When tragedy or horror strike, I often find that most sinister of tricks at work: the effect of time slowing down. The Windigus Prime seemed to laugh forever as the Diabolus ex-Machina shuddered along with it.

Windigus removed the horn-bomb and tossed it aside. "Nice of you to crown me king upon my unofficial rebirth", it said. Its voice was near-indescribable to me: it was like the sound of the ocean on fire, the mountains sinking into the earth, a nightmare becoming reality. It was a whisper that was too loud, a circus that was too quiet.

"It's a real shame I'm stuck in this corpse of a body," Windigus chuckled. Its eyes fell on me. I backed away. "Oh, yes... you. I know you. I could have been very powerful if you'd only kept me. I selected you for a reason, Twilight Sparkle." Hearing this thing mention my name is... well, the feeling is similar to hearing yourself sentenced to death.

The tentacle ropes connecting Windigus to the Diabolus ex-Machina lowered it toward us. With a jerk of its withered limbs, the Windigus Prime tore out the tentacles. They withdrew back into the Diabolus ex-Machina as it sputtered and died. The Windigus stood erect, despite Cadance's body not looking at all like she should be moving for a while. Its eyes, Cadance's but with a hellish emptiness, scanned me as I shrunk down.

The Doctors got between it and me. "Such gentlecolts," it cooed. "Always protecting the girl."

The Alterna-Doctor whispered something to the Doctor that I couldn't hear. I theorize the Doctor tended to outsmart his enemies (well, before becoming a "spry, young" Doctor with all the testosterone, confrontation, and bravado all young stallions possess), and was formulating a plan. Whatever that plan was, I was not privvy to. I was too busy being scared out of my mind by the Windigus Prime.

"Brilliant move," it chuckled, "Discuss the plan right in front of the enemy." It raised a hoof and waved it lazily in the air, causing the area around it—not the air around it, but the very area around it—to warp and bend. Suddenly, the Doctors were both swept into the air and floated there, tumbling as if falling eternally.

"Don't worry about them, honey," it said. "They're just gonna keep falling. Forever."

I'm not sure why, but I tried to run. Instead of try to save the Doctors, I tried to run like a spineless coward. Maybe it was the fact that I was without use of my powers and was face-to-face with a hideous and powerful creature created outside the space-time continuum. But whatever the reason, my flight was stopped short as the creature suddenly appeared in front of me.

It had Cadance's body, or what was left of it. It was like watching a corpse being moved like a puppet: something insidiously alien pretending to be equine, inconsiderate of whether or not it was doing so convincingly. It drew nearer to me, causing me to back away. "Wh-What do you want?!" I nearly shouted.

"I thought you already knew, darling," it said slowly. "I am here to call forth the Smooze. He shall descend upon this dimension, and swallow it whole. Then he shall become powerful enough to eat another dimension. Then another. And another."

It took another slow, menacing step.

"And another. And ANOTHER."

I finally tried to stand my ground. "Well... well, I won't let you!" My horn began to glow—only for it to sputter and spark, the glow dying almost as soon as it was cast. My ears began to ring, and my legs grew heavy, and my head became dizzy, and my eyes became tired, and I tumbled forward, the Windigus Prime catching me in its forelegs, cradling me like a mother and child. Its limbs were cold and smelled like something that had been burnt to death.

"I don't think your powers have come back yet," it said, quietly. "I don't think they'll return for a while." It brought its false-Cadance face so close to mine, our lips were practically touching. It breathed an ice-cold wind into my mouth as it spoke. "Until they do, why don't we just talk?

"You know, the moment I saw you, the moment I saw your mother give birth to you, I knew you were the one. It could have been one of the million other Twilight Sparkles, but you were the most unique. I watched you grow up. I watched you when you slept. I watched you when you clung to your brother for comfort. I watched you as Celestia taught you nearly every spell you know. I watched you as you finally made friendships that would last you your lifetime. I have watched you your whole life, Twilight Sparkle. And all that time, I knew you were the one for me.

"I... I wanted to HAVE you, Twilight." It kissed my forehead, and exhaled into my bangs. My limbs were frozen and my body became numb. Tears of terror began to form in my eyes.

I once read about creatures called vampires. They feed off of other living, sentient creatures, by repeatedly preying upon them once every night. They become rather intimate with their prey, often interplaying sexual advances with threats of physical violence. At that moment, the Windigus Prime was a vampire: sensual, despite its rotten appearance; wanting, despite its thirst for violence and destruction; affectionate, despite its intent to harm me.

I was helpless in its grip. The Doctors, still spinning in the air, moved their mouths, as if attempting to call out to me, but their voices came out as breying farm animals. They were as totally powerless as I was against the Windigus Prime.

