//------------------------------// // Chapter 77: Showing His True Colors // Story: The Last Human // by Blackdragn18 //------------------------------// “Just stop already!” Nick shouted as Luna weaved through several buildings. “You’re not going to out maneuver me.” Spinning around Luna quickly shot a beam of magic at the armored figure. Sadly the shot merely bounced of him. “If that didn’t work the first three times it won’t work a fourth.” Luna was beginning to tire from the flight, she knew it was only a matter of time till she ran out of steam and Nick caught her. Hopefully by then Sean and Bob would have a plan. Her ears flicked as a roar echoed through the ruined city. Stopping she looked back to see Nick doing the same. “Weird.” Nick shrugged before turning back to the pony. “Now stay still so I can catch you.” “No thanks.” Luna turned, preparing to fly off again but bumped into Nick as he shot in front of her. “It’s over.” He grabbed her by the horn and smiled. “Now let’s go back to the island and get that moron to surrender.” “Out of the way!” Someone behind them shouted. Looking back both of them were confused to see Bob speeding towards them. “Coming to save the pony are you?” Nick smirked, it vanished as Bob simply flew by them and hid behind a nearby column. “What are you doing now?” “Waiting.” He answered. “For what?” The question was soon answered as another roar sounded before a figure was seen running along roof tops and columns towards them. “Don’t tell me you did what I think you did.” “The logic was sound.” Bob said as he came out from behind the column. “You’re dumber than I thought.” Looking back Nick shot backwards as a monster appeared on a column in front of him. It was some strange combination of Sean and a dragon. It mostly resembled the dragon body Sean used, but it was human sized and was wearing his leg and arm covers. It glared at the two other humans, growling. “How are you this dumb!?” Nick glared at Bob. “I guess the funny part is the fact he’s after you at least.” “Not anymore.” Bob smiled. “You just became the priority target.” Bob’s then pointed towards the alicorn in Nick’s grip. “What are you Agh!” Nick dodged as a claw swung past his head. Looking back they saw the creature was now clinging to a wall that had been next to them a minute ago. Nick looked at Luna then the creature. “You take her.” Luna’s captor threw her at Bob. “Nice try.” Bob caught the pony before tossing her back to Nick who had to quickly dodge as the monster tried to slash him again. “I don’t need this.” Nick took the alicorn and threw her towards a nearby building. Luna let out a small scream of surprise before quickly reacting. Spreading her wings to slow the fall she teleported to safely land on the roof. As she recovered she had to jump back when two figures slammed into the ground near her. Getting a closer look she saw it was Nick wrestling with the strange creature. “This should be good.” Bob said as he landed next to Luna. “What’s going on?” Luna pointed to the dragon human. “What’s that thing?” “That my dear pony is our dopey friend Sean.” “What?” She looked at Bob confused. “I’ve never seen or heard of him turning into that. “That’s because counting today it’s only happened three times.” They stopped talking as a scream came from the two fighters. Nick was currently gripping his bleeding shoulder as dragon Sean held one of his wings in his mouth. “That’s going to leave a mark.” “You’re going to pay for that.” Nick said as he stood up. Sean simply growled in response before roaring and charging at his armored enemy. Nick was able to roll out of the way and swipe his claws across the dragon’s leg, surprisingly Sean didn’t seem to notice, simply turning and grabbing Nick by his other wing. “Oh Nick.” Bob shook his head as the creature ripped off the other wing. “What’s going on with his leg?” Luna asked, looking at the bleeding limb. “That’s not fixing till he changes back.” A smile crept across Bob’s face as Sean slammed Nick into the ground. “Isn’t that a bit risky?” Luna tilted her head. “Yeah, but he doesn’t notice the injury so it doesn’t slow him. Oh!” Sean had just left a large gash across Nick’s chest. “It’s like purple head isn’t even trying.” Sadly that sentence seemed to jinx it as Nick managed to get a swipe off that left a large gash across the dragon’s throat. “That’s not good.” “How about you stop talking.” Luna glared at him. “Fine.” Bob rolled his eyes. “Duck!” The two lowered themselves just in time to avoid the flailing form of Nick. “Well