Octavia laughed daintily, cup of tea gripped firmly in her hoof as Rarity dropped another cube of sugar into her own. The boutique was otherwise silent as the two mares enjoyed each other's company, a rare moment for the Fashionista this time of year. Something Octavia appreciated greatly after yesterday's insanity, though it did give her an interesting story to tell.
"I hope the poor thing can bounce back from that," Octavia sighed.
"As do I darling," Rarity said, cringing slightly at her own memory of crossing the soft-spoken Thestral. "Your friend can be quite terrifying when she wants to be."
Octavia nodded, briefly shuddering as she remembered her own momentary graze with her friend's glare.
"Fortunately, she tries to keep that temper of her's under control, love."
Rarity nodded, then took a sip of her drink before adding with an impish smile, "So long as nopony tries to hurt her marefriend, that is."
"May god have mercy on their soul," she giggled. "Personally, I think Lyra got off rather easy all things considered."
"Quite," Rarity sighed. "That mare needs to learn the meaning of the word restraint. I mean really, ponynapping somepony to interview them? Has the art of tact truly died?"
"Many, unfortunately, have opted to forgo such concepts I am sad to say."
"So it would seem," she frowned, raising the teapot to pour herself a fresh cup.
To her chagrin, only a few drops came out of the pot's spout.
"Oh dear," she grumbled, rising out of her seat with the teapot still held in her magic's grip. "Please excuse me darling. I shan't be gone more than a moment."
Octavia nodded as her host left to make a new pot.
While she did that, Octavia took a moment to enjoy the familiar atmosphere of the boutique. Even though it was a different version, it brought bittersweet memories of the time she spent with her world's Rarity. Time spent talking over tea, discussing crushes, enjoying music, and being a shoulder to cry on when the time was right. While they didn't spend as much time together as they did with their usual group of friends, they were still very close to each other. But that changed when Annon-a-Miss entered the scene. The second she heard what Sunset's former friends did, a deep gash had run through her bond with the Seamstress. In time, it turned into anger as she decided to sever such a tie. Did she hate the girl? No. Hate was too strong a feeling to give to a social puppet like her. Maybe things will change in the future and they could become friends again, but now? No. Not for a very long time.
The sound of the store's front door opening broke her out of her musings as the clopping of hooves followed. Seeing that Rarity hadn't returned yet, Octavia decided to see if she could keep the possible customer entertained until that changed. Stepping out of the residential section of the boutique's first floor into the showroom, she flashed her nicest smile as she approached the pony.
"Greetings welcome to th-"
She paused as she stared at the pony that stood before her.
"Well" Equestrian Octavia said, face only showing a trace of shock as she looked her counterpart over. "I can't say I was expecting this."
"Quite," Octavia said, her face a perfect mirror of her doppelgänger.
The two stared at each other in awkward silence for a moment, neither sure how to proceed. Then, the native Earth Pony let out a sigh and turned around.
"Very well," she grumbled. "Unzip me."
"Pardon?" Octavia asked, taking a startled step back.
"Well, we can't both wear the same thing in Ponyville," Equestrian Octavia said, looking over her shoulder with a small, mischievous smirk. "That would be most uncouth."
"I see," she said, again mirroring her double's expression. "Quite right, love."
They stayed like that for a few seconds before a fit of giggles broke them out of what little tension remained in the moment.
"So," Equestrian Octavia smiled, once again in control of her poise as she turned to face her double fully. "Are you the result of a spell or a Changeling perhaps?"
"I do not know what a Changeling is, but does a portal to another world count as a spell?" she said, tone measured
"So a letter C then," she nodded.
"As in "Other", correct?"
Equestrian Octavia nodded.
"You know love, you are taking this rather well," Octavia said, cocking a brow.
"Dear, this is Ponyville," she said flatly. "While I don't know how your world works, for me, this is just another Tuesday afternoon."
"I see," she smiled. "Care for some tea?"
"I think I can spare a bit of time."
***
It was a beautiful winter day that day. Snow bunnies were hopping. Snow was glistening. On a day like this, a Pegasus like Lightning Dust....should be falling from the sky.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" was all Lightning could manage as she plummeted like a lead weight into the soft snow-covered field below.
A yell that turned into a muffled groan when she made contact, doing a perfect impression of an ostrich in the snow. Rainbow slowly drifted to the ground, face twisted into a deep grimace as she touched down.
"See? I told you you weren't ready yet."
A loud series of grunts could be heard through the snow that sounded dangerously close to expletives as Lightning struggled to free herself.
"Damn it!" she exclaimed as she pulled her head out of the snow. "I thought I had it!"
Rainbow sighed, then sat down next to the fuming Pegasus.
"Lightning, you only just figured out how to use your wings. It's way too soon for you to try flying."
"I know," she groaned, then pointed at her head and added, "I know that up here anyway, but I can't help it! I've always wanted to fly!"
With a frustrated huff, she slammed a hoof into the snow in front of her.
"Always..."
