We Are All Just Puppets

by Zachurra

Chapter 4 - Desires*

Class went about the same as it always had. The majority of the class hung on Cheerilee’s every word as she spouted on about arithmetic. Feather Quill was scribbling something or another on the paper she had out on her desk. She would write for a moment, tap her pencil on the edge of her desk, and conclude by writing something off in the corner before repeating the sequence. Thunderclap and Dark Star sat towards the back corner, going back and forth between trading whispers and nearly falling asleep.

Pareidolia, however, was perfectly still in her seat. Her eyes lay only half open, staring off into nothingness. Known only to her, the tall shadow now loomed over her from behind her chair. She knew it was there and she tried ignoring it and acting as “normal” as she usually did when in class. However, such efforts continued to prove fruitless. Instead of being scared of this whatever-it-is, she instead felt like she was being drained of all her energy just because it was close.

A few times she tried to rub her eyes and shrug it off as simply a lack of sleep from her nightmare that night. What was the dream about again? She closed her eyes and strained to remember. There was fire, and a lot of it… they almost felt real, and she remembered waking up in the middle of the night sweating heavily. Something was on fire… a town? She thought it was Ponyville at first, but the buildings didn’t seem familiar. They were much larger and fancier. There were clumps all along the streets… were they ponies? That didn’t seem right, why would… No, there was something else. Amongst all the bodies were more of the shadows that simply stood and watched like statues. However, they weren’t nearly as tall as the one that had been following her and didn’t have such gangly limbs. They all stood, silently facing the same direction. Her eyes followed theirs, towards where what looked like some kind of explosion had happened. A massive structure was in pieces and was crumbling to pieces.

However, this was not what they were facing. They were facing a creature that fit the image of the shadow she saw this morning. It was tall with a long flowing white mane just like hers. Its body was red like blood and looked like it was made of metal. She remembered trying to run away but her legs wouldn’t move. Instead, she found herself coming closer to the one that she assumed had started everything here. She felt slight relief when it only continued staring at the flames. Beyond the crackling of the flames and the booms of the rubble giving away under weakened support, she heard it speak. Despite the haziness surrounding the rest of her dream, the single word it spoke became firmly imprinted in her memory. She couldn’t forget it if she tried.

Obey.

At that moment her eyes shot open. Her normally blue-grey eyes faded to a much duller color. The world around her exploded into colorlessness. The distant sound of Cheerilee’s voice was now completely gone. The mare seemed to be moving in slow motion now, as well as the student who was asked to come up and answer the question.

Even her own movements seemed sluggish, but it was probably just more of her exhaustion taking its toll on her body. Her eyes lazily scanned the room before her ears caught the sound of something moving to her right. It sounded like heavy metal falling softly upon the wooden floor. Curiously her eyes shifted to follow the sound and it was there that she was met with a sight she wasn’t expecting in this colorless world.

It was coming from the being that was following her, but now the shadow was dissipating and falling away like a cloak. The foggy shroud fell away, revealing the same kind of creature but this time with more real features. Like the one in her dream, it had a long white mane just like hers. It looked like only its lower body was dressed in a dark black and blue armor and from the waist up was nothing but its skin. It quietly circled around her desk until it stood before her. She strained to look up and finally see its face, but her body just wouldn’t allow it. As if understanding just from her small attempts, it knelt down on one knee. Even then it was still much larger than she, but now she was able to actually see its face.

Its hollow, tired looking face.

Its mane drooped over much of its face the same way hers did. From behind all the hair she could make out a pair of cold grey eyes staring back at her. They looked so sad and tired, but deep down there was a twinge of some lighter emotion…
Slowly and carefully, it reached forward with its long arm and gently stroked her cheek. It was a surprisingly soft touch against her fur. It was like the touch of a loved one, like the touch of a daughter’s cheek being caressed by her—

Her drowsy eyes widened with realization. “D…daddy..?”

At that moment, she could have sworn that there was just the slightest twitch to his lips upon hearing the word. An almost unnoticeable change to his hollow expression.

Her expression was far more vocal.

“Daddy!” she shouted desperately and tried to jump from her seat to tackle her father. However, due to the effects this black and white world had on her body, she only made it as far as the edge of her desk. Her father grabbed her before she could hurt herself and eased her back into her seat. Although her disappointment was obvious, she still wore a weak but nevertheless large smile across her face.

She looked overwhelmed by the feeling of finally being face to face with the father she had never met. How she came to the conclusion that this strange creature was indeed her father was beyond her but she could just feel as though something deep down told her that he was the only possible solution.

