buckled. Fluttershy wasn’t done, once again striking Talon in the same spot with a knee. With her hands around her stomach, Talon took a few steps back before falling to her knees. As she sat there, gasping for air, her mind couldn’t comprehend it.

I-I’m losing… to her…?! Talon looked up at Fluttershy, not much better off than she was. Her top was covered in her own blood, her legs shaking. She could hardly stand on her own two feet, and yet she still managed to do this to her, a seasoned killer; someone who was deemed too dangerous to live among others.

Unacceptable! Talon’s eyes burned read as her anger peaked. One last time, she charged, ramming into Fluttershy and pushing both of them over the edge of the nest.

The two began to fall, quickly picking up speed as they fell deeper into the ravine. Fluttershy struggled to get free from Talon’s hold, but she refused to let go. In fact, each time she tried to get free, the hold seemed to get painfully tighter.

“You’re going nowhere!” screamed Talon as she dug her claws into Fluttershy to better her hold, “You think you can humiliate me and get away with it!? Well, think again! I’m dragging us both down to hell!”

She’s insane! was the response of the meek Fluttershy.

I noticed! the aggressive side shouted back, bringing down her elbow on Talon’s back. Each time, the harpy twitched, but she refused to let go. Time was quickly starting to run out. If she didn’t think of something quick, she’d hit the ground, being used as the cushion to break Talon’s fall. It’d all be over if she couldn’t pop out of this hold. Pop…

Fluttershy’s eyes opened wide as an idea flashed into her mind. With little time left, she had to move quickly. Fluttershy used all of her might to push one arm between the two of them, slipping it under Talon’s arm. It was hard, and the movement caused Talon to further cut into her body. Right now, though, she could handle the pain. With her other, free arm, Fluttershy placed her hand on Talon’s shoulder and twisted her own body in preparation.

“If you think you have the strength to pry my arm, then forget it!” Talon shouted, “There’s nothing you can—“

Talon stopped, a sound echoing right next to her ear, sounding just like a pop. In that moment, everything seemed to slow down. The first thing she noticed was her arm moving without her input, releasing its grip on Fluttershy. The next was a yellow elbow which struck her in the side of her head. The force of the strike not only caused her to fully release her grip, but also turned her over mid-fall.

Now, she could see Fluttershy above her, opening her wings to slow her fall. Next, she saw her own arm, dangling in the wind. She tried to move it, but nothing happened, as though her arm was no longer her arm. Only then did she figure it all out.

So that was your goal… Talon thought to herself. What she thought was an attempt to force her arm off turned out to be much cleverer. Fluttershy’s real goal had been to dislocate her shoulder, rendering her arm useless… and she succeeded. One last time, Talon smirked. She’d thought this would be an easy battle, that she would have wasted her time. Yet now she found herself literally being looked down on by the one mare she underestimated. It was her loss, and she accepted it, right up to the point where she made impact with the ground.

Fluttershy’s aggressive side wasn’t soft by any means, but even she found it better to turn away when Talon hit the ground. She let out a sigh as the echo of the collision with solid earth echoed in the ravine. After a few seconds, she opened them again, seeing Talon motionless on the ground.

Is she…?

She ignored the question, slowly descending so that she could find out for herself. When she landed, the sight wasn’t pretty. Though there was no signs of blood, Talon’s body hadn’t moved.

“Even with everything you’ve done,” Fluttershy said, “I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”

She bowed her head for a moment, preparing herself to save the foals. Before she could, she heard a cough. She looked down and saw it. Talon was moving, but not much.

“D-don’t need your…s-sympathy,” she stuttered, having a hard time talking due to the newly broken bones. Despite this, she was still smirking, “Looks like it’s over. Y-you beat me. Pity, I was looking f-forward to wrecking more lives…”

“You should consider yourself lucky you survived,” said Fluttershy, only to be met with Talon’s laughter.

“Yes, lucky, I g-get to live to see myself…get put back in Tartarus, if a certain s-someone doesn’t decide she’s done with me, that is…”

Fluttershy tilted her head, kneeling down beside Talon.

“You mean the one behind all this, don’t you?” she asked, “Who is she?”

Talon looked towards Fluttershy in silence for a moment. She had been beaten and broken in battle, and now the victory wanted to know just who was pulling the strings. The silence stretched on for several seconds longer, and then her smirk widened even more.

“Maybe… I can cause at least one more p-pony some grief.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Talon felt a pressure in her chest, as if something was constricting her heart.

“I’d rethink what you’re about to do if I were you! I might yet let you live!” The voice of her boss lit up in her head, but she didn’t care at this point. She wanted to go out on her own terms, and this was her chance.

“Her name is…!” There was a burst, her chest seemingly expanding as her back arched. Blood ran down the sides of her mouth as she gasped for air.

Her final, dying breath was with one final word: “N…Nor…ma…”

I stood there for a long time, just staring at her dead boy. A part of me just couldn’t believe what had happened. After so many days of fear and regret hanging over my head, I couldn’t believe it was over. And I just couldn’t believe that I had won.

The fight was finally over, and Fluttershy could feel herself relax for the first time in days. Once again, she found herself in the world within her mind. She wanted to speak with her other side once more. The two stood in the meadow of flowers, staring into the distance in a comfortable silence.

“So, what happens now?” her aggressive side asked.

“Don’t you remember what I said?” asked Fluttershy, “This is your home just as much as it is mine. You’re a part of me, even if I didn’t want to accept it before,” She turned to her other side and put a hand on her shoulder, “I’m not locking you away anymore.”

Her other side’s eyes opened slightly in surprise, glassing over slightly. For a moment, she turned her head away. Fluttershy swore she heard a sniffle.

“I guess you do have a soft side,” Fluttershy said with a smile.

“S-shut up, I just have something in my eye,” her other side responded, but this only caused Fluttershy to giggle, “A-anyway, we still have to bring those foals back. Our body’s pretty beat up right now, but I think I can manage the fly back.”

“No, you’ve done a lot already,” said Fluttershy, “Let me take care of the rest.”

Her other side looked to her before a moment before nodding, “So what should I do now?”

Fluttershy turned for a moment and looked up at the sky.

“It’s a beautiful day,” she said, looking back, “Why don’t you enjoy it?”

With that, she faded away, leaving her other side alone. She stood there for a moment, taking in what she’d just been told.

“Enjoy the day, huh?” she chuckled. Slowly, she sat down on the meadow, laying down on the ground. She could feel the warmth of the ground. She could smell the flowers all around her. She had been out before, for sure, but never once had she experienced freedom like this.

“I could get used to this.”

There is an old saying that has been proven time and again, from crisis to crisis: “Misery loves company.” Inside of Sugar Cube Corner gathered the parents and guardians of the missing foals. They had all found one another during the search, joining their efforts in hopes they might find the young ones. But as the hours passed, as they searched through each and every dark corner Ponyville had to offer, their hopes slowly crumbled away.

But as the search stretched on beyond the borders of Ponyville, as it drew closer to what most knew were dangerous territories, they found that they were not allowed to continue further. By this point, the guards took over the search, and they were left to wait. Even as they sat together, even as they tried to find comfort in one another, they could not easy the anxiety that consumed them.

“What if they can’t find them in time?!” asked Cup Cake, her hands on her head, a frantic look on her face. She had heard what had happened to the other mother’s foal. She wondered if that was something she’d have to witness as well—would she have to bury her children? The mere thought nearly caused her to have a breakdown, one not even her husband could help deter.

Granny Smith was in no better condition. She had already suffered a loss in the family in her past. She wasn’t sure if her old heart could take the strain if it happened one more time. Everyone sat in silence, powerless to do much of anything but wait. They prayed the worse would not come, but were unable to shake the feeling that it might.

Seconds turned to minutes, then those turned to hours, with no results. Nothing happened, not even a knock on the door. The silence began to grow maddening, enough so that they wished for a sound, anything, and they got it. Outside, they began to hear something, several voices, all of which were yelling.

“Miss, wait, you have to be treated!”

Big Mac was the first to act at the sound, slowly rising from his seat. The others watched as he walked up to the window, searching for the cause of the commotion. In the distance, he saw something, something slowly making its way towards the shop. He wasn’t sure what it was at first, but when he did, his response was one sharp gasp.

The others watched as he ran out the door without saying a single word, quickly following after him, wondering just what he saw. Once they all were outside, they could finally see what he had seen, and it was enough to bring tears to their eyes—tears of joy, that is. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were slowly walking towards them, accompanied by a wounded Fluttershy carrying the twins.

Everyone ran towards them, not only embracing the returned foals, but checking on who had saved them. Fluttershy had been able to return to Ponyville in her condition, but it took whatever stamina she had left in her. She collapsed the moment everyone was reunited. She could hear the guards converging around them, many calling for medical help—“Celestia knows she needs it.”

I think I passed out sometime after that. The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital already patched up. I spent a few hours there and filled the guards in on what had happened. At the time, there was nothing more I would have wanted than to just let my wounds heal, but I had to convince the doctors to let me go.

Even though I’d saved the foals, even though Silver Talon was no longer a threat, there was still one more thing I had to do…

Author's Note

And there we go. Again. Not much to say about this. Next chapter will be the last of this arc, and with that we move into the next. As always, feedback is appreciated.

Act 3 Chapter 19

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 19: Out of the Penalty Box

Word of what Fluttershy had done spread quickly while she was being treated in the hospital. By the time she was released, everypony in town had learned of it. As she walked through the streets everyone she passed looked at her with nothing but unparalleled admiration. They knew that she was the mare who had stopped the foal killer. But no matter how many smiles and praises she received, Fluttershy could only feel hollow. She’d stopped Silver Talon, sure; she’d saved the other foals she’d kidnapped, yeah. But all that didn’t change the fact that this all could have been avoided.

She knew the truth that everyone else didn’t; that is, why Silver Talon had been sent to Ponyville while the others were away. She knew they would likely never know, and telling them wouldn’t change a thing. There was, however, one pony she had to tell. She deserved to know the truth more than anyone else—why Fluttershy couldn’t bring herself to just sit in a hospital bed.

Her trip took longer than she expected; maybe it was the numbness from her injuries, or maybe it was the apprehension about what she was going to do. However, she wasn’t going to let it stop her. Fluttershy pushed on until she reached her destination: a single home in Ponyville; the one where half of Ponyville had once gathered.

Fluttershy now stood on the doorstep, a clear bloodstain just on her right. A knot formed in her chest as she remembered the screams she’d heard on that day.

No turning back, she thought to herself as she knocked on the door. Several seconds passed by before the door finally opened, and the mare she had come to see stepped out: the mother of the now-dead foal. Just like the last time Fluttershy had seen her, she looked utterly disheveled, as though it was taking every ounce of her willpower just to function.

“You?” she said in surprise, the smallest of smiles spreading across her lips. No doubt word had reached her by now. Fluttershy could only feel the guilt inside of her grow at the sight, knowing full well that whatever the mother saw in her would come crumbling down when she learned why everything happened…

“There’s something I need to tell you,” Fluttershy said in a serious tone, “It’s…really important.”

“O-okay,” The mother stepped aside to allow Fluttershy to enter, closing the door behind them once they were inside. Now both of them made their way towards the living room where they stood in silence. The mother looked back at Fluttershy, noticing the look in her eyes. It looked to her like Fluttershy was struggling with something within her own mind. The silence of the room stretched on for several seconds, before it was broken by the sound of Fluttershy taking in a deep breath.

“I guess you’ve heard what happened by now,” Fluttershy finally said. The mother smiled a little more, nodding her head in response.

“Y-yes, hard not to, honestly,” the mother chuckled, “You’re the talk of the town now,” Tears trickled down her cheeks, “I’m so happy… nopony else had to go through what I did.”

She closed her eyes tightly as she grit her teeth, fighting to keep herself from crying again. Fluttershy’s heart bled out for her. She had without a doubt gone through more grief than any mother should. But Fluttershy knew it was now or never. She definitely couldn’t stall any longer.

“It was my fault.”

At Fluttershy’s words, the mother paused. Her eyes opened as she stared at Fluttershy, a confused look on her face.

“What?”

“When the Royal Guards came to town, and Mayor Mare explained to everypony what was happening, you were only told a part of the truth,” Fluttershy explained, the mother listening intently to every word, “When the escaped prisoners of Tartarus contacted Princess Celestia…it was to start what they considered a game. Only the other Elements of Harmony and I were the ones who were supposed to be the other players…

“But when the first attack happened, when that lion raided the town…I thought I’d seen my place. I wasn’t just afraid, I was useless. While all my friends were doing everything that could, I stood at the sidelines. When it was all over and everyone was happy that they’d accomplished something, I could only feel ashamed. I couldn’t do anything, and I’d convinced myself that I never would.

“So when the time came that we would have to fight again… I chose to walk away. I thought that if I went with them that I’d just be a liability to everyone. But at the time, I didn’t know that my choice had consequences,” Finally, it was time for her to say exactly what the mom deserved to know.

“Because I decided not to fight, the other prisoners decided I needed to be punished. So they sent one to Ponyville, and she was the one who took your foal from you…all because I was too weak to fight.”

When Fluttershy had finished, both went into another long silence. The mother’s body language had changed after hearing the story, showing that she was struggling to come to terms with what she’d learned.

“Why…why did you tell me all this?” she asked, her eyes shadowed by her mane.

“Because if I don’t, I’ll never be able to let go of who I was,” Again, there was silence, the mother staring back at Fluttershy, a scowl taking form on her face. However, the stillness was broken…by the sound of the mother’s palm striking Fluttershy’s face. The sound of the slap echoed through the room, and the force of it made her turn her head. She’d expected this response.

The mother turned her head away from Fluttershy now, tears continuing to stream as she sobbed silently. Fluttershy only nodded to herself. She’d accomplished what she’d come here to do, and now she was sure she’d overstayed her welcome. Only when she’d walked past the mother and toward the door, the mother moved, putting a palm to Fluttershy’s shoulder. Fluttershy stopped, but didn’t turn around, instead waiting for the mom to say something.

“Is she really dead?” she asked, “The one who took my foal?”

“I watched her go with my own eyes…”

The mother let out a small sigh, finding some solace in knowing her foal had been avenged. But there was still one thing left to say.

“Never again are you to run from a fight,” she said sternly, “Do you hear me?”

“You have my word.”

I know she didn’t forgive me, and I honestly don’t think she ever will. Not that I blame her… but I still made that promise to her…and to myself that day…

I’m not going to run anymore. I’m done being afraid.

Everyone listened to Fluttershy as she told her tale. Everyone was in total silence as they envisioned everything they were told. It was a lot to take in. Since they departed from Ponyville, they’d all firmly believed that she would be safe. Now, however, they saw that she was in more danger than ever while they were away. Many emotions were felt as they heard the story, from regret, knowing they’d left Fluttershy to face Talon by herself, all the way to anger, learning of what the prisoner had managed to do before being stopped.

But through the mixed emotions, there was one thing that her friends felt more than anything else; pride. Faced with a threat, Fluttershy didn’t run. She chose to fight, and in the end she lived to tell the tale. Just by looking at her now, they could see that she’d grown a lot in only a few days. Everything she’d gone through made her stronger. Without a doubt, that was the only silver lining in this whole ordeal, as little as it seemed.

“I’m proud of you, ‘Shy,” said Rainbow as she held her friend closely. She’d been worried about her since they left. At least now she knew for sure that Fluttershy was safe.

“We all are, darling,” said Rarity as she place da hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder. A moment later, Rarity made Fluttershy sit down and wrapped a tarp around her neck, “Now if you’ll sit down and relax, I’ll have your mane fixed in no time.” Somehow, she’d kept herself from following her impulse while she heard the story, but now that all had been said, she absolutely couldn’t hold herself back from fixing Fluttershy’s hair.

While Rarity and Fluttershy were occupied, Applejack and Twilight were on the other side of the room.

“So the secret’s out,” Applejack sighed, “So much for keepin’ the town from freaking out. Now everypony’s afraid to step out their own homes from the looks of it,” said Applejack, “And after we’d tried to keep it under wraps…”

A few seconds passed, but Twilight didn’t respond.

“Twilight?” asked Applejack, looking over to her.

Again, there was no response. Her palm was to her chin as she looked down in deep though. While she’d heard most of Fluttershy’s story, her mind found itself slowly shutting out everything around her the moment she heard one word: a name, to be exact.

Norma… It was something in the back of her mind, but she’d felt like she’d heard it before. She was deep in thought, pushing her mind as far as she could to try to get herself to remember. But with every name she went through, every face she’d met them to, there was not one creature she’d met who had such a name. Yet she knew she’d learned of the name before this day.

But… where?

While most of the group was content to converse among themselves, two members of their ranks quietly ventured outside. The two stood there for a few moments, staring off into the distance, the story they’d heard still sinking in. This was the third prisoner of Tartarus to make themselves known. This one managed to take a life before being stopped. Each prisoner was proving to be more dangerous than the last. It wasn’t just that their viciousness had increased, but each of them was smarter than the last. And they certainly knew Silver Talon was showing restraint—had she not been kept in check by this “Norma”, she definitely would have caused untold damage.

“Just how many more…” Corey finally said, “How many more are going to die before all this is over…?”

He was still, still injured from his fight with Slayer. Though no one said it, they were worrying about what it meant – why he wasn’t healing like usual.

“No one else is going to die. We’ll stop them…”

That is… John wished he could say that. He wanted nothing more than to be able to make that promise with unshaken confidence. But he couldn’t. Each attack was planned out before they happened, and took everyone by surprise without fail. On top of that, they were under near-constant watch by the enemy. He’d never really thought that much about it until now. But now that he was, John realized how much of a disadvantage they really had.

“The deck’s stacked against us, Corey…” he said, not that Corey didn’t know already, “But there’s still a chance. Even if it seems impossible, the fact is, we’re in a world where that can be redefined at a moment’s notice. You know that…”

“You really believe that…?” Corey said dryly. Maybe it was because of what had happened to him up north, or maybe it was his cynical outlook on life in general. Currently, Corey was having a hard time finding any light at the end of this tunnel of chaos and despair. John let out a small sigh in response, leaning against the guard rail.

“I have to…” John said.

“Why?” Corey was on point with his questions today. At least this time, John knew what to say. Standing up straight, he looked back at his friend and placed a hand on his uninjured shoulder.

“Because the only other option would be to give up.”

With that, John began to make his way back into Fluttershy’s home, making sure to say his final words before entering.

“And I’d rather die than give in.”

Inside the catacombs that served as the prisoners’ hideout, an ominous bloodlust oozed through the maze of caves. This, added with the sounds of random destruction, would have caused any living soul to venture as far away as possible and not look back. And yet, one hooded figure not only managed to walk through this, but did so as though he relished in the din. Calmly, the hooded figure walked through the tunnels, the sounds growing louder with every passing step. Until, finally, the figure came to a stop at a large door. The figure raised one hand to it, coming close to knocking. But just before his knuckles could make contact, the door began to glow red. The figure quickly stepped to the side just as the door erupted from its frame, flying towards the parallel wall. The door shattered, the wall cracking severely on impact.

The figure stared at the door for only a few seconds before moving back into place, stepping through where the door once stood.

“It would be best if you kept your distance,” came a venomous voice, but the figure did not flinch.

“You seem to have quite the sour disposition now that your name was revealed…” His voice was monotone at best. It held no signs of mockery nor judgment, only stating the truth that was on the table before him. Finally, the cloaked figure stopped when he spotted another standing in the shadows.

“Though you only have yourself to blame. You stated on several occasions that we’re just your pawns. Yet still you made it a point for everyone here to know your name, for what I can only surmise as an inflated ego—“

Some say that words can hurt, but they never meant the sudden, crushing pain one could feel if their heart was grasped by a foreign hand and squeezed. The figure turned its head to face him as its eyes glowed a savage red.

“You’ve seen firsthand what happens when someone speaks against me,” the figure said, in an oddly effeminate voice, “Need I make you another example?”

Though the monotone figure had been doubled over from the pain, there was no sign of panic whatsoever in his tone.

“You can terminate me, but we both know the real reason you began this game…” A few moments later, the pain subsided, as did the glare from the effeminate leader.

“In truth, I did not come to pester you,” said the figure, showing absolutely no issue with what had happened, “I simply wish to place my piece on the board, so-to-say.”

A few seconds of silence later, their boss – Norma – finally sighed.

“Very well, but death is the least of your concerns if you fail,” said Norma, but before she could finish her statements, the cloaked figure had already begun to walk away. He’d only needed to hear the confirmation before moving out.

However, there was one thing he needed to say before departing…

“Wouldn’t dream of it…”

Author's Note

And there's the end of this arc. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, for those of my readers who celebrate it. Thanks to all who have read this far along.

Act 3 Chapter 20

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 20: Cooldown

With everyone back in Ponyville under tightened security, there really wasn’t a lot else to be done. By the end of the day, everyone knew what had happened on both ends: Fluttershy’s story and the events up north. Everyone had since more or less returned to their own homes. Though sleeping wasn’t an easy feat for most of them, all of them had managed to fall asleep. Soon, the moon set and the sun rose, making way for a new day.

He was laying down, flat on his back on the bed. However, despite an overall sleepless night, Corey just couldn’t find it in him to get back to sleep. Even though he hadn’t slept too well the previous couple of nights either. His eyelids still felt very droopy. His eyes stung with the might of insomnia. Most of all, his body felt like he was made of lead. In short, he couldn’t even find the energy to rise from bed.

So Corey just laid back, staring at the ceiling, waiting for something to get his attention, to motivate him to drag his sleep-deprived self out of bed and move on with the fresh new day. Twilight was already up, doing something downstairs. He could hear her moving about, probably trying to set things up for whatever later on. Spike was sleeping in; after what he’d experienced, he wasn’t exactly in much of a sleeping mood the night before.

Corey rolled about under the covers, trying his best to get comfortable. Maybe he could try to squeeze out another couple hours of sleep, if he just tried to get into the right position and shut his eyes...

However, as he rolled onto his left side, he let out a sharp gasp, his right hand quickly going to his left shoulder. Instantly, it felt as though a knife had been driven right back into his wound from his fight and was being twisted.

It still hasn’t healed… he thought, one eye closed from the pain, his hand clamping down slightly on the injury, Why? Every other time I was hurt it went away overnight…

After several moments, the pain started to ebb, Corey’s hand loosening its grip. Only after the pain went away again, Corey finally managed to find some energy, pushing himself up into a sitting position. He now put his right hand on the bed, instead putting his left hand in front of him, as though inspecting it for grime.

Maybe it is because of how severe the injuries I had were, but I doubt that, Corey continued, trying to figure out what was happening to him, After the fight with Lyon…the healing slowed a little, but that cleared up the next night. Twilight told me I was healing myself with magic in my sleep—runic magic, to be correct.

Corey paused for a few long moments, closing his eyes. He didn’t really want to consider it, but right now that was all he could think of. After so long of having a bizarrely convenient healing factor that fixed him up as he slept, it was jarring to have it gone. And it was tied to his runes. He hadn’t even considered trying a spell before and he didn’t exactly have a reason to the past couple days, but the fact his healing runes weren’t going off worried him now.

Does my magic even…work now? The mere thought suddenly sparked something in Corey. Though the pangs of regret were still there, now they were accompanied by panic. If my magic doesn’t work anymore because of what happened up north, there’s no way I’m going to be able to keep fighting! I’m losing sleep over it all night… it’s something that’s going to stay with me. How can I deal with it? It’s going to haunt me forever…

Corey paused, his train of thought slowing to a halt. Something was missing. His inner voice, his conscience, whatever it was… it wasn’t arguing back like it usually did. In fact, it hadn’t been ever since…

Releasing a small, shaky sigh, Corey slowly rose from the bed, determined to divert his attention before he really started to dwell on the issue. His muscles flared up a little in response, and his back became slightly sore, both of which Corey took as signs his sleepless nights were really getting to him. Though it wasn’t as bad as some mornings he’d had, the pinpricks in his back and legs were proof enough things weren’t right.

“I think…I’d better look into that book,” Corey said, “The one we found in the castle. If anything else, it should take my mind off of this…”

It didn’t take Corey too long to get ready for whatever his day would bring him, even if he wasn’t planning on going anywhere. Now, he was at a very familiar desk in the library, with a sort of familiar book in front of him—the one recovered from the castle out in the Everfree. Twilight had checked on him beforehand and said she’d come join him as soon as she got done with a few other things. Whatever that was, Corey didn’t pry.

I’ll read bad things all day… Corey thought to himself, scratching at his chin lightly as he stared at the book, Yet, when it comes to reading things that are actually important, I always skip right over it. Well, I think I know the first change I’m going to make, starting now.

Corey rested one hand on the book, eyes closing for a moment in pure reflection. There was something else about his reading habits that probably could be corrected. It wasn’t nearly as much of a problem as his incredibly questionable choice of reading material, but he could at least try to really remodel his approach to things…especially since there were no computers or PlayStations in Equestria.

This is the first time I’ve ever really done reading like this for the sake of it, Corey continued, feeling the touch of his hand on the book’s surface, This book could tell me what my magic really is… no, not “could”, it “will” have information on that, but… I don’t even know where to start…

As he completed that train of thought, Corey opened his eyes, and immediately knit his eyebrows in alarm when he saw that where his hand and the book’s surface met had changed. Where nothing was too out of the ordinary before, there was a faint, whitish-green glow underneath it. Runes weren’t radiating from his hand, but rather, the book, but it ended just as quickly as it had started.

Corey withdrew his hand, but before he could think further on what that was all about, the book moved without Corey even touching it at all—its cover sprang open, and its pages began to turn as though guided by a gentle breeze. Corey merely sat in stunned silence. Once the book stopped, Corey looked at the page it had turned to.

To begin your lessons under me, it might be best to start by defining our connection to magic, shared by all ponies. By using our innate connection with the magic within ourselves and all around us, we can use our runes to greater effectiveness than others. While usually runes would be written on scrolls and unleashed when needed to be cast, we can write our runes using our magic without the wait. Runic magic is something that comes naturally to us, due to our innate connection with the forces around us, as well as the forces within us. Much like writing out the runes manually, writing them out with magic causes them to be unique to you; it is very unlikely that two ponies will write runes the exact same way. Who you are deep down, your skills, your experience with magic, even your environment, can change the shape of the runes. However, they all do the same things when arranged in the same sequence, so this has no effect on the effects of your runic spells.

Corey momentarily lifted his glasses, rubbing at the bridge of his nose as he processed the paragraph.

“It opened…to the starting point…” Corey whispered, keeping his voice low, “Of runic magic. I just had my hand on it…”

A memory soon washed over him—how the book had been recovered in the first place. It was behind a set of locked doors, doors that Twilight couldn’t open unless she wanted to receive a counterattack of sorts. Yet, by the time it was over, his runes had apparently opened the door for everyone, allowing them to retrieve the book.

Just what’s going on? Corey thought, The book reacted to me, too?

Corey sighed, realizing he was going to distract himself from what he wanted to do. He’d wanted to read the book, and he fully intended to do so. So, he turned his eyes back to the old book’s pages, and began to read, hoping that poring over the material would give him an answer.

Some spells cast with runic magic require more runes to be written, and the same is true of our magic. The more powerful a spell one casts, the more runes are required, and the longer it will take to be cast. As we aren’t pre-writing our spells, we have to take caution when performing advanced techniques.

However, that does not mean we avoid them outright. Due to our innate connection with magic, we can perform at a much higher rate than those that use normal magic. It comes as second nature to most of us here. While complex spells do take more time, through repeated practice, a pony can overcome the timing issues. In addition, though there are quite a few defined spells in the runic language, most of which we use regularly in and out of combat, new spells are created by members of our society every day.

That being said, we won’t be covering those here. The path to mastering this connection is to start in small steps, and work from there. With that in mind, please check the runic sequences below…

Corey’s eyes scanned the simple spells listed. He couldn’t really read the runes, and he’d never really paid attention to the runes he was writing. Each of them had a basic description next to them, and while he didn’t think he’d used most of them, one of the spells caught his eye.

“A common spell among normal unicorns allows them to concentrate their magic into a single point at the tip of their horn, allowing them to fire off a laser shot. This spell will allow the caster to mimic this concentration of power; however, the focus point of the runic version can vary. With enough practice, earth and pegasus ponies have learned to focus their magic to different points of the body, namely their palms or wings…”

Squinting, Corey picked the book up, rereading the last description again, “Wait, they did that before I did?”

“Did what before you did?” Twilight asked, walking up behind him.

Corey faltered with the book a bit, but managed to right himself, “The whole…laser spell from hands thing I do.”

“Oh, that,” Twilight said, looking over Corey’s shoulder to see the pages he was on. For a moment, she was silent, but eventually found her voice again, “Hey, how’d you find this part?”

“Huh?” Corey asked, “But…didn’t you…?”

“It was an old book on runic magic,” Twilight said, immediately getting sheepish, “I…I kinda just started flipping through pages and found stuff that way. I wasn’t sure where to start, I was so excited…”

“Well…” Corey said, looking back to the book, rubbing the back of his neck, “I sat down with the book, but wasn’t sure where to look first. When I rested my hand on it, and really thought about it...the book opened by itself, to this section.”

“Y-you’re…kidding, right?” Twilight asked.

“I had the same reaction myself,” Corey said, “The door it was behind reacted to me, too, though.”

“Maybe it’s enchanted,” Twilight said, “So that those that use runic magic can get to where they need to, faster. I-I can’t say I ever thought of something like that…”

Twilight momentarily looked away, and Corey looked back to the book again. As he looked at the pages, a memory returned to him. Some of the very first pages they’d opened to wrote of a student that seemed to want to increase her power. And that frightened the teacher, whoever it was. And yet, the pages he’d just read…

“How’d we not see it before…” Corey murmured, but it was just loud enough to catch Twilight’s attention.

“What?” Twilight asked, “What is it?”

“When we first read it, it seemed more like a diary, or a journal, didn’t it?” Corey asked.

“Yes,” Twilight nodded, “There was the entry about the student who worried her teacher...”

“But then, what I read just now,” Corey continued, “I don’t think this is just a notebook. It certainly can’t be just a record of all runic magic either. It looks like it’s meant to tell you exactly what you’re doing when you go to use runic magic.”

There was a short pause, before the book was unceremoniously yanked into the air by Twilight’s magic. She started flipping through the pages at random.

“You’re right, Corey,” Twilight said, “How did we not see it before!? Looking at all this… this book is a textbook for runic magic! There’s a lot of information here…”

Twilight kept flipping through the pages, heading towards the back.

“What are you looking for?” Corey asked.

“If this book is anything like the other textbooks I’ve seen, there should be an index somewhere of who owned this book, as well as who wrote it,” Twilight explained, flipping through more and more pages. Eventually, she flipped to the right page, putting her finger on the top of the page, “Ah! Found it!”

With that, she walked over next to his seat and put the book back down on the table. Corey’s eyes followed her finger, which had made its way back to the place she was pointing to.

“Written by…” Corey read, “Esper…Wisdom?”

“And if you look down,” Twilight continued, “Those are all the names of the ponies that studied under him… or her.”

Both Corey and Twilight fell into silence as they scanned the columns of the names. Each of the names had an almost mystical quality to them. They seemed attached to concepts regarding the spirit, or ghosts. One of those two. For a while longer, they remained close to one another, until Twilight gasped.

“What is--!” Twilight reeled back a bit in shock.

“Twilight?” Corey asked, alarmed, “What happened?”

“I…I don’t believe it…” Twilight said, “Corey, look…the second column on that page… the very last name. Does that name…sound familiar…?”

Corey followed her instructions, second column on the page they were on, third entry from the bottom. At first, he didn’t immediately see what Twilight’s problem was, but then, a memory washed over him.

Silver Talon’s last word…her boss’s name!? Corey thought, and as soon as that thought completed Corey too let out a gasp.

There, on that page, close to the bottom, a small amount of white space below it, in perfectly clear writing, were two words.

“Para…Norma…” Corey finally read.

Both Corey and Twilight looked to each other at a loss for words. They both looked back to the book, unsure of what to make of the new information. It couldn’t have been a coincidence… could it?

Author's Note

And with this we start a bit of downtime before the next arc. I don't know if I ever said it before, but this act would be the darkest of them all. We're about to enter what is, in my opinion, the darkest arc I've ever had in a story. I have to thank my friend, FictionFreek for helping me out with it. Without him, a lot of this fic might be different, and might not be as good without his help. Well, anyway, hang around. I think we've passed the halfway point or so after the last arc.

So, if you've hung around this far, leave a comment telling me what's up, what you liked or didn't, and whatever else you want to say.

Act 3 Chapter 22

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 22: Missing Bits

It only took John a few minutes to reach Ponyville. Soon after landing, he made contact with the lieutenant in charge of the Royal Guards stationed in Ponyville. Luckily, the guards were informed to follow any orders given to them by the others, including John and Corey. The logic behind it was that since they were all pretty much involved in the incident already, they might need the backup, and the guards were better able to do that if they were able to say stuff to them. With that in mind, it didn’t take long to convince the lieutenant to gather the guards to a single point.

John had been in situations where he stood in front of large crowds before without so much as batting an eye. Yet still, as he gazed at the group of guards staring back at him, he couldn’t help but feel a much heavier atmosphere around him. He wasn’t going to pass this off to someone else, though. He did have some very important information to disclose, and an idea of what they could do about it.

“Not long ago I was contacted by Princess Luna,” he began, “She informed me of a disturbance that happened recently, one she can’t pinpoint just yet. But, already, we can make a reasonable assumption to what it’s about, and this time we need to be ready.”

John wasn’t exactly one to take up a leadership position, preferring to follow the orders rather than give them most of the time, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know how to take command when duty called.

“And if we’re going to do that, we need to change our strategy. Standing on guard as you’ve been now isn’t working. Our enemy is underhanded, either skilled at maneuvering unseen or attacking with great force. If we want to win this, then you have to be as sneaky as they are. No more easily seen armor, no more standing in plain sight. Change your attire, blend in with the crowd, or even go into hiding the best you can. The idea: to be able to get the drop on them before they can us.”

“You heard him,” said the lieutenant, “Everyone prepare yourselves. This will be the last time the enemy will get the upper hand on us,” With a collective salute, the guards were dismissed, off to adapt their new strategy.

Now, to tell the others… John thought to himself, thinking he’d head to the library first.

‘You have my thanks…”

John turned around to see the lieutenant staring back at him, his hand extended out.

“We know our placement here is purely cosmetic…something to help the locals feel safe. In the end, it’s the others and yourself who can put up a decent fight against these guys. But I still thank you for giving us a chance, and placing your faith in our abilities.”

John smiled back at him and shook his hand.

“We’ll win this, no matter what.”

Our connection to magic is not just limited to our ability to absorb it from our surroundings. Magic exists very strongly in living creatures that can wield it, and even the ways they wield it can speak volumes about their character. By cultivating our connection with the world around us, we can pick up a sixth sense: the ability to sense emotions. Magic is guided by the will of its user, and through careful practice, you may be able to pick up on who your enemy really is and who is not.

However, honing this sixth sense, like most other skills in runic magic, takes time and practice to get right. To be able to sense the magic in another, you must be able to remain in a steady frame of mind. Furthermore, you must be in tune with your own magic to a significant degree. Some strategies to help you achieve this are below…

Corey’s eyes scanned the pages. Though they felt heavy, Corey had pressed on through worse instances of not sleeping at night, and so he kept going. He wasn’t entirely focusing on the text, though; his head still had quite a bit of fog in it. He was finally starting to understand some of the things about runic magic. Though, this sensory section brought back some memories.

Back then… Corey remembered, straining his memory a bit. It was a bit harder to pick out with what he had gone through up north. And it certainly wasn’t easy to remember that at that time, he had been standing next to him when it happened and didn’t sense anything wrong then. However, he did remember the sensation he’d gotten, I suddenly felt a cold chill… No one else seemed to notice it. Not two seconds later, Lyon died, from the result of some kind of spell. The same one that likely killed Talon too… maybe that was a sensory ability starting to manifest?

Corey leaned back in the chair and sighed, once again reminded of his current situation. His magic wasn’t working right. He probably could have learned to sense something by now, but after Lyon he’d had no time to steady his mind whatsoever. And even now, he still wasn’t completely steady. He couldn’t sleep well at night; he would lay awake, hoping he could close his eyes and finally rest, but after what all he’d heard and what had happened it was hard to fall asleep. He just wasn’t sleeping like he used to.

If only I wasn’t who I am… Corey thought, Then maybe I could have stopped Slayer before all of that happened, before it ever got to that point…

“Corey?” At the sound of Twilight’s voice, Corey turned around, seeing her in the doorway leading into his so-called study room, “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Corey said, “Found another runic spell… I think I’d experienced it before without knowing how I did it…”

“Oh, really?” Twilight asked, walking over to him. Corey slowly turned in his chair. Sure enough, the book was still open to the sensory magic he’d found.

“Yeah,” Corey said, “Looks like the society discovered a way to sense other magic—depending on the ‘will’ of who uses it, it can cause the senses to act accordingly.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, stopping at Corey’s side and scanning the pages herself, “Hmm… did you ever… ‘feel’, I guess, anything like it?”

“Just once,” Corey admitted with a sigh, “But I never figured out why it happened or how it worked. Didn’t exactly have time to calm down after it…”

“Yeah…” Twilight said, “With all that had happened, you definitely couldn’t maintain a calm state of mind. When did you feel it, though? I just want to be sure…”

Corey hesitated for a moment, as though digging up the memory was a particularly painful one, “Right before Lyon died… I felt this cold chill. Winters back home sometimes got really cold, but this wasn’t like that. It was a deep chill, like I’d just been frozen solid. But it passed sort of like…wind, I guess…”

“Your mood went south too,” said Twilight, slowly starting to think.

“Yeah,” Corey sighed, “And then ever since, it was hard to feel happy again. Not like that’s new to me. Then, of course… well, we both know what happened up north…”

“Up north, you really got bad, yeah,” Twilight said, “but you started to change right after the fight with Lyon. Before that, while you were learning your magic, even while you were being worked to death and back, you were… I wouldn’t say upbeat, but it wasn’t like that. Hm…”

“I’d never met Slayer,” Corey said, “At least, not up north. I hadn’t been in his company until that night and I was already drowning in my own rage. I thought I’d left it behind… but it came roaring back. Maybe that’s just who I am…”

“No, that isn’t you,” Twilight said, “I’m sure of it. But I think I have an idea of what might have happened to you, if your magic’s anything like what’s described in this book. You remember Slayer’s book, right?”

“Yeah, I do,” Corey said, tightening one hand. How could he forget? The mental images of the atrocities Slayer had done were burned into his memory, after all. They would never leave.

“Well, that’s the thing. It was Slayer’s book,” Twilight said. Corey looked up, confused as to why she’d put emphasis on it, “This has happened before. Books that belonged to powerful unicorns always seemed to have this kind of thing happen to some extent. This book exudes an aura of knowledge, and even seems to have been directly enchanted by its creator to react to runic magic.”

“But Slayer’s book,” Twilight continued, “He used it to document his murders while doing them and after they happened. He poured his black soul into every page, every letter. By the time he’d dropped it in the Crystal Empire, the book itself was tainted. And…you spent the better part of a week with it in your hands.”

“So you’re saying…the book poisoned me?” Corey asked.

“The fact you already didn’t like what he was doing didn’t help,” Twilight said, “Like I said, though, it’s just a theory. But it being tainted by Slayer’s aura, together with what seems to be runic magic’s ‘sensitivity’ to the magic around it… I just don’t think it can be a coincidence.”

There was silence for a few seconds, before Corey moved to stand.

“So if what you’re saying is true,” Corey said, “Then what can I do to fix…”

Corey blinked once, but once was all it took. His vision suddenly darkened as his eyelids grew heavy, and he slumped heavily.

“Corey??” Twilight asked, quickly stopping his fall. She staggered a bit herself as she grabbed hold of him, but managed to steady him. Corey shook his head, putting part of his palm to his forehead, “You’re still not sleeping well?”

“No,” Corey flatly responded, “I haven’t been.”

“It’s really starting to pile up,” Twilight said, “You can hardly stay awake through the day anymore…”

“Every night, I’m lying back, alone with my thoughts,” Corey said, “My thoughts always take me up north. I can’t forget…any of it.”

“If you keep living in the past, it’s going to haunt you,” Twilight said, “Take my word for it. It’s not easy to let go of big mistakes, but once you do, you start to feel better.”

“I wish it were that simple, Twilight,” Corey said, “But ‘letting go’ is just something I can’t do. Not with this.”

Silence followed. It was soon broken when Twilight let out a sigh. He seemed to understand it before… what had him back here at this point?

“Hey, what did I say to you before?” Twilight asked, “You don’t have to take on the burden by yourself. That’s why you have the others… and that’s why you have me. And after what I’ve learned, I definitely can’t let you just sit all alone and punish yourself over it. If my theory is right… you weren’t in complete control of it.”

Corey looked away again, but didn’t say anything else.

“So please,” Twilight said, “Just relax for a while. At least until you’re better.”

Corey looked towards the ground, his eyes closed. Yet, despite the fact he was very close to nodding off, the act alone did not relax him completely.

“It’s just not that simple,” Corey said, “I’m alone with the memories… the pain, the cold. That’s all I can feel when I try to relax…”

It was a painful experience, no matter how he tried to look at it. Though it was clear he didn’t lose everything, Corey still felt lost anyway. He’d been lost in his rage before, and had nearly drowned so completely in it he was lost. Now, all he felt was cold and numb, except for the pain he felt. It wasn’t just the shoulder injury that refused to heal that still hurt.

A sudden warmth cascaded over his shoulders and rested there. Corey blinked and looked up, seeing Twilight offering him a warm look. One of her wings was opened over his shoulders.

“Twilight…” Corey said, “wha—“

“Ssh…” Twilight said, putting one hand to the side of his cheek, “Just relax.”

Corey looked to Twilight again, before turning his attention straight ahead of him. She continued to keep her wing over his shoulders.

“Now,” Twilight paused, her face twisting into a truly confused look. She didn’t know if she could pull it off, but she wanted to help Corey right now. He needed to rest. With that in mind, she decided to go with it, “Just listen…”

Corey’s ears twitched as he registered the sound of Twilight lightly starting to hum. At first, the tune sounded…familiar, somehow, before quickly slowing down, taking a different route. Corey removed his glasses and closed his eyes. She was going to try. He might as well…

For a few moments, he sat there, taking in a few deep breaths through his nose. Then, he slowly felt his muscles begin to relax. It had been a while since he’d felt like this while trying to nap. All the while, he continued to listen to Twilight’s humming. It was working well for him. He wasn’t even thinking about anything else, or at least, it certainly became a lot harder for him to think about anything else.

Without even realizing it, Corey’s consciousness finally left him as he entered the world of dreams.

Twilight felt Corey’s body relax as she continued to hum. As he started to slump over, clearly out like a light, she caught him, using one arm and her wing to gently guide him down onto the desk. Only when she was sure he was completely asleep did she dare stop humming. She looked down towards his face, finding that for the first time in a while, he was smiling.

I’m glad I was able to help you… she thought, Sleep tight, Corey. You definitely need it…

With that in mind, she turned her attention back to the book. There was something she definitely needed to know after hearing what he’d found. Maybe if emotional ties were related directly to runic magic, she could find something that could help him to regain control over it. So, she gently, slowly lifted the book, making sure not to wake Corey up. He was still awfully close to the book and all.

Gently lowering Corey’s head to the desk, she turned back to the book. Twilight moved, aiming to leave Corey to himself, but the instant her wing left his shoulders, he let out a small mumble, and his smile slightly faded. Her brow creased, and she shook her head as a memory washed over her. He’d only slept well once since the incident. But that moment couldn’t be recreated, at least, not this way. Well… at least, not exactly the way it was.

Twilight closed the book, securing it under one arm. Her horn lit up as she thought of how to do this. She pulled one of the chairs, which had been pushed off to the side, next to Corey’s chair, facing it. After sitting down, she then reopened her wings—both of them. With a combination of her magic and her wings, she slowly, gently turned Corey, being very careful not to wake him, until he was close enough. Only after she managed to get one arm around him did she finally stop guiding him with her magic.

Now, her magic was used on the book, opening it and levitating it off to one side. Her other arm wrapped around Corey, pulling him close—he was leaning against her chest now. Her wings then closed around him as well—specifically, his shoulders. Whatever tension had built up in Corey seemed to relax again.

Sure that he would be able to sleep now, Twilight began to flip through the pages using her magic, trying to find any information she could relating to the sensory magic—or, to the emotional tie that those who use runic magic seemed to have with their magic—a stronger one than normal ponies had, for sure.

Twilight was adept at scanning books, though she vastly preferred taking the time to reading them word-for-word. It was a necessary skill for all those reports she had to write before Ponyville, and it probably would help her now to search. Her eyes took in the words. Then, towards the back of the book, she saw it.

… Emotions are the driving force behind all magic, but to achieve a state of control beyond normal limits, it is important that you remain calm, never letting your emotions have direct control over your magic…

Stopping at the page, Twilight opened the book again, levitating in her grasp. Her eyes fell upon the heading, and immediately her eyebrows knit in curiosity.

“Highly Advanced Magic: Do Not Consult Unless Absolutely Necessary…” She’d read that sort of header before, but never did she think she’d see such a section in such an old book. Just from the general look of it all, it didn’t seem like there were any spells related to this heading. Figuring she’d opened the book to this page, she might as well have a look.

Though we boast an incredible connection with the magic in the world around us, our connections are not truly complete. Each and every day in these times, we’re faced with trials and tribulations that seem impossible to overcome. Through exercising mental and physical fortitude, we can overcome them, and each of these experiences can make this connection stronger. But sometimes, it may not be enough.

This, in itself, is a technique that should only be reserved for those that can handle it, and should only be taught to them once the core requirements have been met. The requirements are listed below:

1) Body
Having a strong connection to magic means nothing if the user’s body cannot take the strain. Runic magic, in particular, still takes a great deal of stress for us to perform with our own hands. In order to counteract the strain placed on the body, an individual must train their physical bodies.

2) Mind

Perhaps the easiest of the four core requirements to meet, though it still requires diligence on the user’s part. In order to attain the complete connection, one must practice their magic. Repetition, as noted elsewhere, will eventually diminish the mental strain that runic magic can cause.

Twilight read over the first two “core elements” again, remembering how as Corey’s physical state progressed, he was able to control more and more of his runic magic. As for his mind, well, he was already practicing his unicorn magic anyway. Perhaps the magic the pony could use naturally still counted towards that. It seemed that “body” was what Corey lacked more than mind, up until Shining worked him to his limit.

That explains that… Twilight thought, continuing to read the next point.

3) Soul

This is an important one, but ultimately not born to everyone. In order to be able to fully master the arts described in this book, you must have it somewhere inside you. Not much is known about why some ponies seem to perform better than others at this art, but part of it may be down to simple luck. As of right now, the connections between the circumstances of one’s birth and their ability to perform well at these arts is unclear.

It is important to note that even though “luck” seems to play a small factor in the use of these arts, all is not lost if you do not have this element. It will just take much longer before you can develop anything close to the kinds of arts you need here.

Twilight blinked. It wasn’t the fact that there were prodigies in runic magic—noted by the author of the book—that got to her. What got her was the fact that she knew full well Corey wasn’t “born” here at all. He’d accidentally transplanted himself to this world, and wound up with these abilities.

I guess maybe he was “lucky”, then…? Twilight asked, But even so… these runic prodigies, then… I wonder if their names were written in the back of the book.

Her brow creased as the shell of a horrifying thought came to her, Including… “Para Norma”?

Shaking her head before she could dwell on that point further, she refocused her attention to the pages, and began to read the final point.

4) Heart

As noted in many other portions of this book, maintaining a healthy emotional state is not only ideal, but practically a necessity, especially when it comes to this advanced art. Emotions are the driving force behind all magic, but to achieve a state of control beyond normal limits, it is important that you remain calm, never letting your emotions have direct control over your magic.

This attribute is also the trickiest to maintain, especially in these times. If you let yourself drown in negativity, your magic will take on that quality, and if you drown for too long, there is a great chance you may never be able to recover. That is the downside to our connection with magic.

In addition, the user’s calmness is also a factor. Even if a pony is fairly well-adjusted, and actually seems to be happy, if they falter and give in to frenzy, their magic will act accordingly. Maintaining calm even in dire situations is essential to mastering this state.

Under the right conditions, a pony’s “heart” factor can be restored to a better condition. Generally, though, if the user surrounds themselves with trusted allies—with trusted friends—they may well be able to master this step. To see other tips on how to bring yourself back up to speed, please refer to other sections in this book dealing with keeping one’s head clear.

Twilight reread the last section again. The gaps started to clear up. In addition, it seemed to prove her theory right: that Corey was seriously affected just by being in contact with the book. And he certainly wasn’t in a calm state of mind after what he’d learned about Slayer—not to mention the mess with Lyon. But things seemed to be fixable—Corey was around friends now. He wasn’t around any bad influences, nor was he particularly emotional about anything.

But he’s still got a ways to go… Twilight thought, Which isn’t unusual. Nopony could honestly still look good after almost killing someone unless they couldn’t be saved from themselves. And he can be—even if he doesn’t believe it himself.

Twilight smiled, looking back to the sleeping Corey. There was still hope, after all. However, her brows creased, and she turned her attention back to the book, which still floated in front of her the whole time. Quickly, she took the book back into her hands, the glow vanishing from her horn and the book.

But what is this advanced art? she thought, It’s obviously something that requires total control of a pony’s emotions; something that requires them to train themselves to handle such a power.

Only when all four of these core conditions have been met can this technique be used. When in use, the user’s very spirit seems to be in tune with the magic around them. This technique has only been mastered by a select few among us, including our ancestors.

This technique will—
…

…

Twilight blinked. No, that wasn’t right. When she turned her attention to the next page, she found that she wasn’t staring at any relevant information compared to this secret art. In fact, she realized, it seemed to skip straight to the author’s notes; the first entry describing what was probably “Esper Wisdom’s” first student. At first, her mind couldn’t process it at first. But as she searched between the pages again and again, the memory finally returned to her.

Some pages…are torn out… Twilight thought. She stared at the information drought—the part where the advanced art’s information cut off, her brows arched. Just what happened? Was this technique misused?

If there was ever a moment when he wasn’t sure how to proceed with making himself known, I was now. This was definitely a moment when his presence could easily make things worse. Standing outside of the study room, just around the corner of the entrance with his back to the wall, John stood in total silence. He had arrived at the library minutes ago, but long ago enough to hear the start of the moment. Corey’s insomnia wasn’t a well-kept secret. John had known for a while now, and he was sure everyone else did too.

But just like days past, John couldn’t help his friend. Yet Twilight, someone who had known Corey for no more than a month had gotten through to him more than John ever could in all the years he’d known Corey. He didn’t resent Twilight for it, though. In fact, he praised her for her ability to give Corey the help he needed, even if only in small doses. No, any resentment John held was towards himself: for his own inability to do what he wished he could, and for lacking with Twilight had.

However, John knew he couldn’t stew in self-loathing forever, and thus broke out of it. Finally deciding to take a chance, John peered around the corner to look, and what he saw warmed him. Corey was still seated at his desk, but Twilight was sitting right next to him, allowing him to lean back against her bosom, held there in her arms. Her wings had wrapped around his shoulders for warmth. And John could see it. For the first time in a while, Corey was genuinely smiling…and definitely asleep. Twilight, however, wasn’t quite looking at him, her nose in the book they had found out in the Everfree. He couldn’t see what she was looking at, but she did look troubled.

John stepped fully into the entrance, lightly tapping on the frame to announce his presence. Twilight looked up in a moment of surprise, quickly calming when she saw who it was. John raised a finger and placed it on his lips. He had intended on talking to both of them about what he’d just learned, but he didn’t want to risk waking Corey now. Luckily, he didn’t have to.

Twilight closed her eyes and let her magic flow into her horn. Moments later, a strand of magic extended out of the tip and reached for John. John watched as it grew closer and attached to his forehead before vanishing from sight. However, John felt as though his mind had a window in it.

“Huh?” John thought.

“Mental link,” Hearing Twilight’s voice in surround sound definitely took him by surprise, but John managed to not say anything to it. He chuckled lightly. She really was a mare of many talents, always having a spell ready when needed.

“Thank you,” John thought, now knowing Twilight was receiving, “I wasn’t sure how much longer he’d last.”

“I’m glad I could help,” Twilight responded, lightly setting the book aside and looking down at the soundly sleeping Corey, “Everything that’s happened…it’s really taken a toll on him.”

That was an understatement. John knew Corey hadn’t really faced hardship in his life. Not to say that John wasn’t unaffected himself by all this; he was, but Corey was reeling from every battle he’d been in. And now, after the incident with Slayer, Corey was still broken in just about every sense of the word. He was just a hollow shell of his former self. How long it’d take before he could recover, no one knew. But right now, he was defenseless, vulnerable against anyone who might want to hurt him. But John had let too much happen to him, and he was tired of it.

“Twilight, I promise you: I won’t let anything else happen to him ever again.”

Twilight finally looked at John directly for the first time, and noted how serious he looked. She didn’t need the mental link to understand something was up.

“What happened?” Twilight asked.

Almost as though they were listening, waiting for their cue, five ponies walked up behind him. Twilight knew all of them, yet somehow, it was as though she were seeing them for the first time all over again. All of them had clearly been getting ready, changing the very way they lived for when the moment was coming. And now the moment was nearly there. It would be, very soon.

“They’re coming.”

Night soon came as it always does. The moon rose high above the clouds. If one looked closely, it seemed as though it were floating directly above Ponyville itself. The town in question was void of any signs of life, the guards who watched over it having vanished without a trace. he only sound that could be heard was the blowing wind along the grass, and light thumps which grew louder with every passing second. Soon, something appeared over the horizon: a darkened figure whose cloak flailed in the wind. His path was clear: a straight path to Ponyville, with no resistance in sight. Yet still, halfway through his walk, the figure stopped, standing motionless out in the open.

Seconds passed with nothing, only the figure standing alone. That is, until something began to shift around his feet. In a fraction of a second, four figures jumped out from the ground. Of them, two landed while the other two remained in the sky due to their wings. One charged towards the cloaked figure, a sword in hand as he slashed at his enemy. His blade was avoided, the figure stepping out of the path with notable skill. The attack did not end there, however; the guard continued to slash with great speed. But the blade only cut air; soon, the guard was met with a strong kick to his abdomen, sending him skidding back.

But as one was knocked back from the confrontation, another joined in. The second guard’s horn ignited dangerously in an amber light as a laser fired at the figure. Or rather, the ground at the figure’s feet. When the shot made contact, the ground’s color and surface rapidly changed, and the figure found himself slowly sinking. By reaction, as to not be trapped, the figure jumped as hard as he could, leaping out of range of the newly formed quicksand. But he never reached the ground. At least, not safely.

One he was in the sky, he was within pegasus territory, and they were not ready to accept his visit. One rammed into the figure, sending him spiraling out of control. Unable to maneuver, the figure couldn’t stop the other from striking him down towards the ground. He hit hard, but the figure did not falter, quickly picking himself up off the ground. But once he was back on his feet, he found two guards were already upon him. Backing away from the two sword-wielding ponies, the figure found himself on the defensive again. The instant he found an opening, he stepped forward and made his move.

In a flash, one of the guards was disarmed, his sword now in the hands of his opponent and used to defend against the second sword. It was clear in a few seconds that the guard’s skills were above the figure’s, but that amounted to nothing when he found his sight obstructed. Using his cloak to impair the guard’s vision, the figure took quick advantage and struck the guard over the head with his knee, effectively knocking him out. The figure then turned to the guard he’d disarmed, only to see something surprising: another sword, flipping in the air towards the other guard.

The first guard he’d knocked out had anticipated what was going to happen, and had tossed his sword in advance to aid his comrade. In a burst of speed, the guard grabbed the sword in mid-flight and brought it down with all his might, breaking the blade which the figure tried to use for defense. With nothing to stop it, the blade sliced through the cloak, and a splash of blood came out. The disadvantage was very clear now as the figure jumped back to gain some ground. Worse still, their confrontation seemed to have drawn in more guards. The figure instinctively knew that if this continued, he would not win.

“Very well, then,” the cloaked figure began to glow as fire ignited around his feet, “This battle is yours.”

Before the guards could rush him, the fire shot out into a spiraling tower inferno, eventually breaking into ashes and revealing the figure was gone. The guards looked at the ashy ground where their opponent once stood, but showed no reaction to him having gotten away.

“Return to your posts,” said the leader of the guards, “We scramble again within the hour.”

As ordered, the guards moved on, returning to their hiding spots or finding new ones, as the case was. On this night, no one was getting into the city without their permission.

Far removed from the battleground, the figure limped into an abandoned cave, lying back on the hard ground as he checked his wound. The cut was deep, but small. Within minutes, he had stopped the bleeding and treated the cut.

“Through humiliation, they’ve found resolve,” he noted. His battle with the guards had concluded far differently than his initial intel on them had him believing. He had thought he could move further, closer towards Ponyville before anyone could spot him. But right now, it seemed he would have to make do with where he was now.

“Indeed, the battle was theirs,” the figure repeated from moments ago, resting his head back on the wall of the cave, “But the night is still young, so sleep on, Ponyville.”

Slowly but surely the figure fell asleep within the darkness of the cave, no one able to see the faint glow emanating from his body.

“Sleep on…”

Author's Note

Next chapter starts up the next arc. Might step up the update rate here so it gets done faster. I think you'll see why within a few updates.

Act 3 Chapter 23

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 23: One Place You’re Safe

The frontlines was without a doubt the most important and most dangerous position to have in a war. Back home, he’d never see himself standing here, but with everything that had happened to him recently, and having learned the limits of his new body, he couldn’t see himself anywhere else. After all, who was better to lead an attack than a dragon?

“Any news from the squad posted down south?” John asked the guard beside him. The human turned dragon watched other guards go about their duties to protect Ponyville. He had to hand it to them, the guards had sharpened their edge incredibly in a very short time.

“All is clear in the area,” said the guard, “Looks like the prisoners are too scared to make a move now.”

“Perfect, now, join the west squad and await any further orders.”

At John’s command, the guard saluted before turning around, making his way due west. But after a few steps, the guard stopped and turned again to face him.

“Before I go, I feel that I must say what all the other guards are thinking. They think that you are the one the other prisoners are afraid of,” John didn’t reply, simply standing in place with his arms crossed, a stern look on his face, turning his back on him, “I mean, let’s face it, you might not be the only one they are up against, but the others aren’t you. They aren’t dragons.”

Without making a single sound, the guard started to walk closer to John, a near-soulless look in his eyes.

“Sure, you teamed up with that green unicorn to fight Lyon, but chances are you could have taken him alone. The Slayer who attacked the Crystal Empire—even with his black magic, there’s no doubt in my mind it couldn’t overcome your strength. And the harpy… come now! If such a frail pegasus could bring her down, surely she would have had no chance against you?”

Slowly, the guard reached behind his back, pulling out a jagged blade.

“Just think,” he said, “What would the others be like without you?”

Never once did John turn to face him, not even turning his head back to acknowledge his presence. When the guard stood at an arm’s length, he raised the blade up high. The blade began to glow red as a smirk appeared on the guard’s face, and then he brought it down with all his might.

The tip of the blade sliced through the air as it dropped down on its target, the glow intensifying with every inch. That is, until the blade suddenly halted, met with strong resistance. This came from something that had now wrapped firmly around the guard’s wrists. It was John’s tail.

He raised a brow as he stared at the tail holding his wrist, turning to look back at John when the surprise finally hit him.

“So what was your plan exactly?” John asked, still not looking back, “Pretending to be a guard, being a major ass kisser and inflate my ego, thinking I’d drop my guard.”

Finally, John turned to face the fake guard, looking him in the eye, “And that I wouldn’t know that this was just a dream?”

At that moment, any guard and civilian around began to blur, fading from sight.

“Interesting,” the guard said. John finally released his wrist, and the guard jumped back, making some distance, “Not many are capable of distinguishing between dreams and reality,” As the guard spoke, his voice became different than before. It was now monotone at best; there was not a single sign of emotion in it.

“When you train under the Princess of the Night, you tend to pick up on these things,” said John, “I may not have much experience with fighting in them, but trust me, going into my dreams was the worst choice you could have made,” John extended his claws, readying himself for battle. Even if it was in a new territory to him, he wasn’t going to let that slow him down.

“Believe you, me, this was not the dream I intended to visit,” the guard said, getting into his own stance, “But ending you here will deal a mighty blow to your team’s strengths.”

With those words, the guard’s appearance changed, a cloak appearing around him as his body began to blur, preventing John from getting a good look at his true appearance. But it didn’t matter to him if he knew what his opponent looked like, so long as he could take him down before he could cause any harm.

The blurred opponent charged forward at a great speed, ramming into John and pushing him back into the wall of a building. The wall came crumbling down as dust began to rise from the ground under them. From within the dust, a strike was heard, and the blurred form was launched from within it. It flew for several feet before skidding to a halt, standing again without hesitation.

“It will take more than brute force to defeat me. This is the world of dreams, a land created by one’s mind. What made you superior in the real world means nothing here,” he said. But once he was finished, the building he pushed John into began to move, elevating from the ground, and under it was the dragon himself.

“We’ll see about that,” said John, throwing the home with all his might. The home soared through the sky, falling down towards John’s opponent. A mere second before the home could hit, however, the blur seemed to strike the ground. And from in front of him a tower of earth ejected from the ground, blocking the oncoming home. The home shattered on impact, its pieces falling to the ground, but the tower standing strong.

Before the dust could settle, John exploded out of the tower directly in front of him. Holding both fists up high he brought them down, missing his moving target by a few inches and cratering the ground under them.

“You’re pretty good at avoiding me,” said John as he slowly stood back up, “I’m starting to wonder if you weren’t just talking when you said the prisoners were afraid.” John only wished there was someone else around to hear that, but for now, he’d settle for seeing the other guy’s reaction. It never came; he simply stood there.

“Exactly what was that comment supposed to accomplish?” he asked, “Make me feel insulted, hurt my pride so that I would be forced to face you head on?” He gave a short chuckle at this, “Trust me, mockery will work as well for you as flattery did for me.” The blurred form began to glow red as the ground around him began to crack and shift. From underneath, two hands formed of dirt and stone erupted out.

“Believe me when I say that when it comes to mind games, you’ve chosen the wrong opponent,” the arms launched forward at great speed aiming to grab at John, but he didn’t back down. Instead, he rushed forward, launching his own fist at the first oncoming hand, shattering it on impact. But before he could attack again, the second hand managed to grab him, lifting him from the ground. The earth cratered from the impact, and the force from it was enough to stun him for only a few seconds. This, however, was more than enough of an opening as the hand of dirt slammed its fist down on John, burying him in the process. The prisoner watched for several seconds before finally letting out a sigh.

“As I said before, brute strength is not enough to—“ He was cut off by the sound of a voice behind him.

“Sorry, but,” John burst from the ground below as he turned to face the source of the voice. John was unscathed from the previous attack, “I’m stubborn that way,” The dragon said with a toothy grin, reaching out and grabbing the prisoner.

“Can’t have you running away again,” he said as he tightened his hold, “Still think my way’s no good?”

Because of the blur, John couldn’t see his opponent’s face, and because of this he couldn’t see the grin forming on it. Before he knew it, something shot out of the blur’s body. It looked like a clawed hand of magic, purple in color. He wasn’t able to react as the hand grabbed hold of his head.

“What the?!” John let go of his opponent, instead grabbing the hand of magic firmly grasping his head. He tried to pull it off, but the hand wouldn’t budge. No matter how hard he pushed against it, the hand wouldn’t move an inch.

“It’s useless,” said the blur, the hand of the magic starting to brightly glow, “Now witness what is in store for the rest…”

The hand began to move, strengthening its hold. Its pointed fingers began to dig into John’s head, into his very mind. The force of the magic pushed him down to one knee.

W-what’s happening?! He could feel it. The hand was trying to reach into his very thoughts, trying to pull something out.

“There’s no resisting. Simply accept the inevitable,” a purple aura began to rise from around the two as the head continued to dig into John’s head. The sky began to turn black as the world around them began to crumble.

“You’ve lost…”

In that moment, John stopped struggling. His eyes locked onto the blur holding him.

I lost? His body began to move, rising until he was standing upright. He grit his teeth as his eyes went slit once again. The aura around them began to flux and became unstable.

“You think I’ve lost!?” His eyes began to glow as the world around them began to change once again, returning to its original form. The glow then intensified, a second forming at the base of his head, just under the palm of the magic hand.

“Like hell I have!” The glow reached its peak as John let out a powerful roar. The hand suddenly exploded off of his head and sent the blur back from the shockwave created.

“Impossible!” yelled the prisoner, trying to regain some traction.

John placed his own hand on the spot where he had just been grabbed, letting out a small sigh now that he was free.

“So you were trying to get into my head, huh?” he said, looking back at his opponent, “I have to wonder… just what did you plan on finding?”

The blur responded by sending magic into his hand once again, it glowing purple, reaching it out at John once again.

“You’ll see soon enough…”

“I think not!”

A bolt of lightning struck through the clear skies as black clouds began to form once again. Heavy rain began to fall as thunder rattled the ground beneath them. John knew what was coming, and apparently, so too did the blur as he began to take steps back. As the rain died down, a portal opened between John and his opponent, and out stepped Princess Luna, clad in armor. Her eyes were filled with rage, and all of it was pointed at the blur.

“Princess Luna, you haven’t aged a day,” the blur casually said, but this only served to further anger the princess of the night. She began to walk forward, the ground cracking with each and every step she took.

“From the moment I felt the disturbance I had suspicions that it might have been you. But I, for a while, thought it impossible. After the punishment you were dealt and the curse of eternal damnation I believed you’d have understood my message. But I’d be more than happy to deliver it once more.”

Luna’s eyes began to glow and her horn flared up in light blue light. The ground at her feet trembled at the display.

“This is my realm, and you are not welcomed!”

John had to admit, even though they were on the same side, Luna’s overwhelming power was enough to make him tremble as well.

“Just as powerful as I remember,” the blur responded, now cautious in his tone, “No doubt you could defeat me in an instant. However, are you willing to break the rules to do so?”

John found himself remembering the rules to this game. It was meant for him and his friends to fight the other prisoners. The Princesses themselves (aside from Twilight) weren’t allowed to intervene during the fights or else there would be serious repercussions.

“Your master may be watching in the waking world, but here, I am the one who sees all,” said Luna, “I could place you in an eternal sleep here and now and no one outside will ever know of what occurred.” To add to her threat, Luna’s magic was already beginning to enclose around the blur, prepared to do just that. But the blur stood its ground.

“Are you sure of that?” The magic stopped moving, “You don’t know what my ‘master’ is truly capable of. Even now, all you know is a name. For all you may know, we might all still be under watch, ensuring that no one steps out of line.” Luna scowled under this, clear signs of struggle to make a quick decision.

“Or perhaps I’m bluffing, and if you defeat me now it will all be over. Tell me, Princess, just how many lives are you willing to bet on a fifty-fifty chance?” Luna tightened her fist in rage. If there was one thing she didn’t appreciate, it was being toyed with. But before she could react to her anger, she felt a palm placed on her shoulder.

“Let it go,” She turned, seeing John standing next to her, “If ‘Norma’ does somehow find out, then we’ll never be able to counter what she’ll do. So for now, just leave everything to us.” Luna looked at him for several seconds before letting out a sigh, dispelling her magic. The blur then let out a small laugh.

“A wise decision,” he said as the blur began to fade, “As for you, dragon, I will be coming back for you in due time.” These were his final words before vanishing from sigh. John knew his words were true, and he’d be better prepared to fight him the next time. But for now, he needed to be sure he’d be better equipped to take whoever that was on.

“What am I dealing with here?” he asked, turning back to Luna. She needed a little more time to calm herself after the encounter, but soon, she was ready to give John some information.

“His name is Kurama. Someone I’d dealt with long before my banishment…” Luna started, “I don’t know how, but he acquired the magic to enter the dream realm at will and manipulate it. Though certainly not in the scale of my own power, he caused disasters for thousands before I finally managed to stop him.”

John rubbed his chin for a moment. Kurama certainly was no pushover, but he still managed to more than hold his own against him.

“Just what did he do to them?” he asked.

“Nightmares,” said Luna, “ Kurama’s method of attacking those in their dreams is through nightmares. Reaching into the darkest depths of their psyche, Kurama pulls his victims into an endless nightmare. While trapped, the victim would never wake, and the fear they felt was so real that they’d scream in the waking world. To my experience, Kurama prefers those of weak minds, as they were easier for him to trap,” John couldn’t help but gulp at that. He knew now just how close he’d come to escaping that fate.

“Three days,” Luna continued, confusing John, “That is how long they could last in that state. The constant torment, the infinite fear, would prove too much for the mind and heart, and so it would give out. On the second night, the victim’s screams will stop. On the third and final night… the victim’s body would succumb to Kurama’s magic, and their life force would fade to nothing.”

John felt stress building up as he heard all of this. Three days to live after being put in an endless nightmare. And with Kurama’s ability to jump in and out of dreams, there was no telling who he would attack next. He’d have to wake the others, try and rally them and the guards so they could check the town. Maybe keep them awake long enough for them to find Kurama… even if it meant waking—

No…

John’s mind paused for just a moment, but as soon as he realized it, his pupils shrank. Kurama’s statement from earlier washed over him like a tidal wave.

“Believe you, me, this was not the dream I intended to visit…” Kurama had meant to victimize someone else, someone whose mind was now weak enough to make him easy prey for Kurama’s trap.

“I have to wake up!” John shouted, suddenly grabbing on to Luna’s shoulders, Luna taken aback by the sudden forwardness.

“Wait, there is still more I—“

“There’s no time! You have to wake me up, now!”

Luna could see the fear in his eyes and hear the panic in his voice. There was still more she had to say, but she couldn’t. Not now, anyway. She nodded as her horn began to glow, and John felt himself launch out of the dream realm…

The library had been peaceful since Corey finally fell asleep. He’d not too long ago been moved to his bed by Twilight. Even she found it easier to sleep. The guards’ new patrol had kept everything quiet. Not a single creature was stirring this night…

Not counting the dragon who had just tackled through the door to her room.

“Corey!”

The mix of the door being destroyed and the loud shout was enough to scare Twilight off her bed and on to the floor. Spike groaned from his own bed off to the side, tucking himself in while grumbling to himself.

Twilight groaned and rubbed her head before standing to find out who startled her. Though it wasn’t hard to do so.

“John, what’s gotten into—“ Twilight’s words were cut short when she saw what he was doing. Standing over Corey, John was frantically shaking him, calling his name.

“Wake up!” John shouted desperately, hoping for any kind of response, “You have to wake up!”

“What do you think you’re doing!?” Twilight yelled, yanking him back using her magic, “We finally managed to get him to sleep and you do this??”

“The next attack’s already happening!” John yelled, “I was attacked in my dreams, but now…he’s in Corey’s!”

Twilight’s eyes opened wide as she released John from her hold, turning her attention to Corey. He had just been shaken viciously, yet still he slept. Even if he hadn’t been sleeping well for days, he should have definitely woken after all that.

Now she was the one to run up to Corey, trying to get his attention.

“Corey?” she asked, “Corey, can you hear me??”

No response. It started to sink in slowly. If Corey was being attacked there, in the dream realm, it meant no one could help him. The only pony she knew capable of it was forbidden from helping…

“What do we do!?” she asked, turning to John.

“Not again…” John said, reaching out and grabbing Corey by the head. Even that didn’t get any response, “You’re not going down again, not without a fight!”

During John’s short speech, due to the panic and the desire to help his friend, John failed to notice that his eyes had started to glow once more…

Author's Note

Yep, we have our arc villain now. Nothing more to say just yet. Any questions, concerns, and overall comments? Please write them. I'm not the only one who could use the feedback.

Oh, and early Happy New Year, everyone. Reason why there's been a lot of updates. Christmas, New Year's. Might change back to Weekly here for this arc, as I said before. Depends on how things turn out.

Act 3 Chapter 24

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 24: The Weakest Mind of All

I can’t believe it. Somehow or other, I’d fallen, but I was picked right back up again. Things here do seem to favor the power of redemption. And I really do think that I can do it. I just have to find my way first… If only there were a way to silence that anger at the back of my head, always burning, always there to throw me off if things aren’t going as expected…

Corey paused, looking down at the words on the notebook with nothing but disgust. With a loud scoff, he reached to the page and tore it out of the book in one swift movement. His hands molded the “bad writing” into a firm, crumpled mess of ink and paper. He stared at the resulting trash with sad eyes, before it turned into frustration once more.

“No good…” he said, slowly lifting and tossing it over his shoulder. It soon joined the other paper balls on the floor, which noticeably filled up a significant area of the floor. Corey’s vision soon turned back to the notebook, the scrap paper left in the bindings now the only evidence he’d tried to write in it again.

“It doesn’t work,” Corey said, “Venting about it only makes the memories worse…Even thinking of talking about it is enough to get it to stir. Putting all of that into words…”

Corey’s facial muscles twitched as he considered trying again. But with the remnants of at least twenty attempts now scrapped, scattered around him as a testament to his inability to do much with his experience, he didn’t know if he could. With a resigned sigh, Corey stood up, fiddling with his glasses all the while.

“Maybe a walk will clear my head,” Corey said, nodding to convince himself. He then started out of the room, lightly kicking a few paper scraps out of the way before leaving. He looked around the library as he did so, lightly hearing Twilight humming. The sound soothed him at first, but the more he listened to it, he suddenly found himself feeling worse. But why? It wasn’t any different, and she didn’t seem to hate him for what he’d done.

Now feeling worse because he felt like he wasn’t expressing enough gratitude, Corey picked up the pace. Within a few moments, he was out the front door to the library, emerging to a cloudy, gray sky. It was probably scheduled to rain today. Corey scoffed. Of course he’d pick the one day in a week that it was scheduled. Oh well… time to make the best of it, he guessed.

The air outside was mildly chilly, as though it was fall. Which was fine. He had his jacket on, after all. After taking a moment to adjust it and zip it up, he was well on his way. Perhaps he’d see who he could meet today. After the first few days here, he did at least know a few people. Even if they did doubt he was using his real name.

Corey continued to stroll. However, as he looked around, his ears flicking ever so often, he realized something. No sooner than he left the library, he couldn’t hear anything. Nopony was walking around in the street. Nopony was flying around above. Even if the weather team’s job was done, it still seemed like something should be done. It was too quiet, too still, even for a small village like this.

Corey slowed to a halt in the middle of an intersection. He blinked a few times, and with each blink, the air seemed to get colder and colder. The clouds seemed to be leaking down from the skies above, forming an increasing dense layer of fog. And yet, no one seemed to comment on this. Still no one came out to see what was happening. This usually didn’t happen. Corey felt an empty pit form into his stomach, and quickly tried to correct it, feeling isolated more and more.

“Hello?” called out Corey to the empty air, “Is anyone out here?”

All he could hear was an echo in response. No one was there. For several long moments, Corey stood in silence, hearing the remnants of his question fade into silence. He gave a sigh, but then stiffened, his ears flicking up, as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching from behind him. He turned around, but didn’t see anyone approaching through the fog.

“What was that…?” Corey said to himself, before shaking his head, already starting to walk down the road once more. The streets remained barren, devoid of life, and soaked in fog. As he continued to walk, the air seemed to get colder. His breath soon became visible.

“What is with the weather today?” Corey wondered aloud, just before his ear twitched in response. Again, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. He turned, and squinted, still hearing the sound. However, nothing came. Corey’s left ear twitched, and so he turned to the left, but whatever was causing the noise had already moved again.

Getting the feeling he really didn’t want to be caught here, Corey turned around completely, and began walking towards home. At first, he was doing a power walk, checking his surroundings. But, as he continued to move, he could hear movement all around him, and when he turned his head to one side to look, he saw… something in the fog.

Corey’s walk soon broke into a run. Frantically checking his surroundings, he found the fog seemed to be getting thicker still, and he could barely see around any corners. He didn’t know how close or far he was from the library, and he didn’t even know where in Ponyville he was, but still he kept running. That is, until he saw it.

A flash of crimson, in the shape of a unicorn. One that Corey knew all too well.

“Slayer!?” Corey yelled, immediately stopping himself from running and turning around. He froze in place, getting ready for anything.

“No…no… it can’t be. He can’t have healed already, right?” Corey asked, “If he has…”

The sounds of movement stopped. Corey squinted his eyes dead ahead of him, finding that the silhouette was now walking straight towards him, through the fog. It moved excruciatingly slowly, and the whole time, Corey could only watch.

What am I going to do? I have no magic…and I’m not at the top of my game right now… thought Corey anxiously, waiting for Slayer to step out of the dense fog. The figure drew closer and closer, but as he did, Corey noticed that something about the silhouette in the fog was changing. The unicorn’s horn was starting to vanish; in fact, most of the defining characteristics were. The ears were vanishing under a sphere, the arms were vanishing under some kind of cloth, and overall, the form was changing as it got closer.

Corey felt his stance start to relax a bit, but he still remained wary. Nothing was going right at all. Then, the figure stepped forward completely.

“You’re not…” Corey said, blinking a few times as his vision adjusted.

“Indeed, I am not who you think I am,” said the cloaked figure.

“Then…who are you? What are you doing here?” Corey asked of the figure. The figure remained silently, slowly spreading his arms out to his sides before lifting them above his head.

“Who am I, indeed,” said the figure. His voice was surprisingly monotone, but he didn’t seem to be in the mood to answer Corey’s question.

“Are you one of the escaped prisoners?” Corey asked, now feeling wary that he was having to go up against another one.

“I suppose you could say that,” said the cloaked figure, “But I’m so much more than just one of those…”

Corey took a step back, wondering what the hell this one was going on about.

“I am the truth that lurks in the back of your mind, the despair that waits around every twist and turn,” The figure said, “I know quite a bit about you, and as you can tell, I just had to pay you a visit.”

“Why me?” Corey asked, now really not liking where this was going.

“I think you already know,” said the figure, now lifting what looked like a clawed paw of some kind—canine in nature, perhaps? Or feline, one of the two, “Your mind is weak, brought down by your own weaknesses of character. You’re on the verge of sinking into despair already.”

Corey’s eyes went wide, as he started to realize what all this meant and what all this was.

“And no one, not even your friends, can come to save you from me,” said the figure.

No… Corey thought, closing his eyes and shaking his head as the realization threatened to consume him entirely before the figure had a chance to. I can’t fight... and he knows it… I’m alone in here… and he knows it…He’s right!

Without even thinking twice about it, Corey turned, and began to take off at a full sprint. There was no way he could possibly take anyone on in his condition. Right now, his only focus was to find a spot to hide, somewhere, anywhere, just until he could collect himself enough to get himself out of this ever-increasing nightmare.

Corey took the first turn he could think to turn, only slowing down enough so he could at least see where he was about to go next. However, he didn’t make it far. He stopped dead in his tracks, and even took a step back in horror as he realized that the cloaked figure from before was now down the path he was on.

“You’re running…” The figure said, “But it’s no use. The despair already exists in you, and you cannot escape it now…”

Corey took a couple of steps back. With a sharp grunt, he turned, running the other way. He didn’t dare looking back, for fear he’d see the cloaked figure chasing him down at warp speed. There had to be somewhere he could go. He just managed to turn down the first corner he’d saw, when he found himself face-to-shadow with the cloaked figure once again.

“There’s nowhere you can go,” One of the hands raised up to point at him again, “Why waste the energy? You never want to anyway…”

Corey turned around, belting out a “Shut up!” as he turned and ran down the other way. He was panting heavily, the stress of the situation causing him to pant heavily. As he ran, he swore he felt the air was getting even colder now, and the fog was making it even harder to see. Yet still he ran, hoping against hope that maybe, just maybe he’d be able to just escape this new foe.

Corey’s head instinctively turned, even as his rationality warned him not to, and found that whoever it was wasn’t chasing him. Yet, as he turned around again to face forward, he stopped. The cloaked figure was waiting for him to run right into him, arms spread out expectantly.

“Just surrender,” The hauntingly soulless voice chilled him to the core, “Surrender yourself to your endless despair.”

Corey stood in place, gritting his teeth. This guy was just warping everywhere, and there didn’t seem to be anywhere to run. He looked around, trying desperately to find any means of escape. He squinted his eyes as hard as he could, and just in the distance—or was it close by, he couldn’t tell with the now intense fog, he saw something. It looked like a door to a building.

Maybe I can hide in there… thought Corey, not even bothering to second-guess himself before he took off running, sprinting right for the door. As he made his way in that direction, he could hear the figure’s voice hissing:

“It’s useless…”

He paid it no mind, already figuring out this was more mind games. If he stayed too long, he’d have been caught in them for sure. The fog impeded his vision, but the building drew closer and closer. Without even pausing, he reached out with one hand, turning the door knob to find that the knob gave way. In one swift movement, Corey yanked the door wide open and slipped inside, making sure to close it afterward.

The inside of the building he’d run into didn’t seem that different from the rest of this ever-growing nightmare. It seemed like a pretty simple house. It sort of reminded him of his home back home, only without the big-screen TV at the north wall. The couch and rocking chair were all made of leather, but the home was so, so cold, like it was the dead of winter. Though there was no fog inside, with how everything was unfolding, Corey was pretty sure it was entirely possible for that to start at any point.

Yet, as he looked around what looked like his old house, Corey realized that even this place was quiet. Quiet and barren.

“What…what is all this?” asked Corey, now standing in the middle of the living room once again.

“It’s what you are on the inside,” said the figure’s voice. Corey’s eyes shrunk to pinpricks as he realized that even here, he wasn’t safe, “Empty. Cold. Full of nothing but the despair you feel…”

“Just leave me alone!!” Corey shouted, already starting to move. He already knew where he’d wanted to go. It was through the small hallway, and to the right, through the door, to his room. Once again, he opened the door and closed it shut behind him. However, as soon as he took two steps into what he thought was his room, he stopped.

There was nothing here. Nothing was how he’d remembered it. It didn’t have a bed. It didn’t have a dresser. His closet was missing, along with everything else material. Hell, the room didn’t even have windows.

“This is…” Corey said, only to turn as the door sprang back open behind him, revealing that same cloaked figure, “Damn…!”

“There’s nowhere left to run,” said the figure, “Now, prepare to drown in your fears…”

Corey grit his teeth. There was no way out…unless…

His fist closed tightly, and Corey forced himself to focus. There was no telling if it would even work, but if he didn’t do something, anything, he’d be taken out right here. Silently, he urged his magic to work.

Weakly, runes began to appear around his fist, spreading off in jagged directions. Only a few managed to go in. His horn’s glow was also vaguely sparking to life, nothing like how it had looked before the events up north.

This isn’t stable… I have to move now… Corey thought, and with a heavy gulp, he rushed the figure, right fist cocked back and ready to go. The figure stood motionless, surprised, perhaps. Corey’s fist made contact… but that was it. The figure didn’t budge, nor flinch. The spell, if it even was one, had no effect.

“D-damn it…ugh!” The figure immediately grabbed hold of his arm and twisted it behind his back, turning him around, preventing him from getting away. There was an uneasy silence as Corey tried in vain to pry himself loose from the face.

“That spell…” The voice seemed different, vaguely…impressed, perhaps? No, that wasn’t it, “No, it’s different… But still. It looks like hers…”

Hers…? Corey wondered what he meant, enough to cease his struggle for half a second.

“Looks like whose…?” Corey asked.

“There’s no need to explain…” The figure said, as one of his paws found its way to the sides of Corey’s head.

John looked around the world he was now in. This certainly wasn’t the library. He wasn’t sure where he was. However, as the chill fully hit him—hard, he was cold-blooded now, after all, he began to understand what happened. He was in a basement—no, that wasn’t just it. He was in a dream…

“How…how did I…?” asked John, wondering just how he’d managed to get himself in this. Above, he heard a very distinct shout.

“D-damn it…ugh!”

“Corey!?” asked John, immediately racing up the steps, turning left and making his way towards the source of the sound. He moved quickly, and as he got closer, it was almost like the air got even colder. He eventually slowed to a stop in a doorway, seeing the same cloaked figure from his own dream…and Corey, now firmly in his grasp, one paw to each side of Corey’s head.

“One down,” said the figure, using that same flat monotone he’d possessed earlier, as a purple glow began to cover his hands, which sunk deep into Corey’s skull.

“No!” John shouted, causing the figure to turn his head.

“Oh? You made it?” asked the figure, “Well… it seems you’re too late…”

No sooner than the figure finished his statement did John see a massive explosion of black energy. The massive shockwave hit John’s body hard, and he felt himself lift from his feet as the black energy consumed everything around him…

Twilight watched in stunned silence at what was happening in front of her. Moments ago, while trying to wake the sleeping Corey, she’d noticed a glow coming from beside her. The glow was emanating from John’s own eyes in a manner she had seen before. But glowing eyes was the least shocking thing she would see today. From John’s head, a strand of magic had extended out, and latched on to Corey’s head. After that, John too, went still, his body unmoving for several long minutes.

“He… knows magic?” Twilight asked herself. The idea of a dragon being able to use a form of magic wasn’t new to hear. Spike’s message sending was something he knew how to do from the start. But what John was doing was reminiscent of magic Twilight had only seen one other do in the past.

“But when did he…” Twilight would have to find the answer to that some other day as something began to change in the magic strand connecting John to Corey. Originally white in color, the strand’s hue began to change, growing darker and darker by the second. The strand of magic began to thrash about wildly as its glow began violent. For the first time in a while, John began to show signs of movement and strain. Soon, the glow became too much for Twilight’s eyes, and she shielded them as the strand of magic erupted.

The magic expelled from the explosion was fierce, enough to knock John backwards; she could tell that even before her eyes opened. She opened her eyes then, to see John on his knees, both hands over his head as he looked to the ground.

“Dammit, dammit!” John said, slamming his fist on the ground, cracking the floorboards.

“W-what happened?” Deep down, Twilight already knew what happened, but a part of her wished it wasn’t true. But when John looked back to her, staring directly into her eyes, she knew there was no hope. Quickly, she looked back at Corey. His body started to twitch, and his face contorted in anguish. Twilight felt her heart race, wondering just what was happening now.

Then the screaming began. Corey belted out one howl of anguish after another, his body starting to thrash. Twilight immediately rushed to his side, trying something, anything to wake him up. She tried calling out to him, to try to get through to him. Even whatever magic she tried to get him to wake didn’t work.

“Nothing’s working…!” Twilight said, turning back to John for an answer. John stood up, but he didn’t meet her eyes this time. Finally, he spoke up: four simple words.

“I was too late…”

Author's Note

And there we set up the basic conflict for the next arc. Not much else to say beyond that.

Act 3 Chapter 25

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 25: High Stakes

Gatherings in the library had used to lead to happy memories and fun times. In recent weeks, though, a get together would only lead to one thing: bad news. Guards were dispatched to the far corners of Ponyville in order to collect the others from their homes. In silence, they sat in the study hall, each pair of eyes locked firmly on John’s back. His front was pointed towards the stairs leading up to Twilight’s room. His own eyes were distant from recent memories.

“Is Corey sleeping in for this?” asked Rainbow. Neither John nor Twilight could blame her for doing so. The others had yet to know what had happened, only that the next attack was underway. John closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath. Then, he turned to face the others.

“Twilight…” John said, not even looking to her. Though she wasn’t looking at him either, Twilight nodded, and her horn began to glow. Her magic was aimed at the door upstairs. The knob turned and the soundproofed room began to open. The door was opened for only three seconds, but the screams that filled their ears would haunt them for days to come. With no exceptions, the others flinched, and a couple reached up to cover their ears.

“What the hay was that!?” asked Applejack.

“Corey…” Twilight said. Everyone stared at Twilight through wide eyes of disbelief. Rainbow immediately covered her mouth, regretting her earlier question.

“W-what’s happening to him?” asked Fluttershy. Again, John let out a small sigh. He’d already gone over this once, and that was torture. Now, he had to explain this again. But he wasn’t going to cast that burden to anyone else.

“Corey was attacked,” John started, “But before that, this prisoner attacked me first. He did it in a way where no one would see or hear it,” John reached up, and with the tip of his clawed finger tapped the side of his head, “He goes by the name Kurama, and somehow, he has the ability to jump between people’s dreams.”

John went on to explain everything that Luna had told him: Kurama’s rap sheet, and exactly what he did to someone once he caught them in their own dreams…

“Okay, so he traps ponies in nightmares,” said Applejack, “And we can all agree that’s horrible. But for now, we at least know Corey’s safe. All we need to do is find Kurama and take him down. Then everyone he’s put in a nightmare will wake up; simple, right?”

On paper, it did seem that simple. But there was one last thing John had yet to tell them, and it was the worst part.

“There’s one more thing I have to say,” John said, “The nightmares… even if they seem endless, they actually do end. Thing is…when the nightmares stop…the victim does too.”

Just like when John had told Twilight, everyone’s eyes filled with distress. They knew that an expiration date had just been slapped on to one of their own.

“Three days,” John said, “If we don’t find Kurama and find a way to make him stop the nightmares…”

John couldn’t bring himself to finish that sentence a second time. But he didn’t have to. Everyone listening already connected the dots on their own, and understood what was at risk.

“But how do we find him?” Though it was a thin silver lining, John was glad to have at least one bit of good news to the whole mess.

“There is one thing I do know about his magic. Unlike Luna, his seems to come in a limited range. Meaning in order for him to attack anyone here, he’s got to be within some distance of Ponyville. On top of that, the guards told us that they’d managed to fend off an intruder hours ago, injuring him. He is in Ponyville, and he’s hurt, two advantages we can’t afford to let slip out of our hands.”

Everyone understood what John was getting at. If this were true, then reason states that he’d have to be hiding somewhere, and in order for him to jump from dream to dream, he’d need to leave his real body defenseless.

“If trackin’ him down is the goal, then I’m your mare,” said Applejack.

“We can’t risk anyone finding him alone,” John said, “We’ll split into two teams, and each team will be mixed with guards for extra support. Chances are, he’s picked his hiding spot well, but the more eyes we have, the higher our chances, even more so when he comes out of hiding.”

“How can you be sure he’ll do that?” Rarity asked.

“Regardless of what he’s done, he’s still mortal. And just like any of us, he’ll eventually have to come out and find some food. That’s why I have guards stationed in any area where he’d find it in and around Ponyville. If he wants to come out, he’ll have to take the risk.”

There was no doubt about it. John wanted Kurama found. It was clear he was taking every step he could to do that. With the plan now set, the others didn’t have to wait very long before they could begin. The guards had gathered outside the library within an hour. After they gathered, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie took one half of the gathered guards while Rarity, Twilight and Rainbow joined the others. The two teams were about to depart, but before they could, a question was asked.

“So which team are you going with?” asked Rainbow, causing both sides to watch John who stood at the door.

“Neither,” he said, “While you guys are searching for him around Ponyville, I’m going to try and find him where I know he’ll be.”

The others looked at him, confused. It wasn’t that they didn’t know what he meant, but rather whether or not he really did mean that.

“You don’t mean…?”

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure at first, but Twilight confirmed it for me. Just like Kurama, I can jump into others’ dreams as well,” He didn’t wait for the others to ask their questions; he knew exactly what was on their minds after he said that, “Though I can’t be sure, I think I know how I’m able to do this. Luna used to tell me that, even though she trained me in battle, I still counted as her apprentice, and something like that would come with perks. Without me knowing, she might have blessed me with the magic to do this. Regardless of the reason, I’m not one to turn down something like this, and I intend to use it.”

“He isn’t sure how he used it the first time, though,” Twilight said, “So until he figures it out, we’re on our own.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” said Rainbow, “You kick his ass in his dreams, and we’ll kick his real ass! Double-whammy!”

With everyone in agreement, both teams began to move out to begin their search. But before she could take off, however, Rainbow felt a rather large, scaly hand come down on her shoulder.

“Uh, Rainbow?” John asked, getting her attention.

“Yeah?”

“Be careful, okay…?”

Rainbow saw the worry on John’s face for a few seconds before letting out a small chuckle.

“You big softie,” she said, punching him in the shoulder, “Don’t worry. We’ll take this guy down just like the others.”

With that, she took off, joining the rest of her team and leaving John in the library. John watched until they disappeared in the distance before he turned and entered, closing the door behind him. Finding a seat, John placed himself in the middle of the room, sitting alone in total silence.

When he’d managed to jump into Corey’s dream, it seemed to come out of sheer desperation. He already knew he couldn’t rely on that. He needed to find a way to harness that skill and use it willingly, and he had to do that fast. Even though he didn’t know where to start, he wasn’t going to let it stop him from trying. As he sat thee in silence, he remembered Rainbow’s words to him.

“We’ll take this guy down just like the others.”

“Yeah…” John said, “I’ll make sure of that.”

As the sun rose in the distance, the countdown began.

The sun had finally rose not too long ago. If anything, it was a sign that ponies would soon wake up. Kurama would soon run out of potential victims, at least for now. The teams had long since split and searched in different areas of Ponyville. Many had lived here for most, if not all their lives. Now, as they searched through every corner for what could be a hiding spot, it was as though they were looking at it for the very first time.

“Anything in the sky, Rainbow?” asked Rarity.

“None that I can see,” Rainbow said, slowly descending until she landed next to Rarity, “I know today’s cloud layout by heart, so I’ll know if anything’s out of place. I doubt he’d try to hide in the sky, though. Way too open.”

Rarity nodded; Kurama would likely be trying to hide in an area with a lot of cover.

“How about you, Rares?”

Rarity’s horn and eyes lit up as she scanned the surrounding areas. It was the same spell she’d tried in the Crystal Empire.

“Nothing in my line of sight,” said Rarity, cancelling the spell and rubbing her eyes. As useful as the new X-ray spell was to her now, it took a lot of magic to sustain and strained her eyes. Much as she wanted to use it more, she knew she couldn’t.

“Well, we know he can use magic,” Rainbow considered, “What if he’s cloaking himself?” They’d already dealt with a unicorn who could manage to disguise himself. It stood to reason that another prisoner with magical talent would also be capable of hiding himself.

“What do you think, Twilight?” Usually, Twilight would answer such a question with one of her contingency plans, but Rainbow and Rarity were both surprised to hear no response.

“Twilight?” Now she turned towards her friend. Again, Twilight didn’t answer, her full attention pointed back to town. There was no question as to what was going through her mind at that moment.

“Hellooooooo???” Hoping to get her attention this time, Rainbow began to wave her hand in front of Twilight’s face. Though it took several seconds, finally, she got a reaction as Twilight blinked and her head moved back slightly.

“Huh-what?” She asked, “Did you say something?”

It wasn’t like the others could blame her for being distracted. With Corey’s current condition, and what they knew, of course her mind was still back there. However, they chose not to press the issue given the circumstances.

“Listen, Twilight, we get that you’re worried about Corey, but right now there’s nothing you can do for him, at least, not directly. The only way we can wake him up is by finding Kurama and putting the hurt on him,” said Rainbow, “And right now, at least his body is as safe as can be. The whole town has guards keeping a close eye on anything suspicious. And on top of that, if anyone tries to get near him, they’ll have a pissed off dragon to deal with.”

Rainbow was often very blunt, and was just as likely to be incapable of reading a situation. But in the moments when she offered sincere comfort, she wasn’t one to hold back.

“You’re right, Rainbow,” Twilight sighed, turning her full attention towards the others. As much as she didn’t want to leave Corey alone in the state he was in, she also knew that she really couldn’t do anything right now, “Alright. By this point everyone in Ponyville would have to be awake now. Even if there are a few stragglers, there’s a chance that Kurama might wake now. If John’s hypothesis is correct, he might go on the search for food, but we have to find him before that. We’re going to change up our search strategy a bit. We’re going to form a moving barricade between here and Ponyville, near an open area.”

The others, including the guards, nodded in agreement and began to form.

“Rainbow, you keep to the sky and tell us if you see any strange movement.”

“You got it,’ said Rainbow, taking off into the sky.

“Rarity, I know you aren’t in total control of your spell yet, so use it on spots that count: anything that’s heavily covered,” Rarity nodded and moved to the front of the line, ready to use her spell when she thought necessary. With the formation set, they began to move with Twilight’s command. Twilight herself joined Rainbow in the sky above for an extra set of eyes.

If Kurama was indeed somewhere around Ponyville, she would make sure to find him.

Spike tried to fall back asleep when John had crashed through the room’s door. He tried to sleep again as he and Twilight started to yell at each other for a reason he didn’t understand at the time. But after hearing the screams of terror and anguish coming from Twilight’s most recent roommate? Spike wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to fall asleep again. Now, he was in the library, reorganizing books. He hadn’t been asked to, but it was the only thing keeping his mind away from the memories of the screams. Even after Twilight had soundproofed the room, he couldn’t completely wipe that memory from his head.

“Ugh, that’s gonna haunt me for a while,” Spike sighed, tossing a book aside. It was clear that this just couldn’t work. Normally, he’d have read comic books to get his mind off the real world, but his stash was currently up in the room. And right now, he wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to go back up there again. Letting out a sigh, Spike sat down. Once again, he was all alone in the library with his thoughts.

He didn’t blame the others. He knew that they wanted him to be safe from what they’ve had to face. But that didn’t change that he wished he could help. But he also knew at his size, there wasn’t anything he could contribute. It wasn’t like he was eight feet tall…

Just then, he remembered. That other dragon, John, hadn’t gone with them this time. Instead, he’d stayed behind to try and get the hang of that dream jumping magic he’d managed to use the night before. It had been a good while since he tried it, and Spike had left him to concentrate.

“Wonder how he’s doing…”

Taking a chance, Spike quietly moved towards the entrance to the next room. Once at the frame, he peered his head around and looked inside. He saw John sitting in the same chair he was in when he first began, still sitting upright. But while he couldn’t see John’s front side, Spike couldn’t help but notice something was different.

I wonder if…?

Again, he moved, slowly inching himself around the much larger dragon until he was at his front side. It was then that he noticed it. John’s eyes were glowing just as they had been last night.

“No way…” Spike said, looking closer. As an added measure, he began to wave his arms around, seeing if he’d get some kind of reaction. None came, John still seemingly staring off into space with glowing white eyes.

“He actually did it…”

Author's Note

And there we go, etc. etc. etc.

Act 3 Chapter 26

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 26: Double Take

They searched high and low all day, but no matter where they looked, they turned up nothing. With hours having passed and the team growing weary from the day, Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow made the decision to end the search for now and rest up. They were the first to reach the library.

“I wonder if John managed to use his magic again,” asked Twilight as she and others entered the room.

“That answer your question?” Rainbow said, pointing to the very dragon sitting the center of that room. Everyone looked at him, sitting as still as a statue as his eyes glowed in a manner similar to Princess Luna’s. For a while, Rarity and Rainbow thought there was a chance that John was mistaken when he said he could do it. But now, the very proof was sitting before them. There was no denying it.

“Does he know we’re here?” asked Rarity, slowly waving her hand in front of him. It was hard to say. When Twilight saw John doing this before, he didn’t respond to a single word she said. If she had to guess, his consciousness had left his body entirely in order to enter the dream world. There was no telling when he’d manage to wake up. For a while, they all simply sat there, waiting for John to come back to the waking world, or for the others to arrive, whichever came first. After some time, it turned out that it was definitely the first option.

Slowly, the glow in John’s eyes began to fade. His regular eyes came back into sight. When the glow had completely subsided, he blinked his eyes several times. Eventually, he realized he wasn’t alone in the room.

“How long have I been out?” John asked.

“Hours, I’d guess,” Twilight said, “Any luck on your end?” John hunched over and rubbed his head, letting out a defeated sigh.

“I managed to find a way out of my dreams and into another’s. But I’m just opening random doors. I have no idea whose dream I’ll end up in, and I couldn’t tell if I was getting any closer to Kurama. I couldn’t even tell if he was in the dream realm to begin with.”

Recreating the spell had only created more problems. John could spend hours randomly searching dreams, and maybe he’d get lucky. But everyone that was present knew they weren’t in a position where they could freely spend their time. They knew there needed to be a more accurate way of doing this whole search, or else they’d probably run out of time…

“Maybe the others had better luck?” Twilight said hopefully.

“Sorry, sugarcube,” All eyes turned to Applejack at the entrance to the library, “But our search…”

Applejack paused as Pinkie entered right behind her.

“It could have gone better.”

Something was off about the two of them. They were down, which was to be expected if their search turned up empty. But there was something else hidden on their faces, something they weren’t exactly sure how to say.

“Hold on, where’s Fluttershy?” asked Rainbow as she rose from her seat.

Pinkie and Applejack looked at one another for a few tense moments before the farm mare let out a sigh. Both she and Pinkie stepped aside from the door, staring at the entrance with furrowed brows. Through that door, stepped Fluttershy.

Or was it? The other four stared at Fluttershy for several seconds. This was her, her body, her hair, and her wounds were just as they remembered each when she departed. But then everyone took a second look at her eyes, and it all clicked. Fluttershy’s eyes, eyes that were usually calm and caring, were now sharp and aggressive.

“You’re her, the one Fluttershy told us about, right?” asked Rarity.

“That’s right,” the other Fluttershy said, leaning against the frame. There was an obvious question floating around the room, one everyone was afraid to ask but wanted to know the answer to. After some more moments of total silence, it was Rainbow who chose to speak up.

“If you’re the one in control… then what happened to Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy’s alter ego looked down at the ground for a moment and let out a sigh. Then, she looked Rainbow directly in the eyes.

“He got to her.”

Applejack was a jack of all trades so to speak, at least when it came to getting her hands dirty to get a job done. In her time as a farmer, there had been a few instances where she’d had to track something down. Over time, she’d honed that skill to perfection, and yet even with that skill, the search was proving difficult. When something or someone truly does not want to be discovered, Applejack knew they would cover their tracks as best as they can—something that was probably a lot easier if the one being tracked could use magic.

“Anythin’ on your end, Pinkie?” Applejack called out. A moment later, the bark of the nearest tree to her opened like a door and Pinkie stepped right out.

“He’s not in any of my usual hiding spots,” As bewildered as Applejack was after what she’d just saw, she found it would be a waste of time to ask about it now. When it came to impractical—no, impossible, hiding spots, Pinkie was as far out of the box as they came. But even she couldn’t pinpoint where Kurama could be hiding.

“We’re talkin’ about someone who managed to give Princess Luna the slip for a while. No way this was gonna be easy,” True as that may have been, Applejack couldn’t deny that it was nothing short of frustrating. But while they can’t seem to find a trace of him on land, she thought that perhaps a bird’s eye view would turn out better results.

“How about you, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked, calling up towards the skies. There was no response. When Applejack looked up to check, she realized there was nopony in sight, “Fluttershy!?” She called out to her again, thinking that maybe she’d just dropped out of her sight. There was still no answer and no sign of her anywhere.

“I don’t see her!” said Pinkie. It was the same for any of the guards around. Slowly, it began to sink in. Somewhere along the lines while they were searching for Kurama, they’d somehow managed to lose track of Fluttershy.

She wasn’t one to complain. She always went with what everyone else wanted so she wouldn’t cause any conflicts. But in reality, Fluttershy was tired, more so than she’d ever been in her past. This was far from her first sleepless night; the incident with Talon had been keeping her up at night as well. On top of that, she was still injured from the battle at the Ghastly Gorge. Even now, she was technically supposed to be in bedrest, healing.

Still, she’d pushed herself, training with Rainbow to try and make herself stronger. But this also served to add to her fatigue, and stressed her wounds more. In a nutshell, Fluttershy was close to her limit. She thought that maybe she could handle a mild search, but it was clear now she couldn’t handle this in her condition.

“Sorry everypony, but I don’t think I can…” Fluttershy turned around, thinking that she’d see the others were searching behind her. But all she managed to see was total emptiness; the field around her was barren of ponies.

“Hello?” she called out, but she got no response. Now, she wondered… in her fatigue, in her dreariness from lack of sleep, did she wander away from the group unnoticed? The reality of such a situation sunk in, and panic set in shortly thereafter.

This is bad, I have to—Fluttershy tried to flap her wings, to see if she could find the others from the skies. But she could barely manage one flap before her back wound flared up in pain, and knew that wasn’t going to be an option. However, Fluttershy could still walk, and hope that backtracking was enough to find the others.

But as time went on, Fluttershy found something else was wrong. Each step was growing more and more difficult, heavier than the last. Her eyes burned, pleading to be closed, desiring the rest they so desperately needed. And Fluttershy was finding it harder and harder to not give in to their desire. She fought as hard as she could, but she’d been fighting against her body’s needs for a long time. Much as she tried to rise above it, much as she tried to push beyond it, Fluttershy was faced with no other choice but to accept the truth.

She had reached her limit.

“I’m sorry… everyone,” Fluttershy fell to her knees as the world began to fade away, her eyes slowly closing, “I tried…”

Fluttershy’s eyes closed completely, and she was now flat on the ground, asleep.

Fluttershy’s dreams were always pleasant. They always made her feel relaxed after a stressful day. But this time, when she looked upon the field of flowers, when she watched the butterflies fly by, listened to the songs of the birds… she couldn’t find happiness here. She knew what had happened, and knew exactly where she was. The only real question now, was just how much time she had before he would appear. And as the warm summer air suddenly began to turn cold, she knew she didn’t have long.

“Well, well, well…” A monotone voice echoed from around the field. Slowly, Fluttershy turned around, and sure enough, there he was: a blurred figure standing in the field, a small pitch around him beginning to wither and die.

“The lowly butterfly enters the spider’s nest,” he said, beginning to walk forward. With each step, the field changed, the plant life withering into a black mass from the contact alone, “Admittedly, a bold strategy, but ineffective if one should stray from the pack.”

Fluttershy gulped lightly as she took a few steps back. She already knew full well what Kurama was capable of. He was on a completely different league to Talon. But she couldn’t run, no, she wouldn’t run, not after what she’d put herself through to overcome her limits. Finally, she’d stopped taking steps back, and instead began to step forward.

“You intend to fight back?” said the blur, letting out a lackluster sigh, “Always so unwilling to accept the inevitable… but very well.”

From the blur, two large hands of magic formed, each extending out towards Fluttershy at great speed. As the first came bearing down on her, Fluttershy was able to jump out of its path in time for it to slam into the ground. But the second continued forward in a straight path. Fluttershy quickly landed soon after, seeing the other hand coming closer to her. She looked down at the flowers below her and an idea quickly came to her. At an alarming speed, the flowers around her began to grow, shielding her. The hand struck this wall, having the same effect on it as anything else Kurama had touched. When the flowers had wilted completely, however, Fluttershy was nowhere to be found. Kurama began to search for her in the field, but as he did, he noticed it began to change. All the flowers around him began to grow, shielding his vision.

“Many, many before you have tried to stall as well, including your friend… thinking they’d be capable of waking before I found them,” Again, he created two hands of magic, waiting, “They were wrong.” The hands began to slice through the flowers, clearing a path for him to move.

He searched for any signs of Fluttershy hiding in the large field around him. As he searched, he began to hear something: buzzing, and it was growing louder. And it wasn’t coming from just one source; he could hear several of them. But there was something off about it. Though it definitely sounded like bees, it was far too loud compared to how bees usually sounded, unless they were buzzing directly into one’s ear. The flowers began to move as gusts of wind around him, and he looked up. That’s when he saw them.

They were bees, alright, and all of them were as large as a house. Standing on the back of one of the gargantuan insects, was Fluttershy. Without saying a single word, Fluttershy pointed down at Kurama, and the bees began to move. Kurama jumped back at one that dived down at him, causing its stinger to stab into the ground. In retaliation, Kurama sliced the bee in two with a wave of magic, and it vanished from sight. But there were more to replace the one he had destroyed, and they were coming in strong numbers.

Kurama backed up as quickly as he could, countering the bees with every chance he had. But he was eventually forced to stop when he backed into something solid. Turning his head, he saw that there was a wall of vines that formed behind him. Looking back at the bees, he saw that they had formed a line in front of him, leaving no way to escape…

Or so it seemed.

To Fluttershy’s caution, Kurama’s body began to glow with an eerie purple color, and he reached out to the wall of vines behind him. When he touched it, the vines began to change color, but unlike all the other times he’d touched the plants, they weren’t blackening and rotting away. Instead, they began to unravel, surrounding Kurama and pointing themselves towards the bees, now the same color as his magic.

“False hope, allowing one to truly believe they have an advantage. It’s when they are at their weakest…” Kurama said, waving his hand. The vines shot forward, slicing through the army of bees with little trouble. The one Fluttershy stood on tried to avoid as best as it could, but soon, it too was struck down and Fluttershy was sent into a free fall. But she didn’t fall long, for a vine snatched her out of the air, wrapping itself around her. She struggled against her bindings, but found she couldn’t overcome it.

The vine soon moved again, down to the ground where she was slammed against it. She let out a grunt as she reeled from the impact. But it wasn’t over as the vine rose again before repeating the assault, only stopping when Fluttershy’s head hung limp from the constant impacts.

“Some come to the conclusion that no harm can come to them in their dreams. For the most part, this is true,” Kurama began to walk around the vine holding Fluttershy, hands behind his back with his eyes to the sky, “Your body cannot be harmed here, but your mind is a different matter. Your body is an extension of your mind in this realm, and anything that is done to it causes a strain on your psyche.”

“And what you feel now… a numbness, a lack of strength,” Kurama said, “That’s the stress on your mind taking its toll. But fear not, it will all go away,” Slowly, Kurama extended his own hand, a purple glow of magic engulfing it, “In a few days, that is.”

Kurama came very close to making contact with Fluttershy’s head, but something made him stop. The ground behind him suddenly jolted and caused him to fall back.

“What??” he wondered, the ground once again jolting a second later.

“I almost forgot,” said Fluttershy, “If… if I was awake… then I would have been alone,” Again, the ground jolted, the sky becoming black with clouds, “But here… I’m not alone.”

Not far from where they were, the ground erupted. Something came out of it, something massive. Kurama watched as another Fluttershy stood tall from the ground, staring down at him through glowing red eyes.

“She doesn’t appreciate…bullies…” the large Fluttershy brought up her massive leg, never once breaking eye contact with Kurama. With a powerful roar, she brought it down above him at a great speed. Kurama tried to defend, using the vines to form a barrier, but it may as well have been paper. Upon contact with the vines, they shattered under the force instantly, the ground cratering under the massive Fluttershy’s foot. She stood in that position for several seconds before retracting her leg and standing straight again.

The glow in her eyes began to fade away as the skies began to clear, the large Fluttershy walking towards the original. With each step, she shrunk until she was standing right next to Fluttershy at her original height. Reaching out to the vine, Fluttercruel tore it off, freeing Fluttershy and catching her before she could fall.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Fluttershy hummed weakly, the only sound she was really able to make in acknowledgement.

“What am I going to do with you…?” Fluttercruel said with a sigh, though she was relieved Fluttershy was okay. Picking her up, Fluttercruel began to carry Fluttershy through the field. In the distance, Fluttershy’s cottage began to form. Through the opened door and up the stairs, Fluttercruel eventually put Fluttershy back down on her own bed.

“I’m sorry…” Fluttershy said weakly with furrowed brows. She wished she could do more, try to help Corey and the others, but this was as far as she could go.

“Don’t be,” said Fluttercruel, “You did what you could. Now it’s my turn.” Turning around, Fluttercruel walked away, her body fading from sight the moment she stepped out the front door.

“After that, I took over the body, and then I came here.”

They were all on the edge of their seats by the time the story was over. The thought of Fluttershy coming so close to joining Corey in the room upstairs sent fear through them. But to know that she just barely managed to get away thanks to her other side, it was relief enough.

“Is she going to be okay?” asked Rainbow.

“The fight put a lot of stress on her mind, and truth be told she already wasn’t in the best state after her fight with Talon. It’s going to take some time before she can take over again, but she’ll be safe as long as we share the same mind.” Another relief, even if they couldn’t talk to Fluttershy directly. At least they knew this other side to her was keeping her safe, and that was more than enough for now.

“You said you confronted Kurama,” said John, “Any chance you managed to deal some damage?” Aside from when John first encountered him, this was the first time anyone had managed to put up a fight against him.

“I wish I had,” said Fluttercruel, “But the coward got away before I could do anything.” Just as when Kurama fought John, he ran soon after knowing there’d be too big a risk of continuing.

“He’s smart… the moment the ball leaves his court he’ll back away to fight another day,” This tactic wasn’t new to John by any means, but it was the first time he was up against it. Fact was, Kurama was biding his time as long as he needed to, and while he certainly had the time for that, they did not.

“Twilight, you know more about magic than any of us can hope to know. Is there any way you can help track him?” Twilight rubbed her chin for a moment, mulling it over.

“I did do some research on Princess Luna’s dream walking for a while, but shelved it not long after. I can dust off what I saved, and go through it again, but it will take some time.” John let out a small sigh. There seemed to be no way around it.

“Do what you can,” he said. There was nothing else to say. Reminding her of what was at stake wasn’t going to help anyone. Twilight nodded and began to move towards the door leading downstairs. But a knock at the door was enough to stop her and catch everyone else’s attention.

“Come in,” The door soon opened, and it turned out that it was one of the guards. And from the look on his face, he clearly did not come bearing good news.

“Forgive my intrusion,” the guard said, “But there is something you all must see.”

They knew they wouldn’t like the sight, but also knew there was no avoiding it. Choosing to see what it was, rather than being told now, everyone followed the guard…

Author's Note

And here's where I leave off for another chapter. Yeah...

Act 3 Chapter 27

Act III: Collision of Wills
Chapter 27: A Glimpse Into The Mindset
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Ponyville General was the town’s local hospital. It was also the only hospital. Though it certainly wasn’t large compared to hospitals in other cities, it was just enough for Ponyville. It was well-equipped enough to handle sick ponies and workplace injuries. But even if it was a hospital based in the center of town, it wasn’t prepared for what was happening at that moment. That very hospital was where the guard had taken them.

“We’re here,” he said.

Upon entry, everyone quickly took in the fast pace of movement. Doctors moved from one hall to another, and nurses talked to each other rapidly before moving on to the next room. It seemed like an epidemic had hit… and chances were that it had. The guards who brought them there pushed past the craziness and towards the front desk.

“I’ve brought them,” he said.

The pony sitting behind the front desk was Nurse Redheart, her eyes bloodshot and her mane unkempt. The day could have gone better for her, it looked like. She nodded to the guard before rising from her seat and walking out to where the others were waiting.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” she said, “I wasn’t sure who else to call… we don’t even know what’s causing this!” It was clear that Redheart was as frantic as the rest of the doctors. Every doctor and every nurse in the hospital was met with something their combined experience couldn’t handle. All their years of study had failed them when they had needed it the most.

“Take a deep breath, Redheart,” said Twilight, placing her hands on the nurse’s shoulders, “I take it they’re in intensive care?”

Redheart nodded.

“Please, take us to them, and explain as much as you can.”

With that, Redheart nodded and took in a deep breath. She then turned, beckoning them to follow.

“It started late last night. There were reports of ponies hearing something from inside another’s home.”

“Screaming?”

“Yes,” Redheart paused for a moment, rubbing her temples. She noticeably shivered before continuing on, “It started with one. Then before we could even begin to examine him, two more appeared.”

As they continued their walk, Redheart seemed to be getting louder. In addition, a sound began to mix in with the usual hospital buzz, but they couldn’t place it quite yet.

“We’ve run every kind of test we could from medical to magical. We even tried sedation, but no medicine would make it stop!” Finally, they reached a door marked “intensive care”, a large, air-tight door with an electrical lock. Even on the other side of this door, they could hear the sound, just loud enough to overcome what should be blocking it from reaching the opposite side of the doors. Redheart stared at the door for several seconds, reaching up to undo the lock. But before she touched it, she retracted her hand and held both close to her, shaking her head.

“Please,” she said, turning around, “I’ve spent hours hearing it… hours of not being able to do a thing to stop it. Please… don’t make me hear it again…”

Who among them could blame her? Even they couldn’t bring themselves to hear the tortured screams of one of their own for very long.

“You’ve done what you could,” said Twilight, “Leave the rest to us.”

Redheart stared back at the group through grateful eyes and nodded. She excused herself and made her way back to the front of the hospital. When she was out of sight, and more importantly, out of earshot, the latch to the door was finally undone. What followed was reminiscent of when Twilight opened the door in the library.

Only it was much, much worse.

It wasn’t just one scream they were hearing, but several, all at once. They walked through the halls, trying in vain to tune them out. As they walked, they could see into the different rooms. Ponies were screaming in their beds, tied down so they couldn’t move and hurt themselves. Doctors and nurses were doing everything they could to help them, but it was clear they didn’t know what to do for it.

“It’s awful…” said Rarity.

“It’s gonna get worse before it gets better,” said Applejack, but it was clear even she couldn’t stomach it.

“She’s right, though,” said Twilight, “If we can’t cut him off in the dream realm, these numbers will just keep increasing…”

But what could they do? Twilight didn’t have the time yet to dig out her old research. And even if they did, there was no guarantee it had anything that could help them.

“I wonder,” John looked through the windows to the room in from of him. Several ponies were lying there, all in a nightmare, “All caused by the same being…”

The gears in his head started to turn as an idea surfaced. To the others’ surprise, John opened the door to that room and stepped inside. Instantly, the doctors turned their attention to him.

“Excuse me but—“ The doctor didn’t get much of a chance to get a word in edgewise. John had pointed to the door, staring at him and the nurse.

“Out…” John said.

The doctor was going to speak up, but he knew better than to argue with a large dragon. Plus, Twilight was there, and she’d nodded to him. It was enough for him. Once he and the nurse were out of the room, John closed the door behind them. They watched as he walked up to one of the beds and stared down at the screaming pony.

“What’s he doing?” asked the doctor, now outside with the others. They were all as clueless as he was. John placed his hands at the foot of the bed and closed his eyes. Then, he took a deep breath.

All or nothing… After a few seconds, John’s eyes finally opened, and just as before, they were glowing. But the glow wasn’t limited to just there. After a few more seconds, another glow began to emanate from his forehead.

“He couldn’t be…” Twilight said in shock. Before anyone could question what she meant, something shot out of John’s head. It was a magical link which made its way to the other pony and connected to his own forehead. The very moment it did, the link’s color changed, and the aura of magic went wild.

John’s body jolted as the link thrashed about violently. It was just like when Corey was thrown into a nightmare during their link. However, unlike last time, the link didn’t explode. It held on strong. John’s body trembled as he grunted from the sudden strain rushing through him. Right now, the others had no idea of what was really happening, and right now, he was glad for it.

He could feel all of it: the fear coursing through the body, the anguish, and the growing desire for it all to end trying to penetrate into his mind. John didn’t fold. He strained his mind, which in turn strained his body. John’s grip on the bed increasing, his claws piercing the wood. The others weren’t able to do anything but watch the struggle.

“Just what is he trying to do?” asked the doctor.

“He’s trying to meld with the nightmare…” The others looked at Twilight in disbelief. John had heard it first: once a victim was ensnared, there was no way to wake up. They found themselves wondering: why would he purposely try to throw himself into one?

“Is he crazy?!” said Rainbow, “We gotta stop him!” She was about ready to bolt right into the room, but Twilight stopped her.

“You have to trust him, Rainbow,” said Twilight, “Princess Luna wouldn’t have given him this power if she thought for a second that he couldn’t handle it.” Rainbow looked back at Twilight for several seconds before turning back to John again. They all looked on for what felt like hours, but it wasn’t even a minute. With the combinations of the pony’s screams and John’s strain as he tried to connect, they wondered how much longer they had. How much more would John take before something gave.

Something eventually did break, and fortunately it wasn’t John. Rather, it was the link connecting himself to the other pony. After it shattered, the glow in his eyes disappearing, John staggered back and fell on the ground. Beads of sweat ran down his face as he took several deep breaths. Finally, the others ran into the room, the doctor checking on the patient.

“Nothing’s changed…” he noted.

“That wasn’t…my goal…” John said between breaths, his head spinning from the mental assault he’d endured.

“Then what was?”

John’s legs trembled, but he managed to stand up, and for a moment, his eyes shone.

“To remember,” he said, “I’d felt it when Corey was put into a nightmare. I didn’t think much of it back then. All these ponies’ nightmares are forged by the same magic, and it’s all connected to a single source. I had to go back in and feel it firsthand one more time, so that I could never forget it. The magic he has… I can feel it now, and I can feel it in every pony currently under his spell in this hospital.”

John’s eyes stopped glowing, and he gave off a grin of success.

“I can track him now…”

The doctors were informed of the cause of the ponies’ strange illness. Though it eased their minds that they finally knew the cause, it didn’t make them feel better to know there was absolutely nothing else they could do to help the ponies other than try and keep track of their vitals. Though the visit had only served as a rude awakening to the others as to how many more ponies were now under Kurama’s spell, there was a single silver lining.

“We got what we needed,” though it wasn’t easy to get, John was still glad he’d managed to find another way to even the playing field. Now, all that was left for him was to try and put it in action from the inside of the dream realm.

“Oh yeah…” Rainbow stopped in front of John, “About that…” John looked down at her for a moment and raised a brow. Rainbow hovered up until she was eye-level with him, and before John could react, Rainbow whacked him straight on the top of his nose.

“Okay… ow,” John said, holding his snout, “Can I ask why?”

“How about the fact that you went all lone wolf on us??” she asked, “You could have at least told us what you were planning!”

John had managed to take on a lion twice his size without flinching. He’d taken on that shadow creature up north, too. Yet a five-foot tall pegasus managed to make him sweat more than either of those threats.

“Rainbow, listen,” said John, “I know it was risky, but I couldn’t afford not to do something. It’s not just Corey’s life that’s on the line now, it’s all those ponies in the hospital too now. I’d do the same if it was you too.”

Rainbow’s face scrunched and she turned around before anyone could see her get flustered.

“Yeah, well, at least try to remember we’re here for you in this,” she said before beginning to walk off. John simply stood there for a moment, rubbing the back of his head. Then, he followed after her. The others remained behind for a bit longer, having seen that entire display.

“Am I the only one?” asked Twilight.

“Not this time, darling,” said Rarity, walking off with Applejack and Fluttercruel, leaving Twilight alone for a few moments. She blinked, and reflected on what she’d just heard.

“‘This time’?”

If you asked anyone who’s ever had a dream, they would all most likely have one dream in common: “the running dream”. Ponies would often find themselves running the whole time. Not one could say why they were running. Perhaps they were trying to get to something, or trying to get away from something else. Regardless of the reason, they would always end the same way: the dream ended before the dreamer could find out why they were running. But it always raised the same question: if they hadn’t woken up at the moment they did, would they have found out?

Through a seemingly endless rocky terrain, something small was running as fast as possible. It ducked between rocks ever so often, as though trying not to be seen by something that may be watching. This small thing was a pony, a filly to be exact. As she sat there hiding behind a rock, her whole body trembled. Tears streamed down her face as she looked around, trying to find something. After several seconds, she could see that there was no one else around, and for a moment, she looked relieved.

That is, until she saw something more, and it took everything she had to not scream. She pressed her knees to her chest and placed her hands over her head.

“I wanna go home…I wanna go home,” she whimpered over and over. Her requests came to a stop when she heard something land right in front of her. Slowly, she looked up, and what she saw caused her pupils to shrink. There was now a large, shadowy figure looking down at her, and with a wall right behind her, there was nowhere to run.

“P-please, don’t eat me!” she said, kicking at the ground. The shadow then moved, kneeling down closer to the filly to reveal itself as:

A dragon.

“I’m not going to eat you,” he said with a chuckle. The filly stared back at him for a while, not quite able to believe him.

“You… you’re that dragon that fell from the sky?” she asked.

“That’s right,” said John, patting the filly on the head, “You can call me John.”

“Mommy said you helped a lot of ponies,” she said, “C-can you help me? I want to go home!” she said, grabbing onto his arm. John smiled and picked her up from the ground.

“That’s why I’m here,” he assured her.

“I think not…” The filly began to tremble again as the voiced echoed around them. A few feet in front of them, a shadow seemed to come out from the ground. Soon enough, it took the form that John remembered.

“Ever the eyesore…” John said to the blur, “Go on home, kid, I need to have a word with this blurry man here.”

Again, John put his hand to the filly’s head, only this time, his eyes began to glow. Within seconds, the filly’s body began to fade away until it was nowhere to be found. The moment the filly was gone, John’s expression changed, no longer needing to fear scaring her further.

“About time I found you…” he said, taking a few steps to the side.

“Curious,” said Kurama as he did the same, “I thought the first time was nothing more than a dead pony’s dream of survival. And yet, here you are, once again in someone else’s dream. I can only wonder how you managed such a… ‘perk’.”

John had stopped listening the instant Kurama brought up Corey.

“That reminds me,” John said, extending his wings, “I still owe you for that. While we’re at it, let’s add Fluttershy to your penance.”

Finally, John launched forward towards Kurama, breathing fire just as soon as he could. Kurama jumped out of the way of the flames which turned the surrounding rock into magma. John had anticipated the dodge; it was all that Kurama had done since revealing himself. With a swift kick, John launched one of the rocks towards Kurama, and this time, John managed to hit his mark. The boulder crumbled and Kurama was launched back, though not for very long. Before he could even touch the ground, Kurama’s body suddenly slowed to a stop, and he began to float in mid-air.

So he can fly…that’s new, John noticed, but this was a dream. It wasn’t too surprising. John flapped his wings and took off as well, dashing like a spear towards Kurama. He backed away, maneuvering around the rocks, but John simply charged right through them. He was closing the gap quickly, but Kurama was ready. From around him, several rocks jolted out of the ground and began to move around him, forming a blockade. But John wasn’t going to have any of that, and after taking in a deep breath, he let out a large stream of fire which engulfed the stones, melting them.

For a moment, John thought the magma would douse his opponent, but before it could even move, the molten liquid began to glow. It then began to move in, but not in the way that John had hoped it would. The magma spread apart before spiraling around Kurama in a continuous stream. Then, without warning, the stream shot forward. In a matter of seconds, the stream wrapped itself around John until his body was nowhere to be seen. Then, the molten rock began to cool rapidly until all that was left was a massive chunk of black coal.

Kurama finally landed when the coal settled and took a step forward. However, when the coal’s surface started to crack, he knew to back away. John let out a roar as the coal cracked and shattered completely, totally unharmed. Dusting himself off, he looked back to Kurama.

“You can stall all you want, but at some point, I am going to get my hands on you, and believe you me, I intend to make it count.”

“We’ll see about that,” For a split second, John noticed something. It was just behind Kurama but still close to his body. To his eyes, there appeared to be two tendrils. Even though they were blurred, he could swear they were on fire. He wasn’t sure what they were supposed to be; was he trying for another attack?

It didn’t matter, though. He was already well-prepared to face Kurama the moment he felt his magic in the dream realm. John launched forward, not wanting to give Kurama chance to run away again. To his surprise, Kurama didn’t. Instead, the blurred opponent extended out his magic covered hands and charged as well. Within seconds both combatants locked hands, and a shockwave of magic was caused.

The moment they made impact, John could feel the magic beginning to try and take over. But just like last time, he was about to resist it. However, unlike last time, Kurama wasn’t trying to back away the moment he did.

“Finally grew some nerve?” John taunted, but once again, Kurama didn’t react. The two continued to push against one another, the ground beginning to crack under the force of the two. John gave it one last push, seemingly gaining the advantage. Then, something changed in the blur.

John was close enough to see him turn his head away, as though he’d noticed something, before turning back to John.

“Clever…” Kurama said. John knew what was going to happen, but he didn’t want to give him the chance. He let go of Kurama’s hand and raised his fist to the air before swinging it down with all his might. But regardless of how much he put into it, all John managed to hit was the air. john rolled from the force of the punch, quickly standing on his knees to see that Kurama had vanished yet again. John let out an annoyed grunt as John slammed his fist into the ground.

“Not this time!” he shouted, and within seconds, John’s own form vanished from the dream as well.

Even though John had found a way to search for Kurama in the dream realm, it wasn’t enough for the others. If the attack on Fluttershy had taught them anything, it was that Kurama was most likely searching for dreamers, even in the day. He was searching around the clock for even the slightest instance of sleep from an unsuspecting victim. They knew they couldn’t afford to waste time, especially after what they’d seen in the hospital. So they set off again, aiming for anywhere they hadn’t already searched the first time.

They searched for a while, fearing that just as before, their efforts would turn up empty. But in the final moments before the feeling would sink in completely, something was spotted. In the grass, Applejack noticed an off pallet to the color.

“Is that…?” Applejack ran up to it and kneeled down next to it, and a smirk spread across her lips as she realized what it was.

Blood…

It wasn’t fresh, but she could still tell what it was. She’d remembered that the guards had said they’d managed to injure Kurama during their first encounter. Looking up, Applejack put her fingers in her mouth and whistled for the other searchers. After gaining their attention, she motioned for them to follow her. As they walked, they remained low. If there was a chance that Kurama was near, they definitely did not want to be noticed now.

Not even the sound of the grass being crushed underfoot could be heard as they inched forward. As they did, Applejack noticed more trails in the grass, more drops of blood leading towards one direction.

Almost there…she thought to herself. Already, Applejack began to feel the increased anticipation. Either they find him, or he finds them. Regardless of which, they were going to be face-to-face with him soon enough.

The walking came to a stop, and Applejack raised a fist to make everyone wait. In the distance, she noticed something: a grass hill just in front of them. But it wasn’t a hill alone. In it, was a large hole, almost like a cave.

This has to be it, Applejack thought to herself. It was the only spot that the blood trail lead to that could be used as a hiding spot. She raised her hand higher, alerting them to be ready for her signal. The wait went on for several seconds, everyone waiting for the signal to fight. And the signal came, but not in the way they were expecting.

Just before Applejack could lower her hand once again, something erupted from the cave: a spiral of flames which not only engulfed the hill but also formed a wall of fire all around them. It was clear now that in the end, they were the ones who had gotten dropped on. From within the flames, something stepped out.

“Alright, everyone ready up!” called out Applejack, “This time, we’re the ones who’re gonna fight back!!”

Author's Note

Here we go and stuff. Yeah... not sure what else to say.

Act 3 Chapter 28

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 28: The Dreamstalker, Revealed

The fire roared all around them. Many of those inside the blazing walls were already beginning to sweat from the intense heat. The only one who didn’t seem to be feeling any ill effects was the one who caused it all, the elusive Kurama. This time, though, he wasn’t in the dream realm, preying on the weak, it was a battle in the real world. But Kurama got the drop on the search team, and it seemed that they were now trapped in a cage of his own design…

Or so he thought.

“Now!”

Several of the unicorn guards banded together, their horns glowing as spells began to go off. Other guards ducked for cover under various shields as the spell began to take action. In front of the guards, an orb began to form, growing larger by the second until becoming big enough to encase them all. Finally, the orb exploded and its contents sprayed out in all directions. Immediately afterward, the fire around them began to fizzle, steam rising from the ground as Kurama’s flames were snuffed out.

“Word spread fast over how you escaped the guards in your first encounter,” said one of the guards, “This time, we came prepared for it.”

“And some of us came prepared for a rematch,” said another, his sword long since drawn for battle. Kurama hadn’t said a word, though he most likely wouldn’t have been heard anyway; the guards charged, letting out a collective yell. One of them managed to reach him quickly, swinging the sword just like when they first fought. Each swing was fast and dangerous, and would definitely cause a grievous injury if it connected. Just as before, Kurama dodged each attack easily, but the guard knew he’d eventually hit his mark.

But then something different happened. With as much might as the guard could muster, he stabbed at Kurama. For a moment, it seemed like his sword would make contact, but in the split second before the tip of the blade could make contact, Kurama moved. With great speed, Kurama dashed away from the tip of the blade, and was now behind the guard.

So fast…! The guard thought, his eyes barely capable of keeping up with Kurama’s movements. His body was nowhere near capable of avoiding the sweep kick that knocked him off balance. This was followed with Kurama elbowing him to the side which instantly knocked the wind out of his lungs and grounded him.

Kurama was about to go for another attack on the guard, but his actions was cut short when something constricted around him. Turning his head, he saw what appeared to be a lasso tied around him, pinning his arms to his side. At the other end of that rope was a rather confident-looking Applejack.

“Forget about me?” she asked through a smirk.

“And me?” Again Kurama turned his head, only to see a flash of red when something struck him on the side of his head. This strike was from a heel kick delivered by an angry-looking Fluttercruel.

“I still owe you that and more for last time. And this time you won’t be getting away,” she said. Kurama staggered from the kick but still managed to stand his ground. That was difficult, however; Applejack was pulling on the rope tied around him

“I’ve heard that on multiple occasions,” his voice was still as calm as ever. His body began to glow as embers engulfed his cloak. Even the rope tied around him seemed to heat up from the flames, but to his surprise, it did not turn to ash.

“I ain’t sorry to tell ya, but the material used to make this rope was supplied by Pinkie Pie. Durable, fireproof, and dragon tested!” With that, Applejack pulled on the rope as hard as she could, forcing Kurama off his feet and to the ground.

“Fire!” On command, several waiting guards shot off a laser towards Kurama the moment he hit the ground. Unable to recover from his fall fast enough, the lasers hit their target and resulted in a massive explosion of magic and rubble, forcing those not behind cover to get low.

“Did we get him?” asked Fluttercruel. Everypony was now standing cautiously as they waited for the smoke to clear. Before they could fully see, Applejack felt a strong tug on her rope and immediately had her answer.

“Get ready to fire again!” she called out to the other guards. As they prepared, there was an explosion from inside of the smoke cloud, dispersing it. Everyone took a moment to see what was in front of them. It was obvious Kurama was now on his feet, but his cloak had been destroyed from the magnitude of the attack he’d just been hit with. Now, with no further obstructions and tricks of the dream world, they were finally able to see what he really was.

“A… fox…?” Fluttercruel was the first to question it. There was no mistaking it; he definitely looked like one, though not quite like other foxes out in the world. He was larger and obviously more intelligent than a common fox. Kurama’s fur was also not orange in color, but was white with black markings around his eyes and down his limbs.

“I commend you,” he said, his voice only betraying the slightest hint of surprise, “Not many find the opportunity to see my true form,” As he spoke, something seemed to come out from behind Kurama, appearing to be made of magic, “And even fewer have lived to tell the tale afterward.”

After a few moments, the tendrils of magic solidified, and took the form of tails.

“Two tails?” Applejack questioned. As soon as she did, however, both tails wrapped around the rope and tugged back, hard. Applejack let out a sharp grunt as she planted her feet, still being dragged forward from the force of the pull. Fluttercruel quickly joined Applejack and grabbed on to the rope, hoping to offset the balance just enough to pull back. With one strong tug, both she and Applejack were tossed over, the latter letting go of the rope.

“Fire again!” the guards did as they were commanded, but this time, Kurama was no longer being held still. Kurama wasn’t capable of avoiding some of the attacks, but the ones that he couldn’t outright dodge, he swatted away with his tails.

“You didn’t tell us he had tails!” said Applejack, but the guards she spoke with looked just as surprised as she was.

“He didn’t, I mean, not that we saw. And he definitely wasn’t this strong last time either,” For a moment, the guards began to collectively wonder if this was even the same creature they’d fought that night. So far, the rope tied around him seemed to have a strong hold on him, but there was no telling what would happen should he get free.

“Don’t matter how strong he is now,” Applejack said, “We know the rope can hold him. Just keep him busy and stick to the plan.” The guard nodded and charged into formation with the others. Applejack cracked her knuckles before casting a quick glance behind herself, “We’ve got this,” she said before joining in.

Though Kurama’s tails served as a defensive buff towards oncoming lasers, the unicorn guards did not let up. They were firing from all angles hoping to land even one hit, hoping to make a bit of difference. While they were content with firing as much as they could stand to, Kurama was growing tired of this. No longer wishing to merely evade the oncoming attacks, Kurama planted his feet as his body began to glow. His tails then drilled into the ground.

The ground split as a rush of molten rock pulsed through them, spreading out to the opposing guards. Some managed to get out of the way, but others weren’t capable of avoiding the explosions that met them when the expanding cracks reached far enough. Several were knocked away, many falling unconscious, but the others did not let up.

“Struggling until the last man…” Kurama noted, “Commendable, but foolish. In due time, none will be left, and your efforts will have been rendered useless.” Though his voice was brimming with confidence, he still struggled with his bindings. If nothing else, it was a constant reminder he was still vulnerable.

“I beg to differ,” something dropped from above Kurama, giving him a fraction of a second to leap back before it connected. It wasn’t another laser, though; it was an arrow, and it was glowing a light blue color. He didn’t have much time to get away before the arrow quickly expanded into a large chunk of ice. Looking up, he saw a flying Fluttercruel staring down at him, a bow and arrow at the ready.

And she wasn’t alone.

“Fire!”

She and several other pegasi in the air had drawn back their bow strings and let loose. The arrows soared down towards him. In response, he attempted to smack one away with his tail, but that proved to be a mistake; the moment his tail struck the arrow, the ice enchantment activated and the tip of his tail was frozen. With that, he knew he couldn’t risk them touching him, or else things would get even worse for him. But as the dodging continued, he found that his trouble was doubled. He wasn’t just dodging a rain of ice arrows from above; he was dodging lasers from around him as well. He couldn’t risk blocking one without making contact with the other.

This is becoming tedious, he thought to himself. His options were being narrowed down to nothing rapidly. His arms were bound to his sides with flame-resistant rope. His opponents also had a counter-strategy for his pyro magic, and he was being fired upon from virtually all angles. It just didn’t seem like he had any other choice. A strategic retreat is in order…

Live to battle another day; some called it cowardly, even fewer had a chance to say it again. So long as he was victorious in the end, Kurama saw no fault in running away when your chances were slim. But running now was definitely difficult. Unlike in a dream, he needed to find a way to make his opponents back off. But as he tried to process a strategy for this, he’d found that he had somehow stopped moving.

What? It took him but a moment to notice a pull that had been relieved a while ago. Looking over to where the rope was stretched, he could see that it was the same pony who had held the rope last time. At first, he thought it was simple; overpower her, and she’d release her grip. In the moment he began to move, he realized something very important.

There was no traction.

He looked down at his feet to see that the ground was covered in ice, caused by the constant flow of enchanted arrows from above. He couldn’t get a grip on the ground, which meant his superior strength was neutralized as well. Applejack already knew this, of course, and she planned to take full advantage of it. She planted her feet firmly into the not-frozen ground she was standing on and yanked the rope with all her might, the force causing Kurama to lift off of his footing. She wasn’t done; now that he was in the air, Kurama would learn just what it felt like to be at someone else’s mercy.

Continuing her move, Applejack began to spin the captured Kurama only a few feet of the ground. With every second she would spin him faster and faster until she felt she couldn’t muster anymore momentum. After almost a full minute, she finally stopped her spin, letting go of the rope and allowing the force built up to do the work. Kurama flew through the air at high speed, falling until he met with the hard ground. His body rolled through the grass for several more feet until skidding to a halt just short of a tree.

The guards and Fluttercruel gathered behind Applejack as they waited to see what would happen next. To no one’s surprise, Kurama began to rise from the ground, notably irritated by having been thrown across the field.

“You’re putting up a better fight than I expected,” he said, “But it’ll take more than throwing me to win…”

“Oh, we know.”

Then, to Kurama’s surprise, virtually everypony he was facing raised their hands and placed a ringer in their ears and turned away. Kurama simply stood there blinking. They had all turned their back to him at the same time. Just what were they thinking? Were they trying to lure him into attacking, making him think they’d spontaneously dropped their guard? Or were they hoping he’d drop his and try to escape while he believed he had the chance. So many questions and outcomes came rushing into his mind at once and not one made any sense.

“Just what are they planning…?”

“Well, if we told you then it wouldn’t be a surprise!”

Kurama blinked and looking up just as something dropped down in front of him. It was Pinkie Pie, who was now standing in front of him with a large smile, her hands behind her back. Also, she was sporting a pair of borrowed sunglasses.

“See, that’s how surprises work, if you don’t see them coming, then they’re all the better!” Her tone was impossibly peppy given the situation, which only further confused Kurama.