The field fell into a gentle silence as the two Pegasi sat, one lost in thought while the other brooded. Slowly, a smile started to form on Rainbow's face as an idea took shape. While she wasn't as much of a bookworm as Twilight, Rainbow knew enough math to understand the finer points of flight. She had to for most of her more dangerous stunts prior to joining the Wonder Bolt Reserves. As such, her mind ran through the numbers almost as fast as her wing speed as she ran her plan through countless theories. And her excitement spiked further at what each result presented to her.
"Alright," Rainbow beamed, jumping to her hooves. "I know what to do."
"What?" Lightning grumbled.
"Well, from what I can tell you've got more than enough magic to get in the air. You just need to learn how to use your wings."
"Okay?" Lightning said, raising a brow as she stood up to face her friend/teacher. "So how do I do that? Just practice moving them around?"
"Yes and no," Rainbow smirked. "You need to learn how to use them on the move. Otherwise you'll just crash all over the place."
"Yeah, that would be bad," Lightning cringed, briefly glancing at the snow crater a few feet away."So how do we work on that?"
Rainbow leaned towards Lightning and with a challenging smirk said, "A simple game of tag."
"Huh?" Lightning blinked.
"Yep," Rainbow nodded, taking five steps back from Lightning. "For the next two hours, you and I are gonna play tag. Whoever's it when times up loses and has to pay for lunch."
"That's it?" Lightning smirked. "Sounds easy enough."
"Yeah," she said, then donned a wicked smile as she added, "But you have to do it with your wings open."
"Huh?" Lightning asked, head tilted in confusion.
"Trust me," she smirked.
"Okay?"
With that, she spread her wings and took the closest thing she could to a running stance that her body could manage.
"Alright," Rainbow smirked, crouching low in preparation. "Ready?"
She nodded, eyes narrowed in challenge.
"Set-go!"
In a blink, the native Pegasus appeared in front of her and tapped a hoof against Lightning's shoulder.
"Tag! You're it!"
Lightning flinched, then took a swipe at Rainbow with a forehoof only to hit empty air as the mare moved just out of reach. Making sure to keep her wings open, she lunged at the native Pegasus only to come up short yet again as she sidestepped past her at the last second. A frustrated growl slipped past her lips as she ran after her grinning teacher, the mare easily ducking and dodging past all of her attempts to tag her. As her frustration grew she became faintly aware of how much drag her wings were giving her. The way her feathers were grabbing the air made it feel like she was running through tar.
Damn it! she thought bitterly as she missed Rainbow for the fiftieth time. I need to be faster then this! God damn wings! If they weren't dragging me back so much I'd have her by now! I need to MOVE!!!
As if answering her silent demand, her wings angled themselves in a way that took away most of their drag, giving her a sudden burst of speed that neither mare was ready for. Rainbow barely managed to get out of the way while Lightning tore past her like a speeding missile into a nearby tree.
"Ow~," she groaned as she staggered to her hooves away from the tree. "What the hell happened?"
"You flattened out your wings," Rainbow said, a proud smirk on her face. "When you fly, that's how you accelerate. When you try to slow down, you fan your wings out towards your front for drag. Do you get it?"
Once Lightning managed to blink past the stars in her vision, she took note of what her teacher said and slowly started to figure out what she was getting at. Basically, she was playing tag with her breaks on and only just shifted gears into drive. Thinking about it that way, she felt like an idiot for not figuring out what the problem was in the first place.
"Yeah," she smirked turning towards her teacher and reopened her wings, this time making a conscious effort to open them flat. "Now let's have some real fun."
"Bring it," Rainbow smirked, crouching low.
The two stared each other down for a moment then, Lightning let out a battle cry as she charged towards Rainbow at a speed that dwarfed her first few charges. At the last second, Rainbow sidestepped her and again Lightning found herself colliding with a tree. A low groan was all she had time to make before a large conglomerate of snow fell out of the tree on top of her.
"Should probably wait until you learn how to turn before you decide to blitz me," she smirked.
"Aw shut up," she groaned as she struggled to pull herself out of the snow.
As Rainbow waited for Lightning to get out of her prison her thoughts drifted to a certain dark-orange Pegasus filly and what her new idea could mean for her. An exited smile bloomed on her face at the implications.
***
Bonbon walked through the streets with a faint smile as she went about her business, saddle bags bulging with the various ingredients needed for her personal project at the castle. Needless to say, when she saw the gold coins Princess Twilight gave her on the way out her jaw nearly broke the planet's crust. It was one thing to be told that a world used gold as freely as paper bills, but something else entirely to have it as a reality. A small part of her considered taking a few coins back with her when the trip was over. Not a lot of them, just a small handful to squirrel away for emergencies. At the present though, she was more than happy to spend the coins on what she had planned.
"Um, excuse me?" an eerily familiar voice said as somepony tapped her shoulder.
She turned and wasn't entirely surprised to see her own face staring back at her. It did put a slight chill down her spine though.
"Yeah?" she said, guarded as she walked. "Can I help you?"
Equestrian Bonbon gulped, then nervously said, "I, uh, just wanted to say, s-sorry about what happened yesterday. I swear, my marefriend's not usually like that. I don't know what got into her and none of you deserved what happened to you. I'm really really sorry!"
