Andrew Duron, hardened by his life's many traumas. At the age of 19 his, and everyones, world gets turned upside down after a freak worldwide storm appears out of nowhere and changes the world forever. The Ponies have arrived..
While out stargazing after running away for the hundredth time, trying to get away from the world and his life. Andrew Duron finds himself at a loss for words after a lightning bolt appears from out of nowhere and sends him flying. Imagine his surprise when he looks up to find a portal, and through it step the leaders of a race of anthropomorphic horses, Ponies. What the hell is going on!?
No doubt the music could be heard reverberating through the mostly quiet streets of Canterlot, coming from one of its more popular clubs, The Spinning Disc. Inside people were dancing under the neon strobe lights to a wicked dubstep beat. Near the back, in one of the darker corners, a stallion pulled a mare along by the arm as she failingly tried to resist. He continued until he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He turned around to see a man around 5’9”, with short blond hair and a trimmed jawline beard. He was fair skinned with deep blue eyes, wearing a plain black long sleeve shirt and black jeans.
That’s me.
“What do you want pipsqueak?” The stallion said looking down with a look of annoyance at being interrupted.
“Lay off her. She’s not interested.” I said coldly, my tone like steel.
“And who’s going to make me, you?”
*CRASH*
The stallion landed on a trashcan as he flew out the club's entrance. I walk out, dusting my hands off. “Yeah, and stay out.” Ah another night, another asshole I got the pleasure of throwing out of the club. I love being a bouncer. Oh, that reminds me, introductions are in order. First off, my name is Andrew Duron, and as for my story well… let me start from the beginning.
It was a normal night like any other… Actually it wasn’t, it was better. The night looked beautiful and clear, devoid of all clouds or other obstructions. I should’ve known something was wrong just from that, life is never that nice. I had run away to my favorite getaway spot over in the forest on the edge of my hometown. Getaway from what you may ask? Well that’s not exactly important right now. Anyway, there I was, camping in the middle of the woods, just staring into the beautiful night. That is… until the lightning struck…
From out of thin air, a bolt of lightning struck not ten feet from where I was laying. The shockwave lifting me up and sending me flying about twenty feet from where I once was. My ears felt like they had burst due to the shockwave, not to mention the massive thunderclap produced from the lightning striking so close. I looked up, my head still spinning, as I was trying to understand what had just happened. What I saw, most people would describe as impossible.
Where the lightning struck was now a portal, and through it stepped what could only be described as two goddesses. They were both vaguely equine, but not in an off-putting way. The first one I took note of stood tall, even from my spot in the dirt I would say she was around 6’ 4”, 6' 10" if you included her horn she had in the middle of her forehead. She had fur of pure white covering her entire body, an ethereal mane and tail filled with the colors of early dawn, and magenta eyes. The most surprising fact I made note of was she not only had a horn but wings too. She wore an elegant, pure white silken dress with gold around the edges and a golden tiara with a large amethyst in the middle. She also had quite a nice rack on her, probably F cup, but it was hard to tell on the ground in the dark.
The other stood around 6’ and had dark, black-blue fur, her ethereal mane resembled the night sky in all its beauty, and her eyes were a beautiful cyan color. She wore a lovely short-length black dress which fluttered lightly in the night breeze. Like the other she also had a horn, pair of wings, and a tiara, however this one was pitch black. Her breast were slightly smaller than the other one’s, but still quite large for her size, easily DDs if not a bit larger. They spotted me on the ground and give me comforting smiles. That was the last thing I remember before my world turned black.
I later woke up in a hospital bed. In the room was another anthropomorphic equine dressed in a doctor’s uniform. He told me about the portal I had seen and said there were others. The event was ironicly being called ‘The Portal Event’. Around the world, at the same time, twelve portals were made know. Three in the US, two in the UK, one each in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Russia, and finally two in China.
I was also told the ones that found me and brought me to the hospital were the rulers of this anthropomorphic race, which I was told were referred to as Ponies. I learned that those two were in fact sisters, and they co-ruled the land I was in, called Equestria.
The elder sister was known as Princess Celestia, and her sister was Princess Luna. I later learned that due to a long history of not having a queen, princess was seen as the highest form of royalty. Also one only achieved the rank of princess by being born or made an alicorn, Celestia and Luna being the former. An alicorn being the combination of the three main breeds of Pony: Earth, Pegasi, and Unicorns.
They went before the United Nations saying that they wished to coexist with humans and create a lasting friendship between the two races. As a result a treaty was signed that permitted travel between the realms. The world governments took the necessary measures to set up inter-dimensional traveling laws, and preparing forms that contained waivers and all other paperwork that we swore to follow the laws of this new world, Equis. Also banning the transportation of any recreational drugs and weapons such as guns, explosives, and the works. to their peaceful community. There were those who were still skeptical of the idea of sharing resources to these new species of intelligent life forms, especially the extreme followers of certain religions, and I laughed my ass off when I heard the news stories about how everything they knew up to then was wrong, and causing a huge riot over it. Of course, there were others that tried to get there by illegal means with weapons, but our government was doing something right for once by holding tight enough security to not only prevent such people through, but kept track of any new portals that pop up for people to get through without signing any legal documents.
That was a three months ago. Approximately only 2,000 humans, male and female each, have gotten permission and traversed the portal to move to their world. That small number is due to the fact that for each person that came through, each had to pass a lie detector test to validate there reason for coming. Oh, besides the fact it was provided by the Ponies and it was always one hundred percent accurate.
If you’re wondering how that’s possible, well I might have forgotten to mention they have… magic. That’s right, magic, I was freaked out at first. Though thankfully my reason for coming didn't force me to reveal my past. That would have probably caused some problems for me, but more on that another time. I stayed in the capital city where the sisters ruled from, Canterlot. It wasn’t too bad, as long as you avoided the upper level of the city. The nobles didn’t take kindly to those that were not like them and often had quite a few nasty quips to throw if you happened to walk too close. I found work in the middle level at a local bar working as a bouncer. Most stallions were over 6 feet tall. Towering over a person like me, who was only 5’ 9”. However, thanks to the minimal amounts of crime that occurred before the portals appeared, most ponies didn’t know how to fight unless they were part of the military. Thankfully I had taught myself some basic marital arts for a few years, so even though I was 19 I could still remove an overly tipsy customer if necessary fairly easily. Like the stallion I had the pleasure of removing earlier. Though the best part of working at the bar, was watching one of my newest friends perform.
Vinyl Scratch, aka DJ-Pon3 as she like to be called when performing. She was a unicorn mare standing around 5’ 5”. She had a white coat with a mane and tail of two shades of electric blue. Her attire consisted of blue skinny jeans, which I barely believed were actually held up by the belt she wore and not her hips, and a shirt with a light blue collar and sleeves, with a hole cut to show her cleavage. Though B cups don't have much in any case. Her mane was unkempt, but I found it hard to believe she didn’t style it that way, since she possessed magic that could fix it if she wanted. And who could forget the pair of large thick purple sunglasses she wore no matter the weather or lighting.
I met Vinyl after her performance at the club one night and we just clicked. She had a wild, unpredictable, and sometimes borderline insane behavior that had me laughing in just minutes. Most nights after she gets done performing and I finish my shift we grab a drink and relax by the bar, commenting on who we thought was the sexiest person/pony we had seen that night.
*tap,tap* Speak of the devil, or mare in this case. I turned around to see the pony in question looking up at me, at least I assumed so. It was hard to tell with those sunglasses of hers.
“Dude that was sweet! You seriously need to teach me how you do that sometime.” She said with a slight rasp in her voice, I always assumed it was because she spent every night yelling her lungs out.
I chuckled, “Says the only pony I know outside of the royal guard that can beat me in a fist fight.” I say as I walk over to the bar and sit down, Vinyl hopping on the stool next to me.
“Ah, that’s sweet. Flattery will get you everywhere you know.” Vinyl said with a mischievous smirk. “And coming from such a cute guy. It’s almost amazing you don’t have a marefriend yet.” She said sarcastically as she ordered a drink.
I twitched at hearing the word marefriend. Nothing against the ponies, I actually found quite a few attractive, including the one sitting next to me. However, I still had scars from my last relationship, and I wasn’t planning on a new one anytime soon.
“Well, you know the reason. I’m just not open to that right now. Hopefully at some point, but I doubt that’s anytime soon.” I reply with a sigh before ordering a cider. “At least I get a day off tomorrow, what about you?” I asked, glancing over at Vinyl.
“Nothing much, I get a day too. Probably just spend it working my new mix… Unless you had other ideas.” She smirks, wiggling her eyebrows. The action causing me to nearing spit my drink, laughing at the action. She however didn't appear to be amused as her smile dropped.
“Sorry Vinyl… I wish I could…” I said in between my dying chuckles. “But I have an appointment with Luna tomorrow.” I said, finally getting my laughter under control.
“Well then how about after? I doubt you’ll take all day, unless there’s something you’re not telling me?” Vinyl says leaning towards me, pulling her shades down to reveal her beautiful red eyes, and a soft blush on her cheeks, thanks to the amount of alcohol she had no doubt already consumed.
I lean away as a blush also creeps up on me, but not because any alcohol. “No after is fine.” I said, glancing away. “I was thinking of stopping by to see Mark, since he spends a lot of time at his office in the castle, but I can stop by another day.” Vinyl leaned back, her eyes looking me up and down to see if I was lying, which I doubt she could tell even if she wanted to thanks to the state she was in.
“Alright then, I’ll stop by your place when you’re back. What time should that be?” Vinyl asks, hopping off her bar stool.
“Should be back by 4:00 or so.” I replied as I stood up from my own seat.
“Well then, I’ll come by at 5:00 and you can take me out to dinner Mr. Duron~.” Vinyl said, trying to use a sultry voice. Only to give a small hiccup which completely canceled the desired effect.
I smiled at her silliness. I had thankfully made a decent living thanks to my job. Equestria’s main currency was called a bit. They were worth just a bit more that a US dollar, and I made twenty an hour. Thanks to that, I could afford a nice apartment not too far from work. The Princesses had offered me a room in the castle, but I only used that until I found my current residence.
I still visited from time to time, and I still had appointments with Luna fairly regularly because of a mild case of insomnia I possessed. Not to mention when I did manage to go to sleep my dreams often turned nightmare. Thankfully travel around the capitol was fairly easy. Since there were no motor vehicles in Equestria everything was designed so that it could be reached on foot.
“Hey, Equis to Andrew, you there?” I heard as Vinyl poked at my cheek, breaking me from my thoughts.
“Can you stop that Vinyl?” I asked, swatting her hand away.
“Well I wouldn’t have to if you were actually listening to me.” She said slugging my arm lightly.
“You mean something you say could be important?” I replied before getting slapped over the head. “Ow! What was that for?”
“For making fun of your best friend, moron.”
“Oh come on, you know you love being around me.” I say ruffing her mane, causing her to blush as red as her eyes. This time she swat my hand away as she gave a cute little pout.
“C-come off your high horse. I know you only do that to mess with me.” She huffed, looking at me with her ruby irises. This was my turn to blush, those eyes always got to me somehow.
I got up from my stool as I spoke, “Well I guess that’s enough torture for one day. I going to head home. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I said as I made my way towards the door. As I stepped out into the cool autumn night air, I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. Ah, it’s a nice night. Though I should getting back home. A night drinking with Vinyl will probably end up being a long one. Man a lot has changed in three months, at least it seems for the better. I thought as I opened my eyes and started my walk back to my apartment...
You ever had one of those dreams that are just so good, you know it can’t be true? Yeah, I thought so.
For me it was back in my old house... My parents had died in a car crash back when I was too young to remember. Thankfully my dad's brother and his wife took me and my brother in after the accident. My Uncle and Aunt were sitting by the fire laughing, my brother and cousin Zoe were playing a game of chess like they used to before my brother joined the military, while I was sitting with my best friend Ryan playing video games. I didn’t really even notice it was a dream, who’d want to? I did however notice when a certain tall dark blue alicorn sat down next to me and started playing with me and Ryan.
Now I knew Luna could enter the dreams of those she wished, it was the main tool she used in our therapy sessions. I just wished she would've stayed out of mine when we weren't in session. Now don’t get me wrong, I like Luna, and I've loved when we've played games and talked whenever I go see her at the castle. I just couldn't see why she had to break me from such a great dream.
“You need something, Lulu?” I asked, not even turning to look at her. I had picked up her several of nicknames from Celestia while I had stayed in the castle. She often got tired of people addressing her as Princess all day, so she liked it when I came to visit and used more personal forms of address. Though she still blushed when I used that one.
“We simply enjoy your company. Is that so wrong?” Luna asked, using her famous royal We.
“Not at all. It’s just hard to not realize you’re in a dream when there’s a six foot anthropomorphic pony sitting next to you.” I replied, still not looking at her for fear it would cause the dream to shatter.
“We admit, this dream is rather pleasant. We can see why you enjoy returning to it so often.” Luna replied.
She wasn’t wrong. I’d had this same dream for the last two weeks. Though I was kind of glad Luna was here. Often, near the end of the dream, my family and friend would fade, one by one, until I was left alone. Only to have them be replaced by figures of my past, the source of my nightmares. If that started to happen all I had to do was look at Luna and my dream would break and I’d wake up, usually drenched in a cold sweat.
I’d been going to Luna for help with my nightmares since I entered Equestria, and thankfully it’s seemed to help. The nightmares had been appearing less often than in the past, and it had actually been a whole week since my last episode.
“Shall We see you later this day?” Luna inquired, still heavily enthralled by the game we were playing.
“That was the plan. Though I will have to leave early, I have an appointment with a friend at 5:00.” I replied, before a sharp squeal broke through my dream.
“Really! Who with!? What are you doing!? Is she pretty!?” Luna asked, bombarding me with questions.
“How did you know it was a she?” I asked back, not sure what else to say.
“So it IS a she!” Luna declared triumphantly. I really walked into that one.
I sighed as I accepted my defeat. "You know her. She’s pretty famous, her name is Vinyl Scratch.” I replied, knowing telling her was the quickest way to shut her up.
“Ooo, We do know her. She played at our niece’s wedding.” Luna recalled. I remember Vinyl saying something about that. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and her wedding with Shining Armor. If memory serves, that was also the day of a massive enemy invasion from a race of shapeshifters called the Changelings. I still have a hard time believing anyone would hire Vinyl for a wedding, doesn’t really seem like her style.
“Anyway, I’m just going out with her for a few drinks, Luna. It’s not a date.” I stated firmly, though Luna’s smile didn’t fade in the least. “Uhh, I’ll see you later Luna, I’m waking up.” I stated, before blinking my eyes as they were greeted by the darkness of my apartment. I rubbed my eyes before swinging my legs to the side of my bed and starting my day. I looked over at the clock above my bed and it read 8:47. Standing from my bed I went to the shower and started my day.
This usually consisted of, showering, eating breakfast, and then playing some music before having to go off to any appointments or work. I grabbed my trombone, her name was Blair (terrible pun I know), and proceeded to go through the steps to clean her like I did before ever time I played. After cleaning her I blew a few long notes to warm up and then started to play a couple pieces I had picked from my memory.
My mind began to drift as I let my muscle memory take over and I got to enjoy the sensation of playing. After an hour or two of play I put Blair away and picked up my jacket before leaving to head to the castle. It was pretty chilly since it was autumn in Equestria.
On my walk to the castle I walked by several ponies that gave me stares, nothing malicious, just the kind of fascinated stare one gives an animal they hadn’t seen before. I've had this happen almost every time I went out of my apartment. Now I only had one main problem with this was... it wasn’t like humans were new.
Even before the Portal Event occurred there were humans in Equestria. Now let me help you understand, if you asked what a human was five years ago in Equestria, Ponies would look at you like you’d lost your mind. However, around three years ago the first human appeared on Equis. He was taken from Earth by an inter-dimensional tear in space-time and dumped in Equis, somewhere in the western part of Equestria. Over the next two years more humans started to appear until the Portal Event finally took place. Now while some people that were dumped in Equestria were overjoyed when the portals appeared and went back to earth to enjoy their old lives, others were content to just stay in Equestria because of the new lives they had built. Most of these people were those that had ended up falling in love with a pony and had made a life together. Not to say they didn’t come back to Earth briefly to reunite with loved ones and family to let them know they were alive, since most were thought to be dead after missing for so long.
Now while that is said, human’s didn’t just appear in Equestria in mass. The number of humans in Equestria at the time of the Portal Event was only somewhere around forty people, and only maybe half that decided to permanently return to Earth. I had made a few friend while in Equestria, besides Vinyl, I had met Mark, who is the assistant and boy/coltfriend to Spitfire and Fleetfoot of the Wonder Bolts. A small, elite group of fliers I would say resemble the Blue Angels. Spitfire was one of their captains, with Fleetfoot as her wingpony. Then there was Chris. He lived in Ponyville with his two marefriends Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops, or Bon Bon as she liked to be called. Chris was a kind, funny individual, and a great cook. Lyra's that kind of crazy friend that everyone gets along with, but no one knows why. Bon Bon being the contrast to her friend and herdmate as she is sweet, kind, and normally calm in demeanor.
You might be asking, what’s a herdmate? That question is totally justified. You see, in Equestria the gender ratio is severely lopsided at around four mares to one stallion. This being the case, polygamous relationships were a legal and common occurrence. While there were plenty of those who still chose monogamous relationships in Equestria, it was also not uncommon to see two or more mares with one stallion, or guys in the case of my friends, in what is called a herd.
Sadly because of Mark’s busy schedule, and Chris living a while away in a small town called Ponyville, I rarely got to see them. Especially since I now have a job as well. Though I still see Mark from time to time because of my trips to the castle. Speaking of which, I now stood directly outside said castle. The guards recognized me and nodded as I passed through. I could never tell any of the royal guards apart, they all had coats of either white or grey and their manes and cutie marks were hidden by their armor. Which I also found out was enchanted so that they all had white coats in the case of unicorns and grey coats for pegasi. I’d never seen an earth pony guard now that I thought about of it.
Oh yeah, have I not explained cutie marks? Well apparently when a pony figures out what their special talent is in life, a tattoo magically appears on part of their body, commonly their flank. Since ponies usually don’t flaunt their rears in public, they commonly wear their cutie mark on some part of their clothing or jewelry so people can see. I still found it funny when I heard Mark wore clothes with his marefriends’ cutie marks on them. I remember reading in an old Equestrian history book that wearing another's cutie mark was a sign that you were their possession. Though Mark didn’t know that at the time. I swear the guy turned so red when I told him I thought his head was going to explode. Though even after he still wore those clothes proudly, and I must say they did look good on him.
I went to Luna’s personal chambers like I usually did when meeting her. Outside her door stood two thestrals, or bat ponies if you like. They looked like normal pegasi except for three facts: bat wings, fangs, and silted eyes. I liked them well enough, Luna’s guards weren’t as stoic as the normal day guards. Meaning I could have an actual conversation with them.
“Sup Blaze, Fin, how’s it going?” I said before giving each guard a fist bump.
“Not much, the day time is usual pretty boring.” Blaze responded.
“Yeah, you need to stop by more often man, we need the excitement.” Fin added.
Unlike Celestia’s guards, Luna’s didn’t wear enchanted armor so each one looked unique. Blaze had a black coat with a short, wild crimson colored mane and tail, not to mention blood red eyes. Fin was actually Blaze’s brother and had the same black coat. The difference was his mane and eyes, Fin had a dark blue and purple mane and tail with yellow eyes. In truth I thought they looked pretty bad ass in their dark blue night guard armor, and I would doubt I could find anyone willing to fight these guys unless they were drunk, even then I think it would still be tough to find someone so stupid.
I smirked at their remarks as I walked into Luna’s chambers to find her sitting on her massive bed, which could easily hold six or more people comfortably, playing a 3DS. She was so concentrated on the game she didn’t notice I came in. I decide to not say anything and slowly made my way around her room until I was behind her. As I got closer I tried to make as little sound as possible in hopes of pranking the princess of the night. Luna always loved a good prank, receiving and giving. So as I got right next to her ear I whispered.
“Oh yeah baby, mash those buttons.” In as sexy a voice as I could manage.
Luna leaped up in surprise with a small shriek before spinning around and pouting, which in my mind, made her look impossibly cute.
“Andrew, what have We said about announcing yourself when you arrive!” Luna said before her glare into a sly smile. “You know I will get you back for that. Though I suppose I’ll have to wait until after your date.”
Oh boy, what have I started? Wait did she say date!? “Luna for the last time, it’s not a date! You should know better than anypony that I’m not ready to try that again. At least not yet.” I said, the final words coming out barely above a whisper.
Luna turned around and embraced me in a hug before replying. “We apologize, that was cruel of Us. Shall we get started with your therapy?” Luna asked, releasing me from the hug. I gave a nod in reply.
Luna’s therapy sections were not typical to what a human psychologist would think to do. Luna’s method involved putting me to sleep and running me through increasing levels of nightmares. She would always be by my side in the dream in case the nightmare was ever too much. She would guide me through each nightmare so I could find ways to distinguish them from reality and break the nightmare from within my mind. This would often go on for a couple hours until Luna thought I could try to handle one by myself, but as soon as she would leave I would often break down and Luna would be forced to break the spell and awaken me. Every time I would wake up in Luna’s arms, as she whispered gentle words to bring me out of my panic attack. I had gotten better from when I started lasting longer each time, but I had yet to successfully make it through even one nightmare.
“That’s enough for today Luna.” I said as I sat up from her embrace. She looked at me with concern then nodded. “I’ll be back next week… and Lulu, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” I said, giving her a smile.
Luna just looked at me critically before her eyes soften and she replied, “We know you will. Just don’t a stranger, understood?” I nodded and proceed to leave. I threw back one final smile before exiting the princess’ chambers. Nodding to Blaze and Fin as I left.
“Come back soon bud.” “Yeah, we need the company.” Blaze and Fin called out before I was about to round a corner to head to the front gate.
“Ah, come on you have each other.” I shout back, causing an outbreak of complaining about how one’s an idiot and the other bickers that it's him, and then back and forth as siblings often do. I just chuckled as I rounded the corner. I looked down at the watch I had on and noticed the time read 4:35. Shit! I’m going to be late for meeting Vinyl! I though before breaking into a run as I weaved through the halls of the castle. I sprinted past a guy walking through the halls as I made my way as fast as I could back to my apartment.
“Hey! Watch it!” He shouted after me.
I craned my neck back as far as I could as I ran and shouted back, “Sorry Ryan, kind of in a hurry!”
Know you might be wondering, and yes. This is my childhood friend that had been in my dream. Ryan had very short red hair and stood around 5’ 11”. Now this might seem pretty normal, except for the fact that just two years ago, Ryan went missing and was pronounced dead. Now this was because around two years ago, Ryan had disappeared in a car crash. I remember because he crashed while coming to see me. It had been a stupid reason, I don’t even remember what it was. All I remember was it was the middle of the night, I called him up and asked him to come over. On his drive over he had blown a tire and driven off a bridge. His body was never found. Let’s just say that I was surprised when I saw him walking through the castle halls with PrincessCelestia by his side. I think I fainted at the time, but I later found out he had somehow been transported to Equestria where he was nursed back to health and had actually managed to get into a relationship with Celestia of all ponies. I was overjoyed when I got my friend back, I often drop by his office at the barracks he works at, as a Lieutenant in the Equestrian Legion.
But that’s beside the point right now. Right now I had to make it back home so I could meet Vinyl! I didn’t want to leave her hanging like last time. Man, you wouldn’t think to be afraid of a 5’ 5” horse girl. Unless said horse girl didn’t have magic! That being the case I made it an honest goal to not make her angry.
Are you familiar with Murphy’s Law? Well it was strong with me today. As I rounded the final corner to reach my apartment I was met with an angry Vinyl Scratch as she was storming away from said apartment. Now as I saw her my boot met with a nice puddle of water, and I proceeded to slip and crash directly into Vinyl, who as a result came crashing down on top of me with her horn nearly impaling me in the chest.
“Ouch! Watch where you’re going… Andrew?” Vinyl trailed off, as she lay on top of me staring me in the face.
“Ow~, hey Vinyl. Sorry I’m late, my appointment went long.” I groaned as Vinyl pushed herself up then helped me as well. All signs of her anger gone.
“Oh, well then. Let’s head to dinner.” She said before grabbing my hand and started dragging me through the streets of Canterlot. I hated being dragged along like a little puppy, but I knew Vinyl was too impatient to walk at my normal leisurely speed. So I just bared with it and let her drag me where she wanted. We ended up at a bar called “Clover’s Bar”. I had heard about this bar from Mark, apparently Spitfire knew the owner and they went here quite often. Vinyl heard about because it’s apparently very popular. Vinyl got us inside quickly thanks to her status as a celebrity. She didn’t like to wave it around much, but she did really love it when it got her into a good bar. We got seated and ordered a couple drinks to start us off with before Vinyl finally spoke.
“Hey, sorry about earlier. I thought you had given me the wrong time so you could get out of meeting me.” She said slightly downtrodden.
“Why are you apologizing?” I asked, her ears perking up to listen. “I’m the one who said I’d be back by 3:00. Not your fault I’m terrible about keeping track of time." This got her to brighten up as she laughed.
"Yeah that right! Where the hell were you? It's not like you to be late." Vinyl said, as our drinks arrived. Which she immediately slammed back. If there was only one thing about ponies I would never understand, it was why they were such heavy drinkers besides the fact most couldn't handle alcohol at all. Vinyl was no exception, as a blush had already appeared through her fur after downing her drink.
"Well I'm sorry I have mind numbing nightmares that I need the help of a princess for." I replied, knowing Vinyl had already started ignoring me and would doubtfully remember anything I said. Another drink had already been brought out and Vinyl made quick work of it, though this one a little slower than the first. "It doesn't help that I have to go out drinking with a hot mare who won't even remember what happens." I muttered to myself.
"Ah, relax. I'm only joking is all." Vinyl slurred out, tapping me in the arm. I would say hit, but she didn't have the strength to manage that. "Can I help it, I like it when you get all defensive."
I blush at the comment. I liked Vinyl, and these were the only times I could talk to her without having to hide it. She'd just forget everything when she woke up with a hangover tomorrow anyway. "I wish you wouldn't get so drunk Vinyl. It's a pain in the ass having to drag you back to your place."
"Well then, how about you take me back to your place~." Vinyl said with a smirk, her blush from the alcohol more apparent as she leaned closer.
"Don't start that again. Only God knows what you'd assume when you get sober if I actually let that happen." I tried to defend myself from the drunk mare as she scooted closer.
"Andy~, you're so mean~." Vinyl whined as she slumped onto my arm, her head nuzzling into my shoulder.
"Vinyl. Get off." I snap in a low tone. Vinyl looked up at me as if to ask what she did wrong. I had only one particular trigger, people calling me Andy. Memories of my past would flood my mind at the word and I would snap. I'd gotten better about it since being around Vinyl, the first time she called me that I nearly slapped her out of reflex. Thankfully she hadn't been drunk at that point and stopped me with her magic. I explained afterwards and she forgave me, though she still accidentally lets it slip when she gets drunk sometimes. I looked into her eyes as they started to tear up slightly, to which I responded with a sigh. "Hhh, I'm sorry I snapped at you. You know not to call me that name." I chastised her. Upon hearing this she perked up, smiled, and laid her head back on my shoulder.
"Ah~, I knew you couldn't stay mad at me" Vinyl teased, nuzzling me again. She wasn't wrong, even with all the crazy shit I'd had to deal with because of her I never remember actually staying mad at Vinyl more than a few minutes. She just had a calming effect on me that no one had been able to mimic before I met Vinyl. Our food arrived after our chat and after when we finished we walked out of the bar to meet a storm of icy rain.
"Damn it, forgot that was scheduled for today. How am I supposed to get you home and stay dry?" I moaned. Vinyl's horn started to glow a bright blue, I looked up to see her form a shield we could use as an umbrella through the rain. "Well I must say, magic does come in handy, but that doesn't change the fact that I know you don't have an umbrella at your apartment. How am I supposed to get home? You know I hate the rain, and there's no way I'm taking you back to my place." I said, as I looked down at her.
Vinyl just linked arms with mine before replying. "Well then, just stay over at my place. You know I have the room." Vinyl said in as sultry a voice as she could manage in her drunken state. Which ended up slurring her sentence to the point no normal person could make out what she said. Unfortunately, I had been around Vinyl to get the gist of what she was implying.
"Does that mean I have your promise that you won't do anything?" I asked, before we started our walk towards her apartment.
"I pinkie promise!" Vinyl declared, doing a few gestures. I shuttered as I remembered the energetic pink ball of joy I met on one of my visits to Ponyville. Pinkie Pie, along with the other Elements of Harmony, was one of the nicest ponies I'd ever met. That does negate the traumatic horror I had to endure when I met the exuberant party pony for the first time. I dare not try and recreate that horror with words, for consideration of your sanity.
"Fine then. I'll stay at your place for tonight, but I'm leaving first thing in the morning, whether or not you're up." I conceded. Vinyl just squeezed my arm tighter as we walked in the rain, shielded by her magic. Surprising, since most magic required a good amount of concentration. Guess this spell isn't that difficult.
We got to Vinyl's apartment fairly quickly. I opened the door to find clothes strewn around her apartment with several empty things of instant noodles on the floor. I groaned as I navigated my way through the chaos with Vinyl on my back, as she had gotten tried on our walk back, so I was forced to carry her. As I got to her room I saw it was in much better condition than the rest of her apartment. There was her trusty turntable on top of one of her dressers and a couple of pictures on her nightstand. One was of me and her in front of our bar after we had gotten done with our shift one night, the other was of Vinyl and a friend I didn't recognize. She was an earth pony who had a dark grey coat and even darker mane, she was wearing a classy black dress and a pink bow tie. However the thing that hit me the most was her bright purple eyes. Now I had seen ponies with purple eyes before, Celestia for example had purple eyes, but something about these eyes where special. I couldn't think of a word to describe the pony in the photo except for 'beautiful'. I set Vinyl down on her bed and tucked her in before I made my way over to her guess room. Without even turning on the lights I flopped down on the guest bed and proceeded to fall asleep. It had been a long day and all my mind could say was 'sleep', so I listened. I would never have thought to stay in a girl's apartment, especially one home to a pony like Vinyl. Just goes to show, you never know who will be a friend until you give them a chance. I was just glad gave one to Vinyl. Maybe one day she could finally pull me out of my shell and I could truly consider this home, not that I didn't like Equestria. It just didn't feel like home, nowhere did, at least... not at the moment. Oh well, a problem for another time. I thought to myself. I can worry about finding a home later. For now, just need to focus on my new life.
Ah dreamland, the place people go to fulfill their wants and desires. That is of course, if something isn’t already waiting for you…
I looked around at the void that was my dream, or lack thereof. This had happened before, my brain would shut down all thought to avoid the nightmares that would surely come if I dared to dream. It was fairly pleasant in a way. I could think, have a conversation with myself, or even wander the void and make the laws of physics disappear. I like that last one a lot, but this time the void didn’t last long. I was greeted by a blast of colors, shades of gray and pink circled around me before stopping. I looked around trying to perceive what was happening, I had a constant set of dreams/nightmares my mind would decide to cycle through if I got bored of the void, but this wasn’t part of them. New dreams only filled me with one thing, worry. I could tell you what would happen in each dream or nightmare I’d ever had, just because of how often I’d had them, but not this time. I waited in fear as the colors began to move again, circling closer with each pass. As they finally touched me I woke with a scream, followed by another, and a large weight on my legs.
Vinyl burst into the room to see what the commotion was, and was greeted to an interesting sight. I had bolted upright from the bed as I woken up, but on my lap was the source of the second scream and the weight on my legs. On my lap looking at me with bright violet eyes with a look of shock and confusion, was the mare I had seen in the picture in Vinyl's room. She was around 5’ 7” and wore the same black dress she had on in the picture. Along with the white choker with a pink bowtie around her neck. Her ample bust was pressed firmly between my groin. I looked down at her with equal amount of confusion before looking up at Vinyl, who was laughing her head off.
“Care to explain what’s going on her Vinyl? Like who the hell is this!?” I nearly yelled. A bright blush adorning my face as I tried everything in my power to prevent the soft, magical feeling of the bust of the mare in my lap from making the situation any worse.
“That’s my… my roommate… Tavi.” Vinyl replied in between laughs. The mare upon hearing her name realizing where she was laying and bolted up with a squeak and sat on her knees at the edge of the bed, a blush showing through her dark coat.
“I-I’m d-dreadfully sorry, Vinyl didn’t make me aware she was having a guest over.” She said with a stutter, but behind the quivering voice was an accent of high refinement, similar to the British on Earth. “I’m Octavia, Vinyl’s roommate.” She said extending her hand, her composure restored.
I shook her hand before replying, “Andrew Duron, I wasn’t aware Vinyl even had a roommate.” I say, causing her to throw an icy glare at Vinyl. “I assume this is your room if that is the case?” She looked back at me and nodded. I look around to closer examine the room, since I came in with the lights off I didn’t notice any of the feature of the room. It was painted a light purple and had simple white furniture. A few pictures were scattered around the room but the one I noticed was one of Vinyl and Octavia holding their instruments. Vinyl was carrying her signature turntable ‘Wubz’ and Octavia was holding a beautiful wooden cello.
As I looked around Octavia was giving Vinyl quite the tongue lashing. “How inconsiderate of you not to tell me you were bringing someone home! Aggg, what am I supposed to do with you!?” Octavia fumed, Vinyl had stopped laughing and now looked quite remorse.
“Hey I’m sorry Tavi. I didn’t plan on him coming back with me, but with the rain and all, he didn’t have a way to get home. So I offered to let him spend the night.”
“In my room!?” Octavia nearly screamed. “Not only that, I come to find out you didn’t even have the decency to mention you have a roommate!”
“Sorry Octy.” Vinyl replied, head hung low and her ears folded back.
“Ugg.” Octavia groans before walking to Vinyl and wrapping her in a hug, careful to avoid her horn. “I’m sorry I yelled at you, but you really need to be more considerate of others you knucklehead.” She said to Vinyl before stepping back and flicking her in the nose.
“Ouch~.” Vinyl said, rubbing her snout.
“And that was for not telling your friend about me.” She said before turning to face me. “Now that that is taken care of allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Octavia Melody, I’m the first seat cellist for the Canterlot Grand Symphony and Vinyl’s roommate.”
“As I said before, Andrew Duron. I work as a bouncer at the nightclub where Vinyl works. Sorry for using your room.” I replied with a smile.
“Think nothing of it. Vinyl is the one at fault. I apologize for not noticing you were in here. I assumed when I felt another pony in the bed it was just Vinyl and she had mistaken my room for hers, again. I should have known it wasn’t her, you’re much too tall to be Vinyl.” Octavia explained with a small blush.
“Well what time is it?” I asked before looking around to see a clock on the wall with the time 12:57. “Is that PM or AM?”
“AM. It’s still the middle of the night.” Vinyl replied.
My head snapped back to Vinyl, eyes narrowing as dark thoughts entered my head. “Weren’t you drunk just a couple hours ago? Shouldn’t you be mid hangover right now?” I asked, the chill of my tone causing Vinyl to gulp audibly.
“I, well, you see the thing is…” Vinyl stuttered, rubbing the back of her head.
“You weren’t drunk were you?” I ask bowing my head, my voice low and brimming with anger.
“Well you see, I guess the bartender must have mixed up my order with somepony el….”
I snapped my head back up as Vinyl tried to make more excuses. I mind beginning to cloud from anger. “So you thought you could get away with acting drunk just so you could get info out of me!?” My words trembled with rage. “How much of a kick did you get out of me pouring my heart out to you huh!?” My voice rising in volume with each question. “Did you think it was cute how much I felt for you without being able to do a damn thing about it!? How long have you been toying with me huh!? A week!? A month!? The entire time I’ve known you!?” I say, practically yelling.
“I…” Vinyl started before I cut her off.
“NO! SAVE IT! I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT! I’M GONE.” I yelled in her face. Pushing her aside as I stormed out of the room and out the door of the apartment. I heard Vinyl call out to me, but her words didn’t reach my rage filled mind.
I threw the door open and was greeted by a torrent of rain. I paused for a brief second before I started to run though the dark vacant streets of Canterlot. The rain masking the tears pouring from my eyes, as I made my way back to my apartment. Lightning cracked across the sky hitting a tree a couple blocks to my right. The booming sound throwing me off and causing me to slip and fall. I caught myself before smashing my face into the cobblestone, causing pain to shoot through my shoulders. I got up and shrugged it off before continuing through the rain-torn streets. As I turned the corner to the street my apartment I saw my sanctuary. It wasn’t big, but still felt the most like a home I’d ever been in.
I slowed my run into a simple walk as I approached. As I did, the hairs on the back of my neck shot up, I looked up before hearing *BOOM* and feeling a shock wave throw me backwards. I shook my head as I tried to comprehend what just happened. I looked up in horror as I saw the top half of my apartment in splinters and a roaring fire blazing, rising from the explosion. My rage turned to fear as I thought of my possession, the only link I had to my past as it went up in flames.
Rational thought being thrown out the window, I scrambled to my feet and ran to my apartment. I dove through a broken window that was blown out due to the lightning, I was greeted by waves of burning heat and smoke as I tried to discern my surroundings. I twisted through the burning wreckage as I tried to find the one thing I couldn’t leave without, Blair. I saw my bedroom was blocked by a burning beam that had fallen from the blast. Without thinking I brought my right leg up and brought it down on the beam with force I was sure was from the adrenaline surging though my blood. It cracked and split falling in half allowing entry into my bedroom. I brought my leg up a second time and slammed it into my door breaking it down. A blast of flames escaped from my room as they were greeted with new oxygen from outside. After the blast I ran in and spotted my goal.
Blair’s leather case was singed around the edges, but otherwise untouched. I grabbed it with both arms as I tried to make my way back out. I started to weave through to increasingly unstable wreckage of my apartment as I saw my exit. That is until I heard a creaking above me. I dove as I threw Blair’s case out the window I came in. The case cleared without a problem, I wasn’t so lucky. The ceiling above me collapsed as I dove, showering me with burning wood. I felt a burning in my side as I felt a piece pierce my back. I screamed as the fire burned my skin and the wood ruptured something inside my gut. I looked down to see a shattered piece of wood around two inches in diameter had pierced my left side under my stomach as blood poured out. I threw my head back and screamed as the pressure on the skank increased pushing it farther. Time slowed as I felt the familiar feel of my hair standing on end as my eyes shot open. Above me I saw a bolt of lightning arcing towards me in slow motion. I smiled as the last thing that shot through my head was ‘Hey Death, long time no see’. I felt the lightning hit me, my body suddenly filled with energy as the lightning shot through me on its way to the ground. I felt something snap just before I collapsed. How I was still conscious I was unsure. The last thing I remember was incoherent yelling as two blurs, one light one dark, came through the doorway of my apartment which must have been blown out from the last lightning strike, as my world went dark.
My eyes snapped open as I was greeted a massive expanse of white nothingness. Am I dead? If this is heaven or hell, it’s not what I expected. I didn’t think I was so in between to end up in limbo, but if that’s the case where am I? I thought as I spun around, trying to find anything other than white. I froze as I felt a presence appear behind me, what I saw when I slowly turned was frightening. As I turned I was greeted by to massive blank inhuman eyes, made entirely out of blue energy. As I stared, frozen in fear, the eyes appeared to stare into my very soul. I finally found my voice as I trembled in place. “W-what do you want?” The very air around me began to shake as I prepared myself for the worst. The rumble intensified until I heard a voice.
“WAKE UP.” A dark growl of a voice thundered inside of my skull. As I heard this, a sound like shattering glass could be heard as shadows crept up the edges of my vision before everything returned to black.
I felt myself bolt upright from wherever I now was. My vision was blurred momentarily until my eyes soon focused to reveal I was lying in a hospital bed with my arm hooked up to an IV bag above me, and several other wires running from electrodes taped to my body to different machines. As I looked around the door opened to reveal a human nurse, we locked eyes for a moment before she dropped her clipboard and ran out of the room calling for a doctor. Soon after a stallion came running into the room with a look of disbelief on his face. He had a dark brown coat and an even darker mane which was combed to give it a more professional look, though at the moment was slightly disheveled. It took him a second to compose himself and fix his mane before before speaking.
“Mr. Duron, how are you feeling?” He asked in a tentative voice, as if unsure what I would do.
“I feel fine, but what happened? Last thing I remember I was…” I trailed off as my memories came flooding back. “My house burning and being struck by lightning.”
The stallion cleared his through before continuing. “That is correct. I’m very surprised to say the least. From what I can tell the lightning went through your left side, which I’m sure you can guess, means it went through your heart.” He explained.
“Wait a minute, isn’t that supposed to kill people? And what about that shank in my side” I asked in confusion, I looked down to see a scar from where the wood had pierced me.
“Normally, unless you’re a pegasus, yes. But you somehow defied the laws of nature. From what I can tell you’re perfectly healthy. As for the shank, the wood had already been removed somehow and the wound was seared shut when you got here.” He replied.
“Well if that’s the case, what was with the crazy look you gave me when you came in?” Now I was even more confused.
“That… is because you have been in a coma for a whole month Mr. Duron.” The doctor answered.
“First just call me Andrew, and second… A WHOLE MONTH!” I yelled in disbelief, as I looked around finally taking in the stacks of flowers and get well cards all around the room.
The doc winced at my exclamation. “That is correct, your sudden return to consciousness surprised us as well. From what we could tell, you were in perfect health but you refused to wake up. The only noticeable sign you had any injury at all your scars, how did you get those if I may ask?” He asked, referring to the nineteen horizontal scars I had on my arms, ten on my left and nine on my right. Along with numerous smaller scars I had across my chest and back.
I looked at my stomach and sure enough there was a burn scar where the shank had been, but I also noticed two others that were new. On the back of my left hand were two scars that reminded me of the two giant eyes of electricity I had seen just before waking up. I flinched as the memory flashed through my head upon seeing the scars.
“Are you alright?” The doctor asked nervously noticing my reaction.
I looked back at him with a small smile. “I’m fine, just remembering something from when I was out. As for the scars I’d rather not say, it’s personal. Also, when can I leave? You said I was healthy right?”
“I understand completely. As for when you can leave, we’d like you to remain here for tonight, just to make sure there aren’t any side effects now that you’re awake. If all is still well you can leave tomorrow morning.” The doc explained before turning to leave.
“That makes sense I suppose. Oh and one more thing, who brought me here?” I asked, causing him to pause. “I remember seeing something or someone before I passed out, who was it?”
“Ah yes, two kind mares apparently rushed in and saved you before your apartment collapsed completely. When the emergency response team arrived they were doing what they could to wake you up. They have been very worried and have come by almost every day to check on you. In fact, I believe they should arrive very soon if nothing has happened.” He explains.
As if on cue, the door burst open to reveal Vinyl with tears streaking from her overly red eyes, no doubt from her crying. As she saw me she threw herself at me, I moved slightly to avoid being impaled, as she began to bawl into my chest. The doc at seeing this, took his cue to leave and as he did another pony ran into the room.
“Vinyl is he…” Octavia lost her voice as she saw Vinyl bawling into my chest as I looked at her. She walked over and wrapped her arms around my neck and giving me a light hug as tears of her own began to fall as well. I just laid there wrapped in their embraces as several thoughts raced through my head.
“W-we thought you’d never wake u-up.” Vinyl choked out through her blubbering. “I was falling apart at the thought of never getting to apologize. Andrew, I’m sooo sorry! I was never trying to hurt you.” She sniffed before crying some more.
Octavia let go as she wiped one last tear away. “After you ran away that night, Vinyl went chasing after you and I followed to make sure she would be alright. We saw you dive you’re your apartment after it got struck, the flames were so strong though that we couldn’t follow, and when the second bolt came down…” She trailed off.
Vinyl’s sobbing lessened as she continued where Octavia left off. “We were so scared, when we recovered from the shock of blast we saw the door to your apartment had be blown apart and rushed in to find you passed out in a pool of blood”
“When Vinyl ran off after talking to a nurse I could only assume the worst… I’ve never been so glad to be wrong.” Octavia concluded.
I looked at both of them as they pulled away and wiped their eyes. “I appreciate you saving me, and I'm sorry I cause so much worry. But I have to ask, why'd you do it? After what I said there's no reason you should forgiv-*SMACK*” I was cut off as Octavia’s hand slapped me across the face. Vinyl’s eyes wide with pain and shock at her friend’s actions.
“That is enough!” Octavia shouted at me.
“Octy don’t…” Vinyl tried to interject.
“No Vinyl! Not right now. You’ve been put through too much for this kind of talk from him.” Octavia yelled at her before turning to me. “As for you, I’ll have you know Vinyl came in here bawling her eyes out for you almost every day while you were in that coma. Do you really think those are the actions of somepony who doesn’t care!?”
My mouth opened and closed, but no words would come out. I looked at Vinyl who looked at me with her ruby eyes, redder from her tears. Only one question kept repeating in my mind. “Why?”
Vinyl’s expression turn from one of sadness to anger. “Why!? Because that's what friends do! When you got here you were a closed off loner who for the first month you were here I couldn’t get you to say more than five words at a time, and you never smiled!" She said grabbing the collar of the hospital gown I was wearing. "Yes I might not have been as drunk as I acted, yes that wasn’t the first time I had done it, and I did it because I wanted to get to know you! That night I got drunk and you saved me from that loser stallion was the first time I saw you with emotion. After that I decided to try and get to know you. One night I guess you though I was drunker than I was, and I got you to open up. So yes I used the one way I found to get you to talk. Can you really blame me for wanting to get to know someone!?”
I had had enough, I grabbed her wrist before moving even closer. “So that give you the right to lie to me!? Did you ever think that the reason I came to Equestria might be to maybe forget my past!?” I yelled at Vinyl, causing her to reel back.
“W-what…”
“My past is nineteen years of living hell I’ll never get back, five of them being spent locked in a room! There is no one that can understand what I went through!” I shouted at her before releasing her and falling back onto the bed. “Why is it every time I start to care about someone I get my heart ripped out?”
Vinyl and Octavia sat there looking at each other then back at me before Vinyl spoke. “What do you mean 'every time you start to care'?”
“Is it not obvious? I’m talking about you, stupid mare.” I mutter the last part as I looked away before looking back at them. “Yes I was mad, furious even. That never meant I wasn’t going to forgive you.”
“Then does that mean?” Vinyl asked, her ears perking up.
I sighed, “You’re lucky I’m too tired to stay angry right now.” I said lifting up one arm to prepare for impending hug.
Vinyl’s eyes lit up as she pounced on me and wrapped her arms around my neck as she started to cry again, joyful this time, while I returned the hug with my one arm. I looked over at Octavia before raising my other arm and asked, “Want to join?”
Octavia blushed as she replied, “N-no thanks, it’s your moment. I’d hate to intrude.” She said backing away, but I caught her wrist and pulled her into the hug. She squeaked in surprise before relaxing and returning the gesture. After a moment they pulled away as Vinyl wiped away her tears and asked.
“So when are you going to be released? I know the doc in here had to of told you.”
“They said they wanted to watch over me tonight, and if nothing else happened I would be good to leave tomorrow.”
“Really!?”
“Yep. Why? Is that a problem.”
Vinyl froze momentarily at the news before replying, “N-no problem. Oh would you look at the time.” She said before grabbing Octavia by the wrist and started to drag her towards the door. “Well~ gottogowe’llpickyouuptomorrow. Bye~!” She called out as she flew out of the room with Octavia in tow.
“Ok~? That was weird. Wonder why they left that quickly.” I thought out loud, before I laid back down and closed my eyes.
I AM WAITING.
“What the hell!” I yelled out, as I bolted up. My eyes flashing around the room. Seeing that I was completely alone, I slowly leaned back and cautiously return to sleep.
[The next morning]
As Vinyl said, she and Octavia were there as I was wheeled out of the hospital at 8AM. Apparently even in Equestria the thought that every hospital patient must leave in a wheelchair still held true. The funny thing is, most people in my situation would’ve needed it. After being in a coma for a month, muscle atrophy would usually take place and I’d be needing something until I rebuilt my muscle strength. However here I was, walking through the streets like normal, hell better than normal. I hadn’t felt this fit and energized in years, if ever.
“You seem to be doing well. Have a good night sleep?” Octavia asked as she walked on my right.
“Yeah, best sleep I’d had since who knows when. My house got struck by lightning, I got struck by lightning, got stabbed in the gut, been in a coma for a month. I guess after all that my body thought it was owed a good night’s rest.”
Vinyl replies as she walks on my left, “True I guess. Oh, and don’t worry about your job. I’ll make sure to hire you back.” She said with a grin.
At this I stopped in my tracks. “Wait a minute, did you just say you’d hire me back. What the hell happened when I was out!?”
“Nothing much, the owner of the club we worked at got tired of the business and retired, leaving me as the new owner.” Vinyl just passed it off as if what she said was normal.
“You mean I have to work for you? Celestia help me.” I groined dramatically.
Vinyl just slugged me in the arm. “Oh shut it you big foal.”
Octavia looked on as we bantered back and forth with a small blush. “You’ll be seeing more of me as well.”
I held up a finger to pause before looking at Octavia. “What was that Octavia?”
Vinyl spoke as she remembered. “Oh that’s right. Andrew, I present to you the Spinning Disc’s newest nightshift waitress.” Vinyl adds on by saying, “You should have seen how fast she said yes when I told her you’d be ther-uff!” She grunts as Octavia jabbed her in the side.
“Don’t listen to her, she’s just trying to get me flustered.” Octavia said while glaring sternly at Vinyl.
“Well it looks like it’s working.” I reply with a chuckle, causing Octavia to blush furiously through her coat as started playing with her mane. I just laughed a bit more and continue on our way.
“Ah here we are home sweet home.” Vinyl declared as we arrived in front of their apartment. It looked different somehow but I couldn’t quite place it. As we walked into the dark apartment, the lights flipped on as I was assaulted with confetti and cheers.
“SURPRISE!!!”
“I think I gather why you left in such a hurry yesterday.” I said to Vinyl and Octavia as I looked around. All my friends were standing in the large, cleaned up, apartment standing under a large banner that read ‘Welcome Home Andrew!’ in large black letters. I saw Chris with Lyra and Bon Bon, Mark with Spitfire and Fleetfoot, along with the all the elements of harmony and Ryan and the Princesses.
I don’t believe I’ve said much about the elements of harmony, so let me explain. These six mares all hold a special mystical power that was bonded to them because each had one dominant trait that they exemplified.
First there was the element of honesty, Applejack. An orange earth pony who was the epitome of the cowgirl stereotype with her plaid work shirt, blue jeans, and large Stetson hat over her golden mane. Mare couldn’t tell a lie to save her life, though she could spot one at a hundred yards. Of the bearers of the elements, I got along with her the best. Though her knack for catching lies did put us off to a rocky start.
Next is the element of loyalty, Rainbow Dash. This cyan pegasus with a rainbow colored mane was the self-declared, best flier in Equestria. She wore her signature simple dark blue sports bra and a matching pair of workout shorts. RD’s morals are slightly questionable, but she would never hurt or let down someone/pony who she considered a friend.
Then there’s the element of kindness after her, Fluttershy. Shy is a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane. She had on her usual green sweater and a matching medium length skirt. Shy was probably the meekest pony anyone would ever meet, but when it came to animals or her friends she would do anything to help.
After her is the element of generosity, Rarity. This white unicorn fashionista had an air of refinement about her, similar to Octavia, along with slightly annoying eye for fashion. She was very compromising and would be willing to make anything if you just asked, as long as it was fashionably acceptable. Her long purple curls rolled over her glittering white dress she had undoubtedly made herself.
Next is the element of laughter, Pinkie Pie. Besides being able to seemingly defy the laws of physics, this bubbly curly maned pink mare could get anyone’s spirits up given enough time. She wore a light blue shirt under a pair of overalls that stopped just above the knee. Though I swear, that bubbly pink ball of fuzz nearly gave me a heart attack the first time I met her.
And finally we have the element of magic, Princess Twilight Sparkle. This lavender alicorn was the newest to the title of princess, only having been granted it around three years ago when she transformed from her former unicorn self. She wore a modest light purple vest over a white blouse and a purple plaid skirt. Her dark purple mane accented by the light pink streak running through it. Thanks to Twilight and her friends using the power of ‘friendship’ (No I am not making this up), they have managed to defeat several of the most dangerous threats to face Equestria in the past five years. These are the elements of harmony.
The party went on for a couple hours, my friends congratulated me about my release, and we drank and had fun. After a while each part of the group slowly started to depart back to their respective homes or hotels for the night. As the majority lived in Ponyville, a small town south of Canterlot, they had to wait until tomorrow to catch a return train. As Luna, along with Ryan and Celestia, headed for the door I began to follow them. Luna turned around as if to say something but paused when she saw me and asked.
“Where are you going?” Her voice genuinely confused.
“I thought I would be staying at the palace since my apartment burned down. You do know about that don’t you?”
“Indeed We do, but why sleep at the palace when you have a room already made here, courtesy of your two friends?” Luna replied as if I should have known.
My head turned as if on a rusty hinge towards Vinyl and Octavia. “And when, pray tell, were you planning on telling me about such arrangements?” I asked through clenched teeth.
“Ah, well, you see, it’s like this…” Vinyl droned, trying to find the right words.
“We thought it would be the best way to make it up to you since we felt it was our fault you ended up in that coma.” Octavia explained over Vinyl’s rambling.
“When we were told, we thought it would be a great chance for you all to settle the differences that are apparent.” Celestia added in as she walked over. “As compensation we renovated their apartment to be able to house you without any complications. Also don’t worry about your hospital bill. That will also be taken care of.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I had just received a free pass on a place to live and not having to worry about the, no doubt much too high, medical bill I was sure to receive. I hung my head in defeat before looking around to see a door beside Vinyl’s bedroom that wasn’t there during my last visit. Celestia, Ryan, and Luna took their leave as Vinyl and Octavia started to clean up the living room, while I chose to explore my new room. I opened the door to see a simple blue room with purple music notes painted on the wall in the arrangement of one of my favorite songs. The room was filled with simple black furniture, a dresser, a chair with a purple cushion, a nightstand, and a bed with covers the same as the walls.
Wow the girls did all of this for me? It’s beautiful… I thought as I stood in awe of the room. As I continued to look around I noticed Blair’s case over by the bedside, and a couple of pictures on my nightstand. The first was the picture of Vinyl and Octavia I had seen in the latter’s room, the other was of a picture of my old family. It showed my brother, cousin, and me smiling as my aunt and uncle were giving us a hug while smiling at the camera. It was the best and only picture I had of a happy family. A tear escaped my eye as I give a sniff. Vinyl was standing in the doorway by now and asked me.
“Are you ok Andrew?” I turned around and replied to her.
“I’m fine." I said wiping the tear away. "I see you found the photo I kept in Blair’s case.”
“Yeah” She replied rubbing her head sheepishly. “Octavia opened it yesterday to clean it since we hadn’t touched it since moving it in here a couple weeks ago, and you were being released. When we saw it we decided to frame it since it seemed important. I didn’t know you had siblings.”
“Yeah, the girl is actually my cousin, Zoe, and the adults are my aunt and uncle before they passed away.” I explained.
“I’m sorry to hear that. You all looked so happy in that picture. What exactly happened to them?”
“My aunt died of pancreatic cancer when I was four, she died only a week after she found out. My uncle died of a heart attack when I was thirteen because he became an alcoholic after losing his wife. He had remarried before he passed, but my step-mother,” I seethed at having to recall that bitch, “wasn’t what you’d call a good parent.”
“Did she have something to do with what you said yesterday in the hospital?” Vinyl asked, concerned at my reaction of mentioning her.
“Yes, but that is story for another time perhaps. I’d rather not ruin the moment.” I replied, dodging the question. I walked over to Vinyl before wrapping her in a hug.
“Thank you Vinyl, your thoughts and actions mean more than you know.” Vinyl simply returned the hug and we stay like that for a few moments.
“Ahem!” Octavia coughed. I looked up to see her pouting slightly as she tapped her hoof impatiently.
Aww, that’s adorable. “How could I forget about you Octavia?” I say before I release Vinyl and walk over to Octavia and wrapped her in a similar hug. Vinyl huffed at this before walking up and joining in the hug. I wrapped my arms around both of them before saying. “Thank you girls, I needed this.”
“No problem roomie.” Vinyl replied with a giggle.
“You can stay as long as you want Andrew.” Octavia adds.
“Thanks, I think I’ll do that.” I think being hit by lightning wasn’t so bad after all. It looks like I’m no longer alone.
“Hmmm.” I groaned as the sun streamed through my window and hit my closed eyes. I rolled over in an attempt to escape the painful rays, as I did I felt my hand on something soft, and it wasn’t my pillow. I cracked my eyes to meet a wall of white and blue.
What the… Oh Shit!
“Vinyl!?” I yelled as I tried to jump back, only to get caught on my sheets. I clutched my head as it slammed into the ground. “Oww~”
Vinyl stretched as she yawned, “Good morning~.” She said drowsily, still not fully awake, before looking down at me. Thankfully she had on a short white tank-top and blue running shorts, so it wasn’t worst case trouble.
“God damnit Vinyl. I’ve only been here for two weeks and this is the fifth time you’ve sneaked into my room, this week!” I groaned as I stood, rubbing my still sore head. As I did, the door flew open to reveal a very peeved Octavia.
“I swear, I leave you alone for one minuet to start breakfast and what do you do? Go back to bed, in our roommate’s bed, while he’s still in it.” Octavia lectured as she grabbed Vinyl by the ear and proceeded to drag her out of my room.
“Oww~ Careful Octy, I need that.”
“Thanks Octavia, breakfast almost ready?” I asked as I walked over to my dresser to grab my clothes for the day.
“Almost, it should be ready by the time you’re done changing. By the way, what do you think an appropriate punishment is this time?” Octavia asked, giving Vinyl’s ear a slight tug eliciting another ouch.
“Hmm? Ah, I think I know just the thing.” I replied, as I gave Vinyl an evil grin. She gasped as she no doubt could guess my choice of punishment, it was my favorite after all.
“No, you wouldn’t. Where’s your humanity~?” Vinyl broke down as I gave the sentence.
“Octavia, make Wubs disappear for a while.” I said, grinning with triumph.
Octavia smirked at our antics, knowing it was nothing but harmless fun… for me and her anyway. “Right away Andrew. Now get dressed so we can eat breakfast.” She answered as she walked out of my room, Vinyl closely behind desperately begging for Octavia to spare her poor turntable.
I chucked as I slipped out of my night clothes into my day ones before walking out of my room and over to the kitchen. I sat down to a plate of waffles and scrambled eggs with a glass of OJ as Octavia sat across from me with a depressed Vinyl by her side. Octavia was wearing her normal black vest and suit pants that she wore most days, unless she had a concert, and Vinyl had thrown on a high top jacket over her tank-top and changed her running shorts out for a pair of jeans. Seeing Vinyl’s current state only meant one thing, Octavia had already managed to hide Wubs. It was almost scary how quickly she could make things disappear, but I pushed the thought aside as I continued with my breakfast before I heard Octavia clear her throat.
“Hey Andrew, are you busy today?” She asked.
I went through my mental schedule, trying to think of anything I had to do, finding nothing I replied, “Not really. Why, have something you want to do?”
“Oh nothing much, I was just wondering if you’d like to stop by the symphony hall and watch one of my practices. I’ve heard you practicing and I thought you might enjoy it.”
“Hmm, sounds nice. Vinyl want to join us?” I asked, Vinyl’s ears perked up at the mention of her name.
“Uh~ I guess. Not like I can do anything else since someone took my precious Wubs.” Vinyl sulked as she went back to her breakfast.
I shrugged, “Well then when do we need to leave?” I asked. Octavia looked over at the clock on the wall and gasped.
“That would be, now!” Octavia said as she grabbed up our plates, ran them through the sink, and ran to her room.
She returned with her cello case on her back as Vinyl and I waited at the door. I opened it as Octavia rushed out and grabbed Vinyl and me by the wrist and drug us through the streets towards the symphony hall. As we arrived Octavia went around towards the back as she waved back at us. We waved and walked inside and sat down, as we did we heard as the rest of the orchestra proceeded to warm up. As we listened I noticed a tone that didn’t quite fit, Vinyl seemed to as well since her ears were spade back in discomfort. Since I couldn’t notice anyone doing anything about it I stood up and walked towards the stage. As I approached the direction of the ill tone became clearer, I saw a young stallion as he played a trombone. I walked over to the stallion, as I got closer he stopped and gave me a nervous stare.
“W-who are you, and w-what do you want?” He stuttered nervously, he was a pegasus with a dark blue coat with a black and silver tipped mane and tail, and grey eyes. He wore a pair of black jeans and a black button down shirt with a silver tipped black wing cutie mark on the front pocket.
“I couldn’t help but notice you appear to be out of tune my good stallion. Mind if I help you?”
“What would a balding ape know about music?” He retorted, glaring at me viciously.
I sighed at his racism, even in another universe haters still love to hate. I took a step closer and grabbed his trombone from his hands, I wiped off the mouthpiece and blew a few notes. Everyone’s had stopped what they were doing when I stepped on the stage and Octavia had made it on stage with her cello. After I was done tuning I played a little improv that sounded something like this.
As I played I took a glance around, everyone was enthralled as I continued to play. I looked back to where Vinyl was to see her listening on the edge of her seat, then I looked over at Octavia. I nearly lost it as I saw her staring, wide-eyed and slack-jawed, at my playing. Hear I thought she had heard me play, apparently she only did in passing.
I finished my solo and handed the stallion back his instrument, his jaw hung as low as it physically could. “That’s what I know about music. You should learn how to tune that instrument, it’s a good one.” I said before I walked off the stage to thunderous applause. As I stepped down I got stopped by a hand on my shoulder, I looked back to see it was Octavia.
“Ok I knew you could play, but where the hell did that come from!?” She asked as she shook me by the collar.
“Yeah, if you’re that good why haven’t you pursued something in music?” I looked over my shoulder to see Vinyl had walked over from where I’d left her.
“Music’s just a hobby of mine, I never really felt like doing it for a career.” I answered simply.
“Well would you like to start?” Another voice said from on stage. I looked up to see a white stallion with a jet black mane, wearing a black dress shirt under a white sports coat with matching white dress pants. On the lapel of the coat was an embroidered pair of crossed conductor’s batons over a music score. As I looked him over he continued, “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Maestro and I am the conductor of the Canterlot Grand Orchestra. I must say young sir, you have an impressive ability for music. Azure Shadow is our first chair and I must say you outplayed him many times over just now. If you’d be willing, I’d be honored if you’d consider joining our group.” Maestro explained, causing everyone around me to drop their jaws.
