Taz had no choice but to stop when he reached the eastern half of Night River. He wanted to run farther, he wanted to escape everything. He just could not. Despite any desire he might have had, his body would go no farther. The mind was willing but the flesh was weak.

He collapsed next to the edge of the river and what he wished for more than anything else right then was that he could take a drink. Sadly the river was more salt water than fresh. It would not be healthy to drink even for someone in his state.

Off in the distance he could see Foal Mountain, the tips capped with snow that promised at least freshwater to drink. It was only a few miles, but to Taz it might as well have been on the other side of Equestria

A splash caught his attention. Several fish were working their way upstream.

‘Did you really carve this river, mom?’ Taz thought about it, it seemed almost unreal that Rainbow would be able to create this, that she’d be able to cut a gorge across Equestria like this. However, if one mare could do something like this, it would be her.

Thoughts of his mom only served to exacerbate his mood. Gone was the smile at how awesome his mom was, only to be replaced with depression that he would never see her again. ‘When Night tells them…’

Such thoughts were unfounded, unwarranted, and unjustified. Yet he could not stop thinking them, of the horrid looks his parents would have on their faces when Night told them, of how disappointed they would be when they found out.

His thirteen year old mind could not help but assume the worst case scenario. Briefly, he considered climbing into the river and simply letting its current wash him downstream.

‘Maybe I’d end up with my brother’, despite the implications of such thoughts, he could not help but smile. ‘Dayspring Gleam, the brother I never knew.’

He rolled over while looking up at the sky and wondered for the thousandth time what he was like. Taz had heard stories, but they never painted the true picture.

‘Maybe I will. After all, what’s the point of continuing?’ when the thought entered his head, he could not stop thinking it. It was a simple solution, after a fashion anyway. The idea and the possibility of finally meeting his lost brother, of being by his side, even in death, it had an attraction that he could not fully describe.

The longer he thought about it, the more he wanted it. The more he wanted it, the longer he thought about it.

‘Freak’

His mind was made for him. ‘I’m coming brother, after all, why stay?’

“What the buck!” it was as if the universe itself gave him his answer. As at that moment a pegasus cried out from above as the unfortunate flyer entered the area of effect of Taz’s power. He could not help but look up at that noise.

“Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!” The dark blue mare shouted as she angled her descent into the river, creating a huge splash as she hit the surface of the water hard.

To Taz’s horror, two thoughts went through his mind at that point. The first and most prevalent was that the mare did not come back up, the second was that it was a mare he knew. “Nighttide!” he shouted as he dove in after her, his own fatigue and thoughts of ending it were forgotten. He had a friend to save, that came first and foremost.

The water chilled him to the core. He felt the rapid current push at him, forcing him along the rocks. Diving under, Taz willed his body to continue; the adrenaline pumping through his veins gave him all the strength he needed.

He spotted her in the distance, her dark coloring stood out easy enough in the water. She was unconscious being dragged along by the current. Several times Taz would cringe as he saw her body scrape along rocks or crash against the shoreline only to be forced back.

Taz forced his limbs to move, he forced them to push himself along the current; propelling himself along in order to catch up to his fallen friend. Despite his best attempts, he could not stop the water from entering his mouth. His need for oxygen was quickly winning versus his attempts to hold his breath; something that his bruised rib did not help with.

His luck turned when she was momentarily stopped by a rock at the edge. He grabbed onto her hoof and pulled her body to his, gasping for breath as he lead them both to the surface.

The trip to the shoreline was a lot harder. The adrenaline in his system was wearing off, his oxygen starved muscles protested every time he pushed himself and the soaking wet pegasus another inch towards the shoreline.

It was with a final herculean effort that he tossed the pegasus onto the shore. At that point his muscles gave out on him. No more could he fight the current than fight his need for breath. He let it take him, his final thought before closing his eyes was, ‘At least I did one thing right’.

………..

He went nowhere. Surprised caused him to inhale another lungful of water. “Oh no you don’t!” Nighttide shouted as she held onto the stallion’s back hoof.

She caught the stallion just in the nick of time, one second later and he would have been swept away. She yanked back as hard as she could, pulling Taz to the shoreline where he rolled over and coughed up the water he had inhaled.

Nighttide made several attempts to stand, but it was all for naught. She settled for crawling over to his side. “Thanks.”

He finished hacking up a lung, “You… you can see me?”

“Now I can, I had no idea you were here when I flew over. I guess you were practicing with your power or something?”

