Perspective: Canny Clockwork

Now, unlike the father Shooting Star prattles on about, your dad was never one for the Zen advice. He was loving, sure. Kind, indeed. But what he imparted was practicality: never get into a fight you can't win, and if you have to do so, make sure it's for a good cause. Don't throw away a good life for nothing.

And, well, saving the life of a stallion just looking to save others is certainly a wonderful cause.

BrownDog's Comment: First Section

Sure, as you look back to your new companion, the hovering spirit you affectionately dubbed "Smooth Criminal", you can't help but feel as though you're riding a bike without training wheels, with the added bonus that every little rock that could trip you up would then punch you in the face the second you slip up. But you need to do whatever you can to save Shooting Star, so swallowing down any nervousness you may have, you charge forward.

Since The Patient (that's what Discord called him, anyway. And it does suit the mad knobhead, in any case) is distracted actively hurting Shooting Star, you've got the perfect opportunity to catch him off-guard. Smooth Criminal darts forward on your go, and begins pummeling Chaos Lives in Everything, as you've heard him call it. Your suspicion that it's these spirits causing them to take damage from seemingly nothing is confirmed as punches to the abdomen make you hear snapping sounds from his own ribs. He gurgles as he pulls away from the vision he's giving Star just in time for Smooth Criminal to swipe at the straps tethering Star in place. The straps turn transparent white, and slip right through Star's body, freeing his physical form.

"W-WHAT?!" The Patient yells out in alarm, stunned by the display, before you grin. Smooth Criminal moves up and, with a brutal looking spin-kick to his chest, the madman is pushed away. As he is, Chaos Lives in Everything is also pushed far back, and you can see what looks like the same material as the stitches in it's eyes get ripped away from Shooting Star's head, his eyes returning from being glazed over to their normal blue, same as his coat. When you allow yourself to pause and look a little closer, you can see tears streaming from his eyes, down his cheeks. The visions this...thing produces must be as terrifying as your own.

Smooth Criminal gently grabs Shooting Star, and pulls him back towards you. Oddly, it seems to just glide back, never taking it's eyes off The Patient as he stands back up. If it was using it's hooves instead of just floating, you get the odd feeling that kind of glide would be a rockin' dance move. Once pulled back, Shooting shakes his head as he comes back from his daze. He takes a second to clear out his tears before turning to you. Happiness and relief enter his facial expression where fear and pain were before, and it, in turn, makes you smile with him. "Canny! You're alive!" he shouts, sounding much calmer now that he knows you're up and about.

You smirk and, using your unicorn horn, telekinetically tip your gear hat. "For the time being," you snark. "Weird chimera thing should'a known better than to try and kill me that easily."

He looks right at Smooth Criminal, and his jaw drops. "And you...have a Stand?" he asks, which quirks your eyebrow. Huh. They have a name it'd seem.

"If that's where they're called," you respond, placing your hat back on your head. You then shrug, before saying "Let's talk about it later, okay? My ghost makes things go through other things, so let's use our heads and beat this wanker down!"

He chuckles at your enthusiasm before moving into a defensive position. "Right!" he calls out, his eyes narrowed at The Patient as he stands back up. Before you two charge in, he waves to his spir-Stand, as it were, and introduces "This is mine. New Divide."

"Mine's called Smooth Criminal," you respond, and he nods his head.

BrownDog's Comment: Spot

The fight continues, and to your joy, you and Star synchronize quite well together. He folds in space with New Divide to pull The Patient closer, allowing your Stand (you're going to have to ask why it's called that when these things seem to hover nine times out of ten) to suddenly swoop in and open up with a barrage of punches. When he gets the chance to retaliate, you use Smooth Criminal's ability on yourself. You turn a translucent green as both The Patient's punches and those of his Stand phase right through you, which you are rather pleased with. New Divide pushes him back as you retain your solid mass, and you get an idea. "Star!" you call out. "Just follow my lead, okay? Go with your gut!"

He nods, and you use your magic to grab your hat. Popping the top open, you take aim with your Gear Cannon, while Smooth Criminal moves up close by you, just slightly in front. You fire, and Smooth Criminal touches it, turning it completely intangible. It flies towards The Patient, who blocks, only to watch as it harmlessly passes through him. Once it goes past the other side, it becomes tangible, and New Divide folds it up. He then releases the fold, and you are pleased to see it keep it's momentum as it launches right at The Patient. He gasps and yells as the gear embeds itself in his flank, more specifically his left hind leg. And you do so again. And again.

By the fourth gear, he is impaled with the previous three, but now seems to be ready. You do the trick again, but watch as, after it passes through him, he turns around to block it. Shooting Star and New Divide keep it up, hoping you have a solution. And you do. After it flies out of the fold while still intangible, you fire another one, but this time return it's mass while still inside of him.

"AAAAAAH!" he yells out as the plan works. The gear rips it's way through his stomach, The Patient now screaming in agony and violent pain as you can see blood begin to pour out of the open wound.

