Chapter 28
Dream's End
Everything was coming together. Souris worked the final touches of her magic all over Twilight, transforming the alicorn princess.
Twilight sat patiently as the lady-bat’s crackling hands gently stroked her mane, sides and back. With every pass of Souris’ hands, something changed. Her mane was styled. Her dress was smoothed. Her wings were preened. And when her hooves were rubbed, they were suddenly polished.
After everything she hoped for blew up in her face, Twilight stood silently as she was worked on. It was all she felt she could do.
“Don’t despair, dear. You’ve made a wise decision by remaining with me,” Souris said, as she gently stroked Twilight’s hoof.
Twilight sighed and shook her head.
“I still don’t know how this is supposed to help me,” Twilight said.
“This is all about getting you prepared for the next great step. First, you must bare yourself before the world as you know it,” Souris answered.
“What does that mean?” Twilight said, removing her hoof from Souris’ dagger-clawed hand.
“It’s how you begin to see the world as one such as myself does,” Souris answered with her devious smile.
The lady-bat turned her back to Twilight, and dramatically raised her arms. From the darkness before her, as if a projector had been shone on a screen, the world before them turned to the sparkling, magical vision Twilight had seen before.
“It all begins with a single step. One towards the end of the path blocked by your shadows of doubt that obscure the vision of your mind’s eye. And it is followed by many others, until we reach the glorious destination.”
Twilight watched as Souris raised her arms higher.
The scene before them changed to a stage with many cheering spectators. Upon the stage, Twilight could see a blurry, blotted, lavender shape, which was clothed in blue.
“By putting yourself on full display before the masses, you are able to see past the world of the natural and the mundane! And in doing so, discover what it is you see beyond it all to the magic within your own heart and soul!” Souris bombastically continued.
Twilight could see the figure on the stage growing brighter and more defined. Before she could actually see who it was in the vision, it all faded back into darkness.
Souris turned back around to face Twilight.
“But, first,” the lady-bat said, “We have to get you ready to present your heart and soul to all others. Only then can you know what is within you.”
Everything Twilight had seen was so wonderful. After the heartbreak she had experienced just prior, she felt her spirits lifted now that she was closer than ever to achieving mastery over this magic.
“I’m ready!” Twilight said, after the excitement sank in. “Souris, I’m ready to show everypony who I really am!”
“Not just yet, dear. You still aren’t fully dressed,” Souris said.
“Yes, I-- Oh. My jewel,” Twilight remembered.
“Precisely,” Souris said, tapping the tip of her claw to Twilight’s nose. “I know that it seems like a terrible nitpick. But, it is essential to completing your entire look. I’m going to go and see how my assistant is doing once again. And, remember: stay here, until I get back.”
“Okay,” Twilight said, smiling once more.
Souris’ entire body began crackling with her starlit magic, and before Twilight she disappeared.
Twilight looked on in awe, knowing she would be able to use such magic for herself in the very near future.
“You double-crossin’, gin-stinkin’, land whale!!! Get me down from here!!!” Mickey shouted.
On the rooftop of Amaranthine, Mickey Mouse hung upside-down. The mouse was tangled up in his own mantle, and bound by thick ropes that hung him from the backside of the Amaranthine billboard.
“Nuttin’ doin’, runt. Ya see, I got me a job to do,” Pete said, as he struck a match on Mickey’s face to light a new cigar.
“Why you--You never planned on givin’ Minnie back to me!” Mickey shouted.
“I wouldn’t be much of a no-gooder if I did, wouldn’t I? Hyeh-heh-heh-heh-heh!!!” Pete guffawed.
Mickey should have known. If there was anything that was certain in the world, it was death, taxes, and Pete was as dishonest as they came. Something which brought new light to the mouse.
“If you got Minnie, where is she?” Mickey said.
“If yer t’inkin’ ya wanna go lookin’ for her, ya best go spelunkerin’ in de bottom of ol’ Zeke Wolf’s big, bad gut! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!”
Mickey struggled even more violently against his restraints.
“You aint’ got her!! The Big Bad Wolf would never eat a mouse!! Minnie’s too small for his appetite!!” Mickey shouted.
Pete did not answer Mickey. Instead, he kept laughing as Mickey tried to free himself. Leaving the mouse in suspense of the fate of Minnie was pure viewing satisfaction for the heavy. But, the fun ended when Pete felt a familiar chill down his spine.
