Presence of Mind, Absence of Body

The number haunts her mind. Seven moons. Such a small number, but still an eternity away. Now she isn’t so sure. It’s almost funny. When she started, seven moons would have felt like an eternity of time. Far, far too much. Now? It was hardly enough.

He’s accessed the harmonics, and tapped into this universe’s magic like a proper warlock. He’s got far more than his “natural” shadow and smoke magic. Her Equestrian friends could still win, but they’ll have to bring dangerous artifacts. Things that will retain their magic through the portal. And worse? He might manage to take one. If he gets one, then it’s more likely he gets two. Then it cascades.

Of course, maybe he’ll be crushed. He’s dead in her world. Why shouldn’t he also be dead here?

If she was back home, he wouldn’t be much of a threat. His current magical awareness was honestly middling for a warlock in Equestria. The fear aspect is uniquely “Sombra”, and his interrogation spell is something she’s never seen back home, but the rest of it? Just standard spells. A lot of them, to be sure, but nothing extraordinary.

Here, though, in the human world where no one else even had magic? A blast of fire, a simple teleport, or even a force-field would be impossible to deal with. Now that he had effectively unlimited mana; she wasn’t sure what they’d bring. Perhaps the anti-magic amulet she’d made from Chrysalis’s old throne? Could they even get that through the portal?

She shakes her head and stares down at her book. She hasn’t been reading it, so she closes it to worry.

She doesn’t like worrying, she’d rather be on the cusp of orgasm and staring into his eyes.

Another now familiar fear races through her. The other reason the moons haunt her. When the time is up, win or lose, things will be different. If he dies, what will she do? She’s not likely to find somepony willing to treat her like he does back in Equestria. Her nights of endless orgasms and mindless debauchery will end. Anypony else wouldn’t be as… cruel to her, while still knowing her in the same, intimate way. At best she’d find a bully. At worst, perhaps a lover. But something like Sombra?

The list of ponies with the basic physical ability to keep up was short. Really, there were only three. She refused to consider the first. Would Luna, perhaps, be willing to hurt her like she needs? Would Cadance even understand what she would be asking? Morbidly, she wondered if Discord would be able, and if Fluttershy would be okay with her asking him a favor like that from… whatever they were.

Her eyes drift to the tattoos that now cover her hands. Dark, inky lines meant to control her. She certainly looked the part of some villain now. Would the tattoos go away when she went back to Equestria? How would they look on her coat, or her hooves? And what of her face? It was decorated in piercings. Piercings weren’t unheard of in Equestria, but aside from ear piercings they were hardly used.

Her clit piercing would be utterly scandalous. So many ponies would ask why. She flirts with the idea of being mysterious about it. Maybe she’ll start a new fashion trend? The thought amuses her. Maybe it’s time for an Equestrian sexual revolution.

Is that really the Twilight that’s plotting to go home? Or is that the one that wants… things to not change?

Less selfishly, she wishes there were some way to resolve this without anypony having to fight. She honestly has begun to think of him as some sort of friend. He’s still a monster, but she understands him better than anypony else. And at the end of the day? All his villainy, all his dark magic, all his drive and pride were just a desperate call out for love and belonging from a creature not of this or any other world.

That realization had broken her heart.

He wanted to make the world conform to his ideals, because he couldn’t conform to it. He never even knew his mother. He never found camaraderie with others. He didn’t understand friendships because he’d never had one before.

People existed to him simply to be used. Twilight was the first pony… person he’d made any accommodations for. He’d abused her without remorse. But when she finally got through to him, he’d been willing to get her a library. Her own room. She even had clothes, not that she usually wore them. Each thing was a small gift, a trinket in his own words. But they were something. And the trinkets grew in value until she’d gotten something invaluable.

His trust. He’d let her visit her friends. And she’d upheld their agreements. He didn’t love her, not in the way a normal person would, but she was familiar to him in a way that was now invaluable. She was probably more important than any magic trinket he had. All he wanted, even if he’d never admit it, was somebody who he could trust.

That’s why the mind magic. He made sure he could trust them. That’s why the cruelty. He didn’t understand their hearts, so they constantly seemed to be breaking his trust. He was a piss poor communicator. Maybe he hadn’t been born evil, but being so different from everybody else had forced, or at least enabled, him to act this way eventually.

But now she knows him now. And more importantly, he knows that she knows him. They understand each other. Of course she still hates his methods and plans. She isn't broken in the same way he is. It still might be enough. He might be content to simply... keep her. He's been spending more time with her than his studies lately.

Still, she can’t help but feel like there's room for more something between. Definitely not love, but… well, something. Perhaps more debauchery?

Seven moons. Seven moons and it would all be over. Either she’ll be free, or she won’t. He almost certainly won’t still be her “friend” anymore. Sickeningly, she realizes that no matter what happens, she needs to keep her book. It's the only real record of what happened. She’d left a lot out of her letters. The book is the only way she’ll know all this was real and not some demonic fever dream.

Well, that and the tattoos.

Hopefully. There is always the chance that her friends lose, and he wins.