//------------------------------// // Dinky's Origins part 4 Bad Blood // Story: Within The Nightmare: Side Stories from the Living Nightmare universe // by Autum Breeze //------------------------------// Part 4 Bad Blood ___________________________________________________________ Derpy groaned as consciousness returned. She could hear somepony talking, but, in her dazed state, it was taking a moment to decipher what was being said from noise into words. “... settled?” one voice, that of a male asked. “Yes,” a female’s replied. “Both are being taken care of. They’ll have no memory of the mare... or the last few months for that matter, but what do we care, right?” Derpy opened her eyes and, after a few moments, her side returned. Standing before her were two ponies, a mare and stallion, one a Pegasus with a brown coat, grey mane and an addition sign for a cutie mark and the other an Earth Pony with a red coat, black mane and a timer for a cutie mark. She tried to move and became very aware of the two large Earth Pony stallions, one holding it of her forelegs, who’s strength made struggling pretty much useless, but she kept trying. The other two ponies seemed to notice her struggling, because they turned, both grinned and walked towards her. “Greeting, miss,” the mare said, stepping closer. Derpy didn’t like the smile she was wearing. “We’re so glad you could join us?” “Wh-where am I?” Derpy asked, glancing around. “Wh-where’re Chitin and Plushy?” The mare glanced at the stallion, a bored expression coming over her face. “Who?” “I think she meant those freaks she was with when XX9356978 found her.” The mare nodded. “Ah, yes. Well, while we don’t really see a reason for you to worry about them, they’re fine. They just won’t remember anything that’s happened in the last few months. Small side effect of the Memory Wiping spell XX9356978 used on them.” “XX... who?” Derpy felt very confused. “No concern of yours, mare,” the stallion said, grinning. “Now, care to tell us why you have Artron energy?” “Ar-what energy?” Derpy cocked her head. The stallion glared at her. “Don’t lie! You’ve met with her, haven’t you? The wonderful mare who started all this. Tell me, where did you meet her? When did you meet her?” Her? Who the heck was this stallion talking about? “Calm yourself, Watcher,” the mare said, her voice cool and gentle. “If she did meet her, I doubt she’s smart enough to even realize it.” “Hey!” Derpy frowned. “I’m smart!” “Yet, when the changeling told you XX9356978 had no emotions, you failed to do what any being with half a brain would have done and run. You slowly back away, as if doing so would be safer,” the mare sneered. “Fear not, mare. It is your energy we need, not your mind. Has a pod been readied for her?” she asked as she lifted her right foreleg to her mouth. A small murmuring sound came from her leg and the mare grinned, nodded to the stallion’s holding Derpy and they started heading down what Derpy realized was a long metal corridor. As they marched through it, Derpy tried to figure a way out. True, she wasn’t as stupid as these ponies clearly thought she was from how they’d spoken to her, but she wasn’t the brightest Pegasus and she knew it. However, that didn’t mean she wasn’t smart enough to know she needed to find a way out. As they past windows in the steel walls, Derpy could make out what looked like strange greyish-green pods, inside which she could see ponies. Almost every room was filled with these pods, with ponies of different varying ages in each pod. Some were foals, while others looked almost full-grown. However, there was one constant. Every pony was a unicorn. “Wh-wh-what’re those ponies doing in those pods?” she asked, trying hard and failing to keep the fear from her voice. The stallion, Watcher, looked back at her over his shoulder and sneered. “They are our army.” “Army?” Derpy knew that word from history in school. “But... why do you need an army?” The sneer turned menacing. “To kill the princesses!” Derpy’s breath caught in her lungs. The mare scowled at Watcher. “Why are you telling this lowly peasant our plans?” Watcher just gave her a deadpanned expression. “Oh, and you’ve never told our plans to any of the ponies as they were being podded, Calculus. What harm can it do? Not like she’s going to be able to tell anypony.” The mare, Calculus, smiled coolly. “True. It is fun watching the horrified expressions on their faces. Very well, mare,” she glanced over her shoulder at Derpy, “we may as well tell you. We are the descendants of the greatest ponies to ever exist in this world, the Golden Chalice family!” Derpy blinked. That name sounded familiar, but she wasn’t sure why. “Over a thousand years ago, the Golden Chalice family spoke out against Nightmare Moon, or, as she had led them to believe she was called, Luna. However, when they voices were heard by Princess Celestia, the tyrant exiled them from Canterlot and stripped them of their rightful nobility.” “Forced out, our ancestors had to toil like the commoners that had always been beneath them jsut to survive,” Watcher snarled. “Some, those weak-willed and small-minded, accepted this as their new life. However, those that didn’t kept the truth alive amongst themselves. But, with no means of taking their vengeance and regaining their rightful place over the peasants of the world, they waited, unsure what to do.” A metal door opened and they went through as Calculus continued. “Until one among those that had settled