--- A Jailbird's Song ---
"You know, I was almost thinking they weren't going to get you," Knox continued in his bitter tone from across the way, "I didn't think Ponyville's guards had the resources to capture an alicorn. Good for them, really."
"You..." That was all Twilight could manage to say as she glared at the sarosian through the bars. There was a volatile cocktail of potent emotions at the unexpected sight of this stallion.
And it was now obvious why Rainbow Dash had chosen to stick Twilight in this cell, in particular, her baiting the alicorn into fishing out any information she could from the old librarian. Either her own interrogation hadn't gone smoothly, or she no longer had time to question him thanks to the new problems that Twilight had unwittingly thrown onto her plate. Regardless of the reason, it was undeniable that Twilight was supposed to talk with him in some form or fashion, even though she wasn't in the mood to do so right now. Especially with Spike being in the vicinity with nowhere for him to escape the conversation. What was she even supposed to ask of him? Sure, she had questions, but what would inspire him to even tell her in the first place? The only thing Twilight had was the superior power granted to her as an alicorn, but threats of violence weren't exactly a viable option for her, she had already gotten herself into enough trouble. She didn't need any additional charges thrust upon her by attacking the elderly. Even if he was technically a dangerous criminal, an assault was still an assault.
"Twilight?" Spike whispered up at her, an act that instantly snuffed out the flames of rage within the alicorn and drawing her attention down to the dragon. "Who's that guy?"
"That's... Knox Onwud, Spike," She answered calmly enough, her eyes moving back and forth between her son and her foe. "I think I've told you about him once or twice... He's my boss at the library."
"For whatever it's worth at this juncture, you're fired." Knox's interruption was all it took to rekindle Twilight's aggressive aura, something that he seemed to revel in beneath his bitter expression. "You were a great librarian, but getting me arrested was a step too far."
"That's really him? That's the bad guy?" Much to Twilight's dismay, Spike stepped closer to the wall of bars to get a better look at the sarosian in question. While Twilight had kept him in the dark about many things, Spike at least knew of the stallion in question's involvement in these affairs of hers. He sat there for a short while with a narrow-eyed look curiosity before finally speaking. "I figured he'd be... intimidating..."
Knox huffed loudly in response, his bitter persona giving way for a brief moment for that shortlived chuckle to take place. "And I was expecting the first dragon I met to be impressive."
That jab at Spike was where Twilight drew the line. Her horn flashed to life, gently yet firmly whisking Spike away from the barred door towards the back of the cell, with a small yelp of surprise was all the protest Twilight got from him. The alicorn then moved to stand between her son and Onwud, blocking his malicious gaze from reaching her baby, and she looked at him in much the same way she stared down that group of guards earlier today.
"Do. Not. Talk to him." Her words were powerful and commanding, as to be expected of an alicorn. Wings splayed themselves out slowly and majestically to play up her true nature, as well as further obscure Spike from his glare, and hopefully silence Knox before he could say anything truly detrimental. If knowledge of the choir was really as dangerous as Rainbow Dash said it was, then the last thing Twilight needed was for Onwud to endanger Spike with just a few simple words.
And, surprisingly enough, Knox seemed to heed Twilight's words. He fell into silence at the very obvious threat, though his outward demeanor remained unchanged. He continued to sit there in the middle of his cell, staring bitterly into the adjacent room with those sinister eyes of his. From there, Twilight's time in that holding cell was very long and very tiring indeed.
Every single movement of hers and Spike's was caught by Knox's relentless eyes, every sound picked up by his unfaltering ears. Privacy was a luxury that Twilight could not afford with the circumstances that she found herself in right now, and that had been made very clear within the first few moments within the holding cell. He said not a word as Twilight tried her best to ignore him, he simply sat there with this vaguely bitter expression on his face the whole time. He did not seem the slightest bit surprised at the sight of Twilight's wings, nor the unusual dragon accompanying her. Meaning that he either simply didn't care about such trivial things, or he had already known of these truths before this encounter. Twilight sincerely hoped it was the former, as the implications of the later worried her deeply.
So she did the only thing she could do, for now, and that was to simply ignore the stallion as best she could. She sequestered herself and Spike as far back into the cell as they could go, and she implored him to speak as quietly as he possibly could. She made sure to keep herself between the dragon and the bat as much as she could, for both her sake and Spike's. She didn't want him eyeing him the way he was, and she didn't want to have to look at him either. Not right now, at the very least. While she knew that the mess she had gotten herself into was important, she considered Spike's wellbeing and safety to be the much higher priority.
