//------------------------------//
// Confusion(edited) 
// Story: A mother, a lover and a man with nothing to lose 
// by Yoni 
//------------------------------//

	'Ahh Pain, my old friend. For a moment there I thought you were going to abandon me you fucker you,' silently groaned Adam. His head felt it was being squeezed inside a torture machine. Each painful thump made Adam flinch a little and groan again. His eyes felt heavy and it was hard to breath. He did not feel that he suffocating, but it took actual effort to allow air through his nostrils.

"God, why me…" he moaned again, this time out loud. He brought his front hooves to his head in a vain attempt to ease the pain.

A sudden feeling of coolness caused Adam to flinch. Something was placed upon his forehead, just beneath his horn, something cold and damp. He tried to open his eyes once, then twice. Only on the third time did he actually manage to fully open them, and even then everything was way too bright and blurry for his liking. 

        Adam's back was propped against the bed's headboard, making him only half upright. A sudden pain in his stomach caused Adam a great deal of pain, nausea, and an uncontrollable urge to empty his stomach. Just as he was about to vomit, something was hastily shoved to his side and turned Adam's head towards it. With nothing else to do, Adam emptied his stomach into the object. When his vision cleared, he saw a bucket with too much vomit for a small colt such as himself can produce.

        "Easy now. Don't make any sudden movements or you will only aggravate your head even further," a voice softer than silk spoke. 

        Adam shakily looked up and saw a familiar mass of white he learnt to recognize as Princess Celestia. She stood near his bed, looking down on him. A small relieved smile graced her beautiful, timeless face.

        "Wha… what happened?" Adam asked weakly, too sleepy to swat the white hoof that was now rubbing his upset tummy. 

        Celestia looked away for a moment to try and compose a reasonable answer. When none came, she simply said, "What do you remember from the events of yesterday, Adam?"

        Adam blinked a few times before closing his eyes in concentration. "I… remember chasing Discord. I cornered him and then… I…" Adam felt another pang of pain shot through his body as he jerked from the sudden agony.

        "Take it easy Adam. It's just the way your body expels excess magic from your system. Would you like a glass of water?" Celestia offered.

        Without saying a word, Adam nodded. Moments later, a glass of water hovered in front of the weak colt. He tried to grab the glass with his hooves, but found that it was an impossible task. He was about to tell Celestia that he was too weak to lift the glass, when it hovered a tad closer until the tip of the glass touched his lower lip.

        Adam looked up and met Celestia in the eyes. Something inside those big magenta orbs soothed the normally brash teen and left him feeling secure. He closed his eyes and parted his lips a tiny bit. He felt the glass tilt and a constant stream of water flowed down his throat and washed away the vile taste of vomit. Never in all his life did Adam felt this grateful for water like he was now. It was like manna from the heavens.

        Once the glass was empty, it hovered away from Adam and landed on a dresser next to the bed.

        "Thanks, I needed that," Adam croaked. His throat was still a bit sore, but at the very least it was bearable.

        "Now, you were saying."   

        "I don't remember much. Only that I was angry, like really angry, and then…"

        "Yes?"

        "I felt something, right before everything became a blur…"

        "Yes…"

        "I felt really good…"

        "Yes!"

        "I punched Discord in the face."

        "Oh…"

        Adam inspected Celestia's reaction. Something seemed off in the way she looked down on the floor, like she was disappointed by something. Not that Adam cared anyway. "Is something wrong Princess?"

        Celestia flinched almost unnoticeably when Adam uttered her title, it seemed like the 'mum' thing was coincidental after all.

        "Everything's fine, Adam. I'm just glad you are okay," Celestia responded.

        Adam looked away for a second, trying to remember the rest of the previous day but failed miserably. After a long pause Adam turned around to face Celestia in a more comfortable position, mindful of his upset tummy.

        "Say, Princess. What happened to me exactly?"

        Now it was Celestia's turn to look away, and from the same reasons. She took a deep breath as she tried to compose a response.

        "You used a very bad type of magic, Adam. Not on purpose, mind you, but it left your body in a weakened state. That was due to the powerful usage of magic. I don't know how but you used a master level enchantment without even thinking about it."

        "What did I do?"

        "You created a magic nullifying dome around the entire castle, including some advance levitation, kinetic, and reanimation spells."

        "Reanimation, like zombies and stuff," said Adam, completely ignoring the other stuff that he did.

        "Nothing of the sort, Adam. But you did activate and controlled a lawnmower."

        "I… think I understand," replied Adam, trying to look up as his horn but only managing to see the tip, "This thing is way too much trouble…"

        "It is," agreed Celestia, "If you can't control it."

