Alright, so important thing I learned from Ubbo-Sathla—or, Ubbo-Sathla's giant stone slabs anyway.

Turns out, chaos spirits aren't all that common in the multiverse, even the Lesser variants. Well, okay, that's not entirely true. Within the cosmic scale of the infinite multiverse, there's an infinite number of them, but they're a rare breed within most universes they reside in. In this universe alone, there are maybe six or seven, and most of them are hanging out at the center of the universe with Azathoth.

Hell, one of those was Discord, and he fucked off to another Equestria in another universe after sneaking out of the Daemon Sultan's domain. Again. That said, not all chaos spirits are the same type of entity, and not all are made equal. In fact, most are wildly different and come about through wildly different circumstances—though my particular circumstances are a surprisingly common occurrence, apparently. Humans and other humanoid races becoming chaos spirits, I mean.

If I had to put a percentage on it, I'd say about 30% of chaos spirits are born from other races rather than natural formation through coalescence of free-floating chaotic energy. The rest are formed through the coalescence of that chaotic energy, but some rare exceptions exist. Discord is one of those rare exceptions in that it was directly formed from the Nuclear Chaos that is Azathoth specifically to entertain the Daemon Sultan as part of its twisted court of dancing, flute-playing tentacular horrors.

Basically, the draconequus was a jester made to entertain an eternally sleeping god. At least, this Discord was. Not sure about those in other universes or the one that started me on this fucked up journey through the multiverse. Other than that, you don't see too many chaos spirits gathered in one place too often outside of Azathoth's court or places like the Immaterium, and for good reason. The 40k universe is a pretty good example of what happens when multiple powerful chaos spirits are allowed to exert their influence unchecked.

I'm kind of flexing some of the knowledge I gained during my little jaunt through time here, but there is a point to this explanation. That point being that each chaos spirit has its own unique brand of chaos magic based on a few different factors. Most of the time, the chaos magic that manifests depends on the concept the chaos spirit resonates with the most. There are a few other minor factors like intent and overall personality, but it's mostly about concept resonance.

Taking Discord as an example once more, he was purpose-built to be a big eldritch clown and thus, the nature of his chaos magic is "whimsy". It doesn't have to be just one concept, either. You could say that the nature of Kefka's chaos magic is "nihilism" and "madness" or it could be interpreted as "destruction" and "despair" (and yes, evidently Kefka's god form is that of a chaos spirit—specifically a chaos lord).

Or you could say the Tzeentch's chaos magic embodies the concepts of "manipulation" and "change", the latter of which could also be shared by Discord. By now, I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this and why I was so excited despite my worry for Twilight and confusion about what was happening. Now that I was a budding young chaos spirit, I, too, had a concept I would resonate with and a chaotic nature to discover. I wasn't sure what it would be yet, and the flashlight I'd conjured wasn't really an indication of anything.

That was more intent and desperation along with my human sensibilities and a lack of knowledge than anything else. Now my chaotic instincts had more or less awakened, and any chaos magic I did would display my chaotic nature prominently. I wouldn't know what it was exactly until I actually attempted to cast a spell, but I couldn't wait to find out. This excitement was, naturally, tempered by current circumstances.

I wanted to get Twilight back from whoever took her, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to using my own personal chaos magic to do it now that I knew what I was doing, for the most part. I was so eager that I almost attempted to try and teleport out of the ritual chamber rather than simply exit through the doorway. A few things stopped me from going for it. The main thing was that a gut feeling told me I wasn't powerful enough to do that just yet—at least not farther than maybe three meters or so.

The other thing was that I was fairly sure it wasn't a good idea to just teleport without knowing where you were going. The last factor was that, as I made it back to the antechamber, I found yet another familiar pony sprawled across the floor near the entrance to the elevator room. Having a gesture like snapping one's fingers wasn't strictly necessary to activate a chaos magic spell, but it did help a bit as a focus.

