The Jabberwocky
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“Just who dares disturb these proceedings?!” the Queen demanded.
“I do!” Mare Do-Well shouted.
“No, she doesn’t!” Rarity exclaimed. She turned and spoke to her to the side. “What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t just let you go like that. You honestly didn’t think I’d follow you?”
Rarity flushed slightly and turned from her in a huff. “I didn’t think you’d be bold enough to interrupt a trial.”
“Yeah,” Mare Do-Well took a look around her. “What are you getting charged for anyway?”
“Actually-”
The Queen slammed her gavel repeatedly again and narrowed her eyes at the new mare. “Wait, I recognize you! You’re one of the others that have been invading my dreams!”
“Come again?”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “She’s seen us in her dreams so she wants to punish us.”
Mare Do-Well turned back to the Queen. “That makes no sense.”
“Now you’re getting it,” Rarity muttered. “That’s the point of this place. Everything isn’t supposed to make sense.”
Mare Do-Well stopped. A veil suddenly lifting from her eyes. “Holy Faust am I stupid!”
“Then we’re in agreement,” Rarity mused.
“Excuse me!” the Queen shouted. “Trial? Sentence? Gavel?”
Mare Do-Well rubbed her chin. If everything wasn’t supposed to make sense in this world, then there just might be a way out of this if she played along. “Hold it!” she shouted. The force of her voice silenced everypony including the Queen who looked taken aback. “You can’t sentence us to death because it’s opposite day!”
Her last words hung in the air for a long moment. Then everypony in court gave a loud groan, Rarity and the Queen included. “What?” Mare Do-Well asked.
Rarity placed her forehead on the pulpit and moaned. “Not even Pinkie Pie would laugh at that joke. You’re seriously bad at this, aren’t you?”
Mare Do-Well threw up her hooves in exasperation. “I’m a superhero, not a comedian! These ponies seem stupid enough, I thought it would work!” The court collectively gasped. Rarity perked up and stared eyes wide at her. Mare Do-Well immediately felt the heated gaze from above on her. “Oh Faust, I am off my game today, aren’t I?”
The Queen’s face had never been redder. She looked as if she was about to pop a blood vessel. Several ponies in the court even ducked beneath their chairs as if expecting a literal explosion. Though knowing this world that probably wasn’t too far off. Instinctively, she covered her face. “You’re a hero?”
Mare Do-Well opened one eye and saw that the Queen was no longer mad. Instead she had a much more sinister grin on her face. Ugh, that makes the cat’s look like friendly smile. “Y-Yes?”
She could see the wheels beginning to turn in the Queen’s head. This could only lead to trouble. Finally, the Queen slammed her gavel once lightly, her anger almost completely gone from her face. “Both defendants approach the bench.” Rarity and Mare Do-Well did so, extremely uncomfortable with the sudden change in the air. The Queen spun her gavel in her hooves nonchalantly as she addressed them from her seat. “It just so happens that my kingdom is in dire need of a hero. Just on the other side of this mountain where the borogoves are mimsy and the mome raths outgrabe. There dwells above the tulgey wood and tumtum trees a Jabberwocky’s cave. So go defeat the manxome foe, with claws that catch and jaws that bite. Then I will grant you pardon some and your further travels you may alight.”
Mare Do-Well blinked twice then leaned over to Rarity. “Did you get any of that?”
“Not a word.”
The Queen’s anger returned. “It’s rhyme, you dunderheads! I was telling you to go slay the beast that lives on the other side of the mountain!”
Mare Do-Well rolled her eyes. “Well, it wasn’t a very…” she trailed off as Rarity made a cutting motion telling her to stop talking. “…bad poem, your majesty?”
The Queen’s smile returned and she tittered. “Oh, why thank you.”
Mare Do-Well bowed politely and grabbed Rarity’s shoulder. “Yes, so we’ll just go dispose of this Jabber-whatchamacallit for you and then we’ll be off.”
Two guards crossed their spears in front of Rarity blocking her escape. The Queen laughed again. “Now who said you’d both go. You’re the hero, masked mare, are you not. The white mare will stay here until you’ve accomplished your task.”
“I have a name, you know,” Rarity mumbled under her breath.