        "What do you mean?"

        "Please understand Adam that magic can be dangerous. You are a perfect example of that fact." Adam flinched at the hard words and looked down in shame. That is, until Celestia used one of her wings and wrapped it around him to comfort him. "But there's a simple solution to it, one that I think you'd appreciate."

        "And that is?" asked Adam, suddenly dreading the answer.

        "I decided to enlist you to my school for gifted unicorns. You will learn how to control your magic and may even choose a specialty, so… what do you say?"  

        Adam gazed wide eyed at Celestia for the longest of time. His mouth opened and closed but no sounds were made. After a great deal of time, in which Celestia simply stood there, not sure what to do, Adam blinked and said, "Do you have a pet phoenix?"

        Confused, Celestia simply nodded.

        "And you're the headmistress of this school?"

        Another nod.

        "And it's dedicated solely to witchcraft and wizardry?"

        "Yes."

        "What a Harry Potter rip-off," Adam muttered to himself.

        "Pardon?" Celestia asked, confused.

        "Oh I forgot that you don't know what Harry Potter is, it's- Oh god! Ohhhh… my stomach!" Adam squirmed in his bed. "Quick! Where's the bucket!"

        In an instant, the already used bucket is in Adam's grasp as he emptied what was left in his stomach, which wasn't much. The slightly sparkling vomit made Adam flinch and slightly gag. 

        "I hate expelling magic," Adam muttered. He then tried to rise from his bed, only for a hoof to gently pin him to place.

        "And where do you think you're going?" asked Celestia in a commanding yet gentle voice.

        "Hmm let's see, oh I don't know, the bathtub! I smell like a police officer after pursuing a doughnut!" 

        Celestia looked suspicious for a moment, but seeing as Adam was too weak to try anything overly stupid, she allowed him to rise 
from the bed. Though as his hooves landed on the floor, he shook violently and grabbed the only thing close to him for balance, which was just so happened to be Celestia's hoof.

        "Oh, sorry. I must look rather pathetic," Adam admitted with shame, not even able to look Celestia in the eyes.

        'Absolutely heart- wrenching adorable would be more like it', Celestia thought. "I think it might be best that I will help you get cleaned, you can't seem to even walk properly."

        Adam shot her a withering glare before snorting once. "Thank you for the offer but I can do it on my own."

        "If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong," Celestia retorted. 

        Adam, despite his sour demeanor, couldn't help but smile weakly at the witty comment. Without saying a word he started walking towards the bathroom, one hoof was constantly wrapped around Celestia's. He was slow and sluggish, but he didn't care. Somehow, just being near Celestia had calmed his temper, and as much as Adam was aware of that, he couldn't help but embrace the feeling.

        After a long walk that really should have lasted less than a few seconds, Adam was leaning against the door frame to the bathroom. That's when he encountered his second challenge. 

        Getting into the bathtub.

        "Well, I suppose my job here is done. I'll be going on my way now, ta ta…" Celestia turned in place and started walking towards the exit.

        "Celestia wait!"

        Hearing her own name, Celestia craned her neck to look at Adam, his ears were splayed backwards and his eyes were wide, forming a perfect puppy dog face. 

        "Yes? What is it, Adam?"

        "Can you please… help me take a bath?"

        "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

        "Celestia, please. Don't make it harder on me…" Adam whimpered, partially because of the pain in his head and stomach.

        Celestia sighed. Not a frustrated sigh, but a sigh of relief. She hoped that Adam would not be as stubborn as he usually is. His body is too frail to take so much stress, especially after what he endured yesterday.

        With a smile, Celestia went back besides Adam and magically lifted him and dropped him on her back. 

        Adam was fighting the urge to fall asleep. The exquisite texture of Celestia's coat against his own soothed his nerves even further and slightly alleviated the pain.   

        Adam was unusually quiet, which made Celestia worry. "Adam?"

        The light snores that came from her back confirmed the princess' assumption. Adam fell asleep on her back. She craned her neck enough to gaze down upon the sleeping colt and felt her heart flutter. Looking back and the tub, she knew it would probably be best to just bathe him and let sleep on his bed. After all, he was beginning to smell.





        Adam woke up to someone clearing their throat. He slowly rose from his bed, which strangely smelt like lavender, and opened his eyes, occasionally rubbing them. He felt a lot better than before, but still a bit weak. At least his stomach stopped trying to dispose its contents through the wrong hole. 

        "What!" he spat, feeling irritated that someone just woke him up.

        "It is I, Adam. I wish to speak with you."

