//------------------------------// // Chapter XXIV // Story: What I've Done // by Knight Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter XXIV         “We’re listening,” Celestia said, her eyebrow raising slightly.  Though she tried to keep a calm, collected demeanor, her mind was still wracked with worry, and she was sure that it showed.         “This whole problem, wrong things done to person fell before, ship crash early, attack on innocent, all caused by traitors.  One traitor on ship, listen we coming, escaped.  Escaped here,” the snake said in a rush.  “We here, try fix, but first traitor need caught.”         Celestia gave the snake-like alien a piercing, soul-searching glare, attempting to find any falsehood behind what she said.  It was hard, though.  This was an entirely different species; not only would their tells be completely different to that of a pony, but the lie detector spell that she had running might not work either. “Let’s say, for a second, that we believe you,” Princess Luna said slowly, her gaze never wavering from the alien in front of her.  “If we help you catch this ‘traitor,’ as you claim, what would you do to the other alien that landed here?  The one that you claim that these… ‘traitors,’ brutalized?” “We would…” the snake alien started to say, but trailed off as something behind Celestia caught its attention.  Before the two sisters could ask her what was wrong, or even turn to look, a wisp of smoke whipped around Celestia’s head, then resolved itself into a scroll in front of her. The snake-creature’s jaw dropped at this, but Celestia ignored it, preferring to instead open the letter in front of her. Luna, curious as to what could be so important that Twilight would send a letter in the middle of a discussion like this, leaned over to read over her sister’s shoulder. It was extremely short, though what it said immediately made the two feel chills run up their spines. “Sister...” “I will deal with this, you stay here,” Princess Luna said as her horn charged itself with magic.  Right before she disappeared, Celestia thought she saw a hint of dark blue armor, as well as her sister’s scythe come into existence, but they were gone the instant that her sister disappeared. “Very well, where were we?” Celestia said as she turned to the alien visitor. “What that?” the snake asked as she gestured towards the scroll in Celestia’s magical grasp. “Nothing of your concern.  I believe we were talking about what you would do if we caught the traitor?” Celestia asked, her voice completely level. “Yes.  About that…” *        *        *         Princess Luna materialized in the lab’s lounge area.  She was tempted at first to teleport directly into the lab itself, but without knowing more about the situation, she decided to find out more before potentially endangering any hostages.         As soon as she materialized, however, she was suddenly struck by a sense of wrongness.  That feeling was further reinforced by the contingent of guards surrounding the lab door, as well as the Elements of Harmony that had gathered there, each wearing their own element.         “What has happened?” Luna asked as the gathered ponies turned towards the sound of her materialization.         “Thank goodness you’re here, Princess.  You have to stop him, before he kills himself!” Twilight said, pointing towards the lab.  Luna looked, but only saw a shimmering, twisting haze where the door should have been.  “I tried myself, but he’s sucking all the available magic out of the air!”         Instantly, Luna realized what that wrong feeling she had was.  It was as if the lab had turned into a magical vacuum, pulling all the surrounding magic, and re-purposing it for… something.  It only sucked out the unattended magic, Luna noticed.  Magic that belonged to someone, such as Luna’s own personal magical field, was untouched. However, it would be difficult to cast even the simplest of spells for a normal pony in these conditions, since the usual method of casting involved drawing in magic from the atmosphere, and using your own mana to shape it. However, Luna wasn’t a normal pony, and she had other places to draw magic from. “Everypony get back!  Guards, evacuate this wing, now!” she shouted as she called upon her link with the moon.  Instantly, a wave of magic poured into her, which she quickly shaped into a protective shield to allow her to cross the barrier.  Then, with a hesitant gulp, she stepped through the shimmering wall before her.         It was like she had entered an entirely new world: Lightning arced from the ceiling, causing black marks to appear where they struck;  Shapes seemed to claw at the edge of her vision, demanding her attention, yet disappearing when she looked;  objects appeared to distort and move, or flicker in and out of existence; and to top it all off, a looming, bipedal shape seemed to be forming near the center of the maelstrom.         All of these things she ignored, however, in favor of concentrating on the small, unassuming form that was hunched over the one, stable, writing desk.  He seemed to be working on something, but whatever it was was hidden by his hunched over form and the storm of magic that raged around them.         Carefully, Luna made her way across the room, dodging the occasional flying object, or piece of furniture that decided to phase back into this reality.  Suddenly, without warning, the ~human’s~ head shot up, and he called out in his language for something.  Before Luna could even think about trying to translate what he said, she felt something shatter into a million pieces on the back of her helmet.  