Chapter 7: Weak
Infinite woke in the mindscape and immediately roared in rage.
"Wow. She got you good," said Scootaloo. "I don't know if Discord planned it, but he was a really good distraction."
Infinite growled. "That clown... The next time I'm out, he's dead."
"Next time? There won't be a next time," said Scootaloo with a glare. "You almost killed Fluttershy. You can be sure that I won't let you out anytime soon."
Infinite glared back at her and chuckled. "With how weak you are, I don't think so. Sooner or later, you will encounter Eggman again, and he will be in command of a mecha even more powerful than this Death Egg Robot. You put up a good fight against it, but you still lost. So how do you think you will fare against his next creation?"
Scootaloo looked down. "Then I will become better at fighting and make sure that what happened today never happens again." She stared back at Infinite. "And I'm sure that Rainbow Dash and the others will do the same. Now that they know what they're up against, they will get better. And together, we will defeat Eggman, no matter what he will send at us."
Infinite huffed. "And what if you can't?"
"Well..."
"That's the thing, chicken. You can work together to try to defeat Eggman, but all it would take is a robot too powerful, and it would kill you. And you know why? Because they are limited. They don't have this unlimited power that we possess. So if you continue to count on them to be at your side to win, you will just go down with them. You can't count on them. You can count only on you and your power. If you don't want what happened today to happen again, then become THE strongest, most powerful being in the world. With the power of the Phantom Ruby, you can, unlike them."
Scootaloo frowned. "Speak... Speaking from experience?"
Infinite turned his back to her. "Teamwork isn't always the solution. That's all you need to know." He took a big breath. "However... While I was in control, something was wrong..."
"What?"
"I didn't have control of all the powers of the ruby. It felt like I only had half of them."
"Uuh... Maybe because it wasn't really your body, but mine?" wondered the filly.
Infinite shook his head. "This can't be that. Since we are both merged to the ruby, your body is also my body. Remember, I can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel everything you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. Same for you when I was in control. We are two minds in one body." Infinite closed his eyes to think, only to open them suddenly. "Wait... Two minds... We merged to the ruby, but..."
Infinite turned back toward Scootaloo and approached her. Scared, the filly backed, but Infinite teleported in front of her. "I won't hurt you. I just want to test something." At this, he placed his hand on her forehead.
Scootaloo immediately had flashes.
She landed on a pillar at the entrance of a base, spotting a bipedal black hedgehog partially hidden behind another pillar.
"You. You destroyed my squad. I'll show you why they call me the ultimate mercenary!" she, no, he yelled at the hedgehog in rage. "Take THIS!"
He charged at the black hedgehog, only for him to disappear in a blue flash, to his surprise. "What?"
Suddenly, the hedgehog appeared behind him and kicked him to the sky, then teleported above him to smash his back to the ground. With another teleportation, the hedgehog appeared again as he crashed and kicked him toward a wall beside a pillar. Groaning in pain, he tried to get up, but couldn't, rubbing his head.
"Worthless," Said the hedgehog. "Don't show your pathetic face around me ever again." With this, the hedgehog teleported away.
This hedgehog... He outclassed him totally. He could do nothing. He was so... strong... That's when he saw his hands. "I... I'm shaking... Me?! Me... Afraid...?! Urgh. Pathetic?! Me... he's calling ME weak?!" At this point, as he was getting up, hate and anger totally invaded him. How dare he?! "No! I am not weak! I'm... I'm not. I'm not weak! I AM NOT WEAK!" he shouted with a roar.
In a flash, he was now looking through the eyes of a familiar mask, a Phantom Ruby different from the normal one on his torso. He was on a long-suspended roadway inside a huge futuristic fortress that was actually the field of a terrible battle. Above him, two armadas, one made of red ships with symbols based on Eggman's head, the other made of blue and white ships, were firing at each other. Debris and projectiles were raining around him, but he didn't care. What he cared about right now was the blue hedgehog he was actually fighting. The hedgehog was running after him at high speeds as he was rapidly floating backward, and hundreds of red cubes were following the hedgehog, threatening to engulf him if he stopped too long. Following the hedgehog was a red cat in some uniform and armed with some weird weapon.
To them, he said, "Friends are nothing but a fleeting illusion. You can count on nobody but yourself!"
To this, the hedgehog replied, "Your mask can't hide how sad and lonely you are! That Phantom Ruby virtual reality of yours is the real illusion!"
And then, in another flash, the hedgehog and the cat were now charging at him at unbelievable speed. Together, they jumped in the air and spun toward him, sending him flying, defeated.
