Discordian Promise

((....She's gold, you twit! Having double-check, I stand corrected.))

The pegasus glanced around cautiously. Everyone was looking....

"...I'm Skitterbuzz. I'm from the Realm of Honesty."

She shifted around awkwardly for a moment. "I hope there's bees in here!" shensuddenly burst out. She turned towards the clock with a little difficulty. "Will there be bees in the arena? Pleeeaaase?"

Persuasion:

Midas flushed slightly at the realization that he'd said something quite stupid. To distract himself, he looked at Skitterbuzz thoughtfully. "My dad said that honesty is something you only do when all your other options run out. Generally being honest just got people mad at me or made them think I'm dumb. I was honest with a Zebra once and she punched me in the face."

While Midas talked about his opinions concerning Skitter's Element, a scrap of paper suddenly appeared in her bubble. It read:

Of course they'll be bees! Bees are such interesting and useful creatures, and the deaths they cause when used are very entertaining. Wouldn't you agree?

Skitterbuzz read her note carefully. And slowly. She did know how to read... Mostly. On a good day. Not being sure of a few words here and there, she decided to assume it meant "yes".

Hey GM:

Elacular wrote:"My dad said that honesty is something you only do when all your other options run out. Generally being honest just got people mad at me or made them think I'm dumb. I was honest with a Zebra once and she punched me in the face."

"What!?" Skitter turned back towards... Midas? Upon hearing that claim. "You mean... You wouldn't... Just... LIE, would you!?"

Midas shrugged. "Sure I would. If Ruby asked me what my big sister thought of her I wouldn't say what she actually thought of her. 'Cause then Ruby would..." here he cleared his throat and spoke in a more growly tone, clearly imitating something. "'Break my paw off in her shallow, entitled ass', so I couldn't be honest about that, now could I?And if either of my brothers stole food from the rest of my family, it was easier to say I did it 'cause they were too young to be talked to, so they'd just get spanked. And my mom lied to my dad all the time and said she was happy, and that made him happy. So of course I just lie. It makes people happier."

Skitter's jaw fell open. Practically enough to hit the floor.

"....That's HORRIBLE! How could you!?"

Compass flinched, as if she were the target if Skitters outburst rather than Midas. She felt like she should say something, do something to diffuse the tension in the air...

Instead, she took half a step back, and glanced between the two ponies. She began to chew her lip.

Midas scampered within his ball to be as far from Skitterbuzz as possible. "I-I d'nno! Please don't yell at me! I'm sorry! Imsorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorry..."

Midas curled up into a ball and whispered his practiced mantra under his breath again and again, pressing his ears against the sides of his head.

"Sun and Stars, Everyone slow down!" Sunlit wave says, his voice suddenly emphatic and assertive. "Skitterbuzz, there is a concept known as the benefit of the doubt. Please employ it here in Midas' case. You just declared his thoughts horrible. If those thoughts were fallacies, would he react like this?" He turned towards Midas and took a step forward before stopping awkwardly, eying the bubble warily and ruffling his feathers. "Midas," He called through the bubble, his voice soft again. "Nobody wants to hurt you. You're alright."

Midas wrapped his forelegs around his head, pressed his face into the ground and whined quietly, not saying any more words. At the sound of Sunlit's voice, he looked up and made an incoherent noise before pushing himself back to his feet. "m'okay. I, I mean I'm not okay. I...mmph."

"BUT HE'S - Wait," she said, cocking her head. "What's 'benefit of the doubt'?"

Sunlit Wave looks at Skitterbuzz with barely concealed disbelief for several long moments. "It's when you assume the best in people, rather than the worst. For example, just because Midas lied once doesn't mean his every word is false." He stops talking and squints at Skitter for a few seconds. "If you think that's a silly idea for some reason, I have a different suggestion: don't yell at Midas. He clearly doesn't take it well."

Skitterbuzz opened her mouth to protest, and then quickly shut it again, cowering slightly herself as she contemplated the idea.

Assuming the best? How could she do that? Midas had just admitted to the worst! Lies were Evil. Lies were something the Chaotic One did. (Were there really bees in the arena? She would just have to find out.) That was why -

Flitter Leaf had Lied. And he had died for it. At least his Lie was important...

She held back a tear. It didn't really matter anymore, did it? She, too, would quite likely die soon in the Arena, and no amount of Honesty from anyone would change that...

"So do you think it's a silly idea? Feedback on thought constructs is always a good thing." Sunlit Wave asks, smiling just a little.

"Ruby doubts people all the time, and she says that it's to her benefit." Midas giggled slightly at his own joke, clearly trying hard to keep his composure. "Ruby's my tag mom. She taught me how to alchemy stuff."

sunbeam wrote:"So do you think it's a silly idea? Feedback on thought constructs is always a good thing." Sunlit Wave asks, smiling just a little.

"I- I- don't know!" She said, soundi a little frightened. "I just know that Lies are bad! Nevereverever...." She finally sat down, tears getting a little beyond her control...

Midas saw that Skitter was crying and bit his lip tightly. After a moment of consternation, he unwound his Scarf from his neck, revealing a ruby studded collar underneath. He quickly untied his element before using his telekinesis to try to float the scarf out of his bubble and over to Skitters. "Here. It's soft, so it won't scratch your nose."

Skitter looked up at the floating scarf. Wasn't that....

She saw the glow of Midas' horn. It was. It took her a moment to comprehend. She took it gently, blotting at her eyes with it, suddenly afraid to let go: what if it fell into the void? Hopefully Midas was still holding it too...

Why, isn't that sweet.

Just as Skitter went to grab the scarf, they were rudely interrupted by the stopwatch exploding, followed by the bubbles clouding up and spinning around rapidly.

I believe that's three minutes. Let the games begin. Hold onto your bubbles, and your lunchesAs the bubbles spin, the captives can feel them moving in space as well as spinning, until...

POP!

Everyone falls face first into what would behoped is mud.

ooc:

Skitterbuzz instnctively scrunched her face up as the bubbles started to move - and a good thing, too, judging by what they landed in. She sat up, wiped it off her eyes, and looked around...

Perception:

Sunlit Wave stands up as straight and tall as he can, trying to separate himself from the mud, and gently shakes off as much as he can, spreading his wings just to appreciate the ability to stretch again. He looks around, surveying the group. "Is everyone alright? Nobody too horribly muddy?"

OOC:

Steel lifts himself out of the mud, wiping off what was stuck to his eye lens. "I'm alright." Ian was struggling in the mud, having most of his joints submerged in it. Steel picked him up and began to carry him on his back. "Ian isn't as good. Where are we going now?"

Spoiler:

When Midas landed in the muck, his eyes crossed and he couldn't see a hoof width past his own nose. He was vaguely aware that he was still telekinetically holding his element and was very sharply aware of the taste of bile (earth and fire. Dry.) in his throat.

Meta:

Spoiler:

"I... I'm okay," Compass said, picking herself up. "It's just a little mud..."

Well, a little mud, and a spin in a set of bubbles, but that part didn't bother her too much. There was a reason her name, her cutie mark, was a Compass rose.

Windys words came to mind. Survival or elements?
Compass looked at Steel Works, unable to stop her eyes from looking at his robotic body parts, or at the jammed-up Ian.

"I guess... where we're going depends on what we're doing. There's only five of us."

She let that hang in the air, like a naked warning. Discord seemed offended when people said his game was impossible, but everything Compass had ever heard told her that there were six Realms. And it was when that number went down to five that things became... confrontational.

"I... I don't want to fight anyone," she blurted out.

Spoiler: