//------------------------------// // 11: Wounded Mind // Story: Reformation of the Hives // by law abiding pony //------------------------------// Doctor Arvatus was no stranger to damaged minds. Convincing Twilight Velvet to allow him inside her mind after passing her lemon test was child’s play. However he only had real experience with the eddies and flows of sphinx minds, so Velvet provided a particular challenge that he tried to prepare himself for. Sadly, most of that consisted of chanting I think I can. I think I can. repeated to and from the cafeteria. At present, his consciousness swam through a torrent of images and voices crowding around him so densely it was nearly impossible to sort through all of them. “You have one of those things for a daughter?” chided an unfamiliar arrogant voice across Arvatus’ right ear. “Royalty or not, your family’s not welcome in my establishment.” “Well, one can hardly expect a changeling to speak the truth now can you?” scoffed a haughty stallion. “All they are capable of are lies. Makes me wonder how much of a saint the Element of Honesty could actually be to do business with the little devils.” “Did you year that one of Baltimare’s city councilmares revealed herself to be a changeling!” exclaimed another haughty voice. “As if you needed any more proof they know nothing but duplicity. I heard she shut down the ban on salve products. Typical self serving-” “They’re everywhere!” shouted a thready and frightened voice, cutting off the last one. “Mark my words, they’ll put us all into pods, just like the wedding!” A nonverbal tsk of disapproval brought his attention to the left where Arvatus saw a ghostly unicorn mare looking through him. “Don’t worry too much, Velvet, at least Shining Armor is still a proper heir to the family name.” “Well of course the princesses are going to justify Twilight’s ‘rebirth’. You really think they’d wage war against an enemy that are natural infiltrators who couldn't care less about dying?” “I fully understand your pain,” another voice called out softly to Arvatus’ left. As he waded deeper into Velvet’s mind, the voices were starting to be matched up with spectral images of their owners. This time it was a sympathetic looking stallion with a blue coat and mane, but his image was too fuzzy to glean anything else. “My Shimmer Skies was replaced by one of those things. I didn’t need the Guard to take care of that body snatcher. Even though the princesses have to play to diplomacy to avoid war, I know with all my heart that they are relying on the citizens of Equestria to act where they cannot.” He reached out a hoof as if to pick Arvatus up from a seated position. “I know of a group who could help you. They will denounce us, strip us of our possessions, and our freedom, but I know that they will secretly thank us.” The next part of the foggy memory surprised Arvatus since it was the first time he’d hear Velvet speaking back. “And what if we fail? If we can’t free Twilight from that living hell, I…” she shuddered, unable to continue from her grief. “We have to try,” the nameless stallion replied definitively. “Once she is free of Cadista’s influence and the slavery of her changeling instincts, I know for a fact that Twilight would vindicate our actions to the princesses. Once Cadista can no longer control her, the princesses will finally have a free hoof to deal with Cadista and the rest of those vile creatures as they deserve.” Arvatus tried to stabilize the memory so he could see the stallion more clearly, but the memory was snatched away, as if trying to hide itself. Cursing his loss, Arvatus created a momentary bubble of silence around his consciousness to think. It would be impossible to shift to each and every memory that caused Velvet to turn against Twilight. Besides, I’ve seen this sort of insanity before. The real Twilight Velvet is buried under so much noise and doubt that she can’t reach the surface anymore. If I can find her core and rid her of all this clouded vision, I just know she’ll give up the PCE. I have to go deeper. Even in his line of work, Arvatus rarely had to work with a mind that was burying itself so completely in its own hysteria and paranoia. Layers upon layers of memories tried to confuse his path to the point where even his experience was at its limits. I need to find the right threads. Something the core personality would cling to. It took several moments, but he had an idea as to what to look for. Lost in the maze of agonizing memories of changeling Twilight was a dream of a young purple filly in a classroom. Arvatus saw a Twilight as a filly jumping around Princess Celestia cheering for