Mare Do-Well clicked her tongue, she had been hoping to just get out with Rarity in tow and just leave. Now she’d have to do this stupid quest. She looked to Rarity one last time and the mare simply frowned at her. Yeah, totally feel good about doing all this. “Your wish is my command,” she muttered sarcastically.
Mare Do-Well left the castle gardens and made her way across the mountain. Luckily it didn’t look too big so it wouldn’t take too long. Though she was sure she was forgetting something the whole way across.
She slapped her forehead as she walked, a realization dawning on her. “Why didn’t I just throw a smoke bomb and get us out? Argh! I don’t even know what a Jabber-wookiee looks like!”
When she reached the other end of the mountain a rumble shook the ground beneath her and it lurched tossing her up in the air. She stumbled in her fall and tumbled all the way down the mountain side into some bushes. After the stars stopped spinning she finally saw what she had been forgetting. “Oh, right.”
The entire other half of the mountain was a giant face. The top had two large boulders for eyes and a peak jutted out half way that looked like a nose. At the base was an enormous mouth of a tunnel that, quite literally, was a mouth. It hung open as the giant face seemed to sleep. “And I suppose I have to go in that thing,” Mare Do-Well lamented to herself as she got up and dusted off. “No, of course not. It’s one of the other many caves out here. But what’s that? There aren’t any? Guess I’ll just climb into the mouth of this giant thing then!” She noisily climbed back up the mountain and crawled into the tunnel mouth, muttering to herself all the way there.
“Why am I doing this?” she continued to muse. “Seriously, why? Have I just given up all hope of getting back and this is how I’m coping? Giving into the complete and utter madness of this world?” She walked deeper into the tunnel as she talked, the light from the mouth growing weaker and weaker. “And let’s be honest, I really haven’t been myself since coming here. Everything just makes me so infuriated! The illogic of it all! I just… just…”
“I want to go home.”
Mare Do-Well spun at the new voice. “Who’s there?”
A spotlight suddenly flashed on from above and she had to cover her eyes from the change in light. Standing beneath the light was… another Mare Do-Well. “You want to go home, right? That’s what you’re thinking?”
Mare Do-Well clamped her lips shut and shook her head. “Either I’m just imagining you or you’re another part of this crazy world. You’re not real.” She attempted to walk by the other self but it held out a hoof and stopped her. A cold shiver of fear ran down her body.
“I would have considered using this world to my advantage, you know,” the double said sternly. “I would have realized that the nonsense of this world could mean magic of untold power. I probably would have found the source by now and been back with the others so we can save the multiverse.”
Mare Do-Well gritted her teeth and tried not to look at her. “I’m trying, okay?”
The double poked her in the chest and begun to circle her. “No, you’re making excuses. You’ve been losing it since this whole mission began and now here in this place its given you the excuse to get sloppy.”
“That’s not true! I’ve been-”
“Been what? Put under some spell? You’d know it. Drugged? You’d sense it. You’re better trained than this. More skilled than this!”
“Yes, but this place is too… my hat, I need-”
The double pulled her hat from behind it. “You mean this?” The figment donned the hat and glared at her from underneath it. “You never deserved it.”
Mare Do-Well charged at her. “Give it back!”
“It’s mine!” They collided and kicks began to fly. Mare Do-Well hit her a few times at first but then the double returned her strength in kind. She felt the blows hit but every one made the back of her mind flare with something. Her unconscious mind was fighting her, begging her to stop but something new drove her to pummel the copy before her.
Finally, she landed a blow to the double’s jaw and the hat went flying off. She didn’t even pay attention to it as she swooped down on her foe and readied another punch. The double now looked beaten, her once pristine costume torn and stained. She looked up at her through cracked lenses with a narrow gaze. “Do it,” it whispered to her. “You know you want to.”
Why? Why did she want to? She had hurt that flower before but she simply pushed that off. This in front of her was an illusion so the same could be said if she finished it. But it was an illusion of her. Mare Do-Well gritted her teeth and shoved her face into the double’s. “WHO ARE YOU?!”
