//------------------------------// // Fragile Body // Story: Honor Above All Else // by Honored Service //------------------------------// Honor Above All Else Chapter 24 By Honored Service “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I shot up out of bed and landed face first on the hard, sterile, white floor only to be found in a hospital. I twisted over and saw the pale green walls and machines hooked up everywhere next to the hospital bed. I calmed myself down and quickly moved the gown I was wearing and stared at the wound on my thigh. Or well where the wound should have been. Instead I was staring at a freshly stitched area. I poked the skin and pulled my hand back from the pain it caused. “Well duh,” I said to myself, “of course it hurts.” I pushed myself off the ground and moved over to a mirror mounted on the back of the door. Turning around and pulling the back of the gown up, I looked at my back trying to find what had caused the pinch I felt from Day Terror. “Oh shit.” I gasped at what I saw. In the center of my back, right on my backbone was the nastiest scar I have gotten yet. A thick jagged brown cut covered four inches of my skin and had grotesque red veins sprouting from it. They traced around the scar and over my back, but didn't reach around to the front. I dropped the gown and walked back to the bed before laying down. A white coated nurse strode by caring a tray of food and looked into the room. I waved at her through the window, giving her a polite smile. She in turn screamed and dropped the try and turned around galloping off into yelling for a doctor. “What?” Was I could say. Not too long after the startled nurse left, a doctor opened the door to my small room. “Well I’ll be. You're alive.” He said, walking to the edge of my bed and stared at me with a dumbfounded look. I cocked my head to the side, “Yeah why wouldn't I be?” I scratched my chin and shrugged my shoulders. “Well considering you have been dead for the last four days, that’s why.” The unicorn doctor levitated a chart in front of his face and flipped through the pages. “Excuse me, five days.” “Then why would I be just lying in this bed? Shouldn't I be in the morgue or something.” I questioned him. None of this was making a lick of sense. I know Day Terror hurt me, but I was just unconscious. “Normally you would already be buried, but somepony suggested that we leave your body here and wait.” He ran a hoof through his red mane and coughed, while jerking his head towards the window opening out into the hallway. I looked and saw Princess Luna smiling back at me. Her smile looked like it was going to stretch off her face. She bounded into the room, nearly jumping onto the bed. “I just knew it! Twilight said the Elements would work, and by day three I had given up hope, but I'm glad to see I was wrong. How are you feeling?” She stopped her talking and stared at me with intensity. “Um feeling confused. Why does everpony say I was dead?” “Because you were.” Luna stated with a nod of her head. “After Day Terror threw the knife into your back, you slipped into unconsciousness. And by the time we were able to get you to the hospital, you were dead. No breathing, no heartbeat, nothing. Just dead. Twilight suggested using the elements on you and we did. But nothing happened. Just a bright light that covered your body. They didn't even heal your wounds. That was done by the medical team here at the Ponyville hospital.” I just continued to look confused. “Twilight just wouldn't let you get taken away. She said the Elements have never failed her before. So I ordered the staff to just keep you here for a few more days.” “I’m glad to see that I was right!” A new happy voice said, as the owner entered the room. Twilight strode into the room with a confident smile on her face. “How are you feeling Honored? Getting blasted with so much raw energy must have hurt.” “Well when I woke up it felt like something punched a hole through my head and back.” To add emphasis I rubbed a hand across my head, “and there are also some weird lines along the scare on my back.” Twilight asked to see it. I of course got out of bed and turned around facing the three ponies. Lifting the gown I heard three separate gasps. “What is it that bad?” The doctor pony spoke first, “No the fact that we never stitched that wound, but now it’s healed over into a scar is pretty startling, must have been a delayed effect from the Elements.” Luna was just simply blushing at me. Oh right. I dropped the gown down and smiled innocently. Twilight coughed to clear her throat, “Those red lines are side effects from the direct absorption of the magic. They are there because your body tried to resist the magic, and the magic over powered it.” She smiled, and I just stared at her confused. “Ugh.” She huffed and tried again, “Your body is resistant to magic, so