Cadence woke up to Hank opening their cell door. He had the branding iron again. It hadn’t been fired but he looked like he was ready to. He also had a strange grin on his face that made Cadence worried.
“Please, he can’t take anymore. Give him a days’ rest, please.” Cadence begged. Hank ignored her and grabbed Seb by the arm again, waking him in the process. He groaned, but made no attempt to get up or put up any amount of resistance.
“Time for your morning bath.” Hank chuckled cruelly. By bath he really meant another dunking session. He dragged Seb away and closed the cell door, leaving Cadence in the cell once again.
After the dunking session, Seb was tied to the chair he’d been nailed to and branded a few more times before Nathan walked up with his hands behind his back. He watched as Hank performed another branding on Seb prior to waiting for him to stop screaming. Nathan stepped forward and brought a fist against his face. Seb grunted from the punch and spat out some blood on the floor.
“What? you’re out of ideas so you resort to punching?” Seb asked. The wound across his face was bleeding again as well as his hands and his other wounds. Nathan looked down at the scar on Seb’s side.
“This,”Nathan said, jamming his thumb into the tender scar. Seb winced and hissed in pain “This still hurts, doesn’t it? You know, you looked so pitiful back then.”
Seb panted then stopped. How did he know?
“You... you were..” Seb looked up at Nathan, who was trying desperately not to laugh.
“I suppose you wouldn’t have recognized me, I was covered up pretty well.” Nathan said as he turned away from Seb. “I never really meant to kill Trisha, though it was an added bonus. I really wanted you but that stupid woman just had to get in the way. Oh well, I guess this is just as good.”
“You...Bastard....” Seb growled. He started pulling against the chains that held him down. His shoulder cracked and creaked against him. One of the links on the chains broke and flew off. Nathan actually began to look scared. An elbow crashed down on the back of Seb’s head. The world became blurry for a moment then slowly faded to black as passed out.
He woke up to find himself back in his cell with Cadence trying to tend to his wounds. He groaned and went to get up. His body felt like a thousand tons were standing on it and he dropped back down. Everything felt so heavy and his head throbbed in pain.
“Stay down Seb,” Cadence whispered. She was keeping a scrap of cloth she had taken from Seb’s shirt (whatever was left of it) and was using it to wipe up his blood.
“He...he killed her....” Seb muttered.
“What?” Cadence asked.
“He killed her... He killed Trisha.... He killed my fiance... My family....” Seb whimpered. Tears started streaming down his face. “He... killed... her...”
He couldn’t take it anymore and started crying. He buried his face in Cadence’s mane as he choked out his tears. Cadence tried to comfort him as best she could. When he couldn’t cry anymore, Seb sat up and leaned against the back wall of the cell. His face was wet from his tears and blood from his still bleeding wound. Cadence stood up and walked over to the bars of the cell. She turned around, lifted her back legs and started kicking the bars. They clanged and shook against the force but never gave an inch.
“What are you doing?” Seb asked. He held his shoulder to keep the pain down.
“I’m getting,” She kicked again. “Us out,” Another reverberating blow. “Of here.” She kicked one last time, and one of the bars fell to the ground. Seb stood up and heard a group of men running. The opening in the bar was just enough for Seb to get through. Cadence wouldn’t be able to get through without another bar being broken and they were running out of time.
“Go Seb, You can make it.” Cadence said, nudging him towards the bars.
“I’m not leaving you.” Seb said, hanging on to his shoulder.
“Go, tell my husband where I am.” Cadence begged.
Seb nodded briefly and slipped through the bars. It had been three days since he walked on his own, and now he was trying to run... It was clumsy at first but he finally got his footing and started running towards the cave entrance. He took advantage of the chaos that had been created and managed to sneak to the front of the cave where no one was in sight. It was Hank who found him trying to run away. Hank had a large hunting knife that was covered in blood. Other men had figured out what was going on and were piling into the front of the cave. Seb backed out slowly as Hank approached.
“Where you going, little man?” Hank asked mockingly.
