The Host of Insanity

I slowly became aware of my surroundings, or rather, my lack thereof. I was floating in a dark void, lighter than air, but the very clothes on by body threatened to crush me.

T-those bastards! They tricked me! I thought, rage burning in my chest.

To my surprise, I felt the flame of my anger slowly dissipate until I felt indifferent about my current situation. Eventually my carelessness numbed until I felt no emotion. I felt nothing for anything, or anypony.

Hmm...I wonder what they did to me? I inquired, curiosity drowning out the numbness in my brain.

In all of my thinking, I didn’t realize that I should probably struggle to get out of my apparent prison, I instantly regretted this decision.

FUCK! I thought as a wave of pain washed over me.

Once the onslaught of pain had ceased, I thought some more, seeing as it was the only thing left to do.

Ok, so lets assess the situation. I got cornered by what I thought were my allies, and they sent me here.

Where I expected to feel another flow of anger, I felt nothing. It was a feeling that I had never felt before, nothing. I felt nothing at all, just the constant drone of numbness plaguing my emotions.

Huh...so I can’t become angry? Hmm what about scared...

With that I tried to remember the tragic events of my past life, only to find that they were hazy and I couldn’t recall most of the details. Giving up, I decided to think of something to pass the time.

I wonder where Darkside is, shouldn’t he be here cause he is a part of me? Wha- huh?

Suddenly my train of thought stopped. I couldn’t think straight, the only thing that I could do was wait, so I did. I waited patiently, finding it slightly odd that having my free will taken away from me did not faze me in the slightest.

Eventually I felt the burning sensation in my chest return, only to find that it was on the surface this time. I looked down as far as I could without moving my head, only to find a bright light emanating from it. I felt the same fire begin burning on my thigh, where my cutie mark was.

Suddenly I felt another presence in the void and looked to see Darkside, broken and bloody, floating next to me. From my position I could see the same light fading from his chest and thigh. I looked longer and saw that his cutie mark had moved to his chest. It had also morphed, now having both halves of the yin-yang circle.

He turned his head towards me, wincing through the pain and mouthed something, but before I could see what he was saying, I felt a tugging sensation on my body. I was enveloped in a soft white glow, and I felt my pain and curiosity fade along with the retreating blackness.

The sunlight leaked through the blinds, directly onto my face. I squinted my eyes in an attempt to escape the unwanted rays of gold. I rolled over in bed, and felt the burning of lactic acid in my muscles.

“MPH!” I grunted.

“Jeezus! Why do my muscles hurt so bad! It's not like I used them recently!” I yelled into my pillow.

I heard muffled footsteps behind me, as well as the breaths of many creatures. I tensed, prepared to defend myself if needed, only to recognize the breathing and motion patterns of my roommates.

“Actually you have used them alot in the past couple months.” Said a deep voice.

“Yeah with all the training you have been doing, I haven’t seen anypony work that hard before. Let alone a scrawny little fella like you. But look at you now! Your big and muscular.” Said a high pitched female voice.

“You learned quick definitely.” Said another feminine voice.

I waited for the last voice, but from the subtle rustling of his jacket, I could tell that he had just nodded his head. I turned and sat up, much to my body’s dismay, and saw the entire gang situated around the bed where I currently lay. They all had smiles on their faces, some genuine, and some forced.

It looks like some people still don’t trust me, eh, can’t please everypo- WAIT DID THEY SAY MONTHS?!?

“Um did I hear you correctly? I believe you said that I have been training for the past couple months?” I asked, my voice betraying my emotionless gaze.

“Yeah, you probably don’t remember it though.” Said Nightmare, a motherly tone in her voice.

I thought she was the most annoyed with me, now she is cooing me like a mother to an injured child! Girls are really confusing.

“Um...elaborate?” I said, the words tasting oddly familiar in my mouth.

“We- well I -put your conscious to sleep, but made your body still functional. You were basically a mindless slave that would obey our orders to the best of your ability, which was often not good enough. To put a long story short, we trained your subconscious so you know what to do without thinking about it.” She replied as I got up from my bed.

“Know what to do...when?” I asked, turning back to the bed to tuck the sheets back in.

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I heard the familiar windup of a hay maker from behind me. Time slowed, my mind went blank and my body reacted in fast, fluid motions. Just before the punch landed on the back of my head I ducked. I grabbed my attacker’s arm at the wrist and the shoulder and, using his arm as the pivot point, flipped him onto the mattress. I didn’t stop there, I quickly straddled his back and brought his arm along his spine until he was nearly touching the back of his head with his knuckles. Only when he and the rest of the people in the room yelled in protest did I manage to get out of my adrenaline fueled stupor.

“S-sorry Sombra, I didn’t know- I couldn’t stop myself.” I said, picking up my teammate.

TEAMMATE?!? He, and the rest of them, imprisoned you in your own mind for months! They also beat me within an inch of my life, and then banished me back into this uneventful mind of yours! Boomed a voice from my thoughts.

I clutched my head and yelled, “Get out of my head!”

“Oh are the voices bothering you again?” Asked a worried Nightmare.

I nodded and she walked over to me. She placed her now glowing horn on my bare forehead, and in a flash of blue light I felt, and heard, the voice fade.