This was especially true when starting out as a lesser chaos spirit and I saw no reason to make things harder for myself at the moment. So, following along with what was easier for now, I clenched a fist and agitated a bit of my weirdly sluggish chaotic energy. It took a second, but the energy finally stirred and when it did, it was nothing like the balloon-popping sensation from when I first tried to cast a spell.

That was weird, but this sensation was just... hard to describe. Well, how I felt about it was hard to describe, anyway. When I channeled my chaos magic this time, it felt like thousands of tiny, ice-cold tendrils were stretching out of my body from some kind of central core within me and pulling at the world around me. No, not at the world, but rather the cosmic fabric that made up the world—the underpinnings of reality.

Definitely something I'd have to get used to going forward, but I couldn't say I was disappointed with the results. I'd wanted to try teleporting the short distance between the ritual chamber and the door to the elevator room, and teleport I did. When the spell activated, there was a brief sound like thousands of frantic whispering voices in my ear before the world ripped itself open around me, and I suddenly found myself at my intended destination near the elevator room.

For a moment I just stood there, staring blankly at the door before me as I tried to process what I'd just done. I wasn't a fan of the cold sensation that washed over me, but neither was it entirely unpleasant. The "aftertaste" of using the magic was a bit like taking a good long drink of ice-cold water after walking around outside under the Arizona sun in peak summer weather for three hours. Eventually, I turned to look at where I'd been standing before and saw... nothing. No sign that I'd just torn the world open only a few seconds ago.

Well, that's a relief. For a second I thought I broke something fundamental. Not gonna think too hard about the whispers. Pretty sure that's a normal chaos magic thing.

Probably.

Now that I'd successfully cast my first true chaos magic spell—not counting the flashlight incident—I found I was... not as ecstatic as I thought I'd be. I was satisfied with the outcome, sure, and I definitely recognized how awesome it was that I had the power of the cosmos in the palm of my hand, if to an extremely limited degree for now, but I wasn't exactly jumping for joy at the prospect either. Maybe it was another effect of how my mind worked now. Maybe my journey through time and the sight of Ubbo-Sathla had numbed me somewhat to the experience. Maybe, I was just getting used to the insanity that was my life now.

Maybe it was the fact that Twilight had been kidnapped, and I was more worried about that than anything else. In any case, I wasn't complaining. I had shit to do and couldn't afford to get all starry-eyed at my newfound power. What did bug me, though, was the fact that I couldn't get a proper read on the nature of my chaos magic—not with just that one spell, at any rate. I thought it would just click, but it didn't. Still, I had a few ideas about the nature and concept based on what happened, but nothing concrete yet.

There was also my sluggish chaos energy. What should have been instantaneous took about half a second which, granted isn't really slow but, now that I was much more in tune with my chaos energy it was extremely noticeable—like a minor itch in the back of my mind. That I could just chalk up to my still partially human body getting used to moving chaos energy around within it.

But then I thought about the re-deployable chaos nuke Discord had sealed inside me. It was still there, and I still had no way of dealing with it. Sure I knew more about what it was, but that didn't mean I knew everything about what the draconequus had done. Even if I did, Discord was a chaos lord. A good three or so spirit ranks above me, who wasn't even a proper lesser chaos spirit yet. Maybe Twilight could still do something, but I didn't have the finesse or power to just outright remove the thing right now.

I shook my head and decided not to worry too much about it for now. Instead, I looked down at the cloaked pony lying beside me, blinked, then frowned as I got a better look at who it was.

"Cozy Glow?"

It was indeed the filly who lay before me, looking very much like a broken doll. I knelt to get a better look and confirmed that she wasn't bleeding, but the cloak had shifted to reveal limbs bent in ways I didn't think they were supposed to bend. Her scarlet eyes were glazed and unseeing, and I was honestly ready to write the filly off as dead. That was until those eyes suddenly snapped over to look directly at me.

"Jesus fuck!" I cried, scrambling back a bit in shock, "You're alive?!"

