Their push seemed unstoppable. With no further creatures from the beyond leaping at them, they reached a door that wasn't even there anymore.

Dark scowled. "This was..." It made sense to her in a flash. "The nexus was damaged with the removal of the door. This is... literally my fault."

"It is not yours to bear alone." The voice came from above them and made them all start.

Hanging above them, bound in pallid fleshy pink tendrils that seemed to be drawing the blood from it, was the yeti. "I delivered my share of damage. I may be dying, but I will not allow another to claim my actions." The tendrils lashed through its fur, penetrating the flesh beneath. Darker red blood seemed to pulse through them all in fitful, twitching jerks.

Tabitha cringed at the terrifying mess the stoic guardian had become. Its flesh was exposed in many places, a pale blue color under the white fur, no longer dense in even the places where it remained in part. "Dear fucking god!" Her first instinct was to start cutting it down, but would that help or hurt? "Hold on, we'll help."

Bubbles glanced to Dark. "What's your vote? You're the one most likely to know what to do about... that." She threw her head towards the ugly sight above them. "Ain't seen nothin' like that on the street. You see somepony that messed up, they're either already dead, or you call the doctor and wish 'em well."

Horpip clapped Spring on the back. "It's time to put our training to work."

Spring rose a brow at him. "We are not that familiar... But yes, let's free him from this foul taint."

Dark moved out of the way of the two bipeds as they advanced, her thoughts torn and confused.

Internally, Paul's portion of her mind chastised her. ~You messed up, it happens. You say you're sorry and you make it better.~

~Warlocks don't make mistakes, not this big.~

~Just like Warlocks pretend they didn't help when they did? You know Tabitha probably isn't a total moron, right? You owe them the truth. They can handle it.~

Horpip drew out a pipe and had it lit with a snap of his fingers. "I won't make any lies. This will almost assuredly hurt like the fires of hell itself, but you'll be alive."

The yeti nodded down at them. "Do as you must. Should it fail, place my body in the snow of my room before terminating our agreement." The pain was clearly already terrible. His words came slow and precisely, forced out from his tortured body. His eyes darted, spotting Tabitha, and the spear she carried. "You--"

His words were cut off as Spring raised her hands, glowing brilliant with the green energy that gave her the name the eldritch being had used before. The power flowed upwards into the air, coiling with the smoke from the pipe and flowing over the yeti's form quickly. The tendrils tensed and shoved inwards, penetrating the yeti even more savagely. It could do little more than give a strangled cry that was worryingly quiet for its size.

Horpip scowled as he gave a puff of smoke like an angry engine. "The damn thing's magic is even fouler than the rest. It's got you deep, lad. We aren't through the hard part."

Spring was stoic as she moved in a slow dance, words coming from her mouth in no English tongue, but a song of her people as she tried to work her magic past the tendrils, to save and liberate the pinned form above them.

Despite their concentrated effort, they shoved deeper and deeper.

With a sudden spasm, the yeti coughed blood into the mixture of magics. "Caretaker!" it boomed despite its ruined state. "Give that spear... to your protector."

Horpip huffed out more smoke. "Shut yer damn mouth! We're working here." The two spellweavers were perspiring from the effort involved, but the tendrils would not relent. Deeper and deeper they pushed.

The yeti suddenly came apart. Like a grotesque meat display, legs, arms, bits of torso and its head came down all in separate pieces. The magic, having no one to try to work around, crushed the patch of tendrils suddenly, spraying blood and ichor over the remains.

They had failed.

Dark trembled in place, gaping at the horrifying mess of what had been a strange, infuriating, but undoubtedly honorable warrior. "It's my fault..." There was no one left to share the blame. Hot tears began to well in her eyes. In all her years of duty, she had never been responsible for such a terrible end. To think it was all a mistake. A horrible, awful mistake that she could never take back. "My fault..."

Bubbles suddenly cuffed Dark across the snout with a hoof. "Shut up!"

Dark blinked with surprise, startled from her sudden swirling emotional pit. "What?" She fell back on old training and stepped forward, tall and proud. "Who are you to speak that way to me?"

Bubbles pointed to herself. "Well, to start, I was the guard here first. Being the senior officer and all, I take the damn blame. I shoulda stopped it, and I didn't, so there. Shut up." She huffed angrily at Dark. "We ain't done here. We got a freaky squid thing in there--" Bubbles pointed towards the doorway that seemed to lead to a void. "--We're going to go in there, finish this, and fix the damn door. That's what he'd want, right? Let's not flip this at the last second."

Horpip slowly put his pipe away after wiping it clean of the spray of their failure. "I thought we had that..."

Spring slowly let her hands drop to her side. "I... thought so as well..."

Tabitha reached out, placing a hand on either of their shoulders, the spear left against the wall a moment. "Look, you tried. Now's not the time for blaming. You tried."

A gasp made them turn.

Dark had suddenly stepped forward. Her magic grabbed Bubbles and pulled her closer as she went in for a sudden kiss. It was brief, but lip to lip.

Bubbles was left going red in her cheeks. "What was... that for? Was that you, Paul?"

Dark shook her head slowly. Had it been? She hadn't felt him seizing control. Why had she done that? Why... "We should discuss this... later."

~You like her too, I see.~

~You did that!~

~I said I'd pay attention to protecting you. I'm not breaking that promise.~

Tabitha went back for her spear, hefting its considerable mass in her hands. "They had a dying wish." She held out the spear in both hands. "Bubbles?"

Bubbles blinked rapidly, putting the kiss aside. "Me!?" She went red, realizing what it meant. "I'm your protector? Like, for reals?"

Tabitha gave a tired smile. "If you accept it. I know we've had our spats, but I trust you to grow."

Bubble's horn glowed brightly as she wrapped the spear in her power and hefted it up. "Damn this is heavy..."

Dark smiled a little. "Practice with it. You'll strengthen your grip in time. I'll spar with you, when this is finished. Come, we have one more hurdle to overcome, and maybe a pony to rescue while we're at it."

Spring gestured at the mess she was partially responsible for. "Let's make sure it turns out better."

Horpip snorted. "I'll drink to that." Which is exactly what he did, drawing out a flask and taking a quick pull before offering it up to the rest of the party. Without more words, each took a sip of the powerful drink.

It could very well be the final one they'd have.