Abode of Madness

by Swaggerpede

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure
Length: 4170

After being banished from Equestria circus, young misfit Diablo lunacy is to embark on a journey ike no other- To find her place in the world just like everypony else.

After discovering she's wasting her time with her circus-freak family, Diablo's Parents urge the misfit to find her own place after serving the Equestria circus for 15 years and not finding her special talent. She's probably more use in the real world, or is she? there's an infinite amount of things to do in Eequestria plus a dozen more. How will she find her place? No pointers? No directions? She's not that much of an independent mare, either. It's not like she'll Discover herself all on her own.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-06-19 10:43:53 UTC

Goodbye, Good Riddance.

You'll follow me back

With the sun in your eyes

And on your own

Bedshaped

And legs of stone

You'll knock on my door

And up we'll go

In white light

I don't think so

But what do I know?

What do I know?

I know. -Keane

It was a dark, foggy night in Manehattan. the rain was Bellowing down like bullets on tin. Anypony who was out right now was bound to be drenched, cold and disheartened. Along in the Distance came a light galloping. it was hard to hear over the  roar of the rain.

This light, Gentle tapping in the Distance soon  Grew lager until we saw the mare it was emanating from.  A Pony's  silhouette thundered  down the back alleys of manhattan, hoping to find herself in the main streets somehow. she ran faster, and faster. well. at least she tried, but she couldn't help but notice a Tug on her tail. She tried to ignore it, but, it got stronger. so strong in fact that her Dash slowed into a steadied walk once she felt like her tail was literally about to rip out of her Flank.

She stopped. she knew who was forcing her to stop. but she didn't look around to see. she felt too embarrassed.

"Sister" Came a male voice from behind her.

"Are they serious!?" She screamed out into the rain.

"Diablo, Listen, What Ma' and Pa' may have said upset you, but you've got it all wrong. they're.. not banishing you. they feel that their caging you from the world. They know that your talent isn't here in the circus, but out there somewhere. and you need to go get it''

"You agree with them, Hoops?'' Diablo spat.  she couldn't believe that  her older brother was even saying this. he's always been on her side! Betrayal!

Diablo turned around to look hoops straight in the eyes, There was fire in her purple irises.  Her parents had told her to leave. forever? Why! why, why, why!  she thought they loved her!

"No, I'm just saying that They mean well. and you shouldn't be upset by this. just please, you're fifteen now, you should have understood what they're trying to say. no pony can go without a cutiemark." Said hoops.

"oh, and having a cutiemark is everything to you? why is it so important so suddenly?" Diablo said, Her anger rising in her tone.

Her brother was Twenty five years old. but as of recently, the most unimportant things have become suddenly so relevant to him. like getting a marefriend, or helping me find my cutiemark. so what? it's all so boring.

"Listen. you're fifteen now. I think I can finally be honest. Getting a cutiemark decides who you are, and how you can contribute to this word. Ma' and Pa'a want you to go find your purpose so you can quite frankly stop dicking around with your life. you're getting clumsier and clumsier as time goes on without your mark. Diablo, you almost killed sompony the other day when you dropped  the tent poles.

i'm sick of seeing  Ma' and Pa's angry faces when they yell at you.

i'm sick of seeing the rest of the family bitch about your attitude.

i'm sick of having to clean up after you.

I'm sick of Watching you suffer in here!''

Hoops paused, uncomfortable as if he had more things to say, but he didn't want to upset his baby sister anymore. Diablo noticed tears welling up in his eyes.

"I... I'm sick of having be ashamed of you. I Don't want to be, Because you're a Lunacy. and Lunacies stick together. but, I know I won't be ashamed of you when I see you for what you really are.  I know you'll do good out  there in the world, and I love you. I want to see you spread your wings, and quite frankly, I feel the circus is holding you back."

Diablo's anger dissipated. She just felt like her brother, her Hero. had been living a lie this entire time. He was the kindest one to her, and helped her whenever she needed it. If her kart was too heavy, he'd Be there. if she couldn't tie the finishing knot on the tent, He'd be there. And if one day she forgot to breathe. there he'd be.

..and all this time she had been  nothing but a Burden.

huh. Well that's a new feeling. She felt selfish.