In response, Cozy Glow's broken limbs started snapping back in place. It wasn't long before she was rising back to her hooves again as she replied in a familiar eerie monotone, "Debatable, but not important. I've received my orders from Lady Luna and there is no time to waste on lengthy explanations."

"But you'll give me some kind of explanation, right?" I asked as I watched the filly briskly make her way over to the massive dormant spell circle in the middle of the antechamber, "like maybe who took Twilight, and where they went? I don't know anything about the layout of this place. And where's Moon... Dancer... oh..." I paused as the realization hit me, "Oh shit... did she—"

"A traitor and an accomplice, but not the primary culprit," Cozy Glow replied mechanically as she stopped at the center of the spell circle and turned to face me, "Come, Salvatore, I have been granted the authority to move you as close as possible to where Twilight has likely been taken."

I frowned, but did as she said even as I asked, "Okay, sure, but why did Moon Dancer just up and decide to help nab Twilight? And who was the actual culprit if not her?"

"I'm unsure of how she was able to break into this place, but it was Pinkamena who was ultimately responsible for incapacitating me, assaulting my Lady, and dispersing the last remnants of the fallen Sun Princess."

My brows rose at the reveal, "Seriously? Pinkie? Well... that... actually makes a bit of sense I guess. If anyone was gonna make it down here and go psycho killer and kidnap Twilight, it would be her. A bit obvious actually, but at least I know who to look for."

Cozy Glow nodded once before speaking again, "As for the answer to your other question, I can't say for sure why Moon Dancer chose to aid Pinkamena rather than defend our Lady. My only guess for why either of them acted the way they did is due to their lingering feelings about how things ended with our Equestria's Twilight."

"Of course, it would be like that. Pinkie I could understand, but Moon Dancer?" I shook my head in disappointment, "Guess it doesn't matter. What's next? Where do I need to go?"

"This is an emergency exit of sorts that leads to most areas within the Crystal Caverns," Cozy Glow explained as she gestured to the inactive spell circle beneath us with a hoof, "I will use it to send you to the audience chamber. It's likely there that you will find Moon Dancer, Pinkamena, and Twilight Sparkle."

Ah... so that's Pinkie's game. A public execution of the mare that destroyed the world.

"Fuck, how did she even find out Twilight was here? Did Moon Dancer rat her out?" I asked before remembering something, "Or, no, wait, was it Sombra?"

"I'm not sure," Cozy Glow replied with a shake of her head, "but if I had to guess, I would say the latter. Sombra has eyes and ears all over the Crystal Cavern. It's what allows him to defend us so effectively but he is, at his core, still the villain he always was so it stands to reason that he would cause so much trouble when given the chance. An oversight on my Lady's part I'm afraid."

Yeah, no kidding. Also, you weren't exactly a saint yourself from what I remember.

Then again, Cozy Glow wasn't the one who betrayed Luna and helped kidnap Twilight so what did I know?

It was around that time that I felt... something. I stumbled slightly and clutched a hand to my chest as I was suddenly bombarded by the sensation of being yanked forward. It was kind of like when my consciousness was yanked into the time stream, but at the same time it was a completely different sensation. Rather than my mind being tugged at, the pulling sensation came from...

From that weird core of chaos energy inside me...? What the fuck was that all about?

"Is something wrong, Salvatore?"

I refocused my attention back on Cozy Glow to see her giving me a strange look. I grimaced, trying to decide whether or not I should say anything. The feeling had been strange and intense, but fleeting, lasting no more than half a heartbeat at most.

"Not sure," I eventually replied, "Just... felt something weird. Don't really know how to explain it, but the feeling's gone now."

Cozy Glow eyed me for another moment, her previously blank expression growing oddly pensive as she gave a noncommittal hum. For a second, I thought she might've known what I was talking about and was about to elaborate, but instead, she just shook her head and returned her attention to the large spell circle, her face once more a blank slate.

