//------------------------------//
// Chapter 14: The Virus 
// Story: The Golden Child 
// by Fusionflare374 
//------------------------------//

It was a cloudy day at Equestria, but not cloudy enough to rain. Inside Celestia’s room we see princess Celestia sleeping still, but Austin looked like he didn’t sleep all night. He looked very tired and his bags were dark under his eyes. Austin stared at the ceiling all night. Austin decided to get out of bed and get dressed. As he was getting dressed, Celestia was beginning to wake up. As she rise out of bed, she noticed that Austin wasn’t in bed. She looked around the room and saw Austin getting dressed.

“Morning dear, your up early.” Celestia said lightly.

“Yeah, I didn’t s-sleep well, so I decided to get up and start my day.” Austin said to Celestia. 

“Oh dear, you could’ve woke me up and told me what was troubling you.” 

“Nothing was troubling m-me, I just couldn’t fall back to sleep, that’s all.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah, I’m s-sure.”

“Okay dear, I believe you. You want to get breakfast?” 

“Now thank you, I’m n-not hungry. I’ll eat later.” 

 “He never said no to breakfast before, he loves having breakfast. What going on with him?”  Celestia thought to herself. 

“Okay sweetie.” Celestia said.

“I think I’m going t-to go meditate for a bit.” 

“Okay dear, but make sure you eat.” 

“I will. See you i-in a bit.” 

Austin went to the door and opened it, then closed it behind him. Austin started to walk to the gardens where he will be meditating. As he was walking, he saw some guards walking by. The guards waved at Austin, but in Austin’s perspective, he saw them yelling at him, which made Austin speed walk pass them. He was almost near the garden, but Austin accidentally bumped into Luna. 

“O-Oh sorry I wasn’t paying a-attention of my surroundings.” Austin apologized.

“Oh that’s alright dear. Where are you heading to?” Luna asked.

“Oh I’m going to th—“ Austin said but was interrupted by another vision. 

The vision was where Luna charged up her horn like Celestia did and shot it at him. Austin stepped back from Luna with a nervous look on his face.

“Austin... are you alright?” Luna asked in a worried tone.

“Oh uhh... yeah I’m fine. I’m just going to meditate at the garden.” Austin said.

“Okay... have fun with that.” 

Austin then speed walked past Luna and entered the gardens. As Austin walked past Luna, she had a confused, yet worried look on her face. Austin looked at the sky and saw the gray clouds in the sky. Austin sat down in a cross leg position. He closed his eyes and started to relax. He was in a dark void once again and started to walk. After walking around for a bit, he felt like he was being watched. Austin stopped in his track and turned around, but nothing was there. He turned back, only to see Shadow Austin appear in front of him. 

“Hello there.” Shadow Austin said.

Austin got startled and screamed a bit. 

“Oh it’s just you. I don’t have time for this, I need to find my soul.” Austin said. 

“For what?” 

“To see if I’m worthy of my powers!” 

“You really think you will be able to get your powers?” 

“I have to, otherwise the whole universe is in danger if she gets to it first.”

“What’s the point of getting those powers anyway? I already showed you a glimpse of your future, so why bother.” 

“Because their are some people I want to protect. I don’t care if they betray me or not, I will defeat Necrafa and save the universe!” 

Austin then walked through Shadow Austin and continued to walk straight. 

 “Hmm... so lowering his self esteem or making him not trust the ponies aren’t working, but they did have an effect on him. Maybe instead of targeting him, I should target someone that he loves... like a family member.”  Shadow Austin smiled sinisterly.

Austin walked for a while now and saw nothing. 

 “Hmm... maybe tomorrow I’ll have some luck, but I’ve been in here for a while. I best wake up.”  Austin thought to himself.

Austin closed his eyes and reopened them to see the garden. He got up from the grass and went back in the castle, but Shadow Austin took form and began to follow him from afar. Shadow Austin followed Austin around the castle. He hid from Austin so that he doesn’t get caught by him. He peek the corner to see if he was looking behind him. 

 Where is he?  Shadow Austin thought to himself

 “Hey you!”  a voice called out to Shadow Austin. 

Shadow Austin turned around and saw Wingdings, looking angry.

 Found you.  Shadow Austin thought to himself.

 “Who are you? Why are you following Austin?”  Wingdings asked angrily.

Shadow Austin smiled sinisterly and laughed. Wingdings summoned his bone hands and began to charge them.

 “Identify yourself or I will fire on you.” 

“Hehehe... don’t worry, you won’t know who I am after this.” Shadow Austin smiled sinisterly.

Wingdings was about to fire, but something struck him. His eyes widened and looked down to see a red string struck him through his chest. Shadow Austin walked over to him with a sinister smile on his face. 

“Don’t worry it will only hurt, a LOT.” Shadow Austin evilly said.

