Convergence Side-story: Downtime.

by Doctor Fluffy

Bad Memories

Chapter Three: Bad Memories.

Written by:
Doctor Fluffy,
Jed R.

Editors
RoyalPsycho,
The Void,
redskin122004.

This chapter also contains direct segments used in the chapters Sons of Legacies Part 1, Sons of Legacies Part 2 and Sons of Legacies Part 3, from The Conversion Bureau: The Other Side of the Spectrum.

***

“I mean, d'you call this a war, this funny little thing? This is not a war. I fought in a bigger war than you will ever know. I did worse things than you could ever imagine, and when I close my eyes... I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count! And do you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight... Til it burns your hand. And you say this -- no one else will ever have to live like this. No one else will ever have to feel this pain. Not on my watch.”
The Doctor, Doctor Who: The Zygon Inversion.

***

The Crystal Empire.

The snow covered plains were certainly beautiful, in a rugged kind of way. It seemed to stretch on forever, the horizon dominated by mountains that wouldn't have looked out of place in Lord of the Rings. At the forefront of their little group marched Celestia and Luna, determination filling their faces. The Element bearers, Lyra and Cadence trotted behind them, with the Discords keeping pace behind them. At the rear of the group were the two humans, both tense for reasons far beyond the immediate.

“Marcus,” Stephan said quietly, as the two walked.

“Yeah?” Marcus replied, keeping his voice low to match Stephan’s. If the German officer was speaking quietly, he didn’t want the others to hear, that much Marcus could guess.

Stephan motioned to the Element bearers, currently trotting a little nearer Celestia and Luna. “Does it bother you - them being here?”

Marcus frowned. “What bothers me is Discord - DisQord - being so damn insistent about it. But yeah, them being here bothers me. This is going to be difficult enough without us having to protect them.”

“Agreed,” Stephan said with a frown. “Here’s another problem - Discord, the Discord who fought at Boston with me and Elliot, seems to be reasonable. This DisQord, though…”

“Seems to think he’s above everyone,” Marcus retorted. “Like he’d rather be doing anything but bothering with us. Yeah. Noticed.”

“So… what happens when we need to control him?” Stephan asked.

Marcus didn’t reply, which was answer enough in and of itself. Stephan sighed.

“When we get back,” he said, “we need to discuss Solamina with him. Find out whether anything we know of Queen Celestia can be applied.”

“Agreed,” Marcus said. “For now, though, focus.”

“Ja,” Stephan nodded. “Focus.” He sighed. “I wish Trixie were here.”

“Leaving her behind was the right call,” Marcus said with a frown. “We can't take all the PHL’s best out on one trip.”

“You're not the one who has to live with her,” Stephan said with a slight smirk.

“No,” Marcus chuckled. “Guess I’m not.”

They kept walking in silence for a few minutes, Marcus’ smile fading.

“So,” he said after a moment. “Two Tyrants. A guy who can turn into a super-knight. Two Discords.”

“Ja,” Stephan said with a wry smile.

Marcus sighed. “Do you remember when this shit wasn’t this fucking complex?”

***

They said nothing more as the group continued their march. Soon enough, the group started passing the homes of the crystal ponies themselves. To no one’s great surprise, the ponies seemed to be hiding themselves - given that there were two Discords, two bipeds nopony could ever have seen before, and three separate Alicorns, no one could really blame them.

“So,” Luna said to the two humans, trying to make conversation, “What do the two of you know about Sombra?”

“Actually,” Applejack said, “Ah’ve never heard of ‘im.”

“How many of you have?” Luna asked, confused.

“I thought it was just a myth,” Twilight said.

“Says the mare that was correct about the Alicorn standing before us,” Rarity said good-naturedly.

“I have!” Pinkie crowed, bouncing up and down. “He was a… well, Daddy didn’t know much, he just said Sombra was a big meanie who forced ponies to work their hooves off till they collapsed, and… didn’t get back up… wow, dad’s stories were dark.”

“He was a unicorn tyrant… though there are a great many people and ponies who believe he would have been an improvement over the Tyrant Sun,” Marcus said, shaking his head.

“From everything you told us, that doesn’t sound hard,” Twilight said.

"Well, he’d definitely be the lesser of two evils, but… not by much,” Marcus explained. “He’s an umbra pony whose magic is linked to shadow crystals and causes despair and fear. He was able to rule with an iron hoof for several years before the Princesses banished him, but not before your ponies fought against his slave army for several years.”

“When we finally broke through his magic barrier that kept us from interfering, he linked the city to his banishment and it disappeared from this world," Celestia added.

"There is more to it," Luna said quietly as the neared the city proper. "Sombra was my student and one of the ponies in charge in finding a means to stopping Discord. He researched obscure magic from dark periods of Equus’ history scarcely known to everypony else, even me."

Stephan winced as he saw the haunted look on Luna's face. "So this must be hard for you then, huh, Luna?"

"It is." Luna stopped and lowered her head somewhat. "It’s worse than that; this all started because of his desire to wed with me."

“You have no idea how weird that sounds to me,” DisQord commented.

Luna frowned. “Quite. Sombra was my counterpart’s… descendent?”

“A very distant descendent,” the old Doctor said dryly. “Of the line of Gloriana Benedicta, your counterpart’s granddaughter.”

Marcus leaned back to Stephan, a grimace on his face as he mouthed the word 'awkward' to the German. Stephan raised an eyebrow.

“And Sombra is a - ‘High Unicornic’ name in your world, correct?” Luna asked, nodding slowly.

“Yup,” DisQord said. “Love a bit of High Unicornic - it’s like Latin. Except even snobbier.”

Celestia frowned. “How different is the world this Solamina comes from?”

“It’s different,” DisQord said simply.

“It would take too long to explain, wouldn’t it?” Lyra asked.

DisQord nodded. “You can worry about specifics when we’re not dealing with Sombra. It’s like… like comparing the same dish from two restaurants. Outwardly the same, enough subtle differences in preparation that it really isn’t.”

“There’s one thing I don't understand,” Twilight put in, a frown on her face. “If the two worlds are so different - how can there be ponies even remotely like me and my friends? Wouldn't there be a divergence?”

“You've never heard of timeline convergence theory?” DisQord asked. At Twilight’s blank look, he sighed. “Apparently not.”

Twilight sighed. “It's… a bit beyond my level of experience.”

“There is a theory that time is predisposed to certain events,” the Doctor said quietly. “And to certain individuals. There may always be a Celestia, a Luna, and even a group of ponies exactly like you six.”

Lyra coughed.

“Seven,” the Doctor corrected amiably. “Certain details will be different, of course - for example, Twilight, you're unlikely to be descended from Lord First Night and Captain Twilight Star.”

Twilight shook her head. “I think a Twilight Star was back in my family history, but I don't think she was a Captain.”

“My point exactly,” the Doctor said.

“Of course,” DisQord added, “the further out you go, the less likely convergence is to take place.”

“Enough!” Marcus snapped. “Jesus Christ, can we not talk about fucking timelines? It's giving me a headache.”

“I knew someone who had the same reaction,” DisQord said sagely. “I kept offering to help her out. She kept saying no.”

“Can't imagine why,” Celestia said with a snort.

The group entered the square.

"So,” Discord said, changing the subject. “Sombrero was in charge of figuring how to take me down." He rolled his goatee between his claw. "Last time I even saw him, he was just a colt barely getting into Stallionhood."

"He was as studious as Twilight and he loved me deeply," Luna said, sighing as she looked to the castle.

“Hard to imagine anypony as studious as Twilight,” Rarity said with a soft smile. Twilight scoffed.

"I sent him to the Crystal Kingdom to be a retainer and an Advisor for my great grandson after our... fight with you and peace began to reign over Equestria. Look how well that decision turned out."

"No need to beat around the bush, Lulu," Discord waved off her tact. "I knew I messed up-"

"We," Celestia corrected quietly as she looked down the rows of homes made of crystals.

"We messed up," Discord amended with a slight smile. "Our little spat may have pushed the ponies, but not for the right reasons. Either way, it’s in the past."

"Not for these ponies." Marcus watched as many crystal ponies panicked at the sight of the two Draconequuses (Draconequui?). "To them, it was probably less than a decade ago."

Discord frowned at this before shrugging. “Eh, I'll clean up my image once we knock down the Sleeping Festive Hat. Eh! Eh! Get it?"

Nopony said anything.

“...As that colt my little sister likes said: ‘I don’t get it,” Rarity said.

"That joke fell flatter than a two hour open Coke can," Marcus deadpanned, causing Discord to grumble under his breath.

A few moments later, they reached the castle, standing underneath the impressive building.

Marcus gave a small whistle, Stephan giving a small look of surprise at the architecture. Twilight looked amazed, and her friends just as much. Even Celestia and Luna’s eyes had widened somewhat.

“Such a wonderful creation,” the Sun Diarch said softly.

Marcus looked to the others and popped his neck. "So, game plan?"

"We must find the Crystal Heart and place it back in its proper home," Luna started, pointing at the small pedestal at the centre of the square. "Once we have it, the crystal ponies can use their love and happiness to keep Sombra out of the Kingdom. With Sombra dealt with, we can rely on the help of the Crystal ponies - and also use their crystal for your munitions."

"Deny him a chance to enslave and forcibly recruit them for his armies, and we’ll gain a potential ally in the process..." Stephan muttered.

Luna nodded her head to his assessment. “And you will be able to do so without needing to smuggle the crystal out of the Tyrant’s Empire or artificially synthesize it.”

“It wasn’t cost-effective at all,” Stephan said.

