You, a pony just like any other, come into contact with a truly...Bizarre power.
On a day like any other, you, a pony just like any other, stumble across an artifact of power, of energy. And upon pricking yourself with it on accident, you come into contact with a truly...Bizarre power.
Yes, a comment driven story crossover between MLP and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure where you gain the power of a Stand after Season 1 of the former show. You aid the call to plotlines, enemies, allies, and of course, what your Stand is. As always, if not enough participation takes place, the story will become a normal one, but don't shy away from leaving a comment if this interests you!
Even as the sun hangs overhead and bears down comforting warmth and light, that still doesn't make your current predicament any easier. After a series of sudden, booming noises emerged close to the edge of the Everfree Forest (spooking that animal caretaker, Fluttershy, that you've seen around town), a town hall meeting was held to see if it was a problem. As this was a new sound, unheard of by the denizens of the town, particularly curious and intelligent ponies were chosen to investigate this new phenomenon in case it was a danger to Ponyville. And, being that you are a Pegasus, of course you could cover ground safely, hanging over the area instead of sifting through it. You gave yourself a little pat on the back for the bird's eye view at first.
Still, even with your eyes peeled and your body hanging over the treeline, there was still an unnerving sense in the air. The Everfree Forest acted on it's own, without your kind even touching the weather within the area. And as much as this normally put you on edge, there was a more ominous feeling. As though the Everfree Forest suddenly grew more dangerous. It wasn't usually directly harmful, but there was this subtle change in the air. While you couldn't see anything yet, that feeling gnawed at you like a rabid dog, and it pulled at every thought.
Eventually, after about three hours of searching, ponies were pulled back with an all-clear sounded by Mayor Mare herself. You could see Unicorns and Earth Ponies coming back to town while your fellow Pegasi just flew back home. You had gone a ways out, so it took you a second to make it to the precipice. But when you did, a glint from the treeline suddenly caught your eye, dazzling and distracting you. You stopped in your tracks, and turned your gaze for a closer look.
The shining metal was gold in color, you could tell even from this distance. But what it actually was, you weren't sure. You almost shook off the curiosity. After all, it was still in the Everfree Forest, odds were good it was strange and unnatural, whatever it was. Still, it was better to investigate and keep Ponyville safe then it was to leave a weird shiny thing alone. And if you got to see something cool along the way, hey, that was a bonus! So, flying down and making your descent, you went towards this object.
When you landed, the sun had moved behind the shade of the leaves of the trees surrounding you. It was the middle of the afternoon yet the ground was turning into a field of grey dirt anyway. Still, you steeled your resolve and went looking, which didn't actually end up taking too long. Right where you saw the shiny object, stabbed into the ground head first, was an arrow. Last you heard, there wasn't exactly any local archery competitions in Ponyville, and it didn't look like it was even forged around town. It had a golden shaft, and when you went over and, with your teeth, pulled it out of the ground, you could see the actual arrowhead was also gold with a silver tip. The arrowhead had the carving of a beetle of some type as decoration, and the whole item looked intricate and beautiful.
Still, looking at a decorated arrow in the middle of the Everfree Forest didn't dissuade the curiosity of where this particular item actually came from, nor why it was at the edge of the Everfree Forest in the first place. Furrowing your eyebrows, you turned around and began heading to the library in town. It had to have information of this somewhere, and if not, the librarian living there (you think her name was Twilight?) was bound to remember something. She seemed like the kind of Unicorn that knew things barely anyone else in town did. You had left the Forest when suddenly, the arrow began to slip from your teeth. You tried to clench your jaw to grab it, but it feel from your mouth and landed, point first, right on your outstretched hoof.
You yelped in pain and shook the injured limb, shaking the arrow off of you as it landed point-first in the dirt. You were sure you had a grip on it, that it wouldn't slip. It was as if it just moved out of your grasp instead, but you shook that thought off quickly. You brought the hoof to your mouth to stem the bleeding from the wound and instead began to make your way to the local doctor. It would be a bit of an embarrassing story to tell, really. How you found an arrow, stabbed yourself with it, then went to get it patched up even after it healed on the way...
Wait, what?
You looked back down to your left forehoof. There wasn't a scratch on it. And thinking back, in your panic, no blood actually trailed past your lips and muzzle. It was as if the wound never actually pierced. Your skin was untouched, no blood on your hoof. You, perplexed, turned back around to grab the arrow. Mid-walk, though, you felt something. An odd feeling streaking through your veins, just like the foreboding part of you that pulsed through the Everfree expedition. It was like you came down with a fever, except the fever was pulsating sheer unease instead of heat. You were about to turn back around to go see the doctor about this ailment when suddenly, the world became lighter. Literally, purple and golden light suddenly seemed to engulf your vision. The light flashed over you, almost bringing you down to your knees from the sheer staggering spectacle of it. When it finally did fade away, everything seemed normal, still. Not a pony out of place. But there was something new, that no one seemed to notice. A floating Pony without wings that was given no pause by anyone.
After your brain finally catches back up the sight in front of you, of this strange floating pony, you slowly begin to take in it's appearance. It appears to be an Earth Pony in terms of features, with no horn or wings in sight. It's body, neck, and forelegs are a brilliant purple in color, while it's back legs and fore-hooves are crimson. It's head is a lighter shade of red you can't quite pinpoint, with a vague helmet-like shape, as well as a white mask over it's muzzle that appears to be made of metal. Where it's four legs connect to the body are what appear to be small wheels that spin idly on occasion. Naturally, when faced with such a thing, you do what any denizen of Ponyville would do: yell.
You let out a small squeak before screaming out "What in Tartaurus are you?!" at the new being. It doesn't respond save for tilting it's head to your left, but the people around you start whispering. They begin asking confused questions, which you can pick up with ease due to mere proximity.
Things like "What is he talking to?" and "Did he see a new bug? But if he did, what was with his language?" begin chiming in throughout the center of Ponyville, the voices of the bemused and concerned surrounding you and filling the air itself. You furrow your brow in confusion. Why are they asking that? you think to yourself, I mean, if I didn't know any better, it sounds like they...can't see...that explains it. I must be hallucinating. I've gone absolutely mad!
It makes sense, really. The Arrow had a weird disease or the like, especially after having been in the ground for a while, you got taken in with some kind of magically-enchanted flu, and now you're seeing ghosts and feeling weird tingles through your body and head. That has to be the only explanation, or at least the one that makes sense. Confident you've figured it out, you ignore the spirit and turn for the third time to head to the local Doctor. This time, you finally manage to start trotting, putting one hoof in front of the other instead of constantly turning around and turning around looking for something or after something. Along the way, this spirit keeps following you, not even phased by your epiphany. Makes sense, you'd need a pill or something to stop the symptoms, but it still feels oddly persistent for a hallucination.
Before you make too much progress, though, you let out a sigh. Ponyville Hospital isn't exactly close to Town Square, even if it was in sight, and while flying would make things easier, that'd both expend a lot of energy and be a risk with this hallucination constantly showing up in front of you. Which would, again, make for an embarrassing story of how you smashed into a tree because your mind made you see things. "I wish there was an easier way to get there without galloping," you mutter to yourself, before shaking your head and looking back up. Once you do, though, the spirit suddenly comes down to ground level for the first time since arriving. Lowering itself down to stand on it's legs, it taps the ground with it's hoof, one of it's wheels spinning violently, and suddenly, the ground starts morphing and twisting right in front of you.
It creases up and folds in, like crumpling and creasing a sheet of paper for an airplane. Rocks move out of the way, grass gets taken in with the folding, and your whole theory on it being just a product of your mind is branded on the flank when you see ponies reacting to this phenomenon by backing away with confusion in their eyes. Just as soon as it started, it stops, and only about three feet away, separated by creased terrain, was the entrance to Ponyville Hospital. You turn and gawk at your spirit before stepping over the folds, which then expand back out in the same quick speed. The spot you were just standing is suddenly yards away, yet you barely actually moved. The ground looks undamaged as the folds vanish, and the ponies start whispering amongst themselves again.
You turn back to your spirit, now hovering back by your side, and you feel a compulsion. An errant thought that provides an appellation you can't quite explain the origin of. You think of a name, about as naturally as you think about walking. "New Divide," you say out-loud, christening the spirit, which seems to give a small nod. You suddenly feel in control of this spirit, and with a bit of conscious thought, it vanishes with no trace of it's existence. You think again and call it out, and it looks the same as it just did before you put it away. Sighing again, this time from the irritation of a lack of knowledge on the subject, you de-summon New Divide and stand by Ponyville Hospital for a second, taking in the events of the day.
Or at least, you start to. But then you feel a slight bit of liquid drip on your snout. Wiping off the offending liquid reveals it to be brown in color, and one possibly dumb idea to taste it later, you discover this is chocolate milk of some kind. You look back up to see pink clouds covering the skies of Ponyville in seconds, before chocolate milk somehow starts raining down on the town. Great. First the spirit, and now this. You hesitate to say anything, though, because deep down, you know this day can and most likely will just keep getting weirder. For now, though, you're just left pondering one question.
Eskimobill1919: Also go and pick up that arrow, it’s probably best to not leave such a thing lying around.
Well, the very last thing you want to do in this situation is leave behind a possibly dangerous, possibly magical artifact to be swept up in a sea of ponies and chocolate rain, both of which are increasing in volume steadily, yet slowly. New Divide taps his hoof back to the ground, and again, the ground in front of you folds up like paper in the span of a second. This must be New Divide's only trick, or at least, it's the only one you know of.
Stepping on the other side of the fold and releasing the hold on it, you fortunately find the arrow, safe and sound. "Phew," you say in relief, miming wiping off sweat by brushing your forehead with a hoof, before trotting over and gripping it back in your teeth. An idea does reach you, though. You put it back down, and allow New Divide to grip in it's teeth instead. Sure, it looks really strange, especially if truly no one else can see New Divide. A floating object next to a pegasus? Still, compared to the folding ground and the chocolate rain, the ponies around probably don't care at all. Speaking of,
Gold Experience: Investigate the source of the chocolate rain, see what the heck is going on and maybe see if you can find some answers to what is going on.
There is still that weird and mysterious chocolate rain to investigate. No pegasi in town seemed to talk about a prank as idiosyncratic as this. In fact, looking around town, everyone's either confused or already inside, where it's dry. Thinking back, you remember the clouds coming in from the East before circling around all of Ponyville. But as soon as you turn that direction to head out, you see a a giant purple wave fly out from Sweet Apple Acres to what seems like no effect. And then seconds after that, you see strange, long-legged animals come up to eat the clouds, bursting out from a sea of...popcorn?
Okay, there's too much weird around here to go chasing down cotton candy clouds and chocolate rain. You need to figure out what's happening before you can go making heads or tails of actually stopping the source. Thusly,
wizard0209: my vote is along the lines of Gold Experiences vote but with the addition of looking for Twilight; my in universe explanation for this is that he already was going to go talk to her about the arrow, so asking about this wouldn't be out the question, but personally I just want them to be swept up into the shenanigans the mane six are about to be apart of
eskimobill1919: I say we head for the library to see if it has information on what is going on or if it has any information on stands.
You decide the best thing to do is to go the library and the bookish Twilight Sparkle. Even if all you manage to find answers on is your new spirit companion, it'd be indoors, away from the other strange oddities circling through the town. That and maybe you can catch a nap or something.
Even with the chocolate rain pouring onto you, you decide to take the long way around, flying to the Golden Oaks. Sure, New Divide makes travel fast and easy, but that's boring. Take a step, wa-hey! You're there! You felt the need to stretch your wings more. Thus, you can see when Twilight and her five friends, the ones who helped her stop Nightmare Moon earlier in the year, enter into the library. When close enough, you hear them scrambling around.
By the time you get there and land, right in front of the front door, the rain is mostly fading as the clouds are literally being eaten from above you. Smiling, you raise a hoof to knock, only for the door to open anyway. Twilight and the girls are in a single file line, her in front of both them and you, and all of them have saddlebags. "Oh!" she exclaims, clearly surprised to see you. "Sorry, I didn't realize someone was coming in."
You realize your hoof is still in the air, mostly because you feel like you're about to tip over, and so you wave it off. "Nah," you respond, "It's cool. Crazy weather, anyone could get flustered." Twilight gives a kind of awkward noise of affirmation, clearly agreeing with that sentiment while still waiting for you to speak more. "I actually wanted to see you. I need answers on some...magical weirdness."
"Well," she answers immediately, though sounding like she's in a hurry with quickfired syllables. "I'd love to help you, but I don't know either, but Princess Celestia called us all to Canterlot, so hopefully I can find out there, and I mean, once I do, I can get back to you on that, so sorry!"
Again, you wave her off. "It's no biggie. I'm sure there's a book on it." You move out of the way to let her past, ignoring her rambling about how there's always a book on something useful. Now that the most flustered one in the group is leaving, the other five mares in Golden Oaks finally notice something's up with you specifically. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack stare at the floating, golden arrow with a myriad of faces ranging from confusion to some sort of impressed nod. Pinkie Pie, leaving the door last, looks above the arrow to the spirit's face and waves at it before bouncing off.
...Wait.
Pinkie waved at it?
Somehow, though, you get the impression that, with it being Pinkie Pie, of course she'd note something off going on. It's kind of in her code-book. So, you enter the library, saying hi to that baby dragon Spike as he dusts, and start looking over the spines of the books.
After checking three separate books, you turn up nothing. Aside from fairy tales about normal, vanilla, boring, average ghosts, there's nothing about a magical specter that follows a person's will and can do crazy magical things with it's hooves. Well, maybe there's more books that do have some kind of answer, but you feel as though sitting here any longer is going to make you stir-crazy. So, you get off your haunches, stretch your muscles, place all the books back ("in proper order!" as Spike reminds you), and head back outside. Luckily, the chocolate rain is gone by this point.
Ze1a7in: I say: test the capabilities of this "spirit" somewhere on the outskirts of town, and in doing so, "warp reality" enough to attract the notice of a certain mismatched Spirit.
Now that Ponyville's quiet again, you get the courage to go to the outskirts of town to practice using New Divide more. Placing the Arrow on the grass, in a spot where you won't lose it, you test your curiosity and call New Divide out.
After a few minutes of practicing, you learn some things about it.
For one, you can actually fold yourself, just as harmlessly as you fold terrain. You learned this when you decided to see what would happen if your spirit punched you in the face. Probably wasn't a good idea, but it was rectified.
Secondly, you learned that when damaged, the spirit reflects it's damage onto you. You learned this when you got irritated from you getting folded, punched New Divide in the face, and then your head whipped to the right as your felt yourself get punched. That's probably going to bruise, most likely.
And thirdly, you learned of a limit to it's power. Right now, you can't seem to have multiple folds open at once. You get the feeling that you will one day be able to have two or three at a time, but when you tried folding up in two different directions, the first fold snapped back to normal space just as the second one began folding. Like you lost your grip on a rubber band as you stretched it.
Feeling satisfied that you learned a bit about New Divide, you have it pick the arrow back up, and you turn back to the direction of town. Only to hear a deep, yet playful, voice from behind you. "Well, well, well," says the voice, "what do we have here?" You whip back to find a...you can't describe it, but you know the word, tip of your tongue-AHAH! Draconequus. Guess one of Twilight's books did come in handy after all. "Ooh! A Stand! I knew I felt the power of the Arrow around here. Just assumed that was that bag of chips I brought in. Hmm."
You stand there confused for multiple reasons, but the big one practically singing falsetto in your brain was "What did he call the spirit? A Stand? What?", but it's a thought he doesn't let you vocalize. "Oh, and you're already causing chaos. While I'm causing chaos! Ooh, you're a Stallion after my own heart!" he says, pulling a cartoon heart from out of nowhere. A cartoon heart that is beating like a real heart.
You can't even tell if you're supposed to be disturbed at this point.
"Well," he continues, "You've got questions, I've implied I've got answers that I may or may not give, and there's about half an hour before Princess Celestia realizes "oh, derping hell!" upon opening the box to realize the Shemelements of Shmarmony are missing. So...wassup?"
What do you want to do? Stand for Equestria, Part 1
wizard0209: we should probably get on Discords good side too (and since its Discord the best way of doing so would be to stroke his ego) with any luck we could end up reforming him early
You already feel suspicion tingling through your body. To your knowledge, this is a hodge-podge hybrid of multiple animals that just so happens to love chaos and can do or say pretty much whatever. He can see your spi-...Stand, while no one else can (save for Pinkie, which you really should look into), seems to know a bit about them when none of the books in The Golden Oaks library seemed to allude to them, and he's hovering there with a smirk on his face when you can see in his red eyes nothing but contempt shining through crimson.
You are an ant compared to what may as well be the sun. And he's still talking to you.
Still, all that means is that you need to keep your guard up and don't make him angry. So, after taking a second to think, you smirk and say "Of course, you'd have all the answers. You do seem like a powerful entity." His eyebrow raises but his smug grin changes not a muscle out of place. "Why," you continue, "I think the only reason you don't already have Equestria is because you like playing a little game, first."
Discord crosses his arms and leans forward slightly, his head and neck craning down to stare right at you. "You know, I know you're just buttering me up," he responds, which makes sense. For all your talents, subterfuge isn't one you have a great deal of knowledge about. "But, you're right, so I'll give it a pass. I must say, it's good to know someone respects the lawless." With a snap of his fingers, a scroll with the words "Equestrian Law" clearly written upon it is poofed into his hand, which he begins scribbling in with a black marker like he owns it. Which, knowing the situation, he might.
wizard0209: on top of asking the obvious questions like "what's a Stand" "what is the arrows deal is"
Ze1a7in: Considering that we are now in the presence of someone who not only knows what we found, but potentially has information about it, I think it would be a good idea to ask what the deal with the Arrow is. And if Discord isn't immediately forthcoming with that knowledge, try to strike a deal for it.
Gold Experience: Keep him at arms length. If things get too suspicious, use New Divide to get the hell out of there. If he has answers, then its best to hear him out but not trust him.
With that in mind, it's clear that the end goal is getting out of there should be suspicious. You have the Stand for it, after all. Speaking of such, though, there is still the matter of finding out just what a "Stand" is to begin with. You look back up at the Mad Chaos God in front of you and ask "So, uh...do you think you can tell me what a Stand actually is? You just called New Divide one without elaborating."
Discord, who has now moved on to writing with his mouth like he was a pony like you and not a being with opposable thumbs, spits the marker out and shows you what he drew. "Why, of course!" he exclaims, flipping the scroll over to it. It no longer looks like a scroll at all. There are drawings, moving drawings, of more colors than just the black. They resemble bipeds, apes or the like, with more Stands floating by them in different shapes and sizes. At least, you guess those are Stands.
"A Stand, my good boy," Discord begins explaining, "is a manifestation of your fighting spirit. Your willpower. Your...worth, as it were." As he says this, one of the little doodles draws out a Stand of his own, resembling another biped, though this one is purple with long strands of black hair and clenched fists. "Each Stand has a unique ability, tailor made for the person," and with that, the Stand begins wildly punching, with a word balloon showing it shouting "ORAORAOROAORA!" as it throws out each devastating blow. "Some just punch things, at least at first," he says, dropping that last part as an aside, "but others can control fire, stop time, produce bubbles that steal attributes, blow things up, or even...well, folding space to it's whim," he ends on. As he says that, he points right at New Divide, which is still summoned and still clutching the Arrow through it's mask.
"And the Arrow?" you ask the next obvious question that comes to mind as that gold and silver weapon gleams in the sunlight. Discord smirks and draws near, causing you to step back as New Divide firmly hovers near the ground.
Seeing your attempt at self-preservation, Discord shrugs. "Fine, then," he responds, before snapping his fingers and bringing out what looks like a chunk of earth, glowing gold inside the rock. "The Arrows," he begins, your jaw dropping at the plural. There's more of these? Discord continues, ignoring the question asked in your head, "were forged from this meteorite. They create Stands. How, you may ask?" At this, both of your shrug your shoulders. "Beats me!" he responds, "It might be a bacteria? I dunno. But it's cool! Unless you're someone without the will to control one, that is."
That brings up another question, so you ask "What happens if you don't have the will to control a Stand after getting...pierced, I guess?"
Discord does this kind of head bob before bluntly responding "You die!" as the meteorite piece disappears in a puff of smoke.
wizard0209: "are there other types of Stands"
"So..." you begin to ask, but quickly find yourself mildly stumped. You do manage to pick one out of a myriad amount of insatiable curiosities, and thus ask "Are there other types of Stands?" to which Discord responds with more doodling. This time with his feet, somehow. He's a trickster deity and you're questioning his methods? Weak.
After a few minutes of watching his hind legs move about, he finally snaps the scroll back to his hand and flips it around again. This time, the doodles of Stands are more varied, showing a bunch of things. "Oh yes!~" Discord answers, "So, so many. There are Stands that don't reflect damage, bit of a loner, you can't make 'em move." As he says this, a skeletal Stand wearing an...Appleloosan sombrero, it looks like, hovers away from it's bipedal stick figure master. It's very fat, bipedal stick figure master, to the point where you confuse the drawing for a slug. "Then there are Stands you wear," as he points to a stick figure in brown clothing, who suddenly tunnels into the ground. "And Stands that are armies!" and he points to a biped with ridiculous hair commanding what looks like little toy soldiers. He pulls the scroll away from you. "Plus Evolving Stands and Requiem Stands, and Stands that are just abilities, and Stands anyone can see that are bound to normal objects, and Stand that let you spin your balls faster!"
Wait, what?
"But for the most part," Discord finishes with a flourish of his hands, "there's just all kinds of Stands!" You take a bit of time to properly process this info, letting it sink in as you dig your way through it. Sounds like a handful, to be sure. And he didn't exactly explain it comprehensively. But he did it. So, that was nice of him.
Cloverleaf: Don’t go directly with whatever he tells you. Pinkie can see your Stand. Fact check Discord with her when all this blows over. [...] But here’s the thing. Pinkie being Pinkie could very well be Pinkie has a Stand.
Gold Experience: And if the same extends to the Mane Six, i've got this idea that maybe the Elements of Harmony grant the users a stand as well.
Suddenly, a thought hits. Something you need to be sure of. "Wait, did you just say you can't normally see Stands?" you ask, piping up after a show of exposition.
Discord looks a little miffed that you didn't actually seem impressed with his little show, but he answers in a voice implying you're an idiot, that sort of condescending intonation that a school teacher would give a child that just won't shut up, "Of course! Why, was that not clear enough to you?"
"No, it's just that, uh, Pinkie Pie saw mine earlier."
It all falls into place. A kind of scary place. Not just on Pinkie's side, though that explains quite a lot. She's always bent reality to her whim with strange antics and stranger phenomenon. A Stand power could explain her oddities. No, no, the scary side is Discord's face when you say that. Never before has a twitching snaggle-tooth been so disconcerting. "I should have remembered," he says, "The Elements of Harmony certainly have the power...hiding them was a good move." It still sounds like Discord, that energetic tone of voice. But there's a hint of both triumph and an eerie dread filling as he speaks. Like something very interesting just came to his attention and he can't shake it off.
Gold Experience: Also, since Discord knows what a Stand is and it may be possible he has one as well, I vote to have him call it "Dazed and Confused" or DC for short. And if the same extends to the Mane Six, i've got this idea that maybe the Elements of Harmony grant the users a stand as well.
wizard0209: I've never watched JoJo's Bizarre Adventure but from my understanding a stand is an extension of your soul/spirit and Discord is a spirit of chaos and disharmony so wouldn't it be possible that he can see Stands just because he is something close to a Stand already?
You decide to clear the air with one last question. Well, two, but one can wait until after he starts leaving. "Wait, so..." you ask, New Divide hovering back away from the ground. "Do you have a Stand? You can see mine, after all." And there it is again, in those eyes. He's stopped caring about you at this point.
"Perhaps," he states clearly, "or perhaps I was once a Stand myself, granted free will through my power." Now, that's a scary thought, but keeps going. "Or perhaps the powers of chaos are so much my own that I can simply see the myriad possibilities they represent," he answers, "It does not matter now."
And with that, he raises his fingers and holds his middle finger and thumb together as if to snap.
eskimobill1919: I feel that we should ask "wait, did you say that you stole from the princess?" Cause that is a petty big deal.
"Wait!" You stop him, but he only glances in your direction. "Did you just say that you stole from the Princess?!" That's high treason, and frowned upon, and you know she won't be happy about that. But this Mad Titan smirks and pays it little heed.
Waving his hand, he merely states "Indeed, my dear boy. After all, Chaos and Disorder is the highest regard in the whole of existence!" Dramatically declaring as such, he snaps and vanishes in pink light, leaving you with answers, a clear line of sight to Canterlot at the mountain site, and a Mad Titan ready to take over.
Ze1a7in/wizard0209/Cloverleaf/eskimobill1919: Use New Divide, head to Canterlot, warn the Princesses, fact-check Stands, bring the arrow. And hurry!
Right, now things have gotten urgent, certainly. Discord, Mad God of Chaos, is headed to Canterlot to exact an unholy chaos across the land, the Elements of Harmony are apparently not where they should be, and all you have is a fighting spirit that's part of a concept and category only just explained to you via Doodle Exposition. Suffice it to say, it's very much far beyond your pay-grade, not to mention your capabilities, to actually do this yourself. Even if Discord has a Stand and your Stand beats it to a pulp, he can probably heal the injuries. And even if not, it's risky.
Plan B. Or C. It's a letter, for sure, but which one it is keeps pushing and pushing back.
But there is something you can do, certainly. You can get the Princesses themselves. After all, though it's likely Princess Celestia (and Luna, on a second thought) it's Discord, he still gave you the scoop about the maze, and there's Stands and such that are beyond their understanding, the knowledge of which could be crucial. And besides that, if they do know of Stands, or even should they possess some themselves, fact-checking Discord's knowledge on Stands is equally crucial to understanding your abilities.
With that, you get New Divide to grab the Arrow, and set off, using New Divide to make travel easy. While you are able to go anywhere in line of sight, you quickly learn that New Divide currently isn't capable of doing it all in one trip, but rather multiple folds in succession. Not a problem, though tedious and more time consuming than the corner-to-corner teleport you'd like. Within your mind's eye, you feel like this only indicates New Divide's ability to grow.
Within minutes, you arrive to Canterlot's front gate. Usually it'd take quite a bit of flying, or riding the train or the like. But thanks to this Stand of yours, it only took about five minutes of your time, plenty more to continue on.
Canterlot proper has always been a beautiful place to live, serene in a way busier cities like Manehatten just never could be. Sure, it still has bustle to it, but it's the kind of business that people flock to in order to get busy with something. Strolling through the streets up to the castle, you notice clean-up has been rougher around here than Ponyville. Cotton-candy clouds have hit the ground by this point, creating puddles of chocolate milk that street cleaners are trying their hardest about. Not to mention that things are legitimately floating about, likely due to Discord. Tables are heading off the outsides of restaurants, probably ruining someone's fancy dinner. Shame.
You walk past it all, not wanting to become distracted by too much lest too much be lost to Discord. Arriving to the castle gates, you find two guards standing at their posts, hoping to keep people out so that Princess Celestia isn't overwhelmed. At least, that's your intuition talking. Of course, doing their jobs, they move spears into an X formation that creates an obstructing criss-cross. "Halt!" a brown-coated guard on the left orders, "State your business!"
You give your wings a quick flap as New Divide wiggles the Arrow in it's mouth. You then immediately realize that isn't enough, as they give it a side eye before looking back to things literally floating off the streets. You suppose they just assume it to be more of the same. "I, uh, have very important matters to discuss with the Princess," you politely answer, "erm, regarding all the commotion and such."
The other guard on the right raises an eyebrow at this while Lefty Brown or whatever you decide to nickname him frowns. "We don't have time to accept every crackpot theory on the crackpot things going on," he sourly answers, "You wanna discuss this with the Princess, wait until things aren't floating or making our boots wet with sticky liquids."
You roll your eyes, clearly not having enough time to humor this. You simply use New Divide as a hop and skip to just behind the gates, folding up the gates themselves and the guards into the terrain. You hop over it, and unfold it, to which the two of them just gape at you. Well, to be accurate, Lefty Brown gapes. Stoic on the Right says nothing. Clearly, he's used to things being rather bizarre today. "Now do you buy me knowing something?" you say. Without a word, Lefty Brown nods and walks to the castle, gesturing you to follow.
Canterlot Castle is a lot taller in person.
That simple little fact probably shouldn't be your exact first thought, but there it is, and wow is it huge. House fit for royalty, you assume. You and Lefty Brown (at this point, it's simply much too fun to ask for his real name) arrive at the doors to the castle and he gives it a knock with his free forehoof. There is a silence after the knock, as though the answer was simply late. With nothing better to do, you say "Crazy weather we're having, huh?"
"Obviously," he retorts, though not in that dismissive way like at the gate. He gives his back and forelegs a shake. "Gonna need to take my boots to the cleaners, I'm sure," he complains. At that point, a mare guard opens the door. Her armor is the slightest change in color, from shiny gold to muted bronze. You honestly don't know enough about military ranks to know if such a thing is an improvement or not above the gold.
She looks to you for a second, also calm and stoic in the face of weirdness, and simply asks "State your business for being here. Quickly. Concisely. If you would."
You nod and clear your throat, thinking something up quickly. Just a few words, short, sweet, and to the point. "It concerns the chaos that's been going on, mainly. I do believe I have information about the reason why it's happening that could be of use." You consider dropping in Stands as part of it, but even if the Princesses have them, the guards probably aren't in the know unless they Use them themselves. After your explanation, she gives it some thought, before nodding and heading back in. What feels like another minute or two passes before the mare comes back and simply holds the door open.
An Audience with the Princess(es), huh? What are you gonna do with that? Stand for Equestria, Part 1
The pristine, pink painted halls of the castle in Canterlot were ones you weren't super familiar with for one reason or another, mostly because you had simply never entered them yourself. But here you were, with a floating arrow in your Stand's teeth as it hovered by your side, a mare guard leading you, and some answers to fill in. If you had asked yourself this morning if you had ever expected these circumstances, you'd have wondered what in Tartarus you had drank last night to ask such a question to yourself.
But as she stops in front of two double doors, you are broken from your thoughts as you come to a halt yourself. Just beyond those doors is Princess Celestia, but lest you forget, Princess Luna also came back. That's two people who need to know about Discord, can tell you about Stands, and hold the key to Equestria's order and lawful society in the balance. You start taking deep breaths to keep from getting cold and panicked hooves as the Guard Mare opens the door.
And there they are. Sat against the end of the hall is the tall, pale white Alicorn monarch of the land. Her mane moves like a flag and is not so much colored like a rainbow as it does resemble a piece of a real one. And to her left, your right, is her sister. A grey coat, and a similar situation to the mane save for it instead being a very clear picture of the stars and cosmos tell you their resemblance, even as their frazzled facial expressions betray the former's more smiling demeanor in public. Guess Discord taking the Elements of Harmony really has left them on edge.
The Guard Mare breaks the silence with a flourish of her right forehoof and the declaration "Your Highnesses, the visitor has arrived," to which Princess Celestia looks back up.
Putting her normal, grinning expression back on, she gives a nod of acknowledgement, while Luna does the same by her side. "Thank you, Radiant Heart," she says, utterly sweet in tone as though she personally knew her and was genuinely complimenting her on her good work. The Guard Mare, Radiant Heart, it would seem, nodded politely, and left you alone with the princesses.
And as soon as she's gone, they stare up to your arrow, and you can feel their gaze drawn to New Divide itself, watching the Stand float by you.
Ze1a7in: Tell the Princesses that Discord spoke to us, but deliberately leave the exact reason he did so vague. At least at first.
An awkward silence floats by your for a scant few seconds, not even gushing wind interrupting, before you eventually clear your throat. As you do, you notice Luna flinch slightly, an odd sight from a Princess, but at the same time you heard her circumstance after her purification, and can't help but understand. "I, um...Discord himself spoke to me," you get out, watching the two of them for signs of suspicion that don't seem to arrive.
Celestia does quirk an eyebrow, however, but she responds gently. "Oh?" she wonders aloud, "And what did you two speak on?" She, again, spoke gently. With no stutter, no impediment. Not a single syllable raised higher than the tone you'd use in general conversation. It was like a mother, almost, caring and saccharine in enunciation. For the first time since gaining your Stand, you feel at peace with yourself.
It occurs to you to answer the question after only a short time focusing on the warm, fuzzy feeling. But you can't tell her everything, because you are simply unaware of how much she understands just yet. You stammer for a sec, but eventually stand up straight. "We spoke on...erm," you decided to explain, but couldn't get the words out. Eventually, you stated "...Chaos stuff?" lamely.
"Chaos Stuff?" Luna responded, deadpan as she could be despite still looking alarmed at the sight at the arrow. You stiffened up as you realize just why she would be alarmed by something that simply looks like magical junk to normal ponies, and your suspicions are verified when Celestia flares her wings out and asks one simple question, still sounding calm despite the subject matter.
"Would this...Chaos Stuff happen to involve the Stand you are using to clutch that Stand Arrow?"
Yep. You had thought this would happen.
wizard0209: no reason to deviate from the plan we had when coming here; let them know about our conversation with Discord, telling them anything that could help them deal with him, and ask them if they could verify what he said about Stands, if they can great, if not, a little worrying but no reason to immediately dismiss what he said just yet.
"Ah," you smoothly state, before bowing. "My apologies, Princesses, I wasn't aware you could see it." You look up to see that Celestia has folded her wings back, which seems to be a rather good sign. "Yes, it does indeed involve it. See, he told me where he has spirited off the Elements of Harmony, as well as telling me facts about my Stand. The latter of which I was hoping you could corroborate."
Luna and Celestia look at eachother for a second, clearly contemplating something. Finally, though, Celestia nods. "We can fulfill this request," Celestia states. "But what you are to see does not leave this room," Celestia continues, "for the fact of the matter is that knowledge of possession and uses of Stands isn't ideal in our society." She gestures to Luna, who nods and stands with her. And suddenly, you can see Celestia glowing with a golden aura, and Luna with a deep lavender aura.
Suddenly, a shape begins to emerge from behind Celestia as the lights in the throne room snap off near Luna. What you can only guess is Celestia's Stand steps forward, appearing like the hairless apes Discord showed you. It was gold, white, and blue, standing on it's two feet with smooth, edgeless shapes acting as armored pauldrons on it's shoulders. Within the middle of it's two hands are holes showing the night sky, the cosmos themselves flashing every time it moves it hands as it ends up in a flamboyant pose with it's hands on it's hips. Meanwhile, Luna doesn't seem to have a visible Stand, instead the shadows crawling around her begin twisting themselves into different shapes: ponies, hairless apes, Diamond Dogs, dragons, and weapons of every length, range, and sharpness emerge from the black maw that the wall and floor have become.
Your jaw drops, for you suddenly lose the ability to speak upon witnessing this. "Shooting Star," Luna asks of you, making you look up. You don't dare ask how a Princess knows your name. It's so obvious to you that at least one of them would. "If you would please come closer," she requests, "so you may see our Stands better?"
Cloverleaf: However this goes, it’s probably for the best if Celestia or Luna possess the arrow. Don’t fight if they demand it.
"Indeed," Celestia agrees, before gesturing with her forehoof to New Divide. "If you could please give us the Arrow, as well," she requests, "just as a precaution."
You nod, knowing it's safer in their hooves and in their keep. You push New Divide, placing it in front of the throne. Luna's Stand materializes a Unicorn who picks it up in an Aura of purple magic, pulling it closer and in safe keeping in the shadows. Luna and Celestia both step off their thrones and lead you back down the halls themselves, leading into a spacious dining room. A maid using her Unicorn horn to move a tea-set mutely nodded as the Princesses lead you in. "Now, please, tell us what Discord said about the Elements over tea," Celestia beckons, "and then follow us to the Garden. All three of us do need to demonstrate our Stand abilities, after all."
Even without having known about Stands for the longest time, a constant word of advice to keep in mind is presented to you, and it helps to ground the situation in front of you: even if you trust the user, the Stand being the one pouring the drink does not make things seem less fishy. And indeed, as Celestia's Stand uses it's...paws? Claws? Possibly even hands? As it used the extremities on it's forearms to pour the kettle out into a tea-set, you looked at the cosmos within with suspicion, dreading whatever it could've done to your beverage. You had no idea of it's ability or it's strength, and so as you grasped the teacup in your hooves, you took a drink expecting the worst.
Luckily, aside from tasting utterly fantastic, it doesn't seem to have been tampered with whatsoever. A calming sign, and a welcome one. You relax into the chair as the Princesses sit before you, their tea poured out by Celestia's Stand with a steady forehoof of indeterminate terminology. "Ah," Celestia sighs out after taking a sip of the drink, "that tastes wonderful." And you are inclined to agree.
