//------------------------------// // Truth of a Child // Story: A Lost Child // by Ultimate Mayhem //------------------------------// "Are you okay?" asked Fluttershy as they went up to him. "Well....I'm alive. Or about as alive as I can be." said Shawn as a small bit of blood trickled down from his forehead just above his left eye. "Did you know that...thing?" asked Spike. "You could say that." replied Shawn. "For now I'll only say we have history." "Did you...use blood magic?" asked Twilight with some hesitation. "Yes. Yes I did." he replied simply. "What's wrong Twilight?" asked Fluttershy. "Blood magic is a kind of dark magic." said Twilight. "No it's not." replied Shawn. "Blood magic, like pretty much every other kind of magic, is fueled by emotion. The only reason it gets classified that way is because most of the beings who use it are a bunch of corrupted jackasses." "Language!" scolded Fluttershy causing Shawn to raise an eyebrow. "In any case my basic blood magic really only focuses on defense." he explained as he felt Rainbow Dash poking his back. "Can I...help you with something?" "What happened to your wings?" "Oh that. They're retractable." replied Shawn. "Retractable?" asked Rainbow. Shawn nodded. "Twilight what does retractable mean?" Twilight facehoofed. "It means that I can have them inside my body when I don't need them just like the claws of a cat." explained Shawn. "I guess with the size of your wings you'd probably need to conceal them." said Twilight. "Oh that's got nothing to do with it. Those of us with wings all have retractable wings." "And how many of you is that?" asked Twilight. "Well I know Angel's a winged tiger, Shadow's a winged wolf, Zephyr's a pegasus, and I'm a phoenix." he counted looking at his fingers as he counted. Afterwards he noticed the others were staring at him. "What?" "You're a....a phoenix?" asked Fluttershy. "Yeah. What about it?" he asked wondering what that had to do with anything. "It seems there's a lot we need to know about you." said Twilight. "We should head to Canterlot. The Princesses will want to know about you." "Alright." shrugged Shawn. "You don't mind?" asked Fluttershy. "I honestly don't care." replied Shawn. "What do you mean you don't care?" asked Rainbow. "Miss Dash I've been living on the streets for two years basically surviving off anything I could find because the sense of honor my parents instilled in me keeps me from using any of my skills or weapons to get anything. I've pretty much been dead inside for a good while so at this point your rulers could choose to have me executed and I wouldn't care. I'd probably see it as a mercy if anything." The others looked at him in shock. Even Pinkie's mane and tail deflated. "So...you don't care what happens to you?" asked Fluttershy. "No." It was then Fluttershy hugged him causing him to look around with an eyebrow raised as Pinkie joined in followed by the others. "Sooo...does this mean you want me to fly everyone?" At that they stepped back. "You can fly?" asked Rainbow. "Where I'm from any magician worth their mettle knows how to fly." replied Shawn. "It's a pretty basic skill." he said as he began floating. "So are we flying there?" "No. We'll take a train since not all of us can fly." "Wouldn't it be a lot faster if you just made a magic construct that could fit everyone?" "A construct?" asked Spike. "Yeah. You know. Something made of solidafied magic energy." said Shawn as some red energy formed in his hand which expanded taking on the form of a sword. "Actually now that I think about it wouldn't it be better use a spell?" "Unfortunately I don't know any spells which could take us to Canterlot faster other than teleportation and I'm not skilled enough to teleport us all yet." explained Twilight. "Alright. Give me a sec." said Shawn as his hands began glowing. "Alright everyone come close." The other approached him before a large bubble formed around them which shot into the sky. "Alright, which way?" "Um...that way." pointed Twilight towards the castle in the mountain. "Alrighty. Hang on. I haven't driven one of these in a little over six hundred years." said Shawn as the bubble moved almost as fast as Rainbow Dash causing most of them to be pushed to the back of the bubble. "So you want me to land in the castle?" asked Shawn. "No!" replied Twilight. "Land in front of Canterlot. We need to avoid causing a panic." "Alright." he replied as the bubble abruptly changed course enough to stop in front of the gate causing them to be thrown around before the bubble disappeared. "Uh....sorry about that." he said sheepishly. "Again! Again!" yelled Pinkie as she jumped. "Halt! Who goes there?" asked the guard at the gate. "We're here to...." began Twilight before running behind a rock and retching. "uh...." said Shawn looking to the other noticing most of them seemed to have motion sickness. The only exceptions being Rainbow and Pinkie. "Sorry about that." said Twilight as she went up to the guard. "We're here to see the Princesses." "And is it with you?" asked the