Building Suspenseby carlnachosChaptersAdventure 1: CorridorsAdventure 2: AssaultAdventure 3: Changelings -Part 1Adventure 4: Isolation -Part 1Adventure 1: CorridorsSlowly she crept down the narrow passage. With no light to guide her, all she could do was brush her wing against the wall, and wait for her muzzle to bump into a wall. Then she would turn. Whichever way was provided, she went, with no thought to what might await her. The air was somewhat humid and smelled slightly of the aftermath of a rainy day. It was not cold nor hot, it was merely moderate. The walls of her labyrinth were rough as though made of concrete. The floor was smooth, slightly slippery. She continued walking. Slowly, there was a point in space that brightened just slightly. The light brought her to a trot, then to a gallop. Unnoticed tears streaming down her face. Finally, she arrived at the mote of light. Only meters away, she could feel the warmth radiating from it. Even closer. She couldn't help but let a smile tug across her muzzle. Putting her wings out to embrace the light, to bring it closer. To feel the warmth. Her wings surrounding it, ready to grab it and bring it in. As she was about to touch it, the warmth searing her wings, It disappears. Adventure 2: AssaultMayor Mare took her place on the stage in front of Ponyville town hall. "Fillies and gentlcolts, it is my honor to accept the title of mayor, and it is my pleasure to announce the construction of SWEET CELESTIA WHAT IS THAT!" the recently elected mayor was pointing her hoof up over the podium, at several large, dark shapes approaching over the top of the Everfree Forest. Each shape appeared to be the size of town hall, yet they approached faster than many pagasi could hope to fly. As they came closer, they could be identified as gargantuan war zeppelins, an entire armada of armed balloons had descended upon Ponyville. Each zeppelin was decorated in its own way, many of them covered in the bones of the conquered, others were the bare minimum of an airship, and then there was the flagship. The flagship was an absolute monstrosity, decorated with bones, heads, and plated with heavy steel, it caused many ponies to wet themselves at the mere sight. Many ponies were screaming, scattering, and creating overall confusion. Ponies were running every which way, hoping to find their home sooner than the pony next to them. Many foals were lost in the crowds, some of them even trampled in the stampede to get to safety. Ponies were forcing their way into shops and restaurants just to get away from the wrath of the war balloons. Ponies who couldn't figure out how to use a door decided to jump into trash bins, hide under the stage, or in a nearby potted plant. Anything they thought would save them, they clung to for dear life. The ponies of the usually quiet town were fighting hoof and hoof for the best of spots. At this point, the weaponized balloons were over top of Ponyville, raining death upon those who dared remain outside, and destroying the homes that many took refuge in. Hot tar poured from vats over the thatched roofs of the homes, fireballs were launched from massive trebuchetes. The thick oil encasing the residents in their homes and setting them alight simultaneously. Fireballs setting stragglers on fire and setting homes ablaze as well as the oil. When it came to homes that could not be tarred or burned down, dark figures descended gracefully from the balloons, wielding large metal contraptions. When ponies first saw griffons smashing through the windows of their homes, they thought that they were there to rescue them, but then they looked down the barrel of death himself, the last thing they saw being the griffons latest creation. The Firearm. Adventure 3: Changelings -Part 1Twilight charged the spell again, this would literally be her thousandth try at using this spell. She knew that, because she was keeping count. Because, she knew that somewhere along the line the number of attempts she made would be important, and maybe there was a little OCD involved in there too. But that was a debate for later. Now, something that sounded so easy as an exposure spell was extremely difficult for her, all that she could really summarize from what her books told her, was that it was like seeing something, without seeing it. Seeing as this would require immense imagination from such a brutally factual pony, it had been quiet the day of practice so far. Twilight sat in the middle of her library floor, surrounded by all of the books and notes she could get her hooves on. Her illusion magic was spot on, so the orange in the middle of the room with her appeared to be, and felt as if it were a banana, however, actually peeling it or damaging it in any way would dispel the enchantment on it. And so she readied her exposure spell, aimed at the bewitched orange, and then proceeded to find herself contorting backwards as a pair of hard, round objects pushed her into the pedestal upon which the orange-banana fruit rested. Her spell had gone off in the process of being shoved forward by the unknown force. "Heh, sorry Twi, I may have been going a bit fast through my routine today." Rainbow Dash confessed from behind her. "Hey, I didn't make this mess did I? 