Elements Change the Dark Hearts

by Nightmare_0mega

My Train of Thoughts

Monsoon marched straight through town with perhaps the widest, toothiest smile on his face. Every single Ponyville denizen he passed along the way rightfully backed away from the psycho cyborg, whom would have skipped along and greeted every single one with the tip of the hat, if it were something he did. Despite the miserable failure of a night, asinine questioning that followed, and the warnings that his farm pony of a warden issued, he couldn't help but feel like he was having a really good day. To be fair, there was a small chance that everyone was going to die VERY soon, including him, but the feeling deep in his synthetic heart simply couldn't be denied. He must see this through.

Eventually, he arrived at his destination: Ponyville's train station, where the three other "extra-Equestrian" beings had gathered. Seems she has her bases covered, but where is the star of the show? he wondered.

"You got a sudden visit too, cabron?" Elvis asked.

"And I couldn't be happier," he replied smugly, grin proudly displayed.

"A human smile is such a disturbing thing," Dumah uttered, "However, yours is so much more... vile, for the lack of a better word."

The angel that stood next to the old vampire simply crossed its arms. Unwilling to agree, but not so daft as to miss it, all it did was grunt.

"And what's got your feathers ruffled, pigeon?" Elvis asked, coming off a bit more crass than intended.

"I am not entirely thrilled to have been summoned here, if thou must know," Adna began, "However, my ire is limited, as this excuse has allowed me distance away from the upset reptile that resides in the Maiden Dash's abode."

"You are quarreling with a turtle?" Dumah asked, perplexed.

"Tortoise," the angel corrected.

"I wonder where the pony of the hour is, since she was the one that told us to be here," spoke Monsoon.

"True. Though, I'm curious as to WHY," Elvis declared, rubbing his chin scruff.

"Oh, don't worry," Monsoon promised, "You'll soon find out, and it'll be RICH." Upon picking up distinct heat and movement signatures, the cyborg chuckled to himself. "Speak of the Devil..."

"Cabron, he's been sitting on his stupid frozen chair of shame ever since he was kicked out of the land of-"

"Sorry I'm late, everyone," piped up Twilight as she galloped towards the quartet while she strained to carry a half sized Bael inside an aura of magic. It was quite the sight, really, watching a giant, several tonne frog monster float toward everyone like a giant balloon. Obviously, the creature was quite cross with the whole situation, as his stubby legs flailed about helplessly, as if trying desperately to swim.

"Would you put me down, THIS INSTANT!?" Bael angrily shouted, as if this wasn't the first time he's said something similar today.

"We're here anyway," Twilight replied, as she gently placed him on an open cart of the train. It was then, as they watched the former lord of frozen soil being set down, that they turned their gaze towards the flying jagged room in the distance. Elvis had managed to see it up close, as he was the first here, but was actually quite shocked to see how much distance it made within the span of only a few minutes. "I suppose you're all wondering why you're here."

"Oh please, do tell us," Monsoon said, with a smile and a sneer, "By all means, PLEASE explain the gravity of the situation, now that you seem to understand it."

Twilight gave a heavy, irritated sigh. He is NOT going to let me live this down, is he? she thought, Well, forget him and his attitudes, Twilight. You have bigger things to worry about.

"I suppose our summons doth have relation to that," Adna said, pointing at the room.

"Yes," Twilight affirmed, "A little while ago, our latest guest, a human named Psycho Mantis, used his... "abilities" to rip his hospital room out of the building itself, and turn one of my friends into a living map. He's headed for Canterlot, and the rate he's going, taking into account his current speed and acceleration factor, he'll be there in less than an hour."

"Did thou just claim the one responsible is... human?" Adna asked.

"And how is this human even capable of that sort of feat?" Dumah asked in rising anger. He then turned his gaze towards Monsoon for a moment. "Excluding the abilities of the abominable automaton present, of course." Monsoon simply shrugged it off, too amused by the turn of events.

