Tantibus

THE FIFTH CHAPTER

Drenched in sweat and feelings of anguish, Twilight immediately rose up into a sitting stance, nearly sending her sheets over the edge of the bed. This nightmare was by far more intense than the previous Tantibus dream.

She tried to make herself relax and slow down her breathing, but the thoughts of the events and the screams from her nightmare remained like markings in her mind, making her dramatic gasp for air persist. Unlike last night, she this time had her nightmare fresh in memory.

She grabbed a corner of the bed sheet and had it act as a makeshift cloth, patting her forehead and around her horn with it. Her heart rate started to slow down and enabled her to gather her thoughts.

This nightmare had taken a drastic and dark turn with the vivid murder of ‘Dawna’. It was scarring to see the way which she had collapsed to the floor, motionless, with just her head twitching from the blood pouring out of her throat. The red puddle kept expanding beneath her, soaking into the cracks of the wooden floor. And then there were the screams. The horrified cries and the realization that the challenge had started, with no going back.

But there was one pony whose panicked screams vastly outmatched the rest. Desperate and heartbreaking cries for mercy that wanted nothing more than to be left alone. Those were the screams of the killer himself.

Being a spectator and listener of not only his eyes and ears, but also his mind; Twilight was the only other pony to ever hear or see Maverick’s sinister side of things in this challenge.

Even though his eyes showed a thirst for blood, his mind was breaking down from within. As his puppet body took action, his brain experienced the three common phases that usually every selected Tantibus individual will go through.

Phase 1; Confusion
What is happening? I can’t seem to control myself. I can’t move! Someone help me! Help! I can’t talk either. What is this? Wait, what am I doing? What is happening to me?!

Phase 2; Realization
Oh my goodness! The blade… I’m going to... Oh please no! Somepony! Something! Help me!

And finally…
Phase 3; Desperation
Somebody, help me! Run! Run away from me! Please! Can anybody out there hear me?! Please! I’m begging you! They are innocent! They don’t deserve to die! Make me kill myself instead! Please! I’m begging you. Please… Anybody… Help me...

Twilight was there. She could hear him. Every word, every scream and every cry. But just as Maverick was to his actions, Twilight found herself helpless and could not do anything but watch and witness the events unfold.

Maverick became the ‘selected’ contestant. It is an unwritten rule that is put to action in almost every Tantibus round. Whenever somebody’s life is at risk, the ponies in his or her immediate vicinity will do anything to save it. This empathy, naturally, causes every nearly contestant to refuse competing in the Tantibus challenge. But that is where Tantibus’ trick kicks in. As a final resort to boost the ‘action’, one individual will be chosen to ‘start’ the challenge. They become a puppet. They become the ‘selected’.

By now, Twilight Sparkle had this figured out as she was comparing the similar actions between those of Maverick and the ones Flaming Ace took, when he also claimed to have lost control of his body.

Twilight glanced out the small rounded window by her bed. The red sky came marching in the horizon and dawn was on its way. As she turned her head, her eyes then met her alarm which was set to go off in about a half hours’ time from that point.

“There is no way I’m going to be able to snooze after that…” Twilight Sparkle muttered with her raspy morning voice. On steady hooves, she slowly got out of bed, deactivated her alarm and went down the stairs. Coming down the stairs, Twilight saw the saddle bag that she had prepared lying on the small, rounded table. She decided to kill time by going through it one more time. As expected, everything was there, including the one train ticket she had received from Celestia. It was good for one trip to, and return from, the center of Canterlot. She also got herself a glimpse of Aeon’s message one more time. She stopped and looked at it for a while.

“With Maverick on that murderous path, how the heck did you survive?!” She put the unpleasant note back in the bag. “I guess I’ll find out today, if he really is located at the Canterlot Mental Institution… Wow… I just still cannot get it through my head that he is actually still alive… A living witness…”

Twilight sealed up the saddlebag and resumed her morning routine by entering the kitchen. She got going with her own breakfast, which was something that she had not counted on actually having the time for. As a result of her abrupt awakening, she did have a few extra minutes at her disposal.

A nutritious breakfast later she finished up her chores for the morning and got ready to head out in the youthful and beautiful morning. Before she left, she trotted over to her number one assistant and gave him a peck on the cheek.

What she did not know was that that innocent little kiss would be the last thing she would ever do for her most loyal friend in the world before he were to have his heart irreparably broken.

With that done, she went outside, closed and locked the door. She could now commence her journey to the capital.

A small puddle erupted in a splash as the purple hoof stepped off the train. The first step in Canterlot for weeks and it was raining. Luckily, Twilight’s errands in the capital were not exactly outside. But she did originally have plans for some sightseeing while she was there. With those plans scratched, she set trail for the Mental Institution without a moment’s delay. She looked up to the sky and saw a few weather ponies managing the clouds, adding moisture to Canterlot’s fields.

