Mantis sat up in his hospital bed of the quiet, spartan room with small effort as the mid-day sun's rays creeped across the floor. All things considered, he could only barely believe what he heard and saw from the mind of Lyra. A world of myth, infested at the seems and dominated by creatures, literal livestock, from a small girls' story book, whom were as real as death with similar thoughts and feelings to his own race. Further still, to be the one considered the real myth in this land was curious at its very least. Though he couldn't get too much information out of her, Lyra's thoughts allowed him to uncover even further distressing fragments of information. The laws of nature bent to the will of these beings through the arcane, even more so than humanity managed with technology. Even worse, those that were capable of this were apparently nothing special in comparison to the rulers of the land, whom were powerful enough to effect the time of day. To merely say times were strange for the former member of FOXHOUND would be a gross oversimplification and understatement. Oh, how he longed for a coffee from his private stash just so he could ease his nerves.
Mantis laughed. He never figured he could actually miss anything from his past. He thought back to his life before then, but the memories were hazy at best, with few exceptions. At the moment, he could remember as far back as his employment under the aforementioned special ops unit, and even then, thoughts were spotty. Mantis could remember that his work was rather mundane to him. Cracking open minds and fishing out secrets and plans from enemy soldiers and spies during missions. He could remember how FOXHOUND would later stage a revolt, and how he was tasked with an island wide mind-control over the occupying soldiers that weren't willingly on their side. He could then remember gunfire, pain, and...
That man. Whether it be technology or pure mental fortitude, Mantis was successfully gunned down, with a great amount of effort. It would be years later that he somehow managed to come back to the world of the living to posses the mind of a screaming, broken woman of war. The power she had was a shallow, artificial copy of his true abilities, but it served him well enough to have one last chance to see the agent again; to once more exhibit his talents and take revenge. However, and this moment was clearer than any of his other memories, humanity's tools had developed too far, and had overridden his power. Defeated and unable to resist death's pull any longer, his spirit was dragged back to the void, which led him here.
Mantis seethed. He remembered how he surrendered in the end, letting technology's blasphemous grip win, and let the cattle of humanity to remain ignorant, self indulgent, and blind. If he ever had the chance to go back, he'd only go to burn the world to the ground. No mercy, no survivors.
The door creaked open, snapping Mantis out of his train of thought and drew his gaze upon the new visitor.
"Oh," Twilight exclaimed, "You're awake!"
Mantis raised a brow underneath his mask, unseen by the new pony, and sighed inwardly. The mentalist would be fair: he didn't bother even looking at the one he spoke to telepathically, and only guessed she was one of these equine-like creatures based on what he witnessed in her mind. With that said, it was something wholly different to see one of these creatures willingly. He honestly wished he would have just kept his eyes closed and pretended to still be sleeping, but it was far too late now. The damage was done and it was time to face the music.
Twilight closed the door behind her, and took her seat upon the chair near the bed, taking off her saddle-pack and setting it beside her. It was then, in this mid-day sunlight, she was able to get a proper look at him. While the light didn't dissuade or dispel the creepiness and foreboding appearance she had felt when looking at him, it did paint the human in a more pitiful, sorry light. It was enough to diminish the strong urges to flee, at the very least, keeping her on the seat and fueling her desire to be friendly and professional. However, she scrunched her face a bit and fidgeted in discomfort, realizing the surface of her seat was a tad warm as if someone were there mere moments before. The apprentice had a sneaking suspicion as to whom, but decided to let it go for the time being, as she had more pressing matters. Besides, there was always the possibility she could be wrong and an orderly had just used the seat prior.
"I hope you're doing well," Twilight said with a smile, "It was a bit concerning to see your state when you arrived. I did check up on you last night after you were fitted into this room, but I have to confess that I wasn't around for very long." She opened the pack she brought and pulled out a notepad and pencil, flipping through the pages with her magic until she was on the one she wanted.
