Chapter 8: Secrets
Chapter 8
Secrets
Twilight and the others waited outside the emergency room with nothing but worry on their minds. The group looked up as the doctor came out of the doors holding a clip board. Twilight immediately rushed up to him with tears in her eyes. “How is he doctor?”
“Geode is one tough colt. Despite his injuries, no poison entered his system. Even if it did we couldn’t administer the antidote the normal way.” He said as he looked at the chart.
“Why’s that?” Rainbow asked.
“Every time we tried to put an I.V. in him the needle ends up breaking.” The ponies looked at one another in confusion.
“Can we see him?” Applebloom asked.
“He’s still unconscious, but stable.” He said as he stepped aside and let them in. The group let out a gasp as they saw the red colt lying in the hospital bed. Twilight walked up next to the bed and looked at the sleeping colt. The doctor removes his glasses and ran his eyes over his scarred body. “These are old wounds. I haven’t the slightest idea how they were formed.” The doctor said before leaving the room. Twilight put a hoof on his head and let out a tear filled sigh.
The group of ponies looked in surprise as a bright pink light filled the room. They looked in amazement as they saw Princess Cadence standing before them with a worried look on her face. “I came as soon as I heard.” She said as she rushed over to the colt. “What happened?”
“Th-there was a manticore and he saved us.” Applebloom said with tears in her eyes.
“He beat a manticore?” Cadence said in confusion.
“Yeah. We saw it.” Applejack said as she looked at the pink Alicorn.
“How could he do that when he’s just a colt?”
“I don’t know.” Twilight said in a low tone. “Did you find out anything in the Empire?” Twilight asked.
“No, several records were destroyed during Sombra’s rule. Geode’s must have been one of them.” She said with a sigh. Her eyes then fell upon the mark on the colt’s neck. “What is that?”
“I don’t know. What ever that mark is it feels...wrong.” She said as a small shiver ran down her spine. Cadence looked over at the colt and felt tears form in her eyes.
“What in the name of Celestia happened to him?”
“I don’t know. I’m not even sure if I want to know.” Twilight said as she looked at her sister in law. The ponies looked over to the door opening to reveal the white nurse.
“I’m sorry everypony but visiting hours are up. You can see him tomorrow.” The mares let out a sigh and exited the room Twilight stopped next to the mare with a worried look on her face.
“If anything changes anything at all-”
“You’ll be the first to know.” She said with a smile. Twilight smiled and let out a sigh as she left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Geode awoke in a dark, damp city street. He rubbed his head as he got to his hooves. He walked over to a dumpster and looked into a broken mirror and looked at hi scarred skin. He let out a gasp as he remembered the incident from that day. “NO, NO, NO! NOT AGAIN!” He yelled as he slammed his hoof into the broken mirror. He laid down on the ground and curled up into a ball. He felt the tears run down his cheek as he started to shake.
Geode looked up to see a tall dark blue Unicorn mare look down at him with sympathy in her eyes. “There, there. Everything will be okay.” She said as she patted him on the head.
“Easy for you to say.” He said in a cold tone.
“I know how you feel.”
“Yeah right. How could you possibly know that?” He said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. The colt looked in surprise as he saw that the unicorn had a set of dark blue wings.
“Like you, I too have been gone for one thousand years.” Geode’s mind clicked as he recognized the mare.
“Y-you’re Princess Luna.”
“Correct.” She said as she sat next to the colt. “I know all too well what it’s like to be alone.” Luna said in a low tone. “When I returned I was met with distrust, anger and fear from the ponies that I was to protect. I can’t blame them. I tried to destroy all of Equestria at one point.”
“At least you have your sister.” He said with a sniffle.
“True. Although she can’t forgive herself and seeing her hide her guilt tears me apart.” She said as a tear formed in her eye. “I know how you feel Geode. You’re angry, sad, alone and it hurts inside.” She said as she put a wing around the colt and drew him close to her. “No pony should ever have to go through what I have.” Geode couldn’t hold back the tears any longer and buried his face into her side as he cried. “It’s okay. You’ve been holding back those tears for so long.” She said as she tightened the embrace.
