The door to the TARDIS opened with its usual creak. As Feather Wind, Stern Wing and Vision stepped outside to observe their surroundings, they quickly noticed it was too familiar. This was Canterlot, and it appeared to be the version Feather Wind and Stern Wing grew up in. When Feather Wind realized that, he widened his eyes and looked back at the Doctor. There was a reason they avoided this time period, after all.
When Feather Wind noticed the Doctor hold a hoof up to block Derpy from exiting the TARDIS, Feather Wind felt like he gained his confirmation. This was yet another farewell.
In the background, Missy hadn't even tried to exit the TARDIS. She just examined herself with a small hoof mirror and painted her lips red with lipstick. As for Discord, he had already popped himself out of existence shortly after the other time clones faded away, claiming he had a tea party with the real Fluttershy that he was looking forward to. Seeing one of her time clones fade away in front of him put him in an almost desperate mood to catch up again with the real Fluttershy.
“So this is it . . . huh,” Feather Wind realized, his voice sounding a little stunned.
“Doc?” Derpy queried. He shook his head no.
“Not this time, my lovely assistant. I'm simply completing the loop. I told you long ago that there were events in their history I could not mess with. True, I delayed it, for twelve years mind you, but it's finally time for them to fulfill their own destiny in their own time and I, as a Time Lord, cannot interfere with that.”
The Doctor regarded Feather Wind, Stern Wing and Vision with a glimmer of happiness, sadness and pride. “Now I've done all I can to help prepare you for the journey ahead. History did not say how you suddenly became so powerful or how you got that beautiful Prism Armor,” he said with a nod to Stern Wing who was wearing it even then. In fact, it was starting to draw the attention of ponies passing by in the background on the streets of Canterlot. Also they were curious what a mysterious blue box was doing out in the middle of the street when they clearly recalled it not being there yesterday, or even a few moments ago.
“When I read that,” the Doctor went on as he placed a hoof on his chest, “I assumed that was an open invitation for me to play some role in your story, and I have to say it's been fantastic! Thank you, my dear friends, for accompanying me on this wonderful journey together. I truly do wish you all the best, but I'm afraid now is where we must part.”
“Must we?” Derpy cried a bit as she asked.
“Yes, my lovely assistant. They have their own path to follow, and I cannot interfere too much. If I do, eventually it would grow too suspicious that they grew so old, so fast. We held them up long enough. Probably longer than I should have but, even for me, it's hard to let go sometimes. I'm sorry. I truly am, but this is where our journey together must end.”
Derpy regarded her departing friends then wailed on their shoulder a bit as she gave each one a warm hug goodbye. Out of all of them, it was Feather Wind who came the closest to losing his cool but he, too, figured out that it probably was time to move on. Likely they were more than a little prepared to face Puppet Master then move on to the part Feather Wind really dreaded, the Dark King himself. This journey had well prepared them to face these threats. They had faced far worse. The Dark Star, for example, was infinitely more powerful than the Dark King and Puppet Master put together, but they faced The Dark Star down with a fairly sizable army at their backs which also included the future temporal copies of the Elements of Harmony and the Crystal Heart. Now it was just the three of them again, but that was still likely to be enough after all of that training, experience, new spells, new knowledge, new equipment and new confidence.
“Thank you, Doctor, for everything,” Feather Wind said as he offered a hoof to the Doctor after Derpy finished hugging him. Feather Wind struggled to steady his voice as he spoke. He mostly succeeded, but one could still hear it crack slightly if they listened carefully. No doubt Vision noticed.
“No, thank you, my friend,” the Doctor shook Feather Wind's hoof. “You all have helped me to save many lives throughout the universe, not the least of which includes the existence of your own world. I could not have done this without all of your help and, of course, you helped to keep me company during a small piece of my long journey. I will forever be grateful to you for that. Be well, my friends. Be well.”
“Thank you, Doctor. I will try,” Feather Wind said warmly then looked behind him at Missy, then called to her, “How about you? Are you going to say goodbye to us as well?”
“Goodbye,” Missy said simply without a glance to Feather Wind. Instead she went on to paint the forward edge of her hooves.
“I'll keep an eye on her. Trust me,” the Doctor assured Feather Wind. “I haven't given up hope that I can redeem her and, with the track record of this universe, I have more hope than ever that I'll eventually succeed and then there will be two Time Lord heroes gallivanting across the universe!”
“Only in your dreams with Princess Luna,” Missy denied dismissively in the background.
“Good luck with that,” Feather Wind said to the Doctor with a grin.
“You too,” the Doctor said back.
Derpy entered back into the TARDIS, spun about and fiercely waved goodbye continuously as she said, “Goodbye! Goodbye! Farewell! Be sure to eat lots of delicious muffins!”
Then the TARDIS door closed, and shortly later the time machine faded away with a mechanical groan then a fading higher pitched sound effect. Behind the trio, a gathered group of astonished onlookers gasped when they saw the mysterious blue box fade away.
“Heh. Rookies,” Feather Wind said with a sly grin as he glanced back at the astonished onlookers behind them.
“You know what this means, don't you?” Stern Wing asked as she continued to stare where the TARDIS faded away.
“Yes,” Feather Wind said seriously as he looked in the direction the TARDIS faded away. “It's time for our final showdown with Puppet Master, and then on to the Dark King.”
“So . . . you plan on facing down Puppet Master, huh?” a familiar feminine voice spoke somewhere nearby. Stern Wing and Feather Wind both looked together and were surprised to see Searing Wind standing nearby, leaning against a wall and tossing an apple up and down idly.
“Wait! Searing Wind?” Star Breeze asked. “Wasn't that the mean old former Wonderbolt who saved your life, teased you then quit the Wonderbolts?”
“The same,” Feather Wind confirmed.
“What was she doing there?”
Feather Wind shrugged. “Just passing by. Buying an apple, I guess.
“Star Breeze, I'm afraid that, this time, our chance encounter really was a coincidence, unless the Doctor dropped us off there at that time on purpose to make sure we met up with her again.”
Searing Wind bit into the apple then looked at the newly arrived trio with one eye wide and the other narrow. She asked, “Didn't Princess Celestia order you to be silent about the dark wizard's existence? You might want to consider continuing this discussion in a more private location. Oh, and by the way, nice costume, Stern Wing. I really like how the colors just shift in that armor. How are you doing that, anyway?”
“None of your business,” Stern Wing said to Searing Wind tersely, not quite forgetting or forgiving what Searing Wind said to her husband all those years ago although, for Searing Wind, it shouldn't have been nearly that long ago. Looking between her closer companions, Stern Wing said, “Although she does have a pretty good point. Let's continue this discussion up in the sky. Vision, ready your wings.”
“Check.” Vision reached back and pulled on a cord. A pair of kite-like wings ejected from her dimensional saddlebags.
“Let's go,” Stern Wing said before hopping off into the air. Feather Wind tucked his hooves into his Mist Cloak and followed suit, and he also projected wind underneath Vision's wind glider to get her to ascend as well.
“Wait! I'm coming with you!” Searing Wind called up, then leapt up in order to fly off with them.
“You're not welcome to join us,” Stern Wing said pretty tightly back to Searing Wind. “Where we are going is too dangerous for you.”
“Oh, come on! I can help!” Searing Wind requested. “You said that you once looked up to me. Well give me a chance to prove to you why I deserved that honor in the first place.
