private Deep Science 1x1 with Blitz Boom

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Blitz Boom

Selena seemed to agree with Void about not using Mercy, and was about to jump down to the next platform when Void called out about the other path. She looked a bit skeptical about the claim, it wasn't exactly in the middle where she'd expect one to be, and was about to say as much, but stopped when she looked at it herself, "Well, even if it isn't her, it seems to be quite the concentration of memories..."

She nodded, "Alright, lets head down there."

She gave herself a bit of a running start to build up some speed for the glide down, and things went well until she tried to pass through the cloud of spectral pegasi, she clearly wasn't used to navigating with wings, and was getting jostled about by the pegasi. When Void tried to help Selena through she'd find that she wasn't able to physically interact with her, and that trying to touch her had the same effect as touching the mannequins:

The memory she saw was dark, but she could see clearly, she felt shame, a burning anger towards herself as tears came down her face. Across the dark room a black stallion with a white mane and tail stood, a cold fury in his eyes as he stared back at her.

"You're worse than the slavers."

The stallion then turned about, and she flinched back as if expecting an attack, but no attack came her way as the nearby window was shattered, letting the moonlight in. "No!" she said, and the stallion paused for a moment, before he threw himself out the broken window. "Don't go...!"

She walked over to the edge of the balcony, the shame at an all time high as she stared down off the tower. Void might have recognized that they were in the lunar tower of the castle in the Everfree, only the forest was much further from the castle, and there was a bustling village surrounding it. A darkness seemed to grow in the memory, the shame turning to hatred, a self vengeance as she screamed out.

Then the memory ended. Selena had seemed to get a bit more control over herself, at least enough to crash down on the platform, the sand dunes providing at least some softness to the landing, though she seemed a bit worse for wear despite it. She stood shakily, shaking the sand off and out of her wings as she looked about, the platform now seeming quite a bit larger than it had from above. "I'd guess, you were actually closer than I thought. We seem to have entered some deeper memory, which makes it a bit more likely we'll find her somewhere in this desert."

She didn't seem affected by the memory Void had seen by touching her, nor did she elect to touch the mannequin nearby, instead moving to follow the path that led to the tunnel entrance, grabbing the piece of black wood as she did so. "This looks promising, and dangerous. Stay close, and be careful."

With that she would enter the tunnel, slowly and cautiously so as to not make a sound.

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@Illiad Easle

Sadly, Void could not tell where this memory had taken place. Null and her had meant to pass by the large castle on their way to Ponyville, when they made their first approach towards the town, but after being chased by a particularly nasty chimera for a long time and actually ending up losing one of the saddlebag of cursed items (thankfully Null had shed a feather down there the day prior), they had to put it all to a grinding halt to recover their items, and at that point, they just wanted to get out of the forest and get on with their travels. In the following weeks living in the town, they hadn't had the interest to go and see it, but were making plans once everything settled down. Then Troy happened and... *sigh* Here they were.

Regardless though, she wouldn't have to know where this had taken place to make the small hairs at the base of her mane stand tall. She hadn't any idea who this stallion that spoke so harshly to Selena were, nor why he were so rude and jumped out of a window from what turned out to be a pretty steep fall, but it appeared to be one that Selena cared for, or at least didn't want to lose. Yet also one she appeared to expect would hit her? ...Her father perhaps? Void only assumed that the crystal pony were freshly made at some point, but there were a lot of bodies who could mutate into other things, or souls could take possession of other things, so who knew? And this being some sort of father figure or elder brother could sorta explain why she'd long for someone who clearly were about as pleasant as a vibrating chair made of cheese grinders.

That or this were some sort of abusive coltfriend maybe. Void had no idea, and the important thing here still were that this were an apparent painful memory of Selena's, which Void had no idea about why she saw. She thought only Null's memories were accessible. Apparently she were wrong, and needed to keep her spectral hooves to herself.

It didn't seem like there were a body when she glanced outside, so perhaps whoever this had been, had flown away or used some sort of magic? Or she just couldn't see him in time, as the memory quickly deteriorated into a darkness, besieged by hatred and a want for vengeance, closing in all around the memory of Selena. Frankly Void were happy once it ended, and she could take a step back to not touch the mare again.

On 7/28/2019 at 1:49 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"I'd guess, you were actually closer than I thought. We seem to have entered some deeper memory, which makes it a bit more likely we'll find her somewhere in this desert."

She didn't seem affected by the memory Void had seen by touching her, nor did she elect to touch the mannequin nearby, instead moving to follow the path that led to the tunnel entrance, grabbing the piece of black wood as she did so. "This looks promising, and dangerous. Stay close, and be careful."

With that she would enter the tunnel, slowly and cautiously so as to not make a sound.

"...R-Right."

She really considered addressing this, but she weren't sure if this were something that she should dig into, and though it may seem selfish, she really wanted to keep the focus on Null for now. Probably for the best too, if they were reaching the deepest memory. Especially as Void had some idea what they were going to find down there, and the thought alone made her stomach churn. The blood trail, desert, and the unmistakable black wood that they had stumbled across... She knew what were down there, even before the faint voices from below got audible enough to hear, as they got closer, and she avoided every other part of the darkened wood that they ran into whilst descending down this layer below everything else.

"- hadn't needed to stop."

"Because of you."

"Too slow, stumbling over herself like a fool, and getting trapped in the sand."

"You made us stop to help."

"Doomed us."

"Ran away, and left us to them."

"The things they did to us... How much pain we were in."

"Don't you dare to look away. Face what you caused."

"You did this to us."

"You don't deserve to live, when we couldn't."

"Why them, and not you? I could have been happy... Just like you promised me."

The voices would be younger for all three, but they would be easily recognizable for Void, and should be so too for Selena. The one who had started to speak were a twenty year younger version of their mother, with the second being their father, wandering in a circle whilst they spoke.

They did not look entirely as they once did though. Their bodies were drained of liquid and nearly mummified from the time just laying discarded in the sand, yet from every slash, stab wound and bashed in section of their bodies, blood would trickle down, hit the floor, and slowly vanish into thin air. They looked as Null had imagined they would be, after the Grey had been done with them, though now animate, and circling what little where left her her, along with a variant of Void. The last voice that had entered the conversation.

This one looked like Void did now, yet her false leg were broken, her eyes were as hollow and sunk in as her parents, and it looked like she had been violently beaten with something large and heavy. Her movements were troubled and slow, emphasizing the state of her bloodied self, yet she weren't all that much slower than her parents appeared to be right now, as the circling went on.

The state of Null were... Different than these. Her form were nor bruised or battered, but it were highly fragmented, and little more than the outline with varied bits and pieces missing. The closest one could come to describe it were a mosaik that had been smashed and subsequently put together, yet pieces were still missing. Shards here and there, scattered across her broken mindscape, leaving her here on her knees, wriggling in misserable torment from the voices of her family berating her, and telling her all the things that she already blamed herself for enough. That it came out of the muzzles of a beaten and dead family were far worse though, as she were being forced to face them, and hear the guilt and disgust roll with of her parents dry, raspy voices, and her sisters hollow, sad tone.

"Both then, then later. You stole my life, because you were selfish. And what happened?"

"You ended back in Troy."

"And then you tried to end yourself. Far too late to be worth anything, and you couldn't even do it."

"Even That you failed at."

"You promised you'd always be there for me, big sis, and you lied. You left me alone in Troy. This happened because you failed me again."

"Like she failed everyone else."

"You killed all of us, you selfish monster."

"I'm ashamed to have ever called you my daughter."

"Why did you do this to me, big sis? Why?"

Their assault were unrelenting, and if they looked enough, they'd see that Null were shaking in her form. This attack were shaking her in her foundation, and threatened to shattered more of her as she laid there, silently begging for the voices to stop. She had long since given up on asking for forgiveness, because these apparations of her most painful memories and the past and present, were never going to give them to her. They were manifestations of every bit of guilt, shame, and self loathing she had felt for the past twenty years, and after the last bit of hope had been extinguished for her, when she had to face that Equestria were gone, and Troy were their future, they had gotten the power to manifest as more than just corpses looking up at her with guilty eyes, or a voice in the back of her mind sulking, begging for mercy, and preying on her self loathing.

It weren't easy to say if 900 had something to do with these internal memories now berating her constantly, or if this were only from Null's hope finally snuffing out, but the end result were the same: Null hadn't been able to hear them, because she were trapped down here, out of hearing, with the worst things her memories could throw at her: Family.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Blitz Boom

Selena paused when she reached the bottom of the tunnel, amazed that they had found her so quickly. "Well, we've found... at least part of her. And it looks like we have a way to heal at least part of her."

She sat down, the mangled memories of Null's family between her and the remnant of Null. She put her hooves together in a meditative stance as ethereal antlers seemed to form out of her head. "Void," she spoke, but without moving her mouth, "I'll need you to conjure up a memory for me, something involving your parents being alive, the happiest one you've had yet. You'll need to visualize it as much as you can. Let me know when you have it."

