For a Phoenix Feather

The sun was just dipping below the horizon as he knocked on the main door of the castle. He stood waiting for a few moments, then knocked again a bit more firmly. He could hear a muffled voice calling out from the other side, "I'm coming! I'm coming, sheesh." The door opened, and he blinked several times to verify he was not seeing things. "What, you never seen a dragon before?" the short purple drake asked.

Vermillon smiled and shook his head. "No, you're the first. I'd heard Princess Twilight kept a dragon around, but the stories always seemed to make you seem more... intimidating, I suppose."

The little dragon rolled his eyes before remembering his manners, and invited him inside. "Court's already over for the day, but if you're here to see the library, it stays open a while later. She's probably in there late again..." he finished, muttering the last bit.

Vermillion just smiled. "Well, if I happen to see her I'll be sure to show her the proper respect, and she might be able to help me with a bit of research."

The dragon giggled a bit at that. "Be careful what you wish for. You get her involved in research and you might never leave!" Vermillion nodded as his guide pointed him in the direction of the library and went about his business elsewhere. It was a short trot until he turned into the library and stopped in his tracks.

When he had heard the stories about Princess Twilight Sparkle being a scholar, it made sense. He had filed the title “bookworm” under rumors and the usual satire that ponies liked to employ. Looking at the rows of titles he could hardly number and the sea of books levitating around the far end of the chamber, he could safely say it was an accurate assessment of the princess. The bookshelves were at least two stories tall, each filled to capacity with tomes of every description. This collection rivaled the royal archives in Canterlot!

Even as his hooves clipped against the crystal flooring, he remained unnoticed. He could not precisely spot the princess in whatever alcove she had occupied, and noticing that there was a ledger and the other necessities of a public library, he felt safe in perusing the books on his own for the time being. He used the guide chart posted by the main desk to locate the sections related to enchantment and binding. A short canter found him turning down an aisle of crystal shelves until he was surrounded by books. He carefully slid the ladders on each side to the end of the cases. Evidently the library had been constructed or modified with all manner of visitors in mind. Useful, but he was fairly confident his magic would do the trick.

He spent several minutes sifting through titles before he heard a book leave a shelf overhead. He watched it float down the aisle and around the corner, encased in lavender magic he assumed belonged to the princess. She evidently knew where every book was and could summon them at will. Sweet sisters, that's impressive, he thought. He turned his attention back to his task, but grew frustrated as none of the books he checked were remotely close to what he needed. This is why I never bother with public libraries, he fumed internally. He only paused as a book detailing old guard enchantments caught his eye, and he pulled it from the shelf and cracked in open. Just as he was getting into it, he heard the familiar hum of a telekinesis spell from the bookshelf directly behind him, and he had enough time to turn and face the magenta-glowing tome as it slapped him in the face, eliciting a yelp and knocking him flat on his flanks.

The sudden flow of books and parchment around the room dropped to the floor and the rapid clip of hooves on crystal signalled the approach of the library’s other occupant. He was still rubbing his nose as she stepped into the end of the aisle and he caught his first close look at Equestria’s youngest princess. Her lavender fur was slightly matted from hours sitting in the library, and while her mane could use a good brushing the deep purple strands were flowing and silky.Her violet eyes watched him with concern, and held a rare spark of curiosity and intelligence that made focusing on her panicked words of apology difficult. He shook his head and, having realized she was becoming worked up that she had knocked a stranger upside the head, he quickly interjected, “It’s alright! I’m fine, princess, please relax.”

“I’m so sorry! I was just busy finishing my research on the quantifiable properties of latent magic shifts caused by the local emotional distortions of ponies…”

“Princess.”

“...and wanted to get it done by tomorrow so I could send my findings to Celestia so she could review it before I sent it to the academies and…”

“Princess Sparkle.”

“...it has to be perfect so I was re-correlating my findings with the historical data but found inconsistencies in their collection methods…”

“Twilight!”

That finally caught her attention and her gaze, which had lost focus, snapped back to the unicorn that was sitting on the ground. “Relax, princess. I’m fine, you’re fine, no harm done.” He smiled softly. “No worries, okay? You weren't expecting anypony in the library this late. It’s my fault for not letting you know I was here.” The alicorn took a deep breath, then released it while extending a hoof. She finally returned his smile.

