//------------------------------// // Chapter XXX – Of Dreams and Dragons // Story: To Devour a God // by the7Saviors //------------------------------// I woke up cold, shaking, sweating, and gasping for breath. My mind was a whirlwind of vaguely remembered images—hazy flashes of what might've been a strange dream or some kind of nightmare. I looked around, heart racing and eyes wide with a nameless sense of dread. It took a second for my brain to slow down and actually process what I was looking at. Once the directionless fear abated somewhat and I could focus, I saw that I was in a room that looked far smaller than I was comfortable with. The walls and floor were all dark grey metal and the room itself was devoid of any furnishings save the rather uncomfortably thin mattress I'd halfway risen from in my panic. There was a single metal door at the end of the black metal wireframed bed and the entire room was dimly lit by a pair of barely functioning fluorescent tube lights overhead. This isn't a bedroom, I thought, my panic rising once again, it's a prison cell! A quick once-over showed I was still wearing most of my uniform though my embroidered military blouse was missing, leaving me with just my thin cargo pants and the black undershirt I'd worn beneath. I slammed my eyes shut and tried again to get my thoughts under control. I needed to think back, to remember the events that had led up to... whatever was going on. After placing a hand on my chest, I took deep breaths and opened my eyes again. I needed to calm down. I needed to ask myself the right questions, to start with what I could answer and find out how to get the answers I didn't know. My brows furrowed as I took stock of my situation. What happened to me? Where am I? Why am I in a cell? How did I get here? Who put me here? What was that dream— An icy shiver ran down my spine as I ran through what I could remember of what I saw. My whole body was trembling slightly in fact, and it took me a moment to realize that it was the memory of the dream that was causing it. As the shock of waking up in an unfamiliar place wore off, I started to notice just how weak and shaky I felt, like I'd fall right over if I tried to get out of bed. What in Celestia's name happened to me? I thought, raising a hand to my sweaty face, think, Twilight! The last thing I remember was... was... that's right, I was... I'd gone to the training room, and then— My eyes widened in horrified realization as the memories came flooding back into my mind in a sudden rush. I'd gone with Doctor Whooves to officially start my training and everything had gone fairly well until... "The arcane stave," I croaked in a voice hoarse with shock and dread, "what did I do? Oh, Sweet Celestia what did I do?" Another thought occurred to me and, with a strange and desperate mix of apprehension and anticipation, I tentatively reached into my thaumic wellspring. My breath caught in my throat and all thoughts screeched to a halt at what I found. All my mana was there, free for me to use at my will without any kind of cellular blockage whatsoever. Not only that, but it felt like both my wellspring and thaumic energy had grown significantly. As amazing as that fact was though, the discovery was overshadowed by the sheer wrongness of that thaumic energy. It was somehow both familiar and completely alien at the same time—like there was some foreign substance that had gotten mixed in with what should've been pure mana. It wasn't hard to guess what that 'substance' might've been, but I found myself having trouble wrapping my mind around the apparent changes my magic had undergone. I was so unnerved by what I felt that I shied away from my own magic altogether. I shuddered at the recollection of what transpired back in the projection room. I had already taken an uncharacteristically colossal risk in doing... whatever it was I'd done with the arcane stave. With results this troubling there was no way I was going to exacerbate what might've been a potentially dire situation by messing with what I didn't understand. Even though that's probably what got you in this mess in the first place... Thinking about it rationally, my actions were almost certainly what landed me here, wherever this was. That thought led me to realize with growing horror the possible consequences of what I'd done. Given the explosion of thaumic energy released from the stave, there was no way that the projection room hadn't been damaged in some way. While that was bad, the true terror came from not knowing what exactly it was that I'd done to my own body, to my mana. For all I knew, I'd caused some kind of potentially fatal and irreversible mutation. I could be undergoing Hive Cell corruption even as I sat here fretting over my stupid, stupid mistake and what it might have cost me. It was getting hard to breath. It was suddenly far too hot. I couldn't stop sweating and the bed was becoming more and more uncomfortable by the second. With clumsy movements, I scrambled out of the bed and, just as I'd predicted, nearly fell over as my bare hooves hit the ground. Not quite able to completely regain my balance, I stumbled forward the few steps it took to get