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:POV:

“DItzy Doo”

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Ping…! Ping!

Ping….! Ping!

Ping…..! Ping!

Soft pings filled the air, metal bouncing softly off of metal in a rhythmic beat, rousing the Pegasus from her slumber. Hot needles of pain rippled across her forcefully extended form, tracing across her entire body. It could be felt from head to her hind hooves, an oh so uncomfortable sensation all around. Ditzy’s chapped and swollen lips parted, vocalizing her discomforted awakening in the form of a low moan. Her body felt stiff, aching all over as if she had been run over by an apple cart.

When she tried to open her eyes, she found that she could only muster the strength to open one, with the other having been completely swollen shut. The pain gradually eased to a dull throb, with every attempt to open her swollen eye leading to another agonizing wave of heat. It felt as if something were directly stabbing into her brain, pulling, pressing, kneading it like cookie dough.

When Ditzy’s vision cleared she could only see the faintest of figures, blurred shadows. Sitting calmly by ominous blue candle light, a figure she recognized all too well graced her presence. That same feline, the one whom had just about kicked her bucking skull in. The devious cat silently watched her whilst tapping what looked to be his claws on the length of a metal rod in his lap.

The mail mare thrashed wildly in a vain attempt to move away from him, anything to just…get away. However the slightest motion caused the jingling sounds of her shackles to clink throughout the tent. Her entire body was strung upright with her being forced to stand on her hind hooves. Her forehooves were shackled over one another, the hefty metal chains wrapped tightly around a wooden steak embedded in the dirt. The post nestled horizontally between her wings which had been wrapped uncomfortably in thick, sturdy, leather straps that restricted any potential movement.

The cat of the hour let loose a small whistle, standing up from his seat by the messy desk loaded with disorganized papers, all of which were haphazardly strewn about.

“Well it's about damn time gorgeous~ I was beginning to think that you might have gone brain dead from my little…ahem…’love tap’ a couple days ago. Then again…you slept through the first wave, which was rather surprising.”

“Seeing as you're not currently trying to rip these restraints off, I’m guessing you don’t have full access to the power of your past life hmm?~” Onyx approached, circling the mare with the metal rod lightly clutched within both hands, gingerly resting against the lower half of his back behind him like a sick showpony.

“Not that it will do you any good…turns out that the old “Dark One'' Prince Sombra can make a mighty fine nullifying substance out of them crystals cooked in them shackles. Somehow It's capable of suppressing the dormant powers that lie within OUR kind. Shame he's out of our organization’s reach at the moment, could have asked a few questions to the fine fellow…” The cat grinned, licking his sharp fangs which had protruded from under his fuzzy lips.

Ditzy, felt something…different…stirring deep within her, emotions she hadn’t felt before boiling to the surface. For the first time ever her lips curled into a snarl and her brow furrowed into a glare of pure hatred. Ditzy turned her head to direct this beaming ray of malice in his direction each step he took. “Where…is my daughter…? What have you done to her…? I swear to Celestia if you hurt my little filly I'll make you pay…”

Ditzy spoke in an icy tone that gave the feline pause… if not for a fleeting moment. Even she was surprised with her own tone, her raw emotions spilling out in a wave of venom she never knew she could be capable of mustering. That brief moment of shock plastered on his smug face gradually melted into one of excitement, his pupils growing big with amazement, solely fixated on the mare’s fierce gaze.

“Yes…I KNEW you weren’t completely spineless! I can see it in your eyes…well…eye, sorry about that by the by. You DID change during the first wave after all, my brother couldn’t see it, but I could. Something was different, a newly added factor to the grandiose equation. Heh…keep your stockings on, Derpy Honey…your sweet little “muffin” is safe and sound…for now.” Onyx ran a claw along the shackles binding Ditzy’s squirming form, tracing diagonally down the taunt metal, and along her extended forehoof to her vulnerable neck.

“…In fact, we plan on letting her go if you do us a little solid~ You see, where we stand, is the outer perimeter to ancient ruins leading down to a nexus of old tunnels pre-dating to the solar and lunar sister’s reign. However the entrance to said tunnels is guarded by something, a being so powerful that it butchered my men before they had the chance to scream. I personally observed it sending their bloodied carcasses soaring out the mouth of the cave…a ghastly sight to behold. Roughly translated text call it…”The Everfree Guardian” Onyx scoffed, giving a disgusted look.

