Transparent Living

by PinoyPony

Chapter 42: Help

Luna blocked the inferno hurtling towards Diamond. With a wave of her horn, a glassy aura surged upward like a wave crashing on a cliffside. Diamond flew back in the recoil as the inferno shattered the barrier upon impact.

As soon as her hooves hit the ground, Diamond shakily regained her balance. She felt the ground tremble underneath her as the shock wave rolled through. Even if she was dazed, she felt an interesting affinity for the earth underneath her. It felt as solid as her soul, but as moldable as water.

“Liar! I’ll chop her wings off!” Demon Dazzle threatened. She turned towards Vertigo with fury in her eyes. Demon’s horn lit ablaze.

The chains shrunk and Vertigo let out a pained yelp. Vertigo bit back on her lips as tears welled up in her eyes.

Diamond shuddered. Vertigo’s trying to suppress a scream…

Suddenly, her whimpering stopped. Vertigo looked towards the chains, puzzled. Flapping her wings with ease, the chains dropped off, clattering softly onto the grass. She looked to her right and gasped.

Diamond looked over to Demon Dazzle. Immediately and viscerally, she took a step back. What in Equestria?

Demon Dazzle was smiling, but in a forced, uncanny type of way. Her eyes were hollow, the corners of her mouth twitched. It was almost as her expression was as fake and contorted as a doll’s face.

Aside from her grisly expression, her hooves and legs stiffened. As Diamond struggled to piece together what could possibly be happening, she peered a little closer and found Demon’s horn was engulfed in a silver aura.

Diamond turned to Luna. The princess’s horn glowed brightly like a sliver of moonlight.

“Princess Luna! I thought volition spells were illegal!” Silver Spoon said, breaking the silence.

“Can it, Silver!” Luna barked.

Diamond balked at the response of Princess Luna. Not only it frightened her to see the Princess angry at her friend, but it also unnerved her to see the Princess lose her high composure; her etiquette tossed to the wayside.

She glanced at Diamond with a look of concern and said, “Never. Ever. Talk about this spell.” Luna lowered her head quickly and closed her eyes.

Demon fell to the ground with a thud as her legs buckled from underneath her.

The glow from Luna’s horn faded. She exhaled deeply, catching her breath.

Giving her no time for another deep breath, Demon Dazzle charged towards her.

Luna’s horn sparked, a sphere of light grew and grew until it enveloped them, bathing the dream in light.

Diamond looked around and saw nothingness, just an expanse of stars. Below them, a pearly, sandy walkway. Upon closer look, Diamond realized that the walkway wasn’t made of sand, but rather made up of clusters of stars.

Diamond felt a little woozy as nothing but a void stretched underneath the walkway. Vertigo must’ve caught onto it to as she quickly scuttled to her hooves, away from the edge.

“Where are we?” Diamond asked.

“Celestial Plane,” Luna answered. “Sometimes I take dreamers here if the situation requires it.”

Luna’s horn glowed and then, one by one, ponies started to materialize in midair, and drop to the floor.

“Napoleon!?” Diamond asked as the first one dropped.

“Dazzle?” Napoleon asked. “Where am I?”

Before anypony could answer, Bling appeared in a different spot. Luckily, he was able to react quickly and glide towards the ground.

Diamond looked to the Princess, whose horn was still glowing. She knew who was coming next.

Proving her thoughts correct, Underdog dropped from the sky. He flailed his hooves, whooping as he went down until he barrel-flopped on the floor. He brushed himself off and asked. “First off, what in Equestria is happening? I was about to―” As soon as he made eye contact with Diamond, he stopped. “Okay. This day is getting weird.”

“My apologies, Underdog. This is going to be a rude awakening for you, or rather, a rude lucidity, but you’re actually dreaming,” Luna said to him. She glanced at everypony. “All of you are dreaming.”

Napoleon punched himself in the face.

Luna cleared her throat. “Sorry, but you’re in deep dreamspace.” She paced on the walkway, nodding each to Diamond and Vertigo as she passed by. She stopped next to Napoleon and stood upright, towering over him as she stared at him. “The Celestial Plane to be precise. Waking up requires more.”

Luna resumed pacing down the starry walkway. “The fact that you are seeing me, Diamond as an alicorn, Vertigo as a Wonderbolt, and a Silver Spoon as a Timberwolf should be proof enough.”

Napoleon looked at Diamond’s temple, and then her sides. Self-conscious, Diamond tucked her wings back.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your dreams, everypony.” Luna said. She looked at Underdog briefly. “Especially yours.”

Underdog smiled sheepishly.

“I apologize for the inconvenience, but we have trouble.” She pointed to Diamond. “Diamond, or Dazzle as some of you know her by, is having a nightmare. I usually don’t call in for reinforcements, but we have no choice.”

Luna’s horn glowed and a moving painting popped up. Demon Dazzle was shown turning her father to stone, Vertigo and Silver Spoon working to take her down. Then… all of a sudden, an image of the tree came up.

“This is the singularity of Diamond’s dream.” Luna pointed to the image of the tree. “With it, uprooted by this projection, known as Demon Dazzle, it poses a threat to Diamond’s well-being.”

