T H E L E G E N D of E C H O
T H E ~ D I A M O N D ~ D O G
An MLP:FIM fanfiction written by: R U S T
with editing and proofreading by: Nathan Traveler, RaiderRy4n and Flame Runner
cover art and illustrations by: stupidyou3

ACT THE SECOND, CHAPTER THE SIXTH

In which the secret is revealed, a pegasus comes to terms, and an endgame is triggered...

Echo and Daring Do

The Cinderwings milled about, unsure and uneasy. They licked their wounds and cast nervous glances at the object of their respite. They knew of the plan, though most held doubts as to whether it would work or not.

A dusky gold pegasus in particular trotted back and forth, anxiety clearly etched upon her features. Paces away, a small zebra sat next to an elderly diamond dog, who clutched at his bandaged shoulder as he leaned on an old, knobby spear.

After more than a decade of adventures under her wings, her instincts had become sharper than steel, and she’d learned to trust them. Daring was a mare of action, tempered by the wisdom of experience. Simply sitting here, unable to know or do anything, was torture to her.

The plan had been sound. Of course it had been sound — it was her plan. She’d taken almost everything into consideration, and was absolutely sure it’s components would fall into place like a well oiled machine.

Some piece of the puzzle had warped, bent out of shape before it could be used. She looked deep inside herself and found it, clinging by a thread. The ethereal string binding her to Echo had vibrated and frayed, nearly snapping itself in twine when the surge of energy was released. Dimly, she realized with growing unease that she could not sense the slightest trace of her better half. No thoughts, no secondary emotions, not even a whisper of an instinct. She had forgotten what it felt like to be alone.

Pacing relentlessly back and forth, wearing a trail in the now-thin carpet of gold and gems, Daring Do huffed and cast what must have been the tenth worried glance of the minute at the brainchild she’d spawned.

Floating a foot off the stone pillar, a shimmering silver orb hung in the air, a great dewdrop of pulsing power that had swallowed the battle’s epicenter whole. A faint silhouette could be seen deep inside, the coiled form of the mighty dragon nestled with the hidden forms of Ginger and Echo. It reminded her of a massive egg, if the shell were made of magic.

The egg made no reply, only continuing to emit its low, steady drone. The diamond dog standing behind her, however, filled the silence.

“It been awhile since trap sprung.” Old Yeller picked his teeth. Ever the opportunistic diamond dog, his pockets and bags (as well as those of all the other Cinderwings) were bulging with wealth picked from the ground during their moment of respite.

“Ginger must have been able to store more power than we guessed. I figured only a few minutes would be necessary.”

“How many minutes has it been, Missus Do?” piped up the little zebra filly by the old dog’s side. She shuffled in place, clearly as apprehensive as Daring felt.

Well, of course she would be. The well being of her family was on the line. Daring frowned, glaring at the orb again. “About ten.”

Daring knew he was one of the more loyal of the pack. But he was also the most experienced. Many of life’s harsh lessons had been carved into his old hide, more than on hers. If he thought remaining here was a lost cause, he would most likely leave. “They aren’t trapped. This stasis will continue until the energy source is depleted, or until the caster banishes the effects.”

When she turned back to the pair, she saw it had become a trio. Entropy casually leaned on top of Zanza’s head, casually polishing a hoof as the zebra went cross-eyed looking up at him. He winked at her. “Or, you could do the right thing. It’s a bubble. So pop it. Get a big stick and jam it right in there. It’d make a wonderfully loud bang, I’d say.”

“Oooh, touchy.” He slithered over to her, coiling himself around. “Have faith in him, DD. If there’s any true constant I’ve seen, it’s that his incongruousness is impossible to rein for long.”

Entropy cackled. “Speaking of the devil. That was the door; pizza’s here.” He clicked his tongue and twirled away as Daring tired to kick him.

The Cinderwings glanced up from filling their pockets, once more taking up their discarded weapons and quickly gathering behind Old Yeller, seeking shelter and guidance from their senior member.

An almighty thunderclap shook the cavern to the core. The magic bubble shattered with a colossal implosion and a blast of hot pink light. Daring skidded backwards across the ground, her petite figure unable to withstand the resulting shockwave. She crashed into Rin-Tin-Tin, who yelped but held his ground as he and the other diamond dogs anchored themselves in by the claws.

When noise faded, she discovered that it had left the link reattached to the back of her mind. She caught herself revelling in the faint sensations it brought with it — five senses, not her own.

There was something off about his voice. There was something off about him. Usually, there was a constant sense of peace about him. Simply being aware of his presence in the rear of her thoughts was not unlike spending several minutes in quiet contemplation of a tranquil forest brook. He did not feel the same. He felt rough and cold, sandpaper on ice. Daring’s hackles rose unbidden. Cautiously, she pried herself off Rin-Tin-Tin and crept towards the cloud of smoke

The smoke gently wafted away, revealing a large cocoon of golden scales and delicate bones. Like a blooming flower, it unfolded, revealing the petals within:

— Ginger Snap, bristling with a grimace that bespoke wounded pride and a boiling temper, which smoldered beneath furious leaf-green eyes.

— Echo, shifting uneasily in place and leaning heavily upon his staff, expression unreadable from within the shadow of his hood.