“You mean to tell me that smuggling a resource from an enemy nation was easier than actually creating it?” Luna asked.

“We don’t have magic, what do you expect?” Stephan asked.

“That makes sense,” Luna said, nodding.

"Alright, Celestia and Luna will look for the Crystal Heart, since you two have seen the thing and know what it looks like," Marcus said after a moment of thought, looking to Stephan before nodding to himself. "Take Stephan with you."

"Hey!"

"Sorry Stephan, but you can barely walk, let alone fight. Nor do you have your armor on; it’s still being repaired," Marcus told him, clapping his hand on Stephan's shoulder, before awkwardly taking his hand off as Stephan hissed in pain. "See?”

“You try throwing yourself out of a time machine,” Stephan winced.

“Anyway,” Marcus continued, “helping Celestia and Luna in the search can increase your likelihood of finding it quicker. Plus you can help out in case of traps the guy left behind.”

Stephan gritted his teeth, but nodded his head at Marcus' assessment. "Damn, alright." Stephan straightened his battle belt and followed the two Alicorns. “Just don’t die while I’m gone. Let’s go, ladies.”

“I will go with them,” the Doctor said. “If nothing else, this should be a fascinating walk.”

“Maybe you should take Twilight with you as well,” DisQord suggested. “Always helps to have a prodigy on hand.”

“Belay that,” Marcus said with a scowl, looking at DisQord. “It's a potentially hostile situation and she's not trained.”

DisQord tilted his head and motioned to the Doctor. “You seem fine with letting him go.”

“He looks like he can handle himself,” Marcus replied stiffly.

“Maybe he does,” DisQord said. “But still, he's an unknown quantity - against Sombra, d’you really -?”

“Alright!” Marcus snapped. “I've made my decision. Twilight isn't going!”

DisQord folded his arms. “Alright, Colonel Bogey. Whatever you say.”

Marcus gave a slight scowl before looking to Discord. "Think you can start rounding up the crystal ponies?"

"I can, doesn't mean that they will respond well," Discord commented as he fiddled with his bracer.

"Doesn’t matter. Their safety is top priority," Marcus looked to city, a frown on his face.

“What about us?” Rarity asked, her friends clamouring around her.

Marcus glanced at DisQord. “You're the one who wanted them here.”

“You seemed content to ignore my advice before,” DisQord pointed out.

“We don't have time for you to be an asshole, just give me a suggestion!” Marcus snapped.

DisQord smiled slightly. “Have them help round up ponies for the moment.”

“Right,” Marcus said, motioning to the Element Bearers, who dashed off to obey. He looked to the distance. “Which leaves Sombra himself.”

“He'll be around soon,” DisQord commented. “He’ll have been waiting to see if the Empire was sticking around, to see if the spell to return it worked entirely stably.”

“Which it seems to have,” Cadance said with a frown, looking around.

“Quite,” the Draconequus agreed. He examined a claw. “I figure we can hold him off - just a question of how far I can go before my superiors get antsy.”

“Your superiors?!” Marcus said with a raised eyebrow.

DisQord ignored him. “I think some liberties are manageable.”

He raised a claw and snapped it, and a blue dome of magic appeared around the Empire. A moment later, a black, smokey shape appeared, slamming into the shield and spreading out across it. Marcus’ eyes widened.

“Well, fuck,” he said. “Who invited Sauron’s CGI-cloud-form?”

“No one yet, he's terrible at answering his mail,” DisQord said with a slight grimace. “Tricky.”

“What? You having trouble holding it?” Marcus asked, glancing at him.

“I’m only able to use a certain amount of power before my superiors cotton on that I’m doing it and I have to explain,” DisQord said with a frown, his voice somewhat strained. “Right now I’m trying to make said certain amount do the job of a bit more.”

“I can help,” Cadance said, her horn glowing. In a flash, she sent a spell towards DisQord’s shield, and it seemed to brighten. DisQord relaxed.

“That did help,” he said with a smile. “Thanks.”

“Now what?” Cadance asked.

"Get back to the Castle,” Marcus instructed. “I’ll keep watch in case Sombra tries anything. Help Discord get the Crystal Ponies to the castle. Once they are all there, you two shrink the shield so you don't strain yourselves."

“Good plan,” DisQord congratulated. “Be careful, though. Sombra’s not so easy to beat.”

“I can believe it,” Marcus said with a nod. “But don't worry. I got ya covered.”

DisQord and Cadance nodded and headed off, leaving Marcus alone. Sighing, the Marine rolled his shoulders and began patrolling. He saw the Element Bearers and Discord moving ponies out of their homes, and he smiled - until he noticed that Twilight wasn't with them.

“Oh hell,” he swore to himself. “She didn't…”

Shaking his head, Marcus silently cursed DisQord for getting Twilight involved in this mess.

Unseen by any of them, though, a single tendril of something dark and intangible was snaking along the ground, heading for Marcus…

***

The Crystal Castle.

“Any idea where we should start looking?” Stephan asked the princesses, watching the city landscape through an open balcony.

“The throne room would be a good start,” Celestia said. “If it’s not there, then maybe we can find at least a clue where it could be.”

Stephan gave her a silent nod and followed them a few feet behind. With him trotted the old Doctor.

Celestia didn't know what to make of either of them - Stephan was full of distrust for the two of them, even after he had fought alongside Luna: since he had only just battled against a clone of the Tyrant, Celestia could see his problem. The Doctor was a trickier one - Celestia couldn't help but feel as though the old stallion was scrutinising them even as she scrutinised him.

They moved on, Stephan following them like he was their shadow. Every now and then, he looked outside through one of the windows. He saw the dark cloud began to spread around the kingdom, the blue shield that seemed to be keeping it out. Luna explained that it was most likely Cadence's magic, but though that meant that something was keeping whatever was out there out… it still meant something was out there.

After a few minutes, they reached the throne room. Stephan was quite impressed by the sight. He had once visited the Vatican, and that had been a truly breathtaking sight. But this room was made out of crystals of different shapes and colors, and the room was flooded with light-it was just so beautiful. There was no shadow except those under his feet.

“Alright,” he asked. “What are we looking for?”

Celestia let her eyes wander through the room and Luna did the same.

“The Crystal Heart is not here,” the Sun Diarch finally said with a disappointed tone.

“Go figure,” Stephan muttered under his breath.

“We have to keep looking. Maybe it is hidden,” Luna said, trying to give them some hope.

Stephan nodded in agreement before saying, “Okay. What does this Crystal Heart look like, by the way?”

“Like a heart made of crystal,” Luna said, looking somewhat confused as to why he needed that explained to him.

"You mean a blood pumping heart?" Stephan ventured, a worried look on his face. “Because that would be pretty metal for pastel-pony land.”

“...was that a Metalocalypse reference?” Marcus asked.

"What?! No!?" Luna gave him an appalling look of disgust. "And… I do not know what that is. The symbol for 'love' kind of heart, which is what the Crystal Kingdom was known for. Spreading joy and love across the world."

Stephan gave her a long look before he sighed and began to search the room. Luna and Celestia searched in a different part of the room, but never far from Stephan’s visual range.

“Why can’t you simply sense it with your magic and teleport them to us?” he asked. “That would make things much easier.”

Celestia explained. “Sadly, I can’t. Something is blocking mine and Luna’s ability to do so.”

“It’d be too easy for Sombra,” Luna said. “His mind does not work like that.”

“That is not a good sign,” the Doctor said, speaking for the first time in a while. “We must continue to be cautious.”

Stephan had a frown on his face. “Hey, Luna!”

The princess of the moon looked over to Stephan. “Yes?”

He motioned to the throne room. “Sombra had this place under control for a long time before you were able to force him out, right?”

Luna nodded. “Yes, he ruled over the Empire for a long time. Why?”

Stephan stroked his chin between his fingers. “I… don’t know how to put this, but this place does not look like Sombra’s throne room.”

Luna and Celestia shared a short gaze. “There are no other throne rooms. This is the only one.”

Stephan shook his head. “No, I mean… look at it. Its…verflucht nochmal...”

Both princesses eyed him with a confused look as he struggled with what he was trying to point out.

“He swore,” the Doctor supplied helpfully. “But he makes a valid point - this place does not fit with Sombra’s… aesthetic.”

Celestia’s and Luna’s eyes lightened up as they realized what the other two meant.

“But of course!” Luna exclaimed. “How could we be so blind? Sombra’s magic would have changed this castle like it had changed the entire Empire. It would have warped to his desires.”

“That means we have to restore the original look of this room by using Sombra’s dark magic,” Celestia summarized.

“Can either one of you use that kind of magic?” Stephan asked.

Luna nodded. “We both have experience in that field. Although given what we know about and its origins, we must take care not to cast it about without caution.” She walked in front of the throne and eyed the giant crystal above it. “It has been a while but…”

Luna’s horn began to glow, dark purple and green sparks bubbling in it like a sickness that grew outwards. Stephan observed the procedure with a keen eye, finding the whole thing oddly fascinating.

After a moment, a beam of this sickly-looking magic shot out of Luna’s horn and hit the crystal. It didn’t take long for a dark shadow to crawl from the throne and over the stairs towards the floor. As it made its journey, it revealed a hole in the ground, stairs leading down towards… something.

“Fascinating,” the Doctor said with a quirked eyebrow.

“Yeah, thanks, Mr Spock,” Stephan commented with a snort. “No way to tell what's at the bottom.”

“No,” the Doctor agreed. “Though given what little we know, would it be out of order to suggest that there may be traps?”

