//------------------------------// // Feathered Mistakes, A Maze Of Terror // Story: A Creator's Gambit // by KaBar42 //------------------------------// A Creator’s Gambit Chapter 3 The mummified patient continued his daily routine of doing nothing besides laying in his bed and watching TV. He would occasionally flip through channels to ameliorate his boredom. Of course, this patient wasn’t normal… considering the fact that he was actually a she as well as an omnipotent horse goddess with wings and a horn who had gotten so bored with her planet that she came to Earth and then proceeded to cause an undisclosed accident which left the body she was currently possessing utterly maimed, with the exception of two fingers on its right hand. Which she was currently using to manipulate the buttons on the remote to the room’s TV to flip through channels. The channel she was currently watching was a TV series about a marine being stranded on an alien planet after he was nearly killed in Afghanistan. She watched as the scene in the show unfurled. The marine had just meandered his way into a cave full of the planet’s natives that had been enslaved by other natives. And, of course, since the show had been made by an overly patriotic American, the marine then proceeded to utterly massacre the slavers. Because it went against his morals. After he had killed the slavers and released the slaves, the scene switched to one of the slaves he had released, a father with his newborn son. A son the marine had to resuscitate. The newly freed former slave watched as the alien dropped the injured ring leader of the slave ring down from a precipice to a waiting crowd of the slaves he had abused as well as the planet’s version of law enforcement. Without saying a word, the marine then turned around and walked off to make his escape from the natives, pausing only to slowly look back. As the freed natives looked at him in awe. The mummified patient paused the TV as the nurse walked in. “How are you enjoying the show, Mr. -” As the nurse said the patient’s name, a maintenance worker stopped his cart too abruptly in front of the patient’s door to his room. Which caused an unbalanced piece of equipment to fall over and slam on the ground, obscuring the sound the nurse had made that was the patient’s name. “Sorry!” The maintenance worked apologized to no one in particular. The nurse looked back to the door and raised her eyebrow. But decided there was nothing she could do about it so she turned back to the patient and saw the show he had been watching. “Oh!” The nurse’s face lit up. “I remember this show when it first came on in 2014! It was really popular for two seasons! People really wanted it to continue, but the produce just up and left! He left a lot of people disappointed!” “Ah! Man! How disappointing, I was really looking forward to the next episode! Eh, guess I’ll just have to find something else to watch.” The patient flipped the channel, he had reached a new channel. They were discussing the president. The news anchor began leading into the story about him. “The Secret Service is currently investigating odd emails sent directly to the president’s secure email. Through leaked documents, it is revealed that the emails sent to him is coming from someone who claims to be the queen, formerly princess, of an unknown nation and demands, multiple times, for the president to cede control of the world over to her. Sometimes even threatening him and his family with extreme violence. For some odd reason, the president plays along, explaining to the unknown person that he does not have the authority to cede control of anything over to her, much less the world. At one point, she offers to allow him to keep control of California in return for everything else. The President then sent an email insulting California. He states: “And even if I could, why would I? No one wants California, I hate that state!” California politicians are up in arms in regards to the statement. In other news, the eighteen year old marine who went missing in Afghanistan in 2014 following a mortar attack on his position has been found alive. More on that at eight.” By this time the nurse had left. The patient took this opportunity to check up on his new toy. Oh, yeah, when the omnipotent horse goddess possessed this body, she had also put the original soul into her body and put her body with the Human soul now in it. on her planet, with her powers but with no memories beyond the basic stuff like walking… as a horse. The patient flipped the channel and observed a pure white mare, with a beautifully red mane and tail, white wings and a white horn, laying in bed on her side. Faust lifted her neck and glanced around the room. It wasn’t completely dark, as some sun shone through the drawn curtains. The room itself was surprisingly plain with just a full sized mirror, a desk cut for ponies larger than average, a large window covered by curtains, as well as the bed she was currently occupying. A bed that was insanely comfortable. Fit for a queen. Faust moved her head around, taking in the surroundings. “Wow. It feels like I’ve been asleep for two years.” Faust mumbled to herself. She looked down at the bed she was laying in. “And this bed is amazing, I wonder what it’s made of…” Her monologue trailed off as a knock on the door sounded. “Your Majesty, is everything alright in there, I