“Darling, I can’t tell you how good it feels to be rid of that dreadful cage!” Rarity cried, hugging Twilight tightly.
“I can guess!” Twilight gasped, Rarity’s hug a bit tight for her tastes. It was nice to held by her friend after such a long time apart, though.
Lyra received a similarly breath-squelching hug from the Element of Honesty when she was released from the stockade. “Oh sugarcube, Ah can’t tell ya how relieved Ah am!”
Lyra smiled good naturedly, hugging Applejack back, but stepped away to let the three friends discuss what they would do. It wasn’t her style to get between loved ones.
Instead, she looked over toward the front gate, where the majority of their forces had moved. Almost no Diamond Dog guards had stayed in town. Of course, being awoken at the crack of dawn to the roars of the Tyra family, Lyra couldn’t find any reason to blame them.
What few Diamond Dogs that had stayed in town were no trouble. One specifically, Lyra remembered his name was Lance, had helped convince the others to surrender to the forces popping out of the ground.
Lyra thought he looked familiar, but that didn’t surprise her. She had spent a lot of time traveling between Ponyville and the caves, using a tiny tunnel that Spike had discovered when looking for a place to hide books. While it was nice to have an easy way in and out of Ponyville, the tunnel simply wouldn’t have been practical for that morning’s assault.
Applejack slapped Lyra on the back, bringing her out of her daydream. “Where’d that Creed go?” she asked. “Ah suppose Ah owe him a thankin’. He managed to send help after all!”
Lyra shrugged, gesturing with her head toward the Detention Hall. “He was supposed to break into the Detention Hall, and free Rainbow Dash, Flotilla, and Armada,” she said. “Although... he was supposed to have that finished up a while ago.”
Some shrill shrieks and the sound of the wall being broken carried across the Town Square, and those Diamond Dogs and ponies Lyra had selected as a personal guard perked up.
“Still not used to the sound of those Banshees, eh?” Lyra chuckled. “Just be glad they’re on our side!”
A runner came from the gate, the same pony Creed had harassed earlier to wake up. Her purple mane flowed freely, and her wide smile could bear only good news. “They surrendered!” she yelled cheerily, skidding to a stop before her Princess. “They just surrendered, and opened the gate to let in the other group!”
Before anyone could respond with a cheer, a rumbling filled the air. It was a deeper sound than whatever had happened at the front gate, and there was some strange undercurrent of... a piercing note?
The Diamond Dogs raised their heads, their ears twitching to find the source of the sound. One glanced toward the Detention Hall, and his eyes immediately widened. “Down!” he yelled, hitting the ground.
The others around him immediately followed suit, but Rarity glanced around. “What did he say?” she asked.
A Nuckelavee slammed into the ground, knocking her away with the blast. The tone continued, growing to a cacophonous roar, as the dust continued to roll through the Town Square. Everypony looked around, terrified to think what would create such a horrifying noise.
Then another form came tearing through the dust, rocking the prone form of the Nuckelavee deeper into the earth. It was emitting a sound too loud to comprehend, and those in the square covered their ears in an attempt to shut themselves off from it.
But the wordless howl eventually took shape, evolving into something more.
“SHE SURRENDERED!” it boomed, grabbing the Nuckelavee by its equine head. Grunting, it flung the Irish demon through the former cage of Rarity, tearing through the wrought iron like wet tissues.
Launching itself after the Nuckelavee, it caught up immediately after Nahor collided into the wall of a building. Rearing back, it punched forward- once, twice, three times. Nahor was driven through the wall by the final jab and out the other side, leaving a gaping hole behind.
As the creature tore through the building after its opponent, Twilight shakily raised her head to look at her friends. “What... what was that?” she asked haltingly, still hearing olympian attacks echoing around the town as the fight raged on.
“I have no idea,” Rarity said quietly as she got to her hooves. “But it’s destroying the town... we need to find out what’s going on.”
Lyra was on her hooves next. “I agree... whatever that was, it doesn’t care about the town. We need to make sure it doesn’t harm anypony.”
Pinkie Pie came careening into the Square, Fluttershy struggling to keep up with her.
“Did you see that?!” Pinkie Pie shouted, stopping just short of knocking into Lyra. “Hi everypony, good to see you again. Did you see that?!?” She pointed towards the blown-through building.
“Yeah Pinkie, we saw it,” Applejack nodded. “Now let’s get after it!”
Their plans were immediately ruined by a resounding sound, after which they watched in awe as the creature came soaring over the same building it had punched the Nuckelavee through.
It hit the ground face-first, and came rolling through the Town Square. It put out a hand once it had tumbled to a stop, pushing itself to its knees and moving to stand. A determined glint shone in its eyes, and its mouth was set in a profound snarl.
“Creed?” Lyra gasped, barely recognizing him through the mask of rage he wore. She moved in front of him, blocking his path toward the fight.
He stopped, glancing down at her. His eyes softened slightly, and he bent to become level with Lyra.
“Get to the Detention Hall NOW. Bring Nurse Redheart, and anypony else who knows about medicine,” he told her. “I need to get that son of a bitch for what he did to Bon Bon.”
With that, he picked Lyra up and placed her gently to one side.
