Another long, exhausting day in a long and exhausting life. It hadn't started out that way, but it certainly had become that way. These days, even the beloved Clover had the emotional range of a teaspoon, worn out, hungry, and in constant pain. There was a big gimp in her step, too. One that hardly taken to healing and it often brought Bartos to mind. Even so, she did her best to pretend he wasn't plaguing her thoughts, making her sad with happy memories gone awry. She couldn't even ask herself where all went wrong. She didn't have that pleasure; the entire cave system knew where things went wrong.

Even still here she was, barely hanging on; barely, but still hanging on. That was why she was in Eridanus again. Belladonna had been avoiding this little corner since their scuffle with the crazed elephant, but today was a Clover day... or rather, this moment was a Clover moment. Who knew when that bitch would forcefully rear her ugly head again. As it was, the words spoken in her head were quiet whispers; something she'd long learned to ignore. Er, rather, she'd gotten so used to what was said that the words couldn't do anymore damage.

Then, speak of the Devil, that feeling prickled in the back of her mind, making her hair stand on end and her gut lurch forth. Before she could think about it, to even consider stopping herself from doing so, she screamed at Belladonna, outloud, into the forest, "Why won't you just leave me alone!?"

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"Speech"
Words: 259

The laughter was deep and menacing, even for Belladonna. The woes of the originator fueled her fire, grew her strength and fed her distasteful desires. Once more Belladonna would kidnap their shared body, battling Clover for the spotlight and the controls. The body shook and the head rattled back and forth with inverted screeching as the two raged between each other, Bella having much more fun that Clover.

"Because that would be too boring my dear! Besides, who else would be here to remind you that you F̷̦̟À̲̰I̶̺̜̖̥̘͇̗̕͢ͅL̸̢̛̳̞͈͔̩̪͈E͢͏͎̬̯͙D̙̘͖̹̀͢ everyone?"

The laughter boomed through the trees as Belladonna crammed Clover back into the dark tar pits of their shared mind. Darkness began to cloud their reality, making everything murkier for the poor, glowing soul the world once knew as the kind Clover. The evil held strong, wandering deep into Eridanus, jogging with the bad leg half-flopping through the paces.

It was hard not to give in. It was hard to fight, to keep going, to hang on. Belladonna was so strong, so full of hate and lust for misery. Even so, the doe did not give up entirely, even as she faded to the background once more. She watched from the backseat once more, observing what could be seen. It was so black, though. So horribly black! The shadows twisted and turned and seeped from their shared eyes and shared mouth. So she screeched, causing them to both flinch the body.

The fought once more for control. Clover scraped for the top, pushing for the light. A faint glow began to grow, and for a moment the shadows dispersed into the air. Quickly, the doe scrambled to find something. She wasn't sure what, but she carried them forward on a mission while the legs were hers. Claws tore at her mind, but she clung to the surface. Then, just as the glow began to fade back to the shadows, something caught her eye, and a devious plot not even Belladonna could fight off aroused itself within their mind.

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"Speech"

At first, she didn't see it. She felt a weird joy bubble in that chest, curling in that heart that somehow still held the light of the little deer. Bella gritted her teeth and lashed out, battling for it. At first it was all fun and games, but something came to Clover's mind and it was a terrible idea.

"D̻̥̖́ͭ́O̝͈̝̲N͏̯͕̩'̤ͪ̈ͦT̨͂̑̊ͥ̾̈ ͉̇ͥ̀̐̔̌͋Y̡ͯ̐̊͌ͯ̓Ō͙̟͎̙̠̼̻̂̈́̍̾̚U̹͇͐̍ͪ̒ͬ͋ͮ͢ ̮̭͈̄ͫD͇̼̯̥̮̆ͮ͆̎ͩͦ̑A̢͙̺̜̩̗̳̟ͣ͛̍ͮ͆Ȓ͛̉̇͏̱̺̗͓̤Eͤ̇ͣͧ̍ͮ!͐!͕̤̜̘̠͙̮̓ͦ̓"

In a snap, the shadows were back even fiercer than before, twisting and hiding the shapes of the world. With a roar, she darted the opposite direction, lip curling as frustration and rage took hold of Belladonna. She wouldn't be destroyed so easily. Clover could contemplate suicide, certainly, but she would never have her way!

A hiss of pain rang through Clover as she was tossed back into the shadows, her head pounding and heart weak. Belladonna covered an unfortunate amount of ground as Clover scrambled. With all she had, she poured the last of her hope and love into the light within her, once more sapping the shadows and booting Belladonna from the mental-throne. Clover slammed on the breaks, immediately making a 180 back toward the fern trench - a place to leap from straight into death. This would be the release Origin needed from evil - this would be the release Clover needed to be free, finally.

