Infernal Elments series:Sloth. Enter Gear Watcher a colt with a love of technomancy and a heavy curse, any who see his cutie mark become convinced he is a monster. He wonders Equestria fighting Outsiders and searching for a cure.
The latest in my Infernal Elements series, I present my Sloth.
Gear Watcher was born to a clan know as the Watchers, ponies who've dedicated their lives to protecting the world from Outsiders, eldritch beings who bring about destruction when left unchecked. He was cursed as a colt by one such being so that any who see his cutie mark are overcome with hatred of him and see him as a Monster. All he wants out of life is to settle down and tinker with his technomancy while stopping the occasional Outsider incursion, but his curse forces him to move time and time again when his mark is seen bringing the wrath of the town he's dwelling in against him. Time and time he is forced to run as he desperately searches for a cure.
My thoughts fall away as I remember. The sky above me and the grass against my back all drift into the back of my awareness as I fall back into time. Memories as fresh as the day they were cut into my brain scream, drowning out the Now in favor of the Past. It was such a calm evening, tinkering with a prototype fire extinguisher, listening to the calming sounds of the day fading away in peace. I love the calm and the quiet, always have but this, this was the last true peace I would ever know. For this was the night I would gain my Cursed Mark.
I was a bright blue colt with a blond mane streaking with dark marks from accidents in my workshop. A short unicorn colt who wasn’t very good at learning spells and would rather laze about staring at the sky the go play with the other foals. I had little going for me, but what I was good at, well, let’s just say I’m being modest calling myself a child prodigy.
I stood before the table as little bits and bobs hung in the air before me all slowly falling into the cylinder with a spark and a quick spell. With everything in place, I placed the power gems into the slot and snap the cover closed with a quick spot welding spell to keep it in place. The end result was a 12-centimeter long tube ending in a large diamond with a metal lace cage around it as a conduit to make it more precise. A big red button sat near the top just begging to be pressed. I carried it outside with a big grin. “Daddy! Daddy! I finished it! Can we test it? Please?”
The big green stallion sets aside his book with an easy smile as he scoops me onto his back with a brief light of his horn. “Sure thing Gearzy.”
He carries me over to the testing area he built for me. Effortlessly he lights his horn and speaks a few of his ‘when your older’ words bringing up the stone walls of the area, carrying over a piece of firewood and igniting it and encasing us in a solid shield bubble. “Fire when ready soldier.”
I balance on his back and give him a salute before levitating the fire extinguisher out of the shield and pointing it at the burning piece of wood. With a second layer of telekinesis, I push the button letting out a yelp and falling into my Daddy’s telekinetic hold as the device, rather than a cone of low-level ice magic, instead shoots a powerful laser of freezing energy. The log freezes solid and shatters during the two seconds before the power runs out.
He gently sets me on on his back before taking a step back from the device. “Don’t worry, it might not have gone as planned, but the fire is out and it’s still intact. You just had a bit too much of a through-feed into the matrix and your control points are a hair too in sync. For a prototype, it was an amazing first showing.”
Just like that my frown disappears and I smile and easy smile to match my Daddy’s. “Don’t worry Daddy, I’ll fix it and tomorrow we can test it again.”
We are just setting it into my workshop on the table with my asking if I can build a new one because he would like to take a closer look at it the way it is now. This gets a big grin from me, every now and then Daddy takes my mess-ups and bring them on his journeys. It always sends a spark of pride through me when Daddy come home and despite the haunted look in his eyes pats me on the head and thanks me for helping him come home.
My Daddy has a dangerous job, My Daddy is a Watcher. He protects the world from Outsiders and caught-a-rises crushed aco lights. I’m not really sure what that means because I’m not old enough yet to learn about the clan business, but I know it’s dangerous. My Daddy is a Superhero, but in real life Super Heroes don’t always come home. My Mommy was a Super Hero too, but she gave her life for our world.
We are headed into the house with my brothers and sisters rotting in as Daddy calls out curfew. I’m just hopping off his back and walking into the house when a Watcher in full battle gear under his thick black cloak pops into existence cousin my Daddy to whirl with a low growl.