— A lithe, golden dragoness, several times smaller than Daring remembered, sitting sphinxlike as her wings folded to her sides. The creature stared right at her, an eye ridge half-raised.

The other Cinderwings weren’t so complacent to contain their unspent aggression upon their foe. Snarling, the diamond dogs brandished their various weapons and encircled the small group. Rin-Tin-Tin leapt straight at the golden drake, axeblade singing in the foul air.

A blur of speed and magic-guided precision stepped in front of the charging canine’s path. The bloodied steel weapon was smashed to the side at the very last instant by a swirl of rune etched wood, burying into the stone half a foot away from the dragoness’ left foreclaw. She glanced down at the massive weapon with disinterest.

Rin’s remaining momentum was broken by the opposite end of the staff, coming around to complete the spin. It cracked him in the jaw, sending him twirling to the ground in the reverse direction.

Color returned. Echo stood stock still before the dragoness, tense, staff cocked for another flurry.

“Back! Get back!” Ginger was barking orders. The others had lurched forward at the display, herself included. Ginger would talk some sense into them. “There’s been a change of plan. Cinderwings, we have been betrayed by one of our own....”

But in the meantime, Daring needed answers, and she needed them faster than the speed of speech could deliver.

If a thought could actually have a temperature, she came damn close to boiling his head.

There’s been a change of plans, Echo replied, making his packmates scurry the other away with a threatening flourish of his staff. The message was clear; they were not to attack. The Lady is going to send us after Balto and Zanza’s folks.... of her own free will.

Daring glared coldly at the dragoness, whom had not moved the entire time. She’s helping us now?

Gee, that doesn’t seem suspicious or anything. And since when was her name ‘Lady?’”

What... what did you offer a dragon that she didn’t already have? We’re literally standing on a pile of bloody treasure and dead slaves.

He shuffled in place, a naughty little colt caught stealing from the cookie jar.

Echo... what did you do? Daring could hear the sound of Ginger speaking over the din within her head. The weird sensations she was picking up from Echo weren’t helping her pay attention to both things at once.

Daring looked at the dragoness, then back to him. Then at the dragoness, and back to him.

You’ve just befriended a psychopathic murderer who has killed dozens, enslaved hundreds, stolen thousands... and... and... she’s a monster, Echo! She’s a freaking monster! You’ve seen how she treats her property — she almost spat the word out loud. She’s evil!

We need her help. His thoughts were almost a whisper. Daring wondered whom he was trying to convince; her, or himself. We cannot salvage this quest without her. She can use her dragonfire to send us after Balto and the rest of our pack. If we don’t go after them, Ginger’s credibility as an Alpha will be shot... no diamond dog would ever respect her again, and we’d never be able to unite them as a single people.

We could find somepony else, Daring hissed. Somepony who knows the difference between right and wrong! If you’d stuck to the plan, we wouldn’t even have to do this!

As the heated exchange continued, she found herself advancing upon him, wings threateningly outstretched. Over the sound of her own blood roaring in her ears, she could hear Ginger continuing to address the others. She did not care what the unicorn had to say at the moment, though. There was only the heated focus on the tall diamond dog in the hood, his eyes no longer twinkling with spirit.

She could feel him, too, in how he reacted to her words. It was a strange sensation, knowing the direct effect you were causing another. Their link trembled and flexed as pangs of guilt and anxiety rattled the anchors. But her resolve only hardened. If there was one thing Daring prided herself on more than anything else, it was her sense of justice, honed to a razor’s edge from years spent in the wilds, where there was no law, only gut decisions and whip-snap judgements.

This ‘Lady’ had committed terrible crimes. For that, she must be punished. Right. That’s how it worked. She should suffer for the suffering caused. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Echo remained just as stubborn, much to her frustration. If we stuck to the plan, we’d have done the exact same thing she’d done! We would have enslaved her to our will! Dares, the whip would never have been dropped that way, only changed hands!

She would have deserved it. The pegasus was in his face, hovering above the stone to look him in the eye. Her blood was roiling now, full of salt and fire. Never before had she felt so wrathful.

We would have become the very thing we sought to destroy. Echo could not meet her burning gaze, no matter how hard he tried. Slavery and tyranny have no place in the world we’re trying to make, he mumbled.

She deserves to be helpless! She deserves to feel exactly what she inflicted on those innocent lives! She should feel every scar, every day of mistreatment, every drop of blood that has stained these caves!

“Listen to you!? No. YOU. LISTEN. TO. ME.” She was shouting now, but she didn’t care. Hot tears were running down her face, but she didn’t bother wiping them. The stares of the others prickled the back of her neck, but she was past being reined in by that. “You can’t just let evil go unpunished! She has to pay with everything left! And if you seem to like her so much, maybe you can join her!”

Echo shivered underneath her. When had she knocked him down? Daring, her slaves are dead and her treasure is forfeit. She’s got nothing left but her life.

A heavy, uncomfortable silence suddenly made itself aware to her. Daring glanced around. The other Cinderwings were staring at her with mixtures of shock and horror. Ginger Snap looked like she’d tasted something foul, and trembling beneath her was little Zanza. To the side, the object of her fury had not moved an inch, impassively watching all that was transpiring.