Mantis watched intently, witnessing the power first hand before his eyes. He was tempted to use his own power to wrench the objects out of the hazy, light brilliant raspberry-colored aura. Before he could, however, the pony spoke again.
"Before I get to any questions, allow me to introduce myself," she said, clearing her throat, "My name is Twilight Sparkle, scholar, researcher and general practitioner of magic, apprentice of Princess Celestia, and student of the study of Friendship."
The bravado was met with intense staring from the human, but not from the titles and accolades. As odd as they were to him, Mantis' main focus was on the strange happenstance that was occurring between them. As she had spoken to the psychic, he had attempted to probe her mind and fish out the details of her life himself to cut time short. However, in his attempts, he was met with a strange resistance which kept him from even speaking telepathically to her, let alone digging out her thoughts. It was curious yet infuriating, and reminded the mentalist of other such cases from other individuals back in his old life due to nanomachine interference that masked the minds of others.
"So, uh," she fidgeted once again, now a little uncomfortable from the intense staring, "What's your name?"
Mantis grated his teeth weakly before he sighed inwardly and sat back against the backboard of the bed. With a little bit of effort, he opened his mouth and spoke. "I am... Psycho Mantis." His voice was hoarse and his tone was tired. It was honestly rather shameful to hear himself sound so weak. Despite that, he was expecting worse. No matter, he thought.
"Psycho Mantis?" Twilight parroted, "That's an... interesting name. Though, it's no stranger than the others, I suppose." Before Mantis could interject, the young scholar continued to speak. "Well Psycho Mantis, allow me to officially welcome you to Equestria. I apologize that it isn't a very warm welcome, but your arrival was somewhat of a shock to all of us, and we were all a bit more concerned with your well being." she flipped back and forth through her notebook while she continued to speak. "A friend of mine will probably try to visit you to announce your welcoming party, but I'll be sure to keep her out of your," She paused for a moment, and looked to his head again, noting how it was mostly bald with very sparse strands of wiry hair, "... mane?... until you're back to one hundred percent."
"Where... am I?" he asked weakly.
"Oh, yes, I suppose you'd want to know that. Well, you're in the land of Equestria. Specifically Ponyville, south of Canterlot, which is in the central region." She flipped through the notepad for a moment, before flipping back to her previous page. "I feel I must inform you that you aren't the only... odd being to be pulled into this world. Five others before you had arrived here under mysterious circumstances, and are all stuck until we can find a solution."
Mantis looked away from her and to the window, gazing out into the bright and colorful world that sat just outside the barriers of his room. The warm afternoon glow of the sun shining on the lush grass as young, multi-colored equines went about their day, running errands, having picnics, or in the case of what seemed to be reserved for even younger ponies, just playing outside and frolicking through the planes. The whole thing was so sickeningly sweet.
"I have to mention though," she started, causing Mantis to return his attention to her, "how you got here was through what could quite possibly be THE most bizarre circumstances I've ever seen or felt, and is a far cry different from the five other arrivals. I fear that it might cause some complications with the research I've been conducting in regards to these, but I pledge to do what I can to get you and the others home."
Home, he thought. I'm dead. I have no home.
"With that said, I would like to ask you a few questions," she announced, resting the tip of her pencil upon the notepad, "Can you tell me what kind of a place you came from?" There was no response. "Uhm, what was your society like before you got here?" No response. "Any friends or family?" Mantis' eye twitched at the question, which went unseen by the scholar, but no other response was given. "Do you have any hobbies?"
As the silence remained at the human's end, Twilight sighed and put her notepad away. "I guess you're too tired to answer, or you can't remember, or don't want to talk about it. Either way, I won't push you," she said, sealing her pack and putting it back on. "I guess I'll just leave you to recover then, and maybe come back another day. I really do wish to get to know more about you. It might even help me in figuring out this mystery." She proceeded to the door, and opened it gently with her magic, saying, "Well, talk to you later."
Before she could actually leave, though, Mantis spoke again. "If it's possible... may I see the one called Lyra? The one that brought me here?"
