Bound to me forever, a slave to my will.

Two are now free, to roam my mind,

Now only anger can defeat them, not lies.

Anger gives you strength, rage quells the terror,

To defeat your enemy, to destroy your fear,

Rage will provide, when all else is nought.

Your Kindness is consumed, your Anger festers.

And so you are bound, a serf in my land.

Rise, Fluttershy, Servant of Anger!

The first thing Twilight felt when she jumped off the disk was the softness of the earth. The squishy green earth cushioned her fall as the disk disappeared, stranding Twilight and Applejack in a whole new world. Green pigment clung to her coat as she sat up, her head revolving as she looked around. Behind her, she heard the squiish of Applejack hitting the ground, the newly revived pony still shaking her head as small splashes of darkness dribbled out from her ears. She looked back at Applejack, who gave her a thumbs-up as she pulled herself off the earth, the green pigment staining her coat and hooves. Twilight grinned at Applejack’s furious attempt to remove the stains, coloring herself with the sticky green ooze as she spit over her hooves and arms, rubbing the coloration so hard that hair began to fall off her legs. Twilight returned to observing the grand room as Applejack tried to clean herself.

The ground they stood upon was only one of several, twisting and looping throughout the room, leaves and branches jutting out of the green tubes at odd angles. Below, the green tubes disappeared forever downwards, reaching into an abyss so deep Twilight could only see the darkness at the end. The pipe they stood on entered a nearby wall, separating into many smaller, brown roots at the wall, the roots holding the massive structure in place. Many other tubes were similar, huge green pipes attached to the walls with hundreds of thin brown roots, while countless others entwined the the middle of the chamber, forming a huge pillar that rose into the light above them, and went deep into the abyss below them. More and more tubes conjoined with the pillar as it went downwards, thickening the massive structure. Twilight walked down the green tube, towards the central pillar, with the now-clean Applejack trotting along behind her. Tripping over a branch, Twilight saw tiny leaves on the surface of the branch, sickle-shaped and sharp, cutting Twilight’s legs as she had fell. Applejack reached her hoof out to her friend as she bucked the branch, breaking it in two and sending the stick down into the abyss. They watched it fall, bouncing off several pipes and hitting the brown walls. Then, suddenly, air rushed through the room as was could only be described as a shout vibrated through the room, shaking the pipe that the ponies stood upon. Branches sprouted out of the green tube as Twilight struggled to regain her balance, confused by the sudden outburst. Leaves grew on the branched, the sickle-shaped leaves slowing taking form as Twilight helped Applejack up. Boomerang-sized leaves launched from the branches, flying at the unicorn. Twilight ducked just in time as a huge green blade wizzed above her, cutting another tube as it slowly disintegrated, brown overtaking the green as it fell. Twilight looked at the branches, praying for her life as she narrowly dodged another blade, cutting her leg as it flew by. Leaves flew at the ponies, spilling their blood as they dodged blade after blade, no noticing the massive lacerations the blades carelessly left in the tube’s structure. Twilight, buffeted by the endless stream of razor-sharp leaves, ran towards the brown roots on the other side of the pipe, as boomerangs whizzed above her head, cutting her new bangs as she pulled on the roots, heaving with all her might as a torrent of blades came at her. Twilight stared as a leaf blade entered the wall three inches from her nose, servering the roots. Applejack ran to Twilight as she dodged the leaf storm, the blades seamlessly cutting through the brown growth. The tube shook as the roots broke,  releasing the green superstructure from the wall. Angry sounds came from the abyss as gusts of wind blasted Twilight and Applejack, breaking the pipe and turning their once-stupple ground into a slide into hell. Twilight tried to spread her wings, but the shining limbs never came, and her attempts to grab a branch were met with pain, as every branch she reached for stung her hooves with razor-sharp blades. The two ponies fell as their branch collapsed, its connection gone. Wind shot past the ponies as they fell down the bottomless pit, narrowly avoiding the green tubes as they plunged.

