Celestia’s Prophet
Part 2: Who is "Flower Power"?
The creature looked up when a section of stone slid inward, and then to one side. There was more than one way into her cell, but the newly revealed section was something of a ‘control area.’ Getting up with a sigh, it walked slowly into the room and peered around. Inside was a bountiful meal of salad and fruits, a steaming bath, and a standing guard. They stared at each other for a time, until the creature finally spoke. “You’re a new face. You new here?”
“Just transferred,” he said, eyeing her up and down. Sure enough, the beast was twice his height, with a screaming scarlet mane and piercing blue-green eyes.
“Well take it all in, I suppose,” it gestured to itself. “The mysterious monster of Canterlot’s deepest dungeons.”
“…you don’t seem so scary,” he said after a moment. The single chevron on either of his shoulders said he was a private-first-class. Probably still a bit wet behind the ears. He cocked his head and checked the thick steel door behind him, as though to make sure it was padlocked shut still. “The door is reinforced and locked from the outside. I have no key and no weapons to steal.”
“You and every other pony I meet in this room,” it mumbled, wandering over to the steaming bath. “What’s your name?” it asked, sinking into it with a sigh. They stared at one another for a time and it crossed its arms over its rounded mammaries. “…Are you going to watch me bathe?” she smirked coyly, looking at him sideways.
The stallion turned, for the creature was decidedly female, so she might have some inkling of privacy. “I’m Private First Class Armor Heart, of her Majesty Princess Celestia’s standing corps of Canterlot Palace Guards.”
“Fancy,” she chuckled, splashing about a little. He listened to her scrub for a time. “Do I look like a monster to you, my little pony?” she asked softly.
“That’s not for me to say,” he said, shifting his hooves a little.
"What do I look like, then?"
"Er... judging by your teats, I'd say a mammal."
She set into a series of loud barking guffaws, slapping the water with her palms a few times. “A mammal! Very good! I see!” she laughed. She hummed aloud, mood lightened as she bathed and shook her head at his stark and innocent reply. After ten or so minutes the steaming water began to cool and she got out, feeling rather refreshed. Dangling a drying cloth about her waist and another around her shoulders, she wrapped her mane as well. Walking daintily, she dripped all over him and he startled around. “Sorry. I don’t make much sound with no shoes.” She reached and rubbed the top of his muzzle, from between his eyes to the tip of his nose.
Armor Heart allowed the petting. He’d been ordered to. Even though her hand was wet and a little wrinkly. “Er,” he said. “S’okay, I suppose.” He cantered around her so she'd let go. “Are you hungry, then?” He'd been told to be conversational, friendly, and approachable. No matter how scary she looked or what she said.
“I don’t get much excersize, hard to be hungry much anymore,” she said wistfully. Sitting at the one-pony table she fiddled with her food for a bit. After a few bites, she leaned as though bored on one elbow. “So, just out of curiosity, what did they tell you I was?” she crunched noisily on her crutons. “I’m always interested to hear what they’re trying to classify me as.”
“Er, I wasn’t briefed on that much detail.” said Armor Heart, looking stiffly to one side.
“What if I told you I made you?” she said cryptically, leaning with her fork and taking another huge bite.
“I’d say my father had some explaining to do,” the young soldier said without thinking.
The red-maned monster threw her head back and laughed again, shooting a cruton across the table and to the floor. She covered her mouth quickly, still giggling, “Sorry, sorry! That’s cute, that’s cute.” She nodded to herself. “You’re a funny one, what’s your cutie mark? Show me your butt. Er, flank.” She amended, making a turn-around motion with her fork. Not seeing the harm, he turned profile to show her the heart with an iron cross across it, studded with divets. Pretty literal, considering his name. “Ah, you’re simpler than most.” She nodded, crunch-crunch-crunching on a sliced apple.
“I’m not simple!” he said, his temper flaring a little.
“It’s not a bad thing. A lot of early cutie marks were symbolic. Or worse yet, had no meaning at all. Only recently with your generation did they start becoming so literal. Must be all the individual, original characters popping out of the woodwork.” She wiped her mouth when she was done, standing. He looked up at her as she loomed over him. He didn’t understand her cryptic-speak, so he said nothing.