Even with a warped leg, she galloped over branches, brush, and decaying trees. Stumbles happened, but her heart raced with adrenaline, so she never stopped and never slowed down. This was her chance and she couldn't hesitate, not even for a second. Not even as Belladonna roared within, fighting tooth and nail to take bath what she believed was hers. No, not today... not anymore, Belladonna. This ends....

With tears overflowing her eyes, she found the edge she sought for so desperately. Her body relaxed, and suddenly the exhaustion didn't seem to exist anymore, weightless... "This ends, today."

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"Speech"
Words: 200

"H̸̝̩͈̠̘͍̳͚̼̰̺͔͙̫̰̘̏̐̂̏̾͌̔ͤ̽ͩ̐̆̈ͧ͒̚̕ͅͅo̬̤̝̺̮̜̿̈̃́̎ͫ̈̒̓͛ͧ̐̓ͮ̀̋̀͠wͣ̈́ͭ̾ͯ͋͛̊ͦ͊̔ͨ҉̺̠͙̜̞̘̠̕ ̤̻̺͚̰̯̞͈̟̺̳̜̫ͯͪͥ̿̈̾̾̂̃ͮ̄̒̾̀̆́̀͘͢͜ͅͅͅç̵̨̘̯̘͈͇͕͎͇͇̼̳͖͔̜͊ͬͬ̅ͣ̾̀̓́̄̎ͤͭͬ͒́ŏ̖͕̤̳̣̥͈̝̬͔̻͑̆̈́͌͛̊ͥͤͣ̌̚͜͠ǘ͈͙͉͙̘͓͔̰͕̦͐̓͌ͧ͋̍̓̄͌ͫ͗͜͡l̸̡͖͓̲͚͔̫ͯͭͦ͂̾̉̎ͤͭ̑͛͑̐̂͒͝d̋ͤͯ͗̓͋͗̏̓͢҉̷̭͈͕̤͙͎͚͙ ̵̶̢͍̲̼̤̮̰̖̳̳̻̭̜̭̘ͨ͐̋̋͆́ͥ̇ͨ̋ͭ́ͥ͡ỷ̨̪͇̼̹̣͕̟̠̰̳̀̍̓̃̀ỏ͐͛̅̔҉̷̦͓̥̭ụ̟̹̥̩̳̉̃̉̾ͥ͗ͨ̾̀ͩ̿̍͐̀́͟ͅ?́͊ͭ̃ͩ̋̋̈́͒҉̵̠͕͖̦̪̫͖͓̺̰͓̟̣͎̯͍̖̝͡ͅ!̡͍͖͓̝̩̤͖̗͖͉͈̣͓͓͒̅̈̑̇̏͂̈́̋̓̚ͅ?̧̜̥̩̥̯̩̋ͪͩͭͬ̇͌́͆͑ͯ͑̆ͮ͐̚͢"



The horror on her face was unmatched as she and her shadows were easily allowed the steering wheel again, but... it was too late. Her back hooves were leaving the ground over a canopy of trees. Belladonna unleashed a wailing scream that could probably be heard even in the furthest cavern. There was nothing her shadows could do for her, now, aside from accent her fear and terror as gravity took hold, carrying her back down through the trees.

Clover was nowhere to be found, apparently lost once and for all... leaving Belladonna to feet every stick and branch on the way down. Snapping and crackling could be heard and she knew that - even if everything hurt so badly she couldn't feel a thing - most of those sounds had to be bones. The fall seemed to last forever and once upon the ground, she wasn't even aware of the landing. Everything spun and half-digested plant vomited from her mouth with foam. White noise filled her ears and head, a noise that frightened her coming from the trees- wait, no... that was her making that noise. Choking. There was now a nearly black blood seeping from her orifices.

Belladonna opened her mouth to scream, finding herself unable to even breathe. A gurgle came out instead, with more blood coming from her mouth as her liquid-filled lungs did all they could to pump for oxygen. Limbs twinged and her one unbroken leg stretched out uncontrollably, while the other recoiled and spasmed. Clover was dead at last and she had full control of the body, just as she had always wanted... sort of. The timing was terrible. The excruciating pain made her wish Clover had one the last fight. She didn't even resist, though. She... she knew! She knew this stood to be the death of them, once and for all. Now, here lie the queen in her own blood and agony.

A cruel fate for a cruel being.