Oliver had no weapons as he made his way into Alexandria. He slowed his ATV as he neared the square, not wanting to seem hostile. Being a doctor often conveyed protection (at least when dealing with an honorable enemy), but taking advantage of that protection required that you make yourself obvious. The enemy couldn’t even be blamed if you didn’t make it clear enough, and they mistook you for a combatant.
So he wore the white jacket he had come in, smeared as it was with ash and smelling like charred flesh. It wasn’t as though they’d had the time to wash it. There were ponies back in the city that might be in critical condition.
That didn’t mean he had come in completely unprepared. Once Joseph had learned of his intention, the unicorn had switched gears completely, working with Alex on a way to mitigate the danger of his mission. Unfortunately a few more hours of flying time hadn’t been enough to invent some magical force-field he could hide on his person or anything like that, but it had been enough for something else.
His first preparation didn’t go on his person at all; it would go in him. The invention was apparently used for locating HPI hardware even when it traveled vast distances or deep underground; a battery-powered radio beacon small enough he had literally swallowed it. Along with a few drugs he had taken to alter his digestion briefly, that would mean at least two days when the others would be able to find him, no matter where the hostile ponies took him.
The second device was a little more mundane; an audio bug he would conceal in the many crevices of his surgery kit. It didn’t have the greatest range, but Joseph had explained that he had put a repeater in the ATV, which would use the- technical magic he neither understood nor cared about.
For Oliver wasn’t terribly concerned with anything other than helping ponies in need. Only when that was done would he be able to consider the ponies of this “cult,” and judge their cause.
After Joseph had given him everything, the others had said their goodbyes. Moriah called him a “fucking idiot,” while Alex just gave him a hug and a strange promise. “It won’t get you the way it got them,” she had whispered into his ear. “You’re one of mine. I promise, I won’t let it keep you.”
He hadn’t known what to say to that, so he just waved and drove away, his electric ATV pulling a little trailer behind it filled with his medical gear.
Thus, he found himself approaching the library.
The public library looked exactly as he remembered it, with one important difference; there were armed ponies standing around it. As he approached, several ponies emerged from inside, not all of them immigrants he knew. He kept his eyes open for Sky or Adrian, but saw no sign of either one.
Ryan met him on the sidewalk. The dark purple unicorn had swapped out a pair of baggy pants for nothing at all. Nor was he the only one who had made similar moves away from human clothing styles. He could see the unicorn's cutie mark now, a broken crown of gold in a style he'd never seen before.
Oliver could see at least a dozen different ponies, and most of them were unfamiliar. They hadn’t been part of the group of immigrants that had made their way into Alexandria. Where the hell had they come from? “I’m here.” He got off the ATV, switching its motor off and leaving it parked right in front of the steps. He moved very slowly. He felt all the eyes on him, though none of the ponies raised weapons. A few, including Ryan himself, were unicorns. Why bother with guns when you had a thaumic projector on your head? “I’m unarmed. Here to help with your injured. Let Adrian go.”
Ryan nodded very slightly, and the gathering of strange ponies moved very subtly to surround him. None got close, but they formed a loose ring, ready to spring if he tried to bolt. Oliver was fast, and he was strong. These ponies would not be so easy to escape from.
Of all the faces he actually recognized, only Carol and Ryan had ditched their clothes. The others, such as bulky Abrams, remained dressed as they had been. Was this his way of telling the Equestrians from the humans? Did it even matter which was which, if one group was helping the other?
“Of course. He is inside, with the injured. Is that large box for healing?”
He nodded. “It’s a field surgery kit.” He made to reach for it, but Abrams stepped up to block the way. There was something strange in his eyes, something Oliver couldn’t quite place. It unnerved him all the same, sent a shiver down his spine.
“No need to carry it, human doctor. My ponies will get it.” He made a gesture, and one of the unicorns he hadn’t seen before lifted the box in her magic, hefting the huge surgery kit as though it weighed nothing at all.
Unicorn levitation was incredible stuff.
