//------------------------------// // In the Court of the Crimson King // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// “What does he want with her?!” Rainbow Dash shouted to Harlequin White. “I dunno,” Harlequin White shrugged. “I was merely asked to be a distraction, taking care of you while he talked with her. Whatever his goal is with her specifically I don’t know and I couldn’t really care less. Normally I wouldn’t help my condescending putz of a brother but I was bored and didn’t really have anything better to do so here I am. And truthfully, despite sharing nothing in common with him or his ambitions, I do have to admit that I was interested in messing with you as well. I hardly get the chance to mess with a pony as entertaining as you. It was worth putting up with his smug, know-it-all, attitude.” Rainbow Dash’s eye twitched. “Well then you better tell me how to get to him right now!” “Can’t. I’m the distraction after all, and that would be sooo boring if I told you where to find him just like that. Wouldn’t it?” Harlequin White taunted her. “And he’s already the king of boring.” She clenched her hooves and flew over the stands, preparing to dive at him. “I don’t think you understand what I’m saying. Tell me where Wish is right now. Or else.” He merely grinned up at her. “If it’s a fight you want, then keep on flying. Ha-he-ho.” That was all Rainbow Dash needed. “Okay! You asked for it!” A vein popped out of her forehead and she shot towards the ringmaster. Schwwwiiiing! The sound of something descending from the big top’s roof caught her attention and Rainbow Dash looked up just in time to dodge backwards from something falling right towards her. “Gah!” She flew back as the thing on wires and ropes stopped in front of her, hanging there “eye to eye” with her. It was some kind of puppet, made from wood and metal gears and winches, in the shape of a pegasus. It was large, painted blue, with each rope and wire articulating a specific limb and joint. A large grin in red paint was on its face and black and white yarn had been used to make its mane and tail. Despite the relatively shoddy construction, Rainbow Dash still knew exactly who she was looking at. “Blizzard,” her eyes narrowed at the puppet pegasus and then at Harlequin White below. “And that’s not the only familiar face we have here,” Harlequin White chuckled. Schwwwiiiing! Five more puppets dropped from the ceiling. And Harlequin White was correct, they were all very familiar. “Karkona.” “Resin.” “Lord Copper.” “Supernova.” "Vox.” Rainbow Dash looked at the smiling puppets disinterestedly. “So this is it? A bunch of old villains I’ve already beaten? And just broken-down puppets of them too. Come on, dude, this isn’t going to scare me. If you think this is going to protect you you’re wrong.” “Hmmm... not going to scare you, eh? What about this one?” Harlequin White said and tapped his baton on the ground. Another puppet dropped down less than an inch in front of Rainbow Dash’s face. A pink puppet. Rainbow Dash grimaced and jumped back in shock, her heart momentarily speeding up despite her best efforts to keep it calm. The Heartless puppet dangled right there in front of her. Grinning. “Okay, I’ll admit I had that one coming,” Rainbow Dash said as she narrowed her eyes at the seven puppets. She looked up towards the ceiling but the ropes and wires that held them seemed to disappear up into nothingness, the spotlights drowned out wherever they connected. “But they’re still just puppets and I’ve beaten all—almost—all of them before.” “Doesn’t really matter. None of this is supposed to stop you completely. Just slow you down. I’m only the distraction, remember?” Harlequin White said. “He didn’t give me any real instructions on what to do, that’s why I came up with the circus and all the cutouts and everything on my own. To make it more fun! I’m pretty sure he would’ve preferred me just locking you in a cage or something, but if I’m going to do this then it’s going to happen my way. And my way is the way of entertainment.” He hopped back onto the ball he rode out on and started juggling his baton along with several beanbags while balancing atop it. “So please be that source of entertainment, I didn’t come all the way here for nothing.” Rainbow Dash first cracked her neck and then her hooves, snorting as she looked at the seven puppets that all hung around the air of the big top. “Fine then. Hope you don’t mind your toys getting broken.” “I don’t understand,” Wish said to Harlequin Grey, shaking her head. “There isn’t much to understand. It’s just a talk, Wish.” He said to her. Wish frowned and raised a suspicious eyebrow