I looked around before turning back to Maesto. “My name is Andrew Duron, and as for your offer sir, I’m afraid I have to decline.” I replied, causing Octavia and Vinyl’s shock to be shifted to me. “I do enjoy playing, but it so happens that I can’t read music.” I explained, causing everyone eyes including Maestro’s to bug out. “If you ever need me to fill in for one of your trombonist I’d be happy to, but as for a full time occupation I’m afraid I must say no.”
Maestro nodded his head in understanding. “If that is what you want I suppose I must respect your choice. I which case can I offer an alternative?” I nodded as I eyed him curiously. “Are you familiar with instruments other than brass?” I nodded. “Excellent, in which case Mr. Duron how would you like to act as a music consultant for the orchestra. Someone the members can come and visit that can help them improve their ability to play. Even though for most of us music is our special talent. That by no means declares that we are perfect with our instruments. If that was so we’d never have the need to practice. So what do you say, would you like to become a consultant for the Canterlot Grand Orchestra?”
I stroked my beard in though before stopping to reply, “I believe that could be quite interesting. You have yourself a deal Maestro.” I said reaching up, we shook hands to seal the deal before he replied.
“Wonderful, we’ll work out the details later as for now. Everyone back to practice we’ve wasted enough time as it is, chop chop.” Maestro proclaimed with a couple claps for emphasis.
Vinyl and I walked back to our seats as Octavia rejoined to band. We listened for a couple hours before Vinyl fell asleep on my shoulder. I continued to listen, making note of some players that seemed to have need of improvement. After the practice concluded I woke Vinyl from where she fell asleep on my shoulder and we waited outside for Octavia, as she walked up I noticed she didn’t have her cello, we I asked she simply replied.
“Oh I usually keep it here so I don’t have to carry it around everywhere. I’ve just been bringing it home to have some extra practice” Satisfied I nodded as we turned to start our walk home, just before our three stomachs growled in sync. We all chuckled as I spoke up, “How about we grab something while we’re out? It’s getting close to dinner anyway.” Vinyl and Octavia nodded in agreement, and with that we trekked over to a nearby bar that happened to serve all kinds of patrons. Vinyl and Octavia had been aware of my dietary needs since I started living with them, though the latter was still uneasy about it. We sat in a round booth with me in the middle with Octavia and Vinyl on my left and right respectively. After we ordered our food and drinks once we sat down and after the waitress left Vinyl was the first to speak up as she leaned against me.
“So Andrew, what other instruments do you know how to play, other than sing of course.” Vinyl asked causing Octavia’s ears to twitch when she mentioned singing.
“Wait, you can sing?” She asked me, her mulberry eyes sparkling with interest.
“You betcha this guy can sing. I remember we went to a bar one time and they were having a karaoke night, I nearly jumped the guy after he sang to me.” Vinyl explained as I groaned at the memory.
“Only because I thought you were drunk and I happened to like that song.” I explained as I hit my head on the table.
Octavia stopped me before I gave myself a headache before asking, “So what song did you sing? If you don’t mind my asking.”
I sighed, “It was ‘You’re The Inspiration’ by Chicago. A band from back on earth. It’s a very beautiful song, and way too sentimental for this one over here.” I said pointing a thumb over at Vinyl as she chugged down her drink that had arrived while we had been talking. Vinyl froze as she heard her name, she smiled sheepishly as Octavia stared her down. Octavia focused back on me before replying.
“Well I for one would love to hear you sing sometime. I have no doubt you sing wonderfully if you’re even half as good as you are on trombone.” Her voice held a heartwarming sincerity that gave me a nice warmth in my chest.
Soon after our food arrive and we dug in. Vinyl had a salad with hay fries, Octavia had a fruit salad, and I had a hamburger and fries. As we ate we continued to talk until I excused myself to the bathroom. As I walked out I saw a group of three earth pony stallions over at our table talking to the mares, who looked very uncomfortable. I walked over and put my hand on the shoulder of the one in the middle he looked over it and saw me before speaking.
“What do you want ape, can’t you see we’re busy.” He spat, he had an orange coat, yellow mane and eyes, and was wearing jeans and a no sleeve white t-shirt. His friends wore similar clothing, the one on the right had a dark green coat and blue mane, while the one on the left had the opposite coloring, possibly brothers. All three were easily six feet tall.
“They’re with me, so if you don’t mind. Beat it.” I said pointing my thumb towards the exit. The stallion laughed then turned back to the mares.
“You’re with guy? You’ve got to be kidding me, come on how about you mares come with a real stallion.” He said grabbing Octavia by the wrist.
My hand flashed to his shoulder. “Wrong move,” I said as I squeezed my grip, causing him to release his hold. As he did I pulled back as my right leg crashed into the back of his knees causing him to slam into the ground, hard. His friends stood there shocked as they registered what just happened. The one on the right was the first to move, he threw a wide right hook aimed for my head. I deflected it pass me with my right as I grabbed his wrist and using the momentum of the punch I rotated his arm in a circle until he flipped over himself and landed with a thud. I turned just in time to see his brother throw another hook at me this time from the left. This time I used my right hand to deflect it away as I grabbed his wrist, as I did I turned into him and caught his bicep in the crook of my left elbow. I pulled as I continued to turn and threw the stallion across the room. A scream pierced the air, I turned to see the first stallion I had beaten up and had a knife to Octavia’s neck. No. I thought as I fell to my knees.
The stallion laughed in triumph before he pointed the knife at me. “I remember you now. You’re that bastard ape that threw me out of that club a couple months ago. Oh the irony, now I finally get my payback.” He said before turning to Vinyl. “And if I see that horn spark at all I’ll slit this slut’s throat before anyone one can blink.” He threatened before putting the knife back to Octavia’s throat, causing her to whimper.
No. No no no, I am not letting this happen to someone I care about, not again! I screamed in my head. Then do something. I heard a voice say to me, but I couldn’t tell from where. I felt my left hand begin to burn as I felt my rage boil over. I noticed a thin black aura surround the knife the stallion was holding, his eyes darting around the room at the mass of eyes that had gathered from the commotion, the staff frozen in place, at a loss for what to do. I saw the blade start to glow with heat before the stallions hand started to smoke. He apparently felt the change too as he looked down at his hand, before he screamed and dropped the knife as his hand burned with pain. Seeing my opening, I moved my left foot up so I was kneeling before I launched myself at the stallion and threw a jab with my right arm to his jaw. He stumbled back, releasing Octavia as he did, but I didn’t stop there. I threw another jab, then a hook with my left to his gut, as he leaned over from the punch I brought my knee up to his jaw. I took a step back as he leaned shakily against the wall, I spun and delivered a kick straight to his gut. I heard a sickening crack as my kick connected and the stallion collapsed, passed out from the pain. I retracted my kick and started towards the passed out stallion with fire in my eyes, my mind clouded with a thirst for blood.
“Andrew! Stop!” I heard someone yell before my arms were restrained on both sides. My head snapped back with anger to see who dared to stop me, all hatred fled me as I saw Octavia and Vinyl were each holding one of my wrist. I collapsed to my knees as each of the mares hugged me from each side. We stayed like that for a bit as the guard arrived to collect the thugs, the leader of which was carried out on a stretcher as he moaned in pain and coughed up some blood. As we stood I turned to see Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard and Prince of the Crystal Empire, walking towards us.
“Captain Armor.” I greeted, exhausted from the events of the day.
“Please Andrew, no need for titles among friends.” He said with a smile before he turned more serious. “I heard about the fight, is everyone alright?” He asked.
“We are, you should probably be more worried about our assailants. I’m pretty sure the orange one will be in need of surgery.” I replied, deadpanned.
“Yeah he didn’t look too good. I have to ask, was that really necessary?” Shining said eying me carefully, ready to gauge my reply.
“Probably not, I more of just reacted when I saw him let go of the knife. I barely realized what I was doing until Vinyl and Octavia stopped me.” I answered. Shining closed his eyes and gave a nod, my answer apparently satisfactory.
“Alright, you don’t need to stay around. I’ve got your testimony and we have enough witnesses that confirm what you said, other than going a little overboard on the leader, but even so only a few thought that.” Shining explained. I nodded as me and the mares started towards the door. “Oh and Andrew.” I peered over my shoulder. “Keep up the good work.” Shining said. I smiled turning back towards the exit as I gave a thumbs up and walked out with the mares at my sides for support.
The walk back to the house felt like forever, when we finally arrived I walked to my room closed the door and flopped on my bed. I rolled onto my back as I felt tiredness overwhelm me. I felt sleep begin to overtake me before I heard a knock at the door. “It’s open.” I called out. The door opened and to my surprise it was Octavia, she was dressed in a slightly see-through black nightgown that came only halfway down her thighs, revealing the bottom part of her treble cleft cutie mark. She looked like a succubus, about to suck out my soul. She sauntered slowly into my room as she closed the door with her tail.
“O-octavia what’s going on? W-why are you dressed like that?” I stuttered, my cheeks flushed completely red.
As she made it over to me, she pushed me down onto the bed and with her hand still on my chest slid her right knee in between my legs. “I was so moved when you saved me, I felt I needed to repay you somehow.” She said, her voice sultry and filled with lust as she leaned in closer.
Ok it's too soon for her heat, that apparently happened while I was in my coma, so that leaves... Oh God, hero worship syndrome. Damn it, I didn’t want this to happen. There’s only one way out of this, I’m sorry Octavia this is for your own good. I thought as a plan came to mind. “Octavia stop this, this isn’t right. What you’re feeling isn’t real!” I said as I tried to push her off of me. Sadly her earth pony strength quickly prevented that attempt.
“Of course this is real, I love you Andrew. Please don’t push me away.” Octavia cooed as she leaned in and lightly kissed my neck and nibbled slightly causing my breath to hitch.
Damn it, it’s not working. I’ve got to find a way out of this before I lose the will to resist. I thought as I started to panic, racking my brain as I tried to make a plan. Move her. I heard, the same voice from back in the restaurant resound in my mind. I felt my left hand begin to burn again as I felt a lightness come over me, my entire body screaming at me to move. “Octavia, I’m sorry.” I whispered in her ear.
“Why are you apologi-” Octavia began, her breath quickly expelled as I put both my hands on her stomach and pushed with all my might. I felt the lightness increase to the point I felt weightless, as the feeling came over me I felt Octavia move off of me, however it didn’t stop there. I threw her off of me with such force that she flew through the open door to my room (Wait, when did that happen!?), and landed outside of it by a couple feet. As I felt my body return from its high I rushed to my door and slammed my door as fast as I could and locked it before I collapsed against the door completely exhausted.
Octavia shook herself from the daze of being thrown, as she sat up she looked down at herself and what she was wearing before looking up at the door in front of her. Realization dawned on her as she remembered what she just tried to do. Tears started to roll freely as she rushed to the door and started to pound on it crying, “Andrew open the door! Please, I’m sorry! I don’t know what came over me! Please!!!” She sobbed before she broke down completely.
Vinyl rushed out of her room to see the commotion. She was greeted with a sobbing Octavia as she pounded weakly on my door, all while wearing some very risqué lingerie. Vinyl slowly walked over to her friend and put her hand on Octavia’s shoulder. Octavia’s snapped to look at the owner of the hand to see her friend, her best friend. “V-vinyl, I m-messed up.” She sobbed before she threw herself at her friend and broke down into another mess of tears. Vinyl just stroked Octavia’s raven mane as she processed the situation. She might have only seen the result, but she had a pretty good idea of what happened. She walked Octavia back to her room, laid her on the bed and allowed the mare to use up all the emotion that had welled up as she flicked the light off with her magic and held her sobbing friend as she cried herself to sleep.
I leaned against my door as I brought my knees to my chest before folding my arms over them and buried my head as I began to sob softly. This isn’t what I wanted. Why do I always hurt those I care about? It was necessary. No, I should have found a better way. She wouldn’t have listened. That’s not an excuse. Then listen, do you have feelings for either of these mares? Of course I do, I care for both of them, but there’s no way they could love someone like me if they knew my past. So you feel unworthy. If you are what I’m beginning to think you are, you know the answer. Oh? And what is it you think I am? You’re me, or more clearly, my subconscious. Close, but wrong. Then what are you? I am something that has always been a part of you, but I am not you. That doesn’t make any sense. What are you!? All in good time, just remember… you’ve never been alone. With that the voice faded. I called out in my mind, but there was no reply. I slowly stood up, walked to my bed, laid down and let the dark tiredness that was sleep consume me as I vowed to make things right.
It’s been two days. Think that it’s safe Bael? I asked, to which I heard. What am I, a fortune teller? Open the door and find out. I sighed, it took me awhile but I finally got that voice in my head to talk to me. Apparently he was a spirit that contracted with my ancestors millennia ago and gave them great power and council. He passed to each first male born in my line at a certain age and I was the current bearer. Pass that he refused to speak, especially about the fact I was able to overpower an earth pony. Seeing that I couldn’t really do anything physical, I supposed he would tell me when he needed to.
Back to the portal of hell located right in front of me. I reached forward and slowly unlocked my door, I cringed as I heard the click of it unlocking. I grabbed the handle and with a deep breath pulled it open. I froze as I saw Octavia standing frozen in shock as she looked as she was reaching for my door handle. I gave a nervous chuckle, “Hey Octavia.” I said, lost for any other words. Octavia snapped out of her trance as tears started roll freely, just before she tackled me and began to sob.
“A-andrew I’m s-so sorry! I-I don’t know w-what came over m-me!” Octavia choked out through her sobs. I was about to respond before I felt the air in my lungs quickly expel as another weight crash into my chest… It was Vinyl, a very irate one at that if the shaking of my collar was any indication.
“YOU! Do you know what I’ve had to deal with because of you!?” Vinyl yelled, Octavia had been push to the side and was staring in another round of shock. “I had to lock up the bar because she was so needy I couldn’t make it out of the house!” Vinyl continued as she pointed an accusing finger at Octavia. “You owe mebig time, do you hear me!?” I gave a jerky nod as Vinyl hadn’t stopped shaking me the entire time. Once I had she released me and I hit the floor with a thump. Vinyl stood up from the straddled position she had been in while throttling me, as she did she extended a hand to help me up. I took it and she helped me to my feet. Once I was Vinyl turned around as her horn gave off a cyan glow, mirrored by the collar of my shirt just before I got yanked forward. Vinyl lead me by the collar, literally, until I was seated on the couch in the living room. Once I was Vinyl sat down on my left and motioned for Octavia to join us. Octavia gave a worried look but obeyed and sat on my right.
“Now then, how about we settle this before it becomes a problem.” Vinyl said before continuing. “Now, Octavia You’ve apologized so the next part is talking about what happened. Take your time.” Vinyl decreed as she crossed her legs and waited patiently for Octavia to speak. Octavia took a deep breath before she started.
“I don’t really know what came over me. It was almost like I was in heat, but my thoughts were of affection not desire, though with how strongly it was it’s hard to discern a difference.” She explained. She took a breath to continue but I cut in.
“Octavia I know you weren’t yourself. You were influenced by what’s known as hero-worship syndrome, it occurs when a victim develops overly strong feelings for their rescuer. When I rescued you at the bar it must have triggered something and that’s why you did what you did. I knew if I didn’t stop you the syndrome would have set in and it would eventually end in disaster.” I said.
Vinyl nodded as she thought before looking at me and asking, “Hey wait a minute, just how did you stop her? All I saw was Octavia pounding on your door after you locked her out. I doubt you noticed that quickly, and from what Octavia told me you managed to throw an earth pony not only off you, but all the way from your bed to outside your door. How the hell did you manage that!?”
“Adrenaline, nature's superhuman drug.” I lied, to which Vinyl didn’t seem to buy anyway, so I continued. “I guess I freaked out enough that my body produced such a large boost of it that I was able to manage the feat. I don’t how to explain it past that. It’s not like humans can do magic.” I said with a chuckle.
“What about those magicians? I’ve seen what a few of those guys can do. You saying that’s not magic?” Vinyl challenged. I sighed, this was getting tiring. “Yes Vinyl, all humans can do is slight-of-hand. Some are so good that it looks like magic but in truth it’s all just a trick.” Vinyl stared at me in disbelief but she didn’t say anything.
“Ok then how about back at the bar? I saw the knife. It had a black aura when the blade heated up, and I didn’t see any unicorns using their magic. That would have been too obvious.” Vinyl countered.
Well shit, I don’t know anything about that either. Bael, did you have something to deal with that too?Yes, but now is not the time. Deflect the question. I thought about it. It didn’t feel right to lie about something like this, but considering I don’t know how it was exactly done either best to keep them in the dark. “I don’t know, maybe it was a unicorn in the back of the bar where the aura color blended in?” I passed off. I was so glad AJ wasn’t here right now. Vinyl searched me critically, but I managed to somehow keep it together. Vinyl sighed in defeat.
“Well that’s another theory down the drain. I guess all those stories about some humans learning magic was bunk.” She said as she laid her head on my shoulder. “I’m too tired to argue anymore. I think I’ll just lay here awhile.”
Ok I should probably look into that at some point. I leaned back and relaxed as well, thanking god for dodging the metaphorical bullet. Octavia leaned on my other side; once she shifted and got comfortable she asked, “Hey Andrew can I ask you something?”
“What’s up Octavia?” I replied, too exhausted to even move to look at her.
“Do you think mares are pretty?” My lungs froze at the question. Nothing good comes from this kind of question.
“Why do you ask?” Smooth~. Oh shut it.
“I remember you said you cared for Vinyl when we were talking after you woke up from your coma, but you never really said anything past that. Then when I try to… uh, seduce you… you seemed to resist me so easily.”
“You thought that was easy!?” I said shocked, only after which I realize I had nearly yelled my retort. I gave a light cough as I recomposed myself. “Ahem. Really now?”
Octavia gave me a slightly stunned stare but continued. “U-uh yes. I mean I know we’re basically aliens to each other so I can understand if you didn’t see us as compatible.” She sulked. “I should have known there was no chance, even if the feeling had been real… We must be freaks to you.” Octavia said turning as she started to get up to leave.
“That’s enough!” I said sternly. Octavia froze before slowly turning to face me. Vinyl had long since removed herself from my shoulder to listen intently to the discussion. “I’ll have you know that I don’t care what race my future spouse is part of. As for you and Vinyl, you’re both very beautiful mares.” I exclaimed fervently, and without thinking I added. “I’d have no problem marrying either one of you!”
... … … Oh shit, did I say that out loud? Yep. Shut up you! One look at the twin blushes on either side of me confirmed it. Vinyl was the first to recover.
“Oh ho, is that so? I didn’t realize you had such strong feelings.” She teased, fluttering her eyelashes in the most girly way she could.
“I-in your dreams, I was just using you as an example. I might care about the both of you but that doesn’t equate to love.” I stuttered, floundering to recover my dignity.
Vinyl apparently could read me like a book, because she didn’t relent in her assault. “Oh really? Then what about how you went on a rampage when that prick threatened Octy. That was an unusual way to act don’t you think?”
“She’s my friend, why wouldn’t I have saved her?” I replied defensively.
“I didn’t say that. I said you looked ready to kill him if we hadn’t stopped you.” Vinyl leaned in with an accomplished smirk.
I lowered my head. I know she couldn’t have known, but that comment cut deeper than she’d ever know, hopefully. “I-I think I’ll go for a walk.” I said as I tried to stand, only to be stopped by Octavia.
“Andrew are you alright?” She asked, gentle concern flowing from her tone. Even Vinyl gave a worried look at seeing my reaction.
I didn’t have the will to keep lying so I dodged instead. “I’ll be back later, don’t wait up.” I said, shrugging off Octavia’s hand. I walked towards the front door but as I reached for the handle it disappeared with a pop and flash of cyan light. I turned around to see Vinyl holding the handle as she gave me a stern look. I looked at her, tired from the talk, and said, “Vinyl please put that back. I don’t want to do this right now.”
“Well too bad.” She said as she set the door knob on the counter and stalked over to me. I looked down at her with a no doubt hollowed eyed stare as her expression grew angrier. “I’ve had it with the up to here with your incessant dodging!” She said throwing her arms up in exasperation.
“Well how about this! Maybe I’m keeping my mouth shut because if I told you, you’d never look at me the same again!” I countered, raising my voice and taking a step forward, causing Vinyl to step back in surprise. Only momentarily before she steeled herself and push back into me.
“I don’t care what you think. You are going to sit down and tell us what is wrong whether you like it or not.” She said as her horn lit up. The glow encompassed me as Vinyl levitated me back to the couch. She laid me down and I felt my head land on something softer that the cushion. I looked up to see Octavia looking down with a heavy blush but also concern. I tried to move but Vinyl hopped on my legs and Octavia held down my shoulders.
“I’m sorry Andrew but Vinyl’s right. Please tell us what’s wrong.” Octavia pleaded, giving me her best puppy dog stare.
That level of cute should be illegal. I thought as I took a deep breath. It doesn’t look like I can escape. “Fine, doesn’t look like I have a choice anyway.”
“Nope, now get talking.” Vinyl said pointing an accusing finger at me.
I sighed, “I assume you’d like to know why I got so angry when that stallion head Octavia hostage?” The mares nodded. “Well to truly understand there’s a part of my past that you need to hear.” Vinyl and Octavia looked at each other passing some unsaid message before looking back at me to continue.
Three Years Ago
“Hey Zoe it’s getting a little late don’t you think?” I asked my cousin/sister. We had spent the evening bouncing from one club/bar to the next celebrating Zoe’s twenty-first birthday, and my sixteenth. Yeah we had a party but Zoe, always the party girl, wanted more. So as a present to me she let me tag along on her late-night-after-party escapades, as a way to escape the dreaded confines of my step-mother’s house. It was currently almost two in the morning, but Zoe couldn’t have cared less with how drunk she was.
“Ahh come on Wolfy. I knowww you don’t really want to go back to that hag.” Zoe drunkenly slurred. I always had an, almost unhealthy, fascination with wolves, so much so I would’ve never been caught dead without some form of clothing or accessory with a wolf on it. Even now I still wore a small silver wolf head necklace on a silver chain underneath my shirts. Even so, I thought the nickname was a little much.
“No I don’t, but I could always stay over at your place. Come on Sis, I’d like to get out of here before my paranoia sets in.” I said as I followed Zoe around, the increasingly fewer street lights along the street not helping calm my nerves.
“Fine I’ll take the heat from that old bag, but as payment we go to one more club. Come on I know one that’s right around the corner!” Zoe pepped up before ducking into an alleyway that led to an adjoining street.
“Zoe! Wait up!” I said before chasing after her, only to slam right into her before falling on my ass. “Hey what’s the matter… with you…” My voice died off as I saw a guy dress like John Travolta from grease, easily six-five, standing imposingly only a foot in front of us.
“You know what Andrew? I think you’re right, let’s go home.” Zoe said with profound sobriety as she turned on her heels and drug me up by the collar as she went to exit the alley. Only to be blocked by two other thug knockoffs, these guys only a meager six feet tall, leaning on either side of our only way out. That paranoia I was talking about, yeah… it was in overdrive.
Whatever they were planning to do: mug, kidnapping, rape, murder. None of the scenarios in my head were playing out with very many sunshine and rainbows.
“Hey now we just want’a have a little fun. Just run along scamp, we’ll take good care of your sister.” The boss said in a deep bass voice. He pushed me aside as he stepped towards Zoe.
I stared at him as he took another step towards Zoe and thought just three words. How. Dare. He! I might be a coward, but no one threatens my family! Not even that old hag of a sea witch I call a step-mother, I have plans for that bitch. “No.”
“Hmm, what was that?” He paused as he turned to look at me.
“I said no. You thugs aren’t touching my sister.” I said before placing myself between them and Zoe.
“Wolfy what do you think you’re doing!?” Zoe quietly seethed. “Get out of here! I’ll deal with this.”
“Not happening, I’m not abandoning you!”
The boss broke out in a fit of laughter. “Look boys, we got ourselves a hero!” The minions let out their own, admittedly stereotypical, evil laughs.
“Well I’m sorry kid,” The boss started cracking his knuckles as he walked closer, “but it’s time for you to go to,” Sleep. That final word darkly echoed throughout by body. I never felt the punch connect.
Present
“And according to what I found out, it never did.” I concluded my flashback. Vinyl and Octavia stared in confusion.
“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Vinyl asked, even more confused with that last statement than the entire rest of my story. Ok he went out with his sister, was about to get mugged or worse, and then stood up to the bad people. Sounds like the Andrew I know.
“I was getting to that.” I explained. “You see, according to what my sister told me, and the testimonies of the thugs when we went to court, I hospitalized all three of the thugs, the leader was in critical condition.” The mares gasps at the thought their friend, even through his occasional outbursts, he would never injure someone to that degree. “Apparently the moment I blacked out, something took over. I caught that thug’s fist with one hand and with a flick of my wrist I dislocated his shoulder. When his buddies tried to help him I apparently jumped back and flipped over their heads and knocked them out with a split kick. Gave them concussions just from that if I remember the medical report, cracked their skulls on the concrete when they fell I know.” I said with a small chuckle. Vinyl was shocked, while Octavia was barely able to hide her distain at my past.
Yep, I thought so. Well so much for them accepting that part of me. “That was part one. Big boss, the one with the dislocated right arm, charged me after I knocked out his buddies. From what babble they were able to get out of my sister, since she was the only one to remember it in its entirety, I beat that guy so close to death he ended up having to be resuscitated three times before he stabilized. Stayed in a full body casts for three months, and that was after the multiple surgeries to save his life.”
Now even Vinyl looked disgusted at my tale. She had long since moved off my legs allowing me to move. However I stayed put, leaving would come soon enough, so I continued. “When we went to court to imprison those muggers and my sister had to testify… heh, I still remember the description she used to describe me to the letter. ‘A monster… that thing was not my little brother. It must have seen some spirit possessing my brother. I saw soulless eyes where my brother’s once were, as he mauled that bastard into the pulp he is now. I won’t say I’m ungrateful from being spared…’ I remembered she broke down as she choked out the rest of her testimony. ‘I know they say everyone, victims and assailants, survived, but I know I lost someone that day. My brother is gone. That husk sitting there is not my brother!’ I remember she screamed while pointing directly at me.
“Since I was a minor, and the facts it was declared self-defense and no one actually ended up dead, I was sentenced to be put in the protective custody of my step-mother. Also I was put on a two year probation until I became a legal adult, during that time I was never allowed to go anywhere unescorted. Not that my step-mother let me leave my cage of a room anyway…” I looked at both the mares as I finished my tale. Looks of disgust had turned to ones of horror, I had no idea what was going through their heads but in my mind one thing was certain. Well it was nice while it lasted. There’s no way these mares could forgive a near-murderer.
On the contrary the mares had nearly the exact same thought process. How is he still sane!? No being should be subjected to such atrocities! Do the princesses even know about this? Andrew sat up finally and stood and wiped away a few tears that had managed to fall. He started towards the door, grabbing the handle as he did. He didn’t make it three steps before the mares made up their minds. With a nod to each other a silent plan was put in motion.
As Andrew put the handle back on the door he was again frozen by a shroud of cyan magic. He felt a slight tug just before he flew backwards, only to be caught in a combined embraces of Vinyl and Octavia as they tried to squeeze the life out of him. Andrew looked down to see both mares staring at him with eyes brimming with tears.
“Andrew, I’m so sorry I had no idea! Please don’t hate me for make you tell us.” Vinyl cried as she buried he muzzle in my chest, careful to avoid stabbing him with her horn of course.
“Vinyl’s not alone, I’m sorry too. We never wanted to hurt you. Will you please forgive us?” Octavia asked, staring him down with tear-brimmed eyes.
Andrew stared down at the mares as his thoughts raced. They’re sorry? How are they not disgusted with me? I’m a monster! No one should be forgiven for something like that. If it makes you feel better, you didn’t do it. W-what is that supposed to mean? My sister saw me do it! She saw your body, I was the one who was in control. That’s why you don’t remember a thing. Andrew’s mind was shot. This spirit, one he only just learned of its existence, had been controlling and manipulating him from that long ago. Yes and no. When I first transferred to you I was very weak, as is always the case when a transfer takes place. This being the case I had very little influence on you. It has only been since you came to this world that I’ve have begun to regain my true power. That one time I took over nearly exhausted all my power. That was the only time it happened. And It would have been impossible if I hadn’t fed on your emotions to ensure the takeover in any case.Should I worry about it happening again, since you say you are gaining power? Fear not, I can’t overtake you without your permission. Even if I do, spirits like me expend tremendous energy when we control a being. It is impossible to ensure permanent takeover unless you surrender your soul to me. I’ll be sure to remember that.
“Please just let me go. I can’t stay here.” Andrew wheezed, trying to shake himself of the mares, only to have them hold him tighter.
“No! You aren’t leaving again. I won’t let you!” Vinyl yelled into his chest, determined to not be moved.
“Andrew we forgive you. Please don’t leave.” Octavia voiced as she nuzzled her head into his neck.
“No you don’t. I’m not worthy of forgiveness.” Andrew tried to contradict, as tears began to flow freely.
Vinyl tore herself away as she stared Andrew down with her piercing ruby eyes. “I don’t care what you think. We forgive you, and you aren’t leaving. Do you understand?” He gulped at the steel in Vinyl’s voice. He bowed his head in defeat. Vinyl returned to the hug for another moment before releasing him along with Octavia before both of the mares walked towards the kitchen. She looked over her shoulder and asked, “You coming Andrew? You’ve got to be hungry, you haven’t eaten for two days.” Andrew’s stomach rumbled at the mere mention of food. Vinyl laughed as Andrew followed the mares to the kitchen.
Octavia made some sandwiches for the trio and placed the food on the table, she also threw in a couple extra for Andrew. He wolfed down the food as the mares casually ate there, lunch? Dinner? Actually what time was it? Vinyl usually kept the curtains pulled and used the electric lights, making it impossible to tell time without a clock. Andrew turned to the clock that hung back in the living room to see it was half past four, presumably in the evening.
Andrew looked back at the mares to see them calmly eating their meals. “How can you be so calm about this? There’s no way you can see me the same after my story.” Andrew said as he thought, It’s not even the worse one I have. Vinyl and Octavia looked up at each other then back at me.
“You’re still on that?” Vinyl said with a laugh.
“Andrew, we forgive you. That was part of your past, plus you were protecting your sister. We don’t blame you, and you shouldn’t either.” Octavia said, putting a hand over mine for comfort.
“Yeah dude, we all have things in our past we aren’t proud of, me especially.” Vinyl commented, the last part slightly under her breath. “In any case you’re still the same friend we’ve always known. Now we just know you a bit better.” She perked up before grabbing my other hand.
The warmth and friendship emanating from the mares finally became too much as the dam to Andrew’s emotions finally broke. Tears fell as he gave a sniff before speaking, “You’re too good to me. What did I ever do to get friends like you two?”
The mares gave a smile before replying in unison, ““You were yourself.”” Before Vinyl added, “Your cold, closed off, moody, bad-boy, honor-defending, musical, stupid self.” She said with the cheesiest grin. The room was silent for a few seconds, just before they all burst into laughter. Finally everything was looking like it was back to normal. Hopefully it could stay like that for longer than a week, but sadly that decision was up to fate. Though fate seemed to be shining a bit brighter than usual, at least in Andrew’s mind.
“Damn, this week’s been great!” I sighed as I relaxed listening to this on the living room couch, and a great week it had been. It’d been almost two months since the incident with Octavia, much better than the week I expected. Everything had gone back to normal, well as normal as it seems to get for me.
I went back to working the night shift at ‘The Spinning Disc’, and it’d been pretty uneventful. Well except for that time a stallion got too hands-y with Octavia while she was working and I got to remove him from the club. That was another good thing, Octavia had started her part time work and was there most nights with me and Vinyl. Now as for Vinyl… It’d been good.
Vinyl had been slightly protective of me before, but now I was beginning to question things. Just small things like: increased cuddling when we watched movies, linking arms when a mare would pass by when walking, and she did personally escort a drunken mare that was trying to hit on me while I was working. In fairness on that last one, I was about to escort her out myself when Vinyl interjected. Now I’m not blind, I know what these kind of signs usually dictate, but there’s no way that’s right.
Vinyl can’t feel that way, she knows my past. It’s a miracle she and Octavia still treat me like a person, let alone their friend after hearing about it. Though I’m thankful I finally have people that know and I can still say we’re friends. I think it’s even helping with the nightmares, at least a bit.
I finally managed, thanks to Luna of course, to make it through one nightmare. It was the most mild of them of course, but it’s progress. Though on the downside I’ve been having a couple new nightmares. I’ll put a little perspective before I explain.
There has been a rampant report of assaults, both physical and sexual, in respect to ponies and humans. Consider this, what is special about humans? Answer, absolutely nothing. All intelligent races in Equis have some special ability or innate quality that protects them against the monsters that also inhabit their world. Humans, on the contrary, have no outstanding feature that places them above a common animal except for their level of intelligence. Which on Earth made us the strongest, on Equis however we’re left at a disadvantage.
This has led to multiple cases of rape and assault, mostly with human victims. Surprisingly, more commonly these victims tend to be men. Since in Equestria the gender norms are basically flipped from their American counterparts. Meaning, mares tend to be the more sexually aggressive than Stallions, with a few exceptions of course. Add in the fact that pegasi can fly, earth ponies have their insane strength, unicorns their magic, and you have overeager humans getting overpowered and raped by these magical anthros.
Though there have been some unexplained cases where the human won out, those are still too few(and strange) for the general human population that now called Equis their home to feel at ease. Now while I haven’t had nightmares of being raped, Vinyl and Octavia are another story.
The major one that reoccurs is one where I am subdued and forced to watch as a group of masked stallions rape them in front of me. Though that’s not the worst part, I would get so angry at this that I would change into this monster and kill everyone in the room. When I came out of the rage and see what I had done, I’d cry as I stared at the horror stricken faces of Vinyl and Octavia… from their decapitated heads.
Messed up I know. When Luna first saw this nightmare I woke up with her sobbing into my chest as she repeated ‘I’m so sorry’ through her sobs. Luna actually found a spell that sealed away that dream so I wouldn’t have it again, at least momentarily. When I asked her why she couldn’t do it for all of my nightmares she replied with ‘The side effects would be too great’, whatever that means. I haven’t been able to see any side effects with the spell so far, might ask her about that next time.
Anyway, even with all the bad that had been happening recently there has been some good. The job with the orchestra has been going well. I usually get a pony or two coming to me for some advice every other day, and I’ve heard a good deal of improvement because of it. Vinyl of course doesn’t understand why I take the time with such ‘outdated sounds’ as she like to refer to it. Though I found a way to change her mind by playing this.
She was so into it I remember she locked herself in her room for a whole weekend looking up and exploring new mixes. Octavia said she hadn’t seen her that worked up since a friend’s wedding about a year ago. Though we were both glad to see Vinyl that happy for a while, I feel the two hour concert of what she made as a result, could have been avoided.
Bael has been pretty quiet. I still haven’t mentioned to anyone about him, mainly because I don’t know what would happen. Bael doesn’t like to interfere with things from what I can tell. I’ve asked him about my nightmares, and he just keeps saying the same thing ‘don’t open the cage, you won’t like what’s inside.’ Whatever the hell that means. I’ve also asked about the strange near-rape cases where the humans won against ponies, but when I do he just shuts down and refuses to talk. I figure he’ll tell me when he wants, so all I can do is wait.
On the scarier side of things, I have to worry about the craziest day of the year tomorrow… my birthday. Now I know what you’re thinking, what’s so bad about a birthday? Simple answer, nothing. Until you stop and think about who you’re friends with. Say… a crazy dubstep party pony, Luna aka ‘the princess of pranks’, Equis’ number one party pony and element of laughter, and the rest of my friends.
I sigh, “Only God can save me now.” I intone into myself.
“Nah, he put us up to it.” A voice says from behind me.
I look up to find Vinyl leaning over me with a smirk plastered on her muzzle.
“Thinking about tomorrow?” She asked before walking around and flopping on the end of the couch, making me quickly move my legs to accommodate.
“You mean the last day of my sanity? Yeah I’m thinking about it.”
Vinyl stifled a laugh, “Oh come on, be real. You lost that years ago.”
“Doesn’t stop me from wanting it back.”
“Ahh, but then you’d be so boringgg.”
“But maybe I’d still have a sister…” I replied, closing my eyes again.
Vinyl sat up at this, before walking over, sitting on the edge of where I was, and pulling me into a hug. “You know I didn’t mean it like that. Maybe one day she’ll come to see what I do. A man who would do anything to protect those he cares for. Even at the cost of his own light.”
I returned the hug gratefully. “Thanks Vinyl, you’re a great friend.”
Vinyl huffs at this as she breaks the hug. “Excuse me, I’m your best friend mister.” She says as she pulls her shades down to look me in the eye. “And don’t you forget it.” She finishes with a smirk.
I chuckle softly at her antics. “Yeah, you’re right of course. How could I have forgotten?”
“Beats me. Now come on, Octavia should have dinner almost ready by now.” Vinyl answers, as she pulls me off the couch.
Vinyl lead me by the hand right into the dining room, before we took our usual seats. As we did Octavia was just walking in with a large bowl of fresh spaghetti, which she place in the middle of the table.
“So you finally got him up I see.” Octavia mused as she sat down on my left.
Vinyl gave a small laugh. “Yeah, took nearly all my strength to drag him here. It’s like he’s scared of his own birthday or something.” Vinyl teased, while flashing a smirk my direction.
“You obviously forget who we’re friends with.” I counter as I heaped a serving of spaghetti onto my plate.
Octavia and Vinyl both paused for a second before replying in sync, “True.” Silence held for a moment, before we all started laughing together.
We continued our meal with mild small talk, just casually enjoying our time together. That is until Vinyl brought up an interesting topic.
“So you guys been hearing about the assaults?”
We all paused at this, Octavia was the first to reply. “You mean the rapes? Who hasn’t?”
“I heard that there are quite a few humans thinking about leaving.” I add. “Hell even with the martial arts I know, I know I’m not completely safe.”
Vinyl looks over at me in confusion. “What do you mean by that? You’re one of the strongest people I know…”
“By human standards.” I interrupt. “If a pony got the drop on me, I’d stand no chance. A unicorn could easily knock me out with a spell, an terran(earth pony) could potentially kill me with a good punch or kick, and I’m nowhere near fast enough to match a pegasus. Just think about it, humans are little better off than the apes the nobles often compare us to.”
With my comment both Vinyl and Octavia just stare down at their food.
“I know you’re right, but it doesn’t mean we have to like it.” Vinyl replied softly.
Octavia perk up, as if she remembered something. “Hey have you two heard the rumors floating around about the people who escaped?”
I looked at her in confusion, “What rumors?”
“I heard from a mare that went into heat and almost raped her human coltfriend…”
“Boyfriend.” I correct her.
“Boyfriend. That something stopped her, like there was a barrier between them. Like, magic.” Octavia finished.
I scoff, “Oh come on Octavia. I just told you, humans don’t have powers, we never have. The only case humans can remotely call magic was Jesus’ miracles according to Christianity. Even that is just a matter of interpretation.”
“But have you heard about the research that has been going on about earth? Earth is completely devoid of magic. Ponies can’t even stay over there for more than a few months because their magic is literally being leeched out of them. So what’s to say humans couldn’t gain magic from staying on Equis?” Octavia countered.
Hahaha, it’s surprising how close she actually is. Oh nowyou decide to pipe up. What is that supposed to mean anyway? There’s one part to her theory she’s missing. Though it’s impossible for her to know that. Mind telling me what it is? Yes. Really… Really. If you can figure it out, I’ll teach you about it. Could you be anymore cryptic? … AGG!
“What’s wrong with my theory?”
I look up, realizing my grunt was audible. “N-nothing. Just thinking about something.” I deflect. “How about we leave the hypothesizes to the scientist though. I’m not really in the mood for such heavy topics” I finish as I complete my meal and stand up. As I walk away I add, “I think I’ll head to bed early. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”
“O-ok, goodnight then.” “Sleep well.” Octavia and Vinyl reply as they shared a worried look.
[Tomorrow]
‘Ding-dong~’
I never thought I’d be afraid of a doorbell, or at leave made nervous by one. However that changes when the ones on the other side of it are the craziest group of weirdos that I have ever known.
Octavia was my executioner, as in she was the one who walked over to open the door that right now I considered tactfully the ‘portal of my doom.’ She turned the knob, and I made a b-line for my sanctuary(room), however I was stopped by a cyan glow around the collar of my shirt, courtesy of my resident DJ.
“It’s! Time! TO PARTY!!!”
The dreaded words echoed as my ‘friends’ poured into our home. The magical grip was released from collar, but it was already too late…
My vision became filled with pink as the resident party pony enveloped me in a bone crushing hug. As I was I heard Pinkie Pie speaking at her usual, nearly unintelligible, rapid fire pace. “Andrew it’s sooo good to see you! It’s been so long, it’s been since you were released from the hospital. Which was great, not that you were in the hospital, that’s just mean, but that you got out after that coma and it just been sooooo longgggg.” Pinkie pie sucked in a gallon of air before continuing. “You never visit and it’s always fun when you visit, but now it ok because now we can PARTY!”
Pinkie was eventually peeled off of me by the combined efforts of AJ and Octavia, after which Pinkie bounded off to do… whatever the hell Pinkie Pie does.
“Hehe, don’t worry we all never get used to it.” I turned around to find Ryan and the royals walking in as Ryan walked over to me and gave me a fist bump. “You holding up alright, Howler?” Ryan jokingly asked, using one of my ‘less liked’ nicknames.
And of course Vinyl picked this perfect time to walk over. “Howler? Where’d that come from?” She asked with a chuckle.
Ryan was only ‘too kind’ to oblige her. “You know his sister used to call him Wolfie? Well when we were little this idiot would actually howl like a wolf. Been calling him Howler ever since.”
Vinyl, and the others close enough to hear, burst into laughter at my little ‘lesser known’ fact. Much to my embarrassment.
“Seriously man? I don’t mind the nickname so much, but did you have to tell them where it came from?” I say dejectedly.
Ryan just laughs while throwing an arm over my shoulder. “Hahaha, aw relax man. You know it was only a matter of time.” I just grumble as the laughter and fun continues.
Later on I find myself just relaxing on a couch when Ryan comes and flops down beside me.
“Ahh, happy 20th man. You deserve it. ” He said while sipping from a bottle of cider. “So how’s things been here?”
“Hectic, but good. Things finally have started to fall into a groove. How’re things in the legion?”
“I’ve got paperwork for days. Mix that with the new training regimen I helped put together and my life is a bowl of fun.” Ryan dragged out dramatically.
“Heh, you brought it on yourself. You know Celestia didn’t force you into the legion. She just suggested it because you told her you were in ROTC.”
“Yeah yeah, laugh it up. Anyway how’s things with Vinyl been, hmm?” Ryan says, wiggling an eyebrow as he does.
“What’s that supposed to mean? They’re fine.” I say as I try and analyze him. “I don’t really know what you’re looking for.”
Ryan looked dumbfounded for a moment, but he quickly shook it off. “Ah come on man, you know. She was like, your first friend since… well me. I’ve seen how you look at her, even now.” Ryan gestures over to where Vinyl and Octavia were chatting with Lyra and Bonbon.
I look, and of course I know what he means. Vinyl is a beautiful mare, but I also know there’s no chance of more than friends. So I just look back at Ryan. “You have a point here?”
“I’m just saying man. You think you don’t have a shot because she knows about your fucked up past. But look at me, at Celestia, Luna, even Octavia.” Ryan says with a sweeping motion. “We all know about your past and we still treat you exactly the same. Heck, I’m willing to bet that it’s strengthened those bonds even.” Ryan says before resting a hand on my shoulder. “Just… don’t limit yourself because of your past man, ok?”
I give Ryan a small smile. “Thanks man, there’s a reason you’re my best friend.”
“Heh, keep it up and I’m gonna have to pass that title to Vinyl. Heck it probably already has,” Even if you can’t realize it. “I mean you already live with her.” Ryan chuckled.
We continued some small talk until Celestia came over. “Ryan darling, it’s getting late. Luna and I are planning to head back to the castle. Are you coming with us?”
Ryan stood up and pecked Celestia on the cheek. “Of course Tia.” Ryan replies before turning to me. “Well man, I guess I’m off. Just try and remember what I said alright?”
“You got it man. Have a nice trip back. I’ll talk to you soon.” I replied while giving Ryan a fist bump.
With that Ryan and the royals left, everyone else had already disappeared expect for Pinkie Pie, AJ, and Fluttershy. The last of which was so red in the face from drinking she almost resembled Big Mac.
AppleJack had already walked over and picked the poor pegasus up and was helping her towards the door. She stop and looked back at me though before heading out. “Nice to see you again sugercube. I’ve got to make sure Shy makes it back alright. We’ll see you again soon.” With a tip of her steston AppleJack turned and started towards the door.
“Bye-bye, nice wolf.” I heard Fluttershy slur out in her semiconscious state. Which gave me a good chuckle.
“AppleJack wait up. Did you forget about me?”
I turned to see Octavia with a small bag over her shoulder as she walked over to AJ.
“Octavia? What’s going on?”
“Oh, don’t you remember? The Apple family reunion is in a couple days so I’m going to go help set up.”
“You’re related to the Apples?” I asked, this was new information.
“Yeah my cousin Fiddlesticks is AJ’s cousin too. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a few days. Please don’t destroy the house while I’m gone.” She replied before she slipped under Fluttershy’s other arm and helped carry her out.
“Well… That was… interesting. Guess that just leaves Pink- where’d she go?” I say looking around, but with no signs of the bubbly party pony. “Ok~, well I guess that just leaves you and me, Vinyl.” But as I turn around, Vinyl is also nowhere to be seen. “Oh what the hell?”
I walked around the house but managed to find no sign of anyone other than myself. I guess she slipped out when I wasn’t looking. I walked over to the mound of gifts that my friends had brought for me, as I did though a shimmer caught my eye. I looked over to see a small gift wrapped in silver wrapping paper with electric blue zigzags on it. Must be Vinyl’s. I picked up the gift and proceed to tear off the paper. What was inside almost made me cry.
The gift was a framed picture of Vinyl and I out in front of the Spinning Disc as Vinyl surprise jumped into my arms right as the picture was taken. The picture was from when Vinyl and I first considered each other friends. I couldn’t help but smile at the look of surprise I had as I caught Vinyl, nearly falling because of it.
I turned it over on a whim, but was surprised to find words written at the bottom of the frame. They said, ‘To the wolf who is the most special to me. ~Vinyl.’ I choked back the tears as best I could, and when I regained some measure of control I turned and walked towards my room on a whim. As I walked in the lights flicked on to reveal Vinyl sitting on the edge of the bed, her head resting in one hand.
“I take it you liked my gift?” She asked, confidently smiling as she did.
“Yeah, I liked it.” I said walking over and sitting next to Vinyl.
She wrapping me in a hug before continuing, “Well I should hope so. You’re so dense sometimes I wonder if anything I do gets through to you.”
Now that struck me as odd. “What do you mean by that?” Vinyl stiffened slightly before pulling away.
Vinyl searched my eyes for something. “You still don’t get it do you?” She said with a chuckle. “Well I guess this is the only way after all.”
“What are you-!?” I was silenced as Vinyl grabbed my collar and pulled as she crashed her lips into mine. My eyes shot open as my body froze, my mind racing as the sensation of her velvet lips washed over me.
Vinyl broke the kiss after almost a minute. A smirk on her face as a thin strand of saliva still connected us. “You get it now?”
I sat there with the same shocked expression for another couple seconds before finally regaining control of my thoughts. To many questions, not enough time. Decision: worry about it later. I grabbed Vinyl by the waist before pulling her forward for another kiss, which she gladly melted into as our lips locked.
*Clop starts here* If uncomfortable just skip to the end. Won’t majorly affect story.
Vinyl pushed me down onto the bed, straddling me as she did. All the while deepening the kiss. I felt her tongue attempt to push past my lips, which I gladly allowed. Our tongues danced until we finally broke the kiss for need of air. I looked into Vinyl’s eyes and used my thumb to brush her cheek.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked, my uncertainty kicking in.
Vinyl just leaned down and gave me another kiss, shorter this time but not lacking any passion. When she broke it she looked at me and said, “I think you know the answer.”
“Doesn’t hurt to make sure.” I replied with a chuckle.
Vinyl just rolled her eyes before focusing back on me. “Careful mister, you better not ruin the mood.” She teasingly threatened.
“Hmp.” I huffed with a smirk, just before I quickly sat up and flipped places with Vinyl.
“Well now, looks like you finally came around.” Vinyl replied with a smirk of her own, as she wrapped her legs around me and effectively locking me in place.
“How long?” I asked, unable to hold the question any longer.
“Since before your coma.” Vinyl brushed off casually. Before she became serious, “But I don’t think it was until your coma I realized just how much. I was waiting for the right time to tell you, finally got my chance.”
“Does Octavia know?”
“Duh! You think she left early just for the reunion?”
“Well it seemed like something she’d do for a friend.”
“Yeah well, convenient timing in any case.” Vinyl end the conversation by pulling me down into another kiss.
As we kissed I picked Vinyl up, which she barely seemed to noticed, and move farther onto the bed and let her down so her head rested on the pillows.
When we broke the kiss Vinyl looked up at me and asked, “So are you ever gonna help me out of these clothes or what?”
I simply leaned down and kissed her again, but this time my hands snaked down until they found the hem of Vinyl’s shirt and proceeded to slide it up her body. As I did, I felt Vinyl mirroring the action on me. We broke the kiss just long enough to discard each other’s shirts, before returning to the kiss. My hand slid under Vinyl until I reach the small of her back, I lifted her up so she sat on my lap as my hands worked the clasp on her electric blue bra. After two tries I managed it and Vinyl discard the garment. I pulled back to admire her perky mounds. She was already aroused if her erect nipples were anything to go by.
“See something you like?” Vinyl asked sultrily.
“Maybe I do.”
“Well I’m sorry~, not everyone can be like Octi.” Vinyl fainted insult.
I pushed Vinyl back down and shifted so that my mouth was over her left breast. Vinyl shivered as my breath hit her nipple. “I don’t care what size they are. I love them, and you can’t change my mind.” I said, and before Vinyl could retort I planted my mouth over her breast and lightly sucked.
Vinyl moaned, grabbing onto the back of my head as to prevent my escape. I swapped between running my tongue over her nipple and sucking, all the while kneading the mound I was forced to neglect. After a minute or two I switched to her other breast and repeated the same treatment. Vinyl let go of my head sometime along the way and began to trace figures on my back with one hand, while the other made its way lower. I jumped a little when I felt Vinyl’s hand brush the front of my pants, which were significantly tighter because of our actions. As I felt this, my other hand drifted south to return the favor. My hand slid pass her panties to what lay beneath. Her clit was already so hot and wet, I jokingly thought my hand would melt from the heat.
“Mmm, mind helping get those off. I promise it’ll be worth it.” Vinyl moaned right into my ear.
I released her breast that I had been working the whole time. “Don’t need to tell me twice.” I said as I sat up and moved back as to better help Vinyl.
I watched as she undid the button of her shorts, as she did I slipped my fingers around the edge on both sides slid them down, panties and all. Once I tossed them to the side I looked back to the beauty before me. Vinyl looked at me with a lidded gaze before her horn gave a quick flash, cause the lights to flick off leaving the only light being the moonlight coming through the window. And here I thought the beauty before couldn’t become any hotter, I was wrong. The moonlight caused her ivory coat to seemingly glow as her ruby irises seemed to pierce my very soul.
“You look beautiful.” I breathed as I leaned forward for another kiss, which Vinyl met halfway.
As we kissed I felt Vinyl’s leg snake up my side, just before a felt my body leave the bed before quickly thumping down with Vinyl straddling my chest.
“My turn.” She said with almost a growl in her voice. I saw her horn begin to glow as I felt my pants unbutton and quickly discard themselves from my body, underwear included.
My dick was finally free and now at the mercy of Vinyl. She reached behind and began to jerk it while still straddling my chest.
“Sorry if I don’t compare to a stallion.” I joked.
“I’ve run across some of the porn from earth. I assure you very few stallions are actually that well-endowed. You have plenty for me to have fun with.” Vinyl replied, scooting back so her ass was against my dick as she began grinding on it.
“Oh god. Heh, well that makes me feel a little better.” I half-spoke, half-moaned in reply. Vinyl stopped grinding and moved back until she was between my legs with her muzzle next to my dick. With each breath she breathed against it causing a bolt of pleasure to shoot through me. Vinyl grinned as she could see the effect she was causing and apparently decided she wanted more. With one quick motion I felt Vinyl go halfway down my shaft in one go, causing me to through my head back and groan at the pleasure it produced. Vinyl then slowly trailed back up until she was back at the tip. She looked up at me, locking eyes for a moment, before she grinned for a second and bobbed her head back down my shaft. Vinyl seemed to know exactly what she was doing as she continued to bob her head on my dick, sucking each time she came up and running her broad tongue along the underside in way I can’t even describe. After about a little over a minute I called out, “V-vinyl I’m cumming.”
This didn’t seem to deter her at all though, in fact she began to bob faster and suck stronger. I finally feel the pleasure go over the edge and stiffened as the strongest orgasm I’d ever had rocked my world. Vinyl had stopped bobbing and just continued to suck out all my cum as I came. When I came down from my high I watched as Vinyl slowly came up my shaft until she released the tip with an audible ‘pop’. I watched as she swallowed my load, as visible lump traveled down her throat into her stomach.
“Hmm, a little salty. I kinda like it.” Vinyl grinned at me as she sat up and moved over me, until she was straddling my face. “Mind returning the favor?” She asked, her pussy mere inches from my mouth. Her musk filling my nose, smelled like… Vanilla? Hey I wasn’t complaining.
Without even thinking to reply, I reached up until my hands grabbed her hips and pulled her down to me. Vinyl stiffened slightly before quickly relaxing as I licked her slit, which to my pleasure tasted just like she smelled, if maybe with a slight bitterness added. Her moans came like music to my ears as I continued to lick, occasionally stopping to suck her clit, which caused her to grab my head and pull me closer. I went back to licking as I reached one arm over and continued to rub her clit. As I went, Vinyl got wetter and wetter the longer I continued, along with her moans increasing in volume. I decide to just go for the source and plunged my tongue as deep as I could into her vagina, which hurt considering Vinyl nearly tore out my hair as she threw her head back and arched her back in pleasure.
“Oh Luna, don’t stop. Don’t you dare stop!” Vinyl cried, her horn beginning to glow as she did.
Not wanting to disappoint, I redoubled my efforts. I began to pinch her clit as I thrust my tongue as deep into her vagina as I could, vainly attempting to reach her g-spot. It was apparently working as Vinyl’s horn glowed brighter the longer I continued, until I her Vinyl call out.
“Cumming, cumming , cumming. Holy moon I’m cumming!” Vinyl nearly screamed as her horn shot of bursts of magic, each bolt causing a shower of magical sparks. I felt her vagina tighten around my tongue as a flood of liquid rushed directly into my mouth, probably would’ve drowned me if I hadn’t proceeded to swallow it.
Vinyl released her grip on my head before sliding back down and collapsing on my chest. “That, was amazing. How many girls it take you to get that good?” Vinyl asked as she lovingly kissed my neck.
“I did do a little research about pony erogenous zones, so I know a few things. But I guess I’m a natural, because the answer is zero.”
Vinyl’s head snapped up, her eyes quickly searching mine. “Are you telling me you’re a virgin?”
“Is that a problem?” I answered calmly.
Vinyl’s eyes narrowed as a grin grew across her face. “Oh, I am so about to rock your world.”
“I see no problem with that.”
“I should hope so.”
With that Vinyl sat up and moved back until she was directly over my dick. Vinyl looked towards me as she lined the tip up with her vagina. “Let the rocking commence.” With that Vinyl dropped down and hilted herself on my shaft.
The wave of pleasure that shot through me made the one from during Vinyl’s blowjob feel like a tiny spark. I threw my head back, moaning loudly as I heard Vinyl do much the same. I looked to her, to find her looking at me with a lidded gaze. She pulled out excruciatingly slow, squeezing my dick as hard as she could along the way. The mix of agony of wanting to buck my hips, and immense pleasure from our connection, made me wonder if heaven could top this.
And as soon as Vinyl got to my tip, she dropped herself back down with a *slap*. Vinyl sped up quickly after that, her small breast bouncing rapidly, oh how I wanted to grab and massage them. However any attempt I made to get up Vinyl quickly prevented with either a push of her hand or a pull of her magic. She had been doing the former the longer she when at it, while her horn had started to glow on its own again.
As I said I’d researched a little into Pony anatomy, meaning I knew that for unicorns’ horns become extremely sensitive when magic is running through it, especially if it’s involuntary magic. So I knew that right now, if I could get to just touch her horn I could probably send her over the edge. Though I’d have to do it quickly considering I wasn’t going to last much longer.
“Vinyl, I-I’m cumming again!” I managed to get out as she continued to bounce on top of me.
“Do it! I want to feel it in me!” Vinyl cried out, obviously close to the edge herself.
With the last burst of energy I could manage I threw myself up, pushing past Vinyl’s attempt to push me down and hugged her as my orgasm rocked me to my core. With the tiny amount of conscious thought I had left I willed myself to reach up and grab Vinyl by the horn.
Vinyl instantly stiffened as soon as my fingers made contact with her spire appendage. I jerked it a couple times, which was all I needed as Vinyl let out an orgasmic scream that dwarfed her first one.
In an attempt to keep my hearing, I silenced Vinyl by kissing her with as much passion and force as my orgasm addled brain could manage. We sat there for what seemed like forever, riding out the strongest(I’m assuming for both of us) orgasm we’d ever had. All the while kissing and letting our tongues dance in each other’s mouths. When we finally came down from our high, exhaustion hit like a freight train. We fell back onto my bed, my dick sliding out of Vinyl with a pop as we did.
*Clop End*
We laid there as tiredness seemed to blanket our bodies. No wait. That is an actual blanket I feel coming over us. I finally realized Vinyl’s horn glowing as the she put the blanket in place, sighing happily into my chest once it was.
“That, was amazing Andrew.” Vinyl breathed, her breath slightly tickling me as she did.
“I would say likewise, but I don’t think words serve what I just felt justice. Though I do like how your musk smells like vanilla.” I chuckled lightly.
I saw Vinyl’s cheeks heat up as she turn to look at me. “Y-you mean you like that?” I simply nodded in the affirmative. “W-well that is certainly a new one for me. Soured sweets aren’t really my thing.”
I kissed her lovingly as I move my hand and began to caress her cheek. “The only thing sour here is me, wishing I had done this sooner.”
Vinyl giggled before kissing me in return, before returning her head to resting on my chest. “Well now you have, and I assure you this won’t be a one night stand.” She said as she nuzzled closer into my neck, careful to avoid stabbing with her horn as she did so.
“I love you.” Vinyl whispered before letting out a short yawn, sleep rapidly approaching.
Those words, hit like a sack of bricks, with an anvil on top. True we had just finished admitting and constituting our love for each other, but neither one of us had yet to say the actual words.
Until Vinyl said them right then. And if I’m being honest, it felt right. It felt like any worries or reservation I had just melted away as I focused on the mare on my chest and the words she had just spoken.
Then, with surprising ease I replied, “And I love you, Vinyl.”
I could feel Vinyl smile as I felt sleep quickly encroach… As I fell asleep with my best friend in my arms.
Darkness surrounded me as I walked down, some sort of hallway I think. I wondered what was happening until I finally saw a solitary light appear down the way. I walked until I stood underneath the light. Once I was I looked around, in horror.
All around me were stains of blood, some old and dark, but others were still bright and wet. ‘What is going on? This isn’t one of my normal nightmares. A new one perhaps?’ I spoke aloud. I continued walking but flinched back as the hallway I was apparently in was suddenly flooded with light. I opened my eyes to be greeted with a scene that could only exist in a nightmare, at least I hoped so.
Down the now lit hallway were the rotting remains of several creatures. This is the only way I could describe them as they were so maimed that I’m not sure what the even used to be. They littered the walls in various fashions, some cut in twine, others ripped limb from limb, and others still just a bloody smear on the wall. I looked at it all, but for some reason I didn’t feel sick I just continued walking as the lights flickered and buzzed above me. While bathing me in a red glow because of the blood that coated them.
I finally made it to the end of the hall. Before me stood a large metal door, when I opened it I was confronted with a large circular room. Inside which was a dim light which showed the front of a very large metal cage, ancient from the looks of it. Its bars coated with several inches of rust, except two spots on two side by side bars closest to me. I took a step closer, trying to see if there was anything inside.
I stepped inside to until I was under the light. As soon as I was though, I was hit with a wave of pressure filling me with a sense of dread. The pressure was suffocating, but somehow I wasn’t scared. I was familiar with this feeling, but I couldn’t place from where or when. As I stared into the cage I was met with two slivers of red staring back at me.
“Who’s in there?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.
However I was met while an enchanting voice whose words dripped honey. “Would you please open the cage?”
“Why would I do a thing like that?”
“You’d really leave your brother trapped in a cage?”
The slivers opened into two distinct red eyes as the figure stepped into the light. Like he said, in front of me stood my older brother. Leo was around 6’2”, muscular because of his military training, with dark brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing a marine t-shirt and camo army pants, however they were filled with rips and tears, not to mention the massive blood stains and scars covering the majority of his body.
Rational thought was thrown out the window at the sight of my brother. “L-leo, what’s going on? Why are you covered in blood and scars? And why are you in a cage?” “Open the door first. I’ll explain once I’m out.” Leo said, while staring at me with his… red eyes…
Wait, that wasn’t right. Leo’s eyes are green not red, something isn’t right here.
“Hmm, how about you tell me who you really are and I might begin to consider it.” I spat back venomously, for almost falling for such a simple trick.
The copy of my brother’s voice warping into a demonic growl as it began to laugh. “Hehehe. HAHAHAHAHA! I GUESS THERE IS NO POINT IN TRYING TO TRICK YOU ANY LONGER.”
This definitely was no longer a copy of my brother, but a demon. It looked much like a bloody shadow, with a constantly shifting form. However one trait I could defiantly distinguish was its wolf-like head.