Slowly, he got up. "Impossible. I cannot be defeated."
"Wrong, loser!" replied the hedgehog. "The things that can't be defeated are heart, soul, and the bonds of friendship. Three things you and your counterfeit cronies lack!"
He punched the ground in rage, only to feel himself being pulled. "No, wait! I can still fight!" he shouted as his body was disappearing.
To no avail. He was absorbed inside the Phantom Ruby, and the next thing he knew, he was trapped inside it.
It suddenly ended, Infinite removing his hand from her forehead while using the other to rub his head. "This is what I thought... Ugh... What a pathetic life you have... No wonder you're so weak." He shook his head. "Whatever. It turns out we aren't fully merged."
"What do you mean?" asked Scootaloo while she processed what she saw.
"We are merged with the ruby, but because we are both in it, it divides the ruby between you and me. We each have access to only 50% of its power. You control the first half, I control the other half."
"I see... But what was that with the flashes? Were they your memories?"
"Of course... If I saw yours, you saw mines... Yes, those were my memories, whatever you saw. And if it happened, it is because the instant I touched you, we started merging. This is what I meant by 'we aren't fully merged', we are one with the ruby, but our minds are still separated. The full merging would be one mind in one body." He growled. "It means that, unless we decide to merge ourselves to become one new being, we won't have access to the full power of the ruby." He stared at Scootaloo. "And I refuse to lose myself."
"Well, I certainly don't want to become partially you either! You are still a mass murderer that helped a mad scientist to conquer the world and led it to a global war! And you also almost killed Fluttershy, and would have if Discord hadn't come!" yelled the filly.
"At least something we agree upon. But now, tell me, what memories did you see?"
"Uh... The 'I'm not weak' part and the part where you got your butt kicked by a blue hedgehog and a red cat."
Infinite groaned. "Of all my memories..."
"And you know what?" continued the filly. "You are right. But you are also wrong." She lowered her ears, looking down in sadness. "Your whole squad was killed despite facing a single being because he was too strong." She looked back at him. "But then, despite your immense power, you lost because a hedgehog and a cat worked together to defeat you." She sighed. "In the end, I suppose it just depends, but at least, I know that when facing a stronger enemy, the best thing to do is to ally yourself with someone to better your chances. Yes, it means that we're weak, but at least, it works. You saw it first hoof... Uh... First hand."
Scootaloo then walked away. "So I am not ashamed to say that I will not hesitate to call for help if I need it, but I will also continue to train to become better myself. And not just at using the Phantom Ruby's powers, but also at fighting, to be ready next time I encounter Eggman."
Infinite stared at the filly walking away, then huffed, turning around.
Scootaloo awakened and felt her body aching everywhere.
Right, her body was engulfed from head to feet in a giant magical beam fired by Celestia. Frankly, it was a miracle that her body hadn't been turned to ashes. Maybe she had the Phantom Ruby to thank for this.
She quickly discovered that she was in a hospital bed with a monitor regularly beeping in the rhythm of her heartbeat. Her body, which was still Infinite's but without the mask, probably removed, was almost entirely covered in bandages. Her head was actually the only place not covered, thanks to the mask having protected it.
And sitting on chairs beside her bed were Twilight and Rainbow Dash, the first one reading a book and the last one sleeping. Twilight must have heard her moving, because she looked up from her book. However, while Twilight looked at her, the mare seemed tied between a happy expression and an unsure expression.
"Uh... Scootaloo?" she asked hesitantly.
Scootaloo understood why. "Yes, it's me, don't worry." At this, she used the Phantom Ruby to take back her normal appearance, and also to heal herself.
Twilight sighed in relief. "Oh, thank Celestia... Discord really did it."
Scootaloo looked at her in confusion.
"Discord gave you back the control of your body, or this... Infinite would still have been the one in control," she explained.
Right. I should be the one in control. Curse that clown!
Scootaloo facehoofed. "Of course! I forgot about that!"
"And about that, you owe us an explanation."
Scootaloo flinched. Something else she hadn't thought... What will happen to her, now? What will they do? Will they put her in an asylum? In a dungeon? Or will they assign a platoon to watch her over for the rest of her life? No more freedom and/or privacy!
What was she thinking? With the power of the Phantom Ruby, she could just go out of whatever will happen with just a thought. But then, her life would be over... She would become a fugitive. She wouldn't be able to see her friends again. Rainbow Dash... Her family... her dream...
Twilight looked at the filly with worry when she saw her starting to shake and to cry. She put down her book and approached. Placing a hoof on her chin, she said gently, "Hey... Stop crying. It will be alright."
