Abandon All Subtlety, Ye Who Enter Here
A few days later, the nine of us were back in my house preparing to fight the Sirens one last time. I had wanted to take Rapids back to Equestria to get some medical attention, but she had refused. Maybe loyalty is just a pegasus thing. We had gotten her a quick checkup with Nurse Redheart, though. True to our guesses, she had a decent concussion. We talked and if we hadn't solved the siren issue by that evening, she'd be heading back to Equestria to get complete medical treatment. At least her bruises were healing up nicely, though. Her face was already looking a lot better.
"Okay, I really want to stop the sirens, but don't you think this is going a bit too far?" Rainbow Dash said uneasily as we prepared.
I shook my head. "Nopedy nopedy nope. They attacked one of my most valuable soldiers. It's like I told Sunset: I haven't been taking them seriously, but that stops now."
Rainbow and Applejack exchanged an uneasy look as I pulled a black hoodie over my head. "Well, uh, Ah can get that, Princess Antares, but Ah don't think this is gonna end very well."
"Oh trust me, it would be way worse if I was doing this in the world I originally come from." I picked up Blaze's guitar case and slung it over my shoulder. "But they've fed off of an alicorn and one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria. It's going to take a lot to stop them, and I honestly can't see any other way to do it quickly." I nodded to Blaze, who had just walked up with Rapids's guitar case in his hands. "Besides, I don't think they're going to split up any time soon. We only have a little bit before they activate their ultimate plan, if I had to guess."
"I suppose you're right," Rarity said, leaning against her car and crossing her arms. "Though I question why you need to use such methods to stop them. You, ah, might not be allowed back on campus once you have sprung your trap."
I shrugged while Blaze stopped beside me and put on the black hoodie I'd gotten for him. "Yeah, possibly. But if I know the Sirens, they've put the rest of the school and all of the teachers under their spell again. The ends might justify the means here."
"Maybe," Applejack muttered. "It sounds like a dark road to me."
"Yeah, well, they pissed me off," I grumbled, checking the contents of the guitar case Blaze brought one more time. "If I'd just started with this then we'd all be home right now instead of fighting off a trio of frankly dangerous beings. Heck, if I'd started like this, they wouldn't have been this dangerous to begin with! It's my fault, thus I have to end it quickly."
The Mane Five exchanged an uneasy glance. I huffed and grabbed a pair of black gloves out of a plastic bag, tossing them to Blaze. "You don't need to help me out. Plausible deniability and all that, but we can all agree that this needs to end sooner rather than later."
"Yeah, I guess," Pinkie said. "Just don't do anything too bad, okay? I want to throw an awesome 'yay we beat the Sirens' party, but if this goes too far, I'm not gonna want to!"
"Fair enough." I turned my attention to Sunset, who was holding a black hoodie of her own. I pulled another pair of black gloves out of the bag and offered it to her. "Sunset? You in?"
Sunset stared at the mask for a few seconds. Naturally she wanted to beat the sirens as much as I did, but I did have to admit that I was asking a lot of them. I don't think Celestia ever trained her to do this kind of stuff. I guess the knowledge that if we lost here they'd be going after Equestria next won her over in the end, though, because she slowly nodded and took the gloves from me.
"Yeah, I'm in."
"Good, then let's not waste any time here. The sooner we solve this, the sooner we can all go home."
And right back to figuring out a war, but hey, why think about that right now?
* * * *
True to our guesses, the sirens had used the magic they'd gained from Sunset and I to re-brainwash the entirety of Canterlot High. They had the foresight to make it so that the students acted normally when not in school, but once they arrived at eight in the morning, it was feeding time. My initial guess that they were going to just gain complete control of the student body at the final performance of the Battle of the Bands turned out to only be partially true. If the fliers I'd seen around town were any indication, they wanted to pack as many people in that amphitheater that they could. From there it would be simple to start expanding their influence. I honestly expected them to put a performance on the internet.
