//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Old Wounds // Story: Epsilon's peak // by StoryWeaver //------------------------------// Chapter Four It all started with one event, I was walking home from school, having missed the bus. A bus is a sort of chariot for schoolkids...to take them home...can I get back to the story?...thank you... She ran straight into me, And to be honest I wish she had been looking where she were going, instead of shooting bolts of lightning over her shoulder as she ran from a demon. Yes, it was a demon...from the depths of tartarus...story please?...thank you, I'd appreciate it if you didn't interrupt again... Where was I? Oh yes, demon chase, meeting girl... No I won't tell you her name...that's final! As I was saying, when she ran into me, we both went sprawling, and after a moment of trying to regain our senses the fat blubbery malicious thing had caught up to us, it grabbed both the girl and me and started hauling us to whatever dank place it was going to eat us in. What? Demons need to eat too. Either way, the girl had cleared her head, and shot a bolt of lightning at the fat mongrel, making it stagger and drop both of us...I was knocked out, though later she informed me that she defeated it and sent it back to the fiery depths whence it came or something. She likely just killed it. When I came to she had dragged me into her apartment and was tending to my wounds. I, of course being the one to overreact...ask twilight, she'll tell you...I came up screaming and almost killed myself by opening wounds that shouldn't have been reopened. She held me down though, and set to work needling together the lacerations. The claws on the demon really hurt y'know. What? You're already amazed!? This is nothing. She introduced herself as some sort of monster hunter. And to be honest, It's kind of true, she was gifted with powers from birth, and she learned to harness them and control them for the good of all. She literally had every power possible that you could think of, either that or she could have whatever power she wanted at the time. So flying and telekinesis were nothing to her. She also could heal...the only problem she had was that her powers couldn't extend to others except in one really risky case. Were she to give a fraction of her power to another, it would conform itself to the person's personality and begin expressing powers appropriate to that personality, and it stays that way... Yes Twilight, I know it's speculation. I've noticed that my predictions often turn out right in some twisted way. Maybe it's a part of my powers or something... Either way, she was okay with giving me power to defend myself with, but on one condition. That I stay with her and help her in her 'hunting'. I accepted and she gave me the power. A lot of things happened at once. I crumpled up in pain, my senses heightening, and my brain felt like it was about to explode. Portals opened up which began spawning all kinds of monsters. The girl stepped back and began fighting many of the monsters. She was surprisingly calm about the whole thing at the time. Not once yelling at me. Most of the monsters were easily defeated, all but one. A sort of Black Fire had emerged from one of the portals, staying back and analyzing the situation, black tentacles extended from the thing and began to whip about the girl, but only succeeded in distracting her. When she went after him, nothing she did could harm him, he was smoke after all. After all the monsters but it were defeated it fled screaming. Would you please stop interrupting!? Save your questions for after I finish my sto- Oh, hello there Celestia, how are you do-... okay, I will continue once everyone is settled. You came in just as I was going into how I brought Argoron into my world...yes of course...okay...of course...may I continue? ...Thank you. Argoron was a villain character I had come up with on my freetime. A scientist driven to insanity by an experiment with a newly discovered matter called black matter. It was injected into his blood stream in the accident and it destroyed his body, corrupting his mind in the process. He was the top scientist in his field, but since the corruption that mind has twisted to other things. He's a tactical genius, and learned to harness the power of black matter to torture and corrupt others to his will. Did you get that Twi? Good...on with the story. After the incident, and a good amount of aspirin, I began looking into what I could do. First thing I noticed was that I could see further than ever. Also that my hearing was extremely sensitive. Loud sounds still make me jump... Yes I'm looking at you Pinkie...don't say I haven't warned you. The girl also proposed several tests...many of them physical in nature, my stamina was heightened, as well as my strength, but it had the setback of causing me to consume thrice my body weight in food when I overexert myself. ... Which reminds me...is there anything I can snack on? It's likely to be what you consider a full meal, but that barely fills me anymore. ... ... ... OM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM!! That was an a amazing custard and salad your Highness. Quite enjoyable. Your welcome. And yes, I have learned to eat quickly. Which brings me to my next power, my Ridiculous ability to digest information, learning. I actually discovered that on my own after coming home and beginning to read a book, which quickly turned into several... then the whole bookshelf... Five times... After noticing that it not only wasn't morning, but that only five hours had passed, I was pretty amazed, but then started worrying because I had forgotten to get the girl's number... It's how we communicate instantly...spike's fire breath? Uh, sure? I dunno... To put it simply...I could now read a 200 page book in about 10 minutes. The next day I found that it had toned down under the excitement, thus drawing me to the conclusion that I have to be calm to learn to my best ability. ... Princess Celestia, may I take a look at your library later? Oh thank you so much! How many books are in it? ... Color me impressed! You have enough books to keep me busy for at least a year! ... Twilight, please stop staring at me, your creeping me out... Uh, okay... Either way, the rest of the week was spent trying to track down Argoron. He had gained control of the local government with his power. Did I mention that those whom he has corrupted have completely black eyes?...I didn't? okay, that's something you all need to know if he is ever to come this way. By the end of that week a sort of infection had begun to set in, the corrupting black matter spreading at a frightening rate...in the end The girl called on me to destroy them all...And I only had one option left, to create something that would destroy eveything, including them. namely a gravity well. I'll say this and only once, that was the worst idea I could have come up with. You remember me saying