Deny/Laugh
I just stared at Applejack for a moment, our bodies’ movements producing a low, ambient scratching sound in my ears as the stethoscope rubbed against the base of my neck. Her green, bloodshot eyes boring into mine, unmoving, unblinking, filled with confusion and fear. Winona’s growls quieted for the time being, apparently smothered by the sudden tension of what I had just been told by my friend. My honest, truthful friend, whom I had every reason to trust, whom I knew I should never doubt for any reason or any circumstance. My trustworthy friend who had apparently gone certifiably, terrifyingly, borderline criminally insane.
“Pfah-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
My laughter pierced the night, quickly escalating to a full-blown, high-pitched, rasping wheeze. I coughed again and laughed a bit more. Sweet Celestia my throat was so dry, I must’ve been a lot more thirsty than I thought.
“Ha-ha-ha… heh, you got me there for a second, A.J., I never knew you were such a good actor!”
She had taken a step back at my outburst, hesitating as I choked, before setting her hooves back down as I had kept speaking. She was now looking at me with a worried yet still subtly terrified expression.
“Twi…”
“I mean, really, ‘You’re dead’…Ha! Good one! I almost believed you for a second! Who knew the element of honesty could have such a perfect poker face!”
“But Twilight…”
“You can stop pretending now, I already busted you! Who put you up to this anyway? Was it Pinkie? No, wait, that sounds more like something Rainbow would come up with. Are they hiding somewhere in here? Come out guys! That was a very funny prank, but playtime’s over!”
I scanned the room, waiting for Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash to burst out of the cupboards or something.
“Twilight!”
“Seriously, me, dead? Ha! I’m obviously alive, really; I’m standing right here! Zombies don’t exist, any rational mind knows that!”
“Twil-“
“I’M NOT DEAD!”
My deafening scream echoed through the house, but I didn’t mind as I forced air in and out of my lungs in a rapid tempo. Applejack stood further back, one hoof raised as if she was seriously considering fleeing my presence, her terror readily apparent on her face. The stethoscope faintly thumped on the ground as it fell from my ears.
“I’m not dead! I’m standing right here! I’m speaking to you! I can’t be dead! I’m alive and moving and conscious, and I’m certainly not a ghost because you touched me just a second ago, and I’m not a zombie because they don’t exist, and I’m not dead because how could I be dead if I’m here and moving and thinking and speaking at this unreasonable pace even when it’s perfectly justified by my most honest friend trying to tell me a blatant lie, because she wants me to believe I’m dead when I most obviously am not. I’m. Not. Dead. I’m not dead, I’m not dead, I’M NOT DEAD!”
The horror on her face slowly melted, morphing into some sort of pained sorrow as her eyes glistened with forming tears.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Twi, I-“
“JUST STOP LYING TO ME! I’m not dead! Why are you doing this to me? What did I do to you? Whatever it is, I’m sure we could work it out without resorting to… whatever it is you’re trying to do here! Aren’t we friends? What kind of sick joke is this? What kind of sick bastard would do this to a friend? Did you build that giant stupid mausoleum?”
“But you’re dead, I saw your body! I-“
“Stop it stop it stop it STOP THAT! I’m not dead! This isn’t funny anymore! How dare you do this to me! What is wrong with you?”
I stepped forward while screaming, making her back up into a wall while Winona took her place in front of me. She was barking freely now, her fur bristling as she shielded her master from me.
“And what is wrong with your stupid dog? Why can’t she shut up? Did you actually train her to bark at me like an insane mutt, barking and barking and BARKING to drive me insane? To make me snap? To harass me into insanity while you lie to me, to weaken and torture my mind while you work your horrible little lies into my head? It’s not going to work because she’s going TO SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT THE HELL UP YOU STUPID VERMIN!”
As I screamed into her face, Winona grew more and more aggressive, her fur bristling ever wider and her posture lowering some more, until I saw her claws suddenly dig into the old wood of the floor. She lunged at me, jaws wide, aiming for my head or somesuch.
I simply grabbed her with my telekinesis, clamping her mouth shut in the process.
“Shut up.”
