#doubt text

[iamyourdoubt]

Meanwhile...

Ms Givings trotted along quickly, checking behind her as she moved quickly down the street.  It was odd to see a mare look so haunted when she was out on a public street, others where they could see her.  Some even inquired into what was bothering her, but it was nothing.

Well, nothing they could understand.

The boss had been busy.  Busy enough she had some freedom.  Quite literally, when he was around, when he was drawing from her, there was no choice.  There were no doubts anymore.  Some had asked for this, wanting their doubts gone, to be ‘free’ of their worries and fears.  A few even found this optimal.

But it always left a chill for her.  A different kind of fear, a doubt even that Snake couldn’t shake.

How long would she get to think and act for herself before Doubt returned?

She had contacted the Night Guard and set up a meeting with them, a less trafficked police district was set for the meeting point.  Public or private, it would not matter.  What was inevitably coming was not deterred by where the meeting would take place.  She just needed time.

Stairs were a quick obstacle, a quick flap of her wings rather than any attempt to climb them, her hoof quickly reaching out to push the door open.  Another glance back, down at the road behind her.

Still nothing.

The stallion at the counter looked up, looking almost out of place with a candy cane colored mane on a white coat.  “Are you alright ma’am, is there something I can help you with?”

“Y-yes.  It needs to- to be done qua-quickly I’m afraid,” she said, her fear welling up, trying to overpower her.  There was no turning back, no lying to him now if He came.  “The Detective.  He’s waiting for me I believe.  Goes by ‘Hillshade.’”

A look of worry slid onto the officer’s face.  “...You look really worried, ma’am.  Do you think you were followed.”

She bit her lip, looking back again, not sure what to say.  She didn’t want to end up locked away, but... Another risk.  “I’m.. always followed.”

The officer got up and looked over at the door, slowly moving around his station.  “Hey... Shortcut, could you take the lady in back, I’ll go get some others and make sure.”

“That won’t help,” Ms. Givings said.

“It’s fine, go on,” the officer said as Shortcut, guided Ms. Givings back into the offices.

They didn’t understand.

The station was oddly quite, few officers here this late at night.  In an office in back, a large green unicorn sat at a desk reading a file.  Amber locks tumbled down to her shoulders, rolling and bouncing as she looked up as the officer and Ms. Givings entered.  “Ma’am, you said you had information on a creature that was supposedly attacking ponies here?  What creature is it.”

There was one last glance back, a pause as she stared at it.  She could beg him for forgiveness.  Would he forgive her?

Nothing.

“I-uh-ah... um.” she stuttered before taking a breath.  “I know about the Doubt.  A terrible creature that feeds on others.”

You are now the Detective.  What do you ask?

[doubtfulrps]

You know what? Shut up, die, and everybody will be happy.

“Oh hoho ho ho ho, Oh Hohaha ho ho ho... Oh my.”  It turned its head and looked back, a smug satisfaction plastered onto his face.  “Wouldn’t that just be the sparkle on the star for you lot?  To be able to be rid of me, rid of your doubts so easily?  Just dispose of those things, right?”

A chair appeared there in the void for it, Doubt lounging back, carefree.  “Just remember, you lot question things because you doubt the truth, either because it isn’t or because you don’t know it is yet.  Because you all face the unknown with either fear or curiosity.”  It held up both arms, almost a shrug.  “I am simply capitalizing on that.”

“Oh.“  He held a claw to his chin, a mock look of thoughtfulness on his face.  “That is, of course, if I can be killed.  Think about it.  I manifest, manipulate, and use Doubt.  Either I came about to create it or a came about because of it.  Can I even die?  Will I just rise again when beaten back?”

“Go on.  Turn around and go back home.  You have nothing to gain here.”

[iamyourdoubt]

Doubt on the Mainline

[ Previously ]

He raised an eyebrow at that, not looking shocked nor quite surprised.  “You know, I don’t think I’ve broken any rules yet,” he stated, shaking his head at the thought.  The tip of his tail came up to his chin, tapping it for a moment as if thinking.  “...No, I haven’t asked any questions yet.  In fact, everything I’ve said since we started has been statements or observations.”  It had always been a favorite of his in information gathering.  One was surprised what another was willing to give just to correct or inform the observations of others.

