//------------------------------//
// Chapter 36 
// Story: When Friends are Said and Dun 
// by xenos29 
//------------------------------//

	"That’s it, I officially wanna go home!"
"But we are home, Rainbow!" Pinkie pointed out.
"Everypony in, now!" shouted Twilight as she waved both of them into town hall.  A new wave of plant creatures had sprouted all around the ponies the second they approached the building’s doorstep, and as the princesses shut and barricaded the heavy door behind them, Twilight realized what a miracle it was they had all made it inside.
"How long will it hold?" Fluttershy asked anxiously.
"Well," proposed Spike, "I’d say anywhere between five minutes and...zero."
"Very funny, Element of Optimism," Alpenglow mumbled as he turned from the door.  With a curious boldness, the ponies approached the center of the hall, the vines hastily retreating wherever they walked.  Above, the balconies and ceiling rafters were interlaced with more vines, all shrouded in darkness, like the wiry bars of a cage.  Twilight frowned; to think this bleak room was once brimming with a horde of Pinkie Pies.
Everypony followed Twilight’s gaze upward as Alpenglow’s voice echoed into the ceiling, "Come out, Blight.  It’s time we finish this."
All was still in the hall, until a series wooden creaks descended from the ceiling.  The shifting mass of Blight leaked from the rafters, landing with a thud on the opposite side of the room.  Had his face lacked any more emotion, it would have surely turned to stone.  That pair of yellow eyes met Twilight once more as it regarded the ponies and spoke at last.
"Nothing is finished, Alpenglow.  Nothing is ever finished.  You know that."  His head tilted ponderously.  "But I think we both knew it had to play out like this."  He paused, his eyes settling on the box.  "So...what are you going to do if your plan doesn't work?  Burn the town?  Flood it, like you did the river?  Or how about the other ten barbaric ways in which you tried and failed?"
Alpenglow ignored him and continued, "It's not too late, Blight.  We can still work this out."
"No."
"We don’t have to do this," pressed Alpenglow.  "Nopony else needs to get hurt.  You can come with us.  The student Starswirl once told me about is still in there.  You can still be him.  We can start over."
Twilight thought she had seen all there was to Blight; she was wrong.  A look of simple disgust grew over his face and he turned his head away slightly, eyes halfway clenched and mouth twisted in revulsion.
"I don't believe it," he mumbled.  "Look at yourself, Alpenglow.  They've dressed you up into something you're not, making you talk like a pampered foal who thinks everything will work out if he smiles and pretends the world is his garden."  He leaned forward.  "You’re not one of these mares.  You never were.  You’ll never belong here…even if you’d like to."
Twilight saw Alpenglow look to the side, and though some doubt took root in his face, he stepped forward to face the old pony.
"I know you weren't always like this, Blight.  You were smart, passionate about your work, about making the world a better place-"
"And what did kindness and 'passion' get me?" Blight snapped.  "My work would have given ponies the power to shape the world however they wanted."
Alpenglow looked around the hall.  "If this is what you meant by shaping the world, then Starswirl was right when he said it was too dangerous."
"He tried to deny me my greatness in favor of his own."
"You know he wasn't like that.  Working with these plants has affected your mind, Blight.  We can help you-"
With a powerful leap, Blight sailed up into the ceiling.  The rafters caught him, creaking miserably in the process.
"Spare me.  I don't have your stomach for sugar-coated lies.  All those years we spent in there…" Blight bellowed, pointing at the box, "…I said it to you once, and I’ll say it again.  When this is all over, you’ll see I was right.  You’re dirt to them, nothing.  And I won’t throw away my future so you can find out!"
With a stiff roar, Blight tore a beam from the wall and hurled it at Alpenglow.  The ponies all scattered as it flew, and the beam exploded, sending a shiver up Twilight’s back as she hurriedly brushed splinters from herself.
Every window in the hall exploded.  The doors blew off their hinges, taking the barricade with it, and paving a debris-laden path for the creatures to follow inside.
Rainbow pounded her hooves.  "We’ve got company, ponies!"
Twilight turned to Alpenglow.  "We’ll hold them off.  Can you lure him back here once we’re ready with the elements?"
Alpenglow nodded.  His wings beating a maelstrom, the knight soared upwards and headfirst into darkness.  Twilight wished him luck.

The vine-laden rafters sighed as their newest burden landed.  Alpenglow steadied himself where a pair of the beams met, and felt a surreal déjà-vu as he looked at Blight, their bodies little more than shadows within the cavern interior of the roof.
"They’ve really ground you down, Alpenglow."
"No, you did.  A long time ago."
Blight sneered.  "Feels like yesterday to me.  But I made you into the knight you are, and only then did you have what it took to stop me.  Had you clung to the Princess like your friends, you wouldn't have made it the first time.  Nautilus, Bridge Builder, even Tawny- when it came down to it, they just didn't have the heart to make those choices.  Without you, Twilight and her little friends never would have stood a chance today.  They need you a lot more than you need them, and they know it."
"Don't talk about things you don't understand."
"Who else could've destroyed the towns, placed the shackle on their neck?  Who had to push everypony else when they were on the ground, sniveling and crying because 'it wasn't easy?'  Who had to make the real sacrifices?  Not any of them, that's for sure."  He hissed, "They've got you wrapped around their little hooves, Alpenglow.  They promised they'd give you a new start, a chance to be the hero again in their fantasy queendom...just as long as you help them.  Can't you see what this is really about?"
Blight’s words clawed at Alpenglow.  The old pony always was articulate, too articulate, and he wasn’t completely wrong either.  For the last thousand years, the only company he had known was Blight.  In that dreamscape battlefield, there were moments when the two would lie there, exhausted from their grueling, endless struggle.  As they waited for the magical forces within the box to make them rise once more, the two of them would silently glare at each other, understanding perfectly what the other was thinking and feeling.  Alpenglow couldn’t deny that kind of experience had created a connection between them, one he couldn’t quite describe, or escape.
"No...no, you're wrong.  It's not like that."
"Lie to me, Alpenglow, but don't lie to yourself.  I could've snuffed you out whenever I wanted.  But I didn't, because I saw potential in you, and didn't want to stamp on it like Celestia and Starswirl did to me.  I'm asking you again.  Help me, and I won't throw you away the second you're no longer useful.  I know what they're planning to do.  What do you think is going to happen if they win?  Who's going to be tossed aside with me?"
Alpenglow said nothing.  He readied his sword.
Blight sighed heavily.  "Loyalty always was your biggest strength...and weakness.  You still want to fight- fine, I'll indulge you one last time.  I guess you really can't teach an old pony new tricks."
"Speak for yourself, Blight."
Blight’s body stirred and contorted, as if out of his control.  His vine limbs twisted and wrapped around each other, forming four thick legs.  The bark of his body cracked and separated, forming rough plates that covered his body from head to just-formed hoof.  Finally, a separate vine from below appeared, clutching a rusty metal sword.  The eyes met Alpenglow with the tired face they both knew all too well, and in that moment, the stallion resolved to himself that somehow, someway, this would have a happy ending, at least for Twilight and her friends.  Whatever it would be, he was ready- and willing- to see it through.