“Well, still, I’m sorry. You’re right about not many ponies coming here that late. You’d think they would appreciate the value of books more.” She helped him back onto his hooves. “And don’t worry about the whole princess thing. I’m just Twilight to my friends.” Her smile was warm and accepting, with just a bit of bookish innocence. Vermillion was definitely not on the verge of blushing. Nope, definitely not.

“Well then, er, Twilight,” he tried, which seemed to please the royalty before him, “I’m Vermillion Prose, Canterlot Royal Guard Reserve.” He nearly saluted, but his lazy half reminded him, “But right now I’m on vacation, of a sorts, so… yeah.” He grinned sheepishly. She peered at the book he had been reading, and her eyes seemed to sparkle a bit.

“Enchantments? Did you come here to learn new magic? Oh! I know I have that project but I need some reference materials from Canterlot before I can continue, so I’d love to help you with new magic! Were you trying to learn new shield spells? Or maybe a tricky one like the warding blade?” He could already tell she was becoming engrossed by the thought of magic lessons. Best to grab her focus again. He chuckled, filing away the tidbit that the best way to entertain the princess was the discussion of magic.

“That would be amazing, but that was actually a bit of a distraction…” She looked at him quizzically. “I came to this section looking for information on other enchantment types. Actually, er… dark magic and artifacts particularly.” He could see the suspicion clouding her features already. “Before you ask me if I’m trying to learn it myself, no, I’m not. I want to be able to counter it.” He quickly devised a cover of sorts for his inquiry. “I’m a guard, so there’s no telling what I’ll encounter, and this isn't something we’re specifically trained to handle. I want to be able to overcome that sort of magic if one of my friends is in danger.” That seemed to get her support. She nodded slowly, her suspicion lessened but still present.

“Well, of course you won’t find books on that here.You think it would be a good idea for just anypony to get their hooves on dark magic?” He resisted the urge to facehoof. He had simply hoped there would be some generic material on dispelling or countering enchantments he could use. “Now I can’t just teach you that sort of thing, so I need to know for a fact that you won’t use anything I teach you to hurt somepony.” She looked Vermillion square in the eye. He nodded, and readied his magic, reaching for his sword…

Only to remember he had left it back at Twisted’s house since they were going into town. He groaned inwardly. “Well, I was going to make an oath on my sword, but I left that back at the house of the friend I’m staying with while I’m in town…” he said with a slight slump. “What can I do that will show how genuine I am?”

“Pinkie Promise,” she stated. The stallion quirked an eyebrow.

“Pinkie promise? Like, Pinkie Pie, the party mare?” He was thoroughly confused.

“Yes. Nopony can break a Pinkie Promise without her knowing. You break it, she’ll know, and then I’ll know. It might even set off her Pinkie Sense.” The cerebral mare image was fast fading with the nonsense she was providing him, but everypony has their quirks, he supposed.

“So what would a ‘Pinkie Promise’ entail?” He asked. He was then demonstrated the proper technique and phrasing. It was a foal’s promise if he’d ever seen one, but given that it was developed by a companion of the princess of friendship, he supposed it held more weight than he realized. Plus, even with his limited exposure to the pink absurdity, he was not about to deny the possibility that Pinkie Pie possessed some inexplicable powers.

With the accompanying gestures, he proceeded to recite his promise to the princess. “I promise I will use the knowledge you share with me and the things you teach me to help and defend other ponies. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” The princess then nodded and smiled, satisfied. She looked out of the library windows, however, drawing Vermillion’s attention as well. He scratched his chin for a moment. “Well, it might be best if we pick this up tomorrow. Would that be alright with you, Twilight?”

“Absolutely! Come by whenever you’re free and I’ll teach you whatever you’d like to know.” She said with a look of anticipatory glee. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun! It’s been too long since somepony wanted to learn new magic from me! Where are you staying in Ponyville? I can make your trip home a bit faster.” Vermillion smiled happily and nodded his appreciation.

“That’d be awesome, Twilight. I’m staying with Twisted Ribbon out by the Everfree. She’s a great host and… an old friend.” She seemed to notice the slight pause in his speech, but chose not to question it. Everypony has something private, so she would not pry.

