What Bound Them

by Headless

19: An Eidolon Named Night

In the darkness, Tailspin struggled.

Spike wasn't moving. She hadn't been able to see much of what had happened, so his exact condition was a mystery, but she knew that it couldn't be good. The cloak and blankets that the others had wrapped her in had obscured most of her vision. But she could hear everything, and what little she could see had been more than enough.

Now, she was lying in blackness, trying to fight off the waves of exhaustion that were battering away at her resolve. Her body wanted to sleep, and she knew that, this time, she wouldn't wake up. The cold and the pressure had ripped away what little strength Compass Rose's spell had bought her. She was done, completely and utterly.

But she had a few moments left, and she was needed. So she gasped and squirmed, trying to worm her rear legs free of the crushing pressure of the ropes.

Slowly, her eyes adjusted to the night. It wasn't entirely dark here. The walls of the building they had crashed into were sturdy, but Spike was a dragon, and he had momentum on his side. The massive double doors hadn't stood a chance. There was a gaping hole in them now, and that let in some dim light from outside. It was murky and weak, barely enough to enable her to see the barest outlines of her surroundings, but it was there.

Her vision seemed to be reducing itself to tiny pinpoints. Everything else was a swirl of blackness. Even then, she could see her breath misting the air in front of her. Even in her dizzy, weakened state, she thought that the little puffs looked pathetically weak, and they were getting weaker.

She forced herself to take deeper breaths and felt her muscles protest. Just a few minutes, she thought. Just a few minutes. Please. So I can be sure they're alive. So I can say goodbye.

With a grunt of effort that was really no more than a squeak, she pulled her rear legs free. Immediately, gravity reached up and snatched her, and she felt herself begin to slide off of the dragon's back.

She couldn't have stopped herself if she wanted to. Her legs wouldn't respond in time. Besides, even if the impact would hurt, it was the fastest, easiest way to the ground.

She landed on her side. As expected, it hurt, and she felt the wind knocked out of her. Her head swam, and she felt her heart skip a beat. Then another. For a moment, she was certain that she was about to go under for the final time, but, as if in answer to her silent pleas, the rhythm started again.

Thank you.

The world became a blur, consisting of nothing but disjointed sensations and the certainty that she would be able to sleep soon. At one point, she became aware that she was crying. It was an odd way of crying. Tears were leaking from the corners of her eyes, but that was all. She didn't feel her breath hitching. She couldn't even feel herself shaking any more.

She even felt warm.

Then she realized that she was sitting against something. It took her an eternity to realize what it was.

Spike had curled over Pith and Compass when he struck the doors, trying to shield the two of them from the blow. He had undoubtedly absorbed a lot of it - his scales were stronger than any armor, and he had grown to something almost twice the size of a minotaur before impact. She found herself wondering how many of his bones, if any, remained unbroken. Probably not many.

When he had landed, he had somehow managed to twist himself to the side, holding both of his arms out in a desperate attempt to avoid crushing the ponies he was holding. It probably hadn't worked. But that was where she was, now. She was sitting with her back against one of the dragon's outflung arms.

To her amazement, Tailspin found herself smiling. Tears were still rolling down her cheeks, and she knew that she was going to die there, cold, alone, and surrounded by dead friends. She would never even get to say goodbye to Pith, or to hear him say all the stupid things that he thought should be said when they both knew them already.

But all she could think of was that, up until the very end, Spike had tried to shield them, and Pith had tried to find an escape for them, and Compass had kept trying to find the path. They had all tried, in the only ways they could. Because they had been friends.

Friends to the end, she thought. I'm glad I knew all of you.

The pegasus' head fell back against the scales behind her. In the darkness, she shut her eyes, ignoring the tears, and laughed.

Something was leaving her now. She could feel it. She could even track its progress, count down to what she knew would be her last breath.

Just four now, she thought, feeling her head swim. Just four. And then I can finally sleep.

She was dimly conscious of a new sensation. It was a feeling of slight pressure against her legs. With three breaths left to her, she managed to lift her head and peer at the source.

There was something in her lap. It was a piece of ornate gold jewelry, with a ruby shaped like a heart set into it. In the eternity between her third and second to last breaths, she remembered what it was, and smiled again.