“So if you have no more tricks to use, what will you try next?”
As I said this, a ring of fire encircled the room shedding light over the entire room.
“HOW ABOUT FEAR? I’VE ALWAYS LIKED THAT ONE.”
“What are you talking… about…” I stopped short as I looked up.
I gagged as I looked at the sight before me. Above me were everyone I had met and considered a friend since entering Equis… their bodies in tatters… and hanging on meat hooks. I eyes instantly trained to two individuals in particular, Vinyl and Octavia. Their faces were twisted into looks of pain and terror as their bloody corpses swung above me.
“OPEN THE CAGE, AND I MIGHT SPARE THOSE YOU SEE THE FATE IN FRONT OF YOU!” The shadow howled at me.
I refocused my attention back on the thing before me. “No.”
The shadow seemed to shift slightly at my words, like I had confused him. “THEN ENJOY THE LIGHT. FOR WHEN DARKNESS COMES, I RULE YOU!”
With its words a blast of fire came through the bars and enveloped me.
I bolted upright from the nightmare that had finally ended. I was drenched in a cold sweat as I blinked rapidly to adjust my eyes to the dark of the room. I looked to my right to find vinyl curled up against my side.
I smiled as I looked at her peaceful face as I thought, I’m so glad that was just a nightmare. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost her.
Now to get some answers. Bael, you’d better answer me.
What is it?
Do you know the dream I had last night?
No, I have no influence over you when you sleep. Only when you are awake can I contact you.
I saw the cage…
… I see. What did he show you?
Can’t you just check for yourself?
Yes, but I thought it might do some good if you talked about it.
Well no thank you, I rather try and forget that dream if I can.
You won’t. IT won’t let you.
Lovely. And what exactly is IT?
In time, it isn’t of great importance at the moment. As long as you leave the cage closed.
I don’t like it when you dodge my questions Bael. I need answers.
And in time you will receive them. You are not ready however for all the things I have to tell you, yet.
Fine, not like I’m going to get anything out of you anyway. Just answer when I call at least, you are the only thing that seems to know what is going on.
That is acceptable, whether I answer your questions is still up to me of course.
I expected as much. That’s all for now Bael. I’m going to try and sleep some more.
I will do what I can to prevent anymore nightmares this night.
…Thank you, Bael.
As I laid back down I felt Vinyl wrap her arms around my torso possessively as she snuggled deeper into my side. I smiled as I brushed a few strands of her mane behind her ear. I will never let anything happen to you, I promise Vinyl. As smile appeared on her face as if she had been able to hear what I thought. I kissed her beneath her horn before I laid my head back and slipped back into the world of dreams.
~Two weeks later~
Vinyl and I spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. When Octavia finally returned from the Apple family reunion Vinyl nearly bowled her over as she mock sobbed about being so bored without her. Which was partly true, without Octavia around neither of us really came up with much to do. Which left of with lots of time to learn about each other, not that I’m complaining.
Everything went back to normal after that for the most part, Octavia and I would go and practice with the orchestra during the day, and during the night we’d spend working at the Spinning Disk, sadly I haven’t been needed to remove many customers since that incident with that stallion. Bael has been quite for a while though I haven’t cared much seeing as I’d yet to call on him since our conversation. Though I am thankful, I had yet to have another nightmare of the cage or any nightmare for that matter. All in all life was pretty good, I just hope it keeps up.
I was drawn out of my musings as I heard a knock at my door. I got out of my bed and opened it to find Octavia waiting on the other side.
“Hey Tavi, what’s going on?” I asked using her nickname, I’d started using it after she questioned why I always used her whole name.
“Not much I was just wondering if you’d like to practice with me.”
“Sure I’d love to.” I replied walking out and following her over the studio room.
We played for about an hour before Tavi looked over gave me a mischievous smile. “You want to show off some?”
I returned the grin with one of my own, “Is that a challenge?”
To which her only reply was her beginning to play.
“Oh it is soon.” I replied bringing Blair to my lips.
We went back and forth until Tavi’s bow was frayed and my lips were sore. We looked at each other’s frazzled states before we started chuckling, which soon turned into full blown laughter.
After we calmed down a bit I looked over and said, “Thanks Tavi that was a lot of fun.”
“Anytime, I enjoyed it too.” She said with a smile as she stared at me with those mulberry orbs.
I felt like I could get lost in those eyes if I stared too long but I just couldn’t tear my gaze away. Thankfully I was brought out of my musings as clapping came from the studio door, we looked over to find Vinyl leaning up against the frame.
“Sorry to interrupt the touching moment, but can I have my coltfriend back?” She said with a smirk.
I noticed a light blush appear on Octavia’s face before she started putting her cello away. I put Blair away as well and walked over to Vinyl pecking her lips as she gave me a hug.
“Needed something Vi?” I asked with a smile.
“Not really but we do have to get to work in a bit.”
I looked over to the clock to find it was already ready almost four o’clock, me and Tavi had been playing for a good three hours.
“Yeah I guess you’re right. I’ll go get changed and then we can head out.” I told her giving one last peck before going to my room.
It only took me a few minutes to get ready before we went on our way. We got to the club as the line of patrons started to grow as they waited to get in. Tavi wasn’t with us tonight as she had other things to get done for the orchestra, which was saddening but I’m sure I’d manage.
…I. Am. Sooo bored! This was literally the most lacklusterly normal night in the history of me working at the club. I almost wish a fight would break out just to get some excitement in here. Though Vinyl seemed to be having fun as she bobbed her head to the beat she was making on her turntable. I loved her, giant glasses and all, and it was calming to watch her work.
What a sap… not that I care.
What the hell! I thought as I whipped around, scanning the room. That definitely wasn’t Bael.
I looked around until my eyes landed on a person in a dark green coat with the hood up staring at me from across the room. I froze as felt a pressure come over me, I felt my hand shake slightly as I felt the person’s unseen eyes bore straight through me. I took a step forward before I hear the voice again.
Ah ah ah, just stay where you are like a good dog. Or keep coming, it doesn’t matter.
I froze as I looked at this being with pure hate.
Ahh, there it is. So you really are Fury’s cage. Better than this little number anyway. It gestured to itself as before continuing to speak. That doesn’t matter though, I was just curious to know what you looked like.With that the being stood from the seat across the room and made their way over until the walk just past me.
“By the way, you can call me… I.D… or whatever. I don’t care.” A distinctly feminine voice spoke over the music.
I whipped around to confront this woman only to find she had disappeared. I look over the entire club but she was nowhere to be found.
As my anger grew I finally stopped and thought to myself. Bael, answer.
She seems to have gotten a good rise out of you.
Who the hell was she anyway! I thought only you could do the weird talk in my head thing!
You’ve much to learn young one, but all in good time.
No, not this time Bael. I want answers!
Let’s just say that person wasn’t actually a person anymore.
You mean to say that they used to be?
Yes, and what they are now is not something you can deal with at the moment.
I hate when you’re cryptic, you know that right?
I might get some pleasure from the fact, yes.
I sighed, no matter what I felt I knew getting Bael to telling something he didn’t already intend to tell me was pointless.
I focused back on Vinyl as she continued her tunes, completely oblivious that anything had been wrong. I smiled at seeing how happy she seemed to be, doing what she loved. Oh and would you look at that, I looks like a guy is getting a little too frisky with that mare. I grinned as I walked towards the offending party… I love my job.
~That night~
I stared at the blood rusted cage that stood in front of me as a pair of red eyes stared back.
“It’s been a while. I almost thought you were just bluffing” I said coldly.
Dark laughing filling the room as the shadow twisted in its cage. “I NEVER BLUFF, I HAVE NO NEED FOR SUCH TRICKERY.”
“Probably true, so why have you brought me back here?”
“BECAUSE I CAN, AND BECAUSE I KNOW YOU HAD THE PLEASURE OF MEETING ONE OF MY SIBLINGS.”
My eyes narrowed as I stared at the cage, wishing I could will it to burst into flames. “You’re referring to that bitch that called herself I.D. aren’t you.”
“NANAL HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CONNIVING ONE. THOUGH I DO ENJOY HER BRINGING OUT YOUR ANGER”
“Nanal is it? Ok how about this ‘Fury’ what’s your true name?”
“HA, IT’S BEEN LONG SINCE SOMEONE CALLED ME THAT. OK MORTAL I’LL GRANT YOU THE HONOR, FOR SHOWING SUCH BRAVERY IN MY PRESENCE. THE NAME THAT YOU SHOULD KNOW AND FEAR IS, KORVIN!”
The room shook as ‘Korvin’ laughed, I looked up to see storm clouds above me before a bolt a lightning struck me.
I bolted upright in my bed, again drenched in a cold sweat. I felt Vinyl at my side as I laid back down, wrapping an arm around her as I did.
I need to figure out what’s happening, and I need Bael in order to do that. I thought as I held Vinyl tightly, almost afraid to let go of her for fear she’d disappear.
I spent the next couple week in the royal library, thanks to permission from Luna, trying to find something on either Korvin or Nanal. But I’d yet to find any mention of magical beings or spirits by those names. I did think about the seven deadly sins but that didn’t fit since Nanal didn’t really match any of the sins. If anything she acted indifferent to learning about me, so I’m not really sure what to do. The internet drew just as big a blank as I was having luck in this library.
Maybe Twilight would be able to find something. No I can’t do that, if she did find something and it turned out to be like dark magic she’d interrogate me on how I learned about such things. So Twilight’s out, that leaves finding a way into the infamous ‘forbidden section’. Apparently only a princess can grant access to that area so that puts me in a bit of a bind since I’ve been doing my best to keep Bael under wraps.
And I must commend you for doing such a great job of doing so.
Oh great, now you speak up! Are you going to give me some information or do I have to start being illegal to find out anything?
I was just waiting for you to realize that there is no texts that will tell you what you wish to know.
… Are you telling me I just spent the last two weeks… for absolutely nothing?
Not nothing, you provided me with entertainment.
…I hate you so much.
… So are you going to tell me what I want to know?
No, but I’ll let you know something you used to desire to understand.
And what would that be?
That humans are capable of magic.
What…
Though they are few in number, select bloodlines in humanity hold an affinity for magic. Yours included.
So humans are able to do magic? Then why isn’t it a normal thing like here on Equis.
You are mistaken, humans can’t do magic.
But you just…
They used to be able to.
… Explain.
Select bloodlines held a strong bond to magic that was on earth, but millennia ago they decided that it was too dangerous for your race to hold such a power. So the bloodlines of magi, as they were known, came together and cast a spell that expelled all magic from your world and prevented from magic being able to return. That is why Equestrians cannot live on Earth for more that few months without revisiting Equis, or they will perish.
Where do you fit into all this?
A tale too long for today, patients young one, it is a virtue.
Ggg, ok fine. How do I fit into all this?
As I said your bloodline used to hold an affinity for magic, for most that hold these bloodlines within them evolution had eliminated the gene for being stagnant. Meaning though by this point in humanity’s life the bloodlines have touched almost all who live on earth, almost none have the gene to allow them to harness Equis’ abundant pool of magic.
So you said I still could, why am I so special?
Because you hold a direct line to one of the first arch-magus, one of nine who created and cast the spell that rid Earth of magic. He was also the one who made our pact and started the legacy that lead to your conception.
Ok~, so does that mean you’re going to start teaching me magic?
No.
What! Come on, you can’t tell a guy he can do magic and then expect him not to want to learn.
There is a condition that you must fulfill before I teach you anything.
What is it!?
You, like the ponies you live with, have an affinity for a particular type of magic. I want you to figure out not only what it is, but the element’s ancient name as well. You know what it is already, but to remember will be the test.
You’ve got to be kidding me. That is the most abstract thing I’ve ever heard!
That is your condition, meet it, and I will teach you all you wish to know about your magic.
And with that Bael went silent, no matter how many times I screamed at him to answer to remained quiet to me.
I’m really starting to hate that guy. I thought to myself as I trudged out of the library and back to my home.
I walk through the front door to find Vinyl and Octavia feverishly arguing with each other before Octavia stormed away. I walked over to Vinyl as Octavia slammed the door to her room shut.
“Ok what the hell was that all about?” I asked while giving her a stern look.
Vinyl looked sheepishly at the ground before glancing up at me from behind her shades. “It was nothing. I just said something I shouldn’t have.”
I continued to stare at her, but eased up on my glare. “You going to tell me?”
“Do I have to?” Vinyl turned her gaze back to the ground.
“Yes.”
Vinyl sighed before walking over to the couch and sat down, as I sat beside her. “We had just been joking around, but then I had to go and mention her parents.” Vinyl tried to press herself into my side in an effort to disappear.
“Was that all?” I asked ignorantly.
“You don’t understand."
"What’s so bad about her parents? Did she have a falling out with them?”
“That would be an understatement.”
“That bad?”
“Worse. I met Octy when we were just foals, I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this but I’m actually of a noble Canterlot family just like Octy.”
“Wait, both you and Octavia are nobles?”
“Well that’s the thing, I still technically am, but Octy was disowned by her parents when she got her cutie mark.”
“Why’d they do such a thing?”
“Octy comes from a family of unicorns, like most nobles in Canterlot. When her mother had an earth pony foal, she was immediately declared as being unfaithful to her herd and exiled. Her father kept her in the family however, they were hoping she’d discover a talent for medicine, politics, or something else they could exploit. So when she found her talent in music, all hope for her was lost. She was disowned at that point, and my family actually took her in and raised her. That’s why we’re so close, we’re basically sisters.”
“So what did you say that set her off?”
Vinyl tried to curl into my side again as she spoke softly, “I might have said something along the lines of ‘You’re so uptight you could be mistaken for a unicorn…’ I’m such an idiot.”
“No denying that fact.” I replied which earned me an elbow to the ribs. “Ouch! But as I was saying, you didn’t do it on purpose. Let me see if I can calm her down. Just stay here K?” I said before standing up and walking over to Octavia’s bedroom door.
I knocked lightly on her door only to hear, “Go away Vinyl!”
“It’s not Vinyl, Tavi.” I calmly replied.
I heard shuffling before I heard the lock click. Octavia cautiously cracked the door, just to make sure before she opened it wider.
“Do you need something, Andrew?” She said only glancing at me. It was obvious from the redness in her eyes she had been crying.
“That’s what I should be asking you. Want to talk about it?”
“I’m sure Vinyl’s already told you.”
“She did, but I want to hear it from you.”
Octavia stood for a moment before moving aside and allowing me inside, before shutting the door behind me. She sat on the edge of the bed as I sat next to her and wrapped her in a short hug, which she returned.
“So, tell me what happened.” I told her as I tried to sit up but Octavia just stayed in the hug, which I didn’t have a problem with.
“Vinyl and I were just talking about music, human music actually, and we got in an argument about styles. I should have just left when we started raising our voices, but I was being a little stubborn.”
“So was Vinyl, it’s something you to have in common.”
Octavia chuckled at my observation. “Yeah, I guess so. But then she had to go and compare me to them.” She spat the last part.
“Your parents…” I said calmly, hoping not to set Octavia off again.
“They don’t deserve that title. They didn’t do anything to earn it.” Her words were cold as ice as she talked about them.
“So I’ve heard.”
“You got the short version.” Octavia started off. “I never knew my birth mother, she was made to leave Canterlot right after I was born. I don’t know if she ever attempted to see me, but if she did she never succeeded. I was left in the care of my herd mother, who had recently had a foal of her own. I never breast fed, that was considered too good for me, which stunted my growth when I was little. Thankfully it didn’t do any lasting damage. I was only kept around for my potential to be used, when I got my cutie mark in music all my usefulness vanished. I was disowned and left at an orphanage which thankfully I didn’t stay in long.
“Vinyl has been my best friend since I could remember. When she found out what had happened she told her parents and they got me out of that horrid place. At that point Vinyl and I legally became sisters. I’m pretty sure Vinyl hasn’t talked about her parents much to you, they’re nice ponies and they do care about Vinyl and me. Though they’ve had to distance themselves to retain their position and influence as nobles. We usually hear from them around Hearths Warming just to make sure we’re doing ok. They were the ones I truly consider my parents, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about them.” Octavia said, finishing her rant.
“I can relate in a way. You know about my step mother, but I don’t think I’ve ever told you anything of what she did specifically.” Octavia shook her head as I continued. “After I was put in her protective custody my life went straight to hell. I started teaching myself martial arts as a way of coping with the abuse. It pissed her off to no end when she hit me and I didn’t even flinch. When she ran out of ideas to cause me pain she start to cut me. For three years every birthday I had she’d slit my arms equal to the number of years old I was.” I explain while turning my arms over to show the ten slivers on my right arm and the nine on my left. Octavia looked at them in horror before hugging me tighter, burying her muzzle in my chest.
“I’d usually pass out when she hit around twelve, but then I’d wake up at fifteen and start screaming again. She was always just sober enough to make sure I didn’t die, but I came close a couple times. When I final got away from her I made an anonymous tip to the police, with audio, video, and written evidence that got her thrown in prison for twenty-five to life. The money I received from the case for recompense is what I used to travel over here and start my new life. Where I got to meet you and Vinyl, and where I learned how to love again…” I concluded.
Octavia looked at me with tears in her eyes, there was remorse in them but at the same time was another emotion. I looked at her as she pulled herself up to my lips and gently kissed me, I didn’t push her away but neither did I pull her closer. She pulled away after a moment before speaking softly.
“I’m sorry I don’t know what came over me.” She glanced up at me before averting her eyes.
“Don’t be, I understand. Are you feeling any better?”
She smiled at me before replying, “Yes, thank you. I’m glad you came to stay with us Andrew. I don’t know what me or Vinyl would do without you around.”
“Be at each other’s throats?” I threw out sarcastically.
“You’re probably not far off.” Octavia laughed, “Come on I think we’ve had enough sadness for one day.” She said before pulling me to my feet and walking to the door.
As she opened it she was assaulted by a sappy white unicorn as it apologized to her.
“Tavi I didn’t mean what I said. Please don’t stay mad at me.” Vinyl sobbed out, her mane was more frazzled than normal and on the counter I saw a bottle of Sweet Apple Acres whiskey half gone. We must have been gone longer than I thought.
I helped peel Vinyl off of Tavi before carrying her to my room where she passed out almost as soon as she hit the covers. Tavi and I ate a small dinner before we retired to our separate rooms exchanging goodnights. As I crawled into bed Vinyl molded to my side as she subconsciously wrapped her legs up in mine and wrapped her tail around my waist. I weaved my arm around her as I felt sleep pulling at the corners of my mind before falling to the darkness. Dreams would have to wait because now I had a mission… finding my magic.
“Ahhg!” I yelled throwing my notebook across my bedroom where it hit the wall and fell onto my dresser.
One month, I’d spent an entire month with not one clue as to what my magic could possibly be. Bael, as could be guessed, was greatly amused by my annoyance. Vinyl had been busy with the club so she at the moment she wasn’t around to be worrying about my fit. Octavia had been around less and less because she had found a coltfriend, which greatly shocked both Vinyl and me.
Vinyl told me she thought about asking her to join the herd but that night Tavi told us about her ‘coltfriend’. I didn’t have a great feeling about it Octavia didn’t seem to be happy to tell us which had lead me to believe there was something else going on, but I had yet to investigate because of being occupied. Seeing as Octavia wasn’t coming back with any physical harm I wasn’t greatly concerned but she seldom spoke to either Vinyl or me anymore and smiled even less. This started only a week ago, seeing that it was still so recent I figured it must be because she did have some feelings for us that she clearly still felt but didn’t want to act on them with her coltfriend in the mix.
With that at the back of my mind I focused back on my current problem. I had been making a list of all possible elements that my magic could be based on the talents that I had encountered here in Equis along with some common elements of magic that I could think of from shows or stories. After that I did as much research into other languages and terminology that was interchangeable with the list of words I had collected. I then proceeded to run my list by Bael to which was like slamming myself against a brick wall, frustrating and painful.
Am I at least on the right track Bael? Like is my element at least on the list I made?
… Yes.
… That’s it? Seriously, that’s all I get?
You should know what it is when you look closely enough. Also it’s ancient name is older than the written word has existed. Older than any symbol or drawing, you won’t find any help discovering it from the methods you are attempting to use.
Wow… that’s the most I’ve gotten out of you in weeks.
While you’re floundering is amusing I have an agenda that requires that you be ready. I’ve deemed it necessary that you needed a push.
Doesn’t that mean that I could just wait until you were pressed enough for you to tell me everything I want to know?
No, my plans don’t require you per say. While it would be inconvenient for me, I could wait until the day you die and then continue with your descendants.
I scowled at the coldness of Bael’s statement but knew it wouldn’t do any good to try and argue. I had gotten a good lead on what to do and I should just be happy with that. Looks like I have some meditating to do.
At that moment I heard the front door open and leaned from my bed to see Octavia coming in with a haggard appearance and a frown that seemed ingrained on her muzzle. I walked out of my room as she flopped on the couch, not seeming to notice she wasn’t alone.
This was reinforced when she nearly jumped out of her skin as I spoke up, “Hey Tavi, you ok?”
After her mini panic attack settled down she looked at me with a very forced smile. “I’m fine Andrew. Just some stress from the orchestra and Fine Point.” Octavia’s voice seemed to turn slightly colder at using her ‘coltfriend’s’ name.
I looked her over, her coat and mane had lost a little of the luster that had made her look so confident, along with her eyes being slightly more sunk in than I had noticed a week ago. The vibrant mare I had met months ago was slowly disappearing right in front of my eyes. Another couple weeks and I don’t think I’d be looking at the Octavia I had known and grown to care about. Maybe my search for magic could be put off for a day or two for me to investigate a little.
While this went on in my head Octavia had gotten up and excused herself to her room while I had given a small nod that I heard her. I let my gaze linger on her door after it had closed for a moment before I resolved my choice.
There’s something going on, and I’m going to figure it out. Even if I end up needing to bash some heads in… Actually I kinda hope that happens, I could use something to release some stress on, or somebody.
~Two days later~
I’m not really fond of stalking people I consider my friends, but when my interrogations fail to get me the information I need it doesn’t leave me much choice. I’d spent all of yesterday and most of today trying to find info on Octavia’s seemingly invisible coltfriend. No one/pony seemed to know anything or even heard of a stallion by the name of Fine Point.
But like hell and I going to give up! Something is up and I am going to find out what that something is. Which leads me back to the stalking, I had decided to tail Octavia after our shift at the club when she told Vinyl and me that she was going to see Fine. I gave Vinyl a brief explanation of what I planned to do, to which she approved saying she agreed that she felt something was wrong. She had asked to come along, but I told her it’d be easier for me to move around alone than if we’d both tried to tail Tavi, took a little convincing but she finally relented and I had just been able to catch up to Tavi before I lost her.
I grew more concerned as we made our way deeper into the lower section of Canterlot, it wasn’t exactly known for its sterling reputation after all. She finally came to a rather run down bar called the ‘Black Spot’, its outsides completely covered with graffiti and piss/vomit stains and even some blotches of dark red that didn’t really inspire confidence in this place.
There’s no way that Octavia met someone in a place like this. This throws up more red flags than taunting a raging bull, and I don’t like the tingle I get from any of them. I have a couple theories but none of them are very pleasant to consider.
What do you plan to do if they are true?
Probably something that you and Korvin could actually agree upon.
Well, I look forward to whatever spectacle you grant me. You come up with any guesses towards your magic by chance?
Bael brought up an interesting point, with the concern over Octavia taking up the majority of my time I had kinda put that out of my mind. Though if I had to throw something off the top of my head it’d have to be…
You want the ancient name I’m supposing.
Correct.
Let me get through with this and I’ll make a guess.
Suit yourself.
With that I pulled up the hood of the black hoodie I had on and entered the, for lack of a more accurate word, shady establishment. Once I was inside I was met with very little more light than what was outside considering it was about two in the morning. The air smelled mostly of smoke and alcohol with lesser hints of piss and vomit and sex, it took a few moments to keep the bile in my stomach where it belonged before I managed to start looking around. Since I couldn’t see Octavia in the main crowd I came up to the bar where a wrinkled old mare cleaning a glass gave me a slightly curious look before setting the glass down and came closer.
“What you need boy?” She said in a coarse voice which sounded like she’d smoked since she was a foal.
“Looking for a stallion by the name of Fine Point. Heard from a buddy of mine that I could find him here.” I replied coldly, hoping my dark persona might make her think I was actually from around here. The sad fact that the majority of humans live down here in this part of Canterlot was also a make in my favor.
The mare gave me look over before leaning closer and speaking barely above a whisper, “What you need? Stick doesn’t usually meet his clients don’t you know?”
‘Stick’? Either that’s his real name or a street name and Fine Point being the other one. Either way it doesn’t really matter. I replied to the mare with an edge to my voice that I hope would help convince her. “And I don’t do business without seeing the dealer.”
She flinched back slightly before backing up and walking out from behind the bar and walking into a backroom. It only took a moment before she returned and said in a harsher tone than before, “You can go on back, but make it quick.”
I didn’t so much as nod as I walked away, I had basically confirmed one of my theories, and I didn’t like it one bit. As I pushed the door open a large stallion closed it behind me as I walked into the room. The room looked little cleaner than the bar area in the main room, in it were some very tacky plush couches filled with a variety of mares. Standing stoically around the room were a total of four stallions including the one that closed the door behind me, each had varying shades of gray to black for coats and their manes were shaved all the way down so there was no color to comment on. On the couch directly in front of me was a stallion surrounded by a harem of mares.
The slug had a very white coat and a lime green mane that made my eyes hurt. His cutie mark was on a neckless that showed two crossed syringes. He wore a shabby looking suit, though it was by far the fanciest thing in the room, I’d say cleanest but my outfit by far took that trophy. He looked at me with a smug smile that made me just want to hit him now. In my scanning of the room I saw Octavia spayed out on the right side of the couch that slug was on. She was awake but her consciousness was obviously elsewhere.
Drugged, I thought that might be the case, but I was really hoping that I might be wrong. There is a good likelihood that this will get bloody… and I’m alright with that.
The slug finally decided to use his mouth and spoke, “Well, what do we have here? You asked for Fine Point, here I am. What’s your fix buddy, or were you looking to borrow one of my girls for an hour or so?”
“Can’t say I’m really interested in either. I got a mare back home and she’s addicting enough as is.” I replied doing my best to hind my rage.
He seemed to get uneasy at my reply and his voice portrayed as much, “S-so why did you ask to meet me? You aren’t stupid enough to think you could try to hurt me or something right?
“Remains to be seen. Though the main reason I wanted to see you was to confirm own of my suspicions.”
“And what would that be?”
“That you drugged one of my friends and you’ve been keeping her here as your toy.”
He laughed, “Oh that’s rich. One of those knight in shining armor types, you guys are hilarious!” He laughed some more before continuing. “Which one is it?” He gestured at the mares sprawled out around the room.
“Her name is Octavia Melody, you should have hooked her a little over a week ago.”
“Treble-butt? Hmm, should’ve been a little more careful. Must be losing my edge for picking mares, or I got a little greedy. Ehh won’t matter anyway. Boys take out the trash won’t you?” He said with a snap of his fingers. His thugs began to move from their stations looking to either throw me out or get rid of me. Neither option had much appeal so that left option three, trash the place.
The thug that was nearest the door was the first to put a hand on me, to which I grabbed his hand with my thumb and index finger. I placed them on opposite sides of his hand around the fatty tissue between the thumb and index finger of his hand, where there happens to be a very sensitive nerve cluster, and squeezed with as much force as I could. The guard howled in pain as his legs gave out from the severity of pain in less than a second, once he was kneeling I released my hold before taking a small step to the right away from him before spinning around and delivering a spinning heel kick to the back of his head, he’d probably be needing stiches from that (I might have put a little too much force into that kick).
z…
Needless to say he was out of the fight, now that left three to deal with. After seeing their buddy downed so quickly the other three wised up and realized that I was an actual threat. Fine Point was the only unicorn in the room and probably made his guards terrans on purpose in case any one of them was smart enough to think of taking over his little drug ring.
My next opponents were the guards to the sides, though dealing with them was a little anticlimactic. They charged at me from opposite sides looking as if they expected to tackle me. So I just waited until the last moment before shifting my feet to allow me to focus all my weight onto one foot and spun out of the way. The two seemed to have a revelation at what was going to happen next, but they also seemed to realize that they couldn’t stop it either, as they ran headlong into each other.
a…
With them knocking each other out of commission that left the guard that had been standing at the back of the room. He was by far the largest of the thugs, he was probably only around 6’ 6” but the guy looked as ripped as the few minotaurs I had come across while on Equis. His plain black shirt barely seemed to contain his muscles, I’d even bet that if he flexed at all he’d rip it to shreds. So with that description in mind, I wasn’t exactly confident in the case that if brute knew any semblance of fighting I’d have a good chance. Fine Point seemed to pick up on my slight trepidation as he called to his enforcer.
“Bruno, be a good fellow and remove this flee. He’s become rather irritating.” Point said in a very fake refined tone. One that felt like it flipped a switch in me, one that opened my anger to the light.
i…
Bruno, as he was apparently called, decided that he’d attempt to finish this quickly and set upon me with a flurry of punches. Each were quick, but not nearly fast enough to cause me worry as I simply spun to the side and around him. I had him rotating in a box basically after the first ten seconds, though I doubted I could out last the terran in a match of endurance. I needed to find some way to finish him in a single move, but the small jabs I managed to throw in didn’t seem to faze him more than a feather would. That left me with very few options, and I wasn’t really fond of any of them.
I had done my best to not allow myself to go overboard since that bar fight months ago, but it looks like overboard might be the only-at least the least painful on my part anyway-way to end this fight quickly. “Sorry about this, Bruno.” I said coldly but sincerely.
There was a slight hesitation in Bruno’s punches at hearing my words, which allowed for a perfect opportunity. I knife-handed into the soft spot located just under his armpit on his right side, as I did I twisted my hand sharply and drove up. With a sickening pop I felt his arm dislocate and fall limply to his side, he looked at me in shock before he tried to swing at me with his left arm. I spun deftly to the right as I grabbed his wrist, just before I balled my fist and hammer-fisted his elbow while pulling his arm towards me. Bone broke through the other side of his arm as blood spouted from his arm, he screamed at the pain as he fell to his knees. I knocked him out with a quick strike to the back of his head before I turned to Fine point, who was looking significantly more worried at seeing his top enforce taken out so brutally.
r.
I see you’ve found it.
I just wish it didn’t take the endangerment of those I love to bring it out.
Well now that you know; call that name, Your true name…
I felt a burning in my left hand, it was excruciating but at the same time I could bare it as I looked at the object of my anger. I looked down slightly and found a mark on my hand, a wolf head. My mind flashed back to the two electric eyes from my coma, I spoke barely above a whisper. “Zair.”
“H-hey you k-know I was just messing with you r-right? Y-you want some surge? I hear i-it’s awesome for humans.” Fine point tried to barter flashing a needle filled with a slightly glowing blue liquid suggestively, but I think he knew it was useless.
Surge was a drug that was charged with magic, for humans it was more addictive than meth and even worst on their bodies. Since most of humanity can’t handle magic in systems it eats them away from the inside, while at the same time boosting their physical and mental abilities. The life expectancy of humans on addict to surge is only a year for those in the best physical shape when starting, for most it’s far less.
I took a step forward, which in turn cause Fine Point to flinch. He looked around before his eyes landed on Octavia his hand flashed to her wrist and pulled her to him before putting the needle he had to her throat. I froze instantly.
“Take another step and I’ll dose her. You know what happens when ponies other than unicorns take surge, don’t you?” Fine point said smugly, thinking he had won.
There was another even darker side to surge that wasn’t as widely known. Now if a unicorn took it, they could easily expel the excess magic from their systems and be fine, the other races however… if a pegasus or terran were to take surge they would find it just as addicting as humans would, with one caveat. The extra magic in their systems would super charge their senses creating a feeling similar to ecstasy. That effect is caused my just using one milligram of surge, if Fine Point emptied the entire syringe’s contents Octavia’s body would be put into such sensory-overload that her body would forget to control her bodily functions and she’d die from her organs shutting down.
This was not about to happen. I felt a heat rise in my left hand as I stared down the slug in front of me. I couldn’t cross the distance between us with my own physical speed, not without risking Octavia. Magic was also not an option, seeing as I still had only just figured out what it even was I didn’t have enough confidence I could use it without harming Octavia. Which left me with very limited choices, but I decided to go with…
“Give me the surge.” I said with the same finality that I had finished off Bruno with.
Fine Point grinned as he took out another syringe filled with the same glowing blue liquid and tossed it at my feet. “I’ll keep my insurance policy right here until I see you take it.” He said moving the needle a touch closer to Octavia, who was still completely zoned out from the drug.
I growled as I picked up the needle and looked between it and my arm. Any idea what’s going to happen if I inject myself with this crap?
The addictive property comes from the magic; the other components are just a bonding agent to allow it to affect humans. Since you can do magic however it shouldn’t be dangerous per say. But if you’re wanting an exact description I can’t help you there.
Good enough for me. As long as I don’t die I’ll find a way to deal with any other adverse effects. Well here goes nothing.
I took one last look at Octavia in her near comatose state and steeled myself. This is for you Tavi. With that I drove the needle home and pushed the contents into myself.
Fine Point smiled in victory. “Well how does it feel? You’ll be needing another hit in a few hours to keep up the magic levels that your body thinks it needs. So don’t even think of getting rid of me, I’m the only dealer in Canterlot.” Finally bringing the needle away from Octavia, but keeping it on hand just in case.
“Really? Well that will make this easier then.” With that I moved.
“Wha-ukk!???” Fine Point eyes widened before looking down. His eyes bulged more as he saw what he thought to be the impossible.
From his chest was sticking a blade about a foot long… made of lightning. I gave it a twist before allowing it to dissipate, leaving a fist-sized hole in his chest just about where his heart… used to be. Fine Point twitched for a moment, pulling a hand up to the hole in shock before I saw the light fade from his eyes and his body go limp. With no one to support Octavia she fell forward where I caught her before picking her up bridle style and made my way to leave.
As I reached for the door it burst open to reveal Shining Armor and a squad of guards behind him. We stood there shocked as we looked at each other. Shining was first to recover before quickly scoping the room, and the carnage within. With a whistle two guards with red crosses on their arms came in and started to deal with Bruno who was still bleeding out, but alive. The other guards came in and started to carry the semi-comatose mares out to where more medical attention was waiting. The other thugs that had been knocked out were shaken awake before getting cuffed and escorted out of the room.
Fine Point was left untouched for the moment while Shining had a guard take care of Octavia for me before pulling me to the side. He gave me a hard stare before speaking in a low but steely voice, “Ok, what. The hell. Happened!”
“Octavia had been acting strange for a while since she had met Fine Point, her ‘coltfriend.’ I got concerned so I followed her here to where I found she had gotten drugged with surge.” Shining shivered as he heard me say that cursed drug. “After I confronted Fine Point, the pony over there with the missing heart, I was attacked by his thugs. As you saw I took out most of them fairly harmlessly, I had to kinda be rough on the big guy though. I’m sure you can see why.” Shining nodded, before urging me to continue. “After I had dealt with him, Fine Point held Octavia as a hostage. I couldn’t figure out how to save her but then… Fine Point tossed me a needle filled with surge and ordered me to take it.” Shining blanched at hearing this. “I know what you’re thinking, but I didn’t have a choice. I took the needle and injected myself, that’s where things got weird… The room seemed to white out for just a moment, after which I was standing over Fine Point and his heart was missing. I don’t know how it happened, that’s all I can tell you man.”
Shining went quite while he decided what to do. “Ok I don’t really know what to do with this. Your marefriend Vinyl told us you had decided to tail your friend Octavia and that she had put a tracking a spell on you. She told us where to find you and when we found out it was one of the places we had associated with a surge dealer going by the handle ‘Stick,’ I immediately dispatched the guards and we made our way here. Stick, or Fine Point as I guest is real name is, has been a plague on the citizens here in the lower district. I guess thanks are in order for helping us find him, though I wish we could have avoided him dying.”
“Sorry Shining, can’t help you there.” I said with a shrug.
“Don’t worry about it. In any case we need to get you checked out, surge is very dangerous to human after all. You sure you feel ok?”
“Yeah, as far as I can tell. Don’t know why it happened, but I don’t feel like anything’s wrong.”
“Get checked, for your marefriend and Octavia if nothing else.”
I nodded to Shining before making for the door. I felt Shining’s eyes follow me, but he didn’t say anything else. Once I was outside and I finished getting checked for traces of surge. After I was cleared and came out of the tent that had been set up I was assaulted by a certain white unicorn.
“You ass! Why is it every time I leave you to do something by yourself I come to find you always get yourself into trouble!?” Vinyl said while shaking me violently. Before I even got the opportunity to reply I felt Vinyl pull me in and smashed her lips to mine. I felt all the worry and love that she felt in that kiss before she broke it and pulled me close while she buried her head in my chest. “Stop worrying me like this idiot. I almost lost you once, I don’t want to have it happen a second time.”
I smiled down at her, returning the hug as I rested my head on top of hers. “Sorry Vi, I’m not doing it on purpose you know.”
“Bullshit.” Vinyl mumbled through my chest.
I laughed at her before I ran a hand through her mane. “Hey when Octavia is better from all this, I want to do something special for her. You want to hear my idea?”
Vinyl pulled away slightly so she could look up at me. “What did you have in mind?”
"You know I'm starting to get bored Korvin." I tell to the shadow in the cage in front of me.
Again I had been brought into Korvin's prison within my mind. Yes it was creepy as hell and I wasn't totally unafraid of the shadow locked up inside me, but after dealing with it for several months it'd become more of a annoyance than anything.
"THAT'S NOT MY FAULT. I'M NOT TRYING TO FRIGHTEN YOU, THAT IS NOT MY ASPECT."
The blood red eyes make me shiver as I hear his chilly metallic voice. However his comment makes me curious. "So what is? I know nothing when it comes to even what you are. Care to enlighten me? I'm sure you know Bael is like a steel trap when trying to pull conversation from."
"THAT A SOLEST FOR YOU. THEY'RE UNBENDING IN THEIR DESIGN, IF YOU WEREN'T USEFUL TO HIM THEN I'M CERTAIN YOU WOULDN'T EVEN KNOW HE WAS THERE. IF YOU WANT INFORMATION, THEN YOU MUST DO SOMETHING FOR ME."
"Depends if I decide your information is worth it."
"HAHA, YOU HUMANS ARE MORE LIKE MY KIND THAN YOU BELIEVE. FINE, YOU MUST CREATE EYES FOR ME TO SEE OUTSIDE THIS CAGE. YOU'LL KNOW HOW WHEN YOU WAKE."
"That's all? I'm certain that knowing you that's not a totally harmless request, but of what you can do without my letting you out of this cage I think I can agree to that." I agree to his condition.
"EXCELLENT. THEN I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT YOU WISH."
His body swirls into a cloud of smoke before playing out a scene in the red lightning within. His voice seem to play straight into my head as I watched.
Long before time itself, when the multiverse was still dark and silent, two races were made. These two races only had ten members each, undying indestructible beings, we called ourselves the Umbrans and the Solest. The Umbrans loved the darkness, to us it was familiar and it was our home, but the Solest didn't share in our belief. They created light, and called that their home, they SHUNNED the dark. This is when we knew the two would never agree, each race held what you call magic in amounts unimaginable, and with these powers we unleashed war upon each other. The backlash of our fighting was the spark that ended up creating the known multiverse. We destroyed many universes in our war, however the Solest took interest in one that they came across. The human universe was not the first one with life that we had visited, but there was something different. The Solest thought that your kind held promise and that you did. Using your kind as vessels their power was amplified and allowed for them to overcome my brothers and sisters. To prevent any more harm to either side, a truce was made. Only one of each race now remains free from bonds, the others are bound like I am along with a Solest to make sure that we are held responsible. Most Solest are limited but not how I and the others are, caged like beast. That is because most of the Umbrans, like myself, did not want the war to end. The humans offered their blood as the chains to hold us and so we have had to remain like this for so long. Though some of my kin have found loopholes there has been no true way to break free yet.
I watched as the story unfolded before my eyes. When it concluded I asked a few questions, "It sounds like you guys are basically angles and demons. Where did your names come from? Who are the two still free? And what made you in the first place?"
Curious aren't you... Legend has often portrayed us as your 'angels and demons' though our numbers are greatly exaggerated. As for our names, they are words from our original language, they hold great power and are our identities. The ones still free are 'Justice' of the Solest and 'Pride' of the Umbrans. The closest thing you'd understand to what created us would be the being some of your race view as God. What else do you wish to know?
"Well if you're giving me the option, what are all the names of the Solest and Umbrans?"
The Solest took a liking to your human concept of virtue while the Umbrans enjoyed to the ones known as sins. The ten virtues that describe them are: love, honesty, loyalty, generosity, kindness, happiness, patience, bravery, hope, and justice. We Umbrans can be linked to: fury which is mine, sloth, hunger, lust, envy, greed, sorrow, fear, indifference, and of course pride. You want more, then I'll be wanting more in return.
"I'll keep my promise. You know for the personification of negative emotions, you Umbrans sure are chatty."
The shadow just seemed to shrug at my comment. Before I could continue the environment around me started to waver, signalling the ending of my dream. I nodded to the thing in the cage before opening my eyes.
When I opened my eyes I was still laying in bed, Vinyl was curled into my side snoring lightly. A fairly normal morning, a rare occurrence indeed. As I continued to lie in bed information suddenly seemed to flood into my mind.
"Runes huh? Funny, Korvin might have just given me something more useful than that little history lesson." I whisper softly to myself as not to disturb Vinyl. "But if I'm going to practice any of this, or my magic, I'm going to need to find somewhere that I can be a little destructive."
With that settling my inner monologue I gently shook Vinyl to wake her up. Vinyl was by no means a morning pony, neither was I a morning person but we still had things to get done.
"Nhhg, five more minutes~." Vinyl groaned out before trying to burrow deeper into my side.
"Babe, you know I'd love nothing more than to just sleep the day away with you, but remember what day it is?" I continued to prod my marefriend as I spoke.
Vinyl pushed herself up quickly, eyes near fully alert, "Has it already been three months? Faust knows it's felt like forever~." She groaned before flopping back on the bed, but was smiling all the same. "Octy is going to be so happy when we tell her."
I smile back before a thought crosses my mind, "Do you think she'll say yes? I know it seems silly, but I'm kinda nervous about it all the same."
"Relax, I've known Tavi sense we were foals. If there is only one thing I'm certain about, it's knowing my best friend. Though I've met quite a few humans before you, are you going to be ok with this babe?"
"Yeah, most people would have a hard time about it but I've seen examples of it here and I've yet to hear about them causing heartache specifically because of that." I reassured her, and a bit to myself.
"It's hard to believe she got hooked on surge, she's usually the careful one of us." Vinyl said with a sadness in her eyes.
"Nobody's perfect Vinyl, and it's not like it's really her fault. If anything I beat myself up for not catching it before it became a problem."
"Well then we're both at fault for that one. I know it's hard to concentrate when dealing with something this hot." She flirts while running a hand down her bare chest.
I roll my eyes before pushing her off the bed, she yelps as she hits the floor. I chuckle as I get out of bed on the other side, "Come on miss thang. We've got stuff to do before tonight."
Vinyl pouts cutely before getting up with a huff, "Fine. When did you get so good at resisting my flirts anyhow?" She says with her back to me while throwing on a t-shirt.
"I don't." I whisper in her ear as her head pops through the shirt. She 'eeps' cutely as I kiss her neck gently as she melts into my touch. However I pull myself away and go back to getting ready like nothing happened, "I've just learned it's so much more fun to tease you back and make you hot for me instead."
I hear a growl behind me as I'm about to finish buttoning my shirt, I look over my shoulder to see Vinyl glaring at me with her ruby irises. The thing that worried me however was the fact that her horn was glowing. "I pushed it I little far didn't I?" I asked with a slight waver in my voice.
My answer came when I suddenly was pulled off my feet by my shirt and tossed onto the bed, I looked up to see Vinyl slowly approaching with lust filled eyes. "And that would be a yes." I answered my own question just before Vinyl lept at me for a morning tryst.
...After I was raped, Vinyl and I went about our normal routine. I walked her over to the club as she needed to get set up for the night, but that's when we parted ways. I have an appointment with Luna today, while the nightmares are more or less gone now she still has me do a 'check-up' every now and then. Really though it's just an excuse for her to get out of some of her duties and enjoy time with a friend. The reasons the nightmares disappeared is really unknown, Luna likes to say it's because I accepted love, but I think it was Korvin the whole time, and now that he can talk directly to me he had no more use for the nightmares. Whatever the actual reason is though I don't really care, the fact is they no longer plague me and that is the true blessing.
Octavia after the event with Fine Point was placed into a recovery program. She left a week ago as part of the retreat for those that completed the program, and tonight is when she finally will be home and certified as cured from her addiction. It's had been a hard three months for the three of us. The challenges we faced together were difficult at times, Octavia tried to sneak off several times, she experienced heavy withdrawal episodes, and moods swings with such frequency and severity that I didn't think was possible. This past month is when she started to return to the mare we all knew, which was great for her but also for us in that we could start trusting her again. We have a special surprise in store for her when she gets back tonight, though I have no idea how she is going to react to it. I start to get nervous whenever I think about what could happen, but enough about that.
Anyway that's not the most pressing concern at the moment, I've walked my way to the palace and entered like normal. Now I stood at Luna's door which wasn't guarded like usual, that's certainly unusual. I didn't think much of it as I walked in like the room was my own and I saw Luna out on the balcony. She was resting with her arms on the railing as her mane fluttered lightly in the breeze, if I didn't have Vinyl I might have actually considered asking Luna about a relationship, though thinking about it she's way out of my league. I walked over to Luna and when I got close she spoke though she didn't turn to face me.
"Hello friend, it's quite the pleasant day out isn't it?" She asked as I joined her on leaning against the balcony's railing.
"It's a bit bright for my tastes but it does feel pleasantly cool today." I replied calmly. "So what was the plan for today's 'session'?"
She chuckled at the emphasis I placed on session, "What, do you no longer enjoy the time we spend together like this?"
"Don't go twisting my words, you know quite well I enjoy the break from my housemates once in a while. The reason I ask is that there was some business I needed to look into after we're done here." I explained
"And what business what that be dear friend?" Luna ask while turning to look me in the eyes.
"Oh nothing to worry about if that's what you're thinking. Just wanted to find a place that I could practice my martial arts, like an old warehouse or something. A place that was large and no one would care if I put a few extra holes in the walls." I passed off casually. There was truth in what I said, though I did leave out the part of practicing magic that shouldn't even be possible along with the runic summoning rituals. Those probably wouldn't go over well.
Luna seemed to understand, and she even gave a suggestion, "Well it would only be for a couple months, but you could use an old legion warehouse that's a couple miles from here. It's going to get repurposed, however currently it is barren and empty. From what you described it sounds like just what you're looking for."
I looked at her with surprise, "Really? Well yeah, that actually does sound fairly perfect for my needs. Thanks Luna, that solves the most major thing I had on my mind. You think you could give me directions when I leave?"
"Of course, Andrew." She replies with a smile, before it turns into a grin. "Now how about we go kill some hive?" She asks while making to PS4 controllers appear right in front of us.
"You're on." I say grabbing one of the controllers and walking back inside with Luna.
After my fun with Luna, she gave me a list of directions of how to get to the old legion warehouse. I walked for about twenty minutes from the palace until I arrived at the old building. It was about what you'd expect an abandoned warehouse to look like, I was no longer in the upper district so it wasn't made of crystal like so many are used to seeing. I walked inside to see the bare metal skeleton that lined the insides of the building, the roof was a simple sheet metal construction and the outer walls were concrete. There were a couple skylights to help the windows that lined the upper part of the walls, each one spread out about a window length from each other, to provide light for the building. A few large electric lights hung along the middle of the building, but sadly none of the bulbs were intact. Thankfully that wouldn't be much of a problem, seeing as it was only about three in the afternoon, I had about four to five hours of light to work with until it became troublesome.
As I walked to the other side of the warehouse I noticed several old rusted pieces of metal scattered around, some I could tell used to be parts of weapons but that didn't mean much now. I'm sure I could find a use for it, since I could super-heat metal I could basically make my own forge here. Other than the metal there was broken glass in places, and... yeah that's pretty much it, metal and glass, it's an empty warehouse for fuck sake.
"Oh I wouldn't say empty." I feminine voice spoke from behind me.
I was certainly startled, I actually unleashed my magic to increase my speed to burst away from the voice before turning and charging a bolt of lightning. As the I got set to throw the spear I saw who spoke to me, and their presence made be wonder why I hesitated in throwing the lightning at her.
"I.D... or would you prefer Nanal." I spoke the words like poison.
She wore that same green cloak that I saw her in months ago when we first met. Though this time the hood was down. Was a youthful Asian girl, who looked no more than sixteen. Her hair was a raven black and her eyes a bright emerald green. Though those eyes were far from normal, they looked reptilian in nature and gave off a soft glow that I could tell even though the warehouse had quite a lot of light coming in. She spoke again in a monotone, almost offhand manner, "Do what you want, I don't care at all."
I relaxed a little, not enough to release my lightning spear, but I wasn't prepared to throw it anymore. "Well guessing by your demeanor, I.D. must stand for indifference. Korvin is quite the chatty demon, I think he might just be lonely." I said sarcastically.
"Fury has no regard for tactics, he does what he wants. The only thing he listens to is anger." Nanal spoke while starting to walk on a circular path, slowly getting closer to me.
"Well that is kinda in his name. To the point, why are you here?" I start to walk opposite to her so she can't get too close.
"You think we ever let you out of our sight? You should be smarter than that, or don't be, it doesn't matter." She seemed surprised at first but quickly went back to her neutral expression.
"I should have guessed that. You'll find I'm plenty smart, I could deal with you if I wanted."
She points at the lightning in my hand, "With that? You underestimate me Winter Wolf. I'm not that weak."
I stiffened at hearing the meaning of my last name, "How do you know that name. The meaning of my name has been pasted down only by my family, it doesn't appear anywhere else. That I know, I've looked."
"Where do you think that meaning comes from? It's old language, your ancestors chose names that defined their clan. Though those words have power, it's probably what made your ilk perfectly suited for being the vessels for the aspects you have." Her lips turn up into a small smile for a short moment before going back to normal.
"Why are you here Nanal? I'm certain it's not because you enjoy my company."
She shrugged, "I felt like talking to you. Unlike the other aspects you haven't tried to kill me on sight, that and Fury is special in a way."
"Well I haven't needed to kill you yet, so live and let live at the moment. And what's so special about Korvin?"
"It doesn't matter really, and it's not really Fury in a way but more about Loyalty."
"Bael..."
"Huh, oh yes that is his ancient name. You really shouldn't say those words so flippantly, they do hold power. Anyway, Loyalty and Fury have a unique bond compared to our brethren." She explained.
Her voice was so nonthreatening that I didn't notice that we had closed the gap between us by more than half of what we started at.
"Care to explain further?" I asked as the lightning reduced to just an orb in my hand, though I made sure to not let it disappear completely.
"Fury's anger was so strong and chaotic that a normal seal wouldn't work back when your ancestor first created the pact that you now hold. To ensure he would not overwhelm his host Loyalty committed an act that neither side would have allowed if they could have stopped him in time. He fused with Fury, they are one and the same."
"What!? How is that possible, I've seen the cage. How can Bael talk to me outside the dreamworld when Korvin can't?"
Nanal finally got angry me, but it was gone soon after she spoke, "Stop saying their names out loud! I might not want to end you, but I am one of few who share in the indifference to the state of you being alive." With that burst of emotion out of the way she returned to her monotone. "As for your question, I don't know. Probably something to do with the pact, they were very intricate spells with many loopholes. Though if you want a clearer answer ask Loyalty."
Stop filling the boy's head with ideas. I have enough trouble with him asking questions about things he doesn't need to know.
Oh, I have so many things to say to you, asshole.
Are we moving the conversation here? Fine by me.
Why is everyone talking in my head?
Stop your whining, I've been teaching you to control your magic like you wanted.
Loyalty stop being so stiff, it amazes me how you and Fury are still so separate after sharing a body for so many ages.
Indifference just because you voted for the ceasefire doesn't mean I trust you. Now if you are done corrupting my vessel... Leave.
Stop ignoring me Bael. Nanal isn't the problem here, you are. I've learned more from the 'demons' in a few days than you've given me in six months.
That is because you have no need of this information, having that knowledge well only make you hesitate if you need to kill one of them.
Why do I need to kill them in the first place!?
BECAUSE I SAID SO! Bael screams in my head, the force makes me drop to my knees in pain.
I clench my fist and grind my teeth. No.
I DID NOT GIVE YOU A CHOICE BOY!
Nanal chose this point to intervene, a blue orb of magic appeared in her left hand before she threw it at me. I would have dodged but my body was unable to move due to the mental war happening. The orb simply passed through me but I felt it pull something from me as well. I looked behind me to see a white wolf with blue eyes made of lightning standing there, and it didn't look happy.
Nanal stood by me but when I looked at her this time her eyes were a brilliant blue and the glow was much brighter. She appeared sightly older now, as though her other appearance was only an illusion.
"Bael you have been tainted by the anger of Korvin. I, Nulys the Winds of Hope, will not allow you to dishonor the name of the Solest any further!" Nanal, or Nulys I guess, spoke in an imposing two-toned voice.
She raised her hand and a pulsewave of blue magic came out and covered the warehouse before fading. "There, a barrier is now in place. We can do what we want in this place."
I stood up to face Bael along side Nulys when I heard another voice in my head.
Damn does it feel good to be awake during the day.
Korvin?
Who else boy. That stupid Solest has been repressing my voice during the day for so long that I never thought I'd do it again.
Well, any suggestions for me? I'm pretty pissed right now, something I'm sure you relate to.
I could feel him grin in my head. Well now, you're actually asking me for help? How about this, magnetize some of the metal around you, and I'll give you a weapon to deal with that stupid half-self of mine.
Half-self?
When we fussed, I gave him hatred, and he gave me loyalty. We are two halves of a whole now, we can't destroy each other without killing ourselves. So if you'll trust me to help you, so I'll trust you with a little of my power. Now...I want my hatred back.
Fine by me.
With that I unleashed a pulse of my own, the electricity flowed into the air around me, which caused the metal shards and scraps to become attracted to each other and me. They suddenly flew at me with great speed and just before I was to impale myself I brought the energy to an orb in front of me, the metal contained within.
This enough?
Plenty.
I felt information flood my mind much like it did this morning, guiding me in what I needed to do. Nulys saw what I was doing and called out to be as she fought with Bael. "Complete that as soon as you can, I'll hold him off until it's done. Though don't make me wait."
She was certainly more lively than Nanal, "I'll do what I can." I replied as I created the forge of runes out of midair.
I felt myself chanting words, but I could neither understand or repeat what I said inside the forge. Probably part of the magic taking over and running its course. I could see the rusted metal glow and become free of the oxidation that clung to the metal fragments. The orb of liquid metal soon split into two before it began to take shape. The shapes were mirror images and I could tell they would be blades of some kind. I reached out on instinct and when my hands touch the metal two runes appeared, one on each hand, and these I could read. They said 'fang' and 'howl', ironic given the animal that I'm fighting, though it is fitting as well. I swung my new weapons around for a second before focusing on the forge.
Third-Person POV
Bael and Nulys clashed again, with torrents of wind and lightning exploding from their contact. Bael knew what the orb of runes meant, and that he had to stop it. However, each time he'd be within a claw-length of reaching it he'd be swatted away by a blast of wind. Nulys was being quite the problem, especially since she still had a vessel to draw power from. While he was still drawing power from Andrew, having to maintain this form was keeping him from gathering more energy. Though if his vessel succeeded in completing the forge's purpose then he would have little chance at standing against the combine strength of him and Nulys.
Bael snarled at his sister that continued to impede his efforts, "What reason do you have with interfering, sister? What we do with our vessel was always to be left alone from interference."
Nulys stood steadfast between him and the rune forge behind her, "That may have been true in the past, but there are forces acting that requires breaking of that rule."
Bael didn't know what she was talking about, and he didn't care. No doubt Andrew was nearly complete with creating something that would defeat him, and he couldn't allow that. His anger for the Umbrans must be fulfilled, his loyalty demanded that it must be done and he could not disobey his aspect. His talking wasn't just to demand answers, he was buying time. In the time he spent talking he also was building energy, one he'd use to finally break past Nulys' defense of the forge.
The energy crackled around Bael as he prepared to strike, Nulys noticed this and leapt in an attempt to stop him but it was too late. Bael leapt at her and with a shift of his body turned into an arc of lightning and twisted right around Nulys, heading for the forge.
I've done it. Bael thought to himself. Just as he was about to reach his goal, he heard a sound that caused his instincts to kick in. He twisted to arc above the forge just as a blade sliced at where he just was. When he landed on the other side he stared with hate at Andrew who stood with Nulys by his side.
First-person POV: Andrew
The weapons still glowed with energy from the forge. They were tonfa, but not typical ones. Instead of a short 16" pole with a sideways handle, the pole was replaced with a one-sided blade. I spun them deftly around myself, getting a feel for their balance. I always enjoyed tonfa as a weapon, and I felt they suited me well.
Nulys glanced over at my new weapons before focusing back on Bael, "A little gaudy, aren't they?" She asked.
"I don't really think so. It's more of tribute to the fact I'm a showoff." I replied with a smirk.
"Lets just hope they can do their job." She said before charging Bael and resuming the fight.
"Lets find out shall we?" I said more to myself than Nulys as I joined the fight.
I lashed out with tonfa trying to cut Bael. Since these weapons were an extension of myself, if I managed to destroy his manifestation then it would purge him of the hatred that had tainted him.
How do I know that?
You have limited access to our knowledge, it will help you when you most need it.
Hmm, that's handy.
Just focus on the fight.
Right.
As I focused back Bael leapt at me with such fury in his eyes that the blue energy that made them up was tainted with red. I flipped the tonfa to defend myself and caught Bael's claws. He attempted to snap at me with his maw but I held him off, thankfully Nulys saved me by blasting Bael off of me with a burst of wind. I'd like to say we were winning but Bael's frenzy of rage filled attacks brought it more to a stalemate. If I could manage to land just one solid hit this fight would end, but the flurry of attacks didn't leave an opportunity to strike.
Nulys went in for a strike to Bael's left while I kept his attention, but apparently not well enough. Bael reacted with such speed that he made it pass her defenses and landed a punishing blow that sent her flying. She flew right into one of the metal supports and slammed her head, she slumped to the floor, out of the fight. Bael began to chuckle until it was a roar of laughter at his success.
"Don't you see, even with two of you I am the most skilled fighter. Now that you are alone I will finish this quickly, and you will no longer get a choice in what is done with your body." Bael roared at me.
At seeing Nylus' unmoving body I began to get worried, we were merely holding our own before, now I felt fear. As I kept taking glances at Nylus my mind began to imagine another person laying there, Octavia. I started thinking about not getting to tell her how I felt, about not ever knowing her answer, and about losing her and Vinyl... and I wasn't about to let that happen.
I felt energy course through my body and sparks jump across my skin. I began to see lines appear on my skin in yellow energy, crossing and twisting across my body. Even when the marks continued under my clothes the glow shown through, until it correlated into a triquetra in the middle of my chest. I looked at Bael who stood watching the event transpire to its completion before preparing to strike. This spike in energy seemed to heighten my instincts to unnatural levels, as I saw a twitch in Bael's shoulder I immediately moved to guard my back where a moment later I felt Bael's claws collide with my blade before I parried him away. I actually closed my eyes because I knew they couldn't keep up, I felt where Bael would be and moved my blade to counter. When the attacks paused I opened my eyes to find Bael staring me down about a body length away.
"What's the matter Bael, not fast enough?" I smirked at him.
"ENOUGH!!! I WILL NOT BE STOPPED BY YOU, OR ANYONE ELSE! His roar shook the building.
"Then enough of this." I said while dropping down into a low stance, "Lets end this nonsense."
I felt the energy rise between us to the degree that the air around us was arcing with electricity. One was just waiting for the other to make the first move, whoever did would decide the fight. I let go of a breath that I was holding as I relaxed my tensed body, knowing one move would require speed and tenseness wouldn't benefit that effort.
It would take just...
one...
blin-!*Clash*!
Time slowed to a stop for me. Bael had leaped and was blocked by one of my blades, but he was simply pushing through that defense and it wouldn't stop him. I knew that the other use of my weapon was needed to end this. I twisted the pommel of the handle initiating the change, the handle slide up to the short end before pivoting to where the blade was straight with the handle before locking back in place. With a shift of my body I was now out of the way of Bael's path, I had shifted my other tonfa when I did the first so I now I held two short swords in a reverse grip. I continued with the twist of my body and my swords and made a scissor slice. The result was now we ended with our backs to each other with my arms across my chest. I saw the markings recede until they disappeared, all except the triquetra on my chest.
I heard a ragged cough behind me so I turned to see Bael's form desolving. "It appears I've lost. Amazing how clear my mind is now that hatred has been purged. I'll just... rest, for a little while."
When his outer form was gone all that was left was a small glowing orb. It floated over to me before absorbing into my chest, I felt a rush of energy when it happened, like regaining a part of myself that had been taken.
Aah~ that's more like it. I'm now whole. I will remember this boy, do what you wish for now, I'll summon you when I next require you.
Fine, I'll deal with you then.
With that Korvin's presence in my mind receded, I looked over to where Nylus/Nanal still laid still before walking over to her. I propped her up which caused her to groan before she groggily opened her eyes, which again had changed, now the glow was gone and instead of blue or green they were a dark brown. Once she focused on me.
"Ohhh, can I get the name of the locomotive that hit me?" She groaned out.
"There's only one train that comes up to Canterlot, and I'm fairly sure that isn't what knocked you out." I replied sarcastically.
Her eyes finally focused on me before she spoke again, "Oh god, they went after you again. What the hell happened this time?" She asked with a role of her eyes.
Now that response confused me, "Uh well, you found me, pulled out a tainted part of the spirit inside me, it knocked you out, I cleansed it, and now everything is back to normal...ish." I quickly explained. She tried to stand up but I put my hand on her shoulder and kept her down. "And you are still in bad shape. Just sit down for a while longer. Now for a couple questions of my own, what's your name, your real one, how much do you know about the spirits, and I want to know how long you've been keeping an eye on me."
