//------------------------------// // Chapter II: A Descent of Two // Story: Empty Horizons: The Lost Student // by Psyonicg //------------------------------// The following morning was as brilliant and beautiful as the previous; sunlight streamed down onto the chunk of stone that Twilight lay on, forcing her awake with its brilliance. “Nooo, Spike. Five more minutes.”  “Do I look like a baby dragon?”  Twilight groaned as she remembered just where she was, and slowly she blinked open her eyes to blearily gaze upwards towards the burning blue sky. The view would have been picturesque, if not for the appearance of the Other sneering down at her.  “You look awful.”  Twilight blinked, whimpering as the bright sunlight made her head spin. With a wince, she turned and reached up to rub her eyes. The simple gesture sent a fresh wave of pain through her muscles and reminded her that she needed far more than one dubiously restful night’s sleep on an exposed rock. In fact, she likely needed an extended stay in a hospital; who knew what her magic had done to her as they floated out to sea? For a moment, she considered the possibility of simply going back to her friends, of once again trying to keep the Other contained within her, but quickly cleared the thought from her mind. She had no delusions that the Other would keep to its promises in the coming weeks and months. As soon as they weren’t in danger, the lies and temptations would begin again. Her suspicions were confirmed when the Other chuckled dryly at her attempts to stand, her aching legs refusing to support her despite her best attempts. “I don’t know what you’re thinking. That fall of ours did far more damage than you realise, and you expending all that magic yesterday didn’t help either. Thanks for that, by the way.”  Despite how much she loathed it, Twilight was forced to admit that it was right. She was in bad shape, and the spell that she had cast to keep her little platform from sinking was already causing her head to ache. Still, she could do without the snide comments from her own hallucinating mind… even if they did sound suspiciously real. “Of course they do. I’m the one talking to you.” “You’re talking to me. Directly to me, not in my mind like you usually do. How?” she asked, her ears twitching as the strange echoey version of her own voice spoke back. “That little stunt you pulled in the water changed a great many things between us.” Although I can still talk like this if you’d prefer? Twilight winced at the familiar feeling of The Other’s voice inside her, quickly shaking her head in response. “No thank you. I much prefer you out of my head whenever possible.” “Your choice.” it responded with a shrug. “I wonder what else it might have done. The possibilities are endless. Well done!”  Twilight winced at the sarcastic tone, shooting a glare at the Other that made it raise its hooves in surrender. “Don’t give me that look. I’m just trying to help. You’re clearly losing it; one of us needs to be the voice of reason.”  The urge to snap at it was almost overwhelming, and Twilight felt the stirrings of anger from their last argument curling in her stomach. With a shudder, she swallowed down the nasty words and focused her attention on her own problems.  She had to find some way to heal herself, to find food, water, shelter. And that was all before she could even begin working on her actual mission. Which… was going to be significantly more difficult now that she’d left all her research notes, Princess Luna,  and her friends when she’d abandoned Altalusia. Oh Celestia, what have I gotten myself into?   Suddenly, the full scope of what she was trying to achieve dawned on her. Before, when she’d been with her friends, she’d taken it a step at a time. Always focusing on the next goal, the next task. But now, she had no next task. What was she going to do? Where was she going to go? The number of things she needed to do before she could even start to work on figuring out what had happened was staggering. And that wasn’t including her own… issues, which she’d have to deal with eventually. And she had to do it alone. It had been difficult enough trying to handle the responsibility of it all with her friends by her side. It would be impossible to do it – “Excuse me! Alone? What do I look like, an unwanted magical construct formed from wild magic that doesn’t exist except as a manifestation of your own consciousness?” The Other asked with a deadpan tone. After a moment its expression deepened into a frown, “Your friends are the reason you’ve made so little progress. You don’t need them. I can help you reach what we seek. When have I failed you before?”  