The Prodigal Daughter is Beside Herself
Entry 167: Well. This week has been hectic. Aside from anything else, I think we found this world’s version of the Elements of Harmony.
...I think, in a roundabout way, I actually did fulfil Celestia’s plan for me. How ‘bout that. There were seven of these guys, though, so I dunno.
Meantime, other-you started making goo-goo eyes at a camp counselor, and he was definitely returning them, with interest. Ew, by the way, on several levels, the main ones being a) it’s about sex, which is just… hard pass (I think I’m asexual btw. Been working that out for awhile. Anyway), b) he’s, like twenty-something and she’s seventeen which just strikes me as hugely sleazy, and of course c) I keep mentally equating her with you and it is SUPER SQUICKY. Just, NOPE. I think I’ve managed to keep anything nasty from happening pretty successfully, though. Suffice it to say, Fluttershy speaks skunk fluently, and I know Mr. Sleazy’s schedule.
So, everything worked out here. Maybe keep an eye out for a seventh element on your end? Ignore that, stupid idea, if there were actually seven they wouldn’t have worked at all, right? I gotta get going, we’re cooking s’mores and singing campfire songs. Laters!
Come back here! the voice roared as Fluttershy and Discord raced down the halls. You insulted my singing! I will make you pay!
What’s going on? Who are we chasing? asked another voice.
That’s Fluttershy… and isn’t that Superintendent Discord?
“Superintendent?” Discord asked. “Me? How dare you! I’ve never willingly taken any responsibility a day in my life!”
Ooh, feisty, the second voice giggled. Can’t we keep them?
What a good idea. Resonance, ladies. On three. One, two, THREE!
A deafening, shrill note rang out, reverberating around the hall. The crystal itself vibrated, utterly wronghoofing Discord, who fell painfully to the ground with a cry. Fluttershy, not noticing his plight, flew on, unaffected.
Discord rolled for a few moments before crashing into a wall. Dazed, they didn’t even register the trio of phantasms surrounding them until it was too late. Well? one demanded. Now what? You never think these things through, Dagi.
We could just hypnotize them, another giggled. Make them do the Chicken Dance!
“Come now, there’s no need for that,” Discord said, wobbling to their hooves and grinning toothily. “I’ll do the Chicken Dance right now if you want. Dada-dah-dah-dada-dah, dada-dah-dah”
They insulted my singing. They must die. the last one said bluntly.
Discord swallowed nervously, their grin frozen and plastic. “Well, you may find that a tad difficult, you know. I am an immortal, after all…”
Can you survive every molecule of your body being vibrated into their separate components?
They bit their lip, considering. “Not sure. Let’s not find out, shall we?”
The spirits grinned maliciously. Do...Re...Mi…
“What, you’re going to sing me to death?” Discord scoffed. The trio continued to sing higher and higher. The chaos deity blinked. “You’re serious. Wow. Okay, just—” Their horn glowed plaid and polka dotted for a moment and suddenly lAAaa?SooOOo? tTtTIii!
ouR VoicES! WHat diD yOU Do tO OuR voiceS?
Discord grinned maliciously. “Word of advice, ladies? If all your power comes from music, never try to take on the spirit of disharmony. Now, if you’ll pardon me…” They made to leave, but was blocked by the orange ghost. wE hAVE oTheR WAys oF DEStroyIng yOu, she snarled.PRePare tO MeET your DooM!
“Um, excuse me,” a small voice said. “But I think that you should let them go.”
Oh, HaI, flUtterShy! WHat do You WAnt?
The yellow pegasus shuffled her hooves. “Er. I was hoping you’d let my friend go, if that’s alright with you.”
wHY WoulD We do THAt? You TwO INsultEd us and RUIned ouR VoiCes!
“Well, I think I found something that might persuade you…”
The blue spirit gasped. Is iT TaCOS?
Fluttershy smiled. “Nope. Follow me, it’s just over here.”
Exchanging confused glances, the three ghosts and their prisoner followed the mare around the corner. thIs BEtter bE GoOd… one muttered, still sounding like she'd swallowed a busted auto-tuner.
Fluttershy smiled. “Twilight told me a little bit about you three. Sirens, right? Tried to hypnotize people with music? Really rude?”
YeAh, yEAh, whAT abOUt it?
“Oh, I just thought I’d explain this in the easiest way for you understand,” Fluttershy replied, picking something up off the ground. “I’m afraid that you’ll think this is going to… suck.”
With a flick of a switch, the hoofheld vacuum cleaner turned on. The ghosts stared at it blankly for a moment, then realized what was happening. No! nO!
LEt uS GO, YoU WImp!