"Your body," said the Windigus Prime as it took a deep sniff of my mane, "YOUR body was to be mine, Twilight. So..." I felt its hooves slowly, carefully caress my back. "... So very beautiful and powerful and ferocious. We could have become unstoppable; the perfect herald for the Smooze, you and I."

Suddenly, I felt it draw back its face. Suddenly, I found myself thrown down to the floor, my head smacking against the cold concrete. Suddenly, I felt a hoof that was maliciously cold, yet smelled like burning bodies, smash into my face. The Windigus Prime held me there on the floor as its voice became angrier and angrier, the ocean and mountain and nightmare and whisper and circus all approaching a furious climax.

"You denied me your body, you sniveling worm! You would deny me, he who has watched you and wanted for you for all your lifetime, your body, to use in my holy mission!" It raised its hoof, and stomped me again. I began to whimper, totally helpless. "No one dares deny the Windigus Prime what is rightfully his!

"All those thousand-more years ago, when the ponies first denied me to create a world my god could devour... All those thousand-more years ago, stuck in the earth, watching the world above like a jealous corpse! I shall be denied no more!"

Then the impossible happened. Well, maybe not totally impossible, but something happened that I didn't expect.

He crashed in through the large door from before, as if forgetting what the password was and just settled for knocking it down. His tentacle legs and bloated face were, while still disgusting and scary, a more-welcoming sight. "Y'all ain't supposed ta be back here!" cried the Mayor.

The Windigus Prime looked up at the Mayor as he crashed through the door and smirked. They shared a glance for a while. "What're you doin' outside the Die-blus Itch Machine?" asked the Mayor.

Windigus laughed. It was enough to cause the Mayor to back away. "O-OK, Candice," said the Mayor, momentarily forgetting the name of the mare he'd been tormenting for centuries, "Ah dun' think Ah like it when ya laugh like dat. Gives me da goosebumps. An da willies. An da heebies, an da jeebies."

The Windigus Prime stood between the Mayor and I. "I suppose I must thank you, my metaphorical father, for your participation in my holy mission."

At this, the Mayor seemed almost... overjoyed. I began to feel my legs again, but remained where I was, thinking over a plan as the Mayor talked to Windigus. So far, the Doctors were currently incapacitated, my magic was not working, the Mayor was going to get himself killed by a hideously ancient demon from beyond the cosmos, my allies were unaware of the current situation and were possibly dead anyway, and the Windigus Prime had the upper hoof. So far, so good.

"F-Father?!" stammered the Mayor. His eyes seemed to dart about. He apparently didn't remember fathering anypony. "But I still haven't found mah sweetheart!" I nearly chuckled. Thousand-plus of years of life, and he was still a LONELY VIRGIN.

"Such a quest is inconsequential," Windigus replied. "While my Twilight Sparkle is responsible for giving me flesh and form, it is you who have given me purpose and—"

"Kin I call ya Crystal?"

"...What."

"Kin I call ya Crystal?" the Mayor repeated. I remembered that he had once spoke about how he dreamed of being a father and

You know what? No, just no. I think I've elaborated on that particular aspect of his personality enough that you already know, or have at least connected all the dots. He saw the Windigus Prime... as his daughter.

"Fool! Do you not tremble in fear of the herald of your world's annihilation?"

At this, the Mayor seemed surprised. "A-Annihilation?!" he squawked. "Ah can't letcha do dat. Defiling CWCville is disrespeckful to all C-Villes! E-Even if you ARE Crystal, I'm gonna have ta put forth da discipline."

I sighed and looked away. His logic was once again unreasonable enough to make me dizzy. Suddenly, I saw a familiar blue wand on the ground.

The screwdriver. The Doctor's screwdriver. I remembered from earlier, the story of how the Mayor had defeated Discord with it. It must have fallen out of the Doctor's pocket while he was spinning or something. All I had to do now was retrieve it. Meanwhile, I could only hope that the Mayor, guileless oaf that he was, would provide a good enough distraction.

"So Ah'm gonna hafta smack yer effin' face down!" With that, the Mayor roared as he reared up on his spidery legs, ready to charge forward with all his might. The Windigus Prime merely laughed at him. Just like that, the Mayor's legs froze and he withdrew his purple, bloated face into the TARDIS like a cowardly turtle hiding from a loud noise. "I-I mean yer face down, monster..." he whimpered from behind the TARDIS doors.

With a wave of its hoof, it threw the Doctors at the Mayor, knocking him over with a loud crash. I saw the Doctors rise again, then come down again, harder this time, on the TARDIS. The Windigus Prime's back was still turned to me, so I silently began to stand up. I couldn't use my telekinesis (Yes, my magic was THAT far gone at the time), so I slowly made my way to the screwdriver. Just as I put my teeth around its handle, the sounds of violence stopped.

