The Less-Than-Sane Adventures of Spark Trace

by thecookiewookie

A Mind of Madness... Built to Mask the Sadness

Clouds of doubt and mists of uncertainty rolled by.

Twilight waved before her, clearing the air. She had looked into others' minds before but this one was complex beyond the usual for certain. She couldn't see far before some errant thought or distortion of logic blocked her view. The entire landscape of Spark's mind showed dangerous signs of damage, twisting and filled with nonsensical, Non-Euclidian shapes. She quickly looked away before the bizarre setting caused problems. The brain-bending scenery would have given M.C. Escher a headache.

In the mind, thoughts were manifest. Doubt and worry formed thick, dark clouds obscuring clear reasoning, and rationalizations warped the space around them, distorting sensible thoughts.

Twilight pushed through a fog of paranoia toward memory. She had to be careful of the truly unbalanced notions, they could cause physical damage in the realm of the mind.

Skirting around a particularly thorny psychosis, she reached a large pool. Taking a deep breath, Twilight dove into the memory.

"C'mon, you can do better! Having pony genes is no excuse!" An odd voice rang out, seemingly within her head. Right, changelings have a hive mind. This must be what it's like. Interesting... they're all individuals, but each with a psychic link to all the rest...

Her vision cleared, and she could see a younger Spark training with several other changelings, none of whom looked adult.

"Screw off, Phylum!" That was definitely Spark's voice. He was trying to hold a stable changeling disguise, and not doing very well. The colt illusion was flickering and shimmering, leaving the changeling visible. "Some of us can't hold a good disguise as easily as breathing."

"You're just not trying, you larva! You're faking it so you get more affection for dinner!" The other changeling, Phylum, had apparently gotten annoyed by Spark's response.

Nope. While it was interesting, this one was from the wrong time in his life. Twilight surfaced and gasped for a fresh breath. She climbed out of the memory and moved on to another. Only one way to tell if this is the one or not...

"Don't! Krix, don't try to be a hero! Wait for the soldiers! PLEASE!" Spark was screaming with his thoughts. A changeling with wild eyes and cracked chitin stood grinning manically over the broken bodies of three adolescent changelings. It's horn was sparking with dark magic. Another young changeling was flying toward the madcolt at top speed. The crazy one turned and...

Twilight felt it. Even as a memory of a psychic shadow, she could feel the pain of the young changeling being scoured with dark magic. Spark howled in pain, feeling the blow through his friend. "Krix! No! Oh gods no, no, no... " He knew what had happened to his friend even while still behind cover. He staggered out a minute or two later, watching as the Hive Guard blocked the crazed changeling's attacks and took him down.

As the guards dragged the dying madcolt away, Spark stumbled over to the steaming body of his friend. "No... " He couldn't feel Krix's mind. He knew all too well what that meant. The overwhelming loss hit Twilight like an avalanche. She could feel all the rejection, the denial, the rage at the world, and the infinite sadness that the young Spark felt as he clung to the body of his friend.

Twilight swam up hard. Breaching the surface, she scrambled for the edge, desperate to escape the literally crushing emotions. Even completely clear of the pool, she still felt some of the lingering despair. No wonder he tries to escape it all...

Yet, it wasn't over. She had to find the right memory. Tentatively, Twilight moved to the next pool. It was surrounded by a thicket of irrationality and frozen over. Perhaps this was the one which had caused Spark's acquired madness.

Pushing through the spiny illogic and clinging denial, she reached the edge. Striking the ice to break it, Twilight leapt into another memory.

"My queen, I have seen it! I have seen the truth!". Spark's voice was giddy with excitement, and his eyes were aglow with impassioned insight. He was addressing none other than Queen Chrysalis. She sat on her throne looking vaguely interested. "Elucidate, my subject. The truth of what?"

"All of it! You, me, all changelings! I have seen our origin!" Chrysalis' eyes widened, but her mouth became a snarl. "Wrong. You have seen only LIES. I know what you speak of, and I will not have it in my hive."

"My queen, it is not so simply refutable! The carvings were ancient, and they showed it clearly. Though we may hate even the thought, once, in the far past, changelings were just another kind of pony. This is monumental! We may even have a reason to attempt peaceful re-integration!"

"No." Twilight had never heard a word spoken so coldly and full of hate and denial in her life. "Never. We were not ponies. They are WEAK. We are strong. They. Are. Food." Chrysalis leaned forward over Spark, her demeanor radiating pure malice. "You now have a choice. You can atone for even thinking things as treasonous as these, or you will be cast out."

Spark was horrified. "What? How can an idea be treason? I just thought... Why are we even so different from ponies? How?"

Chrysalis leaned back and eyed him with pure contempt. "You have been tainted. You truly believe these SLANDERS against changeling superiority. You have made your choice. Guards! Bind his wings and cast him from the North Spire. If he survives, he is to be exiled."

Spark's face reflected confusion, horror, and betrayal. Suddenly, anger replaced them all. "If I am to be a pariah among my people, then I am a changeling no longer. I reject YOU -" he spat at the ground beneath her hooves "- I reject the HIVE -" he thrashed against the grip of the guards "- and I reject MYSELF!" He charged his horn with a spell. As it cast, nothing happened... outwardly. "There. Now I am only my disguise. I have removed my changeling name from my mind. You will never again call me by it. Even if you could -" the guards were dragging him out of the chamber and past the doors "- I SHALL NEVER AGAIN ANSWER!" The doors slammed shut. Spark felt his wings being bound. As his link to the Hive closed, the memory dissolved into chaos, as madness took hold of his mind.