"I fear nothing... I hope...for nothing."
-Kratos, God of War 3
"This is bad, isn’t it," Apple Bloom whispered, slowly backing away from the dark alicorn. Laughter was fighting against the dark magic chains that had been wrapped around her body, bucking and snorting as she vainly attempted to escape. "This is really, really bad, right?"
"Uh huh," Pinkie said, wings fluttering in agitation before she fell to the ground, her body shifting into her Pinkimenia form. "Faith... Faith, come on-"
Faith turned, a dark smile ghosting across his face. Any hope that they might be able to reach him was lost at the sight of that smile; it was clear that they were not dealing with the Lord of the Gray at the moment but his former self, the dark alicorn Doubt. "You act so frightened! Do not tell me that you are scared of me." He rolled his eyes in annoyance. "There is nothing to be afraid of... you aren't the ones that robbed me of everything." His eyes ever so slowly slide back to stare down Laughter. "You, on the other hand... oh yes, you have much to fear, sister."
"I... I knew it!" Laughter exclaimed, grinning in triumph. "I knew you were evil!"
"You think this is evil?" Doubt asked calmly. "My dear sister... you think much too small and much too narrow." He suddenly lunged forward, Laughter screaming as he jabbed his horn at her throat. At the very last second he pulled back, leaving the poor mare panting in terror. "No... I am far from evil. Enraged, perhaps, even a bit mad... but not evil." He tapped his chin with his hoof, puzzling things over. "Of course, that doesn't mean you aren't in a world of trouble. I'd wager that if I were evil you'd be in a much better spot... evil might bite and nip... but good stallions, when pushed the anger? Oh, those poor creatures can destroy kingdoms."
"We need to go," Inkie said nervously.
"Where to?" Sue asked. "This is his mind... he is in total control."
"It's... it's ok..." Trixie whispered, forcing herself to swallow up her fear and heartache. She edged towards the group, Doubt not paying the least bit of attention to them (or perhaps he was... it was hard to tell with him). "He's still Faith."
"Don't look like Faith to me," Granny Smith quipped.
Trixie shook her head. "Trust me... Faith is still around but we need to give him some room." Trixie let out a long breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in. "I want to try something." She turned to head towards Doubt, only to find Clyde was at her side. "I need to do this alone."
Clyde took a step forward, preventing Trixie from escaping. "Sorry, but I will not let you face him alone." He spoke up before she could argue. "It isn't anything against you... you are as strong as any mare I've met. You just suffered a tragedy and aren't in the greatest of spots, though. Grief makes you act funny... I know. My father died and I ended up plowing our driveway. I 'm not letting you out of my sight, Miss."
"Alight... but follow my lead and keep your mouth shut. It isn't anything against you... but one wrong move and we will be in as much trouble as you think we are in right now." Trixie closed her eyes and focused. "Doubt!"
The black alicorn tilted his head, his eyes softening slightly at the sight of the blue unicorn that was making her way towards him. "Trixie... don't try and talk me out of this."
"I wouldn't dream of it," she said, forcing herself not to shudder at the raw pain and hate that seemed to bubble along Doubt's body. She remembered how Faith had described the dark times, before his rebirth, and found this returned Doubt to be much worse than Faith's description. That was actually a small comfort, as it was strong evidence that her theory on what had happened was right... but it did little to ease the tension she felt coursing through her. "That's why I want you to open your connection to Twilight... so I can get to her."
Doubt cocked an eyebrow. "Don't you want to watch?" Before Trixie could speak Faith continued, suddenly warping to her side. "I know you do... I can feel the desire pouring off of you. it calls to my vengeance like a swallow's song." He moved around her and Trixie shuddered, power filling her form. Clyde stood his ground, trying to remind himself that none of this was truly happening and the curdling sensation he felt in his stomach was merely a trick of his imagination. "Yes... yes, your rage is strong... your hate... all of it... you want to see her suffer... scream and beg and cry and bleed. You want it... need it. Oh, you need it like one needs to breathe-"
"Doubt!" Trixie gasped, Clyde staring at her, startled by the guttural moan that escaped the mare's lips. Trixie panted, though it was hard to tell if it was from pain or absolute pleasure. "Doubt..." Trixie whimpered, eyelids fluttering as her coat darkened and dark magic began to pour out of her horn. "I... I do want it... so bad..." Her cutie mark flashed blood red and her horn for just the briefest of moments became sharper than any blade, the darkest of magics raging through it.
"Then give in, my dear... give in and we can make her pay... then we'll make all the rest pay." Doubt leaned towards Laughter, his right wing sliding along her pink belly, scratching her skin and leaving a thin line of red. "You know you want too..."
"Yesssssssssssssss..." Trixie moaned wantonly, before getting a hold of herself. It was as if a rubber band had snapped; Trixie was herself again, standing next to Clyde, all the wicked magic that had filled her suddenly snuffed out. "But not yet. Twilight... I need to see Twilight."
Doubt's eyes flashed black. "You aren't thinking of hurting her, are you?" Trixie, startled by that sudden line of thought, nearly fell back when Doubt got in her face. "You are mine, Trixie, but so is she. I will not have either of you come to blows."