"Now, we're sure you wish to have answers. After all, Stands are...tricky," Luna speaks up after a sip of her own, "but we're sure thou hast your own answers to given, yes? Please, do continue to go into detail, Shooting Star, if you'd wish." When presented the option, you just know you have to take it.
Ze1a7in: Well, I see no reason to disobey the Princesses. I say we spill what Discord told us, and apologize that we do not know more about where he hid the Elements.
wizard0209: more or less what Ze1a7in said. sorry for not contributing much this time around
Leaning over the table, you set the glass down and release the tight grip of your forehooves, luckily keeping it in place. As you sit back and relax, a wave of nervousness washes over you, knowing you are essentially a confidant to the most powerful rulers in the whole nation. But you know you can't hold back, after all, this is vital. "Well," you begin to explain, "Discord saw my Stand, New Divide, and began speaking to me. He told me about hiding the Elements, different Stand types and abilities. And in great detail, listing off strange and myriad abilities."
"I see," Celestia nods along, allowing the billowing rainbow mane to flow behind her. "Yes, Discord would know something about that. But that's for another time." She stirs in a little sugar to her tea glass, looking up to you expectantly, asking if you want some, which you shake your head to. "And he told you about the Elements of Harmony?"
"Yes," you respond in affirmation, before looking rather sheepish and visibly dour. You take a quick sip of tea, feeling it go down before you set the glass back on the table. "Princesses," you apologize, "I'm sorry, he did not tell me about where they are. Only that they aren't around. I wish I could be a bigger help." Surprisingly, Luna stands from her chair first, trotting around the table to be next to you.
"No worries, thy Pegasus," she states in a tone that indicates a bit of trepidation, as though not fully equipped to handle the whole "comforting" thing. "Celestia's student has already set out on a hunch of hers, taking her friends to recover them. They should be in safe hooves."
Celestia nods along to this in agreement, with a smile that seems to emerge from sheer pride. "Indeed," Celestia agrees, "Twilight should be able to handle herself just fine." You can't help but smile with her, gaining your own confidence boost from hearing that your monarch puts her own faith and safety in one Twilight Sparkle. You can only imagine what her own Stand would be, but that just makes another question that seemed very obvious to ask to smack you in the face like the question was that clumsy grey mare back in Ponyville with the lazy eyes falling from the sky and kicking your teeth in on the landing.
Sunny Milk: Shooting Star should ask about the origins of Stand Arrow
"Oh!" You say, smacking your own forehead with your hoof, "can't believe I forgot to ask." Luna sits back down as Celestia waits patiently, smiling at you. "Uh, so, where does the Stand Arrow come from, exactly? Discord mentioned a meteor...?"
Celestia uses her magic to bring the arrow back to the table, laying it in front of her. The light in the room makes the golden parts of the arrow shine brightly, glinting with a shine and sheen that only your first time laying eyes on it compares to. "Glad you asked," Celestia nods. "He was correct. Several hundred years ago, two meteorites crashed to Equestria. And one in Griffonstone, actually, funnily enough."
Luna's Stand suddenly activated, shadowy versions of ponies appearing on the table, along with a meteor right on your tea cozy. "They collected this meteor and studied it," Celestia continued, the shadow-ponies following suit. You noticed that the candle on the table went out when they arrived. "A powerful blacksmith made six arrows from it, and passed them around. We only know the location of two. The one you yourself found, and the one gifted to our mentor, Starswirl the Bearded, whom my sister and I credit as being the first Stand-user at the palace," Celestia continues, Luna illustrating. Judging by the look of things, Starswirl received that Stand by your favorite variant of the Scientific Method: he stabbed himself with it and waited to see if something happened. Luna's shadows vanished before his Stand was revealed.
"Wow," you say, impressed that you got two expositional moments in a single day. You feel smarter, if also feeling like you don't have the longest amount of time, anymore. "So, did Starswirl cut you with the arrow, too, Princesses?" you ask
To your surprise, Luna and Celestia actually shake their heads at this. "No," Luna responds. "Our Stand and the Stand of thy sister were with us since birth, and we have used it even before our banishment!"
Celestia looks at her sister with a raised eyebrow and gently notes "Luna, you can speak like a modern pony. It would help acclimate you better."
Luna looks a little sheepish at this. "I know, I just-," she responds, before suddenly using her magic to pick up her tea glass and basically slam her tea down her throat. When she sets it down, she pants for a second before continuing "I'm just a little stressed, is all, working on it, hush," to which Celestia and you both chuckle at the Princess' antics.
As your chuckles die down, you let your curiosity ask "So, any other powerful artifacts like the arrow out there in the world?" New Divide pokes it with a hoof before you de-summon it, moving the arrow a couple of centimeters.
Celestia looks to Luna with a smirk before replying "Well...there is this Stone Mask in the archive-" She is cut off by Luna moving her hoof across her throat in a "kill it" sign, and Celestia just shrugs and stops talking. You surmise that it's purpose must be a bit of a secret to the more common ponies.
Ze1a7in: We should also mention that Discord mentioned that the Elements of Harmony potentially have the power to grant the wielders Stands, and that we believe Pinkie to already have hers, as she noticed New Divide.
With all this talk of attaining and activating Stands, you remember the burning point mentioned before. You clear your throat, and to their credit, the sisters immediately pay attention. "There is...one more thing," you admit, looking up at your rulers before taking another sip of calming tea. "See...Pinkie noticed New Divide, and Discord mentioned that the Elements can, um...grant Stands?"
Celestia and Luna both look at eachother, but Celestia looked quite happy to hear that. "Truly?" she asks you upon returning eye contact, to which you nod back. "Yes!" she shouts, surprising you and, with a single word, shattering your mental image of a completely stoic leader as she hoof-pumps. "I knew Starswirl wasn't crazy when he suggested that!"
"Sister, I never said he was crazy," Luna retorts, looking rather embarrassed about having apparently being proven wrong on this front. "Just that I wasn't sure finding the other meteorite from Equestria, making six smaller-sized points out of them, then attaching them to the Elements was a normal response to the dilemma at the time."
"Hehe," Celestia chuckles, clearly still having won the discussion, looks back to you and simply says "What my sister said," back to you. You raise an eyebrow at this, and Celestia takes the opportunity. "It wasn't a bad plan," she elaborates, "the cuts heal, the power of the Elements renders the pain a matter of unimportance, and using the Elements requires another personal strength and willpower that it renders dying by one an impossibility. It's just the "why" part of it that everypony, even I, don't seem to get."
Luna just shrugs. She doesn't get it either, it would seem. "Pinkie Pie attaining her Stand first makes sense," Luna replies. "If more a matter of eccentrics than willpower." And with all that out of the way, you finish your tea and make it outside to hone your ability.
Ze1a7in: As for this training, I think we should ask them if there is any way to improve or increase the effect of a Stand's abilities? Increasing the distance we can fold space would definitely be helpful in the long run.
The sky looks more dreary, if also fortunately more normal, as you step aside into the gardens, lead out by Celestia and being followed by Luna. It feels nice to have the colder air bite at your skin through your coat. "So, um," you blurt out, "how does training a Stand work? Can I improve or increase New Divide's effects, or...?"
Celestia chuckles as she opens the gate, leading you out to a place of true beauty, surrounded by flowers. "Indeed you can," Celestia nods and confirms. "All Stands have different statistics, one of which is Development Potential. The higher a Stand's Potential is, the more it's abilities can increase, and the more it can attain sub-abilities." It makes sense to you, even if the concept of Stands having a stat-block didn't cross your mind before. "And speaking of which," Celestia says, swiveling on her hooves, "you should probably meet ours."
Celestia's Stand re-materializes and touches the grass near Celestia. To your astonishment, the grass her Stand is touching suddenly transforms into what is clearly water, still in the shape of grass, which somehow quickly freezes into ice. "This...is my Stand," Celestia says, "Supernova. The cosmos in it's hands alter matter. It cannot create matter, but what it touches, it can bend and change to it's will." She illustrates this by suddenly creating a whip out of the ice, quickly allowing Supernova to whip it, creating a sonic crack like it was the real thing, made from real rope.
You look to Luna, only to see that her own Stand has activated. The sunlight seems to impossibly dim around her as a pool of black emerges from her hooves, shadowy ponies crawling out of the darkness like a novel's incarnation of the undead. She is concentrating on it, her eyes closed and her voice mute, and so Celestia explains "And that is my Sister's Stand, Broken Hearted Soul. Simply put, it creates and manipulates shadows. It can dim the lights and create an inky black that she can call from in any capacity." The Shadow Ponies begin wielding spears that look real enough, save for a black shaft and a dim silver blade. "Now, my little pony," Celestia asks of you, "train with a bit of a trial by black fire, if you would. Simply put, defeat my sister's Shadow Ponies to hone your craft." You nod, but gulp, and bring out New Divide.
What will Shooting Star do? Stand for Equestria Part 1
If there was something you were not, under any Celestia-damned circumstances, expecting to ever happen, it'd probably be a mixture of saying "everything" and letting loose some kind of horrifying guttural scream of frustration as your mind bends and twists to try to get an explanation. However, if you could choose just one thing out of today to list as part of the top ten list of sheer unbridled insanity, it'd most likely be gaining a Stand and then having to battle a Princess with that Stand in an attempt to hone your craft and improve. Luckily, soon after your brain cells calm themselves, you start to notice something about Luna that may prove useful, indeed.
Ze1a7in's Comment
You pick up on Luna's still unwavering meditation, and think to yourself "It seems that Luna needs to devote a good portion of her focus on her Stand to use it in combat, enough so that she has to, apparently, close her eyes and not talk. So it seems obvious the fastest way to beat her Stand would be to go after Luna." You seem resolute in thinking as such, except then you realize something. "Except she's had her Stand since birth, and is over a millennia old. More than enough time to find and develop ways to counter its weaknesses. Not to mention, that pool of shadows around her hooves can probably act as a defense if anyone gets close." With a sigh, you stand up straight and stare at the Princess, waiting for a tell. "Guess the best thing I can do now is try to get close to her with New Divide's power and catch her off guard."
Right when you focus back on Luna, though, you remember a very important lesson on fighting, passed down from father (and mother, occasionally) to child: "Talking is never a free action." And indeed, Luna's now staring right at you, as Shadow Ponies with spears rise from the darkness, hooves the same color as an abyss standing on the green grass as they trot towards you.
Arcticstorm's Comment
Without knowing the full capabilities of Broken Hearted Soul's ability, of it's weaknesses or strengths, you quickly decide to start by playing defensively. Immediately, the Shadow Ponies leap to you with a disturbing fervor, at their mistress' beck and call to tear you to shreds. As they approach, you quickly turn and use New Divide to fold space away from the Shadow Ponies. You hop over, only for one to hop over with you. You unfold space to keep the pace still, contending with the one for now.
It begins swinging and stabbing wildly with the tip of the spear, the dull silver blade dancing close to you multiple times. You and New Divide dodge as well as you can, ducking under swipes and backing away from stabs, and manage to get a general sense of it's pattern without staining the grass in your own blood. It doesn't seem to strategize or play it safe, instead lunging at you carelessly like a wild animal. Frenzied and hungry.
Satisfied, you place a fold back, the other Shadow Ponies now a few feet from you. As they lunge towards you, you duck under their blows and onto the other side of the folded space, before returning it to normal. It pushes them all back, but you watch as they dissipate into a black goo that vanishes quickly, leaving no trace of them. When you turn back, more of them are already spawning from Luna.
You quickly deduce that there is either a distance limit to them or that Luna finds it more practical to de-summon them when far enough, and you keep that for future use.
Cloverleaf's Comment
Unfortunately, it seems Luna's learned a little something from this, too. As you get back into a defensive stance, she suddenly sends all of the Shadow Ponies at once after you. You count six, each one looking the same, acting the same, and using the same kind of spear. A pack of frenzied pitch-black ponies with literal wisps of darkness coming after you. You quickly do the sensible thing and try running again, placing a fold down and hopping across.
To your dismay, however, what she learned is that your fold don't discriminate between users. All six ponies hop after you, charging spears drawn over the folded space and attacking you. Without concentration, you can't unfold, and so you quickly get back on the defensive. Dodging, ducking, and even jumping over swipes and stabs. Eventually, though, one gets the better of you, thrusting the spear directly into your left wing. You yell and jump away from that Shadow Pony as blood drips down from the wound, that appendage suddenly feeling colder. You grit your teeth at it, before yelling in rage. You charge towards it, tackling it over the line back towards Luna before unfolding your power, Luna de-summoning them on instinct, leaving only the one to what is quickly becoming a cruel mercy on your part.
Down With Chrysalis' Comment
Standing up, you feel a power well up inside of you. A wrathful, spiteful power, but one nevertheless. The Shadow Pony stands back up, having dropped the spear and seemingly having enough sentience to be confused and stunned at the attack. You do not give it the chance to pick it's weapon back up. You back up to let it at least be conscious enough to get it's bearings before folding space to bring it closer. Then you allow New Divide to let loose.
It unleashes a barrage of forehoof punches, a rush of impacts slamming all over it's body as you stoically watch it disintegrate under the force of the blow. You swear that either you or your Stand is screaming something out, a battle cry or chant no doubt, but you can't hear it through the blood boiling up to your ears. With one final punch and what final scream of whatever this battle cry is, you send the Shadow Pony flying, vanishing into what looks like purple liquid in mid-air which then impacts the ground as if it were blood.
Luna stops, stunned for a second, though you can't tell if it was your Stand's Barrage or her impalement of your wing, but she clenches her jaw soon after. You sneak a glance to Celestia, who is simply watching this fight with her tea cup in a neutral, though thoughtful expression. When you glance back, Luna seems quite, to polish off the Harsher Words for a moment, pissed. Her eyebrows are furrowed as twelve Shadow Ponies emerge from the underdark, and you feel your rage dwindle down into the realization that you are now quite outnumbered.
They charge towards you, spears at the ready, and thinking quickly, you unfold your crease to push them back further and give yourself a few seconds. Then, you fold up the air itself and fly, releasing your hold and boosting yourself high into the sky. You let out a smug guffaw, looking down just in time to see them glaring at you (well, as much as they can glare without visible eyes, anyway) and hoisting their spears up. With an "Oh buck!" flying from your lips, they suddenly begin throwing the spears at you like they were made to be javelins, cutting across the sky quickly. You dodge them with ease, but Luna's quick stab begins getting to you as the pain forces several close calls that wouldn't have happened otherwise.
"Okay, going into the air was a BAD idea! Gotta think of something quick!" you think to yourself, using New Divide to escape a spear heading right for your head as you think to of a quick plan.
BrownDog's Comment
Quickly, you fold yourself to your right towards the castle, unfolding and using simple momentum to fly through the window into the tea room you were in earlier. You hear concentration snapping as Luna seems to audibly double-take by saying "Um...did he just-?"
"Yes, Luna, he did," Celestia responds, sounding rather focused on you as she tunes out her sister. As you grab your own tea cup, you hear her slurp some of hers up in an uncouth manner and continue "We're not making him pay for it, it wasn't expensive. I do wanna see where this goes, though." Finally, you pick your cup up in your hooves and unfurl your wings, flying out of the window and unfolding to boost yourself to the sky.
Once above Luna, you drop the hot glass of tea overhead to drop on her before flying out a bit. Once you do, you circle back and begin divebombing, your plan working as you see her stare at the glass and allowing the dozen or so Shadow Ponies to throw their spears. As they destroy the glass, sending an actually rather beautifully mixture of ceramic debris and warm tea splattering against grass, you fold yourself to right behind Luna, the momentum allowing for the seemingly impossible.
You just tackled a Princess.
Wrapping your forelegs around her waist, you her her vocalizing surprise as you then unfold, pushing the two of you over. You then create a fold in on yourself the only way you know how: New Dive punching you in the face. It carries Luna with you, the two of you folded up into the creased space. It's, well, creased up space. No fancy pocket dimension or the like. It most resembles being shrunken: you don't feel as though your body has become like paper, crumpled up to be turned into an airplane. You just feel small, and more than a little cramped. Moreso the latter now that you are hugging a Princess inside of your Stand.
Speaking of which, Luna appears to be able to use her Stand, judging by the black appearing on the grass now so close to your face, but seems unwilling to do so. "So..," Luna posits, "this is quite claustrophobic, wouldn't you agree?"
You shrug, releasing Luna and leaving the two of you trapped apart. "I 'spose," you respond, kind of uncomfortably shrugging. "Sorry for dragging you around."
To your mild surprise, she gives a bit of a chuckle and waves a paper thin hoof. "It is no big deal," she defends, "and if anything, I apologize for stabbing you in the wing." You sigh, nodding your head and moving the wing a little to illustrate that point well. "Do not worry thy head," she replies. "Thy sister or her physicians can fix it."
"Then I forgive you," you reply simply. After an awkward (and of course, it is quite awkward) silence, you release New Divide unceremoniously, dropping you two back in the real world. Standing back up, you and Luna exchange a quick smile, which turns into another, fiercer standoff.
Nano Discussion's Comment
You dip down to a purely defensive stance, only to feel a bit of metal impact your back hoof. Your eyebrow raises in confusion, feeling around with your hoof to find that on your right side is a mail bucket, tied around your body by a sling. You slap yourself in the forehead with your right hoof, quickly remembering "Right! Before we got looking, Muffin asked me to help with the mail!" You then quickly realize, however, that there is an advantage.
Suddenly, you lunge right towards your shattered tea cup and get New Divide to pick a piece up carefully in it's mouth, and shine it up to the sky, allowing a ray of sunshine peeking through the cloudy day to bounce off, and hit Luna right in the eyes. She yells out and covers her eyes with her hoof, allowing you to grab the mail bucket, and hurl it right at Luna! You fold up the space to pull it closer to her, then unfold just as it passes the precipice to speed it up. Luna opens her eyes just in time to widen them in surprise before a large metal bucket suddenly slams into her face directly, actually managing to knock her over. When you look over, Celestia seems conflicted, even turning to both you and Luna and making steps towards both of you, before finally deciding to keep holding back.
Luna stands up, a bit of blood dribbling through her nostrils, and she dryly comments "Touche." She stands back up with a groan, re-summoning some more Shadow Ponies for one more charge towards you.
Eskimobill1919 and Golden Flares' Comments
They charge towards you with reckless abandon, just the same as the frenzy they did earlier. As they get close enough, you use New Divide to fold the air above you up, before suddenly using New Divide to dive down. It begins to uppercut the Shadow Ponies into the fold, quickly and brutally slamming them into it until they are part of the creased area of clear sky above you. After they have passed through, you gain an idea. Could you...?
You push New Divide up to touch the creased space, but instead of unfolding it, New Divide instead touches it again. It begins crushing it, visibly pushing the creases inward. You hear what sounds like squishing as looks of visible discomfort reach Luna's facial features. Once you finish crushing, you unfold the crease, dropping the Shadow Ponies unceremoniously to the ground. All except one die instantly, vanishing into purple liquid and smoke, leaving one to crawl towards you.
"And stop!" Celestia calls out, the Shadow Pony looking at her for a second before vanishing. She sets down a tea cup and walks over to you, first, Supernova appearing and placing a hand on your wing. You begin to physically feel the skin setting back together. "I'm proud of you, my little pony," Celestia says. "I admit, I should've stopped it at the stabbing, but you powered through and persevered. If being prepared for the future was worth this pain, I couldn't stop you if I tried." She finishes, Supernova releasing you as your newly healed wing flaps on instinct. It's not instantly fully recovered, as the fur is not back, leaving pink flesh visible, but for the most part, at least it's not bleeding anymore. "And you discovered an offensive ability of your Stand. Which is notable indeed."
She walks over to Luna, placing Supernova's hand over her nose. "And you, dear sister," she chastises, Luna letting out a squeal as her muzzle sets back properly, "do not have to be so rough. Stabbing him wasn't part of the deal, after all."
"I am aware, I just," Luna sputters as Supernova releases her and wipes away some blood with a finger, "I'm out of practice, it would...it would seem?" Both you and Celestia raise an eyebrow at Luna's sudden change of tone, from defensive to confused, until she points with a hoof. You see the hedge maze, fabled as it is, with a grey Rainbow Dash flying away from it as dark storm clouds take the skies. "Sister?"
"Discord won a little game," Celestia responds, quickly adding before you can panic "though not the war." You look back at her to see her glaring fiercely.
"Discord knows about the Elements granting Stands," Luna points out, "if I know him, he's going to be more...proactive. I'd say it's time we stepped in. Bought your pupil a bit of time to get the Elements and her bearings. What say you, dear sister?"
Celestia sighs, before looking to Luna. She seems hesitant, but she does finally nod to her. "I suppose we shall," she affirms, before looking to you. "...You seem to know the fundamentals of a Stand already. To fight with your brain, not your brawn. There is really nothing more to teach that can't be learned by example. If you would be willing to join us, I will do my best to keep you safe."
You would be honored to, but you're not sure if you'd be of service. Still, she seems genuine in her resolve. And you can already come up with a lot of ideas for prep time. Scouting out for Discord's location, gaining some extra hooves on deck, gaining bandages and other medical supplies. It feels overwhelming, but you suppose that the fate of the world really is like that.
Near Unanimous Comment Section: No to Discord, gather supplies and scout out the Mane Six.
Despite the huge honor bestowed upon you with even this simple request, you always have been a bit of a realist. Unpopular form of thinking back home in Ponyville, of course, but that's how you've seen the world. And the reality is, fundamentals or otherwise, you're still untrained and basically a novice. Luna was rusty and going easy on you; she probably agreed beforehand in a whisper because you'd clean out the rust in her Stand's joints. If an...inky black abyss has joints, anyway. Meanwhile, you'd be going toe-to-toe with a Chaos God that has just been said to be more active, and could potentially have a Stand of his own with whatever power that can only be imagined until you're injured or dead from it.
You are not ready, and you say as such. "Your Highnesses, with all due respect," you humbly respond. "I'm afraid that...well...Discord is way too damn powerful. I'm not ready." To your fortunate relief, Celestia simply smiles down at you.
In a calm, level tone, she responds "Shooting Star, I only asked because I knew that if I tried to stop you, it would be removing your agency." She leans down look into your eyes, her smile never fading even as her eyes flick upward, settling right on where she saw Rainbow Dash leaving from. There was something behind that gaze, burning like the sun even if her smile never faltered. "Your free will is the essence of your power, and I must ask that you never forget that," she reassures. "In that case, I ask that you watch over my student, and make sure all goes well."
You nod and walk past her to begin picking up your mail, but then a thought hits you.
Sunny Milk: Also Shooting Star should ask if there's any other abilities he could learn that aren't related to Stands?
"Wait..," you begin, both Princesses following your train of thought as you walked. "Are they any powers besides Stands? Or anything not related, anyway?"
"As much as we'd love to answer that, time is of the essence and we must make haste," Luna tells you, standing tall. "Right, thy sister?"
Celestia's smile turns into a smirk as she begins by saying "Oh, well, there is that solar magic that handles certain problems we've had long ago..." She shrugs and gestures to Luna as she then says "But my sister is correct. We must act swiftly to contain Discord until the Elements can be recovered safely. Here is where we part ways. Until we meet again."
You bow to the Princesses, who bow back in respect to a fellow Stand user, the keeper of a long secret. You all then turn around to continue your own objectives, ready to do whatever is necessary to restore order to Equestria by any means necessary.
BrownDog77: For prep, definitely get some bandages and other medical supplies since you have a feeling that being stabbed and spitting up blood is going to be much more common than you'd like. And you've learned in the fight with Luna that your strength is in misdirection. Try to gather things like party poppers, decks of cards, firecrackers, and other distracting things that can be used in a fight. And, since you've realized you can fold someone in with you, maybe a knife and a lighter to deal close quarter's damage.
Arcticstorm: If we choose not to directly follow Celestia and Luna we should at least help them out by gathering supplies or just scouting out the locations of the Main six/Discord/Elements of Harmony.
The general consensus in your mind before leaving Canterlot and chasing after the six mares making p the Elements of Harmony is to grab supplies. You walk back across Canterlot proper to a general store, noting the horrors a world of chaos has truly presented to you. Different non-pony animals, from ducks to cats, are floating out of control, and the sky is beginning to turn an odd shade of purple. The ground below is turning pastel, the rooftops of buildings are beginning to twist into a non-euclidean space, bending beyond the mind's eye. You try your best to shake off the laughing from all directions as you duck into the general store.
"End of the World Sale, 100% Off?" you question as you read the placard on the counter out loud. Some extra investigation shows that the poor soul running the place is cowering behind the counter, clearly not finding his chances good amongst the oddities. You sigh and begin to grab supplies. A medkit, some gauze, extra bandages, antibacterial cream, a knife, a lighter, and different party supplies including playing cards, party poppers, and firecrackers. You put this all into a freebie saddle bag and bring it to the counter. The cashier just rings a bell on the counter and gestures for you to leave ASAP, so you politely say "Thanks," and walk off with your new equipment. You are not two steps out of there by the time you hear a scream for help.
BrownDog77: Also, we need a Speedwagon. We need a loyal, tough, rich non-stand user ally that can help us with technological advances, money, and moral support. Maybe it's a canon rich character like Filthy Rich or Fancy Pants, or an OC, it doesn't even have to be a pony. Maybe it's someone Shooting Star rescues.
You turn around to see a mare being attacked and bludgeoned by, of all things, floating furniture that sounds like it's laughing at her. You don't hesitate to run up, summoning New Divide quickly and unleashing a quick barrage of punches. There isn't much of a battle cry this time, sadly, instead just being the sound of your grunting as you demolish the chairs, tables, and, of all things, a shelf. When you're done, the area is cleared out, the mare visible fully. She is a unicorn, and has a green coat with a dark green mane with a blue streak through it, and what appears to be a monocle and top-hat, the latter of which is adorned with some gears. She stands up, wobbling about just as you hear a noise behind you, you turn around just in time to see a shelf, only for a table leg to be thrown from behind you into it.
You glance back to see the mare using her horn to hoist several more wooden pieces up, before flinging them all into the shelf, "killing" it proper. "...Thanks!" she huffs out, nodding her head to you. She has a slight accent to her voice, you notice. "There was so many of them I couldn't fight back. How'd you punch them all without touchin' 'em, though?"
You aren't sure how to explain Stands to this woman amidst the madness, so you simply respond with "I'll tell you when things aren't, er, insane." She seems to accept this, shrugging as if to say "makes sense", as you then say "My name's Shooting Star. And you are?"
She smiles brightly and uses her horn to doff her hat to you. "Canny Clockwork at your service!" she announces, replacing the hat on her head. "My friends call me just Canny, though. Or Clockie. Or-well, after saving my flank just now, you can call me whatever suits ya." She smiles brightly and looks back at the building she's next to, said smile dropping fast. "Aw...my workshop's busted to Tartarus and back. Damn it!' she says, kicking her hoof in irritation.
You look at said building as well. Windows busted, holes in the walls, some kind of weird plant growth overgrowing over the place. You have to concur: busted. "Uh, Canny," you ask, deciding to just go with that for now. "What is it you worked on, exactly?"
She turns back around, her eyes showing pride even if her frown showed disdain. "I'm glad you asked!" she states, raising a hoof up in a gesture of power. "I am an inventor and researcher, using my wealth and intellect to help build Equestria for the future. Why, with my current progress, we can reach a technological revolution within twenty years!" After her boast, she sighs and looks back to her workshop, losing the pride in her eyes like light dimming from a sunset. "Or, the progress I had. Gonna have to recover what I can and restart from there after this is all done."
You can understand the point she is making, and you let your empathy speak for you. "Well, you can't stay here while all this is going wrong," you tell her. "Come back to Ponyville with me, at least until this whole thing wraps up. It's bound to be less destructive than this." You hope it'll get her out of harm's way at the very least.
Luckily, she seems to take this heart, nodding along to it. "Yeah, sure," she tells you. "Can't let you get swarmed going it alone, and if I stay here, I'm gonna get knackered. We can talk more on the train!" As she declares this, she follows your lead as you begin trotting first. "You seem like a cool stallion. For being a weird, psychic pegasus, anyway."
"Coolest kind there is," you tell her, smirking to yourself.
She retaliates quickly by replying "And the rarest, it'd seem." The two of you chuckle. Seems you've made a friend through all this.
As you pull into Ponyville on a floating train, apparently not having thought about that part before deciding that using New Divide was a bit much at once, you appreciate having someone around to talk to. While there wasn't as much conversation between you and Canny as you would've liked, you did learn a bit more about her: born in Trottingham (explaining the accent), she was born into a rich family, inherited the bulk of the money, and moved to Canterlot later on. Again, not as much as you would've liked, but you'll have plenty of time to spend with your new friend after this wraps up. The two of you step off the train, Canny taking notes on how the train hovers along with estimations on it's weight, as you look to Golden Oaks Library.
Ze1a7in and Arcticstorm: THE MAIL!
Oh! Right, you remember the mail bucket and strap it back to your body, making a gesture for Canny to follow before she gets lost on the equations necessary for her Next Big Thing. You start tossing the (luckily chaos-free) mail out to different houses. Some bills for Vinyl and Octavia, a letter from Bon-Bon to her friend Lyra (now stained with some of Luna's blood. You hope that doesn't make it more of a collector's item), and a package that you are unaware of the contents of for "Time Turner", of whom you swear keeps slipping up and calling himself The Doctor, but that's not really your business on people hiding themselves. "A mail run?" Canny asks, raising an eyebrow. "Wee," she snarks, before suddenly seeming a bit more interested in the whole thing by asking "This your normal job?"
"Nah, I'm usually on the weather team," you reply, "but a friend of mine named Muffin was sick today, so she asked me to help out with the workload. She's on mail duty, so..,"
"Gathered that," she says, looking back to Time Turner's place. "Seems like a nice, easy-going gig, I'll say...so...think the pony that lives there has got anything exciting happening?"
"How about we focus on that after things calm down?" you offer, looking back to her. She seems to shrug and accept it, gesturing for you to keep leading the way.
Ze1a7in: And if(read: when) we see the Mane 6 in Ponyville, maybe just before Twilight becomes discorded, we try to assist Twilight in undoing whatever Discord did to them.
When you arrive back to Golden Oaks Library, you luckily manage to find most of the ponies you're looking for, save for Rainbow Dash. All of them grey and colorless. You arrive just in time to see Discord floating right there by a giant hole, and you can hear taunting and arguing. Finally, you see all of them turn their separate ways, and you hear Twilight's voice say "With friends like you...who needs...enemies?"
Discord laughs and fist-pumps before making to snap his fingers. Before he does, though, he sees you and Canny, and his face turns more neutral. He narrows his eyes before snapping his fingers anyway, and you watch as Ponyville descends into madness. The ground turns to what looks like quilts as buildings begin floating up. And despite this, Twilight turns to walk back in, not noticing or caring as she throws a crown off her head. A golden crown with a purple jewel, which you can only guess to be an Element of Harmony. The other Elements are on the ground with it. "Oh, crap," Canny says right next to you.
Out of sheer irritation, you yell out "Can today get any worse?!" while shaking one of your hooves.
Down with Chrysalis: If Discord is going to be more proactive with defeating them, he might send a monster or hell maybe a Stand user of his own creation after them to finish the job.
You pretty much immediately regret saying so as you hear Discord's deceptively smooth voice speak behind you, saying "Why, of course it can, my dear boy!" You and Canny turn around to see the draconequus floating behind the both of you. "And in fact, it will," he finishes, narrowing his eyes again with a frown before snapping his fingers and vanishing. You and Canny stand there for a second, before suddenly your own thoughts turn against you.
"Why should someone like YOU have all the power?!"
"A stick-in-the-mud realist who goes too far and never thinks."
"You recruited Clockwork into a war she couldn't fight, and for what? Loneliness? A Hero's Bravery? You're full of shit and everyone knows it!"
Your neurosis begin punching you and beating you, looking at Canny through wet eyes only to see her blurry image frenzied, rambling aloud "It needs to be perfect, it needs to be successful-work! The world can't be like this, it needs to work! I need it to work! I need it to do something right!"
And then it stops, the two of you calming down as you both breathe heavily from the effort the panic forced on you. It was as if your existing anxieties and neurosis suddenly amplified, crushing you under the weight of your own brain. Canny vocalizes both of your confusions' by asking "What was that all abou..." When she trails off, you look to her to see her looking through the town with wide eyes. Following her gaze reveals a Stallion walking towards the both of you. He stumbles and steps as though not in control of his hooves, speckles of red coating his grey coat as silver eyes stare forward without stopping it's gaze anywhere. There are shackles around his forehooves, and his black mane is splayed out in different directions. And right by him is unmistakably his Stand, floating by him in a white straightjacket with it's eyes and muzzle stitched together. It's hooves are green while the rest of it's "bare skin" is a cold blue.
The man chuckles before twitching his eye while looking at you, asking "in the way?" Before you can answer, he responds, "I guess you need to have your mind scream some more! CHAOS LIVES IN EVERYTHING!" The Stand poses in mid-air, glaring at you and Canny without it's proper vision as what you can only guess to be an unfortunate soul recruited by Discord cackles.
What Will Shooting Star (and Canny Clockwork) Do? Stand for Equestria, Part 1: Origin of Harmony
"When faced with overwhelming odds, the last thing you want to do is jump into the jaws of Tartarus and hope everything goes perfectly." Your father was quite a zen man, even if his advice rarely applied to some stallion in the weather team such as yourself. But here and now, it well and truly matters more than anything else. You are, after all, faced with a Stand and it's user that pries and prods at every dark corner of your mind like a brain surgeon if he took a class in psychology. And no, you aren't sure that analogy works here, but you had to think of something.
In any case, your father was right: you need to start off slow and take this man down. And from what you recall from the bruises you had taken whenever New Divide had been hit (at one point by yourself), these abilities are tied to your physical form, if not your very life-force. So, that's an avenue to take. But what if you can't just incapacitate him?
...You're not sure you have the time to fully make peace with the alternative. But if he dies, he dies. Better than you or Canny falling. Speaking of which,
BrownDog's Comment, First Half
Playing it cautiously, you wait for him to make the first move. After finishing his manic pose, he suddenly lunges forth with a cackle, his teeth bared and, to your dismay, stained with red as he smiles wildly. The very second he closes the gap, you can hear the voices once again.
"Pitiful. Keep crying to daddy for all your advice."
"What's even the point? You're a Celestia-damned realist, reality is, Chaos Reigns. Lay down and die, you pathetic whelp!"
While your distracted, he suddenly lights you up with a Stand barrage, as you've taken to call it. The forehooves of Chaos Lives in Everything fly faster than you can blink, and you are overwhelmed with both pain and kinetic energy as he takes full advantage of your predicament. He has no battle cry, only what sounds like broken laughing chuckling through damaged vocal cords. With one final punch and a scream of "DIE!" you are sent flying, your body so fast and so full of momentum that you crash through a tree. Luckily, you don't sustain too serious injuries, but you are covered in bruises and welts, you can feel blood emerging from cuts, and judging by how you landed basically kidney first, you might pass blood a different way in an hour or two.
Undeterred, you fly upward, watching as Canny begins to back away from the madness. You take the time to lunge down, moving towards her and folding the space behind her. You push her back with a command of "Keep back! He's dangerous!" before unfolding the space, leaving her at least far enough to run should this Stallion get too close. You then proceed to fold the space above one of the cotton candy clouds, pushing it down and around him, covering him in chocolate milk and leaving him surrounded.
You fly down on shaky knees and suck a breath in, only to stare in horror as the clouds suddenly turn green and appear to dissipate. You can physically see his Stand suck in and inhale the clouds through the stitches, absorbing the now sickly looking mark of Discord before the Patient stumbles out to keep fighting you. You get some bottle rockets out of your saddle bag and light them up, sending them towards him and his Stand. Chaos Lives in Everything seems slower to react to projectiles, moving towards each one steadily, but it more than makes up for it in knocking the offending explosives out of the sky with powerful punches.
Moving swiftly, you buck a door right at him, which suddenly begins yodeling as it flies towards the Patient. He punches it and splinters the singing door, distracting him long enough for you to get behind him. Thinking quickly, you notice what appears a stampede of buffalo. Ballet dancing buffalo.
You're not even sure you should be surprised.
Instead, you use New Divide to fold them close, pushing them forward with a quick un-creasing of the terrain just as the Patient turns back around. He is quickly overwhelmed by the large creatures dancing around him, and you dart close before unleashing a barrage of your own punches. Finally, you hear your own battle cry, chopped up from a word you feel fits best as New Divide screams "VENDAVENDAVENDAVENDAVENDAVENDAVENDAVENDA!" With one final, hard punch, you yourself scream out the full word of "VENDETTA!" before uppercutting The Patient out of the stampede and onto the ground with a thud.