Selena would wait for Void's indication that she was ready.

"Prepare yourself."

Void would feel like something was pulling on the memory, specifically that her parent(s) was/were being pulled out of it. If Void were looking she'd see them beginning to take shape between Null and Selena, and she'd see 900 lurking in, looking like it was about to strike at the forming image.

If Void tried to stop 900, she'd make contact with it, and see the following memory:

It was dark, it looked like the outskirts of a bustling town, in fact it looked just like the town she had just seen in Selena's memory. In front of her vision was the same dark stallion with the white hair, he was breathing heavily like he had just been running. He looked over at Void, or whatever Void was seeing through the eyes of, "Nine, go back to her. Without me, she'll need you. Help her."

Then the stallion turned and continued running away from the town, away from the scream of anger coming from the castle tower. She felt a sense of duty to stay with the stallion, but it was overruled by the duty to follow the stallion's orders. She floated up over the town, into the same window she had seen in the previous vision. There sat Princess Luna, much younger than she had ever seen her, with short light blue hair. She sat crying, though her face spoke of internal shame. "I can't do it alone."

"I am here to serve you." The voice was that of 900, though also it sounded younger, more innocent.

Luna didn't turn towards it, "Bring me the diamond. Then we will be the Night, and the Moon, with the mare caught between."

Void felt something in her, a darkness, it sought to harm, but only those who deserved it, a righteous fury, a duty to do wrong to make right.

Then the memory would end. If she tried to stop 900 she'd find it was just as tangible as her, or in other words she'd collide with it as if it were a solid object, making fighting it here, a reasonable possibility.

 

If she didn't try to stop him, the image would fade, and Selena would be knocked over, looking dazed as 900 stood between the two of them.

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@Illiad Easle

Void had almost jumped forward to wrestle her sister's shattered form away from these horrible things that tormented her, and had in fact taken the first step, before Selena had interrupted her with what seemed like a plan. Something to do. Perhaps a thing that would save Null? Or at least banish these horrible representations of herself and their parents.

On 7/30/2019 at 4:09 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"I'll need you to conjure up a memory for me, something involving your parents being alive, the happiest one you've had yet. You'll need to visualize it as much as you can. Let me know when you have it."

It wasn't hard for Void to imagine the correct thing for the scenario that Selena sought, though it took her a few seconds after closing her eyes and holding her hooves to her ears to tune out the horrible things she could hear being rained down upon Null.

The memory would be of the four of them together. After their parents had regained their memories, and the news that they were not related by blood came out, along all the other things. IN the moment when Void had said that it didn't matter, and that they were her parents, no matter what blood might say, she felt the overwhelming joy of everyone involved. She herself were nearly bawling her eyes out as they all embraced, and whilst she were sure Null weren't too aware of her surroundings, her big sis had joined them, and a tear had managed to find its way down her cheek. Something had touched them all deep inside during that embrace, as far as Void were concerned, and the seconds prior, the time during, and a little after that, were the best memory Void had thus far that included the lot of them. Though she hoped that soon enough, they'd get many, many more than this.

Null felt something change in her memory after Selena called out. Her parents seemed to slip from her grip, falling backwards, as if drawn out from a stage. Were this part of it? She weren't sure if she were allowed, but she couldn't help but to open her eye and have a little peek, which then turned into direct staring, as she saw their parents from this mental image, start to form in front of Null, and between where the circling dead versions currently stood.

Something else were there too though. 900, and it seemed that its attention were directed towards the image being conjured.

This time, Void wouldn't stand still, and actively floated towards it, not wanting this process to be interrupted, and potentially harm her sister. It seemed like Selena had taken what she needed from this memory anyway, r-right? She could do that and push 900 awa-

The whole scenario that followed as she made contact were like seeing the opposite of the medal that Selena's memory had been on. A familiar setting, and a familiar stallion, who correctly so, weren't dead. Unless this happened before the one Selena had? Void couldn't tell for sure, but whatever the case, the whole feeling of this memory and tone, made her think it were likely after, and not long after either.

What it meant though, she hadn't a clue. She recognized a younger version of Princess Luna, who apparently had some connection with 900, and potentially Selena, but what were going on, she hadn't much of a clue. It sounded important, and it was probably worth remembering, but overall it just seemed ominous to her, and the feeling that washed over her after that certainly didn't change that. That overwhelming sense of righteous vengeance, that came from wanting to hunt and severely hurt those who had more than deserved it, were not an unfamiliar one, but why it were here, in this strange memory... She needed answers, but not here. Like so many other things, it had to wait.

The memory would end soon after the feeling rose, and she'd see 900 be on its way to likely cause harm to Selena and Null. Perhaps it were futile, but she'd still try to intercept him, and if possible, push him away. Forcefully if he tried to push past her, and she wasn't a light weight, nor unfamiliar with combat. Void could fend for herself if need be, though she really wanted for this to just end without anyone harming one another.

"Stop! Don't f-fight in h-here. You'll b-both end up k-killing Null that way, and I won't l-let you. Any of y-you, hurt her more. P-Please. just... Not n-now."

Her voice and demeanor were pleading, begging that she could solve this without picking sides, or with any real fighting. If they had issues, they had to take that up another time, once Null had gotten better.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Blitz Boom

It seemed 900 had less power than she might have expected given it was quite easy to keep back with her efforts, despite how desperate it looked to stop the memory.

Speaking of the memory, (And I understand I'm taking a liberty here but I think you'd agree) It seemed that what had touched Void deep down had also resonated to a certain degree with Null, as Selena was able to conjure forth Null's own memory of the event, whether it was Null's or Selena's doing was hard to tell, but the talking corpses were frozen in place as the scene they were in shifted slightly from the dimly lit cave to the dimly lit room they had all shared that embrace in, so that they were all present in what appeared to be a reenactment of that memory, played out where the fragment of Null couldn't ignore it.

900 seemed to grow more desperate as the mental room shifted, trying to get past Void to stop it, but if Void put out any reasonable effort it'd be easy to stop. It sounded defeated as it spoke, "no.... I can't leave if she lives."

What would happen next would be as much up to Null as it was to Void, most likely the pairs of mental constructs would be forced to reconcile in Null's mind, whether she'd accept that her parents were still alive, and loved her, or distance herself further in her own delusion.

Selena seemed to be putting all her focus into maintaining the good memory.

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@Illiad Easle

On 8/1/2019 at 12:17 AM, Illiad Easle said:

900 seemed to grow more desperate as the mental room shifted, trying to get past Void to stop it, but if Void put out any reasonable effort it'd be easy to stop. It sounded defeated as it spoke, "no.... I can't leave if she lives."

Try as he might, Void stood her ground and didn't let him pass, even if she did feel a sting of pity towards him and what seemed to be his own plight in all of this.

"We'll f-find another way, Nine. I p-promise you, we'll g-get you out s-somehow."

She were sympathetic to his want. He didn't want to be stuck inside Null for the rest of her natural life, just as much as any creature didn't want to be confined like that. But him killing Selena were going to cause all of them harm. Null wouldn't get out of her slump, she herself might be caught, and she needed Selena to make Null her wing. It were going to be harsh on Nine to stay trapped in here, but forcing him to do so right now were the best option for them all, and he would still be alive it sounded like. That meant they could go and get him at another point, and as the facility had shown, there were magic that could get through the curse that she and her sister possessed. They'd find a way to get him out, and save everyone here.

Behind her, Null slowly rose her head as the words around her stopped for the first time in what felt like years. Mostly because it had been, as even before these manifestations tormented her, she had plenty of words said to herself about what a failure she were, and how much wrong she had done by being selfish and weak.

The eye and a half that had not yet shattered away, fell on the desecrated corpses, and beaten remains of her sister, yet their focus were on the same thing as Null's came soon after. A pair of representations that were a good deal older, with smiling faces and tears streaming down their joyful faces. This were something she had never seen before, as all her memories turned sour and miserable years ago, yet now, she were seeing something good. A light in the darkness she had been plunged into.

"No, you can't be real. You're dead. I... I did it. It's because of me you're gone."

"No, we chose to stay, to save you."

"We knew that even if we didn't make it, you would take care of your sister."

"You were always our brave little filly. Headstrong as your mother on her best days."

"We are the ones who should be sorry. For not being there when you needed it."

"You put too much on yourself. Grew up too fast, all to try and save Void from the same pain. It tore you apart."

"We have a lot to make up for, but we can't do it in here. You have to go back. Your sister misses you, and so do we."

"The dead doesn't miss anyone..."

