Verko
Somehow I woke up.
I wasn't as cold as before, which was a bonus. Now that I had a little more clarity I realized that I'd been bleeding out to the point where I was almost dead. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes. What I saw wasn't encouraging. I was in some kind of dark, dank stone dungeon. I heard chains clink when I moved my hind leg, and glanced back to see that I was chained to the wall by my right hind leg. I felt something around my neck and reached a hoof up to see what it was. Some kind of metal collar. My wings were bound to my sides, and I had some kind of Hannibal Lecter-esque muzzle over my face.
Long story short, things had gone really wrong.
I gingerly sat up and looked down at my side. It had stopped bleeding. In fact, my wound had actually been glued shut. At least that was good. I'd still need to be careful to avoid opening it again, but for the moment it was the lone blessing in this scenario.
Before I could think about my scenario more, I saw a small window of the door of my cell open, and the eye of someone peeking in on me, followed by the sound of keys jingling and being put into a lock. The door swung open, and Verko strutted in, followed by two of his henchmen.
"Oh, he's awake finally! You've been out for three days. Thought you might die. I've got the best doctors in Klugetown here, it seems."
"Is that saying much?" I croaked. I lightly coughed and cleared my throat. I needed water.
Verko shrugged. "We're not all backwater primitives, you know. I have standards. One of those standards is that if I bring something to my doctors, I expect it to survive the encounter. You're alive. They gave you some blood and glued the wound shut." He leaned against the back wall and stroked his chin. "You're a weird one, I'll give you that. The doctors tried giving you stitches, but they couldn't get the needles through your skin. Broke three of them before they gave up and just glued it. Worked well enough, it seems. Still, you've got some pretty thick skin. You are a magical pony, ain't ya?"
"Give me a little time and I'll show you exactly what I'm capable of," I growled.
"I'm hoping you will. We'll even get that other one you were traveling with down here, too. Between the two of you..." He chuckled and straightened up. "You'd be wasted at a zoo. A circus, maybe? That could work. Ponies are too common for a freak show, so I doubt that would work. Slaves, maybe."
"Unless you're planning on paying me for whatever you're going to have me do, I think I'm a slave either way."
"Fair point. On that note, though..." He motioned to my collar. "Bet you've noticed that. Well, it's not your usual collar like you'd put on a dog. No..." He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out what appeared to be a small remote. "This one is a little more useful."
My eyes widened, but I couldn't stop as he turned the dial on the remote. I twitched in pain as electricity jolted through my body. It only lasted a few seconds but it was enough to figure out what he had on me.
"That was one. This thing goes all the way up to ten. You don't want to see what happens when it goes to ten." Verko looked at the remote thoughtfully. "Oddly enough, I'm not even sure what happens. They're usually kissing the ground I walk on by four. Most anyone's lasted is six. It'll be interesting to see how you do." He shook his head and began pacing in front of me like a general addressing his troops. "So here's the deal, pony. I'm in complete control of you. You'll eat when I say, you'll drink when I say, you'll sleep when I say. I own Klugetown and I own you. You'd best accept that if you don't want any more pain."
He twisted the dial on the remote, and I gurgled and twitched at the shock going through me.
"That was two. I don't have to go higher than that, do I? No? Good."
"If you run Klugetown, why don't you have some giant carry you around on a backpack?"
Verko rolled his eyes and began pacing again. "If you talk back to me you'll get a zap. If you don't follow every instruction you get a zap. If you, heaven forbid, try to escape..." He wiggled the remote. "You're not getting that thing off. Plenty have tried, of course, but nobody's actually succeeded."
"So what, then? You're going to train me like a dog to do whatever you want?"
"Yeah, pretty much. It'll be easier for you if you just roll over." He paused and pursed his lips at me. "I said: roll over."
"I'm going to break your neck, do you know that? I know how to do it so that you'll survive."
Verko glared at me, and I braced myself for the shock. He twisted the knob a little farther, and I actually cried out in pain. He kept the remote on for a few more seconds before turning it off.