Scootaloo shook her head. "No, it won't. Now that you know about Infinite... I... I..." She looked at Twilight with pleading, scared, teary eyes. "What will happen to me?"
With an unsure expression, Twilight thought a few seconds before she answered. "I'm... not sure... We will have to talk about this with Celestia and Luna." She then hugged Scootaloo.
Scootaloo accepted the hug, still crying, and remained like this until they both heard Rainbow Dash wake up. After a yawn, she rubbed her eyes and said, "What's all that noise...?" That's when she saw Twilight hugging a crying Scootaloo, and almost flew to the bed. "Scootaloo! Why're you crying? What's wrong? If this is about what happened, I'm not mad! Well, maybe a little because it would have been nice to know about that psycho who seems to now live in your head. But it's okay! It's not that bad!"
Twilight sighed. "She fears what we will do now that we know about Infinite."
At this, Rainbow looked at Twilight with suspicion. "And what will you do?"
"Like I said to Scootaloo. We will have to talk about this with Celestia and Luna." Twilight releases Scootaloo. "Now that she's awake, I should go search them. Wait for me here." And at this, she teleported, leaving Rainbow alone with the filly.
They didn't talk for a few seconds, not sure what to say, until Rainbow just hugged Scootaloo while asking, "What do you think they will do?"
"Send me to a dungeon, or an asylum, or send guards to watch me every time."
"Asylum, I don't think so, you aren't crazy. Dungeon, heck no! Even if you have a psycho in your head, and he almost killed Fluttershy, you aren't a criminal! As for the guards..." She frowned. "This is the only thing I'm not sure about. But I know it would be wrong. It would be barely better than being sent in a dungeon. And you can be sure that I will do everything to avoid this."
Then, after a few more seconds of silence, she asked, "So... How did this happen?"
Understanding what Rainbow was asking, Scootaloo answered, "It turns out I am not the first one to merge with the Phantom Ruby."
“Talk about rotten luck…”
"Yeah... But the good news is that as long as I don't give him the control of my body, he can't take control of it."
"Really? That's good news! But then, how did he take control back then?"
"You... You were all about to be killed by Eggman... I knew Infinite would also try to kill you, but I thought that you would have better chances against him than against that giant robot. At least, Infinite was vulnerable."
"Yeah, but he could teleport and manipulate reality. That's not better."
"You're right, but I didn't know what else to do..." She sighed. "When I saw Infinite destroy that robot so easily, I understood that I was really not ready. I understand how to use the ruby's powers, but contrary to Infinite, I don't know yet how to use them that well. My mind is still not used to the full extent of possibilities I have. And also, I don't know how to fight. Infinite was apparently a mercenary back then, and a very skilled one, but me, I'm just a filly whose only skill is to do stunts with a scooter..."
Rainbow sighed too. "You aren't the only one to feel this way. I mean, I don't know if you saw, but I was flying when SLAP! And I was out! We were all getting our butts kicked back then, even the princesses and Shining Armor. None of us were ready. None of us thought that Eggman could build a robot that strong." She smiled at Scootaloo. "But as we say, we learn from our errors. The next time will be a different story. We will make sure that you aren't forced to call Infinite for help ever again."
"Well said, Miss Dash," suddenly said somepony.
Surprised, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash turned around to see that Rainbow's friends, Celestia, Luna, and Shining Armor were now in the room. The one who talked was Luna.
"Uuh... How long have you been here?" asked the cyan mare.
"We came about the time you said, to repeat your words, 'we were all getting our butts kicked'," answered Luna before she frowned. "And I still can't believe that we were really getting our butts kicked. We were three alicorns plus the captain of the Royal Guard plus dozens of experienced royal guards against a single robot, for mother's sake! Yes, we were holding back to avoid collapsing the city on our heads, but still!"
"It sure is frustrating," said Celestia. "But like Miss Dash said, we now know better. We will be better prepared." She cleared her throat. "But we aren't here to talk about this." She looked at Scootaloo. "We are here to talk about this Infinite who may be a danger to everypony."
Scootaloo lowered her ears.
"Is it true that he came out only because you were forced to call him for help?"
The filly nodded. "Yeah. He can't take control of my body as long as I don't let him. I only let him out because... Well..."
"We were all getting our butts kicked," repeated Luna.
"Yeah... At worst, all he can do while trapped is make me lose focus by trying to forcefully taking over, but he can never take over this way. Unless I get too mentally weakened, I suppose..."