She groaned again, "Seriously? Uh whatever, fine if it gets me out of here faster then I'll tell you what you want to know." She shifted up so she was sitting more comfortably. "Well if you want to know my name I assume you don't want to hear Nanal or Nylus. The name I was given is Mizuki, Mizuki Tenmei. Yes, I'm Japanese if you hadn't guested that by now. As for the spirits, probably not any more than you. I've made a pact with Nanal and Nylus, they can take control if I allow it, and they can only do it for an hour at a time. Many times I wake up with not a clue how I got there until I ask whoever was in charge. Now for your last question, those two have been watching over you since you first exhibited signs of your powers."
"You mean a few months ago?"
Mizuki laughed at my straightforward question, "Oh come on, I know you aren't that oblivious. Try more like three years ago. You know... a certain fight that ruined say... your whole familial connections." She smirked evilly.
My heart turned cold at her words, "If you've been following me for that long, then why did you only make yourself known so recently?"
"Oh don't start the edgy antihero bullshit with me. You've only started developing your powers in the last ten months, I've been doing it since I was ten. You wouldn't have believed us before now anyway, and even if you did accept that Solest and Umbrans existed that would have just made you a target. Our other brothers and sisters don't really like us. The only ones that probably wouldn't outright kill us would be Love/Lust and Happiness/Sorrow, and even then that's just a best guess. You are the only other of us I've ever talked to, and I'd like it if we didn't have to start trying to kill each other." She explained before shakily getting to her feet. Once she was standing she reached out her hand, "So come on, can we be on the same side?"
"I don't feel you have the right to ask that of me right now." I say before taking her hand, "But I will agree to a truce. We can meet in this warehouse for the next month or so, we'll deal with our problems over that time. Now I've got a meeting to keep, I've been gone much longer than I intended anyway."
With that we left our separate ways. I collapsed my blades into a easy carrying mode that a couple people gave an odd look at, but I was ultimately left alone. I really hope Vinyl doesn't kill me for being late, it's not like the truth is an acceptable answer right now. I'll just have to apologize and make it up to them... which just gave me an idea.
The sun had been set quite a while ago by the time I finally managed to return home, to where now I stood right outside... for the last five minutes.
There is a very good reason for this. I'm afraid of what Vinyl is going to do to me for being late. We had been planning what to do for when Octavia return from the day she had left for her retreat, and I'm the one who fucked that plan up. Because of how well I understand Vinyl, and the likely punishments that will happen for being late, my hesitance is quite understandable.
And quite easily explained, you're a cowered.
I don't need this right now Korvin. Go back to being locked in a cage.
I never left.
... Just shut up, I'm too tired for banter right now.
With that I felt his presence vanish, though it didn't help me think of a way out of my situation. Though I had stopped by an magic flower shop that I remember the girls mentioning offhand just as a possible solution, not that I expected it to get me out of trouble. I had gotten two very special flowers, one for each of them. The first the attendant at the shop called a glow rose, a flower that had been imbued with a small amount of electric magic to give a soft blue glow to a typical white rose. The other was called a wind lily, a simple white and purple lily with one special property, the colors continuously moved and twisted as if blown by the wind.
Now just as I worked up enough will to actually go in I heard Vinyl and Octavia through the door.
"Ok! I'm done waiting! I'm going out to find him, he is super late." I heard Vinyl.
"Vinyl just calm down, he probably has a good reason why he's late." Octavia spoke coolly.
"That doesn't excuse him. We had plans for when you got home and they're basically ruined because he decided to lose track of time."
I heard them get closer to the door as they continued talking. "What are you talking about? If you were planning to go to dinner or something that isn't something important enough to get angry about. We can always go another time." Octavia tried harder to calm Vinyl down
"It's not something as simple as dinner Tavi! It's way more important than that." I could hear Vinyl's voice dip at the end of that sentence.
"Vinyl you're not making any sense. What, were you going to ask me to make a herd with you guys or something?" Octavia partly joked.
I heard Vinyl go silent at Octavia guessing exactly what we wanted to talk to her about.
"Vinyl you're not serious are-"
I grabbed the door handle and opened the door before Octavia could finish asking her question, "Hello girls I'm sorry I'm so late, had to make a stop before coming home."
"Andrew! Where have you been?" Vinyl jumped a little in surprise because of my unexpected entrance.
I walked over to her and carefully took out the glow rose from my jacket pocket, "I wanted to get something for the mare I love. Can't I do that?" I asked rhetorically before handing the rose to the stunned mare and giving her a kiss.
Octavia looked on at our exchange with a smile, but it also contained a little sadness. Not wanting to let that sadness remain, I walked over to her after kissing Vinyl before retrieving the lily from the other side of my jacket, "And this one is for the mare that we've agreed that we want to share in that love." I say while present the flower to Octavia.
Now it was Octavia’s turn to be shocked. Octavia looked between the flower and me before looking to Vinyl as if to ask if she was dreaming. Vinyl just looked at her kindly with a smile and nodded to confirm. The next few seconds felt like an eternity as I waited for Octavia to take the flower, a fear flickered across my mind of what if she turned down the flower, one that grew as Octavia hesitated in taking the lily.
Then I felt my heart shatter when she quickly turned away and spoke a broken ‘N-no’. I couldn’t understand, I thought I had seen the signs, Vinyl said that she had too, but that one word shocked me more than anything I’ve dealt with in years.
However before I got a chance to respond Vinyl beat me to it, “What do you mean, ‘No’!?” Vinyl snapped at her best friend. “Octavia I’ve known you longer than anyone else besides my own parents, I can read and understand you usually better than you can do so for yourself. So explain to me why you just said the opposite of what I know you wanted to say.” Vinyl spoke feverishly.
Octavia turned back to us with tears streaking down her face, her voice stuttering as she fought through the tears, “B-because I’m damaged! I know you’re just trying to make me f-feel better and I appreciate it, but I know you can’t be serious. You already have each other and Andrew’s a human, I-I know enough about humanity to know that herds or polygamous relationships are taboo and almost no human would willingly consent to being in one.”
“You’re being ridiculous, Andrew doesn’t feel that way. We’ve talked about it before, you’ve been around when we have!” Vinyl argued.
“Stop trying to get my hopes up! There’s no way you’d want to make love to a known addict. What if it happened again? You’d both suffer for my mistake and I already feel bad enough that Andrew nearly got killed because of me, I couldn’t dare put you through that again.” Octavia broke down and fell to her knees. “I-I can’t let you l-love me knowing that you’ll just e-end up getting hurt, I c-care too m-much for both of you.” She sobbed out.
Vinyl was about to step forward and continue, but I caught her shoulder before she could. She looked back at me before realizing that I had a plan to deal with this, so she stepped back and let me try. I walked up to Octavia before kneeling in front of her and with a gentle hand brought up her chin so we could see each other’s eyes. Her beautiful mulberry orbs were red with tears, the fur on her face matted from them as well, but she still looked beautiful to me. So to prove what we were saying was true I did the first think that made sense in my mind, I quickly brought her lips to mine and kissed the gorgeous mare in front of me.
Octavia’s eyes grew wide at the contact and she tried to push me away, but when I saw her hands moving I grabbed her by the lower back and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. Her hands slipped off my shoulders in her first attempt but she wasn’t done resisting. She firmly gripped my arms and tried to pull me away, and if I had still been normal she might have ended up hurting me. I felt a small tingle of energy flow through me to compensate for Octavia’s terran strength, which sparked an idea in me. I tried to prod her lips with my tongue but she was still resisting, though less than she had been, so I sent a small charge through my tongue to shock her. The reactionary pain was just what I needed to get her to open her lips just enough to let me deepen the kiss once further. I could see fresh tears start to fall as her grip on my arms started to loosen before falling to her sides. I softly cradled the back of her head as I continued kissing her, her eyes closed as she finally submitted to me while gently weeping while we kissed.
After a few more seconds I finally broke the kiss and pulled Octavia close as she gripped onto my shirt and wept into my shoulder. I felt Vinyl kneel down next to me and join in the embrace. The three of us knelt there until Octavia’s crying became more controlled. When she did she asked a question.
“Why won’t you two give up? I-I don’t deserve this much kindness. I don’t d-deserve to be loved by two people so wonderful.” Octavia’s voice could barely croak out from all her crying.
Vinyl responded for the both of us with, “Because you would never give up on us. You do deserve to be loved, and we do love you Octy, more than you realize. So no matter what you try to do, you aren’t going to get rid of us. We’re stubborn like that.”
Octavia chuckled at Vinyl’s joke, the tears finally appearing to have stopped when she looked up at us. “W-would you do something for me then?” She asked Vinyl.
“Anything, just name it.”
“Kiss me.” Octavia spoke shyly, looking away as she said it but then looking back at Vinyl for her answer.
Vinyl eagerly obliged her best friend, so eagerly in fact that she pushed Octavia to the floor were she made out her so intensely that it almost made me jealous. Though the small moans and eeps she got out of Octavia only truly served to turn me on. Vinyl apparently noticed this reaction because she I first saw her horn glow before feeling a tingle on my jeans. She was quick to undo my button and zipper before sliding the pants as far down as the could go from the kneeling position I was still in. I stood up so they could finish coming off just as Vinyl broke her kiss.
Octavia could see me now pantless and a blush showed through her dark coat as she glanced away. Vinyl got up before looking down at Octavia and saying, “We’re so not done yet, but lets continue in the bedroom.” She smiled down at Octavia before giving her a hand.
*Clop starts here* If uncomfortable just skip to the end. Won’t majorly affect story.
Octavia took it and stood up, the blush on her face deepening as she knew what was about to happen. Vinyl took my hand with her free one and started towards the bedroom, a small flash of magic and I noticed the flowers I bought teleported into a small glass of water on the table as we passed by. Once we enter the bedroom I felt Vinyl pull me forward before pushing me onto the bed. I landed with an oof but didn’t have much time as I heard a short squeal as Vinyl repeated that action for Octavia pushing her on top of me. I had just enough time to bring up my hands and soften the impact so that neither one of us was hurt.
Vinyl crawled up onto the edge of the bed tracing a finger up Octavia’s dress until she found the zipper at the top. Octavia eeped as Vinyl undid the zipper in one fluid motion, the top of her dress fell down to reveal her surprisingly lacy violet bra, which barely covered her nipples leaving almost nothing to the imagination. Before Octavia was given a chance to think Vinyl had grabbed the sides of her loose dress and pulled it down and off her completely, causing Octavia to fall on top of me. We both opened our eyes to find our faces but mere inches from each other, each could feel the other’s breath on their skin or fur.
This time Octavia was the one to lean forward, our lips touched again, this time much softer and more controlled. I felt her tongue ask for entrance which I freely allowed as we deepened the kiss. My hands roamed over her soft fur as her hands tried to do the same, but I still had my shirt on. Just as we were going to break the kiss so that I could remove the troubling piece of clothing I heard a pop and felt the cool air hit my skin at the same time, Vinyl had decided to help so we didn’t have to stop. So we didn’t, our make out session continued for another minute or so before we finally broke for air. Our labored breathing only turning me on more as I felt Octavia’s breath hit my skin. Octavia then sat up to remove her bra, I saw her unclasp it from the front before letting the straps fall off her shoulders and letting it fall off her to the floor. Her breast were perky for their size with two bright pink erect nipples contrasting her dark fur. I felt hypnotized as she leaned back in and kissed me again, her breast pressing into me as I felt my hands return to massaging her back.
“Ok, main mare being left out here.” Vinyl interrupted us.
We both looked over to Vinyl to see her already completely nude and rubbing her thighs together wantingly. “That may be extremely hot, and I might feel a little bad for interrupting but this mare needs some attention too.” Vinyl semi-whines to us.
Octavia moves to the side to make room for Vinyl who quickly joins us and eagerly kisses me. As we make out I slip a hand between her legs and begin to rub her dripping snatch. Vinyl squirms under my touch as she continues to invade my mouth with her tongue. I glance over to see Octavia biting her lip as her hand slowly rubs her own clit through her panties. Vinyl breaks the kiss before looking over to Octavia herself and saying.
“Oh no, enough of that I’m done being the only one nude.” She says while lighting her horn.
With a short flash I see Octavia panties disappear and I feel my underwear vanish as well. Octavia obviously noticed as this fact as she averted her eyes with her blush returning with full force. Vinyl grinned at this before she grabbed my cock and nuzzled it with her soft cheek.
“What’s the matter Tavi? Don’t you want to see the thing that is going to take your cherry.” She teased, but her words caused me to pause.
I sat up, making Vinyl move away with a huff of annoyance. “Tavi is that true? Are you a virgin?”
Octavia never looked more embarrassed as she answered, “W-what of it. There are lot’s of mares my age that are virgins.”
“No that’s not what I’m saying.” I reassured her as I used a hand to make her look at me. “Are you ok with giving something that special to me?”
Octavia looked shocked that I would be concerned with such a thing, her eyes started to water again but this time she was smiling. “Of course I am, Andrew. I can’t think of anyone else that I’d willing to give this to. I love you, and I want this honor to be yours, I’ve wanted it for a while actually.” She spoke the last part in barely above a whisper.
“Then who am I to deny a beautiful mare’s wish.” I said as I leaned in and kissed her again.
While I was kissing Octavia, Vinyl got impatient and decided to get my attention by swallowing my cock in one go. I moaned as Vinyl continued to suck and bob her head, Octavia chose this point to push into me which caused me to fall backwards. Once I was on my back Octavia broke the kiss and moved down to join Vinyl. They shared a non verbal agreement and switched places, with Vinyl being quite eager to catch my lips with hers. I felt Octavia be much more tentative, though Vinyl appeared to get annoyed with the shyness as she used her magic to lightly force Octavia’s head down onto my cock. Her mouth seemed smaller than Vinyl’s by the fact there was much stronger suction as she tried to pull her head back up, which Vinyl allowed until she was about to let my cock out of her mouth before forcing it back down. This became a steady rhythm and once Octavia had taken over the action with Vinyl’s help disappearing I began to compare the differences between the two.
Vinyl was more of a fan of using her broad tongue to bring me to complete euphoria, while Octavia seemed to like using her strong lungs to create strong suction almost as she was trying to suck my cum right out of my balls. Both felt great in their unique ways and I honestly couldn’t say one was better than the other. It was so great in fact that I could feel my climax nearing its peak. I tried to tell Octavia but all I could make out was a loud moan as Vinyl’s tongue ravished my mouth. There was no way she couldn’t tell what was about to happen from the amount of twitching I felt from my dick, but she kept going.
I couldn’t hold it back any more and I felt the wave of pleasure hit me stronger than when I had been with Vinyl alone. Vinyl’s vanilla scented musk was filling the room along with a berry-like scene which I could only assume was coming from Octavia, I’d never get tired of the pleasant smelling musk these ponies gave off, it only served to turn me on more. Octavia swallowed my entire load like it was her favorite drink and released my cock from her mouth with a pop. A shudder ran through me as Vinyl pulled back and I got a look at the twin predatory gazes that were locked on me.
Octavia and Vinyl again seemed to share some none verbal agreement as Octavia swung her leg over and straddled herself over my cock as Vinyl did the same over my head so that her pussy was dripping its juices onto my lips and into my mouth. I was able to see glimpses as Vinyl used her magic to line up my cock with Octavia’s own dripping pussy, I could feel the intense heat coming from her as my tip touched her entrance. Octavia hesitated here which got Vinyl’s attention. Vinyl noticed her hesitance and moved her hands so that one was on Octavia’s hip and the other on her cheek. “You ready, cause there is no going back now.” Vinyl asked calmly.
Octavia gave a small nod, too worried her voice would fail her. She grabbed one of my hands and placed it on the other side of her hip from where Vinyl’s hand was, as a means of telling me she was ready. So with both of our encouragement Vinyl and I pushed down and I broke Octavia’s hymen. She winced at the pain it caused but Vinyl distracted her by planting her lips on Octavia’s. My view was obscured as Vinyl pressed her pussy down on my face and ground herself on me in longing for some attention, so I obliged.
I thrust my tongue as far as I could into Vinyl and did whatever I could think of as I also focused on the pressure of Octavia’s pussy on my dick. Her velvet insides were so tight that I almost though she would hurt herself if she tried to force it too far to fast. The moaning caused by the three of us was no doubt loud but I don’t think any of us cared one bit. The pleasure we were giving and receiving from each other was pure euphoria for our brains, and I know I could barely think straight as Octavia’s vise grip of a vagina was heavenly as she bounced her hips as a rapid pace for someone who had been a virgin only moments earlier. Vinyl was squirming more on my face as she was getting close to her own orgasm as I felt my climax rising once more. Octavia wasn’t able to hold on however and her pussy began to convulse and squeeze with almost painful pressure. This seemed to be just what was needed to reach my own as I use one arm to force Octavia down onto my hips as far as they could go as I used my other to force Vinyl harder onto my face as I thrust my tongue as far as I could possibly go, which made her reach her own orgasm.
The three of us road our collective orgasm before Vinyl fell to my side and Octavia collapsed on top of me. My sperm leaked out of Octavia as she cuddled into me. Though I wasn’t quite done yet. Vinyl was the first to recover as she pushed herself up and took Octavia’s spot over my hips. She wasted no time in inserting my cock into her waiting pussy and bouncing at a rapid pace.
Octavia seemed to like what she was watching so she got up to her knees and surprised the both of us by attacking Vinyl’s nipples with her mouth. Not wanting her to be left out I took my middle and ring fingers and shoved them into her pussy, she squealed a little at the unexpected penetration but did not stop her sucking on Vinyl’s nipples.
Vinyl after got a mischievous glint in her eye before winking at me. I didn’t realize what she was about to do, and I doubt Octavia did either, until I saw her sweep Octavia’s tail to the side just before shoving to fingers into her ass. Octavia squealed loudly at the mixture of pain and pleasure of having her anus unexpectedly penetrated, which caused her pussy clamped down so hard I could barely move my fingers and I saw her bite down on Vinyl’s nipple, hard. If she wasn’t a herbivore by race she probably would have drawn blood, though Vinyl’s nipple would be bruised for sure, Vinyl let out a squeal of her own at Octavia’s reaction which in turn brought pleasure to me as her pussy clamped down on me.
Moaning soon returned as the three of us settled into a rhythm, Vinyl shaking her hips on my cock, Octavia being double teamed as she tended to Vinyl, and myself trying my best to pleasure two mare at the same time. After several more minutes I could tell that all of us were just about to give out from the pleasure and fatigue it was bringing, though all of us were on the brink of what would likely be our last orgasm as well.
I tried my best to hold back until I felt one of the other mares climax but Vinyl’s pussy broke that hope. I attempted to warn Vinyl but all I could do was grunt as pleasurable euphoria shocked my body as I ejaculated into my beautiful marefriend. This apparently was just what Vinyl needed to go over the edge as well as I felt her clamp down as her pussy did its best to milk me of every last drop I could make. Our two orgasms caused us to curl our fingers which since some of which were in Octavia the pressure and timing of the action caused for each of us to get each other to climax.
*Clop ends. No explicit action past this point.
Once we came down from our high the two mare collapsed, one on each side of me. I put my arms around my mares lovingly as they cuddled into my sides. Vinyl magicked our pillows down so they were under our heads and we were comfortable. As Octavia squeezed into my side a bit more and sighed contently I decided to ask her a question.
“So Tavi, do you want to join our herd?” I smiled down at her, knowing I was being cheesy.
She chuckled at me before looking back at me and giving me a brief but passionate kiss before replying with, “Only if this can happen again.”
Vinyl beat me to the response with her own quip, “You’d better just kill me now if it doesn’t.” She joked before yawning.
We all chuckled at that before we started to feel the pull of sleep on our minds. I squeezed the mares a bit tighter before I closed my eyes and focused on the pleasant tiredness that made me proud and happy as I though to myself.
If I could just stay in this moment for eternity I would be ok with it. I now have two beautiful mares that love me as much as I adore them. Whatever comes next I am sure of one thing, I’m not going to let these two go for anything, just try and prove me wrong life. For I think in the first time in my life I have something that I would do anything to keep.
It's already been a whole month since Octavia has joined Vinyl and I in becoming an official herd. It's been pretty crazy the past couple weeks having to now deal with two clingy mares. To make up for not getting to earlier, Octavia and I have been on multiple dates to make her happy. Vinyl was supportive of doing it until we hit three dates that didn't include her, that's when she started to get a bit possessive of me. She and Octavia actually had a fight about before I had to step in and play peacemaker, ironic I know.
Recently Vinyl hasn't been feeling well so Tavi and I told her to see a doctor, and to make sure she went Octavia made sure to go with her. Vinyl doesn't really like needles apparently, the more you know huh.
"Pay attention." A monotone voice called out just before a kick came to take my head off.
I caught the kick while moving with it before twisting the limb causing my opponent to have to jump to not have me break her leg, which lead to another kick to come flying towards my head. I let go and dodged back just as I felt the residual breeze from the kick hit my face.
Speaking of my opponent, Mizuki and I have been meeting up in the old warehouse to train and for her to teach me how to use my powers. Bael still hasn't spoken to me but Korvin say he is still dormant from our fight anyway so I shouldn't be surprised. I've actually gotten quite proficient with my powers, from empowering my own physical traits, to creating objects out of my lightning. I can make whips, blades, staves, and even a bow that I can focus lightning into stronger bolts to fire off as arrows.
I've also been working around with my knowledge of runes and ended up making a golem to protect the warehouse from unwanted visitors. It's become my impromptu training grounds/temporary getaway, for the moment anyway. The golem I made resembles an organoid from one of my childhood shows Zoids, I named him Fir meaning dark in the old language of the Umbrans and Solest.
Mizuki has decided to make her home here for the meanwhile, apparently she was living in an orphanage as a cover while she had been following me. Apparently we're not the only the only vessels in Canterlot but the others prefer to keep to themselves, for the moment anyway. So in the event that one of us would be attacked I talked her into training with me so we can better defend ourselves if it becomes necessary.
The only problem I've been regularly encountering, is trouble in keeping my powers under wraps while at work. There have been plenty of pervy stallions and even a few mares that have made my blood boil at seeing the shit they try to get away with before I have to step in. One mare that I had to deal with tried to even attack me because she was a terran and thought she wouldn't have any trouble dealing with me. That time I actually did use a small amount of my power to strengthen my arm that I used to stop her flail of a punch dead in the air, her slack-jaw reaction was the best as I locked up her arm behind her back and escorted her out of the Spinning Disc.
Then there was this tim...UFF!
I flew a few feet through the air as I focused my energy around my back before landing harshly on my back. "Ouch~." I groaned out as Mizuki walked over and stood over me.
"What part of 'Pay Attention' needed explaining?" She spoke with green glowing eyes, obvious sign that Nanal was in control.
In a blink of her eyes they were back to her normal brown before she gave me a hand to get up. I still had a hard time accepting that Mizuki would let her spirits be so unrestrained, but then again dealing with indifference and hope there isn't much fear of not being able to regain control. In any case I could finally speak again after having the wind knocked out of me, violently.
"Sorry, there's been a lot on my mind. Ouch that did quite a number of me, did you infuse your wind control into that kick? Because we had talked about keeping the power usage to a minimum for the beginning of our sparing."
"You looked like you needed a wake up call. You can't go dazing off in the middle of a fight, even if we're only sparing. I'm only going to get more serious in our fights, so don't take them lightly." Mizuki chastised me.
"You're right, like you annoyingly always seem to be. That probably should be enough for today anyways. I'll see you in a couple days, Vinyl might be sick and I'm probably going to end up being the one to take care of her."
"Whatever, your life your business. Unless you start dating a vessel without realizing it then your personal life is of no interest to me." Mizuki dictates before walking away. "Bring me some food next time you're around, I'm running low around here."
I just sigh as I walk towards the exit, patting Fir as I pass by. "It's like owning a secret pet that happens to be a horse." I mutter to myself.
"I heard that." Mizuki calls out to me.
"I don't care if you did." I counter emotionlessly. This kind of exchange was pretty common as I left so at this point I was used to it, and of course I'd end up getting her the food she wanted, but that's a problem for future Andrew not this one.
Something was definitely up as I approached my house. The royal carriage was present outside along with Ryan standing outside talking to a solar and lunar guard. I caught his attention as I came closer and he called out to me.
"Yo Andrew, where you've been? We've been here for half an hour." He teased with a stupid smile.
My uneasiness didn't ease at the presence of my good friend. "And why are you guys here Ryan? I have a feeling it's not the friendly kind of visit, or I would have just been invited to the castle."
Ryan rubbed his head sheepishly, "Ouch, that's a pretty scathing observation. Can't friends ever come visit you for a change?"
"Not when they weren't invited. Come on man, just tell me what's going on."
Ryan sighed, "Dude it's not my place. Just know that Celestia, Luna, and Twilight are waiting in there. Cadence would have been here too if she wasn't stuck in the Crystal Empire."
Now that worried me, "Where are Vinyl and Octavia, are they already home?"
"Sorry man they weren't here when we got here and haven't been home yet. Should we be worried? I could tell the guards to look for them if need be."
"No they should still be at the doctor's, I just wanted to make sure." I answered a bit sadly. I had hoped they'd be around for whatever bad knew I was in for, because God knows there's no way there's the good kind waiting inside.
Ryan looked conflicted as he put his hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry man, you're not in trouble or anything. Just relax a bit, you have friends in there."
I nodded but didn't reply. I walked pass the guards which stood strictly at attention, before entering my house. Upon entering I found the princesses in my living room accompanied by a human that I couldn't get a good look at. When I tried to get a better look Celestia noticed me and turned, further obstructing my view of whomever else was in my home.
"Andrew, good that you're finally here. Ryan no doubt told you we've been waiting." Celestia was laying it on thick with the motherly aura covering her words.
Twilight was next to speak up, before I got to ask anything, "We're sorry for coming here unannounced, but the reasons called for it."
I was finally getting fed up with the roundabouts, "Will somebody just tell me what's going on? And who is that with you?"
"I think I can answer both of those questions for you... Andrew." A woman's voice spoke out.
The princesses stepped aside to reveal the second to last person I ever expected to appear on Equis, let alone in my house.
"Zoe..." I spoke softly in disbelief. "Well this is certainly a surprise. I thought you considered me dead, and yet here you are." I said accusingly.
Zoe looked away in what I would describe as disgust, and yet there were still tears in her eyes. Luna stepped in while Zoe attempted to compose herself, I saw Twilight try to help only to have her hand slapped away.
"Andrew, I know you aren't on the best terms with your cousin right now but please, try to remain civil. This wasn't easy for her to do and what she came here to tell you I can say for certain you won't want to hear. All three of us would not have come here if we thought it wasn't needed." Luna said while gesturing to her sister and Twilight.
So my suspicions were proven true, this wasn't just because Zoe came to Equis. Now I wanted to know what they were really here for, and though I've said it before I'll say it again (to myself) there is nothing good about this situation.
"You know being cryptic isn't helping anything. Just tell me what the hell is going on that's so important that one of the people who hates me most is standing in my living room surrounded by the leaders of Equestria." I spoke while crossing my arms, I'd had just about enough of this.
Zoe's sadness turned to anger with my comment, "I do hate you, you brother thief! My darling Wolfie was taken right before my eyes and you dare to flaunt his image in my face. The only reason I'm on this damned planet is because I felt this was as good as I could get to talking to what I consider the tombstone of my little brother to tell him that Leo's dead!"
...what
"...what?" My brain just couldn't comprehend what she said.
"YOU HEARD WHAT I SAID YOU BASTARD!" Zoe screamed at me, before she broke down into tears. "I'm all alone, everyone in my family is dead. But I still have to live knowing that whatever you are, is desecrating my brother's remains with every step you take." She stared at me with hate, her bloodshot eyes only appearing more red because of it. Then she leapt at me, grabbing me by the collar, "Give him back! Give him back to me y-you monster, he's all that I have l-left!" She yelled at me before collapsing in tears. "I-I just want my brother back, I want my family~."
Celestia and Twilight carefully pulled her off of me and walked her to the couch. Luna walked over to check on me. "Are you alright Andrew?"
Just then I couldn't feel my legs, and so I fell to my knees as tears flooded my vision. "He's gone... My brother's dead." I looked to Luna who looked like she was about to start crying herself. "Tell me what happened."
"She told us that she received a visit from a military general from your home nation. He informed your cousin that your brother had fallen in combat in a mission to stop people from smuggling illegal goods to and from Equis from an unauthorized portal. From what he could tell her it was a unicorn that killed your brother. That's all that is known about how your brother died." Luna did her best to remain composed, though it was hard considering the news she had to tell to someone she considered one of her closest friends.
I couldn't take it anymore, I couldn't stay here, my grief was too great. My desire to let my power run rampant was growing with each passing moment and it was starting to make my chest ache. It was then that I heard voices coming from outside.
"Vinyl, Octavia, I would not recommend going in there. It's not a good time." I heard Ryan call out.
"Nonsense, if it's as bad as you're making it out to be then it's all the more reason for him to have his marefriends with him." Vinyl said, defeating Ryan's argument.
Third person POV
The handle turned and in walked Vinyl and Octavia. The view that greeted them was Andrew on his knees in tears with Luna standing close by doing not much better. On their couch was Celestia and Twilight and a human woman between them, also in tears.
The good news from the doctors would have to wait as they decided that now was not the right time. Vinyl rushed over to their boyfriend and proceeded to cradled his head against her as his tears began anew. Octavia walked over to Luna and had her come a few steps away to ask what happened, the answer wasn't good.
"With my sister and princess Twilight, is Andrew's cousin Zoe." Luna began. "She came here to Equis because of some terrible news. Andrew's brother Leo, died while in service to Andrew's home nation's military. As you can tell Andrew didn't take the news very well, not that I think anyone would. His cousin then processed to yell at him and berate him because of an incident in his past, which after her rant she too broke down in tears." She explained.
"You're talking about how she believes Andrew's not himself anymore correct?" Octavia asked. Luna seemed surprised at her question, which gave her an answer. "Yes Princess, Andrew told us about how his cousin disowned him and left him to his stepmother. So that's her then." Octavia shifted her focus to Zoe, who was still weeping away on their couch.
"I'm sure you're not pleased with her being here, especially with such terrible news. However, I suggest you focus your attention on the person who truly is in need of your attention right now, your coltfriend." Luna suggested.
Octavia understood what Luna meant, but part of her wanted to reprimand the woman on her couch for being so blind. She came here with only terrible news and scathing remarks from what the Princess had told her, and on a day that should have been on of joy for Andrew. However, her feelings of anger would need to be set aside for the moment at least.
"No Andrew don't go, I don't want you to leave!" Vinyl called out.
Andrew had gotten to his feet, his eyes still thoroughly bloodshot, and was making his way to the door. Vinyl was trying to hold him back but he wasn't being deterred. Octavia decided to try and stand in front of the door to which he did pause at.
"Move out of the way Octavia. This is not the time." He commanded rather than spoke.
"This is exactly the time. Andrew we love you and running away from the people that can help you best is not something I can allow you to do." Octavia stood adamantly.
"I won't say it again Tavi, move away from the door."
"No. I was hoping to wait before telling you this after hearing from Luna. But seeing as you won't listen to reason I'll just say it. Vinyl is *CRACHSSS*" A huge clap of thunder struck, drowning out whatever Octavia was about to say.
Andrew didn't care though, he found his opening. He pushed Octavia to the side and left out the door into the rainstorm that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Ryan and the guards came in from the ran breathing heavily. Celestia quickly came over to check on Ryan and ask what had happened.
"I don't know I've never seen anything like it, even here on Equis. One moment the skies were completely devoid of clouds, the next clouds just appeared like they had been summoned. Then that deafening thunderclap, my ears are still ringing, and then the clouds proceeded to unleash a torrent of rain. If it continues like this there are likely to be flash floods everywhere."
"N-no not again. I knew I shouldn't have come around that thing again." Zoe called out while shaking in fear.
Vinyl wiped her eyes of tears before walking over and grabbing the woman by the collar, "What the hell are you talking about. If you know something then spit it out!"
Zoe's eyes became unfocused and her shaking stopped abruptly. "It was the night of the attack. I had just watched my little brother mutilate three thugs before my very eyes, but that wasn't what had terrified me. I remember a crack of thunder just like the one a minute ago, and when I looked back at my brother, he wasn't there anymore. His body stood stiff like it was made of stone, until it turned to look at me. It's eyes were inhuman, a silver color that glowed in the dark. Then the rain came down, just like now, but it didn't seem to touch his body. When another flash of lightning illuminated the alley I saw an aura covering him, a wolf, just like the ones he always loved. His body was covered in this dark cloud, no not covered, I could see it coming from his skin, it was part of him. It spoke in a dark, chilling voice and said one simple word, 'sleep'. After that I blacked out and then I woke up I was in a hospital."
When Zoe finished her eyes closed and she passed out with Vinyl still holding her. She was laid out on the couch as the others convened to talk about her story.
Celestia spoke up after she surveyed the room, "I believe that it is agreed that something unusual is happening here, but Andrew is currently out in that storm and no doubt if it continues then the city will be severely damaged. I know the weather team is no doubt trying to disperse it as we speak, and while I do have faith in them I worry they may still not be swift enough." She then looked to Luna and Twilight who nodded in a silent agreement. "We alicorns will do what we can to divert any major water flows that have appeared so we can lessen their damaging effects. Guards will be on any search and rescue that's necessary, I've already sent a telepathic message for them to keep an eye out for Andrew. Let's not delay any further, Luna, Twilight follow me."
With that the alicorns and guards plus Ryan left to confront the storm. Vinyl and Octavia looked at each other before looking down at the sleeping woman on their couch, before Vinyl finally spoke up.
"Well this definitely wasn't what I expect to come home to."
Octavia did here best impression of her cousin Big Mac, "Eeyup."
Andrew POV
After I felt I wasn't being pursued I charged my legs with energy and flashed through the streets in a flash of light. My trail of lightning no doubt frightened many of those unlucky enough to be on the streets I took to my destination.
Once I was inside my warehouse I slammed the door behind me and unleashed the strongest barrier I could that wouldn't be detected. After I felt complete I released all that I hate, rage, and pain I had been holding in.
"AGGGGGGHHHH!!!" My roar was probably heard over all of canterlot, even with my barrier in place. Though it likely scared children and adults alike they would just likely pass it off on the storm.
I felt my energy condense into my palms and I felt the runes underneath the back of my hands burn as they called for my weapons. Like loyal pets they flew from their spot on the other side of the warehouse to my hands in a flash. My hands tightened around the grips made just for me before I charged the blades with energy. With no more preparation needed I unleashed every shred of hate I made flow through my blades, my vision blurred and turned a dark blue as I lashed out at anything that made a sound.
*Several minutes later*
I couldn't unleash anything more if I wanted, I had exhausted all mana that I could call upon. I heard what sounded like glass shattering but even though my eyes were definitely open all I could see was a haze of white.
"I take it you didn't bring any food." I heard Mizuki say to me, she was close but my vision was not improving.
"Mizuki, I-I can't see. Where are you?" I called out, my voice trembling from exhaustion.
"Hmm, not really that surprised there. You overused your magic, it's taken out a price because of your misuse. Don't worry it's not permanent, but it will likely last a couple of hours." I heard her voice say, she was stand in front of me by her voice.
She came over and wrapped my arm around her shoulder and lead me over to the spare mattress that she had acquired for while she stayed in the warehouse. After she had me laid down and drinking a glass of water she finally asked me what I was waiting for her to.
"You knew this was coming. What the hell made you go berserk to the point you'd unconsciously release a mega storm."
"Well it was because... Wait a second, the storm is my fault?" I was truly surprised.
"Duh. It happens to vessels when they have extreme bursts of negative emotion. Their Umbrane half can't contain the influx of extra emotion so they are forced to expel it from the body in a burst of magic, it isn't detectable by any means possible but it will effect your surroundings in some way, weather is simply the most common." Mizuki explains.
"I guess loosing your brother qualifies as cause for extreme negative emotions." I reply solemnly.
I felt Mizuki's hand on my shoulder. "I can't say I can relate as I am an only child, but I can tell you that you are not alone. I've seen those that have surrounded you with their presence, you have people to fall back to so that your grief can be quelled."
"I hope I didn't scare you with my outburst." I said, feeling a bit ashamed.
"Ah well, speaking of that. I kinda had to contain your rage with a barrier of my own, and it kinda needed to be full strength."
I deadpanned at her. "You mean it could be detected?"
"I didn't really have much choice, even doing that wasn't enough. You ended up breaking both my full strength barrier and your own with your tantrum. A guard will come to investigate, it's only a matter of time. The only good thing about this is now that you've exhausted your magic the storm doesn't have anything fueling it, and it can finally dissipate. Not that it probably hasn't already done terrible things to the city, but not really anything we can do about that."
"I'm going to feel awful about all this later, but right now I can focus my mind enough to care."
Mizuki made a short cough to get my attention, "I'm afraid there's one other problem we have, besides waiting for a guard to show up. You're covered in your aura armor, and that you can't make disappear."
"My what? What are you talking about?" I demanded.
"Hhh, it'd be easier to just show you."
"Well you can't really do that right n-uhhh."
Mizuki touched my forehead and with a small flow of magic I could see again, but they weren't my eyes. I could see myself laying on the mattress my eyes glazed over with said finger on my forehead, except with only one difference...
I was completely covered in what looked like a werewolf made of shadows.
"What the hell is all this." I saw my mouth move as I felt myself speak, it was weird.
"Your aura armor. It's a sort of final defense, kinda at least. It can be willed into view if you wish it, but it also appears when a vessel's body is in a weakened state to protect you until your strength returns."
Uhh, can you keep the noise down.
"Bael! You're finally awake."
Yeah, yeah, Korvin catch me up to speed... Ok done. Damn you're just a handful aren't you. That guard will be a problem, and no doubt your cousin likely remembered what happened those few years ago and told those princesses. Lucky for you I think we can play off your aura armor to our advantage.
"Ok, and how do you suppose we do that?" I ask skeptically.
Simple. There is no doubt that they are going to try and investigate you for traces of magic, even if the princesses don't believe human magic to be possible. This, as you already know, would be bad for both you and me. So we're going to trick them, and here's how, oh and Nylus we're going to need your help too.
"I really hope this works." Mizuki says before her eyes go blue. "That makes two of us." Nylus replies.
Luna POV
The storm was finally broken apart and from what I could tell, no major damage was inflicted. Sister and Twilight communicated similar reports from their locations in the city. I was about to start looking for Andrew when I felt a surge of magic come from not far away, the surge felt similar to one that happened earlier during the storm but I believe it was overlooked while citizens were being taken to safety.
I teleported to the disturbance to find myself outside an old warehouse, actually I believe this was the one I loaned to Andrew. Oh please let me be wrong about who's inside, I asked Faust above.
Oh how I hate it when I'm right. In the middle of the room floating in midair was Andrew. He was covered in shadows, they came off him like smoke, just like how his cousin described it. She wasn't lying then, which makes this all the more dangerous considering what supposedly happened to those that threatened it last time. This looks like a classic possession, though if that's true then Earth has more secrets than the humans probably even realize, I'll need to be careful.
"Andrew are you ok?" I call out cautiously.
His head snapped up and I got to see a look at what was really staring me down. It was like a pitch black wolf was enveloping his body, and its eyes were a burning red. Not like the story, but details like that are usually inaccurate anyway.
"Well that answers that question. OK demon, guessing you were the reason for the sudden storm, what are you doing here?" I call out, now addressing the thing before me.
It's voice was just as cold and dark as I could have imagined, "Hello Luna, don't you recognize me? I'm your good friend Andrew... HAHAHA, oh god how I ever managed to keep that up for so long is beyond me. I'm here because Equis' magic gives me far more strength than I even had on Earth. What do you want whore of the night?"
"I want my friend back." I state with confidence.
"How do you know I wasn't him the entire time?" He replies with a monstrous grin.
"Because I've been inside his memories, his dreams, and those are not something you can create out of nothing. You are simply using him, which means you can be removed, and my friend returned."
"Hmm, ok. Have him, if he's been found out he is useless to me anyway. But don't think this is the last time you will see me, little princess."
Then with a howl of wind and burst of energy and light, the darkness vanished, and Andrew was left lying on the ground.
Well... that went much easier than expected. Though I suppose it's not good I let whatever kind of demon that was escape. OH Andrew! Snapped out of my thoughts I rushed over to Andrew and checked him over. I couldn't sense any magic on him, of any kind. Physically he appeared unharmed, which was probably my greatest blessing. Overall it appeared that the demon had done nothing to him, which while odd I wasn't in the mood to investigate. I'd just have to make sure he comes by the castle soon to give him another checkup, just to be on the safe side.
Just as I was finishing my thought Andrew's eyes cracked open and he groaned out in pain.
"Oouuch. What the hell happened?" He looked up at me with his normal blue eyes questioningly. "Luna? What's going on? Where am I?"
"Oh my friend, where do I begin..."
Andrew POV
Amazing, she fell for it. Apparently runes give off such low energy that a sealing rune can't be sensed even by alicorn magic. Of course it was all a show, Bael/Korvin is still where he belongs. The floating was achieved thanks to Mizuki who is in the back corner of the warehouse, currently surrounded by cloaking runes. I'll have to be careful for the next few weeks just to make sure but this should prevent any other unwelcome circumstances from coming my way. Also with Luna's word vouching for me about banishing the demon, Zoe might just forgive me. God only knows what my poor cousin is going through right now, she could use her family right now, and so could I.
Luna aided me in exiting the warehouse. Once we were outside we were greeted by Celestia, Twilight, and a regiment of guards. Luna handled the entire explanation, while Twilight looked me over herself. I was a little worried she'd find the rune, but my fears were not realized and I was giving clean bill of non-possession? I guess?
In any case I was brought back home to where Vinyl and Octavia nearly killed me from their combined hug. Zoe was skeptical of me being 'purged', that is until Luna showed everyone a memory bubble of what she witnessed. After which Zoe looked at me with tears in her eyes.
"Andrew? Is that really you?" She wept.
I pulled her into a hug to which she almost crushed me by herself as she returned the hug. "Yeah, i-it's me, Zoe. I've really missed you." I choked out passed my own tears that had come back.
She proceeded to turn into a blubbering mess of apologies and giving thanks, with a few violent outburst of what she had to endure because of me. Though it was her last sentence that really caught me off guard.
"I can't believe it, not only do I find out that my baby brother has come back to me, but he's also made me an Aunt."
..."Excuse me dear sister... but what are you talking about?" I said in the most disbelieving British accent I could muster.
I look to my mares for answers to which Vinyl is rubbing her belly nervously. "Well we were stuck in here awhile and we needed something to make conversation about, and... TheFactThatImPregnantKindaCameOut." She rushed the last of her sentence out, but I didn't miss one word.
"What...?"
Octavia and Vinyl looked at me with sheepish grins, "Surprise!" They said in tandem.
"You're PREGNANT!!!" I yelled before feeling blood rush to my head and I felt myself pass out for the third time that day.
I woke up to several voices speaking all at once, my head throbbed with pain. All I remember was that Vinyl had just told me I was going to be a father...
"Holy Shit! I'm going to be a father!" I bolted upright from my spot on the floor, no wait couch, I'd been placed on a couch.
All talking froze momentarily until one voice spoke up, "Looky who's awake." I heard the sarcasm of my marefriend.
Vinyl walked over and sat down beside me. Twilight, Zoe, and Octavia were talking excitedly off to the side while Ryan and Celestia sat on the opposite couch talking to Luna who was sitting in the recliner next to it. Vinyl wrapped one arm around me while weaving her fingers between mine with her other.
"You feeling better?" Vinyl asked with genuine concern.
"I-I don't know. I'm still trying to wrap my around the fact that you're pregnant." I replied with a squeeze to Vinyl's hand. "I didn't really think I could get you pregnant without magic. You have an answer for that?"
Sensing the opportunity to teach Twilight moved like roadrunner from looney tunes, stop and everything, before going teacher mode. "The reason is quite simple, though very interesting. There have been a number of cases recorded of humans and ponies, and even other races, barring children, but only after a spell was introduced. Or that was what was believed until very recently."
I sighed at Twi's rambling, "Get to the point Sparkles."
Twilight blushed sightly and chuckled nervously, "Sorry. As I was getting to, when the portal event occurred something changed. There started, though exceedingly rarely, to be cases of pregnancy without spells. When I heard about it I thought it had to be a flook, until I heard of a second, and then a third. I realized that something was different. So I started doing research and found one interesting difference between humans that had been transported here without a portal, and those who had. There are traces of a raw, pure, new type of magic that only seems to affect humans. Humans normally have 23 pairs of chromosomes, while races here vary from 32 pairs in ponies to 56 pairs in dragons. What this magic seems to do is manipulate genetic code, like normal spells would, to allow for crossing breeding between any race on Equis and humans."
Hearing this one problem came to mind with the facts presented, "Then why is it so rare?" I asked.
"Well that's actually easier to explain. Imagine when this magic interacts with Equis magic, it is like two blasts of magic battling each other for dominance. The stronger one will displace the other, commonly this is the Equis magic. These rare cases are caused by humans with much stronger magic within their bodies, which apparently includes you, Andrew." Twilight answered.
Well I know I have strong magic, but to think it would effect me like this is just weird.
It's because the magic in question was meant to insure that we would always be provided a vessel to move to. This magic would even let normally barren women to bare child. Just so the vessel would be less likely to defy giving an heir for love.
Nice of you to speak up Bael. I replied sarcastically.
Anytime.
I'm going to go mad at some point, I'm fairly sure of it. A squeeze to my hand brought me out of my thoughts. Vinyl gave me a kind but slightly worried smile.
"Andrew, are you alright?"
I squeezed her hand back and wrapped my free arm around her waist. "Yeah babe, it's just a lot of info to take in at once. I do have a question for you though. Do we know what it is?" I asked while rubbing her stomach so she knew what I was asking.
Vinyl's face lit up with surprise, "Oh of course! I haven't told you anything have I. Well now is as good a time as any. Andrew you're a father to..." Stopping for dramatic effect, much to my chagrin. "TWINS!"
Everyone looked shocked, apparently I wasn't the only one to have only just been told this. I could already feel my head start to swim as thoughts of having not one, but two spawns of hell running around driving me crazy. Before I got a chance to say anything, Twilight spoke up.
"Are they ponies or humans?"
Vinyl seemed to be glowing at this point at getting to tell us all about this, "That's the best part, it's one of each! Of course it's too early to tell what they're genders will be but I can't help but be excited!" She squealed.
Twilight's expression grew troubled at this news and we all caught it immediately.
Celestia spoke up in concern, "What's the matter my student?"
"What she said shouldn't be possible." Twilight all but whispered, "Like I said when the battle of magic takes place, it either wins or losses. Saying you had one of each means that didn't happen. Twins come from the original egg splitting in two or two separate eggs being fertilized by two different sperm. But the magic in human bodies doesn't vary, sperm included, which means the race should have been fixed, human or pony. It shouldn't be possible biologically for one of each race to occur."
Vinyl's worry was evident by her face, Octavia joined us on the couch to insure that she was ok.
Octavia was the one to ask the question I believe we were all thinking. "Is there anything to worry about?"
Twilight was snapped out of her thoughts by that question and looked around at the concern evident in the room. "Oh Faust, no no no. You'll be just fine Vinyl. I'm so sorry for making you worry. This isn't something dangerous, just something that shouldn't be possible, in theory anyway. Since it has happened there must be something I missed or another factor in play. The foals, or foal and child I should say, shouldn't have any problems over the pregnancy. I'm sorry I scared everyone."
The room seemed to breath a sigh of relief together. Octavia, Vinyl, and I especially were feeling better once Twilight had clarified. With the major news out of the way we all started to talk among ourselves for a few hours, until it was time for non-residents to leave. I hugged Zoe as she left with the princesses, she was going to be staying in the castle for a week before she had to return to earth so I told her I'd make sure to stop by before she had to go.
With that taken care of my crazy day had come to an end. Dinner had already been had and the girls were visibly tired from all the chaos. So we decided to just call it a night and one by one made our way to bed after we finished our personal nightly routine. I found myself between a mare sandwich with one arm around each. My hand around Vinyl falling on her belly which I lightly caressed thinking about the infants that we had created together, I'd just have to get use to the idea of being a father, because it doesn't look like got much choice now. Not that I regret it in the least.
Few Days Later
There are few reasons I can come up with of why I'd be kicked out of my house for the day. But with no warning from Vinyl, that's exactly what happened. My number one explanation right now being, a naturally moody mare is pregnant making her more so, which leads to her kicking me out because of something I can't comprehend.
Yeah, that makes about as much sense as anything right now. So with nothing much to do I went over to the castle to see Zoe.
As I was about to walk into the castle grounds the guard at the gate actually stopped me from going in.
With a sneer and spite in his voice the stallion demanded with his spear in my face, "What's your business here, filth."
Filth, that's new. Apparently this stallion was pretty racist, and I wasn't very tolerating in that subject. However before I got a chance to go off on the guard, another voice beat me to it.
"White Knight, what in Tartarus do you think you are doing!"
We both looked in the direction of the voice to find Ryan stomping our way. He was in his Legionary Captain uniform and looked extremely pissed. The stallion cursed under his breath, apparently not expecting to be caught.
"Captain." The guard saluted and addressed him through clenched teeth. "What seems to be the problem?"
Ryan came up just shorter than the terran in front of him, but his presence made him seem bigger than he was. "My problem, private, is that you seem to think you have absolute authority about who gets to enter the palace. Which. You. Don't. So for the moment you are relieved of your post, and are on latrine duty for the rest of the week. Now get out of here!"
Now normally a guard doesn't argue with a commanding officer if they know what's good for them. This guard was apparently not that smart.
"Oh I realize what's going on, just because you're the Princess's lap dog makes you think you have actual authority with me. Well guess what you hairless rat, you couldn't do anything to me if you wanted t-UGH!!" The guard sputtered mid-rant, and it wasn't because of me.
Ryan's hand flashed out incredibly fast and spear handed the stallion in the throat, which had he been human would likely have severely injured or possibly been fatal. The stallion's luck was being a pony, terran specially, though luck is not quite the word I'd use because I fairly certain it gave Ryan the excuse not to go lightly on this idiot. The guard grasped at his throat as he coughed up a small amount of blood, but only for a second before he tried to grasp at the ground, because he thought he had dropped his spear. Ryan however had caught it and just then used the back end to bash the stallion in the side of his head, laying him out on the ground.
At the end of this encounter two royal guards were running to confront the commotion, they were fairly shocked to see one of their fellows laid out on the dirt. Ryan tossed the spear to one of the guards before walking pass as he gave them their orders.
"Get this piece of shit out of my sight, he will be court marshaled within the hour." When the guards hesitated, Ryan shouted. "NOW! YOU SACKLESS WORMS!"
They scrambled to grab the stallion on either side before dragging him out of our sight. Ryan saw that I hadn't moved as I watched the encounter, so he waved me over. Once I had, we started our way through the castle.
"What brings you to the palace, Howler?" Ryan asked as we causally walked the halls.
"First, you know I hate that name. Two, I came to see Zoe. Vinyl was moody this morning and kicked me out for the day, so I thought why not come visit."
Ryan nodded knowingly, "Yeah, I've heard plenty of stories about pregnant mares. Not very different from stories about pregnant women, except for the fact of magic. Which I'm sure you know, changes everything."
"Yeah, you got a point there. Anyway what was the deal with that guard? I've never known them to do something of that nature."
"That makes two of us. Something is going on, there have been ongoing investigations since over a month ago. Ponies assaulting humans, harassing, cheating, you name it. Some would just blame racism, but it seems like more than that. It feels like the tension back in the middle east on Earth, which is scary to say because that place is one of the worst on Earth. The sad part is that incident isn't the first I've dealt with, first I've needed to get physical, but that was the third time this month I've sentenced a guard to a court marshal." Ryan said with a hint of sadness.
"Seriously? Wow, that's kind of crazy. Though if I think about it, I've had to break up more incidents at the club recently than in the past."
Ryan seemed troubled by this, "Like I said, something is happening. And Canterlot seems to be one of the prime targets for whatever is going on."
This troubled me, if that was true then the safety of Vinyl and Octavia might be compromised. Add to it Vinyl's pregnant and my paranoia just went overdrive. Ryan noticed my silence, and said not what I expected.
"I can guess what you're thinking, and to give my two bits, it's not a terrible idea. Canterlot is always the first target for the evils that seem to appear in this world, and moving to somewhere else might be your best option to keep your mares safe. I'd suggest Ponyville if it were my choice. The guard still has a decent presence there, along with the elements living there. Not to mention currently it is a small town, meaning it is less likely to a target if a war would break out. Just something to think about."
"Aren't you suppose to be the optimist that says, 'oh everything will be fine, Equestria will never go to war, we love harmony too much to let that happen.' hmm?" I teased him.
Ryan gave a half chuckle, "I am, aren't I. Well sadly I can't say that and still believe it myself at this moment. I know Celestia especially is getting less sleep worrying about the implication of a war starting now, especially if it became a war about race. It would basically amount to civil war between those who support humans here and those like the guard you just saw."
I put my hand on his shoulder and we both stopped for a minute, "Ryan, you're one of my best friends. Know that if you need my aid in anything you'll have it. Be it fighting in a war that is to come, or whatever you need. I'll do what is in my power to help."
Ryan gave a full smile at my words, "Thank you my friend. Let us just hope it doesn't come to that."
With that Ryan told me he had business to attend to, and told me where Zoe was staying before we parted ways. So finally able to do what I came here for I made my way towards the guest wing of the palace.
As I was about to reach the room I was told Zoe was staying in, thanks to a helpful maid, I saw Luna stepping out of said room. The door shut behind her and she turned to the right and saw me.
"Andrew, what brings you to the castle my friend?" Luna asked with a sweet smile.
"Hey Lu, Vinyl kicked me out for the day. So I thought I'd come see Zoe. Question is, why did you need to talk to her?"
"Why wouldn't I try to get some otherwise hard to gather information about one of my favorite humans?"
My smile dropped when I heard that, "What did she tell you." I ask-no, more demanded than asked.
Luna giggled at my reaction, "Oh what would be the fun in telling you. It gives me something to use next time I need to prank you. Now my apologizes for having to cut this talk short but I have some duties to attend to." She evaded before walking pass me to do whatever Luna does as a princess.
I sighed in defeat before walking up to Zoe's door and knocking.
"Yes who is it?" Zoe's muffed voice came through the door.
"It's your long thought dead brother, now open the door Z." I stated sarcastically.
The doors flew open in a flash just before I was having the breath squeezed out of me, with Zoe spouting ramblings that would make Pinkie Pie proud. "OhI'msogladmybabybrothercametoseemehowareyouhowsvinylhowarethebabiesiseverythinggood?"
"I'm dying~" I squeaked as Zoe continued to hug me.
She finally stopped and slapped me on the back while walking me inside her room. "Oh you're fine. Stop being so melodramatic, that's not how you get girls."
"I have girls, literally plural. So I'm fairly certain being dramatic does in fact 'get the girls'." I fired back.
Zoe rolled her eyes, "I don't know what they see in you. Though I am glad to hear you were able to find someone who can tolerate your strangeness, two someones at that."
We sat down on the couch in her room and had a calmer, more caring hug. "I'm glad to have you back." Zoe told me.
"Same to you, crazy ass sister of mine." I smirked
She slapped me on the shoulder. "Shush you. I certainly didn't miss your snark." She said, but was smiling none the less. "So from the beginning. You are going to tell me everything that's happened since you came here, and don't you dare leave anything out."
We talked for hours, I told her all I could about how I'd been since being on Equis. Of course leaving out the parts that include human magic, she just thought I got rid of a demon. It would take a long ass time to explain I still had said being and that he wasn't a demon at all... well not exactly anyway.
In any case, Celestia was setting the sun and I would need to be getting back home. Or Vinyl would likely have another fit and kick my ass. If she doesn't decide to do that anyway. So I said my goodbyes to Zoe and made my way back home.
When I was within sight of my house I saw the lights were not on, which while not worried I was definitely curious. I stood outside for a moment straining to see if I could hear anything from the outside. When I couldn't I decided to just go in. I took one step inside and heard the slightest crunch sound.
Oh please, no. Anything but that.
"SURPRISE!!!" I heard in chorus as my friends jumped out of their hiding as the lights went on.
Uhhh. I hate it when I'm right... well about things like this I mean. Otherwise I love being right.
Most of my friends were here, the crew from Ponyville, Luna, and surprisingly Cadence, Shining Armor, and their little filly. Ryan and Celestia were nowhere to be found, but considering what Ryan told me at the castle I'm not overly surprised. However, all that didn't stop me from trying to leave, but the object I call 'the pink ball from hell' I'm fairly certain knows how to move faster than light itself.
Pinkie tackled me and started babbling, how she is like to do, "Andrewdoyoulikeyourpartydoyoudoyouitshardtobelieveyouvebeenhereawhoooleyearbutyouhaveivethrownalotofpartiesbutyoursaresomeofmyfavoriteslookatalltheponiesthat-mmhmmhmhhmhhmhmmm."
I was saved by Octavia shoving a whole slice of cake into Pinkie's mouth before pulling her off me. She pulled me up and I gave her a kiss on her cheek causing her to blush.
"Maybe I should have Pinkie attack you more often." She teased.
"You'd have a very different reaction than what just happened if you did." I replied with a sly pinch to her rear.
Octavia yelped and gave me a glare but before she could say anything more Vinyl walked up to us.
"Ok I think you're forgetting that you have two marefriends buster." She glared halfheartedly at me. "And this one is pregnant, or did you forget?"
I pulled Vinyl in close and kissed her. "Oh I'd never forget that, Vi. Octy just rescued me from the monster of parties, so she deserved something." I chuckled.
Looking around at the party I saw a banner that said, 'Happy First Year In Equestria!' "Well I think I realize why you kicked me out this morning. Has it really been a whole year since I came here? It barely feels like more than a month or two."
Octavia wrapped her arm around my left side while Vinyl had my right, Vinyl was the one that spoke up first. "You're not the only one, We've been together much less than that and we already have children on the way. I've wondered if we moved too fast, and this party just keeps bringing that to my mind."
I thought about what she said for a moment, looking out at all my friends laughing and having fun, before I gave my answer. "I understand your concern, because I've thought the same thing. Though when I look out at scenes like this, and look to you two, I realize I feel like I've been here for most of my life." I gave my mares a slight squeeze. "We've been through so much in this short time together that our experiences are equal to those who have been together for years. So to give you an answer, no I don't feel we've gone too fast. For we've done more than most can only wish to experience." I gave a kiss to each mare's head.
As we were enjoying the moment I heard Rainbow Dash call out, "Yo lovebirds this party is for you guys you know. So get over here and have some fun!"
Seeing nothing wrong with that we joined in and enjoyed the festivities. It was well into the night when we finally finished the last of our goodbyes to our friends and I was left alone with my marefriends. Though I wanted to do nothing more than sleep, I had to discuss something with Vinyl And Tavi. So we sat on our couch and cuddled up as they look up at me.
"Well what did you want to talk about?" Vinyl asked.
I wasn't sure how they'd react so I just came out and said it, "I... think we should move."
They looked about as shocked as I thought they'd be, Vinyl was about to speak but Tavi beat her to it, "What do you mean move? Why do we need to? Where would we go? How would we live?" She fired a barrage of questions at me.
I thought over what she asked and then replied, "Because Canterlot isn't safe anymore. And before you add anymore questions to the list let me explain. I'd seen bits of it myself, heard more, but Ryan let me know to what extent it went to. There is a group that seems to be growing that wants nothing more than to see humans wiped out of Equestria. There efforts have been focused highly in Canterlot and I feel it is no longer safe. Ponies that support humans being here are treated as traitors by these ponies and considering who you have as a boyfriend, you'd be on that list. I've heard of the beatings, the rapes, the few murders that are suspected to be because of some of it's supporters. I just can't help but feel afraid of what might happen to you to if they decided to go after either of you just because you're with me."
Vinyl looked thoughtful before putting her hand on mine and asking, "Where would we go?"
"Ponyville." I answered. Both Vinyl and Octavia seemed surprised by such a quick answer, so I continued, "It has a sizable guard presence, the elements are there, we have plenty of friends to help us if we need it. Also I'm sure the princesses would be able to help us in some way to move down there quickly if we did move down there. In truth, it's kinda perfect. I'll admit I've thought about maybe moving there eventually anyways, this just happens to be a bit sooner than I planned."
Vinyl rested her head on my shoulder, and Tavi followed suit before saying, "I'm pretty sure I'm speaking for both of us... We'll go where you go Andrew, we are a family now and if we need to move to keep that together than so be it." Vinyl hummed in agreement of Tavi's words.
"I'll talk to the princesses in the morning then. I think the sooner the better, but for tonight I'm going to sleep next to my two favorite mares and get some much deserved rest."
So the three of us went to bed and before I let sleep take me I thought to myself.
After deciding what we were going to do I went to Celestia and Luna the next day and told them what we wanted. I could tell Celestia didn't like when I brought up the reasons for moving, but understood none the less. She sent a message to Twilight, who in true fashion replied in minutes, letting us know she'd help in whatever way she could. We decided we would spread the process out over the course of a week and got to work.
Of course Vinyl had to pass management of the club, though apparent she wasn't handing it over in name because she was adamant about starting another one down in Ponyville. Octavia had to give up her primary spot in the orchestra, which made her sad but the director told her she would always be welcome if she was able to return. Since I didn't have any permanent kind of job, I was the one to go down to Ponyville and get house and deeds in order.
The house that we got was closer to the outer edge of the town, so we had a nice sized yard out front that we would get use out of at some point. It had two stories and a basement, so I wasn't want for space. Vinyl took to it quickly, already deciding one room to be her dj room. Octavia had actually seemed a little nervous when she first saw the house. Apparently she had been avoiding living in a larger house because it reminded her of her family. Though when we brought up the fact we would have little ones running around she brightened up and actually picked the room for the nursery. AJ and Rainbow had helped with most of the transportation, while Fluttershy and Rarity helped with unpacking. Though we had to banish Rarity after she tried to fashionista our house. Twilight would have helped but with her duties as princess and keeping Pinkie Pie away while we were moving she was busy none stop. All together the move was probably as easy as it could get, though I had a little harder of a time.