“How is their condition?” Oliver followed Ryan as though he had just arrived at his shift in Mercy General. It didn’t matter that he was surrounded by dangerous cultists, and might never escape. It didn’t matter that at least some of them might be from another world. All that mattered was healing.
“They are alive,” Ryan answered, flicking his tail in a shrug. Watching him, Oliver found that all the pretended awkwardness was gone from his appearance. He didn’t stumble anymore, didn’t pretend to trip on his hooves, or let his horn spark with random magic. He moved smoothly, more smoothly than anyone in Alexandria ever had. His sense for health told him that he was observing the movement of a healthy, adult native who had never known another body.
They were in trouble. Not only were they outnumbered, but they were facing down unicorns and pegasi and earth ponies that understood how to be what they were. It was a good thing he didn’t have to concern himself with how to win. Alex would worry about that. He only had to do some healing.
They passed a charred pile on the dry grass, surrounded by stones. It still smelled like charcoal and burning plastic. He didn’t concern himself with that, not yet. There were bigger problems to worry about.
He found Adrian waiting for him in the entryway, in worse condition than Oliver had ever seen him. This said a great deal, since he had operated on his wing with only the preparation of a few medical books and had nearly watched him die under the knife.
Adrian had sweat on his brow, and shook on his hooves as though he were terrified of something that Oliver himself couldn’t see. His heart pounded in his chest. Yet there was no sign of physical distress on him, apart from a few bruises and some feathers out of place. Nothing to explain the look of horror on his face.
Oliver realized with another wave of icy chill to his soul that he recognized that look. It was the same one all these ponies wore, though for most of them it never left their eyes. “There we are.” Ryan stopped, and Oliver stopped beside him. “We’re here. Your friend is safe, just like I promised.” He turned. “Adrian, you are free to go.”
The pegasus looked up towards Ryan, shaking the whole way. It seemed as though he was fighting every part of it, and losing all the while. He shook, and Oliver feared he might bite through his tongue from the violence of it. Eventually his body steadied, enough that Oliver could make out halting words. “I do not want to leave. I would rather stay with you. I would rather serve.”
Ryan raised his eyebrows, in exaggerated surprise. “Really?” He glanced briefly to Oliver, meeting his eyes with a satisfied sneer. “You’re free to go, Adrian. Are you telling me you don’t want to go?”
Adrian lifted one hoof. The gesture was small — only a few millimeters. Oliver wouldn’t have noticed at all if he hadn’t been looking for something like it. He held up the hoof for just a few seconds, then put it back down where it had been resting. “N-No. I… do not… wish to leave. The others have been… deceived. I would rather stay. I would rather help… protect my home… from them.”
Oliver had never seen anything more horrific in his life, and only last night he had watched a good friend's neck break right in front of him. He would've turned and ran right then, heedless for his chances, except that there were still ponies in danger. He had volunteered to come here. He would see it through, regardless of the consequences.
“He will be happy for your service,” Ryan said, then. “I was true to my word, pony. The pony Adrian has been released, he is free to go. We cannot be blamed for the choices he makes.”
Oliver felt revulsion as he watched. Adrian's eyes were helpless; his body plagued by constant twitches and strains. It was like watching a miniature seizure. He knew what it must be; the poor pegasus was prisoner of his own mind. Could the others be as well?
Oliver’s mission changed then, even though he made no sign of it. He had come to treat injured ponies, and that he would do (assuming they even existed). Yet beyond that, there was a far greater sickness to cure. These ponies had an infection of the soul, one he felt no less clearly than the injuries he had seen Alex acquire on the way to Philadelphia.
He had been helpless to treat her mortal wounds, though he had not needed to. Somehow he doubted Adrian or any of the others would overcome this strange domination on their own.
Would he be next? If the process made a pony shaky and unsteady as it had made Adrian, he couldn’t possibly be expected to accomplish anything medical once it happened. That could mean only one thing: he had time. He would probably have until he finished doctoring before they tried it. That meant he had to come up with a cure before they did.
