Two days. Forty eight hours. Two thousand eight hundred and eighty minutes. I’d been staying with Mai Tai and White Lightning for two days, and I dreaded every day, hour, and minute of it. My duplicate held total control of my friends lives, but I held responsibility for whoever she killed. The way it tortured me inside, that hex seemed like heaven.
I shut myself in the wine cellar, making it my own little world. Nopony except Lightning and Mai Tai came down, and only the sound of the now bustling pub above reminded me that there were other ponies in the world. The memory was fleeting however, for as soon as they left, there was an erie silence, broken only by the sounds of the pumps leading from the barrels of booze to the taps above.
Despite all of that time to my thoughts, I hadn’t made a decision. Every time I tried to think about it, I thought about the outcome, and being the one to tell White Lightning or the sisters that they had been allowed to live because the other was dead. What kind of pony would I be to let that happen? I’d just as soon let myself be killed and spare both their lives. At least then, I wouldn’t be a danger to either of them ever again.
Towards the end of the day, Lightning came down to check up on me. She’d decided to stay at the tavern, even though I knew she would be throwing away her dreams with the Wonderbolts. I couldn’t ask for a more loyal companion. She brought a stout of cider, which I took without so much as a word. I’d developed a taste for the hard drink, not so much for the flavor, which I actually found revolting. But instead for the sensation of serenity it gave me it through these turbulent times. I’d told Lightning before we parted paths over the summer that I’d probably become an alcoholic when I went to college. In a way, I was right.
“You should probably lay off the cider for a while. I’ll bring you tea from now on.” I was about to be disappointed that my escape from reality was being taken away, but I knew that she was right. I didn’t want to become one of those ponies.
“I appreciate you looking out for me.” I hadn’t said that since we first met on the play ground.
“What are friends for?”
“I have a question, before you go back up.”
“What?”
“You’ve never seen the duplicate for yourself, so all you have to go on that this is all true is my word and a hex that I may or may not have been faking.”
She gave me a quizzical look. “So, what’s your question?”
“Why do you believe me?”
She chuckled, like I should have known the answer myself. “You’ve never steered me wrong before. I always trust you.”
“But you’re throwing away your dreams, and for something that for all you know is a lie.”
“But it’s not a lie.”
Now I was the one giving a quizzical look. “How do you know?”
“Because you told me. How many times do I have to say it?” Her voice contained a dash of humor, which made me feel slightly better about the situation. I have to say though, for having effectively dropped out of school, I was getting lectured a lot.
Though this time, I’d learned something that really was worth figuring out. Lightning was always there for me, and always had been. She never doubted me, or even asked if I was crazy. I guess you could say she was the perfect friend, unlike two other ponies I knew.
The void wasn’t alien anymore. It seemed as though I’d always gone there, like a child going on vacation. Only, I didn’t particularly enjoy my company. I wasn’t intimidated by her this time though. I knew exactly how to deal with her.
“Dusty, Dusty, so good to hear from you again. I wish you could learn this little trick. It’s so handy for getting in touch with you.”
“Come visit me sometime. I’m eager to learn.” Standing up to her felt good, even though I had no real power over her, not yet.
“I wish I could, but that wouldn’t be good business practice on my part. Speaking of, have you considered my offer? The girls and I are very eager to know.” She still seemed so smug, but I didn’t let it get to me. I’d wipe that smile clean off her face.
“I have, actually.”
I could hear the excitement building in her voice. “Wonderful! And so…?”
“You can go ahead and kill them. It doesn’t matter to me.”
That was obviously not the answer she wanted to hear. “What!?”
Now I was the one holding all the chips. Lightning was obviously the one she wanted, and I wasn’t about to give her up. “You heard me right. I don’t care what you do with Gemini and Polaris. You can cook them up and eat them for all I care.”
“They’re your friends, Dusty! You’re condemning both of them to death! Is that what you want?!”
“No, Lightning is my friend. Those two abandoned me when I needed them most. I’m ashamed to admit I even know them.”
She began to stutter. I liked getting under her skin for once, even if I could actually see her. I really meant what I said though. Those two had left me alone in a strange city, after I’d been falsely accused of murder. Lightning would’ve helped me. Lightning would’ve done anything to help. I’d already sacrificed so much, but the unicorn and her freak of a sister decided that saving a pony’s life wasn’t worth the work. I should’ve realized that sooner, and saved myself the headache.
“NO!”
All of a sudden, the void exploded in a bright white light, and I was jolted awake, with my duplicate standing directly over me. She wasn’t smug, or even happy in the slightest. Ever feature of her expression spoke intense rage, all directed towards me. I wasn’t feeling so confident at that moment.
“Stupid kid! Now I have to make this unpleasant for both of us!”
I tried to buck her off, but before I could even flinch, I realized that she was restraining me with her magic. I was at her mercy. “What are you taking about?!”
Lightning picked then, of all times, to check up on me. “Stardust, whats the matter?”
She was pinned and the door locked before she could speak another word. “Lightning!”
“I wanted you two to come quietly, but now I have to make this messy.” The duplicate unsheathed a knife from one of her bags. I knew the spell was lethal, but I had know idea it required actually butchery. She also took out a small vile, which I could only assume was the rest of the ingredients from the book.
I could only watch, as she began to prepare Lightning for the ritual. She kicked and struggled to get free, but the magic was stronger than any physical restraint. My duplicate had her on the ground, and began to pour the contents of the vile in the shape of a six-point star. I wanted to close my eyes, for I knew what she would do next.