Seb’s foot touched the outside of the cave. There was a small trail that lead out of it, but otherwise it was a quick drop into a forest below. The brightness of the sun blinded Seb for a moment. It was Hank’s chance. He was still too far away to run up and grab Seb, so he tossed his hunting knife. The blade sliced into Seb’s collarbone area and stuck. He screamed, stumbling backwards until the heel of his foot caught the edge of the cliff and he fell backwards.
The wind whistled in his ear as Seb watched the cave get smaller and smaller. He landed on a tree branch,slid off and landed on another branch, breaking it and continued down until he met the ground. Hard. The knife had fallen out on the first branch and landed beside him. He was sure his leg must have been broken or at the very least fractured heavily. The branches had actually cushioned his fall, and the snow on the ground took in a lot of the impact. It was probably the only reason he wasn’t dead or unconscious. He took a moment to catch his breath and for the pain surging through his body to subside at least a bit before getting up. His leg buckled under him, it was definitely fractured.
He wasn’t even sure if he was heading the right way but, he knew it was away from Nathan and that was all he cared about at that moment. He stumbled through the forest, walking in whichever direction seemed the easiest to maneuver. All he could think of was what Nathan had said and it distracted him. He stumbled down a hill and landed on a pile of fresh snow. He finally gave up, his body was broken and his mind seemed so far away. His heartbeat was in his ears and whole body seemed to throb. He heard the muffled sound of someone approaching but he didn’t care anymore. He closed his eyes and waited for death or rescue, whichever came first.
He hadn’t realized he’d passed out until he opened his eyes again and found himself on his back behind a set of bars. He hadn’t escaped at all. He waited for Cadence to walk up to him, but when he didn’t hear her, he tilted his head to look around. He wasn’t in the cave, he was on a stone floor but there was a hay bed all around him and the stone around him had been carved. He could see torches lighting up a long hallway filled with other cells. He was in a prison. a pegasus guard was standing in front of his cell. He was almost happy to see the pony outside and not a human. He tried to get up but he couldn’t move. When he tried to speak, he only let out a soft groan. It still caught the Pegasus's attention. He turned around and tapped the bars with an armored hoof.
“Hey,” he grunted,” You finally awake?”
“where...am I...” Seb asked weakly.
“Canterlot Prison.” The guard replied.He kicked a plate through a slot at the bottom of the cell. It had some bread on it with a little bit of butter. Seb didn’t need to ask why he was in prison, a guard had seen him stealing the case.
He tried to get up to eat the bread but he couldn’t move an inch. The guard simply turned around, not seeming to care that Seb couldn’t move or even eat. He gave up trying to get to the bread and simply focused on the pain in his body. He hadn’t been bandaged up or anything and was trembling from the cold. Two hours later, (or so he thought, he couldn’t tell what time it was,) another armored guard with a blue mane and tail and a cutie mark of a shield on his hip, took the position of the previous guard. Seb didn’t bother trying to talk to him. Another hour or so passed and Seb heard a familiar voice. At first, he thought it was a dream, but when he moved his neck, his shoulder made a popping noise and he decided he wasn’t dreaming. Twilight Sparkle stepped into the light.
“Twily!” The guard said happily in a low voice. “What are you doing down here?”
“Shining Armor,” Twilight hugged the unicorn. Seb tilted his head slightly, that name sounded familiar, was he suppose to tell him something? “We want to see Seb.”
Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were all behind her. all of them but Fluttershy seemed to be glaring at Seb, even Twilight.
“I can’t let you in there.” Shining Armor said, once he figured out what she meant.”It’s dangerous.”
“Look at him, he can’t even move. I hardly think he constitutes a threat.” Twilight argued fervently. The stallion sighed and turned his horn to the lock on the cell. A magical aura surrounded the lock and it unlocked, causing the door to open. Fluttershy entered first, floating over to Seb’s side.
She was the only one who didn’t seem to angry with him. Rainbow Dash stomped over to him and snorted in his face.
“What is wrong with you!?” She demanded. Seb just winced in the face of her fury.
“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie chimed in, “Wait, what are we angry about?”
