Douglas 2: The Douggenning

-LUNA POV, 9:36 AM

There it was. The truth. I’ve known many things, and some are easier to forget. I wish I wasn’t right. He may not have told Douglas what he wanted, but I knew full well who was inside Douglas.

Emperor Klaus.

-FLUTTERSHY POV, 9:40 AM

I’ve always been glad to have Douglas as a friend. I feel like I can say anything to him, and he’ll always like me. I was already in Canterlot trying to find something to help poor, sick Angel, but when Twilight and Pinkie Pie told me that Douglas was in trouble, I had to go see him. I don’t know what I thought I’d see when I got there, but finding him forlorn in a cell with bloodied knuckles was almost too much. I couldn’t run away, I owed him that much.

“Umm…D-Douglas?” He looked up, and I could see his eyes. They looked like rocks, cold and dead. Twilight told me why he was done here, and I felt awful for him. All he wanted was a place where he could find happiness, and then this happens…

“Douglas, do you want our help?”

“Why?”

“Because you have to come back to Ponyville! All the ponies like you, and we just want you to be safe!” He smiled slightly.

“Fluttershy…” Then a guard came.

“That’s enough. Time for you to go.”

“Douglas, we need you! Come back!” The guard led me away from the cell, and I could only hope I’d helped somehow.

-DOUGLAS POV, 11:54 PM

Fluttershy was right. These ponies meant everything to me. Giving up meant abandoning them, and I couldn’t do that.

“Douglas!” The voice came from above me. Twilight was speaking through the grate to the outside.

“Twilight! What are you doing?”

“Listen! I spoke to Luna. I know why she had you brought here!”

“Because she thinks I’m responsible for the creatures?”

“That’s what she said at first, but I think you can stop them!”

“How?”

“She said that when you were screaming, she figured out who was inside you.” I felt something stiffen at the base of my skull. Twilight went on.

“She said his name is Klaus, and he’s extremely powerful. But I think that you can use him to stop those monst-AH!” At that moment, she lost her grip. Twilight didn’t fall far, and luckily she fell into the water. I considered what she said, and picked up a piece of the broken mirror. Part of my face sneered back at me from the shard. I spoke to the invader.

“Can you get us out of here?”

“Don’t bother. I won’t be used by a bookworm.”

“What do you want.” Klaus blanched.

“What did you just say?!”

“What’ll it take to get us out of here?” Klaus smiled, as expression as jagged as the fragment I held.

“We can discuss that once we’re free.” I dropped the piece of the mirror.

“Do it.”

-KLAUS POV

I’d been accumulating strength steadily, and I’d spent quite a lot on Luna’s “lip service.” But with the bookworm willing to cooperate, everything would be much easier.

It was time at last for Klaus to have some real fun.

As I slid into Douglas’s body, I felt no resistance. Good. I stood up, stretched his limbs. No, MY limbs. I tore off Douglas’s suit jacket, tying strips over his ruined knuckles just in case I needed to punch something. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I’m going to punch things. Like these bars, for instance. My fist slid through the iron, the dissolving metal spitting acid onto those around it. Within seconds, the door in front of me was nothing more than a mess which needed cleaning. I stepped out casually, looking around. Two guard unicorns shouted at me, saving me the trouble of getting their attention. They shot bolts at me. I dodged one of the by twisting my upper body, but I caught the second one, letting it seep into my skin. I felt Douglas’s pain somewhere below my consciousness, but I didn’t care. The magic I was consuming was what the important part. I walked slowly, bolt after bolt striking my body. As I gained power, I could feel Douglas fading. That wasn’t good. If he blacked out, he’d drag me under with him. Let’s try a different approach. I flipped and landed on the ceiling, running upside down towards the guards. It was a little showy, but it had the desired effect. The guards were too stunned to attack. If my only goal was escape, I would have torn their spines out halfway and used them as garrotes, but I needed the bookworm for now, and I doubt he’d be thrilled with wanton slaughter. I kept running, past the unicorns and to the stairs. I descended rapidly, heading for the caves beneath the palace. I knew the underground well, and I could guide Douglas if I ran out of energy. A good idea as it turned out, since a phalanx of ponies had assembled to try to reclaim me. “Try” being the operative word, keep in mind. Nothing could stop me now.

Besides, I knew my laugh bothered the bookworm.

I took a deep breath and bellowed. Laughter truly is the best medicine, and the ailment was standing in formation before me. The guards in front of me dropped like flies as I wailed, pain chewing its way through their minds. After a few moments, only one guard stood, probably the leader of the group. He was stronger than the others. That was only to his detriment. The more he resisted, the more blood fell from his eyes. My laugh stopped at the same time as the guard leader’s heart. I frowned. I hate killing on accident. I continued, entering the caverns.

-Thursday, 1:13 AM

Light had long since abandoned us, but my kind knows innately how to sense without seeing. I was tired, and soon Douglas would have to take over. If this happened before we made it to the surface, that would be a problem. The bookworm didn’t have any of my gifts. I could feel my hold on the body slipping, and my movements became less coordinated. It was all I could do to trudge onward, desperate to find light. Then, like rubber, Douglas snapped back into place.