Oblivion*

View Online

Author’s note: I don’t own MLP or Amnesia/Amnesia:Justine, those two thingies are owned by Hasbro and Frictional Games.

Oblivion

Alois shuffled through the passageway, the stone was cold under his bare feet and the chill wind was harsh on his naked body, he was honestly surprised that he could even feel anything after all that he had been through.

The chains that were wrapped around his wrists and ankles made soft clinking noises as he moved, no doubt the sound would make his love aware of his presence, he felt a smile tug at the corners of his dry lips, maybe this time Justine wouldn’t run from him, his stomach rumbled like a volcano about to erupt, then cramped painfully, Alois groaned and clutched his hollow stomach with a maimed hand, How long has it been since I ate? he wondered.

Then he heard something to his right, the sound of a box being scraped along the floor, Alois had walked the various corridors and had paced each cell and room so many times that he knew exactly from which room the sound emanated.

Speeding up as fast as his blindness and frail body would allow Alois felt his way past several cells, his breath coming out in painful wheezes as he did, the collar around his neck had been making his breathing steadily more harsh, he could feel the cold metal slowly digging into his throat, but none of that mattered as long as his darling Justine was with him, all he had to do was find her and then all would be well.

And what if it isn't? asked a traitorous little voice in the back of his head, a voice which, over time, had been growing stronger,

Alois angrily brushed that thought away, he knew that Justine would make everything better, SHE would make the voice go away and then she and he would live a peaceful life-

The voice laughed derisively You’re the most pathetic man in all of France, there will be no peace for you and Justine, that woman has poisoned your mind and twisted your body, even if you did get to the surface you would be reviled, you would be nothing more than a sideshow oddity, come and see the man with no eyes and a thousand scars!

I love her! And I know that she reciprocates my feelings! Alois thought defensively

Oh? Would someone who truly loved you make you mutilate yourself in such a manner or even do the mutilating? Would someone who truly cares for you leave you naked and beaten in this cold, dark place? Face the facts Alois, you are little more than a guinea pig to her.

shutupshutupShutupShutUpSHUTUP!!!

You are just a toy to her Alois, what would Father say? What would Mother? They would be appalled beyond words, they would disown you, they would-

Alois let out a bellow that sounded more animal than man, he lashed out blindly, his fist connecting with the damp stone of a wall, he heard the stone shatter and felt a wave of pain coarse through his arm, with a growl Alois let his arm hang at his side, then he heard it: a cold giggle.

“Justine? Is that you, my love?” he croaked, the collar feeling heavier than it had before.

“Hello Alois” said Justine, her voice as beautiful and soft as ever, “I was wondering where you were.”

“You came for me.” he said, advancing on her.

Justine snickered as Alois moved closer to her, his hands outstretched, now he would finally be able to hold her, for her to take him in return, he had bested Basile and Malo, now he could spend his days with her.

Then his hands met steel bars.

The snickering became full blown, cold, cruel laughter, Alois felt confused, “Justine? Why won’t you let me be with you? I must have outlasted Basile and Malo, that means that I won your game, right? Justine? Please answer me!” he began to feel dread welling up within his heart.

The laughter stopped and Justine spoke, her voice icy: “Has the truth really not made itself apparent to you, my dear? Are you so unbelievably stupid that you would still think that I cared for you after all of the things that I’ve done to you? I must confess I am surprised at the tenacity which you use to cling to your delusions.”

Alois felt his heart grow heavy as Justine continued, “You were nothing to me, Alois! Nothing at all! I only wanted to test you, to see how far I could stretch your psyche until it snapped, you were just a guinea pig.”

Just a guinea pig….

Alois felt his heart break, the treacherous voice in his head was right, the truth of his situation hit him like a ton of bricks: he was alone underground, ensconced deep within a series of tunnels that very few people knew about, he was naked, he was blind, he was starving and dehydrated, he was wounded and bleeding, but the worst thing was that Justine, the woman that he had thrown his life away for, cared nothing about him.

He felt tears flow from his sockets, sobs tore their way out of his throat as he curled into a ball, the haunting laughter of Justine filling his mind.

As he lay there he wished that he could undo all of the things that he had done, all the time that he had wasted, he had just wanted peace, had wanted someone to love and to love him back, he desperately wished for a chance at that

Then he heard the sound of clinking chains accompanied by psychotic laughter.

Malo De Vigny, the mad suitor, had arrived.

“Well, well, well if it isn’t little Alois Racine” said Malo in his high-pitched voice “I thought you would have died by now….. I guess I was wrong, I guess I’ll have to eat you now mon petit adversaire, then I’ll finally be able to taste Justine’s warm blood and soft flesh!” the mad suitor burst into peals of laughter as he wrapped his fingers around Alois’s neck and squeezed.

“Bon voyage, mes ami!!” he crowed.

Please…. Please…. Just one more chance…. Alois thought as consciousness slipped from him.

Across the incomprehensibly massive sea of the universe...

In a planet called Equis…

In the land of Equestria…

In the city of Canterlot…

Princess Luna could barely contain her excitement; it was only a few seconds before the meteor shower started, being the ruler of the night had its perks if you were astronomically inclined, and Luna most certainly was.

Tonight was going to be spectacular, she had set up a cushion under the massive telescope that dominated a good portion of the royal observatory, she had laid out several dozen different types of snacks, some comic books and her favorite plushie, which looked like a crescent moon with a gaming headset on.

Luna looked at the clock that hung above one of the many windows: it was 12:00 on the dot.
Luna got up and trotted over to the telescope, she put her eye to the scope and looked out at the wide blanket of stars, all twinkling like little diamonds.

When the clock struck 12:01 the shower started.

It was amazing, Luna felt her breath catch in her throat at the sight of the hail of golden lights falling from the heavens, Luna had seen only three meteor showers in her long life, but this fourth one was definitely the most spectacular, Luna felt like she was a thousand years younger.

Then something caught her eye: it was a meteor, but it wasn’t the usual golden color, it was bright red and it was also moving very slowly.

Luna watched in awe as it was joined by two more just like it, all of them moving far slower than their siblings, Luna wondered if this was somehow significant, like the whole “The stars will aid in her escape” bit from The Legend of the Mare in the Moon, Luna thought on it for a second, then grinned and went over to a nearby desk, picking up a quill and scroll in her magical aura she began to write:

“Dear Twilight Sparkle.

Hello, it is I, Luna, I discovered something very peculiar whilst I was watching the meteor shower: I saw three red comets moving much slower than the rest, I would like to know if this has any significance, maybe it’s a sign or portent?

Please get back to me, I haven’t heard from you in a long while and I would very much like to meet with you, maybe we could talk about this odd development over tea?

Please get back to me.

Your friend
Princess Luna”

Luna rolled up the scroll and sent it out,wondering if she should have put a question mark after “Your Friend”, she felt a very familiar sense of loneliness fill her, it was true that she was free of Nightmare Moon’s evil, but many of the public and a great deal of the royal staff were still wary of her, the only ones who seemed to accept her were Celestia, who was often asleep when Luna was awake, and the Elements of Harmony, who had seen her striped of Nightmare Moon’s influence first hand.

But Luna hadn’t seen them in a few months, not since the events of the Canterlot Wedding, she turned back to the telescope and walked back to it, she looked out the scope and saw that the shower was almost over, Luna sighed and laid down, the feeling of awe replaced by one of sadness.

I just wish that they’d accept me again, even if they don’t like the night it would still be so wonderful to have a true friend. she thought as she closed her eyes.

Awakening *

View Online

Author’s Note: I don’t own MLP or Amnesia: Justine

Awakening

Alois felt consciousness return to him. This surprised him a great deal, considering that the last thing he remembered was the crushing feeling of Malo’s bloody hands wrapping around the upper part of his throat, forcing the collar deep into the meat of his neck. Surely that should have killed him, but no, he was definitely still alive; he could feel his heart beating in his chest and he could feel various textures around him.

Alois held his breath, waiting to see if the pain in his throat would intensify, when it didn’t he decided to use his remaining senses to gauge his new surroundings.

He was slumped against something, something rough, hard and tall enough to provide shade, a tree? Was he outside? He sniffed the air deeply, he could smell several different kinds of plant life, some of which he thought could have been flowers, he smelled wood and sap, mushrooms, grass and earth.

These new smells were so different from the usual smells of mildew, decay, excrement and blood. The suddenness of the new scents left Alois stunned, How did I end up here? he wondered Did Malo drag me out? If so, then where is he? Surely he would have tied me up if he wanted to eat me, did someone find me? How did I even get out? I don't remember finding an exit or even fighting Malo off.

Alois decided to see if he could find any sign of civilization, he recalled that, although Justine’s mansion was secluded above ground,the tunnels below ground were massive. He hoped that it would take less time to get to the town nearest to her mansion because of this.

His stomach groaned and so did he, he had no clue how he had staved off starvation for so long, the only things he had eaten from the time that Justine began her little games to his reawakening had been a few filthy rats and some rather large insects that might have been roaches.

Alois ignored his hunger of a while longer before another agonizing cramp hit him, he doubled over, desperately wanting to vomit, but he knew that there was next to nothing in his stomach and losing anything else at this moment might have serious repercussions.

Alois regained his balance and staggered onwards, stopping only when more cramps came, eventually he felt the ground change under his feet, going from roots, rocks and weeds to soft grass that cushioned his footfalls.

As he continued his trek he began to feel afraid, Have I gone in the wrong direction? What will I do when night falls? I’m in no condition to defend myself should I come upon a bear or a wolf, Basile and Malo were the strong ones, I bet they could survive in this situation.

Alois sighed as he remembered his father, he hadn't taken to Justine at all, he had thought that there was something wrong with her, when Alois had asked him what it was he had only said “Her eyes… it’s like looking into a darkened window, like she has no soul.”

Now Alois wished that he had taken father’s advice and stayed away from her.

Then he heard something, it wasn't too far off and it sounded like… singing? Hope surged through Alois’s being, he was close to civilization after all! He hurried forwards, his keen hearing leading him on.

The singing got louder and more beautiful, it was obviously a female singing, her voice sounded soft and sweet, unlike Justine’s brash and arrogant voice, Alois drew nearer, but then stopped himself, Wait…. what if it IS Justine singing? She could have learned to mimic voices. No, that’s ridiculous, Justine is not the type to dedicate herself to something so trivial.

Alois sniffed the air again, hoping to smell smoke, exhaust fumes, metal or something that would indicate a town, but there was nothing, Alois’s hope faded and was replaced by suspicion, What would a person be doing this far away from civilization? he wondered, the singing stopped and he moved in closer and listened: there were other people and, judging by the sounds of chewing and idle conversation, they were having a picnic.

“Hey Twilight! Earth to Twilight, c’mon snap out of it” said a raspy voice

“Huh? What?” came a startled-sounding reply

“Ugh, I wanted to ask you if you wanted any fritters.” said the first voice

“Oh, sure, sorry about that, this is just a really fascinating book on the nature of signs and portents.”

“Portents? Like the Legend of the Mare in the Moon?” said a new voice, this one sounding much more refined than the rest, her voice reminded Alois of Justine, although this voice was warm and happy-sounding, rather than cold and prideful.

“Yes, Princess Luna contacted me and asked me to look into something for her, apparently she saw three red comets during the meteor shower last night, she says she thinks it might mean something, but I think she just wants to hear from us, I feel kinda bad for not visiting her more often.” the voice took on a guilty tone.

“Darn tootin’” said a new voice, this one sounded American, with a thick southern twang, “Ah think we should invite her over for a little get-together, it’ll gimme a chance to try out mah newest recipe, too!”

“That would be nice, but what if Luna says no?” asked another new voice, this one sounded like the singer, but the owner of the vice spoke very softly, almost as if she were afraid.

“Of course she’ll say yes, silly filly!” said another voice, this one high-pitched and full of energy, “nopony can resist a good party?”

Alois cocked his head, did she say noPONY? Were these women mad or had he misheard? Who was this Princess Luna character? He hadn't heard of her before, maybe Britain had given the title of princess to someone else whilst he had been imprisoned, Luna was a very fitting name for royalty.

“Wait a second” said the hyperactive speaker “twitchy tail, knee cramp, scrunchy ear and…. wonky eye!” there was a deafening silence before she continued “that means that there’s somepony watching us!”

Alois felt his heartbeat quicken.

There was a noise like a miniature stampede followed by a chorus of whispering which was too low for even Alois’s ears to pick up, he waited with baited breath before the raspy voiced person spoke up

“Alright bub, come outta wherever you’re hiding and maybe, just maybe I won’t decide to thrash you.”

Alois didn't want a beating, he didn't know how much more abuse his body could take, so, with a swallow and a slight tremble in his appendages he walked out of his hiding place and into what he guessed was the clearing in which they were having their picnic.

Before he could even open his mouth to ask for help he was met by a chorus of screams, he cursed himself, he should have known that his appearance would frighten them, why couldn't he have warned them first?

Alois held his hands up and said “Wait! I mean you no harm, I just want to-”

“Eat our brains??!!!!” growled the raspy-voiced one

“Turn us to stone?” whimpered the posh-voiced one

“Swallow our souls?” asked the American one

“Eat our brains. turn us to stone AND swallow our souls?!” squealed the hyperactive one

“No I just-” Alois began, but he was cut off by a whooshing sound, like a very big bird taking off, Alois instinctively ducked and felt something brush against the top of his bald head, it felt like feathers, Alois backed away, wishing that he didn't look so monstrous, he heard the raspy-voiced one say “Don’t worry girls, I’ll protect ya.”, Alois turned on his heel and ran to the best of his ability.

As he ran he wondered if he’d ever be able to show his face to people without them screaming and running, he felt tears begin to leak from his sockets as he wondered if that had been Justine’s plan all along, to turn him into a beast.

If it was, then she had succeeded.

A Sort-Of Flashback

View Online

Author’s Note: I don’t own MLP or Amnesia: Justine

A Sort-Of Flashback

Twilight Sparkle sighed in contentment, in her humble opinion there were few things in all of Equis that were better than doing research, the intake of new knowledge was something that she loved and it definitely helped that the assignment that she had been given had come from Princess Luna, whom she hadn’t seen since Nightmare Night.

Twilight felt a twinge of guilt when she had read the letter, Luna must be so lonely she thought afterwards, I know there are a lot of ponies who don’t want anything to do with her because of the Nightmare Moon incident, even though we cleansed her and she’s back by her sister’s side. Twilight felt the guilt increase when she realized something: she herself hadn’t done anything to rectify that situation.

Twilight looked back at the book that she was reading with determination burning in her eyes, I’m going to make it up to Luna and the first thing I’m going to do is research the hay out of this whole “red meteor” thing.

Five hours later Spike came down to find his big sister/boss with her head buried in a massive tome, Spike warily approached her

“Uhh… Twilight?” he asked, “are you okay?

Twilight raised her head and let out a long groan.

Spike chuckled, “That bad huh?”

Twilight groaned again, softer this time.

Spike wandered over to her and comfortingly patted her on the back, “There, there now, it’ll be alright” he said in his best calming tone, one that he had nearly perfected over the years, Twilight raised her head and Spike saw that her eyes were bloodshot from barely blinking, Spike sighed in faint annoyance at the sight, “Twilight, you promised me that you wouldn't do stuff like this anymore.” he said in a scolding tone.

“ But I need to do this” said Twilight, sounding more like a filly than her usual self, “Why?” asked Spike, “ Because Princess Luna gave me an assignment and I feel really bad for not being there for her when I should have… I have to do this.”

Spike scratched his head with a talon, “Why don’t you just invite her to a party?”

Twilight’s eyes widened, Uh-oh, he didn’t just say the “P-word” did he?, before she could so much a blink a familiar pink-maned head popped in through a window, “Did somepony say ‘party’?”

“Hi Pinkie Pie.” said Twilight with a smile, Pinkie Pie may have been more than a little odd, but she was still one of Twilight’s best friends and one of the few things, or ponies, that Twilight considered better than research.

“Whats this about a party? *GASP* is there somepony new in town? Because if it is then I’ve gotta get home, get the party cannon, make cakes, make cupcakes, m-” Pinkie was silenced by an orange hoof being placed over her mouth, Applejack entered the library with a tired smile on her face.

“Sorry ‘bout that sugarcube, she’s been like this the entire day and Ah have no clue why, it’s like she’s extra excited or somethin’”

Twilight’s eyes widened, “EXTRA excited?! Is that even possible?”

The orange earth pony shrugged “This IS Pinkie we’re talkin’ about.”

Twilight nodded her head knowingly, “I just hope this isn’t like that time when I tried to figure out her Pinkie Sense.” she said with a shudder.

Applejack chuckled and patted Twilight on the back, “Ah’m sure no hydras will be involved in any ‘o today’s activities.”

When Twilight gave her a quizzical look Applejack groaned in annoyance, “Oh Sugarcube, don’t tell me that ya forgot about the picnic?”

Twilight blinked owlishly before giving her friend a weak smile, “Eh heh heh, ummmm…. no?”, Applejack raised an eyebrow, “Twilight d’you know which one of the Elements Ah am?” she said in a slightly teasing tone, Twilight blushed and looked at the floor, “You’re the Element of Honesty…”

“Sorry what? Speak up, Twilight.”

Twilight sighed, “You’re the Element of Honesty.”

“Eeyup, and d’you think that Ah would still be the Element of Honesty if Ah couldn’t detect a lie?”

Twilight looked her in the eye and said “Okay, Okay, I forgot about the picnic, but Princess Luna sent me an assignment and I have to do it because…. well, because I kinda haven’t been there for her and I want to make up for it.”

Applejack smiled and Pinkie Pie, who had been talking at Spike about something, looked at her and beamed, “Awwwww… that’s so nice, you really are an awesome friend!”, Twilight blushed deeply.

“So did ya find anything?” asked Applejack.

Twilight shook her head, “No, she contacted me about the meteor shower last night, she said that she saw three red meteors moving slower than the rest, she wants me to see if there’s anything weird about that.”

“IS there anything weird about it?” asked Applejack.

“Well… yes, actually there is something odd about it, I mean I’ve checked all of the records, but so far there’s nothing about red meteors, it might be something entirely new” Twilight’s voice grew more excited with each word, “I only have one more book to read and, if nothing shows up, then I can tell Luna that she discovered something new! I bet that’ll make her happy.”

Applejack nodded and gestured to the door, “Why don’t you take that book ‘o yours with ya to the picnic, Celestia knows you’ve done it a couple bajillion times.”

Twilight nodded and levitated the book into a nearby satchel, which she then slung around her shoulders, Pinkie Pie whooped and zoomed out of the door, leaving a Pinie-shaped cloud of dust behind her, Applejack chuckled and trotted out the door as well, Twilight turned to Spike and opened her mouth to say something, but the little dragon waved her off.

“I know I know, I’ll stay here and make sure no one breaks in or something like that.” he said.

“You can come with us if you want.” said Twilight, there was another zooming noise and Twilight saw a dragon-shaped dust cloud where her assistant/friend used to be, “Hmmm… Maybe he and Pinkie are more similar than I thought, I may have to do some tests, maybe it’s a mood thing.” she thought aloud as she set off.

Fluttershy lay on the grass, surveying the beauty of the clearing that she and her friends were picnicking in.

The grass was emerald green, the sky was cloudless and the surrounding woods were teaming with life, Fluttershy sighed in contentment as she lay her head on the blanket that she and Rainbow Dash had set up, she let her mind wander and thought of her pet bunny, Angel, she hoped he was doing okay while she was away, he was pretty mischievous, but she knew that he loved her enough to not cause too much trouble.

She thought of her friends and how far they’d come: they’d purified Princess Luna of Nightmare Moon’s wicked influence, they’d destroyed King Sombra and ended his fearful reign once and for all, the same year they had also defeated Queen Chrysalis and her changeling army, they had even defeated and reformed Discord, the spirit of Chaos and Disharmony.

Fluttershy felt sadness creep up on her, it had been nearly a month since she had seen her newest friend, Celestia had sent him on an assignment that she hadn’t told them about, Fluttershy knew that the Princess had her reasons, but she wished that she could at least have some way of contacting him.

Something made Fluttershy’s ears perk up: it sounded like…. rustling? She looked at her friends to see if any of them had made the noise; Pinkie Pie was happily gorging herself on cupcakes and fritters, Spike was fast asleep, Applejack was arguing with Rarity about proper etiquette again and Rainbow Dash was trying to get Twilight’s head out of a book, a shadow crossed the sun and Fluttershy looked upwards to see a dozen birds fly past, all of them different breeds, yet all of them flying together.

Fluttershy turned her gaze to the treetops; every few minutes she saw a couple of birds leave their nests and every time they did it seemed like the location of the nests were getting nearer to the clearing.

Fluttershy felt the hair stand up on her neck, something was wrong, she could feel it.

Fluttershy turned her attention to the others and found them to be deep in a discussion about signs and portents and Luna, Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak up when she heard something coming from the woods, it was too soft to make out, but it was there and it was getting closer.

Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, but Pinkie Pie beat her to the punch, “ Wait a second, twitchy tail, knee cramp, scrunchy ear and… wonky eye!”, everypony gave the pink mare a quizzical look before she elaborated “that means that there’s somepony watching us!”

Fluttershy perked her ears up and listened, to her terror she heard the noise from before, but it was much clearer; it sounded like the clinking of chains.

Fluttershy and the others got to their hooves and backed up until their flanks were practically touching, Rainbow Dash flared her wings and hovered a good ten feet from the ground, she placed her hooves to her mouth and shouted, “Alright bub, come outta wherever you’re hiding and maybe, just maybe I won’t decide to thrash you.”

The silence that followed seemed like an eternity, Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to call out again, but then the thing that had been watching them decided to step into view at that very moment and Dash’s words died in her throat.

The thing was not a pony, not even close, it was taller than they were, it lacked any hair on its emaciated body, chains encircled its arms and legs and wound their way around his torso, there was a massive wheel or collar around its neck that seemed to be digging into its skin, all of that was scary enough, but the hideous scars and hollow sockets where its eyes should have been made it almost too much to look at.

Everypony screamed and backed away, everypony, that is, except for Fluttershy, whose eyes were glued on the poor creature and his numerous wounds.

The creature raised its thin hands in what she assumed was a placating manner and said, “Wait!” he said in a thin voice “I mean you no harm, I just want to-”

“Eat our brains?!?!” asked Rainbow Dash accusatory, her eyes narrowed, Fluttershy started to protest, but Rarity cut her off by whimpering “Turn us to stone?”, Fluttershy turned to reprimand her posh friend, but Applejack added her own accusation with a frightened “Swallow our souls?”.

Fluttershy huffed and looked at Applejack, this was getting out of control fast, then Pinkie put the final nail in the horseshoe by screaming out “Eat our brains, turn us to stone AND swallow our souls?!”, this egged Rainbow Dash on and, with a yell of “Don’t worry, I’ll protect ya!”, she darted at the confused creature, who seemed to hear her wing beats and raised its arms over its bald head, the cyan pegasus prepared to launch herself again, but the creature had already ran away.

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms and adopted a smug smile, “That’ll teach that… whatever the hay that thing was to hurt MY friends.”

“Rainbow Dash!” said Fluttershy in her best scolding tone, “That poor creature was hurt and you ran it off!”

Dash gave her a shocked look, “Are you serious?! Didja see that thing?”

“It looked like a Diamond Dog.” said Rarity with a small shudder, “but So. Much. Worse.”

“Did ya see that thing’s eyes? They were all black.” said Spike.

“Ah don’t think it HAD eye’s sugarcube.” said Applejack.

“ It was obviously hurt” said Fluttershy “and you tried to attack it before it could say what it had to say.”

“Oh? And what d’you think it was gonna say?” asked Rainbow Dash angrily

“It was probably going to ask for help because it was hurt badly, it even told you that it meant no harm!” said Fluttershy with a bit of pre-Stare anger creeping into her voice, without another word she turned towards the spot where the creature had vanished and bolted after it.

Everypony stared at her retreating form in shock, then they ran after her.

Unchained

View Online

Author’s Note: I don’t own MLP or Amnesia: Justine

Unchained

Alois’s stamina was almost out and he still wasn’t as far away from those mad women as he would have hoped, I wish that this damned collar was gone, it feels like it’s getting heavier he thought as he ran, sweat was pouring down his body, making it feel like someone was jabbing needles into his wounds; Justine had been fond of needles for the first few weeks of his torture, but then she had moved onto more unpleasant methods of causing pain.

He could hear one of them coming up behind him, closing the distance rapidly, he listened and heard the voice of the woman, he thought it was the soft-spoken one, say “Wait! Please wait!”, the way her voice sounded, sad and desperate, reminded him of how he sounded when he was pursuing Justine, only her voice didn’t have that odd distortion in it.

He felt a thorny branch slice his cheek open and he raised his hand to the cut out of reflex just as the woman called out again, this time she said “I know my friends were mean to you, but I can help you.”, she sounded so sincere that it completely distracted him from focusing on using his senses to navigate and his left foot suddenly went down a hole made by some animal, Alois’s body fell to the ground while the left leg stayed in the same position, there was a tremendous CRACK!! and Alois let out a scream as pain shot through his leg.

Fluttershy was rapidly tiring, but she pressed on regardless, she was the only one who hadn’t backed away at the sight of the strange creature, she had seen the horrific wounds on his body as well as his unnatural thinness and her heart had gone out to him, she had been caring for animals for long enough to know when when injuries had potential to be fatal and this creature’s wounds looked like they were close to getting infected.

Fluttershy heard a scream followed by a choking, gasping sound, she picked up the pace and it didn’t take her long to find the creature.

It was laying on its side, clawing at the collar around its throat, Fluttershy, pushing aside her natural timidity, got closer to examine it and gasped, the damage that the collar had done was worse than she had previously thought, it had chafed and rubbed the skin so much that it had actually worked its way past the skin and buried itself into the muscle, there was so much dead skin and blood around the wound that Fluttershy felt tears come to her eyes; It must be so painful, the poor thing.

Then her eyes traveled downwards to his legs and she held a hoof to her mouth in silent horror: the left leg was twisted and mangled, the creature had got its foot trapped in a rabbit hole and had completely destroyed the bone.

Fluttershy looked around before looking back to the thing, she needed to calm it down, she got closer and said “Hello? You need to calm down or you’ll make all of your injuries worse, okay?”, the creature stopped struggling, but kept its hands on the collar, “Okay, that’s very good, I’m going to grab your shoulders and sit you up, but you’ve got to promise me that you won’t try to run, your leg is in very bad shape and it will hurt a lot if you put any pressure on it.”.

The creature hesitated, then nodded and Fluttershy gently began to move it into a sitting position, as she did it made tiny, pitiful whimpers like an injured puppy, Fluttershy felt her heart grow heavy at those sounds, once it was fully upright the creature released its hold on the collar and placed its hands over its hollow sockets, Fluttershy walked around to its front and noted the visible ribs and pelvis bone, blushing when she saw the thing’s privates.

She was snapped out of her embarrassment by the sounds of soft, shuddering sobs, “Ohhh… w-w-why did this h-happen to me?” he wept “I-I thought I was free… I thought….” the rest of his words were drowned by the sound of running hooves, Twilight and the others emerged from the thicket, panting and on edge.

Rainbow Dash flew to Fluttershy, “What the hay is wrong with you!!?” she bellowed, Fluttershy stood her ground and said “He’s hurt Rainbow Dash, what do you expect me to do?”, Dash threw her hooves in the air in exasperation, “I dunno, but did you ever stop to think that he might want to… I don’t know, EAT us?!”.

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes and got closer to her friend, “Look at him.” she said in a voice that held no room for rebuke, Rainbow Dash sighed and moved in closer to look at the strange creature, who was silently shaking, her eyes locked on the collar, then roved past his scarred torso and settled on his broken leg, she tried to resist the pity that she felt welling up inside her, but her natural toughness wasn’t doing much to help.

