The Long, Dark Tunnel

Chapter Eight: Madness Returns
~BlackRoseRaven

“Dr. Sanus, it looks like you lost the bet after all. But you have bigger things to worry about than that, don't you? You prescribed a possibly-dangerous patient ULT that induced a psychotic state... you better hope they settle for taking away your license, or you're going to be spending the next decade behind bars.”

“Look at him. Doesn't look so scary now, trussed up. Bet he doesn't feel so strong, either... but we're not a couple of helpless mares, you sick bastard.”

Thwack.

“Lay off... for now. He has an examination in an hour, to see if he can stand trial, see if he's faking this catatonia. I hope like hell he is. I want to see him hung.”

“Oh, don't worry. Don't worry about a goddamn thing. Even if his lawyer sweet-talks the judge into believing he's insane and they send him back here instead of to jail, we got a nice welcome party planned for this shithead. He's gonna get what's coming to him either way.”

“Here's the doctor... yeah. Yeah. Like this, yeah. Uh... okay, yeah, we have that in stock... wait, transfer him? Solitary confinement, but... we can do that here, why transfer him... wait, all the way over in Ward F? Look, if he really is catatonic he's not going to... I understand. Yes, sir. Of course, his own safety. Uh... oh, I'm sorry I... I forgot his...”

“Immunization. We forgot to give him his shots. Yeah, I know, we'll just be a minute. Tuberculosis is going around with the patients, though, better safe than sorry, right? Right. Good. Yes, just outside. We'll just be a minute... no, it's fine, I can handle this by myself, you go wait with the doctor... okay. Here, pal, here's your shots.”

Thwack. Thwack. Thwack... crack. Crunch.

“Okay. Let's get him moved over.”

“...stupid doctor. Ward F, why the hell Ward F...”

“Visitors? I don't think... wait, lemme ask... yeah. Yeah, I think we can work out an arrangement. For 'family' and all.”

“Hey, guess what, sicko? You got a visitor. Now, we don't usually allow this, but we're sayin' he's your brother-in-law. You ain't gonna tell on us now, are you? Why, gosh, he looks just so darn happy to see you, sir. Look at that big smile on his face. Well, we're just gonna leave you two family members alone in this nice private little cell. Just knock on the door when you're done, and uh... don't you worry if you... spill any jam, if you get what I'm saying. We'll take care of it. You two just... have fun getting reacquainted.”

“Hello, Scrivener Blooms... do you recognize me? They tell me you know what's going on, even if you can't move at all. That's not as fair as I wanted it to be... yeah, because unlike you, I believe in honor. I believe in fairness. But you know what? Under the circumstances, I'll gladly take what I can get. I will gladly make an exception for such a waste of life like you. And now, here you are, hiding. Pretending to be sick... or maybe you really are. But even if you are... I don't forgive you. I will never forgive you. What you did... you killed two of my sister's friends, you... you raped her, you raped her and beat her and abused her over and over and over until she was just this broken shell doing everything you wanted, and thinking she liked it... you turned her into your toy you sick... you... you sick piece of slime.

“I'm not going to kill you, don't worry about that. No. Not until you're forced out of that shell you're hiding in. Not until you're made to suffer, made to pay, for everything you've done. Not until my little sister finally understands that you did not love her and she does not love you. Not until you've suffered as much as you made her and her friends suffer.”

Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. Crunch. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. Crunch. Crack. Thwack. Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwackthwackthwack... thwack.

“...bastard...”

Thwack.

“Patient was moved to ICU last night, placed under heavy guard. An inquiry has been made but its only a weak gesture... everyone believes he raped and killed two ponies, and was systematically torturing, raping, and brainwashing the third before she managed to rebel and injure him. They have no sympathy for him and it was incredibly difficult to find ponies who were willing to stand guard over him and would not use it as an opportunity to further harm him.

“But even given his mental history, his delusions, and possible aggression brought on by ULT... something here is wrong. I have met with Scrivener every week, and... I do not believe he did this... I don't believe you did this, Scrivener Blooms. If you can hear me... if you can find the strength... swim to the surface. I know you're scared, and it's hard, and it's probably more comforting for you to simply be locked away, in that timeless sea where you are right now... but please. Maybe we can still give this story a good ending. Maybe we can still save you.”

Scrivener's eyes slowly opened, and he rose his head weakly, tiredly. His eyes blinked, and his entire body ached, as he gasped softly before shivers raced through him: not cold shivers, but his very nerves felt like they were trembling, and pulses of heat were tearing up and down through his body as his hooves pressed down against a cool metal table.

He was sitting back in a chair, frowning a bit before he looked back and forth, rasping quietly for breath as he realized he was sitting in a 'conversation room.' It was a pleasant term for an unpleasant place: what was essentially an interrogation room, where psychologists would meet with violent and uncooperative patients. The walls were slate gray, and there was a large panel of one-way glass on the wall, so that burly security guards could monitor the doctor and the usually-tied-down patient.

But Scrivener wasn't in restraints of any sort, as he looked blearily back and forth before groaning in pain and reaching up to touch his jaw, and a voice said quietly: “You're going to hurt for a while, even with the cocktail I gave you. You've been nearly beaten to death several times already.”

“I... I know. I was aware of at least two of them.” Scrivener muttered, looking tiredly over at Sanus and giving a faint smile, and the unicorn studied him silently. Slowly, the charcoal pony's eyes roved down to the empty syringe beside the doctor, and he asked finally: “How did... I...”

“Whatever happened... you had another break from reality. A very serious one, resulting in a catatonic state where your body was trying to shut down and your mind to run away from reality... but for some reason, you couldn't. Did you dream? Did you have delusions? How aware were you?” Sanus asked quietly, and Scrivener only laughed weakly in response.