From there Twilight worked to quickly diverge their topic away from that and towards something more prevalent to Spike. Despite being presented with a possible outlet for answers regarding the conspiracy she had immersed herself in, the top priority in her mind was Spike's comfort and well-being. Maybe dragging him with her into a prison cell wasn't the best idea for that, but being with her was the safest place in the world for him right now. And she wanted him to feel as safe and comfortable as he possibly could be right now, so she began asking him about the one positive thing that had happened to him today.
Spike didn't have much to say on the subject of the three fillies who had reached out to him in his time of need, just a short little summary of how they had found him crying in their clubhouse after school and how they agreed to help him out. Based on the story those kids must've left an immensely positive impression on him, he couldn't stop himself from sharing a small grin as he went on and on. When the two of them were accidentally whisked to this place in their hasty escape from that draconic threat, the absolute last thing she had expected was for Spike to find friendship in this little country town. But she couldn't help but feel an immense sense of pride and joy in that fact.
Though Spike's heartwarming tale wasn't enough to keep Twilight from glancing over her shoulder now and again only to see Knox staring at her just the same as he had been since the very beginning. It was unnerving, to say the absolute least, almost intimidating even given the sheer ferocity of his glare. This stallion knew a great many things that made Twilight's skin crawl, things that made him far more dangerous than an elderly sarosian had any right to be. And while he presented no immediate threat to Twilight or Spike at this moment, Twilight couldn't help but feel like he had something planned.
The only time this changed was when they were presented with their dinner for the evening, something that Twilight hadn't even thought about since her marathon around town had begun. There hadn't been a single scrap of food to enter the alicorn's body since breakfast, and she could only imagine that the same was true for Spike. That said, the food in question wasn't the greatest in quality. Buttered wheat toast, a few pieces of fruit, alongside some mashed potatoes and gravy. It wasn't anything special, and it certainly wasn't gourmet. But it wasn't awful or low quality by any means, it was just a bit bland. It served its purpose in filling their bellies, and that's all food needed to do at the end of the day. Spike didn't seem to mind his lackluster rations and wolfed them down with vigor, a testament to how hungry he truly was. Knox also took the time to savor his meal, providing Twilight with the first respite from his unyielding gaze for the first time since this all started. But once dinner was said and done, the routine was resumed right where it had begun.
Hours passed in much the same way after the mediocre meal, Twilight doing all she could to keep herself and Spike distracted from the relentless and silent gaze of Knox Onwud. And after some time, the light of the setting sun continued to dwindle more and more as the minutes ticked by, soon to be replaced only by the ominous light of the moon. At some point, Twilight didn't need to convince Spike to crawl into the cell's sorry excuse for a bed and to get some sleep considering the day he went through. The wall-mounted board holding up the barely comfortable mattress and the cheap stark white blanket was enough to get Spike to drift off into dreams smoothly enough, prompting a sigh of relief from Twilight. The sorry excuse for a sleeping space was hardly big enough for one pony, let alone a pony and a dragon, so Twilight would have to sleep on the floor if she didn't want to disturb Spike. And while that wasn't exactly the best idea for her wellbeing, it was a more than worthy sacrifice for his.
Without Spike to keep her mind occupied, Twilight's attention was free to fall upon the spiteful looking sarosian on the other side of the hallway. In the darkness of the night, the elderly stallion was now nothing but an ominous silhouette sitting in the center of his cell. But his nocturnal eyes were able to catch what little light that reached him in just the right way to set them ablaze with this sinister yellow glow, allowing the alicorn to clearly see his menacing glare. He didn't move, he didn't blink, and Twilight honestly wasn't sure if he was even breathing right now. If he hadn't moved earlier to eat his dinner, or when Twilight had first been placed into this holding cell, she could have sworn that this was some sort of hyper-realistic statue of her former employer. But she knew for a fact that this was a stallion of flesh and blood, a stallion that looked as if he wanted to make Twilight bleed with how furious he was staring at her. And at this point, Twilight couldn't take it anymore.
"Are you going to say something? Or are you going to spend all night mean-mugging me?"
"Oh, may I speak now?" Knox almost smirked, but his resentment was enough to overpower the impulse. He growled for a moment before going on, seemingly ignoring Twilight's question. "Well, you just couldn't help getting in our way, could you?"
Twilight furrowed her brow at the elderly pony, she honestly didn't know what she had been expecting of him. Of course, he knew about her accidental involvement in this whole mess of his. It only stood to reason that the Choir would warn him of her meddling about in these affairs, or maybe he was just projecting onto her out of spite for almost reading that book of his. Or it could be any number of other reasons that Twilight couldn't come up with at the moment, there was no way of telling for sure without asking him for herself. And seeing as how Dash had all but explicitly told her to ask questions, she didn't see any reason to hold back.