guard looking at Shawn. "I'm a guy." said Shawn angrily. "Asshole." he muttered. "Yes. He is." said Twilight. "Very well." said the guard as he opened the gate. "This might just be me but aren't there usually two guards set for this kind of thing?" asked Shawn as they entered. "Maybe one's on break or something." replied Rainbow Dash. Shawn looked around somewhat curiously which the others noticed. "Welcome to Canterlot." said Twilight. "You guys really don't have any real tech, do you?" "You mean technology?" asked Twilight. "We do have some technology but most of what we have is based on magic." "I can tell. A lot of things here are extremely antiquated." "Extremely what?" asked Rainbow confused. "Obsolete." clarified Shawn. Rainbow stared at him. "It's a way of saying old and useless." clarified Twilight. "Oh." "So your world has a lot of technology?" asked Twilight. "You tell me. You've been to a world similar to my own." "Right." said Twilight. "I guess all in all the technology is more advanced there than here." "So I'm guessing we're going to the castle?" "That's right." 'On the bright side this can't go any worse than when I asked for Alisa's hand in marriage in the dark ages.' he thought to himself. Once they got to the castle he stayed silent as the others led him towards the throne room. As they entered Shawn noticed a white unicorn stallion who's presence instantly pissed him off. As he followed the unicorn bumped into. "Watch where you're going whelp." said the unicorn. "Atrego maxis praecordia." Shawn whispered causing a mark to appear under the stallions hoof as his eyes flashed for a second. He turned back towards the others and saw Princess Celestia. Something inside him burned brighter than normal. "You must be the one who was found by the Elements of Harmony." said Celestia. Shawn nodded. "Twilight I believe a letter would have been sufficient to tell me that the young one awakened." "Actually your highness..." Shawn spoke up. "...I believe the reason she felt we should come here is so you might assess whether or not I'm a threat to you and your....ponies." Twilight turned to him surprised. "Is this true?" asked Celestia. "W-Well a lot happened...you see..." began Twilight before Celestia raised a hoof and turned to the guard to her left. "Honor Guard please bring my sister." "Yes ma'am." said the pegasus before leaving. "In the meantime I do apologize for my nephew's behavior towards you young one." "I've dealt with douche bags like that before." replied Shawn. "So it seems you can use magic." said Celestia. "You took notice of what I did to him." said Shawn. "Indeed. Is it something I need to be worried about?" "It's a curse a student of mine made a few hundred years ago to deal with egotistical morons. It'll give him the nastiest nightmares he'll ever experience until he becomes humble." "Oh?" said Celestia with a slight smile. "I have been meaning to punish him but this form of punishment sounds like it might serve much better." The ponies and dragon looked at her surprised. "I guess what they say is true. Anyone connected to the sun has some level of mischief to them." said Shawn. "You're connected to the sun?" asked Celestia curiously. "Kinda. More than anything I'm connected to the sun in the same way plants are. I draw power from it. It's where my primary regeneration stems from." replied Shawn as Honor Guard returned with Princess Luna. "Is there something you needed sister?" asked Luna not noticing their arrivals. "The young one whom Fluttershy found injured has awakened." replied Celestia as Luna reached the thrones. She turned and looked at him. However in her presence Shawn felt something strange within him. "It is good to see you well young one." said Luna as she sat at her throne. "Thank you your highness." "Please. You needn't be formal." said Luna. "Alrighty then." he said. "I suppose before we start some introduction are in order. My name is Shawn Xander Garrett. Also known as Inferno. Earth's elemental of fire." "Very well. I am Princess Celestia and this is my younger sister Princess Luna." "It's a pleasure." "Likewise." said Shawn. "Now what would you like to know?" "I suppose we should start with the basic of matters." said Luna. "What are you?" "Officially I'm classified as a Chimera." replied Shawn. "A chimera?" asked Luna surprised. "That's right." replied Shawn. "You see most people with an appearance like this would be refered to as human. I however was born to very unique parents. My mother was human but my father was...a vampire." "A vampire?" asked Luna. Shawn nodded. "Fascinating." "I noticed you used past tense." said Celestia. "What happened to your parents?" "They...died." "Oh. I'm..." began Celestia. "Please. Don't." interupted Shawn. "It's been two years since it happened so I've mostly gotten over it." "If you don't mind my asking what have you been doing with no parents for two years?" asked Celestia concerned. "I've been a street rat." "A street rat?" asked Luna surprised. "Yes. For the most part I've had to steal to