She didn’t let this stop her, however, and drew closer to the ~human.~         Once she was close enough, she reached out for him, barely noticing that he had broken his quill at some point, and was using his finger in its place.  Then, with a slight gulp, she reached out and touched the ~human,~ all while dropping the protection she had erected around herself.         Instantly, the power vacuum broke.  Object stabilized, things stopped clawing at her vision, and the air stopped distorting itself.  There was a loud clatter all around Luna as various things fell to the floor, but she barely registered any of that as the ~human~ looked up at her.         ~“Alex, please come back to us,”~ the Lunar Princess said, hopping that what she had said was passable in the ~human’s~ native tongue.         As their eyes met, the princess was finally able to register his current state.  He still wore his lab coat, as well as the leather pants he had made earlier, but both of those were now covered in ink, as well as a gray, viscous substance.  The liquid was also on the desk, in the form of gray hand prints from where the ~human~ had touched it.         What was most shocking, however, were his eyes:  He looked like he had been crying, though that wasn’t what gave her pause.         No, what made her stop was the haunted, desperate look she saw there.         The ~human~ looked back down at the paper, its contents completely illegible due to the smears of ink and gray that covered it, before drawing in a slow, steadying breath.  He then said something, something disjointed and unintelligible as he looked up at the Lunar Princess, before he broke down completely.         Princess Luna hushed quietly as she encircled him with her hooves and wings, not caring that she was getting covered in whatever the ~human~ had managed to get on himself.  The ~human~ started to tremble as mana shock set in, but a quick scan with her horn told her that he still had enough magic to keep his heart going.         This was… strange, especially seeing as how he had used far more magic this time around than last time this had happened.  However, there apparently wasn’t enough in his system to keep him awake, since he fell into a deep sleep not long after he had started crying in earnest.         As soon as the ~human~ was fast asleep, the Lunar Princess gently leaned him back into his chair, all while she disentangled herself from his grip.  She then took a few steps back and ignited her horn, intent on teleporting them both back to his room.         ~”Is he going to be okay?”~         At this, Princess Luna nearly jumped out of her skin.  She quickly turned around, only to be confronted with something that she wasn’t quite sure she believed.         There, standing in the middle of the room, amidst piles of deconstructed golem parts and fallen tools, stood a creature that looked very similar to ~Alex~ in its general shape and stance.  It was tall, standing at probably seven feet, and was extremely lanky.  In fact, it resembled nothing more than a metal skeleton, its appearance suggesting that it could have belonged to a member of ~Alex’s~ race, had it not been made of metal.  Its joints were interesting, in the fact that it didn’t have any.  In their place were glowing orbs of red light, allowing the creature an amazing range of motion.  Its bony rib cage housed what appeared to be a number of flat plates, whose faces seemed to be covered in small, Arcanite studs, as well a webs of thin, cryptic lines that spoke of patterns and reason far beyond the Lunar Princess’ understanding.         Atop this ribcage sat the creature’s skull, it’s eye sockets shining with a faint, red light that looked at her with what she could only assume was worry.         ~”Who… who you?”~ Princess Luna asked cautiously.         The creature rattled off a long series of words, but Princess Luna barely caught any of it, since it spoke in a language that she barely understood.  It accompanied its words with some gestures as well, but they seemed… clunky, unpolished.  In fact, the whole design, coupled with the warped parts and scrap that surrounded the creature gave it a very unfinished feel.         ~”Slow, please, I not good speaking,”~ Luna said as she waved a hoof at the creature.  ~”Please, just give name, name enough now.”~         ~”Sorry about that,”~ the creature said, its voice sounding hollow and metallic, yet strangely feminine.  The golem then rattled off something else that was too much for the princess to follow, but before Luna could interrupt it again, the creature said something else, something much slower, allowing the Lunar Princess to understand the automaton.         ~“My name is Amelia.”~ *        *        *         “What happened in there, Twilight?  If… if you don’t mind me asking….” Fluttershy said as soon as the six friends had gotten sufficiently far from the lab.         “Yeah, Twilight!  I was just about to catch some z’s  when Rarity runs up screaming about somepony trying to kill her!” Rainbow said as she landed in front of the purple unicorn.         “I… I really don’t know,” Twilight said, shaking her head a bit.  “I was in the labs with ~Alex,~ working on a way to get Starswirl’s Omniscope to work, but then I started to feel really tired.  The next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor, my head filled with fog, with ~Alex~ approaching me.”  Twilight shuddered at that, the recent memory of the ~human~ covered in a gray substance, its claws out, and a collar around its neck still quite potent.         As it turned out, she needn’t have worried.  