“I’ll give you an example!” Finally, Pinkie’s hands came out from behind her back, revealing the object she was holding, “Surprise!!”

Pinkie threw the object at Kurama; in the time it took for her to put her own fingers into her ears, both objects exploded into a flash of light and sound. Kurama instantly found himself blinded and deafened, unable to hear anything but a high-pitched ringing. However, his sense of touch was still there, and he felt something wrapping around his body.

It wasn’t until the light cleared did he finally see what had been done to him. It was more rope, just like the one that had held his arms down. Now, however, it was wrapped around most of his body including his legs. He wasn’t able to keep his balance for long and soon found himself falling over.

“See, surprising!” Pinkie said as the others ran up behind her. The guards were noticeably surprised that the plan had worked as well as it had. Pinkie had made sure to remain in hiding until the moment Kurama was totally vulnerable.

“Target subdued,” one of the guards said, “Now on to the next phase of the plan: prepare the interrogation room. We have to find out how to cancel his spell.”

They all began to surround Kurama, cautious for any further tricks. Through magic, they lifted him off the ground and began to move him.

“Enjoy your trip back to Tartarus,” said Fluttercruel with crossed arms. Kurama, however, did not acknowledge her, instead looking up into the skies.

“I was once asked…” he started to say, “In a realm owned by another, how was I capable of avoiding Princess Luna for so long…”

A faint glow began to emanate from his exposed head, paws and feet.

“It’s simple, really; I was patient, and never one to overstep my boundaries, for it would result in my downfall,” The glow grew stronger as fire sparked around his body. Everyone turned to him and took a step back, wondering what he was doing. There was no way for him to get free. His bindings were stronger than a dragon’s strength and his fire didn’t effect it at all.

Right?

“All I did was sit back, bide my time, and wait,” Slowly, Kurama smirked, “It is just as the saying goes: ‘good things come to those who wait’!”

Catching everyone else off-guard, Kurama’s magic exploded out, knocking those around him back a bit, letting Kurama fall to the ground.

“What’s happening?” questioned Fluttercruel, her counterpart’s knowledge failing her. No one else seemed to know either. Now that he was free of the unicorn guards’ magic, he was holding himself upright through the use of his own. Everyone watched as the fire around him seemed to grow stronger by the second. The heat it gave off stretched around a large radius.

“These bindings are impressive, but I wonder,” Kurama said, “Just how much heat can they take?”

Applejack turned to look at Pinkie Pie, only to be given a look of worry in response. Fire was one thing, but even steel melted under enough heat. And right now, they were sure they were going to find out now. Soon, the bindings glowed as the fires grew to a dangerous level, the ground under him turning to sand from the intense heat. Finally, when it seemed the heat couldn’t get any stronger, Kurama’s bindings reached their limits, crumbling to ashes.

He was free.

That wasn’t the worst of it, though. As he stood there looking on at the others, they noticed something different. All this time while they were fighting against him, they saw that he had two tails. But now that he was free, now that his bound tails were visible once more, they noticed it.

“Three…?”

They didn’t know how it happened or where it came from, but now Kurama was sporting a third tail.

“Now then, shall we continue?”

His tails quickly lashed out before anyone could respond. They knocked away anyone that was within their long reach without any resistance. Even Applejack couldn’t avoid the oncoming attacks, only having enough time to raise her arms in defense before impact. Strong as she was, she couldn’t handle the force behind the attack and was knocked back. The fur on her arm ignited upon contact, but the flames were put out when she rolled along the ground. Burns were the least of her concerns when she stopped, though. Placing her hand on the ground to rise again, Applejack suddenly felt a surge of pain rush up her arm.

“Ah!” she screamed as she rolled to her side and held it. It didn’t feel broken, but it sure hurt like it did.

“Cover Applejack!” yelled Pinkie as she and Fluttercruel dashed to Applejack’s aid. Before they could even get halfway there, before the guards could even begin to attack, Kurama moved first at blinding speed. He placed himself between them and Applejack, his back to them as he stared down at the injured pony.

“Now then,” he said, raising a glowing hand, the magic around it purple in color, “How about we start with you?” Applejack could get up, but she knew she wouldn’t be capable of much. Moving her arm even in the slightest was too painful. She couldn’t fight back like that. As one of his tails snared her leg, she found her ability to run was also eliminated.

“Try not to struggle,” said Kurama, “But worry not; you won’t have to worry about your arm for much longer.” Applejack began to sweat as Kurama’s tail dragged her closer to him. The others were unable to get closer, his other two at the ready to swat away oncoming attackers. There was nothing else Applejack could do but close her eyes…

And feel the ground quake under her.

“Wait, what…?” She opened her eyes again, only to see that Kurama was no longer looking towards her, nor the others and the guards. In fact, they too were looking in a different direction, all seemingly relieved by what they saw. Following their example, Applejack turned her gaze and quickly understood why.

Both John and Twilight had arrived; the former had most likely caused the quake upon landing.

“So that’s what you really look like, huh?” said John, starting to walk forward, ready to continue from where they left off in the dream realm. But even with the boost he’d gained, Kurama was tired from the prior battle. Taking on the rest of the guards would have been easy enough, but Kurama knew adding John and Twilight on top of that would be pushing it. He needed to find a way to retreat, and he already had one ensnared.

“That’s far enough,” Kurama said, dragging Applejack and lifting her off the ground, holding her out between himself and John. It was clear what this move was.

“Put her down, Kurama,” John said, stopping in his tracks, “Or else…” His pupils twitched, but no one saw it.

“I have a better proposal,” he said, “Allow me to escape with my hostage, and I’ll do nothing more to her. However, should you step out of line...” Kurama’s hand glowed again, and moved close to Applejack’s head, “Do we have a deal?”

“You think I’d stand back and let you do that to a friend?’ Without hesitation, John took a step forward, “Here’s how this is going to work, Kurama. You’re not leaving with her, and if you put her under a nightmare, then I promise you this: I will get her away from you right there and then, and what will follow is going to be a constant reminder of the mistakes you’ve made since you last broke out.”

If one paid enough attention, they could have noticed that Kurama gulped. It was subtle, but there. Usually, either-or situations came with a hesitation from the choosing party. But John didn’t even hesitate. And Kurama knew that he was dealing with a dragon—they typically made good on threats. If he didn’t choose his next move carefully, the results would be unfavorable.

“Very well,” Kurama said, slowly extending Applejack towards John. John, in turn, reached out as well, prepared to grab hold of her. But within the last few inches of making contact, Kurama smirked, and before John could react, he was forced to watch as Kurama’s tail snapped back, throwing Applejack straight into the air.

John looked up into the sky in disbelief then down at Kurama with slit pupils. Kurama only smiled as he knew just what John was going to do. After all, he wasn’t going to let it happen to a friend. Without a word, the dragon took off after Applejack as fast as his wings would take him. With John out of the way, Kurama had one other threat to deal with. While Twilight wasn’t a dragon, she was just as much of a threat. But he knew from experience how to deal with a princess…

His tails pointed upwards as orbs of magic began to spiral off their tips.

“And as for you, there are many who are currently unconscious. I wonder just how well they’d be able to avoid this…”

The orbs then launched into the sky, combining into one larger orb of magic and fire. Once it reached its max height, the orb exploded. From that explosion came a downpour of fireballs, each threatening those below.

Much as she wished she could take a jab at Kurama, Twilight wasn’t going to let others suffer over a grudge. Teleporting to the others, Twilight’s horn flared brightly as she charged a spell of her own. Using as much magic as she possibly could, she put a massive shield around herself and all the others who weren’t able to move. Each fireball that struck the shield was powerful, causing it to rattle with each impact. As she held it, she cast a glance over to a waving Kurama.

“Until next time, Princess,” He said before a spiral of fire engulfed him. As it vanished, so too did he.

He was enraged by the stunt Kurama had just pulled, but he couldn’t let that stop him now. Having sped into the skies as quickly as Kurama had tossed her, John was quickly closing the gap between Applejack and himself. Already her rise had reached its end and she was slowly beginning to fall back to earth. Fortunately, John was ready for this, flying just below her and rising to meet her.

When he’d finally caught her, John allowed themselves to fall freely, slowing it down to a full stop. As he held her, he noticed she was already twitching in pain from the injury she’d suffered to her arm. He knew he’d have to bring her down slowly. In the distance where he’d left Kurama, John could see the orb that had exploded and the shield Twilight had created. The last thing he saw was Kurama, waving his hand as though he were seeing off a steamship.

As he watched Kurama vanish within the inferno of his own making, John could only muster one thing to say in response.

“Next time…”

Author's Note

There we go and stuff. Yeah. Not much else to say.

Act 3 Chapter 29

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 29: Dream Monster Kurama

“Ow!”

The battle with Kurama was hard fought. Their victory had come so close to their grasp. But at the last moment, it was pulled away, and Kurama had managed to claim victory and escape. Many guards were injured from the fight and were now hospitalized for treatment. Unfortunately, Applejack hadn’t been able to walk away unscathed either.

“Are you done yet?” And she wasn’t one to patiently accept medical treatment even when things were normal. Her doctor was doing her best to tend to her injury in a timely manner, but this wasn’t the first time she’d asked.

“If I do this wrong because you insist on rushing me, your arm might not heal fully,” her doctor warned, “Is that what you want?”

Applejack looked at her doctor for a moment before letting out a defeated sigh.

“What’s the damage?” asked Twilight, her and the others having waited off to the side the whole time as they waited for the results.

“X-rays show that the damage was minor; a sprain of the forearm. That said, the sprain was severe.”

Applejack let out another annoyed grunt at the news, but her doctor ignored it.

“But if she refrains from adding any more stress to it, then her arm will recover in a week or two.”

That didn’t sit well with Applejack at all, “A week!? We don’t have that kinda time!”

“If you overstress your arm before it’s healed it’ll only get worse. It’ll take even longer before you’ll be able to use it again.”

Applejack opened her mouth to respond again, but the glare from her doctor convinced her that this was a losing battle. All she could do was remain silent and wait for her cast to be set.

The walk back to the library was quiet. Though the doctor had managed to patch up Applejack’s arm, but she wasn’t going to be able to use it. She had to wait a week or longer for it to heal, but Kurama’s victims lasted only three days. Everyone who was under Kurama’s curse couldn’t be left to wait for her arm to heal so that she could help them. And she couldn’t fight Kurama as she was now anyway; even when she was healthy, she could barely keep up with Kurama. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but as the group arrived at the library, and Applejack took a seat, she found herself left with no choice but to accept that fact.

“Looks like I’m benched,” Applejack ran her hand through her mane and looked up to the others with regretful eyes, “Sorry, everypony…” She sighed. It just wasn’t easy to accept that she was in over her head on this one.

“You put up a good fight, A.J.,” Rainbow said, patting Applejack over the shoulder, “Who could ask for more?” Everyone could agree to that. Most importantly of all, the sprain was the only major injury she had sustained.

“Just wish I could have done more…”

“You might have done more than you think,” said Twilight, “John and I showed up by the end of the fight. We only managed to see what Kurama looked like for a few minutes. You and the others, however, managed to see firsthand just how he manages to fight in the real world. Right now, we need you to fill us in on anything you think we can use against him.”

Up until that fight, the only thing they knew about Kurama is from what little Luna had managed to tell John the night Corey got cursed. Right now, they had a chance to add to that knowledge, and maybe even use it to their advantage.

“Not sure what I saw can be considered helpful, but I’ll give it a try,” said Applejack. For a moment, she thought back to the fight, trying to focus on any details she hadn’t had the time to focus on during that skirmish, “There’s not a lot I can pitch that you probably ain’t already figured out. He’s a fox, but a strange one if I ever saw one. I mean, I know there are a lot of species out there, but I ain’t ever seen or heard of a fox that looked like that.”

“I can vouch for that,” said Fluttercruel, “Fluttershy’s seen a lot of and read up on almost every critter Equestria has to offer, and even some outside its borders. Far as we know, there isn’t a species of fox that can grow to look like Kurama did.” Even with Equestria’s vast collection of creatures, there were still limits.

“Okay, so we have an unheard-of three-tailed fox with dream walking and pyrokinetic magic,” Twilight summed up. Applejack’s statement seemed to be true; they already knew this just from the few prior encounters with Kurama. Unfortunately, they only now knew exactly what he was, but it didn’t help them get any closer to stopping him.

“Is there anything else, any detail that seemed off?” After so many failed attempts to gain an upper hand over Kurama, there was a desperate need. Even if they’d managed to overpower him, Kurama would simply find a way to escape before long. Applejack continued to think back to their fight with Kurama, thinking about what she’d experienced.

“You didn’t tell us he had tails…”

“That’s it!” Applejack said, jumping from her seat, “When you showed up, yeah, he had three tails, but when the fight started, he only had two. When I asked the guards about it, they told me they hadn’t seen any tails when they first fought him.”

Pinkie and Fluttercruel remembered that detail; the sudden sprout of the third tail had still left a question in its wake.

“I think I might have seen that,” said John, “In the dreams, he’s constantly blurring his image, so it was hard to tell. When I met him this time, I saw what I thought were two tendrils, but I just assumed they were part of an attack. Thinking about it now, he might have sprouted his second tail then.”

The group sat in silence once again as they thought it over. Twilight, in particular, had started to pace the room.

His form, his magic, and his tails… It’s so strange… yet, somehow familiar, thought Twilight. Somewhere in the back of her mind, something echoed, trying to be heard. Somewhere, mixed with all the knowledge she’d amassed over the years was the answer she wanted, but where was it?

As she continued to pace, she found herself scanning through the hundreds of books around her home. As if somewhere between them laid the answer, and she had a large hunch that it was there, if only she could remember. Continuing to scan through them, she suddenly found her eyes lay upon a single word on one of the spines. Stopping for a moment, Twilight walked up to the book for a better look.

“Mythology…”

“That’s it!” In that moment, it was like a spark had been set off in her head. She scanned through her books a second time, but now she had a clear purpose in her mind. The others watched, waiting, until she pulled out an overly large and old book from her collection. Using her magic, she placed it on the table and began flipping through the pages.

“Kurama’s form was strange to me. There was no record of real foxes of that shape, but when you brought up his tail growth, I found myself remembering something,” She continued to flip through the pages, eventually stopping on a large images a little bit before midway through it. What the others saw surprised them; it was a fox, and it had many tails.

“What’s that?” asked John.

“There may not be a record of what Kurama is here, but overseas, there is something very similar: a creature in mythology out east called a Huli Jing. In our language, that means ‘fox spirit’,” Twilight explained. Everyone stared to the image for a few minutes. Was it possible that Kurama was one of these? Did this explain his dreamwalking ability?

“What exactly is a fox spirit?” asked Rarity. Again, Twilight started to flip through the pages of the book.

“I can only tell you what the book says, “Twilight said, flipping through a few more pages, “As it stands, they’re mostly considered to be folk lore.”

Eventually, she stopped on a different page. On it was a pony walking among others, but this one seemed to have several tails sprouting out from behind him.

“It’s said that they’ll take on a mortal form, often a female form of the species they’re targeting. Once they’ve made contact, the fox spirit would feed off that species’ magic for a time before moving on to another.”

Twilight stopped on yet another page this time. This one showed several spirits with different numbers of tails.

“The number of tails a fox spirit had was said to represent their powers. The more tails one hand, the stronger they could be. Lore said some were so powerful they could feed from the essence of the sun and moon.”

The idea of something being that powerful was frightening. It came as a small relief that Kurama was nowhere near that level, or at least, he wasn’t that level just yet. Fact was, now they knew he was literally growing in power by the minute. He’d managed to get three tails in such a short period of time…

“It all makes sense now, doesn’t it…?”

John’s statement triggered the realization in each of their minds. Even if Kurama wasn’t the same as the fox spirits of myth, there were still far too many other parallels to ignore. The fact he’d been growing tails as time went on; the reason he was cursing ponies to three days of nightmares and stalling for time. It all came to one fact.

Twilight’s gaze slowly shifted towards the soundproofed door that lead to her bedroom.

“He’s literally feeding off their misery,” she finally said.

The search for Kurama had continued soon after. Rarity and Rainbow went out this time to give those who had been in the previous search some time to rest. Not that Applejack had a choice now; her arm sprain had put her out of action. Twilight was still going through her books, trying to find anything more on fox spirit lore. She’d hoped that there might be a way to repel them. Everyone else who didn’t have an assigned task was trying their best to stay awake. They knew that if they dared to fall asleep, Kurama would try to leap into their dreams. Fortunately, though, Pinkie kept a steady supply of coffee.

John, meanwhile, was back in the dream realm. He’d been there for a few hours now. However, soon enough, he came out of it, hunching over in his chair as he let out a mildly irritated sigh.

“No luck?” asked Pinkie. John looked up to see that she was holding out a cup for him. With a smile he took the cup and took a small sip.

“Nothing,” John sighed, “Seems like he dropped off the grid after the fight today,” John rubbed his eyes, gritting his teeth for a bit, “Haven’t been able to feel any trace of him for hours now. Hope the others had better luck than I did…”

As if on cue, the door slammed open and the second search team entered the library. He could see it in their faces; they had the same luck he had.

“This is starting to get on my nerves,” said Rainbow. Kurama made Slayer look like Lyon by comparison, which said a lot, “We can spend hours searching and wasting our energy, and all he needs to do is sit around in some dark cave somewhere and wait while he gets stronger!”

She wasn’t the only one to feel like that. Further adding to their stress was the time limit. By now one of Corey’s days had passed, not to mention the other victims from that same night. Every hour that went by without them stopping Kurama was another hour off his victims’ remaining time. All they’d managed to do was prevent him from adding more to his rap sheet.

“We’ve already found a way to track him inside the dream realm,” said Twilight, “That means there must be a way to track him outside of it.”

Several books of mythology, worldly lore floated around her. John watched the determination—or desperation?—in her face as she flipped through pages upon pages of information to find an answer. If there was a way to track him, she was going to find it. Seeing the work she was putting into it, John threw his head back and downed the rest of his coffee; a feat he could not have managed without hurting himself as a human.

“I’m going back in,” in an instant, his eyes began to glow, and he dove into the realm of dreams once again.

John could probably never get used to the place he always wound up after using the magic Luna had gifted him. The dream realm’s hub world, if one could call it that, was a vast space surrounded by stars in all directions. Each represented a sleeping pony. Though most of them shone bright white like a real star, there were some that were black as coal; the victims of Kurama’s curse. He couldn’t enter those worlds anymore.

He wasn’t able to tell whose was whose. Up until now, he’d only managed to figure out how to jump between them on any given thought. As he walked through the space, he looked over every star. He was waiting for something to shift, a feeling of distress; Kurama’s appearance. But this time, there was nothing. All was calm in the dreams of other ponies, but he couldn’t find solace in that. It meant he couldn’t find Kurama, and he couldn’t let out his building frustration on the monster that was putting his friends’ lives in jeopardy. He wasn’t going to give in, though. He was going to continue his search for as long as it took to find him again. Even if their time was running short, John had an unshakable drive.

“He’ll slip up at some point, I know it,” John opened his wings and flew deeper into the world of dreams, searching the stars for any sign that something was starting to go wrong.

And I’ll finish him the moment he does…

Author's Note

Yeah, here's another chapter and stuff.

Act 3 Chapter 30

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 30: Kurama’s Fork

Twilight’s library was silent. The hours went by, and before they knew it, the moon had risen once more. For a long time, the moon had been a pleasant sight, a reminder of a victory not far past. Now, it only served as a way to remind them of the passing time. This moon would mark the end of the first night since Kurama attacked Ponyville, and with that, Corey and all those in the hospital were one day closer to the end. And just like the previous night, all the searches to find Kurama in the real world had come up empty. Morale was starting to dwindle.

Twilight did what she could: she researched everything she could on lore of Kurama’s kind. She tried to find something that could help give them an edge over him. The others tried to help, but they couldn’t tell what was or what wasn’t helpful from the near endless text from the countless books she’d assembled. Any attempts to help out on John’s end would be impossible. As far as they knew, only he had the power to jump into dreams.

Just like Twilight, John had been in search mode for several hours, and none knew how well Twilight’s search was going or how much longer it would be until John awoke. It was frustrating. The others couldn’t do much of anything to help, only able to wait until the call to battle was made. Even then, their inability to make a difference was increasing all the while. Kurama was getting stronger the longer he stalled, and even if they did find him, he’d probably manage to weasel his way out of defeat like he did earlier.

For some, like Applejack, sitting on the sidelines was all they could do, whether they liked it or not. They could only wish that they could help, even if just a little. There were also some that had grown too tired of waiting, unable to take the silence.

“Hey, where are you going??” The others watched as Fluttercruel made her way to the front door.

“Yeah, we have to wait until the guards find Kurama!” called out Rainbow.

“You can wait if you want,” she said, turning back, “But I’m not just going to sit around anymore. I’m going to find a way to help… my way.”

Before anyone could ask as to what that was, she closed the door behind her. The others looked at each other for a moment, unsure of how to proceed.

“Should one of us go with her?” asked Rarity.

Truth be told, no one had a chance to get into any prolonged conversations with Fluttershy’s split personality. With everything that had happened, they had been focused on finding Kurama, before and after she got control of the body.

“She’s brash, but she doesn’t seem reckless. Chances are, she won’t do anything that would put Fluttershy in danger. For now, let’s trust her judgment and wait for the results,” Twilight said. However, she knew deep down she would take anything at this moment. So far, her research had come up with nothing. There were many references in books that spoke of how to repel fox spirits, but they were either illogical or downright unpleasant. But she wasn’t going to stop. If there was one way to help push back Kurama, she was going to find it.

She couldn’t bear the thought of what might happen if they failed here…

An endless sea of stars, each of them separate, but at the same time, they are connected by one being. How does she do it?

John was still flying through the realm of dreams. He was still having trouble understanding how much power a single pony would have in order to command it all. That very pony had granted him the power to travel into it at will. Even with this gift, something that should be capable of leveling the playing field, he was still in a losing battle. He could still see the stars of those he couldn’t save. No matter how far he flew, he could still see their darkened glow.

“How long have I been here…?” He couldn’t feel the passage of time while in the dream realm. Seconds and minutes just seemed to blur into one another, and every time he came out, he’d found that what seemed like a short time to him had actually been hours out in the real world.

“Even after everything we’ve done, I’m still no closer to finding him. And he’s just getting stronger… at this rate…!”

John paused, tightening his fist. He then proceeded to slap himself. There was no time for this. Thinking negatively was what lead to Corey being Kurama’s first victim, at least, of the ponies he knew personally. He was going to keep searching for Kurama, and he was going to find him.

Focus…

Floating in the void, John closed his eyes. Kurama’s magic had gotten stronger. Even if he’d managed to find a way to mask his signal, there was one thing he couldn’t change: the cold chill it gave off, almost like a soulless void that killed off any form of warmth. It was something that he couldn’t just turn off, no matter how hard he tried. It was the nature of the curse, after all.

If I can’t find what’s there, I’ll just find what isn’t, John changed his approach. Every star, every dream… each of them was fueled by the pony who created them. In turn, this generated a signal that was the opposite of Kurama’s:

Warmth…

He just needed to feel through the warmth of the dreams, and feel for what could be out of place inside. One by one, he scanned each dream, letting its gentle glow fill him until passing on to the next one. There were an odd few which were nightmares, but none were caused by Kurama. He’d experienced it twice now; John could tell the difference. He wondered just how much longer it was going to take. With the countless dreams of Ponyville and even more soon to come, he knew that this search would just get larger and larger as it went on.

“Wait…” John stopped on one dream. After allowing himself to sink deep into the warmth of its magic, he felt something out of place. Deep in the center, there was a faint hint of chill, and after just a few seconds of contemplation, John’s eyes opened, and his mouth curled into a snarl.

“Found you!” With a powerful flap of his wings, John launched towards the star. The glow in his eyes reappeared as the star expanded and a door opened. John flew through the door at a quick pace, the door closing not long after he had entered.

“No…please, I beg of you!”

She could only pant heavily in fear, her body tied to a muffin cart. She was a gray pegasus pony with a blonde mane and tail. Before her stood Kurama, whose image was now completely clear. The pegasus known as Derpy struggled with her bindings as Kurama grew closer to her, his hand beginning to glow in his magic. Tears welled up in her walled eyes, the powerlessness sinking in painfully slow. She’d heard of this: the nightmare you can’t wake up from. It had already taken one of her friends, and now it looked like she was next…

“Please, don’t! I have a daughter!” she pushed against the chains, “I’m all she has!”

Kurama’s facial expression didn’t change. However, the speed of his walk did: he seemed to get slower at this. However, it wasn’t to back off. His curse was always more potent when the victim was absolutely filled with dread just before being stricken.

“Don’t worry,” Now his expression changed: a soulless smile as he looked down at the mother, “She’s next.”

Derpy’s eyes shrank at the thought: Dinky was going to be the next victim, and she couldn’t do anything to stop it. All she could do was watch in horror as his glowing palm grew closer to her face.

“The younger ones always have the sweetest nightmares,” he commented, letting out a chilling chuckle as he got within inches of grasping Derpy by the head. But something else was gripped. Kurama felt a tight vice on his shoulder, and the pressure was building to an excruciating level. He turned his head towards the source of the pain, only to be blinded by the powerful impact. The force of the blow not only sent his head pitching in the direction of the attack, but his entire body flew away in a spiral arc.

Kurama’s body flew for several yards before finally crashing into the wall of a building not too far off. It didn’t take long for him to realize just what had hit him, and as he began to rise up from the rubble, he saw him staring back. John stood with his head held high, his eyes locked onto Kurama and the fist he struck him with full extended. However, his fist opened, and John swung his arm, cutting through the chains holding Derpy.

“Go,” He held his hand out to her, “Wake your daughter. He won’t get to her now…”

“T-thank you!” she said, grasping his hand. John’s eyes began to glow in that moment, and Derpy vanished from sight, waking in the real world. Kurama let out a grumble at having lost yet another victim, spitting out what looked like a tooth soon after.

“Did you enjoy that?” he asked, wiping the blood from his chin.

“Oh, more than you know,” John said. His hand practically tingled from landing the hit, even if it was only a dream, “So then, is this the part when you’ll try to run?”

Both he and Kurama stood straight up, staring at one another. The question remained in the air between them, but it wasn’t answered with words. From under John, two of Kurama’s tails shot out from the ground, the tips spiraling down towards him.

John managed to step back just in time to avoid the attack, and grabbed hold of one before it could retract. With a strong pull, John unearthed the extended tail and began pulling Kurama towards him. With one final yank, John let go of Kurama’s tail and brought his fist back for another punch. He threw out yet another strong punch, but Kurama was capable of reacting this time and used a second tail to block the blow.

Then, with his third and final tail, Kurama then grabbed onto John’s ankle and pulled hard enough to knock him off-balance. Swinging John around, Kurama managed to slam the dragon’s body into the side of a home and out the other. But that wasn’t enough to stop him, after having been released, John managed to get back on his feet and skidded to a halt. He then kicked off the ground and charged for Kurama again. In retaliation, Kurama’s tails began to glow purple as they each speared towards John. Each came close to him, but John managed to dodge each tail by the scales on his nose, and without any more oncoming attacks, he made a straight dash towards Kurama.

Though he tried to step away, it was too late. John had managed to get close enough and struck him hard in the stomach. Kurama flew backwards quickly, using his tails to slow himself to a stop after a few feet. If the punch had hurt at all, he wasn’t showing any signs of it. John stood in place as he stared down at Kurama, confusion flooding his mind.

He can’t take me. He knows that… so why isn’t he trying to run? It happened every time someone encountered Kurama. If at some point they were capable of turning the tide against him, Kurama would retreat soon after. Was this some kind of trick? Was he setting a trap for him?

No! John shook his head, banishing the negative thoughts. Kurama was right here in front of him, and was finally capable of fighting him. He couldn’t let this chance pass after so many failed attempts to catch him already. Digging his claws into the ground, John launched forward into a full sprint.

I have to fight him, I have to defeat him, and I have to—

Suddenly, John’s eyes grew wide, and he slowed to a stop. He stood with a look of disbelief for several seconds; Kurama, in turn, offered a small grin. He was feeling it again, that same cold sensation that he used to track Kurama in the first place. But it wasn’t coming from the one standing in front of him. Worse still, it wasn’t even coming from the dream he was currently in.

“How…” John stumbled over his words, but just once, “How am I sensing two of you?!” His confusion soon turned to rage. Kurama simply chuckled, something that only further angered John. He charged anew.

“Answer me!” he roared, closing the distance between them quickly. John grabbed hold of Kurama and pinned him against a nearby tree. Kurama simply looked down at John, not an ounce of worry in his face.

“You’d be surprised what you can do in this realm; that is, if you have enough magic,” John’s mind began to race. He wondered, just what was Kurama capable of now that he had three tails… was he able to clone himself? Was he able to go into multiple dreams at once? The idea was haunting; it meant Kurama could double his own efforts. And John was just one dragon, and was the only one allowed to act in order to find Kurama—and he could do so accurately.

What do I--? While lost in his thoughts, John hadn’t known he left himself open, and Kurama took advantage. With all his tails, Kurama struck John square in the chest and sent him spiraling back. Though he ended up falling on his back, John managed to get back on his feet, his thought process still ongoing.

“Even if you can clone yourself… one of you has to be the original!” John pointed straight at the fox, “Meaning that if I take you down, the other would vanish!” Yet again, he dipped into the world of fiction, but given where he was, he was fairly sure the same logic could apply in this world. But as sound as he managed to convince himself that his plan was, the never fading grin of Kurama wasn’t helping.

“And what makes you think I am the original?” John paused for a moment. The possibilities ran through his mind again. Maybe this was a trap, and Kurama had let a clone be tracked so that the real him could catch another victim. It all made sense when he thought of it. This Kurama had continued to fight regardless of the damage he’d taken. And this Kurama had been sloppy enough to let John catch him off-guard in the first place. If that were the case, then he’d need to get the other one.

But what if I’m wrong…? John’s fists tightened. He had two choices to make: continue to fight this one and hope it’s nothing more than a bluff, or go to the other and risk the first reaching another pony’s dream. Every second he spent thinking of this was another second wasted, another second someone else could be made to suffer. But what could he do? He was all alone here in the realm of dreams…

If only I had one more!!

Everyone had gathered around John. They were waiting for him to emerge from the dream realm, but then they’d noticed some movement. It was slight at first, but then they had seen his body lurch slightly on several occasions. But that all stopped a few seconds ago, leaving the others to wonder what had happened.

“Do you think he found him?” asked Rainbow, “Think he’s fighting him now?”

The others weren’t sure. None of them could see what exactly happened to him once he’d entered the dream realm. If Rainbow was right though, and he was fighting him, then there was nothing they could do to help. John was the only one capable of jumping into another’s dreams, and it wasn’t like they could join in and help him… or so they thought.

“Wait! Look at that!” Pinkie said, pointing at John’s head. They all noticed another glow beginning to emanate from it. They had all seen this once before, back when they were taken into the hospital. Just like last time, a strand of magic came out of his head and slowly began to grow longer. Unlike last time, it didn’t connect to anything, leaving the others to wonder just what would happen. However, as they all stood like statues wondering what would happen next, one of them managed to step forward.

“Rarity!” Twilight called out, reaching out to her, but it was too late. The strand seemed to notice the movement, and it lashed forward latching itself to her horn. Everyone watched in shock as a white glow revolved around Rarity’s horn, and her eyes as well began to glow in the same manner as John’s. For a moment, they’d wondered just what had happened, but it soon began to sink in. Somehow, John had managed to bring Rarity into the dream realm with him.

Never in his life had John had such a hard time making a choice, mostly because he’d never had to face such a consequence should he make the wrong choice. Kurama seemed to have all the time in the world, enjoying the torment that had befallen the dragon. But as he continued to enjoy the show, Kurama noticed something that surprised everyone. Three feet away from John, a tear seemed to open in space. At first, both thought it was Luna making another grand entrance. But that was dashed when it was revealed as to who it really was.

“R-Rarity!?” John said in shock, turning towards her. Rarity seemed to be a bit dazed, most likely from having been launched into a dream before she could even prepare herself, “What—how are you here??”

Rarity blinked several times before turning her head towards John.

“Here, where?’ she asked, looking around, “Where are the others?”

She thought it over for a moment before she remembered, “Wait… I understand… We were all looking at you when something happened. A strand of magic came out of your head and… I suppose you brought me here…”

John blinked in confusion. He hadn’t consciously tried to do anything like that. Had his magic just reacted to his desire for help?

“So, this is Kurama?” Though she’d heard about his appearance, this was the first time she’d seen his true form.

“Maybe…” John said. Rarity looked to him, “I can’t explain it, but I’m sensing two of him. My best guess is he can clone himself here, and now the other is rampaging in another dream. I was trying to figure out what to do… then you suddenly appeared here.”

Rarity nodded her head in understanding, and took a step forward, “Well then, why don’t you take care of the other, darling?”

She didn’t even look back when she said that. John did, however, and looked at her as though he’d heard something crazy.

“You aren’t thinking of taking him alone, are you?”

“Look at the options, darling. I can’t jump between dreams, and it seems you pulled me in with you unintentionally. What other option do you have?” John opened his mouth for a moment before closing it. Much as he didn’t want to admit it, or leave Rarity alone, he couldn’t deny that she had a point. Reluctantly, he turned around and opened a portal in front of him, putting one foot into the portal and making a half turn.

“I’ll come back as soon as I can… until then, please don’t do anything reckless, and don’t try to be a hero,” he said this more out of concern than anything else. He was already taking a big enough risk as it was, and he didn’t want to regret it. Rarity simply waved a dismissive hand at him.

“I’ll be fine, darling, trust me,” she said with a chuckle. John looked at her for a moment and nodded his head, jumping fully into the portal. When the portal closed, Rarity raised her hands and tied her hair into a bun, letting out a second chuckle.

“‘Don’t be a hero,’ he says,” Looking up at Kurama, Rarity gave off a full look of confidence, “Silly boy… it’s far too late to ask that of me.”

Just as his first portal closed, a second opened in the dream where John had felt the other presence of Kurama’s magic. As soon as it opened, he made a mad dash forward, aiming to find the source and deal with it as soon as he could. He’d take down this Kurama, be it real or fake, with all his strength. Depending on the results, he’d return to help Rarity. The area was rough, jagged, and was filled with nothing but large spires of rock as far as the eye could see.

They weren’t going to slow him down, though. He could feel the magic growing stronger with every step he took. In the distance, he could see an opening, and he was willing to bet anything that he’d find this other Kurama there. The light shone brightly as he reached the opening. It was enough to blind him for a second. When the light faded, he looked up, and quickly felt regret fill him once again.

What he saw wasn’t Kurama by any means. It wasn’t even close. It was a creature that stood maybe fifty feet high. It had multiple heads attached to its upper torso, which was comprised of several spikes. Its bottom half was that of a serpent’s tail, which was coiled. Unlike a serpent, however, this creature had arms—four, in total—one of which was holding a massive sword. It was already clear what had happened, but the creature’s multiple heads chose to voice it for him.

“You chose poorly!”

Author's Note

Here we go. Yeah...

Act 3 Chapter 32

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 32: The Cracks of the Mask

Within a few minutes, Rarity was moved to Twilight’s room, right next to Corey. Twilight stood there, looking over both of her friends. The only thing that kept their screaming from getting to her was her worry. The sheer agony on their faces as they pushed against the bindings that kept them on their beds was bone-chilling. Twilight couldn’t even begin to imagine what was going to through their minds at the moment, and honestly, she didn’t want to try. Turning away from the both of them, she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

When she returned to her living room she saw that Fluttercruel had returned while she was upstairs. Even though she had a more hardened appearance than Fluttershy, this side of her couldn’t hide her displeasure at finding out what had happened. The same went for everyone else: Applejack’s hat was tilted downwards, covering her face. Pinkie’s mane had lost some of its fluff, though she was clearly trying to hide it. Even Rainbow couldn’t hide her worry, but the more Twilight looked at her, the more she wondered if Rarity was on her mind at the moment. She wasn’t looking at the door to that room.

Rainbow was looking at something, and after Twilight followed her gaze, she managed to figure out what. Standing at the window was John. In the wake of coming to terms with what had happened, she hadn’t had the chance to check on him. Never taking her eyes off of him, Twilight walked up to Rainbow.

“How’s he doing?” she asked. Rainbow didn’t break eye contact with John’s back, letting out a small sigh as a response.

“After Rarity started screaming and we sort of panicked, I took a second to check on him…” Rainbow trailed off for a moment, thinking back to the look he had given her, “It wasn’t long, maybe a second. But it was enough to see just how hard it hit him.”

Twilight’s brows furrowed. It sounded like what happened after Kurama got to Corey. But when that happened, he was furious, vocal. Now, he was completely silent. In her curiosity, Twilight took a step towards him, only to feel a hand on her shoulder.

“Hold on,” Twilight turned to see Rainbow shooting her a quick smile, “Let me take this one.” With that, she began making her way towards John. Twilight watched her walked towards the dragon until she was standing next to him, staring at whatever he seemed to be focused on. Though Twilight was also worried, she could trust Rainbow to come through when she felt she was needed. Though Rainbow couldn’t see it, Twilight nodded her head and turned towards the others.

“So, whatcha lookin’ at?” Her speech came off as laid back, casual. Her eyes scanned everything within sight with clear curiosity. If John had heard her, he didn’t show it, still staring off into empty space in silence. But Rainbow paid it no mind, her eyes still darting around to every corner.

“Is it the clouds?” No response, John didn’t look like he was going to give in, but neither was Rainbow, “Is it the stars?” Again, he said nothing. Rainbow simply hummed as she continued searching. Eventually, her eyes paused at something, after placing her hands behind her back, she tilted her head up towards John.

“Is it the moon?” It was subtle, but this time, Rainbow saw something flicker in his eyes. At the very least, she knew now he was listening, “You know she wouldn’t have given you that power unless she thought you could handle it, right?” Her voice changed to a serious tone, but it still had a level of understanding in it, “You’ve managed to save several ponies, and no one’s blaming you for the ones you couldn’t.” John finally moves, turning his head away from the window and closing his eyes. Rainbow began to notice his body starting to shake slightly, not that she could blame him.

“But trust me, we’ll beat this. And the next time we see Kurama, we’ll—“

No sooner did the name escape Rainbow’s lips did John’s eyes snap open. His pupils narrowed to slits and his body trembled as he let out a small snarl that only she could hear. With a small gulp, Rainbow took a step back, something that John noticed. His eyes opened wider before he closed them again, placing a hand over his head. He started to take deep breaths, fast at first but steadily slowing down. When his breathing returned to normal he tilted his head up and took in one last deep one before letting out a long sigh. Rainbow stood in silence for a moment, wondering what would happen next. It wasn’t until he opened his eyes again that she finally managed to relax. His pupils had turned to normal, the distant look on his face seeming to have vanished without a trace. He turned his head to her and smiled.

“Yeah, you’re right,” he said, turning back to the window, “We’re not beat yet.” This time it was Rainbow to stay silent. This change was unexpected.

“I guess I’m just a little stir crazy… been in here all day,” John said, “I think I’ll just get some fresh air, clear my head…”

John tapped Rainbow on the shoulder as he walked to the front door, still leaving her in silence. She could only stare at him as he calmly walked out of the door and closed it behind him. She turned her head to see Twilight and Pinkie had been watching, only able to offer them a confused shrug.

“Well, didn’t think it’d be that easy,” she said, rubbing the back of her head. Even as she sat with the others, she still couldn’t believe it had gone that smoothly.

“It’s never that easy, Dash,” Twilight and Rainbow turned to look at Pinkie. She was looking down at her empty cup, biting her bottom lip.

“What do you mean?”

Pinkie closed her eyes for a moment and let out a sigh, reaching into her mane to pull something out, “When it comes to any emotions, or, well, negative emotions, in this case, there are two kinds of ponies.”

In one of her hands, Pinkie held out a balloon, holding it up to her mouth.

“There are the kind who can’t repress them, so they leak out,” She began to blow into the balloon, causing it to expand. But after she stopped feeding it air, it began to deflate; there were a few small holes in its surface, “It takes some time, but eventually all of the emotions will come out. Then, it’ll be at full force.”

Pinkie took a moment to glance at Twilight. She didn’t understand at first, but as soon as it hit her she turned her head back to the stairs. When she turned back to Pinkie, she gave her a small node of her hand.

“And, the other kind…?”

Pinkie put the first balloon back into her hair and pulled out another one.

“The other kind are the ones who keep it bottled up inside,” Again, she began to blow air into the balloon. This one, however, did not have any holes, so the air stayed inside, “There’s almost always something inside of someone that they don’t want others to see. So some think they’re better off just keeping it inside, so that they won’t worry anyone else or be a bother to them,” Pinkie continued to inflate the balloon until it was the size of her head, mane and all.

“Some are really good at it, but everyone forgets there’s a limit. And if they keep repressing those feelings, and the limit is reached…” She gave the balloon one last pump of air, and on cue the latex tore open and the balloon popped, causing everyone within earshot to flinch. Twilight and Rainbow stared at the broken remains of the balloon on the table. Even if Pinkie hadn’t said it, the implications were clear.

“Corey reached his breaking point, but it was a slow process,” said Twilight, “Before he reached it, he kept some level of control over himself… but then, when he finally did…” She shivered slightly, remembering just how close it was. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to forget it.

“So if that’s what happens when it’s a slow build up…” Rainbow said, reaching out and examining a shred of the balloon, staring at it closely, “What happens when it hits you all at once…?”

The room had gone silent after Pinkie’s explanation. Everyone had receded to their own thoughts. Twilight, on the other hand, tried to go back to her books in search of help, but she was having a hard time focusing. Pinkie’s explanation on what was happening to John was still fresh in her head, and judging by the way Rainbow looked out the window, it was clear it was the same for her as well. He still hadn’t returned after stepping out; she could only wonder what he had set out to do.

Unable to shake it any longer, Twilight closed her book and began to make her way to the front door.

“I’m going to get some air,” she said, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Pinkie waved at her as she stepped away, informing her that she was going to get some more coffee before heading off into the kitchen herself. The cool, crisp air hit her as she stepped out, a nice change of pace from the gloom she had been surrounded by on the inside. She took a few steps out and looked around, noting that there were no other signs of life.

“John?” she asked.

“Up here,” Twilight blinked, before she tilted her head upwards. There, she saw John, sitting on the railing of her room’s balcony. It was a small relief. She had thought he’d gone somewhere to vent, but at least he was still around. With a flap of her wings, Twilight rose up towards the balcony until she was at eye level with him.

“Mind if I join you?” John raised a brow and looked down at the balcony he sat on.

“Well, it is your house,” he said with a light chuckle. Twilight took it as a yes and landed on the balcony next to him. She leaned on the railing as she stared up at the sky alongside John. She felt lost in her mind for a moment. She had come outside hoping to talk to him, but now she didn’t know what to say. It was clear to her that John was making the same mistake Corey was; he was pushing himself too hard, even if he was trying to hide it.

But what other option did he have, really? They were on a time limit and they couldn’t afford to slow down, especially not now of all times. John was still figuring out how to use his magic, and had only know found out he could bring someone else along with him. But after what happened with Rarity, Twilight could only guess he wasn’t going to risk that happening again.

“Sorry…” Twilight blinked, having just registered what John had said. She turned her head towards him, though he was still looking up to the sky.

“I promised you that I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to Corey again. But when push came to shove, I couldn’t keep that promise. And now another one of your friends are in danger because of me,” Though he wasn’t in the same state he was before, John did frown, letting out a sigh. He was carrying what happened to both of them on his shoulders, and it looked like nothing short of saving them both would lift it.

“You don’t have to apologize to me. The promise was a nice sentiment, but to hold you to it would have been unfair,” Twilight looked up, thinking back to her earlier adventures, “There are just times when things are out of your hands. Everything spirals out of control, and you’re left feeling empty, like everything you’ve done was for nothing. It’s only when you look back and remember what you were fighting for can you find the will to fight on again.”

There was emotion working its way to Twilight’s eyes, but she managed to push them away for now, “I know this seems bleak right now, and trust me, we’ve all been there at some point in our lives… bur we can’t give up. We can still fight back, which means we can still win.”

John looked to Twilight for a moment, closing his eyes and letting out a small chuckle.

“Trust me, I’ve got plenty of fight left in me,” John said. Both were content with that answer, and they settled back into a comfortable silence. After about a minute, though, John managed to break the silence again.

“You know, when I found him this time, I hit him so hard he lost a tooth.”

“Wish I could have seen it.”

“Yeah… too bad it was just a dream.”

The Everfree Forest was a dangerous place, one where few would travel in good faith. In it were monsters which wouldn’t think twice to make you its next meal. At night, the danger would increase tenfold. Nocturnal predators would rise from their slumber in search of food. One would have to be made to venture into this zone. But as dangerous as it may have been, it was without a doubt a place where if someone was able, they could hide without fear of intrusion. With the help of a natural security system, one only needed to seal themselves away from the world around them, and they would never be found.

For Kurama, this was without a doubt the best and most convenient place for him to store his body while he prowled through the dreams of the sleeping ponies. With the use of his magic and natural means he was able to hide the entrance to his cave from any and all beings. The inside of the cave was lit by a campfire he forged himself. The only other visible object inside was his own sleeping form not far away from the flames. In time, Kurama’s body began to stir as he mumbled incoherently. Slowly, he turned until he was on his stomach, letting out groans with each movement it took to get him that far.

He tried to get up, but his body fell limp a second later. Only when he put his hand to the wall for support did he finally rise from the ground. He panted heavily as he held onto his stomach, his vision slightly blurred. Legs shaking, Kurama tried to take a step forward. However, after his first couple, he fell to his knees.

“That… was a risky gamble,” he wheezed, going into a coughing fit right after. When he finally finished with that, Kurama spat out a splash of blood. Mixed with it, was a single tooth.

“I cannot afford to make another…”

Author's Note

And here we are. Blah. And stuff. Not sure what else to say at this moment except thanks for reading this far in.

Act 3 Chapter 33

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 33: The Next Plan

Kurama hadn’t made another appearance, the guards keeping tabs on ponies’ homes were able to confirm that. Even if they’d managed to stop Kurama from hunting more ponies, the cost that came with it hardly seemed worth it. Though even if it hadn’t, they would have probably still found it hard to be cheerful this morning. They had forced themselves to stay awake for many hours now; they hadn’t fallen asleep at all. Ever since that first night, ever since they’d learned of Kurama’s magic, they hadn’t gone back to sleep.

Fortunately, many of them were used to going long hours without sleep. However, factoring in the long stress of their ever-shrinking time limit, and the occasional hard-fought battles with Kurama, the hours were starting to get to them.

“I’ve got another round ready!” They weren’t sure what they’d do if it weren’t for coffee, something Pinkie produced for them in endless supply. Though she’d had her ups and downs through this whole event, it was an encouraging sight to see Pinkie at least try and stay upbeat. Of them all, she hadn’t shown a single sign of exhaustion; unquestioned given the near-limitless amount of energy she seemed to have.

“Thanks, Pinkie, you’re the best,” said Twilight taking yet another cup, downing half of it in a few seconds. Pinkie smiled contently, always happy to help her friends whenever needed. The same went for the others who took their cups without hesitation.

“Seriously, whoever discovered this needs a place in the history books,” said Rainbow. She always loved to take naps during the day. However, she had stayed up for two nights in a row. This was a rough one, for sure.

“Ditto…” Rainbow looked over to see John downing sugar into his. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the expression on his face.

“Whoa, big guy, save some for the rest of us. I think we might need it more than you,” Rainbow said as John passed her the sugar.

“Why do you say that?” John asked.

“Well, I mean, of all of us, you can actually sleep. I doubt Kurama would try to attack you in your own dreams. Plus, you’re asleep while you’re tracking him down in the dream realm, right?” Rainbow looked over to him. John was staring down at his cup, rubbing the back of his head as he did so.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not,” Rainbow arched a brow at John’s statement, “Maybe I am asleep when I jump into the dream realm. I honestly can’t tell. But what I do know is that my mind is more active in there than it usually is. I’m not just trying to keep the magic active, I’m also trying to link my own mind to the dreams of others. Add that to any time I start fighting and it’s more stress on my mind,” John stopped to let out a small sigh. He’d never put a lot of thought into this while he was dream-hopping. It was only something he’d realized as the effects started to weigh on him. Once he was out of the dream realm, he would start to feel the strain.

“And maybe I can just fall asleep. Kurama seems to prefer avoiding me at all costs, after all. But how could I do that while everyone else is forced to stay awake?” He couldn’t bring himself to do it, not while everyone else couldn’t. He was going to stay awake and suffer with them. Only after Kurama was stopped would he feel comfortable resting himself, “I’m going to stand by you guys through this, then when we beat this, we can all rest together.”

A smile slowly formed on Rainbow’s face, another chuckle escaping her.

“Well, that was cheesy,” she said, raising her cup, “But I can cheer to that,” John did the same as Rainbow and for a brief moment the two tapped mugs before downing their contents in full. It was small moments like this that they fought for, so that they would never end, and so that more could be shared in the future.

But while moments were had, and drinks were downed, Twilight continued to put all her focus onto the books floating around her. Dozens upon hundreds of possibilities, of them, at least one had the answer she was looking for: a way to prepare for Kurama in advance should he try to show himself again. Word by word, sentence by sentence, Twilight made sure not to miss so much as a comma. And through the effort, through the countless hours of little rest, something caught her eyes.

“What’s this?” Releasing the books around her from her magical grasp, Twilight held the book she was reading with her hands. The other books fell to the ground loudly, catching everyone’s attention. As they watched her scan the page of the book, they could all see it: Twilight’s mouth curling into a large smile, “Yes, yes, yes!” she said in glee as she placed the book on the table, her eyes never breaking contact with the pages.

“What you find, Twi?” said Applejack as she and the others gathered behind her.

“It’s a rough idea, but I might have what we’re looking for,” Using her magic, Twilight pulled over a chalkboard and began drawing on it, “Okay, so we remember the contingency plans I had in mind back when we were up against the Slayer?”

Everyone nodded. There was no way anyone was going to forget what happened back then.

“As I’d said back then, I’d chosen specific rooms which I believed he’d try to enter. Those included the one where I was hidden in Cadence’s palace, and the room which stored his book. The idea would have been to try and lure him and spring the trap when he least expected it.” On the board, she drew a rough sketch of Contingency Plan B: trying to use magical bindings to capture Slayer.

“Back then, however, I had two problems: one, I hadn’t prepared for the serious force his magic contained, and the bindings were overpowered. The second is the same reason why I never thought to use this against Kurama,” Drawing another copy of the contingency and herself on the board, Twilight drew a line connecting the two, “While they were connected with my own magic, I had no way of knowing outside of sight when someone was within range,” Finishing up, she drew a wall between them, highlighting the vision problem.

“So is that where this thing you found comes in?”

“Exactly,” Walking away from the board, Twilight picked up the book again, “There’s a way to let me know if someone were to enter the contingency range. Think of it as a ‘sixth sense’ of sorts: the very moment someone steps within range, I’ll know immediately and be able to activate the spell.” It sounded perfect, but there was one hold in it.

“And if it’s an innocent bystander?” Legitimate as Fluttercruel’s question was, it only made Twilight smirk in response.

“Because I’m going to add a tracer to it,” she said, “Think of it as a filter, a way to distinguish one individual from another. If I set it correctly, then the tracer will only notify me if Kurama is the one within range,” Things were starting to turn up for them now, especially if they could get this spell to work.

“Well then, what are you going to use as a tracer?”

“DNA,” Twilight said, “Guards managed to get a blood sample from him the first time they’d encountered him,” Then, her smile faded slightly, “Problem is, a tracer like that may require a large sample. I can only hope the sample they’d gathered is enough to make at least one or two,” Though the idea of it not being enough was now in the back of her head, she had to stay positive about this. This had to be another advantage they could gain over Kurama, and they couldn’t let this pass because it might not work.

“What about magic?” Twilight looked to John, wondering what he meant, “Could you make a tracer activate to a magical signature?” Twilight rubbed her chin for a moment as she pondered the possibilities.

“That’d probably be more efficient… actually, a lot more,” she said, reading the book in awe, “If I changed things up here, and there, then maybe…” She stopped for a moment and looked up again. The idea of using a magical signature to trigger the tracer was sounding better and better, but a question rose with that. It wasn’t like Kurama was just going to give them his magic to infuse with her spell. So how did John plan to get it?

“I have a bad idea…”

This is a bad idea, this is a really bad idea!

Twilight continued to think this as she and John made their way upstairs. In her hands, she held a bag of clear crystals, ones she would put to use within the next few minutes. With every step she took, she could feel herself growing anxious. Only when they were at the top did her anxiety reach its peak, and she started to have second thoughts.

“You sure you’re up for this?” John asked, standing between her and the door to her room. Twilight rubbed her shoulder as she looked away. What could she say? That she was more than ready to hear her friends scream in agony for Celestia knows how long?

“Not as much as I was at the bottom steps,” she said with a sigh, “But we aren’t in a position to turn away from an advantage. C-can you run the plan by me again?” John gave a soundless sigh. He could tell she was trying to stall for a little longer. But he couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t like he was looking forward to this.

“When you brought up the tracer, I started to think about before when I couldn’t track down Kurama in dreams. I had no way of knowing where he would be or when, or where I was going, for that matter. But what I did know, was that when I’d experienced his magic firsthand there was something so far different than anything else I’d felt until then. I thought that if I’d somehow imprinted that into my mind, allow myself to keep it at full force again, then I’d be able to find him easier.”

That was when they’d gone to the local hospital. He’d left out just how painful it was for him.

“When you said you could have it pick up someone’s DNA, I wondered if it could track magic as well. Something we may not be able to get directly from its source, but do have in spades. His magic is constantly tainting the dreams of his victims. I can feel it every time I enter the dream realm. So I had to give it a try, and see if maybe we can use that against him one more time.” Twilight held her bag closer. It was a sound theory, and it did work before. It wasn’t just the fact he’d have to link with a victim again that had her hesitant. It was the fact that this time, she’d experience it as well.

“Will it hurt?” Anyone would agree that pain was the strongest of all deterrents. Many would seek an option that would let them avoid feeling it as much as possible. But once again, that wasn’t an option for them this time.

“It will, but not as much,” said John, “I’m going to be the middle man and filter it to you slowly. Just let me know if it’s too much.”

Twilight felt herself grow concern. Since coming here, John and Corey had gotten into the habit of putting the others before themselves. While that was an admirable feat, it left her worried. After seeing what had happened with Corey when he tried to do too much, Twilight and the others were really starting to worry how far either of them were willing to go.

“Are you ready?” John placed his hand on the knob as he waited for Twilight’s response. After she took a deep breath, she nodded her head and John opened the door. Just like all the other times, their ears were assaulted with screams. This time, Rarity was joining in. They tried their best to drown them out, but it was going to be a long ride.

Just hold on a little longer, you two… John and Twilight made their way over to Corey’s bed. He was still screaming as he did when it all began. Twilight could hardly bear to see either of them like this, but she had to endure it.

“Ready?” John asked. Twilight closed her eyes for a moment, mentally preparing herself for what was to come. When she finally felt that she was ready, Twilight nodded her head again. John returned her nod and closed his eyes. After a deep breath, he opened his eyes again, which were now glowing. Within a few seconds a strand of magic extended out from his head. A few more later, it attached to Corey’s. Kurama’s magic quickly traveled through the strand and into John, and John cringed from the rush. It took him a while to steady himself enough to be capable of thinking straight. Fortunately, he’d been hit by this enough to where he could adapt, and after a few minutes had passed, a second strand came out.

Twilight would have preferred not to have seen it coming, but she felt the very moment the strand made contact with the tip of her horn.

Here it comes, she thought to herself. True to her prediction, she could feel it. Slowly, but surely John let Kurama’s magic seep through to her, doing everything he could to ensure she couldn’t be overcome by it. But even with that, it was a lot to process. In an instant, she could feel it all. Corey’s fear, his pain, she could feel it now, and knowing that this was just a fraction of its full force did not serve to make her feel better.

But she couldn’t let herself overcome by this, not while she still had something to do in this. She reached into her bag and pulled out one of the crystals. While it proved difficult, she managed to hold it with her magic. Next was the tricky part, and the whole reason she needed them in the first place. Her horn began to glow as she focused her magic. She had to feel through the fear and pain for what they were looking for. Underneath it all was the source: the taint that was being produced endlessly through the nightmares.

That was what they needed, and it was what Twilight placed all of her focus. From the glow of her magic, something began to seep out, a purple sort of mist which slowly made its way towards the crystal. The crystal’s color began to change over time, taking the same hue as the mist that was being fed to it. After a minute had passed, the mist had stopped flowing, and the crystal glowed with the essence of Kurama’s magic.

One down, Twilight thought, quickly preparing another crystal. She couldn’t waste a second now. There was no telling just how much longer John could keep this up.

His battles of hours past had taken a toll on him, but he was starting to heal from them, even if only a bit. His injuries were not the problem, however. The constant rumble that echoed through the cave was reminding him of what it was. Since the very moment he’d entered the limits of Ponyville he hadn’t done much other than claim victims and battle against the opposing side. All of that had put a serious strain on him, and now his hunger had grown to a point where he couldn’t put it off any longer.

He could have tried to find food among the Everfree Forest as some were edible, but the keyword there was “some”. The difference between edible and inedible foods wasn’t the only problem. There was a large variety of plants, and each one could prove poisonous or carnivorous if he wasn’t careful. No matter how he looked at it, every option from within the forest was a great risk, and he was looking to avoid that for now. His only other option was to find somewhere he knew would have safe food to eat.

But that was also a problem, with guards and the like in constant search for him. Every time he’d met with them, they’d somehow increase their efforts to bring him down. And though he’d desire nothing more than to avoid them as much as possible, the void in his stomach was winning out. He wouldn’t last much longer in this state, and his stalling would then turn against him. That would be a defeat even he would find too humiliating to accept. In the end, Kurama found he had no other options.

“Very well,” Kurama shakily rose from his seat and walked towards the mouth of the cave. The ill effects of his hunger weighed down on his stamina heavily. With a flicker of his magic, the opening was revealed and he pushed away the rocks and vines covering it. He then took the path he’d marked for himself after finding the cave. He couldn’t fight in the state he was in, but hopefully, if he was careful enough, he’d managed to find enough food to last him a little longer.

Anything to buy him a little more time…

Author's Note

Alright, here's another chapter down. And stuff. Yeah.

Act 3 Chapter 34

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 34: Second Sleepless Day

Kurama hadn’t shown himself for the rest of the night, which came as a small relief to the others. This gave them the time they needed to focus their attention on filling as many of the crystals as they could with his magical signature and giving them to the guards so that they could be placed in very specific locations around the town.

In the end, we could only make ten, thought Twilight. As few as it may have been, however, she found that it was more than she could have had through other means. The hardest part was finding the correct spots to place them. Even after she had made her decisions and sent them off, she couldn’t help but stare at the map.

Ponyville wasn’t a very large place compared to other pony settlements, but it definitely wasn’t small either. So many places where one could enter unseen, far more than she could cover with just ten crystals. But Twilight had a feeling that they weren’t what she needed to focus on; Kurama was someone who could get to a pony without even needing to be physically close to one. There was no need for him to enter Ponyville for that reason. However, there was another reason Twilight could cover, and if Kurama ever set foot inside of city limits again, it would be for that reason.

Whether or not her choice was correct was not what bothered her the most, though. It was the wait: hours passed since Rarity and John’s ill-fated encounter with Kurama. The sun had come up only a few hours ago, and search parties hadn’t been able to pick up any trace of him either. Twilight began to worry about why that was the case. She turned to the others. Pinkie was still just as energetic as usual, but the others were clearly growing tired. The prolonged hours of no sleep was slowly draining at them, and coffee was only doing so much. Topping it off was John’s current condition. He now had an ice bag draped over his temple, nursing a headache from having to link with Corey’s nightmare.

“Can I ask you something?” Twilight asked as she walked up beside him. John’s head had been lowered most of the time since the energy gathering, but he managed to look up at her.

“Sure,” he said, just before lowering his head again slightly.

“What if we’re wrong?” she asked, “I mean, I can understand that keeping him away from resources would be the best bet for us, but what’s keeping him from finding them outside of Ponyville?”

John hummed lightly, thinking of a response. It didn’t take him long.

“That crossed my mind at some point,” John sat up straight, “But I think the very reason he even came to Ponyville in the first place might be the very reason he won’t.”

Twilight looked at him for a moment and blinked.

“For someone who can go into others’ dreams at will, he could attack anyone anywhere, not just Ponyville,” John continued, adjusting his grip on the ice pack, “But for as long as he’s been here, we haven’t gotten a single report of ponies screaming in their sleep anywhere else—even Canterlot, which everyone can see from this town.”

To prove his point, John motioned to one of the windows. Outside that window, Canterlot could be seen in the distance at the very top of the mountain.

“Princess Celestia did say she’d inform me if it happened there,” Twilight said, having received not one letter of that kind. It was strange; Canterlot was the closest city to Ponyville for a far reach, and yet Kurama hadn’t touched it. Even if he didn’t want to make the trip there, what was keeping him from going into the dreams there?

“What if… what if thinking his magic as the same as Princess Luna’s is wrong?” she wondered, “You said even she doesn’t know how he’s managing it. As far as we know, the only reason he can is because she allows it.” Twilight placed her hand on her chin as she started to pace back and forth.

“You said it yourself from the books: tailed foxes would need to be close to a victim in order to drain their magic,” John said.

“I just assumed that because he can jump into dreams that the same couldn’t apply to him,” Twilight finally stopped pacing as the last few dots finally connected, “But if it does, then he couldn’t go outside a certain range of Ponyville. If he did, then he’d lose his link to everyone he’s already victimized.”

John nodded. It made sense now, but finding out how big a range that is would prove impossible. Without knowing where he was hiding, there was no way they could know if they’d be moving him closer or farther away from his range.

For now, though, they knew that he couldn’t leave for some far off location. Now, however, they still needed to wait, hoping that he’d show himself again soon. Twilight didn’t enjoy the idea of waiting again, and the constant tapping she was starting to hear wasn’t making that any better.

“Wait, what is that?” she asked. The others turned to see it, all hearing that incessant tapping now.

“Is that a bird?” Applejack asked pointing to a far off window. Though most simply stared at it, wondering why it was tapping at the glass so frantically, Fluttercruel began to move towards the window. As soon as she was close enough, she reached out and opened it. The bird flew up to her and landed on her arm when she held it out. The bird began to chirp as though it were communicating. Just like Fluttershy, she seemed to be able to talk to animals as well.

“Finally,” a smirk spread across her lips as she turned to the others. They all looked back to her, confused as to what the bird just said to her, “He’s on the move.”

Everyone stood up, the news that their enemy could be out in the open making them forget about their fatigue.

“Where—how?” Twilight asked. Fluttercruel merely responded by holding out her arm, showing the bird again, “You used the animals around Ponyville?”

Fluttershy nodded, “Who would give a random bird a second glance?” Not only did this fill them in on what she did after leaving the library last night, it also left them all admiring how brilliant a plan it was.

“He’s moving very slowly. He really doesn’t want to be found,” Fluttershy noted, “And from what they can guess, he’s going straight to Sweet Apple Acres…”

The mention of her home was enough to cause Applejack to bolt out the door within moments. The others were sure that they couldn’t stop her if they tried, bad arm or not, so without pausing to consider their next step, everyone made their way towards the farm.

Sweet Apple Acres was a large stretch of land, spanning several square miles of healthy and luscious apple trees. There were thousands of apples among their branches, which served to supply Ponyville with a good deal of its food supply. It was all taken care of by the Apple family, the original family that settled in and founded what is now called Ponyville. With the area it covered, surely one could venture in and appropriate some of their stock completely unnoticed?

That is what Kurama was counting on now as he slowly drew closer. Still hidden from sight, Kurama scanned the area for movement. In this daylight, he knew he’d be spotted very easily, and he wanted desperately to avoid the conflict as much as possible. He could feel his hunger bidding him to press forward now; food was only several feet from him. Kurama surveyed the area. It looked like not many ponies took this path, and with the current fear keeping ponies indoors, his chances of being spotted now were slim. Quickly, he jumped back and readied himself.

Suddenly, from within a bush, something scurried out: a small squirrel holding an acorn in its paws. Kurama stared down at the creature which had startled him. It stared back, but ultimately continued on its way after just a few seconds. Kurama let out a sigh and turned his attention back to the orchard. His current predicament had his nerves on edge. But with luck, that would soon change, and he’d be able to regain his composure.

Taking a few seconds more to check his surroundings, Kurama pressed forward and jumped the fence into the farm. No sooner than when his feet hit the ground did Kurama start towards the first apple tree he could reach. But as soon as he gazed up, he was met with disappointment. Not a single apple could be seen in any of its branches. In fact, as he surveyed his surroundings again, he could see that it was the same for the next tree, and the one after that. In fact, all the trees close to the fence were totally void of any fruit.

Kurama sucked his teeth in annoyance. He had hoped to get in and out quickly, but it looked like he needed to go in deeper. Slowly, he moved, using the trees as cover to ensure that no one would spot him before he could find food. As he continued, however, he found something odd. There was still not one fruit to be found, as though the trees had been wiped clean before he could arrive.

“What, did they expect me to come?” Initially, this was a rhetorical question, no more than a small joke about his bad luck. However, he did not imagine he’d hear an answer.

“Eeyup…”

Before he could turn, Kurama felt something grab hold of one of his tails and he soon found himself being chucked through the air, hard. He was launched out of the farm limits and over the fence that he’d just jumped. He had hoped to simply land, and then try to figure out what had happened. However, once he was out of the orchard, he found that the once empty area he had entered from was anything but now. Once he landed on the ground and got his bearings, he found that he was surrounded by several guards.

“How…?” he wondered, continuing to look at the surrounding guards.

“A little bird told us you’d be coming,” said one guard with a bird on his shoulder.

“And a little squirrel told us where you’d be,” On another guard, Kurama saw the same squirrel he had seen just a minute ago. If the fact that he had been outed by a squirrel wasn’t enough, the fact that it was now mocking him rubbed salt in his wounds. Kurama didn’t have time for this, let alone enough to deal with another fight.

“I will warn you now, I am not in the best of moods at the moment,” Fire began to swell around him, a spiral of flames rising from the ground, “Allow me to procure what I desire, and I will be on my way. But get in my way, and I will change my diet,” His voice was fierce, different than what had been heard from him in the past. He had come from a prison meant to hold the worse that Equestria—no, the world, had to offer, and no one questioned the legitimacy of his threat.

But they weren’t backing down.

Kurama’s wits were short. He wasn’t going to get stopped this close to what he wanted. In response to their unwillingness, Kurama’s fire flared once again.

“Very well,” he shouted, “Then I will burn everything to ashes!”

Unfortunately for him, someone else wasn’t so keen on that idea. From inside of the farm’s trees, something was launched out of it. Kurama had no more than a second to see two barrels sail towards him before striking him and shattering on impact. As both barrels exploded, a mixture of soil and sand doused him, putting out the flames he had tried to start.

As he shook it off, he looked towards the source and saw someone else walking out of the farm’s limits. He was a stallion who could rival that dragon in height if he so chose, and possessed more muscle mass than the guards. He was Big Mac, eldest of the Apple family, co-owner of the farm…and after hearing what had happened to his sister, seven shades of pissed. Big Mac jumped the fence and joined the line with the others. Though he wasn’t a part of the game that Applejack was thrown into, he wasn’t going to let that stop him from protecting his home and his family.

“All set!” yelled out one of the guards as the others took readied stances, “Now!”

The attack began as several various spells were launched towards Kurama. In the past, any time something like this was used on Kurama, his initial response was usually skillful, swift dodges as he backed away. However, to the surprise of those who had fought him before, Kurama instead charged towards everyone.

“Second line, advance!” From behind the guards firing at Kurama, another set pushed forward with their weapons drawn. They let out a battle cry as they charged for the oncoming fox, prepared for battle. One by one, each guard drew close to him, attack when the moment felt right, but Kurama had grown from previous encounters. One after another, Kurama effortlessly avoided each strike.

Each may have a style all their own, but they were taught the same root maneuvers, Kurama thought to himself. It all came down to being capable of deciphering the common movements, and predicting them. As such, there were little to no surprise to him, and the attacking guards weren’t fast enough to offset this. All he needed to do was avoid them and press on. If he could break the lines set before him, there’d be nothing to slow him down. He eventually got past the attacking guards, only having to deal with the projectiles, but this was only a problem for a few seconds more.

“Here he comes! Do it now!” The projectiles stopped coming at him all at once, and every guard turned their heads towards the ground. Before he could question what was being done, all guards fired a laser spell into it. The result was an explosion of dust and dirt that prevented him from seeing what was beyond it. Clicking his teeth in irritation, Kurama didn’t allow this to slow him down. Increased, he increased the speed of this run and dashed into the wall of dirt. Halfway in, he saw a glimpse of the other sides, but that small opening was soon blocked off by something large. It was Big Mac, and from the look of it, he was determined to keep Kurama from advancing any further.

“Think you can stop me?” Kurama said, fire beginning to well up around him once again, “Better than you have tried and failed!” His fire now shrouded his body like armor. As strong as Big Mac was, he wasn’t immune to fire. Unlike the guards, he didn’t have any armor either. If he wanted to battle with Kurama as he was now, then he’d simply have to suffer the consequences.

“Dozens have already fallen to me, and you will be no—“ Big Mac shut Kurama up in a single move. Kurama felt something strike him in the stomach, something that was too hard to be a fist. In the moment as his body recoiled from the attack, Kurama looked down to see something covering Big Mac’s hand. It was a helmet, most likely taken from one of the guards; he’d used it to protect himself from the flames. If asked, Kurama would say the dragon could hit harder, but it didn’t change the fact Kurama felt something pop inside of him as he took that hit.

Due to the hit and the surprise, Kurama’s fire died out, which gave Big Mac an opening to make another hit. Bringing his other arm forward, Big Mac aimed for Kurama’s chest and struck him with an open palm. Kurama was pushed back from the force, and once he had stopped completely, Kurama fell to one knee. He looked up at Big Mac and the guards with a scowl, not only because he was pushed back, but because he shouldn’t have been to begin with.

A fool’s mistake, He replayed it over in his mind; if he’d used his tails, he could have dealt with Big Mac in a fraction of a second. It hadn’t even crossed his mind; he was so focused on what he wanted that he wasn’t thinking straight. He rose to his feet, his tails arched over him like a cage surrounding his body. He wasn’t going to forget all four of them this time.

“Very well, I have no choice but to make you my first priority,” Kurama snarled. After all, there’d be nothing to stop him if there was no one left standing. Before he could take a step forward, Kurama noticed something. Everyone’s expression had changed. Though they had been serious from the start, they were all collectively smirking, as though they had won.

In his confusion, he noticed Big Mac who was simply tapping his own chest. It took only a second for it to click, and with wide eyes, Kurama looked down. He hadn’t noticed it at first due to his growing annoyance, but something was now stuck to it, right in the spot where Big Mac had struck him. It was a gem that appeared to be glued to him, and he could tell it contained his own magic within it.

“What…?” Kurama asked.

“Gift from the princess.”

As if the gem had heard the guard’s words, it began to react, glowing brightly. Sensing danger, Kurama reached for it, hoping to pull it free before something could happen. He was too late; not only was he totally unable to pull it off, but something seemed to be coming out of it. A set of chains were coming out of the gem and wrapping themselves around him, but these chains didn’t have any tangible form. They merely melded into his body, and Kurama could feel them spreading among his body. And he could feel it: he was growing weaker.

Impossible…! Kurama reached for the chains, but all he managed to grab was his own fur. In time, the chains had spread through his body, and as soon as he did, he could hear several locks clicking into place. He looked back to the guards, and he could see their confidence building now. Already, the unicorns among them were preparing their attack, laser spells firing out at him. He swung one of his tails in response, fully expecting it to swat aside the laser with ease. But to his surprise, the moment his tail made contact with the laser, it was knocked back.

“What!?” He yelped, taking a step back. He knew he could deflect attacks with less tails than he had now. Yet, now, one single laser was able to overpower him and he had four, “But how?” Again, he looked down at the gem stuck to him and the magical chains wrapped around him. He felt weaker when it activated, but he wasn’t sure how much of an effect it had on him until that moment. Things were getting bad; his magic was being hindered much further than he thought, and the guards were prepared to capitalize on it.

That, however, was the least of his worries.

“There he is!”

He knew that voice. Turning to the source, he saw Twilight and the others to join the guards. Things were getting far too risky now. He had no other option: he had to run while he still had a chance. He began to take a step back in preparation, but at that moment the ground beneath his feet suddenly trembled. It had happened several times before; he knew exactly what the cause was. He turned around to see it. John was now standing over him, and he was far from happy.

He didn’t say a word, quickly bringing his arms down on Kurama. Fortunately for him, Kurama was able to respond, using his tails to lock on the John’s hands. The two then pushed on, trying to gain ground, and it was clear early on that Kurama was losing. They tossed about as either tried to gain an advantage. As they did, John managed to get a good look at the elusive fox, and noticed a few new and interesting features. On the side of his head was a newly acquired bruise, and through his gritted teeth, John had noticed a missing tooth.

Those wounds… But… that was just a dream, right? He wondered, was this just a coincidence? Did he gain these wounds some other way? As he thought this, he heard something, a small grumble, and it was coming from Kurama.

“Hungry, huh?” Kurama simply glared at John, knowing full well why he was in this state.

“Do you find pride in this? Being the cause of someone’s starvation—“ Kurama felt John push harder at that moment, forcing him down to one knee. Looking up, he saw the dragon staring back down at him with slit pupils.

“In the short time since you’ve shown yourself I’ve seen what you’re capable of. Dozens of ponies, screaming in agony… my friends’ suffering… All because of the madness you create with your magic,” He closed the gap between their heads a little more, staring directly into Kurama’s eyes, “And I’ve felt the full force of your magic more than enough times now; I’ve experienced the vile darkness in your heart firsthand. You were sent to Tartarus for that reason…”

“Do you think I give a damn about what happens to you!?” John brought his head back and head-butted Kurama full-force, drawing copious amounts of blood from his target. Kurama staggered back, looking on as John stood tall. Everyone else converged behind him.

He could feel himself being backed into a corner. His magic was hindered, even his movements were affected. Right now, the others were beginning to surround him. He had little left to do. As it stood, there was only one option.

Burn it all… All tails converged, their tips inches away from each other as fire began to flow through them and into the gap between them. Within seconds, an orb began to form and it began to swell in size.

“What’s he doing?” someone asked, everyone preparing for the oncoming attack. Twilight glanced at it for several seconds before it clicked.

“He’s condensing his magic!” she said, “He’s focusing it all into one point… and if he gets too much magic into that point, the blast could set everything around us on fire!!”

The seriousness of this hit quickly. Sweet Apple Acres took up a large portion of the town’s area. And if it were set on fire, it would take all of Ponyville with it.

“Take him down, now!” a guard barked. Everyone charged immediately, not wanting to give him a chance to pull this off. But Kurama wasn’t going to let himself be stopped. Straining against the magic hindering his own, Kurama formed a wall of magic around him. Everyone made contact, striking the wall as hard as they could. John and Big Mac both managed to make the wall rattle with every hit.

As the seconds passed, the magic building at the tips of his tails was slowing down. Kurama quickly realized that the wall would fall before he could finish it.

More…! I just need a little more!!

Maybe it was sheer coincidence, but at that moment, his wish was granted. To everyone’s horror, a fifth tail sprouted, joining its brothers in funneling magic into his desperate attack.

“No!” John yelled, striking the wall hard enough to crack it. But by now, it was too late. The orb began to expand faster, and was reaching its target size.

“Everyone, get back!” Twilight called out, everyone following her as she backed away from the wall. The orb began to glow violently, rays of light emitting from it. It was reaching critical mass, and it wouldn’t be long before it exploded. As Kurama’s shield went down, another shield went up around the others.

“John, get behind the shield!”

John ignored the urgent plea and charged forward at Kurama. He no longer had a shield around him…if only he could get close now! He closed the gap between them quickly and jumped at the fox, but it was too late. As he got within a foot of making contact, the orb’s glow reached a dangerous level. The shine was so bright it was as though another sun had emerged from the ground. With no time left, Twilight closed the opening to the shield and watched as the condensed magic went off.

The explosion was power, the shockwave hitting the shield hard enough to cause it to crack. But the shockwave wasn’t the only thing that hit it. A second later, they saw John slam into it back-first as well. Twilight brought the shield as she and the others rushed towards him, guards rushing to stop the fires the explosion had caused. They were about to reach him, but he was on his feet before they could. He staggered as he moved, reeling from the point-blank explosion.

As he got up, he opened his eyes and noticed something, the sweater—the one he’d received on the first day he came to Equestria, was burning to ashes. With wide eyes and a gaping mouth, John grabbed at the sweater’s remains, only for them to crumble at his touch. He stood up straight, his back to everyone. What little they could see of his face was utterly unreadable for several seconds.

He found himself recalling the time it was given to him, and who it was that made it. He’d grown attached to his sweater in the time since then. He looked up at where the one who had taken it from him had been standing, but Kurama was long gone, having slipped away while everyone else was distracted by the explosion. It was just like every other encounter. He’d take what he wanted, and slip away while everyone was left to grieve. As John stood there, his eyes went slit again, and deep down inside of him he felt something beginning to break, and he couldn’t stop it.

As this happened someone managed to notice it, Pinkie Pie gaining the attention of the others who had been focused on putting out the flames.

“Look…” Pinkie said, pointing at the unmoving dragon. Taking note of his condition, everyone moved slowly towards him, unable to see the look on his face. It was impossible to tell what was going through his mind, even now. Of all of them, it was Rainbow to step towards him, reaching out to him.

“John?” From the sound of his name, John turned his head to the side quickly, looking back to everyone. In that moment, they saw something they’d only felt once from him, but this time, it was on a completely different level. But it wasn’t just fear they were feeling for who had quickly become a trusted friend. They could see it in his eyes for an instant: a savage killer intent they had only ever seen in the prisoners they’d faced until that day. In that moment, they all tensed and took a step back from the dragon, something that hadn’t gone unnoticed by him.

In seconds his eyes returned to normal, his brow furrowing at the sight of fear from his friends. He turned away again, closing his eyes to calm himself once more. Deep breath after deep breath, John tried to push it all away, like he said so many times before. But something was off this time, and he couldn’t place it. But he knew it wasn’t normal.

All he could think about was all that Kurama had done until now, and all the pain he’d caused.

I should have stopped him… I should have ended him!! His thoughts betrayed him as he felt the feeling grow stronger. He couldn’t control it, and he knew if it continued he’d scared his friends once more. He had only one option.

Opening his wings, John gave them a powerful flap. The force of his takeoff sent up a gust of wind. The others could only watch in confusion as he flew away, still trying to process what they’d experienced from him just a few seconds before.

“Just what was that about?” asked Applejack.

“He won’t last much longer at this rate,” said Pinkie. Since she wasn’t a part of that conversation, Applejack was only further confused.

“So what now, are we just going to let him go alone?”

“Like hell I am…” Before anyone else could comment, Rainbow took off to the sky, heading in the same direction as John.

I got through to you once… and I’ll do it again…

Author's Note

Not sure what else to say at this point. See you all next week.

Act 3 Chapter 35

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 35: Stepping Back, but Can’t Step Down

Rainbow had lost sight of John within a few seconds after he took off, but she wasn’t worried about tracking him down. She’d known him for long enough to get a good idea as to where he had gone. It took her minutes to arrive, and only seconds to spot him, sitting where he had before at the top of the waterfall. His eyes were closed. The roar of the water covered the sound of her landing behind him. She took a moment to truly look at him. He was hunched over, his wings draped on the ground, and his head was tilted down in defeat. Letting out a sigh, Rainbow walked up next to him, quietly taking a seat beside him.

“I’m starting to sense a pattern here,” Rainbow said. John’s eyes opened slowly. In that moment, Rainbow could see that they had become slightly red. Now that she was right next to him, she could see that he was still holding on to what was left of his sweater.

“The one where I keep letting everyone down?” he asked, his voice sounding just as defeated as his body language suggested, “Maybe the part where no matter how hard I try, Kurama keeps slipping through my fingers.” As if to emphasize this point, a hard gust of wind blew past them, the force enough to cause the ashen remains of his sweater to scatter to the wind. He watched with furrowed brows as they scattered, soon becoming little more than a memory.

“When I learned Luna gave me this power, I thought I could make a difference. I thought that I could stop this before anyone’s lives could be at risk. And look where we are now: two of our friends are now trapped in eternal nightmares, one of which because of me. Many more are now on the list of victims because I wasn’t able to reach them in time, too.” Rainbow could see John’s fists tighten around empty air, “I can’t help but think she made the wrong choice. Maybe she gave it to me because she couldn’t reach anyone else in time. And if not, then all I’ve done is prove that any faith she had in me was misplaced…I’ve failed…”

Rainbow had listened in silence, waiting for the right moment to speak up. After that last sentence, however, she was done waiting. With crossed arms, she stood up and glared at him.

“Are you kidding me?” At this question, John looked up to her with a weak glance, absolutely no comprehension of what she was saying in his mind, “Last I checked, no one’s died yet, and you’re sitting here acting like they have!” Rainbow stepped forward, kneeling down to be eye level with John, “They’re still alive! They’re still waiting to be saved! Still waiting for you to swoop in at the last second and save them! Does that sound like failure to you?”

John didn’t answer right away. Instead, he turned his face away and stared off into the distance again.

“You haven’t experienced it, Rainbow, the horror they’re going through right now. When I’m in their head, when I’m struck by Kurama’s magic, I can feel it all. I don’t just hear their screams, I can feel their pain,” John began to tremble, “They’re suffering every second. They’re pleading for it all to stop, and no matter how much I want to, I can’t help them. It’s bad enough when I’m feeling it from someone I’ve never even met. But when it’s a friend, when it’s someone I personally promised wouldn’t get hurt… I’ve never felt so powerless.” John closed his eyes tightly. Rainbow could just make out a tear forming.

“Before I came to this world, I didn’t have all this. I wasn’t strong, and I wasn’t brave. I was just another average human among billions. But then I woke up here. When I’d realized what I became and what I could do, for the first time in my life, I felt like I could make an impact. But now I see I was fooling myself…”

John finally stood up from his sitting position and looked down the waterfall, closing his eyes with a sigh.

“Nothing I do is going to make a difference. I’ll always be the same scared human I was back home.”

Rainbow looked at John’s back with an arched brow. She let out a sigh and moved towards him, offering little more than a shake of her head.

And then she pushed him.

John’s eyes opened wide as he realized he was falling. Letting out a short grunt, he gave his wings a hard flap, slowing his descent instantly. The water beneath him rippled from the wind he’d caused. Looking down at his own reflection, John let out another sigh. He wasn’t particularly up for getting wet right now.

“Nothing, huh?” Rainbow asked, descending until she was on the same height he was, “A month ago, you would have fell headfirst into the water.”

John opened his mouth to say something, but the word he tried to say broke off in a huff as Rainbow immediately rushed him with a flurry of kicks and punches. Though John was caught off-guard, he still managed to back away, blocking some of her attacks.

“A month ago I’d be kicking your butt!” He wasn’t sure where any of this was going, but he didn’t want to keep blocking. Flapping his wings, John dashed away from Rainbow and into the field of trees for cover. But Rainbow was fast on his tail, keeping up with him as they dodged every trunk that came their way.

“You used to be so slow Fluttershy could beat you in a race!” Finally, both changed their direction and shot up into the skies above, clearing the clouds within a few seconds. When they finally stopped, they took a moment to catch their breaths.

“What’s the point of all this?” John finally asked.

“I’m trying to make you see how far you’ve come. When you and Corey first came to this world, you couldn’t do much of anything. Corey didn’t even know he had magic at all. And you could barely control yourself enough to talk. But in a short amount of time, you’ve both managed to improve to the point where you were on par with the rest of us. You both put everything you had into it and refused to give up. You’ve both proven you can do anything if you put your mind to it. So why’s this any different?”

“Because…!” John started. John finally managed to compress himself, letting out a sigh before starting again, “Because for the first time since we got here… for the first time this game started, I’m scared. Not just of what these prisoners can do, but of what could happen if I can’t stop them. And if I don’t stop Kurama soon… I may very well lose my best friend,” John placed both hands on his head, taking in a deep breath. “And I know I was turned into some super durable dragon, but that’s just my outside. On the inside, I haven’t changed. I’m still the same person I was in my world… someone who panics the moment things get out of his control.”

John was wrapped up in his own thoughts, and didn’t see Rainbow flying closer to him.

“You think you’re the only one?” Rainbow asked. John looked up to see her staring at him with furrowed brows, her voice filled with understanding, “Believe me, you aren’t the only one. We all are. And we know it’s hard to admit that. But that’s why we have each other, because when we’re afraid, we can see that we aren’t alone, and that lets us push forward.”

To John’s surprise, she closed the gap between them even more, wrapping her arms around him.

“Your real problem is trying this alone because you’re afraid of what could happen to us. If you keep doing it, you’ll just end up hurting yourself more than anyone else. You may be the only one who has the power to go in and out of dreams, but you don’t have to fight alone. We’ve got your back, just like you’ve had ours.”

Rainbow’s words sunk in as John felt himself relax, slowly wrapping his own arms around her as well.

“I don’t know how to beat him…”

“We’ll find a way,” Rainbow said, “There’s always a way.”

John’s eyes opened, remembering the first time he’d heard those words. He’d heard them from someone who was also questioning his abilities at the time, something that pushed John to keep trying. Right now, the very person who’d said it to him needed his help in return.

“You’re right, Rainbow,” he said, “And I think I might have found one.”

After John and Rainbow had departed, Twilight and the others made their way back to the library. With Kurama having escaped again, there was little else to do but try and find him again.

“Can’t you find him with that spell you put on him?” asked Applejack. Surely if the spell was still active, then Twilight would be capable of finding it, right?

“I tried that after he disappeared. I’m not sure what he’s going but he’s scrambling the signal. All I can say for sure is that it is still in effect. More importantly, it’s still affecting him,” Twilight responded. It was a small victory, but given the situation anything was better than what they had before on him.

“What exactly does the spell do, anyway?” asked Fluttercruel.

“The spell was created to be a sort of capture device. Think shackles, only made out of magic instead of iron. It doesn’t just hinder his movements. Its main purpose is to hinder his magic. That’s why I needed those empty gems,” Twilight explained, “So I could store his magic in it and use it against him. It’s tricky, but I managed to turn his own magic against him. Until I dispel it myself, he’ll continue to feed the gem with his own magic, which will in turn continue to keep his in check, but only so much.”

The others had to hand it to Twilight: when it came down to it, she was capable of creating incredible things.

“But we still got the same problem we had before,” said Applejack, “He’s still hidin’ and buildin’ his magic. Even if your spell makes him weaker, he’ll still get stronger at some point.”

Twilight bit her thumb. She knew that very well, but to date she still couldn’t counter that… not unless she could somehow cut everyone’s link with him in the dream realm, something she wasn’t sure was possible, at least not to her knowledge.

“You’re right. He’ll keep gaining more power, and I can’t stop that. There’s only so much any of us can do right now,” Twilight said, “But that’s why we have each other, because for every one of us that can’t do, we have the others to fill that gap.”

“Wish I’d learned that a long time ago,” Everyone turned at the sound of the familiar voice. John and Rainbow had arrived. Everyone took stock of his appearance. He wasn’t in the same state he was before, but they could tell that he wasn’t fully recovered either. There was a moment of silence. John could see the worry in their faces.

“Look, everyone, I’m sorry,” he said, “And not just about my recent moods. Fact is, I’ve been trying to shoulder all this alone since Kurama showed up, too afraid of what might happen to anyone if I slip up. In the long run, all I did was more damage than anything…” John rubbed the back of his head and sighed, “Not only that but it’s pushed me close to the edge…closer than I’ve ever been in my life, and I’m not sure what will finally push me over.”

“Then maybe you should try slowing down? Pace yourself a little?” Twilight suggested, but John shook his head.

“That’s the one thing I can’t do. We all know we’re almost out of time… and slowing down now would only put everyone else in even more risk than they are already,” Though they wished he’d reconsider, they knew he was right.

“I don’t think you have much of a choice, really,” said Applejack, “We won’t be able to do much of anythin’ if he’s back in hiding,” To that, however, everyone noticed a smirk appear on John’s face.

“You guys might wanna hear this,” said Rainbow.

“This is something I didn’t pay much mind to when I was fighting him back at the apple fields. But after I finally calmed down, I started to make connections. The night Rarity got taken, I managed to do something I hadn’t to Kurama. I managed to land a clean hit on him, and he lost a tooth,” John smirked for a moment. Even the others found some relief in the news that he had actually been hit once or twice. John kept going on.

“I didn’t think it mattered at first because it was just a dream. But that changed when I saw him in the real world. I noticed he had some bruises, something I thought might have happened because of other battles he’d been in. But there was an injury that stood out: he was missing the same tooth I’d knocked out in the dream.”

Everyone stared at him with a quizzical expression. It had to be a coincidence, right?

“It’s like he was getting hurt in a dream, but how…?” Twilight pondered. As realistic and frightening as dreams and nightmares could be, there was never a report of someone actually getting hurt from one. Yet, that seemed to be happening to Kurama, who, like John and Luna, was capable of jumping between dreams. But how? What was so different about him that could cause it to be that way?

We still don’t even know how he can jump between dreams in the first place, as Twilight thought, she found herself drawn back to her books. They were still opened to sections about his kind. In those various books, there were two words that had appeared several times: Fox Spirit.

Spirit… spirit… Twilight’s eyes opened and she let out a small gasp in realization.

“That’s it!” She called out, catching the others’ attention. They watched as she ran to the chalkboard and cleared it of any notes, “I can’t believe I hadn’t noticed this before… it all makes sense now!”

On the board, she drew a large blob, which she labeled “Dreams”, and below it, she drew a laid down Kurama.

“Notice what?” asked Pinkie.

“Kurama isn’t just a fox. He’s also a fox spirit,” Though she knew what she was talking about, the others were still lost, “Think of how the ones we know are able to travel into dreams do it. Princess Luna and John are both capable of sending their minds into the dream realm, and manipulate it. We would think Kurama is able to do the same, and yet Princess Luna states that he shouldn’t without her permission. So what else is he sending to the dream realm, then, if it’s not his mind or body?”

“His soul…” All heads turned to Fluttercruel, and then back to Twilight.

“Exactly, he’s sending his very soul into the dream realm, crafting himself another body. This allows him to venture into the realm against Luna’s wishes. But because he’s using his soul to jump between dreams, it’s still connected to his real body.”

“So whatever happens to his soul will transfer to his body as a result,” John finished, relief hitting him as it seemed his hunch was correct, “So that’s why he’s always on the run in dreams. He’s in just as much danger in there as he is out here.” John nodded. This explained Kurama’s caution, his constant feeling, and his unwillingness to take a risk in the dreams, “This whole time, we thought he had the advantage. But he’s in a hole just like us, and we’re going to dig him deeper.”

“So!” John said, turning to Fluttercruel, “You still have birds on the lookout for Kurama, right?”

Fluttercruel offered a nod.

“So how big an animal do you think you can convince to help us?”

Fluttercruel crossed her arms and smirked, “How big do you need?”

John smirked as well.

“What do you have planned?” At Twilight’s question, John turned, the shadows in his mood seeming to lift now.

“It’s time for Kurama to struggle for a little while.”

His body felt cold from hunger and burnt from his injuries. Kurama sat silently in a hole far removed from the farm. He hadn’t the strength to return to his cave in the Everfree, but luckily for him, his endeavor wasn’t a total loss. Looking down in his hands, he saw the fruits of his risk. Two apples, or rather half apples as parts of both had been cooked to an inedible crisp from his escape attempt. But right now, he wasn’t going to be picky. Without haste, he consumed both whole. He could feel the food slide down his throat and enter his stomach. As he was now, it was like he’d eaten the richest of foods.

But while it curbed his hunger, it was not enough. It wasn’t going to last him much longer beyond healing his wounds. Sticking his head out from his hiding spot, he saw that there was no signs of life. Carefully, he started to move, always on watch for anyone who he might get spotted by. He needed to get back to the forest, sure of himself that no one would dare enter it.

It seemed to be clear all through the way, the forest coming within view. All he needed to do now was take the path he had marked for himself until he entered his cave. But as he drew closer, as he felt that he was finally in the clear once more, he saw something was off. As he stared into the forest, he could see something was staring back at him. Several “somethings”, in fact, all in various sizes. They were all creatures from the Everfree, and they formed a line between it and the world outside.

“What??” he asked, taking steps back. He was still strong even with the magic currently hindering him. But the Everfree housed many vicious and dangerous creatures, and there was no telling how many of them he’d be able to match, nor was there a way to tell how many more were in there that he couldn’t see. He couldn’t go back; his best hiding place was no longer safe for him.

“But how?” he wondered, “What’s changed since I ventured away??”

Almost on cue, however, a bird landed in front of him, dropping something it had in its beak before flying away. Kurama stared at it for several seconds before kicking it up and undoing the string tied around it. It took him only a second to read the sentence written on it, causing his whiskers to stand on edge.

The ball’s in our court now; your move. –John

The letter burst into flames as Kurama walked away from the forest. He could feel himself being closed into a corner now, and he did not like it.

Things had slowed down once again. Though Kurama was being sighted on several occasions, he hadn’t caused much damage. He was, however, getting away with small amounts of food here and there. The spell cast on him was also still holding strong. Twilight could still feel its effect taking hold on him. Even though he’d gotten away, it seemed as though their plan was slowly starting to work. This was very well the first moment in a while that she had been able to sit down and silence and relax a bit. It wasn’t for long though, because when she did, she remembered the reason why the library was silent in the first place.

If not for the soundproofing spell placed on her room, all corners of the library would be echoing with the screams of her friends. Not a moment went by when she didn’t think of them, thinking about what they could be possibly going through at that moment. She herself had gotten a small glimpse into it not long ago, but that was only a fraction of it. As she thought of this, she found herself staring at the stairs once again. She tried not to look towards it, but her eyes would always find its way to it for one reason or another.

The longer she stared up at the stairs, the more she started hearing the tortured screams. She trembled a bit, remembering their anguish. She didn’t want to, but she couldn’t stop herself, couldn’t bring herself to look away.

I… maybe someone should check on them…

She looked around, as though to find someone who could, but at that moment, she was alone in the room. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, rising from her seat and taking a hesitant step towards the stairs. She continued at this pace for several steps, several seconds of stillness before the next step was taken. The moment she reached the first step of the stairs, the wood creaked, causing Twilight to jump slightly. She looked down on it and let out a small sigh.

“Stalling isn’t going to make this any easier,” she said. Looking up to the top, she could see the door, the sight causing her to gulp lightly. She continued up the stairs, each creaking slightly underfoot, the door drawing closer with every second.

Soon, she’d reached the top. Now, she stood in front of the door, still able to feel the soundproofing spell placed on it. She held a trembling hand to her chest as she stared at the knob, knowing that the moment she turned it, she would hear the sounds again. Every time she’d heard it, there was no doubt it was worse than the time before. It wasn’t something someone could get used to, just something that could eat away at one’s heart endlessly.

Just a few seconds… that’s all. Twilight thought, bracing herself for the screams to come.

After a few seconds, she finally turned the door and slowly opened it, and just as she expected, the screams hit her. She winced from it, turning her head away as though to shield herself from it, if even a little. After a few seconds, she prepared to close the door again, but just before the door made contact with the frame, she stopped.

Wait… Twilight opened her eyes, turning her head back to the door. She stood there for a few tense seconds as she brought herself to listen closely to the screams. She could hear them, there was no doubt about that…

But she could only hear Rarity’s.

“Corey!” Her heart filled with fear, Twilight pushed through the door and into her room. The first thing she noticed was Rarity, still screaming, and still thrashing about. But then she saw the other, Corey, still laying on his bed. She felt her heart racing as she stared at him, noting that his screaming had stopped. To make matters worse, he wasn’t moving anymore, lying perfectly still on the bed.

“No…” She moved towards him, dropping to her knees as she reached the bed. She reached out to him and put a hand to his face.

“Cold…” Twilight was on the verge of flat-out hyperventilating, doing everything in her power not to think of the worse. Tears were beginning to swell up in her eyes as the truth started to hit her. But as it seemed like it had come to it, she saw something, a very slight movement from under his sheets. Wiping her eyes, she removed the sheet from over Corey and placed an ear to his chest. It was hard to hear because of Rarity’s screaming, but after a few seconds, she heard it.

“Still beating…” She pulled back and placed a hand on her own chest, letting out a sigh of relief before covering Corey again. But while happy that the worst hadn’t happened, she couldn’t ignore the obvious. His body temperature had fallen, he was deathly silent, and even though she could still hear it, his heart rate had weakened. She was warned this would happen, but she didn’t want to think about it. But she couldn’t deny it now.

“He’s…almost out of time…”

Author's Note

And here's the next chapter in the line. Again, would like to thank my friend FictionFreek for the help with this arc. Without him, this arc would not have been possible.

Act 3 Chapter 37

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 37: The Mask Breaks

They came in endless numbers: dozens of shadow monsters ran out from behind the trees, easily clearing the ravine’s gap with a single jump. John and Rainbow had just arrived in the dream, only just saving Scootaloo from a fall. But it was already clear that there was more to worry about now.

“John, get Scoots out of here. I can’t go full throttle if I’m worried about her,” Rainbow said. John nodded and walked over to Scootaloo, putting his palm to her head. Instantly, his eyes began to glow together with his palm. Within a few seconds, something happened that he hadn’t seen before. Before he could react, the white glow suddenly fluxed, changing a deep purple, and with a spark of magic, John’s hand was repelled from Scootaloo’s head.

“Ack!” she cried out from the magical feedback. Rainbow took a step back.

“What was that!?” Rainbow asked. John didn’t answer, looking down at his palm. It was trembling from the force that repelled it. This was a first; any other time he’d done this, it was a simple matter. But now, it felt like something was keeping him from doing it again, and he had a pretty good idea on who was behind it.

"Kurama’s probably behind this,” John tightened his fist. The other creatures were getting closer; he had no time to try again. With that in mind, “No way around it, we have to find him with we wanna get out of here.”

Rainbow looked to John, then back to Scootaloo. She couldn’t fight if she had to keep her safe the whole way. It was going to be hard; she would have to keep away from the monsters until one of them could figure out something better. “Think you can find him?”

John didn’t answer. With so many creatures having his magical signature, he was picking up traces of Kurama’s magic everywhere. But he didn’t have a choice. As long as Scootaloo couldn’t wake up, they weren’t going anywhere.

“Here they come,” said John.

Rainbow took to the sky once the creatures reached them. John rushed straight into the crowd, sending each one that came close flying with a single punch. For now, he decided keeping them away from Rainbow was top priority. That, and finding Kurama. He was running towards the forest; if Kurama was hiding anywhere, he’d probably be hiding there. As he ran, the other creatures began to follow him. Unable to fly, he was the only target they could reach.

Inside of the forest was even worse. From every shadow cast, the creatures were crawling out. In terms of sheer numbers they were impressive, but in terms of strength, they were lacking. Last time Kurama had tried this, he’d created just one large, powerful monster as bait to another dream. Yet now, he was able to manage an army of smaller, weaker creatures now. Though it could be a strategy, John saw it as Kurama running out of options.

Don’t matter what it is if I can’t find him though… With so many coming out, John wasn’t able to get a fix on their origin. He needed some way to keep more from coming, and maybe dwindle their numbers if possible. But what could he do? It wasn’t like he could bring light into the forest…

“Or can I…?” John asked, as an idea sparked in his head. Smirking, flames began to expel from the sides of his mouth as he took in a breath. He wasn’t able to use Corey’s spell, true, but there were other ways of making things brighter. Opening his mouth, John belched out a blast of fire which incinerated any creature in its path. Within seconds, the fires began to spread from tree to tree. Sure enough, the shadows within the forest were disappearing, replaced by the inferno he’d started.

It was working, but there were still more places for them to come out. He needed to reduce that number more. He continued to breathe fire in all directions, hoping to flush out Kurama one way or another.

“Good thing this is a dream…” Rainbow said, watching the smoke and flames rise up from under the tree line. With no collateral damage being real, John was able to go all-out without worry, “Wish I was part of it, though…”

As though the forest itself was answering her plea, several objects shot out from the treetops. At first, Rainbow didn’t know what to make it. That is, until the objects opened up and revealed themselves to be more black creatures. But unlike the others, these had one significant difference: they had wings.

I just had to say something… Rainbow groaned internally, already preparing to fly away from them. They continued to pursue her, several more soon joining in the chase. At any other time, Rainbow would have moved so fast she’d have been nothing but a blur to them. But right now, she had a passenger with her, and she definitely couldn’t deal with high speeds. Her hands were also occupied with holding Scootaloo on her as well, propping her legs so that she couldn’t flail about. But that didn’t mean she was defenseless, and she was prepared to prove that.

As the creatures continued to close in, Rainbow decided to change it up. Turning around, she instead charged towards them. Scootaloo looked worried, but voiced nothing. She trusted Rainbow, and that trust was rewarded. When Rainbow reached one of the creatures, she showed her mettle and delivered a strong flying kick to its face. The creature was stunned by the attack, unable to evade the heel kick which caused it to spiral downwards.

After the first creature was attacked, the others decided to surround Rainbow. Slowly, they cycled her like sharks, prepared to go on the move. Rainbow flew in place, eyes closed, waiting, feeling for the right moment. Soon enough, they moved, closing in on her from all around. She was ready; at the final moment, Rainbow dropped from their path and the creatures rammed into one another. Rainbow then flew around until she was above them and finished them with a strong downwards kick using both of her feet.

“You’re the best, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo cheered, enjoying the first-person view of Rainbow’s show. Rainbow smirked, but she already knew it wasn’t over yet. There was still more on the way.

“Not over yet, Scoots,” Rainbow said, going on to fight the new batch of monsters. As she flew, her rainbow trail painted the sky, something that John could see from below…

John looked up, seeing the creatures flying behind her, letting out a growl at the sight of them. The forest was already well beyond hope of stopping the flames. Creatures below were already being immolated, and they couldn’t do anything to him to begin with.

Convinced that the work on the ground was done, John took off to the sky. He’d left one friend to fight alone before, and he wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

“I’m coming—“ John stopped. Something was wrapping around his arms and legs, “What!?”

He looked down, seeing a familiar sight: tail tips, all of them belonging to Kurama. Growling again, he resolved to pull at them, but then another wrapped around his waist and pulled harder. He was being pulled from the sky with a strength Kurama should not have had in his state. But before John could find a way to explain this, one last tail wrapped around his neck.

“Six?!” One final pull finally overpowered John’s flight and he was reeled back towards the ground like a fish stuck to a lure.

“Shit!” John swore, seconds before he collided with the ground, the smoldering forest around him crumbling from the impact. It didn’t end there, though. The tails kept a grip on him and began to drag him through the forest, slamming him through trees and rock alike.

After seconds of being dragged, John had enough. He pulled at one of his arms as hard as he could, managing to get it near his head. Once he was able to reach, he acted and bit down hard on the tail wrapped around his arm. The tactic worked as John was suddenly thrown through the air, all six tails unfurling from around him. He recovered from the throw quickly, finding the tails once again as they retracted back into the forest.

“Not this time!” John roared, charging after them, blowing his fire towards the forest around them. As he broke through the tree lines, he saw him, Kurama, standing before him.

“This is the last time, Kurama, I swear it!” John charged the fox, Kurama reacting in kind, his tails more than willing to attack as well. One by one, they whipped at John, and John met each with his own attack. And with each attack dealt, each attack repelled, John took a step forward.

“And what might you do this time that might make the result different?” Kurama questioned. Though his voice was still as monotone as ever, there was something different. His voice was slightly hurried, and his edge was gone. His unfeeling expression hid shades of concerns for his own wellbeing. The mask, the one he’d wear in front of those he hunted was beginning to crumble, showing the real Kurama on the inside.

“I’ve got an idea or two!” Kurama’s tails had been moving at incredible speeds, and yet still, John managed an impressive feat. He managed to track them, and grabbed on to two of Kurama’s tails. Kurama grunted in surprise. He would have tried to do something, anything to get John to let go, but he was already too late to try. John pulled hard on the tails as hard as he could, swinging Kurama around. There was no mercy in his conduct as he slammed Kurama into several trees. With one final pull, John yanked Kurama and slammed him into the ground.

“Let her go, Kurama,” John demanded, “Let her go and I’ll end this quickly!”

Slowly Kurama got up from the ground, dusting off the dirt from his fur with his tails. “I’ll let her go…” For a brief moment, John had believed that was it, but the hope was crushed as soon as it grew, “When I’m done with her…”

Kurama let out a sinister laugh, a sadistic smile spread across his lips, and John wanted nothing more than to rip it off. Tightening his fists, John charged again, running at full speed. This time, however, Kurama didn’t attack back. Instead, he backpedaled away, keeping his distance.

No, not again, you’re not getting away again! John thought to himself, his eyes trembling with adrenaline. He was so close, he could feel it. He could put a stop to all of it here and now, and he knew he had to. But in his moment of desperation, he forgot to check his surroundings, and where Kurama was luring him.

He never saw it coming.

Before John realized it, he was once again flying, between two cliffs. Only when he looked down into the ravine between them did he regret that he had. At that very moment he let his guard down, Kurama finally retaliated. With great force, John was struck over the head with all six tails, and was knocked down into the ravines. John couldn’t stop himself as he spiraled down, hitting the ground at full force. Lying on his front, John rolled over with a grunt, the impact having knocked the wind out of him.

Opening his eyes, he could see the top, Kurama staring back down from above. As John tried to recover, he saw Kurama’s tails move, piercing into the rock walls at his sides. John saw them change color, glowing with the same magic Kurama used before. He knew what was coming, and he knew he had to act quickly. Getting to his feet, John braced himself, just as the walls beside him came crashing in.

The walls struck him hard, his arms just barely capable of keeping them from crushing his body completely. But he wasn’t out of the woods. He could still feel the force behind them. The walls were still trying to close the gap. Through grit teeth, he looked up, prepared to curse Kurama, but he couldn’t. Kurama was no longer there. His eyes opened wide as he understood why, and with a horrid roar, he voiced his displeasure.

Unknown to what had happened, Rainbow was still making quick work of the creatures that flew around her. Though she couldn’t move at top speed, she was still more than enough for them. She just needed to keep it up until John could find Kurama and knuckle down on him. She was starting to like her chances, starting to see that just like before they’d finally find a way to overcome the odds. But the odds no longer seemed in her favor when she saw something heading towards her.

“No…” It wasn’t one of the flying creatures this time. Instead, it was the very fox she’d thought was being taken care of. She looked around. John had to be around somewhere, but he wasn’t. No matter how much she searched, she couldn’t find him. But she wasn’t going to show her fear, not in front of someone who needed to feel safe.

“So, you decided to show your face, huh?” Rainbow’s voice may have been filled with bravado, but she was siding with caution this time, “Well then, I guess I can finally repay you for the pain you’re causing my friends.” Kurama chuckled at Rainbow’s attempt at intimidation. It didn’t work at all.

“Trust me, you have no idea what kind of pain they’re going through. But you will, I can assure you of that,” Kurama only moved an inch forward and Rainbow had already reacted, flying as fast as she could away from Kurama. She was fast; she could probably take Kurama and never be touched once. But she wasn’t going to risk Scootaloo’s safety, and she couldn’t put her down with those creatures flying everywhere. She needed to find John. If he was held up somewhere or still trying to find Kurama, she had to tell him where he was. But she couldn’t, the fires of the forest were too great for her to fly through.

“Look over there!” Rainbow looked over to where Scootaloo was pointing to, wondering what she’d seen. She was looking at the ravine, but she didn’t know why. That is, until she saw it move. Not only that, but it was considerably smaller than it was before.

There! Rainbow thought to herself as she prepared to fly in its direction.

But before she could move towards it, Rainbow felt a cold chill run up her leg. With a gasp, she looked down. One of the creatures had grabbed hold of her when she wasn’t looking, and it wasn’t going to let go. Soon, one became two, then three, and so on, enough that even with their abysmal strength they were able to overpower her. Before she knew it, Rainbow was pulled down to the ground, clinging on to Scootaloo so that they wouldn’t be separated. But that was of small comfort as she saw Kurama growing closer to them.

She scowled at her position. She couldn’t get away and she couldn’t fight back. All she could do was watch as Kurama grew closer. She saw Scootaloo move her head, about to see Kurama as well, but Rainbow stopped her.

“Don’t look, Scoots, don’t look,” she said, never breaking eye contact with Kurama, “Just close your eyes…” She wanted to add something else, something encouraging, something like “It’ll be okay, I’m here for you, and you’ll be okay”. There were so many things she wanted to say, but she couldn’t. She knew she’d just be lying.

“All the faith you had in him, wasted,” said Kurama, magic building at the base of his palm. Rainbow looked to him, a scowl still fresh on her face. Even with the inevitable about to happen, she wouldn’t show fear, not now.

“No, it isn’t, and hasn’t been. He’ll come through for us, believe me. Time’s running out, Kurama, and it’s not my friends’.”

Kurama narrowed his eyes at Rainbow, only able to see the last bravado of a dead pony. The orb of magic at the base of his palm began to move towards her, getting close to Rainbow’s body. Only when it was an inch away from her did it stop, and then fully expand until it encased her whole body. As the magic engulfed them, both Rainbow and Scootaloo let out a scream, something that hadn’t gone unheard.

Still deep in the ravine, still pushing against the walls closing on him, John heard their screams. In that moment, he heard something crack. Maybe it was the wall. Maybe it was something in his mind, but he heard it. And in that moment, he let out another roar, one that echoed all around and towards the area above. And finally the walls began to move outwards as she forced them apart. Kurama could see this, and knew his time had come to leave. His body fading away just as John’s body shot through the opening, slamming down on where he used to be.

Though Kurama was gone, he was far from John’s mind at the moment. The orb that captured Rainbow and Scootaloo was floating, the two inside still screaming. The world around them was beginning to break apart as Scootaloo was starting to fade away.

“No, not again!” John ran forward, taking a single step towards the orb before it finally exploded. As the magic drowned the world around him, John was not pushed away, not this time. He was instead pushing forward, taking one strained step after another as he felt the magic try to pierce his mind. He could still see them. They were in the middle, scared and in pain, and he needed to help them. So he pushed forward, pushed himself to his limits.

As he drew closer, Rainbow noticed him, reaching out a hand to him and he was close to grabbing it. He reached out his own hand, inches away from grabbing on to Rainbow’s. But before he could grab hold of it, before he could finally save her, she disappeared.

“No…”

A second later Scootaloo vanished as well.

“No!”

And when the world around him evaporated, John was once again expunged from the dream, screaming.

“Nooooooooooooo!!!”

Rainbow stood up, gasping. She didn’t know where she was, but she knew what happened to her.

“Scoots!?” she called out. There was no response, not one single sign of life anywhere near her. Her heart beat was accelerating. Something was supposed to happen, something horrible. But as the seconds passed she found that nothing had happened. Her mind was racing, so many possibilities for a nightmare that would be used to torture her mind and soul. But what would it be? What would Kurama use against her?

“C’mon, what are you waiting for?!” Rainbow called out, almost daring Kurama’s nightmare to try her. Still, nothing came. She didn’t relax, though. She started to walk backwards, looking left and right to an ever expanding field. The only source of light was the many stars in the sky, and the blood red moon above.

But as she moved, she didn’t notice something behind her, not until she almost fell in. “Whoa!” She yelled, nearly losing her footing. The ground behind her seemed to disappear without a trace. Getting both feet back on solid ground, Rainbow turned around. What she saw was a rectangular hole in the ground, and a stone slab embedded into the ground.

“What?” Rainbow took a step back, words beginning to carve themselves into the stone slab. In seconds, it was finished, and she could read the words clearly.

“Here lies Rainbow Dash, gone and forgotten.”

Rainbow took several quick breaths before starting to laugh. “Oh, is that it? You think seeing my grave is supposed to scare me? Well, no dice!” she yelled, trying to find any signs of Kurama in her dream. This didn’t feel right. Everyone she’d seen had started screaming within seconds of being put into a nightmare, so what was taking so long this time?

But what she hadn’t known, is that for some of the victims of Kurama’s hunts, he took his time and made sure to perfectly set up their nightmares. From the sides of the grave, several cloaked figures seemed to rise up from the ground, shovels in hand. Rainbow looked both ways as she took a step back, prepared for a fight. But her back soon came into contact with something hard. Slowly, she turned to see what it was: a coffin with her cutie mark engraved on it. With a creak the door began to open, inviting her to enter, but she wasn’t going to do so willingly.

“I don’t think so!” she said, flaring her wings, preparing to take flight. But she couldn’t, because before she could take off, two bindings wrapped themselves around them. Her wings were now pinned down to her back; she wasn’t able to get away. At that moment, the coffin lunged at her, closing the door on her and trapping her inside. Once locked, it turned around and allowed itself to fall to the ground.

“Oof!” Rainbow grunted as she felt the impact, her breath getting aster as she tried to turn around. She pushed at the door with all her might, but it wouldn’t even budge. And through the window placed at face-level, she saw the cloaked figures moving. Using their shovels, each one began to drop dirt into the hole.

“No, no, no!” Rainbow began to scream, banging at the inside of the door. She was trapped, and soon, she would be buried alive.

There was nothing more unnerving than the wait, unable to do anything, unable to see what is happening. Held in a constant loop of worry of what could happen with every passing minute. Twilight paced the floor beside John and Rainbow, her eyes locked with theirs, waiting for then the glow will fade. Not far from her Applejack tapped her foot on the ground, growing restless with every passing second. Pinkie and Fluttercruel stood to the side, trying to have some kind of a conversation. If nothing else, it was helping them keep their minds off of what everyone was trying not to think about.

Time was running out, they didn’t have room for any more setbacks. The condition of Kurama’s victims was growing worse at a faster pace. At this rate, his first targets weren’t going to last much longer. What happens next, what could possibly define how many lives could either be lost or saved, it all depended on what happens when the glow of their friends’ eyes finally fade.

They all waited to the point where they were sure they’d go mad, but finally, something changed. The flow of their eyes began to fade, everyone’s attention quickly turning to the two. First was John’s eyes which returned to normal. But he didn’t move, his facial expression didn’t change. They were going to speak up, ask him if he’d finally done it, but they were silenced by what happened next. When the glow of her eyes finally faded, Rainbow’s body fell limp, her head falling to rest on John’s chest.

Everyone gasped, bracing themselves for what they knew was coming next. And it did in full force. Rainbow began to scream in absolute terror as she pounded away at John’s chest. They were about to move, about to make their way towards Rainbow, but something got in the group’s way.

“P-Pinkie, what are you—“ Everyone could see a pink object in their path—it was Pinkie, her back to them with her arms spread out. But there was something else: her body was trembling. If they could see her face at that moment, they’d see the total terror in her eyes.

Unable to move forward now, everyone watched as John finally moved. Gently, he picked up Rainbow from her seat and carried her up the stairs. Even as she screamed, even as she struggled against him, John never once showed any emotion on his face. As soon as he disappeared from sight, Pinkie moved.

“Move, move, into the kitchen!” Pinkie said, pushing at the rest of the group. Eventually, they obliged. Once everyone was in the other room, they finally decided to speak up.

“What was that about?” asked Applejack.

“He’s… he’s about to pop,” Everyone fell silent. Though they were warned this could happen, they never thought of what to do if it did.

“Are you sure, Pinkie?” asked Twilight.

“I’m very sure, and have no idea what’ll happen if he does. I don’t know what’s keeping him from it now, but as soon as that runs out, there won’t be anything to stop him.” Everyone went motionless for a moment. At first Pinkie thought they were processing this, only to find that they were in fact staring at something behind her. Slowly, she turned to see who it was: John, standing at the entrance with the exact same expression he’d had since coming back into the real world.

It was one thing when he was trying to contain his anger, but now that he wasn’t showing so much as a single twitch of emotion, they never thought there could have been anything scarier.

“Twilight…”

She jumped at the mention of her name.

“Can you come with me?”

Twilight stood for a second before giving a nod, making her way out of the room. The others were going to join her, but stopped when John held out his hand.

“Please, just… stay here,” John said, turning and walking away before anyone could give a response. In the other room, Twilight watched John walk back to his seat, not once making eye contact with her.

“John, what’re you—“ she started, but John didn’t wait.

“I need you here for when it happens. Please… just trust me… one more time…”

A part of her didn’t like how he said that. But before she could voice her concern, he was gone, already deep into the dream realm where she couldn’t reach him. Still worried, all she could do was stand there and wait, wondering just what someone in his state might do now.

He slowly stood. He didn’t know how long it had been since he was thrown into this, but his heart was growing weak. Corey shook his head, hands pressed to his face. He’d never felt this cold, and he’d never felt this alone. He shivered, zipping up his hoodie, as the chill hit him. His ears pinned backward as he put up his hood, and he finally opened his eyes, releasing an exhausted, sad sigh as he took in the surroundings.

He was surrounded by crystals on all angles, similar to the crystal palace. However, while the crystals there were colorful, these were dull and lifeless, some of them cracked. Each of these grayed crystals seemed to be heavily frostbitten, and a fog seemed to glide in from nowhere once again.

“No…” Corey said in a low voice to himself, his hot breath turning the air in front of him to vapor, “Not again…”

Author's Note

Here we are. The arc's almost done. Just a few more chapters to go. Yeah.

Act 3 Chapter 38

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 38: Extreme, Desperate Measures

Corey looked around, his eyes darting around the corridor that had manifested around him. He’d been here before. It seemed so familiar, but felt so different from what he knew the place looked like. In these crystal halls, there was nothing else, just him, standing alone at an intersection. Nothing but silence greeted him, but he had a feeling that…

A blood-curdling scream echoed through the halls, and Corey flinched. Something in him told him to call out after it, but he couldn’t muster the energy to. Instead, he looked around. The chill bit into his hands, but he ignored it. With a resigned sigh, Corey knew looking for the direction was useless. He was just about to go down any random direction when a warmth enclosed around one of his hands, as if someone was holding it. He stared at it for a couple of moments, wondering what it was. It felt as though someone, far off, was calling to him—

The warmth slowly faded away, leaving the cold chill to engulf his hands once again. With a saddened sigh and a shake of the head, Corey shoved both hands into the pockets of his jacket and began to walk. It wasn’t long, before that first scream was followed up with another, and another, and Corey clenched his teeth, urging himself to keep moving.

“You can’t run from what you’ve done…” echoed a hauntingly familiar voice. He couldn’t tell exactly whose it was, but he could hear some of “himself” in it. Corey didn’t respond, but he picked up his pace.

As he continued to trudge through the hallways, he could hear something. His ears, tucked under his hood, twitched as he registered the sound. It took a while, but eventually he could make it out. It was sobbing, and he could hear distinct tones among them. Quite a few of them belonged to those from Equestria, but what really got to him was the fact he could even hear people from his home realm too--he could just vaguely hear his mom, his sister…

Corey stopped for a moment, shivering. He saw some movement in the crystal beside him, but he didn’t care enough to acknowledge it.

“What have you done!?” Corey flinched. That was Ivan’s voice. It was a bit distorted, but it definitely sounded enough like him.

“You self-righteous idiot…” Leo said, infinitely colder than Ivan was in that moment, “Those were your true colors, weren’t they?”

“I-it wasn’t…” Corey mumbled, more of an automatic defense than anything.

“How can you be so sure…?” The indistinct voice returned, echoing around him, “It only took a few choice words and actions...not to mention all that text.”

There were a few angry shouts, and Corey walked away, not even bothering to pay attention to where he was going. He had to get away from this. His pace quickened and quickened until he was finally running. All around him, the screams, sobs, and shouts of anger wouldn’t stop.

“Just what were you thinking!?” yelled John’s voice.

“Were you thinking at all? I don’t think you were!”

“This could have been...avoided…”

“Maybe it would have been better if he’d never existed to begin with…”

“Stop…” Corey hissed, not having the energy to shout back. A voice had been growing in his head ever since this all started. It was getting louder and louder. In fact, it wasn’t even in his head anymore.

“Why should they?” That same voice had taken over for that inner voice, “Can’t handle the truth?”

Corey hadn’t even paid attention to where he was going. He briefly lifted his head, and only skidded to a halt when he realized he was about to run headlong into a single, solitary crystal. He stopped mere inches from it, fog pouring in from all directions now. Resting one hand on the surface, Corey paused, feeling more tired than he ever had in his life. Was this all really still a dream?

“What I did...it’s not who I am…” Corey weakly whimpered, trying his hardest to filter out everything, “It can’t be me…”

“Are you sure?”

The proximity and clarity of the voice made him jump. It definitely sounded like his own voice. Corey lifted his head. It was definitely his reflection in that crystal, wasn’t it? So then, where’d…

His reflection grinned wickedly, something which Corey definitely wasn’t doing.

“Can you really claim to be who you think you can be?” asked his reflection, his voice now mixing with someone else’s. Then, one side of his reflection’s face began to melt, shifting until it resembled a face that Corey definitely didn’t want to see.

The side that had “melted” had changed to be red fur. The blue eye underneath glared at Corey with a psychotic intensity that was matched by the smile.

“No…” Corey whispered.

“We really are the same, you know,” This time, it was definitely Slayer’s voice coming out, “We both destroy things we don’t like, all for our own self-gratification…”

“Stop…” Corey said, “I’m not…”

“Why bother denying it?” asked the reflection, “In the end, you’ll just wind up going too far… then we’ll become the same for sure…”

“No…” Corey said, his jaw tightening as his free hand clenched.

“There’s nothing you can do! Or is it nothing that you want to do…”

“Shut...up…!” Corey threw out a punch, trying desperately to mute the assault from within the crystal. The punch made impact, and Slayer laughed maniacally, even as the crystal, together with his reflection, cracked. Corey looked up, his eyebrows twitching as he watched the reflection. Then, abruptly, Slayer paused, hacking up blood. A few moments later, his image shattered from within the crystal, as though he were made of glass.

Corey sighed. He paused, finally removing his hand from the cracked crystal, trying to gather his thoughts in the silence. For a few moments, it really seemed like he was going to receive a brief respite from the constant assault. That was when he heard a savage scream, like one whose mind had left him, and it sounded so familiar that Corey looked back to the crystal.

“N-no…” Corey stuttered, in total disbelief.

Within the cracked crystal, his reflection had appeared again, but this time, there was nothing in its eyes but total savagery. His eyes had turned red on green irides, with purple smoke coming out of them. And, though Corey was sure he had no magical aura of any kind around him, his reflection had a black aura, and was glaring at him with an intense bloodlust. Corey froze.

His dark alter ego then moved forward, throwing out a punch. Corey didn’t move, and was blasted backwards when the crystal shattered from within, pelting him with the debris and sending him falling through the fog. Eventually, Corey landed hard, surrounded by nothing but darkness once again. Or did he just not open his eyes? He couldn’t tell anymore.

“Who am I kidding…?” Corey whispered bitterly, a familiar pain gripping him, filling him with all the guilt and self-loathing that entire situation had left him with tenfold, “I still almost became a killer, stopped only because it wouldn’t serve him…”

Corey didn’t stand. Though he couldn’t muster the energy to even cry anymore, he was still tearing up.

“No matter how hard I try, this will be the end result… I’m doomed to follow my wrath…”

Corey could have sworn he’d saw a distant twinkle somewhere in the darkness, but didn’t know what it meant. He slowly got back to his feet, and as he stood up, he felt a brief warmth encompass him, like something was breathing some kind of life back into him. He almost felt like he heard a voice, calming in nature, calling out to him, but he couldn’t place it. However, just as quickly as the sensation overtook him, it faded away. Corey hung his head, his jaw clenching.

“There’s no hope for me…” Corey growled, shaking his head as the warmth dispelled, “This space is mocking me...and I...I can’t…”

Lost in the darkness, Corey began to meander forward, not caring about what was coming next in this never-ending nightmare...

Twilight wasn’t sure how long she’d stood there waiting. She wasn’t sure what John was planning. He’d just gone back into the dream realm without saying anything more than for her to trust him. She did trust him, that was true, but she couldn’t help but feel uneasy as she was forced to wait for the unexpected. After several minutes of waiting alone, John finally returned to the waking world.

“It’s done,” John didn’t move from his sitting position, or even look up at Twilight when he spoke up.

“What’s done? What did you do?” she asked.

“I did the only thing I can, Twilight,” She was going to speak up again, wonder what he was talking about. She was stopped, however, by a knock at her door. John stood up at that moment, his body stiffening as though he were preparing for something.

“No matter what I say, I need you to side with me…”

Twilight blinked at this, wondering what he meant. She turned back to the door as it slowly opening. Someone stepped through, and the sight of him caused Twilight’s blood to boil.

“Kurama!” There he stood, the very fox that had put her friends through such hell was now standing in her home. Gritting her teeth in anger, Twilight’s horn began to flare as she prepared for battle, but someone stopped her.

“John, what are you doing?” Standing between Kurama and herself stood John, whose eyes were locked on to the fox.

“I called him here…” said John.

Twilight’s eyes went wide in surprise as she took one step back from John. She couldn’t believe what she’d heard. “Why?”

“Because he’s out of options,” Kurama cackled, “To strike a bargain with your enemy… I wonder, just how much of a blow to your pride was that?” John didn’t react at all, his face still having a chillingly calm expression.

“And yet, you agreed to it,” Kurama’s eyes narrowed as he snarled at John, placing his hand over his chest, right where the gem still held strong, he growled.

“As if I had a choice!”

Kurama felt much better after his last confrontation. Even at the disadvantage he had, he’d still managed to come out on top. Now he’d stricken Rainbow Dash with his curse, increasing his victims to three of the opposing team’s members. His powers were still growing. Soon, the gem on his chest wouldn’t be a problem anymore. Wanting this to happen sooner, he chose to go out on the hunt once again. This time, he decided upon a bigger target in the eyes of the whole town, one whose downfall would certainly cripple everyone in Ponyville: Mayor Mare.

“Well now, I must say, you are one of the few not to fear me on sight,” Sitting on the seat of her office, Kurama stared on at the restrained mayor. Tattered and beaten, her attempts to fight back were ineffective. Now, she hung by her arms which were bound to the wall, her feet several inches above the ground. Weak from her fight, Mayor Mare couldn’t offer anything more than a low groan in response.

“Well then, it appears my fun with you is over,” Kurama said, rising from his seat. Slowly, he walked up to her, savoring the moment. Placing his hands to her chin, he lifted her head so that she could see his eyes, “But your torment will continue.” A wicked grin split his face as his other hand glowed with his magic. He was going to send her where he’d sent everyone else, and he was going to enjoy it. When the locals found out, they were sure to crumble…

“Farewell, my dear,” His hand came very close to her hand, but before he could make contact, the wall beside her seemed to burst open. Before he knew it, something had grabbed on to Kurama’s throat and he was being pushed through the other wall. Through two rooms he pushed, finally meeting the end of his rip as his back made contact with a brick wall.

The room spun for several seconds before Kurama regained his composure. He could now see who attacked him. Standing over him was John, his face unreadable. His eyes, however, burned with hellfire. This was all Kurama could see. He’d seen a glimpse of those same eyes in someone else, and the end result was unpleasant. Feeling the risk level was already too high, Kurama opted to leave, his body beginning to fade, but this time John didn’t give him a chance.

Bringing his head forward, John slammed him back into the brick wall again, his body returning to focus. “It takes you five seconds to fade away from the dream realm. I only need one to stop you.”

John’s claws extended around Kurama’s throat. He could feel them digging into the flesh of his throat. If John had any mercy left, he was certainly at it now.

“Golden Oaks Library,” John continued, “You are going to head there on your own, right now. No detours, no backup, and no running away. You and I will settle this face-to-face.”

Kurama looked at John for a few seconds before chuckling. “I suggest you end it now, or else you’ll never get the chance again,” He said, staring daggers, “You’ve started to show me what lay beneath that heroic mask you wear. I know you’re capable of it, so come on! Do it!”

He was practically daring John to cross that line. John didn’t react, though; he wasn’t going to give Kurama that satisfaction.

“Be it by my hands or not, it will happen, Kurama,” John said, “It’s only a matter of time.”

Kurama blinked, unable to tell if John was bluffing or not. With his free hand, John tapped at Kurama’s chest. Though it didn’t appear in the dream realm, he knew very well he was talking about the gem, which was on that spot in the real world.

“The gem stuck to you has another function, one I had a very hard time convincing Twilight to add, but had it done. It’s our last contingency against you. If we can’t stop you in time, Twilight will activate it. And when she does, the gem will turn all your magic against you, and result in an implosion that not even you will be able to defend against.”

John could feel the smooth movement of Kurama’s throat as he gulped. He could tell Kurama was taking the bait.

“How this ends falls on you, Kurama. So, what’s it going to be?”

Kurama glared at him for several seconds. His options were thin. Even if he ran away, he couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t just a good bluff.

“Very well, but on one condition,” Kurama said, “If you want a fight on your terms, then you will have to fight me at full power.”

There was a long pause, several minutes passing without anyone saying a word. With a sigh, John nodded and took a step back, releasing his grip on Kurama’s throat.

“Deal.”

Twilight remained silent. She’d never added anything like that to the gems she’d prepared. She would never even humor such an idea. But Kurama didn’t know that. He did know that their backs were against the wall, and that a good portion of their friends were in danger. This was a bluff in every way, and John needed her to support it. She took in a deep breath.

“Never in my life did I think I’d resort to something like this, but you’ve given us little choice, Kurama. If even for a second you try anything funny,” To add to the ruse, Twilight’s horn lit up, and the gem did as well, Kurama’s eyes flickering as this happened, “I won’t hesitate.”

“Very well,” Kurama said, “Let’s get this over with.”

Both John and Kurama stepped closer to one another, stopping in the center of the room. The air grew heavy with anticipation. Twilight prepared to cast her magic given a signal.

“You will come to regret this decision,” said Kurama.

“You’re probably right,” John said. In the back of his mind, he wondered: what was it he was going to regret?

“Twilight…” Twilight nodded, her horn glowing brighter along with the gem. The magic inside of the gem began to expel as cracks formed. She braced herself, unsure of what would happen when the gem was deactivated. Taking a deep breath, she undid the spell. The gem’s glow faded and it fell from Kurama’s chest, falling to the ground.

Everything went silent as it fell, the gem slowly making its way towards the ground. When it finally hit, the gem shattered together with the silence. As soon as it did, Kurama’s tail count went up to eight, his magic beginning to surge. However, he wasn’t the only one. John’s eyes began to glow as well, but it was different than before. The glow continued to shine as the magic engulfed John’s body.

“Begin!” As Kurama shouted, a strand of magic shot out from both of their heads: Kurama’s strand was purple, John’s was white. The two met in the middle and began to spiral around one another as they battled with one another. The sound was too much to ignore, and the others ran in from the other room. They could only be shocked at the sight of Kurama and the magical display in front of them.

“What’s goin’ on??” asked Applejack, but Twilight was too focused on the event to answer. Everyone could only watch in silence as the spiral of magic continued, forming a dome around them both. Both began to levitate as the dome completed itself. They were trapped inside. No one could get in, or exit the dome now.

At least, until the outcome of this battle was decided.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading this far. This arc is almost over, but there's still quite a bit to go of the main story. Not much else to say that I haven't already said before. Just sit back and enjoy. John vs Kurama is up next.

Act 3 Chapter 39

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 39: The End of the Nightmares… Or…!?

John had noticed something about the many dreams he’d visited. The setting, while varying from pony to pony, had a common theme to all of them. The dreams all took place in familiar settings, places where the dreamer usually felt at ease, more at home. A place where one could feel free. What John was seeing now was nothing of the sort.

The land around him was scarred, damaged and uninhabitable. Rivers of magma flowed along the charred ground. At times, geysers would erupt, spewing towers of lava that pierced through the black clouds in the sky. It was a literal hell on earth, and it seemed like any moment, the very ground beneath them would flat-out explode. This world wasn’t a place of familiarity or comfort, but an amalgamation of the state of mind of both Kurama and John.

“Seems we’re both at our breaking point, doesn’t it?” Kurama asked.

John didn’t answer. He’d already been at this point for a while now—teetering between the edge of his own sanity and the pit of bottled up rage. He had kept it at bay for as long as he could, always capable of turning away from it, always able to remain himself.

Not anymore.

“The moment Twilight deactivated the gem, I could have attacked you then and there. Strong as you are, it’s clear you’re weaker in the real world, but I still chose to fight you here. Want to know why?” Kurama tilted his head. He didn’t think there was a reason, nor did he care to think, but now he was wondered. Between John and Twilight, they could have had a guaranteed victory.

“Part of the reason is collateral, but that’s a very small part,” John’s voice dropped a few tone, gaining a savage edge to it as his breathing picked up. His wings opened up fully as he clenched his fists. John lowered his stance, staring directly at Kurama with clear intent in his eyes, “But the real reason is because I’m done. Done failing everyone, done scaring my friend and putting them in even more danger. More importantly, I’m done playing nice. I’m coming at you full force, and I won’t stop until you’re down for good!”

Digging his feet into the ground, John launched forward, his wings propelling him at a great speed. Kurama was ready, though, and now that he could feel the full power of his eight-tailed state, he had nothing to fear. Levitating off the ground, Kurama charged forward as well. John had asked for this, after all, and he was going to give it to him.

Fists drawn back, both John and Kurama collided in the center, ash kicking up from the impact. Bringing his fist back, John was prepared for another, only to be struck to the side by one of Kurama’s tails. The hit caused him to take a few steps to the side, but he quickly recovered. He tried to retaliate, only be struck a second time, followed by two more. One final strike finally sent John flying back.

As John flew back, Kurama charged again, all tails shooting forward like spears. But John wasn’t going to let himself get hit again. With a midair flip, John regained his footing. Kurama’s tails were moving even faster than before, but he was going to adapt. Charging forward, he was met by them, but this time, he was ready. One by one, John began to parry each tail away as they came at him, finally grabbing on to one of them and giving it a strong pull.

Kurama’s body lurched through the air as he was pulled closer to John. He’d seen this before, though, and was prepared this time. Just as he saw John’s fist draw closer, he put up a guard with his tails, though the impact still managed to knock him to the ground. With a flap of his wings, John then took off into the air. He didn’t get far, though, before he felt something wrap around his ankle. Looking down, he saw Kurama had reacted quickly and had no intent of letting him get away.

With a hard tug, John was pulled down from the sky and slammed down to the ground. Before he could get up, he saw something fill his vision from above. Kurama now held several boulders in his tails, and was now dropping them on him. John rolled over to avoid one as it crashed to the ground, shattering on impact. There were still more, and to avoid them, John went off into a full sprint. He tried to make his way towards Kurama, but another boulder landed in front of him, forcing him to change his path.

One after another, John continued to avoid the attacks, up until he saw that only one remained in Kurama’s arsenal. He tried to move again, but he found his legs weren’t responding.

“What?” John looked down. His eyes had been glued to the sky, and hadn’t noticed anything else; Kurama’s tails were now poking out of the ground and wrapped around his lower legs, holding him firmly in place. Looking up, John let out an annoyed grunt as the boulder drew closer.

“You’ll have to try harder than that!” John said, raising his fist, throwing a punch right at the boulder with pinpoint timing. The boulder cracked severely before shattering into hundreds of smaller pieces. John managed to get a fairly sizable hunk and took it in one hand. He didn’t need his legs for this one. Throwing his arm forward, John launched the piece of rock at Kurama, the object soaring through the air. Kurama tried to get out of the way, but he wasn’t fast enough as the rock struck him on the side of his head. Kurama recoiled from the strike and released his grip from John just long enough for the dragon to escape. Landing away from him, John watched as Kurama rubbed his head, a small amount of blood shimmering in the magma’s glow as it leaked from the wound.

“Before, I’d begin to wish you’d feel it for real, but now I know you do,” said John, beginning to take steps forward, “Every hit, every cut, anything that happens to you here happens to you in the real world, too. That’s just one more reason I chose to fight here—if I take you down here, it’ll be the same out there.”

Kurama hadn’t responded, scowling at John for a few seconds. That scowl then turned to a smirk. “You think that means I’m at a disadvantage, don’t you?”

He didn’t wait for a response, nor was he looking for one. He merely charged John as quickly as he could, his tails already on the move to attack. Swiping away at him, Kurama continued to press forward, but John didn’t back down. He continued forward, dodging everything he could, and repelling what he couldn’t. It looked like he could get up close and personal with Kurama. However, in his peripheral vision, he could see something: a tail swinging over to him.

At the very tip of the tail, he could see a glimmer of light; something definitely wasn’t right. Rather than knock it away, John took his first step backwards, and as the tail whipped away, he saw red. Looking down, John saw a gash on his chest. Unable to understand what happened, he jumped back, making space between them. When he landed, John once again looked down at the gash, watching blood pour out of it.

“Surprised?”

John looked up at Kurama, the tip of his tail only inches away from the fox’s face. From it dripped John’s blood. There was something else he could see very clearly now, though; as the blood began to clear from the tip, John could see the metallic shine of the tail tip.

“Tell me something, can you feel it?” Maybe it was the adrenaline rush, maybe it was the confusion, but now that Kurama mentioned it, John could finally admit he did. He could feel the sting of the open wound on his chest, feel the blood trickling out. With grit teeth, he looked up at a now-laughing Kurama.

“I’m not the only one at risk in this world now,” he said, “You’ll soon understand.”

If there was one thing Applejack had grown sick of, it was the continuous silence.

“Is there nothin’ we can do!? Are we really goin’ to just sit here and wait for them to finish their fight?!” It was infuriating. Kurama was now right in front of them, and he was completely helpless. If ever there was a moment when they needed to do something, it was right now.

“I’ve tried,” said Twilight, “This orb surrounding them is made of both their magics. It’s by far one of the strongest protective shields I’ve ever seen. I could try to overload it, but at this size, that would pose a very real risk of hurting those inside, and there’s no telling what forcibly cutting their link can do to them. I want to stop Kurama more than anything, believe me. But I’d never put anyone else’s lives on the line to do it.”

Applejack opened her mouth, but closed it soon afterward. With furrowed brows, she let out a sigh. “You’re right. Sorry, Twi. I just… I hate feeling powerless.”

Twilight placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I know, but it’s out of our hands now. We just have to—“

She halted, both their mouths opening wide in surprise. They saw Kurama twitch. Instantly, both braced themselves, fearing that he was trying to break from the battle and run for it, yet again.

“Look at that,” said Applejack, pointing at his head. There was now a very visible bruise forming on one of his temples, and blood starting to leak again. It took them a moment, wondering what could have caused it, and then remembered what John had said. It was true. Kurama could be hurt while in the dream realm. They were seeing it with their very own eyes.

“He’s overpowered Kurama before, and he can do it again. All in due time,” For a moment, they began to feel their confidence building again. Kurama would finally be through, and this would finally be over. But unfortunately, nothing in this game had come easy for them; they would relearn that once again. Not long after the wound appeared on Kurama did they see another, only this time coming from the other’s body. A gash opened on John’s chest and blood spurted out. Once again, their eyes went wide. This wasn’t right; Kurama’s previous victims hadn’t shown signs of taking real damage.

“He’s grown so strong he can cause real damage to others in dreams now…” Twilight noted.

Sparks began to fly, but not from the lightning that struck from above. These sparks were the result of John and Kurama’s clash. The tips of Kurama’s tails were now coated in a sharp metal that could cut through his scales. But his claws were a different story. With them, he was capable of fending them off. Each time he met one of the tail tips would result in another spark, and there was no end in sight.

Every few seconds, one would manage to slip through the razor-tipped swipes of the other, resulting in a minor cut on the other. But neither wanted to give an inch, even as the ground beneath them began to quake. When the ground split, John saw his chance. Caught off-balance, Kurama’s reaction time dropped, and he would pay for it. Letting out a roar, John stepped forward, throwing the strongest punch he could straight into Kurama’s stomach.