to the metal door and pressed my hands to it. The door, heavy and imposing as it was, thankfully had a rectangular opening cut out at eye level. That at least allowed me to peek outside and get a glimpse of where I was. I did just that, trying to get an idea of what was going on. Outside I could see part of a laboratory that was markedly different than what Doctor Whooves had shown me. The room beyond my cell was slightly darker than the other lab. From where I was standing, I could just make out two massive containment tubes lined up against one dark grey wall. The tubes were empty save for some unidentifiable bubbling blue liquid, and both seemed to be connected by thick wires to a large machine I couldn't quite make out from the cell. There were several monitors, likely for recording and observation, and other standard lab equipment on various desks. The thing that stood out to me most was the large table in the center of the room. It was one of those adjustable experimentation tables, the ones with metal clasps meant to hold somepony in place for certain scientific procedures. Above the table was a giant retractable metal tube built into the ceiling. At the end of the tube were several robotic 'arms'. Each arm ended in one or more silvery metallic tools of some kind. Some of those tools had obvious uses like cutting or lighting or magnification, but others were a complete mystery to me. Most would have found the sight terrifying and to a certain extent it was a little unnerving, but I'd long since gotten used to such sights. Even if I had never personally worked with such equipment, I knew what it was generally used for and why it was necessary. If anything, the sight of a lab outside the cell did quite a bit to ease some of my worries. If I was here, it meant that somepony—likely Doctor Whooves—had probably taken the time to find out what was wrong with me and I could get some answers. The fact that I was still alive and relatively unharmed was also a good sign, or at least I hoped as much. This place must be what was behind that other door in the Doctor's office... I turned to look over my shoulder at the bed, realizing that this was probably where Spike had been kept while he was recovering. I would've been lying if I said I didn't still have some concerns about my situation, but now that I was thinking things through and had gotten a look at where I was, I did feel a bit better about it. Turning back to the door, I saw no handle at all. I tried to push it open and even used the viewing slot in the door as leverage to try and pull it open, but the heavy metal door didn't budge an inch... meaning I was locked in. Well, I guess that shouldn't be too surprising given the risks I might still pose if I am corrupted... "How long has it been?" I wondered aloud, before calling out, "Hello? Can anypony hear me? Doctor Whooves? Are you there?" The loud crackle of static sounded somewhere behind and above me, making me jump. I whipped around at the sudden noise and looked up to see a small loudspeaker embedded into the corner of one of the walls. A familiar voice washed over the small cell just as I spotted the thing. "Oh, hey, you're finally awake!" came the exuberant and slightly boyish voice from the loudspeaker, "took you long enough! Thought you'd never wake up!" My eyes narrowed slightly as I tried to place the voice. They widened again when the name came to me a moment later. "Wait... Spike?!" I asked in confusion and disbelief, "Spike is that you?" "The one and only," Spike chuckled, "been a while, huh? Hang on a minute, I'll be right out." "You'll... what do you mean 'you'll be right out'? Where are you?" There was another burst of static as the line cut out and a few seconds later I heard the sound of a door opening somewhere outside my cell. I made my way back over to the metal door and peered through the slot just in time to see none other than the young drake stepping out of another room across from me. What I thought was the lab entrance turned out to be another section of the lab. Spike, decked out in full Daeus Hunter uniform, quickly rushed over to my cell. I stepped back a bit as he moved up to talk to me through the rectangular slot in the door. "Hey, Twilight," he began, sounding a bit awkward as he spoke, "sorry about... y'know... all of this. It wasn't my idea to put you in there, just so you know." "I wouldn't have assumed otherwise," I replied with a frown, "I kind of have an idea of why I might be here, but why are you here? Where's the Doctor?" another thought occurred to me and I looked around the cell before narrowing my eyes at the dragon, "wait... were you... have you been watching me from that room?" "What? No, I... well, the Doctor said..." Spike looked away, nervously scratching at his neck as he tried to give a fumbling explanation, "I mean, not many are allowed in here and since I was already here once Doctor Whooves asked me to monitor your condition and to let him know if you woke up," he suddenly gave a sheepish smile as he pulled some sort of edgy-looking graphic novel from the inside of his jacket, "honestly though, I was kind of... distracted." "Okay," I said slowly, "but I'm sure