“Harbinger, there was an incursion in town, Confirmed Godling Class known as Grogar sighted. He’s looking for something and we need your talents.”
“Get inside, activate the wards and stay there. If we are not back by dawn activate the panic mode. Ice you’re in charge, Gear you’re on Matrix, Shine make sure they stay awake.” With that, he turns and they teleport away.
Such is the life of the children of Watchers. My brothers and sisters charge to handle their lockdown duties as I make my way to The Matrix, the massive spell-core at the heart of our home. This is the center of our defenses and it takes skill to properly maintain and utilize it along with a great deal of patience to sit and pay attention to all the outputs and hope your night is boring. I settle into the seat and lower the hat to my head pushing my horn into the conductive gel in it. With a quick spell, it activates linking my magic sense into the wards. With a thought, I set the house into Siege Mode. Spells upon spells flare to life as I grin. “Gear Watcher in place, Siege Mode activated. Outsiders detected… oh. We’ve got a class X outside the house! Activating-”
I cut off as the defenses are shredded and I’m warped outside the house. I look up and see a massive black ram looming over me. Behind me, Ice stands in the doorway with an expression of pure hatred. He charges a spell as he chants a strange line and unleashes a bolt of power that seems to bend reality at the Goat who casually back hoofs it out of existence without taking his eyes off me. “Yes, you’ll do nicely. You're going to grow up strong and one should always tend their crops from a young age.”
I dart towards my workshop and he trots after me as Ice continues to alternate between firing signal spells and attacking the Goat. “Yes, why don’t you show me your toys, it should prove interesting to see what you’ll bring to bear against me.”
I grab my bubble and the fire extinguisher and dart towards the house with a plan. “Shine! Get your bat!”
As I near the house I tuck and roll activating the sphere covering myself in a heavy duty reality reinforcing shield ball. Despite the spinning I see Shine grin as his bat connects with the orb launching me towards the Goat at high speeds. The goat roars in pain as I slam into his face, the force made real to him by the spells on my shield. I bounce high into the air and his horns light up catching me before I land again. I grin a wild grin with my heart pounding in my chest as I open the ball and push the button on my ice laser. I can protect my family with my inventions! This feeling, facing the unknown and being a Superhero like my Daddy, this feeling is what I was bred for, this feeling is my purpose!
I feel a tingling on my flanks as the beam of ice magic hits Him right in the eye, freezing and shattering his eye in its socket. His magic drops me as he screams his rage to the heavens. “You dare! You will know despair! You earned your cutie mark in striking that blow, you will learn to fear your Master more!” A sharp pain digs into my flanks and I look back to see them writhing, twisted shaped and colors curling over my marks hiding them from view.
“I will be back for you Sloth, mark my words, you will serve me.” With that, the Goat vanished just in time for my Daddy to return. I run to him with tears streaming from my eyes only for him to blast me backward. I force myself to my hooves as he looks on.
“Monster! This whole time you were plotting against us! So you finally got your special talent, as a servant of the Outsiders? I’ll cauterize you before your infection can spread.”
“Daddy?” For a moment his eyes return to normal losing their glow.
“RUN!” He roars as the glow returns and he fires another spell at me that I have to duck into my ball to survive. I huddle inside my shell with tears streaming down my face as the orb is battered by my family's attempt to kill me. My eyes lock on the button I installed a few days ago but have been unable to test. A blink function to teleport to a random location within a certain distance. Completely experimental, at this point, I could end up anywhere in 100 meters, even underground.
“Celestia save me.” I snap off the cover and hit the button.
Darkness. I sit with my heart pounding staring wide-eyed into the gloom. Finally, I hear a muffled voice.
“The dumb little bitch actually activated the Blink System on that thing. Look at where it was sitting, there's dirt here now. Displaced by the back feed of the teleport making room for him. It could be 100 meters below the ground by now and the Orb’s battery wasn’t strong enough to hold the shield and blink at the same time. It’s being suffocated as we speak. Good riddance to garbage.” Daddy… why?
Directly above me. “So the monster is dead? Always figured it would die from one of its inventions going wrong, I can’t believe I was ever worried about it, that mark…” Shine? But… why?