Luna looked down at the colt and let her own tears flow as she saw a smaller version of herself. The red colt looked up at her with tears in his eyes. “What do I do now? Twilight and the others think I’m some kind of freak!” He said through the cries.
“Twilight Sparkle believes in many things, but that is not one of them.” She said with a faint smile. “She looks out and want’s the best for you.”
“I know. I’m just.....scarred.” He said as he sniffled. The alicorn nodded and looked at the colt’s scars. “You want to know don’t you?” He said as he looked at his body.
“Only if you want to tell me.” Geode took a deep breath and tried to form words.
“I can’t. It’s too hard.” He said in a defeated tone.
“May I?’ The Princess asked as she put her hooves on either side of his head. The colt nodded and closed his eyes. Luna pressed her forehead against his as her horn glowed. The colt felt the mares mind swimming in his memories. He felt her presence dive into his inner most thoughts. Luna instantly pulled back and let out a gasp as tears streamed down here face. “Geode....I’m so sorry.”
“Please, please don’t tell anypony about it.” He said as he looked at the ground in shame. Luna brought him into another hug and let the tears roll down her face.
“Your secret is safe with me. I strongly suggest that you at least tell Twilight.” The Princess said as she wiped the tears away.
“I know. I’m just scarred. I don’t want to lose anyone else.” He said in a low tone.
“You won’t.” She said with a smile. “I’m sorry, I must go now. Remember that you are not alone.” The dream started to fade.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Geode felt the warm rays of light shine onto his body through the hospital window. His eyes fluttered open to see a lavender mare with a concerned look on her face.“Twilight?” He said as he tried to sit up. The mare instantly wrapped him in a tight hug and cried. The colt returned the gesture.
“Don’t you EVER do that again!” She said through the sobs. “We were so worried. I was so worried.” She said as she broke the embrace.
“Sorry, somepony had to do something.” He said as he slowly sat up. Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder.
“Take it easy. You’re still recovering.”
“Relax it’ll take more than a manticore to kill me.” He said as he sat up and stretched. The nurse trotted in to the room and smiled.
“Glad to see that you’re awake.” She said with a smile as a grey unicorn wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope around his neck. The stallion trotted up and put the medical instrument to the colt’s chest. “You seem to be fully healed.”
“So I can leave?”
“Yes, we just need to fill out some paperwork and Twilight is free to take you home.” He said with a smile. Geode nodded and got to his hooves. The two unicorns walked out of the hospital with smiles on their faces.
“”Hang on a second.” The red colt said as he walked outside the hospital. His horn glowed and the surrounding dirt creeped up his arm and encased his body. Twilight watched in amazement as the dirt shifted and settled on his body covering up his injuries showing his dark red coat. “Much better.” He said as the two continued walking down the road. Geode noticed that Twilight was staring at him. “You obviously have a lot of questions.”
“You don’t have to-”
“Yes, I do it’s only fair.” He said as a loud growl escaped his stomach. “Right I after I get some food. I’d rather eat tree bark than the stuff they serve at the hospital.” He said as he stuck his tongue out.
“You’re just a picky eater.”
“You’re talking to a colt who can eat rocks and gems.” He said in a flat tone.
“Point taken. Let’s stop at Sugar Cube Corner.”
“Is there a party waiting for me there?”
“No. I told Pinkie to give you some breathing room so you can heal.”
“That’s a relief.” He said as the two walked inside the pastry shop. The two sat down at a booth and red over the menu. A familiar pink mare came out with a spring in her step.
“HEY!” She said as she hugged the red colt. “How are ya feeling?”
“Can’t.......breathe!” He said as he felt the pink mare crushing him in the hug.
“Sorry!” She said as she let go. “What can I get you?”
“I’ll go with the pancakes.” Geode said with a smile.
“Likewise.” Twilight said as she folded the menu and handed it to the mare.
“Okay I’ll have those out in a second.” She said as she trotted off. Geode sat back and let out a yawn.
“Tired?”
“Yeah, I had an odd dream.”
“Princess Luna?” She asked. Geode looked at her in surprise.
