Chaotic Visage

by Orderly Disassembly

Ch 8 - Cage

My teeth ached and my face felt strained, but I kept grinning.

Starswirl stared at me as Luna glared and Celestia smiled.

However, the edges of her facsimile of happiness were marked by creases.

Our gazes met.

Her white ears twitched, her pristine wings shifted, and her fluffy chest quivered now and again.

Her face may be calm, but the rest of her revealed that lie for what it was.

They want you in a cage.

My own voice whispered that traitorous notion in the depths of my mind.

The words danced around the edges of conscious thought.

It both was and wasn’t me. A small piece of the whole that saw the truth for what it was

The only question is ‘what bars will they use?’

I floated above the traitorous trio, faking excitement at their presence.

It only had only taken a snap for a bright light to whisk me away to the edge of the forest.

Happiness was an easy mask to put on but hard to maintain.

I tilted my head as Celestia spoke, and my gaze narrowed when Luna stepped closer to her sister.

Luna’s horn glowed a deep midnight blue, in contrast to her yellow coat, but I paid that no mind.

Instead, I focused on Celestia’s words.

“Hello Typhon, it is good to see you again.”

My brain seemed to push against the walls of my skull and my jaw clenched, trying to hold the lie in.

However, I was determined.

I had to know, had to see, had to be absolutely certain of their choice, so my smile remained as I responded.

“Likewise, Princess. What brings you to this little corner of the world?”

Celestia giggled before responding.

“It’s next to the center of the country, Typhon. This isn’t the corner of anywhere.”

I let a frown flash across my face before forcing the mask back on.

“Well, that still doesn’t answer my question.”

My animated gestures and happy-faced façade must have reassured Celestia, despite the hurricane of whispered accusations thundering through my head.

Her wings settled and her ears calmed. Celestia’s smile widened as she spoke.

“Oh, we just got word of trouble brewing at one of our research towers. Apparently, the wards need to be replaced.”

Her grin twisted in amusement as she added.

“You wouldn’t happen to know why, would you?”

I chuckled as I waved a dismissive hand toward her.

“Oh, it wasn’t anything all that bad. I just broke some of the basic building blocks of reality. Turns out reality didn’t appreciate it very much. Made quite the light show.”

A wink accompanied my shrug while I finished.

“Then again, who doesn’t like showing off every now and again?”

Starswirl choked at the casual mentions of me playing god.

Luna stared at me and her glittery yellow mane began to whip in the wind.

However, she held her peace as Celestia overcame a brief look of shock.

“Well… that does sound fun, but could you please avoid it in the future? I would rather not come here every week or so to fix wards.”

More requests, more demands, more excuses to lock you up when you fail to comply.

I snorted while waving my claw again.

A cloud of green smoke trailed after it and I glared into the sickly smog as I began.

“Yeah, that won’t be a problem. Such… activities create quite a mess that is really hard to track. Well, at first anyway. Even I have issues cleaning up after such events so I won’t be making it a habit.”

Oh, don’t lie to yourself! It was fun, it was worth it, and it will happen again.

Celestia’s entire form drooped in relief before stiffening again at my next comment.

“It was enjoyable though, making a second sun, I mean. I might have to find a nice little sandbox so I can have a little bit of nuclear fun every once in a while.”

Luna spared Celestia the fate of trying to tackle all of the implications behind that statement by giving her dear sister a whole new source of high blood pressure.

“Enough dancing around the subject! Return my coat to its natural state, beast!”

They see an animal, remember that.

I frowned at her before shrugging.

“Alright.”

Luna harrumphed in grumpy triumph, but her banana-colored face scrunched into a scowl when I continued.

“On one condition.”

Luna’s objection was broken by Celestia’s sigh and before the lemon-hued alicorn could begin again, Celestia asked.

“What is it?”

My grin grew three sizes at that comment before I twisted into a lounging position.

“Two words, space lice.”

Luna turned her nose up at that.

“And what in Tartarus is that supposed to mean?”

Laughter preceded my response.

“Just what the name implies, Luna.”

I twirled in the sky before dropping to the ground in front of the angry yellow alicorn.

I loomed over her with a grin that glittered in the shadow cast by my body.

