Starlight got away, but no one cared. They were all staring at Dusk and the shattered Cutie Mark on the ground. Those that saw her face saw her slowly going wall eyed, her pupils shrinking and an impossibly large smile grow on her face. Then the laughter started.

It started out as a chuckle. It then progressed into a giggle. Next she was throwing back her head in full body laughter. Finally it became a shrieking, hysterical noise that only had a passing resemblance to laughter. Dusk wrapped her forelegs around her body as if hugging herself while she laughed her unearthly laugh.

Rainbow felt a tremor of fear run through her. Duskfall sounded exactly like what she had always imagined that Batmare villain, the Joker, would sound like. It was just the right amount of disturbing to keep everyone rooted to their spot.

Rainbow had joked right along with Pinkie when the party planner had come up with the nickname Midnight Sparkle. Now she was deathly afraid that it would actually come to pass. What was anyone supposed to do in this situation? Would Dusk even hear her if she tried to talk to her? Was it best to approach her or give her space?

Rainbow’s panicked thoughts were silenced by a metallic clang. Pinkie was standing above an unconscious Dusk with a metal shovel, panting as though she had just run a marathon.

“Pinkie, how could you?!” Rarity was the first to snap out of her shock.

“I just- I couldn’t- I mean- that laughter,” Pinkie shuttered with revulsion as she sank to the ground and put her hooves over her ears, “I couldn’t stand that sound. I thought the smiles of the villagers were bad! But that noise! Coming from my friend! I had to stop it, I just had to!”

That hellish sound was stuck in her Mind, etched forevermore on her Heart. Pinkie had foolishly thought depression was her antithesis. Now she knew better. That sick, twisted mockery of laughter and all it represented, that was her antithesis. It was as if someone had killed Laughter and was wearing its skin in some kind of sick mockery.

“We’d better get her to a doctor,” Fluttershy finally said. The closest doctor was in Canterlot. It was a long, silent trip.

Duskfall slowly crawled back to consciousness. She wondered briefly why she felt like she had been forced to watch Tom and Twilight die over and over again. Then she remembered what happened. She felt her mind threaten to break again. Duskfall just lay there forcing herself to breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth. With agonizing slowness, the panic grasping at her heart lessened its hold and the fissures in her mind closed slightly. Duskfall didn’t know how long she lay there, forcing herself to use this breathing exercise.

Once her mind wasn’t on the verge of shattering like so much glass, she did a quick check of her memories and feelings. Tom’s memories…check. Twilight’s memories…check. Her own memories…check. The feelings on the other hand…it felt like Tom and Twilight’s memories had…lost vibrancy, if that made sense? It felt like there was a degree of separation between her and those memories. Realizing this nearly caused her to start crying, but she beat the feelings into submission. She would never be alone…right?

Eventually she opened her eyes and instantly wished she hadn’t. For one terrible, heart stopping second, Duskfall thought Twilight Sparkle was standing at the end of her bed. But despite her name, Twilight had never actually sparkled.

“You insensitive fucking cunt,” Dusk snarled, “You better have a damn good reason why I shouldn’t destroy you!”

“You-” Dusk cut the Tree off.

“I don’t mean that crystal thing in the Everfree, I mean you personally,” Despite Duskfall’s threats, the Tree’s avatar seemed unfazed.

“You seem upset with me for choosing this avatar. I thought a familiar visage would comfort you?” The Tree’s avatar cocked its head to the side.

“Oh yeah, I’m totally gonna be comforted by you puppeteering the image of one of my dead originals. SOMEONE WHO DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!” Duskfall screeched. The Tree’s avatar pinned its ears to its head.

“I apologize. I did not come here to cause renewed strife with you,” The avatar’s form became static before reforming into an Alicorn about the same size as Twilight, but with the looks of a Crystal Pony with white fur, a flowing rainbow mane like Celestia’s and eyes that were shimmering like a rainbow kaleidoscope.