Kurama hacked up blood as he was struck, but through piercing his tails into the ground, he’d prevented himself from being sent back. Gritting his teeth and ignoring the pain, he then returned the favor. One tail shot forward and pierced through John’s shoulder. Another, curled-up tail shot forward, striking the wound on his chest. Both jolts of pain hit him at once, as he was knocked on his back. With a grunt, he put a hand on his wound.

He’s played dirty this whole time, John mused, Why would he stop now?

Looking up, he saw Kurama was rushing him again. He didn’t have time to mind his wounds. Getting back to his feet, John managed to block another attack aimed for his wound, skidding back from the force. As he did, he brought one arm down before swinging it up with as much force as he could. Kurama jumped back, but not before having two small cuts opened up on his own chest.

John lunged again, but Kurama was quicker. Pushing off the ground with his tails, Kurama shot up to the sky. John was quick to follow, even if it meant flying into the darkness of the skies above. Up above, their clash continued, but this time they weren’t just dodging each other, but the lightning as well. Through their struggle, John managed to lock onto Kurama, and vice versa. Both pushed against the other for the advantage.

“A lesser being would have fallen by now,” said Kurama,” In fact, lesser beings have fallen.”

John felt the heat of his anger rise again. He reacted with a hard knee to Kurama’s stomach, or so he intended. Either by luck or by expectation, Kurama managed to block the attack with his tails, following with a strike of his own to John’s stomach. Though his body lurched from the attack, John wasn’t backing down. So, pulling on Kurama, who was still in his claws, he managed a hard head-butt right on Kurama, right where he still had a fresh cut.

The strike opened the wound further, more blood flowing out and blocking the sight from Kurama’s left eye. Seeing this, John followed out with a wide swing, striking Kurama on the side of his head. Knocked off-balance, John finished his attack with a swing of his tail, knocking Kurama back down to solid ground. He looked down at Kurama, taking a few breaths as he prepared to dive down and continue the fight.

Only to feel an intense pain flow through his body.

He’d dropped his guard for only a moment, and in that moment he hadn’t noticed the lightning that had fallen from above. He was fireproof, and he was resilient, but there were some things even he couldn’t tank. Left stunned by the attack, John began to freefall. Unable to stop himself, he hit the ground hard only a few moments after Kurama. His body ached as he tried to turn over, trying to rise, only to cough up blood in response.

Going to take a lot more than that… John thought, finally able to rise again, To finish--!

His train of thought derailed as he felt something slice through his back, more blood spilling out as another fresh wound was created. Stumbling forward, John reacted on instinct, turning around and swiping his claws only inches away from Kurama. As he glared at the fox, he saw he wasn’t in any better shape. He wasn’t fully capable of standing up straight; perhaps he had broken a bone, or perhaps he was simply exhausted. The balance was still even.

“I see I hit a weak spot, when we were in the sky I mean,” Kurama’s face sported a toothy grin, and John wanted nothing more than to remove the rest of said teeth, “Tell me, do you want to know what exactly your friends are going through?” John gritted his teeth, charging at Kurama again, swinging wildly at him as he began to dodge.

“I can see them all when I’m in this realm. I can see the fear in their eyes, and I can feel their life energy slowly fading away,” Something was wrong. Kurama wasn’t just talking up a storm, he was getting faster now. John realized it too late; as he threw one final punch, it collided with Kurama’s open palm, blocked effortlessly.

“All flowing into me…”

Things didn’t look good on the outside either. The battle had seemed even for a while, both combatants taking seemingly the same damage from one another. But that changed, soon Kurama showed no signs of taking damage, and John was taking it all. Over time, more of his blood spilled as more wounds appeared on John’s body.

“He’s losing…” Fluttercruel said what everyone was thinking, but too afraid to say. But that didn’t meant it was easy for her to admit it. Too many lives depended on the result of the battle.

But what could they do? They weren’t able to jump into the fray until the fight was over. The result could either way; there was no middle ground. Walking up to the orb, Twilight placed a hand on it.

“He’ll win,” she said, gaining the others’ attention.

“Are you sure?”

“I am, because he promised.”

John had heard of moments like this before. Moments when a person’s body is beaten to a point where they can’t even feel it. A numbness that makes you question if you’re even still connected to your body, or if you’re even hurt at all. It was weird, but he didn’t pay it that much mind, only that he could stand, and that Kurama was also standing in front of him, a ninth tail having joined all the others now. It had slipped his mind. Kurama was still constantly feeding, and he continued to do so until he was past John’s strength. Things were not good; the gap between them was spread even further, and John couldn’t stop it from doing so.

But I’m not going to stop trying! John moved forward, his speed slower than he could muster before. He was doing everything he could just to get his body to listen to his commands, forcing it to move past its limits. But he couldn’t even get close to Kurama before he was knocked aside, landing on the ground once again.

Get up, move! John shouted at his own body, forcing himself to stand one more time. He didn’t manage much before being struck again. Time and again, one after another, Kurama continued to strike the downed dragon, forcing him to roll along the ground.

“I can see why you’ve enjoyed this so much,” Kurama said, a sadistic smile on his face. At this point, he no longer resembled the fox he was when he’d first appeared. Between all the damage he’d taken, all the setbacks he’d suffered, his mind had finally snapped. One last strike had John roll close to a river of lava, his head only inches from it. Groaning, he tried to rise only for a tail to wrap around his neck and force his head into the lava. The heat had no effect on him. It may as well have been water, but it served the same purpose.

He thrashed about weakly trying to get free, but after a few minutes, John’s struggle seemed to end. Kurama, however, wasn’t done, pulling him out before he could drown in the magma.

“Hey now, can’t have you dying on me so quickly,” he said, as John coughed in an attempt to catch his breath, “I have much to repay you for!” Letting go of John’s neck, Kurama then struck him in the chest, his body flying through a mass of earth and hard onto the ground.

“It’s all finally come full circle, hasn’t it? All your attempts to make me suffer… now who’s the one suffering! Now who’s being tortured?” Kurama brought his foot down hard, stomping on John’s head, pushing it into a hole. Eventually, he lifted his foot and began to walk away.

“Seems I’ve done everything I can against your body. But I’m still not satisfied yet, because I know there’s more. I wonder… just how intact is your soul? How much hope do you still have to save your friends?”

Turning around, Kurama sat on a rock, crossing one leg over the other as he stared at the motionless John. “Tell me, would you like to hear them, one last time?” There was a moment of silence, lightning beginning to strike more frequently as geysers of lava erupted from the ground. Slowly, John lifted his head and stared with slit eyes at Kurama.

That was the will he still had. And Kurama would ensure that it was snuffed out. Only then, would John be allowed to die.

“I can grant you that opportunity…” Kurama snapped his fingers. Orbs of magic began to emit from around him, which soon expanded into large, purple rectangles which floated beside one another. At first, each of them resembled TV screens filled with nothing but static. Then, as the pictures began to come into varying levels of focus, John could hear a sound.

It was more screaming, and the sound was growing in numbers as the images started to clear. Finally, the images formed, and John could see it all, the horrors that other ponies had been enduring. He was being forced to see it with his own eyes. More orbs were produced, more images coming into view. Three remained in static, their images still beginning to form.

The first was Rainbow, tears streaming from her eyes as she hyperventilated. She was in a casket, dirt being poured onto it. With cracks forming on the side, the dirt was starting to fill the casket. Half of Rainbow’s body was already covered, and she was still beating on the inside of the casket.

“Brave and bold as she was, it was easy to find what she feared the most,” Kurama said, “And it was so simple to turn it against her. Taking away any control she may have had… why, she’s never felt so weak in her life!”

The next image came into view, this time, it was of Rarity. Her arms were bound behind her back, as she was motionless on her knees. Several large needles were piercing through her back. On occasion, one was pulled out, only to be placed back in once again. She sobbed quietly, only letting out a new scream each time a needle pierced her flesh.

“She’s beginning to feel it now, every prick that enters her back feels just as real as it looks. It’s only a matter of time before her own body begins to react in kind. I wonder, though. Will she die from my spell, from shock, or from blood loss? Time will tell…”

Kurama hadn’t moved his eyes from the screen, admiring his handiwork. He hadn’t noticed that John was beginning to move again, slowly rising from the ground. As he made his way to his feet, the final screen finally cleared. This one had no screams, no suffering, just a motionless body. With a gasp, John stared at the body. The image wasn’t as stable as the others; the image would occasionally burst with static for a few seconds before coming back into focus.

“Corey…”

“He was my first victim, wasn’t he? He was the one you came here with, right?” Kurama asked, snickering, “I’ve seen what he’s done, how his true colors came into view when he was pushed against the wall. I can only imagine what he’d be capable of…”

Kurama paused for a few moments. “But if you really think about it, I’d be doing this world a great service, by ridding it of an abomination.”

In that moment, a bolt of lightning struck, hitting the ground for the first time. The light caught his attention. Kurama turned to see John standing upright, his eyes cast in shadow from a second lightning strike behind him.

“Still have some fight left in you, I see,” he said, getting up, “I suppose it’s time I fix that.” His tails stretched out, the tips gleaming as he made them metallic one last time. They surrounded John. John stood his ground, still staring at Kurama.

“I’ll end this swiftly, but don’t worry, you won’t be going alone. When this over, I will meet your friends one more time, and I’ll send all of them your way soon enough.” Finally, Kurama’s tails lunged forward, piercing down with enough force to crater the ground, sending up both rocks and dirt into the air.

Kurama smirked. It was over, and he’d won. But there was one thing left, he wanted to—no, needed to see the body, to see it motionless on the ground, to watch it fade away to nothing.

But when the smoke cleared, when the dust finally settled, there was nothing to be seen. He wondered, did the body fade away already?

Well now… I suppose I’ll just have to pay his real body a visit. He was about to leave, return to the real world so that he could see the body and add some more. But the moment he tried, he felt himself slam into something. He couldn’t do it. But that shouldn’t have been the case; if John was dead, then Kurama should have been free to go.

Unless…

He heard a snarl, a breath of hot smoke puffing behind his neck. Eyes wide and sweat beating down his brow, Kurama jumped away as quickly as he could. He turned to see John standing where he had been. He was taking deep breaths, black smoke coming out of his mouth. His eyes no longer had pupils at all; they were now completely white, narrowed in fury.

“Well now, it seems you still have some fight left…”

John didn’t respond, not that he could. He didn’t hear a word that Kurama said, nor did he hear the screams that echoed around him. He also felt nothing; his pain and fatigue had seemingly vanished. All he could see was what was in front of him. The longer he stared, the more he heard something, a deep, raspy voice within commanding him to act. It had been this voice that had roared at him from within this whole time, and now it was telling him one simple thing.

Make Kurama suffer.

It was a command he obliged with gusto.

As a final bolt of lightning struck, John let out a terrifying roar, both spit and his own blood dripping down the sides of his mouth. It was worse than the ones Kurama had heard before. John rushed Kurama with a speed that he couldn’t comprehend, closing the distance in an instant. Kurama tried to defend, but he couldn’t react fast enough. Any attempt to strike at John resulted in his tails being repelled. By the time John was directly in front of him, Kurama froze.

John’s jaw sprang open a bit wider before he grabbed hold of Kurama and bit down hard, causing Kurama to let out a scream. Though caught off-guard, he didn’t stop. Kurama began to beat at John until finally managing to hit him hard enough to be released. John stumbled as Kurama placed a hand over his now injured shoulder, confused. He was winning. He should still be winning, and yet the tides were starting to change once again.

“No!” Kurama said, his tails flaring with purple magic, “I have surpassed you, I’ve surpassed everyone! You cannot defeat me!”

John charged, still roaring at him, still picking up his speed. Kurama charged as well, his tails spiraling with magic to meet John’s charge. He struck John, wrapping his tails around him. If John’s body wouldn’t surrender, then he would destroy his mind, throw him into the worse torture of a nightmare he could ever come up with.

But as he dug deep, as he tried to grab into the darkest depths of John’s mind, he realized something very important.

“There’s no mind to capture…” Kurama noted in dull shock. He’d never encountered a case like this before. John’s mind was blank. In fact, Kurama wasn’t even sure if John was even totally conscious now. All he could feel was a burning hatred, a bloodlust he’d never experienced before, and he knew it was pointed at him. In that moment, he realized something. Kurama had made a few mistakes.

One, he’d made the mistake of taunting his prey like Slayer had, knowing full well what had happened to him.

Two, he was taunting a dragon, of all creatures. Even if John had never started off as a dragon, the end result still couldn’t have been better off than taunting another pony.

Three, he had made contact.

“I have to get away!” Kurama shouted, retracting his tails. All but one escaped John’s range; the last one wasn’t fast enough. John grabbed hold of it, but he didn’t pull. He just held it where it was. Kurama was unable to pull against him, only able to watch as John stared down at his tail like it was some kind of venomous snake. Slowly, John raised his arm, his claws coming out. John roared yet again as he brought his claws down.

Kurama could only watch helplessly as John’s claws sheared through his tail, sending purple gas everywhere. That was magic—his power.

Kurama screamed in pain, the tail slowly vaporizing until there was no trace left. John looked at the remains of the tail as it vanished, soon turning back to Kurama. John took a single step forward, and Kurama routed. It wasn’t a tactic anymore.

Kurama was now in a nightmare of his own creation, and there was nothing but fear in his eyes as he tried desperately to escape the dragon who was now hell-bent on exterminating him.

They weren’t sure if they should be grateful or horrified.

After several minutes of watching more wounds appear on John’s body, it finally stopped. Now, Kurama’s body was incurring severe wounds, and his tails were vanishing now; he’d had nine for a few terrifying minutes. Two of his tails had disappeared since then, bringing him down to seven. But the wounds Kurama was suffering didn’t seem to be coming from battle, nor a struggle to survive.

It seemed like nothing more than a reversal of a savage beating. And they knew very well what had happened.

“He snapped…” Pinkie noted. Though John’s body hadn’t changed facial expression, his body itself seemed to have changed posture as it floated within the magical field…

Kurama wondered now who the real monster was in this inferno of a dream. Most would think it was him, given the crimes he’d committed. But if they could see what he could, maybe they would rethink that?

He tried to fight back, retaliate in any way he could, but nothing worked against the embodiment of draconic rage that was his opponent. Holding on to his shoulder, he panted heavily. He’d tried to move it, but he was sure it was already broken. Slowly, John continued to walk towards him, dragging it out as though to prolong Kurama’s suffering. Maybe that was the point.

In John’s hand was another of Kurama’s tails, sliced off the moment his guard slipped. Now three whole tails weaker, he was no match against this John now. Worst of all, he couldn’t run, simply get away to build his strength this time. Before this battle had begun, he’d mocked John, saying that he would regret this. Yet now, it was Kurama who was regretting it. Backed against a wall for possibly the last time, Kurama had one last option.

Grovel.

Dropping to his knees, Kurama bowed his head. “W-wait, you can stop this now… I’ll release them, all of them! I surrender!”

John stopped, his gaze still locked on to the begging Kurama. “I can’t win like this! I’ve lost…”

As he spoke, however, Kurama had no intention of giving up. Slowly, a single tail burrowed underground, slowly making its way to its mark.

“It was foolish to think that I could win… I know that now! It’s over…” Slowly, the tail came up from the ground, right in John’s blind spot. It lunged forward, aimed at his neck, trying to finish it with one blow. Kurama sneered wickedly as he launched his attack.

However, his sneer turned into yet another look of horror as his tail stopped short of its mark. John’s own tail had stopped the attack, holding Kurama’s in place. Kurama’s eyes went even wider, as his mind returned him to the day this all started. This time, though, he wouldn’t get away.

Grabbing on to the tail with both hands, John pulled it off of the ground and Kurama closer to himself. Stomping down on Kurama’s back, John grabbed the tail with both hands and pulled it as hard as he could. Kurama screamed yet again as his tail was ripped clean off, spewing purple gas that vanished together with the tail and any magic it stored. John was starting to reach for another, but Kurama wasn’t going to allow that. He was already down to five now…

Mustering as much magic as he had left, Kurama unleashed a force strong enough to knock John away. It was just enough for Kurama to get up and step away, get whatever distance he could. It didn’t matter. Hardly able to stand now, Kurama looked over to John, still unfazed. Still moving closer to him. Kurama finally snapped a second time.

“Alright, that’s it!” Kurama swept his arm up, drawing the image of the motionless Corey towards him, holding it with both hands, glaring at John like a rabid dog, “If this is how it ends, I’m taking him with me!”

The image of Corey began to distort and blur as John looked at it, but it wasn’t enough to stop him. This was just the final nail in Kurama’s coffin.

John flared his wings and launched himself towards Kurama with a powerful flap, letting out a roar as he drew his fist back. Kurama knew what was coming, and he knew that he couldn’t stop it now.

All he could do was stand there in utter terror, something he’d forced others to experience, but had never experienced himself in his life. John’s fist hit him square in the chest, and in that moment, something audibly popped…

“Something’s happening! Everyone, prepare yourselves!”

Everyone took a stance, making sure they were a safe distance from the orb. Both bodies had begun to move, what this meant, they only had one idea; the fight was over. Cracks began to form around the orb, the magic strands that connected them starting to shift in the balance, John’s overtaking Kurama’s. It looked like it was finally over, the suffering was finally at an end.

They were prepared to take Kurama in the instant the orb was gone, but they didn’t prepare for John to make the first move. His fist suddenly launched forward, his body letting off a truly savage roar that could be heard all over Ponyville as he struck Kurama square in the chest. There was a pause as the sound of the strike resonated through the room; a single, solitary ‘pop!’ In that moment, Kurama spit up blood and his body flew to the adjacent wall, cracking it severely.

Finally, both combatants fell; John to his knees, Kurama flat on his face. Everyone stared in silence as the scene that had unfolded sunk in. The only sound that could be heard was John’s deep breaths, his pupils coming back into view; unslit, perfectly visible. When John’s breathing finally slowed, he began to look around in confusion, realizing this wasn’t the same hellscape he was in a few minutes ago.

“T-the fight… W-what happened?” He couldn’t remember a thing. He was fighting Kurama, last he remembered, and then all of a sudden, he was back in reality. Everything in between was a blur.

He looked to everyone, and they looked. Their expressions were unreadable. He didn’t know what was going on. Did he win? Did he finally manage to stop Kurama? He needed an answer.

John got it a few minutes, later, but at that moment, he wished that he hadn’t. He saw Kurama’s body lying motionless on the ground, his eyes growing wide. He watched as Fluttercruel walked up to Kurama, placing two fingers to his neck. After several seconds, she closed her eyes and shook her head.

Kurama had died.

It all washed over John then and there, what he had done. But why should he feel it? After all that Kurama had done, why would he feel it now? Why did he feel regret for what had happened? The answer, though, was more obvious than he thought.

How else was someone to react when they found out they’d killed someone?

Corey laid out, flat on his face, unable to rise. He could feel himself lying on a cold, smooth surface, and dreaded getting back up. He dreaded even opening his eyes to see where he was. Deep down, he knew where it was. And he understood why it was happening now. Why this hell always seemed to bring him back to it.

He stood up slowly, finding he felt so weak. Was it his heart, his body, or his spirit that was weak? It was probably all three, he decided, as he finally opened his eyes. Sure enough, he was back here once again. The fog was thicker than it ever had been, the temperature was even colder now, and the crystals around him were heavily frosted, so much so they seemed opaque by comparison. It wasn’t hard to understand.

For the briefest instant, once again, a feeling of warmth passed over him. However, it passed just as quickly as it started, and Corey shook his head.

“There’s no way out for me…” Corey said, hearing the bloodcurdling screams now, starting to walk down a random hall, “This...is my punishment.”

Author's Note

There you have it. That's one more down. Act 3 is nearly done as well, but don't think that's the end. There's still a lot of story left.

Act 3 Chapter 40

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 40: At the Depths of Despair

Every time Corey found himself in these frosted halls, the nightmare seemed to get worse. This iteration had reached a new level. It wasn’t even the icy air that had his ears pinned back against his head anymore. It was the intense, numerous shouts of how he was a failure as a person and as a pony. He could hardly pick any one statement out of the rancor that was echoing unmercifully around him, but he couldn’t mistake the various voices that shouted at him, reminded him of the monster he couldn’t escape.

“There are some people who really can’t change--”

“Once a hateful person, always a hateful person--”

“He cannot live in society, the way he acts…”

All the while, as these and more screamed at him unmercifully, he could hear something slowly starting to fade into his earshot, and he wished he didn’t have to hear that over top of it. Though he’d never heard him laugh--or so he thought, anyway--he could make out a chilling, maddening laugh echoing above it all: Slayer’s mocking laughter. Between this and the shouts of everyone he ever knew and loved in his life berating him endlessly for his recklessness, his self-righteousness, it was all Corey could do to plod forward, his feet feeling like twin slabs of lead as he moved them. He could no longer muster the energy to deny that his true colors had shown for those moments.

All he could do was keep shuffling forward, slowly, as the shouts continued. However, after what felt like hours, the scornful screaming slowly began to be silenced, one voice at a time. Corey’s ears twitched, and he looked around, confused. The halls seemed to be getting darker and darker as the voices disappeared. Finally, all was silent. Even Slayer’s laughter had stopped now. Corey continued forward, wondering what all this was about. Was it finally over?

As he pondered this possibility, the halls seemed to light up again. Though it was certainly a color he’d remembered seeing up north, the walls still appeared frosty, and they glowed eerily, offering only a dim glow to light his way. As he continued forward, he could see a very familiar room, where more than a few of the cycles in this nightmare had ended. As soon as Corey stepped into the room, he could hear a low chuckle, echoing through the room. Corey paused for a moment, but ultimately pressed forward, walking straight towards the crystal in the center of the chamber. It wasn’t long before he could see Slayer’s image walking back at him, a satisfied smirk on his face. The halls still remained silent. Even Slayer seemed intent on preserving the silence, at least, until Corey was face-to-face.

“So, you made it back here…” said Slayer, resting one hand on the crystal’s insides.

“What happened to all the screams…” Corey said, “Why’d it all stop?”

Slayer gave another low chuckle, and moved slightly to his right. Now that he did, Corey could see it. There was a pile behind him, a pile of unmoving objects of roughly the same shapes. They were shrouded in darkness, and hard to make out, but Corey had a pretty good idea of what was right behind him.

“Come now, you should know me quite well,” Slayer said, “But if you really don’t know, why don’t I go ahead and write it down…? Oh wait, I need my book back for that.”

Corey blinked, feeling a cold chill blast through the already frigid air, like a gust of wind.

“What did you do?” asked Corey, barely able to force the words out, terrified of hearing the answer. The answer eventually came, but it was worse than he expected. Far worse.

“I took a page from your works of torture,” said Slayer, closing his eyes, “You know the one very well, I’m sure! And I have to say… it was riveting being on the other side this time.”

Corey gasped, and at that moment, Slayer’s eyes snapped open. A red glow escaped them, and as soon as the light entered Corey’s eyes, his head began to hurt. He could hear nothing but white noise for several moments, and even his vision seemed to be filling with static. Closing his eyes did nothing to correct this. Corey knew this wasn’t normal, but at that point, he’d been traveling through this nightmare for so long that anything seemed possible.

Eventually, the white noise abated. He tried to move his body to check his bearings, but he found he couldn’t. It seemed to be locked into place. Corey opened his eyes, wondering just what situation he’d wound up in. His eyes opened no more than halfway before they snapped open, realizing what was going on.

He was back in the Crystal Empire again, sure, but everything was damaged… just as it had been at that time. He focused his gaze ahead, and saw Slayer. It didn’t take him long to realize his mind had been brought back to the fight where he’d truly thought he’d lost everything that made him who he was. However, as the memory began to play out, something went wrong.

As the fight began, Slayer’s form distorted, becoming enveloped in static for a short burst. However, when the static let up, Corey could see he wasn’t fighting Slayer at all. It was John. Corey’s mind froze, unable to process what was happening at first. The fight continued to play out, just as it had before, but he had no input in this. Eventually, Corey began to feel something for the first time in a long while.

“S-stop…!” Corey urged himself. He tried to stop himself from blindly attacking his friend, “He’s not who you think he is!”

His body didn’t listen. As the brutal beatdown ended, and John was tossed into the wall, another burst of static flowed through his vision. The memory restarted. Yet again, Slayer wasn’t the one he was fighting.

“No!” Corey shouted, trying desperately to retain control of his body, as tears started to stream down his face.

It was hopeless. The corrupted memory played out over and over, but Slayer wasn’t in the crosshairs. One after another, everyone he ever knew, anyone he’d ever had any form of attachment to, wound up being in his place. Much like the scolding yells from before, his victims weren’t just limited to those he met in Equestria, but also back where he came from.

On the very last victim, his vision filled with static, as white noise filled his ears once again. Corey’s eyes had long since closed again, unable to stop the tears streaming down his face. No sooner did the noise clear did he hear that voice again.

“So?” Slayer’s voice asked, “How did you like it? Was it just like when you did the same to me?”

Corey opened his eyes once again. He was in the room with the large crystal again, on his knees, his face still wet from tears. Slayer was staring back at him, and behind him, he could see the victims he’d just seen. None of them deserved that. The only one who did was now looking at him, proud of himself for inflicting all that pain…

No. He already knew it wasn’t just Slayer that did it.

“No…” Corey said, “No, it wasn’t…”

“Then why do it at all?” Slayer asked, “Why is acting in cold blood only alright if it’s your side that gets to do it?”

Corey closed his eyes. There wasn’t any way around it now. He knew full well what this all was.

“I’m guilty of a lot of things, really,” Corey said, “I’m full of nothing but wrath. I’m unable to enjoy much of anything. I’ve pushed away anyone who’s ever cared for me through my actions. And it’s finally all caught up to me. I’m finally getting what I deserve.”

“Oh?” Slayer asked, “Is that so?”

“But I’m going to face it head-on,” Corey stood up, opening his eyes to look into the crystal one last time, “Say what you want, but I won’t make the same choice you did. I’m going to accept what’s come to me now, and I can do it knowing one thing.”

“If it all ends right here, right now, I’ll know for sure that I’ll never become you.”

Slayer didn’t look like he had a response to that. For a few moments, the world around Corey had gone totally quiet. Then, there was a sound, as though glass were cracking. Corey looked around, and as soon as his gaze returned to the crystal, everything around Corey shattered, leaving him in a black void once again.

There was no sense of anything. Corey still felt cold, but by now, he was used to it. Corey looked around, unable to see anything. For several suspended moments, Corey simply stood in the center of the darkness, unable to determine what he needed to do. Then, Corey looked up, squinting. A fair distance away, a bright light had materialized, piercing through the darkness. At first, Corey wasn’t sure what it was. However, as he looked at it, he realized what it was.

“It’s time, isn’t it…” he sighed, “I guess I can at least do something right.”

With that, Corey slowly began to walk towards the light, before eventually breaking out into a run. The light got closer and closer, but Corey still felt cold, even with the jacket and fur that covered him.

Even over here, I couldn’t do anything. I was a failure as a human and as a unicorn. I couldn’t be a hero either; I’m too bitter for that. At least, I can do...the right thing… Corey thought, feeling a small sense of peace finally come over him. He couldn’t tell how much further he had to go, but he knew he was getting closer. However, suddenly, a recent memory returned to him. It was one that struck close to him, despite all that had happened since then.

“No, that isn’t you. I’m sure of it…”

After so long of wandering through the nightmare, hearing her speaking normally was a refreshing sound. Corey slowly came to a halt in place, feeling the memory pass over him.

“T-Twilight?” Corey asked, looking around, finally feeling a sense of warmth slowly pass over him now.

“You don’t have to take on the burden by yourself. That’s why you have the others… and that’s why you have me. And after what I’ve learned, I definitely can’t let you just sit all alone and punish yourself over it.”

Corey silently listened. The light still remained, beckoning him. Was going to it not the right choice, either? As the familiar sound of her humming resumed, something crashed down over his shoulders. He could just make out a pair of hands tightly clasping them. He couldn’t tell what this was, but the hands looked sort of...human, in a way.

“No. This isn’t the answer,” A calm, assertive voice, masculine in tone, said to him, as though speaking directly into his ears.

A blue light filled Corey’s vision, and Corey felt himself being yanked backwards. The bright light became more distant, and a moment later the blue light filled his vision completely.

Corey opened his eyes yet again, fully expecting himself to be back in some frostbitten halls. Perhaps he could finally wake up in his bed and realize none of what had happened to him was real. Yet, when his vision focused and cleared, he found himself in a room that looked…ancient, for lack of a better term. The building he was in appeared to be made of what he guessed was bamboo. Looking around the floor, he could see what looked like mats of dried leaves, laid out in rows. In fact, looking down at his own feet, Corey could see that he himself was standing on one.

“Where… where is…?” Corey questioned, not even caring if anyone heard him talking to himself.

“How long has it been since I’ve seen these walls?”

At the sound of the same voice from a few moments before, Corey turned. At the head of the room, sitting on top of another mat all by itself, was a pegasus pony who looked quite aged. Maybe it was the white fur color or maybe it was the streaks of silver through his otherwise golden-yellow mane. His tan-colored hands rested on his knees. He gazed around the room, looking around as though relieved to see it.

“Has it been days? Weeks? Years? Centuries, perhaps?” he asked, “It all seems like a continuous blur now…”

“You…?” Corey asked, sighing as everything finally caught up with him, “Who are you?”

“Who am I?” asked the old pony, refocusing his attention onto Corey with a neutral expression, “I am the one who wrote the book you found. I am Esper Wisdom…”

Corey blinked in surprise, as several questions came to mind. If he was the original author, how was he still alive? What happened to the users of runic magic so long ago? All this and more, sadly, wasn’t on Esper’s mind. Or at least, it didn’t seem to be.

“I know, no doubt, you, of all ponies, have questions. Why did things go this way? How were you sent here? How can you be sure any of this is real?” Esper asked, “Unfortunately, given the current circumstances, I don’t have nearly enough time to go into all of that.”

Corey let out a suppressed scoff. “Well, I’d already given up finding an answer to why I even came here…”

“And you’ve already given up on helping those you care about?” Esper asked.

Corey glared at him, feeling a heat rise from inside, but it soon died out. It was true, deep down. He had given up, abandoned that urge from so long ago to not simply exist on the sidelines while everyone else went up against the breakouts.

“I can’t help people—ponies—like them,” Corey said, “At the core of it all, I don’t have a good heart like the rest of them…”

“You threw your own safety to the side to help someone who you cared for,” Esper countered, “You just about threw away your own sanity as well. Didn’t you just find out that runic magic, by nature, is more volatile than normal magic? That, in part, was responsible for your corruption. And even after giving in to it, you managed to stop yourself. Does any of that sound like someone who doesn’t have a good heart? Misguided? Perhaps, but--”

Corey sighed. “Yes, but that’s not the problem.”

“Then what is?” Esper asked, “What could keep you from doing all the good things you’ve done all over again once you awake in the real world?”

“It’s who I am,” Corey said, “I’ve never been able to let things go. I thought I could live normally here… well, as normally as I could, and start a new life here, with a clean slate. I thought my days of flying off the handle were done. But then, just like that, my rage came roaring back, with even worse consequences than normal. And if I reenter the fray, what’s to stop me from getting even worse? If there’s one thing that the nightmares showed me, it was this: I’m never going to--”

“This is about the darkness within you, isn’t it?” Esper asked, interrupting Corey’s monologue. Corey halted completely, unsure of what Esper was about to say.

“You fear the darkness within, but know that the fear of it is in all of us. No one is exempt from it,” Esper said, “But you mustn’t allow that fear to control you, control who you become. No matter how deep your fear of it runs, you have the power within you to become something great, something not seen for many years.”

Corey closed his eyes, trying to picture it. He couldn’t see anything. All he could think about was the mistake he made, which was so, so fresh in his head after seeing it played over and over in front of him. The short-sighted decisions he’d made just made everyone else around him hurt. It wasn’t any different from what he’d done so many times back home, at least, at the core.

“But how…” Corey said, his voice trembling, “How do you know that I can be something like that when all I cause is pain!?”

“Because if it wasn’t the case, you would have never seen our message.”

Corey paused, trying to understand the implications of that statement. The first one leapt out at him, and he let out a gasp.

“You… ‘our message’?” Corey asked.

“It required pretty much all the magic we can spare, where we are now,” Esper said. As he explained, Corey could make out a bit of strain in his posture, but he hadn’t moved from his spot the whole time, “We needed help, and I didn’t want to repeat my mistake again. I can’t say much more…”

“If you had been that kind of creature at heart,” Esper said, “You wouldn’t have been able to see the message for sure. And I can tell you never enjoy the pain you cause. Each time you do, deep down you regret it. And when it piles up, you start to kick yourself over it. In the end, the only one you’re hurting is yourself. But there’s a way to break it. I’m sure you already know how…”

“Everyone…” Corey mumbled, memories of everything that had happened coming back to him now. No matter how many times he strayed and fell off the path, they were there to right him again. Even after his last mistake they were still there for him, trying to help him put the pieces back together.

“I’m sure, now that I’ve seen you face-to-face,” Esper continued, “That you would never willingly associate with those that do enjoy causing pain. You cannot lie to your magic, after all.”

There was a slight silence. To Corey, everything seemed to be clear now. The fog that the nightmares and guilt had caused for him was lifted.

“I…I have to get back…” Corey said, turning his head behind him, “I still have important things to say and do.”

“That’s the spirit,” Esper said.

“And…” Corey said, “Thanks for pulling me out of that…”

“Rest assured, it was the least I could—“

A harsh, static sound permeated the room, and red cracks of energy began to fill it. Immediately, Esper stood up, his hands glowing with blue runes.

“It seems our time is cut short,” Esper said, raising his voice so he could be heard clearly over the noise, “You must find the will within you to push forward!”

Ironically, as he said this, Esper blasted Corey backwards, sending him out of the collapsing room into a black void. Surprisingly, even though the force behind it was enough to knock Corey off his feet, Corey didn’t really feel an impact.

“Seek out the light!” Esper shouted now, “Let it guide you to who you really are inside!”

The light…? Corey thought, feeling like…something, was returning to him. He couldn’t place what it meant or what the feeling even was, but it felt nice after so long of wandering through cold, barren halls…

Author's Note

What does all of this mean? It will be revealed soon enough, I think. Thanks for reading so far; Act 3 is on its homestretch. After that, there will be two more to go, but don't worry: the next two acts won't be too long.

Act 3 Chapter 41

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 41: Siege

All of the ponies afflicted by Kurama’s curse had spent hours experiencing horrors specifically tailored to them. Each second felt like hours in a void of eternal anguish, the only relief they desperately wished for never coming. But that was not the only similarity that they all shared. As each experienced their endless nightmare, there was one thing they all saw.

From the corner of their view, something stood and watched, almost as though it was commanding what was happening from the sidelines. Never once could they see what it was, or what it looked like. It was always inches from sight and avoided direct view. It just stood there, just out of sight, mocking them with a deathly silence.

Over time, it grew bigger, stronger, and their nightmares would grow worse. But as their nightmares seemed to reach their peak, just as they believed the end was near, there was something else they saw. Someone, or something, appeared, was charging, but not at them; instead, it rushed the figure that stood. Almost simultaneously, they all saw as it drew closer to it, and they all watched as it shattered the figure, and the nightmare along with it.

Nurse Redheart stood in the intensive care unit, dumbstruck. Until now, each time she’d entered the room she was met with nothing but dread. The screams of agony that came from all her patients had worn down her will. She wasn’t alone; all the other nurses and doctors in the hospital felt the same. But right now, that dread seemed to be vanishing. Without warning, all the screaming faded, and patients were starting to wake up.

“We’ve taken stock of the patients. Currently, those recently admitted are now awake. Those who had been here longer are still asleep. However, checking their vitals showed us that their health is improving and they’re sleeping peacefully,” Nurse Redheart looked down at the charts for several seconds, a smile spreading across her face.

“Thank Celestia,” she said, with a sigh.

“What we don’t understand is how it happened, it all just stopped without any previous signs,” Redheart chuckled, taking a moment to enjoy her first sense of laughter since the epidemic hit. Handing back the charts, she began to walk down the hall.

“Just like with every disaster that happens in this town… in the end, they always come through.”

Things in the hospital were finally picking up; hope had returned. All around, ponies were rejoicing to what looked like another save by Twilight and her friends. Unfortunately, this joy was not found everywhere.

Aside from the frantic breathing from one of their own, the entire room had fallen deathly silent. Still on the ground, motionless, was Kurama. Fluttercruel’s fingers pressed against different spots on his neck, trying to feel for any sign of a pulse. Applejack looked down to the body and walked up to it.

“You sure he’s done for?” Applejack’s question wasn’t unjustified. Kurama had shown time and again how easily he could slip away if things weren’t going his way. She wouldn’t put it past him to fake his own death so that they’d drop their collective guard.

“I’m sure,” Fluttercruel stood up and joined Applejack as they stared down at the body. A sympathetic eye couldn’t be found. He’d caused so much pain and suffering to so many in such a short amount of time. And if he hadn’t been stopped, all of his victims would have died—a death toll none of them could have accepted. And yet, in the back of their minds, they couldn’t say that they’d have done this to him if given the chance. No matter how much they hated him, it was something that just wasn’t in their nature. That thought brought their thoughts to who had done Kurama in; regardless of his mental state, it was obvious he hadn’t planned on it.

“I wasn’t, I mean, I didn’t want to—“ John continued to ramble on, no end in sight, unable to even complete a full sentence. Twilight had seen this before; in fact, all of them in the room had seen this before. And if John didn’t snap out of it, he’d wind up in the same state Corey was at the start of all this. However, this time, someone had the perfect idea on how to snap him out of it.

Slap!

Everyone was shocked by what had happened; of all of them, Pinkie was the one to slap John across the face. “P-Pinkie, what are you--?”

“W-where am I?” Twilight blinked once. John’s rambling had stopped, and he seemed to be coming to his senses. She was going to speak to him, but Pinkie beat her to the punch. She put both hands to the sides of his face and forced him to look into her eyes.

“You’re in Twilight’s library. You’re safe now. Everyone is safe now,” she said simply.

John continued to look at Pinkie, his breathing finally starting to level out. However, he couldn’t simply move past it. What he’d done was going to leave a scar for sure.

The others began to gather around John. If there was even the slightest of chances of keeping him from falling to the guilt, they were going to take it. But as they were going to begin, something caught their attention. All of the mares’ ears twitched as they registered a sound coming from outside.

“What the--?” Applejack turned as she asked this, not sure what it was first. However, in time, the whole group figured out what it was. It was yelling; dozens of ponies yelling, but it wasn’t like the nightmare-tortured ponies’ screams. These sounded like battle cries, and they were coming from the guards stationed around the library.

Twilight stood up and walked to the door, fearing what it was about. But as she drew close to it, she paused. Her ears twitched, and a moment later, her eyes widened. Crackling began to echo around the room, and the library began to rattle. Finally, the wall in front of Twilight came crumbling down. The yells of fighting guards grew louder now that the wall no longer stood. Everyone stared as they watched the scene before them. Dozens of the manikins had somehow made it into Ponyville, and the guards were now fighting them off.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” yelled Twilight. It was over. Kurama was finished; they’d finally won… and yet the battle wasn’t over!?

“’Fraid not, Princess,” from the wreckage, two figures walked up to the library. One appeared to be a griffin clad in armor. Inscriptions appeared to be etched into its metal. The other, the one who had spoke appeared to be some kind of tiger. Two large fangs extended from its mouth. Twilight took a few steps back as the others readied themselves, or at least tried to.

We do not need this right now! Everyone was at their limit, days of lack of sleep and frustration had left them exhausted. They were nowhere near their best. And while they’d always had a hard time dealing with just one prisoner in all other instances, now they had two standing in front of them.

“We suggest you route from this battle now,” said the tiger, “You are not what we came here for.”

The griffin chuckled, a wicked grin splitting his beak. “Speak for yourself. I’ve waited a long time to taste blood again…”

He produced a blade from his armor, brandishing it. His grin seemed to amplify. Now, the two prisoners began to walk inside, unaided by the mysterious creatures; the tiger silent in response to the griffin’s statement.

However, someone else managed to react quickly. Though his mind, body and spirit were all numb, he still had instinct to act upon; it was the only thing that got him through the latter parts of his clash with Kurama.

Fight.

Past everyone else, John dashed for the tiger, tackling him out of the library and joining the chaos outside. The griffin was not interested in this, locking eyes with those that remained.

“So who’s going to face me first? Tell me now…” he asked, admiring his reflection in the sword for a moment.

This was the last straw. After days of being unable to do much else to help out, Twilight finally stepped forward, a scowl on her face. She put herself between this griffin and her friends.

“That will be me,” Twilight’s horn ignited in a magenta glow as she prepared for battle.

Outside of Twilight’s library, the night had been silent as it could be. The inside, though, was a different story. The bulk of the royal guards were now stationed outside, as requested by Twilight herself. They knew Kurama was inside, and they had been ready to take him in no matter how the battle inside had ended. The silence was maddening; each second that passed had the chance of being the fateful moment they’d have to charge in.

They didn’t care about the wait, though; they were ready to take action at a moment’s notice. That moment did in fact come, but not in the form they expected. From behind trees, homes, and generally anything that could be used to hide their presence, they appeared: the clay-like creatures that had accompanied prisoners before, something that most guards had been unable to handle the first time they saw them.

However, this time was different. Past humiliations and failures had driven the guards to new heights. The current, ongoing threat to the lives of countless innocents had made them prepared for anything. As a result, the moment the clay creatures made their surprise attack, the guards were already a step ahead of them.

Though the guards were outnumbered three-to-one, the fight was still even, and slowly began to shift towards the guards’ favor. “Keep laser fire to a minimum! We can’t risk too much collateral!”

Spells were out of the question, but the guards were more than willing to get their hands dirty. With weapons on hand, the guards didn’t hold back. The fight began, with fragments of the creatures flying in all directions.

Twilight stood with her horn engulfed in an aura. The griffin before her did not bother suppressing his want for combat. She didn’t know anything about him or what he was capable of, but he had shown up pretty late in the “game”. Chances were, he wasn’t to be taken lightly. Her first priority was the surrounding area. She still had friends who were recovering upstairs, and three others not far from her, one of whom had been injured.

I have to get him out of here…

“Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy,” All three braced themselves as their names were spoken, “Protect the others. Don’t let anything get past you!”

Before they could question her intent, Twilight had already charged for her opponent. A wicked grin spread across the griffin’s beak as he readied his blade, swinging it as Twilight drew closer. Before anyone else could react, there was a flash of light, and as it faded, both Twilight and the armored griffin were gone.

“Gettin’ real tired of everyone tryin’ to go it alone!” Applejack huffed. She was already going to make her way outside, to see if she could find Twilight, but several somethings soon got in her way. As hard as the guards outside were fighting, they weren’t able to prevent every creature from passing them. Letting out an annoyed grunt, Applejack pulled out a lasso. Pinkie and Fluttercruel joined her, ready to stand against the threat.

“But, your arm…” Pinkie said, out of concern. As much as Applejack appreciated the concern, this wasn’t the time to worry about it. One friend had vanished in a flash of light while another friend, fresh off a bloody confrontation, was forced back into the fray.

“I’ve got another one.”

As the creatures grew closer, the three mares prepared for battle…

Away from the library, but still within the range of the battle, another flash of light lit up the area. Coming out of it was the armored griffin, his knife slicing through open air as his body moved once again. It took him a few seconds to remember where he was, just long enough for him to notice something coming down from above. Quickly, he jumped back, a bolt of magic striking the ground where he once stood.

Landing on his feet, he looked up to see Twilight hovering above, steam coming off her horn from her latest attack. “Attacking from my blind spot?” he said, with an amused grin, “And here I thought you princesses were about honesty.” Opening his wings, the griffin took to the sky, meeting Twilight at the same height level.

“After everything you and your friends have done, I’m a little less than willing to play by the rules,” Twilight scowled. A prisoner from Tartarus was the last person she’d want giving her a lecture on honesty. Her statement, however, amused the griffin as he pulled out a second knife, holding both in hold as he got into a stance.

“That only makes things far more interesting.”

Finally, he charged, both blades gleaming, Twilight’s face reflecting off the stainless steel. Twilight responded by firing off several more bolts of magic, but rather than see them be dodged, Twilight was met with a much less expected response from her foe. Rather than avoid them, the armored griffin used his blades to intercept them, deflecting them as he sliced at each bolt.

As he grew closer, Twilight stopped her barrage, backing away from the knives that sliced at her. With another flash of light, she vanished from the griffin’s range and appeared several feet behind him, letting out a short huff as she paused.

He’s fast, faster than me! She thought to herself, prepared to keep going, I have to keep my distance, try to find a weakness in his—

If not for the fact she was watching him intently, she’d have missed the griffin’s next move. He’d just tossed something directly at her. At the last moment, Twilight tilted her head to the side, just in time to narrowly avoid the knife thrown at her. Though fortunate as she was to react in time, she didn’t go unscratched; the blade left a cut in its wake. Feeling the sting of the cut, Twilight flapped her wings and moved away from where she was floating, in time to see the griffin pull his arm and the near-invisible wire connected to his knife.

“Surprise, surprise, not many are able to see that coming,” He said, taking hold of his blade once more, “Usually I get to have a nice little treat when I get my blade back.”

He moved the blade close to his mouth, seeming to admire the sight of Twilight’s blood that was now on its surface.

“But I suppose this’ll do for now,” He then opened his beak, extending his tongue and licking it clean. After all that she’d seen since this game started, Twilight didn’t know why she found it unsettling; it wasn’t even that surprising a development.

“Well then, Princess,” he said, extending his blade at her once more, “Shall we continue our dance?”

John couldn’t lie to himself. His mind was still spinning and his body burned in pain. The charge he’d used to get this tiger away from the others might have been the most impressive feat he could manage in his current state. And to add salt to all the wounds he had, he couldn’t help but feel that the prisoner had simply allowed him to do it.

“Impressive,” the tiger commented, inspecting John’s body. Every wound, whether or not it was visible, was clear as day to him, “I’m seeing several gashes on your body. No doubt you probably have a few broken bones on top of that. And yet, you manage to stand before me.”

“You and your group are… the last I’d want to impress…” He couldn’t hide his current status. John couldn’t even say a full sentence without stopping to take a breath. But what other option did he have? Admit defeat and run?

I don’t think so…

“Bravado will only get you so far,” the tiger began to walk towards John, the dragon bracing himself for another fight. But as he prepared for his opponent to make his first move, John noticed that there was none to be seen. In seconds, the tiger had simply walked past him without even stopping to attack John at all.

“Hey—where are… you going?!” John asked, turning around. His would-be opponent, however, did not do the same. Instead, he kept right on walking.

“I said this before. You are not what I’m after. And in your current state, you are not worthy of killing,” The tiger didn’t even break his stride as he answered John’s question. He turned a deaf ear to John’s further statements, only stopping when he heard a ringing in his ear. Someone did have something to say to him, and he had no means of ignoring her.

“Kronos! What are you doing?!” It was Norma, her voice running through his ears like nails on a chalkboard, “Kill him now, while he’s weak!”

Kronos let out a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “You sent me here for one reason and one reason alone. I will make my return as soon as we’ve procured the—“

Kronos was cut off when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and let out a sigh.

“You’re not going--!” John couldn’t even finish, and not because he had to stop to breathe mid-sentence. Before he could say more than those three words, Kronos made his move. In one swift motion he knocked John’s hand off his shoulder and drove his elbow straight into John’s gut.

At just one hit, John felt all of his strength vanish as the wind was forced out of his lungs. Wrapping his arms around his stomach, John dropped to his knees, his head slamming on the ground as he fought to breathe again.

“Did that get through to you?” Kronos asked, but John could do no more than wheeze in response. Taking a step closer, Kronos kneeled down towards the stunned dragon, “This is not what I wanted. I wanted simply—“

This time, Kronos was caught off-guard as John’s body suddenly came alive. Pushing himself off the ground, John brought his fist up with all his strength, seemingly connecting with his opponent’s chin. For a moment, John smirked, thinking that he might have dealt some damage, but that vanished as he saw the truth. Kronos only had a split second, if that, to react. And yet, John’s move was blocked anyway. Right under Kronos’s chin was his palm, having blocked his attack with minimal effort.

“As promising as I’d hoped,” Still holding on to John’s fist, Kronos lifted him off the ground, “That steel resolve to see things through to the end… that burning fire in your soul… that is what I’ve been looking for!” For a moment, Kronos looked… happy? But that soon faded into a frown of disappointment, “But not like this, not like you are now…”

Kronos released his grip of John’s fist, letting him fall, but not before landing three precise strikes on him before John hit the ground.

John laid there, motionless. Even in the state he was in, the punches were far stronger than he’d ever experienced. It wasn’t just Kronos’s strength that was impressive; it was also his speed. John couldn’t help but think he’d be at a disadvantage even if he was at full strength again. He grunted as he tried to move his body again, but found that he couldn’t. His body had finally been pushed too far, and had failed him.

Kronos watched John go unmoving for several seconds before finally rising to his feet. Turning his back to John, he continued back to the library, only to hear the same ringing again.

“Go back! Finish him now!” Norma screamed. Kronos’s ears violently shook, and he fought the urge to pick at them, “Do it now! Or else, it will be your blood that will be spilled!”

Kronos showed no concern for this, keeping on his path. “Try it.”

Several seconds passed and nothing happened. Kronos showed no signs of amusement the whole time.

“I will fight your battles, but I have say on whose life I take. And I do it under my terms.”

With that, the ringing stopped and Kronos continued onward towards the library.

She couldn’t have ever imagined this game would have played out like this. Yet here it was, right now, right in front of her through the eyes of her creatures. Norma stared up towards the screens, watching as the battles unfolded. She could see how easily the larger dragon had been thrashed by Kronos. Though she was a little livid that John had been spared, Norma supposed she’d forgive it for now.

The ever-present, low humming noise reminded her that she wasn’t alone in this chamber. Slayer, still encased in the healing orb, was brought to the chamber by Norma herself so that he could see it all too. He hadn’t had much to say about it since it all started. In fact, he hadn’t said too much since his healing began, no doubt brooding about the unicorn who had beaten him to a pulp.

Yet, as Norma placidly cast a glance in his direction, she could see that his injuries had improved. Both of his eyes appeared to be working now, each darting about the screens, as though searching for something. Turning her attention back to the screens, Norma felt a smirk slowly work its way across her features.

“Look here, Slayer. Kurama served his purpose splendidly,” Norma observed, spreading her arms to take in the scenes of chaos before her, “The show he gave us, and the strife he caused all of Celestia’s pawns gave me the perfect situation to take it back, to send this game towards its final phase.”

Norma turned, now casting the sneer in Slayer’s direction. “He even managed to outdo the damage you caused, all on harder targets. How does that make you feel?”

Slayer didn’t respond right away, no doubt intently searching for his quarry among the screens. With an internal scoff, Norma turned her attention forward again. This would mark the beginning of the end of days. After all, what could possibly be more entertaining than this?

A guttural growl filled the chamber, and Norma turned back to Slayer, whose eyes were now bloodshot, transfixed on something. Norma turned to see the cause of distress. One of her creatures had managed to infiltrate the sickbay without anyone noticing, and was slowly lumbering over to where Corey laid motionless. Off to the side was Rarity, still out cold after her encounter with Kurama. However, all other creatures in sight soon faded away; the view on the screen was filled with static, but it was easy enough to tell what was going on.

“What’s wrong, Slayer?” Norma asked, sneering, “You grow some kind of conscience too?”

“I do not care… what happens to the other two,” Slayer hissed, moving about in the orb so that he could see the screen clearly, “But he’s my kill…”

“He might be dead already,” said Norma, “But why don’t I make sure to finish the job?”

Slayer let out a snarl, but didn’t move from within the orb, probably because he was still injured. All he could do was sit by and watch as the angle of the manikin changed, no doubt readying the final blow…

Author's Note

Here we go. Act 3's almost done. Just have to get through this bit. This arc actually went through quite a bit of revisions during the writing process, and this was one of the additions we made: the remaining prisoners minus the leader attacking immediately following Kurama's defeat. So yeah...there we go. Hope you enjoyed the read up to this point.

Act 3 Chapter 42

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 42: Return from the Brink

They had thought they had taken care of it when it fell in response to one of Applejack’s kicks. A good amount of dust had come up from its head, and it did look like pieces of it came off. It wasn’t enough, unfortunately, to take it down for good. Instead of resuming, however, it slipped past them, shambling into the library, and up the stairs.

Norma’s creature soon reached its target, and it was a target that would hurt more than all the others: Twilight’s room, where three of Celestia’s pieces were incapacitated due to their respective encounters with Kurama. Rather than bust it down, the creature simply turned the knob slowly and opened it, finding that it wasn’t locked.

There they were, still out cold. It’d probably take them a few hours to wake up after the curse was lifted—if they were even alive at this point. It scanned the room, wondering which one to finish off first. Its vision soon locked on to Corey. Of all of the pieces, this was one that had surely drawn Norma’s interest, if only because of his magic use. He had come much too far since he’d entered the game. And if ever there was a time to strike, it was now. Kurama had known this, and so did Norma.

The creature shambled over to Corey’s bedside slowly, like a predator stalking its prey. The whole time the creature moved over to him, Corey did not. He lay perfectly inert on the bed, face towards the ceiling, his arms firmly at his sides. Was he already dead?

The command came through its magical connection nice and clear. It was going to strike anyway, just to ensure he wasn’t going to get up again. Its body angle changed, arcing its arm up, preparing its fatal blow. Corey’s body seemed to twitch violently, but the manikin didn’t seem to notice. However, his master did, and as such, the manikin hesitated at first.

Corey blinked, but his eyes went wide at what he saw right above him. Norma recovered from her mental lag, and sent her command.

Kill him!!!

The manikin moved, and so did Corey.

All Norma could see from her lair was a splash of blood, hearing a scream before the screen filled with static. Aside from the sounds of static around them, as well as the sounds from the remaining battles, all was silent in the chamber of the cave. Norma smirked, waving the static screens away with a wave of her hand.

“Take note, Slayer,” Norma said, “That is how the job is done.”

Slayer’s silence broke. He let out several feral screams, about how he was supposed to be the one to kill him, to make him suffer, once he was healed, and yet he didn’t get to do either one. The whole time, Norma placidly stood ahead, giving Slayer the cold shoulder as he continued to shout.

Be patient. You still have your original targets to play with… Norma thought.

He didn’t know how long he fell in darkness, but after a while, he felt something: his entire body tremored against a soft surface, violently twitching. After a few moments, Corey realized his eyes were closed now. Was that why it was so dark? No, wait, something nearby was glowing? Battle cries? His ears twitched at the sound, and at this, Corey’s eyes snapped open.

He was definitely back in the library, in the middle of the night. And the first thing he saw was a red glow, and a half-damaged manikin standing over him, its arm raised. Instantly, Corey felt his eyes widen, and his mind went on automatic. He clenched his left fist, not even caring if his magic worked, and let out a battle cry as he moved, rolling out of bed as he swung. He felt something on his shoulder tear, but that was in the back of his mind as he sent his fist crashing into the manikin…

And its body practically exploded under the weight of the impact spell as Corey’s fist went into it. However, Corey’s maneuver didn’t stop there; he kept rolling, all the way out of bed, crashing to the floor face-first with a sharp grunt. It was funny. As he recalled, he’d fallen asleep some time ago. But now, he felt unbelievably tired. At least, until his common sense caught up with him. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he understood just what had happened.

“That was one of those…!?” Corey’s voice came out in a very hoarse whisper; he reflexively grabbed at his throat, which cried against the act of speaking. He moved to get to his feet. His arms and legs—in fact, all of his muscles, immediately flared up, but he wasn’t going to let it stop him. As he fought himself to get to his feet, he looked over, and his gaze locked on to two bodies to his right.

Rarity? Rainbow? Corey thought, immediately feeling numb. His mind, which had rusted due to the nightmares he’d suffered through, finally started fully working. He suddenly remembered what had happened to him. He was already having a sort-of bad dream, but then someone came along…

They were attacked too? Corey realized, now fully on his feet. He stood, frozen, wondering what had happened to that guy who’d attacked him since he was out. However, the noises of battle outside got his attention once again. Corey turned, his body still staggering about as he tried desperately to move. He made it a few steps before falling down again. Lifting himself up, he began to crawl over towards the balcony on his hands and knees, trying to get over to the door.

“Just how long was I out…?” Corey coughed a bit, his throat still not liking the idea of attempting to talk.

He managed to get over to the door and lifted himself up enough to reach the handle and tossed open the door, crawling through it. The night air felt refreshing, but he wasn’t going to stop now, not until he knew exactly what was going on. Corey crawled over to the railing and reached up, pulling himself up until he was standing again. Leaning on the railing for support, he surveyed what he could see below.

Those manikins and the guards were going at it. The guards seemed to be more effective now than ever; they were defeating them despite the numbers. Among the crowd, he could see Applejack, Pinkie, and a rather angry-looking Fluttershy (her alter-ego, maybe?) assisting them. No one seemed to notice he was looking over them now. As he continued to look around, his gaze moved up. Although someone had removed his glasses after he first fell asleep, making him have to squint, he could see a few magenta flashes in the distance. His vision focused just enough between the light of the magic and the natural light, and he could see it.

Twilight was fighting what looked like a griffin wearing armor. Corey immediately stopped squinting, and pure instinct took over.

“T-Twilight…!” He rasped. Runes began to swirl around his feet as he felt the need to move over there as fast as possible…

The battle to keep those in the sickbay safe raged on. For every manikin the guards destroyed, a few more seemed to pop up to take their place. The group did know from past encounters there could only be so many manikins, but how many more were there? They did not know, but they weren’t going to give up so easily.

“Heads up!” Applejack called out, snaring one of the manikins in her lasso. She scoffed a little afterward; this was so much easier to do with two hands. However, that wasn’t going to stop her. Yanking the lasso hard, she pulled the manikin off its feet. Immediately after it hit the ground backfirst, one of the guards marched right over, slamming his hammer down hard on the manikin’s head, smashing it instantly.

Elsewhere in the battle, two guards stood back to back. One of them gave off an irritated grunt, taking a few quick breaths.

“How many more are there?” he asked, getting his sword ready.

“Don’t get discouraged,” said the other, wielding a lance, “This is what we’ve been preparing for.”

Both launched off, giving off a war cry as they went through. The sword-wielder swung his sword. As he was a unicorn, his horn lit up as did his blade. As a result, his sword was able to easily slice through the hard clay surface of the manikin’s skin, going through its arm and torso. A quick headstomp ensured it was finished off. He turned, grinning slightly as a manikin whiffed on a punch, hitting hard armor instead of soft flesh, and it too, fell to his blade.

The lance-wielding one had no easily accessible spells, being an earth pony, but his weapon made up for it with piercing power. Though he could do little more than thrust and parry with the weapon, it was all he’d needed. One manikin was easily bumped away, its frontal charge failing. Turning to his right, he thrust the lance out, it going through the clay creature. With it lodged firmly on the end of it, the guard turned and slammed it into its friend, turning both into dust.

The guard’s attention was momentarily distracted, however, by a pink flash. Next thing he knew, about twelve feet from him, was what looked like a dome made of aluminum or something.

“What the--?” asked the guard.

“Ssh!” said Pinkie, popping up next to him with one finger to her mouth, “Don’t ruin the surprise~!”

She quickly zipped away, leaving the guard open to a manikin fist to the face. However, this did little more than turn his head and make him take one step back, for it was bunted by the lance shortly afterward.

Letting out a grunt, Applejack ducked down under an attempted strike. Quickly, she launched her leg upward, caving it its face as her boot hit dead-center. Trying to right herself with one hand, however, left her open, and a second manikin came up. She didn’t have time to defend herself, and felt unfiltered agony as the thing’s fist crashed into her arm. While she clutched at her upper arm, letting out a cry of pain, it tried to move in to capitalize on the attack.

It didn’t get the chance. No sooner than did Applejack step back to try to collect herself, a guard stepped in, charging it from the side shoulder-first to knock it away.

“Thanks,” Applejack said, only to wince as her arm flared up again.

“You really must rest, miss,” said the guard, “You’re already hurt…”

Applejack scowled. “Appreciate the concern, but—“

“It’s not worth it!” Pinkie shouted, zipping by seemingly from nowhere. She bit at… something, she now held in one of her hands, thus making the next part of her statement through clenched teeth, “She’s one of the stubbornest mares I know!”

Spitting out the object in her mouth—the pin to one of her confetti grenades—Pinkie tossed it towards a small crowd that just so happened to be making its way towards them. When it went off, the confetti spread around them, pulling them together. Guards quickly swarmed the area, ensuring the manikins wouldn’t get a chance to break free from their bindings.

While the guard finished off the one that had attacked Applejack, Applejack herself moved over to cover Pinkie’s rear for a moment.

“So what’ve you been zippin’ around for?” Applejack asked. Pinkie would have answered with her usual “it’s a surprise”, but instead, what she’d set up spoke for her.

As the manikins shambled over them, one by one, her special landmines activated. They functioned similar to the grenade she just threw, but had a ludicrous amount of confetti packed within. All the manikins caught within the area of effect were promptly cocooned, rolling over helplessly towards guards who made sure to take care of their new gifts.

Applejack blinked. Pinkie’s tactic had provided the team with a small reprieve, some semblance of progress in the battle. “Just what are you workin’ on in your basement all day?”

“Surprises,” Pinkie smiled. Then, she frowned, realizing something important, “Hey, where’s Fluttershy?”

“Oh, dang,” Applejack grumbled, looking around trying to catch a glimpse of her, “Lost track of her in the fight!”

Both began to look around, standing back-to-back, frantically searching among the chaos and clearings for any sign of her. It wasn’t long, though, before their mutual worry was relieved… in a small way.

Fluttercruel stood, a mace in one hand, and a few broken manikins around her. She stood over another one, smashing its head in with a well-executed strike. If ever there was a sight they didn’t think they’d ever see, it was Fluttershy—or at least, her body—standing over such carnage that she herself had caused. Even if said creatures technically weren’t alive.

“Oh,” both Pinkie and Applejack said at once.

Suddenly, Pinkie halted, her arms going out to her sides and waving up and down exactly once, as though a wave of force had passed through them. Her eyes went wide, and she immediately pushed Applejack out of the way, sending her stumbling.

“H-hey!” Applejack shouted, “Watch it, Pinkie, ya might bust up my arm furth--!”

Her statement was cut just short of completion when she saw the reason for Pinkie’s behavior. A green blur shot through where they had been standing, and made a beeline through the clearing, past several confused guards. Both Pinkie and Applejack looked over to what they had seen, confused.

“Hey, wasn’t that…?” Pinkie asked, trailing off.

Twilight wished she’d have done better in the battle here, but on top of the lack of sleep and the speed of her opponent, she supposed she could have been faring much worse. She’d sustained a few more cuts to her arms, and had another cut to the side as well. She’d knew from the start that ending the fight as soon as possible was the best course of action, but the griffin was making it hard for her.

The griffin dove down at her, now wielding a knife in each hand. With each attack he’d landed, he grew more determined to land another, but Twilight wasn’t letting him score another hit now. She took in a short breath, managing to teleport as he passed by. She soon popped up just behind him, around where he had been originally, and let off a single bolt of magic. The griffin did not move out of the way; not that he had a chance. However, he also didn’t need to, as Twilight soon learned. When the bolt made contact, it hit the armor covering his body, but abruptly, red runes appeared at the site of the impact, nullifying the spell almost instantly.

Twilight descended a small amount as shock overcame her. “What?”

“Surprised?” The griffin turned, knowing he was hit, a grin splitting his beak, “The boss made sure the armor wasn’t going to be damaged by a spell like that! It’ll cancel out any spell that gets too close!”

“A nullifying charm?” Twilight asked, already feeling her mind go into overdrive.

If I remember right, those usually have some kind of limit… Twilight thought, To what they can take in general or all at once, but finding that—

She forced herself to quit thinking about it, when she noticed the griffin was already on the attack again. With a hard flap of her wings, followed by another, she ascended in the air, letting her opponent pass through the space where she once was. Turning around, however, she saw that the griffin was already on the move, changing direction to pursue her. However, that wasn’t all; the griffin moved his arm, giving one of his weapons a strong toss straight towards her.

Quickly, Twilight focused and let off another blast of magic from her horn. This time, her target was the knife flying straight for her. She managed to hit it, bouncing it away without any effort. However, the griffin still kept coming for her. Realizing things were going to go downhill if she didn’t try to do something about the armor now, Twilight began to focus again, charging the magic into her horn.

The griffin closed in, but Twilight wasn’t letting him get close. Though her horn was more or less occupied, she still had two perfectly good wings to use, and began to let herself fall, causing the griffin to whiff yet another slice.

“You’re pretty good at running away, aren’t you?” he asked, but Twilight wasn’t going to answer, continuing to descend until her feet hit solid ground. Moving on her feet, she soon cleared the area, just in time to watch the griffin land.

“This has been fun, Princess,” said the griffin as he did, reaching into various spots in his armor, “But let’s see if you can dodge this one…”

Twilight took the time to continue charging her spell, seeing her opponent was readying himself for his own vicious attack. She needed to charge it now, but her opponent had the advantage here. Her horn began to shine brightly like a beacon in the night. As she continued to stare her opponent down, readying herself to move if she needed to, she saw the gleam of the wire against the light of her magic. Her opponent now held a few knives in each hand, ready to throw.

Her horn pulsed, and he readied his throwing weapons.

“Time to--!” The griffin paused in action and words, noticing something out of his peripheral vision. Twilight saw it for a few moments: a green ball of magical energy, which struck the helm of his armor. Though it dissipated uselessly, something clearly caught his attention, and he stared in that direction with wide eyes.

“What?!”

Twilight seized her chance without a second thought and fired a large bolt—as large as half her body—in his direction, which hit with a massive magical explosion. Twilight heard something snap underneath the sound, and knew that her tactic had worked. It was only after she took a small amount of relief at the removal of her opponent’s armor that she realized something.

Wait… Twilight thought. The more she thought about what had happened, the more she wondered if it was really true.

“Ugh!!” the griffin shouted from inside the smoke, “How?! I thought you were dead already!?”

Unable to resist looking anymore, Twilight shot a glance over to her right. What she saw sent a wave of relief to her very core, almost enough to lull her into some kind of sleep. Or perhaps it was a trance; she couldn’t tell.

Not ten feet from where she was standing was both a relieving and annoying sight. Relieving in that he was definitely alive, annoying in that he’d immediately thrown himself into harm’s way first chance he got. He could barely stand and—was he bleeding from his wound again? He shook on his two feet, one hand raised, and a very slight smile on his face.

“Corey!?” Twilight asked.

Norma had thought she did the job, but here he was now, having just interrupted Storm Claw’s battle. Slayer had gone silent as soon as he’d shown up, and stared again. Norma stared at the screen, her fists soon clenching tightly as she struggled to work out what had really happened.

“How is he still alive!?” Norma shouted, “Even if he had somehow woken up this soon, how is it he was able to defeat anything in the state he was in??”

Slayer did not respond at first, still processing the fact that Corey was in fact still alive. Eventually, though, he found the words. “Of course he’s still alive. Someone who feels like he does, thinks and acts as he does, won’t be so easily taken down. I know that now, and that’s why I’m the one who will kill him.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions just yet,” Norma said, “Even if he is the one to rush headlong into situations because someone he cares about is in danger, look where it’s landed him now…”

Slayer growled behind her; she had a point. He was up against a seasoned killer while he was barely able to move. Fluke or not—

Red light surged behind the two. Norma turned, perplexed. She hadn’t said to retreat just yet. Then she saw him: Kronos, piecing together out of red runes. In one hand, Kronos held the retreat gem, which had lost its glow from its one-time use.

“Back already?” Norma asked, already lifting her hand, “I didn’t order a retreat, you know…”

“I told you before,” Kronos said, dropping the retreat gem lightly to the floor, “I was only there to get what you wanted me to get. And I did.”

Kronos moved his other hand into view. As she took in what Kronos had managed to retrieve, her disdain for Kronos’ unauthorized retreat soon turned into tacit approval, before erupting into full-blown internal applause.

With this, it no longer mattered if anyone died during this outing. Taking into account the increasing number of static screens, as well as the current tide of the battle, Norma quickly made her decision…

It didn’t take Twilight long to realize she was still in the middle of a fight, and that Corey wasn’t in any condition to be anywhere near one, even if his magic had seemingly returned to him. As soon as the feeling passed, she put herself between Corey and the griffin, who stepped from the smoke. His armor was destroyed now, as Twilight thought. Underneath it was a black leotard. All that remained of his armor was his helm, and even then, most of it was blackened. Twilight quickly flared her horn, ready to fire at a moment’s notice.

“This is over,” Twilight said, “You’ve lost your enchanted armor!”

The griffin merely chuckled at this. “You think some half-dead unicorn’s going to scare me off? He can barely stand on his two feet as it is!”

Twilight glanced over to Corey. She hadn’t noticed it straight away, but the griffin was right; the mere act of standing seemed to be painful for Corey. Given he was in a bed and hadn’t done much moving for a while, it probably hurt to use his muscles. On top of that, he still looked like he needed sleep.

“More to the point, though,” the griffin continued, walking over to one of his knives from earlier and picking it up, admiring it. Somehow, being hit by a magical blast did not damage it. After stowing it away, “You’ve only made our confrontation more interesting. Now we both can attack from a range…

“And… that armor, although useful, only weighed me down,” The griffin grinned. Twilight stood her ground, but internally, she realized what the griffin might be getting at.

Is he saying he’s even faster now?? she thought, readying herself again. Even if Corey being close by would only increase her worry, she still had a job to do.

“Here…” The griffin toyed with two knives once again, twirling them in his feathered hands, “Why don’t I give you a demonstration?”

The griffin crouched down, ready to charge. This would be fun. Here, he would take out the two ponies that gave Slayer so much trouble, but only after he ensured he had fun with them first. Before he could make his move, however, he heard something in his ear: the harsh voice of Norma herself.

“We’re done here, Storm Claw,” she said, “Grab whatever and use the stone to return to the caves immediately!”

“What? Now?” asked Storm Claw. At this, both Corey and Twilight stared at him, unable to understand what was going on at first.

“The creatures have mostly been defeated. Celestia’s other pawns will be closing in on you soon…” Norma hissed straight into Storm Claw’s head.

“What about Kronos?”

“He already got what we launched this attack for in the first place and came back. You’re essentially alone out there right now. If you want to keep going, by all means, but I doubt it’d end well for you…”

With a scoff, Storm nodded. “Very well, then. I’ll come back... What? I see…”

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” yelled Twilight, launching an attack. However, Storm noticed this, quickly moving out of the way. He soon halted, picking up another knife that had missed.

H-his speed really did increase… Twilight noted, numbly.

“Looks like you two lucked out,” said Storm Claw, removing the remains of his helm and reaching into it, “Boss wants me to head back…”

“You think we’re just going to let you go?!” Twilight shouted again, launching another blast, only to have it deflected by the appearance of several runes. Storm Claw held one hand up high now, casting the helm to the side. In his lifted hand, Twilight could make out the shape of a stone which glowed with a brilliant red light.

“You won’t be getting a choice on that, but mark my words, you will see me again,” said Storm Claw, “It seems that our fight has merely been…rescheduled…”

With that, Storm Claw vanished, taking the runes and the glow with him. Twilight took a few steps forward, her teeth clenched.

“So that’s it, then…?” Twilight said, sighing as she turned. Corey tried to take one step forward, but his knee gave out, and he fell forward with a raspy-sounding grunt. Twilight quickly responded, her arms soon wrapping around him. The sudden weight didn’t catch Twilight off guard, though. Instead, she helped him to stand up for the moment, looking around to see if there was something she could prop Corey up against for a little bit.

Thankfully, there was a building not too far from where he’d rushed in. As she helped him over there, a million thoughts began to swim through her head, and for the life of her, she couldn’t decide which one to voice first. It was a hard walk this time since Corey—not for lack of trying—was dragging his feet. She got him over there eventually.

“Nice and easy…” she said, slowly letting him down until he was back-first against the wall. Only when he was in the resting position did he finally let out a sigh of relief. Twilight did as well.

“What am I going to do with you…” Twilight finally said, crouching down to eye-level with Corey. As soon as she was staring back into his eyes, her thoughts all came out at once.

“Do you know how long you were out??” Twilight asked. Corey raised a hand, but she didn’t even let him start talking, “Three whole days! Three days! Do you have any idea how close you were to…to…!”

Twilight let out a frustrated squeal. “I spent the better part of those three days worried you wouldn’t ever wake up! That you’d been killed without ever coming out of your guilt! I don’t know what you went through in there, but I know it wasn’t pleasant!”

Corey made some raspy noise that sounded like an attempt at communication, but she wasn’t done.

“I guess John finished things in time, but last I checked you were still in a coma! Then, when you wake up, what do you do first??” Twilight asked, “Do you stay put, stay out of the danger you heard?”

Corey raised a finger, and barely managed to get a word out, “Twilight, there was—“

“No, of course you don’t!” Twilight said, “First thing you do is wake up is reopen that wound of yours…look at you! You probably opened it back up because you decided to rush into a battle you were in no way ready for! Just what were you thinking??”

It sunk in to Corey there were some things he’d probably missed while in that neverending nightmare. He was no expert, but he’d guessed her anger had just built up too much while he was out. How could he fault her? She’d had to deal with a lot, more than likely.

“T-Twilight, I—“

Corey didn’t finish. Before he could react at all, Twilight’s hands came down on his shoulders, and her mouth met his. The moment was so quick he wasn’t even sure if it happened, at least until he heard the resounding smack of her lips disconnecting from his. Corey stared back at Twilight, who looked a bit less angry now. Her expression softened completely, and she pulled herself closer, not even caring how much of his blood got on her.

“I-I’m just happy that you’re alive…Happy you’re back…” Twilight said, resting her chin on his shoulder.

Corey finally relaxed himself. He’d been tense ever since she started chewing him out, but with that action, he finally relaxed.

“I am too, Twilight,” Corey said, leaning forward to put his chin to her shoulder, “I am too…”

Act 3 Chapter 43

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 43: Pillaged and Plundered

Now that the lives of so many no longer hung in the balance, John could finally take in the beauty of the dream realm. With the plague of dreams, Kurama, no longer lurking around, there was nothing around him but endless twinkles. The bitter chill of his magic was gone, forever. By all rights, John should have felt accomplished; he’d stopped Kurama at last and saved everyone else.

But he couldn’t; he couldn’t find the joy that he was practically entitled to feel. All he could feel was a crushing emptiness inside as he floated aimlessly, allowing the forces of the realm he was in to guide him. And so it did: an unseen force pushed and pulled at him, gently moving him through the endless space. As he floated, John kept his eyes closed, never once noticing the orb of light slowly moving towards him.

Only when it made contact with him and he could feel the warmth of the light did John finally snap into focus.

“Luna?” John opened his eyes. The princess of the night now floated before him, staring at him with a sympathetic smile and furrowed brows.

“You already know, don’t you?”

“I’ve watched since the beginning,” she said, “Your battles, your struggles, and more importantly, your victory. You fought hard, and in the end everyone in Ponyville can sleep peacefully because of you. On this night, you are their hero.”

John didn’t answer, a distant look in his eyes. Luna couldn’t read minds, but she knew. “You disagree?”

“Heroes don’t take lives, Princess…”

“Maybe…” she said under her breath, but John didn’t hear her.

“Several of this, ‘Norma’s’, pawns have fallen, and not one has been by the hands of you or your friends. Who’s to say that this was any different?”

John fell silent again. It was one of the only threads of hope he was holding on to, but he knew that soon, he’d know the answer. Luna could see it in his eyes: the sorrows, and his attempts to repress them.

“Please, do not let this weigh down your mind,” Luna said, “Think of those you saved in the process, think of—“

“With all due respect, Princess,” John cut her off, “Right now, I don’t want to think.”

She opened her mouth for a moment to reply, but let out a sigh instead. “Very well, you’ve earned a peaceful night,” She raised her hand as she began to cast her magic. The same glow began to shroud John’s body as his form began to fade away, “But I’m not finished yet, and next time, you will not avoid this conversation.”

John didn’t reply, simply closing his eyes. The next time he woke up, he knew he’d have to deal with the aftermath of the battle with Kurama. That would surely be a very daunting task in and of itself. But for now, John simply allowed his mind to go blank.

Twilight didn’t remember falling asleep. For three days, she hadn’t slept, kept up by unholy amounts of caffeine. Even if she hadn’t done that, with all the stress the past few days had heaped on her, the countless lives being drained away by Kurama’s curse, the battles; she wouldn’t have gotten much sleep anyway. When it all finally stopped, when she could finally take in a moment of relief that wasn’t immediately destroyed afterward, she didn’t even notice she’d shut down on the spot. She only knew she’d fallen asleep when her eyes opened once again.

At first, she was confused. The very last thing she remembered was being outside. Yet here she was now, definitely underneath her own ceiling. It took her a while to realize she was in her living room, on a surface she didn’t remember being in there. She finally rose, rubbing her eyes a little as she did so. She looked to her right, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, then to her left.

Now she understood something of what happened. Everyone was over to her left, within her field of vision. All of them were placed on beds that wouldn’t look out of place in a military sickbay; very simply decorated mattresses with white sheets. Though none of them had blankets—herself included—none of them were uncomfortable. Even Spike was there, on a smaller mattress, of course. Wherever he was during all of that chaos, at least she finally knew he was safe.

Looking around, she realized that those with injuries had already had them treated, including her own. She could see John was covered with the most bandages out of any of them, some of them slightly stained with red in the light that entered the room.

“Oh, Princess Twilight, you’re awake?” The sudden voice startled her, and Twilight turned to see one of the guards entering the room, having stopped upon noticing that she was sitting up.

“Y-yes, I am,” said Twilight, shaking her head a bit to clear the last of the cobwebs out, “What happened?”

“We’ll fill you in on all of the details later, when more of you all are awake,” said the guard, looking over the remaining group, “In general, though, not long after the enemy routed and those creatures were dealt with, you all finally passed out. Though two were still more or less asleep around that time, we decided to move them down here after checking to make sure they were alright. Since then, we’ve been keeping watch.”

“Oh,” Twilight said, wondering if it was a bad thing that she didn’t remember where she was before passing out, “Thank you all so much for helping us, then.”

“It’s what we were trained to do,” the guard said, “It’s just a shame it took this much to get us to remember all of it.”

Twilight didn’t say anything else. The guard simply waited a few minutes, looking over the beds for any signs that those already there were waking up any time soon. When no real signs came up, the guard excused himself and left, leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts. She laid back again, staring up at the ceiling. A small smile came to her face as she reflected on what she knew happened and what the guard had told her.

In the end, we all made it… Twilight thought. For a long while, she just laid back, waiting for someone to wake up, taking what little time she had to rest in a good long while. She found herself reflecting on what the guard had said to her. However, her mind soon hung on one phrase.

“Two were more or less still asleep upstairs…” she reflected. Only when the phrase repeated in her mind did panic start to set in all over again.

“Two…?” she whispered, sitting up and looking around the beds frantically. Soon, she saw him: Corey lying still on the bed, turned slightly away from her. He was one row of beds away from her, on her left. Without thinking on it further, she moved, standing up. Her legs objected, but she didn’t care, moving over to him. She couldn’t withhold her worry. Her last memory told her he was still out cold, that his time had just about run out before John’s battle began.

“Corey!?”

It all happened at once. Corey suddenly moved with a groan, enough to get Twilight to let out a gasp. She took one step back as he rolled over, right out of the bed, landing on the floor facefirst with an audible thud.

“Ow…” Corey groaned, his voice not quite normal, not at all appreciating the sudden wake-up. He took a few moments to push his face up from the ground and turned. He looked around as soon as he did, confused. Apparently failing to notice the others were asleep after a few seconds of this, his gaze centered on her again. “Twilight??”

“Would you two keep it down?” asked Spike, apparently not knowing there were others in the room, “I’m trying to sleep!”

“So am I…” Rainbow groaned, her voice having an unrecognizable croak to it, pulling unseen blankets closer to her. Beside her, Applejack stirred, her eyes opening.

“Hmm…?” she asked, pushing out of bed as soon as she strained herself. “Rainbow? That you?”

Rainbow stirred a bit, groaning again as she sat up, “Yeah... who else could it be?”

She coughed a little. “Why does my throat hurt?”

“So… you’re awake?” Applejack asked, looking around. By now, the others were stirring awake in response to the rather loud voices. She stood up, stumbling a bit as she made her way over to Rarity. “Rares? Rares, are you—“

“Applejack?” Rarity asked, her voice also audibly strained, “How many times must I tell you not to interrupt my…”

Her memories caught up to her, and her sentence immediately altered. “Sleep? What was I doing asleep??” Rarity sat up, alarmed. Rainbow remembered as well. Last time she checked, sleeping was definitely not on her “to-do” list.

“Kurama got us…” Rainbow said, “That’s right, he got Rarity, then me. Oh, wait! Corey’s…”

“Awake,” Corey said, standing up, “So that was his name? Kurama?”

“Then…” John said, now sitting up on his bed, “I did it in time after all.”

“What’d I tell you?” asked Rainbow, standing up and walking over to him, “You kicked his ass back to Tartarus, didn’t you?”

John didn’t say anything to that, surprisingly. Corey looked over. Something about John seemed off, and it wasn’t just the blood-soaked bandages, which presumably came from his battle with Kurama. Something else about him just wasn’t right, but Corey couldn’t pinpoint it.

“I thought I heard something,” All heads turned. Twilight recognized him as the guard who had been in the room just minutes before, “You’re all awake now?”

“Yeah, more or less,” Twilight said.

“Understood,” The guard took a few steps towards the door, no doubt to inform his fellow guards that the group was awake, “Oh, before I go…You! John, right?” He motioned to John.

“Yeah…?” John asked, looking over.

“Your injuries…” The guard said, “How do they feel?”

John moved about, giving off a few light stretches. “They don’t hurt as much as they did before, I think. Still not at my best, though.”

“Alright. We’ll send in a few guards in a moment, where they will tell you what happened,” said the guard, finishing movement towards the door, “There’s a study space upstairs. Right, Princess?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Twilight said, “You want to use that?”

“Better than in here,” said the guard, “Besides, I’m sure you’d rather have the living room looking like a living room instead of a sickbay?”

“Well, of course!” Twilight said, “And…” She paused, looking around, “I’d rather it look like it did before you moved us all down here.”

“Noted,” the guard said, and took his leave.

With several grunts and groans, the group slowly began to stand and walk, letting Twilight lead the way to the study room mentioned above. Corey knew the place as well—he’d spent about three-tenths of his time here in Equestria in that room. Twilight heard one set of feet that seemed to be moving faster than it should be, and turned, seeing Corey walking somewhat normally, like it didn’t hurt him to move. In addition, he was somewhat casually moving his left shoulder.

“Doesn’t your shoulder still hurt, Corey?” Twilight asked. Corey blinked, turning his attention to his blood-soaked shirt, where he knew the wound still was.

“Actually, no. No, it doesn’t. I think my magic kicked back in overnight,” Corey said, his voice not sounding right either, moving his left shoulder a bit to test it, “It doesn’t hurt to move it like it did before…”

“That’s good to hear,” said Twilight, “Guess that means your magic’s back?”

“I guess so…”

John said nothing, limping along. Rainbow hovered next to him, concerned with how he was acting. Like Corey, she too felt something was off. “Hey, what’re you so sad about? We won, didn’t we?”

“Huh?” John asked, “Oh… yeah, yeah… We did it. We stopped him…”

Rainbow wasn’t satisfied with this response, but dropped the subject as everyone began to file into the room. A few minutes after everyone was inside, four guards walked into the room, and took their positions across from the group.

“First of all, we all wish to congratulate you on your success,” One of the guards said, taking the lead in the conversation, “You’re an inspiration to everyone.”

“Just how long were we out?” Twilight asked.

The guard took in a deep breath and let it out. “You all were out for all of yesterday. You had all simply passed out where you found. So, we had to transport you back here, treating your injuries as needed. Thankfully, most could be mended with spells. The only exception was John over there, due to how severe his injuries were.”

“A whole day?” Applejack asked, “You’re tellin’ me we lost a whole day?”

“I don’t think anyone would blame you, given the situation,” said the guard, “You all had forsaken sleep to track down Kurama, and you managed to pull that off, but right after that, this building came under attack.”

“The library was attacked!?” Rainbow shouted, in alarm.

“Yes,” The guard said, “By two prisoners and an army of creatures. We lost sight of one of them, but the other engaged Princess Twilight in battle. Unexpectedly, when the creatures’ numbers were whittled down to a certain level, both prisoners had apparently routed; we found no trace of them during the cleanup efforts.

“Moreover, during the cleanup, we found some evidence that one of them had entered the room where Rainbow Dash and Rarity were currently. It was a small pile of ash next to an empty bed.”

“Oh yeah…” Corey said, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “I remember that.”

“And after you discovered that the room was invaded… I see,” one of the other guards said, “Wondered how you got that far out.”

“Hold on a moment,” Rarity said, “Corey, you were stricken by Kurama long before I was… how were you up before?”

Corey paused. “I... I don’t know…”

After a few moments of silence, it was Rainbow who spoke up.

“Speaking of,” she said, “Where’s Kurama now?”

The guard who had briefed them on everything fell silent for a few moments. “He’s… dead.”

“Just like with Lyon and Talon,” said Twilight, “Kurama, too, was killed when he failed her.”

“Makes sense,” said Applejack, “His nightmares didn’t get any of us for good, so he was useless to her. Slayer probably got the same treatment…”

“Only someone vile could do something like that,” Rarity added.

John said nothing, merely staring into space, but before anyone could ask why, the guard brought forth a set of papers, and shuffled through them.

“Um, about that,” said the guard, “We just got the report back. From the same doctor who presided over Nemean Lyon’s autopsy…”

“You guys are still doing that? C’mon,” Rainbow said, stepping forward, “We already know who—“

John didn’t wait, walking up to the guard and taking the medical report for himself.

“John?” Corey asked, “What’s going on?”

“Cause of death, cause of death…” John murmured quickly, thumbing through the report…

It was the morning before, while the group had been asleep. Once more, Doctor Esk Ray was asked to come in to investigate the deceased. In this case, it was Kurama, who had been collected the previous night to confirm how he died. The autopsy was conducted for the same reasons that they had conducted Lyon’s autopsy and Talon’s as well: not necessarily to point fingers, but to provide the group with a sense of closure.

Esk closed his eyes, his spell doing the work for him as he scanned inside Kurama’s chest cavity. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Since Kurama did not have the cushioning that Lyon had, his opponent had done far more to him. In particular, his ribcage was practically shattered, causing damage to the organs underneath. Like Lyon and Talon, though, Kurama’s heart had exploded. However, there was the matter of the ribs…

“Doctor?” asked one of the other doctors nearby, “Did you make a diagnosis?”

“To be frank, it’s a complete mess in here,” said Esk, “Do we have any information on the battle?”

“From what we can gather, the dragon named John engaged him and defeated him. He died more or less as the fight concluded,” the doctor said, looking over the papers, “We don’t have any other witnesses to confirm exactly what went down…”

“All of these injuries were caused by an adult dragon,” Esk said again, taking in the notes. He then returned to scanning the interior of Kurama’s chest cavity. While it seemed that Kurama had died the same way as his fellow escapees did, Esk found it difficult, based on the damage he was seeing, to rule out that the impact to the chest that caused the ribcage to break in the way it had…

“I can’t say for sure…” Esk said, removing his hand from the patient, “I want to say that John didn’t do it, but I can’t. The damage to the organs the ribcage usually protects was pretty awful. Even if his heart had exploded, it’s impossible to say which one killed him first. I would have to perform a scan at the exact moment of impact to truly figure out what happened.”

There was a heavy air in the medical room as the realization sunk in. It was a solemn air. Kurama was a dangerous criminal, to be sure, and while his death was justified as a means of self-defense, this still wasn’t going to be easy to hear.

“Cause of death,” Esk said, “Inconclusive…”

“Inconclusive…inconclusive,” John parroted the word to himself, in dull shock. A heavy silence had fallen over the room. In particular, Corey looked to John, in complete disbelief.

“From what we understand,” the guard continued, “There was simply not enough evidence to rule out the possibility…”

The silence continued. Not one of them could think of anything to say that could possibly soften the blow of what the report implied. Twilight stepped forward.

“Is there anything else we must know?” Twilight asked.

“No, that’s pretty much all there was to it,” The guard stated, “However, I think you’ll be pleased to know that Kurama’s other victims in Ponyville are waking up. All of them should be fine after some rest.”

“Well, that’s good news,” said Applejack.

“I suppose we’ll go back to regular duty now,” said the guard, nodding towards the others. With that, the guards filed out one-by-one, leaving the group in the study room. Once again, the room fell into silence.

“So… w-what happens now?” Fluttershy spoke up, now clearly the one in control of her body.

“We all go home,” Twilight said.

“What?” asked Applejack, somewhat taken aback by her forwardness.

“This was a hard-earned win,” said Twilight, looking around the room, “We’ve earned some time to relax, so… go home. Reconnect with your families, try to just put this all behind you.”

No one really objected, but someone still had something to say, clearly. Rainbow looked to Twilight, then over to John, who was still more or less spacing off.

“You,” Rainbow said, poking him hard enough to get his attention.

“What?” John asked, as though only realizing she was there—or that he was still in the library.

“You’re coming with me,” Rainbow said.

“But—“

“No, no ‘buts’,” Rainbow said, “If there’s one thing I learned it’s that it’s a bad idea to leave a friend who’s hurting alone.”

Surprisingly, John didn’t object to this. He and Rainbow departed together. The others soon said their own goodbyes and left, leaving Corey and Twilight alone in the library. The two stood in the living room area, just looking around.

“What happened while I was out?” Corey asked, turning to Twilight, “I mean, other than the attack thing?”

“I’ll tell you all about it, Corey,” Twilight said, turning to him, “Just one thing…”

“What?” Corey asked.

“Please,” She suddenly backed away a couple of steps, “Take a shower…”

Corey recoiled as though he were slapped, but shook his head a bit, tapping the side of his head with an open palm.

“If you hadn’t said it, I’d have started feeling it before long…”

The sun had reached its apex in the sky above; it was around noon now. The hours since everyone’s departure had been, overall, noneventful. Cleaning up wasn’t how Corey had imagined those hours going, but he wasn’t going to complain. He was just glad to be back. Despite what he’d been through the past few days, he felt better than he’d felt in a while.

Corey laid back on the couch for a bit, staring straight up at the ceiling. The living room was more or less back to how it was before. After taking the time to clean himself up, he’d swapped out his bloodstained clothes for a simple white T-shirt and a different pair of pants than he usually wore. After all that had happened while he was out, he did not feel like trying to pick up where he left off.

Twilight needs the rest more than I do, though, he thought, leaning his head back, For my part, I just want to relax a bit, here in reality.

“Don’t fall asleep on me, now,” Twilight said, walking up to the head of the couch, looking down on him, “I think we’ve both had enough sleep…”

“Didn’t plan on it,” Corey said, slowly sitting up.

After taking the time to go about her usual routine, Twilight had also changed out her usual clothes for a more casual sleeveless shirt and a pair of shorts. True to her words from earlier, she was taking a little time to rest. She moved to the couch, sitting next to him. Both sat in complete silence for a while, merely enjoying the moment. At least, that’s what they wanted to do.

“It’s so… odd,” Twilight finally said, hunching forward.

“What is?” Corey asked. Twilight stared at him as though he’d sprouted a horn from his—a second horn from his head.

“This… stillness,” Twilight said, “I guess I just got used to it since this all started, but everything’s calmed down. For the moment, everything’s right again. I’m even able to relax for once.”

Corey hadn’t even really considered it up until now. She did have a point, though. Ever since he’d got here it just felt like he was being hurled through one crisis after another. And with each new prisoner they came across the margin for victory was slimmer and slimmer. And yet, here they were now, lounging about on a couch like nothing ever happened.

“Yeah…” Corey said, leaning back into the cushion a bit, “I know it’s not over, but after all that, all I want to do is sit back and not think about anything for once.”

Twilight leaned back in the cushion as well for a few moments. “You know, normally, I’d disagree—an idle mind is a wasted one—but after the last few days? I think you have the right idea.”

Corey and Twilight slowly slumped towards each other shoulder-first, until they touched. The contact caused the two to shift in place slightly, but did not deter them. After all that, it seemed like they could spend a little time to themselves, some time away from studies about old magic, some time away from that old book—

“Oh!” Twilight stood up suddenly, letting Corey fall over the rest of the way onto the couch when he didn’t adjust to the lack of her presence, “I just remembered!”

“Remembered what?” Corey asked, pushing himself back at the sitting position, scratching his temple lightly in mild irritation the “not thinking” thing didn’t last too long.

“After you fell asleep, before Kurama came along, I kept reading the book,” Twilight said, “I found something in that runic book! One of the pages was missing, but… I don’t know, it described a powerful magic…”

“Huh?” asked Corey, “What’d it say?”

“It’s influenced by a number of factors,” Twilight said, “Maybe that’s why it was locked away. It explained why you were having so much trouble with your magic before… want to go have a look?”

Though Corey’s magic didn’t seem to be malfunctioning anymore, he felt it couldn’t hurt. “Alright, let’s go.”

Corey rose from the couch, and both soon went upstairs, to the study room. It was where the book was usually left between sessions. As they passed inside, Corey remained by the door for a few minutes, while Twilight went ahead of him, moving over to where the book was kept. He leaned on the doorframe.

This is where I learned most of everything I know about magic, Corey thought, a small smile on his face, as he reflected on all that he’d experienced in this room. While there was one bit of unpleasant news among his more recent memories, he’d still had a lot of halfway decent memories here, even if most of them revolved around the current situation. Perhaps in the future, he could build more pleasant memories, ones that didn’t involve worrying about escaped prisoners or—

“What is--?” asked Twilight. Corey turned to his right, seeing Twilight fidgeting about with the shelf’s books, clearly frenzied, “Where’s the book?”

“It’s not there?” Corey asked, feeling a sharp stab go through his chest. No, no, it couldn’t have been... He had to force the idea out of his head before he started panicking too, “T-the past three days have been hell on you… do you think at some point it was moved somewhere else?”

“I don’t usually…” Twilight paused. The last few days were pretty unusual. If not for what was at stake it might have all become one huge blur to her. Between the stress and the lack of sleep, she might have done something without realizing it, “Maybe… Maybe you’re right. It probably just got shuffled around!”

Corey didn’t think she believed that, but chose not to voice it. His first day back awake and already things seemed to be going downhill. However, compared to waking up, only to find one of those creatures standing over him? Not as bad.

The two began to search the library for it, starting with the room they were in. Twilight got Spike to help—before, he’d been fishing through his comic books, which had been under lockdown for the last few days. It wasn’t in Twilight’s room. It wasn’t in the living room. It wasn’t in the kitchen—though they didn’t get too far into searching before Twilight rather vocally questioned why they were even looking in there. Though by that point, they had pretty much run out of places to be.

“I don’t believe it,” Twilight said, disappointed at the loss, “The book’s gone! It’s not here!”

“Do you think one of the others took it by accident?” Spike asked, sitting up next to her.

“No, no, that can’t be right, Spike,” she said, “I don’t think any of them would be interested.”

“Then…” A pit dropped in Corey’s stomach as the unpleasantness of the situation sunk in, “No… Do you think they took it, when they attacked?”

Twilight stood up, no better accepting of that theory than Corey was. “That’s…!”

However, at that moment, she paused, her mind bringing her back to the battle as a memory returned to her.

“We suggest you route from this battle now…” The tiger’s words came back to her, “You are not what we came here for…”

“Not what we came here for…” she parroted, thinking, “They attacked for a reason beyond the fact we were weak. They took back the runic book, but why?”

Twilight shook her head. “Why would they do all that just for a… book…”

Neither Corey nor Spike liked the way she trailed off. Twilight sharply turned, facing a new direction they hadn’t looked during the search for the book.

“Oh no… No!” Twilight took off. Something hit Spike as well, and he soon took off after her. Corey was the last to follow, that pit seeming to drop lower and lower with every step he took. Eventually, they stopped in a room Corey hadn’t been in before, at least not while he was here in Equestria.

And there was one major thing that was missing from the picture. Or rather, six. Where before there was a pedestal that held the Elements of Harmony, only kept around as a fail-safe if Discord ever went off the handle, now, it was an empty pedestal.

Twilight fell to her knees, the sight too much to bear, as well as the realization. Spike grabbed on to her, having fully realized the gravity of what had happened.

“The Elements of Harmony… they were stolen…!” Twilight said, her voice high-pitched and filled with panic.

“W-what h-ha-happens now?” Spike asked, clearly scared as well. He knew full-well what it meant, and it wasn’t good. Twilight hugged Spike back now, her awareness having momentarily blanked out. Behind them, Corey was staring at the same picture that they had seen, as well as taking in their own predicament.

Corey’s hand gripped the doorframe, as something lit deep within him, the full picture too much for him to bear. This image made the image of Twilight alone and scared up north seem very low-grade. Corey closed his eyes, fighting himself, but there was no way he was going to deny it. He couldn’t deny it. He was angry, and for a damn good reason.

Great… Just…fucking…great! Corey thought.

Author's Note

So we discover what was taken during the attack, and it wasn't pleasant. Now what? Find out next week.

Act 3 Chapter 44

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 44: The Lowest Point

The only thing that could have shaken everyone out of their earned post-crisis resting was an even bigger crisis. It was bad enough that Twilight’s home had been invaded by the escaped prisoners, but to realize the Elements of Harmony themselves had been taken was a sobering, crippling blow to the post-victory relief that had enveloped them all. The sun had nearly completed its trek across the sky. In an hour, maybe two, it’d be sunset. But to those in Golden Oaks, it seemed like the blackest night had already arrived.

“They knew where they were all along,” Applejack said, her despair expressing itself as fury, “Wouldn’t have put it past ‘em to do somethin’ like this!”

“The Elements of Harmony were our last option, our final contingency if everything proved too much,” said Twilight, “But now, they’re gone… stolen by them! Without the Elements…”

The silence hung heavy in the room. No one could say anything. The hopelessness Kurama brought had returned, magnified several times over. Even bringing the group together didn’t accomplish anything. Not one of them could think of anything positive to say. How could they? Even if their friendship had endured without their use, they were the objects that had brought them together, and brought the land peace on multiple occasions.

Corey and John had stood off to the side, neither able to bear the sight of what they were witnessing. To John, it felt as though everything that he’d gone through the past few days had been wasted. To Corey, an unspeakable guilt had entered the back of his mind once again as his subconscious reminded him it was his mistake that had led to this.

“D-did…” Fluttershy was the first to break, “Did we…did we ever have a chance at all?”

Normally, someone might have reached out and reassured Fluttershy. Told her that despite what had happened, there was still a chance left for them to pull through. But, after all that had happened? Three of their group came too close to dying. Kurama was by far the most dangerous out of all of them. Not only that, the remaining escapees were getting more brazen.

For a few moments later, everything was quiet. Corey finally looked directly over to where everyone was sitting. No one looked like they could go on. In fact, even John wasn’t quite himself. John, the very person who had reached out to him when he’d had doubts, was now looking defeated himself. It took a while for it to sink in, but when it did, a cold wave of… terror, he assumed, went through him.

Have they, Corey fretted, raising one of his fingers towards his mouth, unable to believe what he was seeing, what he was hearing, have they all given up?

“If Norma could have forced the gates of Tartarus open on her own,” Twilight said, “What could she do with the Elements?”

“No… no!” Rainbow said, slamming one fist on the table, “T-this can’t be it!” Even she didn’t sound convinced of herself.

“W-was everything for nothing?” Pinkie asked.

T-this isn’t right… Corey twitched in his seat a bit, resisting the urge to make any noise just yet. Sooner or later, someone would eventually manage to pull through here, right?

“I don’t know, Pinkie,” said Twilight, “I just… don’t know…”

We haven’t lost yet… Corey leaned on one arm.

“There’s so much I have left to do!” Rarity cried. While this was certainly normal under the best of circumstances, the fact it took her this long to say it was what made the statement have weight, enough to leave everyone silent once again.

This isn’t over… Corey rose from his seat slowly, unnoticed by everyone else in the room for the moment.

“There has to be a way…” Twilight strained, trying every possible thought that came to her, but there was none.

This isn’t over.

“There just has to…”

This isn’t over!

“Where do we go from here?” Twilight asked, turning to the group. She hadn’t noticed that Corey had stood up, “Someone… please… give me an idea…”

Corey wasn’t even aware of when his thought turned to words. Up until that moment, he hadn’t even been aware he’d moved closer to the group. Yet, the sudden realization didn’t stop him from finishing the thought.

“We do what we’ve always done,” Corey said. Everyone looked at him as though they’d just realized he was even there, “We fight back.”

There was a heavy silence again. John stood up, turning to address Corey himself.

“Corey,” Corey turned to see John, who still didn’t look convinced, “You can’t be serious… Don’t you know what’s going on at all?”

“I do,” said Corey, turning slightly, “But I’d rather die than give up…”

“Are you even listening to yourself?” Twilight asked, “You were close to doing that already!”

“I know I sound crazy right now, but I don’t care,” Corey said, “I’ve seen so many things since coming here, and I’ve been told a lot of things you’ve done. And what I got from all that? This isn’t the first time you’ve had these Element things stolen!” The whole time he spoke, he paced, looking around at everyone, “Even now, you haven’t had to use them so far! All the prisoners so far we’ve beaten in the end, no matter how bleak things seemed! We did that because we fought together! Sure, things look bad now, and yeah, a few of us cut it close, but that’s it! We haven’t died! We lived to see tomorrow!

“So what’s different now?” Corey stopped in his tracks, looking back and forth between John and the others, “Why can’t we rise to the occasion one more time?”

“We may have dealt with some stuff before, but not like this,” said Applejack, “Norma, whoever she is, threw us into somethin’ she calls a game, all for her enjoyment. Lives don’t even matter to her…”

“I haven’t dealt with anything like this before either. In fact, I haven’t even had to deal with this stuff, period, before,” Corey said, “I won’t lie. These past days have been the most terrifying days I’ve had. And every time something happens, I’m always thinking about the worst.”

“And what? That’s suddenly changed?” John asked.

“No, it hasn’t,” Corey said, “But I’m not letting it control me anymore. I’m going to keep going until all this is done.”

“But we might not even have the strength for it!” Rainbow said, “The guys who attacked us had us on the ropes, from what I’ve heard! And that’s not even getting into how strong Norma is! She’s strong enough to have them under her thumb, but that’s all we know!”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Corey said, “But you’re looking at someone who didn’t even know about runes, magic or runic magic! I know a couple of you have had similar problems—a lack of power, but now we’re all able to contribute, to get even stronger! All we need to do is to grow, to adapt one more time, and we’ll meet this challenge!”

A small sense of relief entered the room. At least, until one last consideration came up.

“That’s all true, Corey,” Twilight said, “But there’s just one small issue… time. With the Elements in their hands, they could attack at any minute. Whatever’s kept them from attacking so far, I don’t know, but it might be gone now. Even if we were given a set amount of time to prepare, what’s stopping them from launching another surprise attack?”

Again, the reality hit like a ton of bricks. Corey paused, stumped.

“That’s right. We do need time…” Corey said, “And probably a lot more of it than we’ve gotten before. But how are we going to get Norma to just back off?”

The sound of motion got everyone’s heads to turn. John stood up as well, and walked towards them. There was a new spring in his step. It definitely hadn’t fully returned, but he looked a bit better than he’d looked before.

“That, I think I know,” John said, “We simply call in a time-out.”

Norma stood in her chambers, watching as the last of her screens went away. With things the way they were, there really was no need to keep up spying any longer. The book was back in her hands, secured firmly under her arm. The Elements of Harmony were stored elsewhere in the caves, kept for her later demonstration. At last, a few screens were all that remained, and they observed the interior of Canterlot Castle.

“Just you wait, Princess Celestia,” said Norma, “Wait until you see what I’ve got…”

“Who would have guessed the Elements of Harmony, their only superweapon, was stored away in a library?” asked Storm Claw, “A bold move, but I wonder… why were they kept there?”

“I can’t say for sure,” said Kronos.

“Very nice find, though,” said Norma, continuing to watch the screens, “With the Elements in our grasp, there’s no need to drag things out any longer.”

“Then…?” Storm Claw asked.

“You may be getting your rematch sooner than you anticipated,” said Norma, slowly looking over her remaining pieces, “The same goes for you, too…”

Slayer, still in the healing orb, floated along. He didn’t say anything in response, just continued to be silent.

“Not very talkative after what happened, huh?” asked Storm Claw, “I don’t understand how that unicorn gave him so much trouble…”

Slayer snarled in his orb. “When I get done with that ‘Corey’—“

“Temper, temper,” said Norma, “Save it for after your victory.”

A silence hung over the chamber, as Norma sneered back at the screens.

“Your peace is about to crumble, Princesses,” Norma said, “At sunset, you, and your pawns, will understand the end is nigh!”

This time, when everyone left, it wasn’t to relax, but to once again prepare for the inevitable confrontation. Whether or not the plan would work remained to be seen. Once again, Corey found himself back in regular clothes. And once again, he was back in the study room. At this point, all chance of relaxing had vanished once again. Corey was still pacing, his nerves firing on all cylinders.

It probably comes down to this, thought Corey, If this works, then we’ll get some extra time. But there’s no guarantee that Norma’s going to back off. Then there’s what I’m going to have to do during that time…

His left shoulder twitched near-painlessly, his subconscious reminding him of his own plans before the final battle began. In fact, that was all that passed over him, a subconscious memory. Corey paused mid-step, feeling confused. Something in his memory called to him each time he’d ruminated on the plan, and only now did he really stop to think on what all it could have been.

I haven’t felt so… resolved… in a while, Corey thought, looking out the window. It wasn’t too much longer until sunset came, I’m nervous, but not just for what’s to come from here. Why do I already have some kind of prep in mind when I don’t even know if I’m going to get the time for it?

“Corey?”

Corey’s concentration broke, and he turned. Twilight had appeared in the doorway, back in her usual attire.

“Somehow,” Twilight said, “I had a feeling you’d be in here.”

“It’s where I did most of my thinking since all this started,” Corey took a few steps towards her now. Twilight walked towards him as well. It was only now Corey focused again completely and realized she had a somewhat warm look on her face.

“We’ve all got a lot to think about right now,” Twilight said, shaking her head, “This is probably the last time we’ll have time for it, either way.”

“Too true, too true,” Corey nodded, “It all comes down to whether or not John pulls through on his end. He’s given it his all before, but I don’t think he’s ever gone toe-to-toe with a sadist of any kind.”

“He seemed sure that he could,” Twilight said, “And I’m going to believe in him.”

“So am I,” Corey said, “So am I.”

Twilight tilted her head, as though Corey had said something odd. However, she sighed a little bit. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, considering what happened to you. But I’m still wondering…how?”

“How…?” Corey parroted, scratching one cheek.

“How you came out of nightmares that were designed to hone in on your worst fears and bring them to life…” Twilight said, “It’s very hard to imagine you came out of all that better than you did before. But…but…”

Twilight fidgeted awkwardly in place, and Corey stepped forward in response, wondering what would be the appropriate gesture only after he got within arm’s length of her. Twilight responded for him, pulling him into a tight hug, which Corey reciprocated after a moment’s worth of surprise.

“I...I’m glad you somehow came out of it,” Twilight said, “You gave us hope when we thought we’d lost it, when we needed it the most! I’m…I’m happy to see you’re not hurting anymore…that you’ve found a light yourself. One you can believe in…”

Corey’s mind went into automatic. He blinked, his subconscious fully able to reach far into the back of his mind. He closed his eyes for just a moment, but a flash of memory hit him. A dark tunnel with a light…a hand on his shoulder…a meditation room or something—

“Seek out the light! Let it guide you to who you really are inside!”

“Light… light!?” Corey’s mind recoiled in shock. Twilight’s body did the same as she pulled herself away from him now, looking him in the face. His eyes were distant, staring off into space. His body started to tremble a bit.

“Corey?” Twilight asked, “Corey, are you okay?”

Corey’s ear flicked a bit, and he shook his head a bit, coming out of the haze that had passed over him. His ears folded down. The chance encounter, the early wakeup, what had happened to him? It all added up to one thing.

“Twilight…” Corey said, “I don’t think John’s the one who saved me…”

“W-what are you talking about, Corey?” Twilight asked, blinking in shock, “H-he defeated Kurama, he ended his curse…”

“But I woke up a whole day before Rarity or Rainbow managed it. I was the first one of us,” Corey said, “Yet the only thing I remembered was jolting awake to find it…but now I think I know what happened to me.”

“T-then… please, tell me,” Twilight said.

“I… I think I was saved by…by Esper Wisdom himself,” Corey said, running one hand down one side of his face. Twilight blinked, the name ringing a bell.

“The owner of the book?” Twilight asked, “But… isn’t he…Aren’t all of the ponies listed in the back of the book…”

“I thought the same,” Corey said, “But Esper—if it was him, anyway—he seemed to be in a rush. He yanked me from the depths of despair, and managed to remind me of why I’d even bothered doing anything. He’s probably the reason I’ve come to terms with everything… and the reason I’m alive right now…”

Twilight felt a chill run down her spine. The implications of all this sent her mind spinning. Was magic like this even possible? How could Esper still be alive? And if it was really him, or even if it wasn’t, how had he been able to rescue Corey from a curse she couldn’t break? Had he managed to rescue Corey just before he… well… succumbed? Corey hardly sounded like he believed it himself. When she considered the circumstances of it all, it seemed to add up, but still…

“I guess I shouldn’t second-guess miracles so much,” Twilight shook her head, mildly smiling.

“It was weird, though,” Corey said, once again spacing off, “He managed to remind of why I chose to fight in the first place, but…”

“But what?” Twilight asked.

“He said one more thing before sending me back to… to my body,” Corey paused, not really believing it himself, “He told me to ‘seek out the light’, and let it guide me.”

“What did he mean by that?”

“He didn’t really say…” Corey said, “But… but!”

A second memory returned to him. The whole reason the message existed in the first place.

“You remembered something else?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, I did…” Corey nodded, “I… I know why I got the message that sent us here to begin with, the message that started all this…”

Twilight and Corey released each other, looking to one another.

“Esper…no, Esper, and several others from the sound of it… They needed help!”

It was time for sunset once again. Sleep wasn’t on Celestia’s mind this time. She’d heard reports of the attack on Ponyville, and more or less what had happened. Though everything had seemed to work out in the end, she couldn’t shake the helplessness and anger that boiled every now and again under the surface, only fully expressing itself ever so often. Her hands had been tied since this all began.

It was the same for her sister, who was currently elsewhere, maintaining the lockdown in Tartarus to ensure there were no further escapes. So, currently, just like it had been for a thousand years of her life, it was her that cycled the day and night on her own. Whether or not it was the prisoners’ leader’s intent to remind her of that time of her life, it didn’t change the memories that ever so often would sneak up on her.

The sun finally completed its arch, guided by her magic. There was a brief pause, before the night sky began to show up. Celestia’s magic color did not change, her horn continuing to flare as the moon rose in place of the sun. As soon as the night sky filled with stars, Celestia paused.

Be safe, sister, she thought to herself, just as she did each night and each day. Her ear flicked in response to a faint scratching noise, and she turned on instinct, already knowing what was coming.

“Little do you realize,” said a voice Celestia knew all too well; that filtered voice had mocked her at every turn, and today was no exception, “The sun is setting on more than just Equestria tonight.”

Celestia was not surprised by what she saw. A small rat made out of what looked like clay scurried into view, and produced a hologram of the leader, whose name was “Norma” at the very least. Their hood was still up, but it was easy enough to see the sneer underneath it.

“Care to elaborate?” asked Celestia, trying her hardest to mask her fear. Norma remained utterly composed, and gave a small nod to her left at someone unseen.

“Shall we have a look at the board?” Norma asked, lifting her hand. A panel appeared behind her, a video feed from earlier today. Celestia blinked as she registered that she was looking at the inside of Golden Oaks, where everyone looked positively defeated. Yet, they were all alive, not one looked as though they were going to keel over in an instant…

What happened? Celestia thought.

“Your pawns, though still alive, hardly resemble what they were,” Norma said. An unseen being entered from Norma’s left, something concealed in his arm. Norma extended her hands out to her sides, her sneer growing as she floated six very important things in an arch above her: the Elements of Harmony. Celestia’s heart sank.

“Those…How did you get those?” Celestia asked, trying very hard not to raise her voice to draw alarm from the standing guards. The last thing she needed was for widespread panic to start.

“During the raid, of course,” Norma said matter-of-factly, levitating them out of sight, “I’ll enjoy keeping these trinkets for myself once this is all over, and it will be over soon. After all, that was the one thing that stopped me from attacking all-out until now. And they’re now in my hands.

“I could strike at any moment from any location, and you’ll have naught but your broken pieces to play. And one by one, they’ll be struck down!” Norma swept her hands downward to emphasize.

Celestia stood, transfixed. She had a point. Norma was correct here. There were still options she had left, but at this point, would it even work? The enemy’s leader had single-handedly wrenched open the gates herself, and that was likely when she was still at her weakest. Somehow or other, she had convinced the other breakouts to work for her, likely under threat of death, given what happened to the “pieces” of hers that failed.

Norma paused for a moment. “Unless of course, you’d choose to surrender now. Maybe I’ll spare them, keep them as my prize as well. Something to always remind myself and anyone who dare stand against me of what the end result will be.”

Celestia bit her tongue. Surrender wasn’t an option here either.

“What?” Norma asked, “No remark? No retort to my generous offer? I’m giving you the chance to save them, so they can live on as my personal playthings…”

Again, nothing. However, this time it wasn’t because Celestia didn’t have a retort. It was because she was distracted by something. The leader’s face—what little she saw of it—contorted in confusion.

“Lady, you have some problems.”

How John had crept up on the scene, neither of them knew. The rat turned, allowing Norma to regard the newcomer. As the hologram turned, Celestia could have sworn that for a few moments that her jaw had seemed to slacken ever so slightly.

“You and I need to have a talk…” John said, stepping forward completely.

Author's Note

And here we go. Not much else to say, I guess.

Act 3 Chapter 46

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 46: Our Respective Paths

Corey had remained on the balcony after John departed. He still couldn’t believe what the name of the one who almost killed him turned out to be. However, he hadn’t dwelled on it for long. With John having returned to the others, Corey stared out into space once again. His thoughts began to swim back to him; specifically, the memories of what he assumed was a vision.

He said to seek out the light, Corey thought, Just what did he mean by that?

Esper Wisdom was a pony from millennia ago, for sure. Corey knew that if he had somehow encountered the real deal when he’d had that vision, then he had made contact with an expert on runic magic. It would be easier to figure out what he meant if he’d still had the book, Corey realized. He didn’t now, so all he had to go on was his thoughts.

The light… the light… Corey continued to think on it further. His gaze turned from Ponyville to the sky above. It was night out; the stars and moon gleamed brightly in the light. The night, while no longer associated with nightmares, was still pretty dark. Below, he could see lights from ponies that had yet to go to bed, households that had yet to go still for the night.

The light… Could he have meant the sun? Corey thought, freezing as the idea struck him. Or rather, the one who moves it?

Corey’s gaze lowered until he was staring straight out towards the horizon. Was that what Esper meant? Seek out Princess Celestia? The description “the light” fit, but how long was Celestia really the ruler? At least a thousand years. That couldn’t have been far back enough to when runic magic was still around, right?

But it’s also the only thing that makes any sense, Corey reasoned, She’s the one in control of the sun. Light, in other words. If night is dark, wouldn’t day be the light?

He continued to look out into the distance, his head slowly scanning around random locations. It made sense, but only because it was the only possible conclusion. As he continued to think over his newfound conclusion, his gaze fell on the library and stuck there. His mind returned him further and further back in time, to the day he first arrived in Equestria.

The day he’d met Princess Celestia face-to-face, due to a series of misunderstandings.

In the situation I was in, I was unbelievably nervous. No, scared. I didn’t know what would happen, now that she’d arrived. With all the various misunderstandings, things didn’t look good. But she was just as kind as I thought she’d be. When she appeared… all my fears vanished. Bit-by-bit, as I explained the situation to her. By the end of it, I’d felt…relaxed. In fact, at the time, it was the most relaxed I’d felt in a while…

Corey paused, realizing something. Like a warm light, to a cold, piercing darkness…

Corey stopped leaning on the railing, standing up to walk back inside. Worth a shot, at the very least…

Corey wasn’t entirely sure of what was going to happen once he asked. All he knew was, he had to ask. He trudged through the hallways of the castle, letting his gut instincts guide him through the castle. It wasn’t long before he was right back where he started. However, as he passed the door to the throne room, he realized something was off. The doors were wide open, exposing the inside. Most of the others were still there, chattering to themselves about something; Corey was a bit too far away to make out any specific details of the conversation. However, he could plainly see something—or rather, someone, was missing.

Not there, huh? Corey thought, walking past the door frame. No one seemed to notice him when he paused there. As he slowly surveyed the inside of the room, trying to see if perhaps she was just out of frame, his ear twitched as he registered something. He wasn’t quite sure if he imagined it, but he heard something…shifting. Confused, Corey turned around, not seeing what was going on at first. Then, he happened to look down.

The smooth surface of the floor appeared to be shifting in place. The guards nearby took notice, one of them letting out a slightly unamused grunt.

“I hope he puts it back this time…” another guard complained.

Corey blinked, trying not to process what he was just told. If this was helping him, then it was going to help him. He took in a deep breath, part of his subconscious aware he was essentially doing a trust fall at this point, and proceeded to follow the arrow. As he did so, more of the floor began to shift, forming more arrows that guided him through hallways.

He slowly followed the laid-out path, picking up the pace after a few moments. He didn’t seem to be being lead in circles, nor towards any overt shenanigans of any kind. Maybe the castle was responding to his need again, but that didn’t seem likely—his runes had not gone off once. Was it really possible?

Before he could really expand on that question further, however, Corey stopped, standing just over an arrow in front of a slightly ajar door. Corey looked inside, and saw a very familiar flowing mane within. Taking a deep breath, Corey clenched his hands. Swallowing a bit of nervousness, Corey stepped forward, raising one hand to push the door open.

The door creaked loudly as Corey pushed in, but he only halted for one moment as he walked inside. Naturally, since she heard the noise, Princess Celestia looked up, startled at the sudden intrusion. However, once she saw who it was, she merely blinked in surprise, once, then twice.

“Of all the ponies that would have pushed the door open without knocking, you weren’t the first pony that came to mind,” she remarked, looking slightly down back to a stack of papers that Corey only realized was there. Off to Celestia’s left, another, open piece of parchment was floating.

The first thing that was on Corey’s mind? “I forgot to knock.”

“Please don’t get discouraged, I’m sure you had a reason,” Celestia proceeded to look over the parchment and the stack of papers, adding in a much quieter tone, “Besides, hardly the worst manners I’ve seen… now let’s see… Did I get everything?”

Corey took a couple of steps forward, making sure to shut the door behind him. How was he going to word any of this? The vision he’d had? The light thing he may or may not have correctly concluded? The fact he did need teaching?

“You know,” Celestia said, and Corey’s thoughts froze instantly, “I am quite surprised at this request Pinkie Pie made.”

Corey blinked. Was that what the other paper was? “What… what about it?”

“It’s something I’ve not seen before, and requires quite a few resources,” Celestia said, “I merely have to set out these orders and she’ll have what she needs.”

“Believe me when I say this,” The next two words sounded really awkward coming out of his mouth, but he didn’t stop now, “Princess Celestia, but she’s made quite a few things I’ve seen before, back where I came from.”

The memory of the initial scare he and John got when they saw Pinkie’s grenade came back to Corey at that point. Looking back, he still couldn’t believe it.

“Really, now?” Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow, “I wonder if you’ve ever seen something like this? I’d show you, but I’m sure you know by now how Pinkie Pie gets about surprises.”

There was a brief pause, before she spoke up again. “However, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if she can manage to put this together before the month is out.”

Yet another brief pause, Corey taking one last chance to collect his thoughts. This was it.

“Though I’m sure you didn’t walk in here to talk just about that,” she said, finishing up with the papers in front of her, “Was there something you wanted as well?”

“Y-yes!” Corey stood up slightly straighter once again, taking in one last deep breath, “I do have a request. Princess Celestia, please… t-teach me, for the next month?”

“Teach you?” Celestia asked.

“Yes,” Corey said, “I may at least have physical training, but I’m still untrained overall. I may have the magical ability now, but I still can’t control it, even with Twilight’s help. So…”

Celestia’s magic coiled up Pinkie’s scroll and safely set it off to the side as she stood up. “I understand what you want. And over the years, I have taught dozens of ponies. I can teach you as well…”

“Wait…” Corey said, “Maybe… maybe ‘teach’ wasn’t the right word. I do need help with control. But I never learned it through tutoring. Every time I reached a breakthrough, it was because my body physically forced itself to produce the results I needed. ‘Teach’… why did I say it like that?”

“Then… tell me, what do you mean?” asked Celestia, her voice suggesting that she already knew.

“When…” Corey said, “When was the last time you trained someone…for a war?”

At this, Celestia slowly began to walk out from behind her desk, her expression now stern. “I understand now. But I want you to understand what it is you just asked as well.”

Only when she was away from her desk did she keep speaking, standing straight up as well. Corey instantly was reminded once again of how tall she was compared to the others. She wasn’t as tall as John, probably not even Big Mac, but she definitely had at least a few inches on most ponies he’d met.

“I am not connected to the sun simply by name, but by potential. I have heard it before,” said Celestia, “That my presence, much like the sun, beams a ray of warmth to those who stand below it. But if left unchecked, even that gentle glow can become something to fear.”

Corey blinked. Celestia’s horn had barely flickered, and the temperature in the room seemed to increase ever so slightly. A second blink, and Corey could see the faintest traces of a fire around the sun princess’s form. A mere few seconds later, the flame went outwards, coating Princess Celestia in its aura entirely. The temperature swelled a bit more as Corey felt himself starting to sweat just a little.

“My magic, while under control, still has the potential to harm those around me,” Celestia continued, “If I were allow it to slip, even for a moment, it could very well harm you as well.”

Corey’s eyes snapped open, though the heat had yet to abate. That definitely sounded familiar to him. Only, in his case, the fire wasn’t… like this. Yet, it still had the same quality of one that was poorly tended. For a while now, he’d tried and tried to get it under control with no success. And now…

And now someone who could teach me, show me how to is standing right in front of me. Someone who’s controlled it for centuries, never visibly losing control... not even when confronted with real evil.

Seemingly unknowing of his epiphany, Celestia continued, “Are you prepared for something like that?”

Corey finally corrected his posture, even taking another step closer, feeling the heat increase slightly as he did so. As soon as she saw this, Celestia immediately started to reign herself back in.

With the temperature in the room cooling off, Corey found it in him to speak, “You’ve managed to control something I only dreamed of controlling. A fire inside of me that can… and has, hurt those around me.”

Corey’s hand unconsciously went to his chest as he felt himself relive that feeling of uncontrolled anger. It was never pretty, but if he could get through this, it wouldn’t matter anymore.

“You are exactly who I need to help me to control the fire,” Corey said, “Maybe… maybe that’s what he meant…”

“‘He’?” Celestia asked, “Who are you talking about?”

“Esper… Esper Wisdom,” Corey said.

Celestia blinked, her face contorting as she tried to search through her memory for anypony she knew that had that name.

“He wrote the book we found out in the Everfree Forest,” Corey said, “I don’t know how he did it, but he… he sort of saved me. I had suffered through a curse for so long I’d forgotten everything. He reached out… and talked to me…”

“Magic is certainly a strange force, especially runic magic,” Celestia said, “I feel like I have heard the name before, but...”

She paused, realizing something. “Yet…there’s something else I also don’t understand. You have lived in this world for a very short time, and yet twice now you’ve uncovered names that by all rights no one should know.”

Celestia studied him intently. “What did this ‘Esper’ tell you to do, exactly?”

“He told me to seek out the light,” Corey said.

Celestia blinked. A memory of days so far gone from her returned. She did not fully remember who said it to her, but she never truly forgot what they said.

“One day, you will become the light of this world, and someday, there will be those who seek your guidance. Be sure not to shy away from them…”

“I guess you found ‘the light’, then,” Celestia said, “I must warn you now. With time so short, and with us no doubt having no time to cover things in detail, I’m afraid I cannot go easy on you.”

“That’s fine,” Corey said, nodding as he closed his eyes. It hasn’t been easy since I got here in the first place…

John had managed to joke not long ago, even bring himself to laugh for a short while. But that moment was fleeting. Now, he could feel himself sinking back down. Try as he might, he couldn’t push Kurama out of his mind for very long, and when it finally hit him, it hit hard.

“Dammit,” John hissed as he stared down at his shaking hand. The very hand that not only ended the battle, but ended another life. Even now that it was clean and had been for quite a while now, he could still see blood on it. He had been like this since he awoke, one moment he could be fine, smiling, enjoying the company of others.

But then, at any given moment, the bitter chill of what he’d done would wash over him once again. He would then be locked in battle with his own mind, trying desperately to ease himself, to convince himself that he shouldn’t feel this way. It was a hard battle, one never won, only stalled until the next moment. To this point, there had only been one thing that could make the trembles stop. Unfortunately, he was void of that contact, or so he thought.

“There you are,” John could feel two arms wrap around his neck, holding him gently. The result was almost instant, the trembling chill of his hands overtaken by the new warmth that held him.

“Thank you, Rainbow,” John said closing his eyes, letting out a small sigh.

“Glad I could help,” Rainbow had seen the moments when John would lose control of his nerves, when his body trembled. Fortunately for him, she seemed to be able to stop them, even if it was just for a short time. And while more than happy with helping him through it, it didn’t help that he wandered off each time his moments hit.

“So what are you gonna do now?” Rainbow asked. By now, all but two of the group had made their plans for the month known. The other two were still making up their minds at this point.

“I’m not sure,” said John, “I could go back and train with Luna. She did help me once already, after all. But some part of me thinks I need to try something different, to branch out this time. As much as she helped me last time, she could only really teach me how to fight… well, like a pony.”

“And that’s not what you are,” Rainbow said.

John nodded. He had tried to integrate his draconic abilities into his fights: claws, fire breath, but only when he felt each could be used. But that was it, he didn’t know how other dragons fought.

And the only way I could find out is if I… John’s eyes opened slightly, an idea taking form until…

“There you are!”

At the sound of the voice, Rainbow jumped and stepped away from John, her face flushed. The two of them quickly turned around to see Pinkie with her hands to her hips and tapping her foot.

“Oh, Pinkie, what’s up?” Rainbow asked.

“What’s up is that I had to search all over for you two,” Walking up to them, she began to quite effortlessly pull them along with her, “We can’t start until everyone is there!”

“Start what?”

Pinkie paused and let out a gasp, looking back at them as if they should have already known the answer.

“The party, of course!”

Everyone involved, even Celestia, was gathered in the castle’s dining room. They were all enjoying each other’s company in the party that Pinkie had prepared in secret. Most would say this was no time for a party and that any and all festivities could wait for when this was all over. For those in the room, though, this was more welcomed than anything. After today, these friends who had stood by each other’s side for this game would soon part and go their separate ways. So right now, they talked, they laughed, treating this night like any other night as though the whole crisis hadn’t hit yet.

“I’m telling ya, I’m gonna be so fast after this the Wonderbolts will beg me to join them,” Rainbow gloated as per the norm. Rarity and Applejack simply rolled their eyes.

“Yes, darling, then you’ll marry Applejack like she’s always dreamed,” Drinking her cider with an unamused look, Applejack wrapped her arm around Rarity and pulled her in hard for a headlock.

“K-kidding,” Rarity said, tapping on Applejack’s forearm and trying to pull herself free, “I was kidding!”

Rainbow couldn’t help but laugh at Rarity’s expense.

“Do it again, do it again!” Pinkie laughed as she bounced in place in front of Fluttershy. She gave a small sigh and looked to Pinkie, staring at her with her usual gentle eyes. But then, her eyes shifted in an instant, her other side taking over and her eyes looking more hardened. Pinkie’s reaction was to grab at her sides and laugh as she fell to the floor.

“Okay, I draw the line here,” Fluttercruel said, pointing at Pinkie, but she continued to laugh. Cruel let out a small sigh before turning to the table. She was out now. She might as well get a drink.

Oh come now, she’s not that bad, Shy said in their head.

“Yeah, well… she still bugs me,” Cruel heard her gentler side giggle lightly.

You’ll get used to it, you’ll have plenty of time to get to know her, Cruel didn’t respond, simply downing her drink. But as she pulled the cup away, she couldn’t hide the small smile that appeared.

“Axe, spear, her hand…” John, meanwhile, was filling Celestia in on the various scars that Luna managed to give him while she trained him, “Blasted me in the back when I wasn’t looking,” John turned and pointed on the large one with his tail, “Passed out when I got that one.”

His casual tone did little to offset Celestia’s shock. She looked slightly horrified at the amount of damage he’d taken.

“Luna never really had much of a grasp on holding back,” she said.

“I don’t know, the results were worth it,” John said, flexing his muscles. Behind him, unknown to him, Rainbow stared at him as he did so.

“Seems everyone’s having fun,” Corey observed. He and Twilight were sitting off to the side watching everyone’s antics. Pinkie was trying to get Fluttercruel to dance. Rarity was putting Rainbow on blast, having caught her staring. John, still completely oblivious to that, was telling Celestia a tale that was clearly worrying her, her eyes opening wide. It was like the crisis had already ended without a trace.

“Considering what we’ve been through and what’s to come, I’d say we earned one night to remember what ‘fun’ feels like,” said Twilight. That was why they were there, after all. But she still looked worried, “There’s no telling what could happen in the future.”

Corey looked at Twilight with furrowed brows. Then, he looked down to her hand and gulped, already second-guessing himself. He managed to muster enough courage to place his hand over hers after a few seconds. Twilight quickly looked down at the contact. Seeing Corey’s hand caused her to start blushing.

“I… I can’t really say much about the future. But I do know the past. The things you’ve overcome with your friends and… and the things we’ve overcome together.”

Corey paused, trying to collect his thoughts a bit more as Twilight stared at him.

“What I’m trying to say is, we have no reason to think that we won’t win in the end. Because, while we don’t have the Elements, we do have what’s always been there: each other,” His words seemed to hit Twilight hard, her look of worry seemingly being banished and replaced with a smile. Soon enough, she started to laugh.

“You’re right,” she said, “Hard to believe I didn’t see that.” The two continued to sit there for a while in silence. Soon enough, Twilight decided it was his turn to make a move and began to pull at Corey’s arms.

“Come on, let’s dance,” she said. Corey immediately looked fearful.

“Um, I-I’m not much of a dancer,” He tried to say.

Twilight giggled. “Oh, I could tell you stories, but that doesn’t matter. We’re here to have some fun, and we can’t do that sitting down.”

Soon Corey couldn’t resist Twilight’s pull any longer, and he allowed her to lead him to the dance floor. She was right. This was a party. He might as well enjoy himself.

After tonight, it would be a long time before he could again.

All parties eventually come to a close, even ones thrown by Pinkie. It was quite a few hours into the night, and the others were preparing themselves for bed. For better or for worse, they would wake up tomorrow morning and begin their first day of training. Among their ranks was one who couldn’t wait for the sun to rise in the morning. He stood at the balcony of the castle, staring off into the distance.

“I see you actually decided to tell someone this time,” Corey said, walking up behind him, told in advance where and when to meet John, “Does anyone else know you’re leaving this time?” It wasn’t an unreasonable question. The last time John left he hadn’t left much notice. Their only source of information had been Rainbow, who had managed to find him before he could leave.

“To be honest, I hadn’t even known until recently,” John said, “Didn’t know what I was going to do or where I would go. But a small talk with Rainbow made that clear to me, and now I know exactly what I’ll do,” Turning around, John held out a parchment and allowed Corey to take it. Corey looked it over for a few seconds before finding the area circled. It was an island, a large one far removed from Equestrian territory.

“Is that…”

“Yeah,” John cut in, taking back the map and putting it in his pocket, “It may be a little risky and a lot crazy, but I can’t see myself going anywhere else. I can’t imagine any other way to produce results.” A strong gust of wind blew past them and John opened his wings to feel it flow through them.

“You’re not the only one who had a crazy idea, I can tell you that,” said Corey, “But I guess crazy just works for us, huh?” John chuckled. There was no way to deny that.

“Well, we won’t see each other for a month. You’ll be the last friend I see before I leave, so how about you be the first I see when I get back,” Turning back to Corey, John held out his hand, “One month from now, we’ll meet here, then we’ll see how much we’ve grown in that time.”

Corey held out his own without a second thought. “Deal.”

In that moment, Corey felt John’s grip tighten slightly. Looking up, he could see John smirking. Corey returned it quickly, his hand glowing with runes as his own grip strengthened to match John’s.

“Until then,” Releasing his grip John waved one final goodbye before jumping off the balcony and flying off into the horizon. Corey watched him with arms crossed, a sudden surge of energy hitting him now. It was now that he understood John’s resolve better. Taking up a stance, Corey took in a deep breath, and allowed himself to relax. His whole body glowed with his runes.

Every second counts.

Author's Note

And there we have it. The next chapter's the last of Act 3. Next time, we see how everyone chooses to spend their month. And...that's probably it. Stay tuned next week for the last chapter. Hope you're enjoying this ride so far. There's still hope at the end of it all.

Act 3 Chapter 47

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 47: The First Day

John flew well into the night and most of the next morning, flying as fast as he could muster without tiring himself out. Spanning past miles of ocean and seeing creatures he’d never thought possible, John finally saw his destination coming close in the distance.

“Finally,” John picked up the pace, reaching the coastline in a matter of seconds. Finally, he came to land on top of the mountain’s tip. As he stood there, staring off into the distance, the sight John could see was anything but welcoming.

Several active volcanoes could be seen, their black smog causing powerful thunderstorms in their wake. On the ground were several pools of lava, some parts seeming to have been hit by bombs judging by the size of the craters. But John knew differently, something else caused them, something alive.

But visuals weren’t the only intimidating thing about this island, it was also what he heard, what he felt. Roars with unseen sources echoed all around him, the ground trembled at every moment, footsteps, battles of giants, it didn’t matter because both had huge implications. And yet, as he stared on what would have had anyone else pissing their pants where they stood, John couldn’t shake a feeling inside of him. This was Devil’s Eye, the land where dragons made their home. It was a vast, almost endless island. All of its dangers were told to him by the maps John used to get here.

But despite the warnings, despite the obvious risk of coming here and the dangers he would face in doing so. This place, though the first time he’d ever seen it, felt like home.

“The best way to learn how to be a dragon is to live among them,” From behind him, several shadowed figures started to close in on him.

“Looks like someone’s ventured into our territory,” John turned, some were smaller than himself, others, to his surprised, were even bigger, “If you want out, you’ll have to pay the toll.”

John pulled out his empty pockets, finding and odd enjoyment of the feeling of a shakedown, reminded him of his world.

“Sorry fellas, but I’m tapped out,” he said casually. The dragons began to surround him. That clearly wasn’t what they wanted to hear.

Well John, you wanted to learn from them, John took up a stance, brandishing his claws just as the others around him did, Looks like you’ll need to be a fast learner.

Morning had arrived in Ponyville as well. The light of the sun, a signal for a new day, burned brightly in the sky above. Everyone had made up their minds and found resolve to continue on towards the final battle. In one of the areas close to Ponyville, an area normally avoided by many of the civilians, Twilight had chosen her and Rarity’s training arena.

“I must say, Twilight,” Rarity said, “I am surprised you would choose the Everfree, but of all places in the Everfree, why here?”

The two were in a clearing that was fairly deep within the forest. They were surrounded on all sides by thick shrubbery, and this place was a ways off from the dirt path. Towards the center was a small pond, into which a waterfall flowed from above. There was a small river flowing out of the pond to the bottom.

Twilight turned to Rarity. “Do you remember when Trixie came back to town?”

“Oh, I do,” Rarity said, “I remember you said something about practicing with Zecora for a time?”

“That’s just it,” Twilight said, “Up until I realized confronting Trixie with brute force alone was going to do no good, she’d taught me something. It wasn’t much, but for her, it was a basic exercise.”

“I do not believe ‘basic’ is what we need, Twilight,” Rarity said, “Did Zecora teach you anything else?”

“She might have, at the time, if Trixie hadn’t been using an evil artifact we simply had to trick her into removing,” Twilight said, “I did make sure to ask her about it before setting out, to see if she’d offer me any hints about what to do.”

“Did she say anything?” Rarity asked.

Twilight paused, before smiling. “I think I have what I needed. If I don’t, she said she’d give us any help we needed. Zecora did not like what she heard when I explained the situation in full.”

“That’s very good to hear,” Rarity said, “So then, the exercise…”

“Of course,” Twilight said, sighing, “Like I said, it was just a simple exercise, but it’s going to form the basis of what we’re doing out here.”

Twilight walked towards the edge of the pond before coming to a stop. She did have wings now, but the training was only going to work if she kept them closed and did not rely on them whatsoever. She took in a deep breath, calming her mind before her horn began to light up. She took a single step forward.

Rarity gasped. The Everfree water wasn’t good for fabrics. But before she could vocalize her concerns, she saw Twilight’s foot make contact with the surface of the water. Rarity could only look on as Twilight continued her way forward towards the center of the pond with slow, sure steps.

“First…” Twilight kept her breathing as steady as she could, “You need to focus your magic, allowing you to walk on the water’s surface like it was solid. Then…” Twilight focused a bit harder, and Rarity’s jaw started to unhinge as small bubbles began to float from the surface, three in total, held in Twilight’s magic, “You hold water, just like this. Conceptually, it’s simple, but believe me…”

Twilight released the water as she began to walk towards the shore again, letting it drop back to the pond’s surface. “It’s not easy in practice.”

“This…” Rarity gaped, “This is what Zecora was having you do?”

“It wasn’t much, but I did apply some of this where I could after that incident,” Twilight said, “But I guess there’s no real substitute for the real thing. This will be our warm up, of sorts. We’ll move on from there. But for now, we’re going to try to float as much of the pond as we can while we stand on the surface.”

Rarity stared towards the pond water, really not liking the idea of falling in. She lightly swiped her hand through a stray bit of mane that had fallen out of place during the hike.

“I must say, Twilight,” Rarity said, “I think you’ve added a bit of incentive to this training without realizing it.”

Twilight paused, thinking about what Rarity meant. It didn’t take long for her to realize. “Never thought of it like that, but that works too.”

Still outside of Ponyville, but not far removed from where Rainbow taught John to fly, Applejack and Fluttershy were waiting in a clearing. By now, Applejack’s arm had been fixed—compared to what Princess Celestia had to say about Pinkie’s request, it was a simple matter to reverse the damage that had been done to it. With what was ahead, there was no way Applejack could take the time to let it heal naturally. Not that she would have anyway.

“I’m havin’ a hard time thinking about all this,” Applejack said, “So where’s Rainbow, anyway? Wasn’t she supposed to meet us here by now?”

“She said she needed to pick up something,” Fluttershy said, “I don’t think she’ll be much longer?”

“Just what could she be pickin’ up that would take her this long?” Applejack asked, “For her, flyin’ to Canterlot and back shouldn’t take this long.”

The two stood in silence for a while longer, eyes to the sky above. Eventually, Applejack was the first to say something, pointing up in the distance while squinting her eyes.

“I think I see her…” Applejack said.

Fluttershy turned, putting her hands to her brows to block out the light so she could see better. Applejack was right. Rainbow was there… leading a chariot being pulled by about four pegasus guards, all of whom looked a bit tired.

“Why… why is she leading a chariot?” asked Fluttershy, confused.

