At The End

The sound of hooves and claws scratching at the beautiful marble floor was all that I could bring myself to focus on as we rushed through the halls of the majestic palace. Charging headlong into the fray, several guards attempted to stop us. If either brave or just plain stupid, the bugs were no match for the magical wonder weapon who ran at my side.

I was not sure how she could ever gather such concentration at a time like this, but the way she was able to throw our enemies aside with such ease was actually quite frightening. More than once I had almost got caught, only to have Twilight appear with a bast of magic and the foe would be gone.

It made me understand why she felt guilty about Tomy… had she not been so afraid back then, maybe he too would still be here?

Outside, the bells were still tolling. I gave a silent prayer, hoping that the others would be able to complete their mission, and maybe help us take down Peacock if required.

XXX

The sound of thunder echoed throughout the palace. The tolling of bells rang through the air. The Changeling guards were quick to react, rushing to defend their ruler, all of them armed with spears that were once used by the royal guard.

Not for a moment did the Shadow seem phased. While not expecting such a commotion, maybe thinking that Twilight would allow herself to be taken into custody, she should have seen this coming. Too late now…

“Save yourselves.” The words carried through only a whisper. The drones turned to look at their ruler, their looks of confusion amongst themselves only made her repeat with a little more force.

“Save yourselves.”

“Your majesty…” One of the guards approached, her aid, Chitter said while bowing.

“You must fight back, the guards here are--” The look that he received made him freeze. Stepping back, the Shadow rose to full height, now diminished by the consumption of all the harmonious magic. Now a shell of the former tyrant, the vengeance magic moved slowly, crawling over its occupant like sickness. Nowhere near as potent as it had once been only a week before.

“Save yourselves before your Queen tries to reclaim you.” Moving through the room, the guards around its side, the Shadow opened the door and turned to the group amassed there.

“Go, before you end up having to face my wrath.” If there was suppose to be a growl in its voice, the drones didn’t react. Eventually, one by one, the drones left until only one remained… Chitter.

“I’m sorry your highness.” He said, before buzzing his wings and making his way to the corridor.

“Chitter.” The voice stopped him mid buzz as he turned to face his overlord.

“Go to the dungeons, free the prisoners. I believe they have suffered enough punishment at my hoof.”

“Yes, your highness.” With those single words, both parted ways, disappearing off and out of sight. Standing alone in the throne room, the Shadow could only await the end. There was no hope now, none at all.

“I’m coming home.”

XXX

Celestia and the remaining prisoners all jerked awake at the loud hammering from above. Faintly they could hear alarm bells toll, indistinct shouts from those beyond the dungeons. The guards who were standing watch over the prisoners bolted for their weapons and made their way for the door.

“What’s happening?” Shining Armour’s question rasped out from his corner in the cell. Still badly bruised from all of his beatings for information about the resistance, the young prince tried his best to adjust his position.

“I believe that Twilight may have returned.” Celestia moved over to the door to try and get a better view. She called out, hoping that somepony on the outside might hear her cries. She received no reply.

Moving back into the cell, she looked upon the residents of the cell with whom she had shared such a tight living space for the past few years.

“Sister, we should wait before trying anything.” Luna approached.

“We can’t break out of this cage without help from the outside?” Twilight Velvet croaked, looking up at Celestia with watery eyes.

“My daughter is out there, surely you have a way to open these cells from within?” She whimpered.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other almost in shame. More of despair than the latter. They had never conceived of an escape plan. A weak point somewhere in the dungeons because in all the time Canterlot had been in existence, neither Celestia nor Luna believed that they would be ever find themselves being held within their own prison.

Velvet seemed to choke as tears began to well up in her eyes as Nightlight joined her. Wrapping a leg around his wife, he held her as she slowly broke down before the group. Cadence moved with Shining as she too began to realised that they were trapped here without knowing when or if the rebellion outside would succeed.

“Then allow me your Majesties.”

