The second time Captain Chaser was woken up for his shift was much more uneasy than the first time.
“Captain, it’s 4:20 am,” The familiar guard from yesterday morning reported. Chaser supposed it was only logical; he had actually gotten some decent rest once he finally fell asleep. He wasn’t fully rested by any means, but he could be doing a little worse.
Then, the guard stopped and turned back to speak again.
“Captain, I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but Warden Gates is conducting a search through the barracks this morning to investigate the power outage. He wants all lockers to remain unlocked,” The guard informed his superior and went back to his walk towards the mess hall.
“Oh, I hadn’t heard, thank you.” Chaser replied and bit down on his lip.
A search meant suspicions were turning towards the guards, but more importantly, it meant that Chaser was not only a prime suspect, being new to the institution and all, but also that he needed to be on edge about his journal. He couldn’t really hide it, not in the barracks, but taking it with him could be bad too, considering it wasn’t easily concealed and he would be passing several other staff members, most of whom he figured would bother to ask about it.
In any case, if Gates found out he was trying to hide something, things would be worse. Chaser finally decided the best course of action was to slip it under his armor and hurry along the halls down to his post.
…
Upon entering the guard station in sub-level 2, Chaser immediately caught a grin flash on Twilight’s face. In response Chaser acted unphased and stared at her for a small moment before looking around at the other monitors.
Once he had settled in his first action was to stow away the journal. He tried to find a place under the chair, but then decided that was a foolish move. Still, space was limited, and it he needed to, he would have to at least put it there and hope nopony came across it until he could find another place to hide it.
He looked over the monitor system and decided that there was no possible way to get it hidden there. He honestly wasn’t even sure why he tried. Next he thought of the vent in the back, but that was the oldest trick in the book. It would be a better bet than the chair, but he needed some place better still. Finally he had the idea to create a pocket dimension, a small portal to another place in space-time, but that was fairly complicated and he would need to work on getting that ready. Besides, it wasn’t an ordinary unicorn skill, but it wasn’t exactly rare either. With some effort and practice any unicorn could figure it out.
He was suddenly interrupted as the door opened up and Dr. Mindkeeper entered, levitating a clipboard. Chaser narrowly managed to hide the book behind his back as he sat comfortably in the chair.
“Hello there, sorry to interrupt you.” Mindkeeper greeted with a warm smile.
Chaser hadn’t really had a chance to interact with the Doctor before now, and his initial impression was certainly far from bad. His bright smile seemed to be not only genuine, but frequently used; furthermore, his relatively small stature and slightly wrinkled face gave him a grandfather type of feeling and made him seem like a pony that you could trust and get along with.
“I’m sorry, but we haven’t been formally introduced, I’m Captain Chaser, newest guard here at the Asylum,” the guard smiled and stood up to shake hooves with the elderly stallion, keeping the book hidden behind his armor while doing so.
Chaser sat back down as Dr. Mindkeeper leaned up against the wall and started chatting him up.
“I’ve been wanting to speak with you actually,” Mindkeeper confided.
“Is that so?” Chaser asked, surprised that Mindkeeper would have any reason to take note of the new guard.
“Yes, as it happens, I knew your father, Champion Chaser. We were both much younger then, and weren’t exactly alike, but we were friends once,” Mindkeeper revealed as a stunned look came across the Captain’s face.
“Really? How did you two meet?” Chaser asked as he took a moment to look over at the screens and make sure Mindkeeper knew he was still attending to his duties.
“Well, your father was a native of the now destroyed Ponyville. As was I. We didn’t exactly grow up together, but we knew each other and talked often, eventually beginning a bond that lasted up until his death.”
Chaser’s eyes gleamed a little, then he bent his head down for a moment before looking back at the Doctor.
“Since you knew him, you’d also know that he died not so long after I was born. Could you tell me what he was like? My mother would always give me the same story of a heroic soldier who perished in battle…but nothing much more,” Chaser admitted.
“Well, let me see now. Your father was, in a word, great. Not only did he die in battle as your mother said, protecting others, but he was always ready to help those who needed him. If you had a problem or an issue, Champion Chaser was a great pony to see. He was a bit competitive and brash too, but when the bits were down, he was somepony you could count on, especially if you were close to him. He never let those he cared for down.”
“I really wish I’d known him. I hope I’m doing him proud.” Chaser confided.
“If you ask me, you’re doing exactly what he’d want, protecting others and maintaining order in the land. Without guards like you here, Twilight Sparkle and the other patients could ravage the land and bring death and destruction to many, many ponies. I know I’m certainly very grateful to have a guard like you here.”
“Thank you, sir,” Chaser said a bit sheepishly before noticing that Twilight was smiling manically into the monitor, eliciting a bit of an apprehensive look from Chaser, just as she intended.