Eventually, they got the answer to that question. Rainbow managed to guide the chariot down close enough to the others, and only then did she land. The guards took a moment to take a breather, one taking the time to put his hands to his knees and pant. The others did their best to remain upright.

“Sorry I was so late,” said Rainbow, “I put in an order to Princess Celestia too. It got done this morning, so I had to go pick it up before meeting you guys here.”

“The hard part was figuring out how to get it here,” said the panting guard.

“What is it?” Applejack asked.

Rainbow opened the door to the chariot and reached inside. Surprisingly, she didn’t bother using her wings to do it. However, when she came out, she came out visibly straining with a case of… something really heavy in her arms. The handles did little to give Rainbow relief, it seemed. Rainbow slowly walked over to Applejack.

“Your…your arm better, A.J.?” asked Rainbow.

“I… Yeah, I’d hope so,” Applejack said.

“Here, hold this,” Rainbow said. Applejack quickly deduced it might require both of her hands to hold, and slipped her hands into the handles next to Rainbow’s. The instant Rainbow let go, Applejack felt her entire upper body jerk forward violently from the weight.

“Whoa!” Applejack shouted, righting herself, “Just what is this thing, anyway??”

“It’s armor,” said Rainbow, “The only thing it doesn’t have is the helmet. There are three sets, one for each of us.”

“Th-they’re all in there though, aren’t they?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes wide.

“Hate to break it to you, ‘Shy, but that’s just one case,” Rainbow said. Two of the stronger guards promptly walked into the chariot themselves, and with the same level of struggle, retrieved the other two cases.

Fluttershy let out an “Eep” of disbelief, but soon recovered. “A-and this will make us stronger?”

“It’ll get us results faster than without,” Rainbow said, “Alright then, girls, suit up…”

Fluttershy suddenly understood what it felt like to be a turtle even more than she had ever in her life. Applejack had never carried a load quite like this. And Rainbow had never felt more weighed down in her life. Even if she could conceivably get any lift out of her wings in her state, she’d just drop back down to Earth before she could make a single flap. The guards had bid them farewell, and enjoyed their much lighter ride back to Canterlot, no doubt to prepare themselves for what was to come.

“So… now what?” Applejack strained to take a single step forward as she spoke.

“We prepare just like this,” Rainbow said, trying to raise her arms to emphasize. She could barely raise her arms past chest-level, “We get used to the extra weight, and we train like we were doing before. This will make us faster and stronger at the same,” Her voice hitched and her arm fell, “Time.”

“So, is there anything else, you want to say,” Fluttercruel answered; it was the only way Fluttershy’s body could handle the weight.

“Just one thing…” Rainbow said, “Until you’re used to the weight, whatever you do, just. Don’t. Fall…”

Though Corey did not spend all night preparing for what was to come on his end, he still managed to eat up a bit of time before tiring himself out. That said, he was still up pretty early, but had been told to wait for a bit while Celestia got herself ready. She had told him that it had indeed been a while since she’d had to train someone directly, and with so little time to spare she needed to make sure she had the right idea going in.

So for a while, he’d simply waited in the room Celestia had told him to wait in. It was a large, cleared-out room on the castle’s second floor, with only a couple of windows letting in the light. Corey sat impatiently in the center, wondering just what it was she was doing.

You know, I had expected to be woken up at sunrise, but that wasn’t it either. I can’t really tell what time it is offhand, but I don’t think it’s early, thought Corey. Taking in a deep breath, he rerouted his thinking, Then again, maybe she needs to take time to herself to… take the rust off?

Corey’s thoughts were interrupted when the large door to the room opened. As soon as he saw the multicolored mane, he immediately stopped sitting down and rose to his feet. Celestia turned, and Corey could see her horn was lit up.

“Have you been waiting long?” she asked, as a case levitated behind her, guided by her magic.

“Not really,” Corey said, “I’m just surprised.”

“I had a lot to look over and a lot to get ready for,” Celestia said, moving the case in front of her, “I first had to ask Shining Armor about what he’d seen during your training, as well as what he’d seen out of you.”

Corey subconsciously gulped as he wondered just what that entailed.

“I looked at what your growth has been since coming here,” Celestia continued, the case now four feet in front of Corey, where it was set down, “Go ahead and take a look inside. I think Rainbow Dash had the right idea when she made her request.”

Corey looked to the case, then to Celestia, then back to the case. What had she gone and done now? Corey took a couple of steps forward, and unclicked the latches on either side. What he saw inside made him blink several times in shock.

“That’s armor, with extra weight,” Celestia explained, “I’ll explain everything as soon as you put it on.”

Corey blinked, looking at the pieces of armor inside. Why does this give me a sense of déjà vu? I’ve never done this!

Corey reached inside, and finding with no surprise that he could barely stand to lift a piece up, let alone slip it on. Corey’s body became shrouded in runes, and his arms bulked up, allowing him to more easily move the pieces to where they went.

Celestia blinked, watching Corey in action. “Right, your strength augmentation magic. Shining did say something about it.”

“Is there something wrong?” Corey asked, looking up.

“No, not at all,” Celestia said, “Though I will ask from here on that you try not to use your magic to lift these. Although, from what I pulled together from what you have told me yourself and what your mentors have said about your growth, I think I know exactly what we’re to do.”

“Alright,” Corey said, slipping the last heavy piece on before canceling the strength buff and immediately feeling gravity do its work, falling forward with a cry. Strained, he slowly started to get to his feet, “S-so then… what’s the… plan…?”

“Each and every time you’ve had to push your limits, your magic would help make that transition,” Celestia stated simply, “Is that true?”

“Y-yeah,” Corey said.

“As far as I can see, that’s worked for you more times than even you realize,” Celestia said, pausing in front of him, “So each day, we’ll simply push your limits more and more, and each time, you’ll be further and further to where you’ll need to be.”

Corey strained, now on all fours and urging himself to move. He simply looked at Celestia for a few moments longer, trying his hardest to forget the fact he could already feel himself crying for mercy.

“We’re going to divide the month into two,” Celestia said, “The first two weeks will be about getting your physical form to its absolute best. For those two weeks, other than basic needs, you need to wear that armor at all times. Each time you get used to it, I’ll increase the weight bit by bit. Of course, you won’t simply be walking around the castle in heavy armor. This room is heavily reinforced. In fact, it’s where many students have practiced before you. Though it had been a separate study for a while…”

“So, then, in this room,” Corey said, making one final strain to get to his feet and barely succeeding, staggering madly.

“I’ll do my best not to leave you with any scars,” Celestia said, “But I will be pushing you myself in battle. If the stakes weren’t so high, there might have been other ways to condition you, but…”

“I understand,” Corey said, trying his best to wave his hands dismissively, even as he subconsciously realized exactly what his training was going to consist of, “This is what’s best. If I can’t push… past this, then it wasn’t… meant to be.”

“I’m glad to hear your resolve hasn’t wavered, Corey,” Celestia nodded, “The second two weeks will be, of course, about magic. I’ll explain more about that when the time comes, but I can say that you won’t need the armor then, but you can feel free to keep it on you if you wish. Though, by that time, you may just want the weight off of your back.”

“I see, I see—“ Corey’s breath hitched, nearly dropping forward again as he took a single step, “Like everyone else, I’ve got my work… cut out for me. There’s really no other way to it.”

“That’s right,” Celestia said, “So with that in mind, are you ready?”

“As I’ll… ever be…” Corey said. He then blinked, “Wait, you said Rainbow—ugh—came up with this? Are they wearing the same weight I am?”

“Oh, heavens, no!” Celestia said. After a short pause, she added, “Yours is heavier!”

Though Pinkie loved nothing more than to forge her various creations from the comfort of her basement, it just wouldn’t do this time. What she was planning now was big, far too big for such a confined space. Luckily, though, Mayor Mare was more than happy to supply the space Pinkie needed. In a large, vacant lot of Ponyville, several large steel frames had been welded together by the pink pony herself. The guards told to protect it watched in surprise as Pinkie swung from one steel frame to the next, her welding equipment on her back doing nothing to slow her down.

Even more impressive was her lack of protective gear aside from her welding mask. No matter what she did, no matter what angle she welded at, she never once got burned.

“And done!” Pinkie lifted her mask and wiped the sweat off her brow. She looked over her work and nodded at a job well done. Dropping off the pipe she hung from Pinkie managed a single flip before landing gracefully on the ground, “Now we can put up the tarp.”

Just as she said so, the guards brought it up, but after a small inspection, Pinkie pouted. “Hey, that’s not the color I asked for! This is like an off-green, I asked for super glittery rainbow!”

One guard looked to another. The other guard simply offered a shrug.

“For safety reasons,” said a third guard, “It’d be better if the tarp blended with the surrounding area. We apologize but the princess herself had to insist.”

Pinkie let out a small grumble and crossed her arms. The guard let out a sigh and rubbed his temple.

“However,” He nodded to the guards, and one lifted it to show the other side of the tarp, “The other side is white, and since it’s not visible you will be allowed to decorate it to your liking.”

Pinkie’s eyes lit up and she opened her mouth to respond, but the guard cut in once more. “But no flashing lights!”

Again, Pinkie pouted with her arms crossed, but she could tell the guard wouldn’t budge on that. “Fine…” She sighed, rolling her eyes.

The guard, relieving that they reached a compromise, motioned the pegasi of their group to set it up. Just as they draped it over the newly forged frame, Pinkie’s attention was called again.

“Um, ma’am,” Pinkie turned to see a rather surprised-looking guard holding some forms in his hands, “Your uh…your order is here.”

Pinkie let out a squeal and clapped her hands, doing her usual bounce as she waited for it to arrive. As she did, several large shadows loomed overhead, catching everyone’s attention. Several unicorns slowly willed their magic to move the objects that Pinkie had ordered. The guards hadn’t been told much other than their task to keep Pinkie and her project under supervision until it was completed. But as the largest package yet finally arrived, one guard’s curiosity got the better of him.

“W-what exactly did you ask of the princess?” he asked, leaning over. Pinkie, in turn, put up a large grin and wrapped her arm around the soldier’s shoulder, pulling him close such that their heads were touching.

“If I told you, it’d ruin the surprise, but I can say this,” Grabbing the guard’s head she turned it so he was looking directly at her, “I’m the kind of pony who always thinks big, and I always deliver. And when this month is over, those baddies won’t know what hit them.” Just as she finished, her last package was placed inside of the cage, allowed to fall to the ground at last. Even from a few feet up, it still made the surrounding area tremble on impact.

Walking up to what would be her working space for the next month, Pinkie pulled out a sign from within her mane and pinned it to the tarp.

“No peeking!” the sign read, with a “That means you!” in smaller print next to it.

Now that she had everything that she needed, Pinkie stepped inside. She had something huge planned, something never seen before in the world, and she had one month to complete it.

“Alright, Pinkie,” she said, rolling up imaginary sleeves, “Time to show ‘em what you got!”

Author's Note

And that will be that for Act 3. As I said back when this act started, this was to be the longest Act of all, and coincidentally, the darkest. I do not believe the final two acts of the story will be this long, and well, we're building up to a final battle I hope will be sufficient. As always, thank you for reading along this far. Next Sunday, there will be no update, but then the Sunday after that, it'll be business as usual.

Act 4 Chapter 1

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 1: Breaking Limit After Limit

Though they had mostly split up for their preparations, all eight of the group had their heart in what they were doing. This was something they knew might happen again, but hoped deep down that it wouldn’t. For the threat the remaining prisoners posed, though, they scarcely had time for hoping.

Day by day, they pushed their limits again and again, increasing their readiness for the final hurdle. Norma had declared war, and they were doing everything in their power to ensure they could meet that challenge. Though it felt like so much longer due to what was at risk, Day Fourteen of the preparation had arrived.

They still had roughly half a month left before the last battle would begin. And they would spend the second half of the month the same way they would spend the first half of the month.

Had she been asked even a month ago, Rarity would have vocally and dramatically sworn off the notion of going to the Everfree Forest more than once a week, if that. Even though she’d been in there a couple of times at this point in her life, if given the choice, she wouldn’t have done it. But this was one of those times where she definitely did not have the choice. With each day that passed, she could feel her connection to her magic growing ever stronger. Twilight’s guidance had seen to that.

Both now stood on the pond’s surface, balancing on it with their magic. Rarity had a bit of trouble getting that step down at first, but quickly managed to right herself as the hours went by. Two weeks later, she was able to stand upon the surface as though it was a normal thing. Several large bubbles of water floated around her, held in blue auras.

The waterfall provides such a delightful ambience… Rarity reflected dully, her attention briefly diverting from her task. The water she was holding briefly buckled, but she soon corrected herself, focusing on holding the bubbles aloft. For a few moments, Rarity simply stood, letting her breaths come in slow, steady bursts.

There was the hum of two unicorn horns casting magic, which further added to the calming effect of the area. Rarity opened her eyes after a few minutes, looking around. She was currently facing outwards, towards the tree line, just like usual. She looked around, seeing the water bubbles continue to float in place. However, she looked around a bit more.

Strange… Rarity thought, her mind starting to wander as she continued to look around the area. There was something missing, or rather, multiple somethings. No matter how many bubbles Rarity made, Twilight always had a couple more floating around the area. It was, therefore, a pretty strange sight indeed that only Rarity was floating bubbles. Yet, Twilight’s horn was clearly active…

Why hasn’t Twilight started yet? Has her concentration been broken? As Rarity continued to ponder this, her gaze finally fell on the waterfall. Nothing seemed off about it at first. The stream was shimmering in the light, it connected to the pond like normal. As Rarity’s gaze focused further, she could make out the beginnings of a magenta shimmer among the water’s surface on the falls. Just as she began to register what that might mean, her gaze focused completely. In the waterfall, a few stray leaves were floating… traveling up the waterfall.

The implications sent Rarity’s mind spinning, and it took everything in her just to remain above the water, her water bubbles falling into the water. She couldn’t deny what she was looking at now.

“Un…unbelievable…!” Rarity gasped, “T-Twilight, you’ve reversed the waterfall!?”

Twilight didn’t say anything at first. Then, she turned towards the waterfall, looking at it with a look of wonder. Her concentration wavered at first, causing an effect where the waterfall seemed to “flicker” in and out of its reversed motion, stopping entirely during the brief moments.

“I can’t believe it myself,” Twilight said, “I’d been meaning to work my way to this level! I never thought I’d have it in just two weeks…”

Twilight continued to reverse the waterfall for a few seconds more, before she released her hold on it. The water quickly reversed its direction and fell towards the pond, sending up great splashes. Neither of them really noticed it straight away, but the water level of the pond stabilized.

Rarity could only stare at the waterfall, then to Twilight, repeating a few more times as what had happened finally set in. When it did, though, Rarity finally turned her attention fully to the waterfall. She cleared her throat and took in a deep breath.

“Good job, Twilight,” Rarity said, “I… I think I know what my new goal is now…”

Two weeks had made all the difference for them. Mostly because they only ever removed the armor when they absolutely couldn’t wear it; at night, when sleeping, and in the morning, when going about their usual routines. All the other hours were consumed by heavy metal plating.

It was maddeningly difficult the first few days for Rainbow to get herself home. Her home was just so high when she had added several tons of metal to her usual outfit. Fluttershy could barely stand to walk her way back home, but kept with it despite the fact her body had always cried out for rest. Applejack had the least trouble of the three, but that wasn’t saying a whole lot. At the end of the first day she had to explain why she was dressed like it was Nightmare Night, though thankfully that questioning had passed before long.

Rainbow leapt forward, her wings now able to achieve quite a bit of lift so that she could rush Fluttershy. Soon as it was no longer needed, Fluttershy had assumed control of her body during these training sessions, just as the plan had been before Kurama. She lifted her arms to block the punch, causing a loud “clang” to reverberate around the clearing.

Applejack came in from Rainbow’s side, managing to lift up her leg to deliver a strong kick to Rainbow’s side with yet another loud clang. Rainbow staggered; though the attack didn’t hurt thanks to the armor, she could still feel the impact—an impact that pretty much had all three of the girls in agreement that they had to be careful to not hit each other in the face. They really didn’t have time for a visit to the dentist of that magnitude.

Fluttershy saw a chance and went for it, swinging up with a kick. Her attack barely missed Applejack, who turned her attention to her. Fluttershy stumbled forward off-balance, but Applejack did nothing, offering her a small chance to attack. Seizing the opportunity to prove herself, Fluttershy clenched her hand and thrust her fist straight out.

It seemed to happen so fast. While Applejack had busied herself giving Fluttershy an open target, Rainbow had recovered, and moved to attack Applejack back. Rainbow’s fist clashed with the side of Applejack’s chest plate, making her stagger in turn. As a result, Fluttershy’s fist missed her intended target, crashing hard into the side of Rainbow’s gauntlet.

Both Fluttershy and Rainbow recoiled, the gauntlets vibrating from the force of Fluttershy’s punch. Neither of them had been prepared for that. Even Applejack took a moment of pause as she processed exactly what had happened.

“Ugh,” Rainbow shook her hand a bit, the shock finally wearing off as she flexed her fingers, “Not bad, Fluttershy. That shows me better than anything this is working.”

“You really think so?” Fluttershy asked, “I… I can’t tell…”

“It might be your form,” Rainbow said, “We didn’t exactly get a whole lot of time to iron all that out before that whole mess with Kurama happened.”

“After two weeks…” Applejack said, “That can’t be right…”

“U-um…” Fluttershy stuttered, “I think you two fight each other a bit more than you do with me.”

Rainbow and Applejack both paused, each reflecting on the past days since they started wearing the heavy armor. The more they thought about it, the more they realized it. Yet, when they really thought about it, it made quite a bit of sense. They’d always had a rivalry over anything that involved physical force.

“I… I hadn’t noticed there, Fluttershy,” Applejack removed her hat, scratching between her ears for a few moments before replacing it, “Huh. Even when we’re supposed to be completely serious…”

“It just happens on its own, I swear!” Rainbow said, “I don’t even think about it… Guess our competitive spirits got the better of us. But we still have time to fix it!”

Fluttershy looked between the two mares, wondering how this would go.

“We just have to split our time a bit more carefully is all,” Applejack said, “Meaning, we’ve gotta pay more attention to Fluttershy, let her have some time to fight, and build up her form. I don’t think she’s behind too much with strength since she’s movin’ with all her armor on her, but we’d better start getting ourselves straight.”

“Right,” Rainbow said, “This ain’t a contest.”

There was a short pause. Fluttershy prepared herself, waiting for one of them to start coming at her first.

“So who gets to help Fluttershy train first?” asked Applejack.

With any homeland, one would have to learn the ins and outs in order to traverse the area easily. In the short two weeks since his arrival, John was sure that he had managed to find his own. However, that wasn’t to say that things were easy for him. Rather, he was prepared for the difficulty. That being said, there was still one unavoidable thing he had to go through at least once a day.

A fight.

Each day brought a new challenge, some old faces, some new, but always ensuring that he never let his guard down. He currently found himself in a literal ring of fire surrounded by several other dragons cheering at the ensuing battle. Rather than fighting several opponents at once, however, John was faced with only one. However, this one was proving to be one of his strongest opponents yet, and the biggest.

Standing several feet above him the mass of this dragon could only be compared to one other creature, one he’d faced a while back. Baring down at him, this flightless dragon swung his bulky arm down on him, cratering the ground with his forearm as John had managed to dodge. He took a moment to catch his breath, fighting this other dragon head-on was taxing. On any other day he’d take advantage of his flight, but there were two things stopping him. The first was his pride, and the second, to his surprise, were the rules set by the challenger.

Both combatants would fight until either one was knocked out of the ring of fire, or was rendered unable to fight. Both were to keep to the ground during the fight: no flying or breath attacks were allowed. In its essence, the fight was meant to be a straight-out physical brawl and nothing else. Although John wasn’t sure of fairness of these restrictions, given his opponent’s size, he knew full well the dragons took these rules seriously. But John didn’t come to this place looking for a fair fight, he came looking to better himself and get stronger. And that was what he was going to do.

Finally, he charged the larger dragon headlong. John pulled back his fist and unleashed a hard blow to his side. The larger dragon’s body lurched from the hit, but he stood his ground and quickly retaliated with a swing of his tail. John put up his guard but was still knocked back from the blow, his body coming within inches of the ring of fire. His arms stung from the hit, but he was able to shake it off just as the larger dragon charged him again. John didn’t have time to avoid this attack so he was left with no other choice.

Endure.

He dug his feet into the ground and braced himself for impact. Near instantly, the large dragon tackled him with all his weight. Several tons threatened to push him out of bounds, but John continued to keep himself upright. But still, he found himself losing the struggle with each second as he slowly inched towards the ring. Any second now, he was sure he’d give out, this other dragon was too much for him.

I’ve… I’ve reached my—

“You betta not be givin’ up on me, ya hear!” John was snapped into attention by the dragon that was pressuring him, “If you’s was this weak, I’d have stomped ya a while ago! I know you’re holdin’ back on me!”

The dragon pushed harder and leaned in until he was staring John directly in the eyes. “I don’t know what you take me fo’ but I ain’t letting this end ‘til I see what you got!” Finally pulling back from his push, the dragon grabbed onto John and tossed him towards the center of the ring. John bounced slightly, but managed to recover, looking up at the dragon in confusion as he stared back at him.

“You think I challenged you ‘cuz I like a good throwdown?” The dragon paused for a moment and corrected himself, “Okay, that’s part of the reason, but in less than a month, you suddenly become the talk of the and here I am thinkin’ I’ve finally found me a good challenge. And what do I get? Someone who thinks he can half-ass the whole fight and hope to win?” He shook his head, much to John’s surprise. John never thought he’d be judged mid-battle.

“Nah, it don’t work like that. E’ther yous fight me all out willingly,” The dragon spread his stance and stomped the ground hard enough to leave a single crack in it, “Or I makes ya, and personally, I prefer the second one.” Without waiting for a response, he charged after John once again, a sharp grin across his face as he closed the distance. John stood with his head bowed, his mind racing quickly trying to find a course of action.

He’s too strong for me, but he won’t end this. He wants me to stop holding back, but what if—An all too familiar face flashed in his mind once again. He had done this several times a day, a random reminder of what he had done that he couldn’t escape. It was something that had occurred when, mentally and physically, he had been pushed to his limits. And now, he was being pushed there again by someone who wanted to see it, wanted to test that strength. John’s own pride kept him from staying down. He’d continue to fight until he couldn’t move, and maybe even further than that. So if he wanted this to be over with, if he wanted to end the fight and walk away, he was left with no other option.

“Fine,” John said, raising his head, “But only for a minute.” Opening his eyes wide, his pupils quickly went slit, he wasn’t holding back anymore. His opponent saw the change in him and was pleased to see it. Both of the dragons charged each other, drawing a fist back as they were upon each other. After slamming down a single foot they threw their punches, which collided in the center.

Their attacks were at a stalemate as both tried to push on the other. The large dragon stared down at John, still smirking.

“Now that’s more—“ Suddenly, John vanished from his sight and he was quickly met with a sharp pain in his stomach. Looking down he saw that John had ducked under him and delivered a powerful hit. But before he could retaliate he found that John wasn’t finished. Bringing up another fist John struck the dragon with an uppercut just under his chin. The force behind the strike was enough to knock the dragon a few inches off the ground and a few inches back.

With his head blown back, the dragon stumbled slightly but was able to regain his footing. The cheers in the background only grew louder now. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” He roared in delight. This was the fight he was looking for after all. John didn’t respond, simply trying to keep himself under some form of control while he was in his feral state of mind.

“Now we can finish this,” The dragon charged again with a greater speed than before, but John was ready for it. The two charge towards the center one last time and collided with great force. This time, it seemed more evenly matched, but John still had the issue regarding the size difference. The large dragon, simply by using his greater weight, would still overcome John in due time. This weight, the weight of what felt like a mountain bearing down on him, it wasn’t the first time John had felt like this. And each time he’d faced it before, he was unable to handle it alone.

Not this time… John dug deep, deeper than he had dared to before. He continued to push, his opponent being pushed back slightly, Stronger. Again, he managed to push forward. Stronger! The larger dragon felt something was off, but it was too late for him to react now. Before he knew it, John was under him, and his own feet were slowly rising off the ground.

No matter the challenge, I will grow stronger! Suddenly, the cheering stopped as all eyes watched. The dragon, who was easily twice John’s size, had finally found flight. He was thrown off the ground and over the ring of fire. The silence was only broken when he finally landed on the ground, with enough weight to leave a small crater.

“Holy wyvern… he threw Fissure,” Was the only statement anyone could give among the dragons gathered around. Some watched as John made his leave, a single flap of his wings kicking up a strong gust, snuffing out the flames as he calmly walked away from the group.

He’d defeated his strongest opponent yet, but he wasn’t proud. That was because of one simple thing: he had been forced to flip his switch yet again, something he came here to learn to avoid. He wanted to grow strong enough that he wouldn’t need it, and yet it really seemed like he wouldn’t accomplish this.

As John walked away in silent contemplation, he didn’t notice that he was being followed.

Each new day Corey faced had always been filled with challenges. That was just a constant factor in his life these days. However, that held especially true for all of the last thirteen days. Each day since his training started, he’d been worked to the bone and back with ever-increasing weights. It was like Shining was conditioning him all over again, but this time while forcing him to heft around an unknown amount more than his body weight. And each day, that extra load seemed to increase. He was not allowed to use his magic to lift the armor specifically.

Thankfully, his magic seemed to be back in order; once again, he’d go to bed every night, very sore and feeling overworked, and wake up early every morning feeling as rejuvenated as he could. Even under the tutelage of Princess Celestia herself, Corey was still not a morning person.

Right now, Corey was headed to the large room once more, his armor loudly clanging on the stone floor. Day fourteen’s armor had to be the heaviest; either today or tomorrow, Corey knew, was the last day he was obligated to wear it every day as part of his physical conditioning. It was still a challenge to move with it on, just as it was on day one.

Princess Celestia had found a few other tasks he could do during the day with the armor, but most of their time was spent in that large room. Corey passed inside. As expected, she was already there, decked out in her own armor. He never stopped to wonder if it too was weighted, but he had this funny feeling it was less for her protection and more for his.

Corey looked around the room as he passed through the door. The room had definitely seen better days, but it still seemed pretty sturdy enough. Cracks in the walls, small fissures in the floor, a few annihilated tiles…

“I trust you know this day will be the hardest of all?” asked Princess Celestia, her look just as stern as the days before when this was part of his schedule.

“Of course,” Corey nodded, slowly shifting into a ready position as the doors closed behind him.

The two simply looked to one another for several moments, before the tension broke.

It was always Celestia who made the first move. That hadn’t changed from the first day to the next, to the present day. This time, she opened by opening her wings and rushing at him directly, but Corey acted as quickly as he could, raising his arms to defend. Every time a physical blow landed, Corey found himself blown away by how much strength was behind the attack. There were two attacks before Celestia vanished from his line of sight.

This was the general format of their spars the last two weeks. No matter how hard Corey would try—and he did try—he could never so much as land even a glancing blow on Celestia. This was entirely an endurance round, during which Corey would be pushed to his limit. Each day, the difficulty was compounded; not only was he wearing more weight day-to-day, but Celestia tried harder from day-to-day.

Corey’s awareness did not quite catch up to him quick enough, and he felt something slam into his side; what looked like a glass box made of amber magic shattered against him, vanishing into particles. Corey actually lifted from his feet and landed on the ground, creating yet another large crack in the ground where he’d hit.

Shit, I have to get up! Corey thought, quickly urging his arms and legs to exert the appropriate amount of force to get himself up. His ear flicked and he looked behind him, pushing himself from the ground off of pure adrenaline alone. All he succeeded in doing was flipping himself over, barely moving out of the way of another glass box impact.

He withheld a gasp as he saw yet another one falling on them. Though it didn’t leave any cuts when it hit, and the armor did protect him from any severe damage, it still wasn’t a good idea to take the attacks. Corey pushed himself out of the way again, rolling yet again. He barely had time to get to his feet the regular way—Princess Celestia was not at all kidding when she said this was going to be the hardest day of all.

Corey gritted his teeth and placed his hands to the ground. He could not use his strength magic under normal circumstances, but it didn’t mean he was totally out of options. Taking in a deep breath, he unleashed a strong burst of magic, just enough to get himself to his feet. The kickback was nearly enough to flip him completely over in an arc, but he managed to right himself yet again. Another glass box construct slammed into the ground where he was and broke. Corey turned, seeing Celestia launching several of them at him.

Though he knew full well this always ended badly, Corey rushed in anyway. Often, Celestia didn’t attack him directly more than needed. A good portion of the time, she’d just throw these targets at him for him to attack.

He rushed in, swinging his fists and legs at any target that got close, easily shattering them with a single hit if he didn’t simply swat them out of his way. He continued to push his way through, trying his hardest to make it through the targets. The boxes seemed to stop coming as Corey got close. Corey swung out at Celestia…

Only to find his arm being grabbed mid-trajectory. He was then thrown over onto his back once again, causing yet another tile to break under his armor. Celestia released his arm and vanished once again.

Grunting, Corey bodily made his way to his feet.

To be expected, I still can’t land a hit… Corey thought, But I can still feel it…

Celestia appeared across from him, raising her arms as her horn lit up with magic once again, more boxes appearing. Corey met the challenge yet again, trying not to let them hit him as he tried to get in close.

I’m getting stronger!

Author's Note

Here's how we start Act 4 of the story. Things still aren't quite at the final battle. There are a few things left to do before we get that far. With that in mind, please enjoy, and we're back to normal. See you all next Sunday.

Act 4 Chapter 2

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 2: Mid-Month

The sound of some impressive machinery could be heard coming from behind the tarp that Pinkie had set up two weeks prior. The guards stationed to watch over it couldn’t help but wonder just what was going on behind it. Her keep-out policy had been upheld; no one was allowed to enter without her permission, regardless of what sounds were heard. The biggest question of all remained the same the whole time: What was she building under there?

“It’s a giant robot.”

One guard slowly turned his head towards another, who had uttered the statement. “What?” he asked with an arched brow. The guard who had brought up the possibility looked back held a serious expression the whole time.

“Think about it,” he said, looking back to the tarp, “She sections off a large piece of land in town and covers it from sight. Suddenly she gets a shipment of unmarked crates filled with heavy equipment and did not let a single creature see what was inside.”

The first guard simply rolled his eyes and sighed. “Everything she and the others are doing is supposed to be secret in case we’re still being watched. Otherwise, no matter what they do this month, it’d mean nothing if the enemy was preparing to counter it.”

A third guard joined in, supporting the proposed theory, “Nah, man, haven’t you heard what’s been going down behind the tarp? The different types of tools used? The revving of engines? The random—“

“Hit the deck!” Pinkie called out, diving out from behind the tarp. This wasn’t the first time it happened, so all guards present were ready and dove for the ground. Just as the lot of them and Pinkie dropped to the ground, a blast of fire erupted out from the tarp. Fire continued to gush out of the tarp, threatening to grow larger with every moment.

“Oh no you don’t!” Pinkie yelled as she reached into her mane and pulled out a large fire extinguisher. Rather than use it as directed, Pinkie took it in both hands and rushed the tarp, a hand placed on the release valve. Stopping her run suddenly, Pinkie skidded across the ground growing dangerously close to the flames. She didn’t even hesitate.

Once she was close enough, Pinkie turned the release valve hard enough to break it off the tank. With nothing to hold back the pressure within, the extinguisher’s contents exploded out of the newly created hole effectively engulfing the flames and snuffing them out before they could cause any further damage.

Smoke rose from the tarp and scorches marked the ground as everyone waited for signs the fire would start again. But after several seconds, it became apparent that it wasn’t going to do it. Pinkie finally sighed in relief and turned to the guards. “Everypony okay?”

Some guards stared in awe. Since Pinkie had entered the tarp, they hadn’t seen so much of a tail out of her for two weeks. What they were seeing now wasn’t at all what they had remembered from the day she’d entered. Her body hadn’t just slimmed in the time that had passed, but she was starting to gain muscle tone as well. Whatever she’d been doing for the past fourteen days clearly had some side benefits, going by her ripping off a hunk of a metal fire extinguisher. One guard finally managed to walk up to her.

“What was that?” he asked.

Pinkie let out a groan and ran her hands through her mane. “Something I need to fix,” Even now, she couldn’t reveal just what it was she was working on, “Problem is, I don’t know how…”

With her head hanging in defeat, Pinkie began to walk towards the tarp again. The guard that watched felt that he needed to say something, anything that could pick her up off the ditch she seemed to have run into in her work.

“You know,” he said, getting her attention, “Sometimes, the answers can’t be found by looking at the problem. Sometimes it comes when the mind is just allowed to relax and let the thought process flow.” Pinkie looked to the guard, then back to the tarp. When she looked to the tarp again, she found it impossible not to cringe a little.

“You know what, you might be right,” Turning back to the guard with a smile, she began to walk away from her workspace, “I’m going to take a little walk. I’ll be back soon.” She quickly waved goodbye afterwards. However, before she could totally leave the area, she suddenly dashed back to the guard, appearing as little more than a blur for a second.

“No peeking,” she said, pointing at him and looking him dead in the eyes. Once the guard nodded in acceptance, Pinkie patted him on the helmet and walked off without a word.

Pinkie’s walk took her outside the town’s limits. She’d hoped that getting away from everything would clear her mind. Standing at a bridge over a small lake, Pinkie stared down at the flowing water as she tossed muffin crumbs to the ducks below. She smiled as they scattered across the water for the offering of food. Not a care in the world, not even knowing anything that was happening outside their own little world. A life of blissful ignorance that Pinkie had missed the past couple of weeks.

And if I can’t figure this out… I might not be the only one who will have that taken from them…

Her smile faded as she was reminded of her problem. She was close, so much so that she could feel it in her stomach. But she was still one giant leap from reaching her goal, one she was growing fearful that she wouldn’t make. In the back of her mind, she knew that if she couldn’t, then everything she’d tried to do this month would be for nothing and she would be the only one empty-handed when everyone got together for the final battle.

That was something she just couldn’t allow. She was someone who had to have something ready even when no one was expecting it. Or, in her case, especially because no one was expected it. She had to do this, not just because of everyone else, but for herself, so she could prove to herself she was more useful to them than even she believed.

“But what do I do? What can I do?” She asked, never once noticing she wasn’t alone.

“Pinkie?” she yelped slightly in surprise from suddenly hearing another voice, but quickly calmed down when she noticed who it was.

“Oh, Spike, it’s you,” she said, letting out a sigh, “Don’t scare me like that.” She put a hand to her chest.

“Oh, uh, I’m sorry,” Spike said, rubbing the back of his head, “I was just taking a walk when I noticed you. You seemed a little down, so I thought I’d see if you were okay.” Again, Pinkie found it in herself to smile.

“Well, aren’t you my little guardian angel,” She said, rubbing the dragon’s head. Spike grumbled slightly, unable to hide the light blush that formed on his face.

“I wish…” he said, “But it’s pretty clear now that I can’t do anything other than stay where it’s safe while you all risk your lives.” Pinkie’s heard bled out for Spike. The need to help others was something he’d always had since she’d first met him. And yet, due to his age, he wasn’t capable of what he desired to be in this situation.

“You’ll get your chance one day, Spike,” said Pinkie as she hoisted Spike on top of the railing of the bridge, “For all you know, your time might be just around the corner, but you have to let it find you, not the other way around.”

Spike could only let out a small sigh. That didn’t make him feel much better. “I guess so…” He sat down, “Just wish there was something I could do… hey! Maybe I could help you?”

Pinkie looked back at Spike with furrowed brows and clicked her teeth, “Sorry, kiddo, but kind of hard to help me with something only I understand.” Even Princess Celestia wasn’t able to fully understand Pinkie’s blueprints beyond the premise of it all.

“And even I’m kind of stuck on it.”

“What’s the problem?” Spike asked.

Pinkie leaned back on the railing for a few moments, looking up to the sky, “Between you and me, it’s the power source for the engine. I’m trying to find something that can fuel it without causing an explosion.” Again, she sighed and leaned back far enough to look back down at the water below them.

“Coal works, but it runs out too quickly. I can’t just stop to restock it every few minutes. Only way I can fix that quickly is if I could find an endless source of—“ Pinkie’s sentence broke off as something slowly dawned on her. Her eyes opened wide as an idea popped into her head and she turned to look at Spike once again. In a bizarre second, Pinkie’s eyes lit up like a lightbulb and she grabbed Spike, giving him a patented ear-to-ear Pinkie Pie smile.

“Hey Spike,” she said, “How’d you like to help Auntie Pinkie with something?”

Night had come, bringing with it an end to today’s trials and tribulations. With it, came the time to rest and prepare for the next day. With each day, everyone had grown stronger. At least, that’s what Corey hoped for everyone.

Fourteen days had finally passed now. Corey had started keeping count since the first day of his physical conditioning, if only so he knew when the physical aspect would end. Sure enough, after the last training session had passed, Corey was instructed to go ahead and leave the armor in the room: by that point, Celestia had said it ran the very real risk of falling through a floor or two if he had taken it off in any other room with the weight it was at.

For his part, Corey didn’t doubt it; it seemed very likely it would be able to do that. That said, he didn’t bother asking if his armor really was that heavy. It was heavy enough the first day and he knew the weight was increasing each day.

None of that was truly on his mind now, though. Tomorrow morning, his mental training would finally start, and he’d be building his magical abilities directly. That was the hope, anyway.

Matching his chosen path, Corey hadn’t stayed at the library like usual, but in one of the castle’s spare bedrooms. It was quite a walk from there to the training room, three floors down and almost clear on the other side of the castle. Needless to say, the path was a lot easier to walk without the tons of extra weight.

Right now, he was changing out of his regular clothes into something he felt comfortable sleeping in. He had managed to get into some pants when his gaze fell onto his shoulder. Sure enough, that old wound hadn’t healed right, even with the aid of his magic’s return. He ran two fingers over the area. Some of the fur still hadn’t grown back fully on either side of his shoulder, and he could feel a crater on the skin in the same general area.

It didn’t heal fast enough, huh? Corey thought, pausing in reflection, I guess not.

Corey continued to survey himself. A few weeks ago, he’d have been lucky to do anything other than walk in a straight line for a few minutes without running out of breath. Even after the transfer his body hadn’t completely slimmed down. Now, after weeks of doing so much more than he ever thought he’d ever do, that he’d ever thought possible for him to do?

He could tell he was healthier than he’d ever been in a long time just by looking down at his torso.

Why did it take me this much to get me to change myself? Corey paused, running a hand over his face.

“Oh, there you…” Twilight said. Corey’s ear flicked as he registered the voice and turned to face her. She had just enough time to recover from whatever had given her pause, “Are, Corey.”

“Twilight?” Corey asked, standing up and beginning to walk over to her. He hardly felt self-conscious at all now, but where that came from, Corey didn’t exactly know, “Why’d you come all the way up here?”

“We’re halfway through the month now,” Twilight said, “I… I wanted to see how you were doing.”

Corey paused for a moment. He eventually rubbed the back of his head and sighed. “I’m not going to lie, the last two weeks were tough. Which, yeah, that’s the point, but still… I thought conditioning with Shining was bad until this.”

Twilight paused for a few moments, “Yeah, but I think the results speak for themselves.”

“Wearing an enchanted suit of armor that got heavier each day made it harder still,” Corey said, “Princess Celestia said she’d gotten the idea of weighted armor from—“

“Rainbow, yeah,” Twilight said, “They’ve all gotten used to it now, but from what I can gather, looks like they’re changing up how they’re going about it for the next two weeks.”

There was a short pause, during which Twilight’s gaze flicked to her right—Corey’s left. “Oh, your shoulder…”

“Huh?” Corey looked, having somehow forgotten what he’d just ran his finger over, “Oh… yeah. It didn’t heal like the rest of my injuries did. Didn’t get my magic back in time, so it had to heal naturally.”

“I guess the fur over it will grow back evenly, eventually,” Twilight observed, “But still… Is it the same on the other side?”

“Yeah,” Corey said, “Though, truth be told, I’m… I’m actually sort of glad this didn’t heal over like the other injuries.”

“Why is that?” Twilight asked.

“It left a mark on me, something I can look at to remind myself about what brought me to the point I’m at now,” Corey said, “How much I’ve grown…”

Twilight sighed. “I think this whole mess has left a mark on us all, Corey. And everyone’s grown for it,” She moved forward, lowering her hand to his shoulder softly.

She blinked a moment, and looked to the shoulder again as though fully realizing what it was. Corey immediately took notice of this, and felt something pass over him.

I’m getting déjà vu… Corey thought.

“S-some… more than others,” Twilight said, her eyes growing wide as a small blush grew on her face. She shook her head and retracted her hand quickly, “D-don’t take this the wrong way now… but c-could you put a shirt on, Corey?”

“Huh?” Corey’s surprise was a lot duller than he expected it to be. It wasn’t that she seemed blown away by his new muscle tone… again, that got to him. Well, okay, it was that, and he was not used to getting looked at in that way. But also, it raised one very important question, “A-am I distracting you?”

Had that statement left just about any other person’s mouth, it would have been taken as flirting. Even leaving Corey’s mouth it probably came off as such. And had anyone else been in Twilight’s position, they would have probably taken it a bit differently.

“M-m-maybe a little…” Twilight meekly said, with absolutely no flirtatious intent in her tone. Not that she could have mustered any under the circumstances.

There was a long, awkward pause afterward as Corey shuffled his way over to the nearest shirt to put it on. The whole time, neither of them wanted to tell the other they could hear someone, somewhere nearby, suppressing the urge to laugh. Twilight made her way inside the room. As Corey finally slid some fabric over his upper body, he finally found it in him to break the silence.

“So, Twilight, what’s happened on your end?” Corey asked, “How has it been for you?”

“It hasn’t been easy,” Twilight smiled, “But it’s worth it. Rarity’s working her way up to reversing the flow of a waterfall with her magic.”

Corey blinked. “Reverse a waterfall?”

“Yeah. She saw me doing it, which surprised me, too,” Twilight said, “I didn’t think we’d get so far along in just two weeks… I wonder where we’d be by the end of the month, if we’re already where we are now.”

“I…” Corey started, “I don’t know where I’d stand in terms of magic. The last two weeks were all physical. Other than what I’m sure happened overnight every night; my body repairing itself from the training done all day, of course. The magical part should start tomorrow.”

“That’s the other two weeks, then?” Twilight asked, “How do you feel now? About what you’ve done?”

“I still feel stronger than I was two weeks ago,” Corey said, “And I don’t know how much more powerful I’ll get in the next two weeks.”

There was another short pause, as both considered what the rest of the month would mean to them. This time, Twilight broke the silence.

“Once all this is done, I’d like to see what it’s come to for you,” she said, closing her eyes as the situation washed over her yet again, “If we’ve won it in the end—“

“No,” was Corey’s only reply.

Twilight opened her eyes, blinked them once, and found Corey was looking her directly in the eyes. “W-what are you saying?”

Corey didn’t even seem to doubt what he was saying, and didn’t even take a second to think about it. “It’s not if we win, it’s when we win.”

Twilight blinked again, taken aback by one simple thing. She supposed it shouldn’t have been surprising, all things considered, but matching with his mental state just before Kurama’s attack? No, even that wouldn’t have encapsulated it.

He’s gained more confidence than I’ve ever seen anyone gain in such a short amount of time… Twilight thought, He said that with more conviction than I’ve ever seen in anyone…

Celestia sat in her office as she began putting the final touches to her plans for the rest of the month. After spending half of it working on Corey’s physical attributes, it was time to the equally important mental aspect.

“He’s progressing faster than I could have hoped,” she said, “At this rate, there’s no telling what he could accomplish.” She looked down to her notes once more. It had been quite a while since she’d done any kind of training like this. But still, she felt there was no other way that would truly push Corey’s progression faster.

“So far, Norma’s been quiet. No doubt, she’s so sure that her own victory is assured no matter what we do… It’s best she continues to hold on to that belief,” If nothing else, arrogance would lead to her downfall, and more importantly, their victory. It certainly wouldn’t have been the first time she’d seen it happen. Yet, as much as she enjoyed the much-needed silence, she knew deep down there would still be waves in the water.

“Princess Celestia!” A frantic voice accompanied by a rapid knocking on the door caused her heart to sink.

No… She rose up, immediately marching over to the door, It’s too soon!

As she opened it, the guard standing outside quickly saluted her.

“What happened?” she asked.

“You ordered us to keep an eye for any suspicious activity regarding the escaped prisoners. And… something has occurred,” The guard looked confused as he tried to explain, an envelope in his hands as he tried to think of what to say, “We… we haven’t seen any activity from the remaining active prisoners, but… Just look at this…”

He allowed Princess Celestia to take it from his hands. She undid the seal of the envelope and pulled out what looked like a photograph of a large, freshly dug up hole.

“I… I don’t understand…”

“That… That is where Nemean Lyon was buried.”

Celestia’s heart froze, the implications rushing into her mind faster than she could process them. He was dead, they had examined his body for days and there were no signs of anything that could have said otherwise. And yet, now she was staring at a grave, void of any body. The thoughts continued to surge, but Celestia forced them into repose; silenced by a pair of closed eyes and a deep breath.

“Insure that the other prisoners’ bodies are still where they were buried. Inform me if anything about their status changes. While you’re at it, investigate Lyon’s grave for any indication of what occurred.”

The guard saluted once more before going off to accomplish the delegated task, leaving Celestia behind with the photo.

Whatever this is, it’s clear our enemy is preparing as well…

He’d lost track of the time that had passed since he first woke up, floating in that red sphere of magic. He’d lost track of the time that had passed since the fire within him had kindled. Above all else, he’d lost track of the time that had passed since he vowed revenge on the pony that did this to him. Norma had periodically checked on him whenever it seemed to occur to her that yes, he was still within her healing magic.

Slayer had silently floated in the orb ever since he’d learned of the delay of the endgame. He had made his intentions clear from the start he’d never intended to stay there while they let them have their time. Maybe that was why Norma was delaying letting him out.

No, no, she’d been perfectly clear on what she would do if he tried anything of the sort.

“You’ve stewed in your hate very long already, Slayer,” She had said in a mock-sweet tone, “And although it does you great to keep doing that, should you break the terms of the agreement, and go attacking them before our time is up, I can guarantee you’ll be right back in that orb, stewing in it some more. And if someone should kill your target at the final stretch? What will you do to fill the void he left you with?”

Ever since then, Slayer had quietly continued to stew. He would have his revenge. No one else would take it from him. He had waited before for a target, and although this one had caused him personal grievances, he would continue to wait.

The sound of steps could be heard. Slayer had finally opened his eyes. Sure enough, there she was, walking into the room. She still had not taken her hood down, not once, since Slayer had first met her and been roped into this game of hers. She stopped just in front of the orb and put one hand to it for a few moments.

“Hmm,” Norma said, “Alright, I think you’re finally done in there.”

Slayer didn’t say anything, continuing to watch as Norma’s hand began to glow.

“Brace yourself,” was her only command as the orb began to vanish. Slayer felt gravity start to assert itself on his body once again. Quickly, Slayer began to move to right himself, and managed to land on his feet despite the rather sudden intrusion. Slayer slowly began to stand up straight.

“I trust you know what’ll happen should you break my trust?” Norma asked.

“Of course,” Slayer said through clenched teeth.

“Good. Now, do whatever you wish to in order to prepare. I know the other two have already begun their own preparations,” said Norma, already turning to leave, “And I must do the same. There are quite a few things I need to make sure I account for on that day…”

Slayer watched as Norma turned on her heel and began walking in a straight line out of the room. While he would love to do nothing more than turn his back on this game, he couldn’t chance it. There was still too much he didn’t know about his so-called leader.

“Remember,” Norma reminded, “Whatever you do, I would advise you keep it to the caves. I will tell you when you can move for your revenge…”

And just like that, she was gone, leaving Slayer in the room again. Slayer began to feel his body shake for a moment, as several feelings began to hit him all at once.

He’d survived.

He’d healed.

He had his chance now. And it would be very, very foolish to blow it now.

“Very well,” Slayer said with nothing more than a minor sigh, “I will remain here. But only until this is over.”

Slayer lifted a hand to his face, which glowed with a burst of dark magic, same with his horn, as a truly demented grin split his face.

“I know you know I’m still alive,” he spat in disgust, his thoughts once again turning to those of vengeance, “And I will make you suffer so much for what you’ve done to me. Prepare yourself…”

Author's Note

And two weeks have passed since the end of Act 3. Slayer's back in the ring now. There's still a long way to go, though. Not much else I can say.

Act 4 Chapter 3

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 3: Magic Training Starts

It was a wonder he could walk to that room again, considering what had happened in it for the last fourteen days. However, that was over now. As far as he knew, his physical conditioning was finally done, and he didn’t need to worry about being blindsided with even heavier armor today. Now, Corey stood in front of the doors to that training room once again, wondering what would await him on the other side.

My mental training should start today… thought Corey, Why am I going back to this room? Wouldn’t I be able to do this anywhere?

Corey took in a deep breath. Now that there wasn’t a lot of weight pressing into his body from the shoulders down, he had the ability to think again. But here he was, overthinking something that, in his mind, was ultimately going to be simpler than the last two weeks were. So, with that in mind, Corey finally stepped through the doors.

He paused as he passed through the doorway, wondering how this got set up in the time since he was last in the room. The room seemed a lot dimmer. Where in all previous days it had been lit by light that entered the room from the windows, the windows appeared to be blocked. The only light in the room came from several lit candles; some on the floor, the others seemingly levitating by themselves. The rest of the room bore quite a few rugs, and didn’t seem to have any evidence of the past two weeks’ events in it anymore.

“Oh, Corey,” This came from Princess Celestia, who stood in the center of the room with her usual regalia on, as opposed to her armor, “You’re right on time.”

“It was a nice change of pace to be able to walk here,” Corey confirmed, still looking around the room. The atmosphere of the room had changed.

“Is that so?” Celestia asked, “Please, sit down. There is quite a bit you must know before we move on to the next phase of your training.”

Corey blinked a few times, but ultimately obliged, sitting down cross-legged on the ground. Celestia closed her eyes for a few moments. All Corey could do was sit there, watching her, trying to figure out what it was she was going to say. The dim lighting, the candles, those seemed sort of obvious as to what his training would entail, but he wanted to hear it from her.

“First,” Her eyes finally opened with a warm look—a look that Corey hadn’t seen all that much of coming from her the last two weeks, “Let me say, you have done quite well to come this far. I know that it couldn’t have been easy for the last fourteen days. Now, as far as your physical attributes are concerned, I would say your formal training’s over, but you may do as you wish, as soon as you complete the next phase of your training.”

“Completing it…” Corey repeated, “So there’s a chance I’ll be done early, then?”

“Yes,” Celestia said, her look slowly changing from warm to stern, “However, that depends entirely on how you approach this part. As you know, the next two weeks are intended to delve into your mental abilities, your magical aspects.”

Corey nodded a bit. “Okay, so then…”

“Don’t be hasty,” Celestia advised, “There is quite a bit we must discuss. You’ll be left to your own devices for this part. There is really only one person that can help you with this mental part above all else, and that is you. With that in mind…”

There was a short pause. “How have you felt recently?”

Corey considered the question for a few moments. It seemed like an odd question to ask, when he looked at his last two weeks. He hadn’t had time or energy to do any serious brooding, and he certainly hadn’t had his mind on anything but the task put in front of him.

“I’ve felt okay, all things considered,” Corey said, “Not really feeling anything strong coming out of the last couple of weeks.”

“Good,” Celestia said, “Though… there is something I must tell you. During your physical training, I wanted to ensure your mind was as clear as possible. I did not want you to be upset during the training—no more than could be helped, but you did well to keep yourself from getting discouraged. But with that over, I cannot keep quiet about it any longer.”

Corey sat up straight. Where was she going with this?

“There was one of the prisoners aside from Lyon who managed to escape,” Celestia said, “It may not be likely, but we both know there’s a possibility that Slayer is still alive.”

Corey’s mind blanked out completely for a moment, but his eyes went wide. He soon found himself reliving the fight all over again… how unfocused he was, how Slayer controlled the whole thing… and then… and then…

Corey shook his head strongly, letting off a huff, but it was too late. Celestia was looking at him, now concerned, with the same stern air she had before.

“As I thought…” Celestia sighed, “It’s still haunting you, isn’t it?”

Corey blinked. He’d felt at peace the past couple of weeks. Why was it, then, that the mere mention of Slayer’s survival—something he’d already had a feeling about for a while—sent him back to the time he didn’t want to relive?

“I thought…” Corey said, “After I woke up, I hadn’t…”

“I see,” Celestia said, “You hardly had any time to spend thinking about it, certainly only enough to know you had a problem. It’s why you ‘sought out the light’. It’s why you’re here. And that will be the topic for the next two weeks.”

“So then…” Corey said, “This next two weeks will be…”

“Something I’m sure you’ve been waiting for, for a long time,” Celestia said, “But there’s something you should know, and it’ll probably be the most important part of what you’re about to do.”

There was only a couple of seconds’ pause before she spoke again. “Emotions can affect magic, as you’ve experienced yourself. All of them can affect it. But let them carry on for too long unchecked, and they can easily go out of control. Anger, sorrow, envy, even joy, almost any emotion, if allowed to fester, can have catastrophic side effects.”

Celestia paused for a few moments, her eyes seemingly trailing off into the distance behind Corey. “Some of which… I’ve seen.”

Corey tried not to nod out of reflex as he understood what she was saying.

“Some try to hide it,” Celestia said, her gaze finally refocusing, “To keep it closed up from those they love until it’s too late.”

There was a small pause as Corey’s mind once again reminded him he’d been fighting with his more negative ones for a while now. And avoiding expressing those emotions, whether verbal or physical, was harder than it should have been.

“That sounds familiar…” Corey said, “Up until recently I haven’t had a proper leash on my feelings. I feel things, I do things based on what I feel, and then I regret what I did while feeling those things. In all other cases but… that one… I’d managed to avoid the worst of outcomes. But that’s not the way to solve it.”

“So you’ve been like this for a while…” Celestia said, “I understand. This may be a harder task for you than I imagined…”

“Overcoming these emotions is going to be hard, for sure…” Corey said, “What can I do? Just shut them out entirely? Never feel again—“

“No, no. No…” Celestia cut in, shaking her head, “That would be worse. No matter what, a living creature needs to be able to feel. It’s what makes them who they really are. It’s what makes them alive. Shutting them away is one of the worst things you can do, especially if they happen to boil over…”

“Boiling over…” Corey repeated, closing his eyes. He knew of some people that preferred that approach. It seemed to work for them. But then again… even they could only take so much.

“The only right way to free yourself from your feelings,” Celestia said, “Is to accept them for what they are. That will be your goal.”

At this, Corey took a second look around the room. The candles, the mats, the much quieter, dimmer everything the room had to offer? It all really started to click now.

“So… so I’m supposed to… to meditate, then?” Corey asked.

“That is correct,” said Celestia, “As such, I do not think there is much more I can do for you beyond what I’ve already done.”

Corey frowned, resting his head on one hand. He’d definitely never sat still long enough to really do it. Of course, he’d also never had a real need to do it.

“If you need a break from this room, feel free to step outside for a few minutes,” Celestia said, “But I trust you’ll be trying most of your meditation in here. I believe the ambience will help with it in this room more than anywhere else in the castle.”

“I think I understand what’s being asked of me,” Corey said, not moving from his position or pose, “I just need to deliver on this.”

“I will leave it up to you, then,” She took a few steps forward now, and knelt down slightly, “Good luck, Corey.”

With that, Celestia stood up to her full height, walked around and past him, and slowly made her way out of the room. She opened the door and walked outside, closing it slowly so as not to make any noise. Only when the light from the hallway disappear from the room once again did Corey finally refocus on what it was he was to do.

“Corey, this is something you’ve never done successfully before. You couldn’t keep your mind steady even when you were in calmer times. There’s a war coming on your doorstep. Do you think you can do what’s ahead of you?” Corey asked himself, knowing full well he wouldn’t get an answer, “Well, there’s only one way to find out, isn’t there…”

Corey’s eyes briefly focused on the subtle flickering of the candles in his vision. He took in a few slow, deliberate breaths, trying to steady himself. He didn’t know how long he’d sat there, trying this, but as he did, his vision slowly began to blur, until the light from the candles became a single blob of light in his vision. Then, that started to fade…

He didn’t know if he was meditating successfully or just napping, but either way, Corey had done… something.

Another day, another battle. That definitely wasn’t something John had heard back home, but it was something John had grown accustomed to. Panting heavily, John was surrounded by several opponents as they stood in what appeared to be an ancient crater. It didn’t matter what formed it. It only mattered that it served its purpose as today’s battlefield. Each of the other dragons stared at John, who was in the center, all waiting for a command. Standing outside of the crater with arms crossed was their far larger leader, Fissure. He was merely watching as the battle went on.

“Continue.”

On cue, several dragons charged towards John, and he did the same. Aiming for the closest dragon to himself, John managed a hard hit across another dragon’s face, following up by grabbing the stunned drake by the arm and swinging him into another. With two out of the way for the moment, John turned his attention to another and slammed his elbow into his stomach.

Three down, he thought to himself, but a pat on the back would have to wait for another time. Just as he managed to kick away a fourth, he found himself in danger of a choke head, only barely able to put his hand in the way and prevent his airways from being blocked. But while he managed a save, he wasn’t quite out of the water yet. One hand was occupied by a dragon who wouldn’t let go. That, on top of the fact that his movements were impaired, made the fact that there were about a few dozen other dragons around him all the more troubling.

He tried to get free, but it was too late. Another dragon was on him already and delivered a hard right to John’s face. After delivering a left punch as well, the dragon stepped aside to allow another to saunter up to John. This one landed a hard shot to John’s stomach. Though John managed to brace himself, avoiding the worst of the damage, it didn’t change the fact that it was painful.

S-shit!

More were coming. He needed a way out or else this wouldn’t end well for him. Again, he was struck and the dragon stepped aside from what seemed to be a cycle of everyone just taking turns walking up to and then attacking John. Just as John saw another assailant move in, his pupils began to twitch, slowly turning to slits, but he quickly shook his head.

N-no, I won’t! John turned his head to the side and looked to the dragon holding him with a scowl, If you’re not gonna let go, then fine! John opened his mouth and took in a deep breath. Once he had sufficient air in his lungs John pulled his hand free, subsequently allowing the dragon to complete his lock.

“Hah, smart move, Brainiac,” the drake taunted, followed by an obnoxious, “Not!” By now, John had stopped paying him any mind. His attention was at what was directly in front of him. A large fist was coming straight for his face, one that would no doubt render him unconscious if it hit him head-on.

Just what I’m looking for, For a moment, John went completely still. In that moment, everything around him slowed down, even the fist inches from his face. In the final moments before impact, John finally moved, lurching his body forward to duck under the oncoming punch. While he did manage to dodge, the same could not be said for the dragon holding on to him. This was made clear the moment he was hit by friendly fire, and was knocked off John’s back as a result.

Just as the attacker realized his mistake, however, it was too late. John already moved to attack. Wrapping his arms around the dragon’s waist, John lifted him off his feet before slamming him back down to the ground.

See, didn’t need to use it after—John’s thoughts, however, were cut short the moment he was rammed into from the side. Try as he might to recover, however, he was quickly overwhelmed by several other dragons piling onto him. As John felt not only the weight of the several dragons adding to the pile, but also the countless attacks that followed, it was all he could do just to keep himself from being pinned down as the ground crater from the combined weight of the dragons.

And as he struggled, as his frustration grew, John could feel it slipping again. His pupils were slowly beginning to slit again, and try as he might he couldn’t seem to fight it this time.

No, no, I won’t! He tried to shake it off, tried to think of a way out of it, but it was getting closer. He was about to fall off the edge, but then…

“Enough!” Instantly, the struggle ended and the dragons who had piled on John began to climb off. With the added weight now gone, John was capable of letting out a small sight of relief. The others stepped aside as Fissure walked up to John, looking down at him with a stern expression.

“How’d I do?” John asked with a smirk, but Fissure only shook his head.

“Come with me,” He said turning away and walking off. John rolled his eyes in response and followed soon after, their walk leading them well outside the massive crater, and through a field of trees.

“Where are we going?” John’s knowledge of the terrain was limited, never really venturing far off where he first landed on his arrival. Any area he’s been to from that day had been introduced to him slowly over time.

“You ‘member the day you beat me?” Fissure asked without turning around.

“Yeah, after I won, you followed after me,” John responded.

“And after I caught up with ya, I asked ya why someone with your strength would want to hold it back. And your answer was nothin’ short of the stupidest thing I’d ever heard come out of another dragon’s mouth,” Now, Fissure’s eyes were on John, one brow arched. John merely rolled his eyes once again.

“I’m perfectly fine with using my strength, but not when it come at the cost of my restraints,” Fissure scoffed and turned around.

“Lemme ask ya somethin’, say I didn’t stop them back there and you still refused to come back full force. What do you think would have happened?” John looked up at Fissure for several seconds. The answer was clear, but he didn’t want to say it.

“Got nothin’ to say? Well then, I’ll answer,” Taking a half-step away, Fissure pushed against several bushes blocking the way, and what John saw shocked him.

“This…”

Fissure didn’t say a word. Instead, he allowed John to walk past him so he could get a better view of what was on the other side.

“Welcome to the boneyard.”

It was massive, bigger than anything he’d seen before, a land field with the carcasses and skeletons of dead dragons. They ranged from dragons the size of buildings, to dragons John’s size, and some smaller than that. The smell of the dead, both old and new floated heavily in the air.

“Why’d you bring me here?” John asked coldly, his eyes still locked on the graveyard.

“Ya know why these bodies are here?”

“I could take a few guesses…”

“Most would be right, probably,” said Fissure, “But no matter how it started, the end was the same. They were too weak.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’re showing me this,” John said. Fissure groaned and rubbed his temple.

“Listen here, you stubborn son of a wyvern!” he said, “If you died right here, right now, what would happen?? Who would you leave behind!?”

For a moment, John thought back to all his friends, all of them who he saw off before coming here. Half the time he was supposed to be out here getting stronger had already elapsed. The day he and his friends would have the biggest battle of their lives was about to happen, and they all expected him to show. But if he didn’t make it—if he died out here and couldn’t return, how would they fare without him?

“Seems that got through to you,” said Fissure, “I don’t know where you came from, nor do I care why you left it to be on this island. The only reason I’m helping you at all is because I can’t stand someone willingly letting themselves be weak.”

The two were silent for a long time. John weighed the outcomes—should he say what was on his mind? Eventually, he made his choice.

“Who did you lose?”

Fissure didn’t respond, merely letting out a puff of smoke from his nostrils.

“Monsters exist even on this island, and sometimes you gotta do what’s necessary to put a stop to them,” Fissure began to walk away, but John wasn’t done just yet.

“And if I don’t?” asked John.

“Then make a list of those close to you, and be prepared to start scratching them off.”

With that, Fissure took his leave, leaving John alone with the boneyard and a decision to make.

How much time had passed? Seconds, hours? In a room where the only light offered was the dim glow of the candles that surrounded him, Corey couldn’t tell. Time could have stopped altogether for all he knew, and right now, he was beginning to wish it would.

Meditation. He’d thought of it more times than anyone else would care to on his own world. But not once had he ever thought he’d truly have to use it. And yet now he found himself in a position where that is exactly what he needed to get done.

But how… Of course he knew there was more to meditation that just sitting with your legs crossed and eyes closed. There was something deeper in there, somewhere, but what it was still eluded him. But he had to figure it out. Something that definitely took multiple years to truly master, he’d have to figure out in two weeks or less. No pressure at all.

Right?

“Argh!” Corey snarled as he broke his stance and ruffled his mane in frustration. He thought he was over this already. He thought he was free of what was weighing him down. But the more he meditated on it, the more he reflected on it, the more it became clear.

“It was in the moment, wasn’t it?” Corey asked. He had really thought he was going to die that day. He wouldn’t get another chance. In that moment, he allowed himself to finally let go, not wanting his grief to be the last thing he felt before he was lead to the light, and ceased to be.

“But now I’m back here, trying to overcome it again,” Letting out a sigh, Corey leaned back on the ground and stared at the ceiling, as though by some chance the answer would just come to him. But he knew better. He’d searched for so long, and when he thought he’d found the answer, it was snatched away not long after. Or maybe, it wasn’t the answer at all, just a convenient truth that he chose to accept in that moment…

“So then, how do I find the real answer, what’s it going to take to finally overcome that negative side of me?” He closed his eyes, taking in the silence all around him. No one would answer his question. Not that there was anyone in the room that could have heard it.

Or so he thought.

“For some, it takes an extreme,” Immediately, all of Corey’s muscles tensed. He didn’t feel any danger, but something stirred when he heard that voice. It was only the first time he’d ever heard it in person, but he knew that he’d know it anywhere. Slowly Corey sat up as he watched something move around him. The wax that had melted off the candlesticks began to shift, slowly moving into a pile a few feet in front of him. Soon, the puddle began to shift further, a mold forming as it reached upwards.

Corey wasn’t stupid. He knew what was about to happen. Within seconds, it took the form of a man—or rather, a man blended with about thirteen other things. Colors blended within the wax until the full sculpture was complete.

“How do you do?” The man said, reaching a hand out to Corey in greeting. Like hell Corey was going to take that hand—how did he know it wasn’t going to have one of those prank buzzers on it? “I don’t believe we’ve met. My name is Discord.”

Corey stared at Discord for a few seconds, unable to stop his eye from twitching.

This… is not the answer… I was looking for…

Author's Note

And here we are. Not much else to say about this one.

Act 4 Chapter 4

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 4: Development Inspiration

The tension in the room went up in an instant. One could have easily cut through it with a knife if it were possible. And considering who Corey was currently staring at right now, that was something that could very well happen at any second. Instead, Discord just continued to look back at him with that same grin on his face. It wasn’t the exact same smile he remembered, but it carried itself the same. Corey could only sit there, not sure what to do next. Discord was still chaos personified. And Corey really didn’t want to make contact with him, least of all now, while he was still trying to wrestle with the negative emotions that had plagued him for so long.

Time continued to pass for what could have been several seconds, and before Corey knew it, he blinked.

“And the challenger goes down!”

Suddenly, Corey’s ears were assaulted by loud cheers without any visible sources and flashing lights accompanied by what sounded like camera flashes. Looking up, he saw Discord holding a trophy as confetti was thrown at him. As all this went on, the unseen announcer voice continued on, a voice that Corey now picked up as another Discord, doing an imitation of one of those cheesy sports announcers.

“It was a close match but Discord retains his title of Master of Stares for the 1,001st year in a row!” Discord blew kisses at the crowd that cheered for him, before slowly turning to an annoyed looking Corey.

If I ignore him, maybe he’ll go away… thought Corey. It had worked a few times in the past… a few times.

“Oh, don’t take it so hard,” Discord said, “Not many can matchup against a pair of globes like these!” He then reached up to his face and pulled out his eyes; a trick Corey had seen before, not that Discord would know, “Unshaken, unbeaten, unbreak—“

Mid-gloat, his eyes effectively rolled off his palm and shattered against the floor, a record scratch being heard as all sound finally stopped. There was a very long period of awkward silence as Discord simply stood there grinning, his eye sockets remaining empty.

“Nothing? Not even a chuckle?” Discord asked, Corey remaining silent, “Well, you’re no fun.” He sighed, his eyes growing back soon after. Corey finally realized there was no avoiding it. He was just going to have to deal with the bad hand he’d been dealt today.

“Can I help you?” Corey asked, trying to suppress any agitation he was feeling.

“Yes, I’ll have the double-stacked hay burger and a side of fries,” Corey blinked, and suddenly, his surroundings had changed. Now, he was behind what looked like a fast food restaurant’s cash register. Corey looked back to Discord and his eyes twitched.

Just walk away. Get out of here. Walk away. Corey’s mind told him, and that sounded like the best idea.

“I don’t have time for this,” Corey huffed as he tossed the hat from his head, turning around on his heel and beginning to make his way for the door.

Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, the props he’d created vanishing in a puff of smoke.

“I suppose you’re right,” Discord sighed, “How long has it been? Two weeks. Two weeks of nothing but silence and peace… not counting you and Celestia shaking up the castle.”

Discord chuckled slightly, but Corey remained silent, still making his way to the door. “But it’s all just the calm before the storm, isn’t it? Soon the clouds will build overhead, and something is going to come pouring down. Now everyone is preparing diligently to ensure that when those clouds clear, the sun will shine on them in victory.”

Corey paused mid-step, halfway between where he was and the door now. There was something different. Discord’s tone had changed entirely, his demeanor anything but what he was a moment ago. For the first time, Corey took a chance and spoke, turning around yet again to face Discord.

“And that’s why we’re all working so hard. That way we can have the power to fight back when the time comes…” Discord looked at Corey for a moment and let out a small chuckle.

“Power… such a strange word when you think about it,” Discord raised a closed fist, slowly opening it to reveal a small orb of magic, which strobed with many different colors, “So many want more, all for different purposes, good, evil, doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, everyone wants more of it, but only a small few have it all.”

Corey arched a brow, wondering where this was going.

“They live their lives knowing there’s nothing they can’t do, until the day comes when they are finally met with something that says otherwise. Only then will they realize it, that even if they had all the power in the world…” Discord closed his fist abruptly around the magical orb, shattering it and causing the candles nearest to him to blow out entirely, “They’re still weak.”

Again, there was silence, but Corey found his irritation going away. Was this the same Discord he knew? If it was, he seemed different…

“You don’t like me very much, I can tell,” Discord continued as he looked to Corey, “Can’t imagine why. This is our first official meeting. But you’re from another world. It’s not really me you’re angry at, is it? Tell me, is there a ‘me’ in your world? If there is, what did he do to you?”

Corey didn’t say anything, simply looking away for a moment. The answer was a bit more complex than that.

“That bad, huh?” Discord wondered, “I can’t say I’m surprised. And if he’s anything like I was… chances are, he’ll get what he deserves.”

Corey blinked. “Was?”

“These last few weeks have caused a lot of waves, resulting in some large changes for everyone involved. Though, I suppose I can’t be involved, even if I wanted to… forced to watch from the sidelines as the only ones I could dare call ‘friend’ are put in danger. With a simple snap of my finger, I could stop all this—“ Discord did so, but the candles only swayed slightly in response—perhaps he was emphasizing his point again, “But that would come with a risk. One I’m not willing to take.”

This is… The word Corey was looking for was humility. It wasn’t something he’d ever thought he’d see in someone like Discord. And yet, there it was. Not as a façade, not as mere crocodile tears meant to garner sympathy, and not just a mask for a greater plan. This was genuine humility on display here.

“Admittedly, the old me probably would have. Chances are, there are a lot of things he would have done by now… things that probably wouldn’t have been helpful in the short term or the long term,” There was a look in Discord’s eyes as he thought about it. It wasn’t of sadness, nor of deception. He looked like he viewed the notion with severe contempt, “But he’s not me. Not anymore. I’ve had to let go of him after what I’ve seen recently. And right now, I refuse to go back. I refuse to become one of them again.”

“Then… what will you do?” Corey asked.

Discord looked up for a moment, as though wondering that himself.

“All I can do right now is wait for the right moment,” Then he began to walk, his path leading towards the door. Corey simply watched for a moment. This whole conversation had taken him for a loop he hadn’t expected.

“And when that moment comes?” Discord stopped in the door frame, having opened it manually. Now, he tapped his chin as he searched for a response.

“I’ve started to ask myself that recently, that if by some strange event I was face-to-face with my former self. I’d wondered what I’d say, what I would tell myself so he’d know there’s another way, a much less… stiff way. But after a while, I realized that I probably wouldn’t have said anything.”

Discord finally stepped out, heading through the doorway as he spoke his final words, letting the door close behind him.

“I would have just struck him down.”

Discord’s words echoed around the empty hall full of candles as Corey was left alone in the dim room once more, any evidence that Discord had been there gone. He felt no irritation at all; fact was, he’d felt his irritation had abated before Discord had stepped through the door.

He’s changed… so much… Sure, maybe this Discord was different from the one he knew prior to his entry in the world, but he didn’t have any reason to think it would have been that different. That being said, it was a substantial change—maybe not from night to day, but enough to matter, enough to see. Corey looked down at his hands once again.

His own shortcomings in the field of change came back to him, the worries it’d be impossible for him returning. But this time, they didn’t stay. The impossible had happened right in front of him—living, breathing proof that it could be done just walked out of the door. Discord had changed for the better.

“Then…” Corey’s hands tightened as he nodded to himself, making his way back over to his former sitting position towards the center of the room, “If he can do it…”

Corey took in a deep breath, now in his meditation position. He closed his eyes, gathering his focus.

“What’s stopping me from doing the same…?”

Since the day Tartarus had been compromised, Luna had diligently remained on guard at the resealed doors. Each day, she had been unable to move from the area in fear that a second breakout was right around the corner. However, on this day, Luna finally took the chance and trusted the watch to the guards who had watched over it with her. Finally, after months of waiting, Luna finally managed to return home.

Though she hadn’t been in Canterlot for quite some time, she wasn’t unaware of what was going on now. Luna had first thought that she’d find her sister in her chambers, perhaps seeing through to Corey’s training, as she was informed via letter. However, Celestia’s throne was empty, and when Luna did eventually find Corey, he was in deep meditation. After searching through the castle for some time, Luna was left wondering where else she could search. Then, she remembered she still hadn’t checked one place, one she was sure Celestia hadn’t been to in years.

Deep within the castle’s vault, a hidden location accessible to only Celestia and herself, was where Luna went next. And it was there she finally found her sister.

“I can’t believe you’re here…”

The room was large, larger than the throne room that housed it. Within its walls were displays of a large variety of goods acquired throughout the years. From ancient relics of the rulers of the past to totems of everlasting alliances between nations. Above all else, this room was where Luna and Celestia stored the many weapons they’d owned.

In the center of it all was where the two sisters kept their armor from wars past, and it was that which Celestia stared towards now. She didn’t make a single move to indicate she had heard Luna, her gaze firmly locked onto her old armor, as though flashing back to the days she still had to wear it. Only when Luna was close enough to the case that her reflection could be seen on the glass did Celestia finally speak up.

“It almost feels like yesterday, the days when this armor and I were practically inseparable. The days when our nation needed us to be strong, to be able to stand our ground against anything that may threaten this world,” Celestia pressed her palm against the glass of the display, her gaze now locked on her reflection, as though she now saw her past self again.

“Do you miss it?” asked Luna.

“I suppose it depends on what you mean by it,” said Celestia, “Do I miss the days of war and death? No, never. Do I miss the days when I was first to enter battle, hoping to end the conflict as it begun?” Celestia let out a small sigh and closed her eyes, “Always.”

The palm placed on the glass closed, tightened into a fist. The pressure behind it was just enough to make the glass fracture.

“For so long now, I’ve forced myself to sit on the sidelines, forced myself to watch so that my student and her friends would achieve their destiny. All this, for the sake of learning the magic of friendship,” Celestia’s fist pushed harder against the glass, causing more cracks to spread around it, “Even now, I was forced to do nothing more than sit down and watch, all as a part of someone’s sick amusement.”

Celestia had to stop herself, her aura beginning to emit as anger rose from the memories of the past days.

“But there is no lesson to be learned here. There is no chance of reforming someone who has tumbled so far into the abyss…” Celestia took in a breath before standing up straight, looking over her armor one final time, “What I am trying to say, Luna, is that I’m tired of watching.”

Luna stared at Celestia for several seconds before finally smiling. “I couldn’t agree more.”

Corey wasn’t even sure how many days had passed since Discord’s unexpected visit. He only knew that time wasn’t up yet. Whenever he wasn’t tending to basic needs he couldn’t ignore, like eating or actually sleeping, he spent his time in the dim room, trying to find it in him to finally move on. It wasn’t easy. With his new resolve, he managed to finally get some images together.

Every single one of his past mistakes that haunted him, all of the resentment he’d felt in his life before coming there, and everything in between—he’d relived all of it. But this time, he wasn’t simply a bystander in his own body. He was a bystander watching himself make the same mistakes. And each time, he’d learned to forgive himself; each time, he’d made peace with the situation. Each time, he could feel the pressures around him growing just a little lighter.

Yet, even with his successes in accepting his past, there was a sense of incompleteness he felt as he went back to his mindscape. He was close enough that he could taste it, but at the same time, Corey felt something wasn’t right. Something was still eluding him. And he had a pretty good idea what was still holding him back. He knew though, that he couldn’t force himself to revisit the moments. He had tried. When he came out of meditation that time, he found several puddles of melted wax around him, and the room was even dimmer overall.

In the end, Corey sat still in the middle of the room, floating inside his own skull as he waited for his moment.

How much longer do I need? Corey thought, How much longer do I have? I can’t keep blocking out everything I did that I don’t like forever. Really, that applies to just about everything. So what’s keeping me from finishing here?

Corey gazed around the featureless void his mind often found itself in, trying to see if anything changed, any doors opening, anything at all. There was usually a sign his mind was ready to go back to his worst memories, represented by things associated with the memory. But for this one, nothing seemed to be showing up.

In the real world, Corey continued to breathe at a slow, even tempo. His horn would occasionally flicker not unlike one of the candle flames surrounding him. Eventually, his horn slowly began to glow, a slow, steady aura enveloping it.

In his subconscious, Corey finally saw something. Although the void around him was a dark void, it was still lit somewhat by stars. But then, cutting into his vision from his right, was a black spot, one that threatened to consume him. He fully turned to face it, raising both eyebrows in alarm.

“This has to be it,” Corey realized, as he allowed himself to float over to it. The black spot engulfed him, just as he thought it would, and once again, Corey found himself falling through his subconscious. As he fell, he couldn’t help but notice the sensations that flew through him.

“I can feel it…” One of Corey’s hands went to his chest. It felt as though a large weight was pressing into it, “This imprint of darkness… It’s suffocating me, threatening to drown my rationality. Now I know I’m on the right track…”

The sensations stopped, and Corey understood at once where he was as soon as his feet touched the ground. He was once more in the palace of the Crystal Empire, where his showdown with Slayer had occurred. There was no washed-out colors this time, no scornful screaming or maniacal laughter to cloud his judgment. Everything was how he remembered it looking.

Corey looked around, and could only watch as the memory took form. Slayer, whose Corey disguise was torn a bit already, walking over to a seemingly inert... Corey. Corey looked down at himself, then back over to his double, just as his double punched Slayer in the chest hard enough to send him flying back.

“I’m watching it…” Corey realized, “Not as the me from then, but as the me from now…”

Memory Corey succumbed to the darkness, emitting the black aura and using dark magic immediately afterward. Slayer stood no chance now. That much, Corey already knew. Watching everything unfold from the angle it had, Corey thought back to everything that lead up to this.

Slayer had caused everyone untold grief. He’d hurt Twilight once already by this point. His book had so much of his essence poured into it that it poisoned Corey himself just by holding it. That didn’t even go into what he’d causing Shining, Cadance, and the others. Not to mention the families of those he’d already killed. No matter how Corey tried to look at it, he could only come to one conclusion.

“If it wasn’t me that did it, someone else would have,” Corey thought, “If I hadn’t slipped up here, and Slayer had won the battle… John probably would have been the next to go off the deep end. There’s no going around it. Slayer deserved what he got here.”

Slayer had passed out by this point, but Memory Corey wasn’t satisfied. Slayer’s disguise was slowly melting as though it were made of wax, and perhaps it was, green sloughing off to expose red fur. Corey could only watch, horrified, as his past self continued attacking someone who was already unconscious. He’d known he’d done it—the image of the bloodied, battered Slayer was etched permanently into his memory, after all. It was an image that had haunted him for a long time. But seeing it from an outside perspective? Knowing full well what you’d done to someone, no matter how much they brought it on themselves?

“This… no. This wasn’t the answer. Somewhere deep down, I knew it. But by then, all I could think about was how to make him suffer…” Corey continued, only able to watch his past self continue a fight that was already over, “The fight was over. I should have stopped. But… I was blinded by a lot of things.”

Memory Corey finally stopped, speaking to the clearly unconscious Slayer. Memory Corey turned, tossing the limp body into the nearest wall, Slayer unmoving. Memory Corey continued to speak in a monotone that gave Corey shivers, all the while as dark magic swirled into his fist. At this point, Corey looked around, wondering if Twilight was going to show up. This was about the part she called him back to reality and made him aware of what he’d done.

Where are you…? Corey looked around, confused for a moment. However, he was soon reminded of why he was even here in the first place, and locked his eyes to Memory Corey.

“I’m going to turn you into your favorite paint!” Memory Corey’s tone had changed from a monotone drone to full-on psychotic screaming as he lifted his fist, full of energy, “See you in--!”

“No,” Corey said, moving over to his double. Admittedly, he wasn’t sure if it would work until he felt his hand close around Memory Corey’s forearm, stopping him from dropping his hand and unleashing a spell, “Not like this.”

Memory Corey was physically taken aback by Corey’s appearance, no doubt. His face changed to that of a snarl. “Not like this? Not like this!? He deserves all this and more! Just let me finish this!”

Corey paused for only a moment. “Yes, he does. But this isn’t the way to do it. Kill him, and you’ll just wind up losing everything else, even the things you were trying to protect in the first place.”

“If I let him get away, he’ll just keep doing it! The only way to stop him is to kill him! Can’t you see that!?” Memory Corey roared back, “Let me go!”

“No. I can’t do that.” Corey closed his eyes, letting other, more pleasant memories come, “No. Remember what you’ve gained since coming here, me. Remember what you’ve gained.”

There was a short pause. Memory Corey had gone almost completely silent. Corey opened his eyes, now able to see his other self’s distant expression. The evidence that dark magic had claimed him was vanishing, bit-by-bit.

“Everyone…” Memory Corey finally said, after a pause, “I… But if I… I can’t let him go…”

“He and the other prisoners will be back anyway. Their leader seems to have them under control, mostly…” Corey reminded himself, watching as Memory Corey’s eyes returned to their whites. The only different between the two now was Memory Corey’s blood-red eyes, and it was clear they weren’t going away, “But even then, we can’t kill him…”

The scene around the two faded, the two Coreys now floating in a sea of black. Memory Corey—no, not Memory Corey anymore, but the manifestation of his inner wrath and anger, the emotion that for so long had plagued him—stared back at Corey.

“Then… What am I supposed to do?” Wrath Corey finally asked.

“Let me decide that,” Corey said, “You’re a part of me. I don’t know where you came from, or how you came into being. There is literally nothing in my past life that could have given birth to you. But you’re a part of me. And it’s time I quit running from that.”

Corey released his grip on Wrath Corey. Wrath Corey didn’t move straight away, still looking stunned.

“So, how about it?” Corey asked, backing up a few inches to offer his hand, “I’m willing to accept you exist. But I can’t let you control me anymore. There’s no more room for errors like that.”

Wrath Corey looked down to Corey’s hand for a moment. Corey himself wasn’t sure what would happen should it refuse. However, to his shock, his wrathful half snickered for a moment.

“You’ve finally found your answer, haven’t you?” Wrath Corey said, “Let’s see if it holds up, then!”

Wrath Corey reached out and took Corey’s hand for a handshake—up, down, back to center. Then, Wrath Corey began to glow, same with the space around them. Corey shielded his eyes with his free hand. A moment later, his other hand felt free of pressure; his wrath self had suddenly vanished. When Corey finally returned to some kind of sense, he found himself in the center of his mind.

“Did… did that work…?” Corey looked around for a moment longer. As his eyes fell upon the void in his mind once again, the void that had shown him his worst memory, he realized its color had changed from black to a yellowish-white color. Before he could start pondering on what that meant, Corey decided returning to the real world was more important. Thus, he soon found himself growing more distant from the center of his mind.

In the real world, Corey’s body slowly opened his eyes. He looked around the room a bit. Nothing had changed; it was still dim and quiet in the room. Turning his attention inward, putting both hands to his chest, Corey let his mind wander for a few moments, trying to see if he could dig up anything that would normally upset him.

At that moment, however, the door opened. Corey turned around, feeling more than a little surprised to see Princess Celestia standing there. Had she already known…?

Princess Celestia stepped forward into the room. Her horn lit up in an amber glow, and the candles gained a little more strength, lighting up the room a bit more.

“How do you feel?” Celestia asked. Corey blinked a bit. This wasn’t exactly a new question, “I can feel something has changed in you.”

That, however, was a new statement. Corey turned his attention inward again. He’d never felt calmer, given what was coming up and what he still had to do before the final battle would begin. The weight that had pressed down on him again once this phase of training had started was gone.

“I feel…” Corey said, “Lighter.”

Author's Note

I don't have much to say here. But there's that. See you all next Sunday for the next update.

Act 4 Chapter 5

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 5: When It Began

Corey eventually learned how much time he had to spare. As it turned out, he really had used up quite a bit of time. To cut a long story short, as of today’s meditation session, he had just three days left before the final battle to get ready. Seeing as how meditation seemed to be giving him some pretty good gains in terms of magic, Corey decided it was best to stick with it. So once again, Corey would stow away to the dimmed room and meditate. With less pressure on him, Corey would occasionally take breaks to remind himself of what reality looked like. Now that he’d achieved some kind of tangible inner peace, Corey found it so much easier to let meditation come to him.

The center of his mind came to him much easier as well; after a few solid minutes of concentration, he’d find himself there. Though it was usually a dark void when he entered, Corey decided to see if he could do anything to make the void not… a void.

Visualize it… Corey thought, Something simple. Just a green grassland spanning in all directions, maybe some flowers here or there, a few weeds... As far as the eye can see… Cloudy skies, enough to give some shade… Okay. Here we go.

Corey’s mind began to focus on the image, his mind’s eye closing as he did so. Then, his eyes snapped open, and as he did so, he could see it forming. The ground appeared from nowhere; the void suddenly began to light up as the skies became blue; the light of the sun coming down. White clouds began to appear, and in moments, his ideal image finished forming. Corey surveyed the area he made in his mind’s eye, smiling as he took in what he’d accomplished.

“Not bad…” Corey said, “It’s really starting to pay off.”

Corey stood alone in his grassland for a bit longer, his smile fading as new thoughts began to take form. “Now… how is this magical training thing going to work in here exactly?”

“The answer is simple,” said a familiar-sounding voice, immediately catching Corey’s attention. Given the circumstances he’d first heard the voice under, Corey knew he’d know that voice anywhere.

Corey heard a loud creaking sound, and let out a gasp as he stepped back, only to stagger when something popped up underneath him unexpectedly. He fell backwards onto his rear end as he looked all around. There were those bamboo-ish walls and floor again, decorated with the mats, once again. Sure enough, once everything connected, Corey looked towards the front of the room. There Esper sat, in the same position he had been when Corey had met him for the first time.

“However, with everything having come to what it has, I feel it’s finally time that you knew…” Esper said, “Knew the truth of how things came to be, that is.”

“The truth…?” Corey repeated.

“First of all, I must congratulate you. You have found the light,” Esper said, “Now that you’ve found a lasting inner peace, there should be plenty of time now for the answers you want. Especially now that her attention is safely elsewhere…”

Corey raised one eyebrow, wondering what exactly Esper was getting at. “Her attention?”

“The one behind all this…” Esper looked towards the floor; was he ashamed of something? He paused for a few moments to collect himself, before speaking up again. “We will talk about her soon enough. However, if there is any one pony that deserves to know exactly what has brought everything to this point, I believe it’d be you. Are you willing to listen to my tale?”

“I’m ready,” Corey said. He’d wanted to know this for a good long time now, long before his mind had broken. This was his chance to find it all out, “I want to know just how all this could have happened…”

“Very well,” Esper said, “But before I get into that, I need to explain something else. The magic that you…” He paused, lifting one hand to face as his wings opened, then closed. As soon as they did, blue runes began to appear, “And I possess, involving the use of runes from the body.”

Corey leaned forward, looking at the runes with wide eyes. He supposed he shouldn’t have been shocked, yet here he was now.

“It is not just the two of us that have this ability, either. The one behind all this, and several others who are with me right now—“ Esper began.

“Wait, others? With you?” Corey asked.

“In due time. You’ll understand soon enough what I mean,” Esper said, “Anyway, all of us have one major thing in common. We are from a subgroup of ponies known as Astral Ponies.”

“Astral… ponies?” Corey asked, “I haven’t heard of that since I’ve been here.”

“That has a lot to do with what happened to us…” Esper said, “We were called Astral Ponies because of our innate bond with magic; to the point we could cast runic magic from our bodies. As you can probably guess by now, the magic isn’t limited to unicorn ponies. Pegasus ponies and earth ponies can also use runic magic like this, provided they have this connection.”

“Makes sense,” Corey said, “Seems like the magic connection is tied strongly to spirit, then…”

“Hence the name,” Esper said, “Though the ability is unique to us, I recall the rulers of the land at the time being able to use runic magic like us as well, but my memory is not clear enough to tell you if they were able to manipulate runes like Astral ponies were able to… it’s been so long.”

Now that, is something Princess Celestia didn’t do once the last few weeks… Corey thought.

“Over time, as the astrals grew in number among the three pony races, they slowly began to come together. Eventually, we sought to understand the common magic we shared. Race did not matter anymore. Earth pony, pegasus, unicorn; that did not matter to us. If you sought understanding and knowledge, you were welcome to join us.”

“Sounds like a peaceful community,” Corey said.

“Back in those days, race did matter quite a bit to most ponies,” Esper continued, “Our community, as you called it, was quite small in comparison to the villages built back then. But as you said, it was a peaceful congregation. We sought to use our powers for deterrence, at best. No one seemed to mind us, and in turn we did not mind them. Despite our size and simplicity, we thrived.”

“Would it be fair to call you all ‘monks’, then?” Corey asked. Esper paused, sitting up a bit straighter. Corey blinked a bit before realizing he probably needed to explain his position, “You spent time meditating, seeking knowledge for the pursuit of peace. Had compassion for life, that kind of thing?”

“Yes, of course,” Esper said, “That seems about right. I take it then, you understand what our society was like. We were peaceful, and as a community we strove to use our power for good. We didn’t want power just to have it. All of us, that is, but for one exception.”

Corey sat up a bit, waiting for Esper. Esper’s eyes grew distant, and he seemed to be strained. Eventually, though, his eyes refocused, and he calmly lifted both of his hands. Runes began to appear, and a few moments later a blue light came out of Esper’s hands. A blue, holographic image of a young earth pony mare showed up (probably early teens at oldest?), wearing clothes nearly identical to the outfit Esper wore now. Her mane was short cut, barely reaching her shoulders; her tail was also a bit on the short side.

“Who is that?” Corey asked, gazing upon the image.

“This…” Esper said, “This is the source of everything that’s happened. Why no one seems to have heard of astral ponies. Why no one knows of runic magic. Why this has happened now. Her name is Para Norma.”

Corey looked at the hologram, blinking. She hardly looked that different from a normal pony, runic magic nonwithstanding. “She’s the ‘Norma’…”

A memory washed over Corey as the name finally fully registered. The last name in Esper’s book—no, it couldn’t be…

“That book we guided you towards…” Esper said, “It was all we could do in the state we were in, but that book... you read the names in the back, correct?”

“A few pages were missing, but yeah, the names were still there… she was the last name there,” Corey recalled.

“Para Norma was my final student,” Esper said following a short pause, “And she was a special case for an astral pony. Astral ponies, through their innate connection with magic, are usually able to draw power from their surroundings, allowing them their strength. She, however, didn’t seem to have this ability. I do not know what played a role in her situation, but regardless, the fact was that she was weaker than average.

“Her magic matched her coat color—just a dull, lifeless gray, when she did manage to cast a spell…” Esper recalled, “Even her magic was weak. What spells she was able to pull off just weren’t as good as they should have been.”

“Sounds like she wasn’t lucky, if you ask me,” Corey said, “I mean, from what I know…”

“Like I said, I do not know what caused her weakness. Perhaps the force that makes up the magic around us had seen the potential darkness in her and tried to restrict her access to magic so she could learn better…” Esper said, “I do not know, but I can tell you this. She was not always as you and your friends have seen her. She wasn’t always a ruthless monster.”

“Maybe so,” Corey said, “I certainly did not know her.”

“Whatever the case,” Esper said, “It was not long before she began to believe herself to be… behind the others in the community. She felt like she could do more than what she was doing. Maybe her motivations at the time were not impure. Maybe she did just want to live up to what she felt she could be. At the time, I was one of the elders in our community, as well as the main magic mentor…”

It was eons ago, I know, but I remember my first meeting with Para Norma like it was yesterday. Years to reflect on the things I should have done differently with her, centuries to dwell on how things had gone, and millennia to do nothing else… it ingrained all of it into my mind. Nevertheless, it was a simple spring day when she first decided to start her tutelage under me, together with the others in her group…

Esper Wisdom had seen a vast share of students in his days. However, he wasn’t quite as prepared as he would have liked. In terms of results, there were the usual suspects—ponies who fell within the average, some who stood out because of their unique spells and scored higher. And then, there was one set of results that didn’t seem to fall within normal parameters, and not in a good way.

“Are you seeing this, Esper?” Esper looked over to his right, seeing Ghost Writer, an Earth pony and fellow elder, who usually helped with the tests. His coat was a silvery color, and his mane was white. He wore an outfit identical to Esper’s. His runic spells were built around processing real-time information. One of them worked to project onto a large, blank, white wall in plain, easily read letters—in this case, the results of the test.

“I do, Ghost,” Esper confirmed, “Of the ten newcomers, it seems Para Norma has scored very low—in fact, the lowest we’ve seen. And judging solely from observation, it is a wonder she hasn’t wound up with a flat zero…”

“What will you do?” Ghost asked.

“What else is there to do?” Esper asked, “The whole point of our test is to see who needs guidance the most, and act accordingly. Para Norma’s low score simply means I’ll have to pay the most attention to her of all of my students.”

“Do as you will, Esper,” Ghost said, “I am not sure how she will take the news, though…”

When the test was over and the results were announced, I had to request Para Norma come see me once everything was done. It was the first time I had ever done such a thing. She didn’t have the reaction I’d expected to see of someone who had scored so low. I had to make sure it wasn’t a strong front she had put on in the face of the other students there, and to see if she had the drive she would need to make it through the teachings…

Esper Wisdom had spent the time since the testing ended merely reviewing the situation. He was in a hut made of bamboo with several mats of leaves around him—the primitive form of the buildings the Astral pony community chose to build. Esper’s building was larger, which fit with his role in the community as a leader and the authority on runic magic.

It was currently the evening, approaching night. Esper held up both his hands, which glowed with blue runes, as he slowly, gently eased everything back into its place. Tomorrow morning, he would ease them back to their places, to prepare for another day of teaching students. There were a couple of things he still had to do before retiring for the night.

“Elder Esper!”

Esper’s eyes opened slightly, the last of the mats safely folded and moved to the wall. His hands stopped glowing as he turned towards the doorway of the room. A gray earth pony mare was there, her mane and tail short, eyes vibrant with youth.

“Yes?” Esper asked as he turned. Upon seeing who it was, though, he allowed himself to relax completely, “Oh yes, Para Norma. I asked you to come see me, didn’t I?”

“That’s right,” Norma bowed slightly, “I—“

“Please, step into the room,” Esper said, “There are a few things I must discuss with you regarding today’s test.”

Norma stepped into the room, frowning. “Did I fail?”

“No, no,” Esper shook his head, “The point of the test was not pass or fail, but simply to demonstrate your ability. And well… I first wanted to make sure you were alright with the results.”

“I can not say I’m surprised,” said Norma with a shrug, “I’ve always been behind my peers. I have never been able to replicate what they have been doing…”

Norma lifted a hand, and her hand barely crackled with a few silvery runes in response. She gazed at her hand in disgust, like there was something seriously wrong with it.

“And that is why you chose to enroll in my teachings?” asked Esper, gauging her response.

“That is correct,” Norma said, “I have tried meditating on my own before with no luck. I am not sure where to go from here. I felt as though looking to the top mage in our community would be the best course of action.”

Esper paused, before letting out a small chuckle. This wasn’t exactly anything he hadn’t heard before.

“Listen carefully, Para Norma,” Esper said, “Our society doesn’t seek power for the sake of power. I am not sure what is hampering your magic exactly. There are many things we do not yet understand about our common connection to magic itself. However, you seem to want to know why your magic isn’t working as it should, and to see if it can be corrected. Is that right?”

Norma paused for a few moments. “I suppose… yes, that seems about right. It has felt like I have been doing something wrong, but I have no idea what it could be.”

“Then, you have come to the right pony,” Esper said, “The point of the test earlier today, Norma, was nothing more than a means for me to see who may require more assistance. I must admit, I am not sure how to help your case, but I will try my best to help you along.”

Norma stood straight up with a slight smile. “Thank you—“

“I wasn’t finished,” said Esper, raising one hand to silence her, “There is but one thing I must ask of you, Para Norma. You must be willing to work hard to get to where you want to be. Do you accept this?”

There was hardly a second of pause before Norma answered. “If I wasn’t ready to work, I wouldn’t have bothered with trying to attend your lessons in the first place.”

Esper gave Norma a smile. “That is all I wanted to hear. Go on and head on home. We will begin tomorrow morning, like all other students have before you, and like all other students will after you.”

With that, Para Norma was on her way home. Esper watched the young mare leave, before turning back towards his personal study. There were a few theories he had to double check in his old book…

An innocuous first meeting, it was. Para Norma did not seem to hold any shades of malice within her. She seemed to be a pony that wanted nothing more than to learn why she was weaker than an average astral pony, and then correct whatever was holding her back. In a community who believed learning of the secrets magic had to offer, this was a goal I could sympathize with; this was a goal worth pursuing…

If only I had seen what had come in the years that followed… perhaps all this wouldn’t have happened. For you see, it turned out that the solution to Norma’s problem was not so simple…

Author's Note

And here we see the backstory on this end that lead to things being as they were now. Not a whole lot else to say.

Act 4 Chapter 6

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 6: The Root of the Problem

Corey sat in silence the whole time, listening to Esper’s tale. A part of him scoffed at the notion that Para Norma could have turned so badly. Maybe she was already manipulating events even back then. Yet, Esper seemed earnest enough about this first meeting. Perhaps he wasn’t remembering it right? Looking back at those times with rose-tinted glasses?

“You seem confused,” Esper said, “I understand it is hard to believe somepony so vile could have behaved that way back then. But understand this: Para Norma’s turn to darkness wasn’t instantaneous.”

“She seemed innocent enough, for sure,” Corey said, “Based on what you’ve shown me and told me, she seemed pretty unassuming. But monsters can hide in plain sight. I know that now more than ever.”

“There has to be a turning point in a creature’s life where they decide to dedicate themselves to evil,” Esper said, “At least, I believe that is the case. Maybe your experience elsewhere has lead you to believe differently, but regardless, Norma’s aspirations at the time were pure, or at least, weren’t founded in evil.

“She really wanted to prove herself, that she was as good as anyone else. And yet, for all that she tried, she just couldn’t replicate the other students’ feats. Of course, to my knowledge, none of the other students—in fact, none of the others in the community—seemed to mind. They encouraged her development, even when it seemed she wouldn’t do it. Nonetheless, she wound up feeling inadequate compared to her peers.”

Inadequate… Corey thought. The word triggered something within him, How many times have I felt that way since I came of age?

“Something on your mind?” Esper asked, noting that Corey was in thought.

“Yeah,” Corey said, “I felt that way a lot. It felt like no matter what I did, it wasn’t good enough. No one around me seemed to mind what I was doing, but I felt like I should have been doing more with my free time. Even here, in this new life of mine, it wasn’t enough.”

“I see. So how do you feel now?” Esper asked.

“I spent the last several days wrestling with it all. The feelings of worthlessness, anger, and fear I’d suffered with for a while. Honestly? I feel free from it all now,” Corey said.

“Make no mistake,” Esper’s voice became slightly stern, “If you are not careful, you may find those feelings sneaking up on you without warning, dragging you down slowly until you were back to where you were.”

“Is that what got Para Norma to where she wound up?” Corey asked, “Had she made progress?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Esper said, “We’ll get to that part soon enough…”

As I said, her turn wasn’t instantaneous. Her feelings of inadequacy grew over the years. She grew up with the other students in her group, but the same couldn’t be said of her magical skill. While she did get stronger with age like any other pony, her magic still remained far below the average in the community. And as the years went by, her visits to me began to increase in frequency…

Esper’s students came in cycles. Every ten years, he’d have a new batch of young minds, eager to prove themselves and eager to learn the secrets of runic magic. Of course, Esper knew that there were some things about the magic yet to be discovered. Some days, he would leave his students to their devices, and take the building to himself so that he could have some quiet for the day.

With six years having gone by, he could afford that time a lot more now. Esper came out of meditation and made his way to his study, located in the same overall building the rest of his school-related stuff was. There was something he’d found through his day of meditation that he couldn’t wait to write down. He set down at a table, using his magic to guide his book to the table as he went. No sooner than when it hit the wooden surface did he finally sit down, lightly smiling as he opened it to a blank page.

There wasn’t too much room left in the book at this point; soon he’d have to start another. But, this spell wouldn’t take up a significant part of it all. With the meditation he’d just done, Esper felt confident that this new spell he’d come up with would be very useful. He’d have to test it; a spell like this warranted it.

Esper sat in relative silence, entirely focused on his work. Approximation of the runic symbols that came to him, the purpose of the spell, what it did, it all flowed from his mind to his hand as he wrote it down. He was so caught up in his task that he hadn’t even heard when someone stepped into the doorway.

“Elder Esper,” The familiar voice, aged with time, called to him again. He looked up, seeing Para Norma standing at the doorway. The past years had been kind to her, at least in appearance. However, the same could not be said for her magic. Esper looked up from his book, not at all surprised by her impromptu visit.

“Para Norma,” Esper said, very used to having Norma make these visits due to her troubles, “What do you wish to go over this time?”

“Well, I actually have a question,” Norma strode into the room now, “What are you writing down there?” She brushed a swath of gray mane out of her eyes as she looked down at the book.

“It’s a spell I recently came up with,” Esper said, “When the spell is cast, it should allow something to be transported into the user’s personal pocket dimension.”

“A pocket dimension??” Norma asked, her gaze flicking between Esper and the pages, “A spell like that…”

“It takes a certain amount of precision in order to get a desired effect,” Esper explained, “A precision I haven’t even begun to test. I only just came up with the spell today. There are many adjustments to be made, many, many things about this spell that could go wrong.”

“It’s untested, then?” Norma asked, “That’s perfect.”

Esper looked at Norma, almost convinced she’d have suddenly sprouted a pair of wings, or a horn, when he did look at her. “Pardon?”

“If this spell has just been written, perhaps I could help you test it?” Norma asked.

“I don’t know if it’d be that simple,” Esper said, shaking his head, “I mean, considering your performance against the others…”

“I know!” Norma snapped. Esper blinked. Norma breathed in and out a few times, and calmly spoke up, “I know… I know how behind I am. I only need to look at what their spells do and what mine do. I’ve worked and worked, but I’m still far behind them. But… with a spell like this, if I can learn it before anyone else, then maybe… just maybe… I can have a leg up on the others.”

Esper felt himself frown, against his own wishes. This was still the same student who he had talked to seven years ago, but something didn’t seem quite right. “A spell this volatile, though…?”

“It may involve searing a hole between dimensions, so that whatever can be stored in there,” Norma said, “But with my level of power, wouldn’t any damage be minimized if it backfires?”

Esper closed his eyes. This seemed sound on a base level, but with a spell like this, an untested spell at that, he had no idea if that principle held true. For all he knew, Norma’s lack of power wouldn’t even allow the spell to function. This was a highly complex spell he had devised, and he hadn’t even had time to write the whole thing down before she showed up.

“It may hold that way,” Esper admitted, “But I am not sure of any other risks. I appreciate the offer to help, Para Norma, but I just do not know. I haven’t even committed the whole thing to the pages of the book.”

“Please consider it, at least,” Norma said, “Helping you out with this spell may well make me improve in general, even if I can’t get it down…”

“That is true as well,” Esper sighed, rubbing at his mane, “I suppose I will consider it. Was there anything else you wanted to see me about?”

Norma paused for a few moments, looking away. Then, she scowled. “I forgot. Got so excited over the new spell…”

Esper rubbed at his mane again, a little bit of frustration seeping into his features. Underneath that, though, was a growing feeling of worry.

“I guess I’ll just take my leave. I’ll come back if I remember what I came here for. Thank you for your time,” Para Norma bowed slightly before she made her exit. Esper watched her go, and only after she vanished from his line of sight did he call his quill into his runic grasp once again. He shook his head lightly, even as his quill continued to write. He was able to pick up his work from where he left off and finished the remaining steps of the spell’s draft. Fixes would probably need to be made, but Esper found he couldn’t relax enough to let himself start testing the new spell.

The feeling of worry hadn’t totally abated. Norma’s behavior had struck a chord within him. Something about how she’d acted regarding the spell just seemed… off. He couldn’t name what it was, but he hoped he could steer her back on track before it could consume her entirely.

Figuring making a note of it would help him to clear his head for now, Esper flipped through the pages of his book and began to write his notes—by hand, this time. He dated the entry, and began to write.

She came to me again, her quest to learn… While it was refreshing in the beginning, it has now begun to worry me…

“So that entry…” Corey began, reliving the distant memory of first seeing that entry, “That was about her after all. It really was your book we found there in that castle, then.”

“You mentioned it before,” Esper said, looking hopeful for just a moment, “Tell me, do you still have it?”

Corey’s face fell. “Unfortunately, I don’t. It was taken from the library when we were attacked. No doubt, Norma has it.”

Esper sighed, shaking his head. “Then Para Norma once again has that old book. You mentioned a few pages were missing when you found the book?”

“That’s right,” Corey said, “Twilight said a few pages were missing.”

“When I saw the book last, it was in the same condition,” Esper said, “Norma may still have those pages, the pages that changed the world in all the wrong ways.”

There was a short pause, Esper’s eyes closing. His jaw clenched slightly and his hands, now closed firmly into fists, began to shake atop his knees.

“Why did it all go wrong like it did!?” Esper said, “Why couldn’t I have spotted the seed before it grew??”

The gears in Corey’s head began to turn. The story about Esper first discovering this new pocket dimension spell… the regret that he was displaying now… the fact Norma was the first other pony to even know about it and desperately wanted to help him test it... it all started to come together. Esper recovered his composure, noting that Corey was now deep in thought.

“I see you’re starting to figure this out,” said Esper, “Yes, I did consider her suggestion, and ultimately decided to allow her to test the spell. That, of course led to her borrowing the book from me regularly. As you can imagine, at first, she didn’t have much in the way of results…”

Another couple of years passed, and Para Norma did not make much progress. She would get a portal going, but it was too small to fit much of anything through. She spent more and more time huddled alone with the spell, alone with the book. I began to grow worried for her. I even contemplated pulling her from the project at one point due to the stress it was obviously putting her through.

That all changed one day when she came to me… Her magical power had suddenly improved! You can’t imagine how proud I felt to see that after nine years, she had finally began to show serious signs of improvement. And as her mentor, I felt the need to nurture her new growth…

This was a sight Esper never thought he’d see, but as he had Norma run through the spell one more time, he couldn’t help but be surprised. After nine long years of study and two years with the spell, she suddenly seemed to be getting better. Norma waved her hands slightly and extended them in front of her. Runes swirled on the floor at her feet, and a wormhole opened up into an empty void. She then dropped a small, sizable chunk of wood into the hole and closed it. A few moments later, she did it again, this time the portal appearing above her head.

The block of wood fell out, landing perfectly in her extended hand. Norma smirked, clearly proud of herself for her endeavors.

“Incredible…” Esper said, “You’ve managed to not only make the spell work, but it seems that your working at it has finally yielded some noticeable, positive results.”

“Finally,” Norma sighed, “I’m finally getting somewhere…”

The relief in her tone was palpable, and Esper couldn’t blame her. For so long she’d labored without success. Her power had finally grown to the point she could pull off a spell effectively, and it showed most effectively with her demonstrations from today.

“Now…” Esper said, “Now that you have found a way to draw the power of the magic around us all, shall we begin your next lessons? You have a lot of catching up to do…”

Norma’s smirk vanished for a few moments, but soon reappeared, stronger than ever. It was that statement that validated her hard work.

“I would love to, Elder Esper,” Norma said, “So where do we begin…?”

I should have realized it sooner than when I did. I hadn’t known at the time, but one of our community’s members had gone missing. And, over the course of the next few months, more and more vanished without a trace. The community grew worried, and I did too. Quite a few of those that had gone missing were my former students… and some of my current ones…

At the time, we had attributed the disappearances to an external force; we had hardly had a mind to suspect one of our own. Our community was so tightly knit that we could not have imagined one of us would turn against the rest…

With things quickly escalating, I made the decision to teach self-defense spells, in hopes that we could learn to protect ourselves from the threat…

Esper surveyed his students of the past nine years. Sure enough, a couple were missing. An earth pony who had just begun to test his own spells, and a pegasus who was discovering how to manipulate air pressure with runic magic, both lost to whatever was causing the disappearances. A few of the students were anxious, among this group Para Norma. Others looked grim.

“I suppose you know why I called this emergency meeting?” asked Esper to his students. There was a collective nod among the group, “As you know, there’s something out there taking members of our community. More and more are turning up missing…”

“One of them was my father!” shouted one of the students, stepping forward, his grim look changing to silent fury, “What could be out there, Elder Esper?”

“Unfortunately, I can not say,” said Esper, “There are many things out there that could do such a thing. It could be that whatever first caused the disappearances has found our village and is making their moves in the night…”

“That’s awful…” said another, shaking her head in disbelief.

“But there is still hope,” Esper continued, “I admit… there are a few things I haven’t yet taught you. For a long time I simply kept them written down, committed to my memory and the pages of my book…”

No one noticed how nervous Para Norma seemed to get at that line.

“There are a few self-defense spells I have created through my travels prior to attaining enlightenment. I never once thought I’d have to teach them to my own students, but with what might be out there waiting for each of us, I feel it’s necessary we learn them as soon as possible.”

“Will these work?” asked a third pony.

“Of course they will,” Esper said, “I will make sure you learn them.”

Esper looked over the group, a pang of regret seizing him. He had held out on those spells for too long. Two of his students—his family—had been ensnared. So help him, he would stop it from happening again, either through these upcoming training sessions or by his own hand. There could be no room for error.

“If we all understand, shall we proceed?” Esper asked.

A collective nod overtook the group.

“Perfect,” said Esper, “Then, let me retrieve my book of spells. Once I have that, we can begin…”

Offensive magic typically takes up more magic than the magic I usually taught, and Para Norma once again showed signs of difficulty, but not for long. Even after that, I didn’t make the connection, and I should have.

The disappearances continued and continued. Before long, a very noticeable chunk of our community had vanished.

We realized too late… that Para Norma was responsible.

Author's Note

Hope the formatting sticks, because for some reason google doc import didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. Not good for a flashback chapter like this. Anyway, next time, we find out how Norma is misusing the spell, and what her crime was. Things are starting to come together, I hope. See you all next week.

Act 4 Chapter 7

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 7: Culture Corroder Norma

Esper spent a lot of time alone in his study now. He hadn’t seen his book nearly as often as he would have liked. Despite his best efforts in teaching his students, it seemed it wasn’t enough. More and more community members were vanishing left and right without a trace. There was no signs of a struggle or anything; they’d just vanished off the face of the earth like they were never on it to begin with.

Now, more and more of his students—his fellow Astral Ponies--were being taken. For the life of him, he couldn’t fathom how it could have went so wrong like this.

I don’t believe this… Esper said, One of the other elders disappeared, along with half the community’s members! Just what could be causing this? No struggles, no signs of a battle… if it’s a beast causing this, how is it able to sneak up on us? If not, how is it able to move within our own village?

He continued to sit in silence for long periods of time, only able to come out of it when his students came to visit him sporadically. The students that did come to visit him said they hadn’t seen any sign of anything that could be causing the disappearances.

I achieved a power no other astral pony has… it’s the reason I’m considered an Elder, Esper continued, It’s why I’m the magical authority of the community! I should be able to resolve this!

Esper paused, looking up as inspiration struck him. He had found a lot of answers to things in his years of meditation. It was how he’d come up with a good number of spells that hadn’t been done by ponies that wrote runic spells by hammer and chisel, by quill and ink, or whatever. Certainly meditation could give him some clarity he hadn’t quite thought of, something he had overlooked?

He paused again. Meditation had given him answers, which he often wrote in the book. But for a good amount of time, the book hadn’t been in his possession. Though he did have it for some intervals here and there, it had been in Para Norma’s possession while she tested the new pocket dimension spell. She had returned it to him for the last time just two weeks ago, not too long after the class was taught the self-defense spells…

In fact, had Esper really looked at the book since then? Perhaps a spell in there could help him as well. Esper retrieved the book from the place where he’d usually stored it with a wave of his hand. Figuring he’d see if there were any notes Para Norma had written down in the margins regarding the spell, he’d go there first.

What he saw shocked and enraged him in equal amounts. A few of the pages had been removed entirely—in fact, they were the relevant pages to his enlightenment, as well as, of course, the pocket dimension spell.

The shock and anger gave way to an empty feeling. Could it be possible? Was Para Norma misusing a spell right under everyone’s noses? Had she made modifications to it? Esper couldn’t fathom the thought of a student of his falling so far off the way, but the more ponies vanished, the more she grew stronger…

Even if it wasn’t her, she did tear a few pages out of his book at some point. Esper resolved to confront her, closing the book and leaving it on his desk. He walked, making rapid steps to his new destination:

Para Norma’s home.

It should have been obvious to me, but it hadn’t occurred to me just what she was up to. When I’d found her, what happened was a fate none of us deserved. And our fate was one that could have been easily avoided, if only anyone had thought that the disappearances may have been caused by one of our own.

Norma had been so careful for so long… but when I made my unscheduled visit to her home, I found something I did not expect…

Para Norma was nowhere in sight… nor were the pages she’d taken.

Esper touched down outside of Norma’s home. From within, he could see no signs of life—in fact, he couldn’t see anything from outside. There wasn’t even a candle lit to indicate anyone was home or awake at this hour. And yet, as he stood there, he just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss. Esper pressed forward, moving towards the home, the gravel shifting underfoot being the only sound to echo in the night air. Once close enough he’d noticed something: the door was ajar. He stared at it for a few moments before giving it a cautious push. The wood hinges creaked as the door swung open, revealing a very much empty home inside.

He stepped inside, his vision straining from the lack of light. Raising his hand, he began collecting runes around it until he created his own light source. It was tinted blue slightly, but it worked all the same. But when his eyes adjusted to the new light, he was met with a horrific sight. Esper did not know how Norma usually kept house, but this was not normal either way.

The house was in total disarray: furniture was toppled over, signs of several struggles throughout the house… countless stories were told, and none of them ended happily. In that moment, Esper knew for sure what was going on.

It was her all along… all this time… The light in his palm grew violent as his rage grew. He thought back, back to all the times he should have noticed something was off, but he didn’t. It was always right in his face, right under his nose, but he couldn’t… no, he didn’t see them as they were set on the table before him. Why? Perhaps it was his own sense of pride; a false hope that one under his tutelage was not capable of such an act. But he could deny it no longer. Something had to be done about this. As the one who may have given her the means, Esper would have to stop it with his own hands. He rotated in place, letting the light grow in intensity. With the state the home was in, he doubted that anyone was inside. That meant Para Norma would be out, no doubt searching for her next victim.

He turned around and began towards the door, letting the light die down as he did so.

“Tonight, this--!”

Suddenly, a cold chill ran down Esper’s spine, the fur on the back of his neck standing in what was pure survival instinct kicking in. Quickly, he turned again, his eyes locked towards the door leading towards another room.

But I sensed no signs of life, how could--? Then, he heard a thump, something hard hitting the ground accompanied by what sounded like a door slamming open. Esper gathered his runes on instinct as the rapid thumps on the ground grew louder. Finally, something entered his field of vision, as though breaking free from the darkness of the room behind her. But this was not Para Norma. No, it was another student of his.

“Willow Wisp!?” Esper called out. The colt tripped over his own hooves, not expecting the sound of his voice. As he tried to pick himself up, he met Esper’s eyes. Willow’s eyes were very watery, and he was clearly scared out of his mind. Around his muzzle was a scarf, and sobs mixed with grunts came out as Willow raised one hand, trying desperately to rid himself of the gag. Eventually, Willow managed to pry it loose.

“E-Esper… please, please… don’t let her—“ But he could say no more as his body was suddenly jerked back, being dragged against his will back into the darkness he’d tried so desperately to escape. He cried and begged for help as his nails peeled the floor beneath him. Esper could only watch in numb shock as it all unfolded before him. All he could hear was Willow’s last screams as a flash of white light broke through the darkness, only to return to darkness once again.

Then, silence. The tension in the air became incredibly thick. Esper wasn’t sure what he was dealing with, what form of magic was being used to do what had just happened. But he couldn’t take it lightly. Not after all that it had managed to accomplish. The silence persisted and yet Esper began to see something cutting through the darkness of the next room once more. Without a sound, Norma had appeared before him, the small innocent child Esper remembered her to be.

But the illusion only lasted as long as he willed to believe it. He could protect himself no longer from what objective reality was telling him. In that moment, Esper Wisdom accepted that the Para Norma he knew was gone. The vision soon blurred away into the sands of time and the real Norma was revealed. She stood there, her body relaxed as she leaned against the wooden frame. He could see it in her face alone. She did not regret whatsoever what she was doing and what she had done. She looked as comfortable as she could be.

“Hello, Esper,” Her voice was calm and cold. The only emotion that seemed to be in her at all was pride.

“Para Norma…” Esper snarled, “Tell me… just what it is you think you’ve done??” He demanded, his magic flaring with his anger. Norma didn’t even flinch. Instead, the smirk across her face just grew wider.

“I’ve done what any good student would, Esper,” Norma took a step forward, her arms spread apart as though inviting Esper to come closer, “To strive to be the best, to aim for nothing short of perfection.” She took another step towards him, “Are you not proud Esper, to see one of your students come so far?”

Esper didn’t answer, only scowling as Norma continued to draw closer.

“Well, you should be… After all, if not for that one spell, none of this would be possible…”

That touched a nerve. Esper threw his hand forward, the light he had created when he’d heard Willow’s attempt at escaping turning into a projectile to be flung at Norma. His aim was off; either his anger hindered his accuracy or the teacher in him still unable to bring himself to harm a student, as twisted as Norma had become… whatever the case, the projectile flew past her, passing within centimeters from her head. Norma still did not flinch.

“My teachings were to help my students protect themselves, to protect the village! But you… you’ve taken it and perverted it for your own selfish desires!”

At this, Norma stopped, looking to Esper with an arched brow. At that moment, Esper would have given anything to know that he had somehow reached her through the madness that consumed her. But that all vanished the moment he heard her laugh.

“You sound just like Willow Wisp…”

In that moment, something in Esper broke. Whatever wall that may have kept him at bay up until now suddenly came crumbling down. He looked down, his eyes closed in defeat.

“I see,” said Esper, “Thank you Norma…”

Esper raised his gaze once more as magic seeped out from both of his hands as he lifted them up.

“Thank you for showing me what I must do,” Esper finished, his hands positioned as though he were holding a ball with both hands at the center of his chest, still glowing with blue runes.

Norma showed no fear at all, white runes dancing across the whole of her body. “Very well, Esper. It’s time for the student to surpass the master…”

Esper stood his ground, waiting for Norma to make her first move. He needed to know just what it was he was dealing with before he used his powers. Norma squatted down slightly, and a few moments later, a light—an aura, rather, ignited around Norma’s body. It was white, like most of her runes, but ever so often, Esper noticed red sparks dancing throughout the aura, which itself was an erratic flame that sprayed out in all angles.

“How did you get this powerful…” Esper murmured, “How did this go so wrong…”

“Wrong??” Norma asked, raising one of her hands as a white orb of magic began to form in it, “I think you might be mistaken…”

Norma extended the hand out at Esper, throwing an energy ball at Esper. That was all he needed to see. Leaving one of his hands in front of his chest, Esper lifted a glowing hand to the orb. The orb impacted against his palm, causing his hand to kick back slightly, but not enough. Esper slowly closed his hand, extinguishing the attack.

Her magic is a lot stronger than I remember it being… Esper thought, I should finish this quickly. And once I’m done…

Quickly returning his hands in front of his chest, Esper began to twist his wrists slightly, so that his palms were rotated in different directions. Then, he clenched his hands tightly, squatting down. In a moment, the power granted to him through his enlightenment surged forth in the form of a blue aura that covered his body. The resulting shockwave caused the floor at Esper’s feet to shred, and knocked Norma flat on her back.

Norma gazed back at Esper. “This must be that secret art of yours!”

Esper frowned deeply. “So you took those pages as well?”

“I could never get it to work for me…” Norma lamented, standing up, “But maybe I don’t need to…”

“A power like this is not meant for the likes of you!” Esper shouted, swiping his arm. Norma stood up, smirking all the while.

“We’ll see…” Norma said, moving forward in a blur. Esper was able to track her, catching her trying to attack from his side. Esper lifted a forearm, blocking a palm strike. Norma strafed to her right, winding up directly in front of Esper again. She tried to do another palm strike, but Esper swatted her hand away with a forearm, leaning forward with a punch of his own.

The runes swirled forth from his aura as he did so, and the impact spell of his definitely hit Norma hard. She audibly coughed hard, and the force of the spell sent her flying hard enough to blow her through the door she’d just stepped out of as well as the wall to that room.

As it turned out, Norma had been blown clear out of the back of her home, as Esper discovered when he charged after her. However, once he found her again, Norma’s aura had dissipated, and she was on her hands and knees, coughing. To Esper, it seemed like she had already run out of steam. Esper slowed his pace, walking through the hole in the wall.

There were a few concerned voices starting up around them. There was no way a noise like that was going to go unnoticed, but that worked to Esper’s advantage—it was, after all, time to bring Norma to justice. Norma didn’t seem to care, still crouched over.

“Do you understand now?” Esper asked, “What you’ve done was wrong, Norma, and I aim to correct my mistake…”

Norma said nothing, even as Esper drew closer. A few voices started to get closer, no doubt going in for a closer look. Esper raised his voice for a few moments.

“Please, stay back! I will explain everything as soon as this is done…” Esper gazed down to the defeated-looking Norma, wondering what to do with her. Perhaps there may have been a glimmer of hope within her that could be reached? Or… did he have to report this to some higher authorities…

“Para Norma, what you’ve done is unforgivable,” Esper announced, “Understand this: I will find out just what you’ve done to your victims, and I will make sure to free them!”

“What?!” A voice shouted, “That mare was behind it!?”

“How… how??” Another shouted in disbelief. Esper could feel it—they were drawing closer.

“I said, stay back--!” Esper turned his head from Norma for a moment, but that was all it took.

“That’s what you think, Esper!!” Norma shrieked, slamming both of her hands into Esper’s chest. Esper took a couple of steps back, now facing his former student. He was going to have to subdue her, wasn’t he—

As soon as Esper thought of moving towards Norma to do just that, he felt a tremendous pain radiating first from his forearms, then across his entire body. Esper was forcibly made to stand up straight, his arms pinned to his sides. Esper looked, and saw with horror, the glowing white runes on his forearms and chest. The bindings glowed bright red and crackled with electricity whenever he fought against the force binding his body.

“Elder Esper’s in trouble!” shouted a villager.

“Take her down, quick!” shouted another, “She can’t take all of us together!”

Norma looked around, smirking. “So you all want to volunteer, then? That’s just fine…”

Norma’s aura flared, white with red sparks, and seemingly even wilder than before. Runes began to swirl around Norma’s hands, and Esper watched in horror as the color of the runes together with her aura began to change color.

Her aura and runes began to change to a crimson hue as she brought her hands together, and in a red flash, Norma had cast her spell.

The shouts of valor were suddenly replaced with chilling screams of terror. Esper could only watch as red glowing portals began to appear all around. Villagers would try to flee from them, but they would wind up sucked in anyway. The portals did not discriminate by age or race—Esper understood in an instant that all the villagers would be sucked up.

“No…” Esper shook his head, his blue aura flaring, “No!!”

Esper’s power surged upwards, and in a few moments, he broke the bindings that held them, forcing them apart with his strength buffed. Norma turned to see him, but that smirk of hers never left.

“It’s pointless,” Norma informed him, motioning towards his feet, “Look.”

Esper looked down and realized a portal had opened beneath his own feet. It sucked him in hungrily. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t outfly it. The screams of the other villagers began to die down slowly, until there was silence once again. Esper struggled as hard as he could, but all he succeeded in doing was wearing out his wings. In the end, Esper felt himself lose altitude.

“Join the rest of them!” Norma shouted, lifting her hand, which glowed bright red. Esper felt the pull on him increase. As his distance from the portal decreased, Esper made his decision. He had no idea if it would work, but at the same time it was better than doing nothing about Norma’s total fall to darkness.

Esper fought, managing to lift one of his arms towards the skies above. Runes swirled into his hand, and in a few moments his ace-in-the-hole formed. Esper launched a blue bolt into the air, which exploded into a bright blue series of lights…

And that was the last of the real world Esper Wisdom saw for eons…

“My final spell was meant to be a distress call,” said Esper, “It was all I could do at the time. I suppose King Solaris and Queen Nocturne received my distress call?”

“King Solaris? Queen Nocturne?” Corey asked, “Are they who I think they are—the parents of Princesses Celestia and Luna?”

Esper paused for a moment. “I do not recall a ‘Luna’… but yes, you are correct. Back in those days, they ruled over the land, coaxing the sun and moon through their orbit.”

“A lot has changed since those days…” Corey said, closing his eyes, reflecting on everything he’d just learned, “Well, you’re right to say that your distress call was answered. Para Norma was imprisoned in Tartarus from what I can assume was around that time up until about last month. And from what I’ve heard, she was a total non-entity even among the prison records. The powers that be didn’t even know she existed until all this started.”

“I suppose there were a few things about our spell that we couldn’t have foreseen…” Esper said.

Corey’s jaw set for a moment, and a silent fury began to bubble underneath the surface. Sure, the Astral ponies were caught by one of their own, and that sucked. It also lent him an understanding of this current situation. His senseless travel to the dimension didn’t need to happen at all to bring Norma to justice!

“So how do I play into all this? She’d been captured and punished already,” Corey said, shaking his head, “Why was I summoned? Why was John summoned? Why did I see your guys’ distress signal?”

Esper gave a slow, heavy sigh. “You must understand… we were imprisoned for a very long time. After floating in her pocket dimension for so long, we began to plot an escape. The villagers eventually turned to me to devise a solution; something I had already been working on for quite some time.”

“Quite some time…” Corey said, “Now that I think about it… what happened to you all, exactly? I know she was using the pocket dimension spell on you guys.”

Esper frowned darkly. “It’s a bit more than that. It is the spell, or at least it’s based on the spell. When she captured us, her power grew. It wasn’t until she cast her final spell—the one responsible for erasing our culture—that I understood.’

Corey felt a pit in his stomach drop.

“We’ve been kept in stasis, never aging, never dying, still just as we were the day we were taken…” Esper said, “And we are her power source.”

“She’s using you all like a battery…” Corey reflected, disgusted with the situation and at himself, “Given that… I think I’m starting to understand the desperation you all were consumed with.”

“I don’t think you can…” Esper shook his head, “As I was saying, I was trying to devise a solution for our escape. I had to take several things into account. One of them being that the pocket dimension was likely in a gap between the dimensions, so a spell that let us reach out for help would be highly unpredictable. It probably took a form you were familiar with. Am I correct?”

Corey’s eyes slowly widened. “Yes… it did.”

“The spell was immensely powerful; we were transferring at least one person between worlds to help us. All of us within the pocket dimension pooled our magic together and simply waited in meditation until we got our signal. The signal came when somepony who could see our message would decipher it. And like I told you before, the message would only reveal itself to who we deemed worthy.” Esper continued.

“But that’s…” Corey reflected, “I can’t believe that. When I saw your message, I wasn’t at my best emotionally. I wasn’t even a pony when I saw it, and I was able to put it together.”

“The spell—however you received it—must have seen you for who you could become, rather than who you were. As I told you before, though, I am sure you would not have seen it if you were as bad as you thought you were,” Esper said, “Admittedly, our spell wasn’t perfect anyway. There were a number of things the spell might have done that we aren’t even aware of, now. In addition, your friend was pulled in too.”

“When you were pushed into a corner like that, you were willing to try anything,” Corey said, his mind at ease, “No matter the risk…”

“And a risky spell it was, that I came up with,” Esper said, “There are two significant drawbacks to the spell. One; with the energy we expended to make the jump, we woke Norma from her stasis, giving her a large amount of power; enough to make the moves she’s made. And two…”

Esper paused again, looking hesitant to say it. Ultimately, though, he stood up on his feet. “When you did assemble the spell, causing it to go off… It took a lot of energy just to get you and your friend here. Energy I don’t think we can spare for a return trip…”

Corey’s heart sank. He’d almost entirely forgotten about his life in his home dimension. What Esper had told him was a harsh reminder of the fact he wasn’t going to be able to go back. In fact, this one was worse. Esper seemed to know the way back, but Corey didn’t know if he could do it knowing he’d be condemning many others to die…

“That’s… a lot to think about,” Corey finally said, “But at least… now I know. If only John were within my range… I’d be able to tell him what’s happened.”

“I trust you understand now?” Esper asked, “How things are, and why you’re here?”

“I don’t have any more questions,” Corey said, “Now I know what I need to know.”

“That’s great to hear…” Esper said, looking upon him the same way a proud teacher would to a student that had done well, “I only wish this never had to happen at all.”

Corey found he was wondering, subconsciously, whether or not he had that same wish. While he’d never wanted to get ripped apart like he had, only to be assembled once again, he had been assembled into something greater than he had been…

Esper gasped, clutching his chest in pain. His image seemed to flicker.

“What’s wrong!?” Corey asked, alarmed at the sudden change.

“She’s… getting stronger. No doubt she’ll realize what I’ve done soon enough,” Esper said, “I’ll leave you to prepare to confront her, but before I do, I must know…”

Corey stood up himself for the first time since Esper had begun his tale, anticipating his question.

“Are you truly prepared to go up against the likes of her?” Esper asked, “Her, and the others with her that have not yet been vanquished?”

“I’ve been doing that since this whole thing started,” Corey said, “We will. I’m sure of it. I believe in everyone—in John, Twilight, and everyone else. More importantly, I believe in myself. We’re going to overcome them when the day comes. I’ll be ready. So will they.”

“Very well…” Esper lurched forward at this point, hand glowing in blue runes. Corey flinched and immediately got himself ready in case Esper had tried something, but Esper simply slammed his hand into the ground. The point at which he struck the ground flashed for just a moment, but faded after a while.

“I must take my leave,” Esper said, slowly standing up. The room around them slowly began to fade away in a shower of blue runes that faded into the skies above; Esper himself began to fade as well.

“Wait!” Corey asked, “What did you just do??”

Esper just gave a half-smile as the last of his head began to fade into nothingness, together with the room. As Corey found himself in the grassy field of his creation once again, Corey heard an echoing voice.

“In case you need further advice… I think you may appreciate what I’ve done…”

In the room littered with lit candles, Corey woke up, still in the same spot he’d been in when he started. He wasn’t sure how long he’d sat there perfectly still, but Corey didn’t care. He sat in the dim room with his eyes open, reflecting on everything he’d just learned through what he assumed was a vision of some kind.

“So… I’m to avenge the culture that was lost, but the thing is, it didn’t really need to be avenged in the first place…” Corey murmured, “I’m not some ‘Chosen One’ or anything like that. The only reason it’s come to this is because I fiddled with something not even the original creators understood…”

Corey stood up, feeling a sense of determination well up in him anew. “Not much that can be done about it now, though. Guess I’ve just gotta buckle down and get myself ready for this, but first…”

Corey turned, making his way for the large door to the room. For the moment, one thing was on his mind.

“I’d better tell Princess Celestia, or someone who can quickly get the word to the others… about what I’ve just learned. If nothing else, it’d give us all a small sense of closure…”

It had been a painful wait, but Slayer knew the day of reckoning was close now. His entire body burned with revenge, the anticipation of seeing that green unicorn once again horrendously broken and begging for death…and only then would he grant him that request. No one else, not even Para Norma, would take that from him. However, there was one thing he had to do. Slayer marched through the catacombs that had been the breakouts’ base, his mind only on his destination.

What has she been up to all this time?? Slayer asked.

Soon, he was there—in the central room where he’d spent his time healing from his near-death experience. It was here he’d watched Corey almost be snuffed out by someone who wasn’t him, and it was here he’d been while he healed the rest of the way afterward. And sure enough, she was there too, turning to acknowledge him before he could say a word.

“Ah, Slayer,” Her voice was calm and collected at first, before sliding into utter coldness, “What do you want? Shouldn’t you be getting ready for your revenge?”

“I’m as ready as I’ve ever been, and I can’t wait much longer!” Slayer shouted back. Norma smirked coldly at this, “The time’s almost here! Why are we still in these caves?”

“Quiet down,” said Norma, “Everything is almost ready.”

Slayer scoffed heavily. “What do you mean, ‘everything’? You’ve been in this room a lot, and I haven’t seen you do anything to get yourself ready…”

“Slayer, Slayer, Slayer,” Norma shook her head lightly, “You really shouldn’t take me lightly…”

Norma lifted a hand that glowed with red runes. A few moments later, the light illuminated the dim cave. Slayer began to look around.

“I think you’ll find I’ve been preparing quite thoroughly in anticipation for our final confrontation! These, for starters…”

Slayer’s eyes grew wider as he took in exactly what was happening. It was those weird manikins again, but they seemed to be far more numerous, some growing out of the very walls of the massive central cave itself, and some partially morphed into each other. There had to be hundreds of them at the ready!

“And that’s not even getting into what else I have come up with in the past month… I believe Celestia and her pawns… no… not just them, but all of Equestria… will be in for a very nasty surprise when I come knocking!”

Norma’s demeanor gave way to loud shrieks of laughter. Despite the hatred that flowed through his veins, Slayer found himself slightly chilled by how off-balance she was at that moment, and it made him wonder for just a moment…

Should we win this… will the rest of us who made it this far be spared?

Despite his new concerns, Slayer held his tongue. Whether or not Norma would kill him once this was over didn’t totally matter at the moment. His revenge came first. Only then could he figure out what to do…

Author's Note

And thus, we come to the end of the interlude period. From next chapter on, the final arc of battles is about to begin. We are about a third of the way through this act. Following this will be a short fifth and final act which serves to tie up any loose ends. There's still a little ways to go before the end, but I hope it will all be worth it to get to the other end. In the meantime, leave a comment if you've liked the story so far, and see you all next week as usual.

Act 4 Chapter 9

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 9: Manikin Army

The battle had begun and the sounds of combat could be heard well outside the city limits—for good reason. This was not some simple battle, but a war that would decide the fate of Equestria. Guards roared and stone crumbled as the full scale invasion began. While the numbers seemed overwhelming, it only served to fuel the guards to fight even harder. It wasn’t just for the homeland, but for their collective pride. Last time an invasion struck… they had been caught with their pants down.

This time, it would be different, though. This time, they were ready, driven like they had never been before. Lasers flew and weapons clashed as the guards stationed at the south gate fought to keep their sector in control. Even with the strengthened resolve, it was easier said than done as foes continued to appear.

“They’re climbing the wall, strike them down!” called out one guard as he and several others attacked the climbing creatures with lasers and arrows alike.

Other stone creatures were in full sprint, trying to get past the front lines, but that was not easy either. For each that drew closer, there was an opponent ready, and in an instant the gap between a mindless drone and a hardened guard was made clear as the drone came crumbling down with its brothers. Though this was just one of several guard posts, they were proving their mettle.

The guards weren’t the only ones to show what they could do, however. There were two others among them who were pulling more than their weight in this charge. Rainbow Dash, though surrounded by several attacking stone creatures seemed to dance between them as she avoided their relentless attacks. Though they were in no way slow, compared to Rainbow’s movements, they may as well have been standing still. More impressive still was the fact that Rainbow had yet to take to the sky since the battle began.

“Is this it?” Rainbow sighed, “C’mon, I haven’t even broken a sweat yet.”

A stone creature tried to sneak up behind her—emphasis on “tried”. Before it could strike, it was made to learn Rainbow was several steps ahead of it. Dodging its attack, Rainbow delivered a swift kick to its abs, cracking it lightly. The heel of her shoe, it turned out, had steel on it, much like Applejack’s boots, though not to the same extent. Rainbow didn’t need that to be; just enough to cause some damage. Her reasoning? If one hit was capable of causing light damage to them, several hits would give her the same result as just one of Applejack’s kicks.

“Don’t blink,” she advised, delivering several more kicks in rapid succession, causing the cracks to deepen and multiply until the creature’s torso could take no more abuse, and shattered to pieces.

“Not bad,” Not far off, John was dealing with a few himself, crushing another creature’s head in his hand. Just as its body fell motionless several more attempted to get a drop on the dragon, only to be taken care of by a hard swipe of his tail. After that, he caught the head of one creature and tossed it across the block into another in the distance. Neither the head nor the next creature stood a chance, both shattering into pieces.

“But I was kinda hoping to see your aerial performance.”

“On these chumps?” Rainbow scoffed, kicking a creature away, “Give me a break. After what I went through to prepare for this, I’m not showing a thing until I get a real challenge.”

To prove her point, Rainbow took down another creature before stomping on its head repeatedly until it was pulverized. John chuckled and looked to the creatures surrounding him.

“I know where you’re coming from,” John said. He’d fought hard for today, harder than anything he’d ever fought for in his life. But he couldn’t waste it on what was without a doubt meant to be cannon fodder aimed to tire them out. There was no chance of that, though; everyone had done too much just to show their hand on the first round.

“South is secure; no issues to report,” John said on his communicator.

Though it may have startled them at first, the guards learned not to worry over the green blur that dashed around them. Each took a chance to notice what it was capable of doing at an incredible rate of speed. When it drew near one of the stone creatures it would knock it aside, breaking pieces off of before moving on to the next. However, nothing keeps momentum forever; the blur came to a stop when it was faced with a large blockade of opposition.

Corey’s shoes audibly skidded to a halt, dust coming off of them from the friction. “I’ll never get tired of that…”

Corey smiled as he walked towards the blockade in front of him. His horn glowed, runes shining around his fists as they started to glow. He scanned his targets one by one, letting the magic build. When his hands flashed, Corey thrust out his hand, fingers splayed open as a green blast of magic blasted out, demolishing one of the creature’s heads. But he wasn’t done; Corey continued to fire his lasers, taking down multiple creatures this way.

While his aim was the best it had ever been, he couldn’t quite hit everything. Some creatures managed to breach his wall of offense, sprinting at him. Corey didn’t falter. Magic still active on his hands, runes crackling on the surface, Corey thrust his closed fist into its torso, firing a well-timed laser straight through it, hitting the creature behind it as well. Right afterwards, the glow of magic in Corey’s hands changed as a set of runes began to form; able to form them even faster now, it was ready in an instant.

When another creature jumped at him, Corey threw yet another punch, the creature’s body exploding into tiny fragments on contact. The same fate would befall the other creatures which drew too close to him. When he was done, there was nothing left but the broken remains gathered around his feet. Finally allowing his magic to relax for a moment, Corey looked down at his hands. That spell he’d used was his first one ever. While it was foreign to him at first, now it seemed like second nature; highly effective, and seemed to take zero magic to use.

Now was not the time to pat himself on the back, though, Corey realized. There was still plenty of work to do today. Looking up, Corey could see some creatures were climbing the sides of the buildings, no doubt aiming to ambush someone unlucky enough to stand beneath them. Hoping to deal with them before then, Corey decided to take a direct approach. Horn lighting up again, runes writing on his legs, Corey ran towards one of the buildings as a blur, raising his legs towards the walls. With his rate of speed, he was able to defy gravity, sprinting along the wall of the buildings. The creatures stood no chance against his tactic; Corey ran along the wall, knocking the creatures off, the fall doing more than enough damage for some of them. When one wall was clear, Corey would jump to another and continue from there. His feat did not go unnoticed, either.

