Chapter 64: All Fun and Games
The trickle of humans into Circus's domain didn't stop at four, and it didn't stick to the same age group.
Sure, the next two humans – a messy black-maned male who chose the alias Azathoth and a frizzy brown-maned female who chose the alias Belle – were ages "11" and "12" respectively (Azathoth went from "11" to "12" not two days after his registration), fitting them in the same age group as Darth Vader and Light and Mogi and Matt.
Azathoth and Belle were among the ranks of the few Circus contenders with quotation marks around their age. Not everypony knows the reason behind those marks; indeed, most don't. There's a general tendency for unusually powerful players to have quoted ages, but beyond that, those not in the know simply assume Circus is messing with everyequus by presenting a random, unsolvable mystery. Those who were in the know, however, were shocked and worried about how young the two humans must have been when they first started twisting Time, and if it had been a responsible decision by the magical authorities involved.
After those two, three adult humans joined next. They looked like Light, Mogi, and Matt, and called themselves 'Lustre', 'Don', and 'Twitch' respectively. They were incredibly skilled, both in magic and in guerilla tactics – a particularly good strategy in Circus games – and while they didn't quite engage in 'teaming', they would often avoid fighting each other unless they were the last players in the match, which happened in more than one of their placement games.
A human young enough to be placed below Vader and the rest also joined; they called themselves Enigma, wore a blank mask and body suit, and used a voice charm that prevented anyone from knowing if they were male or female. They weren't especially powerful, as most humans weren't when compared to unicorns. They stuck to a few basic spells, their aim and spellcasting speed weren't great, and they were physically clumsy, often tripping over their own two feet. But they had good 'game sense', compensating for their shortcomings with good positioning, timing, tactical retreats, and surprise attacks.
The fans and analysts who examined newcomers and evaluated abilities (often for the sake of betting, though you weren't allowed to bet real bits in Circus, only tickets) widely agreed on a few things.
1) Enigma is a natural, if weak.
2) Belle the opposite: strong, but not a natural, having no game sense.
3) Azathoth has strength and game sense both.
4) The trio of adult human stallions, while powerful and skilled, lack creativity and flexibility, often falling back on the same tactics and spells. They probably have martial training, which often translates to high-tier contenders, but not top tier contenders, at least in the free-for-all category. Analysts agreed that they'd probably do better in group battles.
But the thing on everyequus's mind was the missing villain. It had been about a week since the last appearance of Darth Vader, and some were beginning to wonder if Vader had outright quit.
The truth was that Vader was simply biding his time. And colluding with Circus. Normally, collusion and manipulation isn't Chaotic at all. But collusion can be chaotic if you're trying to arrange for the outcome to be unpredictable.
It also helps that Vader's goal is to lose despite going all out. The purpose of the collusion is to wait until just the right people and ponies queue for the same match – a collection of minds and talents that might be able to beat him, even if he uses a certain overpowered spell he recently learned…
"Petrificus Totalus," said Darth Vader at his first victim, since elimination was not his goal. And then, with a gesture and a force of will, "Imperio."
Slave #1 acquired.
In order to first cast the Imperius, according to his mentor, you must know that you know better. You are right, you are smart, you know what's best, and the lesser being you are commanding is nothing without your instruction.
This wasn't a particularly difficult mindset for Harry to enter. Nor was it difficult for two combatants to overcome one.
"Petrificus Totalus. Imperio."
Slave #2 acquired.
Harry has no idea what might be capable of stopping this strategy now that the snowball has started rolling downhill, but he's looking forward to the results of Circus's patience.
Although that isn't to say he won't have his own ace up his sleeve…
"Imperio," he said once he encountered his future self at the location he'd envisioned in advance. His future self had given a valiant, if faked effort to escape. "You are my sleeper agent…" he said for the sake of the watching audience. "When it is time, you are my mastermind. Understand?"
"Yessss, my servant," Azathoth hissed in a dry, cracking voice.
"Before then, you show no hints."
"Got it," said Azathoth in a normal, conversational tone.
