No sooner had Twilight waved Pinkie pie and her new friend away, than she felt a strong mental force settle into her thoughts. A sudden migraine constricted her skull while the rest of her body ceased all action. The force felt alive, an electric tingle swimming circles around her brain. A purple haze swirled dominated her vision. Their above her, was the figure she had seen not even two minutes ago. It leered down at her with its single electric pink eye.
“What are you?” she asked fearfully
“That is not of your concern, Twilight Sparkle,” it replied, despite having no mouth
Twilight grimaced at the sound of its voice. It sounded like a metal blade, screeching against another.
“How do you know my name?” she trembled
“Another matter of unimportance,” it responded coldly “I am in your mind, Twilight, because you have something I need,”
“What do you want from me?”
“Ah, an intelligent question. I will reward you with a proper answer. I want…” it flew closer to her, almost directly face to face now “…Everything you know,”
“You could’ve just used the library,” she scowled
“The library is insufficient for my needs. You know more than the combined resources of this tree you call home. You have no doubt felt an immense pain in your cerebral cortex. Something like…”
Suddenly, a hot white iron of pain lanced her through the centre of the forehead. She wanted to scream, but the monster silenced her pre-emptively. She nodded rapidly, then the pain subsided.
“…That,”
The monster chuckled
“A mere taste of what I can do from inside your head. Even when I depart, I will still hold influence over what transpires here. I hope you can keep a secret,”
“Why’s that?” Twilight snarled
“Because, if you can’t, a terrible accident would befall you, and your friends,”
She didn’t have a response for that.
“Listen up, and listen well,” it growled “I have already taken what I need, but if you tell any other soul about my existence here…”
It didn’t need to finish.
“And just because I like to see you squirm, only you will be able to see me,”
The purple haze quickly evaporated, the monstrous figure along with it. Twilight got up quickly, shaking off all the pins and needles from her limbs. Somebody needed to know, but it was watching her, she could feel it. Perhaps there was a way to reveal it before her friends without needing to say a word. With a mind full of plans and possibilities, she set to work.
-{>(|)<}-
[3rd Person, Ponies Only]
Pinkie Pie was excitedly hopping toward her next destination, Carousel Boutique, with her new friend in tow. Annie followed along casually, seemingly oblivious to the strange looks given by the everyday pony. Silently observing the whole scene, Vel’koz floated around his host body, invisible to all but himself and Twilight Sparkle, whom he allowed to. They soon arrived at a dainty looking building, circular and resembling a wedding cake more so than a carousel or a boutique.
A small silver bell chimed as the pair entered the store. Clothes in an assortment of shapes, colours and styles were displayed on mannequins and hangers. A flawless white unicorn with a purple mane and tail done up in swirling curls worked busily by a sewing machine. No doubt making another one of those fancy dresses.
“Pinkie, darling,” the unicorn greeted “Finally agreed to some TLC for that lovely mane of yours?”
“No, silly Rarity!” Pinkie giggled “I never have to do my mane,”
“A little conditioner wouldn’t hurt,” Rarity muttered “Never mind. Where are my manners, and for that matter, where are yours Miss Pie?”
She turned to Annie and gave a graceful little curtsy
“Hello my dear, I’m am Rarity, professional fashion designer and proud owner of Carousel Boutique,”
“Hello, my name is Annie,” the dark unicorn said, with a nod and smile “A pleasure to meet you,”
“Likewise,” Rarity replied “Pinkie, can I have a private word with you?”
“Okie-Dokie!” Pinkie chirped, trotting along upstairs “See ya Annie, don’t go anywhere!”
-{>(|)<}-
Rarity’s bedroom could be an extended metaphor of the pony herself. It was clean, orderly and decorated with no absence of style.
“Pinkie,” Rarity started, her previously warm tone all gone “Where exactly did you find that mare?”
“Dunno,” Pinkie shrugged “I found her walking into town from the Everfree Forest,”
“THE WHAT!” Rarity shrieked “Did you even think that this mare could be some kind of monster in disguise?”
“Nope,”
“Did you even look at her?”
“Well,” Pinkie said, scratching her chin with a hoof “Now that I think about it, she does look pretty weird, her name’s pretty weird too. Also, she gives me the creeps whenever I stand right next to her…”
Rarity nodded her Understanding, waiting for her pink friend to finish.
“But the same thing happened with Zecora,” Pinkie finished, a carefree smile on her face. “So, meh,”
“UGH!”
Rarity gave up voicing her suspicions to her pink friend, who is happily oblivious to Annie’s appearance and mannerisms. The white unicorn trotted back downstairs, where she got the surprise of her life. Annie, was sitting at her desk, sewing the most beautiful dress her eyes had ever seen. It was a beautiful hybrid of woven silk and cotton. It looked so soft, so real, like a genuine blanket of sky. Truly the work of a master weaver.
“You know,” Rarity pondered “She might not be so bad after all,"
-{>(|)<}-
[1st person: Vel’koz]
My body has performed beyond expectation. My current targets see little to be suspicious about her, and thus, suspicious about me. While I would have preferred the quicker, direct approach to analysis, all ponies here share a strong social link. If one were to go missing, it could topple their everyday routine, and make my disguise more noticeable to criticism. Twilight Sparkle hosted the most amount of information I require, but even hers is not sufficient. As great as it is, her collection pales in comparison to what this world truly offers. Pinkie Pie is of no use to me in regards to intelligence, or lack thereof. However, her easy approach to social interaction could be useful for communication towards future subjects.