into the idea of living among the commoners stood up. The wise and mighty Alchemist. He infiltrated the castle before the moon tyrant returned, with all intent of first taking out the one responsible for his ancestors’ banishment, but had to wait. Eventually, the moon tyrant returned, causing him to wait longer.” “By which time, the moon tyrant had beget a monster of her own, a physical embodiment of the beast she had become, creating a second to join her.” Princess Stellar, Derpy thought as she was led through yet another corridor lined with windows showing more pods of sleeping unicorns. “It was then that Alchemist attempted to rid our world of those monsters. But, the tyrant princesses trick the ponies of Equestria into think they were innocent and that Alchemist was the evil one. They destroyed him, leaving nothing behind, all under the guise that it was to protect an innocent child.” Derpy knew that had to be wrong. Princess Celestia wasn’t like that and, though she’d not met this Princess Luna, if she was Princess Celestia’s sister, she had to be just as kind and lovely as Celestia herself. And she’d met Princess Stellar. She was no monster. However, she knew she wouldn’t be able to convince these ponies. They were too driven by something that made no sense, which had happened long before their time. As Derpy saw yet another room full of pods, a question came to mind, one she had to ask. “Why’re all the ponies in the pods unicorns? And, how come you aren’t unicorns.” They stopped outside another steal door, both of them glaring over their shoulders. “A curse no doubt placed upon us when banishment first given to our ancestors,” Watcher snarled. “It started off small at first, but soon, none descended from the Golden Chalice family could beget a unicorn foal.” “And, if we are to defeat the tyrant princesses, as they are Alicorns, we will need a lot of magic. And, since unicorns have the most magic of any pony race aside from Alicorns, what better than an army of unicorns? Not even the princesses will be able to stand against them.” The door opened and Derpy saw two Pegasus mares dragging something towards a small shoot. When she focused on it, she almost lost the contents of her stomach. It was a pony, a Pegasus from the looks of it. But its skin was pulled tight against its bones, to the point it was cracking. The skin was dull and lifeless. The body was skinny, so much so it was clinging to the bones. Derpy shivered as it was tossed into the shoot and the sound of a fire erupting could be heard as it closed. “Wha-wh-what was that?” she stuttered, now glad she was being held up, or else she’d have fallen. Calculus sniffed. “An empty shell, now that we’ve taken all its magic and life energy.” She then leered at Derpy. “Aren’t you lucky? Her pod just became available. You get a room all to yourself.” Derpy followed where she was pointing and shivered. In the corner was an open pod, like all the ones she’d seen before. Only this one had a tube leading from it into another pod standing right next to it. The second pod was filled with a greenish liquid that Derpy couldn’t name. Aside from that, it was empty. Suddenly the stallions holding her began moving towards the pod. Derpy screamed and struggled with all her might to try and get out of their grasp, but they held firm. Once they were close enough, they tossed her into the pod, which closed the moment she was in there. Derpy turned and banged on the glasses, screaming. “Please! Please don’t do this! Whatever you’re going to do, please, let me go! I’ve got a family! Please!” She felt something wet against her hooves and looked down to see a greenish liquid, like the one from the other pod slowly rising up. Derpy’s pounding became more frantic, her cries more wailful as the liquid rose higher and higher until it had completely cover her. She held her breath for a long as she could, but in the end it was too much. When she took a breath, however, she didn’t choke as the liquid went into her lungs. It did, however, make her feel a bit drowsy. As the world around her began to blacken, she saw Calculus walk up to the pod’s glass and place a hoof on it. “Don’t worry,” her voice was faintly heard. “Your Artron energy will give as the most powerful soldiers we could ask for. Your sacrifice will be for a greater cause, justice and putting the right ponies on the thrones, as it should be.” And with that, the world went black and all sound faded away. ___________________________________________________________ The Doctor, Princess Stellar and Captain Light Wing hurried down the streets, the bleeping of The Doctor’s sonic screwdriver getting stronger. They’d been searching for Derpy for several hours now. The Doctor had become more anxious with each minute that past, as had the princess. When the Guard had been sent out to go and protect Derpy, it was to find she’d gone missing. The Guard had asked all ponies who’d been present around the area The Doctor had last seen Derpy during the festival, but none had seen or heard anything about a mare matching Derpy’s description. It got to a point where The Doctor started losing hope, thinking he’d caused the loss of another innocent life that had come along with him, not truly aware of the dangers that could come from traveling with him. Finally, after several days of personal searching, the Princess and Light Wing joining him, they’d finally found a lead. Derpy’s energy signature had been faint, but trackable. After