BrownDog's Comment: Second Section

Shooting Star runs back by your side as The Patient suddenly goes berserk. Hooves are flying everywhere as both his Stand and his own flesh attempt to hit you and Star. It's becoming too much to dodge, and you can hear those voices return, impacting your mental state like a hard right affects your physical state.

"You'll never be perfect. You'll always fail. Nothing you do works."

"Give up! All you're good for is-"

Luckily, before it becomes too much, Shooting Star suddenly folds in the both of you in a pocket in the ground. It's cramped, and close-knit, and you notice this as your muzzle very nearly touches his own. He's the one who seems slightly embarrassed with his facial expression twitching, while you just chuckle and smirk down at him."Hmm, bit fresh of ya, don't you think?" you tease, "trapping a girl in a closed space like this one 'ere."

He chuckles and shakes his head, joking back "What can I say? I'm a charmer." He quickly goes back into "Serious Mode" as you've dubbed it, where his eyebrows grow cross and he looks fiercely determined. "This is just a temporary safe haven, in any case. He's still right above us, hooves on the ground and all."

You look upward and think for a second, but you feel like you've got an idea. "Oh, he is, is he?" you rhetorically ask as Smooth Criminal emerges from beside you. "Well, sorry to cut the rendezvous short, hun," you quip, before phasing through the ground. Your transparency manages to conceal you as you rise up, watching him twitch as he punches at the ground. You ascend suddenly, regaining your form as you uppercut him in the jawline, sending him flying with another pained cry.

"HA!" you taunt, shaking your hoof. "You wot, mate? Havin' a giggle with that fightin' style? Come on, guv, get with the program!" You swear you can hear him growl in anger as Star unfolds from beside you, watching him closely.

Perspective Shift: Shooting Star

You look back over to Canny with an impressed facial expression, pleased she got so far in her first fight, in the first minutes of her new gift. "You know, you're picking this up a lot quicker than I did," you tell her, which makes her chuckle.

"Oh, love," she proudly boasts, "I've been in quite a few scrappers growin' up. A lass has got to protect herself, and you either adapt or die, livin' on Ogre Street." She is still watching The Patient closely, even as her pride over her experience shines through.

You wonder something about that and, as The Patient finally stands up, on his last legs, you ask aloud "Wait...I thought you were rich?"

She takes up a defensive position as he limps towards you, and responds back "Well, yeah, why do you think I got into so many fights? Thieves're everywhere, Star. You learn to live with it."

You chuckle and take up a defensive position of your own. "Right, well, remind me to never visit Trottingham, then. Or at least this "Ogre Street", anyway."

Down With Chrysalis' Comment and BrownDog's addition

Luckily, thanks to Smooth Criminal (which should be a...fun conversation to have with the Princesses later on), The Patient seems to be on his last legs. And yet, even as the stallion limps towards you two, you can't help but sigh and bemoan the cliche of the crazy villain still standing in spite of the odds. He's bleeding from wounds basically everywhere, ones you know would take a non-Stand user down without trying, and you swear you can see bones sticking out of him. He probably has more broken bones than intact ones. In fact, it may not be his Stand keeping him up.

He just might be too crazy to flop over and die.

Then again, you're not the picture of health, either. Cuts all over your abdomen and face, bruises everywhere, you still swear to Celestia you bruised your kidneys. Not to mention the stress of real, No Quarter combat and being forced to face every fear you've ever had, every anxious thought you've pushed out, and every wrathful lashing out you regret. And yeah, you are definitely going to need therapy after this. A lot of therapy.

Once Rainbow Dash or, hell, even Clear Skies comes back from this madness, you really should ask for a week off. Or two. Or a raise. You're not picky.

Besides a bit of blood still splattered onto her coat, Canny seems to be the picture of health. Even the actual wound the arrow left has already healed over. Then again, after joining in mid-battle, it only makes sense that she isn't as beat up as you or the other guy.

Speaking of which, The Patient also seems far too aware that this is the end of the battle, shallow breaths choking themselves from his throat as he gasps out "This...i-isn't possible! Chaos...Chaos cannot lose to the likes...o-of you!" He smiles even as blood flows openly from between his lips and teeth, his eyes drowning in insanity as Chaos Lives in Everything pops out from behind him.

"You...y-you and that bitch are nothing more than the pawns Harmony plays!" he declares, beginning to shake. "You...You are nothing! Y-YOU HEAR ME! NOTHING! CHAOS I-IS...the ultimate magic, the ultimate source of all the beauty in this Celestia-damned world! It shall n-not...it will NOT FUCKING FALL TO THE LIKES OF YOU! HARMONY WILL NEVER WIN! NEVER AHAHAHAHAHAH!"

He laughs madly, before coughing up more blood, only to then keep laughing in spite of it all. You share an uneasy look before you glare at him and demand "It's over! It's clear that you're just struggling to stand by this point! Just give up! We don't have to hurt you any more!"

