//------------------------------//
// Mind Games 
// Story: Oneirophobia 
// by Valorousspectre 
//------------------------------//

Canterlot. Canterlot castle to be precise.

A perfectly composed, confident Talisman looked around his surroundings warily. This dreamscape was incredibly well formed, intricately detailed. The stonework beneath his hooves felt like stone. He could smell the scent of burning and rotting flesh. The sky was dark and thunder boomed every so often. if he wasn't so disgusted by its meaning, he might have thought it a work of art. But this was the mind of Twilight Sparkle. This was her dreamscape. This was her mind, her subconscious he was stepping into. And he had a mission.

Get her out.

He took a step, relishing the lack of pain. No broken bones here. The corridors were unfamiliar, busted and broken. The occasional bone and fetid flower littered the path as well. It took him a while to find his bearings, especially since the destroyed corridors left the place more of a maze than it was in one piece. A growing sense of foreboding was forced down as he plodded along relentlessly. He knew something was wrong, that's why he entered her mind. That's why he put her to sleep. He was most powerful when he was at his most vulnerable, asleep.

And wow, was Twilight's mind messed up.

"Come now Talisman," He muttered to himself, "If I was going to trap Twilight in her own mind, in Canterlot Castle, where would it be..?"

It only took him a few seconds to come to a conclusion.

"Throne room. Thick doors, reinforced walls. Best place to lock somepony away."

He moved faster, with more fervor and purpose now that he had a clear destination He had to reach Twilight. But it seems that his opponent had decided to make things difficult on him. The new corridors of rubble were winding, and when he did eventually reach the mighty doors of the throne room, he found them closed tight and locked as only the great doors of Canterlot could.

"Hmph," Tal hmphed irritably, "Bloody doors."

With a surge of magic and a wave of his hoof, the door was blasted to pieces, fragments flying for a short span before slowing and stopping altogether, millions upon millions of fragments of wood at a standstill in midair. And there she was, on the other side, at the mighty throne. And it was obvious why she found herself stuck. Without giving the fragments a second thought, Talisman walked swiftly through the potentially deadly field of wooden blades, but they merely bounced off him with the same 'tink' sound that glass would make before reforming behind him, falling back into place as the mighty doors to the Canterlot throne room with a thunderous 'boom' and glowing an ethereal blue colour, testament to Talisman's meddling.

"Twilight," Tal said quickly as he moved to her side, glaring angrily at the scene before him, almost trembling with rage.

It was not a pretty sight.

Upon the dias, frozen forever in her seated throne, was the once proud and mighty Princess Celestia. Tal noted dimly that the creature that had taken over her mind so easily seemed to love the very idea of those of power being brought down so publicly. What appeared to be a spear of organic origin was plunged through her skull, just under her horn, and stuck out halfway through the throne behind her. Her bones were barely covered with a festering coat of rotting flesh, blackened, dried blood still clinging to the once proud coat of the celestial monarch. The only thing truly revealing the nature of her character was her jewelry, which had been left as it was, the tiara on her head now hanging limply from her horn, but her golden shoes were where they should have been, and the decay had not yet touched the magnificent golden collar that had once rested around her neck.

It was a scene from only the most horrific of nightmares.

"Twilight, get up," He said firmly, placing a hoof on her shoulder, "We need to go."

Twilight's lifeless eyes, puffy and red from crying tears of absolute despair, looked up uncomprehendingly at Talisman for a long moment before a small spark of recognition lit in them.

"Tal..?" She said softly, her voice breaking. Talisman nodded, subconsciously brushing his now nonexistent fringe out of his face.

"Yeah Twi," he replied with a warm smile, as strained as it was for him, "It's me. Now come on, let's go. We have to leave this place."

"But..." Twilight said hopelessly, looking back to the long dead illusion, "Celestia... P-Princess Celestia is..."

"Alive and well," Talisman said bluntly, losing patience quickly, "Twilight, use your head. Celestia wouldn't let herself die on her throne whilst everypony around her suffered. Celestia would have been out there, fighting to the bitter end. She'd die protecting her subjects. Now get up will you, this place is poison."

Twilight sniffed and shook her head.

"But she's right there..." Twilight said with a sniffle, "Can you not see her? She's dead Talisman... and it's all my fault..."

Tal felt a muscle under his eye twitch.

"Fine," He said with a frustrated sigh, "If he's gotten in that deep that you won't leave, I'll have to push this place away from you."

Twilight didn't respond, and Tal didn't wait for one. He closed his eyes before starting as there was a vicious crash at the doors. He looked over at them in alarm, thanking the spirits he'd reinforced it with his magic as he saw a shadowy entity behind them, slamming its fists into it. Pushing the sound from his mind, Talisman closed his eyes and focused, feeling his magic build up in him. He channeled it to his horn, building up the pressure as he formed his spell before releasing it. With a mighty flash...

Nothing happened.