“He stole the Elements of Harmony.” Applejack said. She walked up to him as well. “You got some nerve, you know that?”
Seb couldn’t answer. He didn’t want to answer them.
“Do you even know what you stole?” Rainbow Dash asked. He looked away.
“Rainbow..” Fluttershy whispered. She took a step towards her, but felt something warm and gooey on her hoof and looked down. It was blood.
“No, Fluttershy, He stole from us and he put everyone in mortal danger. Ponies are disappearing and he helped that along.” Rainbow Dash growled. Something in Seb clicked and he started sitting up, wincing as he did.
“Cadence...” He whimpered as he dropped back down. Shining Armor was inside in an instant. He slammed his hoof down on Seb’s broken shoulder, causing him to scream out in pain.
“What did you do to Cadence!? Where is she!?” He demanded, grinding his hoof in.
“N...Nathan...C..Cave...” Seb whimpered behind the pain. Twilight rushed up and pushed her brother off of Seb.
“Shining Armor wait.” She said and turned back to Seb.
“H..He’s got her...in a cave..she...helped...me..” Seb coughed and winced as he forced his story through the pain.
“Tell us everything.” Twilight said.
Seb told them about being taken to the cave and being tortured, explaining his injuries, and how Cadence had kept him company. He also told them she had told him about the humans killing unicorns and somehow using their horns to get through Shining Armor’s barrier. She also told them how she helped him escape and that she was still there. When he had finished, Shining Armor ran out of the cell with Twilight close behind.
“Where are you going?” She asked.
“To get my wife.” Shining Armor replied strongly. Twilight’s shoulder prevented her from chasing him down as he left. She then turned back and limped to Seb and the others. Seb was under attack from Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack scolding him while Fluttershy tried to tend to him.
“Girls, leave him alone.” She said. Seb was hardly paying attention anyway, he was fading in and out of consciousness. He was holding on to Fluttershy’s hoof weakly as he closed his eyes. His hand dropped and the crowd fell silent.
“Is he...” Pinkie Pie began to ask as she walked up to him.
“No, he’s still breathing but barely.” Applejack replied, after pressing her ear on his chest.
“He needs medical attention.” Fluttershy said. She seemed close to crying.
“Rainbow Dash, you’re the fastest, go to the princess and tell her everything that just happened” Twilight ordered. Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves as she floated in the air.
“Why should I?” She asked.
“Because if you don’t you, you’re no better than he is.” Twilight explained curtly. Rainbow Dash groaned and flew off. Twilight turned her attention back to Seb.
“I’ll go see if I can’t find some water.” Applejack said and trotted off. Fluttershy rested her head down on Seb’s chest, listening to the weak thump of his heart.
After a while, a guard came down and simply turned around, guarding the cell. Twilight looked to her friends and they shrugged in response. She walked over to the guard and cleared her throat.
“Excuse me sir, but is someone coming to help our friend?” Twilight asked.
“Not that I know of. Captain Shining Armor just told me to take his shift.” The guard replied. he seemed either annoyed or bored by her question.
“I’ll deal with this.” Rarity said, pushing past Twilight. She looked straight into the guards eyes. “Excuse me sir, but could you please go and have a few ponies come down here and help out our friend?” She asked. Her voice had gone soft and silky as and it made the guard quiver.
“I can’t leave my post.” The guard replied. “The prisoner may try and escape.”
“Oh but darling, look at the poor dear. I don’t think he’s going anywhere.” Rarity said, pushing her mane back with a flick of her head, her perfume wafted over to the guard and he shuddered.
“Fine I’ll see what I can do.” The guard said and left. Rarity walked back over to Seb’s body, prancing proudly.
“And that girls, is that.” She said, her voice filled with confidence. The others shook their heads and chuckled a little.
Fluttershy was doing her best to keep Seb warm. He had begun to shiver and that made the rest of him hurt so he whimpered. Fluttershy was actually crying as well.
“Oh Fluttershy, he’ll be okay.” Twilight said, walking up to her and hugging her gently.