TAcOs!
As the last spirit was sucked in, Fluttershy switched off the device, a smile on her face. “It’s funny,” she said thoughtfully. “Twilight described them as being flesh and blood, not phantoms. And they didn’t seem as powerful as she said, either. Almost as though they were copies of the real things…”
She glanced up to see Discord’s shell-shocked face. “...Wow, Flutterbutter. I mean, wow. You have come far, grasshopper. Obviously all due to my bad influences, of course, you mustn’t take any credit… But where did you get that?”
“Oh! Well, this is a very big castle, and Twilight doesn’t really need a lot of these rooms. So she turned a bunch of them into storage for cleaning supplies.” She nodded to an open door down the hall. “See? Right over—”
She shrieked and dropped the vacuum as an ethereal violet tendril stretched out of the nozzle. Discord quickly picked up the machine and hurled it back into the supply store. “Come on, my dear,” they said, trotting along. “I doubt we’re out of the woods yet.”
***
The inside of the boarding house was just as peculiar as Flash had suggested. It wasn’t distasteful, by any means. Actually, at first glance, it looked very nice. Dark, reddish oak comprised the bulk of the design; the floorboards, the siding, the furnishings, the doors, all matched in shade and style. Old-timey posters hung on the walls, interspersed with beautiful paintings and mosaics.
Yet there was something tremendously wrong with it. The wood grain seemed to ripple when not under direct scrutiny. The spiral patterns carved into the woodwork grew steadily tighter, moving in upon itself forever. Then there was the carving of a snake devouring its own tail. Twilight studied the posters. “I’ve never heard of any of these movies,” she muttered, gazing at the posters.
“They were never finished,” Paradox said cheerfully. “I’m something of a collector of unfinished works, you might say.”
“But I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a lot of these actors, either…”
“Of course not, their movies were canned before they made it big, do you want to see the room or not?”
“Right. Sorry.”
Sunset stared at a painting on the wall. “Is this… the Mona Lisa?”
“A replica, yes,” the landlady replied. “It has ‘This is a fake’ written under the paint in felt marker. Though, from what I’ve heard, so does the one in the Louvre.”
“Really?” Fluttershy asked, casting an eye over the painting.
“Well, it’s what I’ve heard,” Paradox said, taking a seat on an overstuffed armchair. “Her room’s upstairs. Don’t be long.”
“We won’t. Thanks, Miss P.,” Flash said, walking toward the stairs.
Fluttershy frowned as Flash started to walk down the steps recessed in the floor. “Didn’t she say…”
“Don’t ask,” Flash replied flatly.
The girls looked at one another, then followed him. At once, Sunset was struck with an overpowering sense of vertigo. “Wha…”
“Close your eyes,” Flash suggested.
“I’m climbing down. But it feels like I’m…”
“Close your eyes. Really,” Flash urged. “Just try to ignore it.”
Sunset took in a deep breath and did as the boy urged. “How did you survive your first time here?”
“I had the other Sunset showing me around,” Flash muttered. “Holding onto the railing helps, too.”
Sunset stumbled as a body suddenly collided with her back. “Uh, heh, I thought we could hold onto each other for stability?” Twilight suggested sheepishly.
“Oh. Good plan,” Sunset agreed, not opening her eyes. Flash took her other hand, and Fluttershy took Twilight’s, and the chain of teenagers made their way down/up the stairs.
***
“Come on,” the dark alicorn shouted as she chased the dog and ponies down the hall. “It’s for science! It won’t hurt. I think.”
“That’s really not terribly comforting, darling!” Rarity shouted.
“But you could both be important pieces of data! Maybe all three of you could!”
“Well, yes— perhaps so—” the Doctor gasped, “But what— if we— don’t want to be, mm?”
There was a sudden flash of light and Midnight Sparkle was standing right in front of them. “Science must come first,” she said, raising what looked like a powder compact.
The ponies skidded to a halt, trying desperately to run back the way they had come, but it was pointless. The compact clicked open. A blinding light began to seep through… and then, just as suddenly, it fell to the floor as Midnight was tackled to the ground by a blur of purple and green fur. “Ackpth!” she sputtered. “Spike! No! Bad boy!”
Rarity scooped up the compact in one hoof. “Spike! Heel!” she shouted.
The dog leapt off of Midnight and hurtled back down the hallway, where Rarity and the Doctor were already running. The dark alicorn snarled in irritation and gave chase.