In a burst of swirling starlight, Souris appeared behind Pete.
“Heh. Just de witch-woman I been lookin’ for,” Pete said. He turned to face Souris. “Yer gonna be real happy wit’--Sweet son o’ Pete!! What happened to yer face!?!?”
Souris smirked at Pete’s reaction to her demonic visage.
“You know me. I just can’t hide myself when I’m faced with such a perfect specimen as the one I’ve found. Why do you ask? Don’t you think I’m beautiful?” Souris asked, as she posed like a model, crossing her legs, raising her elbows and tracing her fingertips behind her neck.
“Hey-Hey! Don’t you go playin’ mind games wit’ me! Yer witchy, but ya ain’t no sucker-bus!” Pete said.
“Hmf,” was all Souris said, as she stepped toward her associate. “So, what is it you think I’d be so happy with?”
“I got yer moy-chandise,” Pete said, presenting the green jewel to Souris.
The lady-bat magically took it from Pete’s palm, and examined the jewel in her claws. There it was. The last piece of the puzzle. The final ingredient to her spell. The one missing link that would set off a chain of events that would end Avalon.
“This is it. The last sister. Brung to incur the end of what she and the others have all worked to build,” Souris said.
The lady-bat raised the jewel over her head, and her whole body crackled with magic.
“Get an eyeful o’ dis, runt. Dis is gonna be good,” Pete said, to Mickey, as he clasped the mouse with his arm.
From every jewel that adorned Souris’ body, the same kind of magic that coursed over her rose. To many, it would seem an awe-inspiring wonder of magic. To people like Mickey or Pete, it was completely the opposite.
Mickey watched, and could see that the magic coming from Souris’ many earrings and necklace were not her own. It was the magic of another, who the mouse swore he could see in the transferring magic. When the magic finished transferring, Mickey saw the familiar face of a blue cervequin with a lavender horn screaming on the surface of the jewel, before she disappeared entirely.
“Begun by a dream. And by a dream undone. So will be the fate of every citizen in Avalon,” Souris said to herself, as she pensively examined the green jewel.
Mickey couldn’t believe what he saw. He didn’t know what the heavy and the lady-bat were planning. Whatever it was, he knew that it meant every creature living in the city was in grave danger.
With a fury burning him from the inside out, Mickey struggled even harder against his restraints, only to be stopped by Souris’ hand on top of his head.
“You,” Souris said. “You’re a friend of Twilight’s, aren’t you?”
“What have ya done with her, ya demon-witch!!?” Mickey said.
“Now, now. That’s not how you talk to a lady,” Souris said, before spinning Mickey on his rope. “Twilight is just fine. In fact, she’s going to be even better than ever by the time I’m finished with her.”
Souris turned to leave, before stopping to speak with Pete one final time.
“Take care of this mouse, will you? I can’t have him interfering with my show,” Souris said.
“I was hopin’ ya’d say dat,” Pete said.
Souris disappeared with her jewel in hand, leaving Pete and Mickey alone on the rooftop.
Pete smiled deviously at Mickey, and produced a keg of dynamite from his jacket.
“I been lookin’ forward to dis a long time,” the heavy chuckled, as he slipped the explosive into the ropes that bound Mickey.
Twilight waited patiently for Souris to return. In a few short moments, she would return ready to show her the way to the next big step.
In her mind, the young alicorn played over how she would present herself to the crowd of onlookers. What she would discover of herself was like a treasure that waited to be found. With every passing second, it was like taking a step that brought her closer to her long-sought achievement.
The curtain in the room silently opened, and Twilight’s heart fluttered. Now, Souris was going to guide her to magical transcendence. Only, it was not Souris who entered.
“Twilight!” Rarity greeted her friend.
“Rarity?” Twilight answered, her heart suddenly jumping.
“Twilight, I’m so happy you’re here!” Rarity said, trotting over to hug Twilight.
“How did you find me here?” Twilight said.
“Oh, simple, darling. All I had to do was work a few of my feminine wiles,” Rarity joked. “Of course, it was simpler to ask if anypony has seen a purple alicorn around.”
“Right. Of course,” Twilight agreed.