He never did let her go, really, she mused to herself. She didn't know or care how it had gotten into her lap. At this point, what did it matter? One of her forehooves - she was too disoriented to be sure whether it was the right or the left - came up to settle against the gem. He truly-

-loved her.

There. In the very deepest facets of the ruby, there was something. Something strong.

Just one breath left, now. If she just let out that breath, she could sleep. It would be so easy, and she had been so exhausted for so long. But she could remember Pith Helmet's expression when she had told him what the cocoon had done to her, and what it meant would happen. She remembered how he had begged.

In the darkness, Tailspin closed her eyes and drank.

---

Every part of Compass Rose's body hurt. Her ribs felt as though they had been crushed, her legs felt like they would never move again, and her neck felt as though someone had tried very hard to break it. Even the hairs of her coat ached. But nothing compared to the unabated head-splitting migraine-crossed-with-an-industrial-saw feeling in her skull. Her horn was pure torture.

Wherever she was, there was magic all around. It wasn't good magic, either. Even half-blinded as she was, she could sense the similarities between this magic and the cruel power that Queen Chrysalis had wielded. This magic took, and never stopped taking. It was hungry and corrosive. She could feel the waves of it crawling over her coat like an army of insects that she couldn't shake off.

It took her a while to realize that she could sense other things, as well, using her more mundane senses. The most obvious of them was a sensation of warmth, and the sound of things crackling.

Fire.

She opened her eyes, and was immediately rewarded by a stab of pain as light far too bright for her flooded her pupils. After a few seconds, when she could raise her eyelids above a squint without groaning, she raised her head.

They were in what looked like an entrance hall of some sort. It put her in mind of the castle in the Tangle, but this one was, somehow, even larger and more ornately decorated. She would have considered it even more beautiful, if it hadn't been for the shadows.

The darkness in the hall seemed somehow thicker than it should be, as if it were an entity in its own right rather than just a descriptor applied to an area where light was not. Odd shapes seemed to shift and dance within them whenever she looked away, but always vanished before she could turn back.

She shook her head vigorously for a moment. There was a fire to her back. That needed to be investigated.

Slowly, groaning with the effort, she turned over.

This entrance hall shared another trait with the castle in the Tangle: there were massive, ornate tapestries draped over the walls. Somepony had taken one of them down and heaped it up on the stone floor, then set fire to it. It didn't burn well - thick, black smoke poured out of it, drifting upwards and into the cavernous recesses of the room - but it did provide a bit of warmth.

Spike was lying a few yards away, on one side of the fire. The dragon looked as though he hadn't moved after hitting the ground. He was still massive and powerful-looking, but he also looked beaten, like a prize fighter that had lost, and lost hard. His mouth was open, and she could see that several of his fangs had been broken. Several of the ridges that trailed along his spine had also shattered, and even a few of his scales looked as though they had splintered with the force of impact.

It was his wings that were the worst, though. Compass felt a sympathetic lurch from her stomach when she saw what had happened to them. One was curled up under his torso, pinned to the stone and mostly obscured from view, but even lying like that, she could tell that the skeins of flesh between the bones of it had been ripped horrifically. The other one, the one that wasn't pinned under him, was worse. Not only was it as badly torn as the other, but it was turned back on itself. One of its joints had been twisted in entirely the wrong way.

Compass wasn't certain how well dragons healed, but she found it difficult to imagine that Spike would ever get airborne again.

A soft sound caught her attention, and she twisted her head around to look for its source. It took her a moment to spot it - the fire was in the way. It also didn't help that the red of Tailspin's coat was the same hue as the fire.

She blinked.

Tailspin's-

It took her a moment to get her hooves under her, and when she finally managed it, she found it difficult to even attempt to stand. She settled for lifting herself up on her forelegs and squinting over the flames.

It was Tailspin. The pegasus was crouched over Pith Helmet, who was lying full-length on the stone floor, and grunting softly as she twisted something around one of the stallion's legs.

"Tailspin?"

The flame-coated mare paused, then turned to look at Compass over her shoulder, grinning broadly. There was a glint of gold and crimson around her neck. "Hey," she said. "I'm glad you're awake. It was getting lonely."