her newly acquired cutie mark. Yes, this should work. Mentally taking ahold of the memory, Arvatus located several threads connecting the memory to dozens of parts in Velvet’s mind. Only one of them caught his eye as it pulsed far more regularly. Just as I suspected. She’s clinging to the happiest parts of Twilight’s pony life. Following the brightest thread, Arvatus plunged into the increasingly dark and rage filled thoughts that were colored by depression, regret, and defeat. They rolled off of him like molasses, trying to muddle his mind the further he went. Even his vision of the mindscape was clouded with countless images and sounds. It pained him to continue. Every inch along the glowing tether was paid for in headaches both dull and stabbing. These ponies may not be psionic, but their innate magic makes mind walking against the mad or unwilling dangerous. In his real body, Arvatus felt something wet drip on his lip and a copper taste entered his mouth. She has such a powerful mind! I have to reach her soon, or I’ll be forced to retreat. I can’t deflect any of it until I see her core personality. The fear, sadness, and hate filled memories swirled around him like thick viscous tar yet were too rapid to see them as anything other than a mass of noise and color. The single thread was nearly lost in the maelstrom again and again as phantom memories and nightmares roared at him with abandon. Arvatus’ pounding headache intensified even further when he at last saw the tether ending in a recreation Twilight Sparkle as a unicorn. Unlike the memories, which were either flat images or spectral beings, this Twilight Sparkle looked solid and real. Twilight Velvet’s core manifested itself as her outer appearance as she embraced her unicorn daughter, unspoiled by changeling magic. Twilight Sparkle was hugging her back, both mares crying out of joy. “You freed me, momma. Spawning those horrid abominations and liking it was a living hell.” Velvet started petting her scared daughter’s mane with all the care a mother could have. “I know, honey, I know. Now that’s your free, the princesses can finally act to their true intentions.” Now that he could see the threads’ destination, Arvatus was at last able to form a psionic barrier around him and then extended it to envelope Velvet. He stepped back in shock when Twilight Sparkle’s doppelganger was not dispersed by the act. However, the act did draw the attention of both mares to the intruder. Velvet was the first to act by interposing herself between Arvatus and Twilight. “Doctor!? You lied to me! Only a psyker could reach me here, and all of them love that queen.” Twilight Sparkle cowered behind her mother’s protection whimpering in fear. “Please don’t let him take me. He’ll turn me back into a changeling, I just know it!” “I am not here to harm anyone. My name is Doctor Arvatus, and yes, I am a Psykira.” “I knew it!” Velvet growled, seeming to fall into her outer self’s paranoia. “You’re working for that insect that claims to be my daughter!” Arvatus saw several darker memories start to swirl into Velvet and used a mental spike to slash them away. Velvet shuddered from the act, but held her ground. “I admit I have found work in Queen Twilight’s hive, but I am here on my own volition. She does not know I’m here.” Some of Velvet’s thready tone shifted back to normal. “And why should I believe you? You’re probably here to kill me, or at least make sure I never leave this hell.” Arvatus studied the stormy mindscape around them. Velvet and the rest of them were floating in a void of blackness, yet they had no problem seeing one another. All in all, it was a grim sight that worried Arvatus greatly. “Miss Velvet, if I was here to kill you, I wouldn’t go through all the trouble of entering your mind. If I wanted you to remain in the asylum, I wouldn’t have to do anything at all.” “Lies! The P.C.E. will free me,” Velvet spat venomously. “If not by an agent, then when they free my daughter.” Understanding dawned on Arvatus like. The Twilight hiding behind her isn’t some delusion, it’s her vision of an ideal and unaltered Twilight Sparkle. “Perhaps they might,” Arvatus conceded to Velvet's mild surprise. “Tell me, Miss Velvet, just to clarify things, you do not see Queen Twilight as your daughter?” “She is a mockery!” Velvet held the unicorn daughter tightly as if she was afraid Arvatus would tear her to pieces. “My Twilight would never kowtow to them, let alone birth more of them!” Velvet spat as if the very words were toxic. “I see. Then I know what to do.” Drawing upon his vast experience and mental fortitude, Arvatus drenched Velvet’s mind with his power. The