The Immortal's Game

Chapter 5: Mindsets

        Me and my newfound friend, Scarlet Wing, arrived at the outskirts of one of Equestria’s larger cities, Baltimare. Even though we had just gotten into the city itself, there were ponies going about their business in large quantities. Thankfully because of the large quantities of bodies here, it made it a lot easier to blend in. “Alright, Scarlet. Look’s like this is where we split up. I agreed to Baltimare, but no further.”

        “Oh? That’s funny. Where would you be without me? You nearly got eaten by a timber wolf on the way over here without me.” During our little trip I had made a detour into the forest. Let’s just say that I wound up getting into a little trouble with the local wildlife, and Scarlet wound up helping me. I really didn’t need her help, but she ignored all my protests that I had it handled. “So I think i’ll stick around for a little bit longer.”

        I rolled my eyes. “Fine, but just remember to not mention my name. I would rather not be found.” Scarlet seemed to mock me with an eye roll of her own. We continued onwards deeper into the city, we stopped by a food cart on our way and grabbed something to eat, then went towards the nearest hotel. We walked in and were greeted by a clerk.

        “Hello. Would you like to rent a room? Only twenty bits a night.” He turned towards Scarlet and gave her a wink. “fifteen for the lady.”

        “Do that again and that I won’t even hold back when I beat you down with a chair.” She said with a hostile tone. By now I was aware that she did not like being flirted with. I didn’t have any personal interest in her romantically, but I had a feeling that if she went to Canterlot there would be a lot more ponies visiting the hospital.

        To ease the tension, and to get on with our day, I started talking. “Can we just get two conjoined rooms? Preferably one with a lockable door.” The clerk nodded and asked for payment. He had assumed we were a couple so he only charged us the base twenty, I gave him the bits and he gave us the key. We went up the hotel room and dropped off our stuff. Scarlet took the larger of the rooms, which also was the one you could lock the door from, and I took the smaller one. I levitated my bag off and laid down on the bed.

 My room was adorned with a bed, a nightstand with a lamp on it and a few cheap paintings. It wasn’t the best place I had ever stayed but I had done much worse. I decided to take a quick nap to recharge, and I also decided to risk doing some dream walking since it was the middle of the day and Luna wouldn’t be on “patrol” until night came.

I figured I might as well just stick to going about the dreams of those who were in hotel, which was only a little filly and an elderly stallion who had dozed off reading the newspaper. Nothing seemed out of place so I decided I might as well sleep. And with my mind set on dozing off, I worked towards my goal full force.

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        Scarlet left the room, she decided that she might go out for a while. She was going to tell Walker, but had found him snoring on his bed. She quickly wrote him a note and left it on his table. She also grabbed some bits in case she got hungry. She walked up to the roof of the hotel, rather than the entrance, and glided off. After about a minute of flying around, she saw a nice little fountain where she could just sit and think.

        She landed next to it, letting a bit of it’s spray hit her to help her cool off. She walked around, watching all the different ponies go about their days. There was a fairly even blend of races, but not as many pegasi. She figured that was because most pegasi lived in the east rather than the west. However, there was one pegasus that stood out. She had a pink coat, with a yellow and blue-green mane. She seemed to give off the air of a mare who would probably come out of any social event with a new “companion” for the night. Scarlet had been around enough of those kind of ponies to learn how to deal with them.

        She was acting a bit strange though, and a lot more “friendly” with the locals than Scarlet would have expected. She was casually unfolding her wings and trailing the tips of them along the sides of the ponies around her, with no discrimination between either genders. Scarlet was a bit more female friendly, if you would. That’s why she got so aggravated whenever a guy hit on her.

        The flirty pink pegasi started walking over to her, and Scarlet wasn’t exactly in the mood of dealing with somepony this flirty. She casually walked over to Scarlet, keeping her distance because of Scarlet’s glare. “Why hello there.” She began to circle around Scarlet, like a predator toying with it’s prey. “My name is Rosy, and your's is?”

        “Scarlet, now would you please leave me alone? I came here to this park to relax, not deal with a flirtatious pegasus who seems to have crap taste in ponies.” Scarlet was actually self projecting with that, she always downplayed her own attractiveness and never really thought of herself as “pretty”. However her own thoughts about herself were countered by the amount of times she would get hit on. “But seriously, screw off.”