Fluttershy beckoned the rest over and they tentatively obeyed her, Pinkie, being Pinkie, got the closest with her face almost touching his, the creature was still shaking and covering his eyes, but he had stopped whimpering, Fluttershy saw Pinkie frown; being a pony who practically thrived off of happiness Pinkie always hated to see somepony sad, even if this particular creature wasn’t a pony.

Applejack and Rarity moved closer in tandem, Rarity looked disgusted at the sight of the blood, turning her nose up slightly and averting her eyes, Applejack lowered her head and sighed, obviously feeling guilty.

Twilight, being the most curious out of all of them, got nearly as close as Pinkie and bent to look at him, her large eyes darting from one limb to another.

It was Fluttershy who broke the silence.

“He’s hurt Twilight, will you help me take him back to my cottage?”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened, “You can’t be serious.” she said with utter befuddlement, “ What if there are more of him? Don’t you think they’d come looking for it? What if it’s just playing a trick on us?”

Fluttershy heaved an exasperated sigh and looked her friend dead in the eyes, “If that’s the case then I’ll accept full responsibility for whatever happens. But I think that you’re overreacting.”

“You think I’m overreacting?!” Rainbow Dash said in total shock “Well I think you’re UNDERreacting, for all we know this thing could be some kinda evil spirit like Discord!”

“But Discord was reformed.” said Pinkie Pie, Dash shot a glare at her candy-haired friend.

“Can’t you just have Twilight use a healing spell on him or something?” asked Rarity.

“Sorry girls, but I’m not sure I have enough energy to fix all of the things that are wrong with him” Said Twilight, “He’s malnourished, dehydrated, blind, suffering from exposure and he has more cuts than skin, I’m honestly surprised that he’s even alive.”

It was at that moment that the creature fell over onto his side and didn’t get up.

Fluttershy ran to the creature and lifted him up.

“Is he-” began Rarity, but Fluttershy cut her off with a shake of her head.

Fluttershy turned to Twilight, who saw her worry-filled eyes and trembling lip, without even needing to be asked she wrapped the creature in her purple aura and lifted him off the ground, the look of happiness and relief on Fluttershy’s face overpowered the death glare that Rainbow Dash sent her way.

“C’mon Flutters, lets get him back to your place.” she said with a smile.

Once they were inside Fluttershy’s cottage the real work began.

Twilight levitated the creature into the living room and laid him down on the couch, Fluttershy had her fetch some washcloths, a pail of warm water, a needle and thread, various ointments and a bundle of bandages.

“Okay, what do we do?” asked Twilight once she had finished laying everything out.

“First we need to get that collar off of his neck, but we need to be very slow and careful, the metal has worked its way into his neck and we might cause more harm than help if we’re not careful.” said Fluttershy as she began to wet the washcloths.

Twilight watched as her timid friend began to slowly scrub the blood and dead skin around the collar away to reveal the outer edges of the raw wound underneath, she had always been fascinated by the change that Fluttershy underwent when she was helping an animal, she was confident, resolute, her hooves didn’t shake, she never seemed to sweat and she was the one who gave orders to whomever was helping her, be it Angel Bunny or one of her friends.

After Fluttershy had finished cleaning the area she called Twilight over and instructed her to use her magic to remove the collar as gently as she could, Twilight focused her magic and began to saw away at the bars that held the outer ring of the collar in place, after that was finished she tossed the outer ring and the bars aside and began to undo the latch screws that fixed the inner ring in place.

Then, with great gentleness, she levitated the two halves of the inner ring away from the wound, which began to bleed almost instantly, Fluttershy cleaned the blood off, sewed up any tears in the flesh that she found, disinfected the whole thing and then bandaged him up.

After that she set about removing the thick chains that had been wrapped around his body, wincing as she pulled several hooks free from his battered skin, by the end of it Fluttershy had removed about 6 feet of filthy chain.

Fluttershy sat back with a small smile, “I’m so glad nothing went wrong” she said, “Now all we need to do is set his leg and clean and bandage his cuts.”

Twilight nodded and then looked at the creature, noticing the blood around his eyes she said “Umm… Fluttershy? I just noticed something about his eyes, if those are where his eyes are supposed to be.” she beckoned her friend over and watched as her expression went from relieved to pitying and then to horrified.

“Twilight” she breathed “It looks like somepony…. b-burned his eyes out.” she turned to Twilight with tears in her eyes, “Wh-who would do something like this? I don’t even think Queen Chrysalis would be this evil!” Twilight went to comfort her, but Fluttershy gasped and said in a shaky voice “Wait…. the chains, that horrible collar, the cuts and eyes…. oh no, Twilight I think he was-I think he was tortured.”

The horrified silence that followed spanned only a few seconds, but it felt much longer than that.

Fluttershy’s knees buckled and she fell to the floor a sobbing wreck, Twilight, feeling tears of her own begin to blur her vision, wrapped her forehooves around the sobbing mare’s neck and hugged her.

“it’s just s-s-so a-awful” she stammered in between her crying “I’ve n-never s-seen something like this b-before… what did he do to deserve this?”

“I don’t know, Fluttershy” said Twilight “But if we can find the culprit we will and we’ll bring him or her to justice, I promise you that.”

Just then the creature let out a long moan and began to stir, the two ponies shared an uncertain glance before they moved towards him, hoping that he would be a friend and not a foe.

A New World

View Online

Author’s Note: I don’t own MLP or Amnesia: Justine

A New World

Alois felt…. strange.

For one thing the pain in his leg had subsided to a dull throb, he could feel things covering his body.

Bandages?

Yes, there were bandages covering a great deal of his body, he felt lighter too, he shifted his ankles and wrists and was surprised to not hear the clinking of his chains, they were gone.

He then realized that he was laying down.

Panic surged through him and he raised his hands to his throat in order to keep the collar from doing any more damage; to his complete and utter shock his hands met only bandages and warm skin.

The collar was gone.

Alois felt tears of elation well up in his sockets, he had no clue who could have done this for him, but he owed them a great deal.

Then he heard breathing, it sounded like there were two people in the room with him.

“Hello?” he called out in a raspy voice.

“Hello.” came the timid reply, if Alois had still possessed eyelids he would have widened them in shock, the soft-voiced madwoman from the woods had helped him?

A series of thoughts flashed through his mind: Why did she help me? Was she going to do what Justine did? But why would she go to all of the trouble to take the collar and chains off of me if she was going to do that? What if she’s just lulling me into a false sense of security? I’m helpless to defend myself. But what if she doesn’t have bad intentions? Why would she help me when her friends were afraid?

Finally deciding to test out his vocal chords some more he said “I remember you. Why did you help me?”

The answer that he got surprised him: “Because you looked like you were in so much pain and I just couldn’t bear the thought of letting somepony die, e-even though you aren’t a pony.”

“What do you mean ‘pony’?” asked Alois “Have I been so mutilated that I look equine?”

“Oh no, no, no” said the woman who had been talking about Signs and Portents “I mean you aren’t like us, what are you, anyway?”

Alois shook his head before answering, “I am a human being, is it really that hard to tell?”, he said this last bit with some sadness.

“A ‘hyoo-mun’?” asked the woman in an interested tone.

“Yes a human” said Alois “The way that you say it, it makes it sound like you’ve never heard of your own race!”

“Oh no, we aren’t ‘hyoo-muns’.” said the soft-voiced one.

Alois felt his blood go cold.

“W-what? O-of course you’re human, y-you have to be.” he stammered “Oh Lord, am I in the presence of two madwomen?”

Just then he heard a door open with a bang as several somethings entered, he could make out the voices of the other women from the clearing.

“Alright, where is he?” said the the raspy one in a much softer tone than the one she had used before.

“I’m right here.” Alois said in a small voice.

There was a sound like wings beating and he was aware of a presence near his head, when the voice spoke again it was much, much closer than it had been previously, but there was no way that any human could move so fast.

“Hey” she said after a few tense seconds “ I was thinking about how I acted before and-well- I was pretty mean and…. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have freaked out like that, I thought you were a monster and that you’d try to hurt my friends, obviously you aren’t a monster so…. sorry again.”

Alois nodded, “I understand perfectly and I forgive you, I’m sure I do look pretty monstrous. But I assure you, madame that I mean no harm to you or your friends, I wouldn’t hurt someone who helped me.”

He heard a sigh of relief, followed by a high-pitched giggle.

“See? I told you he wasn’t a big meanie.” said the hyperactive one.

“ Okay, okay, you were right Pinkie, don’t rub it in.” said the raspy voiced one with a slight chuckle.

“Wait, did you say some ONE?” came the posh voice.

“Yeeesss?” was Alois reply.

“Darling I believe you mean somePONY.” she said.

“Ummm… no, I mean someone, I have no clue what your obsession is with those animals is, but-”

He was interrupted by a gasp of outrage.

“ANIMALS??!!” screeched the posh one, “Listen here, you- you beast, we are not animals. The very idea-”

This time it was Alois who did the cutting off, “Wait a moment, WE? Madame are you saying that you are a horse?!”, he could hear her grinding her teeth in anger.

When she answered with a snarling “I. Am. A. Pony!.” Alois felt a mixture of terror and cruel humor envelope him, he chuckled to himself, then the chuckling evolved into psychotic giggling.

“Heeheehee…. a pony…. heeheeheh… a pony?..... I ‘ve been rescued from months of torture by a group of women who think that they’re ponies? HehehehehehHAaHAHAAHHAAHAH!!!!!” his laughter increased in volume until he was screaming in mirth.

Still laughing maniacally he grasped his head in his hands and pressed his fingers into the skin, the laughter gave way to miserable weeping as Alois rose from his spot on the couch and fell to his knees on the floor.

Clasping his hands together he said, “Please, I am begging you, end my misery, all I ask is that you make it quick, I had hoped that I would be free from HER clutches and now I find myself at the mercy of more psychopaths, this is too cruel, I-I cannot go on…. please, kill me and get it over with.”

Rarity had gone from outraged to shocked in a heartbeat, she had never seen somepony lose their minds like that before.

It was true that she had seen each of her friends go crazy before, Applejack and the harvesting incident, Fluttershy at the Grand Galloping Gala, Rainbow Dash and Mare-Do-Well, Twilight and the day that she was tardy.

And the time when Discord had turned her into a greedy ruffian.

But with each of them their insanity had been (A) Brought on by stress (or Discord.) and (B) Temporary.

This creature had lost his mind merely because she had corrected his vernacular, Rarity knew that some ponies were very touchy about that sort of thing, but the way he was acting made it seem like he’d never been around ponies before.

Rarity’s eyes widened as a startling thought entered her mind: Maybe that’s the reason he’s acting like this, maybe he hasn’t ever been near ponies, but how could that be? There are ponies everywhere, there are some in the Griffon Kingdom, a few in the badlands, there are even a few who live near dragons for Celestia’s sake! How could he not know about us?
…
…
…
What if he’s an alien?

Rarity internally scoffed at the notion, trying to dismiss it as if it were an outside annoyance when she was “in the Zone” , but, like most of said annoyances, the thought wouldn’t be dismissed so easily.

Rarity turned her attention back to the creature, he was still sobbing, but now he was curled up in a ball, his thin arms covering most of his face, the others looked completely at a loss for what to do, Rainbow Dash in particular looked like she had just seen somepony do a quadruple rainboom whilst singing “I’m a little teapot” in a Prance accent.

With a small sigh Rarity walked over to the creature and said in her best calming voice, “I’m sorry for losing my temper, I just get a tad… unhappy when my entire race is referred to as ‘animals’, I take it you’ve never seen a pony?”

After a few seconds the creature managed to calm himself down enough to reply, “I HAVE seen them, but they don’t know how to provide medical attention, they don’t read and they most certainly do not talk.”

This surprised Rarity, she opened her mouth to question him further, but Twilight spoke before she could.

“What do you mean the ponies you’ve met can’t talk?” she asked as her eyes scanned the room for something to take notes on.

The creature shook his head as if trying to wake up from a dream, “I mean horses are beasts of burden, you can’t be one of them because you are intelligent.”

Applejack butted in with, “Beast’s ‘o’ burden? Like earth ponies?”

The creature shook his head again, “What do you mean ‘earth ponies’, make sense please!”, he cried desperately

Rainbow Dash entered the fray, “You don’t know what earth ponies are? Have you been living under a rock or somethin’? Do you even know what pegasi are?” she added this last part after a second of thought.

The creature looked in her direction, his brow wrinkled in confusion, “ Pegasi? Unicorns? What are you talking about, those things are fictional.”

Rainbow Dash gasped, “Fictional?! Are you blind?!!”.

The creature turned to her, showing off its hollow sockets.

Realizing what she said the cyan pegasus placed her hooves to her mouth and blushed furiously, “I am so, So sorry.” she said after a second, the creature looked down and nodded.

“Way ta go Dash.” said Applejack, leveling a stern gaze at her friend, whose blush deepened.

“I didn't mean-”

“Yeah, but ya did and-”

Twilight held up a hoof to silence the two, her eyes positively brimming with interest.

She approached the creature and asked in a calm voice, “Do you know where you are?”

The creature cocked his head at her before answering, “I am somewhere in France, right?”

Twilight shook her head, “I've never even heard of ‘France’, you’re in a cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville.”

The creature furrowed his brow, “I-I’m not sure I've ever heard of this place, I’m still in Europe, right?”

“What’s ‘Yurope’?” asked Twilight.

The creature began to tremble, then he bowed his head and whimpered like a child. Fluttershy approached him and laid a hoof on his shoulder.

With a yelp the creature sprang backwards, his back slammed into the couch and he raised his arms above his head in a defensive pose, Fluttershy looked at her hoof for a second before looking at Twilight with a look that said “What did I do wrong?”

“Okay, this has officially become the weirdest day ever!” declared Rainbow Dash, she flew over to the creature and looked at him, “What’s the matter with you? You’re talking about places that don’t exist and acting like you've never even heard of Equestria before, what’s your problem?”

The creature shook his head frantically as he muttered under his breath.

Pinkie Pie’s hoof shot up and she began hopping up and down, “Oh, oh, pick me, pick me!! Please Mr. Kotter-I mean Dashie, pick me, pick me, pick me, pi-”

“OKAY PINKIE!” shouted the cyan pegasus with a silencing wave of her hoof, “What do you think is going on?”

“I think he’s an alien.” said the pink pony as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

All was silent except for the creature’s tearful muttering.

Then Twilight said 4 words that made everypony look at her like she was crazy.

“I think she’s right.”

As expected everypony had a few choice words to say at that: words like “What?”, “Huh?”, “Are you insane?” and “ Ah think Twilight’s lost it.”; the only one who has silent was Fluttershy, who was gazing at the creature with a look of comprehension.

Twilight shouted for them to stop, but she was drowned out by the myriad of voices.

After about 3 minutes of this she had had enough, using her magic to amplify her voice she shouted, “EVERYPONY BE QUIET!”.

Everypony hushed themselves, “Do you want to make this poor creature anymore scared than he already is?” she asked, gesturing to the creature in question, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at their hooves with guilty expressions, “Sorry.” they all said at the same time.

“ You didn’t ask him his name, I don’t want to call him ‘the creature’ anymore.” said Fluttershy softly.

Twilight raised her brows before she nodded, she cleared her throat in an attempt to get the creature’s attention, when it didn’t work Rainbow Dash flew over and prodded him with her hoof.

The creature jumped a bit and made as if to return to his original pose, but Fluttershy used her ultimate weapon of mass calming: her voice.

“Shhhh…. don’t be afraid, nopony is going to hurt you, it’s going to be alright, you’re safe here, nopony will lay a hoof on you, we’ll help you, just calm down.”

Slowly, but surely the creature began to relax, his arms gently fell to his sides, his shoulders slumped and his trembling stopped.

“ Okay…. now will you tell us your name?” asked Fluttershy.

The creature nodded before saying, “A-Alois, my name is Alois Racine.”

“Okay, Alois it is then.” said Twilight with a smile, “And what species are you?”

“I’m a human.” he said softly.

Twilight nodded and then asked his what his world was called.

“Earth.” Alois said, starting to tremble again, he looked at the space where he supposed Twilight to be before asking, “If I’m not on Earth, then where am I?”

“You’re on Equis, in the country of Equestria and you’re in, or rather near, the town of Ponyville which is a train ride away from the royal city of Canterlot.” said Twilight.

Alois was about to ask another question when Pinkie zoomed right into his personal space, “OhmygoshIcan’tbelievearealalienohit’ssgonnabesososososocool-”

Rainbow Dash put a hoof in her mouth to silence her, noting Alois startled and fearful look she supplied him with the usual “She’s just being Pinkie” quote that she always gave new ponies when they met the crazy mare.

“Um… could you all, maybe, tell me your names?” said Alois, sounding remarkably like Fluttershy whenever she met new ponies.

Twilight smiled and said, “I’m Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia and local librarian.”

Rarity stepped forwards, “I’m Rarity, owner of Carousel Boutique; where everything’s chic, unique and magnifique.”

“I’m Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in all of Equestria and member of the super-fantastic Wonderbolts!”

“Ah’m Applejack and Ah own Sweet Apple Acres, you should stop by if’n ya have the time!”

“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! I help out at Sugarcube Corner and I’m the local party planner!”

“I’m Fluttershy, I take care of any animals that need help.”

Alois nodded, “I see, you all seem to have some… interesting names, Do you know how I can get back?”

Twilight held a hoof to her chin in thought before she let out a triumphant “Ah-ha!”.

“We could send the Princesses a letter about Alois, maybe they’ll know how to get him back to his world. And in the mean time I could ask him more about his world!”

Alois nodded, “I suppose I could answer your questions, but I’d like to get home as soon as possible.”

“But if you leave then you’ll miss your party.” whined Pinkie, Rainbow Dash shushed her.

“ I think there are more important matters at hand, Pinkie.” admonished Rarity.

“Yeah, like findin’ him a place to stay.” said Applejack.

“He can stay with me.” said Twilight with an overenthusiastic smile.

“Um, Twilight? I think it would be best if he stayed here for the night, I’d like to make sure that none of his wounds get infected.” said Fluttershy, she thought she saw a disappointed scowl flash across her face, but it was gone in a flash and replaced by a smile.

“Alright, I think it’s time to leave.” she said.

Applejack nodded and headed out the door, dragging a complaining Pinkie Pie with her.

“See ya later Al.” said Rainbow Dash as she flew out the door.

“Have a good night, Alois.” said Rarity.

“I’ll be going too, I have a letter to send.” said Twilight before she teleported away.

“Well I think that went well.” said Fluttershy with as much chipperness as she could, she turned to the ‘hyoo-mun’ to continue talking and found him sound asleep.

Smiling, Fluttershy pulled a blanket over him and bid him good night before retiring.

As she lay in her bed she began to wonder about him: she wanted to know if he had friends, what job he had held, what sort of things he liked…. and if there were any more like him in Equestria.

She had no clue that her last question would be answered within the coming weeks.

Madness Evolved *

View Online

Disclaimer: I don’t own MLP or Amnesia: Justine

Madness Evolved

“This is the best trip I've ever been on.” said Dusk Sky with a contented sigh.

“Is that because of me or is that because you've never been to Neighagra Falls?” asked her husband Bronze Medal.

Dusk giggled, “Both.” she said with a cheeky grin, Bronze chuckled and pulled her closer.

The two ponies walked down the winding path that led to the hotel, it was the perfect place for a honeymoon; quiet, beautiful and not too expensive.

Bronze began to whistle a tune as he trotted beside his wife.

There’s nothing that could go wrong today he thought.

Bronze’s ears pricked up when he heard a rustling coming from the trees on his left side.

He shrugged it off and kept moving, had he stopped right when he heard the rustling he would have seen the cold eyes watching him and his wife.

When she was very young Justine Florbelle lost her mother, not long afterwards she began to show rather... worrying tendencies, her father- a psychotherapist by trade- saw her, not as a daughter who needed help, but as a test subject.

Over the years he put young Justine through a series of tests designed to study her growing psyche, the nature of these tests began to take its toll on Justine’s already unstable mind, her issues were made worse by the constant reminders that she wasn't a beautiful as her late mother.

Over the years her madness increased until she had become a full-blown psychopath. After murdering her father and taking over his estate she began building her Cabinet of Perturbation, which was designed to aid her in her her pursuit of the two things that really mattered to her: Tests and Results.

Then she met them: Alois Racine, Basile Gireaux and Malo De Vigny.

Her loyal Suitors.

How fun it had been to torment them and turn them on each other.

When she had driven a big enough rift between them she had drugged them, taken them under her estate to her Cabinet and tortured them.

When their pain no longer satisfied her she decided that it was time for the Ultimate Test: she finished mutilating the Suitors, caught the three people that had been sent to investigate her and then gave herself amnesia through heavy drug induction.

When she had awoken she had been thrust into a dark world of monsters and prisoners.

It took a seemingly endless day of trying to save the three people and avoiding the ghastly things that were stalking her before she regained her memories and left the Suitors and the other three to die.

Then she had become stricken with an illness that she had been susceptible to ever since her teenaged years: Boredom.

Soon she found herself returning to the massive underground catacombs that housed her Cabinet, to her surprise she found that both Alois and Malo had survived.

Alois had chased her down and very nearly killed her, but her superior intelligence had won out and she had trapped him behind bars, taunting him afterwards.

Then Malo came for her .

Justine had watched as Alois broke down and apparently realized just how much of a fool he had been, then Malo had crushed his neck and turned on her.

Justine knew that he was the most physically powerful of the Suitors, despite what Basile said, she had started to run when the red light had enveloped her.

There was a brief flash of pain, a sound like cloth tearing and then nothingness.

Now she was here in this new world.

A world of talking, brightly hued horses who could use magic and were developed enough to have a monarchy.

The possibilities for new tests were nearly endless; she had even begun planning.

First she would find a means to acquire some of the magic that would allow her to look like them, she had a feeling that her current form would be a bit too- distinct.

After that she would find a suitable residence and re-establish her Cabinet of Perturbation, she would have to find a job that would provide her with a decent salary, which probably wouldn’t be too hard considering the ponies seemed to be absurdly kind.

After that it would only be a matter of time before she would ensnare more potential suitors.

She smiled to herself as she imagined cutting them open to see how they worked, breaking their horns off to extract their magic, she would abacinate them, harness them and then see how long it took for them to go insane, when she had enough data she would move on to other species.

Justine walked back to the abandoned house that she had had the luck of waking up in, it was small, obviously built to accommodate ponies, and it was cold, but it was better than nothing.

As soon as she was inside the darkened house she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise, she had the feeling that she was being watched from the shadows.

Spinning around she scanned her surroundings, only to be see nothing but bare walls and mouldering furniture.

Justine felt a shiver run through her body just as a breeze blew through the broken windows, was it her or was it getting colder? She knew that this place had odd weather fluctuations, but the onset of the nightly chill seemed to have come early.

Justine sat on a moth-eaten bed that had been placed in the corner of the main room, she leaned her back against the wall and breathed out to try and calm herself.

Her breath came out as a fine mist.

The cold hit her like a wall of ice, making her feel like her very bones were freezing; outside she could hear the wind pick up, which brought with it the sounds of rustling leaves and creaking wood, Justine looked out one of the windows and was shocked to see snow falling.

Justine got up and walked to the doorway, the snow was covering the ground in record time and there were already icicles forming on the boughs of the trees, Justine tried to look past the trees encircling the house but saw only a veil of darkness so thick it looked almost solid.

As Justine peered into the darkness she got the same feeling as before, but now it was even more intense, dread began to cloud her mind and blur her vision as she wondered what was happening.

Justine felt herself being drawn to the darkness and she stepped out onto the carpet of fresh snow, she felt like she had entered a dream, everything seemed to slow down and blur at the edges like a frosted glass.

She made her way to the very edge of the darkness on numb feet, around her she could hear the wind increase in force, yet it barely seemed to disturb the spidery branches on the trees or the snow on the ground.

The darkness drew closer and, as it did, Justine heard a very familiar laugh.

Justine snapped out of her revere as dread became pure terror.

Then the person behind the laugh spoke.

“Bonjour, Mademoiselle Florbelle, It’s been a while since I smelled your fear, now I get to do more than just smell it: I get to taste it.”

Justine whimpered as Malo stepped out of the darkness, or did the darkness move back from him? The Mad Suitor was just as naked and skeletal as he had been the last time she saw him, but now his chains, collar and wounds were gone, leaving only smooth, pale skin.

But that was not what made Justine so afraid, what made her afraid were the two eyes sitting in his sockets: yellow eyes with mismatched, red pupils that seemed to gleam with insanity.

Justine attempted to turn so she could start running, but she found that she couldn't, she looked at her feet and screamed when she saw that the shadows had stretched out and wrapped themselves around her ankles.

She looked back up and found Malo’s gaunt face only inches from hers, he smiled at her and she recoiled: he had far more teeth than could possibly fit into a human mouth.

“Poor little Justine” Malo crooned, “ alone in this new world of Ponies and Gryphons and Dragons. You’re like-what was her name? Oh yes, Alice Liddel from that novel, Through the Looking Glass, I always liked that story, but now it seems like I get to live it.”

“If I’m Alice, then who are you? The Mad Hatter or the Queen of Hearts?” asked Justine, regaining some of her composure, composure which was quickly lost when Malo gave her his answer.

Malo’s deranged grin widened to impossible lengths, “I guess I’m the Cheshire Cat... and I've just caught a little mouse.”

Justine realized what he meant and opened her mouth to scream, but Malo’s teeth were quicker, they sheared through her throat like a hot knife through butter.

The last thing Justine saw were Malo’s bloodstained teeth shining like pearls in the moonlight.

Malo licked the blood from his teeth and sighed in contentment, he had wanted to do that for a long time, he looked at her body and felt his stomach rumble, I think I’ll eat her in a bit he thought I need to test my powers a little bit more.

Malo raised his fingers and snapped.

The trees surrounding him all turned into massive, purple centipedes with moth wings and ram horns.

SNAP!!

The individual snowflakes on the ground became very small human skulls.

SNAP!!

A chocolate cloud appeared above the skull-snow and began raining bits of cotton candy.

SNAP!!!

The abandoned house vanished in a puff of smoke and was replaced by a towering building composed of freakish angles and rusty metal.

Malo grinned pridefully at his accomplishments like a child who has just learned to fry ants with a magnifying glass, he snapped and teleported Justine’s body into his castle, leaving only a pool of blood behind.

The Suitor began to walk to his castle when he realized that something was very, Very wrong: He had no clothes,

Malo looked down at his nude body and groaned in frustration, This will NOT do! he thought angrily, How will I strike fear into the hearts of all of these succulent little morsels if I am naked?!.

He looked around for something that would suffice for clothing:

The tall pine tree in front of him? Too hard he thought

That cluster of truffles near that old log? I don’t want to attract swine he groused

Justine’s attire? It’s too tacky he whined

Then his new eyes were drawn to the shadows that nearly encompassed him and he smiled.

He snapped his fingers and the shadows began to stretch out towards him like the tentacles of some ancient sea monster reaching for a hapless sailor.

They pooled around his feet and then began to undulate and move like dark water, he watched in utter glee as the now liquefied darkness enveloped his feet and began to creep up his legs. He held out his hands and let the shadows that lurked in between the trees latch on to his arms.

The shadows, now given some kind of terrible sentience, slithered over his thin body, making the pale skin as black as pitch.

Within seconds the living shadows had formed knee-length boots, pants and an overcoat with coattails and an undershirt.

He smiled, then just as quickly frowned; something was off.

