//------------------------------// // Starting From Scratch // Story: An odd family: The foundations. // by EdBoii //------------------------------// Road To Redemption, The Beginning The first thing that I noticed was the pain. Excruciating, dreadful, horrible pain. Thousands of bells resounding throughout my brain sent wave after wave of torture coursing through my body. The headache that had been tormenting me since earlier today had grown into a migraine, and it showed no sign of slowing or stopping. Groaning in pain I tried to raise my hand to my head. It was very unfortunate that lifting my arm only triggered more agony. A cry left my lips as my arm brushed against my side, where Applejack had kicked me, a horrible throbbing pain emanated from the entire rib cage area, worsening the headache. A few tears trickled down my cheeks as the pain slowly subsided back into a bearable sting. It still hurt, but at least I could move. After recovering I slowly looked around me, trying to get a sense of my whereabouts. I was lying down on a bed, rather uncomfortable and humid, the mattress was badly stained with who knows what, and the walls were made of brick, grey and old. There was a small window on the wall with no glass, only three vertical, metal bars that blocked any attempt to exit through there, the bars cast a powerful shadow inside the small room, making me feel exposed and in danger. "Where the fuck am I?" I tried to sit down, but my injured ribs made it impossible. As soon as I got out of there I'd have to go to a hospital for treatment. "God, I hope that bitch didn't break anything." I winced in pain as the throbbing resumed. Lying back on the bed after my unsuccessful attempt at standing, I pondered on what to do next, but with the pain in my head and ribs still ravaging my tired body, and the hunger and uncomfortable feeling of dirt and sweat on my clothes doing little to help, it would be hard to do so. "Shit! Those bastards probably broke my fucking ribs now! Shit, shit, shit!" I groaned at the ceiling and yelled in frustration. "What the fuck happened?! What did that crazy asshole even tackle me for?!" I paused my rant as a new voice suddenly interrupted me. "Ah' don't appreciate the way ya speak about me or mah friends, especially after ya hurt Rainbow even though she tried to say sorry... But Ah'm here to hear ya out and Ah' expect nothin but the honest truth ya hear?" The thick southern accent gave away the identity of the intruder. "And why the fuck should I do that? You fucking broke my ribs! You can shove your honest truth up your own ass for all I care!" I glared at Applejack, she was standing behind a wall of iron bars that separated my cell from the rest of, what I supposed was, a police station. She seemed taken back at my harsh words, her mouth twisted in anger and then she frowned. "Shut yer mouth! Why, if granny Smith was here she'd have washed that tongue with more soap than a-" She didn't get far though, just as the word granny pierced through my ears the word grandfather made an appearance, and then another, more closely related thought crossed my mind... "Where are the kids?" It was soft, almost a whisper, but it came out filled with fear and rage. "Wha-? Oh, ya mean that little gryphon? Well, darn little baby almost bit Twilight when we tried to lift you up! Ah' swear, if them little claws of his had gotten a hold of-" That was it, I couldn't stand it any longer. I'm not sure what made the instincts rise, but once they did, I no longer had control over myself. She wouldn't tell me where they were, they could be lost, in danger, crying or going hungry... I wouldn't let those babies suffer because of anyone, not even myself. "Shut the fuck up! Shut up! Fucking tell me where they all are right now or I'll fucking make you!" With strength I didn't know I possessed, I crawled out of the bed and rushed towards the iron bars, meaning to strangle the mare that refused to give me a solid answer. The pain was horrible, my ribs stung and ached terribly as I ran, the throbbing on my veins only made the migraine worse, my eyes were bloodshot from tears of frustration and a horrible ringing in my ears threatened to make me collapse that very instant. But I couldn't stop, it no longer was I who told my legs to move, nor my arms to reach out of the bars, it was something else, something more primeval. As if driven by pure fatherly instinct, I crashed against the metal bars and held my arms out from the gaps, trying to grab Applejack and find out where the kids were. Applejack was stunned by my reaction, she backed away as fast as her pony legs could allow, only stopping when the wall behind her prevented her from moving any more. I stopped trying to reach her and instead glowered at her, my murderous gaze locking with her eyes, slowly and menacingly, driven by the pain and hunger, the humiliation and confusion, but mostly by the worry and fear of what had happened to my three