“Today out of all days?” she pretended to yell at them and continued. “I guess I’ll be saving even more time now.”

She galloped through the various streets that she had memorized the night before. But after running through a few blocks, she noticed that she had long ago deviated from the path and the near inevitable had happened; she had gotten lost.

If this had been a few years prior, Twilight would have no problem at all navigating the city. But years had passed and much reconstruction had taken place, mostly to fit in new rails for the trains. The streets still had their names but this particular street must have been new, as she had not heard of its name before. Either that, or she was truly lost.

Twilight placed herself underneath a nearby awning to take a moment to recuperate. She was surprised at how much could really change during those few years, but after all; this was the capital and center of the industrial evolution. She had even read in the Equestria Inquirer the other day that researchers at the Canterlot’s Scientific Institute, also known as the CSI, were performing experiments on other ways of conserving lightning than clouds. Just a few centuries ago, ponies barely knew how to control clouds in the first place. It truly is fascinating.

She glanced across the street and saw a sign. It read ‘Canterlot Tourist Agency’. “Perhaps they can provide me with a map and directions?” Twilight took off, rushed across the street and opened the door to the agency.

Behind the counter in the store, stood a fairly jaded earth pony. The mare had light pink fur with a combed mane. The mane had two different dyes of green matching her equally green eyes. Her cutie mark was a magnifying glass, usually a sign of curiosity.

“Can I help you?” She spoke gently.
“Yes, do you have maps of Canterlot?” Twilight responded.
“Of course! This is a tourist agency isn’t it?” she said with a giggle and turned around to retrieve a map from the high shelves, which was proving to be difficult.
“Otherwise, I could do that for you.” Twilight offered her help, being a unicorn, but the tourist agent neglected it.
“Nah. Just because I’m an earth pony, that doesn’t mean I’m completely hopeless!”

Finally, she knocked the map off of from the shelf and caught it midair. “See!”
“Thanks.” Twilight received and immediately rolled up the scroll to have a peek. “Do you happen to know where the Canterlot Mental Institution is?”
“Not the most popular tourist destination… But yes, I do. It is right over here, see.” The pink pony marked a cross over a building in the nearby area with a quill. “My uncle lives there.”

Before Twilight could say anything, the mare continued hastily. “He is not mad or anything! He is just… It is just that his wife passed away and he hasn’t been feeling all too well about it lately. He seems fine but insisted that he needed the treatment.” She looked up at Twilight. “If you are going there, say hello to him for me will you? His name is Luthus Regenard.”

“I will, don’t worry.” Twilight assured her, “Very fancy name, he’s got.”

The agent grinned. “Yeah. I love him; he is like a father to me. My real father is good too, but he just doesn’t seem to care about me as much as uncle Luthus does…” At that moment she interrupted herself by highlighting Twilight’s cutie mark. “Your cutie mark! It is an... uhm... What is it exactly?”

Twilight took the hint and went along with the change of subject, “It is a sparkle. After all, my name is Twilight Sparkle! My special talent is performing magic! I’d like to say that I’m pretty good at it, too.”
“Wow. I have always been fascinated by magic and cutie marks my whole life. I mean, how does it actually work?”
“I see... Your cutie mark, the magnifying glass, does it mean that you are fond of knowledge?”
“A bit, I guess. But I believe it more represents my love for adventures! And exploring! You see, that is why I applied to work at a tourist agency. I thought that it would allow me to travel and see things! Not just being stuck here as a clerk… I want to see the world!”
“Well, are you interested in legends too?”
“Is it real?”
“I believe it is.”
“Then tell me!”

Then Twilight Sparkle told the story of Tantibus and what she knew of it. She also explained her trip and told the cute little tourist agent that she thought that a former contestant was located at the mental institute. Of course, the light pink earth pony was just thrilled by the mystery.

“Aww… I would love to come with you, I really would! It seems captivating!” Then she hung her head down submissively. “But I can’t… My shift doesn’t end until closing time. It’s just me here today. But I’ll check it out later, I promise!”
“That’s no problem at all! I have to go now, though. Hey, I didn’t catch your name by the way?”
“Oh it’s Avany… Avany Lace.”
“My name is Twilight Sparkle.”
“I know that. You’ve already mentioned that, silly!”
“Oh well, it’s been nice talking to you, Avany.”
“Could only say the same, Twilight.”

And so, Twilight left the charming little agency to find the mental institute and the only Tantibus contestant alive. She also left the last friend she would ever make before staring into the eyes of death.

The rain had stopped and it seemed to her that she had been chatting with that clerk for longer than she had originally thought. Avoiding puddles on her way, she resumed her walk towards her destination that was to her surprise not especially far from her current location. It was actually only a couple of minutes later that she had arrived to the old white building. It had a lawn in front of it with a big sign on it that read with large green letters ‘CANTERLOT MENTAL INSTITUTE’. There was a neat gravel walkway laid over the grass, leading up to the entrance that she was walking towards. “I guess this is it.” Twilight whispered gently as she approached the aforementioned entrance, and then went inside.