As happy as she was to see Rarity at the moment, Twilight was even more relieved to see that Nopony was not with her. Wherever he was, he was surely not far from his precious Rarity.
“Um...Rarity, you should go. This is a private room,” Twilight explained.
“But, Twilight, I need you. More than I’ve ever needed you. I’ve a friendship problem only you can solve,” Rarity begged her friend.
Of all the things Rarity could have come forward with, why did it have to be a friendship problem? As she was now, Twilight knew she was in no fit state to solve so much as a crossword puzzle. If she were somepony else, who had never had their magic stolen from them, she was sure she could have helped. But until Souris returned, Twilight knew she could handle nothing she used to.
“Friendship? But, that’s--I need my magic to help you,” Twilight stammered.
“No, you don’t. I’ve done plenty without my own. And I can tell you that you can do the same,” Rarity assured her friend. “Please. This is my most desperate hour of need. Our quest cannot continue, until you help.”
Twilight felt her entire being sink in that moment. One look into Rarity's eyes, and she could see how greatly Rarity wished for her help. Swallowing the growing lump in her throat, Twilight divulged the terrible truth.
“I’m not going with you…” Twilight quietly said.
“What did you say?” Rarity asked.
“I’m not going with you on the rest of this quest,” Twilight answered more audibly.
Rarity couldn’t believe her ears. It was the last thing that she ever expected to hear Twilight say. Twilight who was everything that the Elements of Harmony embodied, who was always there who needed her, who never backed away from the chance to patch things between others. Now, Rarity thought she was looking at a hollow shell of the mare she knew so well.
“But--Twilight, you must! We can’t do this without you! I can’t!” Rarity said.
“I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to. I can’t do anything to help you now. Look at me,” Twilight said. She lowered her horn, and concentrated her mind onto it. At the same time, she flapped her wings. Neither did anything of any use. “You see? I can’t do anything I used to. Not without my magic.”
Rarity was beginning to understand the plight of her friend. Twilight’s special skill had always been magic, and there she was without her main asset.
“Oh, darling,” Rarity began, placing a comforting hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, “You never needed such a thing. Look at that wonderful dress you’re wearing. It wasn’t made by anything like this,” Rarity said, indicating the horn on her friend’s head. “It was made from inside. By the same magic that ever let me fashion such things. You don’t need your horn. Just let it flow from within, and I know you can help us.”
Let it flow from within? How? Twilight was told that she would learn such a thing when she was presented onstage. That was the path she needed to take. Just like Souris had told her to.
The longer Twilight looked at Rarity, the more she could see Rarity’s face darken in the shadows. Soon, she became as black and as terrible as the doubts she had seen darken her presence in the first vision she had.
With a sharp gasp, Twilight backed away from Rarity, who suddenly reverted back to normal.
“Twilight, what’s wrong?” Rarity asked.
“You need to leave. Now,” Twilight said.
“What? But, Twilight--”
Rarity tried approaching her friend, but Twilight stepped back.
“Just go. Finish what I started,” Twilight said.
Rarity had seen that look on Twilight’s face before. The same look that she always had when she had her mind completely made up. Whatever Twilight had been doing that whole time, it had left a profound impression on her. An impact that was deep enough to make Twilight abandon her friends and her responsibilities
With one last forlorn look, Rarity left with a heavy heart.
Twilight watched her friend go, still unnerved by the encounter with the shadows she had seen. Though she hated herself for sending off her friend, she knew she was doing the right thing. Under Souris’ guidance, she was going to become valuable to everypony once more.
Outside the room, Rarity walked with her head hung low. In such a short time, everything had fallen apart. Mickey was lost. Twilight was lost. For all she knew, Pete, The Big Bad Wolf, Yen Sid, and even that horrible badger had already won.
“Rarity!” Nopony’s voice called.
Rarity was not even phased when the performer somersaulted over a moving rack of clothes.
“Can you help me out here? Everypony keeps saying that there’s an alicorn behind one of these curtains. But, there are so many curtains here,” Nopony said.
“No need. We’re leaving,” Rarity said.
“But, what about your friend? Isn’t she here somewhere?”
Rarity didn’t answer. The Twilight she knew was gone. Nowhere to be found in that endless city of dreams.
Nopony didn’t know what was wrong with Rarity. But where she went, so too would he. Even if she were to continue her quest, or if she gave up and went home, he would be there with her.