adopted children, I whispered my threat at her. "Get me out of here, and give me my children back, or all hell is going to break loose..." Then she left, standing up and quickly rushing out of the place, she made a dash out of the front door. I stood there for a while, staring at the cold, hard floor in front of me. My grip on the bars loosened, with the adrenaline rush leaving my bloodstream, I finally collapsed on the floor. The fatigue and hunger finally defeating me. Nightmares plagued my dreams, thoughts of losing the kids in a world filled with bloodthirsty zombie ponies filled my mind, my brain went as far as to picture myself being dragged out of this cell by a mob of carnivorous equines and being dismembered publicly like the mongols used to do with prisoners of war. Hours dragged by, painfully slow and nerve wrecking. A few police officers, walked by my cell to leave food plates, drinks and magazines, but never stopping for conversation. I tried shouting at them, asking them the same question over and over until my voice was hoarse. "Where are they?! Where are you holding my kids?! Answer me you fucking horse!" Hours stacked away in piles as the sun hid away and the moon took over. I looked outside my barred window and stared at it, solemnly praying that whatever was going to happen, whatever destiny had planned, no matter how horrible it was or painful, that at least it let me leave this place with the three kids, so they could grow and I could return home. I spent the night shouting curses away into the sky. Few were spared of my grief and rage, Discord, Applejack, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow... All of them were mentioned in my incessant hollering and blasphemies. After my voice ran it's course, I used my fists to batter at the iron bars until they ached horribly, then I kicked the walls like a madman. How could this happen to me? Locked inside a goddamn cell? I hadn't done anything worth imprisonment! What the fuck! I wasn't even the one who started the fucking fight! Where the fuck was Rainbow's cell? Why was I the only fucking one imprisoned? Even Applejack broke my ribs! Where was her cell?! Numerous thoughts and conspiracy theories crossed my mind, until an obvious one decided to make itself correct in my thoughts. It was because I was a human... Of course! How didn't I notice it before?! Rarity had been so goddamn surprised to not only see me, but the babies as well! These goddamn ponies were a bunch of racist motherfuckers! I was in a prison cell, not for committing a crime, but for being me! And if that was the case, then the kids were in no better condition. For all I knew, those bastards who imprisoned me could enslave them, force them to build structures until their deaths or make them servants to a snobbish pony slaver... All of this and more crossed my mind as I leaned against the iron bars, my previous outburst had drained me out of energy completely and the slightest move caused great pain and required a lot of effort. Drifting off to sleep or falling asleep are not what happened that night, I simply was unable to remain awake, I collapsed. The next morning came far too soon for my liking. And it did little to turn my situation into a favorable one. I woke up tied down to a hospital bed, multiple straps secured tightly over my chest and legs, two steel cuffs kept me from moving my arms. "Guys? Guys, what the hell is going on now?" I groaned and slowly tried to raise my head to get a clear view of the place. It was a hospital, I was in a large room by myself, two windows were on the right side wall of the place, these ones weren't barred but it mattered little since I was strapped down. "Please remain still, if you move too much you might reopen your stitches." A white mare with a pink mane, and what seemed to be a red cross tattooed to her flank, said in a kind voice. I relaxed a bit until the worry crept back in. "What do you mean by stitches?!" My throat hurt too much to be able to shout, but I was still loud enough to be heard. "You had a few broken ribs and we had to operate to keep them from piercing your lungs. Poor Applejack was worried sick about you when I gave her the diagnose." She smiled kindly. "You must feel so lucky to have such good friends to care for you." I almost rolled my eyes at the comment, but this was possibly one of the few ponies that hadn't shown terror at the sight of a human, so the least I could do was act politely. "Excuse me miss, but do you know anything about three babies coming to see me? Or did Applejack mention anything about a baby gryphon?" I asked in my now dry and painful voice, a slight glimmer of hope crossing my eyes. "Why yes, in fact she did mention something about some infants." She smiled again before frowning in confusion. "Nothing about a gryphon though..." Smiling at the prospect of finding out where they were, I immediately asked as best as I could what she knew about them. "She didn't