Twilight screamed as Applejack disappeared from beside her, a long grey branch grabbing her from below and pulling her into one of the green tubes. Twilight watched as the branch pulled Applejack into the tube, her shrill scream blocked as the tube bubbled for a bit, they lay still. Twilight cringed as she saw another grey branch come towards her, dead branches and leaves hanging off the massive appendage. It wrapped itself around Twilight, the nubs of dead branches poking into her skin as her fall stopped. She felt her air expelled completely as the appendage gripped her chest tightly, far too tightly to allow her more than a small gulp of air. Twilight’s front leg felt broken by the impact, and her tired body was too exhausted to resist as the appendage retreated into a tube, taking Twilight with it.

Her screams were drowned out, her breath bubbling as viscous green liquid entered her lungs, filled her cheat. Her face turned dark red, her eyes squeezing shut as she filtered out every last piece of oxygen in her lungs, holding her breath as gallons of the liquid wound their way up her nose, into her mouth, soaking through her eyes. Twilight felt the world go black as she squeezed out the last drop of oxygen in her breath, releasing pure carbon dioxide through her mouth. Unbreathable bubbles fled from her mouth and rushed down the tube with her, the green sludge carrying them along. Twilight struggled to find more oxygen, but her lungs were filled with the liquid, and her nose would not breathe. Her body went into shock, lurching spasmodically and making jerking movements as oxygen left her body, her brain burning, her lungs full and yet empty...

So this is how I’ll die...

Twilight closed her eyes.

...

...

...

...

...

...

I...

I...

I’m...

I’m... still...here...

Twilight opened her eyes.

Green liquid still surrounded the purple unicorn, soaking into her skin and her mane. Roots held Twilight down, and from her newly opened eyes came shock. She was sealed in some sort of pod, a biological growth on the side of a green tube. She exhaled, and bubbles seeped out of her nose and mouth, but when she tried to inhale, she swallowed more of the green liquid. The liquid filled her lungs, but to her surprise, death did not come to visit her again. Instead she felt her brain gasping in relief as oxygen returned to the fragile organ. Blood began to flow again as she stretched what she could, the roots that held her down were too strong for Twilight to break. She felt the roots digging into her ankles, but they did not sting. She felt branches poking into her sides, but they did not hurt. Instead she felt nothing, her nerves dulled, anesthesia flowing into her veins, covering her body in the buzzing sensation of a cut off circulation. Electricity flowed through her skin, entering her insides and scorching her organs. And yet despite the frenzied pulses of power that shot through her veins, Twilight remained still. The anesthesia made her drowsy, her brain unable to comprehend her surroundings as the soft lull of sleep took her over, her eyes closing as darkness clouded her vision and she drifted away.

...

...

The cool caress of sleep embraced Twilight in its arms.

...

...

A soothing wind blew over Twilight’s mane. It rippled in the air, purple hair whipping across Twilight’s serene face.

...

...

A sound cracked across the plains. Tha-thump-Shing. Tha-thump-Shing. A red light glowed across the empty landscape, illuminating the featureless plains. Tha-thump-Shing. Tha-thump-Shing.

...

...

Twilight slept.

...

...

The sound became louder, the wind grew soft. Tha-thump-Shing. Tha-thump-Shing. A featureless gray pony, her head covered by a gray hood that matched her coat walked up to Twilight’s sleeping body. She limped along, a massive spear in her hoof, used as a walking stick as it cut into the ground. Tha-thump-Shing. Tha-thump-Shing. The spear was made of wood, a curling congregation of branches that wound around each other, holding a huge blade on one side, the branches curling over the shining iron, and a crimson ball in the other, glowing with energy.

The gray pony stepped next to Twilight. She stuck her spear into the ground, her hood obscuring blank features as she carefully prodded the lavender unicorn with her hoof.

...

...

...ughhh....

Twilight turned in her sleep. Her face contorted, her body tensed up, unhappy at the disturbance. But the disturbance was enough to keep her awake, and Twilight found that she could not return to oblivion. She forced herself to open her eyes, her vision clouded by sleep, her eyelids heavy and her mane in a huge mess...

...Wonder how Rarity would think of me now...

