44 - Fighting is Proving
I am certain I put my seam ripper right here,” Rarity insisted as she pointed to the same spot she had been staring at for over a minute now.
Spike was dutifully combing the boutique for the lost item. He was very good with finding things. His mother's influence gave him a systematic approach to search and find activities. He was guaranteed to find the tool within-
“Found it!” the dragon cheerfully exclaimed as his claw clutched the odd-looking sharp thing. “It was behind the box of ribbons you got this morning.”
Rarity's lips puckered as her magic glowed around the tool and levitated it from Spike's grip. “What would I do without you, darling?”
“Be single?” Spike said with a mischievous curl of his lips.
“Puh,” Rarity blurted aghast and then returned to her sewing work. “Must you be so blunt?”
“You'd know anyways,” he tapped his head to indicate their shared mind.
Just then a flurry of green lightning bolts spread themselves around his irises and he fell to his knees with a gasp. Rarity dropped her work and rushed to hold him. She could feel what was going on because of their connection but she remained powerless to help in any way. It left her heart in pain.
“Spikey,” she soothed the dragon's power pains.
After a moment of internal struggle, Spike recomposed himself and returned the mare's embrace. “I'm sorry, Rarity,” he apologized in all sincerity. “I don't know if I'll always be able to control my power.”
Of course you will, Twilight's hivemind voice cut in. You're just having the same adjustment difficulties we're all having. Now stop capitalizing on Rarity's hugs and get some work done.
Spike blushed deeply at that and would have done as ordered if Rarity hadn't been so stubborn. The white unicorn puffed her cheeks in annoyance and only held Spike tighter. “My sewing business may be my dream but I would never let it become more important to me than those I care about most. I would fail as the Element of Generosity if I forgot all the lessons I have already learned. Furthermore, I would be a failure as a...”
The mare's words trailed into a thought she shared only with Spike.
As it happened, the pair finished twice as much work as they originally intended that day.
"Awww," Pinkie Pie pouted as she hovered large baskets of apples with the magic from her changeling horn. "Why do I have to help now? I wanted to see Flutter's new powers."
"Because she needs some space and we both know it," Applejack said in that lecturing tone she usually got when disciplining her younger sister.
"Eeeeyup," Big Mac agreed as he knocked the baskets into the carts for transport back to the barn. He was not a part of the hive but was well aware of the situation thanks to his sister.
Pinkie Pie shot over to the stallion's side and leaned into him. "And what would you know about Twi and Shy's relationship?" she batted her eyes at him in faux innocence.
The male blushed, gulped, and averted his eyes. Honestly, he didn't know all that much. However, Pinkie Pie was nearly sticking her face into his. "Uh..."
"Calm down, Pinkie," Applejack casually ordered. She continued bucking the apple trees while Applebloom caught the falling fruit in empty baskets. "It's not like I go violatin' nopony's privacy. I try leavin' that to you."
"Well that's a relief," Pinkie bounced away from Big Mac and continued moving the full baskets along. "I've got dibs on the violating."
Applejack sighed. Maybe she should have asked one of the others to handle the Element of Laughter.
“Do you believe in perfection? I mean, relationships or situations being ideal,” Twilight Sparkle quickly clarified her question.
Fluttershy bit her bottom lip at the thought. They were walking at a pace the pegasus was more used to, shadowed by a pair of guards and a Rainbow Dash that wasn't content to stay behind.
“Um,” the yellow mare was as shy as ever. She had half of her face behind her pink mane. “Yes?”
Twilight let the uncertain answer sink in for a good while. “What is perfection to you?” she eventually asked in follow-up.
They were just passing Fluttershy's cottage when she gave her next response. “A quiet afternoon beneath a beautiful tree,” Fluttershy's soft and gentle voice barely drifted over the small breeze.
Twilight could feel the depth of the words through their hivemind. It made her smile to be reassured in such a manner. Fluttershy truly did have a pureness to her that put Twilight at peace. It struck her then that perhaps Fluttershy's Hive Power was nothing flashy like Rainbow's was. Perhaps not all strengths were aggressive in nature...