Bonbon stared at her double for a few seconds, then sighed.
"Okay, I forgive you," she smiled. "Both of you. My Lyra can do some crazy stuff sometimes too, so I can kind've relate. Besides, I think Fluttershy made her think twice about pulling a stunt like that again."
Equestrian Bonbon nodded, a worried frown decorating her muzzle.
"Yeah. I hope your marefriend is doing better then mine right now."
Bonbon blinked at that, then said, "My ma- oh! No-no-no! We aren't like that. We're just really good friends."
"Oh!" Equestrian Bonbon said, an embarrassed blush coloring her cheeks. "Sorry, I just assumed..."
"No problem," she smiled, waving it away with a hoof, then gave her a concerned frown as she asked, "What's wrong with your Lyra?"
Equestrian Bonbon sighed then looked at the ground.
"She had nightmares last night. Every hour she'd wake up screaming, crying about eyes in the darkness and sharp fangs. I don't blame her for what she did, but its hard to see her like that, you know?"
A frown grew on her face as a memory she tried to forget jumped to the front of her mind. An empty house. A dark bedroom. A dead-eyed mint-green teen sitting in a corner of the room.
"Yeah, I get where you're coming from."
"She'll bounce back from this," the native Bonbon said, a hint more confidence in her tone as she locked eyes with her double. "I'll make sure of that."
"Damn strait," Bonbon cheered, giving her double a playful hip-check."That's what we're for, right?"
She nodded, a bright smile on her muzzle that slowly turned into a curious frown when she saw the saddle bags.
"What's all that for?"
"Oh, nothing much" Bonbon shrugged. "Just things I need for some sweets I plan to make while I'm here."
"Want some help?" she asked eagerly.
"Do you make candy?"
"Last time I checked," she smirked, jerking her head towards her flank.
"Then sure," Bonbon laughed. "Why not? You know what they say after all."
"What?" She asked.
"Two bons are better than one."
Both burst into a fit of giggles at the play on words as they strolled through town, a new friendship taking root in the most unusual pair.
***
It was quiet in the castle's library, the crystal walls catching the rays of the early afternoon sun as it filled the room with a gentle light. Three ponies were at its center, two of which sat on their haunches in deep meditation while one stood before them. Twilight could see that the two mares before her had quite a lot of magic within them as she observed their flowing magical auras. For most Unicorns their magic moved like a colorful river, often taking certain attributes of their wielder's personalities into their structure. A pony with a short fuse could have a magic aura that resembled wild rapids with jagged stones while a more patient one would resemble a still stream. Vinyl and Lyra differed from this description. Vinyl's magic aura resembled a series of pulsing rings, each expanding and retracting in rhythmic beats like a heart. Lyra's magic aura was especially strange, resembling a golden spiderweb that refused to move in any way whatsoever. Something about it made the young Alicorn raise a brow. Aside from its bizarre structure, it felt like it was incomplete in some way, like something was restraining it for some reason.
Curious, she reached out with her magic and to her surprise, it accepted her. Slowly, she followed the flow of magic like the trail of a great maze until she came to heart of the web. A bright flash filled the room and she was quickly overwhelmed by a sense of vertigo. Slowly, she blinked the stars out of her eyes as her surroundings became more pronounced. She stood outside, the land's features seemingly divided perfectly down the middle. Long open plains dominated her left while rotting swamps festered at her right. In the distance, she could see a castle standing directly on the border. Curious, she moved towards the castle, all the while taking note of strange armored figures that seemed to rise out of the ground. At her left, tall humanoids materialized out of the tall grass covered head to toe in glistening white armor, some armed with shields and swords and others with just a sword. At her right stood beings dressed in jagged black armor, menacing ornate swords and halberts clutched tightly in their hands designed to bring as much pain as possible with each strike. In time, she made it to the castle's gates and was greeted by a being that filled her with equal parts awe and fear. The gates to the castle was guarded by a towering human woman, easily ten feet past Twilight's horn in hight. She wore a flowing robe that was pitch-black on the right and porcelain-white on the left. Her hair was long and as gold as the sun on the left side of her face while it was the color of volcanic ash on the right. Her skin looked like it was made of glistening metal, a fact that made her blue left eye and her red right one all the more eery as they bore into the stunned Alicorn. Six wings opened from the figure's back in response to Twilight's presence, a display of power and warning in equal measure as the sun bounced off of their shining white feathers on the left while the right ones seemed to devour it like a ravenous beast.
"Who are you young one?" the figure demanded, her voice holding the force of thunder.
"I am Twilight Sparkle," she said, tone even and respectful. "And you are?"
The angel stared down at the Princess, her face unreadable.
"I have no name. I am only a guardian."
"I see," she frowned. "Then is it okay if I call you that?"
"If you must," Guardian said. "Now state your business. What could bring a being such as yourself to the heart of my mistress' magic?"
"I want to help her learn to control it," Twilight said evenly.
"I see," Guardian said, a faint grimace marring her features. "From what I know, that should be a simple task for you."
