Truly Evil?

Dusk wasn't too sure he'd need to keep his guard much, but there wasn't much else he could do. He also wasn't sure Ician was the best pony to talk to Diamond Mind since Ician was the most hostile towards him.

Still, he decided to keep watch, keeping his eyes and ears open for anything unusual.

Well, this was interesting. Ician was being very... not outwardly suspicious. Hm. Not what June expected, but a pleasant surprise. She went to work, checking Diamond over for any damage or ailments. Or anything interesting really. Like the crystal mane, that seemed important. Maybe atrophy, some malnourishment, depending on how long he had been trapped in that tube.

Diamond realized why he couldn't catch his breath; he was in the throws of a panic attack. He felt his muscles locking up, but he felt something else. That instinct. The side of him that scared him, was telling him to feed. He could feel emotions radiating from the pony called 'June'. His horn glowed a faint, almost unnoticeable green as he tried to capture some of the emotional energy from 'June'

To June, Diamond looked to have some muscle atrophy, but it probably wasn't from being trapped in the tube. His mane seemed to be dyed light blue with some substance that prevented light refraction. Oddly, he didn't seem to be malnourished or damaged, but his muscles were locking up and preventing him from moving.

Ician leaned in closer, inspecting Diamond. It seemed that he was either unable or unwilling to answer the question he'd been posed. He opened his mouth to try again, when because of his proximity he noticed the faint glow around Diamond's horn. His sword snapped itself back into position and leaned in closer to Diamond, not putting the blade at Diamond's skin but putting it quite close. "Are you casting a spell? What's going on?"

He turned back briefly to June and Dusk, giving them warning expressions, an unspoken be careful.

Diamond could feel Ican's sword get closer to him, this was going to make his panic attack worse. "P-pan...ic attack...C-can't move" Diamond knew he wasn't talking to one of his father's silver knights, so he couldn't really disclose his true nature. . .or could he? Maybe this pony wouldn't try to kill him on the spot.

Diamond decided that today, he was a betting pony. He inhaled deeply and tried to regulate his breathing. "N-need emotional e-energy, b-burned through my r-reserves e-escaping, I'm. . . a H-halfling" He almost vomited at the word 'Halfling'.

Diamond dropped his head in defeat, waiting for the sword to fall.

"Panic attack...?" Ician sighed. Again. He really needed to stop doing that. "Fine. June, he really needs help." He withdrew the sword and dropped it on the ground behind him, though his paranoia still prompted him to keep it close at hoof if necessary. He wondered what to say next before Diamond said his fateful words.

"A... halfling...?" He'd heard that word used before, though not often. Rumours of scientific experiments involving both changelings and ponies... studies of breeding habits and genetic compatibility...

For a moment he saw red. His sword whipped itself off the ground in a whirlwind of activity, and it stopped just inches above Diamond's neck. "You... you..."

Stop. His inner self commanded him. He paused. That incident has nothing to do with him. He is guiltless. Kill him and you're as bad as they are. You're supposed to be emotionless, cold, calculating... whatever happened to that? You're just going to give up all your principles because of one grudge?

"One grudge." He whispered to himself, and his vision returned to normal. Sighing very, very heavily, he dropped the sword to the ground next to Diamond and trotted a fair distance away, near to the door of the room. "Screw it, I can't do this. Take care of it, you two, and don't get killed." He pulled his hood down over his head hard. "Oh my Celestia... what did I almost do?"

Ician's very sudden aggression toward Diamond Mind after mention he was a "halfling" made Dusk react, and he held his sword high above Ician's head, ready to bring it down if he killed him. Once Ician dropped his sword though, he quickly put it back at his side. Obviously something about being a "halfling" bothered Ician enough to almost kill him.

Dusk soon turned his attention back to Diamond Mind. He did say that he needed emotional energy. Maybe that was what being a "halfling" was all about. However, until Diamond Mind was in the proper condition to answer, it would just be speculation.

"I suppose now would be a good time for you to look at him June," Dusk said. At the same time he kept glancing over at Ician, making sure he wasn't going to do anything reckless.

There was rather little emotional energy coming off of June.  There was some, but it was a bit... off.  Impersonal might be a word for it.  Mostly, though, it was just because she didn't have much affection towards the halfling. They'd only just met, after all.

June pulled a small vial from her backpack, popping the cork off the top.  The smell of alcohol entered the air.  Relaxant.  Not just alcohol, of course, there was other stuff.  She didn't know the exact composition.  Whatever it was, she poured it into Diamond's mouth, and after a few seconds, Diamond felt his muscles relax enough to move.