Luna grimaced while she looked me in the eye, and I just smiled.

The silence began to squeeze the air between us as a pit settled into my stomach.

Eventually, Luna took in a deep breath, growled, and then spoke with defeat infecting her tone.

“Fine, whatever you suggest, it cannot be worse than…”

She gestured to herself.

“...this.”

My chuckle echoed off of nothing as I snapped.

A blinding flash of light burned away the yellow dye and left behind a rotten gift in her mane.

I grinned at Luna as the spots left my eyes and revealed a dark blue alicorn standing before me.

“Deal fulfilled, congratulations on the new look, Luna. Though, you could have just shaved and let the hair grow back. All I did was use an especially stubborn dye.”

Luna’s head shook from the tension in her neck tugging in every direction at once.

Every muscle in her face tried to pull into a snarl but she managed to hold a mostly neutral, flat-lipped expression.

I smiled as Luna’s stilted show of gratitude forced its way out before she teleported away.

I turned towards a poker-faced Celestia with a wide smile.

“Well, I suppose that’s that, anything else?”

Celestia sighed while shaking her head.

“Why must you antagonize my sister like that, Typhon? Can you not try to be nicer, please?”

I shrugged

“Well, I could…”

But she wants to kill you.

I scratched my chin as I leaped into the air. After hovering for a moment or two, I continued.

“However, she is the one antagonizing me. So until she apologizes, she gets what she gives.”

I closed my eyes while adding.

“At least one princess has the sense not to start a fight with a demigod.”

I snorted.

“I mean, really, how stupid would one have to be to give me a reason to be their enemy.”

I opened an eye to peer at a now sweating Celestia.

“It’s good to know that I have one such friend, right?”

Celestia coughed into her hoof before stuttering out a response.

“Y-yes, that is a good thing… wait, Starswirl, are you alright?”

I spared a glance for Starswirl and blinked in shock.

The haggard unicorn was curled up and stroking his tail while muttering something about ‘breaking the law Quantum Tension’.

He twitched every few seconds and avoided eye contact with me.

I flicked my tail at him.

Just another reason for them to chain you.

“I guess I am simply too much for him to comprehend.”

I chuckled as the ground beneath me began moving.

“I do have places to be, Princess. See you next time!”

I got no response as I passed from the light of the sun into the shaded maw of the tower.

The stones that held up the doorway seemed to bear down on me as I passed, but I paid them no mind.

The animated rug in the lobby curled beneath me, the images ran, and the fabric seemed to shrink away whenever possible, and I ignored it.

The tower's magic seemed to circle me like a starving wolf… or more of a determined guard dog, but it was unimportant.

I had other things to worry about.

---

The library had the peculiar scent of old books. The stale sourness wafted through the room like a fog rolling over a town at dawn. Aged ink tainted the purity of the smell with a tinge of faint copper that made me think of blood.

Lamps shone pure white light throughout the room, banishing the shadows from worlds both physical and mental.

I smiled as I flipped through the yellowed pages of a volume held in my magic.

I crossed my arms and hummed while the paper crinkled as it moved.

“... therefore, to create a double, however useful it may seem, would simply be impractical in combat situations. However, fearful mages of the higher calibers could still…”

The blank-faced brown book was buried somewhere deep in my mind and I could have read it from the comfort of my dreamscape.

However, learning while asleep left me tired in the mornings.

I yawned before moving on to the next passage.

“In conclusion, such spells are best reserved for avoiding direct confrontation rather than adding another front on which your opponent must fight.”

My magic dug beneath the page, ready to flip to another, but the satisfying crunch of paper was cut off by Clover’s voice.

“Hello Typhon, uh, you wanna go have some tea later?”

I tilted my head as I turned to look at my friend.

Her smile was wide, too wide, her mane was mostly straight but I could see the odd strand sticking out at an angle, and her eyes only ever met mine briefly.

Please just be nervous, please don’t be a traitor, we can be friends, I promise.

My words bounced off of the borders of my mind and twisted to the point of unrecognition.

They were my words, I spoke them, but they didn’t match what I thought I said.

Watch for the cage, it is coming.

Despite the pit in my stomach, despite the ache in my heart, I smiled.