        Rosy gave a slight pout. “Aww, but I was just getting to know you...” She unfurled her wing and dragged the tip across Scarlet’s side. Scarlet felt a shiver run down her spine and her body seemed to be telling her to get away.

        “Yeah, if you could just stop that, that would be awesome.” Scarlet nudged away Rosy. “Look, i’m just going to leave now. It looks like you have your hands full with all these other gentlecolts here. So you should be content.” Rosy had a look on her face that resembled shock. “So, as I said earlier, screw off.” Scarlet began to walk away, attempting to forget that rather awkward encounter. She went to a nearby cafe and grabbed some croissants, one for her and another for Walker. She put them in a bag and then proceeded to return to the hotel.

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        I was wandering in the vast wasteland that was my sleeping self's mind. It’s only population was that of ruins of lost cities, places i’ve been and lots of sand. I guess it was a reflection of my personality at times: dry, ancient and boring as all heck. I spend most of my time just wandering about, thinking about my past. However, even when i’m asleep there’s some aspect of my dream walking that places figments of those around me in my head, for better or for worse. Today I was accompanied by none other than Rune. He just sat there in the sand drawing words, generally the same repeated ones, over and over.

        “You know, your hoof will cramp if you keep doing that.” I said, not really expecting anything. Most of the figments were just shadows, fragments of who they really are. I knew he was nowhere near me, so this was my mind just replaying recent events. He continued his drawing in the sand when I felt two more presences enter my mind. I couldn’t tell who they were but it was rare for two to show up at the same time.

        I wandered away from Rune, and saw who I thought was Scarlet. It was strange though, her body was blurred and seemed more ethereal than flesh. She had something resembling A  bag in her mouth, so I assumed she had gotten something to eat. There was still the second presence to deal with though. I walked up the dune, and saw a strange, yet familiar figment. Unlike Scarlet it was just a skull of a unicorn, laying there in the sand. It had piercing purple dots of what one could mistake for flame. I recognized it immediately and groaned. “Oh damn it, please don’t tell me you’re hijacking my dream again.”

        The skull spoke. “Maybe I am, but seeing as how I have to reach out this far you know it’s serious. I don’t know if you remember what’s coming up soon, but I have a feeling that you’d better take care of Celestia quick.”

        I just stared down at him (yes, I am aware that it’s a skull, but it belonged to a male. Therefore, him). “I hate how you can read my thoughts. Why do you even have to say things like ‘do you remember’, you already know the answer, Mari.”

        “Okay, I told you about five hundred years ago to stop calling me that. It makes me sound like i’m a mare. And on a separate note you might want to wake yourself up. Things are about to get interesting for you.” He disappeared from my mind without another word. I woke myself up from my sleep, figuring that Scarlet was going to show up in the room soon.

        I got up from the bed, hearing the sound of somepony knocking at the door. I walked over and opened the door, and Scarlet walked in. “Mmph mmph mmph mm mm mmph.” She said, with the bag still in her mouth.

        “Scarlet, put the bag down and then say whatever the hell you tried to there.” She gave me a quick glare then walked over to the bed, putting the bag down.

        “I said I got you a croissant. Geez, a thank you would be nice.” I grumbled thanks then went over, using my magic to remove the baked crescent. “Man, I had a weird time during my little walk. I got hit on, again.”

        “Wow, you must be cursed or something. So how many of the guy’s bones were broken?”

        “Okay, for once I actually got hit on my preferred sex. And the bone count was zero.”

        “Wait, you’re gay?” She shook her head to confirm my question. “Dang, I must be losing my touch. That would explain all your threats towards guy’s hitting on you. So what happened exactly?”

        “This creepy pegasus chick decided to hit on me. Heck, i’m pretty sure she was hitting on everypony in the entire park. She even did this weird thing where she trailed her wing tips along my body.” She shuddered a bit. “I really hope I don’t run into her again.”

        As she was retelling her story, some of her story began to click into place in my mind. Like gears in a massive machine. If i’m right, then Rosy’s here to kill me now. “Say, she wouldn’t happen to have a pink coat, would she? And a somewhat curly mane and tail?”

        “Yeah,” she turned around, heading towards her room, “how’d you know?”

        I began to charge up my magic. “Oh, no reason. She just matches the description of a powerful pegasi who can control the mind of those around her if she touches them. Did I mention she’s likely here to kill me? And If I remember you said she touched you?”