"I'm sorry. hoops."    The worry in her eyes turned into that of determination. Yeah. Shell make it out there.  She'll make everyone in the hoops family proud.

Hoops said nothing in return.

"Okay, you're the boss. I'll go."

Diablo Spun on her hooves to walk into the buzz of Manehattan. A hoof on her shoulder

"No"

"You're the boss, Lunatic" He smiled.

Diablo Paused a moment, she looked away, semi- deep in thought. then, looked back. "Do I need to collect my things?" she asked.

"No" said hoops" that will only remind you of your life here this is your chance to make new friends and collect new memories. And even start a new family. Now I suggest you walk forward, over there, into the city, catch a train. or not. go where ever you feel. this is your life now."

Diablo nodded, And embraced her brother in one last hug. " I'll come to see the circus, someday, as a customer. you won't even know i'm there" she whispered into his ear as they hugged.

"are you kidding?" hoops chuckled" I can see you form a mile off with a mane like that" they both giggled. Without words. Diablo Spun on her hooves. and walked into the  smoggy city. hoops watched her go. making sure nopony walked into her as she left. ( she was never very good at looking both ways as she crossed a road)

He smiled. knowing it was for the best. He turned around and walked back into the outskirts of the city, Neither of the two looked back at each other. both of them drenched, but both of them happy.

Welp, Here goes nothing.

After the Stressful events that just took place, It was almost forgotten in the bright lights, Big city that was Manehatten.

Diablo's Pace was inconsistent, she was walking, but, at a fast pace. then she looked as if she where running. but very slowly.

It was jus the sheer excitement of having independence, trying to escape her body all at the same time, her head was jerking around every corner,  and her  Big purple eyes where  As wide as ever taking in every image the city had to offer, Restaurants,  theatres, Shops, food, hotels, Food, boutiques beyond belief, and Food.

There was an opportunity to  eat at every corner. And boy, was Diablo hungry.

But she had no money. Oh goodness. Oh goodness no. she was tempted to head back to the circus and steal money from Ma' and Pa'. But she's not very stealth like. that got her thinking, eh. Forget food for the night, how about we found ourselves a place to sleep, and tomorrow we'll find a job.

upon thinking that thought, she realised that   there was no point in sleeping yet. The city was still wide awake. Every place in town was still open at 10pm. maybe she can find herself  a job at this time, something simple.  Weirdly, out of all the fancy Diners and  Places to eat, where she'd at least get a Discount on food for working there, She walked into the library. Why? Well. perhaps part of her thought she could pick up some common sense if she worked near books. illogical? yes. but oh well.

The place was a lot Darker, but still open.  there was nopony about apart from the few bookworms who lurked in the library. It was quiet, despite all the noise and shouting outside.  those ponies who where here where sat with their minds buried deep into their studies. Diablo glanced at them. To her, they looked as if they where in some sort of book- coma, or they where book zombies. incapable of surviving without mental sustenance. she trotted right up to the desk. there seemed to be nopony working the desk. there was a small bell appropriately parked on the desk, so  naturally. to draw attention to her position, Diablo rang the bell.

                                                                                                 Ding!

the book zombies Raised their heads to inspect the disturbance in their trance. but with no answer to Diablo's call, They returned to their fan fictions, Novels, and scientific books.

                                                                                                  Ding!

Again came the bell,  the zombies raised their heads again, this time in slight annoyance. "I'm on my way, calm down over there!'' came an old voice. Diablo looked around to see that yet again, no pony was there. was it a ghost?

       An old corpse of a mare came rattling around the corner at sluggish speeds.

"Yeah. Whaddya want? books? we got lots of those.'' huffed the Pony.

"you own this place?" Diablo asked.

"Well, Yeah. " said the book clerk.

"I need a job, are you handing any of those out?" Continued Diablo.

"Sure. yeah I could do with some days off. Why not." smiled the pony.

"oh, really? that easy?" Diablo smiled.

"Yeah, no pony else wan't to work here, it's a dusty old building with dustier, older books. tell me, kiddo, why do you want to work here exactly?"

"dunno" Began Diablo as she looked around the forest of shelves that towered over her. " It looked cool. and, you don't know me. My name is Diablo by the way. I'm new to the real world. I wanted a job that was, you know."

"not a restaurant" Replied the pony.

"Yeah. It's all so busy, i couldn't , well, I don't think I could handle that many orders in so little time" Said Diablo

"I know, I felt the same way. I came here when i was about a ear or so older than you. never looked back. I'm tome Opus. follow me, i'll ge t you a shift for tomorrow." the mare said as she began to walk, well. hobble to the other end of the library.

That got Diablo worrying like a baby. he want's a job, but not one that will spiral her into an endless cycle of clock in- and outs of bookwork. and when the old pony dies, she'll have extra work to do, before she knows it, she'll be an old coot with a  book for a cutiemark, explaining her life story to some young pony who has hope for the future!

this sudden panic made Diablo stop in her tracks.  tome turned to face the silly filly. " you alright there?"

Diablo took a deep breath and looked at Tome's cutiemark. it was a book an quill. typical for some pony of that profession. she continued to follow the old mare to the other end of the library. " Wow. what a.. lovely Cutiemark.  Did you get it before you worked here? or after?... or before? or after."  Diablo repeated to herself.

"oh before, long before  worked here. I love books, you see. but-" the mare stopped and looked at Diablo for a moment.

"you alright there, skipper?" She asked.

Diablo let out a sigh of relief. " oh goodness yes, i'm fine''

The two ponies arrived at the staff room, in which tome explained to Diablo each shift, such as book stacking, new orders that have come in, the front desk, and general tidying.

"now, i've been juggling each shift on my own for about 4 years now since my last employee quit. How long do you reckon you'll stay here?"  Asked tome.

In which Diablo replied with an undecided answer of " Eh, not too sure"

Tome stacked various books as she spoke,  everywhere was a mess, books stacked, in no order whatsoever and covering every surface in sight. dust was soon making a home here. every step the ponies took  moved dust, paper and fluff around the room to settle somewhere else.

"Well, if you do quit, please give me a weeks notice. the pony before last left without a trace" Tome alerted the young pony.

Diablo wasn't surprised why. this place was a dump.

Tome wasn't done talking

"On Tuesdays form about 1pm to 3 we have book club. usually 6-8 ponies turn up. eh. What was todays book? ah...Oh yes,

'Daring foo and the quest for the sapphire stone' Yeah, that's a good one. A.K Yearling I believe."

"Right, Good, Good" Nodded Diablo

By Celestia, hurry up already! Diablo pleaded to herself.

"Your pay will be 3 Bits an hour. sound good, sunshine?" Diablo nodded again. it wasn't much, she knew. but it was better than nothing.

After being briefed, Diablo was waved good bye and dumped on the streets again. she looked around, the city was still aBuzz. She decided to take a walk around, The city lights Where So bright, she couldn't help but smile, she had nothing but there was still a skip in her step. This was the Concrete jungle where dreams are made of!

i'm stuck in a town that is famous as a place of movie scenes

Noise is always loud, there are sirens all around and the streets are mean

If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere, that's what they say

Seeing my face in lights or my name on marquees found down on Broadway

Even if it ain't all it seems, I got a pocket full of dreams

Manehatten

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothing you can't do

Now We're in Manehatten

These streets will make you feel brand new

Big lights will inspire you

Hear it from The City, The City, The City!

On the avenue, there ain't never a curfew, mares work so hard

Such a melting pot, on the corner selling rock, Ponies pray to God

Hail a gypsy-cab, takes me down from Harlem to the Brooklyn Bridge

Some will sleep tonight with a hunger far more than an empty fridge

I'm gonna make it by any means, I got a pocket full of dreams

Manehatten

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothing you can't do

Now we're in Manehatten

These streets will make you feel brand new

Big lights will inspire you

Hear it from The city ,the city, the city

One hoof in the air for the big city,

Street lights, big dreams all looking pretty

No place in the world that can compare

Put your horns in the air, everybody say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

In Manehatten

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothing you can't do

Now we're in Manehatten

These streets will make you feel brand new

Big lights will inspire you

Hear it from The city!