at him. “You know my name?” “Indeed,” he nodded. “Just as I knew your father’s name.” Wish stiffened immediately, a cold feeling growing in her stomach and a chilly sweat breaking out on her brow. “Does it truly bother you so much when he is only so much as mentioned now?” Harlequin Grey asked. “Sad. So sad. Tragic, even. What you went through, what you suffered at his hooves and the hooves of the pegasus you travel with now is far too tragic.” Wish blinked, looking up at his eyes. “W-What are you talking about? Rainbow Dash didn’t...” “It’s her fault, isn’t it? Isn’t everything that happened to you just as much her fault? She tore down your entire world by coming to Hoofica. If she hadn’t... why it’s quite possible you never would’ve learned the truth about your father. It’s possible that nothing in that tower would’ve happened and you would’ve continued to live in blissful ignorance. If only Rainbow Dash never came.” “But... b-but that’s not right...” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Oh? Are you going to tell me you honestly prefer knowing the truth? You’re happy that you now know the truth about your father and mother?” Wish shivered and shook, she reached up to hug herself and stared down at the dark floor. “Well? Answer me.” “No...” She whispered. “What was that?” “No!” She shouted. “No! I-I’m not happy to know... I wish... I wish I never knew.” “And yet now you do. You know that miserable and ugly truth and you will never, ever, get to live without it for the rest of your life. How sad. How sad that Rainbow Dash forced it on you. She’s a selfish pony. Always has been and always will be. I hope you’re not under any illusions that she truly cares about you now?” He huffed. “Huh?” Wish looked back up at him in horror. “What are you saying... of course she does. S-She brought me with her. She cares about me...” “Obligation. Mere obligation. She didn’t want to feel guilty. That’s all. Please, Wish. You know best of all that no one cares about you.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Nggghhh...” Wish grumbled and held her head, a powerful headache coming on. “T-That’s not true...” “Why are you lying to yourself? Although... I suppose you’ve gotten quite good at lying to yourself and others. Just like how you lied about not remembering anything after becoming the Avatar.” Her eyes shot open and her mouth trembled. “H-H-How-” He ignored her questioning, instead leaning down to her and staring deep into her eyes with his ever-shifting ones. “You remember it all. You remember what you did. What you said. What you felt. You remember killing your own father and trying to drown Rainbow Dash in endless despair.” “NO! I-I just-” Wish shook her head, crying, trying to block out the memories. “Don’t lie. Not here at least, it won’t help you,” Harlequin Grey sighed. “Did you really think you could just go the rest of your life trying to act like you weren’t aware of everything that happened? Please. At some point all that bottled up pain would erupt. You had the right idea as the Avatar to embrace complete apathy.” “No—that’s wrong! That’s wrong, that’s wrong, that’s wrong!” Wish yelled. “Why? Because Rainbow Dash said so? That selfish pony is more responsible for your woes than anyone. Surely you harbor some resentment for her after everything that has happened? Surely you at least still hold some of what you realized as the Avatar close to your heart?” Wish kept shaking her head as tears fell from her eyes. “No... no... that’s wrong. I’m not like that. That’s not what I wanted... it’s never what I wanted. R-Rainbow Dash was right. E-Even what I did to f-father, wasn’t what I wanted...” “And has any of that brought you happiness? Has anything Rainbow Dash has done made you happy? So what if it’s not real happiness. Or the truth. At least you would be at peace if it wasn’t for her. You do resent her, don’t you? For making you kill your father, for tearing away all the lies and forcing you to confront the cold truth of your sad, pathetic, life.” He reached to her chin with his hoof and lifted it up to make sure she was always looking into his eyes. “Tell me. Do you resent her?” Wish’s mouth opened and closed. She felt tears slide all the way down her cheeks before they dripped off and fell to the floor. “Yes.” “It’s only natural,” he shrugged and dropped her chin, walking away from her and pacing around the dark room slowly. Wish let herself stare at the floor with empty eyes. What did she just say? “There’s really nothing wrong. You have a natural reaction for a pony who has been harmed so much,” Harlequin Grey said to her. “But it’s not enough. It’s not what you should