//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Tribulation // Story: Fabrication // by Bomber //------------------------------// The guards were forced to drag Blake to Luna’s chariot, as Blake wouldn’t budge an inch. Lyra predicted that Blake would’ve attempted to at least resist the guards a little, but he quickly submitted and let them haul him across the soft dirt. The two snow white pegasi threw him into the chariot without even considering his safety and well-being. Luna climbed into the chariot and ordered her bat-winged pegasi to take off. The chariot lifted above the ground and darted across the early morning sky. The rest of Celestia’s Elite took off after, positioning themselves the same way as they did when they had arrived. Lyra was disappointed that she was parted from Blake, even if it was temporary. Luna’s chariot just simply didn’t have enough room for herself, Twilight, and all of her friends. They were going to take the next train to Canterlot, which was departing in only a half hour. Lyra decided she would use this time and explain to Bon-Bon where she had been for the past twenty-four hours, and why she would be leaving Ponyville for a short while. When she arrived at her home, she saw Bon-Bon cooking herself breakfast. Lyra could easily tell that she didn’t look pleased, as she sighed and rolled her eyes when she noticed Lyra walk in through the front door. “Lyra, you don’t know how worried I’ve been,” Bon-Bon ranted, pouring flour into a bowl. “I figured that you were just on one of your little adventures and decided to spend the night at some other pony’s house, but you could have at least told me.” Lyra paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to best describe what she had been doing for the past little while. Since she couldn’t find the right words, she decided to get straight to the point. “Bon-Bon, they’re real.” Her roommate chuckled to herself softly, but it was still audible. Lyra knew that Bon-Bon thought she was joking… or was possibly going insane. “Alright,” Bon-Bon said, turning her attention away from her mixing bowl to the mint-green unicorn and putting her serious face on. “I’ve honestly have had enough of this charade. We’re going to see a psychiatrist in Manehatten immediately. I’m really starting to worry about you, Lyra.” Lyra then told all of the events of the previous day, explaining to her roommate that a human had somehow found himself in Equestria and was going through some difficult times. At first, Lyra could tell that Bon-Bon was reluctant to believe her story, but as she kept going, she could tell the emotional changes in her roommate’s facial expression. She finally told her that she would be gone for a while. Maybe a few days, maybe a week, or possibly even a month. She told Bon-Bon that if she wasn’t able to pay rent, she could borrow any bits she needed from her bank account. The two friends said their good-byes, and Lyra left her home, knowing she would not be seeing it again for a long time. <><><><><><><><><><> The human had fallen asleep, and was snoring softly in the corner of her chariot. His forehead was bleeding from scratching his head on the side of the chariot because the guards were too clumsy to just set him softly down. Luna wanted to punish them for their stupidity, but she ended up giving them a warning. She then threatened that the next time she caught any of the guards harming the human unless he put pony’s lives in danger, would be stripped several ranks and would be suspended from their duty for a short while. Luna knew that this incident would hamper her progress on trying to get Blake to trust them. She already understood that trust took time, especially in a case like this. Even though slip-ups were prone to happen, every mistake would set them back that much further. The Lunar Princess took out a cloth from one of her saddlebags that she had poorly packed before coming to Ponyville. Blake’s small wound was bugging Luna, and all the excess blood would just distract her from correctly performing a healing spell on the unconscious human. Using her magic, she dabbed the downy, soft cloth on his forehead, wiping away any of the red blood that was oozing out. Once he was cleaned, Luna concentrated and attempted a simple spell that would heal the wound. Shockingly, nothing happened. Impossible, was Luna’s only thought. It was a beginning level spell that even unicorns at Magic Kindergarten could execute without difficulty! Now setting a goal, Luna tried again with the same results. She attempted it again, and again, and again, to no avail. It was like Blake’s body was rejecting the spell. Luna sighed and gave up in complete frustration. With having nothing else to do, Luna watched the fields below, admiring at the beauty of nature itself. She watched the sun