Stephan walked to the beginning of the stairs and looked down into the hole. It was so dark that he didn’t even saw the ground. “What is it with villains and dark and mysterious looking holes…”

“A sense of the theatric?” the Doctor suggested. “Or perhaps an affinity with places that inspire secrecy?”

“You say that like it’s normal,” Stephan said with a frown. He opened a one of the bigger bags at his belt and pulled out a heavy glow stick. A quick snap in the middle and a little shake was all what it took to make it glow. With a quick motion, he let it drop into the hole. He lost it as the little light got swallowed by the darkness around it, and it took several more seconds before he heard it land on the ground.

He whistled, impressed. “That is one deep hole.”

“Indeed, it is.” Celestia said. She was already on her way to go down as Stephan held out a hand in front of her to stop her.

“I’ll go first. Maybe there are traps which only go off by magical ponies like you,” Stephan explained.

“It is more likely that the traps are designed for any and all creatures that enter, from the greatest sorcerer to a stray rodent,” the Doctor said quietly.

Stephan frowned. “What makes you say that?”

“Paranoia is the one defining trait of the standard ‘evil overlord’,” the Doctor said with a wry grin. “I know these types quite well, all things considered. Six thousand years of experience. Suffice it to say, I’ve faced their sort before.”

Celestia nodded slowly. “It would not surprise me if Sombra were that paranoid. And malicious.”

Stephan sighed and nodded. “What do you suggest, then?”

The Doctor sighed and adjusted his jacket, before taking his sonic screwdriver from his bandolier with one hoof, buzzing it, and placing it back with a nod.

“When in doubt,” he said simply, “send the most experienced.”

“You?” Luna asked. “Alone? Unarmed?”

“I have my mind,” the Doctor said, “which I have found to be more than sufficient to far more impressive threats. Equally, I am ultimately not the most important figure to lose. If the worst should happen -”

“It seems like a big risk,” Stephan said with a frown.

“I know,” the Doctor said with a slight smile. “Hardly my first this week.”

And with that, he began walking down. Stephan growled and followed.

“You’re verruckt if you think I’m letting you go alone,” he said simply. He turned back to Celestia and Luna. “I'll see if I can find any source of the magical traps and break them with my sword. The PHL taught us the means of detecting traps after the Royal Guards began to lace traps in occupied towns. My sword can react to magical traps, give me a warning. We’ll call you once we’re sure it’s safe.”

Celestia gave a resigned sigh. “Alright, Major. We will wait for your call.”

Stephan nodded and flicked on his pistol’s flashlight. The light didn’t reach far, but it was enough to see where he was going. The Doctor was already a few steps ahead of him, taking it slowly and purposefully.

Stephan winced. His bad leg winced in protest with each step, but he did what he always did - gritted his teeth together and kept going.

***

The Crystal Empire: City Centre.

"Alright, no pushing! There is room for everypony! Hey! No conspiracy to try and escape, you’ll only make me annoyed!" one of the Discord duplicates yelled through a megaphone, dozens of others surrounding the castle with riot gear, shields, and batons, facing outwards to protect the Crystal Ponies from Sombra. Discord himself was standing coordinating the various clones.

The Element Bearers were helping to calm the populace.

“Please, if ya’ll just stay calm, we’ll explain everythin’, but right now, ya’ll have got to stay here!” Applejack was yelling to some scared ponies. “Please!”

“Everypony stay calm!” Rarity was saying to another crowd.

‘This isn’t helping!’ Pinkie thought. ‘What to do what to do what to do…’

She rummaged through her mane.

‘I wonder when their birthdays are… OF COURSE!’

“Quick!” Pinkie gasped, running up to a crystal pony that was almost a quarz color. “When’s your birthday?!”

The pony went so pale that Pinkie thought for a second they were invisible. “I don’t know… It’s… uh… oh no, I can’t remember!”

‘Of course…’

Pinkie darted from pony to pony, asking the same questions.

“Pinkie? What are you…” Fluttershy asked.

“I have a plan!” Pinkie Pie gasped. “Okay, nopony here knows their birthday!”

“That sounds bad,” Fluttershy said.

“It is!” Pinkie nodded. “Can you help me? I don’t think I have enough cake.”

“How much cake do you even keep?” Fluttershy asked.

“A lot - it’s for emergencies!” Pinkie said, not quite protesting. “I keep a lot of things for emergencies. Party supplies, costumes of you, balls, party cannons-”

“What was that last one?” Fluttershy asked.

“Balls,” Pinkie said. “For bowling, or… nevermind!”

She climbed to the top of a building, and fired her party cannon off into the air.

The Crystal Ponies froze at the sound.

“Alright, listen up!” Pinkie yelled. “Apparently, most of you don’t know your birthday! Or… remember much of anything! We’re all here to… uh… throw one of you a party!”

The Crystal Ponies looked at each other, suspicious.

“But since nobody knows whose birthday it is, then we have no choice but to throw a party for… for everypony!” Pinkie yelled. “It’s probably somepony’s birthday, so let’s g-”

Immediately, the cake from Pinkie’s cannon plummeted through the air and landed on a nearby crystal pony.

The Crystal Pony poked their head out, and there was a slight smile on their face. “It’sh delicioush!”

“And there’s more where that came from!” Pinkie crowed, passing out another cake. “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear somepony. Happy birthday to you! How old are you now, old are you, uh… somepony… I don’t think we remember, happy birthday to you!”

Discord frowned slightly. It seemed strange to him that his counterpart would have insisted on their presence, but they were better at calming ponies than he was - there were some unfortunate implications to his presence. Still, that couldn't have been all of what the other him had intended.

Though wondering what he's thinking is like wondering what I’m thinking, he thought to himself. Impossible if you aren't me.

With a sudden start, Discord realised something else. Rarity was coordinating the Element Bearers, and Applejack was helping her - but Twilight and Lyra were both nowhere to be seen.

“Pinkie!” he called over. “Where are Twilight and Lyra?!”

“Oh!” she called back. “They did a thing that made them invisible and followed the Princesses and the Doctor, but we’re not supposed to tell you that!”

Discord blinked, eyes widening in shock.

"Discord!" a familiar voice called out to him.

He said nothing as Cadance landed near him, somewhat ungracefully. Next to her, his counterpart appeared in a flash, looking rather pleased with himself. The appearance of another Discord clone didn't startle the locals as it might have, but he still drew some whispers.

“Why does that one have a red Q on it?” one of the crystal ponies whispered.

“Quality assurance,” DisQord replied blandly, and the pony yelped. He looked at Discord. “What's up with you? You look like you've seen a ghost.”

“Twilight and Lyra are gone,” Discord replied coldly. “I’m tempted to ask if you had anything to do with it.”

“Moi?” DisQord asked. He looked around. “Well whaddya know. So they are. Enterprising young things, aren't they?”

“Where did they go, Discord?” Cadance asked, eyes wide with worry.

“After Celestia and the others,” the Draconequus replied. “I should have noticed but we were all rather preoccupied.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” DisQord said airily.

“They had better be,” Cadance said with a scowl. “They're only in this mess because of you.”

DisQord shrugged.

Sighing, Cadance turned back to Discord. "Are all the Crystal Ponies here?"

"Hmm, let me check," Discord said quietly as he closed his eyes to concentrate. Cadence turned to look at the growing herd of ponies as they gathered around her.

"Look, another alicorn!"

"Are you sure? It could be a pegacorn."

"You don't feel that magic coming off of her?! She's definitely an alicorn."

"Who birthed her? Princess Celestia?"

"Ponies of the Crystal Kingdom!" Cadence called out, giving them time to gather themselves. "My name is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza! The blood of your rightful leader Prince Tempo Di Mezzanotte, who is the great grandson of Princess Luna, the Caretaker of the Moon, runs through my veins. What I am about to tell you may shock you; you may even think I am lying to you. But I am not."

Cadance gave a small huff as they fell silent. She closed her eyes for a moment before she began to speak. "It has been over one thousand years since you and this kingdom has been seen by any living being of this world."

She could see the shock on their faces at those words, some fainted after a moment or two while others began to cry. Cadance had no doubt that some of them had families outside the Kingdom before they vanished, or some relatives and friends who had escaped. It would be hard for them to get their bearings in this new world, where society and technology progressed far beyond their wildest dreams, and the onset of a war brewing up.

"Know this, many things have changed since so long ago. The prime example stands before you." Cadance pointed to Discord as he gave a single wave to them before returning to his search. "We know of Sombra’s return. My aunts, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are here with Discord as an ally, along with two other warriors from a far away land and these ponies we have brought to help you. I swear, we will strike down Sombra and you can live free of his vicious rule. And we will gladly welcome you to Equestria! In fact, we are very, very happy to see you, for there is much that only you crystal ponies can do for Equestria! You will be hailed as heroes, as long-lost brothers and sisters! As saviors of a world!”

Many of the ponies began to whisper excitedly to one another, a few giving the pink alicorn and the draconequus a look of suspicion. Cadance gave a sigh, jumping slightly at the tap on her shoulder. She turn to see Discord with a worried look on his face.

"What is it?" Cadance whispered quietly, Discord snapped his claw to put up a yellow-tinted transparent bubble around them, to keep their conversation silent to the ponies around them. DisQord found himself outside of the bubble, but he took no notice.

"All the ponies are here, but we haven't seen any sign of Marcus for a while," Discord replied, causing Cadence to give him a look of worry.

"Marcus said to shrink the shield once we get everypony here." Cadance closed her eyes as she thought back on Marcus' orders. "I thought he can handle it a bit... maybe I should have stayed with him."