"From what I've been told, his ability is something called 'psychokinesis'. I've tried figuring out what exactly that is, but I couldn't pick up any form of sequence or weave found in magic, nor could I discern an intrinsic, scientifically studied force of non-magical nature. Whatever he's doing, he might as well be simply WILLING things to happen. I'm sure Monsoon has a better idea of how it works, all things considered, since Mantis came from his world."

Elvis turned to the cyborg, clenching his fists. "Que mierda, and you didn't think to tell her to stop him if you knew how dangerous he was, cabron!"

"Hey, calm your folds before you get a heart attack from getting so worked up. If you have to know, I DID try to tell her. Hell, I even tried to deal with the situation myself. But no, it seems like the pretty pony princess knows e~e~everything," Monsoon mocked with his hands in the air. "Well, unless you have a plan, it seems like we're all doomed to die very soon, and there won't be anything you or anyone of us can do about it."

"I think I can take it down from here," Bael said, after staying quiet for so long, staring at the floating room.

"What?"

Before anyone could act, Bael's ice spines began to glow as he puffed himself up, leaning back to set up the attack. Suddenly, he leaned forward as far as he could and began shaking his body, which launched the gigantic spines from him at rocket speeds, screaming toward the room.

"Wait, NO!" Twilight exclaimed as her horn suddenly flared up. Within an instant, her magic managed to grab most of the super massive projectiles mid-air before they got too far, only missing one out of the volley. That single one embedded itself deep into the back corner of the room's back wall.

"What in all of hell are you doing, child!" Bael barked as he turned to face her, "If you wouldn't have interfered, that shot would have obliterated the problem, human with it."

"Lyra is still in there!" she shouted back. For a little while, there was silence between the two beings as the others watched. "She's in danger because of me. I have to make sure she gets out safely, at the very least." She gazed back to the others. "I messed up, and now I'm responsible for making sure nopony else gets hurt. I asked you all to help because you are my best shot, and because Monsoon had a point." She then looked directly at the cyborg. "You're right. The Elements might not be able to help us and I'm not entirely willing to put my friends in danger, especially since I don't think I could cast a mental block strong enough to cover everyone. But you guys..." she started. "I don't want to put you in danger either, but you might have magic or methods strong enough to counter whatever mind reading abilities he may have to end our attempt. But... I'm not gonna force you to do anything you don't want to do. From here on, it's up to you."

The gathered group stared at Twilight for a moment, before they stepped back to think on the situation. It didn't take long, however, for Elvis to speak up.

"I'm in, chica," he said with a thumbs up.

Adna had no idea how sincere the demon was, even though it was surprised by the lack of hesitation. However, despite how detestable it thought of demon kind in general, the angel couldn't exactly berate Elvis. "I shall assist as well," Adna added.

Dumah crossed his arms, looking to the sun with a sneer for a moment, before he presented his answer. "I suppose I should help as well."

Twilight then looked to Monsoon, whom stared at Twilight. Silence lingered between the two, before he clicked his tongue in annoyance. "You know, I was quite ready to tell you 'no', and leave you to die at his hands as you charge in like a fool, but... I'm curious to know how this might pan out."

Twilight gave a warm smile, and sigh of relief. It was then that she turned to the great ice toad that sat on the train. He grumbled and huffed a bit, before he finally answered. "Well, I don't have too much choice on the matter, as you've dragged me away from the cottage and placed me on this bloody contraption right off the bat. I'll assist, but the extent of my help will be artillery fire."

"We'll figure something out," she responded. "Alright then. Everypony, get on the train." It was then that she pulled out a signed scroll with an approved formal request printed on it, stamped with the Princess' seal. "We've got a psychic to catch, and fast."

The unlikely group of monsters boarded the train, with Dumah being the only other one being forced to ride on the open ended platform that Bael occupied due to his size. Once inside, Twilight ushered Elvis to the front, where he was in charge of running the engine, as the normal engineer was relieved of his post, as instructed by the formal request. With everyone ready, Elvis started up the train, and drove them forth to chase the rogue human with a hostage.

