//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Semper Fidelis // by Perception Filter //------------------------------// Chapter 2 A/N MOAR SCIENCE! Nightmare Moon sat in her tower, brooding over the mysterious creature that had saved her life. She knew the power of the Elements of Harmony now, and she was going to need help. But how would she recruit this strange being to her cause? If she tried to contact the being conventionally, things would go badly for her. She needed a way to talk to him, and him only. She walked down out of the tower that she had taken refuge in, and down to the main room. Nothing was different about it. There was almost no magical residue, and nothing to suggest how the thing had gotten here. She frowned and gazed at the small bloodstain on the ground where the creature had landed. ~~~~~~~~ “Alright nurse, we have to get the clothes off of this...uhh, thing.” said Doctor Stable. They first tried to simply pull them off. After a minute of fruitless efforts, they were forced to find another way. After looking over the creature they noticed that the clothing was simply strapped together. After removing its clothing, they gazed in awe at the broken creature that lay before them. Bones were shattered, and pushed at unnatural angles. Blood was freely flowing from several wounds along the length of its body; it was a wonder that the creature was still breathing. After looking at the thing for a unusually large amount of time, they finally sprang into action to save the poor being. After internally scanning the creature for injuries, they realized that its injuries were far more devastating than they first thought. He had minor bleeding in almost all of his internal organs, and most of the bones in his body were shattered. How this thing was still alive, he could only speculate. After scanning his body again, he realized that the thing had large amounts of magical residue clinging to it, keeping it alive. The amount of which he shuddered at. It was more than any one being could ever create; not even Celestia or Discord could do such a thing. ~~~~~~~~~ Nightmare Moon was still wondering how to contact the creature when she felt a strong burst of magical energy. She quickly used her own magic to track it back to the source, and saw large amounts of magical energy leaking from the creature, and she also felt its life slowly fading away. The doctors and nurses scurried around the room in a panicked attempt to save the creature. Thinking quickly, she began to siphon her own life force into the creature making sure not to kill herself on accident. She watched as the hospital staff gazed in awe at the being as its wounds began to heal of their own accord. His wounds closed, and his bones started to mend together. She released the spell. It was taking too much out of her. She had done all she could, and now she had to wait and hope that the thing had the will to pull through. ~~~~~~~~~ They were all shocked. This things wounds had closed of their own accord and his injuries were mending faster than anything they had ever seen. The spontaneous regeneration had stopped before his more major wounds could close, but he would live. His bones had not knitted together, but they were already set in the right place to heal on their own. They quickly put them in casts to prevent too much movement. “Nurse...Do you know what just happened?” asked Doctor Stable. “I...I don’t know. I detected a very powerful burst of magical energy, and he started healing.” Spoke Nurse Starlight. They heard a groan, and they froze. Slowly, they turned around to face the thing. It was waking up. “Ugh, where am I?” It said and its voice cracked on the last word. “Uhhh, hello there.” said the Doctor with a cautious voice. “What? What’s going on?” It said as it gazed at the doctor. “I can’t really tell. You just nearly died, and barely recovered.” “...” “Are you okay?” “You’re a talking animal.” He said in a deadpan voice. “Uhhh, what?” “Animals don’t talk.” He said, still using the same tone of voice. “Uhh, no, ponies have always talked.” He replied with a ‘what are you talking about’ voice. “...” “Can you tell us your name?” He asked trying to skip over the awkward subject. “It’s...I...I can’t remember.” He said with a scrunched up face. “What can you remember?” “That animals aren’t supposed to talk.” He deadpanned again. “Ooookay...Do you know what all this stuff is? We found it on your body.” The doctor asked, gesturing to his bloody clothing. “I believe those are my clothes.” He said in a dry voice. The doctor blushed immensely at this statement. “Can you tell us what this says?” he asked as he tossed a pair of metal tags over to the strange creature. Clifton. Michael. CM. Blood Type: O+ 554917431 USMC. M No Preference. Peanuts. He read out off of the tag. “I guess my name is Clifton.” He said. ~~~~~~~ Twilight was pacing a groove in the floor...again. She was worried about the alien. The thing had sustained massive injuries, and she wanted it to live; if only to answer her questions. She had come straight back to the library from the hospital after dropping off the creature, and then started pacing. Rainbow Dash had followed her, and was outside the house doing loops in the air, burning off her excitement. Rarity had opted to go home, and make the thing some better looking clothes; and Pinkie was, at first, trying to plan a surprise party for the thing, planning on inviting everyone, until the others had managed to convince her to keep it between themselves. Applejack had gone home to rest after carrying the 300 pound thing all the way from the Everfree forest. Lastly, Fluttershy was hiding in her cottage, hoping that the scary alien creature wouldn’t be mad at her for...whatever reason. Back at Twilights house, Spike was sitting on the couch trying to work Twilight out of her funk. “Twilight! What’s wrong?” “...” “Did you stop Nightmare Moon?” Twilight's head shot up. “SPIKE! OHMYGOSHWEFORGOTALLABOUTNIGHTMAREMOON!” She yelled, and sped out the door calling down Rainbow Dash at the same time. “RAINBOW! WE FORGOT ABOUT NIGHTMARE MOON!” She yelled at her. “GET APPLEJACK AND FLUTTERSHY!” Rainbow Dash saluted and flew off in the general direction of Sweet Apple Acres while Twilight ran to find Rarity and Pinkie, leaving Spike sitting on the couch with a confused look on his face. ~~~~~~~~ “Well Clifton, you have several broken bones, and you had severe internal hemorrhaging, but it healed right up.” “How?” “I don’t know. For now, you are stuck in the hospital until you heal up, sorry.” Said the doctor as he walked out. “Great...Stuck in a land of colorful talking animals, and I can’t remember who I am...great.” Hello Clifton. Said a voice. His head jerked up and he surveyed the room in full very slowly. Don’t bother looking for me. Said the voice. “Where are you?” In the Everfree forest. “Where is that?” Doesn’t matter. What matters right now is that those ponies want you dead. He froze. They only saved you to interrogate you. “How do you know. I couldn't even remember my name. In fact, I am probably dreaming right now.” I know because they tried to do the same thing to me. “Are you another talking animal?” He asked with scepticism. Yes, but just trust me on this. If you keep your guard up, they can’t do anything. You are more powerful than them. They WILL try to get the jump on you when you leave the hospital though. Don’t let your guard down. “Wait! Who are you?” A friend. Remember what I told you...