heard you speaking. May I enter?” The person who knocked asked. Faust looked around once more, then to her blanket covered body. “Yes, you may.” Faust answered. The door gingerly and slowly opened, as a male pony in armor entered. He was lacking both wings and horn. His mane and tail were a deep blue, almost black. The hair on the rest of his body was red. Upon entering the room, he bent his front legs and lowered his head and spoke. “My Queen, it is an honor to be in your presence. I am Lieutenant Cannon. If there is anything I can do for you, please do not hesitate to inform me.” The Earth stallion stated, resolutely. Faust slipped out of the bed she was in, with the blanket falling to the ground. She looked around once more and then looked at the bed. She paused, seeming to consider something. “Actually, Lieutenant, there is something you can do for me.” Faust stated. “Yes, Your Majesty!” Cannon answered, the excitement obvious in his voice. Faust raised an eyebrow at the excitement in his voice. “What is the filling in this bed made of?” The stallion answered proudly. “Pegasus feathers!” Faust blanched, however, her white fur hid the paleness extremely well. “P-pegasus feathers!” Faust asked in shock. The stallion beamed, not realizing he had spooked the Queen. He had believe he had been of help to her and was proud of it. “Yes! Only the finest and softest specimens are fit for a bed that is being used by the Queen! As such, we collect them from pegasi who have not yet begun their first preening.” Faust’s muzzle began taking a green tinge to it, as horrid and gore filled thought swirled in her mind. The stallion did not realize the discomfort the Queen was in and continued. “We collect them and put them in a machine that mixes them together and then sorts them by color. The parents can sometimes be a bit hesitant to volunteer their children, though.” The green tinge only grew darker on Faust’s muzzle. “Children?” The stallion beamed even brighter. “Oh yes! Pegasi who have not yet begun their first preening have the softest feathers in order to keep warm. The process can sometimes be a bit painful for them, but there’s no price too high for the Queen’s comfort!” The last sentence was far too much for Faust, as she decided she’d rather jump through a window then be in the castle with child murdering, homicidal lunatics… although her first choice would have been a door, the psychopathic guard was standing in the doorway. So she took the only open path she had… Through the window. The curtain that was drawn over the window initially caught her upon running into it, but with the weight of the full grown alicorn queen, it was quickly ripped from the wall, as she smashed through the flimsy glass as well. The curtain prevented her from unfurling her wings and flying, not that it mattered much, since she couldn’t fly to begin with. She could only pray she was not at the very top of a tower. In a slight change of luck, she was not at the top of the tower, but rather on the second floor. But the curtain she was tangled in prevented her from knowing this until she hit the ground with a solid thud. She could feel the pain in her left wing and ribs, as she had landed on her side. She gave a groan, as the air had been knocked from her lungs. She scrambled to her hooves and without paying attention to where she was going, sprinted off into the distance. Whatever it took to put as much ground between these psychos and her. The guardstallion was left to stare at the now broken window in shock. Was it something he said? “Your Majesty! Wait!” Cannon sprinted to the window, but could only watch as the Queen sprinted off, all while yelling in apparent terror. Cannon let his stoicness drop, as he dreamily looked upon the fleeing alicorn. He sighed. Even when she was running in terror, she was impossibly graceful. The Two Sisters sat in their respective thrones. Normally at this time, Luna would be asleep with her sister having sole occupation of the court room, but she was so excited at the idea of seeing their mother… That and she felt guilty for causing her injuries. They were holding off on announcing that their mother was back, hopeful that she would wake up soon. They did not want to leave her in such an exposed state. But the nobles in the court knew something was up due to the presence of both sisters. But, court still had to carry on, and as such that meant cases presented to them. The current case was a noble who was bringing a petition to court. He had been denied a permit to keep an Ursa Major as a pet. And he was now seeking the approval of the Royal Court. Of course, both Celestia and Luna subtly cocked their eyebrows at each other when they heard the noble’s initial petition. And both planned to immediately deny it as soon the noble was done giving his speech. That they both considered dumb and boring. However, as the noble was droning on, the doors to the courtroom burst open as a guard entered, forgetting the etiquette guards are supposed to follow when speaking with royalty. “You Majesties! Captain Cannon Fodder sent me with the utmost urgency! Your mother has run away!” The entire court gasped at the mention the mother of the Two Sisters. And without a word, the Two Sisters shot out of their own throne room, leaving everyone in it behind. The noble who had been petition for a pet permit for an Ursa Major