The unicorn Rarity does not house much either, but has a lot of potential when it comes to artistry. Her designs are appealing, if useless to me. A quick search through my data banks allowed me to send all my knowledge of the seamstress’ craft to my body, instantly relieving any ill feelings towards her. Winning over these ponies seems to be my primary goal right now. Each pony that ‘likes’ me will lessen the effect of my mental probing, and open doors to the minds of previously inaccessible beings. The mental read and copy method is not my most preferred, but it suits my current needs greatly.
A new complication has arisen regarding my body. She seems hungry, an altogether new sensation to experience. Aside from that, the herbivorous diet of these ponies limit the amount of neural capacity they contain. Unsurprisingly, Twilight is the smartest life form I’ve met on this world by a large margin. The amount of data I transfer from my own mind to that of my host body is quickly depleting available storage. It requires additional memory space, and also a large boost in neuroplasticity. My body will require extra protein to facilitate these necessary modifications. If my body could eat meat, things would be a lot simpler. No matter, it is a problem I must address in the future.
We are now heading to the edge of Ponyville. A large red barn could be seen in the distance, as well as an extensive orchard of apple trees. My host, Pinkie, is fully aware of my hunger through a rumbling from the stomach region. She has proposed a meal with a friend of hers named ‘Applejack’. Alcohol will kill a number of brain cells I cannot afford to lose, so I sent a subroutine to my body that would completely reject the foul substance. An orange pony with a blond mane styled in a similar fashion to female humans with country-folk origin. Also like humans of that origin, she sported freckles on both cheeks, a southern accent and a brown Stetson atop her head.
“Afternoon, Pinkie,” she greeted warmly “You’re just in time fer lunch,”
She blinked nervously when she saw the dark mare that was me, then forced a smile.
“Howdy to you too sister, you joinin’ us fer lunch too?”
“It would be my pleasure,” Annie replied kindly
“Pleasure’s all mine. Any friend of Pinkie’s is a friend of mine, come on in!”
While my body went into the house to feed, I decided to have a bit of a wander. In my current phantasmal state, physical interaction is quite impossible, but I still maintain full use of my magical and mental capability. Floating over the orchard, I could appreciate just how vast it was. It covered the majority of Ponyville’s surrounding hills. I detected two life forms on the move below. One was a big, red stallion with a large muscle-to-body weight ratio. Another was a smaller, yellow pony infant with a shock of red hair tied into a bow. The third was an elderly, green mare who dozed underneath the house’s balcony.
Succumbing to my own curiosity, I used Pinkie’s social link to dive into the red pony’s head. I was utterly disappointed by the amount of empty space in there, and withdrew quickly. The infant contained a little more, exhibiting a high amount of knowledge for one her age and size. Sadly, nothing I haven’t learned from the striped pony who I now know as Zecora or from previous exploits. The elderly mare contained a baffling amount of historical knowledge regarding this world, which I greedily collected for myself.
Finishing my overview of the surrounding land, I returned to the residence of Applejack. It was a wonder how much effort these for put into tending to an orchard of this size. The orange mare was cleaning up a pool of liquid which I determined to be composed of apple residue, and alcohol. Maybe I needed to tune down the harshness of the rejection reaction. My body sat on a stool, ejecting more stomach fluid into a bucket, with Pinkie giving her words of comfort. Strange, had the same event happened, all present company would laugh and say something like…
“Don’t have much of a head for alcohol, don’t cha Annie?” Applejack smirked
Hmph, never mind.
I look back to the young one, and a new spark of information shines to me. She has had experience with the Everfree forest, how unlikely, yet true. Delving further into her small mind, I find profiles of several of the forest’s creatures. Some of her own experience, others through her sisters. Cockatrices are small, and look ridiculous, but hold the power of petrification through mere sight. A worthy upgrade to Casseiopia’s comparatively pathetic petrification, which has limited range, duration and requires far too much effort to use. Other creatures of interest include Manticores, Aquatic Serpents and an insectoid plague known as parasprites.
This little bunch of ponies has provided some useful information.
Pinkie has been excused from my body’s side as she and our host, Applejack walk into the kitchen for a discussion.
“Are you sure that gal’s clean?” Applejack asked worriedly “She looks mighty strange to me,”
“Aw, you worry too much,” Pinkie dismissed with a hoof
“And you worry too little,” AJ replied drily
“Come on! She’s alright. Maybe a little sick right now, but she’s cool, trust me,”
Pinkie pouted at the farm pony with big blue eyes and a face reminiscent of a begging puppy. A formidable combination if used correctly.
“Fine,” Applejack grumbled “If yer so sure…”
“Oh, I’m sure Applejack. We’ll be along now, goodbye!”
“Take good care of yourself Pinkie! Keep an eye on her for me!”
“Will do!”
The pink pony retrieved Annie from her place at the couch, and now made way to another residential structure, close to the Everfree forest. A pity that I could not relieve Apple Jack of her suspicion, but there was little I could do at the time. I guess I’ll just have to add brain cells to Annie’s list of required mental modifications. Now that she’s so close to the Everfree, perhaps an upgrade is in order.