“Look, I know what I said to your boyfriend or whatever was wrong and I want a chance to make it up to you all. Besides, if it's a dangerous situation you are after, then I'm no slouch at it myself. I can hoofle danger. I was a former Wonderbolt! One of the best in the wings, in fact.”
“You were a Wonderbolt?” Vision asked in an admiring tone. “Hey! Good for you. You must have been pretty impressive.”
“Of course I'm impressive! That's what I do for a living,” Searing Wind bragged, then she noticed something. “Hey! Is that filly flying on mechanical wings?” She looked at Feather Wind. “I assume this is your doing since you can control the winds?”
“Confirmed,” Feather Wind called back with a polite tone.
“That's impressive! You can even send earth ponies to the sky! Who would have ever thunk it?” Searing Wind said in an impressed tone then took another bite of her green apple.
“Yeah. Imagine that,” Stern Wing said with a sarcastic roll of her eyes. “Anyway, in regards to your offer, thanks but no thanks. I know it does not seem like it, but we've been through a lot together by now and we can hoofle ourselves. You'd only slow us down.”
“Slow you down? Hey!” Searing Wind cried in offense then suddenly zipped ahead of them, spun about and flew backwards in order to face them. “I was a Wonderbolt! One of the best! I can fly so fast I can create fire through shear friction in the air. You want to see?”
“No thank you.” Stern Wing waved her off. “I've seen your tricks before. Honestly, it was impressive when I was a foal, but I've seen many more impressive things since then.”
“Like your friend in the disappearing blue box?” Searing Wind inquired.
“To name one example,” Stern Wing returned.
“I can hoofle myself too!” Searing Wind insisted as she gestured to herself with both hooves, one of which still held what was left of her green apple. “I've been in danger lots of times. I'm not just an aerial acrobatic performer. I've saved lives too. Even your boyfriend, for crying out loud.” She gestured to him.
“That's true,” Feather Wind agreed.
“And I really want to make things right with you guys,” Searing Wind begged. “I've thought a lot about what you said to me on the last few days when I was still in the Bolts, and you were right. I was way out of line! I was being far too racist, and I didn't see that your boyfriend here really does have remarkable talent. After he quit the Academy, I feared it was my fault.” She regarded Feather Wind in concern. “Was it?”
“No.” Feather Wind shook his head. “I quit the Academy for my own reasons. There were lots of them all piled up. You were a small contributing factor, but the truth is I left because I wanted to. I left because I realized that wasn't my destiny. At the time I was still searching to find myself. I've made a lot of progress in that regard since then.”
“Well that's great!” Searing Wind cheered. “But it kind of sucks as well. I mean, you actually did have a lot of talent. I might have even felt a little jealous and threatened by you. I mean, you are a flying unicorn, and a really good one at that. You're flying right now even as we speak. The sky is your home too, and I should have been a big enough pony to admit that. I mean, there's plenty of room for us both up here. You can fly but also cast magic spells or whatever else it is that you do. I can't do that! It started to make me feel obsolete and I'm sorry I took it out on you. It wasn't your fault for just following your passion. I grew up with a family that always supported me and my beliefs. That's probably why I grew up so confident and later became a Wonderbolt, and a really good one at that, and yet I stomped all over your feelings for following the same dreams that I had, and that was wrong of me. I have to make it up to you. Please let me join you all!” Searing Wind begged.
“Look, if it helps, I will say this to you . . . I accept your apology,” Stern Wing expressed honestly. “It really is nice to hear that you've learned your lesson, and I'm touched that you're willing to help us to make up for it, but this issue is a matter of life and death! Puppet Master is one of the most dangerous villains out there. I've seen him slaughter an entire group of warrior-trained ponies in seconds. He has magic that can animate anything to do his bidding, even corpses. He draws upon powers so dark it can drive others insane just to be near him. We have had practice dealing with his kind at this point. You haven't. We're rejecting you for your own sake. Let us finish our business then you can make it up to us in some other way. Buy us a hay burger or something. Speaking for myself, I really like those.”
“Why are you talking down to me like I'm some kind of rookie?” Searing Wind complained. “I'm one of the few ponies in the world that has been in actual danger multiple times. I fly towards danger while every other pony is galloping away from it, and I do it to save lives. I've done it before and I can do it again. What makes you so different from me now?”
“This equipment, for one thing,” Stern Wing pointed out. “You see this flashing armor I'm wearing?”
“Yeah? So? By the way, I still think it looks really awesome.”
“This armor is magical,” Stern Wing informed.
“Psh! Yeah! Ya think?” Searing Wind asked a bit sarcastically. “Well of course it's magical. That's pretty obvious. If you think I'm that much of a rookie for not noticing, then you have seriously underestimated me.”
“It does more than flash pretty colors,” Stern Wing further informed. “That really is just a side effect of its main magical function and base material it's made from. This armor is enchanted with holy magic, and it just happens to be exactly the type we need to defeat Puppet Master once and for all. He is immune to normal weapons because his body is actually an animated corpse. His real essence lies in a dark gem somewhere inside of his body.”
“Whoa! That is impressive,” Searing Wind said in an impressed tone. “Okay, I've got to admit that is cool, but it still doesn't mean I'm useless. I may not be armed with nifty magical items like that, but I'm really fast when it comes to the sky and I can conjure fire. Is he immune to that too?”
“I doubt it,” Feather Wind admitted. “At least, that hasn't been tested yet.”
“At the very least I can serve as a distraction,” Searing Wind reasoned. “So come on. Let me in on the group.”
“If you join us, you will very likely die,” Vision warned.
“And if I stay here, I may live in body but I'll die in spirit,” Searing Wind said sadly. “My mistakes have been tearing me up inside, and I want a chance to make up for it once and for all. I think you met plenty of ponies by now who made mistakes and never felt sorry for them, but I do because I am not a bad pony! If you reject me now, then you're condemning me to wallow in a miserable fate. There are worse things than death, you know. If I'm meant to die, then I want my life, and my death, to serve some noble ends. Puppet Master has been tearing other ponies apart, sometimes literally. I need to stop this. I am a hero, darn it!”
Searing Wind broke into tears a bit. “Feather Wind, you know what it's like to yearn to prove something to the world and to yourself. Well here I am! I'm in the same boat, here! I know I'm meant to do this. I can feel it! If you ignore me now, then I might never get my redemption, and I'm at risk of lashing out at others. If you abandon me, I will never forgive you!”
Feather Wind and Stern Wing glanced at each other, then at Vision who hadn't the ability to glance back.
“You will die,” Vision assured more firmly.
“It's not like any of us here are immortal anyway. Death is the fate of all of us eventually. What matters more is how we choose to live during our lives. Better to die a hero in pursuit of a noble cause than live as a villain wallowing in misery and lashing out at everypony,” Searing Wind assured. “I want to do this. I'm even willing to give my life to this cause. Let's just make sure that we also take that bastard down with us! Are you with me? More importantly, am I with you?”
Feather Wind and Stern Wing glanced at each other one final time, then they both sighed simultaneously.
“All right, Searing Wind. You can come if you really want to go this badly,” Stern Wing relented. “I just hope we don't have our victory over your corpse. Protecting others is a big deal to me, and I don't like it when others make that job harder.”
“For the last time, I'm not some rookie! I can take care of myself, and can even take care of you,” Searing Wind assured. “I am Searing Wind. I was born to fly, and I was born to fight.”
“Welcome aboard, then,” Feather Wind accepted with a little bit of lingering worry.