"Then why not warn us?" asked Applejack.
"I was scared. I thought that if you knew about Infinite..."
"We would try to control you to make sure that Infinite never gets out for the safety of everypony else," finished Celestia with a sigh. "Who is Infinite?" she then asked.
"Uh?"
"What do you know about him?" asked the princess.
"Oh. Well, not much. I only know that he is from another world, an alternate version of the world Eggman comes from, because he was an ally of an alternate version of Eggman and helped him conquer his world with the Phantom Ruby. At first, he was apparently a mercenary that Eggman probably recruited with his squad, only for his squad to be exterminated by some black hedgehog very strong. Infinite was easily defeated too. I don't know what happened after, but I suppose that was when Eggman gave him the power of the Phantom Ruby to make him stronger, so he could have his revenge and help him by the same occasion. The next thing I'm sure is that Infinite was defeated, and his mind was absorbed and trapped inside the ruby."
"I see... Anything more?" asked Celestia.
Scootaloo smirked. "A good way to resume Infinite is... He's a lonely bully who hates being called weak and wants to see the world burn and everyone suffer. Probably got a heck of a bad childhood.”
You. Did not. Just say that.
"I did and don't say I'm wrong. Even the blue hedgehog could see it. You are acting all edgy and strong and all, but deep down, behind this mask and those illusions, you're just a poor guy who needs a hug. Too bad I can't give you one, and not just because you would behead me."
I. Don't. Need. A hug!
"Yes, you need one, but you don't know it. You're too proud for that. But come on. The moment Twilight and Rainbow Dash hugged me, didn't it feel good?"
...
"Hello?"
...
"Still in there?"
...
"Okay, give me the silent treatment. It just proves to me that I'm right." Scootaloo looked back at the ponies in the room. "So yeah. It's Infinite," she said with a shrug. "I wouldn't be surprised to learn he's jealous of everyone having a better life than him."
I'M NOT JEALOUS!
"Okay, I just got confirmation. He's jealous."
She punched herself on the muzzle.
"Ow! Hey! Did you just take control of my hoof to punch me?! I thought you couldn't!"
Seems like when I'm determined enough, I can temporarily take control of a part of your body. I REALLY wanted to punch you right now.
"Great... Okay, note to self, avoid making Infinite too angry," said Scootaloo while rubbing her muzzle.
"Well... This happened..." said Twilight.
"I like comic duos, but it's less fun when we only hear one of the two," said Pinkie.
"Anyway," said Scootaloo. "Infinite is also a mass murderer. When he helped his Eggman conquer the world, he killed a lot. He told me that when Eggman's capital was attacked by a resistance army, he almost killed all of them in a few minutes. But he's also a kinda nice teacher. I had to trick him, but once he started talking about how the Phantom Ruby's powers worked, he told me everything. And every now and then, he helps me in his own weird way. Like he says how weak I am, but at the same time, he gives me advice or encourages me, again in his own weird way. I think he likes teaching his way. Probably helps him feel stronger. Oh, yeah, and he absolutely hated when Rarity made me try her dresses."
"I can guess," said Rarity with a giggle.
"That's all I know about Infinite," finished the filly.
"So, to resume, he's a very dangerous individual who would not hesitate to use the power of the Phantom Ruby to kill and destroy just to make himself feel better about his loneliness and to satisfy his strong inferiority complex," said Celestia. "That's quite the villain... I don't know if I should be disgusted or if I should pity him."
"Why not both?" asked Luna.
"I DON'T NEED YOUR PITY!" suddenly yelled Scootaloo before she put her hooves on her mouth in shock. "That wasn't me..." I'm starting to wonder if Infinite touching me isn't the cause... He did say that it caused us to start to merge.
Celestia started thinking. What should she do? Infinite was clearly a danger, and even if Scootaloo said that he couldn't take control by himself unless maybe if she's mentally weakened, the risk still existed. Scootaloo clearly needed to be watched over. But she could see that the filly was scared. And Rainbow Dash was giving her the death stare. If she didn't want to have the Element of Loyalty on her back, she had to watch out what she said.
"How can you assure me that Infinite will not come out again to kill everypony?" she asked.
Scootaloo frowned. "I will become stronger. I will train to fight and to better use my powers. If I can avoid a repeat of what happened, then I won't need to let Infinite take control anymore."
"This is not enough. It could still happen. Eggman, with Tirek at his side, will become more dangerous as time passes," said Celestia. She then smiled. "But I know of a way to make sure that Infinite wouldn't be a threat anymore without having you being watched over."
"Really? What?" asked Scootaloo.