The two came closer to what were left of Null, and embraced her softly, causing her to open what were left of her eyes wide, and finally, truly having a look around her. At the strange crystal pony, and the faceless specter of 900. Her sister, alive and well, holding him away, and then her parents. Not the corpses, but these lively variants, aged as if they had never been taken away. It were all so confusing to her, and she wasn't sure what to think anymore. There were two variants of her family here, with one starting to move a little again and try to berate her, and then these warm, protective three that were her for her for some reason.

"We know that Troy took a lot from you, Null."

"They even took our memories, so that we wouldn't come for you."

"But we're out there. Alive, and with your sister. We worry about you."

"But they-"

"They are what you think happened in the past. We are the truth. The present, and the future."

They pulled away and took one of Null's fractured hooves, and placed it on her mother swollen belly.

"It's a crazy, dangerous world out there, and our little one could sure use its big sister to help keep it safe. Stand against the threats out there and give it hope, even when everything seems dark and out of reach."

Null's head sank, and tears glassy tears fell from her eyes, even if her hoof did not leave her mother's swollen belly.

"I can't do it all over again. It's too much.

I'm tired mom..."

She got in close, and embraced her sulking daughter again, after the defeated words that came from Null.

"I know honey, but we need you to be strong for us again."

Her father came in and took part in the embrace too.

"And this time, you don't have to shoulder it alone."

From outside, some specks of light would start to break through the clouds, and creep down towards their position, whilst the corpses of her dead family, would suddenly halt every word, and collapse on the floor. They were still there, and would likely never leave, but their words were no more to make this mess worse. Now, it were up to the others to help her the last bit of the way, that she may return, even if she would still be broken and torn asunder.

Edited August 1, 2019 by Blitz Boom

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Blitz Boom

Nine, as it was now clearly named, was shaken by Void's words, and stopped fighting her to stand back as the action unfolded. "Truly, you would forgive? You indeed embody Mercy." As Nine stopped fighting her and Null's mental state improved its form shifted from the pony silhouette to a less familiar shape, it was a dark sphere about the size of a pony's head, with nine tendrils of the same shadowy material spaced around it.

The spectral antlers disappeared from Selena's face as she opened her eyes, the positive memory forms now sufficiently supported by Null's own memory of the event to hold them without her effort, "That should be enough to stabilize her, or at least enough that she should be able to support a mental room. In any case, hold on a moment while I pull us out of her subconscious."

Selena's eyes would glow for a moment before she, Void, and Nine would be back in the white room she and Void had started in, Nine now with a number of bands of light surrounding its center mass. "We're back in your mind now Void, and hopefully when we go through the door to Null, we'll find her in a room like this one. If so, she'll be at least more fully concious when we return to the waking world, if not... then we have to go back down there. Now she's far from healed, but if we can get her in the room, it will be much easier to fix her state then traipsing about her subconscious."

With that she'd go to the door, dragging Nine along behind her, and they would disappear as they touched the door, they would both reappear in whatever Null considered a neutral mental room, or back in the subconscious.

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@Illiad Easle

18 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

"Truly, you would forgive? You indeed embody Mercy."

"There have b-been too much d-death. It have to s-stop, and it w-won't before we learn to l-let go."

Nine had used them in varied ways, that much she had come to sort of accept, even if the details around it were still murky, but he hadn't done anything that she considered unforgivable. If they had caused all the havoc in the facility to stop massive bombs that would have killed far more, weren't it sort of justified? The few, for the sake of the many, even if Discord had later unleashed a hell which had consumed so much more of the world, than those bombs were likely to have been able to do.

She would lie if she said that neither Null, nor her, had been faced with the same situation before, and had to make a tough decision. It were a hard one to make, and often one which would hurt on the inside, but at times it had to be done. Someone had to be given to an artifact to sate it for long enough to seal it down, large fields of corn had to be laid barren to remove a token of prosperity who took numerous lives for the sake of a small farm community, or a minor scale masacre would need to happen, to avoid all out, no barrels held war, with super weapons able to eradicating entire cities in the blink of an eye.

As a wise pony once said: The circle of violence feeds itself, and will never end, until someone steps away and lets it go. This were the time when Void had to do that, to stop this continuous bloodshed, among creatures who seemed to have once been deeply connected. It didn't matter if both sides used her and Null. It were in the past, and if the trip through Null's subconsciousness had taught her anything, it were that clinging to the past only brought more hardships than anything. It was time to just walk away, and try to salvage what were left.

That being said, seeing Nine change into a tentacle bauble did make her false eye twitch. Some... Bad experiences that came to mind at that visual for a few seconds there.

18 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

"That should be enough to stabilize her, or at least enough that she should be able to support a mental room. In any case, hold on a moment while I pull us out of her subconscious."

Selena's eyes would glow for a moment before she, Void, and Nine would be back in the white room she and Void had started in, Nine now with a number of bands of light surrounding its center mass. "We're back in your mind now Void, and hopefully when we go through the door to Null, we'll find her in a room like this one. If so, she'll be at least more fully concious when we return to the waking world, if not... then we have to go back down there. Now she's far from healed, but if we can get her in the room, it will be much easier to fix her state then traipsing about her subconscious."

"Wait! P-Please Selena, don't h-hurt Nine. I know you t-two have history, but l-learn from Null. P-Please."

She didn't know if the things she said before they'd pass through would make a difference, but it were the only thing that she had the time to go through after Selena had transported them back to this neutral room, and she had seen Nine seemingly chained up in some sort of way. Considering what she knew of the two and especially how Nine had talked before, she got the feeling that Selena didn't plan nice things for him. Hopefully she'd try to be fair to him, and if not... Perhaps she had to break him free herself somehow, after they were done in here.

Passing through the door, she'd find a somewhat neutral room. It were the inside of an old, wooden hut, with a fire pit in the middle. Nothing on the walls, nothing but snow on the windows, obscuring what were outside, and just this singular fire to light up the place. A calm setting not affiliated with anything for Null, except for a calm, neutral place.

Near said pyre, Null stood, confused and looking around, unsure of what were going on. She were still a shattered mess of broken pieces, though, it seemed that a few of them had returned, and were hovering around her. Still not adding to her being, yet this potentially meant that she had been able to let go off a few things weighing her down, or face up to them at least. That, or this were just a somewhat more completed version of her as she weren't in the subconscious bowels of her own personal Tartarus anymore. It honestly didn't matter to Void, who just stumbled over towards her sister and embraced her softly, afraid that she'd break more of her if she pushed down too hard.

"Thank all the gods, we found you big sis."

"...Void? What's going on? I were just..."

Null's eye and a half looks around, and falls on Selena and Nine- Who were they? What were they doing here, wherever here even were? She didn't understand.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Blitz Boom

Before they went in to Null's neutral room, Selena turned to answer Void's plea with a slight smile. "Don't worry, I won't hurt it, it is not my place or station to, but Null's should she so desire it. You have given up your vengeance on it, and gained quite a bit of positive karma to yourself, but Null still has the right to a vengeful claim on it, and until it is fulfilled it will be bound to do no further harm." Nine seemed docile enough, whether from its own surrender or Selena's binding was hard to tell.

Upon entering the room Selena looked around, "Ah, not quite there yet, but much better then before. Rather than conjure a room she's taken a space from her memory to use." She turned to look at the healing image that represented Null, "It seems we've a way to go yet, but this is promising progress."

Void would find that she wasn't ethereal this time.

Selena would leave Nine by the door they came in through, and approach Null, stopping a few paces away before bowing in the Equestrian manner, "Greetings Null, while we've met before, I doubt you were fully aware of the experience. We are presently inside your mind, working on stabilizing your mental state since you've been a bit... out of it, for nearly a full day now."

She rose from the bow and sat herself on the floor, "Now that we can interact with you a bit more, what's the last thing you remember? We'd like to bring you up to speed before we try and fix any more of your suppressed traumas."

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@Illiad Easle

On 8/2/2019 at 8:53 PM, Illiad Easle said:

"Greetings Null, while we've met before, I doubt you were fully aware of the experience. We are presently inside your mind, working on stabilizing your mental state since you've been a bit... out of it, for nearly a full day now."

She rose from the bow and sat herself on the floor, "Now that we can interact with you a bit more, what's the last thing you remember? We'd like to bring you up to speed before we try and fix any more of your suppressed traumas."

Nulls eye and a half narrowed as Selena spoke, and gave her a rather cold, suspicious glare.

"You are inside My head?"

Her tone were not all that friendly either. As a very private pony who had buried her problems for decades rather than share them, she loathed the mere idea that any being could go into her head and rummage around what she had stored away. Helping or not, it hit a nerve, and were this out in the real world, chances are that Null would have stepped right up to Selena and attempted to bash her jaw in, or at the very least growl loudly in her direction, depending on if Void would stop her, just like she were now.

"Big sis, p-please just... Stop it, o-okay? We're trying to s-save you. Bring you b-back to r-reality."

Void let go of Null, but stayed close so that she could grab her fractured mind-sister, in case she tried to go on the offensive.