it may be over.” Bob then looked back to see Sean growling while slowly walking towards them, his green eyes trained on Bob. “Uh oh.” “What’s wrong?” Luna asked. “Yeah, I may be the one that forced him to turn into that.” Bob took a step back. “And to get that to happen you have to physically and emotionally harass him. So bye!” The human then turned and began to run. There was a roar before Sean began to chase. Luna looked back as Bob hopped off the roof with Sean barely behind. “This won’t end well.” Luna sighed as she ran after them. “Gotcha!” Twilight’s voice shouted as a hand grabbed Luna’s ankle. Looking down she couldn’t help but smile at the state Nick was in. Both his wings had been torn off, there was a large cut along one of his legs, the arm not being used was missing its hand and bone was visible in some spots, one of his eyes was missing and several teeth were gone. “Get off me.” Luna kicked him in the face with her other hoof, that managed to somehow knock him out. She looked out to the sinking city and sighed. “Great, now I’ve lost them.” “Looks like Sean may have caught Bob.” Luna commented as she followed a trail of blood. Her concern began to increase as the spots of red began to grow. After a few more feet they were larger than her hoof. Picking up her pace she eventually reached a large building, the door was smashed open. Carefully entering the structure she was surprised at the interior. The inside was completely made of stone just like the outside, but there were several claw marks all along the walls as well as dents and patches of blood. “Who is there?” Celestia’s voice asked. “It’s Luna.” She said, following where the voice had come from. It lead her to a flight of stairs, along most of the steps there were large splotches of blood. “Luna!” At the top of the stairs Bob appeared. “Thank Bolas you’re here.” His green eyes were wide. “Why?” She increased her pace to reach the top. “What’s going on?” “You can still use healing magic right?” “Of course I can.” Luna looked him over, surprisingly he had no injuries. “Great, we need to hurry.” He turned and ran down the hallway. Confused Luna followed. Eventually Bob stopped at a smashed door. “Ok, get in there and heal him.” Giving him one last look Luna entered the room, the first things she noticed were the several blood streaks along the walls, then the sound of something wheezing reached her ears. Following the sound she rounded a corner to see dragon Sean lying against a wall. He was weakly breathing, his eyes locked onto her as she neared him. His chest was coated in red, looking closely she was able to see the wound on his throat, it was larger and gushing blood. “What are you waiting for?” Bob rounded the corner to look at her, quickly hiding again when a weak growl escaped Sean. “Hold on.” Luna looked at Sean’s throat. As her horn began to glow she put it near his throat. After a few seconds the gash started to close and his breathing began to strengthen. Stepping back she smiled to see he was fully fixed, after a few deep breaths he stood up. “Did you do it?” Bob asked, his head peaking past the wall to check. Once again hiding as Sean growled, taking steps towards the corner. Luna stood in front of Sean as he took another step. “Sean, stop.” She spread her wings to make a larger block. The human dragon looked down at her and quietly growled, though he made no advances. She looked back at Bob. “Is there a way to change him back?” “Yeah, he just needs to calm down.” Bob was standing next to the door. “After that he should revert.” “Alright.” Luna looked back to the growling monster. “Ok, I need you to relax.” Sean simply glared at her. “Come on, deep breaths.” She was surprised when the dragon began to listen, taking several slow breaths. “Good.” “You’re doing well.” Bob nodded, at the sound of his voice Sean growled again. “Ok, could you leave?” Luna glared at him. “You’re just going to make him angry.” “Fine by me.” Bob turned and hurried out the door. “There we go.” Luna nodded before returning to Sean. “Now that that’s done let us continue.” Luna relaxed her body, smiling when Sean did the same. “Excellent, now more deep breaths.” Once again the dragon listened. “Alright, now close your eyes and think about something peaceful.” Sean followed the orders, closing his eyes. Luna stood there quietly watching. After about a minute of waiting Sean opened his eyes, she smiled to see they had returned to their usual purple. Soon he began to change, his claws retracted and returned to finger