I had to fight back a tear and choke off an unwise question as I responded.

“Sure, Clover. When?”

She waved a hoof and stuttered out.

“Oh, uh, in a couple of hours maybe?”

My face brightened as my mind darkened.

“Yeah, that sounds fine to me.”

My weary tone fell on deaf ears as my ‘friend’ scampered off to wherever those backstabbing traitors were.

All of a sudden, the ever-present lamps that hung from the ceiling barely pierced the shade.

I let my smile fall, closed the book, and let out a long, deep sigh.

The only forms of company I had were the piles of books stacked upon the tables around me.

I wanted to beg for reality, God, anything to prove my suspicions false.

However, whenever I started, my voice would begin to echo through my head in long peels of laughter.

---

My talons clicked on the stone floor as I strolled down the hallway.

My face was stuck in a neutral position, with no emotion escaping the mask. I turned a corner as I called out.

“Clover, where are you?”

I heard my own voice repeat the question over and over.

I waited for the echoes to die before calling out again… no response.

I sighed while my eyes dropped and my tail dragged on the ground.

Eventually, my voice stopped repeating. I opened my mouth, ready to try again, but before I could, Clover’s voice struck me like a hammer.

“Over here, Typhon!”

My head swiveled and in a moment, I turned towards my ‘friend’ before smiling.

However, as the clopping of her hooves neared, my grin wilted. Only a ghost of my happiness remained: replaced by a facsimile that seemed to fool Clover.

Her head hung close to the ground, her limbs trembled, and her breath heaved in and out in quick gasps.

She gave me a weak smile before asking.

“Why are ya all the way out here? The place was on the other side of the castle.”

I chuckled as I started in the direction she came from.

“Well, how was I supposed to know?”

Her answer bled uncertainty..

“I... told… you.”

I cocked an eyebrow before replying.

“Really now, are you sure?”

A grin spread across my face when a look of realization appeared on hers. I even managed a few guffaws when she brought a hoof to her face while apologizing.

Several moments passed before the quiet became stifling.

I held my peace, ready to wait for the trap, but Clover broke the static.

“So, uh, how’s your day been? I can't remember the last time I asked so-“

She’s growing a conscience about this? No, she’s just afraid of you. Remember, to them, you are nothing but an animal to be feared.

I cut off any further rambling with a wave of the paw and sent a wave of anger through my mind to silence the voice.

“It’s quite alright. Though, wouldn’t it be better to save the conversation for tea? I mean, it should only take a minute or so to get there.”

Clover’s head twitched while she nodded, and her agreement came out in a stuttering, rushed manner.

“S-sure.”

My throat clenched at the fear in her voice. I mean, who could really blame her for being afraid? If I was doing this I-

The treasonous piece of my mind shattered the chains that I shackled it with, and the whispers returned to speak the truth of the situation.

Forget the sympathy, she’s getting ready to backstab you, you naïve child!

My shoulders slumped as the gravity of what I feared settled in once more.

Clover made no comment.

Seconds stretched into minutes, and those few minutes seemed to sap hours of my life away.

The stones on the walls elongated as my vision narrowed, and a door came into view.

It was a simple door that hid the maw of the trap I imagined.

I could almost see lines of metal stretch from floor to ceiling around the entrance to my cage.

Come in, come in, the cage is fine. So said the treacherous equine.

I shook my head as the door opened with a flick of my magic and forced a smile while glancing at Clover.

“Mares first.”

Into the jaws.

She took a deep breath before smiling back at me and stepping through.

I paused in the doorway when I spotted bars of metal stuck in the wall.

How did they manage this so quickly? I only heard them planning this a few hours ago!

I shook my head before strolling to one of a few wooden chairs around a circular table.

The walls were bare rock, the ceiling a perfectly smooth stone slab, and my talon clicked on the white tiles making up the floor.

I spotted a window that gave me a view of the landscape outside the tower.

There were still a few tents out there with smoke puffing out of the cloth ceilings.

Literally the first window I’ve seen in this place. Not suspicious at all.

The chair creaked beneath me and I stared down at the table’s surface.

It was polished to the point that it could act like a mirror.