Twilight sighed in the darkness of the room. Now that Rarity was gone, everything seemed so pointless. She had no magic, no friends, and no idea what she was doing. The way things were going, it didn’t seem like even learning magic the way Souris used it would do her any good.
In the shadows, Twilight looked up and saw a tiny glimmer of starlight. When she reached to touch it, it slowly drifted away from her.
The glimmer was joined by several more, which all consolidated to a single point. With a burst of light, the mass of stardust became the lady-bat herself, Souris Chauve.
For a moment, Souris said nothing. She only stared at Twilight, as if to silently appraise her.
Twilight did not even flinch at the sight of the demonic lady looking over her. To her, it seemed somehow natural. Like Souris was the only creature she could place her trust in at the moment.
From the light of Souris’ devilish red eyes, something in her hands was made to glimmer. Looking closer, Twilight saw that it was a jewel. A green jewel whose cut she couldn’t make out.
“Is that it? My jewel?” Twilight wondered.
“Yes,” Souris said, barely able to contain her smile.
“And now, I can go onstage?”
“Oh, yes,” Souris answered, beaming devilishly as her eyes glowed brighter. “Come closer to me. I’ll prepare you for the last step.”
As the lady-bat magically summoned a strip of pink fabric, Twilight slowly walked closer to her. The speed of Twilight’s pace was not slowed by caution, fear, or wonder of what Souris had become. Rather, she was going over in her head with what was to happen next. With just the application of a new accessory, she was going to cross the rubicon to something greater.
“Um…” Twilight began.
“Yes?” Souris asked, as she magically stitched the green jewel into the fabric.
“Do you really think I can really improve? Can I really be something better than I am now?” Twilight asked.
“Of course, dear. I wouldn’t have taken you on if I weren’t sure of your potential. Why do you ask?” Souris answered.
“No reason. But, could you keep telling me? From time to time?”
“Of course,” Souris said, as her eyes glowed even brighter.
Watching Souris smile as she worked in the light of her devilish eyes, Twilight felt as though she were watching a mirror of the needle-sharp concentration and fiery passion that let itself forth. Just the very same as she hoped to experience when she went onstage.
With that in mind, Twilight felt her anxieties fade. She had been right. In the presence of Souris, all the shadows went away.
Souris finished the necklace she was fashioning, and revealed the finished product to Twilight. While beautiful, it was the jewel that gave Twilight pause.
After being stolen by Nopony, pursued by Pete, and returned to Souris by her unknown assistant, Twilight could see in full what a wonder of jewelry it was. It had all the glory and splendor of the sunrise, and the beauty and majesty of the early rising moon. And it was all hers.
Twilight closed her eyes as Souris fastened the necklace around her neck. In the solitude of her own mind, Twilight could see herself once more. She was onstage, cavorting and gallivanting about for all the world to see her. Every time she stepped, it was like dancing. With every turn, Twilight was faced with more awe from all who were watching.
Around her, the world began to sparkle, and the necklace she wore gleamed brightly. All who looked at her were captivated. And the world itself seemed to bow to her every whim.
A familiar feeling clutched her mind. The same that she felt before, as a shadow began seeping from the necklace she wore.
“No! Not now! I need to get past this!” Twilight thought to herself.
It was too late. The shadow overtook her and enveloped her entire being. Only this time, something was different. There was another presence within the shadow. One that Twilight had the distinct feeling was telling her to run away. To save herself and all others. That whatever she did, she should avoid Souris at all costs.
“No! I won’t let anything stop me!!” Twilight declared aloud.
“Very good, dear,” Souris’ voice echoed from somewhere in the darkness.
When Twilight looked around, all she could see were the lady-bat’s red eyes peering from the shadows.
“Now, come and meet the others,” Souris’ voice said.
Even though she couldn’t see the lady-bat, Twilight could tell that she was motioning for her to come forward.
From out of the darkness, six more colors shone. Gold at first. Then violet, orange, white, black and yellow all followed.
With a feeling of ease creeping into her mind, Twilight walked forward. Soon, the shadows around her all disappeared, and she was surrounded by six other creatures. Though Twilight had never seen them, the distinctly colored necklaces they were wearing were sure signs they were the other models.