nails, his horns disappearing. After a few seconds Sean stood in front of her, back to his usual form. “Great.” Luna nodded. “Feeling better?” “Mostly.” Sean walked past her. “I’ll be even better in a minute. Bob I’m fixed!” Soon a face appeared in the door frame. “So you are.” Bob then entered the room. “Good work Luna.” “Thank you.” “There’s just one more thing I have to do.” Sean smiled at Bob. “What’s that?” “Payback!” Sean then tackled Bob and began to strangle him with his left hand while punching him in the face with his right. “Not so fun is it?” “I was trying to help.” Bob weakly said between hits. “Right, because throwing me like a ragdoll and insulting me is really helpful.” “Sean, get off him.” Luna ordered. Sean turned to her looking at her for a minute before growling. “Fine.” He stood up, getting one last kick in before walking over to stand next to the princess. “Ugh.” Bob was lying on the ground groaning in pain, the floor and Sean’s knuckles were covered in blood. Soon he began to heal before slowly standing up. “That was a bit harsh.” “Shut up.” Sean growled. “Hey my plan worked, you brutally maimed Nick and Luna’s safe.” “You’re lucky it did, otherwise you’d be a lot worse right now.” “Geez, you have anger issues.” “Whatever.” “So what do we do now?” Luna asked, interrupting their little argument. Bob put a hand to his chin. “Well, now that Nick’s out of the way Sean just needs to get over himself and admit his grief.” “What grief?” Sean shrugged. “I’m fine.” “You are aware I’m in your mind right?” Bob rolled his eyes. “I know almost every single thing that goes through it.” “Well this time you’re wrong.” “No I’m not.” “Yes you are.” “Lies!” Luna simply stood and watched as the two man children had their little argument. “How about I kill you?” Sean took a step forward. Then there was an explosion and one the walls caved in. “How about I kill both of you?” The three looked back to see Nick behind them. His injuries had healed and he was smiling. “How are you fixed?” Bob looked at him in surprise. “You were completely torn apart.” “It will take more than that to finish me off.” Nick smiled before turning to look at Sean. “Now then, it’s time for payback.” “Now then, it’s time for payback.” Nick was smiling at me, and not in the friendly way. “Didn’t we go through this earlier?” I raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you try to do this and I pounded you into the ground?” “You were lucky last time, Bob was able to save you.” Nick cracked his neck. “But not this time.” “What?” Bob looked in surprise before he was enveloped in a green aura and thrown out the hole in the wall. “Now that’s just rude.” I shook my head. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you?” I was cut off as Nick grabbed me by the throat. “Seriously, just shut up.” Nick then threw me out of the hole too. “You really think this’ll work?” I began to grow wings. Before my new appendages could form several black blades came flying at me. My wings as well as my torso quickly abandoned me just before I slammed onto the roof of a shorter building. “Yes, I do.” Nick landed next to me, putting a foot on my throat. “Agh.” I reached for the foot on me but a black blade ended up cutting it off. “Good try.” Nick put more pressure on my throat. “Get off him.” Suddenly Nick was hit by a blue beam and sent flying off me. Sitting up I began to rub my throat as Luna landed next to me. “Are you ok?” “As ok as somebody who was getting their windpipe crushed can be.” “Saved again by Luna.” I looked towards the edge of the building to see Nick smirking. “That makes three times in quick succession. The prison, Canterlot, and now here. You’re getting weak if a member of a lesser race has to save you.” “I’ll have you know that I could have escaped two of those.” I glared at him before getting up. “Of course you could.” Nick stretched. “Why don’t you prove it?” “Fine, let’s go.” Before I could charge he held up a hand. “One moment.” His eyes glowed, then there was a scream. Looking back I saw Luna being enveloped by a green bubble. “There, no help from your little friend.” “Alright. Are you ready to lose?” I turned my arm into a blade. “You should really stop talking to yourself.” Nick raised a clawed hand. “Ow.” I groaned before dodging another attack. The rooftop shook as Nick left a dent in it. “Just stay still and die!” Nick glared at me as I stretched. “Sorry, but no.” I began to charge at him. He smiled, waiting for me to near him. “Slip!” I fell back, sliding forward still. I