With a gasp he realized what it was, he snapped his fingers again and the blood from Justine’s throat wound bubbled and then shot into the air, it became like a red mist that floated to Malo as if blown by a stiff wind; it wrapped itself around his neck and hands to form an ascot and a pair of gloves that were colored crimson.

Now this attire has color he thought with a smirk.

Now all I need is a mode of transportation

He snapped his fingers and several dozen chitinous insect legs erupted from the ground underneath his castle, making clicking noises as they dug their clawed ends into the hard earth, Malo stepped to one of them and allowed it to lift him to his front door, which looked like a mouth screaming in agony.

The instant that he was beyond the threshold the mouth snapped shut, Malo walked up the flesh-wrought stairs that led to the second and a half floor, he snapped his fingers again and a tear appeared in the fleshy wall like a fresh wound, Malo looked out at the peaceful land before him and giggled at the thought of all the fun he was going to have.

Talk of the Town

View Online

Author’s Note: I don’t own MLP or Amnesia: Justine

Talk of the Town

Fluttershy woke up to the sounds of birdsong drifting in through her open window just as the first rays of Celestia’s sun began to peek over the horizon.

Yawning, the cream-colored pegasus gently hopped out of bed, patted the still sleeping Angel on the head and went downstairs to check on her new guest.

Alois was curled up on the couch, the blanket that she had put over him had fallen to the floor during the night, but the human seemed to be unaffected by the morning chill, Fluttershy put the blanket back on him and trotted to her kitchen to prepare breakfast.

She was just about done when she heard a knock on the door, “Oh my, who could be coming here this early?” she wondered aloud as she set her meal down, she trotted to the door and opened it, revealing a somewhat anxious-looking Rainbow Dash.

“Hey Flutters.” she said with a smile that seemed a little too happy.

“Hello Rainbow Dash.” said Fluttershy with a more genuine smile.

“Where’s Al-Al-” said Rainbow Dash, trying her best to pronounce the human’s odd name.

“Alois?” supplied Fluttershy helpfully.

“Yeah, Alois- is he up?” asked the cyan pegasus.

“No he isn’t” said Fluttershy, shaking her head, “but you can have breakfast with me and wait for him to get up… I mean, if you want to.”

Rainbow Dash smiled and nodded, Fluttershy noticed the tightness in the smile and the nervous eye twitch that accompanied it.

“Is something wrong?” she asked her friend.

Rainbow Dash’s smile fell and she sighed, “I was hoping to tell you and Aloisous-”

“Alois.” corrected Fluttershy.

“Whatever” said Dash dismissively “I wanted to talk to both of you to save some time.”

“Why do you need to save time? What are you going to be doing today?” asked Fluttershy.

“Nothin’ really, it’s just…. well…. ummm” Fluttershy noted her friends anxiety and laid a hoof on her shoulder, “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me.”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by a shrill scream followed by a loud thud, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash exchanged frightened looks and then rushed out of the kitchen and into the living room.

They found Alois writhing on the floor, his sweat-soaked sheets wrapped tightly around his body and his hands clawing at anything within reach; he was sobbing like a child.

“No-no please! PLEASE!!” he wept “I-I love you… n-no no, Justine….. Wh-where are my eyes? Why did you take my eyes??!!”

Fluttershy had heard enough, she placed a hoof on his shoulder and shook him vigorously, Alois gasped and shot up, grasping at thin air like he was trying to pull something back to him, Fluttershy began to whisper to him to calm him down as she rubbed his back, it took her a few minutes, but Alois eventually calmed down and allowed her to escort him back to the couch.

“I’m sorry for causing you trouble.” said Alois, sounding worried.

“It’s no trouble at all, don’t worry.” said Fluttershy.

Alois smiled slightly and turned to her, “Thank you very much Miss. Fluttershy, I can’t believe that you would take the time to help me.”

Fluttershy cocked her head, “Why wouldn’t I help you?”

Alois shrugged and said “I guess it just surprises me that you can look past the fact that I’m a different species from you.”

“Wouldn’t your race do the same for a pony?” asked Rainbow Dash, who had been hovering in the doorway.

Alois shook his head, “Sadly I don’t think so.”

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash exchanged displeased looks before turning their attention back to the human, who was now turning his head from side to side.

“I hear something coming.” he said ominously.

“Uh-Oh.” said Rainbow Dash with a gulp.

“What do you mean ‘uh-oh’?” asked Fluttershy, turning to her speedster friend.

“Well…. y’know the thing that I wanted to talk to you about?”

“Yes?”

There was a knock at her door, followed by a loud voice saying “Fluttershy, please open up.”, Fluttershy hurried to her door and opened it to reveal Mayor Mare along with a large group of townsponies.

“Fluttershy, we heard about your new guest.” said Mayor Mare with a smile, “We’d all like to meet him.”

Fluttershy blinked slowly before turning her head to Rainbow Dash, “Did you…?”

The rainbow-maned pegasus shook her head, “Rarity told them.”

Fluttershy heaved a sigh before turning back to the expectant ponies, fighting back her shyness and mustering her most cheerful smile she said, “I’m sorry, but Alois is a bit under the weather and I don’t think that he’d be up for any visitors.”

There was a chorus of groans and mutterings, Mayor Mare in particular seemed the most distressed, probably because she had promised them that she would get to the bottom of the issue. Soon the muttering got louder and louder, until Fluttershy couldn’t make herself heard amongst the din.

Rainbow Dash flew out of the door and yelled for everypony to shut up, “ I know you’re all itchin’ to see him, but he’s not up for visitors right now, okay? So listen to Fluttershy and just leave for now.”

Everypony was silent for a second, then-

“Is he nice?”

The question came from the local mailmare, Derpy Hooves. The wall-eyed pegasus had a hopeful smile on her face; then the floodgates opened.

“Is he handsome?” asked Berry Punch.

“Does he have good teeth?” asked Colgate (of course).

“Does he like candy?” asked Bon-Bon, obviously hoping for a new customer.

“Does he have hands?” asked Lyra, this question prompted a chorus of “What DOES he look like”s from the crowd.

Rainbow Dash pressed her hooves to her temples to stop the rapidly growing headache that she had gotten, she knew that she had to stop them before one of them got the bright idea to try and look through a window or something, Celestia help her if they actually tried breaking in, although Dash knew that it was pretty unlikely that they would do something like that.

She cleared her throat and filled her lungs up with air in preparation for the Sonic-Rainboom of all shouts when somepony beat her to the punch.

“EVERYPONY SHUT UP!!!!!”

Everypony immediately obeyed the command and turned to see a very annoyed-looking Applejack standing at the back.

“What the hay is goin’ on here?” she asked, “Ah can hear ya’ll all the way up at the farm!”

Mayor Mare stepped forward, “We just wanted to see the new creature that Fluttershy found.”

She turned to Fluttershy, who was looking very relieved, and said “We’re sorry for hassling you, we all got caught up in the excitement of meeting a new creature, right everypony?” she asked the crowd, who all nodded their heads and agreed.

Fluttershy smiled, “It’s okay everypony, I know how excited you all must be, but Alois is still recovering from a few… well… ummm-”

“He’s really beat-up.” said Rainbow Dash bluntly.

Everypony vocalized their understanding with a great, big “Ohhhhhhh.”

Mayor Mare nodded her head sagely, “I understand, we’ll leave you alone, but I would like to meet this… Alois in a short while.”

Fluttershy smiled and said, “I’ll talk to him, I’m sure that he’ll be happy to meet you all.”

Her words were met with smiles from the crowd and, just like that, they turned and left, greeting Applejack as they passed her.

When they were gone Fluttershy invited Applejack inside and they went to check up on their guest.

They found Alois huddled in a corner with his knees drawn up to his chest, when he heard them approaching he raised his head and peered in their general direction.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Oh it was just the Mayor” said Rainbow Dash dismissively “She just wanted to see you.”

“Oh… I see.” said Alois looking down.

“What?”

“I’m not sure I want to be seen.” he said softly.

“Why not?” asked Applejack “They may be a bit on the crazy side, but they’re all good ponies.”

Alois flinched at the word “ponies”, “I just…. I just don’t want to see anyone right now, except for you 6 that is.”

“ Didn’t ya hear a word Ah said?” asked Applejack with a huff, “They’re all really nice, they won’t hurt you none, Ah promise.”

Alois seemed to think on that for a moment before he said, “Tell me Applejack, are there any other creatures in this place that walk upright and have similar limbs to me?”

The farmpony placed a hoof to her chin in thought, “Well…. there are diamond dogs and dragons. they’ve got claws and fingers and toes and they walk on two legs, but they have fur and scales, not… skin.”

Alois nodded, “Are they feared?”

Applejack immediately realized that she had gotten herself into a sticky situation, being the Element of Honesty most definitely had its perks, like saving the world and having great friends, but there were a few downsides to it as well: like the fact that Applejack couldn’t tell a lie with a straight face.

“Well... are they?” asked Alois, his patience wearing thin.

Applejack looked at her friends, Fluttershy decided to step in.

“Some of them are, but not all of them, Twilight has a dragon as an assistant.”

“So they’re enslaved?” asked Alois, much to Fluttershy’s horror.

“Oh no no, she raised him from an egg, they’re best friends.” she said emphatically, Alois nodded in understanding before continuing.

“Be that as it may I think that your fellow villagers would be frightened of me, I mean look at me: I probably look like some kind of hairless ape with no eyes to you.”

The three exchanged sad looks before Fluttershy went to reply, but Alois held up a hand to stop her, “Please don’t try and comfort me, all I want to do now is go back to sleep.”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack both moved forwards to speak up, but Fluttershy shook her said and said “Let him sleep, girls. He needs it.”

Alois held his breath until he heard all three of the ponies leave, then he exhaled deeply and laid his now aching head against the wall; he let his muscles untense and tried to calm himself so that he could get some sleep, but his mind was abuzz with dozens of questions all vying for his attention, he knew that he would have to have a long talk with Twilight Sparkle tomorrow.

The very thought of having to face the outside world made him cringe, but he knew that he’d have to face the other ponies sooner or later, he couldn’t just stay in the cottage and have his 6 rescuers come to him, he might have done something like that when he was younger, but he was a changed man.

But am I changed for the better? he thought as a memory returned unbidden to his mind:

He was having dinner at Justine’s mansion, Justine had invited Basile to dine with him under the pretense of having them “talk out their differences”.

The two suitors sat and glared at each other for awhile before the food was brought out; midway through the meal Basile put down his utensils, looked his rival dead in the eye and said “ I don’t like you, Alois. I never liked you and I’ll thank you to fuck off and let me have Justine for myself.”

Alois smirked and wiped his mouth like a proper gentleman before retorting, “Justine needs a proper man to tend to her, not…. whatever kind of ‘man’ you are.”

Basile snorted derisively, “ You, a real man? Don’t make me laugh! You’re a weak little rat who’s never worked a day in his life.”

Alois his blood boil at the insult, how dare that commoner insult him! He would tell his father about this, better yet he would tell Justine about his behavior, that would end their little rivalry fast.

After that he would just have Malo to deal with, Alois shuddered internally at the thought of having to deal with that unstable wreck of a musician, out of all of the Suitors Alois had no idea why Justine would give that red-haired louse a chance, even Basile would make a better husband.

Maybe there was some way to get both of them out of the picture.

The gears in Alois’s head began to turn as he began to think of ways to pit the two against each other, the madman versus the peasant, what a wonderful idea.

Alois shuddered as tears began to flow from his sockets, the cruelty he had showed astounded him, he had been so merciless and manipulative and for what? A woman who saw him as nothing but a mere toy?

Alois continued to sob silently until felt himself begin to drift off into what he knew was going to be a troubled sleep, as his mind began to cloud a single phrase was uttered from nowhere to echo inside his skull :

I deserve this.

“Princess Luna, your sister would like to see you in her chambers.”

These were the first words that had greeted the Ruler of the Night upon her return to the waking world, usually Tia would let her wake up on her own time, considering Luna was always a punctual sleeper and waker.

“Huh? What does she want?” asked Luna, rubbing the sleep from her large eyes and yawning loudly.

The guard who had roused her, one of her bat-ponies, merely shrugged and left her chambers without a word or sound, Luna sighed, she loved her subjects, but they could be so stuffy sometimes.

Luna got out of bed, stretched, donned her silver shoes, chestplate and crown and then went to Tia’s room to see what was so important.

Luna found her older sister lounging on her bed with a book laid out in front of her, at the sound of her door opening she turned her head and shut the book.

“Hello Luna.” she said with a bright smile.

“Hello yourself.” said Luna with a smile of her own, Celestia let out a light chuckle before she levitated a scroll out from under her bed.

Luna’s eyes widened and she gasped, “Is that…?”

Celestia nodded, “It’s Twilight Sparkle’s reply.” she said, watching in amusement at the excitement in her sister’s face.

Luna let out a squeal of pure joy before rushing over to hug her sister, Celestia returned the hug with gusto before handing the scroll over, Luna opened it and began reading with a fervor not unlike a foal opening a birthday present.

When she was finished she gently rolled the scroll back up and turned to Celestia, the Sun princess noted the look of shock on her younger sister’s face, “Are you alright Luna?” asked Celestia, concern evident on her face.

“Twilight found a new creature…. and she’s invited us- I mean me to a party.” said Luna, then her face broke out into a massive grin of pure joy, “Huzzah!” she cried “I can meet a new creature and meet other ponies! I shall go get my joke book post-haste!”

With that she galloped out of Celestia’s chambers, leaving the princess to wonder about this ‘strange creature’ and how it came to her world, I think I might have to talk to Twilight about this personally thought Celestia I need to see this being with my own eyes.

She walked out onto her balcony and stared at the beautiful tapestry of stars and constellations that Luna had set up, it made Celestia glad to see that Luna was still being creative and energetic in her role, but it also saddened her to know that, although the two had reconciled, the other ponies still seemed to prefer her day to Luna’s night.

Oh Luna, I hope you can be happy tomorrow she thought wistfully, then she she turned her gaze to Ponyville and thought: I also hope that this new creature doesn’t pose a threat to my little ponies.

Celestia turned and headed back inside, knowing that sleep would evade her for the rest of the night.

Of Breakdowns and Questions

View Online

Author’s Note: I don’t own Amnesia: Justine or MLP, you know the drill.

Of Breakdowns and Questions

He was shuffling down a long, winding corridor, the stones that made up the walls were slimy and cold against his sweaty palms, ahead of him he could see Justine’s darkened figure walking ahead of him at a steady pace, the lantern she held cast crooked shadows over everything.

“Where are we going?” he asked, trying to keep the unease from his voice and failing.

He heard Justine’s cold laugh echo around him before she replied, “I’m just showing you my workplace, there’s no need to be worried.”

Alois felt an embarrassed blush creep onto his cheeks, they way she had phrased it made it sound like he was being childish.

But the place was just so damned unwholesome! It was dank, musty and positively brimming with all manner of animal life, he could hear the cockroaches scuttling around just out of sight and he had, on several occasions, seen the pink tails of rats slither into the darkness just out of the range of Justine’s lantern.

The whole place looked more like a dungeon than a workplace.

“We’re here.” said Justine, Alois looked and saw that they were standing at the end of the hallway, in front of him was a massive iron door set with a barred window, Justine opened it and held the lantern out, letting the orange light pierce the darkness.

Alois gasped.

He had expected the inside of the room to be furnished like some kind of office, instead the room looked like a cell crossed with an abattoir: chains and manacles hung from the rafters, the light making their metal shine like diamonds.

At the far end of the room was a table covered in various knives, pokers, pliers and hooks, all polished and gleaming.

Alois turned to the love of his life and saw the malicious smile on her face, then he saw her pull a syringe from her pocket, he was so stunned and frightened that he couldn't even scream when Justine jabbed the needle into his flesh.

Alois woke up with a gasp, the memory of that night had resurfaced violently, as evident by his sweat-soaked body and tangled sheets.

Alois began to calm down, taking in deep breaths and reminding himself that he was safe, after a few minutes he was feeling well enough to get up and see if his caretaker was awake.

Alois had begun memorizing the layout of Fluttershy’s cottage, he had already accurately mapped out the living room, but he would need help when navigating the kitchen and all of the upstairs rooms.

When he got to the door that led into the kitchen he tentatively called out for Fluttershy, to his relief he was answered by a happy “Hello Alois, are you hungry?”.

The former Suitor gave the timid pony a small smiled before nodding, Fluttershy piled a plate high with pancakes and set them on the table, she looked up and frowned: Alois was still in the doorway looking uncomfortable.

“Are you alright?” she asked, Alois nodded quickly and said, “I just need to take this as slowly as I can.” he began to take small steps, spreading his toes out and keeping his arms straight at his sides, Fluttershy realized what he was trying to do and hastened to help him.

Alois yelped when he felt Fluttershy’s furry body cleave to him, he was still not used to the fact that his host wasn’t human and he wondered if he ever would be, “What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m going to help you walk” she said “I mean...If that’s okay with you.”

Alois nodded happily and said, “Alright, lead the way.”

Fluttershy flared her wings and pressed them against his back, she led him the rest of the way to the table, warning him when he strayed to near one of her animal friends and helping him feel all of the appliances that could get in his way; finally she showed him the table and helped him sit down.

The entire ordeal had taken 14 minutes.

Alois dug in with a voracity that only somepony like Pinkie Pie could equal, but he was still suffering from malnutrition, so he was obviously making up for lost meals.

After he finished he leaned back and sighed contentedly, “Thank you so much, Fluttershy” he said “ I haven’t had this good a meal in…. I-I’m not sure how long.” he frowned and Fluttershy could tell that thinking back was a painful experience, so she hastened to change the subject, “I have to go to town today to visit Twilight, do you want to come with me?”

She expected him to decline, but, to her surprise and joy, he said “Yes, I suppose I’ll need to go out eventually so I will go with you, but I’ll need something to cover myself besides bandages and… umm…. I need to use the facilities, can you help me find them?”

Thus the next hour was spent helping Alois find the bathroom, get cleaned up and then get dressed, thankfully Rarity had made the human a simple blue shirt with gray pants and socks, she had promised to make him more as way of apology for riling the townsponies up; Alois had also insisted on tying a scarf around his empty sockets to keep everypony from being scared.

Once they had everything settled they headed out, Fluttershy leading Alois on by the arm.

As the neared the town Fluttershy felt Alois begin to tremble, fearing that he was getting sick she turned to him and asked him what was wrong, “I just…. I don’t think I can do this.” he said in a worried tone, Fluttershy felt her spirits sink, she had hoped that he would have gotten over his phobia of meeting new ponies.

“Hey now, it’ll be fine, Applejack wasn’t lying when she said that everypony in town is really nice.”

“But what if she was wrong?” Alois whimpered “What if they try to drive me out? What if-”

“Listen to yourself, you sound like a foal!” scolded Fluttershy, to her mild amusement Alois looked down at his stockinged feet and scuffed a toe along the ground in a manner that reminded her of when one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders was in trouble and knew it.

Softening her tone the cream-colored pegasus laid a wing on his arm and said “ Nopony will hurt you, I promise, it’s even a work day, so there won’t be too many ponies around.”

Alois seemed to consider her words, then he said “I’ll trust you.”, he still looked uncertain, but Fluttershy felt glad just the same; I just hope the other ponies help me keep my promise. She thought as they continued their trek.

“I think Daring Do and the Sect of Shadows is the best one. I mean, she bucks a basilisk in the face for Celestia’s sake!”

“Nay, We- I mean I believe that Daring Do and the Sword of the Dragon King is the best: in that one Daring Do stops an evil shadow beast AND closes the gates to Tatarus.”

“But in Sect of Shadows she crashes a train into a hydra!”

“Verily, but in Sword of the Dragon King she teams up with Ahuizotl to stop the end of the world as we know it.”

“Why does that matter? Ahuizotl’s the bad guy!”

“Yes, but a little character depth never hurt anypony.”
...
...
Twilight could not believe her eyes or her ears.

Rainbow Dash was arguing with Princess Luna- THE Princess Luna- over Daring Do.

She wasn’t sure whether to laugh, cry or slap herself to see if she was dreaming.

I hope this day quiets down she thought as the two continued to bicker they’ve been going at this for almost an hour and I’m not sure I can take much more of this.

It was at that very moment that Fluttershy entered the library with Alois in tow.

“Hello everypony” said Fluttershy.

“Greetings Fluttershy.” said Luna with a slightly awkward smile.

“ Oh hello Princess, I’m so glad to see you, it’s been so long and we all missed seeing you.” said Fluttershy, the sincerity in her voice caused Luna to blush profusely.

“T-thank thee very much, Fluttershy.” said Luna, looking bashful.

Then Luna saw Alois, who had been listening silently, and her face lit up, she trotted over to meet him, the excitement practically seeping out of her pores.

When Alois heard Luna approach he raised his head and looked around, “Is someone there?” he asked, Luna gazed at him quizzically, “Why art thou wearing that blindfold? is this some form of game? Because We- I love games!”

Alois started and turned his head to the direction of the new voice, he liked the sound of this new voice, it was high (but not obnoxiously so like Pinkie Pie’s voice) and carried with it a mixture of wisdom and child-like glee that he had never heard before: something told him that he was in the presence of a very important pony, though he had no idea where that idea came to him.

Remembering his manners Alois bowed slightly before answering, “I am not playing a game, I’m blind.”

He could hear the pitying gasp that was becoming so familiar before the speaker launched into a stammering apology, “We-I mean I’m s-sorry, We- blast it I didn’t know-”

Alois held his hands up and said “There’s no harm done, I am perfectly accepting of my situation, so you should be too.”

He heard a sigh of relief, not just from the speaker, but from the other ponies in the room, I guess I must be among someone- I mean somePONY important he thought.

Then he realized that he hadn’t introduced himself. “I’m terrible sorry, I haven’t introduced myself yet: my name is Alois Racine.” he said holding out his hand.

“I’m Luna, I’m one of the Princesses: We- I -am responsible for raising the moon.” came the reply, followed by the feeling of a metal-covered hoof touching his hand.

Alois raised his brows and shook her hoof, “You raise the moon?” he questioned, his tone disbelieving, Luna narrowed her eyes, “Dost thou disbelieve me?”

Alois noted her apparent anger and hurried to make amends, “N-no, no! I mean I just… what I meant to say is- I mean-I-I-I err-”

He was interrupted by a light giggle from Luna, “What? What did I do?” he asked, totally bewildered; the giggling evolved into full-blown guffawing.

“Heeheehee I was just teheeheeeasing youhoohoo, oh my, ahehehehe I’m sorry it’s just so funnyheeheehee.” she said through her laughter.

Alois was most certainly NOT amused, in all of his years spent amongst the other nobles he had never taken well to teasing of any kind, his father had always said he was “rather sensitive to jests”, he had once even administered a thorough beating to one of his school mates for teasing him about his longish hair.

Alois winced at the memory of the thrashing that he had received as punishment, it was pure agony, but he had learned two lessons that day: the first was that he shouldn’t act out in such a way and, as good a lesson as that was, the second was infinitely better.

That night he lay in his bed, his bottom and back aching from the belt he began to actually began to think for the first time since reaching his teens, after clearing away the cobwebs in his mind the wheels had begun to turn, if being sensitive and emotional got you into trouble, than bottling them up inside, while risky for obvious reasons, was the better option: to truly live up to his family’s name he had to get rid of all emotional obstacles.

I was such a fool to think that that would help me, none of that helped me when Justine was… doing those things to me.

His revere was broken by a timid voice saying “Umm.. Alois? A-are you okay?”.

The human started and turned to where he assumed Fluttershy was, he gave her a small smile and said, with as much sincerity as he could muster, “I’m fine, I was just… remembering something.”

“Oh, what was it?” asked Twilight, Alois heard a sound like tearing paper followed by the click of a pen.

“Are-are you planning on writing this down?” he asked incredulously.

“Yeeessss? Why wouldn’t I? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, getting to interview a new species is number 2 on my ‘1000 Things To Do Before I Die’ list, right under ‘Learn Absolutely Everything About Friendship’.”

“You would put Friendship over Studying an Alien Species? Should I be insulted?”

“Friendship is one the most important things ever, wouldn’t you agree?”

Alois rubbed the back of his head, “Well…. not in my world.”

“What do you mean?” asked Luna, now sounding both intrigued and worried.

“At least not in MY circle.” said Alois defensively.

“And just what the hay WAS your circle?” asked Rainbow Dash, ‘“The Circle of Really Sad… uhm… Twilight, what is his species called?”

“Humans?” supplied the Alicorn with a slight smirk.

“Thanks Twi; The Circle of Really Sad Humans?”

“I born into aristocracy.” said Alois with a tinge of pride in his voice, pride which was immediately obliterated by Rainbow’s exclamation of “ Aristo-whatsitnow? You mean you were like the snobby Canterlot types?”

“I-You-I… NO!” he said as he felt his blood boil, “The Racine family- MY family were NOT snobs!”

The shocked silence that followed lasted a full minute before Fluttershy laid a hoof on his leg and said “Shhh… She didn’t mean anything by it.”

Alois clenched his hands until his knuckles turned white as the memories bubbled up from his subconscious: His mother holding him close after a nightmare, His father taking time off from his duties to play a game of chess with him, Father and Mother reading him his favorite story as he lay in his bed during a bout of pneumonia, Mother rubbing his stomach when he got a stomach ache….

He didn’t realize that he was crying until he felt Fluttershy’s soft body press up against him in a hug, he pressed the blindfold against his sockets and felt the cloth begin to get wet.

“I-I’m so-sorry” he said through his tears “M-Mother, Father p-please... forgive me…”, he felt another pony hug him, this one was obviously Luna as he could feel her metal-shod hooves pressing against his upper back.

They held this position for goodness knows how long before Alois had calmed down enough to tell them to let go.

After taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly he said, “I’m sorry Miss. Dash, I had forgotten so much about my family and everything just came flooding back…. I hope that you can forgive my outburst.”

He heard the sound of Dash’s wings before he heard her say “I’m sorry too, I was kinda outta line, can you forgive me?”.

Alois gave a watery smile and nodded; the hug that followed nearly crushed his ribs.

After everyone had calmed down Twilight and Alois took a seat at the kitchen table, Fluttershy, Luna and Rainbow Dash joined them a moment later.

“Where’s Spike?” asked Fluttershy, looking around for any sign of the baby dragon.

“Oh he’s asleep” said Twilight dismissively, “I’m sure he’ll be up soon.”

“Spike? Your dragon assistant?” asked Alois

“Yes, he’s the best assistant ever!” she said cheerfully, eliciting a smile from the human.

“Are all dragons used as assistants?” he asked, wanting to know more about the other bipeds that he might have to contend with.

“Oh no, most dragons migrate in herds and don’t usually interact with us ponies” explained the purple alicorn, “Princess Celestia gave me Spike as an egg and had me hatch him as part of my exams.”

“Am I right to assume that Princess Celestia raises the sun?” queried Alois.

“Very good! You catch on pretty quick.”, Twilight said, sounding slightly impressed.

“Thank you, I used to be considered a fast learner.” said Alois with a hint of bitterness.

Deciding not to stick her nose into his business Twilight decided to ask a question over her own…

“What do humans eat?”

Alois raised both eyebrows before answering in a slightly put-off tone, “We are omnivores.”

“So you eat meat?!” asked Twilight, sounding horrified, had Alois still possessed eyes he would have rolled them.

“Yes, we eat meat, if you don’t believe me then look at my teeth, heavens knows that obnoxious Colgate already has.” he said, opening his mouth to show off his canines, everypony flinched.

Everypony, that is, except for Luna.

The Princess of the Night nodded knowingly, “So thou art like my thestrals, they too possess fangs, dost thou- I mean- do you have wings as well?”

