Ch 18 - The Past Came Trotting Back
I scowled as I flew through Nowhere.
The ‘ping’s rang through my head over and over like some sort of alarm clock.
Clouds made of snakes hissed at me as I passed and drops of colored rain pelted me.
I was tempted to snap it all away, but this was my home and I’m a perfectly reasonable adult.
Throwing a tantrum over little things like these wouldn’t do anyone any good.
I snorted in annoyance as I reached the seeming source of the nuisance.
A small rip in the fabric of Nowhere pulsed a sickly green, as if it were an infected wound upon space itself.
My brows descended further as I landed on a hill next to it.
I thought I patched this hole up a while ago! I mean, I’m all for chaos and whatnot, but leaving a mess is still not acceptable!
I glanced around, a few trees made of pretzels creaked as they twisted to look at me with red gumdrop eyes.
Hardened, stale licorice grass cracked and popped as a passing breeze blew a few over.
What in the world is making the racket? Discord and I should be the only non-plants in here!
‘Ping’
I glared at the green hole in Nowhere… and spotted a tiny thread of magic.
Every mote of magic that entered melted away as the sheer amount of chaos in the environment destabilized it.
What is going on? Who the hell is trying to get into my home?!
I stepped up to the opening, grabbed the edges of it, and ripped it open like a pair of old curtains.
On the other side lay a living room. A carpet, a couple chairs, a couch, and… and a pony.
A familiar one at that. A very familiar one.
“Um hi?”
Their voice didn’t quite register to me, too many memories were blazing a warpath through my mind.
“I-I have a few things to say, i-if you don’t mind listening?”
My face was flat, my ears were deaf, and my head burned.
“I made a few mistakes, a few terrible terrible mistakes, and I hope you can forgive me, given time…”
Remorse? They expect me to buy that they feel remorse?
Hah hah, I should laugh. I should be cackling in fits of laughter at this nonsense!
I mean, really, really, you think I will actually do that? Forgive you?
Their voice gained strength as the apology continued
“…and I’m willing to wait! I understand what I did, and how much it probably hurt…”
Do you? Do you really?
“That day, the day I- I betrayed you. It haunts me.it haunts me every night when I close my eyes.”
Yes, my head rolling down the floor must have been so traumatizing for you.
“And, I know you’ll never forget, but could you give me another chance? Please? I promise to do better this time!”
Second chance? The second chance was in the maw of the trap, all you had to do was say something, anything against what they were doing.
And you failed.
Clover, Starswirl’s apprentice, my best friend, and betrayer, looked up at me with hope-filled eyes.
That expression, is that how I looked back then, so happy, naive, gullible?
No wonder the Princesses treated me like a child.
So I smiled. It hurt, hurt in places I didn’t know I had, but I smiled anyway.
“Yes, Clover, I forgive you, now come along, we have a bit of catching up to do!”
She tilted her head in confusion.
“That’s it? No, trials, no proof, nothing?”
I scoffed and waved a paw.
“Oh please! If you weren’t sincere, I would’ve known. It’s fine. Now let’s go have a nice long chat over a spot of tea. It has been a while, right?”
She grinned at me.
Clover the Gullible grinned at me.
Oh yes, I know you’re “sincere.” Sincere in your own self-centered hogwash.
You have no idea what the incident at the Tower really felt like, but you will, Clover. Oh, you most certainly will.
The world twisted and refocused as I warped Clover and me to a better location.
The Core Plains are a fun place to visit every once in a while, but I wanted something a bit more atmospheric.
The ground spun in an infinite spiraling pattern upwards, turning my psychedelic sky into a whirlpool of earth.
Meanwhile, ribbons of living sand danced in the air, hopping from strip to strip of sky-bound ground.
See? Atmosphere! Tea isn’t the same when you drink it just anywhere.
“W-what is this place? Typhon, what’s going on?”
I waved a paw and shot her a grin.
“Oh, don’t worry about it too much. I just brought us to a more interesting location. The Core Plains are a bit bland for my taste.”
“Bland? You call that insane place ‘bland’?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Yes I do, what of it?”
Clover decided to simply remain quiet at that.
Rude, I asked a question!
Bah, whatever, it’s not like it’s the worst thing she’s done to me.
With a snap of the fingers, a table stood up from the dirt, shook itself clean, and trotted up to us. A pair of chairs unfolded from nothing stuck themselves into the ground.
“Go ahead, take a seat. Might I ask what kind of tea you prefer? Chamomile, jasmine, veggidog?”
Clover opened her mouth to answer, but choked on her words before eventually spitting out.
“-veggidog?… is that really a kind of tea?”
I smiled at her, for once it was genuine.
“Well, why wouldn’t it be? Isn’t tea just any herbal water?”
Clover's face screwed up while she sat down.
“Well… I mean yes, but there’s more to it. For instance, you boil veggiedogs and steep tea!”
I snapped up a cup of coffee and set it down in front of Clover.
“Well, by that logic, certain chili’s that I know of would also be considered tea!”