eat each day. Occasionally I'd scam someone for some money to get something to eat." explained Shawn. "When was the last time you ate?" asked Celestia. "Two days ago because the ones who were hunting me began looking for me at the market." "Honor Guard please have the cooks prepare a meal immediately." ordered Celestia. "Right away." said Honor Guard before leaving. "So can you tell us how you arrived here in Equestria?" asked Luna. "Well the ones who were hunting me expanded their search and found me in a park. They chased me down and they got me with these weird spear things. After I was impaled the fifth or sixth time I don't remember what happened other than I found myself in a forest. I tried to walk but I didn't make it far before collapsing. After that I remember waking up in a hospital bed." "That's something I've been wondering." said Twilight. "Why did you run away?" "My family died because of me. The ones who wanted me killed them because they were looking for me. I wanted to avoid causing anyone else trouble." said Shawn looking down. "You have suffered a lot. If I may ask how old are you?" asked Celestia. "Eight." replied Shawn. "At least physically." "What do you mean?" asked Celestia. "Well..." he began looking to the side. "In truth as an Elemental I wasn't born like most living creatures. My team and I came into existence before there was life on our world. For some time we watched until animals began roaming the earth. Then some time later after humans began to roam the earth we watched them and eventually we decided we wanted to live so we became incarnate." "So you've lived multiple life times?" asked Luna. "Yes." replied Shawn. "How many?" asked Celestia curiously. "I'm actually not sure. I stopped counting after a while. All I can really say is we've been incarnate for a few thousand years at least." "There's more." said Twilight causing the two elder Princesses to look at her. "He also said he was a phoenix." Upon hearing this the two looked surprised. "A phoenix?" asked Celestia. "Why is that such a surprise?" asked Shawn confused. "Are Phoenix common where you come from?" asked Celestia. "Not really. Other than myself there's only nine others and only three a few others who keep in hiding and as far as I know I'm the only one who's become incarnate." replied Shawn. "It's part of why I have these." he added as he arched his back causing his wings to sprout out of his back surprising them. "Where do you keep your wings?" asked Luna. "They stay inside my body for the most part." replied Shawn as he retracted them. "There's also another detail that I should mention." "Which is?" asked Luna. "A few years ago several newborn children, most no older than a week old, were kidnapped by demons and experimented on by another demon. I was one of these children." "They experimented on you?" asked Princess Celestia horrified. "That's right." replied Shawn. "Their objective was to make the ultimate army. An army of mindless killers so they put devices into our heads called computer which would allow them to not only monitor our actions but also to control us like puppets. The only good thing is that to do so they had to seal off parts of our minds piece by piece and they only got as far as the first." "So what part of your minds did they seal?" asked Twilight. "The part that controls fear." "So what does that mean?" asked Rainbow. "It means none of us have the ability to feel fear." The Princesses looked concerned. "So you're brave?" asked Rainbow Dash. "No." replied Shawn. "Bravery is the ability to overcome fear. The difference is that being brave gives one the ability to think about the bad possibilities to something. But those who can't are....a little more dead inside. They lose a little bit of what makes them living creatures and it's because of this that I feel more demonic than anything." "Demonic?" asked Celestia. "Part of what they did was infuse us with demonic DNA though some ritual. It was interupted but not in time so all of us are part demon." explained Shawn. "As a hybrid even my own people looked down on me but as a chimera I'm seen as an abomination." "Though you have lived many lives you're still a child." said Celestia with a sad smile as she turned to Luna who nodded. "I do not believe you will be a threat so if you wish it you can remain in Ponyville until we find a way to send you home." "I appreciate the gesture but it'd be a waste of time." replied Shawn. "As far as I can tell I was brought here by a dimensional veil and I don't have the ability to distinguish one universe from another so trying to use a spell to find the one I came from would take too long and I don't know how long, if ever, it would take for me to figure out how to use them at will." "Then perhaps you could be come a citizen of Equestria." suggested Luna. "I'd like that but I don't want to be any trouble." "It'll be no trouble at all but you will need someone to look after you." said Celestia. Fluttershy who'd been thinking about how much pain this boy had been in from the