Your mind is my plaything
“Shouldn’t it be, y’know, doing something more than that?” Foot Note questioned Withered Scroll as he leant beside him. From the moment Millennium had woken up, Foot Note had been preparing for the worst. A bloody rampage of death and destruction maybe. For its powers to suddenly erase everything from existence. But instead, buck all had happened. In fact buck all was an extreme understatement.
It just stood there, like a statue long since finished. Foot stared uneasily at the creature before him. The only thing about it that moved consistently was its eyes. The amber green spheres rolled in their sockets, scanning across the room as they cast a sickly glow. Under the gaze, the stonework audibly hissed as the corrosion attempted to destroy them to no avail.
Withered Scroll was less concerned than his friend at the situation. Even to himself it was darkly humorous, considering it was due to the creature now in front of him that he now had but half a face. But instead of dwelling over it, he rolled a cigarette with his tongue. After three failed attempts of sourcing new tobacco from the bag upon his side, nearly choking on the paper and swallowing the only completed cigarette, Foot quickly did it for him, swiftly twisting the components into something workable and igniting it.
“Those things are bad for you y’know” Foot snorted at the burning odour in his nostrils.
“I have but one vice, I can live with it” Withered rolled the cigarette to one side of his mouth “And to answer you Foot Note, there’s nothing anywhere suggesting it would be immediately violent. You’ve been planning for the past year for the situation it would rise from its prison like Nightmare Moon, or Discord. And yes, it reacted violently to Princess Luna and Apol. But that’s how anypony would react to their sanctums being invaded” Withered took a deeper drag upon the cigarette, the toxic smoke billowing from his nostrils.
“Personally, I think he’s gone insane” he mused, licking his lips. Foot took his attention away from the biped for a moment.
“Why do you figure?"
“Take a look at that bowl that we put in front of it” A large ceramic bowl had been placed on the floor before the creature, filled with various varieties of fruits and vegetables. It had taken ages to get anyone else to so much as come to the hallway, let alone enter the same room as the creature. It had regarded the offering for a moment, but the moment it reached its forelimb towards the bowl, the fruit rotted away.
The smell was god awful.
“Now imagine this Foot Note. Imagine you’ve been alone, deprived of every single sense and ability of movement for quite potentially millions of years. Imagine the insanity that would grip you. And that when you finally do wake up, you can’t even eat, because when you try it rots in your mouth. He’s probably gone into shock from that little development” Withered quickly dropped the cancer stick, grinding it with his hoof.
Foot had never actually considered the effects of these curious abilities upon their user. Who was to say that despite him being their source, the abilities didn’t have some sort of detrimental effect upon him himself? But his thoughts were still heavy with various ponies who had come out of this room far worse for wear. Apol was still upstairs shaking as it were.
Foot almost leapt five feet in the air as he felt the burning, blistering sensation across his skin. He was caught in the glow of Millenniums eyes, its gaze fixed directly on him. The sensation was painful, like needles were jabbing him over and over. But it paled before the creatures eyes.
They were beautiful in their own way maybe, as beautiful as Nightmare Moon’s eyes had been despite her evil. A brilliant green amber. And as Foot Note looked into them, they seemed to swirl into forever, growing deeper and deeper as they beckoned with such promise….
THWAK
Withered Scroll’s hoof firmly whacked Foot around the back of his head, with the unicorn nearly collapsing from the sudden abuse to his skull. Shooting to his feet, he angrily stared down the other pony.
“And what in the hay was that for?” he demanded. Nonchalantly Withered pulled a new cigarette between his lips, this time with little difficulty.
“You were making goo goo eyes at our friend over there. You of all people should know by now Foot Note that bad things happen to ponies who look into its eyes for too long”
As much as Foot hated to admit it, the attack was justified. And so he kept his gaze firmly upon Withered until he felt the blistering upon his skin cease, and the glow disappear as the prisoner continued to look about the room.
“How is Apol anyways?” Foot was pleased to hear that coming from him. Withered may have had his tribulations with the griffin, but he wasn’t one to ever actually wish ill will upon him. Still, he didn’t imagine much positive news would be garnered from the perspective of his colleague. With some reservation, he faced opposite the other pony.
“He’s doing well, he’s stopped shaking at the very least. He might be back down here in a while. I know I know, he shouldn’t be coming back down right in front of it, but he insisted. His damn griffin pride” Even Withered smirked at that one.