She lifted her tired head, every muscle in her neck sore with sleep, her eyelids still drooping as she groggily looked around. She rubbed her eyes, her legs crying out at every movement, her bloodshot pupils blinking as her once-clouded vision cleared, to reveal a featureless landscape, without life, without weather, without color. The ground she sat on was brilliant white, without even a stain on the clean blank surface. She looked around a bit more, but she felt weights on her eyelids again, and with a tired yawn she stood up.

She stretched her muscles, releasing rust-covered joints and damaged ligaments from immobility. She whipped her tail, shaking off dust and dirt from her grimy tuft. She forced her eyes open, the lethargy that once held them down dissipating as her muscles burned with activity. She opened her purple eyes fully, taking in the featureless landscape. Nothing. No hills, no plants, no, not even a tumbleweed rolled across the blank canvas. She tapped the ground, but it was as hard as stone, but without any feel to it. A blank texture on a huge expanse of paper. She saw the same whiteness for as long as she could see, the sky and the land blending together in a white globe that surrounded Twilight, enclosing her in a featureless prison that seemed impossible to exist.

“Ah, so you’re awake.”

Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned around. The owner of the voice stood tall, a gray pony wearing a hood that matched her coat. A huge spear stood by her side, the blade of which was embedded into the colorless ground. Twilight’s eyes snapped into focus, pushing away the burning feeling of the white landscape, looking only at the gray pony who stood before her.

“Oh, it’s you again.” said Twilight.

“Yes, Twilight. Your ancestor comes to haunt you once more. In fact, I believe you’re in...a spot of trouble. As for help, I’ll be happy to provide it. Just say my name.”

“What...exactly is your name? I never got it the last time we spoke.”

“Ah, my child, that is for you to decide. I am simply here. I am no one unless you give me a name. I have been called many names over my long life. Fate. Serendipity. Destiny. But you, need a true name to call others by, a name that will pop out from the rest. Call me, if you will, by my true name, a name that I have never property used in centuries. Candice. Queen Candice.”

The gray pony lifted her hoof, the gray leg that supported it as featureless as the surrounding landscape. Twilight gingerly reached to shake it, and as she grabbed it, her eyes glowed with power as light entered her body, her very soul bathed in light as she saw.

Just before her senses dulled, Twilight heard Candice say “Let’s hope this doesn’t half-kill her like last time.”

Countless images flew my her eyes. The same gray mare, much younger, with color in her coat and mane stood next to a majestic golden pegasus, on a throne that looked much like Princess Celestia’s royal seat. They spoke to someone, a cloaked alicorn with blank wings and a black horn, carrying a huge scythe on his shoulder. From what Twilight could see, they were angry at the dark alicorn. The two ponies opened their mouths, shouting at the dark figure. But the alicorn did not react. He simply lifted his scythe. But before he could slash, the two ponies disappeared in a flash of light.

‘Long ago, Twilight Sparkle, I faced an enemy that you too have fought.” said the grey pony. Twilight heard her voice, plain and simple, but she still saw the images flying into her eyes.

“Chaos. A mighty dragon named Saaroklir was made from the unity of two dragons of opposite temperament. One old and wise, the other young and imaginative. One of fire, the other of frost. Together their power grew, forming Chaos. They grasped the black flame, and unleashed it upon the world. I fought back. I defeated Chaos, and trapped him forever in his prison.”

Images of a battle between a huge, two-headed dragon and a tiny unicorn flashed by Twilight’s eyes. She saw the figure of the unicorn launch huge bolts of lightning at the mighty dragon, before dodging streams of fire and ice that surged out of the dragon’s mouths. The breath burned the unicorn, her cloak rippling with flame as she threw it off, her gray mane fluttering in the howling wind. She lifted her horn, rippling with primal energy, but instead of casting her magic, she raised a huge spear. Twilight could have sworn that that same spear lay just a few inches from her, embedded into the ground. The unicorn propelled the sky towards the sky, lighting rippling from the massive blade, swirling the clouds above and causing lightning to crack the sky. The dragon roared as a massive hole opened in the ground below it, lighting shattering the ice they stood upon, the dual-headed beat screaming as it plummeted into the chasm.

