22. Singularity
“Damn it all! I win again!” The black knight’s voice called up at the wall. “I hate it when I win! Why can’t something interesting happen instead?!”
No, that wasn’t the black knight Zest was ‘grabbing’ onto. But something metallic stuck to her. Certainly another robot. The thing was trying to move, but her electricity was pinning it down, sucking its hoof back every time it tried to lift it.
It almost seemed like her injured body wanted to flow right into it, to possess it without her even trying to.
Could she really pull it off in this state?
With a second wind, Zest redirected all of her electricity up onto the robot. Zest tried possessing it. Way more than normal came out, blasting from the ground up its leg.
It was easier like this! Maybe it could pull it off!
Zest sprang into motion, throwing her body and whatever electricity she could control onto the stuck drone.
Zest wrapped the drone in electricity, enough that lighting erupted from it in every direction. Shooting off all her energy like this had to be bad for Zest’s health, but she felt like she was dead either way.
The black knight turned its head, twitching and shaking, towards Zest. She felt its unbridled rage again. She felt its will trying to take over the drone’s programming. But it wasn’t enough this time!
The electricity Zest produced was simply too much. It must have shorted something out! Zest wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but she could feel her electricity filling every component of this droid past what was probably safe.
And then, in a moment of sudden relief, Zest staggered forward!
The feeling of reverse-weightlessness jarred her. Gravity normally didn’t work anymore. But here she was, standing on the ground. Zest looked left and right, realizing she was in full control of this metallic body.
She got one!
“I changed my mind!” The black knight turned on her. “I despise interesting things even more than I hate winning!”
The black knight started screaming a stream of obscenities at Zest. All the nearby drones turned to her and began to attack!
The mechanical body would at least keep her alive a little longer even through the assault.
“No, I’m coming for you next!” Zest ran forward at the black knight.
Various projectiles battered Zest’s temporary metal body, tearing through her armor, and slowly reaching the components beneath. One of her eyes went offline straight away, and one of her hind legs became unstable. She was melting from inside and out. This thing wouldn’t hold out much longer!
And probably neither would Zest. But it didn’t matter.
Maybe she was already dead, but who cared?!
Her front leg blew off. Zest stumbled to control her momentum, soon finding herself kicking her rear legs to keep going. One of those exploded as Zest gave one last kick!
She tackled the black knight.
Both Zest and the robot screamed as Zest forced the last of her electricity into its body. She felt the struggle of will. She felt its overpowering emotions pushing back against her.
It was like possessing a living thing! But Zest had one ability she didn’t normally have, the power to melt its brain.
She hesitated only for one moment as she realized what possessing the black knight would necessitate. She was seriously going to kill it!
But would that be a bad thing? It was like Sparky, like a wraith. Its existence was nothing but aggression and hatred, one of constant pain and stress. No, it was even worse because this thing was more intelligent than a wraith and could contemplate its suffering.
And unlike a wraith, Zest couldn’t possibly imagine a way to make things better for this robot. Maybe this really was the best thing she could do for it.
She couldn’t imagine what kind of sick freak would make this thing on purpose. Indigo was right about Toxco.
“Do you even want to live?” Zest asked it. “I can feel what you do! It’s horrible, all the time!”
“The only thing I hate more than living is the assumption that I want to die!”
“I have no idea what to make of that! Look, I’m sorry but you won’t be in pain anymore!”
“I hate those who have mercy on me! I hate those I hate!”
Its brain was already shutting down. Zest didn’t think she could stop it either way at this point.
“I hate the – those who despise! I loathe… kill! I… hate…”
And then, for one brief moment, the black knight managed to stop hating. It felt nothing. It stared out into the ruins of the town without despising anything. And it didn’t understand the two seconds of freedom it got out of life.
And then its willpower vanished completely. The robot's brain stopped. She’d put it out of its misery.
At least, she was pretty sure the black knight was out of its misery. The body started twitching around on its own, but that kind of thing happened when you cut the head off, right?
Zest stepped back.
She didn’t have a lot of strength left, but she didn’t need it. Actually, she felt strangely ‘stuck’ to this body now, wasn’t sure if she could get out so easily.
