The sky was overcast with clouds, rain just beginning to fall on the sandy beaches of the Nildian coast. Mane Archon, silver mane flowing in the wind, stood on a tall hill over the waters. He was studying the waves with anxious eyes. His breath came out in long gasps, the strain of his spell having taken a significant toll. He was waiting for a reaction, a surge, anything.
But the sea was calm.
“Silma?” he whispered anxiously, not daring to hope, “are you finished?”
I am.
He glanced down the beach one way, and then another. There was nothing but the light drizzle and the natural waves. “The spell is finished?”
I believe so.
Mane dared to smile, a relieved laugh breaking free. “I can’t believe it. We… we did it. We have control!”
Yes, the beast is at last tamed. We need no longer fear its wrath.
He let out another laugh, this time with abandon. He dropped to his haunches and stared up into the sky, letting the soft rain patter on his face. “Twenty-five years I’ve been fighting it. Thank you, Silma, I thought I’d never succeed.”
We did it together, Mane, and only together will we maintain control of it. We must compel it to search immediately.
He nodded, a dark grin coming upon his lips. “The Life of Earth, eh? Alright, it shouldn’t take a beast like that too long to find your precious gemstone.” He focused intently, and his horn began to glow white. The magic shimmered, flickered and grew brighter. He began to grind his teeth with the effort, but after nearly a minute the horn dimmed and he relaxed. “It is done.”
He glanced around, expecting to hear some sort of confirmation. There was none. He frowned, nervously tapping a hoof against the box hanging from the necklace on his neck. “Silma?”
Something is wrong with Tazel.
He raised an eyebrow, yet again wishing there was something physical to that voice for him to observe. “Other than being Tazel?”
She is unraveling. She may have seen things in somepony’s dreams. She’s turning rebellious.
That alarmed him. “I thought you said she had to obey you no matter what.”
Yes, but if her mind breaks then she will be of no further use to us. Perhaps it was a mistake to have her visit the dreamscape so frequently for so long.
He didn’t like the sound of that. He’d seen many a strange thing in his journeys, some of which might be called maddening, but he’d never had the chance to enter ponies’ dreams. He imagined doing that for a while could lead a pony to lose his mind, and Tazel had never been far from madness in his opinion. “I won’t be sad to see her go,” he noted seriously, “but what about the gemstone? She had the other doesn’t she?”
I will reclaim it once we have the Life of Earth. I need to help buy her some time.
“Some time?” He glowered at the sea, for lack of anything else to glower at. “Just let her fry.”
She has to keep our enemies busy until we get the stone. She is facing Discord as we speak, and her power alone is not enough to face him.
“Discord!?” Mane turned about to cast a fearful gaze into the jungle, as if expecting the draconequus to be right behind him. “How are we supposed to stop him? My collection makes me strong, but to fight against somepony who defies the laws of reality itself?”
Do not worry, Mane. We’ve always known that he would have to be dealt with sooner or later, and I think I know just the way to do it. Tazel’s breakdown couldn’t have come at a more opportune time.
Mane shook his head in distaste. “You’re one cold pony, Silma. What about our cover? Everypony thinks that Riptide is responsible for the waves.”
Tazel’s ruse has been uncovered, but that should be okay. Let them think Riptide is on the loose. Indeed, let us claim that it is.
He caught her meaning and smiled darkly, turning to watch the waves once more. “I see… Riptide, hmm? I like that name a lot more than its regular one. Always wanted to have a pet to name.”
I always wanted a pet to whom I could feed my political opponents.
Mane laughed at the thought, relishing what he knew was coming. “Well, I guess for once we’ll both get what we want.”
The carriages rumbled to a stop before the stairwell, and the ponies wasted no time disembarking. When they did there was a collective cry of alarm; the bodies of nilgiri were everywhere. The steady shower from the clouds had tiny streams of blood running down the stairs and along the stone road, making a couple of them feel just a little ill.
“What happened here?” Jimmy whispered, kneeling before one of the bodies to inspect it.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Twilight declared fearfully, hesitating before the stairs as her eyes scanned the bodies. “They look as though they were attacked by… I don’t know. Discord said Tazel was willing to kill, but this doesn’t seem right at all!”
“But it does,” Upper Crust noted. She had an expression of intense focus as she studied the bodies quietly, one at a time. “They were all running away, and those wounds aren’t from magic. Tazel didn’t do this.”
“Then who did?” Octavia asked fretfully.
“There’s only one way ta find out,” Applejack declared, leading the way up the stairs at a trot. “Come on, ya’ll, we gotta hurry!”
The others followed, and what they found was a strange and horrid sight. Nilgiri bodies littered the area, some with spears sticking out of them at wild angles. But among the bodies were strange things; Nilgiri trapped in steel boxes and struggling to escape, others handing upside down as if caught up in some invisible rope, a few trapped in big blocks of ice. All around there were either dead bodies or nilgiri trapped in strange prisons.
“The guards,” Upper Crust noted seriously, and upon some inspection the others realized that the captured nilgiri were indeed the temple guards.
“Whoa, what happened to them?” Spike asked, hiding behind Twilight and looking around as if expecting an attack to come from anywhere.
Applejack looked around at the bodies in horror. “But… why are they like that when the others are de… de…”
Twilight raised herself to her hind legs so that she was standing against one of the steel boxes. She leaned forward to get a better look at the nilgiri who’s head was still sticking out and struggling to get free. “Hey, calm down! What happ…” The guard snapped his teeth as if to bite her, his expression so fierce she fell onto her back in alarm. “Whoa! What’s wrong with him?”
It was Octavia who recognized the situation. “Jimmy, look at their eyes…” Everypony followed her suggestion, and they quickly recognized what she had: all the nilgiri guards had red, glowing eyes with no pupils.
“Just like in the Crystal Empire,” Jimmy noted fearfully. “Twilight, this is the same kind of magic that helped King Sombra enslave the ponies in the Empire.”
Applejack snarled angrily at the memory. “Then Tazel really was helpin’ Sombra out!”
“No,” Upper Crust countered ominously, “I don’t think this is Tazel’s magic. It doesn’t seem like her style.”
“And how would you know what her style is?” Jimmy asked her skeptically.
“Call it a guess,” she replied, tapping her cutie mark with a hoof to emphasize her point. “And I think they are the ones that killed the others. Discord must have done this to them to stop them.”
“Guess he’s not all that bad,” Spike suggested hesitantly, eyeing a nearby body and looking ill.