Nahor burst through the building, and Creed gave a growl that would have put the Tyrannosaurs to shame.
“You think you can kill me, human?!” Nahor cried, galloping at Creed. “I’ve killed thoussssandssss of your kind!”
Creed ran to meet Nahor wordlessly, letting his actions speak for him for once.
“What happened to Bon Bon?!” Lyra yelled after Creed, but her words went unregistered as he met Nahor in battle.
They collided with resounding blows, moving faster and faster around each other in a violent frenzy. There was no grace in their movements, no fancy moves being used. They had one objective, and they pursued it with single minded abandon.
To kill each other.
Lyra watched with morbid fascination as the caring, sweet human she’d come to know transform into a being of pure rage. He absorbed every punch, every kick, like they were nothing more than gusts of wind trying to throw off his arm’s aim.
“What... What is that thing?” Rarity moaned. “Why did Lyra call it ‘Creed’?”
Pinkie Pie shook her head, her eyebrows together and her mouth hanging open slightly. “That is Creed,” she told her friend. “But I’ve never seen him so angry.”
“He’s... scary,” Fluttershy squeaked, cowering behind her friends.
Creed jabbed at Nahor’s side, and the sound of a rib snapping rang clear in everypony’s ears. Nahor reared in pain, hoping to catch Creed in the head with a hoof- or at least gain some space from his endless barrage of blows.
But Creed dodged past the flailing hooves, and gained access to Nahor’s relatively soft underbelly. Giving him no reprieve, Creed laid into Nahor with everything he had, punching faster than the eye could follow. With a final kick, he sent Nahor flying.
“WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO BE HERE?!” Creed screamed, jumping on top of his opponent as soon as Nahor hit the ground. Keeping one elbow in the equine’s throat while driving his opposite foot into the human growth’s neck, Creed forced the two torsos apart with all the strength he had.
Raising up his free arm, Creed pounded the side of his fist into the equine’s brow. The sound echoed throughout the Square, and those who heard it winced in pain.
“WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE WHAT YOU WANT?! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! ANSWER ME, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!”
With each syllable roared, he brought down his fist. Over and over he struck, until Nahor stopped fighting and remained motionless underneath him.
Creed stood suddenly, heaving over his fallen foe. He didn’t speak; instead, he slowed his heartbeat with deeper and deeper breaths, allowing himself to calm before attempting to talk.
“I won’t kill you, Nahor. Do you know why?” He leaned in close, so close the ponies couldn’t hear.
“Because I will never stoop to your level,” he spat. “At no point will I ever allow myself to kill, but I won’t let you harm anyone here ever again.”
Nahor’s heads raised slightly, struggling to even achieve what little lift he could. Responding just as quietly, the Nuckelavee hissed back, “That issss why you cannot possssibly beat Lazarussss.”
I straightened, forcing myself away from Nahor. If I didn’t, I might not be able to keep myself from killing him.
Turning, I saw a multitude of faces strewn across the Town Square, all focused on me. They wore expressions of awe, wariness, and even fear. But disgust was the most prevalent.
I knew I would regret the fight, and my outbursts. I knew beating someone relentlessly- even an evil demon like Nahor- would forever marr my image in the eyes of those Equestrians.
But there were more pressing issues at hand.
“Lyra, I told you to get Redheart!” I said loudly. “Twilight, Rarity, you come too. We need all the medical magic we can get!”
I pointed at a close group of Diamond Dogs. “You guys, keep a watch on him!” I jerked a thumb at Nahor. “He’s not going anywhere fast.”
Lyra shook her head and approached me. “Creed, I don’t know where Redheart is!”
“Well then, find someone who can!” I told her exasperatedly. “In the meantime, anypony else who can help, get to the Detention Hall now!”
Turning, I sprinted out of the Town Square. There was no time to waste.
I ran with everything I had, pushing myself to go faster. The magic flowed freely around me, and I channeled it into my legs to work harder. I made the Detention Hall in less than a minute.
Leaping through the hole I had broken with Nahor’s body during the initial bout, I saw that Bon Bon hadn’t moved. Rainbow Dash and Deluge were in the hallway, checking her for signs of life.
Rainbow Dash still looked terrified, with those colors of her mane that had been shaved away giving me a pang of empathy. She had endured hell, and didn’t need to see this.
“Rainbow Dash, you should probably go outside,” I said as comfortingly and authoritatively as I could. She glanced away from Bon Bon briefly to look at me, and nodded quietly. Making my way past her, I dropped to my knees to examine Bon Bon.
“Pulse?” I asked Deluge, checking for it myself on her neck.
“It’s weak, but it’s there in all her limbs,” Deluge responded quickly.
“You haven’t moved her whatsoever, have you?” I asked pointedly, looking up from Bon Bon to examine her closely.
She shook her head immediately, with a concerned look on her face. “No, that could kill her!”
I nodded, relieved, and went to work on Bon Bon. She wasn’t conscious, but her pupils weren’t dilated or blown out. That at least was a good sign, meaning there were no immediately life-threatening brain injuries.
“What did he do to her?” Deluge asked quietly as I ran through a mental checklist of all the possible injury signs I could think of.