“Or something,” Taz repeated, “What, what are you doing out here anyway?”

“I could ask you the same question,” Nighttide rolled over on her side and lay next to the stallion.

“I asked you first.”

“Fair enough. My dad wanted to see me over at Foal Mountain, I was just flying back from there actually.”

“I thought you said he was in town?”

“He is, was, it’s... it’s complicated. He never stays anywhere for long, I consider him close by if I can get to him in a day’s travel.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Nighttide looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s gotta be tough, living on your own like that.” Taz’s melancholy took ahold. “I’m not sure I could ever live like that….” He did not know if he could, or if it was even worth trying. Thoughts of the river came back to his mind.

“I think you could,” Nighttide said with a small smile. “You’d be surprised what you can live through, provided you have good friends anyway.”

“Friends… yeah.”

“Your turn,” Nighttide poked him in the stomach.

“For what?”

“What are you doing out here? I don’t see anyone else with you and we’re pretty far from Canterlot. Did they drop you off to practice alone?”

“Oh, that… I don’t want to talk about it,.” Taz rolled over to his side.

“Too bad, it’s your turn.”

“You’re not going to drop it are you?”

“Nope,” Nighttide said with a chipper smile, one that faded when she noticed the bruise on his side, “What happened?”

Taz looked down, “Oh, that. Yeah, it hurts a little.”

“Was that from saving me?”

“It was my fault that you crashed, so I wouldn’t say I saved you, but no. I had that before I got here.”

“What happened?”

“I guess you’ll find out eventually. My sister and I got into a fight. It was a bad one,” Taz looked downcast at that.

“Didn’t your parents stop it?”

“No, they weren’t there. It was dumb but some things were said. Some things that I never wanted to come out into the light were brought up.”

“What?” Nighttide sat up at that. She knew Taz was keeping some secrets from her, she had known that much for a while, but this was the first time she had heard anything of it. “Taz, if everyone knows I’m going to find out soon enough. Whatever it is I’d rather hear it from you.”

It was simple logic, the best arguments usually are. “I… I’m in love with my sister, Aurora.”

Nighttide did her best to hide her surprise at that. ‘So that’s why…’

“I know it’s wrong, but I can’t help how I feel. I was hoping it would go away, that it was just a silly crush or something. I kept telling myself she’s my sister; I’m not supposed to feel that way about her. That’s what I tell myself anyway.”

“We don’t control who we love Taz, trust me, I know what it’s like to love someone you shouldn’t,” when Nighttide said those words, it was with the tone of someone that had experience with that issue. Taz could not help but notice.

“You’re talking about me, aren’t you?” he had always suspected that she loved him, he even admitted as much to Sunshine, but this was the first they talked about it.

“You big dummy,” Nighttide bopped him on the nose, “Of course I’m talking about you. We’ve spent the last eight years doing everything together. Who else would I love?”

“Why aren’t you supposed to have feelings for me?”

“My father wouldn’t like it,” Nighttide said with a sigh.

“Yeah, well I’ll just have to kick his flank then.”

“I’d like to see that,” it came off as a joke, but to Nighttide it was anything but, “So I’m guessing Night outed you?”

“Yeah, in front of everyone, my whole family. She told me I can never show my face again without getting looks of disgust from everyone I met.”

“She’s a bitch.”

“Yeah, but the damage is done, I can’t go home again. Sure my moms might not know, but they will soon enough.”

“What makes you think Twilight and Rainbow wouldn’t want you back?”

“Well…” now that he thought about it, he really did have no reason to think that, “They probably would, I just… I just can’t. What’s the point of going back if only two ponies would want you back?”

“What are you going to do?”

“There are some questions you really don’t want the answer too.”

“Taz.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

Nighttide sighed, ‘boys can be so dense at times’, “Never mind.”

They both lay in an uncomfortable silence after that, neither really wanting to say the next thing. In the end it was Nighttide that broke it, “You should come meet my family.”

“You know I was just joking when I said I’d kick your dad’s flank for you.”

She laughed, “Yeah, I know, but now seems like a good time.”

“It would have been a good time five years ago,” Taz joked; Nighttide lightly popped him in his bruised rib for that one, “Hey, that hurts!”

“Yeah, that was kind of the point.”

“That’s how you treat the pony that saved your life?”

“Well, being that per your admission it was your fault in the first place, yeah.”

“Using my own words against me?” Taz glared at her.

“Yep, now quit stalling, do you want to meet them or not?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“But what?”

“I’m not sure how fast I can travel right now,” Taz gestured to the bruise on his side.