Clover’s frown deepened, so I let out a sigh and added.
“Let’s just agree that tea is subjective and leave it at that. It’s probably for the best.”
“I guess… that isn’t veggiedog tea is it?”
I waved a claw while grasping a mug of fizzy liquid.
“Oh heavens no! Coffee for you and a little something from far away for me.”
She gave me a confused glance but decided to turn to her own cup instead.
“So…”
I raised an eyebrow in response, and after a moment of quiet, she continued.
“I should probably tell you that…”
She trailed off, not quite able to force the words out
“That…”
Again she tried, and again she failed, I suppose 'third time's the charm'.
“… that I’m working for Celestia.”
She flinched at my snort but eased into confusion when I began to laugh.
Really? You betrayed me once, then come crawling back while in the service of my murderer, and then tell me about it?
Are all ponies this stupid, or is this part of the ‘proving your remorse’ crap?
“I thought you’d like to know. I lied about it last time so I. I wanted to be a bit more open this time.”
She shone a bright, brittle at me, the edges of her mouth quivering in place.
It only made me laugh harder.
What a joke.
“Haha, I appreciate it, Clover, I really do.”
I wiped a tear from my eye before continuing.
“But a word of the wise, maybe don’t risk your life by revealing secrets, hmm? I mean, I like honesty and all, but there’s a fine line between being open and sticking out your neck.”
I had my suspicions, but this made it seem far too easy.
Well, maybe there’s more to it.
Maybe it’s her showing her hand to bring my guard down?
Maybe she’s being tracked and doesn’t want me to be surprised.
Or is she trying to draw attention away from that possibility with an equally appalling alternative?
It doesn’t matter in the end, I’ll just tell Discord to keep an eye on things.
Oh wait, Discord… he’d probably appreciate a heads-up.
“Are you alright Typhon?”
“Hm?”
I looked up from my mug to see Clover’s worried face mere inches from mine.
I flinched, I mean, I wasn’t scared or anything, but personal space, Clover!
“I asked if you were alright.”
“Yes I’m perfectly fine, why do you ask?”
She paused for a moment but pushed onwards despite her obvious apprehension.
“Well, you just went quiet. So…”
I rolled my eyes again.
“I’m just trying to remember if I left my stove on or not.”
She raised a hoof, probably getting ready to ask if I really had a stove. However, she set it back down without a word.
I spun up a clone out of view and sent him off to inform Discord about this development while the conversation lulled.
“Do. Do you really forgive me? I. It can’t have been easy, I-“
I waved her off.
“Yes, yes, I forgave you. I didn’t forget, mind you, but holding onto grudges isn’t exactly productive.”
It really isn’t, but it’s not like I’m doing anything else anyway.
Clover seemed to relax a bit at that, sagging in her chair and some tension leaving her shoulders.
“Though, I am curious about how you managed to find me. I don’t exactly live in a hub of civilization and I don’t remember leaving much of a trail behind.”
Clover stiffened again and gave a nervous chuckle.
“About that, I, well, you see…”
“Oh, calm down and spit it out already.”
She froze in place, but a moment later she brought a strange medallion out of her saddle bag.
The damnable hunk of metal shone like the noonday sun, and I hissed while covering my eyes.
“Gah, my eyes!”
The light disappeared but left behind several blank circles on my vision.
“Oh great, give me a moment.”
I popped my eyes out, rubbed them with a towel I conjured up, and tossed them back into their sockets so I could more effectively glare at Clover.
“Was there a point to that, or is blinding people with your participation medals just a hobby?”
Clover pawed the ground with a sheepish smile.
“Uh, that medallion glows whenever it’s exposed to your magic, I didn’t think it would get that bright.”
If my eyes didn’t ache like an ancient man’s kneecaps, they would be violently rolling, possibly even towards Clover to strangle her for their plight.
“Nice, kindly leave that thing wherever you put it. Believe it or not, I can still feel pain.”
Clover cringed further downward before nodding.
Seriously, are all ponies really this stupid?
The fact that I keep asking that question probably answers it.
I sighed while grasping the bridge of my snout.
“So you said that it glows when near my magic, care to elaborate?”
She perked up before responding.
“Oh yeah, that. Everypony leaves behind a sort of manatrail, sort of like hoofprints but with magic, so Celestia just keyed it to your mana signature…”
Celestia… is her case more betrayal or simply attempted murder? I mean, it’s not like she pretended to be my friend, she just acted friendly in general…
Is there a difference? Does it matter? Food for thought I suppose.
I didn’t voice my concerns so Clover continued.
“… and I just followed the path. I mean, it’s not an actual path or trail or whatever, but I could still figure out which way you went by seeing which areas have the older mana trails.”
“Interesting, is there anything else I should know about that fancy little medal?”
I scratched my chin as she looked away.
“It, uh, lets me talk to Celestia directly. It’s a sending stone of sorts.”
Wow from mere apprentice to spy that reports directly to the Princess!
