//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 I Love You! It's Just... // Story: True Black // by Leonofsweden //------------------------------// True Black Chapter 13 I Love You! It's Just… 3th of April (Evening) Hammer Song had been pushing herself hard throughout the day. Ever since the attack, she had been on full alert, not even stopping to sleep once. Finally it was starting to show on Hammer as she was staggering down the Empire's Road. She stopped, breathing hard while feeling her legs shaking underneath her. “H… Ha… Hammer…?” She heard a weak croak from behind her on the wagon. She immediately perked up and wiggled out from the harness. She trotted around to the back of the wagon. Bender looked at her through gritty, red eyes. When he finally saw Hammer, he tried to speak again, but it only ended up coming out as a rustling cough. “Don't try to talk, you idiot! You've been out for two days now…” Hammer Song said roughly, but with so much emotion evident in her soft voice that she could barely keep it contained. Hammer reached for a water-skin bottle and held it up to Bender’s lips so he could drink. She would never admit it to any pony, least of all him, but after she had gotten the two arrows out of Bender, and proceeded to strip off his now ruined armor, she had become truly terrified. She finally laid her eyes on the full extent of the magical burn covering his chest. Just how Bender had been able to stay conscious, let alone continue to fight after taking a hit like that, was beyond her. The unicorn must have put more or less all of his magical power into that one shot. Luckily if there was one thing the blacksmith knew how to treat, it was a burn. She had whipped together a salve every apprentice knew by heart after their first month at a forge, treating the blisters and burns they were constantly inflicting on themselves while there were learning their craft. It was made out of beeswax, honey and finely ground willow bark. The ointment was also generally known as Smith´s Salve, and was used on more or less all forms of cuts and scrubs throughout the Empire. The beeswax was for consistency while the honey made it antiseptic; finally the willow bark numbed the pain of the burn. She had smeared the salve across his entire chest, after that Hammer had hauled Bender up onto the wagon which had been a monumental undertaking, Bender weighed a ton... Hammer Song had probably never met a pony as big or dense as Bender, and by that she didn't mean he was stupid, far from it, he was just so darn physically dense, it was ridiculous. She took the now empty water skin away from Bender’s lips; he had greedily sucked down the whole bag. “What happened?” he asked looking at her. “We were ambushed; we fought and kill them… But you did take quite a few hits.” Hammer Song said while she lovingly stroked the brown stallion’s red mane. “I didn't hurt you, did I? I think I remember hearing your voice.” Bender asked worriedly. Hammer shook her head and smiled at him. “No but you did try… Why did you do that by the way?” She wondered now that she had actually stopped to think back on it. Bender let a heavy sigh escape him. “Well it's something that runs in the family. We have a sort of… gift… or curse. Depending upon how you see it.” Bender said. Hammer was now watching him intently. “I'm a berserker.” he stated. Hammer gave a little laugh, but stopped when she understood he was actually being serious. “Wait… that's just an old mare’s talel you tell little colts at night about the north pony heroes of old…” Hammer said defensively. Bender shook his head. “No, we are quite real… Not many left though, there is me and… Actually don't know anypony else since my father died,” he said with a sad smile. “You're serious? You really mean it… you're a living fairytale?” Hammer asked, still not convinced. Bender frowned at her. “I wouldn't call it a fairytale, and it's not magic… It's more a state of mind than anything else,” he said and dragged his hooves under him. “What are you doing? You have to rest!” Hammer scolded him, while he inched himself off the back of the wagon. “You said I've been lying still for two days. I have rested quite enough; every muscle in my body feels stiff and sore,” he complained and winced as his hooves hit the ground. “Honestly, Bender! You had an arrow in your shoulder, one through your hoof and the burn on your chest is enough to keep most ponies down for a couple of weeks.” Hammer continued to scold him. Bender grunted as he limped away from the persistent mare. “If you haven't noticed, I'm not most ponies, but I have to admit, my chest feels like it's still on fire.” Bender said through gritted teeth. Hammer Song immediately grabbed the jar