//------------------------------// // CH 94.2 Tick, Tock // Story: Twilight's Nightmare // by Nightsclaw //------------------------------// So many lives had been lost, so many souls tainted beyond any hope of being saved. So much suffering, all because of one pony. Even now, he was within her power, utterly helpless. Despite that, the threat his machinations represented to her ponies had not diminished. Tick, Drip. Tock, drip. Tick, drip. Went a phantom clock in her mind, each movement of its hands losing another drop of blood to fall to the sea of that vital fluid. Like with the 'lesson zero' incident, she knew time was ticking away, and that lent urgency to the task. It focused her mind and pushed her onwards. Unlike that unfortunate affair, Twilight was not alone, and she did not even need to look outside her own soul for support. Hence, she was still sane and could work effectively. Being able to think clearly and wield her talents at their maximum potential had led to her current plan. The endless plane of obsidian under Twilight's hooves did not even feel odd anymore. The dark skies above no longer seemed gloomy nor ominous. The part of the Bastion that was Night's was now nothing more than a different part of her home. The addition of a half-ton of scientific equipment from her library clashed badly with Night's bleak aesthetic. The cables that trailed back to the Grand Golden Oaks were the magical path back from the abyss to the magical lands of hot chocolate and Sweet Dream's embrace. With a quickly scrawled note and a flash of magic, said divine beverage began its delayed mundane conjuration. That temptation put aside, she turned back to her project. Twilight was on the hunt, but she was not stealthily stalking her prey. No, she was falling back on her most potent asset, her mind. Books surrounded her as computers spewed out prolific amounts of paper like Celestia had issued a decree that it all had to be used by day's end. The view below shifted as Night banked their shared body. Despite the occasional aerobatics, she still faithfully followed the search pattern. Twilight reached out and adjusted a dial on the magical sensors that peered through the interface to the physical world. Her land unfurled itself below a patchwork quilt of colours. The natural greens of nature were scarred by burns and craters. A new lake slowly filled, a simple consequence of her betrothed's own hunt. Starfall was a potent weapon, indeed. Her vampiric wing blades lacked the raw destructive potential but were more surgical and much more personal. The needed force and energy equations danced in her mind momentarily before she put them aside. Mundane force, mass and speed theories were dull foals play at best to her anyway. Off to the right, far in the distance, her Knight flew. A unicorn's eyes would never have been able to parse her from the blue sky even with her still luxurious, prismatic mane and tail. Strapped to Rainbow Dash's underside, half a Celestia of detection artefacts did not even hinder her flight the slightest. In fact, she beat her wings to a more energy-intensive rhythm. As if sensing her scrutiny, Rainbow nodded respectfully. An action Night returned with their body. Addtional exercise, or simply showing off for Gilda? Twilight thought as she checked on her griffiness. Glida, just as encumbered as Dash, matched the mare and even clicked her talons, accenting the subtle performance. Seeing her two chosen love birds flirting brought warmth to her heart, so with a smile, she turned back to her work, only to find a part of her body moving without her deliberate direction. Her hoof tapped out a catchy beat to a tune she nor anypony would ever remember. Yet if she ever heard it again, her body would know just how to dance to it. As vexing as it was, it still caused her to smile past the quill she chewed thoughtfully. It was just so hard to truly work up her academic zeal to know everything when Nova was still purring contently. This led to the consideration of why. Was it merely over-eating good food, or was it trying to gather data on how many ponies found Alicorns alluring? With an ascended biology and even simple cleaning spells, there would be no tangible evidence either way. The fact the latter possibly provoked nothing, not even the slightest bit of disgust or embarrassment, was just another thing that illustrated how much she had changed. She shook her head as she added a few notations to the print-off. There was plenty of data, tones of information that could provide fodder for dozens of research papers just begging to be devoured by a hungry mind. Unfortunately, none of it pointed to what she sought. Everything was explainable. Everything tracked back to known sources of