Maybe they needed to perform live for their magic to have any effect. Either way, it was a race against the clock. The one thing on our side was that they didn't seem to know where the portal between this world and Equestria was yet, but if they got powerful enough, I didn't expect to hold that card for too long.
So that's why I'd gathered up a good means of defeating them. I don't know why I didn't just do it this way in the first place! If this didn't work, I'd be in real trouble. They'd doubtlessly grown a lot more powerful from feeding off of an alicorn. If they managed to take over this world, Equestria would be next, and I wasn't totally sure how to stop them.
Maybe... maybe a Nightma--
No. No, I'd never resort to that. Just... never mind.
We pulled up to the school at around ten in the morning. Reconnaissance by Pinkie Pie revealed that the sirens tended to stay around the gym, where they could pack the most students into for feeding time. As far as we knew, that's where they'd be.
I got out of Applejack's truck with Blaze and Rapids while Sunset, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rainbow got out of Rarity's newly repaired car. I nodded to each of them as they gathered around me.
"Ladies and Blaze, we're probably about to cross a line here, and not like the kind I crossed when I put a stripper pole in a school. This is... something different. If any of you want to back out now, there's no shame in that. Sunset, Blaze, Rapids and I will be doing most of the heavy lifting here, but if you don't want to be involved at all, that's okay." I waited for any one of them to respond, but none of them did. I nodded and slung the guitar case over my shoulder. "Very well. You all have your Walkie-Talkies?" The group nodded at me. "Good. Pinkie and Fluttershy, start circling the perimeter of the school. Let us know if you see anyone coming in or out."
"Roger, Princess Antares!" Pinkie said, snapping off a crisp salute.
"Applejack and Rainbow, you have the duct tape and the music?"
"Sure do," Rainbow said, twirling the roll of tape on a finger.
"Good. If my guess is correct, Principal Celestia will be in her office. Tie her up and de-brainwash her. If you can get Luna too, even better. If we don't succeed, we need someone who knows what's happening on our side. Rarity, you stay here and get ready to run into the portal if this doesn't work. Go as fast as you can to Princess Celestia. Tell her Princess Antares sent you. Code word 'face punch.'"
"Face punch," Rarity repeated. "Very well. Of course, this will all be moot, correct? You're going to stop them."
I shot her a confident smile. "Oh yeah, totally." I'd better. "Okay, let's do one last radio check, then do this thing."
* * * *
Thankfully the front doors to the school weren't locked. If they were, I could have gotten us in, but that might have revealed our plan a little too early. I held the door open for Blaze, Rapids, Applejack, Rainbow and Sunset, following them in once they were inside. Surprisingly enough, the entrance room was completely empty. I made eye contact with each of my cohorts, pointed down the right hallway, then nodded. They each nodded back and allowed me to take point. If I remember correctly, the right hall was the closest way to the gym, where the sirens should be. Applejack and Rainbow Dash took the first right that we came across to finish their mission to get Celestia. The rest of us took a left, and I grimaced when I saw the first of the students. They shuffled around with angry expressions on their face like pissed-off zombies. I tightened my grip on the guitar case strap and pulled it closer to me. I didn't want to see what would happen if I accidentally bumped into one. I wanted to keep the Sirens' attention off of us as long as we could. They'd find us in a few minutes anyway, but those minutes could be the key between success and failure.
As we walked closer to the gym, the population of students became denser, making them harder to maneuver around. It didn't help that they kept moving around. An opening between them could disappear before I could go through it. I swore and turned back to my group.
"I'd rather not run into any of them. I can sense the magic in the air. If we bump into one of them, we could cause a riot, and they'd know we were here before we could get to them," I said quietly. "I'd rather not have a hundred pissed-off high schoolers in my way, you know? For one thing, they could stop us, allowing the Sirens to either attack or get away. If they decide to attack, then they can feed off the anger and fight us that way. I'd rather not do that."