"Try to reform him."
"What?"
What?
"If you can convince him to give up his hate and to not try to kill anymore, then we wouldn't need to be careful of you."
Scootaloo frowned again. "Easier said than done. This guy is more stubborn than Applejack. I already told him that it's okay to ask for help when fighting a stronger enemy, but it was like talking to a brick wall."
"Then it may take a while... But I'm sure that he can be convinced. Until then, I charge Twilight and her friends to keep an eye on you." She looked at Twilight. "Is it alright for you?"
"Of course!" replied the lavender mare. "We won't mind! Right, girls?"
The five other mares all agreed, especially Rainbow.
"What do you think, Scootaloo?" asked Celestia.
"If it's by them, then I suppose that I don't mind."
Celestia nodded. "And you said you wanted to train to fight." She turned to Shining Armor. "Then you could train her."
Shining Armor smiled and nodded. "Don't expect me to go easy on her."
"I don't expect less. You are the captain, you know how to best train ponies." She then turned to Rainbow. "And I suppose that I can count on you to help her become better in the air."
“You bet!” shouted the pegasus, to Scootaloo's joy. “I will be her Spitfire!”
"Then it's settled. I will leave you to discuss the details. Now, is there anything you want to know, Scootaloo?"
"Uh... Yeah. What happened after I was knocked out?"
"Not much. All of Eggman's robots in Manehattan are destroyed, and we have taken control of his factory. We are planning to convert it to our own usage. Sadly, we don't know where Eggman and Tirek are now, so this isn't the end. But I charged Discord to find them. If Tirek absorbs magic from somepony, he will feel it immediately. Hopefully, he will be able to capture them. We also have started to rebuild Manehattan, and we are studying Eggman's technology to upgrade our own again. The number of robots in our army should multiply in the following days, and they will be of better quality."
Scootaloo nodded. "That's good!" But then she frowned. "But I fear this won't be enough... You see, while I was sleeping, me and Infinite discovered that if we touch each other in the mindscape we share, then we start merging. The touching only lasted a few seconds, so nothing bad happened, but I saw some of his memories. And in one of them..." She used the Phantom Ruby to transport all of them in a virtual version of what she saw when Infinite was fighting the blue hedgehog and the red cat.
They were now standing on a floating platform made of purple cubes, and all around them, to the ponies' amazement, they could see the fortress, and the two armadas battling in the air above them.
Scootaloo pointed at the red airships. "Eggman can build airships like them. Against them, we wouldn't stand a chance. We will need something to counter them..." She pointed at the white and blue airships, "like our own armada. And I'm talking about airships as advanced as them. They would destroy the ones we have in a few seconds. And that's not all! Infinite even told me that Eggman can build a giant space station given enough time!" She brought them back to the hospital chamber. "We will need much more than just robots to fight Eggman if Discord isn't able to stop him." Scootaloo then pointed at herself. "There's another problem. I also discovered that I only control half of the Phantom Ruby. Infinite has the other half. So I won't be able to use the full power of the ruby to fight. Things like materializing a sun to burn an entire army may be out of my reach."
Some ponies gulped at this.
"W-well... I'm sure that Discord will be able to stop them," said Fluttershy. "I-it's Discord... after all..."
"Yeah... This is why I fear that we may have to start building an armada of those advanced airships..." said Luna.
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Ohh, that’s what you meant about my comment that is SOO what the fusion between them looks like.
This was an oddly cute chapter, I loved the interactions between Scootaloo and Inifinite. Poor guy just needs a hug and I hope by the end of this fic he gets it
10101602
It's in moments like these that I tell myself how Infinite was wasted in Sonic Forces.
Sonic cameo! Great chapter, it was great to see how Infinite was talking in that gem in the first place
No, no, it wasn't until a couple lines later that you found another reason not to hug him.
Which they were already doing for other reasons. Celestia has officially reached Peak Delegation.
10127644
Hence the "not just".
10127650
Again, she said that before she found any reason to worry about merging. So it's just the whole "he has made it abundantly clear that he will stab me to death the moment that he won't die too" thing.
10127657
Hum... She discovered about the whole "merging upon contact" stuff before that line.
Together we can show this world what we can do!🎵
If it weren't for the fact that the story's already completed and I edited it, I can see this becoming a running gag.
10413739
Yeah. I'm seeing it too.
10414240
My first thoughts when I read the line was, Stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself.
10101602
Absolutely agreed.
With Sonic Prime Infinite Reminds me how Nine Behaves , But worse.
Am. I bucking. Wrong?