be feeling towards her.” “Wha—what are you talking about?” She asked him in a daze, her mind all fuzzy. “What should I be feeling?” “Hatred.” Rainbow Dash kicked the puppet Blizzard in the head and ducked beneath Karkona’s long trunk as she shot down towards Harlequin White on the ground. She was quickly cut off by the Supernova and Vox puppets, who threw a flurry of blows and horn jabs at her. Rainbow was easily able to avoid or parry them all, but she was still pushed back and away from her true opponent on the ground. The Resin puppet then came in from the right and tried to careen into her before Rainbow Dash flew under it—only to be bodyslammed by the Lord Copper puppet and knocked further away. She spun about and quickly regained control of herself, maintaining her altitude in the big top and flying over the stands. All the while she kept her eyes on Harlequin White. Seriously, what even is this? Rainbow Dash thought as she looked at the wires and ropes holding the puppets. Somehow they never became tangled and were always able to glide across the tent to wherever they needed to be. The good news was it was obvious they couldn’t use magic, and the Blizzard and Karkona puppets certainly didn’t have the brute strength that the real deals did. She was faster as well, they just outnumbered her. Rainbow Dash knew she could win. It was just taking up an annoying amount of time. Which apparently was the whole point, and she knew she shouldn’t leave Wish alone with Harlequin Grey, so she had to deal with this quicker. The Heartless puppet zoomed circles around Harlequin White, hanging at ground level, his last line of defense. “Tch. Whatever,” Rainbow Dash growled and looked at the other puppets all dangling in the air. It was obvious she’d have to deal with them one by one before she could get to the Harlequin. A smirk tugged up her lips. “Alright... it’s gonna feel pretty good getting to beat on some of you again. Might as well make the most of this.” She flew straight at the Blizzard puppet and punched it in the face with enough force to crack the wood that made its head. The puppet was launched backwards but before she could continue to dismantle it, the Karkona and Resin puppets came up behind her. The Karkona puppet was very big and it simply tried to “jump” on her and knock her down to the ground. Rainbow Dash rolled out from beneath its large mass before it hit her and quickly had to lift her left front hoof to block a punch from Resin. Spinning, she kicked the Resin puppet away and immediately flew up as the Vox and Supernova puppets came at her from her sides and tried to impale her with their horns. She flapped her wings and flew up closer to the ceiling, another advantage she had was thanks to the wires and ropes holding them up they couldn’t come from directly below her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the seemingly magical wires holding the two unicorn puppets and she darted towards them, seeing if she could grab and break them from up here. But as soon as she got close the wires and ropes moved away and no matter how quickly she flitted towards them each time she couldn’t grab a single one. Looking up at where they went she only proceeded to get almost blinded by the bright spotlights coming down from the top of the big top. Several of the puppets started to be reeled in and pulled themselves up to the ceiling to match where Rainbow Dash was once more. The Lord Copper puppet came directly at her face and tried punching her, so Rainbow Dash grabbed the hoof it threw at her and kicked it hard in the joint that connected it to the body while wrenching it in the other direction, breaking it off and letting the limb spin away into the air, now only held up by a couple of wires. It sure felt good to do that to something that looked like Lord Copper. That wasn’t all either. She ducked under its body and pummeled the weak wood, cracking the puppet all over before flying out from below it. Glancing back up at it, she saw the Lord Copper puppet awkwardly moving, a lot of its joints broken and bits of it falling apart. The ropes and wires couldn’t perfectly guide it anymore. “Heh. Not quite finished, but still a piece of cake,” Rainbow grinned. The massive trunk of Karkona then came right for her head. Rainbow Dash placed a hoof on it and vaulted over it before kicking the Karkona puppet in the face with her back legs and cracking it down the center. She then flapped up and ran across its back, kicking the winches that held the ropes holding up the puppet and weakening or breaking them outright as she went. The puppet started to list in the air and shook, almost falling