"Oh, that wouldn't do. And leave me to foalsit these ponies? I don't think so," Discord muttered to her, rolling his eyes as some of the ponies gathered closely around the bubble as they tried to figure out what they were saying within it. "I'll go to him."

“We’ll shrink the shield,” DisQord supplied helpfully from behind Discord. The Draconequus gave his other self an evil look, and DisQord grinned evilly. “What?”

“I’m starting to get why people find me annoying,” Discord grumbled. He popped the bubble, causing many of the ponies step back as Discord floated off the ground. He gave them a small smirk before looking towards the outskirts of the city as he flew high above their heads. The dark clouds that once threatened to engulf the city had all but disappeared, causing Discord to wonder what happened.

"Time to go; take care of the jittery lot, you guys!" Discord called down to her before snapping his claw and vanishing from sight.

***

The Crystal Castle.

As the two of them walked down the stairs, the Doctor turned his head to look over their shoulder.

“What is it?” Stephan asked.

“I believe we’re being followed,” the Doctor replied quietly.

Stephan frowned, before glancing at his sword. The crystal in the hilt was pulsing slightly. With a smooth motion, he turned and aimed his pistol behind them- only for a small yelp to stay his shot.

“Sparkle?” he asked, eyes widening.

A moment later, both Twilight Sparkle and Lyra Heartstrings were visible in front of Stephan and the Doctor.

“I-I’m sorry!” Twilight gasped, looking at the pistol in fear. “We - I -”

“We thought we’d be better helping you than waiting,” Lyra finished, leaning back slightly away from the pistol.

Stephan holstered his pistol with a growl. “Go back. Now.”

“If I may,” the Doctor put in, “that would be unwise. We’re too far down now for the journey back up to be worth the time.”

Stephan growled. “I don't like being saddled with civilians.”

“Then consider them my responsibility,” the Doctor said dryly. “Back in the day, I used to be quite expert at picking up strays.”

“Hey!” Lyra said. “I’m not a stray, and you are not picking me up!”

The Doctor gave her a blank look, and she blushed.

“Er, sorry,” she added.

“Let's just go,” Stephan grumbled.

Eventually, they reached the bottom of the stairs, and saw a door: rather plain, dark wood with a round handle. Stephan went to go open it, but with a swish sound, it began moving away from his touch.

“What?!” Lyra exclaimed, eyes narrowing. “That makes no -”

It dodged any attempt to so much as touch it, moving hither and thither, before finally returning to its original spot.

“Interesting,” the Doctor said quietly.

“D'you have anything useful to add?” Stephan asked grouchily.

“In point of fact, yes,” the Doctor replied. He took a tentative step towards the door. “I used to know a trick, back when I was young and telepathic. Clearly, you can't make an actual psychic link with a door, for one very obvious reason.”

“It's a door?” Twilight pointed out.

“Precisely, and as anyone worth their salt knows, they're notoriously cross,” the Doctor said with a slight smile. He took another tentative step. “I mean, imagine life as a door. People keep pushing past you. All of that knocking, but it's never for you. Imagine life as Sombra’s door.” He took another step, and the door stayed put. “Probably all sorts of unpleasant additions. And you get locked up every night. But, if you're just a little bit nice…”

And then he reached the door. He placed a hoof against it. He smiled.

“You see?” he said, and then he pushed it open.

There was a flash of light.

***

City Outskirts.

Discord popped back into existence near the entrance of the city, watching as the shield slowly shrank in size. His eyes were searching for his human companion, before finally finding him.

Surrounded by crystal monsters.

"Oh that won't do at all," Discord growled as he pulled out a large scroll from his 'pocket' and stuck his paw into it, melting through the scroll and digging in for something. Discord smirked as he pulled out several kunai, all of them having paper tags attached to them. "Let's send them out with a bang shall we?"

Discord threw the blades, each one slamming into the head of the crystal creatures surrounding Marcus. The look of confusion on their faces was priceless as they all stared at the blades lodge into their skulls, the tags burning quickly before exploding.

"Ha ha ha!" Discord laughed as he landed before Marcus, who was on his knees and staring at the ground. "I should really have Pinkie take a look at this scroll. She’d love it. Hey, you okay?"

Marcus wavered slightly, before slowly getting onto his feet. Discord turned to see the monsters slowly reforming themselves. "How about you let me handle the toys Sombra no doubt summoned. Maybe it's a little beyond your deal to handle this. Just let old Discord show you a thing or two about handling things."

"Now…" Discord blinked at the voice, the deep and hoarse voice a far cry from Marcus’ normal speaking voice. "Why would I want you to do something like that?"

"Wha-Urk!" Discord turned to look at him, only to feel a fist in his stomach, burying itself deep in his stomach.

Discord gagged as he bent over from the blow, his eyes wide in surprise and shock at the betrayal. He looked to Marcus, questions forming before falling silent as Marcus locked eyes with him. His irises no longer the rich brown, but a ruby red, his sclera a glowing green that was releasing a purple miasma of magic from the corner of his eyes. The purple seemed to be mottling the corners of his eyes….

Marcus pulled his fist back, a deranged smile on his face. "They're my toys to begin with! And I don't like it when someone else plays with my toys!"

Discord was too stunned to react in time to the blow to his face, which knocked him backwards almost fifty yards. He skipped across the ground, bouncing as his head knocked against the snow-covered earth, before slamming his claws into the dirt to slow himself down. He looked up to see Marcus slowly walking towards him, the smile on his growing more sinister as he walked.

"For too long I have waited for this day," ‘Marcus’ growled out, black magic seeping into the ground and crystals quickly growing in his wake. "You made a mockery of me the last time we met. But no more! I will break you until you beg for mercy and I will deny you that. Now that I have this body... this -”

He stopped in his tracks, and the Crystal monsters suddenly disappeared in white flashes. Discord frowned, uncertain what had happened, until he turned to see DisQord standing behind him, a claw held out. His counterpart looked pained.

“What did you do?” Discord asked.

“Froze time around him and sent his toys to Mercury,” DisQord replied. “Tricky thing to accomplish without getting attention.” He winced. “In fact, I didn't. Ooh, boy, am I paying for that one later.”

Discord looked back at Marcus. “It looks like he's using Sombra’s magic.”

“Since he's currently being possessed by Sombra, that makes sense,” DisQord said. He winced. “Alright, I’m going to build a little prison to contain him, then let time resume. You’ll have to stand guard over it and him until we can get to purging Sombra properly.”

“And if he gets out?” Discord asked.

“I don't know, improvise?” DisQord suggested. He snapped a paw, and what looked like a magical net appeared all around Sombra. A pair of creatures - not unlike Minotaurs minus the bullish heads - appeared next to the cage, clad in armour and wielding nasty-looking poleaxes.

And then ‘Marcus’ moved again, slamming into the net. He growled.

“Two of you?” he said with a scowl. “Or is this another trick?!”

DisQord chuckled. “Well, at least he's going all out on the ‘evil overlord’ voice.”

“Mock while you may,” Marcus/Sombra growled. “You do not know the first thing of the potential these runes hold - potential I will unlock, and unleash upon you.”

Discord frowned. “You talk too much.”

DisQord, meanwhile, held up a claw. “You’re one to talk.”

“I know,” Discord said. “But when I do it, it adds to my roguish charm. When you do it, you're an ass.”

DisQord sighed at that. “I’ll hurry back and see how everypony else is doing. Hopefully they won't take too long finding the Crystal Heart, and then we can focus on getting rid of Marcus’ pest problem.”

He vanished, leaving Discord alone with Marcus/Sombra.

“I will escape.”

“Shut up.”

***

The Doctor.

You are walking… forward. You know where you are going without knowing. You can feel it, ahead of you, like a storm brewing on the air. You know where you are, and you know what this place is, and you keep walking, even as the smell of blood on the air fills you with nausea.

I mean, d'you call this a war, this funny little thing? This is not a war! I fought in a bigger war than you will ever know! I did worse things than you could ever imagine, and when I close my eyes… I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count!

A city is burning around you, and you watch it with cold, tired eyes.

Make me a warrior now.

You keep walking. You know where you’re going. You always knew, even as you tried to pretend you didn’t, tried to pretend you couldn’t… but you knew.

I've had many faces, many lives. I don't admit to all of them. There's one life I've tried very hard to forget.

You chose this face this time. You chose it because you had lied to yourself, and the time had come for truth. The time had come when a Doctor was no longer called for.

And in that battle, there was a man with more blood on his hands than any other. A man who would commit a crime that would silence the universe, and that man...was me.

You stop as you reach your destination. It's a wall, battered and bruised, and like so many others in this burning, save for the message upon it.

Time Lords of Gallifrey. Daleks of Skaro…

No More.

“You probably expect me to be afraid,” you say quietly. “You've pulled memories from my mind designed to tap into my deepest fears and my darkest days in the hopes of - I can only presume - breaking me.” You pause, taking a breath. “Might I suggest you try harder. I have been faced with experts in this field. I have encountered creatures for whom this would be considered a parlor trick. This doesn’t even delay me.”

Whatever power brought you here says nothing. You reach out to touch the wall -

***

The Crystal Castle.

The Doctor slowly opened his eyes, to see Stephan, Luna, Celestia, Twilight and Lyra all standing over him, looking various shades of concerned.

“Interesting,” he commented. “I recall the Twilight Sparkle of my universe mentioning a fear-inducing spell attached to the door. It seems this is another moment of temporal convergence.”

“He's spouting technobabble,” Stephan said, looking mildly relieved. “If he's anything like the Doctor I know, he's fine.”

