//------------------------------// // Lypouni Flower, Broken Vessel // Story: Episode 3: Mageismoiras // by mr lovecolt //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle stood in the corner of the basement and watched as Discord took his time inspecting the glyph that she had made on the floor. They had made sure that Spike had fallen asleep before going down into the basement to ensure that he would not interrupt what was about to take place. After the comments made by Sergeant Longwinder, she had taken the time to thoroughly clean and sanitize every area of the laboratory, from the now empty table that once held the bodies of both Airheart and Fluttershy to the instruments she had used to perform the blood transfusion. Most of the smell had gone by now, but Twilight could tell that by the occasional grimace from Discord that his more acute olfactory senses still picked up traces of blood, sinew, and semi-decomposed body. “So, you placed a simple force field over the glyph,” Discord asked, “Which you placed on the floor, so that the inscription couldn’t be damaged.” “I felt it necessary,” Twilight Sparkle replied, “After Spike had nearly touched it, I wasn’t sure what would happen to Fluttershy.” Discord froze in place for a moment and then looked up to Twilight Sparkle. He then stood up straight, so that Twilight Sparkle had to crane her neck upward to see him. The dim light in the room made it difficult to see into his eyes, but even in the darkness, she could still tell that there was a look of disappointment on Discord’s face. “Twilight,” Discord said, “What part of Magismoiras ever gave you the idea that the creature you created is Fluttershy?” Twilight took a step backward, but the bottom stair stopped her, and she fell onto her haunches. “It’s one of the basic skills of necromancy, Discord,” Twilight Sparkle replied matter-of-factly, “It is clearly the magic of utilizing a vessel to bring forth the spirit that once resided within it.” “And here I thought it was time to go ahead and give you the lessons,” Discord scoffed, “I don’t know how you could have misread the section of necromantic skills, but this… I had expected more from you, oh Element of Magic.” As he spoke, the glyph began to glow. Discord took a moment to stroll over to Twilight Sparkle and push her further away from the glyph. The lines of the glyph continued to glow until they connected with one another, at which point, the entire circle glowed with a white light. A moment later, the light died down, revealing Fluttershy standing in the center. “You think that this-” Discord raised a trembling claw to Fluttershy, “Is the same Fluttershy you know? The same Fluttershy that taught me-” Discord’s claw dropped, and his eyes turned away from the scene. He began to whisper to himself, but it was so low that Twilight Sparkle could barely hear him. She took a few steps closer. Butterflies… butterflies… butterflies… “Discord?” Twilight Sparkle asked, “What did I do wrong? How can I make it right? How can I bring Fluttershy’s soul back into this body?” Discord’s mouth twitched, and his mouth opened. He finally turned to Twilight Sparkle and began to snap his fingers. At once, they were transported to the top of a mountain that seemed to have been high in the Crystal Mountains. Twilight Sparkle shivered from the cold, but could take her eyes away from Discord’s eyes. Discord’s eyes had turned pure red once again. Twilight Sparkle continued to tremble as the shards of ice pricked at her skin. Discord snapped his fingers again, and they were in the middle of a desert. The sun beat down, and a sandstorm rolled in, pelting Twilight Sparkle’s body with bits of sand as sharp as glass. “Discord, please.” Twilight Sparkle said as she squinted her eyes. Discord snapped his fingers again, and they were in complete darkness. Twilight Sparkle’s eyes widened as she heard the sound of a riding crop and the sound of barking dogs. “Discord, enough!” Twilight Sparkle shouted as she focused her energy to return them home. But she didn’t need to. Discord snapped his fingers again, and they were once again in the safety of Twilight Sparkle’s basement. “Where did you take me?” Twilight Sparkle asked. “What you have done to Fluttershy,” Discord replied, “Is immensely worse than what you experienced for just a few brief moments. Where is the book?” Twilight Sparkle levitated the book over to Discord’s expectant paw. He flipped through the pages. “The lypouni flower blooms in the vessel whose soil can feed its desire for sorrow to full.” Discord shut the book and turned to Twilight Sparkle. He then made his way over to Fluttershy, who still stood in the center of the glyph. “You missed a few spots on her feathers.” Twilight Sparkle trotted to Fluttershy and inspected her feathers. Not only were there still streaks of