Alois shook his head and Luna frowned, only to perk up as another few questions entered her mind.

“Who raises the sun and moon in your world? Are they humans like you? Do you even have a sun and moon?”

Alois chuckled, “We have a sun and moon, but no one raises them, they raise themselves.”

Luna hummed and placed a hoof her her chin, trying to think up another question, but Fluttershy beat her to the punch, much to her annoyance.

“Why do you eat meat? How could you kill another animal in cold blood?”, she asked angrily.

Alois sighed in exasperation, “Animals are nowhere near as intelligent or…or…”

“Cute?” asked Twilight.

Alois nodded, “ Yes… cute, anyway they are not the kind of creatures who would thank you for helping them and they don’t contribute anything besides meat.” And leather, but if I mentioned that Fluttershy would have a heart attack.

“Oh… it’s still awful.” she said after a moment.

Alois just harrumph-ed, earning a frown from the cream-colored pegasus.

“I’m sorry that you’re disgusted by that fact, but humans more important priorities than whether or not the animals that we kill have souls.”

“Like what?” asked Luna.

Alois clenched his fists and heaved a sigh before he looked at Luna “Like war and poverty, weather or not our government will topple, if our government should topple just to end the amount of suffering that it brings. Let me tell you something about my world: it is nowhere near as gentle and caring and full of wonderful persons as this world is, it’s cruel and cold.”

There was dead silence.

Then Fluttershy asked a question that seemed to make the universe itself stop.

“Then why do you want to go back?”

Alois did a double take, he opened his mouth, then shut it, his mind was a whirlwind of chaos with that one question at the center. Why did he want to go back? At first glance it would seem obvious: get back to Mother and Father and make amends…
…
…

But what about after that? Would he take over his father's business? Alois got up and began to pace, deep in thought.

Could he even do that given his current condition? He would need eyes to be able to read the paperwork and check the balances as well as do a great deal many other things, Alois’ father was the owner of the most powerful bank in France, how would he cope with the scorn, the whispering and the pity?

Wait…. maybe there was a way.

“Twilight, you mentioned that magic exists in this word, correct?”

Twilight shared a look with Luna, both knew what was coming… and they didn’t like it one bit, deciding to lessen the pain Twilight spoke up, “I know what you’re going to ask and the answer is no, we can’t restore your sight, it would be too dangerous and it could kill you if it failed.”

“And if it succeeded?” asked Alois, undaunted.

Twilight sighed miserably, “No, even if it didn’t kill you it might still damage your brain or mutate you in some way.”

“But aren’t you and Luna Alicorns? Doesn’t that make you the strongest magic users of them all?” asked Alois, now getting desperate.

“All magic has its limits and there are some things we just cannot do, like raising the dead for instance.” said Luna

“Every part of the body has a bit of magic in it, some species possess a bit more than others, Unicorns have been studying this kind of thing for centuries and by now we know just about all there is to know about the magical consistency of every species.

“Then why don’t you perform your tests on me?” Alois growled, striding up to the studious Alicorn with purpose.

“Do you want to be dissected?” asked Twilight, her patience finally giving out.

Alois stood stock still for a second, then he collapsed onto his knees and didn’t move, for a second Twilight thought that he had fainted in an awkward position, but his fast breathing and twitching fingers suggested otherwise.

“I think we should give him some room.” said Luna, Twilight obeyed and trotted back to the kitchen, glancing behind her at the silent human with a troubled frown; it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Alois was heading straight for a breakdown.

It was distressing and she felt the urge to go and speak to him, but she knew that any attempts to cheer him up at this stage would result in nothing but misery, so she heeded Luna’s words.

Well, she would have heeded her words had Alois not collapsed in a heap.

Twilight ran back to Alois and found Fluttershy in the process of rolling him onto his back and checking his pulse, when Fluttershy sighed in relief Twilight felt some of the panic drop off her.

“What happened?” asked Rainbow Dash, gliding over to the two ponies.

“He fainted” said Fluttershy pityingly “I guess the day was too hectic for him.”, her face fell and tears began to well up in her eyes, “Oh, this is all my fault, if I hadn’t brought him here none of this would’ve happened.” she hung her head in shame, only to find herself being mob hugged by her friends.

“He’s just…. he’s just very scared and confused” said Twilight comfortingly “if anything it’s my fault, I shouldn’t have pressed him so hard.”

“I shall take some of the blame as well” said Luna, disentangling herself from the hug to levitate him onto a nearby couch, “I’m the one who asked him the question that caused him so much grief.”

“I think that we all need to let him rest, if he has another nightmare then we’ll tend to him, but for now I think it’s best to let him be.” said Fluttershy, the other ponies nodded and left the human to his slumber.

As she walked away Twilight couldn’t help but dwell on what Fluttershy had said, Another Nightmare? I hope he sleeps peacefully.

She cast a backwards glance at the unconscious human

I really, really do...

A Great and Powerful Nightmare

View Online

Disclaimer: Do I own Amnesia: Justine and MLP? No, why would you ask that? Did you ask that? Why do you care? Is this a dream? What’s reality anyway? Who’s on first? (Screams and faints)

A Great and Powerful Nightmare

It was nighttime in Appleloosa.

Luna had carefully woven patterns of sparkling stars set with glowing constellations with almost no clouds to mar the view, a cool breeze stirred up the tumbleweeds and blew sand every which way, the residents of Appleloosa had retired for the night and everypony was sound asleep, their heads filled with pleasant dreams.

Everypony, that is, except for one.

On the outskirts of the town was a wagon: it was small enough to fit only one pony comfortably, it had been painted a light yellow with a door in the back, windows on either side and a set of steps attached to the back so that the occupant could get in and out without strain.

Once upon a time it had been a grand-looking wagon that had attracted many a praise and awe-struck stare, but the lack of care, harsh weather and graffiti had turned it into a depressing wreck on wheels: now the yellow paint was almost swallowed by the cruel words and drawings that angry ponies had put there out of vengeance, the wheels were splintered and the door bore many locks to keep the wagon’s occupant safe.

Inside the wagon the Humble and Apologetic, formerly the Great and Powerful, Trixie lay in the throes of a terrible nightmare.

After the events involving the Alicorn Amulet Trixie’s life had gone downhill and fast: she had tried to make amends, she really had, but everypony merely scorned her, they vandalized her wagon, heckled her whenever she tried to put on a show and even threw tomatoes at her, at first she had just shrugged it off, knowing that the road to redemption was a tough one, but then the heckling got more cruel, with ponies shouting things, terrible things, they threw rocks instead of tomatoes and tried to tip her wagon over, she had even been beaten unconscious by a trio of ponies after a show once; after that she thought that her life couldn’t get any worse .

Then the sickness started.

It began small: she would get headaches whenever she tried any magic, she thought that it was just her overexerting herself, so she tried to limit the amount of magic that she used, but the headaches wouldn’t go away and soon they had evolved into splitting migraines coupled with agonizing stomach cramps.

Eventually she had sought medical help, but the doctors had no clue what the issue was and with her meager savings she couldn’t stay for observation, nor could she pay to cover her bills if she did, so she was left to her own devices.

It took a while, but she eventually she realized that she got sick from using ANY magic at all, so, with heavy heart, she gave up her onstage persona and looked for a place to settle down permanently, it was an excruciating task, between the hateful stares, the whispers, the constant rejections and the hunger that gnawed at her insides, but she eventually made it to Appleloosa.

It was a nice place, she supposed, with its friendly ponies and old west theme, but she didn’t settle in the town, she knew that they would find out about her cruel acts and they would shun her, it was foolish to think otherwise, but the place where she had chosen to settle down in was a good place, out of the way and quiet.

The perfect place to die.

She knew that she was going to die, the sickness would claim her or the loneliness would swallow her like some intangible beast, it really didn’t matter to her at this point, as long as she got to have some peace before she died.

But the nightmares wouldn’t grant her request.

The nightmares had started shortly after she had settled, at first they were just compilations of the worst moments of her life, even before the Ursa Minor and Alicorn Amulet incidents, but as time wore on they became gradually more twisted: She would be in the middle of a performance when everypony turned into rotting corpses and attacked her or she would be beaten by Twilight, but instead of being let go the lavender unicorn would kill her instead. All of it was horrible, but Trixie took some satisfaction of knowing that they were just dreams and that they were all utterly fictional and predictable to boot.

But on this night the dream was something completely different.

She was standing in a field of tall grass, behind her lay a sprawling forest, to her left lay a valley filled with animal life, to her right lay a large pond teeming with fish and before her lay the city of Neighagra falls, a beautiful vacation spot that she had had the pleasure of performing there a few times…. back when the mere sight of her face didn’t send ponies into a homicidal rage.

Trixie looked around, torn between wondering where the terror was and admiring the scenery.

Then she heard it: the sound of a violin.

Normally she would be soothed by the sounds of a violin, they were her favorite instrument and, had she not possessed a talent for illusions, she knew that she would have gotten her cutie mark in the music industry, but this particular violin music made her uneasy: it was haunting and yet cheery, it chilled her to the bone.

Trixie looked around to see where the sound was coming from, she didn’t have to look far, something was coming towards her, something big.

She heard a flurry of movement near her, she turned to her left and saw that all of the animals in the valley were fleeing, even from her vantage point she could see the looks of sheer terror on their furry faces.

Then she heard a sound like a hurricane, she turned to her right and saw the fish devouring each other as the water of the pond became red with their blood.

Then she heard the worst noise yet: it was the sound of ponies screaming in pain.

Trixie faced forwards and screamed in shock and horror.

Neighagra falls was burning.

The beautiful buildings were wreathed in red flames, black smoke choked the sky, tainting the very air, she could feel the intense heat that radiated from the city and she could smell the newly-forming ash.

Wait….. she could feel and smell? But that was impossible! She was dreaming, wasn’t she?

Trixie heard a new sound join the hellish cacophony, it sounded like scuttling insects, she turned and saw the ground come alive with insects of all breeds, soon the ground was a carpet of chitinous, writhing and multi-legged life.

Trixie opened her mouth to scream again, but a peal of crazed laughter drowned her out, then the insects were upon her, spiders filling her mouth, centipedes swarming her legs and bees clinging to her mane.

Trixie woke up with a scream that could wake the dead.

She frantically pawed at her bedside table until she found her lamp, which she clicked on with great gusto, after searching her self for any bugs and thankfully not finding them she sat in the dim light and caught her breath and tried to collect herself.

“It was all a dream.” she said aloud, repeating the phrase like a mantra until she was calm enough to assess her situation better: she was still malnourished, still sick and, most importantly, still in Appleloosa, all of which was a good indicator that none of it had been real.

Except for the fact that, in the dream, she could still smell and feel things, which was totally and completely impossible, but… maybe there was a rational explanation for-

Something brushed her leg from under the covers.

She whipped them off and let out a single, tiny squeak of horror at what she saw: it was a long, brown centipede.

Trixie leaped out of her bed and brought a hoof down on the vile creature, crushing its loathsome body into paste, then she cleaned her hoof, threw on her cape and leaped out of her door, immediately she was greeted by the cool breeze on her sweaty fur and the rays of Celestia’s sun just beginning to creep up over the horizon; it was beautiful.

But Trixie had no time for beauty, throwing on her saddle she attached her wagon to herself and set off as quickly as she could.

As she ran she said to herself, “I may not know what the hay is going on, but I bet Twilight Sparkle does.”, she picked up the pace, knowing deep within her heart that if she didn’t get to Ponyville as soon as she could, something bad was going to happen.

Three Fillies and a Human

View Online

Author’s Note:I doth not own MLP OR Amnesia: Justine, for I am but a lowly teenager.”

THREE FILLIES AND A HUMAN

Back in Ponyville the news about the mysterious creature living with Fluttershy was still the talk of the town, the rumors had mostly died down after they had seen the so-called “Human” walking down the street with Fluttershy leading him, from the looks of it the two were on good terms and that fact eased the fears of the townsponies greatly; Colgate had even gone out and talked to the human (And had examined his teeth, of course).

Of course, not all of the ponies were not as trusting as others: Diamond Tiara and her father Filthy Rich for example.

Filthy Rich had thought that the creature was “a possible threat to all of Equestria.”, he had of course said this in front of his bratty daughter who had, in turn, repeated what he said to Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Applebloom, the trio of so-called “blank flanks” also known as…

THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!

At the CMC’s clubhouse Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were eagerly waiting for Applebloom to arrive, they had been engaged in a lengthy discussion about the new Daring Do movie when, out of the blue, Scootaloo brought up Fluttershy’s new friend.

“Dijda hear the news Sweetie Belle?” asked the orange filly

Sweetie Belle shot her friend a confused glance, “Huh?”

“Y’know, about the monster that Fluttershy found.”

Sweetie Belle shrugged, “I’ve only heard what everypony else is saying: like the fact that it’s a boy, he has these things called ‘hands’ which are like Spike’s talons and… Oh! And his race is apparently called ‘Hyooman’!”

Scootaloo cocked her head, “A ‘Hyooman’? That’s a weird name.” she said bluntly.

Sweetie rolled her eyes, “Well he IS an alien… or…. whatever he is.”

“Do you think maybe we can ask Fluttershy about him?” asked Scootaloo excitedly before adding “I really wanna see him.”

Sweetie Belle shrugged again, “I’m not sure that that would work out, but we can try, I want to see him, too.”

Just then the door to their clubhouse burst open and Applebloom came charging in, out of breath and dripping sweat.

Both fillies exchanged worried looks before going over to their friend, who was now panting heavily and laying on the ground.

“Are you okay?” they both asked.

Applebloom held up a hoof, “Gimme *huff* Gimme a *wheeze* minute.” she gasped.

When she had sufficiently recovered she sat up and said “Guys you’ll never believe what Ah saw!”

She waited until she thought that she had drawn out the suspension to its maximum capacity before saying, in her best dramatic tone, “Ah. Saw. The Hyooman!”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo gasped, then they mobbed the farm pony, asking her a torrent of questions, some of which were completely irrelevant, but they were excited fillies, the occasional outburst of randomness was expected .

“Alright, alright, one at a time please!” said Applebloom, holding out her hooves.

“What did he look like?” asked Scootaloo, bouncing up and down.

“Weelll…” said Applebloom putting a tiny hoof to her chin in thought, “Have ya heard about the Diamond Dogs?”

Sweetie Belle shivered, “You mean those freaky dog-things that kidnapped Rarity?”

Applebloom nodded, “Well he looks kinda like how Rarity described them thangs, except he doesn't have any fur at all and he doesn’t have claws.”

Sweetie Belle scrunched her nose up in disgust, “Eww, he must look weird.”

“ So how does he keep warm if he doesn’t have any fur?” asked Scootaloo

Applebloom shrugged, “Ah don’t know, maybe his skin is super-tough, kinda like stone? Oh, maybe it’s like some kinda shell!”

Sweetie Belle turned green, “You’re grossing me out, I don’t know if I want to meet him now.”

“Are you kidding?!” said Scootaloo indignantly “That sounds awesome! He’d be like some kinda bug-dude!”

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes as Applebloom continued.

“Anyways Ah was walkin’ to the market to get some things for Granny Smith’s stew and Ah saw Fluttershy and Twilight moving the Hyooman down the road.” here her face took on a worried look, “He didn’t look too good.”

The two other CMC members mirrored her look.

“Maybe he’s sick.” said Scootaloo.

“Yeah.” said Sweetie Belle distantly.

Applebloom let out a massive gasp as an idea hit her like a ton of bricks, “Ah got it! We could be Cutie Mark Crusaders Hyooman healers!”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged uncertain looks, Applebloom noticed this and narrowed her eyes, stomping her hoof on the ground she said, in her best attempt at a rousing speech, “C’mon ya guys, We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders, not the Cutie Mark Run Away From Opportunity-ers. This Hyooman might be able to help us get our cutie marks!”

“But didn’t we already try to be nurses?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Yeah, but that was a pony, this is a Hyooman.” said Applebloom with a devious smile.

Both of her friend’s eyes lit up.

The trio looked at each other for a second, then they drew in deep breaths and shouted at the top of their lungs: “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS HYOOMAN NURSES!!!”

Outside of the clubhouse Winona, the Apple family’s faithful collie, rose from her nap with a startled yelp.

WEAK
WORTHLESS
TRAITOR
MURDERER
MONSTER

Alois awoke with those words echoing in his head.

He sat up and listened intently, Fluttershy’s cottage was silent, save for the sound of her animals stirring in their keeps, the human clutched his sheets as he remembered the events of the previous day.

This is a nightmare he thought sadly But it’s one that I deserve.

Why would you think that?

Oh no, not YOU again. Listen to me and listen well, I. Will. NOT. Talk. With. You

But I AM you.

No! You’re just some kind of alternate personality or some kind of…. some kind of….

Oh stop it, you’re grasping at straws and you know it.

My suffering is my repentance.

Repentance? Is that what you’re calling it? I thought you were wallowing in self pity, you need to let your guilt go.

But letting my guilt go isn’t the right thing.

And letting it consume you like a cancer IS?

It’s not like they have confessionals in this world, if I told them what I did they’d shun me, they might even banish me, they’re too naive, too kind. This kind of thing is not something that they could handle.

It seemed to me like they handled it fine when they were removing that damnable collar from around your throat or when they were taking those hooks out of your flesh.

But they’ll think that I am a monster.

They already do: you are a being from another world.

I can’t tell them.

You are a coward.

Alois clenched his teeth until his jaw ached, then he got up and stretched, knowing that he would need to start his day sooner or later.

After he finished stretching he found a nearby chair and sat down to wait for his host to wake up, feeling that it would be rude to go searching through Fluttershy’s cabinets and pantry without her consent.

He was just starting to feel hungry when he heard a knock at the door.

Alois got up and located his blindfold, which he had placed beside his makeshift bed, after trying it on tightly he walked to the door and shouted, “Who is it?”

There was a chorus of gasps, followed by hushed voices, Alois cocked his head and listened intently: it seemed like there were 3 of these individuals, from the high pitch to their voices they must be children- no, wait, Fillies, I cannot hear what they are saying, I need to get closer…

Alois pressed an ear to the door, his acute hearing doing the rest of the work.

“Didja hear that?” said the first.

“Yeah, Ah bet it was the Hyooman!” said the second excitedly.

“Maybe he’s all better?” queried the third.

Better? What are they talking about?

“Hey, alien-guy!” called the first, “Is that you in there? Because we’re here to nurse you!!!”

She said this last part so loudly Alois feared that Fluttershy would wake up, turning to the door he felt around until he found the knob and then he opened it.

He was greeted by more gasps, “What do you want?” he asked, trying to be as unthreatening as possible, the last thing he needed was a trio of scared fillies running off and sending the other ponies into a panic.

He expected them to run off anyway, he didn’t expect to hear the first one shout “Woah, You. Look. AWESOME!!”, and he most certainly didn’t expect to be bombarded with questions like: “What do ya eat?”, “Where do you come from?” and “Do you have scooters in your world?”.

Alois backed up a bit, completely at a loss for what to do, he heard the sound of hooves transitioning from earth to wood, meaning that the fillies were now in the house, he felt his throat constrict as they moved in.

“Um…. Hello?”

Alois let out a breath that he didn’t know he had been holding, feeling the fire in his chest, a fire that he hadn’t felt until now, fade away.

He heard Fluttershy canter down the stairs, “Hello girls, what are you doing here?”.

“We came to see the Hyooman!” said the first speaker, her tiny voice dripping with enthusiasm.

“Oh… I see” said Fluttershy uncertainly, “did you ask permission before you left to go see us?” she asked after a second.

“Uhhhh…. no?” said the second speaker, sounding guilty.

“Applebloom” admonished Fluttershy, “you know you’re supposed to ask your sister before you visit me.”

“But Ah wanted ta see the hyooman.” the second speaker- apparently called Applebloom whined.

“Well now you see me.” said Alois, holding his arms out, “Are you going to run away in fear now?”.

Applebloom giggled, “Why would Ah be scared?”.

Alois started a bit, “What? You mean you aren’t scared of a tall, hairless and eyeless ape like myself?”

“Naw, you seem like a nice Hyooman ta me.” said Applebloom, a smile evident in her tone.

“Yeah, you look pretty cool too, I mean, how awesome is it to have those talon things?” said the first speaker.

“What’s it like not having a tail?” asked the third, her squeaky voice laced with curiosity.

All Alois could say was, “Huh?”.

He heard the sound of the filly trio’s tiny hooves moving closer, but this time he didn’t feel that tightness in his chest, then he heard Applebloom ask, “Can Ah see yer hands?”

The way she said it was so innocent and so…. cute, that he had no choice but to oblige, he held his hands out with his fingers spread.

He heard the trio move closer, then he felt their soft fur tickle his palms, he could feel a strange force manipulating his fingers, What is that? he wondered; he placed a finger against the bottom of one of the hooves to try and locate the source of the feeling.

“H-hey wahahatch it” giggled the second speaker, “I’m-heeheehee- I’m ticklish!”

Alois stopped and apologized, hoping that he hadn’t made some kind of pony faux-pas.

“It’s alright.” said the second speaker dismissively, “Name’s Scootaloo, by the way.”

“I’m Sweetie Belle.” said the third speaker.

“And Ah’m Applebloom.”

“And together we are…. THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!!”

Alois thought he felt his ears pop at the sheer volume that the three produced.

After the ringing in his ears had stopped he said “My name’s Alois Racine and I hope I don’t sound too foolish, but what is a ‘cutie mark’?”

“What do ya mean? Don’t you have one?” asked Applebloom, Alois shook his head, he heard the Cutie Mark Crusaders have a simultanious disappointed “Awwwww.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Alois

“Well” began Scootaloo “a Cutie Mark is a picture that shows up on somepony’s flank once they discover what their special talent is. Like Rainbow Dash: her cutie mark is cloud and a rainbow lightning bolt, it shows that her special talent is being a super awesome weather pony and best flyer in all Equestria!”

“Is that what she is?” said Alois contemplatively, “I had no idea.”

“How could ya not know? It’s right there on her flank.” said Applebloom

Oh no, not again. thought Alois, he sighed and then said, “I can’t see much of anything, because I’m blind.”

The second those words left his mouth he felt the sadness steal back into the forefront of his mind.

Then he felt three tiny, furry bodies wrap themselves around his legs, giving him a powerful hug, Alois stood stunned for a second, then he felt a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth, he knelt and wrapped his arms around their tiny bodies.

“It’s okay Mr. Alois.” said Applebloom tearfully.

“Yeah, my sister told me that ‘as long as you have friends, you can do anything’.” said Sweetie Belle, giving the human a few comforting pats on the back.

“Thank you very much.” said Alois, feeling touched, “I will take your words to heart, I promise.”

After a few more minutes Alois broke the hug off, much to his chagrin, he had discovered the joys of pony hugs and he was not tremendously happy to be ending the best one yet.

“Thanks Alois.” said Sweetie Belle, “Maybe you can tell us some more about your world?”

“What do you want to know?” asked Alois.

“What’s it like not having fur?” asked Applebloom.

“I’m not sure since I never had fur to begin with, I suppose I’ll get colder than the rest of you come winter… which means that I’ll have to visit Rarity again, which might be an issue because I have no currency to pay her with.”

“Oh that’s okay” said Sweetie Belle, “Rarity’s the Element of Generosity, I’m sure she’ll give you something for free and, if you really want to, we can help you get a job.”

“The Element of Generosity? I’m not sure that I know what that is.” said Alois.

He heard Applebloom gasp, “Fluttershy?! Why didn’t you tell him about the Elements of Harmony?”

“Um… well, I guess it didn’t cross my mind.” said Fluttershy, sounding very much like Applebloom had during her previous admonishment.

“Well Ah guess Ah’ll have ta tell Alois” said the filly “Ya see there are 6 Elements of Harmony: Theres Honesty, which mah sister Applejack wears; the Element of Generosity, which Sweetie Belle’s sister wears; Rainbow Dash is Loyalty, Pinkie Pie is Laughter, Twilight Sparkle is Magic and Fluttershy is-”

“I represent Kindness.” interrupted Fluttershy, Alois could practically hear the blush that came immediately afterwards, “Sorry.” she muttered.

Applebloom sighed and returned to her spiel, much to Alois’ amusement, “Anyways the Elements were created by Celestia and Luna because…… actually Ah’m not sure why, Ah guess Ah fell asleep when Mrs. Cheerilee was talkin’ about that part, anyways…”

Applebloom proceeded to tell him about the events surrounding the return of Princess Luna in the form of Nightmare Moon, how Twilight united the other 5 and used the Elements to purify Luna, she then went on to talk about some of their adventures: How Pinkie Pie saved the town from an infestation of creatures called parasprites, how she also drove away a bullying griffon named Gilda and how Twilight had stopped an invasion of love-sucking insects known as Changelings along with their vampiric leader, Queen Chrysalis, who had been masquerading as Twilights old foalsitter and Princess of Love, Cadence.

When the filly was finished Alois couldn’t do anything but sit in stunned silence, These 6, small ponies are heroes whose exploits could rival those of Hercules and Odysseus? I am farther out of my element than I thought, what kind of adventures will I witness here?

There was another knock at the door, he heard Fluttershy go to investigate it with a muttered “Who could it be now?”

Alois listened, he heard excited muttering, followed by a gasp, he heard Fluttershy return with her guest.

“Alois, Alois you aren’t going to believe this!” said Twilight, sounding like she was about to burst.

“What, is something wrong?” asked Alois.

“No silly! You’ve been invited to meet Princess Celestia herself!” said Twilight happily.

“Woah, that’s so cool!” exclaimed Scootaloo, breaking the silence that she had been, rather oddly, keeping, “I wish I could visit Canterlot.” she added, Alois detected something in her tone, something that made him want to help her.

“Ummm…. Miss. Sparkle? Do you think that we can bring these three with us, I’m sure that they’d like to join me- I mean, if you can do that kind of thing.”

He heard Twilight giggle, then she cleared her throat and said “Sorry, but you sounded a bit like Fluttershy for a second, but yes, I can bring them along. But you all need to get permission to go, okay?”

The CMC let out a glass-shatteringly loud cheer and then hugged Alois, shouting “Thank you”s until Alois raised his hands to calm them down, which took a little while, after they had calmed down Twilight offered to take them to their sisters, an offer which the trio happily accepted.

After they had left, cheering and thanking Alois every step of the way, the human sat, deep in thought, while Fluttershy and Twilight gushed about how wonderful Canterlot was.

What would the Princess want with me? Does she want to ask more questions? Does she want to experiment on me? I hope not, even though I think that they wouldn’t actually hurt me I still don’t want to be poked and prodded like some kind of laboratory specimen.

Maybe they want to help you in some way, did you ever think of that amidst your little sea of sorrows?

Oh….. it’s you….. again. thought Alois miserably.

Yes, it is I. said the voice.

You aren’t my subconscious, so stop trying to talk like me!

And what drives you to this rather intriguing conclusion?

I can tell that something isn’t right at all, something about you isn’t like me, it just…… doesn’t make sense.

Make sense? What fun is there in making sense? I tell you what, I will freely admit that I’m not some part of your consciousness, though I do think that I mimicked your internal style pretty well, dontcha think?

I see….. so I am going mad then.

Oh no, no, no I’m not your madness…. I’m not even YOU…. All I can say for now is that I’m a friend… a friend who is currently in your world trying his best not to waste too much of his precious magic in talking to you.

Who- what ARE you?

I can’t talk for much longer so listen: You are not alone here, someone came with you and I don’t think that this world is ready for his brand of cruelty, but you aren’t from this world now are you?

What do you want me to do?

I need you to tell Tia and Lulu about me….. Oh no…… I can feel it coming back…

What? What is coming back?