Twilight gazed back at the mentalist, somewhat dumbfounded. Dual questions invaded her mind at that point. Did he manage to get her name despite his condition while he was taken to the hospital, or did she indeed go against her instructions and came here of her own volition? Either way, she couldn't help but ask, "What for?"
"I simply wish to speak with her," he replied simply.
Twilight sighed. It wasn't going to be an easy, or quick, thing to discuss with Bon-Bon, especially considering how livid she was yesterday. Never-the-less, she gave a nod and finally answered, "I'll see what I can do." With that, she left the human's room.
Alone once again, Mantis focused on the door handle that was just used, and with some concentration, managed to lock it with his power. Then, he focused on the nearby chair once more, and tried to move it. It was now sliding along the floor a fair bit easier, but the effort it required still left much to be desired. Never-the-less, the startling amount of progress did not escape Mantis. For whatever reason, despite being confined to a bed for less than a two days, his strength and abilities were exponentially greater than they were when he first woke up. Hypothetically, he'd be back to full strength in two more days' time. There was always room for error, however.
Still, with the experiment over, he looked back out the window and thought for a moment or two. He considered testing to see if his telepathy would be able to reach those outside of his room, or perhaps outside the building. Mantis had all day to try it seemed, if the silence was any indication, but would refrain from arousing suspicion to any of the staff should they become curious. At least, for now. Until then, he supposed it was time now to play in the mind fields.
-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-
After running several errands, and dropping off a message to Bon-Bon, who's already sour mood had dropped to harsh and bitter, Twilight swiftly made her way to Fluttershy's home. Her fleet-hooved exit was partly out of urgency to be as far away from the candy maker as possible, but mainly it was because she had scheduled a meeting with Fluttershy's charge; Bael. He wasn't the only one she was intending to see, however, as Elvis had also been invited over to this meeting at the little pegasus' cottage at Twilight's request. Pinkie would have tagged along, but the Cakes needed her to watch over the twins while they went out to deliver a new order in Canterlot. She didn't mind the babysitting job, however, as it gave her a little extra time to plan the welcome party for the sixth "guest" that she was undoubtedly excited to meet.
Twilight shook her head with a smile at the thought of her silly friend as she reached the cottage's beautiful garden and stepped over the little bridge to the front door. She was about to knock on the door when a voice called out from the back.
"We're back here, chica, just as usual" Elvis exclaimed from behind the cottage. Twilight answered with a thanks before making her way to the back yard where the half sized Bael sat, with the mighty mouth Deva being not too far away. The unicorn sniffed a bit, and realized that the atmosphere surprisingly didn't smell like dead fish. "I know that face and yes, no huele mal."
"Silence, you!" the master of the frozen soil growled, freezing the grass beneath him in irritation.
"Ey 'ey 'EY! You wanna get us both in trouble, cabron? Quit turning the lawn into a pista de patinaje!"
The large demon toad huffed in irritation, but ceased his cold nature otherwise. Twilight giggled a little, and found it rather amusing they were able to get along well enough despite their personalities and elemental natures.
"This is so much simpler than traveling to the crystal empire to do this," Twilight mused.
"No kiddin'. That train ride has always been a pain in my ass..." Elvis grumbled, before lighting up a cigar and taking a slow drag. "Besides, los sapos cave was just the worst."
Twilight sighed. "Elvis, do you really need to do that right now?"
"Eh?" He replied, before he realized what she was talking about. "Oh, yeah, right." Without even thinking, Elvis poked the burning end of the cigar against Bael's leg, which fizzled out almost instantly. The great beast did nothing but growl and shoot the Deva a killer glare as he pocketed the now cooled cigar. Twilight would have protested, but this had been going on for a while, and the result now was honestly much less volatile than it had been when she first started these meetings.
