We exited the DTL and… Shit… This place looked a lot like Hollow Bastion and The World that Never Was where mashed together into one. “The darkness here is so strong.” Lake said, kneeling down to the ground and placing a hand on the ground. “And yet...it’s heart is untouched. It’s...protecting it. Like a shield.”
“Darkness is being used to protect the light?” I asked curiously. “I mean...makes sense but I doubt it's doing that of its own volition.”
“Hard to tell. If Drezke is the one utilizing it, it very well might be.” Lake said. We looked up, spotting a massive tower, bearing a fusion of the Heartless and Unversed Symbol. “Yeah… that’s where he is…” Lake said.
“Cause you know, just add neon lights that spell ‘come and get me’.” I said sarcastically. “So, walk through the front door? Cause I'm sure he already sensed you.”
“If he’s not too far gone.” We walked the road, and noticed there where fillies and colts walking along the roads, few teens, fewer adults, all seeming to be okay with how everything went. I saw a filly, riding on the back of one of those Centaur looking heartless from Mulan world. The more I looked the more I noticed heartless and the ponies here where...co-existing...at least, Emblem heartless anyway. Not a Pureblood heartless in sight.
“Well...the people seem to be happy.” I said honestly. “I..kind of hope when we get Drezke back to sanity...this won't end…” I said, really liking the fact people are living with what are dangerous creatures in peace.
“He must have taken darkness away from them. Unable to give them their bodies back, but take away enough darkness the person’s heart can gain control. We theorized it as Zeke back when we were whole, but never got to put it into practice. We figured since some of the Equestrian citizens you and Zeke brought back where unable to move or operate properly, a higher functioning heartless body they can control would allow them a cure of sorts.”
“That makes sense.” I said honestly. “Hmm...maybe the same could be said about Nobodies? Even if they don’t have their feelings they get their personalities back?”
“Actually, we had a theory on that as well. All heartless gain higher functions, when exposed to DTD’s and when within the realm of darkness. Drezke is simulating the realm of darkness by having darkness coat this worlds heart, but not touch it. So, what if when within the realm of Nothing, some Nobodies can feel what they no longer have? They could act normal, live.”
“Well it’s a good thing my Equestria is now in the Realm of Nothingness.” I said honestly. “Good way to figure that out.”
“...Not gonna question that.” Lake put it. We approached the tower’s doors. It was unguarded. Opening them showed the halls looked the same blinding white as Castle Oblivion...cause of course they do. “Drezke was never very imaginative.” Lake groaned.
“Christ…” I sighed out. “Well, let’s get on with this.” I said honestly. “So, how much do you want to bet this is a trap?” I asked, knowing if the place isn’t guarded then it has to be a trap.
“He’s smart, but doesn’t think that far ahead.” Lake stated. “He’s more head on. This is all for show.” We ascended the stairs and when we opened the doors, Lake and I actually covered our noses and mouths. The darkness here was… Sickening, evil, putride… Pure… “Drezke...what have you done to yourself?” Lake said, through the gaging.
“He fucked up massively.” I said honestly. “This is pure darkness...christ, I hope we’re not too late.”
We walked in, the doors shutting behind us as we entered. “Long time no see, Ben.” Drezke’s voice came from… everywhere.
“Hi Drezke...mind if we know what the fuck happened to you?” I asked worriedly. “Cause...it smells like a rotting corpse here to be perfectly honest.”
“Sixteen million, four hundred and ninety eight worlds and over I have cleansed of darkness. And more so to heartless, letting their hearts gain control of their new forms.” He stated. “It’s but a matter of time now.”
“So where’s your physical body? Cause I don’t think Lake here can handle all that darkness when he tries to balance things out.” I said honestly.
“Lake? Lake is gone. There’s no meaning to us reuniting even if he was alive. Soon, I can waltz into Daybreak, and take the Void Key Keyblade.”
“Yeah...about that…” I said nervously before explaining what happened in Daybreak, about the Master of Masters and how his family and a good majority of the world got off before it blew up.
“What? No, no you lie.”
I summoned Memory Stealer. “If you insist, here’s the memory’s I have of that time.” I said while spinning the keyblade down and stabbing the ground, me, Drezke and Lake were all sent into the memory’s of Daybreak on the day it was destroyed. “I may not know everything, but I know Memory Stealer has the memories of the world to show you.”
“I…” Drezke sighed. “I know you have no reason to lie to me. I am so close, I just need one more powerful darkness.”
“No, what you need is a swift smack to the back of the head to bring you back to your senses.” I stated bluntly. “Look outside, look at the people that are happy in Darkness, look at all the Heartless you’ve basically given a second chance to have a decent life, why are you so obsessed with destroying it all when that will only destroy everything else in the process?’ I asked bluntly. “Lake told me you’re not much of a thinker, but come on, are you going to ignore and forsake the people that are happy for your quest to get rid of Darkness?” I asked honestly.
“I realized that long ago Ben. Light and darkness go hand and hand, like Lake and I did. So, I want to repurpose it. To do this though, I will need to take in the Embodiments just as-”
“Ben.” Lake whispered. “I’m gonna do something stupid.”
“Go right ahead.” I whispered to Lake as I listened to Drezke ramble.
Lake summoned the Keyblade I let him borrow, and jabbed it into his chest. “DREZKE!” He shouted.
“- L-Lake?!”
“Purger!” Lake yelled. His light began to blind out the darkness. When the light faded Drezke’s form sat across from Lake. Drezke was crying, and Lake was holding his other half. His brother.
“Lake… I-I was so alone.” Drezke said.
“I know...I know.” Lake said.
I made myself a chair out of Nothingness and sat down on it, letting the two have their moment together. “Just take your time.” I said to the two, hoping this will set off the proper actions for Kexez to get back to his senses.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”
“I know Drezke.”
“You-You know...what’s coming next, right?”
“Yes…”
“I’m sorry.”
Just then, that same putrid darkness began oozing from the walls, floor, ceiling. I got up, and watched as it swarmed and compressed around itself before us all. What emerged was a heartless. Pureblood. It was a purple haired, black skinned Zeke with Drezke’s attire, and those glowing yellow eyes.
“Okay…” I muttered. “Now it’s either going to attack...or not…” I said while drawing my X-blade and Frozen Pride anyways just in case of the worst.
My Assistant flashed. I saw it’s hp bar… big, but not a boss… It’s name was The Unbalanced.
“The Unbalanced eh? Well we’re gonna have to fight it apparently.” I said, having a bad feeling about this condensed being of Darkness.
It walked forwards, each step another one of itself appeared behind it. All it’s copies vanished as the first one stayed, summoning a Soul Eater sword and attacked.
“Fuck.” I frowned, blocking the attack with Frozen Pride and trying to stab the thing with my No Heart.
It countered, fighting a lot like Zeke does. Strike Raids, Reflect raids, Zantetsuken, it even would open small DTD’s other lesser Purebloods poured in from.
“Yeah, this is totally fine…” I groaned while a Nobody Behemoth appeared and cleaved through the lesser Nobodies. “Thank you.” I said while raising my hand as Nothingness thorns shot out of the ground and attempted to wrap around him like spiked chains to hold The Unbalanced down so I can kill it.
A foot was caught… and it did not hesitate to slice it’s own foot off, darkness flowing from the wound, creating stub for it to balance itself on. He then used a move that froze me in place… Time Splicer. When it ended I was bleeding all over, my healing factor kicking in to keep me from bleeding out. How many moves does this think know!?