“You’ve improved a lot, Corey,” Twilight observed. Though Corey accepted the compliment, Twilight herself was definitely nothing to sneeze at. While she hadn’t fully adapted close-quarters combat like Corey had, her magic control was still on another level. With her horn aglow and her magic trailing towards her hands, Twilight’s display was both graceful and deadly. One swing of her hand sent out a wave of magic that cut through the creatures with ease. Any attempt to get closer to her proved near impossible. That said, keeping a distance from her was equally troublesome due to her range.

With a flicker of her magic, Twilight cast another spell that ran across the ground she stood on and stretched out for a few blocks. At first, it seemed to have no effect, but soon enough the ground began to shift. In small areas where the creatures stood, a fissure suddenly opened up, swallowing them whole before closing up once more. Dealing with these creatures was easy for her, and she could assume so for everyone else.

But the best part of all was the fact that, for the moment, they were dealing with lifeless puppets. There was no need to hold back, no need to worry about causing harm. It was for this reason that Twilight had no need to worry about how she used her magic at this moment. So long as a friend wasn’t in the way, she didn’t have to hold back.

It was safe to say that Rarity and the other guards were glad Fluttershy was on their side in this battle. Since the wave began, she had done nothing but further prove her skill with the mace she had been given. Each creature she smashed, the others could almost feel the impact from the action. That said, this was still the Fluttershy they knew; her other side had yet to take over. Rarity could only imagine what she’d be capable of if ever they switched control.

“These things aren’t even worth the effort,” Fluttercruel noted, still unsure if she’d even be needed in this battle.

“Worth it or not, we still have to stop them,” Fluttershy said, smashing another creature’s head in with her mace. For extra points, she brought it down with both hands, smashing its torso as well. For her efforts, Fluttershy was awarded an impressed whistle by one of the watching guards. This, however, was met with a firm whack on the back of his head by a nearby Rarity. The guard quickly scurried off to rejoin the fight as Rarity continued to watch Fluttershy’s display of strength.

“Though I will not deny what I am seeing, I dare say you have changed the most of any of us,” Rarity observed. That said, Fluttershy wasn’t the only one capable of showing off some hard-obtained skills. And she began to show this as she grabbed two creatures with her magic and began levitating them around her. The blue glow of Rarity’s horn grew brighter as did the magic surrounding the creatures she’d ensnared. Soon, even their stone bodies seemed to change to match the hue of her magic, and their form began to alter, chipping apart only to reassemble as needed.

The two stone creatures also began to bend and twist without ever seeming to shatter, their material being remolded to fit the image in Rarity’s mind. In the weeks of pushing her limits alongside Twilight, Rarity had to come to terms with her magic’s true nature. Though she may have been capable of learning spells capable of destruction, her magic had always been better attuned in the art of creation. She’d known this most of her life, but up until the past month, she’d tried to fight against that nature in hopes of helping the others.

But this was not the right choice. Instead, she chose to embrace it and make it her own. And through it, she came to a conclusion: creation may have been her destiny, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t apply that talent towards other purposes. This was reflected in her decision to repurpose the hardened shells of the stone creatures they were battling today. Both had finally taken the new form Rarity desired: a small shield for one hand and a rapier for the other. Both were still alight with blue energy, and indeed their color had also shifted a bit in that direction, but if one bothered to inspect it, they would find almost no trace of what her new armaments were.

With both on hand, she quickly went to work, blocking an oncoming creature’s attack. It recoiled back from the collisions, giving Rarity her opening. Swiftly, she trusted her weapon, its finer point having no problems piercing its own material. Adding a few more thrusts was more than enough to down it for good.

“I dare say this weapon suits me, wouldn’t you—“ Rarity was cut off when Fluttershy tossed her mace.

“Look out!” Fluttershy shouted, her mace now spinning through the air, flying past Rarity and smashing into the torso of the creature sneaking up behind her. Rarity looked behind her to see the freshly smashed creature before looking back to Fluttershy with a thankful smile.

“We can’t drop our guard, Rarity,” Fluttershy said.

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” Rarity said, tossing Fluttershy’s mace back to her. They then turned their attention fully to the rest of the wave, “It won’t happen again.”

Applejack’s section was the last to be reached by the attacking creatures, its numbers slowly walking towards her area. But she didn’t move, continuing to stand in place, never once looking up at the approaching foes. In the eyes of anyone watching, she was alone, but she showed no trace of fear or worry. When the creatures finally grew close enough, though, her body finally moved, and she raised a single hand. This was enough to stop their approach, as though curiosity had brought a desire to see what she would do next.

“I have to ask, when you varmints are walkin’ around doin’ her biddin’, can she see us? Can she hear us?” Applejack still didn’t look up at the creatures, her Stetson still covering her eyes. The creatures made no reply, simply standing there in total silence, the odd tilt of the head seen among them.

Applejack could only chuckle. “Guess ya’ll wouldn’t answer if you could, but that’s alright. I don’t need you to.”

The sound of a train whistle once again was heard, even louder this time. “Give you’ve been watchin’ us since this whole dang game started, I’m just gonna assume you can. And I hope you’re listenin’, because I have somethin’ I’ve wanted to say to you for a while now.”

Another sound filled the air, the powerful chugging of train wheels pushing itself across metal, another strong whistle echoing all around.

“You didn’t just threaten my friends, you threatened our families, threatened my family. And the last thing anyone should even consider is pickin’ a fight with an Apple,” The chugging soon changed to the screech of brakes being applied, “And in case you didn’t know, I’ll tell you exactly why that was a mistake.”

The screeching grew louder. At that moment, something could be seen from the corner, getting closer.

“Apples are strong, Apples are loyal, Apples take care of their own,” Finally, the train came into view, making its stop right behind Applejack—she’d been waiting at the train station this whole time for this moment. From under her Stetson, Applejack managed a smirk, “And last but not least, if you pick a fight with one Apple, then you’ve picked a fight with ‘em all!” Applejack finally raised her head as the bell of the train doors chimed and they opened.

From inside walked out a near-endless number of earth ponies, each carrying their own homemade equipment, no doubt. Each had been told of what was to come, and what had happened, and needless to say, they were not happy. Today they collected, all taking positions behind the relative who had fought for their safety all this time. As they took their stand, the creatures before them seemed to be able to size up their position and took a step back. But they weren’t going to get off that easily.

“Alright, ya’ll, round them up and smash them to pieces!” On cue, each Apple let out a roar and charged forward. Applejack watched as her family fought against the creatures. Even in combat, they seemed to find time for some family fun.

“Well, Big Mac, you ready to throw in your hat?” she asked her brother, who was standing beside her. Big Mac, for his part, swung a large hammer over his broad shoulders and spit out the piece of straw in his mouth. Though he was a pony of few words, there were really no more needed than one…

“Eyup.”

Each kick from her hardened legs broke through a creature’s stone body as if they were made out of papier-mâché. She’d never known she could kick this hard, and Applejack still felt she could kick even harder. But that was energy she didn’t need to waste, effort better left reserved for when she really needed it. Besides, it wasn’t like she was fighting alone; she had friends, and she had family…all several hundred of them.

“Shoulda brought a camera,” said Applejack as she watched her family fight side-by-side. If nothing else, it would have made for a great scrapbook for the next reunion. Today’s display was definitely something to remember. Earth ponies were always strong by nature, but the Apple family was known for being a step above the rest, and that was definitely being proven today.

Each was capable of pulling their own weight and then some against the stone creatures, some managing to take several at once. Even among them, there were some who were faring better than all the rest. Big Mac was one of them, standing as one of the largest of the apples. The large steel hammer, heavier than most of the tools being used against the creatures, might as well have been a tube of cardboard to him. Each swing was faster than most could see, and though the hammer was a blunt instrument, it still sliced through the creatures like a hot knife through butter. And if one watched Big Mac’s face carefully as he swung, they could see a faint smile.

“Havin’ fun, Big Mac?” Applejack asked with a chuckle, knowing the answer full well. And if she was being honest with herself, she may have been as well. Pent up frustrations from having to stand back in the last attack had been difficult for her to keep down. Now, she could vent as much as she wanted, and there was a lot around her to vent on. Yet, there was one last thing she couldn’t keep out of her mind.

There was still someone missing.

“Party’s in full swing, Pinkie. I think it’s time for a grand entrance,” For a moment there was no reply on her communicator. For a moment, Applejack thought something might have happened, and was about to speak again. But just before she could, her ears twitched as they registered a sound: music. It wasn’t coming from her communicator, either. Looking around, she tried to find the source of the music until she finally saw something off.

From around a building, something skidded into sigh, something Applejack definitely hadn’t seen before. It took up most of the road—it was huge! She watched as it plowed through several dozens of creatures before seeming to head straight towards Applejack.

“Whoa now!” Applejack shouted, taking several rapid steps back, preparing to sprint straight out of its path if need be. But before she could, it suddenly started to drift, slowing its speed until coming to a full stop only feet away. After several seconds of nothing, a door on the side suddenly swung open revealing…

“Pinkie!?”

“How’s that for a grand entrance?” Pinkie puffed out her chest with a satisfied grin on her face. The look of total awe on Applejack’s face was more than enough of an answer for her.

“What the hay…” Applejack said, trying to make heads or tails of the thing that Pinkie suddenly rode into the block on. At first, it all seemed alien to her, but eventually the puzzle came together.

“That’s a train car… you modified a train car?!” she said, looking back at Pinkie.

“Cool, huh? Wasn’t sure I’d get it ready in time!” Pinkie jumped high suddenly, landing perfectly on top of the thing, “But, voila, it’s complete! Be proud, Applejack, because you are the first to be introduced to Pinkie’s one of a kind and patent pending Party Wagon!” On cue, confetti shot out from the top of the wagon along with the sound of several horns blowing.

“Is this thing even safe?” Applejack wondered. There were, after all, quite a few ponies on the streets right now.

“Totally! I have total control over this thing. It’s armor-plated, all-terrain, and has the safest power source ever!” Pinkie slammed her foot on the top, causing a panel on the side to open, revealing someone inside.

“Hey, Applejack,” said a buckled-up Spike inside of what seemed to be a furnance of his own green fire. Beside him was a bowl filled with what seemed to be a large amount of small gems for him. Applejack raised a brow at Spike before slowly turning towards Pinkie once again.

“Twilight know about this?”

“Please don’t tell her,” Pinkie was suddenly at Applejack’s feet again, kneeling and holding her hands together, “I would have asked! Really! But it was down to the wire and I wasn’t even sure how to contact her!” Pinkie jumped over to the wagon again and gave the side a solid knocking, “Besides, I made sure this part of the wagon was the strongest. Even if we crash, it’ll be nothing more than a bump on the road for him!”

Applejack wasn’t sure, but Spike didn’t seem worried, even after the crazy entrance Pinkie made. Still…

“If at any point this thing can’t move, you pull him outta here before he gets hurt, deal?”

“Deal!” Pinkie said, giving Applejack a hug. She then went back to the wagon and climbed in.

“So then, what took you so long to get here anyway?” Applejack wondered. From the looks of it, the Party Wagon had some serious horsepower behind it. She couldn’t imagine it taking too long to make its way up the path leading into Canterlot.

“Actually, I had to make a detour and pick something up,” Applejack tilted her head in confusion.

“Pick up, what?”

Pinkie gave Applejack a wide grin before pushing a button inside of the wagon. Next thing she knew, a hatch had opened and something shot out of it. Applejack watched as it climbed higher into the sky before dropping down and crashing into the ground with great force.

“Applejack, I’d like you to meet my sister, Maud,” Applejack turned, seeing the pony in question standing tall in the crater she caused with her landing, “Told her about this whole thing and she said she wanted to help, and how could you say no to a face like that?”

Maud’s jaw was clenched, and her eyes were fiery—enough to send chills down one’s spine. Luckily, it was pointed at the stone creatures before her.

“You made my sister unhappy,” she said, taking a step forward, “No one makes my sister unhappy.”

Maud then dashed forward towards them, delivering strong punches to one, breaking it down as though she’d just went at it with a jackhammer. This was followed by her grabbing another and smashing its body into several others before throwing it as hard as she could. Its body finally came to an explosive stop several blocks down.

Applejack stared in silent awe for several seconds due to the feat seen before her. In the end, it was Big Mac to share his two cents as he stepped into the scene.

“I like her.”

The creature’s numbers had started with many, much more than the number of those standing to protect Canterlot. But those numbers were quickly dropping as the time flew by since the battle began. Whatever fight they seemed to put up was now almost nonexistent and the momentum was completely on Canterlot’s side. But they didn’t feel accomplished. It was just too easy, and chances were, it was for good reason.

These were nothing more than fodder, and if anyone had experienced combat before, it was no doubt only the first wave—a way to size up the opponent and maybe even wear down some of their defenses before sending in the bigger guns, and that was something several members of their ranks was waiting for. Each of them were merely conserving their energy for when the real fight would begin, taking the time against the wave of manikins to warm up.

Each could not forget there was still someone out there they needed to confront—someone that they needed to handle on their own before the day was out if they truly wanted to see victory. But they could wait—that time would come eventually.

Corey looked around the general area of North Canterlot, taking in all the work that had been done since noon. Creatures were lying pulverized on the ground, their remains slowly starting to crumble in the wind. Though the area wasn’t totally clear of the creatures just yet, Corey took a moment to rest, the guards clearly more than enough to take out the remaining ones.

“South Canterlot’s clear for now,” John’s voice came through the communicator.

“North looks like it’s in order too,” Corey said, “But yeah, who knows how long that’s going to last.”

“We still have a few more to clean up here,” said Rarity, “You all worked fast, just take care not to tire yourselves out.”

“I’m barely warmed up here!” Rainbow said into her communicator.

Corey breathed out, letting the conversation drift out of his awareness for a moment. It looked like for the time being they were getting a rest.

“It’s strange, isn’t it?” Twilight asked, landing down next to Corey now, “You’d think we’d have seen signs of the remaining escapees by now…”

“That’s for sure…” Corey said, “I guess that just goes to show what all that was meant to do… Although, this seems a bit too easy, considering the last couple of attacks…”

Corey paused for a moment. Then, he slowly took in a deep breath, closing his eyes. Twilight tilted her head in confusion, wondering what he was doing.

“What are you doing?” she said.

Corey didn’t answer for a few seconds. When he did say something, though, it wasn’t what Twilight was looking for. “I see… so I can’t sense the creatures too well at all…”

“Sense the creatures…” Twilight muttered, “Wait, Corey, about that sensory spell…”

“Yeah, I think I have a handle on it…” Corey said, “I can increase its range if I focus entirely on it, though, so give me a few moments…”

Corey’s consciousness seemed to leave him. He stood bolt upright, head tilted upward. Though Twilight couldn’t tell if Corey was casting a spell to do this, she simply waited for Corey to do something.

Though Corey’s eyes were closed, he still “felt” everything around him. Twilight was a few feet from him, her signature warm as he could have remembered. The guards felt the same way; no shadows of darkness within them. His senses extended past the capital; no sense of cold there to be found either.

As his awareness expanded, Corey found that if there were still any of those creatures left, he couldn’t sense them. Then again, it wasn’t so surprising. He’d assumed that a creature with no will of its own probably didn’t register as a blip on his radar—

The overwhelming feeling of cold that entered his forehead and sent shivers down his body, however, definitely registered. And as that chill blasted his nerves unrelentingly, Corey knew full well what it was he was sensing…or rather, who it was he was sensing. His eyes shot open at this moment, and he continued to look up at the sky, facing directly towards the south.

“Corey!?” Twilight asked, noting the shiver that passed over him. His face was set in a semi-glare, one of utter focus and concern.

“Everyone, watch out!” Corey shouted, “I’ve sensed Slayer down towards South Canterlot!”

Author's Note

And here is where I leave off for now. Now, from here until the end of this story, starting with this update, I plan to update every Sunday and Wednesday until there's no more chapters left and the story is complete. So, if you've read this far, know that the end is in sight. Thanks for the support and reads over the last two years and let's hope Collision Code finishes on a high note. 'Til Wednesday.

Act 4 Chapter 10

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 10: Confronting That Which Hurts You

The name that Corey spoke washed over everyone like a bad omen—whether they were standing close to him or had the earpiece in to hear his voice. The last time they’d heard that name, they’d contended with a number of things they definitely had never contended with before. By the time he had been driven off, Cadence had been injured, Corey was half-dead inside, and everyone else was left with the knowledge of what had caused it all to happen.

“Are… are you sure?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t think I could forget a chill like that…” Corey shook his head lightly.

“How do you know where he is?” John’s voice came over the earpiece.

“I learned how to sense spirits, I guess,” Corey said, “It was one of the spells from that book.”

“Somethin’ like that would have come in handy against Kurama…” Applejack reflected.

“You’re sure it’s him, though?” asked Rainbow, “Last I heard, he was… kinda half-dead.”

“If I had to guess?” Twilight cut in, “I think Para Norma spared him. To her, what he sowed up north was worth keeping him alive.”

Twilight’s memory brought her back to when she saw him, slammed into the wall, out cold and definitely critically injured, at least. “She probably healed him up, too…”

“It makes sense,” Corey said, “To her, this was all a show. And Slayer proved himself to her.”

“Can you pinpoint where he is?” John asked, “I owe him a visit myself…”

“Yeah, I think I can get a read on where he is,” Corey said.

“So if he’s here, wouldn’t that mean…?” Rarity asked, trailing off as the idea struck everyone else.

“The others have to be on the way,” Twilight said, now adjusting her earpiece slightly. It made sense, surely, “The ones that attacked the library that night, and even Norma herself, possibly. Assuming Slayer isn’t acting on his own like Lyon did…”

“You got any ideas on how to handle ‘em, Twi?” asked Applejack, “By the end of this we’ve gotta deal with each of ‘em one way or another…”

Twilight paused for a moment. She had thought of quite a few things about the remaining escapees, in particular the one she battled herself. “There’s Slayer, of course, as well as Storm Claw, the griffin, and Kronos, the tiger. Storm Claw… He uses knives, mainly, at least while he’s in his armor. He also can fly pretty fast even with the armor.”

“That’s the kind of trainin’ I’ve been doing the last month…” Rainbow reflected.

“And when he removes the armor, he may be able to go faster still; I can’t be sure of that, but he did seem confident enough…” Twilight reflected.

“Don’t worry about him,” Rainbow said, “Fastest flier in Equestria right here, remember?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, here…” Twilight said, “Kronos, I don’t know much about him. I just know he’s the one who took the book and the Elements during the attack.”

“Don’t worry about Kronos,” John cut in, “I’ll handle him.”

“How do you plan to find him?” Rainbow asked.

“If I’m right,” John said, “He’ll find me.”

“That leaves their leader, then…” Twilight said, “Unfortunately, I don’t know that much about her, even after Corey’s story… What we do know is, she has very dangerous magic.”

“Assuming she even shows up today,” Rainbow grumbled.

“Maybe it’s better she doesn’t,” Twilight pointed out, “We have no idea as to what she can really do. Unless Corey knows something else… Corey, you know anything that can help us?”

There was no answer through the earpiece or next to her. Twilight frowned a little.

“Corey, do you—“ She halted, finding that Corey wasn’t in the spot he’d been standing when he’d made his announcement, “Corey!?”

She looked around for a moment, and soon discovered where he was. Corey was walking away, hands in his pockets, his back to her. He appeared to be heading… south?!

“Corey, wait!” Twilight called out to him. This got his attention, and he stopped, Twilight quickly running up to stop him, “Where do you think you’re going?”

Corey turned to look Twilight in the eyes, emotions unreadable to her. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m going after Slayer myself.”

All around the city, the guards never understood the sudden change in attitude. But in that moment, there was one. Most of those with earpieces fell silent at the news, unsure of what to make of such a thing. Only one spoke up, and it was after several seconds of silence.

“Why…” Twilight’s tone was flat and disappointed-sounding, but that soon changed, “Why would you go after him again!? After what happened to you the first time?”

Corey recoiled slightly, raising his hands defensively, “Twilight, please, I can explain—“

“Even if you had been feeding off the magic imprint on that book, it doesn’t make sense at all!” Twilight said, “Even though you managed to turn the tables, you couldn’t call it a victory! From beginning to end, he had complete control over you. You may be stronger now, but there’s no telling how he’s changed since last time! Just…just let someone else handle him, okay?”

“I can’t do that,” Corey shook his head slowly, “There’s—“

“You can’t let someone else handle him?” Twilight asked, “What are you saying? Are you thinking about revenge? Was that what was on your mind?”

“No, it’s not that at all!” Corey said, “It’s not about revenge, it’s about closure.”

“Closure?” Twilight asked, “How would chasing him down give you closure?”

There was a short pause, Corey trying to formulate his answer in a way that could make sense of it all. However, thankfully, he didn’t have to.

“I think I get what Corey’s saying,” John finally piped in, “Corey isn’t going after Slayer because of his crimes, as horrible as he finds them, this time. He’s going after Slayer because he wants to be sure he’s over it. Is that right?”

Corey gave a small smile, “Actually, yeah, it’s pretty much that. I want to see if I can fight him without succumbing to anger again. I want to know for sure if I’ve moved on. Plus… he may be after me anyway. If I don’t cut him off soon, he’ll get the drop on me.”

Twilight frowned against herself. With that line of logic, it made some kind of sense, but she just couldn’t erase the memories of Corey after his last fight with Slayer. The constant fatigue, the cloudy eyes full of regret, the lifelessness he had displayed back then, and the time he spent under Kurama’s curse didn’t exactly stop hurting after all this time. She just couldn’t forget the pain he’d endured. And now, here he was, one month later, ready to throw himself right back into the situation that had started his fall.

“Suppose you do manage to cut him off…” Twilight said, “Manage to fight him one-on-one. You might well keep him away from us. But should he get control of you—manipulating your emotions all over again—what do you plan to do then?”

Corey closed his eyes for a moment. “I… I don’t know.”

There was silence. In hindsight, Corey should have seen this coming. She knew him far better than he thought she did. When he opened his eyes again though, he understood the real reason for her objection to his idea.

“I can’t…” she said, looking at him straight in the eyes, “I can’t let you fight him again. I… I can’t bear to watch you go through the pain and guilt all over again. Every day, you just seemed like you were going through the motions…”

All the emotions he’d overlooked or missed entirely a month ago came back to him, reflected plainly in her eyes. Her pain watching him go through his, the terror she’d felt after he’d been stricken, the temporary relief she had once Kurama had been dealt with; all of that was finally being thrown in his face.

“It would hurt to watch anyone go through it, for sure… but I never thought it’d hurt that much until I watched you go through it. I can’t bear the thought of watching you turn into an empty husk again! I don’t want you to take the risk… I don’t want to see ‘you’ vanish again,” Twilight, finally finished, ran one hand through her mane and turned away, “Please… don’t go fight him alone…”

Corey frowned, defying himself. He was hurting her, even now, wasn’t he? The expression on her face, what she was saying? The message was clear—at least, it seemed that way. If he was wrong, he was wrong, but right now, he had to know for sure. Besides, he couldn’t exactly blame her for her outburst. Were the roles reversed, he would have felt the same way. And yet… Corey felt more confident than he’d felt in a long time. Though Twilight raised a good point—he didn’t know what he’d do if he didn’t have the mental fortitude to withstand Slayer’s psychological assaults—he wasn’t worried about it. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Corey didn’t know. What he did know, however, was that he had things to say, things to do, and he couldn’t do them if he turned into a self-loathing glacier again.

“Twilight…” Corey said, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder, “Please, look at me.”

Her eyes met his again.

“You won’t lose me this time,” Corey said, “I’ll make sure of it.”

Twilight looked at him with slightly wide eyes. “H-how…” Yet, as she spoke, Corey could see she still wasn’t convinced, “How can I be sure?”

Corey hesitated for a moment. Admittedly, it was the first thing that came to his mind, but he didn’t know what else he could do to convince Twilight that he was ready.

“This…” Corey said, moving his other hand to her other shoulder, “Is how…”

Corey moved his arms, pulling Twilight towards him the rest of the way. She barely had time to let out a small cry of surprise before he pressed his mouth to hers, making it come out as “Mmm…!”

There was an explosion of varying reactions in each of their earpieces as those who were listening in understood what he had just done, but for that moment they had both gone deaf. The moment itself couldn’t have lasted more than a couple of seconds, but for them, it lasted so much longer.

Twilight felt her knees weaken, and she threw her arms around Corey for support. Her face burned so much; she felt like her face was going to catch fire. Any doubt she had suddenly shattered.

Corey never imagined his first kiss would feel like this. Maybe it was the magic in the both of them that was doing it? Maybe it was because it was her? He didn’t know which it was, but it felt so much more euphoric than he’d ever imagined it being. Their lips finally disconnected with a slightly loud “smack”, but they remained in a hug for a few moments longer…ignoring the voices still in their earpieces making varying comments, running the full range from “it’s about time” to “is this really a good time?”

They finally pulled apart, looking into each other’s eyes.

“I get what you’re saying, Twilight, but—“ Corey started.

“No, no, I get it,” Twilight said, “I’m sorry. Just make sure you come back to me as you, Corey.”

“I will,” Corey said, releasing her at last, “Don’t worry.”

Both took a step back, sharing one last glance. Both smiles faded.

“Be careful,” Corey said, his horn lighting up, his feet starting to crackle with runes.

“You too,” Twilight said.

With that, Corey sped off, leaving Twilight’s mane and tail fluttering in the wind he left behind. She watched the green blur take off to the south, rapidly disappearing from her sight.

He’s changed so much since coming here… Twilight thought.

“You make him want to be a better person…” John’s words echoed in her head once again—a memory that hadn’t really come to her for a while. The sentiment rang true now more than ever.

“Twilight,” Applejack’s voice finally broke through the radio, “You really okay with lettin’ him handle it?”

Twilight nodded. “He can handle it, Applejack. We’re all going to make it through this, together. Everyone, get ready.”

Celestia stood in silence as she stared out the windowsill of her room, a steel expression on her face as the sound of combat echoed all around her. It had been some time since she last experienced this grim sensation. The battle that would end all this was occurring right in the middle of the city, just as it was promised a month prior. While Celestia desired nothing more than to remain optimistic, she wasn’t able to envision its end. Their opponent was not one to take lightly. Her strength could be further beyond her understanding—all the more reason for Celestia to have suited up in her armor today. Today, she would not be standing on the sidelines, not while everyone else was putting their lives on the line for the sake of Equestria. Two in particular weren’t even from Equestria—no, not even the same universe.

“The first wave will be fully dealt with soon, sister,” said Luna, stepping out to join Celestia.

“She’s coming,” said Celestia, “I can feel it.”

While she had not cultivated the same sensory ability that Corey had, her own sixth sense could serve the same purpose. Since this was meant to be the final battle, Celestia had no doubt in her mind Norma would place herself on the board as well.

“Then let her come,” said Luna, “It is not the first time we’ve faced a powerful opponent. I have no intention of this being the last one either.”

Celestia couldn’t agree more, and relished in the idea of being able to fight alongside Luna again. “Then we should prepare ourselves. I believe I know where Norma will go for her entrance.”

Celestia turned her back to the view, entrusting the outside to those who had trained diligently for this day. Luna followed soon after with an idea of where they would be going, already mentally preparing herself for the battle that would follow.

“How far are we to go?” It was a question Luna’d had on her mind for a while. How far would they go to claim victory today? Celestia didn’t answer straight away, having never really considered that until now. Only recently she had found that she would be allowed to aid in this battle after being forced to watch helplessly.

“Norma has proven time and again what kind of pony she is,” she began, “And I pride myself in ensuring I never become the same. That being said, this battle should not be taken lightly.”

Celestia paused, deciding what her resolve and thus her sister’s would entail. “As for how far we must go in this battle, that all depends on what we must do to put a stop to this carnage.”

Luna said nothing, merely nodding her head. Deep down, she’d come to this conclusion herself as well. No matter what, the pain and the bloodshed needed to stop. If it meant putting down one evil once and for all, then that’s what they would do.

Reaching South Canterlot didn’t take too long at all for Corey, all things considered. As he moved through the city, making a beeline for the chill he sensed, he’d hoped there wouldn’t be too many guards around. Though it wouldn’t be an issue at all if Slayer decided to disguise himself again, Corey just didn’t feel like going through the extra trouble.

As he crossed through to the south zone, he felt something in his head change. While Slayer’s signature hadn’t vanished, he did find himself sensing something different. Where before he had sensed one chill, now that chill was budding off, splitting apart into multiple signatures, each just as cold as Slayer’s. It didn’t make sense to Corey at first, but soon he found himself remembering the kind of spells Slayer had unleashed.

Must be some constructs he’s made… Corey did remember the beasts Slayer had unleashed that terrible night—Corey himself being one of them—but there was no room for error now. Corey eventually skidded to a halt, dust coming off of his feet once again. He was at the center of an intersection, buildings at all corners. He was also at the center of something else…

A few moments after he stopped in the center, windows shattered all around him. Corey could see large beasts of varying shapes emerging from the shattered glass, aiming to charge at him. Corey only had a few moments to react, the knuckles on his right hand popping, his horn lighting up…

There was a tremendous explosion of dust and rubble at the center of the intersection, smoke rising from Corey’s position. As the smoke slowly began to clear, the outcome of the ambush became apparent. Corey stood unharmed at the center, his arms and upper body bulked up. Around him, the shadow creatures that had attacked him were crumbling into nothing, each taken down with a strong punch that bore through each of their bodies.

Corey released air from his lungs as the smoke finished clearing, his muscles contracting back down to their normal size. His horn quit glowing, as he turned around slowly.

There he was, not even bothering to disguise himself, evidently, stepping out from an alley as he began to applaud. Slayer sported a demented smirk the whole time, one that seemed worse than the one he sported back in the Crystal Empire. However, maybe that was just Corey’s blindness during the fight talking…

“If it isn’t the black knight himself,” Slayer commented, “I was hoping you’d be improving yourself for today. Were you steeping in your hate like I was?”

“The answer to that question may surprise you,” Corey said, standing up straight for a moment, “But you did confirm to me nonetheless what you’re here for. And if you want me, then you’ve got me.”

“It’s a shame when the prey comes out, asking to be slaughtered,” Slayer lamented, shrugging and shaking his head slowly, “You saved me the trouble of looking for you, though. But don’t expect it to be over so quick. What I have in mind for you will be…very familiar, but it will not end the same way!”

“Indeed,” Corey said, reaching into his jacket pocket slowly, “It won’t end the same way. My victory won’t be a hollow one this time.”

“If you think you can win against me, you’re mistaken,” Slayer snarled, pointing at Corey, “You went out of your mind before we even fought, and you had to snap completely even to get the upper hand…”

“Speaking of which,” Corey said, pushing up his glasses, “I think you forgot something.”

Slayer watched Corey with mild interest, but his eyes soon widened when he saw what Corey pulled out: a small black book, one Slayer knew right away was his.

“You kept it…” Slayer said, his mouth curling into a wide grin, “So you have been steeping in your hate for me all along!”

“There is something inspiring about this book,” Corey said, lifting it up, “But I don’t need it anymore. You might need it, though…”

Corey gripped the book by the opposite end of its spine, before slowly lifting it up and chucking it. Slayer let out a grunt, his horn engulfed in his magic color. His book soon became engulfed, and it floated over to his hands, where he slowly cracked it open.

“Yes, yes, they’re all here,” Slayer said, “So tell me, when you say inspiring… do my crimes still hurt you that much, that you had to keep my book for this whole month since our last skirmish?”

Corey removed his glasses again, wiping them down. “At first, I didn’t know why I kept it. It bothered me to no end. It even poisoned me. But, this past month, I’ve done a lot of thinking, and a lot of growing. You know, it doesn’t bother me anymore.”

“Huh?” Slayer asked, looking up from his book, “So do you see the value in my art?”

“I see value in it now, after I was done with it,” Corey said, much to Slayer’s alarm. His grin faded, replaced by a look of mild fear, “Flip to the last entry, if you’re curious.”

Slayer looked to Corey, then the book, then back to Corey. One more look at the book, and Slayer began flipping frantically through the pages. It didn’t take him long to find what Corey left for him in the pages.

Slayer’s chest began to snarl with fresh hate as he read the entry. Where Slayer’s entries had an elegant stroke of the pen to describe his various works, the new entry was far less so, very close to scratch. Slayer could decipher what was being said, though, and what he saw was far worse than simple graffiti.

The atrocities described in this book are not something to be proud of. They are tragedies, no matter how they’re spun. And when they’re spun by the mind of a monster, they are doubly tragic. Now, the author of these works has gotten free, and is trying to continue this. That is why I’m stopping him here. This isn’t hate, nor is it spite. This isn’t an act of revenge, either.

I’m doing this simply because he must be stopped, no more, no less. I’ve held on to this book for this long to ensure his works can have no effect on me anymore, and now that they don’t, I can test myself one final time. If I can face “Slayer” one more time, and defeat him without losing myself again, then I have moved on for good. If not, then I still have a long way to go. Either way, I have to face him again. And when I do, I’ll ensure that my entry will be the last in this book. I am leaving a mark of hope among the darkness. If this book should be opened again, whoever opens it, and manages to make it through my entry... know that this is the best happy ending I could give a book like this.

--Corey

“What have you done…?” Slayer said, his eyes transfixed on the writing that wasn’t his.

“I thought your book could use an ending…” Corey smirked slightly, watching Slayer’s expression go from muted horror to outright anger. Slayer snapped the book shut, wildly chucking it over his shoulder as he shouted in rage.

“Curse you!!” Slayer said, “Not only do you deface me, you dare to deface my art!?”

“Art is in the eye of the beholder,” Corey said, “But if the beholder doesn’t like it, is it really art?”

Slayer snarled, his arms and horn becoming coated in dark magic as he slowly got into a fighting position. “My work will not end today. You just created an opportunity for me to launch a new line! Starting with you! I will make you suffer today, Corey, just as you did to me!”

“This is irony at its best, here,” Corey said, shifting into his own ready stance as his horn lit up, runes cracking around his body at random, “Before, I was the wild beast on the verge of a breakdown.”

“Well, let’s see if this ‘role reversal’ can hold up!” Slayer shouted.

One way or another, their fight would end. One would survive to write again, to tell the tale of their victory. The other, whether dead or incarcerated, would be erased from the records. Would the tale be of a tragic defeat, a tragic victory, or of personal growth leading to a decisive victory? It all came down to whose will carried them forward the furthest.

Para Norma sat in her makeshift throne, a content look spread across her features as she watched the battle taking place in Canterlot. Sure, her creatures were being decimated, but right now, simply watching the chaos taking place in what was once a calm and peaceful city was more than enough entertainment for her. She watched as the streets and homes were destroyed, taking in the look of rage in every guard who attacked her creations.

“And yet, it is all for naught,” Norma observed. No matter how hard they fought, no matter how strong they were now, Norma still didn’t see a need to worry. For her, the battle had been decided long ago.

“I believe that will suffice for a warm-up,” she said, raising her hand, runes beginning to form around it, “Now it’s time for the real wave to start…”

Norma snapped her fingers, the sound resonating around the cave for several seconds. Finally, the room was filled with red glowing symbols all around. Soon after, the symbols began to move, exiting from various holes in the rock walls. Her grin grew wide as she heard the marching that would soon reach Canterlot in even greater numbers.

The screens she had been watching intently began to fade away one by one until only one was left: a single one of her stone creations that had hidden itself from the battle. Its gaze was locked on the castle at the very center of the city. It was at the highest peak of Equestria, the very symbol of power that the two Royal Sisters held. A place where they could see all, and a place where one could look down on everyone below them.

For Norma, it was the place where she saw most fit to view the final stages of her victory. So she made her choice. Dispelling the image before her, Norma rose from her throne.

“It is time I claim what is rightfully mine,” Norma began to walk away from her throne, “Prepare yourselves, princesses. It is time for the main event.”

She started her walk down the bridge that lead to the exit, but was forced to stop when she heard a slow clapping coming from a single source.

Without more than a word, she turned around and found someone else sitting at her throne. It was the spirit of chaos himself, sitting sideways on the seat…wearing farmer’s clothing and covered in dirt up to his elbows.

“That was quite the riveting exit speech. Had this been a storybook, I’d say it would have been quite the cliffhanger for the end of a chapter,” Discord’s words oozed with sarcasm as he continued to applaud.

Author's Note

Here we stop for another chapter. Yeah... not sure what else to say beyond that.

Act 4 Chapter 11

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 11: Phantoms of the Past

Corey hopped back a few times, allowing Slayer’s magical tendrils to chase him. He remembered that Slayer generally attacked from a range, if he didn’t have the element of surprise that is. Corey was a bit caught up in keeping his eyes on the encroaching energy, and didn’t notice until it was too late he had been backed into an alleyway.

Letting out a quick breath of exasperation, Corey’s horn lit up, runes appearing around his forearms. His visible hands rapidly darkening in color, Corey began to rush into the sharp energy, batting them aside with his forearms as they tried to snap at him. However, when the tendrils made contact with his skin, they simply bounced off as though Corey’s forearms were made of steel. Corey made his way into open road again, Slayer retracting his tendrils.

“If that’s all you’ve improved, you might as well surrender!” Slayer barked, sweeping his left arm towards the ground. A chill entered Corey’s awareness, and he turned, seeing a large construct descending on him, mouth ready to bite at him. Green flaring around his arms and horn, Corey turned, catching the thing’s jaws before it could clamp down and holding them apart. Leaning back for a moment, Corey sprang forward, allowing his enhanced strength and the momentum to push it back.

The creature dug its claws into the road, creating small grooves.

“On the other hand, don’t,” Slayer said, “It’s better this way.”

Corey looked up, seeing another shadow creature, an ugly thing with wings, diving down. Corey leapt back, only to turn back to see a third which resembled a deformed bull. Its head was lowered, and it was running for him from Slayer’s position. Runes formed around Corey’s feet, and he took off, allowing the bull to go through air as well.

Using his enhanced speed, Corey ran along the side of the buildings, making rapidly for a rooftop.

I need to get higher up to take care of the one with wings! thought Corey, eyes trailing backwards to keep an eye on the creatures as they followed. As he refocused forwards again, Corey grunted in shock.

“You’re mine now!” Slayer shouted, throwing his hands forward. Corey leapt off the building, letting the tendrils stab the space where he was. Corey couldn’t breathe real easy, though. Something quickly crashed against his side, causing him to gasp as he found himself hurtling towards the road. He looked up, seeing the winged creature’s tail moving back into place. Then, he looked back, realizing he was heading towards the first creature’s head—it was rushing to get under him.

Taking in a quick breath to steady himself, Corey raised both hands, bringing the heels of his palms together as runes swirled around them. He thrust his arms downwards, letting a green laser fire from it. The attack served two purposes: launching Corey backwards and into the air, and blowing the creature’s head off as it got into position.

Corey flailed a bit as he went through the air, watching the creature he’d just blasted crumble into ashes. Corey quickly checked behind him, and launched another quick blast through the air to ensure he landed on the roof. As he recovered, Corey took in his surroundings again. The two creatures were rushing at him, and Slayer was turning to face him, a pool of magic at his feet.

I’m not going to get anywhere at this rate… Corey quickly put his eyes towards the sky. There was the sun, shining brightly as ever. An idea struck Corey at this point, one he hadn’t had the opportunity to use in a while. He lowered his gaze back towards Slayer and closed his eyes, putting his fingers to his face, green runes appearing.

Slayer let out a scream as he thrust both arms out at Corey, a swarm of sharp tendrils reaching hungrily out for him. The winged creature began to dive at him as well, and the bull creature began to rush towards the base of the building. Corey moved a little, only enough to ensure there wouldn’t be shadows the creatures could hide in.

Letting out a battle cry of his own, the runes around Corey’s fingers changed to a yellow-white color and a moment later, a blinding light shone from his body, ripping forth for quite a while throughout South Canterlot. The light hit Slayer’s dark magic—the constructs and the tendrils, and disintegrated them on contact.

Slayer let out a sharp grunt as he recognized the spell, shielding his eyes before he could be blinded.

“I’m not as simple as Lyon!” Slayer snarled. As the light died down, Slayer turned back, only to find Corey was no longer on that building top, “Now where did you run off to!?”

There was nothing but silence around him for a few seconds, Slayer scanning his surroundings. His ear suddenly twitched, prompting him to turn; he’d just heard a footstep…

And felt a punch sock him directly in the jaw as he turned his head to face behind him. Slayer was momentarily dazed, but managed to recover. There Corey was, retracting his fist. Slayer moved to attack, claws of shadow forming on his fists, but Corey moved in a green blur out of the way of the errant stabs. Wait… he wasn’t just dodging…

Slayer halted his attack, focusing his magic to form a cushion made of dark magic over his torso as Corey’s attack took form—the one that caused a kinetic explosion. Corey’s fist hit the cushion, but when the magic took hold, Slayer felt himself be lifted from the ground, the cushion over his torso giving way to the attack, causing him to cough.

Slayer quickly recovered, weaving a net of dark energy behind him to catch him. When he landed, the net deconstructed, pooling at his feet like a thick liquid.

“Were you holding back?” Slayer asked.

“No more than needed,” Corey shook his head, stepping up to take Slayer’s place atop the building, “I’m not trying to kill you this time. I’m going to end this as quick as possible.”

“Bah!” Slayer swiped his arm, the pool of dark magic splashing up a bit, “You couldn’t defeat me without giving in to your killer’s instinct before!”

“That was then,” Corey said.

Slayer quickly swiped his arm with a huff, sending two tendrils up at Corey. Corey stood still for a brief moment, then suddenly vanished in a green blur. Slayer blinked in surprise, but turned to see Corey within a few steps, one fist at the ready. Slayer smirked, letting a bit of the pool at his feet swirl upwards into a shield, blocking the punch.

There was green light on the other side, and suddenly, Corey’s opposite fist crashed through the shadows, knocking the wind out of Slayer as the punch crashed into his stomach. Then, Corey’s foot slammed directly into his snout, actually knocking Slayer over. Slayer landed, stunned. Corey hopped backwards a few yards, making a little distance, his left arm contracting back to normal size.

“I see…” Slayer said after a couple of moments, standing up, “So it isn’t all bluster. However!”

For a moment, the glow that coated Slayer’s horn extended to his whole body, and the pool at his feet extended. Corey prepared himself, but was barely able to finish adjusting his footing when two shafts of magic blasted at him. Corey managed to move his body, but he wasn’t quite able to cast his magic quick enough before, one after another, he received a cut into his right shoulder and another to the left side of the ribcage, blood splashing forth from the new wounds.

Working his arm rapidly from the jacket, Corey soon found himself ditching it, as a few more tendrils stabbed at him. Corey managed to vacate the area, but his jacket wasn’t so lucky, being punched full of holes. Corey squeezed at his right shoulder with his left hand, feeling the pain.

“You’re still the same naïve foal you were back north!” Slayer shouted, “You still don’t have a chance of beating me without losing something you hold dear!”

Corey’s posture altered at this point, and he stood straight up. “Is that right?”

Slayer paused for a moment, wondering what Corey was getting at. Corey’s horn lit up, and runes shone around his left hand. His palm glowed against the wound, and when Corey moved his right hand to the wound on his side, Slayer’s eyes went wide against his will.

He…healed it!? Slayer asked.

“I have to admit, you might be right,” Corey said, runes now appearing around his right hand. “That part hasn’t exactly changed. I’m still worrying too much when I really don’t need to. I can sense the rest of you are on the way, and now I’m worrying if Twilight and the others are able to handle it.”

Slayer snarled at the mention of the newest princess’s name. He should have guessed—she was his motivation even back then. “Her, huh…”

“But I shouldn’t be worrying,” Corey removed his hand from his side, and sure enough, that wound had been healed as well, “We’ve all spent the last month getting ready for today. They can handle themselves. I need to concentrate on the battles I’m in.”

Corey got into his ready stance, taking in one final deep breath. “And that’s what I’m going to do.”

Norma stood in silence for a moment, taking in the fact that Discord himself was now sitting not too far from her. No matter what he was dressed like, this wasn’t something to be taken lightly. A being of his caliber would easily throw several things out of sync in her plans, if not just stop them entirely in a single breath.

“My, my, it would seem you’ve finally discovered my base of operations,” said Norma, “Too bad you’re too late.”

Discord looked to Norma for a moment and let out a chuckle. His grin slightly faded as he sat upright. “Honey, I’ve known you were here from the start. One cannot simply use magic the way you do without my knowledge. Every moment you’ve used your magic in malice it was like a bright beacon being lit, but I couldn’t quite come kicking down your door at my leisure. Much as I would have wanted to.”

Discord rose from the throne and placed his hands in his pockets. If one looked close enough they would have been able to see the smallest beads of sweat running down the sides of Norma’s head—even she couldn’t hide the fact Discord made her nervous.

“And yet you didn’t… I wonder, could it be you had some motive to keeping such a secret?” Norma grinned for a moment, only to have it fade quickly. Discord had appeared mostly jovial about the whole matter up until that moment.

For the first time in centuries if not longer, Discord looked genuinely upset at the notion.

“Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Spike, and last but not least, Twilight Sparkle,” He took a step closer, “Not to mention their families which you saw fit to threaten so that they would follow your rules. On top of all that, while their coming here wasn’t your doing, you even saw fit to drag two complete outsiders into this whole mess for your amusement. It’s quite strange, actually. About a year ago, I may have considered doing something like that myself. I may have explored other worlds for ways to sow mischief. And who knows how many games I’ve played treating ponies like toys…

“But now, after everything I’ve witnessed, everything I’ve come to learn, I can say with certainty, that I am no longer that kind of creature. The one I am now, isn’t pleased,” Discord took another step forward. Norma didn’t move, scowling in silence, “Your hold on them has also kept me at bay, but you no longer have that hold, do you?”

Norma didn’t say a word, but Discord didn’t need her to. That much was true.

“Which means, there is nothing that can stop me from ending this here and now.” Discord raised his hand, his fingers pressed against one another preparing to snap them. However, before he could make the resounding crack that would end it, Norma finally made a move.

Her body began to shine brightly as did a rune circle that appeared under Discord’s feet. He looked down with an arched brow. “Well now, this is interesting.” He chuckled lightly, even as the runes burned brighter and Norma’s spell grew in strength. Discord remained unphased throughout it all.

“Too bad it won’t work,” Discord snapped his fingers, the rune signs disappearing beneath him in an instant, shattering as though they were emblazoned on a pane of glass. For a moment, Norma looked shocked. Discord grinned in response, dropping his guard for no more than a split second. But it was all Norma needed, and she took her chance. Her runes grew to a blinding intensity as yet another rune circle appeared under Discord, a second one spinning in the opposite direction around the first.

This time, Discord looked worried. His eyes grew wide as he found himself unable to act in time as the runes began surrounding his body.

“It’s too bad,” said Norma, “Too bad you won’t see what I have in store for your friends…”

Discord snarled, snapping his fingers for a second time. This time, for the first time ever in his life, nothing happened. He looked to his hands, then back to Norma as the glowing runes’ light began to engulf his body. The last thing he saw was the strain on her face before the world around him faded to red.

Norma held the spell for only a few seconds longer before releasing it. She dropped to a knee as she took deep breaths.

He was far stronger than I anticipated… Norma thought. After several seconds, Norma’s breathing finally evened out and she stood again, walking to where Discord once stood. With a grin on her face, she knelt down once again, reaching for something on the ground.

“But it was worth it,” From the ash covered ground, Norma picked something up no bigger than the palm of her hand: an orb which seemed to be comprised of magic, and something—or someone, was held inside.

“So tell me, how does it feel to be my prisoner, Discord?”

Within the orb, barely even one hundredth his original size, was Discord. He looked around, tapping the orb at first, taking a moment to stretch.

“I must admit, it’s far more comfortable than the last one I had,” Discord laid back, floating within the orb as he placed his hands behind his head, “I could get used to this.” Discord let out a relaxed sigh, something that bothered Norma. Even literally in Norma’s grasp, he showed no sign of concern.

“You… you believe they can defeat me, don’t you?” Norma asked.

“Their track record is truly astounding. They do have a habit of putting together wins at the last second. Perhaps it has something to do with their tenacity—something to admire, honestly. But why am I telling you this? You’ll find out soon enough.”

Norma growled in annoyance. Not wanting to continue this conversation further she reached under her cloak. As she placed Discord’s orb within it, there was a faint glow of magic.

His magic is too unpredictable to use… it’s best to just keep him as-is.

Norma stood up again and took another moment to collect herself. The only one she truly viewed as a threat was now unable to interfere, and though Discord talked big, Norma had no doubt her victory was assured. So, without any more hesitation, she made her way towards the exit of the cave, starting her trip to Canterlot.

Twilight had remained in North Canterlot after Corey left to pursue Slayer. Though she was convinced he could handle it, she could still feel the pangs of worry deep within. She’d wondered for a while if he’d turned off his earpiece so they didn’t hear him, which was fair enough. It definitely just didn’t feel right.

“Has Corey shut off his communicator?” Twilight wondered aloud.

“Might have,” John said, “Don’t worry. I’m sure he’s fine. He’s never sounded that sure of himself in all the time I’ve known him.”

Twilight breathed a small sigh. That didn’t exactly make her feel better about Corey’s decision, even though she’d already accepted it.

“Worry about him later!” Pinkie’s voice came through the line, “We’re seein’ more coming now!”

Twilight flapped her wings after a few moments of consideration, getting into the air to get a better view. Sure enough, when she turned her attention towards the city walls, she could see it perfectly: there was another mass of stone creatures coming along to play.

“I can see them too,” said Twilight. Leaving her communicator on, she raised her voice loud enough for the guards to hear, “Everyone, get ready! There are more of the creatures approaching the walls!”

The guards let out a collective grunt of acceptance and began to make their way to defensive positions. Twilight turned her attention back towards the mass rapidly advancing on Canterlot and began to take her position so that she could protect the capital, readying her magic as she did so.

Now that she was close to where the enemy was coming from, she could see the mass of stone creatures more clearly. And she could see something different about some of them.

They’re in different shapes and sizes… noted Twilight.

“There’s some big ones over here!” Rainbow shouted, “Good! Maybe they’ll be more of a challenge…”

“Don’t waste too much energy on these ones,” Twilight said, taking in the sight of the larger, much-more brutish creatures. Then, Twilight’s eyes flicked, catching the red flash of something being fired up at her, and dove down to avoid it. Still airborne, she turned back to the flood, and began to fire some pre-emptive lasers downward. Other guards with the capability began to do the same.

“Princess, watch out!” shouted a guard, and Twilight looked up to see one of the stone creatures charging right for her. Twilight gasped and closed her eyes, narrowly managing to teleport herself out of the way.

“They have wings now!?” Rarity shouted, having no doubt made a similar observation on her end. Sure enough, Twilight found herself surrounded by a couple of the winged ones, and began to rapidly descend to ground level, hoping that they would follow. However, she found she didn’t need to worry. Two pegasus guards, one armed with a sword and another with a hammer, quickly picked up where she left off. This gave Twilight the opportunity to move up a bit, and began assisting the guards at the walls again.

These creatures definitely aren’t like the other ones, Twilight observed, I’m definitely going to have to be careful with these until I can figure out all their new abilities. Looks like Para Norma is pulling out all the stops today.

Twilight’s face grew stern, determined, as she took in a deep breath to steady herself. The real battle had just begun, and she definitely wanted to be sure she did her best here.

Though the second wave was much stronger than the first overall, for John, it only meant he had to hit them harder. Each swing still shattered them to dust, each slam ensuring they’d never get up again. But while this battle was still simple for him, there was one thing he couldn’t get off his mind. Corey had announced Slayer’s arrival, which meant for sure that the other remaining prisoners would be arriving soon as well. And yet, the one who John chose to be his opponent had yet to arrive.

Where are you? John thought, anticipation bringing a feeling of restlessness to his psyche. After all this time of improving himself mentally and physically, John wanted nothing more than to put himself to the ultimate test. But with nothing else to occupy him, John could only focus on the targets which put themselves before him, and that’s exactly what the dragon took to. He continued to blow through their defenses, continuing to wreck them, if only to pass the time.

“Norma definitely went all out with these guys, huh?” said Rainbow as she dropped down beside him. Even she had to step it up a notch, something she’d wanted to save for another battle as well. She still had a job to do, however, so both of them had resolved to see it through.

“And it’s only going to get harder from here on out,” John pointed out. It wasn’t exactly an opinion—it was a fact that had held true throughout the whole crisis so far. John didn’t care; all he cared about was making sure everyone would live to see tomorrow. And if he could accomplish that, then it would mean that they’d won.

“Look out!” Rainbow shouted. John quickly turned to see several of the stone creatures pilled together into a makeshift boulder which was rolling down the street. On instinct, John rushed towards the rolling object and met it head on. John found himself being pushed back as he made contact with the ball, but he didn’t give in. He dug deep into the ground, using the claws on his feet as leverage. Eventually, John and the boulder stopped. The creatures began to move, no doubt getting ready to break formation and attack all at once, but John was ready.

John took in a deep breath and unleashed a devastating torrent of flames which engulfed the creatures. The heat of his fire proved more than a match as the stone that made up their bodies began to melt away into a pool of magma. As John watched what used to be the “creature-boulder” turn into a molten puddle in front of him, he saw something else. Through the steam, smoke and glowing hot rock, John finally saw him.

Kronos.

Both looked at one another for a moment, the sounds around them becoming muted as they seemed to size each other up. Kronos, for his part, was wearing a cloak, his head being the only form of identification for him. After their stare stretched on for what felt like several minutes, Kronos finally moved—not to attack, but to make a gesture. He motioned John to follow him, before turning his back to John and began moving down the block.

John looked in Kronos’ direction for a little while longer before moving himself. However, after he took a single step he felt a hand come down on his shoulder. He turned to see Rainbow giving him a stern look.

“You’re going after him?” she asked.

John merely nodded in confirmation.

“You kick his ass, you hear? Because if I find out you lost, then I’ll kick your ass next, understand?”

John held his stare on Rainbow for a few seconds before smiling with a chuckle. “Loud and clear.”

With that, John jogged after Kronos and towards the battle he was waiting for. Rainbow watched as he ran until he disappeared from sight before turning to focus on her battle. But before she could continue, she stopped and looked back with a worried glance.

“Come back safe…” she said, hardly above a whisper before running off to hold off the rest of the second wave.

“So, this is Canterlot…”

Positioned high above a cliffside, Norma was allowed a full view of Canterlot and the glory of the battle taking place. All this time, she’d watched from the sidelines as previous battles took place on a screen for her. While she may have enjoyed it at the time, it paled in comparison to being in the middle of it all. The clashing of weapons, the war cries of the guards trying to push back the much stronger wave of stone creatures she had created… all of it, was something that merely watching alone could not do justice anymore.

As much as Norma wanted to listen, as much as she would enjoy nothing more than to simply listen to their wasted efforts, Norma ignored her inclinations. There was somewhere else to be—somewhere she felt with all of her being she belonged. She eyed the castle from afar, the castle at the very center of the city. That is where she needed to be, seated upon the real throne, holding all the power that came with it.

“And soon, it will all be mine,” With a sinister laugh, Norma turned around and began making her way down the cliff. She knew very well that deep inside, there would be someone, or several someones, waiting for her. But that didn’t matter to her, just like any and all who had opposed her in the past. Norma would see to it that they were groveling helplessly at her feet, and the princesses of Equestria would be no different.

“Ready or not, Princess, here I come…”

Author's Note

This one is Sunday's update. Not much else to say other than hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Act 4 Chapter 12

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 12: Mistakes Made, Stakes Raised

Corey had resumed using his speed buff again, trying to get some distance from Slayer. Slayer was in pursuit, using his tendrils for mobility and offense. The amount of range Slayer had wasn’t something to be trifled with. Corey rushed through the streets, occasionally hopping forward, sometimes to the left or right to dodge Slayer’s attacks.

Looks like he’s stopped sending his creatures after me, Corey thought, I guess after that light spell I did, he didn’t want to keep using up energy on creatures I could easily banish.

Corey cast a quick glance behind him, seeing that he’d lost Slayer, and quickly dove into the nearest building he could find cover in—a run-down building that hadn’t been used in a while, clearly. Corey stood behind one of the boarded-up windows, taking in a deep breath to compose himself.

He’s definitely running off a grudge, that much for sure. I need to be caref—

A chill seized Corey and he leapt up towards the ceiling, two tendrils smashing through the boards and nearly skewering Corey where he stood. Corey exhaled roughly, landing in a dodge. The tendrils retracted for a few moments, before being joined by many others, reducing the window space to nothing more than a hole in the wall. Slayer glared at Corey now, his eyes alight with malice.

“You should have understood it sooner!” Slayer shouted, “My magic isn’t going to be stopped by such simple materials!”

He threw his arms out towards Corey, Corey having to speed up to avoid the slashes. Deciding to try to land a hit on Slayer, Corey rushed forward, ready to attack, only to have two more tendrils come out from behind Slayer and wrap themselves around his forearms up to the wrist. The other tendrils retracted as Slayer pulled his closed fists back.

Corey planted his feet hard, managing to hold his ground against Slayer’s pull. Slayer looked alarmed for a moment that Corey was able to resist, but his look of confusion soon morphed into a sadistic smirk.

“You idiot…”

Corey took in a deep breath, runes starting to appear first around his arms, then his whole body, forming a sort of green glow around him. Slayer’s tendril had just started to leave his body when Corey moved his arms as hard as possible, yanking Slayer up, right, and towards him, letting the tendril meant for his chest scrape the ground uselessly. Slayer hit the storefront hard enough to make the building quake, and the tendrils retracted. Corey sped outside to the building across the street, looking over to see Slayer stunned. Leaping over yet again, Corey cocked his fist back.

“Gotcha!” Corey shouted, punching out. The attack hit home, right to Slayer’s jaw. The force of the blow sent Slayer spiraling through the air, and his eyes momentarily bulged out from the force of the hit.

Slayer sprawled out on the road, momentarily dazed. However, as he refocused and began to stand up again, Slayer detected a taste he hadn’t tasted in his own mouth very often: his blood. Slayer spat, wiping at his mouth to try to get the rest of it. Corey stood across from Slayer, taking a moment to collect himself.

“Damn you…” Slayer grumbled, “Why haven’t you succumbed to your hatred yet!? Certainly just fighting me again should have set you off by now!”

Corey sighed for a moment, cracking his knuckles, keeping his magic active. “Am I not following your plot again? Is that why you’re after me now?”

Slayer paused for a couple of moments.

“Sure, I did things I regret while I fought you before,” Corey said, “But now I see. It wasn’t exactly a win for you either. You managed to make me lose my mind in ways I never thought possible until then.”

Slayer snarled, a claw appearing over his closed fist as he stood up and rushed at Corey again. “Like hell you could comprehend my process!”

Corey dodged Slayer’s claw strike easily, the glow of magic the only evidence he had been a few inches to the left when Slayer started his charge.

“But you lost control over the fight as well. For the first time since your career had started,” Corey continued, avoiding a good deal of Slayer’s attacks and parrying others. Slayer snarled, forming another set of claws over his other fist, but Corey kept right on going, “You had lost, physically defeated. I defied the fate you had imagined for me. That was the first time that had happened to you, right?”

Slayer let out a howl of rage. “Maybe it was! But that doesn’t matter now! I’m getting even with you!”

Slayer lunged forth with both claws, only for Corey to rotate his body and kick him hard in the chest, once again lifting Slayer from his feet. Slayer managed to spin through the air, digging his magical claws into the ground. For a few moments, the glow around his horn died.

“So that’s what it is, then. Counting your original arrest, you’ve lost twice,” Corey said, “Third time’s the charm though,” Corey pointed at Slayer, but no laser came this time, “After today, your reign of terror’s done for good.”

Slayer once again snarled to him, getting to his feet. This pony—this unicorn, was hell bent on opposing him, sane or not. It was a tough pill to swallow, but admittedly, Corey had his number there. Slayer shook his head, composing himself, letting the new anger within him grow. His glower was slowly starting to fade as he kindled his own hate, remembering why he’d been so grateful to fate for letting him meet Corey so soon. He still had one card left to play.

Corey’s face bunched into an angry frown as he saw Slayer’s horn light up again. The black-blue that surrounded his horn suddenly began to fluctuate between the two colors, and seemed to expand to cover Slayer’s entire body. Suddenly, Slayer’s body began to change, the glow of magic seeming to fade into his very skin—no, become his very skin. From the feet up, Slayer’s very body began to be shrouded by thick torrents of dark magic, exuding the deep chills of hatred and evil that lurked deep within Slayer’s heart.

“I admit that I’ve underestimated you consistently ever since this game of ours started,” Slayer said, the shroud traveling up his body, covering every conceivable millimeter with its black-blue hue, “But that ends now. Had I known you would have grown to be this much of a thorn in my side, I would have just done this from the start!”

Corey gasped against himself as the shroud seemed to eat Slayer’s face. While the shape of Slayer’s body was still distinctly humanoid—equinoid, whichever it was, including the horn, his body and face had indeed changed. Two white eyes opened within the shroud, along with a white wiry line that soon turned into a malevolent sneer. The claws that Slayer loved to form at close range were much sharper and larger this time, and he had a matching set on his feet. Four tendrils extended from the transformed Slayer’s back. As Corey took in the new form, he realized what he was looking at: another one of Slayer’s constructs.

“I guess I just enjoy playing with my prey too much!” Slayer cackled, his tendrils allowing him to propel himself forward, arms at the ready.

Corey braced himself, the glow around his body ending. He pumped runic magic into his arms, his horn alight as his defensive attributes went up, allowing him to parry the initial claw strike…

…which caused pain to rake across the forearm he’d used to do it. Corey had no time to dwell on this, bouncing aside a few more slashes from those claws. Slayer then leaned back, using his tendrils as support. Corey barely had time to form a runic shield around his torso before the claws made impact; the shield shattered and Corey was still flung backwards, managing to recover. Corey looked to his forearms, canceling the buff for just a moment.

There were scratches all over his arms where he’d parried Slayer’s attacks; while he wasn’t bleeding from them, it still really hurt. Corey got to his feet, pressing the sides of his thumbs against each other as he threw out another blast. Slayer took the shot to the chest; though the shot didn’t pierce the shroud, his tactic seemed to work.

Taking advantage of Slayer’s seeming pause from the attack, Corey hopped back, fingers pressed to his face as he let out a grunt. Those white-yellow runes appeared once more, and soon enough, a blinding flash once again filled the area. Slayer howled in pain, and as the light cleared, Corey could see that it seemed to work: his shroud of dark magic was gone, and even better, this time he did manage to blind Slayer.

Now’s my chance! thought Corey, running straight for Slayer, his fist cocked back. His gut suddenly churned with unease for a moment, and Corey blinked; Slayer was sneering, one of his forearms cocked back, cloaked in that dark claw.

Corey barely had time to move his head as he passed, and didn’t get out unscathed; the claws raked across his left cheek, leaving three cuts behind. Pressing his hand to the new wound, Corey quickly turned, seeing Slayer, laughing, the shroud forming around him once more as though it had never been blasted off to begin with.

“Did you really think it would be that easy? Did you, Corey?” Slayer laughed, leaping forward to try to claw down at Corey again. Corey quickly leapt back, letting Slayer hit the road yet again.

“It hasn’t been easy since I got here,” Corey shook his head, his horn lighting up and allowing the healing spell to do its work yet again, closing the wounds. Corey clenched his fists, focusing as he allowed himself to first write runes around his feet, then his arms. The runes seemed to expand once again to cover his whole body in a glow.

Slayer launched tendril shots in Corey’s direction, and Corey moved, but not in the way Slayer expected. Slayer watched as Corey ran into the net of tendrils—and there were a lot more than just the four. Corey wove and dodged, but wasn’t quite effective at it, Slayer’s tendrils still drawing blood, leaving cuts in his clothing and skin.

“Idiot, what are you doing?” Slayer asked in a mock-concerned tone, “Shouldn’t you be getting some dist—“

Slayer coughed abruptly, and he looked down to see Corey had closed the distance entirely, landing a savage blow to his midsection. Slayer staggered backwards, mild shock negating the fact he could see Corey bleeding as a result of his reckless maneuver.

“It’s a trade-off I’ve gotta make the best of,” Corey said, “I may be able to increase my attributes simultaneously now, but if I do that I can’t use any other spells while my strength and speed are augmented.”

Slayer snarled, leaping forward again, aching to sink his claws into Corey’s chest. This was not to be; Corey merely grabbed at Slayer, tossing him through the air with great force. As he did so, Corey canceled his strength buff, his arms returning to their normal size. He then pumped his palms forward like pistons, sending a small shower of green magical energy in Slayer’s direction.

Slayer snarled, digging two tendrils into buildings on opposite sides of the street to gain leverage. This stopped his trajectory, allowing him to bat away the shots. He looked down, seeing Corey wasn’t in front of him, but he didn’t have to do much searching. He heard the sound of shoes scraping off bricks, and he turned his head, just in time to catch a shoe directly to the face.

The momentum of the flying kick dislodged Slayer’s hold and he fell to the road, digging his claws into the ground for traction. Slayer looked up, withholding the sense of dread that was welling up in him as Corey landed down, runes appearing around the injuries he had sustained during his earlier charge.

I can’t believe it… Slayer grumbled, Even taking this form, I still can’t turn the tides at all!?

The city trembled around them, but neither of them could feel it. The air echoed with the sounds of combat, but it fell on deaf ears. The city of Canterlot, the war waged within its walls may as well have been in another world entirely to the two warriors standing across from one another. One was a dragon who, in spite of being thrown into a species he knew nothing of had come to embrace who he was and what he could do. The other looked to be a sabertooth tiger from deep within the pits of Tartarus, and one of the last pawns to a crazed ringmaster pulling the strings.

After their first meeting a month ago, they were finally able to stand before one another once again. But this time, it was in a manner that was to their mutual liking. This time, John was at full strength, and likely even stronger than he was back then. This time, he would discover what Kronos was truly capable of. But while he wanted nothing more than to finally settle what had been put on hold, there was something John needed to say.

“You’re different from the others,” he said, “All the other prisoners, at least, the ones I’ve met, had an unquenchable bloodlust that stained the air around them. Not you, though. Something about you is different. You could have killed me back then, killed those who were bedridden and unable to defend themselves. You could have killed someone that night, but you didn’t. Why?”

It was a question that had eaten at him for a long time. John had been spared by that seeming lack of foresight on Kronos’ part, but it didn’t soothe him in the least. It didn’t mesh with the other prisoners at all. Kronos remained silent, and for a moment, John thought he would never get an answer.

Until…

“Ninety-nine,” Kronos said.

“What do you mean?” John arched his brow, wondering what that number meant, if anything.

“To this day, I have taken ninety-nine lives with my own hands,” Kronos said, lifting up his clawed paws for emphasis, “But they were no helpless victims, no, anything but. The targets I chose, the lives I ended, all had one thing in common.”

Kronos spread his arms wide, indicating the sounds of violence around them, “Warriors. All of them, those are who I chose to battle. But not just any would do—I needed opponents who could give me a momentous battle, ones who could actually take my life if I were not careful. Some of them were the worst this world could offer, not unlike those you’ve faced up until now, but most were the best. Whether they were decorated or tainted, it didn’t matter to me. All that mattered was the strength of my opponent.”

The number had meaning at that moment. John understood at once what Kronos was saying.

“To date, I have won a total of ninety-nine duels to the death,” Kronos extended an arm forward, pointing at the dragon before him, “And I’ve decided you worthy of being my hundredth.”

There was no denying it. Kronos was indeed different from the others; he didn’t care about the misery the game caused, nor was he out to cause it. All he wanted to do was sate his warriors’ pride—something which held important to him even after years of imprisonment.

“Does that answer sate your curiosity?”

John had gotten the answer to his question. There was no reason to stall any longer. John flexed his body, popping a few joints in the process. This battle was going to push his body further than any of the ones previous; he needed to be ready.

Kronos, for his part, was prepared as well, and with a single motion of his arm he ripped off his cloak in entirety. What he revealed, however, caused John to gasp in surprise. It was still Kronos under the cloak, but there was something else. He was wearing an armor—a full body cast made of hide, but John recognized it; not just by color, but by species. John knew in an instant whose skin Kronos was wearing.

“Lyon…” John muttered. Nemean Lyon, John’s first real fight, the first to teach him his own limits and forced him to surpass them… he had returned, in the form of Kronos’ armor, “Now that’s a surprise,” John chuckled a little.

“I know of your strength and your durability,” Kronos said, “While I trust in my own strength, I knew of one other who could rival your durability, someone I recall you couldn’t defeat without a helping hand. He isn’t here now, though, so tell me, how do you think you’ll fare?”

John tilted his head at Kronos and lowered his stance. Digging his claws into the ground, he looked at him with steel resolve.

“Let’s find out.”

John kicked off from the ground, launching himself towards Kronos at a high speed. But Kronos’ own reflexes were capable of keeping up as he braced himself. As John threw the first punch, he discovered it had been blocked by Kronos’ forearm. True to how it had been before, the hide had defended Kronos from the brunt of the attack. And with that, Kronos was free to counter, easily landing a punch to John’s stomach.

However, John’s own body was resilient as well. Though he twitched from the impact, John wasn’t backing down. Pressing forward, John landed his own punch on Kronos’ stomach with the same result. Instantly, both broke apart and opened the gap between them, only to close it once again.

John spun and swung his tail over which Kronos dodged with a well-timed duck. He tried to respond with a leg sweep, but John jumped to avoid it. John followed this with a hard punch down, but Kronos intercepted this by grabbing his arm and flipping him over and slamming him into the ground. John flinched for a moment, but managed to recover fast enough to see Kronos’ punch coming down on him.

John rolled out of the way and saw that the punch caused the ground beneath it to crater. Kronos did have some impressive strength behind him, but he wasn’t going to let it phase him. Jumping off the ground, John quickly brought his foot up and slammed it under Kronos’ chin. The strike knocked Kronos off his feet, but with a quick backflip, he was back on his feet. Kronos kneeled down, wiping his chin and looking towards John. He smirked.

“You’ve improved,” Kronos stood up, “Now then, show me just how much.”

Both rushed each other again, their fists colliding with one another in the center. Kronos ducked in closer and threw several jabs which landed across John’s chest. This was followed up by a kick to the side of his head. John spun in response, but as he came around, he managed to swing his tail around and land a hard blow to Kronos’ side.

The tiger flew across the street from the impact and crashed into a solid wall. He shook his head for a moment and looked up only to see John was upon him again. Though able to put up his guard, Kronos couldn’t avoid the tackle which caused both of them to break through the wall. What he could do, though, was put John into a headlock.

Shit! John quickly started trying to break free, but Kronos had a very hard hold of him. The hold wasn’t the only thing he had to worry about, though; a moment later, John felt a hard knee slam into his stomach. Before he could recover from the first hit, another came, and another, before he managed to finally put up a guard for the third. But blocking the attack wouldn’t get him out of his predicament. So, just as Kronos hit his guard with another knee, John moved quickly, grabbing hold of the leg.

Now with his own hold on his opponent, John began to swing his body about, crashing him into various appliances and walls within. Finally, after slamming Kronos’ body into another wall, his grip loosened, and John took his change. With one final hard swing, John managed to throw Kronos clear across the room.

Now that John was free, he looked towards Kronos and took in a deep breath. Kronos saw this and quickly crossed his arms over his head just as John let out a torrent of flames. The fire quickly overtook the area around Kronos, completely engulfing him. But from within the flames Kronos’ jumped out, his face covered by the hood of his armor. John’s fire was stopped, Kronos forced his mouth shut with one hand.

‘Course it’d still be fireproof, John thought to himself, the flames from before beginning to spread across the room. The heat from it caused the sprinklers to set off and the two were showered from above. John grabbed Kronos by the wrist and pulled his hands off from his mouth. He then followed up with a punch which Kronos managed to catch. The two then followed with a knee, clashing in the center.

The two pushed against each other in hopes of overpowering their opponent, but neither gave an inch. Their feet skidded across the floor of the building they were in, but neither was able to press forward. After it became clear to the two that it would go nowhere, both brought their heads back and landed a simultaneous head-butt against the other’s forehead. Kronos looked up at John, and noticed the flames expelling from the sides of his mouth. His head wasn’t as well-protected as the rest of him; if he took that blast of fire at this range, it would prove fatal. Before John could throw his flame, Kronos ducked out of the path.

Then John grinned, and Kronos realized his error. And he noticed the kick heading right for him. The kick landed on his shoulder and knocked him back some, but he wasn’t going down. Kronos grabbed hold of John’s leg and managed to lift him off the ground. Kronos then slammed John face-first into the ground before lifting him hard enough to hit the ceiling. Kronos ended his assault with a hard side kick which launched John outside again.

John continued to fly after his body left the inside of the building, eventually going into a full-on tumble across the ground.

“Dammit!” he hissed, as he pushed himself off the ground and back on to his feet. Kronos was a lot more agile than he’d anticipated, and his reaction time was pretty much spot-on. But really, what could he expect from one of the last prisoners from Norma’s alliance?

“Saving the best for last, I guess…” John mumbled to himself as he watched Kronos walk out of the building.

John stared at Kronos for a moment before nodding. “I think that should take care of the warm-up.”

Kronos stopped and arched a brow at John. After a few seconds, Kronos broke his gaze and chuckled.

“I agree.”

Her march through Canterlot went unopposed, not a single trace of resistance as she made her way towards the castle. Norma wondered, was this from sheer luck, or was this a sign of things to come? But in truth, she only came to one logical conclusion: she was being purposely avoided. Of course, it’s not like any simple pawn could topple her, a queen standing at the very top of the board. Of course none would attempt to stand against her, and yet, she felt there was more to it.

But whatever the reason, whatever the plan, it didn’t matter to her. Norma had finally reached the castle and was staring at the large double doors: the entrance to the castle, the entrance to her castle. With a flare of her magic, the doors opened and Norma began to walk inside. The castle was void of any protection, all its guards stationed outside, no doubt.

Norma didn’t come here looking for guards, though. What she wanted was much higher on the packing order. That was the two rulers of Equestria, and to Norma, the only beings in this country who could stand against her. They were in here, waiting for her to arrive so that they could end this once and for all. And Norma was more than happy to comply with that desire. She wanted to claim her throne as soon as possible. That still begged the question: just where in this castle would her opponents be waiting for her?

“What’s this?” as though anticipation her question, the castle itself seemed to prepare a response. Torches placed along the walls began to light one after another, something Norma quickly realized was a guide. Norma followed the trail as each torch lit, taking her deeper into the castle. It wasn’t far; to her guess, somewhere in the middle of the castle. The last two torches lit and the rest died out, signaling Norma had reached her destination.

Finally, Norma reached out towards the door and opened them, revealing the room on the other side. It was far larger than she expected, and from the looks of it had seen its fair share of combat recently. But what was more eye-catching were the two beings standing on the very edge of the room. Princesses Celestia and Luna, both standing side-by-side and sporting armor not seen for over a thousand years.

“Para Norma, I presume?” Having been away since the gates had been opened, this was the first time Luna had laid eyes on who started the game.

“I see you’ve finally chosen to join us,” Norma said to the younger sister, “You’ve spent so long on the sidelines that I must admit, I’d forgotten you ever existed.” No doubt, a nerve was touched, but Luna did not allow herself to show it. Norma walked deeper into the room, the tension building between her and the two princesses growing with every second.

“It ends here, Norma,” said Celestia, “The pain, the suffering, and this game. We intend to put a stop to it here and now.”

A spark could be seen flying, a sort of magical feedback caused by the opposing magical forces standing in the single room. Norma knew full well why they were princesses, but still had no worries.

“I already took care of your little pet, something the two of you couldn’t manage alone. Do you still believe yourself capable of defeating me?”

The answer was swift; so fast, in fact, that Norma almost lost an eye avoiding it. It was nothing large, nor flashy, but a simple laser fired at her at a great speed. The impact zone of the floor behind her was smoldering from the head behind it. It was no more than a warning shot, but it could have been much more.

Norma looked at Celestia again, her horn smoking from the laser she had just fired. Neither she nor Luna seemed phased at all that Discord had been defeated. Norma concluded rather quickly that they still believed that they could win. And they were prepared to prove it.

“Well then, it seems we’re about to find out.”

Celestia was the first to charge, her horn flaring with magic as she drew closer. Again, she fired a laser, though one of a larger scale this time around. Norma anticipated it and rolled out of the way just in time, and in her hand she focused her magic. From it, her magic extended like a while, one she used to snap towards Celestia. The magic whip soared and grabbed around Celestia’s arm.

Once she had a hold of her, Norma forced more magic into the whip, a trail of violently sparking magic beginning to flow through it. Celestia wasn’t sure what would happen had it reached her, but she didn’t have to find out. When the sparks were halfway to her, Luna leapt down, slicing through the whip with the axe in her hands and freeing Celestia from its hold. Luna then charged towards Norma, swinging the axe overhead before bringing it down with great force.

Norma focused her magic quickly and brought her hands up, producing a shield with her magic just in time. Luna’s axe made contact with the shield, the force beneath it causing the floor at Norma’s feet to crater in and the shield to crack severely. As she pushed against Luna’s weapon, Norma noticed movement from the side. Celestia was closing in to air in the attack, but Norma wouldn’t have it.

Dispelling the shield, Norma quickly grabbed hold of Luna’s axe, red runes appearing around her hands, and soon the blade itself. Seeing this, Luna hopped back, releasing her weapon. The axe soon began to glow, and Norma turned her attention to Celestia. Then, she threw the axe in a spiral towards her. Celestia dodged the axe with little trouble, but soon noticed what the spell did.

Next thing Celestia saw, the axe was starting to follow her movements, homing in on her no doubt due to the spell on it. Celestia scowled at this and quickly landed on the floor, her eyes locked on the still spinning axe. She waiting until it was close enough and just before impact, she managed to grab its handle. This was followed by a flare of magic which spread around the axe and burned away the runes placed on it.

For her part, Norma was surprised. Overloading her runes was no simple feat, and yet Celestia was able to do so casually.

Unlike Discord, these two won’t fall for simple tricks… Norma thought to herself. There was no telling what else they could do. However, the same could be said for her. After having to sit and wait for so long she could finally stretch her legs, and she had a book’s worth of spells she’d been dying to try out.

Creatures with wings weren’t that much of an issue for Applejack, if not for one thing: the fact that they loved to dive at her. Applejack let out a grunt as she ducked down, a creature passing centimeters above her head. She looked up at it, the creature seeming to realize it missed. Thus, it turned around, and prepared to do it again.

Applejack, having had enough of this, leaned back, placing her hands firmly against the ground before kicking up, catching the creature in the neck. It stood no chance against her powerful leg, crumbling to dust as it passed over her, broken beyond repair. Applejack stood up, dusting herself off and straightening her shirt a bit.

“These things are gettin’ on my nerves…” Applejack grumbled.

“Applejack, watch out!” This was her cousin Braeburn, who had seen something launching itself at her, something large with one hand raised. Applejack leapt back, turning around as she did, seeing a large creature slamming its hand into the ground where she just was, leaving a hand-sized crater in the road. Worse, it had backup approaching.

“There’s a lot of ‘em!” shouted another of her family members, “How do we deal with that?”

“Everypony clear!” Pinkie’s voice bellowed through a speaker on her modified train car. As soon as everyone turned to where she was, they could see why: a turret had come out of there, and was pointing right out of the crowd. Needless to say, everypony that was in its path did so, some even covering their ears as the thing blasted a small shell at the group of creatures.

When the shell hit the big one, it exploded—but not in the way it would have were it a tank from our world. Instead of fire and smoke, out came smoke and lots of confetti, enough such that it wrapped around not only the large creature, but in fact a good deal of the creatures that were surrounding it. It coiled around them like a pack of hungry snakes, constricting them. Some of the manikins were cut into by the confetti, crumbling. The less lucky ones were tightly packed together with their brothers.

Needless to say, cleanup was a breeze. The crowd of Apple family members began to move in, using whatever they chose to break the creatures that were left over.

“Gotta hand it to ya, Pinkie,” said Applejack as she moved in to help, “You do know how to build ‘em…”

“I’m just glad Johnny wasn’t around to see it,” said Pinkie, “He might have freaked out again!”

Though the shape of the creatures had changed, the guards’ morale did not break. Though the dragon had gone off elsewhere to tend to one of the breakouts, their ability to deal with the creatures did not waver. This, in part, was due to the fact they had Rainbow Dash on their side. Or rather, this was what Rainbow Dash chose to believe. She found herself flying around through the air, assisting in keeping the skies clear.

“Pfft,” Rainbow said, casually flying ahead of a few of the creatures with wings, “These things aren’t that much better in the sky!”

With that, she swiftly turned back around, before blitzing forward with all her might, easily cutting between the three of them. The sheer momentum at which she passed between them sent them off-balance, the creatures barely able to keep airborne. While they were stunned, Rainbow turned back around one more time, and landed a series of strong kicks on them, easily sending them to the ground—if the kick didn’t break them, the subsequent fall to the ground did.

Rainbow came to a halt after delivering her kicks, deciding to ascend higher. There were still hundreds of the stone creatures to take down, and even though she had to keep an eye on only one part of the city, there was still a lot of area to cover.

“Let’s see…” Rainbow mumbled, easily able to see a good portion of South Canterlot from her vantage point. She could see the guards, bravely standing against creatures large and small, winged and grounded. She could see the enchanted arrows taking out the creatures, other creatures crumbling from shows of strength…

And flashes of magic ineffectively hitting one of the enemies below.

“What the—“ Rainbow’s gaze soon fixed on the area where she had seen that, and she began moving closer towards it…

“Watch out, everyone! His armor’s got an enchantment on it!” shouted one of the guards as they faced down something—or rather, someone—that was definitely not just a drone made of stone. He was a flesh-and-blood griffin wearing armor—armor that just so happened to be enchanted to make their spells ineffective.

Storm Claw surveyed the guards for a moment, a knife in each hand. “It seems even the guards have been preparing themselves for this day, but I do wonder how well it’ll pay off for you…”

His wings extended, and he pushed off the ground, one knife stretched out. A pegasus guard barely had any time to react before the knife passed through his side, drawing blood. Another guard, an earth pony, shouted in alarm as the wound opened, but wound up with a knife driven into his shoulder.

A third guard, a unicorn, began to fire off laser spells one after another, hoping to at least get his attention. The shots absorbed uselessly into his armor, protected by red runes, it appeared. Storm Claw turned, apparently aware of his presence, and leapt upward. The unicorn stepped back, Storm Claw leaping up and flying about.

“So fast…!” mumbled the unicorn, taking a few steps back to try to get a fix on his position. Storm Claw landed behind him, one knife drawn, ready to stab…

“Heads up!”

At the sound of the voice, the unicorn ducked, and Storm Claw looked up... only to feel the force of a double-kick right into his chest. Storm Claw coughed, caught off-guard by the sudden attack. He fell backwards, but didn’t need to sit up to see who it was. It was a pegasus pony with a blue coat and a rainbow mane.

“So you’re Rainbow Dash…” Storm Claw said, “The fastest flier in Equestria?”

“And you’re that griffin that Twilight fought while I was out cold!” Rainbow said.

“Indeed,” Storm Claw said, “I suppose she’s elsewhere…”

As the guards Storm Claw attacked began to gather themselves, they all turned to Rainbow.

“Miss Dash, what will you have us do?”

“Leave this one to me, boys,” said Rainbow, waving them off, “You guys do what you gotta do.”

“Are you sur—“

“Yeah, I’m sure, now go!” Rainbow barked. The guards gathered themselves, the ones Storm Claw had injured a bit slower than the one that wasn’t. At this, Storm Claw chuckled, finally getting to his feet.

“You’re just as brazen as you’ve ever been since this game started…” Storm Claw said,, “But I wonder, are you able to keep up with me?”

With that, Storm Claw rushed forward again, left hand extended with a blade out. Rainbow stepped to his right. Storm Claw slowed to a halt as he prepared his right hand for a cut. Rainbow, however, grasped his wrist hard with one hand. Her other hand curled into a fist, Rainbow punched out at him, only to have her hand caught by his now-knifeless left hand. Before he could capitalize on her dropped guard, Rainbow flared out her wings, allowing her body to twist so that she could nail Storm Claw across the beak with a kick.

Storm Claw released his grip and Rainbow released hers, Storm Claw staggering back a few steps. He didn’t fall, however, merely turning back to Rainbow and adjusting his beak.

“Not bad,” said Storm Claw, “But I’m just getting warmed up. This will be a fine battle indeed…”

Corey, glowing with magic yet again, rushed at Slayer, who was still trying to slow him down with tendrils. He wove through the attacks, fists clenched. Despite Slayer’s best efforts, Corey made it in close, dodging Slayer’s slash and countering with another strong punch to the head. Slayer quickly recovered from this, jabbing his tendrils into the ground for leverage. Propelling himself forward, he slashed with both claws, but Corey leapt up, kicking Slayer square in the center of his back.

Slayer staggered forward from the hit, but once again stopped himself with tendrils, growling as he wrapped them around Corey’s ankle. Without any means to get leverage, Corey was whirled through the air by his leg, eventually being tossed through the air. Dazed, Corey hit the building back first, knocking the wind out of him.

Hearing Slayer scream in hatred was enough to get him to shake it off, though, and Corey jumped to his left, several tendrils impaling the wall where he was. Corey didn’t get off unscathed, however; the hot, tearing pain of yet another cut, this time on the outer part of his thigh, reminded him of that.

Corey looked up again, seeing the monstrous form of Slayer drawing close—he was using his tendrils to rocket over to him, both clawed hands extended. Reactivating his two spells again, his muscles bulking up and his body glowing, Corey hopped away again, letting Slayer stick his claws in the wall. While Slayer removed the embedded bits of his shroud from the wall, Corey moved in again, slamming Slayer in the ribs with a kick.

Slayer slowly spun around, staggering in a daze. His head swam with so many different thoughts, all of them various statements of disbelief and rage. He couldn’t believe Corey had maintained a solid advantage through this whole encounter.

As the next three punches came, Slayer’s mind registered the very real possibility of an impending loss. It didn’t matter whether Corey killed him or not; the mere fact that Corey had pushed him so far and still had the edge was maddening—

Corey’s body stopped glowing, but his muscles remained expanded. At regular speed, he lurched forward, Slayer coughing as that infernal spell sent him rocketing backwards with immense energy, actually causing him to slam clear through the wall of a building at the end of the road, the wall crumbling to rubble and dust coming out of the wall.

Corey took in a deep breath, letting his strength return to normal, his muscles contracted. He stretched his right arm, not feeling the numbness or the pain that came from the last time he had bolstered his strength and delivered an impact. He looked ahead at the path Slayer had taken, and let out a small groan, shaking his head.

“I’m probably gonna owe a few ponies an apology here for what happened to these buildings,” Corey said, “Still, to think I can use my arm after using the two spells together...I really have come a long way.”

Runes appearing around the wounds he’d incurred yet again, Corey healing himself, Corey began to walk forward.

“So, now do you see the difference between then and now?” Corey asked, loud enough. Slayer didn’t respond, not even with a loud scream. In fact, the distant dust was the only thing he could see still—a figure was moving within it, and judging from the sense he was getting, Slayer was definitely still conscious—still alive.

“End of the line, Slayer!” Corey shouted, his body glowing green once again as his muscles expanded. He began to run towards Slayer. One more good shot like that and Slayer would have to be down for the count—

As Corey got close enough, he stopped his attack short. Slayer, at least physically wasn’t there. No… Twilight!?

His mental lapse was rewarded with a hard punch smacking him square in the torso, lifting him off his feet. Corey cursed as the wind was knocked out of him. That little trick had caused him to drop his guard.

Dammit… I should have realized my sixth sense wasn’t lying…

Slayer—having discarded his shroud for one more costume change, stepped forward. He looked just like Twilight, dressed exactly as she had been the last Slayer had saw of her. He smirked at Corey’s hesitation, no doubt believing that his ruse had worked entirely.

Corey paused, his muscles aching for movement. His mind, however, was on another thing. If he could take Slayer’s trick, whatever it was he was going to do, given he wasn’t attacking him yet, then he could close the door on the chapter of his life he’d wanted to close for a long while.

Slayer sneered. “Quite the convincing image, isn’t it? So much so that even you couldn’t bring yourself to harm it. I understand it very clearly, what you have for her. Your feelings—no, that doesn’t do it justice. Your love for her runs so deep you believe you’ve made some strides towards not only defeating me, but conquering your inner demons. But I’m sure that much like this visage you see before you, it’s just an illusion…”

Notably, Slayer didn’t bother to disguise his voice completely, his voice coming out as a mixture between his and Twilight’s. As Corey watched, the image of Twilight grinned, and a moment later, blue sparks appeared over Twilight’s eye—a bruise soon appearing over it. Corey’s eyes widened slightly, but Slayer noticed right away, and the sneer grew wider.

“When you defeated me, I was left very close to death. It’s fate that I’m even here now in front of you,” As Slayer continued to go on, Corey felt a rising feeling of heat within him grow as the image of Twilight began to disfigure in ways very reminiscent of the images Slayer lovingly painted in his diary of decadence.

“But you see, all that time spent healing and waiting for today gave me all the more time to plan out what I was going to do once I got a hold of her and took care of you. The appropriate sculpting will take quite a while, and the cutting may be very…intricate. But that’s not all… I think there’s something else that I can do to enhance the process…”

Against himself, Corey felt his face twist into anger, heat threatening to burst from his chest. He understood very well what Slayer was getting at. Opposite him, within the badly disfigured suit, Slayer smiled maniacally.

Author's Note

And there we go. Corey is now in the position he was a little over one act ago, but will he break again? I guess you'll have to wait until next Sunday to see.

Also, as of today, with this update, we have officially reached two years since this was first published. So, once again, I thank any of you who have read this far, and understand that the end is in sight. Though there's still quite a bit left, we're halfway through Act 4.

Act 4 Chapter 13

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 13: A Shadow Extinguished

John panted slightly as he glared down at Kronos below him. Both were starting to look as though they’d taken heavy damage. They’d already gotten a grasp of each other’s limits, and each had come to the same conclusion. Their opponent could take everything they dished out, which meant the gloves could come off.

Here we go!

John flew down at Kronos, bringing down a single downward kick towards him. Kronos brought up his arms and blocked John’s kick, the ground beneath him cratering and kicking up a gust of dust as result. As Kronos’ guard held strong, he noticed John’s tail was swinging towards him. Without missing a beat, Kronos dropped his guard and grabbed hold of the offending appendage. Throwing the dragon’s weight around, Kronos began to spin John about before finally releasing him towards another wall. John flew across the street and hit the wall hard, and though he braced himself for that impact, he was not prepared for the knee that followed.

With his knee buried deep into John’s abdomen, Kronos began an onslaught of punches to John’s face. John struggled to get free, but Kronos was determined to keep him from regaining any ground. But no matter how many times he was struck, John never once allowed himself to blink. He withstood each punch, waiting for just the right moment to strike, waiting for Kronos to show even the slightest opening. Soon, he found it: a wide swing, one that had more power behind it, but was slower.

Now! Just before the punch could hit, John managed to duck his head out of the path, Kronos’ fist making contact with the wall behind him instead. Before he could pull back, Kronos felt something clamp down around his forearm. When he looked to it, he noticed that in the moments it took for him to realize he’d missed, John took his chance and bit down hard on it. Though Lyon’s hide protected him against the sharp teeth, he could still feel the pressure behind the bite… and he could feel the force as he was pulled to the side and slammed against the wall beside the dragon.

Kronos went limp for a moment, only to feel himself be pulled again. This time, he was thrown upwards where he spiraled uncontrollably. His flight only stopped when he hit another building several floors above. Digging his claws into the concrete, Kronos managed to prevent himself from falling. He managed to recover fast enough to see John flying towards him, only barely able to jump out of the way. As Kronos jumped higher, John crashed through the wall, but he knew he’d be out soon. He couldn’t risk being caught while trying to get back to the ground again, so Kronos chose the next best thing: the roof of the building.

Kronos managed to reach the top in a few seconds, just in time to see John crash through it not too far away. John charged for Kronos, but Kronos was ready, easily dodging John’s attack and landing a hard elbow to his ribs. John grunted in pain, but pushed through it and landed another punch across Kronos’ face. There was a flash of blood as Kronos was hit—a silver of it dripping out the side of his mouth, but he wasn’t backing down.

Kronos threw another punch which managed to knock John back, and managed to draw blood as well. As John stood up and wiped it from his mouth, he looked at his own blood and smirked. The mere knowledge that his opponent’s physical strength alone was enough to make him bleed only seemed to fuel his desire to fight. Kronos, naturally, felt the same way.

The two charged again, both crashing into the other’s shoulder as a show of strength. After the impact, Kronos threw a punch towards John which was parried aside. John then threw his own punch, but Kronos rolled along it and avoided the hit. As Kronos came around he struck John behind the head with his elbow. John lurched forward from the hit, but after planting his foot firmly on the ground, John twisted his body. He then threw one more punch, which landed on Kronos’ side. Lyon’s hide wasn’t enough to keep him from feeling a large sum of the impact.

Kronos held his side as he fell to one knee. John saw his chance and went for another attack. Before he could land it, though, he caught a glimpse of Kronos’ eye and quickly realized he’d been baited. He couldn’t pull back, nor could he stop himself from having Kronos sweep his feet aside, destroying his balance. Before John could hit the ground, he was dealt a powerful kick from Kronos that not only smashed him through the roof, but several more floors below as well.

John finally came to a stop and flinched from the several impacts, let alone the kick he’d taken from Kronos. He looked up at the hole he’d caused and saw dropping down towards him. John’s eyes went wide and he rolled out of the way just as Kronos landed on the ground, cracking it even further from the impact.

“Most would be in utter anguish from such an attack, and yet you still move,” Kronos looked to John, a look on his face that John couldn’t quite place. It was a smile, but he wasn’t happy—not entirely. There was also pride, something he’d never expect from someone imprisoned in Tartarus. But above all else, there was something in that smile aimed at John himself. And after pondering it for a short moment, he realized what it was.

Respect… Maybe it was because he was still conscious after that last attack, or maybe it was because he was giving Kronos the fight he’d longed for. But for whatever reason it was, it was clear: Kronos was, in his own way, thanking John for it.

“It will take a lot more than that to take me down,” said John, “Trust me, I’ve pushed my limits time and again to learn just what my breaking point is. And if you ever want to see it, you’ll need to do better than that.”

For some, John’s words could be chalked up to arrogance, but Kronos knew better. John wanted to see his limits, to be pushed to them and beyond, and he was staring down the only being he knew that could do that. Fortunately for him, Kronos couldn’t relate more.

Kronos took in a breath, slowly letting it out as not only his stance, but the atmosphere around him seemed to change. “Very well.”

John immediately noticed the sense of danger around him growing stronger.

“Prepare yourself,” Kronos advised.

John felt his scales stand on edge, an instinct reaction to what could mean death. And yet, instead of bringing dread to him, it just made John more eager. A grin spread across his face as John extended all his claws, and his pupils finally went slit.

“I’ve been prepared before this ever started…”

Rainbow Dash had squared up against quite a few fast foes in her lifetime, but most of the time, she wasn’t actively fighting them on top of it all. And if it was a fight she was in, her opponents typically don’t have weapons. Storm Claw, however, was both an opponent that needed to be fought against, and he did have weapons: knives. Knives that were soaring through the air at her with a wave of his arm.

Rainbow dove down, getting out of the way. The knives passed through thin air. However, Storm Claw hit the brakes, pausing in midair, jerking back his throwing arm. Immediately, Rainbow sensed the danger inherent, and dove down again. As she did, she chanced looking up, seeing the knives pass through the spot where she was yet again. Then, redirecting her attention to the space below her, she could see a building was approaching.

A quick aerial somersault later, Rainbow oriented her body so that she would land foot first on the building, softly enough to avoid hurting herself. Rainbow landed, crouching down for a moment to ensure she recovered. Storm Claw landed on a building across the street from her, collecting the knives that missed.

“Impressive…” Storm Claw commented, “Not many can avoid that.”

“Twilight did, and made sure to warn me about it,” Rainbow said, “You’re not gonna get me like that!”

“Is that right?” Storm Claw asked, “I suppose I’ll just have to try close range once again, then!”

A moment later, he was charging her again, a knife in each hand as he rushed her. Rainbow braced herself, and started weaving about as the slashes came. Avoiding was the easy part, unfortunately, for when Rainbow tried to attack back, Storm Claw was easily able to parry or block her attacks to continue.

They continued backwards across the roof of a building like this for a few seconds, neither wanting to give an inch. Rainbow eventually threw a punch that was just careless enough, though, and Storm Claw took advantage: plunging a knife into her shoulder. Rainbow gasped as the knife hit home, and kicked out instinctively, only to feel pain yet again as Storm Claw took the knife with him as he stumbled back.

Rainbow immediately squeezed the new wound as Storm Claw backed off, cursing to herself the whole way. Then, she looked back over, only to see his other habit at work: he was now licking the knife clean…

“Ugh! That’s nasty! What the hell are you doing!?” Rainbow shouted.

Storm Claw sneered before rushing her again, but this time she was ready, grabbing his stabbing arm by the wrist and stopping the attack short. However, Storm Claw began to twist his body, and Rainbow let go, avoiding Storm Claw’s tail.

“The warm-up’s almost over,” said Storm Claw, taking off into the sky, beginning to rifle through his armor. Rainbow scoffed at this, beginning to pursue him.

“You’re not going to beat me like this!” Rainbow shouted up at him, “I’ve worked too hard to lose here!”

East Canterlot hadn’t had much trouble since the second wave of creatures hit. Though there were larger, tougher creatures to deal with, and ones that fly as well, it didn’t seem to make too much of a difference. Of course it was more or less the same throughout the capital. Everyone had adjusted their tactics accordingly.

“They’re still not too much of a problem for me,” Fluttershy thought to herself, or rather, said to her alternate self, “Are you sure you want to come out?”

“Let me have a turn,” said Fluttercruel from within, “At this rate I’ll never get to come out…”

“If you want…” Fluttershy closed her eyes for a moment, just as a few of the ground-bound creatures started to close in on her. When her eyes opened again, her eyes were sharper, angrier.

At that moment, Fluttercruel leapt forward, now in control of the body, escaping the arm swipe of one. Taking hold of the mace firmly in one hand, Fluttercruel opened her wings and flew forward, swinging the weapon to great effect. The mace made impacts against the creatures’ heads, destroying them in short order. With them taken care of, Fluttercruel turned her sights to the air. A few more of the flying creatures were above.

Fluttercruel took to the air easily, managing to keep a hold of her one weapon. Normally, the creatures would have been doing the chasing, but though she had got the drop on them, Fluttercruel preferred to think she was chasing them. Before they could turn and counter, Fluttercruel rushed forward, managing a few more swings—this time, to the center of the back, where their wings came from. The strikes broke off at least one wing per hit—though she struck each creature only once.

The creatures, now affected by gravity completely once more, fell to the ground below. Like many others throughout the city, if the fall didn’t break the now-flightless creatures, those waiting on the ground made sure to destroy them the rest of the way.

Elsewhere, Rarity found herself up against a large creature. Though the guards closest to her had managed to put up quite a defense against the creatures, one of them managed to make it past. However, Rarity wasn’t worried. In fact, she’d actually been hoping to see what she could do with one of the big ones.

Taking in a deep breath, extending her hands out as her horn lit up with blue magic. The golem charged her, already lighting up in the magical glow. However, it stopped a step and a half short of its intended target, starting to levitate off the ground. Its hulking body began to crumble under the effects of Rarity’s magic, but only parts Rarity felt weren’t necessary. The shape of the creature became leaner, more elegant-looking as Rarity went to work. Its body changed in color from the dark gray it was to a deep blue, the red glow becoming replaced with a blue glow. Only when her spell was done did Rarity open her eyes to see her handiwork.

“Not my ideal knight in shining armor, but I suppose it’ll do,” Rarity said, taking in a few more breaths, “Probably can’t do that to another one while I have this one. So let’s see if this can endure…”

With that, Rarity pointed her finger, telling the guards to get clear. The hulking creature, which was now Rarity’s monster to control, began to lay waste to the creatures that got too close it as it slammed its way through the city streets.

The castle walls shook violently with the continued sound of explosions coming from within. Even though it was their home, Luna and Celestia were more than willing to do what was needed to win the battle. The castle was empty, void of any life they wouldn’t want to see harmed; they had no reason to hold back. Slowly but surely, they were showing Para Norma what the term “no restraint” meant.

A stray laser blasted a hole through one of the walls in the castle, and from it Norma ran out with Luna and Celestia following close behind. As they ran down the hall, Luna managed to catch up first and reached out to Norma, grabbing her by the cloak. Norma quickly yanked away, tearing the cloak and tossing it over Luna’s head before delivering a swift kick to her head, knocking her back.

Celestia grabbed Luna’s hand as she flew back. After casting aside the cloak, she gave Luna a boost towards Norma again. Norma threw up her arms, blocking a hard kick from Luna who quickly rolled out of the way. Just as Luna vanished from Norma’s sight, Norma turned to see Celestia coming up behind her. Celestia threw a hard punch at Norma and blew away her guard.

As Norma stumbled she was met with a sudden sting from behind; a laser fired by Luna when she was off-balance. Norma turned and scowled as the two sisters began charging her again, both hands flaring up with red runes. Throwing both hands forward, she fired a large laser from them, which split into several more, moving about in an unreadable pattern. Unable to dodge, both of the princesses raised a barrier to protect themselves as the lasers landed around them, kicking up smoke and dust.

To their surprise, it seemed like the lasers missed their mark, or at least that’s what they were led to believe. As the smoke cleared, they saw a red glow from beside them, growing stronger at an alarming rate. When they could finally see, they turned to the wall, and saw more runes glowing along them. They turned to see Norma, her hands on the ground, runes flowing out of her hands and towards the walls of the hallway.

Suddenly, spikes extended out from the walls, the walls themselves beginning to shift. In the span of a moment, the now-spiked walls moved inward, crashing into one another right in the center, and all went silent. Norma looked to the smashed walls for any sign of movement, any sign of life, but there was none to be had. Letting out a breath, she stood up and chuckled. She turned around, aiming to walk away with her victory, but she only took a few steps before she heard a tremendous explosion.

Norma turned around again and saw Luna and Celestia walking out of the wall they had created, both unharmed.

“Did you believe something like that could defeat us?” Luna asked, a brow arched. Norma growled lightly—of course such a victory would have been too easy. But that mattered not; she still believed she could win it.

“When this is over, you will have wished it was,” Celestia charged again, Luna very close behind her. Celestia acted first, a superheated shockwave of air blasting toward Norma. The spell melted the stone around them, and ages in advance Norma could feel her mane singeing. To avoid this, Norma stomped her foot hard, falling through to the floor below them. Luna and Celestia followed suit, breaking through the floor as well. Luna fired another spell, reflected by Norma’s barrier. Norma slammed her foot on the ground, sending out a wave of runes. Small pillars started extending out of the ground where Luna and Celestia were.

“Move, Luna!” Celestia called out, both of the sisters quickly flying up. But as they did, more pillars seemed to come at them. Any attempt to destroy them only caused them to regrow at the same speed; it seemed that it would continue to until the source was broken. Luna looked towards the end of the hall where Norma stood, still feeding her spell. Luna’s whole body began to glow as she charged her magic…

…and when she rushed down Norma, she started smashing through the pillars with ease, speeding straight towards Norma and smashing against her shield. The force of the impact knocked Norma away and cancelled her spell. The push continued until both crashed through a wall, and only then were they knocked apart. Luna stood up from the rubble and shook her head clear, searching the area for Norma. She was soon alerted by a bright glow, followed by a blast of magic that knocked her away.

Luna flew until she crashed into the far wall, but managed to land on her feet and shake it off. She then turned towards the source of the attack. Norma’s body crackled with red runes and sparks, but something in her hand was glowing. Luna couldn’t tell what it was specifically, but she could sense a large amount of magic emanated from it. The longer Norma held it, the stronger the magic around her seemed to grow.

Unsure of exactly what was happening, but able to sense danger in front of her, Luna went on the attack. She fired a strong laser directly at Norma, which to her surprise was countered by Norma’s own. Luna started shooting more, only to be matched shot for shot by Norma.

Her magic power has increased… That much Luna knew, but by how much, she couldn’t tell.

Eventually, one of Luna’s shots missed its mark and a stray laser from Norma was speeding towards her. Her horn still alight, she brought both of her hands forward to block it, but the force behind it was pushing her back. Luna strained under the force, but she wasn’t going to allow this to best her. Her horn surged and her magic began overtaking Norma’s spell, beginning to reform it. It then took up the form of a magical orb, one that was now under Luna’s control, and one she was more than happy to send right back.

Norma’s eyes went wide and she jumped away from the attack just as it made contacted with the ground. The resulting explosion destroyed several rooms in the general area: walls and floors above crumbled under the force.

She’s just full of surprises, isn’t she? Norma thought to herself, glad she hadn’t attempted to tank it. But while she had managed to get clear of the blast, Norma wasn’t able to avoid what came next: from within the smoke, a golden laser shot out, and Norma wasn’t able to prevent it from hitting her.

Norma grunted in pain as she was knocked back, landing on the ground with a thud. She scowled as she looked towards the dust, Celestia emerging from it as she flew towards her. But Norma wasn’t going to allow another free hit, nor would she allow Celestia to grow closer. Raising a fist into the air, Norma gathered her runes around it before slamming it on the grounds. The spell caused the ground to ripple, forming waves as though it were made of water. The extending waves struck Celestia, forcing her back, but she wasn’t about to let herself fall too far.

With her aura flaring, Celestia struck the concrete wave as hard as she could, effectively splintering it in two and allowing herself to continue unabated. Norma took a step back, Celestia’s feat of strength impressing even her. But her gaze quickly shifted when she noticed a shadow casting over her. She looked up to see Luna dropping over her, only just barely able to jump away before her fist made contact with the ground. But Norma was unable to avoid the swift kick to her side that followed.

Norma grunted as she stumbled aside, only to find herself struck again, this time by Celestia. Norma snarled, whirling to face her and firing out a wave of magic which managed to push her back. But just as she gained ground from one princess, the other closed it. Norma put up a shield just as Luna sent off a blast of magic, but the shield shattered on impact. Norma retaliated with a hard left, causing Luna to step back, before following her attack with a laser of her own, which sent Luna back further.

She then turned to where she believed Celestia was, only to find she was not there. Norma quickly looked around trying to find her, and she did—landing a devastating kick into Norma’s stomach, knocking the wind out of her and sending her stumbling across the ground. Before she could stop, however, another attack came. Luna struck her as well, sending her spinning through the air. Norma only stopped when she hit a far wall, the room spinning around her as she tried to recover.

“You have made many poor decisions, Norma,” said Luna as she and her sister began walking up to their stunned opponent, “But believing yourself capable of facing the two of us together is by far the most foolish.”

Norma finally gathered her composure, raising to one knee before spitting up some blood. “Perhaps you are right…”

Both Celestia and Luna stopped in surprise. Was this her conceding defeat?

“Thinking I could do battle with both princesses of Equestria at once, now that was farfetched,” As she spoke, she was already forming something behind her back, hidden so that they couldn’t see it, something began to glow hidden within her clothing. She could feel the warm sensation of her magic replenishing, just enough to make it work. She waited, waited for just the right moment to strike, waited for the two to get close enough.

All at once, Norma looked up to the princesses, and instantly they knew something was wrong. The look she gave them was not one of defeat, but one of psychosis… a smirk. Norma cast another spell, her runes spreading across the ground. The next thing they knew, a pillar shot out an angle, slamming into Celestia and knocking her far away.

“Celestia!” Luna called out, only to find the ground raising around her. She tried to get away, only to find her legs had been bound. Next were her arms which were pulled with enough force to make her knees buckle. She tried to fight against it, but the magic around her restraints only grew stronger.

“It’s time I even the odds…” Luna watched as Norma reached out and grabbed her by the neck, squeezing tightly on her throat. That wasn’t all, though; the runes in Norma’s hand began to flow out of it and around Luna, and instantly Luna knew she had to get free soon: something was happening to her body, something that didn’t feel good.

Luna charged her magic to a blinding level, letting out a feedback strong enough to knock Norma away and set herself free. She stood up once more, gasping for air, only to find that Norma’s runes were still on her body, flowing like the blood in her veins. They continued to flow around her body, continued to glow brightly, and she didn’t know why. She tried to move, but she found it very difficult. Her body was beginning to grow stiff and heavy. Luna looked down at herself and quickly understood exactly what had happened.

“Luna…”

Celestia had finally recovered to see her sister. Her colors were changing to a solid gray. Luna turned to Celestia, a look of fear in her eyes as she reached out for her.

“Sister…” Was the last word she could say before her body went still, set in stone. Celestia’s horror became very apparent on her face as she ran towards Luna, placing her hands on her, hoping it was some trick, only to feel the cold sensation of concrete that was now her sister. A tear ran down her cheek as she tried to take in what had happened.

“I wonder, does the mind stop when they turn to stone, or is she completely aware of her state? Unable to move, unable to feel… I wonder just what kind of toll that takes on her mind…”

Celestia turned to see the content smirk on Norma’s face. “Maybe I’ll release her in a few decades and find out…”

Celestia didn’t say a single word, her eyes simply resting on Norma as her breathing quickened.

At that moment, everything hit her at once. All the emotions she’d suppressed since the whole ordeal started had been piled on, building inside of her looking for release, and right now, seeing what Norma had done to Luna was the final piece. It was the one thing that finally pushed her over the edge.

Well, if Norma wanted to keep pushing her, there was truly no need to hold back. A fire began to spread around Celestia, her multicolored hair changing a brilliant cascade of red and orange as it went up in flames like the rest of her.

Her view of Norma blurred, but only for a moment before her gaze returned. As the heat around her continued to build, and the very room she stood in threatened to come crumbling down, Norma understood: this was Celestia at her most powerful. She had taken a form none had seen before—at least, not in recorded history. Norma was not afraid—in fact, she welcomed it. If this was Celestia’s true power, she would face it, and prove once and for all none could stand against her.

“That is the final straw, Para Norma,” Celestia said, her voice booming, resonating in the room, “Your game ends right now.”

Corey understood what Slayer was trying to do, but the worst part of it wasn’t just the threats he made, nor was it the fact he used his Twilight disguise in that manner. It was the flare of anger that surged up from within as he understood exactly what Slayer was talking about. He could feel the beginnings of sweat forming on his forehead, and his heart thumped faster.

Calm down… calm down… Corey silently urged himself, This is what you spent all that time meditating for. Now… show him… show yourself… show everyone… that you meant what you said, this time.

Corey closed his eyes, giving off a pained grimace as his guard seemingly dropped. Slayer cackled as he saw this. His disfigured Twilight disguise no longer needed, Slayer phased out of it, his shroud of dark magic appearing over his real body once more.

Slayer knew, though, that he could have easily killed Corey during his moment of hesitation. However, Slayer didn’t want to kill him just yet, not while Corey still believed himself above him; he wanted Corey to die suffering from his own hatred. Even if Slayer lost that fight, Slayer didn’t care anymore, even if it meant Corey killed him in rage. Just one more push, Slayer thought, and he would be drowning in it. Even if he lived through today, having killed him, Slayer did not think Corey could live with himself if he had.

“Who knows!?” Slayer shouted, “I might even leave you alive just so you can watch me!”

Corey remained totally still, and Slayer saw his chance, rushing in to try to get a free shot while Corey was doubtlessly processing the statement. He lunged forward, left hand’s claws extended outwards, ready to pierce into Corey’s torso—

There was movement, and Slayer felt an unusually strong grip clamp down around his wrist hard. Slayer gasped and tried to pull it back. Corey looked up until he was eye-level with the beast, and only then did Corey exhale a single, slow puff of air.

“No, you won’t. You won’t be getting that far. I told you…” Corey’s eyes slowly opened, and Slayer realized that they were different—but not in the way he had hoped. His eyes were not the enraged red-on-green they had been, nor was there any purple smoke emitting. No, his irises had changed to a deep blue, and the pupils of his eyes seemed to be emitting a white light.

“I’m stopping you here before you get any farther!” Corey shouted, and at that point, Corey’s entire body began to be shrouded in white-yellow light, a very calm, flowing flame. A few moments later, Slayer felt his left arm start to burn, and he looked to it, gasping.

The shroud that covered his arm was peeling away rapidly. Corey released Slayer’s wrist, allowing him to leap back for cover. Slayer gazed to the arm again, only to find the arm was still not shrouded; at the shoulder, his magic was sparking uselessly, failing to repair the damage.

“How!?” Slayer shouted, “How is this possible!?”

Corey raised his arm, pointing at Slayer again. “You think you’ll win again by throwing me into a blind rage, induced by a mix of worry and disgust. Exploiting my sense of justice and my own fears, until I’m in such a frenzy I lose who I am again. I’ve changed for the better, Slayer, and I’m not afraid anymore. I know what I’m fighting for. I know who I’m fighting for. And, most importantly, I’ve made peace with my inner demons.”

Corey lowered his hand. “And because of all that, my inner darkness has been changed into light. That’s what you’re seeing now.”

“You saw all that…!?” Slayer shouted, now utterly at a loss, “How!? You should be beside yourself with rage, shrouded in your own darkness! How? Did you feel nothing!?”

Corey frowned. “No, no, you pissed me off, there’s no denying that, but that’s it. What you’ve done, what you plan to do, is still unforgivable. But I don’t need to hate you and let it dictate my actions. You’ve hurt people and will continue to do it if you’re not stopped. From now on, that’s all I need to know.”

With that, Corey slowly began to walk towards Slayer.

“I’m motivated to protect what I love, rather than destroy what I hate,” Corey continued, “And that’s why I’m not losing this time in any sense of the word.”

At this, Slayer let out a hellish scream, sending several tendrils directly at Corey. Corey continued to walk forward, not even bothering to dodge. However, it turned out he didn’t need to. When the tendrils got too close, the tendrils simply eroded, disintegrating from the power of his aura. At this, Corey finally stopped, Slayer’s expression twisting into pure fear.

“I see, so this is really light magic I’ve tapped into,” Corey said, “And your dark magic can’t overcome it. But I guess it’s just because it’s fueled purely by hate.”

Corey’s horn lit up the same color as his aura, his feet shining with runes of the same color. He moved, Slayer merely blinking and Corey was in front of him. Quickly, Slayer swung out with a kick, which Corey easily moved to block. On contact, the shroud around Slayer’s leg vanished. Slayer tried to claw at him, trying desperately to draw some kind of blood, to prove Corey’s magic meant nothing, but the other arm soon vanished as well, it passing through Corey’s aura, but not his body. Corey ducked low, sweeping Slayer’s legs out from underneath him and removing the last of the shroud from his limbs.

Slayer caught himself on the ground, gritting his teeth. He rose up, trying to punch Corey in the face, only to have his punch stopped. Corey, still holding on to his fist, swung his opposite hand up, slamming his jaw hard with the punch; the shroud around his head vanishing. While Slayer staggered back, totally dazed, Corey clenched his now-free hand, runes swirling into it.

Slayer caught the full force of the impact spell directly to the chest, once again being sent flying straight backwards, slamming into another part of the same building he’d just pulled out of. Slayer was pushed out of his shroud, his entire body sparking ineffectively as his magic attempted to rebuild the form. Slayer got to his feet slowly, staggering forward, Corey once again walking over to him. As soon as he got outside, Slayer stood up straight, screaming in anger.

“You won’t defeat me!” Slayer shouted, his horn sparking to life, “I will not let you do this--!”

Corey vanished from his line of sight again. Slayer gasped, trying to guess where Corey would be. However, he never got to finish his search.

Corey had used his enhanced speed to rush behind him, one hand flat and raised. He brought it down quickly, tapping Slayer in the neck. Slayer barely had time to gasp, before he crumpled to the ground in a heap. Corey looked over Slayer, focusing his attention on him. There was a faint chill emanating from his body.

He’d live to see himself being stuffed back into Tartarus where he belonged. Corey backed slowly away from the unconscious Slayer.

“And thus ends the story of a psycho who lost control,” said Corey, raising one hand, glowing with magic. Runes began to appear on Slayer’s body. A simple spell, meant to restrict his movement should he get back up. It’d keep going long after he stopped focusing on it. Corey closed his eyes, his light magic finally receding, his eyes and appearance returning to normal.

“It’s done,” Corey smiled lightly, “Just got one more thing left to do…”

With that, Corey reached for his ear.

The creatures overall hadn’t been much harder to take down this time, though they were more numerous and varied in nature. Twilight only had to be a little more careful overall against these new ones, but it was simple enough. She had once again taken a small break to get atop one of the roofs to survey the area. The guards had come a long way since this all started, too. Actually, everyone had—though Twilight was starting to wonder deep down if the “everyone” qualifier held completely true. Someone had run off to fight a battle they’d lost before.

“What are you up to…” she murmured to herself. She heard a whoosh, and teleported out of the way as two stone creatures flew through the space where she was a moment ago. It didn’t take Twilight too long to blast them right out of the sky once she reappeared.

There was a brief, faint static noise in her ear. Twilight’s ear twitched in response.

“Excuse me?” This was a voice she’d hoped to have heard more of while he was off confronting Slayer again, if only so she could know he was still himself the whole time. However, that tone he had was certainly a refreshing start, “Can everyone hear me?”

“Corey? Is that you?” Twilight asked, “Why did you have your communicator off!?”

“I’m sorry I worried you,” Corey said, “But there’s no need to worry. I didn’t slip again.”

Twilight felt a small sense of relief. “And Slayer?”

“Knocked out. Used a bit more of what I had in store than I wanted, but he’s dealt with. I don’t think he’ll be able to get away this time,” Corey said, “I didn’t do more than needed. I can safely say I’m over it.”

Twilight sighed, pressing fingers to her forehead. Sure, she was happy he made it out of the situation relatively sane compared to what happened to him before, but still… did he really have to worry her?

“Well, I’m proud of you, Corey,” Twilight said, “I’m glad you were able to put it behind you.”

“With him out, that leaves three more, counting Norma,” Corey summarized. There was a brief pause on his end, “Let’s see…”

Twilight waited, keeping eyes out for any other creatures trying to get the drop on her.

“There’s John with one of the prisoners…” Corey said, “I guess he must have went offline too…”

“No one’s heard from him either,” Twilight said.

“There’s… Rainbow with that guy from that night,” Corey continued, “I think. I know she’s close to one of the prisoners.”

Twilight’s mind went a mile a minute, processing what Corey was telling her. If John was off fighting Kronos like he said, and Norma was unconfirmed as of right now… that meant Rainbow was fighting Storm Claw, the griffin. Someone who probably equaled Rainbow in speed as far as Twilight knew, and someone who was vicious in nature…

“If that’s true, she’s probably up against Storm Claw, that griffin who attacked with Kronos that night,” Twilight said.

“Need me to go over there? It’s not too far…” Corey said.

“No, no, I think you’ve done your part for this, Corey,” Twilight said, “I’ll go over there myself, but I’m going to need someone to take my place here up north…”

“Gotcha covered, Twi!” Pinkie suddenly cut in. Had the others been silent to give them their moment?

“I guess I’ll go somewhere else, then,” Corey said, “I think the enchantment on Slayer can hold him until he’s recaptured.”

“I’ll be sure to tell one of the guards here to pass that up the chain. Is there no one where you are, Corey?” Twilight asked.

“Somehow or other, no,” Corey said, “But I think it’s for the best. Things got a little destructive and it might have been messy if anyone else got involved…”

“I understand,” Twilight said, opening her wings and starting to take to the sky, “I’m heading over to Rainbow now. I think I can help her out with Storm Claw!”

There was a collective chorus of “be careful” and “understood” echoing through her earpiece, and Twilight was off to do as she said.

Corey lowered his arms to his sides, removing his glasses for a moment to wipe them down. So that was that. Twilight had her battle, John had his, and he’d just finished his own. Corey stretched his arms, looking at his bloodstained clothing. For the first and only time in his life, Corey was grateful to understand it was all his blood on there.

“Well, I’m leaving now myself,” Corey said, “Someone, please tell the guards Slayer’s at…”

Corey looked around, giving off some possible landmarks around him. He didn’t know Canterlot well enough to name all the streets or buildings by heart, and he was no military man. The term “coordinates” was just a term he’d heard in fiction, and he wouldn’t know the specifics of where he was.

“I know where he’s talking about!” Rarity said through the speaker, “I’ll let the guards know.”

“Alright. I’ll see where I can help…” Corey said.

Putting his glasses back on, Corey turned. Slayer was still lying still, the white runes on his body still glowing strong.

“That should hold you until all this is over. I’m going to have to apologize to Twilight and everyone for having them worry,” Corey said, “You just wait right there and take your just desserts.”

With that, Corey was off. He didn’t exactly know where he was going to go, but he knew he was needed elsewhere. It didn’t take him long before he was alerted of something he hadn’t felt before.

A deep, penetrating heat that shocked him to his core.

“P-Princess…?” he muttered, looking towards the direction the sense gave him.

Storm Claw didn’t look harmed to Rainbow, but the armor was a different story. It had dents in quite a few places. However, the armor still probably protected him from the full force of her attacks; something that Rainbow wished she had right about now. She had nicks and cuts on her arms from trying to dodge his various attacks, and an earlier knife throw had left her with a cut on her cheek.

Rainbow had managed to get some distance on Storm Claw; just enough, though, since he was rushing her. Taking a deep breath, Rainbow flew forward at him, just as her opponent started throwing more knives at her. Rolling and weaving between the projectiles, Rainbow easily avoided, clenching both of her fists as she started doing more aerial somersaults, picking up speed.

Storm Claw’s attacks continued to miss, and before long, he definitely felt something hard hit him right on the head: both of Rainbow’s fists together, slamming hard into the top of his skull. Dazed by the impact, Storm Claw found himself hurtling to the ground, the helm on his head popping off from the attack. It didn’t take long for him to realize, though, Rainbow was pursuing him, aiming to continue the attack.

Spreading his wings and flapping them hard, Storm Claw recovered, causing Rainbow to miss in her dive as he moved out of the way. Rainbow managed to stop herself as well, breaking up after her.

“Your strength and speed both are commendable, Rainbow Dash,” said Storm Claw, “If not for that helm I’d probably be knocked out from that!”

“Flattery’s not gonna get you anywhere!” Rainbow Dash shouted up after him, flinging her hands for a moment. She had hit the helm with all of her strength, but she had still hit metal with her bare hands.

Storm Claw sneered, throwing down a couple more knives at her. These were easily avoided, but Storm Claw reached out with a kick, something that Rainbow caught. However, she looked up, seeing something else, and let out a gasp as she pushed hard on Storm Claw’s leg, creating ample distance to dodge Storm Claw’s knives.

Or at least, enough to avoid having blood drawn—Rainbow’s shirt opened up, taking on the pattern of the attack in it—an “X”.

“Is it me, or are you slowing down?” asked Storm Claw, “If you are, I’m afraid it won’t be much longer…”

Rainbow scoffed. “I don’t intend to slow down until this is over!”

Laughing, Storm Claw began to rapidly descend. Rainbow dove down after him, both fists clenched in preparation for more punching. Storm Claw quit laughing and sneered up at the pegasus.

“You can come out now…” said Storm Claw.

Not hearing his statement, still rushing straight at him, Rainbow didn’t notice anything was off. As soon as she got down to ground-level, flying towards Storm Claw to continue the fight, she suddenly heard a thunderous crash: one of the creatures—a huge one, had come out of a nearby building, scattering debris through the streets.

Rainbow let out a gasp, but the arm had already cut off her attack and pulled her close to the creature’s chest, holding her there tightly with both arms, pinning her wings and legs to its chest.

“Damn!” Rainbow swore, “You…!”

“Now, now, all’s fair in war,” Storm Claw said, raising a knife, “Now hold still. It will only take a moment.”

The blade made its way to his hands as he prepared to throw it. Rainbow struggled against the grip of the beast, making minimal progress on getting free.

“C’mon… lemme go…!” Rainbow grunted against the iron grip.

Storm Claw sneered, cocking his arm back for a throw. Suddenly, a magenta glow appeared from the corner of his eye, and a moment later, something hit his hand, causing the knife to bounce right out of his hand. Another moment later, he found out what caused that, when a magenta laser shot blasted through the shoulder of the creature, causing its arm to crumble off.

With less weight crushing her against the creature’s chest, Rainbow let out a yell, successfully breaking herself free from the grip by swinging around, kicking it hard enough to make it let go. It stumbled backwards, managing to lose its footing and crash onto its back. With nothing left to stop her, Rainbow took off into the air, before quickly rebounding and crushing the creature’s head under her feet as she landed.

As the creature began to crumble into dust, Rainbow soon found herself standing beside the one who saved her.

“Are you okay to continue, Rainbow?” Twilight asked, slowly landing next to her, “Or do you want me to take it from here?”

“You kiddin’?” Rainbow asked; despite her injuries she was still raring to go for more, “I can go on a bit longer! With the two of us working together, we should be able to bash this creep easily!”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Storm Claw cut in, pointing a knife at her, “If I remember correctly, we still have some unfinished business. Will your coltfriend not be joining us?”

“Storm Claw,” Twilight said, Rainbow immediately noting she didn’t even bother denying it; no, that the accusation didn’t even bother her, “You’re going to be stopped here like the others. Slayer’s already down.”

“Oh please, I’m a whole different game from him!” Storm Claw laughed, “He played with his prey too much! I, on the other hand…!”

He abruptly started to charge the two again, but the two were ready. Both took to the air, each taking a direction. Storm Claw skidded to a halt, turning his attention to Twilight, whose horn was already lighting up.

“My armor’s enchanted again, princess! It won’t work!!”

“How about this then!?”

At the sound of Rainbow’s voice, Storm Claw turned his head again, only to find himself being kicked straight in the face by the pegasus in question. While he was reeling from the kick, a few large chunks of debris came flying at him, courtesy of Twilight’s magic. Storm Claw wove and dodged, but one chunk still managed to bound off his head, knocking him flat on his ass.

Rainbow and Twilight regrouped, Twilight on the ground and Rainbow hovering. Storm Claw wiped at his mouth, slowly getting to his feet. Now things were getting really interesting for him.

“If this is how it’s going to be,” Storm Claw grinned, “I welcome it! It’s been years since I’ve had a fight like this!”

Author's Note

And here we go. Not sure what else to say at this point.

Act 4 Chapter 14

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 14: Cornered

Working together with Rainbow made the prospect of fighting Storm Claw a bit easier than it was before. It also helped that this time Twilight was well-rested and more alert than she had been back then. That wasn’t all though. Twilight had managed to read up on the other two convicts aside from Norma, and managed to find out some important facts. As she prepared her magic for her own tactics, she began to recap to herself what she knew.

Storm Claw was a griffin, but he was also a war criminal of sorts. It wasn’t so much what he did during the war—well, it was, but he was kicked out of his home country for multiple reasons beyond that. The war, it seemed, had wreaked havoc on his mind, and left him with an unquenchable bloodlust. After his exile, he kept up his fighting until he was tracked down, stopped, and thrown in Tartarus. Like the other breakouts, he was dangerous, but now that Twilight knew exactly how dangerous he was—

“Twilight, watch out!” Rainbow’s voice called her back into reality, and Twilight refocused. There were a few knives coming at her, but Twilight readied herself in an instant, beginning another spell. It was tricky, but she lined up her aim, and blasted lasers up at them, missing the blades but striking the handle. One, two, three, four, five knives, all shot out of the sky before they could get too close to her.

Above, Rainbow wove between a few more knives, avoiding the knives. As soon as she was clear of the last one, she quickly did a rolling somersault, thrusting out both of her legs and kicking Storm Claw hard in the chest, knocking him off-balance.

“Alright, Rainbow, I’m ready!” Twilight shouted, slowly flying up to join her. Several fairly large chunks of debris floated in her grasp. Each of them glowed with not just her magical aura, but seemed to have a magenta light emanating from within as well.

Storm Claw recovered, looking ahead, snarling. “You think that’ll work on me?”

“We’ll see…” Twilight said, “If I can’t hit you with my magic directly, I’ll just have to find another way to hit you.”

“Good luck, Princess!” shouted Storm Claw, flapping his wings hard and launching himself at her, chucking a few more knives in an attempt to throw her off. Twilight swiped her hand, moving one of the chunks of debris in the way, causing the knives to embed themselves in it. She then pushed it forward, tossing it back at him.

Storm Claw braked hard, dropping down, letting the glowing chunk fly past him, his teeth grit in irritation. As it passed, Storm Claw understood why the eerie glow remained even though Twilight quit holding it: several yards from him and a bit down, the debris exploded in a flash of magenta light.

“I’m not gonna let you hit me with tha—“ Just then, Storm Claw saw a flash of rainbow mane, and felt a hard impact on his forehead. Storm Claw fell towards the ground in a daze.

Dazed from her attack, Rainbow slowly flitted to the ground, rubbing her own forehead. “Do it, Twilight!”

Twilight let out a loud scream, throwing the chunks of debris down at Storm Claw. Storm Claw recovered on the ground, but looked up with a gasp. By the time the first one came down, Storm Claw protected his head, but several more chunks of debris slammed into him. On impact, the enchantment Twilight put on the debris would activate, causing it to detonate, just like the earlier missed one. Storm Claw buckled as the road surrounding him gave way under the explosions. Not just that, but he could hear the sounds of metal crumbling around him—his armor was giving way as well.

Twilight and Rainbow slowly lowered towards the ground, Rainbow landing for a few moments, still nursing the bump she was probably going to have.

“Bastard had a harder head than I thought…” Rainbow grumbled, “But it all worked out!”

“That simple enchantment should have done the trick,” Twilight said, “I supercharged those debris chunks, making them unstable—even using it as a shield like I did, I could only have held off the explosion for so long.”

Both of them turned towards the smoke cloud.

“That had to have gotten him,” Rainbow said, “Even if his armor could snuff magic, that was a lot of power you threw at him.”

“Maybe, but—“ Twilight was cut off by the sound of coughing, coming from within the smoke cloud, followed shortly by snickering, “It’s never been that easy!”

Both watched the smoke cloud, and soon enough, a figure began to walk forth. Storm Claw walked out, his armor crumbling the rest of the way off his body as he stepped forward. When he exited the smoke, he coughed, and Twilight saw a few flecks of blood leave his beak.

“Looks like you’ve been weakened, at the very least,” Twilight said.

“Weakened?” Storm Claw said, looking up to the two with a sneer, his wings flaring out, “Did you forget what I tried to tell you before?”

Storm Claw took a single step forward. Then, with a flap of the wings, he suddenly vanished in a blur. Rainbow and Twilight both let out a gasp, looking around in all directions to try to catch a glimpse of him. Twilight was still looking towards the crater, Rainbow facing the opposite way.

“Where’d he—“ Rainbow gasped, “Twilight!”

Twilight turned, seeing a sneering Storm Claw moving for a close-range stab. Twilight moved her body, but she didn’t move enough, gasping as the metal of the knife drove into her upper arm. Storm Claw chortled slightly, even as Twilight kicked out a little to drive him back. This, naturally, resulted in the knife being pulled out.

Applying pressure to the new wound, Twilight focused her magic, letting off a few powerful magic bolts. However, Storm Claw was already on the move through the air, and though Twilight tried, she couldn’t get a fix on him—he was moving too fast. Rainbow took off into the sky as well, giving chase.

“Take this!” Rainbow shouted, readying a kick. However, Storm Claw moved his body out of the way, grabbing onto her kick and stopping it in its tricks. He then gave her a strong toss towards the ground, following her the whole way. Rainbow managed to recover quickly enough, though, moving to the side herself and kicking him aside. Storm Claw flew towards a building, but dug his talons and a pair of knives in each hand to recover himself. He then leapt off again, merely choosing to hover for the moment.

“His speed’s really increased…” Twilight noted.

Rainbow scoffed. “Maybe, but I don’t think he can outfly me…”

“Try it,” said Storm Claw.

At this, Rainbow took off into the air, already formulating her next move. If she could land a strong enough hit, if she could build up enough momentum, even he would go down. After all, the helm protected him from an otherwise fight-ending strike. So if she could just hit him again…

“Rainbow!” Twilight’s voice came to her; hard to hear over the rushing wind, “Watch out!”

Rainbow’s eyes refocused, and she stopped short, gawking at what she was seeing in front of her. Storm Claw was waiting for her, and his arms were spread out, hands spread wide open. Her moment of hesitation was rewarded by two sharp knives digging into her shoulders, but that wasn’t all. Storm Claw’s hands closed, and Rainbow felt herself being yanked up hard. The wires attached to the knives uncoiled and came out, Storm Claw readying another.

“No!” Rainbow shouted, once again managing to find strength to turn her body, her wings flapping hard to change her course, avoiding Storm Claw’s slash. She grabbed on to his arm, landing a few kicks to his head to stun him before throwing him towards the ground. Storm Claw recovered easily enough.

Disposing of the weapons embedded in her shoulders, Rainbow began to descend towards the ground, regrouping with a fretting Twilight.

We might be in trouble… thought Twilight, If he’s this fast without his armor!

“This has been fun, ponies,” Storm Claw said from above, “But I’m so much faster without all that weight. I may be vulnerable to your magic now, Princess, but you can’t hit me with it, either, can you?”

Twilight grit her teeth, her mind trying to formulate a winning strategy. This was not a good situation, though.

“You got a Plan B, Twilight?” asked Rainbow.

“I’m trying…” Twilight said.

“I don’t think you’ll have the time to come up with a strategy that’ll work on me!” Storm Claw shouted, flapping his wings frantically, “Focus all your energy on surviving and you still won’t have a ghost of a chance!”

Twilight and Rainbow braced themselves. Storm Claw was about to go on the move again…

The battle in East Canterlot hadn’t changed tides all that much. If anything, in part thanks to Rarity and Fluttercruel, the number of creatures seemed to be visibly growing smaller and smaller. Taking that as a good sign, the guards continued to press their attack against the synthetic monsters.

Rarity took control of yet another large creature, and was putting this one to work for her. It worked out for her for a good number of reasons, and so far she saw no need to change up her tactics. As before, she turned it loose on large groups of its former comrades, smashing them to debris and rock as it went.

With Rarity covering the ground, Fluttercruel was free to cover the skies. Though a mace was more suited to ground combat, Fluttercruel found a way to make it work. Gripping the weapon tightly, she slung it around, taking out flying creature after flying creature.

“Will these things ever let up?” asked Fluttercruel, looking around. Even though their ranks had thinned, there seemed to be no end in sight for the creatures. She chanced a look down, and saw something alarming: a large creature that wasn’t under Rarity’s control barreling down the road.

“Rarity! Look out!” Fluttercruel shouted. Rarity didn’t quite catch her warning, all her focus on controlling her pilfered golem. With a grunt, Fluttercruel started after the large creature, but the large creature was surprisingly quick, one of its large fists raised, ready to crush Rarity. Rarity, seeing the shadow cast over her, turned, but it was too late—

Something zoomed past Rarity, causing her mane and tail to billow, and the next thing she knew, the arm that was ready to slam into her was instead punched by a green pony, and a moment later, the arm exploded into dust. This moment gave Rarity the time to move out of the way.

“Corey!?” Rarity asked, surprised to see him.

Corey didn’t answer straight away, green runes writing around his legs now. A few moments later, Corey leapt up, bringing his heel down on the creature’s head, caving it in and effectively defeating it. As it fell to the ground, crumbling into dust, Corey landed on his own feet, exhaling.

“Deciding where to go to help wasn’t easy,” Corey said, “Could have went everywhere.”

“Don’t get too full of yourself,” Fluttercruel warned from above; there was a solid second of contemplation on Corey’s part when he realized it wasn’t Fluttershy talking, “There’s still a lot more to go today.”

“I suppose I should thank you, though,” Rarity said, “That said, why aren’t you assisting Twilight in South Canterlot? She was likely closer to you at that time…”

Corey hesitated for a few moments. “I trust she’ll be fine against Storm Claw, especially with Rainbow on her side. I can’t waste energy worrying anymore.”

“If you insist,” Rarity shook her head, returning her attention to her work. Fluttercruel did the same thing before long. But as Corey threw himself into a crowd of creatures, swinging away at each one, he found that he couldn’t help but worry.

They’re all here… thought Corey, No doubt about it. I can’t sense Princess Luna anymore… what’s going on up there? With Storm Claw, Kronos, and Para Norma here… things might get complicated.

Kronos and John’s fists collided once more, the sheer force of the impact resonating around their fists. Not long ago, John had chose to kick it up a notch. To John’s lack of surprise, Kronos was still able to match him. They both collided once again before Kronos managed to parry John’s fist out of the way. This was then followed up by a low punch just below John’s guard, striking at his lower abdomen. John wasn’t sure what Kronos had hit, given his new biology, but he knew it still hurt.

Shit! John hissed as the blow caused him to double over, just in time to take a hard knee below his chin. John’s body shot up from the impact and he stumbled back a step. Gritting his teeth, he pushed through the pain and corrected himself. Just as he regained his balance, he saw Kronos about to strike again. Rather than block it, John put all his weight into his counter, and threw a punch against Kronos. This time, however, it wasn’t a stalemate, and the added weight was enough to knock Kronos’ fist back.

With his hand blown back, Kronos found himself surprised. The grin on his face, however, contradicted this.

It’s been a long time since someone’s overpowered me, Kronos thought to himself, and he couldn’t help but revel in it. But that didn’t mean he was outmatched; no, it just meant he could fight even harder. As John charged him, no doubt thinking he was off balance, Kronos was ready.

Just as John threw out another attack, Kronos managed to show more of his impressive agility. With what John could assume was no more than the heel of his foot, Kronos managed to avoid the attack, and with his free hand, Kronos grabbed hold of John’s arm and regained his balance.

Kronos then followed up by allowing his other arm to swing full circle and right back to its original target. His fist sped towards John’s face; it seemed clear to hit its mark by the total look of shock on John’s face. With his fist only centimeters away from John’s face he believed it impossible to avoid. That is, until Kronos found his fist cleaving through air instead.

What!? he thought in surprise only to be knocked aside right after. Kronos skidded across the floor for a moment, colliding with a far wall.

He believed John was going to follow up, but when he looked up he saw no attack was coming. The dragon he was doing battle with seemed to have walked off, staring into space. Kronos arched a brow at John for a moment, standing up from the ground.

“A true warrior never turns his back on an opponent,” Kronos spat. After finally finding someone he’d found worthy of his hundredth battle, he would not stand to be ignored.

For his part, John hadn’t done so intentionally, nor was he fully aware of what he’d just done.

What was that…? It was brief, so much so he was hardly sure he’d felt it at all, but he still couldn’t shake that feeling. Something happened. He didn’t know what it was, but something in the pit of his stomach said it wasn’t good. But no matter how much he wanted to find out, John knew he had a battle to finish.

“Sorry…” Pushing away the feeling, John turned away and brought his attention back to a waiting Kronos, “That’ll be the last time I look away, count on it.”

With his need to win strengthened, John charged, ramming into Kronos who managed to start blocking even as he was being pushed back. Raising one of his knees, Kronos struck John in the hip and temporarily weakened his charge. This gave him just enough of an opening to use John’s own weight against him. Flipping him off the ground, Kronos managed to slam John into the wall beside him.

John was quick to pry himself from the wall, but was quickly shoved back and Kronos put his hands around the dragon’s neck. John had to thank the stars that he was far more durable than before, otherwise the force Kronos just used on his throat would have broken his neck right then. That said, however, John was still choking, and even he needed air to survive. John kept his composure, looking for a way out, and after seeing that both of Kronos’ hands were currently busy, he saw it. John extended his arms out, and with as much force as he could muster, he slammed them on the sides of Kronos’ head.

Kronos flinched from the hit, his ears ringing as the world spun around him. Luckily for him, he was able to regain his senses. However, he came to his senses because John landed a hard right hook to his head. Kronos’ body hit the ground hard enough to bounce off of it, and before he could fall again, he was grabbed. With a firm hold of Kronos, John gave him a hard toss upwards through what was left of the ceiling above.