“We don’t have any more time for speculation,” Octavia noted, she and Twilight already at the foot of the temple. “Come on, we need to get inside!” They all ran to the top, hooves fumbling on stones worn smooth with time and slippery with the rain.
“Rainbow!” Twilight was the first to get to the top, and thus the first to find the pegasus. Rainbow’s body was encased in cement, her head sticking out the side and facing towards the temple. When they approached they found her gasping in slow, struggling breaths.
Applejack dropped down beside Rainbow’s head, face twisted with terror. “Rainbow! Come on, sugarcube, talk ta us. You’re alrigh’, right?”
The blue pegasus, teary eyes wide, struggled to get a word out of her throat. “…b …b …br …breathe…”
“Everypony stand back,” Twilight ordered, taking a few paces back from the concrete-encased pegasus. Her horn glowed brightly before a streak of purple energy erupted from it, striking the block. There was a loud popping sound and cracks formed in the concrete. “Applejack!”
“Got it!” She darted to the block and gave it a solid buck, smashing the block to pieces.
Rainbow let out a loud gasp and sucked in air as Jimmy and Octavia worked to pull her out of the rubble. She lay on her back and devoted a few seconds to just breathing while the others cheered her survival.
“I’m so glad your okay,” Twilight confessed happily, but immediately gained a lecturing glare. “I told you not to get involved in the fight! Would it have killed you to listen to me?”
“I… I… I didn’t…” the pegasus managed to get out with visible effort. “…she… cheap shotted me… while I was… was watching…”
“She’ll be okay,” Jimmy noted while feeling Rainbow’s chest studiously. “I don’t think there’s anything broken. Just a tight fit.”
She pushed his hooves away weakly, a strange mixture of relief and sadness of her face. “I would give… just about anything… for you to be… Nye instead.”
He chuckled with a grin. “I’ll be sure to let him know you care.”
“She’s probably the first mare to ever say that,” Octavia whispered conspiratorially to Applejack, who giggled in amusement.
“Rainbow, what happened to Discord and Tazel?” Twilight asked, snapping everypony back into the moment.
The pegasus sat up slowly with Jimmy’s and Applejack’s help. “I couldn’t see,” she answered, at last able to speak normally, “but I think they both went inside.”
“Then that’s where we need to go,” the unicorn declared confidently. “You up for more?”
Rainbow was on her hooves at last, and delivered a confident smirk. “Are you kidding? I’m too awesome to quit over something like this! Let’s get going.”
They found Discord just inside, and he wasn’t happy. He was hovering just above the floor, rubbing his chin and glaring at the stairs leading down into the rest of the temple. He barely acknowledged their arrival. The draconequus clearly hadn’t been exchanging pleasantries with Tazel: there were cuts and bruises all over his body and his larger eye was puffed up and black. Still, he looked a lot better than most of them had expected.
“What’s goin’ on?” Applejack demanded, standing before him and scouring their dark surroundings. “What happened ta Tazel?”
“She’s inside,” he replied, his eyes locked intensely at something nopony could see. “Some sort of barrier is keeping me from following.”
“So she’s hiding from you,” Rainbow declared with a look of disapproval. “What a coward! Can’t she fight for whatever it is she’s trying to do?”
“She did,” he noted darkly, “and she wasn’t winning.”
Twilight approached the stairs, her horn glowing dimly. “I feel the shield. It’s all around, isn’t it? But at least this means she’s contained for now.”
“She’s not finished yet,” Discord noted grimly. “I remember how she was. I guarantee you she has something up her sleeve.”
“We need to talk to her,” Twilight explained. “We might have a way to convince her to stand down, but we need her to go into the dreamscape.”
“Tazel doesn’t want to talk,” he snapped. “That’s got to be the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard! Besides, you’d have to stand up to her in your dreams, and I can’t follow you there.”
“Well someone’s goin’ ta be doin’ it anyway,” Applejack noted with alarm. They all turned and saw her shaking Jimmy. He seemed barely able to stand on his own hooves. “Come on, Jim, this is no… time for a nap…” She let out an abrupt yawn, her eyes getting droopy.
“What’s going on…” Octavia asked, falling to her haunches and rubbing her eyes.
“A sleeping spell!” Upper Crust cried, eyes going wide.
“Oh dear, that’s not good,” Discord noted as he quickly reached down and tried to shake Octavia out of her growing weariness. “She’s going to try and attack you all in your dreams!”
Twilight turned for the exit, but already she was moving sluggishly. “We have to… get out… oh great…” She fell to the floor, out like a light.
“Discord,” Rainbow shouted, flying just above his head, “get us out of here! Use your power or… or whatever…” She dropped slowly to the ground, eyes drooping.
“Too late,” he replied worriedly, watching helplessly as one by one the ponies fell asleep. “I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do. Just try to remember that in your dreams she can’t really hurt you!”
The was no world, at least not in terms of something Octavia could stand on. The universe was comprised of a soft purple, plain background no matter where she looked. Floating all around were seemingly random objects: a cello, a trio of flutes, a stage light, a bunch books just to name a few. It all seemed so random, and she wasn’t sure she liked it.
She tried to find something solid to press her hooves against, but there was nothing; she was floating weightlessly just like everything else. She thought on this for a moment, and with a bit of mental compulsion began to drift towards a piano nearby. She set her hooves to it, using it as though it were the ground, and immediately felt more confident. She took a moment to examine her surroundings, but nothing really made sense. Had she ever had this dream before?
Dream. Yes, she was dreaming. Her mind worked to try and remember when she’d fallen asleep. What had she been doing? There was something important happening. She’d been… in a hurry? No, that didn’t seem right. Trying to find something? That sounded a little closer, but it was still off.
She couldn’t remember, but she knew it was important.
“Octavia Melody.”
She jerked about, trying to find the source of the voice, but there was nothing. Just random floating objects. “Who’s there?”
The piano jerked up with a thunk, and she realized immediately that something had landed on the bottom side. “You probably don’t even remember me.”
“I remember the voice,” she noted seriously, turning in circles. From which direction would it come?
“I remember everything about you.” With the sound of shattering wood and piano keys the instrument shattered under her hooves. She jerked about just in time to see the tail as it swung wide and sent her flying through the air. Wincing at the pain she focused her mind and managed to stop her motion, but when she looked to the piano there was nothing on it.
“What are you?” the cellist snapped, turning about as she glared. “Where are you!?”
“You don’t remember at all,” the voice hissed angrily. “You cut my hand off!”
“I did no such thing,” she countered, floating her way to a large floating stage. As soon as she landed she connected the dots. “Riptide. Luna did that!”
“Maybe, but you fought back,” the voice whispered in its ever-unpleasant tone. “Nopony ever fought me like that before you, Octavia.”
She was already getting tired of this. “Come out and face me you monster!”
“Monster?” Abruptly something appeared, walking onto the stage far opposite Octavia. “What makes me a monster?” Octavia quickly recognized what she was seeing: it was a nilgiri. Not just any nilgiri, but the pujari of the temple.
“It was you?” She took a cautious step back from the priestess, not sure what to expect.
“I really must thank you for the autograph,” the nilgiri noted with a dark grin. “After that wonderful performance the other night I just had to know who you were. It’s so much easier to target a specific pony’s dreams when you know her name.”
Octavia glared, understanding dawning on her. “Tazel. You were posing as a priest, but all along you were brainwashing nilgiri!”
The pujari shook her head and waved a dismissive hoof. “Oh no, I can’t do the whole mind control thing. Had a little help there. But forget the small stuff: what’s your dream?”
The cellist hadn’t expected a question like that. Cautious but confused, she asked, “What are you talking about?”
The nilgiri tilted her head in a snobbish fashion, as if Octavia were being ignorant. “You have a goal, don’t you? A grand wish. Tell me what it is.”
“Why?”
Tazel grinned wickedly. “So I can crush it.”
Octavia lowered to an aggressive stance. “Go to hell.”
“Haven’t you heard?” the nilgiri asked, and suddenly her voice turned vicious. “I’m already there!”
In a single horrifying instant the nilgiri opened her mouth and, emerging like a true demon, Tazel erupted from her throat! Her face was contorted in menace, claws reaching out for Octavia as she flew at the cellist with alarming speed. Octavia barely reacted in time, dropping to her belly and letting the monster zoom past harmlessly.
Or so she thought; just as it was passing Tazel’s tail wrapped like a whip around her throat and dragged her across the stage and into the air! Octavia struggled furiously at the appendage, wincing each time she was swung into guitars, drum sets, massive speakers and anything else heavy Tazel could locate. After nearly a dozen such hits she was at last released, sent spiraling randomly into the void.
Concentrating, Octavia fought to think of something solid. A second later she landed hard on a floor made of bricks. For a moment she wished she’d thought of something softer, but she reminded herself that it was only a dream and rapidly jumped to her hooves. She looked up just in time to see and dodge an incoming harp that smashed into the bricks with a crash.
“I won’t let you keep this up, Tazel,” she snapped, glaring up at the creature and imagining her cello. It was in her hooves in an instant, but before she could play Tazel was there. Alarmed by her speed Octavia was unable to react in time as her cello was snatched away and swung at her like a bat, once against sending her sprawling.
“Oh no you don’t,” Tazel hissed, raising the cello by the neck and threatening to smash her with it. “I won’t give you the chance to fight back!”
Octavia kicked off the ground, just barely escaping as the instrument was smashed to splinters on the bricks. This was bad; Tazel was too quick! Thinking fast, she thought of something less musical and more heavy: Tazel lunged but was stopped with a hard thwack when a carriage abruptly dropped into place between the two of them. Octavia took the opportunity to get some distance between them.
Tazel’s paws clutched the top of the carriage and hauled her over, but she stopped halfway to lay leisurely on top of the thing. “You’re good for somepony without any experience, I’ll give ya that.”
The musician turned to face her opponent, frustration and anger filling her. “What do you want, Tazel!?”
The creature sneered, eyes flashing furiously. “What do I want? It doesn’t matter what I want! I’ll never get it, because I’m a slave. Wants are meaningless, just like hopes!” She rose up, snatching the carriage and lifting it over her head. “I’ll show you how pointless it all is!” With a menacing snarl she threw the carriage at Octavia.
Octavia focused on the thing, and it stopped in midair just a few feet away. An instant later and it was hurtling back at incredible speeds! But Tazel was gone…
The creature smashed into her from the side, knocking her on her back. Tazel’s tail rapidly wrapped about her waist and hind legs. Octavia kicked at her with her forelegs, trying to land a hit in the face.
“Yes, squirm!” Tazel’s feline face delivered a toothy, demented grin as she rose up into the air, carrying a struggling Octavia along. “Fight me, show me your defiance! I’ll squeeze the life out of you!”
The cellist ceased her struggling and laughed mockingly. “You can’t! You stupid beast, this is a dream. You can’t actually hurt me!”
“No?” Tazel’s dark manner faded swiftly as she thought on this. “Come to think of it, you’re right.” Her tail jerked Octavia up and then threw her straight down. She crashed into the bricks, the pain intense but short-lived. “Nothing I do here translates into the real world, so I can’t kill you that way.”
Octavia sat up and glared at the creature, who was studying her with a playful expression. “But I can still hurt you. And I intend to. I intend to hurt you again and again until I am satisfied!”
The cellist grimaced and sent a barrage of bricks flying, but Tazel instantly disappeared in a white cloud. Octavia tried to get up, but didn’t see the attack; a paw caught her by the back of the head and smashed it down into the brick so hard it made her see stars.
“You know,” Tazel whispered in her ear, tail curling once more around the cellist’s body, “I might not be able to kill you in conventional ways, but the mind is another matter. Ponies have been known to die of fright…” She set a paw on the ground next to Octavia’s head, and as she watched it slowly began to change its form. The claws grew long and thin, the fur began to wither and blacken. “There are all sorts of things I can do to you, Octavia. We have all the time in the world.” The paw, now a hideous skeletal black talon, raked across her face teasingly. “So why don’t you tell me what you most want out of life.”
The mare struggled, refusing to show any fear even as she began to recognize her situation. “You can’t scare me,” she declared defiantly. “There’s one of you and six of us, and don’t forget Discord!”
“Oh please, is that the best you can do?” Octavia was lifted up off the ground and turned about to face Tazel, whose face had become gaunt and withered and furless. Her eyes flashed a bloodshot yellow as she grinned with wicked, black fangs. “You’re dreaming, Octy. Discord can’t touch me here, and your friends are all off in their own little dream lands. You’re all alone with me.”
A single talon came up and gripped the cellist’s face tightly. She let out a pained grunt as the claws pierced into her skin and struggled against the creature’s tail desperately. “We’ll stop you! We will, Tazel!”
“Keep telling yourself that,” she responded with an ominous chuckle, her claws going even deeper and making Octavia shutter at the searing pain in her head. “You think you can rely on them? A big bunch of losers? The bookworm that licks Celestia’s hooves? The inbred country hick too stupid to even speak properly? Oh no, you’re counting on that flabby little white stallion, the one who couldn’t even bother to come along! You know you can’t rely on any of them.”
“Shut up!” Octavia fought to free herself, letting out a small shout as those claws dug deeper into her face. She could feel the blood trickling down her cheeks. But the worst pain came from how she actually believed those words. She didn’t have faith in her team, she didn’t have faith in them at all.
“Ooh, is that a little fear I hear?”
Yes, yes it was. Octavia knew she was losing, but she just couldn’t focus! The pain in her head, the doubts about her team, knowing she might not be saved… what was she supposed to do? She kept struggling, crying out in agony as Tazel’s talon clenched just slightly over her face. Yet no matter how much it hurt, no matter how little hope she had, she would not give Tazel the reward of hearing her scream.
“Hmm, resistant little bug,” the monstrosity noted unpleasantly. “That’s okay, I’ll break you eventually. You gonna tell me what I want to know?”
Octavia shivered fearfully, but let out a defiant snarl. “Go buck yourself.”
Tazel sighed dully. “What does a lady gotta do to learn what a pony wants most and smash it to pieces? I know,” her voice turned ominous, “maybe I’ll rip your face off entirely.”
Oh sweet merciful Luna, she sounded deathly serious. Octavia let out a startled gasp as the talon tensed once more. “…w-wait…”
“Too laAUGH!”
Octavia was free, her body sent flying as Tazel flung her out into the open air. She didn’t know what had happened, only that suddenly something had her in a hold around the chest. When she looked up she was startled to see a familiar face. “Jimmy!”
“I think most ponies like her face where it is,” he declared smartly, giving her an encouraging look. He released her, allowing her to float on her own in the purple void. “Glad to see I made it in time.”
Tazel, face back to normal but furious, flapped her wings to rise high above them. “Who the fuck are you? How’d you get in here, you’re not even a unicorn!”
Jimmy glared back at her, confident and imposing. “Fortunately somepony out there had a plan in mind for just this situation.”
“A plan?” Tazel looked surprised, but before she could say anything else a beam of green energy struck her in the face. She let out a surprised shout, rubbing her face and dodging a second, purple shot even as a barrage of green ones began bombarding her. Octavia turned about and was amazed to see two unicorns standing on the bricks below, firing off lasers with their horns: Twilight and Upper Crust.
“You’re not getting away this time, Tazel!” Twilight shouted angrily.
Twilight might have been angry, but Upper Crust appeared outright furious, lasers blasting from her horn at an alarming rate. “You will leave my friend alone!”
Tazel let out a vicious snarl at this resistance. A wave of her paw saw a collection of metal bars appear in front of her, and with another they went flying like darts at the two unicorns. They didn’t even get halfway there before Rainbow Dash appeared, pushing a carriage in front of her that soon came to look like an oversized pincushion. She flew past with an excited whoop, waving to Octavia as she dropped the carriage off on a wooden stage where Applejack was waiting to buck it hard at Tazel.
“Everpony’s here,” Octavia noted in amazement, turning to Jimmy. “You all came.” She was too surprised to speak above a whisper.
“More than you know,” he declared with a wink, and suddenly he grabbed her and, ignoring her shout, sent her flying with an easy toss. “Nye, take care of our damsel in distress!”
“Nye!?”
She twisted around just in time to see the pony in question rearing up atop a plastic stage flat. She smashed into him and the two toppled through the air. “Not my best catch,” he noted jokingly, holding her so that they wouldn’t get separated.
“I don’t understand,” she cried, pushing away from him. “What’s going on, how are you all here?”
“That would be her,” he noted smartly, gesturing with a hoof over her shoulder.
Octavia spun about and let out a happy cry to see Princess Luna hovering high and regal above them all. Her horn was glowing intensely, and even as Octavia watched she saw Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Lightning emerge into the dream seemingly out of nowhere.
“Woohoo, we're floating!” Pinkie cried, flipping pointlessly in the air and laughing hysterically.
“Oh my, Pinkie watch out!” Fluttershy cried, pulling the pony aside just in time for them both to avoid the massive cement pipe that Tazel had sent flying their way.
“How rude,” Rarity snapped as Luna’s magic stopped the pipe from hitting the two of them. “Even in the face of such appalling, tasteless surroundings I cannot allow you to threaten my friends!” She leapt into the pipe, which was more than large enough for her to stand in, and nodded to Luna. It was sent flying through the air at Tazel, sharp diamonds firing out of it like bullets. The creature, alarmed and taking fire from all sides, barely managed to dodge.
“Hey Lightning,” Rainbow called, zipping past the pegasus with a taunting grin, “better move quick or all the fun will be over!”
Lightning huffed in a superior manner. “This all seems like overkill. But,” she grinned wickedly, wings spread wide, “far be it for me to let you have all the fun!” The two were off, a lightning bolt and a rainbow zipping around Tazel and taking turns delivering blows.
Over it all Princess Luna arose, wings spreading majestically and face ominous. “Tazel Wyrm, you have ruined enough dreams. Your reign of terror ends now!”
“Dreams dreams dreams,” the creature snarled, wincing as Upper Crust’s green lasers burned a series of black spots on her back. She was so busy struggling to dodge it was amazing she could bother speaking. “Why does everypony have to keep talking about dreams!?”
Octavia dropped onto the bricks with Nye, so amazed she forgot to use her feet and ended up on her belly. “Everyone came… you’re all here!”
“Of course,” Nye noted pleasantly, suddenly shaking up a big glass bottle in his hooves, “you didn’t really think we were gonna leave you hangin’, huh?”
She jumped up and gave him a tight hug, amazed at her own joy. “I just can’t believe it!”
He stumbled back and pushed her away. “What, we’re in the middle of a big battle and now you can’t get your hooves off me?” He threw the bottle at Tazel, who tried to knock it away with her tail. The bottle shattered and erupted in flames; the creature let out an agonized screech as her tail caught fire, instantly summoning up a bucket of water to douse it. She was distracted for long enough that she didn’t notice the massive piston come hammering down from above, smashing her in the back and sending her flailing. The entire machine, Jimmy standing resolutely on top, gave chase.
The cellist couldn’t believe what she was seeing: her dream was full of chaos as twelve ponies launched into an all-out assault on the creature. Stormclouds from Lightning and Rainbow, lasers from Twilight and Upper Crust, even exploding cupcakes from Pinkie! Tazel was frantically trying to escape, put entirely on the defensive by the overwhelming barrage.
“How… where did you all learn how to do this!?” Octavia turned to Nye for an answer, amazed to see him literally juggling flaming cocktails and simultaneously tossing them at their foe.
“Luna gave us all a crash course in dream control,” he declared proudly. “We're masters of our own dreams, now!”
“I thought this would be difficult,” Fluttershy admitted as she landed just behind the two of them, “but it seems Tazel’s the one in trouble. Are you okay, Octavia?”
The cellist thought she might cry: she’d never expected them to come for her like this! In just a few minutes all her doubts about this team and its chances were gone. They were here, they were all here!
And abruptly she didn’t want to miss this chance to work with them. “I’ve never been better,” she declared fiercely, turning to face Tazel. “Now let’s teach that abomination not to mess with our dreams!” With a thought her cello was back in her arms. She began her own musical assault, waves of sound radiating out to strike the creature no matter where she tried to hide.
Tazel was struggling, constantly fighting to ward off the ponies’ attacks, but there were simply too many of them. If she defended herself against Twilight’s and Upper Crust’s lasers, she would be bombarded by thrown or bucked debris from Applejack, Jimmy and Pinkie. Dodge their attacks and she would be ambushed by the powerful kamikaze-like assaults of Lightning and Rainbow. Flee them and she found herself assaulted by Octavia’s cello and Fluttershy’s song. In the meantime she constantly had to contend with Nye’s flaming bottles and Rarity’s gemstones, and all along Princess Luna was overhead, watching intently while her magic prevented the creature from escaping the dream.
At last Tazel could take no more: with a furious cry she summoned a huge collection of the debris and wrapped it about herself in a tight ball of junk.
“Enough!” Luna floated down amongst her allies, landing softly on a tall dark marble pillar. “I think she has had enough.”
Everypony ceased their assaults, though they all stood ready to attack at a moment’s notice. Luna stood regally over the defensive shell Tazel had formed, prepared to deliver judgment. “Tazel Wyrm, you are outnumbered and outmatched. There is no need to continue. Let us discuss the terms of your capitulation.”
There was a long, tense pause. The ponies were exchanging curious glances, wondering what the creature within the junk-ball was planning. Would she lash out? Surrender? Something entirely unexpected?
The Princess had no desire to wait. “Speak, Tazel! Give me your answer.”
“There’s no point,” Tazel’s despondent voice announced from within the junk ball. “I couldn’t do anything for you, anyway.”
“You can end the waves,” Luna pointed out seriously.
That strange kit-a-kit-a-kit-a-kit-a laughter drifted through the purple void, sounding hollow and dull. “You don’t understand how futile it is. Even if you kill me it won’t change anything. Everything is pointless. Everything you do, everything I do.”
“We have no intention of killing you,” Luna corrected angrily, “unless you force us.”
“I’ll be dead soon, anyway…”
That caught them all off guard. Luna glanced around at her friends, all of whom shared that same confused, alarmed expression. “I am sorry to hear that. Perhaps it you surrendered we might help you…”
“There is no help!” Tazel shrieked, the violent response leading some of the ponies to prep for an attack. “I’m a slave to fate, just like the lot of you! It’s pointless to do anything at all!”
She wasn’t making any sense. Luna turned her eyes on Twilight, but the unicorn appeared as confused as she did. The only thing she could do was press on and hope the creature would say something sensible. “Regardless, you will stop the waves. You are defeated, Tazel, and you will obey.”
“Obey.” The creature spat the word as if it were poison. “That’s all I can ever do: obey! What about what I want to do, huh? Nopony ever considered that, and now I’m gonna die!”
Luna stomped her hoof in frustration, a crash of thunder resounding in the cloudless void. “We do not intend to kill you!”
“Why not!?” With an abrupt crash Tazel smashed through her protective ball and rose up into the air, face furious as she glared at the Princess. The ponies all took up aggressive stances, but Tazel didn’t attack: she wasn’t finished ranting. “Go ahead, end my pointless life. That’s the way it’s supposed to be! We struggle on with these stupid pathetic goals and, win or lose, we die! In a century nopony will ever even remember the name Tazel, and everything I ever did will be forgotten. It’s the same with all of you!”
Luna was taken completely aback by this, as were many of the other ponies. Where was this tirade coming from?
It was Lightning Dust who answered, to the surprise of all. “You have it coming. Nopony wants to remember the bad!”
“And what will they remember you for,” the creature snapped, “the fact that lightning flies out of your ass? You’ve got six decades tops before you die, and then what? Everything you ever fought for, every good deed you ever committed will be forgotten! What’s the point of hoping? What’s the point of even trying!?”
Luna was already growing tired of this. She didn’t know why Tazel was suddenly going on this tirade, but they had more important business to discuss: she reared back to stomp her hooves once more, a crack of lightning reflecting her anger. “Be silent!”
“Or what? You’ll kill me?” Tazel spread her arms wide with a sneer. “Go ahead, I want it! I’m tired of all this pointless dreaming, anyway. One way or another I will be dead, so why waste time?”
“Dreams do have a purpose!” Everyone was shocked to see Nye, of all ponies, rising up on a cloud to confront the creature. He dropped to a combative stance, his face twisted in anger. “How dare you insult Luna’s domain? Dreams give us the inspiration to keep going!”
Tazel let out a fierce hiss, paws tightening and claws stretching out of her fingers menacingly. “But why keep going? You’ll never achieve anything you ever fight for!”
“Yes we will!” Now it was Upper Crust who spoke up, rising into the air on a pearly chariot. “Ponies achieve their dreams all the time. It’s what gives our lives meaning!”
“Meaning!?” Tazel shrieked, turning on the pony with menacing eyes, “What possible meaning can there be in such futility? Even if you achieve your goal you just replace it with a new one, and for every pony who succeeds a hundred others fail!”
“That’s why we keep trying,” Rainbow shouted up at her proudly, earning her a furious glare.
“When a pony achieves her dream she can help others do the same,” Rarity announced with equal pride.
“Those who succeed can inspire those who failed,” Octavia added, standing tall beside her cello. Tazel let out a vicious hiss at her words.
“Spreading our own happiness gives our lives meaning,” Fluttershy declared, her voice astonishingly loud and determined.
“Others want to have as much fun as we do,” Pinkie noted with a cheerful leap. Tazel made a disgusted sound and retreated backwards as if their words were arrows.