Perspective Shift: Canny Clockwork
Mere feet away from this carnage, you stand there gobsmacked. This new friend of yours must be something else to be so flagrant in whatever's going on. Said friend, Shooting Star, and this enemy of yours are just standing there, barely moving, yet cuts and bruises are showing up all over each. It's just like the furniture back in Canterlot. With widened eyes, you step back and ask aloud "W-Wha? What's goin' on?" You watch carefully for any sign of an explanation, but find none. "T-They're hittin' eachother without hittin' eachother! This whole day's been weird, but this takes the cake and blows out the candle!"
Perspective Shift: Shooting Star
Finally, you cannot resist and push back the feelings anymore. His Stand even being this close, let alone striking you, is beginning to amplify the already loud and painful voices shouting and screaming at you.
"VENDETTA? YOU ANGRY SOUL! WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN IF CANNY, OR PINKIE PIE, OR ANYONE ELSE MAKES YOU ANGRY, HUH?!"
"You already lost it with Luna. You really don't deserve this, you flat, uninspired shell of a Pegasus."
It's too much, and you quickly push The Patient back just so you can breathe. He seems to know this well, and laughs at your misfortune before bragging "Don't you see?! This is the only way to make you realize how weak and gutless you really are! This is Chaos Lives in Everything's power! HAHAHA!"
wizard0209's Comment
His monologue and your inner conflict, however, spurs you on. It lights a fire that builds up until it burns in your veins, and as you stand up and stop him dead in the tracks of what must obviously be quite the inspired speech on his behalf, you hear the voices suddenly begin to sound encouraging, if only compared to what once was.
"GET ANGRY!"
"PUMMEL HIM!"
"KILL HIM!"
It's as if his Stand began amplifying the trait of yours you had the most qualms about: your anger. You roar before charging forward, and unleashing yet another powerful barrage of punches. "VENDAVENDAVENDAVENDA!" New Divide screams as you begin to hear things snapping and breaking inside of his body. With a cry of "VENDETTA!", you punch him straight through the air, where he lands hard against the wall of Lyra Heartstrings' home, cracking it. He falls towards the ground and lands on it.
You walk forward near-stoically, just watching he spits up blood from his internal injuries and tries to stand up on ever more shaky legs.
BrownDog's Comment, Second Half
You get near him with a cocky swagger in your step even as your gaze shows nothing more than burning hatred. Like a Dark Will forcing you forward, you uncaringly draw New Divide out to continue the beatdown, only for Chaos Lives in Everything to suddenly grab you with the straps of it's straightjacket! It pulls you in close as The Patient walks forward, caressing your cheek with his right forehoof as the voices grow and he begins speaking. "There is beauty in the Chaos," he recants, and somehow, you hear yourself saying the words along with him. "There is fairness. There is peace."
You are only vaguely aware of a feminine, accented voice yelling out "SHOOTING STAR!" in concern. But you pay it no mind. If you suffer and someone else doesn't, that's the day you want to remember. Assuming you survive this, in any case.
The Patient cackles right in your face, you can smell iron in his breath just before he continues his sermon. "Just let go...let Chaos reign. LET-!" And then all of a sudden he lets out a yell of pain as he steps back and blood splashes against the straps holding you close. New Divide cuts the strap and lets you step back to see what happened: there's a gear buried inside his left foreleg. "Ah-AHHHHH!" he yells out in pain.
"YEAH! How'd you like the taste of that, you tosser?!" you hear from behind you, and you turn back to see Canny, her hat opened up and the lid flipped open as it floats by her in a green-glowing telekinetic grasp. It's actually held much like a cannon, which she confirms when she continues firing gear after gear at The Patient. "Come on, psycho! Don't be scared, it just hurts a lot!" she continues to trash talk, even as The Patient dodges or blocks each gear.
You step backwards near her, and ask, utterly flabbergasted "You made a hat that launches gears?" She nods, not taking her determined facial expression off for a second. "...Why?" you continue.
"For protection, duh," she states in return, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. As far as you know, it might be.
eskimobill1919 and Arcticstorm's Comments
Still, you can waste this chance. While he's good and distracted, you push forward, New Divide right by your side as you approach. He realizes where you are a femtosecond before you act, using New Divide to suddenly fold up Chaos Lives in Everything. Trapping his Stand in folded space, your mind finally feels at ease. He growls and begins shaking, possibly trying to pull it out, but you use New Divide to crush the space. You immediately see the effects crushing a Stand has on it's user, as you can physically see ribs breaking as blood begins flowing from the top of his skull.
You decide to use another opportunity, grabbing your new knife from the saddlebag. You lunge with it in your mouth, and in his vulnerable state, you strike true. You stab the knife right into his body as he turns to weakly dodge the blow, stabbing and slashing across his side. He yells and kicks you in the face before Chaos Lives in Everything suddenly tears itself out of folded space. The knife is still impaled inside of The Patient.
BrownDog, Ze1a7in, Cloverleaf, and Sunny Milk: The Arrow
Suddenly, the three of you hear clapping, and you look up to see where it's coming from. To your dismay, and to both Canny's shock (judging by a gasp she lets out) and The Patient's joy (judging by a squee of fondness), it's Discord himself, clapping with a foam finger over his lion's paw. He's dressed in a jersey with a painted face and a red afro wig. "Bravo, bravo!" he says. "What a performance. Shooting, I'm definitely going to have to add you to my Fantasy Hoofball team! And you, I don't quite recall your name, but Patient 219, you did swimmingly!"
"Thank you!" said Patient says, you rolling your eyes at the banter and antics.
Canny is less amused than even you are. Narrowing her eyes, she bluntly asks "Alright, whoopee, you're watchin'. Cool. Piss off, Discord!"
Discord quickly reverts back to his base appearance and looks right at Canny. He smirks and smiles in an odd way, and you get a very bad feeling in your gut and in your heart. "And you. Boring horse. You did alright. But you're not on the level. If you'll allow me to fix that-" he says, reaching behind himself. And he pulls out, to your horror, The Arrow. This being Discord, he then proceeds to brag about it. "What's that, Shooting Star? You're wondering how I got this? I'm me! I stole the Elements of Harmony! A simple little arrow less well-guarded than the artifacts representing Truth, Justice, and the Equestrian Way is no big deal to me! This time, I'm going to keep it. Or, I would...but..,"
He pulls out a bow and you know exactly what he's about to do. You shout "CANNY, RUN!" but you can hear the string of the bow snap. Still, she does turn in your direction and start to trot, but it's too late. You watch, helplessly, as the arrow impales her in the side, her eyes widening as she gasps out on pain. She collapses to the ground, still sucking in weak breaths.
Down With Chrysalis' Comment
You hear the Patient laughing psychotically at Canny's pain, and even though you don't know if she'll make it or not, the rage builds up as you stand up from the earlier push and scowl at him. "SEE?! That's what happens when you underestimate and fail to understand Discord's true brilliance! His chaos shall bring about a new world of utopia for us all! Why can't you just see that and submit to CHAOS!"
It doesn't help your mood at all that he's the kind of villain who monologues. A lot. He lunges forward, but you manage to dodge a heavy punch from Chaos Lives in Everything. A quick glance reveals that Discord has vanished and the arrow has been pulled out of Canny, who is still breathing, albeit shakily, on the ground. You turn back and finally yell "Okay, just why are you so crazy about Discord anyway?!"
He finally pauses of his own volition, the pain from all his external and internal wounds not phasing him at all, though your own wounds don't seem to be keeping him down. With an angry scowl, he growls out "Why...why, you ask?! You dare and deign to question my faith in Lord Discord? He has given me purpose, true purpose. I was just like the rest of Celestia's hidden failures, and I had lost hope under her regime of restoring my dreams!"
Celestia's Hidden Failures? Wha...?
"But then, he was freed from the Stone Prison! He gave me the power to make my dreams a reality. I'll show her, I'll show all of Equestria, new and ancient, that Chaos is the true superior magic once and for all!" He poses again, this time not at all in victory, but lurching and hunching over as though punched in the gut as he just keeps laughing.
You, confused, still seem to be getting through to him somewhat. So, you let your curiosity take you, and you ask "So...your dream is to spread Chaos just like Discord?"
"NO, YOU FOOL!" he suddenly screams out, wrapping you up in Chaos Lives in Everything's straightjacket straps and pulling you close once more. "My dream is far more pure then simply spreading chaos! My dream is to prove that Harmony is nothing but a mindless, predictable and pathetic magic that has stunted our civilization for far to long! Chaos is the true beauty of magic, and with it the world shall enter a new era of UTTER BEAUTY!"
Wait...than this guy isn't under Discord's influence! He's just nuts!
"QUIET! No wonder Canny's going to die, you spend so much time just thinking that you never act."
Despite the emotional pain from the ability of the Stand, and the physical pain of being squeezed and crushed by the Stand itself, you still manage to gasp out "Y-You're...insane!"
He doesn't seem to appreciate this. The Patient rolls his eyes and finally stops smiling, the sight of a frown of him being quite jarring. "Of course you wouldn't understand, you're blind to the beauty of chaos. But you'll soon change your tune, OHOHO, you all will change your tunes soon enough!" The world around you suddenly begins fading black as all you can hear is your own voice screaming either at you or in pain, and the Patient's voice screaming "CHAOS LIVES IN EVERYTHING!" He then suddenly whispers, sounding as though it were close to your ear "...Trapped Inside a Dream..."
Perspective Shift: Canny Clockwork
By the time the pain subsides within you, tears are still streaming from the previous agony. Even through blurry eyes, though, you can see Shooting Star stood up on his hind legs, gripped by nothing as he's pulled against the madman, the Patient. But...no, wait, it's not nothing. It's straps from a white straightjacket. You see two floating equinoids, one actively attacking Shooting Star and the other standing stock-still, not doing much at all.
Suddenly, you are overcome by a purple light and some kind of immeasurable sensation in your blood-stream. Emerging from you is a floating spirit, just like theirs. The ones you now have figured out is how Shooting Star's been doing this. The figure appears to be wearing a zoot-suit and a top hat, black and white striped everywhere, with only the right eye visible. Same as the one your monocle is on. The rest of it's facial features are blank. You stand there in awe as it uses it's hoof to tip it's hat, which then falls, intagible, through it. It regains it's form before it hits the ground, which the spirit then picks up to place back on it's head.
"...N-Nice," you comment, before thinking aloud. "What to call you?" you say, but then you think of something. Black and white like a robber, dressed fancy like a cool cat. You look to Shooting Star and The Patient in their predicament, and simply say "Alright, Smooth Criminal. Let's go save Shooting Star and kick this psycho's flank once and for all!"
What will Canny Clockwork (and Shooting Star) do? <---- To Be Continued
Now, unlike the father Shooting Star prattles on about, your dad was never one for the Zen advice. He was loving, sure. Kind, indeed. But what he imparted was practicality: never get into a fight you can't win, and if you have to do so, make sure it's for a good cause. Don't throw away a good life for nothing.
And, well, saving the life of a stallion just looking to save others is certainly a wonderful cause.
BrownDog's Comment: First Section
Sure, as you look back to your new companion, the hovering spirit you affectionately dubbed "Smooth Criminal", you can't help but feel as though you're riding a bike without training wheels, with the added bonus that every little rock that could trip you up would then punch you in the face the second you slip up. But you need to do whatever you can to save Shooting Star, so swallowing down any nervousness you may have, you charge forward.
Since The Patient (that's what Discord called him, anyway. And it does suit the mad knobhead, in any case) is distracted actively hurting Shooting Star, you've got the perfect opportunity to catch him off-guard. Smooth Criminal darts forward on your go, and begins pummeling Chaos Lives in Everything, as you've heard him call it. Your suspicion that it's these spirits causing them to take damage from seemingly nothing is confirmed as punches to the abdomen make you hear snapping sounds from his own ribs. He gurgles as he pulls away from the vision he's giving Star just in time for Smooth Criminal to swipe at the straps tethering Star in place. The straps turn transparent white, and slip right through Star's body, freeing his physical form.
"W-WHAT?!" The Patient yells out in alarm, stunned by the display, before you grin. Smooth Criminal moves up and, with a brutal looking spin-kick to his chest, the madman is pushed away. As he is, Chaos Lives in Everything is also pushed far back, and you can see what looks like the same material as the stitches in it's eyes get ripped away from Shooting Star's head, his eyes returning from being glazed over to their normal blue, same as his coat. When you allow yourself to pause and look a little closer, you can see tears streaming from his eyes, down his cheeks. The visions this...thing produces must be as terrifying as your own.
Smooth Criminal gently grabs Shooting Star, and pulls him back towards you. Oddly, it seems to just glide back, never taking it's eyes off The Patient as he stands back up. If it was using it's hooves instead of just floating, you get the odd feeling that kind of glide would be a rockin' dance move. Once pulled back, Shooting shakes his head as he comes back from his daze. He takes a second to clear out his tears before turning to you. Happiness and relief enter his facial expression where fear and pain were before, and it, in turn, makes you smile with him. "Canny! You're alive!" he shouts, sounding much calmer now that he knows you're up and about.
You smirk and, using your unicorn horn, telekinetically tip your gear hat. "For the time being," you snark. "Weird chimera thing should'a known better than to try and kill me that easily."
He looks right at Smooth Criminal, and his jaw drops. "And you...have a Stand?" he asks, which quirks your eyebrow. Huh. They have a name it'd seem.
"If that's where they're called," you respond, placing your hat back on your head. You then shrug, before saying "Let's talk about it later, okay? My ghost makes things go through other things, so let's use our heads and beat this wanker down!"
He chuckles at your enthusiasm before moving into a defensive position. "Right!" he calls out, his eyes narrowed at The Patient as he stands back up. Before you two charge in, he waves to his spir-Stand, as it were, and introduces "This is mine. New Divide."
"Mine's called Smooth Criminal," you respond, and he nods his head.
BrownDog's Comment: Spot
The fight continues, and to your joy, you and Star synchronize quite well together. He folds in space with New Divide to pull The Patient closer, allowing your Stand (you're going to have to ask why it's called that when these things seem to hover nine times out of ten) to suddenly swoop in and open up with a barrage of punches. When he gets the chance to retaliate, you use Smooth Criminal's ability on yourself. You turn a translucent green as both The Patient's punches and those of his Stand phase right through you, which you are rather pleased with. New Divide pushes him back as you retain your solid mass, and you get an idea. "Star!" you call out. "Just follow my lead, okay? Go with your gut!"
He nods, and you use your magic to grab your hat. Popping the top open, you take aim with your Gear Cannon, while Smooth Criminal moves up close by you, just slightly in front. You fire, and Smooth Criminal touches it, turning it completely intangible. It flies towards The Patient, who blocks, only to watch as it harmlessly passes through him. Once it goes past the other side, it becomes tangible, and New Divide folds it up. He then releases the fold, and you are pleased to see it keep it's momentum as it launches right at The Patient. He gasps and yells as the gear embeds itself in his flank, more specifically his left hind leg. And you do so again. And again.
By the fourth gear, he is impaled with the previous three, but now seems to be ready. You do the trick again, but watch as, after it passes through him, he turns around to block it. Shooting Star and New Divide keep it up, hoping you have a solution. And you do. After it flies out of the fold while still intangible, you fire another one, but this time return it's mass while still inside of him.
"AAAAAAH!" he yells out as the plan works. The gear rips it's way through his stomach, The Patient now screaming in agony and violent pain as you can see blood begin to pour out of the open wound.
BrownDog's Comment: Second Section
Shooting Star runs back by your side as The Patient suddenly goes berserk. Hooves are flying everywhere as both his Stand and his own flesh attempt to hit you and Star. It's becoming too much to dodge, and you can hear those voices return, impacting your mental state like a hard right affects your physical state.
"You'll never be perfect. You'll always fail. Nothing you do works."
"Give up! All you're good for is-"
Luckily, before it becomes too much, Shooting Star suddenly folds in the both of you in a pocket in the ground. It's cramped, and close-knit, and you notice this as your muzzle very nearly touches his own. He's the one who seems slightly embarrassed with his facial expression twitching, while you just chuckle and smirk down at him."Hmm, bit fresh of ya, don't you think?" you tease, "trapping a girl in a closed space like this one 'ere."
He chuckles and shakes his head, joking back "What can I say? I'm a charmer." He quickly goes back into "Serious Mode" as you've dubbed it, where his eyebrows grow cross and he looks fiercely determined. "This is just a temporary safe haven, in any case. He's still right above us, hooves on the ground and all."
You look upward and think for a second, but you feel like you've got an idea. "Oh, he is, is he?" you rhetorically ask as Smooth Criminal emerges from beside you. "Well, sorry to cut the rendezvous short, hun," you quip, before phasing through the ground. Your transparency manages to conceal you as you rise up, watching him twitch as he punches at the ground. You ascend suddenly, regaining your form as you uppercut him in the jawline, sending him flying with another pained cry.
"HA!" you taunt, shaking your hoof. "You wot, mate? Havin' a giggle with that fightin' style? Come on, guv, get with the program!" You swear you can hear him growl in anger as Star unfolds from beside you, watching him closely.
Perspective Shift: Shooting Star
You look back over to Canny with an impressed facial expression, pleased she got so far in her first fight, in the first minutes of her new gift. "You know, you're picking this up a lot quicker than I did," you tell her, which makes her chuckle.
"Oh, love," she proudly boasts, "I've been in quite a few scrappers growin' up. A lass has got to protect herself, and you either adapt or die, livin' on Ogre Street." She is still watching The Patient closely, even as her pride over her experience shines through.
You wonder something about that and, as The Patient finally stands up, on his last legs, you ask aloud "Wait...I thought you were rich?"
She takes up a defensive position as he limps towards you, and responds back "Well, yeah, why do you think I got into so many fights? Thieves're everywhere, Star. You learn to live with it."
You chuckle and take up a defensive position of your own. "Right, well, remind me to never visit Trottingham, then. Or at least this "Ogre Street", anyway."
Down With Chrysalis' Comment and BrownDog's addition
Luckily, thanks to Smooth Criminal (which should be a...fun conversation to have with the Princesses later on), The Patient seems to be on his last legs. And yet, even as the stallion limps towards you two, you can't help but sigh and bemoan the cliche of the crazy villain still standing in spite of the odds. He's bleeding from wounds basically everywhere, ones you know would take a non-Stand user down without trying, and you swear you can see bones sticking out of him. He probably has more broken bones than intact ones. In fact, it may not be his Stand keeping him up.
He just might be too crazy to flop over and die.
Then again, you're not the picture of health, either. Cuts all over your abdomen and face, bruises everywhere, you still swear to Celestia you bruised your kidneys. Not to mention the stress of real, No Quarter combat and being forced to face every fear you've ever had, every anxious thought you've pushed out, and every wrathful lashing out you regret. And yeah, you are definitely going to need therapy after this. A lot of therapy.
Once Rainbow Dash or, hell, even Clear Skies comes back from this madness, you really should ask for a week off. Or two. Or a raise. You're not picky.
Besides a bit of blood still splattered onto her coat, Canny seems to be the picture of health. Even the actual wound the arrow left has already healed over. Then again, after joining in mid-battle, it only makes sense that she isn't as beat up as you or the other guy.
Speaking of which, The Patient also seems far too aware that this is the end of the battle, shallow breaths choking themselves from his throat as he gasps out "This...i-isn't possible! Chaos...Chaos cannot lose to the likes...o-of you!" He smiles even as blood flows openly from between his lips and teeth, his eyes drowning in insanity as Chaos Lives in Everything pops out from behind him.
"You...y-you and that bitch are nothing more than the pawns Harmony plays!" he declares, beginning to shake. "You...You are nothing! Y-YOU HEAR ME! NOTHING! CHAOS I-IS...the ultimate magic, the ultimate source of all the beauty in this Celestia-damned world! It shall n-not...it will NOT FUCKING FALL TO THE LIKES OF YOU! HARMONY WILL NEVER WIN! NEVER AHAHAHAHAHAH!"
He laughs madly, before coughing up more blood, only to then keep laughing in spite of it all. You share an uneasy look before you glare at him and demand "It's over! It's clear that you're just struggling to stand by this point! Just give up! We don't have to hurt you any more!"
He doesn't seem to care, his laughs turning to mad ramblings that then turn into manic screams. "DEATH!" he yells out, "deathdeathdeathdeathdeathDEATH! DEATH IS THE ONLY OUTCOME! FIGHT 'TIL YOU DIE, OR DIE IMPRISONED! I SHALL DIE, BUT CHAOS SHALL RISE!" Even his own Stand is beginning to break down. The stitches break as blood pours from both the now opened eyes and mouth, looking like it's rotting away. The rest of it is melting, slowly pouring down into nothing as it shakes and quakes.
Canny steps back, finally losing her bravado as fear takes over her tone. "Uh...Star?" she asks. "I'm new to this whole "Stand" thing-y, but, is that supposed to happen at all?" She definitely sounds terrified, but you can't answer a question you don't actually know the answer to.
Instead, you just step forward, and demand "You've lost, man! Just give up this Chaos talk and calm down!" This was the wrong thing to say, as you can plainly tell from the fact that his eyes seem to dilate as he looks back up to stare at you two.
And he stares, and stares, before finally screaming out "NEVERNEVERNEVERNEVER! CHAOS LIVES! CHAOS SHALL WIN! I MAY FALL BUT THE CHAOS WILL LIVE!" and charging at you. He is frothing at the mouth like a rabid, wild animal. And you act fast, folding him closer to you two. He yells as he is tripped up, and you and Canny both step back as New Divide and Smooth Criminal dig in with barrages of their own.
"VENDAVENDAVENDAVENDAVENDAVENDAVENDA!"
"SHAMOSHAMOSHAMOSHAMOSHAMOSHAMO!"
You both rain blow after blow at him, punching and kicking with your Stands. With one final cry from both of you:
"VENDETTA!"
"SHAMONE!"
You uppercut him right as Canny kicks him. He gasps in a death rattle as he flies limply through the air, landing hard right on his back. He is unmoving. Silent. And you sigh as the adrenaline wears off and you look right at the corpse.
"He's dead," you say aloud, looking to Canny. She frowns, but nods as you continue "I-I mean, he was going to kill us, so, it's not an awful thing, right?"
She nods again in agreement and responds "Yeah...we were just defending ourselves. Either of us feels bothered by it, we should just talk to eachother, right?"
And you nod and agree "Right."
wizard0209's Comment
After the battle wraps up, the corpse of The Patient carried off by moving tables in the chaotic wonderland minutes earlier, you patch yourself up with your bandages, managing to get yourself back into a working condition. You then pull New Divide back out into the open, watching closely for Discord. To do what? Passive-aggressively mock you for winning? You don't know, but it doesn't matter as he simply doesn't show up. "Okay, I, uh, don't think Discord's going to be making much of an appearance. Next goal's protecting the Bearers, like Celestia told me to. So, we need to find them."
Canny, already both in good condition and caught up to speed during the free minutes, nods as she replenishes the gears in her cannon. "Right," she agrees. "Was hopin' for an explanation afta the fight wrapped, but we've got some right pressin' issues to deal with, don't we?" She looks around for a bit, humming as she looks around, before asking "Um, how long was that fight, anyway?"
Your pupils shrink as far as they can in anxious fear. As unsure as you are about how long the fight lasted, you know for certain, you do definitely know it was just enough time for Discord to make a move. You look around for the clock-tower, as knowing where it is is pointless with the terrain like it is, but while looking, you can plainly see the Element Bearers right in your line of sight. Rainbow Dash is gripping onto a cloud (and a small one, too) while the other girls chase her down in a hot air balloon. This, you actually are kind of surprised by, mostly because it's not...the rest of the place.
"Welp," you say, gesturing up to them to get Canny to see. "Don't know what the time actually is, but I see the Bearers from here." You motion for her to follow as you run after them, summoning up New Divide to get ready to fold space again.
"Add all that to the list of things to figure out later, alright?"
What will Shooting Star and Canny Clockwork Do? Stand for Equestria: Origin of Harmony
Rainbow Dash. You know that name quite well, as it would seem. The two of you work together in Ponyville's small weather team, her the sole mare in charge of daytime sky clearing (well, okay, Clear Skies also helps, but Rainbow Dash is the most frequent contributor), while you do basic weather additions: light sprinkles and drizzles, light winds, etcetera and possibly ad infinitum. It's not even your true passion (you didn't get your Cutie Mark, a star, for managing rain and winds, after all), but it's relaxing and rewarding and-
"You doin' that thing where you monologue to yourself?" asks Canny Clockwork in the grip of your forehooves as you fly past another one of New Divide's folds. In the midst of your inner speech regarding your acquaintanceship with Rainbow Dash, it seemed to slip your mind that you actually were straight up chasing after her.
You shake your head, peering forward and once again focusing on the hot air balloon as it, and Rainbow Dash, draw closer. "It's not monologuing," you defend, admittedly weakly, "it's...compiling information while tuning out the outside world."
"Right..," she replies. You swear you can feel her roll her eyes somehow, as though her good-natured snarking at you has become a physical presence. Which, given Smooth Criminal's existence, might actually be somewhat true.
wizard0209's Comment and the First Section of Down With Chrysalis'
You finally manage to catch up, gaining from behind as you flap your wings and try to keep pace with the hot air balloon. Naturally, the first to spot you is the mare who seems to keep being the most notable of the six Element Bearers, Pinkie Pie, who turns around to spot you and excitedly gasps out "Hi there!" She waves and points you and Canny out to the other girls. You hear a barrage of either greetings or questions.
"Oh, my! What are you doing?"
"Howdy! Uh, so, who's that?
"Um...hi..."
All except Twilight peer over to see you just as you got parallel with the balloon, flying on it's right. "Hey!" you greet. "Me again. From the thing with the library, hi. Uh, mind if me and my friend Canny here help out with Rainbow Dash?"
Twilight finally looks over, making sure the balloon is still chasing after Dash, and smiles warmly. "Sure! More help is always appreciated," she tells you, sounding genuinely appreciative. "I guess we need to catch eachother up to speed first, though. "i mean, why come help us instead of cleaning up Ponyville? And...why are you so beat up and bloody?"
Due to the snug fit, you merely set Canny down in the balloon and keep yourself aloft, flapping your wings by the balloon's side. "Well, helping you is the right thing to do," you justify, choosing to keep your involvement with Celestia until later, when you can sit down and go into great detail about you and your wacky Stands. "And, er, me and Canny got into a fight with some kinda Discord cultist. We won, but he got some good hits on me." You also hide the fact that he was allegedly one of "Celestia's hidden failures." That's something to ask at a later date, when you're hopped up on enough cider to pass out immediately afterwards and forget that you just challenged royalty like that.
Fluttershy, kind-hearted as she is, immediately gasps. She goes over to the side and tells you "After we help Rainbow Dash, can you, um, please get checked out? Your wounds might be bad."
"Eh, I'm still flyin'," you justify, despite all the pain shooting through you with every flap of your wings. "Enough about me. Uh, what's up with RD? Why's she...stealin' a cloud?"
Applejack sighs, using her hoof to hold her hat on as the wind picks up. "Discord did things to our minds in the garden maze, hypnotizin' and such. Reversed our personalities and our Elements," she explains, watching over RD with a careful glare. "Ah turned into a huge liar, Pinkie was a grump, Rarity was a pain in the flank, and so on."
"Wait, wait, hold on," Canny interrupts, raising a hoof up. "So, if I've got this right, The Elements are-" she begins muttering, pointing at each one as she vocalizes something under her breath before pointing at RD. "So, she's Loyalty, right?" she concludes, which everyone else either verbally affirms or just nods to. "So, the opposite of Loyalty is...bloody Cloud Theft?"
"She thinks it's Cloudsdale," Rarity justifies, and you can see Canny's eyebrow raise as a very similar (though not the same) exact flows through her voice. "She's because traitorous and paranoid. She thinks we're trying to steal her home from her."
Canny's eye twitches as you keep hovering to their right, keeping your own gaze locked on Rainbow Dash. Finally, you hear her say "I can't tell if I expected that answer or not, to be quite honest, so I'll shut my gob for a mo'." She then directs her attention to you, and asks you "You've got a plan for this, right Star?" And as a matter of fact, you do indeed have something in mind.
Cloverleaf: But for New Divide it should be easy....so long as you can catch her with it.
Thanks to what looks like a lasso grabbing onto Rainbow Dash tightly, her immense speed is not an issue as you manage to keep at it. You can see it get pulled as though trying to reel her in, but by that point, you're already flying ahead of it, right towards Rainbow Dash. Remembering New Divide has some range to it, you summon it out as you fly towards her. You can immediately hear the Elements gasp behind you, and from what you remember, they wore the Elements already. Seems like the group finally unlocked theirs, even if they have yet to summon them.
"Hi, again!" shouts Pinkie Pie from behind you as you then remember that you at least assumed she joined the club early. Well, in any case, you keep at it, right up to going behind her. You hear a familiar sound of a gear cannon tuning as Rainbow Dash turns around and glares right as New Divide lunges forward, managing to dodge it. Once she does, though, a gear suddenly materializes, hidden and intangible thanks to Smooth Criminal, and hits the cloud, clearly startling her. She lets out an "eep!" before getting folded in as 'Cloudsdale' floats away from the momentum. The balloon catches up soon after, and you unfold it as the basket holds under, Rainbow Dash falling into the basket. She tries to get up, but you can see Twilight touch her with a glowing horn, and as her color returns, you know this part of the job is done.
Once you all land, everypony, Canny included, walks out, along with a somewhat confused Rainbow Dash getting caught up to speed. "I must say, darling, that was an impressive trick with the floating pony...ghosts or what have you that you and Shooting Star used."
"Stands, Rarity," Canny corrects, cheekily tipping her hat with a smile. "And from what I can tell, you need to have one to see 'em. Guess you just haven't called yours out."
"Truly?" Rarity responds, her eyes seeming to dazzle in the light. "Well, when I can call mine, I hope it is conducive to my fashion. It'd be handy to have my ghost, er, Stand around my workshop." She then asks the obvious question of "Darling, why are they called Stands if they hover?" And all Canny can do is shrug.
You turn around to keep walking to Canterlot, only to see Pinkie Pie grinning widely at you. "You got yours!" she calls out, sounding just as excited as ever. "I thought I was seeing things back at the treehouse, but you have a Stand too! Awesome! I'd throw you a Stand Party, but then I could only invite some ponies and I don't like leaving ponies out. But my sister Maud, I don't know if she has one, but she can do this weird thing with her breathing and sunlig-"
DWC's Comment, Second Section
Pinkie Pie is suddenly interrupted by being lightly pushed out of the way with an Aura of lavender magic, her hooves scuffing up the dirt as Twilight looks at you and the approaching Canny with excitement. "Uh, hi?" you awkwardly ask as she looks over you and Canny.
"Uh, heh," Canny says, looking at Twilight the same way. With a cheeky grin, she says "If you're gonna check me out like that, you should buy me dinner first, luv." Twilight blushes, obviously having heard, but still watching over. "Okay, seriously, you're freakin' me out," Canny says.
"Sorry, just excited," Twilight motor-mouths out. "The floating ghost thingies, what are they called? Do you know? I hope you know."
You look at Canny with a raised eyebrow before responding "Well, Twilight, they're called Stands." She nods at this in understanding.
She takes a step back and looks over you two again, a quizzical expression over her features before she asks "Can you show them off again?" You again look to Canny, who simply shrugs in response. You do so, New Divide appearing by your side as Canny does the same, summoning Smooth Criminal. Twilight twitches, and then suddenly lunges right at New Divide. She flies through it, landing behind you, before going for Smooth Criminal and, again, flying through. Smirking at Canny, who reciprocates the grin, you run in front of the group on the way to Canterlot, with Twilight giving chase.
She finally gives up after around ten minutes of yelling about science and study, huffing and panting as she settles down. "Sorry, you two," she apologizes. "I don't know what came over me. I guess this new phenomenon excited me to the point where I felt like it was more important."
You walk over to Twilight and shrug. "Eh, apology accepted," you state. "It's a new thing for us, too, and it's new and exciting. I get it. Tell you what, after we get done with Discord, you can study Stands to your heart's content if we're available-"
"Or just look at the ones you and your friends must have," Canny pipes up from behind you. You see Twilight perk up with slight confusion, looking at Canny oddly as she processes.
She places a hoof to her chin before asking "Do I have one?" Right as she does, what you can only guess is her Stand suddenly materializes by her side. All you can see of it is that it's equinoid and white in color before it vanishes, Twilight's dropped jaw indicating that she's too shocked to keep it up. She lets out a small squeal of excitement before declaring "Amazing! So many discoveries being made today!" And with that, all involved chuckle and move on.
BrownDog's Comment
Finally, with the Elements wearing, well, their Elements, you arrive where Discord is. You see him on a throne holding a glass of what looks like chocolate milk, smirking at the Elements as they step up. You and Canny attempt to walk forward, only for another Discord to suddenly, and quite literally, pop up in front of you. As in, like a pop up book, he suddenly folds out into the third dimension with a wave of his hand. "Well, well, well," he says, smiling down at you and Canny, "my little Stand-Masters. Well, users in any case, "Master" might be a bit much. Anywho, what can I do for you?"
You grit your teeth and step up, shaking you heard as you reply "What can we-what? No! We're here to stop you so nopony else dies today!" With this declaration, you summon New Divide, ignoring his power level and whatever fear you may have. And then with one single question, he throws you off-guard.
"Well, good for you! But in that case, I ask again: why are you here?"
After taking a second to parse, you tilt your heard and ask "Huh?" You're not quite sure you heard that right.
Discord pulls out a list on parchment, the words "Personal Kill Count" written at the top. When he shows you the contents, they are blank. The list is blank. "Well, as far as I'm concerned, and as my list here clearly states. And it's not wrong, I triple-checked it twice. I haven't killed a single creature."
Canny growls and walks forward with little hesitation, glaring right into Discord's eyes. "Just what are you talking about, you shoulda-been wankstain?! That Patient bloke's dead! Crumpled up, broken neck, on some random table some damn place!"
Discord places his mis-matched hands on his hips and smiles smugly down at the two of you. Like nothing you're saying counts to him. "Well, yeah, sure," he admits, before haughtily responding "And by who's hooves was that, exactly?"
"Yours!" Canny responds, summoning out Smooth Criminal, who hits it's forehooves together. It's itching for a fight, just like her. "You-"
Discord holds his hands up and gestures downwards, clearly asking her to quiet it down as he retorts "Was I the one who beat him to death? With knives, and gears, and Stands, and a yodeling door named Wilford? If you'll look back at the battle in all it's admittedly spectacular glory, you'll see I did nothing but be a dutiful Fantasy Hoofball fan."
You and Canny look at eachother, exasperated. He both simultaneously has a point and yet keeps dodging yours. "But, he was-" you defend, but he does the same motion. This time, he then also pulls out some kind of remote control and presses the "volume down" button.
The wind quiets down immediately and no other sounds can be heard save for you and Canny breathing and Discord's utterly smug disposal of the remote by throwing it away. You can hear it explode, but as your dad always said, 'He who looks at explosions is not cool enough to create explosions.' In any case, Discord finally responds with "He was...a lunatic, to be sure. Nasty piece of work. The last thing I need is worshipers like him. To be quite honest, no being of chaos with crazed worshipers turn out good. That's why that Slender-fellow never comes around to my dimension, you know: too many people kissing his feet to let him walk. Or something to that effect." He crosses his arms and gets back on track. "Point is, what you really did was a service, getting rid of a monster like him. But the point still Stands, wink-wink-" and you can hear Canny groan before you yourself do so.
"-that I have never killed anypony in my thousands of years of life." He finishes off his long-winded defense with. he has somehow, at some point, changed into a blue suit and he is resting his hands on a desk with a placard reading "Defense Attorney".
You face-hoof and shake your head. Canny just sighs before trying to explain "Just beca-" He interrupts her by clearing his throat and pointing at the placard. In a deadpan tone you hear Canny say "Objection. Just because ya didn't do the deed doesn't mean ya didn't enable 'im."
"Overruled," his smugness continues, leaning back in a chair that just showed up. "I never once said it was a battle to the death. You all just decided to take it a few steps further. My hands are fully clean of blood, as you can plainly see."
"Bullshit!" you yell out, sick of his childish attempts of trying to suck all the seriousness from this. "You shot Canny with the arrow!"
"Yeah, you utter tart!" Canny responds, pointing right at him.
You get right up in his face, slamming your hooves onto the desk as you get in his face. "If she wasn't worthy enough, she would have died. You almost killed her for your so called "Chaos!"
Discord seems to shake his head in what you can only describe as "pity", before he snaps his fingers. The suit, the desk, all the added minutiae is gone just as soon as it arrived. "Do you honestly think I can’t tell who’s worthy and who’s not?" he rhetorically asks. "That I would go around shooting randomly for fun? Chaos is random for sure, but you know what’s better than a fifty-fifty shot that could leave somepony dead? A one hundred percent guaranteed shot, that produces a Stand who’s power could be literally anything!"