“He was gone, or so I thought. Chaos would return, and he would be our doom. He possessed the small and the weak, gathering their strength until all of Equestria was battened down in a mighty civil war. Never did he show his face, always using the populace to his advantage. We could not defeat him, not when he was unable to be touched.”

Twilight saw fires burning a forest, tents blazing, the shadow of a nearby city engulfed in inferno. Inside the burning forest, the flashes and explosions cast shadows of unicorns hurling magic utilizing ancient and dark offensive spells that burned and seared, froze and entangled. Pegasi waved swords, howling battle cries as they charged armored legions, their shields interlocked as sword strikes bounced off the tortoise. Armored ponies fired arrows towards the crowd of unicorns as scantily-armed earth ponies charged the legion with pickaxes and pitchforks, their agricultural tools helpless against the silver blades and iron spears of the legions. Twilight saw the legion kill thousands of helpless peasants, and in the midst of the melee, a dark, cloaked alicorn swinging a scythe larger than he was, cleaving the helpless workers in two as ponies screamed for mercy, for mother and for water, and for death.

“We were losing our war. Day after day more soldiers left the army, more pegasi left the air force. And day after day the rebels grew stronger, enraged by the evil Saaroklir. They clashed with our legions, burned our homes and our forests. I did the only thing I could. To stop the rebellion, we created the Reaper. ”

The regal unicorn and the majestic pegasus worked in darkness. Sparks flew as hammer met steel, light met darkness. The fire of a forge burned brightly as they bent and shaped, enchanted and cursed. An alicorn took shape in the darkness, illuminated by the huge flames of the forge as the King and Queen of Equestria pounded metal and shaped shadow. The unicorn weaved a black cloak, her color draining out of her body as she wove, her bright eyes becoming dim as she pumped her very essence into her work, her soul merging with the cloth. The pegasus pounded on a huge blade, working diligently to strap the massive curved cutter on the end of a long wooden pole. They etched magical symbols on the metal alicorn, bolt together wings and a horn, legs and a tail. They draped the cloak on the black body, leaned the massive scythe against his metal shoulder. The unicorn lifted a clay pot, covered with arcane symbols as the lid was taken off, and a massive trail of ashes entered a hole on the front of the metal alicorn. Slowly, the rivets melted, the seams collapsed as the metal moved. Once-false eyes blinked with life, shedding tears of liquid that rolled down the alicorn’s face. Dark wings flapped as the alicorn moved around, holding the massive scythe as if it were but a stick. He stood in front of the two ponies, breathing in the air, stretching living muscles that were, once before made of metal. The Reaper bowed before the ponies, his head touching the ground.

“What will you have me do?”

“The Reaper killed us all. He slaughtered countless towns of countryfolk, once even exterminating an entire city. His scythe ran red with blood every day, and he was feared through the land. Innocents were killed without mercy, rebels were treated the same. Everyone was a target in his lustful eyes, and the Reaper killed with indifference. The King and I stood vigil at our palace, the visits from our “son” becoming more and more insane every day as the Reaper endlessly slew, endlessly ended the lives of countless individuals. The power of death itself entwines the Reaper’s soul, and as long as death exists, so will he. He is a Marcher, like you and I. He was the seventh one in the great prophecy. And he...brought death to our land.

We hatched a desperate plan. The King and I returned to the forge of death’s creation, in the dark forest you know now as the Everfree one. An ancient tree lies in its center, a shining beacon in a world of darkness. Its bark is pure gold, its leaves silver, and gems are its roots. We forged the Elements of Harmony on that day, taking the essence of the tree and the essence of our souls to create something, anything that could stop the Reaper.

But once we finished the construction, we ourselves could not use the mighty artefacts. We had broken harmony by creating the Reaper, a force of chaos and destruction, a malevolent being that existed to kill. So we created more in his likeness. Your princesses, Twilight Sparkle. They were of our creation.”