torrent of oily memories swirling around them thinned and dispersed, leaving them in a white space devoid of landmarks. Velvet cried out in pain and curled into a fetal position as Arvatus cleared the storm away. Twilight Sparkle’s phantom remained, trying to rouse Velvet from her catatonic state. When at last the white space was cleared of blackness, all that remained were various clear windows into more tame memories. Velvet rolled to upright herself and stared at the sphinx questioningly. “What - what did you do to me!?” Though he didn’t show it to her, Arvatus’ physical body was sweating profusely and his temple was throbbing heavily. “I shoved all the outside influences that people have had on you about changeling Twilight aside. Now, it is only you, and her. No friends, no enemies, and no family to get in the way.” “And what is that going to prove?” Velvet demanded heatedly. Arvatus shakily pointed at one such memory with Queen Twilight. “See for yourself.” With a swipe of his claw, he pulled the memory down for her. He didn’t know which memory it was, but ultimately he was betting that it didn’t matter. Velvet kept her phantom Twilight close, and kept one eye on Arvatus and the other on the memory. The memory was nearly a decade ago. Queen Twilight Sparkle was playing a game with ten of her nymphs in the library of Sparkle Manor. The fillies were easily the size of seven year olds, and were playing an old game Velvet never thought she’d ever see again: find the book. Twilight had all her nymphs lined up in front of her while the memory’s point of view remained hidden away near the door. “Alright, girls, clue number one: I have spells and mysteries. Clue two: I was written by somepony who doesn’t know a thing about magic.” Before she could list a third clue, three of the nymphs leapt up into the air, their tiny wings buzzing with a high pitch. “Oooo! I know where it is!” “Nu uh, I do!” “I’ll get the book first!” The other nymphs either chased after their kin or scrambled up to their mother for more clues. The real Velvet’s impatience and ire grew, but she stopped short of lashing out. The longer she watched the memory, the less revulsion she felt for the purple changelings. Twilight’s mannerisms, her posture, her loving tone of voice, even the way she doted on each nymph reminded Velvet of how she used to care for Twilight. Arvatus saw the confusion and misery well up on Velvet’s face along with the mindscape turning a murky brown. He picked another memory at random and flung it over to Velvet’s opposite side to make sure the two memories didn’t interfere with each other, inadvertently resulting in phantom Twilight yelping in surprise. Velvet turned around at the noise to find a memory of Queen Twilight bearing down on her with a fierce scowl. “How dare you keep asking me that! To go back to being a unicorn and abandon my children just to satisfy the status quo? Can’t you see how hypocritical that is, especially coming from you mother?!” “I - but-” Velvet’s automatic reply died on her lips. For the first time in her life, she didn’t see the changeling clinging onto her daughter’s soul, but her daughter fighting to keep her children. Renewed fury crossed her face and she swept a hoof across the queen, dispersing her. She refocused on Arvatus. “What trickery is this? You think you can so overtly toy with my mind and think I’ll magically see things your way?” Arvatus paused before bringing a third memory forward. Instead he closed the distance until he was face to face with Velvet. “The only trick I’ve done here is remove the noise.” “What noise? Don’t toy with me with cryptic words.” She got up in his face wanting to cast him out, but her mental focus wasn’t what it once was, and he firmly held on. “Your reality is all based on perspective, but people can change your perception on others. Here, now, there shall be no one from the P.C.E, no one from Queen Twilight’s friends, no anyone. Just you and those memories. Just like the ignorant bigots of my homeland, you have let others control you through their own mistrust and hatred.” A vile sneer plastered over Velvet’s muzzle. “So that’s the real game. You’re an outcast who found somepony willing to give you a roof over your head instead of killing you on sight? You’re no different than the changeling posing as my daughter.” Arvatus looked upon the hate filled mare with sympathetic pity. “You are just like how I used to be. You’re so used to hating her that you’re incapable of understanding and acceptance.” Velvet slapped him as hard as she could across the face. Though the attack caused pain, there was no blood in the mindscape. The phantom