A very malicious and, might I add, very clingy Shadow…… I’m gonna give you a little present, you see, there’s a pony who might be able to help you and-

Alois let out a choked yell as red hot agony flared up in his brain, drowning out the mysterious voice before turning as cold as the coldest ice, he found himself on the floor, holding his head in his hands as the pain faded.

Once he had recovered he leaped to his feet and raced to the kitchen, he heard Fluttershy and Twilight halt their talking.

“Alois? What’s wrong?” asked Fluttershy worriedly.

“When do we leave?” he asked, ignoring his host.

“Uh… today” said Twilight, then hastily added “ I mean it’s up to you, but-”

Alois cut her off, “That is perfectly fine Miss. Sparkle, I’d like to leave as soon as possible.”

“Really? That’s wonderful! I’ll go get Spike to pack some things and then we’ll go.” said Twilight, already halfway out the door by the time that she finished her sentence.

When she was gone Alois turned to Fluttershy and bowed slightly, “Please forgive me for being so brash, but I have some urgent news to tell Princess Celestia AND Princess Luna.”

“Oh my, what is it?” she asked, her voice now showing fear as well as concern.

Alois sighed, “I think it would be best if you heard it with everypony else, but it is very troublesome, I just need to know a few things before any rash decisions are made.”

“Oh… Okay, if you say so… I guess.” said Fluttershy in a slightly disappointed tone.

Alois reached out and cupped her furry cheek, “I’m sorry for leaving you out of the loop as it were, but I cannot take any chances yet. I’m sure the Princesses can handle the issue, so don’t worry.”

Fluttershy hugged him, Alois felt the strange warmth settle into his chest again.

Why DO I want to go back? he wondered as he patted his host’s back.

Celestial Meeting

View Online

Author’s Note: I do not own MLP or- Wait, do I need to do these at all? I don’t?! Ffffffffffffffffff-

Celestial Meeting

“This is soooo boring.” moaned Rainbow Dash, writhing in her seat, it had been two hours since they had all boarded the train and, although Alois was keeping quiet, internally he couldn’t agree with the prismatic pegasus more; These seats make me pine for cold granite.

“I am in full agreement with Miss. Dash.” he said as he tried to adjust his meager cushion for the hundredth time.

“See?! Even Alois agrees with me!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

“Oh Dash, stop overreacting.” said Rarity with a wave of her hoof.

“Excuse me?” asked Rainbow Dash indignantly, getting off of her seat and pointing a hoof at the prissy mare “ Aren’t YOU the one who fainted when you saw how dirty the bathroom was?”

Rarity huffed, “You have no idea how nasty that bathroom was…” she trailed off as she remembered it with a shudder.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and sat back down.

She sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to distract herself by looking at the passing scenery, but that got boring fast, so she decided to see what the Cutie Mark Crusaders were up to, but they were too deeply engaged in their own little world, so she decided that she would further question Alois, who had been, at least to her, a total mystery for the entire time that she had spent with him.

“Hey Alois.” she said, the human inclined his head towards her, “You say you come from… France, right?”

“Yes?”

“And that’s like Prance, y’know ‘Zey talk like zis’.” she imitated a foppish Prance accent complete with ridiculous laugh and fake mustache-twirl.

Alois snorted, “I don’t recall too many of my associates sounding *that* stupid, but yes, some of us talk like that.”

“Then why don’t you?” asked the blue pegasus, “You sound more like you’re from Trottingham.”

Alois raised a brow, “Trottingham? Is that like Britain?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged, “I dunno, ‘mmmdo they talk like this’?” she put on another accent, this one sounding like one of Rarity’s fashion heroes: Hoity Toity.

Alois snickered, “Yes, they do sound a bit like that. To answer your question I was born in France, but I was raised in England; my father sent me there to study the complexities of owning a big business and how to deal with any foreigners of high standing who wanted to do business with us.”

Rainbow cocked her head, “Huh?”

Alois sighed, “ My father owned-owns the biggest bank in France and I had to go to school to learn how to run if when he retired.”

“That sounds even more boring than being on this train!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash, throwing her hooves in the air, Alois frowned briefly before sighing and resuming his original slumped position, but Rainbow Dash was still intent on conversation.

“Do hyoomans have racing?”

Alois nodded, “Some people race on foot, but no one has wings in my world.”

Rainbow looked somewhat put out by this, but then she perked up when another question popped into her mind, “Hey, do you guys have Daring Do? Because that would be, like, the most awesome thing ever!”

Alois shook his head, “I have never even heard of Daring Do, is she a pulp hero of some kind?”

The other ponies all groaned as Rainbow Dash began a very, very long rant about the entire Daring Do series, complete with voices for the various characters and sound effects; it was a rant that kept getting longer every time she read a new book... and there were 14 books in the series.

When the train finally arrived at the station in Canterlot the speedster pegasus had told Alois every detail about the first 12 books and was right in the middle of the 13th, at the part where Daring narrowly evades capture by the wicked and depraved Coltstapo only to be captured by the equally wicked- but- somewhat- less- depraved Ahuizotl.

The conductor’s yell of “Okay everypony, get yer flanks off of mah train.” was sweet music to their ears and they obeyed him without a seconds thought.

Just before they got off Fluttershy stopped Alois.

“Ummm…. Alois?”

“Yes, Fluttershy?”

“I saw that you were having some trouble getting around and I made this for you.”

She reached into the bag that she had brought with her and produced a long wooden pole with a grip made from a piece of foam that Fluttershy had found in her attic.

“Is this a cane?” asked Alois, feeling the grip and giving it a few experimental taps on the ground.

“Yes….. do you like it?” asked Fluttershy hopefully.

“Yes, yes I do” said the human with a smile, “thank you very much.”, he bent down and hugged her. Fluttershy blushed deeply and returned the hug with gusto.

As expected the Canterlot ponies gave the group a wide berth, Alois could hear their frightened mutterings

“What IS it?”

“Oh it’s dreadful, whatever it is!”

“And do you see the ponies with it?”

“Why, I do believe it’s that Rarity brute who got us in trouble with Fancy Pants.”

Rarity groaned as a familiar stallion and mare pair sauntered up to the group, distaste permanently plastered onto their overly made-up faces: the stallion was a grey-furred unicorn with a golf polo wrapped around his neck and a set of teeny-tiny glasses perched upon his muzzle, the mare was yellow-furred, with blue and white hair and a frilly saddle.

“Oh hello, Jet Set, Upper Crust.” said Rarity, nodding her head at each of them with a grimacing smile.

“Well if it isn’t Rarity and her hick friends.” sneered Upper Crust, not noticing Twilight’s wings.

Sweetie Belle growled and moved forwards, but her sister held her back with her magic.

“And let’s not forget this…. thing that’s with them” said Jet Set, “What is this creature, a pet?”

“I am not a pet, sir.” said Alois, straightening his back and adjusting the suit that Rarity had made for him, “My name is Alois Racine, I happen to come from distant lands and I am also several dozen times your superior in terms of intelligence and I think I can remember my fencing lessons enough to teach you a lesson in manners.”, here he brandished his cane like a rapier, drawing circles in the air with its tip.

Jet Set and Upper Crust balked and stammered, Twilight drove the terror home by emerging from behind Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy with her wings out.

To their credit the two unicorns put two and two together quickly and bowed low, apologizing profusely, Twilight scolded them and sent them on their way like a couple of foals.

Not five minutes later they came across a trio of rather greasy-looking pegasi who immediately set upon them with jeers that would make any schoolyard bully proud, “Hey freak! Why d’you have that blindfold? Are ya some kinda jester or sumthin’?”

Alois turned on his heel and removed his blindfold, the bullying trio let out a collective yelp at the sight of his hollow sockets and bolted.

Once they were out of sight Rainbow Dash burst into peals of laughter, “That was awesome! A little gross, but still awesome!”

Alois gave a dramatic bow and then gestured ahead of him, “Shall we go? We wouldn’t want to keep Princess Celestia waiting, would we?”

The speedster pegasus smiled and nodded, Alois managed to keep a good pace with the others, he adapted to using his cane very quickly, keeping a good pace with the others.

Soon the ponies could see the royal castle growing bigger in their vision, Twilight nervously fidgeted with her wings, wanting to make a good impression, even though she had been practically raised by the princess.

Fluttershy kept her eye on Alois, checking for any sign of agitation, to her surprise she saw that he was totally calm, I hope that he keeps calm she thought as she trotted beside him But something’s telling me that he’s hiding something, something besides his reason for asking to see the princess.

Alois wished he could see the inside of the castle, going by the way the 6 ponies with him gushed about the decor and atmosphere the place must have been more beautiful than even the most luxurious of his father’s estates, he was glad that they were enjoying themselves and briefly wondered how the Crusaders were doing, as they had been shepherded off to another part of the castle.

He heard the sounds of armored hooves on the tile, signaling the arrival of Celestia’s guards.

“Princess Sparkle, it is an honor to meet you, I am Captain Storm Weaver, Princess Celestia has sent me to make sure you and your friend are looked after.”

Alois was impressed: the captain’s voice held no fear at all. It was such a new experience, not hearing somepony start or stammer in shock when seeing him, it made him feel….happy.

The second that they entered the throne room Alois felt a comforting warmth steal over his body, it was the kind of warmth that one would feel as they lay on a beach or relaxed in a field when the day was clear and the sun was at its zenith; it brought back memories of a time before all of this madness.

Then he heard the princess speak.

“Hello my little ponies…. and my not-so-little human.” she said in a voice that carried both a tender kindness and a powerful authority in its tone, in short it was the voice of a true ruler, Alois had met a few minor vassals and even a marquis, all of whom had made their voices overly-bombastic and grandiose in an attempt to be impressive; every single one of them looked like children playing at being kings in comparison.

Alois bowed, managing to keep his dignity by not falling over, he heard Celestia chuckle, “There’s no need for that, Alois Racine of Earth.”

Alois rose, “I wish that I had my sight back so that I could actually see you, if your visage is as majestic as your voice then you must be like an angel.”

The Princess giggled bashfully, “Thank you very much; you have quite the honeyed tongue.”

Alois blushed slightly, “Thank you for the compliment, it’s good to know that something in me still works.”

“Please don’t talk like that, Alois” said Fluttershy, patting his leg, “You’re good at lots of things.”

Alois gave the yellow pegasus a reassuring smile, “It was a joke, don’t worry.”

“Oh…. I see, I guess that was funny….. hehehe”

Alois heard the sound of shodden hooves draw near as the warmth intensified, he then felt something soft and feathery brush his face.

“May I remove your blindfold for a second?” asked Celestia, Alois nodded slightly and waited patiently as he felt Celestia’s wings gently tug the blindfold off; the princess of the sun sighed sadly and Alois felt her lay a hoof on his shoulder

“I am truly sorry for what has been done to you, nopony deserves this and neither do you, I wish that I could give you back the sight that you lost, but I cannot, so I shall give you the best that I can. Tell me, are you a reader, by chance?”

Alois nodded, remembering his love of reading, “Yes I do, your Majesty.”

“Good, then I think that you’ll like what I have to give you, but first I’d like to know what troubles you, after all you did request an audience with me and I was told it was urgent.”

Alois nodded, “Yes, it’s something that, on my world, would probably get me lobotomized or at the very least imprisoned in an asylum for the rest of my natural life.”

Silence fell; he had their attention.

“Yesterday I heard a voice in my head, I’d heard the voice before, in my world, just before I died and came here.”

There were gasps of horror from everypony, Alois winced as he realized that he hadn't told them that little fact.

“I thought that it would end in this new world, but yesterday the voice returned, I felt that it wasn’t some part of my subconscious, it mentioned a shadow and it told me to talk to you, but I have no clue what it is or even what to call it.”

He heard Fluttershy sniffle off to his left and then felt her hooves on his leg.

“I see” said Celestia, after a tense silence had passed, “I would like to perform a spell that would search the deepest parts of your mind, do I have your permission to do this?”

“Yes, please.” said Alois with a relieved smile.

“Wait here while I get my sister, this spell requires us both.” said the Princess as she cantered away.

The silence that she left in her wake was painful.

Finally Fluttershy spoke up, “Y-you…..died?”

Alois sighed and then said, “Yes I did, I was killed by a man named Malo De Vigny, a psychopath if ever there was one.”

“Why did he….. kill you?” asked Twilight, obviously not used to the concept.

“He was…. greedy, he wanted Justine for himself.”

“Who the hay is Justine?” asked Applejack.

“Was she your special somepony?” asked Rarity.

Alois swallowed hard and then said, “She is the one who did all of this to me.”

He heard more gasps.

“W-why?” asked Fluttershy, sounding on the verge of tears.

“She is-was sick, sick in the head: she seduced me, Malo and a carpenter named Basile and we became her devoted Suitors, we would have done anything for her, but all she really wanted was to make us her personal guinea pigs. After she got bored of her charade she did this to all three of us, I still don’t know why.”, Alois felt a lump in his throat as he fought back tears, but, with no eyelids, his battle was quickly lost.

The next thing he knew all 6 of the ponies had wrapped him in a massive, warm hug, Alois felt the guilt way him down even more, I didn’t tell them that I tried to kill Basile and that I hunted Justine like a feral beast .

“Are we interrupting something?” asked Celestia, sounding a bit worried.

Alois gently broke the group hug off and said, “Nothing that will interfere in your spell-casting, at least I hope it doesn’t.”

“Nay” said Luna, “It will not hinder us at all, shall we begin?”

Alois nodded and approached the two, the sound of his cane tapping the floor was the only sound besides the panicked breathing of Fluttershy.

Celestia bade him kneel and he did.

He heard a strange sound that reminded him of electricity crackling, then his consciousness faded to nothing in a heartbeat.

Celestia and Luna stood in the swirling void that made up the deepest part of Alois’s mind, all around them they could hear fragments of speech as loud as thunder or as soft as a whisper, they saw millions of tiny thoughts and memories raining down from above to collect in a patchwork lake of pure emotion.

They were buffered by emotions that came in great gusts that stirred the thought-water, creating massive waves that dissipated within milliseconds and sending ripples into the darkness.

“This place is…. interesting.” said Luna, looking around.

“Yes” said Celestia as a bit of the human’s childhood hit her wing before falling into the lake, “I hope we find the cause of his ailment soon, I must admit that this place is so alien to me, so disorganized, so…. chaotic.”

Then they heard it: the sound of a thousand growling beasts.

The Princesses turned and saw a red glow off to the far right, it was pulsing in and out, like a heartbeat.

The two Alicorns walked closer, their horns glowing with magic, the waters of the lake began to bubble and hiss as they drew nearer to the red glow, Luna flattened her ears to stop the sounds of the agitated memories.

Ahead of her Celestia stopped so suddenly that Luna almost ran into her, “Sister? What is it?” asked Luna.

“I… I don’t know.” said Celestia breathlessly, Luna blinked in surprise and moved closer to see what could have baffled her older sister so much; when she saw what it was she could only stare.

It was large, quite a bit larger than the Princesses, it was wreathed in the red glow, which now resembled a shifting mist. The thing was as black as pitch and seemed to flicker in and out of existence, almost like a ghost torn between the living world and the other world, the sounds of growling were issuing from it as it moved.

Luna stared at the shadow, her mind racing with questions, the most prominent one being: Is this creature dangerous or is it just some kind of apparition?

Then she saw the images resting inside of it’s body: a man with a lantern being chased by a monster with bulging eyes and no jaw, a man stabbing a woman through the heart with a ritualistic dagger, a live dog being dissected, the walls of a castle being covered by a fleshy membrane, a man with no eyes devouring a squealing rat; all of this was accompanied by a hate so powerful that it burned her eyes.

Luna looked away and stared at her sister, who was also looking away, Luna touched a wingtip to Celestia’s shoulder, the Princess of the Sun looked at Luna with anger welling in her eyes, Luna nodded, the message was very clear.

This abomination had to die.

Luna and Celestia activated their horns and fired at the shadow, their beams tore holes through it and caused the mist to dissipate, the shadow shot out a dozen tendrils and Luna cleaved them into pieces, then the two Princesses began to advance on the creature, their raw magical power tearing the creature to shreds and burning it with its heat.

In the end its hate was no match for their anger and it was reduced to less than nothing, its corruption was scoured off of Alois’s mind.

Luna turned to go and saw a glimmer of red and white, growling she fired again and snuffed the light out, just as she did she thought that she heard a faint voice saying “No, no no NO.”

Luna dismissed the voice as just a memory and continued on her way, she was joined by her sister shortly thereafter.

“That was horrible.” said Luna as her horn flared to life.

“I couldn’t agree more, dearest sister.” said Celestia.

“Did you feel the hatred that it gave off? What kind of creature could contain such roth?” Luna asked.

“I’m not sure” said Celestia, “But I got the feeling that it was alien, even more so than our human friend, and it was old, maybe even older than me.”

“And that’s saying quite a bit.” teased Luna.

Celestia gave her sister a playful shove and the two laughed, their anxiety turning to relief as they left Alois’s mind.

When they returned they were immediately set upon by the Element Bearers, all of whom were voicing their concerns and asking questions about their experience, Celestia managed to calm them down and allay their fears, “He is going to be fine” she said “He just needs some rest.” .

She called for her guards and told them to take him to one of the guest rooms to allow him to sleep the spell off in comfort and silence, she also told them to escort the Bearers and the foals to their own rooms to spend the night.

After they left Celestia sat down on her throne with a great sigh, Luna chuckled and followed suit.

“I’m glad we could help him.” said Celestia.

“Verily!” exclaimed Luna “I, for one, am glad that that beast has been destroyed, I hope Alois is at peace now.”

Celestia nodded as she felt her magic usage take it’s toll.

“I am glad to have finally been of some use around here, is there anything else that I can do to provide assistance?.” asked Luna, turning to her sister for an answer.

She couldn’t help but smile when she saw her sister curled up on her throne. fast asleep and smiling contentedly.

Luna got up as quietly as she could and conjured a blanket of stars, which she placed over Celestia, Luna gave her a quick peck on the forehead and headed off to perform her nightly duties.

Trapped

View Online

Author’s Note: I’m gonna keep doing these because it’s too late to back out now

Trapped

Discord stared in horror as the red and white tear in reality that he had made was destroyed by Luna.

“NO, NO, NO, NO, NOOOOO!!!!” he howled.

Luna paid him no heed, he doubted that she even heard him from beyond the veil of worlds, but that made it no less saddening, if anything it actually made it worse, knowing that even though he could see and hear Luna, she couldn’t see or hear him.

Discord frantically clawed at the spot where the tear had been, but it was useless.

Discord slumped to the ground, his long, serpentine body going completely slack against the slimy stones under him.

That’s just about the last of my magic he thought Oh sweet Celestia I’ll never get back to Equestria.

Panic began to set in, the emotion wasn’t entirely new to him, he had felt panic both times that he had been imprisoned by the Elements, but that panic had died out when he realized that he would get out eventually, but this time there was almost no hope that he could get back.

He was trapped in this world, his magic was almost completely gone, he was malnourished and the eyes that he was using weren’t even his, they belonged to some poor homeless creature that he had found dead in a gutter.

Discord hated death, to him it was the ultimate buzzkill, in Equestria he knew of tyrants like King Sombra and Queen Chrysalis who would commit murder, but he himself had never once physically hurt anypony, he had never actually witnessed death until now and it made him sick just thinking about it.

This place is tainted he thought Their type of chaos is a type that I want no part of. There’s no fun in this, no mischief, no laughter or mommy-style reprimands from Celestia or Fluttershy, all there is is war and murder and…. that other thing…. Discord shuddered as he remembered That Other Thing, in Equestria it was never mentioned amongst polite society and it rarely ever happened at all.

But this world seemed to be much less….. restrained in terms of that kind of thing; it really was disgusting.

Discord heard the sounds of approaching feet and slithered into an upright position, not having the energy to float, he waited until the creature passed before he crawled out into the dark street.

After he had escaped the mansion he thought that he could find a way to replenish his power, fully expecting the outside world to be at least a little bit like Equestria, but his hopes were utterly dashed when he saw that the town was the same as the mansion: lots of stone and wood, not many trees and a buck-load of odd gadgets that would have interested him had he not been in a hurry to leave.

At first he had been awed at all of the chaotic goodness this new world had to offer: kids (he assumed that they were kids) ran willy-nilly in the streets playing pranks and games, carriages were pulled by creatures that looked remarkably like ponies (He made a mental note to try bringing one of them back with him), creatures using curses that made even HIM blush and a sun and moon that weren’t controlled by magic!

All of it seemed like his kind of place, but then he noticed the filth and stench, he saw the homeless creatures gathered around shop windows, basking in the meager light, he saw starving animals rummaging in garbage and he saw many a drunken rampage, soon after he got his paws on a newspaper and was horrified by the reports of all the uprisings, full-blown wars, murders and cases involving That Other Thing.

The next few days were spent slithering in the shadows of alleyways and avoiding the gaze of the creatures, he saw a few unpleasant things during that time, but he knew that he couldn’t do anything about it; he couldn’t afford to waste the magic that he was building up within his body.

After spending a whole week like this he was finally ready to make the tear and return to Equestria, but something went wrong, he ended up in the mind of a human in his world, a human whose mind was also inhabited by a creature made of darkness and hatred, Discord knew that if it continued to remain undisturbed within the human’s mind then it would start to corrupt him.

So Discord began to play the part of a conscience, managing to actually communicate with the human, who he learned was named Alois, he told him to meet with Celestia and, to his surprise, he heeded his words, he had felt overwhelming relief: he would be saved and the Shadow would be destroyed.

At least half of his relief was vindicated, the Shadow WAS destroyed, but in her anger Luna had also destroyed the tear that he had made.

Now he was completely and utterly bucked.

Discord felt tears begin to well up in his borrowed eyes, but he held them in. No he thought as his despair turned to anger I can’t die this way, I absolutely refuse to die in a place that has no chocolate rain!

Then he sensed it: magic.

Hope filled his entire being and he got up from his spot on the ground with renewed confidence.

Discord channeled the last of his energy and teleported himself back to the only place that might hold the key to solving his problems: the mansion.

He appeared right in the lofty foyer not five feet from a maid who took one look at him and ran screaming out of the door, Discord watched her go with a slightly annoyed look on his face, Well I suppose it’s not every day that you see a draconequus wink into existence in front of you, but did she really have to be so rude about it?

Discord sniffed the air, trying to smell the source of the magic, to his shock it was close, very close indeed.

Discord put his nose to the ground and began sniffing around, not caring that he looked like a pig hunting for truffles (Yummy, yummy truffles).

20 minutes later he found the source: a white orb sitting on a velvet cushion.

Discord picked the stone up and was surprised by how jagged and rough it felt despite how smooth it looked, Discord tossed it from one paw to the other, testing it’s weight, which seemed to change ever so slightly with each toss.

Discord hmmm-ed and then spun the orb around on a talon like a basketball, he watched in interest as the orb spun, faster and faster, until it was a blur on the tip of his talon. After about 2 minutes the orb was still spinning, despite the fact that he wasn’t doing anything to it at all, Discord looked at with more intensity as it continued to spin.

The orb began to glow and spark, it levitated off of his talon to hang in the air; the more he looked at it the more it disturbed him.

This isn’t natural magic he thought worriedly This is…. wrong and not MY kind of wrong either, this thing’s magic reeks of blood and the kind of arcane mumbo-jumbo that ponies like KIng Sombra practiced, I bet it reacts to negative emotions, that’s why I could only sense it when I was all weepy.

Discord was too distracted to see that the orb had stopped spinning and was now glowing blue and white.

He didn’t notice the lengthening of the shadows or the lights going out until he was shrouded in darkness with the only source of light coming from the orb.

Discord turned to the orb and looked at it with fear rising in his gut, far off he could hear, or imagined that he could hear, the whispering of many voices.

Then the orb flared with red light and Discord was pulled into the Void.

Twin Dreams*

View Online

Author’s Note: IdontownMLPorA:Jthisistoconservespaceokbye!

Twin Dreams

“Is that-?”

“It can’t be, no way would she show her lying face here.”

“I think it is…. oh dear.”

“Hey everypony, it’s the Great and Sucktacular Trixie!”

Trixie bowed her head in shame as the inevitable name-calling and jeering began again, she had hoped that she wouldn’t feel so miserable after a year of hearing her name being spoken of with the same venom that one would use when talking about Changelings or raw sewage.

At least they weren’t throwing stones; she already had enough scars as it was.

Trixie was passing through the city of Canterbury, a city nestled in the center of the Unicorn Range, a city which once welcomed her with opened forelegs now turned against her, just like everything else.

Even the weather seemed to wish her ill: the rain was coming down in buckets and lightning split the sky, The pegasi have really outdone themselves this time. she thought morosely as the freezing rain soaked her to the bone, the only thing that gave her any comfort was that she was almost out of Canterbury and after that it would only be about 100 miles to Ponyville.

To think that after all this suffering I’d be returning to the place that started it all, but this isn’t about me for once, it’s about all of Equestria.

But what if they don’t believe me? She thought suddenly, feeling dread take hold, What if they disregard me, what if they send me to the loony bin? I doubt they’ll even give me the time of day there, I mean, I brought an Ursa Minor into their town and then I tried to rule them all with an iron hoof.

Trixie felt tears well up in her eyes as she remembered her despicable crimes, Why didn’t I learn my lesson the first time? Why didn’t I just swallow my pride, apologize and accept my punishment? Am I really that stupid?

Almost as if in answer to her last question a ball of mud slammed into her cheek, Trixie turned and saw a sneering filly and her friends giving her a death glare, Trixie stared at them for a second before wiping the mess of of her cheek with a trembling hoof, she knew what they wanted of her and she would oblige them; she reattached the harness and set off.

After she was well away from the city she decided to settle in for the night.

Trixie levitated the last of her meager foodstuffs- which happened to be a very old can of dried lemons- out of her cobwebby cupboard and set about filling her shrunken stomach, the lemons tasted vile and, in her current condition, it was nearly impossible to swallow more than one at a time, but it was better than nothing.

After the last bite was finished Trixie flopped into her bed and pulled her tattered blanket over herself, remembering to use her hooves and not her magic, as she slid into slumber she prayed for a dreamless night.

Her prayers weren’t answered.

She was in a concert hall, the high ceiling was shrouded in darkness and the lights around the stage were dim.

Trixie walked forwards uncertainty, feeling that the dream wouldn’t allow her to wake up if she didn’t investigate, once again she found that she retained her sense of touch in the dream as she could feel the warm carpeting under her hooves, Trixie suppressed a moan of pleasure, the soft material both tickled and cushioned her aching hoof-soles.

After a full minute of letting the carpeting work its magic Trixie finally decided to look around a bit more; her brief moment of pleasure was replaced by shock and fear when she saw the creatures seated around her: they were almost completely hairless, taller than even a full-grown Alicorn and fully clothed, they had no muzzles, their ears were short and rounded and in place of hooves they had what looked like paws.

Trixie’s heart was pounding so hard that she thought that it would burst.

She had never seen anything even remotely like whatever these things were, they were so alien, so abnormal, she hoped that looking at them for too long didn’t cause insanity.

Then the creatures began to clap and hoot as the stage lit up.

Trixie watched as one of the creatures came onto the stage with a violin clutched in its paws, she could tell that something was wrong by the way it stumbled and reeled about like it had received a blow to the head, the showmare squinted at the creature and saw that it looked rather sick: its red mane was slick with sweat, its skin was ashen and there were grey circles around its eyes, making their green coloration all the more prominent.

The creature stumbled to a chair that had been placed in the center of the stage and sat down, nearly falling off in the process.

The audience began to snicker and Trixie felt her heart go out to him; getting heckled was something that she had become very familiar with.

Her sympathy disappeared when the creature began to play.