"So what do we do?" Blaze whispered.
"We could use one of the backstage entrances," Sunset suggested. Even if there are students there, I don't think there are going to be as many."
"Good plan," I replied. "You lead the way."
Sunset nodded and took point. She led us down one of the side hallways and to a metal door behind the stage. I twisted the handle and grimaced when it didn't turn all the way.
"Locked," I grumbled. "Shoot. Now what?"
"Here, let me." Sunset pulled a hairpin out of her hair and knelt down in front of the lock. I frowned and tilted my head
"You know how to pick locks?"
Sunset shrugged. "You gotta learn some stuff if you're going to spend some time living in the school. Everything gets locked up at night."
"Where did you actually sleep?" Rapids asked.
"Usually one of the storage rooms." The door clicked open, triggering a grin from Sunset. "This is one of the easier ones. You would not believe how long it took me to figure out Principal Celestia's office."
Guess the school doesn't have security cameras, which would make sense, since the security footage of what's going on right now would ruin everything for the sirens.
At any rate, we had our way in. Sunset stepped aside to let me take point again. I partially unzipped the guitar case and checked the contents. Everything looked good. Now or never.
"Okay, Blaze, Rapids, you're with me. Sunset, you stay behind the curtain." Sunset gave me a hurt look, but I raised a hand to forestall her comments. "Once this goes down, they're going to want to run. If they run behind the curtain, you need to be there to stop them. We're not going to let a single one get away."
Sunset slowly nodded and took her place behind the curtain. She opened up her case and pulled out a thick metal pipe. Yeah, she'd do some significant damage with that. Even if she couldn't completely knock them out, she'd stop them long enough for me to finish them off. I took a deep breath and beckoned Blaze and Rapids onward. Now or never.
I moved onstage where, as expected, the Sirens sat on plush chairs. They were vocalizing and feeding off of the wall-to-wall students and faculty in the gym. A massive green cloud flowed from the crowd and into each of their gems. I really didn't want to think about how powerful they were getting. If we lost here...
Blaze, Rapids and I stopped about ten feet away from the Dazzlings. I reached into my bag and cleared my throat. They didn't respond. Guess they didn't hear me. I sighed and more loudly cleared my throat, throwing in some stomping on the stage for good measure. Adagio noticed and looked in my direction. When she saw it was me, she grinned and motioned for her underlings to stop singing.
"Well, well, well," she purred, rising from her seat to stand opposite me. "What have we here? Have you come to give yourself up to me completely? Or perhaps you have some plan to stop us?"
"The latter." I motioned to the guitar cases each of us had. "We've come to challenge you to one last musical showcase. Winner takes all. Loser gives up all claim to this world."
The Sirens all burst out into laughter, and even I cracked a bit of a smirk at that one.
"Oh that is just too rich!" Adagio crowed. "A musical showcase for the fate of this world? Now I've seen everything!"
"I really doubt it."
"Perhaps." Adagio grinned at me like a spider sizing up a particularly juicy fly struggling in its web. "But I'll humor you. As we're the one with the advantage, we'll set the rules here." Adagio motioned out to the crowd of brainwashed students. "You have one chance to remove our influence. If you can't remove it, we win, and you'll join them. If you remove our influence, but we take them over again, we win, and you'll join them. If you can only remove our influence from half of them--"
"You win, I get it," I said with a roll of my eyes.
"You're not quite as dumb as you look," Adagio chuckled. "So do you wish some time to prepare, or do you want to start now?"
"Oh, no time like the present," I said, kneeling down and completely unzipping my guitar case. "I'll only need to play three notes on my guitar to beat you three forever."
The Sirens burst out laughing one more time. "Three notes?" Aria cackled.
"No way!" Sonata said.
"Three notes from your guitar? That's all you have the guts to do?" Adagio said.
