Ashen Blaze walked with full confidence and determination through the Discordian fortress, eyes forward and every sense alert for signs of life that would hopefully lead him to his teammates, Princess Luna, or even his evil double. Light poured out of his horn, illuminating every corner of the rooms he walked through and exposing wispy shadowy forms that skirted about trying to reach him through the powerful glow. “Try and break me Discord,” he said challengingly as he came to a set of stairs and began to climb them, “You’ll find me too difficult a target now. I am the Indomitable, I know your tricks, and I am not afraid to stand alone against the darkness. Companionship and teamwork has its value, but I know how to rely only on myself.”
‘Oh, is that a fact?’ Discord replied as an echo from the walls and a tickling in the back of the unicorn’s mind, ‘We’ll see.’ Ash reached the top of the stairs to find a door that opened by itself at his approach. Upon stepping through he found himself walking on a metal floor with a thin layer of carpeting to reduce the noise of both his hooves and the booted feet of another figure whose appearance gave Ash pause. It was himself, humanoid and dressed in the military-grade mage uniform of Meis Thamule, having risen from an impressive-looking chair that hung down from a track on the ceiling. He walked up to a wide viewscreen displaying a planet against the backdrop of a star field, seemingly unaware of the ash-grey unicorn that had intruded in his space. At several stations around the room, short figures in full blue bodysuits and face-obscuring helmets that resembled multi-faceted crystals paused in their duties to watch the Meis.
Ashen Blaze took the scene in quickly with both his eyes and magic sense. He recognized the scene, having lived it once. He knew the planet in the viewscreen and what its fate was going to be even as the image of his past self began to speak in a gibberish that sounded like several different languages being spoken simultaneously. Ash understood it though, as every word was committed to memory. Heaving a sigh, he looked around and noticed an out-of-place door across the room and began to walk resolutely toward it, watching the scene only in his peripheral vision. There is no need to revisit this, he thought, Whatever Discord is trying to prove, I don’t-
‘You like to call this point in your life your “dark days,” right?’ Discord asked, ‘When you were the commander of an entire nation of beings in a war of conquest. While some might try to argue that “it’s lonely at the top” or whatever, the fact here is that you… where are you going?’ Ash had reached the other door and started to open it, only for a force on the other side to pull it back. ‘You’re not paying attention!’ the dragonequus said in an insulted whine.
“Discord,” Ash said with the attitude of a parent trying to stay calm while scolding a child, “I, and everypony I know, are in this mess because I made the mistake of responding to your attempts at conversation. You have nothing to say that I want to hear, and I will say no more to you after this. So shut up.” He blasted the door off its hinges and ran through before Discord could do anything to it. After passing through a short hallway, he found himself coming back to the false ship’s bridge and came to a stop short of the threshold. He turned smartly around, walked a few steps away, and then sat down and closed his eyes with a defiant snort.
‘You can’t sit there forever,’ Discord said, ‘Your friends won’t be coming to you, I can assure you of that.’ Ash’s jaw clenched tighter as he mentally acknowledged the point, but he remained steadfast and silent. ‘Gah, fine,’ Discord snapped, ‘Don’t want to play? Tough. I can make you play, Mister Indomitable.’ The tickling in the back of Ash’s mind grew stronger and he felt his awareness start to slip away.
“NO,” he thundered, clapping a hoof to his temple and gathering as much power into his horn as he could manage, “You are not welcome in my mind. So get. OUT!” With that final cry he released his magic all at once, creating an explosion of orange light and flame that filled the hallway almost instantly and tore the walls and ceiling apart. When the dust settled, Ash stood panting and unharmed, if a bit dusty from the fallout, glaring ahead at the burned out shell of the illusory room ahead. “All right Discord,” he said darkly as he walked forward slowly, “You want to talk about my tenure in the Shadowstar Empire? Let me tell you what I was: ignorant, naïve, I’d almost dare to say innocent but for the atrocities committed by my word and hands at the Master’s will. It took seeing the sacrifice of another for his subordinate’s survival to open my eyes to the truth of what I was. I led conquests, but nothing existed for me beyond that. I couldn’t even be bothered to learn the names of those under me, and the other Meis would have spared no thought in trying to kill me for outperforming them in anything, had such a thing not been expressly forbidden. I fled that nightmare, and I worked alone until the Order-naries taught me how to properly relate to others, and I’m stronger for having experienced both solitude and friendship.”