***
Celestia took a long, calming breath. Tearing at the brambles hadn’t worked. Flying out probably wouldn’t have worked even if there weren’t burrs stuck in her feathers. Teleportation hadn’t worked. Whatever had made this trap clearly wasn’t messing about. But then, neither was she. Suddenly, she grinned. “Thank you, whoever you are,” she said aloud. “I’m not sure if you can hear me, nor even if you could understand me if you were, but thank you. These brambles are truly magnificent. They inhibit flight and even walking; they grow back too quickly to be torn away; they start to wrap around me if I stay still too long, which is inevitable in the end. You even made them resistant to direct magic. Are you responsible for my change in color as well?”
She paused, half expecting a reply. Upon receiving none, she shrugged, absently smacking away a vine which had tangled itself around her hoof.
“Very well made indeed. But, you know something? I am old. Very, very old indeed. You are not the first to try to capture me, or to try to kill me. Is that your goal? Possibly, possibly… not likely, but possibly… No matter. The point is, I don’t care how good you are at making traps, I am still better at escaping them. It’s only a question of method.”
She let magic flow out through her hooves, attempting to cast Torch Wood’s Deforestation on a nearby clump of briars. Nothing happened. “Magic resistant, as I said, even to earth pony magic. But, as I discovered with the case of pinkness you gave me, magic may still affect your works indirectly. Which brings me to my reason for thanking you— I’ve not had a chance to use this spell for the last several centuries, not since the fall of the Crystal Empire.”
Her horn lit a bright, distressingly high-energy shade of yellow, and Celestia screwed up her face in intense concentration. “The Doctor inspired it. Showed me a case of their old companion’s leftover experiments. They named it, too.” Her horn continued to glow brighter and brighter. A smile slipped across her face. “The Solar Surge.”
For a brief moment, the world was pure white, destructive light ripping a hole through the barriers of brambles that bounded the room. And then there was nothing. The walls glowed red. Charred vines and burnt tapestries waved back and forth. Ash covered the floor. In the center of it all, completely covered in cinders but unharmed, Celestia smirked. “I still got it,” she grinned.
***
Trixie scowled across the table at the pink-haired girl. The rather fey girl glared back. There was something unusual about Fluttershy today. Normally, Trixie could at least cow her into squeaking and burying her head in a book after a few seconds of intensive smirking. Today, however, Fluttershy looked ready to fight somebody. “Um,” said their fellow group member nervously. “Flu-Fluttershy? You haven’t said much about the symbolism Fitzgerald used this chapter. Um, there’s still nothing written for “Use of Color”...”
“Red,” Fluttershy ground out. “Symbolizes love and lust, which is why the apartment was painted that color. Buchanan’s having an affair. But it also symbolizes blood, like how Tom breaks Myrtle’s nose.”
“Oh.” Coco paused. “That’s good, I hadn’t thought of that last part.” She started to scribble on the worksheet, but Trixie quickly yoinked away the girl’s pencil.
“Nor had Trixie,” the blue girl said, swinging the pencil side to side, in an almost hypnotic motion. “What made you think of that, Fluttershy? Trixie always thought you too much a wimp to even countenance the idea of blood.”
“A wimp?” Pale, butter-yellow hands slammed to the table. “I’m no wim—” She cut herself off, and visibly forced herself to relax. “Um, yeah. Animals. Bunnies. Pastels.”
Coco glanced between one girl and the other. “Uh, are you feeling alright, Fluttershy?”
“Never. Better.”
“Uh, okay. Trixie, may I please, um, have my pencil back?”
A smirk flitted across the blue girl’s face. “Come and get it,” she said, waggling the yellow stick at both girls.
Coco feebly snatched for the pencil, but in an instant, it was gone. “Oops,” said Trixie, smirk growing.
“Trixie, give her back the pencil,” Fluttershy growled. “We—” She cut herself off, visibly restraining herself. When she spoke again, her voice was calmer, sweeter, but with an edge to it that was the least Fluttershy-like thing that Trixie had ever heard. “We need to finish writing so we’ll all get a good grade.”
“Mmm,” Trixie considered. “Nah.”
“Trixie!” For the first time, the magician realized that Fluttershy’s eyes weren’t usually purple. “Pencil. Now.”
“Ugh. Fine. Hey, what’s that behind your ear?” She reached over, and with one fluid motion, yanked off the silky pink wig, revealing short-cropped red hair beneath, and a smudged line between the butter-yellow makeup and the pine green skin beneath.
Pharynx desperately grabbed at the wig, but Trixie yanked it away. “Well! I’d heard that Fluttershy used hair extensions, but I didn’t think she would go this far!” she announced.
The entire class, Cheerilee included, turned to stare at the little group. Pharynx closed his eyes tight. “Thorax, I am going to kill you for this,” he muttered.