I just hope we can stop him, before he reaches Celestia... For the sake of my friends, and all of Equestria.

-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-

Within the span of a half hour, as room 314 sped through the sky, making a bee-line for the grand city of Canterlot, the train that once sat at Ponyville had finally caught up with its target. It honestly wasn't any real surprise, since the one driving it was Elvis himself, manipulating the flame to the point of overcharging the engine's efficiency. Once they knew they gained enough distance ahead of the floating room, Elvis was very careful to dial back the flames and slow down the hearty locomotive to keep a steady pace. With a thumbs up gesture of reassurance from the Deva, Twilight teleported herself to the car that held two of the five beings that accompanied her on this mission. Monsoon was lounging lazily along the seat of the cart, pawing at the handles of his sais, while Adna sat upright, hands gripping its staff tightly and ready to spring into action.

Twilight signaled the two and beckoned them to step close. As they rose from their seats and approached the little unicorn, Twilight concentrated on the roof above them, calculating the velocity the train was going and keeping in mind the spacial awareness. With everything carefully planned out, her horn flared up, and with a flash of light, the three of them were on the roof, relatively stable despite the sudden shift and the outside wind resistance. Monsoon simply shook his head lightly to cast the stars from his eyes, while Adna was a little more worse for wear, not entirely used to such a brand of teleportation.

As they were able to recollect their thoughts, they quickly ran the length of the train's topside, approaching the cart where Bael and Dumah were waiting. They were just in time to see Bael fire a new volley of ice at the flying room. However, every shard was either caught, redirected, or batted away by a psychically captured shard. It was clear Mantis was staying very focused, despite not being able to read any of their minds. In all honesty, the attempt was to test Mantis’ reaction and attention, but it was still rather disheartening to see that nothing was getting through the psycho’s defences.

"This is not good, spellcaster," Dumah announced, addressing Twilight, "No matter what the demon toad launches, no matter the pattern, they are all taken down."

"Then, I shall engage the human directly," Adna declared, flapping his wings hard and taking flight.

"Be careful!" Twilight called out as the brazen angel sped towards the room, hoping to dive through the broken window, grab the hostage, and take out the threat. None of which came to pass, however, as within the instant it took to go from the train to the room, a reasonably large piece of ice swiftly ripped away from the back end of the structure, flew around the perimeter, and swatted Adna out of the sky with a heavy crack. A wailing caw escaped the angel as it tumbled out of the sky, which was followed by a feint thud, and finally punctuated by being left behind by the speeding train and room. "ADNA!"

"Do not mourn. He is still alive, I'm sure," Dumah reassured, "But his action shows that the human's sight is not to be trifled with, either. If we are to be direct, we'll need something he can't simply swat away." Smiling under the mask, he pointed beyond Bael towards a set of steel beams. "Automaton, bring me four of those metal pieces. Once I've finished using them, you will climb inside the structure I make, and I will throw you.”

"And why should I EVER listen to you?" Monsoon spat.

"Would you rather die a defiant coward at his mercy when he finally hunts you down later, or would you rather die fighting in a glorious effort to exert your freedom and self propelled action?"

Monsoon clicked his tongue, before he activated his magnetic powers, and brought Dumah the materials. Once he had him, the former vampire clan leader began bending the thick metal into a heavy, ball-like cage. With an irritated sigh, Monsoon climbed in and kept his magnetic force on to keep himself stable, hoping to whatever deity that was watching this madness would give him one last chance to end this brewing nightmare. Picking up the cage ball with the cyborg inside, Dumah hurled it at the room with a mighty heave, hoping to obliterate the front wall. Twilight tried to protest, but it was too late, as the cage sailed proud and true. Sure enough, a few objects collided with the structure, but none were heavy enough to even slightly veer the course. In the end, it hit the front wall hard, and annihilated the front of the building, embedding in the remainder of the wall, spraying bits of the building everywhere as well as the remaining glass.