the princess had called in a squad of guards, Thestral, unicorn, Earth Pony, Pegasi and even some Changelings, they’d followed after the trail the sonic had picked up. When it was at its strongest, they’d come to an alley. “Hmm,” the princess said, her horn glowing. “I’m sensing some faint strange magic around here. Whatever happened, magic played a part.” “Oh, come on,” The Doctor said, agitated as he slapped his sonic against his leg. “You’ve tracked living beings before, why have you lost Derpy’s signal? Hey, don’t you give me that.” Light Wing glanced at the princess. “Is he really a sane pony?” The Princess chuckled. “Oh, dear, Celestia, no. Mother help us the day The Doctor is sane.” “Wait,” The Doctor frowned. “I’m getting another signal. It’s from a... Changeling? No, two Changelings!” The two mares glanced at each other and nodded. “Lead on, Doctor,” the princess ordered. They walked deeper into the alley, the other guards following behind, the Changelings amongst them at the head, until the sonic’s light was blinking frantically. Lying on the ground was a Changeling and her filly/nymph. “Oh,” The Doctor said, scanning them. “This is bad.” “How bad?” Light Wing asked. “The sonic says these two have had their memories of the last few months wiped clean with... well, I guess, since this world runs on magic, a memory spell of some kind.” “Then step aside, Doctor,” the princess stepped forward, her horn glowing. The Doctor stepped back as the princess leaned over the two, gently placing her horn between them. As she stood there, he glanced at Light Wing. “I’m a little surprised how much she cares for Derpy.” Light Wing nodded. “Mother always cares for her subjects. She treasures each and every one of them like her own and would do anything to help them.” The Doctor nodded solemnly. “Living a life as long as she has I can understand... Wait, “mother”?” He turned to Light Wing. Light Wing nodded, then blanched, as if realizing something. “Sorry. I shouldn’t refer to her that way when on the job. My apologies, Doctor.” “But... you’ve bat wings!” The Doctor exclaimed, looking from Light Wing back to the princess. “How does that work? I mean, I can see the eyes, the princess’ eyes are very similar to yours, but how...?” “My father was a Thestral,” she replied simply. “Enough said.” “But—” The Doctor began, only to be cut off as the princess stood, turning. “I have the location where these two were taken for their memory wipe,” she said, looking past The Doctor and Light Wing to the other Guard. “Changeling guards, remain behind and care for these two. Several unicorn shall remain as well, to aid should the need arise.” The guards all saluted, saying, “Yes, your highness,” before the Changelings among them and several unicorns moved out of the group and towards the two unconscious Changelings. As she past them, the princess looked to The Doctor, who recognized the look in her eyes. He’d seen it in many a caring beings before when those they cared about were threatened in any way. Whoever took Derpy, I’d hate to be them, he thought to himself. They’re about to endure a living nightmare. ___________________________________________________________ Watcher stood in front of the pod, grinning. From within he could see a small unicorn foal. Soon she would be ready to be moved into the other rooms and they could begin with the next one to be taken from this mare. Suddenly the room shook as the sound of a faint explosion reached his ears. Moments later the lights turned red and an alarm sounded. Watcher whirled around, and slammed his hoof against the intercom. “What in tartarus is going on?!” “It’s The Nightmare, Lord Watcher,” a voice said from the other end as the sounds of explosions and shouts came from the background. “She somehow found our base and has brought an army of Royal Guards with her—” the line went dead. Watcher stared at the intercom, his blood cold. No. It was too soon. The army wasn’t ready. They hadn’t all been fully programmed yet. They needed more time. He waited for what felt like hours, wondering what was happening. Nopony was responding to his demands to know what was going on. the silence was defending. A muffled cry from the other side of the door caused him to turn his head. Seconds later there was a slamming sound and the dor heaved, as if something heavy had been forced against it. He frowned, taking a stance between him and the pods. He would not allow whoever was outside to stop their work. Not after the centuries it had taken for this to be possible. He would make whoever was outside pay for being blind to— The door exploded forward and he ducked, the door flying over his head and slamming into the door. He whirled around, before he both froze in place and felt his blood boil. “Stellar Nova,” he snarled as the black Alicorn stepped through, a cold expression on her face. “How did you find this base?” The tiniest of smirks appeared on her face. “If you’re intention was to ensure your base’s secrecy by memory wipes, don’t use them on a species who’s main magical skill is mind magic. They retained the memories, even after you erased them.” He snarled, then ran to a console and pressed a button, talking into the microphone. “All ponies A through M, awake and destroy the intruders.” “Oh, that’s not going to work,” a cheery voice said. Watcher whirled around to see a stallion walk in and stand next to the Alicorn, twirling a small metal rode in his hoof. “Should’ve Deadlocked