Just Human, Chapter 9: Lost
Twilight nearly lost her footing when the whole room began to shake, only barely managing to keep herself from falling. Pieces of the cracked mirror fell to the stone floor, breaking into countless smaller shards in a crescendo of breaking glass. Small chips of stone rained down around her as cracks began to appear in the walls around her.
This whole place is coming down! I need to get out of here, right now!
She sprinted to the door, but every step was less sure, the shaking floor tossing off her balance. She tried to open the door, which seemed far heavier than before, holding her back with ease. Only when she took a few steps back and threw her full weight against it did it fly open. Twilight, unable to stop her own momentum, flew to the other side, only now realising that the door no longer led to the house she was in before.
It opened into a vast broken wasteland. She landed softly in ashen soil, the door slamming shut heavily behind her. She took a moment to catch her breath, her entire body trembling in the aftermath of the sudden earthquake. Looking behind her, the door seemed strangely out of place, like someone had set it against a rock and abandoned it there, with no indication that it even led somewhere.
As her eyes traced the horizon, she felt an immense sense of sadness welling up at her at the world around her. Trees stood like dead dry stumps, branches grasping up as though begging for rain that would never fall. The hills were broken and uneven, as though a gardner had ploughed the earth itself but never finished the job. Deep dark canyons dotted the land like scars, and sharp peaks rose at the very edge of her vision to stab at the sky like long claws. The sky was the same swirling vortex of dark clouds she had seen before, though now lances of fire occasionally breached the clouds to bathe the world in an angry red glow. She was much closer to the eye of the storm now, but she dreaded to think what she might encounter here. A place where the world already seemed to have ended.
Almost in response, the world shuddered around her, another earthquake nearly knocking her down. Nearby, the ground split open to reveal a deep chasm, and in the distance another appeared, fire bursting forth from each of them like miniature volcanoes.
What’s going on!? Why is this happening!? Did something change?
Twilight dropped down, making herself as small as possible as she attempted to weather the earthquake. It lasted only shortly, but it was intense. As she got back up, it took her a moment to get her vision to stop moving.
As she looked around, she saw several new rends in the earth, and from within each came a red glow, as though fire still burned within. More disturbing, however, was a smell that began to permeate the air around her. It was metallic, instinctively putting her on edge, though she didn’t know why.
She noticed movements in the glow of the nearest tear. Something was coming out of it, already preceded by the sound of an angry growl. A hand reached out of it.
A claw.
It was a horrible sight, like something had taken a hand, like that of the creature, yet stripped it off all skin, with vicious cleaver-like talons growing out of the tips. It sank into the dirt, putting the rest of the mangled body behind it. It was vaguely reminiscent of the creature, but like its hand the rest of its body appeared to have been flayed. It’s jaw was distended, full of long white fangs, and its eyes glowed a malevolent green. Two more of the wretched things crawled out of the chasm, just as the first one noticed her. It let out a monstrous howl.
Twilight didn’t take long to recover from the initial shock of seeing these horrific beings, turning tail and running across the sandy dunes blindly. Her mission and her convictions were forgotten entirely. All that remained was blind, unrelenting terror.
Similar howls began to sound all over the place. It felt like she was surrounded, though the only things she saw were the three monsters on her tail.
I have to get out! I have to get out!
She tried to reach out with her magical senses, trying to return to the physical form that awaited her in the real world, but to her horror realised that it wasn’t her magic that brought her here. It was this place that drew her in. She simply didn’t know how to go back.
Her eyes began to sting with tears as the hopelessness of her situation came crashing down on her.
I can’t get out. I can’t escape. What will happen when those things catch me? If they... If they get me, will I wake up? Will I even be able to wake up?
Suddenly, she noticed a new, unfamiliar sensation that began pushing its way to the fore. A burning sensation in her chest, like a bonfire that was being fed more fuel than it could consume. She continued to run, but the heat in her chest wouldn’t abate. In fact, it only seemed to get worse.
I can’t stop! I can’t let them get me!