John then crouched down before jumping off the ground through the hole that Kronos made with his body. The very moment he cleared it, however, John was met with a hard kick which sent him flying backwards. As he hit something solid, he felt it bend in two from the force, grunting, he looking up to see Kronos standing close.

Damn, that hide can take a—John’s thoughts were interrupted when he noticed the area around them was beginning to tremble, beating?

The walls cracked and debris started to fall as the building actively tremored under the weight—and not the weight of Kronos and John’s battle, but its own. John turned to see what he crashed into, and immediately understood what had happened.

A support beam…! Once he noticed it, the building started to crumble around them. But Kronos didn’t care, instead rushing John, knocking him through the rest of the beam he had rammed into. John knew he had to get out, but it was clear Kronos wasn’t going to stop, even if the world was crumbling down around them.

“Fine!” John struck Kronos hard with his elbow and followed up by hammering him down to the floor below. He then dropped down on Kronos, who managed to roll away in the nick of time. Kronos then pushed himself off the ground and punched John across the face, knocking the dragon away. The ceiling started to come down all around them, but both fighters never once looked away from one another. Both instead charged each other one last time, ignoring everything around them as the building started to crumble…

The air grew heavy as sweat began to bead down Norma’s face, but this wasn’t from fear. It was caused by the intense heat that was growing stronger by the second, and standing at the very center of it all was Princess Celestia. Her mane, her dress, even her body, was all shrouded in flames. And yet, as she burned, as the heat around her seemed to dance wildly, nothing else around her seemed to feel its heat. Not even the stone figure of Luna standing behind her was affected as the flames seemed to intentionally avoid making contact.

At first glance, this form seems to be forged by hate and rage, and yet… Norma could see it deep in Celestia’s eyes. Even though they burned with the same flames as the sun she commanded, Celestia had not lost herself in the fire. Her gaze was a well-balanced mixture of anger for what Norma had done, and the mental fortitude to know what needed to be done and how. It was no question how she’d managed to become the goddess she is now, and yet, Norma showed no worry.

“Burn brightly, little phoenix, for there will be no ashes when all is said and done,” Norma’s body began to glow as her runes spiraled around her. Instantly, the heat that caused her to sweat was repelled by her spell, and her breathing returned to normal. She was ready to take on Celestia at her most powerful, and Celestia was ready to show it. Her hair came alive and tendrils made of flame shot towards Norma.

Norma smirked and focused her magic to her palm. Throwing it forward, she forged a shield that deflected one of the tendrils away. Seeing the other go around her defense, Norma jumped out of its path as it hit the ground she once stood. Though it seemed like an easy dodge, Norma was surprised to see several smaller tendrils shoot out of the larger one towards her. These were faster, and after putting up her shield, she found them weaker. However, the sheer numbers seemed to make up for that fact. As Norma blocked a few, a few others managed to get past her shield and nicked her in a few areas.

Seeing that she was in a bad spot, Norma focused runes into her hands and slammed it down, scattering the tendrils of fire and cloaking herself in dust.

Her manipulation of fire is masterful. Even when sacrificing power for speed she still manages to make the best of it… And Norma knew that Celestia was still as level-headed as when this began, Bide your time, wait for the right moment…

With the dust settling, Celestia saw her target again and continued on with her attack. Six orbs of fire formed around her before flying towards Norma at incredible speeds. Six orbs of fire formed around her before flying towards Norma at an incredible speed. Runes began to activate again as she began to move about, her speed increasing dramatically. But as fast as her spell made her, the orbs were close behind, striking away at the surroundings just as Norma moved out of range.

Running is inefficient; I have to go on the attack! Norma stopped for a moment and slammed her hands on the ground, a pulse of runes echoing out along the floor. In seconds, pipes seemed to burst out of the ground, each pumping gallons of water every second. As it collected, Norma sent out another pulse which fused with the water, shaping it around her. The spiral began to shift further until it took the form of a large mouth fish. The fish then launched towards the oncoming orbs, devouring them in one gulp.

Finally, with one last spell, the fish hardened as its temperature dropped and it turned to solid ice. Norma watched as the orbs within the ice fish’s stomach began to fade away, a smirk spreading across her face at the sight. That smirk vanished, however, when the flames grew stronger, and exploded out of the body. Norma scowled; of course it wouldn’t be that easy, not when Celestia was at this level.

Very well, then it’s time to move up another level myself. Norma reached to her side, another glow emanating from her hand, and soon her runes followed. At first they seemed to tremble, moving erratically, but soon enough they settled, just as Celestia continued her attack. As the orbs grew closer, the first glow faded away, and Norma retaliated.

Focusing all her runes to her hand she reached out, bracing herself for impact as the first two orbs made contact. Norma strained from the force behind them, but she continued to stand as she was pushed back. Her body trembled, it threatened to give out, but her will kept it together, and her thirst for conquest made her push back. Planting a foot firmly into the ground, Norma let out a strained shout, her runes finally managing to overcome the magic within them. Now that the orbs were in her control, she threw them back, colliding them against two other orbs and destroying all in a large explosion of fire.

Norma put up her guard as the shockwave threatened to throw her off the very mountain which Canterlot stood. After a few seconds, she finally managed to look up, only to find that something was amiss.

Wait, where’s the fifth…? The answer nearly caused Norma’s heart to stop as she saw a glow emanating from behind her. Norma took a chance and looked behind her, only to see Celestia standing right there. Norma’s eyes locked with hers again, and saw the remaining orb floating above Celestia’s hand.

The orb began to shrink until it was just the size of her palm, and then Celestia grabbed hold to it and tightened her grip. The orb’s glow grew brighter as it was being reshaped, eventually shooting out and taking the form of a sword made of fire. Norma had little time to think of a way to get out, only enough to focus as much magic into a single hand as she could handle. Celestia brought down the fiery blade and Norma brought up her hand in order to intercept it.

Even though her magic protected her from the sheer heat, Celestia was still bearing down the weight of the sun on Norma. Her hand trembled, growing hot and numb as she struggled not to be overwhelmed. It was easier said than done; her magic was starting to fade. Soon, she’d feel the full force of the heat, maybe even more. Norma soon fell to a knee, placing one hand over the other in an attempt to last. But still Celestia’s magic seemed to continue to grow, and her eyes lacked any sign of mercy.

With the power of the sun that gives this planet life, you can use it to destroy it as well… you’ve made that clear. Norma was struggling, doing everything in her power to focus more magic where she needed it. But even now, you still have your own weakness, one you will never overcome no matter your power.

Norma closed her eyes and pushed her focus one final time, her runes glowing to a dangerous level. The ground began to shake and debris started to float off the floor and Norma finally cast her spell. Unleashing all the magic she could, Norma emitted a blast just strong enough to knock the sword out of Celestia’s hand and sent the princess back several feet. But as hard as the hit was, Celestia did not seem harmed. Once she was able to move again, she laid sight on Norma, who at this moment was running away. But Celestia would not allow her to escape, not after all that she’d done. Celestia flared her wings and propelled herself to Norma, hell-bent on finishing this once and for all. She caught up to Norma in a matter of seconds. Norma turned to look her in the eyes for what she hoped would be the last time.

Just as Celestia unleashed her attack, prepared to end it, Norma stepped aside, and Celestia stopped. In her haste to finish this battle, Celestia forgot the one and only thing that could be used against her, and right now she was literally in Norma’s hands. With a wicked smile across her face, Norma looked towards Celestia, and then to the stone Luna in her grasp.

“What’s wrong? Were you not going to end this?” Norma said in a mocking tone. Her burned hand began glowing with runes that spread across the statue, an evil chuckle escaping her mouth.

“The moment I release my grasp, the spell will activate, and she will crumble to dust.” Celestia began to scowl, her flames growing stronger, “But you can still stop me, can’t you? You can still destroy me here and now and put a stop to the bloodshed once and for all. One life for the lives of thousands, maybe even millions… sounds like a fair trade, wouldn’t you agree?”

Celestia’s fists tightened as her attack inched closer to Norma, slowly. One life over that of all of Equestria: that was the trade Norma placed on the table. All she needed to do was sacrifice one life, the life of her own blood, her own sister.

The life of hers for the life of everyone else… Celestia’s body trembled as a molten tear dropped from her face and hit the ground, the floor melting. Finally, after heavy debate, the fire around Celestia’s body died down.

I can’t do it…

Sobbing quietly over the choice she made, Celestia fell to her knees, returning to normal. Norma, having dispelled the runes on Luna, walked up to Celestia, lifting her good hand, ready to cast one last spell.

“Even with all the power of the world, you are still weak.”

Corey found that he still had much energy left to him, even having dealt with Slayer. His magic was still on point and he was still shredding the creatures like they were nothing. Raising one of his arms diagonally up, he blasted a few of the flying creatures out of the sky. Corey whirled around, ducking low to dodge another creature’s punch. As he rose back to his full height, Corey kicked the creature hard, sending it crashing into a few of its friends. The first creature crumbled on impact, while the others were bowled over on impact.

Rarity and Fluttersh—Fluttercruel, whichever one’s in control here, both of them have this situation under control… thought Corey. He observed them continuing to display the results of the past month for a few moments longer.

Corey suddenly convulsed, a chill overcoming his senses. Immediately, Corey started to sweat. The immense heat he’d felt coming from Princess Celestia vanished. It was replaced solely by the chill he could identify very well as Para Norma. Corey was so overwhelmed that for a moment, he froze, barely snapping back to attention as he realized a creature was attempting to crush him under its palm—

“Corey!” Rarity shouted, seeing the act. However, she stopped short when she saw Corey, crouched low, both hands over his head, his body glowing with runes as his muscles bulked up. Corey then straightened up to his full height, tossing the creature off-balance. Corey then raised his hands, firing off a few laser shots.

“Don’t let your guard down like that,” Fluttercruel scolded, midway through smashing a group of creatures with her mace. Corey, however, didn’t quite hear her. He also didn’t feel like telling them of what he’d sensed.

“I think I know where I really need to be here,” Corey said, “Excuse me, but there’s something that needs taken care of!”

Before Rarity or Fluttercruel could ask him what he meant, Corey took off with the aid of his speed buff, slamming through a few more creatures as he went.

“Now where is he running off to…” Rarity muttered.

“Like I know…” Fluttercruel said.

As he ran, Corey closed his eyes for a moment. He expanded his sixth sense as far as his mind would allow him, and realized something very dire.

Discord… Celestia… Luna… have they all been defeated?! thought Corey, his mind momentarily going frantic, I have to see it with my own eyes… but if she’s gone through that much… certainly she must be exhausted, right?

Corey unconsciously swallowed a bit as he started running towards the castle.

“Only one way to find out for sure…” Corey said, “Whatever the case, she’s gotta be stopped!”

Author's Note

And with that, the second 'arc' of Act 4 ends. We are fast approaching the last battle. Not sure what else to say.

Act 4 Chapter 15

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 15: My Choice

North Canterlot wasn’t as well-guarded as the other segments of the city, but it still held together decently without either Corey or Twilight there. Once Pinkie Pie rolled up in her behemoth, though, it was a whole different story. The first thing she had done when she got to the battlefield in question was to roll over several of the smaller creatures, causing them to crumble from the pressure and friction exerted on their bodies. Those “alert” enough to get out of the way tried to pounce on the tank the first opportunity they got. All they managed to do, though, was ineffectively pound on the outside, making lots of noise.

And to the tank’s driver, all that noise was to her was a catchy little tune, which she hummed to herself as she lined up another shot down the road. A large brutish one was hassling a group of guards, together with a few regular ones and a few winged ones. The tank launched another shell, this time up into the air. It struck with such timing that the winged creatures were slammed together and dropped onto the head of the brute. The flying creatures were destroyed, and the brutish creature reeled back, its head moderately cracked.

As the guards began to take the initiative generated by the attack, Pinkie could only smile. At least as far as the creatures were concerned, there was nothing they could do. Pinkie grabbed a slightly different radio, one that let her communicate with the “fuel compartment”, and began to speak into it.

“How are you holding up back there, Spike?” Pinkie asked.

“Just fine,” Spike said, shortly before the sound of munching filled Pinkie’s ears, “How’s it look out there?”

“I think we’re winning, so far,” Pinkie said, pulling out of block of wood she kept nearby to knock on it, “Not like I can tell, there’s so many of them…”

“I just hope these gems can last me a little longer…” Spike said, “I can only breathe so much fire on an empty stomach!”

“I know, I know—“

At that moment, Pinkie’s entire being overloaded. Synapses jolted, and her body spasmed in new and unique ways that usually accompanied a Pinkie Sense like this. Eventually, Pinkie’s body settled down, and she rested her elbows on the console, trying to process what that sensation was.

“Pinkie? Pinkie?” Spike asked, “You okay over there?”

Pinkie didn’t answer right away, and when she did, it wasn’t an answer to Spike’s question.

“What did that mean…” Pinkie whispered, feeling fear and concern rise in her heart.

In the skies above East Canterlot, Fluttercruel started to look around. She was trying to figure out one question, and one question alone.

“Just where did he go off to in such a hurry?” she asked herself, looking all around the skies for a clue. Below her, she could see the thinning forces that were the creatures, but there was still more work to do with that. Her gaze eventually fell on a battle off in the distance, and for a few moments, she hovered there.

“That isn’t where he went,” her soft-hearted side spoke up.

“I know…” said Fluttercruel, “But where’d he go? This is the first time I’ve really gotten a look at this city…”

“I don’t know. He ran off so fast…” Fluttershy said, “I couldn’t tell you…”

“Give us all a scare, why don’t you, Corey…” Fluttercruel growled.

Below, Rarity’s horn glow finally faded away, and she collapsed to one knee. Her controlled brute cracked and crumbled as the influence of her magic left it.

“Are you okay, Miss?” asked one of the guards.

“I suppose I’ve favored the brutes too much,” Rarity said, “I’ll be fine in a few moments, darling, I just need to rest.”

“Alright then, we’ll cover you,” A guard said. He and a few others proceeded to play goalie, keeping the creatures away from the recovering Rarity.

Rarity, meanwhile, took the time to catch her breath. She was wondering just how much more they would have to do today before this would end. The number of creatures seemed to be steadily decreasing, but they still kept coming with no end in sight all the same…

The building walls had fallen, the rubble and dust settling within minutes of it all crumbling down. At first, it was silent. There were no signs of life, but after a few minutes some movements could be seen. Pieces of rubble started to shift; first it was in one spot, but another spot soon began to shift as well.

The first to breach through the rubble was Kronos, who was injured; blood dripped down his face and to the ground. Even his body was sore; his armor had protected him from the bulk of the damage, however. Kronos threw off the rubble on his back as he let out a short grunt. He turned towards the other patch of movement, knowing full well who it was.

“You are exceeding my expectations, dragon,” Kronos said as John finally breached through the rubble on top of him. Again, his scales had proven to be durable, but they still did not offer the same protection as Lyon’s hide. While John stood once more, his body was littered with cuts and scrapes, his own blood dripping off him. Kronos looked him over. Aside from the cuts, John seemed relatively unharmed; the fight was far from over.

“Shall we?” Kronos asked, his answer coming in the form of John charging towards him once more. Both locked hands as they pushed against one another, John eventually pulling away and throwing Kronos off-balance before landing a hard punch. Kronos lurched down but kept himself from losing balance. Able to keep his footing, Kronos came back up with a strong uppercut to John’s chin.

John stumbled back a few steps, but quickly recovered and closed in again. Again, he threw a punch, but Kronos was able to block it. But John pushed on and applied as much force as he could, pushing Kronos back a few feet in the process. John charged Kronos again, but Kronos was able to get an attack off. Kicking up a piece of rubble, Kronos launched it towards John. Though John was able to shatter it with a single punch, John couldn’t avoid what came behind it.

Having used the rubble as a distraction, Kronos was only moments behind it, and the moment John broke through it, Kronos took his chance. Getting past John’s guard, Kronos delivered a hard blow to his stomach, John coughing and gasping from the impact.

Shit, that one hurt! John noticed. While none of Kronos’ previous punches were lightweight, there was nothing but sheer force in the one he’d just been hit with.

Kronos pressed the attack and struck John on his side with the heel of his foot, John’s body spiraling across the ground before he landed on his stomach. John slammed his fist on the ground and swore, getting up only to feel a sharp, stabbing pain in his side.

“It seems my attacks are finally taking effect,” Kronos said, cracking the fingers on his hand, “I wonder, just how many more can you stand?” Kronos charged again.

John snarled and met Kronos’ charge, running in as fast as he could and throwing a punch. But just as he threw it, Kronos moved out of the way.

What?? John wondered before getting struck yet again. John grew annoyed, swinging out with another attack, but just like last time, Kronos was able to dodge it as well. Every time John swung out, Kronos was able to avoid it. Kronos then proceeded to land dozens of blows, knocking John back again with the last one.

John gasped for air, kneeling, looking up to Kronos with gritted teeth.

He’s getting faster…!? John thought to himself. Getting up again, he charged once more. But to his surprise, Kronos seemed to move even faster, closing the gap before John could take two steps. John clenched his fist, but Kronos struck him again before he could even react. As John saw one more strike closing in on his head, John finally realized what was happening.

He’s not getting faster… I’m starting to slow down!

Twilight wished that the battle was going a bit better than it was, but for now, she was just lucky it hadn’t taken a fatal turn for the worse. She’d taken a few more injuries to her arms, and one cut to her side. Rainbow was similarly pressured as well. Hopping back to try to gain some distance, Twilight focused her magic as her horn shone with magenta light. If she could just get a shield up, she could at the very least try to figure out how she was going to figure out.

Storm Claw hammered Rainbow to the side with a forearm, before noticing the focusing Twilight. He then rushed her, Twilight bracing herself. Storm Claw’s hands—both armed with knives—moved, but to Twilight’s shock, the blades cut straight through the barrier. She barely avoided turning to the side to get another stab in the arm.

“You think a barrier’s going to work?” asked Storm Claw, “The blades are enchanted too, cutting through magical energy like anything else!”

He swung again at this, but Twilight had had enough of being his pincushion, and teleported out of the way, avoiding two knife slashes. When she reappeared, she was in a perfect position, and fired a laser shot, nailing Storm Claw between the wings, causing him to fall forward slightly from the strike.

In perfect sync, Rainbow managed to recover, and just as Storm Claw picked himself up, he found a shoe being smashed against the side of his head. Storm Claw staggered back a couple of steps, but turned, his left hand tightening around the weapon. He turned, Rainbow just recovering from the kick herself, and sliced. Rainbow immediately ducked, but was cut on the cheek for her efforts; these efforts, however, included a second kick that forced Storm Claw back. Storm Claw backed off a little, just to catch his breath slightly.

Twilight slowly descended as well, finding herself a bit short of breath. Both sides stared each other down for a moment, before Storm Claw made a declaration.

“It’s nearly over for the two of you…” sneered Storm Claw as he straightened up, getting into a ready stance, “You’re both slowing down, running out of energy.”

“It’s not over yet,” Twilight said, “We’ve still got plenty of fight left in us.”

“Yeah, we’re not scared of you!” Rainbow said.

“You intend to fight until the very end, then…” Storm Claw shook his head, “Now that, is admirable… but foolish.”

Both sides slowly got ready to fight, but before the tension lead to the two charging back into battle, something else happened. There was a red flash that happened above them, behind Storm Claw, but it was enough to get his attention. A screen, rectangular in nature, showed up. And at the center of it all was the face of a pony that had long ago lost her sanity.

“Norma…” Twilight muttered, “So she did show up today…”

“This was meant to be the final battle,” said Storm Claw, “It’s only natural she’d want to be involved…”

“Greetings, everyone,” Norma said, “As much as I would hate to interrupt everyone’s battle, there is an important announcement I must share with all of you.”

Norma slowly shuffled to one side of the screen, backing away a bit as well. This revealed what was behind her. And the reveal shocked Twilight and Rainbow to their core.

“Now…that’s a surprise…” Storm Claw visibly shuddered, “To think she was capable of this…”

It wasn’t just Rainbow and Twilight’s section of the city that had gone silent. All of Canterlot had stopped moving. All the battles, no matter how fierce they were, had come to a total halt at what was seen. Many could not believe their eyes. Norma’s projections had appeared all over the city, and they conveyed a message none could believe. Behind Norma were the petrified figures of Princesses Celestia and Luna. The strongest among them, the ones who they believed unrivaled when together… both had been defeated by one pony. And the longer they stared at this, the hollower their chests felt.

“If there are those who cannot comprehend what has happened, I shall explain it,” Norma’s voice echoed throughout the city, all ears at attention, “As you can see before you, your precious princesses are now my trophies. The same can be said for the spirit of chaos, Discord. And for those not in the know, the Elements of Harmony are no longer in the possession of their bearers.”

Norma went down the list, and as she did, the weight of dread went up.

“I want all present to take a moment to fully understand your position. Any and all hope you were foolish enough to believe, the half-witted notion that you had a chance of victory… all fabricated. Your strife, your struggle to fight back and survive this game that I created… nothing more than to serve as my entertainment before I took my rightful place!” Some began to believe her words, unable to shake the feeling that Norma may very well have been right. Even after everything everyone had done to prepare, it suddenly didn’t seem like it was enough.

“All that remains in my way are those who have gathered here today. Which means all of you now have a choice to make. You can choose to continue in your fruitless effort and fight back. I could always use a little more entertainment before day’s end. But let it be known that should I choose to join, the result will be far from pleasant.”

Many gulped at the thought. This pony defeated the princesses alone. What chance could any of them stand against her?

“But there may very well be a way for you to survive, and a simple one at that. You see, there are a few individuals in your ranks, those who are the original players of this game. Bring them to me and I may very well be merciful to you, perhaps even allow you to remain in your position as my guards…” At that, Norma let out a sinister laugh, a chilling wave sent down the spines of all who heard it.

“So tell me, what holds more value: the lives of the many, or the lives of the few?” It was a choice that should have had an easier answer. In this context, it was far more difficult than anyone could have expected. They weren’t just random ponies, not that it would have made it any better. Of the group Norma specified, six of them were the very ponies that saved the world countless times. They were the reason they had the choice to fight back. The other two had fought even when no one expected them to. They came forward and answered a call that was better off not being answered. As they had fought alongside everyone, all eight of them now had a price on their heads.

Many were silent, unable to speak, unable to act. The weight of their next action would follow them for the rest of their lives. Some looked away, others looked directly at them, but no one could decide what to do. The original pieces could only look in numb shock, not sure what would be their best course of action at the moment. All around, the time began to drag on, and fear began to rise. The offer was going to expire any moment now, and some were on the edge of falling into despair.

The silence was broken by one single thing: the sound of slow, deliberate clapping. Everyone began to look around, wondering where it was coming from. Even Norma was surprised, looking around in all directions. Then, all eyes in the city glued to the screens again when Norma fully turned around, seeing a unicorn enter the frame at the opposite end of the room Norma was in.

“You…” Norma said, not sure at all what to make of this development.

“Corey,” said Twilight, “What are you doing?”

There was an uneasy silence, save for the sound of applause, for several more seconds. Only when Corey finally stop, letting his arms relax at his sides, did Norma finally find words to describe what this meant.

“You see?” Norma asked, “At least one of you knows when to fold—“

“Wrong!” Corey barked, and Norma halted again.

“Don’t tell me you think you have a chance against me?” Norma turned back to him, “Do you not see the statues in front of you?”

“I see them right in front of me,” Corey said, “I can tell they fought as hard as they could against you, and didn’t succeed for whatever reason. But don’t think for a second I don’t know what you’re up to here.

“This isn’t just to gloat. You want to ensure that we feel as weak as possible, to make sure we’re firmly in the depths of despair. You’ve defeated Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. You have proven you’re better than them, so there’s no point in trying anymore. Is that right?” Corey asked.

“You’re forgetting someone else…” Norma said, “But nonetheless, there is no point in you, or anyone else, trying anymore. I even have this country’s secret weapon out of the reach of the only ones capable of using it. So what makes you think—“

“Because this isn’t the first time this has been done,” Corey said, “I’ve heard a lot of stories since coming here. Defeating the princesses, stealing the Elements—that’s been done before.”

A smaller voice piped in, seemingly coming from Norma’s body. “That’s about the scale of it… Even I did it—“

“Hush, you!” Norma shouted.

“Furthermore, if you want to talk about bringing someone to the depths of despair… I can’t speak for everyone else, but I have been there already during the course of your game,” Corey said, “But all that did was motivate me to finally get better. That, of course, I can say for everyone else. Every prisoner and battle that’s come along has only inspired us to push back harder!

“No matter how hopeless things seemed, no matter how much despair we felt, it ended the same. We had become stronger—physically and mentally—for the entire experience. We’ve all grown far beyond who we were at the start of this. This, what you’ve done here? It’s just one more challenge you’ve put in front of us! I’m certainly not going to stop here!”

Norma’s back was to her audience, but her body seemed to tremble a little.

“And sure, I may be the only one standing in front of you now. But it won’t be for long. The others… I know they’re going to finish with what’s keeping them, and join me. They know they’re stronger now, and certainly they know how much stronger we’ll all be when fighting together! In the end, you’ll receive all of it!”

“Enough!” Norma said, swiping her hand, “Your words are nothing more than the ramblings of someone who has yet to learn their place! But if you wish to die so badly, I will humor you, but not in this room! I wouldn’t want anything to happen to my trophies…”

With that, Norma snapped her fingers, and the screens all throughout Canterlot vanished. All was silent once again for a moment. Then, there was a rumbling among the city.

A collective roar—not of defeat, not of despair, but of resolve.

Twilight and Rainbow watched the screen vanish. Their attention refocused on Storm Claw, just as his attention returned to them.

“Foolish foal,” scoffed Storm Claw, “I think all his time in this game of ours has driven him mad.”

“No,” Rainbow smirked, “I think it’s the most sense he’s made since he got here!”

Storm Claw chuckled a bit more. “I guess it must be contagious. Now I think it’s time I put you out of your misery!”

As Storm Claw took a moment to prepare himself, Twilight turned to Rainbow.

“I have an idea, but it’ll take me a bit…” Twilight said, already closing her eyes “Think you can give me the time I need?”

“How long?” Rainbow asked yet again.

“Guard’s down!” Storm Claw shouted, rushing forward. It seemed like he would be able to land an attack on Twilight, but Rainbow managed to get in his way, taking in a deep breath. When she released it, her hands were tightly closed around Storm Claw’s wrists, and her wings were pumping max force to stop Storm Claw’s approach.

“What the—“ asked Storm Claw, trying to push a bit further. However, Rainbow was ready for his subsequent speed increase, and whirled, using his momentum against him. As a result, instead of continuing to fly towards Twilight, he instead was sent flying through the air. After taking a moment to catch her breath, Rainbow was up after him.

Storm Claw recovered easily enough, just in time to see Rainbow flying past him. He sneered. “It’s useless, I told you!”

He then flared his wings, opening them to their full span before rushing after her, easily clearing ahead of her, readying two knives to throw. When he chucked them, however, Rainbow rotated her body, and Storm Claw couldn’t quite correct his knives’ trajectory in time. He tried to punch at her, but Rainbow tucked into a ball for a moment, avoiding the attack before landing a kick of her own to the back of his head. Dazed, Storm Claw once again felt himself being sent back to the ground, but managed to right himself, eyes firmly on Rainbow.

“So you’ve found a second wind, huh?” asked Storm Claw, preparing to take out knives once again, “No matter, you still can’t hope to beat me as things are—“

Twilight suddenly let out a yell, and Storm Claw turned, seeing a net of magenta magic reaching out hungrily for him. It closed around him so abruptly he didn’t have time to cut a way out of it. Quickly, Storm Claw raised a knife, trying to start hacking away at the magic, when, not only did it touch his skin, but it quickly absorbed through his skin.

“W-what did you--!?” Storm Claw grunted, and his body felt heavier, as though it were made not of flesh and bones, but of stone and lead. Caught off-guard by the sudden change, Storm Claw plummeted hard to the ground, hard enough that a small crater was left in the street he landed on. Grunting, Storm Claw quickly got to his feet, turning to Twilight.

“With that, the pull of gravity on you has been quadrupled,” Twilight said, “I’m sure you must weigh at least as much as you did with your armor; maybe heavier.”

“Nice one, Twilight!” Rainbow yelled, turning her attention back to Storm Claw shortly after, “Who’s slowin’ down now??”

Storm Claw grunted in pain, rising to his full height and spreading his wings.

“But if I kill the caster, it won’t matter!” Storm Claw snarled, “All you’ve done is make yourself even more of a priority, Princess!”

Storm Claw flapped his wings and began to charge again, but his body felt heavier now; he dragged enough now that Rainbow was able to intercept his charge quite easily, kicking him hard in the head. It was enough to knock him off balance completely, making him land on his back. Storm Claw struggled to recover, face now twisted in fury and enjoyment.

“All you’ve done is make your deaths that much sweeter!” Storm Claw said, “With your injuries, certainly you won’t be in much better condition against me! Even if this does work, you won’t be in any condition to back him up! This is useless!”

“We’ll see about that,” Twilight said. She and Rainbow began to get ready again as Storm Claw slowly got to his feet, hampered by Twilight’s spell…

The battle between Kronos and John had stopped as well while Norma’s projection was active. Not that there was much choice in the matter. Kronos was standing on his own two feet, but John was not. Throughout the speech, he was leaning heavily on a wall for support, one hand to the opposite shoulder, which itself was dislocated. It was clear who had taken the lead in the battle.

John had gone completely silent. When Norma appeared and showed off what she had accomplished, John didn’t even utter a word. Even Corey’s appearance and speech did not draw a noticeable reaction from John. When it was finally over, Kronos turned to John, seeing that John was still immobile.

“Come now, are you telling me that your spirit is broken already?” Kronos asked. John finally made a noise, something Kronos took as a low sob, “Your ally seems to have confidence in you. Yet, here you are, broken and—“

Kronos stopped, John doing something that took him by surprise. The sound John was making became louder, and Kronos heard it for what it really was; it was not the sound of crying.

John was laughing, the sound of which started off as a sensible chuckle before escalating to an outright manic laugh. John finally looked up to Kronos, a smile spread across his face as he began to rise once more.

“After everything you’ve endured, this is what makes you break?” Kronos asked, a small look of disappointment on his face as he shook his head.

“Just the opposite!” John said as he finally contained himself, “From the moment this game started, it’s always been serious business—everyone had to change themselves so they could meet the demand, and I was no different. But that speech, it reminded me of something. What I heard just now was the Corey I remembered—the one before his change to anger and hate. The Corey I knew before even that, before we came to this world.

“And this Corey, he beat your Slayer, and he’s got the balls to tell off your boss to her face. It makes me wonder if I even needed to change to rise to the occasion…” John’s eyes sharpened as he stared towards Kronos. John’s hand clamped down hard on his shoulder and gave it a strong tug. A loud crack sounded out as John’s arm went back into its socket.

“One way to find out!” John became a blur; able to match or even surpass his top speed as he closed in on Kronos. Kronos should have been surprised; no, he was. But at that moment, he couldn’t help but smile.

“Then show me!” Kronos put up his guard just as John struck, his arms rattling from the impact. After feeling the new vigor in John’s punch, Kronos couldn’t help but meet it head on. Pushing back, he managed to parry John’s punch aside and leaned in for his retaliation. He clenched his fist and swung upwards, aiming for John’s abdomen. He could feel his fist made impact, but quickly noticed it missed its mark.

With a smirk, John pulled on the attack he’d caught and decided to show Kronos how it was done. John brought his fist up and landed right where he wanted, Kronos’ body lurching from the attack. But that wasn’t all—there was a surge of pain that Kronos felt on impact. Even though he was wearing Lyon’s hide, the hide John could not overcome on his own months ago. Yet, this time, Kronos felt the strike and the strength behind it.

Holding his breath, Kronos jumped away, his arms clenching his stomach as he tried to breathe in again.

That strike was on a whole different level! It’s like he’s a different dragon… he thought to himself. For some reason, that fact alone brought him a different level of joy.

“Ready for the final round, Kronos?” John asked, cracking his knuckles. The pain in Kronos stomach finally subsided and he stood up straight again.

Win or lose, this battle would be his grandest yet. That was all Kronos could have asked for.

Norma walked slowly out of the room, leading Corey through the castle until they were out of the trophy room. She picked a room that was a few floors up from her so-called “trophies”, and a little ways down the hall. Corey found himself wondering why she had picked this area.

“How’s this?” asked Norma, “Now neither of us have to worry. Although, I’m not worried either way…”

“How so?” asked Corey.

“I highly doubt someone of your level could push me much further than the likes of those who fell before you did,” Norma said, “You’re out of your league, and I’m about to show you why.”

Corey slowly got into a ready position, trying to figure out what he was going to do.

I’m not sure how I can do this. She’s beaten three people who were all stronger than me, even with that power I gained. But I have to make a stand here. I can’t let her win…

“Do not…give in to despair now…” a voice answered, deep within Corey’s mind. Corey recognized the voice after a moment, and his eyes widened in confusion.

“E-Esper…!?” Corey stuttered, talking back to him mentally, “H-how are you…?”

“Do you recall…the seal I left in your mind…before I left?” Esper said, and Corey realized how badly winded Esper sounded. “Even though ‘we’ are being actively used…I’m able to telepathically communicate with you easier…”

“You don’t sound good, even for telepathy…” Corey thought.

“It seems Para Norma overestimated how much magic… she could get out of us. Listen to me now…Corey. She used up a lot of magic taking down Discord and the princesses in rapid succession! If ever there were a time you could take her down, it’d be right now!” Esper urged.

“But if I fight her, and she uses more of the magic she stole from you all—“

“Do not worry about us! We’d rather die than see our magic be used for her ends! Look carefully at her!” Esper advised.

Corey looked up, focusing on Norma. One of her hands looked patchy, as though some of the fur had been shaved off. In addition, aside from the tattered robes she bore, she was breathing hard, despite her bravado. She couldn’t hide her fatigue any longer…

“I will leave it to you… Don’t let her win!” Esper said.

“Right!” Corey thought.

“I think I’ll be giving you plenty of stress, at the very least!” Corey shouted, taking in a deep breath. When he released it, he was once again cloaked in an aura of radiating light, just as he had done against Slayer, “You’ve bitten off more than you can chew!”

“I think not…” Norma smirked, snapping her fingers yet again. Corey looked around the room as several screens appeared around them. One contained an injured Twilight and Rainbow up against the griffin. Another contained John and Kronos going at it. The rest were focused on the others who weren’t tied up with a prisoner.

Corey looked around for a moment. “So what are you trying to do here?”

“I’m showing you that no matter what you may say,” Norma said, “Your words mean nothing! They will fall, and so will you. You seem to have forgotten the feeling of despair that you felt… Allow me to remind you what it feels like!”

Author's Note

With this, we come to the final leg of Act 4. There's quite a bit left to this battle, if you can believe it. So sit tight for Wednesday's update.

Act 4 Chapter 16

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 16: My Heroes

Norma slammed her hands to the ground, red runes crackling off her palms as she did so. From the point of contact, several large pillars of rock—made from the floor, no doubt, began to shoot right at Corey. Yellowish-white runes appeared around his feet, and Corey started moving, weaving between the pillars to make his approach. It wasn’t an easy feat—Corey’s foot slipped a little, and he nearly took a pillar to the chest for his error. Launching himself up into the air, Corey began to spin, making his way between two more pillars and coming down with a rune-enhanced punch.

Norma, however, leapt backwards, leaving Corey’s fist to strike the floor of the room. The runes flowed into the floor, and opened up a decent-sized hole in the floor, which smashed out the ceiling of the room below as well. This also left Corey staggering a bit on the lip of the hole, trying to regain some semblance of balance.

A chill seized him, and he turned his head slightly. Norma clapped her hands, red runes bursting out; translucent red waves of air began zipping towards Corey. Taking in a sharp, deep breath, Corey focused, and launched himself to the left. He winced as one of the waves passed just by his leg, slicing into the skin. Ignoring the pain, Corey rolled over as he landed, and rose quickly to his feet, lifting one hand in Norma’s direction and firing a few blasts of magic from it.

Norma watched placidly as the shots hit the floor surrounding her, kicking up smoke. She scoffed. “Do you really believe this will work?”

She lifted her left foot and slammed the heel of it into the ground, creating yet another pillar that extended through the smoke. She turned, momentarily trying to figure out where Corey was—not hearing the groan or the sound of an impact in general. Norma turned back, just in time to see a whitish blur slam into her, knocking her out the other side of the smoke.

Norma’s body emitted a red shockwave as she recovered, but Corey was on her again. Her body crackled with red runes as she punched out at Corey. Corey ducked low, but his uppercut was parried. Blocking Norma’s kick from that, Corey tried to use a low kick of his own. Norma hopped up. Both of them cocked one fist back, and struck out with a punch. Both missed the other’s fist, each landing a strike to each other’s face.

Norma scoffed, but felt her fist get pushed back by the movement of Corey’s head, and a moment later, felt the strike of Corey’s leg into her midsection, lifting her from her feet and knocking her across the room. Norma laid down flat on the floor for a while, Corey wiping his mouth for a bit.

“Hmph…” Norma scoffed yet again as she began to get to her feet, “Okay, I may have underestimated you a bit. While you have an advantage in close quarters, that is not that much of a concern…”

“Since you have a lot of magic at your disposal, somewhere…” Corey observed.

“Precisely,” Norma raised both of her hands, “So I just have to keep you away!”

Red runes crackled around her open palms, and flames began to shoot from her hands. Corey spread his arms wide, a barrier made of runes appearing over the front part of his body. He then began to run towards the fire, the barrier protecting him from the flames.

“Fool!” Norma shouted, stomping one foot again. A shaft of rock flew out at Corey from within the rapidly abating flames, breaking through the barrier and sending Corey flying backwards. Seeing that Corey was in the air, Norma sneered, “Now I have you…”

Norma snapped her fingers loudly, and Corey turned. Red runes began to appear behind him, and from them, spikes began to shoot out of the ground, rapidly extending up towards him. Corey twisted in the air, aiming blasts at the spikes to clear a path. His tactic worked; Corey landed in the clear part.

Corey quickly raised one of his fists, extending two knuckles slightly outward as runes appeared around the raised knuckles. He swung, using the impact spell on those two knuckles to clear the rest of the spikes, kicking up dust and debris. Corey raised both of his hands, his horn glowing brightly and his hands covering themselves in even more runes. The larger chunks of debris soon began to glow with his magical aura as well. Once he’d ensnared them, he began to toss them at Norma, thrusting his palms forward.

Norma did the same thing, creating a red barrier against which the debris broke. As Norma dropped it, she realized Corey was rushing her again, his fist glowing. Norma quickly clenched her fist, red runes swirling into it as she prepared her own impact spell. Both punched out, but this time their fists met in the middle, and the combined force of their impact spells sent both flying back. The floor of the room crumbled into dust, leaving only a small, small portion of floor left.

Corey kicked a little in the air, shooting out a blast towards the wall to give himself a bit of extra momentum to get clear and to solid ground. Norma disappeared into the debris. After regaining his footing for a few moments, and taking in a small breath to prepare himself, Corey leapt down after her into the thick dust.

Only then did Corey realize the problem with his tactic. There was still a lot of thick dust.

Damn, can’t see anything in this room… With this thought in mind, Corey slowly closed his eyes, composing himself. For a few moments, all was still.

Then, a chill came from his left, and Corey sped out of its way, seeing a few red waves slice through the dust. Again, Corey felt a chill coming his way and he hopped out of the way of Norma’s next attack. On the third time Corey found himself dodging an attack he couldn’t see, he clenched both of his fists, a few runes crackling around the surface. He brought his fists together, creating an explosion of air pressure that dispersed the dust.

Norma looked up, grimacing as her cover was blown away. She didn’t compose herself quickly enough, and was kicked in the side yet again as Corey got close. Norma stood up again, but felt herself become dizzy. She staggered a bit, and brought her hands down for a moment. The screens that were in the room above followed them down, but flickered.

I may have exhausted myself more than I realized with Discord and the princesses… Norma thought, glaring at Corey once more, He shouldn’t have been this much of a factor!

Rainbow backpedaled, her wings providing her with the necessary force and lift to do so. Storm Claw, significantly slower thanks to Twilight’s spell, followed, two knives drawn. The distance between them closed after a few seconds, and Storm Claw screeched as he slashed away. However, his slashes passed through empty air. Despite her injuries, she was able to easily avoid the attacks.

Twilight looked up, her horn alight with magic. He must be heavier than he was when he was wearing the armor, she thought, This is my chance!

A few laser shots blasted forth from her horn, aimed at Storm Claw. Storm Claw turned, kicking back Rainbow with both feet as he did so, moving his knives. He managed to slice one of the oncoming bolts in half, but as he turned his body to try to slice through the next ones, he realized he was already too late—one clipped him straight in the upper leg, and the other hit him in the torso, causing him to grunt in pain and sink a little.

“Now it’s my turn!” Rainbow shouted, clenching her fist. She landed a solid punch to Storm Claw’s face, but as she turned her body to kick him, she found her attack blocked.

“I think not…” Storm Claw grunted as he moved his arms to try to slice her again, but Rainbow dove down and backwards, well out of the way. He snarled in response, before crying out, “Curse this spell of yours, Princess!”

Twilight and Rainbow regrouped once more. Rainbow turned slightly towards Twilight.

“He’s slower now, but neither of us can seem to take him down…” Rainbow said, shaking her head.

“I am using up a bit of my magic to maintain the gravity net on him,” Twilight shook her head, “I don’t think I can land the necessary strike. Most I can do is stall him in place, and even then—“

“Stall him, huh…” Rainbow smirked, “Yeah, that reminds me… Haven’t tried the Sonic Rainboom in a while.”

Twilight looked over to Rainbow, and slowly began to return the smirk. “After how you trained yourself the last month—no, since this all started—you might be able to use it relatively easily.”

“So think you can hold him off for that long?” Rainbow looked back, “I’ll still need some good distance…and a clear shot.”

“I’ll do what’s needed,” Twilight said, “You’re the fastest flier in Equestria, aren’t you? Just don’t take too long…”

Storm Claw slowly descended opposite them, grimacing. “What are you two talking about over there, now?”

“Count on it, Twi…” said Rainbow, flapping her wings hard and starting to make distance. With that, Twilight turned back towards Storm Claw. Storm Claw’s eyes momentarily widened, before he realized what was going on. He let out a low chuckle as he touched down entirely.

“You’ve made a mistake, Princess,” Storm Claw said, taking in exactly one deep breath. His wings flared outwards, flapping strongly before he launched himself towards Twilight. Twilight immediately responded by firing a few more laser blasts, but Storm Claw managed to knock them out of the air with his knives. One of them, though, did clip Storm Claw in the shoulder; however, by that time, it was a bit late; Storm Claw was in too close range.

With a scream, Twilight kicked outward, hitting Storm Claw in the side of the head. However, as Twilight’s leg went back into normal position, Storm Claw lurched forward, recovering. Twilight gasped as she once more felt the unpleasant sensation of a knife entering her shoulder.

“Your strength isn’t up to par with hers, I’m afraid,” Storm Claw said, retracting his stab. He tried to follow this up with a slash, but Twilight’s horn flickered. A moment later, she was gone; Storm Claw’s cut had gone through thin air. Twilight wasn’t gone long; Storm Claw hopped backwards as a laser shot passed through where he was standing. Storm Claw threw a knife towards her, but Twilight teleported again. This time, when Twilight reappeared, she hit her mark with a laser shot.

Snarling in anger, Storm Claw began to toss out blades; Twilight continued to teleport away, occasionally blasting at him to get him to move, or for a hit. Whatever the case, Storm Claw’s frustration grew to new levels. Twilight appeared in front of him, but Storm Claw swatted her laser shot aside with another wave of the knife.

The griffin rifled through his body, and soon had knives between each of his hands.

“I will not lose to the likes of you!” Storm Claw shouted, “I refuse to go back to Tartarus empty handed!”

At that moment, both heard a huge bang in the distance. Storm Claw snarled, but his eyes soon went wide as he noticed a rainbow ring spreading from a spot a bit off in the sky. Moreover, he saw a very fast rainbow speeding from it, and it was heading right towards them. Twilight turned her head briefly, and soon warped out of the way, appearing on a nearby rooftop. A second later, Storm Claw felt nothing but pain and pressure in his torso as the rainbow—really Rainbow Dash, mid-Sonic Rainboom—smashed into him full-force. Storm Claw coughed violently as the rainbow seemed to rebound off of him, but that was the last he saw, losing consciousness as his body left the ground.

Storm Claw’s hands sprang open, dropping the weapons that they held, as he flew backward from the impact. The increased gravity on his body did little to slow the momentum. Storm Claw bounced once, twice, three times, before finally coming to rest against the side of a building. His eyes were blank. Storm Claw slumped forward onto the ground, utterly defeated.

Twilight, from her vantage point, sighed, clutching the last wound Storm Claw had left her with.

“That’s that…” Twilight said.

“I’d hope so…” Rainbow groaned, rubbing her head as she floated down next to Twilight, “If he gets up after that, I’m out of ideas…”

“Well, that won’t happen,” said Twilight, “And even if he’s only out for the moment, it won’t matter. I did learn a couple of spells specifically for the prisoners, after all.”

With that, Twilight lifted off, and both Twilight and Rainbow began to approach the unconscious form of Storm Claw. Twilight’s horn lit up as she focused her magic. Storm Claw’s vitals were still mostly okay; he’d live. That left just one thing left to do.

With a deep breath, Twilight began to cast a simple binding spell, one that would keep Storm Claw where he was until he could be collected.

John and Kronos had both caught a second wind, both fighting even harder than they had before. Every strike threatened to be the last and yet neither would allow themselves to fall. Kronos, though he was still wearing Lyon’s hide, was starting to take more damage than before. John’s newfound strength was managing to get past the defense it offered. Even with Kronos’ own devastating blows still stacking, the battle stood at a stalemate.

As they fought, John managed to grab hold of Kronos and took off into the air, slamming Kronos’ body into a wall and dragging him along the surface. John then finished by throwing Kronos down towards the ground. Before Kronos could hit the ground, however, he managed to recover and land on his feet, more than ready for John’s charge. John closed in on Kronos and spun around to swing his tail. Kronos met it head on, parrying the attack aside. Stepping in close, Kronos struck John in the stomach, landing two more blows in quick succession before sending John flying back with a hard side kick.

John didn’t lose his balance, however; opening his wings, he managed to correct himself and slowed to a full stop. He looked to Kronos with a grain, Kronos returning in kind. Neither knew who would gain the upper hand in the battle, but both seemed to want it that way. They wanted the uncertainty of whether the next strike would win it or not, the knowledge that even giving it their all, they could still lose. At that point, it no longer mattered. All that was important was fighting the one standing before them.

And so the battle raged on.

John and Kronos collided once again, each throwing a flurry of punches while refusing to back down. When the punches stopped flying, both followed up with a powerful headbutt in the middle. The force of the impact rattled their skulls and drew blood, but even if they could feel it, they didn’t care. Both hopped away. John let out a torrent of flames, Kronos blocking by striking the asphalt beneath him and causing it to tip up in front of him like a shield. It succeeded in blocking the flames, but not John’s subsequent charge.

But as he cleared the area, he saw that Kronos was now above him and John took a strong heel kick to the top of his head, slamming his body to the ground. Though he was down, John was far from out. He could still feel Kronos’ heel on his head, a target for him to reach for. Quickly, his tail snapped Kronos by the ankle and pulled him hard enough to slam the tiger to the ground. Neither chose to stay down long, both scrambling to their feet once more.

Kronos, however, was slightly faster. He threw a punch towards John, but John was still able to react in time, parrying Kronos’ fist before it could hit its mark. He then followed up with a punch of his own, only for Kronos to grab hold. Kronos then twisted John’s arm and forced the dragon down to a single knee. With one hand still holding firm on John’s arm, Kronos brought another up before bringing it down on John’s head. John’s vision blurred from the impact—another hit, and he would lose consciousness.

Like hell I will! John let out a growl as another punch came down. Putting his focus into his wings, John extended them out, pushing them against Kronos. The push was just enough to cause the punch to miss—and it was enough to create the opening John needed. Putting as much weight into his body as he could John jerked forward and brought Kronos with him. For a brief moment he felt Kronos’ grip loosen, and he took his chance.

Finally, John was able to break free, and in order to gain some ground, he grabbed Kronos by his armor and threw him into the nearby wall. Kronos let out a cough on impact, some droplets of blood falling to the ground. Kronos wiped the blood away as John flew towards him again, but Kronos wasn’t going to wait. Instead, he met John’s charge, slipping past John’s defenses and ramming his shoulder into the dragon’s chest. The impact stunned John just enough for Kronos to grab hold of him, then, with as much strength as he could muster, he threw John’s body.

John flew away after being thrown, his body not only crashing into the side of a building several floors above, but crashing through the wall entirely. John’s body continued to fly, only stopping once he hit a second wall. Once John finally stopped, John looked through the opening he had made, surprised to see that Kronos had scaled the wall and was charging him once again. With a hard tackle, both Kronos and John crashed through to the other side of the wall and outside of the building.

The two flew across the way, and from the looks of it, they were going to collide with another building. John tried to break free of Kronos’ hold, but he was proving stubborn. John clenched his fist, carefully lining up a punch before throwing his arm out. He struck Kronos straight in the kidney, the sudden surge of pain causing Kronos to ease his hold. John took his opening and grabbed hold of Kronos, swinging him over and slamming him into the wall as they reached it.

John had then jumped off, hoping to use the sky to his advantage, but Kronos was not letting him get away. Just as his back was turned, John was grabbed hold from behind, Kronos’ arms clenched around his neck for a choke hold.

Shit! John thought to himself, feeling the iron grip around his windpipe tighten. Working quickly, John flew back and did what he could to break free, but this time, Kronos was not easing off for nothing. No matter how hard he flew, no matter how hard he’d slam Kronos into a wall, Kronos’ grip continued to tighten. As the seconds ticked by, John could feel his lungs slowly starting to burn. He was losing air, and fast.

“It’s just like that time, isn’t it?” Kronos said, “Your first battle with him, in the moment when it was your back against the wall. You wouldn’t believe how much he’d cursed your name after that day.”

John remembered it well, his first real fight. While some would say he’d won it, John himself no longer saw it as a win. And here he was now, backed against the wall once more. This time, though, he was the one in the chokehold. And if he didn’t break out of it soon, he likely wouldn’t be getting out at all.

“Now tell me, what will be your response? Will you break free, or after all you’ve tried to build yourself up, will you finally fall?” Kronos asked, his arms slacking for a moment’s breath before tightening even harder.

John pulled at Kronos’ arm, trying to get even a tiny bit of fresh oxygen to keep his mind thinking. As he searched for an answer, John found his gaze moving to the sky above. The sky seemed to stare back at him now—open and free, the very sky that was foreign to him before he came to this world. As he stared up to it, a thought crossed his mind. Just how high would he be able to go as he was now?

Then, something in his mind clicked.

Before he could even finish the thought, his body reacted. John’s wings flared and gave a powerful flap, then another, propelling him and Kronos high into the sky. Kronos could only hold on as the speed of their ascension continued to climb as they did. Kronos glanced down, seeing the city of Canterlot below them growing smaller and smaller with each second, until it was nothing more than a small patch of land beneath them.

“So this is your answer,” Kronos smirked in spite of the danger the situation had brought, “So be it.”

To John’s surprise, Kronos released his grip, but before John could turn to face him, John was met with a searing pain in his right wing. John screamed and reached for it. His eyes flicked to it as well—the wing was bent at an awkward angle in the middle, definitely broken. At that instant, Kronos and John’s rapid ascent began to slow, and John finally turned back to his opponent.

“Now, it’s left to fate,” said Kronos. Both stared at one another as their climb finally ended. In the moment before gravity re-asserted itself on their bodies, John and Kronos nodded, a silent acceptance of the new terms. As soon as the fall started, the battle continued once more.

Technique was no longer a factor, both trading punches with one another. Their blood began to splatter about with each impact. Their fall was growing faster and the ground was getting closer, and neither looked down as the air currents around them began to grow stronger. With the city rapidly swelling in size beneath them, one of them finally got an upper hand. Two hands were thrust into John’s chest—Kronos had gotten hold of him, and held him close, using him as a barrier to break their fall.

John looked down—seconds to go before impact.

“It was a valiant battle, well worthy of being my hundredth, but now, I’m afraid, it’s over,” Kronos said. But he couldn’t quite see John’s face—he couldn’t see the lack of concern.

“You know, up there, when you broke my wing, you made one mistake,” Kronos arched a brow, no time to think of what John was trying to say, “You should have broken both!”

John’s left, unbroken wing suddenly shot out, the resistance of the wind pushing it upwards, and to Kronos’ dismay, flipping them over. John quickly took hold of the hide, now on top. In the final moments before impact, it was Kronos who was falling first. With wide eyes, Kronos looked down, the roof of a building below them.

In his final moments, Kronos closed his eyes, a smile spreading across his face.

I have no regrets…

Corey stood his ground for a moment, taking the time to cast glances at the screens around him. Norma, meanwhile, hopped back, snapping her fingers towards the ceiling. Corey looked up, seeing what was left of the floor above start crashing down at him. Corey leapt forward, avoiding the remaining debris as he did so, clenching one fist.

Norma responded to his charge by extending her palms at him, forming a barrier and firing it out. Corey couldn’t counter this in time, and was blown off his feet by the attack, quickly recovering and standing back up. Norma scoffed at this. Of course he wasn’t going to give her any openings…

“Tell me something,” Norma said, “Why do you fight so hard for a world that isn’t even yours!?”

“I don’t think I have a way home either way,” Corey said, looking around a little, taking time to check the screens again, “Far as I can tell, I’m here for good!”

“There’s more to it than that, isn’t there??” Norma asked. Corey snapped to attention again, vanishing in a blur. Norma let out another shriek as she was kicked backwards, but quickly recovered, firing a few laser shots at Corey from her palms.

“Do you know what I saw in you each and every time you were in my feed? I didn’t see the same kind of valor within you that the rest have!” Corey swatted away Norma’s laser shots, running parallel to her for the moment. Norma cocked back her other arm, readying another air pressure shot.

“What I see in you, even now, is a foal trying to play hero! But as I recall, you couldn’t take the pressure!” Norma shouted. Corey hesitated for a moment, and Norma let loose with the air pressure blade. Corey stepped to the side, but still suffered a cut into his shoulder for his efforts. Corey’s hand went to the new wound as he tried to steady himself. There was a moment of pause.

“You know…” Corey sighed, “I don’t get it. You and Slayer both tried that today now. But of course I was going to break under these circumstances once… up until I came here I’d never been in this kind of situation!”

Corey removed his hand from his shoulder at this point, runes glowing as the new wound closed. His hand continued to glow as he raised his palm at Norma.

“The power I’m using now, though, is proof I have finally adapted!” Corey shouted. A laser soared at Norma, who raised glowing palms again. She caught the bolt, but it was a bit heavier than she thought it would be, and she struggled against the weight of it, “And the fact I beat Slayer despite his cheap tricks this time… that should tell you something.”

Norma threw the bolt aside, rushing in close, her right hand glowing with red runes. Whatever attack she had in mind didn’t hit home or even happen—Corey moved out of the way swiftly, grabbing her wrist with that hand. He tried to punch her, but she caught his fist. Norma tried to move her other hand, but Corey’s grip wasn’t going to budge.

The sound of a hard impact caught their respective attention, and both looked to the screens. Norma’s eyes widened as she saw Storm Claw fly across the road, landing hard against the building before going immobile. A few seconds later, Norma’s eyes trailed up to another screen. Kronos had been defeated as well.

“Impossible…” Norma muttered. Even the second wave of her creatures was being beaten back.

“Seems like I was right…” Corey said, “They’ve finished their jobs. I know they’ll be here soon. Even if you beat me in the interim, it looks like you hardly have stamina or magic left. It’s only a matter of time before—“

Norma’s arms suddenly bulged, red runes coming off the surface, and she moved her arms upward, throwing Corey off-balance. She then struck him hard in the chest, knocking him over. With this done, Norma began to move, fleeing the room. Clutching the area where she’d hit him, Corey stood up slowly as he assessed the damage from Norma’s strike. He then closed his eyes in focus, trying to figure out where Norma was heading.

Corey smirked to himself as he realized where she was going, letting out a small, dry scoff.

Norma began to move—she knew full well where she was going. If the tactic she was about to use worked on Celestia, it would certainly work on Corey as well, she thought, as she began to make her way for the statues of the princesses. It probably would have been a bluff—she hardly had magic left, and Corey seemed to be somewhat aware of it.

Norma didn’t get lost, surprisingly, though it was her first time in Canterlot Castle. Her instincts guided her to the room where she’d left Celestia and Luna in their petrified states, but as she stepped through the doorway, she realized something was very off.

The statues were missing.

“What?” Norma asked, “Is this not the right room…”

“I think you have the right place,” Norma whirled around to see an aura-cloaked Corey approaching her slowly, “But I think you’ll find something is missing. Something you were probably wanting to use against me in some way…”

“How…” Norma said, “How could you have possibly gotten them out without my knowledge??”

Corey couldn’t withhold a content smirk as he took in a deep breath.

Corey had gone to confront Norma as soon as he sensed the disturbance, but he didn’t go alone. Something about the situation just didn’t seem right. Norma’s chill was muted entirely by Celestia’s presence right up until the heat disappeared. He’d managed to find a few guards closer to the castle and brought them with him. And as Norma began to prepare her speech, Corey and the guards waited outside the door. Corey peered into the room as soon as he felt he could risk it, and confirmed the horrifying sight himself.

“Sure enough…” Corey said in a hushed tone, “She couldn’t defeat them outright, so she turned the princesses to stone.”

“Turned… to stone…?” asked one of the guards, stunned. The other two murmured among themselves, clearly not sure of what to make of the new information.

“They’re still alive in there, I’m sure…” Corey said, “This isn’t over. If she can be defeated, the princesses can be saved, as long as they’re kept whole…”

“What are you going to do?” asked a second guard.

“I’m sure she’s used up a lot of energy on them alone… I’ll fight her. You three hide somewhere nearby, and when Norma and me are out of sight, you take the princesses as far as you can from this battle,” Corey said.

“Won’t she try to hold them hostage if you do anything?” a third guard asked.

“I’m going to make a guess…” Corey said, “She didn’t come for any of us first. She went straight to the leader… perhaps she sees me and the others involved in her so-called ‘game’ as beneath her. I highly doubt she’ll try that.”

At that moment, Norma began her speech. Corey turned to the guards, and reminded them to stick to their plan. The guards vanished from Corey’s sight as Norma continued her speech.

And when she finished, Corey made his move.

“In the end, I was correct,” Corey said, “Up until now, you haven’t thought that much of me. It never crossed your mind to use them against me. That is, until you saw the other prisoners defeated and your time table being cut short.”

Norma tightened her fists. “Just how do you know that…”

“And you going for the princesses…” Corey explained further, “That seals it. Your back is to the wall now! This is my chance!”

As soon as the final word left his mouth, Corey vanished in a blur, landing a few light punches on Norma before knocking her back with an impact spell. Norma groaned loudly as she was sent through the wall, and found getting back to her feet being a little difficult after that attack. Corey had raised his hands at her again, and was firing more blasts at her. Norma raised her palms outward, rapidly creating a barrier—

A blast got past her surprisingly shrunken defense, and she felt herself collapse to one knee as the other began to sear with pain for a few moments. Norma’s barrier dropped, as shock overcame her.

I-I’m being pushed… by the likes of… of…

Norma screamed, sending a wall of red at Corey. Corey guarded against it, finding it to be a shockwave of pure blunt force. Corey’s shoes skidded hard against the marble floor. He peered over his crossed arms, seeing Norma firing a few more laser shots at him from her palms as she made her way to the next room.

Now where’s she going!? Corey thought to himself, swatting the lasers away as they got too close. He gave chase, and Norma glanced behind her, leaping up and back as she turned around.

“Even now, you are no more than a pest!” Norma shouted, putting one hand to the ground and firing out a single earthen pillar.

“This pest is being one hell of a roadbump to you, though!” Corey increased his speed with a spell, and with the added momentum, he leapt up, easily clearing the attack. Corey then twisted his body, bringing one leg back. He then kicked out, Norma throwing up both of her arms to defend from the jump kick. She staggered a little from the strike, but before Corey could capitalize, Norma clenched both of her fists, bending her knees slightly.

Red runes crackled off her body, and a moment later, Norma let out a shout, creating a shockwave of pure energy that knocked Corey off his feet. Corey slammed hard into the wall, letting out a cough as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Damn…” Corey groaned, getting to his feet.

“Just what do you intend to do by standing against me??” Norma demanded, “On your own, no less. Do you truly believe you can be a hero?”

Corey sighed, stretching his arms a bit. “I’ve always played it at since I was a kid. Just a pretend game here, a pretend game there. I’d always have the kinds of powers I’d seen in fiction, protecting whatever I thought was important. Until I came here, I didn’t know what that meant. I just know I liked the idea more than anything else.”

Norma watched as Corey’s stance began to change. He squatted a bit, his arms slowly moving—left arm up, right arm down, palms slightly open.

“The kind of power that, as it turns out, the magic here is sort of like,” Corey continued, as his arms moved, white-gold runes starting to dance off the surface of his palms. His left arm moved down and his right arm moved up, before both palms pointed out at Norma suddenly. His right palm was angled with the knuckles pointing up, and the left palm was angled with the knuckles pointing down.

Just what is he doing… Norma thought, watching him intently, but all the while discretely moving a hand towards her torso, her hand closing around an orb.

“With the power I have right now, and the capability to be that kind of hero… I can finally do something I’ve wanted to do for real, ever since I was a kid!” Corey’s upper body changed so that the palms formed a cup behind him, and a whitish ball of energy began to form, rapidly swelling in size.

Then, Corey spoke, saying an incantation that Norma had never heard before, as he thrust his arms out in the same position they had just been.

“Ka-me-ha-me-ha!”

Norma’s eyes widened immediately as Corey’s attack took the form of a surprisingly large beam—the sight of which obscured his body and aura from view. The attack cleaved through the floor as it surged towards Norma, and for a split second Norma was overwhelmed with shock as it drew close…

Twilight and Rainbow both stood close by the unconscious, bound Storm Claw. Both were trying to get their bearings before they tried to go to the battle.

“You think he’ll be able to hold on a bit longer?” Twilight asked, glancing up towards the castle.

“He seemed sure of himself, Twi,” Rainbow pointed out, “But if you’re that worried about him, we should probably get going…”

Both looked to each other for a moment, before they heard a distant rumble. Then, their eyes widened as they looked towards the castle.

A white explosion of magical energy surged out from one of the towers, visible smoke rising. Both Twilight and Rainbow straightened to their full height as they looked to the castle.

“Whoa, what was that??” Rainbow asked. Twilight remained silent, trying to process what she was seeing. Nothing came to her.

“Just what’s going on up there…” Twilight murmured.

Author's Note

Yes, that happened, for better or worse. Stay tuned.

Act 4 Chapter 17

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 17: Turning Tides

The concrete floor was cracked so badly the fact it remained otherwise whole was nothing short of amazing. Sitting along the cracks, leaning on a wall for support, was John, the victor. John took in deep breaths, his body aching from the impact, his mind still trying to come to terms with the fact he’d just survived a fall from several thousand feet up. Deep down, he knew that he didn’t survive it on his own strength.

John stared at the crater, the very spot where he and Kronos had made their impact. Kronos’ body still lay where they landed, motionless even after all the time that had passed. John knew that the hide he wore was what allowed him to survive the fall, its strength softening the blow enough for John to be able to withstand it. However, the same could not be said for the one who wore it.

John sighed, looking at the still motionless Kronos. “That’s two…”

John began to stare into the sky, realizing that this time it was a lot softer—the knowledge that he’d once again been the cause of someone else’s demise. John wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but before he could decide for sure, something caught his attention. A cough—several, to be exact, and the noise forced John’s attention right back to the impact crater.

Kronos’ body finally moved, twitching with each cough. Kronos’ eyes slowly began to open.

“You are one tough bastard…” John sighed, though Kronos didn’t respond, simply staring to the sky above in silence. Neither said much for a few moments, the roars of battle being the only sound to echo.

“So, what happens now?” John asked. Kronos’ head slowly turned over, until his gaze fell on John. Kronos smirked and began to chuckle, coughing more. Blood ran from his mouth with each cough now, running down the corners of his mouth.

“It’s fine…” Though he wouldn’t admit it flat-out, Kronos could no longer feel anything from the neck down, nor could he move it if he tried. He was entirely broken, no doubt about it. Hard as he fought, the conclusion was clear, “I lost.”

Any other time, the confirmation that a hard fight had been won would have been cause enough for joy and earned relaxation. That wasn’t an option here, however, because this was only one fight of many in this war. Right now, another battle was still being waged, one that was no doubt eh most important of them all.

“You’ll be of no help,” It was as though Kronos had read his mind and chose to give his two cents on the matter, “You may have won our battle, but can you bring yourself to stand, let alone fight in your state?”

John didn’t reply, silently checking his body. Nothing aside from his wing was broken, but each limb ached in pain from the damage he’d taken over the course of the fight. He wasn’t sure how much more he’d be able to push his body, let alone if he could even get to the castle in time. But at the same time, John was not comfortable in the least with the thought of sitting there and waiting in the sidelines while his friends fought on. John let out a grunt, his entire body screaming as he forced it to move. But he’d only managed to stand halfway before his knees buckled under his weight and John fell once more.

Dammit… John thought to himself, unable to find the strength to stand again. It seemed he’d reached his limit, but he didn’t want to accept it. He still wanted to stand and fight, to see the battle through to the end with his friends at his side. But it seemed he didn’t have a choice in the matter. He needed more push, more motivation, just something to keep him going, but he didn’t know where he would find it?

To John’s surprise, it found him, and in a way he never would have expected. In the distance, he saw something. Willing his head to move, he looked over. It was the castle, and from it a light was expanding, followed shortly by an explosion of energy. The appearance and sound somehow felt familiar to him.

“Corey…” Whether it was a coincidence or not, or simply a beacon, John would never know. What he did now, was that at that moment, he’d found his strength.

To his and Kronos’ mutual surprise, John was standing once again, and he began to make his way.

“Wait…” John paused for a moment, turning over to see that Kronos had managed to move, but not to stand. He was still sprawled out on the concrete, one arm painfully raised with something clutched in his hand. It was the hide he’d worn for the battle.

“It’s clear what will happen to me, which means this armor no longer has a host,” John stared at the hide, unable to bring himself to step towards it, “It requires someone worthy of it, and I believe you’ve proven that.”

Kronos looked John straight in the eyes, the will of the warrior within him still intact even when his body was broken.

“Whether or not you are strong enough to defeat her is up for debate, but wearing this will at least give you the chance to find out,” John finally took a step towards it, Kronos’ words holding true in his head.

John reached out and took hold of the hide with his own two hands.

“Now go,” Kronos’ arm flopped to the ground, leaving him laying on his side for a moment, “Show her the warrior who finally bested me in combat.”

Without another word, John slipped on the hide armor, his body feeling its effects almost instantly. It was as if it was now holding him together, giving him the strength to continue. Immediately after, John heard a light thud behind him, but he made no effort to turn around. Instead, he remained quiet as he walked forward, heading toward the final battle of the war…

Twilight and Rainbow continued to stare up at the castle, which was now emitting a lot of smoke. Neither of them could believe what they had just saw. Eventually, both of them averted their gazes from the sight, and moved to look to each other.

“We can’t stand here forever…” Rainbow finally said, “I don’t know what that meant. Do you?”

“No,” Twilight said, “But I just hope Corey can hold out long enough for us to get there…”

“How’s everyone doing, though?” asked Rainbow. Twilight paused. While she and Rainbow were battling Storm Claw, the chatter over the earpieces was entirely lost to her, at least. There wasn’t any updates that she could remember…

“Uh…” Applejack said, cutting into their silence, “Is anypony else seein’ this?”

“Seein’ what?” Rainbow was the first to respond, “The explosion over at the castle?”

“No, not that,” Applejack said, “I think the creatures are slowin’ down…”

There was a moment of silence before another voice chimed in: Pinkie Pie.

“I’m seein’ it too, A.J.!” she said, “They’re not glowing like they were at the start! They’re moving around like…broken puppets! Some of the flyin’ ones started falling, too!”

“Are they totally shut down?” Twilight asked.

“No, no,” Applejack said, “They’re still tryin’ to attack, but they ain’t gettin’ anywhere.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Both Rainbow and Twilight turned towards the voice, seeing a small platoon of guards, “Princess Twilight! Are you two injured?”

“We’re not out of this yet…” Rainbow shook her head.

“What’s happening?” Twilight asked, “The others are saying the creatures are weakening. Is that true? We haven’t seen them since we started dealing with him…” She motioned to the out cold Storm Claw.

“That is correct,” The guard said, “Here in South Canterlot, the creatures are indeed weakening. Their movements are very sluggish, and they aren’t glowing as brightly as they were moments ago…”

In East Canterlot, it was much of the same. The creatures there were weakened, too. Fluttercruel could only watch in stunned silence as a few flying creatures suddenly stopped glowing, falling to the ground where they crumbled. She quickly reached up for her ear.

“It’s the same over here,” she said, “I just watched a few of them go down before I could get at them…”

Below, Rarity wasn’t exerting her magic like she was, blasting a few creatures. They swung at her, but they could barely even execute a punch or a kick before she was out of range. Some of the larger creatures simply fell over motionless before crumbling into ashes without even being touched.

“What is going on?” Rarity asked, looking around. The guards were able to push back against the opposing forces with ease now; she could only assume it was the same for the other quadrants in Canterlot.

“If I had to guess, whatever magic was sustaining them is giving out, or perhaps it was halted…” Twilight said, “I guess that blast must have been… Corey’s work??”

“Are you sure, Twilight?” Rainbow asked, turning to her.

“If he wasn’t the one who caused it, he’s certainly pushing Norma enough to where she has no choice but to depower her forces. Her magic was stretched too thin…” Twilight summarized, “At least, that’s what I think happened. I’m still not sure how runic magic works overall. But it fits what we’re seeing now.”

There was a cough over the line, followed by another. Then, a new voice came over the line. It was raspy at first, but quickly gained strength.

“Hey, can anyone… hear me?” It was John.

“John!” Rainbow chimed in, “So you beat him, huh?”

“Yep,” John confirmed.

“Storm Claw and Slayer are also down for the count,” Twilight summarized, closing her eyes in concentration, “All that’s left is Norma herself.”

“I had a feeling…” said John, “I’m heading towards the castle now, but I’m gonna be a while.”

Twilight opened her eyes. This seemed like the best opportunity to take down Norma. Besides, she wanted everyone who was involved in her games, didn’t she? With this in mind, she slowly turned to the assembled guards, who were waiting.

“Can we leave the rest of the creatures to you all?” asked Twilight.

“In their condition, we’ll be more than enough to finish the job,” said one of the guards, “But where will you be going?”

“We’re going towards the castle,” Twilight said, “Para Norma is there.”

“And we’re going to make sure she goes right back to Tartarus by the end of the day for what she’s done,” said Rainbow, clenching one of her fists.

“But…” Another guard said, “Your injuries… Are you sure?”

“We can’t worry about ourselves right now,” Twilight said, “We’re hurt, but we’re not out of this yet. Right now, Corey’s fighting Para Norma, and if I know him… he’s probably impatiently waiting for us to come to him, to help him finish it.”

Smoke and dust filled the entire area in front of him. Corey, breathing heavily, fell to one knee. His yellowish-white aura slowly faded, and his eyes returned to normal. Sweat trickled down his forehead as he slowly willed himself to look ahead. He couldn’t see anything through the smoke. All that he could see, was a giant hole in the walls of the castle that broke through to the outside, the light of the sun breaking through what wasn’t obscured by the smoke. As the smoke started to clear, more and more of the light began to seep through.

Corey tried to stand up, but his legs wouldn’t let him, not without a fight, anyway. Still slumped forward a bit, Corey managed to rise up enough. Despite the tense moment, Corey couldn’t help but feel a little elated.

“Being able to do that for real is still cool…” Corey panted, “But the way I feel right now… pretty sure I’ve used up way too much magic…”

There was a steady pause, where everything felt okay. Corey allowed his eyes to close in recognition of it…

“Indeed you have…” A harsh, feminine voice caught his attention, and Corey’s eyes snapped open. Focusing on the smoke cloud again, Corey could see a red glow coming from within. A moment later, Corey heard a thundering crash, and the rest of the dust dispersed due to a shockwave—a shockwave that knocked Corey back off his feet and onto his back. As Corey struggled to stand up yet again, he looked towards the now-clear area.

Para Norma was still conscious, still very much full of energy, and very willing to keep things going. However, from the looks of her cloak, she hadn’t escaped unscathed. The top part had been blown away, revealing some cloth underneath the cloak which no doubt served to protect the only shred of modesty she had. There were a few burn marks in her fur, and her mane and tail were blackened at the end. Around her, was a small crater and some debris, which she began to step out of.

“How… how did you…” Corey stumbled, trying to get up again.

“Your spell…” Norma said, “It takes quite a bit of time to cast, does it not? I only needed that much time to recharge. And look at you now. I’d wager that spell also takes up a tremendous amount of magic, something even your enhancement couldn’t compensate for.”

Corey growled a bit, struggling to pick himself up into a standing position.

Shit, this is bad… Corey thought, Looks like she’s back at full strength. That’s bad enough… but on top of that, I can barely move…

“Oh?” Norma asked, noticing Corey’s condition, “I see. Even your light magic enhancement causes you to struggle now. Have you exhausted yourself, I wonder…?”

“I’m not out yet…” Corey whispered, his horn lighting up. Green runes slowly began to dance over his body, and his muscles bulged as his body glowed, “I still have fight left in me.”

Norma snarled at this. “So you intend to be defiant right up until the end… very well. I could always use the entertainment. But your futile struggle is coming to an end, very soon!”

With that, Norma stomped her feet, red runes shining, reaching along the ground. Corey immediately tensed his legs and leapt as hard as he could when an earthen spike appeared where he had been standing just a moment ago. He staggered a bit, panting as he took in his situation.

Even my stacked buffs aren’t working like they used to… Corey thought, I really am about out of magic here.

Corey closed his eyes for just a moment as he tried to extend his senses, but it was no use. He could sense the overwhelming chill of Norma close to him, but he couldn’t feel anything past that. Where is everyone…

The sound of air being disturbed caused his ear to flick. Corey’s eyes widened as he saw a few red pulses of wind coming at him—more of Norma’s air pressure blades. With little time to do anything, Corey leapt backwards, performing the best backflip he could under the circumstances. Corey avoided getting cut by the wayward air, but landed flat on his back. Looking up, he saw more red runes crackling in the ground, heading right for him.

Corey swore under his breath as he clenched his left fist, green runes dancing off the surface before he slammed it into the floor beneath him, the resulting impact spell destroying the floor just beneath him. As he fell, Norma’s spell went off at the edge of the hole, causing a spike to impale the air where the hole was a moment ago. Corey had avoided this as well, but fell down to the next floor.

He barely managed to roll upright in time, catching himself on all fours. His entire body shook from the impact, and for a moment Corey found he had no strength to stand. However, as he began to get his bearings and return to being upright, Corey heard an explosion of rock above him, and he quickly found himself scrambling out of the way, rocks raining down on his position. Barely managing to get clear, Corey turned around, seeing nothing but smoke where he was just standing.

Then Corey heard the distinctive snap of fingers, and several smaller, blunt-edged pillars began to come at him, bending forth from the floor to come at him. Corey willed his body to move, weaving between the oncoming pillars, but his tactic didn’t work out as well as he would have hoped. As he tried to leap clear of a pillar, it grazed his foot, knocking him off balance. Unable to dodge, Corey saw from the corner of his eye one last pillar. It blasted forth from where it came from, and impacted his right elbow.

Corey heard a pop and felt a searing pain; his arm had definitely been injured, and he wasn’t sure if he could take the time to heal it. Corey fell over onto his left side, quickly pulling himself up into a kneel. His horn lit up and runes swirled into his left hand. Corey began to stand as he fired magic bolt after magic bolt towards the smoke, but it wasn’t long before he saw Norma surge forth from the smoke. She was definitely faster than she usually was, weaving between the bolts, occasionally swatting one away with her bare hand.

Corey tried to protect himself as Norma got close enough to him, but she ducked under his left punch to hit him hard in the stomach. Corey would have doubled over from the pain, but Norma pushed him up by his shoulders. Corey coughed once, but quickly regained his balance, throwing a knee kick. His leg was bounced back by a red barrier that formed where he had tried to kick, though, and he staggered back a step. With his opposite leg, he tried for another kick with longer range, but Norma blocked his kick. As he tried to recover from this, Norma moved in close, striking him with her forearm and knocking him down onto his back.

Coughing from the pain he was in, any spells that were affecting his body slowly receding, Corey struggled to once again stand up. As he began to struggle once again, Norma could only sigh.

“You fight so hard for your friends, but I have to wonder where they are right now…” Norma said, “Weren’t they going to come and back you up against me? Not that it would have helped you if they did…”

“They’re still on their way,” Corey grunted, gasping as he put weight on his right arm to try to push himself up, “And I’m going to keep right on fighting until even one of them can take my place…”

“Useless…” Norma hissed, “How can you still want to fight after being brought to this state? You have nearly no magic left in you, and one of your limbs has been broken. You can continue if you wish, but I can’t guarantee your other three limbs will survive much longer…”

Norma continued talking, but Corey slowly began to tune her out, thinking of what he could do to try to remedy the big problem.

There has to be something she’s using to power herself… thought Corey, Even if she isn’t actively recharging, it has to give off something, somewhere. Where, though… Where would it be?

Norma watched Corey stand up the rest of the way, holding his arm for a moment. Corey’s horn lit up yet again, and his hand went to his arm. Initially, Norma wondered if he was trying to heal it. However, to her surprise, Corey leaned forward, emitting a large blast from his horn at near point-blank range. The beam, of course, didn’t do a whole lot. Norma was merely negating the magic as it came into contact with her body—weakened as Corey was, that’s all she needed to do.

“What are you trying to do now?” Norma asked, annoyed, “You’re wasting your energy!”

Corey said nothing, continuing to sustain the attack, staring straight at her as he did. Corey stepped closer and closer to her, and Norma began to feel a bit of pressure. She clenched her left hand, preparing an attack that would end Corey’s fruitless resistance once and for all. When Corey was standing right before her, still sustaining his laser, he suddenly lurched forward, reaching out with both hands, noticeably wincing as he forced his right arm to move—just another fruitless attack.

Whatever he was doing, it only annoyed her more, and so she lifted her hand towards the center of where Corey’s beam was hitting her, and began to emit a red blast of magic from it. Her attack easily overwhelmed whatever magic Corey had left in his blast, and blasted Corey backwards, his horn smoking. His right arm began to dangle, his left arm coiled around his chest. He rolled, his left side facing away from her. For a moment, Corey fidgeted around, looking very much like the worm Norma thought he was.

Then, to her anger, he stood up again, his horn glowing for a couple of seconds. However, as Corey stepped forward, ready to cast another spell, Corey suddenly let out a scream, his eyes glowing and his face glowing. He fell to his knees, holding his head, writhing about in pain. Only when she saw this did Norma start to chuckle. Then, she began to laugh.

“So that’s it for you, then!” she shouted, “Not only have you lost one of your arms, you’ve lost your horn! Any magic you can use is cut off from you now, unless that is, you want to injure yourself with it! You’ve lost!”

Corey halted, slowly looking up at her. Then, he began to stand up yet again. Norma lifted one fist, shaking it at his display.

“You still wish to keep going…” Norma shook her head, before slowly starting to smirk. She then looked up, glowering at him, “Fine by me. You were such a thorn in my side today, I have to pay you back for it anyway. Moreover, there’s something else I want to pay you back for as well…”

Norma’s fists clenched, and she started to scream at him.

“Like how someone like you, who never came from a world of magic, was able to make so much more progress that I ever could! Just how…how did you get to be this much of a pest!?”

Corey could only brace himself when Norma rushed him, barely able to get into some kind of defensive position. He was out of options… but damned if he was going to give up now.

Author's Note

As it turns out, that spell did a bit more harm than good in the long run. We're finally on the home stretch. As such, starting today, I'll be updating three times a week (if allowed) until this is finally done. The fic is completed and on backlog. No sense in holding this up any longer, is there? So, once again, if you've managed to read this far, and liked so far, give it a like, and even if you didn't like it and read this far along, I commend you.

Act 4 Chapter 19

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 19: Determined Power

They had their numbers, they had their friendship, and they had their collective strength. And yet, even with all that at their back, even with their enemy fighting alone, Norma still managed to hold her own. Every attack, every charge, Norma matched it head on if not surpass it one way or another. Even with everyone fighting as hard as they could, Norma showed no signs of slowing down.

Fluttercruel was in close range, swinging her mace as hard as she could without losing control over it. Each swing, though, Norma would manage to move around it. The spikes passed within centimeters of her body each and every time. And with each dodge, she did she’d just continue to hold on to that smirk, one that Fluttercruel wanted to wipe clean off her face—or, not so clean in this regard. And through her efforts, through her frustrations, Fluttercruel finally seemed to make contact, but not in the manner she wanted.

“Looks like you’re running out of steam,” Norma said with a chuckle, her hand placed firmly on the mace, totally unharmed, “You won’t be needing this anymore!”

The mace began to glow bright red and crackled with runes as Norma quickly backed away. Fluttercruel understood quickly and tossed it into the air. It spun upwards until finally making contact with the ceiling and erupting in an explosion of fire. The heat and light emanating from it caused Fluttercruel to shield her eyes and face, something she’d come to regret. In that moment, she was struck in the abdomen and launched away, her body colliding with a pillar before stopping.

Unfazed by the explosion, John charged through the dispersing flames and closed in on Norma, clawing at her with sharpened talons. But while his swings had the strength to deal some real damage, he didn’t have the speed to make it matter. Norma merely danced between his strikes before closing in. With a magic charged punch, she struck him in the chest and John barreled backwards. Maybe it was the addition of magic, or maybe he was simply that damaged. Either way, that strike hurt more than he’d expected.

Rarity and Applejack ran around John, the unicorn’s hand coated in more stone from the surrounded area for a large fist. Rarity brought it down with all her strength, her fist slamming on the ground as Norma avoided it. Applejack then jumped over Rarity, using her shoulder as support for another jump. Swining around, Applejack managed to land a kick to the side of Norma’s head, causing her to stumble. Applejack then followed up with a punch which also connected.

Her next punch, however, was stopped, her wrist and forearm held strong by Norma. By twisting Applejack’s arm and pushing down behind her knee with her foot, Norma managed to force Applejack down to a knee. Finally, she released one hand and charged it with magic, bringing it down over Applejack’s head. However, just as she managed to block one of Applejack’s punches, her own was stopped. Her arm was suddenly ensnared in two hands, and two legs soon wrapped around them as well. Her arm was soon pulled to its limit.

Rainbow had managed to sneak up on Norma and now had her in an arm bar, and she wasn’t letting go.

“Why you little…!” Norma’s grip loosened for only a moment, but it gave Applejack the time she needed to reverse her hold. With both her arms pinned against her will, she was wide open for Rarity’s attack. Rarity brought her stone fist up as hard as she could and struck Norma square in the stomach. Both Rainbow and Applejack let go just as Norma was struck, sending her flying up and away. Rainbow was not content to leave it at that; launching off the ground, she flew after Norma, slamming her knees into her just as Norma collided with another pillar. The force was enough for Norma to spit up blood, but she wasn’t done yet.

She grabbed on to Rainbow by the collar and slammed her forehead into the pegasus’s skull. Rainbow was dazed from the blow, and Norma used this to grab on to her and rode along as Rainbow fell to the ground. Rainbow hit the floor with Norma on top of her; she swore she heard something pop.

Norma rolled off of Rainbow and stood up quickly, seeing a mass of yellow soaring in her direction. Fluttercruel, though weaponless, still had a means to fight. She rammed into Norma and the two struggled to grapple as they rolled about. But through the struggle, Fluttercruel found a pressure point, and jabbed into it with two fingers. Norma’s body suddenly seized against her will, and with this, Fluttercruel threw her weight and slammed Norma into the pillar again. After grabbing Norma by the mane, Fluttercruel pulled hard on it, only to slam Norma’s face back into the rock.

Norma glared over her shoulder as she stared at Fluttercruel, runes flowing to the pressure point where the latter was pressing down. A simple spell—a hardening of the skin—and Fluttercruel’s pressure point became inactive, and Norma regained control of her body. Finally able to move, Norma threw her head back and slammed the back of her head into Fluttercruel’s face.

Fluttercruel let go and staggered back, her hand over her face and blood running through her fingers. Her nose had been broken, no doubt about it, but Norma wasn’t satisified with just that. While Fluttercruel was stunned from her nose pain, Norma grabbed her by her mane and pulled hard. With Fluttercruel stumbling towards her, Norma brought up her knee and rammed it into her abdomen, knocking the wind out of the pegasus. Fluttercruel doubled over, gasping for air. Norma looked down on her as she gasped and bled.

“Groveling at my feet, as you should—“ Fluttercruel’s head turned as she stared daggers at Norma. Her body moved again as she threw a punch with as much strength as she had, but Norma was ready. She grabbed hold of Fluttercruel’s fist, then after locking her arm, she slammed Fluttercruel’s face on the ground.

“My, you are resilient, but of course you showed me that in your battle with Silver Talon. I was most intrigued by what she did to her arm… tell me, how did it go again?” Though she tried to fight her off, Norma’s hold kept her firmly on the ground, “Was it something like this?” At that point, a sickening crack echoed throughout the room—the sound of Fluttercruel’s forearm breaking, to be exact. As resilient as she was, even Fluttercruel couldn’t hold by the pain she had just felt surge through her. She let out a scream of agony, which grew louder as Norma put more pressure into it.

“Pardon me, I believe I got it wrong,” Norma chuckled, “Seems I’m going to need some more practice…”

“Let go of her!” Norma looked over to see Pinkie charging towards her. Already, Norma could see the buzzer in her hand. Norma released Fluttercruel, stomping down on her head as she stood up. She waited for Pinkie, her eyes trained on the buzzer in her palm, preparing herself for when the right moment came.

Pinkie thrusted her palm forward, hoping for a repeat of what happened last time, but to her complete surprise, Norma didn’t even try to avoid it, or defend against it. Instead, Norma threw her hand forward as well, and grabbed hold of Pinkie’s. There was a short moment of pause—nothing happened. Pinkie looked down to their hands—something should have happened, but it didn’t. Why was that?

“I commend you, this device packs quite the punch,” Pinkie’s eyes shrank, the buzzer had in fact activate, but Norma’s magic was containing it around their hands, “Care to see for yourself?” She didn’t wait for Pinkie to answer, activating her magic. This sent the electrical current back to its sender, the surge of energy hitting Pinkie hard as the voltage did what was intended. Her body convulsed, but Norma was far from done.

“But, if I may give a little advice, I believe it could use a little more power. Something that can really send a message!” Norma cast another spell, and before Pinkie knew it, her mind went white with a new surge of pain. The voltage amped up enough to make her hair waver uncontrollably. Pinkie could no longer form thoughts to even try to escape. The pain would have kept right on going, had the buzzer not run out of charge.

Everyone was silent, everyone watching as Pinkie’s body, steaming from the shock, stood motionless. Her body fell in what seemed like slow motion, but she finally landed flat on her back. If not for the random twitches of her body, everyone would have feared the worse, but it did not diminish what they’d felt in that moment.

But their response was not in words, but in actions, each making their charge with their eyes filled with burning hatred. One alicorn was no exception. While Corey couldn’t see her face, he could tell from her body language.

“Twilight?” Corey looked down, seeing a magenta ring forming around his body. A barrier formed around him.

“I’ll be back…” Before Corey could protest, she had already moved, teleporting out of sight.

“D-damn it… not this again!” Corey swore.

Meanwhile, the others were on the attack, each trying to assault Norma with a barrage of attacks. Applejack’s kicks sliced through the air with enough force to take one’s head off, but she couldn’t get one to land. With every time she’d missed, Applejack could feel the strain in her legs building. Angry as she was, she couldn’t keep it up much longer, but all reason escaped her in her current state.

But still she tried, and still she failed, up until the very moment where Norma saw her opening. Reaching out, she slammed her palm into Applejack’s throat, the impact stunning her as she coughed up. But that wasn’t all: in Norma’s hand were small pieces of confetti. They came to life and wrapped themselves around Applejack’s neck, effectively closing her airway and beginning to suffocate her.

She tried and tried to pull at the bindings, but she couldn’t get any air, and the world around her soon started to fade away. With her strength leaving her, Applejack fell limp on her knees, everything a blur to her. The last thing she could see was something coming at her: another large blur, but at that moment, she couldn’t think about what it may have been. Simply feeling the last of her strength leave her as her world turned black.

But her time wasn’t done. The blur running towards her saw to that as he sliced through her bindings with his claws. Quickly, he caught her, checking for any signs of life, and let out a small sigh of relief.

“She’s breathing…” said John, but Applejack remained unconscious.

“Pity…” Norma added. John glared at her, his pupils becoming slit.

One more… I can handle it one more time… let’s make it count! John’s muscles tensed as he let his newfound instincts take over, launching off the ground with his strength as he entered his berserk mode. John wasn’t sure how long he could hold out in his current state—whether he would become a rampaging beast, or if his body would give out—but he didn’t care. He charged towards Norma, his speed now much greater than it was last time. It was enough to catch her off guard as John’s claw managed to slice at her skin. Norma began to backtrack as John continued to swipe at her, his claws managing to cause a few more light cuts on her along the way.

Eventually, Norma lost track of her movements, and an awkward step on a piece of storm caused her to slip and fall back. As she fell, John was already preparing to make a final blow, but Norma wouldn’t allow it. Slamming both fists into the ground caused the floor beneath John’s feet to shatter and caused him to fall to the floor below. Norma allowed herself a small sigh of relief, but was quickly met with a blast of magic that sent her away. Norma quickly hopped off the ground to see Rarity charging for her, her horn still glowing from her last attack.

“Even now, you think you can match my magic?” Norma scoffed, “Let me show you our gap!” Norma’s magic flared and three large bolts of energy formed around her. Instantly, they all flew towards Rarity, and the unicorn in question paused when seeing them. Try as she might, she couldn’t think of a way to avoid them, much less block them. In the final moments, all she could do was raise her guard before impact.

Norma watched as the dust kicked up from the explosion began to settle, wondering just what state Rarity could be in after taking an attack like that.

“She may not be on par with you,” Norma scowled as she saw the result—Rarity was unharmed, and Twilight was in front of her, a barrier of magic around them, “But how about we see how I stack up?” The barrier dropped as Twilight cast another spell, every piece of rubble around them floating off the ground.

Each piece then began to glow brightly as they spun into disks of spiraling energy. Then, they each flew forward, soaring towards Norma in a near-unreadable pattern.

She tried to put up her own barrier, but it could only survive two strikes before shattering. This left her only one option: run, and hope to escape the rest. Each time produced a near miss, but the impact made by each piece of rubble was without a doubt powerful. That thought quickly confirmed itself when one managed to hit her in the side, the impact almost enough to cause Norma to pass out. Seeing the danger rise, Norma turned her sights to an exit, thinking she could regroup before making her next attack.

“You won’t get away!” Twilight was not having it; the rubble she was controlling quickly went to work in blocking off any exit, “You’re going to stay here until the end, until you’ve finally been taken down!” With that, Twilight sent off a blast of energy towards Norma. The earth pony was only barely able to avoid it. But while she avoided the blast itself, Norma couldn’t avoid the shockwave.

“That’s showing her, Twilight!” Rainbow cheered. Norma, meanwhile, tried to recover from the shockwave that’d hit her. She glanced over to Rainbow, a single brow arching as an idea formed in her head.

“I see now, even after all your boasting, you all are nothing without your alicorn,” Rainbow was the one who took the bait, giving her a look of annoyance, “No wonder you couldn’t beat Storm Claw alone…”

Rainbow fell for it, Twilight’s calls unable to stop Rainbow from flying over at Norma.

“You wanna bet!?” Rainbow slammed into Norma, the two slamming into a wall and sending up a cloud of dust. Just as Twilight began to worry about what could have happened, however, she saw Rainbow stumble out of it. She then saw Norma shaking her head from the impact, her dazed state exactly what they needed.

“Blast her!” Rainbow shouted, but Twilight was already on it as she fired a bolt of energy towards Norma. With one final shake of her head, Norma opened her eyes to see the blast of energy, her pupils shrinking in fear before it made contact. The blast wasn’t meant to be a killing strike; just enough to ensure that Norma wouldn’t get up. And when she fell from the smoke, limp, it seemed it had done its job.

Twilight smiled, the feeling that it was finally over beginning to swell inside of her. But that feeling shattered with what happened next. Norma’s image began to dissolve into red particles and shreds, revealing something else within. Twilight and Rarity both looked on in shock as they saw Rainbow, their friend, being the one to fall motionless.

“B…but how?” Twilight asked in horror, only for the other Rainbow to begin laughing maniacally.

“Slayer’s spell is quite useful, wouldn’t you agree?” Rainbow, the one that was standing, started to change as well. Her voice and appearance shifted into who she really was: Para Norma. In the time it took for Norma and Rainbow to stagger out, Norma had altered their appearances.

Twilight’s eyes darted back and forth, the realization that she’d just attacked her own friend hitting her like a train. “N-no… Rainbow, I—“

“Look out!” In her struggle to come to terms with what happened, Twilight hadn’t noticed Norma’s next attack. But someone else did, and in the short frame of time she had, Rarity could only think of one way to protect Twilight. Placing herself between Norma’s attack and Twilight, Rarity was struck by Norma’s magic. This finally called Twilight back into reality.

“Rarity!” Twilight called out as she watched her friend, damaged from taking the blast, fell over. Twilight caught Rarity, shaking her and begging for her friend to awaken, but Rarity gave no response.

“Clever girl… used whatever magic she could to soften the impact at the last moment,” At the sound of Norma’s voice, Twilight looked up, but saw that Norma was gone. And as she strained to find her, Twilight felt a cold chill run down her spine, “Seems it’s just you and me now, Princess…”

The voice was directly behind her. Twilight turned her head quickly so she could face her opponent, only to be struck across the face with a hard kick. Norma’s strike pushed Twilight aside and onto the floor, Rarity’s unconscious body finally hitting the ground.

‘Something wrong, Princess? You were much more capable before. Could it be that nearly killing your friend did quite the heavy toll on your mind?” Again, Twilight looked over to Rainbow, Norma playing at her emotions like an instrument, “I wonder what went through her mind, to see someone she trusted attack her… I wonder what she’ll think when she wakes up. That is… if she wakes up…”

Twilight snarled and turned to look to Norma, only for a piece of the ground below her to shoot out and slam into her stomach. The impact knocked the wind out of her and lifted her body a few feet off the ground, only for Norma to punch her back down. Then, it repeated—another piece of the ground slammed into Twilight’s body and knocked her up just so she could be slammed back down once again. The repeated strikes hurt, but Twilight tried to fight through it, her horn glowing as she tried to cast a counter spell. Her efforts came to nothing when she was kicked again.

“It’s funny, really. Not too long ago, you all believes that you could win,” Twilight tried to get up, her new injuries stacking up on top of the ones Storm Claw had left her with—now they started to hurt, “And yet look at you all now… broken, half alive, and at my mercy…”

Norma let out a chuckle, showing just how much she loved this moment.

“Especially you!” With her finger stretched out, Norma fired a thin piece of magic. The projectile struck Twilight in her shoulder, enticing a scream of agony as she grabbed on to it, “I’ve enjoyed dashing all your hopes, but I feel I could do more…”

Norma grabbed Twilight by her mane and pulled her up. “Maybe I won’t kill you at all, or maybe I’ll let you live just a little while longer… to see how much more of you I can break.”

In that moment, something did break, but it wasn’t Twilight. A far off wall crumbled down as John who had fallen out of the room finally made his return. With his one wing broken, John had to take the long way back. But in doing so, he could only now see what had happened while he was away.

Needless to say, he was far from happy, and even Norma knew when to take something seriously. She dropped Twilight and turned her full attention to John. To her, John was now a wounded animal—not just physically. Just like any wounded animal, John was ready to pounce for the neck, and pounce he did. He rushed Norma, unleashing a torrent of fire.

The fire was deflected with ease, unable to break through Norma’s barrier. But a simple strike from John’s fist was more than enough. Each time John broke through a barrier, Norma would create another, each only able to hold up through a single strike. Each gave her a single moment to plan out her next move. As another punch came, she managed to parry it away, leaving John’s guard open. Using this, she brought both hands forward and shot out a short range burst, knocking John away.

But he wasn’t going to go down, his talons digging into the ground beneath him and keeping him upright. Again, he charged like a raging bull, Norma backing away in order to keep some distance. She shot bolt and bolt of magic at him, John deflecting those he could, and avoiding those he couldn’t. In time, he drew closer, close enough to really matter, and he tried to take his chance. Bringing both his fists down, he cratered the floor, kicking up dust and sending rubble everywhere. Norma fell over in the process.

John looked around, looking for any sign of movement, and he found it. Through the dust, he spotted a shadow trying to stand again. John went off pure instinct, charging towards it with a fist drawn back. John cut through the dust, the cloud dispersing as he ran top speed, allowing him to see just who was in front of him. He wanted to see who he was hitting…

Rainbow!? John’s fist stopped, only mere inches away from Rainbow’s unconscious form. Everything stopped for him, his pupils rounding out as he saw her damaged form. John reached out for her, softly and carefully. Only for Rainbow to be tossed aside by who was holding her—Norma, a wicked sneer on her face, both hands glowing strong with runes flowing around them.

“Weak,” Norma thrust her hands forward, slamming them into John’s chest and causing the runes around them to travel through his body. He didn’t have time to react, not this time, not after being thrown off like that. He could only watch as the runes overtook his body, and the spell activated as soon as he was coated with them.

And then, it was nothing but immeasurable pain, his body burning like never before as all his nerves reacted at once. Norma simply watched as his body jolted from the pain, watching as the dragon screamed in agony. It was a spell that bypassed all of his natural defenses—and the defenses the hide offered him—and attacked his nerves directly. Of course, such a spell took up quite a bit of magic—if not for that, she’d have let it run for longer. But it was clear that he’d reached beyond his limit, his eye having gone white from the pain from the very start.

With a snap of her fingers, the spell was finally released, and John simply stood there motionless. To Norma, it seemed that all his thoughts had stopped, but he wasn’t done thinking…

I failed… He could support his own weight no longer, his body slowly beginning to tilt forward, Corey, Rainbow, everyone… I’m sorry…

Norma stood motionless, wanting nothing more than to see John dead at her feet. But Norma’s guard was down—she was so sure of her victory she relaxed herself… a big mistake on her part.

Just as it seemed that John was about to hit the ground, he moved, one foot stretching out and slamming into the ground behind him. He brought one arm back and focused what little strength he had left—all the strength his body would allow him to channel…

Sorry that this is all I can do! No words left his mouth, only a monstrous roar that echoed as John struck Norma as hard as he could. The impact resonated all through her body, the sound of several things cracking and popping echoing in her ears. For what seemed like forever, Norma was sure she was seeing death. But that moment eventually passed, and she felt the pain of the impact, her body soaring towards the other side of the room and crashing into the wall.

Everything went silent, Twilight looking over to John as he stood there motionlessly. Then, her eyes drifted to where Norma had hit the wall. Her body was stuck to the wall, a darkened wound on the site of impact. For a moment, it seemed like it was over. That hope was dashed when she opened her eyes.

“No…”

Norma let out a cough, blood seeping out the sides of her mouth as she did so.

That was… close… The spot she was struck in glowed slightly, a last-second defensive spell put up. No doubt, that was what had saved her. But it was enough, and Norma was beginning to move again, moving towards the one who’d struck her. And John, having used up all his strength in that last attack, finally fell.

She’d taken more damage than she’d expected. More injuries had piled up as the battle went on, but the most painful was the last attack John had done to her. There was no doubt in Norma’s mind her ribcage was still destroyed from the force of the attack. But with some luck, she’d managed to soften the blow just enough to stay standing. The same, however, could not be said for the others.

Each of them, one by one… the unicorn who shared her magic, the dragon, and the Elements of Harmony themselves… they had all fallen. Even John’s last desperate attack couldn’t take her down. But Norma could tell that they were not dead. That was a good thing—she was not letting them have it that easy. With them broken physically, now she could take her time breaking each of them in any way she saw fit. And her first target was John—the one who had by far done the most damage. Slowly, she stepped towards him, a slight limp in her step as she drew closer.

John’s eye refocused as he looked up at her, but it was hard to see when blood was running down over it, blurring his vision. He could still see the intent in her eyes. He tried to move, but it was no use. The last of his strength was gone—there was nothing more he could do but watch and wait. Norma raised her hand, her runes glowing, distorting to reflect the madness in her mind. Norma’s eyes made contact with his single remaining eye.

“Seems you lost something in your travels, dragon. Tell me, how would it feel to have parted with another?” Her runes quickly rushed to her fingers and her nails grew out with sharpened tips.

“Actually, don’t answer that,” she said, raising her hand, “I want to find out for myself.” Norma then charged, her hand spearing towards John’s head, towards his remaining eye. John prepared himself for what would come, only for luck to shine on him, if only partially. A blast of magic flew over him, colliding with Norma and forcing her away from John. He couldn’t see where it came from, but he knew who had saved him.

“Well, well, seems you have some fight left in you after all, Princess?”

Twilight was breathing heavily. She was in no better condition than anyone else. But somehow, she was up again, even if she was only on one knee.

“Stay away from them… all of them!” Twilight commanded, before blasting another bolt of magic towards Norma. This one, however, was swatted aside by Norma, the earth pony beginning to walk towards Twilight now.

“That’s a good look you have there, Princess,” Norma referred, of course, to the look of utter hatred on Twilight’s face—hatred that had been earned through all of Norma’s actions. All of what Twilight had been made to witness—each of her friends broken and tossed aside by a single mare. Only once had she hated another with such a passion, but even that level of hate didn’t compare to what she was feeling now. But for every ounce of hatred Twilight glared at her, Norma enjoyed it.

“Too bad it won’t matter…” Norma stomped her foot on the ground and sent a trail of runes around Twilight, the runes causing the floor around her to shift until it was coiled around her like a snake. The coil tightened around her, increasing the pressure and causing Twilight to grunt in pain. But that wasn’t enough for Norma. No, she wanted more… she wanted to hear Twilight scream, and Norma wanted to make sure she got everything she wanted.

With the sound of her body slowly being cracked, and her blood seeping from her wounds, Twilight could no longer hold it in. Eventually, she let out a scream, and it echoed through the ears of all those conscious enough to hear it.

“Music to my ears…” The coil finally let up and Norma dragged Twilight towards her, “But the song won’t end here, no, I intend to make more music out of you, and I will enjoy every minute of it.” Another spell was cast, and thorns began to slowly grow out of her bindings.

Twilight watched as they grew, beginning in the portion of the coil that wasn’t making contact with her, but slowly they were beginning to grow closer, their extended spines threatening to pierce her body on contact. Twilight squirmed in her position, trying her hardest to break free, but she couldn’t muster the strength. All she could do was breathe heavily as she saw the spikes getting closer, and brace herself for the final moment.

And it hurt just as much as she thought it would. The spikes finally began to pierce into her skin, and her wails of agony only made it worse.

“That’s it! Sing for me!” Norma called out, “Cry for help, if you please! No one’s coming for you now!”

At that moment, Para Norma was more sure of herself than she had ever been. But… at the point where her victory party should have began, Norma quickly discovered how wrong she was.

“Enough!”

The voice boomed through the room, a bolt of green magic zipping towards Norma and impacting with great force. Not only did it manage to blast her away, but it also freed Twilight in the process. With her bindings and the pain finally gone, Twilight fell over, holding herself up on her arms as she panted heavily. She then looked over to an amazing sight…

Corey, who had been all but broken himself when she came here with the others, was now standing on his own. His hand was steaming from the attack he used, and his body, all his wounds… they had healed—and if they hadn’t, they were starting to.

“Alright… Norma…” Corey said. Norma stood up, staring at him with equal parts rage and surprise. Corey’s magic then flared into an aura of green flame—stronger than he’d shown before, “It’s time for round two!”

Author's Note

We're on the home stretch of Act 4; three chapters to go. Following that is some wrap-up, and the epilogue. There's not much left to say at this point.

Act 4 Chapter 20

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 20: Second Wind

At first, Corey had sat on the sidelines. Everyone seemed to have the situation, for the most part, under control. However, not too long after John got here, everything went south. Though undoubtedly fatigued in some way, Norma was still a force to be reckoned with. Fluttercruel was the first to go down, left with an arm broken. Then, Pinkie had her own joy buzzer-or joy taser, whichever it was actually called, turned on her by Norma’s whims.

When this happened, Corey tensed up, and looked up to see Twilight had straightened up to her full height. Then her posture changed, reflecting the anger she was no doubt feeling. Corey felt it too, but he knew from prior experience that going in blind with rage was only going to lead to worse consequences.

“Twilight?” Corey asked, noticing her change in demeanor. He then looked down, seeing the magenta ring forming around his body. He was soon surrounded by a barrier, magenta in color.

“I’ll be back…” Twilight said, shortly before vanishing from his sight. Corey’s eyes widened, and he pushed himself up on his good arm a bit.

“D-damn it!” Corey swore, moving his good leg into position to try to stand up, his eyes closing from the effort it was taking, “Not this again!”

Corey brought his body up, but his head abruptly collided with the inside of the barrier, forcing him back down with another cry of “Shit!” This time, when he hit the ground, he heard a thunk, and felt something roll out of his pocket. He turned his head, seeing what it was.

It was an orb, no bigger than the palm of his hand, and it was still glowing faintly with power. Corey realized what it was, and looked to it.

T-that’s… that’s the orb she was using! Corey thought, I pulled it away from her, but…

His attention soon returned to the outside of the barrier. John had roared to life, Applejack down for the count now.

Damn it! There has to be something I can do! Corey thought, Just taking her orb from her hasn’t helped much! And… and at this rate… they’ll--!

“Calm down… Corey…” Esper’s voice came in through his mind, loud and clear, despite the fight going on to his side, “The answer is closest to you, after all…”

“The answer is…” Corey said, before his eyes fell on the orb. Trying to gather focus despite his panic, Corey began to use his head once more to communicate, “But it’s no use… I couldn’t break a twig in my condition, much less the orb!”

“I did not say to break it, though, did I?” Esper asked, “Look carefully now…what do you see?”

Corey’s attention returned to the fight as the barrier flickered. He could see Rainbow tackle Norma into the far wall. At no point did anyone really look over to him, assuming him out of the battle.

“Norma… she doesn’t see me… In fact, no one does…” Corey responded, turning his attention back to the orb.

“With her attention no longer on you, you’re free to do as you wish,” Esper said, “If you all are still having trouble, then use our magic, contained within that orb you have with you now, to heal yourself!”

“But… if I do that, won’t you…” Corey began, but his attention was soon returned to the fight by the sound of an explosion. He watched as Norma, having used Slayer’s magic, came out of a Rainbow Dash disguise, the real Rainbow flat on her back, smoking from the explosion.

“I don’t believe you have any time left to argue, Corey! Remember what I told you before?? If we died in this battle, it was fine by us! If we get to do that using our powers against Para Norma rather than being forced to give it to her, then by all means, use the orb! Let us fight her too!”

Corey grimly looked on as Twilight, frozen in shock, was protected by Rarity. There was no other way. Regardless of how he felt having to use Norma’s own art against her… if her victims were okay with it, then…

“Tell me what I have to do…” Corey thought, “My horn’s been damaged…”

“Neither Norma nor me have horns, and we’re both capable of runic magic!” Esper said, “Don’t focus on your horn… bring it to wherever you need it instead!”

With that, Corey went to work. It was hard to focus with time seeming to run out, but Corey pressed onward. His senses extended far enough to feel that everyone was still alive, their spirits still emanating the warmth he recognized as theirs. While their signals were weak, it was enough to let him know he still had a little time—that, and his own experience with Norma, was what he needed to know to work fast.

His horn was the first to be healed, since his instincts would probably come back on him anyway. As soon as his horn was in working order, Corey set to work on his damaged bones—the repair process of which hurt like hell, especially when his ribs began to reset. Corey’s eyes suddenly widened as he realized there was no barrier, and he willed himself to stand now, his regular five senses now returning to normal…

And he heard Twilight’s screams, Norma’s taunts…

That was it. No matter what it took, no matter what was thrown at him from here on, no matter what, period…

This was going to end. And Norma was going to pay up hard for everything she’d done.

“Enough!!”

Twilight couldn’t believe what she was seeing, and for a moment she had wondered if this was just the last synapses of a hopeful brain firing off, so that she wouldn’t have to die suffering. But the pain she was feeling, the breeze that Corey’s aura seemed to give off, the very real sensations she felt… it was all real.

“Corey… how…” Twilight said, slowly standing up, “Weren’t you…”

“I’ll explain later,” Corey said, “Right now, I don’t think there’s a lot of time for that!”

Norma shakily got to her feet, her shock giving way to her anger. “I should have killed you when I’d had the chance!”

“And even if you had, I don’t think the end result would have been different,” Corey said, “But it’s too late for regrets, and if you still have them, you’re going to be re-living them down in Tartarus where you belong!”

With that, Corey clenched his fists, and the aura he gave off seemed to be getting even stronger. Twilight squinted as loose pebbles began to fly up from Corey’s body, and a moment later, Corey’s body moved. He clenched his fist, and punched at the empty air.

A pillar of air pressure shot forth from his extended fist, and nailed Norma square in the chest. Norma, who didn’t heal from John’s earlier attack, hacked up blood as she was sent flying back—it was a miracle she’d gotten any defense up in time.

Norma slammed straight through the wall behind her, and from the subsequent crashing noises probably a couple more. As this happened, Corey moved to follow her. He stopped short, however, turning around to regard Twilight.

“I’m going after her for now,” Corey said, reaching out a hand to her, “There’s just one more thing I’d better do while I’m still here…”

Twilight looked to his hand, which remained shrouded in the aura. She looked back up to him. For a moment, both smiled at each other, before Twilight took hold of his hand. Corey’s eyes closed, and Twilight immediately felt warmth encircle her—Corey’s magical aura had extended, and was now covering her for a moment. Runes shone all over her where she’d been injured, and after a few moments Twilight no longer felt shaky on her feet.

Corey released his hold on her hand at this point, and for a few moments, Twilight’s body kept glowing.

“What did you just—“ Twilight asked.

“I’ll explain it all later, but I think with that you should be able to wake the others up at least,” Corey said, “Alright, I’m going—“

“Wait,” Twilight said, reaching out for his shoulder. Corey turned again, only to find Twilight giving him a stern look…with a smile, “Don’t lose, alright?”

“I already lost once,” Corey said, “I’m not losing to her again!”

With that, Corey sped out of her sight, and a moment later, Twilight heard another crash. She stood, transfixed, even as the crashing continued to sound off, getting further and further away each time.

Just where… did all that power come from? she thought, before mentally slapping herself, Question for later. For now…

After the lull between the first attack and his second, Norma had at least managed to prepare herself for more, and sure enough, when Corey zipped right after her, she found herself getting pushed back by more air pressure walls. Try as she might, Corey’s repeated attacks pushed her through more and more walls, until finally there were no more walls behind her.

Thus, Norma found herself ejected out of one of the northern towers, surrounded by debris. She quickly righted herself by emitting a pulse of magic from her whole body, and landed on a rooftop below. Corey followed her, and took hold of the debris with his magic, before launching it straight at her. This caused Norma to have to back up again, and thus, she leapt clear across to another building top. Corey landed where she had been a moment ago, still cloaked in the green aura from before.

Norma glared at Corey all the while, still unable to comprehend just how he was up again, much less using magic again.

“Just what do I have to do…” Norma shook her head, “To be rid of you!?”

With Norma still stunned from Corey’s reemergence, Corey crouched down a bit and clenched his fists.

“From here on, it’s in your hands now, Corey. We’re giving you anything we can spare. End it. Don’t hold back!” Esper’s voice came in loud and clear. Corey could feel it. Though it definitely wasn’t all they could do, he felt like he had a substantial amount of power at the ready to use. And he was going to make ample use of it.

“Right!” Corey shouted, and with a small shout, Norma saw his form alter once again. His green aura grew larger, and a small aura began to appear underneath it, attached to his body—the yellowish-white of his light magic aura. As she stared at the dual-aura, Norma finally realized what was going on.

“You’ve…” Norma patted herself, checking where she kept her orbs. When she counted only one, she realized exactly which one she’d been left with, “You’ve taken…”

Her mind took her back to when he was last in the fight, when he’d been freshly blown back, unable to use his horn, and thus his magic, effectively. He had been moving about as though he’d gotten something. Norma snarled.

“Clever…” Norma, to her own shock, began to laugh it off, “The power from that orb, even now, is filling you with the same power it has filled me with. Of course, unlike me, you already had a strong base magic…”

Norma’s fist tightened and she looked at Corey. “So how can you claim to be any better than me, now!? You’re using power stolen from others, just as I have! And I plan to take it back—“

“Wrong,” Corey cut her off, vanishing from her line of sight. Norma stepped back, only to hear Corey’s voice coming back from behind her, “This power is halfway back where it belongs, on the outside world. This orb isn’t a battery, it’s ponies. Ponies you’ve used for far too long against their will.”

Norma whirled around, creating another blade of air pressure to try to slice at Corey, but he moved out of sight yet again, before continuing on.

“The ponies you’ve imprisoned are working together with me now,” Corey continued. Norma turned. He was back where he was when he’d started talking, “They understand the situation, and they know the stakes. I can’t hold back here. Buildings, roads, all the things in the city and castle we broke… those can be replaced. There is always time to rebuild. Lives, however… the lives you tried to step on, the time you’ve taken from the ponies in the orb, and the lives you intend to snuff out over the course of your reign of terror… those can’t.”

“Spare me the lectures!” Norma shouted, “Just how do you know about the ‘will’ of those ponies, anyway!?”

“I’d tell you, but you wouldn’t understand even if I did,” Corey said, “And for my part, I’ve got nothing else to say to you!”

Corey cocked his right fist back. “Just fall, already!”

Then, he threw his fist forward again. Norma braced herself, initially thinking she’d dodged, but she soon realized this wasn’t going to work. She raised a barrier around herself, a dense sphere of red magical energy, just as a wall of air pressure slammed into it with tremendous speed. The barrier cracked, and Norma’s eyes widened as she, barrier and all, was thrown back off the rooftop she was on, kicking up debris as she went.

Corey took a single step forward before letting his speed spell take over, the sheer amount of magic in him easily giving him the extra power he needed to pursue. His muscles tensed and bulged up as he shifted to strength. By the time Norma stopped moving, Corey was on her again, slamming the barrier with a hard right cross, letting the barrier slide back as more cracks appeared on its surface. Norma snarled and began thinking of refocusing her magic, only to gasp as Corey vanished from her sight once again, before reappearing in another direction, slamming her with another wall of air pressure that sent her flying in a different direction, completely through a building, as the barrier cracked some more.

Too…fast…! thought Norma, I can’t find any time to replenish the barrier!

Corey zipped behind her before she could stop moving again, and slammed his rune-coated fist directly into the barrier. The impact spell went off, and Norma couldn’t withhold a scream of shock as the dense barrier shattered, the feedback of which sent her flying back through the building she’d just smashed through. She finally came to rest against the building directly across from it.

Norma slowly picked herself up. She then slammed both of her palms into the road in front of her, creating a plethora of spikes. Corey stood unmoving at first, but shortly afterwards, she saw a large glowing orb break its way through, and Norma could only get out of the way as it impacted the building behind her. The shockwave from the explosion, however, she couldn’t avoid, and she felt her feet lift out from under her as she cried out again.

Corey was on her in a second, lifting his leg, which glowed with runes. Norma just had enough time to note the green intermixed with the yellow-white in the runes before she erected another shield directly in front of her. The shield broke and Norma found herself flying backwards through the air, but that was fine; it gave her the time to put up another barrier.

“It doesn’t look good for you, my dear,” There Discord was again, commenting on her situation from within his prison, “For your sake, I do hope he defeats you this time. I shudder to think what I might do to you if I get out and you aren’t taken care of…”

“Shut your—“ Norma tried to command, only to feel something slam into her barrier, sending cracks all throughout the surface. The very color of the barrier changed as well—its color began to change before her very eyes. Corey soon fell, but threw another beam at the ground to gain some more height. Norma’s eyes trailed behind her as she understood that Corey was aiming to end up behind her.

Corey then shot another beam behind him into the sunlit sky, launching himself straight for her barrier. Norma’s eyes widened as she saw his fist glow once more, and felt the sheer force of his impact spell once again. It was all Norma could do to put another protective coating around herself as her barrier shattered and she was sent back to the ground yet again.

Despite the magic that shielded her body, Norma still slid and bounced along a roadway as she landed, kicking up dust and debris with each time her body lurched. Her magic finally faded as she hit a building back first, coughing up some more blood as she finally came to rest. Norma sat motionless against the side of the building, trying her hardest to collect herself. She lifted one of her hands and checked herself. To her horror, her magic had lost the red it had been for a while. It was nearly the white it was when she was still weak.

At this rate… I… I… I’ll…! Norma’s mind started to go frantic. She couldn’t bear the thought of going back to that prison, unable to move, feel or, this time, get free. There had to be something, anything she could—

“Still kicking, huh?” Discord’s voice came to her again from within his prison, breaking her trance, “It’s almost a pity this is over. Here I was enjoying the show after its latest series of twists. But it seems we’ve reached the climax, wouldn’t you say? Very soon, your little war here will be at its end.”

Norma stopped, and she removed the orb that housed Discord from within her hiding spot. She looked to it. When she’d first made it, she’d had no intention of using it like she had the other orb, but that was before this. She stared to Discord, and Discord stared back, as though understanding what she was about to do.

“Hm, so you think you can handle this?” asked Discord, “You think you can handle the magic of the spirit of chaos himself, huh? I may not be able to stop you in the state I’m in now, but I may not need to worry about that…”

Norma closed her eyes and focused, hearing the distant whoosh of air, knowing Corey was on his way to finish the job. Almost as soon as she connected herself to the great source of magic within the orb and began draining, she felt a lead weight glide directly into her center, and spread through her body—the process being utterly agonizing, and it took all of Norma’s will to contain herself from screaming in pain as the magic began to fill her.

“I can’t imagine this feels good for you, anyway…”

After knocking Norma towards the road, Corey allowed himself to drop. His senses extended to compass pretty much the whole of Canterlot, even when he wasn’t focusing on them. He could still feel everyone within Canterlot Castle, and on the outer parts of the city, he could feel the guards positioned there. Were they just about done chasing out the manikins, or had they been ordered to move there once they were dealt with? Either way, Corey was relieved that they weren’t close to where he was. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Corey was off again, rushing towards where he sensed Norma’s diminished signal.

“This is it…” Corey said to himself, “This is nearly over! She can’t have that much magic left at this point, right!?”

As he drew close to Norma’s signature, he suddenly stopped short. Norma’s signature was growing again. A few moments later, he saw a tremendous shockwave of power decimate the buildings just down the street, the shockwave devastating the road in front of him as well, sending debris in all directions. Corey rose a barrier to shield himself from the worst of it. As soon as it was done, he looked back. Floating above the new crater that had formed in the road, moving slowly for his position, was Para Norma, her eyes closed. As she drew close to him, he could hear her start to snicker.

“I should warn you now, I’ve never used this kind of magic before,” Norma said, “And I haven’t the slightest idea what I can do in this state.”

Her eyes opened and met his, and Corey could see how wide they were, but more importantly, he could see they had changed. Her sclera in both of her eyes had turned into a deep yellow, and her irises had changed to a deep crimson. Her pupils had shrunk, and blue veins occurred within the altered eyes. To Corey, it looked as though she was in agony, agony she couldn’t entirely shut out.

“But the point is, I have now taken in the spirit of chaos himself, as my battery…” Norma’s eyes visibly twitched, “Do you know what that means?”

Corey crouched down low, shifting back into a battle stance as he braced himself for what was to come.

“I’ll tell you…” Norma spread her arms apart, and her runes began to appear again. Though they were still predominantly red in color, Corey could see a mess of other colors appear within the designs that appeared in front of her as well.

“I am now, without question, the most powerful being in this world. You have no chance of defeating me now…” Norma said.

“Depends…” Corey said, “Do you think you can control it long enough to prove it?”

Corey and Norma squared off, Norma floating feet from Corey. Corey’s feet were planted firmly on the ground as he braced himself, unsure of what she was going to do next.

“As always, you talk as though you have the slightest idea of what magic truly is…” Norma said, “Or power… This time, you won’t be getting back up!”

Author's Note

Now that she's the one in the corner, Norma does something she's already regretting. What will be the outcome now? Tune in on Tuesday, and find out.

Act 4 Chapter 21

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 21: The Tortured Souls’ Will

Corey and Norma stared each other down for what felt like forever. The sun still continued to shine over the city of Canterlot. Norma continued to float over the crater she’d made, mere feet from Corey. Corey stood his ground, not knowing exactly what Norma would do—or could do, in her condition. She looked even more crazed than she’d sounded earlier…

If she’s taken his magic, just what can she do with it… Corey thought. Norma’s arms began to move, slowly, into position. Then, on both hands, she snapped her fingers, her runes wildly flashing outwards from her hands. Then, Corey let out a gasp as the ground at his feet suddenly began to sink.

Q-quicksand!? Corey thought, glancing down as the ground began to swallow him up. It was true. Within a ten yard radius of him, all the ground began to shift and pulse as though it were made of liquid. It was swallowing him up quick. Quickly, Corey raised his gaze to the sky above, and closed his eyes in focus. A moment later, his aura began to resonate with runes as well, and before long, Corey shot upwards. The quicksand pool at his feet stretched as he began to go against its pull, but before long, Corey pulled free of that as well.

Norma’s eyes tracked him as he flew upwards, before stopping when he stopped. To Norma’s initial surprise, he stayed there, floating in the air, supported by nothing. Then, her eyes adjusted, and she could see clearly that the runes were still there.

“A spell that lets you fly at the expense of your magic…” Norma muttered, “Just how much more do you plan on dragging this out?”

“As long as it takes until you’re back in Tartarus,” Corey said.

Norma snarled, and began to follow him into the air. Corey took notice of how she moved. At first, her movement into the air was sluggish, slow, but she soon gained speed. Before long, she was eye-level with him in the air. Corey slowly began to pull back, making some distance. As soon as he started moving back, Norma raised both of her arms again, snapping her fingers as rapidly as her body would allow. A plethora of air pressure waves, as sharp as ever, began to make their way towards him. However, where before she was able to keep them to some level of consistency, Corey couldn’t help but notice that these all varied in size.

Regardless of what it meant, though, Corey understood these were still deadly, and began to weave through the air to try to avoid them. However, he soon realized this wasn’t going to work when he noticed the blades were 1) too numerous and 2) seemed to be following him. Quickly, Corey charged magic into both of his hands, the surplus magic working in his favor to keep his other spells active.

He slammed his hands together, creating a massive shockwave that extended out all around him. The disturbed air slammed into Norma’s attacks, destroying most of them. The bigger ones convulsed considerably and spun off course, either slicing into the ground or dissipating into the air they came from. With the airspace clearing up, Corey soared towards Norma, cocking one fist back, aiming for a punch.

Norma’s eyes grew stern as she moved slightly to the left, dodging Corey’s left punch before she grabbed on to his wrist. She held onto it tightly.

“I seem to remember you didn’t have the use of an arm at the end of our fight,” Norma said, “I’ll just have to make absolutely sure you can never use it again!”

More of those wild runes began to travel down Norma’s arm into her hand as Corey fought against her grip. Her hand began to glow, and Corey could feel his wrist begin to burn. Abruptly, the burning stopped, and the runes that had collected in Norma’s palm suddenly shattered like glass, vanishing into empty air. Norma convulsed in pain, backing away from Corey as her arm twitched violently. Her teeth clenched and her eyes widened, but Corey was far from being sympathetic to her anguish now, opting to kick her away while she was dealing with the aftermath, sending her soaring away and letting gravity re-assert itself.

Norma flailed a little as she struggled to get her magic under control, trying desperately to regain flight before she would hit the ground again. Fortunately for her, she managed to emit a shockwave just as she passed the building tops, halting her descent. She then paused, looking to her arm. To her shock, what she was wasn’t her regular pony arm. The fur on the arm was gone, replaced with green scales, and as she ran her other hand over it, she felt how dry and…reptilian it felt. The fingers on that arm were replaced with sharp, draconic looking nails.

“What is this…!?” Norma shouted, but the sound of air moving got her attention, and she looked up to see Corey was rushing her again, magic concentrating into his fist. Norma began to focus magic into her fist yet again, and met his punch with her own. Their fists collided in the middle, and the resulting explosion of force sent both combatants flying back, the buildings around them crumbling and flying out in all directions as well. Corey emitted magic from his body to recover his trajectory, and then looked ahead. Norma was once again having trouble getting control of her flight.

“This is my chance!” Corey yelled, taking off after her max speed. Norma could only watch as Corey soared past her in midair yet again, and realized there was nothing she could do in time. She moved her arms into positon to try to defend herself, but wound up with a single foot slamming into her gut as opposed to two fists slamming into her face like she’d expected, and this sent her rocketing towards the ground.

Norma let out a scream as she willed herself to keep going; stopping herself inches from the ground with yet another earth-rending shockwave that left a decent-sized crater in the road she’d nearly slammed into full force. Quickly righting herself, forcing magic into her feet, she stomped hard on the ground.

Corey could only watch as Norma’s spell yielded…quite a few random things coming at him, really. Tree root-like structures began to extend from the crater that Norma had landed in, along with mucky, muddy tendrils that reached up hungrily for him. Corey snarled, beginning to take evasive action. The root-like structures were easy enough to dodge as they soared at him. The tendrils were harder to avoid. Corey turned around, seeing one chasing him. He blasted at it, causing it to heat up and crumble, but two more soon took its place. He turned around, trying to keep an eye on it, the whole way, but saw a tree root extend out in front of him abruptly. Corey slammed an impact-enhanced fist into it, blowing it away, but to do so, he had to slow down. No sooner than when he shattered the root, the tendrils that chased him coiled tightly around his feet, and snapped backwards like a snare.

Corey let out a cry of surprise as he was forcibly dragged through the air, then a grunt of pain as he slammed hard to the ground. The tendrils then began to drag him along the ground. Corey could hear the snapping of fingers, but it wasn’t until he stopped moving just yards from Norma that he saw and felt what she was doing.

Two brick houses next to him were rapidly being stripped of their mortar, which reached out and stretched his arms out. With his arms and legs bound, Corey fought to free himself. He looked ahead and saw Norma grinning, more of those multicolor runes shining off her body as she began to crouch down.

“This is goodbye…” Norma said. As her hands contacted the ground, several pillars topped with spikes began to stretch out of the ground towards Corey, who fought desperately to free himself. However, it turned out he didn’t need to.

To the fighters’ mutual surprise, the spikes suddenly began to veer off at odd angles, or stopping short entirely. A couple of the spikes managed to veer off course and stab through Corey’s bindings, freeing his arms and leaving him open to blast his legs free. He then rose up into the sky, firing a few magic bolts at Norma with one hand.

Norma stood up, runes writing in front of her. A barrier appeared, but to her surprise, it only reflected one before shattered, letting the others in at her. Forced to guard with her body, Norma screamed again, and doubled over. She could feel her legs changing now as well, and there was a horrid, searing pain in her back.

Corey could only watch, horrified, as he saw a fairly large, but single, angel wing with gray feathers push out of Norma’s back, tearing through the cloth that was there to do so. One of Norma’s feet became visible, resembling Lyon’s foot—claws tearing through the material that otherwise protected her foot.

Corey was transfixed by Norma’s mutation, but this transfixed stare of his turned out to be beneficial. He saw her move, lifting her reptilian palm to face him. Runes began to swirl into her hand, but what came out of her hand was anything but a deadly blast.

A confetti popper spontaneously appeared from her hand, and sprayed its devices uselessly over the road. Snarling from the uselessness of the spell, Norma pounded the ground. A few pillars began to shoot up out of the ground, but they were so much narrower than this. As Norma began to rise up again, she stopped, her body racking with pain even worse now.

“What…what is happening…to my body…?” Norma asked. She then stood up to her full height, a vein bulging from her head as she shouted in anger, “Why isn’t my magic working!?”

“Well, I’d hate to be the one to say that ‘I told you so’…” Discord chastised from within his prison again, seeming absolutely unbothered by the loss of magic he was no doubt experiencing, “Oh, who am I kidding, I’d love to be it. I told you so…”

Norma snarled. It was bad enough that she was having trouble maintaining control of the energy flowing into her, which naturally made Corey an even harder target.

“It seems you’ve bitten off far more than you could have hoped to chew in your lifetime, Para Norma,” Discord said, “Your body is mutating because it can’t handle the magic you’re feeding it. You’re losing control of the magic you’ve stolen from me because of the same reasons—“

“Shut up!” Norma shouted, “I will kill him… I’ll kill all of them! Just to prove a point, I’m going to kill every last one of them with your own pow—“

“No, you won’t!”

At the sound of Corey’s voice, Norma looked up, gasping. She was caught entirely flat-footed as Corey made his approach, and caught a fist to the side of her head. Corey threw out a volley of punches and kicks—attacks which, were it not for the mutations her body was undergoing, or the magic she had at her disposal, would have knocked her out otherwise—before ending it with another Impact spell to her stomach.

Norma’s ears began to ring and her eyes went wider than ever as she flew backwards from his spell, the force of the impact leaving a trench in her wake as she went. When she hit the building at the end of her trip, the whole thing crumbled on top of her. Her body began to overload with pain, her body felt like it was going to burst. All this, because her focus began to shift entirely from the situation at hand.

She was slowly beginning to understand that this unicorn…this worm, was besting her. That she was approaching her limit. That there was no way out of this one. That she, Para Norma, came so close, only to have it snatched away…

Corey approached the building, sensing Norma’s growing chill under the rubble. He braced himself, especially when he heard a rumbling coming from underneath the building. The rubble began to shift, and Corey could hear a shrill noise coming from it, which grew in volume.

Corey rose his arms and shielded himself with magic, debris flying everywhere as a column of multicolor energy spewed forth from beneath it. That shrill noise was Norma screaming, and as Corey got a good look at her, his eyes widened considerably. Norma’s body… she hardly looked like the pony she was anymore. Only her head remained mostly pony-like, save the single, bent horn that jutted out of her forehead and to the left. Her tail was no longer made of hair, but was now two different ones: a tiger’s tail and a fox’s tail. She now sported another wing, a tattered griffin’s wing. Her eyes began to emit white light, and her mouth emitted the most painful shrieks.

She’s lost control of Discord’s magic! Corey thought, It’s turned her into… that. And worse still…

Floating still, even as the column of magic faded, Norma continued to howl and convulse, runes shining off her body brighter and brighter.

She’s completely out of control… Corey noted, as the environment around him began to shift at random. He cracked his knuckles once, preparing for anything. Corey backed off, gaining some distance, when he noticed something above.

Black clouds began to soar in from nowhere, blocking out the sun. From within the cloud, bowling balls began to fall, and they fell in all sizes and weights. Corey wove between the falling objects, destroying them as they got too close. Realizing the danger the “falling object” clouds could pose, Corey charged up some magic into his palms. Lightning coursed from Norma’s body, forcing Corey to move to his left to avoid the bolts. Corey threw a charged orb, and then another, dispersing the dark cloud of objects before it could do much more.

Norma’s body began to convulse some more, and several bolts of energy began to fire from her body in all directions. Concurrently, the ground underneath her and Corey began to wave about wildly like it were made of water, changing designs at random as well. Two tornadoes of water stretched up from the now pond-like road, and began to launch off in random directions. The energy bolts began to impact random parts of the city, blowing up whatever they touched—and that was the simplest of what they did. Corey wove and dodged, willing not to get hit by any of it, specifically when he noticed a piece of debris come to life and run off all its own when it was struck.

“I have to stop this before it gets worse…!” Corey thought aloud, turning his attention to the shrieking Norma. She didn’t even seem to notice when Corey changed his course and made rapidly for her, and her magic continued to do whatever it damn well pleased, which was both a blessing and a curse for Corey’s progress.

Corey sped rapidly through the chaos that Norma’s out of control magic was causing, cocking his fist back. He threw a punch, but it impacted a barrier that spontaneously generated around Norma’s body. Snarling, Corey frontflipped, still flying through the air, coming down with both of his heels, making sure to apply a strength buff to his legs for extra power. This time, the barrier that spontaneously protected Norma did little to actually protect her, and Corey’s heels came down hard on the back of her head.

Her eyes stopped glowing, and her mouth stopped emitting the shrieks of pain; however, her eyes were blank, and her lower jaw was covered in drool. Norma’s signature fluctuated from Corey’s point of view, and Norma began to fall towards the ground, stunned, but Corey knew it was going to take a bit more than that to get her reign to stop.

Rushing down ahead of her, Corey waited, readying his body to continue the assault. For added measure, he applied the strength buff to his whole body, all of his muscles from the neck down bulging outward as he waited. He caught Norma in both arms and tossed her back into the air, leaping up after her in pursuit yet again. With Norma still stunned, he let loose a series of punches and kicks, which drew a few coughs and grunts from Norma as she finally regained her senses, but it availed her little.

Corey whirled around, charging magic into his right fist. This was no impact spell, but a spell that was sure to be an explosive attack nonetheless.

“This game is over, Norma!” shouted Corey, slamming it into her. Norma, now attached to a bolt of magic, began to fly away from Corey. Once Norma hit the ground, the magic energy detonated, leaving a crater in its wake that swallowed the road that she landed on, as well as the buildings closest to the impact zone, or at least what was left of them after her earlier loss of control.

Corey shielded himself as the blast went off. When he looked back, he saw a lot of smoke coming from the crater. Corey breathed heavily, letting his arms droop a bit. His dual aura still remained active. Something deep in Corey’s subconscious was telling him that it just wasn’t that easy. Yet, as he continued to look upon the crater, he felt the urge to ignore that voice grow.

Corey sighed a bit, letting himself relax just a little. There was no way Norma could get back up after an attack like that, right…?

A chill suddenly seized him, and Corey went on alert, looking around. He knew that chill very well, especially having fought against it continuously for this long. But where—

“Was this… the end of it… you had imagined?” Norma asked, and Corey turned, realizing the voice was behind him. He tried to create some distance, but Norma vanished from his sight, soon reappearing behind him yet again. Corey stopped himself, turning to face her.

Just what is it gonna take for her to stay down!? Corey thought, feeling his eye twitch with annoyance. He may have still had some magic to spare, but he was starting to get worn down.

“I must thank you for knocking some sense into me,” Norma said, “But I’m afraid your services will not be needed… nor will any other services that will come out of this city…!”

Norma rushed forward in a blur, and Corey turned his body slightly. When Norma reappeared, she had one leg drawn back. Her kick came in from above, impacting Corey’s right arm. Immediately, Corey felt and heard his arm snap yet again, and the kick also hit his ribs as well. Corey started falling to the ground as pain overwhelmed him yet again, but with his left arm, he managed to emit a burst of magic that slowed his descent enough to where he could land. He was now away from and below Norma yet again, crouching down as he processed what happened, coughing from the hit.

Looks like when I healed, it wasn’t enough to fix my bones entirely… Corey thought, They’re probably still brittle from being freshly healed…

Corey slowly looked up, seeing Norma looking down at him. She then raised both of her arms up, palms facing down at Corey.

“I can make my castle any time I please with the power I have now…” Norma said, “I think the best way to ensure you and the others don’t keep opposing me from here on… is to reduce this whole city to ashes!”

Corey’s eyes slowly widened as he saw a pulsing, color-changing ball of energy form over Norma’s hands. The energy still looked ridiculously unstable even as she formed it, but she seemed to not mind it. Corey didn’t know if he could chance waiting for it to backfire on her. Dodging seemed out of the question; though she was aiming it at him, it probably didn’t matter if he moved or not. She was going to wipe out anything. That meant that a barrier probably wouldn’t do the trick either…

“I have to…” Corey flexed his good arm, preparing his final attack. It was probably worn out already, sure, but he had no other ideas on how he could finish it. It was his strongest spell, after all. The magic surged towards his palm and swelled into a ball as he said the magic syllables.

“Ka… me… ha… me…” he said, looking up towards Norma. Norma looked down bemusedly at his efforts.

“Let this be the final clash!” she shouted, before letting out a scream, letting loose an absurdly wavy beam. It still moved forward, however, making rapidly for Corey’s direction. Corey brought his hand forward, his hand feeling heavy with the amount of magic he’d put into his spell.

“Ha!!!” Corey shouted, the white-yellow energy beam ripping forth from his hand to meet Norma’s. The beams met with such devastating force that anything within that quadrant of Canterlot was damaged just from the shockwave alone, and if there were any buildings left in the immediate area of the struggle, they crumbled to rubble and were blown away by the winds. The road crumbled in front of Corey, Corey’s attack acting as a shield for the area behind him.

Torrential winds battered the remaining area, and the surges from their attacks resonated throughout Canterlot and the surrounding areas. All the while, Corey and Norma struggled to maintain control of their attacks, the two beams pushing hard against each other as their commanders tried to overcome the other.

If I don’t end this quick it might not even matter if it was pushed back…! thought Corey, and began to call upon more magic, Please…there has to be enough in me and them for this to work!

Corey’s eyes shot open, and more magic surged into his attack, his hand recoiling for a moment from the force that was coming out of it. His beam grew larger, and began pushing back against Norma’s attack. Norma scoffed upon seeing this.

“Useless, useless, useless!” Norma shouted, bringing her hands back slightly before forcing more magic into her attack. The waviness of the beam slowed for a moment, but quickly sped up as her beam grew, the beam remaining under her control as it pushed back. Corey scowled. Just how much more did she have in reserve?

The point where the beams met began to center itself once more, neither one wanting to give an inch. Corey began to feel sluggish, his breathing coming in more and more slowly. He felt it, he was getting weaker. Over the rushing energy and the torrential forces rampaging around him, Corey heard Esper’s voice once again in his subconscious.

“C…can you… hear me…?” asked Esper, “We… we’re nearly out of power… Please, hurry…”

“What!?” Corey asked, more aloud than anything else.

Norma, above, gave another shriek as she poured more energy into her attack. Her beam began to push back against Corey’s more, pushing the point of contact ever closer to Corey. And as she watched this, she began to shout over the top of the winds.

“I have won!” Norma shouted, “Your futile resistance is just that, the dreams of a foal who has yet to learn his place! My only regret…is that I won’t get to keep any of you around as an example!”

Corey snarled, maintaining his beam, trying desperately to stave off her attack, but no matter how hard he tried to push back, all he could do was slow down her progress. The beam was very close now, Corey’s feet beginning to dig into the ground from the force pushing down on him.

It…it can’t end like this…! Corey thought, closing his eyes, trying to focus despite his rising panic. He had to find the power, and fast, but no solutions were coming to him. It was all he could do to slow down Norma’s attack, Can’t give up… can’t lose… can’t… let it… end…like…

Something called Corey out of his panic—the sensation of someone’s hand on his left shoulder. A few moments later, something came down on his other shoulder—a much larger hand. Corey turned his head, maintaining his attack, and saw a group of people he was almost sure was still back in the castle.

“You’re all here…?” Corey asked. Sure enough, they were. John’s hand was on top of his right shoulder, Twilight’s on his left. Everyone else had joined hands, forming a ring of sorts. Twilight’s horn was lighting up, and as he continued to look, he could see everyone starting to glow, even John.