white on the underside of her feathers, but some more of them had gone missing. “I don’t understand,” Twilight Sparkle said, “I read every anatomical book on the subject. I refilled her blood with her precise blood type. I sewed every muscle and sinew back in place – Perfectly. I double checked. I triple checked.” Discord smirked and snapped his claws. Twilight Sparkle found herself sitting in a chair, wearing an old dress that looked like something her mother would wear. In front of her, Discord sat perfectly upright, wearing a top hat and monocle, wearing a blue tuxedo vest. “Discord,” Twilight Sparkle said through gritted teeth, “This is no time for playing around.” “Oh, I’m sorry,” Discord replied, “I thought we were going to have an academic discussion on the book that you read. Obviously, such a precious student of Princess Celestia would understand every detail of a book about a magic that she was given that she had never even heard of before trying it out on somepony.” Twilight Sparkle looked over to Fluttershy, whose eyes still remained black as coal. “But, I would suppose not.” Discord continued before removing all of the illusions he had created. “Discord,” Twilight Sparkle asked as a tear formed, “Please, just tell me what I did wrong.” Discord sighed and returned to Fluttershy’s side. “Don’t you want to know where Fluttershy has been, Twilight?” Twilight Sparkle smacked herself with her hoof. The fact that Fluttershy had just materialized in her basement had completely eluded her due to her discussion with Discord. “What did she do?” “First, you must know what this is,” Discord motioned around Fluttershy, “This is what used to be known as a ‘Lypouni’. Usually, when a pony dies, they are sent to Elysia or to Tartarus, depending on whether or not they were good or evil.” Discord closed his eyes and licked his lips before continuing, as though what he was about to say dried out his throat. “S-Sometimes,” Discord quivered, and Twilight Sparkle noticed that it was the first time his emotions had bubbled to the surface, “Sometimes, there are ponies who die that are filled with so much regret or anger, that it keeps them trapped in this plane.” Twilight Sparkle watched as Discord bent down to wrap his paw and claw around Fluttershy’s neck. She watched as he swallowed a lump in his throat. He then turned back to her. “I never imagined that Fluttershy’s soul would be filled with so much regret or anger that it would make her a vessel for the shadows, but-” “Wait,” Twilight Sparkle interrupted, “The shadows are the things that Edger saw and that attacked ponies. That has nothing to do with this.” “Oh, but it does,” Discord said, “You see, the shadows want to act out on their feelings of regret, of anger, of violence, and so they try to infest living bodies. But most ponies don’t have enough of those emotions in them to form a connection. Apparently, Fluttershy did.” “What are we supposed to do?” “You can fix this right now, actually.” “How?” Discord slithered his body around Fluttershy and tapped at the Elemental necklace around her neck. “If you destroy this, you destroy the Lypouni.” Twilight Sparkle took a step forward, but Discord help up a claw. “If you destroy the Lypouni, you destroy the soul that used to inhabit it.” Twilight Sparkle stopped in her tracks. “The Lypouni and Fluttershy’s soul are linked, Twilight,” Discord continued, “And if you destroy that link before Fluttershy’s soul has had the opportunity to rectify her feelings of regret or anger, then you will destroy her absolutely.” “Why did you give me that book?” Twilight Sparkle asked. Discord waved his claw and a series of blue screens appeared in front of Twilight Sparkle. On one of the blue screens that popped up, a sentence read QUESTIONS THAT WILL RESOLVE THE SITUATION IN WHICH TWILIGHT SPARKLE FINDS HERSELF. A buzzer beeped off to the side, and Discord shook his head. “That’s too bad, Twilight,” Discord said with a hiss, “You have turned Fluttershy into this, and now you have to make the choice. You must either let the Lypouni act in Fluttershy’s stead to release her regret or anger until the vessel is full, or you destroy the Lypouni and destroy the vessel that contains it. This is fate magic, Twilight Sparkle. It is the ability to control the world.” Twilight Sparkle charged towards Discord, who immediately disappeared from the room. She was alone with Fluttershy, who hadn’t moved still. Images of the nightmare from last night returned to her. She concentrated, and soon the Magismoiras hovered in front of her. She flipped through the pages under the necromancy section, but nothing even began to detail what had occurred. The only mention was the simple epigram. She looked back to Fluttershy and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “What did I do to you?” Twilight Sparkle