That came from him, nothing more than a hoarse ripple that brought everything crashing back down around her. She looked down at him, sprawled out beneath her. There was a thin trickle of blood coming from one of his nostrils. She lifted up a hoof, finding a small stain of red on it.

“Oh... sweet, Celestia.” She staggered off him. “What... what did I just...” Everything kept collapsing. The wrath and terrible, nasty thoughts fled from her, leaving an aching void that she realized was absent of his presence. He’d completely fled, and the last taste of him within her was one of fear and... recognition? And, and... she’d just said that... oh, no no no no...

She was barely aware of when he carried her back to the others, cradled gingerly in his arms like she were made of glass. He’d wrapped her in his robe, which was dirty and stank but worked as an excellent cocoon to hide her shame and tears.

She was barely aware of when Ginger had settled things down again. Or when she grudgingly asked the Lady Pyrite to send them on their way, to the same destination of their quarry.

She was barely aware when an almost unbearable golden heat washed over them, so strong she could see it through her tightly-closed eyes. It pulled at her, sucking her in and up simultaneously.

She was barely aware when she felt a jolt of energy from him, changing something, and suddenly they were wrenched away from the heat and light, falling...

Echo appeared with a wash of golden flames ten feet above the sandy dune, falling as gracefully as he could while clutching the precious bundle to his chest. He awkwardly hit the dune paws first and his ankle rolled, soon followed by the rest of his body. The diamond dog tumbled head over heel all the way down, finally coming to a bone-jarring halt in the depression at the bottom.

Wincing, he uncurled himself, looking down to find his cargo safe and secure by his side. The sharp sniffles and gasps from within the wrapping told him that she’d made it... physically.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t wait a little longer. The desert sky was beautiful, a pristine pale blue that reminded him of tropical oceans and baby blankets. He stared at it for a while until his heart stopped racing and the magic in his veins cooled down to the point where it didn’t feel like his insides were burning. Yet another quirk in the life of an arcane sponge...

He cracked his spine as he stretched up to his full height, surveying the land. Dunes as far as the eye could see, punctuated here and there by a lonely bush or cacti. In the distance, deep purple mountains reared their heads, a line of silver green just beneath them. That was the Ironwood Grove, he realized. Meaning one of those features near it were undoubtedly...

One of the mountains abruptly lit up like a christmas tree, sprouting a crown of light and smoke. In awe, he watched as it crumpled in upon itself, a ship of stone and jewels sinking beneath the Ironwood waves. Even from here, he could hear a slight groan in the air as the earth warped, the sensitive pads on his paws picking up the distressed vibrations that only a mountain falling into the abyss could bring.

He blinked. Daring hadn’t been kidding about the proximity trigger. Move far enough away from the explosives... and... boom. He reckoned they’d gone well out of range. He’d made sure to rip out of the dragonfire after good distance had been achieved.

Echo glanced down at his paws. The bandages were blackened and crumbling, and even still emitted faint wisps of arcane-smelling golden smoke. He quickly reached inside the sash worn around his waist and produced a small glass vial. He wouldn’t have much time.

Working swiftly, he ripped off a chunk of the still-smouldering bandages and placed it inside the vial, stoppering it with a cork. He held it up for scrutiny. Curious. Even cut off from air, it continued to burn...

Speaking of, the rest of his bandages had continued to burn, and he proceeded to tear these away and throw them into the sand, where they were consumed with golden fire until nothing was left but ash. His forearms felt painfully sensitive to the harsh desert sun, the pale, puckered scarring almost sizzling under the heat. He wiggled his fingers.

A low groan from the pony lying at his feet levered his mind back onto the rails.

With a click of his tongue, he gently hauled the pegasus-cocoon over his shoulders, fireman style. Climbing to the top of the dune rewarded him with much of the same view as before, except from a marginally higher vantage point.

Except there on the horizon. Was that it? He shaded his eyes with a paw. Too far away to tell. Echo opened up the compass that dangled from around his neck.

The compass spun wildly for a split second, before halting stone-set at the point he’d been eyeing before.

Excellent. Not only had he successfully hijacked the teleportation, he’d proven himself reasonably accurate at magically travelling to a place he’d never seen before with the exception of maps and books. His paws still felt tingly from ripping that dragonfire apart and shaping it to his will.

Amazing, the kind of stuff one could learn from a book! He’d have to look into completing Starswirl the Bearded’s Appendix Arcana. If the first edition had served him this well, who knew what he might accomplish. He grinned. Why should unicorns have all the fun?

Echo scowled and made a rude noise at the object, before slinging it around his neck once more. It was hot, even more so without his hood and robe. He was beginning to pant. Time was now of the essence.

Whistling a catchy tune from a thought-forgotten place and time, the diamond dog set off at an easy lope, singing in his head to chip away at the hours-long journey ahead.

        What’s going on?
        Could this be my understanding?
        It’s not your fault,
        I was being too demanding.
        I must admit!
        It’s my pride that made me distant.
        All because
        I hoped that you’d be someone different.

Oh, yes indeed, he could feel it in his bones. Today was a day for movers and shakers, destroyers and makers. He had a long list to accomplish in the time alone he’d bought himself. But first... first he and Daring were going to have a talk that was long overdue.

There’s not much I know about you.
Fear will always make you blind.
But the answer is in clear view.
It’s amazing what you’ll find — face to face...

