Madness, and How to Live With it

Three years ago

Twilight was making good headway in her quest for her spell. She already had reminded herself of the time travel spell, and her library had yielded several tomes which at least theorized on the concept. Magica had given her two books, both of which had more about time magic and manipulation than everything Twilight had combined.

She was quite happy with them. There mere act of reading them increased her knowledge, and the idea that somepony had once known these things was fascinating, and she really wanted to know where Magica had gotten them. But for now, she needed practical knowledge, and not theory.

So that was why she had collected a few supplies, and one of her rarest stories, and was heading to Kitty. He was the only being she knew of that could use time like ponies used their legs, and she hoped that he might be able to give her some clue as to where to go next.

Kitty lived in a cave that he dug himself at the base of Canterlot Mountain, his claws able to carve stone with ease. He was a giant winged cat, standing about eight times the height of a pony, and though he ate meat, he would never harm a pony.

He even lived with one, Mirage, a brown pegasi that he cared for greatly. Her name, Mirage, was in Kitty’s own language, far removed from pony, and it was oftentimes difficult to pronounce for some ponies.

Twilight had first met him a little more than a year ago, when he had broken free of his stone prison. A brief altercation had taken place, he had escaped to the past only to later return, and though it might have gone poorly, they had managed to resolve their differences.

He was even good friends with them now, willing to at least try and help with any problem that he might be able to help with. Rarity might be the exception, but they had all found something that he could help with and or do with them. Twilight always enjoyed the tales he loved to tell, stories from the far past, and loved how he would never grow bored with her own stories, no matter how dry they were to others.

She saw the cave in the distance, and hurried forward, landing in front of it soon. She stepped inside, and noted that it was empty. That was somewhat common, as Kitty enjoyed traveling to the past, for reasons known only to him and Mirage. She would wait, he would be back soon.

For the time, she looked at the walls. They were very smooth, and covered in carvings and writing. It was Kitty’s tongue, though Twilight was able to read it. It had taken some time for her to learn it, but it was well worth it.

Kitty told tales, but the stories on the wall were from his own experiences, and oftentimes spoke of things that he was unwilling to speak about. From his first days in Equestria, the time in stone, his travels in the past, and now the various experiences he had had in the present. It made Twilight smile to see that, see that he was happy with his life.

And then she saw the blur that heralded his coming, and backed up slightly as he and Mirage materialized, Mirage atop his head. His great wings extended fully, his mouth closing from the roar he always emitted during travel.

He was also covered in flowers, blossoms to be specific, all sorts of colors. Mirage flew from his head, leaving behind a trail of petals as she flew, smiling hugely.

Then she noticed Twilight, and landed near her. “Hey Twilight! We didn’t keep you waiting, did we?”

“No, I just got here Mirage. But why the flowers?”

Kitty smiled, and Mirage inhaled. “The unicorns of Flowerfall have a big festival every year, and we went to it!" she squealed, jumping a little in happiness. "It was tons of fun! We got lost for a bit though, the valley is hard to spot.”

“The tradition is long lost I suspect.” Kitty said, his voice deep and almost intimidating. “Flowerfall was the first to fall to the wave of ice, and the land was abandoned. The festival itself was truly wonderful, though I had a hard time finding it; we missed the first parts of it.”

Twilight beamed, already eager to learn more, and nearly forgot why she had come. Nearly. First things first after all.

“Thanks Kitty, but I wanted to ask you some things first.”

“Speak Twilight.”

“I was working on a time travel spell,” Kitty winced, and Twilight swiftly added, “that is only meant to work for seconds! Not years!” He stopped wincing, and now seemed curious.

“And I was thinking that knowing how you time travel might give me a hint as to how to proceed.”

Kitty thought about it, and then sighed. “I am afraid Twilight, that Clover once asked me the same question, though for another reason. My only answer is that I use my will to determine the time, and express power through the use of my roar. Your spellcasting is very different from my own ability, and I suspect mine is based on force rather than finesse.”

“I… suspected something like that.” She sighed. Kitty seemed to think for a moment, and then smiled.

“I might cheer you yet Twilight. Spare a day or less with me, and we might go back to see the Flowerfall festival. I now know where it is, and we will not miss the first half of it.”

“Really!?” Twilight said, instantly perking up. A chance to learn about ancient traditions was always a good thing in her book. Even better to experience them, and best of all; it would take very little time with Kitty’s ability. Days in the past, and only a few hours in the present, a gift only given to a rare few that Kitty could trust completely.