        “Yeah,” she started to turn around and began to face me, “she did and... You were about to blast me with lightning, weren’t you?”

        “No, that implies I didn’t go through. I’m still going to zap you.” I sent out a slight jolt of electricity. She flinched but the lightning didn’t knock her unconscious. As a matter of fact it looked like it didn’t affect her at all. We just looked at each other awkwardly for a moment. “Well, I can see that you aren't trying to rip my throat out right now, so that means that her magic didn’t affect you like it should have. Yet at the same time I just tried to kick your flank as quickly as possible but my magic just kind of flopped. Mind explaining?”

        She looked at me, shocked at the fact that I had just tried to electrocute her. “I’m not even sure, nor do I think I would want to talk to a unicorn who I barely know that just tried to kill me with lightning.”

        “I wasn’t going to kill you, just knock you unconscious until I sorted some things out. But now I see that i’ve made an incredibly awkward moment here, and i’m guessing you want me to explain?” She shook her head, giving me a glare. “Fine. The pegasus that you just met is named Rosy Skies. She works for Princess Celestia, who currently wants me dead for running off with important information.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “Yeah... I know sounds pretty bizarre, especially since Celestia is such a ‘nice and kind’ ruler who thinks about nothing but how her ‘subjects’ are feeling.

        “I was her royal spymaster, in charge of checking out other places and specific ponies. Rosy is one of four specialists that Celestia has trained to deal with problems that arise that are outside her jurisdiction. Most of these end with a lot of dead bodies, many at the hands of Rosy herself.” Scarlet gave me a look of worry, but said to go on. “As I said, there are four specialists, called the Reapers. Each one is especially gifted and all can use magic, albeit in different terms than unicorn magic. I’ve already taken down one of their members when he tried to kill me. Now they’ve sent another Reaper after me.”

        “Alright, so what makes her so special exactly?”

        “She emits a very light magical field around her that mingles with the fields of magic that surround all equestrians. Unicorns have larger ones that are like a field, pegasi have them as well and that’s what allows them to fly; despite the lack of hollow bones. Even earth ponies have it, that’s why they are generally physically stronger than other races. She can manipulate those fields and make them her slaves.” I refocus my attention on her, I had started to walk around during my explanations. “Which brings us to my next thought, why are you not under her spell?”

        She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve gotten though the odd fight with a unicorn or two, but I always thought it was pure luck. But considering what you just said and the fact you just tried to electrocute me, maybe i’m immune to magic?”

        “No, if that were the case you wouldn’t be able to fly period. You wouldn’t even be able to glide, you’d just plummet like a rock. I think it’s something that’s got me worried big time. Your cutie mark, you said that you don’t remember how you got it?”

        “Yeah, I don’t remember how I got it. So I must have gotten it really early in my life.”

        “Well, here’s the bad news. I know that mark all too well, and you’re not going to like my explanation. There was a unicorn from a very long time ago, with the same mark and unique... affliction as you. He was unstoppable in a fight using magic because almost all magic, save for something the caliber of that used by Celestia, couldn’t even scratch him. He was the first of the Reapers, and was a monster if there ever was one.

        “I knew him personally, and he never recalled getting his cutie mark either. We found out later that it’s a curse, and whoever has it is resistant to magic. His was amplified because he was a naturally strong unicorn. Yours is likely weaker because you’re not a unicorn.”

        Scarlet didn’t say anything for a while. “What... What happened to him? And what was his name?”

        “His name was Dark Scythe. He’s where the legend of the Grim Reaper comes from and, as I said before, was the first of the Reapers. He was a friend of mine, until he went mad with power. There were three of us, the original set of reapers that is. He was the leader and after he went mad with power the other member and I hunted him down and wound up killing him.”

        I walked to the door. “Now seeing as how I ran into someone with the same affliction, i’m worried about something.”

        “What?”

        “Things are coming full circle. Now if you excuse me i’m going to go off and kick some flirtatious flank. Just stay here, I don’t want you to get hurt.” I opened the door and prepared to leave, but Rosy spoke and stopped me in my tracks.

        “You didn’t say I could come along with you just because of the situation, didn’t you? You recognized my cutie mark and were worried that I would become a killing monster like Dark Scythe, didn’t you?” I didn’t say anything, knowing that I had already damaged the trust between us when I tried to take her down. “I’m right, aren’t I? And there’s something else you’re not telling me. You said you knew him personally, and that he was what made the legend of the Grim Reaper, but that legend is older than most cities. That would make you centuries old, Walker. Who the hell are you?”