slowly creep itself over the horizon, knowing that her very own sister was pulling it up out of its resting place. She then wondered how the sun and moon rose where Blake came from. Was it possible that humans didn’t have magic? Was that why her healing spells failed? A multitude of questions streamed into her thoughts. Out of nowhere, Blake shouted, “Melody, no!” The unexpected exclamation startled Luna out of her wits. She instantaneously turned to Blake, trying to see if anything was wrong. She found him still immersed in sleep, which would only mean he was having a nightmare. More unanswered questions showed themselves to Luna. What is causing him to act this way? What happened to his family? Why is he so unstable around the subject? How did fate affect them? Because she was devoting all of her attention in scrutinizing Blake, she did not notice that her guards were already descending on Canterlot. The landing astonished her, and woke Blake from his sleep. “W-where am I?” Blake asked, shivering from his recent nightmare. Luna smiled at him, hoping that the gentle gesture would lift his spirits. “Welcome to Canterlot, the capital of Equestria,” she said, hopping of the chariot. She raised a hoof, offering to help him get down. He refused it and jumped off himself. He placed a hand on his forehead, feeling his own warm blood against the coolness of his hand. His eyes then beamed at Luna. He was now angry, and Luna cursed at herself for not being able to ameliorate him. “Did you do this?” he asked. “No it wasn’t me. It was the guards that hauled you onto the chariot… It was only an accident and I—” “No, it wasn’t an accident!” Blake barked, accusing her for purposefully putting harm on him. “You attack, I retaliate!” He lunged at Luna, aiming his arms at her neck. The guards were prepared this time, and tackled him before he could even get close. He thrashed against the guards like a fish out of water. Luna could do nothing but watch in awe as the guards shackled his arms and legs in chains. Luna was tempted to order the guards to immediately take them off, but he would really harm, or even kill anypony if he felt he was being assaulted. “Do I dare ask what is even going on?” Luna’s older sister asked, entering the scene next and stopping to the right of her. Her mane waved brilliantly in the cool summer breeze. Celestia gawked at the setting alongside Luna, watching as Blake somehow was able to kick two of the guards off his body. He swung his chained arms like a club, knocking another guard directly in the eye. The guards were finally were able to overwhelm him with a sheer amount of numbers. His nose was now bleeding and he had developed a black eye after a guard had stomped his hoof on his face. Luna noticed Celestia gazing at her, silently demanding an explanation. Luna swiftly retold the story of her journey in Ponyville. “I just have one question,” Celestia said after Luna had finished. “Why weren’t you able to conduct the healing spell?” Luna felt herself blushing, feeling embarrassed that she wasn’t able to. “I think that magic possibly doesn’t affect humans. To me, it felt like his body was refusing to let me alter it with magic at all.” “Interesting,” Celestia said, turning her gaze back to the human. “I’m assuming that he now believes that we’re taking him captive and that he’s now our prisoner. Do you have any ideas on how we can turn that around? Because if throw him in the dungeon, then he really is our prisoner.” Her sister waited for a response, but she gave none since she could not think of anything in particular. “Maybe the guest suite reserved for special visitors, perhaps?” Celestia suggested. Luna nodded her head in agreement. Celestia ordered the guards to take him away at once, but to take the long way around so no residents would accidently see him and cause a commotion throughout the city. Two guards dragged him down the road while another two flanked behind for precautions in the case that he escaped. “We should leave him be for a while. I think we it would be best to give him time so that he may collect his thoughts before we confront him again,” Luna said, nuzzling against her sister to make up for lost time. <><><><><><><><><><> The pony pegasi unshackled him and tossed him into a large bedroom. He lost his balance and fell onto the ground, falling flat on his stomach. Blake heard the door slam hard behind him, following the sounds of it locking. His eyes immediately darted across the walls, looking for a window where he could escape, but there were none. He tried to stand up, but his legs wobbled too much to the point where he collapsed back onto the polished floor. Knowing that standing would do him no good, he began to crawl, scuttling across the floor. He had noticed a bathroom that was connected to the room, where he