Tag was lying on the ground with his eyes closed; his entire body ached. He slowly lifted his head up and looked around, there was a familiar open nothingness all around him.
“Book?” He asked nervously, but his friend was nowhere to be found.
“I don’t think he’ll be bothering us anytime soon, my dear Tag.” Said a deep, sinister voice from behind Tag.
“Discord.” Tag said with a look of disgust on his face. Turning around he saw the familiar creature floating behind him on a cloud. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses on his head and sipping something from a coconut.
“Miss me?” He asked casually. He stretched and got off of his cloud, he sauntered over to Tag without a care in the world. “Don’t worry, papa Discord’s here.” He said condescendingly.
“As if I could possibly miss you.” Tag scoffed. “What do you want? I’m about to be eaten by some terrifying creature and I want to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye? Why didn’t you just say so?” Discord asked and snapped his fingers, an image appeared before Tag. He could see shadows in the shape of ponies trotting through the countryside, they seemed to be pulling some cages but Tag couldn’t make out what was in them. “Let me fix that.” Discord muttered and waved his talon through the image a few times disrupting it. When it refocused Tag gasped. In each of the cages Tag could see one of his friends, and at the front was Tor, forced to walk with a chain around his neck.
“What have you done?!” Tag demanded jumping at Discord, he only sailed through Discord’s body and landed on the other side of him. Discord turned around and made a disapproving noise.
“I thought you would know better, this in neutral territory if you recall. Neither you, or I are here.” He explained. “And as for your friends, I just sent somebody to… collect them for me. With them out of the way you’re the only one who can stop me. But I doubt you would even make it to my front door.”
“I’m going to get you, Discord. I’ll get you even if I use my dying breath to plunge Tagia into your chest.” Tag said through clenched teeth and barely controlled anger.
“We’ll see about that.” Discord said contentedly. “I just wanted to give you a little status update… a little ‘how do you do?’ if you will.” He snapped his claws.
“I WASN’T D-“
----
Tag jerked back into consciousness on a cold, wet floor. He jumped up and looked around; he was in a dimly lit stone room. Bricks and large chunks of rock lay scattered around the room, and water dripped from the ceiling creating pools everywhere. Out the windows on either side of the room Tag could see that there were clear skies. Straight ahead of him Tag could see what looked like a throne, similar to the one in Canterlot. On the throne Tag could see an alicorn sitting… she appeared to be waiting. Tag was alone, he didn’t know were the rest of his friends were, or if they were even alive.
Book? Tag asked nervously.
I’m here. Book reassured him.
What should I do? Tag asked.
I do believe that is Princess Halley over there. Perhaps you should talk to her. Book suggested. It would be a good idea to kneel, too. He added. Tag shrugged and trotted down towards the throne, pausing before it to kneel before Halley. He looked up at her briefly; she looked tired beyond not getting a good night’s rest, her eyes which he remembered were full of bright green had faded to a dull green the colour of dying grass. Her once gleaming turquoise coat seemed to cling to her doggedly, her mane that had once flowed gloriously like Celestia’s or Luna’s hung raggedly on either side of her.
“It has been a long time since I saw you.” She said simply. Her voice sounded dry like she hadn’t used it for several days. “Tag Shadow if I remember correctly.”
“Yes, I’m Tag Shadow.” He said uneasily.
“Don’t worry, I won’t harm you… anymore.” She said comfortingly.
“Princess?” Tag asked.
“I have much explaining to do.” She observed. “I suppose I should start by saying that your friends from the forest are safe. Fiandu has been my company for these long years; I’ve kept him a secret from Discord. I told him to keep an eye out for you, I figured that my sisters would send either you or your brother this way soon.”
“But, aren’t you working with Discord? I’m the only pony that can stop him now.” Tag asked.
“I’m not working with Discord anymore, he abandoned me after I saved him from stone.” She said and deflated.
“What happened?”
“As soon as I saved him he spun around and left me, took every shadow with him, Tac too.”
“Tac!? But I killed him!” Tag exclaimed.
“Discord had him brought back, much the same way you were created. Now he has a sword called Dumo with the same effect the your Tagia has.”
“Wait, if Discord betrayed you, then aren’t you back on our side?” Tag asked.
“I’m stuck here. If I go back to Equestria then I’ll be charged for joining Discord’s side in the first place.”
“But the Princesses would welcome you back with open arms, and make sure nopony questioned anything…” Tag trailed off.
“As much as I would enjoy that, I don’t think I could live with it.” Halley said distastefully.
“What do you mean?” Tag asked. Halley closed her eyes for a moment to collect her thoughts.
“I think we should take a trip into your mind. May I?” She asked. Tag gave her a bewildered look; she put her horn on top of his head and closed her eyes. Tag could feel himself being sucked inward.
----
Tag could see that they were in his mind again; the familiar nothingness seemed comforting now. Halley stood a smaller distance off, beside Book. Tag could see that her cutie mark was of a comet with a trail of white. She looked at Book apologetically.
“Open Book… I wish to apologize for not attending our lessons as much as I should have.” Book shook his head.
“That’s quite alright, Princess. I realize that forcing you to go wasn’t helping.” Halley laughed slightly at the memory.
“And I wish to apologize for betraying my home. I realize that apologizing to a soul bound in a weapon won’t do much good… but at least I feel that somepony who was there knows that I regret my actions.”
“You made a mistake, Princess, we all do. You’re mistake came from you having to much power at too young an age” Book reassured her. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“But I have long since grown up, and must atone for my brash actions.” Halley sighed.
“Before we get too far off topic, I do believe Tag is waiting for an explanation.” Book pointed out.