Zest looked around through her robot eyes, fully in control of the black knight’s body. She could feel so many of its parts but had little understanding of how they worked. She only needed one, and that was similar enough to communicating through aura Zest believed she could pull this off.
She sent out a message to all the robots.
Come back! Come to me! Come to me! Stop fighting! Come to me!
Sonata slammed Indigo down against the ground, covered in enchanted ice. Sonata raised an enchanted ice spear, ready to stab Indigo with deadly force.
“You already lost!” Sonata laughed. “The robots are destroying the…?”
Sonata looked up at the city. Her smile slowly melted away.
“Huh?!”
The robots once again went rushing past them. They had all about faced and were scrambling to get back onto the wall.
“What the?” Sonata shook her head, raising her spear. “Whatever! I’ll finish you off and then–”
“Hold up!” Sonata’s voice called out.
“Now what?!” Sonata looked back up again.
This time a second Sonata was standing not far off from them. Juniper in Sonata’s body.
Importantly. Indigo noticed the folder by her side.
“If you want this back,” Juniper put a hoof on Sonata’s cheek. “You’ll let her go. Otherwise I’m keeping it and making you wear all kinds of weird outfits.”
“Gah!”
Sonata looked from her body to Indigo Zap, groaning in protest.
“Alright.” Sonata released the spear.
Juniper floated out from the body, carrying the folder with her. The two of them circled around one another slowly, before both deciding they were close enough to their respective prize to go catch it.
Juniper rushed over to Indigo and Sonata jumped back into her body.
“Come on,” said Juniper, looking Indigo over. “We should get you back to safety.”
They flew cautiously back up toward the wall. Sonata yelled something behind them and rushed after.
“I think you should be getting a knock right about now,” Nailbat said to the phone.
“What is this?!” The colonel shouted.
Before long, the sounds on the other end devolved into chaos.
Wallflower hyperventilated as Nailbat turned his eyes on her.
“Wait!” Wallflower pointed the staff at her own head. “Don’t come any closer or I’ll kill myself! Or– you know what I mean!”
“The bomb, you idiot!” The stallion called out to her.
“Oh, right! Th-there’s a bomb in the bottom of the base! I can trigger it with this.”
“And where are you going to go, exactly?” Nailbat asked quietly.
“Um.” Wallflower had no idea! “T-to Aria and Sonata.”
“Alright. Let’s go talk to them.” Nailbat flicked his muzzle in the right direction.
Dammit! Was this part of his plan too?! Wallflower couldn’t think of anything else to do! Nailbat followed her calmly as she backed up towards the exit.
Sugarcoat letting the wall down was unexpected enough to catch Aria off guard. The robots had managed to break through, but it really had been her only option for saving Zest. And in her fight against Aria, this put her in a better position.
“Are you really abandoning the predeads?” Aria asked. “For the sake of that wirehead? So much for being the hero.”
“I decided that my subordinates have to come first,” Sugarcoat said. “I heard what Zest said just now. I agree I probably won’t win in the end, but until that happens I won’t compromise any of the things I care about. That’s the only thing that matters to me anymore. I care for my servants. Unlike the one you work for.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” Aria smiled. “My mistress despises me. That’s why she’s making me do something I would have absolutely hated were I able to think for myself.”
“This brainwashing is deeper and more sickening than I thought.” Sugarcoat shook her head. “There’s no point talking to you in your current state, is there?”
“So that’s it, then? You’re only fighting me out of spite and have given up on winning?” Aria laughed.
Sugarcoat couldn’t deny that at this point. She’d hoped to fail a bit later than this, but if that was all that was left…
The wall shook as an explosion on the predead side sounded. Sugarcoat and Aria both went over to check. The robots had done an about-face and were coming back! Maybe it wasn’t so hopeless.
“The wristband is failing now of all times?” Aria grumbled.
They always did after a while, but Sugarcoat was lucky to have it happen so quickly. Sugarcoat could use this.
