Jay stood in the darkness. Shadows surrounded the confused human. Where was he? For one horrid moment, Jay thought he was back in that cell, expecting Discord to float through the wall, or slide, snakelike from underneath the door-frame. But if that had been the case, would he have not been bound by chains, on his knees, blood dripping down from his ruined wrists? There was a friendlier feel to this darkness. A feeling...as though he'd been there before. From the dusty feeling underneath his bare feet, Jay guessed that he was standing on stone, though when the human looked down, it was like he was floating through space, with nothing but blackness underneath his feet. "Great..." Jay grunted angrily, tentatively taking a step forward. Despite the supposed absence of footing, Jay's foot seemed to strike something solid. "First kidnapping, then odd dreams. Why me?" Nothing was there to answer him of course. Jay frowned. "Okay," He thought to himself, turning on the spot, looking all around him. "So if I AM dreaming...then..." He pinched himself hard. Nothing happened. He did it again. Judging from the pain he felt, this was definitely real. But...Where was Twilight? Discord? The blackness surrounding him did not reveal anything but more darkness. Taking several steps in any direction yielded nothing either. Starting to feel that he was missing something, Jay gave one final glance around before giving am exasperated sigh. "Is somebody there?!" He called out. A light chuckle filled the air. It was emanating from somewhere behind him. Jay spun round. Someone was standing there. Covered in armor, with designs in the shapes of human bones running over the arms, chest and legs. An unruly mop of greasy black hair was perched atop a pale skinned head. Green eyes stared back at him...It was him! The double of him was staring at him with a small smile painted upon his lips. The double was slightly smaller than Jay was now, though the hair upon his head had several patches of gray throughout. Even the eyebrows had turned gray. Fixed to the doppelgangers side was a long, straight sword with a hilt of red and black metal. Jay frowned. "Who the hell...?" He began. The other version of him smiled wider, pulling his pale lips back, revealing sharpened teeth.
"You've forgotten yourself Jay!" The smile faded slightly. The double took several steps towards Jay, seeming, wholly unconcerned about the lack of footing. "Though I see that you are discovering your gifts again all by yourself! Very nice trick with Discord by the way." The double smiled wide again, eyeing the state of Jay's tattered clothing. "Though it isn't as flashy as I'd would've liked." The double gave a shrug of his shoulders before walking in a circle around Jay. Jay, still very surprised that there was double of him here, simply turned his head to watch, until his double passed his field of vision. "You know," His doppelganger said conversationally, coming to rest in front of him again, "I'd never have believed it. You... a rider!" Jay frowned as his double looked him up and down again, with an annoyingly superior look on his face, "You rejected control of our lives you know. Now your vagrant memories are scattered, broken...what have you been doing all this time?" The double chuckled. "Fooling around with that Unicorn. Honestly..." Jay felt a stab of annoyance at this. Whoever the impostor was, Jay felt he had no business insulting Twilight. Jay opened his mouth to speak but the double raised his hand. Jay shut his mouth instantly, though he had no idea why. "I don't have time to debate your dating habits Jay. I only arranged this meeting so I could see what your doing with my body." The double shook is head looking annoyed now. "And I am NOT happy! Get on with what your supposed to do and stop dawdling!" The doppelganger turned and strode off into the darkness. Jay, trying to follow the double, found himself frozen, unable to move. Though it wouldn't have done much good, what little of his vision remained was fading away
Jay started as he finally came too. The musty curtain that had been functioning as a blanket fell off him and landed in a heap. The human gasped heavily as though he'd been underwater. That dream had been...strange. To come face to face with a person that looked exactly like him, though did not act like him...It was a strange experience. Though any thoughts of the dream were quickly shattered as a powerful gust of wind blew through him. The old castle was freezing. Really freezing. Even though he'd only just woken up, Jay was shaking like mad. Trying to ignore the fact that his teeth were chattering hard enough to cut rocks, Jay stood up and stretched heavily. A loud crackling made him look down. The shirt he had been wearing, still covered with congealed blood, had dried badly, the blood that remained was the reason for crackling. Annoyed, Jay picked off several flakes of the stuff, though ultimately, he still looked worse than he was. Twilight was sitting by Discord. The mis-matched creature was awake though he didn't seem to happy. He was talking to Twilight, with an expression acute to finding something stuck to a toilet seat. Though the moment that Discord noticed that Jay was standing behind the two of them, his expression cleared. Twilight turned her head and also smiled upon catching sight of Jay. Despite the happy expression, Jay could see that Twilight's hair was slightly disheveled and that there were dark bags under her eyes. Jay had known that Twilight had not slept well. He had clearly heard the Unicorn moaning in her sleep for most of the night, though what exactly about, Jay had not been sure. He tried to banish the dream from his mind and attempted to force his face into a smile, as he made his way over to them.