Mizuki of course had to leave the warehouse in Canterlot, and Fir had to come with me. I put a paralysis rune on him and explained him to be a statue that I had been making in my spare time in the warehouse Luna had lent me, which allowed me to store him in the basement for the time being. A perk of being in Ponyville was being so close to the Everfree forest, because of my powers I spent some time in there building a small hidden fort just for Mizuki. Being each other's only ally that new the whole truth, we agreed that it was in both of our interests that we would be close enough to get to each other if something happened. I knew that the zebra Zecora lived out in the forest and that Fluttershy sometimes entered because of the needs of her animals, but I didn't feel overly worried for being found out because of the runes I used to cloak the shelter, which seemed to be undetectable by Equis magic.
This all occurred a month ago at this point. Lucky no war had broken out at this point, but tensions hadn't disappeared either. I had been in contact with Ryan and things were only getting harder because of increased in incidents without knowing who was causing them. Earth wasn't laying down on this either. Many nations were pushing for sending military to protect their citizens from the ponies and it made Celestia busy none stop trying to defuse the tension. If a war were to occur the human population would decrease to a fraction of its current number due to the fact that if the princesses want to prevent human military being allowed to enter Equis then she would have to deport any humans that had not received permanent citizenship. That's because those humans, like myself, would have already given up their citizenship on earth. There is no duel citizenship in Equis because of conflict of loyalty, which has been proven due to the humans inside Equis even calling for their militaries to come and protect them. I understand the paranoia, a place promoted as safe and harmonious being not completely true would be a shocker... if you were not a human that knew anything about how life isn't that simple. I mean come on it's ridiculous to think that Equis is safe from-BAM!
"Andrew we got to go to the town square now!" Vinyl came bursting into our room with Octavia, both clearly very startled.
I got up from the bed and hurried over to her, "Vi, what's the matter? What happened?"
"I-I don't know how to say it, so just come on and see it for yourself."
It didn't take us long until we arrived to see a crowd of people and ponies all gathered around a pole in the middle of town. One with a human head on it. Many were crying, foals and children had already been removed from the area, but most were in outright shock or anger. I didn't know who the person was but few deserve this. There was a sign on the pole with a message written in blood 'The PURGE begins'. We were apparently just in time for Twilight to be marching up to the pole, flanked by four guards. The sea of people and ponies parted to allow her through, she had a grim determination etched on her face, one that worried all.
Her horn lit up and removed the head herself, before giving it to a guard with a small coffin-like box. Next she did what I bet few thought she would, the pole erupted in energy and fire as she vaporized it completely in a fit of anger. I saw that there were some that were scared by the act of power, people and ponies alike. Though after she had recomposed herself she spoke to the crowd.
"Everyone, I apologize first as Twilight Sparkle, your friend. That anyone, human or pony, would have to witness such a terrible thing. Similar events have occurred in every major Equestrian city, and it is a tragedy. Next I apologize as a princess of Equestria, for we are now at war..."
She let her words wash over the crowd, most were shocked, some however knew this news was the exact reason the pole got erected... A declaration of war. Twilight wasn't done with her message yet though. "We know the name of our aggressors, for they sent messages to all the princesses detailing their objective. The call themselves 'Purge', and their goal is easy to surmise with their actions. They want humans removed from Equis entirely, either by forcing them back to earth or for those that 'refuse to leave' according to them, to be killed. Make no mistake, this is a declaration of war. There is no doubt among myself and the other princesses that these terrorist want nothing more than for humans to be made extinct."
She became somber before concluding, "Because of this, any humans that do not have permanent citizenship are being required to return to earth. Until such times that it is deemed safe for your return. I am sorry that these step are necessary, and I hope this will be dealt with swiftly. Until that time however, those who must leave must do so within one month."
With that Twilight was escorted out of the time square where people and ponies had began to murmur among themselves. Vinyl, Tavi, and I left to talk about it back at home, and it was a very quiet trip back. I was contemplating what I would personally do about this as we all sat down. Vinyl and Octavia were clearly in shock about what they had seen, as they curled as close to me as they could. I put my arms around them protectively and spoke as calmly as I could.
"It really happened..."
Vinyl shut her eyes and buried her muzzle into my neck, "Why did this have to happen? I thought all ponies were suppose to love harmony. So what drove somepony to do such a horrific thing?"
"I think that all sentient beings are like this Vinyl. Human's have done similar things for as long as they have been known to exist, I'd seen plenty of ponies, griffins, zebras, and any other race on Equis has those two sides to it. Ponies appear to have more of the harmonious side to it but that is only because the more chaotic side is kept to the underground, the drug dealers, thieves, gangs, and anything else isn't talked about. You keep it out of the light, which allowed it to grow until it became what we saw today. This evil isn't something the elements can deal with, because it isn't some dark magic that is at work here, it's just dark people." I explained.
Octavia laid her head on my shoulder before asking, "What does this mean for us? Are you going back to Earth? Are we going to have to be apart while this war happens? Will we be safe from this?"
"Tavi calm down you're going to just stress yourself out. No I'm not going back to Earth, I have nothing back there for me. Zoe would understand, even if the portals were going to close forever and I could never return, I'd stay here with you. As for what's going to happen, I think I'm going to make good on my word to Ryan... I'm joining the local guard."
My words shocked the girls, I wasn't really sure myself. Though I felt this was the best option I had, my magic would protect me even if some psycho unicorn would attempt to attack me. I couldn't just lock myself inside and pretend I couldn't do something about this, I just don't work that way. Though the girls were fairly apposed to the idea.
"No! Why would you even think about such a thing!?" Vinyl yelled at me.
"You'd be outmatched by just about any pony trying to attack you, and as a guard you'd be a prime target. Why would you put yourself in their sights like that?" Octavia pleaded to me.
I got off the couch and knelt in front of them, holding a hand each. "Girls you know I can't just sit back and wait for this to end. I have to ability to fight and I feel like I should. I will always protect you, though if I can protect others as well I am going to try and do so. So believe me when I tell you, I will always be here for you."
This seemed to put them more at ease. Though I could tell they still didn't agree with me putting myself in danger, they were not going to stop me. That was good enough for me as I stood up, still holding their hands. They nodded to me and let go, as if to say 'you can go'. I leaned down and gave each of them a kiss before I got ready to leave.
Once I was, I left for the guard station that was near the center of town. As I walked the ponies and people around were discussing quietly, I saw a few ponies threw me worried looks and even some more discussed looks. The town would no doubt be divided before long, now that this opinion was out in the open. Ponies that didn't like humans could now openly express it, because without proof they were connected to Purge they wouldn't have to worry. Even if they weren't part of Purge they might agree with the sentiment of removing humans from Equis.
I arrived at the guard station to find that it was very busy, ponies and humans trying to get answers out of the guards. No doubt they didn't have any to give being that they were likely just as much in the dark as anyone else. After pushing my way to the front I managed to get inside and ask for a meeting with the local captain. I was called back not long after and I met the pony in question.
He was an terran with a dark grey coat and a navy mane. His uniform was silver with gold accents denoting his rank, unlike the reverse that was used for the royal guard in Canterlot. He looked ragged from the commotion that no doubt had kept him busy from hours, though he seemed happy to see me.
"Ah Lieutenant, good to meet you. I'm Captain Iron Hide." He said with his hand extended out.
I shook it but I quickly tried to correct him, "I'm sorry I believe you have mistaken me for someone else, I came here to enroll in the guard. I have no previous experience."
"So you're exactly who I thought. I received this letter earlier today from Canterlot, detailing what to do if you decided to come here." He picked up the document in question and handed it to me to read.
"To Captain of the Ponyville Guard,
If a human by the name of Andrew Duron arrives at this guard station and requests to join these are your instructions:
He is to be appointed to the rank of Lieutenant, as his skills as appraised by myself are appropriate for the position.
If he suffers any discrimination or encounters any problems he feels need attention, he will report directly to me.
Finally, as a personal note. Do not underestimate this individuals abilities, he is more capable than is noticeable.
Signed, Ryan Brightstone. Major of the Equestrian Legion"
"You see that seal at the bottem?" Iron Hide asked. I nodded. "That is the royal seal of the Celestial Sisters, meaning this essentially came from them. So, being one to trust their judgement. Welcome to the guard, Lieutenant Duron." He said with a smirk.
I was certainly surprised. Ryan wasn't one to give preferential treatment, so either he believes I'm needed in this position or he needs someone he can trust in the higher ranks. If that's the case then so be it. I gave the captain a salute and said, "Happy to be here sir. How can I be of service?"
"Already ready to work, I like that." The stallion said, while shuffling some papers on the desk, "You aren't the only being applying to join the guard, I've received a dozen other requests in the last hour alone that need to be reviewed. Sit down and review a few for me. I want to see if you can be a good judge of character just from reading a piece of paper."
I was handed half the stack and spread them out so I could compare side by side. One human, two terrans, two pegasi, and one unicorn is what I had to look over. Skills of each were expected for their races, one pegasi had done exceedingly well in the physical, but that was the only noticeable difference. Then I started looking through records, and I noticed immediately the human had many strikes against him. Assaults, drug possession, and one count of rape. Though when I read through the account of the rape it raised a red flag with me.
The captain picked up on my change and asked, "So what did you find?"
"Well there is the one pegasus that I would recommend as a good candidate. The others are ok, but nothing unremarkable. Then there was the human candidate... His rap sheet would be quite troubling, if it wasn't fake." I stated adamantly.
"Oh really how do you know that?" The captain asked leaning forward to judge my response.
"His rape charge, even if he was acquitted on lack of evidence to convict, he wouldn't apply to be a guard with that on there. That's when I looked at the report, it says he assaulted his marefriend... terran marefriend. With the magical strength of terrans there is no possible situation where a human could rape one without the use of drugs which is not mentioned in the report. Which leads me to believe that either you put that in there to test me, or you have a guardsman that added this report to prevent the consideration of this man."
The stallion smiled, "It seems Major Brightstone wasn't wrong about you, even your intelligence is hard to judge by simple conversation. That conclusion is correct, we had a guard dismissed because of his preference for only ponies in the guard. With this newest development he has been put on a watch list to determine if he is a member of these terrorists. Seeing that you can't be fooled by such simple tricks I suggest you overlook our daily training that will be going on in the back courtyard shortly. I was about to be heading there when I was told of your arrival." He said as he stood and walked around the desk.
I got up and followed him to the courtyard where the guards had already started their afternoon regiment. There was a small flight course to challenge maneuverability of pegasi, a ranged sparring area for unicorns to practice their magic, weights and ropes favored to terrans, but nothing specifically for humans. Though with no special traits because of our race, that's understandable. I did see the few humans present mixed in with ponies around the sparring ring that was in the middle of the yard.
As we got close a sergeant noticed us and called out, "Officer present, atten-hut!"
Everyone stopped what they were doing and faced us and saluted. The captian returned the gesture and told them at ease, before he introduced me, "This is Lieutenant Duron, he just got here from Canterlot so I expect all of you to treat him with the proper respect. Now don't let us interrupt, get back to work!"
A quick salute and the drills continued like we weren't even there. I watched as one terran stallion continually took on humans in the sparring ring. It seemed like a challenge among the humans to see who could beat him first. As I watched I felt the urge to beat him myself, so after his latest victory I stepped forward.
"So the new Lieutenant wants to have a go? I should warn you I've never lost." The terran warned me.
I took off my shirt as it would only constrict my movements and tossed it to the side. I simply stepped forward into a fighting stance and put up my hands, "Well I hope you're open-minded, because you're about to have a new experience."
The stallion chuckled, "We'll see about that." Before stepping forward and put his fist up so he looked like he was a bull about to charge.
Maybe a bell was rung, or maybe not, I couldn't really tell. All I knew was he crossed the distant in a single lunge with a fist going straight to my face that would easily knock me out if it hit... if I was that slow. I stepped to my left and caught his fist with my right hand and twisted clockwise causing his balance to falter and allowed me to rotate his arm in a circle, which caused him to flip over himself. Much to his fellow guards amusement he came sliding out of the circle of people due to his momentum. He blinked trying to figure out what just happened, before getting up and stomping back to me and getting back into his fighting stance.
"Again." He simply said. I obliged but this time I stood up straight and just shifted my feet slightly with my right side facing him.
He rushed again but this time swung at the back of my head with his left hand. I moved towards him slightly causing the punch to miss my head and go over my shoulder. I grabbed his wrist with my right hand and his elbow with my left, and with his rushing momentum I flipped him over my back and slammed him into the dirt while landing on him because of the sacrificial throw. I got up and brushed off my pants before getting my shirt back and putting it on. The stallion groaned as he rolled to his side coughing and got helped up by some fellow guards, before shoving them off and called to me.
"Hey! I'm not done with you. This fight isn't over until one of us gives up, is that what you're doing?" He taunted.
I was honestly getting annoyed by this point, this guard wasn't ill-trained, but he didn't seem to know when he was outmatched. So as one last demonstration, just taunted him my waving him forward to come at me. He exhaled and yelled as he charged, though instead of throwing a punch when his was in striking distance, he swiftly turned around and was about to buck at me. As my friend Applejack taught me, a physically fit terran's buck was one of the most powerful forces not created by unicorn magic, and this idiot was aiming it at me. So I did the first thing I thought of, I dropped straight to the ground and slapped the ground to lessen the impact, with the buck missing me by a centimeter or so. With me on the ground I did a helicopter kick from the ground, think of the matrix movie, to get back up. The stallion was in surprise that I dodged as he turned to see my swift get up and backed off slightly to avoid getting kicked. Though when I was on my feet I immediately jumped into the air towards the stallion with a twist of my body and hit him in the face with a flying spin hook kick.
He crumpled to the ground as guards rushed to his side, he looked up at me as I told him off. "Don't ever think to use a buck against a fellow guard again!" I spoke with cold fury, "I don't care if you thought I could dodge it or you did it purposely because you thought I couldn't. I'm sure the captain agrees, if I was greatly harmed then you'd be locked up on assault immediately. The captain wasn't completely honest with you and I know why. It is true I recently came here from Canterlot. Though I have not been in the guard until today. I came here to apply today, but because of an order your captain received I was given the rank of Lieutenant immediately. If he had told you this none of you would ever respect my orders, and would often think you know better than I do. I was not privy to this order, I expected to be entering just on the level as any cadet here. Though I'm sure you can all tell by my skill, I can and will hold my own. So if you have a problem with me or my situation then you will bring it to me or the Captain. Is that understood!?" I yelled at the guards.
I heard, "Sir, yes sir!" but the ponies had been silent. The human guards had reacted immediately, even though most I could easily tell were several years older than me. Wanting them all to react I asked again, this time all the guards including the guard I just beat answered, "Yes, Lieutenant Duron, Sir!"
"Good. Now get back to work." I told them. They all saluted before returning to their training as I left the courtyard with the captain.
"Well, that went better than I expected." He said to me as we walked around the guardhouse.
"And what did you expect to happen?" I asked.
"Oh seeing that you were about to get bucked, I expected to be carrying you out in either a stretcher or a body bag. So I'm glad that didn't happen. I also got to see you hold your own against one of our better guards. Plus you seem to have earned the respect of your fellow guards, so I expect much less problems than if the fact of you being gifted your position was to come out another way. Also you'll need to have a uniform made, I assume you know Rarity?"
"I do, I'm a friend of the Elements."
"Good to know. Well then just tell her you need a uniform, tell her your rank, and she'll get it done. Also I have three other Lieutenants, each leading one of the platoons here. Since the portals opened the population of Ponyville has grown to about 1,200 in population. We have 86 current guards, though with the influx of applicants I expect that to grow to about 120. I'm going to add a squad to each current platoon, and then make a new platoon entirely. I'm telling you this because you are going to lead the new platoon." Iron Hide explained.
This caught me off guard, and I let him know, "Sir, why would you have me command a newly formed unit when I only just came here myself? Wouldn't make more sense to have me take over a preexisting platoon and a more experienced Lieutenant train new recruits?"
"That would be one option, but my men have been working together for years now. Even if they respect you as a whole, shoving you into a preexisting platoon would make you rely solely on the sergeants in your command to get things accomplished, and that is not practical. So instead you'll teach greenhorns how you want, and I'll get to see what results of it. You might end up having the best platoon here, or it could be the worst to the point I have to relieve you of duty and come and command it until I can appoint another Lieutenant. I'll just have to wait and see. Oh by the way we like to name our platoons, we have hydra, chimera, and manticore. What is yours going to be?"
A smile came to my face as I knew just what I wanted, "We'll be the timber wolves, sir."
He laughed, "That was quick. Fine, Lieutenant Duron you are now in command of the timber wolf platoon. You'll have your first members present in the barracks tomorrow morning. Now you're dismissed for today, go by Rarity's and get that uniform made and be here tomorrow by 0800 and you'll be on time. Go back home your family if you have one, I'm sure they are probably worried about you with this new development. Even if it did only happen today."
I gave him a salute which he returned and we parted ways. I did as he asked and when by Rarity's and when I told her about my joining the guard I could tell she was worried immediately. Though she didn't ask me why I chose to do this, she probably had a good guess but she kept it to herself. She took my measurements and said I could pick it up in the morning. After that I made a quick stop by Twilight's castle.
There were around twenty royal guards on loan from Canterlot scattered around the castle as I made my way to the throne room which is were I was told Twilight was. I walked in to see the mare in question with tear stains down her cheeks as she poured over a multitude of files in front of her. As I approached she looked up and tried to wipe her face of the stains.
"H-hey Andrew, a guard told me you were here. Sorry you saw me that way, I'm just overwhelmed right now."
I gave her a brief hug before we sat down. I saw the files she was looking over were all reports of humans that had either been murdered or were thought kidnapped. There were hundreds of names and faces scattered around, nothing really connecting them but their human status.
"Is this a project you took on, or one from Celestia?" I asked her.
"Both in a way. I was going to try to find information and make statistics of high danger areas, when the Princess asked me to do just that. Though the more I read, the more that horrifies me that anypony is capable of such terrible things." She grew solemn with her words, before looking up a me accusingly, "Also I just received a scroll from the guardhouse. What is this news that you are now a Lieutenant for the guard?"
"Well the rank is really because of Ryan, he apparently sent a letter approved by Celestia and Luna to make me a Lieutenant. I did go to apply but that scenario was not something I knew would happen." I defended myself.
"Likely story... And what possessed you to join in the first place?" Twilight continued her "interrogation".
"Twilight, we might not have spent great spans of time together, but I feel you still know my character. I'm not one to sit back and wait for fighting to be over. I'm one who will end it if it is within my power."
She looked down at all the files before her and spoke quietly, "I just don't want to see your name appear in front of me Andrew. You are a friend and I don't want to be the one to tell Vinyl if something were to happen to you. Just... be careful will you?"
"Aw Sparkles, I didn't know you cared." I teased her, she looked like she needed a laugh.
And crack a smile she did, "Heh, yeah don't let it get to your head. I just don't want to deal with your vengeful mares doing something that would make trouble for me."
"I'm pretty sure Vinyl is going to cause trouble for you just because she lives here now." I countered.
"I deal with Pinkie Pie on a daily basis. Vinyl can't compare in that respect."
I thought over her retort, "I concede on that point. If only because I don't want to summon said pony from talking about her too much, she scares me."
This got Twilight to laugh, "Yeah, you aren't the only one. Very few I can think of aren't afraid of her ability to just pop up wherever she wants."
"Enough about weird unexplainable powers for the moment. I'm sure Vinyl and Octavia are waiting on me. Be sure to reach out if you need something Sparkles. I'll do what I can to help."
We both got up and gave each other another hug before I left to return to my home.
When I got there Vinyl and Octavia hugged me and clung to me. I told them a what had happened and they were certainly surprised about the parts about my appointment to Lieutenant and that I would be leading a troop of my own. We stayed close all through the evening as I tried to comfort my marefriends and assure them that we were going to be safe.
As we went to bed and I lay there staring at the ceiling I called out to Bael and Korvin.
What is it you need, boy.
You know all that happened today. Are you saying there is nothing about it that concerns you?
We aren't affected by a petty squabble like this.
Well I'm affected by it, so by extension since you are a part of me, you are affected as well.
Do you really fear these bugs throwing stones at you from the shadows.
You possess power that rivals what the alicorns here can call upon. They should fear you, they would if you didn't hide what you can do.
Don't try to tempt me with such a weak desire. If I were to reveal my power at the current time, I would only allow for Purge to prove their point. That humans should be removed from Equis. I'm sure you realize that if that were to happen, our power would dissipate quickly.
That may be true. Though there will likely be a time if you fight this war, you will be forced to reveal your power. I would prepare for when that happens.
I considered Bael's words. He made a good point, it is unlikely that I will be able to keep my abilities hidden. Especially if I am forced into a fight were I have to use my power to survive, or protect another. I looked down at Vinyl and Octavia sleeping peacefully by my sides and thought about what I'd do if something were to happen to them. In which I knew, if they were taken or attacked, I would obliterate the ones responsible...and the streets would run red from their blood.
I shook my head. I didn't need to worry about this tonight. If something were to happen then it will be dealt with in that moment. For tonight I would just sleep, and get ready to meet my platoon in the morning.
Back and forth I spared against Mizuki, and from an onlooker it would seem like we were legitimately trying to kill each other. We used our powers to manipulate our environment causing our battle to be 3D in a sense. The walls were just another surface for us to move on to get an advantage. It felt like the laws of nature didn't apply to us as we spared.
We had been going for about half an hour off and on until we felt like we had expended enough energy. When we were resting Mizuki took the chance to question me about the events of the town square that happened a week ago now. She would have stayed to know what occurred, but as a 'child' she had quickly been removed from the area.
"You are useless you know. You have the ability to easily find these idiots if you used your magic to get information. Tell me again, why are you so spineless?"
"First, you need to come up with some new insults. You've been using the same ones since we first met. Second, I know you understand why we can't do that. Our powers aren't like that of those from Equis. It isn't born of harmony, rather it is more fueled by our discourse. Chaos, grants us power, which as you know the ponies would likely demonize us because of. Even the being Discord is not accepted by the populous, and you believe that we can just get away with using our powers like that? We need to introduce our ability of magic slowly, like humans are gaining the ability. Not that we have had it for millennia and it was simply dormant." I explained it for her again.
"So just because our magic isn't harmonious we can't do shit?"
"Yes! You know that!" I yelled at her. "Especially right now, we'd just be handing these Purge terrorist the perfect reason to have us removed." I calmed down a bit.
"Fine, fine. We'll do it your way. Though if I get attacked, then you are going to find a lot of dead bodies when I'm done with them."
"Aren't you supposed to have the aspects of Hope and Indifference inside you? Kind of out of character for you isn't it?"
"I might hope for the best, and be indifferent to what people think, do, or believe. Though that does not mean I'm not going to obliterate anyone that tries to harm me. I have my own beliefs and I'm not going allow harm to happen to me because of another opinion."
"Uhh, fair enough. Just don't put yourself in a situation where that could happen to you, and there will be less problems for both of us." I conceded to her.
I checked my watch and found it was time for me to go to work. At this point I had three squads of six, each lead by a cadet that had stood out to me. I had actually been surprised when I saw my first recruits. The captain had given me the pegasus I had pointed out in my 'interview' along with the human I had spoken for. Those two along with one unicorn had been made the squad leaders for the timber wolf platoon. The breakdown of my troops were five humans, four pegasi, six terrans, and three unicorns. They all seemed to respect me decently, though I had a unicorn see me on his first day and refused to accept my command. So I gave him the ultimatum that if he'd beat me in a sparing match he could lead the platoon, it ended for him about as well as the last pony that fought me. He thought that just because he had magic he'd be invincible, but I hounded him with attacks that he could barely ignite his horn to get a spell off.
After that demonstration I have yet to have a significant confrontation from my troops. Outside my troops however I had to get along with the other Lieutenants, which was another uphill battle. We were one of each race, human, terran, pegasus, and unicorn. It turned out the stallion I had first beaten that first day was also a Lieutenant, RockSlide I found out his name to be. He had a little resentment for making a fool out of him, but wasn't going to act on it. The pegasus, Gale Flash, and I got along decently, mostly just left each other alone and we were fine. The unicorn however...
"Flee bag!"
Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
The unicorn had a forest green coat with a dark navy mane save for one streak of white that ran through it. Tidal Wind was the ignorant bastard's name, air manipulation was his primary talent of magic. Ever since the captain formed my platoon this pony has been calling me dog related insults, which honestly just distracts me more than anything. I remembered that Ryan had ordered that if I suffered discrimination to report it to him, though being the stubborn fool I am, I decided to just deal with it myself. Though back to the point at hand, I now needed to respond.
"What do you need, Wind bag."
He glared at me when he heard my jab, "Watch it human. It's my decision if I pass this info along."
"If it ended up with someone dead then it would be on your head. Then I would make sure to collect on behalf of the reaper."
He scoffed at my threat, "Enough of this. I was ordered to inform you that we have a lead on a possible location of a meeting for Purge. The captain told each platoon to choose its best squad, including yours, to partake in the raid. We move tonight."
With that he walked pass me without another word and I assumed was going to prepare his soldiers. I knew that bastard hated me, but I supposed he was able to put enough of it aside that we could do our jobs. So with that exchange dealt with, I made my own way to the guard house to ready my soldiers.
I decided to choose my pegasus led squad. A pony with a navy coat and silver mane by the name of Nocturne. His squad had one other pegasus, three terrans, and one human. Nocturne had shown to be one with something to prove, so I gave him his chances and so far he had done quite well. I'm sure his men were not thrilled by the rigor they have had to endure, but it was about to pay off. As soon as I arrived I told everyone about the raid, they began to scramble immediately, which gave me satisfaction that they would react this way.
We prepared our gear, whatever could keep us busy before the mission. In the half hour before the raid the Captain had the Lieutenants and squad leaders come to the briefing room. We gathered around the center which had a blueprint spread out on it with marker pieces to indicate our troops. Once everyone was present the captain began to brief us on the plan.
"This blueprint shows the place our intel tells us is an operating base for Purge. It could very well already be abandoned for that purpose but it also could be packed with Purge members. Some of you might have already realized what this is, for those who don't this building is an old guard safe house. It was decomposition and given to the town for public use, but never was utilized. It has two known levels, and four different exits. Our info says that there have been an unusually high number of ponies in proximity to the location and we believe that there is a hidden entrance somewhere that we have been unable to find yet.
This being the case, Gale your squad will be patrolling the surrounding area. After we breach it is likely that anypony inside will try to escape through that exit I want your team to be the ones to find it. RockSlide your team will be running point on our breach, you will enter from the south side make your way to the north side immediately and once there fan out and secure the first floor. Tidel Wind's team will enter from the east side search for a basement entry and secure that floor if it exists, and Duron's will enter from the west and secure the second floor. Any hostiles are to be captured with minimal harm. We need information and prisoners are about the only way we're getting any, so if you can don't strike to kill." The captain explained before concluding. "That is all the information that you need to know. Get your squads and load up... we leave now."
The safe house would never be suspected as a possible terrorist hideout. It looked plain, like any other building in Ponyville besides its size. It was about three times the size of a typical home, plus it was two stories. Three, if the terrorist were using this as a base and had created a basement. It looked abandoned for all intents and purposes, but I had a feeling that wasn't completely true. I took my squad to the west side and decided to take point with Nocturne and a terran flanking me. I was carrying my blades in their tonfa form, which is the only one that my men had and would see. My fellow guards were skeptical until I had a sparring match with a blunting spell active and I had proven my skill. Besides the point in any case. I took out my blades and counted down until the breach. 5...4...3...2...Go!
I kicked the door in and gave myself a small charge to increase my perception, but the building was empty. My team took the stairs and searched every room, only to find each one completely bare. "Second Floor Clear!" I called out.
"First Floor Clear!" I heard below me.
"No Basement!" Was the final call.
Our squads continued to search as the Lieutenants met in the center of the house next to the stairs. Tidal Wind was the first to comment.
"Looks like the info was a bust. There isn't anything here, definitely no signs of anypony even occupying this place before us." He huffed in annoyance.
RockSlide agreed, "It seemed like good info, but there is nothing here to confirm."
I nodded but continued to pace in a small circle. Something wasn't right, info like that often come out as true or gives a reason why it's wrong. Neither has been proven true yet. "We're missing something. Though I can't place what it could be."
I started to walk away to see if I could find something before I heard a call from upstairs. "Lieutenants! You might want to see this!" We all rushed upstairs into the a normal looking room were Nocturne was waiting.
"What did you find soldier?" I asked him.
"We thought this building was abandoned. But look at this..."He said moving to the side and pointed to a spot on the wall.
I came closer and looked at the wall for any unusual signs, which didn't take long. The walls were covered with wallpaper and you could see the lines between each sheet, and this line he pointed to had a raised edge... like there was something underneath it. I put my hand on the bump and followed it up, when that didn't lead to anything I followed it to the baseboard. I found a slight gap and stuck one of my blades in it and pried at it until I was able to make the wall move. It let out a hiss as air rushed in to the space, the hidden door opened to reveal a larger space than should exist with a ladder that went down farther than the first floor.
"Good find, soldier. This is exactly what we were looking for. Looks like a dimension altering spell was placed here. It could very well be able to be broken and collapse if someone other than a Purge member was to climb down, but we need to check it out." I said told the others.
Tidal wave was the first to give an idea, "Why don't you Alpha pooch. Your team, your responsibility. A unicorn would be preferable, one that could just teleport by looking down there but I don't know any on the guard so fresh out of luck there. Guess you'll have to do." He smirked.
RockSlide looked worried at the hate between us, but before he could say anything I replied.
"I was kinda planning on doing that anyway, but since you mentioned a unicorn why don't you do it." I declared more than asked.
"I can't teleport. Wouldn't be much more than a normal pony getting crushed if you are proven right."
I hated this prick, had I mentioned that yet, because I do. I simply looked back at the passage and placed my fingers over the edge. I sent a tiny flow of energy out which cause the wood to burn, I was making a rune. It was a simple one, a time distortion rune, which if there was a dimension collapse trap than it should allow me to still reach the bottom.
After the rune was complete I made the look that I had 'built up the courage' to go down the ladder. I cautiously started down it until I reached the bottom. I made it with absolutely no problem and called up to the top. "Looks fixed. Get on down here."
I had my squad come down along with Tidal Wind and RockSlide, and we searched this underground base. It was just as deserted as above, but this was certainly what we were looking for. We found maps with markings littered around in almost every room we entered. Some had words, though they appeared to be code so it was impossible to understand just by looking. That was until we found a giant map of Ponyville on a large circular table. On it was several locations crossed out and others that were circled. Around each circle there were more coded words that were impossible to decipher. I looked at the map and found my house on it.
It had a circle around it with the markings 'HTU. UP. G.' in blue, and 'C&R-OWFR' in red. I knew these marking were nothing good, I knew another few permanent humans and as I thought they also had circles around their locations with markings similar to mine.
"This map shows all humans in Ponyville. From what I can tell, permanent residents are circled and those leaving are already crossed out. These markings seem to be instructions, but I can't make any sense of them." I told my compatriots.
Each one looked it over, Nocturne seemed worried by something when I pointed out my house on the map and the markings beside it.
"Lieutenant, what are your marefriends' races?"
I looked at him oddly, "Unicorn and Terran. Why?"
"I think I decoded the blue if that's the case."
My eyes narrowed as I walked next to him, "Explain, now." I ordered.
He pointed at each mark as he explained, "'HTU', your races. Human, Terran, Unicorn. You unicorn marefriend is pregnant, 'UP'. Finally 'G', you're a guardsman, a dangerous enemy to these bastards. You were likely marked as an important target to be removed early, and I think that is what the red might be. But I have no way to understand what those instructions might be."
"I think I know what it means." Tidal Wind spoke up. "And you aren't going to like it."
My eyes narrowed, "What do you mean by that." I said coldly.
"'C&R' is similar to a code used when Discord was dealt with. 'R&R' was used to mean, 'release & reform'. So my best guess would be that it means 'capture & reform'. They're planning to foalnap your marefriends."
One important thing came to my mind, "Why did they leave all of this? They obviously knew we were coming or else there would be other signs of them. So what was the purpose of this?"
Then it dawned on me: the sightings, the empty house, these maps...
"They wanted us to find these... it's a distraction."
I toar out of that room as fast as I could without my powers. I climbed the ladder three rungs a step before reaching the top and racing out of the building. As soon as I was out of sight of my fellow guards I infused my legs with energy and burst towards my house. A crack of thunder shook the surrounding area as I broke the sound barrier with just my first step.
I was there in a matter of seconds, and I froze stock still at the front door. I looked into the dark house and only saw carnage, blood trails everywhere. On the floors, the walls, even some spray on the ceiling. I walked like a soulless ghost through my house, no bodies were here but everywhere I looked i saw broken furniture, black scarred walls, and blood. I walked up the stairs to find bloody drag marks coming from one room in particular, the nursery.
I walked in to find a message written in blood covering the first visible wall.
FILTH MUST BE CLEANSED
...
They were gone... someone had taken my mares... my children... and had the GAUL TO CALL THEM FILTH!!!
Energy started to coil around me, but instead of the normal blue my magic produced, it was blood red... tainted by my anger. Wind started to whip around me, a vortex forming, ripping the room apart.
I felt the wind start to enclose on me, try to suffocate me... someone was controlling it.
I turned around to find Mizuki standing in the doorway of the room with her eyes glowing, one blue and one green. My anger did not dissipate, but my control over it gained ground.
"What do you know, Mizuki. Or should I be asking Nanal or Nuyls?" My voice was distorted, warped by the energy coursing through and around me.
"We don't know where they are? Though your outburst must be contained.You know it will reveal us.What do you plan to do when the ponies find out?"
"THAT IS WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT!" I screamed, before controlling my voice. "My mares have been taken from me... If you think that anyone standing between me and them will survive... you are wrong."
Mizuki's eyes lost their glow and the wind around me faded. Because of this, I controlled my own energy and my feet touch the floor, which I didn't even notice had left said floor.
Mizuki spoke in her normal voice, "I would expect no less. But think about what the consequences will be if you just rip open the town in search of those you are looking for. It will just alert them. Right now you have the advantage. They don't know what you can do, use that to find them. Then destroy them utterly, make sure your story is the only one that gets told."
I thought over her words and just as I was about to reply I heard a rustle coming from outside. I looked out the window to see two ponies, a pegasus and a unicorn, dressed completely in black, approach the house and appear to talk to each other.
Mizuki started talking in a male voice, followed by another, "Are you sure he's here? We only get one shot at this." "I'm sure, I saw him enter and immediately came and got you." "Lets burn the bastard then, we can't have the princesses trying to find us. Those mares we took are enough trouble as it is."
I started to laugh as I heard these words. My rage and madness returned, as I decided what I was going to do with these fools.
Third-Person POV
The unicorn took out a fire crystal from his pocket and looked at the fiery stone. This small pebble would be enough to engulf the entire house in fire and that cockroach of a freeloader would die with it. Those poor mares, seduced by a flee not worthy of attention. They would be enlightened over time, right after the filth inside that unicorn is dragged out and destroyed.
"Come on dude, just throw the stone and hit it with your magic and we can get out of here. I don't like being near a place that's been tainted by human filth, you know that." The pegasus said with a sneer.
"Quit your whining. I was about to do it anyway."
He reared his arm back to throw it at the house, but just as he was about to throw it he felt a presence appear behind them... a dark, powerful, overwhelming presence.
The two ponies turned to see a shade, a figure that looked to them like a humanoid timberwolf that was completely covered in shadow. Darkness drifted off its body like smoke, red energy arced across it body erratically. Eyes glowed a dark red, but no pupil was present. Its size hulked over them by two feet at least... it terrified them.
With just a twitch of its claws before they could blink, they found themselves pinned by their throats to the wall of the house they were about to destroy... which was ten feet way from where they were standing before.
They couldn't move, they pissed themselves as they stared into the eyes of this monster standing over them. This creature had obviously been sent to kill them, those humans knew no boundary to the depravity they would sink to. What caught them off guard though was when it spoke to them.
"Tell me where the mares are. Or you will know pain worse than that which exist in tartarus."
It wanted the mares they had rescued? How could they ever give up their friends, their comrades, over just two little whores?
The shade seemed to understand what they were thinking, as it told them so, "So you believe you will be granted peace in death. That may be true if I let you die... but where is the fun in that?"
The unicorn remembered the fire crystal in his hand and he slammed his hand into the side of the house expecting to unleash the power of the stone... only to find his hand is empty.
The shade released his claw from his neck but still he was held by red energy surrounding his throat. He opened said claw in front of the unicorn's face to reveal that it was holding the gem. The unicorn tried to will a spell out of his horn to destroy the gem, but nothing came. He felt no magic in his body, he was so weak, unable to do anything but listen to the monster in front of him.
It did not speak but he took the stone and touched it to the top of the unicorn's horn and started to add pressure. Around his head a sphere of darkness surround him as the stone started to crack. Fear mounted as all he could now see and hear were the cracks multiplying as the creature was about to kill him.
The pegasus watched as muffled screams came from sphere of black shadows surrounding his friend's head. The monster had a grin that nearly split his face in half, its fangs were as white as pearls and as sharp as daggers. The glee coming from it could almost be felt as a physical thing. And then it was over...
The crystal broke and the pegasus watched as the shadow sphere glowed red as the screams intensified for all of a couple seconds before going dark and dissipating soon after. He watched as his friend's head was again visible, or what was left of it at least. All that was left was black charred bone, his body was released and allowed to crumple to the ground. As soon as the skull hit the ground it shattered like glass, before dissolving into ash which was quickly blown away.
"And so there was one. Now I'll say it again... Tell me where the mares are, and you won't suffer like your friend."
The pegasus swallowed, "I-I won't ever tell you, m-m-monst-t-ter." He tried to be brave.
"Suffering it is then... I wanted to do that anyway."
...
His screams could probably be heard in Canterlot, for all of a few seconds... but to the pegasus, his screams would seem to last for eons.
I got what I needed. I took a great amount of pleasure making him suffer, almost to the point that I forgot what I wanted out of him. He finally told me the location of the Purge base that Vinyl and Octavia had been taken to, at which point I finally granted him release. It had only taken me about twenty seconds to get it out of him, but it had felt much longer for the two of us. I had charged his brain with energy which caused it to create about a thousand times more signals which slowed his perception of time.
His screams no doubt could be heard from Ponyville, which meant I didn't have much time. The elements would no doubt be here in a blink of an eye, and I had to make sure these bastards weren't mistaken as victims. So I decided to just erase them. I ionized their bodies and watched them dissolved and the dust get taken by the wind.
After that was done I let my aura armor I had activated involuntarily from rage fade away before I charged myself with energy and made a break towards the everfree forest. Apparently, Purge had created a base deep in the everfree that from what the pegasus told me was very large. It's creation started when humans first appeared from the portals, and had been expanded over time. There were about a hundred members that came and went with about sixty in the base at any one time. I felt a pull at my mind as I got closer.
What is it Bael?
So you simply wish to exterminate those that stand in your way?
No... They are going to suffer. For what will feel like an eternity.
Then we have an offer for you.
I paused on my journey and stood in the middle of the forest. And what do you propose?
Let us take over.Let us take over.
A wicked smile broke across my face. I could feel the desire to give retribution coming from my soul, and they were feeding off my desire.
Give them hell. Erase the memories of any prisoners that are not my mares. And leave the one in charge for me. Those are my conditions.
Deal.
Acceptable.
Now, what do I need to do?
Just repeat these words aloud...
??? POV
Those whores were stubborn that was certain. It would probably take weeks to break them. Though if it can't be done, then at least I tried.
These thoughts were that of Night. A boring name he knew, but the unicorn thought it fit him well. His grey irises the only thing to contrast his black coat and mane. He had been placed in Ponyville directly after the human scourge had first appeared, and had been doing the will of Purge ever since. His talent in cloaking spells is what allowed the branch to grow like it had without the princess of friendship being none the wiser. He had ordered plenty of assassinations and foalnappings, and he knew the guard only knew of a fraction of them. This, along with their latest success, had given Night the feeling of being invincible.
Freeing the mares of a corrupt human guard had been a challenge. He had two stallions in critical condition and the mares were definitely brainwashed, but his plan had succeeded. No doubt the guards were trying to still make sense of those maps they had littered around that fake scene they had made. Some of the maps were real but most were fake, and none endangered their location. When his men came back with conformation that the human was dead then everything would be set. That fire crystal couldn't be traced because it was natural, so the guards and princesses wouldn't have anything to go on.
He knew eventually they might start exploring the forest. Though with the natural fear engraved in the minds of ponies, he figured it would take months for them to consider that they had built a base within this cursed place. By that point their job will almost be complete. Humans will either be dead, at war, or so terrified that they would never consider entering Equis again. Then the princesses would close the portals and everything could return to normal. Eventually ponies would thank them, and history books would write of them as heroes. No more of hiding in the dark.
First things first though. Night walked into a room with his newest prisoners chained up to the wall. The terran mare had to be restrained with latches after she broke the chains that were first put on. That had sent another person to the medical wing with a broken arm and a concussion. Then there was the unicorn...
Vinyl Scratch was well known, he had even been to a concert of hers before. To see such a beautiful mare bloated with the spawn of human trash made him want to puke every time he saw her. Of course she had a magic blocker on her horn, she couldn't be trusted after being the one to put his soldiers into critical condition. She was awake and staring at him like he was scum of the earth, and it saddened him.
"What do you want, you prick..." She spat venomously.
"You poor brainwashed mare. Don't worry, eventually you'll see the truth." I spoke kindly.
"When the father of my children finds you, you're going to wish you were already dead."
I frowned at these words. "Children? You've been tainted to that level you don't recognize you have foals inside you? You're worse off than I thought." I shook my head before I continued, "As for the human that tainted you, he's dead."
Vinyl appeared to become even more pale before screaming at him, "You're lying! He can't be dead! He's going to come and kick your ass. I don't believe you!"
"I don't care what you believe. I had him killed shortly after we returned here. The stallions I sent out should almost be back to confirm. Then you'll hear for yourself that you have no one coming for you."
She slumped after hearing this, and started muttering to herself. I had turned to leave when I heard another voice, the other mare had apparently woken up.
"If you think that he's dead, you are fooling yourself." Octavia stared daggers with her mulberry eyes.
I chuckled at the delusional mare, "And tell me, how could he survive a fire crystal? Humans don't have magic. Any rumors that say to the contrary are obliviously fake."
"I would have thought so too, until I remember all the times that Andrew did the impossible. He overpowered me, a terran, when I almost raped him by forcing me off him. I saw him heat a blade to burn the stallion that was holding it. And he survived a lightning strike while being skewered with a wooden support. Humans don't live through those kind of things, and yet Andrew survived it all. So you can claim whatever you want, but you'll see when he comes to rescue us, that taking us was the worst mistake of your life."
I was silent as the mare ranted. Even Vinyl seemed to have recovered because of her words. So I walked up to her and backhanded her smug smile.
"Octavia!" Vinyl screamed.
"Shut Up!" I yelled an punched her in the stomach. I had no care for the filth hiding inside her. "I've had enough of your back talk. You will be reformed. Eventually you will understand why we were driven to do as we have done, and in that time you will thank us."
He turned to leave. His patience finally dissolved.
Octavia yelled and strained against her bindings at the violence he had used on Vinyl, though he couldn't care less. He had made it to the door when a chill seemed to sweep through the very core of his being, along with the room itself grew darker. Which should be impossible since they were underground.
Then he heard a whisper, words spoken directly into his mind, and they terrified him.
"When hope is gone. Undo this lock. And send me forth. On a moonlit walk."
Before Night even got a chance to wonder what the hell he had just heard, distant screams erupted from the other side of the door. Fear racked through him as much as bewilderment at what in tartarus could be happening. Each time he willed his body to move towards the door to go and find out what was happening he found himself frozen to his spot.
What found us? How can I escape if it comes this way? WHAT THE BUCK WAS THAT VOICE!?
Third Person POV
The ponies set to guard the entrance to the compound honestly were feeling fairly cocky, since nothing had ever been seen on a patrol since the cloaking spells were put in place. So to say they were surprised when they saw a human walking straight towards them like it knew they were there.
They were about to call back a warning when they saw it's eyes...
Silver orbs stared through them, that glowed with a unnatural power. Its magic did not come from Equis, this fear would not be felt if it was so.
Just when they had fought through their fear they felt a wave of pressure pass through their bodies and heard a voice in their heads. They looked at each other and knew that they had heard the same mantra. Soon their eyes snapped back to the approaching target.
They were frozen as they watched, a black vapor seemed to come straight from his body, like darkness itself was leaking out of him. With each step the darkness began to wrap around him, cloaking him until nothing remained but a black outline. Then it began to change shape.
They stared as it took the shape of a werewolf-like creature. It grew in size as well, becoming easily seven feet tall. Blue lightning arced across his body and they could feel their hair standing on end as they stood frozen in place. His lips split to reveal a horrid smile of razor sharp fangs, they heard a dark chuckle even from the large distance still between them and the beast. They were finally starting to recover from the shock, they're voices almost made it to cry out...
Suddenly for the stallion on the left the passageway was spinning, when it slowed down he saw why. His body was standing there with the beast suddenly beside it, but his head was no longer on his body. As the last flicker of thought and life disappeared from him he saw his compatriot's spine had been ripped straight out of his back, and his own body crumple with a fountain of blood spraying the ceiling and walls as it fell.
Some more ponies saw this event happen in a blink of an eye, and as the blood of their friends began to soak the ground the first screams rang out.
Terror, mayhem, and blood... so much blood. The monster ripped through anypony it encountered like a living blender. Some where brave enough to try and fight it, though their fate was by far the worst. Any blast of magic, stab of a weapon, or slam of just throwing a random object made the creature pause. Before the brave idiot could ever react the creature would be next to them like it had teleported, but no magic was used. Then it would slowly let them meet a horrid death: ripping them slowly in half, impaling offenders with whatever was used to attack it, violently murder ponies with the bones or limbs of their friends, and in the most gruesome cases it would impale its victims with a claw and then they would start glowing until they turned black and dissolved into ash.
"Help!" "Don't let it get me!" "I don't deserve to die!"
"Take him, he raped them!" "Buck you! You killed them when I was done!"
"Hurry if we go now we can -UGGK!" "I have a wife and foals, please! AHHGggg..."
In the commotion prisoners escaped and began to fight their captors or try and escape the base. Anytime they would lock eyes with the creature they would fall to the ground unconscious and it would pass them by, like a reaper passing over those who's time had not yet come. For anyone else there was no mercy. No escape from the fate that had already claimed so many. Many started to beg, but their pleas never made the monster pause for a second in its unfeeling extermination of all, it would purge them all, just like they planned to do to the humans.
One mare, who's coat was once pure white, but now almost completely crimson, begged as the creature approached her.
"Please, I never harmed anyone we brought in. I was forced to join by my coltfriend. I'll confess to everything! Just don't kill me!"
It paused just in front of her, and spoke in a voice like a growl and a whisper overlapping and speaking together, "We know what you did. Your crime is silence. You saw this and let it happen. Then you found joy in seeing them disappear." It said as it brought its claw closer. "And so We will take joy in making you disappear.
She screamed as its claw touched her and felt pain erupt from her skull. It squeezed as her eyes turned to liquid, blue flames came from her sockets as the energy he was pumping into her body caused blood to burn as her head was crushed. The flames engulfed her body like blood flowing from where her head used to be. It tossed the lump of coal that was all that remained of it burning and crushing her skull.
Bael/Korvin felt for any more sources of life and besides those of the unconscious victims, they only found five. Two of which belong to the ones, with two smaller ones within one who they was searching for. So they walked towards the sources, relishing the thought of what Andrew would do to his final victim. Many had said 'Take Night, he started all this' or 'Night is responsible, not me'. They hadn't found this pony, so they figured he was cowering where Andrew's mares were being kept. He would pay, his fate would be worst than of the others, and they would get to watch as Andrew got his vengeance. They laughed as they approached, a dark, horrid laugh, at what was to come.
Andrew's POV
I had watched, a passenger in my own body, as Bael and Korvin enacted vengeance that I doubt I could have thought of alone. Only those that were also victims where granted their lives, though they would never remember what had taken place, only the results. I could start to have feeling of my limbs again as we neared where I could feel there were still life sources that I had yet to meet. I knew who they belonged to except for one, the one who was responsible for everything that had occurred on behalf of Purge in Ponyville... and he would pay.
I had full control of my body at this point as I walked through the pool of blood that had completely stained the floors of the compound. There was a solid metal door at the end of the hallway, with only a few light shedding an eerie glow on the gore covered walls. It took me a minute but this scene made me remember something, the dreams of where I talked to Korvin.
Did you know this would happen?
You give us too much credit. We simply made a scene that would eventually acclimate you to the death and destruction that you would see throughout your life as our vessel. Because every vessel we've ever had comes to the same fate, they must fight to live. Scenes like this will be more common than you will ever wish to understand.
Such is the fate of a vessel.
So be it if that is the price to return my mares to me. I will bare it all.
As I reached the door I held out a claw and a black sphere appeared in my palm before slowly drifting towards the door. When it touched it passed through the door which caused it to turn black, I then walked forward and as I touched the door in crumbled to ash.
I could finally see trophy of my rampage, my victim that I would make suffer for the rest of eternity... a ironic black unicorn, named Night. He stood on the other side of the room, where Vinyl and Octavia were unconscious, with a look of terror that he was failing to hide behind a mask of courage. He also held a blade in his hand and he was pointing it at Vinyl... how dare he!
I charged my left hand and held it up. The blade became magnetized and was ripped from Night's hand and flew straight to mine. I twiddled the blade before ionizing it and seeing it turn to slag and fall to the floor, the molten metal not harming me in the least.
"Your sins are many, Night. Though your worst mistake was thinking that taking these mares was a good idea." I spoke coldly to him. The air itself feeling like it just dropped to icy levels.
He shook in cold and fear as he answered, "T-this will only prove o-our point! Humans are w-willing to consort with d-demons of t-tartarus to get what they w-want!" His eyes speaking of the hate he held, which was the only thing driving him at this point.
"Foolish idiot. You assume I came from tartarus... but the truth is much more simple." I spoke while releasing my form.
I now stood before him as myself, and his disbelief at what he witnessed was laughable.
"T-t-that's not possible!!! Human's don't possess magic! We tested that ourselves! You must be a demon, that took human form to infiltrate Equis!"
"Wrong again. Humans do possess magic, though we are few. In truth only nine of us should ever have the power at one time, currently at least. You just happened to pick to kidnap the loved ones of the one that draws strength from loyalty and rage... Bad luck for you, bastard."
"If you try to hurt me I'll kill these two! I can do it with just a thought!" He threatened, charging his horn.
I spoke softly, a whisper really, "You will die. And it will feel like eternity."
"Is that a threat!?" Night laughed.
"A promise..."
With a wave of my hand a rune circle appeared on the ground, with myself at one end and Night at the other. I spoke one word, a true word.
"Ki."
The world disappeared in a flash, only the circle, myself, and Night remained.
Night looked around frantically, "What did you do!?" He demanded.
"This is a void. A place I created that exists outside of space and time as we both know it. It is a place that you can only leave if I let you, or if you kill me. Koeh."
With that word, earth appeared beneath us.
"Vin."
*BOOM* A clap of thunder struck, with clouds and rain appearing and drenching us.
"So you understand who you see before you, let me introduce myself." I told him as he stared at me in despair as he realized I controlled his fate at this point.
"I am Andrew Duron. Vessel of the Solest Bael aspect of Loyalty and the Umbran Korvin aspect of Fury. The eldest beings of known creation. I am descendant to the first humans to wield magic. I love only two beings in this or any world. I will stop at nothing and do whatever it takes to keep them safe, holding no mercy for those who threaten them." I spoke, with each sentence growing in volume until my voice matched that of what the canterlot royal sisters used. The winds of the storm picking me up as I rose in a grand effect. "and you... STOLE THEM FROM ME, TRIED TO KILL ME, AND THREATENED TO HARM THAT WHICH BELONGS TO ME!"
Night simply stared as he started to accept his fate. "Buck..."
"I CONTROL THIS WORLD. TIME AND SPACE ARE WHAT I SAY, AND YOU WILL SUFFER AN ETERNITY AS YOU DESERVE!"
He was struck by a lightning bolt, piercing a hole straight through his body. He was about to collapse before the world froze, before rewinding and he was left standing where he was just before dying.
"You will die when I decide." I spoke calmly, though to him my voice thundered like the world was shattering.
He was flayed, dismembered, burned, gouged, suffocated, torn to shreds by creations of shadow, frozen, bludgeoned, electrocuted, vivisected, among other forms of near death. Each time, I would reverse time and restore him. He started to try and escape, which allowed for me to toy with him. Other times he would try to attack me, only to have him nearly die in a more excruciating way that I would normally give him. A few times he tried to end his own life in an attempt to break the cycle, only to be brought back just before he would fade completely.
Though for me this lasted for a long period of time, I wasn't really keeping track, for Night it was infinitely longer. Before I enacted any near death I would charge his brain with an extra million times his normal signals, slowing his perception by an equal measure. He had slipped into madness multiple times, and no doubt could not remember anything but the pain he had endured with each near death.
After his latest resurrection I walked up to him and stared down at the pathetic pile of flesh before me.
He looked up at me and groveled, "Let me die... Please, just let me finally die."
He would tell me anything I want to hear at this point, and would have only after the second near death I enacted on him. I had finally grown tired of him. Though I wasn't going to let him die that easy.
I created a rune circle that brought him to float in the air in front of me. With a snap of my fingers he was restrained by four smaller ones around his wrists and ankles I created a orb of lightning and darkness that I sent to float just in front of him.
"You deserved all that you have received... but I haven't forgiven you. Nor will I ever." I said as the orb drifted closer to his chest. "So here is my final punishment. You wish to die, so I will let you experience how it feels to die... for all eternity."
So I spoke the true word that would enact my final judgement, "Mai-deth..."
The orb entered his chest and he started to scream. I had no need to manipulate his sense of time, for this would be forever. He would be frozen, endlessly screaming without ever needing to breath. His body would eventually turn to dust, though his soul would continue to endure and suffer the pain of eternal death, until the end of time itself. My runes would prevent anyone from ending his suffering, not even the princesses combined could break this spell. So he would remain, that was my final punishment. I cast a final rune of silence so I wouldn't have to listen to his screams, now it was finished.
I let the circle I originally made to create this world break, releasing us back into the real world where I could finally see Vinyl and Octavia again. Barely a minute of time in this realm had passed and nothing had truly changed. The girls were still unconscious and bound by chains, Vinyl was slumped and bleeding from small lacerations covering her body and Octavia's wrist and ankles were chaffed of fur from straining against her bonds.
Tears rolled from my eyes as I slowly and carefully released them from their bounds and laid them on the ground. Their was a large bruise on Vinyl's stomach, which at seeing made my anger flair again as I looked over at the silently screaming unicorn that I had tossed in the corner after returning to the material realm. I examined they're bodies and found they were not in critical condition, but they were still in bad shape. I couldn't tell anything about my children other than the fact that two life forces still remained within Vinyl, I had no way of knowing their condition and it angered me. Though that is not what overwhelmed me, sadness did.
I cried as I spoke softly over them, letting my tears fall on their faces, "I-I'm sorry, my loves. I wish you hadn't pulled me from my house that night. I could have died and you would have continued on. This would never of happened and you would never be suffering as you are now. I will never be able to express how much I hate myself for letting this happen."
"Don't say such things..."
My eyes snapped open to find that Octavia was awake and looking up at me with a strained smile and tears in her own eyes.
Her voice was a little stronger as she continued, "You couldn't have known, and to wish that you had died that night is selfish. Vinyl would never had been able to tell you how she felt, and I would never had discovered my own feelings. We don't blame anything on you. Though I will thank you for coming to save us... how did you do it?" Her expression turned curious.
I chuckled, "That is a very long story and this is not the time nor place for such a thing."
She was about to speak again when a sound of hooves and feet met our ears, with orders coming from guards no doubt. They were two type of steps we could hear, many hurried steps that were rushing around the compound, searching the compound, and then slow measured steps, coming closer to us. I could hear the splashing of blood as the people or ponies approached, and I had a good guess of who it might be.
My suspicions were confirmed when a radiant white figure became visible down the hallway. Following close behind was its contrast of dark blue and an outlier of bright purple. The three entered the room and looked around at everything else in the room before finally focusing on us.
I spoke calmly, my mares still resting on my lap, "Princesses, I'm surprised you arrived as quickly as you did. You'll find their leader in the corner, though I don't think he'll be of any use to you."
Twilight went over to examine Night, while Celestia and Luna remained focus on me. Luna was the first to speak.
"What happened here, Andrew... or am I addressing something else?"
I nodded at her question, it was perfectly reasonable, "You are addressing your friend Andrew Duron, Luna. Though I'm not exactly the same as I was before. As for your first question, I happened here. All that you saw before reaching me was my doing, I am responsible."
Celestia cut in before Luna could respond, "If you are responsible then tell us how. How were you able to slaughter over eighty ponies that are stronger and better armed then you appear before us now? There is not a speck of blood on you, and there is no weapon that you could have used in this room." She looked over to the writhing Night that her student was observing with a look of pity on her face. "And what happened to that pony? I don't recognize that magic, I can't even tell what it is doing to that poor pony." Sadness filled her voice.
I also looked over at him, no feelings of remorse coming as I stared and answered, "I did that to him. With a force I don't fully understand. Human magic, it appears, works much differently than that of ponies.
Celestia and Luna shared a look of uncertainty before asking, "When did you acquire this magic Andrew?"
Wouldn't you like to know. "I don't really know, it could probably been in me for years. It might be left from that demon that was in me, or remnant void of magic that Equis' natural ambient magic filled. Could be because of something else entirely. I can't tell you for sure."
I looked over at Twilight as she was trying to examine Night and the state he was in. I thankfully noticed when she activated her magic and was about to do something very stupid. "STOP!" I yelled at her, lifting up my hand and firing a warning shot of lightning in front of her.
Twilight yelped as she jumped back fearing she would be hit, and Celestia and Luna immediately went on the defensive lighting their horns and demanding of me. Octavia had just enough strength to turn and cover Vinyl as they where still on my lap.
"Explain yourself now!" Celestia threatened me.
"She doesn't understand what she's dealing with, and was about to attempt to dispel those magic circles. I stopped her because when I made them I designed them to prevent change to the spell, by force." I explained.
Celestia looked over to the startled Twilight to confirm. "I-I-I didn't know." She stuttered out.
Celestia sighed, "My student you should be more cautious when dealing with magic not of Equestrian origin, or you might find the consequences to be very severe."
I looked down at Octavia and Vinyl, and stroked their manes in a calming manner. Twilight walked back over and stood behind Celestia looking a bit ashamed of herself. Luna looked unsure what to do, while her sister looked like she was deciding my fate.
We all heard running that grew louder so the Princesses turned to find Captain Iron Hide running up to them before stopping and bowing to them.
"Princesses, we've searched the entire compound. All purge members appear to have been terminated, all survivors appear to have been prisoners. None of which have any recollection of what happened here." After his report his eyes fell on me and he blurted out, "Lieutenant! What are you doing here!?"
"Rescuing my mares." I stated plainly.
"Y-you what? None of the guards have seen you since you disappeared from the raid. They thought you had been taken. Now you're telling me you're responsible for what happened here. What's going on here!?" He looked like his mind was about to break from attempting to understand.
So I danced lightning across my fingers as a demonstration. His jaw almost unhinged itself as he saw this, stuttering came soon after.
Celestia used her magic to exude a calming aura to calm the captain before answer for me, "Yes Captain, he has magic, he is still human, and apparently this is very new to everyone."
"What do you wish for us to do your Grace?" Iron Hind asked.
Celestia sighed as she thought, looking to Luna and seeming to communicate telepathically to decide. After a minute or so she finally made her decision, "Lieutenant Duron, you are to be carefully monitored as to determine what nature you magic is. You will continue with the local Ponyville guard, and Captain Iron Hide will report to me weekly on any observations he determines I need to know. We will personally transport you to the local hospital to have Octavia and Vinyl placed in their care. What happens after that will be up to you." Celestia decreed.
Luna then addressed about our current situation, "What happened here will be controlled in what is made public. According to the Captain, none of those that have been rescued know exactly what happened here except for us. We will keep it that way for the moment. Andrew's magic will have to be made public eventually, though until there is another case of a human having magic, we will treat this as an isolated incident that Twilight will study to determine how this came to be." A squee came from Twilight from hearing she was going to get to study something new. Luna ignored her as she continued, "The ponies that died here were criminals, and what is done can not be undone. So instead of dwelling on what should have been done we will continue and try to learn as much as we can to prevent this from happening again."
Everyone seemed in agreement until Captain Iron Hide brought up the other body in the room.
"What happens to that pony there? Also who is he?" He asked.
I looked over to the writhing mass in the corner with contempt. "It's name is Night. The one that used to be in charge of this Purge faction. Won't be any use to you anymore. I placed it into a permanent state of dying. Not dead yet and never will be, but dying all the same."
Celestia and Luna suddenly looked very concerned at my explanation. Twilight looked pained at conflict of the fascination of how I did it, and the pain it was causing someone to suffer. Iron hide just looked at me, trying to determine something I could only guess at.
"Spell like that are often considered part of dark magic, Andrew. You shouldn't tamper with such things." Celestia warned.
"In all due respect Celestia, collectively the knowledge of human magic is tiny. Dark magic for you is a force that corrupts because it allows demonic magic to reshape a pony's mind. You know exactly what it is and can detect it. Human magic likely operates on a different set of rules, just like that of zebras, dragons, and changelings magics do. To say that what I did is dark is probably true, but that doesn't make what I used to be dark magic." I countered.
She looked at me warily, before nodding, "You're correct. That is a fault on my part. I shouldn't assume something so terrible just because I don't understand it." She acknowledged before looking to the rest. "We have lingered in this place of death for long enough. Captain finish escorting survivors back to Ponyville and take their statements. Any needing medical aid are to be brought to the hospital. We will take the Lieutenant and his mares there ourselves and make the staff aware of your coming. If there is nothing else, we are done here."
After looking all around and seeing no decent Celestia nodded to the Captain before teleporting us to the hospital.
Three Hours Later
I sat in a chair in the room where Vinyl and Octavia were. They were both asleep at this point, but I couldn't even though it was long past midnight. The door opened a crack and I saw Luna look into the room. When she saw I was still awake, she beckoned to me and I walked outside to talk to her.
The hall was mostly devoid of staff so we were alone for the most part. So we stood there waiting for the other to speak, until Luna finally moved and gave me a hug.
I stood there stunned for a second before returning the hug. "I'll say, I certainly didn't expect this Lu. Though I like that you aren't afraid of me all the same."