of Smith's Salve and moved up to Bender. “Sit!” she ordered. He immediately obeyed, knowing there was no way he'd get away from her, and to be honest, he knew he needed it. Carefully Hammer Song started to apply the ointment to all of his wounds. After a sharp intake of breath, Bender didn't voice any more complaints about the treatment. “Soooo… You were telling me something...” Hammer tried to prod him to continue where he had left off. He grunted and nodded. “Yeah… You can say there´s a gift side and a cursed side of the coin… As long as I can control it, I'm moving around in the red haze. I can still choose who to fight; I feel no pain, no fatigue and no fear. Not even fear inducing magic has any effect on me when I'm in the red haze,” Bender said and then gave a heavy sigh, looking off into the distance. “But…” Hammer wondered. “But if I lose it… if I go completely berserk…” Bender gave a heavy sigh. “I truly love you, Hammer, but I might still kill you when I end up like that,” Bender said, looking down into the ground, not wanting to see Hammer Song´s reaction. He felt her hoof under his chin, as she slowly raised his head up. She locked her lips together with his in a tender kiss. As they pulled apart, Hammer continued looking into his eyes. “But you didn't hurt me… I said stop, and you did.” Hammer told him with a smile. Now it was Bender who looked at her completely bewildered. “What…” he whispered. Hammer was still smiling at him. There was no chance he would listen to anyone when he was that far gone in his rage; not even Lightning could pull him out of it when he went completely berserk. “What do you remember of the fight?” she asked. Bender´s face scrounged up as he tried to recall what happened during the ambush. “I fought off a bunch of them… Then the unicorn came at me. He grazed my side with a spear. And then there was… a bright flash… nothing more.” Bender said, now understanding that was when he had been struck in the chest by the magic bolt. Hammer nodded. “Yes that sounds right… I killed that unicorn before he could strike again. And then you came at me; the look in your eyes was truly terrifying. It didn't take long to understand you had no idea who I was; I was just something you need to kill in order to survive… I screamed for you to stop, and your eyes went back to normal. Then you gave a painful shriek and fell unconscious.” Hammer Song informed Bender. He shook his head in disbelief. “No… that's not po…” All of sudden he remembered a clouded memory of hearing Hammer Song’s voice calling out to him from the darkness, bringing him back up from whatever depth in his subconscious he disappeared down into while he goes berserk. Bender looked at Hammer with wide eyes, realizing the truth of her words. She had stopped him after he had gone fully berserk. “You… You can bring me back! Your voice it can calm me down…” Bender said while a huge smile spread across his face. “You can stop me from killing… my friends… or family….” he said, tears starting to run down his cheek, as he thought back on the last battle he and his father participated in. Back then he had come to his senses after the battle, staring down at his father's lifeless body. For hours he just held him, while he screamed out into that cold night. That was four years ago, and Bender hadn't participated in any battle since. Only willing to touching a weapon if he was at a forge. It had taken Lightning a lot of persuasion to make Bender engage Lobo during that combat exercise almost a week ago, and as he had predicted, it nearly ended in disaster. Hammer Song, seeing Bender break down in front of her, immediately understood that he had most certainly killed loved ones in the past, under the influence of a full berserk. She wiped away his tears. “It's okay, Bender… I'll never let you hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it ever again.” she soothed Bender gently, giving him a little nuzzle and a quick peck on his chin. “But why did you faint afterwards? You looked fine up until I said stop.” Hammer wondered. Bender blushed a bit, being reminded of having fainted like some noble mare. “Well… just because I don't feel anything while I'm in the red haze, it doesn't mean I don't feel it when it ends. The pain from every injury sustained during a battle comes at me at once when I return to normal… so I tend to… collapse quite often after a battle is over.” he said apologetically. Hammer nodded, it was quite obvious when she thought about it. Bender had been able to fight through all the injuries as if they weren't there, simply because he didn't feel them. But when she snapped him out of the red haze, the amount of pain he felt must have been staggering. Hammer swayed a bit