//------------------------------// // Spiritual and Physical Health // Story: The Substitute Demon // by Reykan //------------------------------// As Ted made his plans for later that day, he headed to the infirmary to give Head Trauma warning of the injured that would soon be sent his way. Walking down the hall and sidestepping a few of the logs that were being kept in the halls until a better solution could be found, he walked in to see the stallion muttering darkly over some notes. "Trauma? What's going on?" The earth pony looked up from his notes, then looked back at them and shook his head. "We're out of clean bandages, that's what. I've gotten a few unicorns to use cleanse spells on the less dirty ones, but as of now we're going to have to start recycling them. The alicorn frowned at the revelation. "Could any sheets be salvaged for more? I know it's not ideal, but until we can find another source, it will have to do. In fact, as long as you leave me with one set, you have my permission to use my own linens for that. I won't die because my sheets aren't changed each day." "Ah suppose that would help for a bit." Trauma muttered resting his muzzle on a hoof. "Ah'ma be straight with ya, sir, if'n it weren't for Tulip and her poultices we'd be in a mite rough spot right now with the rough-housin' the gnolls gave us yesterday. Those funny little pastes she whipped together made fast work of most of the smaller injuries, and gave those who got mangled pretty badly a good chance at full recovery, but she can only throw so many of those together, and I think she just about exhausted her supplies, not to mention herself." The stallion said, gesturing to an occupied bed. On it lay a pale orange female, with a wet cloth over her eyes. "She went and knocked herself out pushin' to make more o' that stuff, surprised she didn't pass out in the lab. Least she had the decency to make it somewhere somepony could find her. A horner brought her in earlier, said she was out-cold in the halls." Head Trauma said, shaking his head. "Ah know supplies are gonna be scarce for a bit, but if'n ya can put medical supplies higher up on yer priority list, I'd be mighty grateful. Can't make bread without 'ngredints and all that." Ted nodded, then spoke to the earth pony. "I actually came to warn you. The gnolls appeared again today, this time releasing some captives to us in tribute. Most of them don't look injured, just starved, but I want you to check them all. Send for Mirage if you need help with the changeling, and Amald if the griffon gives you problems. Other then that, treat them well. Remember, though, don't let them eat too much. The last thing we need is starving people eating our supplies until they're sick, and wasting them by puking them all over the place. And see if you can figure out what that paste we recovered from the bandits does. If we can use it, I want it added to our stocks. If it's useless, destroy it. We don't have time or space to waste on things we can't use." "Ah remember hearin' 'bout that. Keep the gorgin' to a minimum, got mah word." The doctor said, though Ted noticed his eyes flick to a tub in the back. "Trauma." The pony turned to him. "No leeches. They don't need to lose any blood. I don't think they could take it." As Head Trauma's ears fell, Ted left, eager to find his flight tutor, though still unsure how to ask for the lessons. 'Yea, I can't fly because a week ago I was a bipedal omnivore from a planet devoid of magic.' he thought sarcastically to himself. 'Oh, even better, I'm just a parasite that stole some of Luna's memories, and now that I have my own body her muscle memory doesn't work for me.' That would go over as well as a chainsaw juggling contest on St. Patrick's day. Finally arriving at the rooms, he walked down the hallway, taking note of the names carved into the doors. Passing by room after room, he started noticing something. More than half of the names were scratched out. He had an idea of what it meant, but it was confirmed when he passed by a room with two names he recognized. Ebony Tulip Fast Parcel Breezy Days 'How many have they lost coming out here?' he wondered to himself. The sheer number of names crossed out was like a stab in the chest, though he knew a few of them were merely moved to other rooms so that they didn't have to sleep alone. Finally he saw the room of the pegasus. Moving the tattered curtain that blocked the room in lieu of a door, he found a single mat on the ground with two distinct piles of linen. One had a few yellow feathers around it, the other a few blue-ish strands of silk caught in the sheets. Sitting on a small slab of wood serving as a table sat a damaged picture frame, holding a tattered black and white photo. Ted lifted it, and saw the family inside. He recognized Blur, but the rest he didn't remember seeing. Looking at the back of the photo, he found four names written in faded ink. Three of which were on the door outside the room. 'No wonder she's so desperate.' He thought to himself. 'This is literally all she has left. The Temple, it's her whole world right now.' Turning to leave the room and setting the picture back upon the table, a shimmer from the bed caught his eye. He walked back to the bed, and lifted the pillow in his aura. What he found underneath left him both confused and a little embarrassed. A black feather, larger than any he'd seen on the pegasi in the Temple was stuck into the bottom of the pillow, a few tufts of yellow fur scattered about the length of it. 'That's... when did she..." As much as he wanted to take it with him, he found his eyes drawn back to the family photo. 