'Cause I know you were goin' for the world's longest-" Rainbow was cut off by a shrieking Twilight Sparkle, who was looking at the very reason she was learning this spell today. A changeling had replaced her dearest little Dashie Rainbow Dash. She began firing off every combative spell she knew at the wretched creature,not giving a moment's respite. Needless to say, the changeling was subdued, hog-tied, and for the sake of the town's morale, hidden in a garbage bag. Twilight never expected to use the 'Ropes 101' lesson Applejack gave her. I'll need to thank her after I turn this changeling in and we find out where the real Rainbow Dash is. Twilight then proceeded to town hall, the large bag full of changeling remains in tow. Well, proceeded almost all the way to town hall, but Pinkie decided it would be a good idea to appear in Twilight's face with a loud, chipper, "HI TWILIGHT!". Stunned at the mare's sudden appearance, Twilight flinched and fell backwards onto her rump, a slight gasp leaving her mouth. "So Twilight, what happened to Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie eagerly inquired. "What are you...how did-?" "She flew in through your window silly!" Pinkie cut Twilight off, softly booping her on the nose with a hoof. "Unless her cover was blown and that's actually why I can't hear her thoughts in my head anymore maybe the girls can still hear her and I just have bad reception, but that wouldn't make any sense cause we don't need reception to be connected to the hive mind, maybe Rarity or AJ knows..." Pinkie continued to ramble for a while, but the words were lost to Twilight. If she had been hearing Pinkie correctly during her brief listen, at least four of the ponies she knew had been swapped out with changelings, including Pinkie herself. But that wouldn't make any sense, because a changeling wouldn't sell out it's entire hive. Maybe Pinkie was just being Pinkie and this was only a one pony incident. How could Twilight tell? She couldn't just shoot a spell at her friend without reason. But what if she was right, and the entirety of four ponies was lost to the hive. "-Twilight that's ridiculous, its not just four ponies, its all of Ponyville!" Pinkie, cut into her thoughts. "Pinkie what was that last part?" Twilight asked the pony(?) in front of her, whom was now heavily panting from all of her very plot thickening ramblings. "Oh, you were thinking about how we were replaced by changelings, and I decided that our friend the author could be lazy and skip all the exposition, 'cause he's no good at any of that," Pinkie promptly responded, furthering Twilight's confusion. About thirty seconds of the two merely staring at each other went by, Pinkie's smile slowly lessening into a grimace. "Twilight, just zap me and get it over with so I can get out of this terribly written story and go home to my family," Pinkie deadpanned. "But, you don't..." Twilight was severely thrown off. What was Pinkie talking about? Well, at least she knew she was going to hit her with a spell, so Twilight happily obliged, quickly zapping her normally happy friend with the exposure spell. In a way Twilight knew it was coming, yet she was still awe struck by the fact that there was another changeling in Ponyville. Soon after, she attempted to compose herself, Twilight then charged up her horn for the first volley of fireballs. Pinkie stood there, patiently waiting for something to hit, while Twilight shot a few spells at her. Many of Twilight's shots missed in her panic, most whizzed by her recent friend, the rest merely skimmed over her. Shortly after making the realization that the changeling in front of her was in no hurry to get away, Twilight merely scooped it up in her magic, "Hey! You were supposed to kill me so I could go home! Now I'm stuck here in this dreadful, poorly written fanfiction..." The changeling shouted inside Twilight's telekinetic bubble. Adventure 4: Isolation -Part 1I have always lived alone. Not in a house, an apartment, or anything standard like that. Nor do I live in a palace, a cardboard box, or something else obscene. I live in a room. It is the only room I have known my whole conscious life. I say conscious because I've dreamed of other places, imagined them up. I've dreamed of cities, parks, lakes...the sky. I can't visualize these things consciously, but when I'm asleep, I can just tell they are beautiful. They are perfect. My room is a rather fair sized room, twenty meters by twenty meters, padded on the roof, the floor, and three of the walls; there is also a toilet in one corner, and a bed in the opposite corner of the toilet. The last wall has a dark window with an exchange tray underneath it, and a steel circular door off to the side of the window. The most important thing in my room is in the corner immediately next to the window, my desk. It is a rather ornate desk, made of smoothly sanded mahogany, with several book shelves suspended above it with metal supports, and several drawers that I use for various materials. I receive everything I need through the exchange tray in the window: food, toys, tests, books, essentially everything I need to sustain my daily life. Anything else I need, appears in the room the day after I submit a request for it, but only after I go to bed and wake up does my request come. I have spent approximately eleven years of my life living in this room, the entirety of my waking life has been spent here. I say approximately because there have been several occasions on which the the clock by the window has skipped dates over night. My room smells absolutely dreadful the morning of, but after such a prolonged stay, I've become used to it. I have lived my entire life without seeing the face of another pony, feeling another pony, or even hearing one. My textbooks don't even have pictures of ponies in them. The only time I have ever seen a pony, was when I saw my reflection. I gave myself such a fright I hid under the bed crying myself into an exhausted slumber, only to awake, look for a reflection again and find that the glass of the window had been replaced overnight. I didn't know whether to be happy that the terrifying thing was gone, or sad that I couldn't have more time to understand it more. That same day I was given a survey by the window, it had one question. What did you see? Explain how it made you feel. I found I couldn't write anything, for I