the red lines are internal scars from the magic healing the wound.” “Ohhhh. Why didn't you just say so?” I told her. She slapped a hoof to her face and sighed. “Now please take things easy Honored,” Luna said in a calm voice, “you might still be weak from the magic.” “But I feel gre-“ I stopped as everything began to sway back and forth. I reached out and gripped the side of the bed as the room and the ponies continued to sway back and forth. “Okay point taken.” I tumbled backwards, crashing onto the floor, bringing the sheets down with me. I sat up dazed, but relatively okay, getting a laugh from everypony present. “Get some more rest Honored Service.” The unicorn doctor, Healing Touch, said as they began to leave the room. “And get a lot of sleep. The magic has worked its way into your system and won’t be leaving, so it would be best to just let it settle before the obvious side effects kick in.” “Wait, what side effects!?” I shouted after him, but the door was already closed. I crossed my arms over my chest and slumped into the bed. “Well shit.” Two days and immense boredom later THUNK Shink shink shink shink THUNK Shink shink shink shink THUNK Shink shink shink shink THUNK Shink shink shink shink Twilight stopped outside of Honored’s hospital door, listening to the strange noise. “What in the world?” I tossed the knife across the room where it flew into the wall right below the clock. I then tugged on the string tied off on the handle and dragged the blade across the room and back onto the bed where I repeated the process. This time, the handle hit the wall and it fell to the ground. “Dang it!” “Honored!” I jumped a little in bed and the knife went flying into the window, breaking the class and leaving the window shattered. “Yes Twilight?” I asked smiling at her. “You just threw the knife out the window.” She pointed out, giving me a not so amused look. I slowly pulled on the string tied around my wrist and dragged the knife back in through the window where it landed on the ground and then began the slow drag across the room back onto my bed. Twilight just watched the knife the entire time, until I picked it up and smiled. “No I didn’t.” “Can’t you just sleep.” She asked, casting a spell at the widow that retrieved all the broken glass and resealed the window up, brand new. “What do you think I’ve been doing for the last three days?” I groaned and fell back into my bed. Twilight coughed and pointed at the wall, which was covered in hundreds of stab marks. “Okay so I slept some of the time.” I turned a little red, like a kid getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “But I’m going crazy in here! One moment I feeling fine, then the next I have the urge to just explode and go running, but the staff won’t let me leave because the magic is still flowing through me and I can’t leave, but I want to leave so I can go running because of all the magic flowing through me but that’s why I can’t leave, but sense I can’t leave the magic just stays pent up and I can’t run, and I want to run –“ I stopped and stared down at my hands. They were shaking uncontrollably. They just shook back and forth. I looked back up to Twilight who just stared at me, mouth slightly agape. “Twilight, what’s going on with me?” “I…I don’t know.” Four Days Later “Now remember what I said Honored.” Doctor Touch said while signing off on a few forms. “If anything changes, at all, you need to see Twilight or Princess Luna right away. We still aren't sure what the Elements are doing to you, but the magic isn't leaving your body as it should.” “I know, I know. No strenuous activates. Or fun.” I waved the doctor off as I sat up out of the wheelchair being rolled out side. I stood up and stretched and breathed in the fresh air. Except the fresh air was very, very, smoky. Sure enough a massive black cloud covered all of Canterlot and was slowly leaking towards Ponyville. “Well I know what’s on the list of things to fix first.” I whispered to myself. I said fair well to the hospital and walked back to Ponyville, whistling a merry tune as I walked. I had a new goal, Fuck up Nightmare. I had had my love stripped from me, I was nearly killed, and he was using the Princess as his puppet, and that wasn't evening mentioning the havoc Day Terror was wrecking upon Equestria. Day Terror was launching flame shadow attacks like the one that struck Ponyville all across the land. The fireballs would rain down and destroy homes and businesses, followed by the attacking shadows that would burn everything else down. The rest of the Royal Guard and Luna’s Night Guards were doing the best they could, but they were slowly losing. They would stop one attack, only to lose two more. But now I was back in the game. And Day Terror thought I was dead, so we at least had that surprise. Making a beeline for the library, I was determined to