looked into the blackness of Fluttershy’s eyes, but the question had been directed to herself. Fluttershy gave no indication that she could hear her. “Fluttershy,” Twilight Sparkle began, “If-if you’re in there, I just want you to know that I’m sorry. I’m sorry I did this to you. I just wanted you back. I just wanted to tell you-” There was a heavy knock at the front door upstairs. Twilight Sparkle turned away, and then back to Fluttershy. She stared back into the blackness before teleporting to the front door. When she opened it, Pinkie Pie rushed into the room. “Twilight!” Pinkie Pie yelled, somehow ignoring that she had just run past Twilight Sparkle. “I’m right here, Pinkie. Twilight said. “Twilight!” Twilight Sparkle looked up at Pinkie Pie, but noticed that she had her good ear turned away from her. She trotted to the other side of Pinkie Pie and spoke into her good ear. “I’m here, Pinkie,” Twilight Sparkle said, “What is it?” Pinkie Pie’s hair began to deflate, and then Twilight Sparkle remembered the other day when she spoke with Doctor Stable. “Where’s Rainbow Dash?” “She’s still at the hospital. Something bad is happening. I’m getting strange twitches that I’ve never gotten before.” Pinkie Pie huddled close to Twilight Sparkle, “It’s scaring me.” “What happened to her, Pinkie?” ***** The walls of the East Ward of Ponyville Hospital were painted half white on the top and half yellow on the bottom. Instead of the steady sound of gurneys, there was only the steady sound of crying in certain rooms, yelling in certain others, and sometimes, the occasional scratch against the door. Twilight Sparkle stood at the beginning of the hallway, flanked by Doctor Stable on her left and Pinkie Pie on her right. “We’ve had her under observation for twenty-four hours, Your Highness.” Doctor Stable said, “At this point, I have determined that there is no indication of physical trauma. Whatever is happening…” “Must be mental.” Twilight Sparkle concluded. “It could just be some spell,” Pinkie Pie said, “It happened after she-” Doctor Stable and Twilight Sparkle turned to Pinkie Pie. “What did you say?” They both asked. A pony screeched in the distance. Pinkie Pie turned her head to the source of the noise, but the other two continued to look at Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie Pie,” Twilight Sparkle said, “You have to tell us what happened.” “Well, you see,” Pinkie Pie began, “Edger and I went home. But home was all strange, like there were weird bat ponies flying in the air and everypony was all mean and they were all scared and oh my gosh Twilight it was so horrible and they took Caramel and beat him and they took Script and tied him up and then Rainbow Dash burst in and touched the stone and there was something about Helioselene and then this thing came through the roof and we all had to-” “Stop,” Twilight Sparkle interrupted and placed a hoof up to Pinkie Pie’s mouth, “What was that last part? That name you said?” “I don’t know if I’m saying it right, but Helioselene.” Well now, this is interesting. Twilight Sparkle’s eyes twitched as the familiar voice crept into her mind. The cracks of the cycle are appearing at ever greater speed. “What do you mean?” Twilight Sparkle looked back and forth to Doctor Stable, but fortunately, he had thought she was responding to Pinkie Pie. So Rainbow Dash touched the Helioselenian Stone. Poor thing. “When can I see her?” Twilight Sparkle asked. “I was really hoping that we could have Fluttershy here, since she’s good with-” “Were you about to call Rainbow Dash an animal?” Twilight Sparkle yelled as her wings flared out. “I didn’t mean it like that, Your Highness,” Doctor Stable replied as he bowed down, “I simply meant that Rainbow Dash is not in her right mind right now. She needs somepony who is gentle.” “Don’t worry,” Twilight Sparkle replied as she trotted confidently down the hall. “If it is a powerful spell that she’s under, shouldn't the other Elements be here, Your Highness?” Twilight Sparkle scoffed. She remembered saving her friends all by herself when Discord appeared. She remembered being the only one to see through Queen Chrysalis’s disguise and saving them all again. She would save Fluttershy on her own. She would save Rainbow Dash on her own. I just need to let whatever lypouni bloom, and then she will be free, Twilight Sparkle thought, Right Discord? Her question was met with silence. Twilight Sparkle stood in front of a door – on the door, the number 47 was painted on it. Doctor Stable met up with Twilight Sparkle. “Why are you letting me go in?” Twilight Sparkle asked, “If she is a danger, then why let anypony visit her?” “Well,” Doctor Stable replied, “She is heavily sedated.” “And?” “There's that,” Doctor Stable replied, “And nopony else really speaks Old Equestrian.” “Excuse me?” “We know