Still flying backwards in order to face them, Searing Wind asked, “So how are we supposed to find the villain anyway? Princess Celestia tried to have us track him down for years, but to no avail. He seems to strike out at random targets. There is no way to predict where he'll strike next.”
“But there is one place he keeps going to that isn't so random,” Vision brought up. “His lair.”
“He's got a lair? Seriously?!” Searing Wind questioned then rolled her eyes. “How cliché is that?”
“This will be just like that time we fought Plague back in his own lair,” Stern Wing said to her husband with a grin. “Good old times.”
“Huh?” Searing Wind looked confused.
“Long story,” Stern Wing told Searing Wind, then looked at Vision. “I assume you saw his lair in a vision, right? Where is it?”
“It is in Mania,” Vision reported. “His lair is in the abandoned town of Mania. More specifically, in an abandoned Foal's Hospital.”
“Mania? Hmm.” Searing Wind looked thoughtful. “Actually, I know where that is. It's an abandoned mining town. I think the mines dried up, but that's not the real reason it's abandoned. I heard a plague swept through that area and it was quarantined a long time ago. Have to be about ninety years ago.”
“Did any of the residents make it out?” Stern Wing asked hopefully.
“Only a few of them, from what I've read,” Feather Wind reported. “Most of the residents actually died in that town due to the sickness.”
“I bet you anything a place like that would have a lot of lingering negative energy,” Vision brought up.
“And I bet you the Dark King, or possibly yet another minion, was responsible for that plague,” Stern Wing guessed grimly.
“Was Toy Box one of the few ponies who survived that disaster?” Feather Wind asked Vision.
“Who is Toy Box?” Searing Wind asked.
“Toy Box was Puppet Master's original name,” Vision informed, “and yes, he did survive but he wished he hadn't. His grief drove him insane after the plague swept through. He lost somepony very precious to him in that attack.”
“I bet you anything it was his foal,” Stern Wing guessed sadly.
“The grief of a loss like that might destroy the mind of any father,” Feather Wind agreed. “In this case, the Dark King waited on that to capitalize on that advantage.”
“Hold on a second. Let me ask you all something first,” Searing Wind broached, then gestured to Vision. “Why are we listening to her, and why are we inviting a young foal into a serious battle? It doesn't even look like she can see at all.”
“She can see in ways you can only imagine,” Stern Wing assured.
“And besides, she's an oracle,” Feather Wind added. “Searing Wind, meet the real Vision. She was the one who came up with the prophetic dreams which she told her mother about who, in turn, warned Celestia.”
“No foolin'?” Searing Wind checked.
“Indeed. No foolin',” Feather Wind confirmed. “What's more, Vision is deadly when it comes to martial arts, and she also has expert medical knowledge, magic potions, and as for her eye implants . . . that one might take awhile to explain, but suffice it to say it is very useful.”
“Wow! Color me impressed!” Searing Wind exclaimed to the group then focused her next question at Vision directly. “You're pretty tough for a little squirt, ain't cha?”
“Call me a squirt one more time and see what happens,” Vision menaced with an eerily calm voice.
“Hey, hey! I was just foolin' around! No hard feelings,” Searing Wind quickly apologized.
“So you know where Mania is?” Feather Wind asked Searing Wind. “I read about the history of the town, but I don't know where it is located geographically. I get the feeling that is on purpose.”
“Oh yeah. That place is totally haunted and a lot of ponies fear the plague might still exist in there,” Searing Wind informed.
“I doubt that such a plague could linger after ninety years of abandonment by anything living there but, if it did, I'm sure I can cleanse it,” Vision assured. “As for the haunting . . . we can take care of that too as soon as we cleanse one of the darkest sources of energy in that area, and finally send the other innocent souls in the area to their proper rest.”
“Well, if we're really going to do this, then follow me,” Searing Wind invited, then finally spun about to fly forward and at a much faster rate. Feather Wind kicked up the winds for him and his friends to keep up with her.
xoxo
“Hold on! I figured something out!” Star Breeze realized. “The third member of your trio. It's Vision! You told me earlier there would be somepony like her. Here you are, a unicorn that acts like a pegasus, and mother is a pegasus that acts like an earth pony. The final corner of this triangle is Vision, the earth pony that acts like a unicorn with all her magical potions and psychic visions, sonic eyes and dimensional saddlebags then, eventually, teleporting through time and space at will. That is one heavily magical earth pony!”
“Bingo! Now you get a gold star!” Feather Wind complimented his daughter which caused her to giggle. “Anyway, back to the story. I have to warn you, this next part is pretty spooky, but we had everything well in hoof after everything we have been through.”
xoxo
“This is awesome!” Searing Wind said in an impressed tone as she looked at her crystal coat and mane. “How did you manage to learn a spell like this?”
“A good friend of mine taught me this,” Feather Wind said softly in a fond voice, then resumed in a more serious tone. “The crystal armor spell will not just help to guard you against physical attacks, but also the corruption of dark energy. Based on what I can tell from the looks of those clouds, I'd say the area we will land at is thick with dark energy so you will need that protection to keep your mind as well as your body safe.”
“Oh, totally,” Searing Wind agreed. “This place has always given me the chills every time I flew by it.”
“There is definitely a lot of negative energy here. I can feel it already,” Vision reported.
“Yeah, me too. I can sense it with the Red Crystal,” Feather Wind reported back.
“What about Stern Wing? Aren't you going to enchant her too?” Searing Wind asked back in concern since she was the only one without a glossy, crystal coat.
“Not necessary since I'm wearing this armor,” Stern Wing informed. “It is holy armor so it's weapon's injure evil to greater effect and the armor also guards me from wicked spells. It also gives me lots of energy. With this armor on, I have almost infinite endurance.”
“Sweet!” Searing Wind said in amazement. “Where did you find that puppy?”
“We didn't. I made it,” Feather Wind told Searing Wind then shrugged. “Although we were lucky to stumble upon the base material it is made from.”
“You did?” Searing Wind double checked in astonishment.
“I made this cloak as well, and you knew about that,” Feather Wind pointed out.
“And it is a sweet cloak too, don't get me wrong. I love the fact it keeps pouring over mist like that, but that armor is on a whole different level. I mean, look at it! It looks amazing! Horn on the head, bladed armor wings, blunt mace-like hooves, and then the enchantments. I had no idea you were such a skilled enchanter. You really are very talented, Feather Wind.”
“Thanks,” Feather Wind looked at his wife lovingly. “I made it with love.”
“I bet you did,” Searing Wind agreed, not really realizing how literal Feather Wind intended that statement to be. “Anyway, we're here.” Searing Wind dove down and the others followed suit.
The four of them landed together in an empty village that was covered in perpetual shadow. The clouds above never left, for they were drawn to the negative energy of this place. A depressive atmosphere clung to the air as well as a dreary sense of loneliness and misery. Various objects were scattered about the place, abandoned where they stood for almost a century. A lot of scattered objects and buildings were decayed and rusted. There was an eerie, oppressive silence that was occasionally broken by the sound of whistling wind, the sound of a wooden door banging open and shut, and ghostly foals laughing madly. There were also other scary sounds like a mother's wail in misery, likely crying over the corpse of a dead foal.
“Wow. Scary, much?” Searing Wind asked a little nervously as she glanced around.
“Which way to the Foal's Hospital?” Feather Wind asked Searing Wind seriously.
