Broken Lives
Stardust
Fear coursed through my veins as the impossibility stood before me. Discord an ancient Equestrian villain of old who looked more like a poorly drawn monster made by a foal or a failed taxidermy attempt stood in front of us. Even Duran the crazed villain stepped back in fear as the cartoonish mockery hadn’t made a single move.
Discord turned his gaze towards Duran and smiled “Fake-ey! You’re still here? How’s the whole evil villain gig working out for you?”
Duran took another step back as he started to stutter “Y-You can’t be… You should be back in…”
“Canterlot?” Discord replied as he took a few steps forwards towards them. “Didn’t you get the memo? I know I sent you one.”
Duran’s eyes shrunk as he broke out in a cold sweat “No… no I’m a… I’m a hero.”
The beast of chaos just laughed.
Every instinct in my body screamed that I should run, flee, or find a rock to hide underneath. The same primordial fear that taught us to run at a Manticore’s roar or to be frightened at the dark was being set off by his unnatural laughter.
It wasn’t a laughter that mocked somepony or was happy. This laughter if it could even be called that tore through my body reducing my muscle to jelly and seemed to promise that my darkest fears were just blissful wishing made by a fool compared to the horrors that were about to befall me.
No one dared to move as Discord walked past us out onto the castle grounds. He pulled out a file and started sharpening his nails. He whistled a small cheery tune without a care in the world.
Duran pointed a hoof at the eldritch horror that stood before us “Stay back! We have the Elements of Harmony!”
Discord shook his head as he waved a finger at Duran “Tisk tisk tisk. Do you really think I would be here if you actually had the Elements of Harmony? How do you think I’m free now?”
Discord laughed again as lightening seemed to scream across the sky or his voice bore deep down on my soul letting me know there was nothing any of us could do.
Duran’s allies fled as they screamed in terror helpless against the power that stood before them. Discord didn’t try to stop them as he didn’t even pay any attention to them. He just simply walked closer to Duran as he was frozen in fear.
Discord held his chin as he leaned forward staring at Duran who was couching on the ground in fear shivering like a frightened dog before a hyrda. To simply put it Duran was outclassed by the foe before him and he knew it.
Discord poked Duran in the chest as he flinched in pain “Quite the little usurper aren’t you?”
Duran shouted in fear “I’m a hero! I’m supposed to…”
“Yes.” Discord replied mockingly as he clicked his tongue before frowning “The Element of Loyalty for the one who betrayed everyone around them including yourself.”
Discord rose back up and as Duran’s mouth hung open “Why?”
Discord laughed rubbing his hands together as it sounded like metal screeching against metal “Why not? Isn’t that the line you always used to convince everyone else? So let me ask you little pony… how many memories have you taken?”
“Get back!” Shouted a rough voice.
Discord shot up from his spot jumped back as a bolt of lightning tore through the earth. A griffin shot down from the sky tackling Discord before crashing into the ground. Everyone who hadn’t run away stared at the crash site expecting Discord to simply laugh it off or reveal to have captured the griffin in some sort of mockery.
Instead cracks appeared in Discord body. The griffin that had tackled Discord had his eyes shut as he tried to restrain Discord in a bear hug. Discord bit his lip as green flames consumed his body nearly blinding anyone who was looking at him.
A green blast of magic went off sending the griffin flying back as the dust began to settle. Lockheart groaned as he stepped out from where Discord had once been standing as he trying to shake the dirt out of his black coat. His wings and horn stood out for everyone to see.
Duran stared at Lockheart for a moment as it soon clicked all together “You tricked me… You tricked me!”
Lockheart chuckled bitterly “It was worth a shot. Besides…” he grinned “It got rid of most of your minions.”
Duran screamed in a voice impossible for a normal pony as flames of hatred burned in his eyes. He bared his teeth out like a savage animal as two large fangs seemed to have popped out of his mouth.
“Come on. Come on.” Whispered a voice beside me.
I turned around and saw a strange earth pony with a hammer and chisel striking at the glowing runes as some of the others started being able to move again took one of the tools or broken items he left nearby them. He wiped the sweat from his brow and continued to work faster.
Valkyrie was the first to speak “Maxwell?”
The earth pony turned around smiling “Sorry for the shock, but we didn’t exactly have a lot of time to go over the plan.”
He placed a small broken spear beside me before he want back to the glowing runes and started to continue chipping them away. I glanced back at Lockheart as I realized was trying to buy us time to escape.
Lockheart shook his head as he continued his distraction “I found the chamber. The Elements of Harmony were missing.”
Duran flinched “So I had to ask… After all this time why didn’t you find those blasted rocks? It’s because you didn’t want them to be found.”
Duran leapt forth as Lockheart threw some dirt into Duran’s eyes before firing off a magic blast.
Maxwell managed to break another rune allowing me to move. I grabbed the broken spear with my mouth struck it against the wall trying to break the integrant lines. We just needed a few more seconds.
Lockheart continued talking as he moved to some nearby cover to avoid Duran’s erratic magical blasts “You found one of them. Grabbed an Element, but then what? Where you worried that with the Elements they wouldn’t need you anymore? That someone else would find a way to use them?”
The ground shook as I turned to see what was happening. Duran was practically foaming at the mouth as a large bolder rested near Lockheart’s location. Each exhale from Duran’s body seemed to make his body grow a little bit bigger as his entire mouth seemed to be filled with sharp teeth.
Lockheart walked out from behind Duran “That’s why you made the little revolt. You get all of the ones who didn’t want to play mind games all in one spot so you could get rid of them all at once? When that didn’t work you resorted to slander?”
“You’re lying!” Duran shouted sending his hoof through Lockheart’s face only to fall through him. “I’m a hero!”
The illusion laughed “You’re a hero? There are many terms for what a hero may be, but I don’t think what you did was heroic. You’re just another two bit villain with delusions of grandeur.”
Another magic blast struck Duran as he turned around to face Lockheart. I felt my body grow lighter as the last rune was broken. As soon as the trap was destroyed Valkyrie shot through the air like a bullet as she slammed into Duran’s side sending him crashing into the ground.
Everypony rushed out into the castle grounds as Remedy shot up a flare to signal Canterlot. Duran rose back up as Valkyrie stepped back in shock. I couldn’t help but stare at Duran in horror. His body had grown even larger as cracks ran across his entire body. Instead of simply growing larger his body now seemed misshaped and twisted like some twisted parody of a pony’s actual body.
Another magic blast struck him in the face expect this time it was from one of us. I dug through my saddle bags pulling out what few items I had left as any pony that could think for themselves prepared to fight him.
Duran glared at us in hatred “You dare betray me!”
“You betrayed us first monster!” The fake Twilight shouted
“Monster?” Duran hissed in fury as he seemed to have snapped “Monster!” The cracks in Duran’s body started to glow as a feminine voice filled with malice replaced his old voice “I’ll show you a real monster!”
Duran’s body shattered revealing a new form. He now stood possible as tall as Celestia herself as his legs were now black and riddled with holes as his hooves tore into the ground beneath him. His stomach seemed to be malnourished as it clung to his rib cage. His fur was gone as a black caprice covered his body as two reptile like eyes stared down at us in hatred. The unicorn horn was now a jagged broken dagger curved back as two wasp like wings shot out from his side.
My brain froze trying to figure out what he was until I remembered the creepy changelings back in the castle. Cuddle Bug was a changeling… but Duran looked closer to some folk tale monster than an actual changeling.
It was like trying comparing a Wendigo to a Pony!
Duran hissed as the feminine voice screeched out “You will all pay for your transgressions!”
Black words now formed about Duran’s head spelled Gaichuu.
Lockheart chuckled bitterly “I really hate being right sometimes.”
Remedy’s magic went off again filling the sky with lights. The monster glanced up at the sky and growled before it focused on us again. That’s when the buzzing came from inside the castle. Everypony else tensed up as they knew what was coming. Just like any insect hive the swarm was coming to protect it’s wretched queen.
******
Lockheart
I ran to the next piece of cover I could find. Duran or Gaichuu turned out to be a girl… who knew? Maybe he was a guy in real life and got stuck in gender bender situation or she was a girl, but chose to be a guy because… reasons.
Honestly I was just shooting blanks. I Blame Duran for the missing Elements of Harmony. Say a few vague odd things and pretend to be a skilled manipulative asshole! I wasn't planning to actually fight him! Just... frighten away the his group and leave anyone left to try to turn on him.
Another bolder scrapped past my cover as Gaichuu really did fit the overpowered evil villain role better than I did… In case you weren’t listening world that’s me demanding for my Super Mega Ultra Demon Boost Power/Form!