“He looks so weak. He hasn’t eaten in days either.” Fluttershy said between sobs.
Pinkie Pie moved over to Fluttershy to console her while Twilight talked to Rarity and Applejack.
“I don’t think he’s going to make it unless he do something.” Twilight said solemly.
“He may have done somethin’ terrible but he don’t deserve to die.” Applejack said. Rarity nodded in agreement.
“We’ve all seen his gentle side. If you ask me, he keeps up that rough and tumble act so this sort of thing doesn’t happen.” Rarity said. She had no idea how right she was.
“I just didn’t think any creature could be so cruel as to do that, especially to one of their own.” Applejack said, looking back at Seb.
“Humans seem to be a very complicated breed. They’ll steal and murder and torture each other, then turn around and run into a burning building to save the life of a child they don’t even know.” Twilight thought provocatively.
“They do seem complicated.” A voice suddenly agreed. The three ponies turned to see Celestia standing over them. They all bowed quickly, except for Fluttershy, who flew over and looked at her princess with tear filled eyes.
“Please, Princess Celestia, he won’t make it down here.” She begged. Celestia nodded.
“He still needs to stand trial for his crime.” Celestia said.
“Stand trial? he can’t even stand right now!” Applejack protested. Twilight raised a hoof to calm her.
“Applejack is right princess, you won’t have much of a trial if he doesn’t survive.” Twilight said.
“I’ll have my personal doctors treat him. He’ll go on trial when Shining Armor has returned. He seems to have gone missing.” Celestia said.
“No, he went after Cadence. Seb told him she was in a cave somewhere, being held prisoner by Nathan.” Twilight explained.
“I might have known.” Celestia replied. She stomped a hoof against the stone ground. “They’ve declared war on us as well.”
The six ponies froze in silence and fear. Celestia instantly regretted telling them that.
“I’ll send some guards after Shining Armor. I’ll also get a medical team down here as well.” She said simply and walked away, leaving the ponies to ponder her words.
“War?” Twilight asked the group. They had no answers for her.
An entire team of doctors and guards came down not long after. They pulled Seb onto a stretcher and carried him off with haste. Fluttershy followed after them, determined to stay by his side, until they took him to an emergency room. They told the crowd of ponies where they could go to wait for him and Rainbow Dash met them there. She had, apparently, talked to all the guards she could and in the end found Celestia and a guard talking.she had told Celestia what the guard had been saying and decided to personally visit. Hours went by and night crept over the royal city. Twilight was frantic with worry over Seb as well as her brother. As far as she knew, he hadn’t returned. Fluttershy had fallen asleep on the bench in the waiting area and Pinkie Pie had made rounds throughout the hospital, cheering up ponies as she usually did. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had taken one of the board games and were in the middle of an intense game while Rarity watched boredly. A doctor came out of the E.R after another twenty minutes. His scrubs and mask had bloody stains on them and he looked tired. Applejack woke Fluttershy up while Twilight stepped forward.
“We’ve done all we can. His shoulder was basically destroyed and he’s lost quite a bit of blood we have no way to replace. It’s pretty much up to him now. We’ll know by morning.” He explained.
“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.
“If he makes it through tonight he should make a full recovery. As I said, it’s up to him. If he wants to live then he should, but it rests on what’s left of his shoulders.” The doctor said grimly. Twilight nodded and the doctor took them to the recovery room Seb was asleep in.
He was hooked up a machine that was helping him breath and various I.V’s that were pushing fluids into his damaged system. His arm was in a cast and he had bandages all over him. Fluttershy floated over to him and put a gentle hoof on his bandaged hand. He didn’t wake or respond to her touch. Twilight put an understanding hoof on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry Fluttershy.” She said gently.
“Yeah, he’ll pull through.” Rainbow Dash said, trying to keep the vibe positive. In truth, she still didn’t like Seb, no matter how small and weak he looked in the bed.
“Don’t you fret yer pretty lil’ head Fluttershy, Seb’s a fighter, he ain’t gonna go down without a fight.” Applejack reassured her.