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“I asked her to.” Geode’s eyes shrank. “I was worried about you and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Did she tell you anything?”
“No, I figured it would be an invasion of privacy if I asked.” She said as she looked down.
“It’s fine.” He said as their food arrived. The two unicorns started eating their meals. As the colt continued eating he was suddenly tackled by out of his seat a group of foals. “GAH!” Geode opened his eyes to see the CMC and the other two colts smiling at him.
“You’re okay!” The yellow filly said with a smile.
“Yeah, more or less.” He said as he got to his hooves.
“You took on a full grown Manticore and turned it into a lawn ornament!” Rumble yelled.
“Oh that? I could’ve done that at anytime.” He said as he continued eating. The ponies looked at him in shock. “What?”
“How can you do that?” Twilight asked.
“I can use magic.” He said in a flat tone.
“Why didn’t you tell me you could do that?”
“Keep in mind that no pony has seen that kind of magic in over a thousand years. I didn’t want you to freak out.” He said in a calm tone.
“Kinda late for that one.” Sweetie added.
“Speaking of witch. I’d better dig out that manticore.” He said as he got to his hooves.
“How did you know he was still stuck?” Twilight asked.
“I’m the only one that can undo the spell.” He said as he walked back outside and made his way towards the schoolhouse. The foals and the mare quickly followed behind him. The group was soon joined by Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. The group made their way in front of the school yard to see Fluttershy and Princess Cadence waiting for them in front of the crystal encased manticore.
“I’m gad to see that you’re okay Geode.” Cadence said with a warm smile. The red colt nodded and walked up to the frozen manticore.
If I did this then I must have used IT. Geode let out a sigh and his horn flared. The group looked in amazement as the colt put his hoof on the black crystal. The rock started to crack and fall to pieces releasing the manticore’s head.
“Hey Flutters. Why don’t you calm that thing down first?” Rainbow suggested. The yellow mare nodded and flew up to the beast’s exposed head. The mare locked eyes with the manticore.
“Now you listen here mister; Geode is going to let you go and then you are going to go straight home.” She said in a stern tone. The beast growled at the mare who intensified her stare. “What was that?” She said as the beast gulped in fear. The Manticore whimpered and nodded it’s head slowly. “Good boy.” Fluttershy looked at the colt and nodded. Geode returned the gesture and focused. The rest of the rock prison crumbled away freeing the manticore. The beast stretched and growled. The mare frowned as she looked at the beast. The manticore grunted and ran back into the woods.
The colt let out a sigh as he looked at the black crystal shards. His horn flared and he started to vaporize the small shards until a series of small ash piles were all that remained. The ponies looked at him in confusion as he continued the action. Once the last crystal was destroyed he looked back at the ponies and let out a sigh. “I’ll explain everything. Just not here.” He said in a flat tone. The ponies nodded and made their way towards the library. He leaned over and whispered to the mares who nodded. Geode entered the large tree with the mares following close behind.
Applejack held her hoof out stopping the foals. “Listen kids, this is some adult talk. Ya’ll better head home.” The foals frowned at the mare.
“But-”
“Ah want no arguing.” The three fillies nodded and gave the mare their best puppy dog face. “Oh no. Not the look.” Applejack said as she looked away. Princess Cadence stepped beside her.
“Nice try girls, but I invented that look.” Cadence said as she shook her head. The fillies looked down in disappointment. “Look girls, I know you want to help but this is something only we can handle.” She said in a flat tone. The crystal Princess looked to see the sad looks on the foal’s faces. “I’ll give you an update after Geode has told me everything deal?”
“You got it!” They said as they ran off. The Alicorn Princess smiled and closed the door behind her. She sat beside the other mares on the couch and waited for the crimson colt to start.
“Okay, time for a history lesson.” He said as let out a sigh. “As you all know the last king of The Crystal Empire was Sombra.” The ponies nodded. “He was defeated by Princess Celestia and Luna over one thousand years ago.”
“Yeah, we know that.” Rainbow said in an impatient tone.
“What you don’t know is that after Sombra was sealed away he left behind a few.....followers.”