moment she laid eyes on him made a decision. "I'll adopt him." she said with determination surprising everyone. "Come again?" asked Shawn as Fluttershy walked towards the throne. "If it's okay I'd like to adopt Shawn." repeated Fluttershy turning towards the boy. "He's been through a lot and is still in pain even now. I'd like the chance to give him a loving home." Shawn was completely shocked. This pegasus wanted to give him a chance to have another family. He didn't realize it at first but tears began flowing from his eyes. "Hey....are you okay?" asked Rainbow concerned. The others turned and noticed the same thing. "Just shocked. Why?" "You're crying." replied Rainbow. "I'm...what?" he asked surprised placing a hand on his cheek feeling the wet stream. For a moment he stared at his hand as if it was something completely foreign to him. Celestia and Luna smiled and nodded. "I believe you are qualified to take in this young one." said Celestia. "You do your element proud Fluttershy." added Luna causing Fluttershy to blush before she hugged the boy who was still surprised. It was then something odd happened. Strange lines formed in his eyes though no one actually noticed. All the while Shawn was trying to figure out what he was feeling. "Are....Are you sure you want to adopt something like me?" asked Shawn. Before he could say anything else Fluttershy covered his mouth with her hoof and smiled. "You've been through too much pain by yourself and I can't stand to see anyone in pain." said Fluttershy. "If it's okay with you I'd like the chance to at least give you a loving home." she said as she nuzzled him. For a moment he remained still but then slowly placed his hands around Fluttershy's neck. "Arigatou Ka-chan." he said confusing everyone, Fluttershy included as she pulled back and looked at him with a confused look. "Sorry. I've been living in Japan a long time." "Japan?" asked Fluttershy. Shawn nodded. "It's a different country in my world. I was born in a country called the United States my father thought it'd be a good idea for us to live in Japan. I think we were gonna live there for six months but...well you know." "So in your world every country has a different language?" asked Twilight. "Well not Every country has it's own language. Some just have different dialects of the same language." replied Shawn. "For example in the U.S. speak english like this...." he began. "....but in England the language is spoken with a bit of an accent like this." he said speaking with an accent similar to Rarity's. "Fascinating." said Twilight. "But before I forget there's another reason we came to see you." she said looking at the Elder Princesses. "Something attacked Ponyville." "Is everypony okay?" asked Celestia. "Yes but the creatures that attacked were strange." "Those are called Cardis." said Shawn surprising them. "You knew them?" asked Twilight. "They work for the demon who made me what I am." replied Shawn. "They're basically mindless drones that attack what they're ordered to." "What happened?" asked Luna. "Far as I can tell the one hunting somehow tracked me here and decided to draw my attention." replied Shawn with a hand on his chin. "There's more though." said Twilight. "It seems that the creature who was leading was from Shawn's past." "Is this true?" asked Celestia. Shawn sighed. "He was from one of my past lives." "A former friend?" asked Luna. "We were about as far from that as one could be." replied Shawn. "Long story short he was a criminal who worked for a crime boss. Under his order he attacked my wife and I. Neither of us survived but then something happened." "What?" asked Rainbow. "I don't know how or why but something brought me back in my same body." replied Shawn. "It took a bit of time but it became clear that the reason I had been brought back to exact vengeance upon them and it's what I did. Once everything was over I was released." "Released?" asked Applejack. "In other words I was allowed to die." replied Shawn. "It seems strange that you'd show him mercy." said Luna. "He killed me and I killed him. Both of us saw it as even." replied Shawn. "Is this something we will need to be concerned about?" asked Celestia. "Odds are they won't come looking for me here but from what Wyatt told me they've been planning to send others here to search for something here." "I see." said Luna. "Do you know what they're searching for?" "No but considering these megalomaniacs are pretty much all the same they're probably looking for something of great power. Possibly something that's known or maybe something that's been long forgotten." explained Shawn with a hand on his chin. "Is there anything you can think of that holds great power?" "Right now only the Elements of Harmony but they no longer exist." replied Celestia. "So I'm guessing they were either destroyed or they became one with something...or someone." he said. "They may not know about this it's possible that may be what they're looking for but there's also the possibility they're looking for something else." "Then