DECEPTION - Chapter Nine - The Joker and The Thief

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Twilight Sparkle has learned a new trick; a spell that allows her and her friends to enter realistic dream worlds within the margin of their subconscious. But these dreams are as malleable as they are dangerous, and each additional trip they take into the mind to study this new magic threatens to cause them serious harm and skew Twilight's perception of reality.

Meanwhile, Spike is beginning to struggle with an old demon of his again. Only this time, his greed is more tempting, more malicious, and sentient: scheming to consume his every thought like a cancer until there is nothing left of him but avarice.

In danger of watching their friend become their new nemesis, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy must travel deep into Spike's subconscious and plant a thought in his mind that will forever make him contradict his dragon heart's innate inclination for greed. However, their mission will not be easy, their journey will not be safe, nor may their intentions even be justifiable in the face of their actions.

But sometimes, to save your friends, you must change them.

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Well, after five months, I hope it's worth the wait.

This was definitely a much different writing experience for this block of text since all the others, seeing as how it's the first since the prelude to focus almost exclusively on Spike, along with being the chapter that will surely go down as the most Avarice heavy chapter in the entire story. That being said, we knew going in that this was had to be Avarice's time to shine as a character, so everything about the way he presented himself had to be spot on.

Honestly, I think we did a pretty good job in that regard. This is probably the most affably evil we've written him, yet it's countered by first-hand witness of his potential for savagery and violence. He's clearly the most threatening villain in this story, yet at the same time, the revelation that his motives are deeper than kleptomaniacal egomania. I tried to go as far as to portray his background to make him boarder on being able to sympathize with... and then he steals some stuff, breaks a few faces, and sings opera in the sewers afterword. Honestly though, I think his sporadic unpredictability lends to making him equally more interesting and dangerous when you're never sure about what he'll do next.

Oh, and the opera scene; that originally wasn't in the outline, but a result of the creative process. I was just looking up that tune for tenor showcasing that everyone is familiar with but nobody knows the meaning of in hopes that I could learn more about it. And when I did track down the canzone, its lyrics and meaning, my mouth literally feel open. Then I called up Brian, told him about what I'd found, and said "This shit is too good. We have to do this."

And do it we did.

But that's enough of my gushing. What I want to know is (aside from how you liked the chapter), what do you think of Avarice? How as he struck you as a character/antagonist/approach to horse fiction as a whole? How effective do you think his role in the story is thus far? Do you love to hate him, or do you just want to see him blasted into oblivion? What do you think he looks like, or how do you imagine his voice to sound? We'd like gauge your response, so let us know what you think.

Because honestly, Brian and I have always imagined him to sound like Brad Pitt.

Either way, hope you had fun reading the latest entry for DECEPTION... because frankly, whether you enjoyed it or not is trivial to Avarice.

See you guys in the comments.

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Written by TheHarisayBrothers (Brian, Christian, and Joseph)

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DECEPTION:

FiM Fiction page

dA Links:

Prelude - What Doesn't Kill You... Will Only Come Back Later to Try and Kill You Again
Chapter One - What If...
Chapter Two - Chaos Lives in Everything
Chapter Three - The Beast Within
Chapter Four - Waiting For a Train on Mobil Avenue
Chapter Five - The Real World
Chapter Six - Radical Notion