“And even if they can’t achieve their dreams, their lives are fulfilled by the pursuit!” Jimmie announced with bravado.
“That fulfillment is what makes our dreams so important,” Applejack threw in, rearing back to show her enthusiasm.
“Through our efforts we work together to make our dreams come true,” Twilight cried out triumphantly. “We fight for our dreams, and through them we make life all the more valuable. Our hopes and dreams are just one more element in our pursuit of harmony!”
Tazel let out a hideous screech, covering her ears and flailing about in the air as if she were in actual pain. “Shut up, shut up shut up shut up!”
“You are part of this world too, Tazel,” Luna announced majestically. “Perhaps your life has been filled with failure and pain, and if so you have my pity. But no life – and no dream – is meaningless, including yours. You can turn your life around if you would only accept our help.”
“Why don’t you understand?” Tazel bared her fangs, body lowering aggressively and leathery wings spreading wide. “You can’t help me, my dream cannot be attained! Nothing you can say or do matters. I’ll prove it! I’ll force you to crush me like the bastard bitch I am!” And she lunged, long talons reaching with vicious purpose for the Princess. The ponies all around let out surprised gasps, too slow to strike.
But Luna’s face hardened. “Let this educate you.” Her horn glowed, and a tall black portal emerged before her. Tazel, moving too fast to stop, disappeared into it with a howl of rage and surprise that ended abruptly when the portal winked closed. Tazel was gone, winked out of existence just like that. Complete silence filled the air as the ponies all stared in mute surprise at the Princess’ hard face.
It was Applejack who finally spoke up. “Princess… whadya jus’ do?”
Luna closed her eyes and bowed her head, appearing to take a moment to calm herself. “I sent her into somepony else’s dream, one that I hope will wake her up.” But then she cast a smile upon all of them. “Well done, my ponies. You performed above and beyond my expectations. I’m sure if Celestia were here she’d be just as proud.”
The ponies all gathered before her, their reactions mixed. Some, like Jimmy and Lightning, appeared relieved. Others, like Rainbow and Pinkie, were applauding themselves and others. Nye and Lightning approached the Princess to show their appreciation for her help.
Octavia could only watch them all, face beaming with pride.
“So,” Twilight asked, approaching with a smug look, “how do you feel about your team, now?”
The cellist sighed happily. “I feel… like we should have come together ages ago.”
Twilight giggled and turned her attention to the others, a calm happiness on her face. “Yep, I remember the first time I felt that. It’s a good feeling, isn’t it?”
“One of the best I’ve ever felt,” she admitted.
“Rainbow, get down here,” Nye shouted at the pegasus who was busy hoofbumping Jimmy.
“Yeah yeah,” she answered in mock annoyance, dropping down to land before him. “Whaddaya want, you…” Her words died when he planted a kiss on her lips that made her wings pop open as if they were spring-activated. Jeers and taunts came from some of the spectators; Octavia and Twilight shared wide-eyed, slack-jawed expressions.
Rainbow abruptly jerked away from him, face beet red as her eyes shifted around in alarm at their audience. “N-n-n-Nye! I thought I told you…!”
“Come home quick,” he interrupted, catching her cheeks with his hooves. “I. Am. Dying back in Ponyville!”
“He sure is,” Pinkie declared, abruptly bouncing circles around the two of them. “You should see him he’s all mopey and sad and grumpy and no fun at all! You gotta come home so he can be fun again!”
“Okay okay, I get it,” she replied fretfully, glancing away from the stallion anxiously with cheeks still red. “Just show some self control in front of the others, alright?”
Octavia listened to the laughter and joy that had so suddenly come upon all her friends. Friends… she’d never had so many at once. She could still vividly recall the surprise and overwhelming happiness of seeing them all arrive at the same time.
Wait… all of them?
“Where’s Fine?”
There was a moment’s pause as all the others glanced around in quiet confusion. Sure enough, Fine wasn’t there. And he wasn’t the only one missing.
“Did anyone see the Princess leave?” Twilight asked worriedly.
Tazel rose up off the ground, rubbing her aching head. Damn that alicorn bitch, she’d pulled a fast one on her. Not that it mattered; she was away from all those naïve ponies and their stupid ideals. Mind brimming with hateful thoughts, she focused on returning to the waking world… and cringed in disappointment. She couldn’t do it, which meant the Princess had to be around somewhere in this dream, as well. She let out a vicious curse and, coiling her tail, sat up to get a better look at her surroundings.
Her mind went numb with alarm at the scenery. She was on some sort of island, but what a grotesque sight this island was! Ponies in various states of mutilation hung from the tropical trees, swaying in a soft breeze like disgusting, insect-infested wind-chimes. The beach was covered in bones, broken and snapped pieces of pony anatomy and pearly-white pony skulls that seemed to leer at her. Bodies lay strewn along the forest floor not twenty feet away; limbs twisted, gaping wounds trickling what little blood remained within, some posed, others just randomly battered beyond recognition.
What mad pony’s dream was this?
But then she realized that she knew this place. She knew it very well; the curve of the beach, the placement of the trees, the rising hills beyond. She had instinctively known it was an island, and now she knew it was because she’d been here before.
This was her island. How could she forget it? She’d lived there for over a thousand years.
This was the last place Tazel wanted to be. The sickening scenery only made the situation worse! There had to be some kind of escape, but exiting the dream was impossible. There was only one thing to do: find whoever owned this dream and put the pony out of her misery.
She was just about to head into the forest when she heard a scream that only made her head ache more. She turned to face the sound and was not surprised to see a blue-coated pony emerge from the trees, galloping at full speed onto the beach. As he came towards her she took a moment to consider him and realized that he had no… ‘energy’ was the term she liked to use. This wasn’t the one behind the dream; he was just part of it.
The stallion was terrified, making his frantic way to her. “Help me, he’s gonna kill me!”
Well, at least there was one benefit to this place; As soon as he was close enough her tail lashed out, coiling about his body in a tight grip. Her paws, claws stretching out unnaturally, caught the pony’s face and forced him to look up into her cruel eyes. “Not if I kill you first.”
His neck snapped like a twig. Tazel relished that sound, imagining it had been that bitch Octavia’s neck instead. The body was sent flying into the water, the splash eerily dull. She quietly hoped there were more ponies like that one here to vent her frustration on; a single pony was hardly satisfying.
“That was supposed to be my kill.”
She turned back to the forest. There, violet eyes serious, was a mottled-brown stallion with a black mane. His dark vest was covered in blood, and she could sense that he was the source of this nightmare.