"Fine. You want to know what I remember? Being told that Equestria were gone, and that we were stuck in Troy of all the accursed places. Then trying - and apparently Failing - to commit suicide. Happy now? That's the sort of sunny story you were looking for?"

Null were nearly growling at this point, and took a step forward, which caused her leg to get into vision, and her rising angry look froze.

Raising said leg up, she had a look at it. Seeing the fractured mosaik, with around half of it missing, and only a few shards that she couldn't even say for sure came from here, floating around her.

She stared into Void's nervous, sad eyes after that. Getting a good look at the state she were actually in from the reflection, and stumbled back a couple of steps, where she'd fall to the floor, and hold her hooves to her head.

"I'm... Broken. And you somehow think you could mend anything? How? How could you ever fix what life have done to me? What I've done to others? Answe- No!.. No..."

She were struggling to keep her temper under control here, as she told herself that this were actually some kind of help, and that apparently, she needed it. But why her? What made her deserving of any kind of help? She wasn't worth that, no matter what that kinder illusion of her parents had said. Probably something they put into her head just to get to her. Why she should bea- Be listening. Hear them out at least. Yes.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Blitz Boom

Selena raised an eyebrow as her expression grew a bit more hostile at Null's outburst, "Okay, first of all" she sighed, rubbing her temple with a hoof, "No I won't get into that. You can work out your grievances about Troy with Vengeance later. I'm here because, after all the terrible things that have happened in your and your sister's lives, you have accrued quite the bank of positive karma, though you much less than your sister, and it's high time you got yourself some mercy."

She brought over the bound form of Nine, "This, as you know it, is 900, who is personally responsible for many of the destructive tendencies you've had since it was first trapped inside you. As far as it was aware, the only way it could leave your mind was your death." She gestured a hoof towards Nine, "As such, you have a karmic claim against it, you can choose vengeance, and it will be punished for its actions against you, or you can choose mercy, and I will be greater able to help you."

She turned her attention back to Null, "As to how I can help you, well, we've already brought you this far from being nothing more than a shell of yourself. We are in the second night since your scepter assisted suicide attempt, and much has happened since then." she turned to Void, and gestured to Null, "If you would explain to her? I can pull up the memories as you recount them just as we did in the cave."

Selena would form the antlers again and close her eyes in concentration, any memory that Void talked about Selena would display on the wall behind her like a moving slide presentation.

(Feel free to add Null's/Void's comments between my paragraphs.)

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@Illiad Easle

On 8/4/2019 at 6:02 PM, Illiad Easle said:

She brought over the bound form of Nine, "This, as you know it, is 900, who is personally responsible for many of the destructive tendencies you've had since it was first trapped inside you. As far as it was aware, the only way it could leave your mind was your death." She gestured a hoof towards Nine, "As such, you have a karmic claim against it, you can choose vengeance, and it will be punished for its actions against you, or you can choose mercy, and I will be greater able to help you."

"What we were shown, with the bombs storming Equestria. Were it real?"

Null looked directly at Nine, but her question were meant for whoever were willing to answer it. If Selena were or not however, wouldn't mean much, as Void would quickly make a response to this inquiry, which were likely for the best. Null trusted her, but she didn't know Selena, and with how life had treated them, Null were not one to trust others easily.

"From w-what I've learned the l-last day or s-so... Y-Yes. What we c-caused were d-damaging, but I b-believe it w-would have been far worse if it h-hadn't happened."

Void wanted some degree of leeway for Nine, but this were nothing but her being honest. From what had been shown, there had indeed been more years of war between Troy and Equestria in the regular fashion, but it would have gotten far, far worse if they had actually gotten those bombs that could disintegrate cities, and Celestia had to retaliate with more of her own attacks. Some of the safe places might not have been here, and the number of survivors after Discord attacked, could have become a substantially smaller number than they sadly already seemed to be.

"Then I don't have beef with him. We faced a world that hated us, even when we kept the things killing them safe, so I didn't need any help growing just as hateful and bitter, or we wouldn't have survived. Kindness and trust were just something they'd use to get to us again.

This thing didn't make me destructive. The monsters out there did, along with everything this miserable, grounded life have forced upon me."

She really couldn't see how Nine were an issue. She were willing to kill? Yeah, her own choice, which started to be something she did to keep her sister and herself safe or save Void in general, but eventually it were just something she did to end horrible creatures, and get to whatever magical things they lumbered around with that they could confiscate and keep away from others. Somewhat like the facility they were at before had done, except they didn't take living creatures. Ensouled artifacts did not count.

The killing didn't always get easier though. She just got better at hiding how it hurt her when they had to end someone who didn't deserve it, but were too far gone, or made a bad choice that sadly meant that Null had to make one herself. Sometimes those two overlapped.

As for other things, such as hatred, how she were constantly miserable, and all the self-destructive tendencies she had, she could all trace back to how life had just been. The behavior of others, the choices she had to make, how it tormented her to be grounded when her very being screamed that she were supposed to be up in the skies, and of course, the constant worries about her sisters safety, and how she blamed herself for their parents dying. This and much more weighed her down and shattered her. It didn't need help of some sort of spirit that had somehow gotten into her. She would have ended up just as much a mess without his presence, provided that the same experiences had been had, and choices had been met.

On 8/4/2019 at 6:02 PM, Illiad Easle said:

She turned her attention back to Null, "As to how I can help you, well, we've already brought you this far from being nothing more than a shell of yourself. We are in the second night since your scepter assisted suicide attempt, and much has happened since then." she turned to Void, and gestured to Null, "If you would explain to her? I can pull up the memories as you recount them just as we did in the cave."

Void would explain things in as many details as she could, with Null mostly reacting when a few faces had shown. At first only negative, with the consul making her sneer a little, even as Void spoke kindly of his actions, and indifferent when Void spoke of the random ponies and such she had run into in the outpost.

Her heart skipped a beat though, once her parents came up, and her eyes and a half opened wide in surprise. She had seen something like this in the inner depths of her own personal Tartarus, but it were very different seeing and hearing it from who she were certain were the actual Void, and not just some sort of illusion.

There were a lot of conflicting emotions on her face after that, but it were mainly a tentative hope, with pain, anger, and varied kinds of pain and a tentative, half second smile as more details came.

When it came to the main city, and the reemergence of the metallic doe and the skin walker, she seemed somewhat indifferent, but a nod were showing that she did approve that they had made it out alive. She considered at least one of them to have deserved to survive, though the other one, she mainly just wanted some answers from, soon as she got repaired and were able to have some info shaken out of her.

It were mostly just indifference and a few vague nods as things went along, up until when her parents were shown to have gotten their memories again, which gave her an actual, hopeful glimmer in her eyes. That were crushed rather efficiently once it came up that a relative of theirs had been the one to begin most of their torments, as leader of the Grey. If she had him and a knife right now, things would not have been pretty, that were for sure.

It were basically at the end, so her mood were not up high once Void were done talking. It were quite a tough one to swallow, that their parents were still alive, and that an actual family member they had never known off before, deserved a first class ticket straight into a volcano. It were probably going to take a long time before she would come to accept all of that, with most other things being more of a matter of adapting, rather than changing the fundamental way she looked at life.

Void did not mention that they were adopted, nor that Selena might be able to fix her wing here, or the fact that the family member in question were their father. She knew what usually happened when she had lofted the idea that perhaps they weren't related to their parents, and Null had to learn it from them to believe it. As for the wing, she usually exploded into confrontational hatred whenever anyone brought that up. It were a pretty sore point, and with all of those who had used her longing for the skies against them, she believed all to be lying to her when it came to that sort of thing.

As for their father... They'd have to cover that after Null had come to terms with being adopted. They needed to take this sort one step at a time.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Blitz Boom

5 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"What we were shown, with the bombs storming Equestria. Were it real?"

Selena had been contemplating how to respond when Void did, and chose to answer herself once Void had finished. "If I understood the memory correctly, what it showed you of the destruction was a possible future that was averted by your rather destructive escape attempt. The war still occurred, but the total casualties were much fewer than what they could have been."

5 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

This thing didn't make me destructive. The monsters out there did, along with everything this miserable, grounded life have forced upon me."

Selena looked like she wanted to say something there, but didn't. Whether it were denial or ignorance, or an attempt at deflecting the blame from Nine to herself, it was Null's choice to relinquish her claim to vengeance. Selena simply nodded at her response.

(Returning to the present)

Selena raised an eyebrow at Void's minor alterations to the timeline, but didn't call her out on them. She opened her eyes again once the final memory had finished playing out. "Alright, we've returned your state, in part, to the present. You are at least aware of most of what has happened since you entered this state, now..."