"That depends on the 'our' you're talking about?"
"Don't play dumb with me, child, I know of your transgressions upon their sacred realm," the sarosian hissed back at her in Searăn, "Accident or not, such a heretical act must not go unpunished. I hope you realize this."
A moment or two was spent parsing the threat, her Searăn was just a tad bit rusty after all and that wasn't helped by how quickly Knox was speaking. But it didn't take her very long to remember the basics and deliver a prompt reply. "So I am going to guess you have been speaking with them?"
"Why would they not? I have long since proven myself as one of their most faithful clerics. If a threat to their glorious encore arrises, it is my duty—nay, my privilege to snuff it out."
Definitely a cult, Twilight confirmed silently upon mentally translating his rebuttal. While the Choir itself might not have been a cult as she had initially guessed, they weren't without their worshipers. The alicorn chose to take this as a moral victory before turning her thoughts back to more relevant matters.
"Well, you are welcome to try. I do not think you will get very far on that front, however." She loosely stretched out one wing to remind Knox of what he was dealing with here.
"Do not think yourself above me just because you are an alicorn, child," Knox stood from his seated position and slowly walked up towards the door and into the light. He framed his now moonlit face between two of the metal bars, continuing to glare at Twilight like a beast waiting to pounce upon his prey. "After your little dream walking stunts, you should know very well that your kind aren't as eternal as your Queen would have the world believe."
One of Twilight's forehooves found its way up to her throat with that remark, her mind filled with the now hazy visage of Celestia the First's assassination through the eyes of the Mare in the Moon. A memory that did not belong in her head, and one of the few that she could still recall even after waking up from that dream. A turning point in Equestrian History that she had known about since the earliest history classes in her education, now given a gruesome new context in her head. The shudder that ran down her spine only heightened by Knox's comment about her dream walking escapades, an unnecessary confirmation that he knew far more than Twilight would have preferred. That revelation entirely overshadowed the fact that Knox had blatantly just threatened to end her life if she continued on this path, as the elderly sarosian was not in any way a physical threat to Twilight's wellbeing.
"And even then, a mere alicorn couldn't hope to stand against the Choir's might," Knox almost chuckled as he continued with his monologue, "Honestly, I can't even fathom why you'd even bother. There's no point in even trying."
Out of all the things that Knox had said thus far, this was what got underneath Twilight's skin the most, much to her surprise. She found herself legitimately insulted by the implication that all of her work thus far had been completely pointless. The exact reason why that, of all things, riled her up so much was beyond her, but Knox's insult had once again stoked the flames of anger within her.
"Because you're clearly up to no good, and I've seen more than enough to prove that," she didn't bother answering in Searăn as she stood and spun around, "I don't know exactly what it is you're doing, but I know you've been going a very long way to keep it a secret. And I've done everything in my power to stop it. It's over."
"Twilight, my dear, if you think that my imprisonment here is anything more than a minor inconvenience, then you are very mistaken. As I'm sure you've deduced by now, I am but a humble pawn in a much larger game. A pawn that has already played his part spectacularly. The other disciples shall finish the preparations in my stead, just as preordained." Knox chuckled again as his head tilted up towards the ceiling, a smile of absolute joy coming across his face as he basked in the pale moonlight. "Soon, all our hard work shall bear fruit. And nobody will be able to stop their glorious encore."
"Encore?" Twilight had noticed when Knox used that word before, but she didn't pay much mind to it at first. But if he was going to keep bringing it up, then Twilight felt all but obligated to ask about it. All things considered, she had a few ideas, but she wasn't going to learn anything useful if she didn't keep him talking. "Mind telling me what that's all about?"
If Knox had known Twilight was here to interrogate him, then it was at this moment that he had chosen to show either his ego or his naivety. His yellow eyes glistened in the moonlight as he adjusted his gaze, filled with sinister knowledge and almost giddy intent. It was the kind of look that someone gives when asked to explain their favorite book—or in Knox's case, his religion—and he seemed to take great pride in being given an excuse to educate someone on the matter. His smile expanded far more than it already had this evening. Twilight didn't think that his grin could get any larger, but she was proven wrong very promptly at this moment.
"It grows ever closer with each setting of the sun. The Choir of Moonlight shall return to our world and their song shall finally be heard," Knox explained with absolute delight, his eyes wide and almost lifeless as if the very core of his being had been hollowed out and replaced with something else entirely. Something eerie and malicious, yet gracious and gentle. Onwud looked less like himself than Twilight had ever seen, more akin to a lifeless puppet rather than the stallion Twilight had known for the better part of a month.
