//------------------------------// // Chapter 9; battle-wounds // Story: Fixing the balance // by BRITICAL-HIT //------------------------------// Chapter 9; recovery As Theo woke up, he was greeted by slurred vision and his whole body aching. He felt completely drained from his contact with carnage, but seemed to get out without a scratch. All that he had headache that left him bombarded with a large wave of pain every five seconds, so he felt he got the lucky end of the stick. After confirming he was still alive, he checked where he was, as he was clearly not anywhere he recognised. He seemed to be in a bedroom of sorts, in a rather large and comfy bed, a small desk next to him and a fireplace on the other side of the room. There was a rather large mirror on the top of the fireplace, which seemed to be viewable from all points of the room. A large window with a balcony was directly across from the door. Theo still had no clue where he was, and sitting in bed wasn't going to give him answers. So he made the decision to leave the room and figure out where he was and what's going on. That was his plan until he opened the door. He was greeted by two guards, stationed at both sides of the door. They wore full golden battle armour, carrying spears. The sheer sight of them scared Theo witless. One of the guards turned to face him, his face seeming emotionless, further terrifying Theo. He decided to close the door, not wanting to have to walk past the guards. Why were there guards outside his door? What was so important about him that required him to be guarded? Theo was now severely confused, unable to even think clearly. He decided to walk onto the balcony outside his room for some fresh air. The view from the balcony was quite nice, it was quite a view. He could see he was now in a city of sorts, with a regal feeling to it, and large open areas. From outside the city limits, he could see several smaller towns in the distance, the closest of them seeming to be Ponyville, as clearly shown from Twilight's castle. Theo let out a big sigh. "At least the girls and Ivan aren't too far away." He spoke out loud, more for his own comfort than for conversation. His head was still buzzing with questions, but at least his friends, old and new, we're all safe to his knowledge. "Well, glad to see somepony is awake!" A voice called out from above him. Theo looked up to see a large, white pony with both wings and a horn floating down to him, landing in front of him. She was much taller than anypony Theo had met previously, and seemed more regal. Her mane and tail seemed to move on its own, with similar colors to the northern lights. Across her flank was her cutie mark (the name picked up from Starlight) of a large, orange sun. Despite all these weird features she had, she still seemed slightly familiar to Theo for some reason, but he was unsure as to why this was. "Did you sleep well?" She asked him, her voice warm and inviting, a trait Theo knew from his father. "As well as I could considering what I went through, I guess." Theo paused after this response, figuring this lady could help him with his current situation. "I'm Theo, just to note." "I'm well aware of who you are, young Colt, you needn't worry about that." She said with a smile. "I do believe you need some introductions however. I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of all of Equestria." Theo was shocked. he was standing in front of royalty, the pony who raises the sun every morning, Twilight's teacher and ruler of the whole nation. Yet Theo still acted like an idiot. "I apologise for speaking to so casually just then, your highness!" Theo quickly said, kneeling on his front hooves despite having no idea how to do so. This was met with laughter from the princess. "No need for formalities Theo, just be yourself. I get enough of that from dignitaries." Theo let out a sigh of relief. "I know your new to Equestria, just relax." "Wait, how do you.." Theo started, for Celestia to interrupt him. "My sister travels the realm of sleep, we know about you and your friends." A slight expression of fear appeared on Theo's face. "Don't worry, your in no trouble. Your here because Twilight asked me to help you recover." "Recover from what?" Theo asked, still not completely aware of what happened to him. "Are you aware that your body uses your aura to fuel your magic?" She asked him, met by a firm nod from Theo, remembering that from what Starlight told him. "Well, if you use too much of it, your capable of passing out. It's called magical exhaustion, and your case was pretty severe." "How severe?" Theo asked, leaning forward out of interest. "You've been knocked out for 2 days Theo." Celestia told him, which caught him off guard. "Your friends should be here soon, alongside Twilight and her friends. You should get some rest for now, I'll send Spike over with some food later. Once you reunite with your two friends, we will discuss matters further." "Thanks, Princess." Theo said to her as she walked to leave the room. Theo asked her one question first. "Can you not tell Twilight and her friends about me just yet? I would prefer to tell them myself." Celestia turned to face Theo. "If that's what you wish