        “Just a unicorn trying to fix a problem.” I closed the door behind me and continued onwards, thinking of where a maniac manipulator of the masses would be gearing up to find me. I had no plan, no idea how many she had amassed, or if I could beat her. But I knew the longer I waited for her, the larger her army would be. Each Reaper had a quirk, and Rosy’s was that she loved being able to be as high as physically possible wherever she was, which was what brought her to Canterlot in the first place.

        I walked around outside, looking for where she could be hiding. I kept a low profile to make sure that I wasn’t spotted and called the horde of minions to me. I looked up, seeing a rather large building, still under construction. It was taller than any other buildings in the area, and a construction site would definitely be filled with minions to take over. I started to walk over, wary of what may happen.

        I started to walk towards the building, and attracted the attention of various ponies. They were turning their heads and stared at me. Not a single one made a move against me, so I figured that they knew I was heading for Rosy. I walked in through the building, and saw Rosy sitting on an assembled pile of pillows. “Oh, hello there Walker. You wouldn’t happen to be looking for an incredibly attractive pegasus who has a small army?”

        “Yeah, actually. But it looks like they’re not here. So I guess i’ll just keep on with my day and beat you down.” I knew from past experiences that she could only control minions as long as she was conscious, but I was in charge of a few odd training sessions for when new Reapers joined. She knew about my capability to make ponies sleep, and she had prepared her minions as well. Apparently when you’re under her spell it’s like a trance where you’re just forced to watch and can’t fight against it at all.

        “It’s a shame really, I wonder what would have happened if you didn’t run. Maybe Celestia would have spared you.”

        “And maybe Celestia is actually a guy who’s actually not a terrible monster responsible for mass killings that are just covered up on a whim. I’m going to stop you, both the Reapers and Celestia.” I began charging my magic, a plan in mind. “If I were you, I would duck right about now.” She looked at me and quickly moved out of the way, possibly under the idea that I was going to attack her directly. I sent the bolt upwards, damaging the ceiling and causing it to collapse.

        Most of her minions were buried in the resulting rain of material, however she had survived it. I had guessed she just used one of her pawns as a shield against the fall and I started to run, needing some more time to think up the rest of my plan. I dashed up the half constructed staircase, making my way up the building. Rosy was close behind me, and I glanced out the holes in the wall to see some pegasi ascending with me, likely to assist Rosy in taking me down. The terrain was easier for her to navigate since she could fly, and I knew that if she touched me she could easily make me a slave.

        I continued to jump between gaps in the floor and various paths up to the top. By the time I arrived at what I assumed was the tenth floor, I was exhausted. I stood at the top, panting heavily from my run. There was a gap in the floor that had been bridged by wooden planks, she stood on the opposite end of it. There was no more room for me to continue running, unless I suddenly became an Alicorn.

        “Aw, does the Millennial Dreamer have nowhere to run?” Two rather beefy looking pegasi landed on either side of her. “Looks like you’re cornered, alone and practically dead. I’m going to enjoy watching Rogue torture you until you beg for mercy, even death. And I know that that will take a long time, so all the more to enjoy.”

“What? You think that backstabbing liar of a boyfriend you have could make me crack? Please, you’ve clearly never had to deal with Minotaurs. And besides, i’d rather die than go back with you.”

        She began to slowly walk across the beams. “True, but I know you hate watching ponies die. I have dozens of ‘adoring’ Equestrians all at my wingtips that would all end their lives with nothing more than a word from me.” She took a few more steps on the beam, placing her directly on the center of the gap. She raised her voice, merely to accentuate her point. “You said it yourself Walker, Celestia has a whole board of chess pieces, with the addition of many more pawns. You’re the last piece in the game and you have no chance of winning whatsoever. It’s one versus a hundred Walker, you’re already dead!”

        I was worried that this could very well be the end of my one man rebellion against the Princess of the Sun. I was about to become a slave to a complete bitch. I considered jumping off, just to end myself early and spare myself the humiliation of ending like a plaything. We heard the deafening screech of a megaphone sound over the entire construction site. One of the cranes above roared to life. “Attention Bitchy Skies, you’re attempting to kill off someone that’s helped me out, and if i’m not mistaken you’ve killed and manipulated you’re way straight to him.”

        “And who the hell are you?”