"In theory," she sighed. "But for some reason, Lyra's magic aura is paralyzed. It's like she's personally fragmenting her magic and I don't know what to do to fix that."
Guardian nodded, then let out a sad sigh as she said, "My mistress is ashamed of a part of herself. Ashamed, and stubbornly refuses to access her fullest potential."
"What do you mean?"
With another sigh Guardian stared out into the murky gloom of the swamps.
"I cannot say. All I can do is ask you to help her."
"How?"
Guardian stared down at the worried Alicorn and with a sad smile said, "Ask her about the knights in the swamp and what they mean to her."
Confused, Twilight nodded.
With that, a bright light filled Twilight's vision and another wave of vertigo washed over her. Just before the light became to much for her to handle, a figure peaked out from behind Guardian's foot. A figure with two-toned gray hair and mint green skin. With a groan, she opened her eyes to find herself back in her library with her guests looking at her with worried looks on their faces.
"Hey, are you alright?" Vinyl asked, rising to her hooves.
"Y-Yeah," Twilight said, rubbing the left side of her head. "Just a little dizzy, don't worry about it."
"Are you sure?" Lyra asked.
She nodded, then said, "I'll be fine after a few minutes. In the mean time, let's take a quick break."
"If you say so," Vinyl said, doubt coloring her tone.
A deep gurgle filled the room, reminding everyone present what time it was.
"But if we're taking a break, I guess I can nab a few things from the kitchen for everyone,"Vinyl said, laughing sheepishly.
"Sounds good to me," Lyra grinned. "Want some help?"
"Actually," Twilight said, cutting off Vinyl before she had a chance to reply. "I need to ask Lyra a few things first. Is that okay?"
"Uh, sure?" Lyra said with a hint of unease.
"Alright then," Vinyl said, a trace of concern in her tone as she walked towards the library doors. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Thanks," they said together as the DJ left the room.
A heavy silence filled the room as the two Unicorns stared at each other, one not sure how to go about asking her question while the other worried about what was on the Princess' mind. Eventually, Twilight decided the direct approach was the best one in this case.
"What do knights in a swamp mean to you?"
Lyra's eyes widened at that, then turned somber as she stared at the ground.
"Where'd you hear about that?"
Twilight gave a brief description of Guardian and what she saw when she linked with Lyra's magic aura. A rueful smile spread across her muzzle as she continued to stare down at the ground.
"I guess that makes some sense," she said as she locked eyes with the Princess. "You probably never heard of a game called Magic The Gathering, have you?"
She shook her head.
For a few minutes, she gave the Princess a brief summery of how her favorite game operated. Not a detailed description, but enough to give her the basic idea.
"When I first started playing, I wasn't the nicest person," she explained, eyes becoming distant as her mind wandered to what felt like a lifetime ago. "Back then, I didn't have any friends. I don't think I really wanted any at the time either. All I cared about was winning. No fun. No friendship. Just victory. As a result, I gravitated to black magic more then the other colors. I don't know what it was, but that color just worked best with me, especially the knights. I crushed anyone I played against, but I didn't really see them as people. Just someone I had to take down to move forward in a tournament. The only person I couldn't beat was my Grandma."
A sad smile graced her muzzle as she remembered her Grandmother, a bittersweet topic she hadn't focused on in a long time.
"She used white," she continued. "And she sure as hell knew how to use it. No matter what I did, I could never land a single point of damage on her. I remember asking her one day 'why she was so strong'? You know what she told me?"
Twilight shook her head.
"She was having fun," she chuckled. "She told me, if I wanted to be strong, I had to have fun with it whenever I could. I thought she was full of it at the time, but...... that changed after she passed."
Twilight gasped, hooves flying to her mouth as she saw a few tears form in the corners of Lyra's eyes.
"I-I'm sorry," she stammered.
"I-It's okay," Lyra chuckled thickly, wiping the budding tears out of her eyes.
"Anyway," she continued. "After the funeral, I was a mess. Everything just felt so pointless. Except for my games. They let me escape reality for a bit, but they didn't do much for me after a while. Even Magic became just another empty part of my life. Then I found Grandma's cards, and things started to look up for me. I don't know what it was, but when I held her cards, it felt like she was with me. Like she was watching me through our greatest past time. So, with her deck at hand, I jumped into a tournament for the first time in months. I got completely destroyed, but it was funny. I wasn't upset about it. Instead, I left the shop with the biggest smile I could remember having. With my Grandma's cards, I tried to do what she told me to. I tried to have fun. Since then, I'd abandoned my old color and dedicated myself to using white magic, both to remember my Grandma and move past the person I used to be. It was fun for a while, but then I had an urge to mix the two colors. It was mostly to see if I could make anything functional out of it, but as I built it I was scared of becoming the person I used to be. When it was complete, I tested it out at a local tournament, hoping it wold flop."
She paused, then a shameful frown crossed her muzzle as she added, " I won. I won and that scared the heck out of me. So, I took the deck and locked it up vowing never to use it or any deck like it ever again. After that, I dove completely into white magic and followed my Grandma's advice. Not long after that, I met Bonbon and started making friends."
