Chapter 8

                                                    Chapter 8 - Unwinding the Threads

Before writing this, I should point out that I may have been under the influence of some mind altering property.

I was sitting off to the side of a large crater, the cave and the garden both no longer in sight. Where the hell am I? Our current location may be determinable by land marks nearby. Oh please don't tell me... The subject lost consciousness in the Canterlot Gardens, which seem to have been obliterated. Perhaps we should search for the Castle, and make our way to it. Damnit Delta! You fucking piece… I began to feel like I was floating in water, and I inevitably lost control. Recall Alpha, you are susceptible to emotion without me here to stabilize your focus. I shall assume control of the situation. You will be called upon when you have a purpose to serve. Expect to be on standby for an indeterminably long time. I found myself standing up, and I believe I was walking to the large castle to the right of me. I saw some twists of different colors, and after a few seconds I realized it was a door. My vision was so strange, I was having a hard time telling where one object ended and another began. Like you draw a picture, but you take all the lines that separate the objects away and everything just melts into each other. A few seconds later, I was speaking to the big white horse thing.

"Hello, pony princess." Said a monotonous voice, it was my own but it was being forced to sound emotionless. I hated it. My thoughts twisted and I thought of how wonderful it would be if I could just kill Delta. Make him go away. I don’t know why, but the thought of him being destroyed pleased me to no end.

"Human? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Ponyville? And please, call me Celestia. What is your name, by the way."

"Celestia... Confirmed. Celestia, I lost consciousness while in your garden. Now that I have awoken, I request you provide me a way to return to Ponyville so Twilight and I may continue our search for these Elements, or were they what caused that large crater in the gardens? Has the enemy been eradicated?" She was silent for a period of time, gazing upon us with stern eyes. Then she asked me a question. Or rather, she asked Delta a question.

"Human. Did you happen to see Discord during your time in the garden? Did you bump into him at any point?"  A long silence followed. I was curious about why Delta wasn’t responding, he seemed to be struggling to remember.

"I… I do not recall. I do know we saw him before entering the garden, but after that I just remember walking and… fighting?” He seemed to be asking. Who was the enemy? He asked me. I couldn’t respond, that would have required logic in order to piece together coherent thought. I was one of the few personalities unfortunate enough not to have logic by virtue of just existing.

"I see…" The princess muttered, peering down on me with glaring eyes. Delta began to tremble slightly. I feel… abnormal. Delta, ask her how she got to be so fat, I want to see her reaction. I felt so shitty right then. I could put up with Delta, though for some reason I hated him more than ever right then, probably because he had essentially kicked my ass. Zeta though… She kind of scared me. Not because she could hurt me, but because the things she says just…. She can drive a man up a wall, kind of like most women. I don’t know how it is vice versa, I suppose I’ve seen plenty of situations where boys do things that girls just can’t fucking stand, and there are a lot of times when I sympathize with them. But the stereotypes of boys and girls both just drive me up the wall; they’re both so over exaggerated. Then again, not all of it is really over the top. Maybe I should save this rant for some other day.

I suddenly felt a sense of structure being placed onto me. My thoughts stopped being like a mix of emotion and started to spell itself out as sloppy letters on a piece of paper. It was an overall unpleasant feeling.

Alpha: I inquire, can you communicate? I remained silent. I had nothing to say to him, I still felt a sense of abhorrence to him. A moment passed, and then I felt a shudder of pain go through me. Delta was forcing more of his flawed logic on me. If I wanted to, I could easily fight it. The plight of a manic like me though is we have no control over what we want, nor do we have a way to predict our own desires. I can’t do something if I don’t want to do it. And I don’t always WANT anything. It makes it difficult to even exist as a manic, or at least function.

The feeling of his logic being forced over me was like a needle of anesthesia being injected into you. It feels horrible at first, but the pain slowly dies as you start to become indifferent to it. And when it’s done, you feel like a rock: empty and cold. Alpha: I inquire, can you communicate? Through no will of my own, I found myself responding. Yes. Acknowledged. I request your cooperation. Logic could make me talk, but it couldn’t make me cooperate. This time, it wasn’t logic opposing my lack of desire, it was logic opposing my desire not to do something. These are different situations. No! Disregarded. You will cooperate. Delta started to act aggressively, trying to force me to think exactly like him. He was surprisingly strong, and my desire to resist wasn’t very great. He asked if I would cooperate again, and this time I conceded. On the trip back to Ponyville, I will ask you a series of questions relating to an event that occurred in the garden. I would like you to answer these, as I find myself confused. It appears you were fighting someone, but there were no enemies present. End. As he started to withdraw his influence from me, and I started to feel more and more free, I found myself getting a word in before losing my ability to force myself to speak. I loathe when you speak. Acknowledged.

