It's A Mad World After All
Lockheart
I couldn’t help but stare in disgust at the Castle of the Two Sisters. The castle seemed to have various emotions hang around it area outside could best be described as a crude makeshift fix. The broken walls now had logs closing the gap as crude planks covered the windows.
The bridge was left in poor shape as I half expected it to fall if anything actually got on it. Of course the wooden makeshift fort was made out of fallen trees and logs rested nearby it. It looked as if someone had the idea of a fort and then quit when they barely made the foundations.
Instead of seeing people yawning in border outside everyone guarding the fort seemed to have gone nuts. I could feel the wrath and paranoia coming from everyone guarding it. The guards had shadows underneath their eyes as they stared into the distance ready to attack the first thing they saw. Hell a few of them twitched as if they were hopped up on coffee or about to shout the same crazed nonsense most raiders did in video games.
I took a deep breath as I waited for Steel Halberd to pass the spyglass over to me again just so I could make sure that they actually looked insane instead of my mind playing tricks on my. What I saw wasn’t much to go on, but the castle seemed to make my entire body itch and that didn't exactly feel like a good thing in this case.
Grant it the castle just looked wrong with the improvised defenses and repairs, but there was something more to it than that. The same type of feeling one has when staring into a dark cave or walking around in one of those distorted fun houses.
Steel shook his head as he handed off the spyglass to Valkyrie “I’ve never seen griffins and diamond dogs work together.”
Valkyrie frowned “No cutie marks on the ponies.”
I could see Valkyrie’s lips moving as she mouthed the various titles that hung above each player’s head. I felt my wings twitch in irritation at the thought of the titles.
Just one glance and you could tell who was human and who wasn’t. Just one glance helped give you an idea of who you were up against. Hell titles seemed to be the human equivalent of cutie marks right now. I’m glad I get rid of my title… but it’s going to be hard getting past them all if all it took was one look to see through a disguise.
I tapped my feet against the ground as I thought back to all the stories I’ve read about similar situations. Hiding the name of a title when the sunlight came up behind them was a popular one. Pretending to be a NPC as keeping your title out, but being hidden in a crowd of people… Sadly most stories involved hiding the fact your a player instead of an NPC. Not pretending to be someone else.
How do changelings keep themselves hidden? They have caprice instead of fur… yet the ponies had a lot of physical interaction. Even then with how magic seems to be the dump/save all answer or solution for most things the answer could simply be magic. Of course there’s always mind control as that was a weapon Queen Chrysalis TV canon used to help fix any blunders she ran into.
The though gave me a small chuckle as I tried to come up with a plan. Just a little bit of misdirection and a few nudges could get past the title problem. It would be just like the cheating boyfriend incident back at Canterlot… except this time the focus would be on me instead of a floating title above my head. Of course I would also need to figure out if any of them had mind control powers.
Valkyrie handed me the spyglass with her wing and said “Take a look at the green unicorn.”
I peeked through the spy glass and stared at the green eyed unicorn as I saw what she meant. The others stood on pins and needles ready to attack the first possible threat they saw. The unicorn looked as if she was bored out of her mind as she held a book in her hooves.
The unknown unicorn’s title was Shimmer Field. For pony names that isn’t much. For a unicorn who seemed bored out of her mind has she had magic while everyone else around her was going nuts? I’m going out on a limb and saying she’s a villain... well someone with mind control powers at the very least.
I paused for a second as I noticed she was wearing jewelry… grant it I’m wearing a big jacket, and Valkyrie’s wearing armor that covers her body. The fact the unicorn wasn’t wearing anything except for a necklace was setting off a ton of warning bells. The fact the rest of the males were either walking in birthday suits or nothing covering their… flanks as the unicorn would take a glance and smirk to herself every once and a while.
The wind blew as her fur flickered for a moment “She’s a fake.”
“What?” someone from the peanut gallery asked out loud.
I handed the spyglass to whoever was next “Low level illusion spell. Her fur flickered when her clothing moved in the wind. That and everyone else is standing on pins and needles while she is… ahem… enjoying the view so to speak.”
Completely lost on our Equestrian allies, but they didn't exactly have the same... aspects or social cues as we did. Personally I blame the internet and Rule 34.
I heard Maxwell whistle “Alright… How many races in Equestria have access to mind control?”
I groaned “That could mean a unicorn with a mind magic skill set, or a changeling screwing with emotions and minds, though Sirens can also mess with people’s minds and lower inhibitions or common sense before advancing to outright mind control. Better question would be which races don’t have access to mind control.”
Steel shook his head “So how many are innocents and how many are actually guilty?”
I couldn’t help but shrug “If we take out the green eyed unicorn things might get easier… but this isn’t just one crazy unicorn who’s causing everyone problems.” I could feel the tension in the air “It’s a group. Either one plays public figure while the rest work in the background… or Duran’s started teaching his mind magic tricks to his followers. Either way it’s not good.”
The plan to go back to Canterlot and have Celestia fix this mess sounder better and better by the minute now. Just let the Royal Guard swarm the castle with numbers and have Celestia mop up any resistance. Of course the only problem was trying to figure out how many players had combat builds and the level of difference between the players enhancements vs the Royal Guard. Then throw in a hostage crises and a few dirty tactics…
Look Celestia may be powerful, but the Canterlot wedding did prove one thing. Celestia is mortal and cheap shots still work in this universe. Now coming from a member of the human race that’s made it’s way to the top by out evolving/killing the other races on our planet instead of using friendship and rainbows… It’s going to get bloody.
No that's not a phrase. That's a fact. A painful literal fact. I don't know how certain things translate, but I do know one things. The Canterlot didn't have murder holes until we came along.
“Alright I’ll just fly over and” Valkyrie started to say as her wings opened up before Remedy used her magic to force them shut.
“You’ll get yourself captured.” She quickly stated “But we can’t just leave either.”