It wasn't even the same stallion who she had seen brief glimpses of in his short bursts of unbridled wrath. No, whoever this was was someone entirely different. A vacant facsimile of the very stallion Twilight had just been speaking with, or at least that's what it felt like to her. To an outsider looking in, it almost looked like the sarosian was being driven by a will that was not his own. It was disturbing, to say the absolute least.
"I have already heard it myself, Twilight. I have heard the Choir sing. And it is marvelous. And soon, the whole world shall hear them sing." Knox continued in a soothing whisper loud enough to be heard from Twilight's cell, the sarosian standing and prompting himself against the bars with his forehooves. His breathing became slow and heavy as his excitement continued to escalate, making him look all the more fanatical than he already was. Even still, his voice remained at a reasonable level. He wasn't screaming, but he was certainly excited. "It's too late for you to stop them now, Twilight. It has already been put into motion. We've won, my colleagues shall finish what I started, and the world shall finally unite in true harmony. And all shall, at last, ascend beyond these mere mortal husks. Is that not what you desire most, Twilight Sparkle? Freedom from the mortality of those around you?! Freedom from your impossible choice?!"
Knox's haggard and frantic breathing became the only sound to be heard within the hallway of holding cells, the fanatic sarosian staring forward with feverish intent as if he were waiting for her to answer his question. His words hadn't been lost on the alicorn across the way from him, quite the opposite actually, as Twilight found herself taking his words to heart. The idea that Knox—and by extension, the Choir—knew of her deepest anxieties was something that shouldn't have surprised her. And to an extent, it didn't, but that didn't take away from the fact that it was still upsetting. Mostly due to the Choir's supposed end goal being the supposed "ascension" of all life in this world, something that did match a desire she didn't know she had until just now. Albeit in a very twisted way.
She'd have been lying if she said that she never once thought about the concept of those around her living forever. It was an idea that had crossed her mind once or twice some years ago, but that was as far as it ever went. Twilight never once intended on actually going through with those momentary fantasies, she couldn't bring herself to inflict the curse of eternal life upon those she loved. And even then, it would only cause more problems than it solved. The only way for it to work without hurting anyone would be to make everyone immortal—but that would have its consequences, as she figured out a long while ago. A world where everyone lived forever would grow excruciatingly dull, and would eventually drive everyone insane.
Even still, Twilight found herself disgusted by the idea that Knox believed that her interests aligned with that of the Choir. While it was true that the idea of watching the people around her fade away wasn't a pleasant one in her head, she had long since come to grips with the reality of her situation. Today's outburst had been a moment of weakness prompted by unfortunately timed circumstances—the long-overdue release of emotions that had been bottled up for almost seven-years too many. And while she may not have liked it, she did on some level accept the nature of her situation.
Besides, whatever this "ascension" was that the Choir had promised surely wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Twilight knew from experience that the Choir was malicious, ruthless, and distrustful. Whatever it had promised Knox and his allies likely wasn't the truth at all. Or maybe it was exactly what it had promised, and was merely twisting their minds to make them act on their behalf. Knox's display just now would certainly serve as solid evidence of this, as he looked to have lost himself in that moment. Which was equally distressing for obvious reasons.
"Well, then I guess I have more work to do." Twilight scoffed back, an attempt to hide the uneasiness she held within. She didn't know what else to say at that point, really. What could she even say to that little display of his? For now, she just decided to brush it off, play it like she wasn't distressed by his speech. And hopefully, convince him to spill something more substantial in the process.
Knox took his time in taking in her words, his breathing eased up as he lowered himself from the bars. He took on a far more neutral expression as he did, almost looking lost or confused for a few seconds after his little outburst. Maybe he hadn't even been aware of it himself, another thought that served to unsettle Twilight's mind. Twilight made sure to use this time to calm herself down as well, backing up from the metaphorical edge that Knox had pushed her to just now. Nothing was going to get done if she lost herself in her own emotions again, as she had learned the hard way earlier today. It wasn't until he made a full recovery that he once again spoke.
"You're welcome to try, but there's not much else you can accomplish. Everything you've stumbled upon thus far has been sheer dumb luck, my associates are poised to complete the preparation without me, and it's very clear that I was the only lead that you and the authorities had. You won't find me the traitorous sort, I won't throw away all we have worked for."
He kept bringing up his associates, his fellow "disciples" who were still out and about scheming and planning. It was almost as if he was trying to taunt Twilight with that fact, like a child teasing another about a secret he wouldn't tell. It was oddly juvenile, and oddly stupid considering his predicament. And after a moment of consideration, Twilight found herself wondering why he was bragging like this to her, of all people. After all, on the day that Twilight had gotten involved in this mess, Knox had practically painted a bullseye on at least one of his compatriots. Something that Twilight saw fit to make use of.