“It looked like her broke her neck, but with their magic it’s impossible to tell if he did anything else,” I responded curtly. Placing my head on her chest, I listened to her lungs and heartbeat- breath was somewhat ragged, nothing out of the ordinary there. Her heartbeat was weak, but there was no swishing sounds that would indicate a blown valve.
Twilight and Rarity came galloping in through the hole, and I could hear the sounds of excited chatter outside. They took one look at Bon Bon, with my head on her chest, and assumed the worst.
“What did you do to her, monster!” Rarity growled, pawing the dirt. I’m sure she would have cast some sort of spell on me, but her horn was still covered in that Nuckelavee magic absorber.
“Have you even been listening?” I asked, indignant. “Nahor did this, dammit! Not me!”
Twilight came forward, concern written all over her face. “Listen Paul, she doesn’t know what’s going on. What happened here?”
I snorted bitterly, turning back to continue my examination. “You really want to know what happened here, Twilight? Fine. Bon Bon got hurt because you wouldn’t listen to me. I told you I could handle this thing on my own, but you just had to send somepony with us! Where’s Redheart?”
Twilight jerked back, hurt. “Paul, you can’t blame me for this!”
“Of course I can!” I muttered, hitting nerve points on Bon Bon’s extremities in the hopes of eliciting a reaction. “Now go find Redheart, or help me by forcing some magic into Bon Bon- she’s going to need it. Other than that, you're not needed here.”
I was turned by a hoof on the shoulder, and found myself decked by an outraged Twilight.
Rarity’s jaw hung open almost as wide as mine as she looked at her friend.
“How dare you!” Twilight cried, angry tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m a Princess of Equestria, and she’s one of my friends as well as one of my subjects! What do you have invested in this place beyond liking a story, Paul?!”
I didn’t answer, instead reaching up to touch the spot on my cheek she had connected with. It hurt more than anywhere Nahor had landed a hit.
“Ever since you’ve come here, you’ve been nothing but a fan living out his wildest fantasy!” she continued, the tears starting to run down her cheeks. “This isn’t real to you. It never has been! You don’t take it seriously!”
I couldn’t answer, because I knew she spoke the truth. Deep down, I couldn’t accept the ponies as being real, and it hurt to realize it. I’d never made the leap from ‘cartoon characters I’m interacting with’ to ‘these are sentient beings’.
I’d never seen Twilight so full of anger and pain, though- not even when I’d found her alone in the tree.
“Now, get out of here and let somepony with real magic and knowledge of Equestrian biology take care of my friend! Go play with another ‘cartoon’ character!”
Nurse Redheart came bursting through the opening of the Detention Hall, and she immediately focused on Bon Bon’s prone form. Hustling over, she jostled a place for herself between Bon Bon and I. She started to run through her own checklist, muttering readings to herself.
“She doesn’t look to be in very good condition,” she said aloud as I sat helplessly on my knees just inches away.
Looking back at Twilight, I saw her own focus had been diverted to Bon Bon. Her face softened, and her eyebrows raised slightly as she looked on.
Standing quietly, avoiding the gaze of Rarity, I turned and started to make my way outside. As I looked out the hole though, I saw Rainbow Dash hugging and sharing heartfelt greetings with her friends.
I didn’t have the desire to intrude between friends anymore. Instead, I diverted myself and walked into the only place I could- the cells. Shivering as I once again smelled the moldy darkness I’d come to loath, I continued forward to my old cell.
At least I wouldn’t be any trouble in there.
Some time later, that was where Lyra found me. I was sitting cross legged in my old cell, my hands clasped in my lap. I may have been rocking slightly, but I didn’t think about it until she came clopping in to sit next to me.
I had been unfocused, thinking about what I had said and done that day. “Maybe I did go overboard on Nahor, and losing my cool in front of all those Equestrians will definitely be something I regret. But Twilight, blaming her for my own failure...”
I jumped somewhat when Lyra sat down, brushing up against me as she did so. No one had even entered the room as far as I knew.
“So, I found you,” she said quietly. “Nopony knew where you were.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure they were pretty relieved, too,” I scoffed. “I messed up today.”
I didn’t look up as I talked, and I could only assume she wasn’t looking at me. I kept my head down while I played with my hands in my lap. I didn’t feel the need to clarify- she was a smart pony.
“How exactly did you ‘mess up’?” she asked. “Y’know, besides getting our one Princess to yell at you.”
I cringed, remembering the tears running down Twilight’s face in righteous anger not an hour before.
“What, I can’t just have that?” I sighed. “No, everything today went wrong. And all because of one single little thing: I didn’t pay attention to Bon Bon while she guarded the door.”
I shook my head, the self hatred I hadn’t felt in quite some time coming right back to tear me down. “Because I was too blinded by a character from my stupid TV show to pay attention, Nahor grabbed her. Then I was on my knees, begging him not to kill her, but he did. And... I lost it. You saw what I did to him in town, that building we destroyed. I beat him into the street until I had to stop myself from killing him. Coming back here and being snarky with Twilight was just icing on the cake.”
I finally looked up at Lyra, trying hard to keep the blurriness from my eyes as I spoke. “I was immature, and somepony’s probably going to die because of it. One of your friends... Why are you in here?”