She chuckled at that, "I was worried when I first saw you in that place. It was difficult to tell who I was looking at. Then when you started to explain I realized you were still you, and I wasn't scared anymore. Though I was still very worried for you." She released the hug before continuing. "It isn't common knowledge, because my sister didn't want me to look like a complete monster, but I have killed before, as Nightmare Moon... and before."
"You weren't exactly you when you were the nightmare, Luna. You know that." I reminded her.
"I should be more clear. What I did to ponies, and how I did it, lead me to become the nightmare in part. My confrontation with my sister was the tipping point, but I had done horrible things before that had happened. I feared that you were going down that same path, and truthfully I still worry, but I believe you're stable as you are right now. I wanted you to know, so that you could trust me."
"I do trust you Luna, and I'm glad you trust me enough to tell me something so personal. Where's Celestia?"
"She returned to Canterlot. She needed to prepare for news of the Purge base being found and taken care of. There are many factors that need to be controlled, no thanks to a certain someone." She explained giving me a bit of a glare at the end.
"I'm not going to apologize. They deserved what they got."
"That very well might be true, but that doesn't give you the right to be judge and executioner combined. Even when Celestia ruled alone she had a council for determining the fate of criminals. When one being alone controls power like that, it often corrupts and many innocents are affected as a result."
"Human history definitely shows that to be true. I'll do my best not to go off the rails again Luna, you have my word on that."
She nodded, "That's the best I can hope for I think. I must return to Canterlot. Twilight will be here in the morning to check on you three. She'll likely ask to do some tests on you, what you do is up to you though we both know how Twilight can become if she is prevented from learning. Just a warning, please don't do anything rash."
"I'll try to leave the building standing." I chuckled. She gave me a worried look and I sighed, "I'm joking Luna. I probably couldn't even do something on that scale, I think anyway."
"All the more reason for Twilight to run some tests. I must go now. Take care Andrew, we hope to see you again soon." Luna said before giving a final hug.
She then stepped back and her horn glowed briefly before she teleported with a pop and I was left alone. I returned inside Vinyl and Octavia's room and looked over to find Vinyl sitting up looking out at the moon, Octavia was still out cold. When she noticed the sound of my footsteps her ears twitched and she turned to me with a weak smile with tears coming to her eyes.
I returned it as I walked over and sat on the edge of her bed and whipped away her tears. "Hey you. I'm surprised you're awake, you know it's not good for the twins for you to be up this late." I tried to joke, but I could feel the tears threatening to fall.
She just put her hand on mine, in an attempt to calm me. "I've been asleep for long enough to stay up for a little bit. What did the doctors say?"
"They said it was hard to tell. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but they want you coming in for weekly visits just to make sure." I explained.
"What about Octy? Is she ok?" Vinyl's voice shook a bit when asking.
I laughed at that a bit, "Yeah, yeah she'll be fine. She was a bit battered and had a number of cuts, but nothing serious. She was so adamant about waiting for you to wake up that the nurses finally just gave her a shot to knock her out. She'll probably wake up a bit pissed she didn't get to see you wake up, but I think she'll get over it pretty quick. Are you sure you're feeling ok?"
Vinyl nodded as tears threatened to fall again so I whipped them away, "I was so scared. I kept trying to tell myself that you'd come for us, but then that awful pony told us you were dead, a-and I just couldn't help but feel he was telling us the truth. Then he hit me and I blacked out and I woke up here to find you standing there, I-I was just so happy to see you."
I moved so I was a bit closer and she pulled me into a hug. "I'm so sorry I didn't get to you sooner. I made sure that bastard paid for what he did if that means anything."
She pushed me back but kept her hands on me, almost like she was afraid I'd disappear if she did. "What do you mean? Are you saying you rescued us personally?"
"I did. There's something I need to show you, it kinda happened because of you being taken." I told her, sadly having to pull away so I could show her.
I stepped away so there was a decent amount of space before letting lightning dance across my fingers. I slowly built up energy so that it started to dance along my arms, the blue arcs continued to dance before I felt a tingle in my fingertips. It wasn't that I had felt before so I charged my body more and I started to see lines appear on my skin, like the time I fought Bael, except these were not yellow but instead silver. I channeled more energy until the lines were complete with the triquetra on my chest, it didn't stop there however. I felt my power plateau, but there was still more, like a wall I needed to break through, so I broke it.
With a flash of white light I felt my body itself shift and change until I was in new shape, and this wasn't like when the shadows had wrapped themselves around me and I became that werewolf. My body itself was changed. The light was gone and Vinyl was staring at me with awe and a bit of fear. I looked at the window to find a wolf in the reflection. It's coat was silver and cased a soft white glow, the eyes were a shining blue and also seemed to glow. I looked like Bael when he manifested except my eyes weren't made of pure energy like his had been.
I was then reminded why this had happened in the first place when Vinyl spoke, "A-andrew? Is that still you?" She seemed worried.
I found it a little difficult to get words out with this new physical body, but I got the words out. "Y-yes it's me Vi. This is new for me too."
"That's an understatement." She tried to joke. "Have you been able to do that the whole time?"
"As I said, it's a bit new to me. I kind of lost myself when I found out you were kidnapped, and I sort of got magic as a result. Though the wolf thing is new to me too. I felt something and got curious when I was demonstrating and this is apparently the result." I explained.
"Can you change back?" She sounded a bit worried.
It might have been a new body but I could still feel my magic, so I did the same as last time and when I felt that plateau again I pushed through and in another flash of light I felt the change happen again. When the light disappear for a second time I found I was back as a human. I walked back to Vinyl who took my hand with one of hers and held my face with her other.
"That's incredible. Do the princesses know?"
"The magic yes, the shapeshifting no. Kinda just discovered that. They found us soon after I had rescued you. I was actually just talking to Luna before I came in and saw you awake." I told her.
She pulled me into a kiss which I gladly returned. She broke it and stared into my eyes as she spoke, "I will love you no matter what, magic, shapeshifting, everything. Don't you forget that, understood?"
"Perfectly. I love you Vinyl." I said putting my forehead to her's.
"I love you too. Oh and Octy! Can't forget her." She said with a giggle.
I chuckled, "Yeah definitely. Though for tonight I think you are the one I'm sharing a bed with."
"You'll make it up to her, I'm sure."
"I'll think of something." I answered.
Our lips met as I moved myself into the bed and pulled the covers over us. My fatigue finally hit me, as Vinyl laid back and I rested my head on her for a change. It was over for now, they were safe, I wasn't likely to be banished, and Purge had been punished. They won't let this lie for long with any likelihood, but for now I wasn't going to worry about it. I was just going to fall asleep listening to Vinyl's heartbeat with a hand on her belly, a subtle kick letting me know that my twins were there. I smiled as I felt myself pulled into the realm of dreams.
Peace, well at least relatively that is, has gone on for three months. Ponyville has been not gone unscathed since my rampage, another five humans have been found dead, each time the culprit(s) 'mysteriously' mutilated when discovered. Sadly, those numbers were near inconsequential compared to the overall total being well over a thousand. With those thousand human deaths came a significant number of connected pony ones that were determined to not be purge members. The human population of Equis is down to about five thousand after all non-residents were forced to return to Earth by the royal decree; and with the many deaths that have occurred, there has been rumors of the royals temporarily sending all other humans to Earth until the crisis is resolved.
One of the most glaring problem with this course of action is that it is exactly the goal that Purge is trying to accomplish. So with not wanting humans to be in danger and not letting these terrorists win, the princesses are put in a position where the best course of action is to do nothing at all. I am one of the outliers in the equation, seeing as I am more of a danger to Purge than they are to me. Twilight, being the pony she is, has tried to find any sort of strategy that could be made to finally rout these bastards.
Like court ordered therapy, I was down to two visits a week at Twilight's so that she can run whatever test she concocted. Apparently my magic closely resembles the signature of simple background magic that can be found anywhere on Equis. The best way Twilight explained it was that magic exist everywhere, in water, air, earth, fire, and so on. This ambient magic gets manipulated by harmony magic to create the spells that ponies use; however, my magic comes from, from what Twilight could find, my body taking in this ambient magic and concentrating it to such a degree that when it is released it forces nature to conform to the command, well certain aspects at least. According to Twilight, ambient magic is actually comprised of several different types of magic, and my body can concentrate one of those. She theorized that each human has a particular affinity for a part of ambient magic, and possibly more than one. In my case however, electricity is the only thing I can effect. Which still gives me many options considering the many properties of what electricity can be used for, but I'm not invincible according to Twilight. I could easily be made helpless if I fight something that can absorb electricity or I find myself in a place devoid of ambient magic to draw on, like back on Earth.
Though thanks to her tests I have a much greater grasp on the range of my abilities, and also that if I draw on power too quickly I could create a vacuum of ambient magic and I would be helpless. Bael and Korvin advised me during her tests to make sure they avoided detection, though they were impressed with just how she explained how our magic worked. It was almost precisely correct, with the left out fact that Bael and Korvin draw in more power than I could do alone, and that they allow me store up more magic than I could normally handle.
When I showed off my shapeshifting power, Twilight geeked out like a filly receiving a present on hearths warming day, or as I like to call it Equestrian Christmas. From how Twilight described it, I literally transmute my body into this new form, like how harmony magic performs a transformation spell except that I basically force it to occur. She theorized that I should be able to change into whatever I wished, but even after multiple attempts the only forms I could manage was human and wolf. I asked Bael and he told me it had to do with my ancestors. Apparently my bloodline used wolves as familiars, though to do so they had to infused the essence of wolves into their souls. Meaning that part of my soul is that of a wolf, which is why I can turn into one; though at the same time this is what prevents me from changing into other animals.
One of the early test, that hasn't been attempted since I took it, was one to test my raw magical strength. Lets just say that the results gave Twilight a few new windows for the castle, and I had even held back as not to risk revealing Bael and Korvin. Twilight had described my power as quasi-alicorn in its levels, though it is much more specialized than what they could do. Twilight stated that she wished I had been around for when the demon Tirek had assaulted Equestria, about six months before the portal event occurred. By the nature of my magic I would have been immune to Tirek's ability to absorb harmony magic, and with my power output I might have been able to defeat him as long as he hadn't absorbed the princesses' magic at that point. That's about the level Twilight is aware of that my power can reach.
Though even including me into her plans and tactics, she hasn't been able to figure out any solution. Though there have been rumors of a country siding with Purge and is secretly collecting weapons to be able to start a public war with Equestria. Though while disturbing is not the biggest issue, the entire point of purging humans from Equis makes little sense considering the portals to our word would remain. Twilight has theorized that they may intend to conquer Earth and this is required to complete preparation for such a event, and that also works with the collaboration of another country theory, just the army aimed at Earth instead of Equestria.
"I'm telling you Sparkles, that theory has holes and you know it!" I slammed my hands down on the table I was sitting at, with Twilight on the other side of it.
She stared at me with a glare, we'd been arguing the entire time she had been administrating tests in her library and I'm sure she was tired. "Ok mister know-it-all, what are they planning then?"
"If I knew that Sparkles then they'd probably already be dead." I said coldly, leaning back into my chair.
Twilight dropped her gaze and refused to look at me after that comment. "Is that always the first thing you think of? Why can't there be a peaceful solution to this?"
I sighed before leaning forward again and resting my arms on the table with my hands clasped. "Look Twilight, think about it like a human for a minute. All our history we've had to fight our own kind since it first came to be, any religion or philosophy we have states or acknowledges this truth. When we are attacked there are typically only two results: one side loses and is destroyed, or we stop fighting because we understand that war would only amount to equally assured destruction. You want to know what happens when the second scenario occurs?" She nodded, so I continued. "We innovate. We develop new ways to fight, to destroy, to insure a stalemate is not the outcome if war occurs again. Currently that is why Earth is in a semi-warless state. Sure, we have terrorist attacks and assaults that happen daily, but the reason we don't just snuff it out is because we don't wish to destroy all the lives that are entangled in the middle of it all. If we could know for certain that all the terrorist and sympathizers were within one location or nation, it would be destroyed outright and that would be the end of that story. But we can't or don't know, so the cycle continues until another solution to solve the problem is found."
"Ok that explains some things, but what does that have to do with not being able to find a peaceful solution to this." Twilight argued.
"Twilight we fight for what we believe in, so do the members of Purge. They believe humans should be wiped from existence, you believe we should find a way to live in harmony, and I believe that I should remove any threat to my family and friends. To that end, the most permanent way to ensure that those I love will never have to fear these Ponies ever again is to end them, before they end me. I don't believe that minds can be changed like how you want them to be. We see them as evil, they see those like me as insignificant and you and the other princesses as fools for treating humans as equals. If they were aware of me they'd probably be afraid of what I can do, and fearful that other humans would gain power like mine. Imagine Twilight, if all human's had power like mine, along with what I've just told you about humanity, what do you think would probably happen?"
"W-we'd probably have been invaded and conquered." She said in a defeated tone.
"Yeah, that is one of the most likely scenarios. The only defense you'd really have would be to~...holy shit."
Twilight picked up on my silence, "What? What were you about to say?"
"I think I just discovered Purge's end game, or at least part of it." I looked Twilight straight in her eyes as I spoke. "They want to close the portals."
"What?! That's insane, what do they have to gain from doing that?"
"Twilight the human population is over seven and a half billion. While the total population of all races on Equis is only about a two billion in comparison. That is almost a four to one numbers advantage from the start, add in our technological advantage versus yours we'd easily win. If magic wasn't a factor some side of humanity probably would have attacked Equis by now. If the portals are closed then any threat humanity poses is instantly erased, but only if there are no humans left on this side. If we remained then we'd slowly grow integrate into society and possibly our descendants would gain magic through mixing with the residents of Equis. Now that human's have magic, the portals re-open, a even further advanced humanity floods into Equis, this time with the intent to conquer. We destroy any mild resistance we encounter and end up ruling two worlds, and eventually Ponies are made extinct along with all the other races. That is what the scenario they fear."
Twilight looked at me in disgust and fear, and I could see her horn was already glowing. "So is that what you really think is going to happen, or are you actually announcing your plan and are now going to remove me because I know too much?"
I looked at her incredulously, "Are you serious? I think you've read a few too many betrayal novels, Twilight." With a snap of my fingers I zapped her hand that was still on the table.
"OUCH! What was that for!?" She yelled at me while rubbing her wounded hand.
"Snapping you out of your paranoia. I was explaining the views of Purge not what I expect to happen. I can understand the opposing side of things quite well even if it's idiotic and has little to no chance of occurring. Humanity has nothing to gain from conquering Equis, there is more danger here than Earth and fighting against magic would be idiotic. Unless you attacked us we'd have no reason to fight a war, but that doesn't mean we aren't a threat. We could cause some serious damage to whatever tried to end us, or prove a indispensable ally in fighting a war. So say if the enemy knew of a way to win and all that was standing in their way was the human factor, the easiest solution is just removing that factor isn't it?"
"I'm not sure I follow Andrew. What are you getting at?" Twilight settled back into note-taking mode, which she had been doing the entire conversation.
"That those in Purge might have been planning a war of some kind anyway, and that they were interrupted when the portal event occurred. I can't be sure of such a thing, but I wouldn't denounce it either. I probably don't have everything right, but I am sure that closing the portals is probably one of the most likely scenarios we've come to in all our talks."
Twilight finished her notes and flipped her notebook close. "I'll mention it to the other princesses later on today, I don't know if you're right but I don't want to not have a plan in case you are. Also, so you know, you scare the buck out of me sometime. Are you aware of that?"
I gave a light chuckle, "Twilight, if I didn't I would either think you're crazy or that I should be stupidly afraid of you instead."
She giggled in kind as she stood up and started towards the door, "That's enough for today, go home and get some rest. I'm sure a couple of mares are just dying for you to get home."
"Yeah yeah, I'm sure Octavia wants to murder me by now for having her deal with pregnant Vinyl for so long now. Sixth-month mood swings can be a dangerous thing when a unicorn is involved."
"You could say that about almost any female Andrew." Twilight chided.
"Yeah I'm not looking forward to the terran version of the scenario when I get Octavia pregnant."
Twilight's face lit up at my phrasing, "Oh are you guys trying now!? Congratulations!"
"Whoa there!" I panicked a bit, "We aren't trying anything. It's more of an 'if it happens' mindset. I have no problems with the idea but we aren't explicitly trying either. It could just end up being more of a burden currently and I don't want them being in any more danger than necessary right now. Not to mention one pregnant mare is almost too much for me to handle right now as is."
Twilight looked less excited, but also understanding, "Respectable. Well if you need anything make sure to tell me. I won't keep you any longer."
With that Twilight flipped her notebook close and got up from the table. We exited the library and she walked me near the entrance before leaving me to let myself out. She gave me a short hug in farewell which I returned before she went off to deal with everything else I had no doubt I had been prolonging her from getting to.
I made a quick stop by the barracks before I made my way home, just to collect a couple reports I knew were waiting for me to inspect. I platoon had been thinned down by about half its original members, all because of a "reorganization" that had to take place. I was perfectly well aware it was because of my going off the rails with the Purge massacre, though that didn't change my opinion on the matter. We were designated as 'special operations' now and were only used in the more extreme cases. Of course this meant I kept all my best soldiers, plus two new additions, a unicorn and a terran. The unicorn, Blaze Shine I think her name was, had been rather put out when I demoted her back to a private and placed her in a her new five person unit with a pegasus leader, apparently she has a grudge against them. I initially did it to see how the newbies would handle uncomfortable situations, and while the terran, Berry Vine I believe, had adjusted well enough I still received reports of unease within that squad. I had four squads now, five men each, each lead by a different race, and it was working for now. Even with the slightly dysfunctional squad I had, I took pride in saying we were likely the best of the guards around. They excelled in their training against members of other platoons, all had achieved personal peaks since joining my platoon, and easily were the most adept with weapons out of any group of soldiers I had witnessed, though that last one was probably due to me drilling them with personal weapons training.
Though enough bragging, I said hello to the few soldiers who were present as I made my stop and once I had those reports in hand I left for home. I still got a chill down my spine occasionally at night just thinking about what had happened at my house. It was now warded beyond practical because of my paranoia, though when I was explaining the conditions for guest to enter to Octavia and Vinyl I was eventually made to lessen the wards because the consequences were too 'murder-y' according to Vinyl. Thinking back on it the consequence for accidentally knocking too hard and then being shot with lightning probably was a bit much, well in any case it's better now.
When I got home I didn't see either of my mares, but I could sense Vinyl was upstairs, napping by the feel of it, and Octavia was in the kitchen. I proceeded to sit down on our couch in the living room and started to look over the reports I had brought before I was occupied with the impending task of making things up to Tavi.
"Oh Andrew~" I heard a call from the kitchen.
Well so much for that thought.
"I heard you come in. You better get in here now or there is going to be trouble." Octavia beckoned slash warned.
I walked in to see a ragged looking Octavia washing a sink full of dishes. "I could have sworn those had been done yesterday." I joked as I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist.
She leaned back into me and sighed, "They were, these got made because Vinyl had a cravings fest while you were gone. She final got tired after the eighth dish I was requested to make and decided to take a nap." I felt her try to nuzzle deeper into me as she lazily worked on the dishes.
I reached out and pulled her hands out of the water and dried them off with a towel nearby. After that I put my hands in the water and hyper charged them as I shook my hands slightly in the water until they were vibrating at an ultrasonic rate. I stood there for a couple minutes before stopping the charge and starting to pull out the dishes. Octavia watched as I pulled out clean dish after dish and placed them in the drying rack for later, eyes skeptical at what had happened.
"Ok very nice, not all of us can use magic you know." She sulked a little.
"It wasn't all magic, I swear. A bit of magic, some science, and a little ingenuity. I just vibrated my hands at an ultrasonic frequency and turned our sink momentarily into a ultrasonic cleaner."
"That's still magic and you know it." She pointed at me accusingly.
"I thought I was being clever." I defended.
She grabbed me by my shirt and drew me in until our foreheads touched, "If you want to be clever I know a place you can vibrate those hands that will make me much happier." She whispered seductively.
"Don't you think Vinyl will feel left out?" I teased.
"She's already pregnant, not to mention fast asleep, and I believe you owe me for being gone about two hours longer than you said you'd be." She told me before dragging me out of the kitchen and into the living room.
*Clop Starts Here* If uncomfortable skip to the end. Won't majorly affect story.
One thing I think people underestimate is just how much stronger a terran is than the average pony. I'll say this, they all hold back on a regular basis.
Octavia however wasn't in the mood for holding back, in more ways than one. She grabbed me by my shirt and threw me about five feet were I landed on the couch. I barely got any time before she leapt at me before crashing down and locking our lips. She was definitely venting as she was quite aggressive in our fun, either that or she was just that pent up, maybe both. She forced her tongue inside my mouth, to which I had no complaint, and deepened the kiss as far as she could. After a couple minutes we broke the kiss and looked at each other panting heavily, love shining in our eyes as we look at each other before I leaned up and gave Octavia a much more controlled, loving kiss.
Breaking it after only a few seconds Octavia giggled at me, "I never will get tired of that, and I hope you don't either."
"That's not likely, Tavi. And I'm pretty sure Vinyl would back me up on that. I love you, Octavia." I said with all the sincerity I could possibly muster.
Octavia started to tear up some before she dove back in and kissed me, lovingly but also needy, she wanted more and she wasn't stopping for anything less.
Her hands went under my shirt and massaged my chest as she slowly worked my shirt up, trying to keep the kiss as long as she could. It broke only for a moment as my shirt passed over my head before we were back at it. I was lucky that Octavia choice to were a button down today as it meant our kiss needn't be broken a second time for clothes. I pulled off the white blouse to reveal the violet lingerie underneath, though that was also in the way so off it came.
Octavia started to moan into our kiss as I massaged her left breast while stroking my fingernails up and down her back. Though she wasn't about to let me one up her as she broke our kiss before diving at my neck. Suckling at the pleasure point just at where my neck met my collarbone, I groaned as I involuntarily craned my neck so as to allow her better access. This continued only for about a minute before I got a devious idea. I slipped my hand down to her luscious rear before charging my hand just slightly and giving her a sensory boost to her nerves. She gave a small shriek at the sudden sensation and when rigid for a moment. I used the small time I had to flip us around before diving at her neck and reciprocating what she did to me. She squirmed as she was racked with pleasure from being assaulted in three places at once.
She planted and moaned as she squirmed just barely managing to get out a few words, "A-andrew please, e-enough t-t-teasing!"
I relented slightly allowing her to regain her breath at least somewhat, but that didn't last long. Octavia saw the moment and grabbed me by the waist before flipping us back so she was on top. She rested with her crotch on mine, sadly both still separated by clothes, though probably not for long. She slid herself down so that she was at my feet before undoing my pants and pulling them down and off along with my underwear, revealing my dick which had been hard from the beginning.
"There, that's what I was trying to get to." She said with a devious smile.
"What now? if you don't mind sharing." I joked with a smile.
Octavia bent down and slowing moved up my legs, rubbing her breast against my skin, "I was thinking that this might work quite well." She said as she stopped just when her breast were sandwiching my dick.
The supple flesh and velvet-like fur sent lightning up my spine, possibly literally, as I groaned at the sensation coming from my lower half. Octavia applied pressure as she began to give me a titty fuck and every few pumps a suckle to the crown of my dick. I was groaning so loudly I was afraid that I was going to wake up Vinyl, and though she'd just likely join in I was very much enjoying the personal time with Octavia.
After a minute or so Octavia switched to a straight-out blowjob, and I felt her move around slightly awkwardly for a few moments, enough to make me open my eyes and look down to see what was going on. I barely got a second before I saw her spin around so she was straddling me with her pants and panties now off and tossed to the floor. She quickly resumed what she was doing as she gave her rear a little shake, asking for me to get her a little attention. She was already dripping as I began to return the wonderful service I was receiving. Alternating between long licks and thrusting my tongue as deep as I could into her burning pussy, I was nearing my peak as she began to moan while still sucking my dick.
She could no doubt tell as she began to suck harder as if trying to tell me she was ok with me finishing like this. Though not one to receive without returning a little, I rolled her clit in between my thumb and index finger as I thrust my tongue as deep as I could. I was rewarded with a squeal and a tensing of muscles around my tongue as her juices flowed readily. Though she wasn't alone, her sudden attempt to intake air was enough to push me over as I climaxed rope after rope of sperm into Octavia's mouth.
Octavia gasped as she finally came up for air, panting slightly as she got off my face before turning around and straddling me.
"Well that was nice. Got enough for another round?" She smiled mischievously.
I grabbed her by the hips and made her grind against my still hard dick, "I think I'll be ok, how about you?" I flashed a smile of my own.
"Terran strength and endurance extends to all aspects of our lives, sex included." I told me, leaning down to whisper the last part in my ear.
We locked lips just as I lined up and thrust into Octavia. She gasped and began to moan into our kiss as I started to pump in and out. Her heat was so intense I was almost worried it'd melt my dick, though at the same time it was just adding to the pleasure I was enraptured in. Our kiss broke as I started thrusting harder, Octavia electing to just slump against me and moan as she rocked her hips back as I slammed up into her. As I started to near my peak I slowed down and stopped, making Octavia let out an annoyed groan. She didn't have to wait long however, as I sat up making her squeak in surprise before lifting her off me and making her spin around. I made her sit back down on my dick which made her release a sharp squeal that dissolved into a low moan. I kissed her neck as she reached behind her to grab a handful of my hair, and we just sat there for a moment enjoying the sensation. Though all good thing must end, to be replaced by something better. I thrust back up into Octavia which made her release her hold on my hair to focus back on balancing. She took the lead a bit as she bounce, moaning as I grabbed her breasts and began to massage them. I noticed her breathing became more erratic as she neared her peak for a second time, if her more hasty bouncing hadn't alerted me first. I got a thought in my head to make this one more memorable, as I was nearing my peak myself. I removed a hand from her breasts and moved it down to work on her clit. She yelped as she felt the shock of me suddenly adding another point of pleasure, which nearly caused her to climax right there, but she held on.
I smiled as I got ready to enact my final step, though I felt like warning her first, "Ready for something shocking, Tavi?"
"W-what?" She could barely get out as she focused on trying to stave off her climax.
I charged my hand slightly and channeled the energy into the nerves of her clit, compounding the sensations by about a factor of ten, probably. She locked up right there as her climax racked her like a avalanche, the flood and spasming of her pussy pushing me over as well. I released again and again into her as far as I could go, the sensation like bliss as I clung to her tightly, her arms over my as to prevent my leaving.
As I was left exhausted from my sudden lack of adrenaline, I pulled Octavia with me as I flopped to the side and spread out on the couch. She moaned happily as she reached down and rubbed her stomach
She turned around, causing my dick to slip out along with our combined fluids, before she rested he head on my chest and smiled.
*Clop ends here*
"Mmm, that was amazing. You should finish me off like that more often, Vinyl too." Octavia commented with a few snuggles to my chest.
"I have a few other tricks up my sleeve, though I think it can wait for another time." I jokingly replied.
Octavia giggled before leaning up and giving me a chaste kiss, "I'm sure Vinyl would appreciate that. Though I'm glad she's a heavy sleeper."
I chuckled in kind, "I'll have to agree this time, I don't thing I could've taken you both on today. Another day though, we'll make it up to her and I'm sure it will be enjoyable for all parties involved."
We just cuddled after that, still basking in the afterglow of our love making. I felt myself slipping into the realm of sleep as I looked down to see Octavia had already beat me to it. The final thought I had before letting myself slip completely was, I don't care what happens next. Whatever comes, I know that I'll protect them. I'll make sure of it...
Vinyl smiled from the stairs at her two lovers as the slept, coming down long enough to put a blanket and give them each a kiss before she returned to their bed to return to her nap which had been disturbed from the not so subtle loving making that she had been left out of. She wasn't as deep a sleeper as the probably thought, or they were louder than they realized. Whatever the case, Vinyl had heard them say they'd make it up to her, so she'd just fain ignorance until they did. She was sure it would be well worth it.
Last month was my birthday. It was nothing special, because of current events I had insisted to Pinkie to not have an actual party. It took some convincing but I did get her to agree on the condition we'd make it up when times were better. So I just had spent time with Vinyl and Octavia and had a lazy day away from the guard, friends, and the world in general.
It's been about two months since that time with Octavia. Vinyl had teased the hell out of us the next day, to the point Octavia had whacked her upside the head when she didn't drop it the day after that. Tavi has been happier since that time, she seemed overall more energetic and productive. When I had asked she just smiled and told me it was just a good day. That excuse worked for the first few times I repeated that question on subsequent days... Actually it worked up until my birthday...
Ok, I found out the reason because of Vinyl. I was oblivious.
They had been talking in the kitchen making dinner while I was lounging on the couch in the living room. Vinyl had been joking around with Octavia, if the laughing and occasional whack in response was anything to go by, when I heard her squee loudly. I had gotten up and came to see what had happened. Upon entering I was Vinyl beaming at me while Octavia was looking away bashfully. I had noticed flour was everywhere, a common occurrence with Vinyl helping cook, but particularly on Octavia's stomach.
It took a moment, and I actually used my energy sense to make sure, before I realized what Vinyl had noticed. Octavia was pregnant!
I was overjoyed, all other thoughts were overridden by my love for her as I came up to her and kissed her with the intention of trying to impart all the love I felt in that moment (impossible I know). Vinyl came in and gave her own kiss before kissing me on my cheek and saying how happy she was.
Apparently it likely happened when we had that afternoon to ourselves and she had just been trying to find a time to tell us. She hadn't started showing signs of the pregnancy yet, but it probably wouldn't take too long before it was obvious. Vinyl was actually at the point where she had to start counting the days for her own pregnancy as the twins were due almost any day now.
Unfortunately I was being sent out on a mission this afternoon and wasn't expected to be back for a couple days. If Vinyl went into labor while I was away I told her to have Twilight send word and I'd be back before she'd know it. If I had the choice I'd forgo the mission and just take a few days off, but this was an all hands-on-deck situation.
An information division had picked up chatter about another major public 'event' as we are calling it. It was going to happen in Manehattan, and myself and part of my troop was being dispatched to assist the guard corp that operated out of that region, mostly because of me. They could just send me by myself but the Captain didn't think that would be a good image, or fair to me on that matter. So I was taking all my sergeants, save one to keep my training regiment going for the few days I was gone.
"Lieutenant, we're about ten minutes out." Nocturne roused me from my daydreaming. We had been on a train for the past five hours and I had decided to have some time to myself before we had arrived.
"Hmm? Thank you sergeant. Are the others aware?" I asked as I stretched.
"They are sir. You looked as though you were in thought so I decided to inform you last sir."
"Considering the nature of the info, that's fine. I was just thinking back on my herd."
"I figured sir. Vinyl is due any day isn't that right?" Nocturne asked respectfully. All my troop knew my mares, even had met them on a couple occasions. Along with Ponyville being a small town in any case.
"Correct, which makes being away all the harder. Though we do what we must."
"That we do sir. We were to be received by a transport squad from the local guard division upon arrival, was that correct?"
"So I was told. Though personally that makes me feel like more of a walking target than being protected. Also it's like announcing our arrival, as Purge scouts are likely scattered around the city. With the train station a location that is near constantly monitored." I explain my concern with the plan.
"I assume you expressed your concern sir."
"Of course I did. Though the Manehattan guard wouldn't have it, said I'm too valuable to risk an assassination. Like that's an actual concern." I scoffed.
"In fairness sir, with your human nature, any plans that Purge is likely making is that they see you as a more keen observer and strategist. Since they should be unaware of your abilities, they should perceive you as an intellectual threat rather than a physical one." Nocturne spoke plainly as I gathered up my gear before we traveled up to the front car.
My sergeants were aware of what happened to Purge in the Everfree. Over time, when I felt they were trustworthy, I filled them in on what I could do with the Captain's permission. Nocturne was the first I actually told, and I have had a few training sessions using part of my power as I could better train myself and my sergeants to be better prepared. He also made a good point, we had no reason to believe that Purge knew of my abilities, and we'd hope to keep it that way for a while longer.
"That is true, that we know that is, though I'd prefer to come off as cocky and surprise them rather than announce our presence." I explain as we reach the lead car.
My two other sergeants saw us enter and stood up and gave a salute, I waved them off as we entered the booth to discuss our plan upon arrival. My fellow human sergeant, Leo Rowe, his Italian heritage clearly visible in his features, spoke first.
"So Lieutenant, is there any plan of how we're going to deal with this 'event' as it is being referred to?"
He was slapped upside the head by my final sergeant I've yet to describe. He was a terran of above average size, grey coat with a deep crimson mane with a dark green streak going through it, Vine Lash was his name (how ponies seem ignorant of the irony of their names still confounds me).
"The lieutenant is just as much in the dark about this as us Rowe. Think before opening your mouth knucklehead."
"Oww! Well sorrrrrry, can't help it if I'm curious about this. I haven't even gotten to fight a purge member yet. The lieutenant took out all the ones in Ponyville before I got a chance."
Another wack to the head, Lash replied, "First don't talk about that stuff outside the barracks. Who knows what kinds of ponies or people are hanging around in earshot. Second, why are you complaining about getting out of a fight, I swear I'll never understand that human nature of yours. No offense Lieutenant."
I chuckled, "None taken. Though how human I am is still out for debate. In any case Sergeant Rowe is not completely out of line with his question. We are entering the city with the highest human murder rate before and after the royal exodus act was put in place, even ahead of Canterlot, even though the human population is only about half what it is in Canterlot. Rowe and I are going to have to be more cautious. Even if I'm not really in danger, it'd give off too strange a feel if I act too carefree."
Nocturne was next to speak up, "Sir, to go back to Rowe's question. Do you already have an idea of how you want to investigate?"
"We don't really have that kind of power Sergeant. I'm going to be just following the order of the General who runs the corp over here. I don't expect to be given exact orders though. I more suspect we'll just react to whenever the 'event' occurs. Though if I tell to run, listen. I don't want to explain to any of your families you got yourself killed for mistaking stupidity for bravery. And those would be the words I'd use." I end with a smirk, getting a chuckle out of my men.
"You got it Lieutenant. No acts of heroism." Rowe answered for the group.
With a hiss and a jolt the train started it's slow entry into the station. We grabbed our gear and joined the line of passengers to disembark. Once out on the platform we were greeted a small squad of guards. The sergeant of the squad was a light blue terran mare with a short navy mane and tail. She gave a salute and her introduction.
"Sergeant River with Navy Squad here to escort you to precinct 1, sir!"
I returned her salute before replying, "Lieutenant Duron of Ponyville. Thank you for your promptness sergeant."
She dropped her salute and replied more relaxed, "My pleasure sir. I was told you weren't thrilled about the escort, but can't go against orders can we?"
I laughed at her crassness, "Not without more trouble then it's worth. Let get going though. No point in just standing here. We're here for a job aren't we?"
She laughed in reply, "Quite right sir. If you'll just follow us we'll get you to the precinct in no time."
We started our journey, though just as we were about to leave the station I saw a giant spider hanging just about the exit. Like it was just waiting for the right victim. It also didn't help that I was highly arachnophobic. So when I froze, Nocturne took notice of this and looked where I was before asking me.
"Sir, what's the matter? Why'd you stop?"
"Are you telling me you can't see the giant spider over the exit?"
"What spider? There's nothing there."
I looked over at him in disbelief before looking back, only to find the spider was gone.
That's not possible. I used my energy sense to try and find the creature but I found nothing. Then it dawned on me what had just happened.
"Must be my nerves. Let's go." I played it off. Though I could tell Nocturne knew there was more to it, but he also realized now wasn't the time and just followed on behind.
I threw out my energy sense to try and confirm my suspicions but I found nothing that would attract my attention. So I focused back on our journey to the precinct, as not to split my focus just in case Purge was stupid enough to attack me in broad daylight.
Though it wasn't really necessary as we arrived without incident. As we walked I had noticed the atmosphere of the city didn't feel very uneasy as I expected, though any humans I saw were joined by multiple ponies in their group as precaution because of the advice the princesses had announced as general practice. 'For every human they must be accompanied by no less than two ponies' this was to insure safety and it had proven to be fairly effective for most times. Typically the murders that did occur were when these rules were ignored or if Purge members were able to effectively single a human out and remove them far enough from there protection.
Though the thing that actually caused me worry were the banners and flags that I saw hanging around, indicating a celebration of some kind was close by. As we entered the precinct Sergeant River dismissed her squad before escorting us down to the barracks were we were going to stay for the next couple days. The place was large and was comprised of three level and held the largest section of the approximate 10,000 soldiers that operated directly out of Manehattan. With this guard division also being the primary operating area for the surrounding cities that made up the corp that had jurisdiction over this side of Equestria, so it's importance was two-fold.
"I'll let you guys drop your gear before I take you to the General, Lieutenant. She'll be expecting you."
"Thank you Sergeant. Though I have to ask, what is happening right now in the city?"
She let out a sigh, "Was wondering when you'd ask that. Manehattan is having it's annual diversity parade today, it's actually in just a few hours."
"What!? With the intel we have!? Who the hell signed off on that? And why wasn't I informed about this!?"
"The city council didn't want to show weakness to Purge and lower public moral by cancelling it. The general made clear her disapproval of the plan but it was to no avail. That's when the general sent a letter to the princesses and they were actually the ones that gave the suggestion of sending you. So the general put in the request to temporarily transfer you over here and here you are. Though I don't know the reason why you weren't told, seems like a serious oversight to me."
"Indeed, though I also wasn't told that the princesses had cleared this. Strange considering I'm actually quite close to them. Though it does make sense of some things. Also, how much do you know?" I added an edge to my question.
"The general briefed only my captain, lieutenant, and myself about your uniqueness. She felt it would be necessary for us to help you if it was needed. Of course it was cleared by the princesses and your captain before we were told anything. So yes sir, I am aware of real reason Ponyville is void of Purge influence currently. Well at least the fact that you were the prime reason for it." Sergeant River explained.
Would have been nice to know this before I got here. "Fair enough Sergeant. I'm sure you can understand my hostility before your explanation."
"Plainly sir. Don't worry about it, I'm surprised you weren't told if I'm honest."
"You're not the only one." I reply.
Once we arrived in the guest section of the precinct's barracks I left my gear with my men and told River to escort me to the General's office so I could discuss a plan of action. The trip was quick and once we were almost outside River spoke up.
"Her office is just ahead, I'll be heading back to my squad after this. Just ask around if you need me for anything, my squad will be at your disposal for the duration of your stay."
"Thank you Sergeant, that's good to know." I replied.
We arrived at the general's door were it said 'General Blizzard of NE Corp', River went in for a moment while I waited outside. When she came out, she gave me a nod before walking pass me and heading back down where we just came from.
I entered to find an elder unicorn mare, probably in her late fifties to early sixties, with a silver coat and white mane with a single streak of faded blue passing through it shuffling through papers on her desk like I wasn't even there. After just a few seconds she spoke without even a glance up from her work.
"Don't just stand there like an imbecile. Come take a seat." A fairly high pitched voice with a slight rasp ordered me.
I listened and followed the order, taking a seat on the right of the two that were in front of her desk.
She again didn't look up from her work as she spoke, a testament to how busy she truly was, "I'm glad you arrived when you did Lieutenant Duron. I've had no success in delaying the parade today, and I'm certain that Purge will try to intervene with that event of their own that our intel division was able to uncover. "
"About that, General Blizzard, how was it that intel about this was discovered? Purge is usually airtight about their info, most members have spells placed on them to prevent situations like this."
"In honesty, it's probably a trap of some kind. My belief is they want us to put extra security on the parade route and make either a show of force against us, or so that elsewhere in the city we'll be lean on personnel and they'll strike where their true target is. I'm sure you're smart enough to realize, neither is a good scenario for us. Which is mostly why I requested for you. Purge likely doesn't know about your abilities, or at the very least the extent of your powers if they are aware. This being the case we wanted you here as more of a last resort than anything, to ensure if things looked to take a turn for the worst you could pull our tails out of the fire as it may be." The general explained.
"Well I'm pretty sure they know I'm not completely normal. When we first got here, I'm pretty sure I triggered a spell that was designed for me, or someone like me at least. The magic was probably stored in an object that triggered when I came into proximity, but I didn't have time to search for it as it would've given me away instantly." I told her.
"What do you mean by that? Sergeant River didn't report anything of that nature before you stepped in."
"It was a fear spell, at least I believe it was. It showed me a giant spider, to which I have an acute phobia towards, until I looked away from it, when I looked back it was gone. The spell was probably only designed to trigger for a certain person or type of person, show what that person was afraid of, and only last until the subject had looked away. I'm fairly sure someone we didn't want to know probably saw my reaction, what they gained from that knowledge is anyone's guess."
The general stopped shuffling through her paperwork and finally looked up at me, "How worried should we be about this?"
"I don't have an answer for you." I shook my head. "I have suspicions, but I can't confirm any of them so it's not exactly helpful."
The general sighed taking off the thin black-framed glasses that she was wearing to look me clear in my eyes, "I don't appreciate being treated like a fool Lieutenant. You have suspicions, so tell them to me."
I guess I should've expected that to not go as smoothly as I hoped. "I'm not at liberty to explain I'm afraid. It has to deal with the nature of my magic. That's as much as I can tell you general."
I could tell she didn't like my evasion of her question, but she also didn't press any further. "Fine, do as you wish. As in concern to the 'event', if any loss of life could have been avoided I have the authority to strip you of your rank, is that understood." I nodded, it was about what I expected. "Good. Well then I have nothing else to discuss with you. Navy squad is at your disposal as I'm sure Sergeant River informed you. As protection is our number one priority I'm assigning you to assist in the protection detail for the parade. Colonel Zap, is the officer in charge of squad assignment. Get your men and report to him directly after we're done here. Questions?"
"None ma'am."
"Then we're done here. You're dismissed."
I give a salute to which she lazily waves off, and I head out back to the barracks.
Bael, Kor, is this what I think?
Another vessel. It's not unlikely. Though the question remains...
Which one are we dealing with? Well, fear would be my first bet, but that feels too easy.
That doesn't mean it's wrong. This vessel certainly doesn't seem concerned to make it's presence known. Meaning that they want you to know they're here. Changing the question to, 'what will you do?'
Hmm, actually the question would be, 'what do they want to accomplish?' I can't see them as part of Purge, it wouldn't make sense. Purge wouldn't work with a human. Which means, are they human?
It is possible to pass the vessel to another. Though if that had happened here, you'd have been able to tell. We are linked as a species. Such an action would be impossible to perform without the ponies even taking notice of it. So we are dealing with another human. You might want to expand your beliefs.
If a human is working with Purge, and it is the vessel of fear and... Bravery. Thank you, bravery then there is probably something else in the mix that we don't know about. I don't like playing a game without knowing all the variables, it makes it hard to win.
It doesn't look like you have a choice here.
Yeah, and it sucks.
I finally arrived back at the barracks, I found Sergeant River waiting there with my men already getting geared up. I nodded to them as I went to my own gear and prepared. After my blades, in their dagger form, were secured to my hip we moved out to report to this Colonel Zap that I had been told about.
Nocturne followed on my right while River mirrored on my left, and we discussed what we were to do during the parade.
River was the first to speak up, "Colonel Zap likely has us near the front of the parade, my squad should already be there, what do you want us looking out for?"
"If this is supposed to be an 'event' for Purge then I don't expect them to be trying to hide. So trying to find shady characters will likely be distractions from the real threats, so I'd give everyone equal priority unless you are giving reason to think otherwise."
"Does that include other races, Sir?" Nocturne asked.
"Yes it does. We have no reason to believe only ponies are members of Purge, griffons, zebras, minotaurs, even humans should be taken into account."
River looked confused by the last example, "Humans, Lieutenant? Why would Purge ever work with a human?"
"I don't know, but we can't discount it as an option. There are humans that would just want to see chaos, and I could see Purge thinking of using them to enforce their propaganda of fear."
"Understood sir. We'll do our best to remain vigilant." River replied as we exited the building.
It was only about two hours before the parade was starting when we found the Colonel. Who interestingly enough was a human. Black hair, green eyes, though not in his best shape. Had probably been in this position for a while.
"Lieutenant Duron reporting sir." I gave a salute which was waved off.
"Don't worry about saluting right now, time is a bit too precious at the moment." The colonel replied while looking through a document before handing it of to an aid which ran off to do her next task. He pulled out a notebook and flipped through it until he landed on a page and finally addressed me, "Thank you for finally getting here Lieutenant, I have you listed as part of the second vanguard with Navy squad. They were here just a little while ago. They should be in position by now, so go join them. I don't suppose I need to explain your job to you?"
"Stop any Purge activity and protect the parade and populous?" I reply concisely.
"Good man. I have nothing else for you, dismissed." He said before turning to another aid that had run up and started looking through another set of documents that needed his attention.
With our orders we met up with the rest of Navy squad and River went over with them what was discussed on the way here.
Nocturne walked over to me and asked with a serious face, "Sir I've been meaning to ask, what happened back at the train station?"
I considered his question, he had a right to know some of it at least, "I'm fairly sure that we might have found someone like me. If they are with Purge or not I couldn't tell you, but keep on the lookout for a suspicious human."
He seemed slightly taken aback, "How is that possible? Aren't human's only supposed to be able to wield elemental magic? What you experienced was clearly something else."
"Don't lock yourself into one mindset. Princess Twilight only has me as an example for that theory, the reality of it could be grander. Technically, I bend ambient magic to affect the world around me, that's how I can manipulate energy. That doesn't mean I can't do normal spells, I just have to use runes. They act as a set of instructions for how my magic is to effect something, they just need power. So I can technically do all the same spells a unicorn or alicorn could in theory, it would just require me to construct the correct rune circle." I give him a half truth. While it is true I could in theory do what I said, there is also affinity for what I'm trying to do to consider. Like I can produce shields, teleport, or levitate through the use of rune; though I can't produce a fear spell like what was used in me, I wouldn't be able to control the flow of energy to power the rune correctly.
Nocturne appeared deep in thought, finally it seemed to click for him, "So that means that spell that targeted you was made purposely for you."
"Or someone like me, potentially. Rune instructions are difficult to make that precise sometimes. Supposing I'm not the only human that has magic, there is probably more than one other. So it might have just been made to effect them, and I just happened to walk pass the trigger."
"That means if the human in question is working with Purge, they now know that you have magic." Nocturne concluded.
"You're not wrong. Though they also don't know what I can do, or to what extent. So honestly we are about on even ground, we know they might have a mage but they know we do too. Neither knows exactly what the other can do, and I can deal with that. What I don't like is that we still don't know exactly what Purge is planning, and because of that we are at a net disadvantage."
"I'm sure you're not happy about that sir." Nocturne jokes lightly.
I gave him a 'really?' look before replying, "Don't be a smartass Sergeant, you'll never get a marefriend like that."
He chuckled at that before walking off to check with my other men.
The next two hours passed with an increasing tension for members of the guard. There was a squad in front of us covertly sweeping through the crowd lining the street to see if they could find any suspicious activity, this was the first vanguard. We, acting as the second, were spread out along the sides of the front running floats. I wasn't sure if the normal populous felt any unease, as they were quite animated in enjoying the festivities. If I hadn't known about why I needed to be here, I would find it hard to believe we were actually in the middle of a war.
But we were, and I needed to remain vigilant. I pulsed the crowd occasionally for any unusually high energy, but I found none. If the vessel that set that spell in the train station is here, then they probably have a rune on them to prevent me from doing just that. Meaning that they are very intelligent, or extremely paranoid. Either way they are dangerous, and that makes me uneasy.
The parade started moving at a slow crawl and cheering went up as the ponies, griffions, zebras, and even a few human, waved from their floats and tossed various beads, candies, and flowers to the crowd. I passed glances over at the other members of the guard but each time only received a slight shake of their head to say they found nothing amiss. About twenty minutes later, only about a quarter of the way through the route, a pressure wave shook through us.
When I felt it I blinked to find the sky go dark and clouds to roll in overhead, something that should be possible in Equestria before of the weather patrols. I heard a scream, quickly followed by a chorus of others. The crowd broke out in terror as everyone shouted something different.
"Changlings! Changlings everywhere!" "Dragons! I knew we could trust those scaly bastards!" "You're blind, those are griffions from the empire!"
"MANTICORS!" "T-t-timber W-wolves!!!" "Paraspriiiiiites!" "Tirek's back!" "The apocalypse has begun! I told you all!"
I looked around wildly as races of all kinds ran around in panic, some succumbing to fear and dropping to the ground in the fetal position. I tried to make sense of things before I looked up at the surrounding cities to find...
"Spiders! Why does always it have to be spiders!?" I cursed.
They were everywhere, giant to small, all creepy as hell and looked just as deadly. That when it dawned on me, I looked around at all the panic and chaos and realized it all had one thing in common.
"They see what they're most afraid of. None of this is real."
I ran over to Nocturne where he was crying and trying to close himself off from the world around him.
"Not again, how did Purge even get their hands on so many hydras?" I heard him muttering to himself.
"Snap out of it Sergeant! There are no hydras!" I yell at him.
Just then I saw a spider behind him, about the size of a basketball, and it jumped at me. On reflex I pulled out my dagger and swipe at it, in the back of my head expecting to just pass right through it. However, my blade met resistant and I actually did slice it in half. I looked behind me where the halves landed and watched as it dissolved into particles of sickly yellow magic.
Oh that's not good. I thought as I looked around. I watch as people fell and screamed in pain as wounds would magically appear on there bodies. Shit! Their minds are making it real for them. How the hell do I fight that!?
I used my energy sense to reveal massive numbers of magic constructs, with forms only visible to each individual, but in reality only a few each were in the shape of people's respective fears. Which I hoped meant only those ones could actually interact with the victims. Though as I looked I noticed a massive concentration of energy in the middle of the street not far from where I was.
I abandoned Nocturne and started to push my way towards the source of the energy. As I got closer I found more and more bodies collapsed in fear, some dead from wounds inflicted upon them by their own fears or trampled by others fleeing. I eventually broke through the mob to find a sea of bodies all collapsed around a single standing individual.
He wore tattered black clothes reminiscent of what I'd expect a person to wear if they were in a zombie apocalypse or the like. He had messy red hair and was cackling madly as he watched people run or cower in fear. When I saw his eyes they glowed the same sickly yellow as the magic I saw come from the construct I destroyed.
"FEAR!!!" I screamed at the bastard.
He froze for a moment, before breaking out into a mad grin as his head snapped in my direction. He looked completely deranged, like he had taken a page straight out of Joker from Batman.
Even his voice was high and squeaky as he finally acknowledged me, "Why hellllloooo! You're that vessel that triggered my trap at the station! I must say I never expected to find one of us working for these stupid Equestrians."
"What are you doing!? Don't you realize the risks of revealing that we have magic!?"
He seemed confused at my question, "Why should we care who knows? We have power here! We should be taking over this miserable dirt ball for ourselves, no one can stop us, we're just as powerful as the strongest magic users this world has every seen." He cackled before sending another construct of magic to chase another poor victim. "And we're human! WE know war. We're masters of the stuff. These idiots would never stand a chance if the Pains of Life joined together!"
"The hell are the 'Pains of Life'!?" I yell at him.
"Oh, you might be calling them Umbrans." He states happily, "Doesn't really matter, I just think it sounds so much better." He hugged himself in glee. "Pain, fear, suffering! It's all related in a way! Though I definitely prefer fear!" He said before shooting a blast of magic my way.
It transformed into a giant spider to which I just charged my blades with enough energy that it was discharging out the blades, effectively turning them into lightsabers. I cut the construct with an x-strike and it dissolved before it even hit the ground behind me.
"Enough games! This ends here!" I yell as I blast him with channeled lightning from my blades.
He jumped like a freak, narrowly avoiding being turned to ash. And with it screams came, but I couldn't hear them.
"That's it Fury! Give in! Show this world what you're capable of. Then you'll see the truth, and you will join us!" He jeered, dodging blast after blast without attempting to retaliate.
I was seeing red as I was trying to kill him. My lightning changed to a blood red to suit my mood. With each blast I turned a body to ash, weather it was of someone dead or injured I didn't notice, my rage had consumed me. That was until my vision flicked to the side to catch a glimpse of a young colt pulling along a small filly, trying to get themselves to safety... from me.
My anger vanished, I stopped myself from attacking and let my blades drop to my sides. Fear looked at me in confusion, trying to understand what had happened. He then too looked over at the young ponies running away in terror, and became furious.
"OH COME ON! That's what stops you! Some little shits catch your attention and like that our fight is over!? What a disappointment!" He yelled.
He threw a blast of magic at the offending bystanders, and I reacted in a blink.
Third Person POV
The colt turned in time to see the action of magic being thrown at him. The world slowed as he forced his body to move fast enough to try and protect his little sister from harm. He closed his eyes hoping that she would be alright without him.
But the impact never came. He heard the explosion that came from the magic hitting something, but it hadn't been him. Did he miss? The colt wondered. When he dared to look he was greeted with a sight that inspired awe and fear in equal amounts.
Standing between him and the demon of a human that had attacked the parade was a giant glowing white wolf. It looked back at him with eyes of pure blue energy, and spoke in a deep commanding voice, that was also gentle in a way.
"Go little ones. He cannot harm you. You have no more reason to fear."
The colt felt a feeling of peace come over him as he heard the wolf speak. He knew that this was the other human that had been fighting, the one that had been throwing lightning madly. Though now he was protecting them, he was guaranteeing their safety, and the colt knew that they could believe him.
Off they scurried, never looking back, and they would probably never meet the man who became that wolf again. But the colt thanked him from the bottom of his heart.
Fear looked at Andrew in annoyance. Transforming into inheritance form was like breaking a seal, raising power exponentially, at the cost losing it rapidly by literally radiating it from the body. Still it put Fear at a severe disadvantage. He had been using a large amount of the magic he had stored up with the little show he put on. If he used his inheritance form he'd run out of magic in a matter of minutes, and he knew even if he used it to run away he'd never manage to outrun a vessel with an affinity for lightning.
"You made a mistake you know." Andrew growled out at Fear. Making him take a step back.
"To what would you be referring to?" Fear asked innocently, as though he wasn't up to his knees in unconscious or dead bodies.
"I know you aren't the one responsible for all this, you are merely a tool." Andrew laughed darkly. "In that last little bit of banter you tried to agitate me with you said to join us. Meaning there is another, another vessel is working with Purge."
Fear recoiled at the accusation. How could he have let that slip! Now he was truly doomed. Even if he did by some miracle manage to escape from Fury, his boss would be guaranteed to kill him for his failure. He only had one choice now, he needed to kill Fury. It was the only way out.
Fear screamed as he unleashed his own inheritance form. Dust and magic obscured him for a moment before revealing his new form. A giant black spider, with its eyes that glowed the same sickly yellow as his magic, fumes of the same color leaked out of him as his magic bled out from his body.
Oh come ON!!! His ancestors really used spiders as familiars?! No wonder this maniac is insane! Andrew though as he took a step back as he watched glowing yellow venom drip from Fear's fangs.
Fear spit a volley of venom at Andrew, which he narrowly avoided. With their new size, Andrew had little room to maneuver in the narrow street. Then he also needed to avoid stepping on the bodies of those that littered the ground, he knew that Fear gave no concern but he at least had to try. He howled, unleashing beam of pure energy at Fear who jumped on top of a building to avoid it. The blast tore through the building behind Fear, no doubt killing anyone in the building and a few from the rubble crushing those that lay out on the street.
I can't fight him here! I'll end up killing more people than he has at this rate. I have to use that spell again. Andrew thought as he drew on the magic within him.
"Ki! Vin!" He shouted.
Equis was replaced by the world that Andrew had tortured Night, taking only Fear with him. The spider now hung sideways to a tree as it stared coldly at Andrew.
"This is our arena! And I'm sure you know the only way out." Andrew challenged Fear.
"Tahl!" Fear screamed. With it fire appeared and started to consume my world.
"You fool! You've just given me the means to kill you!" Fear cackled, him mandibles clacking has he did.
"Vin!" Andrew countered and rain began to pour, extinguishing the flames.
Back and forth the two fought. Blast of magic tore the earth asunder as they tried to destroy each other. Each expending large amounts of magic, and soon it would show.
The two broke from a clash and panted, their bodies visibly heaving as the exhaustion took its toll. Each collapsed and their inheritance forms dissipated to show them on their knees.
"I will make you pay." Andrew growled coldly as he struggled to his feet.
Fear knew he was on the verge of losing. His aura armor manifested but was so translucent that it almost didn't qualify as existing. His magic was nearly tapped out, and had few tricks left to try. So he did the last thing he could, beg.
"Why are we fighting!? We're brothers, bound by these things within us. You know it to be true, don't deny it." Fear stumbled to his feet, trying to back away in an attempt to give himself better chances.
Andrew drew his blades and configured them into their tonfa form. "You murdered dozens of innocents, humans and Equestrians alike. You wish only for chaos and fear. YOU JUST TRIED TO MURDER ME!" He yelled, Fear shrinking back slightly. Though he continued, "You say we're family, because of these things inside us. Well, if we're family... then I disown you. Oh, and I'll rip that Umbran and Solest out of you, just for good measure."
Something in Fear broke as he realized he was cornered and he screamed, "I WON'T DIE HERE! I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU! I AM FEAR ITSELF, AND I WILL BRAVE ANYTHING YOU THROW AT ME!"
Andrew smirked as he started to slowly walk towards Fear, "You say you aren't afraid, because you are fear itself? Let's fix that shall we. To quote DBZ abridged, 'Looks like you just initiated your self-destruct sequence. Let me give you a countdown...Five!'"
Andrew burst forward with charged speed and did a spin kick to Fear's ribs. Fear flew to the side with the sickening crunch of his ribs breaking ringing out loudly. Andrew didn't let up though and before Fear hit the ground Andrew had run up behind him ax kicked him into the dirt.
"Four!"
To add insult to injury Andrew then punted Fear just high enough to spin kick him again, this time to his other side.
"Three!"
Fear struggled to move as he tried to channeled his magic to heal himself. Though as Fear stood up Andrew was on him and unleashed a flurry of cuts designed to cause pain. He used a front kick to push Fear away as he continued his assault.
"Two!"
Andrew shifted his blades back to their dagger form has he walked up to the battered Fear. Standing over him he stab his blades into each leg and dropping down to look fear in his eyes.
"Do you know what comes next?"
Fear's terror ridden expression shifted as he reached up in a split second and grabbed Andrew's head. He laughed maniacally as he channeled the last of his magic to create a nightmare.
The world disappeared around Andrew and was replaced by a cold stone room. Blood, both dried and fresh, marked the walls in a grotesque version of what a satanist artist might make. The most striking thing however was the mutilated corpses that littered to floor, wall, and hung from chains and ropes attached to the ceiling. Everyone he knew, and even those he only remembered the faces of, were here. All mutilated to the point they could barely be distinguished.
However the thing that hurt the most was when he noticed who was in the center of his vision. Vinyl and Octavia, along with three fetuses, contorted into positions of pain and horror. Though what happened next would make Fear regret ever going along with his boss' plan.
"He... he, he... HAHAHAHAHA!!!"Andrew laughed like his psyche had finally snapped.
He reached behind him and grasped his blades before ripping them out of Fear's legs, making him scream. Though the pain only increased tenfold when his feeling in his arms disappeared. His grip on Andrew's head went slack as his arms fell way, and gave a meaty thump as the severed limbs hit the ground.
Energy flowed from Andrew's eyes, the eye itself completely black as crimson red energy leaked out and crackled loudly. Shadows burst from his body to envelope him in his aura armor, truly showing how much energy he still had left.
"Thank you brother. I've wanted a moment of true freedom for quite a while."
Fear shook uncontrollably, likely in a combination of blood lose and fear, as he breathed one word, "Fury!"
"In the spirit of my vessel, I'll have some fun. So before we end you once and for all, let's put the question to bed shall we? ...Are you afraid?"
"no. No. NO! NONONO! GET AWAY FROM ME! LET ME GO! I'M NOT READY TO DIE YET!" Fear started to thrash wildly as he tried to do something, anything to try and get away from the incarnation of Fury he had awakened.
"Good. That's what I wanted to hear... One."
Korvin thrust his hand into Fear's chest and grabbed his soul itself. Freeing his hand from Fear's chest he pulled an orb of yellow and green, mixing endlessly but never joining together. When he did this a shockwave that seemed to shake reality itself emanated from the orb as if signaling what had just happened, just as the spell that created this vessel was meant to do.
Korvin's right eye turned silver with the energy coming off it turning blue, "You're still there Bravery. Looks like you needed to do a better job. This is a real mess for us to deal with now... Lets give control back. He should be alright by now. I've already trained his subconscious what to do." Bael shared control while looking at the orb in his hand.
"It's too bad we get to come out so rarely. Though I think this memory will last me awhile." Korvin lamented, though he was still smirking as he spoke.
With that done the world around them dissolved, and the Andrew was back in the middle of the street in Manehattan with Fear's mutilated corpse beneath him. The street was getting cleared as the they reappeared, frightening all that were close by. Most ran away but a few guards were there and they started running towards him.
Andrew's POV
My consciousness returned to me as Korvin and Bael disappeared into the recesses of my subconscious. The first thing I noticed was someone haling me to my feet and moving me away from Fear's corpse. I had tapped out my magic, the consequences taking my sight from me once again. I also heard said person yelling in my ear, though it took a second to comprehend what they were saying.
"Sir, what happened!? Where did you go!? Is this the person who was responsible for everything!? Lieutenant, say something damn it!" A familiar voice yelled at me.
"Nocturne? What's happened?" I replied wearily, my magic tapped but slowly returning. Hopefully restoring my sight sooner.
"I believe I asked first, but to fill you in. We have been doing clean up. You've been gone for about half an hour, and we've been trying to help anyone we haven't confirmed deceased. The city is in a pretty big panic and news was released before we could prevent it showing that human use his power and some of your response. Well, the part you apparently turned yourself into a giant wolf anyway, so your identity is currently kept secret, and will stay that way until the Princesses decide otherwise. Besides the guards of course, the General gave a quick cover explanation to stop any immediate outbursts. Which is most of the reason you aren't at spear point right now." He explained.
My mind was slowly clearing as I took in what he was saying, "I doubt she told that much, probably something along the lines of that I was a secret weapon transferred over for this exact scenario to prevent further loss of life?" Nocturne nodded when I looked at him for confirmation. "That's good, it should prevent me from becoming too much of a target for at least a small while. As for your questions, let me put it simply. I have the power to temporarily form a pocket dimension, at the cost of high amounts of my stored magic. Using this power I decided to fight that other human to the death, you can see the results of such."