hoped that there may be a bathtub where he could clean himself off. When he saw that there was one, he sighed in relief, and threw off all of his clothes and tossed them on top of a marble counter next to a sink. He turned on the shower and threw himself in, letting the warm water drench his bare skin. He hadn’t had a shower in a week if he didn’t count the two minutes he had spent in the rainfall. He found a bar of soap resting on the side of the tub. He scrubbed himself until he was cleared of the all dirt and grime he had been collecting. Since he couldn’t find any bottles of shampoo, he improvised with the bar of soap. It felt so good to be finally clean. He then sat in the tub, feeling the water wash over him. He did absolutely nothing and kept his mind clear of thoughts. After sitting in the shower for what felt like hours, he finally turned the shower off and got out using the little energy he still had left. He grabbed a nearby towel and dried himself off. He then ransacked through the drawers under the sink, looking for the chance that there might be a toothbrush and toothpaste so that he could brush his teeth. To his disappointment, there wasn’t any. He crawled out of the bathroom only in his underwear, as he was too lazy to put the rest of his clothes on and flopped himself onto a bed that felt as if it was made for royalty. It was composed of the finest sheets that Blake had ever rested on. The pillows felt like they were made from the softest feathers plucked from artificially selected birds. He closed his eyes, letting sleep overcome him. Deplorably, he then relived the nightmarish memory for the second time in one day. <><><><><><><><><><> He opened his eyes to see his mother and sister crying over his dad’s dead body. The plane had been split in two when it landed, and the front half had rolled down an enormous hill and into a lake, where Blake could see dozens of people trying to swim to shore. His eyes glanced at the area around him. He saw nothing but grasslands and a forest in the distance. Tears began to well up in his eyes too, knowing that his dad wasn’t alive with them anymore. He wasn’t strong enough to handle the crash, and most likely had a heart attack when the plane smashed into the ground. He had two of them already, and each time those had brought him close to death, but each time he was able to pull through… until today. Blake joined the rest of his family to mourn him, as the rest of the survivors tried to figure out where they were and what caused the plane to crash like this. Blake already knew the answer but he decided to keep quiet. Smoke rose into the air, and the remnants of the Boeing 747 burst into flames. Anyone trapped inside was now a dead man, as the closest source of water was a half-mile away. His family ignored the heat wave, and prayed for their lost father and husband, hoping that he was now in a better place. Blake then heard the sound of moving vehicles. Maybe it was someone coming to rescue them! He turned around and saw army jeeps and trucks packed with soldiers dressed in camouflage to match the forest that was about a mile away. The troops hopped out of the trucks, barking orders at the survivors in some foreign language that Blake couldn’t understand. The soldiers started filing up any human not dressed in a uniform in a horizontal line with their hands behind their heads. Were these people arresting the survivors, or were they going to execute them? He whispered to his family that they had to leave before the soldiers found them. His mother refused to budge, and Melody couldn’t bring herself to leave neither of her parents. Blake found both his and Melody’s backpacks lying on the ground near them. He sighed, took his own backpack, and ran around the edge of the plane until he was on the other side. He found a lone soldier smoking a cigar. Without thinking, Blake ran up to the soldier, and punched him to the ground. He covered the man’s mouth so that he wasn’t able to call for help and continued to thrash at him until he was unconscious. Blake took the soldier’s weapon, an AK-47, and any extra magazines he had, placing them all into his backpack. Noticing that the soldier also had a pistol and a holster attached to his belt, he grabbed it as well and placed it over his waist. There was one more thing that caught Blake’s eye: a small metal rod with a switch on its side. He picked it up and clicked the switch experimentally. A bolt of electricity shot in between the small spokes that were sticking out of the rod. It was a Taser, perfect for incapacitating people, which he would have to do if he was going to get his family out alive. He turned back, peeking around the corner of the ruined plane. He saw several soldiers dragging his family away from his father’s corpse. Melody fought back, slapping