Her sharp gaze pierced like shattered glass as she coldly replied, "You don't!" Her voice was heartless, absolute, the kind of finality that left no room for argument, "The moment you drank the hate potion, your fate was sealed."
She lifted a hoof, drawing an invisible line through the air; soon after, her eyes drifted toward the horizon, showing an unreadable expression.
"Maybe..."
Yet there was something... something in the way her lips parted slightly, in the slow, deliberate blink of her eyes.
A flicker of memory? A regret? A solemn remembrance?
"Maybe… maybe if love hadn't been abused so much, it wouldn't be too late." Her wings moved slightly, with her feathers trembling for just a moment before she straightened again, turning her full attention back to Dante.
"Perhaps if it had been only love or only hate… but right now, you're like a twisted yin and yang. The detox process is too slow; if, in this moment I take your love out, your hate will overrun you and vice versa, so you can't!"
Dante's throat felt dry as he clenched his jaw, "So I have to bear with this?"
The alicorn tilted her head, curling her lips into something that wasn't quite like sympathy but wasn't malice either... had Dante to describe it in a single word, he would reply with: interest.
"No! just wait for your body to clean it, but that doesn't mean you have a choice." Her voice turned softer, like a distant star; she wasn't talking to him anymore, she was just… stating a fact. "If you want, you can accelerate it but It's already rooted, a core memory and ripping it apart would be like cutting out an essential piece of your ego."
Dante stayed silent for an instant.
The words that came out of the alicorn's mouth weren't doubted, but the more he interacted with this version, the more he realized this wasn't what he expected. Perhaps at the start, he had been biased, but now that he stands in a similar radical posture, her actions seem less eerie.
She sighed, stretching a bit before flicking her hoof lazily; after this, a few objects shimmered into the background, floating effortlessly in a delicate pink glow.
"I have been making this as we speak, so the limitations are lesser." An injection, a small potion filled with a transparent liquid, and a strange, pill-like capsule coated in a subtle shimmer.
She gestured toward the syringe first, "The injection is the most scientific method, slightly worse than all the others. Sadly, your body will quickly create 'tolerance' and 'addiction' for it..." She made a vague motion with her hoof, "and also makes you feel slightly uh how to word this... is strange you have to experience it."
Next, she floated the potion closer to his face. The liquid inside of it was thick, swirling like transparent liquid silk, "The potion, as you already know, is instant and powerful. But that's also why it's the fastest way to cripple yourself in the long run, and about the side effects?"
She yawned, rubbing the dark circles under her eyes, "You are going to feel a bit sleepy, coupled with physical and mental exhaustion."
The pill didn't get an introduction, as it was instantly shoved into Dante's hands, "And this little child…" Her tone turned wry, "It's a mix of both magic and science, and the side effects are really... complex..."
"You will feeeeeeeel...--" She tried to search for words, but nothing good came to her mind, "Let's just say... Desireful or just plain emptiness, oh! And don't forget the mood swings!"
Dante eyed the three options before shaking his head in disapproval. "I... don't want these," he said.
The alicorn's ears twitched for a second, then with exaggerated slowness, she turned to give him the most bombastic side-eye imaginable, "Then why did you grab them?"
"you placed them--"
She cut him mid-sentence, "I only placed the pill in your hands; the rest were just you and you!"
The pink princess gave a small reassuring chuckle, "You just want a failsafe. Don't worry, it's nothing to be embarrassed by..." Her long topknot quenched in nihilism, covering her face in shadows, as she muttered under her breath, "Be embarrassed by abusing them to such point they no longer have an effect..."
Both pink creatures turned their looks down to the ground in undiluted dismay, staring at the ground, at their reflections, distorted by the polished surface.
Dante was the first to snap out of the trance, asking a question again, "But what about my hate? You didn't give me anything for it!"
"Pfft." She tossed her head back and laughed, "Look, sis! You don't go to an architect for prescriptions, so don't go to a doctor for an architectural problem!"
She wiped an imaginary tear from her eye, shaking her head, "You know, I'm just quite funny. I just realized I "love" metaphors and analogies." She chuckled at the joke
Dante, realizing his overstay and already wanting to get the fuck out of there before some weird ideas stuck up before it's too late, asked, "Then it's done? Nothing more to do? I am fixed?"
"Didn't you wonder why I was doing alchemy in the background?" The question didn't need to be answered, "So don't worry, I like to take care of my sissies!" The alicorn froze stop, "Wait, that doesn't sound good..."
Brushing the mishap with a lazy salute, she began bidding her farewell, "Anyway, Lovely to meet ya; if you ever have a problem, just call any version of us; as long as it isn't a 'V' of any gen, our help won't come with strings attached."
She chuckled out of nowhere, continuing with, "Sorry, I recently took a pill... and an injection... and a love potion! I was having certain problems; you can stay to hear the history if you want!"
Dante replied, "No thanks, I'm busy too!" now, with a clearer mind, unclouded from the hypnotizing effects of the love potions beckoning him to meet this alternative, he got the fuck out of there.
The girl yelled to him, "But before leaving, remember" She gave him a lopsided grin, "Try to talk more; this was a really one-sided conversation!!!"
*PUFF*
And just like that, he was gone.
The aura around her shimmered, shifting inside her. It was followed by a faint pink glow that slowly wrapped around her form. Her eyes turned distant, filling with emptiness.
"Short conclusion: Love is just loneliness with lust, tangled with ego and the fear of death, socially conditioned by our surroundings. Please do not confuse it with affection."
"Alright! My thesis is close to being finished!"
A voice spoke behind her, "It took more than 10 generations of you killing yourself and rebuilding to get to that simple conclusion?"
The alicorn didn't flinch at this remark, "The hardest thing in a thesis is proving you are right, not getting on an idea!"
The unknown voice continued speaking, "Well, you could have educated that version of yourself. Most of you always find a way to be miserable. Explaining your conclusion of what was love would have helped a lot so they don't mess up when weaponizing.
The alicorn's lips curled into a playful smile, "Well, my dear battery, let me be crystal clear," Suddenly, her body changed into a crystal-like transparent color, "Huhuh!" She turned back to her normal form and continued, "Want to hear what I think and a quick rundown of my thesis?"
The voice replied in a tired, annoyed tone, "No..."
She continued with her child-like glee, innocently exclaiming, "Thanks to the one above everything, that the word consent doesn't exist in my dictionary!"
----
Authors note:
I'M TIRED OF THIS BULLSHIT.
I EAT FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.
I STARTED DOING EXCERSIES.
PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY.
I SLEEP, ON AVERAGE, 7-8 HOURS.
What the fuck does my body wants????
I swear that if one day I just unalive myself, I will 100% blame the bacteria.
Words can not convey how much I have come to hate those stupid viruses.
Like, what's your FUCKING purpose, you annoying little twark.
YOU DON'T EVEN DO ANYTHING APART FROM HARMING AND EXISTING.
At least a small percentage of bacteria are considered "good."
But you?!!!!???
...
I'll stop with the rant.
I will finish the next chapter as soon as possible.
I have already finished the basic sketch for Absentia. Now, I can finally write the chapters and have some ideas on where I am trying to sail.