“Awful hard to miss with all the pretty lights…” John commented.

“We said we’d finish this together, right?” Twilight asked, “Then that’s what it comes to.”

There was a collective “hmph” of agreement.

“So take what you’re about to get, and send it all at her!” Twilight said, and her grip on his shoulder increased. As soon as it did, Corey felt a spark trace through his entire being—it wasn’t a painful sensation. As the spark finally settled at his core, Corey understood at once what was happening.

“Thanks, everyone…” Corey said, returning his full attention to the struggle. He closed his eyes in focus.

Norma watched as her beam suddenly stopped just short of wiping everyone out. Her eyes widened. “No… this can’t be…”

There was a collective scream down below, and Norma saw her attack get pushed back yet again, and worse still for her, the beam that opposed hers was swelling at a rapid rate, looking less like the relatively calm energy it was at the start and looked like a geyser of pure power repelling her attack and sending it right for her.

“No… no…” Norma said, calling upon any shred of magic she could get, “You will not defeat me like—“

Norma’s entire body convulsed in pain yet again, and she suddenly felt very sluggish. Worse still, her beam destabilized entirely, vanishing into thin air. Corey’s attack gushed at her like a stream of high-pressure water. Norma’s pupils shrank to pinpricks as her eyes went completely bloodshot, and she let out a scream.

“Curse… you… all!!” Norma coiled up to try to protect herself, but it did little. The geyser of energy engulfed her, pushing her higher into the sky and further away, but not for long. Below, Corey broke his connection to the beam, letting the last of the energy flow into his attack. Once all the energy had gathered around Norma, it violently exploded.

All throughout Canterlot, the light filled the sky, so bright it overpowered the sun. The guards and those who fought against Norma all shielded their eyes. The explosion took the form of a white star to those not within the city limits. Either way, eventually, the light died down.

Everyone could only stand for a few moments, the light having finally cleared. Corey’s green aura, which had more or less consistently shrouded his yellow-white aura, had finally vanished. Corey’s second aura slowly began to shrink, his eyes flickering back to their normal colorations as he breathed hard. Everyone else, he could hear, was doing the same.

Corey took a couple of steps forward, staggering as he did so. He wanted to believe it was over, but after so many close calls like that today, he just couldn’t go much further. Staggering forward a few more steps, Corey clenched his fists, trying to steady himself.

My magic’s almost run dry, Corey thought, And my body’s about to give out… If Norma is still able to fight after all that, we’re in trouble.

“Corey… what are you…” Twilight panted. Corey turned, seeing the others in no better shape than he was. One by one, they were collapsing, only to be supported by one another.

“I have to be sure…” Corey said, “After all that we’ve put her through, after all that she’s done, I won’t stop until I know for sure she’s unconscious...”

Twilight shook her head. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think the same way…”

“Hopefully, I won’t be long…” Corey said, “And don’t worry. I think after today I’m going to break this habit of mine, running off…”

Corey closed his eyes, extending his sixth sense as far as it would allow. It was slow to get to its max range, and said range was reduced without the extra magic in him anymore. However, he eventually felt the cold that he couldn’t forget. Her signature was far weaker now, but given it was the only chill left it was unmistakably her.

“There she is…” Corey muttered, and a moment later, he was off on foot, following his sense.

Twilight looked on and sighed, finally sitting down, flat in the middle of the road. She needed the rest, but her mind wouldn’t let her. She tried to stand, but her body was too tired. Looking around, she could see the others hadn’t much energy to spare either.

“Please… let this be over…” Twilight muttered.

Norma fell to earth, her body smoking. She remained covered by her clothing, but it was littered with burns and scratches. Her body itself had remained mutated, despite the fact she could feel no more magic in her—the “taste” of Discord’s magic was very distinct, after all. She numbly fell, and didn’t correct herself when she plowed full force into the ground. The force of the impact was strong enough to crater in the dirt she landed in. In addition, it also dislodged Discord’s orb from her clothing as well.

“Happy landings,” said Discord, as the orb he was in bounced and rolled on the ground. He didn’t care so much about that, “These orbs must be made of something strong if they’re able to withstand all that…”

He tried to snap his fingers to free himself, but found that it still didn’t work as well as he would have hoped. “I’d hoped to be able to at least be the one to drag her back personally, but it looks like I’m still stuck in her prison.”

For a moment, in the park they had landed in, all was quiet. Norma groaned and moaned, not able to do anything else in her current condition. Discord merely laid back in the orb, still waiting on whatever to happen.

Something did. Discord heard rapid footsteps, and he turned to see. Sure enough, there he was—the pony who persistently opposed Norma all day. Had he been told at any point before today that the dimensional traveler “Corey” would be the key to victory, he’d have laughed. Hard. Okay, maybe not today specifically, but…

“There…” Corey said, slowing to a halt. His aura was weak, but his augmentation seemed to be holding up very well.

“Hey, you!” Discord shouted. Corey looked around for a moment, walking towards his voice, “Yeah, a little closer, okay, stop… look down…”

“Oh, so you were the one getting under her skin…” Corey said, now looking down at the orb, “Was wondering where that other voice was coming from…”

“Yeah, but don’t give me too much credit. Or do, I don’t much care. I couldn’t do much to stop her from in here,” Discord said, “But you did it. You made her burn up a good deal of her stolen power. If ever there were a time you could make sure it ended, it’d be right now. Go ahead and give her one more for me, okay?”

Corey paused, reaching into his pants pocket and pulling out the orb he had stored there. “I just need to confirm something very quick…”

Tucking it under his left arm, Corey closed his eyes in focus and began to access that link Esper left for him, the link that let him receive advice as needed.

“Esper… Esper… are you all still okay in there?” Corey thought, opening his eyes as he did so. He could hear someone moving close by, and looked to see Norma, painfully dragging herself up from her prone position. His eye twitched, but he realized that Discord’s creed was true when he realized how sluggish her movements was and how no runes were appearing this time.

“Y-yes… I believe everyone in here… will live… so long as no more… magic is used…” Esper’s response came through, “Has Para Norma been defeated yet?”

“I’d say she’s as good as done… Should I go ahead and break this orb now? In her condition, I doubt she’ll be able to put up much more resistance…” Corey reported, keeping a careful eye on Norma.

“Once you do that, her other spells should cease to exist. If you are sure you will be requiring no further assistance, by all means, destroy it. That should free us from her pocket dimension since she will no longer have an ‘anchor’ to keep us there…” Esper said.

“Alright then…” Corey said, “I should be able to do it easily enough with any spell, right?”

“One solid impact should be the end of it,” Esper confirmed.

“Alright. Then here we go!” Corey moved the orb back in his hand, as whitish yellow runes began to gather in his hand.

“Stop…! Wait…!”

Corey looked to Norma, raising an eyebrow. Did she really believe he was going to stop after all this?

“Do you… understand that… if you break it, you won’t be able to go home again?” asked Norma, staggering forward a single step before sitting down, “I should be able to send you there… if I just get a little more magic…”

Corey stopped cold, his runes decreasing in number to near non-existence.

“Don’t be a fool!” Discord shouted, “She’s trying to play you like a fiddle…”

“Silence…” Norma commanded, breathing hard.

“Don’t listen to her! It’s what she wants!” Esper warned.

Yet, Corey stood still, eyes firmly on Norma. Of course he knew what he was about to do and what it meant, but…

Author's Note

Norma plays one last card, but will it work? Find out next time, when Act 4 concludes. Not much else to say, other than "I hope that the battle that took place in this chapter made reading all this up to now worth it".

Act 4 Chapter 22

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 22: The Inherited Will

Corey looked to Norma with wide, inquisitive eyes. Norma, seeing she had his attention despite Discord’s protests, slowly began to gather some magic to herself. Though he would make a wonderful addition to her battery, Norma hardly had the magic to spare even for that. What she did have enough magic to spare to do, was kill him. And once she did, she’d have both of her orbs yet again. All she had to do was keep talking.

“That’s right… Break that orb, and you’re stuck in this world forever,” Norma said, “I could tell from the start you were never truly at home here. You fought to distract yourself from the crippling reality that you were here for good… Now, at the very end, you stand to be the hero you wanted to be. But can you say that’s a life you want?”

Corey remained silent, but his eyes were still on her.

“And if you stay here, you’ll remain a hero, with your new friends, living in peace… but for how long? Can you really say that you’d enjoy this life? A life filled with despair, trying to be the voice of hope? Can you truly handle that kind of responsibility? Or would you rather go to your home, returning with the knowledge you could be a hero, and live on just fine like that…?”

The runes covering Corey’s hand finally vanished, his eyes seemingly wide with fear and despair, and Norma sneered.

“Don’t you give in!” Discord warned, “Not right now at the finish line…”

“Too late, Discord,” Norma muttered, “He can make his own decisions… and I think he made it…”

Norma suddenly jerked upright, the claws on her scaly arm glowing with red-white magic. It was a sign she was nearly drained—this would likely be her final spell regardless for quite a while—but if this worked, nothing else mattered.

“Such a fool you are, tormented by indecision!” Norma shouted, “You can’t decide, can you!? I’ll send you somewhere where decisions aren’t needed to be made: your grave!”

With a scream, Norma began rushing for Corey, aiming her claws at Corey’s throat.

“Is that right?”

Corey’s question didn’t fully resonate with Norma until he had already moved, tucking the orb under his bad arm for the moment so he could grab hold of her wrist, moving out of the way. Norma’s eyes widened, and she looked into Corey’s composed ones.

“You think you’re going to play your way out of this one? After all that you’ve done, you really think I’m going to let you have this back for even a second?! I know what’ll happen if I free those you’ve trapped, and quite frankly, I’ve come to accept it!” Corey shouted.

“B-but… you… This… I…” Norma stuttered, looking deep into the eyes which were filled with nothing but scorn for her.

“In fact, I’d accepted being stuck here quite a while ago…” Corey said, “Your former teacher told me everything I needed to know about this already! And quite frankly, I don’t think my needs stack up to your prisoners!”

Corey threw Norma’s arm back, sending her off balance. She continued to look him in the eyes, even as she staggered back.

“And if I do become a hero that needs to be on call… it’s just something I’m going to live with. Better to live with that than with the knowledge I just damned my friends to more suffering at your hands!” Corey shouted, “Consider this a taste of the despair you tried to give us today, Norma, and accept this simple fact…”

Corey moved forward in a blur, tossing the orb high into the air. Norma’s gaze momentarily followed the orb, but soon returned in front of her as Corey came forth with his glowing left arm.

“YOU’VE LOST!!!” Corey screamed at the top of his voice, punching forward with all his force, straight into Norma’s chest. Norma felt and heard several cracks and pops yet again as her ribcage re-shattered under the force of the attack, and this time, there was no coming back from it. Her vision blurred and darkened, and the last thing she felt before losing consciousness was her back hitting a hard surface.

Corey slowly returned to a normal standing posture, keeping his gaze upon Norma. Her signature had finally fallen to the state that Slayer’s had been when he last saw him. She’d live. While Corey wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, once he broke her orb, it really didn’t matter. Corey turned around, seeing the orb falling from the sky above, and raised his hand. The orb was caught in his telekinetic hold, and he floated it over to himself, staring at it.

“Sorry, John,” Corey muttered to himself, “But this was something I knew was coming. I’m ready for whatever this decision entails.”

His light aura finally faded, and his eyes returned to their normal coloration. Green runes swirled into his left hand yet again as he took hold of the orb.

“We’re just going to have to make the most of it, like usual…” Corey said, “And hope that whatever comes next, will be something far happier than the past few weeks.”

Taking in a deep breath, composing himself, Corey slowly began to apply pressure to the orb. Magic began to leak out of it as it began to crack under Corey’s hand.

Mom, Dad, I’m sorry. Take care of yourselves. Ivan, Leo… I hope you two are doing okay. I don’t think I’ll be able to see any one of you back home again. I just want you to understand… I was left with no choice. If I went home… I’d be killing tens of others to do it. So please… just understand why I did what I am doing right now. The same goes for you, John…and everyone I’ve met here!

Corey’s hand finally closed around the orb, smashing it to pieces. The chunks of it crumbled to the floor. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, winds began to pick up, red lightning crackling all around. Portals began to open all around Corey, and from within, ponies of all kinds, all wearing robe-ish outfits similar to Norma’s and Esper’s, began to fall from them. They began to appear all around the park, all looking very tired and disoriented from their experience.

As the portals began to disappear, Corey heard the resounding crack of fingers snapping, and he turned, instinctively holding his breath—

Discord stood, now his normal height, stretching as though he just got out of bed, waving the hand he’d used to snap himself to freedom.

“Can’t say I want to do that again,” Discord said, “As for you… try not to leave us in so much suspense next time?”

“Don’t worry,” Corey panted, “That was a one-time stunt I pulled. I just had to give her a small taste of her own medicine.”

“Leave it to the professionals…” Discord shook his head, “Anyway, I’m heading out. If memory serves, I believe the princesses may need my help…”

Corey watched as Discord snapped his fingers yet again, disappearing in a burst of smoke. He then sighed. A feeling began to work its way up his chest, and the corners of Corey’s mouth tugged upwards. His body convulsed as giggles began to overtake him.

Yet, Corey only had the energy to laugh for a few seconds, before he fell over, landing flat on his back, now completely out of strength.

“We finally did it… everyone…” he mumbled, staring up into the sky, feeling the warmth of the sun beaming down on him. He then closed his eyes, feeling a little more than entitled to a nice, long nap.

Sitting at the highest point of Canterlot, hand over forehead, Discord watched all that was happening on ground level. Guards were collapsing from exhaustion, embracing one another for having survived the battle. Spirits were high, much higher than they had been before this all transpired. Even Discord, chaos personified, couldn’t help but enjoy the warmth of the moment. With all that had happened and what was at stake, he couldn’t blame himself for changing.

Although he wanted nothing more than to partake in the festivities, there was one matter he had to see to first. Standing tall, Discord snapped his fingers and once again vanished in a flash of light, only to reappear in one more location. It wasn’t hard to locate, since he could still tell where they were.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting so long,” Now, he was in front of the two princesses, still imprisoned in stone. The guards that Corey had brought with him had taken them to a secure room several floors down, where Discord was pleased to find the damage hadn’t reached. He stared at them for a moment, reflecting on the irony of the whole situation. Eventually, the tiniest traces of a frown began to form on his face.

“Not long ago, I would have found humor in this. Not long ago, I’d have left you like this a while just so you could see what it was like—being turned to stone. But looking at you now, after all this… I just can’t see the humor in it anymore.”

Discord raised his hand, snapping his fingers yet again and causing sparkles of light to travel from them towards the two statues. At first, nothing changed, but as the magic continued to orbit their statues, the gray began to fade away, as though evaporating from them, leaving behind Celestia and Luna’s normal colors. And as their joints started to loosen, both began to finally regain movement on their bodies. After the stone was finally gone, though, both had nothing to keep themselves up—had Discord not been there, that is.

“Whoa there,” Discord said, supporting both princesses, giving them time to regain their composures.

“Is it over? Did we win?” Celestia asked as she looked up to him, her eyes filled with hope, hope that everyone made it out okay. Discord looked down at her and allowed a small chuckle to leave his lips.

“You tell me,” Discord snapped his fingers, several images appearing around the trio. In them, were what he’d seen before coming to them—the joy filled faces, the fighters standing proud—in general, all the images contained the vision of a hard-earned victory.

Tears began to well up in Celestia’s eyes, joy replacing what had otherwise been dread that had plagued her ever since this whole crisis began. At long last, it was over, something that was very hard to believe at first. But, with time, it finally sunk in, and she could finally accept that at long last, the dark times were over.

“Now, now, no need for tears,” Discord said, offering Celestia a handkerchief. Celestia looked in surprise at the cloth that was now coming out of Discord’s sleeve, but also the surprisingly warm smile on his face. Soon, she too smiled, and accepted the handkerchief to dry her tears.

“You are right,” she said, “I believe now is the time to address the public, and let them know their days of fear are over…” Celestia place one hand around her sister’s shoulder, followed by another around Discord, pulling them both in, “Shall we?”

Both looked to Celestia and gave her a nod. The three then started to make their way out of the castle.

Esper Wisdom couldn’t believe it. For eons, he and his fellow villagers had spent their time in a strange limbo, their only recourse a spell that even he did not know how it would work. Now, here he was, in the real world once more, able to breathe fresh air, able to hear the sounds and feel the sensations that he hadn’t heard for so long. Yet, as his eyes finally took in the sights around him, of the destroyed buildings and ravaged cityscape, he couldn’t help but idly wonder if it was all worth it.

All around him, his fellow villagers were looking around in disbelief. Their long nightmare had come to an end. They could only stare at the world around them in muted shock, unable to comprehend what had happened. There was nothing but silence—everyone had been too caught up in their sudden appearance in the world to even notice the immediate aftermath of the fight, to look for the one that had brought them the pain they had, or to look at the one who freed them.

Eventually, the silence broke.

“We’re free…” Willow Wisp slowly stood up, wiping his eyes as he looked around, “We’re finally free!”

With this, everypony who had lived in that village erupted into cheers, the sheer euphoria of their sudden freedom more than enough to finally get them to shake it off. For a short while, at least, they’d be caught up in the moment before finally returning to their senses, remembering what had happened.

Esper knew it already—it had been eons since they were last around. This was not the Equestrian capital he remembered. Their homeland may well have been lost to the sands of time, and they didn’t have anywhere to be. However, there was time to rebuild.

Esper continued to look around, and his eyes soon fell on Corey, the one who had decoded and activated the spell. Then, a ways away from him, collapsed against a wall, was the shell of a pony. Esper sighed, moving through the celebrations without being noticed. It wasn’t long before he was standing less than five feet from the pony who damned them all to their prison.

Para Norma… Esper thought. She was so hard to recognize now. Her body had mutated, and she hardly resembled a pony anymore. Esper didn’t quite know what she had gotten into during the battle, much less since he last saw her in person, but as her teacher he couldn’t help but feel a little responsible for it all.

Just how did you wind up like this? How did it come to this? After eons, even now, I cannot understand why things went so wrong… Now look at you. Your very body has been altered to represent who you are inside… Esper closed his eyes, shaking his head, letting the memories of the younger, seemingly more innocent Norma wash over him for last time.

Were you always like this, from the start? Or did you snap one day trying to just get stronger? I do not know, and I highly doubt I’d get any answers anyway… Esper thought, Certainly not from you, at least.

Esper finally allowed his eyes to open, and he looked up towards the sky above. Let this be the last time this ever happens. A third reign of terror from her, and I do not think we’d be able to overcome her that time.

At that, Esper sighed again, and turned away from Norma. He could feel only the tiniest chill from her, but she definitely wasn’t getting up for a while. His gaze fell upon the prone Corey, and he sighed. He was out too, wasn’t he?

I suppose I’ll have to wait to thank you for all you’ve done, but you had a hard time with that decision you made, didn’t you? Esper released another sigh. For now, take your rest. I dare say you’ve earned it.

Though Corey hadn’t been gone long, it didn’t take everyone long to catch their breath and try to follow where he went. They didn’t really have a lot to go off of—beyond where he first went after running off, so anything they did may as well have been a guess.

“He couldn’t have gone that far, could he?” Applejack huffed.

“If I could fly, I’d go up in the air and look for him,” Rainbow shook her head, wishing right now it didn’t take so much out of her (and the others) to just get to this point.

“Just where’d she land, Corey…” Twilight said, “Knowing you and what you can do, you went right to her…”

The group began to search in silence, looking for any sign of life in the otherwise deserted (and destroyed) city. Any sign that Corey’s fight was somehow continuing, or that he was trying to find them. Just… anything at all. And they got one, in the form of a quiet rumbling at first. For a few moments, everyone stood tense, wondering what that was. However, as the seconds passed, they understood what the noises were.

“Cheering…” Rainbow said, being the first to spell it out, “That’s cheering!”

“I think it’s coming from…” Twilight said, “There’s a park not too far from here, if I remember right… follow me!”

With Twilight taking the lead, everyone began to take chase. It wasn’t long before they saw the source of the cheering: tens of ponies who they definitely knew weren’t in the city at the start of the day, all wearing outdated-looking clothing or robes, exchanging hugs and cheering for a single thing: freedom.

“Who are all they?” asked Rarity, looking around.

Twilight blinked, details of the story Corey had relayed to her coming back now as she realized what she was looking at. “They’re… they’re the villagers Norma kidnapped eons ago. They’ve been freed!”

“And on your right, is the one who saved them,” John said, pointing. Everyone looked, seeing Corey flat on his back, eyes closed as he faced the sky. It wasn’t long before the others began to move towards him, Twilight reaching him first.

“Corey,” Twilight said, sitting down next to him, leaning over him to see if he was okay, “Corey? Are you okay?”

There was a brief pause, before Corey let out what could be best described as a deep snort and a deep breath together—or, a snore Twilight and the others hadn’t heard for a long time. Twilight flinched slightly, while Rainbow shook her head and snickered.

“I guess that settles it,” Rainbow said, “And you know what, I agree. I think we all could use a nice long nap after all this!”

Twilight looked down to Corey again and sighed.

“At least it’s finally over…” she said, smiling to herself.

It had been the longest two months of their lives. Many times, it seemed that it was going to end, but with their bonds and their determination, they pressed forward, overcoming even those who came from the depths. At last, their combined power brought them the end they desired. Those involved could return to their relatively peaceful lives.

While rebuilding following the crisis was going to be another matter entirely, the group finally could breathe easy, knowing that the last prisoner had been defeated, soon to be recaptured and re-jailed.

However, there were still a few questions that lingered afterward, ones that had to be asked. What would the astral ponies do, in this new world, this new era? What would the cost of victory truly be?

And what would Corey and John do next, now that their way home was sealed forever?

Author's Note

With this, we come to the end of Act 4. All that's left to do is resolve the few plot threads that are left. After next week, this fic will be completely updated. Next Thursday's update will be a double, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

So, for the second to last time, if you have managed to get this far in the story, thank you for reading thus far, even if you didn't like it. Take comfort (?) in knowing the end is in sight. Until next time.

Act 5 Chapter 1

Act V: Collision End

Chapter 1: Acceptance

Dear Journal,

It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? Sorry I haven’t written in so long, but with everything that’s happened since my last entry, I just haven’t had much time for it. There have been a lot of battles, and a lot of things that might have been interesting for you to hear about, but unfortunately since then time’s flown by.

Para Norma was recaptured not too long after I passed out. Last I heard, she was shrieking and screaming in despair as she was dragged back to her cell. Without any magic to fuel her, she’s going to be down there until the end of time. That’s the only fitting punishment for her, considering what she would have done to her own fellow villagers. The other prisoners who she killed were all rounded up as well. Exploded hearts—not that it was that much of a surprise.

Canterlot was razed in several places, and Canterlot Castle was in serious need of repairs. I forget the official figure of damages, but I believe it was easily in the millions of bits to repair all that had been destroyed. Even with magic, it’s still taking a while. It’s been two whole months since the battle now, and there’s still quite a bit left to do to rebuild.

Some of the townsponies weren’t too happy to find their businesses had been destroyed, and their homes razed by battle. In time, I hope they understand that it was just a price we had to pay to make sure the crisis could end on time. We’re all doing what we can as well just to get everything up to snuff in Canterlot, but it’ll probably be a while before things settle down completely.

The astral ponies who Norma trapped had been offered residence out in that old castle where we’d found the book. They didn’t seem to mind its condition, and figured they’d need to rebuild as well after all the time they’d missed. The elders of that community agreed it’d be better for them, at least for a short while, to remain out of society while they rebuilt from scratch.

As for me? I’m still sort of living at the library here. I can’t complain. I’ve gotten used to it by now. I’m just wondering if that’s still appropriate when I consider I can’t go home again. Neither me, nor John. When I broke that orb, I definitively sealed our only way home. The only way back home now would be to hope that Discord picked our home universe out of a set of countless others. Even he can’t do everything, it seems.

There is just one thing I have left to do before I can close this chapter of my life, and move on to the next step forward. After all this time, I haven’t told John of our prospects of getting home, and I don’t even know if he knows. Far as I know, only Discord, Princess Celestia, and Twilight know about what I did. I would have said something to him sooner, but the battle was still so fresh, and there was so much to do…

But, two months have passed. I think I’ve waited long enough. I have to go now. While it’s painful I won’t be able to go home again, I do wonder… can I at least feel at home here, now that everything’s finally settled? Guess I’ll have to find out.

Until next time,

Corey

Applejack had never been happier to be in the apple orchards. It was what told her everything was finally over, that it was fine. She could return to simpler times, and buck all the apples she could. That was what she was spending the day doing as well, making up for lost time.

With a mighty grunt, Applejack lifted one leg and slammed it into a trunk with full force. As the tree vibrated from the impact, the apples started to rain down from the tree into a conveniently placed basket. The apples fell in perfect sync, perfect harmony, allowing them to be easily harvested. She adjusted her Stetson and smirked in spite of herself.

Glad to be workin’ again, she thought to herself, surveying her work, I’m not gonna miss that trainin’ I had to do for the whole thing.

Applejack proceeded through the orchard, kicking trees left and right for the fruits contained. She would have went on like this for a long while, but soon she was face to face with someone else in the orchard—her older brother, Big Mac. The two met eyes, and Mac’s eyes went slightly wide at Applejack’s appearance.

“Applejack, what are you doin’ over here?” Big Mac asked, blinking as he took in the orchard, “You already done with your part of the orchard for the day or somethin’?”

“Huh?” asked Applejack, coming out of her work-induced haze to address her brother, “What’s…”

Applejack realized at once where she was, and how the work had been divided up at the start of the day. She’d lived on Sweet Apple Acres her whole life, and had worked the fields nearly as long; she knew the layout of the orchards pretty much by heart. So as she looked around, she realized what got Big Mac so mixed up.

“I… must have?” Applejack asked, looking around, rubbing at her mane under her hat in silent contemplation, “All that prep I did for that fightin’ must have paid off…”

“Eeyup,” was Big Mac’s own comment, “We’re probably gonna have a surplus at the rate you’re cleanin’ up the trees, Applejack…”

Fluttershy wished she could say her life went back to exactly the way it was before, but she’d be lying. While most of it was the same, there were a few things that were different now. The most important thing, though, was that she’d made peace with her other half, Fluttercruel. After all had been over, Fluttershy held true to her word, allowing Fluttercruel to take control of her body when asked.

Of course, some occasions more than others, Fluttershy would question her other half’s methods. Across a clearing, there was Harry the Bear, and he looked positively ready to go. Fluttercruel was in control of the body, waiting for it to start. Around them, various animals were making movements and noises as though cheering.

“Why are we doing this again? How did we get here?” asked Fluttershy from within their shared subconscious. Fluttercruel smirked.

“He’s having fun with it,” Fluttercruel said, “Here, look, I’ll show you!”

With that, both Fluttercruel and Harry charged each other, getting into a sort of grapple with each other. Though to the uneducated observer, it looked like Fluttercruel was at a severe disadvantage here, it actually wasn’t. Fluttercruel had convinced her meeker counterpart to let her “playfight”, as it were, the bear. Though Fluttershy wasn’t too sure, the results soon spoke for themselves.

Fluttercruel soon began to flip over the larger bear’s shoulders, causing the shoulders to audibly pop, before punching Harry in the back a few times. None of these were meant to hurt…it was more of an aggressive version of physical therapy. Harry roared, turning to swipe, but he clearly aimed to miss, since Fluttercruel ducked low easily enough. Fluttercruel opened her wings and started to hover, letting Harry move his arms a bit more. Once again, though, Harry wasn’t trying too hard; neither was Fluttercruel.

Watching this from within was Fluttershy. Her other half was correct: Harry was enjoying this a lot. She could see it in his face. Fluttershy leaned back in her mindscape’s meadow, reflecting on everything. Now that she was comfortable with her formerly hidden aggression, she felt more at peace with herself as a whole.

So much has changed since this all started… I’d never imagined any of this would happen.

So? You got any regrets over what this all did for you? Her other self thought back to her, still preoccupied with the playfight at hand.

Oh, heavens, no, I don’t. Not at all! I… I don’t shy away from things anymore. And… and I don’t intend to run away anymore. From now on I’m going at problems head-on.

Don’t be afraid to call on me if you need me, too. I could always use a chance to stretch my legs…

I will… Fluttershy paused, before realizing something important, Oh, Cruel, it’s almost time for lunch. Should we stop?

Oh, fine… I’ll call the time out and give you your body back…

Overall, Fluttershy’s day-to-day routine hadn’t changed much. However, she felt so far ahead of where she was before all this started that she couldn’t help but feel happy, confident even. She longer had to fear her inner cruelty, her repressed aggression. She could move forward, just as her friends did. That was all she could ask for, really.

To no one’s surprise, Pinkie went back to working at Sugarcube Corner, making pastries and serving up smiles just as she loved doing. However, with all that was going on over the last few months, she hadn’t had any time for it. So many fun times that simply couldn’t be had, so many party opportunities missed... she had to ignore it all for the greater good of Equestria, for her friends. But now, it was finally over. Now, she could see the smiles of everyone she saw during the day.

There was still one other thing left, a void that needed to be filled. So after days of careful planning, doing everything she could to ensure that everything was in order for it to start, Pinkie went into action. To the entire town’s surprise, Pinkie lit up the day by throwing what would become the biggest party bash ever seen. Everyone was invited, from her friends, to the guards who fought with them, even the Princesses and Discord. Everyone showed up and partied like no tomorrow.

But there was a tomorrow…and another, and another, and another as the party wound up stretching on for over a week before finally dying down. It was a party that went down in history, and some were still recovering even today. As much fun as it may have been, even a party girl like Pinkie had to know the limits; it would be a while before she threw a party again.

Which turned out to be for the best, as Pinkie found herself wrapped up in some new business in recent days.

“With that, all your patents should be in order,” Pinkie signed the last of a large stack of legal paperwork. In her hopes to prove her worth after the Tartarus breakout, Pinkie ended up putting her building skills to the test once more. As a result, she created several new inventions and even more concepts for ones she never got a chance to build.

This caught the eye of not only the guards, who saw some firsthand, but Celestia and Luna as well. They saw the potential in what she had created, and did not want to see something of that caliber going to waste. So, with everything finally calming down, they had been helping Pinkie patent her blueprints so that they could be used in the near future, at profit to her.

“And there you go!” Pinkie said with glee, overjoyed that she would no longer have to be signing papers. The law pony appointed to help her accepted all the forms and shook Pinkie’s hand with a smile, bidding her farewell as he made his leave.

“Are you finished, Pinkie?” Mrs. Cake called out, Pinkie making her way towards the kitchen post-haste.

“Yuperdo!” she called out, “Never have I ever had to sign my name so many times…” Pinkie flexed her cramping hand, “Not to mention all the dull legal stuff…” Pinkie cringed slightly. Mrs. Cake chuckled at Pinkie, she herself having to hear Pinkie’s complaints since she began making the patents.

“I’m pretty sure it’ll be worth it once those royalty checks start coming in, Pinkie.”

A small grin spread across Pinkie’s face. She couldn’t deny that small detail. Bringing joy to others was what she lived for, but a few extra pocket bits couldn’t hurt either.

“So now that you’re done, think you have time to make some deliveries?”

“Oh, I think I’ll have plenty of time,” Grabbing the order, Pinkie reached into her pocket and pulled out a set of keys. Giving them a jingle, Pinkie winked and made her way out the door. A moment later, an engine would be heard igniting and something large drove by the front of the shop. Mrs. Cake shook her head slightly, a small smile still spread across her lips as she went back to work.

“Can’t believe they let her keep that…”

It was still a refreshing sight for Corey, to no longer see Ponyville imprisoned by its own fears, to be able to see those who lived there going about their days without a care in the world once again. Above all else, after so long that had passed, Corey finally felt like he was walking through the area not as an outsider, but as one of them. For the first time in a long time, counting back home, Corey fully felt like he belonged. He felt as though he could walk about, converse with everyone, and not have to feel the stress of everyday living. Of course, part of that had to do with his coming to terms with himself… but still…

I guess that makes my choice easier… even if a little.

The choice he made during the battle with Para Norma still hung over his head. Sure, he had, in part, tried to make peace with it, tried to accept that it was the absolute best choice. If only it were a choice he had made for him alone, but it wasn’t. There was one other he had affected through his choice. After everything that had happened leading up to Norma’s defeat, Corey had never once told John the full story of what had happened.

That was the reason why he’d gone on this walk around town. He felt that now that everything had finally gone back to normal, now that everyone was healthy and happy, he should tell John. In truth, the choice to finally go through with it was so much easier when he’d first left the library, but with every step Corey found his nerves growing wary. He was wondering just what John’s reaction would be to find out that Corey made such a decision on his own. The only thing Corey was sure of was that it wouldn’t be easy. But in the end, Corey knew it was something he had to do.

That would come as soon as he reached his destination—which was now inches away, the door of a front porch. Corey raised his hand towards the door, stopping for a moment before taking in a deep breath.

“Now or never…” Finally, Corey knocked on the door, leaving him nothing else but to wait at the door. Soon enough, he heard some movement, and the lock of the door coming undone. Finally, it opened, and revealed the very dragon that Corey had come to see, his only remaining friend from his former world.

“Oh, Corey, what’s up?” John greeted with a smile. Corey tried to give his own, but it came off a little forced. Corey looked around, wondering how he should go about this. His first thought: he shouldn’t do it outside.

“Hey, um, can I come in? I need to tell you something,” Corey paused for a moment as he let out a sigh, “It’s kind of important.”

John blinked, his eyes quizzical, wondering just what it was Corey had to tell him. He nodded his head and stepped aside, allowing Corey to come in. He then followed Corey down the hall.

“You know, I didn’t mention it before, but this is a nice place you got,” Corey observed, looking around.

John grinned at the mention of his new home. It was still new, only bought a few weeks prior. John had lived with Twilight for some time after the Battle of Canterlot. Sure, Twilight never showed any sign of wanting him to move out. She even made sure John knew he was welcomed there as long as he wanted. But as time passed, John felt that some space was needed—not for him, but for Twilight and Corey to have to themselves—as much as they could get with Spike still there, anyway.

“Yeah, it’s pretty great, finally being a mature and responsible adult,” John said, polishing his knuckles on his chest. Corey chuckled slightly before looking over to the next room, a single brow arching as he saw something.

“Is that a pillow fort?”

John’s muzzle scrunched up as he quickly closed the door to the next room. “Don’t judge me.” John said, trying to hide his shame. After a few awkward seconds, John cleared his throat, “So uh, there was something you wanted to tell me, right?

Reminded of why he’d come, Corey’s body language quickly changed.

“Yeah, uh…” his nerves grew a little stronger. It wasn’t that he feared John would lash out specifically, but just in anticipation of how well he’d take the news, “Listen, I know I told you that now that Norma was defeated, any chance of us going home was pretty much gone.” John nodded his head. He’d learned of and accepted it in the time since then.

“But I never told you the full story of how that happened,” Everything went silent as John waited for Corey to explain, “In the final moments before I beat her, before I set the astral ponies free, Norma told me something. She warned me ahead of time, told me that if I broke the orb that held them we wouldn’t be able to go home. Something I found out from Esper; that might have been the only truth she’d ever told. If I’d kept the orb intact, if we found a way to use it, we could have opened a portal back home.”

John remained completely silent, simply staring at Corey with an unreadable expression.

“I didn’t say anything back then because—“ Corey was stopped by a slight jolt of pain on his head. John had slapped down on it with his opened palm. Corey winced from the sudden hit, seeing John give him a slightly unamused look.

“Dude, seriously, this is just cliché,” John chuckled as he took a step towards his kitchen, coming back with two drinks for the two of them.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, did you think I’d get mad that you chose to save them over sending us home?” John let out another chuckle before downing some of his drink. Corey watched for a moment, looking at the grin on his face. While it would have been easy to accept that John was just okay with it, no questions asked, Corey found he just wasn’t convinced of it.

“John…” At the sound of his name, John looked back to Corey, a few seconds of smiling still held. But he couldn’t hold it for long, and with a sigh it finally faded. John sat down. This time, he was clearly deep in thought for what he would say next.

“Look, deep down, part of me already knew. Norma was imprisoned again, the ones who sent that message that brought us here were free. At no point between then and now did we ever hear of any way to get us back home. Sure, at first it was hard, hard to finally have to accept there was no way back. So many things left behind, the stress of wondering how they’re dealing with the fact that I just disappeared with no word, no warning. That’s what really kept me up late at night.

“But really, what would getting angry do, what would it change?” John stopped for a moment and took another sip, “Though to be honest, knowing now what would have to be given up, I guess I do feel better.”

Corey sat down next to John as he took a sip of his own drink. “So, you aren’t angry with me at all?”

“Nah,” John merely shook his head, “No matter how you look at it, a choice had to be made. Now it’s passed, all we can really do now is make the best of it.”

John looked over to Corey and held out his drink. Corey looked down at it and after a few seconds finally understood and held out his own. The two touched cans before downing the rest of their drinks. It would be a while before they could both finally move on, but with good friends, and something more for each of them, they couldn’t help but feel that it wouldn’t be too long.

Author's Note

And with this, we are officially on the home stretch. Corey and John can't go home unless they feel like gambling, and things in general are wrapping up. See you on Tuesday, where we see the fate of the freed Astral Ponies, and a few other things.

Act 5 Chapter 2

Act V: Collision End

Chapter 2: Rebuilding Where We Left Off

When Corey had first realized where he was, he’d hoped to never have to trek through the Everfree Forest alone. Those hopes were soon replaced with confidence. Thanks to the ordeals he’d endured, he no longer saw an issue with it—of course Twilight told him to be careful, but that was expected. Where he was going though, he was sure he wouldn’t have to worry too much about the dangers of the Everfree.

As it turned out, his lack of worry about the ordeal was warranted. The area around the Castle of the Two Sisters had changed, several slightly primitive-looking huts having been built in the time since he’d last been there. Esper and the Astral Ponies had decided to use this land after being offered it for their own purposes following their new freedom. The local wildlife, while mostly undisturbed about the extras living with them, had mostly accepted their presence without a fuss.

As Corey drew closer, he could see several Astral ponies still at work on the large castle where Corey remembered the book being found. When he was last here, the bridge was so dilapidated and rickety it could barely support John’s weight combined with his and Twilight’s, but now, the Astrals had fixed it up.

“Oh, hey, there he is now!”

“The pony who freed us!”

Corey looked around, and barely withheld a grimace as he realized a few of the grateful astral ponies were coming at him to greet him as he walked towards the castle. It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand their reasons for their reactions—if he were imprisoned for years and years and years and were finally freed, he’d probably want to shake his savior’s hand until his arm went numb, too. He just didn’t like the sudden attention.

“Hey, guys,” Corey waved slightly, setting his eyes on the castle. The ponies who were following him looked to be about his age, maybe slightly younger, “Just passing through here.”

“By all means, stay a while,” said one of the ponies, “There’s no need to be in such a hurry…”

“He really does have his mind on what he wants…” said another, “So why did you come here today?”

“I wanted to talk to Esper—Elder, Esper,” Corey corrected himself, “About something, how things are going for them.”

“Elder Esper should be in the basement somewhere,” said one of the ponies, “He’s currently poring over his old theories in the book that he got back.”

“I see, I see,” Corey said. The book that he had discovered in this very castle with Twilight, Rainbow and John behind him had been recovered together with the Elements of Harmony thanks to Discord knowing where Norma’s hideout was. As it turned out, Norma hadn’t destroyed either of those things. The Elements themselves were probably going to be her trophies; the book probably so she could absorb the knowledge she hadn’t already from it.

The ponies followed him the whole way he went to Esper’s office; a few more joined them as he passed through the castle walls. Corey’s path wound up leading him, ironically enough, towards the very same room he’d originally found the book in. That secret path they’d found was now permanently opened thanks to the new ponies taking up residence within its walls. This time, when he approached the door at the end of it, it wasn’t locked, but instead wide open. Blue runes were crackling within as Esper waved his hands, moving around several objects as he so desired. His book floated idly in front of him, together with a few sheets of paper which had writing on them.

“Elder Esper,” said one of the ponies, calling him to attention.

“Oh, Star Spirit,” Esper said, opening his eyes, “And, Corey…”

“Is that really your name?” asked another pony that was following behind Corey.

“Yeah,” Corey shrugged, “I’m not from this world, remember?”

“Oh, right, right!” said the pony.

“I’ve been expecting you for a while now,” Esper said, slowly putting most of the stuff he was floating around away. Corey looked around the room he was in for the first time. Before, the room was mostly empty, save for the book which was carefully preserved in the center. Now, Esper had converted this room to one that looked like a kind of archive; one that was, for the moment, woefully empty, but Corey assumed that once astral pony society kicked off, that would change quickly.

“Couldn’t really find the time the last couple of months, but I’m here now,” Corey said.

“There is quite a bit I must discuss with you,” Esper said, “Could you all… leave us for a moment? I am sure you will see him many times more in the future.”

The astral ponies paused, before moving away, murmuring to themselves about their savior and the general state of things around their new territory. Once they were out of earshot, Corey took a few steps forward. Esper started moving as well, leaving the book on a table that was in the center of the room, but keeping the pages with him as he moved towards Corey.

“Let me start this off by saying this once more: on behalf of all of us, I deeply apologize for all that you had to sacrifice in order to solve our problem,” Esper said, “I realize how senseless it truly was—“

“I told you before, there’s no need. I can’t imagine what being trapped in a space like that can do to anyone’s mind,” Corey said, shaking his head, “And you were in there for so long. I’d want to get out of there too, if it were me.”

Esper sighed. “Thank you, but I know it cannot be easy for you to know that you are stuck in this world with no stable means of returning to your own.”

“I’ve already made my peace with the situation,” Corey said, “Besides, it’s not like I’m alone on this side, am I?”

“True, true…” Esper said.

Corey’s attention wavered, and fell on the pages Esper was holding. “Are those the missing pages from your book?”

Esper frowned. “Indeed they are. Now that I have seen them again, it appears Norma scratched out her own notes on the spell. She modified the spell to do what it did to us. I have to say, even if she did not have the magical ability, she could have been a good scholar for it. But her desire to just catch up with everyone turned into a lust for more and more power, it seems…”

Esper briefly floated the pages in front of Corey, one by one, arranging them so that Corey could see exactly what he was talking about. Between the neat lines and diagrams that Esper had drawn upon the page, the instructions clearly written, Corey could see the gradually deteriorating scratches that made up notes on more violent spells.

“It’s almost like I can see when her focus went to dark places…” Corey muttered. At this, Esper gathered the pages into a neat pile, and floated them out in front of him.

“For a long time, I had wondered what to do with them if I ever saw them again,” Esper said, “The spell I had imagined was so much more useful, so much more… more… well-intentioned, than what it was used for. Now that I am looking on these pages again myself, I understand what needs to be done.”

Esper’s expression hardened as he stared at the pages some more, raising one hand. He looked to Corey for just a moment, before turning his gaze back to the pages. Blue runes changed to orange as they glowed on the pages, and a few moments later, all of them burst into orange flames, burning up quickly as Esper stared at them. Corey withheld a gasp.

“This spell is too dangerous. Something like it should not have been brought into existence,” Esper sternly said, “It has caused too much suffering. This is the only thing I can think to do with it—to erase it forever.”

The paper remained suspended in the air as it burned completely to ash. Only when it was completely done did Esper release his hold, allowing the ashes to fall to the floor. Corey looked to the ashes, and then back to Esper, and nodded.

“I understand,” Corey said, “It probably wouldn’t have done me too much good anyway.”

For a few moments, they looked to each other in silence. Esper then looked to Corey, and closed the distance between them so that they were standing face to face ten steps apart.

“Now, is there anything else you wanted to know?” Esper asked.

“Admittedly, I did come here to see how you all were rebuilding,” Corey said.

“The rebuilding is coming along nicely, though I’m sure that much like the capital, it’ll probably be a bit before our society is ready to call this area home. And…” Esper said, “As a favor to you, for saving us… you may come here for your own training if you so choose, once we’re done with rebuilding. You may learn from us just as you have learned from your other friends on this side.”

“I see,” Corey said, “Thank you.”

“It’s the least we can do, after what we’ve wrought,” Esper said.

Corey looked around the room, before sighing again. “I guess that’s it, then. I’ll be heading back to Ponyville now.”

“If you must,” Esper said, “Just come by anytime.”

“I’m probably expected to by now,” Corey sighed, resigning himself to the fact he had fans he couldn’t avoid in this world, “Later.”

Rarity was a pony put on this world to create, or at least that was what she would tell herself time and again. Her hands, her horn, were instruments designed to forge some of the most dazzling things seen across Equestria. But while that is what she wanted in life, it was something she couldn’t practice for quite some time. Thanks to Norma and her unkind cohorts, Rarity had to take up another art—the art of combat. It was not something Rarity would have prided herself in alone, though given how well it toned her body she wouldn’t be complaining any time soon.

But that said, because of the battle with Norma and the prisoners, Rarity had been unable to put the sewing needle to fabric again, which is why she was so glad when it was finally over and she could get back to work. As soon as she started again, Rarity found herself with new sources of inspiration beyond what she had before. With everything that had happened, Rarity found her muse in creating clothing that reflected what had happened in some shape or form. The most inspiring was from seeing just what the Astral Ponies wore.

With this knowledge, Rarity managed to modernize it for today’s society. The new design not only caught the eye of many potential buyers, but also brought joy to the astrals after being given those new clothes as a gift. In short, it was the two things she loved most put together—the act of giving to others, and seeing her works being appreciated.

While giving was something Rarity specialized in, she also wasn’t opposed to getting something in return. While Rarity wouldn’t want to think of any kind of silver lining that came from the battle in Canterlot, there was one thing that happened which she couldn’t let pass. During the battle, a building had been unfortunately torn down in its entirety, and whoever owned it decided to sell the rights to the zone instead of rebuilding. Rarity, of course, had no need for the ruble, but the spot was something of great opportunity. It was stationed in what would likely remain one of the busiest streets of Canterlot. Rarity just had to have it.

It took some time and some money, but soon enough the construction would be complete. And when it was, Rarity would have finally accomplished her dream of expanding; she would have a boutique stationed in Canterlot at long last.

“Just a little longer,” in her hands were the finalized notes for her preparations. In her mind, she could already picture how her grand opening would be, the dresses she would reveal. It was a dream she’d always had. Now, it was finally starting to become reality.

I can only thank the stars that I lived to see it happen, she thought to herself. In truth, it was more than luck that had saved her. It was how hard her friends helped her to push herself, how much she had to evolve in such a short time. Now that it was over, she wouldn’t have to push herself anymore, no longer obligated to reach beyond her limits.

That’s right. I am a fashion designer, after all. There’s no need for that anymore.

Just as Rarity put down her letter, she noticed something in her hand. A quick check showed it to be some of the callouses that she’d built over the time she spent preparing. They no longer appeared as those of a tailor, and yet she saw no shame in them. To her, they were the proof of all she had done to survive the ordeal, something that she sincerely hoped she’d never have to do again.

Rarity continued to stare at her hands, a desire growing inside of her the longer she stared at them. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it…” Rarity looked at herself in the mirror, pausing for several seconds before a small smile spread across her face.

I guess some things can’t be given up…

“Sweetie Belle, please watch the shop. I’m going for a run.”

From around the corner, Sweetie Belle popped out with a look of confusion.

“You’re going for a what, now? But it’s the middle of summer!” Sweetie didn’t expect her sister to want to be active on such a hot and sweaty day.

“Ah yes, best stay hydrated…” Already in her workout clothes, her hair tied back with a ribbon, Rarity began her jog out the door, leaving Sweetie behind to sort out her complete confusion with the whole matter.

Back home, John wasn’t someone who would regularly pick up a book series. In his time, he’d only read one or two, or simply wait for the movie adaptation. But when you happen to be friends with Rainbow Dash, John learned quickly that there is exactly one book series that stands above all those rules: the one and only “Daring Do” series. Though John didn’t complain, never in his life did he think that reading what was actually written in the books would be possible. And he was not prepared in the least for how addicting the read would be.

“I can’t put this book down…” John muttered, unable to bring himself to close it. Rainbow simply chuckled from her sofa and continued to watch him read.

“Told ya it was awesome,” she said, “And I’ve pretty much got every book of the series so far, so you won’t be out of material for a while.”

John groaned aloud, knowing that at the rate he was going, he would probably end up reading them all.

“Gotta say, though: I’m still not sold on why a pegasus would have so many bridge scenes. I mean, if you have wings, why not just fly over them?” John question, rubbing the back of his head with one hand.

Rainbow rolled her eyes and blew a raspberry in response. “Some people just can’t appreciate quality tension building.”

“It makes no sense! I mean, if I threw you over the cloud you wouldn’t suddenly forget you could fly…”

“Well, duh, that’s because A) I’m me, and B) you wouldn’t be able to anyway.”

This was what got John to close the book. He looked over to Rainbow who was staring at him with an all-telling grin on her face. If there was one thing to know about Rainbow, it was her drive to take on any challenge. While she and Applejack were nearly always in competition, recently, Rainbow found one other who would challenge her as well.

“That a challenge?” This was John, who Rainbow had learned very quickly had a competitive streak of his own.

“A challenge would mean you’d have a chance.”

And with that, the chase was on. Rainbow ran about her home with John giving chase. Neither gave it their all, but both still demonstrated some impressive mobility. The two continued to run, both laughing about as yet another game was now underway.

While John was fast, Rainbow’s smaller frame made it easier for her to maneuver in tight spaces. But still he managed to be at least two steps away from her for most of the chase. The two of them continued to have their fun, but that soon came to a halt as they heard a knock at the door.

“Pause,” Rainbow said, motioning a time-out with her hands. Rainbow then walked towards her front door, wondering who it could be. The answer, however, came when a letter was slipped through the mail slot of her door, “That’s weird, I already got my mail to—“

Rainbow cut herself off mid-sentence. John looked to her with curiosity. Suddenly, she bolte to the door, looking all around but finding no trace of anyone.

“Rainbow?” She didn’t respond at first, walking back to him in a daze with the letter in her hands. She then turned it towards him, revealing the Wonderbolts’ logo as the wax seal on the letter. Both looked at it for a moment, Rainbow’s hand trembling slightly. She placed her hand on the seal, staring at it for several tense moments.

“I can’t do it! You open it!” She said, pushing the letter to John’s chest. John grabbed on the latter, putting his claw on it to open it, “Wait, don’t open it in front of me! Just turn around and tell me what it says…!” John arched a brow at Rainbow, but did what he was asked. Turning his back to her, John finally undid the seal and reached for what was written inside, only to feel something climbing up his back.

“Wait, no, no I changed my mind, let me read it!” Rainbow said, now on John’s shoulders. John let out a small groan at her inability to decide, but ultimately gave the letter back to her. With it back in her hands, Rainbow jumped off John’s shoulders and landed on the floor again. She stared at the open envelope and gulped. She finally pulled out the note and unfolded it, beginning to read what was written:

Dear Rainbow Dash:

Your recent actions in protecting not only Canterlot, but Equestria as a whole, has reached the ears of the Wonderbolts officials. It is believed that your skills are what can carry the Wonderbolts to new heights. But in order to accomplish this, you must first go through the trials required by all upcoming fliers. Which is why it is our pleasure to offer you a full scholarship in the upcoming semester of Wonderbolt Academy—

Rainbow dropped the letter, her mouth opened in awe over what she had just read. Her mind tried to comprehend the full weight of what had just happened. John could only smile, happy for her, knowing full well how much she wanted this.

“I guess congrats are—“ and then Rainbow sprung alive, kissing John full force in joy.

“I gotta tell everypony!” she said, flying out the door at top speed, leaving the star-struck John return to earth after that kiss.

“…well…that happened…”

John could only press his fingers against his lips in near-silent shock, idly wondering if she was going to tell them about the kiss as well.

Author's Note

And with that, we're already nearly at the end of the wrap-up act. Thursday's update will be a double feature, and with that, we will, at last, come to the end of Collision Code. Until then.

Act 5 Chapter 3

Act V: Collision End

Chapter 3: The Winding Road Ahead

The reconstruction of Canterlot was finally coming to a close. Many had voiced their complaints, and others demanded compensation. All, however, were grateful for not having to experience what had happened firsthand. Eventually, everything went back to normal, and everypony moved on with their lives.

“How are the last of the repairs coming?” Luna asked her sister, a stack of paperwork on her desk covering the very topic. A repair of this size wasn’t a simple task; fortunately, Celestia had a large amount of experience with it by now.

“Most of the more serious damage has already been repaired. The minor touch-ups are coming along smoothly. If we can keep this pace, we could have everything fixed come the end of the week.”

Luna looked out the window, the sounds of construction still filling the air. It was hard to believe that just two months ago, the city was the site of a war.

“Soon, the only remnants of the battle will be our memories…”

“And the millennia-old civilization taking refuge in our old castle,” Celestia joined Luna at the window, the last of her paperwork complete. Luna’s heart bled out for the astral ponies; she knew full well what it was like to be a prisoner for a time. But even her time was a small fraction of what they spent in that little dimension.

“It will take some time, but I’m sure they will grow accustomed to this era. Soon, they’ll be able to forget the past and form new memories, happy memories,” Celestia looked over to her sister and placed a reassuring palm on her shoulder.

“I’m sure the same goes for everyone else as well. That includes the two who fought to make this happen,” Quickly, Celestia gasped inwardly. Something she’d forgotten to mention before rapidly returned to her mind, “Which reminds me…”

Luna watched as Celestia returned to her desk, rummaging through the stacks of paper. Eventually, though, she found what she was looking for, a scroll that was different from the others.

“Due to all the reconstruction, there was something I was putting off. But now that the rebuilding is complete, I can finally make the commission,” Celestia undid the seal around the scroll and unrolled it. Luna looked at what was on the parchment, a small smile spread across her face.

“Do you think they’ll like it?” Celestia wondered. Luna took the scroll with her own hands and gave it one more look over.

“I’m sure they’ll love it.”

Discord was someone who was perfectly content to go with the flow…his own flow, that is. He did what he wanted, when he wanted, never once thinking it through to the end. Even after he was set free from his stone prison for the second time, even after he’d made his first real friend, Discord couldn’t say he’d changed too much on the inside. But that changed throughout the course of Norma’s attacks. As Discord saw chaos spread from another source, as he saw the twisted mind of another crazed villain unfold, Discord couldn’t help but reflect on what could have been.

That is, if things had been different, would he have eventually caused something like that to happen? In truth, Norma did it all for one purpose: to amuse herself. And Discord was no stranger to doing what he could to entertain himself. But as he peered into the past of the prisoners, as he watched the dread and horror build in those affected by Norma’s game, he came to realize something. That even in his wildest imaginations, Discord had never gone to the places some of those individuals had touched time and again.

In time, Discord learned that even he, the spirit of chaos and disharmony himself, had to draw a line somewhere in the sand. And when he discovered that line, Discord found it was moving further and further away from where it was originally placed. At heart, he would always be a prankster, and he was sure somewhere he’d have a friend who would be willing to share in his fun. But just what he could consider fun had to change, especially after what he experienced.

It was the first time he’d ever done something like this, the first time he’d made a stand against another for the right reasons. When he finally managed to stand face-to-face with Norma, when the opportunity to end the game before the war began showed itself… he couldn’t deny what he felt in that moment, a feeling of pride that differed from what he felt in the past. It was the feeling of knowing he could have made a difference. Sadly, it didn’t come to pass, and he was defeated before he could stop her.

And yet, no one held it against him. No one expressed any disappointment for what he couldn’t do. Instead, they showed him praise, gratitude for what he had tried to do and for the good intent in his actions. But even so, Discord didn’t feel satisfied. Now that everything had finally blown over, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he could do more. So after careful consideration, taking into account what he could do, he came to a very understandable conclusion.

Discord got a job.

“Time to start my shift,” Discord said, donning a blue uniform and cap. With glee in his heart to start a new day, Discord strolled right up to the front door of his new job… guarding the Gates of Tartarus. Sure, the gates did already have Cerberus, but even he couldn’t keep them all under control if multiple breakouts happened at once—as the recent incident proved. Plus, Cerberus really seemed to enjoy having someone else around who wasn’t shouting death threats.

Many of the guards seemed to have quieted down since finding out of Discord’s involvement in keeping the prisoners in line. With someone able to warp the fabric of reality itself with no more than a simple snap of the fingers holding the keys, hope for another escape seemed all but gone. But that didn’t stop some from trying.

“Well, now, isn’t this a sight?”

While making his rounds, Discord heard a voice call out to him. Curiously, Discord turned, seeing a shriveled prisoner wearing a cloak. Discord searched his memories—ah, yes, this was Tirek, a centaur capable of consuming another’s magic. His folder was a colorful one, if Discord remembered correctly.

“To believe someone like you, someone who stood high above everyone else, was reduced to this…”

Discord looked at Tirek, then looked down, a sigh escaping his lips. “It’s the color, isn’t it?” He motioned to the suit he was wearing, “I knew I should have asked Rarity, but now, I thought I could figure it out myself. Honestly, I’ve tried like a dozen colors and none just seem to pop like I’d—“

“Your sense of fashion is not what I speak of!” Tirek yelled, his face popped out of the cloak, red with anger, “I speak of how you were turned to a loyal dog!” Discord looked back at Tirek, this time with an arched brow, “They’ve already thrown you in here with the rest of us, telling you to keep watch. How long until you come down here one day, only to find the door locked behind your back?”

At this, Discord took a few steps closer.

“You’re only here because you’re useful to them, but how long will that last? How long until they finally see you as too much of a threat to allow to roam free?” Discord placed a hand on Tirek’s call, a smile spreading across his face, “We could rule this nation together. No one can stop the two of us. All you have to do is set us free, set us all free, and watch the chaos unfold…”

Now Discord was the one to begin a wicked grin. His hand slowly moved as he pressed his fingers against one another. Tirek could already see his freedom within range. All Discord had to do was snap his fingers and—

“No thanks,” Discord’s fingers did indeed snap, but rather than the locks coming undone, a small pop rang out followed by pieces of confetti raining down on Tirek’s face. Tirek stood there, completely confused, Discord trying to hold in a chuckle from having faked out Tirek.

“Sorry to say, but that little portion of my life is over now. And to clarify, my current position, I haven’t actually told anyone about it yet. A little something to share during afternoon tea with friends.”

At this, Tirek began to shout. Discord casually walked away from the cell, listening to Tirek’s rantings come from within the cell.

Corey was right… that does feel good! As he thought this, Discord finally paid even the slightest inkling of attention to what Tirek was saying, and conjured a pair of earmuffs to slip over his head.

“You can’t say those things in public, Tirek,” Discord scolded, continuing to walk away from his cell.

It was evening by the time Corey finally made his way back to the place he’d been calling home ever since he came to Equestria. The tree still looked as warm and inviting as ever, and he felt deep down that wouldn’t change no matter what. Today’s visits went over well, and Corey no longer had much to take care of regarding the incident. The Tartarus-related crisis, as far as he was concerned, was now officially a thing of the past.

Corey walked up to the front door of the library and paused for a few moments. Well, there was one other thing that was vaguely related to the crisis he had yet to resolve, but it was something he had no idea how to do. It grew on him before he even realized it was there, and indeed, even he had acted on it a few times with and without thinking. Mainly without, though.

Corey took in a long breath and stepped through the door. No one was around, from the looks of it.

“Twilight, I’m back!” Corey called out, listening for her response as he stepped through the front door, closing it behind him.

“Oh, Corey,” Twilight said, her voice distant, echoing throughout the library as she greeted him, “I’m just taking some time reorganizing some things! Would you care to join me?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Corey shrugged slightly, moving towards where he could already feel her presence was. Like the others, her presence was warm, just as he’d remembered it being, “Just which room is it?”

“The one where you used to study a lot,” Twilight confirmed. Corey shook his head. Even now that things were peaceful he was still meeting her in that room. As he drew closer, he could hear the low hum of magic being used, one that he could afford to pay attention to due to the lack of violence associated with it.

The door to the room was open, and sure enough, there Twilight was, her horn aglow as she moved books towards the front of the shelves, double-checking the alphabetical order of the author, then the title. As Corey stepped through, he couldn’t help but look around, feeling someone was missing.

“Hm, doesn’t Spike usually help you out with this?” Corey asked, looking around a bit more.

“Normally, yes,” Twilight said, “But with all that’s happened, he’s missed out on so many comic issues that I just wouldn’t feel right having him do this today.”

As Corey’s gaze returned to the books, he slowly realized the glowing was dying down, the last of the books returning to what he assumed was their rightful places on the shelves. He took a few more steps into the room.

“Is that it?” Corey asked.

“No,” Twilight shook her head. This time, though, she didn’t turn her head to face him, which Corey found only a little odd, “There’s a bit more to it than that. When you left today, you said you needed to talk to some people…”

Only after the last of the books was released from her grip did Twilight turn on her heel, facing Corey directly.

“That was fine with me, but I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while as well,” Twilight said, “This room just seemed like the most appropriate place for it.”

Corey took in a deep breath, letting the memories of his first days in this room wash over him. From when Twilight tried to overstuff his head in hopes he’d learn magic that way, to the time he’d spent trying to sort himself out following the incident in the Crystal Empire… all of it, was coming back to him. She did raise a perfectly valid point.

On the other hand… Twilight wanted to talk to him. Corey couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. She took in a long breath, the two beginning to walk towards each other now. Once they were within a few steps of each other, they stopped.

“How did John take the news, Corey?” Twilight asked.

“Better than I thought, really,” Corey said, “There’s really nothing else we can do but move on.”

“So… I guess with the visits you’ve made today, you’re not too worried about what your decision means, anymore?” Twilight asked.

“Mostly,” Corey said, “There are a few things I have left to do…”

“Yes,” Twilight said, “You certainly have a lot to think about…”

There was an awkward pause between them, broken when Twilight lurched forward and pulled Corey into a hug, eliciting a surprised grunt from the latter.

“T-Twilight…?” Corey asked.

“It couldn’t have been easy for you,” Twilight said, “To do what you did. Knowingly destroying the only way you had back home, for the sake of others. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, and you... you…”

“It was the better choice…” Corey said, finally raising his arms around her, “If I had chosen to take the orb and use it to get home, I’d have been killing those Norma trapped long ago.”

“I know, I know…” Twilight said, collecting herself, “It’s just… now, you really do have to rebuild.”

“I know,” Corey said, and at this point, Twilight released her grip on him, looking him in the eyes.

“Do you know what you’re going to do?” Twilight asked, “Even your… your talent isn’t… here, you know…”

Corey closed his eyes. “I know. There aren’t any computers here unless Pinkie winds up accidentally inventing one.”

“You think she could?” asked Twilight.

“She created some other things I’ve seen back home,” Corey said, “Maybe she could wind up making one of them one day, but I don’t think I can wait that long.”

“So then… what do you plan to do with your life now that you’re here for good?” asked Twilight, “If not what you were… learning to do back in your world?”

Corey gave a long, weary sigh at this. Here she was, once again asking a question he didn’t have the answer to. That just seemed to be the way things went for him for a while.

“You don’t know, do you…” Twilight said, sounding sad.

“I don’t,” Corey said, giving only the slightest smile, “But I think I’ll figure something out. I’ll be honest. With everything that was happening, ‘and then what’ was the last thing on my mind. I was just fighting for a chance of having to ask myself that question, I guess.”

Twilight shook her head slowly at this. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by that.”

“But at the same time, over the course of the last few months, I’ve changed. I’ve changed more than I ever thought possible. I wish it didn’t have to be under the circumstances that they were—fighting for my life against the likes of those that I personally never want to have to fight against again,” Corey stepped forward, he and Twilight merely inches apart now, “Twilight, for the first time in a while, I finally feel like… like an adult. I finally feel like I can be proud of myself.”

Twilight gave a small smile at this, remembering what John told her all that time ago. She couldn’t help but wonder if Corey even realized—

“I guess I should be thanking you for that, too,” Corey said, “In some way that I can’t put into words… you helped me along that path.”

As soon as the words finished leaving his mouth, Twilight felt her face light up. Both hands went to her very hot-feeling cheeks, and she immediately turned away in embarrassment.

“I-it wasn’t just me, you know…!” she stuttered, “Y-you were with the one who taught me for a while, remember…!”

“I guess that’s true,” Corey said. At first, his face remained normal, but as he continued, he could feel his own face warm up, “But meeting you was the first step. You met me with nothing but kindness, even in situations where I felt I didn’t deserve it. I felt like I wanted to repay that kindness… no matter what.”

“S-so… what about now…” Twilight said, looking into his eyes, “Do you feel like… like you’ve paid me back?”

“No, I don’t,” Corey said, “I still need to find a new direction in life, one that makes use of what I’ve learned about myself here.”

Twilight smiled. Still blushing, she put her hands down on his shoulders. Corey looked back at her, blushing the whole way.

“I’m not going to let you out of my sight until you do…” Twilight smiled, “And as long as you need me, I’m right here. You remember that, right?”

“Of course I do,” Corey said, “You couldn’t have made it any clearer to me than you already have.”

The two remained like this for a while, before Twilight spoke up again.

“If you stay at my side, if you stay with me, you realize you’ll probably need to keep fighting, right? Whether or not the fight really needs to involve physical violence?” Twilight asked, “Is that something you’re ready for?”

“As far as I’m concerned, Twilight,” Corey said, “As long as you’re at my side, I’m just about ready for anything.”

Twilight’s eyes half-closed, and she leaned in. “That’s all I needed to hear before I went through with this.”

With hearts beating fast, faces redder than blood itself, and hardly any inhibitions between them, Corey and Twilight met lips. This time, it lasted quite a while. Neither one moved for a while, not wanting to spoil the moment. They broke apart, staring into each other’s eyes for a long while.

“So… do you want to keep staying here?” Twilight asked.

“I think I will,” Corey said, “And besides…”

His gaze went past her, to the various books on the shelves. “I may have a few ideas as to how I can move forward in this world…”

Author's Note

And with that, Act 5 is over, but there's still the epilogue to go through, and it should be up together with this chapter, so...there we go.

Epilogue

Epilogue

There were quite a few things Corey never thought he would experience in his life. Many of those things were quickly moved off that list after he came to Equestria. Even so, he would continue to find himself in unexpected situations. This time around, he was riding in a private carriage with his friends, all of them dressed for an unknown occasion. None of them told him or John just what this was about.

“Okay, I can’t figure this out…” Corey looked at himself in the mirror of the carriage, a very sloppily-tied necktie on the front of an otherwise nice suit.

“Gave up a long time ago…” said John, the top button of his suit left undone.

“Here, let me try,” Twilight giggled, taking hold of Corey’s tie.

“You guys still haven’t told us what the occasion is,” John said, but again, everyone refused to say so much as a word. He and Corey weren’t even able to see where they were going as the windows were covered.

“Sorry, but the best surprises need good build up,” said Pinkie, “If we told you where and what we were doing, your reaction just wouldn’t be as good as it could be.”

At this, John groaned slightly, his curiosity continuing to climb well past its peak.

“And after everything we’ve done to prepare for this, we wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise, would we?”

Finally, Twilight finished fixing Corey’s tie, everyone going into a comfortable silence. In this time, everyone was able to reflect on their lives. Corey and John in particular took this chance to look at where their lives had gone. No longer were they the men they were back home; no, the comparisons were almost night and day now.

They’ve both grown, at least emotionally, both having had to mature enough to survive the trials place before them. And survive them they did, each hurdle bringing them higher than before. Sure, there was a time when they’d suffered a lot, when they weren’t sure if they’d be able to get back up and continue.

But that’s where the friends they’d made came into play. Right when they felt themselves at their lowest, it was the friends that surrounded them now that were there to pick them up. To give them the words of encouragement, to show them that there is light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how dark the tunnel itself was.

“You know, it’s kind of funny,” Corey finally said, breaking the silence, “This world, as alien as it was to me when I got here, it’s growing on me now. The magic of this world, and those who live it. I mean, sure, there’s probably some more in the future I’ll have to get used to. But I can say without a doubt, that I’ll really be able to enjoy a normal life here.”

The others listened to Corey’s words, each of them smiling towards him, then to each other… and then they promptly burst out laughing.

“Sorry, Corey, but normal is something we haven’t been able to touch again for a long time now,” Twilight said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, we might not get a moment as crazy as what happened with Norma, but trust us, normal isn’t a word you’ll be able to use again,” added Rainbow. After all, ever since their group formed, they’d found themselves having to stop a crazy situation almost on a weekly basis. And now, Corey and John, having chosen to fight with them, were more than likely along for the ride now.

“But the last two months went by without a problem,” Corey tried to argue, but as soon as the words finished leaving his mouth, everyone answered with a simultaneous:

“The calm before the storm,” before going into yet another fit of laughter.

“But don’t worry about it,” Twilight said to Corey, “Sure, we don’t always know exactly when something will happen, but we’ve pretty much got used to it. And really, something that large-scale and world-threatening are very rare events.”

Both John and Corey looked at each other with wide eyes, fully understanding the truth of the lives they were about to live.

“I am surprisingly okay with this,” John answered. While Corey did not repeat or state his agreement, he still felt the same.

Beats sitting behind a computer all day, Eventually, all the laughter within the carriage died down. But to both of their surprise, there was no silence this time. Other sounds could be heard coming from outside.

“Sounds like there’s a commotion outside,” John said. Even though the windows were still blocked, he tried to look around them, hoping to see at least some sign of what was happening outside. He then looked to the girls who, for some reason he couldn’t quite explain, began to look up. Finally, the carriage came to a stop, both Corey and John left to wonder what was up next.

“In 3…2…1…”

Before either could question the countdown, the carriage walls began to move. The wall expanded, opening up to reveal the outside world again, and what they saw was a total surprise.

“Whoa…”

They were in Canterlot, the carriage having stopped at the end of a long, red carpet leading towards the refurbished castle. And standing at both sides of the carpet was a large crowd of ponies cheering. John and Corey’s eyes went wide again as their jaws went slack, a flash of light being the only thing to snap them back to attention. Both turned to see Rainbow holding a camera, the film already being developed.

“One for the memory books,” she said with a chuckle, putting the picture away.

“I… uh… what is all this?” Corey asked, the girls having already gotten up and beginning their walk out of the carriage.

“What, did you think you’d save Equestria and not get some recognition?” Rainbow asked before leaping off. John and Corey looked at one another, a single guess as to what was happening passing into both of their minds.

“It couldn’t be… could it?” asked Corey, but John simply shrugged, seeing no point in asking as he began to disembark from the carriage as well. Corey followed after, seeing the only way to find the answer would be to find out for himself. Everyone walked down the carpet’s path, waving at the cheering ponies as they slowly made their way towards the front gates. There stood both princesses, and behind them was something large, something hidden behind a tarp.

When everyone reached the first step, they stopped, and both Princesses raised their hands, signaling all to be silent. And soon, everything did go silent, and Celestia took a step forward so that she could speak.

“As you all know, these very streets that you have walked, the very homes you have lived in, they were all the site of a war. This war was orchestrated by a crazed pony with sinister ambitions. A pony named Para Norma who released several other dangerous prisoners from Tartarus and used them as pawns of a game.

“If left unchecked, she may have very well succeeded in her aim for conquest. But fortunately, just as all those who have attempted the same in the past, she has failed,” Again the crowd began to cheer, celebrating the continued freedom they could still live. Celestia waited a moment, allowing them to calm themselves once more.

“We once again owe it all to the same ponies who have saved us time and again. The Elements of Harmony, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Their willingness to put their very lives on the line for ours is something to be commended and respected for years to come.” The crowd was about to start cheering yet again, but Celestia graciously halted them with a raised hand.

“But, they did not fight alone. No, this time they were aided by two brave individuals.”

Before they could react at all, Corey and John were pushed forward by the others, the crowd turning their attention to them.

“When the game with Para Norma began, they were given a choice, probably the only real choice they had in the matter. We told them time and again that they could stand aside, that they did not have to worry themselves with something they had no control over. And yet, both showed their merit, and chose without hesitation to fight beside their new friends. And even after all that they’ve suffered, and all that they’ve had to overcome, they never backed down.”

Both Celestia and Luna stepped back, their horns glowing as the tarp began to do the same.

“And with their strength, with their friendship, we are all able to stand here today and commend them on all they have done with this!”

Finally, the magic pulled at the tarp, revealing what was underneath it: a stained glass window, much like the others Corey and John had seen that decorated the castle walls.

This one, much like the others, depicted Twilight and her friends battling the foes who threatened Equestria. Norma and the prisoners dotted the outer sides of the window. But there were two others in the middle with the Elements of Harmony this time: John and Corey, each appearing to lead the charge, Corey facing Norma. At first, both were in stunned silence, but soon shifting into a full smile, tears of joy beginning to run down their faces.

Twilight walked up to Corey as Rainbow did the same with John, placing an arm around their shoulder and pulling them in tight.

“Congrats, you two,” said Rainbow, gently punching John on the chest, “You’re officially heroes.”

Dear Journal,

I think a new chapter of my life is truly about to begin. I thought I’d be waiting another couple of years for that to happen, once I graduated college and moved on to the workforce, but with what happened to me, I’m practically there already. In a job I thought would be a dream, but rapidly became reality. Of course, I’m practically a hero now, but it doesn’t mean I should get too far ahead of myself. I’ve still got to earn my keep.

John was able to afford where he lives because of the month he spent preparing, it turns out. Dragon hoards of gold, silver, and other shiny objects. He basically doesn’t need to worry, I think. Though I’m sure he’ll be forming his own hoard soon enough of pillows at the rate he’s going. Better watch out for his instincts, huh?

I may not know exactly how I’m going to proceed from here, but that’s fine. I think I have plenty of good ideas I can put forward now that I’m here. Maybe all I need to do is put the pen to the parchment and get to writing. With my experiences, I could easily form a few stories out of it all. And that’s not going into what the future may bring me.

Of course, there are still a few things that I have to do before I can officially consider my new life started. Well, I’ve done most of them already. All that’s left is putting my “providing” idea into action, and that will be that.

I may not have been able to use my words for it just yet, but I’m sure Twilight knows what she means to me, and in return, I know what I mean to her. We’re becoming far more comfortable with each other now. There’s nothing we need to fear from ourselves or each other. It really was about time, wasn’t it, everyone?

I’ve made peace with everything involving the incident with Para Norma. Soon enough, all that will be left are the memories…and the physical scars that don’t heal, but that’s neither here nor there. Moreover, I’ve made peace with others I never thought I would ever.

From now on, I will keep moving forward, and not live with any regrets. There is just no more room in my mind for it. Or the anger that had plagued me before. I can move forward now, as an adult. Or stallion, I suppose, I guess both are right now, technically. Point is, it’s time to face forward to the future, with friends and loved ones by my side.

While my days of adventure are probably just beginning, I do believe that I’m ready for them now. And if I’m not, I know I have people at my back. Everyone back home, I’m sorry. I will never see you again, but I truly hope that if I were able to explain why I’m never coming home, I’d tell you exactly why that is, and hope you would understand. But I can’t dwell on my past life anymore. That’s over and done with. All I can do is move forward with my present life.

After all, navigating life here should be a cakewalk compared to what I've already been through here. Right?

If anything else comes up, I'll be sure to write an entry. 'Til next time,

--Corey

Author's Note

And with that, after two years and a month or so, after 105 chapters (counting this one) and a previous version that didn't pan out, Collision Code is finally complete. If you read it this far, thank you, even if you didn't like it. What will I do next? Not sure. I'm sure this is where most other authors would go into details on the decisions they made and what not, but for me to do so with a fic this long would be more space than should really go into an author's note. Nonetheless, this fic is finally over, and I feel a sense of pride in that I finally finished something; and a sense of relief in that this is finished.

Until next fic (if it should be pony-related).

EDIT (10/30/2021): Changed the end note just a little bit. I feel like Corey dubbing himself a different name kind of undoes his character arc a bit. He literally just said he's finally fine with who he is, why would he then rename himself? Don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that.

Prologue

Author's Note

So here it is, a rewrite of the old Collision Code. It's vastly different from the original. Same rules as the old apply: self-inserts, humans, all that stuff. I would like to say that this version takes place between Seasons 3 and 4, because I felt like working with that kind of world; though Equestria Girls hasn't happened in this continuity yet. All I'm really gonna say on that. So if that isn't a problem, please, sit back, and enjoy the rewrite of Collision Code.

Prologue

May 19, 2014

I need to keep a log of everything, otherwise I’ll think I’m losing my mind over this. Okay, so since my school work started to slacken, what with summer coming up and all, I realized I was getting too frustrated over things that didn’t matter. Before some things happened, I wasn’t known for getting angry. Now, I’ve nearly alienated my friends with my rage, and I’ve finally made the resolve to make things right. In an attempt to return to how I was, I decided that I needed to start watching more of a show that I’ve kept putting off for a while now.

I’m talking about My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I had started watching it back when it was still relatively new, before a third season was announced. I ended up shying away from it for a long while…I don’t want to go into that right now. Let’s just say, I put it behind me and I was able to continue the series at long last.

It was good at first. I was able to watch episodes and enjoy them, as I used to. The more I watched, the more excited I got for the next episode down the line. I began to feel like I was finally able to move on.

However, as my anger began to go away, I started to notice something. At first, I thought I was just seeing things—a lot had changed since my last time watching the show, and one facet of my life that had was my eyesight: I needed glasses and finally got them not too long ago. Even after I put them on, though, I began to see it. In some episodes of the series, hidden in the background, there was some kind of message.

They’d be written on clouds, scratched into tree bark, whatever, but they were there. But the fact there was hidden messages wasn’t the weirdest part—certainly not the fact that it was patchy either—only some episodes had them. It was the format the messages were written in…

I don’t care if you believe me or not…but…they were written in…of all things, Java…

I’m sorry, I guess I should start over. My name is Corey, and your name is Journal. I hope we get along. Can’t stand inanimate paper calling me insane, after all.

Anyway, I began seeing these things a couple of days ago when I really started being able to watch episodes again. I’m not sure why there’s code here, of all places, and why I’m the only one that can see it out of the four of us…

There was nothing like a good Skype call between friends. Corey knew this, but he was currently on mute, watching yet another episode of ponies. This time around, Rainbow Dash was having trouble coping with her loving of reading books. It was pretty good, as most episodes tended to be. He could only think of two episodes he’d watched so far that he flat-out despised, but he preferred not to dwell on those lest that anger come back.

He didn’t watch the cartoon in full screen. In one window, he had Skype open, but the program was on mute. The icons representing his friends flashed as noise came in from their ends. He couldn’t tell what they were saying, getting two ears full of pony instead. To most, he’d fit the classical image of a brony almost perfectly: overweight, messy-haired, hunched over at a computer desk. He even wore a pair of glasses.

“There it is again…” Corey mumbled aloud to himself, pausing the cartoon and pulling out a notebook, opening it to where he’d folded a corner of the pages. There was several lines of code there. Of course, no one but him could read it—his writing had never been good by most people’s standards. He hastily scrawled the lines he saw.

public void move(double x, double y, double z, Being b) {

}

The second curly bracket was more out of habit than anything else, and Corey knew he’d regret it later when he went back to assemble the haphazard lines of code. By now, he knew what programming language they were in. Java, of course. Of course, this still didn’t add up; why was it there was Java in the background exactly? Did Hasbro really let this through? Was it an Easter Egg for code monkeys like him?

His line of internal questions was stopped, however, when he saw the Skype icon on the taskbar flash orange, with an orange “1” in the lower right corner of the Skype logo. He quickly returned his attention to Skype for a moment, and saw this:

Ivan: Corey, you still pursuing your conspiracy theory?

Frustration boiled in Corey’s gut as he tried not to let it get to him. It just wasn’t worth it. But, seeing as how he’d paused the episode mid-shot with the code still clearly visible on…of all places, the wall of the hospital directly behind Rainbow, he decided to do what any sensible person would do.

He full-screened the episode for a few seconds, took a screenshot, and sent it to the chat, accompanied by the message:

Corey: Take a look at the screenshot, tell me if it’s really a theory…

Corey went back to watching the episode as his friends watched. Without bothering to pause, he quickly added:

Corey: Look behind Rainbow, you should see it there…

Leo: I’m so sure…

All three of his friends were downloading the screenshot. Corey continued to watch the episodes, taking down the code as he went. Towards the end, as he finished jotting down something for another method—or maybe it was that move method from earlier—Corey received a few other messages from Skype.

Ivan: I don’t see a thing in this pic, I mean, unless you want me to look at Rainbow’s ass…
Leo: Hey, that is my thing! But yeah, Cor, I’m not seeing it.
John: You’re just being paranoid…
John: Not that it’s a bad thing, better than your anger, at least…

Corey sighed. It really looked like the only way he could prove this was real was to take down all the lines of code he spotted in the episodes, and assemble them into their final form to prove them wrong. For now, though…

Corey: I know what I saw…

With that, Corey finished the episode, though not without yet another interruption.

John: Do you?

Corey let out yet another sigh, and didn’t bother responding to John anymore. He was just going to sit here and take the notes, and hope he got all the clues…

May 27, 2014

I’ve mostly caught up with the show now, Season 4 nonwithstanding, and I think I’ve pieced together most of the code. For some reason, it only shows up a little bit after…those…episodes. They start at Season 2, Episode 4, in the background, and they seem to be awfully abundant in scenes where we’re sure we’re in Ponyville. Episodes that focus elsewhere don’t have them.

They seem to be put where someone should see them in full. Good thing I wear my glasses when watching things online, otherwise I might not have seen the code clearly without full-screening it. I still don’t know how people aren’t seeing it…I seem to be the only one who can…

Regardless, I’ve got to finish Season 3 now. I’ve cobbled together a lot of code…

But what is this all leading up to?

It was a pretty quiet afternoon, so Corey had no real Skype obligations to tend to. Which meant only one thing: it was time for ponies. He’d pretty much blazed through most of it by now, only stopping whenever he caught another line hidden in the background. He seemed to have found the last remnants of the message…oddly, in the smoking crater that Twilight had left after being zapped with the other Elements.

“And then the brony community proceeded to have a cow…” Corey mumbled, taking in the sight of a Twilight with wings for the first time outside of screenshots and fanart. He inhaled, ready to continue, but stopped himself, “No, you’ve already gone too long about it, move on...”

He glanced to his notebook again. An impossibly large amount of lines of code had been compiled now. They detailed several methods, and some of the code was some things that Corey was sure consisted of subclasses to the program. Was he dealing with an entire ensemble of classes and objects?

I’ve compiled together so much code from the background…All that’s left is to assemble it. But, I think I’d better keep going, and see if any code is left…

“Yes! Everything’s going to be just fine!” The closing line in the episode snapped Corey out of his haze. Well, since there was credits coming up, Corey decided to keep going into Season Four. He hesitated, the mouse hovering over the episode.

C’mon Corey, you said you would…Besides, you need to see if there’s anything else you’ve missed anyway…

With that, the boy clicked on the first episode of the fourth season, and began…

May 28, 2014

It’s just passed midnight now. Finally finished gathering the code, or I should say Magical Mystery Cure had the last lines of code in it…

For some reason, after the last episode of the third season, the code seemed to simply stop appearing. I’ll go back and re-watch the episodes I’d already watched before I started watching again, to see if anything else is there. But still, why did it stop specifically after Season 3? Was that the end of the code? Did something happen to the message?

Whatever the case, I have to get ready to assemble the code now…

I stopped telling Ivan, Leo, and John about what I was seeing. No need to alienate them with so-called “paranoia” after I just got done alienating them with my anger. But, if they ask what I’m up to, I will answer truthfully.

I just hope it doesn’t come to that, not yet…

June 14, 2014

After a little over two weeks of hard work, I’m finally almost done. It took a lot of effort to figure out which lines of code go where, since the message was totally scrambled. As I thought, the lines of code translated to a few objects. The Being class in the move method, for some reason, had a lot of fields…but a blank constructor that seemed to resolve nothing. It used a void method called getInfo…but that didn’t make sense either. It didn’t seem to ask for anything, not even using System calls to look into cookies or registry files…in fact, the code just says voidEnter(), and doesn’t seem to intake anything else…It doesn’t make sense, but the code seems to run completely fine when I compile that class…

There were a few others, but the code was still incomplete. I had to fill in blanks where I needed to. I’m a bit afraid to run the core class, though. I don’t know what it’d do if I had the code even a hair off…So far, though, I’m getting a clean compile, which is better than nothing.

I’ve just got to make some finishing touches tomorrow, and that’ll be that…

I’ll report to you later on the success of my findings, journal.

It had been a couple of days since he’d written that journal entry. Now, Corey was staring at the open code, hovering the mouse cursor over the “Run” button. It would be incredibly easy to do so, but ever since completing the code and compiling it, Corey had felt hesitant to run the code. He’d compiled the program cleanly, there didn’t appear to be any glaring logic errors, and he didn’t see anything that looked overtly suspicious in the code, so why was it he was so afraid?

The all-too-familiar sound of an incoming Skype message came in. It was in the chat he shared with his three closest friends. However, only one of them was on.

John: I know it’s a bit early, but...
Call?

Call? Corey thought to himself for a moment. John never really asked for calls unless it was more than just him, so why was he asking now? Whatever the case, Corey decided that he could use some other voice besides his own, so he decided to, without even bothering to answer his question, hit the “Call Group” button on Skype.

It took a few moments for John to answer, but when he did, his voice had some feedback in the background to it, as usual.

“’Sup, Cor?” he asked. Corey bristled, but shrugged it off easily enough.

“Nothing much, really,” Corey said. “Just…putting some stuff together.”

“You hear that Battle of Gods is coming to theatres?”

“Yeah, but it’s probably not releasing anywhere around here,” Corey sighed, “Dragon Ball films that all people will like will never make it to theatres…”

“Please, Evolution wasn’t that bad…”

“Taken as itself, maybe, but taken as a derivative of the source material, not so much…” The boy knew this wasn’t quite normal, and thus said what was on his mind: “You know, John, I’m surprised, you usually don’t ask for a call unless someone else is on too. What’s on your mind? Takes more than a new movie release for you to have to request a call out of the blue when it’s just the two of us.”

“I was wondering, what exactly have you done with those so-called ‘hidden messages’?” John asked, his voice coming through from the other end loud and clear. Corey paused, unsure if John was asking him sincerely. Thankfully, John clarified with his next message, “Like, what kind of hidden message was it?”

“It was…written in Java…” Corey said.

“Java?” John asked.

“You know, like the co—“

“I guessed as much!” John cut in before Corey could finish, “…So the code was written in Java, you said?”

“That’s right…It was weird. Throughout all the scenes, especially the ones in Ponyville, I’d been seeing lines of code…and when I assembled them, they were an entire program! Objects, a central method…it had it all!”

“I’d…imagine…” John said.

“Well, I wouldn’t say all…I did have to fill in some code for myself…” Corey trailed off, “But…”

“But what?” John asked.

“I haven’t run the code,” Corey said, “I’ve clean compiled it a lot of times, but I’ve never run the final build…”

“Why not? Doesn’t it look like it’s gonna print out a message for you?”

“John…” Corey groaned, “The methods are…weird.”

“Well then, what does the code do?” John asked, “Of the four of us—hell, of all of us, you’re the one that has the best grip on it…”

“That’s true…” Corey sighed, “Well, I wish I could say for sure, but…from what I’m seeing, it shouldn’t do anything once it’s run.”

“Why is that?”

“Well…most of the methods call other methods, but they don’t exist anywhere else. Yet, the code compiles as though nothing is wrong. There are a lot of these methods here and there, and some of them reference the z-axis. Probably isn’t as uncommon as you think, but I’ve only handled programs in two dimensions…”

“So it has a third dimension…” John said, “That’s pretty much all I know, this coding stuff just kinda goes over my head.”

Corey looked to the code again. There were so many methods that resolved to seemingly nothing, not even a System call, like he knew. It seemed like there were so many hanging threads...

On top of that, this could very well be a virus, introduced by spiteful people who only host the cartoon to lure unsuspecting people into a trap…But then again, it’d take a hell of a lot of effort to make a virus this elaborate. This program doesn’t hack into the registry or the cookies, it seems like my personal stuff is safe…But why does it reference a “Being” class? Why is it that the program references three axes, and…a “Being” in a move method… It all sounds like a game…Maybe that’s what it is. Perhaps people hid source code for a game somewhere…

“Corey, you still there?” John asked, breaking Corey’s introspection.

“No, no, I’m here…” Corey responded, shaking his head. There was a few moments of silence, broken when he spoke up again, “You know what? Screw it.”

“Huh?”

“I’m going to run it right now, and see what happens!” Moving his cursor, clicking out of the Skype window before he changed his mind, Corey hovered the pointer over the “Run” button of the program he used and clicked.

The computer briefly loaded up the program, as though it were run. A window depicting a command prompt popped up for just a second, then…nothing. His computer still ran as normal. It was the biggest anti-climax Corey had ever had in his life.

“Nothing…” Corey said, slumping forward.

“Maybe it was just a hoax, then?” John asked.

“Yeah…hold that thought, I’m gonna run an anti-virus scan on—“

The Skype download sound suddenly went off.

“Did you just send me—“ John began.

“No, I didn’t send a thing!” Corey responded, looking down, wondering what the hell just happened.

“Dude, look at the file!” John yelled, alarmed.

Corey swallowed hard, and hesitantly clicked on the Skype icon on his taskbar. His eyes widened at the name of the file both were downloading—which was weird, since neither Leo nor Ivan were on to send them anything—but the file name was far more disturbing.

help_us.exe

“Help…?” Corey croaked, at an utter loss for words. A small thought erupted at the back of his head, one he would later recall as quite silly given the seriousness of the situation:

If my life just turned into a creepypasta…!

The Skype download sound finished playing, and Corey heard a deafening crack sound. He looked up, and was even more horrified to find a Windows command prompt window staring him down. Worse, the screen seemed to have been cracked. There was text being rapidly typed, but Corey blanked it all out, too numb from shock to know what he should be reading. As soon as it finished, the prompt window shattered, and Corey inexplicably found himself being sucked in. As soon as he realized what was happening, Corey grunted, turning to the nearest surface: his bed, and held on for dear life.

Pity his sheets could never seem to stay on when he wanted them to.

Here, Corey realized there was another use for the word “void” in Java, one he never suspected could be a use. But that was but a small thought in the back of his mind right now.

His sheets peeled back too far, and Corey let out a yell of terror as he fell into the void. A vortex of trippy colors and loud static assaulted his eyes and ears. He felt a surge of pain go through his body; especially his head. The next thing he knew, a blinding white light enveloped everything…

Act 1 Chapter 4

Act I: Collision of Worlds

Chapter 4: Cooldown Period

It wasn’t like the mares in the room hadn’t had their own freak-outs—far from it, really. Each of them could probably name at least one time where they’d totally lost it. However, it also wasn’t every day you saw a colt who you just learned ten seconds ago was an alien in a pony’s body have a very similar breakdown. He was pacing back and forth, one hand pressed to his forehead—was he aware of the horn on his forehead now?

“I can’t believe this,” Corey huffed, “How could it have turned out like this? I mean, a hidden message that only I can see starts to appear out of nowhere. Next thing I’m putting it together…”

“Now that I’m thinking about it, who does that?!” Corey paused, now appearing like he was entirely in his own world now, ranting to himself, “What kind of idiot just decides to compile a message he got off the internet—the internet, of all places!”

Corey continued to rant and rave, John merely looking on with an indifferent expression on his face. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was sort of enjoying the first show of emotion other than terror and confusion from Corey, even if it was his habit of rambling on.

“Forgive me,” Princess Celestia said, getting his attention, “But, shouldn’t you try to calm him?”

John couldn’t answer vocally at the moment. He was taking in the sight of Corey rambling about his problems…

Wait…rambling…Oh, no…She’s actually right…but not because of the simple reason… John thought, When he gets like this, he tends to go on for minutes. And he tends to say whatever. Hardly a problem at home, but here…There’s too much to explain already…Corey dodged the world origin thing before, how Equestria was just a—

“I didn’t have to do it!” Corey continued, “But my curiosity, that idiotic curiosity, got the better of me, and now look where we are!”

Oh crap! Gotta get him to stop, now! John quickly began to walk over to Corey, the latter not paying him any attention, still mid-rant.

“In a world that up until about an hour ago--!”

John reached out his clawed hand and did the only thing he could think to do to get Corey’s attention: flick Corey’s ear, hard.

“Ow!” Corey snarled, immediately holding his hand to his ear, “Hey, John, what did you—“

The dragon found himself wishing he could answer with his voice, but even if he did have it, he probably couldn’t use it. John merely pointed to the others silently, subtly. Thankfully, Corey could see the utter confusion on their faces, and got the message.

“I…Uh…I was doing it again, wasn’t I?” asked Corey sheepishly as he fully came to terms with what exactly had just happened.

John hmphed and nodded, glad he stopped Corey’s tirade before things got complicated. Corey averted his gaze, blushing lightly while looking extremely uncomfortable.

“You know, if I still didn’t believe that thing about him being from some parallel world, that would’ve sealed it…” Rainbow observed.

“What makes you say that?” Twilight asked.

“Well, Twilight,” The athlete responded, “He just had a you moment…”

Twilight recoiled slightly, blushing only a light amount. Her tone sounded as though she’d been slapped, “R-Rainbow--!”

SLAM!! “We’re heeereeee~!!” An all-too-familiar voice, punctuated by the loud sound of the door slamming open, got everyone’s attention real quick.

“Pinkie Pie, the least you could do is knock on a pony’s door before—“ Rarity didn’t quite get through scolding Pinkie for barging in unannounced before both saw the dragon and gasped, Rarity’s a bit more…shrill, “—Twilight, what is that thing doing here—and, oh Goddess, loose?!”

John flinched slightly at her words. Corey did as well, but at least he could finally stop blushing.

“R-Rarity!” Twilight stuttered, trying to recover from the unexpected intrusion. Thankfully, if anypony in the room knew how to diffuse a situation, it was Princess Celestia—and she moved to do so instantly.

“Now, now, my little ponies—“

“P-Princess Celestia…” Rarity said, coming out of a slight trance, only now seeming to realize the sun princess was there. “My apologies, I—“

“I believe we were all victims of a slight…misunderstanding, here…”

Hearing the story a third time served to ingrain everything that Corey had revealed—both intentionally and unintentionally, deep into Twilight’s mind. Of course, as they listened to the explanation, Rarity went from surprised that the princess was there to skeptical of the whole tale to flat-out confused. Pinkie—well, it was hard to say what was going through her mind when she heard all of this. Soon enough, though, the explanations ended, leaving Rarity and Pinkie to go over what they heard.

“I…” Rarity started, still confused, “Forgive me, but all of that is…a little hard to believe.”

“Join the club,” Rainbow commented flatly.

“We thought the same,” Twilight responded, “But after we put some thought into it, along with what Princess Celestia told us, about the distortions, it turns out their story does add up…”

Rarity took a second look towards Corey and John, more specifically the latter. This was the dragon she’d called a monster. When said dragon was more or less terrified of her—maybe not terrified, per se, but he definitely didn’t look like he wanted to do anything else.

He ran right up to me and then turned and ran the other way… Rarity thought to herself, And hardly a dragon alive would run like that from a pony—in fact, they would fly. Plus, the dragon had come seemingly out of nowhere, and had not done any damage to the town while he was running…Oh…oh dear…

“So this whole thing was…” Rarity began, biting her lip in guilt over what she had said when she first saw John, “Just an accident?”

Both Corey and John only nodded.

“Oh my gosh!” Pinkie went off like a chattering bomb as she finally processed the infodump she’d been given, “I didn’t see this coming, I mean, I thought just the dragon being in town for no reason was the real reason my Pinkie Sense was going off, but then there was so much more, with the computers, and the code, and a lot of other things I don’t even know what those are, maybe from another world kinda like ours, but not really…”

As the hyperactive pony continued her long-winded run-on sentence about the situation at hand, Rarity decided to move close to John, likely in case he couldn’t hear her over Pinkie.

“I hope you’ll forgive me for earlier…” Rarity said, “I was not expecting any of this.”

John, for some reason, still didn’t talk, instead shrugging it off physically. At least, that’s what Corey translated.

“I think he accepts your apology…” Corey said, awkwardly, having watched that mini-exchange.

“Why hasn’t he said anything,” Rarity said, “Is he really that shocked?”

“I…don’t…” Corey began, “Why aren’t you talking, John?”

John opened his mouth to respond, but all that came out was a feral-sounding snarl. The dragon’s brow knit in frustration, clearly having had his fill of communication failure for the day. He rubbed at the back of his head, looking significantly troubled.

“Ugh, the guy can’t even speak,” Rainbow pointed out, “How’s he gonna tell us anything?”

“Why doesn’t he just write it down?”

Everyone turned to see Spike, arms crossed, having just stated the most obvious solution. He was maybe taller than what Corey or John remembered, but it was hard to tell for sure. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt—typical school age wardrobe, really. At the much smaller dragon’s suggestion, the larger one proceeded to apply his palm to his face.

Why didn’t I think of that?! Twilight thought, I live in a library, for crying out loud…

The alicorn wasn’t immediately sure if she saw the green unicorn going through similar thoughts, from the way his left arm twitched at his side in conjunction with his eye.

However, as stupid as it was no one immediately thought of that, John was soon given a piece of parchment and a quill to write down his thoughts on. He did so quickly—taking to using his claws as hands and the fact he was writing with a feather. John then passed his paper to Corey.

“So, what’s it say?” Rainbow asked, as the unicorn looked over his friend’s note. For some reason, Corey grimaced a few times when he did so, but nonetheless began to read it after a couple of seconds.

“First of all, I want to say that I’m sorry about the panic I caused. That fire I breathed was an…accident,” Corey read aloud, seeming to struggle with reading John’s note.

“But now that I’m…” Corey grumbled something under his breath, John looking just a little offended, “thinking about it…I think I know why, but it’s a little hard to explain. My throat feels different than it did before, along with my tongue. I can’t seem to get it to work right…”

Corey then turned to John, whispering something along the lines of “Think you could make your next note neater?”

Rainbow shot Twilight a small look, the latter shaking her head with a mild groan.

So Corey goes on rambles when he’s nervous and can’t move past little things… she thought, It doesn’t mean anything!

“That’s it, for what John wrote,” Corey said, turning back to them.

“Why couldn’t he have been the one who could talk…” Rainbow flatly said, finally responding to John’s note.

“Well, that hardly seems polite,” Rarity responded.

“Trust me Rares, you’d be thinking the same if you were around the first time…”

Twilight, meanwhile, began to decipher John’s note, using things she already knew.

What’s John trying to say here? she asked herself, When they entered Equestria, their bodies did change, but Corey can still talk normally. So at least, between whatever he really is and a pony, there isn’t that much of a difference in anatomy. But a dragon’s anatomy is different…So then…

“That’s it!” Twilight called out, snapping her fingers, “A dragon is not only capable of breathing fire, but can also withstand a great amount of heat—their digestive system is also very strong too. Their internal organs are far different from that of a pony—sturdier, too. That being said, it probably means you went through some significant changes on the inside, John…”

John visibly cringed, as though something returned to him, moving a hand over his chest. He motioned to Corey. At first, Corey looked to John, confused, before realizing he wanted the note back. John quickly scribbled something down, and returned it to Corey.

“Oh for the love of—“ Corey grumbled audibly, sounding annoyed. “Now I know you did it on purpose…”

“What’s it say?” Rainbow sounded lightly amused if anything.

Corey squinted at the paper, not even bothering to grumble under his breath this time, “Guess that explains…the pain I felt…”

“Twi,” Applejack said, returning the subject to what Twilight had explained, “What you’re sayin’ is he just needs to get used to his body?”

“That’s the gist of it…” Twilight nodded.

“Well, John, you’ll have time,” Corey turned to John, “Looks like we’re st-st-st…” Corey paused, crossing his eyes in frustration at the stutter that so ineloquently dropped itself into his speech, “Stuck! Here for a while in any case…”

“Perhaps not,” Princess Celestia interrupted, both of the aliens looking towards her, “There may be a way to send you back, but I don’t know for sure…”

“Is she talking about…?” Rainbow mumbled to herself, but nopony really paid her any mind.

“I shall return to the castle and see if the proper arrangements can be made. Until then, however, you are in a whole new world. Why not see what Ponyville has to offer in the meantime?”

Just as suddenly as she had appeared, the solar princess had vanished. Everyone gathered blinked in surprise for a few moments.

What exactly was she referring to there? Corey thought, I guess I’ll find out later. Looks like I’m here for a while in any case.

“Well you heard the princess!” chirped Pinkie, bringing Corey straight out of his thoughts faster than ever, “We have two new visitors to Ponyville, and being the super duper party planner that I am, I’m going to give you a grand tour!”

The hyperactive earth pony wrapped her arm around Corey, pulling him a little closer than he would have liked to be with all that had happened so far. From there, she wrapped her other arm around John’s, causing him to stumble towards her a bit.

Corey distinctly felt himself start to wonder if Pinkie was scared to begin with.

“I think there’s a small problem with that idea, Pinkie,” Applejack interjected. Pinkie turned her head to the rest of the group.

“I think you mean, big problem,” Rainbow added, “As in, bigger than Big Mac problem.”

The cyan mare motioned to John, who looked down, apparently for the first time realizing exactly how tall he was. Corey didn’t quite get to make a comparison—was Celestia the same height as John, or taller? Shorter?

“We might know his story,” Twilight pointed out, “But the rest of Ponyville doesn’t. They see him out there again, they start panicking all over again—at least, maybe if he was alone. If he’s with one of us, though, maybe the town will see he really did come in peace…”

“Oh!” Rarity cut in, “And if he were with Fluttershy, then—“

SLAM!! SLAM!!

All heads turned to see the door, and out an adjacent window, they could see Fluttershy quickly retreating.

“Aaaand she’s gone,” Rainbow observed, rubbing at her temple, “C’mon, ‘Shy…Don’t take it too hard, she’s afraid of any dragon bigger than Spike.” The last part of her statement was directed at John.

“Still, I believe it’d work so long as you’re around at least one of us,” Twilight repeated.

Corey turned to John, who was once again writing away. After finishing his message, he passed it to Corey.

Okay, at least he’s trying…His writing’s getting better already… Corey thought, “What about my appearance? …He’s got a point. Even if-if we all traveled with him the ponies in town still wouldn’t take to his appearance.”

A silence fell over the room, as everypony thought of a way this problem could be solved. John’s clothes were torn—was he wearing those clothes and they got torn by the transformation? Corey banished this thought, trying to come up with an—

“Idea~” Rarity announced, getting everypony’s attention, “I believe I may have just the solution.”

Her next words floored the room. “Remove your vest.”

Everyone else looked varying degrees of uncomfortable with that statement. Ironically, John only blinked.

“Way to make a new dragon feel welcome!” Rainbow called out, bluntly announcing the group’s consensus on how that sounded.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no,” Rarity said, “I merely need to get some idea for how large his frame is now…oh, and I simply must do something about those pants…”

“And there’s the part where she gets carried away…” Applejack observed.

Corey said nothing, already knowing full well Rarity was in fact getting ahead of herself.

I mean, c’mon, it’s not like he’s gonna…

Corey’s train of thought derailed, probably caught in a pileup with at least two others, when John, with little more than a shrug and sigh, handed over the remnants of a shirt without a fight.

…and that is the most awkward handoff heard around the world…

Rarity examined the torn fabric, tilting her head and seeming to focus on the neck area. Corey figured she might have seen some sort of tag indicating the shirt’s size—but he wasn’t totally sure.

“I believe I have something to work with here…” Rarity announced, folding the tattered remains of what could have easily been a shirt, “I must go back to the boutique so I can be prepared for this! Will anypony help me?”

Spike seemed to hesitate just a little bit—perhaps still reeling from the vest exchange, “O-of course, you can count on me…”

Corey wasn’t sure if he imagined the slightest traces of a death glare or not, but shrugged it off easily enough.

“Oh, believe me, darling, I know I can count on you…” Rarity said, “Anypony else?”

“Afraid I’ve gotta take a rain check on that, Rarity,” Applejack responded, “Was in the middle of chores when John came crashin’ down…”

“Pass,” Rainbow flatly said.

“Oh!” Pinkie interjected, “I just remembered I was gonna go cheer up ponies after everything settled! Gotta go! Ciao!”

With that, Pinkie left, leaving behind a Pinkie Pie-shaped dust cloud in her wake. Corey blinked.

So…is that what it looks like when characters inexplicably teleport…

Twilight looked over to Corey and John, seeming to come to a conclusion.

“I think I’d better stay with them,” Twilight said, “You know, just in case the Princess comes back with an answer…”

With that, just about everypony else left in a hurry, leaving Corey, John, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle in the library.

Author's Note

So yeah, there we go. I'm pretty sure some people might figure out what Celestia is referring to when she says there might be a way. If not, well, stick around until next time.

Act 2 Chapter 4

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 4: The Real Lessons Begin

“Easy, easy, almost there…”

John was continuing his lessons today. And just like every other time beforehand, he had just jumped off of the edge of the waterfall. But his fall was different this time. This time, he managed to control his fall by catching the air with his wings. The first time he’d opened his wings mid-fall, it had sent him way off course and resulted in a crash landing.

At least this time, it’s going better… It took a bit of effort, but now he was able to control his path as he slowly descended towards the water below. Occasionally, he’d catch a wayward updraft along the way, but his control was far better.

“Good, you’re almost there,” Rainbow said, floating down next to him, “Now I want you to try and land on the ground.”

John gave Rainbow a nod and arched his wings slightly so that he could move forward.

I have more control over my wings now than I did before…how much thought did she put into this? John thought, continuing his way downwards, his eyes locked to the ground not too far from the water. It wasn’t too long until he was floating just a few feet above it, slowly listing downwards, fighting gravity.

Now for the moment of truth…

All at once, John retracted his wings. His feet made contact with the ground—a good, clean impact, no slips, no spills. For several seconds, John looked down at the ground for several seconds, in pure disbelief, before looking back up at the waterfall.

That was…my first clean landing…

“Not bad,” Rainbow said, patting John on the back, “You’re getting your wing control down but you’re still going a little too slow. Tomorrow, we’ll work on your speed.”

“Can’t wait,” John said, turning back to her with a smile.

“Great,” Rainbow said, beginning to walk off, “Now, come with me.”

“Where are we going?” John asked, already beginning to follow.

“Just to have a little fun,” Rainbow said, with a sly smile on her face, “We’ll need markers and some big pieces of parchment.”

John wasn’t sure of what Rainbow had in mind at all, but he had a pretty good feeling it wasn’t going to be anything too bad.

After all, John thought, continuing to follow Rainbow, a little fun never hurt anyone, right?

It was another late morning for Corey. Though, considering everyone else who lived in the library seemed to be an early bird, it wasn’t saying much today. While Corey was a bit slow in getting ready for the day, he was ready, and it was time for him to start learning some actual magic.

Which was why he was walking through the hallways of the library now.

Now that I know I can access magic, I really don’t have an excuse… Corey thought, She knows I don’t take that long…so where’d she go…

Corey felt his ear twitch, an annoying sensation he was still getting used to. He picked up the sound of shuffling parchment, a sound that would have escaped his notice were it not for the fact it happened in a room next to him. The door was slightly ajar; offering him a very small viewing window into the room. Corey looked to the door hesitantly, lifting one arm halfway.

Please don’t let me be walking in on something awkward… Corey thought to himself, taking a deep breath before walking in.

Thankfully, the reality was far more innocent than his worries. Twilight was in front of him, still in her usual outfit, her back to him. She was standing up, reading over what he assumed was a letter from Princess Celestia. Spike was a few feet to her right, facing her, an expectant look on his face.

Or does he look worried—

Before Corey could try to piece together what he was seeing completely, Spike’s eyes turned towards him, and he blinked. He then turned his attention to Twilight, and began motioning towards him.

“Twilight…” Spike said. Corey couldn’t help but notice how tense he sounded—something that wasn’t quite normal for him.

Twilight moved her head slightly; she did see him, but she was still clearly reading the letter. After a moment, she paused, turning her head a bit more to look at him, and only then did her eyes widen, rolling up the parchment and setting it down on the desk nearby.

“Oh! Corey!” Twilight gasped, quickly turning to face him, putting herself directly between him and the desk, casting a nervous glance back to the scroll she’d rolled up, “Uh…”

“I’m sorry,” Corey said, raising an eyebrow as he wondered what he’d just interrupted, “I should have knocked,” Curiosity got the better of him after he took a single breath, “What…did I walk in on, anyway?”

“N-nothing!” Twilight said, “It’s…it’s nothing important!”

“W-what she said,” Spike said, starting to very slowly move towards the door, “I’ve…uh…got to go…go brush my scales!”

“Your…scales…” Corey blinked, trying to process that information.

“Y-yeah! Good idea, Spike!” Twilight said awkwardly, clearly knowing that excuse came out of thin air. By now, Corey was really starting to sense something was up.

Twilight’s been acting weird…and now Spike seems to be, too… Corey thought.

“Did I miss something?” Corey asked. By now, Spike had left the room, leaving it as just the two of them.

“N-no,” Twilight cast another look behind her towards the letter she was reading, “It’s just…something…”

“Something…that...?” Corey took a couple of steps forward.

“It’s something you shouldn’t worry about!” Twilight said, “Sh-shouldn’t you be more worried about…about…learning your magic?’

Corey paused; it was only for a second.

“I should be—“ Corey couldn’t finish his statement.

“S-so, let’s just start worrying about that, then!” Twilight said. Seeing that arguing the point any further would be pointless, Corey relented, and could only nod, feeling both annoyed and concerned.

I should be, but I don’t like seeing you like this… Corey thought.

A short while later, Corey sat at the same desk he’d used during previous lessons, Twilight sitting across from him. She was going a slightly different book now; a basic reference guide for unicorns learning the basics.

“Alright, now that you’ve learned how to project your cutie mark,” Twilight said, “I’m going to teach you another basic spell.”

Corey leaned back in his chair, and gave nothing more than a nod.

“That spell is something you’ve probably seen me doing already, as well as a few other unicorns,” Twilight continued, her horn alight as she shut the book and lifted it into the air, the book cloaked in an aura of the same color, “Levitation; a spell known to pretty much any unicorn, is one that allows a pony to move an object with their magic instead of their hands.”

Corey tried not to show disinterest. He knew at least this much.

“It can allow a magic user to perform several tasks at once,” Twilight continued, lowering the book back into her hands, “Once they get more comfortable with it, of course. But for now, we’re only interested in applying it to something small…hmm…”

Twilight looked around, seemingly wondering what she could give Corey to use as a test. Corey watched her, thinking about what he was about to do.

So I’m actually going to start learning this… Corey thought, I’m feeling a little…anxious, that’s it.

Twilight eventually looked directly behind her; and seemingly saw something. With a smile, she opened one of her wings.

“This’ll work…” With her right hand, she reached into her left wing, and gently removed one of the feathers there. She set the purple feather down on the desk between them, Corey eyeing the feather.

“Now,” Twilight said, “Magic is an extension of will; this spell is exactly like that. Simply put, you imagine the object moving with nothing but your mind, and if you’re casting the spell correctly, it will follow your will.”

“So…” Corey began to think aloud, “I just have to be aware of the fact the energy exists, and work from there…”

Corey closed his eyes as if he were trying to project his cutie mark, but instead of focusing on his hands, he tried to focus his mind entirely on two things: the feather, and how his magic could help him move it without touching it.

After talking to John yesterday I took some time to practice projecting my mark some more, Corey noted, I think that should make it easier…

Twilight watched Corey and the feather carefully, taking notes on what was going on: his technique in dealing with the spell; understanding how his magic was flowing, if at all; the general picture. Corey sat completely still; head bowed, eyes closed, mouth tightly shut. At one point, he cracked one eye; seeing nothing, his brow twitched as he re-closed that one eye.

“Just focus your attention on what your magic can do about the feather…” Twilight said calmly, “Don’t get impatient. Not everypony can get it on their first try…”

Corey didn’t respond, too focused on the task at hand. For several seconds nothing happened. Then, Twilight heard a faint sound, like a kernel of popcorn popping. As soon as she heard that, Twilight’s eyes saw the sight of Corey’s horn giving off a small spark—green in color. Another pop, another spark. For barely a second, Corey’s horn lit up in a green aura, but just as quickly, it fizzled out, with Corey gasping slightly as his magic backfired. One of his hands went to the base of his horn, and he winced.

“What the…” Corey said.

“That’s normal,” Twilight reassured him, “Some first-time magic users experience backlash. It’s a force that you’re starting to learn to control. Don’t rush…”

The sentence faded off into the abyss. Corey’s eyes were closed once again, his face already bunched up in concentration, one brow slightly lowered than the other.

“It…” Twilight finished with a sigh. She looked again, resting one hand to her chin, leaning on the desk.

It’s almost unbelievable, I mean, really… Twilight thought to herself, Up until yesterday, he wasn’t even convinced he could really pull it off, but tried anyway. Now look at him. He’s already trying again…

Another “pop”; Corey flinched, rubbing his forehead again with a sharp grunt as he looked at the feather.

“Did it move…” he flatly mumbled, looking at it.

Twilight looked to the feather on the desk.

“No,” Twilight said, “It’s okay, though. But maybe you should…”

Corey sat back in his chair, arms folded over his body, glaring at the feather. Just a few moments later, Corey was back at it for a third time, both eyebrows down, eyes closed, teeth grit.

Don’t get so impatient with it… Twilight thought to herself, now just unsure as she watched him try again.

Outside the library window, two winged figures hid behind a rather conveniently planted bush. Both watched Corey’s attempt just as Twilight did, with great interest.

“Awesome,” Rainbow commented, “He just started.”

“Seriously?” John asked, crouching down next to her so as not to be seen, “You brought us all the way here just to watch Corey’s magic lesson? I thought you said we were going to do something fun…”

“Something like that,” Rainbow answered, staring through the window. John watched her with confusion, but dug into his pocket anyway to pull out the parchment he was told to hold on to.

“Then why did we need these—“ John tried to get the question out.

“Score cards,” Rainbow already knew where he was going with that. Only now did the gears start turning in John’s head, and within moments, a small smirk split the lower half of his face. Rainbow turned to him, “Get it now?”

“Hand me a marker,” John said.

Now both pegasus and dragon were watching as Corey attempted to levitate the feather in front of him.

“You know,” John began, turning his head to look at Rainbow, “This is kind of illegal where I’m from.”

“Here too,” Rainbow said, “But only in private homes.”

“And this is a public library,” John summed up.

“Bingo!” Rainbow snapped her fingers.

All of Corey’s attention was on the task he was assigned, every last bit of his senses focused on the horn on his head.

I have gathered magic once… Corey thought to himself, remembering the backlash that followed, I just have to hold it, just like before.

Thinking back to when he was projecting his cutie mark, after each successful attempt, he began to grasp the feel of the magic flowing within him. It was there; he could feel it.

Just like last time, feel the magic flowing through me… Another deep breath, Corey felt the flow once again; faint, but there.

Good, now focus it towards my horn… The flow began to move again, upwards towards his head. The magic began to flow slightly outwards from there, going towards a single point. His eyes closed in deep concentration, Corey did not notice when a magical green hue began to gather at the tip of his horn.

However, across from him, Twilight leaned forward just a little, seeing the aura beginning to form.

It’s…a lot more stable this time… Twilight thought.

In mere seconds, the hue grew larger, slowly engulfing the rest of Corey’s horn.

“Perfect,” Twilight spoke in a voice that was barely above a whisper, “Now for the tricky part, carefully focus your magic towards the feather…”

Corey creaked open his eyes. The feather wasn’t glowing yet. However, with that bit of information, he now knew what he was supposed to do.

Tricky is right… Corey thought, Even though it’s not much, I think it’s all I can do just to get this far along. I can’t close my eyes like before…I have to focus on the feather.

Another deep breath later, Corey tried to focus on moving his magic outside of his body, like a third hand reaching out of his horn. Time passed as he tried to will his magic on to the feather. Seconds stretched to minutes, and those minutes began to multiply at a steady rate, as Corey continued to try to will himself to do this.

Eventually, however, something happened. It was faint, but something began to change on the feather—almost like it was glowing.

The glow began to grow stronger, a green hue becoming visible.

Now for the moment of truth… Corey thought, looking at what he’d managed to do so far. He could feel the very slight weight. Only, it didn’t seem so slight; magic was a muscle he hadn’t properly trained. Keeping all his focus on what he’d done so far, Corey began to turn his will into one single word.

Up...

And within several seconds, it did. Slowly, but surely, the feather began to move vertically: up one inch, then two, and slowly rose to a third. But, after the third inch, the feather stopped moving, statically moving, like something had grabbed the so-called third hand by the wrist and held it there.

Corey stared at the feather, disappointed. However, this only lasted for a couple of seconds; he soon refocused once again.

C’mon…move, Corey urged his magic to keep following his will. But nothing happened. He continued on like this for what felt like forever, and as time continued to pass, Corey grew more and more annoyed. More of his magic began to leak into his spell, Corey trying to force the feather to keep moving. The feather began to glow brighter, but it didn’t move, instead quaking in place in mid-air.

Come on, move!Corey thought to himself as he grit his teeth.

Twilight could see Corey’s impatience growing the whole while. She knew full well how tricky magic could be, and knew Corey’s technique was beginning to falter.

“Careful, Corey,” Twilight advised, “If you force it too much, it might—“

Twilight was cut off by a flash coming from the discarded feather. The next thing she saw, the feather was glowing orange and red, engulfed in fire. Corey lost his focus the moment the feather lit up, his magic dissipating allowing it to fall back on the table. It burned out quickly and the fire died out on its own. A small scorch mark on the surface of the table was all that remained.

“Do…that…?” Corey groaned, placing his hand on the table.

“You got a little angry, didn’t you?” Twilight asked.

Corey nodded, not saying anything else.

“Magic can be influenced by a lot of things,” Twilight said, “And emotion is one of them. I know it can be frustrating, but trust me, you’ll get better at this in time.”

Corey didn’t appear convinced, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.

“Hey, don’t get down on yourself,” Twilight said, “You still managed to lift the feather off of the table, that’s still something.”

“Took longer than when I projected my cutie mark though…” Corey responded, closing his eyes.

“Did it?” asked Twilight, “I seem to recall it taking several attempts before you could do that. But today, you managed a new spell on the first day.”

Corey looked up to see Twilight smiling back to him.

“Does that sound like taking longer to you?” she asked again. Corey paused, unsure.

What she’s saying, Corey thought, It’s true. It took a couple days before I could project my mark. But then, I was able to cast my first real spell on the first day I learned about it.

“Maybe…” Corey started, shifting a bit, “Maybe I am getting better at this…” he looked towards Twilight again, dodging eye contact yet again, “You know what, I’m gonna try again.”

“That’s the spirit,” Twilight cheered, “Let me get you—“

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The noise got both Corey and Twilight’s attention; it wasn’t too long before they saw what was causing it. Outside the window, standing up, was John and Rainbow looking back at them, popping out of a bush?

“What are they…” Corey started, but it wasn’t long before the two figures outside the window moved.

Rainbow raised her arms above her head, revealing she was holding something: a square piece of parchment with a large number “3” in black marker ink on it. Corey looked at the number in confusion. A few seconds later, John raised his hands as well to reveal a second piece of parchment, identical to Rainbow’s except for one thing.

“Two…” Corey squinted; the two had a slightly smaller dot and a five next to it, “Point...five…?” Only now did it occur to him what he was looking at, “A-are they…scoring me…?”

Corey didn’t really feel too insulted so much as annoyed by all that once he realized what Rainbow and John were doing. He wasn’t going to give them the benefit of a reaction, though. He removed his glasses…

And saw, in the slight reflection the lenses provided, a lavender flash from behind him.

“Twilight…?” Corey asked, looking behind him. She wasn’t there. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the same flash…and the bush that Rainbow and John had hidden behind was uprooted entirely in one clean motion.

Rainbow and John both froze. Corey wiped at his glasses with one arm before putting them back on, and he saw Twilight staring down at them with her arms crossed. There was a long pause.

John eventually moved, looking down at the parchment he was holding…writing?

As soon as he was done, he raised it again and placed it on the glass of the window.

I regret nothing.

Day 6

I guess I shouldn’t get so down on myself when things go against me in training, but I can’t help it. This is the kind of stuff that I’ve always wanted to and couldn’t back home. And now that the mark on my back is so unique I can’t even do anything with it, I’m going to just keep going at what I am. I have no idea what that even means for me, though.

Can’t believe she reacted to them doing that, though.

Still, even in the midst of lessons, I can’t forget what happened this morning. What’s going on here?

--Corey

Day 7

I’m able to hold the feather aloft for quite a bit now. Twilight doesn’t seem to be getting any better. In fact, whatever she’s worried about, I’m convinced she’s lost sleep. I’m actually on break while she went out into town. She acted strangely when a letter from Princess Celestia came in earlier too. Not too long afterward, Spike and her left, saying they needed to go into town to get some things. What, I can’t think of, they already did that a few days ago…

Still, I guess it couldn’t hurt to try to perform levitation on the quill. And try to write that way…

Then again, I did just set a feather on fire from trying too hard. Don’t want to lose this quill if I can help it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I’m convinced Twilight’s got something that she’s really worried about now. What, I have no clue. I haven’t seen any signs that something…like that is going on. The day and night cycles normally still, and nothing seems out of place. Yet, she’s stressing out over something. And the more she tells me not to, the more concerned I get.

It’s not any of my business, I keep hearing that over and over again. But I’d feel bad if she flipped out completely over it if I could have tried to talk her down if I knew what was going on.

I can’t focus on this forever, though. Tomorrow I’m going to keep practicing levitation.

‘Til next time,

--Corey

Author's Note

And that wraps up another weekly update. This is where I leave off for another week. So yeah. There's that and stuff.

Act 2 Chapter 14

Act II: Collision Course

Chapter 14: Was It Not Enough?

In that very next instant after the rock came crashing down, ending John’s assistance right then and there, no one was sure what scared them more. The fact that the dragon who had been so effective at mashing the manikins had been killed so easily, or the being who had thrown the impossibly huge boulder that claimed him. He was a very large creature, taller than even John. His appearance did not match the manikins at all; he was not a pony either. He seemed to be a lion, standing on two legs as opposed to four. His fur was as black as coal with a mane of pure silver. His eyes were a soul-piercing blood red.

He wore a crimson red loincloth that ran down to his knees, and white bandages covered his clawed hands and feet. He had no other form of clothing, nothing to hide the massive muscles that made up his massive form. The lion’s appearance alone was enough to send a wave of fear through some of the members of the frontlines.

“Wh-who is that…?” asked Pinkie Pie, turning her head to Shining for an answer. What she saw did little to reassure her. Shining Armor—Twilight’s older brother, former captain of the Royal Guard, a well-trained guardspony in general, was shaking just a little on the spot. Though he tried not to show it, there was no mistaking the fear in his eyes.

“I don’t…” Shining started, “I don’t know who he is, but he’s definitely no joke…”

The lion said nothing, calmly surveying the surroundings. At last, his eyes fell on the boulder that had fallen from the heavens.

“Pathetic,” the lion had a deep, terrifying voice, growling at the forces before him, “To think a dragon could be killed so easily…no wonder he allied himself with the likes of ponies! He was nothing!”

“Why you…!” Rainbow shouted, the lion’s taunts all she could stand.

“Rainbow, hold it!” Applejack called out, but it was far too late. Rainbow sped at the lion, quickly closing the distance…until something blocked her path. A purple shield, separating her and the lion. It was clear who had put it up.

“Rainbow, get away from him, now!” Shining called out, urgency clear in his tone. Just then, the lion swung his fist out at the shield, and everyone’s jaws dropped to the floor at the results of the lion’s attack.

“The shield that can protect an entire city at once…” one of the guardsponies observed, “It’s been cracked so badly that…”

The severely cracked shield was soon struck again; the end result was that the shield was destroyed. Everyone stared in shock for a second time.

“It’s been destroyed…just by sheer strength!?” Another guard observed, “Just what are we dealing with here?”

In an instant, Rainbow saw just how outclassed she was one-to-one. Her will to survive took over, and she soon found herself backing off as far as her wings allowed her. At this, the lion let out what could only be described as a guttural snort.

“You have wasted enough time here,” The manikins seemed to stop what they were doing at the sound of his voice, “Go, lay waste to the town up ahead. I’ll be joining you in a bit…”

The creatures did as he instructed them, to everyone’s surprise, making their way rapidly for town. Some of the guards began to move to defend, but…

“Let them go!” Shining called out.

“But, Captain…” One of the guards protested.

“The others can handle them, I know that for a fact,” Shining said, his eyes never once leaving the lion’s direction, “But this guy…We can’t let him pass!”

One by one, the manikins filed past the guards, leaving the new opponent alone against the entire force of the frontlines. The whole team stood, waiting, none willing to take their eyes from him. Even though he’d just shown up, he was already proving to be dangerous.

“I have waited many years for this,” the lion said, placing one clawed hand on the ground, his knees bending slightly, his mouth betraying sharp, unkempt fangs as he grinned wickedly, “Now, ponies, entertain me.”

Without waiting for them to say otherwise, the lion charged at the entire group, with incredible speed.

“Here he comes!” Shining called out, prepared for this, already casting another shield spell. The barrier appeared between the lion and the team. And just as before, the shield was heavily damaged from just one strike. Not waiting for the follow-up, Shining quickly cast another spell. Again, his shield began to glow before sending out a shockwave that forced the lion to skid back.

But the lion barely moved, only skidding back a few feet before coming to a halt, shrugging off the attack as if it were nothing. Without even taking a moment to pause, the lion charged once more, breaking clean through the shield.

“Scatter,” Shining commanded, “Don’t let him get you!”

Everyone did as was told, Shining himself taking a step behind him, getting ready. The lion skidded to a halt and snarled.

“Cowards…” The lion didn’t dwell on this for too long, instead choosing to focus on the sole pony who didn’t move. He quickly rushed Shining Armor. His quarry, however, was ready for it, quickly dodging the savage attack from the lion. The lion’s hand came down on the ground so hard it left a small crater from the impact.

If I hadn’t dodged… Shining banished that thought right then and there, choosing to act upon the opening he saw. Charging his magic into his horn, Shining fired off a single laser at the lion, hoping to cause significant damage. But his hopes were soon dashed.

Before the laser could hit its mark, the lion raised up his other arm to defend him, and physically swatted the beam away with his forearm. Not even the slightest trace of a scratch was left by the laser afterward.

No way! Shining thought, His hide’s as strong as he is…How can we hurt someone like this, if at all?

Just then, Shining noticed something. Somepony was trying to attack the lion from his blind spot…one of the pegasus guards. In an instant, Captain Shining Armor felt conflicted.

If I call out to him, the lion will know he’s there… Shining thought to himself, But if he’s discovered before he could reach the lion, he’d suffer the consequences…

Shining decided to instead remain silent, casting yet another shield spell. Hope this works out for you!

The guard was quick, already readying his sword for an attack. He brought his sword down, the pegasus hoping to cut through the lion’s hide… but he got something far worse than just that.

When his blade made contact with the lion, the steel broke right through the center with an audible, terrifying snap. The pegasus guard stared in disbelief, watching the broken piece of metal fly off. This proved to be his downfall.

Turning his body slightly, the lion swung his arm back, aiming to backhand the guard with his fist. Desperately, Shining tried to cast a barrier around the guard to protect him, but the magic didn’t have enough time to solidify. The lion’s attack broke clean through, striking the pony dead on. The attack dented his armor; his eyes faded from the force of the attack. The guard flew downwards towards the ground, but he was caught by another guard before he could meet it.

The guard was still alive, but in one attack his condition was severe. His hands were clenched tightly over his chest; his bones had to have broken under the force. As he coughed, drops of blood ran out of his mouth. This was not a pretty sight; all eyes were wide with fear.

If he’s this bad off, thought the pony that caught the wounded guard, If the captain hadn’t shielded him…

“One thing’s for sure…” Shining observed with dread, “One wrong move…and it’ll be the end.”

It wasn’t like Fluttershy had much of a choice. The forest was too far away; she couldn’t ask any of the animals to go away from their homes in good faith to help them against these creatures. But she also couldn’t just leave her friends to their devices either, especially given the rules of the “game” she was forced into.

So, with all this considered, Fluttershy hovered anxiously at the entrance to the park, keeping an eye out for approaching townsfolk. Every now and again, she’d steal a glance back to the ongoing battle in the park.

All the ponies here were Royal Guards in civilian clothes, she thought, anxiously eyeing the battle, That at least explains why nopony seemed to be here before…

Her eyes quickly turned back towards the streets, Nopony seems to be coming now, but I don’t know how long that’ll last, She quickly took another glance, I just have to trust that everypony else can do things…

Yet, even though Fluttershy felt she was content with that, something in her stirred; a feeling which she wasn’t unfamiliar with. It was the feeling of uselessness that would sprout within her whenever a crisis hit. Even though she had taken steps to combat it, she wasn’t sure what she could do in the light of a situation as dire was what was going on now…

Corey leaned back hard, dodging an arm swipe from one of the manikins. His leg shot out, executing a small defensive front kick. Though the attack did little more than stun the creature he was fighting in place, the intent was to put a little distance between himself and his opponent in the first place.

This is insane, Corey thought, What happened out there? It seems like the manikins aren’t being stopped at all now!

He had no time to think about what could have went wrong; his ear twitched as he registered one of his opponents was behind him. Quickly, Corey turned, and barely managed to raise both his arms up to block the creature’s kick. His eye trailed back to his first opponent; it was now charging him. Taking a sharp breath, Corey focused his magic.

Both of the creatures attempted a coordinated attack, only to be pushed back rapidly by a green field that extended from Corey’s body. His would-be attackers’ pushed off, Corey turned to the one that had tried to sneak-attack him, and began running right for him, left fist raised. Several green runes appeared over his forearm as he went. The manikin took another swipe, Corey moving his head to the side to avoid the creature’s jab.

“Take this!” Corey yelled, slamming his fist into the creature’s chest. The runes converged onto the point of impact, and a moment later, the upper body of the creature exploded towards the area behind it. With this done, Corey took a moment to take a breather. Once again, his ear twitched, but before he could react, one of the plainclothes guards slammed his hammer hard into the side of the creature’s head, causing it to crack a bit.

“Don’t let your guard down,” the hammer-wielding earth pony advised, looking to the recovering creature, “I don’t think we can afford mistakes…”

“No joke,” Corey said, looking around, seeing several guards tied up by a relatively lower number of manikins, “These things are incredibly tough, and there’s so many of them now…”

Twilight leapt backwards with the aid of her wings, avoiding a chop attack from one of the manikins. She landed, her horn alight with its magenta hue. Twilight’s attention was so focused on the front of her, she hardly noticed another manikin behind her. It brought both its hands up, ready to strike.

“Keep your hands away from the princess!” shouted one of the guards, a pegasus, charging in with an elbow, knocking it off-balance long enough for Twilight to fire off her laser at her opponent, just as it charged at her.

The laser hit its mark, going right through the manikin’s torso. Even as the glow faded, the manikin continued to move. Twilight stepped to one side; as she did so, she noticed her would-be assailant throwing off the guard that had saved her.

“Thank you,” she said to the guard, barely able to get the word out before the manikin began to attack. Twilight’s horn lit up again, a bubble forming over her body, deflecting its attack and the next. The guard who had saved her stood up again, trying to attack again, only to be tackled out of nowhere by another manikin. The manikin swung again, Twilight’s shield cracking with the second attack attempt. Her horn flared as she thought of another spell.

If I’m off, I’ll get hit, thought Twilight, preparing yet another laser spell. As the manikin pulled back its fist after another hit, Twilight made her move. She lowered her shield, ready to fire through the manikin’s shoulder to stun it so she could get away. Suddenly, her ear twitched, and she sensed danger. Another manikin suddenly popped up behind her—it had somehow gotten the drop on her after she lowered her shield, and it was aiming a punch directly at her face—

A blue light suddenly went through the creature’s elbow, snapping the arm off before it could make contact. Twilight took the time to get out from between the manikins, turning her head in the direction of the shot.

Rarity stood several yards away, the blue glow around her horn fading. Behind her were two guards, an earth pony wielding a sword and a unicorn wielding a bow and arrow.

“Rarity!?” Twilight said in surprise, “So that’s why…”

“I cannot stand by and let someone toy with my friends,” Rarity said, “Not without trying to fight back!”

“We share your sentiments!” said the guard with the bow and arrow, his horn lighting up in an orange hue, along with the arrow he was aiming. The arrow flew out, striking the manikin that was short one arm dead-center in the torso. On impact, the glow of the magic travelled to the point of impact, and blew up the manikin. The other manikin began to move, trying to continue its fight with Twilight, but she was ready now; letting a laser fly straight into its chest.

She took a moment to look around, and she frowned distinctly. Corey was with another guard. They were currently dealing with two manikins. Corey seemed to be having a little trouble with the one he was fighting, but he was making good use of Shining’s training. The other guard swung his hammer at one, only to be blind-sided by another. To complicate matters, one more was going over to them.

Twilight’s eyes next went to the cluster of guards attempting to fight off the manikins. Though the guards logically had the advantage in numbers, the manikins were beginning to overwhelm them collectively. One manikin slammed both its fists over a guard’s head, downing him. Another guard let him have it with a hammer he had on standby, but that did little more than crack it slightly.

Rarity’s small group was also having troubles. The mare seemed to have trouble lining up her shots, even with the other guards giving her cover. One manikin seemed to have been struck with a lucky hit, since its arm had been broken off at the elbow. The guard wielding the sword wasn’t having much luck landing meaningful slashes, and the guard with the bow and arrow was having trouble lining up his shots as well.

None of the manikins seemed to have made it further back to where Fluttershy was as of yet, but still, all of this was discouraging.

Even if we’re destroying them, it seems like there’s another one coming up to take their place! She thought, seeing a few more approaching from where she knew the frontlines were, Just what’s happening out front!?

Twilight didn’t have much time to think; one manikin was rushing right to her, closely followed by two others. One of them clearly wasn’t a newcomer; cracks ran up one side of it. Twilight quickly took a couple of quick steps back, readying a spell.

Taking out the one in front should buy me some time, at least, Twilight thought, magic surging into her horn. Suddenly, something blind-sided her. Her concentration lapsed, her horn’s glow dying, pain flaring from the part where she was hit. The next thing she knew, she could hear a familiar voice.

“Leave her alone!”

It wasn’t the first voice she’d expected, but under the circumstances she didn’t exactly care who it was. As she recovered from the assault, she saw it: one manikin falling on its side, a green light going through its ankle, causing it to take a knee. The other two from the group that charged her turned to the new arrival, seemingly stunned that he’d shown up.

Twilight turned, seeing Corey running towards the group of manikins, firing green bolts from his horn every few steps. He seemed to be having trouble aiming them correctly; most of his shots seemed to miss.

Corey? Did he just… Twilight thought.

“Twilight, watch it!” Corey shouted. Twilight remembered she had been blind-sided, and her ear twitched. A magenta flash filled her vision as she cast a quick teleport spell on herself, the manikin’s fist crashing through where she was. When she re-appeared, she found herself a few yards to the side of the manikin that had blind-sided her, and she quickly began forming another laser, aiming to continue the battle.

Corey stopped a few yards shot, firing a few more errant shots from his horn. The two manikins that he hadn’t hit began to move towards him, the other on its knee. Corey grit his teeth.

How do they do it? Corey thought, I seem to have trouble firing these things! Yet the others I’ve seen using it can focus it much better…

He had no time to think. One manikin entered his personal space, throwing an elbow, Corey barely leaning back in time to avoid it, his glasses going askew from the speed of the maneuver. The second came at him from his left, and he barely got his legs off the ground in time to avoid the sweep kick. Corey stumbled, his foot being nicked by the foot of the manikin.

Instantly, Corey felt the wind get knocked out of him when the first one kicked him straight in the stomach, and almost immediately the afflicted area felt sore. Corey tried to recover, his left hand clutching his sore stomach.

“Dammit…” Corey grunted, ‘What’d I get myself into…”

He closed his right fist tightly, green runes building around it. He rushed one of the manikins, aiming to break it…

A sudden force on his right elbow caused him to miss. His fist just brushed the arm of his target, releasing all the force on that arm and breaking it and the side of the creature off. Corey looked, dazed, to his right, seeing a third manikin there, one with cracks running up the side of his torso.

You…!? Corey thought, vaguely feeling like he left that manikin behind when he went to try to help Twilight, But…

He couldn’t quite finish his thought; the manikin he had damaged moved with astounding agility for something that had a good portion of its body taken off. A fist slammed into the side of his face, knocking off his glasses.

Twilight had managed to take care of the one that had blind-sided her, as well as the one Corey had hit in his rapid-fire. But, as she tried to move to help him, she found herself cut-off, a fist barely missing her head as she moved out of the way. She landed on her feet, putting up a shield. Her eyes quickly surveyed the area. The two guards that were defending Rarity were getting tired now. Rarity’s horn was alight, but her eyes showed fear, two manikins advancing on her. Most of the guards were banged-up…

Her eyes went really wide when she saw four manikins, one with its side missing, ganging up on one. Corey was utterly helpless to stop them. He raised one arm to block one strike from one, only to be immediately struck from behind by another. Eventually, Corey’s arms dangled by his side, and one manikin’s fist slammed into his jaw, lifting him off his feet. His mane had fallen into his eyes, and his teeth were grit.

“C…” Twilight couldn’t hold herself back, “Corey!?”

The leader of the prisoners watched indifferently through several screens, alone in her “war chamber”, as it were. Some of the screens were filled with static, indicating the associated creatures she’d created were destroyed. But the others were alive and well, even if some had a blurry picture. She could see it very clearly. Her attention turned to the biggest screen of all; a giant lion was facing down its prey, and that prey happened to be three of the Bearers and the former captain of the guard. The dragon she’d seen was nowhere to be found now.

“Lyon is more than able to handle himself against all of them…” she observed placidly, turning her attention to the many screens. All of them were showing the same general location, and each of them had a sight to behold. The Element of Generosity was taking steps back, trying to keep her distance. The Element of Magic had her hands full elsewhere. And, from four different angles, she could see a green unicorn on his back on the ground, unmoving.

“Have Celestia’s pawns failed already?” she scoffed, “Pity, I’d expected more out of them…”

The battle at the frontlines raged on, but with each passing second, the hope of victory began to slip further and further away. The lion they were facing was stronger than any of them could have imagined. Even Shining Armor could do little but stall the new adversary for a short amount of time with the use of his shields. And as carefully as they had tried to fight, they still managed to lose two more guards to the beast. Yet, all of the ones still standing remained steadfast; they had no other option but to be, after all.

We’ll find a way to beat him, Shining thought, standing ready with the others as the lion charged again, We have to!

Quickly, Shining cast a shield around the ground which quickly began to expand. The shield managed to strike the lion, pushing him back slightly, but it only served to stall him for a very short time. The lion let out another roar as he punched at the shield, damaging it severely once more.

“Have you not learned,” the lion snarled, pulling his fist back for another punch, “This cannot stop me!” The lion punched out; however, his fist did not make contact with the shield again; it vanished before he could punch. As a result, his fist met no resistance and the tremendous force of his own attack made him go off-balance.

Before he could recover, something dropped down from above him: Rainbow Dash wielding a hammer from one of the fallen guards. Using it and the speed she accumulated during the drop, she slammed the hammer over the lion’s head. The force of the impact caused the lion to flinch just a little. The moment was short-lived; the lion already began to move his head to look up at Rainbow.

Not leaving it to chance, Rainbow quickly let go on the hammer as the lion grabbed hold of it. With little effort, the lion crushed the hammer in his own massive hand, his eyes glued upon the pegasus pony that had landed the hit. With his other arm already prepared for an attack, the lion’s claws extended out the tips of his fingers. Rainbow was within his reach, and the lion had no intention of letting her slip away again.

At a great speed, the lion swiped his claws at Rainbow. But before he could hit his mark, something blinded him. While his attention was turned to Rainbow, Pinkie fired another shot from her confetti canon, the confetti wrapping around the lion’s head. With his aim impaired, Rainbow was able to escape harm once more by the fur on her nose, quickly making some room between the two.