“Alright. I think I understand what’s going on here.” Princess Celestia said, more to herself. Our eyes, which had started glazing over, focused back on her.

“Alright, Human. I will arrange for you to be transported to Ponyville by way of flying chariot. When you arrive, you are not to leave the company of the guards. They will be keeping a close eye on you and will escort you to Twilight. Understand?” Her voice sounded worried but firm, like someone trying to instruct me on how to disarm a bomb that could kill both me and them if disarmed improperly. I used the control that was fleeting from me and shoved out a warm:

“Thank you, princess Celestia.” Delta was surprised that I was still able to talk, and put more effort into withdrawing his logic from me. Celestia, who had started to talk away from the throne towards a door located to the left of it, turned back to me with interest just in time to see my head twitch upwards in an expression of pain. You did not request authorization to speak. He notified me. Princess Celestia adopted a face of stress and continued walking back to the door.

I found myself once again unable to speak. I don’t think I can put into words how unfortunate this is, as Zeta took this as an opportunity to speak to Delta without me being able to interfere. Her voice agitated me. Delta, speaking time… er… I need to speak to you. Her words came out forced and jumbled, which I thought was strange. Sure, it’s normal for instinctual personalities to speak like that, but Zeta isn’t exactly a normal personality. She and Gamma were creations of the Greater Enemy Limelight. The reason this makes them special is because Limelight, though being instinctual, had a semblance of Logic to him. He was clever and determined; he was the kind of person who would work to his goal for years, one step at a time. He had given both Zeta and Gamma the kind of logic where they could communicate without needing to jumble themselves about and stumble for words.

Acknowledged. Speak. You know as well as I do that you have a few shortcomings when it comes to… She stalled. Please continue. I’m trying, but I can’t seem to… find the words. You have shortcomings when… talking. She finally managed to push that word out. This is true. Do you have a solution? I thrashed in my metaphorical cage, I knew where Zeta was going. I won’t go through the trouble of writing down their entire dialogue; my hand is starting to get super cramped. Essentially, Zeta tricked Delta into a long term cooperation with her. Her proposition was that since Delta was a bad speaker due to his overdependence on logic, something that he took a level of offense at, and that she was a bad speaker due to her difficulty with accessing knowledge, something that logic is essential for, they should cooperate to find some level of equilibrium. She said that this would make manipulating ponies easier, and it would help blend in. Delta agreed to this and so now the two ass holes are working with one another. And the worst part is I could do nothing to stop it.

I think I can sum up everything that happened until I got to the library in a nutshell. The dynamic dick bags started to talk to one another a lot more, and Delta began to support Zeta with more logic so she could speak more coherently. We were getting close to Ponyville with Delta and Zeta decided to jump out of the carriage and into the trees below in an attempt to flee from the ponies. I really don’t understand why they did that. The two guards weren’t having any of that shit though, so they hunted me down in the forest and dragged me by hoof to Twilight’s place.

The guards knocked on Twilight’s door. Twilight came to the door with a look of great annoyance and stress on her face.

“What!” She barked. She looked over the two guards and saw that they had me being pressed down into the dirt beneath their hooves. “…Great. Terrific! Fan-bucking-tastic! Just… Here, I’ll take him.” She levitated me into the air and pulled me inside. Closing the door, she floated me over to the inside of my room. She dropped me on my bed and shut the door. It was probably locked or something, I wasn’t paying attention. As I floated through the main room, I saw the five others, they all looked a little sick, and there was this giant boulder. From the boulder, I felt a sense of overwhelming love. Like this rock held the secrets of life and death, good and evil, and waffles. I have no clue what the fuck I’m talking about; I’m just being a smart ass.