The two humans went their separate ways, one cloaked in a black cowl and cape, the other wearing jeans and a t-shirt.
"Vader's fighting this one," said 'Light' from behind his shield, staring down a powerful pony contender. "Check the scoreboard if you don't believe me."
There was a pause.
"Truce until he's beat?"
"Truce," agreed 'Madam Chaos'.
"All hail the Emperor," chanted twenty ponies, one Griffon, and four Changelings, all marching in lockstep.
In the beginning, most ponies had stayed and fought.
"Good," said Darth Vader from upon the back of his sturdiest Earth Pony slave. "Again."
As the army grew, ponies hesitated, and that hesitation led to their assimilation.
"All hail the Emperor," they chanted, still marching toward the current geographical centre of the battlefield.
At this point, contestants were fleeing the army on sight, and it would have been a waste of effort to give chase; not to mention strategically unwise.
"Again."
It was wisest to control the central position of the battlefield so that others are forced towards him.
"All hail the Emperor."
The watching audience was horrified whenever Circus focused the monitors on Vader's antics.
"My master will be pleased," said 'Darth Vader'.
But all was not lost. Hope arose whenever Circus focused the monitors on the growing resistance, which seemed to be led by the human 'Light' and the pony 'Madam Chaos'. They had powerful allies – including four other humans in their age group, a dragon, and five unicorns, three of whom were skilled players currently 'slumming it'.
The dragon was their ace in the hole, but would it be enough?
The advantage of dragon biology, as Twilight Sparkle carefully discovered and detailed many years ago, is that magic cannot easily pass through their scales, thus protecting them from most arcane offenses, like a constantly-active Protego.
The disadvantage of dragon biology is also that magic cannot easily pass through their scales, thus preventing them from using unicorn helmets and wands. The safest way dragons could render their opponents unconscious in the past was a chokehold.
Only after the nature of dragon fire was slowly unraveled (by the joint efforts of the Mistress of Magic, the Master Fool, Spike, and Discord) did dragons begin to contend in these kinds of battles.
Dragon breath was how dragons manifested magic outside their bodies. From mailbox magic (an embarrassing start to the field of study) to slumber smoke (the first truly useful magical breath that dragons actively wanted to learn), dragon magic has come a long way.
With a dragon on their side – one capable of flight, no less – 'Light' and 'Madam Chaos' sought to sedate the slave army in one fell swoop. The plan was to provide a distraction, during which the dragon 'Arson' would fly overhead and smoke the entire army. The problem is that the amount of smoke required would deplete 'Arson' for a while.
Dragon magic is not directly limited by strength or quantity of magic, but by the fuel inside a dragon's body. Their inner furnaces take time and magic and calories to create ready-to-burn fuel. If Arson tries to hit the whole army in one blast of slumber smoke, he'll deplete all of his reserves and be effectively magic-less until his body makes more fuel.
The most difficult part of these games, from a dragon's perspective, is stamina. Not physical, but magical (although some particularly gluttonous dragons have trouble on the physical side too; the very biggest dragons tend not to participate at all, as they're just magnets for massed spellfire).
Dragons will win a one-on-one fight almost every time if they have a full tank of fire, but if they run out, the only way to beat opponents is to basically tackle them and blow tiny amounts of slumber-smoke directly into their enemy's nostrils, and at that point it's much easier to hit the dragon point-blank in the eye/open mouth with a stunner, or use a wind spell to blow the sleep-smoke back into their own snouts.
In short, Arson's blanketing smoke attack will be one-and-done.
"You're putting all your eggs in one basket," observed Azathoth. "What's the backup plan?"
"The primary plan is to mass finite-stun Vader," said Light. "So long as he loses, we win. Arson is just going to make that plan easier."
"And how do we distract Vader from Arson so we get that chance?" asked Azathoth. "He's always at the center of the arena and his minions; we'll get stunned if we force an engagement."
"I won't get stunned," said 'Madam Chaos', her blue shield glowing brightly. "I'll do the distraction. I've got something to say to him anyway."
The plan was decent, Azathoth had to admit. It would be a shame if Vader saw it coming due to a traitor in their midst.