"Yeah, my guitar." I frowned and looked up at them. "Oh, wait, did I say guitar?" I pulled out my "instrument" and stood up straight, pointing it right at them. "I actually meant twelve gauge shotgun."
That shut them up.
Maybe it's because they'd never seen a shotgun up close, but they didn't immediately start running. Either that or they just froze. Didn't matter to me. I merely pointed it at Adagio's gem and fired.
So the gems are powerful enough that mere scissors didn't break them. They're powerful enough that not even a knife could do it. A direct, point-blank hit from a twelve gauge shotgun is a different matter entirely. A deafening blast echoed throughout the gym as Adagio's gem completely shattered, sending her flying back. I guess there was enough magic left in her to prevent me from blowing her head clean off, but that did nothing to help with the gem. I ignored the ringing in my ears as I turned the gun on Sonata.
"One."
I pulled the trigger, and another blast rang out. In hindsight, I really should have packed earplugs. I think the only reason I wasn't in worse shape was because of some lingering alicorn magic. It didn't matter to me at the moment. What did matter was Sonata's gem blowing up, which sent her flying back with Adagio.
"Two."
Seeing her fellow sirens taken out must have re-booted Aria's brain, because she instantly turned tail and ran as fast as she could.
"Sunset, to the left!" I cried out.
"What? What did you say?" Sunset yelled back. "Hold on, I just... Celestia that was loud!"
"SUNSET, TO THE LEFT!"
"OH!"
Just as Aria reached the curtain, Sunset popped out and swung her pipe as hard as she could right at Aria's head. The three of us flinched back when we heard the sound of the pipe smacking into Aria's skull. Immortal siren or no, that had to hurt. She instantly dropped to the floor. I rushed over to her and rolled her on her back. She wasn't unconscious, just dazed.
"Blaze, Rapids, secure the other two."
"Got it, Princess Antares." Blaze unzipped his guitar case and took out a roll of duct tape. He paused as he took it out and wiggled a finger in his ear. "Mawp. Maawp." He shook his head. "I'm never going to hear right again, am I?"
"You'll be fine," I said, pointing the shotgun directly at Aria's gem. I slowly curved my finger around the trigger and prepared to fire, but stopped when Aria cried out.
"STOP!" She raised her hands. "I give up! I surrender!"
"Oh really now?" I said, not moving the gun an inch. "And why should I believe that?"
"What can I really do?" she pointed out. "Just tie me up again and take me back to Equestria for a trial!"
"A trial? Hmm." I slid my finger off of the trigger. "And do you know what the end result of that trial would be?" Aria fearfully shook her head, glancing over at Adagio and Sonata as Blaze and Rapids taped them up. "As an Equestrian princess I feel fairly confident in saying this. I think the end result will be Tartarus. Tartarus, banishment to some forsaken rock, turned to stone, something like that. None of them are really appealing options. You see, even though you're not as dangerous without the other two, you could still do some damage. We can't risk that. Starswirl should have known that banishing you here wasn't a long-term solution. Wouldn't be the first time I had to fix something he didn't understand completely."
"I don't wanna go to Tartarus!" Aria moaned. She looked back at Adagio and Sonata. "What about them?"
"What about them? We'll be taking them back to Equestria to stand trial as well."
"But... Tartarus?" Aria whispered. "They're mortal now. Without our gems... we're just regular people."
I raised an eyebrow at that, but, in hindsight, I shouldn't have been totally surprised. Heck, I didn't know for sure if breaking their gems would kill them or not. I guess it did, just not right away.
"We'll take that into account," I replied. "You're right: Tartarus is no place for mortals. We'll go much easier on them, then. Losing one's immortality is a big punishment already." My gaze trailed down to Aria's gem. "Which leaves the question of what to do with you. You can't keep the gem, Aria. I'm sorry, but that's the way it has to be."
"But... I don't wanna die!" Aria grasped her gem as if to shield it from me.
"We've all gotta."