Inside the room, Monsoon found that Mantis had already moved himself and his hostage to the back, safely away from the debris and glass. He then reversed the polarity of his magnetism on himself, climbed out of the cage and drew his sais, ready to attack the legendary psychic again. Mantis held his hand forward, and began to push him back with will alone. Despite his swift action and his magnetic repulsion he created to help push him forward, Monsoon was no match for the sheer force and pressure Mantis seemed to exude. The cyborg gritted his teeth as he tried so hard to approach Psycho Mantis, but in the end it was useless. With a final push, the psychic flung Monsoon back into the cage, and wrapped the steel beams around him like some sort of makeshift coffin.

"Oh, how I DO hate rampant technology," Mantis said with a sneer, "I can't read you, I can't understand you, and your parlor tricks irritate me to no end. You, and everything you are, is a deft representation of the crutch a diseased ridden race is so wishing to use and abuse. So much power in such a technological nightmare, and for what? To be used most likely by a street urchin brat that simply stumbled into it that has no rhyme or reason to expand talents not of his own? There is only ONE other being in the universe that should be allowed such a gift, and that is most CERTAINLY not you." Mantis pushed the metal beams inward tighter, eliciting a cry of pain within the ball. "Pathetic." He then psychically pushed the ball off of the building, and launched it at the train, aiming for the engine.

Unable to act, Twilight watched in horror as it sailed over her head. She closed her eyes in panic, expecting the worst, before the sound of a heavy metal crunch and an explosion of fire erupted. She expected to lurch forward and be flung off the locomotive, but when it didn't come, she opened her eyes to see Elvis standing atop the engine car.

"CHICA! Get here QUICK!"

She sighed in relief, before teleporting to Elvis' location. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Peachy, caballo," he responded quickly, "Listen, we're running out of options here and the locomotora is about to take a hefty turn into a mountain tunnel very soon. IF that hijo de puta is flying like el cuervo, he'll be way ahead of you. I'll turn up the heat, but you need to steer the stupid thing."

"Why can't you?"

"One more distraction, cause that puta," he said, pointing to Mantis, whom now stood at the giant hole where the broken window used to be, "looks pissed off."

"Crass as always," she muttered. With little more time to decide, she answered, "Fine. But be safe, alright?"

"Can't count on that, chica. But, get Rosa to set up a party for me, 'ey? No matter what."

"It's a promise." With that, she teleported herself into the engine cart, and began to accelerate the train. She was only glad she studied up on how to operate it a few years back, even though it was simply research out of curiosity.

As for Elvis, he gathered up his demonic fire energy, tensed himself up, and lowered himself to get ready for the hardest and fastest jump in his entire life. "Get reeeeaaady!" Springing up and forth, he extended his fist and engulfed himself in fire, streaking through the sky like a comet, poised to sail proud and true. Just as he did, the train took a turn, and began moving more east than north. However, the room did not follow, as Mantis could only see fire and Elvis getting closer and closer.

"BECAUSE, I'M GOING TO GIVE IT TO Y-"

Was all he managed to shout as he was promptly spiked into the ground by Mantis, kicking up dust and railroad tracks all around. The room simply plowed on through the masking cloud, and looked about the scenery, but noticed the train, and even the tracks, were nowhere to be seen. Just fields of grass, trees, and a river that flowed below the mountains and the city of Canterlot. The remaining interlopers had eluded him.

No matter, he thought, they can't stop me now.

With that, he increased the speed of room 314, and flew straight for the city, ready to make his debut.

-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-

At the front gates of the Palace, Guards lined up with various weapons at the ready, from spears to lances to crossbows, prepared to combat the intruder. All citizens on the palace grounds were ordered to return to their homes until the threat was stopped and the city was safe, which would minimize civilian casualty. In truth, the order made it just in time, as not a soul aside from the Guard was left on the premises.

