Chapter 9
Being confined to a couch for recovery for his injuries gave Discord some mixed feelings. On one hand, he was humiliated to have been so easily caught in that spirit circle, and that he'd even gotten injured in the process! It made him debate with himself whether or not it was worse than the time he allowed Tirek to trick him and steal all his magic without expecting a double cross. But then, on the other hand, he did enjoy being placed into Fluttershy's care, even if there was chaos and pandemonium happening outside. With a little help from his magic and Fluttershy's nursing, he managed to fix up most of the serious injuries, but he didn't have his full powers back quite yet, which served to make him feel more irked and humiliated.
"Feeling any better?" asked Fluttershy, as she walked into the living room with some more soup and cider for Discord.
Discord nodded a little as he took the soup and cider, sipping the both of the broths together. "Yes, thank you, my dear." he said.
"Is there anything else I can do?"
"No, no, you've done more than enough."
"Well, alright. I'll let you rest then, just let me know if you need anything."
"I will."
Fluttershy went back into the kitchen, leaving Discord to himself, as he held up his talon and exercised his chaotic powers through it. Just a little longer. If he could just have a little longer more to get rid of the circle's affects and be back at full strength, then he could teach those puffs of smoke a thing or two for trying to destroy him. But as he opened the shutter a crack and peaked out the window, he could see that he didn't have much time left. He could see far off in the distance, the calamity the invading Tenebris were causing on the town. It would only be a matter of time before they spread out across the land, and eventually make their way to Fluttershy's cottage. The thought of Fluttershy once again being in danger because of these pests worsened his mood, made him feel all the more willing to get better,and to finish the job of hunting down these creatures and put them in their place.
Discord exhaled and closed the shudder back, his thoughts turned to Fluttershy once again, as he imagined the innocent mare being in peril, and he, the powerful Spirit of Chaos, being unable to do anything to help her if his powers didn't fully return in time. He'd have failed her, and ended up bringing her nothing but trouble. A possibility he wanted to avoid at all costs, especially after having only recently telling the Pegasus of the crush he'd developed toward her. After finally getting his feelings out in the open with her, he had felt a little of the pressure that had been on him lift off from his shoulders. However, that pressure was soon replaced by lingering doubts and worries, about whether Fluttershy would or could love him back or if they were simply not meant to be. And if she did love him, what if all he did was end up hurting her or breaking her heart? So it was because of these worries, that when Discord got too close to Fluttershy, he would draw back, putting a little distance between the two. By doing this, he believed he would be able to keep himself and Fluttershy from getting hurt should any of his worries end up true.
Just as his emotions were about to spiral into a tornado of worry, frustration, and uncertainty, his ears perked up at the sound of Fluttershy's peaceful humming coming in from the kitchen. Hearing the sweet and playful ditty made Discord relax a little and push away some of the worrisome thoughts. But only a little bit. His eyes drifted toward the direction of the kitchen, and softly under his breath, Discord made a little promise to himself and to Fluttershy, "No matter what happens, I won't let Fluttershy get hurt, by anything or anypony."
At the secret Tenebris hideout...
Twilight's consciousness had been drifting in and out, making it incredibly difficult for her to get anymore bearings on the place she and her fellow princesses had been imprisoned in, and for her to muster up any strength to free herself or deflect the affects of the energy sapping cages. When she was awake, it was only for a few minutes, during which her senses were blurred and she could only make out faint impressions of what was going on around her. It irritated Twilight, being so utterly useless and helpless. She wondered what had happened to Aestas, and to her friends. How could they fight or stop this enemy without the spell Luna had uncovered? Twilight tiredly looked over at the other cages, the other princesses were also weak, but not in quite such a ragged condition as she was in. Princess Luna appeared to be asleep, her breathing calm and controlled, while Cadence and Celestia were awake, steadily holding onto whatever magical power they could muster, preparing to fire it off, at what Twilight didn't know.
"W-what--?" Twilight tried to ask, her voice coming out weak and shaky.
Celestia, not taking her eyes off of her own horn, answered Twilight quickly and carefully. "We're getting ready to send out a warning. With Cadence's magic combined with mine, we should have enough strength to send out a single message, but it'll take a while for us to recover, especially with these cages continuously draining us."