While I had doubts about Celestia being able to fix everything I was properly sure she had a better shot than we did… especially when the fields of mind control and dark magic came into play. Of course leaving someone we knew to get possibly brainwashed didn’t exactly set to well with me either.
“Why not?” I couldn’t help but ask as I brought up a major problem “They have guards and emotions are running wild in this area. I do not want one of you to take a wrong step and suddenly go bipolar or something.”
Maxwell rolled his eyes “Last thing we need is for someone to start saying ‘Resistance is futile’ or ‘you shall be assimilated’ just because they took a wrong step.”
It was sad but true. The despite the fact that it rubbed me the wrong way that Maxwell agreed with me it was kind of difficult to come up with a way to get past a field of magic we literally knew nothing about. Heck the only rules on mind control I’ve seen is proximity and that changed depending on which brand was being used.
Remedy opened up her saddle bags as started to search through them “I know a few spells that can protect us, but the problem is finding out how many there are and what type of mind control is in play.”
Maxwell shook his head “It’s mind control. What else matters?”
Remedy sort of glared at him “If it’s domination of another mind or direct manipulation than taking out the caster will restore the rest of them to normal or at the very least incapacitate them. If it’s “nudging” like Lockheart’s version or removal of impulse control than counter spells will be needed until the effects wear off.”
Steel sighed as he gave in “It’s the difference between having to fighting everypony or just a few crazed individuals. It will also determine just how many victims there are.”
I really hated what this meant. We had to be stealthy and figure out what type of mind control it was while we tried to find Stardust. Mind Control was always a subject that irked me. If this was also determining who was guilty… that always was a subject of controversy in any story.
Maxwell tried to chip in “What else do we have on our side?”
I shrugged “I can do illusions and the brand of mind control I have is more like nudging.”
Maxwell stared at me as he added “Green eyes, green magic, illusions and mind control?”
Valkyrie to my surprise came to my aid “Just give the wings a jerk if you’re curious.”
Before I could say anything the freaking jerk yanked out a mouthful of feathers. I bit back the fury of curses that rested at the tip of my tongue as the chaotic flames of magic danced in my throat as I glared at Maxwell. The feathers fell from his mouth as the gray feathers turned black hopefully dispelling any questions he had. I rubbed my aching wing it stung like hell. Maxwell wasn’t exactly gentle in his test, but seemed satisfied that I wasn’t a changeling.
Maxwell spat out the feathers as I muttered “Alright. If we get into the castle are we all sticking together or should we split up.”
Valkyrie took a look at the bridge again “How about we just skip the bridge and go straight under the castle?”
Valkyrie handed me the spyglass as I caught sight of the staircase leading down the gorge and to the Tree of Harmony… or at least I think it lead us too it. Her plan didn’t sound that bad until the vital flaw was revealed.
Maxwell shook his head “It doesn’t connect to the castle so unless you brought a shovel we won’t have much luck.”
If he meant the tunnel didn’t connect or he had actually checked the area out before he fled the castle he didn’t say. The fact I tried not to suggest we check it out anyway to see if he was lying was only because I didn’t want to waste any time trying to avoid being seen or checking if they had any guards hidden there if the cave really did connect to the castle.
Remedy smiled “Doesn’t matter. We have a griffin down near the bridge on our end with three other ponies.”
Steel opened up his wings and went forward with Valkyrie as I couldn’t help but groan. Apparently we were going back to plan A. Knock someone out and hope our illusion specialist can trick the enemy.
Sometimes I hate my life.
******
Stardust
The first that that happened when I opened my eyes was fear shooting through my veins. I was trapped in an unknown room as the last thing I remembered was being fillynapped. Every instinct in my body wanted to scream.
All it got was a frightened “Meep!”
The kind of fear were you were just too scared to scream. I reached for my saddle bags and sighed in relief happy to know they were still there as I took out one of the potions to calm my nerves and to hopefully help me think straight.
“Just calm down Stardust.” I repeated to myself “Your panicked, but remember what dad always told you… and besides it can’t be as bad as…”
I gripped my head as it started to ache again “as…” The two conflicting memories clashed again. “Dam it!”
Tears ran down my eyes as the confusion set in again. I could see dad resting my on his back as he told me about his adventures in the Royal Guard… then there was the bitter memory of the road bomb nearly taking out my squad.
The second memory had to be a fake because there weren’t cars in Equestria… yet nopony told me how to craft… certain volatile items. Of course the fact memories of my parents didn’t seem to stand up as well as the other memories.
I took another sip of the potion. It was made to help deal with the nightmares, but it also helped in times like this.
“Think about now.” I said to myself as tears ran down my eyes “Just focus on what’s happening now and then deal with the past latter.”
Rummaging through my saddle bags I started to see just why they didn’t take anything. It was all junk. A few cosmetic items and a small cleaning supply item or two, but nothing really… important. Of course like the old saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” as it really was nothing… until you mixed it together.
“Okay remember the old rules.” I muttered to myself as I tore up the bed sheets and started to get to work “Masks mean hostages. No mask means something much worse because if I see their faces I could describe them to the police.”
I shook my head as I was forced to destroy a few pieces that cost a nice chunk of my bits. Dad talked about trying to have me get used to everything again and Sis… I held my head as two conflicting memories clashed as one had me in a wheel chair and the other looking at expensive smelly junk.
No idea if it was perfume or some home remedy concoction. I pulled the small smelly liquid out and gladly dumped it on the torn up bed sheets. The chemical makeup was the only value I saw in that junk.
With one kick to the bed frame I managed to get a mixing spoon/block and started getting to work. I needed something close to a flash bang to get past the initial guards. Then I needed other items to deal with whoever chased after me… volatile mixtures worked great sealing off hallways and it would warn the fire department… yet unicorn magic could do some trick stuff.
Then again trying to come up with chemical bombs similar to tear gas didn’t exactly work to well if they had guns and simply shot you. Fire blinded people and gas… gas just pissed people off as most would try to cover their mouth or do something else.
I muttered to myself “It’s just like the meeting with Celestia. Make chemical stink bomb and focus on pony biology.”