While its wares oftentimes produced the same effect, the Appleoosan salt bar was nevertheless a vendor of a different sort of product, and was obliged by the powers that be to open at a different time of day than the places of sin and gin.

The various occupants of the fine establishment simultaneously winced as the bar doors were thrown open, letting in retina-searing sunlight into the dankly lit cave of intoxicate consumption. A moment later, a tall, lanky silhouette ducked through the entrance. He drew eyes for a few moments, but the the regulars were either too far gone or too lazy to care much about a travel-worn diamond dog in a hood with an exhausted-looking pegasus riding piggyback.

Echo raised an eyebrow at the place, guessed the vibe he was feeling was what it must feel like to be in a poorly-funded spaghetti western. Or a mediocre story with an author desperate enough to go for that sort of thing. He snorted softly and approached the bar.

“What’ll it be, stretch?” asked the bartender, looking up, up, up, at the towering figure.

The bartender frowned. “Water?” Who comes into a salt bar to drink water? Well, the guy had paid. With a shrug, he filled up two large glasses full from the tap, adding an ice cube in each with a flourish. He was feeling generous today.

Echo gave him a nod of thanks, and retreated to the darkest corner he could find. There, he slid into the booth, softly depositing his cargo in the seat across from him.

Daring Do slumped over the table, letting her head rest on the cool, pitted surface. She’d been quiet the entire time, ever since the teleport. He’d tried to talk to her, but found that her mind had become almost impenetrable, veiled by a solid wall of thought that surely hid a churning mind.

He let her be. When she was ready, she would come to him, because she knew he had the answer. Whether or not she was ready for what it meant, though, was still in the air.

In the meantime...

Echo reached into their saddlebag, the other member of the pair still with Ginger Snap (wherever she might be), rummaging around for a few moments, before catching hold of something. He pulled, and a pale mustachioed alicorn’s head was suddenly yanked out of the bag.

“I have no idea how I got in here,” said Entropy. “I’m supposed to be comedic relief, but I think I’m in the wrong chapter.”

Another moment of digging produced a scrap of parchment and a pen. Echo also removed the vial from his sash, checking to see if the contents were still smouldering within. They were, he noted with a blink.

Satisfied with the message, he rolled it tightly and bound it with a red ribbon. Now came the tricky part.

He opened up the vial and sprinkled all the smouldering ashes onto the letter, holding it in his bare hands as he gently blew upon the cinders. They caught almost immediately, the dry parchment igniting with golden flame. Fixing an image of the recipient in his mind, he then tossed the burning article into the air. It dissolved into fire before it could fall back down, and the licks of gold abruptly zipped away from the table, out a nearby window, and streaked for the northern horizon.

Despite everything, Echo grinned. He might have just made history. The first diamond dog to send a message by way of dragonfire! The founding fathers of magic would be rolling in their graves if they knew.

Then, and only then, did he begin to drink his water. It tasted a bit like metal, but he actually preferred that flavor nowadays.

He sat in the darkened corner and began to think. Daring was going to return to herself eventually, and when she did, he would need to explain himself. He would need to tell her exactly why she had acted the way she did back in the cave. She probably already had a theory brewing — she was smarter than he was, in a sense — but he would blow that out of the water.

They were bound at the soul by magic, a bond that was a blessing as much as it was a curse. They could feel what the other felt, think what the other thought, and see what the other saw.

However, that link carried a darker burden. Primordial instincts also crossed the gap. Echo caught himself wistfully glancing at the sky now and again, longing to feel the rush of wind through his ears, even spending long hours atop the roof of their caravan in an attempt to feel closer to the heavens. It was an actual medical condition, he’d discovered, called skysickness, unique in pegasi whom for one reason or another found themselves with wings clipped. Daring, though... Daring’s brain was being forced to accept a program not designed for a creature of her wiring.

In the cave, Daring had wanted to kill the Lady. It was in a moment of weakness, brought about by a sense of betrayal and confusion, and could be forgivable under most circumstances.

What deeply unsettled Echo, however, was the why. He had felt every ounce of scalding wrath pouring across the link. Daring had wanted to kill not out of anger or spite or even a sense of duty.

And Echo knew, deep in his heart of hearts, there was only one creature on this world capable of being guided to such an ends by such a means.

Not the diamond dog shell he inhabited, but the soul within, the very real, very fallible core of identity he still clung to. Even diamond dogs would not kill for revenge. They fought for honor and glory and pride, but never revenge. Ponies were even morally higher, meting out only justice. They always believed the act to be to right a wrong, to do better, never simply to even the score. Frost Snap’s actions within the Greenclaw Den had been in the name of bringing a criminal and his accomplices to heel, no matter how personally biased he was. Ginger Snap’s execution of Ahuitzotl at Wethoof had been fueled by the need to halt a monster before he could harm any more innocents.

Nothing else in Equestria carried that cruel capacity to hold a life to so little value.

And try as he might to repress his natural-born instincts, they were leaking out.

Echo sipped at his glass. He was not sure what could be done. He did not know how she would be affected by this new pattern of thought within her. For the first time, Echo didn’t have an answer to this problem.