Heads snapped to attention as a figure emerged from the gloom. Wings buzzing softly, Chitter moved over to the cell, key in hoof. The ponies moved back as the door swung open, all of them looking around wearily, waiting for the Shadow to pounce on them. No attack came, only Chitter who was standing in the doorway.

“Where is your Master, bug.” Luna spat, eyes narrowing.

“My orders were to release you. You are free to join your friends outside.” Moving to the stairs, the group watched as the Changeling began to ascend only to stop and look back at them in confusion.

“There is no trap, you are free to go.” He said, buzzing his wings once he took to the air, still looking at them.

“I’m sure Twilight will find you sooner or later either way.”

With those last words, Chitter flew off up the stairs, leaving the others to look at each other in wonder. With few tentative steps, Celestia and Luna emerged from the dungeon, the others following suit. Moving slowly up the stairs, they soon found themselves backing away as figures moved to block the door. All of them almost jumped as a light was shone into their faces and a gruff male voice spoke.

“Princess Celestia?” Lowering their heads slowly, Celestia tried to get a better look at their saviours. Descending the stairs, the pony spoke once more.

“My name is Mark, I’m here to rescue you.”

XXX

Had I’d known just how hard it would be to get to the throne room, I would have asked the others to come with us. But they had their jobs to do, and I had mine. I was still quite unsure of the plan as I and Twilight weaved through the halls towards the throne room.

Twilight suspected that the Shadow would still be there, I wasn’t so sure because that would be quite a bad position to hold up in. Especially if it had no back doors.

During our run through the halls, I began to notice that fewer and fewer enemies were presenting themselves to us. We passed some Castle staff hiding in a corner, cowering in fear from us. I paid them no attention as we charged through the hall. My heart was pounding in my chest as I tried to keep a steady pace. I was not yet still very accustomed to running on all fours. Had I put too much thought, I would have most likely tripped on my own paws and that would look terrible.

It would hurt too, but I do remember falling over myself quite a lot back on the Canal.

As we turned down one last corner, ahead I could make out two large wooden doors at the end of the hall. No guards were present at their posts. Coming to a stop, Twilight and I backed up to either side of the door. Breathing heavily, we shared a look, a nod was all that I could spare to ask if she was alright.

No words were spoken, there was no need. We knew the plan, Twilight would be my support. All I had to do was open a portal to hell and suck the evil pony creature back into the void. No mirror for an eventual escape this time.

With a check of my ammunition in my 45, a simple nod and we were on.

Pushing the doors open slowly, Twilight and I took a look pass the corner. Moving slowly I raised my hand gun high into position in front of me as I entered the trap.

While the interior corridors were bleak and seemed worst for wear due to neglect. The throne room on the other hand was even bleaker. All of the colours from the blues and reds were all gone, the lights were out, the stained glass windows seemed to have very little light coming in. The entire atmosphere seemed darker, more… oppressing.

“Welcome back Twilight!” A raspy voice echoed throughout the room. The doors behind us slammed shut, the banging echoing louder than the voice for the few moments that came. Then silence. I observed the room attentively, looking for a sign of an ambush. Twilight however, kept her eyes fixated on the thrones before us.

“Show yourself Shadow!” She exclaimed, still advancing towards the thrones at a slow but steady pace.

“And what If I don’t want to?” I stopped as my paw kicked something before me. A glass jar, emptied of its contents. I had not noticed when I first entered the room, but now my mouth clenched tight as I observed the hundreds upon hundreds maybe even thousands of glass jars scattered about the floor. Like the refuse of a beast who has just finished gorging itself on more and more of its primary food source.

“Then we’ll hunt you down, until we find you.”

“And who is the pony with you. Not one that I recognise, are you one of them?” I stayed put, Twilight only stopping as she realised that I had not joined her yet.

“Are you an emissary of Galaxia?” It clicked in my mind right then and there that she knew. She knew that Galaxia was behind all of this.