“She’s a sweet pegasus, but I don’t see her too often when I’m out and about in Ponyville. I think I remember where her house is, but I might be a little bit off.” She began muttering just audibly, as her horn lit up. “...adjust for drift… include margin for error and adjust the correction matrix… and…. there! Alright, see you tomorrow, Vermillion!”

“Wait what are you…” There was an audible pop, a dizzying sensation of displacement, and nearly blinding flash, and he found himself absent from Twilight’s castle.

“...doing?” he finished as he rematerialized next to the shower, occupied by a bathing Twisted.

Oh buck me, he thought.

Several minutes earlier.

The night was closing in on the two as she and Discord moved through the forest, the small bits of sunlight peeking in. While wary of his companion he poked fun at her, "So your boyfriend seems nice." he cooed.

The grey mare rolled her eyes with a smile, "Yes... Well... He's an old friend and while he's here I'd like him to enjo-" she yawned heavily, covering her mouth with her hoof, "e-enjoy... himself." she shook her head to try and shake the drowsiness from her head. But to no avail.

As they came up to the doorstep Discord gave a bow and a goodnight before disappearing and leaving her alone. She smiled a little, heading upstairs to her room to get ready for bed before a ache in her back made it prominent that a shower was needed. She then enjoyed several minutes in the shower before she was interrupted.

The loud pop heard startled her, her wings fluffing up and scattering water as she looked over at the door, "Dissy?" She asked softly, her wings slowly standing down against her sides as she opened the door. A dark blush ran to her cheeks as she stared at the face of her long lost friend, her mane hanging over her blue eye and around her shoulders heavily as the water poured over her.

"V-V-Ver-- What are you doing in here?!" She stammered, her wings folding around her even though there was really... nothing to see. I mean she walked around practically "naked" everyday, but still... There was something almost violating about being seen in the shower.

Vermillion blinked a couple times, mind racing to come up with a suitable response. However, his mouth beat his brain to the punch with the first thing it came up with.

"Uh... I'm home?" His grin was one part sheepish, one part apologetic, and three parts mischief that he desperately hoped she would not notice. "So yeah. Teleportation is... fun? Twilight really needs to work on her aim, though."

At the mention of Twilight her eyes darkened, the mare stepping out of the shower as her eyes narrowed, "You went to see the Princess...? Why?" She voice was almost hurt, the metallic clang against the marble sounding as her talisman hit the ledge of the shower, then the floor, though it did not seem active yet.

Why would he visit Twilight? She trusted him! Did he rat her out? So many thoughts ran through her panicked mind but first and foremost was to try to keep her emotions under control; if it caught wind there was not much of a possibility he would survive.

"Whoah! Relax, TR, I just went to the library and bumped into her. Er, well, she bumped into me, more like. With a book. Hit me right upside the head with it." He rubbed his face again. Tonight was going swell. "She was doing some research project and clocked me a good one with a book from the aisle I was in. I didn't talk to her about you. All I said was that I was staying with you while I'm in Ponyville. She offered to get me home faster and didn't seem to remember exactly where you lived, so that explains the... interesting location I popped up at when she cast the teleport spell." He took a moment to make sure he was not about to be hit for the second time by a mare tonight. "I'll just be learning a few new spells while I'm staying here. Seemed a shame to pass up the opportunity. Not like you literally get bumped into by royalty every day."

What the hay was going on with her? She did not usually just jump friends like this, so why now? "Vermillion, I..." She paused, glancing over at her reflection in the fogged up mirror. Something was... off. She knew he was here on vacation and would leave soon so she needed to just get through this week without an incident. Explaining the disappearance of a Royal Guard would not be easy and the guilt would probably kill her.. So she needed to keep this in check.

She looked down a bit before sighing and looking up at him. "Sorry... I've just been a little moody from the nightmares..." She rubbed her eyes softly and turned back to the running water. "I'm gonna finish my shower then I'll be in for bed. Sorry for jumping you again." She gave a weak smile before she shut the door of the shower behind her.