With that in mind, he reached across the table and with a touch soft enough for butterfly wings, brushed away the mane that had fallen over Daring’s face. She’d fallen asleep hunched over the table. His fingers prickled with consciousness. She was dreaming. A gentle surge through his fingertips, and the link was restored.

Dust shimmered through the beams of light, cast from shattered window sills and punctured walls.

Inside the ruins of a once-great library, a small pegasus was curled up under a moldy table in the corner, stifled sobs shaking her body with an almost violent intensity. Her coat was the color of desert sand, her mane a raven black.

She felt terrible. Like something was crawling around in her chest and wanted out. Something dark and frightening. Something strangely alluring. Maybe she wanted it to come out? Maybe she should —

“Trottingham Public Library,” she read aloud from a sign near a grand set of double doors. But that was impossible... Trottingham Public had burned to the ground three days after her cuteceñera. And yet, here she was, in the very place her life of adventure and excitement had begun.

        She wiped some snot off herself with a hoof, blinking away tears.

        “H-hello?”

That was stupid. The place had been abandoned to mice and mold long before she’d been born, replaced by a newer facility at the nearby university. The city had never got around to demolishing the old one, though, and it had fallen into ruin. Who in Equestria would answer ba —

Something crept out from in between the rotten shelves, moving with surprising softness for being so tall. It was pale and hairless, clothed in tattered blue rags below the waist, and above was an old green sweatshirt, open down the front and sleeves unprofessionally ripped off. The hood was up, but she could see the strange, squashed-looking face within the shadows, and the odd little half-smile it carried.

She slowly backed under the table, eyes wide. “Who... are you?” She swallowed. “How do you know my name?”

The thing came to a stop a fair distance away. Far enough that she felt she could run if it tried anything, but close enough for her to make it out in detail. “My name?” It said softly. “My name...”

She could only stare. It’s mouth wasn’t moving, but it was making sound all the same.

“You know, I’ve actually forgotten! I don’t think I’d recognize it anyway. It belonged to a different person.” The thing scratched its head with a pale, hairless paw, dextrous little fingers wiggling like worms. “That’s... jeez, kind of sad, actually. But for the sake of what you already know, just keep calling me Echo.”

She felt herself spasm. Her stomach clenched with discomfort as the fit passed. Why did the space underneath the table seem so small all of a sudden? She blew her bangs out of her face. They hadn’t been that long a moment ago. “I... think I know you,” she said slowly. Her mind felt foggy and sluggish, unwilling to cooperate with her. Memories were trying to surface, but met a strange resistance.

In response to that, the thing threw back its hood. It had odd little ears on the side of its head, not the top, and its face looked like if a pony had lost its muzzle and stuck a little knob on in place of it. With those strange fingers, it reached around it’s neck and pulled off a golden chain, dangling from which was a very familiar golden compass.

Daring jumped, bumping her head against the table. “Hey!” she squeaked. “That’s mine!” Yep, it had definitely gotten smaller under here.

The creature tossed it across the library. She leaned out of her cover and caught her precious treasure in her left wing. The right wing brushed away the last of her tears. “Did you?”

It grinned a little, showing off little pointy teeth in the corners of its mouth. “Of course,” it softly said.

“Hmmph.” She crept out a little further, holding it up to the light. The golden compass had been polished recently, many of the scratches that adorned it in her early days buffed out by tender love and care. She flipped it open, watching the needle spin. “How does it work? If I really gave it to you, I would have told you that.”

“It’s called the Homeward Rose. It will point to any real place that the user knows the location of. Home especially.” The creature seemed to wince a little at that. “Very rare. Very useful. And very important to you.”

She began to cautiously circle the creature, picking her way carefully over spilled books and ruined furniture. Every time she passed through a beam of sun, her fur lit up a brilliant amber-gold. It made no move towards her, remaining standing on its hind legs with forelimbs clasped behind its back, facing the same direction as before but watching her with pale gray eyes whenever she came into view.

“No. It’s natural for me to be like this.” It chuckled. “Takes a couple years to get the hang of, though.”

“I am what is known as a human being. Homo sapiens, in the dead language.”

“‘Kay... and how do I know you... Echo? I’ve never seen anything like you before.”

“I saved your life. You saved mine in return.” It pulled apart the sweatshirt covering its torso, revealing a massive, ugly scar right across the base of his neck. “Couldn’t save my voice though, but I’ve learned to make do.”

“Yeah...” She felt herself spasm again at the sight of the wound. “I think I remember... it was in the jungle... I was being chased. Corned at the river.” She blinked. Had her voice gotten a little deeper? “Ahuitzotl was there. You... fought them off, bought me time. And then...”

“...That happened.” She finished lamely. “But we got away, didn’t we? In the river. And I stitched you back up with —”

She frowned. “But... I don’t think you were you. You didn’t look like this, I mean.”

“No.” The creature’s form flickered for an instant, becoming a good foot taller and much bulkier, soft reddish-brown fur covering its body as long white fangs glinted from its mouth. “You see me in my second skin. It was thanks to the entity you know as Discord that changed me, took me from my home and sent me to the jungle.”

“Because I asked,” it said with a sad tone of voice. Without checking to see if she came, it began to move through the library, down the large aisle in the center that ran to the staircase in the back.

She found herself hesitantly following several paces behind, compass lightly slapping against her breast with every step.