start training again, and have Twilight help train me to combat Day Terror. I needed to know how to beat her magic. I knocked on the door before a young voice called me in. “Hey Spike.” I waved at the little dragon that was carrying an ungodly amount of books up the stairs to Twilight’s room. “What’s with all the books?” He shrugged, “Twilight is studying everything there is to know about the Elements. She has been ever sense you got blasted with them.” He continued up the stairs and into the room. “Is it alright if I come up,” I moved to the end of the stairs, “I want to talk to Twilight about something.” “Is that Honored?” I heard Twilight say. I started climbing the stairs, but stopped when I noticed something resting in the corner of the library. “Yeah come on up.” “Just… a… moment.” I slowly walked over to the bundle of clothing, armor, and weapons piled in the corner. My clothing, armor, and weapons. The golden armor that had been shiny and clean only a few weeks ago was scorched, covered in ash and blood. The old Army uniform was destroyed. Between all the burns and blood, it was hardly recognizable. I brushed a hand across the torn material and sighed. Gently, I pulled the Velcro name tag off and held in my palm. JOHNSON was stained in dried dark blood. The rifle and pistol were fine. Well the pistol was out of ammo, so it was just a fancy paper weight now. And the old M16A2 was covered in scratches and dents, and that stupid cat paw that Ahuizotl had put on it. Fucking cat. The scope mounted on the rail was shattered, it would need a new lens, I’d have to see if I could get one made. The swords were in good shape. The scabbards were slightly scratched up, but other than that they were no worse for wear. But I couldn't find one thing, “Twilight?” “Yeah Honored?” Twilight called down from her room. “Where’s my knife?” “Your knife?” “Yes my knife,” I turned around to the unicorn that was emerging from her room, “the thing I use to cut, stab, slice, thrust, penetrate, inflict harm? My knife.” Twilight looked like a wreck. Her mane was completely messy, hair sticking out in every direction. Her normally sleek coat was matted and knotted. And her bloodshot eyes were surrounded by bags. “Are you alright? It looks like you haven’t slept in days.” “Yes. I’m. Fine.” Twilight grunted out, “And why in Celestia’s name would you want the thing that nearly killed you back?” “Because I made it. I created it, and I’ll need everything I can, to beat Day Terror!” I stood proud, clutching onto my belongings. “I’m going to beat Nightmare and save Celestia and… and… and…” I was struggling to think of what I was going to say next. Everything just seemed to stop working as my mind went blank. Before I could react, the floor came rushing up to meet me. “Honored!” Twilight called out, but I couldn't move. I laid on the floor as my mind stopped functioning. Images of the burning city of Canterlot flashed before me, and Day Terror stood against a burning sky, laughing her head off. “All of this is thanks to you human!” Day Terror cackled and flew into the air, where she exploded into a bright light, covering the burning buildings. As the light faded, I was left staring at Fast Skies. Her orange mane was combed perfectly, and her red coat shined in the dimming light. “Sky!” I called out, reaching for the mare, but she just stared at me. “Sky?” “Why couldn’t you stop her?” Her words pierced me harder than any knife could have. “I died saving you, and you died.” “I tried to stop her Sky.” I pleaded to Sky as the light around her began to grow brighter, slowly consuming her. “You failed Honored. You failed Equestria,” “NO.” “You failed your friends,” “No.” “And you failed me.” She vanished into the bright light, leaving me screaming at the white light. “No!” “Honored!” “Honored!” “Honored!” I opened my eyes to Twilight and Spike shaking my body on the floor of the library. They both looked worried and scared half to death. “What happened?” My head and back felt like they were on fire, and I was still having a hard time focusing. “You just stopped. Your face went blank, and you collapsed. Then you started screaming, and went quiet. You’ve been laying here out cold for the last hour.” Twilight gently helped me up. My belongings were scattered around the floor from my fall. “But the weirdest thing that happened. After you went unconscious, I began to detect a type of magical energy resonating from you.” I just continued to stare in disbelief at her… and I was still trying to think straight. Why could I only think about insanity? “So the Elements are still working?” I said, running a shaking hand through my short cropped hair. Pulling my belongs around me, I stated to put the blood stained uniform on, before Twilight stopped me. “Yes they are, but the effect should have worn off days ago. Your body is continuing to