we'll have to remain vigilant." said Celestia. "There's one thing." said Shawn causing them to turn to him. "Do you have a map of your world here?" "Yes. Why?" asked Luna. "If they're searching for something then they'll be attacking a specific area if the area in question is populated so it'd be in our best interest to keep track of where the attacks are focused." explained Shawn. "You're an egghead, aren't ya?" asked Rainbow Dash playfully. "I've lived through many wars so something like this is nothing more than basic strategy." replied Shawn with a shrug. "Your highness the meal is ready." said a chef who'd just entered. "Thank you. We will be there shortly." said Celestia. The chef nodded and left. Celestia turned to Shawn who was looking to the side with an odd expression. "Is anything the matter?" Shawn turned and sighed. "There is one thing I neglected to mention about one of my....darker parts." replied Shawn. "Vampires drink blood but my people are an evolved kind of vampire. Because of this we need more than blood." "What is it you need?" asked Luna. "Darkness." replied Shawn surprising everyone. "We're vampires of light. This means that our own light sides slowly burn away our dark sides." "Isn't that a good thing?" asked Rainbow. Shawn shook his head. "Light and darkness have to have a balance or bad things happen." he said. "In our case we have to feed off the darkness of humans such as criminals or else our darkness becomes weaker and we slowly lose the things that come with it." "Like what?" asked Fluttershy concerned. "The will to fight for one." said Shawn. "Isn't that good?" asked Rainbow. "Think about it." said Shawn. "If I hadn't had the will to fight I wouldn't have been able to fight earlier. Light controls our ability to make certain decisions but darkness gives us the conviction to do what we must in those situations." "That may be a problem." said Luna. "Maybe not as much as I'm assuming." "What do you mean?" asked Luna. "Well the human part of me helps keep a certain balance but I think the demonic part of me should help with the darkness." explained Shawn. "Of course everything I'm saying here is speculation." "We can discuss this later. For now I believe you are in need of a good meal." said Celestia with a smile. It was at that point they heard a strange growl. For a moment the others looked around before looking at Shawn who scratched the back of his head. "Yeah." he said awkwardly causing the others to laugh. "So is the one watching us gonna join us?" Everyone stopped laughing and looked at him confused. "Who do you mean?" asked Rainbow. "There's someone right there." replied Shawn pointing at the wall. "Well that certaintly spoiled the surprise." said a voice. They turned to see what looked like two balls which upon opening revealed they were eyes as Discord's body formed itself. "How exactly did you find me?" "My left can detect any kind of magic and in a place with so much abundance of magic your magic stands out like a fire in a forest." replied Shawn. "Considering how long you've been here you've probably heard my name so would it be okay to ask yours?" "Well what polite young...chimera, I suppose." said Discord. "My name is Discord. The God and master of chaos." "It's a pleasure." said Shawn with a small smile. "I suppose you're this world's equivalant to Loki." "Loki?" asked Discord. "My world's god of mischief." replied Shawn. "Well then perhaps I am." said Discord with a smile. "Let's get going. The young one has not eaten in some time." said Luna. The group made their way to the dining room where they saw a feast. Shawn gulped at all the food. They saw down and the other began to eat but Shawn placed his hands together. "Itadakimasu." he said before he started eating. "What was that?" asked Spike. Shawn turned to him with some salad in his mouth before swallowing. "What was what?" "That thing you just said." "Oh. It's kinda like a prayer." replied Shawn. "It means thank you for the food." he said as he went back to eating but after a few minutes stopped. "Princess Celestia?" "Yes?" "In my culture whether or not one is of a high social standing or a commoner we value respect above all and to earn it." said Shawn. "It's due to this that duels are common for us. If someone of a high social standing insults a commoner they are allowed to challenge the one who insulted them to a duel." "You wish to challenge Blueblood to a duel?" asked Celestia. "Yes." replied Shawn. "It may be just the thing to teach him a lesson but would you be able to face an adult?" asked Celestia. "I'm more than capable." replied Shawn. "Very well. So what are the rules to these duels? I hope this won't be to the death." "Of course not. To be honest we do have those kinds of duels but they're only done for extremely personal issues." replied Shawn. "The rules are simple." he said as he held out his hands causing what looked like a deck of cards to appear in them. "First someone selects a location from a deck like this. The chosen card becomes what we refer to as a