I’ll even take a crazy hairdo!
“Wait…” Duran hissed in rage “Are you… Feeding on me!”
I glanced up at my horn and… yep. Mana Restore Mode is on as it’s focusing on his massive bloodlust and/or wrath pointed at my direction.
I know you hate me Equestia… and the feeling… it’s mutual.
“I’ll kill you!’ Gaichuu screamed at the top of her lungs as all the rocks lifted up into the air officially labeling her as a girl in my mind because hell hath no fury like a pissed of woman!
I turned to face her and took a pot shot at her face before she could crush me with the boulders. She shouted in rage as the rocks came rushing down towards the ground. God I wish I knew that bubble shield spell everyone used on TV!
I ran forward using my wings to cover my head only for something to tackle me in the side. My ribs hurt like hell, but the cloud of smoke informed me that I was away from the impact sight as Valkyrie tried to catch her breath.
“Oh Valkyrie.” Thank goodness I’m… no we’re still alive “Do me a favor and distract her!”
“Isn’t that your specialty?” She snapped back “Besides if you had some sort of plan why didn’t you use it when you were right in front of her!”
“One!” I shouted as I ran for cover as Gaichuu fired a magic blast tearing through the ground “I was about to… I just needed time to get it ready.”
I looked for that blasted griffin to see if he was still up “Two! I was about to end it right until the griffin sucker punched me!”
“What is it then!” Valkyrie shouted
I held back the bile in my throat “Three… it’s something I have to do. Remedy doesn’t know the needed spell and…” I glanced around “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
Changelings! God dam table turning changelings were fighting for the freaking bug queen! Was there some sort of “Evil Overlord Guide” hidden in the menu or something because I know they’re not players!
Players have titles and stuff. They do not try to emulate the zerg swarm in all it’s horror! They’re not even using the copy trick to split everyone up and are just trying to use sheer numbers! Was I supposed to get access to that skill before my menu went on the fritz because of fucking Discord!
Pain screamed across my back side as I just realized one important detail I missed. I still had a pissed of Changeling Queen who wanted me dead. I fell to the ground and tried to get up as the woman I had scorned drew closer.
I turned around and tried to smile. I was in a lot of pain, but she didn’t need to know that. I just had to employ the Spiderman School of Super Heroics which was to simply box up the pain and store it away for 2 AM tomorrow and throw insults until then.
Instead of shouting a quick quip or timely insult I was rewarded with painful sensation of having both of my wings pinned down to the ground by a Changeling that was bigger than Celestia and a lot more ugly than Chrysalis.
Chrysalis didn’t foam at the mouth like a wild animal.
A green light blazed from Gaichuu’s horn as she screamed at me “Die!”
I opened my mouth as she grinned properly expecting me to beg for my life. I didn’t because unlike an equestrian pony I had canine teeth and anyone who had been bit by a dog can tell you… they hurt.
Gaichuu screamed in shock as I upped it. Green flames covered my body shifting my form as my body hurt like hell. Necromancy had a unique benefit of know how to put the bones back together… and it hurt like hell dislocating my wings.
Still it gave me the freedom of movement. She lifted her hooves up a little from the sudden shock or possible burns of my transformation as it helped give me enough room to twist out a little from her grasp and fire another magic blast except this time I had a better view of her ugly face.
She screamed clutching her right eye “My eye! Why the!”
I fired again at the other one as she quickly moved away from me. Her wings buzzed like an angry hornet as she bared her teeth at me. I could see her bloodshot eyes glaring at me… Where the hell are you Valkyrie as my magic blast power is shit!
Gaichuu’s horn started to glow again only for Valkyrie to come crashing down onto her back. Gaichuu screamed as Valkyrie’s metallic clawed boots dug into the bug queen’s back. I quickly bolted running for my fallen saddle bags and the weapon I needed to end this fight.
The griffin was still knocked out and the others were dealing with the sudden changeling swarm. I found what I had been looking for and quickly shoved it back together. It was a crude and sloppy job, but hopefully it would do its job.
Gaichuu screamed in triumph as Valkyrie smashed into the ground beside me.
Valkyrie had a combat build. If she couldn’t win then… I felt the lump in my throat just thinking about it as I turned around. Gaichuu was grinning like a madman. Her horn crackled with magic as one of her legs was dripping blood. She licked her lips as she was going to kill me.
She wasn’t going to try to turn me into a puppet. She planned to outright kill me!
Oh dear god! Please Monolog! Please Monolog!
“What do you think you are doing?” She hissed in fury “You came into my castle and harmed my subjects. You tried to steal from me our way back home!”
Thank you God! I just need a little bit more time as I had only one shot for this trick.
“You don’t get it do you?” Her lips parted into a sickening grin revealing a smile fit for nightmares “I’m the hero of this tale! You’re simply the villain.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that line as I replied “That suits me just fine.”
It wasn’t much, but then again humanity isn’t that much to begin with. In a fair fight most creatures would kill us. Of course the trick was not to fight fairly. That’s why we made guns.
The look of shock and horror on her face was priceless when she saw it. Human’s recognized guns. Humanity knows the danger of guns and more importantly… we fear guns. It was that sudden shock of seeing the crude makeshift shotgun that gave me an opening as I pulled the trigger as I hoped it would fire again.
My horn shot off the spark needed to ignite the crude mixture and I mean crude. This wasn’t a musket. This was a hollow spear with one end magically sealed shut by alteration magic as the insides was filled with lots of coal dust, crude oil from the lamps in the castle, and of course highly chaotic unstable magic. Hell the muzzle was just one of those metal kitchen funnel things shoved and fused to make the barrel of the gun.
Needless to say that this wasn’t a proper gun as the end of the riffle exploded, but that didn’t matter… it was close enough to her face for the shrapnel to do it’s work. That’s why I needed to get close to her in case something went wrong. Too bad it took so long to load the blasted device and it screwed up when I tried shooting her the first time!
My wings were already in position to protect my face as the shards of metal tore right into them as I was prepared for the worst. She wasn’t as I could hear her scream tear into my ears as most of the shards managed to cut past her defenses. I spread out my wings to see her as she clutched her face as she rolled on the ground in agony.
I tried not to scream though I properly already did as I worked my magic on my wings. It really hurt shifting them back to normal or at least to a point where they wouldn’t hinder me. The broken makeshift shotgun rested on the ground broken and tore apart… but it had a jagged end.
I glanced at her. She was injured for the moment but she wasn’t out for the count. My magic lifted the broken gun and prayed that it was sharp enough to finish the job.
She screamed “I’m the hero!”
“And I’m a villain.” I coldly replied as I grabbed the broken gun “Villains cheat.”
And unlike heroes… they can also kill.
I plunged the spear down only for something to tackle me. Expecting to see Valkyrie or someone from the peanut gallery preparing some good will speech I saw a changeling hissing at me as three more tacked me to the ground… I kind of forgot about them.
“Kill him!” Gaichuu screamed in rage “Rip his throat out!”
The changeling cracked open it’s jaw revealing a much better set of teeth than mine as it went in for the kill. To my surprise Gaichuu screamed again as the changelings looked to her. Part of the Changeling Queen’s horn fell to the ground as fucking Maxwell stood there with his sword.
His cutie mark of the opera mask started to glow before it was burned away in a burst of light. Now a shield with flames stood there… the same fucking one from my nightmare.
Just like some fucking lucky jackass he shouted “No more!” And wouldn’t you know it? As soon as the Bug Queen’s broken horn started to glow Maxwell swung his sword again cutting the rest of it off as she screamed in agony. “No more lies! No more tricks! No more!”
With the changeling queen on the ground trying to recover Maxwell just stood there like an idiot trying to catch his breath. I would have been alright with his sudden BS moment if he didn't just leave the changeling queen there alive as he rushed off to check on Valkyrie and left me dog piled by evil changelings.
I felt like screaming “Just kill her already!” Sadly changelings can also sense emotions as the four on top of me refocused their efforts on trying to kill me.
Maxwell was an idiot who let his guard down. I wanted to play it smart and end her life before she pulled out another nasty trick. Guess who they thought was a bigger threat at the moment?
The changelings snapped their teeth into my legs. The one on my side started to tear into my wings. It hurt as the one on my back tried growing for my neck again before tearing off the locket.
I spoke a single curse as my rage and hatred boiled over. The chaotic flames rushed out of my throat and scorched the ground. The torn up field turned into butterscotch as we all sunk into it’s sugary coated mess.
One of them that had tried to bite me was coughing up a syrupy mess as I struggled to get free and more importantly some fresh air. What might have been a dream for a little kid was turning into a nightmare as I struggled to break free before I was completely submerged to death in this sugary mess.