everything. Your systems were easy to hack. Those ponies aren’t waking up til I say so.” Watcher glared at them, looking from one to the other, before he caught sight of the pod the Pegasus mare was in. At once he reached to his side, pulled up a plasma blaster and aimed it at the pod. All the others tensed. “One move and I blast her to pieces,” he said, his expression wild. Before he could respond, however, the Alicorn had turned into a field of stars, shot forward and engulfed him, before the world went black ___________________________________________________________ When the cloud of stars moved away, returning to the form of the princess, the Earth Pony was lying unconscious on the floor. The Doctor looked for only a second, before he hurried over to the pod and used the sonic. After a few moments the pod drained and opened, dropping Derpy into his waiting forelegs. “Derpy?” he asked, shaking her a little, panic in his voice. “Miss Hooves? Miss Hooves!” Suddenly Derpy jerked and began coughing, spitting out large amongst of some greenish liquid. Once she’d finished coughing it out, she gasped in air, breathing heavily. She looked blearily at the stallion holding her. “Doc... tor?” His expression softened into a relieved smile. “Oh, thank goodness.” “Sweet Celestia!” They all turned to see Light Wing standing in front of the second pod. As they all looked, then gasped, shocked as she was. All aside from the princess, who, while still looking shocked, also had a look of understand on her face. The princess moved over, her horn glowing over the consoles next to the tube. The liquid within drained until the small foal within was lying on the floor, before the pod opened, letting them see her clearly. She had a coat almost the same colour as Derpy, only a little darker. Her mane and tail were blonde, just like Derpy’s, however, instead of Pegasus wings on her sides; on her head was a small unicorn’s horn. “Derpy,” the princess said in a quiet voice. “Please, come here.” Derpy had to lean on both The Doctor and Light Wing to stand, but made her way over. Once she was standing at the princess’ side, the Alicorn’s mane reached out, lifted the little foal and held her out to the Pegasus. She hesitated, then took the unicorn in her forehooves. The moment she did, the foal stirred, slowly opening her eyes, where, while the same golden colour as Derpy’s, were normal and centred. They were all still for several moments, waiting to see what would happen next. The foal gave a smile, made a small, cute yawn, then snuggled into Derpy’s barrel, going back to sleep. “You have a wonderful daughter, Derpy,” the princess said, smiling warmly. “Wh-wha?” Derpy asked, her head shooting up, eyes wide. “Daughter?” The princess nodded, just as several Earth Pony guards came in through the door. “We’ve fully taken the base, princess,” the one of the far right said. “The ponies responsible have been captured and arrested. There seems to be no unicorns among them.” The princess frowned. “None? Then why were all the pod ponies I saw unicorns? If there were none among those running this, it would stand to reason that they hated unicorns.” “Oh, I can answer that,” Derpy said, then shied away a bit as all eyes turned on her. “Th-they told me, before they put me in that pod, that Princess Celestia had cursed their ancestors, the Golden Chalice family, so they’d never have unicorn foals.” The princess’ expression hardened. “Even five hundred years passing hasn’t stopped them.” “U-um... princess?” Derpy asked nervously. “They weren’t telling the truth, right? Princess Celestia didn’t really curse them, not to have unicorns, did she? A-and... they didn’t destroy somepony named Alchemist, did they?” The princess’ expression softened a little. “No. Alchemist was a pony that did much evil. However, Mother did not destroy him. She imprisoned him in a way that he would learn from his crimes, both those he committed against his own family... and against myself when I was but a child.” Derpy shivered. “Wh-what did he do?” The princess shook his head. “One day you will learn, Derpy. However, now is not the time.” She turned to her guards. “Begin having the ponies within the pods transferred. We will need to break the programming this cult has put into them. Hopefully the youngest among them will only need a little help and we can start looking for families for them. Also, take this pony away and lock him up with others.” The guards nodded. “At once, princess.” They headed off, one quickly grabbing the Earth Pony and tossing him onto his back before following the his comrade, leaving The Doctor, Derpy, Light Wing and the foal on their own. The princess turned to Derpy, smiling. “So, what will you call her?” “Uh...” Derpy said, looking down at the foal in her forehooves. “I... I don’t know. I never expected to become a mom, at least, not until I was older.” The princess chuckled. “Then, if you wouldn’t mind, might I suggest Dinky Doo?” “Dinky Doo,” Derpy repeated the word, rolling it around on her tongue, then looking down at the foal. She smiled. “Sounds wonderful. Dinky Doo it is.” “Skidamarink a-dink, a-dink, kidamarink a-doo—” The Doctor began singing. “Doctor,” the princess interrupted him. “Don’t. Just don’t.” The Doctor pouted and grumbled, “It’s a nice rhyme.” The princess shook her head and rolled her eyes, before indicating to the door with her head. “Let’s go. I do not wish to linger around a place like this longer than necessary.”