She went back to the ghost side of the wall and peered down. She couldn’t see Zest and injured like this it’d be hard to see her aura. She did see the black knight robot Wallflower warned her about, though.
It was acting strange for a robot. Usually, their attention kept bouncing around, but they seemed determined to get on the wall. It charged forward and tried to get up in a single jump, but crashed into the wall and fell into the ditch.
All the robots on that side of the wall had stopped firing too, merely standing at attention. To see them so calm…
Was it possible…?
The robots that could climb had gotten back on the wall. Sugarcoat turned, ready to make a fighting retreat towards going down to check on Lemon Zest. Aria too got ready for the chaos.
Sugarcoat pulled a foreleg back, covering it in ice. But then the robots all rushed past her and dog-piled onto Aria.
“What the–?!” Aria swung wildly, smashing the ones that got close but was quickly forced onto the defensive.
Every single robot went straight for her and only her. They weren’t out of control at all! Like Sugarcoat before, it was all she could do to maintain a wall of ice for protection.
With a successful jump, the black knight’s forelegs landed on the wall and it clawed itself up a moment later. Either Sugarcoat’s hunch was right or this was the one with the persona core. To be safe, Sugarcoat created a pillar of ice next to her, ready to scattershot if necessary.
“No! I’m one of you! I’m one of you!” It shook its head and waved its forelegs in a manner that Sugarcoat instantly knew it was Zest, despite its voice being five octaves deeper.
“Zest?” Sugarcoat came closer. “Your aura is so weak.”
“I managed to possess this guy! I think I killed him. It. But I can’t ponder if I should be traumatized right now!”
This was good!
“Listen, don’t leave that body for a while,” Sugarcoat said. “When you're injured, a doll like this can act as a cast, stabilizing your form. It may be the only thing keeping you alive.”
“Right, right! I got it.” Zest nodded.
“You can control the robots?” Sugarcoat turned.
“I think so?” Zest looked them over. “It’s not too unlike controlling lesser ghosts. Though they kind of want to go off on their own half the time.”
“It’s you!” Aria grit her teeth.
She chanced coming out from her shell to make a lunge at Zest.
The fire bellowing out from Zest grew to cover her and even Aria’s blade wasn’t enough to penetrate her new armor. Aria tried two more hits, but neither could get through. She wouldn’t be able to wind up for a blow with so many attackers nearby.
Zest threw a punch in Aria’s direction, suddenly finding herself able to punch must faster and harder than before. The punch distorted Aria’s head a little, leaving stuffing bursting out of the semes.
As Aria staggered back, Zest tried activating one of her weapons. That heat-cannon thing came out and fired! She was actually doing this!
Only her aim was terrible off. Aria tried to block it with a wall of ice, but struggled for a moment until the heat ruptured through her barrier. Zest skidded back, getting only a glancing blow on Aria’s shoulder.
Aria put a hoof over the burned area, glaring daggers up at the newly empowered Zest.
“Haha!” Zest laughed and pranced in place. “Looks like I’m a little bit more invincible now, huh?!”
“It looks like we have you surrounded,” said Sugarcoat. “Are you going to surrender?”
Zest had the robots relax for a minute, but it was clear the battle was over.
Something came up from the predead side of the wall!
Juniper and an injured Indigo joined them. And they had the folder!
But a second later, a chunk of ice hit Juniper in the back, knocking the folder and its contents to the ground. She moved in close, but Sonata came in soon after, ready to attack.
“Aria! We have a problem!” Sonata screamed.
“I know.”
The hatch to the base opened out and the possessed Sour Sweet came running out.
“Aria!” Wallflower yelled to her. “We have a problem!”
“I see that you idiot!” Aria looked around.
Following Wallflower was a punk-looking pony toeing a second stallion around by a chain. Then behind him came three more ponies brandishing battle-staves.
“My name is Nailbat,” the main pony said, then turned to Aria. “An S-ranker. I’m the one in charge here. I suspected there was a traitor in this city collaborating with Crater Cemetery and thanks to you, I found him. The colonel, right?”
Aria clicked her tongue.
“I’ve already arrested him and two more of your patsies.” Nailbat jerked the guy he was grappling. “They’re going to sell out the rest, I promise you.”
