Dusty felt as if he were trapped in one of those nightmares where you gallop and gallop but cannot seem to go anywhere or get away from whatever is chasing you. He watched as the purple magic that held him buckled as though his words were a visible force. He felt the intense pressure and pain in his ears as the unnatural sounds were uttered from his mouth. He thought he could hear the air being sucked out of the world as the purple energy writhed around him like a snake and then vanished, his body crashing painfully to the ground. It drove the breath from his lungs and left him twitching and gasping on the cold forest floor.
Twilight Sparkle was utterly unprepared for what came next. One moment she held the large and dangerous stallion in the air like a toy, the next something hit her. She felt wrong at first, like everything was unnatural. It was the most horrible thing she had ever felt. Then she knew no more as she was hurled like a ragdoll through the air. Her body fell twisted and broken to the ground with a sickening thud.
Pinkie Pie sensed something was wrong, too. Her body twitched violently the moment Twilight lifted the stallion from the ground. She was too late to do anything as she found herself hurled violently away from the scene and into a nearby tree trunk, the force leaving her unmoving on the ground.
Dusty coughed painfully and blinked several times, feeling dizzy. His lungs hurt and he could taste blood in his mouth. His ears felt plugged like he had been swimming and he ached. Slowly managing to pick himself up off the ground he staggered, seeing the bodies of the two ponies on the ground. A cold numbness overtook him. He felt as though he wanted to burst, his heart hurt so badly. He felt that any punishment would not be enough. Dusty wanted to die. It took every ounce of effort, but he dragged himself over to Twilight, who lay closest. Even though he could feel the tears streaming down his cheeks, his mind still felt numb with the shock and horror that his eyes beheld. He nudged the purple mare gently, and could see her breath, ragged and shallow. He did not know what else to do. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was screaming that he would hurt her more, or even kill her, but nonetheless, he placed her over his back as gently as he could. Then, with a strength that he did not come close to understanding, he did the same with Pinkie Pie, who seemed to be in a better state than Twilight, but only by a small margin.
Dusty started walking, he did not know where he was going, just that he needed to move. He was sure he was hurt. He was sure he was having a hard time breathing, but these sounds and feelings seemed far away, like the noise of the forest, or his hoof falls on the ground. He paid no attention to the world around him, the images of the past few moments replayed themselves over and over in front of his eyes, each time driving that spike of pain deeper and deeper into his heart and mind. He was more confused than surprised at the voices that surrounded him. And he was only vaguely aware of bodies being gently lifted from his back and that several ponies had stopped him from walking after their repeated shouts and concerned questions had not received his attention. He barely felt the prick of the needle in his flank, but welcomed the consuming darkness it brought with it.
He woke slowly, and as he did everything flooded back at once and he wanted to scream his rage and grief until he was empty. Even that was denied to him as he clenched his teeth tightly together, weary sobs wracking his body. He felt warmth near him, and the smell of cotton candy and cinnamon filled his nose and mind. At first it only made it worse, as he had probably killed that pink pony, but after a while he realized that she lay pressed closed to him. She was breathing deeply in slumber and his initial sobs had caused her to wrap a leg over his body and hold him close. Dusty did not want this to end, this warmth and comfort was more than he had ever experienced. Celestia was kind in her own way, but he had not been held this way since he was a foal. He let himself cry in Pinkie Pie’s arms for however long it would be allowed to last. Eventually sleep found him again, but it was an easier rest this time. Even when the nightmares returned, they seemed to have less of a hold on him.
When he awoke again his eyes opened slowly. Pinkie was there, but he could see the flowing rainbow mane of Celestia as well. She was turned away from him. He could hear her speaking quietly, a deep wave of relief flooding him as he heard Twilight Sparkle reply to her words. They seemed deep in conversation, and it was a little heated. Several other ponies stood nearby, with looks of concern mixed with anger and sadness in their eyes.
“Its okay” said Pinkie Pie in a gentle whisper, “Nopony is going to hurt you, just rest here, okay?”
Dusty blinked but nuzzled her gently in agreement, and closed his eyes, trying to overhear the conversation. He let himself continue to enjoy the warmth and comfort he felt from Pinkie Pie.