“Who or what was that?” I asked, taking note of how Nightmare asked if it was the voices again.

“That was your old friend Darkside,” Said Discord as the others looked at him with stunned expressions, “he felt that we were pushing you too hard and resorted to violence so we made sure he wasn’t a threat.”

“Am I gonna have to deal with his yelling all the time?” I asked, me being the source of the other’s astonishment this time.

“Sadly yes, unless you keep up with the pacification spells. I can get Nightmare to teach it to you later, for now I have some explaining to do.”

“Ok then, just let me get dressed.” I replied, finally noticing that I was standing around in my boxers.

I walked out the door, oblivious to the stares given to me by my roommates, and began the short trip from the infirmary to the equipment room. I knew the route like the back of my hand, which only deepened my curiosity.

Did I do this often when I was hypnotized? I must have been really hard to teach fighting tactics, as well as any form of defense. I must have really been a pussy. Or they drove me really hard, one of the two...maybe both...

After my contemplation, I made it to my destination. The door was slightly ajar, and I walked inside. I took in the musty smell of the room, my presence causing colonies of dust bunnies to swirl about my feet. My eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light, something that I was not used to them doing. What I found made me feel like I was home, I got that warm fuzzy feeling in my chest and I couldn’t help but let loose a slight smile. I saw the same outfit that I did when I first woke up here. The same camouflage suit, the same brown cloak, the same worn leather pouches, as well as some new things. I saw some leather armor sewn into the suit, but when I approached it seemed to disappear, blending into the background.

Clever, I thought, it has the same camo spell on it as the suit, they kept the armor light, but made it sturdy enough to deflect most blows. Such craftsmanship is unparalleled...

I looked above the armor to find the familiar khukris as mesmerizing as ever, the broadsword shining brightly, casting a dim orange glow about the room. The only other thing in the room emitting light was the eerie shine of green originating from the bow. I watched it closer as I came towards it, noticing the light grow in intensity as I approached. I noticed that all of the weapons and the armor had signs of recent use, the sword and khukris had chips and dents in the blades, the body of the bow was scarred and burn and the bowstring was worn and frayed. I sighed outwardly, realizing that I had to repair and maintain all of this equipment from now on.

I looked on trying to find the quiver, only to remember the days of constant headaches from the magical backlash of the arrows. I eventually just decided to make my own arrows and put them in the quiver. The tips were made out of crystals Sombra had formed to be as sharp and arrow-like as possible, although they each still had to be sharpened, formed and fire tempered to work. I smiled at the memory of my discovery about the magical properties of the arrows.

It had been after I had mastered control over my magic, allowing me to channel it through any part of my body I wanted, although I mostly just used my hands and fingers. I was practicing my archery, when Sombra surprised me with a dinner call. Suddenly I felt my fingers fill with magic, and watched with dread as the magic drained into the arrow as I released it. The arrowhead glowed blue in mid air and when it struck, it left nothing but frozen vegetation and ice. I told Sombra of my endeavor and he praised me and taught me about the different kinds of magic and how they affected the crystals. Soon I was able to recreate and alter the effects of the arrows. I could make explosive, fire, ice, poison, flash, darkness, rope arrows, and many more. Each had a different use and each was easily accessible.

My thoughts about magic brought me back to look at myself in the mirror across the room. This was the first time I could see myself, and I looked like a different person. My hair was shorter, almost to the point of a buzz cut, my eyes now seemed to peer into my own soul. My old scrawny frame was now covered in muscles. I was still the same size, everything was just more prominent. I was leaner and stronger than I used to be. However, once you looked past the muscles, you saw something horrific. My body was covered in scars and cuts that criss-crossed in a similar fashion to Discord’s. The most prominent one was still the big white ‘C’ that stretched from my temple to my cheekbone, the one I got back on Earth. But I wasn’t paying attention to any of that.

I was too busy looking at my bare forehead. I was surprised at the fact that I didn’t have a horn. I had had one before right?

“Hey Discord,” I said to the now startled god, “where did my horn go? And how did I get it in the first place?”

“Like I told your counterpart, it's called the Chameleon Effect. Your body is not magically attuned to this world so in times of great need it will allow your body to evolve very quickly to assist the situation you are in.” He said, after quickly regaining his composure.

I made it apparent with my dumbfounded look that I had no idea what he was talking about so he explained, “Basically it means that whenever you think you are in immediate danger, you can grow either a horn or wings, and in rare cases both. And no, not being magically attuned doesn’t mean that your magic won’t work, in fact it makes it stronger because your body doesn’t know it's limits. In some cases of magical misattunement, ponies have become more powerful than even the Elements of Harmony. However that kind of power comes at a great cost to the mind and body.

I moved to question him further, but in a snap of his fingers the room lit up with white magic. I was blinded, but I could feel a sudden, and familiar, weight upon my body. The snug fit of the suit combined with the added weight of the weapons and extra armor made me feel prepared for anything. I took off the hood of my cloak and looked at him with bloodlust in my eyes and a crooked grin on my muzzle.

“Right to the point huh? Fine, what’s my mission?” I asked him.

“Kill the princesses and take Canterlot for ourselves.”