"Roll over like a good little doggie."
"When I get out of here I'm going to shove that remote so far up your ass you'll be coughing out metal."
He twisted the knob further and kept it on longer. I held my breath and bit my tongue hard enough to nearly draw blood just so he wouldn't be able to hear me scream. When he finally turned it off, I gasped for air and grabbed at my head, which was starting to hurt.
“Are you done?” Verko said with a roll of his eyes.
“When I’m done with you there won’t be enough of you left to piss on.”
"You may be magical, but you're not very bright, are you?" Verko said with an amused smirk. "I'll admit that you're not screaming as loud as they usually are by three, but there are still seven ticks to go, and I can keep it on as long as I want. An hour on two or three won't kill you, after all. Be as defiant as you want, pony. They all break in the end. Tell you what, though: you've got spunk, and I like that. Roll over and I'll get you some food and water. I ain't even going to make you bark. Just one little roll."
I was starting to get flashbacks from Sinosis. He wanted to torture me, too, even after he'd shot me with a Nightmare Weapon. In the end I beat him to death. This guy wouldn't be getting off so easily. Still, I needed to eat and drink if I was going to regain my former strength. I was certainly stronger than before, but it wasn't quite enough. I gritted my teeth and rolled over for him. Verko let out a bark of a laugh and clapped for me.
"Bravo! He can be taught!" He turned to one of the guards. "Bring him a little food and water. We wouldn't want our guest to starve to death, would we? That would be bad manners."
The guard saluted and walked out of the room, leaving just me, him, and one more guard. I rued that I couldn't get the remote from Verko before he realized something was up. It wouldn't be hard to get a hold of it once I was strong again, but for now it seemed I had to play along a little.
"So, tell me about yourself, pony," Verko said. "You're a long way from home, ain't ya?"
"A little bit, yeah."
"Yeah. We don't see many ponies around Klugetown, especially not ones bleeding to death." Verko crossed his arms and began circling me. "I'll admit that I don't know much about ponies. What I do know is that it's the ones with the horns that can do magic like I saw and you..." He tapped my forehead. "Do not have a horn. Neither does the other one. Who is she to you, anyway?"
"My sister." Who will be more than happy to help me ruin you.
"Sister. Sounds about right. Well, give it a little time and we'll have a nice family reunion for the two of you. Like I said before: I run Klugetown. I own Klugetown. I am Klugetown."
The barest smirk crossed my face. "I am Ozymandias. King of kings. Look on my works ye mighty and despair."
Verko stopped circling me and stared for a few moments, his eyes widen. I began to wonder if I'd pissed him off enough to get shocked again, but before I could think about what to say next, he began laughing and clapping, even jumping around a little bit.
"I like it!" he cried. "King of kings! Look on my works ye mighty and despair! I see you're getting it already, pony." He turned to his guard and giggled. "King of kings! That's me!" He turned back to me and patted me on the head. "I like it, pony. I like it a lot. Where'd you get that?"
"It's a line from a poem in my home."
"Never had much use for poetry, but I like the sound of that one. It's about a mighty king, then."
I allowed my smirk to widen ever so slightly. "Something like that."
"Well it's good. I should have it put on a statue of me, or something. King of kings. Look on my works ye mighty and despair." He turned back to his guard. "When Benny gets back with the food, tell him to get started on that. Hire some goldsmiths to make a statue."
With this guy's ego, I was actually surprised that he didn't have one already.
"Well, you've earned yourself a nice rest, pony," Verko said just as the guard returned with a bowl of what appeared to be gruel of some kind and a small wooden cup filled with water. He placed them in front of me then took my muzzle off so I could eat. "Now you go ahead and eat up. We'll get your sister down here with you soon. Meanwhile I'm going to think of what to do with you. I'm open to suggestions, of course. Real ones. Not 'let me go' of course."
"I hear Griffonia is always looking for more slaves for their empress," I pointed out.