Aria glared at me and scooted back. "Oh don't give me that! You're a freaking alicorn! You still have your immortality!"
"Yeah, I do." I set the shotgun down out of Aria's reach and knelt down in front of her. "But I'm still gonna die someday. Maybe tomorrow, maybe a billion years from now. I'm still gonna die." I pulled my shirt down just enough to reveal the large scar on my chest where Sinosis had hit me with a Nightmare Weapon. Aria's eyes widened, and even Sunset's jaw dropped. "Maybe I should already be dead."
Aria's jaw wobbled, and she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I can't. I can't do this."
"Yeah, you can, and you're going to have to. There's no way to stop it now. You lost. I know that hurts. Believe me. But now you can live a life on your own terms. Not one dictated by a gem that gave you nothing but constant hunger in return for immortality. I'm getting that gem off of you one way or the other. If you're truly repentant, if you truly want a second shot, then Celestia will take that into account. She loves her second chances."
"Yeah, she really does," Sunset said quietly. She sat down next to Aria and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. Aria whimpered, then completely burst into tears. She threw her arms around Sunset's waist and sobbed into her chest, allowing Sunset to pull her into a hug. Sunset gently stroked Aria's hair and looked up at me. "I'll take care of them. Celestia knows I've been where they are now."
"Indeed?" I raised an eyebrow and turned to Blaze and Rapids, who had finished taping up the other two and now watched us in interest. Blaze tapped his jaw in thought for a few seconds, then slowly nodded to me. Rapids grimaced and glared at Aria, but a nudge from Blaze seemed to change her mind. She huffed, but nodded in approval as well.
Well, who am I to argue with that?
"Alright," I said. "I'll have to confirm it with Celestia first, but if I know her, she won't say no. We can hash out the details later. Right now..." I nudged Aria's shoulder. "I need the gem. Don't worry, I'm not going to break it in front of you."
Aria shuddered and tightened her grip on Sunset. Sunset leaned down and whispered something in Aria's ear. Aria sniffled and wiped her eyes, but slowly nodded after a few more moments. She reached behind her neck and removed the necklace. She extended her arm and offered it to me without making eye contact. I reached out and grabbed it, but Aria held tight. Sunset whispered "it's okay" in her ear, and Aria uncurled her fingers allowing me to take the gem. Once I had it in my possession, I stood up and shoved it in one of the pockets of my guitar case. A glance out into the crowd of students revealed that their green eyes had reverted back, and now they were all looking at each other in confusion. Guess they truly were free.
"Should we tie her up, Princess Antares?" Rapids asked.
I shook my head. "No need. Keep an eye on her, though. They should still have our car. Get them in there so we can get them back to our house."
"Roger," Blaze said. "What will you be doing?"
"I think I have to go apologize for something."
* * * *
After radioing the rest of the group that we'd done it, I made my way to Principal Celestia's office. I reached for the door handle, but hesitated. She wasn't happy when I did it once. Twice? I was really in for it. Gah, even as a princess, I still dreaded the idea of going to the principal's office. Some things never change, I guess.
Nothing else for it. I've been in combat! One measly high school principal who looks and sounds and acts almost exactly like my marefriend should be nothing.
Right?
I took one last deep breath, then opened up the door to the office and walked inside. As I hoped, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had Princess Celestia taped up on her chair. They'd already taken the earbuds out, so that could only help my case. When she saw me come in, Celestia's eyes narrowed, but the tape over her mouth stopped her from saying anything.
"So, we did it," Rainbow Dash said.
"Yep. They won't be a problem anymore." I gulped and walked over to Celestia. "You hear that? We've beaten the Sirens. We've won. They won't brainwash you anymore." I reached up and took the tape off of Celestia's mouth. She didn't begin instantly screaming at me for subjecting her to that music again, so that was a plus. She merely took a deep breath and stared at me, unblinking.
"I hate you."
"I know."