Her path came at an end before a great canyon. Beneath, instead of darkness, a dense mist filled the depths. No matter where she looked, no path led down, and if she’d try to run from the edge it would lead her right into the monsters.
The monsters came bounding over the hills, their muscles visibly tensing under every movement, like wire stretched tight until it was about to snap. Each of them grinned at her, like they savoured the moment, which only stirred the fire in Twilight’s chest even more.
I don’t deserve this.
They began to spread out in a semi-circle around her, closing the gap slowly. The heat in her chest actually became physically painful, making her heart pound in her ears and her breath speed up.
They can’t do this to me.
Small droplets of red fell from their bodies. It barely registered to Twilight that it was blood. Their own blood. Only now did Twilight begin to realise the nature of the strange feeling which was taking hold in her. At first, she didn’t recognize it at all, this venomous feeling that drowned out her other thoughts, filling her with the desire to lash out against everything around her. Only then did it dawn on her that it was rage, more vicious than she had ever experienced it.
They don’t have any right to do this to me!
Twilight’s eyes flew wide open, her teeth clenching as she tried to fight the mad anger that tried to take over. Her hooves unconsciously dug into the dirt, and she raised her horn in front of her threateningly.
“Stay back!” she shouted, not in fear but in rage, though the monsters hardly responded at all. They simply continued their approach, until their stench became overwhelming.
How dare you?
A bright lance of light flared from Twilight’s horn.
“How dare you!?” she shouted in outrage, before casting the wildest, most uncontrolled spell she ever managed. It was pure magic, ripped out of the air and hurled directly at her targets. The shockwave was immense, the sheer kinetic force ripping the monsters apart until they disappeared in a fine red mist.
So powerful was the blast that it pushed Twilight over the edge. She attempted to latch onto something, but couldn’t stop herself from sliding down in the sand, too mercifully slow to truly fall, but unable to stop herself nonetheless.
She soon came to rest at the bottom of the ravine, where she found herself unable to see further than several meters. The mist had overtaken the entire world around her.
Twilight’s mind tried to register what had just happened. Something inside her refused to acknowledge it, like a bad dream that had already ended and should be forgotten. The rage in her chest had disappeared with the monsters, as though they carried it with them like a foul aura. However, through the residual warmth she still felt in her body, a single thought surfaced, something she found too horrible to ever have imagined.
They deserved this.
She began to shake and heave, struggling desperately to hold back. She tried to blink the fog out of her eyes and tried to force her legs from shaking and her breath from faltering, but the will to do so had left her. For the first time since this nightmare had begun, Twilight curled up where she lay and began to sob uncontrollably. Tears flowed freely, as a single questioned burned in her mind.
Why would you do this to me?
Alex’s eyes opened, but he had trouble seeing. His vision still blurry from whatever had dragged him back into unconsciousness, he blinked several times to clear his vision, only to stare into a pair of milky white eyes, attached to a black scaled body.
He gasped and jumped up immediately, pushing himself back through the sand at the horror in front of him. It resembled a snake or eel, with a mouth full of long fangs that forced it to grin eternally. It hissed at him, two pairs of small bat-like wings flapping softly to lift it into the air. Rather than actual flight, it seemed to swim through the air, its wings unmoving as its body slowly circled in the air above him, reminding him very much of a shark circling prey.
“What the hell...” he uttered, more to himself than to anyone else. Whatever this thing was, it seemed content to hover in the air above him, as though waiting for something.
Alex looked around, but a thick mist impeded his vision. He couldn’t see where he was. All he saw was a trail in the sand, which looked like someone had dragged him here, which then led up an impossibly steep cliff, which disappeared into the mist above him. He did not quite understand how something could’ve let him fall down that cliff without seriously injuring him. More importantly, there was no way to scale the sheer surface, meaning he had no way back.
“Why can’t I get out of here!?” he asked aloud in frustration. This entire place seems to have been set up to torment him, and it was driving him over the edge. His patience had run out, and he wanted answers.
“I thought you figured it out by now, Alex,” a vicious hissing voice spoke. Alex looked around but saw nothing to indicate the source of the voice.