With that said, he pulls up a 2D map of the world. Not just Equestria, but the whole world. When it rolls out, you and Canny can see red dots blinking over every stretch of land. Ponyville, Cloudsdale, Canterlot, Manehatten, Trottingham, Griffonstone, Yakyakistan, and so many more places have red dots randomly blinking everywhere. "W-What?" you worriedly ask, "what i-is this?"
"Hmm?" Discord responds. "What, you thought I'd just be sitting here this whole time?" In his free hand twirls the Stand Arrow, and he simply says "I've been a busy draconequus."
Canny's jaw drops as she steps back, you looking over to see if she has any reaction but only finding sheer shock. "Smeg...just how many ponies did ya shoot?" she asks, sounding actually horrified by the sight.
Discord folds up the map and chuckles, wagging a finger as he replies "Well, that's for you to find out, now isn't it, my dear?" He hands Canny the map, who holds it in her magic grip, as he keeps twirling the arrow. "Stands are the truest form of chaos. They come from nothing, break reality, and are so unpredictable that not even I can guess just what one will do. They are, in essence, a higher form of flattery to me than any two-bit worshiper with a god complex and enough disorders to need his drugs mixed into cocktail glasses." He leans down low in both of your faces, and in a much more serious tone, says "What you decide to do with these powers. Save, destroy, conquer, or control. I'm just getting the ball rolling. And that, my dears...that is Chaos Theory."
You and Canny look at eachother, intent clear in your eyes. When you turn back to Discord, he is still smiling smugly. With his legs wide open.
"VENDETTA!"
"SHAMONE!"
You hear a cracking sound as New Divide and Smooth Criminal deck him in the groin. His eyes widen as he sinks onto his knees, holding his undercarriage with a groan. "Yep, there goes my Chaos Emeralds," he says, eyes closed in pain, as the projection vanishes. The real one is also on his knees and holding his nads in pain just as the Elements of Harmony blast him with a rainbow blast of death, turning him back into stone, locking him in an indefinite state of experiencing male pain on a new level.
"Serves the tosser right!" she says, even as you cringe, feeling his pain somewhat.
Still, you turn to her and shout "Yeah! Fuck Chaos!" The two of you share a hoofbump, the day won and Equestria returning to normal around you.
Down with Chrysalis' Comment: The Remainder
To make matters even better, as you and Canny join the Elements, hoofbumping and sharing compliments, Celestia arrives. The perfect face of majesty watches over the area, and then everyone proceeds to watch as that mask is shattered and Celestia, for lack of a better phrase, points at the Discord statue and laughs her ass off. Her mad-mare laughter, manic in it's jubilation, clearly shocks the Element Bearers, but they go along with it, laughing at Discord's torment. Poor sod. Needless to say, you and Canny get the feeling you just earned big favor points with the Princess.
After the medal ceremony for the Bearers, you all stand within the throne room. Somehow, it feels smaller. More cozy. Like you actually belong now. You are showing them the map Discord gave you, the red dots still blinking everywhere with no end in sight. "And yeah, basically, Discord has created Stand-users everywhere. And I do mean...everywhere," you finish explaining, rolling the map back up.
"I'm new to Stands," Twilight chimes in, "heck, I summoned mine by accident the first time. But this isn't something we can ignore, correct? The myriad effects of these things could be catastrophic unless in the right hooves!" Celestia nods before whispering to Luna.
The two of them trade whispers, talking amongst themselves as everyone stands, awaiting their response. Finally, they come to a decision as Celestia pulls back to address everyone. "You are correct, Twilight," Celestia admits. "This can't go unanswered. Which is why, while you will return to Ponyville to hone your Stands and continue your lessons on friendship, I will assign Shooting Star and Canny Clockwork to aid us. Do you accept?"
"Yes!" you say with no hesitation.
Canny also doesn't hesitate to respond "Why not? Sure, I'll take it! Love a good scrapper."
"Excellent," she replies, smiling. "Then henceforward, you two will be apart of a new division: STAND. With your goal being to monitor Stand users, and either capture or, should it need to be, eliminate hostile ones as they arrive. And...yes, I know the name is simple, Canny." Canny lowers her hoof as Celestia continues "We're workshopping it. In any case, you may still stay in Ponyville or Canterlot or wherever else when not "on duty." We merely ask for your swift response if needed."
Technically this is a promotion, but having to fight a bunch of creatures with Stands all over the world could be seen as a downgrade as well. Still, your bravery wins out as you nod. Celestia's final words, however, do make you slightly nervous. "And do know this, my little ponies. Stand users attract other Stand users. This is known as Gravity. And it affects us all."
With that done, the meeting is adjourned and the ponies walk out "Well, I guess I'll room with ya," Canny says. "Beats the commute. You go ahead and buy tickets while I pack." You nod and she walks off. With all this said and done, you're actually glad the adventure continues. This is the start of a new chapter in your life.
So, what will you and Canny do with it? <---To Be Continued.
When you wake up early in the morning, the tiredness leaving your body in favor of a slow and blissful return to consciousness, you can still barely believe yesterday really happened. But it did. You gained a Stand, took a life, allied with the Princesses, crushed Discord's balls, and managed to do it all without dying yourself. Your body aches as you get out of bed, still bruised in plenty of places, but it was worth it to save Equestria as you know it.
Stumbling out of the room, you remember Canny slept on the couch, not wanting to intrude anywhere else, and so you first and foremost head to the living room to check on her. She's not there, however, instead in the kitchen, preparing some food over an open flame. "Mornin', Star," she greets, sounding positively refreshed. Her hat is on the table, showing off her dark green mane and the light blue streak in it in clearer detail. She smiles as she sets down some breakfast, just some hay on toasted bread, which you start gobbling up. "So, what's on the agenda for today, mate? Kicking more arse and takin' more names? Because I can so do that."
You shake you head as you finally raise it up from your plate. "We're taking the day off," you tell her, noting her more neutral facial expression. "Just gonna check on the Elements, nurse wounds, see the lay of the land. At least, that's what I'll do."
She accepts this, using her magic to place her hat on her head. "Makes some sense," she tells you. "Don't know what I'll do, though. Maybe look for trouble somewhere? Start up my inventions and such? Whatever works, works, so I'm not gettin' in a twist about it."
You nod and finish your meal quickly, feeling ready to start the day. First off, though, you need to fill Canny in. Sitting down, you go from the start: meeting and training with the Princesses and learning more and more and more about how Stands work. About Gravity, about improving your Stand, and about all the little artifacts Celestia teasingly let slip. When you finish, her jaw drops, before she quickly recovers with a smirk. "Sounds cool," she sincerely says. "Well, least we've got friends in high places."
With that said, you open the door and wave goodbye to Canny, with a promise to meet up and hang out later on today, as you go off to see what you can do today.
After walking around for a while, and hearing a bunch of tales of ponies having had awfully bad luck recently, you decide that the first thing to do in this case is to go visit the Elements. All of them must've summoned their Stands by now, and with that, comes your new job to help them out with them and keep a close eye on them.
BrownDog's Comment with extra details by Down With Chrysalis
First things first, you decide to check on Twilight. The way over to the Golden Oaks Library is calm and steady, thankfully: other than some errant blood stains still being cleaned from your fight with The Patient, there is no indication of any foul play or wrong-doing. You knock on the door softly and stand for a second, before Spike opens the door for you. "Hey," you greet, "is Twilight in? I would just like to see her."
"Oh, yeah, sure," Spike says, gesturing inside. "Just be careful, she...uh, is being Twilight right now." You quickly see what he means as soon as you walk in.
Twilight has her Stand out, revealing it to be a lavender equinoid with the white flash from before being it's accents, appearing as pure white on all four hooves and stripes rotating around each leg. On it's chest are three white circles, one of which has green flame inside of it, and it's face appears to be wearing opaque, shiny round glasses, covering it's eyes. She's watching it and taking notes as it hovers there, before she notices you and waves. "Oh, hello!" she greets. "What brings you here, Shooting Star?"
You look to her Stand for a second, noting the flame in it's chest moving under it's own power, before nodding. "Just wanted to check on you and your Stand," you say. "Had the day off, so I thought I'd hang out, see how everyone's adjusting. Figure out what yours does yet?"
She nods, using her magic to lift her notes into the air and bring them over for you to read. "Indeed!" she says, her findings corroborating, "well, sort of. I've figured out the bare minimum of what it does, but I don't know if that's the extent of it or not." The notes show that she named the Stand "Weird Science," utterly fitting. "I figured it out by having Spike breathe his flame outside and then having Weird Science use it's power. And to demonstrate:"
She lifts a blank page in the air, and Weird Science points a hoof to it. Suddenly, a jet of green flame pops out, burning the paper with the flame. "It traps things! Well, like I said, I don't know if that's all it does. Dragon flame, I mean. It could trap magic, or Stands, or all of the above, or-basically, I need time to figure out my limits, but this will be really useful for scientific study!"
You chuckle and nod, accepting this. "Well, Stands develop. Even when you think you know everything, you'll often have no idea what you're capable of," you tell her. Twilight notes this down, smiling as you dispense your advice. You have a cordial chat with her about yesterday and the plans for today, before bidding her farewell with a wave.
Up next is possibly the member of the Elements you're the closest to, Rainbow Dash. She's sitting on a cloud, watching her Stand float around her. An absolutely small Stand with a Resolution Blue, almost metal looking body, with the signature Rainbow mane and tail sparking past a racing helmet on it's head with a shimmering visor. Rainbow doesn't look too pleased with it, and you fly over to her. Waving a hoof, you greet "Heya, Rainbow Dash. You doin' alright?"
She sighs, though not sadly. More just exasperatedly. "Yeah, hey Star. Doin' fine, just trying to figure my Stand out. Rainbow in the Dark?" It floats over when she calls it's name, and she stands up and stretches. "Just watch," she tells you. She raises her wings, and flies around quickly, about as fast as you've normally seen her. When she flies back, she kicks the cloud in irritation. "A tiny speed boost that might as well be nothing!" she says before you can ask. She shakes her head and continues "Damn it! Everyone else is getting a cool Stand, but mine's pathetic."
It's at this point that Canny catches up. She waves and you wave back, before holding up a hoof to indicate giving the two of you a second. She nods and sits down on a bench next to that Time Turner fellow, messing around with what looks like a small, metal stick. With that distraction done, you figure out within that span of time how to reassure her. "RD," you say, using a shorthand you hear from her, "Stands develop, this I learned from the Princesses. I'm sure Rainbow in the Dark's gonna get better, you just need to keep pushing the limit."
"Heh, well, pushing limits is what I do," she says good-naturedly. "I...guess I can try and be patient with it, I just, I need something cool! I can't be dead-weight, y'know?" And you do, nodding to affirm as such. She looks back to Rainbow in the Dark and nods, stating "Come on, let's keep going. Maybe you can do something cool soon."
With that done, you float down to see Canny, listening in on her talk with Time Turner. "And that is why time travel's so hard for a lot of people to learn," he tells her, in an accent similar to her own. "Me, I've found the concept super-simple, since my childhood, almost."
"Lucky git," Canny snarks. "Well, my friend's here, so I'll catch you around, Mr. Turner." He nods and waves as she walks over to you. "Always nice to meet someone from the old homestead."
"Not really," Time Turner responds, before shaking his head. "Just have a lot of experience with the place!" With that done, Canny follows you to the next pony, listening to you explain the Stands so far as you head to the Boutique.
"So, lemme get this straight," Canny says. "Rainbow's is basically in nappies, and Twilight steals others' shtick?" You nod as the two of you stand on what is essentially Rarity's front porch, seeing no other way to explain it. "...Feel kinda bad for Dashie, but hey, 'ere's hopin' it grows up strong." She knocks on the door for you, and you listen as Rarity hums on her way over to the door. "Maybe it can shoot lightning!"
"Right, 'cause that'd cause less damage," you snark, smirking as the door opens.
Rarity stands there, a knitting needle behind her left ear as she smiles. "Ah, darlings!" she greets. "Come in, I was expecting you two." The two of you walk in, and she leads you upstairs towards her bed/work room. With each step, the anticipation as to her Stand increases as Canny looks around the decorations of the place, clearly not being a native. When at the top, she pushes the door open, leads the two of you inside, then shuts it behind the three of you.
She brings out her Stand immediately. With four forelegs, each hoof having a different item used in the cutting or sewing of fabric (a knitting needle, some scissors, some extra fabric, and some string), her equinoid Stand hovers in a black dress, the only visible skin or coat being a chalk white muzzle with eyes covered by a black veil. "Cool!" Canny says. "Didn't expect your Stand to be emo, though."
Rarity scoffs and shakes her head. "Emo? Hardly!" she responds. "It's a fashionable cloak of dark accents, complimenting the ominous power something like this truly holds!" She holds out an apple and the Stand begins hovering over. "Black Veil Bride, if you'd be so kind." It touches the apple with the hoof with extra fabric, transforming the apple into fabric. The red apple is turned into a three dimensional sewn crochet of the same apple. With the scissors and needle, it cuts a piece of fabric out, then restores it with the string. With another touch of the fabric, the apple becomes real once again, with the fabric cut off turning into an apple slice that is quickly eaten by Rarity's cat. "Quite a bit of utility, wouldn't you say?"
You and Canny stand there for a second, surprised by the ability, before both nodding. "Super cool," you comment, which Canny accepts with a gesture of her hoof. "Nice job, Rarity." Once again, you and Canny make good conversation with her as she demonstrates the power on a couple of other things (including a whole chair), before departing to Sweet Apple Acres.
"Extra, extra, read all about it! Floating Diamond Dog in white suit spotted by citizens!" you and Canny hear a newspaper vendor say, and the two of you quickly whisper about it.
"Stand User?" she starts.
"Most likely," you reply.
"Deal with it now?" she says, raising an eyebrow and looking back over to the vendor.
You shake her head your head, finishing by whispering "Nah, just make a list of things to check in on." She grunts, but otherwise goes along with it. The two of you make it into Sweet Apple Acres proper, immediately seeing Applejack using her Stand in the field. It has no physical body, though, instead appearing as some kind of armor. Wooden armor covers her as the tree her Stand presumably took the wood from collapses over as though cut in half with a powerful tool, dropping apples all onto the ground from the force. "Hey, Applejack!" you wave.
She wipes a bit of sweat off her brow with her leg before looking over to the two of you. "Well, howdy!" she greets back. "Canny, Star, guess y'all wanted to see what my Stand-thingie does, right?"
"You bet!" Canny speaks for the two of you. "Guessin' it's that sweet armor? Looks fancy."
"Yep!" she confirms, surrounding herself in a purple aura as she taps on the ground. Immediately, the ground gives way, equivalently exchanging into an armor made of dirt and some grass that covers her entire body. "Ah call it Folsom Prison. Should be handy iffin' we find more trouble."
You smile in excitement and ask "Can you make armor out of anything?" To which she nods and de-summons the armor.
"Well, ain't tried everythin'," she clarifies, "but ah can certainly use any kinda wood and any kinda ground. Plus some rocks made neat stone armor. I'd need to play around to see if I could make some sturdy stuff." She then looks up at the sun for a second, before saying "Sorry, ahm on a time-crunch. Gotta clear this part of the orchard out. Ah'll see y'all later!" You and Canny wave and walk off.
Next is Pinkie, and as you enter Sugarcube Corner, the mare you're looking for is right behind the register, selling ice cream to a mare with a yellow coat (you can already hear Rarity, ever the enthusiast, comment that it's clearly goldenrod) and an orange mane and tail. "Here ya go!" Pinkie tells the mare, before looking over to you and Canny. "Heya, guys!" she enthusiastically shouts, waving her hoof. "Come on, come to the register, I'll get us cupcakes!"
"I could go for a cupcake," you respond, chuckling as you and Canny walk over.
Canny looks around with wide eyes and says "Blimey, this place could give me a cavity and I 'aven't eaten anything yet."
Pinkie walks up with the tray balanced on her back, bouncing it onto the counter. "I'll pay for it," she assures, "and I know the feeling, Canny. First day I got here, I tried to eat the bricks!" She eats a cupcake before you and Canny can grab one of the other two, inhaling it and swallowing as she then continues with "So, what brings ya here?"
"Stands, mainly," Canny smoothly responds, grabbing her own cupcake with magic and taking bites out of it like a normal pony would.
You nod and take your own in your hooves. "I've known you've had one before I knew anything else about them," you explain. "So, could you show us yours? Tell us about it?"
Pinkie nods with an "Mmhmm!" and, as easy as breathing, summons hers in. It looks like candy. Its equinoid, but it's pink, purple, and red, with licorice hair. It's mouth actually moves, and smiles with yellow teeth like lemon candy, and it's eyes shine with a deep crimson. On each hoof is dancing shoes, sparkling sequins dazzling through the air. "Safety Dance!" she announces, with jazz hooves. "Do your thing!" It begins dancing, and as it dances, the cupcake in your hooves bounce out of your hooves, jumping onto the counter and hopping like it's on a trampoline. Then, Safety Dance switches gears to a slower tempo, more aggressive walking dance, and the cupcake bursts, but the pieces of cake and frosting stop in mid-air before splattering over you, Canny, or Pinkie, and simply drop to the ground harmlessly. "See, when it dances, it messes with reality!"
"...WHAT?!" both you and Canny ask, wondering just how that works. Pinkie Pie, of course, answers.
"Well, it's kind of like my Pinkie Sense!" she says, and then quickly realizes that neither you nor Canny directly knows what that is. "Okay, so, my body twitches in weird ways sometimes, and it predicts something without scientific sense. Twilight tried to analyze it once, and she was emotionally and physically beat up by the end of it. It's just something weird I was born with. Well, Safety Dance is my weirdness personified. When it dances, random things happen. Sometimes I control it, sometimes not, but most of the time, it turns out well!" she motor mouths out the explanation.
Both you and Canny still have no idea where to actually start with that, but you eventually just say "That's really cool," to which Pinkie nods. Safety Dance does another quick jig, and spontaneously, a loud bang sounds off as confetti blasts from behind the counter. "...What was that?"
"Safety Dance setting off my party cannon," Pinkie responds, saying that as if it's completely normal. Which, to her, it might be.
Canny peers over the counter and indeed sees a cannon behind Pinkie. "Cool spot o' tech,"she tells Pinkie. "Mind if I look at it? Not as advanced as my gear, but it's cool."
"Go ahead!" Pinkie says, moving over to stand beside you as Canny looks it over. You turn to Pinkie, who smiles at you.
You smile back and ask "Well, that's super-cool, and super-random, but how come you had it before the rest, considering they couldn't see New Divide?"
Pinkie responds with "I had Safety Dance since the first time we had the Elements. It just took the rest this long to get theirs. Elements, man, they work in mysterious ways. Like my sister, honestly."
"Yeah, speaking of your sister, you said she does something with breathing and sunlight?" you respond, sounding curious as you can see Canny walking away from the cannon and beginning to explore about the store-front, eating a broken piece of your cupcake. "Mind explaining that?"
"Not at all!" Pinkie responds. "Yeah, Maud met this Neightalian Zebra when we were teens and he taught her how to stand on water and to punch with the power of the sun while breathing loudly, now she can break giant boulders with a single punch and often she goes out "Hunting" as she calls it for weeks on end. Something about fighting the terrors of the night. I don't know, but it's not a Stand."
You stand there, jaw agape, and simply stammer out "That's...interesting." You are clearly overwhelmed by the info. Which makes it even more shocking when Pinkie manages to keep going.
"Yeah, I thought so too. My sisters Limestone and Marble tried to get this sunlight punching power, but I guess they weren't good at it. They did learn this neat trick where they can make rocks and other things spin real fast in their hooves before launching them though," Pinkie again says. This time you flat out double-take, looking Pinkie over.
No horn, no wings, nothing. You ask "...You're all Earth Ponies, right?" because you are genuinely unsure by this point.
Pinkie giggles and nods, telling "Yepper depper!" with a smile like the knowledge that these tactics exist isn't utterly mind-blowing.
Soon after you leave Sugarcube Corner, you and Canny make your way to Fluttershy's cottage. On your way over, though, you spot, of all creatures, a deer running from Ponyville back to the direction of the Everfree Forest with a black sack over the shoulder of it's right foreleg. You and Canny look at it for a while before pressing on.
When you make it to Fluttershy's cottage, and before you two can open the door, you two can see the green eyes of a Timberwolf watching you closely. Something seems off about it, as it's stalking more than hunting as though it had the intelligence to keep an eye on you and Canny. It leaves without trying anything, making Canny idly comment "What is it with today and random occurrences?"
"Beats me," you respond, knocking on Fluttershy's front door. Suddenly, and to your horror, it flies open as you are pushed to the ground. Canny lets out what looks like a scared gasp, and you look up to see why. It has to be a Stand, and the scariest one there is. A bipedal wolf in a black cloak, the Stand gnashes sharp, brutally dangerous looking fangs at you as it's orange glowing eyes stare into your soul.
From behind it, you hear someone clearing their breath, stopping the attack. "Powerwolf, stop snarling at our guests!" the normally timid voice of Fluttershy bellows out, scolding Powerwolf and stopping it in its tracks. The menacing aura around it fades even though you still feel like pissing yourself, and it seems to have some modicum of sentience as it turns back to Fluttershy with a grimace. Surprisingly, she holds her ground and scolds "No! Go back inside and leave these two alone or I am de-summoning you for a while, mister!" It complies, walking in on bipedal paws with a groan.
She turns back to you and Canny and says, sheepishly, "I-I'm so sorry for his behavior," she apologizes, "I'm still trying to teach him right and wrong, friend or foe."
"R-Right, sure," Canny comments as you stand up on shaking hooves. "Well, I think I'm gonna go explore Ponyville for a tick. Star, you fine by yourself?"
"So long as Fluttershy has a working bathroom," you quip.
Perspective Shift: Canny Clockwork
As Shooting Star enters the cottage, you watch it carefully. Sighing, you look back through Ponyville as you pull out a small notepad from under your hat with your magic. On it are four things listed:
Whispers of Bad Luck Floating Diamond Dog - Drugs? Deer Stealing Shit - Drugs? Timberwolf Lookin' At Me Funny
Between that, and a whole town to explore, you feel confident you can occupy your time well.
So, what will you, Canny Clockwork, Do? Stand for Equestria: Origin of Harmony.
The first thing you choose to check off is the whispers and rumors of bad luck surrounding the place. Not only is Ponyville already accident prone enough without a suspected Stand-user or mad scientist negatively affecting probability to suit their ambiguous needs, but if it starts getting to you, it'll mess up your inventions. Too much is riding on your work right now for that to even be something you entertain the idea of. So, you place your notebook in your hat in the free space near the currently disengaged cannon mechanism, and begin your search for the trail of bad luck.
It starts from the latest sighting up: you go into the marketplace and questions ponies, jotting down notes along the way in addition to spending some spare bits on some parts you feel like you'll need later. Then, you question some ponies in the commons, including a kid with a propeller hat complaining about his low scores in some kind of electronic game. You note his experience, and also jot down "Should look into these "Video Games" - The Future of Entertainment?" before continuing on.
You also decide to ask some ponies you happen to actually know about the experience. Firstly, you find Pinkie Pie buying some ingredients back at the market, and ask her about it. "Hmm..," she ponders aloud, tapping her chin with her hoof as she thinks. Fortunately (or unfortunately, if you wanted results), she shakes her head. "Nope!" she tells you, "my luck's been pretty good, Canny! Why do you ask?"
You show her your notes and respond "Possible Stand-user, bad luck everywhere. You sure you're unaffected?"
She nods her head back. "Yep yep! Not a speck of bad luck around! Oop, did I just jinx myself? Whoopsie."
"No big deal," you tell her, re-hatting the notebook. "Jinxin's part o' the trade, I say. Well, I've never said that, it's always been kinda...implied? Anyway, thanks." You wave to her as you walk off, still pondering things. You decide to go for some others. Maybe that Time Turner chap's gone through some-
Nope. "Sorry, Canny, no bad luck here," he denies. "Sounds like a miserable time, though. I'll go find you if I spot anything."
"Well, thanks anyway," you respond, waving as you leave his place, too. Your leads are drying up. It may be time to review the facts.
BrownDog's First Comment: First Area
As you walk to a local eatery to get a hayburger and look over things, you sigh inwardly. You already know that, as good a start as it is, there's no smoking gun to go off of. Still, you sit down and order anyway, before pulling out your notes and looking over them. There's always a bit of correlation: victims always live life normally to a point, then the suspected Stand seems to drain, or borrow, or steal their good luck. Probability draws further in the Stand-user's favor than the victim's. It's too common to be a coincidence.
"Has to be a User, then," you think to yourself as your food and beverage are placed on your table. You take a bite of the juicy hayburger and think "Too much correlation, too similar in cases, a supernatural shift in probability only magic could possibly explain otherwise. It all makes sens-the hell?"
You are thrown off of your thoughts by a unicorn with an electric blue mane and sunglasses, bopping along to a beat. Not unusual, except the beat is coming from headphones. Wireless headphones. Your jaw drops before you wolf down your food in shock, clearly unsure of how to act. Eventually, though, you stand from your table and walk over, calmly asking "Oi! Miss, where'd you get those headphones?"
She clearly hears you, as she removes her headphones and looks at you, eyebrow quirked. It might've been a bit rude to interrupt her jams, but there is something pressing to do right now. "Wireless headphones were on my list of priority inventions, but you've got 'em right on your head! Somepony must've gotten to them first, so I need to know where ya got 'em, please?" She nods and begins to move her forehooves.
ESL - Equine Sign Language. Damn! She's mute.
You shake your head and sheepishly respond "Erm, ah...sorry, lass, but I don't understand that." She nods and stops as you continue with "Do you, erm, actually mind if I take a look?" She shakes her head and gives you the headphones in a blue aura of magic, which you take into your own green field. You look over it, immediately spotting either a personal logo, a cutie mark, or a company stamp: a strawberry. "A Strawberry?" you ask aloud. "...I've got competition?" you ask yourself as you pass the headphones back and thank the mare for her time. She just smiles and clicks her tongue twice.
wizard0209's Comment
You sit back down to finish your food fully, popping a few Prench Fries in and chewing them softly as you, again, get lost in thought. "A competing inventor, or a group of competing inventors, and bad luck sweeping Ponyville? Today's gettin' downright bizarre." You are briefly distracted by how good the fries are, but then think back. Once again, nothing is really coming together, and you feel as though the smoking gun is slow to arrive.
You idly look around, when you spot something just out of the corner of your eye. When you look at it closer, your eyes widen. Dark gray scales with an orange belly, standing self-assuredly between some houses, like he doesn't think he'll get spotted. He's a small tart, but it's no question about it: that's a dragon. You look away to keep him from getting suspicious as practically inhale your fries and drink, before throwing down some bits to pay for the meal.
You get up and trot towards the alley, only to find him not there. As in, he's straight up not there. No sign of a dragon in sight. Just an empty, messy little in-between that's laughing in your face. Still, it was rather good luck, finding him. Ironic that the first lead in a case of bad luck comes from some amazing luck. You pull out your notepad and jot it down so there's no question about it:
Saw a Dragon that isn't Spike - gray scales, orange accents. Possibly the one behind the bad luck. Still an oddity if not, though.
With that written down for later, you trot back out, keeping your eyes peeled for the dragon. Looking at rooftops and street corners, searching for gray and orange. But nothing turns up; like a ghost, he vanished, and appropriately, you now blame bad luck for not chasing him when you had the chance.
BrownDog's Comments
Sometime later, you keep walking, just trying to keep an eye out for the dragon. He can't be hard to miss, and yet, you're missing him, same as everypony else. You are quickly broken from your search, however, for a small, disappointed sigh. Looking forward, you see a blue Earth Pony filly and her mother. The filly is downtrodden, the mother is comforting, and there's a red kite in a tree just next to them. You sigh as well, but tip your hat and walk over. "Scuse me," you greet, the mother looking up to you. "What's the issue, luv?"
"My kite," the filly states, also looking to you with watery eyes as she points to the tree. "It got stuck and we can't get it out. Can you help, miss?"
You smile and nod. You've always had a bit of a soft spot for the kids. Walking over, you grab the kite with your magic as you sneakily summon Smooth Criminal. It glides over, and touches the kite, rendering it intangible. When you pull it out, the kite returns to normal before they can notice. "Here ya go, kiddo," you tell the filly.
Her eyes light up as she smiles widely at you. That adorable smile with shining white teeth is the highlight of your day, dragons be damned. "Thank you, miss!" she says, holding her kite close, just keeping it from being taken by the wind.
The mother walks up, patting her kid on the head and ruffling her hair. "Yes, thank you," she agrees. "I know you likely had something better to do, but you still took time out of your day for my kid and-" And she stops, and looks up. A stunned expression on her face as her eyes widen. It's here you notice that the entire town's gone quiet. "-And, um, I'll just catch you around, see ya!" she hurriedly says, before rushing off with her kid, still smiling as she hasn't noticed whatever it is.
You raise an eyebrow and are about to shout back, asking what's going on, when a voice above you cuts you off. "Heh, I had a feeling you looked interesting," says the voice, his accent straight from Trottingham, just like your own and Time Turner's. But a different tone is used, posh and sophisticated, like some of the friends you had made in your youth. You look up and immediately feel the need to check off another part of your list, because floating above you is the Diamond Dog in White.
His fur is white, and other than his wide grin and the suit, his most striking feature is his left eye, which looks to be dilated, giving the impression that it is hazel while his right eye is blue. In regards to said suit, it is white with an orange-red tie, which looks to be pressed properly. You yelp in surprise before immediately getting into a defensive position, facing him with narrowed eyes as you watch his movements. "W-Whaddya want, ya floatin' pupper?" you ask him, snarling in the realization that he is, indeed, a Stand user.
He gives a big sniff, as if smelling you out specifically, before snickering. "Charmed," he says, waving you off. "But I'm not here to fight, unless you are a reindeer in disguise?"
You cock an eyebrow at this, thinking to yourself "How can he think I'm a reindeer? That's daft." You ask aloud "A...reindeer?"
"Yes," he simply replies, crossing his arms. "Are you?"
You blink twice in exasperation at that, but then point to your horn and say "No, of course not, ya wanker!"
He shrugs. "Well, I couldn't be too sure," he says, "after all, you are just like me!" He points at the still summoned Smooth Criminal.
"Right, well," you snark, "I'm no deer, as you can plainly see. With yer eyes. Eye? Whatever." You watch as he scans the area, humming to himself in thought, when you remember something. "Wait, actually, I did see a deer earlier today. Looked mighty shifty."
His eyes snap back to you as his expression changes to one more inquisitive. "Really now?" he asks, floating a bit closer as you step back a bit in response. "Shady...how?"
"Like a thief," you simply say. "Scamperin' about with a black bag and trying his damnedest to not be noticed."
He rubs his chin in thought, obviously contemplating something. "Hmm..," he thinks aloud, "I'd heard there were deer activities lately around here, but was it a reindeer specifically that you saw?"
You shrug. "I don't know the difference between deer. Never 'ad to talk to one, so I 'aven't," you grumble. "And just what is so important about a bunch of forest dwellers, anyway?"
He doesn't seem to like this answer, his expression growing more and more stern by the passing nanosecond. His fists clenched, and he sneers, baring teeth. "Because years ago, a reindeer took my China Girl away from me, and I intend to make him pay..," he explains, his voice transforming into a growl as his Stand appears. A bejeweled, bulky suit, almost like armor. It has some kind of globular helmet, the mask or visor of which is opaque black with what looks like a lightning bolt on it.
You simply raise an eyebrow. "Dumb mutt's on a quest of vengeance for...a glass figurine? Nutter, much?" you think to yourself, even as externally, you stand your ground. "Alright, chap, no need to lose your cool," you request, moving your forehooves down to gesture lowering his aggression. "Let's just calm down and have a peaceful chat alright?"
The Diamond Dog's sneer drops, as you notice his clenched fists beginning to relax. "...Oh, right, yes," he sheepishly says. "How very rude of me. My name is Ziggy, and this is my Stand, Space Oddity." He gestures to the striking spirit by his side. It barely moves, seeming to stand vigil.
You use your magic to tip you hat politely. "I'm Canny Clockwork, and this is mine: Smooth Criminal," you greet."Now, why don't we put the bloody ghosts away? There's no need to go around scaring folks with your floating and whatnot. Especially after the Discord shenanigans yesterday."
Ziggy nods, conceding the point as he begins floating down. "I suppose that is wise," he says. "But the view from up top, it cannot be beat. Especially if you are looking for someone like that blasted reindeer."
"Yeah, but also, it's kinda creepy," you respond. You look over his fancy suit. Very fine material, properly pressed. It's more like he bought it from a pony then made it at his abode. Either that, or there's a Diamond Dog seamstress running around. "So, anyway, I'm part of a new task force designed to keep tabs on any Stand-users we find. My partner Shooting Star's around, so do you mind coming along with me to chat with him?"
He shakes his head, and truthfully responds "I'd rather not. I'd rather you tell me where this deer you saw went so that I may continue my hunt."
"Well, yeah, OK, but," you strictly implore, "how about you come talk to us, and we'll both tell you where we saw the deer? Sound groovy?"
He raises an eyebrow at this over his dilated eye, also insisting "Well, I suppose I can spare a few minutes. But just a few!"
"Well, good, sounds like a plan," you respond, turning around to lead him back to Fluttershy's. Before the two of you set off, though, you ask "Just, erm, curious, but does Space Oddity affect luck at all? Causes bad luck? At all?"
"Bad luck?" Ziggy asks, confused.
"Yeah, nevermind," you concede, pulling out your notepad and jotting down that something is still going around.
Perspective Shift: Shooting Star
"So, why is your Stand sentient anyway?" you ask Fluttershy, sipping on your tea. The two of you are sat down on a couch in her cottage, you sat perfectly in such a way to see Powerwolf mean-mugging you right by Angel Bunny, who is also mean-mugging you, though for likely different reasons.
Fluttershy sips on her own tea and shrugs. "I really don't know," she tells you, her voice still quivering, but calmer than right after Powerwolf lunged. "It's a, um, bit of a chore to deal with, but he's a good Stand. He just needs to learn between friend or foe." She turns around to look at the two, Angel Bunny looking away as Powerwolf just slowly turns to his User. "And when he does know a friend, he needs to calm down." Powerwolf huffs at that.
You are about to respond when you hear a knock on the door. Seems Canny's back. "Sorry, sounds like my friend's back," you tell Fluttershy, standing up from the couch. "Thanks for your time! I'll catch you around." You open the door to see Canny's smiling face.
And a floating Diamond Dog in a white suit floating by her, starting at his nails as though uncaring.
Your jaw drops.
What will you and Canny (and Ziggy, too, I suppose) do? <--- To Be Continued
BrownDog's Comment, First Segment, and DWC's First Suggestion
The surprise begins to wear off, though only slightly, as you look up to this floating Diamond Dog. He looks like he'd rather be anywhere else, but he's here. Fluttershy comes to the door, and you look to her. She returns the gaze, and the two of you take a second to look between the dog, and each other, stunned speechless. "...Do you see the, um-" Fluttershy asks nervously.
"-Floating Diamond Dog?" you finish for her. She nods, allowing you to answer "Yes, yes I do." You give him a complete once over. That's a rather nice suit, looking about as refined and high-quality as something Rarity would make. Either this Diamond Dog is a civilized pup with bits to spare, or he stole a suit that happened to fit, though the latter in unlikely given his measurements. Also, of course, he's floating about three feet off the ground. Your jaw still dropped, you look down at Canny, who's smiling smugly. "...Sooo..." you begin, gesturing at the Diamond Dog in front of you.
"I found my first Stand-user," she brags, gesturing at him herself, "and guess what? He's non-hostile!" As she says this, the Diamond Dog floats down so that his paws are just barely touching the ground, inches away from the dirt. His nails dig into the ground, making scuffs with every wave of his extremities and digging the dirt under his fingernail.
You raise an eyebrow as you look him over. You still have no idea what to make of it, but he does seem rather friendly, or at least aquaintance-ly (your mother, for once, was the one passing that word down to you). "I can see that," you deadpan, still nodding dumbly despite your attempt to keep your voice calm. Fluttershy, meanwhile, has already retreated, though you personally suspect that to be more Powerwolf's interruption than anything this Diamond Dog has done. Even now, his growling is loud and noticeable.
The Diamond Dog scoffs, flicking his fingers and throwing around dirt disinterestedly. He clears his throat, and then speaks clearly and with sophistication, in a Trottingham accent. "Well, not towards you anyway, but don’t think I’m a pushover," he warns you, cleaning his nail with a few finger flicks before crossing his forelegs.