“I see myself as no emissary, to neither Galaxia nor my homeland.” I approached the thrones carefully joining Twilight at her side.

“So an emissary who is completely unaware? I doubt that very much!” The voice scoffed and with a the sound of a rushing wind, the black figure appeared behind us, blocking the path back to the doors.

“Yes, I doubt that Galaxia hasn’t told you what to do to me. She probably said that you were here to help save the little ponies from the big bad evil Shadow who couldn’t just learn to accept that life can be harsh sometimes.” Moving slowly towards us, I saw Twilight begin to falter at the sight of the advancing blackness. I gave her my best look of reassurance as the creature stopped about fifteen meters from us. This was my first time seeing the creature in its entirety, completely alien to anything I could have ever have believed. If only I had not met this creature once before hand, though that took place within Twilight’s mind so even then, my memory was quite fuzzy in terms of what the Shadow looked like. Now though, I understood why this being had been brought into existence. It may have been fuelled by nightmares, though I could only see the pony within. I could hear the pain, the sadness… the loss.

“It is over Peacock, you’re going back to where you came from. No longer will you hurt the ponies of Equestria or the creatures of Equus in general! Surrender now or we’ll banish you back to where you came from!” Twilight made her stand there. The dark mass turned slightly and watched Twilight with its piercing red eyes.

“You know nothing miss Sparkle, you don’t know what its like to lose your family all to the power of some insane mare with a desire to watch the world burn!” Huffing in annoyance, it turned away from us and moved towards the doors before coming to a halt.

“You should have attacked me while you had the chance.”

“Is that why you fear me, Plume?”

The question seemed to catch her completely off guard. The Shadow turned around to face us, or more likely, to face me.

“What did you say?”

“Your name was Plume Peacock. Your husband was Herringbone and your son was Peacock, you were once the wife of a loving husband. The mother of a promising young child.” I could almost feel Twilight’s shocked look from behind me. Having not truly believed that such a creature born out of hatred could possibly one of Galaxia’s prized students.

“I see that miss Sparkle wasn’t informed on this information.” The mass breathed, looming over me with a force that almost made even those nights avoiding Jap patrols on Makin feel easy compared to facing off with this being of hatred.

“And I take it that Galaxia didn’t give the information away freely? That isn’t her style.”

“No she didn’t… I figured it out only recently.” Backing away from Plume to buy breathing space, I never broke eye contact with the mare inside.

“At first I wasn’t sure if it actually mattered, whether or not your identity remained hidden had very little for me to care about. It was only as I began to piece the puzzle together that I finally figured out that You were Plume, not Peacock.”

“I wasn’t expecting this. Especially not from an acolyte of the Goddess of Creation!” She half laughed, only to return to glaring at both me and Twilight.

“Plume studied Dark magics, Vengeance magic in particular. Who else could have mastered it so perfectly if not her. Peacock would have been to young and unlike an experienced adult, he would have lashed out by now. You on the other hand, you cared enough about other ponies. Every action in this stupid war just seemed too…. comedically caring. Had this been the revenge of a child then we would be dead already. You only went after Galaxia, the King and Queen dying was just an accident, or payment, I don’t know. Either way, you made all of this possible, all out of spite for the one person who took your family from you. The one who made your house burn and did nothing to save your family as they perished into ash.” All throughout my explanation Plume sat quietly, contemplating her next move. My words had an effect, but I was not sure in what sense. Twilight was the next to speak, after having thought long and hard about what had just been laid out before her.

“That explains why you didn’t try to stop me and my friends when I returned.” She mumbled, eliciting a look from both me and Plume.

“You thought I had the elements of harmony! That I could banish the Dark magic from your being. That’s why you needed the harmonious magic! Without a counter balance, the opposite to Vengeance magic is Harmonious magic, you needed me to purge you. To save you...” She trailed off as her eyes widened in sudden realisation. I too suddenly understood what this whole charade was all about.