I pulled out my Wayfinder, and felt Luna’s heart touch mine as I used her moves for a bit, unleashing her final that knocked the UnBalanced over, allowing me to deliver a final, finishing blow to it’s chest. It puffed in a haze of darkness… On the floor was… one of those star things from Birth By Sleep that enhanced D-links, I grabbed it, and felt Luna even closer than before. I even...remembered her past memories? That’s… different. Her jealousy of Celestia, falling to her own darkness as Nightmare Moon… the one thousand years in the moon…
“Oh crap…” I muttered sadly. “Well...do you two know where the other things went?” I asked Drezke and Lake.
“Everywhere…” Drezke said.
Lake sighed. “That much darkness created a new breed of Purebloods. Pureblood heartless with the powers of a Keyblade wielder.” Lake finished. “They likely headed off to the realm of Darkness to generate more of themselves.”
“Cause fuck it why not.” I face palmed. “Christ...okay so now you two need to find Zeke and then get to Kexez to get him back in his right mind...and I have a feeling I’m going to have to hunt those fuckers down.” I sighed out. “Cause...you know, giving Purebloods the power of Keyblades is not a good thing.”
“We will stay here. Figure out what to do about the Inhabitants and figure some things out.” Lake said.
“Alright.” I nodded. “Your family is in Boletaria if memory serves in case you both want to see them...and now the worrying case of Kexez and if he’s starting to feel better with you two being here and both being in sound mind.” I sighed out. “Can you both sense Kexez?” I asked, hoping that’s possible.
They both shook their heads. “Kexez, without our soul, will be hard to track, and is likely the only Nobody to be able to resist your commands now that you are king.” Lake said. “All Nobodies have souls. He does not.”
“That’s not good…” I muttered worriedly. “But...at least with you two here it’ll at least start things off on solving all these problems.”
“Hopefully.” Lake sighed.
Back in the Zebra lands, the airship was all packed and we were off. The lands all around where a sight to see, tall mountains, vast empty lands and- “Stop the ship!” Twilight suddenly shouted, the whole Zeppelin stopping abruptly.
“What’s going on?” I asked worriedly, wondering why Twilight wanted to stop the Ship suddenly.
“It’s the Peaks of Peril!” She said excitedly. My attention was then drawn to the high up mountain with the only foliage for miles.
“And it’s called that because…?” I asked honestly. “Also, wouldn’t a long lost Monster Princess be here?” I asked, not entirely remembering what Celestia and Luna said about her last known location.
“I don’t know about that, but these mountains are said to be home to a mythical race, known as the Kirin, and the Nirik, once a peaceful, kind hearted race, the other a race of fire demons that set all around them a blaze.” Twilight said, teleporting a book before her. “No pony has seen either race since well before the founding of Equestria! The mountains are too treacherous for a normal pony to explore, and too high for a Pegasus to fly… but…” She then motioned over to me.
“Hooray, can’t wait to marry the Kirin Princess and or Queen.” I said honestly. “And whatever the heck Nirik are cause they sound like fire elementals.” I brought up.
“Whatever the case, this could be a chance for us to discover if they are even still alive!” Twilight was drooling with scientific excitement.
“You’re drooling again Twilight.” Celestia said, making her snap out of it, blushing as she wiped it away.
I chuckled a little. “So, the Kirin...are they friendly?” I asked curiously.
“Oh yes, the Kirin are some of the most ancient and civilized races in Equis mythos. They were known for showing extreme compassion and understanding, while the Nirik where said to be a warfairing race. Nopony has seen either since they were said to have migrated to this mountain.”
“Alright, so the Kirin will be easy enough to talk to and proceed to have another wife...and the Nirik...well it might be tough but who knows until we get there.” I said honestly, looking over the mountains, wondering where a town might be in this place.
“So, mind if I tag along?” Gilda asked. “This sounds like fun.”
“Sure.” I nodded. “I still need to take you all out on solo dates still…” I said, remembering that whole thing. “Who else is tagging along?”
Silence raised a hand.
“Alright Silence, anyone else?” I asked, wanting to know who’s coming with before just going down.
There didn’t seem to be anymore volunteers, so I had Gilda and Silence hop on my glider with me and we headed off. Wonder which of these things I’ll reach first?
Back in my castle, the me that was with Lake and Drezke went back to the castle to deal with some things Consequence already had a list of…
First off, dealing with the nobles who were dealing in illegal activities. Sitting on this throne was...odd, to say the least.
“Alright, so time to deal with the nobles.” I said. “Who’s the first noble?” I asked honestly.
“Iron Clad sire.” Consequence said. “His factories typically deal in, as expected, iron mining and smelting, however, it was discovered he was utilizing slave labor. From the youth to the elderly. Stretching back in his family four generations, Most of the slaves in his hold never knew a proper meal, clothing, or even sunlight.” He said, the stallion in question entering the room, chains all over him as a ring over his horn prevented hagic use.
“Okay Ironclad, do you plead guilty or do you plead death?” I asked the unicorn bluntly. “Cause I’m pretty sure you can’t lie when I have a lot of damning evidence against you.”
“Not to much of a choice there king. Sounds like tyrants court to me.” He said, one of the guards, a Canterlot one, jabbed his lance’s blunt side into his gut, silencing him.
“Unnecessary.” I said honestly to the guard hitting him. “And Tyrant court eh? And what, were you the shining beacon of pride and fairness to all the slaves you had?” I asked honestly. “All your money, all your status, and all your power can’t be used in this court, you are but a unicorn brought here to stand trial for the massive fuck ups he did. So, do I need to bring in the slaves to tell me all the bad shit you did, or do you want to just open up and tell me now so you maybe can get off a little lighter?” I asked bluntly.
He chuckled. “Conquest is but a taste on your lips isn’t it?” He asked. “This whole world is yours to own soon, already you perform justice the like Celestia had not the heart to preform. How far will you go however?” He asked. “I admit, my family enslaved thousands of rescues from the Las Pegasus flooding four generations ago, and I also admit most all of them are indeed third and fourth generation born slaves. Their sleep, eating, work and even bathroom uses where under my command. I decided who fucked who and what their child did. Only I know who is who’s child in the end. I admit I was their god, and I savored every moment of that power.”
I nodded. “Thank you.” I said simply while getting up and walking down to him. “As your punishment…” I thought for a moment. “Consequence, what would be a nice punishment for this bastard?” I asked honestly.
“Irony.” He stated. “Four generations of slaves, some five where in his hold, so ten generations as the lowest rank Dusk, only existing in your domain to clean the scraps from the streets. No, better yet. As a dusk, make him work in his own mines. They will be transferred to you now anyways.”
“That sounds wonderful. And that’s why your named Consequence.” I said while summoning Kingsblade. “Oh, and just so you know, all your memories will be used to help the people you tortured, and all your money will be sent to all the slaves that were tortured for generations on end.” I said honestly, using my keyblade to pull the guys heart out so he can be under his punishment.
His heart flew into my hands, and his body morphed into that of a Dusks. He rose up, and without thinking, bowed to me. “Go to your old mines, mine them alone til every ore is gone. And if you finish within those ten generations, keep digging. Dig, and dig, until ten generations have passed. Then bury yourself. Til someone comes to...heh, save you.” I ordered, and they began walking. Consequence took his heart, placing it inside a wooden box and warping it somewhere. “That’s one in the vault.” I muttered. “Next!” I barked.
“Next we have Alumare Clearfant. Nobel mare whose family specializes in fabrics. Her crime is her personal side business of counterfeit fashion wears.”
This mare was only in handcuffs, ring on her horn and her dress red, same as her shoes.
“So, you sell counterfeit fashion wears?” I asked the mare simply.
“I...admit, I allowed the creation of imitation brands.” She said.
“How bad did this get?” I asked simply, wanting to know if it'll need an iron fist or a soft hand to deal with the counterfeiter.