“Followers?” Cadence said in confusion.
“Yes, a group of ponies that supported him and acted as his personal guard and advisors.” He said in a reluctant tone. “They’re called the Order of Corruption.” The red colt’s horn glowed and his shell crumbled away revealing his scared body. He pointed to the mark on his neck. “This is their mark.” The ponies looked at him in fear and confusion.
“So you were.....one of the Corrupted?”
“No. Most of the Corrupted were forcibly converted.” He said in a reluctant tone.
“How were they ‘converted’?” Cadence asked.
“Sombra fused his magic inside of them and in turn he had control over their minds. Granted it only worked one out of ten times.”
“What do you mean?”
“The ones that couldn’t adapt to the magic went mad and Sombra.....eliminated them.” He said as he lowered his head. The mares looked at each other and gulped. A small tear welled up in his eye. Twilight trotted over and put a hoof on his shoulder.
“So why didn’t you know....follow Sombra?” Rainbow asked.
“I survived, but I kept my sanity. His followers were intrigued and they kept me alive for their experiments.” The Crystal Princess put a hoof to her mouth in shock. “After the first fifty years I managed to escape with a small group of rebels. We dug ourselves in and waited for the ran away from him.” He said as he sat down on the floor. “We went underground where he couldn’t find us. We spent the next four hundred years digging, making tunnels underneath the Empire.”
“How come you’re not old and wrinkly?” Pinkie asked.
“Sombra made it so that as long as his influence was present that we wouldn’t age. He needed slaves that would work for all eternity if need be.” He said in a low tone. “The other escapee’s and I formed a resistance to fight Sombra’s influence. We blew up power plant’s, freed other ponies from the slave labor camps. Killed corrupted members. Everything and anything we could do to fight him.” The pink Alicorn looked at him in shock.
“Geode. H-have you killed anypony?” The red colt looked at her in a flat tone.
“I didn’t have a choice.” He said in a flat tone. “We all did our part. It was going well for about two hundred years until I was captured and they gave me this.” He said as he pointed towards the mark. “The Rebellion launched a full scale offensive to get me back. They succeeded, but....They used me to track us back to our headquarters.” He said as he hung his head in shame. “Everyone was captured, everyone except me.” The mare’s let out a gasp.
“How did you escape?”
“I ran away and I kept digging.” He said as he wiped a tear from his eye. “Kept training, adapting.”
“Why didn’t Sombra find you again?”
“He couldn’t.” He said in a flat tone.
“How?”
“Okay here’s a question; What is the one thing that Unicorn magic has no effect on?” He asked as he looked at the mare’s confused faces. “C’mon Twilight you’re the smart one here.”
“I honestly don’t know.” She said with a shrug.
“Rarity?”
“How would I know?”
“You work with them every day.” He said as he looked at the confused mare. “Here’s another hint and I’m quoting you on this. ‘A mare’s best friend.’”
“Diamonds!” She exclaimed.
“Correct! Unicorn magic in all of it’s power has one huge weakness. Diamonds.”
“So you hid in a diamond cave?” Applejack asked.
“Something like that. Tell me, have any of you heard of Creeping Rock?” He asked as he got to his hooves. The ponies looked at one another in surprise. “Really? You don’t know what’s powering your empire?” He asked as he looked at Cadence.
“What are you talking about?” The Princess said in confusion.
“They Crystal Heart. It is literally the heart of the empire.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The Empire is alive!” He exclaimed. “If you take a wrecking ball and destroy a building then the heart will repair it, due to the fact that the entire empire is made from creeping rock. A self repairing rock that can be adapted to almost anything.” The ponies were in utter shock at the words. “I applied it to a diamond and it started to grow.”
“How did you hide from Sombra?” Twilight asked.
“I applied the creeping rock diamond mix to my skeleton.” The ponies looked at him in confusion. “Check it if you want.” He said as he looked at the white mare. Rarity’s horn flared and started to blink. As she drew closer to the colt the blinking intensified until it shined brightly when she stood no less than five inches away from the colt. “Sombra’s magic had that one weakness and he knew it.”
“What happened next?”