Verko rolled his eyes and wiggled the remote. "I said real ones. The griffins outlawed slavery over five hundred years ago. Whatever I end up doing, I'd suggest you play along. You think the shock collar hurts now? You haven't seen the worst of it yet. Not by a mile."
With that, he walked out of the room, leaving his guards to watch me. Thankfully I still had my forehooves free, so I managed to pick up the water cup easily enough. I downed the whole thing in seconds. It tasted clean, even if it wasn't cold. At the moment, it was more valuable than all of the gems in Canterlot. I wished that I had a little more. I set the cup down and picked up the bowl of gruel. From what I knew of the stuff, it had enough basic nutrients to keep someone alive without the need for, you know, tasting good. I brought the bowl to my lips and slurped it down almost as quickly as the water.
Once I'd finished my meager meal, one of the guards took my dishes away while the other one put the muzzle back on. After that, they left without a word, shutting the door behind them and locking it.
Now that I was alone, it left me with time to think about my next move. My side seemed to be healed enough that it would take a little more than moving wrong to tear it open again. Alicorns did tend to heal fairly quickly, so this joker wouldn't be able to hold me for too long. The main problem was the shock collar. Even at full strength I doubted that I'd be able to handle him bringing it up to ten. It probably wouldn't kill me, but it would hurt enough that he'd have me trapped. I was way more resilient than most beings on the planet, but a shock like that would take me out for sure.
Or maybe I just thought that because I wasn't back at a hundred percent and just going to three hurt. Whatever the case, I needed to get it off.
I drew upon some of my magic and re-materialized my horn. It felt good to have it back on my forehead. Not that it was ever gone, per se, but the feeling was nice. If Verko ever saw it I'd be in real trouble, so I had to be subtle about this. I lit my horn and sent out a few practice spells to see what I could do. My side didn't hurt from the strain of drawing magic, so that was an obvious plus. It gave me hope that I'd be out of there soon enough. I could tell that I wasn't "split open the sky and summon a star" powerful quite yet, but I was getting there.
I tested a spell on my shock collar. If I could get that off then I'd be golden, regardless of what Verko had up his sleeve. Once that was off and he had no power over me, I'd be sure to thank him for his hospitality. With an axe to the face. Or something like that.
I found the key hole with my magic and tried to open it up. I expected the collar to pop right off. What I got instead was a little jolt on the level of two. My magic fizzled out as I twitched on the ground, pain coursing through my body. What the heck was this thing made of?! I encased the entire collar with my magic and pulled as hard as I could. All I got for my troubles was an even more extreme shock. I actually cried out in pain. Seems that it had been designed so that brute force couldn't get it off.
I'd deal with it later.
I cast a few more spells to test the chain around my leg and the muzzle. I confirmed that those could come off easily enough. I just needed to time it right. The guards looked into the room before coming in, and if they couldn't see me because I was hiding beside the door, it was shock city for me. Then I'd probably be under direct watch from a guard at all times.
No matter for now. I was stronger than I'd been since coming to Klugetown. This guy was going down. There was no doubt about it in my mind. I made my horn invisible once again before falling back asleep.
* * * *
I was awoke some time later by the sound of the door opening and the pitter-patter of Verko's feet. I groaned and opened one eye to glare at him. He grinned back and took the remote out of his pocket.
"Wakey-wakey, eggs and bakey, pony," he said with a nasty tone. "Today we're going to figure out what you're worth to me. If you cooperate..." He motioned back to one of his guards who was carrying a tray with more gruel and a bigger cup of water. "If not, well, you're smart. You figure it out."
"Yeah, yeah." I pushed myself to a sitting position. "What do you want now?"
"Well, I think that I like the idea of giving you to a circus the most. One that, ah, obviously wouldn't be going anywhere near Equestria. They do tours around the entire Storm Empire."
"Storm Empire?" I raised my eyebrow curiously. "Like, the one ruled by the Storm King?"
Verko scoffed and rolled his eyes. "My goodness, maybe you aren't as smart as I thought. Yes, pony, the one ruled by the Storm King. He controls many nations and whatnot, blah, blah, blah, it's good for business. He leaves Klugetown alone because we pay a little tribute to him and we're a small fish in his big pond."