Fluttershy didn’t pay any attention to them though. They took turns staying up with Seb, talking to him. They didn’t know if it was helping or not, but they felt better talking to him and telling him about stuff they’d done. Fluttershy stayed up the longest, she only took quick naps to sustain her exhaustion before returning to Seb’s bedside. She talked to him about her critter friends and her cottage. When morning broke, Rainbow Dash woke to find Fluttershy still beside Seb. She walked over to her and nudged her awake.
“Oh, hello Rainbow Dash.” She said softly. Her mane was in tangles and frizzy from they way she had slept.
The others woke up one by one as Fluttershy put her ear to Seb’s chest. it took a moment for her to quiet her breathing down to hear the gentle and slow thumping of his heart. She smiled. He had survived through the night. She was so happy she didn’t say anything, only smiled. It was, however, enough for the others to know he was alive.
“See Fluttershy? He’s a fighter.” Applejack said, hugging the shy pony.
“That’s fine and all but there’s still one problem.” Rainbow Dash said. She was obviously still angry, and couldn’t contain it any longer.
“What’s wrong Rainbow?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Why is Seb being alive bad?”
“That part isn’t; we’ll need him for questioning. I’m talking about the Elements of Harmony here. How did he steal them?”
The room grew silent. The only noise was the sound of Seb’s breathing machine as it pumped air into his lungs. Before anyone could speculate, an armored guard stumbled into the room. His armor was dented and scruffed up. He was bleeding from a gas on his head and few other scrapes along his un armored parts.
“Twilight...Sparkle...” The guard grunted as he used the wall for balance. Twilight stepped forward. “It’s....Shining Armor...He’s been...injured..” Twilight’s heart stopped and she began shaking.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash helped the guard out of his armor and let him sit down in a chair so he could explain.
“Captain Shining Armor gathered a whole squad and we started to take a cave where Princess Cadence was being held prisoner and humans were slaughtering unicorns. They had turned the horns into armor and used it to upgrade their weapons. It completely negated our magic. Captain Shining Armor and I were the only ones who got away.” The guard looked at the ground solemnly. It was obvious had lost a few close friends in the battle.
“Where is he? where is my brother?” Twilight asked. She hadn’t let the fact that unicorn horns were being taken from unicorns and used in such a manner sink in yet.
“On the other side of the hospital.” the guard replied.
“Come on, we’ll get you some help first.” Twilight said, helping the guard up with the help of Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Pinkie Pie bounced out along side them, trying to cheer the guard up. It wasn’t really working.
They made their way through the hospital, dropping the guard off to a nurse at one point to be treated, and found Shining Armor’s recovery room. Twilight walked over to her brother, who had woken up just as she entered and hugged him close to her.
“I missed you kid.” Shining Armor said softly. He sounded weak but otherwise alright.
“Why did you do that?” Twilight asked. She actually knew why, but she had to hear it from him.
“I had to do something Twily. I couldn’t just let the love of my life waste away in a cave...again.” Shining Armor looked down. Twilight finally understood; this was too similar to his wedding day; his wife trapped somewhere and him powerless to do anything about it.
“We’ll get Cadence.” Twilight said, placing a reassuring hoof on his leg.
“They’re power is unreal. It's like nothing i’ve ever seen.” Shining Armor said. He left his left leg up a bit to feel the sting of a wound. “They had these weapons that made a loud noise and hit you with a rock so hard you died or were seriously injured. and our magic was powerless against their armor.”
Shining Armor sighed and turned back to Twilight and her three friends.
“We’ll figure something out.” Twilight said and hugged her brother again.
Fluttershy and Rarity had stayed behind when the guard came for Twilight. Fluttershy mainly because she hadn’t truly noticed. She was focusing on Seb and watching him, hoping he’d stir. Rarity had stayed behind for Fluttershy’s sake alone. She walked up to Fluttershy and stood beside her. She was so close she could smell the blood on Seb and it sickened her. Especially the wound on his face that was only just starting to heal.
“Fluttershy, darling, you should rest. He isn’t going anywhere.” Rarity finally said.