“So, let’s have a look at you,” she said, peering into his face. His ears turned back. She knelt down on her huge, pillar-like legs until they were eye to eye. “Hrm,” she murmured, pawing at his mane and feeling his ears. The soldier steeled himself, but couldn’t help the light purr gurgling in his throat. The pads of her fingers were quite soft, they felt nice when they rubbed circles on the insides of his ears. A glitter worked its way across the creatures eyes. “Well, you’re handsome enough. I can see why she likes you.”
“Who?” Armor Heart said, blinking curiously.
“Not too bright though. That might be part of the attraction,” she smirked a little, shaking her head. “Like a big dumb puppy, sometimes, you.” She stood again, shrugging.
“I’m not dumb!” he said.
“Are so. Dumb as a rock.”
“I… I…” his poor academic life came rushing back to greet him. Choosing the military. Muscle could make up for what brain could not. He was disciplined, methodical… just not very book-learned. It kept him from other jobs, and it would more than likely keep him from command as well. He hung his head a little. “How did you know?” he asked, following her back into the main cell area.
“I know everything about Equestria. Well, all the important stuff anyway.” She flopped onto her cot, scrubbing at her red mane for a long time. He sat on his haunches a few feet away. She then beckoned, and he came closer so she could run one of her ghostly pale hands down his back. Like he was a great big dog or something. He felt quite small next to her, to tell the truth. She sighed, letting go of him at last.
“…you don’t seem like a monster to me, Miss,” he said after a long time, looking over at her. “How come the Princess has you locked in here? You’re so slender and weak, what threat are you?” he eyed her up and down some.
“Because I know things,” she said softly, her gay smile fading a bit, running a brush through her mane over and over. “Things I can’t possibly know, in her eyes. Princess Celestia is afraid I might fall into the wrong hands, eh, hooves, and be a threat to national security.” Leaning, she playfully brushed his mane a couple of times.
“Like what?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of him at last. She leaned to whisper in his ear, a devilish smile on her crimson lips. Suddenly a bell sounded, and the guard flinched away. That was the signal to report back. “Er, I have to go,” he told her.
“Darn,” she said a little acidly, sitting upright. “Well, if I never see you again, be happy, my little pony.” She rushed a fast hand gracefully through his mane and withers. He shuddered a little, but offered a smile. She stood, dropping all her towels on his back. Going to the little writing desk she had, she put a band around her mane to hold it out of her face. She offered a miserable-looking smile, raising her hand just slightly to wiggle her fingers in a good-bye gesture.
Armor Heart stood in the bath-slash-eating room, then watched the section of wall slide closed. He felt… sorry for her. When the cell was sealed and all the gears and weights had slid back into place, the reinforced door clanged open. “Well done, Armor Heart,” a dark blue unicorn came in to tell him. A few other ponies rushed about to collect the food, tub, and other things strewn about the room.
“Er, Yessir, General Light, sir,” he said, straightening and saluting.
General Night Light leaned with authority, his horn lighting up. There was a flash not unlike a camera. Armor Heart went still, his tongue hanging out and his eyes derping in different directions. Little dots of light hung around his head. “Very well done indeed, for crown and country,” Night Light came forward and started leading the young soldier along by his shoulder.
“Who… what… what did I do, again?” Armor Heart was slowly starting to be able to see colors again. “Was I on a mission?” he said, cocking his head and screwing up his eyes. “It’s so dark…” he murmured, squinting back and forth as they swept up the tunnels.
“Your mission was highly classified, Private, I had to wipe it from your memory for your own safety,” General Night Light said. “All I can tell you is that everypony is safe for another day because of your bravery.”
“Everypony? Really?” the young soldier said, blink-blinking until his vision finally returned. “Wow, that’s good!” he smiled enthusiastically. “Thanks for trusting me with the important mission, sir! Er… whatever it was!”
“Get yourself checked out in the medical wing, shower, then report back to your usual activities.” The General stopped when they were out of the dungeon area and above ground again. “Off you go.”
“Sir yes, sir.” He turned to be off, but bumped right into a maid in his rush. “Oof!” they tumbled over each other.