She met my gaze briefly, then looked away herself. “She’s probably not going to die,” she replied. “Nurse Redheart said so. She’s in... pretty bad condition, yes. She’s in a coma, and they can’t wake her up because they don’t know exactly what Nahor did to her. But, I can’t really blame you for it.”
“Why not?” I asked, studying what I could see of her face. “She came with me. I was supposed to protect her and Deluge, and I failed.”
She shook her head, staring intently at the ground. “No. You didn’t want her to come, and I talked to Deluge- she volunteered to watch the door while the two of you rescued the others. It was me who ordered her along.”
She started to shake a little, and she drew a ragged breath. I realized she was on the verge of tears herself.
“Lyra, it’s... You’re fine,” I said, trying to comfort her. “It was my fault, and I accept full responsibility. It’s ok, I don’t blame you or Twilight. Just... blame me. Please.”
“I can’t,” she said simply. When she looked up, the tears were ready to roll.
I saw it again: that damned pain. That same feeling of no self worth that I thought I’d gotten rid of for her.
“Lyra,” I whispered, putting an arm around her and drawing her close. “Stop it. You can’t beat yourself up about this. It’ll tear you apart until you’ve got nothing left.”
She pressed her face into my shoulder. “But she was my friend, my responsibility!” she sobbed. “I can’t just not feel the blame for it!”
I sighed, letting my head fall on top of hers as I closed my eyes. “Lyra, listen to me. I’m not going to let you kill yourself over this, like you were about me. I can’t let you.”
She paused in her crying, though she still trembled. “How do you know how I feel? You’ve never been in a situation like this, a position like mine.”
I drew away, thinking for a moment. “Let me guess, and you tell me if I’m right, ok?”
She studied me from my shoulder for a moment before nodding.
“Alright. So, you feel a... a self-hatred. A loathing of yourself that’s rationalized when you’ve convinced yourself against all other indications that you deserve to feel that way. You figure that it was yourfault everything in your life went wrong, in one way or another. You just know that, somewhere beyond your memory or control, you’ve done something terribly wrong to deserve all the pain you experience and internalize.
“So, you push yourself mentally and physically- and I’m guessing that’s why you got into martial arts. You make the best of friends. You try to bring just a little beacon of righteous light to the world through your kindness and humor. To make up for whatever it was you did so wrong. Whatever it was that makes you want to just sit down and sob.”
I looked back down at her, and her eyebrows were knitted together.
“I know, Lyra. I know how you feel, because I’ve felt it my entire life... I guess that’s why I’ve been, I don't know, drawn to you. I mean, I want to protect all of you from the Nuckelavee, but you... beyond the atrocities they’ve committed, I know what you’ve gone through. And I know no one else- nopony else- deserves to feel that way. I’ll protect you any way I can.”
She snuggled herself closer to me, and didn’t respond. Just as well, since I didn’t have anything else to add. I’d managed to give voice to a feeling I’d had throughout my life, and someone else understood. That was enough.
“I hadn’t felt it in years,” she said softly.
I froze, not knowing what she was talking about.
“The... the pain. I hadn’t felt it for years, until you showed up and I had to make that decision. About you, I mean. See, we’ve heard the head Nuckelavee Lazarus has some special way of torturing ponies, or using black magic or something. He turns them into his loyal servants. Twilight didn’t know when she let you go, but when she told me I knew it might be too dangerous. So, we had to make it as difficult for you in there as possible. Otherwise, if you couldn’t handle that, there was no way you could withstand Lazarus himself.”
I held her tightly. “I already told you, I forgive you for that. It’s good to hear the reasoning behind it, but it doesn’t matter,” I said comfortingly.
She shook her head. “No, listen. The reason I had such an issue with it wasn’t that it broke you. Not until I saw the condition you were in, anyway. No, I hated myself for it because I was doing exactly what my parents did to me: I was abandoning somepony in the most desperate time of need, and even though there were justifications, none of them seemed good enough.”
I was taken aback. “Your parents? What do you mean?”
“I never knew them,” she explained in muted tones. “They abandoned me when I was born to an orphanage in Canterlot. I don’t know what it’s like where you come from, but unless there’s some terrible accident, parents never give up their little ones here.At most, they’re given to relatives. But no, my parents abandoned me on the steps of Celestia’s Orphanage for Lost Fillies.”
I couldn’t even imagine being utterly forsaken by your parents.
“I was bullied for years, and I listened to what they said about me. I convinced myself my parents didn’t love me, or that maybe it was my fault they left me. Like you said, I pushed myself to be better. I did martial arts, where I met Bon Bon, and got accepted into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. That’s where I met Twilight Sparkle.”
“So, you felt like you were doing to me what your parents did to you?” I asked, surprised.
“Yes,” she whispered softly, cringing.
I released her, laying back on the cool earth and stretching myself. Lyra looked back, shocked at the suddenness of the action.
“Well, if you hadn’t done that, we never would have gotten to know each other so well,” I smiled, patting the place beside me.