“You did a foolish thing Twilight,” Celestia said her voice stern but tinged with worry. “Dustin Folio is a dangerous stallion. Not intentionally, but letting him roam free could potentially destroy us all. He could have easily killed both you and Pinkie Pie had his power not been muffled by your spell.”
Twilight’s voice was tired, as she was obviously in a tremendous amount of pain. “But princess," she said, with some effort. "I could not simply let him walk into Ponyville; countless others could have been hurt if that had happened.”
Celestia was quiet for a moment, and then sighed heavily. “Twilight, I do not believe Dustin means anypony any sort of harm, he is unaware of what he is capable of, it breaks my heart knowing that I have isolated him for so many years, never allowing him to grow up as a normal pony, he has never had any friends, or known the love of another.”
Twilight was silent for a long moment before she spoke again, her voice tinged with sadness and confusion.
“Why would you do that to somepony Princess? Lock them away with no friends or love, that…that just seems horrible.” Celestia sighed deeply and her voice shook as on the verge of tears.
“My little pony,” she said and took a moment to collect herself before continuing.
“Long ago there was magic given to the earth ponies. They still have it today. Their ability to make things grow, to work with the earth like they do. But there was a time when they were oppressed and abused by the unicorns and pegasi. This was before my time. A malevolent force approached them; we do not know what it was exactly, as it had no name. But it brought them more words, more magic, an offer to break free of their shackles and become dominant.”
Dusty tensed up as he heard them speak, this is the first he had heard of it, and Celestia had been careful to keep him from reading anything that would allow him to piece this together himself. Celestia continued; “These words were never meant for ponies, because as there are words and music that brings life to the earth, that helps things grow and nurtures us, there are words to bring it all to an end. These words are not evil, they are as natural as creation, and Luna and I are very much aware that someday all this will have to end, though we are not privy to the hour.”
Dusty heard Twilight’s breath catch in her throat as his mind struggled to grapple with what Celestia was saying. Was he truly some horrible harbinger of the end of all things? He certainly never wanted to be, and had you asked him he would certainly had told you that he would have done anything in his power to prevent it, as natural as it may be. He tried to quiet his thoughts as Celestia continued;
“I do not know why this happened to poor Dustin and I would not have wished it upon him. Nonetheless it has and none of my studies have led me to a way to help him. So I must do what has to be done, and lock him away again. I do not think he could destroy us all now, but I fear that if he ever managed to understand what was trapped in his head, he would have knowledge that nopony should have and I would be forced to make a very difficult choice.”
Dusty sighed heavily and felt his body go slack. “So that is how it is.” He thought to himself as he felt Pinkie Pie’s hoof rub his back in a calming motion. “I know I have hurt other ponies, I know how dangerous I am, but I never knew…” his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Celestia approaching him.
“Thank you Pinkie Pie, I am sure you have done more for him in these past few hours than I ever could. But I think he knows that we must leave now.” The pink pony slid stiffly off of the hospital bed and looked sadly at dusty as he did his best to give her a teary eyed thank you with his eyes, to which she merely nodded, gazing sadly at him as he painfully pulled himself up off of the bed, and lowered his head, standing next to Celestia, who sighed, and nuzzled him comfortingly before nudging him towards the exit. Dusty looked up to see Twilight sparkle, surrounded by her friends and in a body cast, and as he choked back a sob he gazed at her, his eyes filled with grief and shame and she quietly mouthed “Apology accepted.” As Celestia nudged him once again and he headed for the door;
“I will catch up Dustin, the guards will be waiting for you outside, please do not give them any trouble.”
Dusty nodded, and headed out the door. The guards were not too rough, but he knew that their fellow guards were missing and he was responsible, and he found himself unable to meet their stern gaze as they escorted him to the carriage that would return him to his prison in Canterlot.
Celestia gazed at the six friends for a long moment as she listened to the carriage leave. “It would be best if you all forgot about Dustin, his fate is a tragic one, but it cannot be helped.” Celestia’s gaze was firmly on Twilight as she spoke. “Recover quickly my little ponies, I will hear from you soon I am sure.” With that, Celestia left and Twilight waited a few moments before turning to her friends and quietly and painfully smiled “Gather around girls, I have a plan.”