“I’m just so worried Rarity.” Fluttershy replied in her usual soft spoken manner.
“I know darling, but you have to realize what this...man...has done. He’s not only stolen from the princess he’s stolen the one thing that can protect it.” Rarity said.
“I know. I just can’t stand seeing any creature in pain.” Fluttershy replied. Rarity nodded.
“Will you be alright by yourself? I have to get back home to Sweetie Belle.” She asked. Fluttershy nodded. They hugged and Rarity left.
Fluttershy began humming softly as the clock on the wall ticked away. She wasn’t sure if the humming was helping Seb, but it helped her. Nurses came in and out of the room, checking Seb’s vitals and making sure his heart was beating at least. Much of their conduct was done on pony anatomy and hoped it worked for humans as well, at least somewhat. They hoped he would wake up soon and maybe tell them what his temperature should be and maybe even heart rate or at least something that would help. Seb’s doctor came in at one point and took the breathing apparatus off, saying he was breathing on his own finally. It was a very good sign that put everyone on edge. The doctors and nurses mostly wanted Seb to wake up and get out; they had heard what he had done and weren’t pleased. Some of them, however, didn’t care. a life was a life and they had taken an oath to preserve it as best they could and that was exactly what they were doing. All the while, Fluttershy stayed by Seb’s beside, humming a song or telling him stories. as the hours passed by, Twilight and the others never returned. She had asked doctors and nurses about them as they came in but they had no information about them. They did know where Shining Armor was, but couldn’t say for Twilight and her friends. Fluttershy assumed they had gone back to their rooms in the palace. In the midst of her thinking, she felt a warm, soft flesh cover her hoof, which she kept on his bed side constantly. She looked up and saw Seb’s hand weakly gripping her hoof. He began groaning softly as he willed himself awake. His eyes fluttered open to the blurry visions of the recovery room and focused on Fluttershy, who was smiling brightly. His lips curled upward as he recognized her.
“H...Hey..”He whispered. His voice was quiet and weak, but it was all Fluttershy needed. She hugged him tightly, and squeaked as she flapped her wings in joy. Seb let out a weak laugh. She pulled away from him and smiled again.
“We were very worried.” She said softly.
“Worried?” Seb asked. “About me? I’ve been through worse.” Fluttershy crossed her arms and stared at him, a knowing look in her eyes that said she knew he was lying. “Well...almost.”
“How are you feeling?” She finally asked.
“Like shit.” Seb replied. He tried shifting around and sitting up but his body was too weak and collapsed on him.
“You should stay down and rest.” Fluttershy said, fixing his bed sheets.
“Where are the others?” He asked after relaxing again.
“I don’t know. A guard came in and told Twilight about Shining Armor being hurt and they left. Rarity stayed but she left a little while ago.” Fluttershy explained.
“I see.” Seb winced as his shoulder made a cracking sound.“How long have I been out?”
“Nearly two days.” Fluttershy replied. He nodded weakly. He couldn’t believe how exhausted he was already and he’d barely done anything at all.
“Can I get you anything?” Fluttershy asked. She was purposely not telling him that the others were angry at him and how much trouble he was actually in. She wanted him to just rest.
“I’m fine for now.” Seb replied. He was closing his eyes slowly but every time he tried to fall asleep, pain would keep him awake.
“I’m going to tell a nurse you’re awake, okay?” She asked. Seb nodded and she made her way to the door.
Seb nestled into his bed sheets and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the pain. He hadn’t closed his eyes for two minutes when he felt a hand wrap around his throat. He opened his eyes and saw Nathan standing over him. Seb choked a little as Nathan kept his fist closed around his throat.
“The wars have begun Sebastian, and the poor little ponies’ only hope has been accused of theft and waiting to stand trial.” Nathan whispered harshly with a snide grin on his face.
“You...set this...up...” Seb choked out with a gasp.
“You seriously thought they’d just leave that vault open? A mystical all powerful weapon and they just leave it open? You’re dumber than I thought Sebastian.” Nathan remarked snidely.