‘All I’m hearing is “blah blah blah, I’m better than you”,’ Discord said boredly, ‘Don’t try to impress me Ash; I’ve been in your head and I know just how hard you’re lying to yourself.’
Ash bristled. “I never lie,” he said, “Least of all to myself.”
‘Puh-leez,’ Discord replied, ‘nobody can be completely honest all the time, not even the Element of Honest herself. Admit it: there’s at least one someone you regret leaving.’ Ash stayed silent and kept walking, coming into a fresh, undamaged, and empty room before Discord lost his patience again. ‘I guess I’ll just have to find out for myself,’ he said, starting to press into Ash’s mind again. Ash started to resist, but after a second he got a better idea and brought a name and image to the surface of his thoughts where it would be easy to find. He felt Discord’s mental probe latch onto it like candy and pull away. ‘Hm, this is an interesting looking fellow,’ Discord said, ‘Does this jog your memory any Ash?’ At the far side of the room appeared the image of a vaguely humanoid thing covered in a robe that left only hands with tentacle-like fingers and a bulbous head with hard red eyes and a mass of thick tentacles hiding the lower half visible.
“Ah, Meis N’Cral,” Ash said with a grim smile, “Yes, I suppose I do have a regret. I regret never trying to do this before making my escape.” He traced a few quick lines on the floor with his hoof, focusing his magic into a tight point at the tip of his horn while a similar point of light formed in front of his Artificial Element necklace. “I am the master of my own mind, chimera.” The points of light shot out, spiraling around each other until the met right in front of the illusion, exploding spectacularly and annihilating the wall behind it. When the smoke and dust cleared, Ash found himself looking into the solid yellow eyes of an ash grey unicorn stallion with a fire-like mane and tail and a cutie mark resembling an M and B stuck together. Ash’s smile grew larger and more dangerous. “Well, hello there faker.”
All the color drained out of Thamule’s eyes, leaving them a stark, witless white. “What is this?” he asked, “You should be dead! Erased from all existence! I threw you into the void!”
“You threw me into Valden actually,” Ash said, walking through the gaping hole in the wall, and then cocked his head to the side in curiosity, asking, “Did you honestly not take Discord at his word when he said the worlds Tau’rin inflicted his presence on still stand? It’s a poor servant who doesn’t trust his master.”
“Discord is no master of mine,” Thamule snarled, eyes turning red, “You’re hardly one to talk about such things anyway, you little traitor.”
“My, what is this?” Ash asked, “Discord, having a little trouble keeping one of your creations in line? Perhaps it’s just in my genes to be a turn-coat.”
‘That would explain how he became such an unruly pawn,’ the Dragonequus mused, ‘It wasn’t my idea for him to attack Canterlot, and I have no idea what he intends with poor little Luna there.’
“Luna?” Ash tore his eyes away from his doppelgänger and finally looked at the room. The center of the floor was taken up with a large and intricate carved circular Weave, in the middle of which was a bubble of translucent blackness. Drawing closer, Ash peered inside and made out the figure of Princess Luna curled up inside, her mane and tail looking like natural hair and her coat marred by splotches and lines of black. Her eyes were open but unseeing, filled as they were with pain and terror. Fury began to fill Ash, but he kept it under control as he turned back toward Thamule. “What’s your plan for her?” he asked, “You’ve shown that Celestia’s life means nothing to you, so what value is Luna’s?”
“She has potential,” Thamule replied, “And this world is one that cannot be ruled alone. Discord can’t be trusted or controlled, so I require another, one who has twice wrested control to impose her own order upon Equestria.”
“You think you can keep the Nightmare in your thrall?” Ash asked, “Or for that matter prevent Discord from exerting more power than he already has and overcoming the seal placed on him? Ha. You are a poor copy of me, Vaer Thamule. You have ambition beyond your design. A proper meis should know his place.”