She thought for a moment on how to proceed, "The question is what this all means to you? Mainly the issue with your parents, it was clear in your subconscious that their supposed deaths caused quite the trauma, It would seem that it was then that you first started running away mentally given the prior trauma... the issue with your wing... you've managed to accept as part of you. But ever since you've simply ran away from the traumas, never thinking on them and segmenting away the parts of yourself associated with them until there was hardly anything left in the way of a personality, just the burning hate and the love for your sister. When you had the final trauma, that of learning that Troy was one of the only remaining beacons of society, you segmented that away from you too, and had nothing left."

She sighed, "I know that little of that will make sense to you, but essentially, we need to resolve your traumas, at least some of them, in order to restore the pieces of you that you've cast off. We can do it another time, just not as easily since I won't be able to come back inside given the whole curse thing, but the more we can do, the less likely you'll be to slip back to this state again."

"So, what trauma do you wish to address first?"

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@Illiad Easle

Null grumbled, and would likely have said something, had Void not put a hoof in front of her muzzle. She knew her sister well enough to understand that she had several choice words about being noisy, which would be directed straight at Selena, and wanted to stop her before she went on a tangent. Her big sis weren't a bad mare, but she were impulsive, and even though she would know that this were to help her, she would still have taken her first reaction in mind and told Selena to bugger out of her head with all that psychiatrist babble. Likely in a harsher tone than that.

So after Null had gotten a few seconds to get that out of her system, and gotten calmed down by Void's presence and insistent look that almost screamed at her to give this a chance, she reluctantly started to answer, though she still weren't happy about this.

"First off, you're wrong on the two big ones. I didn't get traumatized by thinking they died, it was because I blamed myself. If they hadn't stopped up to help me out of the sands, I would've been caught instead of them, and Void wouldn't have had to rely on me. You couldn't ever fathom the kind of pressure it puts on you to think that you were the one responsible for killing your parents, having to raise someone else, And all of this less than a day after you caused said sister to lose her leg. All when I were barely six years old."

"My leg w-wasn't your fault, b-big sis, I chose to g-"

"- Second off, don't go saying I accepted being a cripple. I were forced to live with the agony of being grounded for the rest of my life, but it's not something I ever got to terms with, and I never will. Pegasi are not meant to stay on the ground."

Null interrupted Void before the later could go into her talk about how her losing her leg wasn't the smaller pegasi's fault. Void had chosen to run in and try to save Null from having her wings clipped, and frankly, she didn't think of her leg being lost as anything as bad as having to look at Null, and believing that she were responsible for grounding her sister. If she hadn't caused all that chaos, Null's feathers could have grown out again after all. Now it didn't matter.

They both blamed themselves for harming each other, though in time, they would both have to come to to terms with it being just an accident that had the worst possible outcome, just short of death. Void were closer to this than Null, yet she were still sorry that she had caused said accident. Having Selena eventually helping Null fly again, would be a great part in helping Void get past this, but they would have to go through things once at a time. For now, Null weren't done talking, though she did back down a bit again and look away after the initial corrections.

"For a crystal creature, I guess you were right enough about the rest. Easier to push it away and focus on survival, then put all bets into trying to ensure that Void had a shot at a life. What else was I gonna do, after all the damage I already caused? I've been selfish enough throughout our lives. This was the last good thing I could do, and with Equestria being gone, I failed there too. So yeah, I lost it and skipped a few steps at the end."

Void looked like she had been smacked in the face at that last bit, as it proved that Null had indeed been planning to end herself sooner or later. She had thought it possible in the darker moments in their lives, but to be faced with it being an actual plan and not just a thought, or spur of the moment depression... It hurt.

"And I dunno how you'd even begin to address any of this. If you've been in my head, you've seen what I've done. How could I tackle this, huh? Admit the lies? Accept what I've done? Confess about all the blood on my hooves? What exactly am I supposed to do?"

This was actually a legitimate question. Null had spent a lifetime pushing these things away. She quite literally didn't know how to begin addressing them. The steps about admitting to things and seeking forgiveness were a nice enough thought and all, but how were she going to begin that? Who were she going to talk to, and about what? Just like, turn to Void and admit that she stole her chance of being adopted by a loving, caring family, because she were selfish and didn't want her to leave? That sort of thing? How were she supposed to look her sister int he eyes, and tell her that she had done something so horrible to one she had sworn to protect?

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Blitz Boom

Selena maintained an open expression as Null talked, showing that she was interested and paying attention to what she said, and nodded as Null finished her remarks, "Interesting, I appreciate that you're willing to open up to me, even though you don't fully trust me, but we'll continue. You're correct in what you've said, those are some of the ways that you can reconcile the trauma, but I don't think you're quite ready for that. Instead we'll look at the exact opposite, and it may be a bit harder for you to accept, as you've demonstrated, but that is why having Void here to support you will make it easier."

She motioned to the side where she had been showing the memories, and a blackboard like one would have in a schoolhouse was there, it gained writing as she spoke. (What's underlined is written on the board) "Here's a few Steps to Recovery for you to think on, and they boil down to three categories: Let Go, Accept, and Reconcile What you mentioned is mostly in reconcile and admit, but I'd like to focus on Let Go for now."

She dismissed the board and turned her attention back to Null, "But before we begin, I'd like to say that while my foalhood traumas were not exactly like yours, I have a fairly good understanding about what it's like to be forced to make the hard decisions to protect others. But I digress, this isn't the time or place to talk about me. Letting go is essentially like what you did with 900 over there, you let go of any hatred you could have had towards it, and as such it has no power over you anymore. We intend to do that now with some of your other traumas, Admit the lies you've told yourself, let go of the blame for things you didn't do, wash the blood off your hooves that wasn't yours to carry."

She gave a slight smile, "I know from experience it can be hard to realize at first what needs to be let go, which things are natural consequence or simply self-imposed, so Void and I will be able to help you distinguish what you need to accept, and what you need to let go."

She looked over at Void, "Let's start with the matter of your parents, now that we've established that it is one of the first points of trauma. You say you blame yourself for their death, and now you know that they are alive and well, how do you feel about that?"

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@Illiad Easle

"Miserable."

Null gave a short, honest answer to the question she had been asked. it was easier to just plow through this, and considering she still hadn't a clue how she were supposed to know what sort of blood that she metaphorically carried on her hooves to wash off, what lies to admit to, what to accept, etc. this were basically the only thing she could answer to. Typical shrink types. All setting up things, but no real answers... One of a few reasons why Null didn't like 'em.

As for Void, she responded to what Null said with concern. This were not the sort of answer she had expected to hear when it came to knowing that their parents were alive and well.

"Miserable? B-But... They're alive!"

"Which means I've been saddled with the guilt for nothing. It could all have been avoided if we had just gone back and checked, instead of having it burned into my skull.

So yeah, it makes me feel miserable to know it were all just more lies. Happy now?"

"Big sis, you s-should feel happy about t-this. E-Even if it... It c-changes some things, they're a-alive, and they're happy to s-see us too, now that t-they remember."

"Hrmph, it's going to pass."

Void grabbed hold in the fractured representation of Null as she said this, and shook her a little whilst her voice went up.

"Why? Why c-can't you just be h-happy about it s-something for once?"

"Because I know that you haven't told them what we've done."

Null's tone were low and whilst she tried to keep it neutral, you could hear the nuances of pain that came from what she said. She were sure that Void hadn't told them of what the two of them had done, even in the name of survival more often than not, and as she saw her sister's facial expression freeze before she averted her gaze and let go of her, Null knew that she had hit the nail on the head.

"Twenty years little sister. Twenty long, grueling, blood-soaked years. They're going to be told about it sooner or later, and what then do you think is going to happen? You think that their fond memory of their innocent little fillies can survive that?

Face it. Alive, dead, it doesn't matter. We can't go back to how it were. We've changed, and while you might be able to think they could forgive everything, I can't. I won't."

It might sound as if she were just stubborn, but this were more a matter of survival than anything. Whilst her parents memory that Void had shared managed to pull her out of her worst slump, Null were one who tended to overthink things and find the worst angle, and after some time had passed and that view had gotten a change to be included in the thought process regarding her parents, it told her that she would only set herself up for failure if she put hope in them being able to just forgive and forget. Considering what happened the last time she had her hopes crushed, she couldn't make herself push the doubts aside and hope that everything would turn out okay on this matter. Otherwise, she might not hesitate the second time.

Would her parents rejecting her still feel horrible without hope? Yes, but somehow, she'd find a way to survive. Likely by falling back on her hatred again, which would eventually kill her, just slowly, rather than immediately.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Blitz Boom

Selena looked on with an expression of concern that matched Void's, while she conjured out a trio of balance scales to compare side by side, she didn't seem too pleased by whatever the results were as she dispelled them without commenting on them. She waited until Null was done talking to respond. "To be fair, they didn't tell you everything they'd done either, and frankly they'd be quite the hypocrites to not accept what you've done, given what they've done. You two can at least justify that most, if not all, of your actions could be justified as necessary to your survival, theirs haven't all been."