Twilight finally looked up to her unwanted companion, the ‘Other Her’ which had plagued her with its presence for many weeks, and the annoyed frown that was painted on its features. That frown turned into a scowl when Twilight looked away, a scowl which was suddenly directly in Twilight’s face. “Aahh!” “Don’t you dare ignore me, little flower. Who knows what I could be planning? You need to get up, and we have to go. The scavengers you scared off with your outburst will return – and soon. ”  The Other extended a hoof, confusing Twilight for a moment until she realised that she was still lying on the floor, her body trembling in pain. With an uneasy feeling in her stomach, she reached up to take the hoof and, much to her surprise, found the aching in her legs lessened ever so slightly, giving her the strength to get back to her hooves. It was a feat that brought the slightest of smiles to her lips... “Wow, you stood up. What a brave filly. You’ll be saying words next,” ...which was immediately stripped away again. “Are you actually going to help me? Or are you just going to follow me around, making snide remarks and mocking me?”  “Helping? I’ve done nothing but help you. Or did that spell of yours wipe your memory? Here, let me remind you.”  The Other’s horn began to glow and Twilight felt its insidious magic clutching at her head. Before she could respond, she felt memories flickering through her head, outside of her own control.  “Who gave you the power to rescue your friends from Gava’s ship?” It asked, floating down to Twilight’s level and fixing her with an irritated glare. “Me.”  “Who protected you from the Phoenix under the sea?” It placed a hoof on her chest and Twilight felt a tense pressure build, her breathing becoming laboured as she tried to back away. “Me.” “Who broke you free from your captivity, defeated your enemies, destroyed that annoying airship, and would have solved everything if you hadn’t intervened? Me!” Her back hoof suddenly fell out from her under, loose stone splashing into the water as Twilight reached the edge of the rock.  “I tried to ask you nicely. I begged you to let me aid you, but you wouldn’t listen. Nothing seems to get through that thick skull of yours. So now I’m not asking; you’re getting the help you need whether you want it or not. So you better get used to it because I’m not go –”  “G-get away from me!” Twilight summoned up as much magic as she could muster and pushed, sending The Other floating back a few feet. Where it remained, scowling. “If that’s how you want to do this, fine. I’ll stay right here. You let me know when you need my help. I’ll be waiting.” Twilight shuddered, the uneasy feeling in her stomach intensifying as she stared up into those callous reflections of her own eyes. Turning away, she looked out across the water and took a deep breath. First things first; she needed to make sure she was okay.  A simple diagnostic spell was, thankfully, not too difficult to cast and required almost no energy – a blessing for Twilight in her weakened state. Closing her eyes, she let the spell wash over her, wincing as it pinged back with a vast array of minor injuries. Luckily, it seemed that apart from her dangerously low magical reserves and exhaustion, she was mostly okay. She would be fine after a few days. She just needed rest, food, and water. But getting those wasn’t going to be easy. She couldn’t go back to her friends, not after what had happened, which meant both the Argo and Altalusia were off-limits. She didn’t know of many other islands; even if she did, the risk of bringing The Other with her was too great. Which meant there was only one other option. With a nervous gulp, she trod to the edge of her rocky bastion, looking down into the seemingly endless abyss. She quickly realised that the water wouldn’t provide the answer to her issues either; she had no way to traverse the depths without the Argo and their dive suits. Perhaps if she weren’t so tired, her magic might be able to keep her safe, but she was in no position to be using any magic. Unless… Twilight winced, glancing over her shoulder at The Other, who raised an eyebrow and leaned forward slightly, waiting for her to say something. Twilight grit her teeth and turned away. There must be another way. She wracked her brain, trying to organise her thoughts, but the heat of the sun, the aching in her limbs, and the pangs of hunger in her stomach were making it near impossible to focus. She couldn’t swim. She didn’t have the magic to teleport. She couldn’t go up or down. She had no tools to work with and no-one to help her.  