"Ah here's the no-good cheater who..." Discord began, but at a warning glare from Twilight silenced him. Instead the mis-matched creature resumed silently gazing at the pair of them. "So now what?" Demanded Discord, looking at Twilight, then at Jay. They stared confusedly back. Discord sighed. "Whatever you did to me," He growled, pointed a clawed finger at Jay, "Has sapped my powers. I can't even make a rabbit fly or a duck bark at this point." Discord frowned at the pair. "So unless you too have a better idea, I guess we're walking out. So what do you say? Friends?" Twilight and Jay both glanced at each other, trading incredulous looks. Twilight shook her head. "Aw come on Little-Miss-Friendship!" Discord pouted sticking his tongue out, "Just one hug?" Twilight turned to look at Jay. Jay, who was now grinning very widely, shook his head with a chuckle. Twilight stared at him before motioning at Discord. Jay shook his head with another small smile. "Friends?" Discord asked again, extending his mismatched arms in a welcoming gesture. Twilight, giving Jay a look that plainly wished something unpleasant upon the human, walked forward slowly, before placing her front legs around Discord. "There we go!" Discord said, laughing heartily as Twilight released him, very quickly. "So," Discord said, pushing himself up on his elbows and fixing the pair with another wide grin. "Who's gonna help?" Twilight glared at Jay who already opened his mouth with an excuse. The human closed it, very quickly. Discord chuckled. "Oh I knew we'd see eye to eye in the end!" He said holding his arms out for Jay to take. "Now be careful!" The mis-matched creature told the human warningly. "I'm a very delicate thing!"
Obsidian strode through the darkness of Tartarus, feeling an intense surge of...anger? Hatred? Whatever it was it was powerful. It poured into him and out of him. It surrounded him. The surge was so strong it made the stone beneath his hooves tremble. Obsidian felt a sense of amusement rising inside of him. That surge of evil intent could only mean one thing. Finally, the dark Alicorn made it to the cage. To his surprise, Obsidian saw that Cerberus had returned. The huge, three headed dog glared at him with three pairs of red eyes filled with blood-lust. Slobber dripped from three mouths, each filled with Razor sharp teeth. Obsidian smiled slightly. The growling beast took a step forward, its' shaggy black fur standing on end. Obsidian felt his magic rise up inside of him. His horn began to glow. Immediately, thick glowing chains sprang from the ground and latched themselves to the thick, spiky dog collars around the three necks of Cerberus. The chains tautened and yanked the dog down hard. The dogs three heads crashed to the floor with a loud crunching noise. The growls stopped. The eyes closed. Cerberus laid still. Obsidian paused to give the mongrel a hard kick, before maneuvering himself past the mass of motionless mound of beast and up to the cage. The rusted bars had been bent outwards, as though something of great pressure was pushing against them. To Obsidian's sharpened eyesight, it looked as though currents of red-misted air were pushing out, pulsing with dark power. The hooded creature sat in the center of the cage. Two clawed hands reached out from under the ragged cloak, gripping the bars with such intensity that they bent even more. Obsidian chuckled.
"Now now, don't be too hasty my lord." The Alicorn said coolly, waving a hoof at the bars. "The moment these break, your enemies will sense. Besides..." Obsidian leaned in as though to deter eavesdroppers. "All the peaces are not yet in place." He whispered. The hands retreated underneath the cloak. Obsidian smiled. "I thought you would see things my way. Now get some rest." Obsidian turned from the cage and walked away. He could feel it. The time for the next phase of his plan was drawing near. But there were things he still needed to do. Obsidian felt a thin snarl curl his lips as he reached the dog. Obsidian, his snout twitching in distaste, gave the motionless form one final kick before making his way out. "Now to inform Chrysalis...and prepare the army." He thought grimly. It wasn't his first choice to make an appearance...but he supposed that the early bird did catch the worm after all.
Jay grunted as he once again tripped over a tangled tree root. Since he'd agreed to carry Discord as he, Twilight and the mismatched menace made their way through the Ever-free forest, Jay had been subjected to Discord's continued ranting about how he'd been beaten by a human. Despite Discord having a long, serpentine body, he was way heavier than he seemed. Having the mis-matched creature hanging off him, constantly dragging his claw and hoof didn't help as the roots of the tangled trees constantly caught on Discords feet, constantly slowing them down. Twilight was trotting in front the two, throwing a look over her shoulder every once in while that plainly said: You deserve this. Jay stuck his tongue out at her, though ceased this when Discord started mentioning that he looked like a "Less handsome version of himself." Jay sighed as he once again caught himself on one of the trees.
"Twilight?" He called out after tearing himself free. The Unicorn stopped for a second to look over at him. "Could we please take a break?" Jay complained, hoisting Discord slightly higher on his shoulder. "This lump is heavy." Twilight chuckled before nodding towards one of the many empty clearings that they had passed. Setting down Discord, who had chosen that point to fall asleep, Jay collapsed onto the dirt ground. He frowned as Twilight settled herself a little ways off. She been acting uncomfortable around him ever since the night before. "Maybe..." Jay thought to himself as Discord let off several loud snores. "I shouldn't pushed her so hard. I guess I could...but she did hide her dates with Shadow..." He sighed, realizing that he was getting nowhere with this internal argument. He looked back at Twilight, with a small smile on his face, resolving to make it up to Twilight the moment they got back to Ponyville.
"TWILIGHT! JAY!" Jay's head snapped up. AppleJack had just appeared in the clearing, covered in twigs and dirt. Apple-Bloom stood beside her sister staring at Discord. "WHAT IN TARNATION IS HE DOIN' HERE!" Shouted AppleJack, pointing her hoof at the sleeping Discord. Jay and Twilight looked at one another, before Apple-Jack jumped forwards and grabbed hold of the Unicorn. "Please explain Twilight! Right NOW!" Twilight and Jay once again looked at one another. Both were sure the other was thinking the exact same thing. This was going to be very hard to explain...