//------------------------------// // Act 3 Chapter 5 // Story: Collision Code // by SSJRandomMaster //------------------------------// Act III: Collision of Wills Chapter 5: Alienation, Round Two ------------------------------------------ He couldn’t eat, much less think straight, after what had happened at the dinner table. Despite the others’ attempts to reassure the two that they were not at fault; that no one had any way of knowing their arrival would unleash any of what had happened, it fell on deaf ears. Corey wasn’t sure why he didn’t immediately react, not that it mattered much.   Night had fallen on the Crystal Empire by now. Even though whoever the mastermind was had given them assurance that there would be no violence on this night, everyone was still more or less wary of leaving others to themselves. The others had put up some resistance to the idea, but ultimately, they couldn’t move past the wave of denials that came out of him.   Corey was now meandering the palace halls, no sense of direction in mind, his pace even slower than usual. His gaze was lowered to the ground, his left hand closed around his glasses. His right hand slowly came up, applying pressure first to the bridge of his nose, then his forehead.   “Damn it…” he mumbled, “How’d it all end up like this…”   “Think of it as my thanks… for making all of this possible,” The words continued to echo in his head unmercifully, memories replaying in his mind as the voice seemed to grow more and more mocking with each repetition: the attack on Cadance, how scared she was; Lyon’s second attack, the terrified townsponies; even when one of them made it to the library…   “I did this…I did this…!” Corey’s voice cracked, and his hand drove itself against the corners of his eyes, trying to seal his tear ducts, “To this world, of all of them...”   He continued to move about slowly, paying no attention to where he was going. Corey eventually felt his leg hit something, and he looked up, startled, the bridge of his nose slightly moist. Due to the lack of light in the room, Corey couldn’t really see what he’d hit, or where he was. He slowly slid his glasses on with a small groan.   “That’s right…” he mumbled, the image now much sharper. He had somehow stumbled where the attack had happened. Even now the room hadn’t been picked up yet. There were still signs of struggle in the room, “Cadance’s room…”   Then, he looked back down to the thing he’d bumped into. Corey could make out the shape of a black book on the light-colored dresser. He’d realized almost immediately what it was, and looked down at it, his eyes squinted from the torrent of emotion raging inside of him.   “That’s…the book…” Corey said, slowly reaching down for it and picking it up, “The book that angered Shining even more and terrified Twilight… because of its contents. This is the journal of the…Princess Slayer…isn’t it?”   Corey stared at the book, his free hand closed tightly into a fist and shaking. The hand that held the book was also shaking.   What do I do…? Corey thought.   Don’t even think about it… his inner voice warned, You know what this kind of stuff does to you…   Ignoring his inner voice, Corey slowly reached towards the cover, his hand shaking.   Hey! Are you even listening!?   I have to know… Corey thought, images of the trembling Twilight appearing in his mind’s eye once more, joined shortly by the sight of the injuries Cadance had suffered.   No, you don’t! His inner voice sounded different, almost familiar, but Corey was in no mood to place it, Can’t you listen to reason just once!?   Pipe down… Corey commanded, his hands finally easing.   Excuse me?   I said “pipe down!” My mind’s made up… This is something I have to do!   The book sprang open in his hands, like the jaws of a crocodile. There was no turning back… ------------------------------------------ The night had been a restless one; not only did they receive their own first contact with the one behind it all, but they had also been given a piece of information that shook two of their own to the core. Neither John nor Corey had said a word to them or to each other; Corey relying on non-verbal cues to even attempt to communicate. Both simply excused themselves without making much of a sound; each split up shortly after. The others weren’t sure what to do; in the end, they’d all reluctantly decided to give them their space, and hope they could reach them in the morning.   The sun had rose not too long ago, the mares all grouping up in the dining room with Cadance once more. Breakfast was quiet, everyone staring down at their plates, trying to keep from saying what everyone was thinking. But eventually, the silence grew too much to bear for one.   “Alright, enough of this!” Rainbow said, standing up from the table, “What are we gonna do about it!?” She looked around the table. Not one seemed to have an idea, “C’mon, there’s got to be somethin’!”   “It’s not that simple, darling,” said Rarity, “We all want to do something to help them, but what do you say to someone in this situation?”   “Rare’s right, Dash,” said Applejack, “Those two have been helpin’ us fight pretty much since they got here. Now, suddenly someone drops in and pins the blame for all this on them…”   “But how do we even know this was for real?” asked Rainbow, “How do we know this isn’t just some trick to try and turn on each other or something!?”   “I thought about that too…”   All heads turned towards the door of the dining hall. John was walking through the door. The very first thing they noticed about him was how different he’d seemed compared to the night before. Last they saw him, he was shaken, unresponsive, and had an expression of horror plastered onto his face. Now, however, there was no trace of that on his face. All that was there was a smile.   The others watched as he reached the table, finding himself a seat. They weren’t sure what to say. All of them had expected him to be heavy with guilt. But he looked as though last night hadn’t even happened. For a while, there was an awkward silence. Looking around, John finally noticed the confused, at best, looks on their faces.   “Listen…” he said, sighing, “About last night…”   “You don’t have to say anything,” Twilight cut in, “It doesn’t matter what we heard last night. None of us here are blaming you or Corey for anything that’s happened.”   John looked towards Twilight, then to the rest of the group. He could see they all shared the same feelings as she had. John let out a small chuckle.   “I appreciate that. I really do, but I still have to say this,” he said, rising from his seat, “Last night took me by surprise. The whole idea that all this could be our fault…Corey and I…all we could feel at the time was guilt,” John paused for a moment, letting out a small sigh, but then he looked up, and grinned, “But I’m not going to let it anymore. It doesn’t matter if it’s true, or a lie, I’ll still fight with you until the end.”   The others could hear a slight relief in John’s words. It seemed like he was able to bounce back on his own.   “That’s telling ‘em,” Rainbow said, throwing an arm around John’s shoulder, “As long as we stick together, we’ll kick every last one of their sorry asses right back into Tartarus!” She held up her other fist.   “Count on it,” said John as he bumped fists with her.   “Great, now that we’ve got that out of the way we can focus on our strategy,” Rainbow said, “C’mon, I’ve got a few ideas where we might be able to be outside…” Complying quickly, John followed Rainbow towards the door.   “Looks like everythin’ worked out just fine,” said Applejack, leaning back on her chair.   “No, it hasn’t.”   Applejack looked over to the chair next to her. There, she saw Pinkie with a rare expression on her face: a serious one.   “What are you talking about? You saw the look on his face.”   “Just because someone’s smiling doesn’t mean they’re happy,” said Pinkie, her gaze watching John’s retreating form. The others took a moment to look over to John. He looked fine to all of them, even now as he was walking away with Rainbow.   “Are you sure?” asked Twilight.   “Trust me, I know smiles, and I know when someone’s just making one up,” said Pinkie, “When you don’t want your friends to worry, you’ll just wear a mask to hide how you really feel. And that’s what John’s doing now.”   The others looked again at John as he disappeared around the corner. Their hopes that at least one of  the two had been able to bounce back had been dashed.   “Though,” Pinkie said, “I’ve seen a lot of masks…but I’ve never seen one as good as his…” ------------------------------------------ This is always the best part. Often times, the sneaking around looking for materials is merely the prologue for the real thrill to come. Sometimes I don’t get the time to work with my muse for too long. In those cases, it’s always such a shame I have to dispose of it so soon… But not this time. Guess the shop I raided wasn’t as well-kept as I had thought. I was able to obtain my raw materials with little trouble. It had tried to cry out for help; always such a trifling thing that happens. Thankfully, I was able to silence it and smuggle my materials out before anyone could notice… I’d imagine it’s a priceless thing they’ve lost, but with how I’ve set things up, I should have plenty of time to finish my latest masterpiece. Where did I last leave off? Ah! Yes, now I remember, vividly… The muse, littered with patches of red and purple, dangles there, head lowered, no doubt exhausted from the…sculpting, I had to give it. It fought it a bit, but I’d been able to subdue it as before. Arms are bound above the head, feet only just barely touching the ground. At the time, I had felt my time was growing short. Had I but known, I would have saved it for later. At the far corner of the room is something of my construct; a branding iron. A simple “S”, now red-hot from the flames I kindled personally for it. I’d walked up to my tool, and lifted it up. This was always my favorite part. “It’s a shame, truly,” I say to my muse, but it doesn’t respond, obviously, “I fear our time together is drawing to a close. I prefer to take my time with this…but being who I am, I can’t ever stay around for long…” “So,” The iron is now firmly in my hands, and a pleasant feeling of a smile tugs at my mouth, “I think it’s time I leave my mark on my latest creation…” The red-hot iron naturally wakes it from its rest, the deep searing against its stomach causing it to wake up with an ear-splitting scream… How I love that sound… ------------------------------------------ He could barely fold the corner of the journal to keep track of that one entry, his hand trembled so badly. Corey rested his hands against his forehead, his glasses coming off his face in one swift movement. He physically shivered, feeling completely ill. Good thing he couldn’t eat last night…   This is no art… Corey thought, It’s the inner workings of a monster…A complete monster…Someone who, if allowed, will revel in the suffering of his victims…How can someone like this exist, even here??   