Fever Dreams: Tavi
Octavia sat alone in the void, Discord’s words ringing in her ears.
“What if you had nothing left to give?”
She scoffed to herself. Typical mind-games. Apparently the fearsome Discord was no better than Trixie in her heyday.
Silence.
She cast her gaze around her, trying to discern something, anything, in the darkness. But there was nothing to see, nothing to hear. The only sound was her own breathing.
“What if you had nothing left to give?”
She sighed in frustration at her situation. Trapped in an infinite emptiness at the whim of some creature they knew next to nothing about.
Her mind turned to her companions. Were they experiencing the same thing? Was Discord even now boring them to death?
Silence.
She hoped Vinyl was okay.
“What if you had nothing left to give?”
She tossed her hooves in the air in uncharacteristic frustration.
“Fine! I’ll think about it.”
She closed her eyes. If she had nothing to give? Strange idea. One always had something to give. Whether it was simply your time, your love, or even your attention, there was a world of immaterial wealth that every pony would gladly supply.
She examined the concept more closely, turning it over and over in the hooves of her thoughts. She had always gone out of her way to help those she considered her friends. That was just... what one did. Right? Her entire life had been spent helping Vinyl out of her scrapes, for Celestia’s sake. And, no doubt, so would the rest of i...
Her expression froze.
That was it. The rest of her life.
Lyra appeared next to her, and she leapt to her hooves. Lyra grinned at her and said, nonchalantly,
“Don’t worry, Tavi, I got this. Let the heroes do the heavy lifting.”
She vanished. Octavia scanned the darkness wildly. What had that been? A vision? An illusion?
Bon-Bon appeared behind her, holding a sheaf of papers.
“So, I’ve been doing some work in my spare time, and I think I’m starting to get a handle on this coding thing.”
Even as Octavia whirled to face her, the image of her friend faded from sight. She snarled.
“Come out and talk!”
Octavia’s voice drifted into the distance, dying away without even an echo. Breathing heavily, she massaged her forehead with one hoof.
“Calm down, Tavi. It’s just tricks. Tricks and lies to make you doubt yourself.”
“What if you had nothing left to give?”
A chair appeared beneath her, and Derpy’s desk materialised, complete with smiling pegasus.
“Amazing work on that new system, Octavia. Our organisational workload has been almost halved! Why don’t you take some time off?”
Octavia shook her head desperately.
“No, honestly, Commander, I think I can improve it even more...”
But Derpy had already disappeared, and the chair dumped Octavia unceremoniously before joining them in oblivion. Octavia cursed silently.
“Don’t respond, you fool! You’re getting confused.”
Trixie was next, throwing her head back in scornful laughter.
“Oh, please. You, help me with my calculations? Let’s just stick to our own projects, hmm? We’ll see who wins.”
Octavia tried to get up, legs weak with mounting fear. Tears began to prick the corners of her vision.
“Please, let me help, I-”
The ethereal Redheart shook her head silently, turning away to the pony in the clinic bed.
“There must be something I can-”
Her breath caught as she realised what was next. She stepped back from the darkness before her, as if she could escape whatever madness had taken her slightest doubt and made it so horrifyingly real.
“No. Please. Anypony but her.”
An off-white unicorn took shape, but not the Vinyl she knew. This was her lifelong friend at the end of her time, wrinkled and smiling. Octavia shook her head, wide-eyed in horror, able to sense what was coming. She pleaded with the darkness, pleaded through the tears that threatened to flow free at any moment.
“I understand! I agree! Bon-Bon and Lyra will always be loyal to each other! Derpy will never tell a lie! Redheart will always care for others! Trixie will always be powerful! Vinyl will...” She smiled a bittersweet smile, even through the cold terror that gripped her. “Vinyl will always be laughing.”
The ancient Vinyl before her opened her mouth to speak. Octavia’s words tumbled out faster, trying anything to stop the apparition from talking.
“But I’ll be used up! I’m a finite resource! I’ll give everything I can give and there’ll be nothing left! I understand! You win! Don’t you hear me?! You win, Discord!”
The ghostly Vinyl began to speak, her voice crackling like ancient paper.
“Tavi, you don’t have to worry anymore.”
“Don’t make her say it!” Octavia collapsed, falling to her knees in anguish.
“Where I’m going...”
She threw her hooves over her ears and screamed.
“... I won’t need you anymore.”
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Too. Much. Updates!
Now time to read.
ouch
It's always the strong, silent types, isn't it?
Man, Discord is a bastard. He's not pulling any punches here.
Okay, wow.
Wait, if he succeeded in sowing doubts into all of them, then who's left to help them pull out of their funks?
One would thank that that one would get tired of saying the same thing over and over, but I don't. You sir have talent, oh so much talent.
Alright! I made it to the end! Now there's only one thing left to do: Throw my hands up and yell "WHEEEEEW!" Emotional roller coaster!
Oh man. The rest of these chapters have been pretty good. I particularly liked the Redheart bit.
This? Straight up, mood whiplash, megaton punch to the feels. You utter bastard. And I love you for it.
3472213
Everyone loves Discord because he's so evil. He really isn't pulling any punches...