Theater of The Damned

by Chemtest

Admission

I sit back in shock, before more pressing questions come to mind, “So, this was all an illusion. A test. Who are you, what was this a test for?”

He takes a sip of tea, “I’m somepony who you should’ve known your whole life, but didn’t. I had so much to set up, and it is horrible that this is how we meet in the end. My name, at least for the last hundred years, is Zap. Zap Apple. My dear, my granddaughter, that is who I am.”

I sit there for a bit, and digest the information, “Your my grandpa. You’re the one married to Granny. And you were away all my life to set up for this?”

Zap smiles happily, not like the mockery on his mask, “And you were every bit as brilliant as my most optimistic hopes. This, my little Bloom, could be the most important hour of your life.”

I look up right at him, “What? What was his a test for? Why put me through all that?”

He puts some sugar into his tea, “See, I’m one of three ponies in the world with a special set of skills. Your Granny being another one. Martial arts, the most powerful way to fight. We are the only ponies who know our styles. For pegasi, is the Furious Wing style. For earth, is the World Tree style. For unicorns, is the Arcane Weave style. Only one pony know each of those styles, and we need to pass on the legacy. Just as my mentor did to me, I did to you. A series of traps, but the ponies inside all did something wrong. The test was if you tried to save them, and you did. I needed to make sure my student would value all life, even if criminal. Along the way, you have me taunting you to break you, I’m terribly sorry about that by the way. You stayed strong, and stayed to your morals. So, I ask you this. Will you learn Arcane Weave?”

I take a sip of tea, “Didn’t you say that was for unicorns?”

He shrugs, “Ponies with unicorn blood, magical blood. You have a grandpa with strong magic, and now you carry that.”

I nod, “So why me and not Applejack or Big Mac?”

He smiles, “Big Mac doesn’t seem like the type of pony to use martial arts. Jackie has already had her path chosen. She was always to be the Element of Honesty, and it was either that or this. So, granddaughter, will you learn?”

’S̷͇a̯͈y͇̤͉͔͎͖̹ ̬̣͇̣̹͞n͍͇͓̰̞͜o̡̪̟͓̞,̛ͅ ṃ̯͕͍̭y̢ ̧d̞͎͔̭e͕̬̣̪͚a̼̱͚̞̱̼̬r̳͇̮͇̱̳.͓̼̰̙͞ ̛̬̞I̥͇͇̱̜̗̼ ̤̙͚̝̣̥̩c͕̯̗̝̹̝ͅa̧n̳̠̪̠̠̮ ͕o̦̤̠͇f̧̮̯̮̠f̘̣̹̕er͝ ͏̖m̫̤͎̻̳u̥̻͠c͢h̷̩̫̯̖ ̭͕͙̖̪͘m͏̱̤͇̝̬ò͇̪̞̲͙r҉͈̹̤̻͉̰ͅe̵̯̹̦̥̖̬ ͉̘s͔t͉̭̠̬͓͍̀r͍̯̳̣e̡n̞̖͖̗͇ͅg̟̲̱̜t̶̯̟̝̪h ͞t͕̼̤̪͔h̺̺a̶̫̗̺̠̯̯͓n͚̦̹̤͚̠͖͠ ̮̥̻͝t̢ḫ̘̣̞̬͞a̩̪̟̣̲t̵͚ o̹̤̙̮̖͘l͈̪̦̯̟̩d̯͓̻ͅ ̨̗̹̞p͔͔̮̣o̞̙̺̤̞̕n̢͇̙̱͔̬̺̦y̢̮̮̣͎͉.̮̣͕ͅ‘

Zap looks at me once more, and lowers his tea, “Don’t move, not a single muscle.”

The serious tone in his voice makes me obey, “What is happening?”

I can see him raise his hoof, and I hear a bang from behind me. Zap dissapears from his seat, and I can barely hear the sound of hooves behind me, “What the hell are you, and what do you want with my granddaughter?”

I turn around to see what he’s talking too, and see a thing more terrifying than anything I’ve seen in my life. A pony with black voids for eyes. Those black voids spew blood, as does the mouth. More heads sprout from it’s body, all speaking differnt languages, all speaking with the same horrible tone, ”Y̺͍̟̼͇̳͖ou̫̬ ̶̬̼̩̼̞͎̮t̻̹̹̳̗h̭̤̥i̤͓̖̳͔̩̫n͏̱̫͔k̸̳ ̬̰͔͈͖y͇̟̜͉̯̹o̵͙̺̘͍̥͍̺u̪̼̲̼̟ ̵̤͓̜̪t͇͓͠h̯̦̭͇͟r̝͕e̸̱̗̲̜a̦̭t͕̖̣e͚̣͚̼̭͉̺n̨̘̳͇ ̱̻͉͞ͅm͚̰e̱͔̫,̘̥͝ ͚̳̺̯͈͞p̺͙ọ͖͓̺͙̮̰͘n҉̝͎͎͇̹̣ͅỳ͎?̶̯̟͔̱ ̱̻͔̘͙͡I͏̱̞ ̯͓͟c̘̺̣̘͖̻̺o͍̟͖̭̹u̻͚l͏̬͍̮d ̸̞̥̜k̬̭̯̱̟̯͓i̡̱̺̜͚̜l͓̖̳͚͟l͓̮͚͕̹̠ ͉yo͈̤̗̺u̥̲̖͎̳̜ͅ ̻̬̹͕͖͜ͅw̷̲̼̱̼̤̦h̟̣̜̤e̪̘̱̬̻̭re̜̬͓̯̥͝ ͏͚̥͔yo̹̮͕̝̳̤ù̞͙̫͍̖͈ͅ ͕̲̤̳̩̼͈s҉̰̻͍̦̟͓ta̻͖̤̯͈̮̭n҉̤͓̰d̰̳̥̖̗͜.̫̘̻̳̱͙̬”

He simply picks the creature up by the neck, “I may not see as good as I used to, but I can still tell you don’t belong here. You try to corrupt my granddaughter, my Bloom? I will send you back to the void whence you came!”

The thing starts to float away, and I can see the air around it start to disappear. Like, the spot in the room starts to stop existing. The thing is eventually caught in this effect, and screams out in pain before it disappears. Grandpa stands there, watching it fade away. I eventually speak up, “What just happened?”

He finally looks back towards me, “That is the power of the Arcane Weave. There is a mechanism behind it, but you must learn the style before you learn how to do the style. I could wipe out entire armies back in my hayday. This thing throught it could harm you, I won’t allow that. You’ve seen it’s power. Now, do you want to learn it?”

I slowly nod, “Yeah. Yeah! I could be like a superhero! But, uh, how am I gonna learn it?”

He walks towards a wall, and it falls over, showing us in the middle of a forest, “I’m going back home, that’s where we will learn it. Come on, my little Bloom, Jackie is waiting for us.”

Comments

[Zapper Frost]

Hooray for mentally traumatizing tests!

[Chemtest]

10204297
Applejack.