say much, but she did tell me to inform you that she was going to come visit soon with a few foals." She replied and then left the room after saying goodbye. The nurse, I guess she was a nurse, seemed to know little about the matter, I didn't think she even knew that the kids coming to visit weren't even ponies! But whatever, I was simply happy that they were alright. Applejack on the other hand, well, that would be an awkward encounter, but the nurse said she was worried? Well, that was odd, she didn't seem too worried when she administrated four hundred milligrams of pure ass kicking to my ribs the other day... Shrugging I simply lay my head back on the bed, whatever was going to happen would happen eventually, and there was little I could do to change it. The day went by slowly, nothing of interest happened, a fly or two flew by but not much else. Also my hands were cuffed to the bed, and my nose was itchy... It was around one or two o'clock when a few voices could be heard outside my room, one of them having a thick southern accent. The nurse and Applejack talked for a few minutes, deciding whether it was safe for me to be untied when she and the 'foals' walked inside. Applejack told her not to worry, that she was sure that I had just been in a bad mood when we last met, and that the whole Rainbow being attacked had been a misunderstanding. I was feeling more embarrassed by the second, she was practically forgiving me for all the shit I said to her and her friends, and, as far as she knew, was risking her life by coming to see me. Also, thinking back at the previous night, I had acted like a total asshole... The fact that I had been wrongly imprisoned kind of justified my reaction, but still, I threatened Applejack and several other pony officers, as well as raging so hard it would have probably been a viral video on youtube or something... You know the feeling you get when you think back to an embarrassing moment in your life and you suddenly want to smack yourself so hard that you forget it? Yeah, well, that's pretty much how I felt at that moment... After a few moments of silent brooding, the door to my room swung open, and the nurse walked in with a key on her mouth, carefully and with a barely noticeable glint of fear she unlocked the cuffs on my hands and allowed me to free myself from the rest of the straps. Stretching my arms, back and legs, I smiled contently and looked towards the door, the pain in my ribs was pretty much gone, there was still some occasional sting or throb but overall, it was gone! Must have had something to do with the strange magic unicorns were able to do, the nurse wasn't one of those, but since this place didn't make any sense anyway I was ready to attribute anything I didn't understand to magic. Applejack was standing there, looking at the floor while kicking at the ground with a hoof, seeming embarrassed. "So, this is awkward..." I smiled awkwardly as I tried to stand up, only to find that my legs still didn't have enough strength to hold me up. "Sure is." Applejack chuckled. "Ah' just wanted to say that we're all mighty sorry Iron..." Now THAT was a shocker... How could it be they that were sorry? I was being the asshole! "Come again? I didn't quite catch that." I stared wide eyed. "Well, me an the girls talked over what happened, an we kind of decided that locking you up in the Ponyville jail was wrong on our part... But we were scared, an we acted before thinking about how you would feel... The others went around tryin ta fix up the whole mess with the police and they couldn't come along, so they sent me to apologize." "So, me shouting like a madman and threatening you doesn't count or something? What about Rainbow? Didn't I hurt her?" Well now I was probably switching to her side against myself, but it was all too confusing! "Well, we did lock ya up away from yer kids an you were really angry when you said those things, also Rainbow wasn't seriously hurt, so putting you in jail was a bit too much..." She was looking more embarrassed by the second, it was really confusing for me, but she did make a point, if Rainbow hadn't been seriously injured then they had no reason to lock me up. "So, you guys forgive me then?" I scratched my head while looking at her. "Well, Iron... The real question is whether you forgive us..." Applejack smiled pleadingly and looked up at me. I simply smiled, my headache had left my body because of the magic the nurse or whomever had used and I had eaten a hearty breakfast and meal provided by the hospital kitchen, so my hunger was gone, my overall happy mood was back, no longer angry at the world or frustrated by every little thing. I relished in my own smile for what seemed like forever before handing Applejack my answer. "No..." I serioused and looked at her without emotion. Her little pony ears dropped, her gaze went to the floor and she almost turned to leave, but stopped as soon as my laughter reached her. Turning around