“Oh, and I also want to congratulate you on how well you’re behaving down here.” Mindkeeper commended when he saw the look Twilight gave.
“What do you mean?” Chaser inquired a little suspiciously.
“Well, you are the son of Champion Chaser, and to not take it out on the pony who killed him is quite admirable indeed.” Mindkeeper explained, raising a horrified look in Chaser’s eyes.
“Wait…wait, wait, wait…you’re telling me that Twilight Sparkle killed my father?” Chaser asked Mindkeeper, his eyes dead set into those of the doctor.
“Didn’t your mother tell you? Champion Chaser was one of the guards in Ponyville who stood up to Twilight when she went into madness and destroyed the town. He died to allow the citizens more time to escape,” Mindkeeper told the young guard captain with a solemn look on his face.
“I…I…” Chaser could not muster up enough strength to speak clearly. His mother had never told him how his father died, just that he did so heroically.
“I’m sorry that you had to come to know that as you did. I figured your mother told you more than just the general fact. But for you to do what you do is truly brave and courageous. Please, continue to guard this Asylum and all of Equestria with honor, as your father did,” Mindkeeper told Chaser as he moved towards the chair and put his hoof on Chaser’s back.
“…Thank you,” Chaser finally replied.
“You are most certainly well on your way to being a truly great guard. If you ask me, you’re about there already. I’m not always available, but don’t shy away from me young Chaser. I would be pleased to help you as I helped your father in the rare instances he needed me.”
“I will.” Chaser replied swiftly and felt a single begin to form in his eye.
“Well, I think its about time I went back to my duties, I just needed to pick up a few forms one of the nurses said she left here. Ah, there they are,” Mindkeeper said as he went over to the forms that were stacked neatly in a small basket on the floor next to the door.
“Alright, have a good day, Doctor.” Chaser bade farewell as Mindkeeper walked out and closed the door with a quiet tapping noise.
Chaser liked the old fellow, but he was very relieved to have Mindkeeper leave.
Chaser had no idea what to feel. He had lived his life with a deep affiliation for ponies like Twilight Sparkle, and now he had learned that she was the very reason his father was taken from him. He never knew his father very well, so he wasn’t as saddened by his death as he would have been if he was older, but not having a father still hurt, and the idea that he had so long been excited and thrilled with the same pony who took away part of his childhood happiness burned within him like a blaze of dragon fire.
As if to increase his ire, Twilight began giggling, gradually making it louder and louder until the entire sub-level was quieted from all noise save her glee.
For the first time he wasn’t afraid of Twilight at all. Even before he got to the Asylum, he feared her in a certain sense, knowing how deadly she was, although he was mostly just infatuated with her, but now, after knowing what he had just found out, his fear vanished completely and he marched down towards her cell in either extreme bravery or absolute foolishness.
“You make me SICK!” He screamed as he put himself up against her cell door.
“COME ON Chaser! Yesterday you had such a STUPID look of amazement on your face as you watched us drive down our own roads of insanity, and all the sudden you aren’t attracted? I don’t BUY it,” Twilight replied, grinning.
“You killed my father…toyed with me…put doubts in my heart and mind. I should kill you. It would do justice to everypony like me, to everypony who lost happiness because of you…and for those who were lead astray like me…”
“You’re angry now, but that’ll pass. You’re too twisted to KILL me. You want to join us here, and you know it. You want to be like us, that’s why for so very long your fetish was the same thing that took away your own daddy,” Twilight mocked.
“I didn’t know!” Chaser shouted back hotly.
“Like I said, you won’t kill me. You’re far too crazy to do something like that.”
“I am not crazy.”
“Wanna bet? It would only be logical to kill the pony that destroyed your father and an entire town, but you haven’t yet. If you REALLY WANTED TO…you would have killed me already. I just had my magic locked up again after the incident, and you can open up this door and come have your justice…but you won’t. You still admire us. You still keep us in your heart, more than you ever did with your parents.”
“…” Chaser breathed in deeply and exhaled with silent rage.
“I can read you so easily it’s almost not funny. You pretend to be a citizen of order…of normality. You make ME SICK. Come…embrace your Queen,” Twilight told Chaser letting a couple of tears fall, but not in sadness. Chaser had no idea at all why she was crying, and he didn’t think she did either.
“No…no I won’t.” Chaser denied and turned away from the door.
“Soon you will see. Soon you will come to embrace me as we jump into the pools of insanity together. Count on that utopia Ghost Chaser.” Twilight answered and turned back into her cell, taking a few steps forward and falling flat on her front side before giggling again.
Captain Chaser looked in at her again before heading back to his station. Along the way, the other patients in the floor began once more to act up, moaning, crying, cheering, among other acts, but they all seemed to be directed at Chaser this time. Yesterday it was natural, no purpose, but this time it seemed to be calling out to him, reaching for him, pleading with him.