The Wings Of Chaos

We're just ordinary people, you and me

Time will turn us into statues, eventually

We got by, though we never needed much

A sliver of hope, no diamond rings

We got high, it was heaven it was hell

Flying over them, with broken wings

-The Foo Fighters

It has been several months now since Diablo Got a job, she got A raise and now she can Just about afford the worst place to live in the whole city, it's nowhere near the pretty lights of Times square where all the Someponies are. She's a Nopony. but she's living an independent life, she can stay up as long as she wants now, but  chooses not to stay up not too late, or she can't get up for work.

She loves her home. its got a few pictures of her family, and some flowers she managed to buy. it's a small apartment  and it's got no wallpaper  but it's hers. all hers.

Diablo made her way to her 1pm Shift to hold Book club that day. Book club had finished 'Quest for the sapphire stone' long ago. she passed Tome on the way in the Library and was informed that Todays book was Waiting for her on Her desk.  Book club was at 3pm, But she came early So she had good time to read the book first. it was relatively short, so she had time to get the gist of it.

When entering the library, one would notice the place was a lot cleaner and has a lot less dust then when Diablo arrived. Tome says she has '' young knees'' so she could fly up and Dust the top of all the bookshelves. She's  been doing some basic ordering of the books, Too. Nothing extreme,  But enough so ponies would actually want to spend time there.

Diablo Approached Her desk and pounced on the Wheely chair. She spun around to face the book and scooped it up.

'the wings of chaos, By Honey Seed. "Huh. Cool name'' She said to herself. The front of the book has a picture of some, Weird dragon thing. it had mismatched horns,  mismatched wings and  mismatched limbs. huh. Nice.

She flipped the book over to read the Strange blurb.

He brought such Tyranny.

Such Chaos and hate.

but I can't stop staring at his statue.

I don't want to stop.

he's alive in there, I can feel it.

He's watching me too.

"Riiight" Diablo huffed to herself. "Let's read this thing."

Diablo Read the book carefully. the books first chapters started off with a pony named Honey seed who would occasionally visited the Discord statue, because legend has it the creature still lurks inside.

The book continues from an occasional visit to more, often visits.

Honey seed's friends start to worry about her , The statue began to take up most lines of her conversation.

Honey seed leaves them, she knows a true friend wouldn't  deny her favourite hobby to be that of obsession.

the book goes onto her Eventually spending whole nights there, Drawing or sketching him.

Time Ticked, Pages where flipped and Endless amounts of words filtered through the young pony's mind. Chapters where destroyed in minutes.

A pony approached Diablo's desk. She was kicked back in her seat with her hind hooves planted on the desk top. ''Excuse me-''

''BAH'' Diablo Yelped as she sat bolt upright. The other pony jumped in response.  "uh. you alright there ma'am" said the Colt

"Yeah, yeah i'm fine" She wiped her forehead in relief. "What can I Do for you?" she smiled.

"I'm looking for the star swirl the bearded section" Replied the colt.  "Ah." She sat up further  in her chair and pointed down the library.

"second shelf from the end, you'll see it labelled  on the front of the row there, do you see?"

The other pony looked in the direction she was pointing '' Ah. yep Yeah I see it. Thank you ma-""

"Have you read this book?"  Diablo interrupted his thanks.

" Uh."  The pony look at the over as Diablo held it up so he could see " Yes. It's about Discord, right?" He replied.

"yes! I'm not too sure what i think of it, yet. though." Diablo replied.

"It's .. Yeah it's Good." The other pony awkwardly replied.

The pony quickly trotted off and Diablo continued reading.

(an extract from the book:)

I can't tell morning from night anymore. I don't want to go home. I have to evade the guards from telling me to leave.   He's made of stone, he has no choice but to listen to me. at first I just thought he was a lifeless object. but now I know he's in there. We stay up talking all night. he's a good listener.

He's my best friend.

He spent my birthday together. I can't believe he remembered.

I can't imagine  how uncomfortable he is.

trapped in there.

I just want to tell him how I feel. He's Beautiful.  I want to tell him now. but no. I want to wait until he breaks out.

''What?" Diablo said to the book. "Break out? He can do that? Pah! how lame! you can't just break out of prison like that!''

I want to tell him I love him.   No, I must wait.

Diablo Went to flip the page. It was blank. She had reached the end of the Book.

