//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The training-ish. // Story: The Hasbryx // by Reizthefakebrony //------------------------------// In a grim metallic waiting room, Chrysalis was in front of a door, knowing that her rescuer, Malefeus, was waiting for her from behind. Her face was marked by her tired eyelids and her mental fatigue. She wasn't even mad at that point. Her mind was filled by her other preoccupations. The queen wasn't expecting this day to become this crazier. Everything she has gone through has threatened to devour her sanity. From the villain reforming obsessed pony with the sunglasses, who had now tool her subjects as well, to the group of villainous ponies that was opposing him and his superiors. Since she had also heard a very chilling revelation from him, her knowledge that she had regarding Equestria and it's history was turned upside down. Chrysalis doesn't know where began to describe the rest the whole thing. She wasn't even sure about their fate since she was too busy to save herself from being reformed. Sure, she gets mad when they were failing their tasks or when they were just annoying, but she need them. Sometimes she wondered if she has some psychological issues with that "benevolence" she was giving to them. Chrysalis suddenly shuddered at the sudden chilling though about having some residue of the brainwash being still present in her psyche. She tried to reassure herself that it's effects are gone, but she wasn't even sure about it. She reached her hoof for the doorknob and opened the door, expecting some cliched villain's throne room with a dragon wings adorning the ceiling and various black flames coming through the floor since her host looked like a real demon to her. But she instead met by Malefeus being in the middle of a white room with no walls. That place was almost defying the laws of physics, but not that much. In the middle of this white there was just the fake alicorn with the sunglasses, a table, two couches and a old styled TV. The insectoid queen was interdicted, not knowing how to feel. She briefly closed her eyes and tried to remind herself of the craziness she has saw before. "What ever happens, don't ask anything... for now." Chrysalis walked toward her host as the latter was already gesturing to one of the couches while maintaining her grim expression. "I know that this experience was traumatic for you and your sanity in particular." Malefeus said. "But a that point, you should had understood what is going on." "No, really." retorted Chrysalis. "I'm still confused about this nonsense. ?!" "You wish this is only a bad dream, but unfortunately for your, this is real. That brainwash was a concrete one." "DON'T REMIND ME OF THAT!..... That was a real nightmare." "If you want some valid explanation, i suggest you to sit down right there." Normally, Chrysalis doesn't tolerate being ordered around, but she could feel a very powerful magic flowing inside Malefeus. Fearing any other nasty surprises, she followed her suggestion and sat down on the couch as Malefeus started to explain. "That is the what is going on right on." said Malefeus, using her telekinesis to turn on the TV, showing various unconscious ponies being encased into some pods. Various cables were attached to their bodies. "What is this?" asked disturbed Chrysalis. "These are the victims of the Hasbryx protocol." "Hasb-What?" "The Hasbryx is a protocol elaborated from a computer with the goal to allow the user to suck out their identity and reprogram their character to suit their superiors' requests. They were then given some backstories to make their unusual behavior more believable. But we know the truth. After the death of Sombra they created the protocol to keep the control of the villains that they were creating in order to restore the Harmony in the most forced and wrong way possible." "Wait!.... Are implying that Celestia was Hasbro's accomplish?" "No, Celestia, Luna and the rest of the cast were completely oblivious of that fact. Only us are aware of that awful truth." "Look, i'm having the worst day ever. How awful can possibly get?" Chrysalis replied sarcastically. Malefeus slowly removed her sunglasses and glared at Chrysalis with her crude serpetine sharpened eyes. Chrysalis flinched a little bit for it in fear, much to her inner embarrassment. "From that point, Hasbro's writers were on the point to control the "growing villainy" of the villains that they were creating and the ones who are already created before the Sombra's incident." continued Malefeus. "Since Equestria's Harmony, the thing in which the show was based one was accidentally violated by themselves, they decide to fix the the thing by planning the villain's defeat without killing them." ".... They took the compulsive reforming route." "A very worst kind of route. As you know evil is born along with the good, but in this way evil is not born anymore.... but cultivated. They don't care if they're still like you in that way or not. And let me tell you one correction of mine. Hasbro wasn't entirely involved with this madness. Brounchbag superiors were just some obscure department behind Hasbro and the reforming obsessed side of the Brony Comunity. They were confusing "villanous characters" for "consumable characters.", first cool for them and then tossed aside after a while when their constant villainy caused absolute boredom to them. They were counting they statistics instead of their audience, ignoring any single argument or complain from the sane part of the Brony Comunity. This Harmony of their is anti balanced." "Aaaaargh!.... Now i'm really having a bad headache. What do you mean by Consumable Characters." "Our villainy and our character were seen by them..." Malefeus lifted a Carebear shaped energizer battery in front of her face with her magic. "As this... Nothing more than replaceable things. Once your are not a fitting villain for them any more, they will reform you. And once you are reformed, your might as well as not exist." In that moment, Chrysalis was frozen, trying to process