“Singularity? Projection?” Bling asked brashly. “Ponish, please!”

Napoleon turned around. “Basically, what she is saying is that the tree is very important to Dazzle’s dream. The Demon, although imaginary, still can hurt Dazzle from the inside.”

“Thank you, Napoleon.” Luna nodded. The image flashed to the fight between Demon Dazzle, Vertigo’s wings being bound, Luna intervening.

“We were seriously unprepared.” Luna motioned to the painting. “That’s why I called for you; her friends. The plan is a little haphazard due to the circumstances, but a plan nonetheless. We’ll have three ponies touching down the tree, and three ponies defending it and facing the Demon.”

Luna’s eyes glowed, and suddenly, a couple gemstones appeared in front of her. Diamond recognized them as the ones from her dream.

“Thankfully, Diamond’s imagination has this as some type of failsafe.” Luna levitated each corresponding one, a necklace of gold appearing around each of their necks as she did so. “I’m sure all of you know about the fabled Elements of Harmony.”

“Vertigo Heart, element of optimism!” Luna announced, as the stone locked into place. It was a blue gemstone in a shape of a swirl.

“Napoleon Dynamite, element of knowledge!” A red gemstone in a shape of a firecracker sailed into his necklace.

“Bling-Bling! Element of forgiveness!” A yellow gemstone shaped like a gold ingot was tossed towards him. He caught it and inserted it into the necklace.

“Silver Spoon! Element of perseverance!” A white gemstone in the shape of a spoon floated over to her, and glided into the socket of the necklace

“Underdog! Element of defense!” A green gemstone in a kite-shield locked into place in the necklace.

“And lastly, Diamond Dazzle Tiara, element of leadership!” Diamond saw the pink gemstone levitate overhead. Only instead of going into a necklace, it landed on Diamond’s head and she felt the airiness of shifting into a mare.

“Wait… you’re Mare-ison Bergeron?” Underdog shouted in disbelief.

“Here we go again.” Napoleon rolled his eyes. “Don’t mention it to anypony.”

“It’s not important right now,” Luna interjected. “We got a Demon to defeat. Anyways, since we have three fliers, Vertigo, Diamond, and Bling, you replant the tree. Napoleon, Underdog, and Silver Spoon will defend the ground.”

“What about you, Princess?” Napoleon asked.

“I will help on both sides any way that I can, what is most important though, is that I keep all your windows open so the merge doesn’t collapse on itself.” Luna said.

Luna’s horn started to glow. “I know it’s a lot, but everypony ready?”

All around, there was a resounding yes or affirmative.

Luna’s horn sparked, and then the orb collapsed out. She dodged out of the way as Demon Dazzle ground her hooves against the grass, trying to stop. When she got her balance back, Luna’s horn glowed. A sword, glinting like the surface of the moon, materialized.

“What are you waiting for! Get the tree down!” Luna shouted to all of them.

Immediately, Diamond rushed up as fast as she could, falling behind Bling and Vertigo.

They noticed her falling behind, and came racing back. Propping her up, they got underneath her hooves and pushed her up.

“Never thought that Dazzle would be flying with us!” Bling chuckled.

“Enjoy it while it lasts, minus the doomsday nature of this nightmare,” Vertigo said with a giggle.

Diamond looked out towards the landscape, and found a streak of light on the edge of the fields. She blinked, making sure it wasn’t an optical illusion.

She looked down at the ground, where the Demon was clawing at the air. With each stroke, a fissure, like a crack on glass, illuminated and faded.

The elements of harmony were casting a shield. Thankfully. That would be their safety blanket, buying them some time.

Vertigo and Bling guided her towards a major branch and gently set her forehooves on it.

Diamond started to push the tree with her might. As she did, she entertained herself with what was happening below.

Suddenly, a spark appeared in front of her. It grew to a strand. Then rolled out like a scroll into a pane. Colors flickered across the pane. Diamond felt a slight fear that this might be one of Demon’s tricks, but that fear was squelched as the pane popped to life. Clever. It was one of the moving paintings Luna had previously.

“Sweet Celestia! This is cool!” Napoleon’s voice came through. He was looking directly at her, then his gaze shifted elsewhere, briefly, then back to her, repeating that process every so often.

“This is called a Silver Screen. Some of our guards use it to keep in contact.” Luna’s voice said. From the image, Luna saw her in the background, keeping a close eye on Demon. “Diamond, can you hear us?”

“Uhm. Yes?” Diamond answered, unsure of whether they would hear her also.

“You are doing great. The tree is moving fast.” Luna said.

“Thank Vertigo and Bling. They are probably pushing the most.” Diamond said.

“Not true, Dazzle.” Bling’s image popped up. “Vertigo and I haven’t found a good place to push yet.”

“Ditto,” Vertigo said before sticking her tongue jovially and blowing a raspberry.

“This is not a toy, Napoleon. Tell them their ETA,” Luna barked.

“T-minus ten minutes thirty-seven seconds until the tree reaches the hill,” Napoleon reported.