Despite not being commanded by Shining Armor, they were still confident in their abilities and their duty to defend Canterlot, its citizens, and the Princesses.

It was then that the bizarre, detached room flew overhead and made a slow descent before the gates. As it landed, the guards outside approached, weapons drawn, poised to retaliate. However, rather oddly, said guards soon dropped their own weapons, and began grunting and gritting in agony as they clutched their heads with their own hooves tightly. It was then, with a small symphony of pained cries, that the front gates suddenly burst open, and Mantis, with Lyra in his invisible grip, floated onto the grounds before the small army. They shifted back, weapons still at the ready, but this sight was simply far too much. Some of them had seen creatures like this, but the majority were oblivious to the events in Ponyville.

Never the less, one of the guards panicked, and charged forward in a foolish attempt to attack the intruder. With that came a predictable result: The charging guard was simply swatted away by an invisible force before landing on the ground in a useless, unconscious heap. That then sparked the instincts of the other guards, as the crossbow wielders took aim and fired at the threat. Again, it was pointless, as the arrows simply stopped mid-air, seemingly a solid three meters radius. The arrows all dropped like twigs, clattering against the ground, as Mantis and his hostage began to float forward towards the palace. The guards shouted in defiance, and rushed the intruder, but the attempt was met with their bodies being struck by an unseen force, and either sent flying to and fro in every direction like toys, or they simply crumbled to their knees with colossal, crippling headaches.

Mantis, meanwhile, kept reading Lyra's mind to follow the path towards the likely place his destined victims would be. Normally, he'd just extract the information and move on, but there were a few issues that kept him from making it so simple. The first was that Lyra herself didn't have a photographic memory of the palace's layout, and needed visual cues to help navigate the halls, despite her rather thorough exploration during a fateful wedding. The second was that while he entertained the idea that he could swap out Lyra for one of the guards, he soon found that they all had psychic insulation. Strangely enough, however, each guard seemed to exhibit the exact same mental wall, as if someone was shielding them. Even psychic insulation constructed and maintained by technology had unique quirks due to the intricacies of the individuals mind. Whatever this was, it was a direct defense, and a very powerful one. It didn't stop him, however, from bowling over every single adversary that came before him or squeezing their skulls as if they were like grapes between fingers.

In a few short minutes, after dozens upon dozens of guards attacked him to no avail, with both weapons and magic, remaining forces retreated to the throne room, barring the door, as Mantis slowly approached said doors. They were large and intricately decorated, as a palace door in a fantasy world aught to be, and clearly the final threshold of his journey. He then tossed Lyra aside like a useless doll and prepared to open the door. However, the door itself began to glow with an all too familiar aura, which was seen over and over again in the chess game only an hour before.

"MANTIS!"

The aforementioned psychic turned around and saw his proof standing at the other end of the hall, horn burning with that same light brilliant raspberry color. He immediately tried to read her mind, but found the same mental wall she had up earlier. He realized then that she was obviously not the source of the psychic insulation that the guards had. He began to grow curious, as well as infuriated.

"It'll be useless to keep that door shut for long, Twilight Sparkle," he boasted, "Even though I cannot read you, I can still apply a little of my power to overwhelm your own strengths."

It was then that Mantis began pushing against the door, which caused the wood to creak from the two conflicting pressures: magic and psychic. In response, Twilight's horn began to glow a little more intensely, pushing back and keeping it in place. Mantis stopped for a moment, and turned to her once again with a dark laugh.

"It's useless, I told you. And yet, you still fight. Why?"

"I'll keep this door locked for as long as it takes. By now, the Princesses are probably already getting ready to stop you in the event you break through, and I'll give them as much time as they need before then," she said with confidence. Her mood dipped, however, as she spoke again, "But, if you stop this madness, we can drop this right now, and I'll do what I can to try to send you back home."

Mantis grew ever more curious. The pressure he placed on the door waned as he approached the little unicorn, becoming less interested in the death of hope and more in the mental workings of this particular individual. Her own horn, however, remained alight in its aura, further exemplifying her tenacity. It was intriguing, commendable, but most of all... terrifying.