Then slowly, ever so slowly, the landscape began to melt away. The little things were first. The feeling of stone under one's hooves dissipated. Then the smell of flesh rotting and festering faded from their nostrils and the scent of fires died away. Extinguished next were the sound of lightning booming in the distance and the sky went white as everything up there was obliterated, all two dimensional illusion. The fallen bricks vanished, melting away as the landscape's colour blurred and the throne cracked and melted, falling to the ground and melting through it, much to Twilight's dismay as she rushed to catch the skull of her teacher as the projectile ceased to be, catching the skull mere second before it too faded away, turning to dust in her hooves to be blown away in a nonexistent wind.The floor beneath them vanished and Twilight gave a cry in fear as her hooves stepped on solid nothingness before the walls were blown away as though they were nothing but leaves on the wind, although the door remained, and locked within wall of pure light was the entity from before.

The Dreamscape was finally purged as the disgusting, abominable blossoms burned in black flames into nothingness.

"It was all an illusion," Talisman firmly stated to the shocked Twilight Sparkle, "Used by a Demon who knew your innermost fears. He's been using you, Twilight. Come on, you know me. Could you get up now and trust me?"

"But..." Twilight said, obviously going into shock again, "I saw... I felt... It was... You were..."

Talisman rolled his eyes. As much as he knew he should have expected this, as much as he had known he'd have to be delicate here, he simply didn't have the time. There was a creature knocking angrily at his barriers and he wasn't sure if he could hold the thing off for terribly long. He could feel his barriers splintering as they spoke.

"Look, Twi," He said, forcing himself to be gentle as he bent his neck to nuzzle at her shoulder, "I know it's confusing, and I know you just want to curl into a ball and cry. But there's the slight problem of a demon knocking on my barriers and I can't keep him there for long. He's already beginning to break through and I need you with me to fight. Can you do that? Do you still have the will left to fight this evil from your mind?"

Twilight looked sharply at him, accusingly.

"The real Talisman wouldn't have even broken a sweat!" She snarled in reply, causing him to lift a brow, "The REAL Talisman would have already blown it away, effortlessly. The re-"

"The real Talisman," He said impatiently, "Knows his limits. This creature is clearly just as skilled here as I am, perhaps more so. There's not much I can do on my own without severely harming you, and he knows it. I need your help! That's w-"

There was a sudden sound, like an intake of breath, and Tal's eyes widened as the barriers he had built around the demon in Twilight's mind burst in the cacophonous sound of shattering glass. Lethally pointed shrapnel burst out in a starburst of glittering blue, hanging in the air for a moment before firing back at Talisman. Twilight squealed, magic as of yet beyond her as Tal stood his ground. The shards of energy hit him and were simply absorbed, melting back into him. Tal smirked.

"You'll have to do better than that," He said to the ball of sickly green smoke, "To best me."

In place of the creature banging on the doors was a large haze of smoke that was, yes, sickly green in colour. Tal couldn't help but be reminded of the purple haze of a similar, if not the same nature, of the demon hidden within Demonheart's psyche. 

"Show your face," Tal commanded angrily, "I know you have one."

The smoke twisted and writhed as it received his words, but made no move to dissipate. A long, low growl echoed around the space.

'You dare invade here?' came a dark voice, 'In my sacntuary?'

Tal couldn't help but crow inside in triumph. It had spoken. 

"This isn't your mind," He replied forcefully, taking a step forward, towards the smokey veil, "This is Twilight's mind, her inner world. I will come and go as I damn well please if it will save her."

Its voice came from everywhere at once.

'But this one is mine now,' it replied sibilantly, 'There is nothing you can do.'

"I can fight," He replied instantly, "And I can draw you from her mind like poison from a wound."

There was silence for a long while. Slowly, a sound swam into being, and it took Tal a moment to realise what it was.

It was laughing.

"You cannot win!"

The voice came from the cloud, directed right at Tal's mind and he repelled it easily, sending it back with double the force at the cloud only to blow it away.

And Tal's heart dropped.

"Oh Celestia..."

With the cloud cleared, the horrifying form of the demon was laid bare. It wasn't like Spectre at all. It had a pony's form, but it looked so wrong. There was no mouth. Where the mouth should be, the muzzle simply rounded out. The horn spearing the heavens from its forehead was as waxy white as its flesh. It had no hair, and no mane. Its tail was nonexistent and it looked at Talisman with dead eyes, black as pitch. It had only one ear, the other one nothing but a foul hole of bone and waxy flesh.

Twilight cowered away from it.

"A destro! Oh Celestia help me, we're going to die!"

Tal put the hysterics of the mentally unstable unicorn out of his mind. He didn't know what a Destro was, but he had one before him, and this one was no doubt tougher than real ones. It didn't seem to have many means of attack other than magic though so...

Which is precisely when it decided it'd be best to open its mouth.

It seemed to strain for a moment before the flesh that covered its maw started to rip and tear, rivers of dark purple blood flowing from the horrendous wound as the rupturing flesh tore faster and the creature screamed, the sound rattling in Talisman's head as the horrendous image struck fear in his heart. Inside the ruined mouth were two rows of pointed, stiletto like teeth, no doubt designed to bite through the hardest of substances. Its scream was like a banshees, heralding the death and doom of all who heard it. It shook the pair of ponies listening down to their very souls.

Okay... things just got difficult.