I needed to talk to Lockheart and Valkyrie again. My memories were a mess as even the ones that seemed to claim to be about Equestria seemed to conflict… I mean Luna? The Mare on the Moon story was just an old mare’s tale… and Discord? I think I heard something about him… yet he couldn’t be resting in the maze garden by the castle. Even the info about Terik seemed to conflict as Centaurs don’t like that long… well naturally at least.
The sounds of hoofsteps warned me somepony was coming as I quickly went to work. Just one perfume bottle with a deadly mixture and a torn up piece cloth to use as a fuse. I broke my brush on the floor and ripped out the small piece of flint I hide inside it to lite the first mixture as the hoofsteps grew louder.
And dad thought I was paranoid. Sadly that only works when people are not after you.
Each strike against the piece of flint made me grow more nervous as the unknown assailant came closer and closer. When the cloth final took the small spark and started to burn it took all my strength to not shout for joy as I raced back to the broken bed and turned it on it’s side.
The door opened up revealing a dark blue coat unicorn with some sort of green slimy looking mane. His green eyes seemed to be filled with some unspoken evil or horror as his smile only seemed to darken the room around him. The strangest thing about him was that instead of having a cutie mark on his side he had floating words above his head labeling him as Dream Walker.
Either he had a stupidly large ego or he wasn't your average unicorn.
Dream Walker chuckled as he stepped forward into the room without fear or doubt as he openly mocked me “Hiding behind the bed? Really? Is this the moment where you kick it striking fear into the unsuspecting guard before you make your heroic escape?”
“Oh whatever am I to do?” He replied as sarcasm heavily dripped with each and every word “Oh it’s not like I could just simply…”
Before he could finish a green magical aura grabbed me and the bed lifting us both up into the air. Dream Walker now pretended to gasp in shock as he tossed the bed across the room and pinned me to the wall like a mare getting ready to preserve a butterfly. All that was missing was the chloroform and some pins.
“But seriously. Earth ponies are worthless. Pegasi can fly giving the finger to physics and unicorns can do whatever they want.” Dream Walker chuckled “Or at least we can. Now be a good girl as I try to make something out of your worthless life into something that will save us all… well most of us.”
His horn started to glow brighter as I shut my eyes. Thank Celestia that the mixture finally went off as the explosion didn’t go off with the grace of a flash grenade. Instead of a bright and loud bang disabling the opponent’s senses it went off in a much cruder form.
The blast of light was bright enough for me to see a white flare behind my closed eyelids, but the chemical stench that quickly assaulted my nose nearly made me gag. The sound of the explosion wasn’t so much of a bang, but some sickly sound before an ear cracking pop as the wave of heat assaulted me.
Dream Walker’s scream of agony as he screamed a line of profanity was a sweet symphony to my dull aching ears as his magical grip let go of me. As soon as I hit the ground I charged at the sound of profanity tackling him until I ran straight into a wall. Fire licked my hooves as I rushed out the door as the flames quickly grew faster than I had anticipated.
I opened my eyes to see the old castle hallway and turned down the first corridor I could find as Dream Walker screamed in fury “Find her! Grab her! Don’t let that bitch escape!”
The sound of the something heavy collapsing came from behind me as I pushed forward. Either this castle was really old… or that small sense about cursing being a bad thing was somehow more than just hurtful words and phrases.
Either way this damsel in distress was going to save herself!
******
Valkyrie
My wings itched as Lockheart’s coat rested on them keeping them trapped against my sides. I tried to keep calm as we walked across the rope bridge to the small makeshift fort at the other side of the gorge.
I know I shouldn’t be making fun of it, but the fort looked like a bunch of ten year olds made it as the logs were piled against each other instead of an actual fort. Lockheart constantly muttered underneath his breath as a couple dozen thorns, and those pesky spiky seeds covered his body along with a few small cuts and scrapes.
The ambush worked out well enough. I don't know system their using, but being hit by a surprise attacks tend to end badly in most games. Remedy and Lockheart put up illusions for the rest of us as he tried to copy the griffin. He was able to copy the hands and the body enough to pass for one... but he walked like a drunken sailor on land. So we had to give an excuse for it... thus the thorns.
Lockheart's plan was to keep their attention on him instead having them look at us… or our lack of titles. Either his plan would get us to the castle or hopefully buy us enough time for us to strike first.
As soon as we reached the makeshift fort the former humans stood up and stared down at us. The diamond dogs held bows as the griffins held swords and spears. The unicorns stayed in the back as their horns started to glow as everyone had bloodshot eyes. Heck a few of them were shaking so badly I thought they were going to hit us by mistake.
The only one who didn’t look like they would have a heart attack was the green unicorn as she stepped forward. She started humming a little tune as my head began to feel foggy. The green unicorn smiled as her ruby like necklace glowed as she stared at us.
“What do we have here?” The unicorn started to say in a sing song voice.
As soon as she was within arm’s reach Lockheart grabbed her by the throat with his claws.
Everyone quickly turned their weapons towards Lockheart as he growled in a rough voice “I’ve been stuck in the forest running monsters spawned from Doctor Seuss’s Nightmares and you want to play games!”
Everyone took a step back as Lockheart didn’t exactly look friendly. He growled as his teeth clenched together seeming to take a predatory aspect as his claws tightened around the unicorn’s neck.
The unicorn struggled for air as he continued “I’ve been bitten to death by bugs! Forced to run through thorns and now you want to play games when you know who I am?” One of the griffins held a sword near Lockheart only for him to use the unicorn as a living shield “So let’s just skip the games here.”
He let go of the unicorn as she gasped for air. She quickly moved to get away from him ready to tell everyone to attack before she stared at him in fear. The hatred, rage, and wrath seemed to roll off his body as he stared at her. His claws dug into the earth as the feathers on the back of his neck stood up on edge as it seemed like he was going to attack her any second.