In a rare display, Fluttershy lifted up on her wings and gently flew over to the nearest hill off of the trail they had been following out of Ponyville. Her hooves touched so delicately on the grass that they hardly even made a sound. A calm expression was on her face as she looked up to the bright clear sky, took on a smile, and slowly closed her eyes.
Twilight had only begun to search for meaning in their mind when the Element of Kindness began to explore her special power. The pony queen had not needed to coax her into it, which both surprised her and left her relieved. Fluttershy already had the confidence she needed to find what she was capable of.
What surprised Twilight more was what happened to the space around her as she stepped into the grass to follow her pegasus. A bubble-like form sparked into existence around Fluttershy, quickly inflating until it enveloped the entire hill along with Twilight and the others. The grass turned into different grass. It was the kind Twilight was familiar with, but only from their time in her hivemind world. The tree and small stream materialized in real space, replacing what had been a nondescript green hill before.
Direway smiled past his shock and Flash Sentry was split between awe and fear at the magical power. Rainbow Dash only yawned as she glided down next the newly formed stream and proceeded to nap. As for Twilight, she nodded in approval and brought a hoof to Fluttershy's shoulder only to draw the mare in for an affectionate nuzzle.
“I know it's not cool like Dashie's-”
The queen cut Fluttershy off before she could get any further. “Don't compare yourself to Dashie,” Twilight looked her in the eye. “You're you and I love you for that. Your power is incredible!”
The pegasus blushed but didn't look away.
“I wonder if the possibilities are as endless as they are during sleep,” the queen tapped her chin in thought. She looked around. It seemed the world was still the same outside of the bubble, which was apparently the limit of Fluttershy's sphere of influence. Though it was clear enough to see through, the bubble did have a tint to it that swirled with pink and yellow. Just a few splashes of light blue were mixed in.
“I'm sure you can use my power through me...right?” Fluttershy suggested and then second guessed herself.
Twilight wondered about that but decided to give it a go. She looked back to Fluttershy and squinted in concentration. She didn't necessarily need to use magic. She just needed to focus in the hivemind and transfer her will through Fluttershy. Success came quickly but with a mixed reaction.
Everypony instantly knew something was not right.
The air turned sour, the green grass wilted down into dark stone and ash, and the stream morphed into a dirty rail complete with minecarts full of rocks and dirt. Worst of all the tree transformed in a hideous manner into a large metal post. A dozen chains were connected to it, as if prisoners were meant to be locked there for keeping.
Fluttershy shrunk into Twilight's hooves with an “eep” of fright. The guards both readied their spears in worry while Rainbow woke from her nap. The trouble conveyed through their mind and let her know something was wrong even if the foul air hadn't bothered her light sleep.
A disturbing hole formed in Twilight's hivemind, suppressing her connections and making it more difficult to communicate. Even as she clutched her head in mild pain, a sickly voice dripped into the air. It was a voice none had heard before.
“Did you think,” the young female voice chided in a nasty tone, “you could just grab all the power in the world without also grabbing my attention?”
“Who are you?” Twilight put her hooves back to the gnarled ground. She looked around as quickly as the guards and saw what they did. A dark cloud began to form near the post and chains.
“Your worst nightmare,” the voice giggled in a cheerful mood. But as it took form from the cloud, it began to seem far less friendly. Massive jagged black claws dropped with a heavy thud on the near-black ground. Insect legs followed along with a terrifying mutant body. Most of it looked like a giant black half-scorpian half-pony with varying splotches of gray and accents of bright red. The stinger-tipped tail crackled with a shiver-inducing insectile movement. “You've grown strong. A perfect victim for me to gain more power from.”
Fluttershy gulped and hid in Twilight's tail. This was one creature she did not feel she wanted to be friends with. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash sped to a dangerous distance with the massive scorpony. “You'll be the victim by the time I'm done with you!”