"I'll go with you," said Azathoth, his own shield glowing. "I've got something to say to Vader too. Oh, and Light, can you stick around after the match?"
Light nodded easily, and then the distraction party went on their way.
She. Was. Furious.
She stared helplessly at the traitor who helped to break her shield from behind, her body frozen in petrification, though not unconsciousness. Why had he he done that?!
"All hail the Emperor," chanted the mind-controlled ponies and Changelings and Griffon.
"Again," said Vader. "The full version this time."
"All hail Emperor Azathoth," chanted the army of enslaved equinoids.
'Vader' knelt before the black-haired boy.
WHAT?!
Vader spoke without lifting his head. "A third of the contestants are ours, my Lord."
"Well done, my servant," said the boy in a dry, cracking, evil voice. "Now conquer the rest. Be warned, they intend to use a dragon to smoke us out. Have your slaves cast bubble-head charms, or air buck away if they cannot."
"Yes, my lord. You will all do as he says."
"Yes, Lord Vader," chorused the slaves.
Vader, still kneeling, asked, "Do we go for the kill, my lord, or the empire?"
"Must you ask pointless questions?" hissed the evil boy.
"No, my lord." Vader turned to face his army. "You will petrify, not stun. If you cannot petrify, you will conjure ropes. If you cannot conjure ropes, you will wrench their helmets from their heads by any means necessary. By hoof, even. You will not stun them out of the match. My lord will have his empire."
"Yes, Lord Vader," chorused the slaves.
"And now," said Azathoth, turning to face Madam Chaos. "You think you are the only ones who can team, little pony? We will show you the true power of unity." He gestured his head. "Vader."
Vader strode forward, leveled his wand, dropped his blue shield- but why? His own spells should be able to- and then he said, "Imperio."
Oh. That's why. A spell that can't pass through a Protego, even your own.
She felt the foreign presence enter her mind, try to occupy the place in her brain that houses her parents, try to subvert them with itself, try to become her god.
With a force of individualism, she firmly, utterly rejected the influence. This wasn't her first time doing it, and it was easier than she was used to. And thankfully, the caster isn't reliably informed when the spell fails. It's one of the biggest risks of using it. She even knew how to look like it worked, letting her eyes become admiring, her expression brightening and slacking like a starry-eyed foal.
"Finite Incantatum." Her body unlocked. "Join the others," ordered Vader, turning his back on her and bringing his wand to the starting position of the spell that would re-establish his shield.
She fired a stunner at him before he did, then air-bucked as hard as she could. If the evil boy hadn't had his own shields already raised, she would have stunned them both, but she had to settle for one.
She smiled upon hearing the evil boy's furious shout as she soared away.
Harry stroked his Vader outfit fondly. "You will be missed," he said dearly. Then he put it into Circus's magical storage for what would probably be the last time.
Now to go back in time, play the part of the traitor, and see what the heck had gotten him. Was it a long-range snipe? Or had that pony resisted his Imperius? Only one way to find out.
A perfectly cast Imperius does not wear off when its caster is stunned. Since Harry is nowhere near that level yet, it's a good thing 'Vader' designated an authority figure in advance of his own fainting right in front of them. The mind slaves have to believe their god is still with them.
"You were told to do as I say," said Azathoth to the army, now that his past self was out of the game.
"Yes, Emperor Azathoth!" chorused the crowd of equines wearing the invisible collars of trust in his authority.
"You will follow me to victory."
"Yes, Emperor Azathoth!"
"Quarter has become pointless," said Azathoth. "We shoot to kill. Our enemies shall be slaughtered."
"Yes, Emperor Azathoth!"
(Members of the audience, unbeknownst to the players, began demanding that the match be ended prematurely.)
"Metaphorically," Azathoth added. "Not literally, of course. We shall stun our way to victory!"
"Yes, Emperor Azathoth!"
("See?" Circus asked from next to the screen being watched by the widest audience. "He's a good boy. The match goes on!")
A chime indicated that the geographical center of the map had shifted, and the arena was about to shrink again.
"Check the map and march!"