She sighed as she looked over at Void, "While I know, it isn't for me to tell you, and while you might not believe me, I am sure that they wouldn't love you to any less."

She thought for a moment, "How about this, we'll set the matter with your parents aside for now, and work on some of the related issues. I've gathered that you lack hope, given quite the track record of having your hopes and dreams dashed at every opportunity. However, I want you to have hope again, likely it's the only way you'll be able to start lifting yourself back up."

She sighed, and looked unsure about proceeding, but steeled herself and continued: "I know of two ways by which you can fly again, well, three, but the third isn't really the same. The first is a possibility, no guarantees that it would work, but the second, given I am in here now and provided I can leave, while being quite a bit more expensive, is guaranteed to work so long as you believe it possible." She laughed nervously, "I know it sounds cliché, but that's how this type of magic works, it would even look just like your old wing..."

"Just a little hope is all I'm asking for, I know it will be hard, to dare to hope after all this time."

(If she chooses to hope again, it will bring back part of her, but also bring to the forefront whatever trauma made her give up hope, the last time she dared hope before casting it off, and we'd deal with it like in the cave)

(If she doesn't dare hope then nothing happens.)

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@Illiad Easle

On 8/11/2019 at 6:12 AM, Illiad Easle said:

She sighed as she looked over at Void, "While I know, it isn't for me to tell you, and while you might not believe me, I am sure that they wouldn't love you to any less."

"I k-know they love us, and I t-think they will accept what h-have happened. It might just... T-Take a little time. That's a-all."

Void had hope for the future, as she had seen that their past were not as full of blood as she had thought throughout most of their lives, but she would admit that she had gotten a moment of doubt as Null had brought up that she hadn't shared their own stories with their parents yet. When this were all over, and they had gotten Null back to a somewhat stable manner, she would take her to them and start talking about this. Her big sis needed to see for herself that their parents wouldn't abandon them, just because they had done things that needed to be done to survive, or help others. At least she hoped that this were all. Null hadn't always been around her, and as she had seen a few times now, she had a habit of hiding some... hurtful things from her little sister. Void couldn't shake the feeling that perhaps, Null had done some things that were less ethical, and didn't have to be done for their survival, and just didn't tell anybody about it, though she certainly hoped not.

And speaking of Null, her reaction to what the crystal pony were saying were more of a silent scowl to the side. She remained unconvinced about how things would go before she saw it with her own eyes, but at least she didn't try and insult Selena over this, as she could see that she mare had a point. She were just too stubborn to admit it right now.

On 8/11/2019 at 6:12 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"Just a little hope is all I'm asking for, I know it will be hard, to dare to hope after all this time."

This time, holding her muzzle wasn't enough. Void physically had to restrain Null to stop her older sister from jumping Selena and attempt to beat her senseless. Not a huge deal for Void, but it still pained her that she had to do this.

"I-I'm sorry, it's just... A very t-touchy subject for her. It's k-kinda- Whoah!"

Much as Null's response to this outward were being furiously angry, it were a defense mechanism more than anything. Inside, she always felt some degree of hope once the prospect of getting back into the sky came up, but she had just been broken so many times in this regard that she tried to shield herself from disappointment by attacking whoever brought it up, or at the very least yelled in their face.

As such, the process went through as Selena would expect, and a shard manifested out of nowhere that plunged into Null's missing wing frame like a dart, attaching itself to a place near where her longest flight feather would have started, and in the process, would hit Void, so she saw the same memory attached to it that were suddenly making Null's eyes go wide, and her facial expression appear as if she were being impaled.

It were six years past this point in their lives, and the two were standing in a forest that had little in the way of recognizable features or plants, besides an overabundance of oak and the sound of cawing, young phoenixes somewhere nearby. Sadly a couple of things that could be said about most forests in Equestria, and whatever country were not situated far to the north or south, where the flaming avian had a smaller interest in nesting. The oak ruled out some further away lands, but this could still be too many places to narrow down.

Null stood alone here, with no sign of Void anywhere, and looked with narrowed eyes at a band of griffons, standing in front of a large cauldron oozing some kind of pink smog. The smell of something overbearingly sweet wafted through the air, but Null for one didn't care. She were looking at them with tears going down her angry face, which try as she might, she were unable to hold back.

"You're all going to regret this. Mark my words you insufferable chickens."

"Awh, did the little cripple get hurt thinking about how these *chickens* can still fly better than her?"

Null lounged herself at them, and were bashed back by the one who seemed to be in charge, whilst the others around him laughed at his little taunt, as well as Null's pathetic attempt at hurting them.

"But alright, you wanted this so badly? Here, go fetch."

He ripped a necklace he had off, and threw the small vial of a rainbow-colored liquid at Null. Upon her grabbing it, it instantly started to go erratic in its colors, and eventually went through a smaller explosion, causing her hoof to get burn marked. The physical pain she felt were pretty rough compared to the one of betrayal she had just went through, as were the sinking feeling of dread and hopselesnes that were starting to go over her from seeing this result.

"Oh, I suppose we forgot to tell you? Ah, how silly of us. You see, the magic is the only thing that holds it together, and makes it stable. Without it, there's little difference between it, and a bomb. I guess you'll just have to remain a freak."

They started laughing again, before the leader signalled a few of those behind him, who took hold of the cauldron and prepared a magical stone that would hold a spell to summon a gate towards a predetermined destination. As they lifted said stone, it would start to become visible that all of them, somewhere on their body, had a tattoo or mark of some kind, of a red claw slashing in a curved motion. The design of said claw would indicate a draconic connection of some kind, though the ones carrying this were highly obscure, and mostly only known to those on the old black market, who were aware of La Perinne's cult-like followers.

"Start getting it back. As for you... La Perinne said I could chose what to do with you."

He withdrew a dagger as he looked towards the younger Null, holding her scorched hoof with her eyes towards the dirt.

Instead of striking at her though, he scratched himself under the beak with it, and looked up into the air.

"I think I'll let you live. It seems so much crueler than just offing you. *sigh* If only I had more time, I could've done it worse by taking that sister of yours as a trophy though. I bet her coat would make for a nice bathroom rug."

He smirked victoriously as Null ran towards him again, and he held the dagger out, ready to slice her leg after the obvious taunt. What he did not expect though, were that after he had done that, and deflected her good hoof with his free talons, that she'd then use her injured leg to kick him hard with, which would sent a jolt of pain through Null, but also have the effect of causing the griffon to fall back with some force in surprise, and with blood spattered on his face.

He'd stop his descend once he were at the cauldron, clinging to the edges before accidentally falling in, and would open his beak to order the others to attack, when Null came bashing through, jumped up awkwardly, yet determined, and stomped him in the chest. He had a small second to think of what were going on here, and had a look of horrific realization glimmering in his eyes as it passed, but there were nothing he could do to stop the momentum from causing him to fall further back, and whilst he instinctively shifted to cling to the sides of the cauldron, his wings still plunged directly into the elixir. The amount of pain in his scream after that were saying that whatever were in this, certainly weren't comfortable, and it rattled the others around them, who drew their weapons, whilst also holding the griffon down, not allowing him to pull his wings out, no matter what were going on, and how much he struggled.

They would have attacked too, had the now opened gate not given off a feminine voice, telling them to get to her that instance. An order which they followed.

The only thing Null would see as she fell down on the ground and tried holding her bloodied leg in pain, before the portal closed, were the center of a massive, green slit eye, focused directly on her, and the same voice from before warning her that this would not be forgotten. A surprisingly low one, considering the dragon behind it seemed to be one of the very large varieties.

Void would find Null a few minutes after that and Null would hide this under being attacked by someone who had run off, which made it sound like some sort of hunting accident. She hadn't known that she had actually been elsewhere, making shady deals with shadier beings, whom seemed to have taken advantage of her desperate want to fly again. This time, apparently with some sort of elixir, which she imagined they had shown work on something else to make her enticed. Potions were not inherently magical by nature, so she had assumed that if there were a way, it would be through one of those, just one with more focus on biology than magic. That they had tricked her and used sleight of hand to make it seem as if this worked even when anti-magic were in place, were sadly something she had realized too late though.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Blitz Boom

Selena shuddered as the memory ended, but there was a slight smile on her face, "Honestly, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would have been, and now we're a step closer. Now you have hope, it's a small one sure, but it will grow. And when it grows..." the smile on her face grew a bit more, "It will make the rest of your recovery much easier."

She sighed, and for a moment she looked tired, then worried, but her face went back to normal quickly. "Ah, it seems we're about out of time then, time for me to get... out..." she seemed puzzled for a bit, "Wait... Oh." she gave a nervous chuckle, "Oh that wouldn't've been good."