The double snickered despite its injuries and wearily lifted the bottom half of its mask. A shocking pink mouth with a wide grin greeted her. “I’m what you’ll never be and what you’ll never have again! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”
Mare Do-Well recoiled for a moment loosening her grip but the phantom continued to laugh hysterically. “Stop it,” she mumbled, but the laughter continued. “Stop it! STOP IT!!” The phantom rolled on the floor with laughter and she slammed her hoof down on its chest, but that did little to stop the inpony laughter. “STOP! IT!” She raised her hoof for a killing blow and brought it down.
“And that’s enough of that.”
The double disappeared and Mare Do-Well’s strike hit nothing instead slamming her hoof into the stone ground. “Agh!” She cried out in pain, her senses suddenly returning. She stood wearily to her hooves and looked around. “Who was that?”
Something knocked lightly on her head from above. She looked up to see the talisman floating in the air. A talon faded into existence holding the malefic card, followed by a furry body and a goat’s head. The rest of the body slowly appeared as well. The tail of a dragon, the paw of a lion, the wing of a bat, and the leg of a lizard. The creature before her floated in midair and frowned at the card in its talon. “Fearsome magic you’ve got here. If I hadn’t come along it could have swallowed you whole.”
“What are you talking about?” Mare Do-Well asked. Though she could already feel something happening. Like a sudden overbearing weight was lifted from her. That card. Was it the reason she’d been acting so irrationally? “You’re the Jabber… Jabba… uh…”
The creature smiled and bowed so low in midair that he tucked his head beneath his legs and continued to coil until he disappeared with a pop. “The Jabberwocky,” he proclaimed from seemingly everywhere. “At least that’s what I’m known as around here.” He reappeared standing behind her flipping the card over in his hands. “In other realms, much like the one you hail from, the ponies call me Discord.”
Mare Do-Well’s eyes widened. “How do you know that?”
Discord waved a dismissive paw. “Oh, you simply reek of trans-dimensional energy.” His grin spread further across his face and his eyes became more serpent like as his body elongated and he began to slither around her like a snake. “So little pony, how did you come to be here in a place you don’t belong?”
This creature could shapeshift, teleport, and most of all somehow had knowledge of other dimensions. Did he have some connection to Mr. 4? Or maybe… “I’d like to know more about you, Discord.”
The creature stopped and reared his head. “Me? And why would you want that?”
Yes, she could feel herself thinking a little more clearly. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. “So you’re a being from another world as well?”
Discord’s body reformed and then disappeared into a thin mist around him. “Oh, I am so much more than that, child.” Mare Do-Well stepped back as the mist he created filled the cave. His voice seemed to come from everywhere. “I am chaos. The eternal nonsense. Bringer of trouble, upset and random change. I exist within every world. In war, in mistakes, in imagination.” Swirls of images appeared in the mist before her. Images of ponies fighting, of ponies slipping on banana peels, and of little foals dreaming. “Sometimes I am a trickster. Sometimes a conqueror. Sometimes I am even a friend. But here and today, little pony,” he reformed in front of her on all fours, his features horrifically exaggerated to be terrifying. “I am a monster.” He stood up tall while looking down on her with a contemptuous glare. “So why do you come here?”
Mare Do-Well crouched as she prepared herself for a fight, then she remembered. This world makes no sense. So defeating a monster like this would make no sense as well. She straightened up once more and cleared her throat. “Um, to be your friend?”
Discord’s terrifying form didn’t change for a long moment, then he simply seemed to deflate and pout. “Oh, you’re no fun.”
Mare Do-Well let out a silent sigh of relief. “So, you’ll help me?”
Discord rolled his eyes all the way into the back of his head and then a new pair popped out like a cash register. “I suppose. You know, it’s fun to be a friend most of the time, but I do like to act like a monster every now and then.”
Mare Do-Well felt some things connect for her. “You get bored here? You’re a creature of chaos so a world with nothing but chaos can get monotonous to you.”
Discord gave her a subtle smile. “You are observant.” He began to float again and shrugged. “Fine, I’ll help you if only to get you out of this place and out of my hair.” He opened a rift in the air and began to swipe it left showing a new landscape every time. “So where did you come from? I’m guessing someplace dark to go with the duds.”
Mare Do-Well smiled. She had found a way out. “Actually, there’s somepony I need to get before I leave.”
~`(\/)’~
Rarity felt herself simmering as the court lounged around in wait. She lay her head on the pulpit as the Queen twiddled her hooves on the pedestal above looking pensive. “Are we really going to just wait here for her to come back?”
