//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 - Part 3 - Branches of the Mind // Story: Dreams in Discord // by Gsbrill //------------------------------// The hydra rose from the ground, its two heads staring straight at Applejack, who looked back terrified. The black knight spoke once again. “Nowhere to run now eh? What is the coward going to do now?” The large beast now turned its attention to him, and with a quick movement it grabbed the crippled knight by the head with one of its mouths, the second biting the other end of its body. Seeing where this was going, Applejack shouted. “Fluttershy! Look away!” But the damage was already done. Each of the heads pulled to one side, breaking the body in two. Then, each one of the heads proceeded to swallow its own half. “Get out of here! Ah can deal with it mahself! Twilight needs your help!” Applejack kept on screaming as once again the hydra turned its gazes to her. Fluttershy was dumbstruck; all she managed to do was stare at the small pool of blood that had formed right under the creature’s head. Spike tried to get her moving. He pulled her and screamed at her, but to no avail. Applejack had already grabbed the blade once again and prepared to fight. Spike opened his hand and stared at it. Closing his eyes and with a pained expression he slapped Fluttershy’s face. She broke out of her trance and stared at him still in shock, tears filling her eyes. “Come on Fluttershy, Twilight needs us and we can’t do anything else here” He stated, trying not to look her in the eyes. “But she can’t fight that alone!” She pointed towards the beast. “Of course she can. She’s the strongest pony we know and she can handle anything. Now let’s get going, Twilight needs us” Pinkie seemed to be unaffected by the entire situation. Fluttershy gave up. She couldn’t do anything by herself; she couldn’t even fly to Applejack, her wings being glued to her sides in fear. She looked down to the ground and walked towards the golden bricks that continued right after the end of the bridge. They walked for a long time, losing track of it completely since the Sun, Moon and all the stars were on the sky at the same time. The forest seemed to close on them as they walked, and Fluttershy was still avoiding looking Spike in the eye, while he fiddled nervously with the hourglass pendant. “Sorry Fluttershy” Spike spoke in a barely audible volume. “S-Sorry for what?” She wasn’t used to be the one receiving the apologies. “Sorry for hitting you back there. I just panicked! You suddenly froze and I didn’t know what to do!” He noticed he was raising his tone. He took a deep breath and sighed “Look, I’m sorry; I’m just worried about Twilight. We’re like brothers you know? I can’t be calm knowing that she is in danger.” Before she could retort, their walk reached an unexpected halt, as they reached a large waterfall. Looking down they could see that it flowed into a large lake hundreds of meters bellow. The deadly fall and the many rocks confirmed that they couldn’t just jump down without suffering a few big and probably deadly contusions. As they stopped Fluttershy looked at Spike and took a deep breath, before answering him. “Spike, I should be the one saying I’m sorry. I couldn’t be angry at you, you just did what you thought was the right thing. I’m just sad that I feel like we’re abandoning our friends to their fates, and I feel useless because I can’t even help them and I’m always too scared to do anything!” For the first time Spike and Pinkie had seen Fluttershy raise her voice like that. It was far from screaming but they could see her nervousness. She was shaking frantically. When she stopped and noticed the stares aimed towards her she hid behind her mane and lowered her head. Pinkie’s voice took on a calm and gentle tone, as she walked towards Fluttershy and hugged her. She trembled in surprise before accepting and returning the hug herself. “Look Fluttershy, I know our friends and I trust them. I know they won’t lose. After all we already did together you still doubt that?” She loosened the hug and stared deep into Fluttershy’s eyes, with a warm smile on her face. Fluttershy began to cry once more. “How can you be sure? How do you do that? I mean you’re never scared from anything and you’re so strong and...” Pinkie put a hoof in her mouth. “Of course I get scared silly. I just don’t sweat over the small stuff. I know our friends are strong and I know you are too. I mean, you faced a dragon all by yourself to protect us! I am scared too but just being scared doesn’t mean anything. Giggle at the ghostie remember? Now promise me that you will be strong and believe in us. I don’t want to see you crying anymore okay?” Fluttershy giggled and nodded. “That’s better! Now let’s find a way out of here, I’m getting hungry already and I had a few cupcakes in the chariot before all of this mess. When this is over we'll all eat together” Pinkie said still smiling. “Not wanting to break the mood or anything but how do we get over the waterfall? Even the road disappeared. We better get going if we want to get around it” Spike stated. “I must agree, idling around is not going to take you anywhere” An unknown voice came from above. It was rasp but still carried a tone that was somewhat ironic. They looked towards the source of the voice. “I must agree, idling around is not going to take you anywhere” An unknown voice came from above. It was rasp but still carried a tone that was somewhat ironic. They looked towards the source of the voice. “Oh poor