255: The Aegis Collection

by AegisExemplar


Purist 3

The yellow former pegasus Skyshard didn’t know how those accursed humans had done it, but they had. They’d stolen his wings.

At some lab he’d been drugged and taken off the street to, they’d shot him full of something. They said it had been some kind of variant of the potion used to make newfoals. They’d also said it was a failure. Skyshard was grounded for life, his wings simply gone.

And yet, he felt stronger somehow, something slowly replacing his now-missing weathersense. Something ancient.

Something powerful.

The humans, it was their fault. They played with the fire of the gods, and Skyshard would ensure that it was they who burned.

They weren’t going to let their ‘failure’ waste space, and so they tranquilized him again and hauled him away. The earth pony he now was, however, proved more resilient than they had anticipated, and shook off the tranquilizer much quicker than expected.

The lone grunt that had been ordered to dispose of Skyshard quickly found himself staring into a set of crimson eyes, two hooves pressing into his chest.

“Hello.”

“Uh, h-hey, Glad to see you’re awake, I j-just saw you there, you, uh, ok?” the human lied pathetically.

Skyshard didn’t waste his breath replying. Something else was talking to him. Something powerful, begging for acknowledgement. Skyshard answered, and the human began to scream.

The power of the earth is the power of the earth ponies, channeled through their mighty hooves. Skyshard finally felt what they spoke of, and it was... exhilarating. Like flying through a thunderstorm, like creating a tornado, all on your own.

The human felt only agony as earth magic leapt up through his body, turning organs to mush and charring flesh. the agony refused to stop, for even as the magic itself destroyed him, the inherent life energy being channeled supported him. Only when he had no lungs remaining could he halt screaming.

Skyshard, coming out of his forced communion, stared at the perfect circle of green surrounding him, then down at the dessicated corpse left below him. He startled, realizing what he’d done.

And then he remembered them, the group who’d been warning ponies that humans were bad news, and knew he would have a home. He stared once more at the torsoless corpse.

“The land will be fertile. You take from me the sky, to the earth I give you.”

Somewhere, Black Martyr smiled.