"Maybe something to look into later, but enough talk for now," Cozy Glow finally replied, "time is a luxury we don't have so I'm activating the array. Once you arrive, the path should be relatively straightforward and given how the ritual affected Twilight, I'm certain you'll have no issues tracking her down even if it turns out they aren't in the audience chamber."

"Wait what?" I couldn't help but bark out, "How did the ritual affect her? And for that matter how are you able to—"

I didn't get the chance to finish my hasty questions before Cozy Glow suddenly stomped a hoof down on the giant spell circle and sent me flashing away in a bright, pale blue beam of light as the circle sprang to life.

All of Twilight's senses flared back to life at once and her eyes snapped open as her body registered the pain blossoming from the sudden and vicious blow to her stomach.

She tried to gasp or cry out in pain, but the air to do either couldn't reach her lungs. Her mind was kicked into overdrive even as the bewildered and disoriented alicorn struggled desperately to catch her breath. The tumultuous thoughts and memories that came flooding into Twilight's mind upon her sudden wake-up call were enough to block out the pain of yet another blow, this one to the side of her face just below the temple. She didn't even register getting enough air to finally cry out as she mentally cataloged the events that had just transpired what felt like only moments ago.

One moment, she'd been watching from the sidelines with more than a little trepidation as Salvatore sat in the center of the ritual circle and Luna began her, frankly disturbing, incantation. Then the air—no, the ambient magic in the air—had started to howl, almost as if it were a sentient being crying out in pain or anger. The ritual circle began to glow a deep red, and the glow only got brighter and brighter as Luna's incantations grew in volume and intensity.

Twilight, who'd gotten a very, very bad feeling about the whole thing, saw that the golden flames in the eye sockets of Celestia's skull had shifted to the same deep red as the blinding light from the ritual circle. The newly minted alicorn hadn't known what to expect or what was going on, but she'd felt compelled to call out to Salvatore, maybe give some kind of warning. That's when she felt her consciousness tear itself from her own body to follow Salvatore's into the past.

She had no control. No time. No chance to prepare herself for what was to come. The process was almost instantaneous and before she could understand what was going on, she was nothing more than an unwilling passenger—an observer watching as Salvatore's consciousness was nearly swallowed up by the relentless river of time. Panicking and desperate once she realized what was happening, Twilight had tried to call out to Salvatore, to stop his existence from being washed away.

To her surprise and immense relief, it had worked. She watched as Salvatore's consciousness stabilized and could feel the moment he regained control of himself. She'd tried calling out to him again, to let him know she was here with him, and she could sense him trying to do the same, but now that Salvatore had come to his senses, it appeared he could no longer hear her voice—if he ever actually could to begin with.

For all Twilight knew, he could have coincidentally come to his senses on his own. She didn't know, but one thing was aware of was the turmoil Sal was feeling as their minds traveled the time stream. Twilight herself was reeling from the experience but kept most of her focus on Salvatore. After all, if his consciousness were to unravel again, they could both cease to exist. Thankfully, the trip had gotten easier to bear as it went on, and even if he couldn't hear her, Salvatore had eventually become aware of her presence.

Twilight wasn't entirely sure how her mind was able to handle the rapid influx of historical knowledge, but she'd chosen to chalk it up to a couple of factors. One was that she was simply a passenger clinging on to Salvatore's consciousness, who was likely taking the brunt of the mental strain. The other was that—much to her frustration—her mind didn't seem to allow her to retain most of the history she saw and experienced alongside her partially human companion. She'd managed to hold onto a bit of the knowledge, but not nearly enough to satisfy her.

And then, before either of them knew it, Twilight and Salvatore had arrived at their destination—at the very birth of the Equestria they'd landed in. It was here that Twilight saw a creature whose size, presence, and very nature defied common sense. The weight of its presence alone was enough to press down on Twilight's consciousness, making it much harder to think, but she fought the pressure regardless.