Suddenly, I was picked up by an unseen force, and felt a painful cold envelop my entire body. The screwdriver was wrenched from my teeth. "Such cheeky subversiveness!" the Windigus Prime chuckled. "How naughty! I suppose I should punish you."

Then I fell up. Then I fell to the left, to the right, behind me, over me, under me, inside me, outside me, until finally I had landed on a hard surface. The whole world, for a few seconds, was just one big smear of grease and the sounds of wheels and clockwork, then white, then concrete.

I looked up. What had happened? I was in a different environment, now, but everything had become a dark blue. I looked around. I was in the parking garage from earlier. Over there were Shining Armor and Big Macintosh, locked in their fierce battle. Both looked like they'd taken a tremendous beating, and I was kind of surprised either of them were even still standing. Then I noticed something else.

They were both still standing. By that, I mean they were just standing there, like a pair of statues. Not only had I been teleported here, but time had been stopped. I walked nearer to the pair of tired fighters, curious.

Suddenly, I was picked up, a force unseen holding me in place. My eyes darted about as I gasped soundlessly, even though I already knew who was behind this. From underneath me came its insidious laugh.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" it asked. "This host remembers how tender and gentle her husband was, but looking at him now, ferocious, angry..." A long, low chuckle drew itself out, cold and heartless and sounding like bones clattering across the ground. "I would chance to say he is more beautiful even than you, Twilight Sparkle! His soul screams songs of heartache. His loneliness and self-loathing constantly tango within him, their dance neverending."

I saw it slither out from underneath me and draw itself near the two. It put itself between them, and, leaning backwards into Shining Armor as if he were a chair, cupped its hooves around Big Macintosh's face. "And this beautiful beast... So much anger burns within him. Even the love of his youngest surviving sister is not enough to quell the storm in his heart. He is a broken beauty, his pieces glittering in the lonely moonlight. He is a masterpiece, isn't he, Twilight?"

Its hollow eyes looked over to me as it began to caress the side of Big Macintosh's face. "Of course he is. You have lusted for him for some time, now, haven't you?" It planted a kiss on Big Macintosh's bloated lip, then walked over to where I was held.

Its eyes, Cadance's eyes, not Cadance's eyes... whatever they were now, it was a damnable mockery of the gentle warmth Cadance had. It scanned me once more. "You have lusted for him as I lusted for you. For denying me our great destiny together, I feel I should reward you as a traitor deserves. You and Big Macintosh will be together, just like you always dreamed."

I floated down toward the Windigus Prime and it set me softly on the ground, its behavior again donning that false and vampiric benevolence as its hooves found and held my right back leg. "Tell me," it smiled, "What hurts more? A..."

With a sudden movement, I felt my leg come apart, snapping effortlessly in the Windigus Prime's hooves. I let out a scream, or at least tried to. Whatever sound I would have made was absorbed by this eternal second I was currently stuck in. I felt my other hind leg join my right, snapping hideously with applied pressure.

"...Or B?" it grinned. It dropped me on the ground, then leaned close in to my face.

"I must be off now. Your lovely, lonely little Doctor awaits my touch, as does the rest of Chris' world."

With that said, suddenly, like a light turning on, the dark blue vanished, as did the Windigus Prime. The grim lights in the ceiling above once again cast their glow as the battle continued between Big Macintosh and Shining Armor. With a throaty roar, Big Macintosh swept Shining Armor into a steel beam.

He put his hoof on Shining Armor's chest and beat his face. I cringed at this sight, hiding my face with my forehooves. I thought about crawling away, but to where? My hind legs were both broken, and...

...And it was only a matter of time before he'd see me. I looked for something to hide behind, and cursed my misfortune at finding none. Suddenly, Big Macintosh began to speak. His voice sounded like a dying stallion.

"You think you're doing something great, don't you!" he said. He hit Shining Armor again. "But it's USELESS! You KNOW it's useless!" He hit him again and again. "You can't stand up to the Mayor! Nopony can! You're just asking to DIE!"

He threw Shining Armor down. He was covered in bruises, and his face had been punched to the point where it might take some serious doing to repair anything done to it. I wanted to reach out to him, save him somehow. My breathing became heavy as I looked up to see Big Macintosh glaring at me, surprised.

He had this look to him. Malice, of course. I knew if he reached me, it would be the end. But there was something else in those animal eyes, something desperate and hideous. At that moment, I couldn't really understand it. He took a few heavy, awkward hoofsteps (One of his hind legs seemed broken) toward me. I closed my eyes, and silently whispered a prayer.

"Quit praying," he hissed. "She's dead. She can't—hear—you!"

He raised his hoof over my head. I covered myself, expecting the worst. Suddenly, I heard this sound, like a low, fast hum. Then a sound like something heavy being thrown against a wall. I looked up in surprise. A forcefield had appeared around me!