in confusion she looked at me. I was laughing my ass off right there and then, eventually I managed to contain the laughter long enough to speak. "I'm... Joking! Applejack, there is nothing to forgive! As long as you guys please stop tying me down to stuff, it'll be fine!" I laughed a bit more before flashing her my best smile, creepy as hell but well-intentioned. She smiled back and nodded happily, then grew serious and looked at me. "Ah'm gonna get back at you, ya know?" She smiled. "Huh?" I stared in confusion. Applejack simply smirked and opened the door completely. "Let em in Pinkie!" As soon as the words left her mouth a loud "Okie-dokie-loki!" was heard from outside and a few moments later. "Oh god..." My eyes grew wide as three familiar creatures entered the room, happily smiling and laughing as they rushed towards me. In a blur of motion, my three adoptive sons jumped onto the bed and started to lick my face, jump up and down on my stomach and pull my hair out of happiness. I laughed happily as the reunion carried on, lifting each on of them up in a hug, I made all sort of ridiculous things a father does with a baby, funny faces, tickling, weird noises and more funny faces. I was certain Applejack and the pink pony beside her would never let me forget about this, but I didn't care! I was overjoyed to be with my children again... Whoa! Did I just? By calling them 'my children' I was fully accepting them as my family, not only that, but also as my responsibility. Was I ready for such a task? Did I want that kind of responsibility? The baby minotaur giggled as I lifted him up into my arms, his large eyes looking at me lovingly, he snuggled against my arm and started to drift into sleep. There was no doubt left in my mind, these kids needed a father, and I would be more than happy to take that honor into my own hands. "Ectorius." I smiled, names did not come naturally for me, but it seemed appropriate, I decided to mix up words, although I wasn't very good at it. It was meant to derive from; Protector, Victorious, and Torus. Yeah, sue me for not using common names... Looking at the small gryphon, I remembered how he defended me when Twilight knocked me unconscious. "Aquilder." Aquila, meaning eagle, and defender. And finally, the centaur, she was happily jumping up and down on the bed, enjoying herself greatly, when she noticed me looking at her she stopped and rushed over to hug me. Chuckling, I decided to name her something special, she was by far the one who resembled me the most. I concentrated and thought carefully, wanting to name her something meaningful, I had always believed that names determined much of a persons personality, so I wanted her name to give her the best I could offer, while still making it sound pretty cool. In the end, I decided that since I could do little more than give her name the meaning I wanted it to have, I could give it a more meaningful purpose, after all, it had been she who brought me to meet the ponies that had so willingly forgiven me after all we did to each other. "Applejack, could you please gather your friends here? I want to make a peace offering." I looked at Applejack with a smile. "Huh? Why, thank you kindly Iron, but gifts ain't necessary, we've all forgiven and forgotten right?" Applejack smiled warmly and the pink pony beside her nodded enthusiastically. I smiled once more. "Please, It would mean a lot to me if you could accept this small token of friendship." "Well... Alright, Iron, Ah'll gather the girls here in an hour, need anything else?" She scratched her mane with a hoof. "Nah, it's cool, thanks a lot for everything, it really means a bunch for me." "Not a problem! That's what friends are for, right?" She smiled warmly and turned to leave, the pink pony following her. The door closed and I sat there, thinking about what had come to happen so far. Ectorius and Aquilder settled down beside me, the little minotaur on my right side and the small gryphon on my left. The baby centaur then crawled on top of me and made herself comfortable on my stomach, getting ready for a nap. I smiled at them, and muttered the centaur's name under my breath, it was going to mean peace, friendship, and a new beginning. "For what else is worth fighting for, if not innocence and love, if we are to spill our blood on the ground, then let it have a purpose, let it be in wait for something better, let us raise our voices in search of purity, tolerance, and most of all, let us see the future with..." I closed my eyes, and listened to my daughters heart beat and peaceful breathing, the feeling she gave me was that of hope. Opening my eyes again, I found myself looking straight into her own, she looked at me and smiled, that pure and innocent smile. "... let us see the future with hope... With you, Esperanza." She giggled softly and went back to sleep, I followed suit, Applejack would take at least an hour or two to bring everyone here, I had time for a nap.