kitty, wait we will get you out of there” Fluttershy seemed to forget her previous frightened state and opened her wings to fly towards the cage. “Oh poor kitty, wait we will get you out of there” Fluttershy seemed to forget completely her previous frightened state seeing a distressed animal, and opened her wings to fly towards the cage. “You’d have better luck fighting a jabberwocky with a butter knife. Twilight’s new “friend” made sure to lock me here and weaken me to such a point that I can barely move. Seems like I was in the way of his plans for Celestia. Well, that’s what she gets for not listening to me” He didn’t sound much concerned with Twilight’s condition, he even sounded somewhat amused. “Who are you anyway? We need some help here to get through this waterfall to help Twilight, think you can give us a hand?” Spike just wanted to get out of there as fast as he could; he couldn’t be less interested in the cat’s story, but was at least trying to sound polite. “It isn’t who but what I am. You could say that I am what was left of Twilight’s sanity, her rational side. Pretty ironic from her subconscious to choose my current form if you ask me. From my situation you can probably see how bad her state is right now.” “It isn’t who but what I am. You could say that I am what was left of Twilight’s sanity, her rational side. Pretty ironic from her subconscious to choose my current form if you ask me. From my situation you can probably see how bad her state is right now. And if you are curious the angry knight you probably met back there was her something like her willpower” Fluttershy shivered at the memory. “Sorry to say that but he’s…kinda…dead” Spike tried to break it to him as smoothly as he could but he felt that time was too important for them to worry with subtlety. The cat laughed, eliciting a few puzzled looks from them “No, he isn’t dead, we cannot die, we just change forms. I, for example, would be really glad to die right now just to get out of this cage, but it seems I don’t have the energy to even bite my tongue of. But still I might be able to help you” “We would be really really happy if you could just help us, we need to get to Twilight as fast as we can” Pinkie was just as eager to get going as Spike, but she couldn’t help but be amused at the cat’s smile, trying to mimic it herself. “Yes yes I heard it the first time. There is no way to get past here from above, but I can help you travel below the waters. I think it could save you quite some time. But remember, I’m not the only trace of Twilight’s conscience around here. Being pretty much her logic, I know that helping you will help me, but there might be others that are not so eager to help.” “So you expect us to swim under it? We can’t just jump down there” Spike tried to make sense of the car’s words. “Swim? Oh I also don’t expect you to. But I better show than explain, I believe your time is short” The ground bellow them shook for a few seconds and then stopped “Oh, and before I forget, if you happen to meet the princess down there, just run, she is one you can’t reason with” added the cat. “Why would the princess be here?” Asked Fluttershy. The ground trembled once again and a large hole opened bellow them. Before they fell, they could hear the last of the cat’s remarks. “Twilight’s feeling of guilt is stronger than you think” And with that they plummeted down. The cat laid down and curled into itself, closing his eyes but never the wide grin. “I hope they can handle this” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From outside of the hole three different voices could be heard. A loud and constant laughter, a high pitched scream and another one in an even higher pitch. The laughter of course belonged to Pinkie Pie, but it was hard to decide which one of the other two was screaming louder. They just fell without any obstacle at all, for what felt almost a whole minute. The only sign they had that they were actually going the right way was the golden road, that swirled around the hole, spiraling through its entire length. “PINKIE WHAT THE HAY ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?” Spike couldn’t hide his desperation. “This is so much fun! I wish I had one of these holes in Ponyville!” “NO YOU DON’T BECAUSE IF YOU HAD ONE YOU’D BE DEAD! WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!” Spike had finally regained his senses and was thinking about a way of reaching the bottom without being crushed like a puppy under a steamroller. He imagined the scene and pushed the thought away, wondering why he had thought about that in the first place. He looked to the side and noticed that Fluttershy hadn’t stopped screaming. She had an amazing set of vocal chords for such a small pony. “Fluttershy, why don’t you just open your wings?” Spike asked thinking about how she could possibly forget that. She happily obeyed, but her face quickly turned to one of fear, when even with her wings fully open, she didn’t slow down at all. “Spike it’s not working! It’s like there is no air in here, I just can’t stop!” She was starting to become desperate. They looked down and saw the ground quickly coming closer. Fluttershy flailed her wings like mad but to no avail. Once again the choir of screams and laughter started. Looking down once again, Spike could see a large and round red object, covered in white dots. That was where they would land. They braced for impact, expecting the solid ground. But to their surprise, they fell onto a rubber-like surface. They bounced up from it and