Next up, she had to deal with the emotional energy reserves. Those were dangerous if they became low. She began rummaging through her backpack, seemingly looking for something. She spoke as she did so.
"Alright, give me a rough estimate of how much love energy you need. In terms of a percentage, I'd prefer." She pulled out a large bottle of pink liquid, with a heart shaped stopper. "And I hope you don't mind the artificial stuff. Love potions, I mean." A smaller bottle of a clear liquid, and she closed the bag.

"Um, a love potion? Are you sure that's a good idea June?" Dusk asked. The best case scenario in his mind was that Diamond Mind would fall madly in love with her. The worst case scenario was that he was into stallions, and therefore would latch onto Dusk. Another worst case scenario was that he'd want to get... very intimate very quickly.

This is your fault. Hear just one thing about a changeling and you can't control yourself, can you?

"Shut up." Ician muttered to himself, staring out the door. His horn flashed, pulling his sword over the floor and towards him as he watched for any other threats.

Now what, you're just going to sit around and feel sorry for yourself?

"Nope. I'm going to stay here until I feel completely cool again." He took a deep breath. "You're not helping."

That's my job.

Ician shook his head. He said nothing more, simply looking out and seeing if there were any threats to be detected.

Diamond fell into a relaxed position as the composition went to work. When he heard June talk about the artificial love potion, he began to laugh. "So, You're saying I didn't need to do all of those one night stands to build my reserves up? Damn, I really could have used that when my changeling nature awoke about six years ago. . ."

Diamond switched back to the topic at hand "I burned through all of my reserves breaking out. . . so I need one hundred percent in order to function at full capacity again. . .Or I'm stuck cowering behind those two guards. . .One of whom almost earned himself a public execution" He looked over at Ican when he said that. "Anyhow, faster you are with the potion, faster I'm on my hooves, simple as that"

June paused.  "The potion isn't for you.  Haven't figured out how to bottle the raw emotion yet.  I drink it, you drink it if you want, instant love.  It just tastes artificial."  She had some dealing with changelings in the past.  A lot, actually.  She pulled a couple shot glasses from the backpack, and set them out.  She poured the love potion into each.  "Anyway, once you're full, just say so, and Dusk will give us the antidote."  She handed the small bottle of clear liquid to Dusk as she spoke.  "You don't technically have to drink, but it makes it easier. Are you going to, or no?"

"Oh, it's one of those love potions, I thought you were talking about bottled raw emotion one could get if they could find a Psuedochangeling" Diamond sat up and poured himself some of the potion into a shot glass. "Oh well, Cheers" He downed the shot glass in one go and coughed a bit. Yep, artificial.

June raised an eyebrow.  "Never heard of them.  But this stuff is pretty easy to get, anyway."    She took off her mirrored sunglasses, eyes shut.  She downed her own love potion, and turned to Diamond.  "Eyes shut.  The effects start with eye contact.  On three.  Two, three!"  She opened her eyes, looking at Diamond.

Her eyes weren't... well, they didn't look quite like eyes.  Ther were metallic-looking, and reflective, made of twisting bands of silver.  She carefully kept herself angled away from Dusk, so he couldn't see them, but she made eye contact with Diamond, and the effects hit. Strong.

June had a very high tolerance for chemicals, but when it came to magic, she was vulnerable. And love potions were definitely based on magic. So for her, the affection effect- heh- was about twice as strong. This quickly displayed itself as an outburst of emotional energy, and June slowly advancing on Diamond with a smile.

Do they know you can hear them?

"They're making no effort at hiding it."

I don't suppose any of what you hear is making you angry?

"Yes? No? Maybe? Why would I care."

That idiot knows public executions have never happened in hundreds of years, right? Not to mention the millions of excuses you could come up with if you killed him. Everypony would believe you. A pause. Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you kill him?

"Your motives are so transparent, you know that?"

You're talking to yourself, you know. That's essentially insulting yourself.

"Tch. I think you've spent enough time out here. Get back in the corner of my mind."

Fine. but I'll be around... whether you like it or not.

"Mmhmm." Ician stood up, his usual look of neutrality on his face, though still shadowed under his hood. He turned around just in time to see June advancing on Diamond, and shortly decided that the door was a nice place to be. He sat back down promptly.

So... can I come out of the corner?

"No."