I socked her in the face with my hoof and shook her magically before throwing her into a wall. A small yelp of pain accompanied a faint crack as she tumbled to the floor.
“Shut up,” I repeated to the twitching dog, before whirling back to face Applejack. I was so angry at her, so frustrated by her stubborn refusal to face the truth. How could she lie to me, straight to my face, and say I was dead? I didn’t care that she had backed up into a corner, still pushing her hooves in an attempt to get further away from me. All part of her cruel, senseless act. She wanted me to believe that she was terrified of me, that I was something to fear; some sort of ghost or revenant or zombie. That horrible, cruel joke had gotten stale about forever ago. It was about time this charade ended.
“Now, Applejack. You’re going to tell me the truth.” I slowly walked up to her as I spoke, closing the distance between us. She tried to kick at me with her hind legs: I held them to the floor with my magic. “Could a dead pony do this? Would a dead pony be talking to you and moving around? The dead don’t come back, Applejack. So, if I’m here, and a hypothetically dead me couldn’t possibly be here, what does that mean?”
I was basically over her at that point, looming over her prone form in a corner of the room. She tried to punch me, but I easily caught her hoof in my magic. I pinned it to the wall, doing the same to the other one. She was struggling, eyes closed and muttering ‘no’ over and over again while shaking her head. “Come on, it’s not that hard! A-L-I-V-E. I’m alive! Repeat after me: Twilight, you are alive. Come on, say it. Tell me I’m alive. Stop lying like a jerk and tell me I’m alive. Say it to me! SAY IT! SAY I’M ALIVE YOU BASTARD! SAY IT!!!”
She was openly bawling like an infant while I screamed mere inches from her face, her whole body twitching and shaking under the strain of trying to fight off my magic grasp. I decided that I wasn’t going to stand for her trying to worm her way out of telling the truth by becoming unintelligible. I knew telling the truth always made her feel better, that was something she liked to say sometimes. ‘Telling the truth takes the weight of guilt off your back,’ she would often say. So I just needed to help her out a little. Because that’s what friends do. I extended my telekinesis to grab her jaw and began making her enunciate ‘Twilight, you’re alive’ while providing the words with my own voice. She’d thank me later.
“Get the heck away from my sister!” was the only warning I got before some sort of red freight train rudely shoved me through the nearest window. Well, technically, “Get the” was the warning; the rest came after the impact, just before I was momentarily deafened by the sound of an entire window pane shattering around my barrel. I landed about a second later, rolling freely in the grass.
When I got up, shaking broken glass out of my mane, I could see Big Macintosh glaring at me through the window. He seemed surprised or startled for a moment, before his face settled in a grim, defiant expression.
“Dontcha dare come any closer!” he warned me. He looked at me like I was some kind of monster, some sort of deranged mare.
Couldn’t he see that it was Applejack who was currently clearly demented? Applejack was lying, Somepony had buried me alive, someone threatened or blackmailed Fluttershy with something so horrible that she didn’t even want to look at me or be in the same room, the freaking moon had had its phases tampered with, and everyone looked at me like I was the crazy one? This wasn’t just a prank, it was an outright conspiracy!
I needed to get out of here. I needed answers. I took off, my wings pushing me straight up until the Apple farmhouse was no more than a dot on the ground.
I hovered there for a moment, catching my breath. Where could I go? Who could I seek for help? This… conspiracy ran deep; they could build a mausoleum overnight, they could convince Applejack to lie, they had either done something to the moon or to Princess Luna herself. Everypony in Ponyville was no doubt already under their control, knowing I’d go for my friends first if I ever needed help. I had already fallen for it twice, with two of them, but now I was on to them. I knew better now. I needed to do something unexpected.
What would Twilight Sparkle do? What did I usually turn to when I needed help? My books. Yes, first and foremost, I’d look in my books for a solution. And then what? My friends, yes, obviously. After that? Hmm, maybe the princess. Then I’d be stumped. Good. Those were all very obvious choices I’d make, choices I’d be expected to make.