The changelings started trying to bite me again as the butterscotch slowed them down as I tried figuring out a spell, some sort of trick that could save me. Instead a golden light shot down from the skies as the changelings hissed in anger.
With the changeling off me I broke to the surface and gasped for air. I glanced up into the air and couldn’t help, but smile as the Celestia had just showed up along with dozens of pegasi.
Gaichuu hissed “I can’t lose… I’m the hero… I’m…”
“You’re a loony.” I snapped back and used my magic to mend my body and hopefully remove the mess covering me.
Gaichuu glared at me… the shrapnel from the gun left an ugly scar on the right side of her face “Villains never win.”
I held myself up butterscotch free “Then obviously you’ve never heard of Vetinari.”
Where was that dam riffle again?
She snapped her wings open as her changeling swarm moved to cover her escape. Celestia focused her magic on taking out the changelings trying to harm the others as the changelings quickly turned into crazed fanatics lunging themselves at their closest target and attacking like wild animals.
I just held myself up as I knew my wings were shit so a chase out of the question. Celestia landed on the ground as I tried to get over to her. I was ready to tell or even shout at her to go after the crazed idiot who was trying to escape until I saw she seemed to be just as exhausted as I was.
She looked alright as if she really was the Shinning General who just came to save us in the nick of time. Emotionally though… she was even more exhausted than I was! She was just bottling up all her pain and exhaustion until a small box for 3 AM in the morning. Even then I recognized a weak illusions spell when I see one.
Everyone else was just too happy to notice or too busy cleaning up our mess. Already Celestia was using what was left of her strength to tend the wounded as Pegasi doctors started bandaging those who didn’t need her help.
“Wait their friendly!” Stardust shouted.
I groaned as I quickly rushed over to her as three royal guards looked at two changelings in confusion. These two weren’t foaming at the mouth and Stardust wasn’t having her emotions or mind manipulated.
“Don’t bother them.” I bitterly muttered as I had no idea where the second one came from.
Both Royal Guard ponies looked at me in confusion “But…” Their mouth fell open as they stared at me in disbelief.
What’s so strange about… I looked at my hooves to see the same dark fuzzy fur as a few bloody feathers fell down. Oh
right. I kind of forgot about that bit.
“They helped us rescue the ponies captured.” I glanced at the changelings making sure they were human “And… it’s a long story. Just keep some guards nearby if you must, but don’t … you know.”
My legs started to sway… Please don’t be blood loss.
“There’s a couple of nut jobs running in the forest.” I tried to keep myself steady “Be careful of the going inside the castle.”
My head started to ache. “And…”
My body gave out as I fell to the ground. Everything just hurt.
As my eyes started to shut I heard a voice whisper into my ear “Don’t worry. Your dear friend Discord well make sure everything’s all right.”
Oh shit… I forgot about the Elements of Harmony.
Discord chuckled “Well it wouldn’t exactly be fair if you’re secret was blown just yet. Besides with the game being played right now I’m in need of a few pieces and it’s only fair I look after my favorite piece!”
I heard Discord’s laughter before I finally passed out.
******
Maxwell
I glanced back at my cutlass as the past few minutes played itself again in the back of my mind. Duran stood above Valkyrie as his face was covered in scars. His horn glowed in eldritch light as Valkyrie tried to get back up.
He was going to do the same thing he did to Rebeca, to Scott, to so many others as I had just stood there.
The cutlass in my grasp I swung.
I looked at my hands… they were hooves. This nightmare was real. This world suddenly threw a cold splash of reality on me as I saw the matted blood on my fur covering my body.
I had nearly died going up against Duran. Valkyrie was nearly killed for trying to stop her. So many people had lost themselves in this twisted world as one of Duran’s own human allies was murdered right in front of us just to simply shift some blame around or something.
I couldn’t help but wonder what we had been fighting for… what they had been doing. Was any of we had been doing worth all this bloodshed?
“Are you alright?” asked a horse beside me… no a pony.
He was a pony. He wasn’t a human. He wasn’t from earth. He was one of those background royal guard ponies with bandages of all things… I glanced back at Valkyrie as I noticed her wounds. I had scratches while she had bloody deep gashes across her body. Bits of stone were stuck in his flesh as the armor she wore was slightly bent and warped.
If she wasn’t wearing armor she could have died.
There wasn’t a flash of light or a respawn when the changeling died… just a corpse... a corpse... Valkyrie could have died for real!
“No.” I quickly replied trying to keep calm “She needs help more than I do.”
The pony smiled “She’s being taken care off.”
I opened my mouth ready to shout until I saw Celestia. I suddenly felt small… very small and disgusted at my past actions.
Celestia stood before me in her regal grace as the light seemed to shine around her. She stood taller than me… taller than anyone else as she even seemed bigger than Duran was! Her horn shinned softly as Valkyrie’s wounds began to mend.
It wasn’t the crude magical cure some of the medic unicorn builds used. They had to pull out rocks, twigs, or anything that got stuck into the skin before they healed someone. Celestia’s light simply glowed over the wound as the bits of rock and dirt simply vanished as the wounds seemed to simply vanish as if they were never made in the first place.
Celestia looked at me and smiled… I couldn’t look her in the face as I lowered my head. I had pretended it was all a game. I had stayed with everyone even when Duran started ripping memories out of people and started turning them into puppets.
I didn’t even try to warn Celestia about the problems in the Everfree Castle when I finally fled the place. All I did was get lost in a forest trying to find a way out of there. Even then Duran’s justification still rang in my head.
He believed himself to be a hero. He believed he was the one who was going to get us all home. He stole the Elements of Harmony, brain washed and kidnapped people. Bloody hell he even was growing an army in secret from everyone else.
Had Duran simply been lying to us all along or had he simply ignored his morals simply because he believed it all to be a game? I mean most people tend to drive over pedestrians in GTA, but no one would do that in real life.
Valkyrie started to groan as she pushed herself up “Oh… it worked.”
Celestia smiled as she looked down at Valkyrie “You seem to have gotten into some trouble since I had left.”
Valkyrie simply grinned “But it all worked out in the end.” She flinched in pain as she tried to get up “How’s Lockheart?”
Celestia glanced uneasily at his direction… that couldn’t be right could it… oh right. Alicorn.
Was he just joking about the chain and ball gag or was he actually serious?
Celestia shook her head “He’ll be alright, but the next few days are going to be tough for him.”
Valkyrie stared at Celestia as guilt filled her face. I felt a small twinge of jealousy, but quickly buried it away. Lockheart did all that he could to piss Duran off. Valkyrie had armor to protect her… Lockheart didn’t.
Celestia shook her head “He’s alright, but the battle left a few… difficulties. Not everypony in Canterlot knew about him being an Alicorn… or the fact he finally got his cutie mark.”
I blinked… cutie mark? Wasn’t he using an illusion for it or…
I glanced at my side as I remembered the light. The laughing mask was gone from my side as now a flaming shield replaced it. Instead of a sense of unease that filled me every time I looked at it I felt a small sense of peace now.
When did that happen?
“The poison…”
“Poison?” I quickly repeated snapping back to reality.
Celestia nodded “These… creatures you fought apparently had some type of poison used to incapacitate their pray. Lockheart’s… unusual condition just delayed the reaction. He’ll survive, but it’s going to take a little while for him to recover and by then.”
Was Celestia telling the truth or was Lockheart going to be brought back home in a body bag? I mean he wasn’t wearing armor.
Did he die?
Valkyrie simply sighed “Word’s going to spread about another alicorn. Can’t you just… you know?”
I blinked. Wait was going on? Didn’t we just establish Lockheart was an Alicorn… was he a changeling just like Duran? Was he some sort of freaky bug queen!
Celestia simply shrugged “I could try to slow it down, but honestly after all that has happened… it’s not likely especially after Timberton…”
I stared back at Celestia and then at Valkyrie. What happened at Timberton? What was going on! Did I miss a cut scene or something!
I stared at Celestia’s face as that’s when I noticed it. I saw the bags underneath her eyes. Celestia was tired… the goddess who raised the sun and moon each day was tired. That’s when it suddenly clicked.
We just sat in a forest playing games all day as we pushed Equestria to the side. If we weren’t dealing with whatever unnamed threat was lurking out there then who would be left to pick up our slack? I felt even worse about myself think that this was all some sort of game.
Valkyrie spoke the unspoken question “What happened in Timberton?”
Celestia just smiled “Right now we have to take care of this mess.”
Valkyrie didn’t smile back and neither did I. The smile Celestia had on was just to help us relax. Whatever happened in Timberton didn’t end in a happy ending.