Twilight watched as the King and Queen constructed at the forge. Metal statues of the Princesses stood in the middle of the clearing, lifeless sculptures of metal without even a single spark of life.. Celestia stood tall, her white metal body covered in magical etchings as the King bolted on her wings. Luna stood diligently by her side, the Queen welding her metal mane on to her bare head. The princesses took shape as the royals diligently constructed, their color and their age draining away. Wrinkles formed on the King’s once regal head, and the Queen’s once beautiful mane lost its vibrant sheen and turned gray as a cloudy sky.

When the sculptures of metal were finally complete, the royals stood in front of their metal children. The Queen unstopped a bottle, shining bright with solar dust, and the king did the same, in his hands a bowl filled with moonstones. Magic rippled through the grove as the dust and stones rose out of their containers, and entered the metal forms of the two princesses. Metal became skin, fabric became hair, a once-dormant horn rippled with magical energy as Celestia and Luna came to life, born out of metal and fabric, now living beings of blood and flesh. The King and Queen brought forth a massive chest, their old and paltry forms struggling to lift the container. Setting the box down in front of the Princesses, they opened the chest. The Elements of Harmony glowed bright inside.

“With the Elements in the hands of my daughters, I had no reason to exist. I sacrificed my power and my soul to spark their life, to kindle a flame that would never die, for they were connected to the sun and moon, as the Reaper was to death itself. As long as their celestial bodies would exist, so would they. And as they aged, so would they. My daughters destroyed the Reaper’s body, sealed him in a cave inside a dark mountain, bound by chains of light and by tendrils of shadow. His ashes were all that was left, his spirit fragmented, his person gone. They thought he would stay there forever. They were wrong.”

“Twilight Sparkle, You have a perilous journey ahead of you. But Destiny has decided that you will take it. You will live, for this is not where you will die, my child. There exists other games to play, other people to save.”

“As for help, I will most certainly be able to provide it. Take this.” She reached up to her horn, and unstrapped the golden bracer. She handed it to Twilight, the smooth golden surface reflecting the crimson ball’s light. Once it landed in her hoof, it shrunk in size until it was little more than a golden ring, and with great haste floated out of her hoof and around her horn, sliding down the appendage until it fastened securely at the base. The mare then cocked her head to the side, as if trying to remember something. Then, her eyes opened fully and she reached into her cloak. She pulled out a large scroll, bound by a piece of red ribbon.

“Here,” she said, giving the scroll to Twilight. “Give this scroll to your brother. I promised him something and I need to give it to him.”

“Oh, and before I forget, here.” She handed Twilight her spear. “This is the only thing that can cut the Spine’s vines and thorns. I should know. It cuts through practically everything. You...also need it to... unlock something I put up. Here. Just take it. Be careful with it. Bladecaster does not differentiate who it cuts... or who it destroys.”

Twilight’s heart thumped with fear. Her brain wrote huge checklists of questions as the Gray Mare handed her the mighty spear. Twilight looked at the blade with fear, her mind racing as questions overflowed it, pouring down the sides, desperate to exit her mouth. She grabbed the mighty spear with her magic, her brain bursting with unanswered ponderings as the gray mare disappeared into darkness, the white space around her filling with blackness as Twilight lost herself in the shadow. She dropped the spear, her heart racing as the dark closed around her, her body felt like she was being twisted apart, and then,...

Everything went dark.

...

...

Twi!

Twi! Are you awright?

...huh?...

“Twi! Twilight Sparkle! It’s me, Applejack!”

Twilight rose from the hard ground. She felt roots escaping her body, exiting places they they never should have been in, felt branches unraveling around her ankles as the whoosh of a stick cut through the air. A loud, nasty schhlick rang in Twilight’s ears as a something was cut a few feet away from her head.

“Get up Twi’! ‘Ere, ‘old onta this spear here.”