"Yeah, pretty brutal. Though I can't say entirely unexpected considering the Ponyville Purge massacre that happened. In any case what happens next?"
Nocturne escorted me as guards and medics rushed around helping anyone they could. The destruction around me gave me a feeling of failure. "How many died..." I asked.
"We're still getting a correct count, but the estimations are around five hundred dead, ten times that injured. Though considering from what we've gathered a estimated two hundred thousand were actually effected by the visions that were projected, the casualty count was kept very low."
The number felt like a kick to the gut as I though about all those I failed to protect, knowing some of those numbers were directly added to by myself. "Where are we heading right now?" I finally asked Nocturne.
"To the precinct. The general wanted to talk to you as soon as you were located. I saw Sergeant River run off when you reappeared, probably to inform her you were found. One more thing though, what is that orb you're holding and where did you get it?"
My attention returned to the sphere of the two souls in my hand that I hadn't released since Korvin had ripped it from Fear. "This... would be the magic responsible for giving that monster power. I can't really explain much past that, mostly because I don't really know myself." I gave a half truth, I did know more but it would be more dangerous for Nocturne to know that.
We were on the steps of the station when a scroll appeared in front of me in a burst of green flames. I caught it and opened it to reveal surprising news. My eyes just barely making out the words on the page.
Andrew,
Get your flank ASS back to Ponyville immediately!
The twins are being born!
Twilight
P.S. I just wrote what Vinyl told me.
I let the scroll fall to the ground as those words hit me. "Shit."
Nocturne let go quickly as I felt a surge of magic, causing arcs of energy to start coming off me, before I transformed into lightning and shot into the clouds above to travel back to Ponyville.
My sight was going black as I sped towards Ponyville, but I had to get there. Vinyl no doubt in the midst of giving birth and I wasn't about to miss that. Bael and Korvin kept yelling at me to stop but I ignored them.
You can't maintain this, you're magic is drained!
I felt it, of course I did, but I didn't care. I had to have enough to get home.
YOU WILL FALL! Bael screamed in my head. I felt him try to push to the surface, to take control. I didn't let him.
I could see Ponyville, just a few more seconds and I could stop. My sight was almost a pin prick at this point, and I knew what happened when it disappeared completely.
I was shooting downward when it finally happened. Bael was calm when he spoke this time, his attempts to take control stopping as well.
You're out.
I was blind as the energy that had been propelling me at super sonic speeds evaporated, and I was still probably two hundred feet in the air when it happened. I cursed as I fell, I was so close. I didn't even have enough energy to protect myself from the fall. I'd die from being too proud to just slow the fuck down... yeah, sounds about right. Any second now...
I felt something hit me, from the side, whoever it was had wings because I heard them flapping like mad to change our direction. It only did so much because we hit the ground a moment later, hard. I felt my left shoulder dislocate and a rock rip into my left leg. We bounced off the ground and when we landed again it was into a bush of some kind, leaving small cuts across the right side of my body this time. It hurt like a bitch. The only thing I knew was I was still holding onto Fear/Bravery's vessel.
A groan came from whoever caught me, it was definitely feminine.
"Damn dude, what the hell happened?" The slight rasp gave away the identity.
"Rainbow? How did you know I was coming?" I rasped out, followed by a coughing fit. My slight still completely gone.
I felt her shift as she got up, she'd been through worse and I knew it. Myself on the other hand, I was definitely not designed to take damage like this.
"Shit! Dude, you got messed up! I've got to get you to the hospital." Rainbow panicked as she tried to pick me up as quickly but also gently as possible.
"Answer..." I breathed out.
Rainbow answered as she tried to flew to the hospital, "Twilight told the girls to keep a lookout for you. Pinkie was the one who spotted you, she should have told Twilight by now. Don't worry about it right now. Damn it, Octavia is going to kill me, and Vinyl too when she's out of recovery." She muttered the last part, but given my location I heard everything.
I heard Rainbow kick open a door, no doubt to the hospital by what I could hear and smell. "I need a doctor, stat!" She called out and I heard a rush of hoof/footsteps respond.
"Andrew!" I heard Octavia's voice call out.
I was put in a gurney and was wheeled towards an ER no doubt, I felt my magic flow out of me almost as fast as I gained it, no doubt from my blood loss. My hand still clutching the orb in my right hand
I felt a hand on mine as I was wheeled around, "It's going to be ok, please be ok. We can't lose you too." Octavia rattled off in panic as she held my hand.
"What?" I breathed out as her hand slipped away and I heard a pair of doors open, a nurse probably stopping her from going any further. I was glad Vinyl was ok, I wished I could be with her. Though she'd probably want to punch me in the balls currently.
"How is he alive!?" I heard a panicked doctor say as my gurney finally stopped moving.
He started rattling of a list of my injures that he could observe as others more than likely grabbed the tools needed to patch me up.
If only I had my magic. This wouldn't even be a problem. I thought to myself, wondering if I was really going to make it. I was starting to feel less and less and I knew they hadn't hit me with any painkillers yet.
My other senses were dulling as I felt so tired, I tried to fight it but it only made the feeling worse.
So this is what's it's like to die. What did Octavia mean earlier? I wish I knew. I tried to feel out Bael and Korvin, but their presence wouldn't respond to my calls. Hmp, for once... they're finally quiet.
When I finally like I was drifting away I heard what sounded like doors slamming open and panicked screams as I felt the table I was on shake as someone slammed against it.
"I've put to much into you to let you die here!" I thought I heard someone say. It sounded to soft to hear who.
Just then I felt a surge of energy rip through me like a tidal wave. It reminded me of when I got struck by lightning for the first time, what had started my journey.
My sight returned in a flash and I saw Mizuki, with her eyes glowing green and blue with an orb of energy pressed to my chest. I felt my left arm snap back into place causing me to scream, The gash in my leg sealed up as the blood literally flowed back into me, along with all the small ones along my right side. Mizuki's eyes returned to normal when I was healed and the orb in my hand had disappeared just before her eyes rolled back and she collapsed to the floor.
"Mizuki!" I jumped up and put my hand to her neck. I sighed in relief as I found her pulse, she was just unconscious.
I looked up at the terrified doctors and nurses as they looked at me and Mizuki in shock and disbelief.
"What the hell was that!" The nurse I knew was called Redheart, screamed at me.
"Magic." I stated plainly.
"Magic doesn't do that! Healing spells can't do what I just saw! Not to mention she's a human!" Redheart yelled, her colleagues slowly snapped out of their shock.
"It's not important right now! She needs to be looked after and I need to find my marefriend." I spoke firmly back to her
Redheart looked like she had just been slapped, "Right, of course. Tender, look after the girl. Andrew come with me." Another nurse took Mizuki as I followed behind Redheart as we simply walked out of a room I was about to die in less than a minute ago.
There would be a lot of things that would need to be explained, but I think everyone was repressing them to allow them to do their jobs. I heard muffed wailing as we neared the delivery wing, I ran pass Redheart when I heard it, knowing perfectly who it belonged to.
I threw the door open causing the occupants to jump in surprise, even a few shrieks. I looked pass them, barely taking count that all my friends were there, even Rainbow who looked like she was seeing a ghost. On a bed in a hospital gown sobbing was Vinyl, with Octavia next to her holding a small bundle swaddled in pink with tears in her eyes.
My heart froze in my throat as my feet unconsciously propelled me forward. I reached the bed as I looked down at the pale face swaddled in blue that Vinyl held in her arms. My son was stillborn...
PICK HIM UP NOW! Bael screamed at me.
Time slowed to a crawl as my senses heightened. What can I do!? I asked urgently.
THERE ISN'T TIME ANDREW! JUST LISTEN TO US! HE'S NOT LOST YET!
Bael's use of my name snapped me out of my hesitation. I grabbed my son from Vinyl causing her to scream, but it died to a whimper when she finally acknowledged who it was that did it.
I felt energy flow around me as runes were formed in the air. Chanting came from my mouth unconsciously and as I took a step away from Vinyl more appeared as I was soon wrapped in a flurry of runes were rapidly orbiting me, just like the first time I used my forge.
The outside world faded away and sound disappeared as I fell to my knees holding my son to my chest. I closed my eyes as tears leaked out. "Tell me how to save him, please."
I felt two presences appear in front of me, I opened my eyes to find Bael in his white wolf form and Korvin as a black wolf sitting before me.
"You won't like it." Bael spoke.
"I DON'T CARE! TELL ME HOW TO SAVE MY SON!"
"You must give him to us." Korvin answered me.
My mind froze so fast I could have sworn I heard glass breaking, "What?" Was the only word that I managed to get out.
"The way we save your son is by empowering his lifeforce with ours."
"That means you must give our power to him, give us to him."
"You will no longer be our vessel."
"He Will."
Bael and Korvin shifted their gaze down to my son, like looking at their next meal.
"HOW CAN I AGREE TO THAT. I KNOW WHAT BECOMES OF PEOPLE THAT ARE VESSELS. I REFUSE TO PUT THAT TARGET ON HIS BACK." I screamed at the wolves.
Bael's voice rose to cause the air around me to shake, "HE WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE OURS. THE REASON HE IS HUMAN IS BECAUSE WE DEEMED IT SO."
I shook as I clutched my son to my chest, I didn't know what to do, but I knew what I was going to do. The word didn't even feel like it came from me, but I heard my voice say, "ok..."
Bael and Korvin returned to their neutral positions and told me what to do, "Your name is Zair. You alone are him until you pass from this world. What is needed from you is to declare who your son is, in the ancient tongue."
I didn't take me long, when I looked down with tears I already knew what his name would be, "Keth... His name shall mean wind. For he will change my life and all those around him."
"Fitting." Was Bael's only comment.
Bael and Korvin started to shine so brightly that I couldn't continue to look. In a flash the light was gone and so where they. I tried to understand what had occurred, but I have didn't wait long.
A pain erupted from my chest as it felt like my very soul was being torn asunder. I forced my self to look down and noticed my skin marked with the lines of energy that appear when I pushed my magic to the limit. The triquetra on my chest shined like a beacon as I felt some try to escape. It was almost like I was in Alien or something as the pain in my chest peaked as a pillar of energy exploded from me. I watched in awe and fear as Bael and Korvin's forms could be seen within the pillar before it arced down on a collision course for that last place I would ever choose.
I could only watch as it finally reached it's destination an crashed into my son. There were no cries as it happened, not even a twitch. It just happened.
When it was over I stayed on my knees as I passively noticed the forge around me dissolve.
I was finally fully back in Vinyl's hospital room, there was silence as we waited, like everyone knew something was meant to happen. I was about to break down in tears just before I felt a small breeze flow through the room. Before the crying of a child broke the silence, the crying of my son...
Tears streamed from my eyes as the the room made a collective gasp. Vinyl looked at us in disbelief as she reached out for us. I stood up slowly and reached the bed, I saw sitting down before I was pulled forcibly into a hug as she cried with joy. Another set of cries rang out as my daughter began crying. Octavia joined us on Vinyl's other side and let her hold both of our children as we all smiled and cried for joy.
The rest of the room was frozen in shock still, some were crying at the sight and others were still trying to understand what happened. Finally it was Twilight who broke the silence.
"W-w-what did you just do, Andrew?" She looked scared as she spoke.
I looked up and dried my eyes, "Can we talk about this later please, I need this."
To my surprise Twilight did what I least expected, she became furious, "NO!" She screamed.
She charged her magic and teleported me away from the bed and I found myself pinned to the wall by an irate alicorn, "What the hell, Twilight!" I managed to get out.
"What you did defies the immutable laws of magic! The dead can't be brought back! It is expressly forbidden to even attempt it!" Her eyes began to glow with a white magic as she forcibly held me there. "I just witnessed what defines dark magic! And you are going to tell me exactly what you just did!"
"Twilight Stop!" I heard Vinyl and Octavia shout, my twins were screaming now. Others attempted to calm her down, even Rainbow and AJ tried to pull her off me but they were shoved back with a spell from Twilight.
"Answer me!" Twilight shouted.
"That's kind of hard right now." I pointed out as I was pushed more forcibly into the wall.
"Enough! This is not the time for jokes out of you! I want answers human! If that's even what you are!" She threatened me.
I'm not sure if I can even do this anymore but I gotta try. I though to myself as I tried to will magic into my hand.
It was substantially weaker than before, but magic did come and I clenched my fist as I channeled the energy I could gather to my neck were I was being held. I let out a shout as I forced the energy out to shock Twilight. It worked well enough as it made her let go and step back, but appeared to only anger her more.
The others though, took the opportunity to get between Twilight and me and stop this. Fluttershy was shaking like a leaf but stood in front of Twilight along with Rarity as Rainbow and AJ grabbed her by the arms to try and restrain her. Pinkie Pie helped me off the floor which I had slumped to when Twilight's grip on my neck was gone.
"Darling, what is going on!? This is our friend." Rarity tried to reason.
"Yeah, why the hell are you going bonkers!?" Rainbow asked as Twilight struggled against her and AJ.
"Rarity you saw what he did! You know enough about magic to understand!" Twilight argued.
"I saw a father save his son Twilight, what did you see!?" She fired back.
"HE BROUGHT BACK THE DEAD!!! THAT'S NECROMANCY! DARK MAGIC!" Twilight screamed, seemingly forgetting her magic in all this chaos.
"Why won't you let him explain!? You keep demanding answers like a savage and refuse to even allow time for an answer to be given!"
Twilight opened her mouth to shout back but was silenced my a torrent of wind that ripped through the room. The windows shattered and as suddenly as it started the room was found silent, only broken a second later by twin crying that came from my newborns.
Standing in the doorway with what looked like the majority of the hospital's staff looking on in shock and fear behind her, was Mizuki. Her eyes were glowing their blue/green when Nanal and Nylus shared control, and their voices could be heard.
"Enough! Answers will not be found this way.If you truly wish to understand, scholar. Then listen well to what we have to say."
Twilight went back to her slightly fearful shaking. Rainbow and AJ even released her and took a step back with looks of hesitation.
A glow came from each of Mizuki's hands before a quick flash. Now standing in the room were a blue and green pair of giant falcons, no doubt the physical representations of Nanal and Nylus.
The blue one, Nylus, spoke first, "I am Nylus, a being known as a Solest. Nanal, the being beside me, is known as an Umbran. We are what you can understand as the first lives in the multiverse. What is important for you to know is that there was a war, it came to the universe and planet of humans, and as the terms of a ceasefire nine bloodlines of humans were selected to act as vessels for one Solest and one Umbran each."
Nanal was next, "We are personifications of extreme emotion, ourselves being indifference and hope. The one you know as Andrew Duron is also a vessel, or was as it now stands. Fury and Loyalty are the two guarded by his bloodline, and you just witnessed the transference to that of a new vessel."
Nylus continued, "We are beings of magic, and we gave those abilities to humans when they became our vessels. It was decided however by the humans that those powers were too dangerous at the time, and in an extreme measure removed magic from their world and prevented its return forever. When Equestria breached the vale between worlds, your ambient magic filled the void that was in select humans, vessels in particular, and the skill was relearned. We have grown in the years of being here, enough that others of our kind seemed to have decided to reveal themselves."
Vinyl spoke up, "S-so there are things like you inside my son now?" She looked up at me with a glimmer of fear in her eye.
"That is correct. Though there is nothing to fear. Did you not fall in love and have the children of a vessel? Why should the enlightenment of knowing that beings like us have been present the whole time change what you feel?" Nylus asked in reply.
"I-I don't know. I suppose it's just a bit of a shock is all. What will happen because of it? Are both my children affected?" Vinyl asked.
"The only thing you will change is your son's magic will be amplified. Much like Andrew's was until this point." Vinyl looked to me and I nodded. "And for your second question. No, your daughter is not a vessel. There are certain conditions for each bloodline that must be maintained for transference to occur. It is actually the reason you have children of both races, Fury and Loyalty manipulated the genes to insure they would have a place to go should Andrew parish."
Vinyl seemed satisfied with the response, even though she grabbed my arm when Nylus mentioned my possible death, and admittedly I was disturbed by that slightly as well.
Twilight finally spoke, "What does your being here mean for Equis? I've seen the power you're capable of because of Andrew, and you aren't restricted by the standard rules of magic, that much is plain. You aren't beings of harmony. How can we trust you?" She asked ridgedly, definitely still on edge.
Nylus chuckled, "You are still inexperienced. What you witnessed wasn't what you thought of as dark magic. The soul of his son wasn't lost but was fading, Andrew made the ultimate sacrifice as the price of saving his blood. He prematurely transferred the power of a vessel to his son, and it is the power of the two beings like ourselves that saved his life." Nanal explained.
"That shouldn't be possible, a soul can't be manipulated in that way!" Twilight argued.
"It can. How do you believe you became an alicorn? The spell you used empowered your soul with your own magic, linking the two together. That is what grants your incredible longevity, which can be comparable to immortality, but in reality you are not. Nor can you ever reach such a state." Nylus spoke with increasing firmness.
These words appeared to stagger Twilight, she looked like she had just taken a blow to her stomach as she tried to comprehend the information she was being told, those out in the hall murmured as Pinkie helped me over to Vinyl and Octavia where we embraced and together calmed the children.
I still listened intently as Twilight finally got a question out.
"What do you want?" She said bitterly.
Mizuki surprisingly was the one to step forward and answer her, "We want to live. Why would we want anything else? Is there reason to why you think of Andrew differently because you know where his power originates? We are still humans, Princess Twilight. That much has not changed." Her plain statement made Twilight's eyes widen. "Yes that might not be all we are, for we also act as vessels and guardians for these beings. Though let me ask, has Andrew truly changed? He came back to find his son nearly dead, and made a sacrifice you can't begin to comprehend. He joined your army to fight for your kind, and just returned from fighting one like us, to protect you and those of this world. Do you truly think these are the actions of someone who wishes to do harm to you and those you love?"
Twilight was caught stuttering, "I-I-I d-didn't think of it that way." She went silent for a moment before answering, "No, no I don't think that at all. I just don't know what to do." She bowed her head in shame.
I rose from the bed and spoke firmly, "Then don't do anything." Everyone looked at me in disbelief. "Nothing truly has changed. I might not be in quite the same state I was before, but I am still the same person. This revelation doesn't require action. You know more, you know the truth, but that hasn't changed us. I slowly tried to introduce this, with every intention of letting you know the full truth. So that something like this would not occur, I failed in that aspect. Whatever should have been done is unimportant now, for the past is over and can only be learned from. Twilight, I'm sure that what has happened and the answers you've received has only given way to more questions. Those can be answered later, for now there no need to continue this. Let this day be one of happiness, not strife."
Twilight looked at all those that had been listening out in the hall, knowing that their questions were probably worse that her own. It was then that she decided what to do.
"So be it. Though I believe there are others that are unaware of what is completely going on."
The attention turned to the hall, causing those out there to look very nervous. Mizuki was the one to provide a solution. "Nanal, Nylus, I believe we can fix this."
The two falcons nodded before returning into energy and flowing back into Mizuki. Her eyes glowed as she held out a hand in spoke in a twin voice. After a series of commands in ancient tongue that roughly ordered, 'Heed my words', she spoke, "This will be forgotten. Until by order of your rulers, this incident did not occur."
With the order given a wind rushed over the crowd, and in its aftermath they looked dazed. When the haze in their eyes cleared Mizuki looked normal and was standing off to the side. A series of awws came as they looked at my kids, apparently oblivious to the scene they had just been witnessing for the last ten minutes. They dispersed slowly and those left in the room looked at Mizuki in a mixture of awe and shock.
Rainbow was the first to respond, "That. Was. Awesome! Can any human pull things like that?"
Mizuki chuckled, "No, well not exactly. Similar to you ponies we have affinities for certain types of magic, mine paired with my aspects of being a vessel make in easier to suggest thoughts into other. Though if anyone tried to resist the suggestion it wouldn't be overly difficult for them to do so. So its effectiveness is more situational than you think."
That'd probably be true if you hadn't used the ancient tongue. I think to myself, not expecting anyone to hear me now.
Well there are somethings these ponies should be in the dark about. Those words can be dangerous to be used causally. I heard Mizuki's voice ring out in my head.
I looked over at her in surprise, she just smirked. What? Did you think just because you're no longer a vessel it would prevent us from speaking through our thoughts.
Low conversation swept through the room as things regained some normalcy. Pinkie was animated as she talked to Mizuki, since she had somehow managed avoided a Pinkie Pie party. Others talked among themselves, with Rarity and Fluttershy talking to a very overwhelmed and slightly ashamed Twilight. Vinyl, Octavia, and I just enjoyed staring at our newborns and I'd occasionally rub Tavi's belly knowing there would soon be another.
Simple answer, yes. I though it was by communication between our Solest and Umbran's that made it possible. Though apparently that isn't the case. I replied, knowing Mizuki was good at multitasking.
It's a bit more complicated than that. Once a person has been touched by a vessel they are changed for life. Your power might be weaker, but it still exist. It will probably take a few more generations for non-vessels of the nine bloodlines to start showing signs of magic. Your knowledge of the ancient tongue is still preserved, even though you don't have nearly the power to reproduce results like you used to. The telepathy we use is merely a skill accelerated by being a vessel, anyone with magic is capable of it. The princesses in Canterlot likely use it commonly. She explained while carrying on a conversation with Rainbow.
I'm honestly don't find that hard to believe. In any case, why'd you save me. If what you said is true, shouldn't Bael and Korvin have passed to my son when I died?
Possibly, or they might have changed what your unborn would be. It wasn't a risk I wanted to take. Not to mention we actually like having you around. It wasn't overly serious to give you some of our energy in any case. Not to mention it wouldn't have mattered in keeping our magic secret, trust me. I felt parts of your battle with Fear and Bravery from here, the secret is out no matter what. Mizuki replied.
Bravery actually didn't seem to have any influence when we fought. It was more of just pure Fear, I wasn't sure the human was even left with any control. Speaking of which, where is their soul?
Pocket dimension. Safest place to keep that kind of thing, we'll have to find a new bloodline member pretty soon though. That sphere is simply a seal, and we need to prevent it from breaking at all cost.
How long do we have? I asked.
Two, three years tops.
Seriously? That's not that bad. We'll find someone.
And they need to be on Equis. Mizuki added.
What? Why is that?
The seal is a spell, without the insulating properties of a vessel the magic draining properties of Earth would destroy that seal in a matter of minutes. Meaning the only option we have is to find someone with a close tie to Fear's direct vessel bloodline here on Equis.
Shit. With the royal decree currently out, that's only a few thousand humans. And those are spread so thin that it would be hard to check. Not to mention the chances are severely reduced. I thought annoyed.
Indeed. Though we can think of solutions another day. I do believe this is a day to celebrate, yes?
I looked down at my children, both sleeping peacefully.
My daughter was a unicorn with a brilliant silver coat and an solid electric blue mane, her eyes blue like mine. My son was honestly what surprised me though.
When he was rapped up I couldn't see any features besides his pale skin, which looked more rosy now. Though now he was unwrapped a bit and I could see. The small amount of hair he had was silver in color, and when his eyes cracked open slightly for when he gave a lazy yawn I could see they were a brilliant red color, reminding me of his mother.
"He has your eyes." I chuckled as I kissed Vinyl.
"And she has yours, love." She replied after the kiss.
"Well I am the pretty one." I flip my nonexistent long hair.
Tavi laughed along with Vi before joining in, "Come on you two. We all know mine will be the cutest." She said rubbing her belly.
"In your dreams!" Vinyl laughed, giving Tavi a slight shove with her elbow.
We all laughed as we continued to have fun and before long the others noticed us and started cracking jokes too. After a few minutes Fluttershy asked me a question when she finally got to hold one of the twins.
"What are there names by the way. I think we got so caught up in everything else that we forgot to do that."
I looked at her in a bit of shock. We had forgotten. How the hell had that happened!? I looked over to Vi and she handed me my son as Fluttershy gave back my daughter.
"I think his name should be Crimson Gale. It feels right, also an Equestrian style name seems fitting considering he was born on Equis." I answer while looking at my son with a smile.
Vinyl, not one to be outdone, replied with, "Well it looks like we had similar thoughts, because I think Silver Storm will be her name." She said brushing her nose against her daughter's causing a giggle. "She will probably be just as destructive as her namesake, but also just as beautiful." Her features took a more gentle tone as Vinyl cradled our daughter.
I sat beside her and gave her a kiss on the cheek before replying, "There's no doubt in my mind. She's your daughter after all."
"Yours too. Don't you forget that. And our son will likely be much the same." Vinyl replied with a mock fierceness.
"Like I'd forget a thing like that." I softly answered, before kissing her. Enjoying the moment, knowing that before long this eden would end, but for now it was enough. It was enough.
"...And we mourn for those that couldn't be saved, but we thank the man that prevented the loss of so many others. Today we recognize Major Duron for his amazing courage and for his willingness to reveal what most would ostracize him for. He is what was first thought impossible, and what many would still believe so if they had not seen it with their own eyes, a human magus!" Celestia spoke in her royal Canterlot voice over the crowd that was in attendance of the reward ceremony.
It's been a week since the Manehatten massacre as the news outlets had named it. It was accurate considering the numbers: over 550 dead, over 11,000 injured, and an estimated 155,000 actually affected by Fear's powers. There was no way of denying human magic any longer, it was too widely known. Scientist back on Earth were going crazy over the monumental news, though there are only a select few I've told where my powers came from. Mostly the Princesses, my closest friends, and General Blizzard of Manehattan. That last one was because she wouldn't accept any other answer I gave her, and I figured that at this point it didn't really matter.
Funny enough it was also the general's idea to have this award ceremony. A bit of a political strategy to boost the moral of the people and deflate Purge's campaign of fear all the more. By demonstrating the fact humans had magic, it was a point to show how little difference there truly was between humans and Ponies.
The news that did get released about my magic to the general public described it as a 'miracle with perfect timing'. Equestrian scientists had been instructed to tell the populous that my magic was apparently a dormant gene that had begun to reactivate due to my living on Equis. Though it should have taken many more decades before manifesting, if at all, my extreme emotions at Manehattan had 'against all odds' jump-started my magic potential allowing me to perform the feats I did. It conveniently explained why I could no longer call on magic of that magnitude, as it was a one time sort of deal when it first 'awakened'.
Some tried to argue why Fear had so much power, but it was passed off as he was being a being aided by magi in Purge, and his actually strength was truly much less than it had appeared. It was a flimsy excuse, but since no one had any other information to counter it, it was accepted.
With Celestia's part of the speech over, Luna had taken over addressing the crowd and heaping honors on me. I simple stood on stage stoically, in my new dress uniform that had been made for me. Unlike the stark white of Celestia's solar guard, the dark navy of Luna's night guard, or even the clean charcoal grey of the Equestrian Legion, my new uniform was pitch black. The epaulettes on my shoulders were decorated in silver thread along with displaying my new rank. Along with a silver cord on my left side, a new unit crest was displayed on my right side. The crest depicted a wolf's head, the left half made of onyx with a small diamond in it's eye, the right was silver with a sapphire for its eye.
The new crest was for a new division that, upon Luna's insistence be reinstated, the Shadow Stalkers were active once more. Designed to be a spec ops group, we would operate outside of normal regulations for as long the unit needed to exist. There had been several different iterations of this group in the past, each for different crises, and this one was created for the purposes of contenting with extreme magical threats, primarily from Purge. Though while Luna was the one who had pushed for its recreation, officially I reported to both her and Celestia. Though this was more a formality as I was told I'd get to operate more or less independently, and I was to never make records of our operations.
We were a secret weapon in a sense. Used to disrupt the enemy's efforts without them knowing that we were even actively trying to. Our first mission being to determine another Purge base and to collect as much info as we could to discover what was next in their agenda. Though back to Luna's speech.
"Today is a day we celebrate! That dreaded organization, Purge, has been proven they can not fight against the powers of harmony. We stood together and by our combined strength prevented their plans. And with the help of Major Duron we will continue to do so, until all those of Purge have been found and made to pay for their crimes! We will not fear these criminals, and that is because of one important fact. We Are Equestrians!"
Cheers roared from the crowd as Luna concluded her speech. Celestia stepped forward again and joined her sister and waved to the crowd. I smirked slightly at the scene, impressed by the love and command those two controlled without even trying for the most part.
We have a problem.
My smile vanished as I heard Mizuki's voice. What is it?
I had convinced her to join me as part of my team, mostly to help account for my sudden decrease in magic. This event in particular I had her on lookout to ensure the Princesses safety. Her reply nearly had me bolt off stage.
A series of individuals, scattered around the crowd, not cheering. I think most of them are unicorns. What do you want to do?
I cursed under my breath, Is there a pattern to their locations in the crowd?
Hard to tell. I'm not as good with non elemental magic as you.
Can I have your eyes?
I didn't even get a reply. My vision disappeared before flashing back with a new perspective. Mizuki's eyes were closed but the crowd could still be seen as a mass of dots that flickered and moved, magical output. Even without casting magic every living thing in Equis gave off a low level of magical output, the brighter the wisps became the more power that individual was gathering. Which was useful in detecting when spells were being cast, but also tracking targets of interest, especially the ones who didn't want to be found. What is especially amazing is that she was doing this from on a roof about half a mile off from the square, just to make sure she wouldn't be seen.
I found twelve unusually bright wisps scattered around the crowd, no doubt from use of a cloaking spell, though the pattern is what shocked me. It was similar to the primary points for a projection rune matrix, large enough to affect the entire crowd that was present.
Projection spell, not dangerous in a physical sense. It seems they want to send a message. I thought coldly.
I heard gasps and cries of shock reach me, causing me to break my connection with Mizuki. I blinked rapidly as my sight was returned to my perspective, and I rushed in front of Celestia and Luna as I noticed eight of those Ponies I had mapped out where casting. The other four were pegasi that joined them by each holding up a black stone that had a purple energy swirling inside it.
Above the crowd a layer of smokey shadow appeared, no one dared move as they watched in fear at the scene before them. From the shadows a giant hand clawed forth, hauling up a shadow like form of a cloaked unicorn, like he was crawling up from Tartarus itself. A dark chuckling came from the figure that became a full bodied maniacal laugh as he stood to his full height. The projection was thirty feet tall and definitely imposing. I knew it was nothing more than a vision, but the same could not be for the crowd.
Screams of panic rose as parts of the crowd tried to run, but the figure's booming voice froze everyone in their tracks.
"Be Still!" The voice was dark, and commanding at the same time. "Look at you. Celebrating a human, have you no shame? It was a fight between humans that killed so many just a week ago!" He accused, though he was just getting started. "It is clear that even our great goddesses have become tainted by the humans' corruption. Our efforts thus far have proven useless, we have thought too small. No longer will that be the case." He said with a wave of his hand.
Surrounding him an army appeared from the shadows, comprised of many races. Ponies were the largest part, but there were minotaurs, griffons, and even some dragons that could be seen. All represented by an army of shadows.
The shadow army began to beat their chests making a intimidating rhythm, like drums as their leader continued, "We will hide no longer! We will purge the human infestation from our world and reclaim its purity! Gaze upon your doom, human scum!" In a flash of light the hooded figure was now cloaked in pure white with crystal like thread for decoration. Where his face should be was just a bright white light, with no features to distinguish.
With a burst of light the shadows disappeared and were replaced by figures of light. The army was now garbed in plate armor of what looked like platinum. Any decoration was done in clear crystal, making the light shine off the soldiers creating a prism effect that washed over the crowd in a blanket of rainbow light. Their features were also blanked out in pure white light so nothing could be gained from them either.
"We will be the light that is needed! In time our actions shall be praised by all who doubted! We will be your saviors!" The voice boomed. Its volume causing the air itself to shake.
Then just like it had started in a flash they were gone. I blinked to clear my vision of the flash to look for the casters but they had disappeared. The only thing in their place were scorch marks where they had stood just moments earlier.
The crowd was in a state of unrest, nearing the brink of full on panic. They looked to their Princesses for answers, unsure of what to do.
Celestia and Luna made to step forward but I held up my had causing them pause. I spoke out to the crowd with a voice equal to any royal, and the affect was immediate.
"Citizens of Equis, what you saw hear just now should not be allowed to sway you too easily. The actions of Purge are clearly those of when one is backed into a corner. They first tried to terrify humans, like myself, into leaving of our own accord. When it was found that we are much too stubborn for such a thing they resorted to another tactic. They found someone like me, a human who by a miracle had discovered magic, and threw aside their 'beliefs' just to use one against you! To try and make you fear us, and have you force us from Equis. This failed as well! So they have resolved to try and make you believe that they are the ones in the right! To resolve themselves of the murders that have taken so many of our loved ones, and say that they were sacrifices for the better."
My words seemed to stir the heart of the crowd as shouts of encouragement rang out.
"They're liars!" "Betrayers!" "Murdering Scum!" "I won't let them take my husband!" "Yeah, or my wife!"
Cries grew louder before I finally held up my hand and silence returned.
"Make no mistake! These fiends can not be reasoned with. They believe that they are acting for, in their eyes, a righteous cause. This delusion has blinded them from rational thought, and we must be resolute in facing this foe. They might be former friends, family, or even someone you once loved; but they are no longer. They have declare themselves this day, to be our enemies! Saying we are the ones who are sick, who are blind to some evil, and ignoring the horrors they have inflicted on not just humans, but their fellow Equisi as well! So I ask all of you to answer a question, to yourselves more so than to me, will you fight!? Will you stand against those you once knew, to defend harmony!? Will. You. Fight .With. ME!?"
A roar rose from the crowd, cheers and whistles sounding out in glorious union. I had managed to sway the crowd away from doubt for the moment, though this wasn't likely the last we'd hear from Purge.
As I stepped down from the stage and made my way pass Celestia and Luna they each gave me an appreciative nod before the stepped forward to instruct the crowd before dismissing them from the square. I simple stayed to my path and made my way back towards the palace, were I was staying for the night because of today's original event.
My paced slowed just slightly as I felt a another presence appear behind me and join me in my travel.
"Not a bad speech." Mizuki said as she finally made to walk beside me.
"It wasn't even like I did it on purpose. I was speaking completely off the cuff for the entire thing. Amazingly, since I don't even consider myself that good at improvising. Got lucky this time though." I replied with a slight chuckle.
Mizuki chuckled back, "Well sometimes that happens. Good thing it was at a time like that."
"No kidding. Though we have more pressing things to worry about. By the sounds of it, we have an actual war on our hands. Not just some guerilla warfare antics and escalated crimes. I'm suspecting Luna or Celestia will be handing down orders soon, I'll go and check to make sure. For now just go prepare the team for departure, we'll probably be leaving in the next hour." I replied on a more serious note.
"Once we know where they are, why don't we just go and destroy them?"
"Not a bad thought, I actually had the thought cross my mind as well. Though I don't expect it'd be that easy. I'm willing to bet that whoever is controlling things behind the scenes is just waiting for the opportunity to dispose of us." I said.
I looked down at the unit pin on my chest as I continued, "This little pin might give me the ability to store more magic so I'm not completely useless, but I am far from capable of matching you anymore Mizuki." I took the pin off my lapel and brought out a small metal chain from my pocket. I brought the ends of the chain to just touch the top of the pin where with a quick flash it fused to the chain. I then hung pin turn pendent around my neck, the ability to change was a small little charm courtesy of Luna.
"True, though I still wouldn't expect to easily beat you. You honestly were stronger than me before. My abilities don't make me the best person for fighting other vessels. Also, you're not as weak as you let on." Mizuki replied in a scrutinizing manner.
"You're not entirely wrong. I still have basically my full range of abilities still available, though I just can't maintain them like I used to. I could probably do one attack at my old peak, though it would probably take me completely draining myself and this battery around my neck to do so. Looking at it that way I'm still strong when placed next to anyone who isn't an Alicorn or a vessel, but that's really the problem isn't it. We know because of Fear that there is at least one other vessel working with Purge, possibly leading them. I wouldn't be overly surprised to find out that someone like us was manipulating this entire thing."
We finally entered the castle grounds and made for the barracks as Mizuki answered, "Me either if I'm honest. Though what is there to really gain from forcing humans out of Equis? I still don't get that."
"I can only speculate on that front. They haven't slipped up bad enough yet for me to catch anything that would lead me to anything I'd consider their end goal. Even the closing the portals idea can't be where it would end if they managed it."
"What do you want to do? You're the boss. I'm just here to make sure my investment doesn't kick the bucket."
"Your investment? Whatever. Get the team geared up and ready. I'm going to speak to Luna about what to do next and then we'll go from there."
Mizuki gave a lazy mocking salute before continuing on the the barracks, as I turned to enter the castle interior and find Luna.
"THOSE BUCKING WHORES!" Luna screamed as she kicked a trashcan across the room with enough force that it embedded itself in the wall, about a foot from my head.
I just leaned against the wall as Luna got her tantrum out of her system, though the new wall decoration was slightly concerning. At least for my health.
"They, they DARE defile a memorial to so many! Then say WE are the ones in the wrong! I will not stand for such a vile act." Luna seethed as she walked over to her balcony and gripped the marble railing so hard it cracked.
"I'm not exact happy about it either Lu, but is destroying your own room the answer? Wouldn't it be better to at least be destroying someone else's room?" I mildly joke.
"Tia already kicked me out of hers for breaking her coffee table, it wasn't even that big a deal! We can repair such minor things easily." Luna didn't move away from the balcony, just snapped her fingers.
With a pop the room was reset to how it looked before Luna had started to wreck it. I sighed as I pushed off the wall I was against and walked over to Luna.
"What are my orders, Princess." I used Luna's title to get her to focus.
Luna had a thousand yard stare for a moment, she shook her head to clear her mind before answering. "You are to discover what Purge's next move is. We've had a couple reports about the possibility of a large base possibly existing in the deserts of the Badlands. If these reports have any weight then it could be a likely place for the army that was mentioned. Of course that's assuming they are actually organized in one location."
"What am I to do if they are there? You wouldn't be asking my team to just do recon, you want me to do something. So what is it?"
"Do you remember what you did in the Everfree?"
I blinked, before becoming very concerned, "Luna, you know I can't repeat that act. Giving away my spirits kinda insured that."
"What would you need to do it again? You've told me your abilities are still all there, you just don't have the power to use certain ones anymore." Luna said darkly.
"I'd need to have access to a massive deposit of raw magic, and I don't even know how long I'd be able to maintain any of my strongest magic." I explain. "Luna, there is another vessel in Purge, we know that. Even if I could use the form I used to fight in Manehattan, I wouldn't stand a chance against a true vessel for any true length of time. Not to mention they know that, so if they saw me using that much power I'd just be a giant target."
"You have a vessel in your team, that should be enough. Two on one for any length of time should give you the advantage." Luna tried to argue.
"Mizuki, while talented, still has a young body. She was weaker than me before,and if the vessel we meet is at my old level or above, we'd just end up massacred." I put a hand on her shoulder, "Luna you'd hate yourself if that would happen. I know you, you'd never forgive yourself."
She let out a heavy sigh, "You're right, I would. I'm simply unsure on how to rid ourselves of these vermin. The more propaganda they produce the harder the fight will become. They are charismatic enough that they can even make genocide sound justified." Luna scoffed, "The complete idiocy of that statement."
"Not going to argue that. In any case, I'll take my team and checkout the Badlands. I'll let you know if I find anything."
I gave a small salute and turned to leave. As I did Luna turned and hugged me from behind and said, "Please be safe friend. You must return, that is an order from your Princess."
I chuckled, "I'll take it as a order from a friend. That means more to me than one from a Princess."
Luna giggled as well before releasing me. I gave a wave as I left and gave a small mental order to Mizuki to meet me with the team down at the castle gates.
*Woooooo* The train whistle blew as it rattled along the tracks. My team was scattered around our private car talking in twos or threes. I sat in a small booth across from Mizuki and Nocturne, the one member I brought with me from my Ponyville troop when I joined this team, as I conversed quietly with them.
"Leu-I mean Major, why exactly are we taking the train down to Dodge City? There are faster ways, like portals or sky carriage." Nocturne asked.
"There are a few reasons but the most important one are we are trying to be discreet. Sky carriage is much too noticeable, spies would mark us instantly, and portals are carefully monitored so again spies would easily find us. While the train takes much longer, it is also one of our best chances of concealing our numbers. We'll be getting off from different parts of the train and meeting up later at different times as you know. I know I'll get marked by any spy in the station, you probably will too, I don't know how much info they have on Mizuki, if any so I'm just going to play it safe there." I answered.
"You've got to assume they probably know we're coming. I don't trust the castle staff enough to say that there are no leaks." Mizuki quipped.
I gave a slight smirk, "I agree, though I know no one outside Celestia and Luna know our true numbers, everyone else was given conflicting counts and none of them are correct. So at least we have one thing in our favor."
Nocturne was looking a bit nervous, "Major what exactly do you intend to do when we get down there? Do you think anything will be there?"
"Get yourself together soldier." I said firmly, Nocturne quickly snapping out of it. "To start with, this mission is strictly recon. If we can confirm a presence of the enemy, I will then determine what to do and we will go from there. After that point I've been given authority to do what I think is best. So unless I think we can win, chances of battle aren't high right now."
"We're on this train for another ten hours right? What do you want us to be doing?" Nocturne asked, looking calmer than before.
"Make sure your gear is in order, then retire to the apartment I assigned. Spread the word to everyone at that. Do as you wish pass that, everyone should know their time to be at the meeting location. It will be well into the night when we get there, so I'd suggest getting some rest now, we won't likely be getting much once we're down there." I gave him the order.
Nocturne gave a salute before getting up and spreading the order out to those in the cabin. Mizuki looked at me skeptically as I leaned my head back and closed my eyes.
That wasn't everything was it? I heard her say in my head.
Mostly, I have a task specifically for you when we get there. I replied, acting like I was resting as I kicked my feet up on to the bench Mizuki was on. I'll need you to count any spies you can confirm. The amount will let us know how likely we're in the right place.
Is that all? Shouldn't you still be able to do that?
I chuckled quietly, Yes, but what else are subordinates for? Delegation is an important skill.
I could feel the glare being shot at me, You are a hard person to like. Mizuki said coldly.
True, though you've still stayed around me. So you must be one of those that do. I doubt you'd stay around just because I'm your investment.
I heard a sigh come from her as she was no doubt shaking her head, I question that at times. Daily in fact.
I felt her get up and I cracked an eye open to see her smirking slightly as she walked pass me to leave and wait in her apartment.
Arrival came and went. We had decided to split the team into different hotels and then meet up later just outside the city in the start of the swamp that was there. We arrived individually or in pairs, until all fourteen were present. I send a pulse out to make sure we were alone and when I was satisfied I addressed the group.
"I hope you all got plenty of rest, Lieutenant Tenmei has informed me that there were over a dozen spies around the train station when we arrived. That just made the likelihood that Purge has a major base here go way up. Our job as you know is strictly recon for now, so let start moving and hopefully we can find the bastards quickly."
I got a silent salute which I returned, after which we made our way down into the Badlands. We each had a emergency notice scroll for quick communication and we spread out to sweep as much area as we could.
It was 2AM when we started this, and only were only supposed to check for a few hours before returning to the city if we were unable to find anything. The Badlands were vast and it was more likely that if a base was created out here then it was likely to be closer to the city to be able to keep up the supplies needed to maintain an army. They probably had a way to self-sustain to mitigate need for outside supplies, but it was doubtful they'd be able to sustain well enough that they needed no outside resources.
By 5AM I was about to turn back when my scroll gave off a glow. I opened it to find a report of a complex structure found about three miles from my location. Thankfully my powers where still capable of me there in half an hour without burning me out. So I found my direction and took off, sand kicking up behind me but it wouldn't matter until I would get closer.
I got there to find most of the team had already arrived, not surprising considering I was one of those farthest away. Mizuki walked up to me and briefed me on the situation.
"It doesn't look like there is much of an enemy presence. If it is Purge, then this is not the main base."
I looked over the sand dune we were behind to check the complex. It looked like a ruin of some kind, a small town in size, though only a few buildings actually intact. I pulsed to find that Mizuki was correct in saying this couldn't be a main base of any kind. There were about thirty life sources I could see and their movement was not organized at all, no patrols or lookouts that I could tell.
"Any suggestions?" I ask Mizuki.
"I'd say we just go down and wipe them out. Wouldn't be that hard."
I look out at the ruin again, something didn't sit right with me. "Do we know what's out there?"
A pegasus spoke up, "No sir. It appears that there must be passages connecting the buildings underground, as we've seen no one out in the open."
"Hmm, I don't like that. We've got too many unknowns. No patrols or guards would indicate no need for any, which means there are probably traps to alert those inside in case a intruder appears. Also we can't identify our enemy so I can determine how best to strike, and doing nothing isn't a good option either, in case they are Purge and might have the location of the main base." I think out loud.
Mizuki drew out her weapon, a dagger a first glance but it actually was a spear that could collapse down, "Standing here won't do anything. Let's go down and deal with them."
I gave a sigh before drawing my own tonfa, "Quick and clean. Try and subdue their leader if they have one."
"Sir!" I got a salute which I quickly waved off.
I point at three of my men, one of which was Nocturne, "I want you three to hang back, we've got two members that aren't here yet. Brief them on what we're doing if we aren't done already, and then come join us. Hopefully this should be painless."
"Understood sir." Nocturne replied with a quick salute.
I gave a nod before creeping over the dune to join the others.
I marked five points of entry and assigned people accordingly. Mizuki and I each had an entrance, with two pair and a group of three taking the other locations.
I made my way to my entrance and pulsed to see what was there. There was only one enemy and they had just turned to be walking away from me, the next closest would be too far to see me. The entrance was just a old house that was mostly intact, the door was simple wood and didn't even appear to have a lock. I pushed it slightly to confirm and it move with no resistance. I opened it quickly and a burst of enhanced speed made for the enemy.
It was a simple mare, her back away from me as I sprinted up behind her. I only planned to knock her out until she seemed to sense me and turned and I saw her eyes. Blank, that's the best word. Just pure white orbs for eyes, it was unnerving to say the least. My instincts kicked in and I flipped my blades to their dagger form and went for her throat. She didn't stand a chance, but that wasn't the shocking part. When my blade touched her neck blue sparks crackled at where my blade meet flesh as I completed the strike. She dropped like a stone her blood pooling beneath her, green blood. I received another shock when her body burst into green flames which quickly faded to reveal a creature I had only heard about until now. However the normal description of green eyes and wings we didn't match as this one had a yellow color to both.
Mizuki! We got a major problem here! I threw my thoughts out.
Yeah I know. These are changelings aren't they? I heard her reply.
From what I know. Did a shower of sparks come off them when you attacked one too? That's aspect is new to me.
Yes, might have to do with our magic. Just had to take out three. I just sent a pulse out, I think these guys are mind linked. There is a lot more movement than before, and the others appear to still be fighting.
I pulsed myself to confirm and sure enough I had eight new foes heading my way and I could sense my team was still fighting their foes. Take them out quickly, we need to get out of here before reinforcements arrive.
Got it.
I focused back on the room I was in and did a energy pulse to test something, and sure enough a section of the floor sparked way with blue sparks. It seemed my magic has a fairly violent reaction with the changeling variety. I walked over to the patch of floor and charged my leg with energy. With a swift stomp the ground exploded downward to reveal a tunnel. I dropped down and found the tunnel to actually be a series of passageways much like a maze.
I heard the buzzing of insect-like wings as my foes closed in on me. Let's see how much you like raw magic. I thought as I charged energy in my palm as I wait for them to round the corner. When they appeared I unleashed a bolt of lightning that instantly chained to three of them. A popping sound happened as I saw their eyes burst in a shower of blue sparks. Those three dropped dead in a pile of charred bodies and blood, the other five stood there for a moment in shock before hissing at me and charging with black crystal scimitars.
I had my blades back in their tonfa form as I blocked and proceeded to act as a blender through my foes. I cut down another with a single slash to its neck, and after cutting one across the stomach and finishing with a stab to the neck, the others grew cautious. One literally threw their blade at me in an attempt to distract me, to which I dodged and returned the favor by changing one of my blades and throwing it. The changeling was certainly not expecting this as he stood like a deer caught in headlights and let the blade pierce him in the chest. The other two tried to take advantage of me being down a blade by attacking together. Which was a good plan if I hadn't sidestepped the first and deflected the other's blade with an energy protected hand to lop of the arms of his friend. I then stabbed him in the gut a couple times and delivered an axe kick to the neck of the one with no arms to end his misery.
I retrieved my blade from the corpse I had impaled as I sent another pulse out. There were less than a dozen foes still alive, but I noticed I was down a man from when we started. Outside the base I counted five presences making there way towards us. Nocturne was finally catching up, just in time for us to leave, I chuckled slightly.
I navigated the tunnels with an occasional pulse to guide my way. I eventually heard fighting up ahead, and entered a room to find Mizuki cleaning up a batch of four changelings. She pulled her spear out of a changeling's head and whipped her blade to clean it of blood. I saw a changeling that wasn't quite dead get to its knees and was about to leap at Mizuki. Before I got a chance to react, Mizuki spun on her heels and slashed at the changeling, but her blade came nowhere close. Still the changeling froze before it split it two with green sparks flashed from the corpse, the guts pooling out in a gory mess.
"Aspect of wind, forgot about that for a moment. Got an update for me?" I asked as I approached.
"Not much. I did see a map room on my way here. It'll be a good place to check after we've cleared the enemy." She answered, collapsing her spear to its dagger form.
I sent a pulse and saw that there were no more enemies and the rest of the team was coming our way. Nocturne and crew were in the complex and also heading our way.
When the first four arrived they weren't looking good. Two of them were sporting some deep cuts and of the other two one was basically carrying the other because the broken leg I could see. It was quickly patched to make sure he wouldn't bleed out, but even medical magic would take a day or two to heal him up to fighting strength. Then the other two arrived carrying a corpse. They were both sporting morbid looks, unsurprisingly after having to carry their dead comrade.
"Wintershock didn't make it sir. One of those bastards jumped us and finished him before we had time to react." The Thestral mare on the right of the corpse reported.
I cursed under my breath, I didn't expect to loose anyone on this simple an opt, though I also didn't expect changelings so I guess that's on me. "I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say he will be missed. Put him down for now, we'll make sure we don't leave without him."
I received a nod before they did so and the others came closer. Nocturne showed up and he got the short version of what happened.
"First, Mizuki I want to on pulse duty. Make sure there aren't any reinforcements coming anytime soon. Next lets discuss what we've just found."
Nocturne was first to speak up, "Sir, are those corpses really-"
"Changelings, yes. Don't ask me why or how, but yes this was a changeling base. Now the important question is, are they connected to Purge."
The same Thestral mare from before spoke up, Silver Fang I believe her name was, "I believe so sir. We found what looked to be an armory and the armor was just like from the projection yesterday."
"Truly? Good work. Ok next step is seeing if we can pull anymore info from this site. Lieutenant Tenmei found a map room in her search. I'll be going to see if I can get any useful information. I want the rest of you to wipe this place clean. Any info you can carry, do. The rest, burn it." I scanned over the faces of my men before pausing on one.
"Waterstrike, isn't it. Do you feel ok?"
The unicorn I was looking at seemed surprised I called her out, "What do you mean sir? I feel fine."
Everyone's attention was on her, their reactions were normal until I looked at Mizuki, she nodded in answer to my silent question.
The unicorn's eyes were blank, just like the first changeling I had seen. I would pass it off as a human thing, but I had another human on the team and he wasn't reacting. Must be because we're vessels. I said to Mizuki.
Makes the most sense. Our magic reacts strangely with them too.
With a quick burst of speed I moved and picked the imposter up by the neck, her blank eyes going wide. The others instantly went on guard, except Mizuki, and drew their weapons on me.
"M-major, what's wro-"
"You can drop the act. I know what you are." I cut it off.
In a burst of green harmless flame I was suddenly holding a changeling in the air. The reaction from my team was equal parts confusion and shock.
"Now I want to know, what did you do to my soldier?" I asked in a very calm manner, completely opposite of the choke hold I was applying to this creature's neck.
"ACK! Why would I ever tell you!?"
"Because I'm sure you know what happened to Ponyville, and I'm sure that because of recent events, that Purge knows exactly who was the cause of it's sudden lack of influence there."
"Y-you don't have that kind of p-power anymore. Even now you're burning through your strength." It croaked out.
"You want to bet?" I smiled wickedly.
I let shadow envelop me as I grew another two feet and took on my werewolf form, the fear in the changeling's eyes was unmistakable. Surprise from many of my team as well, as for most it was their first time seeing me use the form.
"H-h-how!?"
My voice was now dark and distorted in this form, making me sound like some sort of devil spawn, "Because, you underestimate me. I don't suggest you do that again." I spoke to the changeling, but more importantly, the one it was linked to.
It's yellow eyes started to shine as a new voice spoke to me, "Hahaha. I commend you, Major. You really do like to surprise. Don't worry about have to search for your soldier, she's dead. It's too bad you won't find out where."
I was about to question the new voice when the neck of the changeling I was holding snapped like a twig, I wasn't even the one who did it. It just self destructed.
I toss the body to the side and return from my shadow form, "Shit! That can't be good. Mizuki!"
"We got incoming. Couple hundred at best guest, we aren't likely to all make it out of here."
"Yeah, well I say 'Screw that!'" I said. I charged my hand and unleash bolts of lightning to char the ground. It took only a few second but when I was done I had to drop to one knee. My vision going dark by about half.
"Major!" Nocturne ran over to help me up before he looked at what I did.
A rune circle was charred into the ground, ready for use.
I panted as I leaned on Nocturne, "Mizuki, I'm going to need you to power this. I doubt I'd survive using it for just myself right now, let alone the team."
She looked at the circle and then to me. "You don't like asking for small things do you. Fine, get on you idiots. Warning, this is going to leave me pretty drained."
"Yeah, sorry about that." I give her a weak smile.
Once the team was inside the circle. Mizuki charged up a large ball of raw magic over her head before slamming it into the ground. The runes lit up with blinding light before I felt the telltale feeling of teleportation. I hated it so much I avoided the need for it when I could, but this was likely our only way out.
It only last a fraction of a second, but it feels infinitely longer. With a small *pop* our surroundings were suddenly that of Canterlot castle, royal barracks. I tried to quickly get up and with a slight stagger I unleashed a burst of lightning to add a small change to the rune circle on this side that we had appeared from.
"Hah, there. That should make a nice surprise if they try to follow us." I say before falling backwards.
Nocturne caught me and eased me to the ground before asking, "Can someone explain what just happened!? I'm around for a couple minutes and too much just happened!"
"I had to send us back to Canterlot. They know we're here, but they won't be able to follow. Anyone that tries to use that rune circle in the Badlands will explode instead of implode for teleportation. The instant we attacked, the changelings' hive mind told whoever controls them in Purge we were there. It would have been nice to pull some more info from that outpost, but there's no going back anymore." I give him the quick answer.
Nocturne opened his mouth to say more but was interrupted when the barrack's doors slammed opened and a series of guards flooded the room. They paused for a moment at seeing my team ragged on the floor before quickly getting to attention as I felt a familiar aura fill the room.
Celestia walked in quickly to see for herself what had happened before also pausing for a slight second to taken in my battered team. Next she ordered the sergeant of the squad that had entered first, "Sergeant, take the wounded to the medical wing. I'll discuss what's happened with Major Duron alone."
With a quick 'Yes, Princess' and a salute the guards filed out and took our injured to get them medical attention.
The members of my squad that weren't injured helped there teammates out of the barracks and followed them to the medical ward. I sent Nocturne with them telling him he didn't need to be around for this. Which in the end just left Celestia, Mizuki, and I, in the middle of the barracks. I tried to stumble over to a nearby bench but when I tripped Celestia ended up catching me by the shoulder to steady me before just materialized a couch into the room for us to sit on. She sat down with me and materialized a chair for Mizuki to sit with us.
"Ok, start from the beginning. I know Luna sent you to the Badlands to check if the Purge base rumors were true. What did you find?" Celestia prompted me.
"OK, well..." I told her how we found the outpost, and upon assaulting the complex we encounter changelings. Which caused her eyes to widen significantly, but she let me continue. I told her how the description of known changelings didn't exactly match what we encountered, and how that apparently vessels are able to see changelings even when they are disguised, to which she was quite surprised. I then told her that one of my team apparently killed and how I talked to the changeling's master before being force to create the rune circle and escape.
Celestia took a second to process before she finally spoke, "This changes things quite extremely. Changeling's have been thought to be a non-issue after Cadence's wedding. Though by your description these might not be of Chrysalis' faction. Most of the other hives were weak or absorbed into hers during her reign, but with her fall it is quite possible another has risen to fill the power void. It is most unsettling that they are working for Purge, or perhaps they were Purge this entire time."
I shook my head, "Doubtful, I didn't kill any changeling's in the Everfree. These were only at this base. Are there more? Oh of course, I have no doubt. But I also believe there are plenty of other races that are also truly part of Purge. Though this could lead to some insight of what they are planning. Seeing as we vessels can see changelings when disguised it makes sense why they either want us on their side or gone. We're a major threat if the try to overthrow Equestria again."
"I see your point. Though what do you suggest we do? We know their base is likely somewhere in the Badlands, but we have no exact location or the forces to spare on an assault without leaving other important places unguarded." Celestia asked.
"Even if we did know where they were, our situation doesn't change much. We lost our surprise factor." Mizuki stated while lounging sideways in her chair.
"We'll then what do we-" I started to say.
"PRINCESS!" A guard burst into the barracks, panting heavily.
We all turned our attention to the guard as Celestia rose and asked, "What is it?"
"Princess Twilight has just arrived with urgent news, and scouts have just reported movement from Purge!" He spoke rapidly, panic evident in his voice.
Celestia turn to us, "I'm going to take us to the throne room, prepare yourself."
"Ah fu-" Was all the time I had to say before I felt the pressure of teleportation again.
With a pop the four of us were in the throne room. I nearly passed out but was caught by Ryan who was nearby me when I appeared. The room was filled with chatter, Luna was on her throne talking with Twilight, guards and messengers scurried around in a buzz of activity, most barely acknowledged Celestia had just appeared. I also noticed the other elements were here, standing near the thrones talking amongst themselves.
"Andrew!" I turn to see Vinyl and Octavia walking up to me quickly. Each holding one of the twins.
"What are you doing here?" I asked as Ryan let me go to embrace my herd.
"Twilight only told us it was important and that we should be here, just before teleporting us here to the castle." Octavia explained as I gave Vinyl a kiss before giving one to her.
I nuzzled the twins with my nose getting them to giggle before I stood up and turn to the thrones. Celestia had joined the conversation with Luna and Twilight, and their expressions were that of worry. Having gotten some of my strength back I walked over and joined them asking.
"Ok, what is going on? It seems pretty major, and I'm the one who just had to fight changelings!" I address the royal trio.
Twilight looked shocked and seemed about to press me for details, but she stopped herself answering with, "We have bad news and worse news, which do you want first."
I raised my eyebrow, "The bad news?"
Luna started with, "And Purge is on the move. Three massive armies have just appeared and are marching towards major cities." She told us.
"What the hell is the worse news!?" I asked, knowing I probably wasn't going to like the answer.
And I was right when Twilight took a deep breath and said...
"The portals to Earth are destabilizing."
I stood there with eyes like saucers, and said the first thing that came to mind after processing what they said, "Murphy's Law never fails to ruin my day."
"What do you mean the portals are destabilizing! How is that possible!?" I shout at Twilight.
She must have been expecting the reaction because she didn't even blink at my raised voice. Her answer was calm in comparison to the news she was delivering, "Just like it sounds. The magical stability between the worlds is always changing, but over the past couple months there have been reports of increasingly unusual fluctuations. Looking at the data, we have a matter of weeks before the link between Equis and Earth could be lost forever."
"Forever? Why couldn't we just reopen them?" I asked, still trying to wrap my head around this turn of events.
Twilight seemed to grow frustrated, "Because we don't know how they opened in the first place! I've been studying the portals and the random appearance of humans ever since they started, and I've gotten nowhere! The only thing I do know is why the portals are destabilizing."
When Twilight stop I waited for a moment before saying, "And that would be???" I prompt for her to continue.
"Ugg. It's Earth! You must be well aware that your home dimension literally sucks magic out of everything that steps onto it. Well, that same property is eating away at the portals. It's honestly amazing it's taken this long for signs of this to appear. The worst part is that their isn't a foreseeable solution. Unless there is a way for Earth's magic consuming ability to be turned off, the rate of decay indicates that we have at best a month and at worst a week until the portals fail. When that happens, whichever side of the portal you are on... is where you stay."
"Wouldn't that be a death sentence to any Equisi on Earth? I though you guys couldn't survive more than a few months over there." Mizuki asked as she walked up beside me.
Twilight grew somber, "Yes, that's right. That's part of why I came here. I needed to meet with the Princesses and we need to make an announcement. Purge's armies only make it harder, because it's something we have to mention now."
"What are their targets? Also how did three armies just appear. Doesn't seem like something they could hide that easily." I stated, crossing my arms in annoyance.
Luna actually took over before Twilight could reply, "We assume that the numbers seen aren't all real. Two of these armies could be completely comprised of illusions, but we can't rely on the chances of that being true. One is marching from the Badlands like we thought, another appeared in the West near the Galloping Gouge and is marching towards Canterlot, and the last one appeared in the East and is approaching Manehattan. The Badlands army is likely where most if not all of their forces are not aided by illusions , the others we just don't know."
"They must have had the information that we do about the portals. There's no way this is random chance." I say to them. "What about Dodge City? That's in direct line of the army from the Badlands"
"Evacuation had begun when we received the report about the army's appearance. Though I still anticipate heavy losses given the close proximity of the city to the Badlands." Luna said morbidly.
Celestia spoke before I could ask my next question, "The most important thing to address currently is informing the populace. Any humans on Equis have a choice to make, and they will have little time to decide."
"...this is your choice to make. We've given you all the information we have, so you can make the most informed decision. Myself and the other royals of Equestria guarantee that whatever dimension you choose to remain in we will respect and aid you in your choice. For those who decide to stay here on Equis I have a special word for you. We will try our upmost to insure your safety by the criminals who wish you gone, that is my, and the other Princesses, wish for you. Though if you have any doubt I'd encourage you to greatly consider the possibility that you may never be able to return to the Earth." Celestia stated.