The charcoal stallion shivered, and then he cursed under his breath and hugged himself, another tremble running through him. “I... I don't know. I remember darkness, nightmares, bad memories and... hearing voices. Not seeing anything, but hearing voices and...” He clenched his eyes shut. “Feeling... they... they blamed me for what happened? Rainbow... Rainbow is...”

“Rainbow Dash was murdered. Beaten savagely to death by a very strong pony's bare hooves, and there were signs of sexual assault, akin to the other mare who was killed.” Sanus looked across at him silently. “They believe it was you. In a few days, I'm going to lose my license and I'll be fired from this facility: the only reason I'm still working here right now is because I know enough about my coworkers and superiors to make them nervous, and I convinced them that I would be able to get through to you, and find out what happened. I only have one question for you, though, Scrivener... did you do it?”

“No.” Scrivener looked up, trembling... and the relief he felt was immeasurable when Sanus nodded calmly, the charcoal stallion whispering: “Thank you.”

“I need you to tell me what happened.” Sanus said quietly, and Scrivener nodded, then cursed weakly when a convulsion tore through his body, the unicorn grimacing a bit. “I don't wish to rush you, but... I'm not sure what's going to happen over the next few minutes, or even whether or not you'll lapse back into catatonia or... whatever it was.”

“Whatever it was? Sounds like you got great faith in whoever diagnosed me...” Scrivener laughed weakly, then he shivered again and cursed. “What did you give me?”

“A cocktail of opiates, antidepressants, and amphetamines. In other words, I mixed whatever I could find together and hoped that the benefits would cancel out the side effects.” Sanus replied calmly, shaking his head quickly. “Please, Scrivener. I need to know what happened. Before-”

Scrivy began to open his mouth... and then there was a loud banging, Sanus turning around with a wince before the door was thrown open and several large, uniformed guards stormed in, followed by two furious-looking doctors. “Sanus, this is unacceptable! Get the patient back to isolation, immediately, and take Dr. Sanus into custody... and remember, do not harm Scrivener Blooms! Celestia herself will be passing judgment over him, and wants nothing done that could mitigate his sentence!”

The guards started forwards, and Scrivener tried to push himself backwards, as one seized Dr. Sanus as well... and Scrivener cursed, then looked up sharply as Sanus shouted, even as he was dragged forcibly backwards: “Think about what she wants, Scrivener Blooms! Why is she so desperate to-”

“Shut him up!” shouted one of the doctors, and the guard threw Sanus backwards into a wall as Scrivener began to lunge forwards... but something smashed into the back of his head, and everything became a blur as Scrivener fell to the ground, drooling slackly.

When he finally managed to regain his focus, he realized he was in a straightjacket, his forelegs bound tightly together across his chest and straps around his hind legs so he couldn't do anything except lay on his side in his padded cell. He rasped hard in and out, trembling and then gritting his teeth as he looked slowly up at the door, staring through the barred window... and then gasping as he saw someone staring in at him with mismatched green and hazel eyes.

The eyes winced, then drew hurriedly back with a mutter, and Scrivener gave a raw, desperate yell, flopping weakly in the bottom of the cell. “Help me! Help me, I'm not crazy! Help me, please!”

But whatever it had been was gone... and Scrivener shivered, trembling and smelling sweat and piss and fear, breathing hard as he looked wildly back and forth and tried to process what was going on. The only pony who believed him was Sanus, every other pony was dead, and he was stuck here, in the madhouse, in the madness...

He clenched his eyes shut with a curse, trembling violently before he rolled onto his back as tears formed in his eyes, whispering: “Luna... Luna, without you... everything's fallen apart. I... I don't know what to do, but... if you were here, you would. Please... please, what do I do? I'm sorry I betrayed you... I'm s-s-sorry I was so weak... is this punishment, for all the times I failed? Is this because I was the one who caused your death... because I didn't stop you from getting on that train... because I'm the reason we fell into darkness...”

He clenched his eyes shut, hearing mechanical laughter that blurred into the pumping of pistons, hearing the crash and bang of steel and metal and stone, a train falling as a platform fell, screams of passengers mixing with the howls of two ponies... and then Scrivener threw his head back and howled miserably at the ceiling, flexing, shaking his head wildly, kicking his legs as hard as he could, overwrought with emotion and madness and not knowing what was real and what was false.

Then Scrivener managed to tear one foreleg free as the straps of the straightjacket popped and snapped, and he gasped for breath, staring and trembling as he slowly rose this in front of his face. He trembled hard, then snarled, tears in his eyes before he rolled over and shoved himself to his hooves, feeling... he didn't know. Memory? Delusion? Or was it simpler than that... that need to set things right, that need to make the scales balance one way or another as he roared at the door: “Let me out! I don't belong here!”

Scrivener charged forwards on three legs and slammed himself into the door... and to his shock, it crashed open, the charcoal stallion flopping forwards and rolling stupidly over a cold concrete floor. He looked back and forth wildly, then shivered once as he saw splatters of blood and other ichors over the walls and floor, breathing hard in and out before he carefully, slowly sat up and hugged himself. “Where... what...”

He swallowed thickly... and then he shook his head hurriedly before reaching a trembling hoof up and quickly undoing the straps of the straightjacket still holding one foreleg across his chest. They popped easily loose, and Scrivener stood and shook himself out briskly, breathing hard in and out, his aching body trembling before he slowly, finally drew his gaze around the room.

Countless doors, many ajar, all heavy and fortified. Confinement cell doors... and Scrivener shivered as he backed up and then bumped into a surface behind him. Slowly, he looked over his shoulder, and swallowed as he saw another door... and realized there was a message, painted in blood:

I <3 U.