“All I wanted was to avenge my family.” The words muttered barely louder than a whisper, but a distinctly feminine voice could start to be heard.

“This was all an accident. You could have died there that night but Galaxia decided to trap you in the mirror.” I approached the mass carefully. I saw it! The pony that I could save without having to resort to trapping in the void. Unless...

“My family… to avenge them...” The words tapered off. Slowly becoming distorted by the dark mass covering her.

“We can help you if you just stop. No pony here has to get hurt.” At Twilight’s words, Plume eyes flared and within moments I could feel myself being chocked by a mass of black magic around me.

“Galaxia took everything from me! If I can’t have her, then you’ll have to do!”

XXX

Twilight reeled back in shock as Lou was picked up by the neck and thrown across the great hall. She watched in terror as he crashed into one of the pillars and fell to the floor. Seemingly lifeless or at best, unconscious.

Plume slowly made her way over to his body as the jars of glass cracked under her movements. Lou made no movements, no sign of life as she advanced towards him. And within that moment of fear, a pang of anger appeared. Spreading throughout her entire body, Twilight charged her horn and dragged Lou away from Plume. The blob looked at her and snorted in annoyance, moving to swipe her away with a one easy flick. Twilight ditched and rolled to the side. Lou sliding to a halt near to her as she checked his pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was still breathing but he seemed to be in a bad way.

With only one toss, Lou seemed to have a broken back, a bad concussion with blood pooling from the back of the head.

As another attack swept past her, Twilight moved to change their cover. The loss of the pillar they were using as cover made her lose her magical connection, leaving Lou stranded on the floor behind the debris of the pillar and leaving Twilight breathless..

“He represents Galaxia, Twilight!” The gruff voice screamed, even now, Twilight could hear Plume’s voice deep down. Faint, but once it had been pointed out to her, she could just about hear it.

“My revenge isn’t with you, defend him one last time and you will be treated no different.”

Twilight couldn’t even respond to that. Never before had she been faced with a villain who was not only threatening a loved one, but also herself with death threats. She tried her best to put up a barrier between her and Plume. Jumping and weaving throughout the room, ducking from pillar to pillar as she tried to draw attention away from her coltfriend. There was no where to hide, nowhere for either of them to run.

The door blocked by Plume and a finite number of pillars to hide behind before the entire room would begin to collapse. It was only when she slid pass Lou’s unconscious body that she grasped the severity of her situation. Lou was the only one who had learned how to perform the Void spell needed to send the Shadow back into oblivion. Now she was stuck, powerless compared to both Plume and her coltfriend. Leaping from her shelter to behind the thrones, she chanced a glance to search for a means of escape.

The room was sealed, but out of all the reflecting broken pieces of glass, she saw it. Her salvation if only she could reach it. Her breathing was ragged from running, her magic was low due to the earlier fights in the outer castle. But she needed this now more than ever, a chance, even if it would put her through a moral dilemma.

Focusing her levitation spell, she took a final glance at Plume who was bearing down upon her hiding spot. Closing her eyes, she focused on the shards of glass, all the little pieces she could grab with her mind. All of the pieces she had seen only moments before, all levitating, now surrounding the air above her and Plume. The aforementioned entity moved back, realising the danger she was now in as hundreds of shards flew into her direction.

Twilight could feel herself slipping away into unconsciousness as the magic waned and failed. A trickle escaped her right nostril as blood began to leak. Reaching a hoof to her muzzle she blinked in shock, only to set her resolve back to her salvation. Releasing her muzzle, she dove for the gun on the floor. Sliding past and grasping it with her magic, time slowed as she took aim.

Only one shot fired before the levitation cancelled out once more. The force of the recoil, the thunder of the explosion, the power of the shock wave kicking up a small amount of dust from the pillars as the power of the firearm was unleashed.

It was only as the gun hit the floor one last time did she notice what her action had achieved. Plume was motionless, still standing where the glass shards had been thrown at her like thousands of knives. Now though, there was a difference.