“Oh! Armor Heart it’s you!” the squeaky-voiced made said, red-faced and flailing to turn-upright again. “I-I-I’m so sorry!” she finally got back to her hooves while he did the same, scrubbing at his face to make sure he was okay.
“It’s okay…” he said. They locked eyes for a moment. Well, wasn’t she a pretty face? He blushed for a moment. “Er, Miss…?”
“Flower Power. I set the vases and inside plants around the palace.” She said, folding one hoof over another in a nervous, blushy-faced, nervous-filly expression.
Sensing this, Armor Heart coughed twice and stepped back a bit. “Are you alright then…?” he trailed off, quite enchanted by her freckles and tan fur.
“Oh yes, I’m fine… I’m… fine…” she said, never taking her eyes off him.
“Herm-HERHM?” General Night Light said, still standing right where he was moments ago. Both ponies fled in opposite directions, flushed and panicking. His not-so-carefully masked scowl deepened when they were both gone. He would have to report this to the Princess. He was in charge of security, and he’d never heard of this so called ‘Flower Power’ mare before. He’d memorized every staff member, kitchen dishwasher, and every guard in the palace. He knew all the names and faces, it was his job. There was no Flower Power on that list in his encyclopedic head. Oh no doubt she’d have papers, a detailed history, a good work ethic and so on and so forth, but… Celestia would want to know that another pony had just popped into existence. The monster in the dungeons was at it again.
5705292 Relative.
...oh.
Right. So it's Faust, then?
Whelp. This just got very interesting. Pretty obvious who she is now.
...You. Have. FREAKING. GOD. IN. YOUR. DUNGEON.
ARE YOU SUICIDAL?!??!?! You have the creator of the g4 universe, in your dungeon, Celestia! THAT'S BEYOND STUPID!
Oh it's going to bite her in the ass in the end.
Wow... Celestia has imprisoned her Creator. That's pretty heavy.
i am liking this more than Machinations In The Dark as it seems a little more believable in that the human does not have as massive of powers, and Celestia at least seems to be more in character with the show. i look forward to this updating, and to see how the story progresses.
Oh, how interesting. Either you put Faust into the story or the author.
So she has Faust imprisoned down there. Kinda messed up, like locking your own mother away for being who they are...
So, Lauren Faust has somehow ended up in Equestria, and is able to create life as she wants it. No wonder the princess fears her. Having uncanny knowledge of their lives and being able to make life out of nothing is some crazy powers. It does make me wonder how this all started. Did she meet Celestia, and during their conversation she maybe created and then unmade a pony infront of her, thus causing Celestia to throw her into jail out of fear? Then again, Celestia is trying to make Lauren's stay as pleasant as possible. But, as we know it, a golden cage is still a cage.
Anyway, this is a story that I am going to be following. Will be interesting to see where you are taking this.
Author, you flooded my room.
Well... The ability to create ponies with histories and probably family... I guess Lauren is even more powerful than the other guy. This raises a whole lot of questions, such as why Lauren is still caught. Plot convenience, obviously, but why not just make a Mary Sue alicorn whose sole purpose is to break her out of jail? Or really a million other ways she can pull it off with that power. She's like that doofus, Lord Second; the power to do anything, except win without a fight because that would be boring.
Is this Faust? That would explain her say my little pony and the random popping up of ponies.
so there are two monsters now or was I just reading the first chapter thinking this one was also male?
That was sad.
He just forgot everything.
;-;
They won't all do flower arrangements, of course. Keep her there long enough, and they'll probably make Sombra look like George Washington.
Or maybe... Hmmm... Empire appearing out of the blue, after a 'thousand year banishment'... Perhaps it DOES get to that point. Oh Celestia, teh coward, teh foooool!
i believe faust has found way to use her art supplies to create life, who knows what else she could make in order to get herself free
5705443 my guess is she is just becoming aware that she has powers, how they work and their limits. i think she needs those art supplies to use em as i said on the previous post
5705517 Maybe it's against the unwritten rules of a story? Or maybe she is force to stay there by some higher power rules?