“Don’t worry, I have a shortcut.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Taz,” Nighttide’s expression changed, gone was the mare that was just looking to tell a joke, just looking to have fun at his expense. In its place was one that was serious, “I’ll take you, but I need to know, do you trust me?”

“What kind of question is that?” Taz sat up in uncertainty at this change of events.

“I need to know, this trip, what happens, it’ll be… strange. You’re going to see some odd stuff, things you’ve never seen before. I need you to trust me. So, do you?”

“Nighttide, you’re scaring me.”

“Do you trust me?”

Taz thought about it, this… this was different, this was strange. He had never seen Nighttide act like this before. “I… Nighttide,” Taz looked her in the eye, “I do trust you.”

Nighttide almost cried when he said those words, ‘I just hope you remember that’. “Let’s go,” she stated as she got up and started walking towards a nearby tree.

“I told you I’m not going to be able to make it far.”

“And I told you I know a shortcut,” she said back with a smile.

He groaned and got to his feet, his knees buckling as he put pressure on his legs to make himself stand. “Nighttide, I don’t think I’m going anywhe-“

His sentence was cut off as soon as she pressed her body to his, supporting his weight on his own, “Put your hoof around me.”

He did as he was instructed. They were both soaking wet and cold, however, at that moment, he could not help but feel a sense of warmth, “Thanks.”

“No problem,” she looked away before he could see her blush and started walking forward.

“You know, you seemed really cool about it.”

“What, the whole you love your sister thing?”

“Yeah, that. I’d figured you’d be yelling at me or something.”

“Taz, you know how I feel about you. I… I could never yell at you for having feelings for someone, it wouldn’t be right.”

“My sister sure didn’t see it that way.”

“Night… she was probably just venting on you about Ana.”

“What about Ana?” Taz asked as the pair hobbled along.

“You really are dumb, aren’t you?”

“Shut up and answer the question.”

“Ana loves you too.”

“What?” Taz stopped, he had never noticed that before, “No she doesn’t, we’re just friends.”

Nighttide laughed, “Wow, stallions can be so dumb at times. Taz, think about it, think about how much she hangs on your every word, about how she’s different around you. Tell me that’s just friends behaviour for someone like her.”

“I… I…” Taz drew a blank on what to say, it was as if someone just dropped a bombshell on his mind, “How did I not notice?”

“Probably because of how you felt about Aurora, we tend to put blinders on for everyone but the one we love. By the way, great choice. I mean I’m not interested in mares myself, but if I was, she’d be in my fantasies too.”

“Oh, you fantasize a lot?”

Nighttide blushed at that, “No!” she said a little too defensively.

“Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

“You want me to drop you?”

“Ok, I’ll let it go, if you answer me one question. You don’t have to answer it but if you don’t, that’s kind of answering it. Do you fantasize about me?”

When she did not answer, Taz found himself blushing. He found himself with a new outlook on his relationships after that talk. Looking back at his memories, he saw the way Ana would hang on his every word, the way she was when it was just the two of them, he saw it all in a different light. He also started seeing Nighttide a little different.

Nighttide interrupted his musings, “We’re here.”

Taz looked around, “Nighttide, this is just a tree.”

“I told you, you need to trust me.”

“I do.”

She looked at him, a serious expression on her face. “I need you to remember that, okay. Some things are going to happen. Please, please remember that,” there was desperation in her voice when she said those last words.

“Nighttide, I don’t think this is such a good idea.”

“Taz, you were about to kill yourself, weren’t you?”

He jerked his head back. Nighttide merely continued. “What’s going to happen, it needs to happen, but you gotta trust me. Look at it this way; you’ve got nothing to lose by trying.”

He closed his eyes and sighed, “I’m guessing you won’t just tell me?” she shook her head, “Okay, let’s get this over with then.”

Taz’s eyes went wide as he saw her form suddenly grow darker. Shadows began tracking from her own and spread up the tree, crisscrossing each other in an intricate pattern that spoke of someone very familiar with magical rituals.

“What…?” Taz tried to find the words, nothing came out as he watched a pegasus use magic for the first time in his life.

It was over before he realized it, a pony-sized portal was open up in the tree. A cold wind blew from inside and bit at Taz’s bones. He got the distinct feeling that this was a bad idea, a very, very bad idea.

“Let’s go,” Nighttide said as she started walking the pair forward. Every rational part of Taz told him not to, it told him to go back, that the river was less of a threat than stepping through that portal.