Scrivener groaned and shook his head out weakly, whispering: “Oh Horses of Heaven... oh... oh Horses of Heaven... I...”

Slowly, Scrivener reached a hoof up for the handle, and with a trembling foreleg, he shoved the door open... and stared back and forth in horror as the walls around him cracked like burnt glass and shattered into a maelstrom that swirled upwards, the door tearing off its hinges and leaving only the skeletal frame of the doorway behind. And all around him now, Scrivener could see swirling red light and sky, faces seeming to push out in thin air, the only way forwards a twisting, serpentine black path of asphalt and metal.

The male moaned low in his throat, staring out at this, wondering how insane he had become before he took a trembling step forwards through the doorway... and then he clenched his eyes shut, whispering hoarsely: “Delusion or reality... I have no choice. Oh Horses of Heaven... oh Luna, give me strength...”

Scrivener shivered... and then he snarled before forcing himself onwards, starting a stumbling-run along the curving, curling road that twisted through the reddish, formless hell all around him. He dared one look back over his shoulder, but saw behind him only a smoldering wreck of what no longer looked like cells, but a broken hulk of a train... except among it, there were too-large pistons, and blackened bones, and what looked like the remains of grinning steel skulls full of awful teeth...

The earth pony looked back and forwards, and then he cursed as he tripped and rolled down the path, before yelling as he fell off the side of the road... and crashed down only a moment later, blinking stupidly as he found hard rock and tile beneath him. He breathed hard in and out, trembling violently before looking up, his heart thudding in his chest as he looked back and forth... and above, the crimson sky burned, as around him warped and looming structures stood.

They intimidated him with their hungry shadows and eager leans, made of blackened wood and bone and death... and Scrivener gritted his teeth, shivering weakly before a voice called warmly: “There you are, puddin'!”

The stallion stiffened, then he slowly looked over his shoulder, swallowing thickly as his eyes widened in horror. Twilight was standing behind him, her eyes bright and happy, looking at him excitedly as she bounced from hoof-to-hoof. Then she threw her head back and laughed before prancing forwards, nuzzling into him lovingly and kissing all over his face, and Scrivener couldn't resist a cry of revulsion and horror as he hurriedly yanked away, stumbling quickly backwards. “Stay away from me!”

“Oh, you're still mad that I left you in that mean old facility for so long, aren't you? I'm sorry, puddin', but I needed to think about how I could fix everything up and make everything okay again!” Twilight said brightly, then she gestured back and forth, smiling warmly. “And look, I did! When I finally saw how much everyone would hurt you... when no one would believe me that you were my lovey-dove-dove and my special somepony and you were so good to me, I finally realized the solution was right in front of me all along, and it was so simple that I just kept overlooking it!

“I mean, think about it. If you want to be with just your one special pony, then no other pony matters, right? As long as we have each other, love each other...” Twilight gazed at him adoringly, and then she sang happily: “So I just killed everypony!”

Scrivener rasped for breath, shaking his head in weak denial as he looked back and forth, reality around him sparking, the red sky swirling, the blackened homes looming... and then Twilight brightened, adding warmly: “And I got you a gift!”

With that, her horn glowed as she bowed her head forwards... and Scrivener screamed in horror as something massive and awful ripped out of the ground behind Twilight, as the violet mare looked up and smiled warmly, her eyes glowing with longing, with desire, with joy, with madness as the shadows of her terrible 'gift' fell over her. “It's a collage, and I made it myself, puddin', all for you! It's real special, don'tcha know... I made it outta all the people who wanted to get between you and me!”

Scrivener shouted in denial again, stumbling backwards, staring at the massive, crisscrossing bars of metal... and pasted over them, the countless dead bodies, of Shining Armor, of Celestia, of Sanus, of Rainbow Dash and burnt-up Fluttershy. They had been shoved and mangled and twisted together almost to form what looked like a giant heart, held on by enormous rail-spikes and barbed wire and horribly... they were writhing, as if they were still alive, and Scrivener saw Celestia's eyes were open and horrified and pleading and... and... “Enough!”

Twilight winced backwards, and it took Scrivener a moment to realize that he had shouted it, as he breathed hard in and out, before he trembled and looked squarely at Twilight, saying harshly: “No. This has to end, and this... this ends now. I don't know if this is an illusion, a nightmare, insanity, magic or... I don't know, but it's over! It's all over Twilight, and... and you're not Twilight! You're a monster, a monster I don't love, a monster that I am turning my back on and leaving here, forever, that I don't need in my life! I'm leaving... I'm leaving now, I'm leaving forever, I'm going, gone, goodbye!”

Scrivener spun around, and Twilight trembled hard, tears rolling down her cheeks as she whimpered weakly, then leaned forwards and whispered: “Puddin'... pookie-bear... what about us? P-P-Please, wait, I can be better! Look, come on over, come and hit me some, or we can go and find some more ponies to play with, or we can just cuddle and I'll reassure you and hold you nice and tight like you like... or I'll-”

“That's not love! That's... lust, and sin, and... depravity and... falseness!” Scrivener shouted, and then he trembled and looked ahead, whispering: “You're not my Twilight, and you're never, ever going to be my Luna. So I'm going to do the only thing I can do, because whether this is real or delusion or nightmare or anything else, it doesn't matter without them. It doesn't matter. I'm going to go now, Twilight, and I'm never coming back... I'm going to find my Luna. And if there's no Luna in this world... then soon, there will be no Scrivener, either.”