He stood there for several moments, contemplating the situation before heading to the bedroom. He was just about to lie down to think some things over when he heard another pop of teleportation. He carefully returned to the bathroom and checked the floor, where the book of old guard enchantments lay on the floor with a note.

It read: "You forgot your book! -TS"

He smiled as he picked it up and brought it with him back to the bed. As he lay down, he cracked it open and began to idly flip through the pages until he noticed a bookmarked page. He flipped to it and his eyes widened a bit. "You sly mare..." He studied the next few pages intently as he waited for Twisted to finish and join him.

After a few minutes she came out, a towel draped over her head and her wings spread out as she tried to air dry them. She walked around the room, flicking a lamp on before turning the overhead light off and settling down at her desk to dry herself. She remained silent as she shook the liquid from her wings and rubbed the towel over her head before she heaved a soft sigh, "So uhm... what's the plan?"

Vermillion tore his gaze away from his new project, as he like to think of it, to look at Twisted. He was definitely not starting at the wet mane, nope. He somehow managed to maintain a straight face, saying, "What plan? I have a book, I have a bed, I'll read until I'm asleep. Unless you have a better idea...?" He raised an eyebrow and the corner of his mouth quirked upwards.

She felt heat touch her cheeks though her towel did a pretty good job at hiding it, "I meant for tomorrow, ya perv." She smirked softly, brushing her tail out and braiding it to keep it from matting again. It had a superb way of matting if she did not care for it carefully. Part of her wanted to just cut it off.

She yawned softly as she hung the towel over the back of her chair and went to brush out her mane, her eyes glancing over at him idly before returning back to the floor, "When do you leave for Canterlot again?"

"A week and a half," he replied. "And I have no idea what I'm doing tomorrow. I really don't know much about what goes on in Ponyville. Kinda the new guy in town, remember?" he added cheekily. "But I'm not really big into tours and random wandering. I like to go somewhere for a reason and find things to really do. But if all else fails, we can go on a picnic or something. It'd be nice to see the area around here that isn't the Everfree."

She nodded before pulling her mane back with a ponytail and turning off the light, the sound of her hooves thumping softly against the wood before he felt the warmth of his companion next to him. It did not take much for her to pass out next to him, though her presence seemed duller than usual.

A thought that came to mind as he heard her breathing next to him was whether the princess was just blocked off because of Twisted or because of the talisman, or both? Would the night bring nightmares?

He quietly ruminated on that possibility, then a thought occurred to him. He spent the next hour awake, his eyes slowly growing bleary as he practically crammed the details of casting the particular spell that had been marked. After he felt he got the mechanics down, he wandered over to his sword and cast an simple blunting enchantment on it. He tested the new spell on it, getting used to the nuances of it, and after several attempts was satisfied that he could cast it, and if necessary ramp up the amount of magic he could put into it. He returned to bed, placing the book on the stand next to him and getting comfortable, quickly joining his friend in slumber.

Though the night seemed to go off without a hitch, the next morning was heralded by a loud banging on the door that startled the mare next to him into a dazed and drowsy stupor. "Wha, hmm...? C-Comin’..." she mumbled as she got out of bed and headed downstairs, using the wall as a balance as her legs slowly woke up. From what she could tell the sun was barely peeking over the mountains as she opened the door and looked up at a large and muscular brown stallion with a black, messy mane.

She looked up at him for a moment before her eyes widened. "C-C-Cain.. What brings you all the way out here?!" She stammered, a dark blush coating her cheeks as she patted down her messy mane. Apparently she had been tossing and turning all night from the look of it.

"Uh, I came to apologize."

The mare stared at him silently, awestruck that those words left the stallions mouth. Him? Apologize? "Uh, I think you lost me."

He let out a irritated grunt as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I shouldn't have run off like that even though you yelled at me. Horror said I should apologize so... Yeah."

Figures Horror set him up.

Vermillion groggily rose from the bed after Twsited left, the sun hitting his eyes again and making him growl in frustration. One of these days, princess, he thought, I'll get you to dim that overgrown torch you call a sun. He rinsed up a bit and headed downstairs after her, calling out as he rounded the corner, "Hey TR, what did you want for break...fast?" He noticed the other stallion in the doorway, and, in his numb morning state, simply opted for a default reaction. "Oh. Hey."