My, betraying your friends and morals does wonders for your career path around here!
I grinned at the thought.
Too bad I never betrayed mine, no, I just redefined them.
I took another sip of my drink and let the conversation die.
We spent a few minutes like that, drinking in silence before I spoke up, dropping the mask of false happiness.
“Do they remember me?”
Clover almost jumped out of her own skin but recovered quickly.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Do they remember me? The people at the Tower?”
Clover stared blankly at me for a moment before making an ‘o’ sound and answering.
“Some do, but no one really talks about you. Starswirl, well, he went a bit nuts after you left. He got so paranoid and creepy.”
Her voice began to waver.
“He was talking about using the last of your magic to try rewriting reality itself, just to erase you from memory entirely.”
She shuddered.
“Thankfully, the Princess stepped in to put a stop to it before he got somepony hurt. I hope he’s alright.”
Yes, I hope so too, I hope he got a promotion to become Celestia’s court wizard or something like that.
Because I just got a wonderful idea.
“Say, Clover, do you think Celestia felt bad for her actions?”
Again, Clover paused, and her answer took nearly a minute to reach me.
“I don’t know. She put on the royal mask around me, but I’m sure she’s a good pony so she probably does regret it. Maybe. I think?”
She looked up at me with a face full of apprehension.
I wanted to laugh, I wanted to cry, I wanted to bludgeon this moron with a hammer.
I did none of that and instead said.
“Maybe she just needs a little reminder. Do you think she’d be willing to apologize? If so, I just might find it in me to forgive her.”
Clover’s face lit up with joy.
“You mean that? You really mean that?!”
I chuckled and flashed a fake smile.
“Of course, Clover, of course, I do.”
Maybe Celestia does feel remorse, maybe she will apologize. Maybe, heh heh, maybe she’ll even get on her knees and beg.
It won’t matter, none of it will. It didn’t matter when I tried, so why should it with them?
My smile gained strength and I began to laugh and laugh and laugh.
All of these thoughts, these plans, they made me feel so warm.
And that can’t be a bad thing…
Right?
Discord was fiddling with a fountain of Fanta. The thing kept spraying way too far up and he just couldn’t get the pressure right!
It wasn’t a complicated affair or anything, it was all just magic, but he still couldn’t get it quite right.
Discord sighed as the latest iteration exploded, covering him in the drink.
How many tries will it take?
With a snap of the fingers, the mess was gone and a new fountain floated in front of him.
Maybe-
“Hello, Discord, how are you doing?”
Discord rolled his eyes at the sound of the familiar voice.
“Pretty alright, got this project I’m working on, but don’t you have anything better to do? I thought you left just an hour or two ago!”
Seriously, didn’t Typhon have anything better to do?
This better be good.
Typhon chuckled. It seemed pretty normal to Discord, but it felt… off, fake even, as if the words were being spoken through a phone of sorts.
“Yes, actually, I just sent this clone to fill you in. I don’t want you walking in unawares, and leaving you in the dark seems far too pony-like for me”
Another round of ethereal chuckles graced Discord’s ears.
“Well, what is it then? I, for once, am a bit busy.”
The clone of Typhon smiled, every single tooth shining a glittering white.
“We got a visitor.”
And so, they talked.
At first, Discord was skeptical.
All the previous times Typhon got involved with ponies, things went poorly.
But then, he heard the plan. The simple, deliciously satisfying plan.
The clone began to laugh, and Discord along with him.
They cackled, guffawed, and giggled too because the ponies would finally understand.
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The anticipation is growing and the possibilities are expanding. But the confrontation between the alicorns and Typhon will be quite a spectacle, I am sure of it!
It was The Tabherd Inn, and my best guess is that it's a reference to The Tabard, a 14th century inn notable for its offering of accommodation to anyone on a pilgrimage to the Canterbury Cathedral. It was mentioned in The Canterbury Tales, but I just paraphrased the header of a Wikipedia article.
11465160
yep, if ya join the discord, ya can get the role "lore master" and ya can choose to be a beta reader if ya want
Legitimately chilling... Gah! The madness is too much to handle! Why can't—why does suffering... happy ending! Insanity! —the orphans? Docoyr! My brain hirts!
Edit: also, the discord link doesn't work
11465391
hopefully fixed
God the reveal that he is still alive is gonna be epic. And probably shatter whats left of Starswirls mind.
Make her apologize for attempting to murder him for no reason, and broadcast it to everyone. Let's see how she like being revealed as a murderer to everyone.
Also Clover can go fuck herself.
…hope he doesn’t actually hurt Clover, it’s not like she thought they would kill him, locking him up isn’t exactly great, but she had great trust in her monarchs
Ooo gonna give the ponies a little taste of what he felt eh? I find this plan…agreeable. Also enjoy a story now and then when the ponies get a good ol what for and taste to what they did to the MC.
11467311
she destroyed his innocence, his trust in ponykind.
i think he will do something along that line.
I'm a little worried what Discord will do....
I hope nothing bad happened again but it will probably...