“No” she said, her voice trembling, “It can’t be…”

The creature was playing the same discordant song from the first dream.

The audience didn’t share in her terror, in fact they were acting the exact opposite, they began to hurl insults at the creature, who retaliated by shakily standing up and roaring out a series of curses that were so vile they burned Trixie’s ears.

Then the creature drew the bow across the strings one last time and fell over in a tangled heap of gangly limbs.

The audience howled with laughter as two more creatures, one very tall and brawny and the other medium-sized and fair-maned, got onto the stage, hauled him to his feet and dragged him off just as the audience began to throw things at them.

Trixie, wanting to know the identity of the creature who had played that nightmarish song, ran after the trio, she passed the stage and headed into a hallway behind it, barely paying attention to the world around her, she kept moving until she heard the sounds of voices.

“Damn it, Alois, what the hell did you give him?!”

“Me?! This was all HIS doing, Basile, not mine!”

Trixie rounded a corner and came upon them, the big creature and the fair-maned creature had set the sick one down and were locked in a heated argument, the big one, now red-faced with anger, was pointing an accusatory finger at its comrade.

“Don’t lie to me” he snarled, “You and I both know that Malo doesn’t drink.”

“Maybe it isn’t drink” suggested the other with an offended air, “maybe he just took too many of those damnable pills that he downs so regularly.”

The big creature scoffed and gestured to the player, who was apparently named Malo, “Look at him, Alois, does that fuckin’ look like the result of him takin’ too many pills?! I’ve seen enough sick drunks to know one when I see one.”

“ I. Am. Not . Lying, Basile!” growled Alois

Basile rolled his eyes and bent down to pick Malo up while Alois fumed.

When he realized that Alois wasn’t going to help him Basile turned back to give his comrade a burning glare, when it failed to get a reaction the big creature growled and hoisted Malo over his shoulders before turning away and marching down the corridor; Alois heaved an exasperated sigh before following them.

Trixie watched as Alois faded into the darkness before her, her mind filled with questions: What were those strange creatures? Where was she? Was she in a dream or was she in this other world? If it WAS another world then why couldn’t any- any of them see her? Who were Malo, Basile and Alois and what was their connection to each other? What was Malo’s connection to that song and was he truly the one who played as Neighagra Falls burned?

But there was one question that soon took center stage: Why did she feel like these three held an answer to these questions?

Trixie took a step forwards, her muscles tensing in preparation to chase them again, she took one step and….

She was in a dark corridor, the walls were oozing slime and the few torches along the wall cast eerie shadows over everything, she looked around, shivering slightly as the cold stone sent waves of chills through her body. What is this place? She thought as she walked forwards, she passed a wooden door that was stained with something dark, she could have sworn she heard something breathing inside, she picked up her pace until she was at full gallop, determined not to get caught by whatever was behind the door.

That particular fear took a backseat when she and rounded a corner and almost ran straight into a towering, naked creature with bloody, eyeless sockets, there were chains wrapped around his torso, manacles binding his wrists and ankles, and a strange wheel-shaped device around his neck, Trixie screamed and backed away, only to bump into another creature that looked just like him, only thinner.

The freakish men stood silent, until the thin creature let out a manic laugh that caused the other one to jump and let out a shriek.

"Bonjour Monsieur Racine, I almost didn't hear you. You're getting quite adept at hiding from me. I applaud your stealth,but it won't help you."

He lunged at the one called Alois, his fingers curled into claws and his mouth open in a roar of insane rage.

Trixie woke up.

200 miles away in Canterlot a similar situation was occurring.

In his room in the royal castle Alois was dreaming of the past as well.

Just not HIS past.

Alois felt the cool breeze on his face.

Almost instantly he knew that he was in a dream.

He knew it as a fact, knew it from the very second it began, knew without a doubt in his mind: he knew because he could see.

He was standing in the Ponyville town square, that much for certain, everything was a single shade of brown and everypony was blurred around the edges, Alois felt like he should have been happy and he sort -of was, but any happiness was diminished by the realization that it was a dream and would therefore end.

He scanned his surroundings and saw a large group of ponies gathered around what appeared to be a small stage on wheels decorated with stars and constellations, Alois drew closer, his mind wandering back to the times that his father had hired magicians for his birthdays in his younger years, he wondered if Equestria had need of any actual magicians what with magic being real.

“Come one, come all, come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trrrixie!!”

The loud voice drew his attention back to the stage as a unicorn mare appeared in a puff of smoke, she was wearing a cape and hat covered in the same stars and constellations that adorned her stage, as her cape billowed outwards Alois saw a mark on her flank: a wand and a crescent moon shrouded in stars.

“Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever seen by pony eyes!”

Alois finally had the pleasure of rolling his eyes; she was definitely like the magicians back in his world.

“My, my, my, what boasting.” said a familiar voice, Alois turned and saw 6 ponies and a small dragon at the front of the crowd: two were unicorns, two were pegasi and two were earth ponies.

So this is what they look like Alois thought as he watched them talk amongst themselves, Sacre blu they are adorable!

Trixie continued to brag about how she had vanquished a monster called an Ursa Major, Alois noticed two young colts giving each other excited looks.

Then he heard Trixie say “I hereby challenge you, Ponyvillians. Anything YOU can do. I can do better!”

Trixie pointed a hoof at an earth pony with a stenson, Applejack if he guessed correctly, and said “What about you, little hayseed?”.

Applejack declared, in her own way, that she had had enough of Trixie’s boasting and attempted to prove herself by showing off her skills with a lasso. Alois cheered her on with the others even though he knew that they couldn’t hear him.

Then Trixie used her magic to hogtie Applejack and stuff an apple into her mouth, Alois wished he could give the show-pony a kick to the flank as he watched the farm-pony hop off of the stage.

Rainbow Dash was next, Alois groaned, first at her bragging and then at her ridiculous and somewhat cruel defeat, Rarity followed after and was also humiliated; by the time that it was over Alois’ fists were clenched so tight that his knuckles were white.

Then the fabric of the dream blurred and then reshaped into another scene: this time it was night and Alois heard screaming accompanied by the footsteps of something massive.

He turned and saw what could only be described as a giant bear made up of stars thundered along the main road, its massive paws crushing everything in its path, he watched as the two colts from earlier tried to coerce Trixie into fighting it, but her attempts merely served to anger the beast, just as it was about to eat her Twilight did something to calm it, then she levitated it back into the forest where it had emerged.

After all was said and done Trixie ran off and left Twilight and the others to clean up her mess, Alois shook his head as he watched her fade into the darkness, Rainbow Dash had tried to go after her, but Twilight had foolishly held her back, saying that she might “learn her lesson.”

Alois scoffed, doubting Twilight’s judgement.

When the scene shifted again his doubt was vindicated.

Trixie had returned and was now ruling Ponyville as some kind of tyrant using more powerful magic, she was making his friends do menial tasks, like forcing Applejack to make massive quantities of applesauce or having Rarity design banners bearing her face.

Why am I seeing this? he thought as he watched the tyranny continue Is this Trixie pony important in some way? Is some omnipotent force telling me that she’s going to threaten Equestria?

He saw Twilight and Trixie duel, he saw Twilight defeat Trixie using the help of her friends and her natural magic, Alois felt a strange sense of pride in her as he watched her explain how she had used illusions to fool Trixie into throwing away her amulet, which seemed to be the source of her increased power, when the amulet was gone Trixie was all but beaten.

Good, now maybe some justice will be served he thought smugly, he was let down when it seemed that she had once again escaped her rightful reckoning, then he was shocked beyond belief when Trixie reappeared asking for forgiveness which, of course, Twilight granted her.

What!? Are these ponies insane? he wondered incredulously, There’s no possible way that she could have learned her lesson.

He was once again surprised when the scene shifted for the last time.

Trixie was on her stage again, Alois’ eyes were drawn to the crudely drawn sign that hung above her:

THE GREAT AND APOLOGETIC TRIXIE’S SPECTACULAR CHARITY SHOW!!

Alois looked down just in time to see Trixie get pelted with rotten fruit.

“Please, everypony!” she cried, trying in vain to fend off the onslaught, “Trixie is trying to turn over a new leaf, she swears!”

“Yeah right!” scoffed a unicorn as he levitated a particularly rotten-looking watermelon over his head.

“Please! I’m serious, I-”

The watermelon crashing into her head and knocking her off her hooves put a stop to any more pleading from her, the audience laughed as she rose, her mane dripping with rancid melon.

Trixie’s eyes began to water as she watched the ponies leave, still laughing.

Alois felt a pang of sympathy for her, I guess she did learn her lesson, it’s too bad no one wants to accept her.

Then the dream world collapsed and Alois woke up to the sound of frantic hoof-falls.

After putting on his shirt and taking a minute to locate his cane Alois stumbled out into the hallway, fighting the urge to rub his sockets, all around him he could hear ponies causing commotion.

His interest sparked Alois searched for a guardspony or someone who could tell him what was going on.

Thankfully he didn’t have to look far.

“Alois! Oh thank Celestia, you’re okay.” said Fluttershy, sounding both relieved and panicked.

“What’s going on?” Alois asked.

“Something horrible has happened.” said Fluttershy, fear evident in her voice.

“What?”

“I heard a guard say that…. that Neighagra Falls is- is burning.”

“She’s right.” said a male voice to their right, “Neighagra Falls is burning and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.”

Before Alois could question him further he was off, the sound of his armor clanging fading into the deathly silence that had fallen over the hallway.

Alois swallowed and wetted his tongue nervously, “I-I think that we should go see the Princesses.”

“Yeah.” came the soft reply.

The two went to wake the others, neither saying a word to each other; they both knew that it wasn’t the time for chit-chat.

Nero

View Online

Author’s Note: I don’t own MLP or Amnesia: Justine.

Nero

If you were to go to any town in Equestria and ask about changelings you would be met with uneasy stares and accusatory glances.

For hundreds of years changelings had merely been a species found in storybooks, sure there were the occasional whispers of somepony seeing one fly by or discovering an abandoned hive, sometimes changelings were blamed for the disappearances that plagued certain towns on the outskirts of Equestria and sometimes ponies came under scrutiny for being suspected of actually being one of the the shape-shifting love-vampires, but those instances were very rare and most ponies continued to think of the changelings as just a myth.

Then the events of the Canterlot Wedding happened and all at once the changelings had gone from very fictional to very real and very, very dangerous.

In the following months paranoia was rampant: ponies were pointing hooves at anypony they deemed too suspicious, Celestia’s guards conducted dozens of searches and found very little, Celestia herself had even had to intervene when the whole of Hoofington had tried to lynch a colt they suspected of being a changeling.

The name Queen Chrysalis became synonymous with deceit and nightmares, her infamy rising to equal the likes of Nightmare Moon and Discord, the only thing that kept the whole of Equestria from erupting into a mass panic was the fact that Chrysalis and her swarm had been banished.

Or course, Queen Chrysalis and her minions weren't the only changeling swarm in Equestria.

There were approximately 25 different hives of various sizes scattered all over Equestria, each one led by a single male or female, each one with more than a 100 changelings and each one governed by a different set of rules and traditions brought on by years of intermingling with the other races and adopting their various lifestyles; as such not all of the hives were… tremendously pleased with the actions of the tyrannical Queen.

One of these hives was located just outside of Neighagra Falls: voted as one of the most desirable vacation spots in all of Equestria by Equis Monthly and one of the most culturally diverse places to boot, as such, it was one of the best places to hide for a changeling.

But as of recently the King of the hive, King Morpho, had began pulling his subjects back, fearful of the new magical anti-changeling procedures that were being enacted in some of the bigger cities like Manehattan and Canterlot, some of his subjects were annoyed, but most understood his reasoning and obeyed him, after a few weeks of subtle goodbye’s he had retracted all of them, though a few had been slower to leave than the others.

“Stupid King” growled Stinger as he nimbly avoided a particularly tall tree, “stupid orders, stupid friggin’-”

“Hush now.” said Pedipalp in his usual calming tone, “You can’t blame our King for wanting to look out for us, can you Stinger?”

Stinger made as if to retort, but checked his temper and sighed tiredly instead.

“Yeah, if anyone’s to blame it’s that cow, Queen Chrysalis.” said Mantis, gritting her fangs in anger at the very thought, “That idiot’s doomed us all! We’re never gonna be able to show our true forms to the rest of the world, they’ll kill us all before we can open our mouths!”

“Enough.” said Pedipalp, giving Mantis a rare glare, “None of that matters at the moment, you should concentrate on the task at hand, which would be not crashing into a tree if I’m not mistaken.”

Mantis snorted, “ Don’t give me that whole ‘I’m smarter than you ‘cause I have better diction’ crap.”

Pedipalp raised a brow at her, “Don’t you mean ‘I’m smarter than you BEcause I have better diction’?”

Mantis flew closer to him and smacked the back of his head, sending him spiraling into a nearby lake, Stinger stopped his flying to howl in laughter, Mantis joined in on the laughter as she watched a very wet and very annoyed Pedipalp haul himself out sputtering and cursing.

After a few minutes of watching him try and fail to gain footing on the muddy banks Mantis took pity of her friend and darted down to help him dry off.

Once they were back in the air they continued onward in an uncomfortable silence; neither Mantis or Pedipalp were very good at verbal apologies, so they elected to stay silent until they could figure out a way to say they were sorry without being too dramatic.

Mantis blew a strand of her blue hair of of her eyes, envying the males for their baldness, They may all look similar, but at least they don’t have to get hair out of their eyes every five-gah!, she angrily blushed her hair out again and continued on, muttering curses under her breath.

Suddenly Stinger, who had managed to fly to the front of the group, stopped short with a gasp. Mantis and Pedipalp were forced to stop short to avoid crashing into their comrade.

“What the buck’s wrong with you?!” shouted Mantis, flying around to show Stinger her death glare.

“Can you smell that?” asked Stinger with hunger boiling behind his eyes, Mantis saw the look in his eyes and backed up: Stinger had entered a Vore State*.

Then the smell hit her and every single thought in her mind vanished and was replaced by a single, compelling word: LOVE.

Mantis and Stinger both took off, using their noses to track the overpowering aroma like flying bloodhounds, seconds later the smell had reached Pedipalp and he took off after them, none of them noticed the sun going down prematurely, or the multitude of woodland animals fleeing from the danger that had so recently appeared in their midst.

Mantis breathed in deeply through her nose, letting the glorious scent of love fill her nostrils and float through her body; it felt amazing, better than good food, sex and poison joke combined, the love was so powerful she couldn't even detect what type of love it was: it wasn't carnal love and it wasn't romantic love, so what was it? Parental love? Sibling love? Unconditional love? In the end she decided that it didn't matter; love was love.

She flew faster, barely feeling the chill breeze on her chitinous body, not hearing the wind whistling through the holes in her legs, the only thing that she focused on was the love. She sniffed: the smell was stronger now, so overpowering she could almost taste it.

Suddenly the vore state lessened and she realized that she and the others were surrounded by a dense wall of fog, Mantis looked around and saw her comrades shaking their heads and giving her and the surrounding area dazed looks, Pedipalp opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he seemed to notice something, Mantis turned her head in the direction that he was looking and started: there, not a few yards away from them, was the black form of what seemed to be a massive castle, complete with battlements and turrets.

“Uh…. wow.” was all that Stinger could say.

“I second that wow.” said Mantis.

Pedipalp said nothing.

“Was there always a castle here?” asked Stinger.

“I dunno.” said Mantis, “But the love seems the strongest around it, so I’m guessing that there’s a lot of ponies or whatever’s in there that all really, really love each other…. or something like that.”

“Should we go in?” asked Stinger, giving the castle a weary look.

Pedipalp chose this moment to add his two bits, “Oh suuuurrreee; it’s just a fog-shrouded castle in the middle of the woods that may or may not have been there before, I’m sure it’s totally safe to enter.”

Stinger gave Pedipalp a big smile, “Thanks, chum! I knew I could count on you to back me up.”

Pedipalp gave his comrade a glare that could curdle a cow.

Mantis’s mind was made up for her when the love smell increased until she began to drool, “Buck this, I’m goin’ in!” she declared before speeding off. Stinger and Pedipalp watched as her form was consumed by the fog, they exchanged uncertain glances at each other, then, with a shrug, Stinger flew off as well; Pedipalp sighed and followed after, thinking to himself This can’t end well.

He had no way of knowing how right he was.

“Well, this is…. nice,” said Mantis as she and her comrades gazed in awe at their new surroundings: they had entered through an open window at the front of the castle and were now in the massive foyer, the floor was shining marble, the walls were painted a rather gaudy shade of crimson and each window was covered by a set of red drapes that completely blocked out any light.

Straight ahead was a massive staircase that led to a darkened arch, to their left was a bronze spiral staircase that extended up into the shadowed ceiling, to their right was a whole wall dedicated to paintings and murals, though Mantis was too far away to see any details, the whole place looked like it was big enough to fit all of her hivemates and then some.

Snapping into leader mode Mantis turned to the two males, “Stinger, you go with Pedipalp and check out were the spiral staircase leads to, I’ll go and see where the normal stairs lead.”

Pedipalp nodded and flew off, Stinger huffed and shot her a glare, “Who made YOU leader?”.

“I did, got a problem with that?” Mantis asked, baring her fangs, Stinger made as if to retort, but wisely held his tongue and followed after Pedipalp, who had already disappeared, Mantis smirked to herself; it was good to be an Alpha Female sometimes.

Mantis turned her attention to the task at hand and started for he stairs, but something caught her eye: one of the paintings had fallen off the wall.

Why didn't I hear it fall? It’s a pretty big painting. she thought as she walked up to the fallen painting, Mantis grabbed the sides and hauled it up, when she saw what was on it she backed up: the painting depicted a creature that she couldn't identify, that fact alone creeped her out as she, like all other changelings, had made it her business to familiarize herself with every species known to Equus. It looked kind of like a shaved diamond dog, but it was much too thin and it’s legs didn't have the same bone structure.

All of that was unnerving in and of itself, but the bloody sockets were its eyes should have been made it downright creepy.

Mantis turned away and went to the stairs, trying to scrub that image out of her mind with little success, she walked up the stairs, the sound of her hooves echoing endlessly across the foyer. Mantis shivered, was it just her or had the temperature suddenly dropped by a couple degrees?

The changeling shook her head and continued until she reached the arch, beyond it she could see a long hallway with dozens of doors in all different shapes, sizes, colors and materials, Mantis sighed and readied her nose: This is gonna take a while. she thought as she opened the first door.

As Mantis was beginning her lengthy search Stinger and Pedipalp were wandering around the upstairs, which seemed to be comprised of a string of large, lavishly-furnished rooms that must have been owned by aristocracy of some kind.

The first room that they came to was painted entirely in a pea-green color, which made everything look like somepony had vomited over everything.

Pedipalp wandered around, sniffing the air to see if he could find the source of the love, as he did he noticed how unnaturally quiet it was, there were no clocks ticking, no boards creaking and no sounds of animal life, even the sounds of his breathing and hoofsteps sounded distant. It’s like a tomb. he thought with a shudder, A green tomb with really nice furniture, but still a tomb.

“Hey Stinger, have you found anything?” he asked, hoping that the sound of his comrade’s voice would lessen his growing discomfort.

All he heard was silence.

Pedipalp turned and found that his partner was gone.

The changeling turned and scanned the room, looking for any place that Stinger could have gone, but the only exits consisted of the door that they had entered through and the door on the far wall which Pedipalp had been near when he had noticed the silence; there was literally nowhere Stinger could have gone without alerting him .

“Hey Pedipalp.” said a voice from behind him, he turned around and saw Mantis standing at the entrance, Pedipalp felt relief cool his nerves, now that she was here they could track Stinger down in less time, that is, if he wasn't playing a joke on them.

“Hello Mantis, have you seen Stinger?” he asked, Mantis shook her head and Pedipalp groaned in frustration, “I swear if that idiot’s got himself stuck in some kind of trap I’m going to kill him!”

“I bet he went into the other room.” said Mantis with a smirk, Pedipalp scoffed at the notion of Stinger, the lord-high-master of all unsubtlety, giving him the slip. Still, it made more sense than his comrade disappearing into thin air.

“Lead the way, oh great leader.” said Pedipalp with an over-dramatic bow, Mantis passed him by without giving him one of her usual snarky retorts, which annoyed him a bit.

Mantis opened the door and ushered him in, Pedipalp took one look at the room and blanched: the whole room was yellow, not a sunny, happy yellow, but a pus-y, sickly yellow that made his gorge rise.

Fighting back his gag reflex the changeling stepped over the threshold, wincing as his hooves made contact with the rough, sticky carpeting (Why was it sticky?), he sniffed the air, hoping to catch Stinger’s scent, but the overpowering stench of rotting meat drowned everything else out and made his eyes water.

“Stinger!!?? Are you in here?!” he called, “If this is a joke then it isn't funny!”

“He’s not in here.” said Mantis, Pedipalp turned to her and saw a smirk on her face, Pedipalp shivered, something in her tone was wrong, not an overt wrongness, but a subtle one, it sounded like someone was using her voice, but not any of her cadences or tones. He looked into her eyes and saw something reflected from behind them, like a shadow behind a misted glass.

“M-Mantis? What’s going on?” he asked, unconsciously backing up a few steps.

Mantis grinned and Pedipalp saw that all of her teeth, which had been sharp and slightly yellowed, were now long, blunt and pure white, there were also too many of them.

“Your little ami is… indisposed, my petit insecte.” she said, Pedipalp blinked; he didn't remember Mantis ever speaking Prench before.

The same second that he thought that the realization struck him, “You’re not Mantis.” he said, looking at her, or whatever was using her form, with wide eyes.

“Who are you really? A rival swarm member? A changeling from another hive? A pony using some kind of illusionary magic? What have you done with Mantis?” he asked angrily.

The impostor shook its head, “Non, my insectoid friend, I’m something new. As for your friend she is off wondering my beautiful castle, I’ll get to her in a bit, but first I have to take care of you.”, the fake Mantis’s body began to shake and shudder as steam began to rise from its body, Pedipalp watched in horror as the chitin melted and streamed off in greasy black tendrils, the hair became a fog of blue smoke and the room was filled with the smell of burning meat.

The fog and smoke shifted as something stood up, something tall and scrawny, then two yellow and red lights pierced the misma, then came the laughter, a high-pitched and manic sound that boomed and echoed throughout the yellow room, as the laughter increased Pedipalp saw the texture of the walls change from hard and dusty to soft and glistening, something viscous and bubbling began to ooze out of small holes that began to appear along the surface, he looked down and saw that the carpeting wasn’t actually carpet, it was something wet and organic; it was like he was standing in some kind of diseased organ.

Pedipalp backed away from the fog, his hooves squishing on the floor, the lights winked out of existence and the laughter stopped, but he kept backing up until he hit something, Pedipalp realized what he had bumped into when he heard the breathing behind him, he turned and came face to face with the impostor’s nightmarish form.

“Bonjour, mon insecte sans valeur.” it said with a smile, “ I’m going to enjoy remaking you.”.

The Impostor grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the floor as if he didn't weigh anything at all, he turned to the far wall and lifted him higher: a slit appeared in the wall, a slit that widened until it was big enough to fit a whole diamond dog, Pedipalp could see nothing but darkness inside of it, then a series of spikes erupted from within the slit, No, not spikes, they’re teeth; it’s a mouth. he thought as tears welled up in his eyes, I don’t want to die, not like this, Mantis, Stinger, someone help me!!

Pedipalp screamed as the Impostor threw him into the mouth faster than his wings could work, the last thing he felt was the unbelievable pain as his slimy tomb crushed him.

Mantis wouldn't admit it out loud, but right now she was feeling very small and very alone: the hallway and the rooms therein seemed to go on forever, every room was uniformly big and expensively decorated, the temperature seemed to be dropping every few minutes and to top it all off the smell of love wasn't getting any stronger, she’d almost given up, but her stubborn streak refused to let her give up.

Mantis finished with another room and headed to the next, the door was average-looking, except for the knob, which seemed to be made out of an emerald the size of her hoof, Mantis took a sniff and felt her heart fill with joy when the smell became nearly overwhelming, with trembling hooves she unlocked the door and stepped inside, she expected the room to look just like all the others, but this one was different, just not in a good way: the tiles had been replaced by gray steel grating that seemed to be suspended over a pit and the walls and ceiling were made from what looked like bits of scrap metal that had been fused together at odd angles.

At the far end of the room was a large object covered by a sheet, Mantis didn't need to use her nose to figure out that the object was the source of the love scent.

Mantis licked her lips as her stomach began to make a sound not unlike an angry Minotaur, she began to walk towards it, but she quickly decided to throw caution to the wind and set off at a full gallop.

Halfway there, however, she felt something brush against the sole of her hoof, Mantis stopped dead in her tracks and peered between the gaps in the grating, but all she could see was darkness, it was then that she wrenched her mind back from the clutches of her hunger and allowed herself to really look at her surroundings: the grating was bolted to the walls, several lengths of thick chains hung from the shadowed ceiling and were attached to several large rings arranged in twin lines in the exact center of the room.

None of it meant anything to her, but it was very odd to say the least, Mantis turned her gaze to the walls, there was definitely something wrong with the way the scrap metal looked, she narrowed her eyes and flew a bit closer to set a better look: to her shock and disgust the metal seemed to have been shaped to look like members of the same breed as the thing in the painting (or was it the same one? They kinda looked alike.) all engaged in some kind of war, complete with people getting impaled, decapitated, eviscerated and burned alive.

She got closer and tentatively touched it with a hoof: it was so cold it actually burned her and Mantis recoiled with a hiss gently blowing on her hoof to try to get the pain to fade.

She heard something behind her: it sounded like a giggle. Growling in annoyance Mantis shouted, “Ha. Ha, let’s all laugh at Mantis for being an idiot, come on out Stinger and Pedipalp, the joke’s over.”

The voice that answered her didn't belong to either of her comrades.

“Bonjour, mes ami. Am I to assume that you’re the one called Mantis?”.

Mantis stiffened, feeling her hackles rise at the sound of the voice, she turned just as a creature that looked just like the one from the painting stepped out: he was decked all in black, save for a set of red gloves and a red ascot, his head was bald and covered in dozens of tiny cuts, his colorless lips were drawn back over his many teeth in a psychotic smile and his eyes were bulging and colored red and yellow.

“I asked you a question, Are. You. Mantis?” it asked again, its tone impatient.

“Y-yes.” was all she could say.

“Ahh, good, and you are a female of your species?”

Mantis nodded dumbly, feeling her heart hammer in her chest.

“And you are a shape shifter, oui?”

“Y-yes.”; her voice was barely a whisper.

The creature smiled wider than his face seemed to allow, Mantis could practically see its cheekbones poking out from under its lip.

“I am going to have so much fun with you, Mademoiselle Mantis.” it said, Mantis opened her mouth to scream, but the creature lunged forwards and dealt her a vicious blow to the temple, Mantis staggered back and slumped to the ground in an unconscious heap.

Malo dusted his knuckles against his shirt and hefted the changeling up by the scruff without any effort, he carried her out of the Shrine Room and deposited her in his chambers, after making sure that the chains he had wrapped her in were tight, then he started conjuring the “tools” that would use, I love these powers he thought as he conjured a red-hot branding iron There’s so much potential for causing misery, maybe I should try to do something… big, something that would make the likes of De Sade, Tepes and Nero pleased, but what?

Malo snapped his fingers and appeared on a balcony overlooking the forest that his castle had settled in, he scanned the area, hoping for some sign of civilization, he smiled when he saw the city, he didn't know its name, but he could hear the multitude of living beings residing within, he could smell their happiness and calm.

Malo’s smile split his cheeks; They won’t be calm for very much longer.