Twilight poked her head out from behind her mother and glared at him. “Momma’s nothing like you! She only wants to free my body so I can come back!” “Isn’t she?” Arvatus challenged calmly. With a paw, he reached into his chest and pulled out a small globule of himself and threw it at Velvet. The shocked mare tried to shield herself with a foreleg but instead of any pain, her world was completely replaced by an sun-lit alleyway. The mindscape was only visible from above and the two ends of the alleyway. Surrounding her were three sphinxes in the white and gold robes of the Order. She looked down at herself to find she was wearing the same attire. There was a cowering adolescent grecian tom looking at each of the monks with terror in his eyes. One of the jane monks spoke in a mechanical manner, as if she was reading him his rights. “You bear the mark of the Psykira, an enemy of the state and our very way of life. Do not resist and your entry into the Great Cycle may reward you with a better life.” “I’m not a Psykira!” the tom cried out. “Bertha Ultsis tattooed this damn mark on me against my will! I don’t even have psychic potential!” A second monk spoke up with a snarl. “You disrespect the Ultsis family by even uttering their name, profligate. You know full well we can’t test you for the cursed ability while under a city’s dampening field.” “W-what about those testing chambers you Order people have? You could take me there.” This time, the voice came from within Velvet although she easily identified it as a younger Arvatus. “Felsgrad doesn’t have an Order temple large enough to have one, and as my brother said, it’s too dangerous to take you outside the field.” With the memory being so personal, Velvet felt Arvatus’ sick satisfaction grow enormously as she raised a loaded crossbow and leveled it at the accused. “May the cycle restore you to a better life.” The psyker tried to fly away, but he never had a chance against crossbow bolts. One sank into his chest, another into his right wing, and a third hit his neck in rapid succession. The other monks stepped back and started chanting on the evils of the Psykira while Arvatus dropped his crossbow and stepped towards the crippled sphinx. Velvet tried to pull herself away from the memory, but the real Arvatus pushed all of his will into making her watch. Velvet couldn’t stop herself from leaning over the Psykira’s head and whisper with cold murder in Arvatus’ tone. “I hope disgraceful filth like you come back again and again as worms to be crushed under paw like the insects you are.” Shifting one paw into a hand, Arvatus and Velvet ripped the bolt out of the victim’s neck and started stabbing. Eyes, chest, neck, anywhere there was soft, yielding flesh. After ten stabs the tom was still. The memory vanished with Velvet shuddering at the violence of it. Phantom Twilight was painfully silent as Velvet finally tore herself away from the imposed memory. The monks and alleyway vanished, but the bloodied and broken body remained. “I was barely an initiate back then, long before I was tested for psionic potential. It took decades and my own awakening to see the monster I had become,” Arvatus said as he moved between Velvet and the corpse. “He was my first murder, but he certainly wasn’t the last Psykira, proven or otherwise, that I killed in the name of societal preservation.” He watched Velvet trying to shake off the horror of what she witnessed. “This will be the fate of Twilight Sparkle, and all of her children, if the P.C.E. should ever succeed. Is that truly what you want? To murder your own daughter in cold blood to ‘save’ her?” Velvet found her strength again and ran over to tackle him. He was surprised she actually could assault him, allowing Velvet to wrap her forelegs around his neck and shove her face into his. “You self-righteous foal. Awakening with new abilities is one thing, being forced to become a different species is another! The only thing I can do for my daughter now is to kill that Queen and free her soul to the peace of the Elysian Fields. That thing isn’t my daughter anymore!” she screamed with all the festering heartache of the past decade. “I beg to differ,” Arvatus countered harshly as he pointedly looked back at the corpse. Velvet glanced up to follow his gaze, only to find the bloodied corpse was now the dead remains of Queen Twilight laying on the monastery grounds near Canterlot. In that moment, she expected to feel elation, or at least relief at seeing what she had been wishing for so long. But that was not what happened. Stripped of the outside influences of the past twelve years, the only thing Velvet saw in that moment