“I am a seamstress.” She said. “Selling fabrics is a family business, but I prefered stitchwork. I wanted to know just how good I was, so I counterfeited well known designers and brands.Only a small handful where found out.”
“So you counterfeited because you didn’t like your job?” I asked. “You...do you know that you could have done what you wanted to do without doing an illegal thing right?”
“I’m not exactly...very creative… Copying others was the best I could do and telling my family I had no interest in the family business… isn’t easy...so I avoided it.”
“And you couldn’t ask your parents to help you with learning creativity?” I asked. “Or found a professional and tried to get an internship? Did you really have to counterfeit when you could have easily asked? Also, mind if I see one of your works? I just want to know how good these counterfeits are.”
“Well, uh… I know for a fact one ended up with Rarity's Carousel Boutique without her even knowing it wasn’t one of hers.”
“Now that’s an eye for detail if Rarity of all people couldn’t tell the difference.” I chuckled. “So, Consequence...got an idea to punish this mare, who is apparently really good but just got lost really wanting to do something she enjoys?” I asked curiously.
“Honestly sire I don’t see much reason for a harsh punishment. This is just a girl who went about her dreams the wrong way. One thousand munny, or in your case bits fee, a night in jail and after that I will have her train with some designers since Rarity is away on your Zeppelin adventure sire.”
“That is perfect.” I nodded. “So, as stated, a thousand bits and a night in prison and then you get lessons to how to be creative with your stitchwork.” I said honestly.
“T-thank you, your highness.” She bowed, being taken away.
“Your welcome.” I said. “I...doubt many of them are like that…” I muttered. “Next.” I said, hoping to get more of these nobles out of the way for the hundreds of other things I need to do.
Back on the mountain we made our way up rather quickly. We were just walking through the trees for a while til… “It’s...amazing!” Gilda spoke our thoughts. Every house was made from a tree or a tree house, or...wow. The Kirin, where easily twice as fluffy as ponies, and I mean fur, not...chest… they had a green patch of scales on their back and a single large stone/wood looking horn on their heads. There where a lot of them too.
“They...are so fluffy.” I blinked. “But wow...this is really pretty.” I said, although I was admiring the Kirin’s beauty as well.
We walked into town, none of them seemed to...take notice. In fact… all of them had frowns on their face? Not sadness just...dull expressions.
“Hello?” I asked. “Is something wrong?”
No one said anything. Fact is only a few looked at us, before looking back at their tasks.
“Where’s your leader?” I asked the Kirins bluntly. “And can anyone actually talk?”
They just tilted their head sideways, then turned around and walked off. “Rude, not even I’m that rude.” Gilda said.
“Something’s not right here.” I frowned. “Dull expressionless faces, literally no one talking…” I muttered. “Crap, someone put a curse on them.”
“I’ll try and find the leader figure, you...see if anyone here can talk.” Gilda said.
“Alright.” I nodded. “Silence?” I asked, wondering if she’ll either help me or do something to help Gilda.
She followed me and so far...not a single...damn, Kirin was talking… Actually, now that I think about it I don’t see any males either? “Weird to see now males here…” I muttered, blushing as the thought of me having every Kirin female here as a wife rushed into my mind...all the fluff...
Silence gave me a light tap on the arm when she pointed towards the towns edge, and I saw it. Another Kirin, this one saw we saw her, then left.
“Well...I suppose we go after her…” I said, following after the Kirin that left and wondering if that one was able to talk. “Let’s hope she can actually talk…”
We chased after her, very much leaving the far ends of the village til we were only in forrest. We soon found ourselves bumping into her, her, Silence and I all toppling over and rolling down a small hill. “Owe… Bad idea.” Oh good she talks.
“Yeah, it was.” I muttered. “So...you can talk. Who are you if I may ask and why are people not talking?”
She got back up, the lot of us dusting off. “That is a long story…. So here’s all the details!” She said, going into beyond Lord of the rings detail on how her people came to stop talking… In short, Kirins are Niriks...how did I not noticed it’s their name reversed. They turn into them when very angry. They burned down their village, and their leader said no more talking, so they all took a dip in magic water that stripped them of all emotions, and ability to speak. “So that’s the WHOLE story, in every little detail.” The Kirin, Autumn Blaze, finished… IT’S SUNSET!
“Christ lady did you really need to say every single little detail?” I asked honestly. “And...how do I help solve this problem?”
“Oh, well I was able to talk again after drinking a tea made from a special flower I found. It completely reverses the magic in the water. But I only found enough for me. It’s a rare flower and I don’t know where it properly grows.”
“Do you know what the flower looks like? What color was it?” I asked, bringing up my Assistant to see if I could find it with what she told me. “Also, where’s the Kirin leader?” I asked curiously.
“Well, its blue, and it’s called foals-breath. It’s really hard to find, and grows in only patches of like one or two stems, and smells kinda like if you blended Strawberries and Blueberries together, and tastes like camomile.”
“Right then…” I muttered while seeing if I could actually buy the plant we needed to help out or if I have to hunt for the thing. “Do you know anyone that might know of the plant?” I asked, hoping she knows someone to help make this a bit easier if I can’t just buy the thing.
“Psst. Doubt it. I didn’t even know it was a thing til I found it and looked it up when I got back home. Had to, uh, borrow one of the leaders old tombs to find out what it was. Even is anyone back in the village knew I’d doubt they’d tell… no pun intended.”
“Do you know where to find the leaders?” I asked curiously.
“Well Leader, she’s not hard to miss. She’s the tallest Kirin in the village.”
“Alright then.” I nodded. “But...she might know where to find the plants...oh, also...do you know who I am?” I asked, knowing that word of me has gotten around to damn near everywhere but not sure where it hasn’t.
“Uh… a very fuzzy pony? A tiny diamond dog?” She asked.
“I’m a Dire Wolf actually. And I’ll take that as a no.” I said honestly. “I suppose living all the way up here would close you off from...well literally any world wide news.”
“We get no news from anywhere. Why? What’s happened out there in the world!? Tell me with extremely lengthy details!” She started shaking me… How long has she not had anyone to talk to!?
“It’s going to take too long if I do that.” I frowned. “To make an excruciatingly long story as short as possible, I am the King of Nothingness, the king of the changelings, pony, diamond dogs, technically the griffons, and prince of the Zebra’s all through marriage, and right now I’m going wife hunting to unite the world...even though this world is in my domain of Nothingness.” I shrugged. “A lot of things have been happening, like a lot of things happened and are still happening.” I said honestly.
“Ooooh! A King! How exciting! If the leader Rain Shin could speak she’d love to talk with you.”
“She’d really love to know what the hell’s going on in the world if a King of at portion of the planet is here.” I said honestly.
“Well if the Stream of Silence didnt turn off everyone's emotions and voices she likely would, otherwise it’s just a blank stair with a slight head tilt.”
“Yeah…” I sighed out. “But did that tomb say anything about where the plants are?” I asked honestly.
“No, just that it reverses curses and enchantments.” She sighed.
“You know what? I probably have a spell for this.” I frowned while opening my Lexicon and sifting through it with the ass ton of spells I know. “I mean...Dispel is a thing...Esuna...several other spells that get rid of curses and enchantments…” I muttered while closing it. “Does it need to be this plant or could it be any spell that gets rid of curses and enchantments?”
“I...I don’t know.”
I took a deep breath. “God damn it…” I muttered. “Well...let’s get back to town and try this out.” I said, hoping Silence was still here because I was so busy talking to Autumn I didn’t think about Silence and if she had anything she wanted to do or ‘say’.
We headed back to town and I spotted Gilda sitting at the pond in the center of town.