        "Not now Luna, I'm sleeping…"

        Adam lay back in his bed and turned the other side. He closed his eyes shut and try to salvage a little grogginess to cling and dose back to sleep. Unfortunately, a prodding hoof kept touching him in the back. It wasn't painful, but it sure as hell annoyed Adam. After about a minute or so, Adam bolted upright.

        "Okay, okay, I'm awake, happy?!"

        Luna simply smirked. "Quite."

        "You can shove your grin to you know where," Adam muttered under his breath.

        "That's exactly why I came over here," said the princess.

        "You- you heard me?"

        "Yes, and I intend to know exactly why you have these sudden mood swings," responded Luna.

        "What do you mean 'mood swings'? I don't have 'mood swings'! You're a 'mood swing'!" Adam accused, though Luna merely chuckled.

        "Try saying 'mood swing' five times faster."

        "Oh yeah," Adam retorted. "Try saying 'babbling, bumbling band of baboons' five times faster."

        "Hah! Easy. Babbling bumbling band of baboons, babbling mumblinbaoboons… Never mind, I did not come here for this."

        "Yeah, yeah, 'mood swings'." This time, Adam emphasized the last part with air quotes.

        "This is serious, Adam. It can indicate that something is wrong inside your head. If you will just let me-"

        "No! There's no way I'm letting you inside my head!"

        "And why not," Luna argued, now sounding less calm. "What is it that you're so afraid off?"

        "I'm NOT afraid!" Adam barked.

        Luna stepped back by the intensity of Adam's voice. "Adam… I beg of you, let me help you…" she pleaded.

        "No! I don't need help from anyone!"

        "Is it, Adam? Because my sister begs to differ. Why is it that you're hostile towards everypony for no good reason and on top of that-"

        "Because I'm confused, okay!" Adam finally shouted. "I don't understand what's happening to me! My horn is aching! My emotions are all over the place, and I'm angry because it's frightens me! Here, I said it, are you happy now!"

        Luna was silent for a few minutes. Her face remained passive as she waited for Adam to calm down a little. Luna was a very patient mare, after all, a thousand years on the moon can do that to a pony. She was determined to help Adam, even if the colt thought against it. She saw too many ponies fall into depression and darkness, herself included, and she was not about to let Adam fall, because once you do, it was almost impossible to get back up.

        Adam huffed a small air of frustration. Here he was again, shouting for no good reason. It was a reoccurring theme, he noticed. Something insignificantly small would tick him off and he'd start yelling and cursing. And then, Celestia would come, and he would relax almost instantly. Adam wasn't stupid either. He noticed that cycle, but no matter how hard he would try, something would anger him and then he would have to face Celestia, face emotions he never felt before for another being, and THAT was what he was so scared of.

        "Adam… do you remember your family?"

        Adam was about to reply with a sarcastic 'what do you think' when he reminded himself that Luna does not know about his human side, something that he was going to exploit to no end. "Yes. Why?"

        "And how was your relationship with your mother?"

        "Why do you care?"

        "Please, just answer me this."

        "Agh, let's just say that my mother never realized the irony of calling me a son of a bitch," Adam spat in disgust.

        "Was it that bad?"

        "Not all the time, no. But after dad started drinking his problems away, mum sort of… gave up on us. She left without saying a word."

        Adam slumped in his bed as a familiar stinging in his eyes alerted him of the upcoming tears. He cared little for his mother ever since she left, but the feeling of utter betrayal left an unhealed wound in his heart.

        Luna, seeing the suffering etched inside Adam's eyes, came to his side and tried to wrap a wing around him. 

        Only for Adam to scoot away from her.

        "No, I'm done being submissive!" he growled. "I will no longer be weak! I will stand tall and- eep!"

        Adam was interrupted as Luna took him by surprise and squeezed him tightly to her barrel.

        "Let me go! Let me go now!" Adam fruitlessly yelled.

        "You've never felt a mother's love…" Luna practically whimpered. "You are not familiar with this feeling and you are afraid of what you don't understand. That's why you acted the way you did around my sister, she gave you the love only a mother can give."

        Adam squirmed inside Luna's grasp, trying to get away as a warm feeling inside his chest spread to the rest of his body. He squirmed even harder as the foreign emotion tried to take control over his panic-addled mind.

        "Get… away from me!" Adam cried. Hot tears of anger flowed from his eyes.

        Luna, realizing that her comforting was futile, released the panicked colt and allowed him to dig a small hovel inside his quilt. She sighed in her failed attempt to calm down Adam, but was mildly glad that she could at least reveal the source of his problems, that would make helping Adam in the future that much easier.

        Without saying a word, Luna left the room.