The unicorn’s amulet started to glow as everyone started to calm down “You’re just a little bit stressed.” Lockheart’s stance started to soften along with everyone else “Everyone’s just on high alert since Maxwell’s… incident. Did you find anything?”
Lockheart looked down at the ground as he shook his head “Sorry. I was just… stressed. I don’t know what came over me.”
The unicorn grinned as she walked straight back up to him and pushed his head up so he could look her in the eyes. She wasn’t afraid of him anymore. If anything it seemed like she was gloating as her amulet continued to shine.
“Everyone’s stressed.” She replied as if she was talking to a child who had wet their bed “Just remember that Duran’s looking out for everyone and we are so close to finally going back home. Just take some time off in the castle and enjoy yourself before your next shift.”
Lockheart nodded as the unicorn waved everyone to let us aside. She didn’t even bother looking at us as she went back to reading her book.
I tried not to make any sudden movements and kept my mouth shut until we were far away from the wooden fort. Lockheart sighed in relief when we were away from it as suddenly all the tension in the air seemed to have disappeared.
Maxwell shook his head “Did we just walk through the front gate?”
Lockheart couldn’t help but grin “Yes we did and all I had to do was act just like the guards. High strung, paranoid, and ready to attack the first person I came across. Then just copy everyone else’s expression and let her think she was in control. Did anyone else feel anything different?”
Steel shivered as he replied “My head felt foggy when you started talking to her. Other than that it’s hard to tell.”
Remedy pulled out a book from her saddle bag “She was using Siren magic to mess with our heads. Give me a moment to make sure we aren’t affected by the next one.”
Lockheart stared at Remedy in surprise as his feathers seemed to stand out on end “You knew what type it was?”
Remedy just smiled back as she glanced through her book “She hummed a tune each time and then everypony seemed to have a shift in personality. She didn’t use her horn to cast magic and she seemed to focus far too much on her ego as she flaunted her control over you. She sounds like a siren of old at the very least.”
Lockheart simply nodded as Remedy cast another spell to help protect us against the magic as we walked to the castle’s doors. I know the Castle of the Two Sisters was pretty much left in disrepair after Celestia left, but the show didn’t show just how bad it really was.
Sections of the roof was missing as parts of the castle wall had fallen in on itself. The grounds were a mess as the few statues in the court yard had fallen into ruin as the rain seemed to have worn away any expression that were on the statues when they were first made. Wooden logs were placed over the broken sections as the smell of rotting wood filled the air.
I took a deep breath preparing myself for the scent of musk and decay that would properly fill the abandoned castle as Lockheart opened the doors. Instead I was hit with so many various smells it was kind of hard to pin it down. Of course what really got me were the people.
It looked like a freaking opium den.
Nobody was standing as most of them just lied down on the floor in dazed stares oblivious to the world around them. My head felt alright, but the scents in the air made me wonder if Remedy mixed in an anti-drug spell as the only smell I could recognize was smoke. Heck I wouldn’t have even been surprised to have seen pot lying around at this point.
Lockheart’s face seemed to twist in disgust as he practically spat out “It’s official. Everyone else feeling pissed off?”
Maxwell just stared at them in confusion “How can this be? I mean it’s only been…”
Remedy quickly cut him off “You said no pony asked any questions or seemed to go along with whatever he said. It’s possible you just never realized just how much of an influence he was exerting until now.”
I couldn’t help but shiver in a combination of fear and disgust. Outside they had turned everyone into a mob army. Inside they had turned them into a drugged up stupor as no one seemed to have noticed. I could only imagine just how messed up some of the other sections of the castle might be.
Lockheart seemed pissed off as he tried stay calm “Alright. Everyone else with the unicorn while I take a look around.”
Maxwell shook his head “We shouldn’t just start splitting up.”
Lockheart turned around as he snapped back “This is a big castle and the more time we waste in here the more likely we are to get caught. Remedy can protect everyone else from the mind magic. I can cheat my way out of it and while you may have gained some sort of resistance against it I doubt we can trick everyone we run into.”
“Splitting up the party is always a bad idea.” I caught myself saying “Besides what happens if your caught?”
Lockheart looked away from us as he bitterly replied “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.” He sighed out loud “Just ask Remedy… besides the moment we search one of the places their supposed to be at everyone here will switch to red alert and try to fortify the other position so it’s best to check both spots early.”
I didn’t like what he was saying and I found myself angry at Steel Halberd for nodding in agreement. Remedy didn’t even say anything as she started to walk down the opposite end of the hallway! Why did they think splitting up was a good idea!
Maxwell stared at me for a moment before he replied “Good luck.” Before he tried to catch up to Lockheart.
I was about to say something until Steel cut me off “Remedy can keep the illusions up on us, but we need to stick by her.” I turned to face him only to be struck by an intense stare as he switched to his commanding officer voice “You may not like what he is doing, but we don’t have a lot of time. You can either trust him to succeed or help us finish our part so that we can head back to help him. Either way we have to move!”
I shut my mouth and felt like gritting my teeth together in frustration as I was going to abandon Lockheart again. I did not want another repeat of the incident at Canterlot and what’s more… I hated myself for turning my back on him as I followed the two Equestrians. I let the two humans walk away from me again… because I was a coward.
******
Lockheart
My claws tapped across the floor as I had the sounds of hooves behind me. I know I haven’t know Maxwell long, but for some reason he was pissing me off. I had the magic stealth and illusion skills as I even fucking tricked bloody a mind mage into letting me inside the castle so why the bloody hell did he decide to follow me around?
If he wanted to help then why didn't he go with the others? If anything I'm the only one who could go it alone. Hell my changeling nature made me the best one of the group to infiltrate placed by myself. If he was trying to look out for me or trying to help then he was wasting both of our time. Then again neither of us really knew each other.
I could hear Discord voice ringing in the back of my head “It’s because he’s supposed to be the one who beats you.”
I shook my head and couldn’t help but mutter “That story is a load of BS.”
I couldn’t help but smirk as some form of my swearing was still of use. Sure it didn’t have the same ring, but it’s the little things that count.