I smirked at Verko and crossed my forelegs. "King of kings indeed. Maybe he should put that on his statues."
Yeah, I got a nice little shock for that one. Worth it, though.
"Do not be flippant, pony," Verko growled. "For your purposes here the Storm King is irrelevant. All you have is me and that useful collar of yours. That is your world. But on that note, we still have to figure out what kind of act you'll perform." Verko tapped his chin thoughtfully. "You're not clumsy enough to be a clown, so that's out. Juggling would be a little beneath you, so..." Verko's eyes and grin widened, and he snapped his fingers. "A death act! Yes, I can see it now! You'll be one of the best death defying acts around!" He cackled and rubbed his fingers together. "What shall it be? Shot out of a cannon onto a bed of spikes while bound in a straitjacket? Chained underwater with piranhas?"
"You do know that piranhas are fairly cowardly fish that aren't the eating machines that most movies portray them as, right?"
"Yes, yes, but these would be starving piranhas."
"Who would probably just start eating each other before getting to me."
I should stop provoking him. It would probably mean that he'd stop shocking me. Either way, the growing look of rage and frustration on his face was kind of worth it.
"I'll figure something out, pony. A non-unicorn doing magic isn't something that comes around every day. Though now that I think on it..." Verko motioned to one of the guards, who rushed out of the room for a few seconds before coming back with a chair. He set it down and dusted the seat off before Verko sat down and stretched his legs. "Tell me about yourself, pony. What's a pony like you doing in a place like this? The word on the street is that the Storm King hit Equestria with his whole army. I've heard that there isn't a single town or city that isn't occupied by his forces."
My heart sank at the news. I had hoped that it would take a little time before he moved out of Canterlot, but either his army was just that big, or he employed tactics that would make the World War Two blitzkrieg jealous. Either way, I didn't have a foothold where I could plan out defenses. Not in the country, at least.
"Pony, I want an answer."
I glared up at him. "Yeah, I'm from Equestria. Yeah, I was there when the Storm King took over. We put up a hell of a fight. My sister and I had to get out of there, though."
"A hell of a fight? That's not what I heard. I heard that he took the whole city over in under an hour. Had the whole country in two days." Verko snorted and shook his head. "Maybe I'm being silly, but I think a nation as economically prosperous as yours should have a larger military than 'we don't really have one'. I still remember stories about that wedding in Canterlot with the changelings."
Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. We hadn't been in a war in hundreds of years. At least, not one like that.
"So you're refugees, huh?" Verko continued. "Makes sense. What doesn't make sense is your magical powers. Sure, I know that the ones with wings control the weather and whatnot, but magic like you did?" Verko shook his head. "That doesn't happen. So what's the story with that?" He tapped the remote. "And I wouldn't lie, if I were you."
I shrugged. "Why bother, then? Are you actually going to believe anything that I say? Anything could be true."
Verko chuckled. "Try me."
"Fine. My sister and I were part of an experimental group of ponies bred to try to imitate the alicorns. We're the most successful of the ten original subjects in that we don't have a bunch of hideous deformities, or just died outright. We're not as powerful as the alicorns, but we did manage to get a little unicorn magic."
"Hmm. Interesting. I do know that warlocks and the like have been trying to make their own false alicorns for a while. You didn't get a horn, then?"
I shook my head. "Best thing, really. The ones that did..." I shuddered. "It didn't end well."
"I see." Verko stood up and motioned for the guard to bring me the food. "Either way, I'm going to go design your act, then we'll see how you do. Get comfortable, pony. You're going to have a lot of practice to do soon. Once again, if you have any suggestions about that, let me know. You're the one who knows your limitations, after all."
With that, Verko left, leaving me to my meager meal.
* * * *
I woke up again the next morning feeling stronger than ever. A quick check showed me that my side had healed a lot more, to the point where I wasn't even sure if it was still glued shut or if my body had completely closed up. After my latest meal I felt stronger than ever before. More than enough to take Verko out if I could get the remote from him. Heck, he might not be able to stop me even if he did have it. I got to my hooves and stretched out. Might as well escape today. Dungeon walls didn't match my decor tastes.