Reality Marble." "A Reality Marble?" asked Twilight interested. Shawn nodded. "The chosen card will create a barrier and within that barrier the setting will change to whatever card is chosen so the setting can range from a small arena to a city." explained Shawn. "Once the setting is chosen the battle begins and only ends when one combatant can no longer continue. Which basically means until one of the fighters either loses consiousness or is unable to fight. However if either fighter surrenders they not only lose the match but pretty much all respect and in the case of those with titles such as a king or anything like that are automatically stripped of their title." Upon hearing this Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Rarity smiled. "So what you're saying is that if he chooses to surrender Blueblood would automatically be stripped of his title?" asked Rarity. "Well that's the way it works for us." shrugged Shawn. "You can change that rule if you want. There's also a rule that basically says that once one is challenged they must accept or...well the same thing happens." "Interesting." said Celestia as a slight smile made its way to her muzzle. "Then perhaps we should enforce these duels." she added as Shawn continued eating. "I'm not sure that would work since it seems your subjects are mostly pacifists." said Shawn. "I suppose that is true." said Celestia. It was then he sniffed the air. "Is something wrong?" asked Twilight. "It smells like...brimstone." he said before his eyes widened. Then he took off followed by the others. Not long after they arrived at the vault that was once used for the Elements of Harmony. They saw as something invisible struck the vault door with enough force to make very large dents before some holes formed on it and the door was pulled off its hinges. "What do you want?" asked Shawn. At that the door was thrown at them. Shawn held up his hands as the Princesses' horns began glowing forming a multicolored barrier in front of them which stopped the door creating several large cracks just before they dropped the barrier. "Switching to thermal." said Shawn as his left eye became violet. "Gotcha." The creature then turned and took off. "Oh no you don't!" he said as he ran after it followed by the others. When they got close to a window the creature jumped through it and took off through the air. "Oh hell no." he said as his fangs and claws extended before he jumped out and grabbed something. The Princesses, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash flew after him as he started slashing causing sparks to fly until they saw what looked like lightning surrounding a figure before they saw a large demon appear with a strange armor and a large device on its back that had fire coming out of it. The demon started kicking in an attempt to get Shawn off as he used his claws to climb onto its back and bit off pieces of the armor until the object on its back started malfunctioning sending the two of them in a nose dive, which was luckily away from Canterlot. They crashed pretty close to the railroad tracks and once they hit the demon charged at Shawn and grabbed his head before slamming him multiple times. Twilight saw this and fire a beam of magic which caused the demon to turn to her. Shawn transformed causing the demon to release him from the sudden heat. It looked at him enraged and punched him throwing him back. "Are you okay?" asked Fluttershy as she went up to him but to her surprise his his eyes became almost catlike, and the white part of his eyes became black before he let out a feral growl and jumped at the armored creature biting down on the armor forcing the creature to try to throw him. The others became surprised. "Did he turn into a dog or something?" asked Rainbow as they saw him rip off the armor revealing the entire arm was mechanical. "What is that?" asked Luna surprised. "I think it might be mechanical." said Twilight. "Mechanical?" asked Rainbow. "It's a robot." said Inferno as the machine looked at its damage. "A machine made to look like something alive." he added as he spit out some oil that had gotten in his mouth. "What is your purpose here?" said Celestia as she landed. The machine looked around before its eyes started glowing rapidly. Shawn saw this and tackled it down before throwing it away from the others. "Why did you...?" began Luna right before it exploded. "If that thing had a self destruct function then..." he began before his eyes widened. "We've gotta go back!" he said as he had flames burst from his hands and feet to fly back followed by the others shortly after they got over their shock. They went back through the same window. When they got back to the vault they spotted what appeared to be something similar to Inferno wearing a cloak just as it disappeared. "What was that?" asked Spike. Inferno reverted and checked the vault. Shawn walked into the vault and sniffed. "Is somethin' wrong?" asked Applejack. "This scent..." "Is something wrong?" asked Fluttershy. "This isn't possible