“I don’t think him being seen is going to antagonise ‘IT’ at any rate, especially if your insanity idea holds true. However, our upcoming arrival may antagonise him” Withered froze on the spot. Foot Note didn’t even need to explain any further about what he meant, his tone of voice explained it all.
She was coming.
“Princess Celestia…is coming here?” Withered babbled, his voice rapidly becoming an incoherent mess of syllables. Foot nodded grimly. Under any other circumstance her visitation would be a welcome, if not outright celebrated event. But instead it was holding such sourness to it.
Princess Celestia was meant to be celebrating the once again defeat of Discord, as Foot Note saw it. Instead, she was being ushered into some new horror, some new nightmare. But a duty was a duty, he kept having to remind himself of that. Princess Celestia was their ruler, and as such she had to guard them, to safeguard them.
“And what about her sister, Princess Luna?” Withered asked. Unlike many, it seemed as though the burly old stallion held a candle still for the lunar princess. Many had shunned her return, whilst Withered himself had all but applauded it.
“I’ve heard nothing about her yet. So far though, I’d say it isn’t very likely” Withered bowed his head at the news, nodding softly, before looking back up.
“Foot Note, please remember now that he’s awake, you need to be more careful than ever to keep your distance. Don’t get too immersed” Withered said each word slowly to him, punctuating the syllables with emphasis. It wasn’t hard to tell that really Withered was saying ‘don’t be a moron you science obsessed idiot’ in a more polite tone of voice.
Foot smiled in friendly gratitude, despite once more feeling exasperated with his friend’s beating about the bush.
“I love you too Withered Scroll. I’m going to go check on Apol since I’ll need to be near the entrance anyway for Princess Celestia’s arrival. Keep an eye on him for me” he requested, giving a mock salute. Withered rolled his eyes as the altogether childish display, but still saluted back.
“Aye you glorious moron you” Foot chuckled at the break in Withered’s otherwise serious demeanour, before cantering out of the room. The earth pony spat out the stub of his cigarette once again, stomping on it. He didn’t like how Millennium looked now, it lower face and neck often obscured by thick black smoke that sank downwards from its lips.
After a while it began staring back, green eyes aglow. But Withered still felt the echoes of the pain from so long ago in his face, and was not to easily taken as his friend.
“What’re you staring at you disease ridden baboon?” he asked it. This little quip in some way seemed to offend the creature, which took to staring once more at the rotten fruits in the bowl. With alien, graceful movements, it reached its limb down to grip at what had once been an apple, holding it between two stiletto nails as the fruit oozed.
“What on earth are you going to do with….oh heavens please….and you did…..” Withered moaned as he beheld the spectacle of the unsettling entity biting into the rotten fruit, soured fruit oozing from its lips as it chewed, even as the spoiled fruit turned into ash against its tongue.
Foot looked in through the glass door. Apol was sat upon his haunches in a chair, a blanket resting across his shoulders. It felt rather cliché to the pony. This was a proud griffin, not some jittery elderly mare. And yet somehow he looked shrunk down, his wings duller. In fact, Foot was fairly sure that he could see new white tufts amongst the grey hair. What could have possibly scared him enough to bleach him?
Pushing a hoof forwards Foot slid the door open inwards, creaking as it went. It didn’t draw the attention of the griffin. Foot came to stand in front of him, folding himself onto his the floor.
“How you feeling feather duster?” he asked, trying to put on a face that would be approachable for his friend. For what little the gesture was worth, the griffin did indeed give a small grin.
“Oh not too bad, just had my mind torn into like a pie” he chuckled darkly, before sniffing. Foot winced as a thick blood clot ran across the griffins beak, who hastily wiped it away.
“Sorry about that. Your physicians tell me there’s nothing wrong with me exactly, just that I began to haemorrhage from my facial orifices. Guess it didn’t like me peering into its head” he paused a moment.
“Foot Note, I’ve been hearing things….it’s awake, isn’t it?” Foot nodded in reply, the griffin sighing softly.
“Was that because of me?”
“No, not at all. It was….an outside interference” he explained, cautious to skim over any details involving the ‘Dark Jester’ as a few people liked to call the spirit Discord.
“Oh…thanks….I’ve noticed we’re all still alive then. It’s not trying to kill every last one of us?”
“I doubt it. It’s like it can’t even leave the room that it’s in, it just stares around and makes the two of us feel bad. Withered missed you by the way” he added. Apol smirked.