Diamond activated his emotional energy collection spell, when he found himself slowly moving towards June. "Oh boy. . ." Diamond grimaced, physical contact wasn't his thing. But he felt a smile slowly coming across his face. The potion was starting to affect him. He could hear Ican talking to himself, but he didn't hear anything of importance.

As June got close, she realized there was quite a bit of height difference between her and Diamond.  She was short, but in this case he was also tall.  Hm.  She reared up onto her hind legs, and rested her forelegs on his shoulders so they were face to face.  Perfect.  She gazed into his eyes with a smile.  "This is only because you need love, and I just drank a potion."  She closed the gap, kissing him, her arms wrapping around his neck, and the emotion coming off of her became just a bit stronger.

Diamond flinched, thinking his hypersensitivity was going to act up, but the relaxant must have had a numbing affect on him. Of course, he was also absorbing a massive amount of emotional energy. He closed his eyes, leaned into the kiss and lowered himself down so June wouldn't have to expand so much energy standing.

She is quite the kisser, but I never really had the time to pursue actual romance. . .I wonder if the love potion is making the emotional energy more. . . filling?

"Ugh, sweet Celestia. If things start going further than this then I'm force feeding them the antidote, whether or not he's finished," Dusk mumbled. He had averted his eyes from the scene, with an embarrassed blush on his face.

Diamond felt his reserves fill all the way. He was going to start drowning in energy with the amount she was giving off. If he were a full-blood changeling,  he wouldn't have to worry about excess energy. Diamond broke off the kiss as he felt the haze from the concoction of drugs in his system wear off. That was quite the enjoyable experience, not bland and empty like the last few times I had to do something like that...

Diamond also felt the attraction start to fade "That's quite enough" he turned towards Dusk. "Antidote, now"

June didn't want the antidote.  She was genuinely enjoying this, being so close with somepony, especially this stallion.  A bit tall, but certainly very well toned, and not too bad a kisser.  Of course, then it occurred to her that these thoughts were just the potion talking.  Stupid magical chink in the resistance armor.

That didn't mean she couldn't enjoy it in the moment, of course.  She backed off a little, smiling. "Aww. Do we have to stop now?" Her eyes reflected a slightle warped image of Diamond back at him. "I don't know about you, but the potion's going to last me at least another... mm, fifteen minutes." She stretched up, whispering into his ear. "There's a lot that can be done in fifteen minutes, and you might need a bit of extra love."

...Well, that happened. The potion was really making her bold this time. The parts of June's mind not focused on the stallion she had her hooves around took a mental note to lower her dosage next time. She certainly wasn't developing any sort of immunity.

"Sorry June, time for the antidote," Dusk said. Since Diamond seemed to mostly be in control of himself, he gave him his potion without a word. When he handed it to June, he looked her in the eyes and said, "You can either drink it yourself, or I'll make you drink it. I'm dead serious about it too."

"Well, I think it's about time I interfered." Ician finally stood up, cracking his joints, and walked up to the trio who seemed to be in a... awkward scenario. "Dusk?" Ician addressed him. "Do you need help with anything?" He paused. "Also, would you mind please explaining to me exactly what is going on? Because I feel that I may have missed something along the way." While talking to myself.

Diamond chugged his antidote. He still felt flushed from the experience, he was completely in control. He gestured towards June. "Her idea, she used a love potion to create a temporary bond between us. Of course, it had its side effects. Besides, as a halfling, I need a bit more contact to collect love than a changeling." He let go of June and moved away from her.

"Now then, royal guard, I saw that you were talking to yourself. Mind explaining?" He picked up Ican's sword and twirled it about. "Even better, explain why you use sword? If you're a guard, you have to be talented with magic, so why do you wield such a barbaric weapon? Unless of course you can only use telekinesis..."

"Interesting that you'd be able to tell me as a royal guard. I'm not even wearing any armour." Ician chuckled, tugging at his black cloak that was still covering his face in shadow. "Anyway, swords are standard issue for soldiers in the guard." He answered smoothly, his horn lighting up and gently tugging his sword back over to him from Diamond. "As are spears and armour, though I didn't bring the former since it's far too bulky and the latter because... well, I did, but it's a little bashed up is all." He shrugged. "And as for talking to myself... what can I say? I'm just a strange pony."

He cocked his head to the side and eyed Diamond curiously. "Anyway, I'm glad to see you've recovered. Perhaps you remember a little bit more about what happened prior to this incident than what you were able to tell me previously?"