“Who’s there!? Show yourself!”
“I’m right here, Alex.”
Alex looked up at the serpent that was still gliding in the mists above him, cutting a figure eight in the air. It turned its head down and slowly began to descend, its milky white eyes looking at him inquisitively.
“Come on Alex. We’re almost there. No need to tarry, is there?”
Alex took a step back from the monstrous creature, unsure whether to take his chances in the mist and run. The creature hovered at eye-level now, slowly circling Alex.
“What the hell are you?”
“I am nothing of significance,” the thing replied. “But you are. You know what this place is, don’t you?”
Alex didn’t respond. He stared angrily at the serpent. He didn’t want to repeat what that other thing had told him, if only because he would rather believe it wasn’t true.
“This place is your mind, Alex, but the question you’re asking yourself right now is ‘why am I here?’ isn’t it? After all, if it was just a dream, you should be able to wake up. But what if it’s... A nightmare?”
“Then I should still be able to wake up.”
“Possibly, but you are here for a reason. Tell me, what can you remember of how you got here?”
“I can’t. I can’t remember anything!”
“Then come with me. I will guide you, and you will see.”
The serpent began to glide away from Alex, in the opposite direction of the cliff. He’s leading me deeper into the mist, Alex realised. He still wasn’t sure if he could trust this thing. In fact, he was pretty damn sure he couldn’t.
But what choice do I have? I don’t know where to go, or how to get out. I need to follow it. Otherwise, who knows how long it will take for me to get out of this place... If at all.
He began to walk after the flying serpent, deeper into the mist. It did not lead him to any pitfalls filled with sharp rocks, or to other monsters, or to anything else that might have been a trap. Instead, as Alex moved further into the mist, sounds began to appear. Strange sounds that were out of place. The sound of a breeze he couldn’t feel, the sound of birds and crickets, and of leaves brushing against each other.
Suddenly, Alex could see it. A vast forest stretched out before him, bathed in the light of the rising sun.
“I... I know this place. The forest... I was in a forest. I couldn’t get out.”
The world began to shift around him. It became darker. No longer above but now below the canopy, Alex suddenly found himself running, the sound of howls and barking behind him.
“I was being chased.”
The world changed again. He now stood at the entrance to a cave, set into the side of a hill. A most peculiar sight greeted him. A unicorn with a violet coat and deep blue mane.
“There was a unicorn... She saved me.”
Alex found himself on his back. In front of him, two yellow eyes stared at him from a gigantic goat’s head, snorting in anger. His breathing became erratic, painful even, and he felt cold sweat trickling from his brow.
“And... I tried to save her! I tried to fight this thing! And... I... I...”
The strange sight disappeared, leaving Alex standing in the mists again. He looked around himself, still with cold sweat running over his skin, but no longer saw the serpent. He was alone, and the fog that had been clouding his mind, preventing him from remembering, began to clear.
“I remember. I... I nearly died. I... Am I still alive? Am I dead?”
“No. Not dead. Not yet.”
The serpent appeared again, as though in response to Alex’s questioning.
“And that is why we are here, Alex. Because of you... And because of her.”
“What are you talking about?” Alex questioned, before his face twisted in anger. “If I’m still alive, I want to wake up. Right now! There’s no reason for me to be here!”
“But there is, Alex,” the serpent replied, almost mockingly, “and that reason... Is her.”
The serpent coiled around itself, biting its own tail to form a circle mid air. Within the circle, as though looking at a television screen, a vision appeared. The unicorn he had seen before was sitting there, crying next to his prone body. Impossibly, the serpent still spoke.
“You have a strange influence on her world, Alex. Your very presence poisons the minds of these simple creatures with your emotions. Your memories. The one you tried to save... She fights against it. Tries to hold it off. But you’ve already taken her friends...”
The vision within began to swim as it changed, now showing a pink variant of the unicorn, though without the horn, with a curly red mane and tail. Both tail and mane seemed to inflate comically, almost like balloons, before running empty as one, becoming flat. She began to cry, her body becoming gaunt until Alex could count her ribs.