was her Twilight Sparkle lying there dead. Her horror was redoubled when the bloodied and broken crossbow bolt was now held aloft in her magic. Phantom Twilight’s voice sniffled from behind Velvet. “Why momma? Why did you kill me?” Velvet pushed herself away from Arvatus, and spun around to see phantom Twilight appeared just as she had when she first returned to Canterlot after her rebirth. “I’m sorry I’m not the same anymore, but I just wanted us to be a family again.” Velvet’s mindscape clouded over with startling rapidity. She dropped the crossbow bolt and wept into her hooves. Phantom Twilight remained nearby repeatedly asking what she had done to lose a mother’s love. It was more than Velvet could handle. The typhoon of emotions returned in full force, ripping at Arvatus with returned hostility. Before he could lose sight of Velvet, he expended the last of his mental strength in forming a protective shield around her, so her mind would not break again, and that the separation of outside influences on Velvet’s perception would hold out for at least a day. He snapped back into the physical world and collapsed to the floor next to Velvet’s bed. He gulped air as if he been drowning, his heart was pounding, and blood caked everything from the nose down, and dripped on the floor. Velvet was weeping into her pillow muttering too softly for Arvatas to hear what she was saying. After recovering his wits, Arvatus grabbed a washcloth from a large pocket in his coat and started cleaning himself up as best he could. That was more violent than I expected, but she had the reaction I was hoping for. Few people are naturally hateful, and from what I’ve heard, Velvet was not one of them. Noting the blood on the padded floor, Arvatus pressed his cloth tightly over his nose and stumbled for the exit. He fought against lightheadedness and a stabbing headache as he left the cell, only to find an orderly and Doctor Clear Mind waiting for him. Both ponies jumped to his aid with Clear Mind lifting Arvatus up from his front left side while the orderly gave him a replacement wet cloth for his nose. “Heavens, Doctor, you look like you went ten rounds with a minotaur cage fighter.” “I’ll take your word for it.” Arvatus nodded in thanks to the new cloth. “Sorry to trouble you son, but I left quite a trail to clean up.” “No worries, doc,” the peppy orderly said. “Can’t be any worse than what most spill around here.” The orderly ran off to gather the cleaning supplies while Clear Mind wanted to check on Velvet, yet Arvatus had to come first. “Did you make progress?” “I think so,” Arvatus replied nasally. What I’d give for a cold compress for my head right now. “I was right about her. The patient’s criminalistic paranoia stemmed from the company she kept, outside of the family. I have no doubt that over time, she had listened to enough anti-changeling fearmongering that she lashed out as she did. I’ve seen and experienced this countless times in my homeland.” “She certainly let herself go off the deep end after arriving here,” Clear Mind commented with a sad shake of his head. “What is it that you plan to do, should you cure her, if you don’t mind my asking?” Arvatus stopped and blankly stared at the opposite wall. The howling wind reflected his troubled thoughts after dredging up his own painful memory. “I want to give her a chance to atone. The same chance that was given to me a long time ago.” Today was the day. Lyra fidgeted nervously in a back room near the Canterlot Castle’s primary news reception chamber. It was early morning, barely half an hour past breakfast. Bon Bon was at her side gently rubbing her back while giving her friend brief nuzzles. A pair of filled memory crystals laid on the cushion with her, both filled with highlights involving Bon Bon. All four of the royal changelings were present, Twilight and Rainbow puppeting their respective diplomats. If it was just speaking to a crowd, Lyra would be in her element after all the concert tours she’d been on. Her only real source of fear was the threat of violence that was sure to erupt either during or right after the press conference. Lyra used her old meditative techniques to calm herself as she had done early in her music career. Aegis and Rainbow Dash quietly snorted in amusement every time Lyra would hum aloud. And here I thought Tree Hugger was the only one who did that, Rainbow mused. Rainbow stuck her head out of the large curtain separating them from the gathering reporters. Even though Canterlot was the cosmopolitan capital of Equestria, there were still only fourteen reporters awaiting them. Aegis started as she counted with her fingers.