She leaned back, and I helped lower her to her back next to me. Together, we looked up at the ceiling of the cell. A hundred memories flashed through my mind of the weeks I’d spent staring up at the ceiling, remembering what I’d pondered, and I shivered despite myself.
She moved closer, so that we were pressed against each other completely. I appreciated the gesture, basking in the warmth of her fur.
Holding up my arm, I took her hoof in my hand. Thankfully, she didn’t try to pull away- I was going out on a limb, with a hope in my heart that gave me butterflies.
“Y’know, Lyra... I think our issues are fairly similar. So maybe we could... possibly... work on them together,” I said haltingly, playing with her hoof absentmindedly. “I mean, if... if you need to. It might be good. For the both of us. I guess.”
She didn’t answer, and I got worried. I turned my head, concerned, but calmed immediately when I saw she was looking right back at me. We were face to face, with nothing but a few inches between us.
“Paul, I... that’s just what we need,” she murmured in a low voice, her eyes flickering between my eyes and my lips. “You’re kind, and... I feel like I can talk to you about this kind of stuff. I just feel so safe with you. I don't know how to say it, but I think... I think I love...”
Deluge padded her way into the room just as our lips tentatively touched. “Hey, Paul, are you in-”
“NOTHING!” I shouted, rocketing to my feet faster than I would have thought possible.
Deluge glanced between the two of us, and I took a second to glance down at Lyra. She was blinking, still on her back with her head turned and her mouth parted, trying to figure out where the moment had gone.
“Deluge! What, uh, what’d you need?” I asked, snapping her focus back to myself.
“Um... I was gonna tell you that Nahor’s been moved to your room back in the Grand Cavern,” Deluge said, pointing a finger over her shoulder. “Twilight wanted you to interrogate him, find out what you can, and then send him back home.”
“I can guess why you’re the one looking for me then,” I said, scratching my head. “Yeah, I’ll... I’ll get right on that, ok?”
She nodded, and glanced at Lyra one more time before making her way out of the room and down the hall.
I sighed, and turned back to Lyra. She was still on her back, her legs in the air above her and her eyebrows together. “Are... are you sure you have to go now?” she asked somewhat disappointingly. “I mean, we were just getting somewhere... in talking, I mean!”
I smiled sadly, and shook my head. “I need to get Nahor out of here ASAP, and it’ll be good information anyway. I’m really sorry. Can we continue our talk later?”
She gave me a frown, then sighed and closed her eyes. “Yeah, I guess,” she grumbled. “But don’t think we’ll be able to just pick up where we left off! You’re going to have to work at it!”
I shook my head. “Lyra... I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Standing and walking out of the cell, I glanced back just as I had many times before. This time, instead of three faces refusing to meet my gaze, there was one shining one that was openly smiling at me.
“Be safe, Creed!” she called, waving her hoof. “I’ll be waiting for when you get back!”
I felt a pang in my heart, and had to stop myself from crying. I’d wanted so desperately to hear those exact words so many times before as I’d walked out of that room, and hearing them only made me want to never have to leave Lyra again.
“See ya, Lyra. You stay right there, and I’ll have to return that much faster!”
As I jogged into the Fantasy Cave of Shiny Minerals, I was still thinking about Lyra. Was she interested in me, really? Could she be? I’d never had a real human girlfriend, much less a pony one!
Well, there was that one Puerto Rican girl in third grade, but that didn’t count.
Would I be able to handle a real relationship? Or... heaven forbid, what about kids?!
“Paul!” Deluge called, waving me over to my former room. “He’s in here, ready to go!”
Putting my horrifying thoughts aside, I ran up the stairs to the second level and made my way quickly over to Deluge. There was almost no one in the caves, instead choosing to rejoice in the conquered Ponyville.
“How’d you make it back here so fast?” I asked, surprised. I could outrun the ponies now, a Diamond Dog should’ve been easy!
“Why let a good tunnel go to waste?” Deluge asked, shrugging. “I took the one from the Detention Hall.”
My stomach fell. “But... but you walked out of the room...”
She nodded. “And gave you two the time for goodbyes you needed. Yep. Then I jumped down the tunnel while Lyra was laying there giggling and muttering to herself, and beat you here! Now come on, we don’t have much time to get rid of Nahor before he starts getting all his power back from that beating you gave him.”
As she opened the door, I was asking, “What was she giggling about? Did you understand what she was muttering?”
”Typical human, more concerned about rutting with the opposssite ssssex than the livessss of otherssss,” Nahor sneered from his spot on the floor. The bed had been removed in favor of chains, which were bolted to the floor.
I straightened from Deluge, my eyes locked on his single one. “Oh, Nahor. I didn’t realize I forgot to break your jaw. Want me to fix that for you?”
“And the other sssside to the human coin pressssentssss itsssself! Procreation or violencsssse, nothing changesssss with your kind.”
“Well, if that ain’t the pot calling the kettle black then I don’t know what is,” I scoffed. “Human beings are the greatest things in the history of our universe. They’ve created more and climbed higher than anything could have predicted or planned. There is more kindness and generosity in a given human being than in all the cosmos. Our brains are more complicated than can be fathomed. Humans AREN’T the bastards here. All you and your kind have done since coming to Equestria, on the other hand, is pillage and conquer. Pretty Dark Age inspired, eh?”
