//------------------------------// // this isn´t over // Story: The other End of Balance // by Dostoron //------------------------------// It had been some time since you talked with twilight, and she had surprised you. She took your offer of turning yourself in and under boos from the crowd you entered canterlot, wings shackled again and paraded around for all of them to laugh at. "miss twilight, you disappoint me." that was really all you got out before you once more had the back end of a spear in your side. "you offered me the Chance to ensure equestria´s safety and thought i wouldn´t take it?" the Unicorn sneered at you, rather pleased with herself. "no, i hoped you would see that you doomed it. OOF!" the guards at your sides apparently were acquainted, you normally didn´t memorize faces worth forgetting, so you weren´t sure. "Your hopes to grab the power from the princess were self delusion, but i will put in a good word for you for surrendering. i heard grounding doesn´t hurt worse than a bee sting and after that you might even be released, give or take a few years at an asylum." "you unicorns haven´t done that since the last tribe wars it were your own kin that called it too cruel." "and we make an exception just for you, isn´t that nice." "oh yes, okay, joke´s over, princess Luna, you slipped up." Sure enough you were in the starry lit dreamscape again, the rather peeved princess of the night glaring at you. Twilight had, of course, taken the key to Splicers collar, which subsequently turned to dust and disappeared, returning to Luna the full scale of her powers, including the Manipulation of dreams, something Splicer had wisely proofed your hideout against, Dreamcatchers were rather useful when enchanted correctly. "we believed our Performance adequate." "but twilight is way too naive to know about a Piece of history that has been glossed over for the sake of the unicorns. Besides, your previous visits enabled my subconscious to anticipate your presence and counteract any Manipulation... or something, i wasn´t entirely listening to Splicer when he explained." "hmph, i wanted to make you see what awaits you in canterlot." "for arguments, sake, let´s assume the royal guard and the ponies there still put up with your sister, my friends would never let me get dragged off again." The dreamscape shifted again, but this time you painted the Picture, it wasn´t pretty, stormclouds angrily delivered their lethal payload as thunderwings soared along the grounds, tailed by lightnings which were lashing out at anyone in their way. Canterlot was burning. "they would stop short of nothing to bring me back, the same confrontation you seeked to prevent would be inevitable, they could not be reasoned with while i am in chains, needless to say what they will do without me to assure them that vengeance is not our Goal. Despite everything, even now it isn´t, but it would be. No one would ever forgive you." "you have drawn this from your nightmares, you do not want that." "neither of us does, thanks to your sniper it escalated in ways that are nothing short of disastrous. I will try to prevent the worst, but if Celestia won´t step of her pedestal to meet us..." "after everything you´ve done, you still seek for your silver tongue to charm me?" "I have said many things to you, but lies were never among them, Nightmare moon, Neither have i ever lied to my subordinates, as she did when pretending you were the prisoner of the nightmare demon, glossing over that the demon was you!" "SILENCE! do not presume to know what you are talking about, such demons are very much real, they exist in us, feed on our negativity until they overthrow us and take our place, nightmare moon is not separate in Body, but she is my demon, and you are well underway to be enslaved by yours. that is a warning you had best heed." "..."