down as the weight of it was too much for the rest of the ropes and wires. Laughing, Rainbow Dash jumped off its back and flew in a circle over the center ring of the big top, looking for the next puppets to dismantle. Vox and Supernova always seemed to be dangling close to each other. Rainbow Dash grinned and flew at the two of them. Two on one could give her potentially a decent amount of trouble when it came to dodging all their blows, but Rainbow wasn’t really afraid of the power they could actually put behind their strikes. They were just wooden puppets after all. Punching the Vox puppet right in her grinning face also felt quite good. The Supernova one came wheeling around behind her but Rainbow Dash kicked it in the side and knocked it away—where it also collided with the Blizzard puppet that was attempting to come in and join the fray. The Resin puppet dropped down from above onto Rainbow’s back but she swung it off of her and smacked it into the Vox puppet when it tried coming at her again. Now a lot of the puppets were all in a jumbled up mess with each other, but their wires and ropes still somehow managed to stay free of each other and shortly afterwards they still managed to all hang around and surround Rainbow Dash after pulling away from each other. She kept her eyes open on the four of them, and looked up to see the Karkona and Lord Copper puppets were attempting to come down and rejoin the fight as well. Now she really had to start taking some of these out of commission for good. The Resin puppet came from directly behind her and tried to grab her, but Rainbow ducked under it and elbowed it in the side of the head with enough force to make the neck break and the head loll about awkwardly. She winced, the Resin puppet was the only one she felt bad about hitting. However, she couldn’t let up just because of that, and she grabbed the puppet by its left front leg and used it as a pony shield against the Blizzard puppet when ti came in to attack her. The Resin puppet got crunched between Rainbow Dash and the other puppet and Rainbow gave it a hard kick to the midsection to knock both it and the Blizzard puppet away temporarily. That kicked proved to be enough as the force from it split the Resin puppet down the middle, its two halves now dangling uselessly apart from each other. “One down,” Rainbow looked to her right just in time to duck under a punch thrown by the Lord Copper puppet and the front hoof it still had. Deciding to fix that, Rainbow Dash grabbed the outstretched wooden hoof and planted her back legs against the chest of the puppet. She then pulled with all her might and pushed away with her legs at the same time—tearing the leg clean off. Spinning around in the air she walloped the Lord Copper puppet in the head with its own leg and almost knocked it clean off, now only hanging there by a loose strip of wood. To finish things, she flew below the puppet and stabbed up the wooden limb into its gut, spearing the puppet right through the middle. All its joints and wires seized up after that and it did nothing but spasm and shake in the air, dangling helplessly. Rainbow Dash didn’t take any time to admire her hoofiwork, for the Karkona puppet was bearing down at her. Its trunk lashed out at her repeatedly, but compared to the real Karkona it might as well have been moving through molasses. Each time it tried to hit her she kicked it right at one of its joints to damage it and make it become less and less articulated. That made every subsequent strike even easier to dodge. On one last attempted strike she broke off the end of the trunk entirely and kicked it into the Karkona puppet’s already damaged face. It ricocheted off but still sent more cracks through the wooden face of the puppet until it all started crumbling to pieces. Rainbow Dash then flew right at it and knocked loose the puppet’s right tusk. Something that would work even better as a weapon. Instead of just jamming it through the body of the puppet like she had done with the Lord Copper one, she flew up across the Karkona puppet’s back and with one fast swipe she severed every rope and wire holding it up. The ropes and wires all snapped away with a heavy sound and the largest puppet crashed down onto the stands. Reduced to nothing more than a broken pile of wood. She didn’t drop the tusk either, instead she spun it around overhead and grinned while gazing at the Blizzard, Vox and Supernova puppets. “Three down,” Rainbow grinned. The Vox and Supernova puppets came flying at her but Rainbow Dash batted each one of them away with the wooden tusk and flew between them towards the Blizzard puppet. She lopped off