“Wait!” Twilight tried to shout out, but it was not soon enough for the Element of Loyalty.
Green tendrils of electricity snapped from Rainbow's wings as she flapped them at the enormous menacing monster. The storm clouds began to form once more in the air above, but thin shots of lightning immediately erupted from the cyan feathers and raced to the unusual creature.
Everyone expected an explosion or some kind of electrocution. Twilight could feel the magic within her and her hive drain through Rainbow Dash. It was enough power to turn an ox into ash. But when the bolts reached the scorpony...nothing.
The lightning only tickled the large beast.
“Heehee,” the scorpony squealed disturbingly. “That's new. I've never had my food play with me.”
As much as Twilight wanted to get Rainbow away from the monster, she paled at the display before her. She knew exactly how much power was going into that assault.
The two guards jumped into action. Direway catapulted into the air, grabbed Rainbow in his forehooves, and tumbled to the ground while keeping her safe from the impact. One of the scorpony's large claws shot out and pierced the air where Rainbow had been only a half second prior.
“Something makes me think you intend our queen harm,” Flash Sentry said with a confident grin upon stopping in front of the scorpony. His spear was readied toward the dark creature and his purple armor shined with the brilliance that could only come from being carefully tended to every day.
“Not a challenge,” the scorpony dismissed him up front and took a lazy jab with her claw.
Flash Sentry would have lied if he said it was a slow move. Even for a half-hearted attack, the jagged death-bringing scorpian claw was a blur. So the villain took on a new look of shock when her claw stopped against the ground and she saw Flash Sentry literally running up her arm.
“Eat this!” Flash shouted and jumped with his spear at the pony chest that rose up from where it joined with the scorpian body.
The hard stinger at the tip of the monster's tail slashed forward and made a clang against the driving spear. The guard landed precariously on the large arm as he tried to push his weapon harder against the stinger. Neither budged. As the other claw moved up to knock him off, he somersaulted backwards and tried going for the legs instead.
“Persistent,” the scorpony seethed. She flashed irritation for only a moment before skittering about on her multitude of skinny insect legs.
Every time Flash lunged for a strike, she would evade. He had to find something that worked. Then he saw it. An opening between the legs on the side slightly beneath the midpoint of the body. She was vulnerable there. He gathered his energy, evaded the thundering crash of one of her claws and jumped once more with spear extended.
A purple and green aura surrounded the soaring stallion and jerked him a distance from the monster, carefully setting him back on his hooves. He had failed to see the scorpian tail that had also been racing towards him. The stinger jabbed at the air he would have been occupying had Twilight not pulled him away.
“Fall back!” Twilight called out to the young guardpony.
In a stark display of loyalty, he obeyed. Flash's body snapped backwards the second the words were out of the alicorn's mouth. She should have expected it, however. Flash was, after all, a well-trained guard that was fiercely obedient to her – just as Direway and Midnight Strike were. The stallion's orange coat shimmered as he skidded to a halt before Twilight and turned on point to keep himself between the one he needed to protect and the one he needed to guard against.
Just as Twilight was contemplating trying out her own blast of magic on the creature, two members of the hive broke through the sphere of the created space. Spike thundered towards the scorpony with a speed he could only get when running on all four legs. Rarity was right behind him, but stopped short and shot a beam of light blue magic towards Direway, who was trying very hard to restrain a stubborn Rainbow Dash.
Twilight would have acted herself if the hivemind hadn't let her synchronize with the others. Rarity's shot of magic morphed into a shield that stopped the scorpony from piercing the pair of ponies with her claws and tail. No matter how much force she put into her strikes, they merely bounced off of the diamond-shaped cyan wall.
Before charging into the villain, Spike hesitated and glared. “I don't suppose you're going to introduce yourself or explain your plan?”
“Hardly a need,” the scorpony giggled and then resumed her attack on Rarity's semi-transparent shield. She apparently thought nothing of the dragon because she didn't appear concerned in the slightest. Her size was not quite twice his own, so he was much more a match for her than a pony in terms of mass.