        “A pegasus with a bigass crane.” She swung the crane arm back, with the hook hitting a wall of a building nearby which knocked a few bricks loose. She swung it back around towards where we were standing. Rosy and I both watched as the hook came sailing towards us.

        “Oh you have got to be bucking kidding m-” The crane arm swung full force towards Rosy, and it connected. I heard the sound of metal connect with bone, and the sound of said bones snapping from the impact. Rosy was catapulted off the side of the building and she fell down into the half constructed building below. The pegasi that had been standing by her earlier collapsed, and I stood there in shock at what had just happened.

        Scarlet drifted down next to me. “Sorry, but I heard what she had said and I didn’t want you to die. It’s clear you know a lot of things, stuff I want to know badly. If I hadn’t killed her you would be dead about now. That or enslaved.” We both looked down at where she had landed, she was laying in an unnatural position with her wings bent at odd angles.

        We walked back down, and I wiped the memories of all those she had controlled and anypony who may have seen what happened. The last thing I wanted was for there to be more trouble on our heads. I quickly found another piece of paper and scrawled down yet another note to Celestia. Scarlet and I set out again, planning on where to go after this. We stopped at the train station and waited for the train to arrive. I knew we would have to connect again in Canterlot but seeing as how Celestia would be focused on Rosy being killed here and my history of continuing on foot, I was making a dangerous gamble by going straight to the heart of the den. I was just hoping the cards were in my favor.

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        Celestia sat in her throne room, having just received a report stating that Rosy had nearly died in Baltimare. Evidently many of her bones had been crushed and she had suffered a great fall at a construction site. Her wings were heavily damaged, so far as to the point that the doctors that had operated to save her life all agreed that she could no longer fly, nor was she likely to ever again. Celestia had assumed that Walker was in that area, however he did not kill and an attack that was this gruesome was not in his bag of tricks. And Rosy had said that there was somepony who had hit her with a crane. This meant that Walker now had another "friend", one who was not afraid to kill.

        There were no witnesses to the event, although Celestia suspected they had simply had their memories erased. Following his course of he was going on, he was likely heading towards Manehattan for one reason or another. Given its large population it would be easy for him to hide there, and with Rosy down Celestia couldn’t easily turn the city against him.

A note was also found near Rosy, one addressed to her in purple ink. She had yet to open it, but from what happened to Rune, she already knew who wrote it.

Dear Celestia,

Hope you don't mind me taking down another one of your chess pieces. I will tell you one thing though, you've lost one piece and I've gained another. There's only three ways for a game of chess to end: forfeit, checkmate, or a stalemate. And if the last one means I have to take down every single piece you have, just so that this comes to an end, I'll be happy to oblige. I'm going to show you one more of my cards though, I don't intend on losing any of my pieces, and I plan to get more. Let's see who will win this little game of ours, o' Princess of the Sun

She sat upon her throne and continued to ponder what Walker was up to when she heard somepony clear their throat. During her thoughts she had failed to notice Twilight had entered the room, saddlebags in tow.

        “Oh, hello Twilight. Are you heading out now?”

        “Yes, Princess, i’m going to be heading back to Ponyville. If you need me for anything i’ll be at the library. Although, I do have one question.”

        “And that would be?”

        “I want to know how Walker become immortal. I’m almost certain that he wasn’t an alicorn, and i’ve never heard of any spells that can make one immortal. So would you be willing to tell me?” Celestia thought about this, the truth may turn Twilight against her, but at the same time a lie could cause even more problems.

        “Walker’s immortality was a... Mistake of sorts. What gave him his immortality was a very potent spell, one that requires more energy than what naturally exists in a unicorn, even one of you strength. It has certain... Repercussions for it’s use. And Walker was not my first candidate for using it. There were others but they were all killed by one of Walker's associates. Because of that Walker was my only choice.

        “Were it not for his associate there could be a very different story here. I hope that answers your question, given that I can’t outright tell you how the spell worked. Otherwise you may be tempted to try it.”

        Twilight thought about what Celestia had just said. If Celestia wasn’t lying to her, Walker had gained his immortality through assassinations of those preceding him. If that was true then why didn’t Celestia stop those assassinations since she knew about them? Or give the immortality to somepony completely random? Whatever the case, Twilight still suspected there was more to this story. But now was the time to head home and relax. Twilight said goodbye to Celestia and headed towards the train station so she could board the train to Ponyville.