This was torture listening to Zeta repeat her little mantra for what felt like two hours. One Two Two One One Two Two One One Two Two One One Two Two One... on and on and on with that sequence, saying one two two one over and over again. Delta didn’t seem bothered by it in the slightest though. He was probably blocking it out, that lucky bastard. Suddenly, sweet salvation as Zeta stopped her incessant repetition. Twilight entered the room, followed by her friends. The last one to enter was Pinkie.

"And that chocolate milk was sooo good, if only we had more of it. Aww well. Oh hiya Herb-" Pinkie let out a long and over-the-top gasp at seeing me. "Herbert! You are all grey, that meenie Discord got to you too”

“Um… Who is this?” Rarity asked.

“That’s Herbert Dashwood. According to Celestia, Discord did something to him in the labyrinth and I need to find a way to fix it. Spi- oh wait, that’s right. He’s sick. Alright, I’ll be right back with my note pad, I want to take notes on how he reacts to… whatever it is I’m going to do to him. Don’t let him go anywhere.” Twilight left the five with me. Pinkie started talking.

"His name is Herbert Daring Dashwood, but we call him Herbert."

"Herbert... Daring Dashwood? That is a darling name. It is my pleasure to meet you Mister Dashwood."

"Not now Rarity, he is in trouble. Look, he is grey like we were, he has to be sick. We need to help him, let’s tie him to a chair and put a rag over his mouth and pour buckets of water over his head!" They stared at Pinkie in confusion and mild disgust. "Er... I meant to say, we tie him down to a chair for Twilight and… not do that other stuff.” She corrected. They all moved to grab me, but Zeta burst out.

"Hey! All of you, please get your filthy limbs off of me, and I am not sick, I was perfectly fine before you put your insidious hooves all over me like that. Learn some manners!" What does insidious mean? I have no clue, I just wanted to use that word. A couple of them, namely Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie, let go of me at my outburst. But Rainbow and Applejack were unaffected.

“Don’t listen to him girls.” Rainbowdash said.

“Mhm. He’s just trying to mess with yall. Rare, bring over yonder chair, Fluttershy, get the rope from the inside of my hat.” I really am wondering why she had a rope inside her hat.

“Pinks, get back over here and hold his chest down.” She had an interesting method of holding me down. She walked over and sat right on top of my chest. It made breathing very difficult. “Uh… That works too I guess.” Rainbowdash said, awkwardly. After some time of discomfort, Twilight returned with a little notepad.

"Herbert, I am going to need to examine your mind to see if you might be under the influence of Discord."

"I assure you Twilight, there is nothing wrong with me. I think I would know if I was being screwed with.” And out came that sickening voice of Zeta. It sounded just like mine; I guess I just hated it because it was Zeta talking. Twilight picked me up with her magic and sat me down in the chair, while Rarity used the rope to tie me up. She put a little bow on the spot where I was tied up.

"This is dark magic, extremely illegal, and you aren't going to say a word about it. Now, please lay down, my friend Rainbow here will help you stay still, you know Rainbowdash right?" Help me lay down? You mean hold me down, don't you? I believe that was implied. Would you like me to ask her? Delta, for a logician, you are quite foolish. I sat down calmly, wanting this all to come to an end. I am going to be eradicated by the unicorn, aren't I? Delta said, sounding as uncaring and as accepting as ever. No… I have an idea. Twilight bent down towards me, and her horn began glowing. Suddenly, my neck lunged forward and I bit down hardly on her horn. She cried out in pain, and fell to the ground. I found myself standing up with rope holding my arms to my sides. Apparently that chair was meant to hold a pony, not a human. It broke apart by my strength. All the ponies jumped back in shock, and I found myself running toward the window. I suppose that their plan was to jump out the window.

It didn’t work. Rainbowdash leapt right across the room at me and held me to the ground. I suppose I’m not doing a good job of saying this so far, so I’ll be blunt about it right now. I was rooting for the ponies the entire time. I didn’t want Delta and Zeta to escape.

"Herbert, you better hope you are under Discord's influence, because if you aren't so help me..." Twilight said, gritting her teeth at the remaining phantom pain. I myself was a little surprised by what happened next. Zeta went totally ape-shit. She began biting Rainbowdash’s hair and trying to pull it off.

“Ow! Hey, cut it out!” She shouted.

