Dadonequus Discord (Book 2)

by CrazedLaughter

Chapter 275 - The Mysterious Chancellor

This was strange. Who was this pony? The way he was running, the tear in his clothes. Something, or someone, was after him. Your guess was he came from behind the barrier. But how? A barrier like this should be able to block a unicorn trying to pass through it. You’d have to question him.

Before you could do anything, however, Capper had already approached him to help him out of the snow. “Hey there. You alright? That looked like a pretty bad fall there.” Capper said as he extended his paw.

The pony, at first, reached out to him slowly. But the moment his eyes met Capper’s, he hopped up, at the ready, and already preparing to fight. “Away with you, you mangy creature! I have no idea what part you’re playing in all this, but I have no qualms obliterating you for what you’ve done to those innocent ponies!”

“Wha?!” Capper said, raising his arms up. “What are you talking about?! We just got here!”

“A likely st-we?” The mysterious pony looked around Capper, spotting you and Grubber. Of course, during this entire exchange, you already had your horn trained on him, as did Grubber and his Trapper Blaster. “What is the meaning of this? Did you take control of this pony as well?”

“That’s an interesting question, given you don’t seem to be being controlled by whatever tried to control my mind. Stand down and identify yourself, you’re outnumbered.” You warn him.

The mysterious pony eyed you closely, seems he was gathering some mental notes of his own. “You’re not acting like the others. A pony traitor? That might explain the horn. I’d suggest you identify yourself, and turn yourselves in. I am not so easily defeated.”

A bold claim.

“What’s the call, Tempest? The more this guy talks, the more I feel my claw slipping.” Grubber said to you, making sure his aim was true as he tightened his claw on the trigger.

“I’ll humor him. I am Tempest Shadow, former commander of the Storm King army, and friend to a colt named Anon, and of course, Princess Twilight Sparkle. The hedgehog’s name is Grubber, my trusted partner. And that’s Capper, that’s all you need to know at the moment. Now then, your turn.” You tell him, as your horn sparkles.

“Tempest Shadow? Hm, I’ve heard of you. Defected from the Storm King and assisted in his defeat by Anon’s hoof. If that’s true, then what are you doing here? At this time of night?” The pony asked you, as he kept his eyes sweeping for any movement.

“I believe I asked you to identify yourself first. Give us a reason to trust you, or else this will not end well.” Once again, you warn him. He did seem somewhat old, and could be that ‘scholar’. The filly you saw could be a red herring.

“Hmph” He grunted and paused for a moment. “I am Chancellor Neighsay of the Equestrian Education Association. By that title alone, you should know that I’m no villain.”

You’ve never heard of him. But given he seemed to be attacked, and the level of magic he seems to wield, you’ll believe it for now. “I see. As for your question, we were coming from Klugetown to take part in the Hearthwarming celebrations. A battle with a Tatzlwurm delayed us, but I am not one to rest when I have a schedule to keep. Which is why I find you being here odd. Why does an Equestrian Official of your caliber have business in town at such a late hour. Especially on a holiday.”

Suddenly, he finally seemed to relent. “That is none of your business.” He says, until he turns his head upon hearing a click from Grubber’s weapon.

“It ain’t a multiple choice question. We get here, and the first thing that happens is some kind of mind control trying to drill into Tempest’s head. So, to me, that makes things realllllly off. In fact, why aren’t you all zombified then? Whatever is going on, it seems to affect ponies. So, yeah, it is our business.” Grubber said as he took a step forward, keeping his weapon aimed. “Seems to me like you’re the one behind this. How else did you get past that barrier?”

“Barrier?” The pony seemed confused. “What barrie-hm?” And finally, he turns his head to look around, and spots the barrier guarding the town. “I didn’t even realize…”

“Which is why you’re the prime suspect right now. That is why I-Hm?” Suddenly, Capper began to approach Neighsay, a cool smile on his face. “Capper.”

“Relax, Tempest. It seems to me we all got off on the wrong foot here. Or hoof… paw?” Capper let out a little chuckle before bowing towards Neighsay. “I apologize for my friends. I know, they’re pretty scary. But it seems to me that none of us are the enemy here. So, instead of this crazy little standoff, can you just tell us what happened to you? Looks like you got into a scrap.”

But Neighsay, he just stared at Capper hard and grit his teeth. “Step-away-from-me-you-mangy-thing.”