"You're putting a lot of faith in Starlight Glimmer, aren't you?" There wasn't a moment's hesitation before Twilight stepped forward and rested her head between two of the iron bars. It wasn't comfortable, but it gave her a better view of her opponent. "You weren't exactly subtle about her being involved."
The reaction Knox gave wasn't one Twilight had been expecting. He didn't try to deflect her claim at all if that option even came to mind. Instead, he looked at her this expression of legitimate confusion. As if the words that just came out of Twilight's mouth were utter nonsense.
"I'm sorry... that's not a name I'm familiar with..." He shook his head slowly, slowly looking from point to point in front of him as if searching for some answer. If it was an act, it was a very convincing one. If she didn't know any better, Twilight would think he actually didn't know her. "I've spent decades in this town, and I've never once met anybody by that name. Disciple or not."
"Oh don't give me that, you know exactly who I'm talking about. She's the one who tipped me off to this whole thing in the first place back. I already know—"
"I'm not playing dumb, Twilight, I honestly have no idea who you're—" he stopped dead in his tracks, and his confusion was quickly swallowed up by a look of absolute terror. The kind of terror that comes with a sudden realization that something horrible had just transpired. "Oh no... No. NO! That traitorous little whore!!"
That terror was soon replaced by sweltering rage, Knox lunging forward at the bars like a feral animal, screaming and hissing as he uselessly flailed his forelimbs outside the bars in an attempt to break free. He pushed with tremendous force as he tried to squeeze his head out between two of the bars in his frenzied wrath, his sudden outburst enough to make Twilight recoil in shock and wake Spike from his slumber. The sheer anger he was exuding reminded Twilight greatly of how she had been acting earlier today, much to her shame. It was like watching a rabid animal trying to break out of its cage.
"YOU HAVE TO LET ME OUT, RIGHT NOW!" Knox screamed louder then someone should reasonably be able to, his voice screechy and cracking from the strain on his vocal cords. "IF I DON'T STOP HER NOW, SHE'LL RUIN EVERYTHING! I HAVE TO WARN THEM! I HAVE TO WARN—" And then his outburst stopped, just as suddenly as he had started. Ever so slowly his forehooves returned to the cement floor as he backed away from the bars, eyes wide and trembling for some unknown reason. No longer angry, now he looked to be deeply worried, and Twilight couldn't help but get the feeling that she had seen this reaction before.
"Tell Twilight... that we need to talk... she'll know where to find me..." Knox's next words came slow and shaky, almost like he was being forced to say them. It wasn't long after that Knox shut his eyes and shook his head as if trying to shake off some nasty headache, before glancing back to Twilight with a puzzled look about him. "I'm sorry... what were we talking about?"
And it was this that tipped Twilight off and told her why this was so familiar to her, her mind raced back to the day this had all started for her, specifically that little meet-and-greet she had with Applejack and Rarity. How Applejack had shown off the memory-alteration magic that Knox had been using to hide his sinister machinations, how Rarity had suddenly remembered everything before once again having her recollections confiscated by the hastily made charm. And while what she had just witnessed wasn't an exact carbon copy of what she had witnessed that evening, the similarities were far too numerous to ignore.
"She wiped herself from his mind..." Twilight murmured under her breath, the gears in her mind spinning at full speed with this new information. The biggest inconsistency between Rarity's example and what she had just witnessed in Knox was the words they murmured during the process. Where Rarity had mumbled some chant used to praise the Choir, Knox's was very clearly a set of instructions for him. A set of instructions that, perplexingly enough, involved her. She didn't need to be told when this had happened, though. It was simple enough to assume that it had happened at some point last night when Starlight had almost conveniently whisked Knox away from the library. "And she... used that spell to leave a message for me?"
"Twilight, what's going on?!" Spike finally mustered up the courage to speak out, dazed and confused after being so rudely roused from his peaceful sleep.
"It's fine, it's fine!" Twilight reacted quickly, walking over to the bed and looked Spike in the eyes. "Everything's fine, just go back to sleep."
"But what was with all the shouting?!"
"Was I shouting just now?" Knox asked with one hundred percent sincerity as a hoof gently rubbed the side his head. "And why does my head hurt?" When Twilight's attention was brought back to the sarosian, she took a short moment to collect her thoughts on the subject before going on. Whatever that had conditioned Knox to say when the memory magic triggered, it had to be important. It sounded important at the very least, and Twilight felt the need to make sure she got the message loud and clear. Triggering the reaction again wouldn't be too hard.