magic. She let out a very un-princessly snort of frustration. She could be with Luna, she could be borrowing Candice's body again, she could have been playing with Spike or teaching her daughter. There were so many things she wanted to do, but because of that one stallion, she could not. Even if I find nothing, all it would take is one note, one hidden scroll, and somepony else could start this all again… She growled. The soft clicks of delicately placed hooves perked her ears, and the warm scent of spiced hot chocolate caressed her nose. The pleasant interruption stole the thunder from her rage before she really got going. "I can see why you need this." The sweetest voice in the world said. Glancing back towards the library revealed Sweet Dreams, a comically oversized mug of hot chocolate and a platter of hayburgers. "Thank you, My Dream." Again, just speaking that term of endearment did more to lift her mood than the mouth-watering scents and the anticipated culinary delights about to be gifted to her. The following light hug did even more. Sweet Dreams swept those enthralling silver eyes over the ever-expanding collection of printouts. "Do you truly believe this search will be fruitful, my Star?" Twilight chewed her lip. "As scrying via the map table yielded no results, this was the best I could come up with." She pointed her wings at devices one by one. "Thaumic detector array. Magical Flux meter. Arcane resonance sensor. Those three are various weather detectors I've combined to look for invisible things affecting airflow." Fitting them all together and coming up with the control matrix and the connections to make it all work had been such an interesting challenge. There were already a dozen ways she had devised to improve it. With a bit more time, she could standardise it as a new piece of scientific equipment to release publicly. "Twilight?" "Sorry, got a little lost in thought… where was I? Oh yes, then we have these ones." Twilight could feel her smile becoming half giddy and half something darker. "These ones he would not even be able to comprehend." With Luna's raised eyebrow paired with the most alluring tilt of her head, Dreams asked the expected question. "Thermal imaging camera, R.A.D.A.R, L.I.D.A.R and finally both digital and optical visual cameras." Sweet Dreams popped a hayburger into Twilight's mouth. The softness of the bun almost kissed her lips as the individual taste of the mixed seeds and rolled oats that topped it greeted her tongue. As she hungrily bit into the delicious feast, the rich, tangy sauce paired perfectly with the fresh salad and sinfully unhealthy hay-based centre. Twilight chewed happily as Sweet Dreams set the tray and mug down. "Sunset's world's artefacts, I presume?" Twilight hummed her assent, her mouth engaged in things far more important than mere verbal communication. "Things you gleaned from your… imported books?" A little sheepishly, Twilight nodded. She did mean to finish copying the books and return them. She just never quite found the time to get around to it. "Find anything yet?" With a quick swallow and a sip of the Star's blessed hot chocolate, Twilight nodded. "Yes, lots, just not what we are looking for." She took another longer pull from the rich, thick, chocolatey bliss. She could not keep a purr-like drawl from her voice. "The resolution on these sensors is truly amazing. The way they each can see through different forms of obscurement. So far, we have eighteen lost ruins. I think I spotted at least one thought-extinct type of animal. A few patches of Blight we are going to have to deal with later. Two confirmed smuggler caches, perhaps four more and one hill that is actually a sleeping dragon." "Nothing you think is Moonlit Scroll's machinations?" Twilight sighed. "No… and I can't even truly be sure there is something to find… and even if I find nothing, there will always be the chance I missed something, that it will come back to bite us in hundreds of years…" Tick, tock, tick tock, that phantom clock accused again in her mind. "Do not let the future haunt you, my beloved star." The smile on her face and the warmth in her chest was becoming predictable but no less pleasant because of it. "I…" A quick kiss silenced the rest of Twilight's sentence. The following longer one delayed any follow-up conversation for half a minute. Sweet Dreams followed the kiss with a nuzzle and settling against her. The warmth of the shared contract was as wonderful as ever. With her hoof, Sweet Dreams directed Twilight's gaze back to the readouts as she used her silver aura to feed her. She let her body relax, settling in to enjoy the decadence as her mind sharpened its senses and with narrowed eyes, she returned to her hunt. The sun had set and