Aria considered her limited options quietly.
“Well we do have one last backup plan,” said Aria. “Not as slick one but… there are explosives planted at the base of the wall. Thanks to our friend there.”
The blue stallion cocked a smile.
“It’ll be pretty dangerous having the wall torn apart like that, won’t it?” Aria asked. “I don’t know if it will still start a fight like we wanted, but who knows? Wallflower.”
Wallflower held the staff up, trembling, but hesitant to set it off. Hopefully not just from fear of the noise.
“Wallflower! Set off the explosive!” Aria shouted at her. “You have the staff. It has to be you!”
“Do you have any idea how many ponies you’ll kill!” Zest shouted at her. “Just think about this for a second! You haven’t killed anypony yet but–”
“Don’t you get it? Nopony is going to die! You’re the ones putting lives in danger!” Wallflower shook Sour Sweet’s head and stepped back. “They know a way to ensure ponies become ghosts. None of the ponies here will die for real!”
“Are you sure it wasn’t just a trick?” Nailbat asked. “That claim sounds suspicious to me.”
“A trick? I’ve seen them do it twenty times!” Wallflower looked to Aria.
“It’s true.” Aria nodded. “We’ve demonstrated this several times in front of several ponies. We killed willing targets and they became ghosts.”
“Hm. I wonder.” Nailbat turned to Wallflower. “When she turned these ponies into ghosts… I’m going to guess you were in a large city each time, as you are now.”
Wallflower blinked, taken off guard by the question.
“Yeah? What does that have to do with anything?” Wallflower asked. “Even if there’s something about a city–”
“And were you the one who picked the ponies she’d convert? Or did she choose them?” Nailbat asked.
Aria’s smile was gone, replaced by a deathly serious look in Nailbat’s direction, hanging on his every word but saying nothing. Wallflower still struggled to draw the conclusion he wanted.
“I… Aria picked the pony out,” said Wallflower. “But that because we didn’t just murder random hobos. She picked out ponies who wanted–”
“I think not. It’s because she can’t turn just anypony into a ghost.” Nailbat shook his head. “In a town with less than ten thousand, there might not be a single pony who would turn into a ghost. So she had to take you to an area with more just to find one.”
“Don’t listen to him,” said Aria. “You have your orders!”
“What – what are you saying?” Wallflower ignored Aria.
“That you fell for the classic misdirection trick. I suspect Aria and Sonata can merely predict who will turn into a ghost upon death. I don’t know what, but they can see whatever quality determines who becomes a ghost. They find this pony, turn them into a ghost, then say it was thanks to some mysterious technique. But they don’t actually have the power to ensure any given pony becomes a ghost, do you?”
“Wait.” Wallflower’s eyes scanned the ground as the did the math. “No! Aria! That’s not true, right?”
Aria didn’t respond.
“Uh!” Sonata raised her hoof in Aria’s stead. “But everypony in our family become ghosts when they die. Even the ones who marry into it. You can’t possibly explain that except–”
“You only marry ponies you know will become ghosts.” Nailbat didn’t spare her a look.
“Guh!” Sonata winced, as though this obvious answer were some masterstroke. “But there’s still our actual bloodline! It’s not like our mom had thirty thousand daughters and threw all of them but the three of us off a cliff!”
“Then I suspect there really is something special about your bloodline,” said Nailbat. “Perhaps that’s even why you can see who will become a ghost. But besides you?”
“This is all just speculation,” said Aria. “Wallflower, kill the predead you’re possessing. I’ll ensure she becomes a ghost just like I promised. You'll see.”
“No. This one.” Nailbat jerked his captive, placing the blue stallion between him and Aria. “You’re working for them, right? Volunteer yourself to be killed. If you stick around here, you’re going to jail so it makes sense for you to become a ghost and run off, right?”
Aria kept her mouth shut as Sonata darted her eyes between her sister and this stallion.
“Fine by me,” the traitor said with undue confidence. “Show them. Make me a ghost!”
Aria hovered in midair, forelegs folded, watching him deep in thought. Sonata scrunched her muzzle and tried to look away.