“If I am anything like the Doctor you know, he is not,” the Doctor retorted, getting to his hooves. He looked to the door, which stood open. “It seems being nice worked.”

“I think that Sombra’s mind works in a way such that adding fear spells, emotional tripwires, is near-multiversal. So there may still be a trap,” Luna said quietly. “Another fear spell. The doorway itself could be an illusion.”

“Agreed,” Celestia said. “We should be cautious.”

“If that's the case,” Stephan said quietly, “I’ll go first.”

“Are you sure that is wise?” the Doctor asked. “If I am wrong, you may be put face to face with your darkest fears.”

“Maybe,” Stephan agreed, “but it's worth taking that chance.”

He went through the doorway, and stepped out of view. For a long moment, there was silence, and then -

“Luna?”

“Yes?” the Moon Princess asked.

“Could it be that Sombra had some kind of weird fetish that involved stairs?”

Luna blinked a few times, looking downright puzzled at his odd question. She moved to step through the door, the others following.

“Not that I could recall,” she said quietly. “Why do you… ask…?”

They all became silent as they stared at the endless open air, looking way up. And the stairs. So many stairs.

“I think,” Stephan said, “that your old student had some serious issues.”

“He… does not exactly have a good, how would Marcus say it… track record?” Luna asked.

“Track record,” Lyra said, nodding. “Yeah. At this point I really don’t think I’d give him the benefit of the doubt.”

***

The Crystal Empire: City Centre.

Cadance was continuing her efforts to keep the populous calm when DisQord finally returned, looking grim.

“What's wrong?” she asked the Draconequus, frowning at him.

“We have a rather unpleasant problem brewing,” DisQord replied. “I’ve contained it, but containment is only a temporary measure. How are things here?”

“Going well,” Cadance replied slowly. “What do you mean ‘unpleasant problem’?”

DisQord sighed. “Just… keep things from falling apart here. I need to find Celly and the others.”

“But what do you mean?!” Cadance insisted. She lowered her voice. “Is it - him?”

DisQord frowned. “You're very perceptive.”

“I’m supposed to be,” Cadance retorted. “So? Is it? Is Marcus alright?”

“He isn't dead,” DisQord said, in what might have been an attempt at a reassuring voice. “And if I get Celly and Luna quick enough, he won’t be. But I need to go, now.”

He flashed out of existence, leaving Cadance feeling troubled. Nonetheless, she had a job to do.

Still…

“Rarity, Applejack!” she called over to the two mares as they were helping a few of the Crystal Ponies. “Can you keep things in order here?”

“Why?” Rarity asked with a frown. “Where are you going?”

“Something needs my attention,” Cadance said softly. “I’ll be back soon.”

With a quick spreading of her wings, she flew into the sky, heading for where she had last seen Marcus.

***

The Crystal Castle.

Celestia stood by as her younger sister checked the stairway for anything suspicious. Luna had told her that it could take a while because of the immense length of it, and while Celestia had not been fond of the idea of letting her go alone, Luna had insisted. She knew Sombra better than anypony else, after all.

“What’s that podcast that Kraber always listens to?” Stephan asked. “Something, something…”

“Desert Bluffs?” the Doctor asked.

“Yes and no, but... “ Stephan said. “There was some advice about geographical loops in there, I can’t remember…”

As the two of them pondered, Twilight and Lyra were talking about something. The Doctor was sitting, staring up at the stairs with an inscrutable expression. Stephan was chewing a bar of something that he had pulled from his belt. Celestia was making a point of observing her two travelling companions - both, after all, were representatives of worlds that faced the threat of Tyrants.

Faced the threat of her.

“So,” Stephan asked, catching Celestia’s attention. “This ‘Solamina’.”

The Doctor didn't react. Celestia glanced from Stephan to him and back again.

“I was wondering whether you could give us any more information,” Stephan said.

“That's an interesting question,” the Doctor said softly. “The answer being… possibly.”

“‘Possibly’?” Stephan repeated, frowning. “You've been fighting her forces for years.”

“Yes,” the Doctor agreed. “It would entirely depend on what information you wanted.”

“Well, I fought the Tyrant’s clone,” Stephan said. “Is she anything like Queen Celestia?”

The Doctor considered that for a moment before replying. “She is an Alicorn.”

“Figured that,” Stephan said with a slight frown. “But how does she fight? Is she more powerful? As powerful? Less powerful?”

“Difficult to say,” the Doctor replied dryly. “You may measure things differently. Besides which - I have never seen Solamina fight. She prefers to send troops to whittle away the defences of her enemies.”

Stephan nodded. “Her forces can't be that tough, though.”

The Doctor glanced at him briefly. “What makes you say that?”

“You said the war’s gone on for six years?” Stephan asked. “Strikes me that she’s had more than enough time to conquer one island, given the resources at her disposal - unless she’s just a shit commander and her forces are incompetent.”

“An interesting assumption,” the Doctor said dryly. “Incorrect, but interesting.”

“According to Luna, Discord was defeated by Solamina,” Celestia put in. “She is, at the least, that powerful.”

“All the same,” Stephan said, looking at her. “From what I’ve heard, she seems to be incompetent enough that she's wasted entire armies of troops attacking the British Isles, when by rights she should have conquered them by now.”

“Perhaps you would be better served waiting for an assessment from actual troops on the ground,” the Doctor said quietly. “As opposed to working from what you may have gleaned based on a few numbers. I would ask you to consider, however, that we had over one hundred million people at the start of our war, and that number is now fourteen. Also, that any assault on an island nation being even moderately well defended is forced to overcome several hurdles merely to get off the launchpad: most of their assaults have been forced to either break past a naval blockade or else circumvent it via portals.”

Stephan nodded slowly.

“And though I have little experience of your conflict,” the Doctor continued, “I assure you that Solamina - both when she was Celestia and now - is a more formidable opponent both strategically and personally than you seem to give her credit for.”

Stephan sighed. “Alright. That being said, we’re going to need to know more about her. We need to formulate a plan, start working on -”

“Due course, Major,” the Doctor said tiredly. “Let us focus on the task at hand.”

“Why so insistent, Major Bauer?” Celestia asked.

“Not knowing your enemy is tantamount to losing the war before your start,” Stephan replied tersely. “Now there's an entirely new Tyrant to fight, with an entirely new army and an entire empire of her own, and we know nothing about her and how she fights. That's not exactly my favourite position to be in. I don't want to start making assumptions that get people killed.”

“I can see what you mean,” Celestia agreed, nodding slowly.

“I am in much the same position with your world,” the Doctor reminded them both. “As are those from my world. I suspect there will be much information to exchange between the two worlds before our respective conflicts are done.”

Before Stephan or Celestia could reply, Luna returned, a frown on her face.

“Wait a minute!” Stephan said all of a sudden. “That was it!”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“The advice. From that podcast. Move away from the focus of the geographical loop. Keep the object on your horizon, and walk diagonally to the right or left of it.”

“I don’t think we we can do that,” the Doctor said.

“Well, maybe, but maybe we’re not thinking about this the right way,” Twilight explained. “We’re continually going up…”

“Because of the spell,” Luna replied softly. “It is an even simpler spell to trap unwelcome guests as the one at the door.”

“What kind of spell?” Stephan asked.

“The stairs are connected with a spell that would be activated when somepony tries to walk up. After some time, more stairs grow out in front while the other behind disappear. You would be trapped in an endless staircase,” Luna snorted in disappointment. “What a childish spell. A fool could recognize it if they took the time to be wary.”

“Childish, perhaps, but nonetheless effective if it is used correctly,” the Doctor said quietly.

“Is there a way to disarm it like by the door?” Stephan asked.

“Unfortunately… I cannot,” Luna said quietly. “As simple as it is, it is too deeply connected with the stairs, the tower and even the castle to simply remove it. Sombra was nothing if not efficient.”

Stephan gave a heavy sigh, standing up slowly. “Any ideas how we can get up there?”

“We could try to fly up,” Celestia said, flapping her wings a bit, “but then Sombra or his spells would probably be ready for such a thing.”

Luna nodded in approval. “We can use the stairs. We only have to be faster in walking up as they can grow.”

Stephan growled. “Well, I can’t run. Can’t you just teleport us up there?”

Celestia looked all the way up the tower before she gave him an answer. “I am sorry, but no. Something still blocks our ability to fix a certain point. We would teleport blind and could end up anywhere.”

Stephan pinched his nasal bone between the fingers with tightly closed eyes. “Okay, we can’t fly, run or teleport. Any ideas?”

Celestia and Luna pondered over it for a few moments. Then Celestia gave Luna a sudden smile.

“Oh dear,” the Doctor said, looking between the two of them. “We’re not going to like this, are we?”

Stephan glanced between the two Alicorns, before gulping. “Nein.”

***

City Outskirts.

Discord glanced back at the man in his counterpart’s cage. For a while, he had made little needling comments, but Discord had responded by summoning a boombox and making it play loud music. Irritatingly, neither Sombra nor the two guards DisQord had summoned seemed all that fazed by that. Now, Sombra was kneeling, Marcus’ eyes closed over the glowing eyes. Discord sighed and put a cla over his face, trying to massage his headache away.

Really didn’t need this. There are so many things that could have gone wrong, but this is up there - right next to invasion of the Beedrils and a sudden lack of teacups.

“This one has more potential than you realise.”

Discord frowned, turning to look at Sombra, who had yet to open his eyes. “Say what?”

“This… this human,” Sombra said, his sibilant voice hissing from between Marcus’ lips. “He has more potential, more promise, than any of you short-sighted imbeciles might have ever known, even him. But I see it. I feel it. And I will make use of it.”

