Puppets of Tragedy

by Iridescence T Wind

Guests

It was morning once more, and when I checked again on the two new mares in my certifiably near spotless evil lair. I had long since given up on checking up with Amber in her quarters, as it was a mess that was beyond reckoning. Trixie was asleep, but Cass was up and moving. It had seemed that the two ponies had taken my word to use anything and everything in the apartment seriously, as the previously mud coated cripple was now her proper colors, a light blue that could only be matched by Trixies mane and a light green mane that was slightly lacking of luster since I hadn't thought to buy shampoo or conditioner for all the quarters yet.

It was interesting watching the pegasus maneuver around using nothing but her wings, in a way it was similar to a wyvern, if I had to make a comparison. Her wings acted as dual purpose, one often helping to drag the pegasus while the other wrapped around an object, as of the present case, a bowl of cereal. It was almost an art into itself how she was able to move. But it was stirring another idea into me. One that would require research. Luckily with the books stolen from Twilights library I could begin that almost immediately but there was one other more pressing matter that would determine how exactly I went around into building this project, or if the project was even viable to begin with.

I flipped open the laptop that Discord had given me when I had been thrown into this world. My mind a flurry of ideas and designs while I searched through the files for the rules of what I was and wasn't allowed to make. For what I was intending, it was going to be labeled under the rule of props, that and sharing my creations with others. As a prop it was going to be one of the hardest ones I had to make yet, no less than four of them to be precise. The finer details and full range of motion it would need would net me hundreds of dollars back on earth as just a prop. As well as of been a major break through for medical science that we hadn't even had a chance to get yet. I would make her a mask, but she wasn't exactly a 'tragic villain' but a victim who I didn't know the first thing about. Her cutiemark was a cassette tape which I took to add in as the rest of her name.

I went through the lists of restrictions and made note of the ones relevant on a scrap piece of paper on my desk, there was going to be a lot of work, but I had time, far too much time by the looks of it. Out of the corner of my eye, my attention was returned to the object of my last heist. The heart of the windigo which was lazily put onto a corner of my desk. I reached out for it, my hands bare from the usual gloves I wore, and touched it.

Everything went white.

I reopened my eyes and I was no longer in my base, though I could still feel it, like a set of strings pulled taunt, I was in the middle of an arctic field of snow, a grey mass of clouds high above me, and a singular white specter of a humanoid dressed in regal clothes of white and blue, clothes fit for a king. Atop an icy white mane sat a crown of similar light blue coloration, and I gasped at the amount of cold that radiated off of him in the form of a constant icy wind that redirected falling snowflakes in every direction away from himself. Behind me I could see the ruins of a village, mostly buried within snow, and curiously I wondered, just where I was. It was not a question that went unanswered.

"You are in the northern reaches of the ice fields of windigos. Though as you ponies say it, 'The land of the Crystal empire. More precisely, where I died so long ago."

I didn't fix his mistake that I was not a pony, but I did ask, "And you are?"

"I, mere peasant, am your king." the windigo, as I had no doubts about that that was what it was, stated.

Two and two together and my mind yelled that it was the one from the crystal. Great, just what I needed in the morning, a revived mass murdering 'king' that fed off of hatred as energy. Slowly the GLaDOS puppet started its movements as I readied myself for the worst, "Sorry but I don't follow no king. Sort of against the democratic system I've lived under for most of my life, well before coming to Equestria anyway."

The king snorted, "You will be my first subject, or else my name isn-"

The rest of what he said was blown away by his own wind, and I yelled, "What did you say?"

"I said, my name is-" He yelled back. Again getting cut off by his own wind.

"Still can't hear you!" I yelled to him.

"Are you mocking me?" He yelled, and I yelled back a negative and my response was lost to the undo amount of wind going on in the place.

He yelled something then formed a sword from the ice and snow around the place, and I sighed. "What, do you want to fight or something?"

"You want to bite what?!" He yelled, and I facepalmed.

"I said!" I yelled, "Did you want to fight or something!"

Funnily enough the wind stopped as he paused, considering it, "A duel then?"

"Pardon?"

He nodded to himself, like whatever he thought of was a great idea, "Yes, a duel, if I win You become my slave."

Now I was annoyed. "And what do I get if I win?"