"Thank Celestia! That was a Bore."  she put the book down just in time  to notice 8 ponies walk through the  door. it was 3pm. Book club. She sat in silence behind her desk and watched as they proceeded to take their coats and scarves off to hang them up. they each grabbed a chair with  either their magic or  used their hooves to push them to form a  semi-circle around Diablo's Desk.

They sat there waiting for Diablo to speak.  However she had somehow drifted off into space. She was staring at nothing like the idiot she was.

This awl routine for the ponies of book club. they knew how Weird Diablo could get. So,  the ponies all looked at each other. One blue pegasus gestured  to Diablo's direction to an earth pony. The pony Shook their head. It was as if they where deciding amongst them which one would wake Diablo up. The blue pegasus rolled her eyes. is must have been she who did it last week.  she persisted on the pony. The other ponies began to agree with her. the earth pony, with a huff, leaned out of his seat and tapped his hooves together over his head. Diablo snapped out of her trance and  she cleared her throat. "Um. So, Yeah. Todays book. Let's talk about it. "  the other ponies smiled. Diablo was back!

"Hm... Who to pick on. Ah, Fortunate Stir,  Start off with you, let's see what you liked about this book most"

the Unicorn  stood up with his copy of the book firmly in his magic's grasp.

"I like how the book Starts off with Honey being perfectly sane, she has a natural curiosity like any pony would with something, but it eventually descends into Madness. she's making up things that aren't really there, like, their conversations-''

Another pony chuckled. Her name was Icy Storm,  the blue pegasus pony whom Diablo had made good friends with during her time in Manehatten. she got up and said " My  favourite part was when she had to decided her dress for the gala! she had a full conversation with herself, but we felt like it was with the statue."

the other ponies chuckled.

Fortunate stir continued " It's  an interesting concept how one can make delusions look so real. " And with that he and icy sat down.

"Yes, but her friendships in the real world suffered because of it." Icy responded.

"That's interesting how you called it 'the real world' just then, Icy. She's in the real world, we all know that, but it's interesting how she wrote it like she was somewhere else." Diablo responded.

The  other ponies nodded in agreement.

"What did you think overall, Diablo?" The Earthpony asked.

"Hm..." Diablo thought for a  moment " Eh. didn't like it.  I mean, at the end of the day, it was a pony who was crying over some.. stone dude."

The other ponies chuckled " I liked it!" Said icy. The other ponies Agreed with gentle smiles.

"Now, onto Discord,  He's  Real, right?" Diablo asked.

The ponies all laughed. Another Unicorn  Replied " Yeah, you've not heard of him before?"

"Nah"

Fortunate stir stood up proudly with his information "AH, Well.  he is called a Draconequus. And  he Used to rule over  Equestria with chaos, That is before Princesses Locked him away in stone. This was a bit of time before the Nightmare Moon Event."

"Ahh. how do you know all of this? the book tells us none of that" Diablo said as she inspected the blurb once more.

"There are other books about it, you know" Icy said. "You do work in a library!" She chuckled.

"That's true. You guys continue Talking about the book, And i'll go look for some factual books" Diablo hopped down from her Desk and  made her way down the various towers of bookshelves.

the nine ponies talked amongst themselves, their voices getting quieter as Diablo Walked further along looking For the books. She got to "D" in the alphabet, Soon she'll have all the books About this mysterious Drconi-What's-a-name.  She scanned the shelf to find the Right name of the book.

Dancing 101! your guide to dancing!

Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone.

Daring Do and the Ring of Destiny.

Dragons

complete journal of dragons

Dragon Guide

Dragon language

Dragon Species

Dra...

D...

D..

D.

Draconequus Mytohology

Discord's Rise and fall

Discord. the complete timeline

"Huh" She said as she found several books addressing the strange character. "People must be very interested in him then. meh. may as well read up on it" Diablo  said as she pulled the books.

Diablo returned to the discussion after finding a bag in the staff room the carry the books in. the rest of the Talk consisted of why Diablo Hated the book, and why Discord's role in the book was just plain annoying. Followed by ponies and their opinions.

Book Club ended at 4:30. Diablo waved goo bye to her friends, Cleaned up coffee mugs and whatnot, an locked up.

it was just another day for her.