“Look, buddy. You can insult me all you want, but it ain’t gonna help any of us. Besides, you may want to have a look at that castle over there. Apparently, it’s owned by some guy named Tirek. Dunno who he is, but he sounds plenty bad.” Capper said as he pointed behind him towards the towering castle.

“Tirek? That’s impossible” Neighsay told him, still ready for combat.

“Is it? Like I said, I dunno anything about the guy, but Tempest does. So, why don’t you just confirm it for me, huh? You gotta be curious to look at what I’m pointing at, right?” Capper said, giving him a charming smile.

Neighsay furrowed his brow at him, and lit up his horn brightly as he looked behind himself. Suddenly, he became shaken. “Those banners… How? That’s impossible! He was sealed deep in Tartarus.”

“Well, that confirms it. So, you were in there, right? Mind telling us what you saw?” Capper asked, crossing his arms as he waited for Neighsay’s answer.

“First, tell me what your cargo is. It seems suspicious to me.” Neighsay said as he looked over at the cart you had been lugging around.

“Well, I admit, the weapons seems pretty bad looking.” Capper said as he brandished his flamethrower weapon, bringing it out from his coat. “But we couldn’t just trust them to be left untouched in a place like Klugetown, you get it? As for the bag, it is just a whole bunch of toys for the foals.” Capper said, as you took it upon yourself to just go along with it for now, as he seemed to be making progress. You open the bag to show off the toys, as well as bringing out a few weapons from the crate to show off to Neighsay. “Figured it’s the time of year where all the little ones deserve a whole bunch of stuff, don’t you think?”

“...But why would somecreature like you even care about foals?” Neighsay asked, looking at Capper suspiciously.

Capper just shrugged. “Because it makes them happy, and teaches them good will, I guess. I felt pretty good when Rarity fixed up my old threads for nothing. Literally nothing. She’s the cat’s meow, if you catch my drift.” Capper said with a wink. “You’re like, some education guy, right? Don’t you care about the foals?”

“How dare you! Of course I do! That is the whole point of my position! To make sure all students have a bright future and wonderful education! To make sure everypony has access to the highest levels of learning! That’s why I’m here! I came to leave Princess Twilight Sparkle notes during this momentous holiday for her to read after school resumes. I figured she has had her way for too long, and not only needed to show her progress for last semester, but take on a few of my suggestions to make sure everything goes according to regulation! Her taking on so many non-ponies was already becoming more and more suspicious. And now look! Somehow Tirek has taken over, and she’s nowhere to be found! I can only assume this is her fault, and she has been captured as well. Typical, this is why I must inform Princess Celestia and Luna, and seek the help of Starswirl the Bearded and his companions!” Neighsay said, feeling insulted by Capper’s insinuation.

Well, it was becoming clear why he wasn’t under mind control. He had a clear disdain for creatures that weren’t a pony, and was highly contemptuous of Twilight. At least that made sense. So, now, how did he get past the barrier? “I would not recommend that. This mind control seems to bend one’s positive emotions and feelings to the will of an entity we have yet to identify. It also only seems to affect ponies, at least for now. I almost succumbed myself, when I was worried about those within the barrier. Which brings me to my next set of questions. How did you enter the town, what happened to you, and how did you leave?”

“Are you insinuating I don’t care what’s going on in that town?!” Neighsay asked, disgusted with your insinuation.

“I’m saying your other feelings seem to be shielding you from the effects. Now, I am asking you to answer the question. I’m already trying to formulate a plan to at least attempt taking back the town, but one of the hurdles is getting past that barrier. I’m asking you with a please, even with a sugar on top of said please.” A bit humiliating to say, but you needed this answer.

Neighsay stayed silent, eyeing Capper and Grubber again, then finally answered as he held up his medallion. “...This is a magical artifact that allows me to open gates over long distances. I used it to enter the town, only to see, or at least think, I had appeared somewhere else. But then the townsponies, they were indeed of Ponyville. They stared at me, with blue glowing eyes. Blue, and dead-looking, eyes. I tried to speak to them, but after my sixth attempt, they suddenly began to attack me, almost mindlessly. Unicorns didn’t cast any spells, pegasi didn’t fly, they attacked like monsters! I used the same method to exit the town, escaping by the skin of my teeth." He paused for a moment, then seemed to figure out what you planned to do. “You wish to open a gate and attack Tirek head on, don’t you? Are you aware that you and your ragtag group of misfits are incapable of stopping him as you are?”