******
Valkyrie
I stood in front of jail cell as I stared at the inmate. The news had frightened some of Equestria’s citizens, but it was kept under wraps. Right now we were just in the process of find who had committed what actions and more importantly… why they had did it?
Not everyone was guilty of the major crime of kidnapping and brainwashing people… Some had simply gone with the flow as they didn’t see a better option or didn’t want to argue with the benefits of Duran’s madness.
Sadly this meant checking what a few of the players did and why they did it… including Lily who we had tried to rescue. The joyful tears were gone as she was finally away from Duran… only to be landed in a jail cell.
I tried to be nice as I said “So… why did you did you join?”
The former human rolled her eyes as she said “It wasn’t exactly like we had many options.” Her eyes frowned as she stared at my body in envy “Not all of us were as lucky as you.”
I didn’t respond as I tried not to make her feel uncomfortable. What was important was that she was a former human like me. She grew up on earth and lived her life until we both were suddenly tossed into Equestria without any idea.
She stared at me in annoyance as she replied “Yes I’m a love sucking monster! All that’s left is for some love sob story and a truck load of glitter!”
Lily was her real name. She had the misfortune of being turned into a changeling when she came into Equestria. Every urge in my body felt like turning to my fight or flight response as the creepy looking bug pony sat right across from me trapped behind steel bars and magical seals.
She was the human they tried to turn into a Twilight puppet. I didn’t hesitate when someone needed to save her, but now it was difficult getting past the irrational fear in the back of my mind.
Despite all her… buggy body I could see the traces of humanity… or pony-ness in her. She looked just like one of those smaller changelings from the cartoon except she had long green hair. Her wings were bound to her body by some sort of jacket or restraint as a ring was placed on her horn that was supposed to keep her from casting magic.
I had no idea if the hair was real or made by some sort of spell, but the only difference between her and the other changelings was the style of the hair… I couldn’t help but wonder who she was before she was transformed into a changeling.
I pushed those thoughts away and tried to focus on the main issue “Why did you work with Duran?”
I wasn’t sure if I would like the answer.
Lily hung her head “Because he… she… it? Duran wanted some extra muscle and he could provide us a meal. If his plan worked then we would all go home… if it didn’t then we would at least be safe until someone else figured out a better plan.”
She shook her head as the glowing green eyes focused on me “What where we supposed to do? It wasn’t like there was a manual on this stuff! Besides if we used that… system… then what would happen to us?”
She shivered as it made sense. Losing chunks of memory wasn’t pleasant. Losing memories and possibly having them replaced with a false life? I tried not to think about Stardust. Lily might have had it worse as everyone else got pony memories… what would it be like having changeling memories?
I shivered at the thought.
Lily continued “So we took the deal! We did a bit of testing. We tried to figure out what we could do and helped do whatever tasks Duran asked of us. In exchange we got a roof over our head and a meal each day. Unlike you we can’t eat grass!”
A part of me felt… disgusted at that comment? Of course the fact that they didn’t use the point system in fear of losing their humanity made me sympathizes with them. It was one thing to end up as a pony. I could only imagine the horror of ending up as a changeling.
Lily huffed “and now we are trapped in cages to be experimented on instead of being thrown on stage to dance for their amusement.” I opened my mouth as she glared at me “Celestia didn’t let our existence go public which means we are not getting a court trial. That never is a good sign.”
I kept my mouth shut. Hopefully Celestia was going to treat them well… but how exactly do you care for a race you know little about? How do you help them when they barely know themselves?
Lily circled back to her bed “I wish I got the alicorn deal. The lucky sod is properly living the good life while I’m trapped in a cell.”
I focused on the last question I had “And what about Duran?”
Lily shrugged as she curled up on the wooden bed “We didn’t come until after whatever fallout they had. What he asked of us wasn't all that much either at first. Just look around and try to help anyone who was... sad or depressed."
Lily chuckled bitterly "Heck the most we could do was feed ourselves and smooth things over. Then we he revealed to us his...solution...” She chuckled bitterly “I said no and you saw how well that turned out. It’s kind of funny considering how that everyone ended up in jail cells anyway.”
I stared at her as she hadn’t compromised herself to the point system. She had admitted to helping out with part of Duran’s insane scheme, but she didn’t agree with brain washing people. Of course how much did she actually know? Did she simply kept her head low until Duran started to demand for more from them?
Should I be angry that she compromised her morals so that she wouldn’t have to sacrifice her memories to survive or sorry that she compromised her morals in order to survive?
I shut my eyes and started to wonder if I was starting to let some sort of hidden prejudice color my judgment or was she really changing her story so that she would be sentenced for her crimes? After all considering all the work they did to try making copies of the mane six it wouldn't be that far from the truth to add Changelings to the mix... especially if one can go back and forth from regular Twilight and Alicorn Twilight when ever they wanted.
“One last question…” I replied with unease “Why didn’t you use it?”
Lily glanced at me and smirked a little “Because I’m me. Whatever magic tore me from my home and dumped me in this place as it tried to tear away my memories… it isn’t going to get any more of them. I’d rather stay me and struggle than lose myself and possibly end up turn into some sort of... monster.”
Lily hung her head “Even if it kills me.”
******
Remedy
Remedy glanced at the tree again behind the safety of the barriers. It was the gnarled old twisted tree that Stardust had described that had “birthed” the changelings. Needless to say such an object needed to be dealt with… but not destroyed right away.
After all there were the hornet variant and the “regular” variant still moving about. The tree didn’t come from the Everfree forest so somepony or creature must have planted it. Besides while the tree reacted to it’s surroundings it proved no smarted than a large Venus fly trap.
Remedy paced around the room speaking to herself “It’s a plant that gave birth to these… bug ponies. By gathering around the surrounding materials it can construct a new hive, but…”
Where did the plant come from? What was it’s purpose?
Were changelings an artificial race like some sort of sentient golem? Did they share a symbiotic relationship with the tree itself or was it some sort of magic crafted in an attempt to preserve their race?
Each race had it’s own form of magic, but it was usually guarded in their own ways. Griffins shared similar skills as pegasi, but years of coexistence helped share their knowledge. The diamond dogs kept their secrets hidden as some ponies still can’t figure out if the diamond dogs use the gems for some sort of magic… or if they simply just liked shinny objects. For all she knew they might have ate gems like dragons did as it took forever to figure out that was the main reason why dragons gathered gems.
Of course there were the Centaurs and Gargoyles, but relationships with those species and Equestra were always stressed. Centaurs valued strength, but sometimes those with strength were not good natured as Tirek the worst of their race had killed his own father and attempted to steal the magic from countless creatures.
Thankfully he was a rare case as most Centaurs and Gargoyles viewed magic theft as a heinous crime with harsh punishments. Sadly it didn’t stop the amount of bad apples from finding other ways of causing problems for both nations.
“So what were you supposed to be?” Remedy asked out loud as she stared at the tree “Some sort of weapon to produce vast amounts of disposable soldiers? A way to preserve a race should a disaster ever strike? Possibly some means to fix some sort of defect or to make it possible for the next generation to be able to have children with the nearby races?”
It was one reason why the Centaurs and Gargoyles got along so well. If a centaur and a gargoyle got together than their offspring could be either centaur or gargoyle. In fact Equestria's relationship with the griffin actually became better after finding out that a union between their two races could produce a hippogriff.
It was just one of those hidden facts of life as unions that could not give birth to children was generally looked down upon in most cases. Sure there were a few social conventions and uplifting that helped lessen the age old stigma and many other... Remedy rubbed her aching head as she remembered why she stayed out of those psychology classes and stuck with medicine.
Remedy used her magic to seal the room as she moved onto the branches and roots that had been lost or hacked off during the transportation of the magical plant. Nothing cutting something open and finding about all the secrets it held!
The roots seemed sickly, but magic still pulsed through them. The veins were used to gather items to feed the tree and possibly creature the next race of changelings, but these had quickly withered away.
Remedy pulled out a knife and slowly cut into one of the roots. While she was skilled in various forms of magic her skills… her knowledge with plants… was a bit more sketchy than she would have liked at the moment. Mostly her knowledge was treating wounds from plants instead of helping plants out. The tree had magic and Remedy wanted to figure out how the tree worked.
A small grin appeared on her face as she began to wonder about how the tree could be… properly applied. The green cocoons slowed vitals and helped preserve whatever was placed or grown inside it. The liquid kept the subject asleep and also slowly tended to their wounds.