“Fuck you!” Zeta shouted. She craned my neck up to Rainbow’s cheek and clenched her teeth.

“Agh!” Rainbowdash screamed in pain. Then Delta started to take control back from Zeta. This behavior is counterproductive. I am formulating a plan. I think I may need to make use of Alpha. My jaw released from Rainbowdash’s cheek, and I received a strong glare from the girl. Delta just looked at her passively. Then Delta used one of those scripted lines from that time when he had to pose as a normal person at my school.

“My most humble apologies for that, it was not my intention.” It sounded about as scripted as a kindergarten play. God… I feel like my writing quality is really dropping. I’m going to leave it to you to figure out if this is Herbert or the writer talking.

“Yeah right.” She muttered. Twilight walked over to us, her notepad held up beside her. For fear of her analyzing us individually, I recommend we all mimic one another. It is a flawed plan, but I don’t have time to think of a better one. Alpha, I will support you for the duration of this time. Then that familiar sense of structure was once again forced on me. I decided to exercise it. Ah… I cannot tell you how tiresome it is not to be able to talk… Though it’s more of a hindsight thing, you hate it more looking back than when you… I paused for a moment. I don’t know why I’m even talking to you two… Because you, being weak the way Manics are, have a dependency on conversation. This is why logicians are superior to both of you. Excuse me? Excuse me? Both Zeta and I shouted in unison. Twilight leaned her head down to my forehead, but we were all too busy focusing on arguing with one another to even notice that feeling of warmth in our head as she somehow connected her mind to ours.

I am simply stating the obvious. You Obolis rush into things without thinking, and almost all of you were overtaken easily. As for you Manics, you can’t even survive without others to interact with. We Logicians can function independently and are certainly the most successful. We possess the most- He was interrupted by Zeta and I. Oh please! I’ve seen a logician put under stress. You just freak out and shut down! You logicians can’t even comprehend the simple pleasures of life. You feel the breeze on your skin and don’t even grin. Uh… Excuse me? Who is that talking?! Ignore it, that’s just Twilight. Yeah, don’t try changing the subject Delta. Uh… Excuse me, who are all of you? But as I recall, Alpha survived for years without even thinking, let alone talking to others. Oh Twilight, I think you may just want to butt out of this. We’re busy talking to one another. She was silent for a little while. No, no! I need you all to please be quiet for a moment… Hold on.

“Rarity, please take a few notes for me.”

“Of course, dear, what would you like me to write?” She picked up the notepad and a pencil.

“Okay… Write this: There appears to be multiple entities inside the subjects mind. They appear to be at odds with one another, though two of them seem to be teaming up on the other.”

Well actually Twilight, I don’t usually side with Zeta. The only reason I’m doing that right now is because Delta said something totally dick baggy and needs some slaps in the face.

“Er… It appears they have some kind of social world. And it would also seem they all have individual identities.”Well no, actually they aren’t individuals. They’re just components of me that for some reason are separated from me… Please tell me you can fix that. Lies! He is a liar! He is… deceiving you. I am the real Herbert, this one is… false! Twilight sighed.

“Ugh… Please, all of you, just… let me observe.” As you wish. I said, hoping that she would have some kind of spell that would be able to merge us all together again so I could keep on living.

So the three of us just kept on arguing with one another, and then they turned on me. Something about how we would all be happier if one of them had control of the body because, in Delta’s view, we would be gathering more information about Equestria, and in Zetas view we would be satisfying our emotional desires. I just started ignoring them around them. Suddenly, Zeta shut up for once. She didn’t even say why she was being silent. It lasted for about seven minutes, and it had caught both Delta’s attention and my own.

Ow… That hurt like hell. Now where was I? Pardon me, Zeta, but why were you silent? It almost felt like a holiday. Smartass… No, the purple one was screwing with me for some reason. Actually, I think she’s doing it to Delta now. Delta? You there? Silence. Then suddenly, I felt like I was being ripped apart. It did, as Zeta said, hurt like hell. It lasted for a few moments, and then it ended.

“Alright, I think I know what to do here…” Twilight said. Warmth started to fill my head, hotter than when Twilight connected herself to me or whatever. Delta and Zeta started shouting their heads off, and then I got super fucking sleepy. I guess I passed out or something.