“Awww, how sweet of him” the joke drew a dry laugh, but not much else from the pair. Falling silent, all that was exchanged afterwards was awkward silences and soft coughs. Foot knew that he had to break it.
“Apol, what did you see in there? What scared you so much?” he asked softly. The dark griffins head sank.
“I should have known you wouldn’t be able to drop the researcher shtick for very long Foot Note. But I guess I did promise you, so I’ll try my best. You can’t ever understand what it’s like without seeing it. Nothing inside its mind can make sense, you just need to accept its there. Just TRYING to understand it makes my brain physically hurt.
And when it noticed me, it was like my soul wanted to jump out and run. And it whispered such things into my mind, things I’m not even sure I really heard. But he’s been around for so long Foot, we’re inconsequential to him. Just like another set of ants made another ant hill. I’m sorry I can’t give you more, but that’s all my minds letting me say” he whispered.
Foot fell silent. He had been hoping for more, so much more. He almost felt angry inside. Angry like he wanted to drive the griffin into the ground and start pummelling on him with fury. He shattered the thoughts with some difficulty. Why would he ever think like that? Such a failure was completely understandable. He inhaled slowly, calming himself.
“Princess Celestia will be here soon” he said simply. That immediately made Apol perk his head up. He had been in the presence of the griffin leaders before, had even been asked for personally in fact. But never had he gotten to meet a member of the royalty before.
“Can I…come?” he asked it like a child wishing to accompany a parent to a party. Foot Note smiled a little.
“Can you even walk?” he asked.
“I can certainly try”
“Then considering what you did for us today, I believe you are more than obligated to meet her royal highness” The words instantly made Apol spring to his feet, only to quickly collapse under his weight.
“Just don’t do that” Foot offered. The griffin nodded, slowly hauling himself to his feet, standing to attention. Foot bowed his head, offering for him to take the lead, an offer gratefully accepted.
The entrance to the ‘Millennium’ level of the facility was simple. A set of double doors worked right before a counterweight elevator system, which now descended. The sound of gears stopped for a second, before the doors swung open. Foot Note had met Princess Celestia but twice in his life. But no matter how many times she was seen, none ever seemed to get used to her appearance.
Even down here in the gloom her coat seemed to shine like the purest white light, her magenta eyes cutting a swathe through the shadows. Upon focussing them on the unicorn before her, she gave a soft smile.
“Ah, Foot Note wasn’t it? How good to see you after so long” she spoke to him, a voice like a mother. Foot bowed his head in her presence.
“It is, Princess. I am quite surprised that you remember me since the visit to the academy so many years ago” He responded to her, hoping his gratitude was evident enough.
“I make a point to remember all my little ponies and their aspirations. But rise now, I find it hard to hear you with your head held so low” she asked softly of him. He did so, meeting her gaze. Not the gaze of a bureaucrat either. The face of a concerned teacher was the best way to describe it.
Her eyes wandered from him to Apol, the griffin stiffening.
“And I would assume you are field tester Apol, your governor informed me of your arrival earlier today. I take it you were received well?”
“As warmly as can be, your highness he responded. Foot smiled, watching his friends wings shake slightly, before raising his voice up.
“Forgive me for asking your highness, but will Princess Luna be joining us?” he asked. Celestia was silent to his words at first. Although probably intended to be hidden, Foot spotted the smallest of frowns at the edge of her eyes. Without a word the princess began walking, her guards behind her as the two researchers fell into step alongside.
“No, my sister will not be joining us. Given her previous encounter with the creature, she thought it best to maintain her distance” she explained. The pair needed no more explanation than that.
Withered bowed as the princess approached. He was stood outside the door, escaping the foul odours from inside.
“Your highness” he addressed her civilly, but without the near reverence many did. “Our guest awaits you” Foot very nearly froze at the casual tone, but apparently the princess found no insult in it.
“Thank you kindly” she answered him, pushing the door open with her magic. The eyes of the creature instantly opened, focussing upon her. As the princess stepped into the room, Foot noted an almost non-existent change. Her coat seemed sullied somehow, dingier when she entered the room. Placing its forelimbs against the throne it sat upon, it pushed itself to its feet, creating a teeth hurting sound as the ice between its back and the backrest shattered.
For all present it was rather worrying to see something that not only met the princess’s eye level, but dwarfed her. Granted it was only by a few inches, but the difference was still instantly noticeable. It was like two opposites had been brought into the room, with Celestia’s creation meeting the nothingness that this beast seemed to represent.