The staircase took them to a tight, crumbling hallway. The walls’ deterioration had progressed to such a state that she could stick her head through some of the holes. Doing so rewarded her with a view of the city. Unsettlingly enough, there was nothing outside the library that she recognized, just generic brick and stone buildings scattered haphazardly around. Her old, familiar neighborhood was gone. Even the ponies looked strange. She called out and waved to one, and when they looked, she jumped away from the hole with a strangled gasp. They had no faces.

Shuddering, the pegasus scampered on down the hall, where a strip of rags swishing around the corner told her the path to follow.

When she rounded the turn, however, the human had vanished and the hallway had changed. The spongy wooden boards faded away to dark metals and pale plastic. The walls and ceiling were almost solidly black, so dark they appeared to vanish. Soft lights were embedded into the floor, and as she cautiously crept onwards, felt the vaguest impression of a runway.

“Are you all right, Dares?” its voice asked from somewhere ahead. She was beginning to get a sense of vertigo from this place.

“Yeah,” she muttered. There was no end in sight. She certainly didn’t remember this particular stretch in the library.

She whirled around, but saw nothing. The hallway vanished into the distance, the corner she had rounded suddenly gone.

“You have a tell. The primaries on your left wing always give a little twitch.”

“No I don’t.” She paused, fixing the accused appendage with a glare. Sure enough, the tawny feathers were giving the slightest of trembles. “...How did you know that?”

“I know you very well, Dares. But you don’t know me. That’s why you’re here. You aren’t feeling well, are you?”

“No,” she admitted. That thing was crawling around in her chest again, pushing things aside and slithering around in her flesh.

“I...” There was a light at the end of the hallway. She broke into a gallop for it, wings flapping at her sides for that extra boost of speed.

“And no matter how much you try to flee it, the problem is going to be with you!” the voice called.

She burst through the light, momentarily blinded. When the glare faded, she saw that she was standing in the old library’s planetarium. Dust feel peacefully from the rafters, and large circular models — some larger than her — of the heavens swayed gently back and forth from fraying ropes.

It was sitting on the sphere closest to her, the blue and green one, legs crossed beneath it and holding onto the rope with one arm. “But if you can face it, tame it, embrace it, then it won’t be harmful. It might even make you stronger,” it said.

“Humanity. You and I are linked, Dares. We share things, things normally bound to the mind and soul. Do you remember that?”

She... thought she did. Another shuddering seizure wracked her body, and she fell to her knees, gasping. Through her mind’s eye ran images of a powerful magic storm, terrible blast of light and heat,, but swiftly followed by a comforting presence, pouring itself over the hurt like the cool waters of a river. Her head felt just a bit more crowded than before, as if an extra thought were swimming about, one that she could not remember thinking.

Her voice definitely sounded deeper. She stood again up again, and found her legs had grown, too. She was getting bigger! She wasn’t a filly anymore... but not yet a mare. She flapped her wings, feeling the developing muscles flex and stretch. That thing under her skin clawed and squeezed, having grown with her. It was getting even worse.

The answering thought was warm and soothing, the kind of voice she’d thought would tell her stories as she was tucked in for the night. Allowing herself to be calmed by it, she observed the planetarium. “I don’t remember it being set up like this,” she commented.

Dangling in the center of the room was an enormous yellow sphere, so dirty that she could barely make out the flicker of a luminescent crystal from within. Normally Equestria took the central slot. Close to it was a smaller orb, gray and rocky. Beyond that, a pale one, larger and streaked. Echo’s orb lay next, and it seemed Luna’s moon had moved close to his. Farther out, a red sphere, rusty and cold. Beyond that, the planets grew huge again, one even sporting an enormous ring.

My star, my sun, is called Sol, and is in the center of the system. My planet, my homeworld, is called Earth. There is no magic here. We weren’t so lucky.

An ominous creak sounded from the rafters above, and the entire contraption lurched into motion, old gears and cogs groaning in protest. The orbs began to move in a wide orbit around the yellow one, some slow, others fast.

It takes three-hundred and sixty-five days to make a trip around Sol; one year. My kind has existed in roughly this state for the past two-hundred thousand years. Life has been on our world for three and a half billion. The earth itself has existed for four and a half.

I am a human, descended from an unbroken line of creatures that stretches all the way back to the very beginning. Life on Earth is hard and unforgiving, but rewards those who can learn to survive. Those who can adapt will pass on what they know. Eventually, the creatures themselves will begin to change to their new habits, and although this process takes eons, will result in the success or death of a species. It’s kill or be killed on Earth. Everything has learned to defend itself, take you down before you know what’s happened, or leave you in its dust.

But humans... we were the best at it. We weren’t the strongest, or fastest, or the most poisonous... and we certainly aren’t the most impressive. But we were smart. Some say too smart. And we used our intellect to catapult ourselves from primitives huddling in caves to the masters of the land. After we conquered nature, we built cities from dust and miracles from ashes. But all that knowledge, all the power, it changed us, warped us, and we only turned on each other, unable to let go of the drive to dominate, to rise to the top, even though there were no more rungs on the ladder.

Just then, the blue and green orb it rode upon broke free, the rotten rope finally sucumbing to time and gravity. It leapt clear and rolled as it landed near her, smoothly popping back up on hind legs as the model planted was crushed to pulp and splinters.