“So…? What does that have to do with me?” Derpy grumbled, her gaze remaining locked on the cat who had removed his vile claws from her neck in favor of walking back to the desk. He ruffled through a few papers while setting his baton aside, returning with what looked to be yellowed paper preserved in glass.

“Five months ago my researchers managed to discover the mummified remains of a dead creature outside the cave, one of flesh and bark. It was a perverse combination of Equine and Timber, intriguing species. They wore rusted armor unlike anything ever recorded in the history of Equis, technology long since eroded by the sands of time. However in his possession were what appeared to be detailed instructions on how to bypass the ruin’s defenses…” Onyx twisted the glass tablet preserving the fragile paper, its ink glowing in the dull candle light.

“So? Get to the point cat…” Ditzy muttered lightly shifting in her vertically positioned restraints. The longer she stood like this, the more uncomfortable the contortions in her spine began to feel. Being forced to stand like this felt unnatural, like gravity was pulling her down.

“Easy there bubbles, I was getting to that~ As I was saying, those instructions were…encrypted, a form of hex had been placed upon it by this…”Overlord”...which prevented any of my scribes from translating the ancient texts to its fullest. Those who tried found themselves completely brainless, dead on their hooves, almost as if the text itself sucked the soul from their bodies. The only clue we have is THIS symbol…” He turned with the glass tablet, pointing a claw at the large circle printed in black ink towards the parchment center.

Scales, empty scales evenly set with what looked to be a sword floating above it, pointing downward in the middle.

“Knowledge forbidden, secrets unknown, the sightless gaze reveals the ink that fills the blanks etched in by the void.”

“To the blind man beware…for the void shows no mercy to the feeble minds of the mundane. Those incapable of beholding the vexing powers of his will”

“Our…benefactor, was able to point us in the right direction, and it led us to little ole you…justice reincarnated in the flesh. Now that you are awoken, you are going to dig deep, and you are going to reveal to me what is written on this parchment.” The cat purred, running his long tongue across his pearly fangs.

“Reveal its secrets, and both you and your daughter can go on their way as if none of this had ever happened.” Onyx said plainly, waving the tablet in Ditzy’s face, causing her hardened look to melt into one of confusion. Surely it couldn’t have been that simple right? Truly?

Chunks of the text were…missing…blackened as if a foal had taken a marker and dragged it across large sections of the instructions. Despite this, the longer she looked at the blacked out words, the more the blackness contorted. It coiled and stretched, forming such strange symbols, ones that felt so...familiar. Ditzy considered his offer, she really did, but the memories of her conversation with Fragment came crashing down onto her head like a two ton saddlebag of bricks.

“DON’T give into their demands, no matter what they offer you, no matter how much they hurt you, you must NOT give them what they want.”

“The Overlord…I can sense him, he will come for you, free you AND your daughter from these…sick felines.”

“Have Hope…”

Derpy grit her teeth tightly, screwing her eyes as tightly shut as she could, even as Onyx lingered inches from her face. His dark eyes were leering at her internal struggle with heartless glee, relishing every second of it. She could feel his warm breath, the hot stench of alcohol wafting up her snout, stirring un-fond memories from a time long ago. Those memories lurched her forward with renewed courage, violently butting her head into Onyx’s snout with a wet CRACK.

The greasy, arrogant cat reeled back in genuine surprise and torment, letting loose an ear splitting yowl that caused her to flinch. His paw shot up, cradling his broken nose as what looked to be a viscous black ooze formed small puddles on the floor. His slender, flexible body hunched over, completely stunned by the mare’s hard head. Each breath let out was followed by pained wheezes, his nose messily bubbling with each attempt. It gushed into his fuzzy digits like a grotesque guiser, staining his fur in the process. Insult to injury, the mare spat a hot glob of her spit on his cheek in complete defiance to his whims.

“Take your offer and shove it up your flankhole…you're a lying scumbag, and it will be a cold day in Tartarus before I believe a world that comes out of your lips. Consider that payback. A nose for an eye…” Ditzy snarled, baring her teeth to her captor with an intense glare. Onyx shifted, wobbling left and right on his paws from the disorienting blow to his snout. Reeling back he would spit a glob of the black sludge onto the ground, his now bloodshot eyes focusing in on the mare.