The Queen looked up seemingly surprised. “Hm? Oh, right. I can be quite forgetful sometimes.” She laughed again and then glared at the crowd. The members of the court let out a sympathetic laugh as well. She turned to the Steward who had seemingly fallen asleep. “Ahem!”
The Steward jolted awake and smiled automatically. “Yes, your majesty!”
Rarity didn’t have to guess what would happen next. She mimed the Queen’s words as she yelled. “OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!!” Then went back to lying on her pulpit. It was a little bit disconcerting how easily she’d gotten used to this Queen’s bloodlust. She had sent away at least five members of the court over the past hour. One of them simply for coughing. She almost wished Twilight was back, though she had been glad to see her leave.
Why was she so mad at her? Sure, she’d lied to her, but at the same time she had been one of the ponies to save her. Who knows what would have happened had the others not done what they did? Nightmare Moon could have conquered another world and used her body to do it.
Regardless of her reasons the mare did deserve her respect and thanks, not to be pushed away like a grudging date. She should really apologize to her when she came back. If she comes back, she thought.
She saw the soldiers drag away the Steward who still kept a firm smile on his face. Were they really being dragged off to be executed? Frowning she turned to the Queen. “Why do you do this?”
The Queen lifted an eyebrow at her in a scowl. “Come again?”
“Why do you treat ponies around you like this? Even if it’s irrational it’s simply… evil to do such things!”
The Queen’s face became red. “The Queen has a right to execute any pony she wishes.”
An idea crossed Rarity’s mind. “And who’s to say you’re the Queen, hm?”
“What?”
Rarity walked out from behind her pulpit and smiled deviously. “Is it that dress? That crown? If so…” She cast an illusion spell over herself. Her power was greatly decreased since disconnecting from Nightmare Moon but the spells she’d learned were still there. An illusion as simple as a dress was easy. With a flourish of magic she now wore the same red dress and crown as the Queen. “Tada!”
The Queen’s eye twitched a bit and she stomped down from the pedestal to stand face to face. “How dare you mock me!”
“Mock you?” Rarity replied in an indignant manner. “How dare you mock me? The Queen of Hearts!”
The Queen gasped. “But I’m the Queen!”
“So we both look like the Queen,” Rarity played along. “I suppose that means we’re both the Queen.”
The Queen stomped her hooves in rage. “It doesn’t work like that!”
Rarity grinned and tapped her chin pretending to think. “Then perhaps the ponies here would like to decide.” She turned to the court. “Who would you rather have as your Queen? A mare who beheads you at every turn? Or me?” She was hoping that the ponies of this world were not too irrational.
The Queen gave a haughty snort. “Those buffoons would not betray me! They’re just simple, stupid, low class…” Everypony pointed their hooves to Rarity with slightly relieved looks.
Rarity gave the Queen a sly smile as she stared in stunned silence at her entourage. “Wh- But… You ungrateful little-”
“Guards!” Rarity shouted. Two soldiers answered her, running up to her side. “OFF WITH HER HEAD!!!”
The two soldiers grabbed the old Queen by the hooves and began to drag her off. “WHAT!?”
Rarity held up a quick hoof to stop them. “Wait! Sorry! Got a little bit caught up in the moment. Just take her to the dungeon.” The old Queen struggled and screamed as she was pulled away.
A member of the court sidled up next to her and whispered. “It’s what we do anyway. I’ve been beheaded five times,” he pulled off an obviously fake mustache, “she never notices.”
“Um, your majesty?” A pony crept up next to her, offering up the gavel the previous Queen had dropped.
“Oh, thank you.” Rarity went over to the pedestal and sat down atop it. It felt kind of nice. The ponies were still smiling at her but their faces were a little more sincere. I could get used to this, she thought. If Twilight and I are really stuck here then this could be my calling. This is an odd world but I’d probably make a better queen than that last one. “I still can’t believe how easy that was,” she mumbled to herself.
Suddenly a flash of light came from the center of the gardens and two figures appeared. One was Mare Do-Well still donned in her dark costume. The other was… “Discord!?”
The members of the court all began to scream and run in terror. “The Jabberwocky is here!”