”What you call the ‘Dark Agessss’ we call home!” he shot back.
“Paul, we really should-” Deluge started.
I held up a finger in her direction. “Not now Deluge, I think we’re getting somewhere. What do you mean, ‘home’? That was a time of intellectual anarchy in Europe, and they used things like the remains of people they deemed saints as weapons in their Crusades against the Middle East. How could you possibly call that time home?”
Nahor looked away, his horse head focusing on a time long past. ”That wassss the greatesssst period in hisssstory. Humanity recognizsssed itssss filth and wallowed in it, allowing the Nuckelavee to ride free among the British Islessss. Ssssomething your leaderssss no longer acknowledge, human, issss that Magic wassss real. It exissssted back then, and all fed upon itssss glory. Every living thing on Earth oncssse had magic, and if you are any example, they retain the propenssssity to do sssso again.”
I stood back, my eyes wide. “If we had magic once, where did it go? And what does that have to do with me?”
Deluge, for her part, was silent.
”Where do you think it went?” Nahor spat, his human arms gesturing around. “It bled out of the world through infinitessssimal crackssss, coallessssing around the thoughtssss and feelingssss of you humanssss.”
He spit the word ‘feelings’ out like it left a bitter taste in his mouth.
”Your hopessss, your fearssss, your mythical tales. Alone, they would be nothing- but your consssstant outflow allowed them to gather and become piecssssessss of magic themselvessss. They sssseeped out of your world and combined with the magic to create this world. Equesssstria. The place where animalssss talk, mysssstical creaturessss gain flesh, and the path of one’ssss life is given freely to any horsssse who figures it out. Doessss that not ssssound too good to be true? Like every common dream took life?”
I leaned back against the wall, shocked. “Because it is. If what you say is true... but that doesn’t explain what you and I are doing here.”
”That’sssss the eassssy part!” he snickered. ”After yearssss of ssssearching, we finally found one of the crackssss! We forced our way through, and in the process, widened the tears around the world. We figured some human would come bumbling along, and planned accordingly.”
I found it hard to swallow. “You... you planned on me being here?”
”Not you, no. You assss an individual do not matter. Lazarussss planned on a human, and thussss far, you’ve performed exactly as projected.”
I walked forward and bent down. Taking his horse’s head in my hands, I violently forced him to look into my eyes. “Then you’re going to help me step out of line. Got it?”
”And why would I do that?” he breathed harshly into my face. His breath smelled like a rotting corpse, and I could guess why.
A scowl crossed my face, and I looked back to Deluge. “You better get ready, doggy. Uncle Paul’s got an idea, and it ain't gonna be pretty for anyone involved”
When Lyra entered the Great Cavern next to Twilight, she was in the highest of spirits. Sure, Creed had been gone for much longer than expected, but she wasn’t worried. She’d heard word from Nurse Redheart that Bon Bon was responsive, and she knew for certain Creed felt for her just as much as she did for him.
“I really do feel bad,” Twilight was saying remorsefully. “I shouldn’t have said all that. Even if it was true. He was just venting.”
“Oh, don’t be such a downer Twilight. You were just venting too, and you should both apologize to each other. Besides, we wouldn’t have had that talk if you hadn’t hit him!”
Twilight chuckled a little. “I did give him a pretty good right hook, didn’t I?”
“There ya go!” Lyra cheered, patting her friend on the back. “Twilight, you need to cheer up. Bon Bon’s going to be fine, Ponyville’s been liberated, and Canterlot is next! What more could we want?”
Twilight looked at her friend coyly. “I would’ve said you not calling me ‘Princess’ would be on the list, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue anymore.”
Lyra grinned right back. “Well, maybe I’m feeling optimistic right now and want to call my buddy by her real name! At this point, everything’s looking up. We’ll have Equestria freed in no time, and I’ve got me some coltfriend material in that tall handsome human!”
Twilight crinkled her snout. “I like Paul, but calling him handsome just seems a bit on the excessive side, don’t you think?”
Lyra just laughed all the harder, making her way up the steps to the second level with a spring in her step. There were a few dozen Diamond Dogs dotted around the area, and maybe seven ponies picking up their stuff. Other than that, the way to Creed’s old room was clear.
As they neared the door, they heard some strange sounds.
“What is that?” Lyra asked. “It sounds like... some sort of swooshing... or maybe tearing? What’s going on in there?”
Twilight shook her head. “It sounds familiar, but I can’t place it. Paul is in there alone, isn’t he?”
“Yeah, as per your orders,” Lyra nodded. “Nopony else would be any help, since Nahor would just suck some magic out of them and escape.”
Just then, a loud crashing sound echoed around the chamber. All movement stopped, and everyone glanced at the door in dread. There was a new crack in the middle of the door, and it was emitting a powerful light.
“What is that?” Twilight asked, squinting her eyes, but Lyra didn’t answer.
She was already galloping toward the door, horrified as to what could have happened to Creed. ”He wouldn’t let that thing loose, he’d die before-”
As she was about to reach the door, it exploded from the wall with the force of a freight train. She was knocked backwards by blast, and crashed into the cots that were still set up next to Twilight.