Compass simply gaped for a few seconds. Just a few hours ago, the pegasus had looked skeletal and gray. Now her coat was back to its original brilliant incarnadine, and, while she still looked thin, she no longer looked as though anypony could play xylophone on her ribcage.

Finally, she managed to ask, "How?"

Tailspin lifted a hoof and pointed to the ruby necklace. "This," she said. "I ended up with it after the crash. I don't really know how, but I'm not complaining. It's... magic, or something close."

Compass' horn throbbed again, and she winced. "I guessed. I just didn't know it was healing magic."

Tailspin frowned and lowered her gaze, squirming awkwardly on the spot. "It's not."

"What?" Compass finally managed to push herself upright. Her legs shook under her and her muscles felt like they were on fire, but she managed it. "Then how are you... like this?"

The pegasus grimaced and turned back to Pith. Now that she was upright and could see over the fire, Compass could tell that the thing being wrapped around the stallion's leg was a makeshift splint.

"The cocoon did something to me," Tailspin muttered. "Something that your magic didn't heal. It made me like the changelings. I need to eat like they do."

Compass blinked. "You mean you feed on-"

"No," the pegasus said sharply. "I need to, but I don't. That's why I wasn't healing. I was starving myself." She paused, sighed, and added, "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to blame yourself. I'm sorry."

The anger she seemed to be expecting didn't come. Compass just felt confused. "But then how are you better now?"

"The necklace has something in it," Tailspin said, still not looking up from her work on Pith's leg. "I think it's... a reservoir, or something, of all the things Spike felt for his wife. It's enough to keep me on my feet, at least. I'm not entirely comfortable with using it without asking him, but you all needed help."

There didn't really seem to be anything that could be said to that. Compass just shook her head, trying to get the room to stop spinning, and took a few shaky steps around the fire.

Tailspin was still focused on getting the splint set around Pith's leg. She had taken a pair of short, metal poles - presumably used to support the tapestry that was now blazing merrily behind her - and a series of thick strips of fabric that she had saved from the fire, and was busy attempting to try and tie the poles into place as best she could.

Pith was unconscious, and already had several large, pronounced bruises forming around his head and chest, but he was breathing. His leg, though, was obviously in bad shape. It was the same one that had been splinted for a hairline fracture back in the fortress. The crash had obviously turned that into a full break; even with the splint in place, it was bent in places that weren't meant to bend. Tailspin was doing her best, but she was no doctor.

Compass limped her way over to the two of them, then dropped onto the floor again, panting heavily. Tailspin glanced up from her work and frowned.

"Just stay still," she said. "Honestly, I'm amazed any of us are even alive. Rest."

"You're the one who had to be carried here," Compass murmured in response. She lowered herself to the ground anyway. She was too exhausted to really argue.

"Yes, and now I'm probably going to have to carry the rest of you out," answered the pegasus in a matter-of-fact tone. She gave one last grunt as she finished adjusting her amateur splint, then sighed. "It's not a very good set," she muttered, "but it's the best I can do. At least it isn't pointing the wrong way any more."

She stood up and trotted over to Compass. "What about you? Anything broken?"

Compass shook her head. "Don't think so," she said. "But my horn is killing me. This place is full of magic." She frowned, shuddered, and added, "Bad magic. Like Chrysalis', but... worse, somehow." She glanced towards the shadows at the edge of her vision again. "I don't like it here."

"Neither do I," said Tailspin, following her gaze. "But we can't leave. I don't know why those things haven't followed us inside, but I checked the hole in the door, and they're all out there, circling the castle. We're trapped."

"So what do we do?" Compass looked back to Spike. The dragon's chest still rose and fell steadily, but there were no other signs of movement.

There was a sigh from the pegasus. "You're not going to like my answer."

"I still need to hear it," said Compass, turning back to her and frowning. "We're the only two awake. We've got to do something."

Tailspin nodded and, apparently without thinking about it, lifted one of her hooves to rest against the ruby necklace. "Exactly," she said. "We're the only two awake, and we've got to do something. Spike isn't in any condition to go anywhere, and Pith's leg is... bad. Neither of them is going to be walking any time soon, and you're not in particularly great condition yourself. We can't stay here, and we can't go back outside. So." She took a deep breath, then continued, "I'm going further into the castle."

Compass blinked. "You're leaving us?"