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Fully expected TD to bust out a gun. I guess the Sirens' amulets protected them from stray pellets to the throat, or TD was using slugs and is a really good shot.
7545953 Hard to miss at that range
Ah... Shotguns solve all problems.
That was so bad ass XD
7545956
You still have to take into account spread on buck shot.
Slugs would be safer for this situation.
7545964 Well there's also this line:
TD should keep that shotgun under his pillow back home for emergencies.
7545960 If you can't solve a problem with a shotgun, you just need more ammo.
Nice.
Not gonna lie, I finished.
7546062 As long as you clean up, I guess...
7546009 If more ammo doesn't fix it, get some friends and more shotguns. If you can't hit them at range, make shotgun gauntlets and punch them.
7546009 or a bigger shotgun.
~Crystalline Electrostatic~
18:50_9/7/2016
That was honestly very fun to read. Nice job.
Good thing apparently being magically infused provides a degree of indestructibility, or that would have been very messy...
I believe a certain Sabaton song suits this chapter well.
Sometimes the easiest solution is the best solution. No one ever considers that sometimes powerful magical artifacts aren't indestructible and can be broken if enough force is applied. Take the Alicorn Amulet for example. Instead of breaking it, or at least trying to, they put it into a box and hid it away. Most likely like the last one who had it and it eventually wound up in a pawn shop.
Wow, I so didn't see TD winning the battle like that. The aftermath was powerful, but the ending made me laugh.
Seeing as Sunset apparently lives in the school, and the Sirens will likely need a place to stay now, I think TD might be open to letting for girls do some house sitting for him. Might help on rebuilding those bridges at least a little
That's a very American solution for someone supposedly from Canada...
7546676 Eh, what can I say? He's half American anyway.
7546676 Hears have big teeth, eh?
ah the twelve gauge such beautiful beautiful music
7546815
Indeed, the shotgun orchestra never fails to calm one's soul, does it not?
is the remaining gem still in one piece?
perhaps they could find a way to ration it out? a year or two of good behavior, and they get enough gem power to extend their lives a bit?
Haha dat ending
Ah, nothing beats the tried and true magic of gun.
Just in the best part, Celestia telling Antares that he could do better and that she don't want to see him again.
That ending got a bit intense. Still, the gems needed to be gone.
about time I really like how TD dealt with the Sirens but I think he should have used a double tap.
7548881 Double tap would have flat-out killed someone who wasn't even a threat anymore.
7548917
and making sure it was never a problem ever agene but that is just me.
Me too. She hasn't seen the worst of Rule 34 yet. Just when you've decided you've seen the most bizarre/disgusting/confusing/best/worst idea of art that humanity can come up with and try (and usually laughably fail) to draw/paint/etc, something even more strange comes about less than 48 hours later after declaring online that 'now you've seen everything'.
7545960
images5.fanpop.com/image/answers/2197000/2197821_1322354742905.48res_375_300.jpg
Haha, I had a feeling it was going to be a gun for some reason when they first mentioned the guitar case TD was bringing in the previous chapter(s) XD
7546676 Well, hey, I know a Canadian who's more American than most Americans I know, including myself.
Nice Reference
7551809 Glad someone got that.
TD has been many things. He can now cross school shooter off his list.
Ain't I a stinker?
7552133 He probably doesn't want to think about that, being someone from Colorado.
7546217
Or for a less
practicalshort-sighted weapon I propose this.img1.ak.crunchyroll.com/i/spire1/e48b83793151f3817ce424e71c8645901231197081_full.jpg
Behold Dragon Slayer, more bludgeon than sword, all enchanted by demon blood.
Better then those
fucking idioticless than practical RWBY weapons.And for those
bastardspesky targets at a distance.inetres.com/gp/military/infantry/rifle/M107/M107_0.jpg
It will tear through the wall you're hiding behind.
Canon in 12-Gage Sharp, a classic piece.