He clenched his eyes shut, snarling, shivering, before he whispered: “I'm coming, Luna. Maybe I'll really be killing myself... maybe I'll just wake up back in my cell from this nightmare. Or maybe, I'll prove that none of this is real... and even if it's only for a second, I'll be back in Luna's embrace as we fall into darkness together... but I'd rather die in search of her... then spend a million years with a monster like you.”

“Y-You... you... you.... y-y-y-you...” Twilight whimpered, trembling, shivering, shaking, as Scrivener turned and strode away... and then she snarled, her eyes glowing, her mane exploding into black fire as she screamed: “I don't think so, puddin'! You're gonna stay with me, and you're gonna like it, and that's that!”

Scrivener stumbled, turning around... and then he stared in horror as Twilight roared, corruption and drool flying from her jaws as her eyes glowed violently, her hide ripping as her muscles bulged and flesh expanded and grew, a front hoof raising... only to smash down into the ground as a massive, gnarled claw. Sharp teeth expanded in a grin that was too large for her head, her body flexing and twitching and blood and corruption burst from her as her skin flayed apart and black fire boiled up from her body, enormous, dark veins pumping obsidian fuel through her system as metallic pistons and cables ripped out of her body, steam and smoke hissing from her as she shrieked: “You're going to love me!”

The earth pony yelled in horror at the godawful, terrible monstrosity, eyes barely able to process this thing... this same, hideous monster that had dragged off Fluttershy, and he shook his head wildly before staggering around in a circle and sprinting away down the streets of warped Ponyville. But the monster lunged after him eagerly, its massive forelegs tearing into the ground and yanking itself along as huge claws flexed and tore at the earth, body still rippling with its transformation as black fire burned over it, gears clanked, pistons hissed...

“No, no, no!” Scrivener shouted, shaking his head wildly, tossing a terrified look over his shoulder as the grinning, massive monster dove after him... and the stallion threw himself to the side, smashing through a door and rolling into the dark interior of an empty, blackened home. He began to claw to his hooves, but the monster merely plowed forwards, smashing easily through the rotten walls as Scrivener desperately ran through the house.

He leapt upwards and crashed through a boarded window into an ally beyond, landing in a pile of debris... and a moment later, one massive forelimb ripped out through the wall in front of him, clawing at him as the monster screamed: “I can be anything you want! I can give you anything you want! Or I can become everything you hate and loathe and fear and either way I'll never, ever, ever let you go!”

Scrivener leapt over the claw when it grabbed at him, lunging forwards... and the monster's head smashed out through the wall, jaws biting at him savagely before it tore itself through the house wall, and the battered home collapsed. For a moment, the cloud of dust and ash kicked up by the accidental razing blinded them both, and the charcoal stallion gasped as he ran quickly ahead, weaving back and forth between houses, stumbling out into another wide thoroughfare and turning to bolt down it... and then the massive monster fell from the sky like a meteor and crashed down in front of him, grinning as she swept both claws forwards and seized him between them.

The stallion stared as Twilight lifted him in front of her muzzle, panting roughly, glaring down at him as she rasped: “Playtime's over, Scrivy. Now I got you. Now you're mine... and I'm sure you'll come around. I'll let you hurt me and hit me and 'get revenge' on me, don't worry... I'm here to make your every fantasy come true... but I'm never, ever going to let you forget...” Twilight snarled, her claws flexing, and Scrivener vomited blood as he leaned forwards and howled in agony. “That you are never, ever allowed to leave me, puddin'! I'm giving you Heaven and Hell, just like you want... I'm giving you more than you ever had in your miserable life, and I am going to force it down your throat if I have to! I am going to-”

“Well, this has all gone to hell in a handbasket. Great work, really, you did exactly what we were hoping you would.” a voice muttered, dripping with sarcasm, and Twilight froze up as Scrivener gasped... then groaned when the monster threw him to the ground before it turned around. Slowly, the stallion forced himself up to his hooves, gritting his teeth as he half-dragged himself to the side to stare past the beast... and in shock at the creature that was calmly, slowly approaching.

It was a Draconequus... or at least, that was what first sprang to mind when Scrivener stared at it. It had the chestnut-colored head of a pony, black mane trimmed short and naturally brush-like, and its eyes were the mismatched green and brown Scrivener had seen staring in through his cell window. It wore a worn-out, cheap-looking purple suit, large bits of cloth here and there sewn badly on to patch up rips and holes, and one hand was covered in white scales and adorned with rings while the other was covered in black fur and ended in chipped claws. Its fingers were currently squeezing the steel body of a cane compulsively: this was topped by an ornate gold handle in the shape of a roaring dragon's head, with beautiful gemstones for eyes.

Then it glared, gritting its teeth, and Twilight squeaked as there was a loud pop before she turned from monster back into unicorn, falling through the air to bounce heavily and almost comically once on her rear before the Draconequus pointed at her and shouted angrily: “You're fired!”

“What, wait! I can e-e-explain, we can still fix this, j-just like we did over that one scene where I got too heavy too fast... c-come on, we can work this out!” Twilight begged, holding up her front hooves as Scrivener only stared weakly, and then the unicorn looked over her shoulder at the stallion, pleading: “Please! Please, tell him, tell him you still love me, puddin', that you're gonna give me another chance, p-please, please, plea-”

“Oh, was I not clear?” The Draconequus reached up and scratched his chin, pretending to look thoughtful as he spun his cane in his other hand, then pointed it at her. “You're fired. As in, like in a kiln.”

Twilight stared... and then she screamed when a blast of fire erupted around her, hiding her from view as Scrivener staggered backwards with a gasp... and then stared in shock as the flames vanished, leaving a petrified statue of the unicorn behind, frozen in mid-scream. The Draconequus glared at this, and then he rose his fist, shaking it angrily as he slammed the butt of his cane against the ground. “And then fired, as in out of a cannon and into the sun!”