hadn't truly looked at myself. I had been too terrified by seeing another moving entity in the room -that wasn't being moved by me or supplied through the exchange tray- to notice. All I could remember was a blur, a very bland blemish upon the window. It barely stood out, being slightly darker than the window itself, but also blended with the reflected walls behind it. Recently, I have been learning about this fascinating thing called 'Magic'. There are few ponies who can perform what is generally called 'Magic' itself, not Earth Pony Magic or even Pegasus Magic, just 'Magic' simple as that. Unfortunately there are only two types of ponies who can control 'Magic', unicorns and alicorns, alicorns being better at 'Magic' because their bodies retain more mana or something like that. Anyway, I found it odd that they would give me this knowledge, for I am a pegasus, not a unicorn or an alicorn. After I took my test for 'Advanced Theoretical Spells' I started to receive items from the exchange tray. I would receive things like little rings, cloaks, or even these ridiculously small cuffs (which I came to learn after skimming the user's manual were 'Mana Flow Inhibitor' prototypes) that look almost like they would barely fit onto a small ape's finger. I later received another prototype that resembled a little plastic crown with a stopwatch wired to it. It came with directions. Wear this device for thirty seconds, record the result afterward. Repeat daily. Complying as I always had, I wore the dreadful thing for months until it disappeared from my room one night. From another pony's perspective, it may only seem like it buzzes a little then stops, but 150 volts of electricity surging through your brain is actually quiet painful. Often times the little meter attached to The Crown of Pain, as I've so rightfully dubbed it, would display an 'err' message. Rarely did it actually display something, but when it did, it was quiet a shock to me that it only said one thing. YES I'm not sure what that means, but it was a clear indicator that I had passed whatever test I was being given, as the device disappeared the next time I awoke. That seems to be how my room stays so clean, the magic happens over night, so to speak.
Adventure 1: CorridorsSlowly she crept down the narrow passage. With no light to guide her, all she could do was brush her wing against the wall, and wait for her muzzle to bump into a wall. Then she would turn. Whichever way was provided, she went, with no thought to what might await her. The air was somewhat humid and smelled slightly of the aftermath of a rainy day. It was not cold nor hot, it was merely moderate. The walls of her labyrinth were rough as though made of concrete. The floor was smooth, slightly slippery. She continued walking. Slowly, there was a point in space that brightened just slightly. The light brought her to a trot, then to a gallop. Unnoticed tears streaming down her face. Finally, she arrived at the mote of light. Only meters away, she could feel the warmth radiating from it. Even closer. She couldn't help but let a smile tug across her muzzle. Putting her wings out to embrace the light, to bring it closer. To feel the warmth. Her wings surrounding it, ready to grab it and bring it in. As she was about to touch it, the warmth searing her wings, It disappears.
Adventure 2: AssaultMayor Mare took her place on the stage in front of Ponyville town hall. "Fillies and gentlcolts, it is my honor to accept the title of mayor, and it is my pleasure to announce the construction of SWEET CELESTIA WHAT IS THAT!" the recently elected mayor was pointing her hoof up over the podium, at several large, dark shapes approaching over the top of the Everfree Forest. Each shape appeared to be the size of town hall, yet they approached faster than many pagasi could hope to fly. As they came closer, they could be identified as gargantuan war zeppelins, an entire armada of armed balloons had descended upon Ponyville. Each zeppelin was decorated in its own way, many of them covered in the bones of the conquered, others were the bare minimum of an airship, and then there was the flagship. The flagship was an absolute monstrosity, decorated with bones, heads, and plated with heavy steel, it caused many ponies to wet themselves at the mere sight. Many ponies were screaming, scattering, and creating overall confusion. Ponies were running every which way, hoping to find their home sooner than the pony next to them. Many foals were lost in the crowds, some of them even trampled in the stampede to get to safety. Ponies were forcing their way into shops and restaurants just to get away from the wrath of the war balloons. Ponies who couldn't figure out how to use a door decided to jump into trash bins, hide under the stage, or in a nearby potted plant. Anything they thought would save them, they clung to for dear life. The ponies of the usually quiet town were fighting hoof and hoof for the best of spots. At this point, the weaponized balloons were over top of Ponyville, raining death upon those who dared remain outside, and destroying the homes that many took refuge in. Hot tar poured from vats over the thatched roofs of the homes, fireballs were launched from massive trebuchetes. The thick oil encasing the residents in their homes and setting them alight simultaneously. Fireballs setting stragglers on fire and setting homes ablaze as well as the oil. When it came to homes that could not be tarred or burned down, dark figures descended gracefully from the balloons, wielding large metal contraptions. When ponies first saw griffons smashing through the windows of their homes, they thought that they were there to rescue them, but then they looked down the barrel of death himself, the last thing they saw being the griffons latest creation. The Firearm.