"No." Tailspin shook her head rapidly. "Not for long, anyway. I'll check back in as often as I can. But we can't go outside, so we can't call for help, and we don't have the means to take care of Spike or Pith long enough for them to heal. We also don't have any guarantee that the ice-things outside aren't going to come after us. If we stay here, we're going to die, one way or another."

"So what does you going further into the castle change about that?" asked Compass. She couldn't keep the slight edge of panic out of her voice. The thought of being left in the hall with their two unconscious companions filled her with dread. The shadows were too close.

"I don't know," the pegasus admitted, frowning. "But Spike said that there might be something helpful here, even if we can't find the Elements of Harmony. Maybe I can find something that can help us. It's a long shot, but it's still a better shot than we have right now."

Slowly, Compass forced herself to nod. As much as she hated the idea of Tailspin leaving them, she couldn't think of anything better, and she really wasn't in any condition to go exploring herself. "Just promise you'll check back in as often as you can," she said.

Tailspin nodded. "Of course. Just watch Pith and Spike for me. If they wake up, they'll probably need food and water."

The image of Spike's broken wing forced itself into Compass' mind, and she grimaced. They'll need more than that.

There was a soft rustling sound, and she snapped back to reality. Tailspin was putting on a set of saddlebags, her expression determined, and staring towards the far end of the hall. "If the fire starts to get low, there's a tapestry by the door that fell off. You can use that for more fuel."

"You're leaving already?"

"No point in wasting time," said Tailspin. She flipped one of the helmets onto her head. Miraculously, its light was still functioning. "We still don't know how long we have until those things find a way in."

Again, Compass nodded. "All right," she said, still frowning. "Just... be careful, okay?"

"I will." The pegasus smiled at her. Compass was slightly surprised to realize that it was a natural smile, without any sign of being forced. "Don't worry," she continued. She reached out and placed one hoof on Compass' shoulder for a moment. "I won't leave you guys. Just take care of Pith and Spike for me. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay." Compass shuddered, and Tailspin patted her shoulder comfortingly.

"It's gonna be all right," she said brightly. "We've survived a lot together. We'll get through this as well."

And she turned to trot away into the darkness.

---

At first, the grand architecture and faded glory of Castle Canterlot had put Tailspin in mind of the ruins they had found in the Tangle. These halls also featured ornate tapestries and exquisite statues depicting various famous figures from antiquity. Beyond that, the designs themselves were quite similar. More than once, Tailspin spotted a tapestry depicting the two alicorn sisters that Spike kept calling Celestia and Luna, along with a few showing Twilight Sparkle.

But that was where the similarities ended. That castle had been old and decaying, but normal. The stones had just been stones. If the changelings hadn't managed to follow them inside, they would have been perfectly safe there.

This castle felt different. Odd shapes twisted at the edges of her vision. More than once, she was certain that she could hear something whispering to her in some language she couldn't understand. The light from her helmet lamp didn't dispel the darkness so much as force it to retreat for a moment.

Castle Twilight had been ancient, but nothing more. This place was wrong.

She pressed on regardless, despite her lack of a set destination. She didn't know what might be in the castle. Even if she had, she wouldn't have known which direction to go first. Spike was the only member of the group who might have been able to point them towards significant locations, and he was unconscious.

She would have preferred to wait until he had woken up so that she could learn more about the castle before setting out, but the ice creatures were still outside. There wasn't any time to wait. So she kept walking, trying to ignore the rising dread in her gut.

Twice, she thought she heard something scrabbling along the stone behind her. Twice, she spun around to look, and saw nothing but the darkness and the ominous shapes dancing at the edge of sight.

She passed dozens of rooms as she wandered, and even more doors that she couldn't open. Most of the rooms that she could see, she couldn't easily identify. Some had obviously been sitting rooms. Others were guest bedrooms. One or two might have been something approaching a guard post. None of them contained anything that looked useful.

Finally, she rounded a corner and found herself standing in front of a set of doors that looked very different from the rest.

They were large, ornate double doors, easily large enough for Spike to fit through, even in his larger states. Tailspin couldn't be sure what sort of material they were made from. It appeared to be some sort of alabaster stone, engraved and inset with precious stones to form a picture so large that it covered every inch of the titanic surface.