what she heard in the final part of the explanation. The idea of being something really replaceable made her fall into a mental abyss. As her mind started to fade, her brain stopped working. And after that, her heart stopped working, causing her to flop to her side. Malefeus hoof face palmed for her guest's inability to cope with that truth. "Oh, for the love of Kefka." Malefeus said with a irritated tone, turning her head toward the door. "GUYS! WE HAVE A VILLAINOUS BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH OVER THERE!" One hour later... Malefeus was nearby the door of the infirmary where Chrysalis was being treated. The fake alicorn could hear her spouting some nonsense. That was expected. After these revelations regarding her word in which she was living in, delirium was her sane response. Chrysalis knew already to be part of a TV show, just like the rest of Equestria, but not that her world was connected to a computer. Frollity arrived from the corridor and approached Malefeus, a little worried about the conditions of the changeling's ruler. "How is she?" he said, this time with a normal tone instead of a monotone one. "What kind of imbecile question is that?" said annoyed Malefeus. "Can you even hear what she's saying right now? Is a complete insane monologue." "Nooooo.... No, Celestia!" Chrysalis shouted from behind the door. "I completely refuse to sur... NO! NOOOO! KEEP PINKIE PIE AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T WANT HEAR ANY ON HER STUPID SONGS!...... AAAAARRRRGH! IS SINGING! MAKE IT STOP!! MAKE IT STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!" "There's your stupid answer." said intimidatingly Malefeus, glaring at him. "O-ok but... What do you think to do about it?" "Surely not killing her." Unable to tolerate that screaming ruckus, Malefeus charged her horn and fire a ray of black energy upwards, creating a micro dark portal. Frollity was getting worried for the kind of method she is going to use to fix Chrysalis' delirium. His answers was materializing in front of him as a huge granite club slowly came out from it and hovered down toward her. As the portal disappeared, she wielded that club with her telekinesis and entered into the infirmary. Malefeus closed the door afterwards. "HEY, STARLIGHT! YOU CAME TO SEE PINKIE PIE SINGING THE HECK O-" *SMACK!* Chrysalis' rambling was instantly silenced after that loud sound, much to Trollity's surprise for the violent remedy. Malefeus nonchalantly went out of the room. "Are you sure that was a good idea?" he asked meekly. "Don't say anything." "But-" "Don't. Say. Anything." said Malefeus, putting some grim emphasis to the words." One day later... "Right now, my head is a little fuzzy. I don't even know if my mind is still lucid after that. I guess that what i'm forced to do cannot be avoided. All of this happened to me because of the pony responsible for the suffering i was subjected until now. But put aside this situation, there's one thing that angered me even now: Being tagged as a disposable villain by him and his bosses..... There's one thing: During my invasion at Canterlot's Wedding, people tended to say that i'm just a generic villain during my first debut basing on these cliche of mines. Evil laugh, monologue, ego centered boast, being defeated by cockiness and so on and so on. Yeah, i'm aware of my current failures, including being dethroned.. but they forgot one thing: Even i can improve. Why? Because after falling on the ground, i have to get up and continue right where I was left. That's right. Like the heroes of the story, even villains can improve as well. Otherwise i couldn't have captured Celestia, Luna and the others before my downfall.... Now that i'm think about.... Why Celestia wasn't chasing me during my escape..... I start to think that, other than being naive, she is some kind of chess master or just a real crazy cuckoo lander." "If you are finished this mental reflection of yours, we can begin." Malefeus said calmly . "Yeah, whatever. Blah blah." replied with a slightly tired tone Chrysalis. They were in the same endless white room from before, only without any furniture. Confused by the whole absence of object, Chrysalis looked around, waiting for something happening. After all, anything is possible in this place. "Call it training room or whatever, but i don't see anything useful there." Chrysalis said. "Don't underestimate this zone. You can call it my own equivalent of Celestia's hall of ascension, but the correct name is.... Structure. You know, the place where you can do stuff like magic test, gunfights, emulation of possible scenarios, creation of some ambientations and most of all..... simulated training." "I knew it you'd say that. I could tell. This story is a parody at the expense of my dignity after all... *sigh* .... Sure enough." "Let me tell you something consolatory. Brounchebag told you that Equestria is inside a computer.... he's wrong." ".... R-really?" "Equestria is just connected to a computer. He said the false just to screw with you." "Does that make any difference?" "No." "Well can we begin or what?" "Sure." The room started to change itself, warping it's color, it's nature and then it's own structure. After this chaotic, chromatic spectacle, they found themselves in the balcony of Canterlot's Castle. Chrysalis noticed already that something is wrong as she saw a infinite sea of Canterlot's Castles create a very unbearable endless mirrored landscapes. Chrysalis find this place disgusting on her own, but see that place being reproduced a thousand times in front of her eyes was making her really sick, almost on the point of nausea. "Guh!.." Chrysalis shouted, trying to contain her mouth. "..... Why. why. why." "This is just part of what you are going through if you want to take back your subject and take revenge on Brounchebag... Probably." "Ahhh!" Chrysalis tried to catch her breath, one second before shouting. "Wait, WHAT-" First Training: Leap of Faith. Malefeus charged her horns in black energy and shot it to the floor. Chrysalis couldn't