Adventure 3: Changelings -Part 1Twilight charged the spell again, this would literally be her thousandth try at using this spell. She knew that, because she was keeping count. Because, she knew that somewhere along the line the number of attempts she made would be important, and maybe there was a little OCD involved in there too. But that was a debate for later. Now, something that sounded so easy as an exposure spell was extremely difficult for her, all that she could really summarize from what her books told her, was that it was like seeing something, without seeing it. Seeing as this would require immense imagination from such a brutally factual pony, it had been quiet the day of practice so far. Twilight sat in the middle of her library floor, surrounded by all of the books and notes she could get her hooves on. Her illusion magic was spot on, so the orange in the middle of the room with her appeared to be, and felt as if it were a banana, however, actually peeling it or damaging it in any way would dispel the enchantment on it. And so she readied her exposure spell, aimed at the bewitched orange, and then proceeded to find herself contorting backwards as a pair of hard, round objects pushed her into the pedestal upon which the orange-banana fruit rested. Her spell had gone off in the process of being shoved forward by the unknown force. "Heh, sorry Twi, I may have been going a bit fast through my routine today." Rainbow Dash confessed from behind her. "Hey, I didn't make this mess did I? 'Cause I know you were goin' for the world's longest-" Rainbow was cut off by a shrieking Twilight Sparkle, who was looking at the very reason she was learning this spell today. A changeling had replaced her dearest little Dashie Rainbow Dash. She began firing off every combative spell she knew at the wretched creature,not giving a moment's respite. Needless to say, the changeling was subdued, hog-tied, and for the sake of the town's morale, hidden in a garbage bag. Twilight never expected to use the 'Ropes 101' lesson Applejack gave her. I'll need to thank her after I turn this changeling in and we find out where the real Rainbow Dash is. Twilight then proceeded to town hall, the large bag full of changeling remains in tow. Well, proceeded almost all the way to town hall, but Pinkie decided it would be a good idea to appear in Twilight's face with a loud, chipper, "HI TWILIGHT!". Stunned at the mare's sudden appearance, Twilight flinched and fell backwards onto her rump, a slight gasp leaving her mouth. "So Twilight, what happened to Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie eagerly inquired. "What are you...how did-?" "She flew in through your window silly!" Pinkie cut Twilight off, softly booping her on the nose with a hoof. "Unless her cover was blown and that's actually why I can't hear her thoughts in my head anymore maybe the girls can still hear her and I just have bad reception, but that wouldn't make any sense cause we don't need reception to be connected to the hive mind, maybe Rarity or AJ knows..." Pinkie continued to ramble for a while, but the words were lost to Twilight. If she had been hearing Pinkie correctly during her brief listen, at least four of the ponies she knew had been swapped out with changelings, including Pinkie herself. But that wouldn't make any sense, because a changeling wouldn't sell out it's entire hive. Maybe Pinkie was just being Pinkie and this was only a one pony incident. How could Twilight tell? She couldn't just shoot a spell at her friend without reason. But what if she was right, and the entirety of four ponies was lost to the hive. "-Twilight that's ridiculous, its not just four ponies, its all of Ponyville!" Pinkie, cut into her thoughts. "Pinkie what was that last part?" Twilight asked the pony(?) in front of her, whom was now heavily panting from all of her very plot thickening ramblings. "Oh, you were thinking about how we were replaced by changelings, and I decided that our friend the author could be lazy and skip all the exposition, 'cause he's no good at any of that," Pinkie promptly responded, furthering Twilight's confusion. About thirty seconds of the two merely staring at each other went by, Pinkie's smile slowly lessening into a grimace. "Twilight, just zap me and get it over with so I can get out of this terribly written story and go home to my family," Pinkie deadpanned. "But, you don't..." Twilight was severely thrown off. What was Pinkie talking about? Well, at least she knew she was going to hit her with a spell, so Twilight happily obliged, quickly zapping her normally happy friend with the exposure spell. In a way Twilight knew it was coming, yet she was still awe struck by the fact that there was another changeling in Ponyville. Soon after, she attempted to compose herself, Twilight then charged up her horn for the first volley of fireballs. Pinkie stood there, patiently waiting for something to hit, while Twilight shot a few spells at her. Many of Twilight's shots missed in her panic, most whizzed by her recent friend, the rest merely skimmed over her. Shortly after making the realization that the changeling in front of her was in no hurry to get away, Twilight merely scooped it up in her magic, "Hey! You were supposed to kill me so I could go home! Now I'm stuck here in this dreadful, poorly written fanfiction..." The changeling shouted inside Twilight's telekinetic bubble.