Such secrets could help save lives and possibly open up new forms of medical treatments. If the subject could be kept safe then possibly longer treatments could be made. A pony with a broken wing could be stored inside to speed up recovery. A sort of adhesive Band-Aid could possibly be crafted to prevent infections and help mend a damaged area until a proper doctor could treat it.
Remedy’s smile continued to grow until she ran into her first problem and grumbled in annoyance.
The “taint” of dark magic seemed to fill the plant which would properly have some “noble” pony to toss it in a furnace than find the possible secrets or benefits of the tree. That or Celestia would lock it away where it would rarely be studied.
Celestia knew of the importance of knowledge… but she preferred keeping knowledge of dark magic to figure out how to counter it than to find uses for it. No doubt any secrets found from the Tree would be how to kill it than anything useful.
“Okay focus Remedy. Focus.” She repeated to herself “It’s a magic tree. There are certain types of magic plants both harmful and helpful. Even Poison Joke can be seen as a blessing or a curse depending on it’s use.”
Of course the issue on how to keep the tree healthy came to mind. It’s original care taker seemed to feed those she didn’t care for to possibly speed up the process or perhaps altered it’s original purpose.
The question was if she should hire a few earth ponies to help her study of the tree… and how to help protect them if they had to get close to the tree. Maybe with enough care and earth pony magic they could alter the tree to be… safer?
“It’s funny how nopony really checks to see the extent of skill of earth ponies.” Remedy mused “They can have crops harvest countless times and even grow homes. It’s rather charming to have live in a tree and have it include all the same luxuries of a brick and mortar home.”
Of course those same skilled artisan and builders also tended to be expensive and rather difficult to find. With Celestia’s help the task would be far easier, but Remedy of course would have to explain her reasons for keeping the tree alive and reasons to keep it alive.
It was going to be a long night.
******
Stardust
I walked around Canterlot Gardens as countless memories of a small filly came to mind as she jumped around from place to place treating the hedge maze like her own playground. Of course the fact that I was reminded again the… memory loss made things more difficult.
Not all of my memories were with me as there were a couple of gaps. Memories of another life seemed to mingle, stand apart, or sometimes even blur together as I’m quite certain that the Princess Celestia doesn’t live in Buckingham Palace or the fact that I told everyone in school as a filly that I wanted to be a fireman.
I couldn’t help but sigh as I tried to make sense of it. The others didn’t belong here… they were strangers… but what about me? Dear Heart and Sacred House… were they my parents or were they strangers? Was Trish my red head sister real or a delusion created by my mind?
I thought it would be easier figuring this out if I simply asked Valkyrie and Lockheart… but what would it mean to them? Would they think that I was lying? Would they tell me to stay away from my family and not let the memories take over… or where the other memories fake… Earth or Equestria? Two feet or four?
“Why does this have to be so difficult?” I muttered out loud.
“Sorry?” a voice spoke above me.
I glanced up and froze as a small smile came to my face.
It was a bat pony. A honesty to God Thestral or more commonly called bat pony flying right above me! I felt like squealing like a filly who just got her cutie mark as I tried to keep my composure. I shouldn’t be freaking out as it would properly make her nervous.
“I was just kind of lost in thought.” I openly admitted.
The thestral nodded “A lot had happened today.”
I glanced at the new statue in confusion “What happened to the old statue?”
The thestral chuckled nervously “Well after some creature tried to break in a couple of things were… broken, but never mind that. My name is Midnight Vixen what’s yours?”
I smiled and extended a hoof “Stardust. Sorry but I just hadn’t really seen a lot of Thestrals before or do they… I mean you prefer the term bat pony?”
Midnight chuckled “Bat pony. Way too many Saddle Rider Tales about some cheesy undead vampire bat things. You say Thestral and the first thing most ponies think of is Count Biteula or worse…” Midnight shivered “One of those Daylight novels. How is staring over somepony while their asleep counted as romantic?”
I couldn’t help but laugh along as both versions of my memories found those books kind of strange… that or I didn’t find the “love defies all obstacles” bit as enjoyable as I used to as pesky logic messed it up.
I took another good look at Midnight as she really did seem like the standard bat pony idea most people had. Her dark grayish blue coat gave her a very nice “night theme” as the messy dark blue hair with light blue highlights that made me think she belonged in a night club as a DJ than being in the Royal Guard. Kind of like seeing Vinyl Scratch in one of those golden suits of armor... or was that Shinning armor?
What made it even stranger was the fact she had three white stars for a cutie mark.
Kind of a shame since Equestria didn’t really have a night life… now I just had to find a DJ and a building to rent at night along with some ponies like Valkyrie and Lockheart…
“One problem at a time.” I muttered to myself “Sorry it’s just…. Everything that’s happened.”
Midnight held up a hoof “I understand. Fillynapping, strange ponies, and a very messy situation. The more you try to figure it out the worst it gets.”
I nodded as my mind seemed to be stuck trying to figure out things that didn’t make any sense. First it was Cuddle Bug and Lily’s situation… then my own memories and now drifting over to a less complicated situation possibly involving bat ponies in general.
Midnight smirked “So what’s the first problem?”
I couldn’t believe I was going to vent on a complete strange “I have a… well a…” it was hard to put into words “I ran into trouble and a pony helped me out only for others like her to have turned out rather… nasty.”
Midnight chuckled “Fancy Hat ponies want somepony to blame and the good pony is the only one they found. Just look up old Equestrian court case of Rover and the Emerald Hills trial. The diamond dog Rover helped assist the Royal Guard when a new pack leader called Gravel had changed their pack’s laws.”
I shook my head “It’s a bit more complicated.”
Midnight shook her head “Before Gravel ponies who "stole" gems from their territory were forced to work off their debt before being released back to their town in much the same way some restaurants force ponies to wash dishes if they tried to dine and dash. Gravel started having the pack raid nearby pony settlements and force the ponies to work in the mines as slaves.”
I chuckled nervously as this started to sound similar to the changeling cases. Reasonable methods turned twisted due to a crazy power hungry leader.
Midnight continued “Rover helped the Royal Guard find the ponies held hostage as he didn’t believe that Gravel's methods were right. Because the Royal Guard focused on saving the ponies instead of capturing the villain he managed to escape leaving Rover and a few of the other corrupt Diamond Dogs. Since Rover was a part of the pack and most of the Diamond Dogs were guilty he didn’t have a lot going for him. Thankfully the trial proved Rover was innocent and more importantly it claimed that those who helped right the wrongs of their leaders should not be held accountable for their actions… kind of like your friend’s situation doesn’t it?”
I sighed in relief as one problem had just been solved “Thanks. I never was good at law.”
“Me neither.” Midnight replied to my surprise “If it helps I can give you the statements I gave during the trail or a copy of the case… it’s not often the Night Guard gets to do more than just dusting statues or being assigned to Night Watch.”
I was going to have to find a way to pay her back.
“Any other problems while I’m here?” Midnight asked with a smug look on her face.
I shook my head “Not unless you know of an expert to talk about ancient Equestria… lore or would it be history?”
Midnight shook her head “Sorry. Maybe Celestia can help you?”
I sighed as that was one of the questions I didn’t want to ask. To my Celestia was the Princess… somepony important to not only me, but the rest of Equestria… and yet… it would feel like asking my own mom if I really was her daughter… or…
“Are you alright?” Midnight asked as I could hear the concern in her voice.
“I’m fine.” I lied through my teeth “Just a small headache.”
Don’t worry ------ We’ll help take care of the hospitable bill.
I shut my eyes trying to block out the memory “Just a bit of…”
It didn’t work as I could taste the sand in my mouth. My hearing seemed to have been shot as my left leg ached in pain. Something sharp was in my arm as I tried to recover from the accident… no trap… they rigged the road.
Panic started to set in as I tried to move only for something holding my legs… Where the hell are my…
“Stardust!” The bat pony shouted as she shook me “Are you alright!”
I put a hoof up to my head… a hoof… I glanced at my body and counted all four of them… yes all four of them.
I tried to smile “Sorry I kind lost myself.”
I needed to talk to Valkyrie or Lockheart… I needed to know if they were having the same problem and hopefully some way to deal with the headaches. I just had to take my mind off it for now and focus on the present. I had to focus on helping my friends out.
******
Celestia
Celestia stared at the injured pony before her. His body had recovered, his magic was still a mess, but most of all the strain on his mind kept him from waking up. It had been almost a week
Celestia went over her options again as the nagging sense of wrongness continued to surround the pony before her. Lockheart wasn’t a changeling… of that Celestia felt certain of. After going back through her records and reading up on Equestria’s ancient foe Lockheart didn’t match Queen Chrysalis’s changelings.