fight the magic, and at the same time the magic is fighting back.” “Twilight I don’t have time to sit here and be a lab experiment with magic,” I stood up and grabbed my things, “I have to stop Day Terror as soon as possible.” I started walking out of the library, but mid-way to the door, I leaned over onto the large table to gain my balance. When did walking become such a chore? “Honored, I need to conduct a few magical scans before you leave. Please.” Twilight pleaded at me. “I’ve been up studying the effects of the Elements and the raw magic associated with them and I’ve been getting a lot of different… results.” “Results?” “Yes. Different things happen.” She sat down near me and floated a large piece of parchment to me. I snatched it out of midair. It was a list of side effects and instances in which the Elements had blasted a living thing directly. Discord and Nightmare Moon being at the very bottom of the list. “As you can see, the Elements have been used on both good and evil creatures.” She motioned to the names relating to both. “Nightmare Moon was evil, but Princess Luna was under the curse of Nightmare, so the Elements set her free, because she was good, not evil.” “And Discord was evil so it captured him.” I said tapping my chin. “So I’m good…ish. That’s why they saved my life.” I smiled with pride. I had come to the conclusion all by myself. Twilight though didn’t look as happy. “Yes you are good. But you’re also bad.” “Come again?” I cocked and eyebrow at her and began examining my rifle some more. “You kill and destroy, but to protect. So the magic that the Elements left inside of you are having a hard time deciding how to react to you.” I stopped cleaning the beautiful weapon and stared, slack-jawed, at Twilight. “Okay hold on a minute there. Let me get this straight. You’re telling me, that the Elements are trying to decide if I’ve been good enough to live?” I exploded into laughter at the thought of some necklaces and a crown thingy deciding if I got to live. But Twilight didn’t laugh. Spike was still standing nearby, just twiddling his thumbs. “You’re serious.” I sat down on the ground, by back leaning up against the table. “I could die at any moment.” “Well more than likely you’d turn to stone.” I shot her a glare. “Okay so not the best time for a joke.” Twilight gave and awkward laugh. “Well,” I stood up and put on my best game face, “let’s get started.” I cocked the rifle and let it drop to my side. I strapped on the scorched golden armor and chest rig. I left the old uniform off until I could get it cleaned. “What?” Twilight just stared at me. “Well if I have an unknown amount of time to live, then I had better get to work on learning how to defeat Day Terror.” I smiled my cocky smile and walked to the door, only stopping once to regain my balance on the way out. “Again!” Twilight called out before launching another boulder at me. I ducked under the projectile and ran towards the unicorn, as more rocks came flying towards me. “Good, try to guess how far she’ll throw them by the amount of light in her horn.” I stopped just short of a boulder that crashed right down in front of me. I leapt over the new obstacle and continued towards Twilight. “Wait, how do I break the telekinetic shit?!” but it was too late. Soon the familiar feeling of weightlessness surrounded me and I found myself floating towards Twilight. My mind snapped and went blank as I found myself hovering in Day Terror’s grasp before being sent flying across the field and slamming into a tree. “NO!” I screamed, snapping my eyes open. I felt a burst of energy exploded outward from me and jumped forward out of the telekinetic grasp and onto the ground in a dead sprint towards Twilight. Her horn lit up again and she aimed it straight at me. The feeling returned as her magic tucked at my limbs, trying to slow me down. I concentrated on whatever happened before, and I was rewarded with another burst of energy that propelled me through her magic and right up to Twilight. I appeared in front of her faster that I could of ran, and slapped a hand across her horn, canceling her charged magic. I was panting, out of breath, as Twilight jumped up and down. “You did it! That was amazing. The first time you used some kind of magical burst focusing on your body’s natural magic resiliency to propel yourself out of the telekinetic grip. And the second time, you actually performed a successful short range teleport spell.” Twilight was positively glowing with happiness, as I stared down at my shaking hands. Then were trembling hard, and nothing I could do was making them stop. Small flickers of dark red and black sparks began to jump between my fingers, creating small popping noises and flashes of light. “Twilight, what’s happening?!” my hands began to shake more, electing a nervous moan out of my mouth as I backed up from