Discord voice chuckled “Which story? The one where you die or where he escaped from this place?”
I rolled my eyes and kept my mouth shut. There was no way in hell I was going to have a conversation with a voice in my head. Even if there might be a possibility that it’s actually Discord. If he wants to talk than he can do so in person.
"You do realize that I’m stuck as a statue back in Canterlot?” The voice quipped back to me as I tried to ignore it “So you’re walking next to someone who got promoted to hero status. Pesky little things. Always with the heroic speeches as everyone instantly forgives them for all wrong doings. Even then they always find some way to succeed even when it shouldn’t be possible. Like a magic barrier fueled by love to fight a race that literally feeds on it.”
I tried to ignore him as I continued forward. All I had to do was find Stardust. Find some way to defeat Duran.
“Find the Elements of Harmony and kill Maxwell.” Discord finished “Of course there’s the old trick of throwing them in dungeon or try some subtly word play, but you’re not exactly that talented in manipulation and I highly doubt you want him to be your new bunk mate.”
Maxwell finally spoke “So… You’re an Alicorn?”
“Not an alicorn.” I snapped back “Why the heck did everyone ditch you because you got a cutie mark?”
Maxwell shook his head “Because they didn’t have one. They didn’t know what it meant … because…”
I waited for an answer as Maxwell didn’t give me one. Instead my irritation only grew. Could he have been messed up by mind control to bring in more people to mind wipe or was he telling the truth? Either he was lying and a threat or he’s telling the truth… and still ticking me off.
My stomach grumbled as I tried not to look at Maxwell as I knew I would be glaring at him in hatred.
This was the second reason why I wanted to go alone. The fight in the Everfree forest took a bit of my magic and keeping up this griffin disguise took up even more power because it wasn’t something I was used to. The entire body felt unnatural to me as my body began to twist itself around trying to go back to it’s natural form.
I could revert back to my alicorn form… but I would properly need a small snack and I highly doubt Maxwell would take too kindly on me shaving of a bit of drugged up happiness from his former associates. Why couldn’t that pain in the butt have went with the others?
Maxwell smiled like a puppy dog that found his owner returning from work “Still Canterlot… Never saw it except for the show. Any idea how expensive the rent is or did you use some sort of technology trade knowledge?”
I gritted my teeth as I now finally had a reason to be annoyed at him. The only way I could use some sort of trade of knowledge was if I actually knew how to build it and even then I would have to go into the finer details of making the smaller parts… Try thinking up all the steps involved in making the parts of an item before you go into making the item as a whole.
Let's just go with hang gliders for an example. Simply a large metal kite you fly on... only how do you get the materials to craft one? How do you make something sturdy enough to not fall apart and somehow keep you afloat? How do you go into the process of crafting the materials of making the item?
“I own a small cot in a jail cell for impersonating a royal official.” I slowly replied as Maxwell stopped in his tracks as I couldn’t help but grin “What? Did you really think that walking into Canterlot like this wouldn’t cause any problems?”
Maxwell shook his head “But you’re an alicorn?”
I chuckled “Oh no. Alicorns get the royal treatment which involved a heavy chain ball strapped to their legs before their pushed off a sky cart over a pond full of Hyrdas. Sure it takes a while to recover the steel ball, but it’s cuts down on issues of succession and legality matters.”
Maxwell just stared at me as the second part really was just a line of bull. Still it would give him something to think about.
I just raised one of my eyebrows and stared at him “What? You didn’t think this was a children’s cartoon show? Canterlot has politics and in any universe politics tend to be nasty. Think of it like jedi training. There’s an age limit. Under the age you get trained… over the age you don’t.”
Maxwell just went silent as he stared at me in disbelief "You're lying."
I smiled "Am I? You forgot that Celestia banished her own sister so believe what ever you want. Just remember that the world might not agree with your belief."
******
Valkyrie
I was wrong. Drug dens had nothing on this place as I tried to stay calm as Remedy applied another protection spell just to be safe. The Castle in Everfree forest had really become messed up.
The entrance had everyone in a drugged dazed as the stairs down to the next floor had been crudely modified to make multiple fighting arenas as anyone inside the squares would try to beat each other into a bloody pulp. Anyone outside was stuck in cheerful state as they rallied on their friends apparently oblivious to the bloodshed and would chuckle in glee with someone nearly died.
I don’t know if it’s the fear of watching two people beat each other to a pulp or the fact they thinks it’s all some sort of game, but sadly… the area down here had less mind control that the front door. I’m not exactly sure if that’s a good sign or not.
The ones who seemed the most happy where the fake ponies with the amulets around their necks as some sort of purple mist kept flowing into their amulets. I tried not to stare in horror as a Pegasus went toe to toe with a Diamond Dog as they used moves either straight out of a game or an illegal fight club.
Where the Sirens feeding on the conflict or where they causing the fights?
Steel whispered in a hushed tone beside me “This is insane! Why in Celestia’s name are they doing this?”
Remedy shook her head as she calmly replied “Power. Sirens used conflict to fuel and further enhance their powers.”
Steel tried not to glare as he kept the fake smile plastered on his face “Making two friends try to kill each other? The fact they turned their own allies into… this?”
I tried to keep my mouth shut as I recognized a few things. It wasn’t much, but all the markings were there as I saw rankings, guild markers, and venders. This place seemed to have turned into a guild market or something you see in MMOs. Either they were beating each other senseless to prove rankings or trying to earn points to “level up”… or there mind control was in play.
In games duels weren't that bad. Seeing it in real life... Even if they are just beating each other until some health bar drops to 50% it still looks messed up. Horribly messed up as everyone shouted in glee as they watched the blood sports being played right before their eyes.
One of the amulet ponies turned to face us as I tried not to let my fear or stress show. Getting into one of those rings would be a death sentence. If there was mind control then one of us would go nuts… or not be affect only to have everyone attack us. If there wasn’t any mind control they we would have to deal with a combat build player ready to tear us limb from limb.