Canny, meanwhile, steps up to gesture between the two of you with a single hoof, introducing "Ziggy, this is my mate, Shooting Star. Star, this is Ziggy, he's a pupper." It's a rather succinct greeting, you suppose. Short, sweet, and to the point, which you greatly prefer when faced with someone like this.
Ziggy looks up from his claws for a second and visibly clenches his jaw in thought, looking you over. His dilated eye watches just as well as his normal one as he judges you silently, before he finally says "Pleasure."
"Um, nice to meet you, I guess?" you try to reply at first, before backpedaling before he can even respond properly. You stand up straight and try to look less dumbfounded as you instead rephrase "I mean, I'm honored to be in the presence of someone so uni-"
"Yes, yes, it's a pleasure and all that camaraderie," Ziggy responds, waving you off. His tone of voice is rather anxious, and you can guess he might be in a bit of a hurry currently. A hurry to do what, exactly, you don't know. "Listen, can you just ask whatever questions your little organization asks so that you can tell me where the deer was?"
"...Buh-wha?" you say, your head still spinning. Now he's bringing deer into this? Who is this guy? You turn to look at Canny with a raised eyebrow, and you are so close to asking her eloquently what exactly he's talking about, but the words take a gallon of cider on the way to your mouth and so you just go "Huh?"
She scratches the back of her head with her hoof and explains "Yeah look, he’s curious about that deer we saw earlier, and the only way I got him to cooperate was to bargain that for a few questions. You know, black bagger, that bloke? Yep."
"And only a few," Ziggy nods along to, smirking. Oh, now he's trying to bargain. Or barter. You don't actually know which one to use.
You also scratch your head with a hoof in thought, asking him straight up "Well, I...uh...why do you want to know about this deer?"
He smirks again and says "That's one question down," and you can immediately feel your blood boiling red as your eye twitches. The dude's poked a loophole into the question before you could possibly barter for it! Sneaky. "And I’m curious if he’s a lead for me or not, or even if he’s a reindeer."
"A reindeer?" you ask on instinct.
"Why, yes, and that's two questions," he says, sounding bored.
You stamp a hoof down and half-whine/half-groan "That's not fair at all!" Before you either lose it or get fed up, though, your friendly neighborhood Fluttershy is there to the rescue, after sounding like dropping something.
"Oh, wait, wait, hold on!" she says, coming back to the door. "Sorry, mister, but I don't think there are any reindeer in this area. The ones in the Whitetail Woods and the Everfree are Mule Deer, or Whitetail. Sorry," she explains, looking a little disappointed to let the misconception hang in the air.
"Hmm," he wonders aloud, tapping his chin with a finger as he says "Still, this may be a lead, especially if they're theiv..." and then he trails off, looks to the side, and widens his eyes. Following his gaze reveals he's staring right at Powerwolf, who is standing there, growling and glaring. On instinct, he summons his Stand, some kind of white-suited biped with a large helmet.
Luckily, again, Fluttershy is there. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she apologizes, before turning around and giving a vicious glare back to her Stand, telling him bluntly and point blank "Stop it! Behave, Mister!" To his credit, Powerwolf winces and moves back a bit, still sending Killing Intent to Ziggy, but otherwise heeding his User's warning.
Ziggy looks rather scared of the Stand in question, his voice quivering as he remarks "…I’m going to be honest, that is quite possibly the most horrifying thing I’ve seen in years."
Canny just touches her hat with her hoof and agrees "Bleedin' right it is." She then shudders, because who wouldn't? Even you think Powerwolf is freaky.
You look away from Powerwolf and just straight up ask "Uh...maybe we should go somewhere else for these questions?" To your surprise, instead of making a crack, Ziggy just shrugs and nods. And then, Fluttershy closes her front door, and off you trot to a new adventure-
Down With Chrysalis' Comment
And are immediately distracted when Powerwolf runs off and Fluttershy is forced to follow it. He looked ravenous when he went off, and naturally, Canny nervously asks "Uh...do you guys think maybe we should go after her?"
You blankly look over at Canny, and when you think your expression is blank, it really is blank. You've hit your quota of "Weird Things You Didn't Expect to See Ever In Your Life At All" for today, and to be blunt, you just straight up shrug. "Nah...I'm sure she's got it handled."
"NO!" Fluttershy scolds in the distance. "Bad Powerwolf! Put that nice pony down this instant!"
You flinch ever so slightly, but return your expression to a deadpan look as you respond "Yep...she's totally got it all under control. Yep-yep, no help here."
"That pony's leg is not a chew toy!" she scolds again. "Spit her out this instant!"
Ziggy, in all his doggy glory, blankly looks over to you and says, completely unimpressed, "Yes...she definitely does have this completely under control."
One final scold hits your ears, and it's the worst one. "Powerwolf...don't you dare...Don't even think abou-AH, Bad Powerwolf! Bad, bad, bad! We do not swallow ponies!"
There is a bit of a silence after that, the town proper quietly watching her and thus all you can hear is a struggle. Finally, though, you sigh, and concede defeat on this. "Okay, okay, fine, let's go help her and then we hit the Everfree.
Just outside of the forest treeline, you all stand, regrouping. It took a bit of time, and a few bite-marks, but that little filly Twist was finally pulled free, surprisingly unharmed save for, frankly, bitching about the, to her, completely invisible monster ruining her schedule. Thus, while Fluttershy and Canny talk about nature stuff (Canny specifically wondering about locomotion. What's she gonna make, a wagon that walks?), you learn more about Ziggy.
BrownDog's First Comment
"Alright...so, you're originally from Trottingham, and Space Oddity makes things float?" you recap, attempting to clarify.
Ziggy shrugs, and says "Amongst other things." You roll your eyes, thinking to yourself about just how vague that is.
It's at this time that Canny walks up, ready to ask her own questions. "Right, then, luv," she begins, asking "And where exactly were you when ol' Hodge-Podge 'imself, Mr. Discord, sank his arrow into your body?"You just close your eyes and shake your head, knowing for a fact she could've phrased that better. Ziggy seems to know this, too, raising an eyebrow and side-eyeing her in what seems like confusion.
"I'm sorry, is that a euphemism for something?" he asks with a chuckle, "Because quite frankly, my dear, an odd assortment of mismatched animal parts slammed together haphazardly just isn't my type, and I highly doubt he's yours."
Canny growls and shakes her head, clearly frustrated as she explains "No, you daft dog! When did you get shot with the bloody Stand Arrow to get yer Space Oddity!"
Ziggy stands there, kind of confused for a second, visibly trying to process the question as his eyes wander. Finally, he says, very carefully as though he knew the wrong word would just draw more confusion, "I...still don't quite get what you're asking. I've never been shot with any arrows, and I've had Space Oddity for years, now."
Canny's jaw drops in bewilderment. "What?" she asks, confused.
"Oh, I see. You're a natural-born user," you realize and then understand. This makes him look even more curious, raising an eyebrow at you.
"Is that not normally how it works?" he asks, once again scraping his lower paws against the dirt.
Canny shakes her head, and responds in doubt "Nah, you have to be hit with the arrow, I assumed."
"Well, you're both right," you explain. "The Princesses told me that there are natural born users, then there are those hit with the arrow, and of course, those who have been touched by the Elements of Harmony...which, according to Celestia, had arrows in 'em anyway. Must be smaller than pins if the Elements didn't notice nor see them, but...eh.”
"...Interesting..," Ziggy responds in awe, cupping his chin in thought.
Canny, meanwhile, replies "Wait, wait, hold on, you've met other natural Stand users before?"
"A few over the years, but, not all of them necessarily friendly," he responds, before smirking smugly yet again. Celestia above, you could punch him when he does that. "I'll give you that question for free, since I am colored curious."
"Um..." Fluttershy says behind you all, apparently forgotten in the excitement. "May I ask a question?" Nods from everyone involved push her to ask "Uh, well, you see, do you think you'd remember, um, where they might be? Or their names. If that's not too much trouble, sir."
He waves her off and ponders, tapping his chin once again. "Hmm," he thinks aloud, "Well, there was a rather agreeable Saddle Arabian I met in Somnambula some years ago. He's actually the one who explained Stands to me. As much as he knew, anyway. Can't quite recall his name off the top of my head, though..."
To double check, you and Canny look over the map. Sure enough, one of the blinking Xs is within the Deserts of Somnambula. "Okay, then," you think to yourself. "Either this is a Discord target...or we just found the Saddle Arabian that this...floating dog knows."
"Now, I'd like to tell you more," Ziggy explains, gesturing to the Everfree Forest. "But please point me in this deer's direction. The more we talk, the further away he gets."
You, Canny, and even Fluttershy look at eachother for a second, before you bargain "...OK, how's about this. If we help you investigate this deer, then afterwards, you can tell us about your Saddle Arabian friend."
He raises an eyebrow, but then your barter succeeds as she just shrugs. "Eh, sure, why not?" he rhetorically asks. "I won't stop you. I think I'd actually prefer some company in this deep, dank, dark woods. Just don't interfere if I do happen to find this miserable caribou!"
"...I thought it was a reindeer," Canny asks, slightly confused.
"Reindeer and caribou are the same thing, Canny," Fluttershy informs her.
This seems to frazzle Canny as she shouts "WELL WHY THE BLOODY HELL-oh forget it..."
A minute or two later on, the four of you are walking through the woods. Well, to be more specific, as you turn to Canny to speak with her, Ziggy is floating in front of your little gang. "He seems a bit...eccentric," you admit, glancing at him.
Canny dryly responds "Oh, he's a right nutter, all right," while spinning a hoof around her ear. "He's off his rocker because some antlered thief took his favorite toy, some China Doll or whatever the hell."
"Well..," you say, trying to find as many of his good qualities as you've noticed in the short time since meeting him. "I mean, he seems friendly enough?" you posit, earning a glance your way. "A bit brash, but nowhere near The Patient's level."
Canny shudders and reaches a hoof back to touch the part of her side the arrow impaled. "And thank goodness for that, then!"
"And since floating doesn't seem like Bad Luck," you change the subject, "I'm guessing you didn't find out anything about that?"
She kind of winces and tilts her head back and forth. "Eh...well...yes and no," she informs you, "I've got myself a suspect, at the least."
"Oh, really?" you ask. You're genuinely curious. Who in Ponyville could be causing something like this? "Who?"
She explains "There was this little dragon in an alleyway lookin' right at the community. But also kind of side-eyeing me. I think onto me noticing 'im, though, because he was gone by the time I rushed over." She shakes her head.
"Another dragon in town?" you ponder. "I doubt he's there for a family reunion with Spike. Even if he's not a Stand User, he's certainly a curiosity."
And through all of this, Fluttershy has been keeping her own notes on the flora and fauna. It's actually quite cute.
Ze1a7in and BrownDog's Comments
After a minute, though, something feels off. A presence behind you, or maybe in front of you. It feels like someone's staring into the back of your head. "Hey, uh..," you ask, catching everyone's attention. "Does anyone else feel like...they're being watched?"
"Uh...yeah," Canny admits.
"It's spooky," Fluttershy responds.
"I'm on edge already as is," Ziggy replies, looking around for the source.
You decide to put your mind at ease by putting on a search. You look in bushes, trees, and dirt, but it's Fluttershy who calls out "Hey, look!" When you all rush over, she's pointing at hoofprints. "Deer tracks!"
"Alright!" you say, as you all begin to follow them. You walk, and walk, and only then notice you're not going anywhere. "What the...?" Canny says, and the two of you look down to see yourselves rooted down, by roots. Of course. Using your Stands, Canny phases her legs through the roots as you fold and crush them apart, freeing yourselves. Only then, your Stands are suddenly grabbed by lashing vines, which also grab Ziggy and Fluttershy, the latter of whom screams as she is propelled up.
Just then, you all hear a rustling in the undergrowth. Out of the bushes emerges a Timberwolf. A large one, with a diadem of vines and thorns adorned on it's head like a makeshift crown with a green jewel shining and shimmering in the center of it. It growls, then says in what is distinctly a female voice "And what are a few ponies and a Diamond Dog doing in these woods?" A talking Timberwolf. You can hardly believe it.
Naturally, Ziggy's first response is "Oh dearie me, I've been in enough Neighponese literature shops to know where this is going." He says this warily as the vines wrap around his floating paws.
"SILENCE!" the Timberwolf (seriously, what the fuck) demands, tightening his rear paws and tying them together. "I'm not sure what that means, but you are already defiling this area, and I will not be insulted!"
As the vines are wrapping even around New Divide, you realize that this talking Timberwolf has got to be a Stand-User. But like everything else in this situation, that just flabbergasts you. "Everyone, be on the lookout for the Stand-User! It's talking to us through it's Timberwolf-lookin' Stand!"
"Excuse me?" the Timberwolf asks, "What are you talking about?"
"Show yourself, you coward!" you responds, trying to shake your way out of the vines, "everyone knows Timberwolves are too stupid to talk!" It-er, she takes offence to this, apparently, as you suddenly feel the vines tighten around your chest. You gasp as the breath is knocked out of you.
The Timberwolf snaps, growling and roaring out "YOU INSOLENT LITTLE HORSE!"
"OK, my bad!" you aqueisce, "Timberwolves can talk, I'm stupid!"
"Not normally," Fluttershy says, "not biologically. Something's different about her!"
"I think we've noticed!" Canny scolds, glaring down at the Timberwolf and staring daggers into glowing green eyes. "Let us go, you stupid slag, or we'll buckstart your head!"
This just makes her angrier, somehow. "You come into my woods, threatening me, and expect to go free?" she hisses, her eyes glowing even brighter. "These are my woods! I was gifted this power to steward it better, and intruders like you will not be tolerated..." The vines tighten more, deeper and constricting.
Ziggy finally speaks up, trying to negotiate as he says "Listen, babe, I can tell you're itching for a fight, but we're just looking for a single deer. Could we perhaps put this dance on hold?"
"Firstly, do not call me babe," she dryly says, before snarling and shaking her head. "And that's a likely story...I'll take care of that infestation later. All of you with your powers cannot be allowed to proceed."
"Welp, that does it, we tried," Canny grunts. "Smooth Criminal!" she shouts, the vines passing through both her and her Stand in a transparent green as her hooves hit the ground. She looks pissed.
And for her part, the Timberwolf looks stunned. "W-What the..?" she stammers, surprised.
"New Divide!" you shout, following her lead as you fold yourself further back into the treeline, snapping the vines. You're still tied up, but you must surely be out of her range.
"Oh, bloody hell," Ziggy mutters, before looking up to the Timberwolf. "Very well, then. Space Oddity!" Suddenly, the vines holding him at the base slam down as if pulled, slackening his feet bonds and pulling him out of the way.
With everyone else getting down or getting set up for a brawl, Fluttershy sighs with what you guess to be little other choice. "I'm so going to regret this," she tells herself, before shouting "Powerwolf!" That horrifying Stand materializes, and cuts the vines holding her in place, setting her down.
The Timberwolf growls as you all break from your vine-chains, staring you all down. She says "Cheap tricks will do you no good, interlopers! Evolution cannot be stopped!"
And with her grand declaration, all the plants nearby rustle as though commanded to shake.
What will you and your party do? Stand for Equestria: Origin of Harmony
STAND NAME: EVOLUTION STAND USER: LUPINA Stand for Equestria: Origin of Harmony
The rustling of the trees surround the four of you, all-encompassing and drowning out even your thoughts. It's as though the forest itself has grown hostile along with the Timberwolf, and she herself is mad. Unfortunately, you're drawing a blank: all plans get cut off by the sheer insanity that is a talking, Stand-using Timberwolf, and no one's given you advice on dealing with that shit. Still, you get into a battle stance, as does the rest of your group save Fluttershy, who actually backs up a bit as Powerwolf snarls in fury. This...turns out to have been a bit of your mistake in your eyes: the slightest hint of aggression suddenly sets the Timerwolf off. Out of the trees comes vines with that looks like spikes poking through the green, heading right for you and your group!
You fold them quickly, bending them in on themselves, only for suddenly feel something stab into your hooves from below. You jump away to see what looks like a tree root burrowing from the ground, razor-sharp now and glimmering crimson from your blood. This releases the vines, which Powerwolf absolutely eviscerates.
BrownDog77: Forgot this part:
"Five seconds into the fight and I've 'ad enough!" Canny says, suddenly charging towards the Timberwolf while phasing herself into a translucent green. Suddenly, spiked tendrils burst forward, poking through her incorporeal body. "Oh, what the hell?" she asks aloud. They flow through her and her phased out Stand, keeping them from returning to normal to actually hit the Timberwolf. "...This is right annoying."
While she's dealing with that, the rest of you are dealing with the other messes. The Root Spears keep poking from the ground, keeping you from standing and focusing, and as Fluttershy cries out in pain, you know the two of you can't keep going with this things sprouting up. And all the while, Ziggy's floating up, just out of reach of the spears, but still dealing with the vines. One actually manages to stick him, sinking shallowly into his flesh. "Ow!" he shouts. He looks to be in pain, but you can see his eyes beginning to glaze over.
BrownDogg77's Comment (One of Them)
The Timberwolf is really not playing around now, sending forth more tendrils to attack you and the group, this time with razor tips that gleam in the sun. Using New Divide, you shout "Look out!" as you fold yourself away from them, watching them get stuck in the air before backing off. She clearly has a range to these things, an assumption that only strengthens when you realize that the plants behind you aren't actually attacking.
Canny looks bored, still stuck in a whirlwind of the tendrils, before suddenly leaping away from them and returning to normal. She goes back towards the Timberwolf, only to shout "Whoa!" as the spiked tendrils fly towards her. She phases again, and watches as the tendrils shoot through her.
Ziggy grits his teeth, staring at the ones heading for him. At the right moment, Space Oddity raises it's hand up, and the vines and tendrils are sent wiggling into the air, carried by his altered gravity. Oddly, he seems to be getting weaker slightly: he's shaking a little, as is Space Oddity, and his eyelids are drooping. Did getting hit by that vine do something to him?
There's no time to even consider that, however, as Fluttershy lets out a shrill yelp of fear. She collapses to a fetal position, hooves over her head in some attempt to protect her, as the monstrous Stand Powerwolf rips the tendrils to shreds. Claws go through plants, ripping through the greenery faster than you can comprehend in a fittingly ferocious matter. You can already tell that battling another pony would not be a pretty sight, and you're ever the more relieved that it's on your side.
However, it's not strictly enough. The tendrils begin wrapping around Powerwolf's limbs, the Stand ignorantly slashing away as they bond themselves around it. "Fluttershy! Watch out," you warn, "Powerwolf could get overwhelmed!"
Fluttershy peeks her head up and nods, eyes widening at the actual sight. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" she stammers out, rushing by Powerwolf's side, "Powerwolf, um, c-can you please pay more attention?" The bipedal wolf completely ignores her, Powerwolf slashing and cutting with reckless abandon and furious rage, almost like a maelstrom of death and carnage. More and more plants cover and wrap around it, and Fluttershy begs "Powerwolf!" Powerwolf finally looks, only too late as the plants begin to sprout spikes, close to digging into Powerwolf's flesh, and by extension, Fluttershy's.
But just before they do, Smooth Criminal suddenly arrives, kicking Powerwolf in the jaw and turning the Stand intangible just in time. Fluttershy seems to have felt that, rubbing her cheek in pain, but after seeing the results, she doesn't raise a fuss. With the razor flowers now useless, you fold them down yourself, leaving them trapped on the ground. This allows Powerwolf to rematerialize, a vicious glare being leveled at Smooth Criminal.
"Oh, quit yer gripin', I saved ya!" Canny points out, surprisingly sounding like she has no fear of standing up to this thing.
Stunningly, Fluttershy then marches up to Powerwolf and orders "That's right, Mister! Now, get back out there, but fight smarter!" You have never seen her less demure and meek, and even Powerwolf seems taken aback. With sapience comes surprise, obviously, but you weren't even aware a wolf could look so speechless. It kind of snarls, but relents, backflipping out of the way of oncoming tendrils instead of engaging them.
Noticing the distance limit the Timberwolf seems to have, you inform them "Alright good, keep your distance guys, she’s obviously a ranged fighter since the trees behind us aren’t attacking." You sound calm and orderly, but on the inside, you're still kind of panicking.
The Timberwolf snarls and growls. “My limited range means nothing when surrounded by nature itself!” she growls out, her voice growing more and more vengeful. Suddenly, another set of vines, this time with the heads of Venus Fly Traps, suddenly barrel towards you and your party.
“Plants with teeth? I'm quite good, thank you,” Ziggy says snarkily, deadpan despite gagging on something. His Stand rises back up and raises both arms, gripping them in a bubble of gravity. And then, his smug face locks into one of horror, and without moving anything, he collapses backwards.
"What?!" you ask in your mind. He's not dead, as you can tell from his still moving eyes, but nothing else is moving. "He's...paralyzed?" And then you remember the vine that sank into his flesh. Poisoned. And to make matters worse, his Stand sways and unsteadily floats as though drunk, dropping the vines which let out a gas that lands down on the ground. Everyone's eyes widen, including the still paralyzed Ziggy, as the smoke hits you.
“D-Don't breathe it in, it's-" he mutters, unable to control all of his mouth movements, before letting out a weak groan of pain as one of the traps sinks it's teeth into his shoulder.
Distracted by that, you fail to realize another trap is on top of you until it slams it's teeth through your left wing. "OW! GET IT OFF!" you yell out, flaring your wing out and back to try and shake off the plant. You don't know about the others, but your vision begins to blur and everything sounds so...distant, far away.
You can only vaguely hear the Timberwolf saying “You see you fools?! Evolution will overcome and adapt to it’s environment, despite your tricks!” as your mouth dries up and everything turns so hazy. Hazy and purple...why do you feel the ground under you now?
Luckily, Canny rushes over just in time and turns you intangible, releasing the vine and your lungs from the fog, just as Powerwolf suddenly picks up the paralyzed Diamond Dog and carries him out of the haze towards Fluttershy.
“G-Gyah, t-thanks, babe-" he chokes out again through forcibly closed lips.
Fluttershy stammers for a bit, then coughs from the gas, but then nods once she regains her bearings. "N-No problem at a-all, Ziggy," she tells him right as Canny yells in pain and discomfort from a vine blasting her in the face with the gas, which also lands you flat on your flank.
Canny has a full-on coughing fit as a reaction, choking out through the seemingly long-lasting barrage of them "Oh, that was disgusting!" before removing her hat and firing a gear at it. The sharpened mechanical bit slams through the vine, spreading plant bits around the battleground.
The trap vines are still wriggling around you, ready to pounce at any moment. You chance a look to Ziggy, still paralyzed, and call out “I hope you can still fight like that!" secretly hoping he absolutely can.
Luckily, he just mutters out something as his still-intoxicated Stand clenches it's fist. Suddenly, some of the vines slam down flat, unmoving despite wiggling around, like limp noodles or snakes without traction.
“What did you just do?” Canny asks as she slides back, her Stand doing some weird head bob as it glides back. That'd be a good dance move.
“Maeb 'em heavber," he mutters out through his paralyzed muzzle. Luckily, you get the gist of it.
Just then, another vine with what looks like a cleaver head races towards you, and you yelp "Then make them all heavy!" You duck right as you finish speaking, and dodge lasting damage. But it clips straight through your mane, dropping little hairs on the floor of the forest.
“Nawt tha' simple...Cahn only contro' so many thingsh at one time when I nawt paralyzshed," Ziggy blurbers out, helpless as a vine wraps around all four of his stilted, unmoving legs. They pick him and throw him back, flat on his back. He weakly groans, twitching in dull pain.
Suddenly, you hear a sheer shriek of pain. A cleaver vine clips across Powerwolf's shoulder, and while the Stand's blood just drives it into even more of a frenzy, Fluttershy's left shoulder bleeds in turn. Tears line her eyes; she's clearly not used to fighting period.
As Canny phases at the right time to avoid more cleavers, you feel your inner rage bubble up inside of you. With eyes of determination and righteous anger, you stare down the Timberwolf and growl out "We're going to put a stop to this. Now."
The Timberwolf seems unaffected by your intimidation tactic, walking forward to put everyone back at range. With a low reverberating growl undercutting every word, she responds "Indeed. But it shall be your inevitable demise that finishes this. Evolution always wins." To prove her point, she suddenly presses one of her wooden paws flat against the ground.
You can feel the earth beneath you rumbling seconds before anything happens, passing looks to your allies. Canny is looking around with inquisitive interest, Fluttershy is hiding behind Powerwolf who has not relaxed a muscle since the fight began, and Ziggy finally seems to be regaining feeling after that body slam; his forelegs, or his arms, rather, are beginning to move again at the wrist. Suddenly, the calm before the storm ends as pitch black vines with sickly-green tinted spikes burst from the ground, and grab you and Canny before you can react.
Both of you are slammed into trees, you in particular thrown headfirst. You feel blood leaking from your forehead and everything is spinning as you're dazed. Meanwhile, Canny is thrown in at her side, and you all hear a sickening crack as, presumably, a rib breaks. With the initial surprise attack over, both of you carefully start getting up, Canny on shaky hooves. They attack again. You manage to fold one as Powerwolf rips another up, but more and more sprout.
Ziggy finally regains enough control of his body to start floating, but he's clearly still feeling numb and woozy. Space Oddity physically grabs a vine and activates it's gravity-manipulation, strengthening it under the vine collapses in half at the point it holds the vine. But again, more and more sprout. It's spikes stab into your left back leg, and you're reminded that this crazy Timberwolf is watching all of this with a careful eye. You almost feel like you can't escape, even as you fold and fold more.
BrownDog77's Climax and Ze1a7in's Post-Fight
Seeing as how everything has firmly and precisely fallen out of hand, Ziggy looks over to you as you fold yet another vine. "Say, chap," he starts, woozily ducking under another vine before it, too, is crushed by gravity. "Can you fold a large section of the earth for me? I've got an angle!"
As another Venus Fly-Trap tries to shoot some gas at you, the vines ceding back into the earth as, presumably, her limit is running up, Powerwolf suddenly runs in and tears it asunder, Fluttershy taking cover behind it as it massacres the plant-life. "O-Okay," you say through gritted teeth, "What's this "angle?"
"Spoilers!" he calls out.
Feeling your frustration finally just break through your common sense, you let out an "OH, FINE!" before you fold dirt around the Diamond Dog, kicking up more dirt than he probably intended. No matter how dire the fight's been, a small part of you smiles at how dirty his suit now is.
Ziggy rolls his eyes and says, utterly flat, "Gee, thanks," before doing as a Diamond Dog does best: digging. Space Oddity lets out it's own rapid fire fisticuffs as the earth shatters around it's fist. Dust kicks up and covers everyone, getting into fur and bloody wounds, and you find it harder to breathe. And just plain hard to see, too.
The Timberwolf, now also covered in dirt, snorts at this plan. "A smoke screen? Not enough to save you!" she shouts defiantly, walking through the dirt. "Evolution cannot be contained!"
Ziggy smiles, that much you can see. "Oh, babe," he responds smugly. Celestia above, you hate that voice, "shoulda quit whilst you were ahead! CANNY! PHASE!"
You can't see Canny's reaction too well, but you can spot realization cross her features just before it does yours, as she goes intangible right as Space Oddity's fist shuts tight. Suddenly, you, Ziggy, and Fluttershy are pressed against the ground, a weight upon you all pressing into your backs.
"A-AH!" The Timberwolf yells out, also slamming down prone. The only person left standing is Canny, translucent and intangible. In utter shock, the Timberwolf looks around to see the plant-life also slumping under this weight, her own Stand's plants crushing themselves under the boot of gravity. "W-What...is this?!" she yells out in shock.
“I-I increased the gravity of the dust that got kicked up,” Ziggy struggles to say aloud under the weight of forcibly being unable to move. Again. Sure enough, the dust in the air is gone and everything it coated is now weighed down by the now immensely heavy particles. “Your Stand, the oh-so invincible Evolution, utilizes physical objects, and so they must obey the laws of gravity,” Ziggy smirks. "So much for "can't be stopped," babe."
Canny grins, and truthfully responds "Oh, you bloody brilliant dogger!"
Ziggy smiles proudly. At least, he tries to. “Thanks, now if you’d be so kind as to subdue her? This weight is quite suffocating…”
“What he said,” you groan out, struggling to breathe right.
“Yes…please…” Fluttershy begs. She looks so uncomfortable, but at least she doesn't look ready to bolt.
“Right-o,” Canny agrees, smiling as she rushes forth.
“No, NO!" The Timberwolf begs, trying desperately to run even as gravity keeps her feeling very still. "Stay back!"
“Sorry Lassie," Canny responds, grinning as she turns intangible once more and Smooth Criminal shoots forward. "Time for you to go home, bitch!"
“NO!” she begs again, but too late to stop Smooth Criminal.
“SHAMOSHAMOSHAMOSHAMO! SHAMONE!” Smooth Criminal begins kicking the crap out of the wooden wolf, until the last kick to the jaw breaks her, green eyes fading as her pieces bounce across the ground.
The minute she goes cold, the weight lifts offof you and the surrounding forest, and you even hear a few trees groan with the pressure off of them.
“Right, well, jolly good that worked, then," Ziggy responds, picking himself up as he tries to dust himself. Unfortunately, with all the dirt covering him, a little bit of sweeping with his hand doesn't cut it. He scowls, more than a little perturbed.
“I’d rather not go through that again,” Fluttershy says dizzily as she shakes her head.
“Tell me about it,” you agree as you shake like a dog to get the excess dust off.
“I thought it was kinda fun, actually,” Canny says smugly. You roll you eyes and shake your head. Pointing to the knocked-out Timberwolf, she continues "So, what we doin' with this slag? She ain't dead, yet." She's right: Timberwolves are famous for reconstituting themselves.
“Oh My…” Fluttershy stammers out, color draining slowly from her voice. You step up behind her.
“No no, that wouldn’t be right," you point out, "she's already beaten."
“I know, I didn’t mean we should just off her, ya thick idiot," Canny responds back, rolling her eyes sarcastically.
“Certainly not, she’s got vital information after all,” Ziggy says floating back by your side.
“Yeah she…wait, what?” you do a double take and see that his suit is no longer dirty and looks freshly laundered. “How did you-“
He ignores your inquiry and continues. “She said she knew where the deer were after all, so no matter what you do to her afterward, that bit of info is pretty vital.” He also has a good point there, but that damn suit is distracting you.
“But, um, how can we ask her questions surrounded by trees?" Fluttershy asks meekly, "She might be smart enough to not fall for the dust again."
“Well, we know what her range is now,” you say, deciding to just ignore the damn suit. It's a mystery that will haunt you forever, and you just have to ignore it for now. Shame. "So, let's just take away the plant life within that distance.
“And how're you plannin' on doin' that?" Canny responds, sweeping her hoof over the perimeter. "There's more trees 'ere than there are ponies in Canterlot! I used to live there, I counted!"
"Oh, you know," you respond with a smirk. "Just a little...landscaping."
Bringing out New Divide, you proceed to fold back anything living around the Timberwolf, keeping her isolated in a sweeping circle of dirt. You then nod to Ziggy who increases the gravity on the Timberwolf before Canny begins shaking her. “Come on then, get up!” she orders, actually smacking her disembodied head.
“If you don’t mind that is…” Fluttershy adds. The shaking works as the pieces roll back together and she revives, blinking slowly as The Timberwolf awakens.
“Wha…what’s going…Why can’t I move?” she grunts, completely held in place by Ziggy.
“Good, you’re awake,” you say catching her attention. She scowls again, but that might be her default expression. “So, let’s all just relax and try this again without all the fighting, shall we?”
"I have nothing to say to agents of the Chaotic One!" the Timberwolf growls at you, her voice trembling in rage.
"Chaotic One? She must mean that blighter bastard Discord. What makes you think we work for 'im?" Canny asks with a glare. No wonder she'd be angry, he outright shot her. You'd be mad, too, if you weren't focusing on where this was going.
"Your powers, these 'Stands' as you call them, are filled with chaotic energy," she explains, "And your disrespect for the natural order of this forest." She nods her head towards the folds. "I will not let you harm the Tree!"
"I...don't know anything about a tree, Lassie, but we only want to know where the deer are." Ziggy chimes in.
Fluttershy steps forward, drawing the timberwolf's gaze to her. "Please, Miss Timberwolf, I think there's been a misunderstanding. W-We're not agents of that meanie Discord. We didn't know we were intruding on your territory." You feel proud of how she was able to say that and only stutter once, as she's shaking quite noticeably. Strangely, the Timberwolf doesn't respond, instead continuing to stare at the yellow mare. It almost looks inquisitive, like Fluttershy is a puzzle that she's trying to figure out. A mystery wrapped in an enigma, so to speak. You then see the Timberwolf's eyes visibly widen, and all aggression leave its body.
"You...You are touched by Harmony! You are one of the Bearers!" she gasps out. "I- please forgive me, Bearer of Kindness! I should have recognized Harmony's power within you sooner. If you say that they are not agents of the Chaotic One, then I apologize to them as well. Release me, and restore the forest to normal, and I shall answer whatever questions you have." The pleading in her voice sounds almost alien to you after all the growling rage.
You, Canny and Ziggy look to Fluttershy, who hides behind her mane at the sudden attention before meekly nodding. With some reluctance, you begin putting the forest back to how it was, and Ziggy releases the gravity holding down the Timberwolf. After it is done, the Timberwolf puts itself in a sitting position, forcing your group to look up slightly to make eye contact. You didn't really think about her size, but wow. That alone is an intimidating presence.
"Thank you. I believe introductions are in order," The Timberwolf says. Which, they are, yes. "I was in the wrong, and I wounded you all, so I will go first. My name is Lupina. I have been safeguarding these woods as long as I can remember." The now-named Lupina bows her head humbly. Fluttershy, of all ponies, seems to have scared her straight, and you're still just so proud.
"Well Lupina, I'm Shooting Star, the unicorn is Canny, the diamond dog is Ziggy, and the pegasus is Fluttershy," you introduce. "Now what's this Tree you keep mentioning? Is it the source of your Stand's power?"
"In a sense," she says. Beginning to explain, Lupina speaks "Deep in this forest, in a hidden cave, there is a tree made entirely of crystal. This tree exudes an aura of harmony, and the shaft of a golden arrow sticks from its trunk as if it was stabbed there. This tree bore six fruit, each with a shard of the arrow inside. Each of the fruit was named for the virtue of Harmony that its bearer must possess. The Tree gifted me my Stand, and in doing so gave me intelligence beyond that of my kin. In exchange I enact its will, protecting and guiding this forest."
This new information gives you pause. The six fruit Lupina mentioned can't be anything but the Elements of Harmony, but that implies they originally came from some... Tree of Harmony? You file that away as something to ask Princess Celestia later. There's a lot of things you need to ask her about, it seems.
Ziggy then speaks up, a bit impatiently, "That's nice and all, but we were looking for some deer. You seen 'em?" One track mind, this guy.
"I know of an entire kingdom of deer in these woods, but if it's the group I'm thinking of, then there is another who would know their location better than I. A Zebra shamaness lives in these woods, and knows them almost as well as I. She and I often talk with each other, and she has mentioned a group of deer that constantly try to raid her stores of potions and herbs. If anycreature were to know where to find them, it is her." Lupina then proceeds to stand up, before turning away. "Come, I will guide you to her hut."
Fluttershy gasps. "Zecora! I know Zecora, she came into town a while back. Everyone was w-wrongfully scared of her, though." Whenever that incident was, you don't seem to recall it, but you were busy around this stretch of time where there was some hullabaloo, maybe that's when.
Lupina nods. "Indeed. Hopefully the misunderstanding was cleared," she responds. "She can also help heal you. I understand I wounded some of you rather badly."
You and the rest of the party get up to follow, but before you can go anywhere Lupina starts speaking again. "You were smart to do more to restrain me beyond simply removing the forest from Evolution's range. Evolution affects all plant life, and as a Timberwolf," Lupina turns just enough for you to see her front right leg and half her snout, both of which are covered in large, thorn-like spikes that weren't there previously, a set of vines that sprout from the back of her head floating ominously, "my entire body is comprised of plant life."
She then turns around and starts walking away. It takes you a moment to get over your surprise before you scramble to catch up.
What do you and your party wanna do now? <----- To Be Continued
As you make your approach towards Zecora's hut, deep within the Everfree, Lupina begins regaling you and the group with information regarding the flora and fauna around you. She speaks long and clearly, going on about every wonder present around you. A whole lifetime's look back at the long history of the forest, and this crystal tree, and you couldn't be more happy to listen to every piece of information presented before you. Every joyous birth and tragic death of it's dwellers, both plant and animal, are spoken to you and you gladly soak in all the information.