Alone, we are merely dangerous. Together, we are nigh unstoppable. And it is our instincts that you have begun to harbor within yourself.

She glanced down at her breast as a particularly painful twinge hitched her lungs.

Then let it out. Control it. It’s a part of you, now. Never fight who you are. Embrace it. Wear it like armor. Drink it like wine. Hate it if you will, love it if you must. But never deny what you are, for your identity is the greatest strength a soul can bear.

It laughed, even though the mouth never opened. There are bad humans and good humans, just like there are good ponies and bad ponies. What makes us different is what we do with what we have.

Her brow furrowed, thoughts beginning to race within her fevered mind. “You said we share things. Isn’t that two ways? Doesn’t that mean while I’m getting all this... human... in me, you’re getting pony?”

I am. And eventually... we’re going to meet somewhere in the middle. But that won’t be for a while, and the real test here is going all the way.

The floor beneath them began to groan ominously. She was suddenly struck by the realization that this entire level of the library was at risk of collapse. “We should go,” she said.

She did. But instead of returning to the musty wreck down below, she continued across the planetarium and through the doorway on the far wall. She picked a random direction at the new hallway presented and began at a cautious canter.

One staircase later, and she fancied she could hear the sound of birds and smell the salty harbor air.

The laboratories on the upper levels had normally been off-limits to the public. Here, the local university students and their professors spent their time experimenting. Concoctions of chemicals, mixtures of matter, and the designs of dreams still littered the tables and benches of the place, combined with a stale tang in the air that described years of immobile ingredients. It had been off limits to the common pony, of course, but she was anything but a common pony.

They walked amongst the ruined equipment, the crunching of glass beneath them almost obnoxiously loud.

She sighed, peering into the murky depths of a beaker at a dark, purple-ish fluid within. It smelled like dead fish and eggplants. “Lack of funding, mostly. The University built a new library on-campus, and they were the major source of coin for the place. After the academics left... it didn’t last long.”

The human inspected a contained of its own, letting out a hiss and wincing away as it noted its reflection. She barely made it out, but the brief flicker of motion was something warped and twisted, something caught in between a bunch of strings and pulled every which way.

Just then, her chest exploded into pain. She dropped on the spot, too surprised to react in any other way than simply fall face-first into the ground. “Aaagh-k-k!” she screamed, writhing.

A concerned face appeared above her, a gentle hand laying itself on her thrashing limbs.

“That doesn’t answer — AGH!” She curled into a ball as something slammed into the inside of her chest. “...My question. Gkk!” Her mane fell in front of her face. Once raven-black, it had grayed into an intriguing colorless rainbow.

She was being scooped up, cradled now. They were moving again. She could feel something moving within its ribcage, bucking and roiling almost tit-for-tat with hers. She hadn’t considered Echo would be in the same predicament.

Lurching, the human staggered through the decrepit laboratories, shouldering open the final staircase in the library.

She knew this place. It was as ingrained to her as the mark upon her flanks. This was the very spot where she had earned it, after all. The first expedition of an illustrious career; the library’s forbidden floor. It wasn’t exactly a grand treasure hunt... but it was a start, and she’d never forgotten the thrill of making it to a place few ponies had ever even seen.

Here, high above the city, amongst the rusting cogs and disintegrating masonry, they collapsed in a heap. Corroding iron dusted the floor, and the mighty, broken clock face had long since shattered, allowing the full light of day to shine through. The unsettling groaning of the entire structure was overlooked in their plight as they lay side by side, each convulsing their own throes.

“What’s going on!?” she shrieked above the sound of her blood roaring through her ears.

The human’s body flickered again, and suddenly in its place a tall, thin diamond dog, shuddering on the floorboards right alongside her. He looked over at her.

Your b-body may have already... gah... already accepted the changes. He was struck a with a powerful spasm, going completely rigid for a moment while the thing in his chest kicked harder and hard. But only now h-has your mind begun!

He jerked again, and something punched straight through his ribcage. His face contorted into one long, silent, scream, and the diamond dog shuddered once more before falling still.

In the blinding waves of her own agony, she watched as the hoof twitched, planted itself on the dead husk, and began to push, soon followed by a shoulder, a neck, a head... a body... an entire pony slithered out, covered in unnatural birthing. It was an earth pony, palomino with deep dark-brown spots blending in with creamy yellow, a shaggy, brownish-red mane covering his eyes, a pale gray. Across his throat lay a wide, ugly scar.

And she began to scream. It felt like her insides were about to explode, to tear themselves to pieces, set themselves afire and force themselves right out her body.

Her ribcage finally buckled, and a thin, pale, bloodied hand ripped her apart. She stopped screaming. She felt herself getting tired, just lying there at this thing coming out of her chest and she just felt like going to sleep right there oh why oh why was the floor moving why was she so tired...

She clawed herself back from the dark brink, and pushed against all sanity to fight, to live. She rose. She pulled herself up and up and up, through the red and the salt and the light.

Her hand rose up to meet it. Her golden compass wrapped its chain around the joining.

In the comforting dark of the saloon, Echo surged back into himself, coming awake with such force that he jerked back in his seat, slamming the back of his head into the wall.

Across the table, Daring stirred, a twitch and then a cute sneeze. She groggily raised herself up off the table, smacking her lips.

