Chapter 4: To each their own demon
Written by TheLunarArmy
Edited by Ezn
Rainbow Dash stood in front of the fortified cage, staring down the vicious eyes of her harasser. The “fox”, as he called himself, had started to reveal more and more of his figure as the orange light flickering from the pool started to illuminate the darkness. He was huge in comparison to the cyan pegasus - nearly thirty times her height. His name literally described his face and body, however he had one other feature that set him aside from a normal fox: nine long, hairy tails that seemed to move about autonomously.
Dash finally started to converse with the demon: "Where am I, fox?"
The fox lowered his face down to the pool and responded with a smile.
"You are inside your own twisted world, little pony."
"That makes no sense, I would never dream up a dump like this!"
"...No?"
The fox directed Dash to the floor in front of her. The pool of water rippled for a few seconds before revealing a vision. It was a compilation of Dash's grim, younger memories. It reminded her of all the times she got rejected from the Wonderbolts, all the times she failed to repeat the Sonic Rainboom and, naturally, all the times she spent bullying ponies with Gilda in flight academy. It was like a relapse of all her failures throughout her life and it struck a nerve in the poor filly's heart.
She took a step back, thinking hard on what she just saw. This must be some plan he's thinking up, thought Dash, I can't trust this creep... She raised her head again and, with her usual stark confidence, decided to snap back.
"Sure, I may have been in some bad moods, but my feelings would never make a dark place like this. Nor would I ever do anything to hurt my friends."
The fox leaned closer to the cage and whispered.
"But are you sure they haven't been hurting you?"
"My friends would never hurt me! What do you know about friends anyway, being locked up like that in a dirty cage, huh?"
In an instant the fox rolled back in his cage with a maniacal laugh; he got what he wanted. He now knew how to tamper with this pony's emotions. A way in, he thought. Excellent.
"I have only known you for a few hours now, Rainbow Dash. But I can already tell you're being held back by your so-called ‘friends’. You may be loyal to them, but are they really, truly, loyal to you?"
The pegasus doubted herself for a moment, but persisted in staring the demon down.
"Think about this," continued the Kyuubi, "Your dream is to one day captain the Wonderbolts, yes?"
The fox's expression became serious.
"If you stay with your friends, then you will never reach your goal. You may have some fun in their company, and I can even predict some adventures here and there. But every evening, before you close your eyes, you will have to acknowledge the fact that these Wonderbolts - and every other pony - will never see your talents. Eventually, you'll just become a nobody. Unliked and unloved. Is that what you really want?"
His words brought a chill to Dash's spine. As much as she tried to keep the sly demon out of her head, she could not help but to ponder the possibilities. It took several minutes for Dash to reply.
"I will prove you wrong, fox!" she yelled. "My friends are the best, and they wouldn’'t stab me in the back!"
The fox crept back into the darkness of his cage. "We shall see..."
<>--<>
The sky was beautiful that evening. The lack of light made the stars glow with such great intensity that Twilight could see all the constellations from the back of the chariot. She enjoyed the moment of tranquility before focusing at the task at hand. She would need to sneak past the guards, get inside Celestia's room and then retrieve that tome. Luckily, she knew that Celestia always stored valuable artifacts behind the paintings in her room: a useful tactic that Twilight had also started to employ.
Princess Luna was patrolling the sky overhead and saw the gold chariot with ease. Nopony had authorized an escort without informing her, so she flew closer to investigate.
"Hello Twilight," said the alicorn.
Twilight looked around until she finally recognized the voice above her. She saw Luna flying upside-down, parallel to the chariot.
"Oh, hello Princess. How are you feeling?"
"Much better, thanks to you and your friends. Once again, my gratitude for saving me."
"I'm glad to see you and Princess Celestia are still close, even after this whole fiasco."
"My heart was twisted by Nightmare's remorse... every day I spent on the moon I yearned to be free from its grasp... and you gave me that freedom."
Twilight tried to keep the petty talk going, but knew that Luna was there to find out where she was going. Eventually the subject came up.
"Twilight, I need to ask you something. Why are you going to Canterlot after my sister instructed you to stay by Rainbow Dash's bedside?"
Thinking fast, the unicorn quickly responded. "Her condition is stable, and I'm sure my friends can look after her for one night. I just need to... uh... fetch a book I left in the castle. It may have some clues to help solve this mystery."
Princess Luna gave a concerned look. She came all this way for a book? Really?
"Well, make it quick, Twilight. I'm sure your friends need you back in Ponyville."
The unicorn nodded as Luna barrel rolled out of formation and back into the darkness of the night. Twilight failed to notice that the princess had embedded a sensory spell onto one of her saddlebags' insignias. Whatever Twilight saw, telepathically, so would Luna.
<>--<>
Rainbow Dash was pacing around the stone room, looking for a way out. The black and orange water was still clinging to her hooves, causing much discomfort with the added weight to her step. She searched all the walls, from corner to corner, but found nothing of any use. This dungeon certainly was meant to prevent its prisoners from leaving.
After spending another hour searching, Dash stopped to have a rest. The Kyuubi was still watching her every movement. He knew how to play the waiting game. Eventually she will become curious.
Dash took off the necklace around her neck and stared into the glimmering ruby.
"I still don't know how this thing got back around my neck." she whispered to herself, unaware that the fox's keen sense of hearing could detect exactly her every word. He stood up, stretched his forelegs and decided to toy with her again.