He didn't answer, he was already dashing forward to strike at me. Oh that wasn't fair. The wind was back on, drowning out my string of profanity as I darted backwards, really aware of my lack of coat and weapons, barely managing to dodge the first slice of his sword by mere centimeters. But a layer of thin ice formed on my shirt as it passed, and then I was really worried about what it would do if it actually hit me.

I scrambled away from him, running, as a portal appeared, launching out my coat which I promptly caught and put on just in time for the Rosary to activate and deflect an icicle projectile that had been aimed at my back. The jerk was firing magic projectiles! Well, now it was my turn. I tossed out my entire deck of cards from my pockets while I busied myself with arming back up. Fifty two identical blank cards sprang to life as a shield between me and him, and he crashed into it, shoving his sword, which had increased in size to a great-sword, through the card in a well placed stab and slicing through it. He looked up from his handy work as I put my second glove back on, and snapped.

Boom!

An series of explosions of increasing sizes came out of my gloves, and raced towards him, catching the icy king horse off guard and knocking him back with its heat. My cards returned around me, hovering in three layers of circles, one card missing but the rest slowly freezing solid. I'd have to worry about that later, as I took out the marionette doll in one hand and waited his advance. His voice was mocking, "So the brat has magic too I see. Yet not a horn on his head, how interesting."

I grimaced, the weather was getting colder, and the wind was getting more violent. Slowly my cards were losing their ability to stay where they were and for their own sake, I returned them to my pockets. He charged forward, and I snapped my fingers again, bringing forth another line of explosions that he deftly avoided, my eyes widened as my other hand brought forward the marionette doll. He lunged, and I shut my eyes, awaiting the stab.

It never came, between me and him a doll had formed, and his blade was burried in its torso. His look of bloodlust and satsifaction dying out as he saw the wooden doll that was all but towering three feet higher than him. He said but one word, "What?" before I ordered my doll to grab him.

More dolls started to appear as the first grabbed and hugged the horse, the horse protesting and trying to yank out his sword while avoiding the grasping arms of the puppets molesting his personal space. Soon enough he splintered the first wooden puppet that his sword was cut on with a well placed kicked, but then he was dog piled by four more, each working to restrain one of his limbs. That was all the time I needed, as a mask was thrown out of the portal and into my grip. I tossed it on over yet another puppet as he struggled, ice rapidly forming over his aggressors and started to break free. I let out another explosion with a snap of my fingers to occupy him, the explosion neatly dethawing the puppets he was trying to freeze as well as throwing him back in the ice and snow.

"Cheeky insect." the king muttered, as the puppets started to move unnaturally in sync together towards him.

From next to me the masked puppet erupted into shape, a green and yellow king of the koopas, Bowser, had arisen under my control. "What, you're bringing out mutant turtles and wooden puppets to fight for you?" The icy king retorted, "Well then, face MY army." He stabbed his sword into the ground and with a rumble like an earthquake from behind him a wall of white came up.

Dozens upon dozens of white armored windigos marched out of the wall, and dozens more continued to stream out of it, and I gave him a disgruntled frown. Preparing my slow moving GLaDOS for another mask delivery while Bowser and the wooden puppets prepared to fight.

They came down upon my puppets in a mob of moving blades, shields, and the occasional spear. The puppets themselves holding their own by their own physical nature of needing to be completely dissasembled before they would stop working. Whenever a puppet fell, another two took its place, but for every windigo that came down, another three seemed to erupt. Then bowser himself rolled in. Literally.

The king of koopas had withdrawn in his shell and jetted forward, a spinning spiked cyclone of destruction as he bowled into their front ranks and deep into the increasing armies mass. From there he redeployed himself and opened his mouth, the back of his throat filled with red light before it breathed out a mighty gout of flame that melted through whatever unfortunate windigo was caught in its path. I was saving his other function until an opportunity presented itself. Well at least until... The second mask came out of a portal as the windigos pushed forward. The king himself was heading to intercept Bowser while my ranks of puppets faltered from the ever advancing horde of ice warriors. That was going to change, as Aku joined the battle. In an instant, my horde of wooden puppets became the minions of the two villains. Bowsers half an army of metal clad knight turtles who were half his size, and on Aku's side an army of shadow and machine warriors.

Of course both had a better minion as a secondary force, the dark high pitched laughing of Aku's favored minion, one who looked similar to Aku but with a flaming blue hair style and black fangs grinned at the chance of collecting more souls. Bowsers own Kammy Koopa flew over him with a broom, and the king of talking turtles was boosted several times over by his second in command. I in the meanwhile was stock still, commanding more than I ever had to at once was both mentally and physically commanding and exhausting work.