Searing Wind shrugged as she said, “Don't look at me. I never actually landed in this place before. Mostly I just sailed above the clouds, or flew around it entirely because this place has always given me the creeps! Looking at it closer is not helping, but don't worry! I'm not going to abandon ya! I got your flank!” Searing Wind assured confidently with a firm salute from her right wing to her forehead then yanked it forward.
“This way,” Vision said, her face aimed in a certain direction. “The negative energy is especially thick in this direction.”
“Actually, yeah. Come to think of it, I sense it too,” Feather Wind reported. “Let's take care of this.”
“Right!” Stern Wing agreed firmly.
“You ponies have come a long way, haven't you?” Searing Wind asked as she followed them. “Could be a trick of the light, but you even look physically older.”
They made their way to a large, rectangular building that had most of its windows shattered. They passed a few rusted wheelchairs and decayed gurneys along their way into the building. Once they reached the entrance, only one of the doors clung to it, and just barely at that. It hung only on its bottom hinge which had it tilted inwardly at a sharp angle, looking like it was about ready to fall along with its sister door. Inside the building it smelled very dusty, and yet the floor was relatively clean except for some scattered papers, gauze and what looked like very old blood stains painted on the walls and floor. The moment they entered the hospital, the air felt even more oppressive in a terrifying way. If it weren't for their magical protections, it might have felt unbearable.
“Which way now?” Stern Wing asked firmly as she searched around cautiously.
“Somewhere below us, I think,” Vision said with uncertainty. “If so, we'll have to find our way to it.”
“Then let's go searching,” Feather Wind resolved as he ignited his horn with radiant silver light. He looked back and forth between two hallways, ignoring the front desk for the moment. Eventually he chose the right direction and said, “This way. Follow me. Everypony, stay close to me and the light.”
“I don't need the light,” Vision said calmly as she moved to follow.
“Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you about that,” Searing Wind mentioned. “You are blind, right? I don't mean to sound insensitive about it but, in this case, it's kinda a big deal right now. Somehow you seem to be trotting around rather confidently like you own the place. How is it you know where you are going?”
“Your yammering makes it easy to follow you,” Vision teased at first then assured, “Trust me, I have my ways.”
“She really does,” Feather Wind affirmed seriously. “However, her perception is limited only to a certain distance, usually about one-hundred feet. Beyond that she really is totally blind but, within that zone, she can see in ways you can't imagine.”
“For instance, I can see the bread crumbs in your mane,” Vision informed. “I can see your stomach acids churning. You had oats for breakfast.”
“Okay. Stop. You're starting to creep me out,” Searing Wind complained nervously.
“Even more than being in a Foal's Hospital with a psychopathic dark magic user who animates objects and corpses in order to convert them into puppets?” Stern Wing checked with Searing Wind.
“That's pretty creepy too, but notice the fact I am not galloping away,” Searing Wind pointed out. “I can hoofle that stuff because it's part of the enemy's territory. When I feel something is external from my inner circle, I feel I can face it head on. When my allies point out creepy stuff about themselves, however, it makes me feel like I also have to guard my flank from you ponies and I don't want to feel that way right now. I need to keep a cool and professional level head while we're in the middle of danger in order for me to do my best work.”
“She really is being very brave under these circumstances,” Stern Wing complimented to her companions.
“Shh!” Vision said as she stopped. “I hear something coming.”
“So do I,” Feather Wind agreed. “It's coming from up ahead. Everypony, guard yourselves.”
They waited for a while, during which time they heard a squeaking noise repeat over and over again and it drew steadily closer. It sounded like rusty metal in motion. Feather Wind beamed his horn even brighter in the forward direction, becoming more like a cone of light. Eventually they caught sight of an empty wheelchair pushing itself. After it rounded a corner, it paused for a moment then slowly turned to face them. There it paused again for a few seconds before suddenly rushing towards them. The wheelchair picked up more and more speed as it raced itself down the mostly empty hallway of the hospital.
Star Breeze shuddered. “Brrr! I just got the chills.”
Feather Wind focused his magic. The empty wheelchair got caught in a silvery magical aura. It was halted, then lifted off the ground, then crushed into one-third its original size, then shot through the window to his left. Feather Wind whipped his head to his left in order to guide the spell with his horn.
“Nice one!” Searing Wind complimented. “Give me some hoof for that one.” She lifted a hoof diagonally up. Feather Wind chose not to leave her hanging on that one. He took a step back and gave her a high hoof bump.
“It might be boring if we let you hoofle all the problems with your magic,” Vision slightly complained. “I have a proposal. How about we take turns dealing with each problem as it comes along?”
“Sounds dangerous,” Stern Wing said in disapproval. “It seems unwise to deal with hostile situations like this without taking it seriously.”
“We are taking it seriously. We're playing a serious game,” Vision proposed. “We're all still here. If any of us get into too much trouble then the others can jump in at any time, but the pony facing that problem doesn't gain a point. Feather Wind hoofled that problem on his own so he scored a point. Is every pony here determined to let him keep his lead?”
“Are you challenging me?” Searing Wind asked.
“Yes. I am most definitely challenging you. All of you,” Vision confirmed in a daring tone.
“Geeze. You used to be so innocent,” Stern Wing recalled.
“Is that a no?” Vision checked.
Feather Wind looked at Stern Wing and shrugged. “If anything, it might lighten the tension a little. I would suggest we all remain prepared to act, but perhaps we can score some points while we're at it.”
Stern Wing sighed and shrugged. “Fine.”
“Are you being serious right now?” Star Breeze asked suspiciously.
Feather Wind chuckled a little bit then told his daughter, “Your mother, Vision and I have faced far worse on a daily and nightly basis as we marched our way up to The Dark Star. This was really nothing more than the same thing except we haven't the Crystal Heart barrier in the way to guard us that time. We were more than a little capable of hoofling a little bit of danger, so we saw no harm in a little bit of fun as long as we remain prepared to act at a moment's notice. By making light of a dangerous situation, we also proved to it that we hadn't feared it. We'd only take it as seriously as we needed to.”
“Wow. I doubt I could have been that nonchalant in a spooky situation like that,” Star Breeze commented, “but then again, I haven't gone through what you did, at least not yet, so . . . continue.”
“Alright then,” Feather Wind said in the past. “Game on. Remember, I scored a point. Whose turn is it next?”
“Maybe we should see what we're facing next before we decide,” Stern Wing advised cautiously. “You can even take an extra turn if we all deem it necessary.”
“I guess I agree,” Vision said with a small sigh, “but, if we let him do that and he beats it, then he leads over us by two points.”
“So this is a challenge,” Searing Wind realized. “Alright, then. My kind of territory. Lead on, my friends. I can't wait for it to be my turn.”
They ventured on down the hallway. On the very next turn they made, they already met another hostile encounter. This time it looked like giant intestines hanging off the walls and spilling onto the floor. As they watched, it wiggled and moved like a slug then broke apart into tiny pieces. Those pieces picked themselves off the floor and stood upright. They very vaguely took the shape of bi-pedal little infants, and they definitely sounded like them. They made a little squeal of laughter that infants do when they are happy. Each piece waddled and drudged its way towards the party very awkwardly, but there were hundreds of tiny pieces of baby-intestines making their way towards them.
“Okay. Whose turn is it?” Vision asked carelessly.
“Stand back, everypony! I got this!” Searing Wind said confidently.
“You sure?” Stern Wing checked.
“Yep! No problem, and hey! If I get into any unexpected problems then any of you ponies can leap in and help me.”
“Get cracking, then,” Vision commanded. “I don't want any of their icky filth touching my coat. I suspect clean water is not much accessible here.”