Just like before, his mismatched eyes darkened with intense bloodlust, blackened veins encompassing the twin organs. The irises shimmered in the dim light of the flickering candle, creating an ominous red glow. All of it was compounded by the sadistic grin that stretched from ear to ear across Onyx’s bloodied face. “Hohoho…I was hoping you’d be a fighter, lets see how long that new nobel spirit of yours can hold out…~ I’ve been itching to finally bust out the family tools for such an occasion!”

The cat shifted his body, limbs cracking and popping at the joints causing him to sway like a leaf in the wind. His body twisted, slamming into a wooden trunk towards the leftmost wall beside the desk. His claws popped, grasping and squeezing the lid until the wood visibly splintered. With one singular heave, Onyx ripped it open, revealing a large collection of the neatly organized “tools”. Hammers, scalpels, sawblades, and other deadly implements, all on display to the now petrified mare.

“Since you won’t hand over the information we seek…I’m just gonna have to rip and tear it out of you!~”

Ditzy shuddered, her fur growing more pale around the cheeks as she watched Onyx withdraw his paws from the torture box, tightly clasping a clawed hammer. Breathing heavily she maintained her hardened expression, praying to Celestia that her knight in shining armor would come to her rescue. She wanted them to come dashing into the tent, beat the bad guy, and help track down her little Dinky. She wanted all of that to happen, but…they didn’t come, life wasn’t all sunshine rainbows. Onyx needed her alive, she had the information he needed, whether she realized it or not.

The hard times were coming…during which Ditzy’s new resolve will be tested to its limits. She could only pray that she could hold out until her seemingly fated rescue.

....

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:POV:

“Jonathan”

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Jonathan crouched on the flexing tree branch, his seemingly empty gaze staring into the camp with dilated pupils. Like the focusing lenses of a camera, everything came into focus for the meta human. In reality, his brain was working in maximum overdrive, with various screens at his disposal. Three days, three days had been spent planning, watching, meditating so he could go back to that special place within his mind to cultivate his ever growing strength.

This special place, the mindscape, was his greatest and most valuable asset. The dilation of time within gave him ample opportunity to prepare. He was able to train, to adapt to his new god body. First day was spent within the mindscape, breaking up each hour of the 24 hours to a singular day within.

Each hour was a day of exhausting labor under the tutelage of Dezmond, who showed him no mercy. “Your enemies won't play fair. They reek of a champion’s influence…your arrival has awoken the dormant powers granted to this world’s residents, or at least the ones chosen by the gods. Your opponent can be broken down into four categories, Occult, Divine, Aberration, or Harbinger.” Dezmond explained, sitting with Jonathan on the amusement park’s bench.

Jonathan mulled over the words of wisdom provided to him by his mentor, and noted down the potential class types to label any future additions to his tome. “I don’t get it, from what I’ve gathered from Pwinx, this was all set up by some space eyeball right? How are you able to learn of all this when you're technically a separate conscious in my mind? I’ve spent hours reading through that damn thing and I have yet to even learn of what technical change this world is going through.” He muttered, closing his eyes while a few shadows lingered by the identical men.

“Simple, I discovered the longer you read from the book, the more knowledge its contents will imbue to you, and as you know in this place…time has no meaning. While you are out there, I spend what time I have here getting book smart. My memories, they are all still fuzzy…but spending some time reading seems to jog a few things loose now and then. I don't quite understand the whole reason, but it's making me feel queasy.” Dezmond reached up with one hand, manifesting an unlit cigarette between his pale fingers.

With the snap of his free hand’s middle and thumb fingers, he manifested a spark which ignited the imaginary cancer stick. “For you, you’ve been out there for days since our last meeting, but for me...it's been what feels like years. Since then I’ve learned so much more than that annoying imp that follows you around. For example…I learned of the next incoming waves...and their massive impact on this world’s ecosystem…which you'll see soon enough.”

“Waves…? Yea, I think Pwinx said something about that too…” Jonathan responded, lifting a manifested slushie that he managed to conjure in this dreamy world. Dezmond slowly nodded, leaning back in his seat like an uncle preparing to tell his nephew a campfire story.

“The first wave is the arrival of you, the Overlord, the only being powerful enough to consume gods with ease, an equalizer of sorts crafted by the maker. With you coming here, it also marks the awakening of the forgotten gods that laid dormant within this strange world. Many pantheons…as well as the reincarnated souls of their most powerful followers will rise from the depths. These followers will battle to the death, each soul slain adding to their own power, bolstering the strength of their respective god. The end goal…? Eliminating you, and taking our limitless ability to grow and consume for themselves, crowning the champion who kills us as the next Overlord.” Dezmond took a long drag of his cigarette, shutting his eyes.

“From there, the reigning god that the champion is bound to will have a potentially unkillable weapon of mass destruction at their fingertips. They would be a being capable of snuffing all light in the universe if their power is cultivated properly. That is why we must grow stronger, increase our mana reserves to dominate with superior powers. As much as you probably don’t like the thought….we may need to consume the opposition.” He spoke in a chill tone causing Jonathan to stop mid sip of his drink, almost choking on the nonexistent beverage.

“I-I….” In this place, Jonathan was at his most vulnerable, here he was detached from the courage and bravado that Dezmond’s consciousness had injected into him. In here he could feel the weight of morals and mortality pulling him down like an anchor. His gaze fixated on the ground, and for a brief moment when he closed his eyes he witnessed flashes of memory.

The memories of him slowly sucking the power and life from Aelita’s mother made his stomach churn. He could still see it, the flesh and fur from her living form sloughing off, falling into disgusting chunks in his arms. He could feel her pain, her sentient, living, agonizing pain, all through the pitiful eyes. The eyes of a mother protecting the trembling pup behind her, from the ravenous monster.

“I can’t…I won’t bring myself to that point, because if I go down that path Dezmond, if I take the path you walked, I don’t think I can find myself coming back.” Jonathan looked back up at Dezmond who passively averted his gaze, letting out a long exhale of purple smog.

The old lord took a moment, letting the melodic sounds of theme park music, muffled crowd chatter, and scents of fried food dull his senses. “While my memory remains fuzzy, locked behind the iron walls placed by the powers that brought us here…I could vaguely see glimpses of my life before this. It was a cold life, one without meaning, without feeling, and…it scared me. It makes me wonder if the answers I seek are even worth grasping at in the end.”

Jonathan started over at Dezmond, his heart weighing heavy in his chest at the man’s pained words. This man, this LEGEND was his creation. The trauma, the pain, the burden of power, all of it was orchestrated by him with his own two hands. While it is true he was the author of Dezmond’s existence, what happened between the chapters, the time gaps typed out on his computer, were lost to him. He couldn’t say with confidence what this living, breathing construct of his own design truly felt deep down inside.

“Emotions, they are both a blessing and a curse, when you have someone to care for…someone to cherish, you’ll do anything for them. Even if it means you have to crawl through hell and back, you’d do it for the ones you love. I…I think I had that once, and this path you speak of, I catch glimpses of it as I sleep. I had become the most powerful thing, but at what cost? Did that person I held close stick by me to the end? What happened to them? Are they…alive?” Dezmond dropped the cigarette, crushing it with his bare foot..

“Our…relentless pit of hunger for power is why we were strong, and there will be a time Jonathan where we must feed that hunger. We will NEED to feed in order to grow strong enough so that we can protect what we love most. Just as long as you keep track of the love you have deep inside yourself, perhaps you can change things...” Dezmond smiled softly, leaning back with his neck rolling over the curled wood of the bench to stare behind them at a nearby food cart.

“Right now however you must prepare for the battle that is to come, at the moment I’ve taught you all that I can. You might very well be facing a champion from a god, an Occult god. He will want you dead, this is far beyond a simple Birch Hound kid, so give them hell.” Those were the final words to Jonathan as the final hour of his training came to an end.

Day 2, it was spent observing the pony grunts that comprised the Onyx Horns patrols. ‘When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle.’ That quote from Sun Tzu rang true within the man’s mind while he watched the unaware ponies below. Sickening as it was to watch them beat on the helpless civilians, he needed to keep a level head and pull all the puzzle pieces together for the third night.

The outermost and innermost perimeter of guards trekked in 2 pairs, clockwise and opposite of one another with their eyes primarily focused on the tree line. Every 8 hours the walking guards would clock out and switch through morning, afternoon, and night shifts. The camp held two primary ways of entry from the outside perimeter, gaps in the spike barricades for entering and exiting. From Jonathan’s position in the trees these gaps were located south and west, with tall, unstable, wooden towers erected in a stationary spot for the 24/7 watchmen.