Slowly, his hand moved and pushed back the bangs that covered her right eye. He brought himself closer, allowing nothing to break their eye contact. He opened his mouth and spoke, his words coming slowly and sounding as though he was struggling just to speak. “I... am… s-sorr…y…”

She was confused at first, but the confusion was quickly washed away by some new force. Her body suddenly felt very cold and soon she couldn’t even feel her hooves. That distant happiness she saw in her father’s eyes was nowhere to be seen, being eclipsed by the more familiar sadness. She attempted to open her mouth to speak, but no words came. Her vision began to darken until she saw only blackness.

-------------

“Hey Dark, is it just me or is Dolia acting weird?”

Dark Star looked up from his boring game of tic-tac-toe with Thunderclap. Since the two were told specifically to not use their wings under any circumstance, due to them often going far too high, their free time often resulted in whatever possible way they could think of to pass the time. There were a dozen other lazily drawn games in the dirt beside them. “Doesn’t she always?” he said tiredly.

Feather wanted to hit him for his comment, but decided against it for the moment. She turned her head to see the tree in the distance that the young Unicorn filly was sitting against all by herself. “Just look at her…”

Dark Star sat up and turned to look towards his sister. Normally she’d go sit somewhere and hide behind her mane or draw in the dirt or follow him around if he let her. However, now she seemed to look excited and cheerful and from that distance it almost looked like she was talking to herself. His bored expression remained as his eyes rolled back towards Feather. She snapped her hoof in the young filly’s direction.

“What?” he said innocently.

“Go talk to her!” she said, shaving her hoof wildly.

“Why don’t you talk to her? You may as well be her big sister.”

Her anger subsided to welcome a new look of concern. “I already tried… she just ignored me like I wasn’t even there. And she was whispering too quietly for me to understand, but I could have sworn she said ‘daddy’ at least three times.”

“Didn’t your dad die in the Changeling War?” Thunder piped up from the side where he still lay. Dark Star only nodded.

“Just go talk to her.” Feather said, “She thinks the world of you… maybe you can snap her out of whatever trance she’s in.”

Dark Star looked back and forth between the dirt drawings and his younger sister a few times before sighing heavily and rising to his hooves. He lazily made his way towards the young Unicorn just as she was giggling to some seemingly unheard joke. He cocked his eye brow as she looked around, always focusing on random spots of thin air. He noticed the way her ears shifted as if she was listening intently to something. Finally he had had enough and shook her somewhat roughly by the shoulder. As expected, she flinched and turned to face him before her large smile immediately returned.

“Star! I’m so glad you came! I can finally introduce you to my new friends!” she said excitedly.

He looked around and saw she was pointing at nothing, only open field with the rest of Ponyville and the Everfree some distance away. However, what seemed to bother him the most wasn’t quite the way she was referring to nopony in particular, but rather the way she seemed to be looking right through him rather than at him.

“Uh, Dol? Who are you talking about?”

He saw a quiver in her smile, but it remained nonetheless. “Why, all the ponies around us of course! Like Pokey Oaks and his wife Sew n’ Sow, Prairie Tune and Ambrosia, Brindle Young and Bottlecap too!” With each name she spoke she pointed towards a different spot in the vacant air. Dark Star followed her hoof, as if expecting a pony to fall out of the tree and reveal themselves. However, and much to his dismay, no such thing ever occurred.

“Wait a second,” he interrupted, shaking his head gently and snapping back into reality, “Did you say Bottlecap?”

She nodded.

“Dol…” he began before trying to find the right words to say. She leaned in a little closer, trying to encourage him to go on. He sighed reluctantly and continued, “Bottlecap died in a construction accident two years ago… Mom was in tears when she told us.”

For the first time, her smile faded to make way for a look of confusion. “You mean you really can’t…” She turned around and faced the spot where she had said Bottlecap was. Once again her ears perked up, and when she turned to face her brother once more, her smile had returned. “I think I have an idea!”

Before he could do anything to stop her, she pulled his head down and touched her horn to his forehead. He felt a shock and quickly pulled away from her grasp, rubbing his forehead. “Ow…” He said as he slowly opened his eyes. It then took every fiber of his being to keep himself from screaming as he saw a legion of dark shadows all around him and his sister. They were each of different builds and sizes, but he could tell for certain that they were all ponies... or at least that was what he hoped.

He instinctively grabbed the younger Unicorn and threw her onto his back before galloping as fast as he could through the crowds of shadows. He didn’t know for certain if they meant ill will or not, but basic instinct told him that these… things… weren’t supposed to be there. He didn’t look back, and he didn’t even want to look forward. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, ready to butt any of these weird ghosts out of his way, assuming he could even touch them.