He doesn't seem to care, his laughs turning to mad ramblings that then turn into manic screams. "DEATH!" he yells out, "deathdeathdeathdeathdeathDEATH! DEATH IS THE ONLY OUTCOME! FIGHT 'TIL YOU DIE, OR DIE IMPRISONED! I SHALL DIE, BUT CHAOS SHALL RISE!" Even his own Stand is beginning to break down. The stitches break as blood pours from both the now opened eyes and mouth, looking like it's rotting away. The rest of it is melting, slowly pouring down into nothing as it shakes and quakes.

Canny steps back, finally losing her bravado as fear takes over her tone. "Uh...Star?" she asks. "I'm new to this whole "Stand" thing-y, but, is that supposed to happen at all?" She definitely sounds terrified, but you can't answer a question you don't actually know the answer to.

Instead, you just step forward, and demand "You've lost, man! Just give up this Chaos talk and calm down!" This was the wrong thing to say, as you can plainly tell from the fact that his eyes seem to dilate as he looks back up to stare at you two.

And he stares, and stares, before finally screaming out "NEVERNEVERNEVERNEVER! CHAOS LIVES! CHAOS SHALL WIN! I MAY FALL BUT THE CHAOS WILL LIVE!" and charging at you. He is frothing at the mouth like a rabid, wild animal. And you act fast, folding him closer to you two. He yells as he is tripped up, and you and Canny both step back as New Divide and Smooth Criminal dig in with barrages of their own.

"VENDAVENDAVENDAVENDAVENDAVENDAVENDA!"

"SHAMOSHAMOSHAMOSHAMOSHAMOSHAMO!"

You both rain blow after blow at him, punching and kicking with your Stands. With one final cry from both of you:

"VENDETTA!"

"SHAMONE!"

You uppercut him right as Canny kicks him. He gasps in a death rattle as he flies limply through the air, landing hard right on his back. He is unmoving. Silent. And you sigh as the adrenaline wears off and you look right at the corpse.

"He's dead," you say aloud, looking to Canny. She frowns, but nods as you continue "I-I mean, he was going to kill us, so, it's not an awful thing, right?"

She nods again in agreement and responds "Yeah...we were just defending ourselves. Either of us feels bothered by it, we should just talk to eachother, right?"

And you nod and agree "Right."

wizard0209's Comment

After the battle wraps up, the corpse of The Patient carried off by moving tables in the chaotic wonderland minutes earlier, you patch yourself up with your bandages, managing to get yourself back into a working condition. You then pull New Divide back out into the open, watching closely for Discord. To do what? Passive-aggressively mock you for winning? You don't know, but it doesn't matter as he simply doesn't show up. "Okay, I, uh, don't think Discord's going to be making much of an appearance. Next goal's protecting the Bearers, like Celestia told me to. So, we need to find them."

Canny, already both in good condition and caught up to speed during the free minutes, nods as she replenishes the gears in her cannon. "Right," she agrees. "Was hopin' for an explanation afta the fight wrapped, but we've got some right pressin' issues to deal with, don't we?" She looks around for a bit, humming as she looks around, before asking "Um, how long was that fight, anyway?"

Your pupils shrink as far as they can in anxious fear. As unsure as you are about how long the fight lasted, you know for certain, you do definitely know it was just enough time for Discord to make a move. You look around for the clock-tower, as knowing where it is is pointless with the terrain like it is, but while looking, you can plainly see the Element Bearers right in your line of sight. Rainbow Dash is gripping onto a cloud (and a small one, too) while the other girls chase her down in a hot air balloon. This, you actually are kind of surprised by, mostly because it's not...the rest of the place.

"Welp," you say, gesturing up to them to get Canny to see. "Don't know what the time actually is, but I see the Bearers from here." You motion for her to follow as you run after them, summoning up New Divide to get ready to fold space again.

"Add all that to the list of things to figure out later, alright?"

What will Shooting Star and Canny Clockwork Do?
Stand for Equestria: Origin of Harmony

Author's Notes:

PATIENT 219: RETIRED!

What an awesome fight! Sorry if anyone felt left out. Just working with what I had.

First F-bomb of the fic. I wanted to use it somewhere that fit. It's a JoJo fic, even if it's in MLP it still works, but I didn't wanna just chuck it in randomly. Had to emphasize a point. What better place than the mad ramblings of one crazy mofo, amirite?

Happy to see a warm response to the Perspective Shifts! Now we basically have two main characters. We might even have a JoJo party on our hands. I wonder what they'd be called? Harmonic Crusaders? 🤔

Not the actual question. Question of the day is:

What is your favorite Season 2 episode, and is it the one you are most looking forward to seeing adapted here?

I was going to ask this when the Premiere Arc actually ended, but I felt like doing it now because it's what I thought of. So, yeah. Personally, I think there's a ton of episodes I can't wait to get to. Even some of the most Slice of Life-y ones this season lend themselves to cool Stands, so it should be fun.

Oh! And you're allowed to write in speaking to the Mane Six, helping out with Rainbow Dash, etcetera. Every comment being just "Catch up" would be a bit tedious, eh? I kid, I kid, y'all are so creative that this sort of thing wouldn't happen. Was this whole reminder just me wanting to compliment my readership?

Yes.

But yeah, hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time!