“One by one...”
Another vision, now of a white-coated unicorn with a curled purple mane and tail, whose features rapidly turned monstrous, with sharp fangs and slitted eyes, who laughed heartily, though Alex knew there was nothing to laugh about.
“You’ve taken them...”
The next was of another small horse, but instead of a horn, it had wings on each side of her body, and a long flowing pink mane and tail. She stood up and dug her hooves into the dirt, her mane and tail igniting in flames as her eyes glowed brightly, before she roared in anger.
“Twisted them...”
Again, a winged horse, this time blue coated with a mane and tail in all colours of the rainbow. Her eyes looked around her wildly, as she put her hooves over her ears. She was trying not to listen, but failing as she rocked herself back and forth miserably.
“Hurt them...”
Another vision, this time of an small orange coated horse with a blond mane and tail. She reacted similarly to the former, putting her hooves over her ears to attempt to shut out a sound, while she had her eyes shut. However, she soon removed her hooves, a thin trickle of black goop oozing from her mouth. She opened her eyes to reveal only blackness. She began to shiver uncontrollably, just before the vision disappeared. The serpent let go of its own tail, showing not even a drop of blood where it had bitten itself, as it resumed circling him as it had before.
“And now, their world is next. You will bring ruin to their whole world!”
Alex was silent, staring blankly ahead of himself. Something inside him told him that like before, this thing was just trying to manipulate him, trying to hurt him, but this was different. It wasn’t his own mind at stake now. Throughout his life, he had never hurt another soul. For it to happen like this made his guts twist, pain welling up in his chest. Not the pain of sorrow, but of shame.
“I... How do I know you’re not lying!? What if none of this is true!”
The serpent broke from its circle to hover right in front of Alex. Impossibly, its grin seemed to grow.
“Have I ever lied to you before?”
The serpent backed off as Alex clutched his head with one hand. He looked around wildly, wracking his mind for a reason not to believe this thing. For any indication that this thing was lying to him. He could find none. There was no evidence at all that this thing wasn’t lying to him.
“How... How do I stop this? I can’t let this happen... They shouldn’t suffer on my account. I can’t let that happen.”
“Now you understand why you are here. Come. We are almost there.”
Alex looked at the serpent as it began to fly into the mists again.
“Where are we going?”
“To the end of your journey.”
Alex followed the serpent once more, but only a few steps into the mist made him run into steps leading up, carved out of the solid rock. The serpent led him up, further and further, until he broke out of the mists and beheld the wasteland again. Now, however, it was far behind him. The great canyon filled with mist seperated him from the wasteland by what appeared to be miles, and he could hardly believe he had walked all that distance in such a short time.
“This way, Alex. Not much farther now,” the serpent said, a small tremble in its voice.
The serpent led Alex to a rocky plateau, overlooking a great depth. Beneath him, stretching out for miles and miles, was a great ravine. Darkness flowed in the depths below like a lightless ocean. However, there was nothing here beyond the depths below.
“What is this place?” Alex asked, his voice hushed.
“This is the end, Alex.”
He looked at the serpent in confusion. He looked around again, but the plateau remained empty.
“But there’s nothing here.”
“There is the end, Alex. You have been brought here to make a choice,” the serpent explained, and as Alex looked into the depths below, he came to that final, horrid revelation.
“Your very presence is what causes the world around you, her world, to be poisoned. It will burn, and you will be entirely responsible. But you can end it... Right here.”
“No! No, that’s-that’s not true!” Alex cried out, terror in his voice. “There has to be another way.”
“You said it yourself. You can’t wake up. It’s either them... Or you.”
Alex fell to his knees on the stone plateau, cradling his head with both hands, as the serpent circled in the air above him, patiently awaiting the inevitable.
Tears still fell from Twilight’s face as she took one small step at a time further into the mist. She had been walking in a daze, the memory of her actions having crushed her desire to see her mission to its end. She felt utterly broken. She didn’t know how far she had gone into the mist, or in what direction, but it didn’t matter to her.