Or was it a nightmare? He was the killer in this world, or so it seemed… so did that mean he was not having a nightmare?
It didn’t matter. What mattered was that Tazel needed out of this dream. Who knew when Princess Luna would show her face? “You want to make something of it?” she asked him threateningly, gesturing for him to come closer.
The stallion tilted his head inquisitively, face ever hard. “You don’t belong in this world. You’re certainly no creation of mine. You should leave.”
“I can’t,” she snapped angrily, flying up into the air and taking an aggressive pose. “I’m stuck here, so I might as well have some fun!”
He began to giggle, his lips spreading in a demented grin. His strange behavior made her hesitate, and her nervousness grew when his giggles erupted into outright laughter. That sounded too real to be mocking. What was so funny?
“Here!” he cried as his laughter dimmed a touch. He magically tossed a decayed corpse at her. “You wanna have fun? Have it!”
She caught the body in both paws and tossed it aside in disgust. “What is wrong with you?”
“Everything!” His laughter was gone, the mirth on his face transforming to ferocity. “I’m weeks behind. It’s left me so twisted I’m slaughtering ponies even in my sleep. And I’m never satisfied!” He reared back and stomped his hooves in frustration, an eruption of sand and body parts blasting about him. He let out a snarl and jerked his head away from her. “But I’m gonna stay here, because as long as I’m killing ponies here I’m not doing it out there. So unless you want to be added to the list you better get the fuck out of my nightmare!”
So it was a nightmare, albeit a strange one. She could see that this pony was like Octavia: he knew how to control his dreams. Tazel had gone through enough for one day and had no interest in getting into another serious fight. She thought about trying to kill him quick, but cast the idea aside. What she needed was a princess.
“Luna!” The creature spun in place, eyes searching everywhere. The moon, the stars, the forest, the beach, the seas. “Come on out and finish this! Why are you wasting my time?”
“Luna?” His alarmed voice caught her attention. “Luna brought you here?”
She turned to find him studying her with renewed interest, his dark manner gone entirely. “It’s nothing to do with you.”
He ignored the statement, eyes wide as he took a few cautious steps forward. “It can’t be… are you Kit?”
Upon hearing that name all Tazel’s anger instantly disappeared. She stared back at him with equal amazement, not certain she’d heard him correctly. “What did you call me…?”
He took another step, his eyes going over her form. “You’re Tazel, aren’t you? Surely you’re not… Kit…”
She hadn’t been called that in so long. She glanced at their surroundings, so horrid and yet so familiar. So few had seen her island, and only two ponies had ever called her by that name. She couldn’t believe it, almost didn’t dare to hope. But she had to ask. “What is your name?”
He sat in the sand, face solemn as he set a hoof to his chest. “I am Verity Fine Crime.”
He’d said it. He’d actually said the name. She lowered her body to study him more closely. “Verity…? Is that really you?” She didn’t wait for his answer: she already knew. She flew forward in a flash and engulfed him in a hug, overwhelmed with a happiness she didn’t even know she could have. “Verity! My little friend!”
He squirmed and managed to free his face from her furry orange arms. “Kit, that really is you under there!”
She lifted him up and swung him through the air, laughing in her strange way. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you!”
He laughed at her exuberance. “I missed you, too. Now put me down!”
She did as he asked, her toothy grin spreading from ear to ear. “It is so good to see you, Verity. When I saw you were alive I so wanted to see you, but I didn’t think I’d get the chance…” She realized she had tears in her eyes, which was an entirely new experience. “…look at me, I’m acting like a pony.”
He reared back to set his hooves on her chest, the only way he could bring his face even close to level with hers. “Where did you go? I cried myself when I saw you were gone!”
“I know,” she admitted with a guilty laugh, “I read about it.”
That made him pause. “Read about it? How?”
“Your book,” she replied as if the answer was obvious. “I got hold of a copy.”
His eyes grew wide with alarm, and abruptly he didn’t seem all that happy anymore. “You got it from Twilight.”
Tazel’s mood dropped at the mention of that name, the pain of her recent defeat still fresh in her mind. She hovered a few feet away from him, suddenly on edge. “You know her?”
He landed on all hooves and nodded solemnly. “I gave her that book personally. There were no other copies, Tazel.”
“Don’t call me that,” she whispered with worry in her tone. “Everpony calls me that. I’m your Kit, remember?”
“Maybe.” He didn’t sound so friendly anymore. “What’s going on in Nildia?”
She winced, sagging at the accusatory tone. “It’s… complicated.” She tried to dodge, gesturing at their surroundings. “What about you, why are you dreaming… this?”
“It’s complicated,” he replied dully, clearly not distracted. “Luna sent you here for a reason, Tazel.”
She grimaced; he was using that name regardless, was he? “She sent me away because I was insulting her precious dreams. Don’t get me started, Verity.”
“I might need to,” he noted. “Come on, Tazel, talk to me. We used to be friends.”
“Call me Kit!” She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “I want to be Kit. I want to go back to a time when I was free to do what I wanted, when I still could have naïve hopes and we were just two friends playing on the beach. Let me have that back, Verity!”
His ears perked up, catching something in her words. “Free to do what you wanted? You mean you’re not now?”
She sighed and dropped to the sand, head bowed. “I was never free. I was born a slave. Soon I’ll die as one. But at least when we were together I was permitted to act on my own for a while…”
“So,” he whispered sadly, “you want freedom. Funny, I want the same thing.”
“You… you do?” She looked at him, surprised by his words. “Freedom from what?”
He studied her for a moment, serious and cheerless. She thought he was going to respond.
But then his entire disposition changed. His lips curled into a toothy, disturbing smile, and weird hunger shined in his eyes. He let out a tiny chuckle. “From this.”
He was on her, the attack so fast that by the time she realized what was happening she was on her back. She cried out in surprise and pain, his horn stabbing deep into her shoulder. “Verity, what are you doing!?”
He didn’t answer. Instead he reared back and pounded both hooves at once on her chest. She let out a scream of pain as one of them dug into the fresh wound. She was confused, she was hurting, and for some reason she was scared. She shouldn’t have been scared, but she was. She reached up and caught his hooves before they could come down a second time, tossing him aside easily.
She began to rise, but didn’t get far before something pierced her tail. With a shriek of pain she twisted about to see a pike that was dragged back down to the beach. Her tail hit the sand, the pike going deep, but she managed to keep her upper body above the ground. She moved to lift the pike and felt something crack her on the back of the head.