My smile weakened as I drew a claw down the reflective surface, admiring the new lines at the corners of my eyes.

I waited for a few moments but the clopping of hooves never stopped.

A second of thought led my eyes to the doorway where Clover had frozen in place.

Her eye twitched as she lowered her head, all while maintaining eye contact.

“Uh, I forgot the tea. I’ll be back in a minute!”

I chuckled before I waved the door closed with a flick of my wrist.

The wood plank slammed shut and a click followed soon after.

When the opening had shut, I felt my strength begin to drain away. Every breath, every blink, every moment left me weaker than before.

Clover yelped when the door struck her rear before pressing backward again.

“Oh, no need for that, I can just whip some up right here and now.”

A bright light flashed on the table when I snapped and a plain white tea set was left behind.

The ceramics clicked as I shifted them around the table.

Clover tentatively crept around the table to sit down in the chair opposite me.

The clicking of plates and cups continued as I formed three more sets, arranging them in place next to Clover.

Two larger sets landed to her right and a smaller one on her left. She was glancing at the china while I turned towards the window.

With a snap, a brick floated out of its place in the wall before rocketing through the glass.

The sparkling shards of the one-way mirror burst inwards and showered a trio of ponies in sparkling glitter.

Their eyes were wide but the princesses fell into a combative stance in a mere moment.

Though a web of wire and wards still glowed between us.

My eyes began to droop when I waved a claw at the newly revealed ponies.

“I do believe that it is more fun to drink tea rather than watch other people do so.”

Celestia flicked her gaze to Clover and back to me before she responded.

“I apologize but we cannot join you, Typhon.”

I smiled as I chuckled, even slapping a knee to sell the act.

“Oh ho ho, I’m sure you can, Princess. If it’s a time constraint, I’m sure I could help you with it!”

The smile hurt as the muscles in my face strained to keep up the façade. Celestia sighed as she straightened.

“Typhon, I am sorry, but for the good of Equestria, you must be sealed.”

I let the smile drop as a flash consumed the tea set I had created.

The mana used in the constructs flowed back into me to beat back my fatigue.

I stared at Celestia for a moment before turning to Luna.

“Thoughts? Regrets? Any sort of remorse?”

The blue alicorn looked down her snout at me before turning around and walking away to a door behind the traitorous trio.

I snorted before glancing at Starswirl.

“How bout you ol’ buddy ol’ pal? Anything ya got to say to me?”

Starswirl’s face scrunched up in disgust before he joined Luna.

The world was already darkening and my skin felt thin.

Every gust that resulted from shifting air pierced my hide while chills began to seep into my bones.

I turned to Clover.

My voice was weak and my doubts voiced themselves.

She doesn’t care, she’s like the rest.

"And you?"

And my heart sank at her words.

“I-I’m sorry, Typhon. It was their idea!”

Tears stained my face as I watched the unicorn back away.

All I could do was whisper a question, a simple question with an insidious answer.

“Why?”

Clover froze in her tracks before gritting her teeth and screwing her eyes shut.

“They said that you could snap at any moment, that if you did, then a lot of ponies would get hurt.”

She swallowed hard before opening her eyes to glare at mine.

“They said that I was the only one who could lead you into this. I’m sorry but this was necessary.”

A weak smile crawled onto her face before she finished.

“I-I promise to visit you if the Princesses let me.”

I raised my clenched fist just in time for it to vanish completely.

I whispered to Clover with a frown on my face and venom on my tongue.

“Doubtful.”

Clover gasped while going bug-eyed.

Someone behind the window followed suit and a glance told me that Celestia was the source.

I swung to face her before strolling up to the barrier.

Patches of my skin were fading to nothing, and my imbalanced head tilted further off-kilter as a horn disappeared.

My paw poked through a few holes in the mesh.

It slowed the drain but not by much.

“Please, Celestia, you don’t have to do this.”

My eyes were getting heavier and I could feel my legs beginning to evaporate.

My tired gaze stared into Celestia’s, begging for mercy.

Her eyebrows rose in shock, then twisted concern before her horn began to glow.

My heart jumped into my throat at the site. Maybe she was truly sorry. Maybe she was going to free me. Maybe-

Maybe she’s just going to put you to sleep so she doesn’t have to listen to your pleading.