Twilight gazed with open terror at Nahor, who emerged slowly from the room. He glanced around the chamber evenly, his gaze settling on Lyra for a time. When she began to move, so did he.
“S-stop right there!” Twilight yelled, her horn glowing. “I’ve beaten another of your kind before!”
”Sssso had he,” Nahor answered coldly, throwing Paul between Lyra and Twilight. He landed with a dull THUMP, and stayed in the dirt like a tossed ragdoll. One arm dangled over his face, the other sat in an uncomfortable angle under his torso.
Both of the ponies looked at him in horror, waiting for him to breath.
“Creed?” Lyra asked quietly. “Creed, can you hear me?” she reached out to touch his hand, and found his fingers to be cold and stiff. Jerking her hoof back, she looked up at Twilight with tears in her eyes.
“He... Creed... I don’t...” she started to cry quietly, glancing faster between Twilight and Creed’s prone form.
Twilight stared at her friend laying on the earth, unmoving. It didn’t seem real, he couldn’t die. He had super healing. He was full of life. He was always in motion, always hugging, always bringing light into others’ lives. Why wasn’t he moving? Why did he seem so dark?
A deep chuckle shook the two of them from their mourning. Nahor stood uncomfortably close, and they could hear his ragged breaths.
”Anypony followssss, and they get the ssssame,” he threatened.
Twilight turned, full of rage, and blasted him in the chest with magic. Lyra immediately followed suit, screaming with heartfelt loss as she hit Nahor with everything she had.
When they could no longer sustain themselves, their magic sputtered to a stop. They were swaying on their hooves, about to pass out. Nahor stood where he did before, not a scratch on him.
”Cute,” he remarked dryly. ”Now... it’ssss my turn.”
He raised a single hand, and both Twilight and Lyra were lifted into the air. They struggled weakly, but they could do nothing. They felt themselves being drained of every last magical drop, and were helpless to stop it.
Lyra cried out, unable to stand the feeling of her life force being sucked away.
Nahor paused in his gluttonous feeding, and released the them.
Falling to the floor, Twilight was already unconscious. The darkness threatening the edges of Lyra’s own vision was tempting, but she fought against them with all her might. Creed was within her reach, and she had to be with him.
Lyra crawled desperately towards his form, the darkness swirling inward until his covered face was the only thing she saw. If she had to die, it was going to be by the being she loved.
The one she’d just come to realize she wouldn’t be able to live without.
As she moved a hoof forward to brush the offending arm away from Creed’s sweet face, his body was jerked upwards and out of sight.
Lyra panicked, and pushed herself with every last ounce of strength to lift her head. Nahor was slinging Creed over his back, and glanced down briefly at her. His eye glowed not red, but a soft and deep amber. It was a color unlike any she’d seen, and it captivated her.
”Goodbye Lyra,” Nahor said softly before galloping out of her vision. There was the sound of some fighting, but Lyra couldn’t focus on it.
“Creed,” Lyra sobbed back, letting her head fall and the darkness rush inward.
Hours later, everypony was silent. The Elements of Harmony had gathered in the library to discuss their future actions; the empty shelves had become a morbid backdrop to an even more morose conversation.
“Ah... Ah don’t know what to say,” Applejack put in quietly. “Ah didn’t know ‘im very well, but that don’t mean I woulda wished anything like this on ‘im.”
Twilight shook her head, trying to maintain her composure. “Girls, I can’t lie. This hurts me beyond anything I could say. But... we have a duty to Equestria. If we can’t stop the Nuckelavee on our own, many more will end up like Paul.”
Rarity was a little more upbeat than the others. “Come now, Twilight, we can do better than that! It’s not like we based all of our plans on him anyway, right? We all feel his loss deeply, but we’re still in a better position to fight for our world than we were before he came into our lives. The best way to remember him would be to liberate Equestria in his name.”
“I say we beat those stupid Nuckelavee into a pulp before we send them back to their own world,” Rainbow Dash said darkly. Her friends cringed a little as she spoke; the sight of their proud Rainbow Dash beaten and bruised was not one they were enjoying.
“You’re right of course Rainbow Dash, but we need to look at this strategically,” Twilight said sympathetically. She pointed out the map of Equestria that hung on the wall. “I don’t think we can just move on Canterlot. It’ll take at least a full day to get there by hoof, and we need to be fully rested before we go in anyway. It’s heavily defended, and the Nuckelavee have started treating it like their headquarters.”
Pinkie Pie jumped up, active in the conversation for the first time. “No, but we can go help out Cloudsdale!” she said triumphantly, pointing out the fabled city on the map. “I was talking to the cuddly cute critters in the forest with Fluttershy, and they said that Cloudsdale is still fighting strong! They’ve had no supplies for about a week now, but the Nuckelavee and their Diamond Dogs can't fly up there to get at ‘em- they can’t fly! If we want to have a buncha Pegasuses flyin’ around to help when we go to Canterlot, we should help Cloudsdale first!”
The other Elements leaned closer, looking closely at the city of the Pegasus.
“That sounds good, Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash said excitedly. “Me an’ Fluttershy can fly there pretty quickly, and start getting everypony ready to attack the armies underneath the city!”