I just needed to avoid them all, and the web of lies would have no way of catching me. Perfect! If I could just lay low for a while and work on sorting this out, I’d have it figured out in no time. I scanned the horizon, looking for someplace safe and far away, someplace I could hide while uncovering the truth. Canterlot caught my eyes. It was risky, with the princesses so close, but my family was there. They’d never betray me like that, they’d help me for sure. At the very least, they’d help me think of a better place to hide.
I also had to make sure they were safe.
My wings clapped in the silent night as I suddenly thrust myself in the direction of the lonely mountain and the sparkling city hanging on its side. The numerous lights of the numerous streetlamps of the many cramped streets and alleys formed a constellation upon which I could home in, my pace increasing effortlessly as I drew ever closer. I was no longer tired or cramped, no longer sluggish and numb. I had a plan, a goal. A purpose.
I’d find out what was going on and who was responsible even if it made the orange liar’s lies true in the process.
...
I sighed, letting out a breath I hadn’t noticed I was holding. Poor Applejack. I would have some apologies to make once this was over. She didn’t deserve my wrath, the way I had lashed out at her and Winona. She was just a hapless victim of this conspiracy, no doubt convinced of the veracity of her claims by some dark means. She would never have said such awful nonsense if she had even the slightest doubts. She wouldn’t lie to me unless she really believed it.
Which meant whoever was behind this was powerful indeed; to either corrupt or convince the element of honesty of such blatant fabrications, and so thoroughly that she’d defend them in the face of overwhelming evidence was a testament to the dedication of my foes. My eyes narrowed and I accelerated further. No matter who, why or how powerful they were, I would stop them.
I wasn’t made a princess to be everypony’s fool.
The bright metropolis grew closer and closer, until its innumerable dots of light became individually distinguishable and I could begin to recognize the streets themselves. Even from the air, my familiarity with the city guided me towards my destination as easily as ever before. Between the white towers blackened by the night I found my way, silently gliding towards my old home.
My parents’ house.
Not the optimal hiding place, certainly not the most secure haven, and probably expected of me; but still the one place I knew I could feel safe once more. My own family would never betray me; they’d accept me with open arms, tears of joy and relief for their miraculously safe daughter in their eyes, and a warm meal to help me recount the events of the day.
A smile came to my lips as I braced for the landing, the thought of a reprieve from this nightmarish ordeal enough to make me a bit careless. The landing was less than stellar, forcing me into a short gallop past the front door as I struggled to stifle my momentum. I finally stopped nearly dead-center before the living room’s massive bay window, giggling lightly at my own clumsiness and the thought of what Rainbow Dash would have to say about such a landing.
And then I began turning around to head back to the front door.
And in doing so, my eyes traveled across the window and I looked through the glass.
And my smile died.
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A lich, huh? Interesting.
Oh. My god. And I thought the Smarty Pants incident was bad! I feel so bad for AJ... Not so much for Twilight, she's being entertaining. Good job on another awesome chapter!
And cool, Twilight's a Lich. Wonder what her phylactery is. Is it the Element of Magic?
I'll be keeping an eye on this from now on to be sure. Applejack has to be scared stiff, at this point, and maybe soon Twilight will start to fully realize what has happened.
4835988
I'm pretty sure that Big Mac is preparing some stakes/holy water/Hammer of Breaking Undead +5 by now as well considering how badly she could have been hurt by Twilight.
4835948 part of making a soul jar is making it something that wouldn't repel the dark magic used.
Wow now I REALLY cannot wait to see how this turns out (Or Turn Undead)
4835992 He'll be on his guard for sure, but the real question is...how does Pinkie Pie react?
Okay... I had to search Lich in Google (Don't Judge me), But I think I understand where the story is going...
So, according Wikipedia (Don't Judge me again) a lich's body keeps decaying regardless the amount of magic that the user posses, that means that Twilight will become a horrifying creature composed with only bones and magic!?
I'm scared, and also I like how the story is going
Keep up the good job
Twilight isn't gonna have a good time proving she isn't unhinged after the way she treated Applejack. This ought to be interesting.
4836027
the question is will she become a evil lich or maintain some decorum of her self and be good?
4836058 Agreed
4835915 Looks at your username
looks at my username.
I hereby declare you my rival.