^ Mmm... powers? Haven't got there yet... The identity of the prisoner makes sense... although I've haven't gotten there either...
Although I think she didn't actually plan out most of the history... she is actually just a precog reality warper... 'cause she wouldn't say "You really like those thousand year punishments, don't you..." if she had any hand in it... She would be attributing it to herself instead...
I wonder how many chapters this will be...
Typo: "excersize"
I think... If she has the power to create life, it must follow the internal consistencies of the show. She's... sort of the inverse Discord, she can't just make things happen, she can only set things in motion.
Oh boy, speaking of Discord. "Hey D! Tia has your mom locked in a dungeon!"
If she can "imagine" new ponies into existence, what's stopping her from "imagining" a great big hole in the wall of the cell? Or does she actually have a reason for wanting to stay?
5705639
Cause that would be boring?
Ooh! Things are getting interesting...
I can somewhat understand why she'd do it, but Celestia's behavior is still vile. I'd read it, if the whole thing was complete, but as is it just pisses me off without resolution in sight.
5704552 you are either lying of damn unlucky. Either way, you should continue cus I like what I see.
I also think she can't just "write herself an escape" or create Jailbreak-Pony because she is constrained by her prior creations. That is, she already created the universe of the show, and has to work inside the box, so to speak. If true, this raises a related question: is she constrained only by what was "canon" as of when she entered this world, or does every new change also become a constraint? (I.e. she can't unmake Flower Power, and I suspect this is true.)
reality manipulation?
Moar already? It tamed me for now, but I shall be back at midnight.
so....
Fast is here.
I like.
So Celestia imprisoned God? She's screwed.
*Reads bio and tags*
GEE. WHERE HAVE I SEEN THIS BEFORE.
Imma be honest, I've read a fic that is very similar to this and was here awhile before this was released so I was about to write it of as a clone fic. And then she turned into Lauren Faust and I thought to myself "well, isn't this interesting?" I apologize for judging after one chapter and look forward to seeing where you take this
5706140 I would like to know the name of this previous fic if you dont mind?
I'm kind of let down by the implied Faust. Also she didn't really work on much past S1 Hell last she saw Canterlot wedding Cadence was a unicorn.
BUT aside from that, I like how the prisoner doesn't just know everything, she can create ponies whole cloth from nothing. That also makes her wedding prophesy not so much a prophesy but an act of revenge.
I'm interested in seeing more of this.
5706175
It's called Machinations in the Dark there are very similar qualities but it is more underling tones, tugging of invisible strings, and a heck of a lot more philosophical. Not to speak down on this fic, I'm really looking forward to seeing where this is going it's just that Machinations takes it in a different direction.
5706208
Yeah, it's an interesting twist that allows her to predict things not just because she was involved in the creation of the show but also because she can shape it
I'm hoping this is more annoyed and frustrated Faust than malevolent.
Wait... Night Light? *Facedesks* Is the general responsible for the Goddess in the dungeon Twilights Father?!
Faust And Self-Fulfilling* Prophecies
*or not ;)
--
Suggestion:
crouton
5706270 Now here's the good one for you. Does it extend both ways in time?
First chapter she commented on Celestia leaving the opera early. Did Celestia leave early or was she made to leave early?
For that matter does she visit because she wants to or because the Prophet wants her to? Free will has just been made incredibly less clear.
O_0
Oh my.
They seem to have really thorough security though.
5706263 Thanks mate.
5706413
A metaphysical existence both influencing the world around itself and simultaneously being influenced by it on a sub-conscious level
Oh God.
She's creating OCs.
She's histories greatest monster.
I got really confused because the prisoner was called "He" in the 1st chapter so I thought it had switched perspectives to another person entirely.
5706863 I thought I was pretty careful to call the monster "it", in the first chapter. Did I miss a spot in my editing?
Well that caught me off guard and further increased my interest. For almost every HiE story, it's always a guy and that gets boring.
5706863
I've reread the entire thing and only found 'it'. I think it's cause we assume it's a 'he'.
5706963 Maybe I was miss reading the scene at the end with the guard but at some point I thought I saw a HE early in enough for me to relate this story to another of the same basic idea about a human being kept for knowledge.