When Lyra finished her tale, she locked eyes with the Princess of Friendship and smiled.
"The deck was a black/white knight deck. That's what swamp knights mean to me."
Twilight stared at her guest, a whirlwind of emotions twirling inside her. Sadness, confusion, shock, but above all else, understanding. It was through that, that she told the Unicorn in front of her what she knew she wasn't going to like.
"I think you need to use that deck."
Lyra gawked at her then glared.
"Didn't you hear me?" she snapped. "I don't want to-"
"I know," she said, tone gentle. "But I don't think you need to be afraid of that. Not anymore. You have friends, yourself, and your Grandmother's words to help keep you in check. You don't have to run from who you used to be to move past it. Sometimes, you just have to own it."
Lyra stared at the Princess, trepidation heavy in her features.
"A-Are you sure?" she asked.
With a warm smile, she nodded.
Neither moved or spoke for a moment, then Lyra let out a deep sigh. As she did, all the tension and stress seemed to pour out of her like a breath she hadn't known she was holding was finally let loose. At the same time Twilight could see Lyra's magic aura change. It no longer resembled a rigid spiderweb. Instead, it was a spiraling current of gold, playfully lapping at its surroundings like a newborn puppy.
Lyra laughed then said," God that felt good to get off my chest. Sorry to dump all that baggage on your lap Princess. I don't know why, but it just felt right to talk to you about this."
"No problem Lyra," she giggled. "Anything for a friend."
With that, she looked out the window, a faint smile coloring her muzzle.
Just another Tuesday in Ponyville.
Excellent chapter as always, Arcanum, but I have a small nitpick about something near the end of the chapter.
I think you meant Lyra here, right?
Bonnie's with her Equestrian counterpart atm.
Anyway, again, I loved this one, and I can't wait for the next one to find out what happens next!
Hmm, LOTS of places where you were missing letters from your words. Below is the first I found, but there are quite a few more.
one lost n thought - one lost in thought
It was a nice intermediary chapter, lots of little things happened to help build the plot and the character's personalities. Thanks for the entertainment!
9530980
Thanks for the heads up. I'm ashamed to admit I was mostly rushing to finish it today. It is literally Tuesday where I'm at.
You mean Lyra?
Anyway, good chapter, especially about Lyra's (EG) backstory!
9531042
Thanks for the heads up. And thanks.
Really excited to see Equestrian Scootaloo fly with Rainbow's newly-formed plan as the impetus.
But not Earth Scootaloo. She hasn't earned st except for a long, humiliating penance.
The other thing that I always notice while reading each new chapter are the typos. I hesitate to offer my services as a beta, but this story's main detriment is its lack of finishing polish.
9531197
Finishing polish? Please explain as I've never heard of that term.
9531206
It's just that the plot and characterizations seem solid, but my overall impression of the story is dragged down by the lack of care in the grammatical aspects. The misspellings and occasional punctuation misuse irk me because they are among the easiest things to fix about a fic. I admire the update schedule being adhered to, but running a spell check or even just a read-through after you're done writing a chapter would help. If English isn't your first language, then I apologize for my slightly harsh tone.
9531208
No it's fine and your feedback is greatly appreciated. I do try to fix as many typos as I can but some things just slip past my radar or I use more for dramatic effect to manipulate the way the sentence flows.
Should be "seconds"
Should be "THE heart"
Should be "there"
"He" shouldn't be there.
I have also noticed that you use a LOT of commas, where it is unnecessary to show emphasis or a pause in the sentence. But most could be overlooked as the writer's style.
Some, however, cannot. Like:
The last comma should be removed.
The last comma should be removed. It can go BEFORE "and as a result", although it is not needed.
9531218
Yeah I do make a habit of using those too frequently and it drives me nuts as a writer. I'll take note of that for future chapters and comb the previous ones.
Bon Bon should be carrying saddle bags as opposed to sattle. Also I can only imagine some crisis will blindside Ponyville on a Wednesday and doom them all.
9531273
It was unaminous: after just an hour of discussion, the SCP Foundation Council were all of the same opinion.
"Neutralize," they all voted.
The next day, Equestria ceased existence. It was quick, it was painless, not even a second left to register for destruction before death came.
Cold, not cruel, after all."
I kid, the Foundation ain't the Destroy-Destroy-Destroy Foundation. But I imagine that if the SCP Foundation did exist in the Arcanumverse, well, after Celestia's little stunt, they would be having one long talk. They are paranoid people, after all.
Holds a treaty with this Twilight and Celestia promising non-interference with them and Sunset(maybe the Masquerade broke., but secretly locks up multiple copies of Twilight from different dimensions in some hidden underground site.
EDIT: changed text. Original text:
It was unaminous: after 1 hour of discussion, the SCP Foundation Council were all of the same opinion.
"Neutralize them," they voted.
The next day, Equestria was no more. Quick, painless, not even a second to register for destruction before death came.
Cold, not cruel, after all."