Spike shrugged and glanced back to Twilight. The queen had started to relax. She felt confident about her ability to keep everyone safe in this situation, so she gave him a small nod of permission to proceed. Rarity's shield was reinforced with another shot from the white unicorn. Her magic had noticeable green flecks in it. She was using Hive Power for the shield's unbreakable strength.
Ignoring the drake hadn't been a good idea because Spike bent into a crouch on all fours and sprung as a manticore upon prey. The scorpony tried to raise her tail as a shield but the dragon's mass was too much for it. The tail bent in as Spike collided onto the creature's massive back. A shrill “oof” came from her mouth as her legs gave out beneath her and her claws scraped against Rarity's shield for the last time.
“To think I'd have been scared of you when I was smaller,” Spike grinned with confidence and hooked his front arms around the scorpony's neck. He had her restrained with her tail safely caught between their bodies.
“Get off me you filthy lizard!” the young-sounding monster whined. It was almost as painful as Rarity's whining, but still not as bad. Spike refrained from the desire to plug his ears.
Twilight took the opportunity to attempt further communication. She walked closer to her. “Why are you here?”
The scorpony giggled again, though she gurgled against the chokehold. It was quite disturbing. “I thought I already mentioned that.”
Spike tightened his grip around its neck. “Remind us,” he said in annoyance.
Just then something new entered the sphere-space. It flew in near the top of the bubble's boundaries, streaming green lines of illumination was it glided. The hive knew who it was because both newcomers were a part of it. Pinkie Pie was smiling a thousand-bit smile as she carried an air-sick Applejack in her hooves.
“Uuugh...” the farmpony's face was as green as Pinkie's artificial glowing horn and wings. “I...I think you need to let me down, Pinkie.”
“Awww,” the party pony turned sad. “But you said we needed to get here in two shakes of a lamb's tail!”
“Pinkie, let me down,” AJ moaned with nausea.
“Okie dokie lokie,” the pink mare complied with glee. Unfortunately, she didn't think to reduce her altitude first. She simply let go.
“Aaaaah!!!” Applejack cried in terror as she plummeted towards her demise below.
Pinkie only giggled as she continued to glide onwards. “Oopsie. Not used to this whole flying thing.”
Twilight began igniting her horn but Pinkie took a rapid dive down, ignited the turbines connected to her wings at the shoulder, and scooped up Applejack before she could hit the ground. She dropped the mare again once their flight had slowed and they were only a few hooves above the ash-strewn ground.
Meanwhile, the scorpony took advantage of everyone's distraction to flip Spike off her back and simultaneously jab both claws forward into his stomach. Nothing could hope to penetrate his dragon scales, so he was merely knocked back across the sphere. He came to a tumbling halt near the edge, disoriented and groaning from the impact.
“Spikey!” Rarity cried and ran to him. Her shield dropped because of her diverted focus.
“Uh-oh,” Direway commented.
Rainbow Dash finally bucked out of his hold and charged the villain once more. “AJ, double team!”
Using the advantage of their hivemind, Applejack joined Rainbow's plan and charged in as well. The pegasus flew circles at supersonic speeds around the scorpony, which brought in a funnel of dark clouds from above. Twilight could only see a hurricane where the villain used to be. Applejack was pulled into it with an aggressive leap. Not wanting to keep standing by while the others did everything, Twilight teleported in as well.
The winds were intense. They instantly pulled at Twilight's mane and tail, whipping them in one direction while Twilight's gravity magic held her in place. Applejack was trading blows with the scorpony and was actually making the villain reel back with every buck. The queen didn't waste time, though. She gathered her strength into her horn and blasted a beam of crackling purple and green energy at the monster.
Applejack rolled aside as the powerful magic lanced into the scorpony.
“Eek!” the half-scorpian shrieked at the assault. But the lightning only crawled over her and was gone.
“Looks like we need a might more,” Applejack glared and then drew upon her connection to the hive. She was not much one for magic, but she knew when to put her friends and family over her personal preferences.