Of course neither did the other two changelings… well they matched the old records, but they didn’t act like those changelings. The changeling that had impersonated a unicorn matched Queen Chrysalis’s changelings as they didn’t see ponies as people, but food. They stole from others, manipulated ponies into paranoid fear and of course had a lust for power only outmatched by their own greed and pride.
Celestia glanced at the fallen pony again. His wings felt real. His fur was real. A part of her mind seemed to claim he was an alicorn… but the chaotic magic could warp anypony’s senses into believing things that weren’t true. One of the main reasons Discord’s rule over Equestria was left undocumented was because everypony felt a different impact of time.
For one pony it could have been for two days and another an entire generation.
Thankfully Discord was still sealed inside his stone prison.
Celestia closed her eyes and focused on the lessons she had with her sister. Luna was always the best pony to deal with situations like this. If Celestia was the scholar then Luna was the artist. Celestia would analyze a painting, while Luna would search for the emotion that came from it.
There was a simple solution of course and that was to go into his mind. Of course that was the problem. Celestia analyzed while Luna saw. To walk in another’s mind much less to view their dream required a certain aspect that Celestia knew she lacked.
It was like what Star Swirl once told her “You can see the forest, but Luna can see the trees. That is why despite your skill you are having difficulty with that field of magic.”
Celestia couldn’t help but frown at the memory as it brought up memories of her sister again… memories that were lost to the past as the parasite Nightmare Moon still had hold over her and trapped in the moon for a few more hundred years.
“Still… I need answers.” She told herself “He knew things he shouldn’t have known and… something is interfering with my own gifts.”
Celestia hadn’t seen the fall of Timberton. Her insights of the future had become… clouded in a sense, but instead of having difficulty understanding it she was simply overwhelmed. Too many problems were starting to appear, but most of all the assault near Rainbow Falls, the chimera population going wild near Golden Fields, the fillynapping, the destruction of Timberton, and the attempted theft of Star Swirl’s old mirror happening all on the same day?
Something knew about her gift of foresight and was trying to hide from it by throwing countless disasters. Celestia didn’t even know about Timberton’s destruction or the atrocities being done at her old castle in the Everfree forest. The theft of the Elements of Harmony was also a major blow.
It didn’t matter if she didn’t have any ponies who could wield them right now. What mattered was the fact the Elements of Harmony… the magical relics that she and her sister had used were just stolen from right under her own nose.
Celestia’s horn glowed as she cast the spell… hopefully this would also help Lockheart recover.
******
Celestia opened her eyes and stared at the dreamscape… or possible mindscape in confusion. Most ponies tended to have things relating to them or revealing certain aspects. One who loved to read held libraries or sometimes had them reliving those adventures they had once read. The point was that no matter how chaotic the place may have seemed it made sense to the pony in question.
Yet why was this place so… orderly?
Celestia stood in a hallway filled with mirrors each the same size and shape. The walls held no color and the floor only held a red carpet that didn’t really seem to belong there. Celestia stared at the plaster walls as the dull white gave no life to the place.
“Focus on the meaning not the item.” Celestia muttered to herself.
Celestia glanced into the first mirror to see… herself. She saw herself giving Luna a bubble bath after that one incident where she sprained her wing and some pony had accidently dropped a bowl of pudding all over her. It was a memory she cherished… yet what was it doing here?
Celestia turned around and saw another mirror expect this one was playing back the destruction of Timberton. The buildings were on fire as the crazed monster Sanguine Point laughed. He grinned like a mad stallion as countless knives floated in his blood red magical aura. A foal was tied up crying as Sanguine held a knife to her throat openly mocking Celestia.
“What is going on?” Celestia asked out loud both in anger, but also with a hint of fear.
The next mirror down the line revealed to her sister’s fall as she became Nightmare Moon as she tried to kill Celestia… yet beside it held a purple unicorn talking to both Celestia and… Luna. A glass window revealing her sister being freed from the parasite’s control by the Elements of Harmony?
Celestia started to trout down the hallway as each mirror seemed to twist to face her. The entire hallway seemed to be a mockery of something else… some sort of twisted joke that only made sense when the dreamer woke up.
The mirrors revealed images of the past Celestia held dear or tried to keep buried as they showed both peaceful visions of the future… and horrors Celestia did not wish to see like Sombra’s return as Equestria struggled to keep him from dominating the land. Fates were Equestra was practically dead as ponies used strange weapons to kill each other.
When one mirror showed Celestia standing over Luna ready to end her own sister's life the real Celestia smashed the mirror with her own hooves as cracks filled the mirror yet the mirror didn’t fall apart. Instead the dull endless hallway grew darker as the glass mirror started to take a crystal like appearance.
Celestia could feel the taint of chaos magic tingling in the air. Luna had warned Celestia about the dangers of dream walking. How one could make a problem worse or how a dream could turn into a nightmare.
Celestia thought she understood before, but as the mirrors started to whisper she began to wonder if she misunderstood what Luna had actually meant.
Solar Tyrant. Cruel Dictator.
The crystal mirrors showed Celestia a mockery of herself. The mirror Celestia had flames instead of her multicolored hair. Instead of compassion and wisdom brought forth from Celestia’s long life now bore hatred and sorrow as the being only saw the slow decay of death around her instead of the hopeful spring of life.
The ponies around her bowed not out of respect, but fear as the sun blazed in the sky with a scorching heat. As much as Celestia wished to look away the crystal mirror had a way of drawing her in as it showed her a nightmarish form of Celestia. The mare in the mirror with the bone white coat was Celestia in the same way Nightmare Moon was Luna.
The mare spoke “All bow before the Ever Gold Throne.”
There was no compassion in her voice. No peace or compromise. Only hatred and domination radiated from her as she didn’t look at any ponies in the room… no. In some dark twisted way Celestia knew it wasn’t even speaking to her… it was speaking to the ponies. It saw their lives to brief to even care about, but useful pieces to move about. Who cared what a few mortals thought? Once the land was under her rule and her sister bowing back down before her and the Solar Tyrant would never be alone again.
Celestia ran.
She ran from the mirror. She ran from the haunting promise that it claimed she would become. She could feel her mind trying to make sense of the mirror and how frighteningly ease it saw how Celestia could become the nightmare.
The mirrors started to gather together as they blurred across the endless hallway. The pieces of plaster in-between them started to disappear before they turned into an endless hallway with one giant mirror on each side. The images tore into Celestia.
It showed her folly and the obvious depression of her sister Luna. It showed Celestia trying to keep peace with the Centaurs only for Tirek to kill his own father for his own mad lust for power. Each image showed Celestia’s failure as they drew closer and closer. Each image attacking her as they seemed to blur together.
Solar Tyrant.
The dark images of the twisted future of Equestria falling from a peaceful nation to one filled with bloodlust and war.
Failure
Her inability to save her ponies from Chrysalis’s swarm.
Traitor
How she was caught up too much in the limelight of her ponies as she didn’t notice her sister’s depression.
Puppet
Ponies lying. Ponies twisted laws around to suit their twisted needs.
Liar
Celestia giving one of her many “tests” only for it to end badly instead of having everything work out alright in the end.
“Sun-Butt!” a cheerful foal shouted.
Celestia slowed down as an… odd alicorn… filly tilted her head to the side had held up some sort of yellow bottle and a stick of some sort.
The little alicorn filly opened her wings up “Wana blow bubbles with me?” she replied with a cheerful smile full of blissful innocence.
Celestia stopped in front of the little filly as her mind blocked out the mirrors. Instead she focused on the strange filly that stood giggling before her.
The alicorn filly had a vanilla coat, wisteria mane, and large blue eyes. She had some sort of large pink… sloth behind her? What did the oddly placed filly represent in a hallway of mirrors and why was it blowing bubbles out of the stick… that smelled of soapy water?
As if reading her mind the filly happily replied “Because it’s fun!”
The mirrors started to scrap together as Celestia felt a different type of magic interfering. It wasn’t Lockheart’s own strange brand of magic, nor the chaotic touch made by Discord. This magic… was old and trying to subtly twist the room into a walking nightmare.
Celestia’s horn glowed as she tried to tear the magic out of the dream only for the crystal mirrors to shatter. The broken shard gathered to the other side of the hallway until they formed a pony’s skull.
Celestia stood in front of the oddly placed filly and prepared to protect her… This must have been what was interfering with Lockheart’s recovery.
The crystal skull opened it’s mouth “Pony” the word dripped with the same venom Tirek’s kingdom spoke of their hated lord. “You dare try to steal from me yet again!”