“Hey Gilda, how you doing?” I asked her. “Hope we weren’t taking too long.”
“Huh, oh. Well yeah, but look, Maybe we should, ya know, leave them as is…” She said.
“Why do you say that?” I asked curiously. “Cause I have several spells that could get rid of the curse or enchantment.”
“Well… I found out from some journal entries of their leader that since when angry they turn into those fire demons and burned their whole village down… And lots of very harsh words where said. Speaking from experience of harsh words being said...maybe it’s best they can’t talk so they don’t burn down anything opr hurt themselves.”
“No.” I said honestly. “They need to learn to control their emotions, not get pissy at every single thing, and learn that it’s fine to disagree, not going into a blind rage for petty reasons.” I said honestly. “And this is coming from a guy who’s literally done what they did, and believe me, it doesn’t work.”
“And still does.”
“And still does what?’ I asked honestly.
“Ben, when you get angry, you blow. Up. You ain’t exactly practicing what the girls and I have been preaching to you about patience and calming.”
“Oh believe me, I am very patient. It’s just the fact that literally everything is straining it to hell and back.” I said honestly. “And let’s look at the list shall we. The ever growing family that I constantly fear I can’t be good enough for, scared that I can’t be a good father to the literal hundreds of kids we have at the moment, have to train a whole bunch to be strong to protect everyone I care about, literally being crowned King of Nothingness not a day ago or something and having to do some much of that long list of shit, all the other problems that keep cropping up out of nowhere, and then the Keyblade War that’s going to happen soon.” I explained. “Not to mention a bunch of this stress I literally can’t share with you all cause of several reasons. Training, literally all the problems I have to solve, currently solving, or just figuring out are problems, all the training, me just feeling like crap to begin with because, again I’m really freaking depressed here, and just so much other things that I’m having to have the entire world on my back.”
“And that’s where you are an idiot!” Gilda said, jumping up. “We are your family, your wives for Stars sake! We are okay with sharing your stress! We saw you, baggage and all and hung around because we care, we love you and you can’t even trust us to open up about your worries without throwing a pity fit like a toddler! We want you to talk to us about your worries, your fears. Your heart may be whole but you keep it frozen like your freaky shield sometimes!”
“Pity fit? Really?” I asked. “When have I asked for pity? Never. When do I actually have time to talk while either all of you are busy or I’m way too busy?” I asked. “When do I get to feel that actually talking won’t cause problems for others? When will I stop being depressed and fear everything will just disappear cause I’m in some idealistic fever dream? When will I get the images of you all dying out of my head? When will my constant screams for you all to be safe stop?” I asked. “Want to know why I don’t talk? Because I’m scared that it’ll be true, that I’ll lose all of you because of my own incompetence. You say I throw a pity party like a child, but that’s not it at all, I’m not throwing a god damn pity party, and I’m not a child...even though I died when I was a kid and then everything spiraled out of control from there.”
“And what do you call this?! Why can’t you just say- Woah what’s happening?” Gilda and I were suddenly floating, immobilized by the Kirin’s really strong magic. They were taking us somewhere.
“Oh no!” Autumn yelped. “They’re taking you to the Stream of Silence! That water touches you and you’ll be like all of them!”
“Cause of course we are…” I growled. “Can’t things ever be fucking simple for once? Please?”
“Do you ever make it simple for yourself?” Gilda asked. “I was told some stories, you tend to make thing harder than they need to be because of your anxiety.”
“No, I have literally tried to make things simple as many times as possible.” I said. “But you know, life never wants that to happen.”
“I dunno, was pretty easy to land you.” She said, chuckling.
“Was that before or after I made you scream?” I asked with a cheeky little grin.
“During.” She said, smiling. “Look, we don’t ask for much from you, emotionally anyway, heh… But we want you healthy mentally as well as physically, and emotionally. No one is flawless so all we can do is help each other hammer out the kinks.”
“Considering nine times out of ten you want me hammering out other kinks.” I said honestly. “You know, when the times I actually said no you all still dragged me into it, as the running joke was during that time, when...to be honest I would have just liked to know how your days were.” I said honestly.
“And you think we don’t wanna know how yours went? We keep the sex going cause at least you relax during/after it. You...rarely open up. Makes us feel like you are keeping secrets from us…”
“I mean, I’m pretty sure the images of your deaths would be a pretty good thing to keep secret.” I said honestly. “And then...the fact I had to walk on your rotting corpses…” I took a deep breath. “Yeah this is some reasons why I don’t want to say things.” I said honestly. “But besides that...well it’s not like you all are open books either. Sure I don’t ask how your days are or what’s new but...normally your all so open about it I sometimes don’t think i actually need to ask.” I brought up.
“Well, after what happened to Shining Armor, we’d be worried if you just...up and either never came back or...died coming home. We worry, you take so many life endangering risks like you have a death wish and when we try to help you in that you act like we’re a toddler surrounded with broken glass… We aren’t fragile, especially not Luna or me. You treat us like we are helpless when we’ve been training. Heck, before your clones thing the others went world hoping a few times while you were gone, got in trouble, but came out okay. We didn’t tell you that little trip because they figured you’d have a heart attack.”
“I mean...I would considering the people coming after me.” I said honestly. “Cause you know, I’m not allowed to panic when my fiance's disappear and I have really powerful bad guys wanting to kill me.”
“Who ever said you aren’t aloud to panic? Panicking is normal, we panic all the time over you, so you deserve a panic attack every now and then. Everyone needs to let their true feeling out in some way.”
“True…” I said honestly. “But there’s more than just you girls world hopping around when I’m not around right?”
“If we get out of this, you’ll get the whole story.” She said, smiling before looking worried, a stream was up ahead, with rocks around it with odd symbols on them that glowed.
“Okay...are you bringing us here for me to reverse the stream or no?” I asked the Kirins honestly, looking at them all in hopes one of them will literally do anything just to say ‘yes’.
“Hey Mutes!” They all stopped, all of us turning up to the trail behind us, seeing… Autumn Blaze? She was… a Nirik, skin like charcoal and fire erupting from all over. “Drop them. NOW!” Immediately they dropped us, backing up… afraid. Autumn ran over to us, a trail of purple fire behind her before making a small ring of fire around us as a barrier between her kind and us. She then quickly reverted back to her normal Kirin form. “Oh my gosh are you two alright?!” She asked, invading all kinds of personal space looking Gilda and I over, Silence jumping the fire and joining us.
“Yes, we’re okay.” I said honestly. “Thank you though.”
“Well, I couldn’t just let you two end up without your voices. I know how that feels.” Autumn said.
“What about your Nirik form? Weren’t you afraid of losing control?” Gilda asked.
“Well, at first but, then I realized I can’t let fear of what I can do govern what I can use it for, and if I hurt others by accident, I can atone and hope they forgive me.” She said. “Words only have as much power as we give them, and for a Kirin that can be a lot, but we should choose how to release that anger, be responsible with it.”
“Some fire extinguishers could also be handy.” Gilda laughed.
“Yeah just a bit.” I said honestly. “Or...well you know, magic could solve the fire problem.” I said honestly. “There are plenty of water based spells ya know?”
“Yeah...we can’t do those spells… Kirins, Niriks, both really tied to fire so water magics our magic doesn’t agree with…” Autumn said, looking towards her fellow Kirins. “Girls… one bad argument over the past thousand years… is that really all it took to justify taking away our voices? Rain Shine,” She motioned to the tallest one- HOLY FUCK SHE’S LIKE TEN FEET TALL! “You used to sing the most amazing melodies, we all used to enjoy laughing, talking. Was one bad argument all it took?”