She shook her head and stood up, "Alright, this is how it will work: Null, I'll send you back to the waking world, and you'll tell Illiad it's time to bring me out, Void, you and I will wait in your mental room until he pulls me out, then you'll wake up."

With that Selena would walk over to the door they came through, provided nothing stopped her, leaving Nine with Null as she did.

If Null doesn't object, she'd wake up as soon as Selena and Void leave the room, finding herself where Void set her on the couch next to the summoning circle, Void asleep by her side, and a solid diamond statue of a pony sitting in the middle of the summoning circle, it gave no indication that it was living, and would feel cold to the touch if she touched it. The Consul however was nowhere to be seen, instead a note had been taped to the statue 'Selena, there was an attack, I went to the defense, I'll be back shortly, ~Illiad'

(Feel free to add to the conversation before Selena leaves the room)

Selena and Void would be in the blank white room Selena had had Void conjure in her mind, "Now we wait, hopefully it won't be too long, or painful, for the extraction." 

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

On 8/13/2019 at 2:41 AM, Illiad Easle said:

She shook her head and stood up, "Alright, this is how it will work: Null, I'll send you back to the waking world, and you'll tell Illiad it's time to bring me out, Void, you and I will wait in your mental room until he pulls me out, then you'll wake up."

"Illiad? Who the hay is that supposed to be?"

"The uhm... The c-consul we ran into y-yesterday."

Null's attention went from looking at Selena to focusing on her sister with wide eyes.

"The alicorn? You're actually dealing with That one?"

"It's T-Troy or nothing, big sis. We h-have to accept that and try to a-adapt."

"...Fine, but I'm not happy about this."

The two gave eachother a small hug, before Void left the room, which caused Null to suddenly open her eyes in the real world.

Sort of a fancy room she found herself in, and- Yep, there were that diamond dog of a mare she guessed, though this one looked more like a hunk of rock than anything. She should just kick this one right away for that wing comment... Grrr. No, she had to focus here. Where were that insufferable alicorn?

Looking a bit more on the statue, she'd notice a note put there, and upon reading it, would loudly proclaim a curse phrase best not spoken near anyone. Ever.

After getting it out of her system, Null went over and poked to Void, but no luck there. She were out, and probably would be until she had found that annoying alicorn...

"I'll get you out lil' sis. Even if I have to drag that creature back by his mane through the damned streets."

Grabbing the sword that were among the weapons that Void had on her - the very same Null had stabbed herself with yesterday - the small pegasus grabbed the hilt by the teeth and start running out, determination mixed with the anger in her eyes as she looked for the first the best pony, griffon, changeling- Any creature that could talk really, who could tell her where that attack were going on. She had to go there and force that alicorn to come back with her, so that she could get Void back again.

This were something that she could set herself into. No matter the setting, the situation, or the details, she had Void to try and save now. That were all the motivation she needed to keep focused and ready for whatever battle were going on. Something told her that she'd have to help there to get what she wanted. Urgh... Annoying, but whatever.

If only she had some sort of ranged weapon right now, this would've been so much easier...

Edited August 14, 2019 by Blitz Boom

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Blitz Boom

[In Void's Head]

Selena didn't say anything about their comments until Null was on her way, and upon noticing that Illiad wasn't pulling them out already, "Odd, I wonder what's taking them? Hopefully not another attack, then again... I guess it is about time for the day cycle." she shrugged, then turned her attention on Void, "I don't mean to pry, but I've noticed you and your sister share quite the resentment towards Troy, despite never before, as your memories show, even been in one of its cities before this week. I'd like to help with that if I can, while we have time, if you want? Or we can talk about something else..."

She seemed like she really wanted to distract herself, as she kept looking over at the blank wall across from where they had entered the room from.

[In the Consul's Mansion]

Leaving the room she woke up in, she was in the hallway that led to the front doors, or she could head to the right or left down the halls. For what was apparently the Consul's estate, it was quiet, not a sign of a servant or guard anywhere.

(If she runs outside)

Out the front doors there seemed to be no indication of an attack, the populous was going about their business, mostly headed away from the central oasis and market as the vendors were beginning to pack up their stalls. The moon sat just above the damaged wall of the city. If there was an attack, the populous was either quite used to it, or it had already passed.

There were guards in front of the Consul's estate though, and they seemed surprised when she left the building, brandishing a sword. They would pursue if she ran off into the city, or they would stop her if she didn't, and ask what she was doing.

(If she runs down either of the hallways)

There would continue to be no sign of anyone in any of the rooms she passed, until, if she were looking hard enough, there was a shadow thing following her, which she might recognize as the thing that had been inside Pen. It would react depending on how she reacted to it.

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@Illiad Easle

On 8/15/2019 at 4:34 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"I don't mean to pry, but I've noticed you and your sister share quite the resentment towards Troy, despite never before, as your memories show, even been in one of its cities before this week. I'd like to help with that if I can, while we have time, if you want? Or we can talk about something else..."

"You h-have to see it from our p-perspective.

I were five, b-big sis were six. The p-part of Troy we l-lived in where all we k-knew, and after e-everyone resented us f-for no reason t-through our entire l-life, we t-then had to run a-away from it. R-Right after they c-caused her to lose her w-wing, and m-me to lose my l-leg. And then... T-Then with what happened t-to our p-parents...

We w-were crippled and a-alone, thrown into a w-world that hated us, w-while what little we u-used to have had been t-taken by Troy, w-when they kil- I mean, w-when we Thought they k-killed our parents.

How w-were we s-supposed to see anything g-good in Troy after t-that? We d-didn't have the p-perspective to think that p-perhaps T-Troy at large were not as b-bad. We just k-knew what they h-had done to us, and that when s-something bad happened, our p-parents wanted to l-leave the country with us. H-How weren't we s-supposed to t-think that meant that the c-country itself were evil, and h-had nothing but more pain in s-store for us? We were j-just foals..."

The resentment were perhaps not rational, but as she had said, they were foals. Pretty young ones at that too, who were forced to go into unknown lands and stay on the run because they were scared what would happen if they stayed put, and Troy came for them. And the more the world at large threw at them, the more they felt the crushing grief and longing for their parents to be there with them, which in turn, also made them remember what had happened in Troy. They couldn't let go because of this, and then, when they were forced back to the deserts, it were with them being perceived as lab rats, which just caused them to think that their idears of Troy were justified and correct.

"I am t-trying my hardest to s-see things in a n-neutral light now, and d-differentiate between the p-ponies and places we knew, f-from the parts we're s-seeing now, but it's h-hard. I still s-see the betrayal and the p-pain it caused, even w-when I know that it were the f-fault of the G-Grey. And Null... B-Big sis are c-complicated, but one thing she a-always have been is s-stubborn. I don't k-know if she can e-ever forgive Troy. I c-can just hope that she w-will see that it's d-different now, and that she s-should try to accept the n-new times."

It were the best way for Null in her mind. Forgiveness were unlikely after all, and any creature she would meet who had once interacted with them as foals in this country, she would probably forever harbor resentment towards, but perhaps she could be convinced to accept this new variant. Void weren't hoping she'd love it though, that seemed too foolish to even dream about, with how things stood right now.

On 8/15/2019 at 4:34 AM, Illiad Easle said:

There were guards in front of the Consul's estate though, and they seemed surprised when she left the building, brandishing a sword. They would pursue if she ran off into the city, or they would stop her if she didn't, and ask what she was doing.

Peh, about time.

Null had seen the front door as she went through the surprisingly big, even more surprisingly empty place she had woken up in. How were she going to get any answers, when there weren't anyone here? The answer were simple soon as she had seen the exit: Keep the sword and murder face up, and walk right out of there. It could be Troy, Harrowmark, or the darn blind forests of Saint Hoovesburg- Walk in public looking like you wanted to stab someone, and you'd get attention.

And attention she got, from some sort of guards it looked like. who started to question her soon as she stopped up. Though really, who cared who they were? They could be here to loot the place for all she cared, long as they answered her, and kept their filthy hooves off her sister.

"I'm looking for Sandmane Multiwing, or whatever that consul of yours are called. Selena... Something or other, told me to go fetch him, but he left a note saying buggered off to some sort of attack. So, where did he go, and what's he fighting? Might as well help him carve it up before dragging him back here."

Well, she weren't being the kindest creature this side of Troy, but at least she hadn't cursed or said her honest opinion on the consul. Frankly she were thinking that she were being far nicer than she had any want to be right now.

Edited August 16, 2019 by Blitz Boom

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Blitz Boom

[Void's head]

Selena looked thoughtful, "I think I understand, given you didn't have a clear enemy to attribute the bad things to, you attached the bad events to the place, or what you knew of the place, rather than leave it as an unknown." She nodded to herself, "Hopefully, with time, we'll be able to help the two of you make that separation, that the unfortunate treatment you suffered at the research outpost was not indicative of the citizens of Troy or its culture as a whole." She thought for a moment before she continued, "You know, that's not too different from Illiad's experience with Equestria, how he was attacked and fled for being different, though it wasn't as extreme a case as it was for the two of you, he'd be able to lend an understanding ear, and perhaps some advice. How he managed to make that distinction and come to terms with those truly responsible, rather than blame Celestia for his misfortune."