Fluttershy straightened at the mention of her name, letting out an “eep!” as all the eyes turned toward her. “Um... I guess I could go with you, Dashie. If you really wanted me to that is. I mean, I don’t have t-”
“Of course you do, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash told her. “I can’t get the city convinced all by myself! With both of the pegasus Elements there, they’d have to listen to us!”
Twilight scratched her chin. “I don’t know, girls... It seems pretty risky to just go up there like this. Maybe we should consult Flotilla and Armada first?”
Pinkie Pie waved her off. “Pssh, we can do it, Twilight! We’ve still got all those Everfree Forest animals and creatures outside Ponyville that haven’t left yet. Them, plus all the Diamond Dogs we’ve got now, would be a super great army that Flotilla and Armada could lead for us!”
“The rest of us can go with said army to the Nuckelavee camp and convince them to parlay!” Rarity said excitedly. “We’d look much too intimidating for them to fight back, and we’ll have the combined power of the Elements of Harmony to use if they do!”
“Speakin’ ah which, where’re the Elements, sugarcube?” Applejack asked. “Ah’d expect Spike to’ve kept them safe!”
Spike jolted up from his spot near the door. “Y-yeah! Of course! Vinyl Scratch, Octavia and Derpy Hooves helped me move everything important from the library into the tunnel, including the Elements!”
“That’s my Spikey Wikey, always thinking ahead!” Rarity gushed. “I really have to hope Derpy didn’t break anything though, poor mare. Those cross eyes of hers make things difficult to accomplish, but her heart’s in the right place.”
Everypony ignored the fact that Spike’s irises had turned into hearts and that he started floating out of the doorway to retrieve the Elements.
“You know Rainbow Dash, If you’re going back to Cloudsdale, you could go see Nurse Redheart,” Twilight said helpfully. “She could heal those bruises, and would probably know a spell or two to help with your hair.”
Rainbow Dash nodded gratefully. “I think I may just have to do that,” she replied, gingerly touching the few bald spots she had on her head. “I think I should probably go find Lyra first, though. She’s probably taking the news about Creed pretty hard, and we have quite a bit to talk about.”
Twilight squinted at the map, trying to figure out the best way to move a large number of individuals to the area under Cloudsdale in the shortest amount of time. “I think she went to the Detention Hall,” she sighed. “She’s not doing very well, and needs to be alone. I know you don’t want to go back there either Rainbow Dash, but if you really feel the need to talk with Lyra, that’s where I’d check first.”
Rainbow Dash started making her way out of the library, moving around Pinkie Pie as she did so. Pinkie held Applejack and Rarity on point, excitedly chatting about what they would do once they reached and liberated Cloudsdale.
Fluttershy was at the door, looking uneasy.
“Fluttershy, don’t worry. You’ll do fine in Cloudsdale,” Rainbow Dash said comfortingly as she passed.
“It’s not Cloudsdale I’m feeling bad for,” Fluttershy replied quietly. “It’s Lyra and Creed... I’ll miss him. We didn’t talk as much, but I knew he was nice. And Lyra really, truly loved him.”
“I know,” Rainbow Dash told her, hugging Fluttershy. “I just feel like there was so much more to him we never got to know. That’s why I need to go talk to Lyra.”
“Okay,” Fluttershy sniffled in her timid way. “Just hurry back. Everypony is back together again, and I want to enjoy that while I can.”
Rainbow Dash smiled warmly as she turned to leave. “Don’t worry. After this, I don’t think we’ll ever be apart again.”
Looking back once through the open doorway, Rainbow Dash felt a pang of love for her closest friends. She knew that they would never be separated again- dead or alive, her and the other Elements would be together.
“First to Lyra, then to Nurse Redheart,” Rainbow Dash told herself. Stretching out her wings, she let the slight wind through Ponyville ruffle her feathers slightly. She had missed that feeling, and it would be her first flight since being locked up almost a month previously.
“I still don’t understand why you had to do that,” Deluge whispered harshly as I climbed back out of the window.
“I know you feel bad for Bon Bon, but what could you possibly hope to accomplish by visiting her?”
Looking back through the window at all the magical machines and newly placed bouquets that surrounded Bon Bon, I felt the guilt well up within me.
“Because Deluge,” I responded in just as low a tine, “We owe her that much. She nearly sacrificed her life for the two of us. Lyra said her goodbyes at the Detention Hall, and Twilight’ll be too preoccupied with running a revolution to allow herself to care. Bon Bon is the only one I still had left to say goodbye to, in case I don’t make it back.”
Deluge sighed, jumping onto my back as I bent down for her. “You never said goodbye to any of the Elements of Harmony.”
I cringed. “I know. They’re strong though, and have each other. I feel especially bad for Rainbow Dash, since she just got out of the Detention Hall and seemed so attached to me... But they’ll have to make do.”
I started off in the direction of the mountains, where in the distance I could just barely spot the waterfalls of Canterlot.
“Now come on, Ms. Sam Gamgee- slash- dead Creed. Methinks this Parting of the Ways, whether or not it was through a dirty trick, is going to be just what Equestria needed.”