“Enough!” The lion roared, the sound of its voice bloodcurdling. Tearing the confetti from his head in one powerful motion, the lion turned his attention to the one wielding the cannon, Pinkie Pie. When the soulless pair of eyes met her own, Pinkie felt a lump form in her chest; she realized the lion was now targeting her. Without one more word, the lion kicked off of the ground, charging for the group.

On instinct, every pony in the area began to scramble, making every attempt they could to get away from the rampaging beast. But in their effort to get to safety, they found that one member of their ranks had not vacated her previous position.

“Pinkie!” Applejack called out, her words reaching deaf ears. Pinkie failed to respond, her legs trembling where she stood.

The others tried to reach her, but she was too far away. They couldn’t reach her before the lion did. Pinkie stared up at the towering figure; not once did she think to run. The amount of fear she was feeling had obliterated even her survival instincts, leaving nothing but a crippling, seizing terror. She could only watch, frozen, as the lion lifted one massive claw, his soulless eyes never leaving her. Then, the lion brought down his claw over her. The next thing Pinkie knew, her vision got a little blurry…

“Gotcha!” yelled Rainbow, picking up Pinkie at the last moment. Pinkie immediately looked down, now seeing the lion with one claw deep in the ground where she was standing. She wasn’t imagining it. She and Rainbow were out of danger—

“Rainbow, look out!” Pinkie squealed, spotting something coming from the lion’s direction. Rainbow looked back to see what Pinkie was referring to, and what she saw was something flying right at them. It was Pinkie’s cannon, left behind in the rush and now crushed by the lion. When both the ponies had gotten complacent, the lion had thrown its remains as hard as he could towards them. Rainbow didn’t have enough time to react by the time she saw it coming; she couldn’t stop it with hands full of Pinkie. A large chunk of the cannon struck her hard in the head, followed by a flash of light on impact. Everything then went dark.

The only thing Rainbow could feel after that was pain, feeling herself floating in a sea of darkness. She could hear something, something faint at first, but it was getting clearer as time went by.

“R…b…Rain…nbow….Rainbow! Rainbow Dash, wake up!” The sound of her name being called repeatedly was enough to call her back into the real world. Rainbow opened her eyes; her vision was blurry, and sharp pains littered her head. However, despite the condition she was in, she was able to make out a very distorted figure: a pink blur that was calling her name. At first, Rainbow couldn’t figure out why, but she had a good idea of what that pink blur actually was.

“P…Pinkie?” Rainbow questioned, “W-what happened?” she asked, putting her hand to her pounding head, specifically, where she felt the agonizing sting. Not only did she feel the pain, but she also felt a warm, moist feeling where the pain was at its strongest. It seemed to be running out of her head. When she looked to her hand, all she could see was a large, red stain against her blue coat.

“I’m…bleeding…?” Rainbow asked herself, dazed, “Why am I bleeding?”

“Rainbow!” Pinkie continued to call out to her, “Rainbow, you have to get up!”

Rainbow was just about to ask what was going on. But then, something stomped down next to her. When she saw the large lion-like foot next to her, and the massive shadow that covered it, she began to remember all too quickly what happened. Now, though, she was caught. Forcing herself to look up, Rainbow saw the lion staring down at her, his claws raised high above his head.

“Nowhere to run now, pony,” The lion snarled, licking his fangs in anticipation of the kill that was to come. Rainbow’s pupils shrunk. Her body refused to move, despite her best attempts to urge herself to move. The others could only look on, helplessly, as Lyon began to move in for the kill…

“Leave her alone!” The voice was a snarl, echoing all around them. Even the lion paused, looking up to try to find the source of the voice. What he got, however, was a large rock heading right for him; the same one he’d thrown earlier. The rock hit him with enough force to make him skid back several feet, and had caught him off-guard enough to make him start to stumble. With each foot he gave to the wayward rock, it looked like the lion would finally fall over.

Instead, the lion let out a loud roar as the rock was crushed against his chest into particles.

“That rock…” Shining thought aloud, having saw the whole thing like everyone else, “But wasn’t that…” All eyes turned towards where that rock was last seen. It was now gone, something else standing in the crater. Something that at least towered over most ponies of his age, and was black, blue, and scaly.

“John!?” Applejack yelled, glad to see that he was still alive. The dragon, however, didn’t say anything to acknowledge her. His attention was entirely on the scene before him. He could see all the downed guards around him. He could see the damage that had been caused while he was out. Finally, John’s eyes centered on Rainbow.

In an instant, his appearance changed. John’s pupils, which had been dots for the first few moments, suddenly narrowed to slits. Slowly, John moved towards her, removing his sweater. When he reached her, he carefully, gently covered her with it, almost like it were a blanket. Then, he proceeded to lift her off the ground.

“J-John?” Rainbow asked, looking up to him with disbelief.

“Are you okay?” John asked. Rainbow simply nodded in response. By now, the others had joined them. John turned his attention to Shining. Carefully, he handed Rainbow over to him.

“Watch over her,” John said, though the snarl in his voice did not make his request sound like one. Without saying anything further, he turned away from the group, making his way towards the lion.

“Don’t tell me he’s…” Applejack said, starting to move forward.

“He is…” Shining confirmed, “That’s a look I know all too well…”

“So you survived, dragon,” the lion said, walking towards John. Soon, the two were a step away from each other, both staring at one another. Even though John had to look up at the lion to look into his eyes, John didn’t appear to be small to anyone.

“What is your name?” John demanded. The lion stared down at John and let out an amused chuckle.

“I am known as Lyon…Nemean Lyon,” The lion answered, “And you?”

“My name’s John,” John said, “And I’m the dragon who’s going to kick your sorry ass back to Tartarus…”

His body had went numb. All sensation of time had left him as well. Corey found himself opening his eyes to what felt like a mass of black. No, not a mass of black. His vision was cracked open, a heavy blur at best, running through the center of it. He was at least vaguely aware he was moving; the angles of the blurs began to change. In an instant, Corey understood what was going on.

That’s right… he thought, I was fighting the waves…Then…

It’s not looking too good. It was that inner voice of his. This time, however, instead of just being an echo within the confines of his mind, it sounded like it was right next to him, speaking directly into his ear. Maybe it was a mistake to get involved in this…

What? Corey asked in surprise, But weren’t you the one giving me encourage—

You’re always the first of everyone to surrender, said the inner voice back, Even when it didn’t make sense. I was the one telling you to keep going. But now, it’s in your best interest to get out of there!

Corey still couldn’t see. The blurs seemed to be getting closer. The order to surrender appealed to him more than he cared to admit. It really did seem like the best option…until something came back to him. It was something very recent, so recent he’d have been a fool to forget it.

“Whenever I have doubts, I like to close my eyes and remind myself of what I’m trying to protect…” It was Twilight attempting to reassure him from earlier. At the time, Corey hadn’t really tried to think about it. He knew he had somewhere he needed to be. Corey’s vision began to focus. He could see those creatures moving in on him much more clearly now. Well, for a moment. His eyes closed.

What is it I’m trying to protect… Corey thought, What do I have to fight for here?

What are you doing, you idiot!? His inner voice raged at him, Get your shit together and get out of here! You’re going to—

No. Corey thought, as an image slowly began to form in his mind’s eye. It was highly unfocused at first, but as he continued to consider Twilight’s question, the image began to focus.

What do you mean, no? The inner voice came back.

I’m not running, Corey thought. Not this time…

Corey realized the image he was looking for. Or rather, images. They seemed to pass by in front of his eyes, like a slideshow.

There’s John…the only friend from Earth I got to keep… Corey thought, looking at the new form John had taken since coming here. Yet, his face was the same look Corey had always imagined John having; a smug smirk of sorts. John slid out of view, and, one by one, was replaced by the visages of each of the ponies he’d known even before touching down. I don’t think they need me protecting them—

Exactly! His inner voice tried to cut him off.

They haven’t faced something like this before! Corey snapped back, as the last image began to focus. It was of Twilight. It was the same smile she’d given him on that day his life changed forever. Right after he’d snapped at her, no less.

Why are you so determined to help them? His inner voice sounded like it was losing some strength, You, who never really fought for anything!

Yeah, I never fought for anything, Corey thought, But that’s because I didn’t have things worth fighting for before!

Fine! His inner voice snapped. Do what you want. But what are you going to do about those creatures??

I’ll take care of them…

How?

Something green and glowing appeared in Corey’s mind’s eye.

Through wanting the strength to be able to do it!

Twilight could only watch as one of the creatures threw one of its fists out to continue pounding Corey. He had barely recovered, and for most of the time, he had stood there. For a few moments, she had thought he had resigned himself to whatever awaited him.

Then, Corey’s hand shot up, catching the creature’s fist. Corey finally looked up, as though looking the creature in the eyes. Suddenly, Corey’s body began to glow: green runes were appearing all over his body, though Twilight couldn’t tell their effect straight away.

At least, until she saw Corey’s hand swallow the manikin’s fist, kicking up a small cloud of dust…

Author's Note

Here's how we end this chapter. That's all for now. See you all next week.

Act 3 Chapter 2

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 2: A Less-Than-Happy Reunion

The train continued north through the night, clattering along the tracks the whole way. Inside, though, not one soul heard anything of the sort. However, as the train proceeded through the night, the air got crisper and cooler. And as the train pushed onward into the morning, the sun began to rise.

Twilight squinted her shut lids a bit. It was a bit early in the morning, she knew. Even though the car was insulated, she could still feel a chill of cold air brush against her nose—the window was right next to her. Yet, she could feel a warmth directly behind her, something which made the chill not so bad. She realized she was still holding on to something with her one arm: the book she and Corey had started the night before.

Furthermore, when she tried to move her other arm to try to rub at her eyes, she realized her upper arm was more or less pinned to her side by something. Confused, Twilight creaked her eyes open, and as they adjusted to the waking world, she could make out the reason why she didn’t have the freedom she thought.

To her embarrassment and horror, she could see the image of a sleeved arm draped over her, which ended in a green hand that rested on her stomach. And peeking out from behind her head, was a mess of dark green hair, and the tip of a horn. Almost immediately after processing this information did Twilight understand what had happened, and her face lit up as fragments began to enter her mind.

T-that’s right! She thought, He climbed right in with me so we could both read the book…we must have fallen asleep like that! But then…how’d this…?

Twilight blushed even more as something else dawned on her. Even though she couldn’t see anyone looking at them beyond Corey’s sleeping form, it was bound to get even more embarrassing when they woke up and saw the two of them curled up like this. Though somewhere in her she found she didn’t care as much as she thought she would, the rest of her still cared enough to try to make sure no one saw them.

Quickly, Twilight shifted. Though her shoulder was pinned, she could still manage to reach Corey’s hand and squeeze it firmly. Praying that she was getting his attention out of whatever dream he was probably having, she began to whisper.

“Corey,” Twilight’s voice came out panicky, like trying to explain what was going on finally made her realize that the situation was dire, “Corey, you should wake up…”

“Five more minutes,” Corey mumbled, sounding annoyed. Twilight closed her eyes, sighing roughly. Did he even open his eyes? If he had…

“I really think you should look…” Twilight said, trying to force urgency into her voice despite having to keep quiet; she didn’t know if anyone else was in the car with them, but if they were she really didn’t want them waking up.

“Okay,” Corey said, shifting, his hand brushing against Twilight’s stomach. However, as soon as he completely locked up, Twilight understood what he’d seen. But before she could say anything, Corey immediately slid backwards, his arm and his warmth vanishing just as quickly as Twilight had first realized he was even there.

“OhmyGodhow’dthathappenwhatthehellis—“ Corey’s extreme motormouthing could only be cut off by one thing, the sound of a thud. Twilight sat up and turned—in his rush to escape the compromising position, Corey had scuttled right out of the bed, forgetting gravity still worked. He grunted as he landed on the floor side-first.

“A-are you okay??” Twilight asked. Corey quickly scrambled to his feet, and cast a quick look down the aisle. His cheeks were bright red, and his eyes were wide with…fear, if anything. However, what he saw apparently made him feel relief, even if only a little.

“Y-yeah,” Corey said, shaking his head for a bit before turning back to face her, missing her eyes, “S-sorry about that, Twilight! I-I don’t know what happened…”

“W-we must have fallen asleep,” Twilight dodged Corey’s eyes as well, finding the window behind him and to the left much more soothing to look at, her face still warm, “And then we—we got…comfortable.”

“I…I…”

“I-it’s okay…” Twilight tried to assure him, “…D-do you want to…continue the book until we…get there?”

Corey’s face flushed, and he slowly looked away, “I…I…uh…bathroom!”

“Wh—what?” Twilight asked, tilting her head.

“I just woke up,” Corey said, immediately making his way out of the car, his face still red, “I’ll let you know…when I get back!”

Quickly, Corey shuffled out of Twilight’s sight, no doubt trying to make good on his statement. Still, all the same, Twilight shook her head, not sure whether to be grateful he didn’t answer straight away, or to just take it as a “no” altogether.

After that awkward wake-up call, she couldn’t exactly blame him…though now that it was all over, Twilight felt her face heat up again.

Maybe I should have let him have five more minutes… Curious, Twilight peeked out into the aisle, and her eyes widened. There was Rainbow leaning against John. Neither of them seemed to have noticed, but her face flushed horribly as the realization washed over her, O-on second thought, maybe it’s better like this…

The morning progressed from there without much further incident, though everyone began to wonder just what happened that made Corey and Twilight dodge each other (or try to, anyway) for that first couple of hours. Less than a minute before the train screeched to a halt at its stop, the air in the car stopped being cold. Corey looked around, confused, still hugging his own arms out of the chill he’d been feeling.

“Wait, what just happened?” Corey asked, turning back towards the window. He blinked as he registered the frozen ice caps out the window were replaced with the far more pleasant sights of spring.

“Oh, that’s right,” Twilight said, getting his attention. Both flinched just a little when he turned to face her, but there wasn’t a lot of hesitation on her part before she continued, “You’ve never been up here before. The whole empire has a sort of wind barrier over it. It’s really cold outside, but on the inside, it’s actually quite pleasant.”

“Huh,” Corey said, “Wish I could have set one of those up back home last winter…”

“Attention passengers,” called the conductor’s voice, “The train has reached its destination.”

On this cue, everyone began to file out one by one, gathering what they had brought along with them before leaving.

Among the last to come out were Corey and Twilight. He’d almost been out the door when he awkwardly cast a glance to his left, blushed lightly, and stepped aside to let an equally awkward Twilight ahead of him. Finally, Corey disembarked, letting out a heavy sigh.

“Alright, everyone,” Shining said, “Follow me. We’ll be meeting some of the guards up here, who will escort us straight to the palace…”

The whole group had no objections. Carrying whatever they’d packed, the group followed behind Shining. Lagging behind were Corey and John, who even now were taking in the sights of the Crystal Empire. Though there were normal ponies mixed in with the crowd, they could already see the crystal ponies, and they hadn’t even left the station.

The two shuffled after the others, though couldn’t help but rubberneck just a bit to prolong the experience. Though they didn’t look that much different from earth ponies, the way the light danced on their exposed skin really helped them to stand out. Two crystal ponies caught their gazes and waved. Corey blinked, flinching, but waved back along with John. As the two went off to catch up, the two resumed their conversation, believing the two to be little more than tourists.

It wasn’t long before they met up with the royal guard up north. It was a bit awkward for Corey and John to hear the words “Prince” and “Armor” used directly after one another, but nothing they couldn’t handle. As they were being lead to the palace, Corey and John once again were met with a round of sightseeing.

The architecture around them was so different from anything they’d seen back home. The fact they were literally standing in it now did nothing to diminish the fact they had technically seen the buildings before. The sunlight reflecting throughout the streets produced an effect that was simply visually incredible to look at.

“Wow,” Corey said, looking around, “Reminds me of when I read Wizard of Oz…”

“You read that?” John asked, “Always thought it was just a movie…”

“No, it wasn’t,” Corey said, “I actually don’t remember seeing much of that movie…”

“There’s a lot of things you didn’t see…” John said.

Corey was on the verge of retorting, but before he could get the words out…

“Hey,” Rainbow called back to them, “Mind keeping up back there?”

“Oh, right,” Corey said, his head snapping back towards the group, tugging on his glasses with one hand immediately afterward.

“Sorry, just got caught up in the sights,” John responded, taking a few steps ahead of Corey. Corey, in turn, sighed, before taking off after him. The two caught up with the others quickly enough, and the rest of the trip to the palace at the center went on without any real interruptions.

The escort from the crystal guards went right up to the doors of the Crystal Castle. Once the group had stepped through the door, everyone could see the atmosphere had changed. It was no longer light and welcoming like the rest of the empire. Now, it was heavy and foreboding. There were guards posted at every corner, each of them looking like they would attack if someone so much as forgot to say “bless you” if a pony sneezed. Not that anyone could blame them; after what had happened, it would have been a crime to not tighten security.

Twilight and her friends had little trouble adapting to the foreboding aura of the place, not bothered in the least by the sudden security increase. Corey and John, on the other hand, realized they’d never been face-to-face with such high security, and for royalty, no less. Of the two, John feared that if he slipped up, he’d be the one catching hell. Corey was similarly careful to avoid gawking or falling behind the group. That definitely would have gotten a guard ready to bash his head in…

The group continued through the halls and up several flights of stairs before they finally got to where they were going. The door to the throne room was probably the most heavily guarded with several guards standing between them and the door. They could only assume that there were several more standing behind them. And Twilight could feel there was some magic involved as well.

“Prince Armor,” said one of the guards as he saluted Shining.

“Open the doors,” Shining commanded. Ever since he first learned of the attack on his wife, he’d tried to keep himself calm. But now that only a single pair of doors were separating him from her, he could no longer bring himself to be patient.

The guard nodded and turned his attention to the others. Quickly, he motioned them to open the doors. In just a few seconds, the doors were opening and the group was allowed to enter. Both Shining and Twilight took point. As soon as they entered the room, they saw her sitting at her throne. The sight was not pleasant. Even though she was wearing her usual dress, it did not hide the signs of bandages. The most notable being the ones wrapped around her head, followed by the wrappings coming out of the sleeves of her dress.

“Cadance!” Twilight and Shining both cried out at once, running over to her. Cadance smiled, slowly rising to meet them. However, the instant they began to put the squeeze on her, her smile faded, replaced by a pained grimace.

“E-easy, you two…” she winced, her wounds still not healed that point.

“S-sorry,” said Twilight, taking a step back. Only now did she see her sister-in-law’s posture. Her brows furrowed as she took it all in. Cadance couldn’t manage to stand up straight. One of her hands was pressed to her side as though it was bothering her.

“I’ll have to skip on our usual meet and greet, sadly,” Cadance smiled, though it was a weak attempt at hiding her discomfort.

“Next time,” Twilight said, still looking to Cadance with a concerned look.

“Here, sit down,” Shining said, helping his wife to sit back down. Once seated, Cadance let out a sigh. As she was now, even standing up was a challenge. Looking at his wife, Shining felt a stab of anger course through him. Someone had made an attempt on his wife’s life while he wasn’t around.

“I swear, I’ll find who did this,” growled Shining.

“We all will,” Twilight said.

On her cue, everyone else began to get closer. Cadance noticed them quickly. As she expected, Twilight’s friends always had her back. But as she scanned the group, she noticed two new faces, one of which stood out in particular…

“I see you’ve made some new friends,” said Cadance. Quickly, Twilight turned back to the others. She blinked. New friends? Who was she—

“O-oh, right!” Twilight said, quickly moving towards the two in question. First, she made her way towards the larger of the two, “This is John. Though he looks intimidating, he’s actually harmless.”

“Nice to meet you,” said John, placing a palm over his chest and bowed his head slightly.

“Likewise,” said Cadance.

“And this is Corey,” said Twilight, moving over to him, “He was John’s friend before we met. Believe it or not, he’s actually my student now.”

Not even thinking of it, Twilight placed her hand over Corey’s back. In that moment, they looked to each other. Cadance could only raise a brow as something passed through each of their eyes. Twilight moved her hand away as the two looked away from each other. Corey said nothing, while Twilight tried to get back on track.

“They both sort of got pulled into this situation with us,” she said, “And they’ve been a big help.”

“Well then,” Cadance said, “I thank you both for standing by them.” Both John and Corey bowed their heads slightly one last time. With the introductions out of the way, Cadance’s eyes passed over the group once again. This time, she noticed somepony was missing.

“But what about Fluttershy?” she asked. The others frowned at the mention.

“She didn’t come with us. This whole ‘game’ just started to get to her,” explained Twilight, “We plan to try and bring her back, but for now, it’s best she stay where she’ll be safe.”

“Poor girl,” Cadance’s brows furrowed.

“For now,” Shining said, “We have to worry about what happened here. The letter we got didn’t go over much. Can you fill in the gaps?”

Cadance leaned back on her throne and let out a small sigh.

“It all happened so fast…” said Cadance, her brows knitting as she began to go back into her own memory, “The sun had just set, and I was making my way towards my bedchambers when I noticed a guard. I didn’t pay him much mind. It wasn’t like I didn’t expect a guard or two to be patrolling the halls at night. But maybe…maybe I should have. The moment I reached my door, I was attacked from behind.”

Cadance paused for a moment, placing a hand to the front of her head, flinching as the memory of an impact washed over her.

“The first thing the attacker did was slam my head on the door before opening it and pushing me inside. It didn’t knock me out, but I was taken by surprise. I couldn’t react fast enough. After I was inside the room, I fell, but somehow, I managed to get a look at who blitzed me. It was a guard…or at least, who I thought was a guard.

“It was then I noticed something: he had a horn. His horn started to glow, and before I knew it, his appearance began to change. I tried to make out what he looked like, but the room started to grow too dark for me to see clearly. He…he started to come after me. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I cast a quick spell and made a bright flash of light…”

As Cadance continued on, her voice changed, and her body twitching as she’d become restless.

“I thought it worked, so I ran towards the door. I thought if I could get out, I’d be able to call for help. But… but the moment I touched the door…” Cadance halted, her body now trembling. Seeing her pain, Shining gently pulled Cadance in to comfort her.

“That’s enough,” Shining said softly, “You don’t have to continue.”

“N-no,” Cadance said, “It’s almost over…”

Cadance took in a deep breath. The fact Shining was holding on to her seemed to give her strength, “When…I touched the door, I felt something strike me from behind, something sharp. I felt so much pain I dropped to the floor. I could feel the blood running down my back. I…I went into shock. All I could do was look back at the figure. He was laughing at me…”

“I started to feel myself blacking out. So, in a panic, I put as much magic as I could muster into one focused blast. All I could remember was blowing a hole in the wall before I finally blacked out…”

Hearing this was hard one everyone, especially to her family. Even the normally unflappable John could be heard trying to suppress a draconic snarl. But Corey stared straight ahead, his closed fists trembling at his sides, anger swelling in him as he heard the story.

“I woke up the next day…the guards said they’d rushed to my room when they’d heard the explosion, and they saw me on the floor… in a pool of my own blood…”

The thought of being so close to death was more than enough for Cadance. Even if she’d been close just once before that she could remember. She leaned in on Shining’s chest, letting out a choked sob as she tried to get her composure back.

“You don’t have to worry anymore,” said Shining, “I promise he’ll never hurt you again.”

Twilight remained silent, processing the incident. However, there was one question on her mind. She wasn't sure if she could bring Cadance to remember anymore, but…she had to know.

“C-Cadance,” Better now, while the moment was there, than later when she was trying to move on, “Did he say anything to you?”

Cadance looked over to Twilight for a moment, before nodding. The words she said sent a chill down everyone’s spines.

“‘You’ve grown so much’…”

It wasn’t long after that that the group had chosen to go to the scene of the crime. It wasn’t too far from the throne room. The door was still wide open, two guards posted on either side of it. Upon seeing who the visitors were being lead by, though, they let the group in. Looking around, the fact that there were two guards combing the room didn’t immediately register with anyone.

Everyone could only stand in horror, taking in the scene around them. Right at their feet was a bloodstain that hadn’t been cleaned yet—as Cadance had said. There were some splatters here and there as well. A couple of things had been broken in the room, and at the wall farthest from them, there was a giant hole leading to the outside.

“I…can’t believe it…” Twilight said, her eyes wide.

She fought so hard… noted Corey, feeling his anger spike again, But it looks like the surprise attack did most of the job…

Shining looked around, his back turned to the group. Stepping into the room, he approached one of the guards, who turned to him.

“Prince Armor,” he said, saluting.

“At ease,” said Shining, “Have you found anything in here?”

“There was something,” he said, putting his hand to his chin, “We think the attacker dropped it. Hey! Emerald!”

The second guard had stopped what he was doing, looking over to the first guard, “Yes, sir?”

“That book we found…” said the first guy, “Prince Armor wants to see the evidence we’ve gotten…”

“Right away,” Emerald said, reaching into a sack which he’d left resting on the bed. It wasn’t long before he withdrew a black notebook, splotched with red spots in places. He then walked it over to Shining, who took it and began skimming through its pages.

“We put in it evidence the moment we scanned the room,” said the first guard, as Shining continued to skim, “We thought you’d want to see it as soon as you arrived.”

Shining wasn’t listening. He had stopped skimming. Something on one of the pages caught his eye. He gave a small, sharp “Tch” to it, a bead of sweat running down his brow. Twilight, standing next to Shining, noticed his distress.

“We originally thought that it may have belonged to Princess Cadance, but—“ The first guard didn’t get to finish his sentence.

“There’s no way a book like this would belong to her,” Shining coldly stated, slamming the book shut.

“Sir?” asked the first guard, tilting his head in concern.

“Increase security all around the empire,” was the only thing Shining could say. Still holding on to the notebook, Shining stormed out of the room, the others quickly getting out of his way. Twilight, however, wasn’t content to let him simply storm out like that. She quickly moved, managing to catch up with him.

“Shining, what’s wrong?” asked Twilight, trying to keep up. Upon registering her question, Shining stopped. He turned to Twilight. In that moment, Twilight could see a distinct sort of fear in his eyes, masked underneath a layer of completely appropriate anger. He spoke, and what he said next sent chills throughout Twilight’s body.

“This book,” Shining said, “Has to be the attacker’s journal. And if it is, Cadance isn’t his first victim…”

Author's Note

And the plot thickens again. Yeah...not sure what else I can say. See you all later.

Act 3 Chapter 11

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 11: Shattered

It was all a blur as the night gave way to dawn. There were multiple injured ponies due to the vicious attack last night. The fact it was all lead by one pony didn’t even seem possible to Doctor Topazheal, but it didn’t matter to her or her assistants. In the end, they had patients to care for.

Some of the guards had suffered lacerations. Others were definitely concussed. A couple of the patients that weren’t guards had also been treated for their injuries, and those were pretty severe—more for the pegasus pony than the dragon, though. But there was one that stuck out to her.

Though he was alive, at least by his vital signs, there was just something off about him. He was sitting up on the edge of the bed. He was sitting there, shirtless, allowing the doctors to get a good look at his injuries. He had suffered multiple cuts everywhere, and there was a grievous puncture wound on his left shoulder that needed to be patched.

“Clean the wounds,” said one of the nurses to the others, who immediately went to work, “Now, this is going to sting.”

Corey—that was his real name—didn’t respond with little more than a very slight nod. The disinfectant was pressed to the open wounds, but not once did he even grunt sharply. He winced, sure, but he didn’t even draw back to try to get away from the rag.

Topaz looked at his eyes. They were distant, seemingly uncaring, tear trails down his cheeks. Even though the fighting was over, and that Slayer—whoever he was, had been driven out, he looked like he’d lost that fight.

“You’re doing great,” commented one of the nurses, sounding only mildly unnerved at the total lack of reaction to the disinfectant.

Corey’s mouth barely moved, but he obviously said something, considering the nurse that was working at another one of the wounds on his forearm looked up to say something.

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“Nothing…” Then there was the tone to his voice. He wasn’t speaking much, at least out loud, and when he spoke it sounded like he was dead to the world, much like his facial expression was. All in all, his behavior was just unnatural for someone in his situation.

But that wasn’t about to stop them from trying to heal his physical wounds, at the very least…

After everyone had gotten their wounds treated, they all gathered in what was left of the throne room. Though their battle was won, there were mixed feelings over what had happened over the night. For Rarity and Pinkie, the two were in high spirits. The two had questioned their worth since this game began. But during last night’s fight with one of Slayer’s magical creatures, they’d both felt something they’d strived for: to be useful.

It was a hard battle that took everything they could muster, and in the end their efforts paid off the moment they saw the creature defeated. If anything, that moment proved to them that they weren’t holding anyone back. But while they were satisfied with what they had done, the same couldn’t be said for Rainbow and Applejack.

The two had set themselves to do their very best during their fights, but things didn’t turn out like they’d hoped. On one side was Rainbow, she and John had given it their all during the battle with the giant creature. Though they hadn’t been able to inflict much damage to it, they were still able to hold their own.

At least, until it let out a surprise attack. Rainbow could still remember what happened. She tried her best to avoid the oncoming spikes, but she wasn’t able to dodge all of them. It only took one lucky shot to throw her off balance. It was bad enough that she had to be shielded from the attack, and right after that she found herself unable to continue. In the end, all she could do was sit in a safe spot and watch John face the creature alone. Sure, they may have won in the end, but she wanted to be there to fight until the very end.

While Rainbow was thrown out of a fight, Applejack never got to fight at all. From the moment she heard the sounds of battle around the castle, Applejack had prepared herself to attack at a moment’s notice. She was thrown off guard by Slayer’s ruse and was soon thrown across the room and knocked out. It wasn’t until everything had settled down that she had finally regained consciousness.

It was humiliating for them, but they’d get over it…eventually.

What worried them the most at the moment was Twilight. She was waiting for them in the throne room when they arrived. Though she’d checked to make sure they were okay, it was clear there was someone else on her mind. At the moment, she stood at the corner of the room, her eyes glued to the window. Every time she heard the noise of the door opening, she’d turn to it quickly, a warm look on her face. But when the cause was not who they believed she was waiting for, her mood darkened.

Eventually, she grew tired of waiting.

“H-has anyone seen Corey?” she asked. Everyone looked to one another. Most of them hadn’t been seriously hurt and didn’t need to check into the infirmary.

“I saw him in the infirmary,” said Rainbow, one of the few who did need a trip, “They were treating his wounds when I was brought in. Eventually, they got to me, and I looked away. Next time I looked towards him, he was gone. Sorry, Twilight, but I don’t know where he is…”

Twilight’s brows furrowed. The look of worry became visible to everyone as she bit her thumb.

They’d all heard what had happened to him during his fight with Slayer. It was obvious that Twilight’s worry was justified. Rainbow still remembered the look on Corey’s face when she last saw him. The distant stare in his eyes, the absolute lack of life in them…she couldn’t get a read on him if she tried.

Now that she knew that no one knew where he was, Twilight’s concern grew by the second. So many questions went through her mind:

Where could he have gone?

Is he alright?

What if—

“Twilight,” Twilight paused, looking over to Rarity, “There comes a time when thinking about it will not get anything done.”

Twilight continued to look over to her, confused.

“She’s right, Twi,” Applejack chimed in, “If you’re worried, then go find him.”

“Yeah, if he’s sad, then someone else has to make him happy again. I’m pretty sure you’d be the best pony for this job,” Pinkie said.

Twilight looked through her friend’s smiles, unable to help shooting one back. With a nod of her head, Twilight made her way towards the door, disappearing into the halls.

After Twilight left, Rainbow started to chuckle.

“And what are you laughin’ about?” asked Applejack.

“Ah, c’mon,” said Rainbow, “Both of them are totally clueless! How can you not find that funny?”

“I guess so,” Applejack said, rubbing her chin and raising one brow, “On another note, where’s John?”

“Dunno,” said Rainbow with a shrug, “He was with me in the infirmary until I was patched up. Then he said there was somethin’ he had to do.”

Applejack cast a look to Rarity and Pinkie, both trying to stifle a chuckle. She turned back to Rainbow and said, “Really, he stayed to make sure you’d be okay?”

“Well, yeah,” Rainbow said, “Didn’t even let them treat his wounds until I was set first…”

Now the others let out a full-on laugh. This time, Rainbow questioned what the joke was.

John’s wounds were quickly treated: a simple patch to stop the bleeding and allow the cuts to close. But at that moment, a little blood was the last thing on his mind. There were other things far worse than that. Rainbow, for example, had been one of them, but now that she was going to be fine, he had something—or rather, someone—else he needed to tend to.

Corey had been a concern of his ever since Twilight told him what happened before the attack began. But he didn’t think it would have ever gotten this bad, nor did he think Corey would go so far into his anger. He’d seen him in the infirmary, the dark cloud over him; the deadness in his eyes, but he was too worried about Rainbow’s injuries. He didn’t act right away.

Now, Corey had wandered off somewhere, mostly likely secluding himself from everyone else. But John had a slight idea of where he could have gone. Soon enough, John found himself in the room where it all began.

There you are…

In the far end of the room, sitting where the hole in the wall still acted as a massive window, Corey was sitting, his back to him. He was staring off into the horizon. Even though John couldn’t see Corey’s face, he could still feel the sense of grief coming off of his friend. John walked into the room, stopping next to Corey and leaning against the remains of the wall.

“I’ll be honest, I was sure you wouldn’t want to be anywhere near this place,” John said. Corey didn’t respond. John sighed. Beating around the bush wasn’t the best choice right now, not after everything that had happened.

“I heard what happened…and what you almost did,” Corey seemed to wince; proof that he wasn’t just flat out ignoring what John was saying, “I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re feeling right now…and from the look of it, I’m guessing you’re trying to sort that out yourself.”

Again, Corey didn’t respond. He didn’t even look to John. The two remained in silence, one unsure of what to say, and the other refusing to say anything. But eventually, the latter found words.

“It used to be so simple,” Corey said, “They were the bad guys, and I was the good guy. Everything in between didn’t matter…”

John didn’t respond this time, waiting for Corey to finish.

“But somehow, I forgot that somewhere in the middle was where the line was drawn. I was so wrapped up in my own sense of justice that I almost crossed it. Now I’m standing right on it…and I’m scared of which side I’ll end up on…”

Corey’s hands, which were on his forearms, tightened their grips.

“Something like that could scare just about anyone,” said John, “But you still managed to see the line and stop yourself. If you want to end up on the right side, you just have to take a step back and remind yourself what you’re fighting for.”

Corey chuckled briefly. For that single moment, John started to think he was getting through to him. But that thought was soon dashed.

“I wish it was that simple, John, I really do…” Corey said, lifting one hand and staring at it. John couldn’t see anything on it now, but Corey flinched as though it was still stained with the blood of another, “But let’s face it…In the end, no matter what I try, no matter what I do, I’ll just end up doing it again. Just like before…”

John felt his heart sink. He’d seen Corey’s down moments before, but this time was far worse.

“But you can’t just—“ John said.

“John, please,” Corey cut in, finally turning to look to John, straight in the eyes, “I know you’re trying to help me. That’s all you’ve been doing for so many years. But fact is…you can’t help me. No one can…”

John fell silent. He saw not only the defeat in Corey’s eyes, but he could see that Corey was accepting it. He couldn’t find words to argue back against that empty, lifeless stare. John turned away, slowly making his way out of the room.

John’s face was void of any expression as he walked down the hall. However, it was just because he was waiting. When he turned the corner, when he was sure no one else would see or hear him, John grit his teeth and slammed his fist into the wall beside him. The force of the attack caused it to crater and crumble away. For a few seconds, John stood there, his fist hanging in the air of where the wall once stood.

“You’re right…I can’t help you,” John said, looking up, “But you’re wrong about one thing…”

John put his fist down and continued down the hall, a look of resolve on his face.

“There’s someone who can…”

In the catacombs where the breakouts were hiding, far removed from society, just as they all had been to begin with, the air had changed. While it was still damp and heavy at times, the remaining escapees were buzzing with what they had heard happen to Slayer.

They’d wondered how Slayer could have gotten so thrashed. They’d wondered just what he’d managed to do. A couple even speculated that it hadn’t been a pony he’d run into at all, but a monster. However, there was one thought that had a couple slightly on edge.

They might eventually have to go up against the one who had broken him.

Slayer fought to remain conscious ever since leaving the Crystal Empire. He was a broken, bloodied mess. The last thing he saw before he passed out again was their leader standing over him, her hand glowing. He had expected his life to end there, much like Lyon’s. Which is why he was confused to be waking up, floating in a red, anti-gravitational field. He could feel it mending so many of his injuries, feeling the pinch of bones coming together within his skin.

“Am I…?” Slayer started to wonder.

“I see you’ve awoken…” The feminine voice of the leader broke into his thoughts. Slayer turned his neck, “Oh, please, not so fast, you might wind up breaking it…”

Slayer blinked in shock. Hadn’t he ultimately failed? He’d known from the start he was expendable—he just didn’t care as long as he got to make “art” while he was alive and free. As he remained silent, wondering why he was still alive, their leader continued on.

“Let me tell you this,” A greyed finger came out of the cloak, “It was easier to list the parts of you that weren’t broken. More than half your bones were fractured at the very least, punctured lungs, shattered jaw, one eye blinded, organ damage, signs of organ failure... Needless to say, had I not learned healing magic prior to being incarcerated, there would have been nothing I could have done…”

“Why…” Slayer said, not understanding, “Why did you bother saving me?”

“I didn’t expect you to perform so well,” said their leader simply.

Slayer didn’t say anything, merely processing what he was being told.

“I have said this before, and I’ll say it once more: You are all but pawns in my quest for entertainment,” The figure leaned in closer, close enough that Slayer could see a grin under the hood, “And after what you had done, I will say this…”

She stood up straight, spreading her arms out as several panels appeared behind, “I was thoroughly entertained.”

Slayer looked up, realizing each of the panels contained still images, each displaying the events of the battle he’d just suffered.

“From the moment I had made contact with them, I could already see the wedge beginning to form between them. But that was nothing compared to what you did,” One of the images enlarged, revealing a video feed. It was Corey, his eyes distant, hunched over on a medical bed, “Though you lost in the end, you still managed to break the spirit of one member of their ranks.”

She laughed sinisterly. Slayer supposed that she was proud, but he didn’t care. He glared at the video feed, at the one pony who did this to him.

“I can see it in your eyes…You want revenge. You want to make him hurt more, don’t you?”

Slayer didn’t answer, but he didn’t have to either.

“Then all you need to do now is rest. It will take some time for your wounds to heal. But soon your time will come to entertain me again…” their leader said, before turning away and leaving Slayer to heal.

After leaving him to his healing, the figure exited the room and made way for another—her throne room. She ascended the steps to her throne, and no sooner did she sit down that a large screen popped up in front of her. It was a live video feed.

“Well now…it seems the penalty match is nearing its end,” she said, leaning back on the throne, “Pity, she put up such a good fight.”

Author's Note

Yep, another update. I'm back to school tommorrow and stuff. Yeah. So...enjoy the update, and don't worry. We'll be on what happened back in Ponyville soon (story-wise). Just have a couple of plot threads to address here.

Act 3 Chapter 21

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 21: The Book’s Secret

It was positively baffling. No matter how many times they tried to think about it, it all kept coming back to Fluttershy’s story. And here the name of the boss was, as one of the book’s apparent owners before the society it belonged to vanished. Twilight and Corey sat in silence, the book still on the page with the name on it.

“Para Norma…” Twilight said, repeating the name several times more in her head, “It…it can’t be. It’s got to be just a coincidence.”

“Maybe,” Corey said, “But I’m not so sure about that kind of stuff anymore. After all, it wasn’t a coincidence that they all broke out after me and John came in…whoever this ‘Norma’ is, ‘Para’ or not, said it themselves.”

“It’s…” Twilight said. At that moment, she halted, going back in time through her memory. What was said during that revelation came flooding back to her.

“… I was a prisoner being held in Tartarus, as well. I was placed in a form of dimensional stasis; my imprisonment was intended to be eternal…”

“It’s…” Corey repeated.

“…It’s not that…unlikely,” Twilight said finally, a hand going to her chin, “If the two are the same pony, that’d mean Norma was thousands of years old, which is plausible given what the leader told us.”

The two looked back to the book. What they’d seen in the book’s owners list seemed to back up Twilight’s new theory.

“And this ‘Para Norma’ was the last to own the book,” Twilight continued, “Or at least, they were the last name in the list of students…”

“There’s something fishy about all this,” Corey leaned back in the chair, letting out a sigh.

“Yes,” Twilight said, “But I think I know what my first step is. Maybe Princess Celestia knows something…”

As a piece of parchment slowly began to float over to her, followed shortly by several other items, Twilight began to compose her letter. Corey, meanwhile, turned back to the book. He probably wasn’t going to be known for thinking things through, but looking at everything around him now—the name in the book, the fact the leader “Norma” was sealed for a very long time before all this, the fact that runic magic disappeared long ago… maybe it all meant something.

Could it all be connected? thought Corey, looking over to Twilight scribbling away at the parchment, pausing only to think of what to say next, What do you think, Twilight?

Ever since they had first come together, saving the world from eternal night, the friends who made up the Elements of Harmony fell into a different routine in their lives. After that night, whenever a threat would rear its ugly head, they would band together and defeat it. After the dust had settled, they’d resume their lives as though nothing had happened. This occurred so often, it started to feel like they were stopping some crazy thing at least once a week. In time, it became second nature to them.

Recent events, however, had thrown that cycle for a loop. The stakes seemed far higher than anything they’d faced before, just as Princess Celestia had warned them at the outset. Currently, three prisoners of Tartarus had made themselves known. All three had been defeated, but one managed to escape. The other two had died the moment their leader, the one pulling all the strings, decided they were no longer needed. It appeared that no matter what they did, death was certain, and there would only be more of it in the future.

And because of this, even now that there was a moment of peace in Ponyville, no one could bring themselves to enjoy it. They knew it wouldn’t last, and they knew it would happen when they least expected it. And so, as the seconds ticked towards the next attack, there was only one thing they could bring themselves to do.

Prepare.

Sugarcube Corner had always been the local hotpot for ponies to gather and chat while enjoying some tasty treats. At this time of day, the bakery would usually be lively and buzzing with business. Now, they were lucky to see a customer once every few hours. With everything that had happened, ponies were now afraid to leave their own homes, only leaving if they had to. And unfortunately, sedating their sweet tooth didn’t fall under “must leave home”. But even if the ovens weren’t on, that didn’t mean that the local party pony didn’t have something cooking.

Down in the basement, Pinkie was hard at work, a table filled with several pieces for her latest creations. In her hands was a black box. On it was a speaker and to the side a large button. On the very top of it was a metal antenna that stuck out of it. As she looked at the box she had a hopeful look in her eyes, her fingers crossed.

“Please work…” she said, pushing the button on the side, causing a short burst of static to come out. Moving it closer to her head, Pinkie took in a small breath, and spoke, “Testing.”

Almost immediately, another sound was heard.

“Testing.”

A large smile appeared on Pinkie’s face as she turned to the other side of the room, towards a stool where an exact replica of the box she was holding stood. Again, she pressed the button and let out a small squeal of victory, just so she could hear herself once again. She then quickly moved toward the other box and held both close to her chest.

“They work,” she said happily, “They finally work!”

Several failed attempts had finally lead to a success. In silence now, she looked down at her new creations. The idea came to her during their time in the Crystal Empire, and had been solidified once she’d heard Fluttershy’s story. There were far too many times where they were separated, unable to get into contact with one another. Their only means of instant contact was Spike, and even then it was a direct line to the Princess, not each other. But with these, that limitation was no longer an issue.

All thanks to these, Pinkie thought with a warm smile, These talky-boxes…which are big. And easy to see. And…kind of…heavy…

The more Pinkie stared at them, the more flaws she saw in them. Slowly, but surely, her smile began to fade away. With a heavy sigh, she put them down and turned away from them.

“Back to the drawing board…”

Rarity had always been one to keep herself busy with her business, either preparing dresses for her various clients, or working hard to create the next big thing in the fashion world. Today, there were no commissions, and she had no desire to create anything new. Right now, there was only one thing that was on her mind.

While she was away, Sweetie Belle had been in grave danger. Rarity was also haunted by the thought of what could have happened had Fluttershy not been around to save her. As of now, Sweetie Belle was back to living with their parents, something that they’d all agreed was safer for her.

Still, she couldn’t rest. Not only her sister, but all of her loved ones were in danger the longer this game went on. She may have proven that she can handle herself. She may have been capable of helping now more than ever. But to her, it just wasn’t enough. And it would never be enough until all of this was over. Though her magic had certainly improved, there was something else she was still lacking in. She planned to fix that, starting today.

A knock on her door drew Rarity’s attention. Without even looking at it, she had a good idea who it might be. Making her way to the front entrance, Rarity answered and saw the very pony she was waiting for.

“Hello, Applejack,” said Rarity as she stepped outside, “Thank you for agreeing to this.”

“With what we’re up against, I’d have offered sooner or later,” said Applejack. If one had asked Rarity who she believed was the strongest mare she’d ever met, the answer would come to nopony’s surprise. It was because of that very fact that rarity asked for the aid of that mare herself. Even if her magic had gotten better she knew that there might be a time where she’d have to rely on her own body. She had her doubts on how she’d fare when that time would come.

“This ain’t gonna be easy, and it will be messy,” said Applejack, “You prepared for that?” Even as the question left her mouth Rarity was already tying her hair into a bun. From the very start she’d known what to expect the moment she asked for help, and she wasn’t going to back down now.

“I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Applejack smiled proudly at her friend’s resolve. Beckoning her to follow, the two began to run.

She’d lived a life of comfort, doing everything she could to avoid conflict whenever possible. She’d preferred to help others, to heal, rather than do anything that could do harm to another. Because of this she was always known as the passive on: gentle, kind, a pony everyone could get along with. In a perfect world, this would be ideal, something that could ensure a pony lived a long, normal and happy life with friends. However, this world wasn’t perfect, and Fluttershy’s life wasn’t normal.

Though she’d continued to be who she was after becoming an element of Harmony, always the fearful one, but also filled with kindness. She always relied on her friends for strength during the darker times. But she’d learned just how weak she was because of it, and came to understand why that needed to change.

Which is why she was now standing on a cloud high in the sky, her hands to her knees as she panted heavily, dripping with sweat. Furthermore, she was not alone. In front of her stood Rainbow with her arms crossed, waiting.

“One more minute,” Rainbow informed her. That was how long she had left to rest. Fluttershy may not have asked for it, but the moment Rainbow decided that she would kick her into shape, Fluttershy did not hesitate to agree. Though she would never admit it, Fluttershy’s story shook her core more than it showed. In her eyes, Fluttershy was never really a fighter, and never believed that she’d need to be. But now they were left with no other options, everyone would have to fight in this game whether they liked it or not.

“Alright, break’s over,” said Rainbow shifting into a stance, “Just like before, give me everything you’ve got.”

Fluttershy took one final breath before standing up straight, getting into a ready stance herself. Within a few seconds she charged at Rainbow once more, throwing punch after punch when she was within range. Unsurprisingly, Rainbow had a speed advantage between the two, parrying every attempt Fluttershy made at her.

In truth, Fluttershy had little to no skill in combat. Her other side appeared to have a fair amount, however. Had her aggressive side been the one in control during this spar, the gap between the two may have been a lot smaller. But Fluttershy had her reasons for not resorting to it; the first was her desire not to turn her other side on her friends. The second was due to her own pride; she knew that if push came to shove in the next attack, her other side would have to take control. And if she did, Fluttershy wanted her to be in control of a body that was better equipped for the physical demand of what might come.

“C’mon, faster!” Rainbow demanded as she pushed forward, causing Fluttershy to step back. Fluttershy did just as she was told, willing her body to move faster than it was, beginning to feel the strain due to the still unhealed injuries. But still she pushed forward, ignoring her own limits as much as she could. Finally, though, her efforts Fluttershy managed something; finding a brief opening she took it and landed a solid punch to Rainbow’s side. Normally she wouldn’t be proud of hitting her friends, but given the circumstance she couldn’t help it. All her effort that day had finally paid off, and she managed to enjoy it…for about two seconds.

“Wha--!” Fluttershy yelped as she suddenly found herself being tossed over Rainbow’s shoulder and on her back. Lucky for her the clouds cushioned the fall, leaving nothing more than a minor irritation on her back from the impact.

“Huh, you hit harder than I thought,” Rainbow said with a smile, rubbing the slightly red mark on her cheek, “I think we can call it quits for today.”

Rainbow sat down next to her. Fluttershy was going to argue that she could still keep going, only to find that she could no longer bring her body to move.

“I can’t believe you do this to yourself on a regular basis,” said Fluttershy, enticing a chuckle from Rainbow.

“Yeah, it can be rough, but when you start to notice the results, you’ll see it’s worth it.”

Deep within unfamiliar territory, the skies blackened as a storm raged on. The torrential rain threatened to cause floods, the strong winds warned of tornados. The only source of light to be seen was from the strikes of lightning all around, and the hellfire before him. Within the undying flames stood a dragon of colossal proportions, his wings outstretched and piercing the skies. Any being to witness such a beast would surely crumble in fear. But there was one who stood before it with unflinching eyes.

“Who dares enter my domain?” the dragon’s voice boomed with tremendous force, causing the earth beneath their feet to quake. But even as the ground trembled beneath his feet, the intruder remained still, a smirk spreading across his face. Looking up into the purple abyss of the large dragon’s eyes, he pointed at his own chest and said:

“I am the one who traveled between worlds, the one who rose to the occasion against every foe,” As he spoke, he would take steps closer towards the massive dragon, no hesitation in any of his steps, “Through everything I’ve overcome I have grown strong… stronger than all my opponents, and stronger than you!” Finally stopping, he threw out his arm and pointed at the dragon, his form revealed as lightning struck near him.

“I am John, the dragon of legends!”

The other dragon let out a terrifying roar which shredded the ground beneath John’s feet, but he didn’t falter. Taking off into the sky, John soared as a record breaking speed towards his opponent.

“You shall become ash at my feet!” the dragon proclaimed as he let out a ball of purple flames. But John would not back down; instead, he charged straight towards the flames, cutting straight through it like a knife through butter. He would overcome this flame and his opponent, and nothing would stop him.

As he breached through the flame whose heat surpassed the very sun itself, he was met with the giant, insurmountable mass of…butterflies.

“Huh…?” John stopped midflight, confused as the butterflies flew around him. That wasn’t the only thing that was different. The sky had cleared, the battle-worn ground was now green, replaced by a lush forest. With a blank expression, John descended towards the ground, standing there for several seconds of confusion. Until finally the gears in his head clicked, and he facepalmed.

“Not funny!” he said, slightly annoyed. His words were soon met with a light-hearted chuckle as the air before him opened up and someone stepped through. The one who was behind this was no surprise to him as he now stood before Co-ruler of Equestria and temporary mentor, Princess Luna.

“You know,” she said, taking a seat on a large moss-covered rock, “Some ponies would think of such a situation to be a nightmare.”

“Yeah, well,” said John, “Dreams are about perception… you taught me that, if memory serves…” He was currently pouting that his rather action-packed dream was interrupted.

“I’ll gladly restart your dream,” Suddenly, Luna’s laid-back disposition changed to a serious one, “But first I have something to tell you.” John read the situation quickly, and readied himself for what she had to say.

“Recently I have begun to sense a disturbance, a small shift in magic that should not exist without my knowledge,” she said, “However, I cannot pinpoint where it began, or what might be the cause.” The uncertainty of this was clear on Luna’s face; she knew something was happening, but didn’t know what, and it frustrated her.

“Could they be making their next move?”

“It’s possible,” Luna rose from her seat and took several steps towards John, “My sister has kept me informed of what has occurred. The battles are growing fiercer, your enemy growing bolder. As of now there is no telling what they may do, or who may suffer. Are you prepared for what may come?”

Luna looked directly into John’s eyes. John didn’t blink, meeting Luna’s gaze.

“When we first met you asked me the same question, so my answer will also be the same. As long as I have the strength to stand, I will never back down. I will protect my friends, no matter what.” Luna smiled at John’s response, patting him on the head.

“You are as noble as they come,” she said, her palm and horn glowing as she activated her magic, “No wonder she dreams of you.”

With a flash of light, the world faded away, and John found himself catapulted back to the land of the awake.

The waterfall had once been a place of training for John. Now, it served as a place for him to find some peace. But his time of sleep finally ended when Luna left his dream. He was now wide awake. John stretched his body as he rose from the ground, his conversation with Luna still fresh in his head.

If that disturbance really is them, then we might be able to turn the tides here, John then took off into the sky, heading towards Ponyville. If this disturbance was a sign for an impending attack, then maybe this time they could finally be prepared.

“No matter who it is, we’ll be ready, and we will-“ John paused in this sentence, his eyes opening wide in shock and confusion as the last bit of his conversation with Luna returned to him.

…She!?

Dear Princess Twilight,

As always, your diligence in study can bring the greatest of information to light. As you know, since the breakout occurred I have tasked myself with identifying the missing prisoners from Tartarus. Most of the captive criminals in there I have helped place there myself, insuring they would never harm anyone again. Yet, still I have no memory of anypony by the name you have discovered. However, somewhere in the back of my mind, I cannot shake the feeling that I have heard the name before.

As though somewhere, somehow, the name had briefly reached my ears, only to be soon forgotten. Rest assured, I will dabble as deep into this as I possibly can get. Tartarus is a vast prison, one that has existed even before my own reign on Equestria. If this Norma has ever been imprisoned there, I will be sure to find out.

Signed,

Princess Celestia

Author's Note

As my Christmas gift to you, my loyal readers, have an early update. In fact, Sunday, I'll update again, followed by next Wednesday, then Sunday one more time. Chapters in backlog and stuff. After that, we return to the regular update schedule-once every two weeks. That may change in the near future, depending on how things go on my end. Until then, stay tuned.

Act 3 Chapter 31

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 31: Double Dream Battle

John had only been gone for a few seconds now. Rarity and the Kurama of this dream had yet to move from their spots.

“Now that he’s out of the way, tell me,” Kurama said, “What hope do you believe to have?” He took a few, slow steps forward. Rarity, however, stayed where she was, tapping her chin as though she was carefully contemplating Kurama’s question.

“I’d have wondered that myself had this been happening in the real world,” she said, “Of course, my magic is stronger than it has been for most of my life. But you just seemed to blow that away in only a few days,” It was odd. She spoke in a casual tone. Kurama thought she’d definitely be more concerned.

“You are aware that your friend made the wrong choice, aren’t you?” At that moment, the smile on Rarity’s face faded, but not from fear. She looked towards Kurama, every part of her expression saying that she was ready to fight.

“Fully,” The ground from behind Rarity exploded as something began to rise up from under it. Within a few seconds, it was not only revealed to be another home, it was also her own home and boutique. The doors opened, and several of her mannequins quickly bolted out and towards Kurama. Though there were many, Kurama’s tails made short work of the ones that grew too close.

But as Kurama was occupied with them, he hadn’t noticed something else floating out of Rarity’s boutique: a small box lined with diamonds. It levitated towards her hand. By the time Kurama was done with the mannequins, Rarity had opened the box.

“I must say, your efforts are quite subpar compared to the others,” Kurama mocked, but Rarity seemed to ignore him.

“You know, I’ve been a fashion designer for years now, having made a wide variety of dresses and the like for hundreds of ponies. But while I strive to make some of the most fabulous of designs, there are times where I’ll have some fun and make something else,” Kurama arched a brow at Rarity.

“What are you talking about?”

“Costumes, dear, or ‘cosplay’, as the youth prefer to call it. I get many commissions for various conventions throughout the year,” Rarity reached into the box she was holding and began to pull out its contents, “They are all so colorful and creative that I simply can’t refuse the offer to recreate an exact copy of it for one to wear. To do that, I have had to read through the sources so I could get every last detail right. But of all that I’ve researched, there was one that I found myself drawn to, a guilty pleasure, if you will.”

Rarity allowed the box to drop to the ground, now wearing two bracelets that seemed to be made of several sapphires.

“I went as far to read her comics and learn every detail of her I could,” The bracelets started to glow bright blue, a magical glow of the same color beginning to surround Rarity’s body, “I daresay that this character suits me perfectly.”

The glow finally faded, revealing a change of her clothes. She was now wearing dark blue spandex with several diamonds like her cutie mark throughout the design. Around her neck was a necklace with a larger sapphire within it. She raised her hand and placed it over hear face, and a mask appeared over her face, completing the outfit. Finally, a sapphire glow emanated from around her body, and she rose from the ground.

“Radiant, isn’t it?”

Stupid! How could I have been so stupid!?

John had continued to ask himself this from the moment he learned that he had been tricked. Now, he stood in the middle of the rocky terrain, being stared down upon by the creature in front of him. He guessed that it was probably forged from a pony’s dream, and was fueled by Kurama’s magic. There was no mistake about the second thing, at least; he could feel the dark magic oozing from its core.

Every part of him wanted nothing more than to turn back to Rarity and help her, but he couldn’t let this thing run loose and possibly get to other dreams. Though in reality, he didn’t have a choice in the matter. The creature raised its blade not long after it finished its sole sentence and brought it down with great strength. John flew out of the way of the blade, allowing it to cut into the earth where he once stood.

Before the blade could be lifted, John flew straight for the monster’s heads, bringing one fist back. He struck one hard enough to cause it to flinch back, but it didn’t move far and was almost instantly ready to counter. One of its four hands came around, smacking John out of the air like a fly. John crashed into one of the rocky spires, causing it to topple over. John grunted from the impact and shook his head. This monster could hit hard…

“But so can I!” John launched off the spire hard enough to cause the rest of it to topple over from the force. The monster swung its blade again, but John had managed to avoid this one too and prepare for the follow-up. One of the creature’s hands had come not long after John pulled back his arm and he met the monster’s fist with his own. The force of the impact caused both of them to recoil. Unfortunately for John, however, he wasn’t able to react fast enough and could do nothing but watch as the monster’s tail was brought down over him.

The ground cracked from the force of the impact, giving way to a larger crater. When the ground settled, the monster waited, looking for any sign of movement. When none came, the monster’s heads gave out a unified laugh. It then began to retract its tail, only to notice that something was keeping it from moving.

Its tail then began to rise up, something under it lifting it from the ground. Before the monster could even question what was happening it found itself being pulled against its will. Its body was lifted off the ground and tossed, causing it to fly and crash through several spires. It finally came to a stop, the force enough to make him drop its sword.

From the crater the monster had created, John shot out, flying up into the sky once again. Looking down at the still-recovering creature, John dive bombed as quickly as he could, falling like a comet. Finally, he made impact with the creature hard enough to cause yet another crater, but he wasn’t done there. One strike after another, John began whacking at it, each punch causing its body to recoil. He knew he had to finish this creature; he had no time to waste here. However, the monster he was fighting wasn’t showing any signs of giving up any time soon.

Between the impacts, it managed to retaliate, one of its hands grabbing on to John and restricting his movements. The monster then recovered, standing straight up on its tail, all of its eyes looking down on the dragon. John had a pretty good idea of what the monster had in mind, but he wasn’t about to let that happen. John opened his mouth and let out a powerful blast of fire which not only blinded the monster, but set it on fire. The monster belted out a roar as it let go of John and tried to put out the flames on its body.

Before it could, though, John was capable of delivering an uppercut that sent the beast backwards. As it fell back, it managed to swing its tail to send John back as well, both crashing near simultaneously. While both went down, though, neither was willing to stay down for very long. The fire around the monster had gone out due to the rubble from its crash. Getting back up, it recovered its sword once again and waited for the oncoming dragon.

He was proving stronger than John had expected. He knew this was going to take a while longer than he would have liked, but he wasn’t going to slow down. He was going to keep fighting and finish this monster off.

Just hold on a little longer, Rarity…

To say that Rarity had surprised Kurama would be an understatement. He had faced ponies and the like who had used the same strategy she was deploying now. There was something different about hers, however; even for a dream she was proving much more capable than he would have expected. From what he could piece together, the character Rarity was playing as had the ability to make magical constructs at will. Right now, Rarity seemed content in spawning several large sewing needles and launching them at him.

With each that flew, Kurama had to dodge, the needles piercing through the ground with little to no trouble. All the while, Rarity remained floating in the air, carefully watching Kurama’s movements. As time went on, Kurama grew weary of the constant dodging, refusing to be pushed back by her any longer. Raising his tails, Kurama whipped around and managed to strike one of the oncoming needles. But that wasn’t the only one, with every new needle that Rarity forged Kurama would deflect it in the same manner. No longer needing to dodge, Kurama began to walk toward Rarity at a slow pace. Knowing her tactics were no longer working, Rarity ceased her attack.

“Is that all?” Kurama asked with a head tilt, almost disappointed in the efforts she had displayed. Rarity seemed to share in this expression as well, but that soon turned into a smirk. Extending her arms, Rarity’s hands began to glow brighter. Kurama wondered just what could come next, only to feel something wrap around his ankle. But this wasn’t the only one; several other string-like objects ejected from the ground and began to wrap around various parts of his body. At first, he wondered just how she’d managed to make something from under him, but soon he realized how.

“The needles…?” He thought that they had vanished the moment they’d pierced the ground, but he was wrong. Rarity had intended to reuse them from the start. The strands began to pull on Kurama’s body, causing him to sink into the ground. The more he struggled, the more strands wrapped around him. All of them continued to pull down on him until his whole body was submerged into the earth. Several tense seconds passed after that with Rarity waiting to see if anything would happen. When all stayed quiet, though, she let out a sigh.

“Well now,” she said, “That should hold you until—“ Her sentence broke as the ground holding Kurama suddenly erupted. Rarity put up a shield to block the smoldering rocks and the intense heat coming from the crater. Kurama walked out of the carnage, his body wreathed in flames.

“I must say, you’ve managed to put up one of the best fights so far,” As he spoke, the fire around Kurama grew stronger, and to Rarity’s surprise, one more tail began to sprout, joining the other three, “Allow me to return the favor.”

Rarity gave a small gulp. She knew, though, that she’d be lying if she really thought it would be that easy. She’d hoped that being positive about the outcome of this fight would be all she’d needed. She’d also seen time and again, with all that had happened, that it would take for more than that.

Kurama’s tails shot towards Rarity at a great speed, magic engulfing all four of them. Rarity wasn’t going to back down; she extended her hands once again and formed four magical hands and sent them to meet the oncoming tails. All eight made contact with one another, struggling to push forward to their respective targets. Rarity grunted under the pressure, but she wasn’t going to let herself be pushed back now. From two of the hands currently held in place, another two extended out, flying at Kurama.

Kurama managed to avoid one, but due to his tails being held, he couldn’t dodge the other which struck him square in the chest. Kurama scowled from being struck again, his tails beginning to vibrate. They then began to spin quickly, drilling through the hands holding them and causing them to shatter. The tails then continued on their path towards Rarity, but she was ready for them. Placing her hands on the floor, Rarity’s gems created several walls between her and the oncoming tails. With each wall they struck, they managed to pierce right through them, but as they went on they began to slow down. It wasn’t until they’d struck the final wall that they finally came to a stop, only succeeding in cracking it.

Quickly, Rarity closed her hands, causing the wall to wrap itself around Kurama’s tails. The wall then turned into a clamp which tightened itself around the tails. For good measure, Rarity had the clamp bolted to the ground to ensure that they wouldn’t move. Now that she had them taken care of, Rarity flew towards Kurama. As she flew, she pulled a fist back, lowered to next to her hip. As her bracelets began to glow, a torso holding the same pose appearing in front of her. When she was in range, her construct launched its fist in an upward swing, striking Kurama and sending him upwards. At the same time, Rarity released her hold of Kurama’s tails and allowed him to fly up into the sky. Rarity held her hand over her head as she watched Kurama soar higher and higher, completely satisfied with what she’d done.

That feeling soon vanished when she noticed several glowing orbs forming in the sky. She wasn’t sure what they were, but there were many, and their numbers were growing. When she noticed them growing larger, she realized they were falling, and she needed to move. Not stopping for a moment, Rarity began to avoid the falling balls of fire. Each exploded on contact with the ground; there was no way she could afford to be struck by one. But she also couldn’t just avoid them forever.

Rarity’s flight changed direction. This time, she began to ascend higher to the sky, avoiding oncoming fireballs. As she got higher she started to make out Kurama as he continued to conjure his assault. Now able to see her target, she formed several sapphires around her and launched them forward towards him. Some came into contact with falling balls of fire, but there were others capable of going unobstructed. Kurama halted in his magic cast and evaded the oncoming sapphires, some of which didn’t come anywhere close to him.

“Your aim is slipping,” he commented, already in the process of making a counterattack.

“Are you sure about that?” Rarity asked with one finger pointed out. Kurama slowly turned his head in the direction she was indicated, and he saw it. The sapphires he had avoided hadn’t kept going. Instead, they had stopped in an area around him. As he looked around, he saw that they had surrounded him completely. Rarity extended her hands outwards, causing the sapphires to glow brightly, and when she clapped her hands together, they all moved as one. In a fraction of a second, all converged to a single point right where Kurama was floating, resulting in an explosion of radiant light.

As she continued to float there waiting, Rarity finally took note of herself. Though it was a dream, she found herself panting heavily. It was strange. She had dreams before but none of them had left her feeling this worn out.

Is it… because of him? She recalled the story Fluttershy’s other side told her. Kurama’s presence in another dream seemed to have some adverse effects on his targets. Was it possible that ever though it wasn’t her physical body, she was still capable of exhausting herself?

“Seems you’re running out of steam…” Rarity gave a fearful pause as she looked up at the clearing light. At the center of it all, Kurama still stood tall, his body enclosed in what looked like a force field, “I’ll give you credit. You managed to entertain me greatly this day. But I believe it’s time we put this to rest.”

In a flash, Kurama flew towards Rarity. She only had seconds to prepare this time. Concentrating as hard as she could, Rarity formed a sapphire around her as a shield with only moments to spare. One of Kurama’s tails struck it with great force, enough to send her flying back down. Though she’d managed to block the attack, Rarity still felt the ripple from the impact. And she found herself incapable of stopping her fall. All she could do was brace herself for when she finally hit the ground. The rubble shot up high into the sky, causing a sizable dust cloud. Under it all was Rarity, the sapphire that had protected her having cracked beyond belief, the mare gasping in paint from the hard impact. The construct faded away as Rarity laid there. It was hard to explain. Her body wouldn’t respond. Her mind spun endlessly.

Am… am I feeling pain… in a dream?

She didn’t have time to contemplate this, because as she looked up she saw that Kurama wasn’t finished with her yet. Mustering as much willpower as she could, Rarity managed to fly out of the ground and away from Kurama’s path just as he struck the spot she was at. She managed to get back to her feet and extend her hands to prepare yet another construct. The moment she did, though, she found that Kurama was already a step ahead of her. Two of his tails shot out towards her and wrapped themselves around her wrists. She tried to use her bracelets’ powers, but nothing seemed to happen. She tried to pull herself free, but her strength had suddenly left her.

“It’s over,” the tails holding Rarity began o glow, and in an instant she heard a loud crunch; her bracelets had been destroyed. She let out a sharp grunt of pain, her outfit regressing back to what she had been wearing before. With that, the last of her strength left her, and she dropped to her knees. All she could do was watch weakly as Kurama slowly stepped towards her, his hand held out. She knew what was going to happen, and knew that there was no stopping this. Yet still, somehow, she managed a smile.

“Do you find comfort in your demise?” Kurama asked.

“No, nothing of the sort,” she said, “I just feel at ease… thinking of what’ll await you when he finds out what you did.”

What happened next, Rarity would count as a small victory. For a brief moment, Kurama came to a full halt.

“You may know how to use ponies’ fears against them, but I think I know who you’re afraid of.”

Kurama stayed frozen for several more seconds before he finally grabbed hold of Rarity’s head. Without hesitating, his hand began to glow with his dark magic and Rarity felt herself being pulled in.

“We’ll see…”

Most of the battleground had been leveled, the ground filled with craters from constant impacts. The surrounding rocks had been smashed to pebbles, and the sky was filled with heavy rain. In the center of it all was the creature, or at least, what was left of it. It lay on the ground, motionless, its tail severed, and a broken off piece of its blade drove deep into its body. A black ooze and a purple haze came out of the wound. Floating several feet above it was the dragon who had done this to it.

John stared down at the creature for over a minute now, wondering if this time it’d finally stay down. After a while longer, something did start to happen, and he prepared himself to continue, but there was no need. The monster’s form began to shift as more haze came out, its body shrinking in size by the second. Its body started to disintegrate, bits and pieces evaporating right off it. It wasn’t long before the rest of it couldn’t hold its form, and the monster exploded into ashes.

He may have taken a few more seconds to wait, but when nothing more happened, John managed a sigh of relief. It was over. It may have taken more than he thought it would, but he had finished it.

No time! Gotta get back there…! John’s eyes glowed again as he landed and began opening a return portal. The fact it could still open was a good sign to him, but as soon as he started moving towards it, he noticed it was starting to change.

“What?” The portal began to change to a sickly purple, and he started to feel that chill coming out of it. The portal grew unstable until it couldn’t hold its form any longer. It shattered like a pane of glass, and as soon as it did, John felt a stab of realization cut deep into his soul.

Rarity… There was no point trying to go back now. He knew he couldn’t. His eyes glowed again, and this time, his body faded from the dream.

John knew exactly what was awaiting him in the waking world, but he still couldn’t prepare himself for it. His body returned to the real world, and his eyes began to lose their glow; his ears began to return to their hearing. The screams of terror, of anguish, and he knew exactly who they were coming from.

“No, no, not you too!?”

John could see Twilight and the others trying to wake her, though they all knew it wasn’t going to work. With all their attention towards her, they had yet to notice John was back. For a while, John said nothing, unable to look away from Rarity as she screamed, flailing on the floor.

This time, it wasn’t like with Corey, where he was just too late to stop it. This time, he’d brought someone with him into the danger, and could have prevented it. He was given a choice, and didn’t know he’d made the wrong one until it was too late. And it wasn’t him that had to suffer the consequences, but Rarity.

And it’s all my fault…

Author's Note

I'm not quite sure what else to say here.

Act 3 Chapter 36

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 36: Crushing Situation

“Heart rate, seventy beats per minute. Body temperature, ninety-three degrees Fahrenheit.”

Concern filled Twilight’s eyes as she checked Corey’s vitals. His temperature was dropping, and his heart rate was even slowly than that of an elderly pony. His breathing was more strained as well; he sounded as though he were suffocating. Watching his strength slowly deteriorate was heartbreaking to see, but it wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part of all was that she couldn’t do anything to reverse it.

She’d tried spells, medicine, praying, just about anything a pony could do in hopes of saving another. Nothing helped, nothing had an effect on him, not while he was still under the influence of Kurama’s curse.

“Dammit…” Twilight quietly swore, angered by her own inability. To her, there shouldn’t be a problem. She was someone who’d read more books than anyone else. She was someone who had accomplished things older, more experienced ponies couldn’t hold a candle to. She was a former student to Princess Celestia, and now she herself was a princess.

I should be able to fix this. I should be able to fix anything! She thought to herself, shaking her head furiously. But she couldn’t. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was sure she already knew it all along. It was hard to admit, though, that you couldn’t help someone, and hard to watch something happen that you can’t stop. All she could do was stay there, crouched beside him, watching his health slowly fail. With tears welled up in her eyes, Twilight reached out to Corey, grabbing both of his hands.

On contact, she could feel their chill. Nothing she did could help bring back their warmth, but she didn’t care. Even if he’d never know, she just wanted to hold him. It was the only support she could offer at this moment, the only comfort she could try to bring him. And yet, she could only feel that she was wasting her effort. If he was unreachable in the dream realm, she knew she probably wasn’t reaching him in the real world either.

“Just hang on a little longer,” she said, trying her hardest to sound confident, “We’ll stop Kurama. I promise…”

Despite her wanting to believe that everything would be fine, there was always that one lingering thought. The escaped prisoners had managed to take lives in the past. They were getting more vicious with each one they faced. The possibility of something being killed was becoming dangerously high now. With Corey being Kurama’s first victim, his time was almost up.

But it wasn’t just the fear of not being able to make it in time that she feared. It was Corey being taken from her before he could find any closure in his life. Before Kurama’s attack, he was still recovering from his battle with Slayer. His soul was still fractured by what he had done, and he was too scared of himself for what he could have done to even use magic. She had tried to help him, help him finally come to terms with what had happened and maybe even move on. But she never got the chance to get him there.

Right when she was finally starting to make progress, when she felt she could bring Corey back to his old self, Kurama grabbed him. Whatever progress she had made was suddenly gone, and she knew that these nightmares were only making it worse now.

And that’s what I fear most, She’d only felt a fraction of his fear in the past, but there was no doubt in her mind what he was going through. He was going to sink back into the void of his own despair, continue to suffer for something he had only just learned he didn’t have total control over. And if they couldn’t save him in time, he would die, cold, scared and alone. The mere thought was enough to make her spine shiver. She didn’t want to think about it. She wanted to believe that they could save him in time.

Just push it out, Twilight, push it out, she said, rubbing her temples, forcing herself to put away any negative thoughts. For a moment, it seemed to work. Indeed, the negative thoughts stopped playing with her mind, and for a moment everything was quiet.

Too quiet.

“No…” she opened her eyes. This silence was too great for her to have done it out of sheer will alone. It was then that she noticed it. The room itself had gone silent. Never in her life had she wished to hear the screams of her friends.

“Rarity!” Releasing Corey’s hand, Twilight ran to the other side of the room. There she saw Rarity, whose screams and thrashing about had come to a stop. Just as she did before, Twilight kneeled down beside Rarity and quickly checked her friend’s vitals. Upon touching her Twilight could already notice the chill of her skin. But that wasn’t all. Her pulse was already weakening as well. It wasn’t as weak as Corey’s just yet, but it was still a disheartening feel.

“No, no, it’s too soon!” Twilight said, pulling at her hair. Rarity had been taken a day later. She shouldn’t be in the same state as Corey, right? Yet still, she could see it: it was happening, and she had no idea why.

“Is it Kurama? Is he accelerating the nightmares?” She began to pace the room as she thought, the silence making it easier to hear them. Not that there was any variety in them at the moment.

“He shouldn’t be able to do that with the inhibitor on him, right?” she began to question herself. Was it possible that he’d just gained enough magic that even with the inhibitor he was still able to do so much with it? If that was the case, then their advantage would have already been made pointless in less than a day.

“But if he can accelerate the process, then… then…” Twilight’s eyes gazed back to Corey. The mere thought that he might have even less time than anticipated caused her own breathing to quicken. Hyperventilating now, Twilight quickly made her way towards the door of the balcony.

Air, I need air… She thought to herself as she pushed the doors open and walked outside. Quickly, she was hit by the crisp, clean air which seemed to help. But she still couldn’t calm down. Too much was happening now. Too many lives were at risk and that risk had just increased even more. Things were just getting worse, and it seemed that them getting better was an ever-dimming hope now.

Please… please let us make it in time…

Leaning over the railing, Twilight placed a hand over her head, a single tear running down her cheek.

Kurama sightings had increased since the battle at Sweet Apple Acres. It was clear now that he was growing desperate. Fluttershy had eyes everywhere now. He couldn’t trust any animal he could come across. He couldn’t leave town and find a better place to hide because the surrounding forests were being heavily guarded by the creatures who lived in it. Every step he made closer to Ponyville was just a greater risk of being spotted.

In most cases, guards only saw him by chance; he was trying to move out of sight when he got found. This was without a doubt what they wanted. It was clear he was starting to panic for once. He was still elusive, though, still able to avoid the guards and refraining from engaging in battle. Soon enough, the sun was starting to set and any and all sightings came to a stop.

“Dammit…” John cursed as he looked on to Ponyville from above. Though others had managed to see Kurama, he hadn’t, not once. But there was no time to dwell on that, he needed to regroup with the awaiting guards. Quickly he descended back to the ground, meeting them.

“Alright, we all know what’s going to happen now,” he said, “If he’s desperate for power, he’ll probably try to dive back into ponies’ dreams. This might be our last chance. Fan out, search every corner, search every home to be safe, we have to find him, now!”

The soldiers saluted before turning and marching in all directions, leaving John with the burning sensation of understanding that this was the final stretch.

“We’re going to find him,” said Rainbow, floating up beside him, “You know that, right?”

He didn’t answer. Remaining optimistic was proving difficult now. Try as he might, he couldn’t shake the thought of what would happen should he fail now. The mere thought of it was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

Wait a second… A small shiver was one thing, but what John was feeling was more than just goosebumps. In fact, he’d felt it before, but only in…

“Rainbow, we have to get back to the library!” he shouted, turning to her.

“What, what?” she asked.

“He’s already jumped into the dream realm. I need to track him, fast!” Already, he took to the sky, heading to the library, Rainbow close behind.

“But how do you know? I thought you said you could only track him in dreams?” she wondered.

“Something’s different… I can feel it now. It’s weaker, but it’s still there. He must be slipping more than we thought. I’m not letting this slip by. I’m going to find him this time!” Both he and Dash quickly reached the library, John running to the door and wrenching it open.

“He’s on the move!” John shouted, only to stop when he noticed the mood of the room. He saw Twilight sitting on a chair, her head held low, and her friends standing beside her with the same glum expression. A lump formed in John’s throat, and he knew he wouldn’t like the answer to the question that boiled inside his skull.

“What happened?” His voice was hushed, the fear in it clear as day.

“Time’s running out,” was Twilight’s response, nothing John hadn’t known already, but he knew there was more, “Their vitals are dropping faster than they should… they have less time than we thought.” Her voice hitched. She was struggling to keep her breathing calm.

“How long…?” The air fell silent as the tension rose. The weight of everything would be determined by Twilight’s answer. With a sigh, she looked to him with tear stained eyes.

“A few hours at best…” John’s expression did not change. His fists, however, clenched to the point veins could be seen from underneath the scales. He stood there for several seconds until he finally closed his eyes and let out a small, steady breath.

“He’s in the dream realm right now. I can sense him,” John walked to his usual spot, a chair that had remained unmoved since he first made the dive. He stood up straight as he reached it, his eyes locked on to it. He wondered, would this be his final dive, and if not, what would be lost with each dive?

“What’s the plan?”

“Same as always, stop him,” These were the words John said aloud, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard a guttural growl.

“No matter the cost…” At any other time, he would have questioned this, wondering what the words could mean, and why he’d think them. What worried him more, though, was that he didn’t question them, but was willing to agree. Even then, he couldn’t care about it. Closing his eyes, John turned and sat on his seat, taking in a deep breath as he prepared to make what he hoped would be his final dive. But as he opened his eyes, he was met with a surprising sight. Rainbow had placed a hair in front of his, a hand held to him, accompanied with a confident smirk.

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” she asked. John could only stare back at her for several seconds, until it finally clicked. With wide eyes, John was prepared to say something, but Rainbow was way ahead of him.

“Don’t you dare…” Her smirk turned into a scowl as she began to glare at him, “We’ve talked about this already: you’re not alone in this. And last I checked, you can bring someone with you if you want to. So I’m going with you, and the two of us are going to kick this guy’s ass once and for all, got it?” John stared at Rainbow for a little longer, her stern expression making it clear that there was no way to talk her out of it. Yet still he was hesitant, memories of what happened before still fresh in his mind. The fear of it happening all over again was clear on his face.

“Listen to me,” Rainbow placed both hands to the side of John’s head, forcing him to look her directly into her eyes, “Whatever happens is not your fault. This is my decision, one I’ve made several times before I even met you. Don’t tell me if things were reversed that you wouldn’t want to be at my side too.”

John was taken aback. He had no possible counter to that. He knew Rainbow was right. She’d been up against beings more powerful than what he’d faced before. She already knew the dangers and the risks already. And right now, she wanted to help shoulder that with him, and he couldn’t find a way to refuse.

John silently nodded his head. Rainbow released her hold on his head and too her seat. John then extended his hand to hear, which she happily accepted.

“Ready?” he knew he didn’t have to ask, and sure enough Rainbow nodded in agreement. Both John and Rainbow closed their eyes in unison, preparing for the dive. Within seconds, a glow began to emit from their conjoined hands as John’s magic began to activate. Finally, their eyes opened, both glowing the same bright white, signifying they were both now in the dream realm.

Her scooter had always been her means of transportation, her tiny wings providing the acceleration needed for her to move. Through this, she was capable of riding faster than anyone else. But while she loved her scooter, and loved zipping past everything as she rode along the ground, Scootaloo had never before wished so badly that she could just take off and fly. But it wasn’t just that she’d never been able to that fueled this desire. It was that fact that she wasn’t fast enough to escape what was behind her.

“Don’t you ever get tired!?” Behind her was a beast comprised of total blackness, save for its bright yellow eyes. It ran on all fours behind her, as she pushed her small wings and scooter to their limit. Through an endless field, it dodged trees and rocks, never once showing a single sign of slowing down. And while its speed and stamina was a clear problem, Scootaloo soon learned that this was just the start.

With her eyes glued to the path in front of her, making sure not to crash into anything, she hadn’t noticed the shadows around her beginning to shift. From within them, more beasts began to emerge, continuing the chase as they joined the first. Only after Scootaloo noticed the increased stomping noises behind her did she finally turn again to check.

“Oh, come on!” she said, angry at the lack of luck she’d been having so far.

Pushing harder, Scootaloo refused to give in, just like another mare she knew who’d never quit no matter what. In the distance, she finally saw a clearing in the three, hope building that she could go faster without crashing. But that hope was soon dashed when she finally reached the clearing and noticed that the road was coming to a stop. A large ravine cut her off from the rest of the trail. She looked on in horror before turning back again to see the shadow creatures still in pursuit. She couldn’t stop now. There was no telling what would happen if they got her. She’d heard the stories around town already…

“No other choice,” she said, turning back to the oncoming ravine, “I’m gonna jump it!” With one final push, Scootaloo threw herself off the edge of the ravine, her scooter beginning to lift higher as it rolled off of solid earth.

“I’m gonna make it, I’m gonna make it!” she repeated over and over as she began to reach the other side. But halfway through the jump, her climb sopped and she began to fall. Both she and her scooter began to tilt forward as well. She was nowhere close to the other side. As she began to drop past the bridge of the other side, she had no choice but to accept it.

“Not gonna make it!” With that, she went into a free fall, frantically flapping her wings in some hope of saving herself. But while she managed to slow herself slightly, there was nothing she could do. In due time, her wings gave out, and she continued to fall unobstructed towards the bottom. All she could do was scream and wait for her to hit the bottom. And in due time, she did feel like she hit something, but to her surprise, it didn’t hurt.

“I gotcha, squirt!” With a gasp, Scootaloo opened her eyes. She’d recognize that voice anywhere.

“Rainbow Dash!” she called out in glee as she watched her hero fly her to safety. Before long, the two landed on the other side of the ravine, Rainbow finally letting go of Scootaloo so that she could stand on the ground.

“It’s really you, right?” She asked, “Not just some dream?” Rainbow chuckled as she patted Scootaloo on the head.

“No dream here,” she assured, “Only the real deal can pull off a save like that.”

Rainbow turned to the shadow creatures watching them now. “Looks like you’ve been running with a bad crowd, Scoots.”

“They just won’t quit,” Scootaloo yelled, glaring at the creatures, “And I don’t know how to get rid of ‘em!”

“Well, luckily, I brought a friend,” Raising her hand to her mouth, Rainbow placed two fingers into it and let off a loud whistle. On command, something dropped from the sky above, landing on the ground hard enough to send out a shockwave to the surrounding creatures. This was followed by a torrent of fire that engulfed the lot of shadow creatures in a single sweep, leaving behind only the molten ground, and the dragon who had caused it.

“Cool…” Scootaloo said in awe.

“I know, right?” From the other side of the ravine, John took off towards them on theirs.

“He’s here, I can feel it,” he said upon landing, “But finding him might be harder than I’d hoped…”

From the trees on the other side, they could hear more movement. More creatures were coming, and from the sound of it, bigger ones were going to be joining in. As they watched, their yellow eyes glowed in the darkness of the tree lines. Rainbow picked up Scootaloo once more, placing her on her back.

“Hold on tight, Scoots,” she advised, “This is gonna get messy!”

Author's Note

There's a few chapters to go before this arc ends. Not much else to say that I haven't already said before. A special thanks to anyone who stuck with the story this far.

Act 3 Chapter 45

Act III: Collision of Wills

Chapter 45: The War is On

The room fell deathly silent as soon as John stepped forth. Princess Celestia had been surprised to see that he was there, but Norma had been as well. Celestia could only watch as John stared down Norma, his face cold and cynical.

“Look who it is, Ponyville’s latest savior,” Norma was quick to recover from the surprise, “I must congratulate you. Your last minute victory was quite the twist, and here I had thought one of my pawns would have finally proven useful.”

John didn’t respond, still holding the same facial expression.

“But the most surprising part was how it ended,” Norma continued, “To see the life snuffed out of one of my own pieces, and not at my own hands. To see that at least one of you heroes know the value of finishing the job right. Quite refreshing!”

Celestia had heard of what had happened in the battle, and what had happened to Kurama in the end. She’d worried for John, knowing full well that crossing that line could be a powerful trauma for even the strongest of wills. Corey’s had been all but shattered just by standing right on it. She looked at John, expecting some kind of response from him. Perhaps one of anger, or sorrow. But what happened next took her by surprise.

John laughed.

“You find murder amusing, dragon?” Norma asked, visibly shifting her stance for a few moments. There was no doubt in Celestia’s mind John’s response had taken her by surprise.

“Murder? Oh no, not at all,” John said, “What I find funny, is that you think you can guilt me for what I did.”

Norma raised her hand and snapped her fingers, several still images floating around her, each showing John moments after Kurama’s death.

“You say that as though you haven’t already,” she said, “Or are you going to deny the utter look of horror you displayed that day?”

John looked at the images closely, a single brow arched as each revolved around Norma’s hologram.

“You know what, you’re right. Right then, I was a total mess. I’d never killed someone before or saw their blood on my hands. Looking back, it was by far the worst feeling I’ve ever had in my life,” Despite himself, John ended up laughing again. Celestia felt uneasy, wondering what had happened in John’s head, while Norma, for the first time, had gone completely silent.

“But that was then, and this is now. And I can say without a doubt that the life of someone who’d gladly torture dozens of others is not worth losing sleep over. I’d suggest you keep that in mind if we ever meet face to face.”

Norma and John stared each other down, each looking like they were waiting for the other to give an inch. What all this was, Celestia didn’t know, but after a few moments, someone caved. To Celestia’s ultimate surprise, Norma had caved first.

“You said you wished to speak with me, but I doubt it was to simply discuss morals.”

As soon as the words left Norma’s mouth, Celestia could see John’s eye twinkle ever so slightly, as though he had just found the biggest gem he’d ever seen in his life.

“How about we stop wasting time and get to it. After all, I have my next move to plan,” Norma said.

John shrugged and took a single step forward. “Time is exactly what I wanted to talk about,” With that, he took another step forward, “This game has gone on for a while now and we’re close to the end of it. But before we do, on behalf of those still in the game, I’d like to call for a time-out.”

Norma was silent for several seconds, but soon, she began to snicker. A couple more seconds later, she completely broke out laughing.

“Is that is? Did you really think you could come up to me and simply ask for a time-out?” she asked, only breaking through her fit slightly, “Dear boy, I currently hold all the cards in the game; I’m on the verge of winning this game, and you think I’ll just stop now?”

Norma went on laughing for a few seconds more, before finally regaining her composure.

“Curious, though,” Norma said, “What exactly made you think I would agree to such a thing?”

Again, John took a step closer, followed by another, and another, as he talked. “Because after all that time that’s passed since this game started, I think I finally understand the reason behind it all. You didn’t do this to takeover Equestria, you did it for the exact reason you keep bringing up. You’re bored, so much so that you would do anything to seek your own entertainment. I’m guessing if that wasn’t the case you would have gone for the full-frontal assault from the start.”

With one last step, John was now staring directly into the hologram.

“The reason for calling this time out is so we can end that once and for all. One month, no attacks, no contact, a whole month to prepare for one final battle, a grand spectacle that they’ll certainly hear of all over the world. It will be something for the history books as either the day you were finally put back in your hole, or the day Equestria falls.”

If John could have seen Norma’s face above her mouth, he would have seen a twinkle in her eyes for a few moments. It was like giving candy to a baby…

“And what exactly do you mean by ‘no contact’?”

John smirked and picked up the rat creature, “These. For the next month, you won’t watch us or our families. You’ll be kept in the dark about what we’re planning until the day you finally make your move.”

Norma placed her hand to her chin, audibly humming as she thought it over.

“Very well, but on one condition. When the month is finally over, I will be the one to choose the battlefield. And to keep you from wondering, I’ll tell you now,” Norma spread out her arms, and after a few moments, a large image appeared behind her. Celestia blinked. That image looked very familiar.

“Canterlot, the very center of this vast country. The battle that will decide the fate of everyone will take place here and nowhere else,” Norma looked back at John, an unseen smirk on her face. “Do you agree?”

John stared at her for several seconds, stealing a quick glance over to Princess Celestia. She looked back at him in confusion. However, she quickly recovered from her mental lag, understanding. It was ultimately up to her. The way she saw it, they had no other options here. They did need the extra time. Besides, this wouldn’t be the first time Canterlot became the epicenter of a battle. So slowly, just enough for him to see it, she gave a nod of her head.

“See you in a month, Norma,” John smirked. Norma gave a small chuckle as the hologram began to flicker.

“Until then,” Norma said. A moment later, her hologram vanished entirely, and the mouse that had projected it crumbled to dust.

All around Equestria, many more spy rats began to do the same. At least, that was the hope. Everything was silent once more. They had bought the time they needed, but John hadn’t moved. Celestia watched him for a while, unable to read him, but after a short while longer, John finally showed some signs of life.

“It’s… it’s done…” John let out a long and shaky sigh as he stumbled back into a seat. As he sat, he stared down at his hands. Both were shaking against his will. Only after seeing him now did Celestia understand. All of that before was nothing more than a feint, a show entirely for Norma’s benefit.

“You… you can come out now,” John croaked.

From roughly the same spot John had emerged, another figure stepped out. This time, it was Rainbow Dash. How the two had got in there without Celestia’s knowledge, she wasn’t sure, but that was a question for another day. She watched as Rainbow sat down next to him, and placed her hand to his shoulder.

“You did it,” she said with a smile. Noticing the trembling of his hands, she reached out and grabbed hold of them with her own hands to steady them. They looked at each other for a moment, and smiled again.

“I must say, that was a very convincing play you put on for her,” said Celestia, “But how did you know it would work?”

John and Rainbow looked to each other again and gave off a small chuckle. This time, it was Rainbow who spoke up.

“Typical bad guys,” Rainbow said, “Once they’re sure they’ve got it, they’re convinced they can’t lose.”

Norma closed her eyes for a few moments longer, making sure to remove all her rats. If they wanted a month, she’d give them a month. How could the cards possibly change in that much time? She had the Elements of Harmony, their most powerful superweapon, in her grasp. She still had three pawns left, and all of them proved to be strong. Plus, her own powers were really starting to return to her.

They could have their time-out. If she was feeling particularly merciful, she could even give them an extra week. And, when the time came, she would show them the futility of their fight herself. At least one of her pawns would have reservations about this, but Norma was sure Storm Claw would come around in time. Kronos would probably take the month off with a near-disgusting amount of grace. As for Slayer, he’d probably want to go in earlier. All the more time to fan the flames of his revenge…

Plus, Norma couldn’t deny that deep down she was curious what they thought they could do with a month.

“See you in a month, indeed, Dragon,” Norma sneered.

Since the call for a temporary reprieve was met with approval, Princess Celestia, Rainbow Dash and John had returned to the throne room in Canterlot. John filled in the missing pieces for the princess in the interim. In general, the others would be along after they got word that the meeting had happened. It did not take long for Celestia to send the word their way. So now, they sat waiting.

“Her visits had grown predictable, to be sure,” Celestia noted, “You couldn’t have timed it any better. Even with her penchant for theatrics, I don’t think she would have stayed much longer after her visit.”

“We were guessing, too,” Rainbow said, “We knew she’d show up eventually, but we didn’t know when she’d start gloating…”

“It was just a lucky shot she hadn’t already,” John said, “But I guess she may have been waiting for us to wake up first before dropping the bomb.”

Celestia blinked. That wouldn’t have seemed off, given the character of the prisoners so far, as well as Norma herself. She’d probably been sitting on the Elements of Harmony, just waiting for people to discover they were missing. Then, and only then, would she play her hand. Doing it at sunset was just a bonus.

At that moment, the doors to the throne room opened, one, then the other. The others stood on the other side, escorted on either side by several guards. Although the situation definitely dampened their overall moods, it was nice to see they all at least had some level of determination left in them. However, they had not been informed of whether or not they got what they needed just yet.

The group finally paused. The guards looked up to Celestia. Celestia lifted both of her hands for a moment to address them.

“Please return to your positions,” Celestia said, “You’ll be given further instructions in a few minutes.”

The guards gave a collective grunt, before filing out. Two remained at the door for a few moments, closing it. No sooner than the doors closed did Twilight step forward.

“Princess Celestia,” Twilight said, “I apologize for the unexpected intrusion earlier, but we had to—“

“There is no need, Twilight,” Celestia said, “You had the right idea.”

“Did we get what we needed?” Pinkie asked, surprisingly not hopping up and down. Her voice did not completely betray the worry she held.

All heads turned to John and Rainbow. Both looked to each other for a moment, but Rainbow was quick to speak first.

“We got our time,” she said, “John made it look easy… almost.”

A wave of relief passed across the group. For a few moments, there were smiles among the group. However, the smiles soon started to fade. John turned to face the group directly as well.

“That was the easy part,” said John, voicing what everyone had begun to realize, “Unfortunately, the hard part comes now. We got our month, so now we have to use it wisely.”

The group remained silent for a few moments, in silent contemplation. There was a small squeak among the group, and all heads turned. Fluttershy noticed everyone was looking to her, but this wasn’t enough to stop her.

“R-Rainbow,” she finally said. Rainbow looked to her, “Like before Kurama, could you… you know, help me out with my…” She quickly raised one of her arms, pointing to her bicep area, “Strength?”

Everyone took a moment to take in what she said, with Rainbow finally responding, “You’d better believe it, ‘Shy. I’m gonna be at it, too.”

“I don’t want to fall behind now, so please…please,” Fluttershy said, now stepping forward a bit, the others moving out of her path as she did so, “Push me harder than before.”

“If that’s what you want,” Rainbow said.

“Count me in, too,” Applejack stepped forward. Her arm was still in its sling, unusable, but she didn’t seem to be bothered by that.

“Your arm gonna slow you down?” Rainbow asked, pointing it out.

“We can find out,” Applejack smirked.

“Hmm…” Rarity paused, feeling particularly inspired now, “Excuse me, Twilight, would you mind helping me with my magic again?”

Twilight turned to Rarity. “I’ll be building up my magic myself. I don’t see the harm in adding one more.”

“Splendid,” Rarity commented, “I’ll be ready for anything.”

“Glad to hear it!” said Twilight, turning to Corey, who was still spacing off, hand to chin, facing the floor, “Corey, how about you?”

Corey stood up slightly straighter, turning to her.

“I’m still trying to figure that out,” Corey said.

“It’s nice to see most of you already have your ideas,” Celestia said, “If you need something, please feel free to ask me. At this point, there’s no point in holding back anymore. I’ll give you whatever you think you’ll need.”

“Ooh, ooh!” Pinkie fully returned to life as soon as she said that, “Pick me, pick me!”

“Very well, Pinkie Pie, what is it?”

Pinkie zipped over to Celestia’s side, reaching into one of her pockets. “I’ve got a bit of a…crazy request.”

“Trust me, I’ve seen a fair share in my time,” Celestia said, “Let’s see it.”

Pinkie pulled out a roll of blue parchment. Celestia quickly unfurled it, looking over the contents. She could see it was a blueprint. And its contents?

“Okay,” she said, nodding as she looked over the design within, “You were right.”

The feeling in the room had certainly relaxed since he got here, Corey realized. Everyone had some thoughts of what to do for the next month. Either way, it was going to be the final battle. Was he going to do his part? Of course he was, just like he had whenever he was able. Corey looked up again.

I wonder what help she’d draw the line at… Corey thought to himself, before blinking and starting to look around. John wasn’t where he was before, but it didn’t take long for Corey to spot him.

He was walking out of the room, heading off…somewhere. Corey blinked. Wondering what was going through his head, Corey decided to follow him.

John had retreated to one of the nearby balconies, Corey discovered as he followed him. John didn’t seem to notice or care he was being followed, so Corey just kept pace with him the whole way. Eventually, the two were outside in the night air. As Corey crossed the threshold himself, and moved towards the railing, he could see Ponyville below, more than a few warm lights still ignited in some of the homes.

This seems familiar… Corey thought, feeling a surge of déjà vu.

“Oh, hey, Corey,” John said, turning to regard him, “You were following me?”

“Felt like I had to,” Corey said, “You did kind of walk out on everyone without saying anything.”

“I don’t think I have much to say, though.” John stretched a bit, extending his arms palm-first in front of him, “We got a month.”

“Everyone’s back there already deciding how they’re going to prepare for the next month,” Corey leaned a bit on the railing of the balcony, “Only reason I’m not still there is because I’m still trying to figure it out.”

“Aren’t you just going to work on your magic?” asked John.

“It’s complicated,” said Corey, “Let’s just say I remembered something important.”

There was a short pause, before John spoke up again. “We were lucky to get that month, you know. If it wasn’t for you, we’d all still be sitting in the library wondering what to do.”

“Hey, don’t give me all the credit,” Corey said, taking his weight off the rail to point towards John, “You had the idea that got us the month.”

“I didn’t mean that,” John said, standing up straight.

Corey waved his hands. “Then what did you mean?”

“While I was fighting Kurama,” John said, “It was a tough thing to do. Between the fact Kurama’s potential body count was rising every day he was out, and the fact he was getting stronger with each second, I wasn’t in the best of moods. Eventually, I got to the point Kurama was haunting my mind every second of the day. And I didn’t even get to sleep on it. It was all I could think about; I had to stop him. And… well, you know the rest…”

Corey remained silent, closing his eyes for a moment as an uncomfortable thought returned to him. If I had killed Slayer back then… would I even be standing here?

“I know that feeling,” Corey said, “But you handled it a lot better than I did. Even now.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” John said, “I was still at a low point, and finding out what was stolen didn’t help at all. It felt like everything I went through was for nothing.”

“And yet, when everyone else was down,” said John, “Who else would stand up but you? Encouraging everyone, even me, to stand up one more time with nothing but your own words.”

“They were pretty strong words…” Corey reflected, turning back to Ponyville, “At least this time they came from the right place.”

The two stood in silence, looking down over Ponyville once again, using the railing. It was a stern silence. Before this, Corey would have never guessed John had a boiling point so similar to his own, but then again, the internet wasn’t exactly a good proving ground of anything. Here, everything was different.

“But… I’m not going to let it weigh me down,” John said, releasing his grip on the railing, “I did kill someone. It doesn’t matter what the stakes were, I killed someone.”

“John?” Corey asked.

“But I have to move on from it. I can’t let it drag me down when we’re going to need everyone for the coming fight. In a month, we’ll need everything we can spare, maybe more than that!” John said, walking away from the balcony for a moment. His back was to Corey now. Corey turned towards John, releasing his own grip on the rail.

“Take my word for it,” Corey said, “If I could do it, anyone could. I may not have crossed the line, but with what I did that day, I might as well have.”

Corey walked towards John, who turned towards him as he stepped towards him.

“We’re going to win this!” Corey’s arm jerked up against his will before returning to his side. He was now standing directly in front of John, “All of us have come too far in the past month… every single one of us has overcome too much to lose.”

“A come from behind victory,” John slowly moved his arm in the same manner Corey had, “That’s the best one of all.”

“All along, we had our resolves,” Corey said, “We just needed to find a direction for it.”

“That’s true,” John said.

The two stood in silence for a few moments more before John blinked.

“Oh God, it just hit me!” John reeled back as though he were struck with a hammer to the face.

“What, what?” Corey asked.

“His name was Kurama. He was a kitsune…” John said.

“Wait, wait…” Corey said, “Y-you mean…?”

“Yep…”

The two looked to one another with wonder for all of two seconds before they both burst out laughing. It was so easy to overlook with the stress he caused, but after it had passed, it was only a matter of time.

“Kurama, the nine-tailed fox…!”

Author's Note

And there you have it. They've got their month, Corey and John finally realized something about Kurama that should have been obvious to John by now, and it's time to get things moving forward. Two more chapters after this one, and that's the end of Act 3.

Act 4 Chapter 8

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 8: The Day of Reckoning

For days, they’d spent their time honing their respective skills. For weeks, they’d labored to be sure they were ready for what was to come. For the entire month, their sole focus was to prepare for the final battle. All of them had taken steps to ensure that when the dust settled, it would be their respective team that would stand on top.

All that the eight of them could do now was go forth to the day and hope that when it was over, the fruits of their labor would be plentiful enough to win it all. As soon as the word was spoken, all eyes turned towards Canterlot, and the heroes converged.

It was time to end this.

Princess Celestia sat in her throne room, looking over the various plans for today. It was a simple plan, and indeed, a plan that hadn’t been put into practice for a long time, but with things being the way they were, she had no other choice.

The first step was to move all the citizens out of town—Canterlot was about to become a warzone, and the last thing she wanted was for any of her little ponies to get caught up in the chaos if it could be helped. The evacuation order was passed down in the days leading up to today as preparations were finalized.

Secondly, Canterlot was partitioned into four zones using the castle at the center. Each of the zones was one of the cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west. The guards, as well as the team that had been at the epicenter of the incident, had also been split among the quadrants, each guarding a sector. She didn’t expect things to stay that way forever, but at least for now, it was a safe bet to have them guard each one.

There was one other thing to do, but until the chaos began there was no point in carrying it out. Celestia and Luna had their own plans to deal with the leader.

John should have gotten word that his time was almost up, and should be on his way back, Celestia thought, He bought us all this time... Last I heard, from Luna, he was holding up well.

Then, there was the issue of the latest of her students. He’d been more or less holed up in the meditation room, and only really came out to eat. She had no idea what he’d come up with in the last three days since his breakthrough, and hadn’t had time to really check. All she’d heard from Corey in the time leading up to today was about his vision.

Celestia sighed. While Corey’s story had helped them out a bit in preparing, there was still nothing they could do to pinpoint exactly where Para Norma was. However, knowing what was at her disposal, and exactly why she was in Tartarus to begin with, that was enough information for Celestia to make her conclusions.

She had other plans in store for Para Norma. For now, though, it was up to everypony—everyone, that is—to ensure that things went smoothly today.

From here on out, it’s up to you all. Princess Celestia thought, But don’t worry… I don’t intend to take this invasion lightly…

He could feel it in the air—it was almost time for everyone to see if their weeks of preparation would pay off. But it was just that—almost time for that to happen. Right now, it was merely the calm before the storm. For the first time since the month began, Corey found himself with little to do but wait. He had to trust that everything he’d done until this day would prove enough. So, Corey was left with a choice—what would he do until the time came?

Reading, of course! It wasn’t like he had video games or Youtube to kill time with now, and he couldn’t exactly do any kind of exercise—he needed every bit of stamina and power he could spare for today. Besides, Corey did enjoy the act of reading. He just hadn’t had the inclination or the time to pursue the hobby until now. For his part, it was refreshing to simply sit back and read a story without its content driving him mad.

I could get used to this… Corey thought to himself as he flipped through another page.

His chosen area for reading was a large balcony close to the top of the castle, one with a clear view of the vast land of Equestria stretched out beneath it. It was peaceful, bright, and calming, but there was another reason he was there: a promise he made four weeks ago. He would be the first one seen upon his friend’s return, just as he was the last seen before that same friend departed.

Although Corey didn’t know when he would arrive, something in the back of Corey’s mind told him that the friend would be there very soon—else, the promise would have held no meaning. So, Corey waited—it was all he could do. Time passed him by without notice as he drew towards the middle of his book. He was so invested in the story by that point that a shadow that passed over him went either unnoticed or ignored. What he couldn’t exactly claim to have not noticed was the floor at his feet quaking, but it did not steal his attention away from the pages.

Show off… Corey shook his head lightly, finishing the chapter he was on as the trembling came to a halt. Noting the chapter and page numbers for later, Corey closed his book and placed it down to his side. After getting up, he began to walk over to the center where the impact had occurred.

“You’re early, John,” The dragon in question was still in his landing position, kneeled down with his fist planted on the ground. Corey lightly chuckled at the pose, “And really, the superhero position? I haven’t let out a ‘You’re too slow’ in weeks…”

John looked up and grinned as he stood up. “But that’s too much?”

“Maybe,” Corey continued to walk as he drew his arm back, “You been training hard?” he asked as John brought his own arm back as well.

“Yeah, and you?”

“Let’s find out.”

Once both were close enough, they swung their arms, each hand colliding with one another and held in a firm grip. There was a small pulse that came off from the force of the impact, a visible yet light shockwave pulsing out from around them exactly once.

“You’ve grown stronger,” said John.

“I see you’ve grown a few more scars yourself,” Corey said, looking John in the eyes—well, eye, rather. While one was fine, the other was closed, a visible scar running over the eyelid. It didn’t take much to connect the dots, “You probably have a really good story about it—“

“And do I ever…” John grumbled.

“But you can share it at the party.”

John looked at Corey for a moment in confusion. Even with Pinkie being… Pinkie, he was sure even she had some limits as to when she would and wouldn’t throw one. “What party?”

Corey smiled and patted John on the back, beginning to walk towards the balcony entrance. “It’s it obvious?”

Corey stopped in the doorway, turning his head aside to look back at John, “I mean the victory party.”

John stood there for a moment, watching his friend leave. He almost couldn’t believe the Corey he just saw was real, all things considered.

Well… you’ve grown more than I thought, Corey.

Twilight knew this day was coming for a long time. Yet, no matter how she went about it, she just wished it didn’t have to come down to this. If they lost here, that would be it. She had heard of Corey’s vision, where he’d talked with Esper again. Though Twilight had tried to do something to prepare herself for the level of magic she knew she’d be up against, there were still many, many things she hadn’t tested.

There was another, more pressing matter eating away at her too. The attack was likely to start at any moment, and she had been stationed in North Canterlot together with someone—someone she hadn’t seen as much of for the last month.

“Just where is he?” she asked herself, looking around from one of the building tops. The buildings, as expected, seemed deserted, except for the guards all facing out towards the north border of the city. They knew the situation, and stood at the ready, waiting for something to happen.

Twilight reviewed her options for a while, and sighed, reaching into one of her pockets to pull out a small device that could fit over her ear—another gift from Pinkie Pie. Twilight found herself wondering how Pinkie found time for this—especially with the project she’d been laboring with for the past month. She sighed again, putting it over her ear, and was just about to speak up when she noticed a few of the guards’ heads snap to the left.

“What is that?” one of the guards asked.

“Looks familiar…” another commented.

“It’s a…green blur?”

Twilight looked to her left, able to see what the guards were looking at. She saw the rapidly approaching green blur and realized immediately what it was.

“That’s him!” Twilight said, squinting, “I think he’s faster than he was before…”

Within several seconds, the green blur stopped, within view of Twilight and everyone else. Corey stood tall, looking around for a few moments, seemingly surprised—did he not notice he was moving fast until now? His eyes eventually fell on her, and he waved.

“Corey!” Twilight said, lifting off easily enough and floating over to him, “Where have you been?”

“Fulfilling a promise,” Corey said, his eyes flicking over to her ear, “Up at the castle until recently. Were you about to call?”

“Well, yeah,” Twilight said, “Just what were you doing anyway?”

“Meeting John. He made it back in time,” Corey said, “This time, there’s a little time to spare though, right? Last time he left to improve himself he was a little late…”

Twilight paused. Something about Corey’s behavior seemed off compared to all the other times, disregarding the incident up in the Crystal Empire. He seemed… casual, almost. If he was scared, it didn’t show as clearly as it did before. She couldn’t help but frown.

Corey noticed almost right away. “Is something wrong, Twilight?”

Twilight sighed. “I’m concerned… I know you’re confident we’ll win out in the end, but this isn’t just a game, you know.”

“I know,” Corey said, “But I can’t let it get to me…”

There was a short pause. Twilight managed to put a smile on her face for a moment.

“Just don’t do anything rash, okay?” Twilight asked.

It was then Twilight heard a voice in her ear.

“For crying out loud, you two, save it for after this is over!” Rainbow’s voice came through loud and clear over the device in her ear. Twilight immediately paused as heat rose to her face.

Corey paused as well, digging into his pocket for his own earpiece. “Was that on the whole time?”

“I didn’t know…” Twilight whispered, mortified, “I’ll have to remember that for later…”

“Indeed…” Corey shook his head, putting his in place, “I made it to North Canterlot, everyone. John’s back. He’ll be down south soon enough.”

Rainbow had always been the laid back time, able to kick back and relax one moment, then jump into action the next. She never really sweated the big things and was always more than confident enough in her own ability to take on any challenge that may come her way. Today was different—the task at hand felt larger. Not just that, either—her own body felt like it wasn’t hers. She’d trained hard for the last month; the weighted armor she’d worn making it hard to see if she was making any progress at all.

But that all changed the moment she could finally take it off. Until that moment, she felt chained down to earth. As soon as that weighted metal was removed, though, she felt like she truly knew what it meant to fly free. But now that she had, she wasn’t sure how far free she could go. The upper limits were unknown to her, and her body was restless in its desires to find out just what they were. She had to wait though—she needed all the stamina in her for what was to come.

“Everything’s ready on our end,” said an approaching guard, Rainbow nodded at him and then looked up.

“Still just one thing missing,” At Rainbow’s words, the guard looked down to his chart before looking back to her.

“What?”

“That,” Rainbow pointed straight up and the guard followed her finger until he finally saw something: a large object dropping down on them. The guard instinctively shuffled backwards out of the way, bracing for impact. But as the object drew within feet of the ground, the object’s momentum slowed to almost a complete stop, and landed softly on the ground.

“Miss me?” Rainbow smirked at John for a moment before beginning to walk past him.

“Oh, you were gone?” she asked, “Handn’t noticed.”

John chuckled and followed along, taking note of all the guards positioned in the area.

“Couldn’t help but notice that landing. Seems you got better,” Rainbow said looking back at him.

“Picked up a few tricks while I was away. Can’t say it came easy,” John ran his hand over the impressive scar over his closed eye; something that Rainbow hadn’t quite noticed. She was sure that there was a story behind that, but there wasn’t time for that stuff yet.

“I know the feeling; it hasn’t really been a cake walk for the rest of us either. Problem is, we haven’t really gotten the chances to see what we can do. And to be honest, I can’t wait to cut loose and find out.” But wait is what she would have to do, and she always found that to be the hardest thing of all.

Any time Rarity found herself standing in Canterlot, she always found herself noticing the fine craftsmanship that had gone into its creation. It was truly a sight of beauty to her eyes, and soon that sight would change. She had no doubt in her mind that when this was all over, the dust settled, that Canterlot would be in serious need of reapirs.

But I suppose it’s a small price to pay…

There were far more important things to worry about right now—namely, that there was still a Canterlot to return to when this was over.

“Rarity?” At the sound of the voice, she knew who it was immediately. Turning around, she was ready to greet her friend with a large smile.

“Fluttershy, it’s good to see you—whoa…” Aside from Twilight, Rarity hadn’t seen much of her friends for well more than a week. The last she saw Fluttershy was at their celebration marking the beginning of their training. And at that time, Fluttershy was still slim and meek.

That memory was quickly shattered when she saw Fluttershy now. Meek could no longer describe the pegasus she was seeing. There was some lean muscle visible on her exposed arms.

“Is… is something wrong?” Fluttershy asked. Immediately, Rarity knew that while Fluttershy had changed a lot on the outside, she hadn’t changed herself on the inside—something she found herself grateful for.

“No, darling, everything is just fine,” Rarity reassured her, “I suppose you can just chalk it up to pre-combat jitters. Even when counting the invasion from a little over a year ago, this certainly feels like a step above anything we’ve had to stand up against,” That was no exaggeration, either. Rarity had never prepared quite like she had before.

“I understand,” said Fluttershy, “Up until now, I’ve always tried to avoid these kinds of confrontations. I never thought I’d learn the hard way that sometimes you can’t run away from it,” Fluttershy paused, no doubt letting the memory wash over her. Rarity wasn’t sure she’d ever allow herself to forget it in the first place, given the kind of pony Fluttershy is.

“We all have done some growing, have we not? Even if the conditions weren’t as we would have liked…” They were all different ponies when this began, forced to change to fit what was required of them in this trying time. But neither could deny that they may very well have come out better for it on the other side.

“Ma’am?” Fluttershy and Rarity turned to see a guard in a saluted pose, “The weapon you requested…”

Rarity took notice of the mace in the guard’s hands, which was soon accepted by Fluttershy.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said, before turning to look at Rarity, no doubt noticing the surprise on her face, “Her idea.”

Fluttershy motioned to her temples, and Rarity understood immediately.

“She thinks it’s something I can handle.”

As though to test the theory, Fluttershy took a few steps back until she was clear of everyone else. Then, Fluttershy gave the mace a near-effortless swing with one arm. After a few more test swings, Fluttershy allowed the length of the handle to rest comfortably on her shoulder.

“I think she may have been on to something,” said Rarity,” You’ve made a stunning amount of progress, dear. I can not wait to see it.”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “Thank you, I can’t wait to see what you’ve learned too.”

“I may have a few surprises for you when that time comes.”

Unlike the others, Applejack’s position was different. While the others were posted with dozens of guards around them to protect their section, she was more or less alone. Leaning against a pillar close to the Canterlot train station, Applejack looked down at the clock in her hands. On occasion, the piece of straw in her mouth could shift from one side of her mouth to the other. Eventually, she clicked her tongue and pressed a finger to her ear.

“Hey Pinkie, you planning on showing up late?” she asked.

“I’m almost there!” Pinkie chimed back, her voice rather shaky, but Applejack couldn’t figure out why.”

“You said that twenty minutes ago.”

“And now I’m twenty minutes closer,” Pinkie stressed, “Sorry, Jackie, but I’m not going to be there as soon as I’d hoped. Don’t want to ruin the surprise but let’s say it’s hard to move around.”

Applejack wasn’t sure what to make of that, but after hearing how hard Pinkie worked on keeping it all a secret, she wasn’t going to pry. She and the others would see it when Pinkie was ready. Pinkie Pie being the pony known to deliver, Applejack had no reason to doubt her.

“Do what you can, Pinks. You know it ain’t a party without you.”

Just then, Applejack heard a faint whistle blow far off in the distance. A smirk slowly spread across her lips as she lowered her Stetson over her eyes. Turning her back to the tracks, she stood straight up.

“Besides, I’m sure I can handle things until you get here.”

Canterlot had always been a lively city, befitting of Equestria’s capital city. It was always filled with the sounds of thousands of ponies just going on about their lives. Its streets were usually flooded with near-endless streams of well-dressed individuals chatting amongst themselves and looking and acting important.

Today was far different from the norm in a lot of ways—the homes and businesses were empty. Today the streets were filled with nothing but battle-ready soldiers, their weapons and armor making clanking noises as they all got into position.

These sounds were eventually overshadowed as the clock stations atop Canterlot Castle struck twelve, signifying high noon had arrived. The bell rang, the noise resonating all through Canterlot. By the end of the first chime, any and all movements within the city stopped. By the sixth chime, all were at attention, physically and mentally preparing themselves. When the twelfth and final chime finally ended, all was quiet in Canterlot. There was no warning, no heads-up for what would come, but at that moment, everyone currently in Canterlot could feel it deep down.

Slowly but surely, however, the silence which had blanketed the city was fading away, overshadowed by a sound outside its walls: the rhythmic beat of an army marching towards the capital. They were coming, how many was not clear, but they would know soon enough. Those stationed at the first gate were first to take notice, quickly filling in the others through their communicators. Everyone steadied themselves for the battle they had been waiting for.

The last two months had been nothing short of hell for all those involved. Their sanity was tested and their relationships definitely got strained, and blood from both ally and enemy were spilled before them. It was all leading up to this very day, the day they would finally put this game to an end. Everyone had fought, pushed themselves to their limits and beyond so that they could stand tall on this day. Whether it would end in total victory, or in grim defeat, there was one thing everyone knew for sure.

The final battle had arrived.

Author's Note

And with that we begin the approach to the final battles. That's going to encompass pretty much the rest of this Act. Afterwards, we have a few chapters of wrap up, and of course an epilogue, since it's an ingrained thing for me at this point. Maybe I'll break that habit in future writings, who knows? So how is all this going to proceed? Find out next time.

Act 4 Chapter 18

Act IV: Climactic Collisions

Chapter 18: Borrowed Power

In hindsight, Corey supposed he’d not known what pain actually was. Excluding when Kurama cornered him while he wasn’t at his peak, Corey had some form of recourse in most of the fights he’d been in since this had all started. However, he was now one arm short and a horn so fractured he could no longer use magic unless he wanted to hurt himself. Norma was dragging things out on purpose, he could feel.

Norma landed a hard left punch to his face, causing him to stumble back off-balance for a couple of steps. Corey was barely able to right himself when she moved again, raising his good arm in preparation. However, he soon found there was no way he could protect himself from the punches she continued to throw at him. For every punch he managed to swat away, another hit its mark. Just blocking didn’t work; one arm was not enough to cover his bases.

Another punch impacted his face, and while Corey tried to recover from that, he felt a foot slam into his torso yet again, knocking him flat on his back. Corey coughed, trying to rise up one more time. This time, though, Norma wasn’t letting him. She stomped on his bad arm, and as Corey’s eyes widened from pain, she sat right down on his chest.

“Where did your powers come from?” Norma’s fists crashed against his face again and again, left, right, left, right… “How could you have possibly gotten this far? You didn’t come from this world! Even they could have only taught you so much!”

Even if Corey could answer, he doubted Norma would have wanted to hear it.

“You didn’t take the strength for yourself! You couldn’t possibly have been born with it!” Norma shouted, continuing to punch away for what felt like forever. Finally, though, she finished, standing up again. She grabbed on to the collar of Corey’s shirt, lifting him up slowly. Corey lifted his good arm to try to wrench her hold free, but it was no use.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter in the end,” said Norma, looking at his rapidly swelling face, “You’re no longer able to use magic, are you?”

Corey, trying to shake off the pain and her grip, tried kicking, but she defended with a barrier. She didn’t even seem disturbed by his struggles now, continuing to look upon him with a slowly growing smirk.

“I do have to wonder… where are all your friends?” asked Norma, “Could it be that unlike you, they realized their place and fled? Or perhaps… have they succumbed to whatever injuries were inflicted during their battles?”

Corey swung up his left leg, but this time, she blocked it herself. Norma’s smirk slowly faded.

“You’re a persistent one, but it’s time I ended this,” Norma said, and for that instant, Corey felt her grip on his shirt tighten. Her other hand came up, striking Corey in the stomach. She was deliberately holding back, though; the impact spell she used just knocked Corey away. He rolled once, landing on his back once more.

Corey coughed again. “I can’t just… lie here…”

As he struggled once again to get back on his feet, Norma suddenly shouted.

“Just stop standing! You have already been beaten!” Norma leapt up, but she didn’t stay in the air long. The next thing Corey knew, he felt a harsh, painful impact just below his right knee, and it took all his willpower to avoid screaming as he felt another pop. He fell to the floor once more, now also one leg short.

Norma glowered down at him, even as he propped himself up on his arms.

“This isn’t as fun as I would have hoped…” She began to walk over to him again, “I’m not hearing any screams.”

Corey tried to retort, but before he could, he was once again forced to the floor the rest of the way. Norma’s foot came down hard, right on his ribcage. She stood just like that for a long while. Both could only glare at one another for a few solid moments.

“This… isn’t over,” Corey said, “I may not be able to fight anymore, but—“

Norma stomped down again, and Corey coughed. “Then stop posturing like you still have a chance.”

Again, her foot applied pressure to Corey’s ribs, and with each stomp, Corey felt his pain increase to unbearable levels.

“There… is still… a chance! There were eight of us—“

“And all it takes is one to stop you all—me,” Norma stomped down yet again, “Accept your defeat!” Again. “Stop your fruitless resistance!” Again. “This fight… no, this war, is as good as over!”

Corey could feel the searing pain, which almost felt as if it was coming from the center of his chest and radiating out to every part of his body. His leg and arm throbbed, the injuries still fresh. He could hardly feel anything on his face other than raw pain. He could hold it no longer. When Norma’s foot crashed down on his chest once more, Corey finally started screaming.

Norma’s face split into a wicked grin. “Yes, that’s it… More! Scream! Wail! Howl!” With each word, she kept right on stomping, adding to Corey’s pain, “Let me hear more!”

On and on this went for what felt like hours. Corey’s voice once again began to give out a little, and only then did Norma finally stopped.

“Much better… much more refreshing…” Norma said, allowing Corey to finally catch his breath. Even that was painful, though; she had been stomping on his chest for a while, “But it’s nearly over now.”

Norma finally took her foot off his chest, and lifted her opposite foot, kicking Corey square in the back with a lot of force, enough to throw him to the nearest wall. Corey bounced off the wall with his back, and laid down flat on his stomach, still somehow conscious. By now, one of his eyes was closed, and the rest of his face was swollen in places he didn’t quite know he had. His horn, however, was still attached, but still cracked beyond repair.

“Now then…” Norma said, “There are a few other loose ends I should probably tie up first. Your turn is coming soon, though…”

She slowly lifted her hands, and Corey, willing himself to turn his head, saw three more screens appear. He could see Storm Claw, laid out and unconscious. Kronos was also laid out, but his condition seemed pretty unclear. Slayer was still out cold as well; he hadn’t even tried to move since Corey had left him lying there.

“Storm Claw, the Warmonger…” said Norma as she looked up towards his screen, “It seems that your experience didn’t get you far enough in this battle, hm? You fared little better than Lyon did, in the end…”

“Kronos…” Norma turned to his screen next, “I wonder, are you alive now? I hope you enjoyed that battle, for it will be your last.”

“And, of course, Slayer,” Norma said, “I can finally see why this one gave you so much trouble. You, however, gave me some of the best entertainment I’ve seen. Only Kurama exceeded you, at least until I came into the picture… I wonder…”

There were a few long moments of contemplative silence, before Norma smirked once more, lifting both of her hands, which began to glow crimson with all the runes that swirled off them.

“However, the entertainment and the work you three have done today won’t be enough to spare you,” Norma said, “Die!”

Corey’s eyes widened, and he looked up to the screen as Norma’s fingers snapped, the runes flying off and vanishing. Nearly at the same time, Kronos, Slayer, and Storm Claw suddenly lurched in spite of their respective situations. They remained in that position for a few seconds before flopping back down to the ground. For a few seconds, Corey stared emptily in disbelief.

“Why…” Corey croaked, his voice still slightly hoarse, “How… They were the ones that got you this far… Even the ones that didn’t make it to this stage. They let you bide your time until we were forced into a corner...”

“Don’t go showing pity to them now. As they were, they were useless to me,” Norma said, “I never intended to share any of this with the likes of them, anyway. At the very start, I had all my pawns branded with a curse of mine, one they weren’t aware of until after our first meeting. From there, all I had to do was cast a spell, and in a moment, their hearts would explode. Compared to being stuffed back in Tartarus again, it’s a much less painful way of going about things, wouldn’t you agree?”

“No…” Corey shook his head.

“Being in a prison like that rots one’s sanity,” Norma continued, waving her arms to dispel her screens one more time, “You could see it in the eyes of those you went up against, didn’t you?”

“I could see it, alright, but you wouldn’t know what the inside of Tartarus was like,” Corey kept looking at Norma, managing to prop himself up on his good arm despite his pain, “As I recall, you were kept in a private stasis for eons, your very existence erased from any official records. Compared to some of the others, I’d even wager you got off lightly.”

“Then tell me one more thing before the end,” Norma said, “Why do something as unseemly as stick any creature in the bowels of that hell?”

“Because they literally can’t function in society even if they tried,” Corey said, “No, it’s more than that. Not only can they not function in society, said lack of functioning… infringes on the rights of others, in a way that cannot be ignored. Slayer went after heads of state in his time… Lyon was a danger to everyone… Kurama feasted upon the suffering of others, attacking them in the one place they couldn’t defend themselves or be defended…

“The other prisoners showed signs of similar psychosis. And you… Norma. You traded your own countrymen for your own power, your own,” Corey managed to drag himself a bit further up, leaning heavily on his good arm to look at Norma, “Gratification! You all forfeited the right to live among others through your actions! Tartarus… that place is meant for the absolute worst of the worst, and no one else!”

“Well spoken…” That voice from much earlier suddenly said. Norma glared towards her torso, but didn’t say anything. Her gaze fell back on Corey soon enough.

“You may well have a point…” Norma said, “Not that it matters. All of this was mine alone to start with. I have already taken it back. The only thing left to do is crush the insects that wish to wander into my path.”

She began to walk to the wall closest to her, opposite Corey’s position. She faced him, smirking. Corey realized shortly what she intended, and tried to rise. His right leg violently protested the act of moving, though, and Corey quickly fell the rest of the way to the floor.

“Which means the only thing left for you to do, Corey, is to die!” she shouted, crouching low and slamming her rune-covered hand to the wall. The wall began to shift, and soon a spike was heading straight for Corey’s position. At the rate it was moving, and from how sharp it was—never mind the spike being aimed for his neck area—the attack would kill him!

Move, body… move! Corey thought, I can’t die, not--!

A magenta blast glided in from nowhere, the size of it around the size of a pony’s torso. The blast struck the spike before it could impact the prone Corey, blowing the pointy end off and causing a trail of cracks to flow through the pillar, causing it to crumble. Norma’s hand raised, her eyes opening in surprise. Both Corey and Norma turned their sights towards the origin of the blast. From there, each standing tall and ready for battle, were Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony.

“Everyone,” Corey wheezed out upon seeing them.

“This is it, girls! No matter what happens now, we do this together!” Twilight called out, the others instantly charging towards Norma. She stared at the lot as they ran towards her; Norma’s surprise soon gave way to amusement.

“Very well then,” Norma said, with runes flaring, “Come now, entertain me one final time!”

With her speed, Rainbow Dash was first to reach Norma. Her body became a blur in an instant as she managed to swerve around Norma until she was behind her. From Norma’s blind spot, Rainbow brought her leg up in preparation for a kick. In the moment before she could strike, however, Norma stomped her foot on the ground. Runes traveled behind her and a wall shot out from the ground, blocking Rainbow’s kick.

Rainbow’s eyes opened in surprise just as Norma appeared around her, magic charged into her palm. She reached out for Rainbow, coming within centimeters of contact, only to be stopped short by a lasso around her body, pinning her arms to her sides.

“Keep on your guard, RD!” called out Applejack as she pulled the lasso with all her might. At first, Norma tried to resist, but in the time she turned towards Applejack, she’d forgotten about Rainbow. As such, she was struck in the side, causing her to lose her balance and be dragged away.

Norma scowled as Applejack pulled her towards her, dragging Norma’s body across the ground. Not wanting that, Norma grabbed hold of the rope and sent a surge of runes down the length of the lasso. Once they reached the other end, they activated, spikes extending out of it and impaling Applejack’s hands. As Applejack let go, Norma finally managed to correct herself and glared towards the farmer. Norma probably took hold of the lasso herself and began to manipulate it. The rope soon came alive and began to coil around Applejack.

She saw that she was surrounded, the spiked rope preventing her escape all around. Applejack didn’t have time to react. Fortunately, someone was able to do so for her. Her body began to glow just as the coiled rope began their bind around Applejack’s body. Though she flinched in anticipation of pain, there was none to be had. Finally opening her eyes, she saw the magenta glow around her body, and turned to see Twilight working her magic. Twilight sighed in relief to have made it in time, then unleashed the magic around Applejack, causing the rope to tear to pieces.

Freed, Applejack charged towards Norma. Norma already began to prepare her next spell, but before she could cast it, Norma heard a pop and something wrapped itself tightly around her, binding her arms to her sides.

“What!?” Norma quickly looked down to see multicolored bindings, a chuckle from Pinkie giving away who was the cause of it. Unable to break through the bindings in time, Norma was struck in the stomach and began to skid backwards on her heels. After a few feet, she righted herself, her gaze never wavering as another charged for her.

Fluttershy—no, Fluttercruel, was flying at her top speed with her mace held up high, her intent clear to the earth pony. Just as Fluttercruel was close enough, she brought her arms down with all her might, slamming her mace down over Norma’s head. The metal made contact, Norma’s head pitched downwards…but Norma still stood. Norma looked up again, her head glowing with runes—she’d shielded herself from the damage.

Fluttercruel took a step back as Norma glared at her, the bindings around her body finally coming undone as she asserted control over them. Fluttercruel jumped back, taking to the sky just as Norma retaliated. The confetti bands quickly gave chase, their ends spiraling into tips that cut through the air and towards Fluttercruel. Through some tight maneuvering Fluttercruel managed to avoid being hit directly, she still didn’t escape unscathed. Slight cuts were opening up on her body the longer she stayed in range—with her blood now flowing and seeing she was in a bind, Fluttercruel retreated from range.

“Flying away, little canary?” Norma mocked, “Even after all this, you are still nothing more than—“

Norma’s words stopped when she noticed the shadow looming around her and growing larger. Without looking up she quickly jumped out of its range, just as a palm crafted of solid stone slammed onto the floor. Norma looked to the palm as it rose from the ground, returning to the one who controlled it, Rarity.

“I don’t take kindly to those who foulmouth my friends,” beside Rarity floated two hands made of stone, most likely repurpose from material in the castle. As they bobbed in the air, they mimicked the unicorn’s hand movements.

“Oh, I’ll do more than that, I assure you,” Norma said with a wicked grin. Rarity charged towards her, one hand already drawn back in preparation. Norma did the same, intrigued by what she was capable of. Her hands glowing in preparation for Rarity’s attack, prepared for when she finally threw the first punch. The stone fist flew towards Norma, its mass and weight very clear from the previous display. Norma was ready, however, bringing both hands forward and deflecting it aside.

Rarity’s arm, in turn, lurched from the stone fist’s connection with her hand, but she would be lying if she said she didn’t expect that. That was why she had her follow-up ready for when it did, her open palm already swiping towards Norma. Norma barely had the time to prepare the magic this time. Rarity’s stone hand had collided with her own and began pushing her aside. Norma stood her ground, pushing back as much as her legs would allow. Just as it finally stopped, Norma grabbed hold of the stone hand, her runes beginning to shine through the stone and breaking Rarity’s connection to it.

But breaking the connection wasn’t all Norma did; Norma had managed to connect the arm to her own magic. Rarity only looked in shock as the stone hand that was once hers began to reshape itself into a hand more suited for Norma’s personality.

“Quite the impressive spell you’ve created here,” Norma said, flexing her fingers to see her new stone fist do the same, “It may come in handy in the near future.”

Rarity simply scowled in response, bringing one arm back and throwing another punch. This time, however, Norma did not have a hard time stopping it. She made her own stone hand take hold of Rarity’s and hold on tight. Try as she might, Rarity couldn’t pull herself free.

With Norma’s focus on one, another took advantage, and teleported behind her. Norma noticed the magenta-colored flash of light and looked over her shoulder to see Twilight’s glowing horn. Her magic flared as Twilight fired her spell, a large orb of magic quickly splitting into three as they spiraled towards Norma. With a grunt, Norm released her hold on Rarity’s stone fist and swiped her stone hand aside, smashing it into Twilight’s attack. The stone fist managed to block the attack, but its structure was badly damaged.

This attack was followed by Rarity seizing her chance as well, throwing one final attack. With little option, Norma decided to meet it head on, both fists slamming into each other, but Norma’s was far too damaged to withstand the impact and shattered. This allowed Rarity’s to slam into the ground in front of Norma and the shockwave knocking her on her back. She winced from the fall, but managed to open her eyes to see Rainbow and Applejack dropping down on her.

But she wouldn’t allow that, so before they could get any closer, Norma slammed her fists onto the ground and caused two pillars to shoot out. Rainbow managed to dodge hers but Applejack lacked the mobility and was struck on the chest. As such, the pillar pushed her upwards until he back made contact with the ceiling. Applejack let out a grunt of pain as she tried to move free but the pillar continued to apply pressure. The ceiling behind her began to crack and Applejack began to worry just how long she had until she blacked out from the pressure.

Fortunately for her, she didn’t have to find out. Fluttercruel flew over and smashed the pillar with her mace, freeing Applejack. With no weight pushing her back up, Applejack began to free fall, her eyes alight with rage.

“Let me borrow that!” she called out. Fluttercruel tossed her the mace as she fell. Applejack’s hand closed around the handle hard enough that the veins in her hands bulged out. Norma simply chuckled, her body glowing again as she prepared her defenses.

“If she couldn’t harm me with that, what makes you think—“ the sudden surge of pain in the side of her head was enough to shut Norma up. Applejack was still much stronger than Fluttercruel, and Norma’s defenses were not prepared for the strength of such an attack. Norma staggered aside, a small gash now open on the side of her head from the blow.

“You bitch!” Norma hissed at having her face injured.

“Takes one to know one,” said Fluttercruel who dropped down on Norma and forced her on the ground.

“Hold on tight, girl!” Applejack didn’t waste a step and charged once again, intent on delivering one more devastating blow. But Norma was not going to allow it to happen again—once was bad enough. With her body glowing, Norma managed to unleash a strong pulse of magic that not only knocked Fluttercruel off her back, but also knock Applejack away. Though she managed to land on her feet, Applejack’s knees still buckled slightly from the weight of the landing.

Dammit… nowhere near where I want to be… Even if the creatures were not as strong as the other prisoners, their sheer numbers were a different story. With all that she’d fought, Applejack—and for that matter, probably the others—were nowhere near their top form. But from the looks of it, Norma was not in the same boat as they were. But Applejack wouldn’t let herself quit now, so Applejack rose to her feet once again.

“Seems you’re reaching your limits,” said Norma. Even with their numbers, Norma could feel it. Each were pushing themselves past their collective exhaustion. As the battle continued to rage on, the stress on their bodies would only continue to build up until they collapse.

Whether or not they were willing to let it happen was up for debate, however. They’d all come too far just to let it all end now.

So once more, they made their charge, Rarity blasting Norma from a distance while the others drew in closer. Fluttercruel swung her mace, only for it to be avoided. Norma then delivered a hard kick to her side. Rainbow then flew into Norma, ramming into her with great speed, but Norma held on. Grabbing hold of Rainbow she then flipped the pegasus and slammed her on the ground. This was followed by Norma bringing her foot down. Luckily, though, Rainbow managed to roll out of the way just in time.

Norma then noticed someone had closed in beside her. Quickly turning, she saw who it was—Pinkie. Norma paused for a moment, the pink party pony simply standing there with a smile on her face.

“And just what do you have in store for me?” she wondered.

Pinkie did not say a word in response, simply raising her hand and revealing what she was holding: a joy buzzer.

Norma stared at the foal’s toy in Pinkie’s hand with amusement, which soon changed to outright laughter. “And just what could a little trinket like that possibly—“

Pinkie suddenly slammed her palm on Norma’s chest, the button on the buzzer being pressed down. And in that moment, Norma felt several hundred volts of electricity flow through her. Needless to say, it hurt, and Norma’s body went stiff from the voltage flowing through her. It was the perfect opening for Rarity, who managed to blast Norma with a direct hit.

“Never thought I’d see a joy buzzer do that,” said Rarity. Pinkie stared down at it with a disapproving expression. Though the times called for something like that, seeing something she made cause direct harm to another living creature was still a hard sight, no matter how much it was deserved. But she had no time to dwell on it. Norma was already standing up once more.

“Well now, you’re all just full of surprises, aren’t you?” Norma chuckled, “Sadly, it’s all for naught.”

Norma’s body began to glow once again, any wounds that they’d managed to give her seemingly fading away. Even the gash on her face had healed up, the only evidence it was there at all some dried blood on the side of her head.

“Anything you can do to me may as well be a scrape compared to my healing ability. And as you are, none of you have the punch needed to deal any real damage.”

“Care to wager on that?”

The ground began to rumble, as though massive steps were being made. From the distance, everyone saw something making its charge towards Norma. She turned around and instantly saw the size of her opposition. Using her magic, she formed a shield around herself, only to watch it be smashed to pieces. This was followed by a strong tail swipe which knocked her to the far off wall.

“Well, look who finally decided to show up!” called out Rainbow as she flew up next to John. The latter rubbed the back of his head and let out a sigh.

‘Sorry, didn’t want to waste too much stamina getting here, so I walked, but it looks like you all held your own pretty well without me,” John then turned to one of their members who was still unable to stand, against the far wall…

“You look like hell, Corey,” John noted.

“Look who’s…talking…” Corey coughed a bit, John merely chuckling in response. He turned his sights to Norma, the others gathering beside him. Norma counted them all. Twilight was close to Corey, and the others stood by her, ready to battle.

“Finally,” Norma said, “After all this time, we all finally meet face to face. No messages, no projections, flesh and blood. This is what we all wanted, is it not, to finally settle this game, to finally face the one who started it all?”

If ever there was a time when they’d agreed with Norma, that was the moment. Everything they’d done since the game’s start had lead up to that moment, and it had finally arrived. From the looks of it, everyone had the same, singular goal in mind. That was what they’d always held on to their hearts, to give it their all, to see it through to the end and finally end the game once and for all. The same could be said for Norma, her hands glowing with magic as her smile grew wider. It had all lead to this, the pinnacle of the entertainment she craved.

“The final battle, the ever looming question of who shall win, the uncertainty that floats around us!” Norma’s magic flared, its strength felt by all those around her. But they weren’t fazed—they knew she had power and they were prepared for it. So with both sides ready, there was only one thing left to say.

“Take her down!”

On command, everyone charged towards Norma. Norma’s first move was to break them apart, slamming her fists into the ground and sending out a shockwave. Everyone split up to avoid it, but never looked away from Norma. Two of them, however, continued their charge, John and Rainbow closing in on Norma side-by-side.

Rainbow threw a kick towards Norma’s head, Norma able to duck in time to avoid it. She then turned to John who was preparing his own attack. Just as he brought his fists down, Norma manipulated the floor and formed a wall around her. John’s fists had little trouble smashing through, but Norma had a moment of concealment which she used to dive away from him. John turned to her again, but it was too late. Norma created two pillars of stone which shot towards him. John put up his guard as the pillar hit him, the stone pushing him away as a result.

The others pressed forward, each charging towards Norma, hoping to make even the slightest bit of difference in the battle. And with everyone else fighting, Corey could only watch, and it did not sit well with him.

Twilight heard something shifting behind her, and she turned—sure enough, there he was, trying to stand up.

“Corey, no!” Twilight said, placing her hands on his shoulders, but he still tried to rise. Even though he was in so much pain, all but broken, he didn’t want to stay down.

“I… I have to try…” Corey said, “Everyone… everyone is fighting so—“ Corey coughed hard, immediately falling the rest of the way to the ground again, letting out a muffled curse as he faceplanted. He just couldn’t accept this—that he had reached his limits, unable to do anything but watch his friends put themselves in harm’s way. This wasn’t what he wanted—he wanted to fight by them. That’s what he’d spent the last month pushing himself so hard for.

“You have to believe in them, Corey, you’ve done more than enough already! Now, it’s our turn! Just watch, we’ll show you what we can do together!”

Corey did trust them, there was no doubt about that. But that only made it harder for him to have to sit on the sidelines and watch, to be able to do nothing. From the looks of it, though, Corey hardly had a choice in the matter, no matter how much he wished otherwise.

So, watch on, he did. With every action, every attack, and every counter, Corey watched carefully. Deep in his mind, Corey couldn’t help but wonder.

If there existed even the slightest chance of it… was there a way for him to rejoin the fight?

Author's Note

I am not sure what else I can say at this point, really, in the author's notes that I haven't already said before.