Rain Shine looked ashamed, realizing her past decree was rather hastey, and not thought out.
“I mean...it might have also been because of the town that kept burning down.” I mentioned. “But...well that’s neither here nor there at the moment.”
We then spent the next two hours searching for the flower, it’s image shown to us by Rain Shine. I found a good bunch of them at the mountains base, far off any paths, and hard to get to. No wonder Autumn never found them after that first time. Everyone drank the cure, and voices, laughter, and even a few songs began upon the now vocal Kirins.
Rain Shine walked up to us. “Autumn Blaze, you have reminded us that we choose how to let out tempers flow. And you three, if there is anything you wish, we are in your debt.”
“Um...question, are there any male kirins?” I asked honestly. “Cause...so far I’ve only seen female’s and...all the fluff.” I said sheepishly.
“Ah, well…” Rain Shine started. “It’s part of why we moved up to this mountain. Long ago, a deadly plague was claiming land that once was our old kingdom. It was odd, as it only affected the males of our kind. We escaped here, but the plague still pestered us. The last males died off hundreds of years ago. To keep our kind alive, we have had to use a special spell to, how to say...self impregnate, we are reborn exactly, our old, aged body dying after our new one has been born. It’s been hard, the rebirth leaves us with all our past memories, even within our infant state.”
“Well...do you remember how Kirins...picked husbands?” I asked honestly.
“Like ponies. Not gonna lie, we all have...experimented, over our many rebirths, but living this long is no way to live. Many chose to die rather than live on. Just we thirteen remain. Why do you ask?”
“Well…” I sighed out. “It’s long and complicated but basically I’m going around the world trying to unite the world...by marrying all the female royalty to basically become king of the world.” I said, blushing brightly at this. “I’m already King of the Changelings, Diamond Dogs, Griffons, Ponies, and Prince of the Zebra’s.” I explained. “And...I would...well I’d like it if you would join ma’am...and if you work like ponies I suppose any other Kirin that would love to join my ever growing herd.” I said sheepishly. “I...know it’s sudden...but ancient laws are really weird like that.”
Rain Shine seemed a bit taken back, then seemed to be thinking it over. “Hmm… It’s an interesting offer… and it’s not like most of us… Alright. The others can finally find mates, and I guess I can finally have foals and-”
“I’m in too!” Autumn suddenly shouted, grabbing my face and planting a deep, heavy tongue kiss on my lips… I feel like she’s eating my face!
“Heh, not surprised.” Rain Shine laughed.
I gently pushed away. “Ladies please.” I chuckled. “Save it till we get back to the airship. I’m sure you two would just love the rest of my fiances.” I chuckled a little. “Oh and just a fair warning...one of my fiances will literally try to talk your ears off with questions.”
“Talk!” Autumn said happily.
“And now you have two.” Gilda laughed.
Back in the Air Ship, I sat with all my wives and my two new additions. We all sat with snacks and drinks. This was it, we were all going to talk and get things off our chests.
“Alright…” I sighed out. “How to start this…” I muttered, trying to think of a good way to start this. “Who wants to start first?” I asked.
“Well, let’s start with something simple.” Celestia starts. “What exactly happened while you where down there?”
“Well…” I started. “A lot of things happened...which involved Gilda telling me I need to talk to you all more in an aggravated way.” I said honestly.
Most of them nodded. “Then let’s start talking, we ask you something that’s bugged us, you do the same. Sound fair?” Twilight asked.
“Fine enough.” I said. “So, how much booze will I need?” I asked, knowing I’ll probably be drinking heavily because of this.
“We will figure that out along the way.” Luna said. “So Ben, first up...why do you hide your nightmares from us? Back when they were daily?”
“Would you like if I talked about me seeing you all brutally murdered while I couldn’t do a damn thing about it?” I asked. “Or the fact malformed abominations that Kexez made...were eating your rotting corpses?”
Most of them shuttered, but Luna remained calm. “It would have been a good idea at the least.” She stated. “Keeping that nightmarish image to yourself must have tormented you.”
“It did, and still does.” I said honestly. “Cause you know, not being able to do anything while you see your family get butchered is a hell of a thing.”
“What else has there been?” Rarity asked.
“What else?” I asked curiously. “Like what? Nightmares or things that have just been bugging the piss out of me?”
“Either or darling.”
“Okay well the Nightmares I just don’t care about anymore because they stopped thankfully.” I said honestly. “But things that have been currently pissing me off is Kexez and a bunch of other things. Sure I just got Drezke and Lake, Zeke’s light and dark parts, back together but then an ass ton of Keyblade wielding Purebloods went out and about doing something.” I said honestly. “Then there’s me being the king and basically doing literally what Celestia and Luna should have been doing, like going through literally all of the Royal Class and going through all the shit they illegally did and punishing them accordingly. Oh, Rarity you're going to have a new protege in tailoring.” I said honestly.
“Oh, how interesting.” Rarity said.
“...Oh thank the stars above.” Celestia and Luna said in unison. They seemed...oddly happy.
“You two seem oddly happy.” I brought up. “Oh and her name is Alumare Clearfant just so you know Rarity.” I said.
“Well, you see Ben,” Celestia started.
“The nobel houses, we knew they were up to something illegal, the most of them anyway.” Luna finished.
“But because of a rule from Equestria’s founding, before Luna and I took power, we could not investigate or put suspected nobles on trial with evidence because the law stated only Princess Platinum’s bloodline had that authority as the Kingdoms head of security.”
“The last of Platinums bloodlines died off LONG before we took power, and since the law was tied by magic and blood if we tried we’d be… harmed, for it.” Celestia said.
“So...why is my clone perfectly fine then? I mean technically I’m outside of Equestria’s laws at this point because Equis as a whole is now in the Realm of Nothingness so my word is law now but still.” I said honestly. “But hey, if that law doesn't mean shit to me than yippee for me.” I said honestly.
“Because technically taking Equis into your Domain and ruling, you Concored Equis, claiming it as your own. All the old laws no longer apply when under a new regem.” Luna said gitty. “Finally, I want to find those old scrolls and burn them!”
“But...does the old law I’m currently abusing still work in this case?” I asked nervously.
“You took Equis, but only Equestria has freely taken your banner.” Celestia said. “Others will only take it after a unifying marriage.”
“Alright thank you.” I nodded. “Good to know.” I said. “So I can still go around the world learning new things and marrying new women.” I said honestly. “God...still feels weird that I’m basically whoring myself out here.”
“All you need for that is the right outfit.” Twin Pie said.
“But we know you won’t wear that.” Pinkie added.
“So, anything else Ben?”
“Well there’s a bunch of things still.” I said. “Like Kexez being a fucking bastard and torturing Jenny and then stealing all her memories away that I have to play fucking scavenger hunt for cause the dick waffle doesn’t know when to actually just give me her memories when he knows I can kill him easily enough.” I growled.
“Well, he is just a literal husk. No heart, no soul. How much power is in him? Even with all the darkness he has pumped into himself.” Twilight said.
“Lake said he’s not that strong, just really smart.” I said honestly. “But then there’s the problem of him basically being controlled by Psychopaths but that still doesn’t solve that problem.” I huffed.
“Didn’t Core drain all of the Psychopath blood from Zeke once?” Luna asked. “I remember his Luna telling me that once. Some kind of Trumpet looking item one of the other colored Core’s had.”
“That’s exactly what happened, but when he split apparently that whole thing doesn’t matter anymore and he just got that Psychopath blood back, albeit Lake had more just rushed onto him so...there’s that.” I said honestly.
“Why not speak to Cript about it? He might have means to remove it forever.” Coco asked.