’You gotta trust me.’

The words kept replaying in his mind. It left him with the distinct impression that she had to do this, she had to get him through that portal. ‘Buck it,’ Taz thought.

He went with her.

…………………

What surprised him the most was the size of the room he stepped into. The walls seemed to go up forever, so much so a fully grown dragon would have been able to stand without issue. Pillars lined the walls, each of them decorated with macabre posters and artworks. None of which he wanted to look at.

The cold, he knew from the wind blowing from the portal that it would be cold, however, that knowledge did nothing to prepare him for actually being in it. The water on his fur froze to his body, chilling his bones and rattling his teeth.

Nighttide wrapped a wing around him and brought him in close. The wing brought with it warmth that did little to help overall, yet raised his body temperature just enough for him to be grateful for it.

“He’s here; you can light the torches,” Nighttide spoke out to the other side of the room. While it was not dark, it definitely was not bright. He could not see whoever she was talking too.

That all changed when the torches around the room lit up. If he thought the room was massive before, this put that to shame. It went on for as far as his eye could see.

“Prince Taz, I take it?” a voice echoed from the other side of the room. Taz could barely make out a throne from where the voice originated.

“I take it that’s our destination,” Taz said through chattering teeth.

“Yeah,” Nighttide squeezed her wing around the stallion, causing him to be pressed even closer to her as she did so. His mind noticed that despite the freezing temperature, she seemed warm, “Remember what I told you.”

“Trust you, I remember,” Taz whispered the words as they walked down the hallway. “Is… is he really your father?”

“Sadly, yes.”

“Is he going to kill me?”

“What? No, I can assure you that no harm will come to you.”

Somehow, that did little to calm his nerves.

Before it should have been possible, they crossed the distance to the throne. Taz did a double take, then a triple wondering how they covered so much ground so quickly. He quickly gave up before he drove himself insane. Looking at the pony that had called out to him, Taz could not help but feel a little intimidated. The pony was massive, easily the size of Shimmering Night. He was blood red with green scales running down his back. From his current position, Taz was unable to see his cutie mark.

On either side of him sat another pony, on his left was a white earth pony with a dark blue mane. His cutie mark was that of an hourglass that’s sand dropped in both directions. On the other side of the unicorn was a green pegasus with a sky-blue mane. His cutie mark was of a pony’s head being bombarded with waves.

“I have waited so long to meet you, Prince Taz. I cannot begin to express my gratitude that you’re finally here. That my daughter did not fail to bring you.”

Taz glared at Nighttide at that comment. She merely mouthed ‘Trust me’. He nodded, whatever this was, she had to make it happen. He looked back at the red unicorn, “Nighttide’s father I take it?”

The red unicorn smiled a toothy grin at him. “Yes, you could call me that. Allow me to introduce my two brothers,” he gestured a hoof to his right, “this is Mindsink, and the other is Timespire. They help me raise Nighttide for quite some time.”

“And your name is?”

He laughed, “I will make you this promise Prince Taz: I shall only tell you the truth. However, that is something that I will not tell you.”

“What?”

“Prince Taz, names have power, the more that know your name, the less of it you have.”

“That’s a lame excuse,” Taz raised an eyebrow, “We use names to refer to someone, to refer to what something is, not to have power over something.”

“How naïve you are. However, we’re not here to discuss me, rather, we’re here to discuss you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you are special, young prince, very special.”

“How so?”

If anything, the unicorn’s smile just seemed to grow at that comment, his two brothers chuckled a little themselves, “Control is made from knowing what we have and what we want; power is having something someone else wants but cannot have. You, Prince Taz, you’re in a unique position. A position no one else in this world can claim, you have power over me.”

Taz’s eyes went wide at that. He watched the unicorn smirk as he sat on the throne, “Now you know why I wanted this meeting, why I wanted my daughter to bring you to me. I wish to… correct this situation we find ourselves in.”

“What could I possibly have that you want?” Despite the cold, and the obvious power that radiated from this pony, none of it impressed Taz. He was used to dealing with ponies that most would consider insanely powerful. What he was not used to was one of them wanting something from him. That was a new development to say the least.

The unicorn chuckled, “Let me ask, do you know of the four Gods?”

“You mean Gaia, Eros, Tartarus, and Chaos? Yeah, my mom taught me all about them.”

“What do you know about their nature?”

“What do you mean?”

“Gaia, she is the God of Life and Magic,” the unicorn paused to let Taz continue.