on her hooves, making Bender looked at her with concern. “Are you okay, Hammer?” he asked. She nodded and applied the last of the ointment to his wounds. “I'm alright… Just really, really sleepy,” Hammer said with a tired laugh, while she looked behind them up the road she had just walked down; there was no sign of pursuit. “Let's pull the wagon off the road, and we’ll camp hear for the night. I haven't slept for two days now, and even though you just woke up, you still look like crap…” Hammer said with a giggle. Bender huffed, but had to agree that he did look like a proper mess. “Well you don't look like a million bits yourself, so I guess we can call it even,” he answered teasingly and gave her a little playful nuzzle. Hammer gave a little huff and walked away, mumbling something about this being the last time she would save his sorry flank. With a bit of difficulty, the two of them managed to push the wagon in amongst a couple of trees. They spread a blanket out on the ground beside it and settled down. Bender lay on his back, so that the cool evening air could soothe his burnt chest. Hammer dosing next to him, nuzzling up to Bender's side. It wasn’t long before they fell into much-needed sleep. **** Avarice was pacing around the command tent. The news about the two tragic deaths in camp had spread during the evening, and the mood amongst the soldiers was now low. But this wasn't what troubled Avarice, not in the slightest. There were, after all, ten more accidents to come; he was going to have most of the soldiers believing this camp was cursed before the end. When he finally gave the order to pack up and follow Black Star, every pony would be quite eager to do so; hence it was all going according to plan. The thing that had Avarice concerned was that Longbow had not been heard from since he had sent her after the Praetorian. She should have been back by now, so something had obviously gone wrong, which made him quite angry. She was, after all, one of his more useful tools, so to lose Longbow now was quite aggravating. He wasn't too worried about the Praetorians, since they were a part of a frowned-upon research they couldn't really go to anypony with their complaints or suspicions. If they told any of the Empresses about him, they would automatically expose themselves as well. Therefore he believed he had nothing to fear from them right now. Though he made a mental note to gain some sort of leverage over them in the future. They were still ponies like everypony else, so there had to be something he could use to his advantage. Taking a deep breath, Avarice relaxed, convinced that he had everything well in hoof at the moment. He looked outside the tent at the pleasant evening that was currently unfolding. It was time for the evening meal by the smell in the air, so most soldiers would now be sitting at their campfires. Avarice gave a little chuckle while he put on his best sad face. It was time to play the part of the concerned leader, trying to boost morale after the heavy news of the day. With maybe a little bit too much spring in his step, he trotted out to indulge to stupid masses. **** Nineteen Grand Army soldiers were standing at attention outside of the Elite Gate of North Bay. One soldier, the fastest long-distance runner amongst the Earth ponies, had been sent back to deliver the information they have discovered in North Bay to Avarice. Lightning Strike watched the rest of her unit as they waited to hear what she had planned before they started their pursuit of the spirit Wolf. She looked over at Black Star who was standing level to her on her right side; Black Star gave a slight nod. “Okay, mares and stallions! We have reliable information that Lobo is currently heading north. Most likely travelling along the coast, together with a colt he picked up here in North Bay. This is to our benefit, since it will drastically slow him down from now on. From now on, this colt is an additional target. If you're unable to catch Lobo, try getting your hooves on the colt. Black Star believes that the wolf will come to us if we have the colt in our custody. BUT HE IS NOT A HOSTILE! You will bring the colt in as gently as possible! He's had a rough couple of days and he doesn't need you maggots making it worse! We will leave as soon as our supplies are delivered to us. All land bound units will move up the coast as quickly as possible while we Pegasus start searching the coast immediately, using the search pattern Black Star has worked out for us. Am I understood?!” Lightning roared. “Yes, Decurion Lightning Strike!” the soldiers yelled in unison. Both Lightning Strike and Black Star grinned at each other. The hunt was on… **** Thanks to Meeester for the Pre-read/Edit