looked around the courtroom that was now lacking any figure of any authority. “Uh… so does this mean my permit is accepted?” The noble questioned to no one in particular. The bandaged patient chuckled. “I remember Colonel Cannon Fodder, poor boy had the most unfortunate name.” Faust ran. She ran and ran. Anything that put distance between her and that psycho, Private Cannon. However, she soon came to realize that she was in a maze. A hedge maze. What is with royals and mazes, anyways? She stopped. If she was lost, she was probably safe from the Private, so she could afford to slow down. Take her time. She looked around, taking in all the options she had. She stretched her wings out, as she looked back at them. Flying wasn’t an option, for some odd reason, she remembered how to walk, talk and run. But she couldn’t remember how to fly. She looked upwards, gazing at her horn. For another matter, she also couldn’t remember how to use magic. She knew for a fact that she used to be able to do both of these. She couldn’t remember ever using either, but she could feel it deep inside that she had. She had used them both before. Since she couldn’t do anything that would help her get out of this maze, she did the only other thing she could do. She walked. She walked, as the sun beat down on her mercilessly. She had to have been walking for the better part of the day, yet the sun still beat down on her with no forgiveness. Sweating bullets, she looked towards the sun with anger in her eyes! “It’s so hot out here! Why can’t it be night time already! Please!” Almost as though the sun heard her plea, it travelled to the right and disappeared over the horizon in a mere second, the moon now occupying the spot it had formerly sat in. Faust jumped back in shock. “Holy!” She yelled in terror! She was appreciative of the reprieve from the heat of the sun, but that wasn’t natural. Could this day get any worse? First she was taken to a castle that thinks it’s acceptable to grind foals up to collect their feathers for her mattress and now the sun moves unnaturally! “This day… er, night can’t get any worse!” Faust declared in anger. “Mother! I found you!” No. Faust turned in terror. A pony, only slightly smaller than her, rocketed towards her. But this wasn’t any regular pony… This was the blue menace that had launched her into the air from the stage the other day. In a burst of speed she didn’t realize she was capable of, Faust sidestepped the incoming pony-missile, who rocketed straight past her former position and slammed into the wall of the hedge maze. “Why did I open my big mouth!” Faust screamed as she once again took off in a run. First the psycho Private now this night terror! She began making as many turns as she could, hoping to confuse the terror that was now chasing her. Faust realized she had to get out of this maze, and quickly. She had busted through the glass window earlier with extreme ease. As such, she had assumed the grass wall in this hedge maze would not pose much of an obstacle. She ran faster then she had ever run before, at full gallop, she crashed head first into the wall of the maze… And stopped. Her front hooves were touching the other side, but her back hooves were suspended in the air. Faust blanched once more. Her hooves weren’t suspended! She was stuck in the wall of the maze! She began kicking her back hooves and attempting to pull forward with her front. But anyone with hooves knows this one simple fact. Hooves aren’t very good for pulling yourself forward. But despite this, she continued struggling, her rear kicking and her front pulling. But the maze held tight. “General Cannon!” The young private ran up the guardstallion. “Sir! I realize that you are currently helping in the search for the Queen, but there are reports of three drunken noblestallions wondering the castle grounds and harassing the female staff! Cannon sighed, rolling his eyes. They were always having problems with nobles getting drunk and harassing staff. “Where were they last seen?” Cannon asked. “Sir, they were last seen heading towards the maze!” This was it. Faust accepted her fate. She was, without a doubt, undeniably, stuck. She scrunched up her muzzle. She could occasionally see the night terror fly over her, but miss her. This happened several times. Perhaps it was because she was stuck between two sides of a wall, so the wall obscured most of her from the sky. Whatever it was, she prayed her luck kept up. She had no desire to deal with the night terror. But she was still in a conundrum. She was stuck. She couldn’t call out for help, otherwise the loony Lieutenant or the night terror may find her. But she couldn’t stay stuck, otherwise she would starve to death. But she was also in a vulnerable position. Her buttocks were unprotected, and should any rapscallions come along, there was nothing she could do to protect herself. She needed to find a way to unstick herself, and fast. So once again, she began her futile effort of kicking her rear hooves and pulling forward with her front hooves. As she was busy doing this, however, she heard laughing. Panicked, her ears swivelled, trying to find the source of the laughter. Was it coming from her front? The side? The air? No… it was behind her. She felt something touch her rear, as she unconsciously squeaked and her muzzle became a deep red color. As more laughter resounded. Faust hated