A massive black cylinder ripped out of the ground around Twilight, followed a large base that it spun around on once before pointing into the distance... and a moment later, there was a tremendous bang as the enormous cannon fired the statue high into the air, ripping through the red sky above and vanishing into a pinpoint of bright light. Then the cannon simply vanished, and the Draconequus sighed and slumped a little, mumbling: “Good help is so hard to find these days.”

Scrivener was only staring in horror, and the Draconequus looked at him meditatively before crossing his arms, shaking his head slowly as he grumbled quietly: “But then again... this, this, and all this? This is all your fault, too, you know. I mean, look... I tried to give you a nice story at first. It would have been beautiful, if a little sad... the loss of your true love, but moving forwards and finding someone to spend the rest of your life with all the same. Just like I was ordered to.”

The chimerical creature halted, then laughed and smiled, shaking his head slowly as he muttered: “Me, ordered to do it! Seriously, you have no idea how ironic that was... but... I'm sorry, this whole environment is really getting to me. Do you mind?”

With that, the Draconequus stepped back and waved his cane easily through the air... and in that simple gesture, the entire world was washed away, Scrivener stumbling on what was nothingness for a moment before simple, plain grass filled in under his hooves, and stars began to twinkle quietly in the blackness above, turning it into beautiful night sky. The Draconequus smiled, his features softening with this expression before he shook his head hurriedly and returned his glower to Scrivener, leaning grumpily forwards. “But yes. We had such a nice theme planned out! Tragedy, romance, good for all ages! But no. No, no, no, you had to go poking at everything, didn't you? You couldn't leave anything well enough alone, no matter what we did to you... no matter what we gave you!”

The Draconequus stepped forwards and poked at Scrivener a few times with his cane, and the stallion winced before he shook himself out of his stupor, staring up at the creature and asking sharply: “Who are you? What... what have you done to me?”

“Call me Allonym.” The chimerical creature bowed his head politely, reaching up to tip an invisible hat towards him, and then he added mildly: “And just like I just said, I... did this because I was told to. Well. Threatened repeatedly, technically. Honestly, it wasn't... it wasn't supposed to end up like this. Horror, mystery, intrigue... no! But again, your fault.”

Allonym reached down and shoved a white-scaled hand against Scrivener's nose, and the stallion wrinkled his muzzle before stepping quickly back and glaring up at the Draconequus... before a shiver ran through him, as he stared at this creature. It smiled benignly back down at him, leaning on its cane... and then a frown crested its muzzle when Scrivener asked quietly: “What the hell are you...”

“Great. Everyone notices. Why the hell does everyone notice?” Allonym muttered, and he tossed his cane into the air, letting it float beside him as he dug in his purple suit jacket for a moment, then pulled out a large, black can. He cracked it open, and sipped moodily at it, reaching his other hand out to pull his cane back out of the air. “I'm an Avatar. No, not that kind of Avatar. I do not bend things. I totally could if I wanted to, though I just don't want to.”

Scrivener blinked slowly at this, and Allonym grumbled under his breath before the Draconequus added moodily: “But let's just stick to calling me a Draconequus, it's simpler that way. What kind of Draconequus? The kind that feeds off your discomfort, your misery, your pain. If Discord is chaos, and Discombobulation is confusion, then I am most definitely... uh... need another c-word... caustic! Causticness!”

Allonym nodded violently, and when Scrivener only glared at him, the chimerical creature huffed before throwing his drink at the stallion. It bounced off his face and made him stumble with a curse of surprise as he was splattered with some kind of carbonated fizz, and the Draconequus licked his lips as he lidded his eyes and peered down at him as the earth pony swept the can up and stared at it for a moment. “Yes. Yes, your pain sustains me.”

He paused, then cleared his throat and pointed down at the can as Scrivener glared up at him, still too stunned by the turn of events to know whether he should be terrified or panicking or just incredulous. “Yeah, uh. Can you give me that back now? I'm still thirsty.”

Scrivener glowered... and then he slowly turned the can upside down, emptying its contents out onto the ground before simply dropping it, and Allonym slowly narrowed his eyes as he took his cane between his hands, squeezing it slowly as he muttered: “You are just the worst kind of person, Scrivener Blooms. If it were up to me, I'd leave you here. Not to die, but to be alone. Forever. Because seriously, you suck, and no one was supposed to like you.”

Scrivener grunted, feeling his fears of this creature vanishing despite its shows of power, hearing things between its words before he leaned up and asked quietly the most important question that he could think of: “Where's Luna?”

Allonym flinched... and then, slowly, he closed his eyes and slumped, sighing softly as he murmured: “Scrivener... I want you to know that I sympathize more than you might imagine. That... I hesitated to do this to you, that I hesitated to write this story, because the thought of separating you two and the repercussions I knew it could have-”

“Wait, story? What the hell are you talking about?” Scrivener asked sharply, leaning forwards, and then he shook his head violently and shouted: “This isn't just a story! This is my life you've been playing with, this is-”

“Just a midsummer's night dream.” Allonym said gently, and Scrivener twitched before the Draconequus smiled faintly, shaking his head slowly. “No. Everything is only a story, Scrivener Blooms, and there are all kinds of writers out there. Good ones, bad ones, lame ones like me who will probably end up stabbed in a parking lot over some stupidly-offensive thing he wrote...” The Draconequus touched his own chest thoughtfully. “This is kinda like having a Breakfast of Champions with a good friend, a friend you always wanted to meet. You know, as long as your testicles don't end up curling all the way into your stomach from terror. But well, unlike certain writers, I'm not so lucky. I don't have a say in where these stories go...”