even questioning about her action that a black aura slide through the floor toward her and engulfed her body. She could fell something blocking her wings as she found herself unable to fly or even use magic, again. "What was that?!" Chrysalis yelled. "You better pay attention. The motive for this magic block is one." "What are you-" Chrysalis cut her sentence short as she realized the obvious "...ooooh.... now i get it." "Yeah.... Just free your mind." said Malefeus before jumping an unbelievable distance toward the balcony of the other castle and landing on it, crushing part of ground. Chrysalis was very hesitant to do the same. She never thought to have to reach the other balcony by simply jumping and not flying or magically floating. "How can you expect me to jump this distance!?" complained Chrysalis. "Look.... I get the part of "free my mind", but i'm not used to do this!" "Oh, c'mon. When you refused Starlight's offer, you back flipped down from that high rocky hill without even flying or hurting yourself and you didn't complained." "But that is different!" In response to Chrysalis complain, the fake alicorn looked at her with a death stare, resulting her to shudder in fear. "O-ok! Ok! I will do it... Maybe." She made a deep breath and took some steps away from the balcony's edge. She took some seconds prepare herself psychologically and the charged toward the balcony. She then jumped from it as Malefeus before her but that jump wasn't long enough. "I'm going to fall, right?" "Yep." The queen of the changelings obviously screamed as she was falling toward the ground. She was going to crush against the soil, but, like some sort of reset button, Chrysalis end up in the white room again, utterly confused laying on the floor as the fall ended prematurely. Malefeus was standing in front of her. "You tried, but we have some much work to do." Malefeus calmly said. "Not so fast..." said Chrysalis quickly standing up. "I was falling. Should i have suffered some physical damage?" "Technically yes, but i made sure that any damage is reduced by ninety six per cent." "Translated?" "Well..." Malefeus gestured Chrysalis face as blood was coming out of her nose. The changeling ruler noticed that a little late. "Fantastic." said sarcastic Chrysalis. "..." "But now that i'm thinking.... Is the first failed leap of faith some kind of a trope?" "Not exactly, is just that this training is faulty. No one even managed to fix that." "..... No, seriously. WHAT THE-" Second Training: Physical Endurance. Malefeus watched from above a tower as Chrysalis was running away from a entire horde of reckless death dragons trying to burn her. She was very bitten by the tremendous fatigue that she has accumulated during her running, she was on the point to collapse. But since she can't still use magic or even fly, stop is not a option. This training was especially aggravating for her since she was running for almost one hour. "Five more minutes and you can stop!" Malefeus exclaimed. "IT'S EASY FOR YOU TO SAY THAT." Third Training: Mental Endurance. This time Chrysalis was all tied up and unable to move as three audio recordings of various Pinkie Pie's songs were played simultaneously in loop. She couldn't even close her ears and she was going to loose her sanity, again. The worst part is the room being filled with balloons and the floor being flooded with Pinkie's plushies, much to Chrysalis' frustration. "Must resist snapping again. Must resist snapping again. Must resist snapping again" Fourth Training: Hacking. "Now i will introduce something very complex to you; Hacking, as using your mind to warp the rules of physics at your vantage." Malefeus said. "Just keep in mind. That has nothing to with reality warping powers. Also, don't doubt of your mind's potential." "Yeah.... If had not loosed it yet." said sarcastic Chrysalis. Malefeus jumped toward a wall and goes through it without even crush it, causing the wall to briefly warp itself into some circular waves before returning to normal, much to Chrysalis' shock. "But how-" "Enough questions, Just do it." Chrysalis groaned a little and briefly hoof face palmed. Remembering that she had nothing to loose, she tried to free her mind from her thoughts and jumped to the wall. As she has previously predicted, she end up slamming against it. Malefeus observed her conditions from behind the wall. "That's enough for today." Seven hours later... Chrysalis was bedding down after a very exhausting training. She could flying again and use her magic, so she can vent out her rage on whatever was on her sight, but she was too tired to do it. She could feel her ticket to the dreamworld coming to her in a minute. Malefeus walked out of her room but not before telling her something else. "Don't worry about your limits. Soon or later you will be able to surpass them." Malefeus said. "...Juust gooo awayyy fromm meeee." said with a pseudo drunken tone Chrysalis. "Right." After Malefeus has left the room, Frollity comes in to briefly observe her conditions as she was wrapping her plated around her and put her head under her pillow to not see any pony. But that doesn't resolve one problem: she was still feeling his presence. Frollity noticed that, much to his muted embarrassment, hardly hidden by the sunglasses. "I'm sorry. Now i will take my leave." Frollity said. "Juust let me sleeep alreadyyy." "Right... But remember. Don't give up.... sempai." Something chilling clicked inside her mind, like a glass crashing against the floor. Feeling disturbed by that last words, she tried to calm herself down while peering from under her pillow at the stallion, "I'm... just... going to pretend to had never heard you say that." Chrysalis said dismayed. Frollity leaved her alone and walked toward the corridor, trying to catching up with Malefeus. Chrysalis could finally feel herself going toward the god of sleep's arms. The next hours of sleep will be a good refreshment compared to what she had to face next. "Remember. Stand up and continue to go forward...... As if was easy saying it than do it."