He managed to keep the grin from his mouth, the act of feigned ignorance to his own actions holding it in line, but the smile that grew in his eyes probably let on to his games.  “Though I supposed I’ll let you have that one,” he continued making it sound as if doing Silori a friendly favor.  “I mean, we are trying to get to know each other a little better.  I’d hate for you to be left out.”

He gave Silori a smile.  It probably came off more cartoonish than intended.

That smiled dropped with that name as realization crossed him..  “Oh... funny... I’m surprised I missed that before.”  He crunched in, rattle to chin again, the thing twitching as he actually dropped into his thoughts.  He even forgot to make them rattle.  “Maat.  Ma’at.  Ammit.  You all use trains, yet... Hmm...  So who here is Thoth and Osiris?  If you are using that establishment... Well, no one said it had to be perfect match...”

He paused and looked back up at Silori after a moment.  “But that does not answer you,” he said with a point of his tail.  “No, I do not work with her.  I have used her name as my own in places, but I am not hers.  I want people’s Potential, not their Souls.”

@wegetityouvape-oreon

[iamyourdoubt]

Doubt on the Mainline

[ Previously ]

He closes his eyes for a moment, tongue flickering into the air before he follows along, assured by whatever he found by that action.  He quietly slithered along beside her, probably acting more wary of his surroundings then needed as he loaded himself onto the train.  He found a place for himself near Silori, coiling up onto the seat, the occasional coil ‘boiling over’ the edge of the seat.

“I don’t think that would have been possible - Finding myself with Darkrai, I mean.” Two of his coil’s ‘shruged’ with the statement.

He eyed over the mess on the ‘desk’ that Silori had for herself, a chuckle following his stare.  “They seriously make you do paperwork,” he stated in an observational tone, maybe even a little exasperated.  His eyes grew soft, studying it the desk for a moment longer  “Or it could be just a visual manifestation of the universe getting itself into order.  I can never quite tell at times.  There are some places that really do expect paperwork to be done, even more so fastidious than the bureaucracies of the worlds they run.”

“You do a task, important to how things function here. I’m sure they are even ever so much appreciative of the work you do,” The grin on him changed as he went. Less like a simple parting and more like a jagged crack. “I can only imagine how much more they appreciate it when they are so busy with each other. For good reason, of course. There’s never bad reasons to be stuck bickering with one another.”

@wegetityouvape-oreon

[iamyourdoubt]

Doubt on the Mainline

[ Previously ]

It finally dawned on Doubt just exactly what the Ultimate Truth was.  It wasn’t a being.  Few doubted the inevitability of that one.  There were even creatures in some planes called Inevitables that performed a similar role to these Ferrymons.  “That... is only a Truth so long as no one proves otherwise,” it said with a sneer.  “I know I cannot perish to age.  This Truth is not for me.”  He looked irritated by the idea that it even could be.

He stretched himself out as he finished, popping his neck once before coiling himself into a resting position.  This one wanted to talk, to chatter.  Chattering with those in the system itself was always advantageous, a view and a job outside the purview of almost all who lived.  They were also far more clever when dealing with ‘his type’ of spirit.

It was a trade-off that was usually worth it.

“I will sometimes make up names for myself when I take the forms of natives.  Doubt is an odd name to have, after all.  I have sometimes borrowed names from legends, such as Apopis or Simbi.  Sometimes I use names given to me, such as Impa Shilup.  Tobdu is a fun anagram I have used.  Often, though, I just go by something common, so not to draw attention.”

He followed Silori to the train, staying close but not encroaching on them.  A politeness provided to those who hosted the spirit, as this one did for this time.  “It is a process I have repeated before many times.  I will agree to your terms.”  Thinking on it further... There was rarely any point in hiding his intents from many spirits like this one.  There was little they could do about it.  Even in the cases they may want to, it wasn’t worth the time or effort to deal with the damage.  ...Usually.