Twilight didn't have the burgeoning eldritch mentality of a chaotic spirit like Salvatore, but it appeared her enigmatic connection to him afforded some protection from the mental strain of being within Ubbo-Sathla's immediate presence. It was a struggle, but the mare persevered. She had to. She hadn't expected to follow Salvatore to the end—or beginning as it were—but Twilight would be damned if she let this opportunity slip through her hooves.

And so, mustering every bit of mental fortitude she could bring to bear in her metaphysical state, she looked upon the primordial deity. Her gaze scoured the towering amorphous horror until she found it, or rather, them. The stelae. The giant stone slabs upon which the forbidden and occult secrets of the cosmos were inscribed. Twilight saw them, read them, drank them in... and her mind nearly shattered in the process. Had it not been for her ties to Salvatore, Twilight knew she may very well have succumbed to true madness, but as things were, she managed to hold on, albeit just barely.

She absorbed as much eldritch knowledge as she could, willing herself to understand and taking advantage of her connection with Salvatore to compensate for her lacking mental strength. She leaned heavily on that bond, pulled on it for all she was worth just for a chance to comprehend. To know. She needed to know. Whatever she did manage to learn wasn't enough. It was never enough. She wanted more. More knowledge. More understanding. More. More. More. More. More. More—

And then her world went black.

And the next Twilight knew, she was being brutally pummeled from all sides by unknown assailants. The sudden attack drove long-discarded memories of her brother's barrier magic training drills to the forefront of Twilight's mind and she attempted to cast an expanding barrier to push her attackers away and gain some semblance of control over the painful and confusing situation... but the magic wouldn't come.

Try as she might to cast any kind of spell, the mana in her channels wouldn't budge an inch. After a few desperate attempts, all Twilight could do was curl up defensively and weather the endless blows to her limbs, ribs, and back as she tried to make sense of what was going on. Now that she was paying attention, she could hear the countless furious shouts and cries and jeers and curses of what she assumed were ponies all around her. She could hear them taunting her, cursing her name, crying out for her blood, and a cold realization washed over Twilight.

She'd been discovered.

She wasn't sure how or when or why, but somepony beyond the small circle who'd already known she was here had found out about her existence and had, while she'd been unconscious, dragged her before an angry mob to be beaten—likely to death. She was going to die for the sins of her alternate self, and she was helpless to do anything about it. Again. Again. Again she was a victim. Again she'd been dragged into a desperate situation she had no control over. Again her magic had been sealed. Again!

Panic and confusion had turned to horrified realization, but now that realization was quickly turning into anger. Anger at the helplessness. Anger at the injustice. Anger at having lost access to her magic yet again due to forces beyond her understanding or control. The pain of her assault grew more and more distant as Twilight sunk deeper into herself. Deeper into her rage. She didn't have to take this. Not anymore. Twilight had managed to glean much from her transcendental trip through time, and now she had options.

She need not solely rely on her own innate magic.

No, instead, she reached out and found it—that ethereal thread connecting her to Salvatore, binding her magic to his and his to hers. She felt how that paper-thin thread that tied their existences together had become as strong as arcane steel. Twilight wasn't sure if Salvatore himself knew or felt how strong their bond had become, but she certainly did, and with the knowledge she'd gained from enduring against true madness, Twilight grabbed hold of that thread and pulled.

"F-Fuck... off!"

A moment passed where the word seemed to hold its breath, then the earth shuddered. An instant later the ground around Twilight exploded in a mass of thick ethereal magenta tentacles that whipped around the brutalized alicorn in a wide and violent arc. Furious screams and curses turned to shocked, horrified, and agonized cries as Twilight's attackers were sent flying in all directions with enough force and speed that those who hit the surrounding walls didn't get back up.