The stallion frowned a bit and his eyes narrowed at the other stallion in the room before he returned back to Twisted, "I'm interrupting something I see." He rolled his eyes, "This was stupid in the first place." He heaved a small grunt before turning and heading down the sidewalk to the path back into town.

"Cain it's not-" She sighed, shaking her head and shutting the door. Well that figures.. "Geez he's got impeccable timing..." she grumbled, sitting on the doormat with her back against the door. It just bucking figured he would show up. She shook her head again before looking up at her company with a weak smile, "Sorry about that. So what about breakfast?"

He gave her a concerned look. "Is he a problem, or was he here for something I messed up? If this is important, breakfast can wait. Or we can invite him to breakfast. Whatever works," he offered.

She shook her head and walked over to him, "Nah.. He's just.. a ‘friend’ of mine." She sighed and headed into the kitchen to make up some coffee. "He's not the social type. But honestly we did go to school with him back in the day believe it or not. Do you remember Cain and Abel? They were unicorn brothers who went to school with us. Cain had a crooked horn?"

Come to think of it Cain protected her to when she was a filly... But why did he remain in her memory but Vermillion did not. It just did not make sense.

"I'm a little fuzzy on the recall. I generally kept to myself or the better friends I made. Seriously, worst part of school in Canterlot is the number of jocks and snobs who liked giving everypony else a hard time," he said, shaking his head slightly. "If they weren't into magical studies, or scifi and fantasy I probably didn't see much of them." He rolled his neck, feeling it pop a couple of times as he stretched. "In any case, I'm feathering hungry. I think some cereal is in order. Quick, filling, and I get to be lazy!" he stated as he began trotting towards the kitchen.

She chuckled softly and settled down on the couch. "Feel free to raid my pantry!" she called over the back of it as she pulled the couch blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around herself. Whether the awakening was rude or not was up for grabs but it did not change the fact that it was unwelcome. By the time Vermillion came back around the corner the mare was fast asleep again, her mane in her face and the triangle laying loosely on the ground.

Though it seemed harmless enough, one thing had been consistently changing with it: the length of its rope. It had been so subtle before, hardly anyone would have noticed it, but when she had come downstairs it dragged on the floorboards, even now.. It simply seemed to rest on the floor without the smallest hint of it bothering or choking Twisted. Any other time it was close to her chest or even her knees but never this low. Did it... sleep?

Surprised his recently awakened mind was capable of processing such details, he happily stored that nugget of information away. He also guessed it might relate to her own level of activity. It seemed most active when she was stressed or emotionally distraught, and least active when resting or calm. That begged the question: which came first at night, her nightmares or its magic? Too many questions, not enough answers.

Assuming it was essentially dormant or such, it was a decent opportunity. He had made it a personal rule long ago: if you're going to do something stupid, make sure nopony was around or awake to catch you. He sat down on the floor next to the couch and performed his simple meditation routine to clear his mind. Then he focused purely on his magical senses, sights, sounds, and smells fading to the back of his awareness as he reached out. His horn glowed softly with his blue magic, and he brushed his energy lightly across the talisman, wary of any reaction.

Though nothing seemed to happen at first, the room felt darker, a soft pulse echoing off of the thing and surrounding him in a darkness he could not place. It remained still as did Twisted through this, but the chill remained.

Well this is... different, he thought. He channeled more magic into his sensing and ‘felt’ the magic trapped within the artifact. It was similar to the aura Discord left with his magic, but Discord's felt neutral. Not good or evil, just a fact, jumbled and chaotic as the mind of its caster. This felt jagged, aggressive, almost predatory. It was chaos, yes, but chaos with dark intent. Now for the stupid part.

He recalled the fight with the wolves and the rush, the feeling of threat, that guilty thrill he experienced every time he fought, and let it touch the talisman, focusing his magic like a siphon so it would affect him more than Twisted. At least, that was his hope.

There was almost a chuckle as a violent rush ran through his horn and ‘zapped’ his heart and mind. Twisted flinched softly, pulling the blanket around her muzzle softly as her wings shifted uneasily. Her unease was just. The feelings rushing through him, through his magic, almost made his stomach flip with anticipation, but more importantly... It made him crave the blood of any and all enemies, pony or creature alike. In this state if someone disagreed with him he would probably pound their face in.