the unicorn. I looked at Twilight, and then back at my hands. I thought about the safety of the library, and then everything exploded into a brilliant flash of white. “Honored?” Twilight galloped around the field where the human had just been. The ground was burnt and a few sparks of electricity and magic residue jumped around the scorched earth. “Ohnononononon.” Twilight continued to run around the burnt area, trying to decide what to do. The unicorn’s horn began to glow as Twilight scanned the area for magic. “What in Equestria?” She mumbled to herself, while staring at the ground. “It can’t be.” She tapped a hoof to her chin, before leaping into the air and galloping towards Ponyville. I smashed into something hard, feeling pain rip through my leg and arm. I stumbled around blind, the white flash still impairing my vision. Something smacked into my foot, causing me to fall forward onto the hard ground. “Ohhhh what the fuck.” I groaned before feeling coldness tighten around my body. “Not again.” I was running towards another bright light, but this one was soothing. It was calling to me. No I could really hear someone calling out to me. “Honored.” No. Not her. Anypony but her. “Sky?” I was drawn to her like a moth to a bright light on a dark day. She was hovering above me, drifting lazily on her wings. “Sky down here.” She turned over and looked down at me smiling. I waved to her and reached my arms up to wrap her in a hug. But then I heard the faint sound a magic charging up into a spell. I spun around and saw Day Terror cracking and evil smile. “NO!” I tried to jump into the red bolt racing towards my marefriend, but I seemed to slow down in midair. The bolt smashed into her side. That scream. I had to listen to it again and again as it echoed through the empty space. Her lifeless body fell towards me, her orange mane flowing behind her as she dropped. I dove and caught her before she hit the ground. I cradled her against my chest while sobbing into her red coat. “Sky. Sky. I tried.” I sniffled and looked up to laughing. Sky’s face slowly twisted into the twisted face of Day Terror. “Give up yet?” “AAAAAAHHHHH!” I jerked straight up and found myself lying in a pile of books. I was back in the library. And it looked like a tornado had crashed through the door and ripped every book off the shelves. “Um Spike.” I coughed and tried sitting up. Pain ripped through my leg causing me to fall back down. “Honored!?” Spike leapt out from under the table in the center of the mess. “How’d you get in here? There was a giant boom, and before I could do anything all the books started spinning around. It was insane!” Spike bounded up to me before looking at my leg. “Um is it supposed to look like that?” he pointed a claw at the bloody pant leg. “Um. No.” I slowly lifted the clothing up, wincing in pain as the pant leg was rolled up. “Oh shit.” A massive gash ran up the length of my leg, and it was just now begun to pour blood out onto the oak wood floor. And Twilight’s books. “This isn’t too good.” I was about to start panicking, when the door to the library exploded open and Twilight jumped into the room. “Honored! I know what’s wrong with you… my library!” Twilight screamed before failing onto her haunches and staring at the messy library. “Hey Twi.” I smiled faintly. I was starting to feel lightheaded from the wound. “I’ll be back in a bit.” THUNK Two hours later “I’m getting real tired of this shit.” I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I wasn't in the hospital. So at least there was that. I was inside of a small living room, stretched out on a green couch. Ah and there was a white rabbit giving me the stink eye from across the room. “What’s your problem bub.” I cocked an eyebrow at him. Angel continued to stare at me before shooting me the finger. I reached to my side, and jerked my knife out of its sheath and pointed the wicked blade at him. “Go ahead, make my day.” I smirked as the white rabbit who seemed to turn whiter while backing up against the wall. “Haha, you should have seen the look on your face!” I dropped the knife back into its sheath while laughing at the fuming pet. Something smacked me across the face, bringing me out of my good mood. I stared at a carrot resting on my chest, and Angel who was flicking me off again. “Oh it’s on mother fucker.” “Honored are you feeling better?” Fluttershy skipped lightly into her living room to check on the poor human. Twilight had brought him to her saying he had hurt himself, but she had to write a letter immediately to Luna regarding some kind of development with the said human. The wooden door to the living room opened to revile a scene of pure chaos. It looked as if Discord himself had flown through the small room. Chairs and tables were flipped over. Cushions to the couch were thrown across the room. And carrots, sharpened