It all started after Monsoon's arrival, mostly jump started by a request made by Zecora. If she ever wanted to further her magical prowess, she would need to undergo further mental training and concentration. The wizened zebra would have helped, but she had further work to deal with that needed urgent attention. It was then that she realized she could enlist the help of other powerful entities to help strengthen her mental fortitude, both of which were far more experienced in both that and magic.
Bael spoke directly to Twilight finally, "We have instructed you time and again the ways of creating a wall through your own will alone. Now that you are here, it is time we test your mental resolve. As devils, we will use the darker powers within our advantage to break down your wall and take hold of your mind." Bael gave a wicked grin. "I will not lie. This will be painful."
Twilight gulped.
"Are you sure you want to go through this, Púrpura Inteligente?" Elvis asked, "El Sapo isn't joking."
She gave a heavy sigh, before her face grew hard with determination. "After what Sombra tried to do to me back when I first visited the Crystal Empire, and how often I've been stopped because I didn't have the will to fight on, or even just the mental tenacity, I need to do this; if only so I never let down my friends again."
"Alright, caballo. We're giving it our all." Then, both Elvis and Bael closed their eyes.
As Twilight watched them, she noticed that her perception of them seemed to somewhat shift, as if a deep, dark aura were emanating from them. It was at that moment that she felt it. At first, it was a little prickle at the back of her mind, but then, it began to feel like thin needles prodding her. Then thorns. Then claws. She concentrated hard, already gritting her teeth at the intensity of perceiving SOMETHING trying to invade her thoughts with sheer force and malevolence. Her head dipped as she pushed back harder and harder, her horn flaring up in an effort to pour more energy into the defense. The oppressive and utterly crushing grip of their probing wills probably would have destroyed her if she hadn't come prepared.
After a while, the intense feeling began to subside, and the pain began to fade and be replaced with a dull and throbbing ache in her head. She slouched and panted from the effort exerted, already feeling exhausted enough to fall asleep right then and there, but with a rubbing hoof against her temple, she sat back up and looked to the two demons.
Both Bael and Elvis' eyes opened and looked down upon their student.
"You've improved," Bael stated.
"Better than expected," Elvis added.
"Heh, I won't lie, I have been practicing mental exercises in between my research sessions, as well as mastering a spell I found about mental walls."
"Is that so?" Bael asked rhetorically.
"How long have you been using this 'spell', caballo?"
"I think... twenty hours straight now."
"De ninguna manera!" Elvis balked, "Chica, have you slept at all?!"
Twilight fidgeted where she sat, "Well... not really. Between researching the anomaly, the new visitor, the strange contraption Lyra made, the unpublished journal written by Starswirl that she had found, and that spell I need to be conscious to maintain... I've been doing everything I can to stay awake. There's no rest for the wicked, after all!"
Both Elvis and Bael's disgruntled faces declared all there needed to be said about the poor joke to mask her obvious need for rest. The Deva further punctuated his exasperation by pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger as hard as he could to ward off his anger through concern. However, it was Bael that spoke up first.
"You have done well to take to these lessons so far and push your limits. However, no amount of preparation, practice, and effort would actually be of use to you if your body is far too drained to even remain focused, let alone aware."
"Chica. Go to bed." Elvis punctuated.
Twilight sighed. They were right. Bael, Elvis, Spike, and the Princess. She had tried too hard to push herself in her research, whether it be through her recent training, her research on the anomaly, extra research on her guests, or her constant scholastic drive in her various studies, and it was starting to weigh down on her more than ever. She's had very little of a break between it all, and the last while was an early sign of it getting worse if nothing were to give.
"Alright, alright... I think I'm just gonna go home and have a nap then."
"No, you're going to sleep," Elvis insisted. "Actually lay your head and no despierto for a while."
Twilight simply stood back up wearily, bid them both farewell, and left without another word. The two demons looked to each other in bemusement.
"Can you believe this mortal?" Bael asked in annoyance.
"She's far too stubborn," the Deva replied, taking out his cigar once again and lighting it. "I just hope chica doesn't kill herself over it." With that said, he took another drag to wash the stress and care away for the day.