“Yes, this should explain the main reason I joined Discord’s side. Open Book, if you’d bring Tag’s memories of the war.” Book closed his eyes and a door appeared beside Tag, he recognized the door that had once been covered in chains; that seemed so long ago. “I’m sure Celestia told you what happened during the assassination attempt. And I can assure you that it’s a lie.” Tag was unfazed.
“That’s another lie she’s told me.” He muttered. Halley nodded gravely.
“Celestia’s been telling a lot of lies, quite honestly I’m not surprised.” Halley said.
“What do you mean, Princess?” Book asked curiously.
“Just wait and see.” Halley opened the door and ushered the other two inside.
----
The three of them stood inside Luna’s bedroom, looking around Tag could see Tor’s unconscious form behind Celestia. Celestia herself was looking ahead of her with a horrified expression on her face. Turning around Tag could see himself cutting the throat of a blue pony as she fell, she must have been Water Drop. Book and Halley stood beside Tag. Celestia’s eyes closed and her horn lit up with a blinding light, Tag covered his eyes and looked away; when the light faded Tag could see that Luna had appeared to have passed out on the floor. Tag from the past had his eyes closed and his head bowed in pain; he opened them again and looked at Celestia with hatred in his reptilian eyes. He jumped at Celestia and pinned her down, she hardly even put up any resistance. Her eyes filled with uncharacteristic fear and tears filled her eyes.
“Please! Don’t hurt me!” She begged. Tag’s lips curled into a devilish smile but he said nothing. Celestia’s eyes darted around as she tried to think of something to say. “What do you want?!” She demanded. Tag still said nothing. “Do you want me to surrender?! Fine! I surrender! Equestria belongs to Discord!” Tag brought the knife up, ready to bring it down upon her. “I belong to Discord! The ponies… they belong to Discord!” An arrow flew through the dark room, piercing Tag’s shoulder. Tag doubled over and Celestia crawled away feebly. Two guards entered the room, one tackled Tag, holding down and the other attended to the Princess.
“Princess, are you alright?” He demanded looking over her for any signs of injury. Celestia shook her head silently.
“I-I’m quite alright thank you.” She whispered. The guard nodded and galloped over to Luna to check on her. The first one struck Tag in the head and he fell silent.
----
They were back in Tag’s mind
“The guards never said anything, but they had heard it all. Only when I realized that something was wrong did I question them, they told me everything. I felt disgusted that Celestia had been so easily persuaded into surrendering.”
“And so you defected to Discord’s side.” Tag guessed. Halley nodded.
“Although I didn’t agree with Discord’s permanent reign of chaos, but it was the lesser of two evils. At least Discord was stalwart with his rule. Personally I find his sense of humour distasteful but I remained loyal… until he abandoned me.”
“So for the past few days you’ve been waiting…” Book trailed off.
“Yes. And now that you’re here I can help the side that I should have stayed on all those years ago.”
“But what could you do from here?” Tag asked. “If you won’t come back with us then what can you do?”
“I shall send Fiandu along as I’ve said. There is one other thing that I can do to help. I cannot tell you but I’ll have to depart separately. Now time is of the essence and you must be going. I shall teleport you to the beach with your friends; then you have to make haste for Canterlot, Discord will be heading there very soon. I will also provide a clear path back to the mainland, just follow your maps.” Halley turned to Book. “Book, I wish to apologize for everything, I feel that I am partly responsible for what happened to you.” Book blushed slightly, to Tag’s surprise.
“It’s alright.” Book reassured her.
“Goodbye princess.” Tag said as the blackness flashed with blinding light.
----
Tag felt somepony shaking him violently. He heard a voice, distant but coherent.
“Come on buddy, wake up!” It urged; Tag recognized Lop’s desperate voice. Struggling to see through a swimming vision Tag could barely make out his face.
“I’m up… stop screaming in my ear… and get off my chest.” Tag wheezed. Lop looked down and scrambled off of Tag. He looked behind him.
“He’s alright guys!” He called out.
“Did he say anything?” Tag recognized Pilot’s voice farther away.
“Yeah, he said to get off his chest!” Lop called back.
“Anything else?” McCutchen’s voice inquired as it grew louder, his face came into view as Tag struggled into a sitting position.
“Not yet.” Tag croaked. His throat was dry. “Is there any water around here?” Then they heard a rustling sound from behind them Tag sprung up and whirled around, his thirst quickly forgotten. Fiandu trudged out of the forest and onto the beach; he was holding a bowl-shaped leaf. McCutchen and the others jumped forward with weapons drawn. “No!” Tag called out.
“It’s that thing that attacked us in the forest!” Brook cried. Tag shook his head.
“Not anymore.” Fiandu seemed to hesitate at the forest’s edge. Tag stepped in front of his friends who still held their weapons he trotted until he stood in front of the panting creature, he could see that the cuts from their previous battle had already scabbed over. He regarded Tag with black eyes but instead of anger they seemed to portray a look of loyalty towards the ponies in front of him. “You won’t hurt us, right?” Fiandu said nothing but offered the bowl-shaped leaf down to Tag’s mouth; he could see that it had been filled with water. “For me?” Fiandu nodded. Tag lowered his head and drank from the bowl, the water felt refreshing in his dry throat. Fiandu put the bowl on the ground carefully; he looked at Tag with concentration. His mouth moved in strange patterns.
I sorry for hurting you. The voice came from inside Tag much like when Book talked to him, but at the same time the voice felt like it came through his hooves up to his head. The voice itself was deep and scratchy, a testament to its disuse.
“What was that?” Lop asked looking around quickly. McCutchen sheathed his cutlass.
“I do believe that was our new friend, right Tag?” He asked. Tag nodded.
“Yes, I have a lot of explaining to do.” Tag sighed. “It’s okay, Fiandu. We forgive you.”
“Before we start any lengthy explanations, can I was the blood out of my fur?” Pilot asked.