“Then why did you come here?” Duskfall’s temper demanded she continue screaming at the Tree. The morals she had inherited from Tom and Twilight told her to forgive. She settled for icy indifference.

“I came to apologize to you, Duskfall, and to all those who were chosen by the Elements I was gifted. I sensed your distress and felt when Magic’s Cutie Mark was shattered,” The Tree explained.

“Her name was Twilight,” Duskfall snarled.

“Yes…Twilight…even now it is difficult for me to remember mortal names. I did not intend offense. Discord…I have never seen him truly angry before. When he came to me after Laugh- Pinkamena knocked you out, he was furious almost beyond words,” The Tree’s avatar began to look distinctly uncomfortable, “He made me see that I was behaving no different from the being of Order all those millennium ago that cursed Equuis. I had forgotten to care for the ones that create Harmony instead of just Harmony itself.”

“And what do you intend to do about it?” Duskfall asked coolly.

“If…it is acceptable…I would like to take on a vessel of Flesh and Blood, that I might better learn to appreciate mortals. I would follow Discord’s lead and become more active in my day to day dealings with the inhabitants of Equuis,” The Tree said hesitantly.

“You’re not going to possess anyone, are you?” Duskfall questioned.

“No, my powers may not be as geared towards physicality as Discord’s, but even I can craft a vessel for myself, provided I have sufficient samples,” The Tree reveled.

“Samples?” Duskfall prompted.

“A few strands of hair or a vial of blood from maybe half a dozen ponies and I should be able to craft a body to my liking. I hope it would not be too forward of me to ask yourself and the others chosen of the Elements to be the sources of those samples?” The Tree asked. Duskfall really hated the inability to hold a grudge she had inherited from Tom. She tried to summon up the needed spitefulness to tell the Tree to fuck itself, but just couldn’t do it. The damn Tree had stumbled upon her one weakness: an apology.

“I suppose I have no issue with it. You’ll have to ask the others if they want to give you anything. I may not be able to hold much of a grudge, but that doesn’t mean the others don’t feel differently,” Duskfall remarked.

“Of course, as Discord reminded me, mortals are all unique and deserving of the same respect I would offer my counterpart. Duskfall, I may not be able to directly help with your resurrection of Ma- Twilight and Tom, but if you ever do discover a method by which to revive them and it becomes an issue of power, I will gladly give you as much as I am able. It is the absolute least I can do to make amends,” Any lingering resentment melted away. Dusk couldn’t carry any negative feelings for anyone who would help in her crusade to bring Tom and Twilight back.

Dammit, Duskfall wanted to be angry so badly, but between her recent mental trauma and the inherited inability to stay angry for any longer for an hour or two in extreme cases, she couldn’t muster the feelings. Why couldn’t she just go back to wanting to mix thermite and bathing the Tree in it? The Tree certainly deserved some sort of punishment, but Duskfall just couldn’t find the will to carry out any kind of sentencing.

“Alright, any penance the others see fit to have you do is enough for me. Ah, would you happen to be able to get in contact with gods and whatnot? We were going to ask you earlier, but became somewhat distracted,” Duskfall requested.

“Doing so would place great strain upon the barrier Discord and I enacted so long ago. It is not impossible, but I would need approximately a year’s time to reinforce the barrier to ensure it does not shatter upon my reaching out,” The Tree said apologetically.

“That’s fine,” Then Duskfall’s plan to reach out during the Winter Solstice was still a go.

“Uhhh,” A doctor or a nurse, Duskfall couldn’t tell which, had entered the room and was looking slack jawed at the Tree’s avatar. Duskfall rolled her eyes.

“Can you tell Celestia, Luna, and whoever else is waiting for me that I’m awake and I’m back to not completely losing my shit?” The Unicorn nodded her head and left the room.

“I suppose I will have to get used to some reactions like that when I begin to walk amongst mortals more regularly,” The Tree mused.