Discord put his talons to his mouth and let out a loud whistle that silenced everypony. He held up his hands in a symbol of peace. “No raids today. No fighting or epic quests either.”
Everypony let out a collective sigh of relief immediately going about their business as if the mismatched monster wasn’t there. “What was that about?” Mare Do-Well asked.
Discord smiled his toothy grin. “The ponies here are quite susceptible to anything you tell them to do. Speaking of which…” They both finally noticed Rarity who was still sitting atop the pedestal in the Queen’s dress and crown.
“How long was I gone?” Twilight asked while scratching her head.
“Long enough for them to make me their new Queen,” Rarity proclaimed with a smile. Her gaze fell on the draconequus and frowned. “Discord. I should have known you’d be behind all this.”
“Have we met?” he asked. “Oh, what am I saying? I’ve met hundreds of Rarities.” He manifested a magnifying glass and looked her over. “But which one might you be?”
Rarity pushed away the glass and looked to Mare Do-Well. “He’s not going to do anything funny, is he? Because where I came from he made me fall in love with a boulder.”
Discord chuckled and tossed the glass away. “Oh, right. Those times were pretty fun.”
Mare Do-Well shrugged. “From what I can understand, he is your Discord and he isn’t. The fact is that he can get us back to the others.”
Rarity’s eyes lit up and she jumped down from the pedestal. “That’s wonderful!”
Discord raised his paw in the air and slashed it, a rip opening up in space. Beyond was a swirling void of color. He turned to the two with a serious expression. “This is an all purpose portal. I like to take it when I just feel like being random. So, yeah, most of the time. Just think about the ponies you want to be reunited with and you should be there.”
“So I take it you’re not helping us then?” Mare Do-Well asked.
Discord chuckled. “I’m more a transgressor of dimensional rules than an upkeeper. Saving the world isn’t my thing.” Suddenly a loud boom rolled out of the portal. It shook the ground beneath them and even made most of the ponies around fall down. Mare Do-Well glanced at Discord for explanation but even he looked slightly perturbed by it. “That hasn’t happened before,” he muttered.
Rarity leaned in to whisper to Mare Do-Well. “Did that feel familiar to you?”
“Kind of.”
“The portal is still working so I suggest you go before something else happens.” Discord waved for them to leave.
Rarity felt a wave of apprehension. But Mare Do-Well simply nodded. “Well, we should go.” She stepped forward but Rarity stayed behind. “Rarity?”
Rarity looked back at the ponies of the court and then at her illusionary dress. “I’m… not strong anymore, Twilight. I don’t think I have the kind of power we need to win anymore.” It was a thought that hadn’t fully manifested itself in her mind until she was here, staring at a way back to the fight. “You’re so smart, Twilight. Pinkie is fast. Rainbow Dash is brave. Flutterbat is strong. Applejack is skilled. All I had that made me a part of the other Twilight’s plans was my power, right? I feel… like I’d just be a burden to you.”
She wanted to help, she really did. But all this time in an irrational world had forced her to think very rationally. She was in no position to fight ponies like Mr. 4, Suntrix, or whatever else they might come across. Perhaps she was just better staying here.
Mare Do-Well seemed to stare at her for a long time beneath her mask. Then finally, she reached into her pocket and held out the talisman to her. “I’m sorry for keeping it from you. You were right. You deserved to know. I only had it for a day and it nearly tore me apart. I can’t begin to imagine the pain you went through. I thought I was sparing you more pain, but… in this regard, in dealing with grief, I mean, you may be stronger than me.”
Rarity let her mouth hang slightly open as she accepted the card. The flash she’d previously had was gone but she could still feel the darkness pulsing from within. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Mare Do-Well placed a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s your decision to stay here, go home, or fight. I’m not going to force you. But for what it’s worth. I’m glad to have known you, Rarity Belle.”
Rarity looked into the mare’s eyes and smiled wiping away a tear. “I don’t know how useful I’ll be to all of you. But I’ll do my best.”
Mare Do-Well nodded and turned back to the rip. “Once more unto the breach, eh?” She gave one last look to her as she stepped forward. She stopped suddenly in realization. “Oh, right!” She turned to Discord. “Since were friends, right?” She motioned for him to lean down and she whispered something in his ear.