Free of raining blows and bursting with rage and adrenaline, Twilight wasted no time. Bruised, battered, bleeding, and breathing like overworked bellows, the mare righted herself and, with a pained wince, slowly rose to her hooves. With one eye swollen shut, wings bent out of shape and missing feathers, and a glare that could melt ice, she mustered the strength to raise her head and scan her surroundings.

The cavern was large. Larger and emptier than what she'd seen so far—at least where the decor was concerned. All around the mare, keeping a good distance away with eyes full of fear and hate were ponies. Unicorns, earth ponies, pegasi—even a few crystal ponies here and there. Some were sprawled across or writhing on the ground, their pained moans and broken limbs a clear indication of what Twilight had done in her fit of anger.

Others, those further away near the dark blue cavern walls, simply lay broken and unmoving upon the cold stone beneath them. The rest, those who hadn't been close enough to get caught up in Twilight's counter-assault, were unharmed but gave Twilight a wide berth. The giant luminescent tentacles that had sprung out of the ground to protect the alicorn hadn't disappeared.

They lazily writhed about Twilight in a perfect circle, an obvious threat for anypony who hadn't had enough. Deciding she'd made her point, Twilight dismissed the tentacles with a thought and they sunk back into the ground, which closed up as if the monstrous things had never been. Save for Twilight's heavy breathing and the moans and groans of the injured, the large chamber was deathly silent. Normally, Twilight would've been horrified by what she'd done, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she was.

But bitter defiance, shock at what she'd actually managed to do, and satisfaction that she'd managed to defend herself all won out in the end. Ultimately, try as she might, Twilight couldn't find it in herself to regret what she'd done. Not when they'd left her in such a state and with little choice.

"What's... the matter?" Twilight hissed through gritted teeth as her one good eye scoured the crowd with its baleful gaze, "Thought I'd be... helpless? Thought... sealing my magic... would make me weak? Thought you all... could kill me? No..." she slowly shook her head, "Not... when I was the only one... Not when I was the only one... to survive... I survived... I'm not dying here... I'm not... I c-can't..."

Her last words were quiet, almost muttered as if to herself. Twilight's voice hitched and she lowered her head, not wanting to acknowledge the silent tears spilling down her face, but unable to stop them.

"Playing the victim, huh? Now that's funny!"

Twilight's head snapped back up and toward the large raised stage she'd somehow failed to notice in her anger. There, standing next to the podium atop the stage stood two individuals, both of whom Twilight recognized instantly. Shock and dismay mixed with betrayal to make a bitter cocktail Twilight had to swallow as she looked upon the stoic and manic faces of none other than Moon Dancer and Pinkie Pie.

The eyes behind the thick-rimmed frames of the former mare were cold and pitiless as she gazed down at Twilight. And Twilight, even if she didn't know exactly what she'd done or how she'd done it, needed no explanation for why Moon Dancer had done whatever she'd done. Her gaze was cold, but Twilight could see old, long-buried resentment and bitter regret for past mistakes in those eyes.

She hadn't noticed it before, but now the emotions came through clear as day. When she looked at Twilight, she didn't see the mare dropped into this Equestria without knowing what was happening—she'd never seen that Twilight to begin with. Despite everything she'd said, all Moon Dancer saw was the friend who'd abandoned her to die without even the courtesy of granting her the hidden knowledge or transcendence that had been promised.

And Pinkie...

Twilight wouldn't have recognized the mare if it hadn't been for her familiar pink coat and mulberry mane. She was malnourished—skeletal almost. She was dirty, like she'd been living in the tunnels of a well-used mine shaft for years. Somewhere along the way, the mare had gotten her hooves on some kind of shoddy-looking bandolier full of rusty knives, cleavers, and all other manner of sharp objects meant for butchery and slaughter. But the worst part about Pinkie was her face.

That smile. Those eyes.

And the fangs.

The curtain of her ratty red-pink mane did nothing to hide the madness evident in every facet of her gaunt face. It looked like the mare had filed her teeth into jagged, uneven points—like she was doing her best impression of a shark. Looking at the horrifying state of her friend from another universe, Twilight couldn't help but wonder how the twisted earth pony was allowed to wander so freely through these tunnels.