Theo. But don't take too long to tell them, or I will. Understand?" "Understood." Theo responded. Celestia left the room after this, her face now more upset than it was "He will know soon, Celestia."She thought. "I will tell him when the time is right." -0-0-0-0-0- "Made! Calm down for crying out loud!" Ivan yelled. "Nobody knew what would happen, not even him!" "It doesn't change the fact he ran off and put himself in this situation in the first place!" Made shouted back at him, her full body language looking like it was going to hit something very quickly if the chance came up. Earlier in the day, Celestia sent Twilight a letter confirming that Theo was awake and safe, and asked Twilight and her friends to bring Ivan and Made via train to Canterlot on order to check up on him. However, this seemed to spark a small argument between the two of them over whether Theo was to blame for his condition, something Twilight's group tried to stay out of. Applejack and Rarity sat and watched as the two 'friends' argued with one another. "How long have they been arguing for now?" Applejack asked out loud, raising her hoof in confusion. "2 hours and 37 minutes!" Pinkie sang as she bounced by, as was her nature. After a confused look from the whole group, Rarity walked up to Made, cautious not to elevate her anger. "Made darling." She started. "If Theo is your friend, why are you getting so angry over who's fault it is? Shouldn't you be worried for him?" Ivan moved next to Rarity, patting her on the shoulder. "Trust me! It's either this or Made's in tears. I help her vent her anger by arguing with her, that's our method." Applejack gave Ivan a skeptical look. "Wouldn't that make her more mad?" She asked him. Ivan paused a minute to think of an answer, briefly looking over at Made. "That probably explains all the broken legs she's given me in the past." Made laughed at Ivan's summary, glad he figured it out. "Not such a gullible turd now, are we?" Made asked him, only to be met with him drooping his head in response. "Ah, grow up. I was only joking!" "I know." Ivan moaned, moving to his seat and sitting down. "I get why your worried about him, I'm worried about him. I'm worried about us! Theo has been in charge from the beginning, he is the one who stopped the arguments between us. It just doesn't feel right without him, I guess." Made sat next to Ivan. "Come on Ivan! Theo will be fine, I can tell." She looked out of the train car, seeing Canterlot slowly moving closer in the distance. "But still, why go after that.. That thing on his own? He's no hero. Hell, were no heroes! But he still went out of the way to get it away from us. Why?" Ivan thought back for a moment. "He did say something back before the welcome party about thinking something was gonna errupt." He sighed. "Well, he wasn't wrong." "Well, guess we'll find out when we speak to him." Made muttered, now leaning down in her seat, her head bending into a position where she could see the row behind her. In this position, she saw Starlight Glimmer, who seemed to be distanced from the rest of the group. She was looking out of the window, her face had mixed expressions of thought and upset. Seeing this, Made got back up on all fours and sat next to her, knowing full well she was with Theo when he passed out. "You doing alright Starlight?" Made asked her. Starlight turned to face her, not noticing she was there until now. "You seem, well.. Quiet. You ok?" "That's a weird question to ask." Starlight responded, being somewhat defensive about her feelings. Made returned a glance at her. "How is it weird? I'm asking if your alright, your not with the others and I'm checking what's up. So, are you ok?" Starlight thought for a moment after Made's question. "Well, I'm just worried about Theo, that's all. I was there when he passed out from the battle. Would you blame me for being a bit worried?" Made placed her hoof onto Starlights shoulder, looking at her warmly. "Theo's our friend as well, I get it." Made looked out of Starlights window, Canterlot being in the distance. "Well be seeing him soon, don't worry." Ivan, having heard what Made told Starlight, turned in his seat to face the two of them. "Jeez, why has everything gotten so depressing since we came along?" He flapped his wings slightly. "The reason I wanna get out is so I can stretch these things, being cooped up in here is really uncomfortable." Ivan cringed lightly, still not being entirely used to having his wings. Rainbow moaned as soon as Ivan said this. "Agreed! How much longer is it anyway?" "Well," Twilight started, "seeing as we just went by the mountain tunnel 6 minutes ago, I predict we will arrive at Canterlot in 10 to 15 minutes. I read and revised all the train timetables when I was Princess Celestia's student, so I'm an expert on the subject." Ivan gave Twilight a blank look, slightly confused as to how twilight knew this, but instead chose to let ignore it, he already had a hard time understanding pinkie. He leaned back In his seat. "Well, could be worse." He said, closing his eyes and choosing to sleep for the rest of the journey. -0-0-0-0-0- Theo was still in the bedroom he woke up in, laying on the bed in boredom, making an occasional moan of boredom. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I wish Ivan was here right now. Could use the conversation." He looked out of the large window, seeing the city, now filled with ponies walking around. "Or I could use him as a paraglider and get the fuck out of here." He then tried to use a teleportation spell to leave the room, but he couldn't do so in his current state. "Next time I see that hard-shelled freak, I'm gonna break his legs." After a few more minutes of moaning, Theo heard his door open. He turned to see who it was, and saw what looked like a reptile of sorts. A purple reptile with green spikes, who was about half the size of him, and seemed to look like a child of sorts. "Can I help you kid?" He asked, now out of his bed, yet still keeping his distance from the thing. "Yeah, I'm Spike, Princess Celestia asked me to bring you some food." He explained, picking up a tray holding a bowl of plain pasta and glass of milk. As if on instinct, Theo's stomach growled at the sight of food. "Kid, your timing is on point!" He shouted as Spike placed the bowl on the desk next to Theo's bed. And while he was about to dive in and eat his fill, he noticed that Spike was about to leave. "Leaving so soon?" Spike turned around. "Sorry, I told Twilight I'd cover for her while she went to Pinkie's party. I wouldn't be her number 1 assistant if I couldn't keep my promises!" "Did you just say your Twilights assistant?" Theo asked, starting to walk towards spike. "Yeah, why? Do you know her or something?" Spike asked, closing the door and returning to the room. "Well, the party she went to was for me and my friends, and I met her there while Starlight taught me some basics about magic." Theo explained, laying on his bed and turning to Spike. "If it wasn't for those two, Who knows what state I'd be in right now." "Well, I guess your lucky they were around to help you then." Spike said, his eyes now widened in surprise. "If I was lucky, I doubt they would've needed to be there in the first place." Theo argued, chuckling slightly and shaking his head from side to side. "Still, I couldn't let that... Monster, get to everyone. What I did was probably stupid and childish, but it just felt right at the time. That said, Ivan and Made probably want to kill me right now." "Meh, don't worry about it." Spike suggested, leaning against the bed and hitting Theo on the shoulder. "Those guys are probably mad, but only because they're worried about you. Just explain why you did it and they'll forgive you." Theo quickly sat up. "You know what? That actually good advice. Thanks, gecko kid!" He said with a small grin on his face. "Actually, I'm a dragon." Spike corrected, a word that instantly caused Theo's ears to perk up and jump out of his seat, his inner-gamer now fully active. "Your a dragon? A real dragon?" Theo asked, scanning spike from the head down. The longer Theo spent in this world, the more he began to question it. First, the existence of Pegasi and Unicorns, and now dragons, which were all creatures from earths mythology and history. One would've been a coincidence, 3 is God-dang suspicious, almost like Equestria and Earth were connected in the past. "Yeah! I mean, most ponies have never seen dragons before, but Twilight raised me since an egg." Spike in explained with a wide smile on his face, with Theo somwhat interested in spike's story." But the that's the start of a reeeaalllly long story, so let's save that for another time." "Okay." Theo said, laying back down on his bed, before quickly sitting back up and raising a hoof. "One question though." "What?" Spike said as he started to walk towards the door, stopping and waiting fo Theo's question. "Can you breathe fire?" -0-0-0-0-0- after his battle against Theo, Carnage retreated further into the Everfree forest. There, he remained for a few days, appearing to be setting something some form of symbol on the ground. After the two-day grace period however, he appeared to be done. “I hope I don’t regret this.” He muttered, before blasting the center of the circle with dark magic. All of a sudden, a black orb appeared in its center. Some form of being reminiscent of Carnage appeared within it, as if summoned. Carnage kneeled before it. “Your majesty.” “Do you have anything to report, my knight?” the Queen asked in a calm, yet dark voice. “How goes the elimination of those displaced teenagers?” “Not all that good, your highness.” Carnage answered “One of them had unusually high magical potential, and was capable of besting me with some kind of sword spell. The other two can be taken out easily however.” The queen squirmed slightly once Carnage mentioned the sword spell, but kept her composure. “I understand. I will send more solders within the coming weeks, but you must assure me the death of the one with potential. His strength might grow unless we take him out soon. Do I make myself clear?” “Yes, Queen Hardshell.” Carnage barked out as the two-way communication spell faded. The queen simply looked into some kind of mirror and smiled. “So, Celestia your chosen knight has appeared once again.” She declared, before laughing to herself manically. “It seems things are about to get interesting."