Once again, Twilight found herself looking back at her reflection, who seemed to be content hovering there and waiting for Twilight to give in. Twilight was loathe to admit it, but that option was beginning to seem more likely than not. But even with The Other’s help, where would she go? She needed someplace remote, where The Other couldn’t hurt anyone. Someplace safe so she could rest. It needed to have food, water, preferably somewhere she’d be able to easily access information that could help her with – “Oh, of course!” Gasping, Twilight looked up to the horizon, scanning the waves for a familiar landmark.  “Ahhh, and she finally figures it out.”  Twilight resisted the urge to respond to the sarcastic quip, her eyes scanning the horizon for the mountain she knew was out there. Somewhere in the waves was Canterlot. Her only chance. While the city itself was… dangerous and likely infested with changelings. There should still be areas protected by the Princesses’ magic. Areas where she would be safe.  Her excitement was soon overwhelmed by the doubt that had lingered in the back of her mind, however. She still needed to get there. And the only way to do that was– “Well, that was quick. Need me already? I must say, I’m so surprised,” the Other sang behind her, making Twilight’s jaw tense in anger. But just because she didn’t like it didn’t change the facts. Twilight had no other option. She had no way to reach Canterlot without the magical boost the Other provided, leaving her stuck here where eventually she’d end up prey to seaponies… or worse. Slowly, Twilight turned around to face the infuriatingly smug gaze of the Other. “Look. We both want to get off this rock. If you don’t help me, you know what will happen.”  The Other raised an eyebrow but said nothing, leaning forward with a smirk.  “Don’t just look at me! Are you going to help or not?”  It laughed, a chilling echo of her own laughter. “That’s a funny way to ask for help, little flower. Is that how you’d ask your precious Applejack to help you? Or Fluttershy?”  Twilight tensed, her horn glowing softly. “Don’t you dare talk about my friends.”  “Oh, I’m so sorry. Won’t happen again,” the Other replied, rolling over in the air and gazing back at Twilight upside down. “Still, that was awful. Try again.”  “Wha – try again? Listen here, you,” she began, before cutting herself off as The Other’s smirk widened. She had to keep it together. Getting angry would only hurt her in the long term.  Closing her eyes, she began to take deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out.  She shook her head and let the building magic fade away, a shiver of trepidation running through her as she considered just how much of her limited energy she’d managed to muster in her anger. She opened her eyes once again and looked to the Other with a neutral expression.  “I need your help.”  The Other smiled brightly, an unnervingly genuine expression, and rushed over, lowering her horn until it was almost touching Twilight’s own. Instantly, Twilight felt the uncomfortable squirming in her gut that she had learnt to associate with the Other’s wild magic.  “That’s it, little one.”  Slowly, reluctantly, she let the feeling wash across her, drawing on that strange magic. But when she tried to draw it to her horn, it refused. Twilight’s face twisted into a confused frown and she pulled harder. But still, the magic seemed to reject her. “What are you doing…? I did what you said!”  “...”  With a shudder, Twilight realised what it was waiting for. Despite how much her pride told her not to, the squirming darkness inside of her was sickening. With a tight jaw, Twilight looked the Other in the eye and forced herself to speak. “Please?”  “Of course.” And the world went black. The pain was gone. Twilight gasped, opening her eyes and scrambling to her hooves. She had been surrounded by the ocean, but now—now she stood at the base of a small hill surrounded by open fields that seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance. If she squinted, she thought she could see the flickering stars and swirling clouds of energy that formed her subconscious in the distance, but it was hard to tell. Twilight looked around the flower-filled meadow, studying the surprisingly realistic scene as the faint sound of songbirds trilled in the distance. She knew it was a trick, a fabrication in her mind, but she couldn’t help but smile at the peaceful scene, butterflies frolicking at the corners of her vision. It was beautiful, and she found herself tempted to just lie down and relax. As the minutes passed, however, the single, massive tree that stood on top of the hill drew more and more of her attention; it seemed to be waiting for her, swaying in a non-existent breeze. Slowly, she started moving towards it. Who knew what secrets lay just beneath the surface. When she reached the base of the tree, she found the Other waiting for her, sat in the grass with a neutral expression. As she approached, the Other motioned for her to sit, scowling when she turned to stare up at the tree instead with awe. “Where are we?”  