The Draconequus leaned forwards, bringing his cane up and gently bopping Scrivener's nose with the snarling dragon-handle. “And I warned Luna that. I warned Luna that the characters make their own stories, that my hands do all the work for me... and tell me, do you recognize one of these hands?” Allonym tossed his cane to his black-furred fingers, stretching his white-scaled, ring-adorned hand towards Scrivener... and the charcoal stallion stared and staggered backwards, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Valthrudnir...” he whispered, studying the rings... and then he snarled, looking up at the Draconequus sharply and shouting: “This won't work! This is all just some goddamn nightmare, some kind of... sick game! I'm not playing, now tell me where Luna is or I'm going to... I'll kick the crap out of you!”

Scrivener stepped forwards, ripped straightjacket fluttering around him making him all the more intimidating, and Allonym winced and hurriedly staggered backwards, waving his hands frantically: “Okay, okay, okay, for the love of crap! I'll tell you!”

“You better tell him, you limey bastard.” snapped another voice, and Scrivener looked stupidly up as another Draconequus appeared, crossing a metallic arm with one that was covered in red fur. It snorted in disdain, white pupils glaring out of black eyes, and Allonym scowled across at the creature Scrivener recognized as Discombobulation.

“Go away, this isn't even the right frigging story. And I'm also not British.” Allonym said distastefully, and Scrivener tried to process what was going on, what was happening.

The other Draconequus only leaned forwards, absently polishing his metallic claws against his chest before he remarked mildly: “You put the Queen on your money. You're British.”

“Then why don't you have some tea!” Allonym retorted, snapping his fingers, and a large teapot appeared over Discombobulation's head before dropping down on his skull. It shattered and all but exploded into porcelain shards and amber-colored liquid, and Discombobulation flailed wildly before he vanished, Allonym sighing and dropping his head as he mumbled: “Never did listen very well to me. Always popping up where I didn't expect him to.”

“What is going on?” Scrivener almost shouted, voice cracking, and the Avatar Draconequus winced and turned awkwardly towards Scrivener before the earth pony clenched his eyes shut... then looked up and whispered: “Please. I... I can't take any more of this. I don't even know if any of this is real anymore or if I'm just... just...”

Allonym sighed, then he lowered his head and replied quietly: “This was all an exercise, Scrivener Blooms, to see what would happen if you survived, but Luna didn't. To find out how you would cope in the world without... Luna. I told her, again and again, what would happen, but... she thought she could give you... freedom. She thought that... well, no, I don't want to put words in her mouth. Her... filthy, filthy mouth.”

Scrivener shook his head, staring, understanding and yet not as the Draconequus turned around and closed his eyes, bowing his head forwards. “It was an interesting little ride, though. You turned my romance into something macabre, dragged in a hell of a lot of pretty obvious references I found pretty amusing all the same, and we ended up with this... horror story that devolved completely into a full-fledged plot Armageddon. You clung to your memories, refusing to believe they were delusions... believing so hard, putting so much faith into the idea they were real, that you caused distortions in the story. That you warped, and twisted, and... and snap-crackle-popped everything that had been put in place to keep you here, to keep you... convinced, that all of this was real.”

The Draconequus turned around, smiling wider, shaking his head. “I gotta admit. I'm impressed. You twisted little bastard, you took everything I threw at you and messed it all up. Then again, that's partly my fault too. See, I may have leaned just a smidgen too heavy on making sure that Twilight would be willing to do anything to make you happy. Didn't see the whole Harley Quinn theme coming, either, but... you're a little evil, I'm a little evil, that apparently adds up to a lot of evil.”

The chimerical creature laughed and shook his head, then he tapped his cane against the ground before murmuring softly: “Stupid of me, wasn't it? Nothing is more dangerous than love... you and I both believe that, too. And I mean, yes, once or twice I was able to step in, change things around a little... like uh, when you came running down the stairs that one time when she leaned too heavily on you. I stepped in and switched out Psycho Twilight with Maternal Twilight, of course, but... my power to apply those fixes is a lot more limited than I'd like. You kept challenging the illusion... challenging reality itself. Do you understand? Your mind was helping power this palatial prison I built for you: and every time it locked onto some detail beneath the story, every time you focused on something, it transformed the whole wide world around you. That's why Fluttershy knew something, because you convinced yourself she knew something... and that's why Fluttershy had to be removed, because you also knew that she would never just stand by and let someone suffer. Although I do wish I hadn't stupidly left Psycho Twilight in charge of dealing with keeping you in the illusion.”

Allonym sighed and shook his head, and Scrivener looked silently at the Draconequus before he met his eyes, saying quietly: “And now here we are. You tore down your illusionary prison and there's no way I could pass this off as some bad trip or hallucination. Not with how fervently you cling to your memories. Not with everything you've been through. And hell, let's be honest here. You've earned your freedom. You pushed through, right to the very end, and broke free of this really retarded story.”

“No, damnable idiot!” shouted a familiar voice... and Scrivener looked up, his breath catching in his throat as Luna shot out of the shadows, running forwards and then leaping up as Allonym looked dumbly towards her before she slammed a vicious headbutt into his face and knocked the Draconequus sprawling with a yelp of pain. Then the winged unicorn crashed down on top of him, stomping her hooves firmly up and down across the chimerical creature as he yelled and flailed wildly. “Thou promised me! Thou promised, swore it!”

“Luna!” Scrivener shouted... and Luna turned and looked at him, flushing deeply, her eyes the eyes of a warrior, her only adornment the beautiful ivy collar around her neck inset with an engraved black pearl, which rested in a silver hollow... and she trembled as their eyes locked, and in that moment, Scrivener felt everything come together: felt their link restore, felt their souls crash into each other, felt each other's emotions...