While his own heart was pure he felt an almost... crushing sensation surround it and grip it tightly, as if it was trying to rip that purity from him and destroy it. It was unlike anything he had felt before his trip and though he did not intend it, a sick, twisted smirk crossed his lips. He wanted nothing more than to take whatever he wanted. No matter who he hurt, he was a loyal and just knight, so why should he not get what he wanted?

That simple, kindhearted part of Vermillion cried out vainly as his darker urges returned with a vengeance. His psyche clashed with the influence as it awakened his fury. How dare it violate his mind? How dare it try and hijack his power? His magic intensified, the sensing spell turning to telekinesis and gripping the triangle with crushing force. If he was going to hurt anyone, he would be the one to do it, not some trinket. He would win, and the rewards of victory would be his and his alone.

He almost cared enough to try and stop it. Almost. But then, the years of his youth in exclusion, the cruel words of ignorant peers, and his old desire to be the best resurfaced. The arrogance he had molded into pride returned. His controlled temper boiled into self-righteous fury. He had buried his desire to excel, to be superior, because it had made him selfish and uncaring. He had wanted to become a better pony for others, but that had not worked so well, now had it? Had he been in his right mind, he might have noticed the faint sound of straining metal.

There was a violent scream as he hit the ground, hard. The grey mare looked down at him, her hooves dug into his shoulders as the agonizing ache in his left definitely felt like she had either broken it or at the very least dislocated it. Her body was shaking, a dark gold ring encircling her pupil as she raised her hoof, smashing it down on his chest as her wings spread wide. Defense mechanism or not, the mare was a lot stronger than she looked.

There it was again. The dark chuckle that rang in his ears as it taunted him and his failure.

Unfortunately, he had felt the presence recede its control over him. Instead, it just left all the upturned darkness in his own heart at the helm. This bitch was going to start a fight when he wanted to help? Fine, buck this, buck her! His magic shockwaved outwards, flipping the nearby table and sending Twisted over the couch, the furniture following her. Another surge of magic and a ragged, furious cry reset his shoulder, his raging emotions amplifying the simple battlefield healing spell to give him full function back. He could still taste the lingering chaos with his mind and the taste left him livid. Twisted had righted herself and was lunging back over the couch, slamming face first into a shield far less cushioning and elastic than his usual fare. It made a brick wall feel kind. His irises were glowing iridescent cerulean as his magic flowed far more freely than he ever allowed.

She used the shield as a bounce board, her wings opening as she dodged his magic shots, landing another couple strikes to his face, her smirk only pissing him off even more. "What's wrong, still a failure?!" she snapped, and though it was not clear who had said it, her or the talisman, in his current state of mind it would only prove their undoing.

She shot at him, her speed being her upper-hand in this since he could only remain on the ground for the time being.

This would be the moment where he would smirk triumphantly had he been in his right mind. However, not being in his most coherent state, and having taken a few blows to his face from the mare's uncannily accurate swings, he opted to simply snarl as she impacted into him. His superior mass and planted stance kept him from moving more than a few inches, and he proceeded to hook his neck around hers and sweep out her forelegs. She used her wings to compensate, gaining lift and slamming her head upwards into his jaw, which only retained its integrity and teeth because he had braced in readiness for that move. As he put his weight down on her in an effort to pin her to the floor, she put her lithe nimbleness to use to try and worm free. Sick of the fight already, Vermillion put his guard training to use and put his magic to work, hard. Her wing was encased in magic and painfully wrenched into a hold, twisted to the edge of its flexibility, causing the pegasus to scream in fury and pain. She writhed and beat him with any limb he could not secure, but his eyes were drawn to a glint in the corner of the room.

His sword lay in its sheath where he had set it down, and his eyes settled upon it with vicious intent for a moment, until the oath of moment inscribed under the grip returned to his memory.

Two parts of him went to war in that moment. It lasted but seconds, but in his mind it was a drawn own struggle, until his noble intents found harmony with his vicious instincts and agreed upon a solution they had both planned upon.