there's somepony more qualified to do that sort of thing. If he was busy, why not send Sunset Shimmer or any of the other researchers? Why did he ask you of all ponies—er, creatures?" "I don't know," he exclaimed as he put the book back in his inner pocket and gave a helpless shrug, "maybe the others were also busy? Maybe he just thought you'd want to see a friendly face?" "And... he trusted you to watch over me by yourself?" I asked, my frown turning skeptical, "in his private lab?" "I guess?" Spike replied uncertainly, "look, he asked me to help him out and I agreed because I was worried. I have no idea why he chose me or even what's going on with you. I wasn't told anything about it." "So you have no idea what's going on then," I said, "Doctor Whooves didn't say anything about it at all?" "He just sat me down, taught me how to work the monitor, and told me in no uncertain terms not to do or touch anything without his expression permission before he left," he shivered slightly, "he can actually be a pretty scary guy when he wants to be." "And... does anypony else know?" I asked tentatively. "I don't think so," Spike replied with a worried frown of his own, "the training room is closed for 'extensive repairs' and there's all kinds of crazy rumors floating around, but I don't think anyone actually knows exactly what happened." "I see," I muttered, "and how long have I been... indisposed?" "Well, I don't know how long you've been asleep, but no one's seen you in like... a week and a half or so," Spike replied thoughtfully, "I've only been here since this morning." "A week and a half?" I whispered in dismay, "it's been that long?" Spike watched me quietly for a moment, his expression the very picture of concern, then he spoke in a quiet voice. "Twilight," he began, then paused before starting again, "Twilight, what happened? I heard a few ponies saw a bunch of medics rush into the training room and carry you out all restrained on a stretcher a few minutes later." I didn't say anything to that, instead opting to stare at my hands as I thought about how that scenario must've played out. When it was clear I wasn't going to respond, the drake continued. "A bunch of us were really worried about you—we still are. Me, Vinyl Scratch, the entire Retaliation Team," he paused again, "Fluttershy is... I don't even know. She's been making some... frankly horrifying assumptions about what might've happened to you." "I'm fine, Spike," I finally replied with a rueful shake of my head, "at least I think I am. Why don't you go get Doctor Whooves so we can sort this out? If he says it's okay I'll tell you—all of you what happened, but until then... well, let's just see what the Doctor says, alright?" And it was true. I felt pretty much fine now. The weakness and trembling had more or less subsided throughout the conversation. I was starting to feel, if not completely normal then something close to it. That sense of wrongness in my mana still hadn't abated and that worried me greatly, but I wasn't fearing for my life anymore. At least not for the moment. "...Alright," he finally said after a moment, "I'd like to say I'll be back but I don't know what the Doctor's gonna say, so... hopefully I'll see you later I guess." "Thanks, Spike," I said with a small smile, "I'm sure I'll see you around." It really was nice to see a friendly face after what I'd gone through, even if it made no sense for the dragon in question to be here. We said our goodbyes and Spike left, leaving me alone with my thoughts once again. I took the time to reflect on the decision I made back in the projection room. It hadn't been like me to make that kind of call—far from it. Normally I was a stickler for the scientific method and the safety guidelines that came with it. Moon Dancer was a little fast and loose when it came to her own methods. She was always a little more willing to take those kinds of risks so I could see her trying something like that, but not me. I often tended to check and double-check to make sure safety protocols were in place before I ran any experiments. Looking back on it, I wasn't sure what had compelled me to do something so... so stupid. It was like some kind of mania had taken hold of me when I realized there might've been a chance for me to recover the full use of my magic. I remember weighing the costs against the benefits, but at the time it seemed that, somewhere in the back of my mind, my decision was already a foregone conclusion. If I could take back my choice I probably would have, but whatever I had chosen to do, it was already done now. Only time and a proper diagnosis from Doctor Whooves would tell whether my choice was worth the pain I endured. Even just remembering that level of agony made me shudder. Still, I was alive and even felt okay for the most part. I had to believe that counted for something. That's right, Twilight. Positive thoughts. Maybe things worked out better than you hoped, or maybe I've doomed myself to a slow and painful death. Either way, I'm not going to get anywhere by worrying about what I can't change. What's done is done. Just... take a page out of Vinyl's book and chill. I took a deep breath and fully settled