Thankfully, Belle knew the spell to undo the Imperius. The light side could rest easy in the certain knowledge that Madam Chaos hadn't been turned traitor, and that her tale was true.
The plan to use Arson to carpet-sleep-smoke the army was put on hold now that the enemy was expecting it, because Madam Chaos had reported that Azathoth had been a traitor for Vader.
Light and Belle had both rolled their eyes and said, "Of course".
When she mentioned that the boy might be the mastermind, since Vader was kneeling and all…
"Hm…" said Light. He shared a glance with Belle, and they both nodded.
"Ignore it," said Belle.
"He's just trying to confuse us," Light added. "On that note, I just had a good idea. Miss Belle, do you think you can cast that spell mid-battle, or is it too magic-intensive?"
"Not especially," she shook her head. "It just takes precision."
Light nodded. "Then how about this for a plan…"
The final confrontation was… messy.
Especially because Light's plan was effective. De-Imperiusing ponies had the nigh-magical result of immediately manifesting traitors within the enemy ranks. Who'd have thought?
Those traitors weren't on the up-and-up, so their actions couldn't be coordinated. At best they would stun a different mind-captured minion before going down themselves.
It started as an eleven-on-twenty-six. With the help of a well-timed dragon, it eventually dwindled to a one-on-one. Belle had sacrificed herself to free the last slave, who had dropped shields to fire a stunner at her. When the slave was free, Azathoth was left with no choice but to shoot the last of his own army, leaving just him and Madam Chaos as the final combatants.
"So," said Madam Chaos. "Do you know you're evil, or do you lie to yourself?"
The boy grinned evilly. "You'll have to watch the logs to figure that one out, my little pony."
Learning from Light and Belle's example, she ignored the confusing statement and launched her offensive.
They fought.
They vied.
They schemed and tried to outmaneuver, but neither could win that way.
So in the end, it came down to a direct, one-on-one duel.
And since Azathoth did not have free reign to use all of the magical dueling tricks in his arsenal, preferring to keep many of his capabilities private, especially his elder wand...
"Winner, winner, lettuce dinner!" said the screens to the enraptured audience.
There was some applause, but it was not widespread. The audience had been hoping against hope that Madam Chaos would realize Azathoth was a victim too; the third victim to Vader's mind-control spell. They had been hoping that, somehow, the poor human would be freed in the end.
Circus reassured the watchers multiple times that the mind-control spell would end the moment a pony was teleported from the battlefield, and that there were no lasting effects, but still. If anypony was smart enough to guess what Vader did to the boy, it should have been Madam Chaos. But she didn't.
It was a bitter-sweet conclusion. A happy ending tinged with sadness at the imperfection of the world.
As sometimes happened after significant battles, or after enough complaints, Prince Excelsior made a personal appearance in the aftermath to give an appeasing afterword.
"I would like everyone to please remember that it is just a game," he said. "And in fact, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Vader for harmlessly introducing wizard mind-control to Equestria. I always encourage combatants to exploit their advantages, and I certainly do not slight Vader for exploiting that one. Members of the reserves, I ask you to implement battle precepts eight and ten. I hope the Imperius strategy is adopted as widely as possible. Humans have access to a number of mind-affecting magics that it would be wise for us to learn how to defend against. The more ponies who learn self-defense, the better." He stepped aside to reveal the most recent battle's victor. "Would you like to explain how it's done, Madam?"
The filly smiled widely at the stallion, then stepped forward. This wasn't her first time giving a speech like this. Just view yourself as a vessel for the good news, don't be self-conscious, and most importantly…
"Be yourself," she said to the watchers and listeners inside Circus, and across the nation of Equestria, and beyond. "I mean really, truly, deeply be yourself. Be yourself and nopony else. Mind control works by worming its way into your brain and pretending to be whatever you admire most – your parents, your idol, your favorite princess, your teachers. If you don't have true self-esteem, or at least self-knowledge, you just become a slave to somepony else. That's true in real life too, so of course it's true in magic. As the old saying goes, everypony knows mind control doesn't work on ponies who think. Just be yourself as much as possible, know who you are, know who you love, and you'll know that the thing that's invading your mind isn't really trustworthy." She paused. "There's a fancy term for this… but I don't remember…"
"Would you like me to explain that term?" asked the prince standing next to her.