then turned my left hand into a dragon head and used a column of fire to quickly propel myself. “And slide.” Before Nick could dodge I had managed to blast into his legs and break both of them, flying past as he fell. Jumping up I ran over and crushed his skull. “Skill!” “Don’t get too smug.” Before I could react I was vertically sliced by Nick’s claws. As I healed he began to stand up. “Would you just stay down?” I growled. “This is so much work.” I rolled out of the way as three more black blades flew at me. “How about no.” I jumped over him as he tried to cut me with his claws. “I need this body so I can finally be free.” “Well, I kind of need this body, so that I can you know, live!” “Your death is a small loss.” His eyes then began to glow. “That hurts.” I looked at him with sadness. “But this will hurt more.” Quickly leaping in the air I got above him and slammed him with a fireball. The portion of roof he was standing on caved in and I watched him plummet to the ground floor. “Victory.” Then I heard a roar before a long tongue came out of the hole and smashed into me. “Ow.” I groaned. “You couldn’t truly think it would be that easy.” A large green hand gripped the edge of the hole. Slowly the rest if the body climbed out of the pit and onto the roof. It was a large green monster, probably fifty feet long and thirty feet tall. Its face was long and animalistic, a toothy and cruel grin was offered to show its pointed teeth, two red eyes glared at me one was black where white should be while the other had several irises and pupils. It fully steadied itself on eight limbs, four arms and four legs. It let out a roar and humans began to burst out of the sides, most were simply the upper half, there were some heads, or almost full humans. “Envy.” My eyes widened. “Don’t call me that!” The monster growled. “That’s not my name, no matter what that scaled fool tells you.” “So what’s your real name?” “When I was alive and still beautiful I went by Sirizan, and I shall gain that name again!” A large hand came flying at me, I was able to dodge. “Once I steal your body I will be able to use the power to conquer, soon the name Sirizan shall be feared and worshiped! Then I will hunt down that filthy dragon and destroy him.” “Wow, you’re really stupid. You really think you’re even close to Bolas’ level of power?” “Once I have your body, I will be.” His tail swung at me, jumping over it I shot a fireball at his ugly face. It was a shock when it actually damaged him, he let out a deep roar of pain as his face was maimed. “Wait, you’re not made of dragon scales?” “Of course not.” Sirizan shook his head as it healed. “That was another accursed punishment from your precious Bolas.” “Nice. This’ll be easier than I thought.” “Don’t get too cocky boy.” The green beast then swung its head, a long tongue came flying out and stuck to me. Swinging again Sirizan lifted me and flung me across the roof. “That wasn’t fun.” I rubbed my head. Before I could do anything a large hand grabbed me. “It’s going to get worse.” Sirizan then threw me at the ground with a lot of force, causing me to leave a crater. Then his tail began to slam into me, forcing me deeper and deeper into the roof. Eventually it was too much and I smashed through it, following the path he had taken earlier. “This isn’t working.” I moaned, sitting up. “Fine, if you want a monster battle, you've got it.” I growled. “Oh that was too easy.” Sirizan smiled. “But what could I expect from a filthy human.” Then a hand burst out of the ceiling beneath him, grabbing one of his legs. “What?” He was able to say before being violently pulled down, smashing through the roof. The former dragon moaned in pain as he smashed into the ground floor. Growling Sirizan looked up to see Nicol Bolas standing above him. Or rather, the humans simple imitation of the powerful dragon. “Shall we continue?” The human asked. Sirizan’s response was to coil his tongue around Sean and throw him out through the wall. The cheap copy was sent flying before slamming into a nearby column and falling onto another building. “Fine.” Sirizan said as he jumped onto the structure. “Let’s finish this fight.” Sean let out a roar before breathing a column of fire. The former dragon was able to dodge it, retaliating with shot from his tongue, surprisingly the human still hadn’t learned to dodge the strange weapon and was hit in the face. Sirizan then yanked him in, as Sean got closer he was able to grab the cheap Bolas copy and punch him in the face, knocking the dragon to the