“I could probably conjure a rain cloud for you,” Feather Wind offered.
“Mmm. Maybe later,” Vision said back to Feather Wind.
Searing Wind took the lead then spread her stance wide. She cracked her neck left then right while she kept a narrow glare and a cocky smile on her lips towards the small approaching swarm. She also cracked her knees a bit as she bent them one by one, then she was finally ready to attack. She flapped her wings forward but not simultaneously. First she flapped one wing and then the other, then repeated the pattern faster and faster. Steadily she conjured a tiny tornado directly in front of her but, as it spun faster, it started to catch fire. As the tornado spun faster and faster, it also got hotter and hotter. Eventually satisfied (and the threat was drawing too close besides) she flapped both wings forward and launched her creation down the hallway. Not only did it sweep up the tiny minions but also incinerated them in the tiny flaming tornado. The flaming tornado continued about halfway down the hallway. By then, it more than doubly passed the threat and burned them all up. It also left a scorched streak on the floor.
“And that,” Searing Wind saluted in the direction of the incinerated threats with a wing, “is how it's done!”
“Nice!” Stern Wing cheered. “Give me some wing!”
Both mares raised their wings and gave a high slap twice, then Feather Wind approached and slapped her other wing with his own hoof twice. Vision followed suit.
“Okay then. Feather Wind and Searing Wind each have a point,” Vision announced. “We need a turn next, Stern Wing, or we'll fall behind.”
Right after Vision said that, something crashed through the wall to their right side if facing the direction they were traveling towards. This puppet had a rotting head of a stallion attached to his own moving spinal cord except it was unnaturally long. The spinal cord moved like a centipede. The head of the rotting stallion breathed a cloud of tiny, dirty medical needles at the group but Stern Wing blocked it with the crystal side of her right wing without even looking at it. When the attack of the creature was complete, Stern Wing grabbed the puppet's head and forced it down to the ground using the same wing she originally defended her friends with. From there, she stomped her right hoof that wore her enchanted prismatic armor. The skull shattered in one attack. Stern Wing even cracked the floor a bit.
“You were saying?” Stern Wing asked Vision smugly.
“Never mind. Point for you. Now I'm the only one left that needs it,” Vision calmly observed.
“You couldn't see it beyond that wall?” Feather Wind asked Vision doubtfully.
“I did,” Vision reported, “but it never moved until now. I couldn't distinguish it as a threat until it moved and, by then, it did it so fast that I had no time to warn you all.”
“In that case, potentially anything can spring upon us at any moment,” Searing Wind realized. “Oh, joy!”
“Puppet Master can potentially animate anything against us except maybe truly living matter like us,” Feather Wind reminded his friends. “Until we take him out, we have to remain prepared to defend ourselves from anything.”
“What good game lacks risks?” Vision asked.
“Point taken,” Searing Wind agreed.
“Oh wow!” Star Breeze exclaimed in the future. “I take back everything I said about her. This pony sounds awesome!”
“Yeah, she was pretty awesome,” her father agreed.
“Was?” Star Breeze checked in concern.
“Moving on,” Feather Wind said, deliberately ignoring her question.
“That.” Vision stopped and pointed at a painting of a mare on the wall who was wearing a white wedding dress and had a veil over her face. The painting was a little ahead of them. “That one is mine,” Vision declared then quickly pointed at Stern Wing, “and don't ask if I'm sure. I wouldn't have said it if I wasn't.”
“Ah . . . okay then,” Stern Wing agreed. “She's all yours.”
“Thank you.” Vision trotted over to the painting. “Now then . . . show me what you got.”
At first nothing happened, but then the eyes of the mare in the painting suddenly looked down at the little filly in front of it. After that the image turned monstrous and it seemed to stretch itself out of the painting. During that time, it made a monstrous roar. Vision's limbs were seized by several oily tentacles which were made of warped and stretched-out image the painting had before it moved. The fangs of the monster drew closer very slowly, intending to terrorize its victim before biting her head off, but Vision calmly said, “Interesting,” then emitted a high pitched noise projected from her eyes. The creature immediately reeled in pain. As soon as it did that, Vision took a step back and yanked the painting off the wall. It slammed into the other side of the hallway. Vision kept whipping it back and forth to keep it off balance, and meanwhile her sonic eyes continued to vibrate the creature which was building pressure which eventually resulted in its explosion.
“Ah . . . what just happened?” Searing Wind asked in confusion.
“Feather Wind,” Vision commented as she moved to rejoin her friends while wiping off bits of the oily painting from her hide. Only after arrival did she finish her sentence. “About that offer for a rain cloud . . . I will accept one when this adventure is done.”
xoxo
“Okay, then,” Searing Wind remarked when they beheld their newest threat. “We got a swarm of baby heads on spindly little spider-like legs rushing towards us. What's our play, here?”
“How about all of us smash them this time?” Vision proposed. “Try to keep track of how many we smash. Whomever smashes the most gets three points, whomever smashes the second most gets two, then one, then zero. Oh, and ah . . .” she turned her head towards Feather Wind “. . . no magic.”
“Oh come on!” Feather Wind complained. “That's racist.”
“No, that's fair,” Vision countered. “If we let you use your magic, you could just scoop up the whole bunch and crush them against each other. Give the rest of us a chance, why don't ya. Tell you what, though. If any of us get injured later on, you get a point for each pony that you heal with your magic but only after the battle is done. Deal?”
Feather Wind sighed. “Fine, but you know I'm going to get the least points in the smash up. I'm the least athletic among you all, not to mention my small stature.”
“And you applied for the Wonderbolts. Psh!” Searing Wind rolled her eyes then competitively regarded Stern Wing, whom she thought was her greatest rival of this bunch. “You ready to smash up tiny little baby things?”
Star Breeze rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly as she said, “That sentence would sound so bad out of context.”
Stern Wing stretched her wings and legs in the past then said, “You know it!”
“Okay then. We all charge them when I say go,” Searing Wind announced. “On your marks, get set . . . GO!”
The group charged ahead to the swarm of baby heads on spindly legs and proceeded to smash them in any way they could, usually by hoof. The swarm was a little more dangerous than the group anticipated. Every single one of those madly laughing and giggling baby heads shot out a single diseased needle from their mouths. Stern Wing blocked most of the attacks aimed at her, Vision dodged or deflected the attacks, and Searing Wind got hit by a bunch of them but then she wised up after that attack and started blowing a bunch of the baby heads back using her wings. As for Feather Wind, he paused his charge when he saw the baby heads do that. The others were in the lead and he figured he would learn from them before engaging himself. What he saw made him realize it was unwise to engage these creatures himself and, besides, he felt pretty certain he'd lose the smash up anyway so he forfeited this round of the game by raising a force field around himself.
“Ah, cheater!” Vision called out to Feather Wind without looking back at him. Meanwhile she skillfully maneuvered among the baby heads and proceeded to smash them with blurring hooves raining destruction upon the swarm.
“Doesn't matter. I forfeit this match. Besides, I didn't use my magic to attack them. I only used it to defend myself,” Feather Wind called out. “At this point my best hope is to heal all the rest of you later, so go to town and smash as many as you want. I'll just clean up the damage later.”
“Ah, come on. Really?” Stern Wing complained as she, too, swept a bunch of them off their feet with powerful strokes of her wings. So great was that gust of wind that it smashed up some of the baby heads when they collided with either a wall or each other. “You don't know what your missing.”