Unlike before, the black mass moved violently, but the pony within didn’t. She was still, unmoving as the inky Vengeance magic suddenly and unexpectedly, cried out.

It was like no scream Twilight had ever heard. The cry was savage, nowhere near natural for a pony, at least, not to Twilight’s knowledge. The scream seemed to last for ages, though it could have been mere seconds, but it all felt like an eternity. As the scream intensified, Twilight noticed that the Shadow was now breaking apart. Reaching out, lashing out. The magic tried in vain to reach for her before starting to evaporate, releasing in its final moments of existence, the residual magic that it had been forced to consume by its former mistress.

Twilight witnessed one of the most beautiful sights she had ever witnessed on Equus as a the entity dispersed into hundreds and thousands of Harmonious magical trails flying off into every direction through the palace walls. A violet trail connected itself to her chest as her horn suddenly began to glow a deep yellow before being overcome by its once purple glow.

Her magic was back, all of it! The chaos magic had finally been removed from her, now on its way back to Discord. She was now a creature of harmony once more.

Her smile broke when she heard a cough. Looking up, she saw a mare with light brown fur and silver mane standing where the Shadow had once been standing. It was only now that the evil magic had dispersed that she finally saw what was going on.

There, behind the mare, was a void gate. The inky blackness slowly falling backwards into it. Blood began to trickle from the mare’s neck as the bullet wound made itself present. Twilight stumbled in shock as Fire Fly emerged from the rubble, his horn glowing at full strength, his face contorted in concentration.

Her mouth agape, Twilight couldn’t utter a word as she watched him approach Plume who was now starting to hack. It was only as Fire Fly approached Plume did Twilight suddenly freeze as he rushed her off her hooves and pulled her into the gateway.

She cried in shock and horror, but as soon as their tails disappeared, the gate closed.

XXX

“Don’t you dare move Plume!”

“Don’t you touch me you--you murderer!” I reached out with my hand and grabbed the pony by the neck and slammed her onto the ground. Lying over her to prevent her escape.

“Stay down, if you are hurt I can’t help you if you keep trying to run away!” Turning the pony around, I looked over the mare as she struggled to get free. I looked at her neck, the bullet wound was there, but only as a scar. No blood, no gurgling or mashed up words as she screamed at me.

Releasing her, I backed away as Plume found her strength once more and backed away from me.

“You really are as psychotic as she is you know!” She spat, looking at me with daggers in her glare.

“To you, I could be anything! For me? I’m just trying to help you Plume!” Sitting down away from her, I stretched out my legs. It had been a long time since I had even seen myself as a human being. Having hands and two legs gave me some hope and allowed me to give a silent cheer. I sure missed having hands! But my entire body hurt like hell, like thousands of pins and needles ran all over my back.

“Helping like this? Helping me by putting me back in the void?” I watched her slowly begin to descend into a spiralling frenzy of hysteria. Moving back and forth as she continued to spout her vision of her world to me.

“At least Twilight understood that my only freedom would have been death! Yet as an emissary to Galaxia you couldn’t allow that, could you?! An ending to my suffering! An end to all of this madne--”

“Shut up!” The two words seemed to echo louder than I had anticipated as they reverberated around the darkness. Right there and then, I began to understand just how much power I had here over this mare.

“You think I would trap myself in the void just to beat you over the head about how pathetic you are?! To trap myself in a place that I couldn’t escape from even if I tried?! I did this all for you Plume!” I sat back against the tree that materialised behind me, allowing myself a few moments of breathing from all the pain that was becoming more and more uncomfortable.

“Why else would you send me here and take me with you?! There is no other sense to this place!” She dug her hoof into the ground, trying to intimidate me.

“You want to savour my loss.”

“Look around you Plume… just... look around you.” I didn’t shout this time. I didn’t want her to come back with some snarky comment. I just wanted her to look around, to see where she was as I waited for her to calm down before continuing.