Kitty nodded. “You, I can trust not to harm the past. Come close, and this time, we shall enjoy it together.”

Twilight hurried next to him, and Mirage landed on his head. He flapped his wing again, and reared back to roar, the sound very loud in the cave.

They faded away, and Twilight could be seen smiling and giddy about the opportunity. She always enjoyed spending time with her friends, particularly those who preferred to live apart, like Kitty. She worked hard to truly be the princess of friendship.

It was only too regrettable that she also worked so hard on her research. A lessor will might have given up, but Twilight never let go of a problem until it was solved. Normally an admirable trait, but even the best of intentions and the greatest of virtues can become a downfall.

Present, Canterlot

Great was happy. She had spent some time wandering through the city, to ask the ponies there to come into the castle.

That was because though the castle was perfect, it was very big, and only she and Hope lived in it. She felt that was wrong, and wanted others to share in it. Make it not so empty. Share her happiness a little.

The ponies in the city were… oddly silent, and preferred not to talk, relying on body language instead for some reason, but she didn’t care. None of them had names, but she was more than happy to give them some. And now she had a full group of twenty wandering the halls, exploring. A good start she thought.

She left them to it, and headed to where she knew Hope was. She could always tell where he was, even if she didn't know where he was.

Hope called it their connection, and that made her happy. She found him soon, standing in a particular room, staring at the writhing ball of light.

He seemed concerned, and a bit of her happiness left her. Why was father upset?

“Father?” she asked, heading to him. “What’s the matter?”

Hope hesitated, and then sighed. “I… I don’t know my daughter.”

Great nuzzled against him, and he seemed more confused for a moment. She thought how she might cheer him, and then remarked, “It’s a pretty light, isn’t it?”

“Your pain? I do not think so my daughter. It seems only a problem.”

Great hesitated, reminded as to what the ball was, and the writhing orb looked a little less pretty now.

“Great.” Hope said, “Why… why have you gone, and asked others to enter here?”

Great smiled. That was an easy question. “I wanted that the castle not be so empty father. And I made a few friends, like Bendy, and Longhorn, and Bright Eyes…”

Hope looked at his daughter’s smile as she recounted others, and for a moment looked completely lost. Then his face hardened, and he looked away slightly, as if he was trying to make a decision.

“They don’t like talking much, but Bendy can do this ridiculous contortion if she’s happy, and I can tell if they like something.” Great finished. Then she saw Hope’s expression, and grew slightly concerned.

“Father? Is… should I tell them to leave?” Great asked, worried and fearful that she had upset him.

“No.” Hope told her quickly. “They make you happy, do they not?” Great nodded. “If it makes you happy, my daughter, then you make bring all of the city into the castle.”

She smiled hugely, and said, “Thank you father!” and hugged him. Hope hesitated again, and then nuzzled her back, albeit stiff and slowly.

“Great, do something for me.” Hope said.

“Anything.”

“Go and watch your friends closely. And keep an open mind. Some things are strange, hard to understand, but it something confuses you, or frightens you, know that I will never let it hurt you.”

Great nodded, and hurried off. Hope watched her go, and then looked back at the ball of light. And if one watched, his eyes shifted, and looked up, as if it was far, far larger than it was.

Outside Canterlot

Brave sighed at the entry. This was going to be… different for him, and the others. A new task had been gained: find and destroy the thing of Twilight Sparkle, and not one of the bearers elected to come with them anymore.

And since four teams had lost one member, six groups of four had been reassembled into four groups of five.

Rainbow was gone, replaced by Carrot Top, Carrot Root’s sister. And behind Glitter was Open Pages, another unicorn that loved making maps and taking notes.

They were capable ponies, having gone on several of their own expeditions, but as far as Brave was concerned, he had lost his best pony and gained two weights instead. Carrot Top would never be as good a striker as Rainbow had been.

“Alright girls,” he began, looking at the entry, and starting his usual pep speech. Open coughed, and Brave ground his teeth.

“Alright ponies,” he stressed, upset. “We are entering into Canterlot, and this time we have a new quest for us. Find and destroy the thing of Twilight Sparkle. Starting checks; Carrot, do you have the supplies?”

“Yes.” Said both sisters at the same time. Brave slapped his face with a hoof.

“Root, do you have the supplies?”

“Yep.” Carrot Root said.

“Top?”

“I got ten spears.”

“Only ten? Didn’t I say thirty?” Brave asked, frowning.

“Thirty makes it hard for me to carry them. They’re heavy, and I saw those other things you wanted me to take. They’re twice as big as normal! How am I supposed to use those!? So I got ten normal ones.”