“I started training, getting control of my magic. I had a lot of time on my hooves so I put it to good use. I collapsed the old tunnels and made new ones lines with diamond so they couldn’t track it.” He said in a flat tone. “Honed my skills until I was ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“To kill Sombra.” He said in a flat tone. The ponies looked at him in shock.
“Why?” Cadence asked.
“Let’s see, threw the empire into disarray, took away our freedom and killed a whole lot of my friends! Do I need any other reasons than those?” He yelled.
“I meant why did YOU have to do it?”
“I was the only one who could.” He said as he took a deep breath. “Sombra was powerful but he was still bound by the Royal Code.”
“The what now?” Applejack asked.
“It’s a set of rules that every pony must follow when they take the throne. No exceptions.” Cadence clarified. “I had to take them as well.”
“What happens if someone breaks them?”
“Then the magic that is used to bind the ruler destroys him or her.” Cadence said in a reluctant tone.
“Correct and the reigning King or Queen can be replaced by a few different ways. One is through death then the next heir takes the throne. Two; The heart choses the next one to succeed it. Three; if the reigning monarch is challenged to a formal duel and loses. The victor becomes the new ruler.” He said with a sigh. “That was the one thing Sombra was scared of. Someone beating him and taking the throne from him. He’s bound by the code, but he found a loophole in the system and exploited it.” The red colt said with a sigh. “In order for a new monarch to be chosen they must be two things. Born in the Empire and strong enough to defend it.
“What loophole?” Cadence asked. The red colt sat down on the ground and let out a sigh.
“Tell me Cadence. How many Crystal Unicorns do you see walking around?” The mare thought for a moment and scratched her chin.
“None.”
“Right. Sombra is the reason for that.” The red colt let out another sigh and held back a tear. He eliminated the competition.”
“What?” Twilight said.
“He exterminated every single Unicorn that was in the empire.” A dead silence fell over the room. “I’m not just a Crystal Unicorn. I’m the last Crystal Unicorn.” Twilight felt tears roll down her face and hugged the colt. The mare’s felt tears boil over and run down their cheeks.
“What happened to other resistance members?” Cadence asked through the tears.
“They were taken away. Brainwashed by Sombra to see me as an enemy. That’s where most of these came from.” He said as he pointed to the scars.
“Why didn’t you fight back? You could’ve taken them.” Rainbow said through the tears.
“I couldn’t blame them. They were being manipulated and even though they hurt me, I couldn’t hurt them.” He said as he lowered his head. “I was always training myself to face Sombra. By the time the Empire returned I was ready.”
“You had to face him?” Cadence said.
“I was the only one that stood a remote chance. It was all I had left. My friends and family were lost to me. Vengeance drove me forward. All I ever thought about was beating him and saving the empire.” He said as he took a step back. “Then I hit a snag in my plan.”
“What snag?” Twilight asked.
“You.” He said as he looked at her. The mare’s put the pieces together in their mind and started to cry. “I spent close to a millennium preparing for the moment when I would finally defeat Sombra. Then you all show up and beat him without so much batting an eyelash.” He said in a rough tone.
“Geode.....we’re-” The red colt raised a hoof.
“I don’t blame you. You didn’t know. At first I was happy that somepony had finally come to save us, but I was sorely mistaken.”
“Why?” Applejack asked.
“I thought that once Sombra was defeated the memory charm placed on my friends would be lifted and I’d have them back. I was wrong.” Cadence looked at him in shock. “The spell will only be lifted once all of Sombra’s magic is gone from this world.”
“What are you saying? It is gone.” Rainbow said. The red colt shook his head.
“No, it isn’t.” He said as he pointed to the mark on his neck. “In order for it to be gone for good then everypony with this mark must die.” He said in a reluctant tone. The ponies looked at him with tears flowing down their faces. “Once the other members of the Corrupted are killed, I’ll be the only one left. Then and only then will the Empire be free from Sombra forever.”
“Wait, so the Corrupted are still alive?” Cadence said.