Rainbow's Dash's continued circling was keeping the scorpony unbalanced so she couldn't accurately stab them with her tail or claws. Applejack continued to dodge the attempts, but was never in fear of getting hit by the flailing limbs.
“Somepony needs a timeout!” Applejack cried and stretched a forehoof towards the creature.
A black orb of magic she had formed shot out from her hoof. But instead of exploding upon contact, it warped space and sucked the enormous monster in. The instant effect chilled even Twilight, who felt it coming through their connection. Applejack's Hive Power used void magic – darker even than chaos magic. Twilight knew little about it and wondered how AJ could use such a power.
Rainbow flew to a slow pace around them, letting the hurricane dissipate. Applejack had kept her ground because of her physical strength and now Twilight was able to cease her gravity spell that kept her planted. The guards were first to run up to her with Pinkie landing not far behind.
“What in the name of Tartarus is going on?!” Applejack managed to ask first. It was useless, though. The hivemind had no answers yet.
“Fluttershy?” Pinkie looked sideways to the nervously approaching mare.
“I...” the shy pony trembled but knew no more than the others. “I don't know what that was...”
“Well, we're going to have to fi-” Twilight began but was cut short.
The floating orb of void magic that had swallowed the scorpony imploded on itself and then blasted outwards to a massive size before popping into the scorpony's shape.
“Dagnabit!” AJ growled and jumped back in time to avoid another strike from the being's thick stinger.
“That was sooo rude,” the scorpony whined. “But I do appreciate the energy. I needed it.”
“She sucked up your magic, hayhead!” Rainbow shouted at Applejack.
The Earth pony turned worried. “I didn't know she could do that!”
“But void magic can't be-” Twilight again tried desperately to find an answer before having to jump back from a jabbing claw.
Direway and Flash Sentry jumped before her and joined their spears to stop the advance.
“Why are you doing this?” Fluttershy finally found the courage to speak out to the scorpony.
The villain ignored her and continued jabbing at the ponies. Rarity joined in again, protecting them with more shields. Spike took a deep breath and started towards the battle now that he was collected again. Pinkie Pie managed to get airborne and grab a distracted Rainbow before the insect tail could collide with her.
Fluttershy closed her eyes in concentration. She had practically no experience at what she was doing but knew she had a Hive Power to use like all of the others. Seconds before Spike was going to leap into the disarray for the second time, the entire sphere-space transformed back into the green space it had been before with one exception. The space beneath the scorpony morphed into a very deep pond.
“Gah!” the scorpony's eyes went wide as she plummeted into the water with a gurgle.
Twilight grinned back at Fluttershy. “Nice!”
The guards remained alert with their spears pointed at the edge of the water. The large claws did eventually surface and grab hold of the ground to pull the rest of the creature up. She didn't seem hostile anymore, however. The villain only laid tired on the grass at the edge of the pond, panting for breath.
“Water...” the scorpony heaved in defeat. “Warn me next time...”
“Give up?” Rainbow flapped in front of the monster with a cautiousness.
“You ponies are too hard,” she replied with a disinterested tone. “I could have had a thousand meals back home for what I've put into you.”
“So you surrender?” Pinkie Pie smiled big as she landed – more like crashed – in front of the scorpony.
“Sure, whatever,” she waved a claw as she continued catching her breath.
The others let out a collective sigh of relief. None of them wanted to continue fighting the nameless and mysterious creature. Thankfully, their hivemind allowed them to collectively keep a close eye on the monster. Twilight used some quick magic to bind the scorpony's claws and tail in shackles, which she couldn't do before when those parts had been thrashing about.
The guards took up positions beside the tired creature. Apparently, they were content that water was the ultimate weapon against the scorpony because they didn't doubt the being's sincerity or exhaustion. Pinkie Pie started prancing off with a “lalala” on her tongue. Fluttershy came back to Twilight's side like a magnet while Rarity went to Spike and fussed over the area he had been punched.