Malo snapped his fingers and the massive insect legs burst from the ground where they had been dug in, Malo closed his eyes, how he hated doing that, and concentrated.

He felt his mind expand until it flooded every facet of the woods around him, he let his madness worm its way into the beasts below and the birds above, he giggled as he watched the animals flee from him, he looked to a nearby pond and watched as the fish devoured one another, as a grand finale he pushed his mind deep into the earth, driving the insects and diamond dog clans below him into a frenzy.

He beheld the massive flood of insects with childish joy, then he steeled his nerves, that had been practice, now it was time for the real fun to begin, the castle began to crawl forwards at a steady pace that destroyed most of the woods, Malo looked up at the sky and frowned: it was too damned sunny for his tastes, even before he had embraced the insanity he had never liked the sun.

SNAP!

Dark clouds gathered and a torrential downpour began, Malo sighed contentedly as the rain cooled his skin, he had only recently discovered that the use of these new powers caused his body to heat up, he had a feeling that going too long without cooling down would be very bad for him, he turned his attention to the city, now drawing ever nearer, his mouth began to water at the thought of all of those delicious little morsels.

Thought he wouldn't want to eat them raw.

Malo smirked when the idea came to him, as a child he had read about Emperor Nero and how he had played the fiddle as Rome burned at the end of his reign, it was fitting that Malo’s reign began where Nero’s had ended.

For such a big castle it sure moves fast. he thought as he watched the city grow closer, he could hear the cries of terror beginning to ring out; the overture to a beautiful song .

Now all it needed was some instrumental accompaniment.

Malo snapped his fingers and a violin appeared in front of him, the same violin that he had been playing the night his torture began, he ran his fingers across the smooth wooden surface, feeling a tingle of pleasure as he did, he conjured the bow and began to test the strings.

After he was satisfied with the results he looked out at the city that he was now merely a few yards away from, he stopped the castle and took a deep breath, remembering the mocking laughter of the crowd, hearing his vile curses spewed at them like pus from a boil, his anger boiling beneath his skin live a dam ready to burst, they weren't smart, they didn't know how hard he had worked, they didn't know that he was trying to play a masterpiece that he had been working on for 4 years, they were all just sheep, brainless, spineless, stupid and bloated with wealth.

He ground his teeth until they cracked, but the tangy taste of blood wasn't calming him down, those little mules down below would laugh at him, too! He could smell their fear, but he knew that they could be brave when needed, brave enough to mock him, he looked down and saw all of the glitz and glamour, he spat out a mouthful of his own tainted blood and watched as it expanded into a torrential rain of red.

He raised his head to the darkened sky and roared like a mad beast, then he lifted both hands and conjured a small sun in his palms.

He held it at eye level, This is power…. this is glory…. this is the start of the finale. and with that thought he hurled the sun down into the city, where it exploded outwards in a ripple of orange flames, soon everything was carpeted in blazing fire, Malo waited until the screaming started, then he began to play, but this wasn't the same tune that he had played on Earth, this was different, similar in sound and tone, but now it carried a whole new meaning: what had been a song about the love of a man for a woman had become a song about a man in love with madness and death.

Malo laughed as he played, the bow drawing blood from the strings, But the blood won’t quench this fire he thought It will only make it go higher. Fire destroys, fire devours, Fire destroys fire devours firedestroys firedevours firedestroysfiredevoursfiredestrysfiredevoursfire…

Malo repeated this mantra until it had become a pulsing beat, like war drums and a beating heart.

Malo increased the tempo as he laughed, then he drew in a deep breath and roared…

“I Will MAKE THE WORLD BLEED!!!”

Then he howled again as the flames licked the sky and the burning husk of Neighagra Falls was illuminated by the rising sun.

Return

View Online

Author’s Note: I don’t own MLP or Amnesia: Justine.

Return

Alois sighed in relief as he stepped off the train and took in the familiar scents of Ponyville, Celestia had sent them back to await further instructions, having told them that she wanted more details before she made any decisions.

Alois allowed himself to be led to Twilight’s house by Fluttershy, normally he would have protested as he wanted to test out his cane on his own, but he sensed that the meek pegasus was troubled and needed something to distract her.

Once they entered the library Alois excused himself and went to the bathroom to clean up.

Getting into the shower was a bit difficult, figuring out how to turn it on took him 5 minutes and trying to make the water hot using the knobs took him another 3.

After what seemed like a small eternity the water reached a temperature that he liked, taking his clothes off he stepped in and allowed the hot water to wash the grime off of his skin.

As he washed himself he was happy to discover that he was actually gaining weight, he could still feel his ribs, but it now felt like they were cushioned by small amounts of fat, At least I’ll fare a bit better once winter comes he thought as he let the water rinse the soap off of his back.

The scars also felt quite a bit less inflamed and most of the less severe ones had faded to near nonexistence, Alois also felt hair returning to his pate at last, he had no clue why it had taken it so long to start growing back, but it was comforting nonetheless.

Now for the difficult part, Alois gently peeled off the blindfold and tenderly traced the scars around his sockets, he winced as he remembered the agony, getting your eyes melted out of your skull was a special kind of pain, one that stuck with you long after the actual pain had faded.

Alois retracted his hand and then shut the water off, after drying himself off and putting his clothes back on he went downstairs and almost immediately bumped into someone.

“Hey TwiiiiiioooohhhhmmmmysweetCelestia!!!” said a voice near his knees.

Alois leaped back with a strangled yelp, he heard the sound of hooves coming down the stairs along with Twilight’s frantic breathing, “Spike? What’s wrong? Are you- oh hi, Alois.”

Spike? I’m sure I’ve heard that name before… oh, he’s Twilight’s dragon assistant! How could I have forgotten about that?

“It’s you! Why are you here?” asked Spike, sounding a bit scared.

“This is Alois. He’s a little…. different, but he’s nice.” said Twilight, adding “And he doesn’t eat souls or brains.” as an afterthought.

“Whuh?!” came the young dragon’s well-spoken retort.

“Sorry for scaring you Spike..” said Alois, extending his hand and hoping that the young dragon would shake, he was relieved to feel a cool, scale-covered hand meet his own, Alois marveled at the blunt talons, the four fingers and the overall softness of the hand, it was definitely a child’s hand, Alois had never been very good with children and he prayed that Spike wouldn’t prove himself to be as annoying as most human children he had encountered, I think the only children I’ve ever gotten along with were those Cutie Mark Crusaders.

His prayers were answered when Spike said “Oh, it’s okay, I just got a little freaked out, sorry about that by the way.”

Alois smiled, “It’s quite alright, I know I don’t look even a little bit normal by any of your standards, I don’t even look normal by my own species standards, most of my people have eyes.”

There was sad silence, then Alois said, “That was a joke, by the way.”, he heard Twilight give a nervous chuckle while Spike let out a genuine giggle, the human smiled, prompting an awed “Woahhh..”

“What?” asked Alois, wondering what he did wrong.

“You’ve got fangs like me! D’you eat gems too?”

Alois shook his head, “Uhh… no? Are you telling me that you do?”

Spike chuckled, “Yeah, they’re pretty tasty, the sapphires taste like blueberry, the emeralds taste like lime and the rubies taste like ketchup.”

Alois wished he had more facial muscles so he could raise his brows even higher than he normally could; he was getting the feeling that a normal raised brow wouldn’t suffice anymore.

“How can you eat gems without breaking your teeth?” asked the human.

“I think it’s because my teeth are harder than any gems, which is really cool, when I get bigger they’ll all get sharp, which will look Awe-to-the-Some.” said Spike excitedly.

Alois smiled, he hadn’t talked to Spike for more than a few minutes and he was already liking the little dragon.

Alois made his way to the kitchen and sat down, his hand straying to his head to feel the hair once again, he smiled again, Twilight seemed to notice this and stopped her eating to inquire about the smile. “Oh it’s just that I…. I’m just glad that I’m actually making progress, I think my hair might finish growing back by winter.”

“If you’re worried about being warm then I’m sure Twilight cold cast a warming spell on you or something like that.” said Spike.

Alois shook his head and opened his mouth to respond, but the words died in his throat when he felt something, it was a feeling that he had come to dread when he was crawling around in the catacombs, the loss of his eyes had heightened his senses to such an extent that he could pinpoint the locations of animals, people and even places using just his ears and nose.

With most of the other living beings he had to strain to locate them, their footfalls were soft and their breathing was tempered as if they knew that they were trespassing on unholy ground. But there was only one person in the entire dungeon, besides Justine, who walked like he owned the place: Malo De Vigny.

The crazed suitor seemed to relish the terror that he instilled in the animals and people, it was like he fed off of their fear, even Basile, who often bragged about his strength, went quiet when Malo came calling, over time Alois developed a sort of sixth-sense that alerted him when Malo was near, a sort of sickly tingle that started in his stomach and worked its way to the back of his neck.

Right now, in this new world, as far away from Malo and Basile and Justine, eons away from any of the issues of his world Alois felt that same feeling return to his gut.

No…. Please no! he thought, beginning to panic.

Then he heard the door fly open.

Trixie arrived back in Ponyville just as Alois was emerging from the shower.

The last few miles had been grueling, but her need to warn Twilight and the other Elements of the coming danger had allowed her to persevere and keep a good pace.

Once she was in town she blocked out all of the surprised and angry comments, right now she had more pressing matters. She passed the vendor stands, wincing as she remembered how many of those carts had been destroyed during the Ursa Minor’s rampage.

Just as the Ponyville Library came into view Trixie felt a strange sensation wash over her: it was a sort of gentle tingling that started in her gut and worked its way up to the back of her neck, it brought with it the feeling of panic.

Trixie looked at the library in time to see a very large, very oddly-shaped shadow cross one of the windows, the showmare’s eyes widened in fear, the shadow definitely didn’t belong to a pony; even wonky lighting couldn’t make a pony look bipedal.

Trixie raced towards the library, her malnourished limbs protesting heavily from the extra workout, she ignored the pain and kept going until she reached the door, she threw herself against it, the time she had spent lugging around her caravan had strengthened her shoulder and back muscles, so breaking the door down was only mildly painful.

The second she entered the library she saw the gangly-limbed, tall, pale, furless creature towering over Twilight and her assistant her mind returned to that dream, It’s the beast from my dreams, the violin player- Malo. Sweet Celestia he’s going to kill Twilight!

“Oh no you don’t, Malo!!” shouted Trixie, powering up her horn, the pain was sharp and instantaneous but she didn’t care, this monster had to be stopped no matter what. She conjured a length of chain and wrapped it around the creature’s body, she could barely hear Twilight and her assistant’s angry protests over the sound of blood rushing to her head, she began to conjure a number of locks to secure the creature, but found that she couldn’t, panic and frustration threatened to overwhelm her as she tried to focus her magic.

“ I. Just. Have. To try. Harder!!” she screamed over the flow of magic, she felt an aura wrap itself around her, was Twilight trying to fight her? He must have put her under a spell. she thought grimly, trying to power her way through the rapidly increasing pain.

It was only when the blood began to trickle out of her nose that she realized that she had made a very foolish mistake: she had engaged an alien creature who might be-no, WAS-more powerful than she was and she had done it in the most unsubtle way imaginable.

Trixie felt a burst of agony, persistent and white-hot, lance through her horn and travel to her guts, her magic chains disappeared and she fell to her knees, feeling like all of her bones were snapping simultaneously, she vomited, looking at the red dribbling from her mouth with stunned horror.

She looked up to see Malo start towards her, This is it… I’m going to die just like I lived: Weak and Powerless. she thought as tears began to cloud her waning vision.

Then she let unconsciousness wash over her.

Twilight stared at the unconscious form of the arrogant showmare in shocked silence, her brain trying to catch up to what happened, But what DID just happen? I haven’t seen Trixie since the whole magic duel debacle, why is she here, who the hay is Malo and why did she seem like she knew about Alois?

She looked up at the human, whose mouth was hanging open, a look of both surprise and horror on his face.

“Are you okay?” asked Twilight as she trotted to Alois with the intent of checking him over for injuries, but Alois silently held out a hand and walked past her to where Trixie lay, moving his cane around until the tip touched the boastful unicorn’s still form. Alois gently set the cane down and crouched over Trixie, his hands moving to her face and exploring it, when his fingers brushed against her horn he turned to Twilight.

“What’s her fur color?” he asked, his tone grim.

“It’s light blue.” said Twilight, feeling nervous.

“And her mane…. is it silver, by chance?”

“Yes” she said, “and her Cutie Mark is-”

“A wand and a crescent moon.” interrupted Alois, he didn’t phrase it as a question.

“Y-yes, but how did you know that?” asked Twilight, her eyes widening in shock.

“One more question” said Alois, “Her name wouldn’t be ‘Trixie’, would it?”

“Uh-huh.” replied Twilight, feeling shock and confusion wage an epic battle inside of her head.

“I thought so, I recognized that voice from- what’s this?”, Alois’s voice took on a concerned tone as he turned to Twilight, he lifted his hand up, displaying a palm soaked in crimson liquid.

“Twilight… what did you do?” he asked, sounding both fearful and angry.

The purple unicorn took a step back, fear making her heart pound, “I-I didn’t do anything, I swear!” she exclaimed.

“Then why is she bleeding?!” asked Alois, his voice rising, Twilight was about to protest at his anger when she realized that his voice didn’t hold any anger, instead it held desperation and fear.

“I’ll go get help.” said Spike, racing out the door, Twilight wrapped her aura around Trixie and levitated her onto her couch, Alois left the room to go wash his hands and when he came back he retrieved his cane and took a seat on the chair next to the couch. When he had gotten comfortable enough he laid his cane across his lap, folded his hands and let his chin rest against his chest, “What are you doing?” asked Twilight curiously.

Alois looked at her, ‘I’m waiting for her to wake up.” he said simply before lowering his head again.

“Alright’ said the unicorn, sounding unsure, ‘If that’s what you want, but let me or Spike know if you need anything, ‘K?”

Alois nodded silently, Twilight shook her head and then returned her gaze to Trixie. It became clear almost instantly that the blue unicorn was in terrible shape: her fur was grubby, her mane was so dirty that it seemed almost gray, the soles of her hooves were scraped and caked in a mixture of dried mud and not-so-dry blood, her filthy skin was drawn taut over her bones, making her look like a zombie from one of Spike’s comic books.

Oh, the poor thing thought Twilight, feeling pity well up within her, what’s happened to you?

Twilight shook her head to clear her mind and then went to get something to wash her with, all the while Alois sat and stared into nothingness.

The Patient

View Online

What’s this? Why, it appears to be another Author’s Note!

I don’t own Amnesia, Amnesia: Justine or Amnesia: A Machine for Walking Bacon Monsters (Though I wouldn't want to own that stupid-ass game anyway.) and I don’t own My Little Pony.

WARNING: This is a rather… dark chapter, it has some references to things that might offend, so be warned.

The Patient

What am I doing here? thought Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence to her friends and husband, as she trotted down the sterile corridors of the hospital, she had never liked hospitals, she detested the stink of antiseptic and the fact that it was, despite all the hard work of the doctor and nurses, often a place of death.

Cadence shuddered at the mere notion of death, It’s alright Cadence, just breathe, nothing bad is going to happen while I’m here… I hope. her thoughts returned to Shining Armor and the issue that had only recently began to plague her thoughts, I need to see Celestia as soon a possible, I have to know...

She paused at one of the doors and looked in at the young foal sleeping soundly, the sight drove away the dark thoughts to be replaced by the warm feeling of happiness at seeing the peaceful face of a sleeping foal, she made a mental note to visit the little guy after her business was done, she had a feeling that he might like a visit…. or maybe, considering who she was visiting, it was she who needed the visit.

Cadence sighed and continued onward, the patient was in room 208 and she was just passing 189, so she had a few more minutes to think.

What does Aunt Celestia think she can accomplish by having me talk to i-her? Last time I checked changelings were our enemies and the doctors said that something was very wrong with this particular one, though they didn't say what. Could this be a test? That definitely seems like my Aunt’s style, but a test of what, exactly?

Cadence sighed and turned a corner, she passed a nurse wheeling a rather thin stallion in a wheelchair, Cadence smiled as the two exchanged looks, when they saw her they both blushed furiously, Cadence winked at them and continued on her path, she heard the sound of lips meeting as she passed out of sight.

The first thing that Trixie felt upon reawakening was the pain.

Wha- where am I? she thought as she opened her eyes, she tried to raise her head, but the shooting pain in her horn made her reconsider that option.

What happened? Wait…. it was….. it was Twilight and that-that creature! Oh Celestia, they've captured me! T-they’re gonna kill me! Trixie began to whimper and struggle, which caused the muscles in her limbs to twinge painfully, then she heard it: the sound of breathing now two feet from her.

Fear paralyzed her and she quieted down, then, with a barely perceptible tremor, she turned her head to see if she could get a look at the pony sitting near her and instantly regretted it, because it wasn't a pony, it was that thing, Malo. He was sitting in a chair, his thin frame not quite filling the space despite his size, his chin was touching his chest and his hands were folded across his lap and the cane that rested on his knees.

Oh thank Celestia, he’s asleep. she thought with a sigh of relief, a sigh which she immediately and unsuccessfully tried to stifle, she silently prayed to both Celestia and Luna that Malo wouldn't wake up.

His breath hitched and then he continued to snore, Trixie closed her eyes and thanked the princesses for showing some mercy, Even though I've not exactly been the best pony I can be. she thought sadly, she shook her head to clear away the dark clouds forming in her mind, No, I can’t let fear get the best of me, not now, I have to get out of here!

She began to slowly tense her muscles, trying to work out the pain, after a few shoulder rolls and a couple of hoof-clenches she was feeling slightly better, she placed a hoof on the floor and tested her weight, when she was certain she wouldn't collapse she placed the other hoof down and began to maneuver herself off of the couch.

“You know, it’s extraordinarily rude to barge into someone’s house and magically tie up their guests.”

Trixie froze and turned to see Malo’s grim face leveled at her.

Any bravery that Trixie was mustering disappeared and she began to whimper anew, “P-please d-don’t hurt m-me, please…”

Malo sighed and leaned back, it was then Trixie noticed how tired he looked, “I’m not going to hurt you and I am NOT Malo, Miss Trixie.”

Trixie did a double take, “How do you know about me?”

The creature sighed, “I assume the same way that you know about Malo: through your dreams.”

Trixie blanched and the creature continued, “ I know a few things about you Trixie, I know that you arrived in Ponyville a year or so ago and you made a mockery of the elements, then your bragging nearly got several ponies killed by a massive eldritch beast from the Everfree. After being utterly humiliated you left and lost your audience, then you have the utter gall to take over and enslave Ponyville to your whim using dark magic.”

Trixie lowered her head as the guilt resurfaced with a vengeance, “ You know about that?”

The creature nodded, then his features softened, “I also know that you tried to make amends, but the others wouldn't listen to you, you got sick and now you’re here, trying to redeem yourself.”

He straightened up and turned his head to her, she had the feeling that, if he still possessed eyes, they’d be firmly on her, “I’m not Malo, I assume that you've seen pieces of my past, I am Alois Racine.” He held out a hand.

Trixie looked at the hand, “I-I’m not sure that I can trust you…. how do I know that you’re not tricking me? You looked the same, you were both bloody and bald and e-eyeless.”

The creature leaned in, “ Because, if I was Malo, you’d already be dead. You've seen him, so you know what he was like. I am who I say I am. I promise.”

Trixie looked at his face, the lack of eyes made it hard to tell if he was being sincere, but his features were soft and calm, not drawn and hard like Malo’s features had been, Trixie looked down at the still-proffered hand and cautiously shook it, ready to take her hoof away if he tried anything.

Alois smiled and then relaxed his grip, “Thank you for believing me, Trixie.”

Trixie nodded, For now… she thought as she watched him get to his feet.

This is it, room 208. thought Cadence with no small amount of trepidation.

Room 208 had been magically fortified due to the nature of the occupant, although most of the doctors didn’t think that she’d be a problem in her current state. They didn’t even bother with giving her bodyguards, Either that or they knew that I could handle myself. she thought with a small smirk; Alright, the time for procrastination is over, time to face my fears. Cadence breathed deeply and then went in.

She had mentally prepared for the worst: she expected the changeling to hurl herself at her with snapping jaws and malicious hissing and curses, instead she was met with a sight that shocked her to the core.

The changeling was sitting on her bed, her lank, green hair hung over her face like a shroud, her thin legs were drawn tightly over her body and her blanket was draped around her shoulders, when she heard Cadence enter she looked up and peered at her with one frightened eye showing through her bangs.

Cadence cantered forwards, trying her best to put on a smile, “Hello” she began “I'm-”

“You’re Princess Cadence, yes I know.” interrupted the changeling, Cadence was shocked at how tired the changeling sounded, No…. not tired…. empty… she thought, she opened her mouth to continue speaking, but the next words out of the changeling’s mouth stopped her cold.

“Are you here to kill me?”

Cadence’s jaw, which had been only slightly open, dropped completely at the words, “I-I beg your pardon?” she said when she found her voice, the changeling looked at her solemnly, “I asked if you were here to kill me, I am a changeling after all, aren't we all your enemies? And no, I won’t tell you where my hive is, as if that matters anymore.”

Cadence resisted the urge to step out and do more deep breathing, Why does she want to die? What could possibly make somep-somechangeling give up like that?

Cadence approached the changeling and sat down beside her, What are you doing?! screamed a part of her mind, Have you forgotten what they did to you and Shining? And here you are getting cozy with one of those bugs, what what your husband say?

He’d say that I’m fulfilling my duties as Princess of Love. she thought determinedly, I can’t be prejudiced to who I help and she definitely needs my help even if she is a changeling.

“Can you tell me your name?” she asked sweetly.

After a brief silence the changeling turned to face her, “Mantis.” she said, her voice so quiet it was almost a whisper.

“Alright Mantis, can you tell me what happened? The doctors said that some farmers found you in their fields, they said that you had a lot of wounds, is that true?”

Mantis nodded silently, Cadence’s brow furrowed, “Can you tell me how you got to be like that?”, when Mantis didn't answer Cadence began to get a bad feeling that whatever had happened to her was worse than she thought, Cadence inched a bit closer and gently lifted a hoof to turn Mantis’ face to meet her own, “Did you get assaulted by somepony?”, Mantis shook her head.

“Were you attacked by one of your own?”

Another shake.

“The doctor’s say that you had scratches all over your back, were you attacked by some kind of animal?”

A pause, then another shake, the bad feeling grew stronger within Cadence’s chest, I guess I have to ask the question that I’ve been dreading. she thought sadly. She took a deep breath and then asked, “Mantis… were you raped?”

Another shake.

Cadence almost sighed in relief, rape was a very, very rare thing in Equestria, so rare, in fact, that the act was considered almost legendary and any who committed the act were considered to be among the most vile of villains. Even though Mantis was a changeling she was still a sentient being with feelings and a soul, and Cadence would never in a million years wish that kind of fate upon even her worst enemy.

Cadence cleared her throat and leveled her gaze at Mantis, who was looking more uncomfortable by the second, “So, what did happen to you? How did you get so battered?”

Mantis looked down at her chitinous hooves and said, in a low voice, “I was… I was tortured… by a monster.”

Cadence’s blood went cold, swallowing deeply she leaned in and asked, “What happened?”

Mantis looked at her and Cadence could see the terror in her eyes “We were evacuating Neighagra Falls on our King’s orders, me and my two friends, Stinger and Pedipalp, we were the last ones to leave and we hadn't had very much love, we were flying over the forest when Stinger sensed some strong love, we followed him and we stumbled across a castle”

Here Mantis paused and drew a shuddering breath, Cadence felt her heart go out to the poor changeling.

Mantis continued.

“The castle was…. wrong somehow, the doors were too high, the ceiling was too big, the hallways were too long, but we didn't even notice, we were so hungry. We decided to split up, Stinger and Pedipalp went to a room on the bottom floor and I went to the top, I followed my nose and ended up in a room made entirely from metal…”

She trailed off and Cadence saw tears begin to form in her eyes, “There was s-something under a s-sheet a-a-and I t-took if off and…. and- oh Celestia it was awful!” Mantis really did begin to cry then, Cadence couldn't take it anymore and she leaned in and wrapped the sobbing changeling in her forelegs and held her tight.

“Th-then HE came to m-me” she said through her tears, “ HE was eyeless and tall and hairless and his face was full of t-teeth, oh so many teeth, he caught me, cut me, burned me, he told me things… things that he couldn't have known and… and…”

“Shhhh… it’s alright, I’m here.” whispered Cadence, rubbing Mantis’ back and using her magic to calm the poor mare’s nerves, “Whoever or Whatever hurt you isn't here and will not hurt you ever again.”

Mantis was silent for a moment, then she said two words that brought a genuine smile to Cadence’s face.

“Thank you.”

Then Mantis fell asleep, still wrapped in the other mare’s warm embrace, after a few more minutes Cadence gently laid the changeling down on her bed and bundled the blankets around her.

Then she left as quietly as she could, she didn’t want to, for she knew that Mantis still needed comfort, but she had to tell Celestia what had happened, she had a feeling that it was going to be very important, she also made plans to have Mantis transported to Canterlot to receive some much-needed healing.

She thought back to the ghastly description of the thing in the castle that Mantis had given her, Mantis must have been subject to some kind of fear spell. she thought At least I hope so, because if not... She shuddered at the thought of something like that being flesh and blood.

She stopped by the door that led into the foal’s room and looked in to see him being hugged by his family, all of whom bore happy and relieved grins, I guess I’m not needed after all. Cadence thought with a smile, Then again, I do need to relax a bit.

Keeping her smile on Cadence politely knocked on the door, the parents looked up and, upon seeing who it was, very nearly tripped over themselves to open the door.

“Princess Cadence! It’s an honor, it really is!” said the mother of the foal with an excited smile, “Yes indeed, a great honor.” the father said, parroting his wife’s smile.

“Thank you, i was just passing by and I noticed this little guy all alone, I wanted to stop by and keep him company, but I see that you've beaten me to it.” Cadence said, the mother and father both blushed and looked down at their hooves bashfully.

The colt peeked around his parent’s forms and smiled up at the princess, “Hello Princess Cadence!” he said happily, waving a bandaged hoof at her.

“Hello, little one.” said Cadence, waving back, the colt’s smile grew and he struggled to sit up, only for his parents to rush to his side and gently coax him back down, “Now, now, lay back down son” admonished the father “ you don’t wanna irritate your burns. Maybe you can see the princess later, okay?”

Cadence looked at the colt and nodded, “Don’t worry, I’ll come and see you soon, alright…?”

Taking the hint the colt said, “Puff Pastry, Miss. Princess.”

“Alright Puff Pastry, I’ll visit you in a day or so, how’s that sound?” she asked.

Puff pastry nodded and beamed at her, she returned the smile and turned to go, then she stopped and turned back to the colt’s parents, cantering over she leaned in and whispered in the mother’s ear, “I don’t mean to be nosy, but how did he get burned?”

“He was in Neighagra Falls when the fire started, we were lucky enough to be on the outskirts of the town when the fire started.” said Puff’s mother in a low voice, “ I haven’t been able to sleep since that day. It was terrible, all the fire and ash, I can still hear the screaming…. and the laughter.”

“Laughter?” asked Cadence, feeling a ball of worry form in her stomach.

Puff’s mother nodded slightly, “Yes, we heard it on the wind, it sounded so loud, so… so gleeful, like the laughter of a madpony.” she shuddered, Cadence laid a wing over her shoulders, “Don’t worry, nothing will hurt you here and I promise you we’ll bring the monster that did this to justice.”