The Other gave an exasperated sigh, shaking her head. “You know where we are, little flower. Do not ask me stupid questions,” “My mind. You’ve brought me into the dreamscape.” “Why did you ask me if you already knew the answer?” Twilight shrugged, sitting down opposite her reflection. “You clearly created this for me.” The Other didn’t reply to that at first, looking around at the meadows around them. “You did create this for me, didn’t you?”  “Yes, obviously,” the Other snapped, huffing and turning away as she continued. “You know the basics of dream magic so I know the basics of dream magic, which means either of us can shape this world as much as we wish. “I thought that creating a peaceful scene such as this would help you recover from the stress you are so clearly suffering from.” Twilight blinked, frowning suspiciously at the nice gesture. “Afterall, you’re completely incompetent with your emotions all over the place. Honestly, a foal would be handling this better.”  “There it is…” Twilight rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I appreciate the effort, but surely the library would have been a better choice for me to relax?”  The Other paused, replying after a few seconds of tranquil silence. “Our little, Argument, caused some temporary damage. I didn’t want to have to deal with your overly dramatic sobbing, so I brought you here instead.” “Damage? You don’t seem very worried. I hope it’s nothing serious.” Twilight lay down, stretching out in the grass. If she tried really hard she could almost imagine that she was back in Ponyville, relaxing under the sun and waiting for her friends. Almost. “Of course not. If it was, I wouldn’t be indulging you in this pointless small talk. I’d be fixing it,” the Other replied curtly. “That makes sense. I guess. So now what happens? We just sit here and talk while you get us to Canterlot?” Twilight asked, suppressing a yawn as she did so. “Actually, what happens now is you stay here and rest while I solve all your problems. You’re welcome. And don’t argue,” the Other said firmly as Twilight opened her mouth to speak. “You know as well as I do that you’ve pushed yourself way too far as it is recently. It might not be a perfect substitute for real sleep, but you need to take a break.”  “I’m not going to let you do whatever you want with my body. Knowing you, I’ll never wake up again,” Twilight muttered, blinking her eyes open and struggling to get to her hooves. Her attempts were quickly stopped by the Other’s hooves, pushing her down and holding her there. Were the songbirds getting louder? “You don’t have a choice. You need my help, and staying here is my price.”  “Then,” Twilight began with a yawn, “I don’t want your, mmm, help…”  The Other watched as Twilight slowly succumbed to sleep, her eyes finally closing. With that finally handled, she vanished, leaving Twilight to sleep in the dreamscape. The next time Twilight awoke it was with a start; she was alone beneath the huge tree, but she could feel strong surges of magical energy being drawn from her reserves, energy that almost immediately started to grow weaker as she shook the grogginess of sleep away.  That could only mean one thing: The Other was using magic, and lots of it. When she had specifically told her not to! Anger flared in her breast, unnervingly quick; she should never have given that evil creature access to her body for even one moment without supervision, no matter how tired she was. “Hey! What’s going on?” There was no response, making Twilight grit her teeth and slam her hooves into the ground. “Don’t ignore me!”  With a ripple of space, The Other appeared, an irritated expression on its face, “Yes?” “How long have I been out? What’s going on? I told you not to use my magic!” Twilight demanded, stepping forward and jabbing her hoof at The Other’s chest. All around them the meadow seemed to be falling apart, replaced with the starry expanse of the dreamscape, until there was just them and the tree. “Of course I used your magic, how else was I going to—” The Other started to respond before jerking in pain and hissing. Twilight gasped as a sharp stabbing feeling suddenly sunk into her fetlocks. “Ow! What’s going on? Show me!”  