What kind of creature would want to hurt others? What kind of creature would make others feel like that? Why are you making me go through this? I just... I just wanted to save you. Do you even care?
I just... I just want to go home.
Her legs gave in, forcing her to lie down on the spot. Still the tears came, and she hadn’t the will left to stop them. For the first time, she began considering whether there even was a way out of this place. Whether she’d be able to escape at all. The thought only filled her with more despair.
With her next breath came a completely unexpected smell. The smell of grass and the forest. She blinked several times to see the mist around her gradually changing, until she found herself in a dark forest.
It’s... It’s the Everfree Forest. But how did I get here?
“I have to get out,” a strange voice echoed around her. It was the voice of the creature, she realised, but it didn’t sound like she expected. It sounded frightened.
“What is this place? How did I get here? This doesn’t make any sense!”
She heard something moving behind her. She got up and turned to see the creature step out of the forest and into plain sight. It walked past her, completely oblivious to her presence. It took her a moment to get over her initial shock before she walked after the creature.
“Hey, stop!” she called out, but the creature didn’t respond. Her face contorting in anger, she ran in front of the creature. She didn’t know why it was ignoring her, but she would be damned if she didn’t get some answers now.
“I’m talking to you!” she snarled at the creature, but to her amazement, he walked right through her, as though she wasn’t even there.
“I have to get out...” the creature’s voice echoed around again, this time more softly, but the creature’s mouth didn’t move. Twilight followed the creature, trying to figure out what was going on.
Did I get caught up in a dream? she wondered as she continued to follow the creature. He moved through dense foliage, causing Twilight to lose sight of him, but when she broke through it herself, the whole world had changed around her. The open sky was above her, though dark and filled with lightning. The creature stood at the edge of a deep decline, and below, she heard a familiar growl. As she looked over the edge, she saw the chimaera that had nearly killed her and her friends, as well as herself, still maintaining the barrier she used to hold it back.
This isn’t a dream... This is a memory.
“I can’t let this happen,” the creature’s voice echoed once again. “She saved me before. I have to do something. What am I supposed to do? If I go down there, I’ll get killed, or worse...”
The creature’s eyes drifted, now looking back into the dark forest behind them.
“And what else am I supposed to do, huh? Go back? To where? I’m going to die out there, and no one can help me.”
Twilight stared in shock at the creature’s incredibly fatalistic outlook.
Did he... Did he already give up on himself? But why? Ponyville wasn’t that far away. If he lived in the Everfree Forest, he should know that... But did he really come from here? If not, then where did he come from?
A mighty burst of air came from the basin below them. She already knew what had happened. The barrier had failed. This was it. The moment when the creature had decided to save them. She looked up at the creature with wide eyes, as it stared down into the basin. She knew that right now, it was locking eyes with her down in the basin.
“She... She saved my life. She did so twice, and all I’ve done was scare her in return. She... She doesn’t deserve this. She doesn’t deserve to die out here. All she needs is time to get out. And me... I’m not going to get out of this forest alive.”
“Celestia... He knew he was going to die,” Twilight uttered.
He took a deep breath, bringing the spear down to aim at his intended target. The chimaera below. His face was set in cold determination.
“At least this way, it won’t be in vain. At least, now, I’ll have made a difference.”
He jumped over the edge, and everything blurred. The memory faded away, returning Twilight to the mist.
“He... He saved us because of me,” Twilight said aloud as she put the final pieces of the puzzle together. “He knew it would kill him. He knew he wouldn’t survive, but still he did it.”
She looked at the world around her. The anger she felt before had fled entirely, replaced by a sense of regret. Suddenly, she began to believe that this place, whatever had been the cause of it, wasn’t just set up to torment her.
He must be out there somewhere too... And he may be suffering just as much as I had. I promised you I’d save you before. I still don’t know why all of this has happened, or why your mind looks like this... But I aim to keep that promise. I’m going to get you out of here.
The mists split before her, as though in response, and revealed a great flight of stairs leading up. The sky was revealed to her as well, the eye of the storm above centred directly on her.