“Maybe we can get some answers now,” Applejack squinted at the scorpony, who had turned passive and sleepy.
Twilight knew something was very off. For such a strange and powerful creature to appear so suddenly and for her to be completely unaware of its approach was absurd. The scorpony also seemed to be a very carefree being with no strong reason for being here rather than anywhere else. It could be no random coincidence. Somepony or something had planned it being here. Who could it be?
All it took was a second with that question in her hivemind. With the collective conscious of all the others, it was easy to find the conclusion. However small it was, the chaos magic that Discord had given her made it elementary to find similar magic – even if it would otherwise be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Twilight closed her eyes for just a moment, erupted magic from her horn in a jumble of dark colors, and revealed the mastermind behind this recent offensive. The closest innocent-looking tree outside their sphere-space was immediately enveloped in her magic aura and exploded into confetti and something else entirely not a tree. The thing was pulled into their sphere-space.
“Fluttershy always wanted to be one of these things?” Discord crossed his mismatched arms. “I don't see what's so great about it. There's nothing to talk about when you're a tree.”
“Discord!” the present hive members shouted out in frustration. Those far away still conveyed their annoyance over the hivemind.
“What?” the draconequus raised a brow and pretended not to know what the commotion was all about.
“You...you...” Fluttershy's weak voice trembled with the hint of being hurt.
Discord floated over to the little pony and put a paw on her shoulder. “I assure you that no harm could come to any of you.”
Spike gave him a deadpan look.
“You're still not at full strength,” Twilight commented with a harsh seriousness. “How did you have enough magic to summon her and suppress my awareness at the same time?”
A darkness lifted from Twilight's hivemind to reveal the answer. A deep breath came from the scorpony as Twilight's eyes widened. The massive villain they had fought began to transform and shrink. It was disturbing to watch, but the being that materialized out of it was no scary monster at all.
“It was my idea,” Chrysalis admitted as she regained her balance after reverting to her true form. She stepped before Twilight and looked down at her from her natural height above. She had taken quite flawlessly to using their Hive Power for a most unusual form of shape-shifting.
Twilight wasn't sure why but her heart ached. “Why?” was the question that came off her lips. Only, she already knew why. It just hurt to be deceived like this. Only the lifting in the hivemind had allowed her to realize Chrysalis had been absent this whole time. Or at least she thought she had been absent in a vague sense.
“You needed to put our power to the test,” she hummed in assurance and leaned down to her queen. “I knew that this would help give you the confidence you need as well as practice for wielding your power. Not just your own power, but your power through the others.”
Twilight gently kept the changeling from nuzzling her. “It was dangerous. We could have practiced without that element. And I thought you took it to heart when we weren't going to hide things from each other. You've been masking some of your thoughts and actions in our mind, not to mention suppressing my awareness. How can I trust you like this?”
“But I-”
“No,” Twilight interrupted her.
“She meant well, darling,” Rarity offered.
“Lock her up,” Applejack said with a frown and an angry tick in her eye. “Can't have nopony puttin' us all in mortal danger like this. All of Ponyville was at risk.”
“No it wasn't. And she was right,” Spike countered. “We needed this. Besides, we're way too powerful to lose against a bug. No offense,” he added as an apology to Chrysalis, who shrugged.
“What about me?” Discord whined, clearly interested only in attention rather than any kind of punishment. He materialized a pair of cuffs on his wrists and made a pouty face. “Don't I get any double irons?”
Fluttershy gave him a trusting hug, clearly not bothered anymore by his apparent involvement.
“If Chrysalis was the monster then what were you here for?” Twilight raised a brow at Discord, who then looked to Chrysalis.
“Don't look to me,” Chrysalis hummed and averted her eyes. She suddenly decided to turn back on taking responsibility for the event. “Discord was the one that made the suggestion and offered to help my entrance.”
“Fine,” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Discord?”
The draconequus' eyes lit up with his name. Quite literally, a floating neon sign of his name lit up above his head, having materialized for no apparent reason. “Yes, my little queen?” he fluttered his lashes.
