Luna walked slowly through the halls of the castle listening to the methodic thumping of her metal hoof. Her eyes were squinted nearly shut as a thousand thoughts raced through her head after her discovery of Celestia’s tampering with Volos’ mind. She looked behind her and saw Volos lumbering behind her a farther distance away. She looked around and saw a small sign that said ‘Hospital Wing’ with an arrow pointing down the adjacent hallway. She stopped and waited for Volos to catch up with her. He stopped by her side and looked down the Alicorn.
“Volos, it’s time you took care of something that you have been putting off for a while now,” she said calmly. She motioned for Volos to come closer to her. Volos knelt at her behest and got eye level with her. “It’s time your visited the Elements of Harmony.” Volos groaned a low groan. Luna put a hoof to his cheek and pulled his nearly featureless face to hers. She held his gaze and looked into his glowing red eyes with her blue and milky white irises. “It’s far past time Volos. You must make things right between you and them. They need to see you the way I do if possible and also see that you’re a not a raging beast like Celestia claims you to be.”
“What about the night at the ruins? I murdered all those ponies.” His tone fell as he lamented what he had done.
Luna put her forehead to his and placed her metal hoof to his shoulder while placing her other on the back of his head. “Do not fret about the past Volos. While regrettable what happened that night, they acted under orders from my own sister to find and capture you. And I have suspicions about her involvement in the destruction of the ruins as well. It was not you who caused a slaughter that night but Celestia, if my suspicions turn out to be correct.” She stood back up and Volos did the same. “We can continue this conversation at later time; I do not wish to attract the attention of others.”
She pointed down the adjacent hall toward the hospital wing and gave Volos a reassuring smile. She nodded her head in the direction of the hall still pointing until Volos slowly made his way down it. She watched his back travel down for a minute until she herself turned and made her way down to the Royal Guard offices.
2
Volos’ footsteps were slow and rhythmic. He felt each vibration as his steps echoed through the stone halls leading to the medical wing of the castle where his judgment was currently waiting for him. He followed another sign and found the large white double doors into the exclusive medical center of the castle. He pushed the door open slowly with his clawed gauntlet of a hand and stepped through.
The stallion at the desk looked up and screamed. Volos groaned and went up to the desk. He stared down at the clerk who was trembling in his seat, too afraid to move an inch.
“I’m here to see Fluttershy,” he stated coldly to the clerk.
“She’s in ph…ph…physical th…therapy. D…down the hall to the left,” the receptionist stammered.
Volos walked around the desk and into another short hallway. He found the door into the physical therapy center easily enough but the door was too small for him to fit inside easily. He went passed the door and found a window. He peered inside the large and spacious center. All around the room were treadmills, weight benches filled with light weight dumbbells and other various therapy machines. He looked around and stopped when he caught sight of a yellow and pink maned Pegasus inside of a harness taking slow and methodical steps while five ponies cheered her on alongside three small fillies.
Volos clenched his hand and pulled his arm back. He could feel his heart pounding and he took a deep breath. His large fist sailed through the glass shattering it into thousands of tiny pieces that spread and littered the floor. He released his breath and grabbed a handful of wall and tearing it off. He did this several more times as he made a door for himself into the center. When he finally stepped inside he looked over and saw those inside look at him in terror, all except five.
Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and twilight had scowls on their faces. Twilight’s morphed into an unreadable calm she ignited her horn quickly and let a short magic burst fly through the air at Volos. He let it impact and he flew and flipped through the air and fell again into the hallway taking more wall with him. He groaned and got back up. He bent down and walked through the larger hole in the wall. He stood again at his full height as his leg was enveloped by magic again and tossed upwards. His body fell quickly and his head hit the floor making a hole.
Volos groaned again, and stood up. He shook his head and tried to take a step farther into the therapy center only to be met with a purple wall. He hit it with his fist, knocking on it like a door. Twilight watched pensively as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.
“It’s not fighting back,” she told the others. “I wonder why.” She thought on this hard, not seeing a faint flicker in the wall.
Volos saw the wall fade but for a second and seized his opportunity. It faded again slightly and he punched it with all his might. The wall shattered like the glass window had and fizzled out of existence. He leapt at the group of ponies and snatched Twilight’s horn in his right pointer and thumb, and applied a light pressure. Twilight gasped as her horn was being slowly squished. She flailed her front hooves and smacked his fingers. Volos lifted her head and glared at her in the eyes and put his left pointer to her chest.