She, Luna, and Twilight stood in front of the thrones while addressing a camera that was broadcasting across the planet. I stood with an arm each around Vinyl and Octavia, holding them close as the royals made the announcement. The girls had given me a slightly worried look during the speech but I had just smiled and shook my head, I wasn't leaving. I'd already stopped considering Earth my home long ago and this change of circumstances wouldn't change my mind.
I looked around the room at the different reactions. Nocturne had joined us and was currently standing by Mizuki against the back wall, the latter looking somewhere between bored and annoyed. The elements looked somber, Pinkie's hair even loosing some of its poof. Then the servants and guards around the room had looks of resolution, especially the human members among them. I had a feeling that there were likely be some who would decide to return to Earth, but most of the humans still on Equis had already made the decision to stay. There might even be some on Earth that will decide to try and make it over here to Equis before the portals close, I'm not going to discount the possibility.
The light on the camera blinked off, signaling it was no longer transmitting. The room seemed to release a collective breath no one knew they were holding. Soon the activity that had been there previously returned as messengers came and went with new reports or orders. I left with Vinyl and Octavia and we went to the guest room they were told to stay in for the time they were staying in Canterlot.
When we got settled in the room I ended up sitting on a couch in the room with Vinyl and Octavia on either side of me. The twins were put in a crib that a servant had placed in the room before we had arrived. Those two just giggled away as they played together, oblivious to the trouble assaulting the world around them.
"And here I thought Purge was trying to destroy the portals, only to find out Earth was doing the job for them." I intoned as I put an arm around each mare by my side, causing them to lean into me.
Vinyl hummed softly at being close to me, "It's still kinda hard to believe it's happening. After so many years it started to feel like Earth was just always going to be there."
"Indeed. I'm just glad it isn't going to change anything for us." Octavia added as laced her hand with mine as she leaned closer.
"I'm not going anywhere. You two should know that by now." I said giving them a slight squeeze.
Vinyl turned and kissed my cheek before replying with, "We do. It's just nice to hear it out loud occasionally." She said with a smile, before it faded and she added, "You're going to have to fight again aren't you?"
I leaned my head back and let out a heavy sigh, "Yeah. No getting around that I'm afraid. This is probably going to be the deciding battle. According to the reports we have about a week to prepare until the armies reach they're destinations. Apparently the army west of us will intersect Cloudsdale's projected path meaning they're progress will likely stop as those in Cloudsdale prevent their advance. Which leaves the true army from the Badlands to attack Canterlot. They'll be done pillaging Dodge City by tonight and be on track to get here in no more than two weeks. Manehattan will be fine I think for the most part, they have General Blizzard after all. That mare isn't going to budge that easily. Especially if the armies are not entirely real."
Silence swept over us for a few moments, there wasn't really anything else to say. The next thing I heard was a cry come from the crib, so I got up and walked over to check on them. Crimson had seemed to have bopped Silver on her horn which from what I knew was painful to unicorns, especially to foals. I was about to pick her up when Vinyl walked over and beat me to it. She shushed her and bounced her in her arms to calm her down, kissing her horn like any mother would kiss their child's injury.
I just gave a shrug and decided to pick up Crimson and told him in a soft voice, "That wasn't nice son. You've got to be careful with your sisters. You're going to need to be protecting them when I'm not around." I chuckled, knowing he wouldn't understand me. Though when I looked into his silver eyes, they were looking at me intensely.
Next I addressed one who I knew could still hear me, "Bael, Korvin, you're going to be protecting him. You better not let me down with that. I'm counting on you" I said looking into my son's eyes, there was a brief flash of blue and red that crossed his eyes, letting me know they had heard me.
Satisfied I passed him over to Octavia who had been waiting to hold him. I noticed her belly was starting to show signs of her own pregnancy, causing me to smile at the though I'd soon enough have a third to deal with.
*A couple days later, Luna's study*
"Excuse me, you want my team to do WHAT!?" I shouted at Luna, leaning forward in the chair I was in for emphasis.
"I want you to go back to the Badlands and find Purge's headquarters. What part of that was unclear?" Luna replied calmly.
"And how do you suppose we'd even get there? Not like we can take a train again." I sat back irritably.
"The approaching army does poss a concern yes, but you already have a way back don't you?" She said with a smirk.
"The rune circle in the barracks... Ok yeah we could still get back that way, I only made it so that teleporting it results in instant death. Though I'm fairly certain that if we did go back we'd probably fall right into a trap."
"And you haven't already been thinking about a solution to that I'm sure." Luna's smirk did not falter for a moment.
I grumbled with annoyance, "Yeah I have. It'd just involve a couple thousand foot skydive, but beyond that everything would be fine."
"Only a couple thousand? You'll be fine. The pegasi in your squad will be able to handle the non fliers, and I'm sure you and your Lieutenant could survive a fall like that just fine." Luna said with a wave of her hand.
I ignore that last comment, "Why do you even want us to go back? If they're making their final move, why wouldn't they have destroyed their base to make sure something like you're planning doesn't matter?" I ask.
Luna's expression became more serious with her answer, "Because I've learn something in the many years, and subsequent wars, I've lived through. When an enemy makes a move like this they always leave their base weakened. That, and I don't think their leader is among the armies."
"What the hell do you mean by that? Why would they not be there?" I said, suddenly very curious.
"Because we scryed them and received no resistance in our efforts to do so. There was no sign to indicate that Purge's master is among the troops, or even the other vessel you mentioned." Luna explained.
The news surprised me for sure. If that was the case, they were probably waiting back at their HQ until the portals actually closed. Which could mean we have a unique opportunity to make a killing blow without nearly as much risk as before.
"You realize this is still a huge risk for my team if they have any sizable force still left at their HQ, right?"
Luna stood up before walking pass me to look out the window of her study. "Do you truly believe I willingly wanted to put one of my dearest friends on what could surmount to a suicide mission? Of course not." She said before turning to look at me, tears threatening to fall as she continued, "But there is not other option left for us. You and your team are made up of the best soldiers we have. If anyone has a chance of completing this mission and coming back alive, it is you. That is the only reason why I was ever able to convince myself to assign you this operation."
I stood and walked over to Luna, giving her a hug as she tried to choke back her tears. It didn't work for long as she soon broke down into waterworks as she collapsed her weight into my arms. I slowly eased us to the floor onto our knees as she cried into my shoulder.
"I don't want you to go! I'm scared that you won't come back, and it will be all my fault!" She sobbed.
I just gently stroked her ethereal mane as I tried to calm her down, "Shh, it'll be ok. I'm not going to be dying anytime soon. I'm sorry for questioning you. I should have known this wasn't an easy decision to make."
We just stayed there on the floor for a while, until Luna's tears finally dried up. She didn't even move when she was done, just laid there as she asked me another question.
"Do you Pinkie Promise you'll make it back?"
I chuckled, "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." I said doing the motions through Luna as I was currently restricted by a bear hug. "There, does that satisfy you?"
I could feel her smiling on my shoulder, "Yes, and it makes me feel better too."
"You better keep that promise!" I thought I heard a distant voice say, probably my imagination.
I was released from the hug and stood back up, before helping Luna off the floor. "I'll start making the preparations. My team will still need a day or two before we are ready." I explain.
"I thought as much. Do what you must Major. I'm expecting great things out of you." She replied, stepping back into her formal tone.
"Of course, Princess." I said with a salute.
I held it for a moment, just before we both broke down in laughter.
*Day of the opt*
Mizuki tapped her foot impatiently as she stood over me while I modified the rune circle, "Ok let me get this straight. We're using the same portal to return to an outed outpost, and you're modifying the destination coordinates to be a couple thousand feet in the air. Oh and lets not forget that you're wanting me to power this thing again. Maybe you remember what it did last time, but I'm going to be pretty much tapped from getting all of us there and protecting myself from the fall. I'm not going to be in any shape to fight a vessel, and you're not exactly a match either."
The others were doing final checks on their gear as Mizuki and I argued. They knew how dangerous this mission was, I had given them the option to pass on it if they so chose, but not a single one had. The Thestral mare Silver Fang had put it like this, 'We were placed on this team because we wish to see these bastards put down permanently. We aren't going anywhere but with you, sir.' Which got a smile out of me at the time. I was just thankful I had a team this committed.
Back to Mizuki though, "Twilight was able to help us out there. According to her, she'd been trying to find a way to store raw magic in a container to help me since she found out about my magic." I say while pointing to my pack.
She walked over to it and opened it to find large silver tube the length of her arm, "How much is in here?" She asked me.
"Enough to recharge this battery I'm wearing about a dozen times." I say tapping the wolf head pin I had on my uniform. "This thing has roughly about half my current strength, so that container is about the magic power of six of me. Probably enough to get you back up to maybe half strength, if you're tapped out that is." I explain.
She seemed curious as she flipped it a couple times, before getting bored and placing it back in my pack. "To bad we don't have a dozen of those things. It'd make fighting a vessel a breeze."
"Haha, yeah it would. Sadly even making that container was incredibly hard according to Twilight. I had to help Luna when she wanted to make me this pin. The rune work in this thing is honestly baffling, and it still holds so little magic. So I wouldn't hold my breath on getting another tube like that one, it'd take months to prepare, and we don't have that kind of time." I say before finally standing up from the rune circle, "There, all done. All that's left is to do final checks and load up. We leave in ten." I said the last part addressing my team.
"Sir, yes sir!" I heard back, which made me smirk before I shook it off and went to check my own gear.
If anyone had been at the Purge outpost and had looked up into the sky at the right moment, they would have gotten quite the shock.
The magic circle was inscribed in midair and gave off a bright light, but only for a moment. When the dozen soldiers popped into existence, they dropped like rocks. Some quickly spread their wings and shot down to help their flightless fellows, all but two. Two large impacts created craters that would be hard to miss, but it wouldn't matter. Their was no one but the soldiers to see who they were.
In one crater when looking into it they saw a young girl, one would guess was still in her late teens, as two wings of wind unfurled with one sparkling with blue magic and the other green. This was their vice commander, and they were starting to understand truly why she was considered so.
The other crater, when they looked down into it, was coated with random spots of glass. Created by the discharge of lightning that came from a sphere in the center. As the sphere died out, I walked out of the crater while brushing some sand off my shoulder.
After looking around to check that everyone was accounted for, I nodded to Mizuki... the mission had begun.
"Right. Sensing around, this place is abandoned. That's good for us at least." I said as I slung my pack of my back.
I pulled out the tube from it and the pin from my uniform. There was a small depression in the tube that my pin fit in perfectly, it was how I was to recharge it should the need arise. With a quick flash of light I removed the pin from the tube and tossed it to Mizuki. As I placed the pin back on my uniform I watched a Mizuki covered her hand in aura, causing a talon shape to appear. She simply squeezed down until her talons breached the tube's silver surface, another flash happened as we watched what happened. With the lack of the substance it was meant hold, the tube just imploded on itself as Mizuki drained it dry of raw magic. It was just a ball of silver metal when Mizuki finally removed her talon and let it drop to the ground.
"Ahh, that's actually refreshing. To bad it's can only give me that little." Mizuki commented as she kicked to silver ball lightly.
"Be glad you got it in the first place. Now we got a base to find. If I'm lucky Waterstrike might not have died in vain." I replied as I pulled a scroll from my pack.
Nocturne walked up beside me and asked, "What's that for sir? You didn't mention having a plan to find the Purge HQ."
"Because I'm fairly certain it won't work Sergeant. They'd have to be incompetent not to check for what I'm about to check for." I said.
"And that would be?" Nocturne insisted.
"A tracking rune." Mizuki answered for me. "It's in all of our uniforms, as a failsafe if someone gets captured or in this case killed."
"And hopefully it should, do this." I say, making a small cut to my finger.
I let a drop of blood hit for each member of my team, even the two deceased. Once I did I muttered some of the ancient words under my breath, activating my spell. The small pool of blood shot out into fourteen lines that began to cover the page. After a short moment the lines stopped moving and I looked at the result.
The page was meaningless if someone didn't know what they were looking at. It tracked the location of each member of my team while they were in uniform. I looked at the area where we should have split up to scourer the Badlands. At seeing the results I chuckled, the vessel in Purge must not be great with runes because I found what I was looking for.
"It should be around here." I say, pointing to a spot on the scroll.
Nocturne looked at the page in confusion, "Ok, and how would we know if it didn't work?"
"These lines track all our movement when we are in uniform. Stupid for them, they didn't destroy Waterstrikes uniform, probably just buried her in it." I explain. "If they had destroyed it, the scroll would have just burst into flames. Thankfully for us they didn't. Which that means I can see where she was when in the Badlands. Any deviation from where we met up here, should means that Purge's HQ is around that area."
With a location set, we headed out to find the Purge base.
It took us around two and a half hours, mostly because we couldn't risk using magic, but we were finally closing in on our destination.
I sent Silver Fang and Nocturne to scout up the next dune and I saw them have to quickly duck down before sliding back down to us.
"Well we got good news and bad news." Silver Fang started.
"The good would be is that I think we found the base." Nocturne commented.
Silver gave him a hard look, "Yeah. Then there's the bad. I think you'll want to take a look for yourself Major."
I raised an eyebrow before nodding and making my own way up, crawling to make sure I wouldn't be seen when I got to the top. I peeked over and nearly had my jaw drop.
"Damn, that's big." I heard beside me. I looked quickly to see Mizuki had joined me.
The complex was massive. It wasn't tall, but it was spread out over almost a good half mile square. The only reason I could think this could stay hidden would be is magic, and probably some runes to prevent scrying. I did a pulse and cursed under my breath. There were several hundred still present, though it was seemed like most of them were concentrated in one part of the complex. There were between two or three dozen presences roaming the halls, seemingly aimless. Changelings likely, so that it didn't matter if routes were exact. The 'oh shit' part was that I felt two large sources of magic in different parts of the complex. One was likely the vessel we knew about, the other could be the changeling queen, or something else entirely; it wasn't in our favor.
After sliding back down I addressed my team, "Ok we have a few problems. It looks like the patrols are changelings, so if we're seen we'll be as good as dead. Also, there is a large mass of soldiers condensed into what are likely their barracks. So we need to find a way to prevent them from being able to act as reinforcements when we inevitably are discovered. Finally, we have two targets of interest somewhere within. One is likely the vessel, the other is an unknown. Do not engage if you find a human down there, or another being that you don't know. They are both to be considered instant death if you fight them. That being said when we enter, do me and yourselves a favor and try not to get killed."
There was a low chuckle that rippled through the group, more as a way to avoid thinking about the fact we were not likely to all be getting out of here. It only took a few minutes to do final checks before I got nods all around and we made our way up the dune.
We slid down the other side until we reached the front of the complex. Fanning out we searched for a discreet way to enter and before long we got a signal. Converging on Mizuki, we found a large entrance that appeared to be similar to a loading dock. There were a pair of changelings conversing inside from what I pulsed out, then I turn to Mizuki and asked.
"Would you're mind manipulation work on mindlinked creatures like changelings? It might be helpful in getting us inside."
"I don't know, but we shouldn't kill them. The sudden lose of a mind from the hive will be an instant alarm." She replied.
"Hmm, can you suggest that they move to another part of the complex, or maybe tell them to go to sleep?" Nocturne spoke up.
Mizuki and I looked at each other, she gave a shrug, so I said, "Try the sleeping option first. Something like that shouldn't alert them if it doesn't work."
I got a nod in reply as Mizuki crept forward, she had told me they would have to hear her voice for the manipulation to work. It was a risk, but at this point we don't have much of a choice. She sneaked up to them and I saw her mouth moving as she attempted the spell. Moments later one of the changelings let out a yawn and say to its companion 'Let's go take a break.' to which the other nodded, and they started to walk away. Before collapsing to the ground, already fast asleep.
With a few pulses I guided us through the passages, avoiding the patrols as best we could. From what I saw when I did, one of the targets didn't move in the time we had arrived. Possibly sleeping, but that didn't make that individual any less of a threat.
I was actually guiding us toward the large mass of souls, wanting to discover what it was, and possibly enact a plan to prevent reinforcements.
We arrived at the door with no problems. It almost seemed from what I could tell, was that the sentries were actively trying to avoid getting too close to this room. Upon entering we froze in sudden understanding of why that would be.
It was their prison room. Thousands of creatures, from pony to dragon, were cocooned in pods of yellow slime. From what I could tell, being used as bionic batteries to power... something. I gently placed a hand on a nearby pod and did a quick pulse, the result sickened me.
All of these creatures trapped here, were already dead. Their bodies being kept alive by the slime to maintain the flow of magic, just to be siphoned off and used for something I doubt they consented in. That only left one option for what to do.
I raised my hand as I charged it with energy before I was about to unleash a chain of lightning to send this place up in flames, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me.
I asked without needing to turn to see who stopped me, "Mizuki? I assume you have a good reason for doing that."
"Just think for a moment. What use is there in destroying them? Why not use them instead?" She replied while stepping pass me and laying a hand on the pod.
I watched as it glowed brightly for a moment, before dimming and eventually turning into a clear liquid. I looked a her with a raised eyebrow as I scanned her. The magic she gained wasn't large by any means, but it could be noticed.
"Seems slightly unethical if you ask me." I replied as we walked over to another pod.
"Seriously? More unethical than using half dead bodies as magic batteries?" She said with amusement in her voice.
"Hmm, you make a good point. Though they'll easily know that we're here if we start absorbing all the magic in this room. Not to mention I don't know if I even can take in that much any more, can you?"
"I'm already running fairly high, even taking the majority will be a challenge. I can't hold that much for too long." She replied.
I looked around and back at my team, who were looking at us like two crazy people talking nonsense. However, they knew enough to know that they shouldn't doubt us. I turned back to the pods and gave a small nod, more for myself than Mizuki or the others. "Well, I guess we're about to find out if I can or not."
Just as I stepped forward in preparation I turned to my team and told them, "Make sure that door stays shut. As soon as we start draining these in mass, they'll know we're here and be on us in moments. I have no clue how long it will take or what will happen, but do your best to hold that door for as long as you can. Understood?"
I got a determined 'Sir, yes Sir!' in reply as Mizuki stepped up beside me. We gave each other a small nod before putting our hands on the central mass of pods. Lucky for us the pods were all connected together so we could focus on absorbing the magic.
It's hard to describe what I felt happen next. It started as a slight tingling running up my arms, but quickly shifted into what felt like a torrent of wind. Though that wasn't all, I felt energy coursing through me like I never had experienced. The rush shifted into a feeling like I was being slammed by a massive wall of unending water, just before I heard Mizuki cry out in pain. I glanced over to see her hair being blown by a gale of invisible wind as her eyes glowed blue and green. I witnessed in shock as her hair shifted from it's normal raven black into a bright glowing blue, just a shade darker than the color of her blue eye. That was the last thing I remember before I found out why Mizuki had cried out. My body erupted into agony as a feeling of fire blazed across my skin. I let out a howl that sounded very inhuman, similar to how Mizuki's cries now sounded like the shrieking of a bird. I felt my hair lengthen as it also was whipped around by an invisible gale. I caught only a glimpse of it, only enough to notice it's change in color. It was now a striking silver color, much like the color of fur of when I had shifted into my wolf form.
The pain was excruciating as I endured, I noticed my reflection in the slightly reflective surface of the pod. Just enough to see my eyes were like Mizuki's, in that fact that they glowed with my colors of silver and blue. I heard yells as a loud banging filled the room, I could only assume it came from the enemy attempting to break into the room and stop us. Though they were a little late in that attempt.
The pain stopped. The blazing feeling across my skin faded and was replaced by an unexpected one. Cold... that's what it felt like. A chill that pierced me to my core, as I looked around. Mizuki was in a similar state as she gave off a shiver as she took a step away from the now colorless pods. The cold didn't seem like just a feeling as I noticed wisps of fog roll off my skin. Likely it was simply magic we couldn't fully contain burning off, which resulted in our freezing states, though it mattered little at this point. The room was now dark, as the slight glow from the hundreds of pods had been extinguished, leaving only two bright light sources remaining, myself and Mizuki. We gave off a silver and greenish light respectively as we turned and drew our weapons.
I kept my blades in their tonfa form and applied what I thought was a small charge to the blades. I was shocked when energy expanded from my blades to double the length of my weapons. Mizuki drew her dagger and as she shifted it into the spear form with a similar effect when she charged it with magic. The blade was sheathed in bright green magic with wind visibly whipped around it, the blade itself growing and changing to look more like a glaive than a spear. The other were backing off the door as the few unicorns on the team struggled to keep it closed long enough for us to get in position.
"This will end tonight, one way or another." I spoke in a dark layered voice. Honestly surprising me, but now wasn't the time to care about a slight shift in my vocal cords.
"Indeed. Though lets attempt to make sure it ends in our favor." Mizuki replied in her own altered voice, hers sounding like a shrill layered sound compared to mine.
I just chuckled as I finally heard the solid stone door crack, indicating we were about to have company. A small pulse revealed quite the shock as several dozen soldiers were outside the door. An expanded pulse revealing more flooding towards the complex from outside, easily what had been outside mine and Mizuki's range to detect before our power surge. Of the two large sources of magic we detected earlier, only one was making it's way towards us, though it seemed slow in doing so.
The door gave way with an explosion as a flood of changelings rushed the chamber. It became a literal war zone as spells started shooting from both sides. I sent out arcs of lightning with each strike of my blades, chaining to two or three changelings per strike. Explosions of blue sparks showered me as I tore through the horde, attempting to not overuse my temporary power. I felt blasts of wind rip pass me as more changelings we ripped to pieces and exploded into green sparks as Mizuki covered me. Any stragglers I couldn't intercept were quickly dealt with by my team.
The ground quickly became slick with yellow blood as it oozed from the corpses that my team killed. Suddenly as I was about to dispatch another batch of suicidal changelings, they froze, staring at me with their unblinking blank yellow eyes. Though only for a moment before they quickly began to flee. I panted slightly as I waited to see what happened next. Though I didn't have to wait long.
The sea of fleeing changelings broke to reveal a dragon stalking towards us. He was bipedal, like Spike from Ponyville, though he was easily seven or eight feet tall. And from what I could tell, he was definitely one of those power sources I felt earlier. His coloration was very similar to the changelings with his scales an oily black and his spines and horns a dark yellow. The most striking feature though were his glowing green eyes, which gave me a very worrying feeling. I heard a dark laugh ring out as I notice him reach across his body and draw two longswords from his sides, and has he did they were encased in green flames.
"You've just caused a great inconvenience to me and my lord. I expect you've made peace with that fact you all are as good as dead from this point on, correct?" The drake spoke in a rasp as he did a few little flourishes with his swords, causing the flames to lash out like whips.
"And who is this lord you speak of?" I called back as I set myself into a stance to be ready to fight. I didn't receive an answer...
The drake lunged at me with amazing speed, thankfully lightning is faster. I dodged easily to the left and slashed at his side. I didn't anticipate however that those green flames would leap from his blades and shield him from my blow. I barely had enough time to pull my guard up as the drake used is incredible strength to swing his blades and the resulting clash to send me flying back several meters. I shook my head to clear it as I looked up and had to dive roll to avoid being turn to cinders by his green flames. Thankfully I wasn't fighting alone.
Mizuki rushed him from behind and attempted to stab him, but again our attack was stopped by a shield of green flames. She jumped back and slashed the air, causing a blade of wind to be shot in the drake's direction. He simply brushed it off as though the attack was a mere inconvenience.
Damn, this bastard is strong. He can't be a vessel, but somehow he's matching our strength when we've been supercharged. How!? I thought to myself.
I didn't get time to think on it as I was forced to return to the fight as another wave of flames were shot in my direction. I rushed with a burst of speed and again attempted to strike pass his guard, but again the flames prevented me from landing a blow. I was getting frustrated at this point, we had no way of breaking his guard and my magic would burn out if I wasn't careful. Ending this soon was imperative.
A way to land a blow dawned on me, and seeing no other ideas appear I went for it. Striking again I attacked with both blades attacking high and low on his right side. The flames blocked like I expected and I released my weapons. With charged speed I swiveled on my feet to spin so I could strike his other side. Reinforcing my leg with energy I kicked with a spin hook kick to his ribs. He was able to react some and tried to block with his left sword, but it only softened the blow to not cause injury. I still managed to send him crashing into the side of the passageway, the first successful strike yet.
I grabbed my blades in time to block a blast of flames. The drake push himself out of the indention in the wall as he held one sword in my direction, the source of the blast. Mizuki took the opportunity to unleash a hail of wind blades at him which occupied his flames. Seeing that she had caught onto my strategy I used the opening she gave me. Without the flames to protect him I lunged to try and end this. The slightly greater distance sadly gave him more time to react and he was able to stop my blades, though that didn't stop me this time. Again I let go and this time jumped and flipped to bring down a spinning axe kick to his head. I knew because of the slower speed of the move I wouldn't be able to strike his head, but I anticipated this.
Attempting to dive to the side, the kick did miss the drake's head but instead came crashing down on his left shoulder. I heard the cracking of scales and bone as the kick landed. The drakes movement did throw off the kick some, which caused me to land awkwardly. The drake stared at me with fury in his eyes while his left arm hung limply by his side, the sword it was gripping somehow not falling to the floor.
Mizuki joined me as I picked myself up off the ground and grabbed my blades once again, the fight finally in our favor. Though we found out shortly, we weren't the only ones to think that.
The green flames intensified around the swords which not only surprised us and made us step back, but the wielder as well. We could hear him begin to beg...
"Please, no. I-I-I can still fight. I won't let them past me. Master DON'T!" We heard him shriek. Before the battle was decided for us.
We watched as the flames began to pull the blades from the drake's grasp, him struggling heavily to prevent it, but it was for not. The blades slipped from his grasp causing him to fall to the ground. The blades hung in the air, held aloft by the green flames. Then, with a small burst in size, the flames flipped the blades towards the ground and impaled the drake. A roar of agony erupted from his mouth as he breathed green flames around the cavern, struggling violently all the while. Suddenly his struggling stopped as he looked us dead in the eyes and mouthed 'help me'.
We had no such chance as flames burst from every orifice, and sadly for us dragons are fire resistant to a point. We watched as his eyes slowly melt into puddles of white and red, with his scales resembling tar as they melded together and bubbled off his body. Which left his bones, and even they dissolved to ash and disappeared as the flames finished their task. I heard the others walk up behind us, not a word spoken as we all watched the results of failure to this 'Master'.
After they had done their work the flames exited the body and created a shape in front of us. It only to a moment to see a vague humanoid form, reminding me of a wraith, and it raised its arm to point at me. It gave a ungodly screech that had all but Mizuki and I fall to their knees and attempt to stave off the sound by covering their ears. However, it only lasted a moment before the wraith dissipated into oblivion.
"It appears as if I've been summoned." I mused out loud as I stared at the puddle of black ooze.
"This just turned into a legit suicide mission didn't it?" I heard Nocturne say behind me.
Before I even got a chance to reply, Silver Fang beat me to it, "This has always been a suicide mission. The only people that were expected to really have a chance are probably the two blocks of walking, talking, raw magic leading this team. Disregarding the Major's speech earlier, chances of us normals getting out were never high."
I turned slightly to see the team all looking to me, as if to confirm, "Sugar-coating things at this point won't do anyone any good. Silver Fang's description of the situation is accurate. If we all continue on to fight what I am assuming is the vessel responsible for all of this, the likelihood of any of you dying is quite high." I spoke before turning back to face down the hallway. "Which is why I'm going to do this."
Mizuki I'm going to need just a little help. I projected my thoughts.
Mizuki and I raise our left and right hands respectively before we snapped our fingers. There was a flash of bright light, and when it faded we were left along in the passageway.
Within the Canterlot throne room. Third-Person POV
A bright flash filled the throne room for a brief instant. Luna and Celestia stood quick from their thrones, the guards around the room pointing their spears towards the center. Everyone relaxed visibly when the saw it was just the Shadows that had returned, everyone but Luna and Celestia that is.
Luna picked a member at random to point at and demanded, "You! Where are your commanding officers!?"
It so happened she had picked Nocturne, who looked around the room as if still in a daze, "He really just did that..."
Luna walked over to Nocturne so that he could not ignore her again and asked, "Soldier! I demand to know why your commanding officers are not present!"
Nocturne, startled by the forceful demand, stuttered out, "S-S-Still in the B-badlands I-I-I think. T-they didn't give was any warning or choice. We're just as surprised to be here as you are my Princess."
"Why did they send you back!? What happened!?" Luna could be seen to be visibly shaking as she awaited the answer.
"We had just seen a drake that was with Purge murdered by his master, or his magic would be more accurate. The Major said if we continued to fight we'd likely die. The next thing I know he snapped his fingers and there was a flash and suddenly we're here."
"That stupid man. He better not be thinking of throwing his life away." Luna said under her breath as she turned around and walked back to her throne.
She sat down and Celestia calmly did the same, with a glance of concern in Luna's direction, before Luna said to the Shadow Stalkers, "Start from the beginning. Leave no detail out."
Purge Base, Badlands. First-Person POV
The tips of my lengthened hair had started to turn back to its dark blond color, while Mizuki had already about six inches of her three foot long hair already turning back to black. Much like a timer when the color was gone, or even before then, we would lose being able to use our full power that we had access to.
"Better not waste any time." Mizuki said as she started walking.
I nodded, more to myself than her, as I followed and walked by her side.
It only took a few minutes, we encountered zero resistance, any changelings we saw fled from us on sight. Finally we were standing before a large, ornate, obsidian door. We knew what had to be behind it, from the energy we felt alone.
We were only waiting a few seconds before the doors swung inwards of their own accord and we entered the room.
The space honestly reminded me of a knockoff of the Canterlot throne room, just made of obsidian and stone instead of marble. Even where Celestia and Luna's thrones would be stood an obsidian throne that almost looked like it was made of bones if it wasn't for the material. Though it really could be bone with just an enchantment on it. The sadistic bastard grinning on top of it certainly seemed the type.
His hair was an unnatural red, shaven on one side like a punkass. His eyes were pitch black, like a demon almost. He wore a heavy metal band shirt with the sleeves torn off with some ragged jean. A far cry from the armor Mizuki and I wore. On either side of him was a large pit filled with more green flames which he had a hand lazily waving in, not that it harmed him in any way. He smiled gleefully as we walked further into the room.
"Glad you could finally make it here, Fury, Indifference. Well, former Fury as it is." He spoke in a layered voice, not unlike our own currently.
I looked at Mizuki with a deadpan stare and asked, "What is with other vessels calling us by our Umbran sides? There some sort of reason to ignore the Solest side?"
The man swung his feet off the side of the throne and bend over so his elbows rested on his knees while he leveled us with a stare, still with his creepy smile never fading.
"Oh I just don't have any respect for that side of you. Why address it when it's not the side that's important to me or my plans?" He explained.
I sighed as I thought to myself, We don't have time for this...
In a flash I lunged across the room to strike at this vessel. When I thought my blade would hit true I was restrained by tendrils of green flame that extended from the pits beside the throne. I stared at the man in anger as he kept that same smirk on his face.
"Tsk Tsk, you didn't even ask who I am. Such manners, or lack there of." He said before kicking the tip of my weapon.
I was shocked by the sheer force put in such a small action as I was barely able to keep my grip as the momentum flung me back to skid to a stop back beside Mizuki, almost like he planned exactly that.
"Your the vessel who orchestrated all of this, for what is the only part I don't know. Though I really could care less at this point. Though I do wonder, where'd you get changelings?" I fired back as I dropped back into a fighting stance.
"Oh those little things, they're old leader was so weak I decided to put them to better use. Though I must say that you are so very closed minded Major Duron. You'll never beat your enemy without knowing why they're your enemy in the first place. Though maybe someone could enlighten you." He chuckled while shifting his stare.
Mizuki gripped her glaive tighter as she took a step forward, "You're a face I never wished to see again... Hunger."
"So you do remember me. Oh that means just so much coming from you Mizuki."
"Keep my name out of your mouth. You're not the near-feral ass I met those years ago, you must of eaten something with some intelligence finally." She smirked.
"Hmm, something of the sort."
I sent my thoughts to Mizuki, Ate? Like Full Metal Alchemist style?
In a way, his other side Patience never really contested him much. Just gave him the ability to think through his kills. He's survived off his feeding longer than he should, he was maybe three hundred when Indifference and Hope last crossed his path, about four decades back that is.
So he's old... and more experienced. That's not a good combo.
Though before he was more of a rabid animal. Seems like he probably ate someone smart enough to bring him out of his feral state, or a few someones.
"Oh, are you having a mind chat? That's not very nice." He said with a wave of his hand.
In a rush, the flames lept from their pits and blasted where we were, our enhanced speed being our savior. I lashed out with a few bolts of lightning but they were deflected by the flames each time. Mizuki rushed in but was batted to the side by a tendril of fire.
With a quick glance I noticed Mizuki's hair was about halfway back to her normal hair color, and knew that mine was likely similar. If we didn't find a way to beat this guy soon... well, it meant nothing good for us that's for sure.
To an onlooker it was probably a terrifying spectacle. Three super powerful, magic fueled humans clashing with massive bursts of magic. Lightning and hurricane winds carving out chunks of rock and obsidian while a mass of green fire whirled around a madman just laughing in the middle of this all.
We were expending power rapidly, and Hunger definitely noticed it. The tide quickly switched from him being barraged by us, to us having to dance around the room to avoid his flames.
Though as we fought a chunk of stone broke loose from the ceiling and was going to crash onto me. So I had the idea to launch it at Hunger, and for the first time, he was forced to dodge.
Mizuki noticed as well and began picking up chunks of rock in her wind and launching them like bullets.
The tide shifted back in our favor, and I even noticed his clothing become more shredded because of this, but strangely enough still not a scratch. Sadly rubble was a limited resource, and both sides knew this.
Suddenly the smile dropped from Hunger's face and he stopped dodging, his fires vaporizing any more rubble we shot.
"This has gotten boring. I think it's time to stop playing around." He calmly spoke before raising a hand.
The hair on my neck rising was the only warning I got. I dodged to the side just as a beam that resembled thermite blasted the spot I was before. The hole that resulted when so deep I could not see the bottom. I looked back in time to see his hand pointed at Mizuki.
I knew my speed would not be enough to move her so I did the only thing I could. With as little energy as I could that would get her out of the way I shot a bolt of lightning at her.
She barely noticed as she used her spear to brunt the blow which she used to kick back as another thermite beam ripped through the room. However the launch caused her to slam into the wall she was close to, hard.
Hunger tisked as he readjusted to the spot Mizuki was crumpled against the wall, struggling to get up. I wouldn't be able to help her dodge again.
"ENOUGH!" I roared as I threw one of my blades at Hunger.
With as much energy as my legs could handle I launched myself to the side and landed on the wall. Hunger used his spare hand to blast my blade I had thrown, the power of the blast mangling my weapon. I used the sacrifice to strike. I lept with all I could as I rocketed towards Hunger, or more precisely just behind him.
I crossed my arms across my body and used one hand to shoot a blast to stop my momentum. It was almost like I had teleported behind him in the time it took for this to happen. He looked surprised as I used another blast to cause me to spin as I used the momentum to strike as hard as I could with my remaining blade.
This spin gave him enough time to move but all he could do is pull his flame shield up as I slammed down on it with all the force I had. The magical energies clashing caused a shockwave explosion that rattled the room so strongly that more rubble started to rain down from the ceiling. If it kept up, we'd likely end up with all three of us buried alive.
"You should really realize that you can't beat me with your charge gone. Your end is inevitable." Hunger spoke calmly as he stared at me.
"You just made a huge mistake." I smirk at him.
He just chuckled, "And that would be?"
"You just challenged Murphy." I reply.
His smile dropped, "What?"
Suddenly his shield gave as he was slammed in the back with a large chunk of rubble. He barely deflected my blade and kicked me back across the room where Mizuki caught me. I spit the bit of blood in my mouth that had accumulated.
"Thanks for that." I say to Mizuki.
"For catching you or landing the first solid blow on this bastard?" She cheekily replies.
I give her a 'really?' look before looking back at our opponent, who was angry for the first time.
"Don't you get it yet!?" He screamed at us. "You can't beat me! You are only prolonging the inevitable, which for you is not in your favor."
I noticed Mizuki's roots were the only part with unnatural color left, meaning we only had moments until we were going to be without any way to continue to dodge.
That is until I saw Hunger raise his hands up and a ball thermite grew from it. Like a quickly growing spirit bomb of fire, one that we were not going to be able to dodge.
No... I paled as I saw it quickly become so large that it filled the room, the diameter easily ten meters wide.
The world slowed as I charged up all I could, hoping a final rush could do something at the very least.
However just as everything froze to a stand still, two wolves appeared before me. One of white energy, the other of black shadows.
"Bael, Korvin. How?"
"Well, not the real ones.More of a last impression we left for you." They completed each others thoughts.
"Any life saving advice then? Could use it about now." I replied
"No, no advice.Though how does revealing a little secret sound?"
"Sound like it's the best I'm going to get." I say, annoyed. Knowing I'm burning the last of my power having this chat.
"There was a reason we chose humans as the race to act as vessels.You weren't just our cells in a sense."
"Isn't that because of our characteristic that we could mentally fend you off from taking control?"
"Lord, no boy!HAHAHA, you overestimate your mental abilities.No, it was because our being in a weakened state you were stronger than us.You were our warden boy.Truthfully we could have broke your mind long ago.Though we were divided on what we wanted orginially. Then we began to respect you.Think of it as we were releasing your limiter. You were always using your own strength.So do with that knowledge what you will."
With that a third wolf appeared before me, this one looked down on me slightly as his size was much larger, a dire wolf in size. He resembled my old wolf form, though much larger. The greatest change besides size being the crackles of black lightning that discharged sporadically around his paws. He mirrored me as I tilted my head and smirked.
I looked down to see those same crackles of black lightning around my wrists and ankles, heh.
When I looked up Bael and Korvin were gone. The only one remaining being the dire wolf, or as I should say, my reflection as a dire wolf. I clinched my fist as I steeled myself, this was going to be one hell of a gamble.
I dashed forward, through the wolf. The image dissolving like smoke as I lunged. The smoke enveloped me and I felt it change me as my energy dropped to nothing.
Zair
With that singular word said in my mind, I felt my whole body explode with energy. The power flooded out of me almost uncontrollably. Though the lightning around my wrists and ankles seemed to act as chains to my energy and prevented it from escaping. The overflow feeling faded as my transformation completed. I was again in my wolf form.
The world returned to normal speed as Hunger stared with mouth agape at the silver dire wolf that now stood in his way.
"H-how? The magic needed for a transformation like that should be impossible for a vessel to sustain without their charge!" Hunger roared.
I just gave a full fanged smile as I prepared to pounce.
"DIE!!!" Hunger roared sending his solar bomb at me.
Shit! I gathered energy in my maw and howled. A blast of black lightning shot out and slowed the sphere just slightly, but I couldn't stop it.
Well I should have seen this coming. I lament, before I felt a hand on my side and a gale suddenly rips through the room.
Mizuki had joined me is a tornado spouting from her spear further slowing the bomb. She then added both hands and channeled her full power into the gale.
It became a stalemate as we pour energy into stopping our doom, though I knew Mizuki could only last a little more as her power was quickly draining, and even I could only hold this form for so long. So I did what I could.
I channeled a bit of power away which caused us to start loosing the stalemate as the bomb inched closer, and called for my remaining blade. It answered as it flew to me, and passed by as I aimed it towards the floor beneath the bomb. It ricocheted up into the bomb and the energy was released.
A giant pillar of flame tore through the thrown room. Though it subsided quickly and we could see the devastation that it left.
There was a hole straight through all three stories of magically strengthened obsidian, allowing us to see the moon hanging in the night sky. While the hole below ran so deep I saw waterfalls of magma falling further down into a lake of lava roughly about a thousand feet below us.
"Well, that trick is only working once." Mizuki commented.
"Indeed. So this time it will be your end!" Hunger shouted as the dust cleared. His appearance looking even more insane that before.
He brought his hands up for another bomb, but this time I wasn't going to allow it.
With a leap I shot across the room in an instant. His flames lept up to block me but my chains of lightning moved for me and held the flames back, giving me a straight shot.
Hunger saw this and was forced to drop his hands, causing the bomb to fade. However my claw was intercepted when Hunger drew an obsidian claymore from thin air. He shoved me back which cause me to fly back on the other side of the hole near Mizuki.
I reacted quickly and lept to the side of the hall to use the wall like a springboard and lunged forward again. He swung widely and caused a wave of flame to shoot from the tip of his blade. I dodged it just barely but it prevented me from landing a solid blow. Again I was pushed back, and so the pattern continued.
Mizuki joined in with shooting rubble at Hunger and he was quickly put on the defensive. After a bit more time all combatants paused as we were all left panting, Mizuki and I again across the pit from Hunger.
"This won't go anywhere. We're too even." Mizuki spits out through clinched teeth.
I nodded as I tried to figure out what to do.
However fate had other plans. A subconscious flick of my ear was all the warning I got.
A quake shook my whole being in just moments. I saw Mizuki and Hunger were barely standing upright themselves, as it felt reality itself was trying to shake apart.
"Ha, HAHA, HAHAHAHAHA!!!" Hunger laughed as he fell to his knees. " Finally! It finally happened! The portals are gone!"
I blanched at his words. I knew it was going to be unpredictable when they fell, but I never imagined anything like this.
I growled as I tried to move, but only ended up collapsing. These tremors felt like they were pulling the magic right out of me, and I could tell Mizuki wasn't fairing any better.
It felt like forever, but was likely only a minute at most, as we all were forced to just let this happen. I was so weak as I pushed myself up, holding his form was taxing and I was almost out of any will to continue.
Hunger looked at us with his black eyes as he propped himself up with his blade. "I think we're done here. I don't think anything will be decided at this rate anyhow. So with that adi-agggh!" Hunger screamed in pain.
Mizuki had used has much magic as she could muster to rocket a small pebble towards Hunger's face, which caught him square in his right eye.
He looked up at us in fury. Though what we saw was shocking enough.
His skin had cracked like porcelain and started to fall away from his right eye. Underneath was pitch black chitin, just like a changeling. His black eyes, green flames, and changeling minions, all started to make a lot more sense.
"Well that explains a lot." Mizuki continued to voice exactly what I was thinking.
With a snarl Hunger stood taller and allowed the rest of his guise fall away. In a flash of green flame Hunger stood before us completely changed.
His red hair was now matched with a sickly yellow mane on what used to be the shaven side of his head. His 'skin' was gone, replaced now by shiny black chitin. He looked much like the other changelings, though taller, except for one key difference... He still looked human in form.
He still had a horn and wings, but it looked strange on a human form. Along with the other difference from other changeling, his form lacked the holes his minions possessed.
He dusted himself off slightly before finally addressing us. "Are you proud of yourselves? You landed a blow, congratulations."
"Care to explain why you look like that?" Mizuki asked for me.
"Actually, yes I do. You've destroyed my home and ruined most of my plans, and you don't even have the courtesy to die when I want you to. So I feel leaving you with some questions is the least I can do. Though I do believe I'll leave you with a parting gift." He said before throwing his sword straight at Mizuki's chest, before disappearing in a flash of green flame.
I had no energy left to move, as I turned to see the blade as it seemed to move in slow motion towards Mizuki's heart. With the bit of my strength I let out a sonic bark to try and push Mizuki away.
I felt exhaustion flood me, which was the final straw for my current form. With a clap of thunder and a flash of light I was forced to revert to my human form, which I then fell to the ground barely able to move. The sound and light obscuring what happened to Mizuki
"M-m-mizuki!" I squeak out. Struggling to turn my head in her direction.
I cried as I finally turned my head. Mizuki was lying on the cold stone unconscious, with the claymore just next to her... or as I should say, between her and her left arm.
Blood flowed freely with nothing to stop it. I couldn't do anything but watch and cry as my friend was bleeding out in front of me.
However fate seemed to have a funny way of surprising me.
In a giant flash of multicolored light, a thunderous pop split the air. I blinked away the flash to see people I never expected.
All four Princesses, along with the elements, several powerful unicorns, and my whole team with a dozen other solar and lunar guards appeared in the entrance of the throne room. I see them all looking around wildly taking in their new surroundings.
It was Luna who first acted as she saw us.
"Oh please no, ANDREW, MIZUKI!" I heard her cry as she shot over to us with one flap of her wings.
"Help her." I croaked out, as Luna looked me over. Though she quickly recognized I was the better off of us.
"Medic!" She cried as the others rushed over.
Fluttershy and a couple guards came closest as attempted to help. Luna tried to use her magic, but the field kept sparking violently as it came in contact with the wound to stanch the bleeding.
Fluttershy applied pressure with multiple layers of gauze, but they were quickly soaked. "This won't be enough. We need magic to close the wound." She spoke firmly in her soft voice.
"There is some interference. Magic won't work on the wound." Luna replied, tears threatening to fall as she looked at me. "I-i'm sorry."
Celestia looked grave as she knelt down beside Fluttershy, "There seems to be only one option in that case." She spoke calmly.
A orb appeared in her hand, burning bright like her solar charge... and with just as much heat.
I saw the others blanch, besides Luna, as Celestia waved Fluttershy's hands away. I would have cringed if I could as I watched what happened next.
Celestia carefully brought the orb close before quickly using one hand to hold Mizuki's shoulder down as she pushed the burning orb onto the wound.
Mizuki's eyes flew open as she thrashed and screamed in pain. Gales of wind tore the air with as she uncontrollably acted on reflex. Luna quickly lept forward to help restrain her, along a few others, as Celestia cauterized the wound.
"What kind of hellish magic was used on her!?" Celestia grunted through clenched teeth as she tried to burn the wound shut.
Finally Mizuki went still again, passed out from the pain. With Celestia and the others letting go soon after.
"Finally. The wound just kept healing the burns. I had to put much more magic than I planned before it finally seemed to work." Celestia commented before her legs buckled and she collapsed. Thankfully Ryan was among the group, and was close enough to catch her.
"Thank you." I breathed as my tears started to flow again.
I felt myself get held up and pulled into an embrace by none other than Luna.
"You are a stupid fool, a reckless bastard, and an asshole for making me worry so much." She sobbed as she squeezed me, almost to the point I couldn't breath.
"Dont... tell... Vi and Tavi." I wheeze.
"Oh no, they are definitely getting told." She replied with a smile, that was filled with as much relief as it was with rage. I was very conflicted on how to feel about it.
I saw Nocturne walk up to me with a frown, "If this is what I would've gotten for staying, I'm a bit mad you sent us away."
"If I hadn't you'd probably look like the ceiling right now." I replied before I had a slight coughing spell.
Nocturne looked up and cringed, "Ok. Yeah, all feelings of jealousy gone now."
I chuckled lightly as I glanced at Mizuki, who had Fluttershy looking after her with the help of a couple medic ponies, "She's not going to be happy whenever she finally wakes up."
Celestia replies, "No. No I don't think she will. Though I am glad to say I do think she will wake up."
"And for that I'm forever grateful. She will probably be too. Well, either that or indifferent. Those aspects can influence our personalities pretty strongly." I comment. "Hey, what about the armies from Purge?"
"It was very strange. The one closest to Canterlot was finally within sight when the portals collapsed. It just vanished. Apparently it was almost completely made of illusions like we thought." Luna states.
"And the one from the Badlands?" I prompted.
"Interestingly enough, similar story. Except we received a report stating that the army disappeared before the portals collapsed. About a couple hours ago actually." Celestia answers.
"Hmm, sound like it must have been constructed near entirely of golems. I'm pretty sure Mizuki and I stole their power source, which I'm sure my team told you about, at least in some capacity."
At this point Twilight walked up to me, Luna helps me to my feet though I still have to lean on her for support. "I'm not sure how it felt out here, but the portals collapsed." Her face solemn about the news.
"Like the worst earthquake that I could possibly imagine, then crank that to eleven. Oh, and add to it magic draining effects that made me feel like I was going to pass out. That, that's how it felt." I tell her.
"Yeah, that sounds about right." She said, "I'm sorry you can't go home, Andrew."
I shook my head, "I stopped considering that place home a long time ago. Now Earth is just... where I came from."
I look between the princesses, Cadence looking over Mizuki with Fluttershy, and ask, "How the hell did you guys get here? Long range teleportation by just harmony magic would've drained you guys dry normally."
Luna just points up at the sky. I look to see the moon still shining directly overhead. "Not something that I use often, mostly because it is very taxing, but I used the moonlight to try a scry spell on you. Then when we finally got an exact location, Twilight arranged a spell using the elements and our Alicorn magic to fuel the spell to get us here, without being 'drained dry' as you put it." Luna explained.
"I'm glad you came when you did. Any earlier or later would have been very bad." I tell her.
"Be that as it may; we're here now, and we are going home, together." Luna replies... I just smile.
"Hhhhhh," I sighed as I looked out at Ponyville from my porch, relaxing as I watched my children play in our front yard.
It's been two years since the portals closed Equis off from Earth and the war with Purge concluded. The event being commonly termed 'The Collapse'. The truth of it being a organization lead by changelings caused an interesting result. Many ponies that were sympathetic to the cause were instantly remorseful for what part, however minor, they played in helping or condoning Purge. Many were imprisoned if their crime was great enough, though in most cases the offenses were so minor that community service was the common result.
We failed to ever find Hunger. The bastard almost acting as if he had disappeared entirely. I had no doubt that one day he would return with another plan to conquer Equis, but it would be anyone's guess when he would reappear. I continue to hope that I'll still be strong enough to fight him when that time came.
I heard the door open to my house and saw Vinyl and Octavia come out to join me. I was in my dire wolf form, just because I enjoyed it from time to time, and my mares just came to sit in front of me and lean against my side. The three of us enjoyed the late autumn weather as our children played a game of their own design together.
The twins, now two years of age, played with their year old sister, Adara Rose. My daughter was an adorable little terran pony, with a dark grey coat and mulberry eyes like her mother. The trait I passed on was apparent in her mane, a lovely silver color. Her terran traits helped her keep up with her older siblings as the played around.
Crimson's magic manifested just a few months ago in the form of violent wind, that ripped a whole in the ceiling of his room, which of course got him grounded. I got Mizuki to start teaching him soon after, with Twilight helping. Mostly because the mare wouldn't take no for an answer to be involved in his training.
Concerning Mizuki, she was sadly unable to regain her arm, prosthesis included. Whatever magic was imbued into the claymore that severed it initially, prevented any interaction with her body, magical or technological. Doctors say it was a miracle that Celestia's magic even managed to cauterize the wound. I could tell it bothered her, but only mildly. I figured it had to do with Nanal's influence on her personality, though in this case it was probably for the better. Though I will say it hasn't overly hindered her in her abilities as a vessel. Training Crimson seemed to give her a challenge that took her mind off things, at least during their lessons.
His winds were weak at the moment, except when he throws tantrums, though Twilight helped figure out a fix to that problem. His magic was just strong enough for him to slightly push his siblings around, which they found could be fun in their imaginary games.
I let out a pleased groan as I felt Vinyl reach up and scratch behind my ear while Octavia drug her fingers down my back in a slow scratch. I knew that if they continued long enough I'd probably fall asleep right here on the porch, though sadly that wouldn't happen.
"We should probably get going soon." I heard Vinyl say as the scratching stopped.
I let out a small annoyed growl before I nodded and got up to stretch. A small field of static surrounded me as my body glowed while I shifted back into my human form, a task that had become almost second nature to me by this point.
I stretched my arms as I replied, "Yeah, you're probably right. I'd probably get an earful later if I showed up late to the ceremony."
With a quick whistle I got the attention of the kids. When they heard it they stopped their playing and came running.
"Dad!" Crimson said as he jumped with a boost from his wind, landing him in my arms before I put him on my shoulders.
"Hey! No fair!" Silver cried as she hugged my left leg.
"Mine~" Adara whined as she hugged my right.
Vinyl and Octavia just giggled as they watched me get swarmed, content to watch the comedy routine in progress.
After a minute of watching the girls try and dethrone their brother Vinyl stepped in.
"Hey what about your mothers? Are we chopped spinach or something?"
Reminded they had other parents to carry them, the girls rushed over to their mothers who gladly picked them up. After they nuzzled them Vi and Tavi looked over to me. I gave them a nod and we set out towards town.
Funny enough this was Twilight's idea, or I should say Twilight was the one who found a book that mentioned this idea.
Almost like the United Nations, except this group would actually accomplish something. This ancient council used to exist in the earliest years of Equis, back when knowledge of magic was minimal and chaos was the natural order of the world.
It was comprised of the strongest member of every known race that was willing to work together. Each race of pony, zebras, yaks, dragons, griffons, sirens, and so on; all worked together to defeat threats that would have destroyed them all, and mediate the worst conflicts between the races. From destroying elementals, to imprisoning wendigos, to actually creating the realm of tartarus for the worst criminals to be banished to. This council allowed for the continued existence of almost all races in the early days of Equis.
When such monumental threats had been dealt with, the council disbanded, it's existence lost to the passage of time.
Well until Twilight found the one still existing book that mentioned them that is.
So after many diplomatic missions and much longer debate about how this would be accomplished, a consensus was reached. The public ceremony for the creation of the new council was being held in the Castle of Friendship, as it was the most inclusive setting for many difference races to gather.
Because of the fact I was the only public human magus, it was decided that I would act as the human representative on the council.
We entered the castle, which was filled with all manner of griffon, zebra, dragon, pony, human, and many others, all there either to see the representatives or acting on behalf of news organizations. It was crowded and I had Crimson get off my shoulders and wait with his mothers as I continued further in. The harmony map room was where the ceremony was to take place, though the only members that would be in the room would be the representatives, the heads of the races gathered, and the Princesses of Equestria. As humans didn't really have a 'ruler' Mizuki was present to aid in representing the human race, which was needed for purposes that had been vaguely explained to me.
The room was closed to the Press after all parties were present, myself being one of the last to arrive. Twilight spoke loudly to gather everyone's attention.
"Greetings everyone! On behalf of Equestria, I thank you for agreeing to this meeting and I welcome you to the Castle of Friendship." She said while standing on her throne to better project her voice. "If the representatives of those races that are present could please take their seats around the map of harmony, we will begin."
I sat between the representative of the dragons and griffons. The former was too large for a chair so he was simple laying on his belly with his head close besides me. Even though Dragon Lord Ember technically held dominion over the dragon race, it was decided it would be better to have a separate representative for this council. So the twelve foot, stark white dragon next to me, who apparently was a cousin to Ember, took that honor. Apparently he was a front runner for dragon lord himself, though he didn't care for the responsibility, so he passed on the competition for the dragon lord torch.
The griffon on the other hand, had obtained this title by way of a tournament. A gruff character, his red feathers stuck out brightly against his black fur. His weapon of choice, a black halberd, leaned against the back of his chair, always with quick reach. Though he seemed approachable enough, at least with how he was chatting up the zebra representative who was next to him.
It took a few moments before everyone was settled, there being a dozen races in total, all with very different personalities. Though when we did, all attention was on Twilight. She just smiled with a bit of pride at seeing all these races here together to form something to help each other.
"Everyone present is aware why we are here correct?" She asked. With no creature speak to the contrary she went on, "Good. I'm believe everyone can agree that this is a momentous occasion. With the result of the ending of the Purge War, it is my belief and those of your leaders that it is our duty to prevent such a tragedy from ever occurring again."
Receiving nods all around she continued, "Humans were not the only ones who suffered. The criminal behind Purge was found to have used beings from all races as batteries for a golem army, the damage of which was grand. Everyone who holds a seat here, you have agreed that should a threat of this scale occurs where magic is not the answer, you will answer the call to fight it. The final defense for Equis as a whole, you will be our safeguard."
A few representatives swelled with pride a bit at Twilight's praise. I smirked at how confident she had become in her role of princess, it was a welcome change from the timid alicorn I had originally met. Though the ceremony wasn't quite over.
"With the consent of all those present, there is one more item we must address. So that we can insure that we hold ourselves accountable, a spell will be cast with the binding of an oath to allow for trust among all members. And to put all minds at ease, this spell was painstakingly crafted with magic from all of the races, so that no one race can ever hold power over this council." Twilight explained. "To start, please put your right hand, wing, fin, or claw, on the map of harmony and we will conduct the oath."
We all did as told, and waited for further instructions.
I saw Twilight charge her horn and a stream of rainbow light flow from it to each leader around the room, who were also channeling their race's magic towards the map, until a complete circle was linked and streams of light shot out to link to each representative's chair, Mizuki being the anchor to mine.
With the spell cast Twilight spoke, "Now the oath, please repeat after me."
I swear to protect Equis and all who call it home.
Any who would threaten the peace is my foe.
Should the call be made, I will answer.
For I am, a Guardian of Equis.
With the oath said, a crest appeared on all of our chests before fading away. It's influence must have come from human magic as the crest was a triquetra. Though each race's version was distinctly different, they could all be recognized as a triquetra. It was interesting as it allowed for each representative to remain unique, but were also connected to their fellows by the crest.
"The spell is complete." Twilight smiled. "Congratulations everyone, you are now Guardians. This title represents your status as the champion of your race. It is equivalent to nobility of the highest standing for any of the races included here today. Should it be necessary to complete your duties, you are allowed to exercise this title to request aid on your missions."
With that everyone rose from their seats, now that the ceremony was concluded. Only the press left to deal with.
The leaders of the races left first to be greeted by a hoard of news reporters, again Twilight acted as the spokesmare for the leaders.
She and the other leaders stepped aside to reveal us, with our crests faint though still distinctly visible, before she announced, "Let of greet our new defenders, our Guardians of Equis."
Cheers roses from everyone present, as news reporters swarmed the leaders and the Guardians with a swarm of questions. I looked over to Vinyl and Octavia and smiled as they smiled back while our kids cheered loudly.
Later on after the media was sated, the town of Ponyville was subjected to the largest party in it's history. So large Pinky needed to call in a friend, Grilled Cheese I think it was, to make it to her proper 'Pinky Pie Awesome Party Happiness' scale... her term, not mine.
I had conversed with each of the Guardians in at least a small capacity, enough to remember their names. Though a couple of us formed a small group and separated from the party to have some privacy.
I was join by: Blackclaw the Griffon, Azure Splash the Sea Pony, Smash the Minotaur, and Mizuki. We had something important to talk about. With the exception of myself, all present were vessels, in a way.
Now it might sound confusing and impossible, but it was very true. Just months after the portals closed, I was approached by two humans. They were the vessels for Love/Lust and Kindness/Sloth . Upon figuring out who I was, or at least who I used to be, they sought me out to ask for something unexpected.
They had also found love with non-humans, Azure Splash and Smash respectively. Love was a meek fellow, not wanting to get involved in the war. Though upon seeing the results of the war, he knew something needed to be done. He asked Azure if she would accept his power and do something in his place. It was fate by the fact that rumors about the creation of Guardians of Equis had started not long before that. Seeing the opportunity before them, they opted to find out how to transfer vessel power to a non-human.
Smash on the other hand was the one to suggest it to his partner. Being aware of her state from apparently early on in their relationship, when rumors of a Guardians reached them he bought up the idea to act in her stead. However, both pairs had a slight problem.
Much like Nylus and Nanal, these Solests and Umbrans were not overly vocal to their vessels. So having seen me due to the award ceremony after Manehattan, both pairs set out to find me. Oddly enough they found each other before finding me, which lead them to approaching me together.
With Mizuki's help, we discovered that by using a blood oath the essence of being a vessel could be passed safely to another. Similar to the drake that Mizuki and I had fought back in the Badlands.
Bravery/Fear still needed to be placed in a new vessel, that is where Blackclaw came in. His family had adopted a human child that had ended up in Equis several years before the portals first opened. In Mizuki and I's search for a replacement vessel we had found that this boy, now a young teenager, was actually a match to the Arachne bloodline. Though we were hesitant to make someone so young a vessel, Blackclaw resolved this problem.
He had received a blood transfusion from his adopted brother just a year before we showed up, and wished to become the vessel in his brother's place. With limited guidance from Nylus and Nanal, and a lot of help from Twilight, we discovered that anyone with the blood of first Magi of the appropriate bloodline, the abilities of a vessel could be given to them. Even forcefully if absolutely necessary.
With this knowledge all three non-humans were made into proto-vessels. With a couple weeks of training after the ritual, each pair returned to their homelands with the goal to become a Guardian. The results of with were clearly seen.
"It's good to see you both again. Ponyville is quite the nice place." Blackclaw greeted us.
"Ooo, the party has been so much fun! That Pinkie Pie is such a riot." Azure giggled. "This town reminds me of when Jeffrey and I visited the Crystal Empire, so much love and feelings of friendship in the air. Though I like the warmer weather here."
Smash just raised his fist, which I bummed. He had always been a quite fellow, even before the influence of Sloth.
"Nice to see you all as well. Do you have anything to report?" I asked.
All three knew immediately what I was referring to. Smash was the first to respond.
"Nada." He drawled out.
Blackclaw looked down and kicked the dirt slightly, "Same for me I'm afraid."
"I'm not overly surprised, but a no for me as well." Azure replied.
I sighed, while Mizuki just shrugged, "Well I can't say I didn't see that coming. Though it still annoys me." I answered.
Upon recruiting them as proto-vessels I made them aware of Hunger and all that we knew about him thus far. I had tasked them to attempt to find anything that might be related to where the bastard might have disappeared to. I check up occasionally, though the results are always the same. No news, nothing unusual, and still no leads.
"We'll stop the bastard. He'll show up again one day." Blackclaw said in his optimistic style, "And when he does, he'll have the whole Guardians of Equis waiting to stop him." He said while striking a pose.
His antics got chuckles to smirks of amusement for his efforts, which he seemed perfectly satisfied with.
Smash actually caught our attention next, "Back to party?"
With nothing left to discuss we all nodded our heads in reply and lazily rejoined the party. Our brief departure not even noticed by the jollily-intoxicated atmosphere of a party winding down. Most looking like they were about to be leaving for home or attempting to find their hotels.
I found Vinyl and Octavia on a bench with three passed out munchkins using them as pillows, their own eyes drooping slightly as well. I walked up to them and carefully picked up little Adara, the movement causing them to wake up a bit. They smile at me before carefully picking up the other two, and with a nod we all began our walk home.
"We're proud of you Andrew. You know that?" Vinyl said softly before letting out a small yawn.
Octavia followed up with, "You are the best thing that ever happened to Vinyl and me."
"I could say the same thing, girls. You've given me so much more than I could even dream of." I smiled. "With only more to come."
Without another word we continued home. Tonight drawing to a close, but an entire life ahead. We would live through it together, and I could never be happier than I am by just knowing that.