Often accompanied by the classical 'Typewriter Overture', by 'Val N. Tine' Featuring 'Massacre.'
It really doesn't speak well for me when I suspect that TD really is from Ontario after all, as opposed to, say, Denver.
7552739 He is from Denver. His mother is from Ontario.
I read this. I have no regret for having read this. I still class this as second to the canon story, and the spinoff it came from as the third place. Major surprise there, indeed.
There doesn't seem to be much reason to go back now. Human Twilight isn't a loose end like Sunset, Sonata, and Aerial Blaze. She doesn't have contact with the other world like they did.
Back to that topic again. Yet another reminder of the less than stellar story this came out of. I wish I had better immersion skills than this.
To tell you the truth, I have a liking for the Tin Woodsman. What is this about, you may ask? He has been rendered immortal for all intents and purposes. He has practically been killed to begin with, and therefore has no life left to end. He's a metal man with no need for sustenance, water, or oxygen. His only physiological need now is to not let his joints rust. while he will admit his lack of feelings, it's not an all consuming desire. The fact that he wants to feel is evidence that while most of his capacity to feel has been taken away, some of it remains. The old man gave some sound advice: "You should count your blessings, cut your losses and consider yourself lucky not to feel anything. Feelings come as a package deal. The unpleasant stuff cannot be separated from the pleasant. You will accept unhappiness along with happiness, or you will have neither." What Tin Woodsman failed to acknowledge was his own timelessness and lack of needs. Two of his friends would age and eventually die off, while he would remain forever present and unaltered. Just a little oil in his joints on occasion. Immortality and invulnerability are a curse to everything that can feel. He would feel moderate pain when his two companions passed, but immense pain when he recovers his emotional capacity. This would also remind him that his days of being aroused are forever over. He cannot be aroused, nor taste anything. Even if he could eat, he could never taste anything. Never feel fine soft flesh again. Becoming such has been nothing but detrimental and miserable here. Not only can those effected still feel, their emotional capacity has been infinitely multiplied/magnified. They can feel more now than they ever could. They'll run out of things to be surprised by. They'll get bored. Unless somebody else gets yanked from their universe and introduces them to new things, seeing generations come and go while being kept forever out of the loop will force them into apathy. And if they were the only ones like that and never saw each other, they would get lonely and cut their wrists with the misplaced hope it would turn tangible results. If they had a chance to either relinquish their capacity to feel anything or their immortality, either one would prevent a whole lot of misery. I would give away my feelings and never look back upon sentimentality again if I were forced to be immortal. Twilight is lucky that she and her sister in law have been spared this reality. What about her niece?
There's actually a couple of twilight Zone episodes dealing with such themes. Nobody has ever been invulnerable in any TZ ep, ever, but there have been two characters who have discovered eternal youth. Walter Jameson in a BC period found an alchemist who gave him a test youth serum. Without knowledge of the formula, he never grew old with the passage of time, and the potion's effect was permanent. The alchemist left him, presuming him to be dead, and they never saw each other again. Queen of the Nile Cleopatra found a mystical scarab beetle who could suck the youth out of young people, and feed it into her. Unlike Walter, the eternal youth effect wasn't permanent, and she would have to keep luring young men and woman into her home to feed on their youth. Both were equally vulnerable to injury and illness as they ever were, and Walter turned to dust when he was shot dead, and immediately began turning into dust after he perished. He was just lucky to have not died from illness or injury for thousands of years before that, same with Cleopatra, who is still at large. They are eternally youthful, but they are not immortal nor invulnerable. They are just that good at not being reckless.
7553824
Oh, I have my ways. Don't always need to be world-ending terrors.
I'm actually curious about this: A man has a strict preference for mares. He is a man and he likes mares. He ends up as one. His preference has not shifted in the least. S/he still wants mares. Is s/he still strait?
7553999 Interesting, innit? Especially when you take into account the forced gender change and the eventual change back.
7551819 still don't know why they do it.