“W-where…?” She gulped, looking around at the starry sky above us, in the distance, the horizon began to change hue from dark blues to a light orange.

“This isn’t the void…”

“The vengeance magic is in the void. This is the dream realm.” Almost on cue, a sun rise began to crest over the horizon. Illuminating the world around us. A world so similar to the one that I knew, and one so different that it still seemed quite impossible to me at the same time.
“The vengeance magic is in the void, Plume! We’re in the dream realm. The only place that I could take you before you would die!”

“What are you talking about?” Her voice, while still quite high, had visibly calmed down now. She was looking at me with trepidation and insecurity. She backed away slightly and took another look around her.

“You know what I mean, Plume.” I coughed once more. She really did a number on me. I Thought as I wheezed out another cough.

“You wrote that book on Magic and you knew that if you didn’t purge the parasite, you wouldn’t be able to return to your original form. Like Twilight said: You needed the elements to help save you. And this is what I’m doing, saving you.” She looked at me, contemplating what I was saying as things were clearly starting to make sense now that she was getting back into the right state of mind.

“This isn’t for Galaxia, Plume. This is for you. Don’t you think that you deserve to be saved?” My question seemed to hit her dead in the heart as she jolted slightly. Whether from shock ore just utter confusion, I did not wait for an answer before offering out my hand.

“Ah mister Fire Fly! I wasn’t expecting… you…” The voice behind me trailed off as Squire approached tentatively.
“Plume?” He asked, his head tilted in utter shock and disbelief. Plume, likewise, was also starring at Squire in utter shock and confusion.

“Squire?”

I wasn’t sure how long the moment lasted, I wasn’t keeping track of time. All I knew is that my body was hurting like hell and the two of them were so busy look at each other in shock that they only turned their attention back to me as I groaned out my back pain and straightened myself out.

“Mister Fire Fly, this was not what we discussed the other night! You claimed that you would send the Shadow back to the void!” Plume looked at both of us, obviously preparing for some kind of attack, but relaxed when I answered with my truth.

“Yes and I did, but I couldn’t leave Misses Peacock to the mercy of another eternity in the void. This was the Vengeance magic’s doing, not hers.”

“B-But I don’t understand. What am I doing here?” Plume asked me, looking at Squire once or twice making sure he wasn’t preparing an attack of some kind.

“You said you were saving me, but from what exactly! I understand the principals of magic, but I don’t even know you!”

“I’m marine, Plume. A soldier if you will. I know full well what happens to a defeated enemy once their own adversaries take charge.” I sat up and beckoned her over. She approached a few steps, but didn’t move much after that.

“I knew from the moment I entered the room that all of this, all the pain and suffering that the creatures of this world endured was because of a mistake. All of it!” I tried to stand, suddenly realising that something was off I fell back on my backside. I didn’t feel right, like my stomach was churning and I could feel myself ready to vomit.

“Easy there Fire Fly.” Squire said as he supported me from my right side. Taking a moment to breathe, I looked up at Plume with as much sorrow I think I had ever shown anyone since my return home.

“When I entered that room… when I saw you for the first time. Properly, at least. I saw my mother.” I couldn’t remember how long I saw her, but even now, I saw her there, appearing then disappearing ever so slightly where Plume stood.

“I lost my brother Plume. My mother lost a son, because of me. When I came home from the war, I thought I could escape the torment, that I could help my family find their way through the hardships that we had all suffered. But I was wrong! I was so damned wrong because whenever I hear my mother screaming at my dad for not having done enough. To have stopped him, my brother from going to war? Only then do I realise that this was my fault… all of the death, all of the suffering. You don’t think that I can see it, but I do. I see it in you, an innocence so profound that ponies did suffer, yes. But that wasn’t you, this was Galaxia, like you said. I would do anything to have my brother back, do you hear me? Anything, but that can’t happen because guess who I killed? Hm? I killed brothers, cousins, fathers, uncles and god knows who else! I just want to sleep at night, without dreading the self inflicted wounds that I have for just having served my country.” I could almost feel a tear building up in my eye with every word I spoke. I broke eye contact once or twice to wipe my eyes from time to time. But I had to tell her. Tell her what she was not for me, but to others too.