both its wings and then kicked it down to the stands where it crashed into pieces. Without even looking, she threw the wooden tusk spinning behind her and heard a satisfying crunch as it smashed into the Vox and Supernova puppets as they tried to attack her again. Her instincts were as sharp as ever. Both of the last two puppets left in the air were now heavily damaged and bits of wooden pieces of them were falling off. Rainbow Dash flew at them while they were still swaying from being struck by the tusk. She kicked the Supernova one first, hearing a crunch come from its insides when she did, and then grabbed the Vox one by its yarn mane and smashed it into Supernova’s. She then jumped on top of the Vox puppet and flapped her wings, carrying it, the Supernova puppet, and herself, down to the ground at high speed. The two puppets were practically totally obliterated when they collided with the ground and Rainbow Dash stood atop them in victory. Now there were merely a bunch of dangling wires and ropes with loose limbs and other broken apart pieces of wood hanging around the big top. Except for one set. Rainbow Dash turned her eyes to the pink Heartless puppet that was puppy dog guarding Harlequin White as he continued to balance on his ball without a care in the world. “Now this one? This one I’m going to really enjoy,” Rainbow Dash said as she hopped down from the pile of rubble and walked over to the puppet. The Heartless puppet came swinging at her but Rainbow Dash cartwheeled to the side and avoided it. When it came around again to try and punch her, she backflipped and kicked it in the chin with her back hooves. The force of the blow tore the puppet’s head clean off, sending it spiraling up to the ceiling of the big top before it fell back down into the dirt. Grinning at the headless puppet, Rainbow Dash dashed in and shoved her hoof in up to the elbow down its neck, crushing and then pulling out a bunch of wood, straw, and little gears that made up its insides. The pink puppet sputtered and dangled away before the entire thing collapsed, wires and ropes going slack, and it all fell to the ground. “That, was cathartic.” Rainbow Dash exhaled and wiped her brow, she hadn’t even really broken a sweat. She then turned to Harlequin White and glared at him, a serious look once again adorning her face. “And you. You better tell me where he and Wish are right now,” she threatened. Harlequin White hopped off the balancing ball and shrugged. “Okay.” Rainbow Dash blinked. “Wait. What?” “I’ll even do you one better,” he grinned and twirled his baton around before pointing it at the air beside them. Lines appeared in thin air, drawing a rectangle—a door—that stretched to the ground and then glowed bright white for a second before then becoming faintly blue. As the light settled down, the blue gave way to a cosmic hallway of stars and darkness that stretched on and on. It was all moving about rapidly through the door as if they were standing on the interior of something careening through space. “That’s a portal that will take you directly to where my brother and that filly friend of yours are,” Harlequin White said. Rainbow Dash frowned and looked over at him. “Why are you doing this?” “Well if I hadn’t made it clear enough already I really don’t like my brother, and his goals don’t align with my desires at all. I just wanted to have some fun and I’ve had it. Helping you now would unironically be more beneficial for me and the fun-loving life I would like to continue to have,” he explained. “If that’s true then... then why would he ask you to help him in the first place? If you’re so easily betraying him?” Rainbow asked. “Because you’ve made him desperate enough to. Which I find immensely funny. He’s a self-assured numbskull but he probably knew I would do something like this when I got bored enough, and still he came to me for help because he saw no better option. You’ve really stressed him out. Bravo on that,” Harlequin White started chuckling as he looked at the portal. “You see... if he had used his own magic for any of this, then Discord would have very likely noticed. And, although my brother would utterly deny this if asked about it, he’s afraid of Discord. My oldest brother and he’s still such a baby. So instead he had me help and I put on this little chaotic circus.” “What... what even are you two?” Rainbow Dash’s face twisted up as she asked him. “I’m not one for boring exposition, ask someone else,” Harlequin White waved her off. “Now tick tock, tick tock, portal’s closing soon. Are you going to save your little friend or not? Because I hope you are, seeing my brother upset will be another