//------------------------------// // New Life: Gift // Story: Imbalanced // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// [Choking's Entry] Hi, I found this diary thingy when I was going through Blaze's things. I'm not some kind of a thief but he's in the castle infirmary now so I wanted to get him something to make him feel like home. I also read the other entries and I think Valiant Charge had something to do with his 'accident'. And I'm finding out it's fun bossing somepony around so I might try to go for a promotion but I'll keep Blaze around as my personal assistant. Since there is nothing even vaguely interesting here I'll just go visit him. Note to self: Buy him a new hoodie for the winter. Note two self: Start a diary, sounds like fun. !!! And trust yourself a bit, dummy. !!! [End Entry] I'm still alive. I don't feel particularly happy so it just comes to me as a fact. The first thing that surfaces is that it will be found out and then they will try again unless I tell somepony. That seems pointless though as saying that five honorable royal guards tried to kill me out of jealousy would mean nothing to nopony. Also... what proof do I have? Or am I? No, I definitely am. The screaming pain from every little piece of my body tells me that. I'm lying on something soft so I definitely didn't end up on the ground after dropping a long flight of stairs. No, that makes no sense unless somepony put a bed on the final step. The bullies? Hardly. So I'm alive and in a bed and with everything hurting. The sterile and clean smell says hospital. That took longer than necessary. "Shut up, voice!" I want to mumble but nothing audible comes out. There is not much to do aside from sleeping so I try to get as much rest as possible. The castle will be coalless for few days but there is little I can do about it. "How is he?" a voice from my left asks. I know it, the tones and cheery dynamics lost in the gravity of the situation. "I can't tell that to just anypony, can I?" "I'm his boss." Wasting her time hurts me more than any physical injury. She could be having fun with a handsome colt comewhere and instead she's here... watching over a stupid, crippled pile of flesh. I really wish I could tell her to go away but my lips fail to move and no other part of body listens to me. Without having any ability to communicate with outside world I just drift off and time loses any meaning. A voice wakes me up at a different time. "Hey, I bought you something. I-I just want to say I'm sorry. So when you get well I want you to find this if I'm not here." She's an idiot. There is no way she would have known her coltfriend would be a crazy pony although I can easily see why losing her might break somepony. She shouldn't feel sorry for something that can't possibly be her fault and moreso for something that hurt me of all ponies. I wish once again to be able to tell her that it's absolutely fine and that she should not worry about me but my damn mouth fails me repeatedly. Maybe if I sleep more I will get better and I'll be able to tell her to stop worrying about me. "Well aren't you in deep trouble, my pet." Buck my life, it's the nurse. Last time I awoke I felt the white lady close but I wasn't able to do anything and I don't think it's going to be different this time but now she knows about me or maybe she's known all along and just now decided to act. I have no idea but now I have a unicorn nurse locking the room and walking towards me AND I can't move AND I doubt I will be able to hold against whatever she did to me last time. "It pains me to see you like this. Let your queen take care of all those pesky wounds first and then we'll talk." Her green eyes flash and I'm suddenly in a very familiar dizzy state although much weaker one. Still, I just move my head to expose my neck when I see her open mouth with two fangs. There is no fear, I know my owner would never hurt me, and I feel only joy when those fangs pierce my skin and a sense of calm spreads through my entire body. When it's over I look at the nurse questioningly. It feels different. Unlike the first time when the sensation was almost ecstatic and destructive I'm now calm and warm inside with my head still being in control. Confused, I try to push her away from me and in shock I realize I can move my legs. "Be a good subject and you can have more," she purrs and I know there is no magic involved. I just want to be hers no matter what. And she knows that as well. She knew her magic wasn't working properly before but now it's different. And I know because she knows and she knows because I know. Who she is is a mystery to me but I know she's inside me and I'm hers. "What do you want, my queen?" I say and feel my whole body weaken as if something is being taken away. On the other hoof something flows from her to me and replaces the missing piece. "You can move around the castle without being noticed and bothered. Tell me everything you know about the guards and castle security." I happily tell her everything I've seen during my time in the castle. It is not much but she doesn't seem disappointed when I'm done speaking. "It's time for your reward then." Reward? Me? My eyes open wide in surprise as