“Looks like we’ll be here a while.” Luna said. “So, just to give everypony a lowdown of what is happening, this is an image spell, it will work as long as you are gentle with it.”

A blast on the glass made Luna squeeze her eyes shut. She took a deep breath and continued, “I’ve bought us some time with the shield spell I cast prior to our meeting. However, I can’t guarantee how long it will last. Everypony, good luck! Fight hard for Diamond!”

---

“Grace period is almost over!” Luna shouted. “Napoleon! Stats?”

His screen bleeped. “The trio is going at a seventeen meters per second.” He analyzed from the screen. “Three minutes eighteen seconds until the tree reaches the hill.”

His screen bleeped incessantly.

“Brace yourselves!” Luna shouted.

In a frenzy, Demon broke through blasting a barrage of flame bolts.

Instantly, Luna threw up a shield barrier for herself as Demon Charged towards her.

She flinched as the barrage of bolts exploded against the surface of her shield.

“What is happening down there?” Diamond asked.

“The Nightmare is putting up a fight.” Luna, her image showing her dodging a bolt.

Diamond was about to ask if they needed any backup, but Napoleon cheered “Nice one, Underdog!”

The tone of his voice revealed that everything was alright. Nothing too hard to handle. Luna cut in, seeming to give a hint of morale; “The closer we get to the bottom, the harder it will try to stop us. If we replant the tree atop the hill, that means death for the nightmare.”

“Got it.” Diamond said. She pushed harder and faster on the tree branch, flapping her wings. She like she was swimming against the current of a river as her body drifted from side to side. Probably since she didn’t know how to work her ‘dream-wings’

Vertigo cut into the image. “You are doing great, Dazzle! Don’t tire yourself out too fast though!”

“Why?” Diamond asked.

“If Pegasai get tired in the air, they need to land and catch their breath,” Vertigo said. “Think of it as running. Run too fast, you waste time trying to catch your breath.”

“Vertigo’s right, Dazzle.” Bling popped up on the Silver Screen. “There’s that, and the air is thinner as you get higher up. You’ll have trouble catching your breath up here. Go at a pace where you are pushing as hard you can without burning yourself out.”

“Okay. Got it,” Diamond said, slowing down to pace her pushing.

“Nice job up there.” Napoleon said, his horn glowing. Diamond saw the background; he was encased in his own glowing magic barrier. “We got two minutes left on the clock!”

Suddenly, a beam of darkness darted past Diamond. She heard a yip, then something crashing through the tree. Then, seeing the blur of colors tumbling down the branches, she knew who it was.

“Vertigo!” Napoleon cried out. He ran towards the filly, who was down on the ground. She was scraped up. Please not be hit. Please not be hit.

“Ugh, I’m okay.” Vertigo said, gingerly getting up.

Napoleon glanced at his analysis screen. He gulped. He picked his friend up and said “You sure? Your wings?”

“I can still feel them.” She flapped them playfully.

“Oh, thank goodness.” Napoleon said.

“LOOK OUT!” A blur of metal tossed them to the side.

Before Diamond could make sense of what was going on, the screen shifted to Silver Spoon. Tears of gold welled up in Silver’s metallic wolf eyes and ran down the grooves of her shiny helmet.

Slowly, her Silver slid out of the Timberwolf suit. Diamond’s heart stopped as she saw her friend’s eyes, normally magenta, turn dull and gray

“Silver Spoon!” Diamond flew off her post. A familiar feeling came over her as the wind rushed past her wings violently. She didn’t learn her lesson with the first freefall.

“Oh no you don’t!” Bling caught her. He flew her back to the branch.

“We got to help her! She’s hurt!” Diamond pointed towards the ground.

“The hardest thing I had to learn is that it’s best that the authority figures take care of the problem.” Bling pointed to his screen. On it, Luna was defending the three of them against Demon. Vertigo and Napoleon were detaching her from the crumpled armor.

“There are some problems that cannot be solved simply with punching and kicking,” Bling continued.

On the screen, Luna shouted. “Keep her awake!”

Whilst Luna was dodging and countering magic blasts, Underdog kept Demon overwhelmed. Fighting Luna required Demon’s apex prowess. However, with Underdog added to the mix, she might as well be walking a tightrope while swatting a fly.

“Luna! She’s falling asleep!” Vertigo cried. “What should we do?

“Did I not make myself clear?! Keep her awake!” Luna shouted.

Vertigo took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for this.” Vertigo took one of her hooves and slapped Silver across the face.

“It’s too late,” Napoleon said. “She’s already fallen asleep.”

Luna glanced at the three of them, then blocked a pyroclastic flow spell just in time. Briefly, through the fog of ash and soot, Diamond could see a glimpse of remorse and regret.

Diamond felt something crush her heart with such force, she’d prefer the gusty air currents to knock the wind out of her. She lost control and crumbled to pieces.

In a flash of light, Luna’s horn glowed. In a blink of an eye, Dazzle felt her whole body drift like a piece of wood down a stream.

The worst part? She didn’t care where she was going. Her best friend was gone.