Nathan pulled out a blood stained, white unicorn horn from his back pocket and played with it, twirling it around in his fingers. “These creatures are quite fascinating. When they die their bodies still hold some magic in them. I’m having scientists back home look at them and so far, it appears that when these horns come in contact with something not from their world, it turns into something even more extraordinary. I can fight fire with fire now and magic is useless.”
Nathan pressed the tip of the unicorn horn against the begining of the wound on Seb’s face and dragged it along the line, opening the wound again and letting it bleed. Seb winced and tried to struggle but he was too weak. The horn soaked in the blood and started turning black as night and sizzling. He let go of Seb’s throat, letting him breathe again, and held the horn up to the light, watching the black consume the white horn. He then turned back to seb and smiled.
“I won’t kill you just yet, I want you to live knowing that the demise of this world is your fault and there is nothing you can do about it. I hope the ponies don’t kill you before you can see the end of this war. Farewell Sebastian.” Nathan said and left through the window on the other side of the room, probably the same way he had entered.
Seb forced himself to sit up.He rested his hand over his face and lifted it away to see the blood. He was having a hard time realizing what had happened. Cadence’s words finally made sense; the harvested unicorn horns provided a sort of key to the humans to continue to kidnap and slaughter ponies. Seb remembered smelling meat cooking in the night in his cell and figured it must had been the meat of the dead unicorns. He wondered how many families Nathan had destroyed, how many fathers he took away from children, how many children he took away from mothers. Then, the feeling of guilt crept over him and the idea it was all his fault sunk into his mind. He snapped. He held his head in his hands, despite the protest from his shoulder and screamed. He could almost hear the voices of the dead pleading with him, yelling at him, crying to him. His screams brought doctors and nurses running, along with Fluttershy who previously couldn’t find a nurse that would listen to her gentle plea for help. It took an entire team of nurses to simply hold Seb down as a doctor administered a sedative. It took a minute but Seb finally passed on on his bed, letting blood from his wound drip down to his pillow.
“I don’t like him here.” A nurse said after Seb had finally fallen asleep. “He terrifies me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, he wouldn’t hurt anyone.” Fluttershy said quietly. No one seemed to hear her.
“I’ll have him transferred to a different hospital.” A doctor said, trying to calm the nurse down.
“Oh no, please, he won’t...”
“I say we just kick him out period.” Another nurse chimed in.
“Please..”
“I agree, when he wakes up we’ll just release him.”
“No...”
“I’ll start on the paper work.”
The staff left Fluttershy alone with Seb as they walked out. She whimpered and tears swelled up in her eyes. She had nowhere else to go, so Fluttershy simply waited beside Seb for either him to wake up or someone to come get her.
The sedative didn’t last long, only an hour or so. Seb was waking up, groaning.His head spun and he felt sick. whenever he moved the world spun around. He gave up and simply stared at the ceiling, even though that spun too. Fluttershy nuzzled his hand and he turned towards her. it took a minute for the rest of the room to catch up but he finally focused his eyes on her.
“What happened?” he asked. his voice echoed in his own ears.
“You started screaming. the nurses and doctors had to put you out because you wouldn’t stop.” Fluttershy explained. She wanted to ask ‘Why were you screaming?’ but just couldn’t find the words.
“Oh...” It was all Seb could say. He had realized what had happened when Fluttershy began to speak. He sighed and closed his eyes again. He couldn’t look at Fluttershy, all he could see was her covered in blood and his hands stained with it.
“Are you okay?” She asked when Seb didn’t open his eyes for a long time. He nodded, then opened his eyes again. Should he tell her about Nathan? He grabbed a one of her hooves weakly and looked her dead in the eyes. “Fluttershy, promise me something.”
“O-o-okay.” The shy mare shuddered. she didn’t like the look in his eyes.
“If something happens to me, if something happens period, I want you to get Twilight and the others far away from here, as far as your legs will take you, alright?” Seb said. He was starting to shake as fear, pain, and guilt crawled up his spine and into his heart.
“Wh-what do you m-mean?” Fluttershy asked.
“Just promise.”
“I promise..”