The new tormentor grinned as the purple coat and sea foam blue mane pony held out his hoof “How about a bout in the ring?”
I shook my head “Sorry but we only have so much time off.”
He frowned as he repeated in a more demanding tone “It will only be for a few minutes.”
I tried to copy Lockheart’s tactic and lied “But we were about to see how the Mane Six are doing.” I tried to smirk “Besides I heard a rumor about Rainbow Dash.”
Be vague. Let others fill in the blanks. Most of all copy what everyone else is doing. If that doesn't work then do what ever is counted as insane.
At that a grin appeared on the other pony’s face “Oh…. Well don’t mind me as I know how popular he is. Shame really considering how weak he is then again the only reason why he hasn’t been traded out yet is because he’s popular with the ladies.”
I chuckled while trying not to feel sick to my stomach “Well it was nice talking to you.”
I guess I didn't have to punch him in the face and cause a scene. No idea what I would have done next, but that was my only other idea.
One of the ponies with an amulet shouted “Ten quid on the red one!”
We quickly left the crowd and walked into an empty section of the hallway before he quickly came back. We were just far enough away for the shouting to become background noise. The sea foam unicorn stood in front of us as he simply shook his head and stared at us. I felt the knot in my stomach as I realized he wasn’t staring at us… he was staring at the titles... The titles Remedy and Steel didn't have.
He grinned “Now what you two doing here?”
Remedy shrugged “Foalnapping you?”
“What?” He replied back before a blue aura covered his fore legs.
I flinched as Steel shot forward wrapping his hooves around the stallion’s mouth as Remedy's magic went to work. It wasn’t a bone snapping break, but… I highly doubted a leg was supposed to look like that as it dangled uselessly across the ground. The stallion had passed out from pain or the shock of suddenly having both of his fore legs dislocated at the same time.
Remedy shook her head as she moved over to the stone wall as she started pulling bricks out of the wall “Tie him up. Make sure you when you remove the amulet you watch out for anything unusual.”
Steel nodded as he pulled off the amulet as the stallion changed before us. His fur started to fallout as scales covered his body. His sea foam mane turned into fins… or frills. The back legs somehow merged together creating a fish tail as the sea pony was lying on the ground before us. Steel pulled out some rope from his saddle bag as Remedy managed to create a pony sized hole in the wall.
She turned to me “Keep an eye out. It’s easier hiding one pony than two ponies.”
******
After checking to make sure that the pony was not only unconscious, but also still breathing we left the siren in the wall as I was feeling much more nervous around Remedy Cross than I should have been. Remedy didn’t try to justify her action. Heck she acted like she hadn’t sealed a guy up in a brick wall!
Remedy simply stuffed the Siren amulet into her saddle bags. I couldn’t help but shiver as the last thing I had seen was the title “Fortunato” appear above the player before he was sealed away. How the heck was that fortunate?
We continued deeper into the castle avoiding the other players as we came closer to the dungeon. Each step made we only grow more nervous as the fear of being caught grew worse and worse. When we finally reached the dungeons I couldn’t help but shiver as everyone seemed naturally happy as even what could possibly be siren ponies didn’t seem to mess with anyone’s minds.
Steel took a seat near the back along with Remedy as I took a look at the room. The cells had been converted into small shops or cots as two players seemed to be attempting to make popcorn and what looked to be a soda machine.
The floor was covered in large pillows for people to sit on as a massive wooden stage took up half the room. The only decorations on the stage itself seemed to be two masks as one was the Greek grinning looking mask resting beside the Greek sorrow looking mask.
So I didn’t pay much attention to theater or Greek history. All I knew was that this looked to the like the closest thing to normal in this messed up castle. Of course it was at that moment they decided to prove just how wrong I was as the curtains opened up revealing a very close look alike to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. A small sign dropped from the stage saying “The Iron Pony Competition”. It was then I saw the hidden horror in the room as I stared at the copies up on the stage.
I’m not talking about actors or people trying to play the role of the main characters. They were more like puppets. Puppets operated by someone else behind the scene except instead of using puppets that had life sized versions. Versions made from people.
The Applejack look alike had her fur dyed as patches of yellow could be seen in her orange coat as her blond hair dripped onto her coat. Her eyes bothered me the most as they were glossed over like one of those frozen fish you see in the super market. Her “Cutie Mark” was a little bit smeared as a few former humans in the crowd complained about the “rushed job” instead of the fact they had dressed someone up like a puppet for their own amusement!
The Rainbow Dash clone made me flinch for various reasons. The rainbow mane looked like a bad dye job as the colors seemed to smear together instead of blend together like a rainbow. The hair itself was poorly cut as their attempt to copy Rainbow Dash’s messy hair style with scissors didn’t end to well. The body was much closer to the original Rainbow Dash as the slim athlete body looked much better than the larger more butch like Applejack clone who stood taller than the fake Rainbow Dash.
What got me through was the bad job on the tail. Pony tails tended to work by covering things up, and the hidden social cue where one does not try to take a sneak peek in much the same way one does not try to stare down a woman’s shirt. Sure people stare at the area… but they don’t look directly down the shirt.
The Rainbow Dash clone has his tail butchered so badly that it was hard not to stare at his… I could feel myself blushing as he took to the skies and saw how this version of Rainbow Dash was popular with the ladies. I mean sure ponies and horses tended to have sort of a "sheath" covering up some of it...
Do not go any deeper Valkyrie for down that path lies the road to madness.
The fake Rainbow Dash's eyes seemed a little bit more full of energy than Apple Clone’s eyes… of course that could have been him trying to copy Rainbow Dash’s energetic personality. While his voice didn't exactly match Rainbow Dash's voice it wasn't that bad on a body like his.
When the competition started I started seeing the flaws in the fake Rainbow Dash more clearly as he was losing the events the real one was supposed to have one. The fact he was squinting as if he needed glasses as even using his wings to “cheat” didn’t work against the overgrown Applejack clone as some of the former humans started to mutter in annoyance.