[Outside]

4 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

I'm looking for Sandmane Multiwing, or whatever that consul of yours are called

One of the guards chuckled at the name, but silenced himself with the look he got from the other guard, who then turned to answer Null, "That won't be necessary, though your spirit is commendable." She gestured back towards the building Null had just left, "The Consul just got back but a moment or two ago, given the time he's likely preparing to get the sky moving so tomorrow gets here. You'll find him upstairs."

(If Null goes back inside she might remember that there were stairs in the room she woke up in, if she goes up them:)

Just as the guard had indicated, there was the Consul. Four wings outstretched, the two khaki ones and a pair of shadow ones, and balanced on his right forehoofwith his head towards the ground. Around him were two rings of gem shards that idly floated, before they began to move, each ring had a larger gem in it, which seemed to correspond to the moon visible through the windows in the room, and the other seemed to correspond to the sun as it rose unto view, bathing the room with a soft light.

If Null didn't interrupt him that was,

[Blitz Boom 4,429]

@Illiad Easle

On 8/17/2019 at 1:29 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"You know, that's not too different from Illiad's experience with Equestria, how he was attacked and fled for being different, though it wasn't as extreme a case as it was for the two of you, he'd be able to lend an understanding ear, and perhaps some advice. How he managed to make that distinction and come to terms with those truly responsible, rather than blame Celestia for his misfortune."

Void looked surprised as she heard this last part. The consul too had tried to suffer from what he were, though from Equestria instead? That were a strange parallel to say the least. Especially since she weren't sure what the reason were for him to be excluded. From the sounds of it, he hadn't become an alicorn before Discord were defeated, and she hadn't spotted anything else unusual about him. Were he some sort of outcast for an action? Or... Wait, perhaps she had a vague idea of what might be happening. Or well, not exactly what his issue were, but more a sort of side effect.

"...The consul- I m-mean, Illiad, he asked to s-sit between Null and I e-earlier. Among the r-reasons, he mentioned being an e-empath. Is that w-what caused him p-persecution? We o-only ever met one, and s-she were eager to t-trade for one of big sis's f-feathers, to silence the w-world for a bit. It uhm... S-Sounded like her l-life were a l-living hell because of i-it."

She weren't sure why this particular thing would make you a target in Equestria, but it were the best bet she had, and if it were, perhaps Selena were right. The two of them could understand having something not in your control, which could actively help with many issues, be the cause for a lot of misery by the hooves of others. It would probably still be hard for Null to give him a chance, considering what he stood for, but perhaps this connection could be something she could eventually latch on to. Void would try at least, though she still had a lot to learn about what his condition meant for him, as all she knew about empaths were from the hour or so they had spent at the outcast some years back. Either their kinds were really rarr, or the two of them had just somehow managed to avoid them for twenty years. Or well, some could have just said nothing she supposed. If it were something that could drive you mad, it could fit on a few outcasts they had met over the years. Loneliness tended to do weird things to some beings.

On 8/17/2019 at 1:29 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"The Consul just got back but a moment or two ago, given the time he's likely preparing to get the sky moving so tomorrow gets here. You'll find him upstairs."

Null grumbled a little at the message and slacked the sword in her muzzle a little. So much for a little fight to let off some steam...

"Typical. Guess I'll just go find the overgrown sandpaper pixie."

She could have said breezies, but there was a very important difference between the two multi-winged creatures: She hated pixies. The breezies just kept their distance, but the other ones... Hayden and Harrowmark had the worst of them, but every time she ran into those little nightmare spawns, they made it their life's work to torment the two of them. Flying after them whilst singing spiteful songs, throwing things, calling out to others to come look at the freaks, continuously trying to poison them, etc. They could go on like that for hundreds of miles before they got bored, and since they were small and nimble, they were almost impossible to hit with anything. including many of the cursed items they had with them, considering the strong magical protection they could put up when there was a large group of them.

Granted, they had met two that were pretty okay, and had actually helped them out of a bind, but that was two out of about nine hundred. Statistically, it were safer to whack them all with a fly swatter.

On 8/17/2019 at 1:29 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Just as the guard had indicated, there was the Consul. Four wings outstretched, the two khaki ones and a pair of shadow ones, and balanced on his right forehoofwith his head towards the ground. Around him were two rings of gem shards that idly floated, before they began to move, each ring had a larger gem in it, which seemed to correspond to the moon visible through the windows in the room, and the other seemed to correspond to the sun as it rose unto view, bathing the room with a soft light.

After finding the Consul - how the hay did she miss the stairs the first time she were in here again? - she were awfully tempted to just go over and suckerpunch the consul. He were so absent it seemed, that it would be very, very easy to just clock him one and then forcefully drag him downstairs. It might not be a good introduction, but neither were it when she had yelled in his open face, so whatever. The first impression were already ruined. What difference would it make?

Currently, that would be to mess up the sun and moon, and much as she really, really wanted to lay a forceful hoof on him while she still had the chance, she weren't an idiot. If the sun and moon got displaced, they were all doomed regardless of what else were going on. So she'd wait until he were done, which would ruin her chance at bashing him. But perhaps she were lucky and he'd turn his back to her at some point. Though, just to not get too tempted, she also put the sword down and pushed it to the side. It might be for the best considering her impulsive rage. Considering he were again sporting several more wings than he needed, whilst she only had one, it were not helping on her want to cause him harm right now. Damn him and his vanity fueled greed...

Once it seemed over with, and she didn't see more light shenanigans, she'd start talking in an annoyed, frustrated voice to the consul.

"Hey you, Desert Fart or whatever you're called. The crystal mare wants you to pull her and my sister out of my skull. Are you done meddling with these things so we can get it over with? I want my sister back in her body before something happens to her, or she seems something she's not supposed to."

It were not a short list of things that Null didn't want her little sister to see, so the sooner she could get back in her own body, the better. Especially as she didn't want to risk something going wrong in there.

Edited August 18, 2019 by Blitz Boom

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Blitz Boom

[Void's Head]

6 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"...The consul- I m-mean, Illiad, he asked to s-sit between Null and I e-earlier. Among the r-reasons, he mentioned being an e-empath. Is that w-what caused him p-persecution? We o-only ever met one, and s-she were eager to t-trade for one of big sis's f-feathers, to silence the w-world for a bit. It uhm... S-Sounded like her l-life were a l-living hell because of i-it."

Selena nodded, "It's died down recently with the whole Changeling thing, but there used to be quite the negative stigma towards Empathics, given some of them were able to use their abilities for evil purposes. Furthermore, without proper training the ability can become a curse as one can become quite overwhelmed with time."

She sighed, "It's not purely Equestria, but more ponies themselves, that tend to simply shun and hate what they do not understand, what is different from the group."

[Consul's Chambers]

The Consul didn't look too pleased when he turned to face Null. There was a bit of a dark fire in his eyes, accompanied by a bit of shadow (Kind of like Sombra) to the edges of his eyes. "After everything we've done for you? If it weren't for the simply ludicrous amount of karmic debt owed to your sister..."

He shook his head, the fire and shadow fading from his eyes. He took a deep breath before he opened his eyes again, back to their normal piercing blue, "Forgive me, I know you're at least trying to cope with the situation. It will be nice to not be the only avatar of Vengeance again." he nodded, then proceeded down the stairs, not looking to see if Null was following him. "Though you surprise me, the hatred you bear towards those who have done nothing but help you since you've met them."

He arrived at the bottom of the stairs, and took up the position he was in when they first started the ritual. His horn lit up, a spiral of blue and black around his horn as the four wings extended again. He motioned for Null to stand back as his magic lit up the circle, a tendril of light reaching from the diamond statue towards the unconscious body of Void, soon enough another tendril of light extended from her forehead, and the two tendrils seemed separated by a barrier, though as the glow of the circle intensified, the distance slowly closed.

[Void's Head]

When the ritual began, Selena floated into the air a bit, glowing from within. "It's started, try not to panic, okay?" Then Selena was thrown violently against the wall, seemingly whatever gripped her was trying to physically pull her through the wall, and the wall was distending. It gave Void a headache. Then Selena disappeared from the room.

[Real world]

The tendrils finally met, and with a bright flash the diamond statue regained animation, stumbling backwards out of the circle before falling to its knees again. The Consul too collapsed, breathing heavily as a bit of blood dripped from his nose. His khaki wings remained extended, but the shadow ones had morphed into a second set of legs, moving to stabilize him before he could fall to the floor.

Void would be able to wake up now, with a somewhat severe headache.