The Other grabbed her quite suddenly by the hoof and the both of them were pulled abruptly out of the mindscape and back into the real world. Twilight flinched as her eyes were suddenly filled with blinding light. Slowly, her blinking eyes adjusted to the light until she could finally see. And screamed as a scene from her nightmares swam into view. Twilight let out a moan of almost ecstatic relief as the physical sensation of being in control rushed through her. The spray of the waves against her coat, the wind rushing through her mane, even the aching pains of her body were amazing! One by one she tensed her muscles, indulging in the feeling of tightening them to the point of pain before letting them relax again. The sensation was indescribable, and soon she would be experiencing it all the time! Of course, first she had to deal with her Sister. A scowl spread across her face as she considered the situation that had developed. Something didn’t add up. The memories she’d seen, everything she’d found in her Sister’s mind suggested that she was strong, powerful, and brave. But it seemed that after she’d escaped Canterlot, something had happened. Something had made her weak and confused. It was infuriating! But that was something to be dealt with in the future. For now, she had control, and a task to fulfill. With a deep breath, she drew upon their magic; the air around her began to ripple as little sparks of lavender energy arced from her horn. The feeling of it was even better than the sensation of a physical body. She felt so powerful, so strong. She felt unstoppable. She could do anything, solve any problem.  But there was something holding her back. She knew her Sister didn’t use the majority of her power normally, and so it was harder to call on, but even when she tried to forcibly pull the magic she knew was there to her horn, she found something… blocking it. Slowly she reached in, probing at her the magical reserves carefully. She found that the magic had been locked away from her; massive amounts of her Sister’s power was flowing into a self-sustained spell which blocked her off. While the complexity of the spell was impressive, the purpose of it was enough to make Twilight scream angrily out at the waves.  Trotting over to the edge of their little rock, Twilight stared down into the water, her magic stilling the surface and letting her glare into her reflection. A perfect likeness of her Sister—aside from the red tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. “You stupid mare! You’re so preoccupied with fighting me for no reason, and it’s going to get us both killed! For once would you just listen?!”  Twilight knew her Sister wouldn’t hear her; she had built the perfect scene to force her into sleep. But shouting her frustrations out made her feel better. At least a little bit. With that done, she turned back up to gaze over the ocean. Without access to all their magic, she’d be unable to teleport them directly to the mountaintop. But a few smaller jumps would prove easy enough.  Her decision made, Twilight let her magic spread out to surround herself, as well as the small piece of rock she stood on, and cast the spell she knew best, vanishing with a deafening pop. With another, similar pop, she reappeared roughly a fifth of the way towards her destination. To her surprise, the rock she had been standing on had been caught up in her magic. Twilight paused, narrowing her eyes and abruptly cancelling her next teleport to turn her attention towards the offending piece of stone. Placing her horn against it, she used the same pinging spell that had served her Sister so well in the past to examine the rock for magical influences, a surprised look briefly flashing across her face before understanding settled in.  “Ahh… you’re enchanted to float. Residual magic from the island I expect. It must be some powerful stuff to still be working this long after you broke off. But not very stable. Hmmm.”  Twilight paused. At this rate, the stone’s innate magic would destabilise before she reached Canterlot, Likely dropping her into the ocean after her next jump. However, now that the enchantment had been broken, the magic was bleeding away. “What a waste.” With a huff Twilight extended her magic to the rock, sensing the energy that flowed out, and brought it into herself in one big rush. The rock began to sink further and further below the waves as more of its magic was drawn away. When there was barely anything left to stand on, Twilight pulled the rest of it out and, with another flash of light, vanished. Far away from her last location, on the tip of Canterlot’s peak, a red-tinged crackle of magic broke the gentle monotony of the ocean. A moment later a shockwave of energy sheared off the very tip of the tiny island with its power, both Twilight and the now magically-inert rock appearing in the aftermath. Three feet above the ground.  