Immediately, she found herself in a small lobby. There were not many visitors waiting in the lobby this particular day, luckily, so she would not have to wait for too long. There was a desk far into the room, opposite the entrance. It was the first thing you saw as you entered the building.

Soon enough, there was nopony at the helpdesk so Twilight seized the opportunity to get to her turn. As she arrived, the stallion behind the desk inquired; “How can I assist you?”

He was a fully grown stallion with white fur. He reminded her of her own brother, Shining Armor. The mane was lightly red and shortly cut. It suited him quite well, so Twilight figured that maybe it would fit on Shining Armor too? She could not help but to picture her brother with this mane cut.

“I would like to pay a visit to a friend of mine.”
Fairly disinterested and with a monotonous tone, the stallion responded; “Your name?”
“Twilight Sparkle.”
“And whom would you like to visit?” He was preparing and signing a slip of paper.
“Aeon.” Twilight replied.

The white and red stallion stopped writing and took a closer look at this visitor. It was not normal for Aeon to receive visitors, and he had never seen this mare before. But it was not his job to meddle in others’ affairs, so he looked back down and wrote ‘Aeon’ onto the paper. Then, he handed it over to Twilight and asked her to sign it. After doing so, she was simply instructed to ‘wait for assistance’.

She followed the instructions and took a seat in the waiting room. A few quite boring and tedious minutes passed until a big white door opened. A nurse came out and asked for ‘Twilight Sparkle’.

“That’s me.” Twilight responded and walked out of the lobby through the white door that the nurse so kindly held open.

As they were walking through the corridors, Twilight felt relieved that the nurse was by far nicer than the stiff stallion from the waiting room. This was mostly because of the lighthearted conversation she maintained between the two of them.

“So, what’s the reason for your visit?” The nurse asked politely.
“Oh, I’m just an old acquaintance.” Twilight lied, she had already told the Tantibus story once today and did not feel like doing it again on such short notice. “Why are you asking?”
“It’s just that it is so rare for Aeon to receive visits nowadays.” The nurse explained. “It’s been months now since his own relatives last visited him as well. You know, since he doesn’t talk at all.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard about that. How do you communicate with him?”
“He has a blackboard and a white chalk that he uses to draw key words and sometimes brief sentences with. But even with that he doesn’t say much, usually only when it comes to important matters such as food or other necessities.”
“Any ideas on exactly why he can’t talk?” Twilight remarked.
“No one quite knows why. We’ve had doctors come in and check on him but nothing physical is off about him.”

Twilight thought about Tantibus and his experience with it, “What about psychological or emotional problems?”
“He could hardly be doing it out of free will when it comes to something as important as speech. The therapists we’ve had here think it’s because of something traumatizing that happened a while back…” She interrupted herself by declaring “Oh, here we are; Aeon’s room.”

Both the nurse and Twilight stopped in front of the white door. The nurse knocked on the door and said, “Aeon, you have a visitor! Isn’t that nice? …We’re coming in, okay?”. Then, she slowly pushed the door open and Twilight could see the inside of his room.
Finally, I have found him. I’m going to talk to him! She was excited and at the same time apprehensive of what could happen. What if he broke down? What if he had a heart attack when going back to his memories? Twilight took a deep breath and saw Aeon’s figure. I’ll just have to take it slowly…

Aeon had a light blue fur and a light brown mane, just as she remembered him from the dreams. He appeared as withdrawn as one could expect, and he showed no emotions. As for the room he was inhabiting, it had typical white walls. There was a bed against the wall to the right and a bookshelf by the wall to the left. There was also a door on that left wall, which Twilight assumed led to the bathroom. In the middle of the room, there was a table with an accompanying chair. And on the wall facing the doorway where Twilight was, she saw a window and a large blackboard.

Right now, Aeon was standing up and drew on the blackboard with a white piece of chalk. “WHO?”

Twilight glanced to her right, where she was met with the nurse nodding at her with encouragement. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, a friend.”

Aeon did not move and showed no interest.

Twilight started walking towards Aeon. She glanced back at the nurse, who did not really seem to mind. Taking it as validation to proceed, she sat down by the table and reached for her bag. “Aeon, I have something that belongs to you. Look.”

He turned around slowly, still very stiff. Twilight opened the bag and placed an item onto the table, then began pushing it towards its rightful owner.

It was a note, a note that he had written. He had written it sometime long ago, before he came to this place. It was a message written in blood, starting with his signature followed by his death declaration. It was what he thought would be his final words. Aeon glanced up with a look of surprise and distress facing the stranger. The first pony to ever see his note then leaned over and whispered to him; “I know what happened to you…”