“Yes, I do. I'm looking at it right now,” Feather Wind said as he sat down and calmly watched as some of the creepy baby heads started to crawl all over his tiny force field. “Besides, it seems pretty clear to me who's going to win this match.”
“Yeah! You know a winner when you see one!” Searing Wind bragged as her wing gusts smashed entire groups of baby heads against the wall. She did this to the left direction, then right, then left again, then both directions with both wings.
“Careful. They can also dangle on a web from the ceiling,” Feather Wind calmly observed as he looked up.
“These things just keep coming!” Stern Wing noted as she kept on smashing. “Vision, you do see an end to them, right?”
“Don't worry. They are limited,” Vision assured as she continued to tear through them rapidly.
“I wish I had a cup of tea,” Feather Wind said wistfully.
“Ask, and you shall receive,” Vision said, then quickly tossed what looked like a coconut at Feather Wind from one of her saddlebags. He caught it telekinetically then pulled it through his force field. Looking at it, he realized he could unscrew it. He proceeded to do so while keeping it level and discovered the coconut half full of liquid. “It is cold,” Vision reported. “I do have things that could heat it up but, for now, just use your magic.”
“Nah. It's fine.” Feather Wind sipped it, then his eyes lit with delight. “Wow. Excellent tea. What kind is it?”
“Ginger tea with mint extract,” Vision reported as she kept going in a constant blur of motion.
“We got a problem, or at least I do,” Searing Wind said, a bit winded. “I lost track of how many I smashed. How will we tally the victor later on?”
“Feather Wind, have you been keeping track?” Stern Wing asked back at her husband.
“Not really, no. Not that specifically,” Feather Wind said honestly then took another calm sip of his tea.
“I suppose we do have a problem, then,” Stern Wing agreed. “I've lost track of my kills as well.”
“We should have anticipated this problem,” Searing Wind said in a little annoyance then winced in pain. “Ow! Son of a biscuit! These things sting!”
“How many times did you get stung?” Vision asked as she kept on smashing.
“I don't know, but I don't feel so well,” Searing Wind said, looking more and more exhausted.
“Okay, that's enough, then. Feather Wind, clean up the rest,” Vision ordered.
“Yes Ma'am.” Feather Wind ignited his horn and did exactly what Vision feared he might do. He telekinetically grabbed the entire remaining bunch and smashed them against each other, then dropped them on the ground as a smashed up, writhing and twitching ball.
Vision approached Searing Wind and touched her in a few places while her eyes made high pitched noise.
“What is that awful sound?” Searing Wind asked with a confused wince. “I know it's coming from you.”
“It's an implant on my eyes. It's a device that has all kinds of useful features that is sonic-based,” Vision reported. “Now hold still. I want you to take a deep breath in and out. Breathe.” Searing Wind did so. Vision asked over her shoulder, “Stern Wing, how are you holding up?”
“I'm good,” Stern Wing answered. “I got stung a few times but it's having no apparent effect on me yet. I think this armor is protecting me from the worst of the effects.”
Vision picked up one of the many needles on the floor and aimed a sonic beam squarely at it, then she said, “These things are diseased.”
“Ew,” Stern Wing said with a wince of disgust. “Feather Wind, can you clean this up for us?”
“Sure thing.” Feather Wind lifted every needle he could find and chucked it into one of the adjacent rooms.
“Okay. I think I've got just the thing.” Vision pulled out a corked tonic from one of her saddlebags and offered it to Searing Wing with a hoof. “Here. Drink this. It should clean up the disease and restore your strength.” Vision's head was then directed in Stern Wing's general direction and tossed her another tonic, which Stern Wing caught with her left wing then looked at it. “Here. You drink that too. As a medical professional, I don't want to take any chances when it comes to disease. Drink half the bottle, and I'll lap up the rest.”
“Thank you.” Searing Wind swept up the tonic with a swipe of a wing. She was about to chuck it down while still holding it near the tip of her right wing but paused that motion when something occurred to her, then she looked back at her friends and asked with a grin, “Wait a second. Does that mean Vision gets the point for curing me?”
“Just drink the tonic. Doctor's orders,” Vision commanded as her head was directed back in Searing Wind's direction.
“I suppose that would only be fair,” Stern Wing agreed. “Personally, I'm fine. Even if they managed to scratch me, I'd only regenerate from it.”
“Just drink half the tonic anyway,” Vision insisted.
“Don't worry. I was going to. I'm not about to let this disease become a serious security issue,” Stern Wing assured as she pulled out the cork with her teeth, spat it out, then proceeded to drink some of the tonic.
“Oh? And why is that?” Searing Wind asked curiously after she drank the tonic. “About your healing, I mean.”
“It's . . . complicated,” Stern Wing said dismissively after she drank half the tonic then gave the bottle back to Vision, who promptly finished the tonic off.
“So who won, do you think?” asked Searing Wind to the whole group.
“I think you did, but you got stung too many times for it so minus one point,” Vision figured, finishing off the tonic by that point then putting the bottle away back into one of her saddlebags. “That still gives you two points.”
“Sweet,” Searing Wind accepted.
“We might have tied. How about one point each?” Vision proposed to Stern Wing.
Stern Wing shrugged. “That sounds fair, though you still get two points because you also healed Searing Wind, and possibly myself and you as well,” she then gave a smug smile and narrow-eyed look back at her husband, “and no points for you. You used magic and you didn't heal anypony either.”
“I knew I was doomed this round the moment she said no magic,” Feather Wind said with a sigh. “Oh well. At least I got delicious tea out of it. Who is really the winner then? Huh? Think about it.”
Stern Wing laughed merrily.
xoxo
“Okay then. Let's see what we got here.” Searing Wind appraised the room they apparently had to cross to get to a door that led to a lower floor. “We got a cold storage room full of rusty chains hanging from the ceiling with rusty hooks at the end of them and one of these hooks has a torn upper half of a stallion hanging on it. Yeeeeeeaaaaah! Those chains are totally not going to animate and attack us as soon as we cross to . . . mmm . . . I'd say about the center of this room.”
“Nor will that torn pony corpse later animate and attack us either,” Stern Wing added casually.
“Yeah . . . No,” Vision said simply then moved a few feet to the side of that room. From there she focused at the wall and beamed an invisible but not inaudible sonic ray continuously at it.
“What are you doing?” Searing Wind asked the younger filly curiously.
“Being smart and bypassing this obvious trap,” Vision answered.
“Oh COME ON!” cried the corpse in the frozen locker room in exasperation.
“Sorry, Buddy. Not today,” Searing Wind apologized to the corpse. “We kind of like living so . . . you understand, don't you?”
“Yeah, I guess,” the torn pony said with a depressed sigh as he swung on the rusty hook on a chain.
Stern Wing blinked when something occurred to her, then she regarded Vision as she asked the younger filly, “Since you're using your sonic eyes to bypass this room by damaging the wall, couldn't you have done that to the floor to get below this whole time?”
“Maybe . . . but it would have taken extraordinary work and time until we reached above one of the lower tunnels first. Until then, I'd have to tear through solid concrete inch by inch until we reached the empty tunnels. Besides, I kind of think it was fun to tear our way through a bunch of baddies until we made it to this position.”
Having weakened the structural integrity of the wall enough with her sonic vibration, Vision finished the job with a straight forward punch of a hoof. Cracks spread along the wall more and more until the wall finally shattered. Once that was done, she rubbed her hooves against each other to grind off the lingering amounts of dust then gestured to the new opening with a graceful flourish. “Thy new entrance awaits us.”
“Let's go, then,” Stern Wing accepted, then she and Searing Wind made their way through the new entrance.
Feather Wind paused for a moment as he looked back at the torn corpse of the pony inside the cold room, then he told it, “I will be back to bury you properly as soon as I'm finished with your master.”
“You promise?” the corpse asked with an evil grin.
“Yes. I do,” Feather Wind said completely seriously before moving on without another word or glance back.
xoxo
Unlike the upper floor, the lower floor of the Foal's Hospital absolutely required light for the intrepid adventurers, except for Vision. This level of the hospital was where most of the plumbing was. In a way, it was essentially the sewers of the hospital. Normally it would be clean down there because all the sewage should have remained in the pipes, but they leaked over the many years. There was also a lot of steam in those tunnels so, even with Feather Wind's horn light, their vision was still somewhat obstructed.
The dark aura felt even more oppressive down here, threatening to choke the life out of them. That was a good sign they were drawing closer to their main objective.
“Can we all agree to give the game a rest, now?” Stern Wing asked a bit nervously. “We are aware of what kind of an opponent we're dealing with, right?”
“I tend to agree,” Searing Wind put in. “I don't like how much hot steam is down here, and there is just something not right about this place. Something . . . chilling.”
“It would have been far worse without the crystal armor,” Feather Wind informed.
“Which reminds me, how did the needles penetrate the crystal armor earlier?” Stern Wing wondered aloud.
“Doubtless it really did protect her from most of the projectiles,” Feather Wind suspected, “but there were just so many of them that some of them got through by chance.”
“Okay then. Game faces on, ponies,” Vision instructed. “Let's do this.”
They ventured down into the dark, hot and steamy tunnels. As they did so, there was an intense sense of confinement as they traveled. It made the walls feel a lot closer than they actually were. Sometimes they saw ghastly shadows reflecting off the mist or off the corner of their eyes. They also heard the sound of distant foals laughing. It echoed around the tight hallways, confusing their senses as to where the noise actually came from.
“They're baaaaaaack!” came the voice of a ghostly foal, then another said, “Don't gallop away!” “Yeah, we want to play with you!” “We can see in the dark, and you will too!” “Balloons! I want to float like a balloon!”
“Geeze! Creepy much?” Searing Wind asked with false bravado.
“This is exactly what he was like last time we encountered him,” Stern Wing said with a firm voice, “but, this time, we're prepared to face the bastard.”
“The Dark King hungers!” said another foal voice. “We have all become dolls, and you will look so pretty when you do too!”
“Ignore the voices. They are just an illusion,” Feather Wind instructed then explained. “It's just a scare tactic to get inside our heads.”
“Yeah, I've learned to deal with this long enough to learn how to sleep through this,” Stern Wing said in a tone that bordered on boredom. “Still isn't my preferred lullaby, but at least I can tolerate it if I have to.”
They ventured on, winding around corners and wading through jets of steam which Feather Wind blocked with a temporary force field. They trotted on, not encountering any direct threats to them physically (except for the occasional hot steam vents) until they reached a gigantic chamber that was actually an entirely different terrain. Instead of looking artificial, it looked more like a cave structure except there were piles upon piles of toys spread about the giant chamber.
“And we're here,” Vision announced simply then pointed at one of the many mountains of toys surrounding them. “The final boss of this dungeon is hiding within there. I can sense his evil crystal within it.”
“Welcome!” boomed a voice all around them which was familiar to three of them. “The Dark King welcomes you to his presence, and he senses a great stain in his halls. Blasphemers! Dirty, rotten blasphemers! How dare you bring that crystal to these sacred halls.”
“Oh. So you know what I have brought with me,” Feather Wind observed. “Good, then you know we are prepared to face you this time.”
Insane laughter echoed all around them. Not just from Puppet Master, but also between many ghostly foals. Around that time, one of the piles of toys began to move. Puppet Master's head emerged from that giant pile of toys. They saw that familiar black, oil dripping coat of a stallion with black, flaming mane and tiny red eyes which zipped about randomly. Sometimes he twitched spasmodically. He just continued to laugh. While that happened, the volume picked up as the echoes of laughter around them intensified more and more.
Just then Feather Wind suddenly understood something profound. Puppet Master, and by extension his earlier incarnation as Toy Box, extended from the branch of the Tree of Harmony that led into laughter, but he became dark and corrupted. He was the Dark Element of Laughter. Puppet Master actually had a lot in common with Pinkie Pie if she had become a villain. Feather Wind remembered times when Pinkie Pie's eyes suddenly grew small then shift in opposite directions seemingly at random when in mid conversation with her, clearly demonstrating she was not entirely right in the head, but while her laughter was filled with life, joy and hope, Puppet Master's laughter inspired fear, insanity, and despair. By directly comparing them to each other, there weren't too many differences on the surface. He was what she could have become if she were born a unicorn and suffered from the same tragedy.
Since the laughter was clearly intended as a magical and psychological attack, Vision countered it with a high pitched whine from her sonic eyes that canceled out the sound of the psychic attack. She maintained it only for as long as Puppet Master did. When he stopped, he slowly withdrew his head back into the pile of toys.
“Oh no you DON'T!” Feather Wind cried out in defiance then used his horn to telekinetically yank Puppet Master out of the pile of toys, and it worked. He landed in a heap then crawled back up on his hooves with highly unnatural and twitchy movement, bending and contorting in ways that would have killed or at least severely injured living ponies, then the sides of his torso opened and a bunch of spider-like legs extended out of his mid-torso, each one armed with weapons at the tips which included, but were not limited to the following; drills, buzz saws, needles, spinning ball of spikes, and chainsaws.
“Now I see how he dealt with those guards in the hallway,” Stern Wing remarked.
“Twist in agony!” Puppet Master called as he lifted his horn on this twitchy head as his horn ignited with purple/black energy. “Rest in pain!”
All at once, many parts of the mountain of toys around then glowed with purple/black energy.
“Uh-oh!” Stern Wing said nervously.
“What?” Searing Wind called in the same tone.
“He's animating the toys,” Stern Wing informed. “Vision, can you halt it?”
“Not all at once,” Vision said back. “Not even the Doctor could, if you recall.”
“Right.” Stern Wing did recall now that Vision mentioned it.
Puppet Master lifted off the ground as several of his spider-like legs pushed him off the ground. He lifted higher and higher, far higher than his observers would have expected. His many spider-like limbs, aside from the ones which held him up, bent inward menacingly at the intruders in front of him. While that happened, he laughed constantly and his tiny red eyes kept whirling randomly about.
A giant torn up teddy bear emerged from the pile of toys. The left side toward its rib area was torn open which revealed a twitching metal claw beneath the rib cage. Its right arm was replaced with a chainsaw. Its left eye dangled lower on its face. It repeated the word, “Mama” over and over again with an infant, high-pitched voice. It waddled its way to the adventurers except it did it with startling speed.
“I don't think so!” Feather Wind cried out then blasted the teddy bear back with a strong blast of wind and a focused hornbeam.