Next thing I knew, I was levitated over to the star on the floor, and the knife hovering over my stomach. I braced myself for the inevitable pain, but I thought since death would follow, it would at least be over soon. Instead she cut a slit along my leg, collecting the blood that flowed out in the same vile she had used before. I was genuinely puzzled as to what that was for. “What are you doing? You don’t need my blood.”
“You didn’t pay very close attention to that book did you?” She had returned to her usual, deranged self. “What were the supplies for this ritual?”
I had in fact, remembered the supplies. “A leaf from Heart’s Desire and a Timberwolf claw, I assume mixed in the potion.”
“And?”
“And What?” That was really all I could remember.
“There was a third item, a link to the donor’s past.” I remembered that that was on the list, but I disregarded it since I couldn’t figure out what it meant, and I assumed she hadn’t either. “That item, Stardust, would be you.”
Shocked would be putting it mildly. “What!?”
“Why do you think I dropped you all those hints about where I was going? I needed you and Lightning to be together. When I saw her flying by the hotel, I couldn’t pass up a chance to have her save you. I couldn’t have planned it any more perfectly.
It took me a while to find you again, and I thought I’d try cracking you, but you’re smarter than I gave you credit for.”
“Thanks for the compliment.” I tried to sound as sarcastic as possible.
“I mean it. Not that I was bluffing or anything. I just didn’t realize you be so crazy to sacrifice two lives rather than one.”
“Oh, I’m the crazy one?”
“Now don’t go and hurt my feelings,” She shifted her tone. Now she sounded like a some child who had their feelings hurt. “I have to admire you. You’ve come such a long way since we first met. I thought you would always be a scared mouse, too afraid to take risks. I’m proud of you, Dusty.
“But enough about our past. I have a spell to perform.” As if it was water, she swilled the entirety of my blood down her gullet, wiping her lips with a satisfied sigh. I could only watch helplessly as she flipped Lightning onto her back, and forcefully spread her wings.
“What are you doing you creep!?” Lightning shouted out as loud as she could, but the duplicate was unfazed.
“Shhh. Just try not to focus on the pain too much.”
She placed the knife up to her joint, right where the wing met her body. Lightning couldn’t even crane her neck to see, which was probably for the better. I could see just fine, and from then on, I wished that I was blind.
She sawed the knife back and forth, inching slowly through muscles and nerves. I could only look on, as my closest friend was being taken apart. I began to cry, but I held in my cries of anguish. Lightning’s screams of agony were already more than my ears could take. I wanted to look away, away from the river of blood that now trickled along the cloud floor. But Lightning looked back at me the entire time. She couldn’t speak, but I could see in her eyes that she needed me to at least look back at her, make her feel as if she wasn’t alone. I could only do that when she wasn’t screaming from the knife.
With a gruesome snap, she finished. She had successfully removed one wing. “Ha ha! One down, one to go!” Despite the blood loss, Lightning still struggled to break free of the restrains. She was strong, but she wasn’t invincible. If she didn’t get helped soon, she would most certainly bleed out. But what could I do? I was just as helpless as her. I had to accept that I had failed. The game was over.
“What are you two doing down here!? I hear some pony screaming bloody murder and…” Suddenly, Mai Tai was in the room with us. My duplicate had forgotten that there were three ponies living here, and one had a key to the cellar.
“What the hey!” My duplicate seemed just as surprised as I was. She was distracted enough that I could feel my restraints were weakened. I couldn’t miss this opportunity. I fired up a teleportation spell, and zapped over to where Lightning lay on the floor.
“Mai Tai, help Lightning!” I didn’t have time to properly say goodbye. I could only focus on fixing what I had made wrong. I tackled my duplicate and enveloped us both in another teleportation. As we both faded to our destination, I could see the look of rage on her face.
“What are doing!”
“What I should have done from the start!” I don’t know exactly where I took us, but I knew that it was below the clouds, where we both fall to our deaths. I figured I’d rid the world of two problems at once.
She struggled to get free, but I held on tight. I didn’t know where she could escape to, but I wasn’t going to take any chances now. The air rushing over my skin was numbing my entire body, but I gradually felt the air warm as we approached the ground. Opening my eyes stung, so I kept them shut, and waited for a sudden stop. Finally, after all this time on the lamb, I was one hundred percent sure that my ordeal was over.
“No! You can’t end it like this! I was so close!” She managed to teleport her self farther away, leaving me grasping thin air. I managed to peel my eyes open just long enough to see her fly off into the distance, laughing like she had some glorious triumph. She was a good deal below me now, and I could see that her escape would be short lived, for she crashed straight into the hard earth below.
Oh well, I thought to myself. At least it will be quick. I shut my eyes once more, and waited for the endless sleep to come to me.
With a great crack, I was slowed, and eventually came to a halt. But I was not dead. In pain, yes, but not dead. I tried breath in, just to make sure I was actually still alive, but instead of air, I got a mouth full of water. It was agony, but I managed to pull myself to the surface of whatever body of what I had managed to land in. With a gasp, I took in a lung full of breathable air, and felt the sun warm my frigid body. I had survived.
As strange as it sounds, I was a little frustrated by that. Just like before, when Lightning saved me, I had readied myself so well for death, on some level I actually wanted to die. My instincts began to kick in, and I tried to swim in any direction, but I didn’t respond. I simply floated on the surface, fading in and out of consciousness.
I had a realization then. She was dead. My duplicate was actually dead. I had stopped her from killing Lightning! Or had I? I left in such a hurry, I had no idea if Mai Tai was able to help her. Alacornication or not, had I failed to save my friend?
The questioned went back and forth in my mind for what seemed like an eternity before I finally began to succumb to my pain. Finally, I can rest in peace.