at the end to a deadly point, were stuck in the walls in the outline of a tall bipedal shape. “Oh dear.” Fluttershy squeaked out, running to the door, where a lot of noise could be heard, especially screaming, “oh not again.” “Listen her fuzz ball, I’ve got this super sharp magic knife thing and you have a carrot. Granted you sharpened it, but still I have the upper hand here.” I tossed the knife back and forth between my hands starring the little rabbit down. Angel let his arm slip down to his waist where the carrot was held in place by a thin piece of string. I stared him down while I brought my knife down to my waist. “So it’s gonna be a draw then.” My opponent simply nodded once before widening his stance. “Fine.” “1.” “2.” “3.” I cocked the knife back and hurled it straight at the incoming carrot. The two meet in midair, the knife cutting through the carrot with ease. I jerked back on the string till tied to my wrist, and the knife flew back into my hand. “I win!” The rabbit hopped up to me before jumping and spinning around and planting a swift kick straight into my manhood. “OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I tumbled backwards as Angel fell to his side, silently laughing. “WHAT’S GOING ON OUT HERE?” Fluttershy came rushing out of her house to see me holding my crotch while Angel patted my side, trying to seem like a little…angel. “Oh Honored. I knew I shouldn’t have left you alone. Now you’ve hurt yourself. Poor thing.” Oh if only she knew what that little demon had done to me. After much ‘private’ tender care, I made my way back into Fluttershy’s cottage for some lunch. I kept my eye on the little spawn of Satan as I ate my spring mix salad. God I was getting sick of only greens. I needed some meat. Fluttershy looked at me, as if she could hear my thoughts. Maybe she could, nope no meat here. “Honored, you should be all set to head back to Twilight’s after you finish,” Fluttershy picked up her plate with a wing, and carried it over to the sink, “she seemed really excited, something about a new development with your reaction to the Elements.” I never had eaten a salad so fast in my life. I tore through the leafy greens like a wolf to a fresh kill. Well with less blood and delicious meat. I brought my plate over to the sink and thanked Fluttershy for patching up my leg, telling her I owed her one. She insisted that I owed her nothing, but I’d pay her back somehow. I picked up my belongings, which were just my boots and the belt my knife was on. The old clothes Rarity had made for me were getting a little faded, but they seemed fine. I wanted to get back into my armor. I felt exposed without the weapons and extra protection the armor gave. I just had to clean all off the blood from the uniform and it would be good as new…ish. “Be safe!” Fluttershy called out to me as I jogged lightly down the path from her house towards Ponyville. The weather was acting strange. Because of the smoke from the taken over Canterlot, a constant haze was casted all over the town. Ponies still trotted here and there, but the amount of guards everywhere told of a different story. Nightmare, you had something coming. I reached the outskirts of the town when I stopped. Another ripple of pain washed over me. It started at my head, and moved through my entire body. I fell against the side of a small tree along the side of the road. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. “Honored?” I jumped and turned around startled by the familiar soft voice coming from the woods near the road. “Honored.” I spun around again, the voice jumping behind me. “Who’s there?” Nothing moved or responded to me. “Answer me!” “Oh Honored.” I turned back to the woods. I peered into the dim undergrowth, trying to see who was calling out to me. A flash of white appeared before my eyes and I caught a glimpse of Fast Sky. She giggled at me and ducked deeper into the woods. “Sky wait!” I yelled out after her, but she was gone. I sighed and rubbed my face. Cold sweat was dripping off my nose and my palms were clammy. I turned back to the path only to have a flash of Day Terror explode in front of me with evil laughing. My knife sliced through the air, trying to chop the evil creature in half, but she just vanished into thin air, just like Sky. I dropped to my knees and let the knife fall into the ground, the blade stabbing into the dirt. “What is wrong with me!” I yelled at the dark woods. I panted, from being startled, from being angry, from just not being who I was. Everything was falling apart. I was losing my mind. I was losing my mind. No it was already lost. “Twilight I’m here.” I called out as I opened the door to the library. It had taken a little while, but I had stopped breaking down and decided that all I need was some closure on this whole Day Terror thing. Then I sucked it up and pushed forward