good laugh.” Rainbow Dash took a step towards the portal but paused, frowning at him. “How do I know this portal will actually take me to them?” “You don’t. You just have to trust me,” he snickered as he said that. She rolled her eyes. “Great. You’re lucky I don’t have the time to beat on you.” “It wouldn’t really help anything anyways,” he shrugged. “It’d make me feel better...” Rainbow mumbled and stood before the starry portal. She gulped and took one last look over her shoulder at the grinning Harlequin White before she jumped in. The portal closed behind her and Rainbow Dash felt herself falling, no, shooting forth through the stars. “Hang on, Wish. I’m coming...” She said, narrowing her eyes as her speed picked up and the stars began to blur together into lines of light. Meanwhile, Harlequin White stood in the middle of the ring and hummed to himself as the portal closed up and disappeared. "Well, that was fun, time to head home.” He shrugged and in a flash the entire circus vanished, once more leaving nothing but sand in the desert. “No! No, that’s wrong—that’s horrible! I-I don’t hate her and I don’t want to hate her! Rainbow Dash is... I-I know she means well. I know she cares. I just... I just can’t help it after everything... b-but I don’t want to feel that way! She’s a good pony, and you’re wrong about her!” Wish shook her head. “I don’t hate her...” She sniffled and rubbed away at some tears. “Why are you doing this to me?” “Because I think we can help each other.” Wish looked up at him, her teary eyes making her vision a little blurry. “What do you mean?” “The truth of despair you attained. The feeling of calm and peace. I can return you to it, I can even help you spread that feeling to others. I think the world would be a much better place if it was as calm and apathetic as that. I think you should embrace what you realized and felt as the Avatar and work to bring total apathy to the world. It will be the only thing that can possibly make you happy after what you’ve been through. And I would like to make you happy, if you’ll let me. It will be beneficial to everyone.” His eyes just stared down at her. Unblinking, almost hypnotic, the words he spoke carried such an impossible weight. “I-I don’t want to do that,” Wish shook her head. “Yes you do. Deep down, even though you’re trying to hide it. That moment you became The Avatar of Despair was the most honest moment of your life. Everything was pulled away, all the falsities, all the illusions, and you were finally able for the very first time in your life to think and feel clearly. Your father’s influence was gone. It was only you. You proved that when you killed him and took in Rainbow Dash. Do not deny it.” “It wasn’t me... she said it wasn’t me...” Wish clenched her jaw and squeezed her eyes shut in denial. “It was you in the most purest sense of the word. The darkness deep down in you that was always there and finally unleashed. That still lives in you, it has only been buried again.” “Stop it!” Wish screamed. Harlequin Grey paused, a long exhale coming out through his lips as he looked down on the filly. “If perhaps more... basic desires will sway you, then wouldn’t you like to be powerful? Not a weak little filly anymore? Wouldn’t you like to not be afraid of ponies like Vox, to never again be manipulated by ponies like your father, to not be hurt again? I can do this for you. I can make it so you are never a victim and no words and actions from other powers can pierce your armor.” He raised his cold hoof and used it to wipe away a tear from her cheek. “I can give you what you’ve wanted for years.” Wish froze. Was it true? Her hoof shakily moved back to her blank flank. “I see you understand. That’s right, Wish. The Cutie Mark you’ve so desperately desired for years. Don’t you want it? Don’t you want to finally stop searching? You want to know. You want to know yourself. You want to be at peace and feel like you’ve finally become an adult. I can give that to you.” “How?” Wish asked him. “You have to truly desire it. You have to agree to help me. You have to embrace those feelings deep inside you... but once you have,” he lifted up his hoof and a sparkling cosmic shower of stars appeared around it before a spectral black question mark rose up, levitating over his hoof. “All you need to do is take my hoof.” Wish gazed upon it, her eyes flickering from the question mark to his rainbow eyes. It was so cold here. The darkness around them became even more pronounced with the light coming from his hoof. Her entire body was trembling, she couldn’t hear herself think, and slowly she reached out from the stool towards his hoof...