Could he? Oliver knew little of magic and nothing of what it could do to twist a pony’s mind. How could he possibly cure an illness he had never before even observed?
Just because he never had didn’t mean he wouldn’t try. It was his sacred oath. It was his cutie mark.
“You’ve done something to him,” he said, slightly louder than he needed to. Not because he really thought confronting Ryan would do him any good, so much as because he wanted the others to hear. “He’s shaking all over. He’s struggling. Adrian doesn’t want to stay. Release him.”
Ryan shook his head. “I have been true to my word, doctor. Now will you be true to yours?”
Oliver frowned, then nodded. He glanced sympathetically towards Adrian one last time, then turned away. “Take me to them then. These injured ponies.”
Ryan led the way through the library. Oliver tried to take everything in as he walked. There was something different about the place, though it was hard to say exactly what that something might be. Only when they reached the children’s section did he realize what it was. All the Equestrian books that had been there, the red-covered “Read First” section, were gone. Their shelves and piles were deserted. There were no other Equestrian books; the rest were all kept in Alex’s enchanted saddlebags. All the tablets and kindles holding the digital copies of the books they had managed to copy were gone too.
He didn’t comment on this, though, not as he was led to a pair of cots and a pair of ponies resting on them. They didn’t look familiar, their faces strange to him. Nor did they look good. One, a cream-colored pegasus mare with an upside-down umbrella for a cutie mark, the other a large earth pony stallion with a white and brown coat and a hammer mark. They had been bandaged badly.
“Your cult doesn’t have a doctor?”
Of the crowd of ponies that had been with him, only Ryan and Abrams and the unicorn mare he had never seen before remained. Abrams carried a large rifle, and seemed the only one armed near him. He looked ready to use the gun at a moment’s notice.
“Our cult-” he practically spat the word. “Had one until five months ago. She was killed by a human machine, intentionally. We have others, but none are close enough to help now.” He gestured towards them. “Heal them. If either of them dies, so will Adrian. If they both die, so do you.”
Ryan turned away. The unicorn set his medical supplies down at his hooves and made to follow. “Stay with him, sister Light Spinner. He may need your help.” His eyes met Oliver’s again. “I will be back for your report at nightfall. It would be best for all of us if you have finished by then.”
He left. Oliver’s “guards” moved to surround him, even as he went through the motions of opening his tools, sterilizing his hooves and preparing to work.
Field surgery on a species he barely knew, with the pressure of his own death and that of a friend weighing on him? Simple! Having to solve the problem of apparent mind control during that same period? It couldn’t be that much harder, could it?
It was going to be a long day. At least his radio transmitter was one-way. It would be good not to have to hear anypony say “told you so.”
Hmm... how long has it been since the Collapse?
Odium may forgive, but Murphy sure as heck doesn't. Pretty much everything that could go wrong already has. That said, I'd love to see what happens when these folks enter an antimagic field. Oh, that'd be quite the display...
So, mind control, then. And Team Odium consists of native Equestrians and former humans. At least, that looks to be the case right now.
Next big question is the real relationship between Night Speaker and Odium. Servant and master as he claims? Or summoner playing a dangerous game with a bound spirit?
Uh huh. Was that before or after ya'll outed yourselves as death cultists?
How does one even get a cutie mark in anarchy, anyway?
6335536 To be fair, that looks more like anti-royalty. His claims of serving a higher power (if true) would directly contradict pure anarchy.
Either way, I note that none of the little insidious tendrils were getting into our dear medic here. Especially with their lack of one. You can bet their view of taking a medic is going to be something they wanted to re-acquire either way.
6335499 You have the anti-magic field, plus the mental control up and gone. It will be a riot for all involved. Likely our resident cult leader is going to enjoy a very uncomfortable proctological exam from those he's wrong when they get ahold of him and his own horn to be without his little influence.
Is this the first occurrence of a swear word in this fic? I never noticed one before. It was a little jarring.
This fucking cult needs to die.
6335499 That, my friend, seems like an amazing way to 'cure' them. Next project, install anti-magic fields in every entrance to Alexandria to make sure no more 'possessed' ponies come come through.