to Twilight’s. “Oh good you’re here!” Twilight bounded down the stairs two at a time, followed close behind by Spike. “I have discovered some amazing things about you.” She stopped and blushed, “I mean about what the Elements have done to you.” I waved her off and excused her. “What's the news?” “Well with the incident in the field earlier today, I was finally able to get a strong reading on the magical residue left at the scene of your portal.” Twilight calmly explained as she ushered me into the kitchen and towards the table. “Um portal?” I sat down on a cushion placed next to the table. “Yes a portal. Let’s see… ah!” Twilight levitated a tea cup over to me along with a plate of sugar cubes. “Okay this tea cup is you.” She placed the cup in front of me. I tried not to laugh at the pink flowers etched across the side. “Now the tea inside,” she levitated a tea pot over and poured steaming hot tea into the cup nearly to the brim, “is your natural resistance to magic. It is what seems to be absorbing magic that comes into contact with you. And these sugar cubes represent the magic that came from the Elements.” She dumped all the cubes off the plate and into the cup. Immediately, the tea overflowed and poured onto the table. It continued to do so until there was hardly any tea left in the cup, just sugar. “The Elements have pushed out your natural resistance to magic and basically gave you your own internal supply of magic.” I stared at the unicorn. “Ugh. You could do magic,” She started to say. I leapt off the cushion and into the air. I bounced around screaming in delight. I had magic now. Without Nightmare living in my head, I had lost any type of magic I had been able to do. I was so excited! I wonder what I could do! Magic fireballs, levitation, teleportation, the possibilities were endless! “You could do magic, but you don’t have any way of releasing the magic Honored. I'm sorry.” Twilight hung her head. “I wish I could help, but I even looked at a way with the hole in your hand, but that just can’t channel magic properly.” “So I have a giant pool of magic in me, but it will just sit there and do nothing?” I fell back onto the cushion with a heavy sigh. “Well it does do something,” I perked up, “but it’s not a good thing.” I looked down again. “What does it do? Or do I even want to know.” Twilight scuffed a hoof against the ground, and Spike twiddled his claws. “Your magic continues to grow inside you, building up. Without a way out, it’s been making its own way out in random events. The pain in your head, the illusions, and the random teleport from the field to inside the library, all of it was coming from that pool of magic trying to release its stockpiled energy.” “And what will happen if it keeps building up?” I tugged at the collar of my shirt, suddenly finding it very hard to breath. “You could cause a large explosion of magic, you could teleport into the vastness of space, or your mind could just implode on itself, or explode again. Take your pick.” Twilight sighed, “I even asked Princess Luna for help, and all she said was that she might have a solution. No answer other than a wait and see letter.” “Twilight, it’s okay.” I patted her on the head. “You tried, and now we just have to see if the Luna can come through for me.” I sighed and looked down at my hands which had begun to shake again, “because if not, I’ll have to go with option B.” “And what’s option B?” Spike asked while picking up another stack of books. “Let Day Terror capture me, and hope the explosion of magic isn’t too far behind.” “Tell us Twilight Sparkle, how did he handle the news?” Princess Luna was standing amongst the Elements of Harmony in the middle of town hall. I was perched on a window sill outside listening in on the conversation. Just because I was slowly dying on the inside didn’t mean I couldn’t still be awesome. I pressed my ear up against the glass, straining to hear. “He was very let down your highness.” Twilight turned to face the Princess of the night. “He is putting a lot of hope in this solution of yours.” “Excuse me for prying Princess,” Applejack removed her hat and approached Luna, “but what exactly is y’alls solution to this building up of magic of his.” “We have, with the help of scientist and engineers, created a device that should allow Honored to tap into his magic pool and use his magic ability.” Luna stated with a smile before levitating a long black box in front of the group. I pressed my face against the glass trying to see what would save my life. But the way she was holding it, I could only see red velvet lining the inside of the case. “Ohhhhhhhhh.” Echoed across the room as I stared at the mystery box. What could Luna have developed that could save my life. It had to be something awesome. Something breathe taking-ly awesome. Something super stupendously awesome. "What is it?" Pinkie