In moments he assembled the mental constructs necessary for the spell. His logical, noble mindset crafted the spell matrix he had worked so hard to memorize quickly, while his primal half rammed all the raw power into the hex as possible. His sword flew from its sheath, a beacon of brilliant azure light, and hovered, point down, over Twisted as she rolled to face him. Her pupils shrunk to pinpricks and her struggles tripled, the talisman coming to a rest on the floor next to her neck.

With a definitive cry, Vermillion slammed the sword down...

...and the blade passed through the framework of the talisman, the blade's edges scraping the black metal, sending brilliant blue sparks into the air as the spell was unleashed. There was a dull implosion as the spell did its work, every ounce of magic flowing from both sword and talisman extinguished by the hexbreaker.

Vermillion's eyes returned to normal as his magical reserves finally gave out, and he drew in ragged breaths as he recovered from once more abusing his magic. He felt nauseous, his head was killing him, and the light from the windows was far too bright. Still, he looked down into the eyes of the mare he had been fighting, his concern finally overpowering the fury.

She felt the tears first.. Being thrown back into her own consciousness and staring up at the stallion what was causing her pain. But.. it was not him. The young colt glared down at her, his wooden sword pointed directly at her before he, and some other ponies who, in this vision, had no face, pulled him off of her. He had a couple of bad bruises and cuts from where assumedly she had hit him over and over before he took the defensive. But... why was this just coming back now?

She froze, her thrashing slowing as the talisman screeched in.. pain? She could only assume as she was brought back to the present in her mind's eye by a unbearable pain in her stomach. She winced, shoving him off of her as the rebound hit her insides with a violent sweep and she got sick all over her living room floor, staining the rug in red. She shook violently as she felt the dark magic surge through her and the talisman that was struggling to repair itself even with the blade still implanted firmly ‘inside’ it.

She felt the iron taste fill her mouth and a cold sweat cross her body before she looked helplessly up at the stallion "Take it... out," She gasped, the golden ring flickering vividly in her eyes though he could not be sure who was asking, her or the talisman.

Sweet sisters, what kind of magic was he dealing with here? That spell was supposed to cancel out all magic it came in contact with. For powerful enchantments, it would only cut them off temporarily, but whatever infused the black metal was merely stunted. He saw the tears, then the blood, and immediately realized that despite his best hopes, hurting the damn talisman hurt her, too. With a frustrated snarl he ripped the sword free and stumbled backwards, the sword flipping over the sofa to land somewhere amid the clutter of the fight. Damn it all, that was supposed to give her some time with it dormant, at least.

Still a failure?

Internally he was raging against himself, but instincts took over. He immediately began casting a healing spell on Twisted, his head surging as he did. He focused as hard as he could on stopping any bleeding, and voided his breakfast for the effort. He barely finished casting as he collapsed to the floor, breathing in deep, desperate breaths as his consciousness constricted. He coughed violently from all the abuse, but managed to turn his head to face Twisted. He could taste blood.

She moved over to him her eyes going back to normal for now as the sound of creaking metal started grating against their ears. Her eyes widened a bit as a choked noise came from her. The talisman was not simply on a rope around her neck anymore.

The grey mare settled next to him and nuzzled his cheek softly. This just was not her week... She gently rested her head around his neck and onto his back in a soft form of comfort and closed her eyes. She was exhausted and knew he needed some rest. Through the movement he felt it. Cold and hard beneath her bandana. From the blurred glance he got before fading into black was a shackle with a glowing gold triangle, fixed and almost smirking at him from beneath the maroon cloth.

Comforted by her presence and the knowledge that she was back to normal, he let slip his last thought as he passed out, staring unblinkingly at what he could see of the cursed black triangle.

"One day... I'll destroy you... piece of shit..." he mumbled as he lay limply on the floor.

A quick examination showed the beginnings of bruises, and his shoulder was rapidly swelling, but he was otherwise intact. He let out a ragged snore as he transitioned into proper sleep.

As he fell asleep she looked down at the damage she had done, her own consciousness slipping as she rested her chin on his shoulder. It was not long before she was out, a few tears streaking darkly down her fur and gently landing on his.