Applejack lifted the damaged Twilight onto her shoulder. She handed the huge spear to Twilight, using the weapon as a crutch to help her stand walk. Applejack gingerly adjusted the spear, moving it around until it was snug under Twilight’s front left leg. She heaved Twilight up, the dazed purple unicorn still trying to recover from the strange and debilitating dream she experienced only seconds earlier. The two ponies walked along, limping away from the bio-pods that just minutes before had held them captive. Periodically Applejack would slash at a root i the ground with the mighty spear, cleaving through the plant like a hot knife through butter. Eventually, Twilight released herself from Applejack, and began to canter. Energy returned to Twilight as the spear glowed, the red ball at one end ignited with red flame. The two ponies looked at the darkness around them, the brown walls of the cave surrounded them, once covered in shadow, now lit by arcane fire. The ponies looked up, the massive column of green tubes ending just above them, stretching up for as far as Twilight could see. Twilight waved around the staff, revealing a small passageway just big enough for Applejack to fit through. The two ponies helped each other up as they squeezed through the gaps, crawling up a small, cramped tunnel. The staff lit the way with its arcane beacon, shrinking in Twilight’s hoof so it could fit through the tiny passageway. The two ponies climbed up and out of the hole, and the staff reverted to its original size, the blade gleaming as Twilight flipped it around. The red ball neared the ground as the spearhead swung forward. Holding the weapon in her hoof, she turned to observe the dim room. A hole overhead let a tiny bit of light inside, the green tube still above them, spiraling forever into the sky. In front of the ponies lay a massive black door, with a massive padlock positioned in the center of the dark entrance, held up by four black chains. The keyhole on the padlock was unique: it almost completely matched the spear that Twilight held tight next to her.

This must be the lock Candice put up, Twilight thought.

“Well, uh, Twi? Wha’ should we do? Maybe we should put your spearstaff thingamajigger in that keyhole. It looks like it may fit. I’m bettin’ that there’s one of our friends in there. We best go an’ save ‘er.”

Twilight nodded. Sweat trickled down her brow as she let the staff go, inserting it into the keyhole. The staff disappeared into the black door.

There was silence.

Twilight and Applejack stared anticipatingly at the black door.

...

...

...

...whirrr...

...whirrrr...whirrr...CLANK...WHIRRRWHIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRR

The sound of millions of mechanical gears echoed through the room as one of the massive black chains holding the lock fell. The lock tilted to the side as the chain came crashing to the ground.

CLANK!

WHIRRRRRRIRRRIRRIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

The door yelled angrily as another chain came crashing down.

CLANK!

Twilight jumped out of the way as the third chain came crashing down. Heat escaped through tiny vents in the door as the gears and motors spun at dizzying rates, filling the room with the mind-bending noise of gears grinding against gear, motors buzzing and cranks spinning with such fury that sparks flew out of the door.

CLANK!

The final chain fell from the door, narrowly missing Applejack. The orange pony kicked the black chain as it lay still, the door’s ornately crafted padlock falling off. With one last hisss of steam, the door rolled to the side.

Inside the black door was what could only be described as a monstrosity.

Twilight gasped as the horrible beast loomed above her.

A massive brown lump stood in the center of its chamber, pulsing like a massive heart.. Massive roots extended from the thing, stretching across the chamber and burrowing into the ground, smaller roots erupting out of the larger ones. More roots held up the biological construct, elevating it over the two ponies. Huge tubes circled overhead, filled with a dark brown fluid that constantly moved around, feeding into the giant brown lump that stood silent in the center of the room. The chamber reeked of waste and of death, and the corpses of countless woodland animals littered the huge room, all in various stages of decay. The brown lump pulsed with great vigor, sending great tufts of brown liquid into the chamber. At the center of the lump was a small pony, lashed to the biological mess by four gray, decaying branches, holding her spread-eagled. Her wings were spread out, and countless other small branches pierced her skin, pumping an endless stream of brown chemical into her bruised and battered body.

Fluttershy cried out in pain as the chemicals began pouring out of her ears, her eyes, her nose, any opening hey could find. Brown fluid burned the yellow pegasus’ body, leaving horrible scars all over her legs and wings. Twilight reeled back as more chemical began pouring out of Fluttershy, soaking the ground around her with chemical burns. The brown fluid sprayed everywhere, burning the ground and the roots, the rock and the soil. A drop got on Applejack, and she yelped as it left a tiny burn on her right flank.

“Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!”

