Shortly after the cell is closed, my eyes open and I look around. I spot Dr Bubbles, but don't see Commander Starkey. 'He's probably rounding up the rest of the guard.'
My horn glows and my book appears in front of me, along with an ink well and quill."Sorry, Dr. Bubbles, but I have to write this down right now. I don't know how many ponies need to know about this, and I think reading it would be simpler."
Khenal's Book, Chapter 49
I never thought I would miss ordinary daemons, my book. I suppose I should fill you in on what's happened regarding the so called "smugglers". Two were beaten to death, and Thunder Splinter may die from the injuries she received from one of the possessed guard. Istlig was the one who murdered the two, I don't recall who beat poor Thunder Splinter within an inch of her life. However, calling Istlig the murderer is a bit innacurate, he was possessed. In fact, several ponies were possessed by the same entity.
After Commander Starkey and Sargent Carrot confronted me about the deaths of Bokbon and Nanges, we set out to confront the rest of the guard. I was expecting.... I don't know what I was expecting, but I certainly didn't expect Istlig to simply report to me like nothing had happened and lodge a complaint about using real weapons instead of wooden ones for the "beatings". I especially didn't expect to hear him claim nopony was dead. When I corrected him, he seemed to fall appart and suddenly produced a dagger to slay himself with. I was able to disarm him while Commander Starkey restrained him and started demanding answers.
The demon decided to answer them, though it was annoyingly vague about almost everything. It claimed several names that I doubt any pony would be able to actually say, and was even vague on what kind of thing it was. I sarcastically named it "Schmoe" and called it a memory eater, as it claimed to derive sustenance from memories.
Oh, it's arrogance, my book! It delighted in breaking ponies and claimed that Friesden was it's first with glee! It's only regret that her fractured mind was not to it's taste! I dared it to try to take me, thinking I would be able to handle it simply by virtue of being an alicorn. As I was, I almost certainly would have succumbed to it. Only by virtue of my unremembered past did I posess the skill to defeat it, my belief in my friends giving the power to survive. My old self was not so inspired by friends, but I think that's at least partially why I did what I did back then.
I know this must sound confusing, my book. If it's confusing to read, imagine how confusing it is to have in your head, to have as your past. My next chapter in you will be the last, though not my last chapter ever, I hope. You are growing full, and I think will only just contain the brief history of my past. And the number 50 is a nice, round number to end a book on.
Chapter 50
I was no simple lazy alicorn in the capitol, my book. I was one of the premier users of mental magic, well versed in theory and application of my art. Application was, admittedly, rare for mental magics. It is a field that is only barely permitted, only as a potential cure for trauma and occasionally used to weed out traitors and other undesirables. I even studded actual mind control so that I could more easily identify those under it's influence and those who would dare rob a pony of their free will.
I then met my first possessed ponies. It's well known that occasionally, a pony will suddenly get inspired to create something unparalleled. Sometimes a weapon of unsurpassed balance and edge, sometimes a single sock with so many spikes as to be unwearable, but always something of unrivaled craftsponyship. This is a form of possession, though the spirits responsible for these strange moods are rarely malevolent.
Daemon possession is very different, my book. I was brought a pony possessed by a daemon, and I was fascinated. That memory eater was not the only one so arrogant, I am ashamed to admit. I researched and studied that pony, and others that were eventually brought to me. Nothing I tried could oust a daemon once it settled in, but occasionally one of the possessed would overcome the daemon and fully return to their senses. Periods of lucidity were common, but actual defeat of the daemons was very rare.
I was obsessed, my book, with finding some way of giving those ponies their bodies back. In my hubris, I experimented with mind control spells to force a daemon into the background and let a possessed pony live a normal life. At first, the experiment was a huge success! The daemons couldn't overcome strong mind control spells, and giving the reigns to the possessed seemed the perfect answer. As the experiment continued, however, it became obvious that the possessed ponies were loosing their mental toughness. If the spell wasn't refreshed in time, the ponies very quickly reverted to daemon control. The hosts were becoming too reliant on the spells and forgetting how to defend their minds!
And I, fool I was, ignored it. These ponies had their lives back, they only needed to see a specialist every week to get their spells refreshed. Surely that was better than being a puppet to a daemon? By the time I felt ready to put the treatment to the general public, I had eight possessed ponies and eight handlers who could cast the mind control spells. All we had to do was to remember to refresh those spells, and surely they were too important for anypony to forget, right?
The routine of it all, I think, was ultimately what brought about the massacre. Only one pony had to shirk their duty for it all to collapse, and eventually it happened. Two dozen ponies lost their lives before the daemons were finally banished or sealed away. Daemons were vulnerable without a host and could be sealed away or banished by a skilled mage. I would have been numbered among the dead too, if it weren't for a handful of unicorns who arrived to seal several daemons who were poised to take me.
But that was not the worst of it, my book. Those daemons knew of my prowess with mental magic. In the hooves of a daemon, untold destruction could be wrought with my abilities, and they would stop at nothing to have me. I considered suicide for a time, but never followed through. I couldn't try to fix my mistake if I was dead, and I owed it to those ponies to keep trying. I could try sealing my memories of those spells, but it would take a lot of power and a lot of time to cast a memory seal like that. My life, after all, was dedicated to studying mental magic, so there would be a lot of memories to seal. Only an alicorn would have the power to cast a seal like that, and I trusted none of the alicorns of the capitol with this responsibility.
I could cast it myself, but those were the memories that needed sealing in the first place! Then I had an idea, my book: I would use a mental construct! I'd use a spell loop to ensure my memories of mental magic were suppressed and stayed suppressed. It would put a significant amount of my magical energy out of my grasp while the spell functioned, but it would work! It could even repress new memories that could lead in dangerous directions. It would have my memories to cross-reference for what should and shouldn't be repressed. It was risky, but I couldn't trust anypony but myself to repress my memories, and now I had a way to do just that.
It took almost a year to fully research and prepare the spell, but I was finally ready. Once my memories were sealed and my power severely reduced, the princess had little use for me at the capitol. She banished me here, to Glitter Glen, likely hoping I'd die here.
I won't go into the details of my battle with the memory eater, my book, but I will tell you why I remember my past now. The memory eater attacked my spell loop the first chance it got. Whether it wanted the memories it kept locked away or hopped to crush what appeared to be a significant magical threat, I don't know. With my mental magics back, and the inspiration of my friends, the memory eater was no more. It was still a significant battle, but I did eventually win.
My friends. I hope they can trust me after this. I will ask them to read you, my book. I am tired of secrets. They deserve to know my past. Daemons and worse will be coming, sooner or later they will show their presence. If Glitter Glen is to prevail, everypony needs to know of this new threat.
I close my book, and levitate it out through the bars to rest on the floor close to Dr. Bubbles."Would you please read my book, Bubbles? Or get a unicorn to scan it for magic first if you don't trust me right now? I wouldn't blame you, honestly."
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I've had this reveal cooking up for a while now. If you guys see anything you don't like that effects our canon or your character poorly, I'll edit things, but this is Khenal's past. I'm not done with him yet, not by a long shot. Hope you guys enjoyed the freaking novel's worth of text
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Topic: My Little Fortress. Glitterglen. (Read 281528 times)