“You’re–” the traitor looked between them, becoming increasingly worried. “He’s not telling the truth, is he?! The plan was for me to become a ghost and run off with you two in the first place! Remember?! But…”
His look became increasingly horrified.
“But if you can’t guarantee a pony becomes a ghost then… then…” He pinned his ears down and backed up.
“Yeah.” Aria finally landed and smiled again. “Guess there’s no way out of it. The plan was just to kill you and leave you to rot. Less loose ends, you know?”
“You can’t be serious! I’ll do whatever you want!”
“I’m under mind control and I was directly ordered to do this. How effective do you think pleading with me will be?” Aria stepped forward.
“Nailbat! I’ll confess everything! Just–” He reached his hoof out to Nailbat.
Aria reached out to try and freeze him. Nailbat jerked back on the chains at the last second, sending the stallion sliding across the ice behind him.
“Then those ponies would have actually died?!” Wallflower demanded of her. “You tried to trick me into killing all of those–”
“Yes,” said Aria. “About that part anyway. But you really can come with us and serve our mistress like you wanted to.”
Wallflower shook her head and stepped back.
“Listen, set off the explosives,” said Aria. “Right now. It’s your only chance of escape. These ponies aren’t going to forgive you for what you did, Wallflower. Remember what this specter did to you? They’ll kill you if you can’t escape with us. They might even torture you out of spite.”
Zest turned to Wallflower, hoping to say something, but Wallflower answered with far less hesitation than Zest expected.
“No!” Wallflower threw her staff down. “I… I can’t do this. Not if…”
Wallflower sat down, turning her hooves up.
“I surrender! I’m… turning myself in. I’ll do whatever you want. You can kill me or…” Wallflower turned away, tears in Sour Sweet’s eyes.
“Get the lieutenant inside and to the medical bay,” Nailbat commanded. “I’ll deal with you later. You three follow her.”
“Y-yeah.” Wallflower ran off without hesitation. His ponies went along.
Aria grimaced as Wallflower escaped. Their last trump card was gone now.
“You figured that out pretty quickly.” Aria flicked her eyes to Nailbat. “I wonder how.”
“It was obvious from your actions. You never went out offering to use this technique to save those dying of some illness.”
“Bullshit!” Aria pinned her ears back. “You just happen to have that ‘particular quality’ that allows predeads to become ghosts you know. I can see it, remember? It’s suspiciously strong with you.”
“Oh?” Nailbat’s expression betrayed nothing. “Then I suppose you’d have to kill me twice.”
“Please! You’re not as slick as you think. You messed up. You said that we can ‘see’ it. Not simply that we know how this works but specifically that we ‘see’ something. How did you figure that part out Mr. detective?”
“I didn’t necessarily mean it like that,” said Nailbat. “But thank you for telling me that–”
“How about you ‘deduce’ what it is we see?” Aria asked. “If your so smart, it should be easy for you to figure out what actually determines if a pony becomes a ghost. So what is it? Take a guess.”
Nailbat didn’t answer.
“I know exactly who you are,” said Aria, smiling like that was the exact reaction she wanted. “Let me guess. You were found in a wicker basket floating down the river, huh? I guess I’m a great detective too. What a coincidence.”
Sonata watched all this befuddled.
“I don’t get what we’re implying here, Aria,” Sonata said.
“Ugh!” Aria rolled her eyes and spared a moment to whisper something to Sonata.
Sonata nodded twice. Her ears twitched, then her eyes went wide.
“Wait!” Sonata pulled back and did a double take at Nailbat. “I mean, he’s got the hair! But I thought–”
Aria quickly grabbed Sonata and put a hoof over her mouth.
“Apparently not. Keep your mouth shut.” Aria waited for Sonata to nod before letting her go and turning back to Nailbat.
“What are they talking about, exactly?” Sugarcoat asked.
“I have no idea.” Nailbat stood his ground and shook his head.
“I mean he might not know that he’s–” Sonata began
“I thought I said to keep your mouth shut, sis.” Aria glared at her. “If I’m right, we can’t kill this guy. And I’m guessing he wouldn’t want to kill us either. We’re just being mind controlled right?