Discord snorted with laughter but Mare Do-Well’s look silenced him. “Very well.” He snapped his talons and a familiar white rabbit carrying a familiar purple hat appeared from thin air. The rabbit looked around stunned as Mare Do-Well snatched the hat from him and placed it back on her head. Discord raised the bunny by his scruff and chuckled. “You honestly couldn’t take care of something this little?” The rabbit lifted a back leg and kicked him in the snout. Discord yelped and dropped the rabbit, dusting off his vest coat before running off. “Irritable little bugger in most every world.”
Mare Do-Well and Rarity shared a laugh as she gave one last nod to he then stepped through the portal. Rarity was left alone with Discord, the talisman still in her hoof. “You can give that to me, if you wish?” he said. “I assure you I can dispose of it safely.”
Rarity was about to take him up on his offer when something stopped her. “It’s just going to get more dangerous from here on out, isn’t it?”
Discord frowned slightly and scratched his goatee. “Well, you’re not heading into a field of flowers, that’s for sure.”
Rarity’s hooves trembled as she let the illusion around her fall. She slipped the talisman into her mane and began to walk toward the portal. “Are you sure about this?” he asked, stopping her.
Rarity didn’t look at him to respond. “I don’t need to be sure. I just need the ones I love to be safe.” And with that, she stepped in.
Discord let the portal fade and he let out a sigh. “So serious! They should really learn to lighten up a little.”
A pony walked up in confusion. “Hey, where did the Queen go?”
Discord snapped his talon and changed into a red dress and crown, a pink horn and wings attached his body. “Right here!”
@#$%^&*&^%$#@
The villagers of a small rural town worked diligently in the morning as they woke. The bakers baked, the farmers farmed and children played. The perfect scene of medieval normalcy. The mayor walked down the street inspecting the town happily as she spotted a figure cresting the hill. She shaded her eyes to see, as the figure stood before the rising sun. She could almost make out a regal air about the way it stood. Sun almost gleaming off it.
Then the figure stepped forth. The mayor’s eyes widened and many others in the street went silent. A knight in brilliant armor walked down the hill. The only thing apparent on him was the tail, a deep violet that twisted into curls. Behind the knight what looked like a short green squire waddled behind, a wagon full of bags pulled behind him.
The mayor was the first to step forward. “Pardon the gaze, but we haven’t had a knight visit us in some time, sir.” She bowed slightly in respect. “Um, might I ask what travels bring you through here?”
The knight pointed to the enormous wagon. The short green pony grunted and lifted the handles of the cart until the wagon overturned and the bags spilled forth. The girth of them made them explode on impact and jewels and diamonds of countless colors and shades cascaded out. Not only that but gold and silver nuggets as well. The entire village felt their mouths fall open.
“Th-That’s a mighty big bag of treasure,” the mayor gulped nervously. “Are you delivering it to the poor?”
The knight stood imposingly, though for the first time the mayor noticed that the knight didn’t stand above her. Rather he stood about her height with the armor slightly big on him, it’s points and horn jutting up and above. “In a sense,” the knight said, his voice distorted by the helmet. “Consider this your first installment.”
“Installment?” the mayor asked.
The knight’s horn glowed and his voice became amplified to address the citizens. “This town and the provinces and acres around it belong to me now!”
The mayor was dumbfounded. “B-But you can’t just do that!”
The knight looked at her in a way that made the mayor think of a sneer. “So you don’t want riches beyond imagining then?” The horn lit up once more and the treasures flew back into the bag and the wagon righted itself. “Then I will go find some other village more accommodating.”
“Wait, no!” the mayor shouted. “I… I… uh…” she looked to the other villagers for support. She could already see in their eyes the hungry looks. The sight of those jewels had been a poison and it spread fast through the crowd. Many were already looking to the mayor with angered expressions and murmurs rippled through the crowd. The mayor hung her head. “What would you have us do?”
The knight pointed past the village to the edge of town. A small abandoned tower had been built there ages ago. An outlook post for the regime of some distant land during some forgotten occupation. “Use half of this to build that into a castle. Do this and I promise more treasures than you can imagine.”
The mayor stared dumbfounded at the knight. “How rich are you, sir?”