This voice spoke in a hatred and malice Discord never had yet it didn’t raise it’s voice more than that of a loud whisper. More importantly than that she could feel it’s wrath growing as it’s foul touch was slowly being stripped from the land around her.
“Leave this place at once.” Celestia commanded.
The crystal skull’s eyes glowed now with flames as it stared at her “A worm like you tries to command me! You stole my gem. You stole my General and now you wish to steal from me yet again!”
Celestia stood up to the monster as she had finally found the source of the problems that had been plaguing her lands. She had found the monster pulling the strings behind the scene and more importantly she had found the one who had unleashed that monster on Timberton setting the entire town ablaze in an attempt to hide it’s other twisted activates.
Celestia unleashed her Royal Voice to show her full displeasure “You shall leave this pony alone and stay away from my land!”
The force of her Royal Voice shattered pieces of the crystal skull, but instead of backing down it replied with venom dripping in it's voice “You insignificant worm. I ruled these lands long before you and your misbegotten ilk ever set their wretched feet upon this place. Your worthless kind shall stare into the face of death upon my return and I shall grant neither you nor your worthless kind any mercy when I return.”
Celestia horn glowed as she focused on her memories… the lessons Luna had taught her… the hope of the one future the mirror had shown of her sister’s return.
Celestia placed her hooves on the ground as the tainted magic was finally all in one place “But today you fall.”
The crystal skull hissed not in anger, but annoyance. Whatever creature was behind it was old… older than Equestria itself. It didn’t see this as a battle it lost, but simply a pause before it’s next assault.
Once the crystal skull was destroyed Celestia felt another magic in the hallway. It didn’t carry the same chaotic force of Discord’s magic or the strange weave of Lockheart’s own magic. Celestia followed the magic as the hallway returned to normal as she finally figured it out.
The hallway finally ended revealing the carven of the Tree of Harmony. The same Elements of Harmony Celestia and Luna had plucked from the tree were now bare, yet the sense of peace it brought filled the room.
Sadly the room was not like it had been when she had seen it before. Dark vines covered in thorns filled the room as they were tangled around the mirrors. Each thorn encrusted vine showed a dark future… some of them of Equestria falling.
The other mirrors showed the peaceful futures as Celestia couldn’t help but smile as her sister was enjoying Nightmare Night. In fact Luna was begin her old playful self-giving some of the ponies a nice scare. She saw the Crystal Empire back as the crystal ponies walked around in joy as a… Pink Alicorn similar to the one Lockheart impersonated waved at her subjects.
Right before the Tree of Harmony rested a mirror of Lockheart smiling as he blew out some birthday candles. On the opposite side the vines held a mirror revealing Lockheart’s before he was killed by six ponies.
Celestia steeped closer to the object between the two mirrors as she felt one of the Elements of Harmony as it shined trying to bring light to the cave, but the dark vines tangled around it forming a cage.
Inside the cage was a darkness… a shade or an outline of… something.
In every book, tale and theory about dream walking or entering another pony’s mind it always talked about the pony being in there… but not one of them talked about the pony being there in mind but not in body.
Celestia could tell Lockheart was in the center of the obscuring darkness… but she couldn’t tell much less see anything inside it. Even then the darkness wasn’t the body, but more like one of those burnt holes from a canvas left to long out in the sun.
Instead of giving her answer the form only gave Celestia more questions as Lockheart didn’t even seem to be certain what he was anymore.
“Lockheart?” Celestia softly called out.
The being in the cage slowly turned around. All she could see in the darkness was a searing white scare across the chest and two frightened eyes.
Lockheart simply replied “I lost.”
******
Celestia woke up as the spell ended as Lockheart quickly shot up. He grabbed her chest and started hyperventilating as he started to panic.
Celestia fell back to her old teaching methods and took hold of Lockheart “Deep breaths! In and out. In and out.”
Only once Lockheart’s breathing returned to normal did Celestia let go. His disguise fell apart as he fell to his black coat and strange green hair that reminded Celestia of Chrysalis.
More than that the memories of that… hallway were stuck in her mind. It wasn’t like her dreams which gave glimpses or hints of the future. She couldn’t help but repress a small shiver as she remembered the intruder twisting the hallway to show Celestia her past failures and the dark futures that would hopefully never come true.
Celestia glanced down at Lockheart’s chest and saw the large white scar… it looked as if somepony had grabbed a hot poker to his chest, but roughly the size of a large rock. Lockheart noticed her gaze and quickly tried to cover it up with his magic.
“Where did you get that?” Celestia couldn’t help but ask in concern.
To her fear Lockheart replied “I lost… It was from a mistake I made.”
Celestia saw him tense up while he said it. He was telling the truth… but it was clear as day he was hiding something. Part of her mind went back to what little she really knew about him. The few tale about him trying to keep his identity hidden that he always quickly glossed over…
“Lockheart.” Celestia softly spoke
Lockheart quickly replied “We should have waited for you. We lost the Elements of Harmony… I’ll try to help get them back.”
He had hint of fear in his voice. If it was some fear from the past or a byproduct of that creature lurking around in his dreams Celestia didn’t know. More than that she could tell that Lockheart was scared of her.
Celestia was torn in-between trying to hug the small alicorn and telling him that it would be alright or simply giving him the space he needed. Instead questions plagued her mind as she now recognized what the hallway reminder her of.
When a normal pony ascended into becoming an alicorn they would experience a similar hallway like the one from Lockheart's mind... expect it would show them their past and help show them the good in them. Honestly it should have been a wonderful moment also it would also show or help guide them in a similar manor like their cutie mark did or give them an idea of their role or possibly their talent.
Somehow Celestia doubted Lockheart either fully understood it... or that it wasn't such a wonderful moment for him.
Still who was the little filly or what did she represent? Why couldn't he figure out what he was? What were those dark vines or those mirrors? What did the two mirrors show him or where they just short glimpses into a possible future?
Celestia's head started to ache as Lockheart somehow made even less sense now then he had before.
At least her unknown foe made a bit more sense. Some ancient evil that either felt they were wronged or was just another power hunger fool. If he brought Sanguine Point to be his “general” that he was either prideful of his abilities or a bit foolish if not flat out insane.
Celestia didn’t fear his so called power, but his ability was. If he was willing to unleash a monster like Sanguine Point than it would only be a matter of time before he unleashed some monster he couldn’t control.
She could check the old records latter on to see if anything matched what was currently happening now. Right now she had more important things to focus on like helping the traumatized pony in front of her calm down and figure out what to do with him.
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Well... Kill is a little excesive, and some of them were manipulated so, maybe let Celestia find a way to reform them or they work for her?
This story keeps getting better^^.
Well the captured players have the slight problem that celestia is currently busy with lockheart so they will probably be interogated and keept under watch till celestia has more time. Maybe they find some kind of temporary solution.
The chagelings might catch some special interest from celestia/remedy to maybe get more informations about lockheart/the tree.
Wait, I thought Lockheart was a changeling?
Did Discord make him an alicorn?
Or am I just not getting something?
I would say ask them what part they played and go from there?
Great chapter and the story is getting better and better as it goes along with all the mysteries that are popping up in the story. Lookheart dream seem to confirm that the human are a diversion of sort to something bigger or a tool that hasn't been put to full force yet.
I also think that the point system is even more insidious than we might think. I think that the memories that they are progressively being replaced are not that of nice individuals but full blown dangerous personalities that wouldn't think twice in killing others for their own ends. The example that I can think of are the two guys that attacked Valkyrie they were over powering her and they freely admit that they liberally used the skill tree to become so powerful. If most of the people that have arrived in Equestria were normal everyday people, I would expect most of them be a useless quivering mess that would be seeking the highest authority of the land to ask for their help like most people would do I can't believe that they would so suddenly become so bloodthirsty even with the passive mind-control that they were under, to abandon their moral so readably for fun, even if some of them were small time criminals. Also I think that Duran was at first genially wanting to help the fellow human, but his abusive use of the skill tree warped his perceptions of what he was actually doing and simply lost his way where his just cause became a power-hungry skim. Duran's constant denial that his actions obviously evil , that seem for said to be said to himself than anything else, seem to confirm my thoughts on the matter.
For the fath of the prisoners, seeing all the confusion of all the mind tampering for everyone involved, so determining the guiltiness of each individual is very hard unless they probe all their minds which has a lot of ethical problem in the matter, and treating them all as criminals is just not right and will make even bigger problems in the future for Equestria if the humans, who have actually done nothing wrong, think that there is no appeasing the princess to show that they have no ill intentions. I think that they are two ways that could be considered both have their disadvantages and advantage.