back onto the bed to wait for the Doctor. I closed my eyes and listened to the muted buzz and snap of the flickering tube lights overhead. In the relative quiet and with nothing else to do, it didn't take long for my mind to wander back to that strange dream. The memory was still hazy and indistinct but it hadn't faded. Behind my eyelids, I could still see vague impressions of a time and a place I didn't understand. When I focused my thoughts inward I could remember a large and opulent structure of polished grey stone surrounded by a dense, dark forest. The forest was alive, howling with fervent and unfettered desire as it spewed forth an endless tide of hideous beasts. They charged the structure in a relentless siege that was somehow miraculously kept at bay by a single creature. I frowned, my brows furrowing as I tried to drag the image of that creature forth from the murky depths of my subconscious mind. To my surprise, the picture came far more easily than anything else. The creature was a being unlike any I had ever seen before—hairless save for a mane of burnished silver and mocha brown skin beneath exotic yet strangely familiar attire. Most striking of all was its eyes, piercing orbs of brilliant gold that shone like the sun. Those eyes... why do I feel like I've seen them before? More details returned to me as I recalled the creature. Memories of how she—and I was fairly sure it was female—fought with all the viciousness and tenacity of a demon out of Tartarus. She tirelessly beat back the horde of beasts with a skill and grace that might have even surpassed the legendary Nightmare Moon. I felt my teeth clench and sweat begin to run down my brow as the images became more and more defined. Waves of beasts were cut down, sliced apart by a massive ebony scythe that fell again and again without pause or mercy. The battle seemed to go on for an eternity but the creature continued to endure. She fought valiantly but I knew on some level that she fought in vain. She was powerful and steadfast but the tide was hungry and unrelenting. The creature's strength waned bit by bit as the struggle continued and that toll only increased with each monster slain. Still, she pushed herself even harder, refusing to break under the pressure. She pushed even though she knew there would be no reinforcements. She knew she would eventually fall and that the structure would be overrun, and yet she pushed on. Even as her mind and body began to break down, she pushed. Even as the darkness ate away at her very existence, corroding and corrupting everything she was down to the last atom, she just roared in defiance and fought that much harder. She fought and she pushed and she bled and she screamed and— A sharp knock at the door brought reality crashing back down around me and I jolted upright with a shocked yelp. A cold shiver ran down my spine as the last remnants of that horrible nightmare faded and I tried to still my shaking hands as a concerned voice floated into the small chamber. "Miss Sparkle?" came the familiar voice of Doctor Whooves, "Twilight, can you hear me? Is everything alright in there?" What... what in Celestia's name was that? "Y-Yes... yeah, I'm fine. Everything's okay," I called back, trying to keep my voice steady as I slipped off the bed and made my way over to the door, "just a... just had a nightmare is all." Was it really a nightmare though? I couldn't help but wonder, and who was that? What was that? "A nightmare you say?" the Doctor replied warily, "that's all? Nothing more?" "No, that's it. Just a nightmare," I answered even as I tried and failed to convince myself that it was the truth, "I'm fine, physically. Well, I'm pretty sure I'm okay anyway." "Ah, I see, well that's good to hear—the latter I mean, not the former," he said with evident relief in his tone, then after a brief awkward pause, "you're... decent I hope?" It took me a second to realize what he meant and I rolled my eyes when I finally figured it out. I guess that explains why he isn't just looking through the door. I'd say he was a gentlecolt, but he had some young dragon he barely knew watching me sleep since this morning so... "Yes, Doctor, I'm decent," I replied, "if everything's in order, I'd like to find out what happened and clear up any uncertainties. I assume Spike told you my current condition?" "Only that you seemed fine outwardly," he replied, his face finally appearing through the viewing slot in the door. The stallion looked slightly worn out like he hadn't slept in a couple of days, though his cobalt blue eyes lit up as he saw me, "and by all appearances, it looks like he was right! You're looking much healthier than when I first brought you in." "And... how exactly did I look when you first brought me in?" I asked, hesitant to hear the answer, but curious nonetheless. At the Doctor's grim frown I decided I didn't really need an answer, but before I could backpedal he spoke. "Well, let's just say it was a... rather frightening time for all of us for a while there," he shook his head and gave me a reassuring smile, "but we can talk more about all of that in a bit. For now, what say we get you out of that dingy old cell first, eh?"