she laughs at my confusion. "Just tell me you love me," she says in a deep voice that sends shivers through every nerve of my being. Somepony who helped me despite having no reason to. Somepony who somehow healed my wounds. Somepony standing right above me waiting for my next breath. "I love you," I say and lose all feeling in my entire body while she licks her lips. She opens her mouth and the twin fangs sink into my neck again. This time it feels like eternity but the burning from the pierced skin spreads through the entire body and revitalizes everything down to my legs. "Try it out, drone," her slow voice echoes in my head. I have no idea what she means. While I definitely feel better than before it's nothing significantly different from my usual physical state. I look at her not knowing what to do. She seems confused as well. Have I failed her without knowing what she wanted? I shake my legs and feel that they are fine but the effort causes the pain in my chest to go back. I really wish that would heal just like the legs did. "Whoa?!" A miniscule green sparks run down my chest and I suddenly can breathe as easily as before. Well that's new. "What is this?" I ask, looking at the nurse. Her caring expression is gone, however. Something isn't right and we both can tell. Through narrow eyes she keeps measuring me. "I'm sorry?" I try to ease the situation. "Is everything you told me true?" she asks. "Yes, I might be a lot of things but I'm not a liar." "Then go and have a rest. I will be back some time." I relax and bury my head into the pillow. That is one order I'm really happy to obey. Despite the mare being weirder than a stuffed mule, she did help me get better and at the moment I really don't care about any weird magical side effects. She leaves and I doze off. When I wake up, the nurse is back taking some measurements from the machines monitoring me. Somehow I can feel it's not 'her' despite looking the same. That doesn't matter though, a red ball of energy is moving behind the entrance. Shaking my head to get rid of the weird sensation I see Choking coming in, I wave at her. "Heya boss, sorry about my slacking off. I hope none of the princesses complained," I smile at her. She joins in. Anything is easier than talking seriously. "I think princess Celestia agreed to let the sun shine a bit longer when we asked her. Next time don't go breaking anything without asking though, my office is awfully cold." I smile at her even more. I'm not good enough with words to tell her how happy I'm to see her. The energy seeps from her to me and feels like a small sun warming my bones through the skin. After a while she takes a deep breath and says: "I will leave you alone for a while. Valiant Charge is a possessive idiot and will go after you again." "Don't, please." Her wide-eyed expression amuses me more than anything. I want to collect my thoughts for long enough to explain this to her... properly. "I don't know how to say it right so give me a second. Don't take this the wrong way and don't think about this more than you have to. I... I am nothing. I failed at everything I tried to do and yet I'm still good enough to make you smile a bit and every time I see you it brightens my day. So Valiant Charge be damned, you can visit my place as much as you like. You can do anything you want and I'm just happy to be around. It might be hard to understand from the viewpoint of somepony... good, but I didn't regret anything even when they threw me down the stairs. So please, even if it hurts me more, I don't want to be alone and the way things are now... I just feel happy." Well I screwed up. Now she thinks I love her and it's all going to be awkward. In response to my speech the sun surrounding her gets smaller and smaller as she thinks about it. Then something hits me hard in the head and despite seeing only red, I can feel the warmth from the side of the bed penetrating me deeper than before. "That was the worst love proposal I've heard in my life," she says hesitantly. "That's because it wasn't one, dumbass. I just like having you around," I try to defend myself. "Riiiight," she grins and points at the thing which previously hit me in the head. I disentangle the ball of red cloth and identify a red, warm hoodie. "I read your diary and thought red would look better on that bronze coat," she nervously looks down at her hooves expecting an outburst at the invasion of privacy. Fortunately for her, after having my mind opened and tangled twice by an unknown pony I consider her reading my little diary a pretty minor thing. "Remind me to spank you when I save enough bits for a small whip." I yawn. Magical regeneration or not, the body still wants it's rest and it doesn't escape Choking. "I'll let you rest now." "Thanks for coming, Choking." "I will personally hurt you if you call me that again," she retorts. "Noted. If I ever want to feel your personal touch I'll be sure to remember." Well now I'm on her level of low-grade sex jokes. I grin to myself and explore the fangs I don't remember ever being in my mouth before. Evidently they come with a spark of determination I've never felt before. If Valiant Charge touches me again, he will scream. I promise.