I heard the keys jingling again, and the door swung open revealing a very smug looking Verko. Something had him rather pleased. Didn't matter to me. Maybe he'd found a circus willing to add a slave to their collection.
"Good morning, pony." He pulled the remote out of his pocket. "If you could sit down, that'd be great. We have a lot to talk about."
"We sure do," I agreed, sitting on the floor. "You go first."
"Of course. You remember how I said that we'd get your sister eventually? Well..." He motioned to the door and, to my mild surprise, one of the guards led Kristen inside at spear point. She glared back at him but didn't resist. Her eyes widened when she saw me, but I smirked at her and shook my head. I didn't doubt that she could see how much stronger I was.
"Now that I have both of you, here's what we're going to do. So--"
"Yeah, that's all great, but I'm afraid that my sister and I must be on our way." I stood up and motioned to the remote. "That's a remote to this shock collar."
"If you don't sit down this instant, I'm going to make you endure pain the likes of which you never thought possible!" Verko roared.
"Oh yeah? With what?"
"With the..." Verko looked down to his paw, and his eyes widened when he saw that he wasn't holding anything. I motioned to Kristen, who was flying in the air outside of the reach of any spears. She grinned and waved to him. "With... uh..."
"Yeah, like I said: we're going to be on our way now."
With one burst of my magic, my disguise fell away. I grew back to my normal size, my horn reappeared, and the brown of my coat and mane melted away, revealing my full alicorn form. I extended my wings and the chains holding them down instantly shattered. With one quick spell, the chain around my leg and the muzzle were evaporated into dust. I stretched my legs and wings with a contented sigh.
"That's much better." I experimentally fluttered my wings to see how they's affect my wound, and was delighted when I only felt a small twinge of pain no worse than a paper cut. Seemed I was good to go.
"How are things, Kristen? You have any problems?"
Kristen shook her head and looked down at the remote in her hooves. "Nothing, really. You?"
"No, these guys were kind enough to fix me up and feed me. I feel like my old self again. Which does mean..." I lit my horn and encased Verko in my magic. I lifted him up and brought him face-to-face with me. "You and I have a few things to discuss, like I said."
"Oh, uh..." Verko gulped. "Y-yeah, that sounds good. What were you thinking about?"
"Let's start with the key to the collar, yeah? It's starting to get itchy."
"Oh, of course." He reached into his coat pocket and produced a small silver key. "Here you go."
"Kind of you." I took the key from him with my magic and floated it behind me to where I'd felt the keyhole before. The key slid perfectly into the lock, and with one twist, the collar fell to the floor at my hooves. I reached up and scratched my neck. It actually was kind of getting itchy.
"Now, then..." I glanced over to the guards. "I'm sure it goes without saying that you haven't been the most generous host. Dungeons and muzzles and gruel and shock collars? Tisk tisk, Mister Verko. Where did you learn your manners?"
"Look, pony, I was wrong to treat you that way. We should have gone into business together! Equal shares, fifty-fifty!" I glanced over to him and he gulped. "Um... seventy-thirty?"
"Sorry, I'd love to, but I have more pressing matters at the moment."
"Yes, yes, tell me what you want!" Verko said, desperation creeping into his voice. "You want money?! I'll give it to you! You want power?! You'll rule Klugetown like a king! I-if you just want out, I have ships I could get you!"
"Hmm. the last one actually sounds kind of interesting." A hopeful look crossed Verko's face. "Let me think about it." I glanced over to the guards who actually still had their spears pointed at me, though I could see them shaking. I chuckled and, with another quick spell, materialized a razor sharp ice dagger. "What do you think, Kristen? What could we use?"
"That ship sounds promising," Kristen said with a smirk. "Flying's nice, but it'd be one with all of the best luxuries a rat could afford."