Brave just stared at her, and looked over at Glitter who flinched at the expression.

“Glitter?” he asked, in a voice which suggested that he had very poor hopes for the mission.

“I have everything I need, as well as a few extra supplies, food and medical, and I brought one of the good spears, just in case. I also have the notes from other teams, and asked the other strikers for the best way to deal with things and the optimal throwing angle, sir!” she finished, saluting.

Brave only stared. It had been only three days ago, when they returned from the previous expedition, that Glitter was the bubblehead, forgetting things, and being worried. And now she seemed to have suddenly gotten herself together, just when he really needed somepony to do so. Brave smiled, and she beamed from the unspoken praise.

“Open?”

“Maps, papers, pens, and the materials for anomaly detection.”

Brave nodded. Open had missed the ‘Glitter can find anomalies without aid’, but he did have everything he needed to be a navigator and map maker.

“Alright troop, form up! We have the crown, and that will enable our escape, but bear in mind. The princesses suspect it has a short radius. If I say ‘we’re leaving’, then I want everypony really personal with one another, got it? I don’t want another close call, like with Rainbow.”

They nodded, though they seemed uncertain about his choice of words. “Alright! Let’s go!” he said, and stepped into the entry.

The group was sent to the first hall, the one that had never been a problem before. No particles, no free anomalies, and no things. Most of the castle had never had things in it, except for a select few spots, like the gardens.

There were three things in the first hall, and none of them were the tiny things that they had seen before. Each one was about the size of a pony, and could walk, slide, or fly as they pleased.

Worse, they spoke. In a sense. Things could sometimes speak, but they did so by stringing together random words, creating a disconcerting feeling for those who heard them.

Brave tensed, and Carrot Top threw a spear at the nearest. He spear was half the size of the ones Rainbow had used, and the tip was not particularly large or intimidating. She missed while Brave was waiting for Rainbow to yell ‘contact!’ like she always had.

By the time he recalled that she wasn’t here, all three had spotted them. Top managed to hit one with another spear, and Glitter, in another show of sudden maturity, levitated her spear, and kept another away from them.

“Carrot!” Brave yelled, gaining the attention of two ponies again, and making Top miss because she was startled. He wrested three of her spears from her, to her objections, and threw all three, hitting three times. It was already going very poorly for them, and the spears that Top had taken were not hurting them enough. The one he had hit was still moving.

“What are you doing!?”

“AIM BETTER!”

“Sir!” Glitter called fearfully, her thing growing braver by the second. She was doing well, but she didn’t have it in her to actually hurt it. Brave whipped his head that way.

And then Open pages spotted another, previously unseen thing, not much bigger than a mouse near him, and screamed like a mare.

Great was watching a few of the ponies she had invited, like Hope had told her to. She didn’t mind. It could have been boring, but Bendy was just so… bendy.

It must have been her talent to be able to get her hind leg behind her head and use it as a foreleg. Or walk upside down. Great enjoyed her. It was funny to see, and Bendy was friendlier than most.

“Hi!” Great said.

“Hi!”

“Having fun?” she asked the mare, currently tied into a ball.

“Fun.” Bendy responded, and Twilight nodded.

And then she heard a shout of pain, and stared where it had come from before hurrying that way.

She found four ponies in a hall, each one somepony she had recently met.

Longhorn had three spears in his side and he was gasping in pain, and Bright Eyes was limping with one in her leg. Yells was near the far end, and Puffy was having a spear leveled at him.

And also in the hall were five stone things. Shaped something like ponies, and badly colored like somepony had tried to throw paint at them and had given up. And they… were very strange.

One was holding the spear that threatened Puffy, and the spear kept reorienting itself without any obvious method of doing so. The stone kept moving without any obvious method of locomotion, and one of them kept materializing spears, thrown at her new friends!

“Yells, Puffy, run!” she yelled, rushing forward to Bright Eyes. “Hang on!” she said, and then closed her eyes before pulling the spear free. Bright shrieked, but Great steeled herself, and pushed Bright behind her.

Then she got to Longhorn, just as another spear hit him, and he fell over.

“Longhorn!” she yelled, “Don’t die!” The stone things nearby seemed stunned, and she took her chance. She was far from a medical pony, but maybe she could do this.

“Please hold on Longhorn.” she whispered, and then closed her eyes. The first spear, and he screamed. The second, and he screamed again, a little weaker.

Great opened her eyes, and nearly threw up at the sight, but stopped herself. She had to help him!

