Chapter Four: Insanity
Starfire woke up the next morning, exhausted. Her rest had been interrupted by weird dreams about, well, something she couldn't understand. All she could remember was someone speaking what sounded like clipped Equestrian, and dozens of of others around her responding with the ancient language. However, her understanding of the language was minimal. Her ancient studies had only just begun.
On cue, Twilight walked in and initiated the daily rituals of grooming. Starfire noticed that her tutor and servant seemed slightly off. When she asked, Twilight brushed it off with a shake of her head. Starfire decided to stop pressing the matter and just continued thinking about the events of last night. She contemplated telling Twilight, but decided not to worry her any further.
Twilight finished up and left. Starfire made sure she was gone and grabbed the necklace. Looking at it, she slipped it around her neck and walked out the door.
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Earlier that morning, Surprise was returned to the slave quarters. Ruby immediately ran over and gave Surprise a large hug. "Oh, Surprise!! We were so worried that something terrible was going to happen to you!"
Sparkler gave her a quick nod and ran out the door, not wanting to be late for her duties in the throne room. Surprise smiled sheepishly, and returned the hug. Ruby broke down, sobbing hysterically. Twilight noticed, though, that something seemed off about Surprise. Her mane was smooth and straight, not bouncy like it normally was. Her coat was a grayish color, similar to how she looked after cleaning the old guard barracks. And deep in her eyes, Twilight saw a sight that scared her more than anything had ever scared her before: The look of a killer who was fighting the urge to strike down everything that moved.
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Starfire sat in the throne room, doing nothing. Today was Sunday, the day the royal court was open to the public. Sparkler was ushering in bat ponies who had requested audiences throughout the week. Starfire hated these days with a burning passion. She wanted to be outside playing, not cooped up in the stuffy throne room. Her thoughts began to wander back to the necklace and, more specifically, Trinity.
'You are aware I can hear your thoughts, right?' asked the other mind, confirming she was there. 'Again, I will answer anything you need me to.That, or I can give you something to ask questions about.'
Before she could say anything, the world blacked out.
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When she came to, the first thing she noticed was the body. She was no longer female or, for that matter, any kind of creature she knew. It stood tall on two legs,wearing a heavier variant of the armor Trinity had been in. It was grey and blue, with a large domed helmet. Instead of hooves, it had five appendages, similar to a griffin's forelegs. The room her host was in was a large steel colored cavern. The only decoration was a large table with pieces of equipment strewn all over it. None of it was familiar to Starfire. Several other creatures, similarly dressed, stood around her host, grabbing the weird equipment and putting it in pouches on their armor. The armor of the others, while similar in make to that of her host's, differed in color. A smaller creature stood in front, yelling at them.
"Alright, men, this is the most important mission you've faced yet. You are going planet side to recovery several artifacts from a museum before the squid-heads do. The area has been evacuated, so if it breathes, kill it. Are we understood?!"
The soldiers responded with a loud "Hell yes sir!" and saluted. The man at the front returned the salute, and Starfire's host watched another armored being, a female, walk forward.
"Alright, gentlemen, you heard the old man. Lets move out. Remember, whether we win or we lose...."
The creatures spoke as one. "MEMENTO MORI!!!!"
Then the world once again blacked out.
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The first thing Starfire registered when she came to was the worried look of everypony in the throne room. Her mother had wrapped a veined wing around her daughter, and was looking at her with the most compassion. Embarrassed, Starfire turned and ran out of the room.
When she was safely out of earshot of the others, Trinity appeared. 'I'm sorry, I didn't realize you would do that.'
Confused, Starfire asked,"What did I do?"
Trinity said nothing for a minute. 'Well, you began twitching a bit. Your mother kept telling you to stop, but you didn't. Everyone noticed, but it got worse. Then you began yelling.'
"What was I yelling?" Starfire asked.
'Memento Mori.'
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The outer area of the Bat pony empire was a chaotic place. Two young changelings, one blue and the other a bright shade of red, were walking through on a scavenging run. It was common for this to happen, because their hive was poorest and least respectable of all the hives. "Hey Dawn!" yelled one to the other. "This look like anything to you?"
Dawn walked over to her brother, Cloud Cover, who was lifting an old piece of armor in front of his face. "No, it's too bent out of shape. C'mon, you know mom will kill us if she found out that we were out here." Their mother, Queen Pupa, was kinder than most Changeling queens, but her paranoia of the Badlands was hurting her subjects.
Suddenly, a small meteor flew through the sky, crashing down several hundred meters away. Curious, the two children walked towards it. Upon arrival, they saw an iridescent purple pod, similar in shape to sleeping cocoons that all changelings had. Cloud Cover walked closer and reached out a thin hoof-thing to touch it. A panel flew off, and Cloud Cover disappeared in blue light. Walking closer, Dawn saw a large blue creature step out of the pod. She looked and saw her brother's still-smoking corpse in the beast's hand. In it's other hand, it held a purple claw, which was pointed at Dawn almost immediately. She felt the impact of blue fire in her side, and she ducked back, trying not to scream.
The creature threw the body on the ground and spat on it. Opening it's jaws into a squid-like shape, the creature spoke into a mic on it's helmet, broadcasting it to an with the technology to hear it.
"Ssso, thisss is where the demon'sss little... pet arrived. On thissss gods forsaken planet. Know thisssss, 'Trinity', I will rip your hossst apart to get you. Or my name isn't Vaht 'Latowee."