She grunted and turned to face her attacker, surprised to see Verity dropping from above with a magical, purple sledgehammer hovering over his head. It came down with a mighty swing, her head barely escaping the hit. She snatched him up in both paws and shook him violently. “Stop it! Stop it right…” He set both front hooves to her chest and, with a blast of violent energy, knocked her onto her back.
“Can’t. Having fun.” His words echoed through the night amidst insane giggles.
He was mad. She’d finally found him after all these years, and he was trying to murder her! The sledgehammer came hurdling before her eyes. She clapped her hands and disappeared in a puff of cloud, the arcane weapon smashing into the sand where her head had just been. She reappeared a dozen yards away. “Verity, snap out of it!” He disappeared in a cloud of smoke before she’d finished the sentence.
She let out a scream of agony as three sharp steel points emerged from her chest. Gasping at the pain, she twisted her head to see Verity just behind her, a trident in his hooves and a manic grin on his face. That… that wasn’t the Verity she knew. He couldn’t possibly be…
She let out a snarl and wrapped her tail about him. If he wanted a fight she’d give him one! Letting out a hiss at the pain she pulled him away, the trident sliding out of her in the process. Blood trickling down her chest she turned to face him, tail squeezing ever tighter. “After all this time we finally meet, and this is what you decide to do? Why, Verity!?”
He huffed a hoarse chuckle, his breathing difficult. “I to-told Luna… bringing you… h-h-here was… dangerous…” He fought her grip for a few seconds, that monstrous smile still on his face. “I’m just… p-playing… y-y-you wanna… play… right, K-Kit…?”
She glared at him with loathing. “What happened to you, Verity?”
He paused his struggles to give her a smug, evil grin. “Life.”
She let out a screech at the pain, at first not understanding where it was coming from. Then she saw them: corpses. All the mutilated and desiccated bodies were coming to life, rising up and shuffling towards her. One half-decomposed unicorn’s horn had elongated to unnatural lengths to stab into her tail.
She felt her tail slacken and realized that Verity had teleported again. Before she had a chance to look for him several more corpses were on her, their bones elongating like spears into her body. She screamed and struggled to escape as more of them stabbed into her arms, tail and body. She was a living pincushion, unable to move for the pain!
And fear. She actually knew fear. She, a creature with near-godlike powers, was suddenly terrified for her life! “Verity please, stop!”
Black smoke erupted over her head, and a moment later the horrifying stallion was in the air, landing hard on her chest. She fell onto her back hard, letting out an tortured wail as the bones piercing her body shifted into new, agonizing positions. He grinned down at her, and she was faced with an understanding of her terror.
That was Verity. Her precious colt friend, that tiny innocent pony that had played with her all those years ago. The one who had snuggled with her at night, who sought her comfort against his terrors. Her one and only friend. The one pony she trusted to be there for her when she at last found him again.
And he was going to kill her.
“I’m not Verity anymore, Tazel,” he whispered happily, a black knife abruptly appearing over his shoulder. “Verity died as a colt. I’m Fine Crime, and I live off blood. Now,” he grinned as the knife turned to point at her face, “be a good girl and scream for me, won’t you?”
Tazel screamed. She flailed about and howled in terror. It took some time for her to realize that she was free. Not just free… she was out, surrounded by old worn stones and musty, hot air. She sat, wincing in pain: others might not be hurt in dreams, but she was not one of them. Blood trickled down the many holes on her body, forming pools on the worn stone floor, and she clutched herself tightly and wept.
Verity. The one thing she wanted to have back was her friend. For the first time in her long life she’d achieved her dream, and it turned out to be a nightmare! It really was pointless, wasn’t it? She let out a frustrated cry, claws digging so tightly into her arms she was gouging them.
“Things didn’t go as planned?”
She jerked about in alarm to find Discord hovering just a few feet away, eyeing her darkly.
“Keep away from me!” she shrieked, turning away and crying some more.
Tazel.
She raised her head in alarm, the voice in her head firm. “You too. I don’t want to talk to you!”
“Fine, don’t talk,” Discord replied, deaf to the voice. “You’re still going to pay for what you’ve done.”
Bring me The Light of Day.
“No!” She covered her ears with a hiss. “Get out of my head! I don’t want anything to do with you!”
Bring it, Tazel. Now.
“Let me go!” she shrieked, writhing in the air furiously.
Her tail lashed about, blood splattering across Discord’s face as he backed up in alarm. “Tazel, what are you…?”
…I have the Life of Earth. It gives me all the power I need.
They’d found it. Tazel’s horror grew tenfold. “No. No no no!” She was compelled to act, to leave and head for the sea, but she fought that compulsion with everything she had. “I won’t hand it over, you can’t just erase me!”
You knew this time was coming.
“Who are you talking to!?” Discord snapped, dodging another frantic lash of Tazel’s tail as she twisted and raged before him.
“Just let me go,” the creature cried pathetically. “You don’t need me anymore! Please!”
I can see that spending so much time in the dreamscape has broken your mind.
“I’m not a tool to be discarded!”
If you are so broken as to be like this, then I have no choice.
The compulsion hit her, and she realized quickly what was happening to her. “No… no please, I don’t wanna die!”
Discord caught her by the shoulders, shaking her. “Tazel! Snap out of it! What’s wrong with you?”
She squirmed against his hold, tears falling down her feline cheeks as she desperately fought the urge with every fiber of her being. “Please, Silma! Don’t do this!”
Goodbye, Tazel. Take comfort: you were at least of some use to me.
Discord’s eyes went wide. “Did you say Silma!?”
She couldn’t fight it anymore: she lurched forward and wrapped her arms and tail tightly about the draconequus. She begged, she wailed, she struggled with all her mental might as her body began to glow a pearly white. The pain, the horrible burning pain!
“Tazel!” Discord struggled to get away, not recognizing the powerful magic. He saw something small and glistening emerge from the painfully bright light of her body; it rose into the air, hovered over them for a few seconds, then abruptly burst through the temple’s ceiling, showering them in dust and bits of brick.
“What’s going on? What are you…” He felt the effects and at last understood. “Oh... not again.”
“SILMA!!!”
The ponies were jerked awake by the screech. They all got up from the stone floor groggily, a slow and uncomfortable recovery. As they finally came awake they gradually became aware of where they were and what had happened. There was no great battle of immortal beings going on. No sign of Tazel at all. But there in the center of the room was a tall, angry-looking statue.
It was Discord.