that I destroyed a country right, Twi? During my, Ahem, outburst. That gravity well hit everything within a thousand mile radius with several thousand G's in a single second. Destroying it all and leaving one of the biggest craters to be seen on our planet, takes up about a twentieth the stupid things surface. We were both lucky to have survived the implosion. I was lucky to have survived creating it. Making something that powerful drained me until I had nothing left to put into it. That girl was my savior, still is really. She gave more of her power, siphoned it into me, only enough to get me back from the edge. After that my body took care of itself, and within a day I was back up and running. The wonders that girl can do. In the end Argoron caught us both off guard. C-catching us both by surprise when he attacked us in the middle of the night. *sniffle* Sorry, my emotions are getting out of hand, give me a moment to pull myself back together. Okay, I should be fine for the time being. H-he...deep breaths...He...corrupted her...while the pain of it immobilized her, it didn't distract him from me. a fight to the death ensued, but he was too fast, he kept delivering hit after agonizing hit, playing with me as he injected small spurts of black matter into me, crippling my nervous system...a-and I-I lost...flung to the ground like a discarded toy. He then sent me here. At that point you know the rest of the story. _______________________________________________ "I-I just wished I could have saved her, helped her somehow..." I wanted to cry but merely stared at the floor blankly, fighting back the tears. Celestia spoke just then, "Far Reach, you have gone through more than anypony should ever go through. The fact that you are with us today stands to mark your skill, and I can truly sympathize with your plight." "Thank you princess, thank you so very much. You brought me back from the brink of death when I came here," I turned to the door as it opened and Luna stepped in quietly, "A greetings to ye princess." She nodded solemnly, "A greetings," Pinkie jumped and belted out somewords that no one understood, all of us just stared at her and she repeated it, slowed down, "You just missed storytime Princess! Reach here told us about the week before he fell from the sky! I was sad, but cool and stuff!" "I have heard of this," She replied, "can you tell the story to me later sister?" "Of course Luna, but first," Celestia turned to me, "Far Reach, I came here not to listen to your story, but to warn you. Since you are an Alicorn without an object attuned to you, like us, that means that the ambient magic will choose for you based upon who you are. And from what all of us have seen of you, none can tell what that is. But I have my thoughts, Creator." Suddenly I felt something, it felt like I was losing myself. Like I was slipping. Before I lost consciousness I whispered, "What?" _______________________________________________ For a moment it looked as if Far Reach was about to collapse, but Celestia knew that was not the case. The host was merely being put to sleep. The black Alicorn spoke, his manner and accent strange and old, older than the world itself, "So you knew this whole time?" The mares were put to sleep as well, just standing there blankly, "indeed I did," The solar princess replied, "ever since I saw him fall," The other alicorn suddenly smiled, "This host is surprising, he hath the potential to overcome me and replace me as the spirit," Celestia looked at the black one suddenly, "That should not be possible," "But it is, his will and personality match up better with the power than mine does, holder of the sun, I can already feel myself slipping into the afterlife. Train him sister, for he is thy future brother. He hath already done much, but his power is ill gotten, taken from the chaos of another realm. Until he discovers that which he hosts, Dnomray shall not come to pass, and this world shall be lost to the Noragra, I entrusted you with the care of this world, along with your opposite. Do not let him meet the same fate as Harmony, Holder of Sol," he looked away, the turned back, his face resolute, "I have accepted this fate, and willingly pass on this duty to another, Goodbye Celestia." "Raymond! No!" "Take care of my succesor, Celestia. I love you." The alicorn closed his eyes and was gone, the treasure of so many millenia had passed on, and Celestia didn't know what to do with herself. _______________________________________________ I regained consciousness only to find Celestia in tears, the girls were surprised as well, what had happened? Had the Mares been put to sleep as well? Why was Celestia crying? Twilight trotted nervously up to her teacher, unsure what to make of this, "Princess?" The solar monarch suddenly sobered up, "I need you all to leave Twilight," We all began to file out, but just as I was about to leave Celestia changed her mind, "Reach, please stay." Once the rest of the ponies had filed out, Celestia closed the door and turned to me, her face stern, but also fragile like she was holding back the tears from earlier, she began to take off all the royal clothing, her hair stopped waving as she took off all of the regalia, and shortened significantly, assembling itself into shoulder length straight cut bangs, "Far Reach, I have something to ask of you," I spluttered for a moment, "I-Uh, Anything your highness," "Please call me Celestia, we are past formality at this point" "I do not know what you mean your highness, er, Celestia." Celestia smiled, much more openly, more honestly. It seemed much more relaxed, but she still held some sort of pain behind that smile. "If we're gonna be informal please call me Reach" "Okay then. Reach, I need to ask you to do something for me," "Anything your Hi-ahem, Celestia," I smiled shyly, unsure what to make of this development. "I need you to relax for one, we're going to be together for a very long time, we'll never be able to get anything done with you being so stiff." My eyebrows shot up and I backed up quickly, "Wait! Wh-what are you getting at?" Celestia looked confused for a moment, then almost smiled, but she didn't, "No we aren't going to be mates, if that's what your thinking." I visibly relaxed. A relieved sigh escaping me, "okay, for a moment I was worried. You were going to ask me to do something?" "I need you to retrieve something for me, a pair of bracelets" I frowned for a moment, glancing to the bracelet around my hoof, she looked too, and her eyes widened in surprise, "How..." I interrupted, "I have no idea, I just had it on when I woke up this morning," "Okay...but...where's it's sibling?" I looked in surprise at her, "This bracelet is part of a set?" Celestia nodded, "Yes, it is part of a set of ceremonial armor, only used in the coronation of a prince," "Wait, Prince? What do you mean?" Celestia looked at me, all the pain she felt communicated in one look, "Far Reach, you are now one of us,"