Nailbat met her gaze without speaking.
“So let us get away.” Aria shook her head. “I can still use my banshee wail to kill a ton of the predeads around here. That’s a good enough excuse, isn’t it?”
Nailbat watched them for a moment, then made a shooing motion with his hoof.
“That’s what I thought. Come on.” Aria began backing up. “But don’t think this is over! We only need to win once.”
“’You seriously want us to let those tow get away?!” Indigo shouted at Nailbat.
“Killing them won’t help,” said Nailbat. “They’re just two of a thousand ponies that could have been sent. And as she said, she was being forced to do this.”
Indigo considered it, before giving up in a moment of frustration.
The banshees flew off in defeat shortly after.
Nailbat walked over to the folder on the ground. He put the papers back inside, then tossed them to Sugarcoat before walking back inside.
Stats
Page generated in 0.084 seconds
Total duration
1,021 users online
2,304,671 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I kinda don't understand how's biblical symbolism fitting with all earlier stuff. Although, maybe it was a reference to Sargon of Akkad (who according to legend was an illegitimate son of priestess)? On the other hand, ghosts being descendants of someone important doesn't look too hot --- that's not how population dynamics works (and it's not clear where psychic powers fit in this picture).
Basedbat.
On further thought, that bit with the wicker basket really feels a lot like the hint that the chains used by the ghost of Crater Cemetery were only manipulable by Alicorns. I'm going to scour every mention of Nailbat in both stories and see if I can put something together. I feel like I'll come up empty but it's going to be fun regardless.
Loving these/this stories/universe.
I knew it! Nailbat is... uh... nope I got nothin'.
11524664
I think you can actually guess exactly who he is if you've read everything so far. But there is one clue I'll be very impressed if you pick up on.
The feeling i'm getting here is that nailbat is part of the siren's bloodline himself.
11524766
I'm sorry, but I don't remember half of what's going on in the story.
11524664
Did you find anything? I did that too and was able to find only:
static.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/1/12/The_Dazzlings_singing_together_EG2.png
(Although, there are more ponies with similar coloring, of course, and I can't remember if it was explicitly said that Adagio was a pegasus)
Also, it's said nearby that he didn't look particularly healthy, so he possibly can be a ghost possessing his body too (although, how Pinkie didn't notice, or did she?), and according to this:
he may be Adagio's... grandchild? (it's said in timeline that he was born 20-something years after she became a ghost).
11525095
I know I haven't been updating this one very frequently. But it's kind of important this whole Old Manehattan arc is wrapped up just before the Sonata Retreval Arc in AWiBD starts.
Nailbat is from the same family... That explains a lot!
Interesting development here. Very interesting...
You made me feel bad for the Black Knight! I hate this to an unfathomable degree!
Really, wonderful though
11529618
Well the real villain here is Toxco. Not me. I swear.
11529737
Says the man who created toxco
I can see why laughter likes Zest.
Also Nailbat is great as always, though the problem with Schemers... you never know when something is their plan, a mistake, or a mistake turned into a new plan.
Did he want them to know they are family? Did he let them go because of that? Or does he have grander plans.
Maybe the best chapter so far, loved it.
I was really worried for Wallflower here. Seeing her stuck in delusion till the very last moment genuinely hurt. It stands as a testimony of her loneliness and desperation that she was willing to do all that just for a shred of hope and out of belief she was doing 'the right thing'.
So in conclusion, you've written her very convincingly. Ah, Wallflower... My heart aches for you.
11529618
That's a very specific character type I would compare to one like Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist.
An inhumane (inequine) monster with no redeemable qualities, who can only suffer and cause suffering. But a monster made, who didn't choose their fate, but was forced to live such a horrible life and fulfill such destructive purpose.
Truly depressingly hopeless. One can be often really torn on this kind of characters, as it's hard to judge if they themselves suffer more than suffering they cause. Killing the black knight really was the most merciful thing Lemon could have done.
Yeah. That line cuts deep.
11524742
xD