risen again. Only the resilience of being chosen had allowed her two knights to stay in the air. The playful musical flirting had long ago ended. Both now let the winds and thermals carry them as much as possible. Both times the sun and moon transitioned had been rather lacklustre, so likely both her betrothed and former mentor were just as busy as she herself was. Night's boredom seeped in, infecting Twilight's own mood. In the Bastion, the clouds moved, rumbled and promised lightning for the next thing to annoy Night. "Where did you hide it?" Twilight growled, a sense of dread slowly creeping into her heart. She paused and turned her senses inwards. Her wellsprings were stable. There was a slightly increased draw on the Earth pony side because of insufficient sleep. She then looked at her emotions. Determination, tainted only by the still unsated need to make Noble Guide suffer. Love for Sweet Dreams, Little Star, Luna, Candice, all her friends, her parents, Cadance, Shining Armor and, to a lesser extent, all those she protected in Ponyville. There were other tiny wisps and whims, but none of them were where this dread came from. She next checked her fellow fragments. From Night leaked irritation and boredom. Sweet Dreams deliberately pushed the loving support that made even the darkest moment bearable, all wrapped up with a playful edge and a warm embrace. As expected, nothing came from Grey. On the other hoof, Nova was still a bundle of contentment, only infecting Twilight with a slight craving for a daisy sandwich. Twilight hummed thoughtfully and moved on to weaker connections. Her chosen. From Rainbow and Gilda, fatigue and dogged determination battled for supremacy. Despite the distance, the connection to Fluttershy was stronger. Fluttershy was hers. She was completely trusting her and utterly committed to belonging to her. Maybe I was a little too forceful… Twilight thought as her hoof reached out to stroke the absent mare. Fluttershy had truly enjoyed it and loved being a pampered pet. Treating her like that had been both empowering and comforting in a way Twilight had never experienced before. It was nothing like the lust-driven desire of Nova or the hedonistic indulgence of Night. No, this was something pure and wholesome despite how odd it was. Twilight started to smile, only for the creeping dread to suppress it. "Where are you coming from?" She spread her search further out. Her mind reached out and touched all the links she could find in one go. Trixie, Scootaloo and all the hybrids she helped. Something that very much felt like a changeling retreated and hid as soon as her mind brushed over them. A wave of different feelings and emotions washed over her. With a sweep of her wing, she pushed aside all but the one strand she sought. The single note of dread hidden under all the more positive feelings. "Candice?" Twilight breathed out. By the feel of it, the mare was dreaming. But unlike an ordinary dream, this felt different, somehow heavier. Tock. An icy claw clutched her heart. Somehow, that one mundane sound meant so much. It was an axe already falling, a guillotine over her head and doom already here, just realised far too late to do anything but watch. A snarl ripped from Twilight's physical body. Her own scream joined it. "What?!" She roared as she followed the ripping, tearing pain. Dark tendrils sheathed in purple smoke used toxic green claws to sink into her pegasus wellspring. Sweat Dream's magic surged, a potent effect laced with outrage and protective zeal. Twilight gritted her teeth and pushed past the pain. Even with its intensity, it was still not the worst thing she had felt. The sting of disappointment that it would be Dreams that made whoever had done this pay and not herself was the only thing that distracted her focus as she narrowed down the cause. Then Dreams' magic stilled. "Twilight, here now!" The sheer lack of eloquence made Sweet Dreams' voice terrifying. She did not think, she just teleported. Back in the library, her Golden Oaks, the door to Fluttershy's wing lay shattered. Dream's silver scythe lay discarded unused. Instead, she had a thick tendril of darkness that had clearly burst through pinned beneath her hoof. The tendril pulsed, and everything within Fluttershy's wing dimmed. "No, no, no." Twilight whimpered as the dread closed in, but something fiercer spoke within her. How dare they! Nopony hurts my friend! “FLUTTERSHY!” Twilight's soul surged. The tempest that was her magic erupted. It ripped into and devoured the dark magic. With increasing speed, her magenta flame ravenously raced back down the tendril. Nopony takes my Fluttershy! Her soul demanded of existence and laced with decrees of woe to any that tried to contradict her.