And, as suddenly as it came, the chemical stream stilled. Fluttershy gasped for air as the branches resumed their endless pumping, and the brown lump behind her continued to pulse. Twilight and Applejack slowly walked up to the damaged Fluttershy, careful to avoid the puddles of the chocolate-brown acid that lay around the biological mess. Twilight gingerly climbed up the roots, slipping a few times on the bigger, rounder ones. With a boost from Applejack, she was finally able to climb onto the platform of roots, eye-to-eye with the corrupted and damaged pegasus.

“F-fluttershy? You there?”

“T-t-twilight... You c-c-c-came... to help m-m-m-me? Oh, I’m s-so happy, I could just SCREAM!”

Fluttershy let out a massive roar as the ground shook beneath Twilight. Applejack shouted for Twilight as roots erupted out of the ground, grabbing both ponies and lifting them into the air.

“YOU! YOU ABANDONED ME HERE! YOU LEFT ME TO DIE! YOU RAN OFF WITH YOUR OTHER FRIENDS AND LEFT ME TO BURN! LOOK AT ME! ACID RUNS THROUGH MY VEINS, CHEMICALS RIP THROUGH MY ENTIRE EXISTENCE! I CAN NEVER FORGIVE YOU! YOU! DIE!”

Fluttershy roared with primal anger as she threw Twilight around like a ragdoll. She slammed the lavender unicorn into the ground, gripping her tightly in her roots, smashing her into the stone, the dirt, her other roots. Chemicals poured over Twilight, burning her and scalding her wounds. Fluttershy laughed as Twilight burned in her hand. Chemicals dripped from Twilight as she sprayed brown fluid into Twilight’s mouth, burning her tongue and destroying her stomach. Fire raged through Twilight as Fluttershy brought anger down upon her, ripping Twilight apart as the root ran a branch straight through Twilight’s chest, sending the chemicals that had invaded her stomach flying away. With a casual flick of the root, the enraged Fluttershy flung Twilight away. She brought four more roots to bear on Twilight’s barely breathing form as she struggled to cough up the chemicals, her digestive tract too damaged to feel anything. Twilight struggled away, even as the frenzied roots came closer, the product of Fluttershy’s newfound rage ready to end her journey here, once and for all.

“You have a perilous journey ahead of you. But Destiny has decided that you will take it. You will live, for this is not where you will die, my child.”

Twilight heard voices speak as she closed her eyes, the chemicals rapidly turning her into mush.

She felt her lungs disintegrate, her stomach dissolve, her heart and her soul melting.

But Destiny would not let her die.

A needle-sharp pain pierced her heart. A Destiny Link. Blood poured out of her face once again, but this time Twilight was ready. She shrugged off the fluid, letting the red liquid fall to the ground. Acid followed it, pouring out of her sweat pores like rain during squall season. Her wounds healed themselves, needles of light repairing tears in her body like Rarity fixing tears in clothes. She felt her organs returning, lungs filling up a spot that, just a moment before, had been covered with chocolate-brown toxin. The spear clattered in front of her as Twilight was set down, the light fading away as her injuries disappeared, her life miraculously restored. She picked up the staff, and held the blade close to her. The Destiny Link dissolved into ash as she closed her eyes, then opened them wide.

“YOU! YOU INSOLENT FOOL!”

Twilight narrowed her eyes.

“Showtime.” she said.

Twilight jumped, swinging the mighty spear. Roots reached for her, but Twilight cut them down, the spear’s mighty blade cleaving through the plants without any resistance. She landing, and ran towards the plant node, the spear’s blade dragging behind her, cutting the ground and the roots as she ran.

“NO! YOU NEED TO DIE! CREATURES! KILL HER!”

The corpses of the animals sat up off the ground. Zombie tigers leapt at Twilight as zombie rabbits and zombie squirrels ran at her, claws bared, fangs locked, fists raised. Twilight smiled.

She swung the mighty staff, unleashing a wave of arcane fire that blasted back the zombie horde, reducing them to ashes in an instant. The powerful blade cut neat rows across a zombie bear’s chest as Twilight rushed forward, cutting down waves of zombies, the blade singing with energy as countless undead fell to her staff.