And Scrivener snarled before he charged forwards and tackled her backwards, knocking her sprawling and skidding as she cried out in shock before they rolled together, Scrivener wildly grappling with her as he shouted into her face furiously: “No! No! It was you? You did this to me? Goddammit, Luna, after all we've been through-”

“Because of all we have been through!” Luna shouted back, tears in her eyes as they rolled together, and then she snarled and slammed a hoof across his face, stunning the male before she quickly rolled on top and pinned him beneath her, breathing hard as tears spilled down her cheeks, trembling as she stared down at him, whispering: “Because I must save thee, Scrivy. Because I needed to show thee... there can be life for thee without me, but... but thou just messed it all up, great idiot!”

Scrivener trembled, beginning to shake his head weakly, and Luna reached up and shoved a hoof against his lips, whispering: “No. Cease, do not speak it, do not even think it, because no. Thou art wrong, Scrivener, thou art not the weakness, thou art not a failure... I am Nightmare Moon. I am the darkness... and thou, thou art the one who even made of clockwork and corruption and worst of all, thy damnable poetry, rose up and fought beside me. Who saved me from myself, and so many foes besides... thou art the one who overcame us both, and... I love thee. I love thee more than I shall ever love any other... including myself. And by all that is and ever shall be... I shall not let thee die. I shall do anything, everything it takes... to save thee.”

“Luna... without you... I can't go on.” Scrivener replied simply, trembling as he stared up at her... and Luna breathed hard, shivering as she looked down at him before the earth pony reached up and whispered: “You're what keeps me stable, and sane, and strong. Without you... you saw what I did to what should have been... paradise for me. I warped it into hell, without even knowing it... and I would never forgive myself, letting you fall... so I could live. No, Luna. We left Canterlot together. You saved my life when you bound your soul to mine... you stopped Valthrudnir before he could drag me into another twisted game with him... you gave me the strength to resist the corruption, and the reason to not give in to Clockwork World. You stupid crazy Valkyrie idiot... I love you. And I'm never going to let go, whether we live or die together.”

There was silence for a few moments, and then Allonym groaned as he carefully crawled up to this hooves, muttering: “Told you so...” He paused, winced at the glares both ponies shot him, and then sighed tiredly as he reached up and rubbed slowly at his forehead. “Look. Creating a dreamworld was one thing. This doesn't have any effect on anything else, technically, so... there's no paradoxes or disruptions. And I wasn't exactly inclined to argue with Luna's 'polite request' to try and get Scrivener Blooms to see that he could live without her after I poked my way into your linked consciousness. Muffling the soul link between you two? Took a little more work. Stopping Nightmare Moon from interfering? Took a lot more work.

“I can't magically save you both. It doesn't work like that. I can't just magically whip up a happy ending when I return you to the physical world, where you fall into... sunshine and daisies instead of certain doom. Now that you're both awake and aware, too, I can't even... keep you trapped in this illusion much longer. Your minds are already beginning to reject it, to return to reality.” The Draconequus said quietly, rubbing moodily at his face before he absently slipped a scuffed shoe under his cane, then kicked it easily up to one hand and spun it nervously at his side. “I wish I could fix everything, but I can't. The most I can do is make sure it doesn't... hurt.”

Luna and Scrivener traded a look... and as their eyes met, their souls twisted together inside of themselves. Memories traded back and forth, thoughts and emotions swirled, and after a few moments the two soul-linked soulmates smiled faintly before they both carefully sat up, side-by-side.

They both looked at Allonym as he cocked his head, and then Scrivener asked quietly: “Why did you do this for us? I get that in some weird way... you were trying to help us. But why?”

“Aye, creature. Thou created the most beautiful Heaven for me...” Luna closed her eyes and smiled faintly, murmuring: “Apart from the fact that... it was missing my sweet Scrivener Blooms, and I knew something was wrong.”

“Yes, at least Scrivener didn't turn genocidal. He just turned Twilight Sparkle into a freakish monster and corrupted reality around him. You, I had to run down and stop from killing everyone around you because you became convinced they were all evil illusions made by... I dunno. Pretty much everyone who didn't like you two is dead.” Allonym snorted, and Luna blushed awkwardly and turned to bury her face against the side of Scrivener's neck, and the earth pony smiled faintly as he closed his eyes: he wanted to be mad at her still, but... he understood at the same time. And he didn't want to waste the last of this precious time with quarreling. Not when they had so little time left.

For a few moments, there was silence... and then Allonym shrugged and rolled his head, muttering: “Oh, why not? Because... I have a soft spot for you two. Because you've lasted so long, and I wanted to see if I could make things last a little longer... but I can't. Your story is over now... but... when you mold these characters, work with them for so long, pour so much into it... you develop feelings for them. Attachments. They become so real to you, and... you yearn for them. Or perhaps it's more apt to say, you pour your yearning into them...”

Allonym stared up into the dark night sky above, spreading his arms, his cane gleaming before he slumped a bit and sighed softly. “So I wanted to play one last game, write one last little story out where you two got the focus. Except that jerk-bag Scrivener got the focus because Luna stabbed me right in the goddamn leg and threatened me into playing her game.” The Draconequus mumbled under his breath, rubbing slowly at his lower limb. “But it was okay, in the end. Completely butchered everything, all fell apart, there's no plot, no sense, no nothing, and I didn't even get to work in all the references I wanted to, but that's fine. That's how it always goes.