“I saved you because I knew what the nations you were fighting against would do to you. Your body, your life… your name. All of it was taken by someone, you and I both know how crazy she is! But I refuse to let you become the great evil that ponies need to fear. You were not meant to be evil Plume! Please don’t throw it all away… please don’t let her win.”

Plume didn’t move for the longest of times, contemplating the words that had just come out of my mouth. I told her all that I felt that she needed to hear. My conscience would probably never be clean but hopefully with everything I had said, she too would just be able to let it go. Holding out my hand towards her, I gave her a reassuring smile as I hit the final nail over her head.

“Let me save you Plume.”

I saw the tears begin to roll down her cheeks as reality set in for her. Her legs trembled and so did her bottom lip as she realised what she had done. All the crimes, the magic theft, the ruthlessness of her reign…

Waving my hand with a little more force, I finally got her to move. Falling onto my left side I held her with all my heart. I wished that I had done this with my mother now. To have comforted her during her times of need.
No words were spoken for a long while as she continued to cry. Unlike me, she had truly lost everything. Her husband, her son, even her way of life like before the fall. All she knew was that castle in those woods, and a life from centuries past.

“I didn’t… I’m not…” She mumbled to herself as clung to my side and stared out into the distant sun rise with red puffy eyes. It was quite nice actually, to just sit there, the three of us in each others company.

“Mister Fire Fly is right Plume. This was not your doing.” Squire spoke up for the first time, looking at her with sorrow filled eyes as he tried to understand what to do to help.

“You would be the most welcome here. The dreams never have a lack of lost souls who need help.And I think I could use some help here, if you want to.” Those words right there, made Plume’s head snap to attention.

“Its never a dull time archiving the dreams that Princess Luna asks me to help with. It would also be a good way for you to leave make amends.”

Plume looked up at me, her mouth hung open slightly, unsure of what to do. I smiled and groaned as I shifted uncomfortably from side to side as something dug at the base of my spine for a real nasty itch.

“There’s no reason for you to tell anyone about who you really are Plume. I’ll keep your secret and so will Squire here.”

“No… No ponies should know. They should know and this is Luna’s realm after all. It would be wrong of me to keep it from others.” She mumbled to herself, still loud enough for me to us to hear, but I felt it was for the best. I just nodded my head and shifted once more. Something was hurting down there and I was not happy at all.

“I’ll help you learn the layout of this place and I’m sure that Fire Fly would be happy to show you around too!” He exclaimed, I almost chocked but laughed that off for the moment.

“And I’ll clear your name. Your story doesn’t have to end in tragedy, I know that you can’t go back to living as anything more than a phantom, but maybe this can be your safe haven? I may return one day, but right now I need to go home.” Reaching behind me I tugged at my shirt that was tucked into my trousers. Trying to sort out my mild discomfort as I spoke to the others. My surprise was shared amongst the others as a mass of golden mane came out in my paw.
My paw? I bolted forward only to land on my forelegs in total surprise. How had I gone from human to pony in just a few seconds?

“Whoa there Fly calm yourself.” Squire said as he moved to approach me.

“This whole thing is normal, you should probably get going to the waking world. I’ll take care of Plume until you return.” I glanced over at Plume who was watching me with concern as I slowly got my hyperventilation under control.

“Thanks Squire.” Moving to stand, I moved to join Plume and gave her a hug. She obviously wasn’t expecting it because she jolted from the sudden affection I shared with her before smiling.

“I wish you could meet my mother, I think that both of you could learn so much from each other.”

“Could… could you tell her something from me.” I nodded at her request.
“Could you tell her just how lucky she is to have such a thoughtful son like you.”