She stepped in front of Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus thrashing against her bonds.

Twilight raised her blade, anger in her eyes. Fluttershy screamed as the biological mess released her, chemical tubes breaking and roots dissolving into dust as the shivering yellow pegasus back against the brown lump.

Applejack grabbed Twilight’s shoulders, her hooves pulling as hard as she could. But Twilight couldn’t see. She only saw Fluttershy in front of her, weak, alone, tired. She swung her blade...

And Destiny stopped her. Another Link came shooting out of nowhere, piercing her skin. But no blood came this time. Only a strong feeling of... restraint.

Twilight missed the yellow pegasus by a hair, cleaving into the brown lump itself. A fanatical array of cuts followed, as Applejack hurried Fluttershy out of the way. The staff sung loudly as its crimson blade burned with arcane fire, cutting and burning the massive plant, covering its deprecated surface with thousands of deep cuts before finally ending the plant with a single, powerful thrust.

The plant screamed in anger. Without a voice, it yelled as vibrations riddled the room, the brown node falling from the roots, shriveling into tufts of ash. A golden necklace fell from the corpse of the plant, rolling near Twilight. The Element of Kindness glowed in her hand, purified from the darkness that once bound it. But just as Twilight was about to throw the Element to Applejack, a loud BOOM struck the room. Twilight looked up to see cracks forming on the ceiling, the roots that held it dissolving to dust. Twilight jumped towards the other two ponies as the ceiling collapsed, the roots that once held it up breaking apart. Rock fell from far above, cracking and breaking the stone floor,  making huge craters. Twilight felt the staff knocked from her hand as a stone hit her hoof. Stinging with pain, Twilight cradled her hoof, blowing on it, rubbing the appendage carefully. But just as she felt pain dissolve, more rocks smashed against the stone floor. She saw Applejack just barely dodge a massive boulder, Fluttershy closely following the orange pony. A stone nearly fell on Twilight as she smartly rolled out of the way, looking up at the torrent of stone. The entire cave was collapsing under the strain of its own weight, a hailstorm of rock barreling down on the three ponies that ran around below, narrowly dodging falling boulders.

No time to talk.

Twilight ran.

An opening in the rock formed as a root dissolved. The three ponies rushed to the newly opened cave as the cave collapsed on itself, the roots that once held it together dying and turning into ash. Twilight pushed the other two into the cave before jumping in herself, just avoiding a massive rock that sealed off the cave.

“Is everypony okay?” said Twilight.

“Shhh, Fluttershy. It’s gonna be O.K” said Applejack.

Twilight heard the yellow pegasus whimper in the dark. She reached for the staff, but it had gone. Damnit! I must have left it in the cave when I killed that thing.

Twilight, tired as she was, tried to muster a light from her horn. At first it was weak and dim, but a few seconds of concentration was all Twilight needed, and her light shone bright, illuminating the tunnel. She looked down the winding path, her horn’s light unable to reach the end. But her eagle eyes looked closely, and she saw the faintest, tiniest glimmer of light.

She turned to her friends.

“It’s O.K Fluttershy, I’m O.K. I promise.”

“R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-really, Tt-t-t-twi? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to try and hurt you or anything, I-i-i just...”

“I know, Fluttershy. I know.”

The two friends embraced, Twilight wiping the salty tears of Fluttershy’s bloodshot green eyes. She placed the Element of Kindness around Fluttershy’s neck, the pink butterfly on the necklace glowing with energy. Fluttershy wept on Twilight’s shoulder, her sobs slowly dying out as her eyes dried, leaving only the loud sniffles. Fluttershy managed a weak grin, tears still leaking out of her eyes.

“Someday, we’ll get out of here. I promise.”

Twilight helped the sniffling pegasus onto her feet. Fluttershy still sniffled a bit, but at last she stopped.

“C’mon guys! I think there’s something at the end of this tunnel!” yelled Applejack.

“Let’s go!” yelled Fluttershy, as loud as she could. The yellow pegasus galloped down the tunnel, her hoofsteps dying away as Twilight followed her.

Into the light again, she thought.