Your companions, on the other hand? Canny's not listening, and seems more than a little bored when she is. Fluttershy would probably like it, but she's still limping on her injured foreleg and doesn't seem focused at all. And then there's Ziggy, who seems about ready to interrupt. "This tree, an old oak, had it's seed planted more than a hundred years ago," Lupina states proudly, gesturing to another tree. "It has lived longer than all of you, and has seen it's fair share of-"
"Basically, it's old and has nothing to do with anything," Ziggy recaps, more than a little impolitely.
Lupina snarls and comes closer. "Excuse you," she tells him in a low, irritated voice. "This is my home, and I refuse to allow you to disrespect it so easily."
Ziggy shrugs. "If it's that easy, probably means I'm allowed to mock it." And thus, the two of them audibly begin arguing. You can't even tell what they're saying over them shouting over eachother at every turn. It's a little disorientating to try and keep track of what they're saying.
Canny, meanwhile, has had enough. "Oh, bugger me joggin'," she grumbles, before running over to them and shouting "Oi! Quit it!" This isn't something you really want to deal with right now, to be quite honest.
As the two, now three, bicker, you notice tears in Fluttershy's eyes. Someone crying? You need to help out. Stepping closer, you start to comfort the mare, clearly far more shaken at her first Stand battle then everyone else, by simply saying "You okay?"
Fluttershy shrugs and shakes her head. "M-My shoulder hurts...and I wasn't m-much help at all," she tells you in a shaky, quiet voice.
You respond with a head shake of your own. "Fluttershy, you did fantastically," you tell her, drawing her wandering eyes back to you as they widen slightly. "You fought smartly, and bravely, when it must've been hard for you to even think. You managed to intimidate your own Stand into doing his best, and that wolf is..," you pause. "...Temperamental. " Throughout your complimenting, her eyes grow wider and a blush is present on her face. She looks stunned, and a little confused, too. "Basically, I'm proud of you," you finish.
Blinking twice, Fluttershy starts with a stammer, which takes a second to clear. When she does, though, she smiles and responds "Thank you...I-I'm a bit confused, though." She lowers her head down. "You did a lot of the work...I-I don't even really like fighting, not unless my friends are in danger."
"And?" you say to her, still smiling. "We're friends, or at least getting to know eachother. You did what you felt was right and defended yourself and us. Just because me and Canny threw the most punches or Ziggy got her down, it doesn't mean you and Powerwolf didn't clean house on everything we couldn't stop."
Fluttershy picks her head back up, gazing into your eyes, and her smile grows wider. "T-Then I'll keep doing my best...as s-soon as my shoulder's better, anyway."
Satisfied that you pulled her out of her funk, you turn to the rest of your little party, only to see that the argument has...devolved, to say the least. With a growl, Lupina tells them both "The sanctity of nature is important! Without understanding the outside world, how is society supposed to coexist without it?"
"I'm not saying we can't "understand the outside world," doll," Ziggy responds, arms crossed. He's brought out his Stand by now, and he is hovering right next to Space Oddity, which also has it's arms crossed as much as the bulky suit will allow. "I'm saying we don't need the backstory of every branch to make progress. I'm here for the cretin who took my China Doll from me. Come to me with pretty flowers when I'm done with that."
"They aren't just pretty flowers!" Lupina argues. "These are living beings, old and strong, and though they can't speak, I am here to be their voice. If you don't respect that-"
"Okay, okay, look," Canny tells them both, "far be it from my station for the brilliant and attractive inventor in the area to play diplomat, but..." She first points to Lupina, addressing "Look, Loopi, I'm sure he's not apathetic about the stark beauty of nature and all that. He's just focused, been through the ol' block. I know what it's like to lose yourself in your work." Lupina seems about to argue, but then sighs and nods along. Apparently, she may also know what it's like to have such a heavy focus.
Before you can say anything, she turns to Ziggy and responds "But you, mate, obsessing on this isn't gonna help anyone. The way you're approaching this problem is basically you going-" She then changes her accent to a rougher one to imitate "-Pip pip, me problems are more important than yers, guv-" and then switches back to her natural one to go "-And that is not how you go about it. We're gettin' the reindeer, now hold onto yer trousers, yeah?"
Ziggy blinks twice and then mutters "My accent sounds nothing like that," before shaking his head and shrugging. "Perhaps my attitude is a bit standoffish, yeah. I just need to find this reindeer before I can...do anything else."
"The pursuit of closure by revenge," Lupina states. "It seems noble...but it is corruptive. It has dragged you to a darker root of your psyche. May we find this reindeer so that we may all know the real you."
"Amen to that, babe-"
"Don't call me babe, Ziggy. You are pushing me."
After a short while of more walking, you finally find the old shack. You had to avoid Poison Joke and other minor inconveniences to get her, but as Lupina says "We are here, Bearer of Kindness and...the rest of you," you can obviously note that you've arrived. A tree, hallowed out and obviously lived in sits before you. Above the faded red door lays a mask, followed by hanging sacks as your gaze shifts up each and every branch.
You don't want to waste any more time. It was the longest walk of your life, it felt like. You walk up and knock, and only have to wait a minute before it opens a creak. Behind the shadow of the open door lies a blue-tinted eye, staring back at you through the darkness. "Uh...hi?" you say, an unnerving chill passing through you as all you can see is someone staring. "Uh, this Timberwolf, Lupina, lead us here. Are you Zecora?"
At that, the door opens, and indeed reveals the Zebra in question. She stands a little taller than you, Canny, and Fluttershy, though still dwarfed by Ziggy and Lupina should she sit down, and is adorned with gold bangles around her neck and left foreleg. Her ears are also adorned with a gold earring on each, and her mane is styled in a mohawk. Upon getting a better look at everyone, she smiles. "Ah, Lupina, welcome back! And Fluttershy, too...was there an attack?"
"Yes, by...me, unfortunately," Lupina responds, stepping forward. "i mistook the Bearer of Kindness and her allies for intruders, and aimed to protect the forest from them," she explains. "Luckily, they were more than capable of keeping themselves safe."
Zecora sighs and shakes her head. "That is unfortunate, but at least you're alright. Come in, travelers, and restore your might." She goes inside to allow everyone to pile in.
The inside is a circular room filled with shelves, the shelves themselves storing potions and what looks to be ingredients for said potions. There seems to be masks on every wall, with a dreamcatcher over the door you just walked through. And really tying the room together in the back is a cauldron with a glowing green liquid inside, ominously though harmlessly bubbling. "Nice, erm, cauldron," you say first.
Zecora closes the door behind Ziggy, the last one in, and responds "I understand it's spooky, with it's ominous glow. But do not fret, it's just for show." Canny opens her mouth to say something as she looks over to said cauldron, but then she goes silent as her eyes nearly bug out of her head. When you and the rest follow her gaze, you can see Powerwolf inching closer to it, jaws open and seemingly aiming to chew on the pot.
"POWERWOLF, BAD!" Fluttershy suddenly blurts out, followed by a blush and shrinking back as everyone then turns to stare at her. Still, it seems to work, as you can hear Powerwolf's jaws shut on empty air and grumbling before he vanishes. "...Sorry..."
"It is fine, though I know not what you mean," Zecora waves off with a shrug as she walks over to the cauldron herself. "I'm sure you noticed something, but not something I've seen."
Canny moves to you and whispers "Why's she rhymin'?" You shrug and look around at everyone else. Lupina sits patiently, wooden tail wagging as she looks annoyed at Ziggy. Ziggy himself is looking over the potions with a judging and critical eye. Meanwhile, Fluttershy has brought Powerwolf back out and is managing to pet him without recompense, though he does look a little irritated.
Zecora, all the while, is grabbing bandages on a shelf close to the cauldron with her mouth and bringing them over to all of you. She motions for you to open your wings, and when you do, she bandages the small bleeding wound cutting through your left one. "I must say, these trinkets are quite...notable," Ziggy thinks aloud, seemingly trying not to dismiss them. You think to yourself how that's progress before gritting your teeth as the wound is covered by bandages.
"Zecora's really good about storing her potions stuff," Fluttershy quietly hums back in agreement, still petting Powerwolf into docility. A hum of agreement washes over everyone. Finally, the party is unified on something. You grin softly as Zecora finishes patching you up and moves over to Canny.
Meanwhile, Ziggy finally asks the million bit question. "So, we've heard about your dear deer problem," he says, leaning back against the wall and patting off spare dust from the sleeve of his suit. Of course he'd keep it as pristine as possible. "I've been looking for a deer, who stole my beloved China Doll from me long ago. He may be with the raiders, and we need your help to track them."
Zecora places the bandages back on a shelf to respond as she looks over Canny with a watchful eye. "Yes, I know of whom you speak. They drain my resources, and leave me weak." She scoops up the first aid on her hoof and balances it as she takes some gauze and wraps it around some mild cuts. "A group of raiders they are, always strong. I can hold them back, but never for long."
"Seriously, why the rhymin'-OW!" Canny mutters, interrupted as Zecora gets another cut wrapped.
"So, you know where they are?" Ziggy continues, picking up a sprig of mistletoe from the shelf. Around the sprig, you can see a note saying "Just in case - Loki Redmane". "Lupina said you did," he notes, inspecting the sprig carefully. "We may butt heads, but I'm not inclined to think she was wrong on that front, madame."
Zecora nods and moves on to heal Fluttershy. After inspecting her shoulder wound for a second, she sighs and then takes a deep breath. Rather than grabbing a bandage, she moves her hoof in and touches the wound. Immediately, a golden arc of electricity moves in, sparking between the appendage and the healing slash. And it is indeed healing, as you and everyone else can see the skin begin to settle. You haven't looked to see everyone else's face, but your jaw has dropped in awe at the sight. Once she's done, Fluttershy is as good as healed. "W-What?" Fluttershy asks aloud.
Lupina, however, is more familiar with it, it'd seem. She steps forward and asks in a low tone "I wounded the Element of Kindness enough to require Hamon?"
Zecora nods, but leans in and pets her hoof across the top of Lupina's wooden head. "Do not be alarmed, it was not severe. But using this talent was all I could do here." She turns to Ziggy and nods. "That was indeed Hamon, an extension of my soul. Through it, I may feel whole. It and Voodou has protected my home, but they have a large group and are rarely alone." She sighs, and paces around the shop, seemingly in thought. "It's not just me, and not just equines. The possessions of all are on the line. Griffons, Diamond Dogs...a green dragon, too. They are up to no good, I believe that to be true."
Canny raises a hoof up to ask about the rhyming again, presumably, but then twigs onto a big part of that sentence. One Fluttershy beats her to. "T-They stole from a dragon?"
"Indeed. Their greed begets fear. Their malice unending, and their clan drawing near." Zecora moves towards Ziggy and looks over him carefully. "They live in a village, the map shows they're close. If it's a thief you want, he's likely there most." She gives him Hamon and other treatment for his wounds and then goes to grab the map in question. She splays it out on the wall and then uses a couple spare tacks to keep it up. The village, according to a key drawn on the map, is noted by a red X deep into the forest. The actual kingdom of the deer, however, is a blue X even deeper still.
"They're separate from the kingdom," you note, feeling that should have been obvious from the deer at large lacking hostility. "Should we go to them about this? They should be under their jurisdiction."
Lupina shakes her head and walks up to your right side, looking over the map. "The Deer are far-off and isolated," she notes. "It will take longer to reach them, and with less reward."
"Besides," Ziggy notes, still leaning against the wall even as he looks over the crude map of the Everfree, "the dastard and marauder I seek wouldn't be caught dead in society as a whole." He crosses his arms and mutters "Not to mention a lot of bloody nature freaks."
Lupina turns to him with a look of irritation as she bares her teeth. "And just what do you mean by nature freaks?" she growls out.
Canny shakes her head and moves in to break it up, only to Fluttershy to bear a question that catches their attention in of itself. "U-Um, so," Fluttershy begins, "should we, um, perhaps tell Twilight and Princess Celestia? This seems like a big deal." She hides behind her hair. "If, um, that's okay."
"It's fine," you state, "except...I'd rather not." Everyone looks to you, and you respond to the unanswered question of "why?" thusly: "Twilight, she's a good mare, good head on her shoulders. But if we tell her, she'll tell Celestia, and if we tell Celestia, that just cuts out a middle-man. Remember what the Patient said, Canny?"
She nods. "Hidden failures...our beloved monarch has more secrets 'an she does treasure."
"Precisely," you respond. "So, I say, let's all go to the deer village first. Take care of Ziggy's baggage and stop this...China Doll taker before he does more damage." You bring a hoof up and in, letting it hold in the air. "Who's with me?"
Canny brings her hoof in first, muttering "Aye."
Ziggy is next, putting his paw on top of your hooves. "I would love to rid the world of this blight."
Lupina takes a second, eyeing Ziggy and Fluttershy, before bringing her paw in. "These raiders violate the sanctity of my home, and Zecora's as well. They must be stopped."
Fluttershy, meanwhile, hesitates a little more. She looks nervous, and even looks over to the door at one point. But then, a large wolf paw joins the huddle; it's Powerwolf, the Stand of Assertiveness itself, and it has made the choice for her. Fluttershy and her Stand share a look, before it fades away and she, herself, joins in.
You smile. "Alright, team. Let's go solve this mess once and for all, aye?" You break the grip and look to Zecora, already packing the map into a saddlebag as well as a few healing reagents. "Those for us?"
"I would love to come with, and right this wrong," Zecora responds, shaking her head. "I cannot just stand by. This has taken too long." She throws the saddlebag over her own back. "Let me come along, my Hamon will aid. And my reagents, too, will ease this raid."
You nod, and with Zecora in tow, you all leave the hut. After Zecora closes the door to her hut, Canny asks "Okay, but why rhy-"
"Lupina," you interrupt on accident, but decide to go through with. "Would you possibly consider meeting with our leader in Ponyville? Mayor Mare, I mean. I'm sure Ponies would be glad to see there's a guardian to guarentee safe passage."
Lupina sighs and shakes her head, rattling leaves between her ears. "I will have to decline that, Shooting Star," she answers and rejects. "I protect the Tree, but I am not the forest's "voice." It's not my responsibility to bend the other, hostile wilds and tame them to Evolution's destiny." She looks up to you and asks "All I seek is meeting the Elements and Former Bearers. Is that workable?" You nod, because of course that is, to which she responds "Excellent."
"Now then," Ziggy declares, "Let's go stop these thieves in their tracks once and for all. And Emeritus...you bastard..."
"We're coming for you."
What is the next course of action for your party? Stand for Equestria: Origin of Harmony
Surrounded by woodlands with your party, you feel a sense of calm the Everfree has never given before. As though having so many strong Ponies (and a Diamond Dog, Zebra, and Timberwolf, obviously) close by makes the forest itself weary. Though that could just be Lupina pushing back the less cooperative parts with her Stand and steely green eyed gaze, you appreciate it nevertheless. With Zecora and the aforementioned Lupina in front, you take the time to hang back and chat up Ziggy, who is currently staring forward with his gaze a mix of focus and restrained anger. "So, uh, Ziggy," you start slowly, unsure if he can hear you over the rage pounding through his heart and up to his eardrums, "this reindeer you're looking for...you said his name was Emeritus?"
The sound of his quarry's name being spoken shakes him from his focus, drawing a scowl from his muzzle as he peers down to regard you. "Quite so, that is his given name. Though, he does go by other monikers. "Forge" one place, "Copia" the next. Sometimes he even goes back to a crime scene and pretends to be his own son." He crosses his forelegs and clenches his jaw. "Bah...whatever the label, it doesn't matter. He'll choke on his own blood all the same, if he doesn't scream the same agony as all he's wronged first," he says with a cold, unshaken certainty. As though thinking of that very visual, of Emeritus struggling to breathe from his own blood clogging his throat, was all that kept him going 'til now.
"All this over a doll?" you think to yourself, weary and sighing yet also taken aback. As an actual response, you peer forward to the rest of the group and comment "So, how long? Uh, have you been tracking him, I mean?"
Ziggy, in response, purses his lips and draws forth a low hum, almost a growl if not for it's softer sound. "Oh, too long..," he says at first, before shrugging lackadaisically, "But if you must be precise, oh, around ten years."
"Ten years?" you echo back in surprise, eyes widened as you watch him nod. You take a second to process that before asking him "Have you had any, y'know, leads? Solid leads? O-Or luck of any kind?"
A frustrated huff passes into the air from his snout, though whether it's from the question or the soon-revealed answer is uncertain. "Absolutely. There's always a lead. But it's all shadows, and whenever it's not? I miss him by a fraction of a hair." With the frustration evident in his tone, he brings his fingers close though apart, as though squeezing something between the tips. "Just a matter of days, if not hours...if not minutes. All assuming he didn't leave weeks ago or was never really there at all. But, we'll cross paths again. Soon enough."
You sigh again, lips pursed and eyelids drooping in thought. "And these-these Deer Raiders, you really think he'll be there?" he asks.
"It's a distinct possibility," he says with a more neutral, plain tone. It seems as though the conversation is calming his nerves. "That's the one consistent thing from the trails I've followed, he loves managing thieves and slavers. He's like a consultant, bouncing from gang to gang, stirring up trouble and running with his earnings. I've made sure to show many of those groups that it was a mistake to accept his help. Whether he's with this group or not, the only way to know for sure is to check."
"And if he's not?" You posit, shrugging as you explain your hypothetical. "What if this is, uh, to you, at least...a red herring?"
Ziggy sighs, shaking his head. "Then I keep searching. There's always scoundrels and tricksters. Thieves and smugglers, gangs and slavers," he responds, "his puppet-strings tie into the hooves of the lower society until the blood leaks and the "fun", so to say...has faded."
You consider this for a second, and it leads to you thinking aloud "He might be a Stand User..." You then look towards Ziggy, whose eyes portray being in thought as you double-down and ask "Do you think he is a Stand User?"
A dry laugh creases out, lacking humor but retaining sarcasm, as though the thought were just another crinkle lying in his wake. "I wouldn't put it past him," he answers, "with how rapidly you've said they were appearing, it would be just my luck. Well, just our luck, old chap."
You shudder and respond with "Tell me about it," as your mind is filled with flashes of the sadistic blood-stained grin of the Patient.
Your remembrance is broken by a more genuinely mirthful chuckle coming from Ziggy, who smirks at you. "Alas, the woods are dark and dreary enough without talk of bloodshed," he says. "So tell me, old boy...which one is more your type?"
You swear a record scratch plays in your mind.
"Say wha?" you question aloud.
He chuckles again, and gestures with a tip of his head towards the all-female rest of the group. "The ladies, mate. Four of 'em right there," he explains, gesturing with his paw across the line of Canny, Fluttershy, Zecora, and Lupina. "Now tell me, which one would you rather..."dance" with?"
A warmth fills your cheeks until they're burning red. "Wha-dude!" you admonish with embarrassment that the rest of the group seems not to hear. "Quiet, or they'll hear you say that!"
"And what would be the matter with such speech?" he says cheekily. "Many ladies quite like a compliment about their features. All four of them have their unique assets, chap. Fluttershy and Canny, they've got the small-town vibe, familiarity. But Lupina and Zecora, ooh, exotic flair abounds."
"Nope," you say as you trot a little ahead. "Not havin' this conversation."
Ziggy doesn't stop, but instead doubles-down. Hard, for lack of a better term. "You mustn't choose just one, either!" he tells you eagerly. "You know what they say, the more the merrier, and that is a sentiment fair in war and sex."
"Lalalalala, can't hear you, sounds of nature are drowning you out!" You say too loudly, causing him to laugh. Unfortunately, this seems to catch Canny's attention.
Her monocle-clad right eye's brow arches as she turns her gaze towards you and asks "What's with the shoutin', Star?" An easy question to answer so long as you can think through a careful response and not refer to the thought of shacking up with her or the other mare-
"Nothing, we weren't talking about sex!"
Damn it.
Canny doesn't seem to process your blurted out slip-up at first, turning back. "Oh, alrighty the-wait what?" she says aloud as it finally crosses her mind.
You take on a nervous smile as you backpedal and shout back "Chess! We weren't talking about chess, I mean, no time to play, y'know how it is!"
She does not seem to buy it, especially not with Ziggy cackling behind you. At least he has some joy, finally. "Hehe," she responds, not seeming offended (thank Celestia), "well, just keep yer mind outta the Chess gutter 'til we're done here, alright Star?" She finishes the tease with a coy wink and a slight chuck as she walks back towards the front of the group.
You facehoof with both wings as you can hear a slight hum on your left from Ziggy floating close to you. "Truthfully, you can have that one," he snarks. "Bit too know it all for my tastes, old boy."
"Buckin' hate you so much right now," you mumble, before walking towards the ladies to get some space. That and, truthfully, you wish to learn more about Zecora. She steps with purpose, as though her mind had traced the woods before time and again on her travels. You raise your voice as you trot in step beside her. "So, this...Hamon thing. How do you know it? And more importantly, um, what is it?"
Zecora flicks her eyes to you in recognition of the question being asked as she keeps walking. "Through the passage of time, through many undead in their wake, Zebrican monks have used the power of the sun that they cannot take. The light, and warmth, and power binds, and erases the Risen and all of their kinds." A solar-powered undead killer, now you do find that fascinating. "I was taught it by a monks, who was taught by his kin. Trained to harness life to erase the darkest sin."
"Okay," you say, quickly remembering another time something similar was brought up. "Say, um, do you know any non-Zebrican monks who know it? Like perhaps a Neightalian Zebra?"
She raises an eyebrow at this, having to think on the answer for a second. "I know no one like that, there aren't many around. Hamon is nearly lost, buried into the ground." She then turns to you, and looks at the others in the process. "Now I have a question for you. This presence beside you, what does it do?"
She can sense Stands?
"Wait a tic, luv," Canny responds at first, "You can feel our Stands?"
Zecora does nod at this, albeit slowly as though thinking through her words carefully. "I can feel their energy, but I cannot see. It wraps around your soul, and fulfills their destined role."
"I wonder why you can sense them," Fluttershy asks quietly from behind. "After all, m-me and my friends couldn't until we got ours."
Lupina steps up with a theory of her own, trotting by Fluttershy as she rasps "Hamon is life energy. Stands are of our inner selves. Perhaps in some regard, they are the same."
Canny hums in thought for a second. "What're you thinking of?" you ask.
"Just wonderin' somethin'," she mutters, before letting out a shorter hum from her muzzle. "Can you use Hamon and a Stand all at once?"
"Celestia probably can," you tell her. "She is, y'know, Princess of the Sun. She probably bathes in Hamon."
A little further into your journey, your party has swapped around where they walk. You and Lupina are in front, currently having a hushed conversation about the very vegetation that seems to part for clear passage. In the middle are Canny, Zecora, and Fluttershy, all also making small talk amongst themselves (you can once again hear Canny ask why Zecora is rhyming, which is ignored.) And in the back is Ziggy, eyes closed in thought and grinning. He may very well be fantasizing about killing Emeritus, which wouldn't surprise you. You don't think about it too long, though, as you bond with Lupina a little more. "So, that wych elm?" you whisper to avoid Ziggy's snark as you point to a winding tree. "How old is it?"
"Two-hundred and five years," Lupina hushes back. "Legend has it, that tree stored the remains of a pony who has never been identified. Of course, no bones rest in it now."
"Fascinating!" you respond back with a grin as you pass by it to a river, where several rodents are splashing about. "And those coypu, or nutria, they're not too common I don't think. Were they brought here from somewhere else?"
Lupina hums for a second. "Yes, I believe so," she informs you, looking over the coypu as they wade in the water.
"Never even seen 'em before," Canny suddenly says, lowkey startling you. Noticing this, she shrugs, and says "Wanted to see what you two were talkin' about. Nutrias, huh? I've never actually seen one."
"Oh, they're semiaquatic rodents, usually herbivorous, quick breeders. They're usually mistaken for muskrats, which reside in the same areas but are usually smaller than Nutria rats," you say, rattling off what you know about them.
Both Canny and Lupina pause from speaking. Lupina looks impressed, but Canny is clearly astounded. "Nice!" she finally says. "They seem cute. Probably not good pets."
You shake your head and speak without thinking "Not in the slightest, they're very invasive."
"How do you know so much about this stuff, Star?" she asks, and you immediately blush. It doesn't come up too often, but when it does, you always tend to feel a little self-conscious.
"Well...ever since I could fly," you start by saying, "I was always curious about the plants and animals I say from under me when I flew. So, I hit the books, and uh...learned as much as I could! What kinds of plants are poisonous, animals and what marks their territory in case I need to be careful, stuff like that." Canny smiles at your enthusiastic tone, and you swear your own joyful grin is beaming. "Even though the Everfree scares me, just a little, I couldn't help but wonder just how this place worked."
"Impressive," Lupina says, making your attention return to her. "I never imagined...ponies who don't even have a talent or mark for nature loving it and caring about it."
You smile even more at this, and you swear your cheeks are beginning to hurt. "And if I may show off," you respond, before gesturing to a shrub to your left, growing pretty tiny pink flowers. "Oleander, poisonous and extremely deadly. But commonly cultivated. It's also called Nerium."
"Very good," she says. "Not too uncommon of knowledge, but it still fills me with joy that you took the time to learn it by sight."
Unfortunately, you all forgot to stay quiet. "Joy of joys!" Ziggy cheers from behind. "Now you can be boring as a party trick!"
You groan as Canny rolls her eyes and Lupina growls under her breath. This has been a long trek, clearly.
After a little while, you start to embrace that this will be a calm journey, not one wrought with terror. The Everfree is still at it's most beautiful and no one has really raised a fuss since Ziggy last ruined the moment. But in a flash, that changes. Zecora's step stutters and a sniff from her leads to her raising her forehoof to pause the movement of the party. "Stop. Here, but just out of sight," she begins, her tone of voice wavering as she tries to comprehend what she senses. To you, nothing seems out of the ordinary, but she continues "...Something here isn't right."
"She is right," whispers Lupina from your left. Her green eyes scan the forest, searching for the dark mark she appears to be tracking. "I smell death in the air," she explains, "death and...wrongness."
A sniffle from Ziggy is heard, still from behind you all, followed by his very casual "Smells like the Everfree to me, babe." He continues to, rather lackadaisically, sniff the air around him as Lupina bears her teeth. "Death and wrongness, won't say I don't smell anything. But it's par for the course, innit?"
Surprisingly, she doesn't turn and bare her teeth at Ziggy, despite him calling her babe and being casual about her concern. It's here that you realize that this might very well be a serious warning. "No, not like this," she responds with a low growl. "Be on your guard. All of you." A sea of overgrowth, most likely from her Stand, begins to cover the trees behind you as a physical barrier against ambush.
Following your example, you all summon your Stands. New Divide, Smooth Criminal, Space Oddity, and Powerwolf all emerge from nowhere and follow their masters as you all cautiously continue your trek. After a while more, about five minutes or so, you all begin smelling something foul and overpowering. "Yuck!" Canny calls out as she plugs her nose with a hoof. "What is that?"
"It smells like something's...rotting," Fluttershy replies in a meek sense of horror. As Ponyville's vet, you figure she would know what it smells like when an animal decomposes. Sadly, it may not be entirely uncommon. Still, you all reach a hill, and you put sympathies aside to take point. And as you crest the hill, you see something truly horrifying. "S-Sweet Celestia!" you stammer out in horror as everyone else gallops or floats up the hill.
In horror, you all see a green dragon. A full adult, larger than any animal you had ever seen. Or at least, you see what's left of it.
Decapitated and de-winged, the dragon's corpse is nailed upside down to a large wooden structure resembling an upside-down T, taken off the ground and made to dangle over a pool of it's own crimson blood. Things like teeth and pieces of flesh dot the blood-soaked ground, as pitch-black rats scurry across the red stained grass just under the beast. It's rotting. Decaying under entropy as it's heart has long-since ceased to beat.
Fluttershy can't help but look, even as her skin hues green from the sick and twisted visage before you. Zecora stands in awe, looking upset, though not surprised. To your surprise, Ziggy says nothing, and merely floats closer to the beat as the rats flee the Diamond Dog. "W-What..," Canny stammers out, her voice wavering out in shock. "W-What in the...What in the bloody Tartarus could have done this?!"
You can't even begin to imagine. It's hard enough to even wound a large green dragon, but to kill one, and to be so brazen and intelligent as to crucify it and use it as a trophy, a monument to their strength? Whatever killed it must be power-incarnate. And then you hear something chilling from an unusually wavering Ziggy. "It's him..," he whispers, staring at the dragon with his mismatched eyes in what you're sure is a gaze of fury and sorrow. "Emeritus...he's been here."
In shock, Canny blurts out "WHAT?! H-How could a simple lil' thief do this to a f-fuckin' DRAGON?!" But he doesn't even look back to her, still staring at the dragon's corpse.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" says the previously silent Lupina as she begins to pull Fluttershy away from the horror, successfully leading her down the hill with Powerwolf and Zecora by their side.
Confused and baffled, Canny whispers to herself "I-Is it?"
You nod and look back to her. "It is. Emeritus does have a Stand..," and then you look back to see the smoke plumes of many roaring campfires in the sea of trees ahead of this clearing. "And he may not be the only one."
With you, Canny, and Ziggy still up the hill, and Fluttershy back down the hill with Lupina and Zecora, you move down to the steep decline and begin to speak to everyone. "Okay, everyone, we may need a gameplan," you say, taking a second to sigh in relief as Zecora passes Fluttershy a drink to calm her nerves. "So, first rule is, let's avoid killing as much as possible." The thought immediately Fluttershy tense up as Powerwolf looms over her, simultaneously protective and hunting for whatever bothered her. In addition, you swear you hear Ziggy growl behind you. "Look...I'm not going to pretend we won't do whatever it takes to survive," you begin by saying. "I want you to avoid fatal blows, but I know that isn't always possible. No matter what happens, we win first, and kill last. And if we want to make it out of this safe and sound, we need to be able to do what we need to do, no matter how undesirable and grim." You choose not to bring up how Celestia told you to do whatever it takes to quell enemy Stand users. Even if she was right, all saying her name does is conjure up that image of her "secret failures." Whatever those could be.
Zecora breaks your reverie. "I will do my best, but this situation is grim," she tells you as she, with Powerwolf's nodding consent, pats Fluttershy's back. "I did not expect such raw sadism out of him."
"I will follow the Element of Kindness and Zecora in the sense of not slaughtering them," Lupina tells you. "But they will be crushed for what they have done to my home."
You want to argue against that, but you then quickly remember that you are in her abode that she has total control over and so you just nod. "Keep an eye on them," you tell Canny, who nods in agreement and goes down the hill after them as you walk towards Ziggy. "I need you to promise me something," you start, not being surprised that he is still focused on the dragon and whatever is bubbling up inside of him. "You can do whatever you want to Emeritus. But only after we interrogate him to find more hostile Stand-users." Ziggy still says nothing, but you can see his paw clench. "I'll take full responsibility for anything that happens after." After a second's pause, Ziggy nods and unclenches his fist. Good sign. "And...revenge is a great motivator and all, but...then what? What else can you do with you-"
"Have you ever taken vengeance before?"
Ziggy suddenly interrupts you and you pause for a second before scrambling and quickly saying "Well, uh-"
"Then how do you know it's not right?" he asks pointedly, now clearly staring off into space beside the dragon. He's not looking over the corpse, but it's rather lapsed his mind into overdrive until he's stopped looking at anything at all.
You try to say "Because every-everyone-" but are interrupted again.
"And who's "everyone", hmm?" he asks, his face scrunching up in irritation. "Self-proclaimed "wise men" who sit on the cushy seats and make the judgements for everyone while tipping their noses back so high that they don't realize they're sniffing their own flatulence?" He finally looks to you, his eyes not full of malice but rather that very mixture of anger and sadness you were sure of earlier. "People who have never had everything they've ever loved slowly taken from their grasp? These Holy Rollers claim revenge isn't the answer!" he growls out. "Well, to the deepest Hell in Tartarus they shall go, for they haven't felt the pain I have!"
You keep your breath level and stand your ground, even though Ziggy seems genuinely pissed off. "O-Okay, but like...m-most cultures agree-"
"Oh, yes, yes, "eye for an eye" "you must always dig two graves", yadda yadda ad infinitum," he says while rolling his eyes before staring right into your very soul. "They drill these teachings into you because it helps civilization run smoothly!" He doesn't even let you react before saying "It's so they don't have to clean up the bodies outside of their organizational charts. People like you, like Miss Clockwork, like everyone out there, have been taught one truth: to poo-poo revenge and condemn vengeance so that all you do when the time comes to balance the scales and get even is second-guess yourself. I thought so once upon a time myself..," he pauses for breath, and then with teeth clenched, grunts out "And then...he came along."
"...I..," you start to say, but then find yourself saying nothing.
"In answer to your question," Ziggy responds, still huffed up, "what shall I do after ridding the world of that filth? Well, simply put, I shall live." He sounds so sure of himself, so ready to keep that answer until either he or Emeritus dies. "I will live the rest of my life without any regrets or second thoughts, happy and relieved that an injustice has finally been corrected."
You stammer for a second, trying to respond. But nothing comes out, as you are so taken aback by his sureness that you have no real argument. Ziggy sighs and puts a paw on your shoulder. "I'm not upset with you, mate. I merely want you to understand," he explains, a gentle, truly friendly tone running through his voice. Is this the real Ziggy, hidden by a veneer of cynicism, snark, and vengeful rage? "This may be the only chance you have, as I pray that you never...never have to deal with the agony of having what you love taken from you." His stoicism returns, and he takes a deep breath in. "But if that day ever does come, where all you love has been taken from you..."
You look at him with pity as his shoulders slump and his paw retreats from your body. "Is this...really all just over a doll?" you ask to yourself in your thoughts as doubt creeps in.
Ziggy clears his throat and shrugs. "But anyway, enough of this doom, and gloom, and the horrid smell of a decaying dragon not five feet away from us," he says. "Go make sure the yellow one hasn't thrown her cookies, then let's come along and kill some raiders, yes?"
You agree and nod, trotting away from him and still thinking on the points he made. Your own Stand shouts for Vendetta. "Vengeance." Do you...truly even disagree? In any case, you go down the hill, and check on Fluttershy. She looks shaken. "Look...I'm sorry I even put the thought of killing them in your head," he starts, looking at Powerwolf, who is eyeing him suspiciously. "But we're all here for you, and we'll help you avoid the worst-case scenario."
Fluttershy nods and looks up to you. "O-Of course...thank you Star," she says with a nervous smile and a blush. From the side, Powerwolf stares into your eyes with a protective growl. You have no idea what that's about.
"Alright, well...are we ready to head off?" you ask, getting nods from around the party.
Ziggy pokes his head over the edge of the hill. "Well, then do follow me, lads and lasses!" he says. "I can smell the dirty rat and lead you lot right to him!"
"Let's go!"
What's next for you and your party? <----- To Be Continued
You can already feel your heart pounding in your chest as you approach the camp, its smoke stacks rising higher than its fortified walls, and in an instant you wonder if it was a bad idea to approach like this. Actually, it surely was, but you're already here, having blatantly approached the front gates like a traveling singing telegram from door to door. But what impressive gates they were, no matter how morbid the builders were. Even from afar, you could tell they were made with intense care. Sturdy logs topped with metal spikes and barbed wire encircling the area on a wide margin. inside, you could see not all of it was hand-crafted, as the inside of the camp seemed to be well-kept stone buildings from days gone by: ruins, if not terribly destroyed ones. Lupina growls from by your side. "They have cleared the interior of all vegetation," she rasps out with a sneer. "Mongrels."
"Actually, seems as though they repurposed it," Canny idly notes as she looks up at the intimidating smoke plumes. They rise to cover Celestia's sun like a shadowy Eclipse. "Flint and other fuels. Damn crying shame."
Something eats at you, and you realize what it is as soon as Canny points out the fuel for their flames: reindeer don't eat meat. Similar to Pony-kind, they're mostly herbivores. "What do they need this much fire for, anyways?" you ask with a slight frown. It's such a simple question, but every simple answer is one you don't want to hear. "I, uh, I doubt they're roasting marshmellows or corn."
"Forges," Ziggy responds simply with his arms crossed. Unlike the rest of you, with the obvious exception of Zecora, his Stand is at the ready, looming over him in its strange suit.
Fluttershy gulps, but nods and responds "Like a blacksmith."
"Precisely, babe," Ziggy tells her. He floats a little off the ground and stares up into the inky black of the plume of smoke. "All of Lupi's precious trees and Star's favorite arranged shrubbery is a part of their damned war economy." Lupina looks, surprisingly, bemused at the nickname. "Possibly bones, too, if they can manage some."
"They're creating...weapons?" Lupina asks to make sure. "They're violating the sanctity of the Everfree to forge weapons?"