He has a cutie mark in "bring down the alicorns' rule"? Wow, he must have had some messed up childhood. Born into the cult, I guess?
I'm thinking the fact that the cultists' doctor was killed by the HPI suggests that it was their actions towards the HPI that originally made them nervous of any ponies they spotted, before they spoke with Alex.
6335469
Aww, I was so close. The code stuff was a lot of fun.
6335469 Given the cult leaders rather direct choice of control, no one will miss him to be erased from history.
Give Zutcha kudos... Ryan looks particularly deranged in today's image, especially the eyes.
Fudge... If they destroyed any of the books from the library things are gonna be tough. Heck the tablets are already ashes...
6335588
Yes. Thank you.
You could even say Ryan looks quite mad.
6335598
Fortunately they were bright enough to leave backup digital copies with the HPI. I wouldn't be overly surprised either if Joe or Alex keep a personal backup on a little USB drive that they carry with them.
As Bob of Reboot would say, "This is not good", I really miss that show
6335547
Or it could be simply indicating his opposition to either the concepts of Friendship or harmony. His cutie mark is the crown that holds the Element of Magic, so it seems like his anti-alicorn thing is more of a byproduct of his core beliefs rather than the core itself.
Though, Odium literally translates into either hatred, or the hatred of something for some heinous act. So there is still room for the whole anti-alicorn thing to have a lot of weight. Or it could be Odium him/herself that is hated (still not ruling out the Nightmare angle just yet).
6335678
There's also a decent chance that Alex has memorized all of the books that she's read, which is probably most if not all of the ones taken out of her magic saddlebags.
6335599 a mad king even
You know what'd fix this quick? An anti-Thuma.... um... anti-magic version of an EMP. Can we get one of those from the HPI's shield tech?
And what's that word? Thuma-something. I keep seeing it used with prefixes and suffixes so I don't know what the base word is.
Ah great, these assholes are spread all over the country already. This war is going to be long and terrible.
6335838
That depends on how many of the cult's followers are actually loyal, and how many are like Abrahms and Adrian. If most of the cult is being forced into following only a few true loyalists, it could all be over very quickly if the Founders can get rid of the source there in Alexandria.
And I think Archive has something up her sleeves. Some of the things she's said to Olive in these past two chapters are really making me wonder exactly how much power she actually has...
6335838
Can Alex fit in a handbasket at this point?
Those are pretty good preparations, about the best that can be expected on such short notice with no real advance planning for such a need.
First, I completely agree with Moriah, and second, that's an interesting statement from Alex. Does she know something we don't?
41.media.tumblr.com/b814d1e22fbf2cf22825e760b07c089d/tumblr_ntbh85luOG1rsmidfo1_540.png
Now that's an interesting mark. It must be really inconvenient to find out your destiny is to be an antimonarchist revolutionary. Also, those are some especially crazy eyes.
I bet we've got some kind control going on. Would be convenient to break that.
Oh, crap. Library be damned (it's all digitized anyway IIRC), it's time to light this whole place up with one of those anti-magic fields. I wonder if the HPI has a large scale field in their back pocket that could be deployed to hit the entire town?
Hah!
I looked at the picture:
40.media.tumblr.com/b814d1e22fbf2cf22825e760b07c089d/tumblr_ntbh85luOG1rsmidfo1_1280.png
And immediately stared at the cutie mark and said to myself,
"That's definitely an evil mustache."
Please don't let me be the only one who thought of that before realizing it was a broken crown, it seriously looked like a notched mustache with a gem in it.
6335498
I would guess around 6-11 months, but i'd have to go through the previous story and the sequel to be sure.
6335838
In some stories a Thaum is a unit of measure for magical strength.
This calls for a liberal application of anti-magi fields, and possibly landing the Hummingbird on Ryan/Night Speaker's face. Several times.
Well. If that's not a telltale cutie mark, I don't know what is. I suppose I was wrong about these not being natural Equusian ponies.