unless....." Shawn's eyes widened. "Hey kid." said Rainbow tapping his shoulder. "One of them was here." he said. "One of what?" asked Pinkie. "As I've mentioned I was experimented on along with several others." began Shawn. "They wanted us to be able to work in small squads. Groups of four. To do this they used a blood magic ritual to link the four members of each group by blood." "So the four members of each group are siblings?" asked Twilight. Shawn nodded. "But then..." "The one who was here has my blood in their body. I can smell it." said Shawn. "Then...." "My siblings are enemies of Equestria." said Shawn. "We could use the Rainbow Power to help them." suggested Pinkie Pie. "I don't think that'd work." said Shawn. "How come?" asked Pinkie. "In the few seconds I saw her I was able to tell one thing. She wasn't just corrupted. They tapped into her computer to make her willing do what they say. In other words someone's gonna have to deprogram them and I'm the only one who can." "Then we can probably immobilize them when the time comes." said Twilight. "Won't work either. If they're awake they'll resist and odds are they'll be protect with a demonic armor which means you can't hold them with magic unless you're willing to risk your soul being devoured." relied Shawn. "You seem to know an awful lot about this." said Applejack. "It's not my first time dealing with demons and I can vaguely remember things from some of my past lives." replied Shawn. "Didn't think I'd be dealing with them so soon in this life." he said with a sigh. "Will you need any kind of tool?" asked Celestia. Shawn turned to her and then looked up. "Well, I'm gonna need a more diverse arsenal." said Shawn. "Is there a blacksmith anywhere in the area?" "We do have a royal blacksmith who makes the armor and weapons for the royal guards." replied Celestia. "Do you have some paper and something to write with?" asked Shawn. Celestia turned to a guard who left and returned with a some paper, a quill, and a container of ink. Shawn dipped the quill in the ink and began drawing something. It surprised the because he seemed to be moving abornormally fast to the point that they swore he seemed to be dividing. After he finished with one paper he moved on with another and then another. Within a minute he'd drawn on seven sheets of paper. "Can you give these to him?" Twilight went up to look at the drawings and became surprised. "Just what is this?" she asked looking at one sheet and the another. "A weapon." replied Shawn. "I think they intended for us to each have a unique weapon and for us to be able to take care of them they placed the plans for the weapons inside our computers." he explained. "So how did you move so fast just now?" asked Twilight. "I'm guessing it's a subfunction of the printing." shrugged Shawn confusing them. "It only happens when I draw something that's already in my head." "Oh." "So do you think your blacksmith'll be able to make it?" Shawn asked Celestia. She used her magic to look at the design. "Though it will take time I believe he'll be more than capable making this weapon." "Thank you." said Shawn. "Is there anything else?" asked Celestia. "Yes. Regardless of what happens tell any military and/or police force you have not to engage any of them. The demons they might be able to handle but if they face either of my sisters or my brother they'll be dead before they can really do anything." "Just how dangerous did those jerks want to make you?" asked Rainbow Dash. "The weakest of us were altered in such a way that they could take on a squad of armed soldiers single handedly." replied Shawn. "What purpose could they have had to make children so dangerous?" wondered Luna out loud. "If I had to guess they most likely figured adults would have a harder time fighting children." replied Shawn as he looked at his hand as his claws extended. "Are you okay?" asked Fluttershy concerned. "I'm going to save them." he said clenching his fist. Fluttershy smiled at him and then nuzzled him softly catching him by surprise. "Remember that you're not alone anymore." Shawn's eyes became two shades of violet as he smiled. "Thank you....mom." Shawn said as he lost conciousness. The others became surprised but Fluttershy snapped out of her stupor just in time to keep him from hitting the floor. "What happened?" asked Rainbow. "He's had a very busy day." replied Fluttershy as Twilight used her magic to place him on Fluttershy' back. "The poor dear is exhausted." "Fluttershy." said Celestia causing her to turn. "While I do understand the spirit of kindness that makes you who you are you should remain cautious. I have no doubt whoever has attacked Equestria may also intend to attack young Shawn." "I will Princess." said Fluttershy with a smile. "I will send the adoption papers to you once they are ready." said Celestia. "Thank you so much Princess." said Fluttershy. None of them noticed as a girl looked on from outside. For a moment she looked at him and then smiled. "Very soon brother." she said with a giggle before vanishing.