‘Is it my imagination, or are you standing up for me?’ Discord asked.
“Shut up Discord,” Ash and Thamule both snapped.
‘Oh ho, ok,’ Discord said, ‘I see how it is. Actually, this should be quite amusing. Wish I had some popcorn.’
“So, where were we?” Ash asked, “Ah, right, I was-” He stopped short as Thamule fired a blast of magic at him, ducking and throwing up a barrier to deflect it harmlessly into the wall. “Ah, that’s more like it,” he said with a cheeky grin, “taking the first available opening. Let’s see who the better mage is in the long run though.”
“Peh, I beat you once before,” Thamule said dismissively, eyeing Ash’s shield as he began to circle the room.
“By ambush,” Ash responded, “and with me in a distracted state. The field is even now Vaer.” He let the shield drop and charged his magic. “Take your best shot.”
Thamule narrowed his eyes suspiciously and fired a bolt of magic at his opponent, keeping control of its path to maneuver around Ash’s defenses. To his shock and surprise, rather than try to deflect the bolt, Ash simply titled his head to the side with a smug smirk as the attack curved at the last second to fly by harmlessly and loop back around and come at Thamule. The doppelgänger deflected it with a thought and fixed Ash with a hard, demanding glare. “What Discord trickery is this?” he asked, “None can so completely wrest control of another’s spells like that, not even Meis Thamule.”
“Truth,” Ash said, still smiling smugly, “Every magic user imprints their own energy upon their spells, so only they can fully control them. All others must either apply external force or try to reconstruct the spell. Here’s the thing though Vaer, you and I? Our magic is one and the same. Even with Discord’s influence in your creation, we are effectively clones, differing only in personality.”
“And how is it you know this?” Thamule asked.
“In Canterlot, I undid the bindings you placed on Shining Armor,” Ash answered, “As is my, or our wont rather, I attacked them with my typical dispel first to see what threads to go after to unweave, but the bindings reacted as if I had cast them and broke apart at once. ‘Twas a mere curiosity though, until I tried to trace your Transport spell out of the Princesses’s rooms and discovered the destination with more precision than even PC could have accomplished. I’d have been hot on your tail if I hadn’t decided to play the safe route. Point is, whatever you can dish out, I can control it.”
Thamule’s yellow eyes blinked in befuddlement for a moment, but then the orbs turned green and he smirked. “If that is true,” he said, “Then the reverse must be as well.”
“Most likely,” Ash admitted, and then unleashed a veritable storm of magic projectiles. Thamule grabbed them and turned them back on their original caster, and thus the contest began in earnest. Back and forth the two ash-grey unicorns sent the volleys, occasionally adding more to the mix or dispersing some when they felt overwhelmed. Bolts of pure magic, fireballs, and arcs of lightning swirled at all different speeds around the pair like the electrons of some great chaotic elemental compound. After a few moments, Ashen Blaze began to move around, gracefully weaving between the deadly projectiles, all while keeping a calm look on his face. Incensed, Thamule redoubled his efforts, trying to keep control of the magic as long as he could to trip up his opponent’s dance. Neither spoke a word, saving their energy only for spell work and dodging. Eventually though, Thamule’s strategy began to bear fruit as Ash had more and more close calls as his energy began to fade. At last he was forced to stop and barricade himself behind shields, breaking up the attacks as they came to him and returning few if any. Thamule began to chuckle triumphantly and let the storm die down until the only spells still active in the room were Ash’s shields and the spell around Luna.
“You… fool,” Thamule panted, feeling drained as well from the exertion, “Weren’t you called the ‘Pragmagic’ once? You’ve become too complacent in your skills, too theatrical to truly be called pragmatic. Did you really think you could best me with your… psychological warfare? Huh? Tell me why.”