The inner perimeter held a more tightly regulated method of watch over both the external and internal going ons of the camp. Each smaller tower was carefully hidden away behind the spikey walled barricades while being evenly spaced apart. Each was approximately 480 meters in a perfect circle. Despite being camouflaged by both netting and foliage, Jonathan was able to detect about 2 guards per tower judging from their silhouettes. One faced the inside of the camp, while the other faced outward towards the trees, with a limited line of sight.

During the night, what looked to be spotlights powered by jars of…fireflies?…shined outward away from camp, scanning the trees regularly for signs of predators or would be infiltrators. Due to the limited, conelike visual, it made the gaps between each tower incredibly vulnerable, blind spots just out of view. The biggest vulnerability however…was seemingly the lack of communication between patrols!

Normally on Earth, such methods of security would require some form of radio communication, but here he realized that both the inner and outer patrol groups were basically deaf to one another! When Jonathan saw this blatant error on their behalf, he knew exactly how he would strike, and when. With the tome screen at his fingertips the human looked to his pink guide, his expression focused as he spoke.

“Pwinx, have you managed to crack the code for translating their speech?” He asked while running a hand along his pet fox’s head, who had taken her place within the comfort of his lap. Pwinx popped into existence, his head poking out from the center of the screen with a rather frustrated look on his small face.

“Unfortunately D man, progress has been slow…this world’s dialect is rather complex, the best I can do is give you predictive subs of their speech until I listen in more. Sooner you get me some more books, the faster I can decipher. The journal you retrieved from that Zebra mare, unfortunately, was written in a completely different language than these pony folks use.” Pwinx poked his head back in, presumably going back to work.

“I’ll do my best, but don’t hold your breath, these freaks seem more interested in beating slaves, stuffing their faces, and getting into drunken brawls rather than cracking open a book. However I did seem to notice a fair share of eggheads, they were moving in and out of a large tent towards the writing on the cliff face.” Using his spyglass Jonathan was able to monitor the many green tents pitched towards the camp’s core.

One stallion in particular emerged from one wearing scholarly robes and a pair of geeky glasses. His small form nervously waddled along, finding himself wandering into the biggest tent of all. ‘Likely the commander's tent…’

“Alright, perhaps you can get me close once you deal with the camp situation, m’kay hero?” Pwink snickered in his mind, causing Jonathan to shudder at the uncomfortable brain buzz caused by his voice. He nodded his head slowly, spending the rest of his time sleeplessly scouting. It was strange…Jonathan never brought much thought to it, but it seemed like his need for sleep as of late was gradually diminishing.

‘Maybe it's because of my time within the mindscape…? I’ll ask Pwinx once this is all said and done. Come to think of it, I don’t believe I wrote much about Dezmond needing to sleep…’ He let his train of thoughts linger while combing fingers through Aelita’s smooth fur.

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Day 3, the day of reckoning, where all portions of the plan would be woven together like a beautiful tapestry. He would strike at night when the shadows would become his ally during infiltration. Before then he spent the day readying the tools he would need for this plan to pop off. His tall and buff form sat criss cross, as high up as it could be within the canopy. The many branches and leaves hid him well, with what little light peeking through serving as his indicator for the time.

The orange beams of the setting sun eased their way along his frame, dancing across the stone knife being wrapped by the soft plant fibers within his dominant hand. Tightening the last of the grip off, Jonathan promptly tossed the blade into his inventory with the rest of his gear. Even with all bases covered, Jonathan could still feel his nerves rattling causing his heart to throb, anxiousness…or perhaps excitement?

There was no room for error, if this plan fails, many lives could potentially be lost…something he prayed deep down wouldn’t have to occur. Despite these innocent ponies not being close to him, this selfless act felt like it meant more to him then he believed. It was almost as if the notion of doing something good was anchoring him to the side of kindness, something Dezmond was not exactly known for. Closing his eyes, Jonathan took in a slow, steady, calming breath of the humid air, then let it out in a quiet sigh.

“Alright…it's go time…”

Author's Note

Hey everypony! I'm back! Sorry for the hiatus, I was undergoing more writer's block for this story , but as of late I have been struck with the metaphorical hammer of inspiration. Especially since I have taken note of some particular fans interested in my work! I'm also at the moment looking for a more permanent editor to make this content all the more fun to read for all of you!

(Anyone interested feel free to pm, we can discuss details there)

I hope you enjoyed reading, until next time, and always remember to stay tune!~