On the other side of the room, Kevin, presently disguised as Applejack, slowly sunk down beneath his copy of the Great Gatsby.
***
Sunset sat alone in the library, cradling the book in her hooves. She had been staring at Dash’s message for the last half hour, not rereading it, not even truly seeing it. She just stared. What could she do?
Well. Obviously, there was only one thing she could do. She gritted her teeth. She would have to tell them the truth. She had left them, betrayed them like she had done Celestia. They would understand, wouldn’t they? They would be fine, wouldn’t they?
Would they? A little voice niggled. Would they understand? I didn’t have to leave, did I?
Yes, I did, she thought. One plus one equals too many Sunsets. I couldn’t have explained that properly.
There was the oddest sensation of laughter— cold, and not a little cruel. Why not? A little more thought, a little more cunning… invent a long-lost cousin. Or a twin, maybe. That would’ve worked.
“No, it wouldn’t,” she said aloud. “Even if the rest of the school bought that story, the other me would never have gone along with it.”
Not at first, perhaps, the little voice acknowledged. But… well, I’ve got magic, haven’t I?”
“Wha— No! Hypnosis— mind control— no. That’s completely immoral!”
“Never stopped me before.”
“Before? Before I realized how stupid and selfish I was being? Before I stopped hurting people? Before I became a better person?”
“Better? No. You changed. You became weaker.”
“No— no, I didn’t—” Sunset shook her head. “I got friends, lots of friends!”
“Well, regardless— It would only have been yourself you were controlling, wouldn’t it? That’s alright, isn’t it? You always have the right to control yourself, right?”
“I— well, I suppose—”
“Glad to hear you agree,” the little voice said from directly behind her. Sunset leapt from the chair, the journal falling to the wayside as she looked, for the second time that day, at an exact copy of herself.
“Who— who are you?” Sunset demanded.
Her duplicate merely smiled. “I’m you, Sunset. Ever hear of being beside yourself?”
Sunset paused. She picked up a book and opened it to a random page. It was filled with squiggles, illegible and random. “This is a dream, isn’t it,” she said. “I fell asleep in the library, and now I’m having this freaky dream.”
Her double merely nodded. “Right,” said Sunset. “I think I’d like to wake up now.”
“Not yet,” her double said. “First, you need to make a decision.”
“Alright,” Sunset said warily, sitting down on an armchair across from herself. “What decision might that be?”
“You know what choice I mean. Come on, it’s been eating you up all day,” DoppelSunset said with a Cheshire Cat grin. “Go back to where you’re from— or go home.”
“I—” Sunset said, then stopped. A wave of emotions ran over her, images and feelings running together. The love she had felt for the mare she had once called “mother”. Celestia’s face the day she had left. The rage and hatred that Sunset had built in her heart against her.
Now, the bonds she had forged with Pinkie Pie. That same betrayed expression on Fluttershy’s face. The anger that must be boiling through Twilight’s veins when she found that her closest friend had just… left her.
“No,” said Sunset softly. “No, not again.” Her eyes glowing with a dazzling light, she shrieked, “I WILL NOT LOSE THEM! I WILL NOT!”
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wtf is going on at the end i feel so confused.
9535065
Back in chapter two, the Doctor lectured Twilight for a bit about the dangers of interdimensional travel.
One of these entities has attached itself to Sunset, and is tempting her to misuse the mirror once more.
9535094
ohhhh that makes so much sense thanks for reminding me of that.
RUN KEVIN! RUUUUUUUUUUUN!
Seriously though, Poor Kevin. LOL.
This made me so happy.
Meanwhile, the physical struggles faced by companions on both sides of the mirror... and the internal struggle faced by Sunset. And the true culprit (perhaps culprits? So much is still unknown!) behind the various shenanigans is only now beginning to show their appendage.
Also, I adore Paradox Place and your use of parallelism between the various otherworldly characters. So good.
And oh, there’s another chapter yet!
Yay!
It’s always strangely satisfying to see your bad influence bear fruit.
———
Fluttershy finds herself needing to fight a strange urge to try and shake money and jewelry out of nearby table lamps while calling out the name “Mario” in a wistful voice.
———
High School students are still being subjected to Gatsby. The book bombed when it came out and only gained popularity when a handful of educators in the ‘60’s started finding, ‘like, so much symbolism, man’ in between bong hits. Fitzgerald was just writing about this cool dude who threw hella awesome parties while surrounded by tawdry relationship drama.
9648484
I once asked an English teacher "Why does a book have to be boring to be literarily significant?"
Never did get a straight answer.
The real question is: Was this replica also painted using pigments made from a sentient meteorite? (I swear that makes at least *some* sense in context)