“Join me in the library. I want to know what gave you this crazy idea in the first place.”
Discord's cuffs disappeared and the sign was replaced by a military cap that landed on his head. He took on a serious expression. “Sharin' intel,” he mumbled in an old heavy accent.
“Huh?” Fluttershy looked up at him, completely lost.
Discord followed the alicorn back to town and the others began to discuss matters in the hivemind while dispersing. It had all been a setup by Discord and Chrysalis to test the hive's magic abilities. Something still seemed off, though. The scorpony was planned but Chrysalis' connection revealed that she hadn't altered the sphere-space. Discord didn't have that ability. After all, chaos magic wasn't the same as Hive Power.
“What was that place?” Twilight couldn't help but wonder. The depressing transformation of Fluttershy's sphere-space happened at the same time that Chrysalis appeared as the scorpony but the two events were not otherwise related. In fact, the magic that was used for that transformation remained a black hole in Twilight's hivemind, as if someone outside the hive had intentionally covered any trace of the magic used or awareness thereof.
Who had corrupted the sphere-space into a bleak landscape of ash and chains?
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I see this has now garnered a thousand well-deserved upvotes. Good show, much like the encounter in this chapter. It's difficult to write action sometimes without being either too vague or too detailed, and this scene all but exemplified that balance.
Staying tuned for more!
I'm going with an Origin, possibly the Vine of Life, one of it's allies or whatever Death. Alternately, whoever is in charge of Time.
6038516 a thousand and one!
First we thought it was the spider one, but that wouldn't make sense so I just chalked it up to some odd dimensional thing.
We should note that Dreamscape scenes can easily be affected by emotion, our guess is that Fluttershy instinctually became guarded when Twilight attempted to access her....
Keep going! ;)
My bets are on Sombra. For some reason I think it's him.
Well this was a fun, interesting and now though provoking chapter.
It was Twilight that corrupted the pocket dimension. Discord used Chrysalis as a decoy to stop covercover it up because she isn't ready to face her inner demons. Twilight is a control freak, and losing control is a big fear. Keeping control of a kingdom can lead to dark places and the reign of future Twilight could end up just like that pocket space.
Also I love seeing Flash showing his moves, he really deserves some love. Having your heart ripped out and having to sit by all day watching your crush pursuing a relationship with her best friends is probably the worst fate imaginable. I hope Flash never joins the hive because that would be twice as cruel since it would be live broadcast 24 all day every day. Thoes negitive feeling would have to be mitigated and over all would probably benefit nonone.
6038653 Hmm, I would have more blamed a certain shadow somehow encroaching. An instinctively defensive Flutters is plausible and even something I'd expect in this situation...but I'd suspect that would manifest in her little bubble some other way. Her mind would associate the depths of Everfree more with a giant "Keep Out!" sign than what they saw:
This, and Twi's cursory inspection, while not very thorough...
...both implicate outside influence, and of the powers that be in the world...well, there's only two that I think presently haven't been addressed, and only one of whom had a penchant for digging too deep and too greedily.
I think the dreamscape change was king sombras doing. When you think about the way they introduced him in the show all the ponies were in chains and everything had a grey ashen look to it.
I'm seeing a lot of sombra leadings here, but i think it could be discord's trans dimensional viewing abilities mixing with the hive magic. If not discord's magic than a mix of the hive magic looking through the dimensional barrier.
I can see that it is most likely sombra and his dark magic but I cant count out the possibility.
orig02.deviantart.net/81df/f/2014/156/2/e/discord_with_harp_and_halo_by_pikapuff123-d7l4qfz.jpg
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140512113210/mlp/images/7/7a/Discord_dressed_in_army_uniform_S4E25.png
Apple Bloom
(Two word name. Only Applejack has a one word name in the Apple Family.)
_____________
Chryssie is cute in any form.
Dammit, Sombra, stop messing up the hive mind.
Void magic? I guess you're not going about some earthbending style power? I wonder what this means for Aj.