Using just a tiny bit of magic, she forced the punctures closed, and then turned to the next spear. Rip free, hear Longhorn scream, see the blood flowing, use a bit of magic to close the wound. The last was the worst. It got stuck on one of his bones, and she had to wiggle it to get it out. She was nearly crying at the screaming he was making, but it was free, and the wound closed.

“Longhorn.” She said, her eyes glittering with moisture.

He blinked, and then stood up, and she felt massive relief. Longhorn was safe! She had saved him!

“Get out of here, before!” She yelled, right before one of the stone things moved again, and ran him through with the big spear.

She stared in horror as his blood splashed her, and he coughed once before the light faded from his eyes. The spear was pulled free, and he collapsed, perfectly still, like a doll. It all seemed to happen so slowly. The sound of the spear so loud, the fall so graceful. But Longhorn was dead, dead right in front of her.

With tears in her eyes and blood on her hooves, she looked up, and saw the spear that killed him, leveled at her. She would never move in time.

She closed her eyes, and sobbed once, expecting to be stuck through, just like Longhorn had been. She heard the spear move, and then the impact, but she didn’t feel anything.

She carefully looked, and then gasped, seeing Hope on front of her. The spear had hit him instead, and he was grabbing it to prevent it being pulled back. He grimaced greatly, and seemed to be in agony as he wrestled with the stone’s grip.

“FATHER!” Great screamed.

“I… will never… let you… be harmed… my daughter.” he managed, the pain in his voice obvious. “…Close… close your eyes… for me…”

Great turned around, and tried to cover her eyes and ears from what she was sure to come. Her father’s death at the hooves of the stone things.

She cried on the bloody floor. Why had those things come in here? To kill her friends, and hurt everypony? She had seen blood and death when just a moment ago, she had been laughing with Bendy, thankfully safe far from here.

What was she going to do now? The castle wasn’t safe anymore, and father was dead. Her Hope died protecting her, and she sobbed from the thought of it. She knew it would be worse when she saw him lying there, his blood on the floor all around him, dead to save her.

And then she felt a tap on her shoulder, and she opened her eyes, and she saw Hope, smiling. Whole, and unharmed.

She gave a wild yell, and grabbed onto him, feeling more relived then she had ever been. He shifted to move her atop his back, and then began leaving the hall. For a moment she saw rock debris on the floor, and her only thought was good.

“Father I was… was so…”

Hope hushed her. “I told you my daughter. I will never let anything hurt my Great Change. And never means forever my daughter. I will not leave your side until the time when you wish me to.”

“I never want you to leave!” she yelled, gripping him a little tighter.

Hope just smiled. “I won’t my daughter. I will always be next to you.”

Great took a while to recover from the experience. Her father told her that the stone things came from that area often, and she should avoid it. He had also said that most of the time, they were not dangerous, and actually fairly fragile, able to break with very little force.

For the time being, she was back in the city proper, trying not to cry every time she saw a unicorn that looked something like Longhorn had.

And then she saw something odd. A few ponies had cornered a stone thing. It was just in an alley with no exit, and the ponies there were glaring at it.

“Break it.”

“Bad thing.”

“Grind it.”

Great hurried over, curious. That stone thing wasn’t tossing spears and wasn’t doing anything dangerous, and the ponies near it were being quite verbose. Twice as many words as normal.

“Move over a little.” she told the ponies there, and they let her pass.

She regarded the stone thing carefully. If she imagined, she could just make out the lumpy form of a unicorn, a nub of stone poking free from the blob that was possibly its head. This one was as odd as the others, changing shape and position without actually shifting. Like pictures fluttering in a breeze.

“Hello?” she said, curious.

It seemed to… calm suddenly. And then moved in front of her, and she jumped slightly and stepped back. If she listened, she could just barely make out sounds of wind from it. Soft little puff noises, as if it tried to speak.

And then it was next to her, and she winced a little at the roughness of the stone. But she regarded it. With the shape it was hard to tell, but it seemed like it liked her. Like it was hugging her.

“Break it?” a pony asked her.

“No. It’s mine.” she said. Maybe she could learn about them from this one. Figure out how they work or something, and that way, learn how the others might be defeated. They had been mean, but… this one was nice. Maybe there were others? She needed a way to tell at a distance, and this one would help with that.

She smiled a little. Maybe it would even help her to fix everything. Maybe the stone thing was a broken pony, and she could learn how to fix them all! Make everypony safe and happy again! It was a good thought, and Great was happy.