For a moment, both her and the rock seemed to remain suspended in the air as the residual magic supported her, giving her just enough time to perform another short hop down to the plateau she had inadvertently created as the rock crashed into the waves and began to sink. Twilight paused to stare at the damaged stone beneath her hooves. “Hmm… I expect she would have something to say about destroying the tip of the tallest mountain in Equestria. ” A smile slowly spread across her lips followed by a short laugh. “Because that’s even remotely important right now.” Twilight shook her head, discarding the silly concept and trotting over to the edge of the island to glance down into the waves. For the briefest moment, she felt the sensation of something staring back, as if the water was going to reach out and drag her down into the darkness.  Twilight laughed as she dove into the ocean’s cold embrace. If it wanted her, then who was she to say no? She began swimming, relishing the strain on her muscles as she forced herself down bit by bit. As she did so, her horn began to glow, casting a number of minor enchantments designed to protect her from the cold, provide light and shield her from the water. But the deeper she swam, the harder it was to continue, and eventually Twilight found herself coming to a stop, pausing to catch her breath and staring at the shadow of the Canterhorn, stretching down into the darkness beyond her hornlight. Almost unbidden, memories of the peak rushed to the forefront of her mind. The day Celestia had taken her to the summit along with a small group of her classmates, the day she’d journeyed up a similar peak outside of Ponyville and stared at the mountain from a distance, only fully understanding its size at that moment, and the day she’d approached the mountain for the last and final time.  The day she’d uncovered a deadly ploy to take control of Canterlot by controlling her brother… The day she’d failed to recover the elements, and got both herself and her friends captured and imprisoned... The day she’d failed and all Equestria had paid the price. With a gasp, Twilight tore herself away from the images, shaking her head furiously and panting weakly in her little pocket of air. She had no idea that her Sister’s past would affect her so intensely; the sinking weight in her stomach and her racing heart made her head swim and it was all she could do to push down the panic that tried to take control of her. For a moment she remained there, swaying back and forth with the motion of the waves as she forced herself to relax. After a longer wait than she was willing to admit, Twilight felt in control enough to assess her situation. Was this sort of reaction normal? Perhaps she could understand how her Sister kept slipping up if this was how she felt.  But she wouldn’t let it stop her; she wouldn’t be weak like her Sister. Twilight went through her spells, assessing them to ensure they were still intact. It was a reassuring thing to find them unaffected by her little moment of panic. One thing that was still an issue, however, was breathing. The small air bubble she’d created would become impossible to sustain at the depths she needed to descend to.  Twilight wracked her brain for all the things she’d learned over the last few weeks, pulling up every memory of magic she’d been able to find. There weren’t any spells that would do exactly what she wanted, but… perhaps she could mix a few different ones together. The spells would be a drain. She’d have to be careful with how complex she made her spells. Illuminating her horn, Twilight wove a spell into existence and smiled as she felt the water around her begin to shift as oxygen was pulled from her surroundings to her muzzle, creating a small self-replenishing bubble that would last for as long as her magic did. With that done, she let the bubble around her head disappear; gasping as the ocean rushed in to fill it. Without any barrier between her and the sea, Twilight suddenly became aware of the oppressive silence that lingered all around her; the sound of her own heartbeat drumming in her ears the only sound she could hear. And that wasn’t the only sense that was muted by the ocean. Her damp coat made her feel heavy and slow and the pressure of the ocean resisted her every move. But she wouldn’t let that stop her. With a simple spell she propelled herself downwards into the darkness, her path illuminated by an orb of light that lingered behind her head. No matter how deep Twilight dove, she encountered nothing but empty water and the rocky surface of the mountainside. It was fitting, she supposed, that the oppressive silence be paired with an endless expanse of nothing. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was wrong somehow. Surely there should be fish, crustaceans, jellyfish, anything. Was it her presence that had caused the unnatural emptiness… or was it the Canterhorn itself? Twilight floated over to the mountain side, glaring suspiciously at the barren rock. Twilight looked around suspiciously; ensuring she was totally alone before she reached out to press her hoof against the stone; tensing up as she felt the icy stone beneath her. But no matter how cold it was, it was just stone. At least physically. For a moment she considered that maybe this was a waste of time, but if they were going into Canterlot then they needed to know everything they could about the mountain.  Taking a deep breath, Twilight sent out a ping of magic into the rock, gasping as her magic was drawn in like a whirlpool, pulling much more of her power than she intended before she could cancel the spell. Shaking away the slight headache her test had given her, Twilight narrowed her eyes.  The mountain was… empty. Not physically, but magically. Someone, or something, had drawn the mountain’s natural magic away long ago; leaving it as a dangerous sinkhole for magical energy. The creatures of the ocean had learned to stay away, and it would be best to follow their lead. Floating out further into open water, Twilight continued downwards. Away from the mountainside, there was nothing for her light to reflect off, and Twilight began to feel an unnerving stirring in her gut. How far down was she? Was she still travelling in the right direction? Twilight channelled more magic into her light, the sound of her horn humming loudly in her ears as her magic tinted the water all around her with a lavender glow. No matter how much she brightened it, there was nothing to see. Nothing but the endless water, going on and on for as far as the eye could see. For the briefest moment, she considered waking her Sister up just to have someone to talk to. But the very idea made her grimace in disgust. She was meant to be proving just how foolish her Sister was being, letting her emotions get the better of her. Waking her up would be the same as admitting defeat.  And Twilight didn’t lose. Face set in a determined scowl,  Twilight continued her descent downwards. Noting how the mountain was beginning to steadily grow larger in her peripheral vision. If she was right, which she usually was, the tunnel should be visible soon. In fact…  Calling up her light, she duplicated it and cast it down into the dark; gasping when instead of illuminating an empty expanse of water and then the city it uncovered a mass of writhing creatures that fled back into the shadows. Not all of them ran, and Twilight gasped in shock as the monstrously corrupt eel lunged into her light, huge jagged fangs glinting in its grotesque maw. Twilight froze, her surprise giving the creature enough time to reach her and snap it’s jaw down around her hind leg.  Only to writhe in pain as its teeth cracked against a glowing field of magical energy. Twilight stared as it slithered away from the shield she’d instinctively created and went to bite her again.  “Oh, no. You had your chance.” There wasn’t any time to think of a spell, so Twilight did the thing that came most naturally to her. Her magic enveloped the creature entirely, pinning it in place before crushing it with a satisfying squelch that muddied the water with its blood.  Tossing the remains to the side, Twilight scanned the darkness around her, growling as she saw the shifting silhouettes lurking just beyond the range of her light. With a burst of magic, she increased the power to her light and lit it like a star, revealing dozens of the creatures all around her, waiting with ravenous looks in their eyes.  The seconds ticked past. Both sides still, tense, neither willing to make the first move. As they swayed with the motion of the waves, Twilight steadily drew more and more magic to her, pushing at the limits of her Sister’s bindings as she infused herself with energy. When the eels finally felt the flicker of energy and rushed forward, she was ready. Shimmering barriers of energy stopped the majority of the creatures in their tracks, leaving only three to worm their way through and close the distance. Twilight grinned as the magic in her body let her propel herself elegantly through the water, dodging the creatures with ease. They weren’t so lucky, as her magic lashed out and turned them all into paste. With the immediate threat dealt with, Twilight looked outwards and begun flinging bolts of magic into the mass of eels as they writhed and thrashed against her barriers; each strike took out three or four of the monsters with ease, leaving crackling