Starscribe left me a hint. The opposite of friendship? Hatred. But not blind hatred... perhaps a more Darwinist view, that sees friendship as buttressing the weak, strong leaders like the Princesses as preventing natural selection from allowing the strong to forge the path forward. Thus the anger that humanity was spared from being wiped out.
6336192
Nah, just give 'im the Mal Reynolds Special.
p.dreamwidth.org/595b896ddc0a/1670167-540/3.bp.blogspot.com/-4aQHHSHq4Gk/T0vUUKpfu-I/AAAAAAAABWU/FefntQ8QZQA/s1600/badmovedude.gif
6335803 indeed.
Ah. HPI drone or gunship. Shoot to kill policy after they lost that team to an attacking unicorn; revoked after meeting the LA team. Considering the current situation I'd love to see footage of that kill.
Hmm... *smiles a little*
I wonder if that cutie mark is related to anarchy and the overthrow of government or more specifically the talent of breaking up friendship and perverting it.
6335498 Well according to the Part 3 Interlude, it is late October/Early November, so the timeline fits. Starscribe did note that HPI had a "Shoot on Sight" policy for a while when it came to to ponies.
I wonder how many of Night Speaker's Earthling followers are deceived/believe in the cause vs. mind controlled. After all, hearing "Some aliens are trying to install their own immortal all powerful dictator to rule over humanity" would get be upsetting. Combine this with general anger at the overall situation and you got yourself some revolutionaries. It gives a "Why" to an ultimately confusing situation.
Edit: Shoot, they burned the books. I hope Alex had read them first...
Edit 2: Hey, I just looked up one of the origins for the name "Ryan": It comes from the Irish word for "Little King"...
Starscribe, you are a special kind of evil.
I personally hate, loathe, and despise cults and the use of brainwashing, body and/or mind control, etc that's being done to Adrian.
As such I REALLY want to hate, loathe, and despise Night Speaker and his ilk, but I don't know how much is actually the true them, and how much comes from their own minds being brainwashed.
Either way it ends, I hope it resolves quickly. Listening to "It's a small world afterall" on infinite loop is better than dealing with these kinds of individuals.
Yeah, it's an Equestrian cult alright and it definitely seems to have some kind of Elder God/Old Dark One sponsor. This
couldwill get very, very ugly before this is over.I'm thinking that a legion of expendable Changeling shock-troops might actually be welcome at this point. I wonder if that 's how it started originally?
Never thought I'd see the Mad King as a pony!
Hat's off to you sir. You made my day!
... Oh yes, because THAT isn't the face of a villain, NO SIR, we might as well let him shake hoofs, kiss babies and become the bleeding minister with that TOTALLY trustful face of his.
MOTHERFUCKING HELL he is a dick and a half!
... and Oliver, congratulations, you escaped the well deserved 'I told you so', you idiot.
And now we have brainwashed ponies and an idiot unicorn, who has a Cutie Mark of rebellion.
OH joy...
6336306
When you said that I was thinking more of this:
Jayne: Damn yokels, can't even tell a transport ship ain't got no guns on it. [laughing] 'Blow a new crater in this moon.' [laughing]
Oh wait, the Hummingbird has a lot more than 'no guns', right? Let me go count again.
6336179 Thanks!
You have got to be kidding me. Okay, let's put reading through this new chapter on pause for a few minutes and skip straight down to the comment box so we can try and get this impression out while it's still fresh.
Starscribe, this is easily one of the WORST cutie mark design choices I have ever seen. Exactly what sort of special talent is this meant to symbolize?! Seriously, please tell me, because the only answers I've been able to come up with myself have been minute variations on the theme of "blatant villainy", which is just too patently Goddamned ridiculous to take seriously.
6338247
Beep.
6335498
At least six months, probably more.
6335499
I like it when people in the comments come up with things the characters have thought of in the writing for chapters I've already made. Did I take the idea from the comments? WHO KNOWS?!!!!
6335525
He had it coming, he had it coming! He only had himself to blame! If you'da been there, if you'da seen it, I betcha' you would've done the same!