“We’ll be kicking you out of there, soon,” Discord promised. “You won’t get to make use of anything.”

“We shall see, Chaos Lord,” Sombra said. “You mocked me before - but now, there will be no mockery -”

A boombox flashed into existence as he spoke, and immediately blared out a wave of loud, angry music, drowning Sombra out - so much so that Discord didn't initially notice Cadance landing near him, given that he had his fingers in his ears and his eyes closed.

“Discord!” she yelled, barely audible over the music. “DISCORD!”

The Draconequus opened his eyes and immediately noticed her.

“Hi!” he said with a grimace that was trying desperately to be a grin. “How are you?!”

“What happened?” Cadance yelled over the music.

“What?” Discord asked.

Cadance sighed, and her horn flashed, blasting the boombox apart.

“Spoilsport,” Discord said.

“What happened here?!” Cadance asked, ignoring him. “Why… is… is Marcus possessed?”

“Gold star,” Discord groaned.

Sombra, for his part, merely gazed at Cadance with mild interest.

“The Crystal Princess, I take it,” he said with a sneer. “A title I shall dispute most vigorously upon my escape.”

“So, this side of never, then?” Discord snapped. He sighed. “My illustrious alter ego is retrieving Celly and co as we speak. Hopefully we’ll be able to clear this up cleanly.”

“Hopefully,” Cadance said quietly.

“I love it when my enemies cling to false hope,” Sombra said with a more pronounced sneer. “It makes crushing them all the more -”

In a flash, the boombox was back again. Cadance sighed, but simply watched Sombra intently. Discord closed his eyes again, and grimaced again. He hoped the others would be back soon.

***

The Crystal Castle.

As it turned out, Celestia and Luna’s plan had been to invert gravity - the underside of the stairs had been entirely smooth, without cracks or anything similar making it unsafe. Thus, with gravity inverted, the underside became…

… well, ‘a giant helter-skelter’, as the Doctor had put it.

Celestia was the first one who reached the end of the stairs and flew a few meters into the air, followed by Luna. Both spread their wings and they turned the gravity back to normal before they landed without a sound on the ground. The Doctor and Stephan were each being carried by one of the princesses, and Twilight and Lyra were able to use their own magic to levitate themselves from harm.

“Well, that was fun,” Celestia chimed gleefully.

Luna smiled in return. “Indeed, it was.” She then turned her head to Stephan who still had his arms around her neck. “Are you okay, Major?”

Stephan carefully opened his eyes and made a peek. Then he suddenly straightened his back and tossed his arms in the air.

“WOW!” he exclaimed. “That was awesome! I haven’t done that in forever!”

Luna looked at him for some more seconds before she shook her head and kneeled down to let Stephan get off her. He checked his clothes and equipment before he took a look around. His eyes fell upon the hovering heart made of crystal in the middle of the room.

“Looks like we found what we were looking for,” he said slowly.

“Agreed,” the Doctor said.

Celestia’s and Luna’s eyes followed his line of sight and saw the Crystal Heart as well.

“Yes. This is the Crystal Heart. The source of the Crystal Kingdom's power,” Celestia explained. “With it, we will be able to repel Sombra’s power permanently.”

Stephan pulled out his pistol again. “Let’s be careful. This looks way too easy after all we had to go through.”

The group approached the Crystal Heart slowly, but there seemed to be nothing wrong - no calamity, no disaster.

“Alright, seriously,” Stephan said. “This is too easy. Where's the catch.”

“Would you believe, waiting outside?” a familiar voice chimed in.

The group turned, to see DisQord standing there, arms folded, looking harried.

“DisQord?” Celestia said, sounding confused. “What are you doing here?”

“Warning you,” the Draconequus said simply. “Things might have gone smoothly for you up here, but we have problems out there.”

***

City Outskirts.

When DisQord returned to where Discord and Marcus were waiting, Discord was more relieved than he would have liked to admit to see Celestia and Luna with him, along with Twilight, Lyra, the Doctor and Stephan.

“Thank goodness you're here!” Cadance said with a smile.

“Has he been acting up?” DisQord asked quietly.

“Vague pronouncements of his supremacy, that sort of thing,” Discord replied softly. “‘I will destroy you, eat your unhappiness…’ stuff like that. Blah, blah, blah. Nothing I’d call too earthshaking, but we’d better hurry.”

Sombra said nothing, which in and of itself was somewhat worrying. Both Celestia and Luna approached him, Celestia looking stern and Luna looking haunted.

“It really is you,” she said quietly. “I did not believe it.”

“I knew you always underestimated me,” Sombra hissed through Marcus’ lips. “But even in your sorry estimation, you must have known that I had grown.”

“Not enough to see your folly,” Luna growled. “You little -”

“Ahem,” DisQord interrupted. He had a grimace on his face, almost of pain. “Can we not? We’re not burdened with time, here.”

Sombra/Marcus simply folded his arms. “I have all the time in the world.”

“He’s right,” the gravelly voice of the Doctor cut in. Everypony, human and Draconequus looked at the old stallion, who was holding his sonic screwdriver, scrutinising it intently. “Time is on his side.”

“Care to explain?” Stephan asked.

“Sombra is not merely possessing Marcus’ body,” the Doctor said grimly. “In a sense, he is rewriting his genetic code, altering it using the runes as a transmission system for the changes.”

“Such a cold, dry description for such a beautiful moment,” Sombra chuckled.

Discord scowled at him. “What are you doing, Sombrero?”

“I told you this body has potential,” Sombra replied. “It is not my fault you spend more time playing with your toys than paying attention.”

“If my readings are even remotely correct, he will be able to force Colonel Renee’s body into a different stage of evolution,” the Doctor said quietly.

“What kind of ‘different stage of evolution’?” Stephan growled.

“The stage where it would take a nigh-on demigod to oppose him,” the Doctor said quietly. “The work is half finished at present. We must force Sombra from Colonel Renee now.”

“That seems… unlikely. And overpowered,” Lyra said.

“We were all desperate and carved magical superconductors into his flesh, we didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter!” Stephan said. “If he gets… rewritten… is there a way to take Sombra out?”

“Yes, but the longer this goes on, the more inextricable Sombra becomes,” the Doctor explained.

“The Crystal Heart could do it,” Cadance said quietly. “It could banish Sombra -”

“But what damage might be done to Marcus’ psyche if the force is done without his assistance?” Luna asked.

“She’s right,” Celestia said grimly. “If they are linked, simply tearing them apart might shatter Marcus’ mind. Marcus must resist Sombra.”

Sombra chuckled. “Your hopes grow more vain by the second.”

“Shut up!” Discord snapped. “Your toast is burnt and no amount of scraping will remove the black part! See? I can do it too!”

“Yes, but I sound more convincing,” Sombra replied in his booming voice, a wicked smile on Marcus’ face.

“What can we do, then?” Cadance asked. “There must be some way to help Marcus.”

“There is,” Discord said. “I can go in there and try to break Sombra’s hold on Marcus from within - give him a hand fighting him off!”

“Brute force?” DisQord asked.

“Sometimes, it's the best way,” Discord said with a wink.

“You think to defeat me in a battle of wills?” Sombra scoffed. “I will -”

“Shut up!” Discord snapped.

“Wait,” Luna said, holding up a hoof. “We do not know to what extent Sombra has control over Marcus’ mind. It may be that they are too entwined for brute force to overcome.”

“You will never -”

“Shut up!”

DisQord frowned thoughtfully. “There might be another way.”

Celestia frowned. “Explain, DisQord.”

DisQord looked at Sombra, before snapping his fingers. A pair of earmuffs appeared around Marcus’ ears.

“Saves you from telling him to shut up again when he tells us how futile it is,” DisQord said to his counterpart. He looked at Cadance. “You're the Princess of Love, right?”

“Yes?” Cadance said with a slightly impatient tone. “So?”

“So,” DisQord said. “Sombra’s entire schtick seems to rely on despair. He’ll be making Marcus feel his lowest. We need someone to go in there and make Marcus feel his highest.”

“And I can't do that?” Discord asked.

Celestia burst out laughing, a high, half-pained sound that almost made the two Draconequii wince. She laughed long and hard, her eyes wide and watering, before she started coughing from the sheer vehemence of her laughter. Finally, she stopped.

“You done?” Discord asked dryly.

She laughed again, for less time but with just as much vehemence. Finally, and with a final ‘ha, ha, haaaa’ for emphasis, she stopped.

“Ha,” she said.

“Now are you done?” Discord asked.

“My point,” DisQord said irritably, “is that I can try to move Marcus’ consciousness into a small empty segment of his mind, one Sombra isn't in - he’ll notice quickly, but my compatriot and I -” and here he pointed to Discord, who waved ironically, “can keep him from having too much control. Once there, Cady-Wady can talk to him, make him feel less horrible -”

“Hopefully slightly better than ‘less horrible’,” Twilight put in.

DisQord nodded. “And Sombra can be pushed out when the Heart activates.”

“Sounds tricky,” Celestia said with a frown. “Is there not a danger that Cadance could be harmed by Sombra?”

“If there is a danger, I’ll risk it,” Cadance cut in before DisQord could respond. “If I can help him, I will. We’re already risking everything to help these humans. If I can't do this, stand up to despair itself as the Princess of Love, then what good am I?”

After a moment, Celestia nodded.

“Very well,” she said. “DisQord, Discord, do what must be done.”

“Can we leave the earmuffs on Sombrero?” Discord asked. “I feel like it's an improvement.”