It's nice to learn more about EQG Lyra.
You know, I may have been wrong about this story. So far, it has been a very pleasant read. I'll continue tracking.
I'm not lie, but when Pony Octavia said...
My mind went somewhere dirty real quick
Also, quite the background about Lyra & her history on Magic: Gathering. I didn't expect it to very emotional, but I like it gave us more info about why she what she is on occasions.
Absolutely loved Lyra's story in this one. Great chapter
9531641
Welcome back.
9532960
No probs, Arcanum.
Just dumping this here, since I heard you know about TheVolgun. It's the SCP Foundation merged with whatever verse this tale and Seven Saviors take place in. (Foundation were not pleased with Celestia's little stunt, serving to further increase their distrust toward the Pony royalty.
Celestia, for her part, ain't a fan of the SCP Foundation or their cold-not-cruel attitude (even though this is Broken Masquerade canon), a sentiment shared by Sunset and her new friends.)
Not refined, but I spent a long time working on this on a Deviantart comment, so I thought might as well dump it in a place where the author might notice it:
Broken Masquerade Canon
Item #: SCP- 7413 (Anon-a-SCP)
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: Individuals associated with the Anon-a-Miss incident are to be monitored daily through plain shirt agents for any anomaly. Particular security is to be directed towards SCP-7413-1-5. Any individuals who show a greater probability in the manifestation and attraction of dangerous anomalies are to be detained indefinitely at Site - 17. MTF Zeta-7 ("Anon-a-Miss Cowards") is to be on constant standby for any dangerous anomalies created as a result in 7413.
Addendum: Due to recent developments in SCP-7413, containment of SCP - 7413 is to be temporarily halted until a solution can be found.
Description: SCP - 7413 is a phenomem centered around individuals (designated SCP-7413-1-x) associated with a bullying and harassment incident at the Canterlot High School (informally referred to as the "Anon-a-Miss" incident). This phenomenon extends to individuals associated with SCP-7413-1-x instances. SCP-7413-1-x instances display a lower Hume level than normal, causing anomalies to manifest near them. SCP - 7413 also seems to exert a psychic force that attracts existing anomalies towards affected individuals. The effect of SCP - 7413 proportional to the individual's association with the victim of the incident, SCP - 7491 (also known as Sunset Shimmer), and also affects individuals associated with instances of SCP-7413-1 and so
List of known anomalies created by SCP - 7413:
- Hat with notes displaying "Murderer", recovered from SCP-7413-7. SCP-7413-7 had verbally assaulted SCP-7491 during the Anon-a-Miss incident and did nothing when POI-7491 was being physically assaulted.
- A stone that broadcasts a psychic signal causing individuals to ignore individual holding the stone. Recovered from the garden of SCP-7413, who had expressed delight at POI-7491's situation during the incident.
- Six bodies physically identical to POI - 7491, that randomly appeared in a lake near the presence of SCP-7413-5. Cause of death of each body has been determined, respectively, to be gunshots, wrist cutting, hanging, drowning, carbon monoxide asphyxiation, of blunt force trauma consistent with a fall of 15 feet. SCP-7413-5 was a former friend of SCP-7491.
- Necklace recovered from boutique operated by SCP - 7413 - 3. Wearing the necklace gives individuals symptoms of intoxication, though no alcohol is detected in the bloodstream. SCP-7413-1 was a former friend of SCP-7491, and is currently undergoing alcohol rehabilitation, having turned to alcohol due to guilt from rejecting SCP-7491's pleas of innocence.
- SCP Foundation files consisting of a report on an extradimensional entity that feeds on guilt, ultimately causing the suicide of victim by increasing victim's propensity towards guilt. Instead of an item name, the entity is referred to as "Flower of Evil". Profile image of victims matches that of SCP-7413-1 - 5. Investigations are currently undergoing to determine the existence of the entity.
- Entities resembling SCP-7940 ("Elements of Harmony"). Entities displayed massive wounds and injuries, and had skin of different sources grafted onto them, and constantly vocalized statements of pain and anger. Entities manifest near and attacked SCP-7426-1-5. All instances terminated without incident, DNA tests reveal DNA patterns of multiple individuals.
- Entity that resembles SCP-7426 ("Sun Queen"). Entity displayed a temperature of 160 F, and displayed hostile intent to Site-17. MTF-Zeta-7 engaged with the entity, entity terminated with seven casualties. Area of conflict cordoned off due to massive temperature.
- [REDACTED]
Addendum 1: Agents monitoring SCP-7413-1-x displayed SCP-7413 effects. All agents detained, containment is to be halted indefinitely. Based on these latest developments, SCP-7413 is theorized to extend to people tangentially related to the Incident.
[PLEASE ENTER SECURITY CREDENTIALS (LEVEL 4)]
[CREDENTIALS ACCEPTED.]
On [DATE BLOCKED], while tracking down SCP-6629 in Equestria, Agents recovered an anomalous comic book near SCP-7413-8, who had helped POI-7491 in uncovering the true perpetrators of the Anon-a-Miss incident, and was currently dating POI-7491. This was the first instance of a manifestation of SCP-7413 in Equestria.