Each model varied greatly by species. There was a griffin who wore a black jacket and skirt, with the golden necklace around her neck. A cervequin in a yellow gown and gloves, with the violet necklace. A fanged creature with wild hair who wore an equally wild turquoise dress, with the orange necklace. A faceless creature of pure luminosity in a red minidress, who wore the white necklace. A llama in a white bolero who wore the black jewel. And finally, a creature that was like a bipedal fish with long, flowing hair, who wore a green cocktail dress, with the yellow necklace.
All eyes were on Twilight. Even though they spoke quietly, the young alicorn could hear what the models were saying.
“It’s really her.”
“Have you ever seen anything like her?”
“She really is an alicorn! I never would have believed it before now!”
“My goodness, she’s beautiful.”
Twilight’s mind went back to the first days of her alicorn-hood. When all of her friends and acquaintances in Ponyville suddenly started talking like she was a wonder of nature. In truth, she was always the same mare she always was. All she needed to do to show that was to simply break the ice.
“Uh...nice to meet you all. I’m Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight greeted the models.
Twilight was suddenly overtaken by the greetings that were offered to her. Every one of the other models exchanged their names, where they were from, and how excited they were to be working with Twilight.
“Ahem,” said a familiar voice from nearby.
Twilight and all the other models looked, and saw Souris now standing among them. No longer was she devilish and demonic, but her face had reverted back to the same attractive features Twilight had first seen. The shadows of doubt had passed, and Twilight knew now she was truly ready.
“We’re ready to begin the show,” Souris said, motioning to the stage just beyond.
Twilight looked out to the light of the stage outside. That was what laid past the shadows of doubt. And it was where she was going to take herself.
Souris knelt down beside Twilight to offer one last friendly reminder.
“Just remember, dear: I’ll be with you for every step of the way,” the lady-bat said.
Twilight smiled, and looked out to the stage after Souris stepped aside. With one step, and then another, Twilight was on her way.
The other models filed after her, ready to put themselves on display.
For a brief moment, Souris’ visage turned demonic as she watched the models onstage, before she reverted back. Now that the first part was done, she was ready to finally put her plan into full effect.
Outside the show, Rarity sat dismally before an ameteur work station at a tailor’s booth. Not even the prospect of working on a simple coat made her spark come alive as it normally had.
“Come on, Rarity. What’s wrong? You haven’t talked to me since we left that work room,” Nopony said, as he tumbled in, twirling a pair of fabrics around himself like an exotic dancer.
Rarity sighed deeply and pushed away the fabrics she was working with.
“Rarity, you can talk to me. A lot of ponies say that nopony listens to them, or that nopony cares about their problems. You’re just lucky that I happen to be Nopony,” the performer said.
Rarity managed the smallest giggle. For as enthused as the performer was, she was hardly in any mood to discuss the details of a friendship so profound that had ended so abruptly.
All around her, Rarity could see friendships that abounded in that place. Whether they were creatures who had known one another for years or even hours, the fashionista knew that they all hinged on the completion of the magical quest.
As if on cue, the magical cluster of starlight appeared before Rarity.
“Hey, that’s neat. Did you do that?” Nopony asked.
Looking at the light, Rarity knew then what had to be done. She had been guided to where she was needed, and she was going to see it through to the end. Her mind was now made up. With or without Mickey or Twilight, the quest had to go on.
“Come, Nopony. We must go where we’re needed now,” Rarity said.
“Sure. You think they like buskers there?” Nopony asked.
“I’m sure at least somepony will,” Rarity answered.
The two ponies followed the light down the street, right up to a crowd that had formed in front of Amaranthine.
Rarity and Nopony pushed their way through the crowd, following after the glittering light, knowing that it was to take them somewhere of great importance.
The light led the ponies to the front of the stage. Rarity did not even need to wonder why she was led there.
Standing directly at the front of the stage, there was Twilight Sparkle as Rarity had never seen her before. No longer was Twilight the modest, plain mare she knew from back home. Twilight was cavorting herself across the stage, showing every aspect of her being. And the longer Rarity watched, the more she saw that Twilight was enjoying herself.
With every pass, Twilight was becoming more immersed with the display to the point she began interacting with the other six models onstage with herself. For every moment she spent onstage, Twilight could feel as though she were truly experiencing what Souris told her about. Even though the world to her was not sparkling, it seemed to her as if it were so. When the show was finished, she was going to return to Souris, more determined than ever to apply what she had learned.