You nodded. “We are, hence why we seek the help of a changeling named Chrysalis. She is an ancient evil, or a former one, as I have come to understand that Anon has reformed her.” You nodded towards Grubber to lower his weapon, as an understanding seems to be made. “We need power and tactics, and we hope that the likes of at least Anon and Discord are with her in some way. Those two would bolster our power considerably. If, somehow, Princess Twilight is also with them, then all the better”

Neighsay stopped for a moment, confused. “You believe Princess Twilight hasn’t been captured?”

You shook your head. “I assume nothing, I can only hope.” He didn’t seem to have a big reaction towards the mention of Chrysalis, that made you curious. “So, would you agree to help us, then? To find Chrysalis and assist in the retaking of Ponyville?”

“It’d really mean a lot to us, y’know?” Capper said “Think about it, you’d get to be a real big hero.”

“You want to find the Changeling Queen. It is true, she has reformed. Normally, I’d be heavily against it. But…” Suddenly, he shook, as if he was traumatized by something. “I had seen a level of conviction of her reformation that even if I highly detest it, I must respect it. We had almost lost the hero colt due to my own actions, as his belief in her is stronger than, I’d even say, Princess Twilight has in her own students.” Neighsay then sighed. “Not to mention I had been keeping my ears open to any future crime she may try to commit. She has done nothing. One could assume she has something to do with this, but there might, or might not be a cha-”

“Bla, bla, bla, we get it already!” Grubber said, waving his Trapper Blaster around in annoyance. “You want to hate her, but something happened that made you also not want to. I don’t know if you typically understand villain stuff, but here’s something for you: The longer we wait around doing nothing, the bigger a chance they end up winning. Just stuff whatever you don’t like about her down your piehole and help us already!”

Neighsay's eyes began to shift. He looked back towards the town, then back at your group. “There’s really no choice in the matter, is there?”

You shook your head. “We have to take what we can get. Equestria will fall if we allow this to continue.”

“Yes, but, wouldn’t that be something she wants?” Neighsay asked, as he began to slowly falter.

Capper just shrugged and gave him a reassuring smile. “Look, I don’t think that bug lady is wanting anything bad to happen. The way Anon talked about her makes it seem like they’re family. To me, that is. I can bet you they’re probably making their own plans to take back the town. And you, my friend, have got the key they need to make it happen. You wanna save those ponies? Then c’mon, we got work to do.”

Neighsay went silent again as he put his hoof over his amulet. It suddenly began to shine as a gate opened before all of you. “...Then let us make haste. This will take us to her home within the forest. I’m trusting you all for now. But make one sleight, and I’ll put you down myself.”

Good, you wouldn’t have it any other way, it keeps his mind in check.

Though, you felt some tinge of worry pierce your heart. What would you come to find out?

Who was hurt?

Who was hypnotized?

Would she help?

…Anon, he hasn’t made a move, which was unlike him.

You hoped he was okay.

Comments

[Warp Contrast]

Ah, I see. I honestly was completely unsure how Neighsay could help before, but that makes sense, honestly.

[Emperor of Jurai]

Huh I wonder how Neighsay is gonna react if he becomes aware of Anon's death. I mean he is protective of foals and he respects Anon a fair bit, so hearing someone just killed a foal that he also respects. I really hope he does get quite upset.

Still seems they got two tools to try and get through the barrier, that's good...backups are always nice.

[Hein des Nisseroi]

(...) given you don’t seem to be being controlled by (...)

Remove ‘being’. (?)

Apparently it’s owned by some guy named Tirek.

Missing comma after ‘Apparently’. (?)

That’s impossible” Neighsay told him,

Missing comma at the end of the quote.

Blue, and dead looking, eyes.

dead-looking (?)

as an understanding seems to be being made.

Remove ‘being’. (?)

If, somehow, Princess Twilight is also with them, then all the better”

Missing period.

would you agree to help us then?

Missing comma before ‘then’.

Neighsay eyes began to shift.

Neighsay's

I might be wrong about some of the above.

[Walrusesarecute]

My heart can’t take these emotions. This trio is the FUCKING BEST!