“Well,” Ash said, looking at a point past Thamule’s head, “first of all, unlike you, I don’t normally fight alone these days. I have friends.” Thamule’s eyes grew wide and white as he whirled around, realizing he had his back to the hole Ash had blown in the wall. He was tensed to protect himself, but no threating hoof or magic attack came to meet him. The gap and the room beyond were empty. Orange annoyance seeped into his eyes, but before he could turn around Ash pounced on him from behind and delivered a bone-crushing hoof-strike to the back of the neck. Thamule collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut as vertebrae shattered and he lost all sensation below the neck, and Ash rolled expertly off him and looked down at him. “Second,” he said, “I know myself, and even with friends I’m still paranoid enough to fall for that kind of trick.”
“You…” Thamule gasped in a rattling voice, “you lied.”
Ash shook his head. “Nope, I never said they were there. I just said I had friends.” He gave the broken unicorn a pat on the cheek and turned to the spell holding Luna. “Now let’s see about this little thingy…”
“You’ve doomed her,” Thamule rattled, stubbornly refusing to die, “Trust all... you want in… your ability to… take control of… the strings… but the spell is in motion and… you’ll never discern its workings until… it’s too late. Of course,” he added in a suddenly clear, strong tone, “That will hardly matter when you’re dead.” Ash turned around to see Thamule pick himself off the ground, his neck restoring itself with a sickening crack. “I owe Discord no loyalty,” the doppelgänger said, “But I have some of his power to use, so use it I shall to maintain my life.”
“Oh, fun times ahead then,” Ash said sardonically, “Well, bring it then.” To his surprise, rather than use magic, Thamule charged and tackled him to the ground, taking a grip around his head with both front legs.
“Let’s see how you like a broken neck,” Thamule spat, eyes a murderous, angry red.
Grunting, Ash flared his horn brightly to blind Thamule and then teleported to the side and out of the headlock. He caught Thamule’s leg as it lashed out wildly toward him and pulled on it, throwing his opponent even more off balance. He misjudged the angle of motion however and Thamule crashed into him, bringing them both down into a grappling tangle. They wrestled for a while, until an interruption came from outside. A glob of yellow gel struck Thamule in the side of the head, followed a second later by one to Ash’s head. Screaming, the two separated and Thamule fell to the ground writhing in pain while Ash bit back the cry and reached up to scrape the Magebane off. “Skvetchte… Geez Gale, why’d you have to shoot me?” He looked to see the brown earth pony girl standing in the breach in the wall, Gel Launcher primed and ready for another shot. Behind her Ash could see Soul Mage standing with Gold Heart draped across his back, the golden-yellow pegasus hugging her brother’s neck as tightly as she could without choking him, looking exhausted beyond measure and absolutely determined not to let Soul go. Soul and Gale weren’t looking much better.
“Sorry Ash,” Gale said, “but I had to be sure I got the right one. I did get the right one, right?”
“Look at my eyes if you doubt,” Ash said, “and if that doesn’t convince you, look at the other guy.” The Magebane appeared to be eating through Thamule’s face, having claimed an eye and most of his cheek in a bloodless manner. Gale grimaced at the sight and unloaded several more shots to try and speed up the process. “So,” Ash said, blatantly ignoring the dissolving duplicate, “what happened to you guys?”
“We’ll tell you later,” Gale said, “We need to find Luna and get out fast before Discord decides to bring the building down.”
“Luna’s there,” Ash said, indicating the spell circle and the dark bubble within, and then quickly pushed Gale’s Launcher away from it as she took aim. “Don’t break it,” he said, “the spell’s still in-progress and cutting its power might have catastrophic effects.”
“Well, do something quick,” Gale snapped as the building began to shake, “This place was not built to last and it’s time is way past.” The shaking grew progressively stronger as Ash turned and reached his magic out to the spell around the Night Princess.
“Transformation,” he muttered, “almost purely mental but with a physical component as well. Brings one thing to the surface that should be buried and- Yi!” He lashed out and caught a chunk of masonry that had come loose from the ceiling before it could hit the spell circle. “I cannot work under these conditions,” he muttered, “Everyone gather in. I’m going to do something crazy.”
“It’s always nice when he’s upfront about it,” Soul muttered with a smile.