"Oh, no doubt. Not a shred in my mind," he answers back. His arms uncross as one paw grips his chin in thought. "Though, of course, with Thieves and tricksters of this caliber, they are actually probably also smelting all the precious metals in there that have been procured through the years."
Canny smirks and chuckles a little. "I've seen this racket," she tells you all. "Back in Trottin'ham, Ogre Street, the riff raff would smuggle and smelt the stolen bits into whole bars of gold. It was heavier, sure, but it was a lot more value in a more managable size. Dunno how effective it was..."
"How do you know that?" you ask. She rolls her eyes and scoffs a bit.
"I lived there? You underestimate how dumb they were over there."
You mentally smack yourself for such an obvious question, but oh well, you had to make sure she wasn't currently a gold smuggler. Currently. "Well, this certainly isn't a very subtle operation," you change the subject quickly. "Between the dragon and the fires, it's almost like they're inviting victims."
"It's an affront to the Everfree," Lupina growls. "They must be stopped." Zecora places a calming hoof onto her shoulder, which actually seems to rouse her out of her anger.
Zecora smiles softly at her, before returning her expression to something more neutral as she makes her point. "It is a disgrace, that much is true. But without vegetation, what are you to do?" she asks.
Lupina grits her teeth and looks away with an aggravated look on her muzzle. "There is still vegetation living in my body," she tells Zecora. "But when that's gone, there will be no way to replenish it."
A lightbulb goes off inside your mind, a quick eureka replaced with the will to act. "I've got an idea," you tell her, capturing her attention. You gesture your head back towards the forest and the two of you walk back. With your plan in motion, Lupina begins to gather a small section of the forest together. Trees, bushes, vines, you're not picky. It just has to be a lot of it, and when its done, you can see a good amount of teeming flora spread out in front of you, almost enough to fill a whole living room. Using New Divide, you proceed to fold it all together, allowing you to bring it with you. "Ta-da," you tell her with a smile.
"Ah, that's clever," she tells you, with a smile dancing across her features. "It all still lives, and it's portable."
"Yep!" you respond happily. Good plan! "I'll stay close to you, so when we get inside and I unfold you, your options are doubled."
"It's still not as much as I would prefer," she does admit. "But it'll have to do. Thank you, Shooting Star." She sounds genuinely thankful with you, and your smile can't help but grow bigger as the two of you reunite with the group on the walk up to the camp.
"Oh, welcome back," Ziggy responds casually. "So, anywho, just wanted to mention, if you're going to be handling all the grunts, the normal thieves with no Stands, no Praising the Sun or whatever, you should try and stay within range of the stone structures if you can."
Lupina sighs wearily, and shakes her head. "I can track them wherever they may be," she says defensively.
Ziggy nods with an "mm-hmm," and then raises a finger in protest. "But you forget, this camp seem to be full of pyrophiliacs and your "all natural body" is quite, shall we say, unhappy with fire, yes?" Lupina lets out a low growl. You personally think he has a point, and Canny at least is also nodding along with Ziggy's answer. "Now, the stone structures are the sturdiest. That's how wood and stone work. Which means the forges will be in them. And I know, but you just said fire bad," he continues with the end of the sentence trailing off into an exaggerated, feminine sounding high cadence, "But where there are forges then comes quenching. And quenching involves water. And water sources, for the quenching and also when your top brass dehydrate waitin' for their fuckin' swords."
Canny whistles a bit, impressed, even as Lupina has to sigh and admit internally that he's not wrong. "Wow, Pup, bein' selfless and caring about our safety?" she asks cheerily. "Someone's in a good mood."
"Well, you lot insist on diving neck-first into a den of snakes just to avenge a China Doll you've never seen with me. I feel I should at least try and give tips to minimize the amount of bites," Ziggy defends with a slight blush. In spite of his defensive tone, it seems he does care after all.
Suddenly, Fluttershy gasps behind you all and moves you aside, muttering apologies under her breath, to see if her eyes deceive her. And they seemingly do not. She gulps down and points her hoof out towards the camp. And then you all see it. Lupina lets out an offended growl, barely restrained by Zecora as you, Canny, and Ziggy all bear horrified looks, with your eyes wide and your own blood running cold. It's more crosses. Smaller than those of the dragon's, but still used to restrain what are now many corpses. Some are even thin and stark-white, and you assume them to be skeletons. They are all in front of the largest stone structure of them all, resembling what can only be described as a Church. Disturbingly, out of all the miscellaneous structures and ruins, this Church is the most intact, with even decorations like windows. "I-I'd rather be in an actual den of snakes..," Fluttershy stammers out, clearly afraid.
"You and me both," you respond as you just stop and stare for a second. It's horrifying, but infuriating. You've never seen ponies ever do this. They'd start wars and kill other ponies, sure, but...mass crucifixion? You can feel your blood boil as fear coils in your belly. This has to end.
Ziggy seems unfazed, your polar opposite in emotion. After the dragon, and especially after chasing Emeritus for years, you suppose he'd used to this level of sheer atrocity. Resolute, he says "That's where he'll be, and that's where I'm going," before leading the charge in a slow float towards the entrance.
"So, how are we going to do this?" you ask.
Again, just walking up all willy-nilly sounds like an awful, awful idea, but as Ziggy leads forth, he doesn't seem to care and it emboldens the rest of you to follow suit. You march up like a pack of roaming misfit crusaders, up to the gate and into full view of the squad of bucks that are guarding it. One is interrupted by his conversation with another, and hoists a spear towards you with a vicious growl of "Halt!"
A second buck, slightly smaller than the first, also brings his spear up to confront you. "Savages, all of them. What evil do you bring before us?" he growls through gritted teeth as the polearm is hoisted tip first towards your party.
Lupina speaks first as she begins rearing back into a pounce with her own fangs sharp and ready, "You are the evil defiling this forest! Your condemnation of the land ends now!" The two deer look at eachother, shocked and incredulous.
Ziggy swoops up behind her and slyly retorts "Well, of course, that's her agenda. Mine? Well, me and the bastard caribou you ruffians have crucified giants for go way back. It's time for us to catch up." He snaps the fingers of his paw together as it suddenly recalling something. "Oh, bother, did I say catch up? I meant, it's time for his brain to liquefy and putrefy out of his ears." The threat of hostility makes the deer guards stand their ground to defend themselves, and you note that these two have decent armoring, unlike the Ponyville Bandit.
You frown a bit as you realize that this plan kinda sucked, and you whisper to Canny "So why did we just walk up again?"
"Oh, I dunno, maybe because these two canids decided to throw subtlety out the window?" Canny whispers back sarcastically with her tone laced with exasperation.
Fluttershy gulps as you hear something behind you begin to bark ravenously. "M-Make that three canids," she corrects as you realize, without your eyesight ever leaving the deer guards, that Powerwolf is hungry for blood.
"You mongrels!" One of them shouts. "You dare threaten us on our turf?" The other nods in agreement.
But Lupina isn't having it. "Your turf? You're both interlopers! All of you, interlopers! Trespassers!" She growls back with a vengeful bite to her bark.
The second deer guard turns his nose up to you and, smugly, states "It's our turf now, doggie. And since you have raised hostilities, it's time for you to meet our Papa."
"We can find the way ourselves, thanks," Ziggy states in a low monotone, as Space Oddity begins to float behind him. With a wave of its gloved hand, the two guards are suddenly slammed down into the ground via insane gravity, and begin grunting and yelling in pain. "Freebies for you, babe!" he tells Lupina. "The rest will have to be by your paw!" Using Space Oddity, he begins to float gently above the guards.
Lupina sighs, and then huffs out "Stop calling me that!" Looking to you expectedly, you unfold your little slice of heaven from New Divide, and she immediately begins to hoist her plants through the air with Evolution. Soon, both guards are cocooned in otherwise beautiful green vines, and as they yell in shock, they are suddenly shaken up before being hurled through the air into the forest proper. Not dead, maybe. But certainly retired.
Nodding approvingly, Ziggy turns his attention to the wooden gates. He cracks his knuckles, and then hums "Well, then, what are we waiting for?" as Space Oddity suddenly pushes forward with its hand. Under the sudden force of gravity, the doors splinter open into a burst of wooden shards, only just flying a past a poor guardsdeer with a piece of toast still hanging limply from clenched teeth. You and Canny both give him a sarcastic wave as Ziggy looks down on the poor bastard with a smug grin. The awkward staredown between you and him lasts but a moment before his jaw clenches to the point that he chews off a piece of the toast and lets the rest fall to the ground, followed by him turning tail and trying to bolt away.
Quickly, however, the guard is stopped by a pair of clackers (or bolas, if you want to be picky), sparking with golden electricity, wrapping themselves around his legs. He lands with a groan, kicking up dirt from the harsh impact, all courtesy of an effective throw by Zecora. After you see him get incapacitated, you see another deer, this time partway through his bowl of soup, frozen in surprise whilst sitting on the ground. Quickly, before he can react, Canny draws her hat and fires a gear right into his forehead, knocking him out cold. With a cocking of the internal mechanism, Canny replaces it on her head and asks "Seriously? Did we interrupt these sods at suppertime?"
Nodding, Fluttershy quietly responds "A-Apparently so," while pointing to a building not too far away, apparently the camp canteen and kitchen judging from the deer walking around with plates of grain and vegetables. They're too engrossed in their delicacies to even notice the subdued guards they've taken for granted. You look at her as she says "Well, at least they haven't noticed us yet, so we can-" Before she can finish the sentence, you see something run past your vision, and you turn back to see the vicious Stand Powerwolf suddenly burst into the building. Immediately, you hear a commotion coming from the canteen as screams, animalistic roars, and the sounds of shattering glass fill the air. "...At least he's just subduing them?" Fluttershy tries to offer just before a sudden splash of blood hits one of the kitchen windows. "...Nevermind."
"Then let us not delay the cleansing of the Everfree," Lupina responds before turning to you as vines begin to grow from her back, thanks to Evolution. "Come, Star Pegasus! Let us show that their debts cannot be repaid with money!"
You, at first, don't see the point of the vines. After alll, you're about to lead an assault, and you seem to be the only one here who isn't a neurotic mess or completely insane. "No, no, my name is Sh-" you start to correct her, only to be interrupted with a yelp as the vines grab you. Lupina carries you with her without delay or consent, leaving you trapped in a shifting, but somehow comfy, plant cocoon.
Lupina charges away with you helplessly in tow, floating in the air suspended only by the vegetation, as you watch Ziggy cheekily wave at you with that damned smug smile still painted on his muzzle, as Canny shouts to you "Stay safe, Star! I'm stickin' with the doggo!" As a shrill-sounding alarm pierces through the camp, Fluttershy and Zecora nod at eachother before diving for cover and beginning to make their way through a flank in the camp.
You grunt as you're pushed through the air in a way a Pegasus probably shouldn't be, as you grunt to Lupina "We-agh! Really should be more-CALM DOWN! ORGANIZED!" you shout, before suddenly being flung away from her. As the vines leave you, you are carted through the air by the heartless whims of momentum before suddenly slamming into two disoriented deer guards. You land on the dirt, unharmed but obviously peeved, while the guards are knocked right the Tartarus out and kick up the soil as they collapse hard against the ground. You sputter before getting up quickly, as you and Lupina huddle together to continue fighting.
Perspective Shift: Fluttershy
"Oh, no," you respond as you and Zecora are surrounded by a small platoon of enraged Deer guards soon after entering the flanking route through the left of the entrance gate. With curved blades and sharpened spears, they seem ready for blood as they encircle you and give you cold stares. You back up almost instinctively, even as Zecora bravely steps forward. "Allow me, Fluttershy. I will not permit you to die," she reassures you, before breathing in deeply and settling into a fighting stance. Overconfident, one guard charges right for the both of you. Zecora blitzes towards him as the yellow sparks of Hamon cover her hooves, with which she quickly lays into him with a barrage of punches straight to the jaw. With one final crack, he is catapulted into the group, knocking over a few more deer in his way. Before you or they can react, Zecora's right hoof suddenly stretches away from her body, zooming towards another one of your adversaries and clocking him right in the jaw.
Right afterwards, Zecora runs towards a nearby wall and suddenly begins walking on it, golden Hamon connecting her to the stone like an arachnid. She runs across the wall, before leaping off and diving right into the small, but armed crowd of deer. You immediately hear the sounds of a scuffle, and see several deer get catapulted right out of the mob with punches and kicks galore. One deer is pushed away from the fight, losing his helmet, before turning to notice you.
You yelp and back up as he comes toward you slowly with a sick grin, before charging right at you! But right then, a door to his left and your right, specifically the back door to the canteen, bursts open and splinters apart as a guard is thrown through it. The flying victim impacts the deer coming for you and knocks them both out as Powerwolf slowly slinks out of the shadows with eyes filled with rage. He looks to you, and then towards the mob that Zecora is fighting. "Um...okay, but please behave," you tell him, to which he grunts and nods. With that said, you and Powerwolf charge in, with Powerwolf making his entrance in by spiking one deer Zecora kicked into the air, like a volleyball, into the dirt.
With a combination of claws, teeth, and hoof-to-hoof combat, Powerwolf and Zecora begin laying waste to the platoon, with you watching and help direct both of them as a bystander. Teeth are knocked out, blood is spilled, and deer are bruised as a maelstrom of melee assaults them. And as messed up as it is, you're glad that you aren't being beaten senseless like the deer are.
Perspective Shift: Canny Clockwork
You were kicking all kinds of flank with Ziggy, and you could tell immediately that he was in his element. The two of you were synchronizing beautifully during combat, so well that it was almost unfair to the myriad deer you were knocking through. Using the gravity abilities of Space Oddity, Ziggy hurled the guards face-first into the dirt, caking their teeth in the earthy browns of Equestria and throwing them for a loop as dizziness set in immediately. With them already neutralized on the ground, it was an easy matter of using Smooth Criminal to sink them into the ground, keeping them at bay even as the ringing cleared from their ears and they began either shouting for help or trying to vain to dig themselves out.
You do this to the latest armed thug to cross you and the doggo, sinking him in to his chest. "Let go of me! Release me!" he screams as he recombobulates, quite a fun word if you think about it, buried in the ground.
"Who's next?" Ziggy asks rhetorically, before spotting a guard charging to him. With a wave of the technologically gloved hand, Space Oddity suddenly lifts him up off the ground, leaving him to kick his hooves in a futile attempt to find frictiojn against anything that can catch his fall. So close to the Church, you think he's earned that cockiness. Which is why you don't pay enough mind to him to notice the other deer charging behind him until it's too late. "GRAGH!" he suddenly growls in utter agony.
You snap your focus to Ziggy to see that the interloper in the engagement, a shorter but more lean deer, has driven his antlers straight through Ziggy's right leg, just below his knee. Blood begins soaking the white pants immediately as the leg buckles and shakes. The deer pulls back, ready to deliver another blow, before Space Oddity grips him in another gravity well and forcefully rams the two guards into eachother with the loud crack of broken bones, or at least broken craftsmanship and shattered armor. Space Oddity hurls them to the ground hard, as they lay unconscious and limp. You rush forward. "Ziggy! Are you alright?" you ask, serious and concerned as he lands on the knee, unable to fully support his weight with the wound.
He shakes his head and hisses. "No...no, I don't believe so," Ziggy honestly responds. "That was a hard blow."
"We need to get you out of here," you decide immediately. "Or at least wrap the wound u-"
Ziggy snaps a glare to you, fury burning in his eyes as he begins floating, thanks to Space Oddity. "NO!" He shouts without his usual decorum. "He's here, Emeritus is here! No pain will stop me from my vengeance. Out of my way!" He yells, as Space Oddity thrusts a hand forward and uses the force of gravity to bash the doors to the church wide open and begins quickly floating in.
"Ziggy!" You yell, concerned, before sighing and beginning to rush in after him. "You literal son of a bitch, wait up!'
Perspective Shift: Shooting Star
As your battle with the platoons and garrisons of deer take you close to the blacksmith's forges, you're pretty glad you listened to Ziggy's tip about water and blade quenching. The deer begin to pull bows and light their arrows ablaze, as well as draw torches off the walls and approach you. As they fire or swing, New Divide's folding-transportation and Lupina's Evolution work together to extinguish the inferno, before moving in to take advantage of the resulting vulnerability. You do whatever you need to in order to keep Lupina from killing them outright, such as folding the sharper thorns of Plundervines into the black vegetation or folding the wounds of the unconscious closed to stem whatever blood loss does eek out.
Otherwise, you both steamroll right through them, shouting "VENDAVENDAVENDAVENDA!" as New Divide's latest Stand-Rush smacks the last guard of the group into a cocoon of vines, of which Lupina then hurls towards the left flank, only for him to be smacked upwards into the air by an errant kick of Zecora's. As he plummets back down, Powerwolf finishes the combo by punting him with one of its hindlegs right over the impressive walls of the camp. "Well...that's them taken care of," you comment casually as Fluttershy and Zecora approach. "Everyone good?"
Zecora wipes some sweat from her brow, but other than that, both of them seem fine. "Y-Yeah!" Fluttershy tells you and Lupina. "Thanks to Zecora and Powerwolfie, we didn't get a scratch on us." You choose to ignore "Powerwolfie," for now. "But we haven't seen Canny or Ziggy since we split up."
"I did," Lupina responds. "They were both approaching the Church." She walks towards the structure in question, and the other three of you follow her lead. There is a veritable trail of crimson, splattered blood leading from the dirt right into the Church. "Ziggy's," Lupina comments warily. "I can smell him."
"Damn, Ziggy's hurt?" You ask rhetorically, double-checking quickly. "Well, we need to head in there and-GAH!" you are interrupted quickly by Canny and Ziggy themselves suddenly rematerializing out of the ground right in front of you. And they are seemingly in terrible shape. Both are panting heavily, clearly winded, and have cuts all over their bodies. In addition, Ziggy's right hindleg is bleeding from just under the knee, likely the wound Lupina sniffed out, and his face is swelling up and bruised from blunt force trauma, especially around one of his eyes.
"Star...we have to-" Canny can't even finish before having to take a knee, breathing heavily and raggedly after what seems to have been a hell of a fight.
Fluttershy and Zecora rush in to tend to their wounds as you move towards Canny and place your hoof on the less cut-up of her shoulders. "What happened?" you ask as worry enters your heart quickly.
Canny looks up into your eyes and huffs out "It was...dark...it was so dark. We were ambushed and couldn't see a damn thing..." A shiver claims her spine as she shakes in discomfort.
Ziggy sputters and pants out "It was...him!" He slowly begins to use his paws to support his weight, wincing as he places a bit of weight on his injured leg. His non-swollen eye stares off into the distance, as if trauma claimed him and he was focused on all the past trails and encounters. "I don't know how I didn't see it...Emeritus!"
Your eyes widen and you stand back up and into a combat stance, along with Lupina by your side. "His Stand was that powerful?" you ask. "What's its power? What does it do?"
Canny sighs and looks up to you. "That's not...an easy thing to answer, mate," she tells you softly. She stands up, and adjusts her hat with a grit in her teeth.
The cold rush of fear takes you as the sun begins to set, Celestia covering the sky in brilliant gold even as you realize the gravity of the situation. "How...?" Ziggy asks to himself in horror. "All of these years and I never found out? How? H-How?!"
"Never found out what?" you demand to know, clearly spooked by the raw terror in his voice.
Ziggy looks up into your eyes, and your cold rush of fear turns into a blizzard of terror as you see just how thrown-off and scared the otherwise cocky and dapper Diamond Dog is by whatever revelation he had just learned about. "Emeritus," he whispers. "Forge...Copia, they're...they all exist! I thought they were all the same reindeer, all aliases...I was wrong!"
And then another voice, one unfamiliar to you, speaks. "Ah...this is where the sacrifices had run off to." His voice is emotionless, stoic, measured. The lack of emotion is as chilling as the words he speaks. Then, the same voice speaks again, but now filled with emotion. "And they dragged four more down with them!" he responds to himself, mirth and joy overwhelming his tone. The six of you look up to where the voice is coming from, the rooftop of the Church, and see a reindeer with a brown coat and black and white facepaint towering over you. Standing taller than even Lupina or Ziggy, the reindeer is dressed in strange religious vestments of an orange color and ornaments in his large, spindly antlers. His right eye is glowing white with seemingly mystical power.
He stands to the right, and to the left emerges...the same Reindeer? Other than the orange vestments being brown on this one, he seems exactly the same. Same facepaint, same coat color, same glowing eye. And then, in the center, emerges a third identical reindeer. This one has black vestments, and this time is wearing an oval-shaped hat between his massive antlers, but is otherwise the exact same reindeer. Confusion swims over you, before you realize that this, exactly, is what Ziggy meant. The one in the middle speaks, his tone being a merger of the first voice's measured voice and the second's emotional and "normal" intonation. "And five of them...touched by the miracles of the stars. Beautiful!"
With a bark of utter fury, Ziggy turns to face them and shouts "EMERITUS!" This only makes the black-vestmented one in the middle smile. A smile that is too wide and bares far too many teeth. Like that of a predator.
The one in orange, to the right of the one you guess is Emeritus, says in the emotionless voice "He speaks your name so brazenly, Papa. So much disrespect in this one's soul."
The deer in brown, to his left, then says in the overemotional voice "Well, that can't stand! We can teach these mongrels respect, right, Papa?"
Emeritus regards the one to his right first. "Copia," he says, "you cannot expect all in Equestria to follow our example at first." He then says to the one to his left "And Forge, all in time." Looking back down to you all, Emeritus looks right at Ziggy, or perhaps right through him, and asks "...Do I know you?"
Ziggy gasps, and then snarls "Of course you do, you cold-blooded bastard! Ten long years ago, you took my beloved China Girl from me!"
There is a pause as Emeritus hums and looks away in thought. In the meanwhile, Fluttershy, Canny, and Zecora have moved the wounded Ziggy closer to the group to keep him safe. With a quick gasp of excitement, recollection flashes behind Emeritus's eyes. "Yes! The "China Girl", I remember her soul!"
You gasp, and you and Canny meet eyes. "Her...soul?" You ask her.
Canny realizes at the same moment what you do and looks back up to Emeritus. "The China Girl...was never a doll..."
You finish her thought with a gulp and your eyes back on the fearsome trio. "It was his love."
With an uproarious laugh, sounding deep and yet almost passing out of his throat far too quickly, Emeritus nods. "I remember you now! Ziegfried, I believe? You're the pup I backhanded with this!" He raises his left foreleg, revealing a silver scepter held behind the cloven toes of his hoof. "I see the eye never fully healed." Ziggy growls and clenches his fists helplessly. "That...was a long time ago. Far before the stars fell to our lovely family." He provides another deeply unsettling, toothy grin down to you all. "But the past is meant to be buried...and so are you." He nods to Copia and Forge, and they leap down to confront you six. As soon as they stand ready to fight, Emeritus begins to sing, carrying his voice across the camp.
"Well, I was born an original sinner..."
You leap forward to protect your friends, angry in Ziggy's place as New Divide prepares to fight, only for Copia's own Stand to leap up and uppercut you directly in the chest. You cough and wheeze as you are balanced in the air on top of his Stand's hoof. Dressed in blue coveralls, his Stand has a shock white mask on with pitch-black eyeholes, and slicked-back auburn hair. With another hard punch, you are slammed hard into a nearby wall, and thrown for a loop.
"I was borne from original sin..."
Lupina stands back and uses Evolution's vines to fight back, only for Copia to grab them in his teeth and suddenly yank her towards him. She flies over his shoulder and lands against the stone wall of the Church, before a downward blow from his Stand knocks her unconscious, making her body fall apart. For a second, in your concussed state, you think she's died. Zecora leaps towards him with Hamon sparking against her hooves, only for him to quickly snap his head towards her and headbutt her right in the snout, knocking her unconscious without much further effort. Almost like he's tracked her movements. Is that his Stand?
"And if I had a Silver Bit for all the things I've done...
Forge, meanwhile, first goes up against Powerwolf and looks at the monstrous Stand with an almost impressed smile as it roars in his face. Ducking a claw blow, he weaves a circle around the beastial apparition before swiftly diving towards Fluttershy, and somehow sinking into the ground itself. Fluttershy yelps and looks around for him along with Powerwolf, before he rises right up out of the ground and uppercuts poor Fluttershy in the face. She is knocked out by the blow, disappating Powerwolf with no fanfare. The injured Canny tiredly swings a physical punch to his face, but he blocks the blow and just smacks her in the jaw, sending her to the floor.
Emeritus hops down from the roof himself and approaches Ziggy. The Diamond Dog, in an act of defiance, spits at the reindeer and lands the saliva against his face. Emeritus steps back and nods with an amused grin, before suddenly stepping right on the stab wound in Ziggy's leg and making him howl in pain before ducking in and knocking him out with two blows from the scepter. And then he faces you. He walks towards you as your vision quakes and blurs from the blow to your head. But you can clearly see his scepter change shape. From scepter to staff, to club, to sword in his hoof. All just a show, however, as he changes it back to the scepter and just winks at you before sending it right towards your head. The last thing you hear before you are knocked out is more of his song, ringing out in your ears.
"There'd be a mountain of money piled up to my chin."
Stand Names: Square Hammer, Cirice, and Hunter's Moon Stand Users: Emeritus, Forge, and Copia
Stand for Equestria: Origin of Harmony
"Not every fight needs to be won, kiddo. They don't even need to be fought, most times."
This is what your father said to you when you were but ten years old, a foal who'd listen quietly as he dispensed onto you all the advice he could muster. Shining Beacon wasn't like you, but he loved you with all his heart. While you would be pushed into fights and roughhousing by bullies, your temper getting the better of you, he took more of a calm, logical reaction to the world around him. After all, he was more of a zen man, as you once put it. As you remember it, he was looking into the fireplace that particular morning, bathing in the soothing warmth of the burning orange plasma as he often did when you were little. You had complained to him that there was a colt who wouldn't stop bothering you, so you pushed back. As always, he encouraged the safer option. "Well, then what am I supposed to do?" you asked him. "He always does it when the adults aren't looking! My word against his! I have to stand up for myself!"
"Oh, of course, I'm not suggesting that you not defend yourself," your father rephrased. "It's more...you need to think smarter, not fight harder. If the teachers or parents can't see him, play on the defensive. Make him come to you, where you know you'll be safe. Either he'll stop, or he'll slip up." He gave you a pat on the head, with his hoof ruffling your short hair. "That's the best I can tell you, Star. Be strategic. Pick your battles."
You hummed, acknowledging his point as well as you can, when a thought pops up in your mind. "What if...a battle picks me? What if I can't avoid a fight? What if I get angry then?"
Shining Beacon looked at you with his steady blue eyes, and gave you another nugget of wisdom that day. "Then know when to run, hide, play dirty. You'll never get anywhere charging in..."
And that's when you wake up. Your face is covered by a leather mask, which tightens up around your muzzle and leaves you unable to speak. You can already feel a nauseous tinge in your stomach as you think about the material of your new gag. Your hooves are bound together with rope, keeping your legs close together. Your chest hurts from where Copia's Stand clobbered you just a few minutes before. Or was it hours? Days? Weeks? The passage of time is so foggy, and it doesn't help that the only indication time has passed at all is blue moonlight, cast through the windows of the Church. To your right is Canny, also slowly shaking her way out of a slumber. She's also wearing a disturbing leather mask and the same rope bindings. And to your left is Zecora, unmasked and unbound, but with her back to the room so no one else can really tell. Looking towards the room itself, you can see you're in a cell, with iron bars separating you from the altar and pews. You lay at the right side of the room, beyond one of the two sets of pews. In another cell fully across from you, you can see Ziggy, Lupina, and Fluttershy laying down, still fully unconscious.
Behind all the pews, at one end of the room, is the doorway, with two racks full of spears on either side. And on the other end, under the windows and behind those bastards Emeritus, Forge, and Copia, is a sudden drop. You can't see it very well from your prone position, but you still see a dip in the floor, marking a very obvious pit. Sitting in the pews are several deer you had previously incapacitated, still bearing wounds from their battles. Bruises, cuts. The deer that apparently stabbed Ziggy has one set of his antlers stained in dried blood, with a cast around both left legs, being supported by another cultist that, judging by the wary look he's giving Fluttershy and the nasty claw marks across his flesh, met Powerwolf's wrath during the chaos.
You are broken from your musings by a calm, rhythmic whisper on your left side. "We were drugged by the cult, but you and Canny were cured," Zecora explains quietly, hesitant to let the deer hear her. "Thank Hamon for your awakening, and your unconsciousness has been curbed. But as for the others, I couldn't aid. We can only hope, in time, the concoction will fade." You still feel groggy, so all you can do is nod. Turning to Canny, you give her a look, which she returns before laying her head back down. You need to listen in on this sermon, wait for an opportunity to pounce.
Clearing his throat, it is Emeritus himself who gathers the deers' attention with his hooves pressed against the wooden pulpit. "My children," he greets with a power in his voice, a captivation, that immediately captures his followers.
They respond back in a synchronized chant, despite slurs in their voices or pained gasps in their breathing, "WELCOME PAPA!" The sycophants manage to smile warmly up to the murdering monster, and the sickly feeling in your gut grows deeper. You can hear love and admiration in their combined tone, and the idea that this force of nature is somehow a cult of personality burrows into your head deeper. All of this, under Celestia's nose? Or maybe, another "hidden" piece of the puzzle.
At the sound of the his followers' joy, Emeritus himself gives a toothy, sickening grin back. Their cheers drive his wicked, black heart into overdrive. "Very good. My children, we come to you today for another sacrifice, present to our Lord and his wicked ways. The power vested in us by the fortunate soul of Grogar demands recompense. And today, we have six souls, six vestiges of flesh and of time, to give back to him." Grogar? Sounds...vaguely familiar. Vaguely. Nature was a bigger strong suit to you then history, it's likely something Twilight knows more about, if anyone. "But not just any sacrifices! No, Stand-using sacrifices! And even better, one has received Papa's touch years in the past!" The deer jeer into the other cell's direction, eyes burning towards Ziggy as he lays limply, shifting only slightly due to the sleeping toxin's effects. You watch as Forge and Copia each move towards the cells, standing beside the barred doors before facing the church once again. "Once the price of mortality has been met, we may bring our Lord back from the wretched abyss, and we will all be gifted a fraction of his essence. But for them, we will not be crucifying them! No, no, they're special, they deserve..."
"THE PIT!" the crowd and Forge respond back with yells of jubilation. Copia also replies back with the same words, but in his usual measured apathy.
"The Pit! Yes! Behind me is a well of creatures beyond our scope of control," Emeritus explains, now getting even more excited as the energy of his voice echoes across the Church walls. "The beasts will devour these Stand-users, and if they survive, then me and my brothers, your uncles, will devour them ourselves. The power of a Stand-using soul is so much richer than that of a normal Pony, a normal Dragon, a normal Zebra! But...hmm, before we descend them to the depths to be gorged upon...I have a story to tell you all." Emeritus points towards the other cell and motions with his hoof. Forge grins manically, and opens the cell door before dragging Ziggy out onto the floor with his hind legs. You share quick glances with Zecora and Canny. It's almost time to strike.
As the Diamond Dog lies on the ground, leg now bandaged judging by the ripped away leg of his designer pants, Emeritus looms over him, still on the Pulpit. "You see, long ago..." The deer lean forward in their chair, hinging off every word. "Ten years ago, to be precise, I was wandering the un-colonized wilderness outside of Trottingham, seeking followers to lead the way towards Lord Grogar. Very few of you who are here now come from that recruitment expedition, unfortunately. Disease and war takes all allies. While there, I stumbled across a Diamond Dog abode, a cave and tunnel system. I knew it would contain iron, bronze, gold, copper, and jewels that I could use to fund or forge my true path, so me and two of my children wandered in. Most of the inhabitants fled. Some died painful, gruesome deaths. But two stood in my way, a male and a female." Emeritus looks down at Ziggy with a frightening glare, his glowing eye in particular trained on his face. "Ziegfried and...Geeling? I believe? His beautiful China Girl, he referred to her as. Ziegfried wanted to defend the jewels and his woman, but she wanted to fight with him. Her home, her riches."
"Valiantly," Copia tells the group in his low, eerily calm voice. "Valiantly did they fight together. Our group was overrun, either retreating into the woods or retreating into unconsciousness. Ziegfried's Space Oddity was difficult for Papa to fight against. Gravity is, itself, a cruel god."
"But Papa is stronger than all in Equestria!" yells Forge in jubilation. "And gained the upper hand! One lucky backhand with the scepter form of Square Hammer was all it took to concuss Ziegfried! His eye started to bleed, popped a few blood vessels. And as you could see, it never fully healed!"
Emeritus nods to his two brothers. You look down at Ziggy in sympathy, empathy...anger. Anger that they got away with it for ten years. "And all that was left was the China Girl. I made him watch. I made him watch with his clear eye as I tore into her flesh and separated her carotid artery. We both watched as her thrashing turned to a gentle twitch...and then nothing. I left then. I knew staying too long would give Ziegfried a second wind. And why I didn't finish him off?" Emeritus steps away from the pulpit, and jumps down to the crowd's level, looming over Ziggy. "I wanted him to live with his failure. To caress his love and know she will never come back." Emeritus looks up and motions for both cells to open. "It's time, my children! Let us send these gifted heathens to Grogar!"
The other cell opens first, allowing the emotional Forge to also pull out Fluttershy and the listless pieces of Lupina. You look towards your allies, and get nods back.
First, Zecora sneakily undoes your knot with Hamon, as your Stand phases through the ground and touches the bars. Right as Copia opens the door, the bars suddenly fold and Copia is blindsided as New Divide manages to land a clean uppercut on his jaw. He flies back onto his side, before slowly getting up with little more reaction than a pained grimace and blood emerging from his bottom gum. You quickly fold in Canny's rope, freeing her from her binds, as you reach back and take off your mask. The other deer flip their shit at this, yelling in horror, before jumping out of their seats and heading towards the entrance to the weapon racks. "Canny, you need to run. We'll save the others," you tell her. She makes an indignant, muffled grunt at this, but you object back with "One of us running will separate them. Better odds that one of us run then all of us die here. Pick your battles, Canny! Go!"
Canny groans, but gets up and books it. The other deer raise their spears, only for Smooth Criminal to let Canny move straight through them, and the door. You and Zecora ready into battle stances, with New Divide behind you and Zecora waving her Hamon-charged rope bindings, two of them from your bondage as well as hers. You know it's likely that you're heading down the pit anyway with the numbers and the Reindeers' undivided attention, but like you told Canny, and like your father told you, you have to know when to fold them.
Emeritus growls as Forge and the armed Reindeer approach you. "Copia! After her!" he yells back, which the emotionless brother nods to before slowly walking out of the church, shutting the door behind him.
Perspective Shift: Canny Clockwork
Phased into a tree, as inconspicuous as you can be, you take a deep breath and let a shallow one back out. The plan is simple. Run back towards Ponyville, round up a militia, and chase them off. Hoping, praying all the while, that Star and the others are still alive. Your mask is now gone, freeing your muzzle from the gag as unfiltered huffs of air become the only things you're willing to let loose into this world. Slowly, you emerge out of the tree and move into another one, knowing that remaining still for too long lessens the chance that your friends and allies will survive.
Suddenly, you feel a chill down your spine. The air grows still, almost stagnant, as a soft hum fills the air. A quiet song, slipping through pursed lips. You peek just enough of your head out of the the trunk of the tree you're hiding within to determine where it's coming from.
It's Copia. The creepiest of the buggers, all stark and cold. Conditioned and calculated, he is. His Stand has emerged, staring with just the blackest eyes. Like Tirek's eyes. Knowing he's likely to be looking for you, you move your head back in and stay still, hoping he didn't notice you. He's still humming, in the only real display of any feeling he seems to have. A soft melody-
The tree you were in bursts apart, stopping your idle thoughts dead. You can tell, the sound of splintering wood and the mighty heft of the trunk's collapse to the ground overwhelms you, from the direction and distance as where you were. He knew you were there, that has to be the case. How? Did you leave hoofprints, did you make a sound as you phased out of it? His humming gets closer, louder somehow. Hoofsteps draw closer. You breathe in deeply, trying not to panic.
And then as quick as the first tree bursts, a solid chunk of the one you're hiding in bursts apart from a vicious, white-hoofed punch. Eyes widening, you slip back into it, only to see Copia peer into it. His glowing eye widens as he spots you, and his only response is a whispered, faint "Found you."
You bolt. Just as his Stand destroys your hiding space, you phase back into reality and begin running deeper into the brush as splinters fall from your hair. Your lungs burn as you flee, before you spot a far taller vantage point: an overgrown, abandoned shack the deer cultists must have left behind during their non-sedentary expeditions. Phasing through the wall with Smooth Criminal's intangibility, you quietly, but quickly, sneak upstairs. It's wooden interior is filled with plant life as you can smell blood in the air and spot discarded weapons around. This must've been the sight of a battle, and when the place was damaged in the fighting, the deer just left it to rot.