"We were... talking about that friend of yours, Starlight Glimmer," Twilight explained slowly and cautiously, making sure that he heard her name again. Getting him to think about her at all seemed to be the trigger. "You know, Starlight Glimmer, one of your little disciples. She was at the library the other day, she had your book about the Choir. Don't know why you checked it out to her publicly like that, but it did help me learn that her name was Starlight Glimmer when she showed me her library card. She was even with you last night, helping you out with... whatever you're trying to do."
As before there was a short time where Knox denied knowing that enigmatic mare at all, but it didn't take much more pressing on Twilight's part to trigger the reaction again. Knox's reaction was almost identical to the one he had given before, surprise transforming into anger that quickly led him to lash out in a desperate attempt to get free of his cell. The ferocity behind his outrage wasn't as startling the second time around, but the tantrum went utterly ignored by Twilight when Spike began one of his own.
"Twilight, she was in the house!" Spike blurted out, barley audible with Knox's thrashing about. Instantly, Twilight's attention was off of the sarosian and locked solely on her son. "I-I-I was gonna tell you, I was supposed to tell you, b-b-but she was there!"
"Wait, Spike! Slow down and breathe!" Twilight pleaded, rushing over to the bed and cupping his face in a forehoof. "What do you mean she was in the house? When was she in the house?!"
He was hyperventilating at this point, a distorted way of completing Twilight's request for him to breathe. "It w-was the other night! I woke up, she was there, you were asleep! She was talking like she... like she..." Spike's words stuttered off into a slow stop, at about the same time that Knox's outburst on the other side of the hallway was beginning to cease as well. A red flag, if ever there was one.
"Like she what?!" Twilight was more assertive then worried at this point. The knowledge that there had been an intruder in her home was disturbing enough on its own, only made worse by the fact that the intruder had intercepted Spike and did something to him to make him forget about it altogether. It was a worrying thought, only made worse when the spell that had been cast upon the sarosian finally kicked in, and he and Spike began to speak at the same time.
"Tell Twilight... that we need to talk... she'll know where to find me..."
"Starlight Glimmer... I was here to help... even if I didn't do a very good job..."
While Knox's forced words brought some kind of clarity to Twilight, Spike's brought only fear and outrage. In an instant, all of her thoughts were once again centered around her son and his wellbeing. Right now, she didn't care about Knox or the Choir or anything else at all. No, instead all of her energy had been diverted to a desire to learn who Starlight Glimmer was and why she had supposedly intruded upon her and Spike's domicile. It didn't help that there was clearly much more to Spike's story then he was able to tell before that mare's magic took effect over his mind. And while it was certainly possible for her to simply trigger the reaction again and hope he would give her the correct information, she didn't know enough about this particular spell to know if it was safe or not. For all she knew, the actual memory-correction itself could have been excruciatingly painful, and the last thing she wanted was to hurt Spike for the sake of her own curiosity.
"Oi! What's all the racket down here about, Knox?!" All of Knox's screaming had finally drawn the attention of the lone nightguard watching the long hallway of holding cells, finally prompting him to storm down to the end of the hall to see what was going on. Funnily enough, it was the very same stallion that Twilight had made an unwilling victim of teleportation earlier today. Small world.
"What racket?" Knox was the first one to ask, just as confused as the guard was. "I was merely discussing... something... with Twilight?" Holding a hoof up to his head, he looked at the floor with a perplexed look of dread. "I think my previous night of drinking has caught up to me again... I should get some rest." He said nothing else as he made his way towards the bed in his cell, crawling under the covers and slowly going to sleep.
The guard kept addressing him to no avail, eventually growing too irritated to continue his pursuit. In a huff, he turned to walk back to his post to finish his shift, but not before giving a stern look to Twilight. The silent stare was enough to tell the alicorn that there was still some animosity between the two of them, but that wasn't something that Twilight cared about right now. Her mind was ablaze with the answers she had been given and the new questions she was asking, all of it pooling in her brain like a toxic swamp of anxiety and rage. But there wasn't exactly much else she could do from within this cage. And for as much as she wanted answers, she did need to stay put for the time being for Spike's sake. Besides, getting some much-needed sleep wouldn't exactly be a bad thing either.
Twilight spent a great deal of time in easing Spike out of his agitated state and back to sleep, the time doing wonders for Twilight's own anxiety as well. It wasn't long before Spike drifted back to sleep, with his caretaker not too far behind him on that front. And after the day Twilight had been through, the cold embrace of the concrete floor was a welcoming enough cushion for her to rest soundly upon.
Damn, Twilight missed her chance to get a message to RD, I hope that doesn't come back to bite her.