I’m close. I’ll be there soon, and then we’re getting out of here, together.
“You must make a choice, Alex,” the serpent repeated.
“Shut up,” Alex snarled back.
“She suffers and cries while you exist. Would you really do that to her, Alex?”
“I said, shut up!”
I can’t do this, Alex thought as he looked into the great abyss below. What if he’s lying? I can’t know for sure! I can’t just give in like this!
“Well?”
“No. I’m not doing this. You’re lying to me, I know it!” Alex responded viciously. The serpent, though incapable of doing anything but grin, looked visibly taken aback by Alex’s response. It hesitated for a moment, until its milky eyes locked on something behind Alex. It began to glide, passing him, towards a sound that was coming from behind. The sound of hooves on stone.
He looked around, only to see the unicorn, climbing the last of the stairs. Her mane was disheveled, her coat dirty with the dirt of the wasteland, wet stains leading over her cheeks.
Alex looked up at the serpent in anger.
“What is this? A trick? Answer me!”
“Oh no, not a trick, Alex. This time, it’s all real... Isn’t it, Twilight?”
“Twilight...” Alex said as he stared at the unicorn in disbelief.
The serpent approached Twilight directly, making the her seize up completely, frozen with terror. It began to circle her, just as it had done to Alex sooner.
“Poor little Twilight, having come all the way out here just to beg you to stop. Now do you see, Alex? This must end here. You have caused so much suffering already...”
The unicorn’s ears drooped, and she looked ready to jump down the stairs if it meant she could get away from the flying serpent. Rage kindled in Alex’s chest, his fingers finding and closing around a rock at his feet.
“Go ahead, Twilight. Tell him of the horrors you’ve seen here. Tell him how much he hurt you.”
Alex could see her eyes begin to water again, and he couldn’t take much more than that. He threw the rock, which hit the serpent against its head. It hissed in anger and pain, quickly flitting its wings to fly off into the shadows.
His eyes met those of the unicorn. They were wide in awe, even bigger than normal, but they were reddened and puffy. She had been crying, he realised.
“He was right... He was right all along. This has to end.”
Slowly, he began to stand up. He turned around, looking at the immense void that yawned open in front of him. He took a step towards it, and then another, and another.
“What are you doing!? Stop!”
The unicorn charged in front of him, just three steps removed from the edge. She reared up on her hind legs, planting her hooves against his chest and leaning against him with all her weight.
“Don’t do it! Please! I don’t care what you did to me! I came all this way to save you! Please don’t let that have been in vain! Please...”
Her big violet eyes stared pleadingly at him, at the verge of tears. He felt his heart breaking up at the sight. He let himself down on one knee, bringing himself to eye level with her.
“Why?”
She looked at him in confusion, as though not understanding the question.
“Why would you go through all of this for me?” he asked, feeling his insides tying themselves in a knot as he confessed to her. “I’m the cause for all of this. I can end it, for the both of us.”
Her eyes went wide, this time in shock. Suddenly, she reached forward, hugging him softly.
“Please don’t,” she said, a tremble in her voice. “You saved me and my friends before. I don’t know what you think you did, but you don’t deserve this. I promised I’d bring you back. Please don’t make me break that promise.”
Alex could only sit there in shock. Slowly, his arms rose, shaking like leaves, as he reached around her neck and brought her in closer.
“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”
They released each other, as she looked at him, smiling. She suddenly gasped, staring at something behind him. He turned to see dozens, if not hundreds of the serpents crawling up the stairs from where he had come. They hissed in spite, before one rose up from the mass to speak.
“You can’t do this, Alex. It must end here! There is no alternative! And if it’s her that makes you think otherwise, then we’ll have to take her away from you!”
Alex quickly stood up, holding a hand behind him to motion for Twilight to stay.
“Stay behind me. I’m not letting them take you.”
She looked up at him in fear. He wasn’t going to let her down now. Alex took a step towards the serpents, who recoiled at his approach.
“No, Alex! This is not how it was supposed to happen.”