High above the stage, behind the Amaranthine billboard, a mouse was struggling to free himself.
“MMF!! RRMF-FRRM-RRRMFUF-ARUMF!!!” Mickey shouted through the dynamite that gagged him.
In the time since Souris left them alone, Pete had placed dynamite into almost every inch of the ropes that bound Mickey. Not only that, but he had tied Mickey up in lengths of detonating cord, mounted dynamite around where Mickey hung, and even placed a small powder keg beneath Mickey.
“Dat oughta do it,” Pete said, as he stuffed two sticks of dynamite inside Mickey’s ears.
The heavy took a step back to admire his handiwork. There was his oldest and most hated enemy, wrapped in explosives, and only moments from his demise.
Pete was fully ready to finish the mouse off, but took a moment to revel in the joys of watching Mickey struggle in vain to break free.
“GRM-HUMFFUH-GARMF--” Mickey shouted, before Pete sent Mickey spinning with a right hook.
“Put a cork in it, runt! I ain’t gonna blow ya up yet. Dat’s just a constichee-ency,” Pete said.
Mickey slowly stopped struggling when he saw Pete reach into his jacket, and produce his tommy gun.
Below the stage, a room with an altar silently echoed as its single occupant worked her devilish magic.
In the crystalline reflections of the walls, Souris ran her clawed hands over the surface of the altar. The reliefs of seven creatures were carved on the surface of the stone of seven colors. With every pass of her hands, Souris filled the grooves with their respective complementary color.
Souris’ smile grew and grew as the final image of a blue cervequin appeared on the green stone of the altar.
“Now, you are all together,” Souris said, as her face and body changed once more to demonic proportions.
The preparations were all complete. Now was the time to execute her plan. With a wave of her hands over the stone, the images on the altar seemed to suddenly come alive when they started to glow.
“You who are in my power. You seven who dreamed the impossible, built the impossible, undo now what you have done! I command you! Give your power now to me, that I may please my master! Destroy all you have created, and the sons and daughters you have dreamt! Confer unto me your beautiful dream!”
Light shone brighter from the stone, and began to seep upward through the ceiling. Slowly at first, until the light grew so intense, it nearly seemed it would break through the ceiling to the stage above.
As the light grew greater, so too did Souris’ transformation until she was barely recognizable from her former state. With her true nature revealed, so too would she unleash her true intentions upon all of Avalon.
A light rose from the Amaranthine stage, making the models and audience all cover their eyes.
A strange sensation overtook the models, and each one of them froze in place. Slowly, they all stood straight upright, and another light shone from them all, which spread across the audience, and flooded all across the city, from the deepest sewer to the highest building.
Up above, Pete had just placed his finger on the trigger, before he fell over backwards from the sight before him.
“What de Sam Hill is dat!!??” Pete shouted.
Down on the ground, Nopony had to cover his eyes, even with his sunglasses on.
Rarity clasped her hooves around the performer’s front leg, partly not to lose him in the light, partly to hold onto somepony dear to her.
“What the hay is happening!?” Nopony shouted over the crowd.
Rarity didn’t know. Whatever it was, she knew it was nothing good. Not when such a magic as the light that guided her was consolidated into one beam. And it became even more drastic when the light disappeared.
Each of the models collapsed. Twilight lifted her head, her breath shaking over her racing heart. Something terrible happened. But, not anything she could deduce.
The stage began to rumble and fall apart.
The billboard above the stage started to creak and fall, leaving Mickey hanging over the stage.
From the floor of the stage, rising like a bat out of Hell was the one who brought about that great cataclysm. Twilight watched in horrified awe at the one who took her on as her student. No longer the creature Twilight knew, Souris had truly become a monster from the infernal depths.
What were once arms had now become leathery wings with claws at the end of each impossibly long finger. Paired with the wings that were once Souris’ arms were wings that sprouted from the open back of her dress. Her legs had become crooked and bent backwards. Her feet, previously hidden within her shoes, had grown in size, and morphed into grasping hooks.
Worst of all were her eyes. What were once warm, red orbs had turned into solid red pools of malice that shone with a malevolent light.
The lady-bat smiled widely, revealing crooked fangs that grew past her lips. Avalon was at its end, and she was going to usher it toward oblivion.