her life. The bandaged patient somehow managed to sit up even straighter in his bed. The real Faust, possessing his body, was seething with rage. Sure, she had given the Human her body to use until his was healed up, and sure she had wanted something interesting to happen. But the audacity of those stallions to assault her! After they had been harassing other mares, no less! And what was taking Sergeant Cannon so long to catch up with them, she could only wonder what was slowing that idiot down so much. She would show them. Although, she may no longer have been in that world, and she may have been in the body of the crippled Human, her magic was no less powerful. Those stallions would regret the day they decided today was a good day to go drinking. “Hey, Straight Arrow, look there!” The stallion slurred his words as he spoke, obviously drunk. The stallion named Straight Arrow looked at the wall his friend pointed at. “By the grace of Faust, Midnight, is that what I think it is.” The patient’s stomach curled at the mention of her name by the stallion. Luna had been flying over the maze for hours. She had found mother once, but she dodged her hug and then disappeared into the maze. And despite her superb night vision, Luna had been unable to find her mother. She stopped and hovered in mid-air. Wondering if she should check in with Commander Cannon to see if he had seen any trace of her mother. As she was about fly away from the maze to find the commander, something hit her in the head. Catching it with her magic as it bounced off her head, she inspected it. Not that it needed much inspection, as it was a flashing neon sign that simply said, “Look down.” Always one to trust signs that randomly fall out of the sky and hit her on the head, Luna looked down. Her eyes took in the scene. Her snout furrowed in anger, as her normally flat teeth morphed into monstrous fangs. Her pupils narrowed into slits, not unlike a cat’s eyes. The patient grinned, although his mouth wasn’t visible under the bandages. Faust sometimes amazed even herself with her genius. “Man, Onyx. Look at this.” Midnight whispered, somehow, despite being drunk. The three drunk stallions slowly creeped up on the rear of mare. It was obvious she had gotten stuck. And her rear seemed oddly larger than normal. But in their drunken state, the three stallions didn’t even consider the fact that the pony was about the right size for an alicorn. They did notice the cutie-mark. A full inkwell with a quill dipped in it. “What do you think her job is? A scribe?” The stallion named Onyx questioned his companions. Of course, had any of them been a little bit more sober, they would have realized that was the cutie-mark of Faust. Before any of them could answer the trapped mare began kicking her rear hooves, in an apparent attempt to free herself. For some odd reason, as is often the case with drunk people, the three stallions found this hilarious and burst out laughing. The mare soon stopped her kicking. As Arrow giggled and spoke. “I’mma touch it.” He slurred. And true to his word, he did. And when he did, a squeak sounded from the other side of the wall. The three stallions once again burst out laughing. Slurring his words, the stallion identified as Onyx spoke. “Let me.” He shoved his friend to the side and reared on his rear hooves. Taking the mare’s rear in between his hooves, he squeezed. This had the unintended side effect of the trapped mare kicking him. Because while her front half was trapped, her legs were free. The stallion went flying, contrary to the laws of physics, where as the mare stayed stuck. The two companions were slow to react due to their drunkenness, btu they watched as their friend, Onyx, rose from where he had hit the wall. Slowly sauntering over to where he had previously been, he and Midnight began jeering at the trapped mare. “Oh, you’re gonna pay for that you… a-ass” Onyx slurred, even more than normal due to the pain he was in. They began advancing on the mare, but Arrow stayed behind. Normally, he would have joined them, but something was stopping him. The hairs on the back of his neck were at full attention, as a freezing wind cut through him. It was odd, it was the middle of the summer, there shouldn’t be any freezing wind. He could feel eyes, staring into his very soul. His eyes constricting in primordial fear, his heart beating at a thousand miles an hour. His companions seemed to also get the feeling. All three of them slowly turned around, and were met with the most terrifying sight they had ever seen. An ethereal mane whipped in the freezing wind, as the stallion’s souls were torn apart with the eyes of a snake. “Tell me, Geldlings,” The voice ripped through their very minds, as images of their deepest and darkest fears flashed before their eyes. “Would you prefer for me to kill you slowly and painfully, or would you prefer I eat you and damn your souls to eternal torment?” The three stallions screamed in innate terror. “Captain Cannon!” The very same private that had informed him of the three drunk noblestallions once more landed in front of him. Once again, Cannon rolled his eyes. “What is it now?” He asked the private. The private saluted and spoke. “Sir, I know you’re currently looking for the Queen and those three drunk stallions, but staff have also complained about hearing a few little girls screaming in the maze!”