Adventure 4: Isolation -Part 1I have always lived alone. Not in a house, an apartment, or anything standard like that. Nor do I live in a palace, a cardboard box, or something else obscene. I live in a room. It is the only room I have known my whole conscious life. I say conscious because I've dreamed of other places, imagined them up. I've dreamed of cities, parks, lakes...the sky. I can't visualize these things consciously, but when I'm asleep, I can just tell they are beautiful. They are perfect. My room is a rather fair sized room, twenty meters by twenty meters, padded on the roof, the floor, and three of the walls; there is also a toilet in one corner, and a bed in the opposite corner of the toilet. The last wall has a dark window with an exchange tray underneath it, and a steel circular door off to the side of the window. The most important thing in my room is in the corner immediately next to the window, my desk. It is a rather ornate desk, made of smoothly sanded mahogany, with several book shelves suspended above it with metal supports, and several drawers that I use for various materials. I receive everything I need through the exchange tray in the window: food, toys, tests, books, essentially everything I need to sustain my daily life. Anything else I need, appears in the room the day after I submit a request for it, but only after I go to bed and wake up does my request come. I have spent approximately eleven years of my life living in this room, the entirety of my waking life has been spent here. I say approximately because there have been several occasions on which the the clock by the window has skipped dates over night. My room smells absolutely dreadful the morning of, but after such a prolonged stay, I've become used to it. I have lived my entire life without seeing the face of another pony, feeling another pony, or even hearing one. My textbooks don't even have pictures of ponies in them. The only time I have ever seen a pony, was when I saw my reflection. I gave myself such a fright I hid under the bed crying myself into an exhausted slumber, only to awake, look for a reflection again and find that the glass of the window had been replaced overnight. I didn't know whether to be happy that the terrifying thing was gone, or sad that I couldn't have more time to understand it more. That same day I was given a survey by the window, it had one question. What did you see? Explain how it made you feel. I found I couldn't write anything, for I hadn't truly looked at myself. I had been too terrified by seeing another moving entity in the room -that wasn't being moved by me or supplied through the exchange tray- to notice. All I could remember was a blur, a very bland blemish upon the window. It barely stood out, being slightly darker than the window itself, but also blended with the reflected walls behind it. Recently, I have been learning about this fascinating thing called 'Magic'. There are few ponies who can perform what is generally called 'Magic' itself, not Earth Pony Magic or even Pegasus Magic, just 'Magic' simple as that. Unfortunately there are only two types of ponies who can control 'Magic', unicorns and alicorns, alicorns being better at 'Magic' because their bodies retain more mana or something like that. Anyway, I found it odd that they would give me this knowledge, for I am a pegasus, not a unicorn or an alicorn. After I took my test for 'Advanced Theoretical Spells' I started to receive items from the exchange tray. I would receive things like little rings, cloaks, or even these ridiculously small cuffs (which I came to learn after skimming the user's manual were 'Mana Flow Inhibitor' prototypes) that look almost like they would barely fit onto a small ape's finger. I later received another prototype that resembled a little plastic crown with a stopwatch wired to it. It came with directions. Wear this device for thirty seconds, record the result afterward. Repeat daily. Complying as I always had, I wore the dreadful thing for months until it disappeared from my room one night. From another pony's perspective, it may only seem like it buzzes a little then stops, but 150 volts of electricity surging through your brain is actually quiet painful. Often times the little meter attached to The Crown of Pain, as I've so rightfully dubbed it, would display an 'err' message. Rarely did it actually display something, but when it did, it was quiet a shock to me that it only said one thing. YES I'm not sure what that means, but it was a clear indicator that I had passed whatever test I was being given, as the device disappeared the next time I awoke. That seems to be how my room stays so clean, the magic happens over night, so to speak.