Good grief, the hairs on the back of my neck were raising during Twilight's & Knox conversation, wasn't expecting Starlight to leave a message like that on the old bat but on Spike as well from back then, very clever!
Can't wait to see what happens next, thanks for the creepy yet good chapter!
10475557
Dash wouldn't drop Twilight in that cell without plans to come back to her. I highly that this was her one chance to pass on a message.
Evil Overlord Rule #7: When I’ve captured my adversary and he says, “Look, before you kill me, will you at least tell me what this is all about?” I’ll say, “No,” and shoot him. On second thought, I’ll shoot him and then say, “No.”
Oh, Fucking Hell. Mind Magic is a pain in the ass for all Protagonists...
10475788
When you're dealing with nightmares, expect them to mess with your head. It's what they're best at.
Presumably. The thought has occurred to me that the matter of Knox might not be as straightforward as that, and in turn bring into question the full depth of his believed guilt...but that's just a thought that's occurred to me.
For now, with all the evidence Twilight's been given, and I can totally understand her reluctance to have much of anything to do with the guy right now.
Hey, what did you expect her to do, dude? Whatever's going on with you, it all does look rather suspect. I'd have gone to the authorities and brought it to the light too.
Though doing that wasn't even really Twilight's idea but rather Rainbow and her superiors, so probably smarter to blame them for that more.
Hopefully, Starlight's not involved in that theoretical plan, because at the moment I'm not sure she'd actually pull through in the manner Knox would prefer.
Hopefully this one won't leave behind any Past Sins that then have to be dealt with.
Ooooooh dear. I mean, I had sort of figured he'd somehow be aware of that at this point considering, but still...doesn't exactly help things.
Preemptive strikes are always an option though, Twilight. Probably won't get said Choir off your case (though I do wonder if everything with them truly is precisely as Knox claims/thinks), but it would remove the immediate threat for now.
Well...we happen to know spoilers that would suggest otherwise.
Besides, this Choir kinda reminds me of a loosely similar supernatural threat of seemingly similar power, and was said there wasn't much point trying to fight them either. Story's cast tried anyway though, and hey, look at that! They managed to beat them anyway!
Well...if it helps...I think that's why Starlight's been hanging around as of late. Either way, we'll just have to wait and see who has the actual last laugh.
Hmm. There's a thought...might explain Knox's almost duel personalities at least...
Well that's not totally true...something more substantial than dumb luck has been nudging Twilight into this direction--it's been too reliable for mere dumb luck to be able to explain it away.
Originally I had written here this whole bit suggesting that she should play the card that she knows Starlight's involved, but then saw she's going to do precisely that anyway, so...
Still...let's see if he's going to be so eager to keep quiet now.
Oh, okay then. Hey, Starlight? Yeah, you keep right on doing whatever it is that you're doing, gal. No, no, I'm sure Knox won't mind at all, won't you, Mr. Knox Onwud?
Also. Laughing last now. Us, not you. So...ha.
OOOOOOooooo, that clever girl! I know what she did!
10455082
If it helps, "Ponyville" hadn't been Faust's first choice either, but Hasbro overruled. So we can thank bureaucracy for that.
VERY definitely enjoyed the work that went into this chapter. The exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up were all well done in all the right places. Loved Spike's reaction to "officially" meeting Knox, as well as Twi's Mama Bear reaction to what Knox said to Spike. And, yeah, I can see where Twi VERY briefly considered finding a way to make her family immortal, but decided against it after realizing the long-term downsides would far outweigh the short term rewards. And Knox's reaction to the mentions of Starlight -whoa mama. And, of course, it makes sense that those dream images would go messing with Twilight's head.
Very certainly looking forward to more of this.
10475934
Same with Princess Celesta. Faust wanted a Queen, but Big Papa Hasbro said no Queens.
10454789
Humansville, Missouri.
Instill think Starlight is working for Future Twilight using time travel to leave the hints Twilight will use/used to defeat Nightmare Moon. and clearly Knox underestimates Twilight along with the rest of his fellow cultists. And we'll Luna is going to be effecting her alter ego's decisions and perceptions so Nightmare leaves her guard down and makes slightly less than ideal choices. Some Villains deep down want to lose, because deep down they know ruleling the world would suck*, they have no goal beyond "take over the world", or they don't really want to be the villain.
*I remember a episode of the 80/90's Ninja Turtles show, when the vist a world where they never existed and Shredder rules the world, and he is miserable because ruleling the world is hard and involves lots of paperwork. Being a supervillain let's you wreck stuff, build superweapons that would be useless after you won and you only have to be in charge of what you want to be. Rule the world you have to be in charge of the tedious, frustrating and boreing things too.