“His new job doesn’t allow him to do certain things...even though he has proceeded to still do things that he said before he wasn’t supposed to...and he’s probably got something planned for after the war cause of course it has to be after the war.” I rolled my eyes.
“Hey… Didn’t he say after you mastered your abilities you two where supposed to do some special training?” Rarity asked.
“Yes, that is also a thing.” I said, taking stock on all my clones. One was still hunting for Jenny’s memories, one was still going through an ass ton of nobles who did illegal shit, and my third and fourth were actually spending time with the kids like how a father was supposed to. “He’ll probably grab one of my clones that aren’t busy.” I said honestly.
“Nope!” Cript said, appearing behind me. I jumped, falling off my chair and spilling my drink. “I need the original.”
“Of course you do…” I muttered. “Well...I suppose I’ll need yet another clone.” I said honestly while rolling up my sleeve. “So,don’t be shocked you two, this is starting to become a normal thing.” I said to my two kirin fiances while cutting my arm off. “Ow…” I muttered, regrowing my arm as a fully clothed clone appeared rather quickly. “When do we start?” I asked Cript honestly.tly.
“Hmm…. Now.” He said, grabbing me and everything went dark.
I didn’t wake up in pain, for once. I did wake up in a forest of sorts… Wait, this is the forest outside Cript’s old Temple from his childhood.
“And why am I here again?” I asked curiously while getting up.
“Lesson one.” I looked behind me, seeing Cript leaning against a tree.
“Lesson one?” I asked, wondering what lesson one is going to be.
“Regret.” He said. He vanished in a trail of smoke as suddenly the whole forest began to catch fire.
“The fuck!?!” I yelped, summoning Frozen Pride and Eternal flames and trying to put out all the fires by shooting a bunch of water at the fire’s.
The weapons vanished the second I summoned them… None of them were responding to me. Even my cloak! It was replaced by just a simple pair of cloth shorts… I feel very naked here. Not even shoes.
“Shit.” I swore. “Um…” I looked around to see if there was anything that wasn’t on fire and try to solve this...or run if need be cause so much fire.
“There it is!” Someone yelled, an arrow barely missing my face. “Kill it!”
“Excuse me what!?” I yelped, looking around worriedly at who just fired the shot. “Fuck this I’m out.” I muttered while running as fast as I could away from whoever just shot at me. “This is not good...not good at all…” I muttered, trying to use the burning forest to my advantage so I wouldn’t be hit.
I was running. The heat made breathing hard, the smoke just made it worse. Not having shoes meant every little sharp rock and stick I hit I felt. I tripped, falling over a small hill into a pond. I got up, in the reflection I saw myself. Fur unkempt, dirty...blood soaked.
“Why bloodsoaked?” I muttered worriedly, not knowing what the hell is going on and am just so goddamn confused. “What’s going on here?’
I howled, actually howled in pain when a pitchfork shot into the palm of my right hand. Looking up I saw three men, each looking like normal people, one with a bow and arrow. So that’s who shot at me. I pulled it out, and immediately noticed the pain was still there… no healing factor. I got up, running fast. “Die demon hound!” I yelped, an arrow hitting into my shoulder blade.
“What the fuck are you all talking about!?!” I shouted in panic, trying to get away from the attackers that just attacked me for no reason.
My hand was dripping blood. A lot of blood. I gotta patch this up. Acting fast, I tore some of my raggedy shorts and wrapped it around my wound. Thinking fast I ran ahead as fast as possible, then hid, the attackers heading forwards while I ran back. ”What the actual fuck is going on?” I thought to myself worriedly, not understanding what this was, why I was getting hunted, and why Cript said ‘Regret’.
I ran. I need answers and maybe the- I stopped myself, finding myself in a burning village… blood and corpses everywhere. Young. Old. Men, women. All...dead. I took a step forwards… and felt something. Looking down, it was a...collar. Thick metal, the ‘name’ E44 engraved onto it. It was broken, the tip of an arrow still lodged into it’s lock.
“I…” I muttered. “I…” I took a step back. “No...no this can’t be true…”
My head began to rush me. I was remembering… things. Things I...Did I do them? Was this really me? I remember….Den, being a pup, growing up with her… being captured, this coller put on me… Forcing to turn Beastial. I remembered my first order… I threw up… I…. I ate Mom… They…. So much blood… So much death. So much murder… All I could do is watch. Trapped in my own body.
“Everything…” I cried. “It’s...it’s all my fault…” I muttered sadly, sniffling as tears landed on the bloodied grown. “I...I’m sorry mom...I’m so sorry…”
I was too busy crying to notice the person walking up behind me. Not until another collar was placed on my neck, followed by endless, high voltage shocks that made me scream. “Such a good boy.” A man said… The one who did this to me. “You left three alive, but overall a good job.”
My body began morphing against my will. I became beastial, and I could not move my own body at all. The man wasn’t that much older than me. And he wore a blue vest over a white shirt, and a belt that… Oh god… Mom’s skin! I wanted to scream, bark, cuss him out, bite his head off, anything but I could not move.
”YOUR THE ONE THAT FORCED THIS ON ME!?! YOUR THE ONE THAT FORCED ME TO KILL MY MOM AND DO ALL THIS SHIT!?!” I mentally roared in rage. ”I WILL FUCKING END YOU WHEN I GET THIS DAMNED COLLAR OFF ME! I WILL MAKE YOU REGRET BEING BORN FOR MAKING ME DEVOUR MY OWN MOM YOU SICK SADISTIC BASTARD!” I mentally shouted, tears still streaming down my beastial face.
“Have a treat.” He said, tossing me this large pill looking thing. Against my will's, my body moved, taking and eating the thing. It tasted like old leather, but my body felt...better. “We got one more village to target and those Nexus fat cats are gonna pay me bi-” Just then, a ‘Hello Moto’ ringtone rang from his pocket. “What the?” He asked, taking out… a flip phone? Really? “Hunter, what’s up?”
”Hunter?” I thought. ”And your working for the Nexus? You motherfucker now I will piss on your still living body after I flay it like a dead fish.”
“New target?” He said. I can’t hear who is talking through the phone is saying. “Really? A school you say? Which students?”
”Oh fuck no!” I mentally yelped, trying to get some semblance of control against this damned collar.
“The Children of Cript huh? That’s a messy job, I don’t wanna just barge in and- HOW MUCH!? You, you sly morally bankrupt fat cat have a deal. Yeah, same to you.” He hung up the phone, then looked over to me. “Good news boy, we got a new job. Five kids, fifty million rem each. Be sure to leave the heads, payers want this Cript guy to suffer.”
”Oh fuck me…” I thought to myself. ”I’m gonna die and it’s your fault you bastard!”
He opened some portal and had me walk inside. “Classroom A113. Scare them all, and leave just enough.” He said, the portal closing. Every inch of me wanted to run away but I was moving, looking for the classroom… A109...A110…
”Stop! Stop please!” I mentally shouted, trying to figure out how the fuck to get my body to work here.
A111...A112...A113… I froze for a while, looking at the wooden door. My body growled, and after backing up a bit, I charged in, smashing the door down and most of the walls around it. Time seemed to slow as… Cript was in front of me… though NOT like I know… This Cript was… female. Red hair, green eyes. She was looking at me like I was dead already… then her face went to something like horror, or realization… does she see… me?
”Please...run…” I mentally cried, my eyes still filled with tears. ”I’m sorry…”
Time flowed back to normal, though I was suddenly pinned into the wall, something sharp piercing my stomach. I felt something, like ice, but not cold begin to crawl out from my new wound, right as it reached my neck, this female Cript grabbed my collar, and ripped it off like paper. I was then encased in crystal, and found myself in my own mind.