Big Macintosh looked to Shining Armor. Despite his horrible state, Shining Armor had cast a forcefield to protect me. Slowly, my brother stood up. He stumbled a bit, but he got there. "Leave her alone," he croaked.

Big Macintosh turned away from him and looked at me from behind the forcefield wall. He sneered. Rearing up on both his hind legs, he brought down his front hooves on the forcefield. Shining Armor winced and let out a small yelp as Big Macintosh pressed this attack.

"You know you can't keep this up, Shining Armor!" he warned. The beatings intensified, until finally, the forcefield shattered like glass. Shining Armor once again found himself on the ground, whimpering and holding his head in pain. Big Macintosh looked down at me. The hostility just radiated off him.

Suddenly, before Big Macintosh could take another step, another forcefield appeared, this time around him. He let out a cry of surprise, then took in his situation. He looked over to his enemy. Without saying a word, he belted the forcefield around him, going at it like a wild animal left in a cage. Shining Armor winced at every blow.

"I said I was going to protect her, and I'll do it even if it kills me!" he said.

"You die, and she'll die!" Big Macintosh roared. "You know this! You know the only real way to end this! You know the only way you can protect her from me!" His voice shook. For a moment, I thought he was going to cry. "You know what you gotta do, so DO IT!"

I looked into Big Macintosh's eyes as he stared into mine. I finally understood this "look" of his. My eyes widened in shock as it hit me. My heart nearly shot out of my chest. Big Macintosh...

Big Macintosh wanted to die.

"I... I can't do it," Shining Armor said. "I don't want to do it." Even on his back, his face hard to make out in this light, I could tell he was holding back his tears. "Don't... Don't make me do it, Mac."

"If you don't," hissed Big Mac, "I will break this shield. When I do, I will kill her. I'll kill her right in front of you." He proceeded to describe the things he'd do to me in such disturbing detail that I will not repeat them here. "I have never said I'd do something, then not do it."

His voice dropped to almost a whisper. "You know you have to do this."

A tense silence took the room. Tears once again began to form in my eyes. Big Macintosh realized he had become a monster, and he wanted Shining Armor, the hero, his best friend, to stop him from hurting anypony else. Why hadn't he just joined Shining Armor's group? What had stopped him?

Apple Bloom. If Big Macintosh had joined the resistance, who knew what kind of horror the Mayor would have done to Apple Bloom. But if Big Macintosh died, then... What would become of her?

"What about Apple Bloom?" I asked him. "She needs you! What is she going to do if you die?!"

"What is she going to do if I live?" he asked. For the first time since I got here, he addressed me as if I were another living thing, instead of prey. "When she knows I'm a monster now, what would she do? She'd hate me." His voice broke. "When she understands that even after Applejack's death I still work for a Mayor that oppresses his own people, and all the terrible things I've done..." He shook his head. "I can't live like this. I can't live, knowing that Apple Bloom hates me for the things I've done."

More silence. He looked over to Shining Armor, who had fought his way back up to standing. There were tears in both their eyes. "Take care of Apple Bloom for me," Big Macintosh told him.

"I will."

"When you tell her about me, don't be shy about telling her what I really was. Tell her the truth."

"I will." Shining Armor's voice had broken, and his tears had run across the blood on his face. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, likely dreading the terrible thing he had to do. I bit my lower lip, and looked away. What would happen next would be something I did not want to see.

Before he crushed Big Macintosh with his forcefield, Shining Armor told him something he probably should have reminded him from the beginning. He said, in a heartbroken whisper, "I love you." With that, the forcefield was shrunk to the size of a bowling ball, completely destroying Big Macintosh. Then it disappeared with a quiet "pop", and Big Macintosh...

...Big Macintosh was gone.

It felt like an hour had passed after that moment. Even though he wasn't the Big Macintosh I knew, I felt like the world had just lost something important. Like I had just lost something important. Like... Like Shining Armor had just lost something important.

He shook, then knelt, then wept. Everypony he loved had finally been taken from him. His parents, his sister, his wife, his best friend... he was all alone now. I crawled over to him, my hind legs protesting my progress. I held his front hooves, and we locked eyes.

Not knowing what else to say, I said, "I'm so sorry."

Shining Armor had that look in his eyes again, that look he had when we first met in this dimension. Like he wanted to hurt me for not being there for him. His self-loathing and contempt for every other living thing. But suddenly, it broke. He bowed his head and his body shook.

Then, in a flash of light, as if the universe itself were issuing a vicious insult, his cutie mark (that shining shield he was so proud of in my timeline) appeared on his flank. He looked at it. The irony of it all. Protecting a mare he didn't really know beyond how much she resembles his dead sister. Killing his best friend to protect her. Nothing made sense to him anymore.

So he laughed. He laughed so he wouldn't cry.

I joined him.

Next Chapter: 24. And Now, For Somepony Completely Different Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 10 Minutes