“Speaking of, we’re gonna have to call you something other than ‘Tree’ all the time. Not only are there scores of ponies with names containing ‘tree’, but it doesn’t really denote who you are, just what you are,” Duskfall noted.

“I see the wisdom in your words. Harmonia will do for now. She was my direct superior, once upon a time,” The newly dubbed Harmonia decided. That name choice certainly tickled the part of Duskfall that had been Tom. It was the name of the Greek goddess of harmony and concord. It was also N’s middle name.

A moment later, the Elements, Moon Dancer, Luna, Celestia, and Chrysalis all entered the hospital wing. Most of them stopped short upon seeing Harmonia.

“Duskfall!” Pinkie was not most. She darted directly to Duskfall’s bed and clung to Duskfall like a life preserver, “I’m so sorry I hit you! I didn’t mean to! I mean, I did mean to, but I didn’t do it to hurt you! You have to believe me!”

“Pinkie, besides Fluttershy, you are the least likely pony on Equuis to attack anyone with malicious intent. If you hit me, I’m sure it was with the best intentions,” Duskfall snarked. Pinkie only seemed to wilt more.

“I didn’t! I just wanted that horrible insane laughing to stop!” Pinkie sobbed. Duskfall’s memories of her flirtation with delirium were foggy. Only a sickening, toxic feeling in her gut remained when she thought about it.

“Well, I’m back to being just regular crazy instead of ‘oh my God, kill it with fire’ crazy, so all’s well that ends well,” Duskfall tried to comfort the pink mare. She just smiled a watery smile at Dusk, but didn’t say anything.

“So, uh, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that’s the Tree?” Rainbow finally asked. Anyone who claimed to see Celestia’s mouth twitch at the bad pun would be tried for treason.

“That is correct, Loy- Rainbow Dash. I have chosen to go by the name Harmonia for now,” Rainbow’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“And what are you doing with Dusk?” She growled.

“She came to apologize to me, well, to all of us, actually. Apparently Discord chewed her out something fierce from the moment Discord heard what happened. How long was I out anyway?” Duskfall asked.

“You’ve been unconscious for nearly three days while the doctors soothed your Mind as best as they were able,” Luna revealed.

“And Discord spent every moment of it letting me know exactly how shameful my conduct had become,” Harmonia remarked in a neutral voice.

“Ah’d never thought Ah’d see the day Discord was settin’ someone straight,” Applejack drawled.

“Even a broken clock can be right twice a day,” Discord, ever one to make an entrance, appeared to be photocopied into existence, “I feel like I should apologize as well. Had I known the end result, I would have never let you go alone.”

“You aren’t omniscient Discord. Every little thing that goes wrong isn’t your fault and you had a legitimate reason for not coming along,” Duskfall cased a sideways look at Harmonia.

“Duskfall is correct. I pressured you into not going when it was neither my business nor right to do so. If this tragedy is anyone’s fault, it is mine alone,” Harmonia owned up to her mistakes.

“I could still hunt down Starlight, as easy as teaching a fish to fly,” Discord offered. Duskfall had to take a deep breath before answering.

“Let her be for now. What she was doing was wrong on so many levels and given what I overheard about her being responsible for removing the Cutie Marks, she’s quite dangerous to boot. However, I also think she’s exactly the type of villain to pull a Dr. Claw,” Duskfall remarked. Discord smirked.

“I’ll get you next time, Sparkle!” Discord said in a voice that sounded like Starlight if she had gargled rocks for her whole life. Dusk couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Exactly, she’ll come to us and I’ll hopefully be in a better state of mind to deal with her,” Duskfall decided.

“I think we should have Discord summon her up and turn her into a smear on the ground!” Rainbow said angrily.

“Patience Dashie, it’s supposed to be a virtue. Humans were endurance predators, thanks to Tom I know the value of letting one’s prey wear themselves out before truly beginning the hunt~” Duskfall wished she had a human’s dental structure as she toothily grinned. It would’ve made- oh, Discord seemed to have given her a little help.