”Yay…” I muttered in my head. ”Thanks...can’t wait to stay dead if...if I did so many horrible things...oh god...I’m sorry…”
I heard cracking, like glass as I was suddenly face first on the ground. Ouch. “Or...I’m not allowed to die…” I muttered while looking up. “Hi…” I said sadly.
“You okay?” This female Cript asked, holding out a hand to pull me up.
“No.” I said honestly while taking the hand and getting up. “You know...being forced to eat your own mother because Nexus hired some asshole to turn me into a psychotic killer…” I said sadly. “You know...I’m perfectly okay.”
“Oh...you poor guy.” She said, giving me a hug. “Don’t worry, it’s over now. You’re free.” She said. My memories of this alternate life flooded me… Six years of that guy’s shit. I felt...free. I cried.
“It’s...it’s so good...to feel free.” I said gently. “Too bad that...doesn’t excuse the six years of murdering I’ve done…”
“It’s okay. There’s nothing more to fear.” She cooed.
“No it’s not...I ate my mother and I was forced to kill for six years straight for those bastard Nexus…” I cried. “So much blood…”
“It’s okay to hold onto Regrets, but learn from them. Don’t just morn because of them.”
“I ate my mom...I think this is literally the first time I could literally morn about that.” I said honestly. “But...I suppose…” I sniffled, rubbing the tears out of my eyes. “This bites…”
“No puns. No snark, just cry. It’s not a bad thing to cry, to let tears flow. It’s only human. No matter what race.”
Even though I wanted to object...I just couldn’t as I curled up and cried, cried in front of an entire class I was forced to try and attack, in front of a female Cript, and just not caring cause fuck did everything hurt.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed. But when I finally stopped crying… I just felt… amazing. More relieved than I have ever known...ever. “Lesson one.” I looked up, seeing Cript there. My Cript, standing behind the other one. “Regret, learned.”
“To regret, is to feel the pain of all wronged by you. Feel sorrow not just for those you care for, but for those you hate.” Female Cript said.
“Feel sorrow for those I hate?” I asked.
“Some.” My Cript started, “Are born evil. There is no hope, to reason to shed tears.”
“But most.” The female Cript picked up. “Are created this way. Take your master, for example.” She said, the image of a young boy, beaten, starved, eating a rat. “Abandoned. Homeless, starving.” The image changed, the boy a little older, still thin was walking around, picking pockets. It changed again, this time… He…. he was… being raped? Wha, bu- wait… When it was over, the adult dropped...money… So young… selling himself… “Life, can give blessings to all, but some, some never get to know it’s kindness. Their hearts grow cold, freeze over, until it’s just a monter everyone else sees.”
I couldn’t believe that the guy that made me do terrible shit for years...actually had a very shitty life...and something I didn’t expect to happen, but I cried for the poor bastard.
“This is why I created this sword.” My Cript said, showing me the chrome blade with a black aura. “Salvation, for the wicked not born to their life, but created by their experiences. A weapon of true peace.”
“Oh...that’s...that’s a thing…” I said, sniffling a little.
“Lesson Two.” Female Cript said, my Cript handing me the Humanity blade. “Mercy.”
I took the sword. “Um...so...mercy huh?” I asked. “I suppose I have to use this on the guy that tortured me for six years?” I asked.
“What the sword does, varies from target to target.” Cript said. “But mercy, is essential. If I can forgive Psychopath for the Mars incident, my own dad for making my best friend turn psycho… you can forgive a man who’s life made him so cruel and cold hearted.”
“I understand.” I nodded. “Well...better go find the guy…” I said, even though I would rather maul him for what he did...I think he deserved at least some kindness I suppose.
Cript opened up a portal. The man was a distance. He didn’t notice me… I felt so much rage, but also sorrow. Half of me wanted to maul him, the other to save him. It was like I was at a crossroads.
“If I’ve learned anything...it’s that some people deserve a second chance...even if you don’t want them to…” I muttered. “So...just stab him with this?” I asked Cript.
“Yes, the blade will do the rest.” The portal closed.
I nodded. “Well...here we go…” I muttered while sneaking up on the man. ”Let’s hope...this works out for ya.” I thought to myself before moving closer and stabbing the guy with the sword Cript gave me.
“Gah!” He yelped, those Crystals forming all over him until they encased him. I removed the sword, a black miasma smoking from the crystal.
“Well...I hope you can have a better life after this.” I muttered, wondering if I’m gonna have to kill the miasma.
It was like this for a while, then, the crystals began breaking. The man was surrounded by a bright light… and I found myself staring at a child. No older than three. He was wearing worn, dirty clothes, and messy hair.
“Hey little guy.” I said, kneeling down gently. “How you doing?”
“I-I can’t find my mommy!” He cried.
“What does your mommy look like?” I asked gently.
“She-she told me to wait for her. B-but she never came back!”
I sighed out while putting a hand on his head. “I’m here for ya. What’s your name?” I asked gently.
“I… I don’t know. Mommy just called me her child and… that was it.”
I sighed out. “Do you know where your mommy went? Do you have a daddy?” I asked gently.
“No, and...I never met my dad.”
“Oh…” I said. “Well...I can be your dad.” I said gently and carringly.
I took the kid, lifting him up. He changed, turning wolf pup, gaining blond hair and wings. Heh, looks like Derpy has a Son now.
“Alright...do you want a name?” I asked my new son honestly.
“Yeah…” He said. “Can it be Hunter? I always like that name.”
“Sure.” I nodded. “Hunter sounds good for you.”
Cript showed up, placing a hand on Hunter as he vanished in a puff of light. “Sent him to Derpy with a note. I’m proud, you learn fast.”
“Well I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t a quick learner.” I said honestly. “And...the poor guy needed a second chance.”
“Good to know. Your next lesson is something I feel is a bit overdue. It’s simple. History.”
“Yippee…” I groaned. “History lessons...wonder if I’m going to experience it or have my ears talked off about it.”
“Actually, this is a History lesson Den is teaching you. I recently remade her old homeworld to exact detail. You and her are gonna spend some time digging into your ancestral roots, and prove you’ve earned that necklace.” He said, pointing the warriors necklace Den gave me on my chest.
“Alrighty then.” I nodded. “Funny how I also got a Primal Drive Form so...there’s that random thing.” I said honestly, putting a hand on my warrior necklace. “So, I suppose I’ll walk through a portal or you snap your fingers and I’ll be there?”
“The later.” He said, snapping his fingers.
I woke up laying under… the most beautiful night sky I have ever seen. “Wow…” I muttered, surprised to see such a wonderful night sky.
I began to stand up and… HOLY SHIT I’M NAKED!! “And why the hell am I naked!?” I panicked, covering myself up in some way to protect my decency. ”Okay...so naked in the middle of nowhere...what is this the start to some bad joke?” I thought to myself worriedly as I looked around to see if anyone was around.
I was suddenly attacked, and was staring at-MOM’S NAKED. “Hi Ben!” Den said happily.
“Excuse me but why are we naked?” I asked, blushing brightly at the fact I was staring at my naked mom. “But...how are you doing?’ I asked.
“Good. I am SOOO happy Cript did this for me! As for why no clothes, we are the Traditionalist tribe Ben, or at least I was before, so even in these forms we don’t wear clothes. But, lucky for you we will be in our primal forms more often than not.” She said, shifting. Her primal form was at least twice as big as mine was.
“Alright.” I said while shifting into my Primal Form, stretching out a bit. “Gonna need to get used to this though...haven’t used it that much.” I said. “So, where to first mom?”
“First… Run.” She said, smiling.
“Which way?” I asked, not sure if this is one of those ‘run just for runnings sake’ or not.