"No," Clyde said, no longer able to hold his tongue. "She doesn't want to hurt Twilight... none of us do." Clyde steeled himself, hating that he felt the cold rush of fear that now tingled along his spine. "Fa-Doubt... Everypony is trapped in this illusion and Twilight is the key. You can..." he shut his eyes, hating his next words, "...do what you wish to Laughter, but please let us go free Twilight so the rest of the group wakes up." The stallion forced himself to remain committed to his words; he thought of Pinkie and Blinkie and Inkie and imagined what he would feel if they were stolen from him. That helped ease the guilt, if only just a little bit.
Doubt blinked, his anger leaving him for a moment. "Why... why of course." He let out a laugh, shaking his head in good humor. "I am so utterly stupid... consumed by thoughts of what I am about to do," he flashed laughter the briefest of looks, "that I forgot why you were here. I am so very sorry, Clyde." Doubt turned towards the group. "My apologizes for keeping you waiting!" He twisted the other way and with a blast of dark magic opened up a portal. "There... my link to Twilight's mind is still strong. Go and get her and she can bring you back here."
"Come on," Trixie called out to the others, the ponies hurrying towards the portal. "Princess!"
Cadence sadly shook her head, remaining where she stood. "I need to stay... Doubt...er... the female Doubt... she still has my body."
Faith/Doubt pursed his lips. "Doubt and Doubt? That will be confusing... it was already confusing and now it is even more so. I'll just have to kill her next."
Cadence gulped. "I have to stay with Faith, so my soul doesn't get lost when everything goes back to normal."
Sue nodded, not liking it in the slightest by knowing that Cadence was right. "Be safe."
Cadence watched as the rest of the group left, leaving her with the corrupted form of Faith and the trembling Laughter. She watched the dark alicorn slowly circle his sister like a hungry shark, his tongue running along his teeth. "Faith... maybe..."
"Cadence, you have my word that I will bring no harm to those that do not deserve it." Cadence was surprised by the soothing waves of magic that the dark alicorn sent her way. "Now that I know you are here... though how you got here I haven't the foggiest... I swear I will protect you and get you back to your body." His smile fell the moment he looked back at Laughter. "You... you should be worried, however."
"You... you can't hurt me!" Laughter exclaimed. "You can torture me but it won't work." She leaned forward, a mocking grin on her face. "You won't break me...ha...ha...ha!"
Doubt merely smiled and Cadence all at once knew that Laughter would not live to see another sunrise.
"What?" Laughter shouted, fighting against the dark chains that bound her. "Why are you smiling?"
"I am smiling because you are so utterly foolish." Doubt paced in front of her, head held high and shoulders squared. Cadence gave him plenty of space; she knew he wouldn't harm her... he'd given his word, after all... but that didn't mean she wanted to get in his way. "Do you honestly believe that I am going to physically harm a hair on that silly little head of yours? That is simply not my style, darling... if you truly knew me and my ways you would understand that. The fact that you think I would resort to cuts and burns shows me just how little you understand me."
Doubt pressed his face against hers, his warm breath ticking her cheeks. "Oh, you stupid deluded child. You don't understand just how much trouble you are in." Faith pulled back and turns away from her, his sharp tail swaying back and forth right in front of Laughter's nose. "Perhaps, if it had been a minor trespass against me, I would have let you off with some innocent blood-letting. A cut here," his tail flicked out, slashing Laughter's cheek, "a stab there," his wings flexed and one of the mirror shards shot out, driving into Laughter's leg, "simple as that. Of course, I wouldn't have made it that easy on you."
Doubt's horn glowed and Laughter gasped as her wounds healed. He whipped around, dark eyes dancing with amusement as Laughter cringed and tried to fight the chains that restrained her. "Oh, you get it now, don't you? You see what might have been and just how bad it would be to be you if I were in that kind of mood." Doubt cantered back towards her. "We are immortal, dear sister... and if I were so inclined I could torture you until the end of days. I would cut you to ribbons and let you hang on the very edge of death before pulling you back to the land of the living, only to start again.
"But as I said, I will not do that. Now now, don't believe I am going soft. As I said, that would only be for minor issues. You, sister, you... you killed my child." For a moment, just a moment, hot tears gathered in the corners of Doubt's eyes. "My boy... my son. I... I can still feel him lying beside me..."
Cadence, her own eyes misty, moved to comfort Doubt, but the stallion trembled and all signs of sadness and despair were driven from him, leaving him strong and solid once more. He looked at the love goddess from the corner of his eye and Cadence bit her lip, ducking her head and backing away.
"You were right, Laughter... it would have been easier to rip out my heart. And yet you were also wrong... because that is exactly what you did. You ripped out my heart, and with it my compassion and any sense of family love I might have held for you is now gone as well. I killed Loyalty... I gave the command and had his soul torn to shreds by cannon fire. I did it with a heavy hurt and before today I felt grief for the action I had to do. But you... I won't shed a single tear. I am going to do so much worse to you, sister, and I will not even bat an eye."
"I won't break you? Ha... now you are showing why you are named Laughter, because that is a joke. I am going to destroy you. I am going to shatter you and leave you broken and only when you are at your lowest and are begging for death will I give it." Doubt pressed his horn against her forehead. "I learned so much in my 1000 years... bones may break and minds may crumble but the worst, my dear, oh the worst... is when the soul is raked across the coals." His horn flashed and Laughter let out a gasp as Doubt began to pull her mind apart, sifting through it like a child through a sandbox. "Now then... scream for me."