One of the former humans muttered “Why can’t we just axe this Rainbow Dash already?”
The female beside him hummed “Because he fits the arch type better than the rest so far. While he doesn’t have the dash body he does have the dash treatment.” She hummed as her eyes focused on the fake’s body “In more ways than one. Besides most tend to burn out or break by now.”
The former human simply grumbled back “Rainbow Dash should be a girl.”
I bit my lip as I felt like screaming at them. All of us were sent to Equestria. Maybe we were sent for a purpose to save someone. Maybe we just got dumped here like some bad joke as we are trying to find a way home. Whatever the god dam reason was I highly doubt trying to recreate My Little Pony Friendship is Magic episodes to watch as your brainwash people to play as actors is one of them!
It also might not help that the Applejack on stage could properly pass for a female Big Mac if you swapped the paint pallet.
Steel shook his head “Their competing for Gala Tickets?”
I glanced back to the two Equestrians as I had to come up with a lie “Ever read one of those… foal tales? Kid who cried wolf? Magic Treehouse? The Hobbit?” Steel glanced back at me “These… characters are the ones who matched the item their looking for. They are the ones who are able to use the Elements of Harmony.”
I rubbed the back of my head “It’s hard to explain.”
How exactly do you explain to someone that you know about their world by watching a cartoon show about it? Hell how do you explain that everyone else thinks that your home isn’t really real and… who should I be angry at? The people complaining about the mind control puppets? Do they really know what was going on or are they just suffering from an extra helping of mind control to ease over the bumps like kidnapping and turning people into puppets. Was everyone wearing an amulet guilty or was everyone here in on it?
The sickening pit in my stomach grew as I began to wonder what would have happened if I ran into this group when I was lost in the forest. Would I have gone along with them? Would I have ended up on that perverted stage dressed up like a doll or worse… would I be in the audience complaining about how the replacements weren’t the real ones. That I would nitpick details instead of realizing that they are running people’s lives just to recreate a children’s cartoon show!
I wanted to scream. I wanted to shout! I wanted to run around and start beating everyone senseless and try to create a jailbreak freeing everyone trapped before rushing back to Canterlot to have Celestia throw them all into the sun or something!
Of course I knew that wouldn’t work as I forced myself to pretend to smile as act as if their awful abomination wasn’t stomping over my memories of the show.
I tried to pay attention to see if Stardust had been put on the stage or if she was being kept hidden somewhere else.
I waited each painful second as Remedy focused on the details of the actors trying to figure out which brand of mind magic was screwing with their heads.
I just sat there and waited… as everyone else was either paying for my mistakes or trying to solve this problem while I did nothing.
The menu popped up again revealing my skill tree as I could see a few skills that could help if things took a turn for the worst. Just a few memories would be all that it would cost me to hopefully stand toe to toe with a gang of mind controlling Min-Max players.
I could hear a voice whisper in the back of my mind “What are you waiting for?”
I looked up at the stage as saw the fake Twilight in her costume. The job done on her was either really good or she was closer to the original Twilight frame than the others. The only problem was that she looked like a puppet.
Her movements were stiff. Her fur stood on end as the look in her eyes… they weren’t fully glazed over and they were slightly puffy. It was almost as if she had been crying her eyes out just a few hours ago. On her flank was Twilight’s Cutie mark as it actually looked like the real deal… which was impossible since she wasn’t Twilight.
The crowd waited for her to say her lines. They waited for “Twilight” to talk about her method for racing she had learned from a book. Instead she stood there as something dripped from her nose. Water formed around her eyes as her face was stuck in that cheerful smile ready to talk about her book.
The pain filled voice just on the edge of crying said “I… I want to go home…”
It wasn’t Twilight’s voice. It wasn’t the cheerful voice of a pony ready to race. It was the sound of a tortured soul who had barely enough control as she was forced to watch her body be played like a puppet against her own will for the amusement of others.
The crowd started to mumble in annoyance for having their show interrupted. Two ponies started to walk onto the stage… one with an amulet and the other with green hair and eyes. The Twilight Replacement kept the cheerful face despite the fact she was crying as snot ran down her nose.
Something snapped as I saw the amulet glow from the siren and the horn glow from the unicorn. It was stupid. It was foolish. I was screwing everything up due to my own dam idiotic actions again as I shot forward to the stage and swung my first as the unicorn’s horn.
He screamed in pain as I bucked the siren in the chest sending him flying into the wall. The Rainbow Dash and Applejack replacements just stood there as if someone had cut their strings as they waited for the puppeteer to make them do something.
The Twilight Replacement whimpered out a small cry “Thank you.”
I turned to face the crowd as they glared at me angry that I had stopped their perverted show and prevented their goons from trying to turn an innocent soul into another god dammed puppet. I dumped a few points into the system as I felt my rage burn through me as I prepared for a fight.
“Buck this!” I shouted out loud as the unicorn and amulet wielding ponies stood up ready to take me on.
Celestia as my witness I wasn’t going down without a fight as I was going to make all of them pay and send them back to Tartarus were they belonged!
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I still think Lockheart's bane/drawack/issue is paranoia. The 'I was unwillingly giving the changeling race' issue would have been best dealt with from the get-go, rather than trying to hide it and looking all the more suspicious for it...
But dame man, this is seriously messed up. First off, if these are all people who sided against groups, they are certainly demonstrating all the downsides of what a bad group is. But the play scene at the end? Just damn...
As for the swearing? I already swear non-conventionally, whatever words come to mind at the time. Or whatever arrangement of sounds.
Read the chapter title. Didn't think much.
Read near the end. I suddenly hear the title laughing at me. I mean dam... that's nightmare fuel for just thinking about how messed up that is!
I will give props to Valkyrie though for that moment even if I think it might end badly. As for Stardust... we finally have some insight into his/her messed up mind. Also that title... is the name of the man sealed in the wall from the cask of Amontillado.