Staying by the window and looking out to the forest, you watch as Copia emerges not too far behind, just through the brush. His humming appears, by the shape of his lips, to have evolved to a whistle as his eyes remain trained to the ground. As he walks, he spits a bit of blood onto the ground from Star's uppercut. His eyes keep trailing across the path you took, as if he's tracking you. And his Stand is out the entire time, also peering with him. And it's there a thought crosses your brilliant mind: if his Stand's out, and he's tracking everything you left behind, as you watch him peer at footprints you can see, or lean down to sniff the grass and the splinters that shook out of your Mane, then...
His vision slowly moves up to meet yours, as his Stand stares daggers into you. In a panic, you look away to search for escape options, and then snap back to look at him.
He's vanished. Ice suddenly ebbs through your veins as a chill races through your spine.
You can't hide from him.
Perspective Shift: Shooting Star
Collapsing onto your side, you look back up towards the opening of The Pit, seeing several deer, including Forge, staring down at you from above. "Escape is futile!" he yells down at you. "We'll find her, and she will be devoured as well! Assuming Copia doesn't kill her on the spot." The deer scatter back as a trapdoor closes, cutting The Pit's light-source out.
With the sound of deep breathing as the only foretelling, a torch in the space underneath the Church lights up. A quick glance shows Zecora as the one behind it. Her arm is ablaze in the sparks of Hamon energy. She then walks towards another torch and sets it ablaze as well. As she carries on this task, you can see the others with you, now regaining consciousness and constitution. Lupina is the first to really regain her faculties, standing upright and peering around the darkness with a Timberwolf's night vision, aided by the darkness's fading away thanks to Zecora. "Where are we?"
"The Pit," you answer back as you stand up yourself, and shake the mental cobwebs off. "It's the cult's method of execution for Stand-users."
Zecora, still focusing on her breathing to activate the Hamon energy rippling through her body, does manage to reply "Filled with monsters and dread, it's Emeritus who'll kill us if we're not dead." Every time her arm contacts a torch, the Hamon glows scarlet and seems to spark into overdrive against the tip of the stick.
Fluttershy gets up next, slightly dizzy. You move forward and support her on your shoulder as she catches herself against you. With a huff, she blushes and stands up off of you, smiling shyly and replying "T-Thank you, Star." You smile back and nod. "S-So, um, scary monsters? I can help with that. W-We may not even need to fight."
"Still that rat bastard Emeritus to worry about, though." Ziggy is the last to rise, sitting against the stone walls as he tries to rest his still-out of commission leg. "Oh, hell's bells, did...who has the number of the carriage that hit me, my head is killin' me."
"Emeritus drugged us," you tell him, to which he just lets out a heaving sigh. "...Ziggy," you begin. It seems to capture his dazed attention somewhat, his eyes peering to you. "Why didn't you tell us? That the China Girl was a real person, what happened to her, that sort of thing."
Ziggy blinks twice, his eyes finally refocusing as the last of his grogginess fades as rapidly as it seems to have done for Lupina and Fluttershy. For a second you fear a blow-up, but then he simply nods, rests his head against the wall. His eyes flick up and to the left, staring into the fire of a torch just overhead. "Trust is a hard thing to quantify," he begins. "Oh, now, believe me, you've earned it, getting this far. But...it's easier, being closed off. What sounds like a less-daunting stipulation to asking a stranger's information? Someone broke a prized possession, or someone murdered your lover?" Ziggy lays his paws over his stomach, interlacing his fingers and breathing in deeply. "The day Geeling died, I lost so much more. My pride, my strength, my dignity. Friends and jewels and gems. My eye here is still blurry and bright lights are so much more uncomfortable. The dapper suit and the quest for vengeance, it's all I had. That's so much baggage to put on someone just living their life, even if they might be the next victim. I may put my quest before right or wrong, justice or lawlessness. But I don't want to drag people into this strange war of mine if they have nothing to point to, if they can't help me in some way. So I just...use my favorite pet name. End it there, let them assume what they want or suss it out if they're smart enough to, and take what I need." He looks back to you. "I was alone long enough that it looked like no one would follow me into the abyss. But here we are."
"You never have to be alone," Fluttershy tells him. "Not again. I-I may not be much, but I'll still help you, so will all of us."
"Aye," you respond. Zecora just nods as the last torch is lit up. The room you're in is actually a corridor, stretching to two different shadowy doorways.
Lupina stares at Ziggy for a second, before responding thusly "Everytime you call me babe, I'm tempted to walk away. But I haven't. Emeritus and his men have put the Everfree and the Elements into harm's way. I will aid you in stopping them."
Ziggy smirks, and using Space Oddity, begins to float into the air with his passion revitalized. "You lot really are teaching a old dog something new. I welcome this. But be forewarned, it'll only get trickier from here." He points to you. "You. No hard feelings, aye?"
"Yeah," you tell him. "I'd hide my pain, too, if I thought it'd protect people. Which isn't healthy, but it's...natural."
"Well, there we go! Not healthy, but natural." Ziggy responds. "No more secrets, fellows! Let us all...wait...wait, wait, wait, where's Clockwork?" He peers down the corridor into the shadows as if he'd see a splash of green against the black, as if she'd have run off on her own. "Canny? Where are you, bird?"
Zecora finally enters the conversation as her Hamon fades from view. "We sent her ahead, to gather aid. Copia's following her, to ensure their debt's repaid."
"Backup...fruitful, but in terms of beings we need alive, I would have volunteered the Bearer of Kindness," Lupina tells them with a courteous nod to Fluttershy, who looks aside sheepishly at the attention. "But I suppose it was out of my paws." With a burst of Evolution's power, Lupina is covered in razor-sharp thorns, as her wooden body is reinforced with extra overgrowth and a winding armor made of deadwood and branches. Three solid mutations to aid her. "Tell me, if Emeritus and Forge are going to come down here after their creatures of chaos are removed from play, they must have an exit or second entrance."
That makes sense to you. "We'd need to find it before they come down here, though. And this place is a dark, musty maze. Ziggy, can you grab a few of these torches to take with us?" Ziggy looks towards the torches on the wall, and pilfers it as Space Oddity does the same. Meanwhile, you blow out a few and fold them to reinforce the supply. "Fluttershy, does Powerwolf have a night vision ability?"
Fluttershy hums in thought. "Maybe. I-I don't know. But if he does, he could lead the way." From the shadows steps the monstrous Stand in question, growling as it sniffs openly into the air for prey. "Okay. How about...Lupina and Zecora can handle themselves in a straight fight, so I-I guess they should lead."
"Works for me, and since the rest of need to use our Stands for the advantage, how about Ziggy in the middle, with me and Fluttershy in the back?" you respond. Thankfully, this seems to get their support. Heading into formation, you and the party simply pick a direction and start walking forward. Two wolves with nightvision, one of whom is a Stand, and one nightvision Diamond Dog should lead the way fruitfully. Plus the torchlight, which helps you, Zecora, and Fluttershy follow them. Growls begin to fill the air as the beasts are now aware you're there and are on the hunt. But you have the objective, so you march forwards, staying calm into the bleak, shadowy depths of The Pit.
Perspective Shift: Canny Clockwork
Chaos, panic, rage. Shattered windows and broken doors. Everytime you go to make your escape, Hunter's Moon throws a fearsome blow and blocks your escape with it's terrifying strength. One of these punches caught you at the beginning of this siege, after Copia vanished from sight. It wasn't much, but your right foreleg feels bruised at the knee, swelling as even a glancing blow rocked you. You breath hastens, you need to think fast. With a yelp, you quickly phase into the floor itself, underground, right as Copia and Hunter's Moon cease their assault. Floating through the dirt and mud, you can hear his calm hoofsteps on the wooden floor, like he wasn't assaulting you like a berserker a second ago.
Hunter's Moon has a tracking ability. It seems to be able to spot things like hoofprints, discarded debris, and even sounds, as evidenced by how it was able to cut off your escape through conventional means. After emerging onto the grass outside the shack, you cautiously make your way into the woods, breathing in slowly. If it's sound it wants, it's sound it'll get.
With a frown, you magically remove your hat with your horn, and inspect it. Tipping it over and releasing a latch, you reveal the firing mechanism for your gears. Sighing, you set it to a remote-fire activation, and pull out a small remote from within the hat itself, before placing it against the ground, angled to fire up into the branches of a nearby oak. Then, you phase back into the ground itself, and blindly leave the area. The sacrifice of your favorite gadget and accessory weighs on you already, but it's probably better that then losing an arm, or your head. Emerging, you find yourself on a dirt path, close to a hill. You can recognize it already, it's attached to where you approached this Celestia-forsaken place already. Salvation, so close, it's the first thing tonight to fill you with hope. Now's the perfect time for a distraction. You pull out your remote and hear the satisfying, hard clank of one of your prize gears firing, and the rustling of branches. Here's hoping he took the bait.
You remain cautious as you walk on the dirt path, passing the Oleander Star pointed out, the river the Nutria were playing in, and the spot in the road where Star blurted out his thing about chess. Or sex. One of the two. You chuckle softly, trying to settle your still rapid-fire heartbeat as you hope you lost Copia.
Finally, you come across the woodland devastation of the battle with Lupina. Destroyed trees, folded soil and grass. So close to freedom-
Something impacts the dirt behind you. You whirl around quickly to see it's your own hat, your prized possession. Destroyed. Cogs and gizmos bursting out of torn fabric and desiccated felt. Your heart sinks lower into your chest. Looking up from it, you see Copia step out into the open moonlight, staring you down unblinkingly. His head tilts to the side, staring at you like he's admiring a collection of butterflies. "This is close to Ponyville," he tells you. "And as far as you go. Whether you die here or die in the Pit, it matters not to me. I shall drag you back to despair." Smooth Criminal floats beside you, as you frown and ready yourself. "I have seen cowards strangle themselves on gluttonous hubris or gouge their eyes out to avoid our wrath. But you, you both fight and fly. Hooves raised in a stance of battle, but ready to rear back and trot away. What say you, then?"
"I'm not dyin' here, neither are my friends." You glare back into his eyes. "Fuck off back to your camp. I'm too close to fail now, mate."
Copia's head tilts to the other direction, unfazed. "You are not the first to threaten this to me. But your Stand...tired though you may be, this power may be an equalizer. Know that you will fade in reverence." Hunter's Moon is summoned, hanging over his shoulder with the same tilt of the head. "Come now."
It seems like merely a second after your opponent spoke of "perfection", he was right back on the offensive, with rage evident in the hard blows swinging towards you and your Stand. Despite how little Copia has emoted in the brief time you've shared hostilities with him, his blank face belies shaking hooves as his aggression is put on full-display once more. You start with your usual defense of phasing through his blows until you can finally dip in and strike back, but as his Stand misses a big punch and seemingly grants you a chance to strike back, your own mistake immediately becomes apparent. You unphase back into the word as his physical hooves suddenly throws dirt up towards your face, into your eyes. "Bloody-!" You blurt out, only to be interrupted by a hard strike to the center of your muzzle, propelling you across the ground. You swear you can hear a snap, but whether that's your nose breaking or the cracking of twigs across the battlefield is unclear as your mind swims.
You blink away dirt and pain, only to see Hunter's Moon's hoof careening towards your face. Gasping, you bob your head away from the blow as an explosion of soil kicks up from the force, and you scramble onto your feet. You're vaguely aware of the taste of blood, and how much harder it is to inhale; your nose is definitely broken. "I told you," he speaks calmly. "You are not the first." He steps towards you, slowly, deliberately, and you step back a little. The force of his blows is a lot stronger than you think you can take; more strikes like the one that snapped your sniffer out of alignment, and your spine might snap next.
Out of options in terms of a straight fight, you surround your hat's remote, tossed carelessly as the fight resumed, in your magic once more and hit the button. The screeching clank of machinery sounds across the grounds, and one of your gears falls listlessly out of the barrel, but that seems to be enough as the new noise cause his gaze to flick back and to his left. You phase underground in his moment of weakness, and bolt towards Ponyville, ever closer, even as you can hear his huff and the stampede of his gallop close behind. You can only hope Star and the others are holding their own.
Perspective Shift: Shooting Star You had no idea going into this situation that Fluttershy could apparently stare down a Cockatrice, but you can see one running head between lizard-legs for a second before you're menaced by more of these strange minuscule terrors. The sharp teeth are bad enough for these multicolored menaces, but the flying barbs are more than enough to tell the nature-loving side of you that these are angry Pukwudgies. A pink one, in particular, screeches at you angrily as New Divide punches away it's barbs, before you use it's small stature against it and flick it away with your wrist. "I'm kind of insulted!" You jinx. "Like, these are what Emeritus considers dangerous critt-OW!" You yell as, suddenly, a sharp-toothed Vampire Jackalope jumps square onto your face and jabs it's teeth into your cheek.
As that happens, the shadowy halls of The Pit seem to grow dimmer as the more dangerous creatures burrow out of the dark. You hurl the creature away from your face just as a boulder suddenly shoots up and smashes the bunny into the wall in a fine, red paste. A bit of the blood splashes onto Fluttershy's face, and she lets off a disgusted shriek, attracting the others to her eyeline after they dispose of the other Pukwudgies, With a deep roar, a stone-flinging Slingtail rumbles towards you, horned-crest first, on it's four powerful feet. You stand ready, only for Ziggy to wave his hand, allowing Space Oddity to lift the creature into the air. Dangling without gravity or reason, it croons before it's tail burrows up into the chamber, shaving away a sizeable stone before hocking it towards Zecora. Breathing in deeply, her hoof glows orange before crashing into the boulder, shattering it to grey shards. "So, who wants to deal with the big bloke?" Ziggy asks, crooking his finger up to hit it against the ceiling it so clearly enjoyed using against you.
You touch your hoof to your cheek, and it comes away with blood shining against your fur. New Divide fully manifests behind you, and you use it to fold the beast itself, hopefully saving it for later. You sigh. "Hopefully, it's a straight shot," you murmur, as Zecora lights another torch with her Hamon behind you. In the brighter light of the fresh torch, you can see that you damn well jinxed it again, and you know deep in your heart that you should stop saying these things aloud. In the light, you can see an army of beasts. More Pukwudgies, more Jackalopes, more Cockatrices, all guarding a conspicuous door in The Pit and all staring daggers at you between bouts of rage-filled chittering or shrieking.
"You need to stop speaking," Lupina critiques behind you.
You sighs and roll your head around to loosen your neck. "I know, I know," you criticize yourself with. "I just hope Canny's gotten to Ponyville right now." You and New Divide step into a pose, ready to fight.
Powerwolf roars back behind you, seemingly delighting in the unknowing animals' lack of fear to the unknown. "I haven't known her for long," Fluttershy speaks, as she wipes away some of the Jackalope's blood with her hoof. "But she's strong."
You can only hope she's right. For now, the animals finally seem to smell the crimson essence in the air. With one last shriek from a blue Pukwudgie like a horn calling them to war, the smaller critters charge towards you, ready for a fight.
Perspective Shift: Canny Clockwork
Your back impacts the tree, knocking the wind out of you in a violent gasp as you crumple to the ground in a heap of blood and pain. Your vision spins in doubles as you look over the crater-filled wasteland that is the outer-Everfree. You're so close to freedom, but Copia's caught up to you every step of the way. The phasing, the distraction, hiding underground. He's cottoned onto it all, and delivered blow after savage blow to your wounded body. You know, for a fact, that your nose is broken, your right hindleg is dislocated (if not worse), and you have more bruises and bleeding cuts than a bare-hoof boxer ever would back home. As much as you desperately don't want to die, the pain makes you second-guess yourself. Your green coat is matted with your own life-blood and your magic isn't doing your body any favors.
And you've barely hit him once. Just like before. Other than a lucky strike to his jaw, and the swelling near his cheek to prove it, he is as pristine as when he left the black church of Grogar. You slowly try to rise back up to your hooves, despite your bum leg's attempts to send you careening back down. Your knee is wobbling, but you just support your flank against the tree as your heavy breaths echo in your ears along with your heartbeat. "You fight well," he praises with no true intonation. Like reading a boring book, or your obituary, in the same voice you'd speak while paying taxes. "For a heathen with no true...concept of what she's fighting against."
You try to speak, but only huff out a weak gasp before you feel your mouth filling with something thick. You spit it out onto the dirt; blood and saliva, mixed like water and dye.
"Don't worry," he cooes as though speaking to a child. "I know your suffering cannot continue forever." He tilts his head again, examining you. "Lie still and I shall finally grant you release. It will not be in The Pit. But Papa will understand." And then, for the first time today, his voice gains a noticeable emotion. Reverence. "Papa will understand, he will know the trouble you put me through. And he will forgive me for allowing your soul escape."
He runs towards you, and in one more show of defiance, you phase out just in time for avoid his antler, which stick into the tree, as a burst of adrenaline hits you and you dash away. But as soon as he is out of your green, ghostly body, you bend your knee and the pain sends you down again, corporeal. You try to raise your head again, but Hunter's Moon's hoof stops you, resting against your cheek.
"Speak, child," he requests, once more deadpan and detached. "Tell me the last will you leave upon this wretched world." He leans in close to look you in your blurry eye, and you do the one thing you can think to do now. You gargle up, and spit blood directly into his face, catching him in an eye. He blinks with only surprise behind his eyes, and uses a hoof to knock away the excess. "...Respect." He finally says, as Hunter's Moon raises it's hoof to finish you off. In that moment, your mind flashed back through your life. Your parents, the strong and brave Topspeed Wagon and the caring and creative Reo Steamwork, smiling down at you back home in what feels like a lifetime ago. Your home and lab opening in Canterlot, your former pride and joy before Discord broke it apart. Shooting Star, his warmth. His kindness. You think to yourself how fitting it is, the last thing your heart should feel before it stops being joy at someone who wasn't scared off with your attitude.
You close your eyes, and a tear leaves your eye. You can hear a snap...
And then Copia roaring in pain, his voice deep and growling like that of a demon of Tartarus beckoning the gates open. You open your eyes to see him and Hunter's Moon flung back in a rainbow blur, careening across the ground before skidding to a stop at the edge of one of the open craters. The blur stops, and your eyes widen as you recognize the blue pegasus, even if her anger is something new to you. Rainbow Dash just saved your life.
You'd kiss her if you could even feel your lips, your heart soars with such gratitude. She's not alone, though. Behind her, in a metal body and a racing helmet, floats Rainbow in the Dark, shaking with afterimages and nervous energy. Behind you, you can hear a certain chatterbox before you see her. "Oh, wow!" Pinkie Pie yelps. "I-It's so much worse than I thought!"
You manage one word. "Noticed," you gargle out.
"Not to worry, Clocky!" Pinkie chirps. But her tone of voice is far more level and less energetic than normal. "Nurse Pinkie's gonna get you feeling right as s-summer rain in no time!" Behind her, you can see Copia, visibly dazed, stand up to see Rainbow. She yells something at him, you can't quite hear it over Pinkie's front of chattering nonsense. "Why are summer rains so unpredictable, though? Summer rains, you can never predict them! But I predict you'll feel as good as one when-"
"Pinkie!" Applejack chastises behind you. "Ah think she gets it. Come on, me and you'll help Rainbow and the others can get her back home!"
Others? Just as quickly as you're saved, you feel yourself lifted into the air, albeit as carefully as possible. "Just hold still, okay Canny?" Twilight's calm voice requests of you, even though there is a clear edge of fear there, deep down. "And do not fall asleep! That could be fatal, hear me? Stay awake, you're right near Ponyville!"
"We should have noticed this was happening sooner!" Rarity worriedly cries. "C-Come now, dear! Twilight, let's hurry, please! You three, find Fluttershy and the others! That is so much blood!"
"Deer's got them!" You croak out, before a coughing fit takes your diaphragm. There's silence, and then you shakily point a hoof in the general direction of the camp. Any hope at keeping themselves calm falls flat as they realize the extent of their newest missing person's case. "W-Whole...cult...tribe...fuck."
"Do not fall asleep," Twilight manages, somehow even more nervously, and with no further words, you're carted off, as you watch Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie face down Copia.
Perspective Shift: Rainbow Dash
Normally, a swift punch to a bad guy's face would be the most satisfying part of your day! A bit of wham-bam-thank you ma'am was enough to make anyone cower under you and your awesome power. Though others would have called it an awesome ego instead. But there was nothing awesome about this. Fluttershy had gone missing all day, taking others with her into the Everfree and never coming out. Shooting Star, Canny Clockwork, and that Diamond Dog hanging around the place with a frown and a story to tell. You had taken so long to notice because you thought she could handle it, that Fluttershy, the strong Fluttershy you truly knew, could at least brave nature itself alright. If you had any idea what was really going on, you would've gone sooner.
Just as this reindeer was about to murder Canny, you had used the minimal, but evidently still lightning-quick, speed-boost of Rainbow in the Dark to cold-cock him across the jaw, and now you stared down at him like a bit of bovine manure on your hoof. A brown coat, black and white facepaint, and a right eye radiating with some magical energy. And a horror novel villain for a Stand, it was just too obvious something bigger than a ghastly horror awaited one of your best friends.
You can hear Pinkie Pie speak to Canny, keeping her awake. You knew better than to assume she was tone-deaf; she was scared out of her wits, giggling at this nasty, blood-covered ghosty was probably the only thing keeping her from crying. You tune her out as this gangly, spindly serial killer catch his bearings as he begins rising up. You shout one thing. "WHERE. IS. FLUTTERSHY?!"
"Hmm," he grunts at first as he clambers back onto his hooves. He opens his mouth, and then looks at you perplexed as he notices the same thing you do: blood pouring out of his mouth as a tooth is clearly missing. He runs his tongue across his lip as he seems to double-check the taste of iron. "Flutter...shy..." he whispers, emotionless and yet still clearly bearing a confused facial expression. "I know...not of this name-"
"Deer's got them!" Canny suddenly shouts behind you, before beginning to hack up a lung. A prospect that would have been far more literal if he had continued savagely beating her any longer. "Whole...cult...tribe...fuck," she whispers, and you turn back just long enough to see Twilight and Rarity carry her back towards Ponyville, while she points in a very particular direction.
You look back to the reindeer, and scowl. "Well, now I know where she is. Now tell me, asshat," you gruffly impose. To your left, Applejack stomps on the ground and produces an armor around herself of dirt and stone. To your right, Pinkie looks uncharacteristically serious even as her Stand looks poised to dance like nobody's watching. The deer, clearly both fatigued and injured, clenches his jaw and draws out his serial killer of a Stand. "What have you done to her?" you finally ask.
He stares at you. "With any hope...she's already dead, with the rest," he responds.
Sick to your stomach, you step forward, only to be stopped by some dirt on your shoulder. "Go on, sugarcube," Applejack tells you. "I don't rightly know if me and Pinkie can take 'im, but I do know Fluttershy and the rest of 'em need someone fresh and fast to save them. Go ahead." You frown, but nod.
"Knock him dead for me?" You request, before you unfurl your wings and soar up and into the direction Canny pointed. You don't have a choice now. It's save Fluttershy, or nothing.
Perspective Shift: Shooting Star
Huffing along with Ziggy, your hooves are wrapped around the handles of the massive doors in the sacrificial pit, desperate to close them once more. At first, you and your team felt comfortable in bearing the storm, but they began coming faster and fighting harder despite their size. The onslaught seemed never-ending, fallen creatures replenished in the night with no true end in sight, and so you all made the conscious decision to run for it, past the horde of chicken-headed petrifiers and antler'd rabbits. Fortunately, aside from some scrapes, you made it to the other side, but now was the matter of keeping it that way. "Come on, close it!" You shout to yourself, and to Ziggy as well.
The large door creaks as it closes ever tighter. "One more push, lad," Ziggy encourages as he breathes in deep. Together, you two let out a sigh of relief once the final push completes and the door slams shut, the remaining animals scattered from the rest and easy to pick off or otherwise distract or scare away.
As you and Ziggy begin clean-up duty, Zecora waves her torch around to get a good feel of your new area. "Light!" She announces as the last Pukwudgie is knocked away like a rollie-pollie covered in a shield of pens. "I continue to appreciate you, so bright," Zecora rhymes. Indeed, you see it. A door on the far side of the room, with the silver glow of a full moon through the crack under the door.
Fluttershy gasps happily. "Yes!" She announces. "I...hmm, w-why would they-"
"They don't expect their sacrifices to live long," Lupina then considers. "Maybe...even the Stoneslinger...they were all diversions," she then opines. "Think of it, a whole chamber of honestly minuscule beasts? Barely any danger? The Stoneslinger was for weak ones. This chamber..." Zecora waves her torch to the ground, to reveal a narrow stone walkway a few feet above a pit of shimmering water. Water where bones still yet float. Pony, zebra, and others. "This chamber is the true end of everything."
"False hope," Ziggy confirms as he floats towards the bridge. "Make you think it's an easy escape, then their nastiest beastie comes out to rip you to shreds and send your soul to that...nonce. Whatever their god's name was." He grunts. "Clever...monstrous, yet clever. Just as I'd expect."
You sniff and march up, as well. "Nightvision, see anything?"
Ziggy and Lupina look down. "Only bones," she tells you. "Unless the water is very deep, I don't see anything hiding."
"Above-ground. But then, why all the bones in the water?" Ziggy hums. "I can think of no creature that ritualistically buries it's prey in water."
As you all stop and think of how to proceed, unfortunately, the threat comes to you threefold. First, a couple shadows block the moonlight but for a second, confirming that someone is at the door and waiting for you. Secondly, your ear flicks as you hear something slither across the ceiling of the cavern. And third, Lupina gasps as she and Ziggy step back, before a massive claw rises from the water with a sickening roar, bringing it down where they stood and crushing the rock under a massive weight. As its hand drifts back to the water, you dare a glance to see a rock-like amphibian with angry orange eyes staring back. A fearsome Cragodile. You bring out New Divide, only to see a shrill screech coming from above. On instinct, you dodge just as sharp claws slice towards you, leaping above them and landing on your hooves, closer to the walkway. A bright green serpent with sharp fangs just attacked you, before staring down Fluttershy, hiding behind both Zecora and a snarling Powerwolf. This one, you had only seen in books. A Grootslang.
The Cragodile roars and turns its attention to you, leaping from the water with it's jaws wide and biting towards you. Fortunately, Ziggy tackles you to the other side of the walkway, only for the Cragodile's weight to crush the stone of the bridge, stranding you and Ziggy doorside. You're lucky his white suit and the moonlight can keep you running. Meanwhile, the Grootslang charges towards the others, still on the other side. Powerwolf's claws meet the Grootslang's in the middle, a shimmering silver spark dancing between the blades as he parries the beast. Sliding away, it goes for another pass of teeth, with Lupina instead sprouting some thorned vines from within her body and leaping towards the beast's tongue. It starts closing it's mouth, only to recoil back and keep it's jaws open from the barbs in its taste buds.
No time to focus on the Grootslang, as the Cragodile circles the desiccated rubble. "Any ideas?" You ask Ziggy.
"Got one, still got that Stoneslinger-"
"Slingtail!"
"Bloody-fine!" He hurriedly corrects. "Slingtail folded?" You nod. "Good, I've got an angle. I lift him up, you toss him like a ball!" He floats over the waters, and spins around to capture the Cragodile's attention. It leaps up towards him, jaws gnashing and roaring powerfully, only for Ziggy to dodge and wave his hand, using Space Oddity to remove it's gravity and floating it up and out of the water. "NOW!" You toss the folded Slingtail towards the Cragodile, and New Divide unfolds it, carrying that momentum. The Slingtail, might confused, flies towards the Cragodile and smacks it straight in the muzzle, it's strong tail cracking the stony-scales as the other beast's sturdy frame knocks the Slingtail into the wall of it's water pit. Ziggy sends the Cragodile falling at the same time. "Hopefully they'll kill eachother!" He shouts.
You focus back on the other side, seeing a tougher fight. Zecora, separated from the others and grabbing the Grootslang's attention while it snaps back at Fluttershy and Lupina, uses her Hamon expertly to deliver strong blows, only to find it still willing to fight. Despite whatever pain it feels, it swipes towards Zecora, one claw catching her side and drawing blood. It doesn't look to be a deep cut, but the torchlight makes it harder to tell. She gasps as it rears back to finish her, only for Powerwolf and Lupina to both leap onto its back in this, its moment of distraction. Powerwolf's deft claws and Lupina's Evolution and her own teeth begin cracking scales and tearing into flesh, sending it screaming in pain. Zecora takes a deep, pained breath, before charging towards the Grootslang. It bucks Lupina away and Powerwolf flies off just as she reaches the serpent, coated in golden energy. "I won't be taking a dive!" She announces. "Face my Sunlight YELLOW OVERDRIVE!" Her fist flies into the creature's underbelly, followed by her suddenly punching as fast as New Divide can, a yellow-gilded rush of blows bearing down to its exposed body. With a yell, and one final punch, it is knocked back into the wall, where with a groan of pain, it slowly slides off into the water.
"G-Good job!" Fluttershy cheers. "It seemed too angry to talk to..." You can barely even hear her, the distance making her already quiet voice but a whisper, the only reason you can make out a word being the sudden quiet.
"Ziggy, take us back over there," You tell him as you take a deep breath in. With the creatures quieted, you look back, and your intuition proves right: the shadows are drawing closer and more frequent. "We need to prepare."
Ziggy nods, and holds onto you as you both begin floating back. You feel weightless as you hover over the water pit. You hear Ziggy growl a bit to himself, before he sets you down with the others. You rest on your hooves"Alright, gang," he quietly rallies, breaking the relief as Zecora rests her Hamon-powered hoof against her cut. "Some rat bastard is about to open that door. No doubt they can jump the bridge. Let's make this a chokepoint, get ready to funnel the rat back into the trap."
Fluttershy interjects, shyly, with "Um...mouse traps are rather inhumane...sir."
Ziggy sighs. "Deer trap? Whatever. Babe-" Lupina growls. "Sorry, sorry. Lupina, Zecora, Shy, Star? Ready?" You nod, ready as you can be. Any second now, that door will open. Whoever comes through, you have to be ready to fight. "Put up your dukes and raise whatever supernatural ability you can muster. I don't care if it's Emeritus, his two little brown-nosers, members of his fanclub, or their dark god Gargle or what have you!"
"This ends, now!" Let the imagination run wild! Stand for Equestria: Origin of Harmony
A long while back, before the ages of Stands and Blood began in Ponyville one fateful day, a young Pegasus would receive a gift from his parents. A brown, pleather-bound journal and a set of writing tools to begin telling the story of his life. These are but a few of these entries, ranging from when he first received the book to the present day. Before ever writing, there was only ever one message, from the sage words of your father. "Kiddo! Remember, this is for you to write in. If you ever make a friend you really trust, you can show them what you wrote. But this is for your quills and your eyes. Tell yourself a beautiful story!"
Age 5 (several misspellings are present throughout the earlier entries. All but a few have been corrected for ease of reading): "Hi! My name is Shootting Star! I'm the bravest Pegasus in all of Ponyville! My Dad's name is Shining Beacon, and he's really calm, and strong, and he knows all the right words to call me down when I get mad. And my Mom's name is Bright Glare! She's really nice, and sweet, and likes buying me candy when Dad's not looking. I really like chocolate. But don't tell him, Jorunnal! That's our little secret!"
Age 7: "Hi, Journal! Today, Daddy had his longest shift ever at work! He came home tired and a little grrumpy, but Mom's tea made him all better! But for me, I showed the other kids how braved I was! We were playing tage by that new candy shop on the corner, and one of them ran into a spooky, really spooky alley! There were trash and rats and all kinds of things! But I showed the other kids! I ran in there and tagged him! Got bit by a rat, though. Tomorrow, Mommy's taking me to the hospital to make sure I'm not gonna get sick from it. Wish me luck!"
Age 10: "School! School, school, school! Okay, Journal, listen, this is important! Today's my first day of real, big kid school over at that big schoolhouse! I've written school so much that my teeth are hurting, doesn't even look like a real word! Okay, so, gotta focus, gotta learn, gotta praktice practice (see? Learning.) What else, what else...oh! Dad's a little sick right now. His nose is all stuffy and he's sitting down a lot more. I'm sure he'll be right as rain in no time flat! We're all fast and free Pegasi! Okay, okay, I'm about to go, wish me luck!"
Age 10 (two months later): "Got into a fight at school with that big bully. Like, a real fight. He was shoving me around during recess, and I got fed up and gave him the old one-two! Knocked him silly! But the teacher didn't see it that way, they only saw him get pushed over. He always hides what he did to me, but whenever I fight back, I get punished. I got detention, so then I got home late. Mom was disappointed. But Dad gave me some advice. To control myself. Again. It's not that easy, Dad! I've tried, but it's like there's this heat near my heart that needs to burst or I'll just start shaking! I just sighed...you couldn't have heard it. Sorry, Journal. Anyway, other than that, Dad's still sick. Coughing fit now, more sniffly, his eyes are all red. I'm really scared. Wish him luck."
Age 11: "Dad's in Ponyville Hospital. I didn't catch the name of the disease. Myo-something, in his lungs. They're trying all they can. We have good doctors, I don't understand why he's not already better! My Dad's too strong to let something like an illness take him down! It's all I've been thinking about!"
Age 12 (several pages have been torn out before this one. Those that remain are scrawled into, tear-stained, and ripped slightly, as though a hard hoof pressed down on them and then ripped back. Between it all is one single, intact page with but two words written shakily through the lines.) "He's gone."
Age 16: "Whoa! Forgot I had this. I was cleaning out some of my old stuff when I slid this old thing out from under my bed. Well, I guess I should maybe write something, right? Well...I'm still Shooting Star. After Dad died, me and Mom kinda just had to deal with what happened on our own terms. The funeral was a mess, we all cried like babies. I blamed myself for a bit, hence the page ripping. It wasn't rational: it wasn't my fault his disease went terminal. I guess I just needed to blame someone for what happened, and the most convenient target was myself. But, well, we're moving past it. Mom's the happiest now that she's been in four years, and I'm starting a pretty small-time weather team position. I guess life just has to keep moving on, right? As for the anger issues...I dunno, they've never gotten any worse. I still haven't hurt anyone I actually cared about. But the flare-ups. It's getting easier to annoy me. I dunno if it's just me being the right age to get the blood pumping or if it's something I need to see a shrink about, or what. But it's for me, and me alone. Anyway, I, uh, I think I'll keep you around. I dunno if I'll write in you again, but I feel like I needed this. Thank you."
Age 22: "Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit. My skin feels like it's been battered with a thousand rulers, but I think I just helped saved Equestria and gained a super-power, and a friend? A Mare friend, sleeping on my sofa? Okay, okay, long story. You're the only one I can spare to talk about this, gotcha? Okay. So, firstly, I have a government position. STAND. I have no idea what that stands for. Not the point. Firstly, I gained this, like, superpower? Psychic ability? New magic? It's called a Stand, these strange reality-bending manifestations of my will to fight. Mine is New Divide, able to fold people and terrain like paper. I got it from this mystical arrow, right as a Chaos God named Discord turned up. I need to take a breather."
Age 22 (cont'd): "Alright. I'm back. I drank enough water to drown a cow. Anyway. Discord invaded Equestria, and I was caught in the middle. Naturally, I knew shit was going down, so I went to Canterlot to tell them about Stands and that little monster. Ended up in a sparring match with Princess Luna? She said I won, but she held back. Still, I fought Princess Luna! Like, what? Okay, anyway, on my way out, I ran into this cutebrainy snarky little inventor named Canny Clockwork, who had her shop invaded and needed a place to crash for a while. I took her back to Ponyville (hold for laughter), only to run into an enemy Stand User. I didn't catch his name, but he used some crazy ability called Chaos Lives in Everything to show us our greatest insecurities. Discord then popped up, and shot Canny with the arrow, giving her the Stand Smooth Criminal. She can walk through walls and disappear. If she could fly, she'd probably be much more unique than the other guy. Anyway, we fought him. I think we killed him. His neck was definitely broken, at least. Felt like throwing up. We gave Discord a good distraction until the Elements of Harmony could zap him (by distraction, imagine two walnuts being crushed by a carriage wheel. smile.) Turned him to stone and all. So, now the Princesses gave me and Canny shiny new badges and told us to monitor Stand activity. Speaking of, both Princesses and the six Elements are Stand Users, too? But of course, there's still a lot to unpack. I mean, that guy we fought. He said he was Celestia's "hidden failure." What the Tartarus is up with that? There's also the fact that I am aching more than an elderly Pony my size. Not good. But...all in all, successful! I'll keep writing here after all. I guess just to recap the crazy things have happened to us. Wish us luck!"