I shook away the thought as hope flooded my amazed smile.

Then another voice crushed my fantasy like a steamroller would a can.

“Do not listen to him, Sister. You have seen what he can do by accident. Imagine the devastation that would occur if he was trying to hurt others?”

I wanted to glare at Luna, but my lower half chose that moment to disappear.

The ground flew up into my face and my remaining arm completed its deletion before I could brace against the impact.

My disembodied head rolled to a stop before a horrified Clover.

Her eyes were wide, her jaw was slack, and her ears were flat against her head.

Her face of frozen shock was the last thing I saw.

…

Ba-dump’

A noise, an important noise, the first noise I heard in this colorful house of lies that I now call my world.

Ba-dump’

It greeted me once more in the void. A perfect blackness flooded my eyes and my mouth filled with the taste of iron mixed with bile.

See? To them, you are only an animal for them to fear.

My voice became the second thing that I heard in this void.

Only the sound of my heart and the shadowy echoes of my own thoughts accompanied me on my voyage.

I was only gone for a split second, a fragment of a moment, but that void took something from me.

I don’t know what it took, my memories seemed intact, my power was not diminished, and my true body remained the same.

However, something died with that copy and all I could do was move on.

I shook my head as I sat up in my bed. The covers were still white.

I glanced around the bare room while considering my options.

I could lecture them all about how wrong they were to do what they did and move on.

I mean, nothing permanent actually occurred, right?

Except something did happen, something did change, and they are to blame.

After telling them off, I could just forgive them and pretend that this never happened!

They tried to kill you, Typhon.

Clover would be smiling, Celestia would apologize, and Starswirl would go back to curling up in a ball.

They want you dead, Typhon.

I mean, it couldn’t end just yet, I haven’t even gotten used to everything about this place!

I can’t make too much of a fuss.

Who knows, maybe there was more to it and-

THEY MURDERED YOU.

My vision was darkened by my hands covering my face.

My breaths came in a quick, jittery cadence.

They stabbed you in the back and when you didn’t go down instantly, they left the knife in.

But I-

No ‘buts’ Typhon. They tried to kill you! You need to make them pay.

That’s not right. I would never do that.

It is right, it is justice, and it is necessary.

No!

Before the voice in my head could speak again, I snapped.

The white light faded to reveal an open sky above me and a tower below.

Another snap saw me removed from visibility, and a third brought me a floating carpet.

I latched onto it and willed the magic square of cloth forward.

Every moment that I could think, the voice told me to go back. It would whisper, it would speak, it would yell. Every word reverberated through my consciousness, seeping into my soul and making my head throb to an unheard beat.

They will try again, it said.

You need to end them before they can threaten you, it reasoned

It is justice, it declared.

I only ever had one answer, and when my voice was drowned out by the shouts of the other, I screamed my rejection to the heavens.

“NO!”

Comments

[haryozborn]

Why is he a gullible idiot? They want his losses because they can't control him. Is it supposed to be a dog on a leash without the power of will?

[GlitchyFox]

So they think he is dead now? I hope you give us a after this scean or chapter where we see how clover deals with the fact that celestia lied to her and killed her freind. I hope he meets clover again either way

[Black--Soul]

Celestia & Luna a monsters. I don't see them worth of forgiveness...

[TheAbsoluteRadiance]

Damn. This was brutal.
I am pretty sure we need interludes from Celestia and Clover or at least a POV from their perspective and the following moments after what happened to him.
This chapter made me favorite this story.

[ThunderBasilisk]

Hope the next chapter comes out soon. I wanna see the reactions and some indication to them that he's still alive and that all they did was destroy his innocence.

[Fecyrineu]

If Celestia, Luna and Starswirl wanted Typhoon to be a monster, they got their wish.

[TheDragonSage]

…hahahaha

Didn’t he literally read about clones a little bit earlier?

The real him isn’t in the cage is he?

[TheDragonSage]

On the other hand when I think about the “what if” if typhon decided to trust clover and was left to sit there for a long time, I imagine this

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qXJ_ZWE265k

Just remove celestia and Luna for something else 😂

[darklight731]

Oh, this is very nice, I love this.