"This is the next step in your tutoring." Luna explained as she and Chris walked down the corridors of the Royal Palace, "We will be working on your body and learning how to use your safe portals as tools when fighting an enemy."
Chris scratched his head,
"Why the safe portals? I mean I understand using them for practice, but in a real fight I'm going to be going for the kill."
Luna spread her left wing and slapped Chris on the back of his head,
"Do not be so callous. Any idiot can injure others, the truly skilled warrior can vanquish without spilling blood. Would it not be better to subdue your enemy than to tear them to shreds?"
"You didn't seem to have any problem killing all those Diamond Dogs." Chris huffed, "I'm not trying to be rude, but that seems a bit hypocritical to me."
"Those Dogs were already dead, their bodies simply hadn't acknowledged the fact yet. What we did was a mercy. It is our goal to educate so that death is not necessary. Why kill when you can teach? Turn your enemy into an ally. With enough skill, killing is all but unnecessary. I plan to make you the best, but you must pledge to me that you will use these skills to subdue, not cause permanent injury. I want your solemn oath that you will abstain from killing unless you have no other choice and I do mean NO OTHER CHOICE." Luna emphasized sternly.
Chris reluctantly nodded his head,
"Alright, I swear to do my very best not to kill, but I cannot promise that there will not be bruises, abrasions, lacerations, or broken bones. If it is another pitched battle, that oath does not apply and I will kill in self defense if I'm backed into a corner with no other options."
Luna laughed lightly,
"That will do, thank you. Let us test your awareness. We will be testing and honing all five of your senses, first one at a time and then we will begin adding them together until you can use all of them as a complete set and not just individually. Second, we will work on honing your reflexes to allow you to respond as needed in any given situation. Third, we will learn about how to fight with body and magic. Fourth, we will spar." Luna paused and took a breath, "Which of your senses do you believe to be your weakest?"
Chris answered instantly,
"Smell. It's the one I use the least."
Luna nodded,
"Then that is the only sense you will have."
Before Chris took another step his vision went black. He tried to yell but he couldn't hear his own voice, he couldn't feel the vibrations of his vocal chords and everything suddenly tasted like bland ash. He immediately fell into a complete, uncoordinated panic. His mind refused to accept the complete lack of his other senses, raging helplessly against the total absence of sensory stimulation.
Luna watched with concern as Chris lost his balance and flailed around on the floor helplessly. Though it pained her terribly to do so, she waited until he calmed down more before she lit up her horn and entered his frantic mind.
'Be still Christopher.' Luna's voice sounded within his head, 'This is your first test. You will navigate from here to my chambers using only your sense of smell to follow my perfume. You must trust me. I will allow no harm to come to you but this test will continue until you are successful, no matter how long it takes. Come follow me."
It took the man many long minutes to calm down enough to hold still and even then it took even longer for him to use his equilibrium to rise to his feet.
Chris sniffed the air but he couldn't detect anything right away, 'Shit.'
* * *
19 hours later, after finally sniffing out Luna's perfume, which took him three of those 19 hours, then being led through groups of other Ponies with perfume, then being led through the kitchens, and all around the Royal Palace, Chris' senses finally returned. He was hungry, thirsty, he needed to use the bathroom, he was exhausted, and worst of all, he didn't even know it until his senses returned. The jolt of their return was so sudden and bracing that he collapsed onto the ground, became nauseous, and threw up almost instantly.
He curled himself up into the fetal position and sobbed at the overwhelming stimulation after so many hours of absence. It had been the most terrifying time of his entire life and his emotions ran wild and raw. During the hours he spent trying to follow Luna's perfume, his mind had pushed all other thoughts away, but with his senses returned, so too did the emotions. More prevalent than his confusion were his feelings of humiliation and betrayal. Luna had led him around the Palace all day like a dog on a leash and he had been absolutely powerless to do anything about it. He was more than angry, he was furious. He forced open his reluctant eyes and raised his head, fury burning in his gaze.