6335536
Not in a good way, however he did it.
6335552
They've appeared before, though very, very rarely. Actually the character who has cursed the most is Cloudy Skies. They have never appeared outside of dialogue.
6335554
Unless you assume the cutie mark magic that happened in the season primer can be repeated. If they can be removed, perhaps some forbidden magic can bestow new ones as well.
6335588
Yeah, for sure. I don't think he had to go hunting very far to find it, though. Didn't need an X-ray or anything, just sorta fell into his lap like a gift from a king.
6335678
They would be very foolish not to.
6335954
Perhaps a very large handbasket. She isn't a filly, but she's still pretty close to one.
6336120
Assuming the destiny is natural and not the result of some cutie-mark manipulating spell (lots of earth cults require you to sacrifice things to join, maybe this one asks its highest leaders for their cutie marks), I shudder to think of what his cutie mark acquisition experience was.
6336166
I totally didn't see that until you said so. Now that you did, I can't un-see the mustache! >.>
6336377
If it really was the HPI, I would be very surprised if they didn't keep that stuff in archive somewhere.
6336720
Resolves quickly? I'm not sure. I am sure that the main characters aren't just twiddling their thumbs. Well, they don't have thumbs. But the point is, they'll be fighting to end this until they do. Or die. One of the two.
6336730
Too bad Riley's too young to crack one of those out.
6337508
It wasn't my idea, but it made my day too, when the artist suggested it. I'm glad the resemblance came through.
6338247
The comments suggest several ideas:
It's Twilight's tiara, so you might take it to mean ending friendships, since she's the princess of those.
It might mean he's opposed organized government, or at the very least the government of his country.
It might also mean something more abstract, like the idea of destruction, with a crown being used to symbolize that nothing is too big to be broken.
Does that mean villainy? I think that depends on whether he wins and gets to write the history books or not. If he does, maybe it's a "freedom fighter" cutie mark. People love freedom fighters.
6338993
Well Starscribe, now I have the idea that the mustache is like a mustache version of the alicorn amulet.
That stupid gem is making us think it's a mustache when it's really an alicorn amulet in disguise.
Oh god if you made that mustache an alicorn amulet I would cry.
Okay, there is no way in hell that you aren't a Roosterteeth/Achievement Hunter fan. You have a character who seems incredibly insane, possesses the name of Ryan, is purple (the color of royalty), and has a cutie mark of a cracked crown. Sounds A LOT like Mad King Ryan to me.
vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/xray-and-vav/images/9/95/The-Mad-King.png/revision/latest?cb=20141205013038
Alex is slowly turning into a girl - on the inside.
My condolences, pard.
6342199 I know right? I was getting the biggest Mad King vibe off him till I saw the picture and was like, "Yup, that's Ryan!" Honestly I was half expecting Oliver to walk in there and see Adrian in a hole with a sign next to it that says "Edgar".
No other villain has made me want to punch the screen so hard. I had to settle for flipping off Ryan's smug ass face.
I hope Oliver will be alright. Also, I hope Alex will scorch those mf's to the ground with her alicorn powurs.
when it comes to ryan i think maby cloric acid
Sure, that one mare's death is reprehensible, but all those other deaths you have caused and have threatened to cause aren't.
Have we a thoroughly bonkers, resentful and atrocious individual opposing our heroes? Yes! We've got a winner! Now for the horrific price; death by one hundred utterly painful methods.
The night is not yours.
Might it invite you into darkness,
bring you to the brink of despair,
shattered along your broken self by the biting cold,
shunned by this light and warmth you spurned.
May you not rest this night, you tragic beast,
as you fall into a restlessly eternal sleep.
Amidst the shadows, find no comfort,
be still in an embrace that inspires terror,
forever sinking as forever restless, futilely
you call their name.
May it all in spite of the cold grip of fear
be brought together under these rays,
the brilliant shine,
these plentiful fruits of love's labour.
We shall read on.
Is Ryan's special talent anarchy?
7815939 I see no possible way he can survive this story and be reformed with a cutie mark of broken harmony.