reminders of her power wherever they struck. As the seconds passed and more of the eels were ripped apart or blasted to pieces by swathes of raw mana, Twilight realised that the fight she had been hoping for was unlikely to yield much more than target practice. “Is that it? I thought monsters were supposed to be dangerous!” she yelled into the abyss, her shields dropping for just long enough to let the eels surge forward – directly into the shockwave of magic that she flung out, so hot it boiled the water and turned the closest of the creatures into ash. The ones behind fared little better, desperately swimming away in search of colder waters to alleviate their burns. The rest were sent rolling backwards, their bodies trying to right themselves helplessly as Twilight’s next attack came, razor-sharp shards of crystallised mana that shredded them into so much pulp.  Before she could cleanse the evil creatures once and for all, however, she felt the awakening of her Sister inside of her, the disturbance almost immediately limiting the amount of magic Twilight found she could draw upon. Against her better judgement, she flung up a temporary shield and turned her focus inwards, manifesting herself onto the dreamscape with a frustrated scowl.  “Yes?” “How long have I been out?” Twilight rolled her eyes at the implied blame in Her Sister’s words, shaking her head. She momentarily considered just leaving her Sister here to be sulky, glancing back to focus on the battle raging outside when she felt her Sister jab a hoof into her chest. Huffing in annoyance she turned back with a scowl.  “What? I don’t know. An hour, why does it matter?” With her focus divided between the real world and the mindscape, Twilight missed the eel that slithered up from underneath her. Completely unaware until it latched onto her ankle and bit down. Hard. And still her Sister continued to yell at her in that accusatory tone. Twilight reached out to grab her, pulling them both out of mindscape and leaving her free to turn her attention to the eel on her flank; which was swiftly turned into pulp by a blast of raw mana. Twilight lifted her hooves to her mouth, stifling a scream as a bloodbath swam before her eyes. The gory scene brought bile to the back of her throat and she turned away to vomit; blinking in confusion when nothing came out. Confusion turned to horror as she brought her hooves up and found them flickering with a translucent glow, the sight forcing another scream from her lips. “Oh Celestia! What’s happening?! Oh Luna, oh no! What’s goi–”  “Stop distracting me!”  Twilight flinched, spinning round to stare at… herself? Slowly, the pieces began to slot into place. She forced herself to breathe while trying to make sense of what was going on. The Other was fighting a mass of strange black eels and—to Twilight’s surprise—seemed to be having little trouble dealing with the swarm, Twilight’s own magic spinning a deadly web of spells that eviscerated, burned or crushed anything that came close. Eviscerating… everything. Woah woah! Stop! Twilight’s brain suddenly caught up. “H-hey! Stop it!” she cried. Her ghostly form surged forward through the cleanest water she could find to come up directly in the Other’s vision, who turned to face her with a murderous scowl – a look Twilight was none too pleased to see on her features. “Stop! You can’t just kill them!”  “Actually, you’ll find I can—although you’re not helping!” The Other snapped back, a shockwave of magic emphasising its words and pulverising a group of eels, much to Twilight’s horror.  “No! I told you that you couldn’t use my magic like this! Killing is wrong!” Twilight yelled back, her own mournful look distorted by the rippling water. The Other’s glare deepened, and she bared a pair of deadly fangs. “They’re monsters! Evil and cruel. They deserve to die!”  Twilight gasped as she felt all the magic surrounding them draw into The Other’s horn, a blinding sphere of light forming at the tip that made Twilight cover her eyes in pain. “They’re just fish!” “You have no idea what you’re talking about. Get out of my way!” The magic began to crackle with power, making Twilight’s coat stand on end as her less than physical form was bombarded by the energy bleeding off from the spell. Twilight rushed forward, holding her hooves out with a tense look. “No! I won’t let you do this! I told you to st–”  “I said MOVE!”  Twilight watched as The Other vanished in a pop of magic, spinning around desperately as she heard a familiar crackle of magic behind her. Reaching out, she tried to pull at the magic that was gathered, anything to stop the spell. But it was far too late. There was a pulse of magic, and the abyss turned white.