His received an answer when he came into contact with something much bigger and heavier than him and fell backwards, Pareidolia falling with him. He rubbed his head for the second time before looking up and shrinking down in fear before what stood before him.

It was much larger than any of the other shadows or ghosts or whatever they were. It stood upon two legs and had long gangly arms like some of the different races that lived over seas, foreign to Equestria. He began to crawl backwards in fear as he now knew they could touch him. Pareidolia, however, was quite the opposite in her reaction.

“Daddy!” she shouted with joy and ran forward to meet it.

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Of all the freaky things that were looking at him, of all the signs of insanity he was fairly certain she was showing, it was all but the tip of the iceberg compared to what she had just said, and what she had said it to.

“Pareidolia, get away from that thing!” he said as he got back onto his hooves, unconsciously stepping back a few paces.

Once again she turned and looked at him with confusion. It then dawned on her, “Oh, right! You didn’t let me finish the spell. Come here…” She began quickly trotting towards him. He began stepping back once again, but her horn managed to reach his forehead. There was another shock and his skull suddenly felt like somepony had dumped a bucket of cold water on it. When he looked up again, his jaw nearly hit the floor.

No longer were there mere shadows surrounding him. They had been replaced by ponies of all different kinds, each with that same ghostly stare that seemed to look through him rather than at him. When his eyes returned to the larger creature that stood before him, he had to crane his neck back just to look into its similarly hollow eyes. It seemed to wear clothing only on its lower body, reminding him of the pictures of minotaurs that he had seen from school.

“That thing is not our father!” he finally said, unable to take his eyes off of the brute.

“What are you talking about? Of course he’s our dad!” she said with a smile. “Just look at him! He’s got the same eyes and mane just as I do.”

“Well he certainly doesn’t look anything like me…” he didn’t want to take his eyes off his alleged ‘father’ just in case it prove to be hostile.

“Well, he said that you’ve got grandpa’s eyes.”

He risked looking away to give her a stunned look. Did she really just claim that there were more of these things? He shook his head, trying to bring himself back to the situation at hand, “Enough is enough Dol, and you’re coming home right now! I don’t know where you learned this kind of freaky magic from, but…”

As he spoke, he watched as her smile slowly began to fade away with each word he said. She looked like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You’re going to make me choose..?” Her eyes began to water.

“Choose?” he said, dumbfounded. “There shouldn’t be a choice, that thing isn’t even a pony! I don’t know what the hay it is, probably some freak of nature of the Everfree that’s just tricking you!”

A stream of tears began rolling down her eyes as she fell to her haunches, lowering her head so her mane fell forward and covered her face.

“Now look at what you’ve gone and done. You made the poor dear cry.”

Dark Star felt a shiver go up his spine. In his peripheral vision he could see the ghosts of the other ponies begin to move away and fade into nothingness. Were they running away? Why were they running away? He didn’t need to turn around to see who spoke, for they made their appearance all on their own. A tall being with similar figure to his alleged father walked past him with cool attitude. Were they of the same species? He couldn’t tell for sure as it wore a cloak that shrouded everything up to its neck, but it was certainly possible. And now that it stood before him, all the young Pegasus could see was the absolute colorlessness in his eyes. Pareidolia had grey eyes, yes – and was mistaken for being blind in her early years – but these eyes just seemed devoid of color, as if color was never meant to be there in the first place.

He strolled past Pareidolia to their father, where an outstretched arm reached up to their father’s shoulder. It would have been comical with the second being about a full foot shorter than the first if the situation wasn’t so serious. The second traced its hand along his back as he walked around until they stood side by side. “And just look at your dear father. He must be so heartbroken to know that his own son rejects him.”

His father’s eyes did indeed look cold and sad. He hadn’t move since Dark Star had run headfirst into the armor that covered his lower body. He only stood and stared with cold eyes, still as stone.

“And dear Pareidolia,” It looked down at the Unicorn as she silently sobbed. Its expression seemed almost condescending while it stood by their father, but now it seemed legitimately concerned for the young filly. “A sibling younger by only moments, and born so small… and all she had ever wanted in life was the love of her older brother.” It stepped forward and knelt down, reaching forward to brush back her mane and reveal that her tears had begun to cease, but lines were still stained her fur. “Ironic that that love is her only sin.”

“You stay away from her!” Dark Star took a stance that showed he was ready to charge. He had no plan, and for all he knew this creature could have some kind of weapon hidden under that cloak, but he ignored those thoughts.