Her features were hideous, but it was the sheer, unbridled malice in Pinkie's dull cerulean eyes when she looked at Twilight and the glee in her voice when she addressed the alicorn that made Twilight shiver. Despite her wretched appearance, she still sounded just like the Pinkie Twilight had known all those years ago.

"Long time no see, Twilight!" Pinkie continued once she had Twilight's full attention, "It's been sooo~ long!" the mare's manic grin suddenly turned to a pout, "When Sombra told me he'd seen you hanging around I couldn't help but come and visit, y'know? I figured, 'Hey, if Twilight's back in town, why not throw her a welcome home party!', so... I did!"

Her smile returned, "But wowee! You brought your own party favors! I didn't see that coming! I'm actually pretty impressed—"

"Yeah, no, we're not doing this."

And it was around that time that a familiar human-chaos spirit hybrid appeared onstage. Before Twilight or anypony else could comprehend what was happening or who had spoken, Pinkie Pie had fallen to the floor, rolling about the stage and clutching at her head in apparent agony as her piercing screams echoed across the massive chamber.

Moon Dancer, who'd taken a step back in surprise, was simply hoisted into the air as space rippled around her and was flung across the chamber. She hit the far wall with an almost deafening crack, her broken body falling to the ground before she even had a chance to cry out. Twilight, who'd seen all of this happen from start to finish, slowly turned back to the stage where she saw Salvatore making his way to the front of the stage.

"Get them out! Make them stop!" Pinkie screeched as she continued to flail and writhe on the ground, "I don't wanna hear them anymore! Not again! They finally left me alone! Why?! Why did you come back?! Why?!"

Some watched Pinkie's mad ramblings with a mix of shock and horror, but most eyes were on the dark-skinned humanoid as he completely ignored the screaming mare behind him and surveyed the audience chamber. It didn't take long for him and Twilight to lock eyes, and Twilight saw that Salvatore had gone through some changes. He looked the same for the most part. Same dark skin. Same simple black cargo pants, t-shirt, and faux-fur coat.

His eyes and hair were where things had changed. His eyes, once a brown so dark they were practically black, were now a brilliant gold that shone with a subtle otherworldly glow. That, combined with the now silvery sheen of his messy, dreadlocks, made Twilight wonder if she too had been physically affected by what she'd experienced upon meeting the Unbegotten Source and gaining the knowledge it protected.

Salvatore, for his part, frowned upon seeing Twilight's sorry state. His brows furrowed and he hopped down from the stage before walking over to Twilight. Twilight didn't say a word as she watched her only remaining friend approach. She tried, but couldn't find any words to say. Not until he reached her and knelt down to look her in the eye.

"You okay?" he asked quietly, "Stupid question, I know, but I have to ask. Friendship etiquette and all that."

Twilight couldn't help but crack a small smile despite how much the act pained her. She could honestly say that, no, she was not okay in the slightest, but that was only physically. Now that she and Salvatore had met back up, she was sure she'd be just fine.

"I'm... I'll be alright, Sal," she replied, "Thanks for... showing up when you did."

"I'm just glad it worked out that way and I got here before things got bad," Salvatore replied before turning to the crowd around them. Twilight felt a twinge of chaos magic stir through their bond as he continued, "Well, before things got worse. If you're looking for some payback I could—"

"No, Salvatore," Twilight interjected with a painful shake of her head. She caught his eyes once again and forced a small smirk, "Thanks... but no. I already got some payback of my own. Let's... just get out of here, alright? There's a lot I need to talk to you about."

Salvatore's frown returned as he stood back up and looked over to where Pinkie Pie was still screaming and babbling nonsense on the stage. Watching the maddened mare continue to flail about, Salvatore gave a slow nod.

"Yeah... I got a few questions of my own that need answering."

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