Corey wanted to scream out, but he didn’t want to draw attention to what was in front of him. Frustration mixed with anguish, and Corey furiously rubbed at his eyes. He slowly reached out for his glasses, holding them in front of him. He couldn’t believe what he’d just read.   “What have I done?” He croaked, his voice cracking just once, “What did I let out…”   Corey weakly slid his glasses over his face, “A madman…a madman, who’s after princesses…”   Corey pushed out his chair, staggering a bit as the sleepless night caught up with him. His eyelids were heavy, and he was slightly slumped forward. His eyebrows, which had long ago stopped arching, slowly began to slink downward.   “I need…to take a break…” Corey grumbled, making his way towards the door, his jaw shaking. ------------------------------------------ His vision was blurry from a mix of the fact he’d forgotten his glasses on that desk, he hadn’t slept too well, and he felt dangerous feelings beginning to swell all over again in his chest, even worse than it had been when he’d spotted Twilight trembling. Though even the image coming up in his head made it even worse, Corey didn’t have the strength to push it away. All of this mixed with the all-consuming guilt he’d felt last night. It was an incredibly volatile concoction, one Corey wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle this time.   Get a grip, dammit… he thought, trying his hardest to go to where he vaguely remembered he was supposed to be. Of course, being that he’d only been in the castle a short time, he slowly plodded his way through the castle corridors, aimlessly wandering about. His gaze faced the floor the whole way, which did nothing to help his already badly damaged sense of direction.   He walked around, feeling more like he was moving through a dense fog than a castle hallway. Eventually, though, he bumped into something and stopped moving, his hand going to his forehead as he took a couple of slow steps back.   “Oh, Corey,” The voice was so familiar, yet seemed so distant, “Wondering how you were doing…”   Corey looked up. The thing he’d bumped into was no wall. It was easily over seven feet tall, had scales of blue and black and was far more draconic than he was—John.   “It’s fine, really,” Corey grumbled as he lowered his head again, only to feel a sleepless night catch up with him as he nodded once, his eyes fully closing for a moment.   “You sure?” asked John, “Cause you really…don’t look it…”   Corey’s head snapped up to face John. Doing this only served to imprint in John’s mind how off Corey truly was. His eyes—what little of his eyes were exposed between the narrow opening his eyelids provided, were red. The fur underneath them was matted, possibly even moist. His mane also seemed a bit messier than usual. And his eyebrows were arched. Clearly, something was eating at him.   “You’re still torn up over last night, aren’t you?” John questioned again, when Corey failed to say anything.   “Of course I am!” Corey’s voice was sharp and loud all of a sudden, a tone which John very nearly missed if not for the fact he’d heard it so many times before, “I don’t get how you can look so calm. It’s not like a convicted prisoner—no, prisoner seems too light—a monster; one coming from the depths of hell--!”   “Tartarus,” John corrected, almost sighing. He should have expected as much.   “Tomato, to-mah-toe!” Corey retorted, throwing his hands in the air, “Their leader thanked us for…for…the group’s whole escape…And it probably did happen that way!”   “Yeah, I know. It’s not like I wanted to be thanked by someone like that either, especially over something that was just an accident,” John said, “Believe me, I agree with you, but…there’s really nothing to be upset about…”   That was the wrong thing to say. Something that John had, sadly, forgotten about since it’d been a long time since he’d last had to hear it…   “Oh? Nothing to be upset about?” Corey questioned, shaking his head with a loud, angry sigh, “We all get attacked by strange creatures, the likes of which no one has seen…that’s a nice walk in the park, right? Then, after working hard we both almost get killed to one of the breakouts, Lyon, I think? Nah, that’s a swell, swell time!”   John registered the sound of movement. That wasn’t good. John motioned to Corey, but he was far from done.   “Then, after that, we both almost die again to the same guy even after getting lots of prep time…near-death increases! Woo-hoo! That’s not even getting into all the innocent bystanders he kidnapped to get our attention! Next up, we find out Cadance gets attacked by a very, very sick individual—and it’s not even the first time! But oh no, it gets better!” Corey’s tone had been getting progressively sharper, “Next we find out that her attacker’s a psychotic killer who murders princesses for a living! Super happy fun times…”   “Corey—“ John couldn’t even finish saying his name.   “I’m not done,” Corey said, “Then, we find out all of the above is more than likely directly connected to us showing up here in the first place! That’s really cool! Do you even care at all, John??”   “Of course I do, Corey,” John snarled, shaking his head again, “But—“   “You really don’t look like it,” Corey said, “It’s almost like you never cared to begin with…”   Corey looked up at John a bit more before giving a small “tch”, shaking his head and walking the other way, leaving John alone in the hall. ------------------------------------------ Corey’s anger had been so focused, he’d been able to filter out everything that wasn’t John. However, because of this, he hadn’t noticed that Rainbow had been standing a few steps behind him. He also missed the group that had come to check on what was the cause of the shouting they heard. By the time everyone else arrived, Corey had just reached the apex of his rage.   Now, all were struck silent at what words had come out of his mouth. Corey had simply walked away without saying anything.   “Harsh…” said Rainbow, not knowing what else she could say. Twilight, meanwhile, snapped out of her moment of shock and quickly walked up to John.   “Um…I-is everything okay?” she asked.   “Did any of that sound okay to you?” Rainbow asked, pointing down the hall. Both looked towards John. No one could see his face; he was still watching towards the very hall that Corey walked down. In her mind, Twilight could only think of the last words Corey had said before walking away.   “It’s almost like you never cared to begin with…”   Since they’d arrived, Twilight had seen them. Each of them had the other’s back, making sure that the other was okay or helping them as needed. Their teamwork against Lyon was certainly nothing to be ignored, either. Did what they heard last night cause this? Did it cause a wedge between them?   Was that really what they wanted? Rainbow might have had the right idea after all, thought Twilight. And if that was the case, from prior experience, she knew that they needed to fix it before it could get any worse. But first, she had to know. How did John react to what had happened?   “Oh boy…” John sighed, rubbing the back of his head as he turned to the others, “Sorry you had to see that,” John didn’t even look angry. If anything, he looked apologetic.   “What exactly was that all about?” asked Twilight. John turned for a moment to look down the hall again, letting out another sigh. He’d known Corey for quite a while now, and the answer came easy to him.   “From past experience, he was venting.”   “Past experience…” Twilight repeated, the implications striking her, “Wait, you mean he’s done this before?”   John said nothing at first, standing in silence. The others didn’t know Corey like he did. They hadn’t been around him when he was like that. They didn’t know about some of his…quirks.   “How do I put this…” John mumbled. Eventually, he gained volume, and said, “There are things that Corey has a hard time dealing with. The thing he’s always had the most trouble with is his anger. I’m sure you’ve seen signs of it by now.”   Twilight recalled all the flare-ups Corey had had over time. Of all those times, not once did he seem like he was about to explode like that. Only once had he come close, but it was easily understandable why he’d reacted then.   “To be honest, I’m surprised he hasn’t overflowed sooner. With everything that’s happened, he should have gone off the handle not too long ago. From what I can guess, something’s been keeping him under control…”   No one seemed to catch it when John’s gaze flickered over to Twilight.   Or someone…   “But after everything he’s done to try and keep himself under control, last night was the final straw. To have someone like that—and of all of them it had to be the one that started up this game—placed the blame for everything that’s happened on him…it was more than he could stand. All of that pent-up stress and anger hit him at once. And when it drove him to the point where he couldn’t contain it any longer…”     “He has to let it out…” Twilight finished. John looked over and nodded, “But why on you? Why would you let him do that to you if none of this is your fault?”   “Because I told him to,” everyone went silent for a moment. John could see their frightened looks, like he’d just said something dangerously outlandish, “Look…like I said, there comes a time when Corey can’t handle what builds up in him. When it does, something in Corey comes out; something he’s not proud of, something he wishes he could control. But he can’t. And each time it takes over, he always does something he regrets doing later. Because of this, there was a time he was honestly afraid he’d drive his own friends away.   “So I gave him a safe way to let it out,” John shrugged his shoulders very slightly, “I told him that whenever he was in a situation where he couldn’t hold it anymore, that I would take it. And after he was done, he’d make his apology, and we’d move on like nothing happened.” John paused, letting out a sigh as he turned once again down the hall.   “But this time’s different,” he said, turning fully to where Corey had last been seen walking along, “I don’t think it’s something that can go away from just yelling…” John began going in Corey’s direction.   “What are you going to do?” asked Twilight.   “Worst thing you can do when he gets like this is leave him alone,” said John, “Even if he might not want it, I’m gonna make sure he’s okay.”   Without waiting for anyone to respond or saying another word, John continued onward, a good idea of where Corey might be in his mind. But as he walked, there was one thought in the back of his head, the one thing he didn’t tell the others.   This runs deeper than anything from the past… he noted, an uneasy feeling growing within him as he recalled each time Corey’s temper flared, This is on a scale none of us could have expected...I’m not sure what it’ll take to help him now…