What he had thought was Luna's bedroom was in fact a huge bathroom. He was lying on the stone floor in a puddle of his own vomit. The smell, once ignorable, seemed to ignite his nose. With an irate grunt he pushed himself off the floor and unsteadily onto his feet. Looking around, he saw no sign of Luna, but the colossal, steaming pool in the corner of the room seemed to call to him. The rest of the room seemed so bright and intense that it all blurred into one shapeless mass, but the pool was his anchor, the pool had form. The pool was carved into the stone floor with soaps lining the edge.
He stumbled toward the pool and simply fell into it. For a short time he was content to lay in place but the need to breathe forced him to bring his head to the surface. He floundered there soaking in the sensations of warmth and wetness, reveling in his sense of touch. He listened to the quiet lapping of the water against the sides of the pool. Looking at the water, it was crystal clear so he opened his mouth and took a huge gulp of the water ignoring the minor taste of stomach acids which had washed off his clothes and skin. The water was hot and it tasted like water. Looking back, he would always remember that day as the day he realized water had a taste. His senses tingled, everything seemed so alive and vibrant.
Chris raised his eyes and finally took in the room. The walls were sandy brown stone with little niches carved into them for soaps, towels, cloths for washing, shampoos, brushes, combs and all sorts of other implements of personal hygiene. The room itself was quite wide, close to eight Fathoms from one side to the other and was almost perfectly circular. Illumination crystals lit up everything in the room in pure white light, giving the room a steady glow and there, in the middle of the massive bathroom, lying right next to where Chris pulled himself up from, was Luna. Her head was down, eyes staring at the floor sadly. She didn't move a single muscle except to breathe.
Chris' blood boiled at the sight of her. His anger spiked and he scrambled up out of the pool, roaring like an animal. Rising to his feet, he bounded toward her with his hands outstretched and swiping at empty air. Luna never moved a muscle even as Chris crashed into her in a flying tackle and sent them both rolling on the floor. Chris ended up on top, straddling her stomach and grabbed her by the horn with his right hand. He pulled her head up off the floor and raised his left hand... but nothing happened.
His rage filled eyes locked with her sorrowful ones and something beyond words passed between them. Chris stared into her eyes and his anger burned bright, but he could not bring himself to follow through with the motion. He released her horn and let his arms drop limply to his sides, but he stayed on top of her panting heavily and trying to clear his head.
"I knew I had made a mistake when your senses returned." the Alicorn Princess whispered softly, "I will not be using that method again. I am sorry for what I put you through Christopher." she laid her head back down against the floor and blinked slowly, "Everything had been going so well, I... I foolishly assumed that you would be alright with whatever I did and... I made another mistake." she took a slow, deep, trembling breath, "I was wrong... again. I never meant to hurt you Christopher and obviously you are hurt. Next time... I will discuss with you how to proceed..." she looked up at him sadly, "If there is a next time."
Chris was confused. His mind was busy trying to play catch-up, his body was sending him all sorts of insane signals of wants, and needs, and his emotions were as turbulent as a tornado. Without really realizing what he was doing, Chris reached his left hand behind Luna's head, gripped her mane, lifted her head and kissed her roughly right on the mouth. Luna's eyes shot open and she screamed into the kiss. She flailed and screamed and panicked and cried as Chris meshed his lips to hers. She tried to push him off, but she could find no purchase for her hooves. After a few seconds he let go of her head and broke the kiss.
Luna's head flopped back onto the floor with a thump and she stared up at Chris with wide, frightened, tear-filled eyes, panting and afraid to move lest one of her hooves shatter a bone. Both panting breathlessly, they each stared the other down.
Chris was the first to speak,
"I didn't surrender control to you. You took my senses, you took my freedom... twice. It's not so pleasant when somebody takes your freedom is it?" he hissed.
Luna blinked as tears fell from her eyes like a waterfall and slowly shook her head,
"N-no... it... it was... terrifying..." anything else she had to say was lost in broken sobbing.