her hand on the side of her captor’s face. In retaliation, the soldier shoved her as hard as humanely possible. She landed on her back several yards away. Blake aimed down the iron sights of the AK-47 at the soldier’s head. He prepared to fire, but couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. It would be taking another human being’s life, even if it was one that threatened his family and killed his dad. The soldier began kicking his sister. Melody cried out in pain as the soldier didn’t let up. He booted her in the face, legs, hip, and the stomach. Blake’s finger was slowly tugging on the trigger, but not enough for it to cause to fire. In his peripherals, he saw more soldiers, dozens of them, crowding in a circle over Melody. They were chanting a word that was too foreign for Blake to understand. The group was too large for Blake to face on his own. A gunshot rang off from the center of the circle, which only meant one thing. They had shot his sister. Melody, no! Blake cried out in his head, forcing himself not to say it aloud. The soldiers turned on his mother, who was sobbing even more. The same soldier that had shot his sister had emerged from the group and now turned on his mother. The other soldiers began cheering the same word again. A pistol aimed straight for her mother’s head, and another shot went off. Blood splattered everywhere, getting all over the uniforms of the other soldiers who were standing behind her. Blake stifled a cry. They were all dead. Every single one of them, and he did nothing besides sitting idle and watch their own executions, all because he felt he was outnumbered. He was a selfish demon that deserved the worst place in hell. There was now only one thing left to do. The incapacitated man that Blake had knocked out earlier was standing back on his feet. Blake raised the butt of the gun and struck him again in the back of the head. The man went down without a sound. Blake searched the body for a second time, finding three frag grenades. He pulled the pins on all three, tossing two into the squadron of soldiers and the third next to the unconscious man he had knocked out twice. He dashed for the woods, hearing the sounds of three deafening explosions behind him. <><><><><><><><><><> Blake woke up to the sound of something knocking on the door. He didn’t understand why they would need to knock, as the locks were on the outside, and could come in without permission. Maybe it was just a forewarning? Nonetheless, the door opened, and in came the indigo hybrid followed by another one, except this one had a white coat with a multi-colored mane that flowed as if a fan was blowing on it. “Greetings, Blake,” the indigo one said. “Get the hell away from me!” Blake shouted, jumping off the bed and making a run for the now open door. A pink aura emanated from the object. The door shut itself, leaving Blake trapped in the room again. He budged on the handle, but it wouldn’t move. The door had locked itself as well. He mumbled a curse and then whirled around to see the two hybrids staring at him not with hatred, but with curiosity. “Just trust us when we say we mean you no harm,” the white one said, her voice sounding motherly and gentle. But that alone wasn’t enough for Blake. He had been assaulted and captured by these equines twice! And they just expect him to forgive and forget? He knew that he was a prisoner of war, despite the accommodations they had given him. “Why is so hard to get the message through your thick skulls?” Blake complained, wishing he could just escape from this world right now and dig himself a grave. “I just want to be left alone!” “I think we should properly introduce ourselves. I am Princess Celestia,” the white one greeted. “And I’m Princess Luna,” the indigo one said. Blake gave no response. He simply turned his head away, realizing that he was only in his underwear. Great, he thought, I have no dignity and now I’m going to be embarrassed too! “Would you mind telling us where you came from?” Luna asked in a calm voice. “Hell,” Blake replied, trying his best not to make eye contact with either of the hybrids. “What is this place like?” Luna asked, trying to get as much information out of Blake as possible. “It’s reserved for the cruelest souls known to mankind.” a voice said inside his head. Was it his conscience? No, he recognized the voice as Lyra’s. Wait, how did he know that name? Who was she? Was it that mint-green unicorn that had communicated through their minds the previous night? He didn’t comprehend why, but he trusted her. He felt some sort of special connection, one that he had never felt before. It was like she was a part of him, and he was a part of her. Blake sighed. “I come from a planet called Earth,” he began. "It's blue, lots of oceans, and it has seven continents. Now fuck off."