//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: History // Story: Through Deceiving Eyes // by CowgirlVK //------------------------------// Pinkie glanced around the room with an analytical gaze, the old journal clutched in her hooves. She snarled a bit under her breath, listening for any noises that were being made. After about a minute of this, it was replaced with a look of extreme boredom. Her eyes shifted down to the book, and then what Applejack had said. Stay here with the book while ah get Rarity… wait until we’re here and we can look through it. She frowned and set the book down, rocking side to side on her throne. She kept glancing at the book eagerly as she tapped her hooves on the throne. “Eh…” Pinkie got up and started to pace in a circle around the throne room, trying to be patient and wait for Applejack to get back. She stopped suddenly and looked over at the journal, this time holding her gaze to it. “No… I said I’d wait.” She kept repeating this to herself mentally as she went back to her throne and plopped down on it, her hind legs hanging over one end and her neck hanging over the other as she buzzed her lips together. “Prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… AHHH!” She hopped up. “I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!!” The mare lunged at the book on the table and held it close to her chest, looking around cautiously. “Well… I never promised to wait… and she never said I couldn’t just peek at it… Just… one… little… teeny… tiny… peek…” She looked at the book again and then threw her hooves up in frustration. “AH WHATEVER!!!” Pinkie Pie threw the cover open and gazed intensely at the pages of the book, absorbing every word on the page. ---------------------------------------- It was many hours later when Twilight awoke in front of the fire in her main sitting room, laying with a warm blanket thrown over her shoulders. She had not remembered coming here, but from the voices outside, she was certain that her friends were behind it. She frowned and sat up, the world around her spinning. She winced, placing a hoof to her forehead. “What in Equestria?” A whirring sound attacked her ears and churned her stomach. Glancing around, she could see nothing out of the ordinary. She shook her head again and again assuming the noise was nothing more than her ears ringing. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Twilight’s hearing cleared. She woke up feeling weak and drained, opening her eyes; feeling trapped within an all-encompassing hold. She glanced around to see an orange earth mare holding her still. She blinked frowning. “Who are you?” The orange mare frowned. “Twilight, it’s me, Applejack.” “Who’s Twi-” Like an explosion going off in her head, a wave of pain burst through her skull, a blast of magic erupting from her horn and zinging around the room. In the pain, Twilight blacked out. -------------- Twilight didn’t know how long she was out, but when she woke up for the second time, she was still being held down by a much singed- Twilight paused, blinking. “Applejack? What happened? Why- what happened?” The mare frowned. “It’s good ta have ya back sugarcube. Ya went a bit loopy on us. First you passed out, then when ah came back ta check on you, yer magic was doin’ all kinds of silly things. Ah think ya have it under control now. But by Celestia Twilight, ya scared us.” Carefully Applejack let go and stepped back; allowing Twilight to come shakily to her hooves. “Alright sugar cube, we need ta get to the throne room. We got ta figure out what’s goin’ on. Ah don’t want ya’ losin control. We’d be hard pressed dealing with this pest if ya went down like Spike is.” Twilight nodded. “You’re right AJ, let’s go. This is concerning me as well.” ---------------------------------- Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity were all sitting in the reading room, facing Pinkie Pie as she held the journal in her hooves. Pinkie looked confused at them. “Uh… why is everypony staring at me like that?” Applejack slapped a hoof to her face. “Cuz you were gonna tell us what the book said.” She blinked. “Oh right, hehehe!” She opened the journal and then frowned. “Wait, why am I telling you?” The orange mare heaved an exasperated sigh. “Because instead of waitin’ fer us to get back, ya had the journal finished when we got there!” “Oh right.” She repeated with a childish giggle. “Kay!” Her gaze once more turned to the page and she began to read aloud. “My team and I have discovered a new type of bug. We are not quite sure what it does, but it looks rather puffy… Maybe they shall be named the Fluffs.” A silence filled the room. “Fluffs?” Pinkie shrugged. “I dunno, I was confused too, but then I used a magnifying glass and-” “Stay on topic Pinkie Pie!” Applejack frowned as she glared at the mare. “NO!” Pinkie cried. “GUYS! LOOK!” She pulled out the magnifying glass and held it up, only to see… Nothing. Her eyes widened a bit. “But- but- what?...” Her ears flattened when she looked to see the irritated gazes of her friends before dropping the magnifying glass and grumbling as she turned her head back down to the book. “Pinkie, ah think yer’ goin’ as loco as Spike.” Applejack stated. “NO GUYS!” Pinkie threw Applejack’s hoof off of her shoulder. “I’m not crazy, well... maybe I am. But THAT ISN’T THE POINT!” Rarity flattened her gaze and shook her head. “Darling, please just get on with it, we don’t need any of your shenanigans right now.” Her eye twitched in frustration and she threw her hooves in the air, the book flying upwards. “AHG! I CAN’T LIVE IN THESE CONDITIONS!” She stood and marched out of the room, grumbling the entire way to the door and slamming it behind her. The book fell and a dark pink crystal tumbled out. The three mares blinked in confusion and looked over to the door Pinkie Pie had left through before turning their attention over to the book itself, then the crystal that fell out. Pinkie Pie sat in the throne room, balloon animals piled around her for whatever reason. Gripped tightly in her hooves was the neck of a blue dog. An angry look was plastered across her face as she twisted the neck around in her hooves, wanting nothing more than to bite it’s head off in that moment. “Stupid friends… saying I’m crazy… who needs them anyway?!” POP She looked down to see the dog popped, the ripped ends hanging limp in her grasp before she tossed it onto the pile of other destroyed balloons and grabbed the next one, a purple cat. She squeezed it tightly, her hooves visibly straining with the force in which she was holding the balloon. Her grip loosened suddenly as she sat there, completely still, the glare intensifying. She slammed her head on the crystal table and let out an ear-splitting scream, all the frustration and anger from the past few days fueling her rage. The scream continued, morphing eventually in a hacking cough as her throat screamed at her to stop. She rubbed it, tears peering from the corners of her eyes as the anger diffused itself into a look of exhaustion and stress. Her mane hung, deflated and almost flat as she half-heartedly stood from her throne and stomped over the purple balloon cat, popping it under her weight as she walked away from it. She wandered aimlessly through the halls, a hoof tangled into her mane as she rubbed her head. The situation had left her drained, though she didn’t show it around her friends. She had to be the strong one in this, she had to. Fluttershy was hurt, Rainbow Dash refused to leave the injured pegasus’s side, Applejack and Rarity thought it was something else entirely, and Twilight was too busy dealing with Spike to focus on anything else. She found herself walking towards the special room Twilight had set up specifically for her and sighed heavily as she opened the door, stepping in. The moment the door shut, confetti flew out of some party cannons she had rigged, but she ignored them completely as she walked over to the bed and collapsed face-down into the pillow. Twilight held the crystal in her magic, eyeing it curiously. She brought the artifact closer to her, raising an eyebrow at it and tilting her head curiously. “I wonder-” Suddenly the pink crystal came to life, floating above the stone floor. “Greetings ye who search for wisdom from the past, let this crystal give you the knowledge you seek.” An image began projecting out the pulsating gem, showing a mare in a white lab coat with a magnifying glass in her hoof. The mares blinked as they stared wide-eyed at the projection. “Doctor Hinge, come take a look, it’s fascinating.” Her red mane and light purple coat were vibrant with youth, and her green eyes shone with curiosity as she eyed the figure behind her lens. A much older stallion, his mane gray and his coat a dull brown, trudged over to the mare and gazed into her glass, his eyes widening. “Why, I’ve never seen anything like it! I do say, this must be a new discovery; let’s bring it to the lab at once.” She nodded and used her magic to swipe the creature up into a jar before it could flit away. It had a very fluffy body with feather-like wings and dainty features. A slight glow surrounded it. “Oh, that’s not even the best part, doctor!” She said as she removed the glass. “Look! It vanishes completely! We are incapable of even seeing it through the naked eye, there must be a lens for it to appear!” “Yes, my dear, it IS fascinating.” He smiled lovingly at the mare and ruffled her mane. “Come, my student. Let us take it to the lab immediately.” Just as the two walked out of view of the projection, a faint glow showed in their abdomens, as well as many little lights behind them. A shrill, barely noticeable screech filled the background… The projection clicked off. Twilight blinked as she stared in awe and shock. “Is… is that it?...” “It would seem so, darling…” Rarity spoke suddenly, hesitant. Applejack remained completely silent as Twilight stared in bewilderment at the crystal, glow no longer there. “There has to be more!” the alicorn cried as she watched it. It only remained inactive for a few moments, though each one felt like an eternity before the pulsating finally returned to produce the second projection. The scene changed to that of a lab, with a couple guard ponies using their magic in a desperate attempt to restrain a large black dog. The dog was snarling