The horn upon the Destro's head flared into life, darkened black magic swirling around the creature as the 'floor' beneath it darkened and cracked, flares of soot and flame peaking through. Talisman brought his own magic to bear, lighting up the darkening room around him with a flare of turquoise light as he stood his ground, grass growing beneath his hooves in the dreamscape's malleable surroundings. The two lots of magic met and battled, turquoise meeting purple-black, clashing against each other with nasty crackles of dangerous sparks.

In a way, Magical duels in the mind of a pony was more dangerous than one in reality, given that they're not just risking their lives, but their own sanity. In this case, Talisman knew he was taking a risk battling the Destro in Twilight's mind, and unless Twilight got up and fought with him, he wasn't entirely sure how much he could do without damaging her.

It was with a grim acknowledgement that Tal realised he was losing.

Slowly, ever so painstakingly slowly, his magic was being pushed back. The turquoise was slowly giving way to the darkness, but not without a fight. The creature screamed again, displaying its ruined mouth as it took a morbid step forward, and suddenly Tal was under mountains of pressure. He grunted, focusing his magic as he took a more steady stance, spreading his legs for stability as he pushed back mightily. The creature snarled and paused, halted by Tal's sheer determination as he shoved again, pushing it back a half step. But for all his power, this was a creature of dreams and raw spiritual power. It took another step forward and Tal slid back a step. Another step, but this time Tal held his ground. he could feel the corrupted feeling of the Destro's power around him, closing in on him. It took another step. He could feel his hooves digging into the nonexistent floor. Another step. he could feel the malevolent magic of his opponent around him, squeezing the life from him. Another and he could feel the flames under his hooves.

And then the pressure lifted a little.

Tal's eyes shot open as he felt a familiar magical presence as Twilight Sparkle stood beside him, a grimace of determination on her face as she too began to push back, sloppily at first, but learning quickly how this place worked. The Destro screamed in defiance as Tal smiled and turned back to face his enemy, reaching into the deepest reserves he had and pushing back. He felt Twilight's magic join his as they pushed back instinctively, their magicks tuning into each other's frequencies, strengthening them exponentially.

A concept only really known to unicorns, Magical 'frequencies' were difficult to master. The theory was that magic resonated on different 'frequencies' across a spectrum, and a pony who was capable of making their magic thrum at the same frequency as another unicorn's would find their power boosted, so long as they were working together on the same spell.

The Destro almost looked alarmed as its magic was pushed back, the grass beneath Talisman and Twilight's hooves growing little lavender flowers as it pushed back the cracked and decayed earth the Destro had been pushing onto them. It was forced back a step, and another, and another. Faced with the idea that it was being pushed back now instead of them, the Destro spread it legs like Tal had and braced itself, its magic forming into a more defensive cone around it as Twilight and Tal pressed their advantage, stepping forward every chance they could until they were almost face to face with the cone of dense purple magic that was the demon's black magic. With a combined effort, the pair of unicorns crushed the cage.

With no results.

The cage toppled, but there was nothing in it. Both unicorns suddenly felt the fatigue from the magic they had exerted and nearly collapsed, Tal just holding on by a thread to his upright position, his knees shaking.

"It's... not... over..." He panted softly to Twilight, who looked pale and more than a little sickly.

"I can't..." She answered, panting heavily, "It's too much... I can't... this place..."

And the Destro came back.

With a scream that would have shattered glass, it buried its teeth into Talisman's shoulder and neck, obviously deciding magic wasn't going to work. Tal shrieked in pain and fell back as, in the microseconds that the brain works he went through his options.

And came out with only one viable option.

He looked at the horrified Twilight as her horn began to burn with magic and smiled.

"It was an honor...," He whispered to her. Dimly he registered her confusion and hysteria as he latched onto the demon, grabbing it around its shoulders and locking his hind legs over it before a burst of light left Twilight alone in her mind.

Free of the Demonic presence that had plagued her.


~*~


In the quiet, ruined corridors of the great Canterlot Castle, Luna cradled her sister's head in her hooves, watching the two unicorns laying on the floor as Demon lay beside her, breathing shallowly, but thankfully steadily. She'd managed to patch the hole in his side so he wasn't bleeding, but he'd already lost a lot of blood. There was a bright flash from Talisman's horn and he suddenly opened his eyes. Something was wrong. One of his eyes was a sickly green, the other his own. Twilight woke up not two seconds after, but seemed too weak to get up. Ignoring the broken bone in his leg, he staggered away, growling dangerously. His voice seemed to waver between his own and something else as his eyes shut tight.

Dimly, he heard Twilight scream his name and sighed.

I'm sorry Twilight... I wish I had more time.

Mustering his strength, and ignoring the angry demands of the creature now trapped inside his head, Talisman built up what little magic he had left, what little he could muster and cast one last spell. With an inpony shriek of agony, Tal slumped to the floor as he felt it being ripped from him, the Demon's soul. A flare of ghastly green poured from his horn before turning into a ribbon of green lightning and hitting the stone he wore around his neck. The stone flared with power as the lightning etched itself into the stone, drawing an unearthly symbol into the rock, carving its substance into the eternal life of the stone.

And with his final breath, Talisman managed a weak smile.