"Don't you remember pony? You went back to your house and fetched it?"
"What?" said Dash, startled by the fox's sudden reappearance. "I think I would remember flying back to Cloudsdale. Duh."
"You silly filly. Although your mind my drift away from the truth, your body is yearning to wield that crystal's power. Without it, I sense your weak spirit will eventually drive everyone you love away."
Dash curiously stared back at the necklace before tossing it aside.
"I don't need any power boosts! I can handle anything on my own!"
"Oh?" said the fox, pointing at the pony's chest. The necklace was back to its original position and Dash was shaken to see it again.
"T-t-that’s not possible. I just... how did you do that? Are you using magic?"
"I did nothing of the sort, pony," chuckled the fox. "Here, look for yourself."
The bubbling pool of water in front of Dash suddenly revealed another vision. This one was of just a few moments ago. After Dash had tossed the necklace aside her body started to shake. The seemingly docile pony rushed over to the glowing ruby and cuddled it close to her nervous body. The necklace attached itself back around her neck, ending the vision.
"It... can't be..." said the pony, completely stunned by despair. "This thing is ruining my life! How can I get it off?"
This was the moment the patient fox had been waiting for. Dash had taken his bait.
The Kyuubi pushed out as much empathy from his black heart as he could: this next statement had to be as convincing as possible.
"Let me help you Rainbow Dash. Come closer."
Dash couldn't help but listen to the fox's comforting words. It had been a long day and her bottled-up emotions couldn't help but make her move closer to the cage.
<>--<>
The chariot ground to a halt on the asphalt path leading into the castle grounds. Twilight hopped off and proceeded to walk along the road, towards the entrance of the large white fortress. She felt a little nervous trotting past the guards that patrolled the walkways. This would be the first time she had ever truly done something dishonest.
A familiar face saw her from across the main lobby as Twilight approached the receptionist pony.
"Twilight! Twilight Sparkle!" called Copper, who was trotting over to her location.
"Oh hello, Copper," replied the Twilight, "Nice to see you're managing things while the Princess is away."
"Yes, Celestia was in awful hurry to get to Bronkonia - we are all very worried about the Element of Loyalty."
Both unicorns walked along the main hallways towards the door leading into Celestia's room. Twilight paused for a moment, and corrected Copper's statement.
"Rainbow Dash. Her name is Rainbow Dash."
"Of course, Rainbow Dash."
"Look Copper, I'm in a bit of a hurry as well. I left one of my notebooks in the princess's room. Is it possible for me to go in and fetch it?"
The beige unicorn shot a stern look at Twilight. Access to the either of the princess' quarters was absolutely forbidden during her absence.
"Can it not wait until Celestia's return, Twilight? I think there is a more important matter to attend to, don't you think?"
Twilight knew this maneuver. Copper had a knack of changing the subject immediately after she was asked to do anything even mildly illegal. Twilight knew this first-hand after she had begged Copper not to tell Celestia about the 'explosive pixie dust' experiment she had conducted a few months before. Twilight now knew that she wouldn’t be able to worm her way into that library. Both ponies were standing in front of Celestia's door alone; the guards had taken their hourly hay break.
"This is a very important book! I need to get it, Copper."
The beige unicorn turned away from the door before speaking. "Sorry Twilight, but rules are rules. I cannot allow you inside the princess' room withou--"
Copper was cut short. Twilight had magically levitated a nearby menorah and slammed it into the back of her head. The unicorn crashed to the ground, covered in blood caused by the gash. Twilight was a little shocked by her own strength and rushed over to Copper to see if she was okay. She was still breathing, so Twilight removed the golden key necklaced around Copper's neck before whispering in her ear.
"Sorry Copper, but I need to save my friend."
At that same moment, Princess Luna saw what had happened and immediately turned wing straight back to Canterlot.
Twilight quickly unlocked and opened the heavy door leading into Celestia's room. She knew it would only be ten minutes before the guards would return, so she wasted no time running across the red carpet towards a painting of the royal sisters. She carefully lifted the painting off its hook and placed it neatly to one side. A small wooden chest was revealed and Twilight quickly lowered it to her eye level. The box bore a grim skull insignia on it, but it didn't scare Twilight's determination. She opened the box and blue magic aura sliced through unicorn's body, sending little lightning jolts jumping from hair to hair.
Luna's connection with her spell was suddenly lost. The box obviously had some shield to protect its wielder from magic. What kind of book did Twilight pick up? wondered the alicorn as she sped closer to the castle.
Twilight was surprised to see her Element sudden appear on her head. The purple and gold tiara created a white orb around the book, somehow helping Twilight to maintain the book's dark energy.
"I don't have time for this!" yelled Twilight.
She levitated the book into her saddlebag and then placed her tiara next to it. After placing the painting back on its hook, she proceeded to sprint back towards the door. Outside, the guards were standing over Copper's body as they helped the semi-conscious unicorn onto her hooves. After opening her eyes she noticed Twilight leaving the room. The order came in loud and clear.
"Seize her!"
Twilight turned tail and ran down the hallway as fast as she could, guards in hot pursuit. An alarm bell started to ring and more guards appeared in doorways. The chase didn't last long: it ground to a halt when Twilight stopped in the middle of the lobby. All the doors leading back into the castle were blockaded by guards, but only one obstacle stood between the unicorn and her escape...
Princess Luna.
To be continued...