As the princess stared into its eyes, Foot wondered what she saw. Did she see the same everlasting vortex that he did? Or something only her eyes would ever know? Whatever she might have seen, it was never told to anyone.
Everyone present very nearly jumped out of their skin as faster than a blink the creature seized the princess’s face in one clawed appendage. Quite contrary to the royal guards who attempted to scramble beside her, Celestia seemed calm and composed as her face was turned side to side like a tutor inspecting a child. She didn’t bat an eyelid as small tendrils of decaying darkness spread across her cheek from the claw like digits, nor did she react as a swift snarl from the creature froze her guards where they stood.
The two stared at each other with an intensity that burned like hot coals. Until, ever so slowly it began to release her chin, the long nails scratching. As the tips of the digits pulled away the nails softly cut in four black welts that for a moment, threatened to weep blood before they healed themselves instantly. Foot Note was aghast. He had been well aware of the creature’s strong abilities, what sort of threat they could pose to everyone. But to actually witness the casual cutting of her highness’s cheek, it physically made him shiver.
The group of small ponies felt the gaze fall over them, their skin burning. It was looking at them now, slowly raising its gaze to the doorway. As if some unspoken communication had occurred Celestia nodded.
“All of you leave, I wish to talk with him in private” She asked, her tone firm but as calm as always. Her guards, as was their duty, attempted to protest until she voiced herself further. And so they left the chamber, the door slamming shut behind them. Foot sat beside Withered, who for once did not bicker with Apol. No, all their thoughts concerned the princess.
It was ages before she stepped out again, her hoof falls heavy and weary. To those present, she did not look well, like some terrific fright had torn her will away. Ignoring all others present she looked at Foot Note.
“Researcher, you will provided all materials, resources and funding you need from this point onwards. But I have one order for you. This chamber is to be relocated to site S.B.D, I will not have it under my city” and with that grim tone, she walked away with nary a further explanation.
The work was already close to being finished the following day, earth ponies working carefully to cut apart the chamber from the surrounding stone. For a short moment Foot Note walked into the chamber to look at the creature that his princess had demanded he move. Its lips were turned upwards, grinning as if happy at the news.
That should have been his warning.
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God damn, I love this story!
2915837 If you love it, follow me, then you can't miss part 2
Yes
All of my yes
2915917
Nuuuu, you must keep some yesses for yourself!
now i really want to know what celestia and the creature said to each other
2916029
It's funny you should mention that.....
fffffffffffffff-I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THEY TALKED ABOUT
2916222
Is that a plea I hear?
2916232 YESH!
2916239
Well it's gonna be in a seperate one shot
2916243 *follow* i actually thouht i had followed you sooner
2916248
Meh, most people forget. Tell you what. If anyone here can guess what S.B.D stands for, I'll make the one shot a priority.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
2916288
Please refrain from using the words of the great Howard Phillip Lovecraft without tribute.
An update already, what a nice surprise.
2916296
catchyourhare.com/files/Insanity.png
2916307
My gift to you all since I'm leaving the USA
Does SBD stand for sea based deterrence, are they moving him under the ocean?
2916732
Nope. Hint, the comics
I think I can safely say that I really like this!
A few criticisms: Try to make your breaks in character observation a little better. It was kinda hard to know whether I was in the hospital with Apol or in the chamber with Whithered.
A few spelling mistakes and punctuation errors but that can be fixed with a good once over or an editor.
Overall great concept and sexcellent execution.
Glad you told me about this!
Good luck writing!
Not Luna
3096314
Thank you for the critiscim's, they really are a help. Spelling is something I plan to fix soon, but changing perspective is really something I struggle to do, as in most novels it's merely a new chapter.
It really is too bad that the most interesting stories are usually the ones that update the slowest.
How are things coming along, anyway?
3498837 The story is steadily coming along, but I'm having some issues on my home front just now.
3604137
Classic horror must always be remembered, especially one where the only character left is just a brain to forever recieve torment
Woe, has this reached a dead end?
4360544
No, I'm just going through some hard things. Depression slash finding a psychologist who I can't break is difficult
4360897 Now I am imagining a long winding road consisting of psychiatrists broken like ceramic china. Hope things look up for you soon.
4361004 The most recent one himself now needs a psychiatrist
You might want to fix this: "As warmly as can be, your highness2 he responded." ;)
I'm loving this story though :)
Quick! Someone get this man a Twinkie, stat!
This is getting serious.