“I will, best of luck to you both.” Turning around, I made my way towards the tree I had been leaning on before lighting my horn and opening up one last world gate. I gave a small nod to both ponies behind me, observing them for a moment and said my farewells.

As I stepped through the portal I immediately fell onto my haunches as white face stared me down with a smile that I could tell if it was creepy or actually happy for me at first glance.

“Galaxia?” I glanced around behind me, looking to see just where I was. Neither Plume nor Squire were in sight, the dream realm was gone so I was somewhere else. Though I didn’t know where the hell I was though. Everything was dark, no lights yet I could see myself and her quite clearly.

“You really should be more careful with all your spell casting, who knows! You might end up becoming a pony quite permanently!” She laughed and I felt my ears drop in worry as I forced a smile.

“I better avoid that. I need to get back home… is that why you are here? To send us back home?” I asked the goddess before me, the white and amber alicorn as she looked down at me with her usual motherly smile.

“My dear child, you could have returned home the moment you got here! The worldgate under the waterfall will always lead back to your house. That living room window needs to be used for something!” I gawked up at her when she said that. The waterfall was our way home all along? And it led straight to my parents front room window?!

“I must say that I am pleased with how everything turned out in the end.”

“You are?”

“Why yes! After so many years of suffering, you gave Plume a second chance. Spared her another eternity in the void where she could only wish for death! Maybe now that she is trapped in the dream realm she will learn her lesson.” Galaxia said as she began to circle me. Looking at me all while placing herself next to me and wrapping me into her side with a wing.

“What lesson?” I asked, confused as I myself only felt that the only lesson learned was that this goddesse next to me was a--

“To not cross my path. She learned that, the hard way.” She chuckled, and I could feel myself tensing up at her musing. She’s a monster!

“But you put her through that, you made all of this happen!” I should probably have died right there and then as her head slowly tilted to look at me with fire in her eyes. I audibly gulped in fear as I soon found myself powerless against such a creature. The need to shit myself in fear made itself known quite rapidly only to ease off as she began to giggle and closed her eyes in quite a cute manner. It caught me so off guardthat I began to genuinely believe that everything was fine. I genuinely did…

“Oh of course I am! It pleases me to no end to know that I caused someone as insignificant as her so much pain.” She sighed a content sigh and that psychotic aura began to fill the air once more. There was a feeling of pleasure in others misfortunes. This wasn’t their misfortune however… this was their ruination.
“I am everything that anyone should fear and I must say that I am quite pleased with my work. You can go back to living your boring life mister Conlin. It provides quite a lot of entertainment to me to witness all of this! Maybe next time I’ll work out something ever more tragic? Do you even realise how fun it is to make ponies believe that they can resist me? Oh gosh the amount of times I can write that will only ever make me laugh harder!”

“This is nothing to you isn’t it?” I dared to ask, looking up at her through the corner of my eye. In my horror, she leaned in and whispered into my ear.

“And it amuses me to no end.” With a giggle, she pulled away and stood up next to me still laughing at her own insanity. I would have called her out on it. I would have told her, but I was scared. I was just too scared.
“You should get going, I’m sure you and the others have a few things to finish off here before you all get to go home. Farewell Fire Fly, it was almost a pleasure!”

“Wait!” She stopped and turned around to face me, her face neutral as she observed. Building up one last bit of courage, I asked:

“What happened to you Galaxia?”

“Power mister Conlin. Total, unlimited, immortal, undying, limitless Power.” And with a last sad smile, she was gone.

And with that, I found myself standing in the throne room. But I was not standing on the ground, instead I was on my back with legs up in the air with a whole group of ponies looking down at me in worry and shock. Twilight was the one who stood out the most because of not only her state but also because out of all the ponies, she was the only one who almost took up the entirety of my vision.
“Twilight?” I asked, but the question had barely left my mouth before it was forcefully blocked by Twilight kissing me for all I was worth.