The instance was a stapled sheaf of paper, displaying comic sketches. Hume levels near the sheaf were very low. Papers changed content based on the individuals holding it and often depicted events related to individuals holding it. Every time a page was flipped, content was changed, with papers depicting the old events manifesting nearby.
When held by Agents, comic book displayed events around Site 17, cataloging the various SCPs collected. However, when the Agents flipped through the pages, new SCPs appeared, while original SCPs gradually became more dangerous and hostile. This was correlated with sudden changes in reality observed in Site 17 with Hume levels being lowered.
Paper was recovered near the book, indicating previous use. Paper depicted multiple iterations of Anon-a-Miss: the first iteration was very short: SCP-7491's friend stood by SCP-7491 despite accusations from others of being the perpetrator of the Anon-a-Miss incident and worked to uncover the true perpetrator. Later iterations, though, increase in length and depict increasing levels of distrust and hostility towards SCP-7491 from friends and classmates. SCP-7491's demeanor changes likewise, growing increasingly depressed and suicidal.
A note was found on the last page of the book. Words were hard to comprehend due to water stains. A comprehensive version of the content of the note is transcribed below:
I'M SORRY... I'M SORRY...
I'LL TRY TO FIX THIS, I PROMISE...
-TED
9535587
Where would I find this?
9536034
Not on the SCP site, that is for sure. Though I highly doubt it would survive the draft critique stage anyway.
9535587
I think it would be odd to class this as a keter considering all the world-ending SCPs in euclid class. Lilly for example would probably be labeled as a euclid class item due to only pushing individuals into committing suicide as opposed to groups. Then again, they have several keters in containment that are significantly easier to contain than Lilly so who can say for sure? Liked the whole Alcoholic neckless idea though. If that doesn't become a thing on the wiki I'll be shocked.
9536522
Are you referring to Lilly or this SCP I made in the comment section that is the Anon-a-Miss incident but anomaly-creating? Because if it is the latter, the reason why I classed it as Keter was because, as the SCP Foundation realized after the incident with the Agents, that the SCP is basically almost impossible to contain: the effects through association from the main players of the Anon-a-Miss incident to close friends and relatives and onwards, and everyone can be associated no matter how tenuous the connection. To make my point clearer: Rarity is one of the main carriers of SCP- 7413. Her parents become carries of SCP-7413 due to being related to her. Effect spreads to her parent's friend, Lustor Value. Lustor Value is the manager for Rush, so Geddy Lee becomes infected. Geddy Lee signed the "2112" copy of Foundation Agent Daniel Johnston, spreading the effect of the SCP to the Agent. The Agent proceeds to spread it to his partner, who spreads it an MTF commander she secretly is in a relationship with, who spreads it to Site Director, who spreads it to another Site Director.... and on and on and on it goes, till it eventually spreads to the O5 in their impenetrable fortresses of Adamantium. And the O5 happens to be connected to some rather powerful and important figures, like the President...
So yeah, this is why I classified it as Keter: SCP classes are to determine range of SCP and how easy is it to contain (if it can be locked in box, it is Safe; if it can be locked in box but with some difficulty, it is Euclid; if it can easily escape the box and takes lots of manpower to contain, it is Keter; it is is the box, then it is Thaumiel). And Anon-a-SCP is basically almost impossible to contain (the SCP Foundation is fearful that eventually, it might start to affect alien life just by the association that they are living like humans). But maybe I should have added more Addendums to the comment to make it clear: start with Agents monitoring the case getting infected, then their relatives and partners, then the Site Monitor, finally culminating in the entire Site going into Lockdown because everybody is manifesting Anomalies. Anomalies manifested, as you might have noticed, are affected by the fears, the emotions of the infectee.
And some of the things that the SCP fears... well, you can see why they would classify this as Keter. (even possibly world-ending if it spreads to the people who fought eldritch abomindations.
That psuedo-Celestia manifestation that attacked Site-17? That is not the Mane girls, that is an SCP agent, one who there that day when a grieving and mad Celestia came to Canterlot with intent of destruction, hiding in fear in the shadows, heart beating faster and chill climbing his neck waiting to shoot and kill by order of the SCP Foundation who were notified of it when their Dimension Monitor detected SCP-6412 ("Ponyland Pass") being used. This Agent saw Celestia's power first hand when she aided the Foundation in destroying a fast-spreading liquid metal organism and knows Earth would be screwed if the Sun Goddess dares attack it. Sure, they do have a treaty with Equestria (and this takes place in Broken Masquerade Canon so they cannnot just lock up Sunset), but the SCP Foundation being what they are, they are pretty paranoid of Celestia.
Currently, they are spying on Sunset and her friends (especially Fluttershy, due to the fact she turned into an instance of SCP-7413 ("Deathorse") instead of an ordinary pony). And Celestia likes it not one bit (neither does Discord, but Scranton Reality Anchors actually work against him).
Lilly, by the way, is the "Flower of Evil" mentioned, and indeed, the report classifies her as Euclid (as all sapient anomalies naturally are).