"You have not answered me. Why do you still fight? I simply can't understand."

"Because I-"

"NO!" he shouted, cutting her off. A silence lingered between the two, before he spoke again, "Anyone can SAY what they want others to believe, and EVERYONE has hidden intentions. It's the basis of the sapience disease. Thought is the language of truth. As long as I can't read you, I can't believe or understand."

Twilight took a step back for a moment, taking the words in and actually taking a good hard look at the strange being in the new implied light. Before her now, all she could see was a very sad individual, unable to trust or understand anyone without prying into their minds forcefully. To be so intelligent and inquisitive, yet to be so detached, desperate, and over focused, it reminded her of someone. Perhaps in another life, he would have been more like herself way back when. Or, more alarmingly...

She took a calming sigh. What's important now, she thought, is ending this rampage and averting this crisis. There is no time to be thinking about what-if scenarios.

"Mantis," she spoke loudly and clearly as she slowly approached him, beginning the trek from down the hall, "I will take down my mental wall, and allow you to read to your hearts content. I have nothing to hide. But, please promise me that you won't hurt my friends, or anypony else." Cautious, he said nothing as the little unicorn approached him with her horn still aglow, right up until she was a mere meter away from him. "Do we have a deal?"

Mantis took a step forward, before he began to kneel down before her. Twilight, believing it was a sign of submission or respect, also stepped closer, now seeing him once again at eye level, hoping to hear him agree with her terms. As she began to think about this, she started lowering her intensity on the spells she was casting in anticipation of a positive answer.

"I don't think it will be necessary," Mantis started, low and quiet, "It's over now."

"Wha-?" was all she was able to utter as both of his hands clasped both sides of her head. Spooked and with her concentration knocked around, her horn suddenly flared in an attempt to cast a teleportation spell out, but the interference was enough to change the spells properties, which suddenly discharged between them in a blazing light. It was then that all feeling left her body and everything went black.

-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-

Twilight stirred a bit, her head throbbing in pain from the strain, as she coiled her own hooves to press against the sore spots. Soon enough, the throbbing melted away, allowing her to finally push her body off of the ground, groggy and spent. Her eyes slowly opened, straining for a moment, before she finally got a look at the ground before her. She was on snow patched grass, which was odd, since she remembered she was most definitely in Canterlot Castle's hallway to the throne. She also remembered it was nowhere near the winter season yet.

She then looked up, and the sight took her breath. At first, all she saw around her was twisted, broken remnants of her home, which already made her heart sink. Further inspection revealed far more horrifying details. Among the homes were strange grey structures made of stone and metal, broken search lights with wires attached to them, random fires, and twisted mountain crags that stretched to a blackened sky. Despite the darkness, the whole place was well lit, and it was clear the randomly placed fires were not responsible. The lighting itself was almost unnatural. Further still, she could hear thunder, but not a cloud could be seen in the sky. Only stars, and a very strange looking moon.

"Where... am I?" Twilight asked herself. Whereever she was, it certainly wasn't home. She thought for a moment, before coming up with one other very important and terrifying question. "Where's Mantis?!"

Author's Note:

Kamelot

Comments

[Bold Promise]

I recognize the significance of the number 314, I just can't rember what it is.
I like the mindscape design.

[Nightmare_0mega]

8754235
It's just Mantis' hospital room number. He ripped the room out of the building and is using it as transportation. remember?

[Bold Promise]

8754595
Just saying I distincly remember the number from somewhere prior to reading these chapters. I figured it wqs significant or some kind of reference, like the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, or something.

[Nightmare_0mega]

8755228
Not really. Not that I'm aware. I was just considering how the hospital was set up (seeing as it was three stories), and made his room to be 314.

[Dark reaper]

8755228

8755420

n = 3,14

[Nightmare_0mega]

11365462
Enjoying the story?

Also, what's with "n = 3,14"?