the mark of those who cannot be saved

[stagemanagers]

[You remember dying. Maybe the memory is clear and bright and your body still aches from the cause. Maybe it was fast enough that you didn't feel it and don't remember what you went through. But no matter how you went out, that's no excuse for truancy! Which is to say: you are still in the school.

For those executed, you will wake up in your beds. The dormitories look exactly as they did when you first arrived, without any of the changes or personal effects you and your dormmates might have made. The only real difference is that the little cot in Ambassador isn't there.

For those who were victims, you will wake where your body was discovered. All of your injuries are gone, and you feel fine. It's almost like you're still alive - but you remember what happened to you. It couldn't have just been a dream, could it?

The school looks much as you remember it, save perhaps for a few key differences. For one, there's no groundhog murals anywhere. Where things were green on the other side, like banners or paint, you'll find that here they're blood red.

The doors, for the moment, are still locked. Looks like even death couldn't free you.]

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5

(( ooc: Welcome to deadland, everyone! It mostly resembles the school here, and new floors will be revealed after new people die. For example, the second area will unlock after the week 3 dead arrive, and so on. Also, all dead characters will wake up at their actual canonpoint, with all lost memories restored. Have fun being dead! ))

Comments

[disharmonizes]

Oh, you're unlikely to run into most of these. You wouldn't last a minute in the Dragon Lands.

But you would fit right in at Canterlot, I'm sure.

[violentenvies]

Canterlot. [He can't help the amused twitch at the corner of his mouth. He tilts his head so he can arch an eyebrow up at Discord] And what are the Dragon Lands like?

[disharmonizes]

Very warm. Lava-y. And aggressive.

Humans are fireproof, right?

[Very mocking right now.]

[violentenvies]

Not in the least.

So a pass on the Dragon Lands, then.

And...Canterlot? What is that like? Or is that a surprise as well?

[disharmonizes]

It's where the castle is. It's all very fancy and full of uptight rich people and all that. Just... add more pastels to whatever you're imagining.

Oh, you could come see the statue garden I spent a thousand years stuck in.

[violentenvies]

So what you're saying is, I'd be leaving a Court of fancy, uptight rich people for...another fancy Court of uptight rich people. Charming.

[...as for that second bit]

Is that where you were put while you were a statue?

[disharmonizes]

Mostly. I think you'd like the princesses, they can be at least a little more fun. When they're not turning me to stone, I mean, but water under the bridge.

And I mean, it was a statue garden, I was a statue, it only makes sense.

[violentenvies]

I suppose a statue garden is where one would place a statue, yes.

[....]

How did you get out of that, anyway?

[disharmonizes]

Well, for my first petrification, it was just luck, really. The artifacts the princesses had used to imprison me had been passed on to others and with that magical connection gone, the magic keeping me stone weakened.

Then it was just a matter of a little push of disharmony and ta-dah! Free again.

[...first, he says...]

[violentenvies]

[yeah no he picked up on that]

And...was there a second petrification, then?

[disharmonizes]

...Yes, well, that particular bout of freedom was rather short lived and I was petrified again pretty quickly.

I wish I could say I freed myself the second time, but actually, they let me out.

[violentenvies]

[hm?]

Oh?

[disharmonizes]

Princess Celestia's idea. She thought that it might be possible for me to be "reformed" and use my magic for good instead of evil.

[HE SOUNDS A LITTLE MOCKING ABOUT IT EVEN THOUGH

IT WORKED]

[violentenvies]

I see. [listen he remembers that sudden switch in the third week of all that talk of friendship. And your motive that week, as well]

That was when you became friends with Mademoiselle Fluttershy, correct?

[disharmonizes]

...Yes, it was. She was rather good at that, I'll admit. It's not every day I get outplayed like that.

[...]

I wouldn't say that it worked, though.

[violentenvies]

[honestly the more he hears about this Fluttershy, the more he likes her]

No?

[disharmonizes]

As it happens, I ended up betraying her. First chance I was given.

[violentenvies]

Oh.

[That. Is not what he expected.

But he doesn't stiffen or lean back. If anything, he leans into him a little more]

...might I ask what happened?

[disharmonizes]

There's this particularly dangerous centaur who'd been imprisoned in Tartarus. I was sent after him, because of course with my power, recapturing him would be child's play.

...He... gave me what I thought was a better offer.

[violentenvies]

[Tartarus??? He's going to file that away for later questions, but better to focus on what's more important right now.]

And...what sort of offer was that?

[disharmonizes]

He made the... at the time quite compelling case that I'd just placed myself in a different sort of imprisonment. That I'd abandoned my true nature. And that by teaming up with him, I could do whatever I want, whenever I wanted, without worrying about such minor things as friends.

Ultimate freedom.

[violentenvies]

I can see why that would be quite the temptation, all things considered. [...somehow, he thinks he can see where this is going.]

And then?

[disharmonizes]

Oh, and then he betrayed me, of course, and stole my magic.

[violentenvies]

[Stole his magic? Wait, he'd mentioned--"Between this and the last times I lost my magic--"

and Salieri's stomach gives a small lurch at that.]

Of course. [quietly. They hadn't really talked about what Discord had remembered last Sunday, but if this is what it is, then...Salieri can get an even better view of Discord's own mindset. During that entire week. That, plus Salieri's motive--]

...and, how did Mademoiselle Fluttershy take it?

[disharmonizes]

Poorly.

[And rather than flippant, like he's been sounding about all this, well. Now he just sounds bitter.]

I did betray her and then rub it in her face, after all.