ground. “You lose human.” The green beast put a foot on Sean’s neck. “No I don’t.” Sirizan then felt something coil around one of his hind leg, looking back he saw that it was Sean’s tail. The grip was tightened before he was aggressively pulled off of his foe and flung across the roof. “You get too smug, no wonder Bolas beat you so easily.” “Shut up.” Sirzan charge at him. Sean was able to dodge and kick him in the side. Knocking the monster over. “I mean really, I’ve encountered ponies that can fight me better.” “I said shut up!” Anger flowed through the former dragon. He swept one of his legs under Sean, causing the dragon to fall over. Taking the chance Sirzan pounced onto Sean and began to pummel him with all four hands. He smiled as blood began to appear on his hands and Sean’s scaled face was distorting. Eventually stopping he admired his handy work. Sean was bleeding in several places on his face, his jaw was slightly forced to the side and one of his eyes was forced shut. “You lose boy, even with your power I am still a god.” This wasn’t going too well. Sirizan was beating me senseless. I needed to find some sort of weakness. Then as he taunted me I spotted something interesting, the charm that I used to summon his power was resting on his tongue “What. What happens when I take this?” I coughed. “Out?” Before Nick could move my hand shot forward and forced its way into his mouth, gripping the charm I retracted it taking his tongue and the charm with me. “No!” Sirizan began to spark, he took a step back, releasing me. Sitting up I watched. He was beginning to disintegrate, one of his arms fell off as I watched. “Give me that!” He charged at me. “How about no.” I jumped over him, by now most of him was gone. He fell to the ground as a leg vanished. “I’ll kill you!” Then he was gone. “There we go.” Turning I spotted the damaged building we had started on, flying over I found Luna standing there looking around. “Hey Luna.” I landed in front of her. “Where’s Nick?” Luna asked as she turned her gaze to me. “I don’t know, he just sort of vanished.” “I’ll kill you!” I heard a voice shout. “What?” I looked around, eventually I raised my hand to look at the charm. The eye had returned and was glaring at me. “Oh, hi Nick.” “You got lucky this time.” I found him hard to take seriously when he’s threatening me with the voice of a purple nerd. “I’m only held here for a short amount of time, then I will beat you!” “Even as jewelry he does not shut up.” Luna rolled her eyes. “Ah, Luna.” The charm somehow turned. “I have a secret for you.” Luna looked at him coldly. “You wanna know what old Sean here was doing while you were knocked out?” My eyes widened. “Don’t you.” “I hope you weren’t planning to talk to the griffins.” Nick cut me off. “Because your friend here killed all of them.” “Shut up!” I turned it so the eye was facing me, I could tell it if had a mouth, it would be smiling. “What? You don’t want me telling her about your heartless and surprisingly cruel mass extinction?” Before he could keep talking I threw him off the roof into the sand. “Sean.” I looked back to see Luna giving me a slight glare. “In my defense.” “We shall discuss this in the waking world.” Luna kept the cold look. “You are aware that.” Luna then wobbled. “Are you ok?” “Yeah, I’m fine.” She then began to tip. Quickly catching her I helped her back up. “What’s up with you?” I asked. “I’m not sure, it felt like a massive wave of magic suddenly slammed into me.” She sat down and held her head with a hoof. “That’s weird. I wonder what.” Then I noticed something in the sky. It seemed to be some kind tear in reality. “What is that?” Luna looked at the rift in confusion. “I’m not entirely sure.” Then two massive feet came into view. “Though I have a guess.” Then the rest of the dragon entered the ruined city. As the hole closed above him Nicol Bolas spotted and flew towards us, soon reaching and landing on the roof we were on. The entire area shaking as his feet hit the ground. I was surprised the structure didn’t cave in when a giant dragon landed on it. “Hi dad.” “I told you already, I’m not your father.” The dragon glared at me. “Well you’re responsible for like half my DNA, so from a genetic standpoint I think you are.” “Quiet.” Bolas ordered. “Fine.” I crossed my arms. “Now then, allow me to explain why I have come to such an.” He looked around. “Unsightly place.” “Thanks for that.” I growled. “As I was saying, I have come to give you the reward for your victory. I must say, I’m surprised you passed