'I, I guess I can let this go. I think, I think she needs it more than I do.' It was difficult sometimes, this charade. It made him feel exactly as Luna had described when she'd attacked that second night, but he had to keep going. The ponies couldn't handle the truth, they wouldn't survive a world-shattering reveal such as that. After everything else they'd surrendered or lost, he couldn't even consider tearing away their last lifeline like that. Setting the pillow back down, he left, wandering room to room, his journey revealing no sign of the mare. He'd just decided to study in the library and was heading up the stairs when he heard it. The voices of ponies coming from the ritual room. Curious he started down the steps, though as he got closer and could hear the words being spoken, he became curious, and pulled the shadows closer. Silently, he walked down the last steps and into the chamber, which was surprisingly occupied with his followers. What surprised him even more, however, was who stood on the dais in the back of the room. "...and I have felt it. The passion with which He cares for us, the love He has for us, His desire to see us through each day. And we all have seen it, the fury He has for those who seek to harm us, for those who stand in His path, the vengeance He brings down upon our enemies." Standing on the raised platform was the target of his search, speaking with her heart ablaze with zeal to the gathered ponies. "Even today, the beasts that attacked us the day before returned seeking His mercy. They offered Him tribute, even their own lives! Did He strike them down as so many would? No, He forgave them, asked us to forgive them, and seeks to raise them to greater heights than they could ever hope to achieve on their own." It was mesmerizing, and slightly creepy. Ok, that's a lie, it was extremely creepy hearing Blur preaching about him. Sure he felt the need to protect those in the temple, yes he wanted to see them happy, and he most certainly would do anything he could to comfort them if they had no one else to turn to. But this? This was going beyond hero worship. The mare sounded as if she was speaking of a God. Each 'he' emphasized, seeking wisdom in his words that he didn't truly think was there, finding comfort in his mere existence. 'I was just starting to think about how they were too normal to be cultists, too.' The alicorn thought with a depressed sigh. It went on for a few minutes longer before Blur finally stepped off the platform, and most of the ponies turned to leave. Ted was surprised when he saw Swift Screen leaving amongst the others, happily chatting with several other ponies about the sermon. Yes, that's what some of the ponies called it. A sermon. Finally, Blur was the only one left, milling about the room making sure the place was spotless, as if a fleck of dirt in the room were an insult to His name. Maybe he was worried about this for nothing. With the passion Blur spoke earlier, she would most likely jump for the chance to help him. Heck, she may be willing to kill if it meant being the one to help him. 'Maybe I shouldn't be tempting fate like that.' Dropping his cloaking, he cleared his throat, causing the mare to jump and turn to him. "Father! It's an honor! How can I help you?" She replied cheerfully. "I was wondering if you could help me with something in the next few weeks, Blur. I, can't seem to remember how to fly properly. Would you be willing to-" "YES! Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, but yes! Oh, I would love to help you regain the skies! Just ask, just let me know when you have the time, and I'll be there!" Watching her so passionately speak to the crowd, seeing the happiness they found in his home, Ted found himself making a decision there. Once more the ritual room was a place where he learned something important. 'I won't leave them to drown as the world tries to wash them away. If they need me to be a god, I'll be the best god this world has ever seen. When they're strong enough to stand on their own, they can do as they like, but until then. I'll watch them. They can call me whatever they like, and I'll watch my ponies, my changelings, my thestrals. Whatever the race, if they come to me, I'll help them.' He thought to himself. Thinking back to what he'd seen in Blur's room, he spread a wing, lighting it with a light magic pull until a single black feather came loose. He took it in his aura, and levitated it up to the yellow mare. "Thank you Blur, I want you to have this. And if you ever need someone to talk to, or just someone to hold you, you know where I am." Ted walked away after that, the mare nuzzling the feather with cheerful tears falling freely. She'd been speaking of her Father from her heart, from the depths of her soul, and those He'd gathered in His Home listened to her. She was so happy, able to bring peace to her fellow beings, so happy to have a purpose outside of an extra set of hooves or delivery service for a change. She had a family again, a Father who loved her, and brothers and sisters who would help her. Even if some of them weren't ponies. The changeling, Mirage, she was nice once you got past the weird soft chitin and bug-like appearance, she'd even seen the changeling's true eyes, not those yellow covers she always kept over them. They reminded her of Fathers eyes, actually, though they were yellow-slitted rather than teal. She was spooked out of her mental wandering by somepo-someone clearing their throat. Blur whipped around to see Him stitting there, smiling at her. "Father! It's an honor! How can I help you?" She replied cheerfully. Did he see her speaking earlier? Did he find her words pleasing? "I was wondering if you could help me with something in the next few weeks, Blur. I, can't seem to remember how to fly properly. Would you be willing to-" he asked her, only to be cut off by her explosive response. "YES! Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, but yes! Oh, I would love to help you regain the skies! Just ask, just let me know when you have the time, and I'll be there!" Blur was practically dancing on her hooves at this point, her wings ruffling with barely contained energy. "Thank you Blur, I want you to have this. And if you ever need someone to talk to, or just someone to hold you at night, you know where I am." And with that, he floated a single black feather to her hooves. She stared at it, almost not daring to believe he would give her such a thing, to make such a promise. Many ponies knew the custom of gifting feathers was important to her kind, but few realized all the implications, some making dirty jokes if they saw the exchanges between family. But she knew. The feather of a father was a promise. A promise to return to his home, to be there for his children. And Father had just made such a promise. As the alicorn walked away, she held the feather close, tears falling freely. She'd lost so much over the years, but now she had Him. And He would always be there for her. She believed it with all of her heart and all of her mind. She had to. Hope in His strength, His love was all she had left. <-(0)-> The alicorn spent the rest of the day in the library, studying basic magic spells and arrays to give himself something to work with should he ever truly be rid of the other alicorn's memories. Levitation, light, a small fire spell. It wasn't much, but it was a start. He also wrote down the array for his shadow blades, should he lose access to the memories because of the reinforced seal. He relied heavily on magic now, it wouldn't do to have his lack of understanding the energies he used end up being the reason his followers got hurt. Stopping by the war room before turning in, he left orders with Shadow Weaver once more to set up an expedition back to the field. He was going to have to make a long trip north soon, and he would not leave his ponies to go hungry. All the stops were to be pulled out for this one. Getting the actual full number of ponies in the temple, 43 (not counting the tributes), he ordered that the expedition would be staffed with 18 gatherers this time. Amald would also be brought along for added security, and Shadow volunteered as well, citing his knowledge of several offensive spells. When Ted prodded further, the unicorn admitted to wanting to witness the sight of his first battle in the jungles. Turning to leave, Ted stopped just short of the entrance, and turned once more to the cultist. "Weaver, how many did you start this expedition with?" He asked. "Uh, I think we had just over one hundred, sir. Yes, one hundred and eight. A few more joined us on the way, but... the jungle didn't take kindly to a bunch of ponies walking through it. Even with magic and numbers, we really didn't stand a chance." "When you have the time, Weaver, I'd... I'd like a list. I want a list of all the ones we've lost. Just, leave it by my bed, ok?" <-(0)-> As he prepared for bed, he was surprised to find two of those he'd rescued in his bathroom, volunteering their services as servants. They claimed to had worked on large estates for lords before. Not wanting to turn down more help cleaning his still somewhat alien form, Ted allowed it, the pegasus stallion and earth mare siblings being more than happy to let the alicorn relax while scrubbing him down. Eventually he was pronounced clean, and after drying off climbed up on his bed, only to have the servants ask him a very weird question. "When was the last time you preened, sir?" Swift Service, the pegasus, asked him. At Ted's confused look, the stallion began to share the expression. "Preen?" The mare, Humble Hostess, said, attempting to clarify. "Checked and set your feathers?" "I, uh. Not since I was released from the armor a few days ago. I, actually I forgot about that." It was a lie, of course, Ted didn't even know how that would work. He'd seen birds preen, true, but how do you preen with a mouth full of teeth? Not only that, what would you do with the feathers or bits of feathers that got stuck in your mouth? "Normally it's a private thing, but we can help you with it if you like. I don't think you have any family here that could help, do you sir?" Ted shook his head. "No, go ahead." He watched closely as each approached a wing and began setting the feathers, sending strange sensations through his wings. He'd honestly not put much thought into them, spending most of his life stuck on the ground, but now he could feel them just fine. He watched the ponies as they worked, making note of every detail; how to follow the pattern of the feathers, the amount of pull to use to test the strength of each feather, even using a hoof afterwards to make sure a row sat smoothly. Eventually they finished, to Ted's both disappointment and relief, and they gathered the discarded feathers before making for the door. Weaver and Gleam had apparently already assigned those who passed Trauma's examination to rooms, and with nothing else to do, the siblings were going to turn in early for the night. 'Well that felt odd.' Ted thought, shifting his wings once more. He could feel them with more clarity now, even shift individual parts with a precision that shocked him. 'Good news all around though. For one, knowing the sensations for the wings should help with learning to fly. Second, thank god I was lying on my stomach for that.' The servants probably knew full well what was happening to him as they worked, as they said they'd done this for an older stallion they'd worked for, who had no close family to take care of him. Not to mention he knew he heard Humble giggle a few times when he'd shifted uncomfortably, eyes widening when he'd realized just what the sensations were doing to him. 'Definitely one of the stranger things I've experienced so far. Maybe I'll ask Luna if having others help with that is normal.' With that final thought, and one last attempt to shift himself to a less-awkward position, he drifted off to sleep.