"Yes, please."
"The technical term," said Prince Excelsior, "for the adults out there, is individuation. To be free of compulsion from others within your own mind. To be your own individual gives you resistance to orders from authority, magically reinforced or otherwise. You don't even need magic of your own to resist the Imperius, as a certain cow once proved to me in private. You only need to have a truly independent mind." He looked to Madam Chaos. "Go on."
Madam Chaos smiled at him, then looked back out in the direction that would have her looking at ponies through the screens. "If you reach individuation, you can beat mind control. Resisting authority pressure is way more difficult than resisting peer pressure, by the way, so… don't be upset if you fall victim to the spell for a while. Just keep at it, and if you get stuck, ask for help from somepony who can resist."
"Or from a good talk therapist," said Prince Excelsior.
"Or that," said Madam Chaos. She finished with a wing salute and a friendly smile. "For Chaos!"
"For Chaos!" cheered her cult following, including Circus.
Circus loves self-sufficiency and self-empowerment. Powerful, conflicting free wills are literally the most chaotic things in the universe. Without that, everything is mathematically regular and predictable.
Circus always does everything they can to support a pony's ability to carry out their free will, which often means helping ponies grow to be more than they currently are. Circus especially encourages mental growth; intelligent beings trying to out-scheme each other is, again, one of the most Chaotic things there is.
"So," said Draco in a room that was not the loser's lobby. It was a bit more private. He sat across from Harry, who stared back at him. "Who's Vader?"
Harry shrugged. "I can neither confirm nor deny that I know their identity," he said easily. "You did see what I asked Circus to show to the loser lobby, right?"
When confronted by all the angry faces and righteous indignation about his betrayal, Harry had loudly and vocally said, "Circus, can you show what happened in the early stage of the fight?"
Seeing Vader Imperius Azathoth and give those instructions had caused the ponies to immediately flip to sympathy. Many apologized for jumping to conclusions, which Harry denied again and said that he could neither confirm nor deny that he had actually been placed under the Imperius. From the outside, there's no 100% guaranteed way to tell that someone is under the Imperius.
This just confused everyone.
"So… you're a real traitor after all?" asked a pony who was quicker on the uptake.
Harry had grinned, and said that when it comes to humans, ponies should always keep the potential for lies and deceit and betrayal in mind. Around 2% of all humans are unrepentant sociopaths/psychopaths – drastically higher than the essentially nonexistent percentage among Equestrians – so caution is the lesson of the day. Don't always trust what people say. Trust most what they do and how they behave.
"The most relevant predictor for future behavior," Madam Chaos had said into the confused silence, "is relevant past behavior."
"Exactly," Harry had said.
That was when a pony pointed out that Harry did betray them, and right now he's behaving in an evasive manner.
Harry had then cast his bright Patronus Charm – it still shocked Draco to see it – and said that this is one of the few actions that can't be easily faked.
Even if he had done the betrayal of his own free will, his Patronus said, you guys teamed first, so you don't get to complain that Vader did his own kind of teaming, and you don't get to complain that Vader tried to subvert your efforts. Besides, in a free-for-all game with only one winner, betrayal is kind of the whole point of the game, if anypony is stupid or clever enough to team up in the first place.
Draco had heard all that, but he still wanted to know who Vader really was, and said so.
Harry shrugged. "You'll probably be able to figure it out for yourself soon enough. That's why we're here, actually."
Draco frowned. "We're here so I can figure out Vader's identity?"
"No. Sorry, let me rephrase. We're here to start your tutoring, and once your lessons get far enough, then you'll be able to figure out who Vader is."
"Start my tutoring? Didn't we start a long time ago?"
"Your magical tutoring," Harry emphasized. "Professor Monroe tutored me, now I'm tutoring you."
Draco blinked. "Oh," he said, trying not to sound disappointed. He thought Monroe would be tutoring him personally. "Alright."