The colorless eyes rolled towards his direction, as if mocking the way that he always rolled his own eyes. The concern was gone, replaced by a more menacing gaze. “And then there is you. Dark Star, named such because of the first star that had appeared that night. It was still early, so the star appeared dim and dark, but still shined nonetheless. Your mother thought it would be nice to name you after such a thing that was first to shine before the others."

It's eyes turned back towards the younger sibling as it moved its hand to rest on her back. “Your sister got her name because she shared the same eyes of your father: War, one of the ‘saviors of Equestria.’ Whenever she looked into those eyes, she saw the emotion that he was incapable of showing with his own expression. And as such, she named her Pareidolia for the things she saw in her eyes.”

Dark Star was beginning to get unnerved by his words. What point was he – if it was really a ‘he’ – was trying to make? “How do you know all this?” he demanded.

It smiled. “I know everything.” It rose to his feet, its arm falling back beneath its cloak, “I know everything, I see everything. I am the Guardian of this planet and I am perfection. I listen and nature itself speaks to me. I close my eyes and I see the very foundations of the mind. I speak, and the heart listens.” He turned back to Pareidolia and took a few steps to the side, ensuring that brother and sister could look at each other without obstacle. The Guardian snapped his fingers once and Pareidolia began sprinting towards him. He had expected something from this "Guardian", but his sister suddenly bounding towards him caught him off guard. Before he could react, he found himself tackled and knocked onto his back. Pareidolia lay above him, holding him down with surprising strength.

“The poor girl loves you so dearly, so… sinfully.” Its last word dripped from its mouth like venom. Dark Star strained to try and get up, but somehow the smaller pony was able to overpower him with ease. Looking up, he saw her face. It was no longer covering her eyes and face, for it now draped around his own face. And just as the Guardian had said, there was something in her eyes. Something the Pegasus had never seen before, especially from his own sister.

Lust.

“You were all she had.” The Guardian continued as it looked down upon the two. “Every day she watched you and followed you, hoping to be just like you. And every day you would push her away from you as if she were nothing. She always thought there was something wrong with herself, something she could fix. She tried her hardest to be by your side, even going as far as to try and learn some of the most advanced magic without any prior training just so she could fly with you, even if just for a moment. She loved you so much that she wouldn’t allow any other ponies to cloud her mind and take thoughts of you away… one could say that she loved a little too much. She was always curious about this feeling, and thought that maybe everypony felt this way about their siblings. Love is a beautiful thing in my eyes, no matter where it comes from and who it is directed to. I saw how she felt and decided it would be best to give her a little… jump-start.”

Dark Star couldn’t see the Guardian’s face, but he could just hear the smile that was on its lips as he spoke. He could only look up into his sister’s gaze and see feelings blossoming in a way he never believed. Before he could react, she had pressed her lips to his. If his eyes could open any wider, they would.

“Truly touching.” The Guardian said as he shifted his hand under his cloak to touch his own heart. He turned to War, who had remained silent and motionless during the scene. The Guardian’s smile vanished immediately, “Kill them.”

Dark Star’s eyes dilated and War’s eyes noticably widened. War’s head turned slightly in his directionm his grey eyes just visible behind his hair. The Guardian was glaring at him, “You heard me.” He said. “Kill them. This world has grown soft because of Equestria’s dominance and mission of peace. Do not misunderstand; I am proud of those that I watch over. But if a new threat were to arise, what would happen? Equestria would fall, just as it nearly did eight years ago. None of the alleged ‘monsters’ of this world are strong enough to pose a threat anymore. But you, War… you simply being alive is enough to cause an uproar. But if you were to kill your only legacy… they would have no choice but to take action. And where a monster would fail, a Demon shall not. If anything can give the ponies a run for their money, it is you.”

He stepped up to War, close enough to be face to face if not for the height difference. “And now, you will kill them.” He demanded. War’s body began to shake as it took everything he had to keep his body from stepping forward towards his only children. The Guardian’s glare intensified. He grabbed the hair that rested on War’s chest and pulled with enough strength to bring War to his eye level. “You will obey me!”

War’s lips parted slowly and shakily and just enough for him to say, “No…”

The Guardian’s anger flared. Its arm flew out from its cloak and black smoke enveloped his hand before solidifying into a knife.

“I… am not afraid… to die…” War spoke slowly. The Guardian pulled his arm back and brought it down, ready to plunge the blade into War’s neck.... But the blade stopped mere inches away from his skin. Its anger subsided as quickly as it had come as a new idea whispered into its ear.