10476278
I think so too
10476072
To be fair, after reading the link, it was named after a person whose last name was literally Human (James Human), not the species human. (Although, seeing as how James Human was an African American Indian born in the 1800's, perhaps the name was given to denote/reaffirm species, since many people *cough*idiots*cough* thought of Indians and African Americans to be separate sub-species to whites...and suddenly the town's name takes a disturbing turn, yeesh. ) And the mayor is a man, not a woman. Still though, I bet it gets alotta jokes 'bout that name. ('Specially going to Humansville High School )
And that begs the question of whether one of Ponyville's first settlers was named something-Pony or Pony-something (like Pony Joe) and they just named the town after them and that's how it became Ponyville?
I loved the passion in this chapter; the passion between the rivalry of Twilight and Knox, and passion in Twilight to protect Spike, and even Knox's passion for his ideological (and idiotic) beliefs. Excellent writing!
Well, I went back and re-read what you have published so far.
I really, really love this alternative universe.
I don't love what you've done with twilight.
One would think, with her upbringing, schooling, and years of traveling, she'd have a better head on her shoulders. Even if she was a basket case. This twilight seems incompetent and barely uses magic. She flips between being antagonistic or going with the flow. I don't feel like she pushes the story forward and just gets caught up what others are doing once she stumbles upon a situation.
The one time you had her investigate something, she passed out and had to be put to sleep by starlight.
Why is she so helpless?
The others of the mane six are good. Especially dash. Giving her previous history and in world authority in this was genius. You fell flat with pinkie. That big reveal was supposed to have more emotional and mental health impact.
Instead we went on a mother/son Chase. Good use of granny Smith tho. I enjoyed that.
The diary log segments are nice, but the sense of time in this story is super jumbled.
The big numbers I recall are she's 21, been on a walkabout for three years, been in town for three / four days, and celestia and her mom will be coming to town in two weeks.
But it doesn't feel like time is progressing.
As for plot:
How many separate plot points are running concurrently?
It may be presumptuous of me but:
The overall defeat nightmare moon (choir?)
Dream walk ability (possible next dream defener mantle?)
The Timberwolves issue
The everfree dying?
Twilight running from whatever issue she has with celestia (And why would celestia just let an alicorn run wild around the world?)
Finding another long dragon for Spike
Making friends (has everyone been brought into play?)
You said that there an "A" and "B" plot.
What did twilight accepting Spike as her son and him finally being brought to the open do for the story, her abilities, and does he play a part other than being a sounding board for twilight? The Spike at the beginning of this story talked to her more and in a more familiar way.
Are you finally going to address what's with your starlight glimmer in the next chapter? How she conveniently reorients the story?
Think you mean "latter" here.
"smirked"
So ol' Knox has a couple spells running through his head it seems. Wonder if this will lead to an early demise.
10478070
First off, thank you for the honest criticism/complaints. I can't improve without people pointing out my flaws, so I thank you for being civil with it. But, I feel I should at least try and justify some of my thought processes.
Twilight's characteristics and the big reveal from a few chapters ago won't be one of them. Plain and simple, I've screwed up there. Big time. And most of that has to do with me trying to keep Twilight's secret a secret from the audience for far too long, as I wanted the twist to be "big." But that would have only worked if I was a better writer. Same with how convoluted I've made time here. Again, I'm not infallible.
As for the A Plot and B Plot. Nightmare Moon, the Timberwolves/Everfree, the Dreamwalking, that's all meant to be part of the A-plot since that's all connected. Everything regarding Twilight chasing down Spike was B-plot. The Long Dragon thing was intended as part of the explanation as to why they're out on the road. It was just a piece of the backstory. If I didn't make it clear, then that's my fault.
Then there's Starlight Glimmer. Not next chapter, but soon.
TLDR: I'm not the greatest writer, I can fully admit that, and I've made a lot of dumb mistakes with this story and how I've presented it. But those are mistakes I've made and I have to live with them. Thank you for the honest criticism.
10478510
I haven't given up on you or this story.
So I hope you don't either.
If you do a reboot or a overhaul, I'd still read it.
You have these golden moments and scenes. It's why I stuck around. And I'll still read what you pump out.
10478512
Well thank you, that means quite a bit, actually. Let's what I have planned for the future will be an improvement.
10454789
And then there’s the City of Townsville!
where is chap 43????
10549739
I haven't uploaded it yet.
Soon, though.
10549796
dude, its been a week, what happened to chapter 43?????
10563055
Patience is a virtue.
Soon.
Man you sure do love that memory spell don't ya? :P
10580350
I do indeed like it.
I love the split personality shit man. Where he’s part hapless geezer part evil mastermind