The Grey Path of Arcane Gears

She silently wondered how far this had to go before it was all said and done. Her muzzle dragged gently along white scales and up to the base of Celestia’s crown of horns. Her teeth parted and gently nipped at the border of prismatic ivory and scale. As she did, her eyes focused on those gazelle-like spires.

Arcane felt a piece of her return from the spell. Memories of awkwardly speaking to Twilight synchronized with the piece that seduced the dragon. It didn’t occur to her until now, but her ability to see magic was diluted along with her focus. The ability to see hidden power returned to her yet remained faded, barely visible at all.

There were nine horns in total, and around all but the center horn was a faint spectral cuff attached to a chain. The one her eyes focused on, the one on the far left, was cracked and lacked its chain. Arcane didn’t dare say the words out loud, but her thoughts were clear.

This bitch has an hp bar.

—

Pinkie Pie flew off her double, her right hand gripping a single wing. The pink dragon joined her mare double in a laugh so high pitched it sounded like screams. Well, maybe one of them was screaming. The pink mare reached back into her puffy hair to rummage around, a glimmer of pink magic around her wrist.

“Guess what time it is!”

She pulled out a blue blunderbuss with a barrel thicker than her thigh.

“Party Cannon time!”

The mare took aim five meters downward where the ghostly chain linked around Dragon-Pie’s ankle. With a grin that could scare a chaos god she pulled the trigger.

—

The orange flames flickered weak as black bones struggled to get onto her feet. Every attempt was a failure. Her world was spinning. Her unnatural sight swayed hazily as a huffing pony with freckles on her cheeks walked over with the remains of a fallen building. A thick length of rebar attached to a block of concrete.

Applejack screamed in blind rage as she swung the makeshift hammer down onto that damned chain.

—

Flutter shy stood two meters from her cocooned counterpart. Her legs shook and bowed as her shoulder hoisted up the magic chain.

“Please hurry!” She squeaked out.

A large head with too many eyes and too many teeth opened its massive mouth. It bore down and growled as the magic links buckled before vanishing in white sparks.

—

Rarity lay on the ground with her Draconic twin fast asleep, head in the mare’s lap. Flesh and scales slowly returned to the Dragon Rarity. Just eight paces from the two was a tall scythe made of ice and a deep gash in the frozen soil.

-

Rainbow Dash veered away from the multicolored flames of her dragon self. It growled and scanned the horizon, beady eyes twitching left and right. A ring of multicolored light exploded in the distance, but by then it was too late to move. A streak of blue severed her chain before the sonic boom reached her ears.

—

Arcane would never know what Sunset told her dragon self. She only knew the last thing she witnessed before vanishing. Sunset wrapped her arms around the dragon version as the mare stomped her chain. The creature of flames and black bone leaned in with a cry that broke her heart.

—

Twilight relaxed her stance and began to walk. Her destination wasn’t quite towards her purple flamed double, but perhaps one meter away. The dragon cocked her head as it guessed and double guessed this absolutely confusing tactic.

Twilight tapped her temple and cast the very same spell that odd voice cast on her moments ago. The dragon’s hollow eyes glimmered. The creature looked down to what her mare double was picking up. The dragon growled and swung a claw down near her ankle, the magic severed in a bright white spark.

—

Ivar gazed at the emerald gears with a new set of eyes. The sheer potential was there. She could reprogram it to go anywhere. She could rearrange it into a reality finder and go to a world where she was a Goddess.

“Screw that.”

She spoke out loud as she reached up and pulled a small gear off its mounting. The mirror flickered and dimmed into dead glass. For good measure, Ivar kicked it over so the damned thing shattered into a million useless pieces of mundane mirror.

—

Arcane’s sight grew clearer as parts of her mind returned. The memories of what she saw overlapped themselves in a matter of seconds. If she wasn’t technically an Alicorn right now this would have utterly broken her. How Starlight did it with her talent alone was mind boggling.

Celestia fell onto her knees leaving Arcane hovering where she was. The mare floated backwards and landed on her hooves to watch the dragon queen struggle to get legs under her. Every failed attempt left her weaker than the one before. On the third attempt she nearly fell onto her face.

When it became obvious to Celestia all was over, she simply fell back and sat. Her blue eyes were growing pale, her right horn crumbling inward like a brittle hollow shell collapsing under its own weight. Arcane assumed there would be curses, growls, and spitting. No. Celestia looked up at the mare with a serene smile, a faint but happy smile.

The black and white mare had an urge she really couldn’t understand at that moment. Her feet moved almost as if by instinct. She lowered herself and leaned against Celestia’s side. It made no sense, but she didn’t worry when Celestia’s head rested between the mare’s ears.

Arcane could feel moisture in her hair. Tears, perhaps?

“Are you trying to redeem me, pet?”

Arcane laughed softly, quietly.

“Do I look like a Knight of Harmony? No. I think both of us know that was never a possibility.”

Arcane heard the white dragon laugh just as softly. The sound was weak, tired. It told of one who recognizes their own kind. The Dragon Celestia was too eager, too ambitious to ever accept redemption. If she had accepted mercy it would have been a calculated lie. In fact, if she had any strength left in her arms then Arcane would be in mortal danger. They both silently acknowledged it and felt a perverse bond in that reality.

“I was a stubborn fool from the day I was born. I ignored my sister when she was in pain. I banished her to the moon’s shadow because I was too proud to reach her. I was supposed to find champions to do what I could not. I betrayed the spirit of my world and killed it. By then, there was no going back, there was no forgiveness for me. All I had was this path, no matter where it led.

Now, I have nothing left to lose. Pet, promise me something. Please do not become me.”

Arcane’s left eye grew wet, that gold, corrupt eye was crying.

“I promise.”

A pile of ash ran over Arcane’s shoulder. The dry grey powder was all that remained of a fallen queen. The wind took it away, leaving a thin coating in her fur and hair.

She slid the white earring out and looked at the pearlescent gem as it closed into a rosebud. Her fingers squeezed until it cracked, the fragments of stone blowing away like ash.

“‘We’ promise.”