"B-but how?" Twilight asked.
"Luna." Celestia answered. "Right now, she's in a meditative state, focusing her energy and dream power onto a single pony, so she can send them the message."
"Let's just hope it works." said Cadence.
Once both the Alicorns felt they had accumulated enough magical energy, they pointed their horns at Luna, whose own horn began to softly glow, sending out a flash of light that gradually grew brighter, before zipping away and disappearing from the room, heading for its destination. The three Alicorns collapsed, breathing shallowly from the strenuous spell they'd cast together.
"Celestia! Luna! Cadence!" Twilight cried out in concern. She looked upward to the ceiling, where the light had disappeared. "Whoever gets the message, please hurry." she said softly. And once again, Twilight felt herself slipping out of it, with nothing left to do for now but hope and pray that they'd find a way out of this, and that they'd somehow be able to put a stop to this nightmare.
* * *
Nightshade flinched. He whirled around in the direction of where the princesses were being kept. Just now, he had felt a chill, like an interruptions or an interference had occurred. 'What was that?' he wondered.
"Nightshade." Nightshade's attention shifted from that odd little feeling to Erebus, who approached him with a pleased look on his face.
"Erebus, what is it?" he asked.
"We have located the Nightmare Moonlight Eve." said Erebus. "She has been sighted in the first town that we have attacked, Ponyville."
Upon hearing the Nightmare's name, Nightshade immediately looked interested. "I see, anything else?" he asked.
"Only that she's currently inside a castle residing at the edge of the town. Our forces ave tried to infiltrate it, but there's a powerful force that seems to be keeping us out. Many of the dreamers from the town have fled to this castle for sanctuary."
"Hmph! Foolish dreamers, thinking they can delay the inevitable. Have a few soldiers positioned around the town, to keep things under our control until the invasion is complete, then have the remaining forces spread out and conquer the rest of this land. Leave no stone un-turned."
"Understood." said Erebus, heading off to carry out these orders, when he stopped and asked, "What about the Nightmare? What should we do with her should she escape from the castle?"
Nightshade fell silent, his insides doing uncomfortable and unfamiliar flips and twists. Then, he replied coolly, "Leave her to me. I'll deal with her while you just continue to carry out orders and keep Moros and Pseudea in line."
"Got it." said Erebus.
As Erebus left, Nightshade felt...anxious almost to see Eve again. He would face her and bring her back to the hideout, where she'd be presented to the king and forced to give her energy to their great cause. He could practically taste the negative dream energy that could be extracted from her. That naive, foolish, innocent, kind, sweet...Nightshade blinked and shook his head violently. Where had that come from? 'Perhaps I should get some rest.' he thought. 'Yes, all this work with the invasion must be messing with my head. Just a little rest and I'll be able to think more clearly.' With that last thought, Nightshade went to his private chamber, believing that there was nothing to be concerned about, that all was right and going as it should.
At the Friendship Castle...
"Got everything loaded up?" asked Sunset.
Starlight nodded. "Yep." she said, pointing at the bulging saddle bags on her back. "Got everything we'll need."
"Are you two sure about this?" asked Eve to the both of them. "Do you really think that Discord will be able to help us?"
"Of course, after all, he's the only one we know who can be able to track the Tenebris." said Starlight.
"I guess, but, he seemed pretty weak the last time I saw him." said Eve.
"That's why we're gonna cast a healing spell in him." said Sunset. We might not be able to remove all of the affects that the spirit circle did to him, but he should be well enough to help us track down the hideout."
"In that case, let's get moving." Eve put on a brave, determined face, as she and the two Unicorns made it for the doors, and were about to leave through them. But just then, a speeding light flew into the castle and hit Eve from behind, making her cry out in surprise and fall to the floor in unconsciousness.
"Eve!" Sunset and Starlight rushed to Eve's side, wondering what had happened to her, as they attempted to shake her awake. But no matter what, it didn't seem like their Nightmare friend was able to wake up. Sunset and Starlight looked at one another with the same worried expression, wondering what they were to do now.