“I don't... control the way the stories go, after all. I'm not the Norns, and well...” Allonym smiled a bit over at Luna, who rose her head almost challengingly. “Not that they were anything more or less than three very self-centered nutjobs, anyway. But then again, look at me: form of a Draconequus, of course I didn't like them and all their mechanical order. I loathe predetermination... but at the same time, I do believe just a little in destiny. That some things are meant to happen, meant to be, but... I believe we have free will all the same. We decide how we get there. We decide what we do with those chances. And that's what truly proves that we are free, and not... just fractals of chaos and coincidence. That we are forced into certain situations, but all the same we still can make the choice to do whatever the hell we please in those moments of destiny.

“I just write down what happens. My job is just to watch you guys run along on your way, write down what happens.” Allonym shook his head as he quietly tapped his cane against the ground, looking down meditatively. “I'm not very good at it, of course, and I seem to have a penchant for hitting all the wrong nerves. And you guys are really frigging weird, by the way, which leads to... you know, hitting even more nerves. But hey, ain't like I'm in this for... anything, really. I just write stories. And hope that I don't half-ass it all into the ground.”

The Draconequus laughed after a moment, shaking his head slowly before he leaned forwards and said softly: “And that is why I wanted to save you both, get it? Because your pain, is my pleasure, which is my pain... which is also my pleasure. I'm a little twisted like that. But maybe that's a goodthing, too, because I'm never going to be popular, never going to be well-liked, never going to be successful, and yet... does it matter? No. Because I am not the potter, but the potter's clay: I might be the writer, but that only means I write the stories. You two? You're the ones who make the stories. These stories will go on without me... but they could never exist without you two. Writers are very unimportant in the grand scheme of things... and that's also, Scrivy, why as you went more psycho, you made the whole frigging world around you more psycho. Same goes for you, Luna.”

Scrivener smiled faintly as Luna laughed a little, and the Draconequus nodded slowly as he said softly: “So see? I helped you not because I want you two to continue to exist... but because I, Allonym, want to continue to be me, be here, enjoy this little patch of comfort. I mean, seriously, what choice did I have but to step in with all that in mind? A writer can't be a writer, can't exist, without writing, right? Oh, sure, I could go tackle something different... but then what would I become? Not me.” Allonym brought his cane up, tapping it against his own head seriously. “Change scares me, see. And I really hate the fact that you can tell a whole lot about a person if you can figure out the key words in their writing.”

He shook his head, then Luna cocked her head and asked curiously: “Then creature, with that in mind... why was it that in both our dreams... 'twas a train accident that killed our beloved? Why did thou give us sorrow's sweet kiss, instead of blinding us with joy in thine efforts to convince us to continue to fight, to exist?”

“Because fiction is lies, and lies begin with truth. Because there's only one place a writer can turn to when they're stuck in a corner, trying to make up a story on his own... but you probably figured that answer out already, huh?” Allonym smiled softly, closing his eyes and bowing his head towards them before he turned around and began to stride off. Then he suddenly slumped and sighed, and he glanced over his shoulder, saying quietly: “Oh, by the way. Your son Antares... he's gonna grow up good, from what I can tell so far. You'll be proud of him. Hell, you might even meet him one day. Although I do need a better term for whatever the hell he is with his wings and all.”

“I thought Twilight said if you have wings and a horn you're called an alicorn.” Scrivener said mildly, as Allonym began to walk away, and then the Draconequus groaned at this and dropped his head moodily, reaching a hand up to rub at his face slowly.

“You really are Scrivener goddamn Blooms.” the chimerical creature muttered, and then he said moodily over his shoulder: “It's a personal quirk, okay? Everyone can call it that, and whether it's wrong or right I don't really care. I was raised... or raised myself, rather... on certain folklore. And if I started misusing that folklore it would be like a betrayal of my writing roots. And then those roots would reach up and choke me to death and I would die horribly... why are we talking about this? You two have to resume falling into darkness, and I have to go and mope for a while before stalking your son.”

“Wait!” Luna shouted, and the Avatar groaned and threw his arms out, then turned around and slammed his cane down, leaning on this and glaring at them before the winged unicorn smiled across at him, and said quietly: “Thou hast my thanks, creature, for allowing Scrivy and I... this final meeting. I understand that thou cannot give us reprieve here forever, that... thou cannot save us, and I do not hold these things against thee. But ten more minutes, creature... can thou spare us that, before we die, to spend together?”

Allonym lowered his head, closing his eyes... and then he smiled faintly, slowly drawing his mismatched eyes up as he said quietly: “I suppose I can give you two ten minutes.” He paused, turning around and striding off, fading into the darkness as he added nonchalantly: “And whoever said you two were going to die, drama queen? I just said your story's over. Give your kid a chance in the spotlight, you selfish jerks.”

With that, Allonym vanished, and Luna and Scrivener stared after him before they both turned their eyes to each other, warmth, hope, and love filling their eyes... before they simply traded a firm, tight hug, and Scrivener whispered: “We're together, Luna. That's all that matters... no more trying to save the other, if we can't save ourselves, too. I love you.”

“Aye, Scrivy... together. Forever and evermore... I love thee too, my sweet daydreamer.” Luna replied softly, sitting back, and their eyes locked before she murmured: “But thou art still an idiot.”

“I know. And you're a jerk.” Scrivener said quietly, and the two ponies smiled at each other, before their mouths met in a soft kiss as they embraced fiercely. They held each other close, their minds, hearts, and soul as one, feeling each other's heartbeat and hearing one another's thoughts as they felt themselves awakening as if from a deep sleep... only to descend once more into darkness.

But all the same, they smiled, fearless of the void that waited hungrily below: to fall together, was better than to sacrifice the other half of their mixed soul: to fall together, was like entering a restful slumber well-earned after a long day... with the lingering promise that after the darkness, there would always come a new dawn.