“Yes, that’s a much better plan…” The knife faded back into smoke to be replaced by electricity that shot back and forth between its fingers. “If you will not obey me… then I shall simply bring out a side of you that won’t even need convincing.” The Guardian said with a sinister grin. War’s defiant glare remained until it finally dawned upon him what it meant. Before he could try and react, the electrified fingers were plunged into his chest. A light shined so brightly that War couldn’t see the fingers that felt like they were burning through his chest. It felt like have five burning drills burrowing through his skin, burrowing deeper but never coming out the other side. After what felt like an eternity, the Guardian put its other hand on War’s chest and shoved him backwards. The Horseman fell to the ground with a thud and began panting, completely breathless.

When he finally gained the strength to sit up, he saw not only the Guardian standing above him, but another being that stood where he was just moments ago. It stood as tall as War and every inch of its body was covered in blood red and silver armor. From the back of its helmet was golden white fur that went down to touch its back. It turned towards War to reveal that the only part of its body that wasn’t covered were its piercing blood red eyes.

“The Horseman of Desolation.” The Guardian said with a smile. Desolate turned his head to look at the Guardian. “I’ve heard so much about you. The Destroyer, the Untamed One, the Heartless Annihilator. You brought your world to its knees and proved that the only one that could kill you was yourself.” Desolate said nothing, only glaring down at the colorless being before him. The Guardian’s smile stayed nevertheless, “I would have thought you’d be happier to be alive and in your own powerful body once again.”

“Enough of your feigned praise.” He said. His voice was as dark as his presence. A mask covered his mouth but his voice was still loud and clear. “Why am I alive.” He was not asking, but demanding.

“I brought you back to do that which your reborn self could not. You see, this world has grown soft, and –“

“I am not deaf. I heard all that you had said before.” He stepped closer, bending down enough to look straight into his colorless eyes, “You claim to be the Guardian of this world. When you were created, you were given the mission of protecting its inhabitants as they grew into a people of stature. Yet here you are, bringing the worst possible being to ever breathe in the planet’s air to give it strength once more. I will ask once more. Why am I alive. For if you truly believe these creatures are capable of killing me, you are more naïve then I had first thought.”

“They will not fail their trial.” The Guardian looked smug and confident as it looked into those heartless eyes. The two remained in a locked glare until Desolate’s eyes shifted to see past him. The Guardian stepped aside as Desolate moved forward. “I suppose I shall take my leave now. Enjoy your stay in Equestria.” And just like that, it vanished.

Desolate continued forward, caring little as to whether the Guardian chose to stay or not, and grabbed Pareidolia, who had still been holding her brother down, by the scruff of her neck and pulled them apart with ease. He brought her to his face as Dark Star tried to catch his breath. Her look of lust completely dissolved, falling away to fear. Her eyes dilated and her body began shaking as she hyperventilated.

“Do you fear me, child?”

She didn’t know what to think. The last thing she remembered was sitting in the classroom while some thing was following her. Everything after that was simply a haze. All she knew now was that she was in genuine fear for her life, and her lips felt sore for some reason.

“To think that this twig is of my own flesh and blood.” He continued, not paying attention to War, who was now rising to his feet behind him. “Tell me, child: have you ever heard the phrase, ‘the eyes are the windows to the soul?’ By looking into your eyes, I can see the potential you have. For such a small being, I must commend you for your capabilities… but you will never achieve your true power.” He felt a sudden fluctuation of power, but for the moment it was too small to be worthy of attention. “And do you know why?”

He wasn’t expecting any kind of answer from her. He only spoke because the child deserved to know the truth. “Because you are weak.” Another fluctuation. Where was it coming from? “Because you have chosen to walk in the shadow of your brother and bow to his every whim.” With every pulse that strength he felt became larger and larger. He could simply detect where it was coming from and deal with it however necessary, but what fun was there in spoiling the surprise? “And you will likely die in his shadow, alone and neglect—“

He never finished his statement as he soon found himself soaring through the air before skidding along the ground. Desolate sat up, putting a hand to his armored cheek where he had been hit and saw that he had dropped the filly where he had stood upon impact. What caught his attention more so was that it was War that had hit him and how his hand was bleeding from the force of the hit against his hard armor. In War’s eyes Desolate could see not the hollow cold stare that he had had for years and years, but was replaced by pure fury. Even more was the two leathery wings that had exploded out from his back which explained how he had moved so fast without him noticing.

Despite their distance, Desolate heard War’s words clearly as his wings flared. “Keep… your hands… off.. my. Daughter!!”

Comments

[DarkBlueNinja13]

Do like. Demons and Dragon Ball fights? You got it!

[DarkBlueNinja13]

3244406 Sweeeeet. English class actually helped me in life.