I was browsing the internet for an accurate depiction of what my reaction to last chapter was
And then I was looking at pictures of Stan lee and 3 hours have passed.
I then realized there was a new chapter up and I'm afraid to look for an accurate picture again
Hey, you said this chapter would be darker. This isn't even close to being as dark as Twilight waking up buried alive.
And she's right, she is alive. She's being kept alive through...darker means than everyone else, but she's still alive. She can move and think.
To reiterate what I said earlier
MORE!
Good premise, but Twilight goes out character after the stethoscope. Seriously, she's the most calm, logical character in the show - her response to that well thought out demonstration would be "I don't have a heart beat anymore? Hmmm... Have to look into that when I get home."
If you need to keep the chaos going and the character uninformed, you should introduce an unstable element to break off further conversation; maybe Granny Smith chases her off in a fit? Maybe somepony upends a lamp and starts a fire that sends them all running? You can get to the same place, but Twi just isn't the type to yell and rant like that - her understanding would be more quite mournful contemplation, followed by "Will my friends still like me?" to which the answer would be 'yes'.
Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrreee.....
Calm and logical when everything fits in her world view and is going according to plan. We've had three seasons of Twilight freaking out when confronted with stress or things outside her comfort zone, followed by a season of 'Heavily Medicated Twilight'.
4835154
I don't think she'd call that something to celebrate.
4835193
Oh my gosh. If I had found that image or something similar enough, I would've used that as the cover pic.
I'm glad that you're enjoying the story.
4835486
She said familiar as in "I know that these colors exist and I've seen them before", not that she recognized the location. Seeing an orange room once does not make you familiar with every orange room in the world.
4835542
"hectic"
4835774
Thanks.
4836089 wouldn't that make you gary? i mean ash just kinda rolled with gary wanting to be his rival...
(i honestly cant remember the show basing this more off the games)
Well, that got surprisingly dark in a hurry. Denial is a powerful thing indeed.
I get the feeling Twilight just accidentally killed Winona... or crippled her at least.
Which is even better! I do wonder what her Phylactery would be, if she indeed has one. If she is indeed a lich that means she won't be easily dispatched either.
I've noticed Twilight apparently hasn't seen her reflection yet. Is anything to her face missing, or does she have lich eyes?
So she breathes, cries and spits, but her heart ain't beating. Hm.
The dramatic effect:
The logical side of it:
4835927
Yeah, pretty much everyone in this story is going to be a bit miserable at some point.
4835939
She's pretty well preserved for her age.
4835948
(Artistic license to be taken into consideration when presented with fantasy elements.)
4835988
Yeah, she'll have a few apologies to make once this is over.
4836006
Why is this so important to you anyway?
Way to remain calm in the face of your friend turning into an undead monstrosity, AJ. Definite loss of points in smooth handling of delicate situations.
Here's hoping Twilight doesn't spend all story in increasingly manic denial. One or two chapters would be okay, but unless her mind is well and truly gone at some point she should be moving on to another stage of grief.
I really like the idea of the Element of Magic as her phylactery.
Hm...Denial, followed by anger...
I see where this is going.
4836027
Lich is best undead abomination.
Thank you.
4836048
She's just misunderstood! Everyone will forgive her for the insanity that will follow, I'm sure!
4836058
Eh, she seems fine. Good ol' Twi! Don't worry about it...
4836100
If an image is unavailable, I heard a thousand words is an appropriate substitute.
Get to it.
4836105
Traumatizing her friend in a fit of delusional rage isn't dark enough? Good thing the story is only getting started then.
4836129
Wrong. Think about it, in "Lesson Zero" we see that she can snap like this. Plus we know that she does everything she thinks is needed, like in "It's about time". And the stethoscope can easily be tricked with magic, who can say that there wasn't another unicorn nearby
2/5, huh? I'm curious. Until next friday!
~Smurzek
4836129
No, that's the reaction of a sociopath. She's logical, not emotionless.
I warned you about Frostmourne, Twilight. I told you, Twi!
4835948 Its her Smarty Pants doll
So it will never be destroyed, Big Mac will rek the shit of anyone who goes after it.
4836125
Nuuuuuuuuuuu!