 “Wha-“  Wingdings was interrupted by a strong shock from the string. 

Wingdings screamed in agony and his scream could be heard from the whole castle. Austin heard the scream and ran to see who was screaming. He turned the corner to see Wingdings on the floor, not moving. 

“WINGS!!!” Austin scream. 

Austin went on his knees and shook Wingdings to see if he would respond, but to no prevail. Austin kept trying to help him, until he heard hooves and footsteps coming towards them.

“We heard screaming, what’s going—“ Gaster said before he turned the corner and saw Wingdings and Austin on the ground. They gasped when they saw the both of them on the ground.

“P-please help him.” Austin pleaded.

“Papyrus quick, carry him to the medical room!” 

“Right!” Papyrus nodded.

Papyrus ran to Wingdings and picked him up. The group ran to the medical room to help Wingdings, with Austin following in front to hold Wingdings hand. They got to the medical room and Papyrus place Wingdings on the bed. Gaster placed his hand on Wingdings chest to feel a heartbeat. He felt the heartbeat, but it was going slow.

“He’s fine, but it looks like he is in a coma.” Gaster said to them.

“A-a coma?” Austin asked Gaster.

“Yes, we will have to wait for him to wake up. We will check up on him to see if he is going to wake up, but it might take days or weeks for him to wake.” 

“B-but he will be o-okay right?” 

“Yes. If he was dead he would’ve disappeared forever.” 

“Oh that’s a r-relief, I thought I l-lost him.”  

“Yes, but he needs time to rest for now.” 

“O-okay...” 

“Dear, can you tell us what happened?” Celestia asked Austin.

“I don’t know... I heard screaming and I ran to where I heard t-the scream. I turned the corner and saw Wings o-on the ground. I was scared t-that I begun shaking him to wake him up, but he didn’t.” Austin said with tears running down his face.

“Oh honey, it’s okay now. He will be fine, he just needs rest that’s all.” Celestia hugged Austin.

“Y-yeah...” Austin said, still sad about what happened. “Could I have a moment with him before we let him r-rest?” 

“Of course, we will let you be with him for a bit.” Gaster said to Austin.

Celestia, Gaster and Papyrus left the room. Austin went over to Wingdings and sat on a chair near his bed. 

“What happened t-to you?” Austin whispered sadly to Wingdings, but he didn’t respond.

“The ponies did it.” A voice said.

“Wings?!” 

Shadow Austin appeared in the other side of Wingdings bed.

“No, it’s just me.” Shadow Austin said.

“Oh it’s y-you.” Austin said.

“Yes it’s me.”

“Do you know what h-happened to Wingdings?” 

“Why yes I do. I saw one of the princesses use a spell on him and I was too late to help him.” 

“One of the princesses? W-Which one?” 

“The one with the rainbow hair.” 

“Momma Celestia? B-But she wouldn’t attack him without a r-reason or never attack him at all. She trust Wingdings.” 

“Well I saw her attack him and I never tell a lie to you.” 

“But why would s-she do that?” 

“I’m not sure. Maybe to get rid of him or to make you feel hate like what Gaster did.” 

“But you said that she w-will help me, not hurt the people I love.”

“I never said that. I said that once you defeat Necrafa, she will get rid of you. She doesn’t care about you or Wingdings, she only cares about her subjects. Nothing more, nothing less.” 

“But...” Austin was trying to find an answer for her behavior, but he can’t figure it out.

“Tell me, have you been seeing visions of the ponies yelling at you or even attacking you?” 

“Yeah... all the ponies I see, I see some vision of them yelling at me and when I looked at momma Celestia and momma Luna, I see them charging their horns and shooting it at me.” 

“That means you are seeing the truth about these ponies.” 

“The t-truth?” 

“Yes. If I was you, you should watch your back... oh wait I am you heheh.” Shadow Austin snickered.

Shadow Austin then disappeared and Austin was with Wingdings. Austin was feeling more hate inside of him, but he is scared and confused of what’s going on anymore.

“Wings, I’m confused of what’s going on. First he shows u-up and now you are in a coma. I... don’t k-know who to trust anymore... I’m scared.” Austin whispered sadly, with tears running down his face.

He placed his face on Wingdings shoulder and cried for a few minutes. After the crying, he started to calm down. 

“I will trust them, but w-what I’m seeing, I’m afraid to handle the truth,” Austin said quietly. “I hope you wake up soon and healthy. Bye bro.” 

Austin wiped away the remaining tears off his face and walked out of the medical room. Shadow Austin then reappeared near Wingdings face. 

“This kid sure do trust these ponies, but it won’t matter in the end. I just have to find his breaking point and once he is fully consumed by rage, he will be m i n e.” Shadow Austin smile grew wider and more sinister. 

Shadow Austin heard the door creak open and disappeared once again. 

 To Be Continued...