As it occurred, this unconsciousness was not a normal one for him. Vermillion found himself face to face with the navy blue mare once more, her concern and almost frustration plastered all over her muzzle as she looked down at him, "Ah. The knight."

Vermillion glared. "With all due respect," he began, his voice indicating otherwise, "I'm not in the mood for this, princess. If you've got something useful for me, spit it out. I have a feeling you know more about what's goin on than I do and, being this close to the action, it is really vexing to be operating blind." He conjured a dream lounger, his sword, and a whetstone. He sat and fumed at the blade as he sharpened the already keen blade and let the princess make the next move.

The princess took a deep breath and sighed, her own temper flaring a bit, though she knew it would accomplish nothing. "We need to know what it is. The thing that prevents us from entering this "Twisted Ribbon's" dreams. We first noticed the block after Twilight Sparkle helped us get back on our destined path as Princess of the Night. Try as we may, it never released. Even now." She moved around behind him, watching his sword with a unusual softness, "I see you have fought with her. So then, what was it you were fighting with? Perhaps we can be of assistance..?"

"It's the same thing blocking your dream walking. I've learned this much. It's some form of chaos magic, and before you go hunting down Discord, he's not the problem. He's as frustrated by it as I was." He used 'was' because frustrated no longer covered the spectrum of emotions involved for him at this point. "I already spent some time with him, and as far as I can tell, D is on the level. Never thought I'd say that," he muttered. "It's also hostile to outside influence, and increases its influence the more it or the bearer are interfered with. A hexbreaker didn't cut it off, even temporarily, but did seem to... hurt it, I guess." He paused in the soothing, rythmic motion of sharpening that helped him reach a calm point and think. "It also hijacks the host's will whenever it feels threatened, regardless of the host's wishes, and harming the damn thing harms the host. It's old magic, highness, even by Discord’s estimates." He turned to the princess of the night. "I want to help." She could see fury in his eyes, but also the beginning of tears. "But I'm just making it bucking worse."

As unusual and unexpected as it was, the princess put her wing over his shoulders and settled next to him, "We'll converse with the other princesses and see if any of them have any knowledge on a way to help." She looked down at him, her bright blue irises soft but focused, "We thank you for confiding in us. If it is as you say, she is in need of help and has been in danger of hurting others as well as herself and we cannot let this go unchecked.. You do know what we may have to ask you to do... yes?"

She could see a battle waged behind his eyes, a war between his duty to his oaths of service and his duty to support his friend. She was surprised however, when the tears dried and his muzzle quirked into a smirk.

"My dad told me a couple times I should have been a lawyer... by the oaths I swore I am to protect the subjects of Equestria against threats both from without and within. I'll protect her, I'll protect others from her, and I'll do my damndest to protect her from herself. You have other guards who can do the dirty work." He offered an apologetic grin. "I'm sorry if that's not exactly what you were looking for."

The princess stared at him before chuckling softly to herself, "Not exactly but... It also wasn't what we were getting at... If things don't improve, you may need to bring her to Canterlot for us to see her ourselves." She smiled softly as she got back to her feet, "We're confident our sister will agree that your new post shall be in Ponyville for now. We know you're on vacation there but until we decide what to do you may need to stay there. If it exceeds your present time there we'll give you an official note of movement."

Vermillion blinked a couple of times, his jaw working silently as he processed that information, earning an amused quirk of an eyebrow from the lunar princess. Eventually Vermillion formulated a response, smiling eagerly and offering a hoof as he proclaimed, "Well, alright, best boss ever! Up high!" The lunar princess looked shocked for a moment before smiling and completing the hoof bump. "So how exactly will I know this wasn't a dream when I wake up? I mean, as far as I know the only documentation says I'm on leave, not assignment." His expression darkened. "I really don't want to get stuck with an AWOL. Extra duty is..." he shuddered at the thought, the sound of cruel, military grade chuckling echoing through his thoughts comically, actually managing to manifest vaguely into the dreamscape.

"Okay, that's creepy."

Luna chuckled softly as she waved the noise away, "No, while you may or may not remember our chat, we will remember. We remember all of the subjects we help." She looked up as the room started going bright. "Looks like your body is waking. We'll be in touch."