Twisted Fate

by Evilhumour

Chapter three

Luna gulped, trying to steady her already frayed nerves. This demon had thrown her into a vastly dangerous world, with the odds already stacked against her.

No doubt that this Shining Armor was a completely warped version of the real one. Dream demons would normally subjugate their victims into a world where everything was turned on its head; family either dead or at each other’s throats, friends were the bitterest of enemies and lovers would wish nothing more to kill each other. All to maximize the suffering of the victim so the demon could both feed on and enjoy the torment of the small part of the victim’s subconscious that was still aware of the reality of the situation.

It usually took a dream demon an hour to feed on one pony, but sadly for the victim, the dream would begin at their birth and end at their death. The fact that this demon had held multiple victims for an undetermined amount of time worried Luna that she might have a shorter window to work with than she had in the past, along with the fact that Discord had nearly killed it, which meant she couldn’t get into its mind directly to save them. What was worse was that she had no clue which one that demon had chosen for its host which meant she had to find all of them before she could truly act and form a plan.

Which meant she had to act her part for now.

With a shaky voice, she addressed the pony in front of her. “Na- nay, General Armor,” she tried to get onto her hooves, keeping her eyes on his. She saw them go slack slightly at her gentle tone, encouraging her on this gambit she was forming in her mind. This pony was not one of the victims, and she might be able to gain some help without alerting the demon if she bent the role she was placed in. “I thank you for your timely arriv-”

She let out a meep of shock and pain as his magic aura grabbed her by the neck and forced her against the dead tree, restricting her ability to breathe. “What game are you playing now, you murderous bitch?” he snarled out, his anger seemingly growing at her protests for air. “You’re never this nice, nor have you ever called me by my proper title.” He leaned in close, his horn near her right eye, threatening to blind her.

“I swear I am not!” While most beings would be paralyzed with fear at this point, Luna was among the few that had their minds working constantly against dangerous threats. Celestia was another such sort, after dealing with Discord’s first attack against their lands, ponies and sanity. The only being that had been able to completely surprise and attack her sister was a lucky changeling that clearly didn’t expect to win if what she’d been told of the wedding was true. Nightmare Moon didn’t count as she had drawn out her presence long enough that Celestia was able to form a defense plan against her.

His glare deepened, with two glyphs appearing in his magic aura as he let go of her neck. Both glyphs filled Luna with dread. One was for detecting truths known to both parties and the other was for electrical jolts of pain. The former worried her more than the latter out of a sense of practicality; it would be based partially on the caster’s knowledge and partially on her own. The problem would come from asking questions she had no way of knowing, but that the Luna that she taken over in her arrival would know. And once she failed to give the right answers, he would use the latter glyph on her.

With a shudder, both of them were placed on her head; the truth glyph staying put but the other was one roaming her body at random, preventing her from bracing herself from the oncoming pain.

“What is your name.” He seemed to tower over her, causing her weak legs to tremble even more than they already were.

She was able to see her own battered and bruised face in the reflection of his armour and eyes along with the glyph on her head, dirt clinging to her unwashed coat with her mane hanging limply down her side. She barely noticed that it didn’t have her stars in it, more disturbed of how long it was- oh. She quickly put together why it was so long with what Daily Run had planned to do to her and realized that a long mane meant they had an easier way of pulling her in if she tried to run or resist.

“Luna Nyx Selene,” she answered quickly, not wishing to risk add Princess if she was a prisoner, not if this Empress was who she thought it was. She bit her lip, bracing herself for any incoming pain but keeping an eye on the glyph that was on her head.

It glowed green. Truth. But what was more fascinating was the surprised look on the stallion’s face.

A picture might tell a tale of a thousand words, but this one told her something greatly important in a few short words. His surprised face told her that this world’s Luna was just as defiant as she was, and acting against the norm would be the true first step in freeing her sister and the Bearers of Harmony.

“Tha- Why didn’t yo-” He shook his head, returning his glare at her again. “What is my name,” he ordered again, eyes narrowing at her.

“G- General Shining Armor-” she was able to see the glyph on her head flash red before the pain erupted near her left hind leg. She let out a shriek of pain, tears flowing from her face as the electricity raced through her body. Her weakened legs were unable to hold her upright, collapsing under her and sending her face into the ground.

But just as the pain began, it stopped. Thankfully, as Luna was sure a second longer and she would have soiled herself, something she not done since she was a little foal.

“My name is Scorching Armour,” his voice seemed oddly gentle now, a hint of compassion. Maybe her plan was work- “I changed it the day you killed her!” he snapped out, the venom roaring back as well as the feel of his magic at her throat, forcing her onto her hooves again.

Fear went through her. She couldn’t be dead, or everything would be lost. She had to be alive! “N- not Twi-” She only managed to get those words out before he slammed her against the tree again, her wing joints nearly crushed.

“How do you know her!” His face was inches from her own, pure rage just barely restrained now. “Are you planning anything to harm m-”

“Never!” she snapped before she could stop herself. “I would never harm her!”

He glanced upwards, towards the glyph. Luna briefly wondered if this would count that one random dream she’d had where Twilight was both Celestia’s only sister and lover while she was a simple maid being forced to watch them have sex only to be jealous of the attention Celestia was giving Twilight.

She would kill Discord for suggesting she have bananas and whipped cream before sleeping if it did.

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, this is not Evil... This is Pure Note... Evil's internet was going south so he trusted me to post this chapter in his stead. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter and wish Evil's internet a quick recovery.

Comments

[Evilhumour]

5001979 Thank you for this and I will do my best to address each of your questions.

The depth of the demon's potential power will be further developed as we go on, but you are right. The opening scene can and should be expanded upon. My main thought was to simply set up the scene but I can see a few things I can add now.

The same above applies to this question so I will not repeat myself.

The demon, I think I have a few ideas to improve on here, but for Discord portion, the demon was caught off guard as well as attacked by something far more powerful than it.

Thank you for this, and I hope the next few chapters explain a bit more.

[Evilhumour]

5001979 I did a simple rewrite of it, the first chapter. Care to look if it explains things better?

[Evilhumour]

5003532 I see, and that does make a lot of sense.

I know, I know. Have any suggestions for this story?

[Copper Springs]

Interesting, interesting. I do love alternate realities where characters personalities are turned on their heads. I like that it's a dream here because of how harsh it is. I don't like seeing characters I know and love go through so much torture, so knowing it's not real helps. Not sure I could read it if it were actually an alternate reality. I'm guessing that the 'her' Schortching Armor is referring to is Cadence.

[Evilhumour]

7872063 I will need to come back to this and you have good guesses, my friend