Several spiked shells cut out the legs of those underneath as they shell slammed into the snow warriors, while an barrage of different weaponry cut into the ice warriors, the king himself started to engage king Bowser, who met his sword blow for blow on his hard shell, all but ignoring the ice as he spewed flames and punched the ice king back. More of the long range minions let loose their spells and projectiles as they supported the front ranks from the air, but we weren't without our own losses. Their archers were cutting down our air support, but Aku managed to cut down their ranks through literal use of laser vision and flaming eyebrows.

I grunted in effort as dozens of attacks met dozens of shields and the reverse happened as well. The fight drug on, for hours it seemed as both armies became depleted and the Koopa king and the ice king fought each other. One particularly nasty blow managing to catch the ice king, and rip apart his chest chestplate as well as managing to destroy his helmet. "Enough of this foolishness." the king declared, and he reached back with a armored front hoof, while the other leaned upon his icy sword. The ice wall advanced as the army of windigos collasped.

I gasped, that cheeky bugger. Bowser and Aku retreated to my side while the wall approached, and I went over the laptop manual for my puppets as the ice wall phased through the king, picking up speed. there was something I could do. But It was a risk. The remaining puppets reverted to wooden form, and began stacking up to each other, a staircase of wooden beings that I ran up and away from the progressing wall. The staircase turned as it continued building up, and I leapt, jumping over the invading wall as it froze the army of puppets in its tracks.

Beyond the wall I could see the king grinning, sure that he had frozen me. I really wanted to scream at how far and fast I was now falling but remained silent as I put both my fists in his general direction and waited until there was but a few seconds before impact before yelling, "HEY KING."

"What?!" He shouted in surprise.

"YOLO." I shouted back my fist hitting him in the face as I crashed into him.

I think I had lost consciousness for a second, but when I came to I was aware of intense headache inducing pain. He broke my fall that was true. But the collision had broken that as well as my hand, an arm, a rib or two, and I couldn't feel my face. That and there was a large weight on one of my hands.Oh wait, that's right my face was on the ground over there. Blindly I reached out and grabbed my face, feeling relief as I put it back on and wiped the snow and ice out of my face in order to see again. Then I saw what was bound to my broken, and somewhat numb but still screaming arm. It was the windigo's head.

The collision had driven a hole through the solid ice head but my hand hadn't managed to break through entirely. The rest of the windigos body was limb, and it took a few tries to pull my arm free of it. Behind me a majority of my wooden puppets had broken and vanished from being frozen in solid ice, but the Bowser puppet was able to start melting itself and the Aku puppet free. As I stood back up, grunting in pain as my everything protested, I was shocked as the presumed dead body of the windigo king grabbed me. Just how much force did it take to end this thing?

"I will not lose." came the shattered voice of the king, fragmented just as much as its face was. "I will no-" Ice began to crawl up my good arm, and I panicked, the GLaDOS unit tossing out the closest thing that was in my room through a portal. The token of the ork. I yelled as the ice creeped up from my arm to my face, "Skargor I summon thee!" Before unconsciousness claimed me.

Comments

[Siegwynn]

Gotta wonder why hes not using a mask himself.
No point in commanding troops if you can be assassinated easily

[Clay]

"I will not lose." came the shattered voice of the king, fragmented just as much as its face was. "I will no-" Ice began to crawl up my good arm, and I panicked, the GLaDOS unit tossing out the closest thing that was in my room through a portal. The token of the ork. I yelled as the ice creeped up from my arm to my face, "Skargor I summon thee!" Before unconsciousness claimed me.

I yelled as the ice creeped up from my arm to my face, "Skargor I summon thee!" Before unconsciousness claimed me.

needs to be another paragraph.

[BATCAN]

OH MY GOSH I JUST REALISED WHEE THE CARDS ARE FROM!!!
duuuur

[Bold Promise]

6968075 Uno?

[Jonny Bench]

6968075
Is it the dandy man from hellsing?

[Who cares]

I realize I’m really late pointing this out but Mustang’s gloves wouldn’t work like that. The ignition cloth gloves are only good for making a small flame at best. The reason Mustang is able to use them the way he does is a special alchemical formula he knows.