that’s what she’s speaking, but none of us understand her. We knew that you, being a scholar of, pretty much everything, actually, that you would be able to help us.” “I see.” “Miss Pie, if you will stay out here with me, I would like to ask you more about this event that you say triggered Miss Dash’s response.” “I don’t know if I-” “Pinkie!” Twilight Sparkle shouted, “Answer his questions! This could save Rainbow Dash.” Twilight Sparkle watched as Pinkie Pie’s hair finally deflated in its entirety. The brightness of her eyes dulled away, and her smile faded, as well. “Of course, Twilight.” Pinkie Pie replied, her head drooping to the floor. Twilight Sparkle turned back to the door and began to push it open. A little harsh on her, weren’t you? “Shut up.” Twilight Sparkle whispered. “Did you say something?” Doctor Stable asked. “No, it was nothing.” Twilight Sparkle went to the other side of the door, where she saw Rainbow Dash asleep on the bed. A tiny, barred window lay horizontally at the edge of the ceiling and allowed a tiny sliver of light to fall onto the bed. The bed sheets were white, and they were still tucked into the sides because Rainbow Dash had apparently dozed off on top of them. She looked at Rainbow Dash’s polychromatic hair and immediately noticed the streak of white where red used to be. Twilight took another step, and that was when Rainbow Dash’s eyes opened. Her fuchsia eyes immediately darted about the room and settled onto her own. Rainbow Dash’s wings immediately splayed open. Twilight Sparkle lifted a hoof to her muzzle. All of Rainbow Dash’s primary wings had been slashed away. Her wingspan took up nearly half of the space that it used to. Even parts of the secondary and covert feathers had been chopped, leaving jagged spaces where there was once an undulating flow of cyan feathers. Rainbow Dash had been clipped. Twilight Sparkle began to speak, but was interrupted by Rainbow Dash yelling. “Pou echete erthei gia mena!” You hear that, Twilight? She thinks you have come for her. Twilight Sparkle shook her head to get the sound of Discord’s voice out of it. Her mind immediately pored over the memories of her studies of Old Equestrian. There was no way Rainbow Dash, of all ponies, would know Old Equestrian. Something was definitely off about her. She watched as Rainbow Dash looked up to her wings, letting forth her second shout of the conversation. “Mou ftera!” Poor thing has just realized she’s been clipped. “Shut up!” “Antistratigos Adrastos!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she made her way towards Twilight Sparkle. What did she just call you? It was clear that the heavy sedation was wearing off. Rainbow Dash stood a few strides away from Twilight Sparkle and looked around. Twilight Sparkle tried not to move for fear of upsetting the clearly unstable mood of her friend. Twilight, please leave. Twilight Sparkle mentally cocked her head. The tone of Discord’s voice had changed drastically. The sarcasm in his voice was gone completely from the previous statement. It was a request, a desperately pleaded one. Twilight, please leave. “Emeis prepei na xefygoun afti ti fylaki.” Prison, Twilight Sparkle thought, help her escape from a prison? Twilight, please. Twilight Sparkle took a few steps back, but before she could reach the door, Rainbow Dash had already pounced on her. “Opou Chimaira?” Rainbow Dash asked, her muzzle pressed close to Twilight Sparkle’s. The door swung open and two orderlies filed into the room and pulled Rainbow Dash off of her. Twilight Sparkle watched as Rainbow Dash struggled with the orderlies. She bucked one of them in the muzzle, and she could hear a small crunch as a bone was broken. Doctor Stable rushed into the room and trotted up to Rainbow Dash. The orderlies finally managed to cover enough of her body to where she wasn’t a threat to Doctor Stable. He pulled out a syringe and immediately injected Rainbow Dash with more sedative. Rainbow Dash’s movements became less erratic, and then they slowed. Before her eyes closed, she looked to Twilight Sparkle. “Prodotis… prodotis… prodotis.” Rainbow Dash’s movements finally ceased. The orderlies placed her on the bed, and the four ponies filed out of the room. The word Rainbow Dash had spoken immediately translated themselves in Twilight Sparkle’s mind. Traitor… traitor… traitor. Twilight Sparkle leaned against the wall and began to sob. Doctor Stable began to trot towards her, but she held up a hoof and started to walk away. Discord, Twilight Sparkle mentally asked, why did Rainbow Dash call me a lieutenant general in Old Equesrian? And what is Chimaira? Twilight Sparkle waited for a moment for a response. Once again, she was left with silence as her answer. Her chest heaved as she began to trot away from room 47, too tired to even teleport herself home.