"I know what you're thinking," said Harry, "but Professor Monroe thinks this will be faster than if he tutors you directly. There was a pony study about efficient learning practices, and a surprising aspect was on resource efficiency. In one experiment, a teacher gave every age group the same assignment. The teacher only taught the oldest students how to do the assignment. The younger students begged the older students to be taught, and the older students who had the knack for it taught the younger students, and somehow that model resulted in better and more effective knowledge retention than anything other than one-on-one tutoring for every single student. It's a good candidate model for how children learned in the ancestral environment, but obviously that's just a guess. Anyway, Professor Monroe is doing it this way to help me solidify my own knowledge and to help you learn as fast as possible. And yes, because he's busy. He's been too busy for my lessons lately."
"Knowing all that doesn't change that I feel led on."
Harry shrugged. "Maybe you'll change your mind after your first lesson."
"Which is?"
"Wandless magic, of course."
Draco thought Harry had been joking.
Harry hadn't been joking.
Draco was to begin practicing ambidextrous wandwork, and he was to speak with Harry again when he had a good guess for how this related to wandless magic. And he was to use… a Time Turner… to find the time to practice…
"Harry…" said Draco when he understood what a Time Turner was, which itself took a while, "are you Darth Vader?"
Harry grinned widely. "Until you become an Occlumens, I can neither confirm nor deny that I like to have harmless fun, my apprentice. How close are you to putting up a block?"
Draco stated that he'd probably be able to put up a block before school started up again.
"Excellent," said Harry with an evil grin. "Let's look forward to that day. And prepare yourself for a number of shocks."
Draco resigned himself to the inevitable and got to work. Ambidextrous casting, he quickly discovered, is weird.
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Nice chapter. I bet if any of the government wizards knew about Harry's curses, they'd probably still try and put him in prison
"Belle" is clearly Hermione. "Light" ... Draco.
Draco is using the idea of "Light" from the play we saw in HP:MoR / Death Note.
"Mogi", and "Matt"? ... Oh, Draco's minions.
And this means that "Lustre", "Don", and "Twitch" are the fathers.
"Enigma" ... Luna?
So. Harry is
Silver Wing (pegasus),
Silver Light (Unicorn),
Prince Horizon (alicorn)
Mithril / Event Horizon (Pegasus in game)
Vader (human),
Azathoth (human)
Didn't we find out that some dark lords change identities as easily as you might change a pair of pants? Does this mean that Riddle's desire for Harry to become the next Dark Lord is becoming true -- complete with a rapid switch of who, as easily as imagining being a new person?
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I’m guessing Neville is Enigma, but I guess we’ll find out at some point.
At least Harry didnt resort to the Candygram this time.
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You know, I wasn't thinking in those express terms. It was Mad Eye Moody who said that the third kind of Dark Wizard is the one that can change names as easily as other people change clothes. Harry in the original HPMoR was...
The Boy-Who-Lived
General Chaos
Salazar Slytherin's Ghost
Bellatrix's Dark Lord
An innocent, fun-loving kid
A scientific researcher
And probably something else I'm forgetting.
Professor Quirrell pointed out that anyone Harry can imagine, he can become, and that was said before Moody mentioned the thing about some Dark Lords having endless identities. In my own story... I think the title of this chapter is the best explanation for Harry's perspective. Even if all of his identities from this story were revealed to the general public, the "worst" thing he did was destroy Azkaban. He's keeping secrets for general reasons of caution, privacy, and convenience, not because his life would be over if all the pony stuff came out.
i am really liking the Draco he is just so much more likable.
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Just writing him as I remember him. Yudkowsky was the one who originally wrote Draco this way in HPMoR.
Just reread this chapter, again, it really is a lot of fun.
I love how Harry calls Draco his apprentice, while saying he can't confirm or deny he's Vader. Bit too big a hint Harry lol. But you can tell he's having fun.
Many things are
Usually one has one shield arm [strength]
And one sword arm [precision]
Exchanged the most learn how difficult it truly is two try being relatively equally skilled in both sides.