Daring put her head in her hooves, slowly massaging her temples. “So... you mean to tell me that all this time you’ve been an Outlander?”

The diamond dog furrowed his brow, before holding out a paw. She met it. What is an Outlander?

“I’ve only heard mention of them in the oldest texts and carvings,” Daring said. “Always described as ‘children from the stars.’”

Echo was genuinely surprised, something he thought did not happen enough. You mean to tell me there are more humans here?

“Right. One would think there’d be more variety than just humans and ponies. I’ve seen fragments describing all sorts of species. But to meet one in the flesh!” She leaned backwards, giving him a rueful grin. “Oh, I always knew you had something up your sleeve. You never fail to astound me.”

Daring tapped her free hoof against the table. “This whole situation, an Outlander in Equestria, isn’t that unheard of. There used to be hundreds! But... as far as I know, the last of them either died or disappeared almost eight centuries years ago. Those that didn’t go into hiding...”

What? Echo’s ears pricked. What happened to them?

“Celestia happened, apparently.” Daring shuddered. “After Nightmare Moon used some Outlanders in her rebellion — to horrific results, might I add — Celestia began to hunt them down. She offered two choices; stasis, or deportation from the realm of Equestria itself.”

The diamond dog slumped and seemed to shrink in size. I suddenly regret ever making jokes about Mexicans.

Nothing. Look. Dares... I really want to apologize for this. For everything. Keeping you in the dark about this — it wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. To you. To us. I was just... afraid, I guess. I was afraid of what you’d think of me knowing that I wasn’t... normal.”

“Normal?” Daring exclaimed. “You’ve never been anything but.” She pulled away from him, breaking the contact. “And you should be apologizing. This kind of information is dangerous. You never lied to me about it, but you never told the truth, either. That hurts.”

Daring continued at a murmur. “Look... this does change a few things. And I’m sure we can work through them. But... Echo, hun. This is pretty huge. I’m gonna need some time to get my head around it all. And... until then... maybe we should cool things off a little bit. I just. I can’t go back to the way things were like that.”

“I’ll always be there for you, big guy. You’re my best friend. You complete me. And you’ll always be there for me, no matter what. We’re a team. But... I think we need to take a step backwards, at least for awhile.” Daring shakily exhaled. “I know you’re sorry. I want to forgive you, too, but... this is just too big to brush off like that.”

Echo sniffled. The sound was so surprising that she looked up at him in shock. Even more astounding was the wetness brimming in his eyes. But the small smile he wore said it all — he was in agreement, even if it hurt.

The diamond dog downed his glass of water and abruptly placed it back down, before standing up. He jerked his head towards the door.

Daring slowly crept out of the booth. “So... care to explain what we’re doing here?” she asked, faintly brushing up against his side as they moved through the saloon.

Gonna stack the cards in Ginger’s favor. But first, I need some info from an old friend of mine.

Echo didn’t answer, instead choosing to push through the swinging doors and out into the stinging sunlight.

Sitting calmly in the middle of the road was a golden dragoness, looking for all the world as if she were reclining in the shade in some imagined paradise far away. Lady Pyrite clicked her tongue, addressing him. “It is fortunate you are here now. The ponies have begun to grow wary.” Sure enough, the local Appleoosans were leaning on their railings and reclining in their shaded boardwalk chairs, as they always did around this time of day, but a marked tension could be felt in the air.

Echo brushed past her, murmuring as he did, “I asked her to come. Just because you have a piece of an alien race inside you doesn’t mean you’re incapable of civility. No, this is from what’s already there. Give her a chance, Dares. At least that much.” The diamond dog gave the dragoness a short bow and a half-hearted smile, before continuing on down the road. Daring remained on the covered walkway, dumbstruck.

Lady Pyrite turned to follow, offering her a neutral raise of her eye-ridge. The unspoken invitation was genuine, at least.

Daring frowned, hopping down to the road and falling in beside the golden dragoness. “I don’t like you,” she said out of the corner of her mouth keeping her eyes on the plodding diamond dog further up the street.

The Lady didn’t bat an eye. “Perhaps. We shall see what becomes of this experiment. It is a worthy alternative to sleeping for centuries at a time.”

Daring’s nostrils flared as she exhaled, narrowing her gaze. “You get one chance. One. Chance. If I see even the slightest of slip-ups, I’ll buck your fangs straight down your throat.”

And with that, she tore off after Echo, leaving a very amused dragoness padding easily down the dusty desert road.

“Ever hear of the Dust Devils?” he replied, the smallest of contacts occurring as he walked beside her.

-Perk: The Code (+5 gentleman, +5 spirit) Every chivalrous man has a set of rules he shall never cross. But... in the game of love an war... they're more like guidelines, anyway.

-Perk: Prototype Telepathy Spell: (+6 intellect, +20 magic) [RANK 2] Continued usage and experimentation of the magical link between the two of you has resulted in an unexpected amplification of the spell matrix. You are now able to have the same dreams, among other things.

-New Spell: Mammalian Mask: You have learned the art of altering your physical state. Echo can now access his pony form during dreaming and special magical circumstances, and the same applies to Daring's human form.

The Legend of Echo the Diamond Dog

by Rust

[II - Sixth] Face to Face