Long thought about a fanfic to your "7 saviors" and "G a p s in Friendship" starting from the SCP Foundation's interview with Celestia after the Incident (where Celestia pours out all her suppressed anger towards the Foundation) and continues on documenting the Foundation's descent into paranoia against Equestria with the suggestion that they are getting infected by a cognitohazard. Ted is a character, and he remembers a time when the Mane Six stood by Sunset, when Ditzy was not a hacker, when everybody was happier... The papers were supposed to be a first attempt to fix everything, with SCP- 7413 being a very unfortunate side effect...
Thanks. That would not be enough for today's SCP Foundation wiki, though. No more simple things-that-what-makes-you-kill-or-kill-you thing, the Wiki wants something more substantional!
Thus, if I were to put the alcoholic necklace into the wiki, here is some modifications I would make: the necklace, when placed on someone on drugs, stores effects of drugs. And it can gather up drugs. For example, put it on someone plastered by Jack Daniels. Now you can experience what it is like to be plastered with Jack Daniels! Now put it on someone tripping out on LSD. Now you can trip out to Magic Mystery Tour while drunk on Jack Daniel's! And the best thing? The necklace's magic prevents you from dying from so many intoxications (usually), so you could safely lose your mind to drugs without much of the usual harm or any of the actual drugs getting into your bloodstream and disqualifying you from contests or the pesky police officers detecting them. And this effect also extends to steroids...
It was created in the 1920s by some low-level magicians who wanted to get drunk without getting arrested for possession of alcohol. They lent it to a friend, but unfortuantely, he was containing a fire phoenix entity that could only be kept inside through willpower...
9537004
Ah, that makes a bit more sense. Though you've got to admit, the Foundation's classification labels can be a bit confusing at times. Like, I get how things like 682, The Old Man, and The Flesh That Hates became keters considering how leathal and difficult to kill they are, but then you have With Many Voices which is a comparatively easier thteat to deal with. And don't even get me started on Builder Bear.
9537074
Oh yeah, I know, one common misconception among the SCP fandom (not the writers) is that Classification labels is not about danger but about the difficulty to contain. And Keter encompasses a wide level of danger. To bring up your previous examples: 682 and the Old Man, they are both bad news (especially for the poor victim of Radical Larry), but while 106's kills are horrifying, it is not much of a threat for people in general compared to the Lizard, which has the capacity to create a bigger casualty rate due to its ability to basically not die.
Well, I guess Builder Bear is Keter due to its ability to create copies of itself (presumably infinite) plus the fact that it is currently uncontained somewhere on a Site, with access to various assortments of "materials" (what if it makes a clone out of an anomalous human? Or the on-site nuke?) But really, if you want further demonstration about why Keter ain't about danger level: SCP-3757, which not only is not harmful but actually rather helpful. Read it and see.
P.S. : Any favorite SCPs among the many (around 5000 now) SCPs created over the years by a community of writers?
9537254
The Voice Behind You. That SCP is just broken on every single level and beyond. I also kind of sympathize with him. The Archetype is a close second for me for similar reasons.
9537495
Ah, yeah, A Voice Behind You, read it before, pretty crazy article of a fictional reality bender who is beyond fiction. Also watched The Volgun's video on The Archetype.
My favorites? Well, I have yet to develop a favorite, but if I were to list SCPs that have definitely stayed with me in my thoughts:
SCP - 2571 - Cragglewood Park (accidentally saw the creepy image of the smiling tree, I guess that is why this SCP has stayed in my mind)
SCP - 1875 - Antique Chess Computer (warning: if you get spooked out easily, read this with textise. Or at least, scroll down slowly and carefully)
SCP - 2295 - The Bear with a Heart of Patchwork (just a nice and heartwarming little SCP, basically Builder Bear's good brother)
- Sarkic Containment Procedures Just like the imagery that this article presents. Plus, one of the few articles of good guy Sarkics (original Sarkics welded power of Yaldabaoth to fight the Daevas. Never actually worshipped Yaldabaoth, in fact, considered the Flesh Demiurge a danger) Plus, I drew my first SCP fanart that I am actually proud of and believe to be worthy of the rank of SunnyClockwork.
That is all for now. Really, there is a lot of SCPs I like (the HMS Wintershelmer, The Lunatic, Lunch Gun, L A U G H I S F U N, a chinese branch SCP about a wedding dress that turns photos gothic and men into monsters), but that is all I can list for now
sattle bags
I keep seeing this, I thought it was a typo, but it seems not.
The word you want is 'saddle' / 'Saddlebag'.
9715457
I know I'm going to fix that as soon as I come back to this fic after Winter Aria.
I think my favorite part of this is lyra’s magic being connected to magic the gathering. Don’t know why but I really enjoy it.
9967596
Do you play? RN I'm raising hell with my white/blue/black deck. Divine visitation, corpse knight, murmuring mystic and victory's Envoy is proving quite a challenge to beat
called
Ponies seeing as how Twilight is an alicorn.
Huh undertale’s sans beginning line of his fight but you own take on it