“Really? A primate species that were endurance predators?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“You’ve seen the humans on the other side of the mirror. While not exactly like Tom’s humans, they’re built similarly enough. Lack of fur covering their entire body allowed their ancestors to simply sweat off excess heat instead of needing to pant, thus letting them keep up with prey for hours,” Duskfall explained.

“That’s fascinating!” Fluttershy gushed, not noticing the other Elements becoming uncomfortable from Dusk’s new set of chompers and the discussion on hunting. Duskfall snorted good naturedly and unwound Discord’s Magic, returning her teeth to normal. One of the perks of being around Discord so much was that Duskfall was slowly learning how to dispel Chaos Magic. She couldn’t cast it and she was sure that if Discord wanted something to stick, there would be little she could do about it. However, for anyone of lesser stature than the Greater Spirit of Chaos who could dabble in Chaos Magic, Duskfall was sure she could best them.

“So we’re not gonna lay a smackdown on Starlight or destroy the Tree- sorry, Harmonia?” Dash was disappointed. Now she had all this pent up aggression with nothing to spend it on.

“‘Forgive not seven times, but seventy times seven’,” Dusk quoted.

“Stupid Human philosophy,” Rainbow grumbled.

“That isn’t to say I’m not going to open up a royal can of whoop-ass on Starlight when I next see her, but that’s more gonna be the Nanoha Takamachi School of Friendship rather than any malice,” Duskfall assured.

“My, Duskfall, I had no idea you felt that way about Starlight,” Discord snickered while wagging his eyebrows suggestively. Duskfall maturely responded by blowing a raspberry at him.

“You know what I mean, Discord!” Duskfall pouted.

“I’ll prepare the Orbital Friendship Cannon with the Starlight Breaker. Oh! That name’s doubly appropriate!” Discord cackled as he faded away like the Cheshire Cat.

“What on Equuis are you two on about?” Chrysalis finally asked.

“I believe they are referring to The Ace of Aces’ habit of blasting her foes with extremely powerful lasers directly before befriending them,” Harmonia remarked, causing Duskfall to look at her funny, “Not unlike how the Elements tend to operate, now that I think about it.”

“I understand the reference humor from Discord, but why do you know that?” Duskfall questioned.

“I would think that were self-evident, given Tom being dragged between dimensions. Multiverse is no mere theory. My teacher introduced me to a version of The Ace of Aces…Nanoha… when I was only a few centuries old. She is quite sweet… and would be deeply disappointed in me, given my behavior these past few millennium,” Harmonia explained, wilting slightly at the end.

Duskfall required a second or two to process that, but now that she thought about it, Multiverse made absolute sense. The goddamn Doctor lived in Ponyville for crying out loud! It also meant there were things potentially more frightening than Lovecraftian Horrors running around…It almost made Duskfall wish for the sweet release of insanity once more.

Author's Notes:

Yeah, I blame this entirely on Discord. He went full Fire and Brimstone on the Tree and I had to listen to it for over 24 hours. Despite all his complaining and snark, I'm starting to wonder if Discord doesn't see Harmonia as a sister of sorts. Well, whatever the case, Discord surgically removed Harmonia's head from up her ass.

Tom's and subsequently Duskfall's inability to hold onto anger is similar to myself. I can get into an apocalyptical rage, but half an hour later I'll be back to neutral and I won't feel angry about whatever it was anymore. The only exception is for rape or child abuse. Those I have the Hulk Treatment for "That's my secret, I'm always angry".

The crew will eventually have to deal with the wider Multiverse. It'll be fun!

When Duskfall mentions things "more frightening than Lovecraftian Horrors" she's talking about Weeping Angels and Species 8472. Tom watched the Voyager Episode with Species 8472 in the dead of night when he was 10. It scared the piss outta him. I'm not entirely sure why he's so terrified of Weeping Angels tho. Sure, they're kinda creepy, but they aren't anything particularly special imo.