I would think integrating some them in the guard would be a good idea as we have seen that some of them have developed a blood lust and given they superpony strength with no group discipline to them they would make make more trouble then helping unless their is a clear foe to confront.
1. they are all sent far away to a large penal colony where they would live in a sort of commune to work the land to make a living there until either there is a way back home or that whey prove themselves that they are not dangerous to the ponies around them by complying to the rules. To not make them feel that they are all prisoners there shouldn’t be a wall at least not something that is imposing; just. In the mean time they could keep their minds busy (and avoided seditious thoughts) by doing work to keep the penal community functioning and are rewarded for good behaviors and for working hard. The problem would be that is that all the humans would be focus in one place and an uprising could start their, if they feel that they feel that they are unjustly treated or that they feel that things are taking too long, and would give them all a sense of solidarity with one and other and would certainly a force to be reckoned with if they are all together in one place, hint the reason that they are sent far far away; Maybe it could be the mane of the place (Far Far Away).
2. All if not most the humans would be on parole and are all disperse all throughout Equestria in different towns or hamlets and are hosted by Equestrian families for emotional support, put them to work in the community that they can be better integrated in the Equstrian lifestyle. They would have to report daily to the local guard garrison to make sure that they stay put, they would all be for forbidden to leave their location and to make contact with other humans and mustn’t break the condition of their parole or it’s prison for them. It could be a difficult feat in terms of logistics do with the existing infrastructures, but it can be done but it would prevent that the humans unite together and will be completely disconnected from one another so if any of them would start making trouble they are isolated from the rest and more easily subdued. They would each be easily reachable if anypony need to ask them questions to them and it would be more or less easier for them to create a bond with the community if they take the effort to do so and they would feel that they are prisoners as much.
These are my best solutions that I can think of
I am also think that Maxwell is going to be the Element of loyalty seeing that he stud up against Duran for if former comrades, even if he was obviously outmatch by him or none of his comrades, even if they didn’t do the same for him when no one else would take the risk, He joined the group so that he can help save his former comrades even if they wanted him dead, and had plenty of chances to leave the group to run away for safety , he stayed with the Lockheart even if he had his misgiving about him. Even if Maxwell sounds like a bit of a coward he stayed true to the group and himself even if it was better for him to stay behind. It harder to stay loyal to someone if they aren’t willing to risk life and lame for them and not have super powers like Valkyrie to support them, which make Maxwell actions more endearing than her.
From what I can tell Lockheart's abilities focus on manipulation and alteration of perspective. He is not a true alicorn but he is able to give enough false positives to cause doubt.
When compared to the current changlings it's easy to see the confusion, but he should let Celestia know the truth sooner rather than latter. Right now that secret seems to be a ticking time bomb... especially if they start focusing on Alicorn ability as even chaos magic doesn't make up for earth pony power/magic.
As for what to do with the capacitive?
I can see a few thrown into the brig with tirek, but for the most part you are going to need to find a way to gather those who had yet to be caught before that point system turns the rest of them into crazed monsters as bad if not WORSE than Duran and this Sanguine Point who seemed to have given up their human name now.
Star dust seems to be a glitch or another form of confusion to sow across the world. She hasn't used the point system after hitting Camelot... and she can help sort humans from ponies. Get that with a bit of panic and paranoia with just the right dash of loyalty to equestria and you have a recipe for disaster. Take a look at the mlp Nightmare Moon comic if your trying to get picture of the chaos.
I think Discord is setting up Lockheart to be a hero or symbol with just enough cracks to tear everything down like Jafar revealing that Aladdin to be a street rat and tearing apart not only his will but everyone else's moral as well.
As for this hidden foe... either he is making an overmind connection and slowly guiding those corrupted by the point system... or he is preparing something really bad as he planned to remove Discord from canterlot before the madness would be unleashed.
This is what popped into my head.
6813511
I dunno, is this really a heroes/villains game? If we're talking about post reform discord then wouldn't it be friendship vs pragmatists/cynics (while reformed still doesnt understand power of friendship yet). In this case wouldn't discord win if his cynical piece becomes the hero while twilights friendship ponies fall into madness/villany, thanks in part to the point system (even post reform dissy is dirty cheat :p).
6822546 So you think he is more of a jerk-ish fairy godmother? He isn't exactly out to ruin Lockheart, but he isn't exactly a good guy either?
Sort of like the Discord from Just Dodge?
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/220226/just-dodge
(Discord and Lyra make a bet to fix a window. Chaos ensues.)
6826635
Yes, in the cartoon series Discord has a complete lack of empathy for anything, he's like a very young child with the power of a god. -Did he even have an upbringing? Is fluttershy the closest thing to a parental figure he's ever had?-
When they first release him he turns "good" on the realisation that by giving up some freedom he'll stay free (the basic concept of any society), but he still has no empathy at all untill after Tirek and even then he's still at the level of a young child eg The gala/smooze.
Speaking of Tirek and discord, does anyone else get that paranoid feeling that the main six only defeated Tirek because they unlocked the rainbow power, that they only got the rainbow power because Discord betrayed them, and that they could only get the rainbow power because Discord forced them to give the elements back to the ToH... Games within games and I'm looking at that mystery creature in Lockhearts head (I don't think it's discord).
6830354 so make a flux of chaos magic and a sort of coma so that Celestia takes a peek to remove said house guest leaving Discord.... with a relatively clean piece for his games.
That actually kind of makes sense in a twisted way.
Well, Lockheart is in a troublesome situation right now... but he isn't necessarily going to loose.
He can't really "win" anymore, that option was out of the window the second he absorbed the element. However, he isn't totally screwed.
He has, after all, still a trump card he can use: Tirek.
Lockheart is a changeling, which means he can drain emotions and convert them into a specific amount of energy, while Tirek is somehow able to not only steal magic, but also to store it. This storage seems to lack a limit. Yes, he needs a specific amount of power in relation to the target he drains, but then he drains it's magic and grows stronger.
Now, if Lockheart were to "nudge" Tirek into telling him exactly how to use this power (maybe at the prospect of getting revenge on Celestia and his traitor of a brother?), he could use this unlimited MP-bar he now only needs to fill up as much as he needs via emotion drain to gather the necessary power to perform magic drain.
And even if Discord won't provide more chaos-magic, Lockheart now has a direct connection to the Tree of Harmony, which he might be able to use to drain power from it (until the point he doesn't need the consent from either of the two).
If all that doesn't work, he's in trouble, because while Centaurs seem to have a really shitty natural magical regeneration (at least in canon mlp), changelings may have noone at all...
On the other hand, the elements are a problem: Destroying them or "taking" them may not alter his situation at all, given what we could see during the Nightmare Moon Saga. Even killing Maxwell may only be stalling the problem. His only chance is to use the connection he has to "cannibalize" the tree to the point where the magical damage it sustaned is irreversible or to artifically increase the growth of the pludervines to physically destroy the tree... or swear like a sailor next to it, that might work too. But the tree needs to be gone for him to have any resemblance of safety.
Either way, if he ever told Celestia, he's done, and he seems aware of it. Heck, he couldn't not be aware of it, because he knows what his future will entail. As soon as the element is out of his body, they'll turn on him, no questions asked. And given Steels introduction and Lockhearts empatic abilities, he knows that trusting Overkill would probably be suicide at this point and Stardust, truth be told, is a nutcase. Unless Overkill is actually loyal in any way... which, after selling him out for a few days in Canterlot on the crowns expense... it's unlikely... not impossible, but unlikely... If Lockhearts wants any allies, Stardust seems not that bad of a choice after all...
So yes... It's now villain-path or death... Which, praise the Lord for it, means we won't have to deal with a boring, clichè Heel-Face Turn from Lockhearts side, which alread marks this story as way more awesome than what I actually expected (and believe me, seeing the quality of the previous chapters, I had a LOT of expectations). I'm surprised about this story's high quality to the point of it being nearly unbelievable, so here's my follow.
Now, to the question of the day: What to do about the prisoners... I think they should be killed. Not because of any sort of justice, but because Celestia is paranoid due to an element missing, the panic it could cause if they were to be revealed to the public and to drive the point home that if Lockheart reveals himself, he's screwed. It would be kinda meta and isn't all that necessary, but it would stop Lockheart from doing something really stupid and ruining the story in the process.
Greetings
LQ
If the person reading this just wants to know something about the fic without spoilers, this sums it up:
So I've noticed one consistent mistake throughout your story so far. It seems like every time you would use the word probably (I'm guessing that's the word your going for based on context clues) you instead substitute properly.
The plot is interesting but what ticks me off is the incorrect grammar.
), but the grammar takes away immersion, otherwise, great story.
The chapters are nice and long (that's what she said