Puff’s mother smiled at her and Cadence removed her wing and headed for the door, despite the cheery attitude in the room, Cadence still felt that ball of worry writhing in her gut, she knew that Mantis’ story had to be related to the burning, and she wasn't liking the theories that were popping into her mind.

Conference Crasher

View Online

Author’s Note: I don’t own MLP or the brilliantly freaky Amnesia series.

Conference Crasher

“I can’t believe this!” whined Rainbow Dash, “It’s only been a day and now we’re back on the stupid train!”

“Once again I concur with Rainbow Dash.” said Rarity, “But may I ask what She’s doing here?”, she pointed to Trixie, who was sitting next to Alois and trying very hard not to be noticed, at Rarity’s words she pinned her ears back and hung her head in shame, “I’m sorry.” she muttered, Rarity snorted.

“To answer your question I brought her along because she has information that I think could be helpful to us if our enemy is who I think it is.” said Alois sternly.

“What do you mean by that?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I've been having nightmares about a creature that looks a lot like him” here Trixie indicated Alois with a hoof before continuing, “ except this one was completely insane.”

“Ah think y’all are gonna need ta explain this in better detail.” said Applejack.

Alois put a hand around Trixie’s hoof to stifle any retort that she may have had, “I think I’ll take the explaining from here, Trixie.” he said calmly before turning to the spot where he assumed Applejack sat.

“As I told you before, Justine kidnapped and tortured me, Basile and Malo, what I didn't tell you was that each of us had a different reaction to the torture: Basile became so consumed by anger that he couldn't be reasoned with, I became miserable and obsessed with finding her at any cost, but Malo had the worst reaction…. he was never to stable, you see, but Justine’s experiments turned him into a monster.”

“Wait, wait, wait” said Rainbow Dash, “You mean he actually turned into a monster? Like, not human?”

Alois shook his head “You don’t need to look like a monster to be one… although, if he looks anything like I do, then I’m pretty sure the phrase doesn't really apply to him.”

A shudder passed through everypony at his words, Fluttershy in particular looked like she wasn't going to be getting a good nights sleep for a few days at the very least.

For a while after the cart was as silent as the grave, nopony had anything to say after Alois’s explanation, but most of them had come to a single, grim conclusion: the situation had become far more serious than they had first thought.

It was Trixie who broke the silence as she cleared her throat and, though she didn't say it, Rarity was pleased that the silence was ending, even if Trixie of all ponies was the one to end it.

Trixie got down from her seat and approached the Mane 6 with a nervous twitch in her step, her eyes didn't meet theirs and she has adapted a submissive, slumped posture in the hopes that she would get her sincerity across better, It’s only three steps to their seat, but it feels like a mile she thought as she neared them, when she was close enough to be seen clearly, but far enough so she could scramble back if one of them attacked.

“Um… hello?” asked Fluttershy.

“H-hello” said Trixie, “I…. I have something to say, I know that I've done some bad things, I've boasted and bragged and I've h-hurt you.”

Here she paused and bit her lip, trying to fight the lump in her throat, she was honestly surprised that none of them had spoken against her; she continued after clearing her throat again.

“ So I want to say that I’m sorry, I am so, so sorry for being so mean to you, I've been feeling guilty about my actions for a long time and I just need to apologize for my mistakes, I don’t know if you can forgive me, but I’m sorry nonethle-URFF!!”

She was cut off suddenly by a sobbing Pinkie Pie wrapping her in a big hug.

“Oh you poor mare!” she wailed, “I forgive you, even though I wasn't there when you made goofs outta my friends! You’re so sad that it’s making me sah-ha-ha-had!” she continued to sob as she squeezed the stunned showmare harder.

Suddenly she broke the hug off and stared into Trixie’s eyes with a determined expression, “What can I do to make you smile?” she asked, then she began to stroke her chin in thought, then a pink light bulb popped up over her head and exploded into confetti just as she gave a loud “Ah-Ha!”, Pinkie turned to Trixie, who was moving back, sweating profusely.

“I know what’ll make you smile!” she said just as she pounced upon a now terrified Trixie.

This is it, Trixie thought I’m done for, I’m going to be thrashed to death by a crazy, pink, poofy-maned mare who never stops smiling. Why does it have to end like this/ Why me? Why-

Her thoughts were abruptly cut off when Pinkie reached out and began to tickle Trixie’s taut stomach, Trixie’s “final scream” devolved into a torrent of helpless laughter as Pinkie went to town with the precision of a tickling master.

“Tickle, tiiiiccckklllee Trixie-Wixie” cooed Pinkie as she ran her hooves up and down her ribs, which produced a xylophone sound, “C’mon, smile! You know it is… your destiny!”

“HeeheHAHAAHheHA… I AM SMILIhihihiING!!” Trixie howled, showing off a big smile to the pink party pony.

Even as she kept on with her tickle attack Pinkie was able to locate a pair of super-ginormous glasses in her mane, she used her tongue to plop the glasses on her muzzle, then she leaned in and examined the grin, “Hmmm….. 10 inches wide, 9 inches from upper lip to lower lip, all teeth shown. Yep, it’s a genuine smile!”

Pinkie stopped the tickling and helped a panting Trixie to her hooves.

“Why…*pant…. why did you *wheeze* do that?” asked Trixie between deep breaths, Pinkie smiled at her, “Because you were sad and I can’t stand to see my new friends get sad!” she said happily, Trixie’s jaw dropped, “F-friend? I’m your friend?”

Pinkie nodded, “Yuh-huh, It’s obvious that you’re really sorry for what you did and, since you apologized, that makes you okay in my book!” she reached into her mane and pulled out a massive, rainbow-colored book with the title Pinkie Pie’s Super Awesome Friends, then she pulled a quill out of her tail and wrote something down in the book, she turned it around and showed Trixie the page, the showmare saw her name written right under Alois’.

Twilight got down and came forwards next, when she spoke her voice was gentle and full of pity.

“When I was tending to you I saw all of the cuts and bruises, I also saw how thin you were.” she cantered closer to Trixie and placed a hoof on her shoulder, noting the slight flinch as she did, “You've had a pretty bad time, haven’t you?”

Trixie averted her eyes and nodded weakly, Twilight reached out and gently pulled her into a hug, Trixie didn't protest, the memories of all of those lonely nights spent in her wagon and of the sickness preventing her from using magic, made her eyes well up with tears. She leaned her head against Twilight’s shoulder and silently let her tears stream down her cheeks, she was faintly aware of the sounds of shock coming from the other ponies, but she didn't care.

A second later she felt Pinkie’s fore hooves wrap around her, then a third pair wrapped around her as Fluttershy joined the group hug.

“I forgive you.” she said as she began to rub circles on Trixie’s back, wincing in sympathy as she felt the bumps of her spine.

Fluttershy looked at the remaining three, who wore uncertain looks, she gestured for them to join her, Applejack came forwards first and added her own limbs to the hug, “Ya seem mighty sorry for what ya did, so I forgive ya too.” she said in a kind voice; Trixie began to cry softly.

The sound brought out Rarity’s maternal instincts and she rushed forwards and added to the hug, “Hush now, deary, I forgive you as well, there’s no need to cry.” she cooed as she levitated a silk handkerchief and dabbed at Trixie’s eyes.

Rainbow Dash looked at the group hug with deep uncertainty etched on her face, Should I forgive her, too? I mean, she was pretty awful to us both times she came here… but sweet Celestia does she look sad! What kinda stuff happened to her? She really DOES look like she’s tellin’ the truth, so….

“Aww buck it!” she exclaimed, flying over and finishing the hug, “I forgive ya, too.”

Trixie was overwhelmed to say the least, all she could do was cry and hug her one-time rival harder, saying “Thank you.” whenever she could, Alois, who had been listening to the entire thing, stood up and came over to them.

“It appears as though you seriously underestimated their kindness, Trixie.” he said with a smile, Trixie could only nod happily as she let the body heat of the others warm her.

“Why don’tcha join us, Ally?” asked Pinkie.

Alois bent down and wrapped them all in a hug, his arms were long enough to almost completely encircle them, Fluttershy looked at his face and was glad to notice how much better his face looked now that the scars had faded somewhat, I’m also glad he kept his blindfold on, those big, black void where his eyes were are just so… scary. She felt guilty for thinking it, but she knew that it was true, it was also probably what the others were thinking, she once again felt a surge of anger towards this “Justine” person and her cruelty.

Trixie didn't want to break the hug off, but when the train arrived in Canterlot she found that she had no choice, she was halfway to the door when Twilight stopped her.

“Are you gonna be okay?” she asked, Trixie turned, readying a retort, but she stopped when she saw the genuine concern in the lavender unicorn’s eyes, “Trix- I mean I’m fine.” she said, smiling slightly, Twilight smiled back and the two walked off the train together.

An hour later the whole group were sitting in Celestia’s conference room, awaiting the Princess of the Sun to make her entrance.

Alois sat to the left of Celestia’s seat, to his left was Trixie, followed by the Elements of Harmony, each of the ponies wriggled and shifted in their seats, they exchanged worried and uneasy looks between each other, but none of them said anything. Alois tapped the tip of his cane against the marble floor, the sound echoed off the marble tiles.

“Sooo… when was the Princess supposed to be here?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“She didn't say.” said Twilight, “But I’m sure she’ll be here any minute now!” she added happily.

After a minute had passed Rainbow said, “Nope, no Princess.”

Twilight heaved an annoyed sigh and shot a look at the cyan pegasus, “What? You said a minute, it’s been a minute and still no-”

“I’m terribly sorry for keeping you waiting, I hope none of you were kept too long.” said a voice, they all turned to the sound, Celestia walked through the doors, looking tired and frazzled, Twilight was stunned beyond words, she knew that the Neighagra Falls incident was bad, but she hadn't realized how bad until she saw the dark bags under her mentor-turned-peer’s eyes.

“I-it’s fine, Princess- I mean Celestia.” said Twilight with a smile, Celestia smiled back and took her seat, Luna followed in her wake, her features brightened considerably when she saw Twilight.

“Hello Luna.” said Twilight “It’s good to see you.”

“It is good to see thee as well.” Luna said, she turned to Alois, “Greetings, Sir Alois, how goes thine recovery?”

“It goes very well, thank you for asking.” he said with a thin smile, “Might I enquire as to your well-being?”

Luna giggled, “We- I am doing much better, thank thee for enquiring.”

Celestia cleared her throat to stop any more chatter, “Now I’m sure that you all know why I've called you here today, we must address the horrible incident that occurred at Neighagra Falls, at first I thought that it was merely an accident, but after hearing an eyewitness account from two ponies by the names of Dusk Sky and Bronze Medal, who were vacationing there at the time.”

Celestia sighed and continued, her voice now low and filled with an emotion that none of them could quite pinpoint, “They said that a massive castle appeared, walking on insect legs, they heard someone shouting something about “making the world bleed” or some such nonsense, then…. then that same someone conjured a fireball the size of the city, then they used it to burn the whole city to the ground. Out of the 9,560 ponies, griffons, diamond dogs and, I suspect, changelings that were living or vacationing there, only 2,003 escaped.”

It was then that each and every individual at the table realized that Celestia was angry.

“Some… monster, some beast has murdered my subjects!” she said, slamming a gold-clad hoof onto the table with enough force to cause a latticework of cracks to spread across the surface, everyone present moved back, or in Trixie and Fluttershy’s case, jumped back as Celestia continued.

“7,557 lives is 7,557 lives to many! Already the papers have gotten ahold of the story, now there is a storm of pure mass hysteria brewing and very, very soon it is going to be upon us! Now, Mr. Alois, Ms. Trixie, I believe that you both may have some clues as to who did this, correct?”

The two nodded and Trixie spoke first.

“Ever since the Alicorn Amulet was removed I've been having nightmares, at first they were just bits of my past that had been corrupted or some fear that I have brought to life, y’know: typical nightmare stuff. But then I started having dreams about….. about Alois’ world: I saw him with two other humans, I saw them argue and fight over one mare- I mean woman, I saw what they became, I saw them, eyeless and naked and bloody.” Trixie shuddered and both Twilight and Alois placed hoof and hand on her shoulder, using that comfort she continued.

“Then I dreamed- no I saw Neighagra Falls burning… I was in a field and there was a big pond on one side of me, a forest behind me and the city in front of me, it was so real I could feel the grass under my hooves…” she then proceeded to tell them about her dreams and their unnatural nature, all the while Alois and Twilight stayed close to her in case she faltered, which she didn't do nearly as much as she would have thought.

When she was done all of the ponies present were stunned, it was Twilight who broke the silence.

“Oh Trixie, I had no idea that you were suffering so much, I’m so sorry.” she said sympathetically.

“Why didn't ya use yer magic ta stop it?” asked Applejack with a raised brow, Trixie looked down and muttered something, “Ah’m sorry, what?” asked the farmpony, leaning in to hear better.

“I said ‘I can’t use magic without getting sick, so I don’t use magic anymore’,” she said, close to tears, Twilight and Rarity exchanged deeply pitying looks while Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash gasped.

Only Luna saw the sudden change in her sister’s expression, Celestia went from looking interested to concerned, there seemed to be a faint spark of recognition in her eyes as well, Luna didn't need a mirror to know that she was wearing the same expression: she too recognized the symptoms of one who has wielded the Alicorn Amulet.

I had hoped that the damned thing would have been depowered after Sombra’s defeat, I guess I was wrong. she thought, saddened that the corrupting artifact had claimed another victim and more than a little guilty that she hadn't taken better precautions to make sure that the amulet didn't cause more pain.

She made to speak, wanting to ask Alois if he had similar dreams, when every light in the conference room went out, everypony present tensed up, Twilight, Rarity and the princesses lit their horns, Alois had stood up and was now cocking his head, listening intently, he could hear the ponies breathing, the faint rhythm of their hearts and the muffled groan of wind against the windows.

Wait… that’s not wind… that sounds like-

Alois didn't see the sudden flash of light, but the others did and they were shocked to see the cause of it.

Discord lay on the cracked surface of the table in a tangled heap, his mismatched limbs sticking out in all directions, Rainbow Dash flew closer as she prepared to give the draconequus a piece of her mind, then she saw how filthy his coat was, the many cuts and bruises on his body and the lack of fanfare that the chaos god usually gave himself, Fluttershy noticed, too.

“Discord!” she shouted, flying out of her seat and landing next to him, at the sound of her voice Discord raised his head and gazed at her with eyes that weren't his own.

“Red… Alert.” he said, giving her a weak smile, then his eyes rolled up and he slumped forwards and passed out.

The Orb's Dark Power

View Online

Author’s Note: I don’t own MLP or A:J

THE ORB’S DARK POWER.

“Red alert..” said the Spirit of Chaos just before he fell face first onto the table, everypony at the table either stood up with shocked exclamations or sat with their jaws hanging open.

“Discord?!” cried Fluttershy, leaping onto the table and going over to her friend, she turned the draconequus over and began to inspect his serpentine body for injuries.

She didn’t have to look long.

The Chaos god was so bruised she could barely see any of his original skin-tone, his paw, talon and lizard claw were covered in filthy bandages that, upon closer inspection, seemed to be made out of rags, his normally grey fur was matted and filthy, his goatee was gone and he smelled like mud and sweat.

Fluttershy gently lifted Discord’s head up and felt for a pulse.

“Well? Will he be alright?” asked Celestia, the concern in her voice bordering on fear.

Discord’s eyes opened, “Aw Tia, I didn’t know you actually cared.” he said in a raw and raspy voice that made him sound like he had recently contracted strep throat.

Celestia was about to give one of her usual “dealing-with-Discord’s-nonsense” retorts when she saw his eyes, the link between her mind and her brain regurgitated her witty repartee as “What the Hay happened to your eyes!?!”

Celestia clapped a hoof over her mouth the instant the words left her mouth, she blushed furiously, embarrassed by her sudden and severe lack of composure, and ashamed at how accusing her words sounded. Discord’s smile vanished and his ragged ears pinned back, “What do you mean?” asked Fluttershy, worry written on her face.

“Are his eyes… missing?” asked Alois.

“No” said Luna, who was now looking at Discord’s eyes with shock, “His eyes are… blue?”

“And that is an issue because…? asked Alois, feeling completely out of the Loop.

“His eyes are yellow and red.” said Luna.

“I’m. Right. Here.” said Discord, pouting like a 5 year-old whilst trying to avert his now baby-blue eyes.

“What’s the big deal?” asked Rainbow Dash, “ Couldn’t he be changing his eye color? He can shapeshift ‘n stuff, right?”, Celestia shook her head, “No, that’s one of the very few flaws he has, he can shapeshift, but his eyes and his tooth are always there, now that I think about it, that little flaw was integral to us defeating him- aaaand I am getting off topic. In short: No, Discord cannot change his eye color.”

Discord sighed and looked down, “I can tell you’re all just dying to know…” he turned and looked Celestia in the eye before continuing, “Do you remember the reason why you sent me away?”

Celestia’s jaw clenched before she replied in an even tone, “Yes: I wanted you to scout out other worlds so that we Equestrians could increase our knowledge of the universe.”

Discord scoffed, “So, in other words: you wanted to get rid of me.” he held up a paw just as Celestia was about to protest, “But that’s okay, because it doesn’t matter anymore, because I did find a new world. A world of creatures just like him.” here the draconequus pointed at Alois.

There were gasps from everypony at the table, Luna noticed that Alois was now leaning in to listen intently, “You found more Humans?” asked Celestia, sounding torn between interest and unease. Discord nodded, “Oh yes indeedy, my dear Sun-Butt. A whole world of hairless apes who ride ponies- sorry Horses, who also love to fight and say words that make me blush. They’re all quite a… chaotic race.”

“Soooo... does this mean that you’ve found a new vacation spot?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Discord shook his head, “I’m afraid not. They didn’t seem to deal in the kind of chaos that I deal in, I deal in the ‘turning ponies into rabbits and making it rain chocolate milk’ kinda chaos, the humans are more like ‘Kill lots of people, mate, gain power through lies and murder, spread plagues on purpose and wear silly hats’.”

Alois flinched as if struck, but he didn’t say anything to defend his world, Discord was right about his race: they really were quite chaotic and-

“So what you said really was true..” said Fluttershy, Alois could hear the sadness in her voice; it was a painful thing to hear.

“It is.” he said after swallowing to wet his suddenly-dry throat, “My species has…. quite the bloody history.”

“I’ll say.” said Discord with absolutely no mirth in his voice, “Could you even go to the market without getting pummeled?”

Celestia loudly cleared her throat, sparing Alois from answering, “Discord, I know that you’re a bit frazzled, but-”

“Oh, a bit frazzled? My dear Sun-Butt I am so far beyond anything even remotely resembling frazzled, I am angry!” he bellowed this last part and slammed his paw into the table, knocking a chunk of the marble loose with a deafening CRACK!!

Fluttershy was more than a little shocked, she had seen the Chaos Spirit get frustrated before, especially when he had failed to corrupt her during their first encounter, looking back on it, it was a bit funny how annoyed he had been with her, she had always liked to think that his failure at corrupting her was a prequel to her being the one who was chosen to reform him.

But she had never seen him actually angry before, plus there was the fact that Discord, the Spirit of Chaos itself, had found a type of chaos that he didn't like was a very disconcerting thought.

“I was trapped in that-that damned place for over a month, something took my powers AND my eyes and just left me to rot in some dark, cold dungeon! After I got out I had to go slithering around in the garbage like a snake, Celestia, do you know how utterly humiliating that was?!” shouted Discord, his paw and talon clenched so hard that the knuckles were white.

A deafening silence fell upon the room, making it feel to Alois like he was at a funeral, the words that Discord had said made his mind reel, Something took his eyes? He mentioned being in a dark dungeon AND he was the one talking to me in my head, coupled with the fact that Trixie dreamed about Malo in connection to the burning of Neighagra Falls leads to an obvious conclusion, but I need to confirm my theory. Alois looked at the spot where he guessed Discord was and asked, “What took your eyes?”,

“Some giggling monster with a seriously nasty bite.” said Discord, appraising the human with his replacement eyes. Alois’s face sagged and he placed a bony hand to his brow, “No…” he muttered as he withdrew his hand and began to rock back and forth, “Not him… please not him…” he whimpered, Discord raised a brow.

“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?” asked Rainbow Dash, “Didn't you know that it was Malo?”

Discord was about to add his own comment when he smelled it: the sour stink or carrion, the metallic sting of blood and the fiery burn of potent dark magic, the draconequus turned his head and saw the Orb lying not five feet from the human, Why didn't anypony notice it before? he thought, it took him barely a millisecond before the obvious answer came to him, It didn't WANT to be seen, oh sweet Faust just how powerful is this thing?!

The Orb was emitting a soft red light that seemed to move and undulate in unnatural ways: almost as if the Orb was changing shapes or even growing. As Discord watched the Orb began to slowly roll forwards towards Alois, who was now whimpering like a whipped dog, Yeah, I definitely don’t like where this is going. Quick as a whip Discord snatched up the Orb before it could get any closer to the human, the unnatural artifacts impossibly rough surface immediately scratching his palm and drawing blood.

“Discord…. what is that thing?” asked Celestia, who was now looking at it with an uneasy expression.

“It’s the thing that took me back here,” explained Discord “it’s some kind of arcane thing that I found in the mansion. It’s power is incredible.”

“And unnatural.” said Luna, who was looking slightly ill, “Sister, cans’t thou feel it? It feels almost like… like it is watching our every move, what ever this loathsome thing is, it seems to emit a powerful darkness the likes of which I have not ever felt before.”

“I can feel it, too.” said Twilight, pinning her ears back.

“As can I.” said Rarity.

There was a pained gasp from the left of the table, Trixie was clutching her horn and her entire body was shivering violently, “I-I can f-feel it too.” she said in a strained voice, “It feels so… so powerful I can’t-” a single rivulet of blood trickled out from her nose, staining her blue fur red, Fluttershy and Twilight both let out gasps, Trixie wavered and then fell forwards, Twilight just barely managed to catch her.

Fluttershy went over and laid a hoof on Trixie’s head, “She’s burning up.” she said, looking at her friend with tears in her eyes.

“Discord, get that thing out of my throne room and dispose of it!” shouted Celestia, Discord nodded and slithered upright, he had just started to turn to leave when the Orb went from icy to white hot, Discord yelped and dropped the accursed object.

The instant the Orb hit the table all Tartarus broke loose.

There was a sound like a tornado and the ground shook, a shockwave of ice-cold air engulfed the room, bringing with it the smell of dusty death and rancid vanilla, the Orb levitated off the table and began to spin, the crimson light grew brighter and brighter, until it had eclipsed all other light in the room, the shadows lengthened in ways that couldn't be logically described and then they began to separate, splintering off and forming new shapes.

Celestia and Luna charged their horns, but the twin lights seemed much dimmer than usual, Discord grabbed a hold of Fluttershy and floated to the two sisters, Alois backed up, feeling for any of his friends and feeling a surge of relief when his hand brushed Applejack’s hat, Rainbow Dash and elected to carry Trixie as far away from the shadows as possible while Twilight and Rarity moved next to the princesses and charged their horns as well.

One of the shadows, which was shaped somewhat like a rather large bat, cascaded over the table and onto the floor as smoothly as an oil slick, it headed towards them with surprising speed, when it was close enough Luna fired at the shadow, she expected it to wither away, or to turn into mist, she even imagined it splitting into more, smaller shadows, she most certainly didn't expect the shadow to peel itself off of the floor and fly right at her.

Luna backed away as the shadow-bat swooped down at her, it arched its two-dimensional back and revealed an underside that was dominated by a single, vertical mouth filled with silvery fangs, time seemed to slow down for Luna as she watched the mouth open wide, revealing a writhing mass of shadows, Perfect timing. thought Luna with a smirk as she fired a bolt of energy that flew down the shadow-bat’s throat and erupted out the back, the shadow-bat disintegrated into nothingness.

Luna’s brief feeling of relief at seeing the beast destroyed vanished as several more shadow-bats erupted from the pool of darkness, Luna blasted them as they whirled around her, in the old days, before she became Nightmare Moon she had prided herself on her speed during combat, she had worked on maintaining her speed and stamina when she returned from the Moon, but there were too many of them.

She cried out as she felt a set of tiny fangs tear into her lower back, followed by another, then two more, she teleported in an attempt to rid herself of the shadowy creatures, but they clung to her like ticks.

“Luna!” cried Celestia, she lowered her horn and cast a sheet of light over her sister, the light caused the shadow-bats to disintegrate, though they were destroyed the damage that they inflicted had been done, Luna’s legs folded and she slumped to the floor, breathing heavily and leaking blood from several nasty-looking bite wounds.

Celestia turned and looked at the torrent of shadows with pure rage behind her eyes, raining herself to her full height she shouted, in her Royal Canterlot Voice, “ I WILL NOT LOSE MY SISTER AGAIN!!!”

Then she lowered her horn and a beam of white fire shot out, the fire roiled and cascaded over the shadows like water, burning them to nothing and pushing the rest of the shadows back until they had been reduced to nearly a third of their original size, Twilight moved next to her teacher and added her own magic to the blast, trapping the rest of the shadows in a massive, purple bubble and allowing Celestia to finish the remaining shadows off.

In their death throes the shadows gave one last surge that destroyed the shield and sent several small, sharpened pieces of what would later be identified as hardened shadow, much like the crystals used by King Sombra.

Most of the pieces were harmless and only caused a few minor scratches, but they were scratches that would throb with pain well after they should’ve healed.

Celestia turned away and trotted to her sister, Luna was lying on her side, her breathing was normal, but her fur was soaked with sweat, Fluttershy was tending to her wounds and looking at the princess of the night with eyes full of concern.

“Well? How is she?” asked Celestia impatiently, Fluttershy sighed and looked up at the solar princess, “She has a fever, which isn’t normal, fevers usually don’t develop this fast, which means that she’s been-”

“Poisoned.” finished Celestia in a horrified voice, she got closer to her sister and knelt by her head, Luna’s face was scrunched up in agony and she was whimpering in a way that broke Celestia’s heart to hear, the sounds reminded her of Luna’s cries in the night shortly after she had been cleansed of Nightmare Moon’s influence; those nights had been some of the longest nights of her immortal life.

“Oh, sister.” said Celestia sadly, leaning down to nuzzle her sister’s flushed face, Luna moaned low in her throat before giving a small cough.

As Celestia began to levitate her sister to the infirmary Fluttershy noticed Alois sitting with his back to the group, she began to approach him, “Alois?” she called, “Are you alright?”

As if in answer to her the human coughed violently and doubled over, clutching at his stomach, Fluttershy hasped and ran to him, when she turned him towards her so that she could check to see if he was poisoned as well she nearly screamed: Alois’ pale skin was covered in a latticework of fine, black veins that raced from the corners of his lips, his nostrils and his eye sockets, which were now uncovered, Fluttershy watched with horror as the veins twisted and slithered beneath his skin.

“Heeelllpppp…. Meeeee…” said Alois, he doubled over in a coughing fit and Fluttershy felt her heart stop when she saw the tiny droplets of red sprinkle across his upturned palm.

Then Alois fell in a heap and kept on coughing, Fluttershy turned and screamed for help, within seconds Rarity and Twilight had raced to where they were and enveloped him in their combined magical auras. They lifted him off the ground and took him to the infirmary.

Nopony noticed the single shadow that slithered out from a corner and writhed its way out a nearby window.

"Is that you, my love?"

by Hopefullygoodgrammar

Oblivion*

Awakening *

A Sort-Of Flashback

Unchained

A New World

Madness Evolved *

Talk of the Town

Of Breakdowns and Questions

A Great and Powerful Nightmare

Three Fillies and a Human

Celestial Meeting

Trapped

Twin Dreams*

Nero

Return

The Patient

Conference Crasher

The Orb's Dark Power