The knight chuckled, a sound that didn’t translate very merrily through the fearsome helmet. “It is not I that is rich.” He stuck his hoof into the dirt below his feet and dug twice, revealing an array of sapphires buried beneath. “But the earth.” Villagers scrambled to the small hole and began to pull out the precious stones as the knight walked up and past the mayor stopping by her side to whisper. “I have many talents you could use for your benefit. I hope you are wise enough to allow it.”
The mayor tried to hold out a hoof to stop the villagers from grabbing the bags on the carts and tearing them open but already the poison had spread. They were like rabid beasts with a meal. She let out a sigh as the small town she was so proud of succumbed to greed. “We’ll… do as you command.”
“Excellent,” the knight said and motioned for his squire to come. As the small green pony passed the mayor she was sure she saw a tuft of hair fall off him, but the squire merely snatched it up right away and ran to his master. “I will return in a month’s time with more treasures to share. Be prepared for my arrival.” And with those words the knight walked away and left the small town.
On the top of a hill not too far the knight stood before the tower that would be her castle. A deep rollicking laugh echoed from the armor and she removed the face plate and eye mask to let her purple mane free. “Simply amazing!” the succubus laughed. “This armor amplifies my magic ten fold! I knew that bat wasn’t all she appeared to be. But to have something like this, it’s almost better than having actually found a vampire.”
“So what do we do now, mistress?” the ghoul at her side asked.
“Now?” she waved her hoof and a flower bud sprouted from the earth and rose to eye level. It bloomed and in the center produced a yellow gem of beautiful quality. “Now, we use this armor in conjunction with my own magnificent magic to grow more treasure for those pitiful fools.”
“Okay, but what about the bat?”
The succubus stopped her gloating and looked at the ghoul with a stern expression. He was right, though. What about that bat? After defeating her and forcing her to flee her own castle it simply dropped off the face of the earth. Not even her location spells could find where it went. It was odd, certainly. And she did, oh, so want revenge.
“Whoever said revenge was the most worthless of causes?” Both spun to find a blue stallion with glasses standing by them. How had she not noticed him approach, more so he’d seen her face. He grinned gleefully at her. “I have to say that is one of the coolest looks I’ve seen in a long time.”
The succubus smirked at him. “Well, I would trade clothing tips with you if I could but you have a date with the dirt.” She swiped an arm in the air and the earth below the pony opened up. A giant venus fly trap sprang out and snapped its jaws shut around him before he could speak. The succubus walked over to the giant plant and petted it fondly. “Well, that takes care of that.”
“You’re more interesting than I thought.” She looked up. The pony had somehow escaped the trap and now was climbing on the walls of the tower. No, more like he was walking on the walls. He even plopped his flank down and sat, staring down at her with a cocked expression. “Ready to listen to what I have to say?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Very well, you’ve peaked my interest. What are you anyway, some kind of fairy, a spirit?”
“Do I look like a fairy?” he responded. “Anyway, what I am isn’t that important. I saw what you did back there. Giving all the poor little peddlers and peasants that treasure. It was very sweet.”
She laughed. “In case you didn’t catch it, I also tasked them with building me a castle.”
“Oh, I know!” he sounded excited. “But isn’t that just what you’d expect in thanks?” The succubus arched her brow in confusion. The stallion’s ears twitched and his tone of voice suddenly changed. “Generosity is just another form of trade. I give you this and in turn you make me feel better about myself. It’s all an ego trip in the end. No one truly gives something in return for nothing.” His smile almost made her uncomfortable.
“So what do you want?”
“To offer you a chance at that thing you just mentioned. Revenge.”
Her eyes lit up and a smile played across her face. “Go on.”
---
The alicorn paced by the altar, worrying as the tremors became more and more frequent. She needed to act. She couldn’t just let this go on. Something was wrong with Noteworthy. She couldn’t find him any more. But there was something else she could follow. A pulse from the multiverse that she could track from here.
She turned to the altar and placed a hoof on it. “Show me how I can find him.”
Images began to flood her head. Screams and fire. So much pain and misery. It was a world of nightmares and hellscapes. She saw two mares being tortured in various ways. The images kept flashing, never staying still. Through the flickering flames she thought she saw a pair of glowing red eyes. They slowly turned to her.
She let go of the altar and trembled as she backed away. What was going on?