It was a picture of six ponies, all mares, each on their hind legs and with an intricately-cut crystal in the shape of their cutie mark set over their heads. Five of them - two earth ponies, two pegasi, and a white-coated unicorn that she immediately recognized as Rarity - were arrayed around the edges of the doors, forming a sort of pentagon around the one in the center. That one could only have been Twilight Sparkle.

The gems sparkled brilliantly in the light from her helmet lamp, and for a moment, Tailspin almost forgot about the shadows that seemed to be closing in around her. Then she shook her head and stepped forward. She couldn't afford to waste time, even to admire such an amazing work. Especially when she had just stumbled across the first real sign that there might be something important here.

She stepped forward, and immediately stopped again.

Two of the gems set into the doors had begun to shine. It was a dim light, just barely bright enough to be seen, but it was there nonetheless. One of them was a ruby cut into the shape of an apple, set just above an orange-coated earth pony. The other was a set of pink balloons above a pink mare on the other side of the door.

She hesitated, unsure of whether or not to continue forward, but there didn't seem to be any immediate danger. She took another step. The gems shone a bit brighter.

She swallowed, set her jaw, and began to walk forward again.

There was a quiet rumbling and, ahead of her, the double doors began to swing inward. The room beyond was massive, even larger than the entrance hall, and her helmet lamp only illuminated the very closest section of it. She could just make out two rows of statues, one to each side, depicting the same mares on the door. And, at the very furthest end of the room, there were a pair of thrones.

Tailspin froze.

There was somepony sitting on one of them.

The figure was tall and sinuous, but it lacked any sort of grace. Its proportions were off, its limbs malformed and asymmetric. One of its arms was long, thin, and had fingers tipped with sharp talons, while the other was short and thickly muscled. Its legs were uneven, one scaled and one hooved. Even its horns were mismatched.

But the worst thing about it was its face. It was a twisted, garish caricature of a pony's, with a horribly twisted muzzle and misshapen head. Its teeth were sharp, jagged, and jutted from its mouth at freakish angles. One of them was especially long and wicked-looking, curving down over the monster's lower jaw and gleaming in the dim light.

And its eyes, its horrible, yellow eyes with their crazed, blood-red irises, were fixed firmly on Tailspin, whose legs had lost their ability to function. All she could do was stare, motionless, and hope that it would turn away so that she could bolt.

It didn't. As she watched, its lips curled into a tiny, predatory smile, exposing still more of those hideous teeth.

"Ah," it said. Its voice dripped self-satisfaction. "I was wondering when one of you would finally find me." It pushed itself off of the throne and, to Tailspin's amazement, sank into a low, theatrical bow. "I am Discord, Lord of Chaos. And the pleasure, I'm sure, is all mine."

Comments

[TheMessenger]

but she knew that it could be good.

Oh, well, then Spike has nothing to worry about. Unless, of course, you meant "it couldn't be good".

Good job with Discord's appearance. I'm legitimately afraid for Tailspin. He really does not seem like a good guy.

[Headless]

3862838 YOU SAW NOTHING

[Yanitur]

By Luna's teats you do like the cliffhangers. I don't know if I should hope that discord is still staying away rom the evil side of chaos, you do so like to kick our party while they are down. At least the there was some good news about the elements. Also, this story should be called, what crippled them. You see to want those poor folks to end up seriously mangled by the end of the story

[Sparklespy]

I agree with Yanitur.
What the hay, man? You really hate the gang THAT much? Unless Twilight is alive and fixes them, or they figure out how to heal with the Elements, these guys are going to live wretched lives by the end, physically AND from the mental scarring of constant near death experiences.
But anyway, I enjoy this story IMMENSELY for some reason. Im a fan of sad, emotional stories... its just, me.

[Headless]

3863668 It is marked as both [Dark] and [Tragedy] for a reason!

But, you know, I find it much more enjoyable to torment the audience. The characters are just a means to that end.

[FancyFan]

Was wondering when he would show.

[Guilty King]

3864248 You enjoy it? Remind me to never get on your bad side...

[Oak Stride]

I totally called it! I now I wasn't the only one, but I knew Tailspin was and

[Emptybee]

4560967 You're ahead of me then, I called and .

[MustacheMerlin]

So thats where Discord went. No wonder the magic around here is so chaotic.