Tears begin to pour anew as I check the power systems of The Orb. 20% and still charging. In the back of my mind, I thank Celestia that I worked on it yesterday… and that I never told my… family. Shudders begin to wrack my body.
“Everyone let’s try and patch up the wards and get ready for bed. That thing might be a servant of the Outsiders, but it was still a foal, it’s dead.” Why? My family… Rage begins to build in me. Hatred, pain, and sadness melt into and unforgiving vendetta. Time passes as I stew and my battery slowly charges with my help.
Long after the voices have vanished and I feel the wards reactivate the rage builds to a head. “Gogar… I’m going to beat you up until you bucking die!”
With my declaration, I begin orienting The Orb so that it’s facing up out of the ground. Thankfully I’m not buried deep, just below the surface actually. 56% power. I pop open the control panel and began fiddling with overrides and redirecting power. 62% power. I hit the button and watch the power drop to 27% power as The Orb lurches forwards. For a moment I feel my hope draining away before it breaks through enough that I can see a glimmer of moonlight above me. Pouring power into The Orb from my horn I hit it again and pop out of the hole landing in a heap on the ground panting in exhaustion.
I shiver feeling the bone-deep cold of magical exhaustion beginning to set in as I take a deep breath of the fresh non-recycled air of the free world. I make a beeline for the shed and begin throwing what I can fit in my small utility saddlebags. I stop for a moment, realization setting in. Slowly, transfixed by the horror of the night my eyes turn to my Mark. There on my flank is a twisted thing. Colors and shapes, impossibly moving without movement, changing and roiling, shifting and twisting a horror of horrors rests on my flank. I feel sick to my stomach as I begin to feel it wriggling against my skin. This cruel mockery of a Cutie Mark, this… Cursed Mark.
The Goat’s words float back to me and A grim look crosses my face as I feel something inside of me dying. One look at this Mark and you see me as a twisted monster. I can hide it, but if I mess up, if it gets seen. As I stare my curse is made clear to me. I’m uncertain if my thoughts are my own even as I pull out the Watcher cloak I had been intending to improve and throw it over me. I lift my saddlebags up and set them in place on my back as I turn to the door. When I open it up I see a tall thin stallion wearing a wrap that completely hides his body from me on the other side.
The stranger speaks in a brogue I can’t quite place. “Lad, ye look like a bloody fool in that thing.” His telekinesis yanks the fire extinguisher from my aura as he turns gravity around us to an extreme. “Now I getcha gotta cover up yer little Mark Of Shame there, but there are far more practical ways of going aboot this. Lad, this here spell is meant for holdin’ Outsiders. A wee untrained runt like you is never gonna break it.” He chuckles as I continue to try and escape, dragging a Pop-Rock over towards me slowly in my aura. “Well, it seems yah have the spirit of a Watcher at least. Never give up no matter whatcha facing down. Death before defeat. Hah! Oi thinks Ah’ll make a Seeker out of ya yet.”
My eyes go wide as I stare at him. Seekers are the Dark Side of the Hunter Clan. The Watchers slay Outsiders while striving not to become the monsters we slay, but the Seeker? They believe in the motto of ‘Nothing should be overlooked in the war against the Outsiders, even the Outsiders own weapons. Among them are the Cursed Ones. Ponies who have to keep their bodies and names hidden as a result of contact with Outsider’s Curses. Ponies like… “Am I a Cursed One now? Are you here to be my Handler?”
The Gravity Well fades away letting me stand and stretch. “Got it in one, lad. Ah knew you were a bright lad, twas why Oi brought meself over here when Oi felt the twisting of a curse bein’ laid on ye. It’s moi job to see to it that yer brawn matches yer brain and make a right proper Hunter out of yah. Stay a Watcher, learn tah be a Seeker, it don’t rightly matter to me and a lad like you has many a year before he has to even think aboot the choice.” He casts his gaze around the room then looks at the watch on his hoof. “Oi reckon ya ain’t gonna be much good to anypony without all these shiny doodads? What good is a mad scientist without his lab? The whole thing? Aye, we're goin’ bulk shoppin' tonight! Hold on, lad! This might get a wee bit bumpy!”