and barking at the jar that contained the odd bug before managing to struggle free from the guards long enough to attack the purple mare in a lab coat. He tackled her to the ground, trying to sink his teeth into her neck as she desperately tried to push him off. Her hooves, ears, and muzzle were showing yellowish hues while her mane showed streaks of blue in it, though she seemed to not notice these things. The glow in her abdomen was bright and pulsating, though again nobody seemed to notice such things. The dog clawed at her forelegs and chest, snarling and barking with foam dripping from the sides of his mouth. His usually kind eyes showed shrunken pupils, and his irises so small that the whites of his eyes showed clearly. His deep, guttural snarl filled her ears as she yelled for somepony to get him off, tears in the corners of her eyes. “Help…! Please!” She cried fearfully as everypony around her did all they could do to tear the two apart. With one finally burst of effort, the unicorns managed to separate the two, holding the dog back. After muzzling the dog and tying him up in a spare room, the ponies returned to the mare who sat, stunned at what had happened. Everypony seemed to have the odd changes in their coat and mane colors, as well as the glow in their abdomens. Though… why they didn’t notice this was rather puzzling. The projection cuts off and the glow fades once more while Twilight and two of her friends sat, trying their hardest to process the troubling images. It was in this moment that Pinkie Pie walked back into the room, returning to her spot on the couch and looking at the crystal in twilight’s magic. “Oh… so you guys are watching it to, huh?...” Rarity stared at Pinkie Pie, finding her calm demeanor genuinely unsettling; even more so than the last projection of events. “You… have watched this already, darling?...” She asked in concern, receiving only a half nod. “Yeah... that was the second... that remind anypony else of... well-” Pinkie trailed off. “Yeah-” Applejack gulped. “What’s been happenin’. I sure hope she turned out better than Fluttershy did. Still, what’s up with those color changes, and why haven’t we seen any of that if this is really what’s goin’ on now?” Pinkie pointed at the crystal. “That’s coming...” Again the crystal began to glow. The ponies all turned their attention to the projection, nervously anticipating what they would see next. The projection came up with the mare staring directly into the crystal. She was close, as if adjusting it. Her coat was a sickly yellow and her mane an almost navy blue. The whites of her eyes had gone completely black and her pupils were a bright, glowing white. Her green eyes were now dull voids of purple, showing fear and confusion in her eyes. Her breath came out in heavy, labored gasps, and the sounds of barking and bashing could be heard off to the side of her. “I-is this on…?” She squeaked out, rubbing her throat painfully. “I-I think s-so…” The mare stepped back, it now becoming evident that there were blood splatters on her hooves and body, her lab coat a tattered mess that had been draped over a lump in the corner. Her eyes nervously glanced over to it occasionally, only to avert themselves a second later. It was to dark to make out anything around her as she plopped down against the wall, hugging herself tightly and rocking back and forth. “The dog… It’ll b-break in at any moment…” She gulped and continued, shuddering. Her voice grew even shakier as she shifted her gaze back over to the lump in the corner, locking eyes with it this time as tears welled up. She raised an unsteady hoof towards it, her ears flattening against her head. “I-I didn’t m-mean to...He-” She let a small sob escape. “I didn’t kn-know what he w-wanted… he kept… screaming. Screaming intruder… I didn’t understand- I...I still don’t understand!...” The mare closed her eyes, sitting silently for a long time before getting to her hooves and shakily stepping towards the lump. “He wouldn’t leave me alone… heh…” her voice took on an eerie tone. “He tried to hurt me… hehe…” A small grin appeared on her lips. “He threw himself at me… attacked me…” She chuckled softly, the grin growing as she did. “So… I killed him…” The tears in her eyes were gone as she walked over, smiling with insanity as she reached the lump and gripping the end of the torn lab coat. The barking and the banging grew louder, along with a resounding crack as the door’s barrier began to give under the dog’s relentless onslaught of bashing. Slowly, the lab coat was pulled off the lump to reveal the brown stallion with a gray mane, a knife buried in his neck as she laughed at her accomplishment. “I don’t even know his name… or where I am… why?” Her ears perked as she heard the door finally give, releasing the barking frenzy of an animal. Her screams mixed with its barks and flooded the room, as the dog pounced on her, sinking his teeth into her neck- The projection cuts off and the crystal falls, indicating there was nothing left to show, leaving the bewildered group in shocked silence as Pinkie’s ears pinned back, her sinking down on the couch to leave the others to their thoughts.