"Oh yes, absolutely!" Verko insisted. "You tell me what you want on it and I'll give it to you! Just say the word!"
"Just tell me where it is and we'll be on our way."
"Right, right, of course!" Verko pointed in the direction of the door. "Go out the main entrance, then take a left. Keep going until you hit the docks. Mine's the largest one there."
"Sounds like a plan. Alright, Kristen, I think it's time to blow this joint."
"I agree one hundred percent."
"Good. I guess that just leaves the question of what to do with my host here."
Verko's hopeful smile instantly faded, and he began trying to struggle to break free of my magic. "Nothing! Just leave me be and I'll change! I won't take ponies to sell to circuses anymore! We'll just go our separate ways and never speak to each other again!"
"Hmm..." I tapped my jaw thoughtfully. "Sounds tempting, but I'm going to actually have to pass on that. You see..." I lifted up the shock collar with my magic and shrunk it down so it would fit on Verko. "I don't believe you. You're the type who's out for his own survival and power, and I can't trust somebody like that."
Verko whimpered when I locked the collar around his neck. One of the guards started running up to me, and I flung the ice dagger between his eyes. The other one instantly ran out of the room, dropping his spear behind him.
"Please, pony, I'll do anything," Verko wheezed, clawing at the collar.
"Anything?" I powered down my horn and let him drop. "Okay, how about you... roll over?"
Verko backed up and stared up at me with total fear in his eyes. "R-roll over?"
"Yes." I lit my horn and took the remote from Kristen. I looked over to her and saw the unease in her eyes. She gulped and shook her head.
"Don't do this," she whispered.
"Hmm. She says I shouldn't do this." I turned back to Verko. "You know, something you said made me curious. What does happen when I dial this up to ten? According to you nobody's ever made it past six."
"TD, you're not like this! Just... make it quick or something! Torture is wrong!"
"Yes, it is, isn't it, Verko? It would be torture for you if I turned this on."
"Please just stop!" Verko wailed, trying to back further into the corner. "I'll leave Klugetown and never come back! Nobody will ever hear from me again!"
"I know." I took a deep breath and looked back at Kristen. She shook her head. I looked back to Verko, the being that had spent two days torturing me.
What would Celestia want me to do?
I growled and let my magic fizzle out, and the remote fell to the floor. I stomped on it, shattering the remote to pieces. "This is your lucky day, I guess."
"Yes, yes thank you, your majesty!" Verko cried, crawling on his knees toward me. "I promise that I'll be better!"
"Kristen, let's get out of here. I'm sick of this place."
Kristen nodded, a look of relief on her face. "Yeah, let's just get to Mount Aris."
"Best of luck to you with that!" Verko said, clawing at his collar. "My ship will take you there in comfort and--"
“Verko, remember that poem I was talking about? The one you liked so much?”
“Uh... yeah, yeah I think so. King of kings?”
“Exactly.” I narrowed my eyes. “I am Ozymandias, king of kings. Look on my works ye mighty and despair. Nothing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare. The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
With one quick burst of my horn, I shot an ice dagger right through his left eye with enough force that it shot out the back of his head and shattered on the wall behind him. He fell to the ground without a sound.
* * * *
I pounded on the wooden door and waited, hoping that he'd be home. If not, I'd find him. He kind of stuck out a little bit.
"TD, I'm not sure you need to do this," Kristen muttered. "I get the other guy, but... this is kind of pushing it."
"I don't care right now," I growled. "Besides, he has something that we need. I'm not going to chop his head off or anything. We'll be in and out quickly once we get the map."
The door opened up after a few more seconds. Capper stood on the other side with a confident grin, one which instantly fell when he saw us.
"Oh, uh... the ponies. My, my, you've gotten... bigger."
"Yeah, sure have." I pushed past him into his room, which was still wrecked from the fight. I glanced down at the end table next to the couch and picked up the map still on top of it. I rolled it up and put it under my wing. "I'm taking this."