“I don’t care. Stay away from her.”
As one, the mass of serpents began to surge forward towards him. He held his arms in front of him to shield himself, panicking slightly as he imagined them biting into his limbs in unison. As soon as the mass of wriggling monstrosities reached him, however, they broke apart like water upon a rock. The mass fell apart like a shattered window, thousands of black scales and white fangs falling to the ground to dissolve into thin air.
“You can’t escape, Alex. We’ll always be here... Always,” the voice of the serpent spoke, slowly fading away into nothingness.
“So will I.”
Above, the sky began to change. The vortex of clouds rapidly disappeared, revealing a black midnight sky. Within, a single star appeared. Alex couldn’t help but smile at the sight. He turned around, to see the unicorn smiling at him again.
“You saved me.”
Slowly, Alex felt his consciousness fading away again. It wasn’t the life-sapping cold of before, or the all-consuming darkness that had come to claim him this time. It was a calm assurance that this time, he’d finally wake up from this nightmare.
Twilight awoke. The ground beneath her was soft and cold, and small flakes of snow floated gently in the air around her. A great slab of ice rose up in front of her.
“Where am I?” she asked herself. Only now did she notice a pulse beneath the ice, a light that appeared to flicker on and off. She approached the ice, putting her hoof against it to feel rhythmic vibrations passing through the ice. A heartbeat, she realised.
This... This is his heart. It’s so cold here...
The snowfall stopped. Though the world around her remained invisible behind a curtain of white, no more snowflakes fell. Only now did she notice a great crack in the ice, further ahead, from where spilt a black goop, oozing forth.
The ooze began to grow, before forming a shape that was roughly that of a pony. It was breathing heavily, and its mane was as disheveled as hers, but she recognized it as the spectre that had tormented her all this time.
“You... You can’t do this!” it cried out in anger. “This wasn’t how it was supposed to go! You were supposed to give in!”
“Well, I’m not giving in!” she called back in defiance. “I’ve come all this way, and I’m not giving up now.”
“You stupid fool!” the spectre called out as her horn began to glow. Unlike her own magic, however, this magic didn’t glow with its own light, but rather, seemed to sap the light from everything around it, giving it a strange dark aura. The magic began to reach out to Twilight, and she knew she had to do something.
I don’t have that much energy left. What if I can’t fight her? What if she’s stronger than me?
Just before the magic of the spectre reached her, Twilight fought back with magic of her own. To her surprise, she swept away the magic of the spectre like it was nothing. Her own magic enveloped the spectre. The spectre was swept off of her hooves, rising helplessly into the air, screaming in anger and struggling against Twilight’s magical grip. It surprised Twilight how easy she was able to keep a hold on the struggling spectre, like the spectre didn’t really have any strength at all.
Hanging upside down, the spectre now stared quietly at Twilight in anger.
“Go ahead, try! You don’t have the guts to destroy me! And even if you did, more will come. I’m but one of many! Father has too many nightmares for you to stop it by destroying me alone!”
Indeed, behind her, the tide of black ooze coming from the crack in the ice began to increase. Glowing eyes began to form in the black mass.
“I don’t have to destroy you,” Twilight responded plainly. “I just have to stop this from ever happening again.”
With her magic, she began to reach out and pull all the darkness she could out of the crack in the ice, holding it within her magical grip to prevent it from spilling out. Much to her surprise, it yielded easily to her will. It was still magic, corrupted and twisted as it may have been. As she brought the dark magic up into the air, she pushed the spectre spectre into it. It fused with the blackness, her eyes disappearing within.
Now, she began to shape a spell unlike any she had done before. She knew how to increase the flow of magic, how to make it easier for a unicorn to shape certain spells.
Now, all I have to do is the exact opposite... So none of this black magic will be able to flow!
A trio of golden runes, interlocking circles, was imprinted on the mass of black magic she held in her grip. It fell to the snow in a perfect round shape, no longer spilling or twisting around. The crack in the ice sealed itself again, and the snowstorm around her disappeared entirely.
I did it. I saved him... Just like he saved me.