“Yes, they disappeared after you defeated Sombra. I don’t have the slightest clue where or who they are.” He said as he hung his head. Once I saw that the spell didn’t break I never felt more alone. I had lost more than just my friends. That’s when I truly despaired. In all the world there was no one that needed me. I was....unnecessary.” He said as the tears flowed. Twilight wrapped him in a tight hug and cried. “I continued living as I always had. In the tunnels scrounging for food at night. I decided to try my luck at the Castle which brings us to the present.” The Alicorn Princess broke down and joined the hug along with the other mares. Geode returned the embrace.
“H-how did you seal Sombra’s magic?” Cadence asked as she broke the hug.
“With this.” He said as he pointed to his necklace. “It seals away his magic and I don’t fall under his control.” The mare’s remembered the black crystal he used to seal the Manticore.
“What is the point of the dirt you attach to yourself?” Rarity asked.
“I can funnel my magic into the earth and attach it to my body. Not only to hide my scars but it also acts as a shell.” He said as his horn glowed and the dirt formed around his body again. “I can also manipulate it for offensive purposes.” He said as he formed the shifting earth into a sword and shield.
“But you-”
“Just because my bones are diamond hard doesn’t mean that my organs and blood vessels are. I can still bruise and bleed.” He said as the earth covered his body and hid his scars. The mare’s wiped their tears away and looked at the colt. “That’s everything.” He said in a flat tone. Twilight wrapped him in another hug and smiled.
“You don’t have to be on your own anymore.” She said with a sniffle. “We all care about you and we would never do anything to hurt you.” Geode smiled and returned the gesture.
“I know.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Outside the library a hooded stallion peered into the window and smirked. He trotted over to a dark alley and pulled out a crystal. The rock shined brightly and an image of the older hooded figure appeared. “I’ve found him master.”
“Excellent.” The elder pony said with a cough.
“He’s staying with the Element of Magic. She’s very powerful.”
“Keep an eye on him until it’s time to strike.”
“Yes, sir.” He said as he raised his right hoof. “For the Order.” He said before the image faded away.
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2547318 Oh just wait.
2547318 I agree
Yay an update.
Was an ok chapter, but why would you name yourself "the Order of Corruption." Names are very important for orders you know.
"Hey, want to join our order?"
"Sure, what's it called?"
"The order of corruption."
"No!"
Granted they use mind control and conversion, but they could have done better.
"The Black Stone Order" because all those crystal/stone things that grew in the episode were black.
"The Order of the Shadow" because he seemed to like shadows.
"The Order of the Crimson Horn" because Sombra had a red horn.
I've heard of the names of many orders and shady organizations in real life, but I've never heard someone use a blatantly evil name. Worst I've heard was "the black hand" who assassinated the arch Duke and helped start world war one, but even that name doesn't sound completely evil. It just sounded shady and mysterious in order to hide the orders incompetence.
Anyway, good chapter, I enjoyed it.
2547449 I alway saw Sombra as the symbol of corruption seeing how he changed the crystals from bright and beautiful to black and eerie in S3 E1 +E2. Just going off that.
Can't wait for him to kick some more ass
Nicely done!
Brilliant Work!! You have a spectacular talent as a Word Smith. I am definitely enjoying this story VERY much! I hope you are having as much fun Writing it as I am Reading it!!
,
All The Best to You,
Brony and Dashing Proud
Lightning Flash
Watch out, we got a badass over here!
Cant really think of anything to review so you get the chapter off.
2562256 Yes, Full Metal Alchemist referance.
2330676 Geode is a type of rock gem. It's rough on the outside but has a lot of bright gems on the inside. th03.deviantart.net/fs50/PRE/f/2009/296/3/4/Purple_Geode_2_by_Arii_Suzuki.jpg
2568883
I'm no geologist, but there is more to it than that. It is generally a kind of rock, marble for instance, that is permeated by water. The water inside slowly erodes a cavity into the marble. But e engulf the water will evaporate leaving behind the marble crystals inside the rock forming what you and I call geodes.
I don't know exactly if using "scarred" there is a typo for scared or if that was supposed to be there but I don't get it.
Anyone else thinking of Garra of the Sand, when it comes to that Armour?