“Anyway.” Dan said, jumping around like a dog wanting to...play… “It’s tag after all.”
“Tag huh?” I said with a little smile. “Well...sure.” I said while running after her to try and tag her.
Mom was FAST in her primal form, then again, she has had more- “Ompf!” I yelped, tripping over myself and ramming headfirst into a tree… hey, that didn’t hurt?
“Heheh. In this form your skull is nine times denser than in a human like form.” Den said. “Your only weak area is your underbelly.”
“Why? Is it because of wolves really like belly rubs?” I joked while pouncing at her. “My wives would probably torture me with that…”
“Hehe, probably.” She said, still a good distance ahead of me. I felt like if I was in my normal form I’d be really tired already but here… I feel amazing!
“This is...really great.” I said, smiling as I ran after my mom faster than I normally would.
I felt my speed gaining. Den saw this and smiled, leaping HIGH into the air, jumping up along the massive trees around us. “Claws and momentum. Don’t stop once you start, the fall will hurt a bit.” She warned, almost flying through the trees.
“Simple enough.” I said while leaping after her, feeling the strength in my legs helping me do these great things.
This was the best feeling. I think this is how Tarzan feels! I leaped easy twenty or thirty feet in one go after another. I was so close, almost grabbing Mom’s tail when-
Swipe.
She flicked it in my face, almost making me fall over. “Heh, nice try, but I don’t go down easy.” She said, leaping down to the ground and running on foot...paw.
“Silly silly…” I muttered while leaping down and rushing after her. “This...is so much fun.”
I was panting, the thrill of the chase was… amazingly fun. We came to a cliff edge… with a deep fall… and Den jumped it, falling to the ground and landing in a perfect roll back to her paws. “Wahoo! Just like old times!”
I took a few steps before, before digging my claws into the ground and running and leaping past the cliff.
When I landed I didn’t roll as gracefully as mom, but I did manage to avoid massive pain. Mom laughed. “Good job.” She said, jumping around with glee. “Whoo. I missed this so-” Mom stopped talking, taking a whiff of the air. “Oh...oh he didn’t!” She took another sniff. “He did!” She shouted happily, running off. I took a sniff of the air… there was prey nearby, and my instincts made me wanna chase it.
“Well...alright…” I muttered while running off after the prey my instincts wanted me to chase.
I caught up with mom at the edge of the forest. Before us was this… Really tall, giraffe elephant mix looking thing my nose was going wild over. “A Gloke. Their meat is amazing. Oh Cript is so sweet to bring them back too!” Mom said, licking her lips. She then tapped me. “Go on, this kill is yours.”
“Is it as tough as an elephant?” I asked curiously.
Mom looked over to me, smiling. “Sweetie, we were top predators on our world. Our teeth can bite through steel. Their hide is tough, but take out behind either of the front knees, then tear open it’s throat. Make sure it’s quick, it’s considered sinful to let it suffer through it’s death.”
“Alright.” I nodded, taking the way to kill it to heart as I started to sneak up on it, not wanting to spook the thing before I swooped in and killed it. When I got close enough I immediately bolted and ripped into it’s front knees, skidding around and pouncing, grabbing onto it’s neck with my new powerful jaws and trying to rip open it’s throat to kill it quickly.
It fell over like a tree, the ground making a loud thud when it fell. It was dead quick. I tasted it’s blood in my mouth and it’s skin between my teeth, and- IT’S LIKE HAPPINESS! IN FOOD FORM! Without thinking I began eating the creature, not even noticing when mom took a seat next to me and just watched.
“Why is this so good!?” I asked happily, still wolfing it down, no pun intended.
Den laughed. “It just is. It’s food from your homeworld. You may not have been born to my kind Ben, but you were born to be one of my kind.” She said, nuzzling me. “It makes me so happy to be able to share these experiences with you.”
“I mean, technically I am born to your kind.” I brought up. “But yeah...I’m glad to be spending time with you mom...you want some or did I accidentally eat the entire thing?”
“Heh. Yes.” She said, taking bites out of the creature.
After we had out fill mom led me to a large cave, inside was dark, but she changed to umanish form and lit a torch on the wall. They were painted with...amazing designs, like old cave paintings. “Cript made this from my memories. This wall tells the story of our tribe.” She said, lighting the center bonfire and...the whole cave was beautifully painted. She changed back into wolf form, and curled up, still looking at the imagery.
“Wow…” I muttered, looking at all the paintings. “Beautiful.” I said breathlessly.
“Each one tells a story, about warriors of the past.” I looked at an image of a wolf, fighting another, the one Den was looking at. “Saber, the strong. He could jump so high up, and his bite was so strong, he decapitated the Gloke in one swift bite. He battled the Rabbids, a terrible tribe of old. He never returned, but neither did the Rabbids.”
“I blame Rayman for ruining any sort of cool context for that.” I frowned, remembering the ‘Raving Rabbids’ from Rayman. “But...you probably have no idea what I'm talking about.”
She chuckled. We turned to another, this one of a wolf howling at the moon. “Gizer the swift. Fast and agile, no other of his time could catch him in either form. He dreamed of running to the moons, and was always chasing it.”
“Astounding.” I said. “Dumb question...did he ever make it?” I asked, not knowing how great her people were.
“Yes.” She said. She lead me outside the cave, and we had a perfect view of the moon...with a wolf howling on it. “When he died, his image appeared on the moon, he and his home forever chasing one another.”
“Wow.” I muttered, surprised and in awe at the stories. “What's next?”
“Let’s have a look.” Den said, smiling. We headed back in. Looking around I saw close to the entrance was… a scratched up part of a painting. It was hard to make out, but it looked like… a black and grey wolf… and that’s all I can make out.
“Black and grey wolf?” I asked curiously. “Who be that?”
“That… was Goto. The first warrior…” She said, taking a seat. “Back then we were like rodents to another race, it’s deadly poisoned fangs ended many of our kind back them. Goto stood against them, and managed to kill their queen. Like a beehive, they quickly died off. We became the top predators, and knew many, many years of peace… But Goto, the peacefulness drove him mad. He was a warrior, and he did not know when to stop fighting. One day, he attacked his own. It took ten of the strongest warriors aside from him to end him. His teeth were taken, and they make up your necklace.” Den said. I felt the necklace, touching it with a paw. “Passed down from top warrior, to the next. As a honor, and a reminder. Fight for what you care for, but don’t live for the violence, for you end up the monster you have been fighting.”
“Oh…” I said honestly. “That's...quite a lot of things.” I said honestly.
“It’s why half the tribe after that day left, preferring to stay humanoide to avoid their primal instincts. But monsters...come in all shapes and sizes.” She said. I never felt so...honored, to be in a place so...sacred. So full of history.
“This...this is astounding.” I said in awe. “Im...I'm so honored.”
“We were a broken people. The few who survived the...capturing, live with Cript.” She smiled. “At least you can not deny our numbers have boomed.” She laughed. “It will be nice, to see home as it once was.”
“Yeah…” I nodded. “I wonder what those people will think of me…”
“I am sure they would be happy with the new wearer of the necklace.” She said, placing a paw over my chest. “Be sure to bring my grandkids here. This history needs to stay alive. So much has been either lost, forgotten or thrown away. At least, that’s what I learned during my time with Cript.”
“Makes sense.” I nodded. “I'll make sure to have my kids see this all.”
“Thank you.” She said, curling up like a puppy, and drifting off to sleep. Happy.
“Night mom…” I muttered with a warm smile.
I curled up next to her. Sleeping like this felt a mix of alien and natural. I just looked at the fire, and the paintings all around as I drifted off to sleep.
To be continued...