“Don’t do that again,” he stated calmly. Twilight’s eyes widened at his voice. He saw the aura build in her horn lightly. He squeezed her horn again and shook her head gently. “Ah, don’t.” Twilight tried again and again he squeezed her horn tighter. Twilight looked at his face again and gulped; fearful he would try to break her horn. “Now, I’m going to let go and you’re not going to try to hit me again. Understood?” Twilight nodded as best she could. “Good.” He let Twilight’s horn go and she quickly rubbed it soothingly.
“You…You talked!” Twilight yelled, when she had recovered. “Are you the thing that hangs around Princess Luna?!”
“Yes.”
Twilight’s mind went into over drive. “But what about the thing that attacked Ponyville and the Princesses?! What happened to it?!” she blurted out loudly, letting her mind race as her mane became slightly disheveled. “Where did you come from? IS Princess Luna alright? What about…” Volos pinched her mouth shut with his fingers.
“Clearly I have to explain to you what happened.” Volos said easily. He sat down and inhaled deeply. “Sit please, this will take some time.” The group sat down warily and kept their eyes trained on him. He told them everything that had transpired since they had seen him last. When he had finished his audience stared with looks ranging from anger to bewilderment. “That is the end,” Volos stated calmly. He had left out Luna’s discovery of Celestia's tampering and the more gruesome aspects of the tale as well as confessing to the attack on Ponyville and how Princess Luna came to be the way she is.
Twilight’s horn raged purple and Volos found himself flying through the air once again. His head impacted another wall and found himself lying outside the physical therapy room again, face down. He shook his head and began to stand, only to be knocked back down again by Twilight’s anger fueled magic.
“I don’t believe you!” Twilight yelled. “I’ll never believe you!” She smashed him down again. He could feel his armor begin to dent. “You hurt Fluttershy! You hurt Princess Luna, attacked Celestia!” She slammed him with every word she uttered. Volos groaned and lifted his head from the floor to look at the purple unicorn. He watched as a purple baseball bat materialized and swung at him.
The magic bat slammed into Volos’ face and launched his head backwards. The group heard a loud snap and watched as one of the rods making up his neck launched from its place and hydraulic fluids seeped down his neck. A crack appeared on his face and his head fell back to the floor, sending an echo of metal against stone through the halls. Twilight’s breathing slowed to a normal pace and she visibly relaxed. Her shoulders slumped back from their raised position and her eyes lost the rage that shown in them. She turned to her friends with a smile on her face and she saw the looks of horror on their faces.
“What?” She turned and saw what she had done through clear eyes. Volos lay face down on the ground, his back armor dented in, yellow fluid ran from his neck and his eyes were not glowing. She saw the crack on his face plate. She gasped, “I did that?” Her friends nodded slowly. “I never… I was just so angry and…” she rambled, distraught.
“You have quite the swing,” a deep pained voice said quietly. The group looked back to the prostrate from of Volos and saw it had moved some. His eyes flickered back to life and he groaned as he sat himself upright. He felt the loose connector rod and jammed it back into place before it latched back into its original position. He looked to the group and extended a large clawed hand. “It will take time, but for now I ask for a truce at least,” he said softly.
Twilight looked at his hand and hesitated. She took a small step back and recoiled. She breathed a heavy sigh. “Maybe one day, but not right now, I don’t think I can.” She looked at the dented face before her. “I will always be suspicious of you but I can’t forget what you’ve done not yet.”
Volos nodded slowly. “I understand.” He stood up at his full height and moved past her, reaching a butter yellow pegasus still in her walking harness. He knelt down, “Do you feel the same?” he asked. Fluttershy didn’t answer him, instead opting for a thoughtful silence. “I expected as much,” he said sadly, turning away from her and making his way from the room.
“Wait!” a squeaky voice called from the back of the group. Volos turned and saw a small white unicorn filly looking at him with trepidation. She breathed slowly and deeply. “Do you have a name?” she asked.
Volos nodded, “Why do you ask?”
“I have a friend named Volos. I haven’t seen him for a really long time and…” her voice trailed off, “if you’ve seen him.” Her eyes were wide and filled with fear at asking the behemoth her question. The group looked at her with mouths agape and some filled with horror.
“Sweetie Belle! Are you crazy?” Rarity asked, frazzled but Sweetie ignored her sister and stared intently at the behemoth.
“I know your name,” Volos said, “and you know mine.”
Sweetie looked at the large creature before her with a thoughtful face. She took a breath and walked up to his leg slowly. She climbed up on his foot and hugged his leg tightly.
“I missed you Volos,” she said quietly.
Volos reached down and lifted her to his shoulder and lightly placed his hand on her small back, covering it completely.
“I missed you too, Sweetie Belle.”