"Oh, yeah, totally. Take anything you need." Capper backed up into the room and began making his way to the ladder. "Is there anything else I can get for you? You need money or--"
I lit my horn and wrapped my magic around his neck. Before he could say anything, I snapped it like a twig. He fell to the ground silently.
"He didn't feel a thing," I said, pushing past Kristen. "Let's just get out of here. I'm sick of this place."
"Yeah," Kristen said quietly, looking at Capper's body with a blank expression. "Me too."
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Very nice.
What's even nicer is this update schedule. Hope it keeps up, m80
Aww that's a shame. Is TD gonna kill everyone from the movie?
8555729
To be fair, Verko tortured him and Capper sold him into slavery, so...
8555732
I know but I just feel bad for him. If you read the comic Capper is actually a really nice guy who fell on hard times after his best friend betrayed him leaving him in debt to Verko.
Fuck, man... why'd you kill Capper?! If you hurt Tempest Shadow I swear to fucking god...
memegenerator.net/img/instances/500x/53262770/im-so-screwed.jpg
8555748
Was it the right thing for TD to do? Totally not, and Kristen's not happy about it either, but from TD's perspective he'd just lost everything including his captain of the guard who'd been with him since the start, been bleeding out to the point where he was near death, then spent a few days being tortured, the latter of which was a situation Capper had put him in. He's in a rough head space.
The storm I can understand, but where does the scorpion come in? (I haven't read any of the story yet. I will though, it sounds good.)
8555783
It's his cutie mark.
8555765
So Tempest, I imagine, won't also be getting off so easily either?
Man, you're making this story much, MUCH darker.
Not that I'm complaining, but this very intense.
8555944
Yeah, I'm pretty sure Tempest is toast in this timeline.
...On that note, I wonder how Antares would handle Starlight?
8555989
Beat her ass and throw her in jail, I suppose?
8555765
As antithetical to the theme of the show as it seems to be, I can't help but agree with you that it's the most realistic outcome of this. Capper sold a poor pony into slavery. Sure, he might have felt really bad about it, but he didn't even try to make up for this until it was far too late, and in the end was just looking out for himself. In a controlled environment he would probably be captured and sentenced with greater scrutiny, but there is no justice except the Storm King's at the moment, so it was a field call. And there is no guarantee that Capper wouldn't just do more of this to any poor ponies he came across, or had done it to ponies in the past before now either. Capper didn't show anything to dissuade this opinion either, so I can't help but think it's the right call, even if Capper could have been easily redeemed and become a much better person.
It's as the old saying goes (paraphrased): Those who seeks to end another's life should be prepared to have their life end in turn. To be shocked about having the roles reversed on unfair cruelties dealt is the height of hypocrisy.
8556005
I agree it makes sense but while Verko might have deserved it Capper did not. The whole thing made me feel a little too uncomfortable and I hope this is the last non-villain character TD murders in cold blood.
8556023
Without knowledge of the comics, how could anyone be sure? Luring in somepony and then turning them over doesn't absolve you of what happens afterwards even if you weren't personally responsible. Capper played a key part in what ended up happening. Maybe he wouldn't have done it had he known what would have happened to TD, but he did, and he didn't try to help TD escape either.
8556038
I'm not saying he didn't deserve a punishment but being killed like that was way too extreme, there is no justifieing it and I'm pretty sure the story isn't trying to.
8556047
I agree, the story doesn't seem like it would justify it either. It's entirely possible this is just one step along the path of having a mental breakdown of sorts and doing something quite wrong for the wrong reasons, just like Twilight Sparkle did in the MLP Movie.
In which case, the lack of Capper on TD's side may or may come back to haunt him in his moment of need. Or not, this story could play out different instead of rehashing Twilight Sparkle's journey beat for beat.
8556061
It would be interesting if that's what happens but I'm not really expecting anything to come of Capper's death I think it was just to show what kind of mindset TD is in currently. I'm just hoping this doesn't repeat with the pirates.
That said I did expect stuff like this going in. I am fully prepared for Tempest to get killed in the end and I just hope The Storm King doesn't wind up dieing in an anti-climatic fashion. Capper being killed like that was just completely unexpected though and was a real punch to the gut but I'll get over it.
8555732 And Tempest shadow knowingly and willingly enabled the enslavement of Canterlot, including the foals, so I'm honestly struggling to imagine how she will get out of this with her head.
*slowly retracts his finger from thumbs up button*
I really hope that this story won't turn from "friendship is magic" theme to "violence is always the answer" all the way. I know it's more realistic, and Antares is, frankly, not that much pony to try the diplomacy in case of being threatened, but it seems that he learned nothing from the previous story at all.
And it's really sad, he had years to do his homework and quite a big pile of dead bodies behind him to be motivated to do it.
Reminds me of The sword of good although i dont know if it is original or a famfiction.
In that, the "SI" initially sides with an assasin, and a mage because of genre recognition, thinking of it as like an adventure story. Evetually he realizes he is on the side of evil. (Very poor description)
Capper is acting as a slaver here, and the only reason I empathise with him is that he became a good guy in the movie. Antares doesnt have the whole omnicient narrator advantage and hasnt watched the movie, and I am not sure this is unreasonable given the situation.
8556711
He's more of a middle man than a slaver. He provided the ponies but didn't know what would happen to them (judging by his reaction when Vergo's men attacked).
8556564
No, the story isn't all going to be like that. He'd just spent the last few days being tortured on top of everything else. He was in a rough headspace. It's not like I portray it as a good thing.
8556849
Oh, don't get me wrong, I totally understand why he might feel like acting like that. He acted like that before after all. And considering that the teeth marks from that time biting him in the butt should still be visible, it's really strange seeing him going down that road again with zero hesitation. Especially since he's supposedly in a hurry and those dead bodies are about as useful to him as that skull in the desert was useful to Pinkie.
8556719
True enough, but Here we have a guy who helped you escape from a problematic situation, then turns around and calls up a guy who he sells you to. I kinda think that from that perspective he is kinda morally fucked, enough that given the situation killing him afterwards isnt exactly beyond the pale...
This has not made me want to stop reading.
Capper made a habit of luring Innocents in to be captured and enslaved.
Slavers rank very, very low on the list of things that get to survive the attempt.
That's Grubber, Verko, and Capper so far. I twitched a little when Capper died simply because I got a little bit of a different impression of him in the movie, but he never really had a redemption in this story so I can understand how there was no love or friendship between them. And I mean I get it - he was directly capturing and selling slaves so he himself was a slaver (even if it was to pay off a debt or something).
I'm surprised Verko kept him so long. I just had the impression Verko would unload him onto someone for the sake of business pretty fast once healed up. I was expecting him to get passed along from Verko to a buyer and carted off to some place - similar to how he was passed from Capper to Verko so quickly. But I guess that would have taken things so far off track from the original movie this is inspired by that it would probably feel a bit too off the hinges (plus take a lot of extra time to get back on track).
I feel a little anxious at how he might handle other characters.
Yeah Capper is a bit too much. In my opinion he should have gotten away with a broken jaw. Or you have not puched it nearly enough. What about that mob when they arrived in Klugetown. If the only one to show kindness, even if deceptive, get offed why not those who showned OPEN hostility?
…. I am sad now. I was expecting Capper to be helping his sister and earning his redemption but this...
so TD is going full Nielsen for this? this might be entertaining.
8717339
Because stabbing someone in the front is better than stabbing someone in the back.
Wow, good line there, :D
That’s actually a believable story,
Bad Kitty!
Just kinda sick at how he just killed Capper like that, since, you know, he didn't really get any chance at redemption.
Unless anybody here really thinks Kristen would have let him help after getting her brother captured. Seriously.
I get the feeling TD is a bit colder in this story for some reason, but maybe that's just me.
Nooo!!! Why did you let capper die?! God Damn it! You ruined the perfectly good story line! But I'll continue reading
8717339
Because betrayal is far worse. At least open hostility, while unpleasant, is honest. But trust betrayed is a level of cruelty all its own. And there is a special place in hell for such people.