The swearing curse though... have someone just cut/remove the swearing curse words from my head or... bite my tongue/lip a lot while hoping for the best.
Why isn't this story more popular?
It is one of the best stories I have ever read!
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The first chapter has quite some grammar mistakes, also there are some parts that seem, at least to a non-native speaker, confusing.
Ironically it gets considerable better with each passing chapter, story- and grammer-wise.
Also aside from Celestia and Discord there are no other character tags.
Futhermore you would find for the tags Celestia, Discord and Changelings quite lot other well known and well written stories, which would distract you from this one.
I nearly overlooked this story too.
This story is getting better and better with each chapter. The more I think about it the more I believe that Discord is actually right about Love Lock corresponds to the Element of Honesty. This is probably odd to think this, seeing that has hides a lot of things for his… companions, like his name, the fact that he is a changeling, that he has hid the fact that he had dealings with Discord, has his own hidden agenda apart from the group, he keep digging himself deeper and deeper with his lies… no secrets. He is also the one that stands the most to lose from the rest by being honest to the rest of the group from losing his freedom to losing his life. It is clear that Lock was already cynical in the idea of trusting others when Discord (Loki) ask him the different between an individual and a group, that he believes a group is in his eyes little more than a mob that is led by the most vocal of the group and that the individual only have to look out themselves, this says a lot about how he sees himself toward others and that he is afraid of trusting others.
I believe that Honesty is not just but not saying without filter what you think to others or not hiding anything from others there is more to this then just a superficial interpretation of what is ‘Honesty’. When I think about the word Honesty, the word “Truth” and “Trust” come to mind. Truth is the seeking of understanding what surround given any situation and having impartial judgment and not letting yourself be clouded by your own desires, and to speak out when there is an injustice or perceive a deceit around them. As for Trust, it is having faith in the person in front of you is being sincere and that there is no deceit on their part, and that you trust them to do nothing bad to you when you turn your back on them. This said, the Honesty is a two way streak seem to be more related to mutual trust and truthful to one another which it a keystone to any friendship.
He believes himself to be selfish and self-serving which is not really the truth at all; he has risk his own life on at least one occasion to save help others on two occasions without any payoff for himself.
Lock may be a living lie detector, because of his empathy Changeling senses, but it doesn’t allow him to know if he can trust others around him and his paranoia actually make it worst for him to trust. Given his fears of being lynched by everyone around them which warp his perception of others, which Discord keep feeding that idea to him, he guards himself from others for that reason and is unwilling to make the risk of trusting them whit his truth and will keep deceiving do it. In his mind, if he admit the truth, it would be like he admit being psychopath no one would ever trust him again; not all psychopaths are crazy murderers, but the public stigma there is of them no one would ever trust them. What Lock actually wants is garneted security and peace of mind of not having to look over his shoulder all the time, but he is being blindsided by Discord promise of a big reward that make it look like his giving he is what he wants.
What make me think that Lock is a possible candidate of being en Element of Honesty is when I think about the “Friendship is Magic” part 2 and the “Return of Harmony” part 1. In episode one, at the landslide Twilight toke a leap of faith in Applejack to let go of her and was saved by Fluttershy This showed that she trusted in her even if she didn’t have any rational reason to do so at that moment. In the second, Discord discorded Applejack by making her think that being in a state of denial of the truth will help keep their friendship with the others but only made it worse for her and the others and lost her link to the Element.
That Lock would probably need to do is to tack a leap of faith with his companions and “start” telling them the truth about being a changeling, to stop thinking that everyone is out to get him and to start trusting in them more in his companions. I think that it will be then that the Element of Honesty accepts him as its bearer. I believe that in order to become a bearer of the Element the character must overcome ordeal that is in line with the element and that the person must have or relinquish their previous preconceptions about themselves and their belief.
I think that the Elements of Harmony only take hold to its bearer ones they for mentioned bearer manages to overcome some moral obstacles that forces the candidate to face themselves in some manner and see how resolved they are in that aspect and how true they are about themselves and each other.
For Valkyrie, I believe that she is a candidate for the Element of Loyalty, seeing her desire to keep everyone safe, hold herself to an impossible standards, and is willing to sacrifice parts of her identity to become stronger seem to point to that. She is also out spoken when she sees an injustice, acts of cruelty and malice, and act before she thinks. I believe that by sacrificing parts of her identity she is losing what made her loyal person in the first place by become something that she is not and that being stronger does not make her anymore loyal to her companions. I am not sure how she can get her Element.
As for Stardust I don’t have enough info on her to make an it as certainty but my wild guess would be the element of laughter, simply because she despite her self-identity crises she still has to find a way to keep on going with life and find a silver lining to take joy in life. I think that the Element of Laughter functions to keep the groups spirits up and how can you do that if you can’t finding it in yourself to find things to be happy about in life. I think that she will have to find a way in herself to reconcile with her two identities and redefine a new self.
Even wilder guess that I would have would be that Remedy Cross might be the Element of… Kindness (?!), seeing that she seem to be an antitheses of Kindness seeing her inclination to sadism she has a long way to go for that.
I believe that the puppet mane 6 parodies is some sort of metaphor of the superficial understanding of what are the Elements of Harmony that most people make of them and that there is more to it than just acting the part.
Have to admit that last sentence brought a chill to my spine.
As for the swearing, I don't swear easily and if I do I usually growl instead.
My way around the swearing curse is something i already do as a habit: garbled Aklo, and a few other bits of formulaic gibberish patterns. Out of accidental practice i have replaced "oh shit fucking shit shit goddamnit!" With "ke'stu va'klan ia shakkoroth!"
boredom
carapace
Castle
uh...
please stop using contractions
Were
archetype
I'm tired of pausing to correct stuff, so I'm just gonna ignore the rest of the errors.
Don't Blink!
Engage!
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Hmmm Don’t Blink ...
that's a reference to something...i have no idea what the original is, but i've seen several other references..."for the love of god, Montressor!" i THINK that's from the same story...