Pie shoved her face into the box, giggling. “Princess is that what I think it is?” Twilight reached a hoof inside the box only to have a bright flash of red emerge from the box. “Yes Twilight Sparkle. The scientist and myself have been crafting it since we first learned of Honored’s magic abilities when he was joined with the Nightmare. We figured it would make a great welcome home gift. I am happy to see it will still get some use.” “I'm sorry,” Rainbow Dash flew in front of the box and cocked her head at it, “but it just looks like a piece of armor.” She flipped upside down to get a different viewing angle. “Just a black gauntlet made for a human.” Thank you Dash! I jumped off the sill and ran along the railing around the town hall towards another window so I could actually see inside the box. I jumped up and pulled myself along the support beams until I came to another window. I hauled myself up and frowned. Luna levitated the box shut, just as I reached my new perch. Fuck. “We shall present it to him now. The more practice he has, the better this should turn out for all of us.” Princess Luna began walking towards the exit, followed by her guards and the Elements of Harmony. Shit, I jumped from the town hall window sill and landed on the thatched roof of the building behind me. I rolled down the angled roof before leaping to the next roof and running my way across town, bounding onto roofs and over roads. I jumped onto a flag pole and slid down to the bottom, taking off in a dead sprint towards the library. I knocked the door opened, slammed it shut and dove across the room, landing spread eagle on the couch. Panting and out of breath I wanted for the – The door opened and in walked the group of smiling ponies. “Honored! We have a solution ot your magic problem!” Princess Luna strode forward stopping just in front of me. I sat up on the couch and stared at the box levitating in front of me. “Go on,” Luna shook the box, “take it.” I reached out a hand and gently brought the box over to my lap and rested it across my legs. My hands began to shake hard, whether from anticipation or the magic build up I wasn’t too sure. I fumbled with the clasps holding the lid close before slowly lifting the lid off the box. Inside, resting on red velvet was a long black gauntlet. It was pitch black. The darkest black I had ever seen, almost like it was sucking colors away from the surrounding area. It was smooth, no imperfections anywhere along its surface. I was a little surprised. I already had armor, sure it was a little worn, but it worked. One new piece of armor wouldn’t be enough to stop Day Terror. “Now I know what you are thinking Honored,” Luna levitated the gauntlet out of the box and held it out to me, “this isn’t just any gauntlet I assure you. It was crafted with a magic forge that weaves magic into the metal. This steel is hardened with magic, giving the metal itself near living properties.” I continued to stare at the suspended black gauntlet. I felt as if it was calling to me. I reached my hand out. “No Honored!” Luna jerked it back. “It must be worn on the left hand. It should mold itself to the wound that is on your palm and tap directly into your internal pool of magic and draw power form it, channeling it into this gauntlet. It will act as your horn.” This time I reached out with my left hand, “Now once it is on, it can never be removed.” Luna warned as I touched the metal. It immediately shifted at my touch. “What?” I stopped and stared at her. “It is going to lock onto your arm and bind itself with its forged magic into your pool of magic. The only way it can be removed, is by extreme force. It has to be broken.” Luna said sternly, she wasn’t playing around at all with this tool. “So it is a horn?” I picked the gauntlet out of the air and weighed it my hands. It was fairly light, and had the joints in all the right places along the hand and fingers. “Correct. It was built to mimic a horn for you.” Luna nodded to me. “Well human are you going to put it on?” “Do I have a choice?” I smirked and slipped my hand into the gauntlet, pushing my fingers into their slots and wiggling them into place. SNAP CLICK THNUK It felt as if someone was sticking my hand into compactor. The metal twisted and bound itself around my hand and arm, squeezing it in a vice grip as the metal tightened. I grimaced in pain, falling to the floor of the library, banging my armored hand against the ground to try and shake the gauntlet off. “No Honored!” Luna and Twilight bounded forward and held me back as the pain ripped through my arm, starting at my palm and travelling through my arm into my chest and then stopping at my stomach. I closed my eyes as I let my head fall backwards and crash into the floor, blacking out from the sheer volume of pain. Why did I feel like this was going to become a regular thing.