Cataclysm, terrible darkness... Those weren’t normally his thing.  Dead worlds, dead peoples, they couldn’t create Doubt.

“You aren’t a legend, yet you do this work.  You are a ‘mon in an unusual position, you know.”

@wegetityouvape-oreon

[doubtfulrps]

Nightmare: Honestly, i got bored. I've been doing this for a millennia. Also you seem to have been staring at something around me earlier. Perhaps you've noticed the shadows. *the shadows, which were before imperceptible suddenly form, seeming to want to form into something else, bird shaped, but lose shape when they try.*

“Ah, but you see, your boredom has its consequences, its effects.  You can have lasting effects on some of those you touch with your games.  Sometimes it helps to foster the seeds of fear that I can use later.”

He glanced back at the shadows, only momentarily.  “...No, I was paying attention to what my own projections were showing me.”  He raised a claw, a fresh mote formed and eventually expanded, showing the display of some world or another.

“Your shadows, frankly, are a minor curiosity at best.  What would be of more interest to me is why you seem to have invited yourself here.  Did Hope leave a sign on my door again saying ‘New Friends Apply’ again?”

[iamyourdoubt]

(wegetityouvape-oreon) Silori@Doubt: The Conductor was on break. She was irritated because she felt the presence of some kind of spirit, but it was one she had been warned about previously. "You must be an entity of Doubt." An obvious statement. The train was docked at the last station on the line, right on the edge of where spirits passed on. "I assume you caused havoc wherever you go. You haven't killed anybody recently, have you? Maybe eaten a few innocent lives, hmm?"

He was glancing around at the whole construct around him.  Trains and Stations was one of the more intriguing metaphors for the transition from the living world he knew.  Trains were a concept, an idea that came much later, after much history and social development, much farther after many religious ideas came to form.  Granted, how this all looked wasn’t necessarily up to ‘popular opinion.

And then someone interrupted his tour through, his head swiveling over to the voice.  It... Just looked like some vaporeon.  One that might have more in common with a shark, but... No, there was something about it.  It knew exactly what Doubt was, meaning either it was someone important or just some minion of someone important.

“This,” Doubt held up a tail to his ‘chest,’ standing more upright to try and look superior, “does not cause havoc.  If anyone has taken on a path which they may have thought came from my suggestions, it was their choice to cause that havoc.  In fact, killing people and Pokemon would be rather counterintuitive for me, wouldn’t it?  Eating lives, now... Perhaps indirectly.  I mean, those who let themselves be crippled by their Doubts aren’t really living them, are they?”

[doubtfulrps]

Nightmare: Meh, I just spread fear through dreams. It's more of a hobby really. Along with fighting The Dreamer, my archnemisis. But I honestly think the term good is used way too often nowadays. My current residence is full of colorful small horses. It's a bit of a strain on the eyes. There's also that Rhyme fellow, can't quite figure him out.

“Just a hobby... Well, I suppose we all must have hobbies but - and I really have to ask - what sort of creature do you think yourself to be to choose such a path for yourself.”  Shadows formed as he made a wide, sweeping gesture with a claw that had been melded to his form.  There formed an illusion of a bed and its sleeper, a cloud for their dreams.  “You steal away their serene sleep and comfort of night for your own joy.  Even I have more reason for what I am...” he stated, the cloud being swept away, the figure jumping up in fright, and the whole little scene fading.

“No, please: Keep introducing yourself to others as a God of Nightmares.  I find it wonderfully contrarian,” He said, sweeping about and standing upright, coming up and around so that he was next to Nightmare’s head.  “Given time... I’m sure you’ll come to love the responsibility.  Though granted, from his short conversation,” he began to lean back on himself, giving Nightmare space again. “I’m not sure you are suited for godhood at all.”

“I mean, of all creatures to bug to deal with your need for conversation, you came to Doubt.  That sounds almost a little desperate.”