gained height, only to fall and be throw once again into the air. They slowed down bit by bit, until they stopped completely and could jump out of the object. “Can we do it again? Please please please please?” Pinkie begged with a smile that had finally managed to outsize the one of the cat. “NO Pinkie, I never want to do that again” Spike was sweating, the adrenaline rush of the fall still in effect. After a few moments, they all calmed down and looked around. They had landed on a cartoonish huge mushroom, and there were many others around it. Some of them even emitted light, allowing them to see in the deep cave. Before them they could see a single corridor, covered in the same mushrooms, that branched into many others before them. Even though there were different paths, they knew which ones to follow, for the golden bricks still went on even there. The light coming from the mushrooms was pale and cold, wrapping the area in a strange and ghastly aura. They walked along the cold hallways, never losing track from their trail. They walked and walked for what seemed like hours, not finding any exit. Pinkie of course, tried to maintain a conversation for as long as possible, although it was more of a monologue most of the time, jumping from topic to topic in a way no one else could keep up with. A loud bang echoed through the caves, silencing her. They all looked around and then at each other, waiting. Then once again, the same sound. And again and again. It sounded like a series of explosions, and it came from the direction their path followed. Since they had no choice, they kept on going, and the sounds only became louder. After two more bifurcations they arrived at an open area with a much higher ceiling. In the middle of it, was Princess Celestia. Or something that slightly reminded her. Although the general shape was the same, the creature was more of a monster than anything else. Its coat was covered in blood, the wings like the ones of bats and its cracked horn was almost twice as big as the ones of the princesses. The creature had its back turned on the group, so they couldn’t distinguish more of its features, and they wanted it to stay that way. It seemed that the loud noises they had heard earlier were large rocks being raised from the ground by the creature, not with magic but with pure brute force, and thrown into the ceiling of the chamber. Apparently the cave was some sort of prison for it. Spike signaled for the two mares to follow him around the room, in an attempt to get around the rampaging “Princess”. It was going well so far, their own sounds being muffled by the banging rocks and the savage screams of the beast. They were only a few meters away from the door, when one of the stones hurled towards the ceiling bounced of it, and fell towards the group. Fluttershy let out a loud squeal as Pinkie jumped towards her and threw her from the boulder’s trajectory and bucking Spike in the other direction in a single motion. That attracted the attention of the creature, that now stared straight at the group. A large hole could be seen where the stomach was supposed to be and a red flow tainted the ground beneath her. But the most fearsome feature was her eyes. Instead of the gentle and caring look that was commonly seen in the princess’s face, there were two rage filled black orbs, that were surrounded by a equally dark halo. Staring into them was like staring into a bottomless pit. Fluttershy and Pinkie were still close enough to the passage to make a run for it, but Spike had been bucked into the opposite direction, finding himself not too far from the beast, right between her and the mares. The beast roared. “Run Spike!” He stood still. The creature took another rock in its hooves and prepared to throw it towards the mares, but ended up dropping as a surge of pain went through one of its hind legs, where now was located a small dragon’s mouth. “YOU INSOLENT VERMIN” She didn’t seem to shout, but her voice was so powerful that it echoed and made the walls tremble. She bucked the air with the leg, sending Spike flying towards the side of the cave opposing the exit, right into the wall. “SEEMS LIKE YOU ARE EAGER TO DIE TODAY”. He got up slowly, moaning in pain from the wounds. “Yeah, I don’t know what’s gotten into me” he smiled, noticing a few teeth missing and seeing how they were still stuck into the “Princess’s” leg. “Get out of here, I’ll buy you some time!” He shouted to the mares. “No! Spike come here right now! You don’t stand a chance!” Pinkie had lost her smile, knowing that the baby dragon had bitten more than he could chew. The attention of the creature was now onto them. Its horn started to glow and they could see she was going to attack. A large bolt of magic came from her horn, but she raised her head and screamed, firing into the ceiling right above the exit, cracking the rocks. The agonized expression on the creatures face quickly turned to anger, when she looked down to see one of her legs on fire and the small dragon laying on the floor next to her. In the heat of the moment, Spike had managed to crawl behind her and spit a small flame on her leg, but it was more than enough. “I’m the one you’re fighting, don’t turn your back on me” “SO BE IT!” The enraged scream was enough to bring down the weakened rocks above the exit, starting a small cascade “Get out now!” The shout from Spike encouraged the mares to jump through the opening, right before it was sealed by the rocks. They ran without looking back, following the path before them. They could only hope for the better. “He’ll be fine right?” Whispered Fluttershy. “O-of course! Dragons are strong, and Spikey is the smartest dragon ever!” It was very discrete, but Pinkie Pie had stuttered. She hoped that Fluttershy hadn’t noticed, but she did. They didn’t have much time to ponder on it, as they had finally reached the end of the tunnel. Right before them there was a short staircase, leading to a small trapdoor. From behind it, they could hear thousands of voices crying in unison. “A-chi-lles! A-chi-lles!” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rarity was sweating. The fashionista never had to use her magic for much more than carry fabrics and tools around, and a spell as complex as the one she had to maintain was already taking its toll. Her horn ached and her body felt heavy, but she knew the importance of her task, and kept her horn lit lit. Before her were her six friends, five of them being held in the air with their heads up, enveloped by a blue halo, and from each one’s forehead came a small energy flow that traced to Twilight’s head. She was the only one that was still on the ground, with her front hooves still chained to the walls. After the first hours, Rarity noticed that if she focused a bit more into one of them, she could see through its eyes for a few seconds, although the vision was quite blurry. Rarity was worried about her friends. Seeing as their bodies suffered all that their minds did, she saw the results herself, without being able to know fully what was happening, and that was driving her mad. Each small cut or bruise that appeared into their bodies got her wondering about what kind of situation they were in, and focusing into one of them for too long could break the spell accidentally. Suddenly Rainbow Dash started shaking around and clenched her teeth tight. Apparently she was flying, probably running from something dangerous. Rarity couldn’t resist, and focused onto her, almost losing concentration when she saw her charge with incredible speed, with her hooves pointed forwards, into a large glass wall, and right into what looked like another pony. Right before the impact she came back to reality, only to see that now Rainbow Dash’s body was covered in hundreds of small cuts, visibly caused by the broken glass. It wasn’t lethal but she could see that she was in great pain. A few minutes later and it was Spike’s turn to start moving. He was trembling and moaning in pain. She couldn’t see any clear injuries in his body, but his face contorted into a pained expression time and time again. With one last spasm, his body stopped and he coughed. A small stream of blood could be seen coming from his mouth.She looked and saw that his leg was bent to the side, in a way that it clearly shouldn't be. Rarity pushed away the worried thoughts that flooded her mind. If she let her mind wander too much the spell would be broken and she had no idea what that would cause. Luna apparently forgot to tell her that part. Right now all that she could do was trust in her friends and hope that they would be okay. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The baby dragon was being tossed around the room like a ragdoll. The demented alicorn threw him again and again at the walls, laughing uncontrollably while she did. Spike was powerless before her, fighting just to stay conscious while being once more slammed into the wall by the magic grip. “WHERE IS YOUR FIGHTING SPIRIT GONE TO? I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WERE MY OPONENT” She taunted as the dragon hit the wall again. “I wasn’t expecting much of a challenge from you anyway. Maybe I should just let you bleed to death right here while I go and murder that worthless apprentice of mine” The anger had left her voice, only to be replaced by disgust. “Don’t you dare touch Twilight!” Spike had managed to get up and face her. He breathed heavily, and was forced to lean on his left leg seeing that the right one was clearly broken, the lower section bent into an odd angle. Spike let out a howl of pain as she grabbed him by the wounded leg with her magic and floated him upside down towards her, stopping when he hanged face to face with her, only a few inches away. “AND WHAT IS THE LITTLE VERMIN GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?” He took a deep breath and a torrent of green flames left his mouth, straight into her eye. She threw him to the wall and fell to the ground, wriggling and screeching in pain as the black globe was consumed by the flames. When she recovered, she slowly walked towards Spike, who leaned on a wall on his back. Her expression was now of pure hate, somehow made even worse by the charcoal ball that adorned her face. He saw the large hoof being raised before him. She was going to kill him. The monster shouted something but he couldn’t hear anything. Time seemed to slow down as the menacing hoof came down with a force that could split open a rock. He smirked. “So this is it. This is how I die” He thought, not even having the energy to speak anymore “Well, at least I will go doing something useful to the others” He took the hourglass that hung from his neck in his hand and looked at it and wondering how it didn’t break through the fight “Well, thank you very much for the help. What is this piece of crap supposed to do anyway?” Twilight would have smacked him with a book if he spoke like that near her, but he just didn’t care anymore. “If only I were stronger, this wouldn’t be happening” A lonely tear ran down his cheek.