“Here boy!” The searching mare once more called.
“Please! Come help! PLEASE!” The burning stallion hollered.
“MAKE ME YOURS!” The sex-crazed mare beat against her door and shouted as Chaser passed by.
Chaser tried to shake the calling madness as he sat back down at his post and rubbed his temples. Twilight was right about one thing at least: he wouldn’t kill her. He wanted to, he really did, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. And just maybe that was crazy.
NO!
He would not let her get to his head. He didn’t know what to do, how to stop her from toying with him, but he had to. She was more powerful than he ever realized, and now he had a genuine reason to be afraid of her, or rather, yet another genuine reason to be afraid of her.
Perhaps he could talk with one of the doctors? He could be discreet, and Mindkeeper had told him that he was willing to help. Chaser knew he needed to escape Twilight’s clutches, and running wouldn’t let him do that. To simply leave would only make the reality a recurring nightmare. He had to end it. Maybe in pure luck Captain Chains would finally get to her, or maybe Mindkeeper would help him through; Chaser’s only option was to get past her, somehow.
He had spent so long wrapped up in his thoughts, he barely had enough time to realize his shift was about to end, and he hadn’t disposed of his journal. He was forced to stow it back in his armor as he was relieved and headed back up to the barracks.
…
The barracks were a bit crowded, Chaser realized, as he stepped closer towards them and a group of guards approached him with Warden Gates alongside them.
“Is there a problem?” Chaser asked as the guards surrounded him and Gates looked at him with disappointment.
“Hand over the book,” Gates ordered.
“What?” Chaser questioned, unsure of how they figured him out.
“I don’t even know what’s in it, but if you hadn’t snuck it out of your locker you would have kept my trust, Captain Chaser.”
“But how did you know?” Chaser asked in disbelief as one of the guards forcibly took the journal from the Captain.
“I’m the one responsible for that,” Dr. Mindkeeper said as he stepped out from behind the corner.
“You…why…how…?” Chaser was left with many questions he could not properly ask.
“I’m sorry, but when I got close to you earlier I noticed you hiding it. I do like and respect you Chaser, but you can’t keep secrets from the staff. If you put this behind us, then we’ll be able to move on more quickly. Just accept what’s happening and cooperate.” Mindkeeper urged.
“Yes, I am quite ashamed that one of my guards would try and hide something from me,” Warden Gates agreed, “but he’s right. If you cooperate and work hard to make up for this, you’ll earn our trust again someday.”
“But I only took my journal because…” Chaser stopped himself and realized that admitting it would be the same as them finding out.
“Because why?” Gates asked after a small moment of silence.
“Just read it for yourself,” Chaser replied quietly.
Warden Gates took the journal and read through it, skimming past personal thoughts, hidden emotions, and finally, finding the dreaded forbidden secret.
“Dear Celestia…” Gates mumbled as he read through the entry Chaser made on his first night.
“I-I’m sorry. I know it...I know it’s weird, and I’m sorry for trying to hide it. I just didn’t think anypony would…would be willing to work with me if they knew what I was…” Chaser stumbled around his words, trying to apologize and explain all at once before Gates stopped him.
“Enough. You do your work, you stay focused on your job instead of your BUCKING hobbies…and you’ll earn a chance to regain our trust. Its bad enough you’re drawn to these patients…almost like you want to be one of them…but you tried hiding it and caused tensions to grow because of that dishonesty. I’m putting you on probation and having you relieved from sub-level 2 duty until further notice. You’ll be in my office tomorrow morning instead of going on your shift, understand?”
“Yes warden,” was all Chaser could manage as they left him alone with Mindkeeper.
“I’m sorry it had to be this way, but I believe that what I did was for the good of the staff here. I hope you can understand that.” Mindkeeper told Chaser as he too went back to his job, leaving Chaser to head over to his bunk and sit quietly, staring down at the floor.
As he sat in silence and watched the floor, unsure of what to do with himself now and afraid that now he had isolated himself from the entire staff, Twilight was down in sub-level 2. She quietly laid in silence until a nudge to her back made her look behind her.
“Twilight?” A nurse quietly and bravely spoke up, “Twilight, it’s time for an immediate follow up session with Dr. Mindkeeper.”
Twilight stared down the nurse and did not blink or flinch, making a drop of sweat run down the nurse’s face.
“Twilight! Get on out here!” Captain Chains barked from outside the cell.
“Sorry Applejack,” Twilight told the space beside her as she got up, “I have to go see the doctor again…”
Captain Chains looked at the former Princess with contempt and confusion as Twilight began to laugh until her laughter once again dominated the floor, erasing all other sounds, emotions, and thoughts.