“Eros is the God of Love, Tartarus was the God of Death, and Chaos is the God of Change,” Taz rambled off the rest of the deities, “Like I said, my mom taught me all about them.”

“I have no doubt that she did; did she tell you that they hate each other?”

“Yeah, she told me that the first time she saw all four together they almost destroyed the Crystal Palace from a stupid augment.”

“Consider that Prince Taz,” the unicorn smiled, every time he called the young stallion by his title he took joy in the obvious discomfort it caused him, “Tartarus the God of Death, the God that commanded the force of death itself, he hated his brother and sisters. Gaia, the God of Life and Magic, the God that commands all of magic, she fought with them as well. Chaos, the God of Change, the God responsible for the creation of the universe, he did as well.”

“What’s your point?”

“Patience young one, all things come to those with patience. That is a lesson you would do well to learn. The question for you is simplicity itself. Why didn’t the God of Death simply kill the other three? Why didn’t the God that created the universe simply un-create the others? Why didn’t the God of Magic simply rob the others of their magic?”

“They… they can’t,” Taz took a guess at the answer.

“Correct. They could not. The power of Death did not extend to another God; the power of Magic would not extend to another God’s magic. They might be the most powerful beings in the entire universe, yet their power could not touch another’s.”

“I still don’t see what this has to do with me.”

“Still don’t see it? Very well, don’t worry, we’ll get there. Tell me something first, tell me about your sister.”

“What do you want to know about Aurora?” Taz glared a little at the thought of these beings doing something to his oldest sister. It was an action that did not go unnoticed by the unicorn’s siblings.

“No, the other one.”

“Night? She can take a bucking leap off a cliff for all I care.”

“Yes, that’s the one, tell me about her, tell me about what she is.”

“She’s an alicorn,” Taz was surprised that he did not know that.

“Is that all she is?”

“She’s the Demigoddess of Magic.”

“Bingo, she’s the Demigoddess of Magic, it is her birthright, no?”

“I guess, mom said that she was born with the help of Gaia. That it’s her birthright to command magic. She’s impressive, but I still think mom could take her.”

“So let me ask, if the Gods could not influence the power of another God, what do you suppose about their children?”

“Their kids cannot be affected?” Taz asked.

“Exactly, a God is immune to another God’s control; a God’s immediate offspring is immune to another God’s control as well.”

“So, Chaos can’t affect my sister?”

“Indeed, each God’s power is absolute; to be absolute it must be infallible. While they can and have fought each other, they are unable to affect each other. Not when it comes to what they command.”

“I still don-“ Taz shut his mouth, his mind was finally understand what this unicorn was getting at.

“There it is; there is the crux of why you have power over me, why you are special. You can do what nothing else in the entire universe is able, what not even a God is capable of doing. You, Prince Taz, you can cancel out a God’s magic power.”

“I… I… I…” he could not find the words.

“As I promise you Prince Taz that is the truth; the reason why you are the only one that can claim power over me, as you are the only one that has something I want.”

“Why would you want that?”

“What, did you believe that your sister is the only Demigod in the universe?”

“And that’s all I needed to know,” a voice came from behind a pillar. Every set of eyes turned to look at the speaker. Shock and awe was written on every face as they saw a yellow unicorn walk out to face them all.

“Sunshine?” Taz asked, dumbfounded at his sudden appearance.

Sunshine playfully ran a hoof through the young stallion’s light blue and purple mane, “You did good kid; I’ll explain everything as soon as I take care of business.”

“Will you,” the unicorn grinned and made to get up. With a wave of his horn, Sunshine cast a powerful enchantment over the throne. To the unicorn’s shock, it blocked his path. He lightly tapped it with a hoof, testing a theory about what was cast, “Hmm, a triple-layer reverse magic inverse enchantment. Very clever, time-consuming, and specific,” he glared at his daughter when he said that last word. Nighttide found she could not meet her father’s gaze, “It won’t hold me forever.”

“I don’t need to hold you forever, just long enough to rescue these two,” Sunshine replied.

Laughter could be heard from the other two in the room, “Like it matters, we’ll deal with this upstart,” Mindsink said with a grin.

“Yeah, leave him to us,” Timespire said as he walked forward.

The unicorn relaxed back in his throne, “Very well, I’ll leave him to you two.”

Sunshine grinned as the two approached. “Oh, I’m going to enjoy this,” he said with a smile.

Author's Notes:

Control is made from knowing what we have and what we want; power is having something someone else wants but cannot have.

Extra points if you know where this came from.