Everyone ignored that.

“How do we activate the Heart once Marcus is convinced and Sombra is weakened?” Luna asked.

“Oh, if only you had two Draconequii who could teleport Cady there in a flash,” Discord said sarcastically. “That part’s a cinch.”

***

Nowhere.

There was a sudden, ringing silence, and Marcus Renee opened his eyes.

He was in an entirely empty space, devoid of… well, anything. There was no grass or soil. The ground was white, solid, but of no material he recognised. There were no boundaries. The sky was as white as the ground, and almost impossible to distinguish. He had no idea what had happened, or why he was here. Or, for that matter, where ‘here’ was.

Did… did something happen to me?

“Colonel Renee?” a voice asked from behind him. He turned, to find himself facing Princess Cadance.

“Colonel,” she said, her voice tinged with relief.

“Princess,” he said in return. “What… what is this? Where am I? What's happened?”

“You don't remember?” Cadance asked.

“Remember what?” he replied, frowning.

“We were in the Crystal Empire,” Cadance explained. “And you… something took you over. Dark magic. Your eyes were green and purple magic was spilling out of them... “

Seeing the look on Marcus’ face, she pressed on.

“We think it was Sombra,” she said. He looked up at her in horror. “Discord and DisQord - Celestia, that feels strange to say - have moved us both to this part of your mind.” She frowned slightly. “I don't know how long we have.”

Marcus blinked, trying to remember… something. A voice - Sombra’s voice, he realised - echoed through Marcus’ mind. Mine… mine… mine… MINE…

“Yeah,” Marcus said, his voice flat and uninflected. “I remember now. When it got in my mind, he told me...”

He trailed off, uncertain how to continue.

“He tried to make you despair,” Cadance guessed. “That's why I’m here - to try and convince you not to.”

“He… he showed me…” Marcus whispered. “All the people, the ponies I’ve failed. Lyra, Bon Bon, Jacob -”

“You haven't failed anyone,” Cadance insisted, her expression determined. “Your world is still there. Still fighting.”

“Oh, she’s right about that,” a new voice cut in, the bright space suddenly seeming to darken. “The real question is, for how long?”

A black cloud seemed to stretch across the featureless sky. Cadance scowled.

“Sombra,” she hissed. “Marcus has told me about his world - about the battles he's won, the ponies he's -”

“Oh, as if you can trust his recollection,” Sombra said, his voice sounding like a hoof being drawn across a chalkboard. “Let him show you for himself.”

“NO!” Marcus yelled, voice full of years of pent-up anguish, and he let out a ragged, rasping scream of pain…

***

DisQord’s expression shifted into a frown. Cadance was knelt by Marcus, both their eyes closed.

“What is it?” Stephan asked, folding his arms.

“Sombra’s with them,” DisQord said quietly. “It's become more difficult.”

“We should have gone with my plan,” Discord hissed. “At least mine was direct!”

“It's too late for debate,” Celestia cut in, forestalling argument between the two Draconequii. “What is happening is happening. We are committed. We must press on.”

DisQord threw Celestia an impressed glance, before returning his concentration to the two meditating figures.

***

The feelings of fear, of self-loathing, of terror, all seemed to swell up inside him like a rise of bile inside his throat. He covered his head with his arms as if trying to shield himself, a sob escaping from his lips.

Sombra was chuckling darkly, his voice echoing all around.

“Despair at your failures, little man. Despair at those you have failed to save and will always fail to save!”

“Keep fighting, Marcus,” Cadance’s voice said quietly. “You're stronger than this - and we need you.”

Marcus, the memories washing over him like a wave in a storm. “What makes me so damn special?”

A french woman choking her last as enchanted clothes from Rarity strangled her. An elderly Londoner, half-ponified, sobbing in the street as one of the soldiers under Marcus’ command shot him.

Cities burning. Two airplanes lifting off from Heathrow and crashing into one another, falling into the sea.

King Charles, ponified.

Lyra, petrified and shattered.

Bon-Bon, her mind shattered beyond repair. His little brother Jake, ponified. His mind turned inside out into a caricature of itself.

“Do you see it, Marcus?” Sombra asked, his voice a serpentine hissing that seemed to crawl into the Marine’s ears.

“I… I do…” he gasped, his eyes brimming with tears. “People get hurt wherever I go. People I should've protected… I failed them all…”

“No!” Cadance insisted, as the images continued.

His friends, his unit in the middle east before any of this madness.

People left behind as the Barrier atomized them, ponified them if they were unlucky. Newfoals, hundreds of them, thanking him for abandoning them with complete sincerity. Sometimes.

Defiance - the HLF shantytown in the middle of nowhere - being sacked by PHL. So many people had died. So… many… And Kraber wasn’t one of them.

An entire town one day flickering off the map, its population replaced with newfoals. PHL and anyone else in the area desperately trying to quarantine it to keep the newfoals from spreading, from hurting even more people.

“And I let the wrong people live,” Marcus said. “The bastards, the worst fucking scum the apocalypse brought out keep surviving… and the good people die.”

Trapped behind a desk. A cascade of letters explaining, for the umpteenth time, that he’d let someone’s son die. Let them get ponified. Another city gone.

Gone.

All of it gone.

Like tears, in the rain.

Marcus gasped, the cloud only darkening.

“Marcus,” Cadance said, her voice soft, almost inaudible compared to the booming timbre of Sombra’s. “I… can't begin to imagine what you've been through. The torment you must have suffered if you felt this way. But whatever happens, you have to keep fighting! The PHL needs you! Earth needs you!”

“I doubt that it needs someone such as Marcus,” Sombra said. “Look at him. All this power, and he did nothing. He couldn't stop the barrier. He couldn't save anyone.”

“The planet Earth’s still there! He's saved plenty of people, of ponies!” Cadance yelled.

“But that doesn't change all those hedidn't,” Sombra said. “Look at you, Marcus. You're a foal playing with a miniature sun. Letting yourself get kicked around when you could be so… much… better. You were given the mantle of leadership and you did not lead, except to lead your people further into hell. You were offered a greater mantle, and you tossed it aside. Time and again, you have shown that you can do nothing with this reservoir of power. But I can.”

“He’s lying!” Cadance insisted.

Sombra chuckled, continuing. “I can change everything. I can shatter the Barrier.”

Marcus gasped again, looking up at the dark clouds above him. “But… But you'll hurt my friends. The PHL!”

Sombra chuckled darkly. “Don't ponies say that my victory would be an improvement over Celestia? They lose, but the universe wins.”

“That's a terrible choice,” Cadance insisted. “Marcus -”

Sombra only laughed again. “Who was it who said, sometimes the only choices we have are bad ones, but we must still choose? What is more important, Marcus? Saving all of reality from Celestia, or saving Celestia from me?”

***

Marcus’ lips let out an obscene chuckle, though his eyes remained closed. DisQord grimaced, his eyes narrowing with strain. Discord threw a glance at Celestia, his expression worried, but she remained oddly calm.

“We should step in!” he said.

“No,” she said calmly. “We’re not done yet. Wait.”

“Wait?!” Discord hissed. “Look, Celly, dearest, I’m loving the sudden turn of confidence, but this is not the time to be unbending.”

“We must trust Cadance and Marcus,” Celestia said calmly. “We must trust that they will succeed - I will not give up on them until I have proof they have already failed.”

Discord huffed. “Well, I hope we don’t regret that, sis.”

***

“Marcus, please,” Cadance said softly. “I know that things seem hopeless - I can see what you’ve been through, and it scares me more than anything I’ve ever seen -!”

“It is but a taste, little Crystal Princess,” Sombra laughed.

“- but you have to believe me when I say, that there is hope,” Cadance finished. “You found us.”

“Got lucky,” Marcus mumbled. “Can’t-”

“Then take advantage of that luck,” Cadance said. “Equestria can help. All of its nations and peoples.”

“If you want something done right,” Sombra said. “Do it yourself, Marcus. And I can make it possible.”

“Marcus,” Cadance said. “You have no assurance he’d be any different. I know what he did. He ruled through fear, and so does Celestia. He wouldn’t be better, he’d just be a different kind of bad! Everyone in the PHL that you’ve spoken of - Cheerilee, Vinyl, Heliotrope, Yael, Major Bauer, the other Cadance, Bon-Bon, even that unpleasant human with the beard and strange accent... they’re counting on you, not another despot!”

“A despot who can save all you hold dear from the mutilation it awaits at Queen Celestia’s hooves,” Sombra insisted.

“And kill it instead!” Cadance snapped. She took a breath. “You told us Lyra entrusted the PHL to you. Is this what she would have wanted?”

“Oh, you long since stopped doing what the good Ambassador would have wanted, didn’t you, Marcus?” Sombra chuckled. “So many lines crossed…”

“Then cross no more!” Cadance continued. “This one, this last one, this is it. This far, no further. You can be better, Marcus Renee. You’re not the kind of person who sells his soul, you’re Marcus Renee and you’re a good person!! I know you don’t think so - but we, me Celestia, Luna, Twilight, our Lyra… all of us believe in you! We believe that you can be the good man you want to be! You are a good man! You just need to believe, just for one minute, just for one moment.”

Marcus shook his head, still covering his head with his arms.

Cadance stepped closer to him, her expression soft. “Marcus. If you can believe in yourself for this one moment, then you can become something greater than Sombra could make you, something greater than anything. I believe that.”

Marcus looked up at her, his eyes full of doubt.

“Do you?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Yes.”

Marcus took a deep breath. He looked up at the cloud, before standing to his feet. Finally, he spoke.