4836129
Deep, psychotic denial tends to make one slightly less rational than usual.
And we're talking about a pony who brainwashed an entire town because she thought her homework would be late. Basically most of what 4836215 said.
4836267
Lich eyes?
4836279
Maybe she does all that from pure habit?
Also, "cries and spits"? where did you see that?
4836315
There's still much denial to be had, sorry.
I think the reading experience would be better if you toned down on how much she yelled at AppleJack. It was way out of charecter.
Other than that, great chapter!
Will Twilight ever get a glass of water? Will Celestia allow a lich on the Equestrian throne? Can the undead find love? Did Twilight come back to life just 'cause she was thirsty?
These are questions that must be answered!
derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/10/16/124044.jpg
4836429
Poor choice of words I suppose. Eyes that glow from within with a baleful light. The kind of thing associated with powerful evil spellcasters, or higher echelons of the undead (ie lit from within by the very magic that animates them).
Oh crap.
Cutie Mark Crusader Zombie Hunters. Twilight is fucked.
4836466
How rational would you be if you woke up dead? I know my first action would be to throw a screaming fit and then demand to see the manager.
4836129
Why are you trying to lecture the author on how to do the scene when you don't even understand the character? Or any character for that matter. Do you know what trauma is? What's so hard to comprehend? That aside, it's the most logical amongst us who, when they finally do crack, fall the hardest.
Twilight is used to things that make sense to her. Here she is in denial, traumatized by the knowledge she is, in fact, dead - telling herself she's not. The situation does not make sense to her, and she doesn't want it to. She has not moved on to acceptance. She is trying her hardest to make all of this be a lie or some bad prank. Logic is not an instinctive reaction, it is something we culture based on our knowledge and overall intelligence.
She's also extremely emotional and prone to bouts of flighty arrogance when she thinks she's right. Which is the truth and in direct opposition of what you believe the character to be. Meaning you are wrong.
4836429 y do you refuse my request!?
4836559
True. True.
But I just thought the message could still be sent without all that extra screaming. Remember, she doesn't believe she's dead. If something is mentioned about her brain being numb or stiff (or whatever term you can use for brains really) then it would make more sense. At least to me anyway.
Well, technically liches are undead. So if you manage to argue that a walking skeleton is a zombie of sorts, you can do the same for a lich. But still, funny.
I do have a complaint, though. Twilight seem a bit too aggressive in this chapter. I don't think she would snap that quickly and in that manner.
4836429
Sorry, I misread one of Applejack's actions as Twilight's. Though it might be Twilight who "The horror on her face slowly melted, morphing into some sort of pained sorrow as her eyes glistened with forming tears." But probably not. She's as teary eyed as a rock.
4836350 The insanity that will follow eh?
I wonder what you have planned...
4836626 maybe that's a manifestation of being a lich?
4836679 I doubt it. I'm pretty sure liches leave their soul intact when they put in their phylactery.
Which then begs the question, where's Twilight's phylactery?
Staaahp I cant read thiiiis
4836702 She has her soul intact, but would being a lich keep her mind intact?
I mean, it may depend on who you're asking, but the mind and the soul are arguably two different things. She may still be perfectly conscious, but she might not quite be in the right mindset.
Dunno if I'm on the right track, but that's what I think…
Twilight the lich?
I can dig it.
But, I somehow think that's not exactly what happened.
~Skeeter The Lurker
Gripping so far. Dem cliffhangers, tho
4836559
Then you'd kill life's manager with explosive lemons your scientists made? But seriously her slight bit of insanity sounds about right for her for a response, on a scale whose respective maximum and minimum values are destroying a planet and shrugging and going back to sleep.
4836323
Hm, no, I'm not doing the whole "five stages" thing.
4836346
Hopefully.
4836523
Excellent...
4836526
All these and much more, in the oscar-winning motion picture "Undead Princess Twilight Sparkle: Monster Slayer"!
Directed by Michael Bay
4836559
With how successful they are in their attempts to get their cutie marks, I'd expect them to actually make her even more unkillable.
4836629
The whole thing is first-person from Twilight's view. She wouldn't speak of herself in the third person.