More toys crawled at them from all around them. Searing Wind took off to try to deal with some of them, especially the ones dropping from above. Vision chopped and kicked any that got too close to Feather Wind while Feather Wind chucked huge piles of toys back and forth telekinetically, using the toys against themselves. As for Stern Wing, she flew straight at the primary enemy but was met with a bunch of limbs flying at her that she had to block with the back of her wings. It was hard to maintain her height with neither wing flapping so she fell but then dove down then curved up to uppercut Puppet Master and she did it with enhanced strength. Immediately his head flew off but he did not stop moving, and neither did she. Bringing both hooves together, she smashed into his torso and sent it crashing to the ground. From there it crawled like a snake with intense sudden speed like she had observed when he had charged down the hallway using tiny steps but still moved five times faster than any horse could gallop. He did this to dive back into one of the many huge piles of toys.
“NO!” Stern Wing screamed then dove towards the pile of toys but was met with dozens upon dozens of surprise weapons springing at her, including poisonous gasses and jets of flame. It was too much at once so she tumbled away to safety and defended herself with the back of her crystal wings.
The rest of Stern Wing's companions fared little better. It seemed every single toy inside this room was weaponized with some kind of hidden surprise and it was different every single time so no pony could accurately predict how they would be attacked each time.
“Where is he?” Stern Wing demanded to know.
“He keeps moving around,” Vision reported quickly.
A giant toy of a monkey with crazed eyes and a pair of cymbals in each hand suddenly landed in front of Stern Wing then attempted to smash her between the cymbals. At first it succeeded but she pushed it back as her body flowed with moving energy traveling down her veins. She then ripped off both cymbals and used them to smash the toy monkey to pieces.
The cave briefly lit up a lot further as a roar of fire soared overhead. Feather Wind and Stern Wing thought it was an attack at first, but it turned out Searing Wind shot a jet of flaming gust of wind at a bunch of piles of toys that were dropping from the ceiling and neutralized them before they hit the ground.
Then one of the giant piles of toys moved all at once and shaped itself into several limbs. A head roughly the shape of a horse formed above the pile that had red whirling eyes. Puppet Master was still laughing madly as he swung a huge pile of toys extending from a makeshift limb crashing down onto Stern Wing. In response, she flared with energy crawling down her veins then leapt up hard enough to make a crater where she leapt from. She shot right through the giant pile of toys configured into an arm and caused it to explode.
“FEATHER WIND, GIVE ME A BOOST!” Stern Wing screamed out as she dove at the giant mountain of toys from above.
“Aim her at the center,” Vision advised.
“I see it!” Feather Wind concentrated and created a blast of wind behind Stern Wing that shot her into the mountain of toys like a cannonball. The mountain of toys exploded apart, spreading its toys, some now in shambles, scattering in various directions. Unfortunately Stern Wing also hit her head hard on the other side and it momentarily dazed her, but the smaller body of Puppet Master was successfully dislodged from the larger pile of toys as well. From the ground, Puppet Master reached its limbs up, over and around itself then pushed itself up off the ground with the belly of its torso aiming upward.
“I got him!” Searing Wind called out as she dove at the headless torso, knowing she had to stop him soon before he dove back into another giant pile of toys.
“Wait!” Feather Wind called out. That was the only thing he had time to say.
Searing Wind did not quite make it to her target before one of its spider-like limbs shot at and right through her, suspending her in mid air for a moment as blood oozed down the limb. Her eyes grew small in shock at this. A moment later that limb went straight down in order to smash her down into the ground then lift her up and smash her to the ground again over and over again until, finally, she started flapping to resist its lift.
“You got me,” Searing Wind admitted in defeat, then grabbed the limb herself, “but I got you too!”
Sure enough, the limb tried to withdraw itself but she held on to it stubbornly even as more blood spilled out of her.
“GET HIM NOW!” Searing Wind screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Project me,” Vision requested. “I know where to attack.”
Not only did Feather Wind cooperate with that request, he also created a crystal sword for her in mid air as he telekinetically thrust her up, over then down at the main torso of Puppet Master. Focusing on her empathic senses, Vision grabbed the sword as she fell then aimed her new red crystal sword stabbing downward to where she sensed the dark energy was strongest which pierced straight through the dark crystal.
With that accomplished the body froze, jolted spasmodically, then dropped to the ground. At the same time, all of the other animated toys in the room also dropped to the ground.
Vision back-flipped off of Puppet Master's body just before a giant column of black magical energy exploded from and engulfed around his body as the huge amount of negative energy the gem had gathered started pouring out all at once.
Stern Wing recovered her senses soon enough to witness this. She flew back and spread a wing in front of Vision protectively just in case. Meanwhile, Feather Wind chopped down at the limb extending into Searing Wind to cut that off from the base of the body.
The black column of energy continued to erupt for about eight seconds before thinning out, then a black, shadowy wraith the rough shape of a horse crawled out of the body and started floating above it.
“Your name is Toy Box,” Vision called up to the shadowy specter. “Remember who you are. It's time to wake up from this nightmare.”
Vision reached back into her saddlebag and pulled out a toy teddy bear. This one was intact, and it was one of intense sentimental value to him because this particular one he made for his sickly daughter who kept having to come to the Foal's Hospital. Upon seeing that toy, the red eyes of Puppet Master expanded into normal size blue eyes. He bent over to scoop up the toy that she offered. He continued to examine it, then hugged it to his chest. As he did so, color started to flood his body, in this case it was a baby blue coat with azure blue mane.
“That's right,” the blue specter said. “My name is Toy Box. How could I have forgotten? I love making toys for foals. I love to see their smiles brighten their day. I love to cheer up sick and injured foals. This . . . is who I am.” He started to drift upwards. From above he called down, “Thank you! Thank you all!” He then looked up and apparently saw something that excited him. He then bounced up and down exactly like Pinkie Pie often would, except he was floating in the air and steadily drifting upwards. The more he ascended, the more he faded away.
{Now, as a note of explanation to help cover a plot hole at this point, I later asked Vision why she didn't just present the toy in the first place and save us the trouble of having to fight him. She told me that, while his soul was trapped inside the dark gem, it also warped his perception of reality in order to keep him loyal to the Dark King but, after the gem was destroyed, he was finally able to view reality around him without a perception filter, and this particular toy was necessary to trigger certain memories within him that would help wake him up from his otherwise perpetual nightmare. Vision didn't explain how she knew all of this. I just assumed it had something to do with either a psychic vision of hers or just an intuitive sense.}
“Where did you get that toy?” Stern Wing asked Vision with wonder.
“It's a little something I scooped up from the past,” Vision answered.
“So, it's finally done. Good.” Searing Wind collapsed to the ground and had strong trouble breathing. She kept coughing out blood, and it also poured from her chest.
Feather Wind, Stern Wing and Vision all gathered around the dying Searing Wind.
“Can either of you save her?” Stern Wing asked hopefully.
Vision did a sonic scan of Searing Wind, then sighed as she lowered and shook her head. “The limb punctured through several major arteries and valves around her heart. The internal bleeding is massive. There is nothing I can do in time to save her.”
“It's . . . okay,” Searing Wind said weakly. “I got to be a hero . . . one last time. We saved him, and we saved everypony he would have killed.” She coughed again but far more weakly this time. “I am sorry . . . for all the pain I caused you, Feather Wind. You truly are a gifted unicorn. You all are gifted,” she added as she viewed the rest. “I guess I was the weak link after all, but I still have no regrets.”
“You were amazing, Searing Wind,” Stern Wing said with tears in her eyes. “Wait for us on the other side, and we'll gladly join you on your next adventure.”
“I'd like that,” Searing Wind agreed as she grew so tired she didn't even feel pain anymore. “Goodbeh . . .” She faded away.
Star Breeze was in tears too.