the test.” “What?” “That charm that held Envy, was a test set by me.” “A test?” “Indeed. I wasn’t sure that a human of all creatures would be able to handle the immense power that I possess. Surprisingly, you passed.” “Yay for me. What did I win?” “Enter your proper form.” Bolas ordered. “Abandon the monkey suit you currently wear.” “That’s rude.” I shook my head as I entered my dragon form. I was surprised to find that Bolas was actually bigger than me. There was a height difference that was large enough that I had to look up slightly, his shoulders were broader and his wingspan was longer. “The rest of your reward.” He then took one of his talons and made a small cut along the palm of his hand. Understanding I did the same. “Now your ascension shall be complete.” We then linked our hands like a hand shake. After a second his eyes glowed slightly and I felt a sudden surge of pain go through me. Crying out I attempted to retract my hand but his grip was tight. Eventually the pain stopped and he released me. I fell to the ground quickly returning to my human form. “What was that?” I asked weakly. “The exchange of blood.” Nicol Bolas smiled sadistically. “While you are not at my power you have now ascended past the power of nearly any other living creature. As well as fully embraced your draconic blood.” “That’s fine, but why can’t I transform?” I glared as my hand simply sparked. “Mild side effect of the transfer.” Bolas waved it off. “You shall recover.” “So what did this fun little transfer do to me?” I asked, standing up. “The power you felt during your griffin massacre, when you used the mind control and mind shattering touch. That was merely a taste of the power you now possess.” “Cool.” “Though it only works in your proper form.” “What? Why?” “I’ve been around long enough to know when a being would abuse the power of a god. I don’t feel like dealing with a power crazed human. At least when you are the superior race your mind advances enough to not take such power lightly.” “Whatever.” I crossed my arms. “So this is the real Nicol Bolas?” Luna asked, looking at the dragon. “There is one thing I do not understand.” Luna suddenly began to levitate. “Why do you surround yourself with these lesser beings? Even submitting to their will.” He brought the alicorn to his gaze. “What manner of beast are you?” Bolas asked as he examined her. Her wings suddenly unfurled. “Wings of a Pegasus, yet the horn and internal magic of this plane’s unicorns. Fascinating.” “Put her down.” I growled. “Be calm boy.” Bolas held out a hand. “I am merely studying this creature.” “Release me.” Luna ordered. “Tell me, what are you? The last time I was on your world I only encountered unicorns, pegasi, and basic ponies. What does a hybrid such as yourself identify as?” “RELEASE ME AT ONCE! THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT COMMANDS YOU!” Luna this time ordered with her Canterlot voice. While I had to hold my ears Nicol Bolas simply looked at her bored. “Princess of the Night?” The dragon looked at her quizzically. “So you are the ruler of your plane. Now how are you linked to the night?” Luna just gave him a cold stare. “Very well, if you deny me the knowledge I seek.” A hand reached for her head. “I shall simply extract it.” A talon then touched her forehead, Luna’s eyes rolled back as he dug through her memories. After a few seconds Bolas opened his eyes, Luna being released from his magical grip. I managed to catch her before she slammed into the ground. “Interesting.” Bolas looked at the blue alicorn. “A creature capable of moving the celestial bodies.” “Luna?” I looked at her concerned. “Calm down.” I looked at the dragon. “I have done no harm to her mind. While the moving of the sun and moon is impressive for a lesser race such as the ponies, that is nothing compared to my powers. Besides, I see no benefits to destroying the balance of your plane.” Another rift in reality appeared behind him. “If you didn’t do anything then why is she not waking up?” The dragon sighed. “It is simply a side effect of my power. Such a weak creature would find it impossible to remain alive after coming in contact with the levels of magic I carry if it tried to continue the functions necessary to support one while they are conscious.” He began to move towards the tear. “However, you are now in my debt boy.” He looked back, offering a not too friendly smile. “And trust me, should I need to, I plan to collect.” He then walked through the portal before it disappeared. “Well that was ominous.”