The whole world seems to lurch and blur as he Warps us. When everywhen returns to normal he trots outside the shed with me trailing behind him. Looking around we are in a different part of the forest where nothing looks familiar to me. “Come along lad, there's still some cleanup left yet. Can’t have you going around alive can we?”
“What?!” I yelp, grinding to a halt and fumbling to pull out The Orb.
“Oh chin up lad, Oi don’t mean killin' yah! Yah has to cover your tracks, tie up loose ends. Officially yah story ends here. Yah died a traitor in a magical accident, your body recovered and burned and your workshop destroyed to cauterize the infection ye had. The truth an’ the facts ain’t the same thing lad, let that be lesson one for yah.”
He has me leave my things there and reshapes my cloak into a forest green full body suit to match his black one. The symbol of the Hunters is removed and replaced with the Burning Eye of the Cursed Ones. I stare at it as I feel tears threatening me again, as I hold back a shuddering sob the stranger pulls me into a hug. “Everything is gonna work out lad, just let it out Oi got yah.”
I return his hug as tears soak the cloth over my muzzle. With the danger seeming to have passed my shield of rage has shattered, bringing with it the realization that I can never go back. I’m a Cursed One now, forever to be separate from everypony else. Forever to walk Equus hunting for a cure and hunting Outsiders. All my dreams, all my cherished peace, all my love… everything that made up Gear Watcher is burning away to ashes as the stranger finishes transfiguring the cloak of the Watchers into the shroud of the Cursed.
The symbology is far from lost on me as it dawns on me what he truly meant earlier. As the shroud is finished I stand up straight and look forwards. Gear Watcher is dead. In his place stands the nameless colt being created from his remains. “Let’s finish this. My-” My resolve breaks for a moment and I swallow a lump in my throat. “His family needs be prevented from having a reason to Hunt him. But, um, what am I to call you?”
The stranger looks at me with an unreadable look on his face. His head slowly lowers as though bearing a tremendous weight. “Lad, ya call me Master, an until yah earn something different, yer just Lad. Yah keeps yer silence unless we're alone or Oi tell ya otherwise.” He finally looks up at me with his grin slowly starting to return. “Yah know yah don’t have tah come. Oi can take ye inside and set ye to bed an’ go aboot my dark business on my own.”
“I want to see. To say-” I cut off as I try and swallow another lump in my throat.
“Aye lad, if you have to say goodbye to yer old life Oi understand. Though if yer just tryin’ to show me yer strong you’ve done plenty, lad. When the shite hit the wheel an’ yah refused tah lay down an’ die ya earned my respect. Still with me? Good.” With that, we Warp to a hill overlooking the old homestead. My gaze blurs as it roams over the things that feel so familiar yet so far. The training ground, the gap where my workshop was, the three-story house where I grew up, the range where I learned to shoot bows and hoof cannons, the walled in area where so many ideas were tested. My home, no, it was his home.
As I watch space around me blurs as Master mutters words in a strange language and with a powerful Shift a copy of my body falls to the ground before him. It lays there limply before he sets it ablaze, burning it to chunks of bone and ash. Next, he turns his Outside fueled magic, or magick, towards the previous location of the workshop. A loud roar sounds as a rip in reality forms for an instant sucking everything around it in and creating a crater where it was. At the noise, the front door of the house bursts open and Gear’s father burst out.
“What is going on?”
Master’s voice is cold and flat, devoid of the inflection I’ve grown used to. “Cauterizing the infection. Cleanup and annihilation are required.”
“Required for what?” Hope fills me for a moment as I see his eyes back to normal and hear his seeming confusion.
“Your son, Gear? Do you remember?”
“My son? Gear? Who?” The yellow glow flares back in place in his eyes. “So you're getting rid of the remains of that evil bitch? It was no son of mine! Just a twisted servant of the Outside. Finish cleaning up its infection all you want, I’m going back to sleep.”
I feel frozen, a sick emptiness spreads through my gut. The pain leaves behind a numbness that seems to drain away my emotions leaving only my logic. My thoughts are clear but sluggish. Did he forget about me? Is this stage two of the curse? Something to make me suffer without turning the whole world against me all at once? The Goat is still watching me. Too much luck has played a role in my survival tonight. That thing is making sure it has it’s fun.