“Rip that. Stupid. Fucking. Horn. Out. Your forehead! Turn it sideways, and GO FUCK YOURSELF!”

A crack of lightning shot through the dark clouds, splitting them in two, and a ray of what might have been sunshine forced its way through. A growling scream lashed through the air, and Marcus winced but held his ground. Cadance smiled, knowing that Marcus had done it, had destabilised Sombra’s hold -

***

And just like that, Cadance’s eyes snapped open. Marcus pitched forward, his eyes still closed, his expression morphed into one of effort.

“Is it done?” Celestia asked.

“Marcus is fighting now,” Cadance said. “We have to activate the Heart!”

“Good!” Luna declared.

“Cadance, remember,” Celestia said quickly. “The Heart is only part of the puzzle. You must convince the ponies of the Crystal Kingdom to overcome their fear and despair - you must convince them as you convinced Marcus to fight! Only then will the Heart activate!”

“It’ll be an easier job, thanks to the Elements,” DisQord said with a slight smirk. “They’ve been non-stop trying to cheer the Crystal Ponies since they arrived.”

“I understand,” Cadance said, nodding to Celestia. “I won’t fail you, Princess.”

“I know you won’t, Princess,” Celestia returned with a wide smile. “Go, Discord.”

Discord nodded, and in a flash, he and Cadance were gone.

***

City Centre.

Pinkie Pie was desperately trying not to panic.

This was something rarely happened - usually, she simply pronked through the insanity of everyday life in ponyville, when she wasn’t actively part of it.

“Wasn’t there some other party pony?! Ooooh, if only I could have him here, we could keep them happy!”

The clouds swirled round and round the outskirts of the city, and Pinkie partied as if the world depended on it.

I mean, it probably does!

Oh yeah. It kind of did. Having Sombra rampaging, running roughshod over the Crystal Empire and Equestria, when they were trying to help Earth could be horrible!

You’re not helping, spooky narrator voice that I know is just my imagination!

Sorry!

Apology accepted. Carry on.

Yes ma’am.

And then, suddenly, something hit her. She wasn’t sure what it was for a moment, until she realised it was the faint feeling of her Pinkie sense tingling. The feeling was intangible, like the faint tint of something spicy on the air after one had been cooking with sauce…

And then Discord and Cadance reappeared next to her in a flash of white light.

“But we weren’t supposed to appear here!” Discord grumbled. “Whatever’s happening must be messing with our magic.”

“Something big is happening!” Pinkie said. “I just had a Pinkie sense. Is it -”

“The Heart,” Cadance said quietly, her eyes wide. “It must be - the ponies of the Empire fuel it. Their emotions make it cast doubt or love across all of Equestria.” She smiled softly. “And it’s about to cast love.”

Without another word, she flew off, heading for the heart, which had been positioned in readiness. She was already calling out to the ponies on either side of her.

“Ponies of the Crystal Kingdom!” she yelled. “Listen to me now! The Crystal Heart is in place! But it is not the true heart of this kingdom - you are! Your hopes, your dreams, everything that made you who you are! I know that Sombra’s madness tore hope from you! I know that his tyranny has cast fear and doubt into your hearts - but I also know, in the very depths of my heart, that you can learn to rise above it! Remember the joy of your lives, and you will be able to claim it again! Remember the love of your friends, your families, your mothers, your fathers, your brothers and sisters! Remember, and you will be able to cast darkness from this Kingdom once and for all!”

Discord raised an eyebrow at the tingle that began to slowly emanate from the Crystal Ponies. Many of them were murmuring amongst themselves, sharing reminisces of happier times, and in the centre of the city, the Crystal Heart was reacting, glowing in answer to their growing love and joy.

“Ooh, this is gonna be a big one!” Pinkie said with a grin. She whipped a pair of sunglasses from… somewhere… and put them on her face. Discord frowned slightly - and then a wave of magic burst from the heart, washing over the city, the Crystal Ponies, and everything else...

***

Outskirts.

A wave of magic expanded from the centre of the city, moving at incredible speed. Celestia had time to look and call out “Cadance did it”! before the wave washed past the little group.

The effect on Marcus was immediate. As the wave slammed into him, he let out a sudden scream of pain and triumph, mixed into one. His eyes snapped open, and the green and purple smoke disappeared.

And then he collapsed forward. DisQord stepped back, the prison he had created dissipating. At once, the Doctor, Lyra and Twilight dashed to Marcus’ side, as did Stephan. The German soldier checked his friend’s pulse.

“He’s alive,” he said after a moment. “Barely.”

“We must get him out of here,” the Doctor said. “He requires stasis and stabilisation - back to the TARDIS, quickly!”

Stephan nodded, and lifted the unconscious Marine up in a fireman’s lift, grunting with effort. Lyra and Twilight used their telekinesis to stabilise him, and together, they began limping after the Doctor as they headed for the TARDIS.

“Well,” DisQord said, letting out a breath. “This has certainly been an ordeal to get through.”

“Is - is that it?” Luna asked. “Is Sombra dead?”

“Dead?” DisQord asked. “No - not dead. No, something entirely different happened to him.”

***

City Centre.

Sparkling slightly from the afterwash of the Crystal Heart’s magic, Discord looked down at Pinkie, who was grinning, her entire body also sparkling.

“That was, to quote Dashie,” she said, “so… awesome.”

***

Celestia stood and watched Marcus. The human that she’d grown fond of was convulsing in front of her.

I really haven’t done much, she thought, her horn lightly touching Marcus’s body, funneling in subtle spells to heal him, to stabilize the overflow of magic that was overwhelming his body. From what she could tell, the human body had little (if any) of the necessary adaptations to use magic, and what remained was almost vestigial.

The runes, from what she gathered, were like a secondary, redundant nervous system that had been grafted onto Marcus’ body. Without them, his organs, overwhelmed by the magic, would slowly disintegrate and he’d start coughing up blood.

I suppose I should calm down, Celestia thought. At the very least, I’m not Sombra, I….

And then it struck her.

...haven’t done any of these things! I don’t use the pronoun ‘I’ to describe the other me, because I know she isn’t me! It all makes sense now!”

It was like a lightning bolt exploded in her head.

She sighed in relief.

“I think I just had an epiphany,” Celestia said to nopony in particular. “I feel better than alright! As if everything’s going to be okay.There’s no need to worry about either of us being monsters. We’ve done the best we can, and we are fine. We’re better than fine, and everything will be okay-”

It would have almost been rude for the universe not to respond to that.

Suddenly, her horns was drawn downards to Marcus chest. It was as if there was a whirlpool inside of Marcus, and she was a ship caught in the current.

Celestia wheezed, and suddenly the wind left her lungs. She struggled to breathe.

Celestia’s mind raced. It wasn’t a spell, it was… it was an absense of magic in Marcus. She looked at the runes that had been tattooed over Marcus and saw that they looked to be burning - as if a hot branding iron had been shoved into his skin.

And they were glowing brighter the more tired she became.

I have to keep him stable! Celestia thought, and her horn glowed like a sun… if only for a fraction of a second, as the light died. Only for Marcus’ runes to glow brighter.

The magic just goes in, but… but he consumes it! Celestia thought. I-

The thought slipped in, unbidden.

...can’t stay with him. He’ll drain it out of me.

All around Celestia, snow was beginning to fall. The soil was growing colder and harder… freezing. The life-sustaining crystals that kept the Empire from being a frozen wasteland were being sapped - at least in the small area where Marcus lay.

Whatever Sombra did to him is draining magic from the ground! Celestia thought, alarmed. If I stay, he’ll drain me, too.

No. She could sense some of Sombra in Marcus, but...there was a sense his presence was crumbling.

Whatever happens, I’m no good if I get drained of thaums here, she thought, and spread her wings…

Only to find that they were too weak.

Might as well use these long legs, she thought, and rushed towards the Crystal Empire.

***

In the fading mindscape of his own head, Marcus frowned. The dark cloud was gone - and in it’s place was a scared looking foal, maybe four years old. Only his dark colouration made it clear that this was Sombra.

“H-hello?” the foal-Sombra asked. “Who are you? Where am I? Where are my parents?”

“I - what?” Marcus asked, eyes narrowing. “What do you -?”

Without any sign of transition or change, a figure was suddenly stood with the foal. He wore a white hooded cloak, hiding most of his body from sight, but Marcus glimpsed toned arms clad in a white, long-sleeved tunic reaching out, a scarred hand touching the foal’s head and tousling his mane.

“Hello,” the figure said in a curiously familiar voice.

“W-who are you?” the foal asked the new figure.

“That’s not important right now,” the figure said. “I’ve come to send you somewhere better.”

“W-will my parents be there?” the foal asked.

“Yes,” the figure said. He moved his hand, and the foal was gone. The figure stood.

“I’m sorry,” Marcus said, eyes narrowing. “What the fuck?!”

The figure chuckled. “I’d forgotten the swearing.”

He turned, lowering his hood, and Marcus’ eyes widened at who he saw.

“That’s impossible,” he said.

“Perhaps,” the figure said, wearing the face of Marcus Renee. “I don’t think you’ll remember this. I don’t. But then, I’m a lot older than you, and I’ve been through… a bit.”

“Who - how -?” Marcus asked, eyes still wide.

“Let’s just say, you’ve not come out of this unchanged,” the other Marcus said. “This is the very beginning of a journey that will take you a very long way.”

And then he, too, was gone, and Marcus felt the world fade away into blissful unconsciousness…

***

Comments

[Mr cold ghost]

It's back! Thanks for the update sirs!