But still, she had caught a glimpse, just for a second, of what kind of monster the insect aliens had turned him into.         “You okay, sugarcube?” Applejack asked as she gently shook Twilight out of her trance.         “Yes… I’m okay… It’s just… The look in his eyes.  I’ve never seen that look before,” Twilight said quietly.         It was true.  Even when facing her most deadly foes, none of them had even come close to the look that had lurked behind those ~human~ eyes.  They hadn’t sparkled with mischief like Discord’s had, they did not carry the cocky arrogance of Queen Chrysalis, nor did they carry the hatred and jealousy that Nightmare Moon’s did.         In fact, those eyes hadn’t carried any emotion at all.  Only an intent.  It had passed as soon as she had seen it, but its message had been clear. The only thing those eyes had promised was death. “Whatever do you mean, darling?” Rarity asked as she stepped closer. “I… I don’t know, but I’m worried now.  Before, I had only thought of him as the survivor, the one who had done terrible things against his will.  I’ve never actually thought of him as capable of hurting anyone if he could help it, But now?” Twilight drew in  a shuddering breath.  “Now I’m… not so sure.”         “You are right to be worried, though not of what he might do to others,” a voice said from behind her, drawing the gathered ponies' attention back towards the direction of the lab.  There, standing in the lab door, was Princess Luna.  She looked tired, and she had decided to remove the armor she had arrived in, but otherwise she looked fine.         “Princess!  Is he…?”         “He’s going to be fine.  I have already teleported him back to his room, where he is currently sleeping,” the princess said, waving off the worry that was being directed towards her.  “As I was saying, though, we should not be worried as to what he may do to others.”         Twilight looked at the princess skeptically at that.  “Princess, I’m not sure you understand.  He’s… well, he’s a...”         “A killer?” Princess Luna finished for her.  The princess then sighed in exasperation when Twilight nodded, and the ponies that surrounded her gasped in horror.  “Tell me, young ones, do you know what happened when he and his kin broke free from their masters?”         “Didn’t you say someth'n about there being fight’n and kill'n?”  Applejack asked quietly, to which Fluttershy timidly hid her head under her wing.         “Yes, but do you realize what that entails?” Princess Luna asked pointedly.  When all she got was silence, she sighed again, then straightened up and looked each one of them in the eye in turn before continuing.  “The way they fought was both brutal, and without mercy.  They had none left to give after the horrors they had been forced through, and so they stalked through the ship, hunting down their prey, neither asking, nor giving quarter.  They struck, they fought, and they slaughtered their captors.  On that night, they truly became the monsters that they had been transformed into.”         Fluttershy eeped at those words, and began to tremble, while the other took a nervous step back, their gazes now locked on the Lunar Princess.  That is, they all took a step back, with the sole exception of Rainbow Dash for some reason. “But, Princess, Ah don’t understand!  If’n he’s such a monster, why're we letting him run free like this?” asked Applejack, clearly shocked at the Princess's actions.         “Because, Applejack, if we were to cage him like the monster that he is, we would have to give all monsters the same treatment,” Princess Luna said pointedly.  “Starting with myself, of course.”         This immediately got everypony’s attention, their eyes all riveted upon the Lunar Princess.  “But, Princess, you’re not a-” Rarity started to say, dismissing Luna’s words outright, but was interrupted when the princess’s horn began to glow.         Instantly, the princess was gone, replaced by a person that the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony had thought cleansed.         “Do you really think that what I attempted was better than what ~Alex~ has done?” Nightmare Moon asked, her eyebrow raising ever so slightly.  “I, who attempted to cast this side of the entire planet into an eternal, wintry night, while dooming the other side to a blistering existence as the sun burned away all life?”         “But…”         “After me, of course, we would then have to turn upon our own guards,” the nightmare continued, as if she had heard nothing.  “After all, we train them to fight, and to kill, all in the name of peace.  We train monsters to hunt monsters, so obviously they would be next on the list.”         “I didn’t mean…” Applejack tried to interject.         “Of course, after the guard, we would have to go after Celestia,” Nightmare Moon continued relentlessly, her piercing eyes never wavering.  “After all, she has fought, killed, banished, and imprisoned quite the number of creatures, all in the name of justice and peace.  If we were to go after the guard, Celestia would be the next on our list.”         “But Celestia’s not-”         “Finally, the only monsters that remain are those that profit from all the monsters being locked away,” Nightmare Moon continued, her eyes still boring into the assembled ponies.  “After all, to gain from the monstrous activities of the ponies we've imprisoned is also monstrous.”         “Princess!  That’s going too far!” Twilight said, finally getting a word in.         “Yes, it is.  My point is, is that yes, he may, in fact, be a monster.  But sometimes we need monsters like him.  Monsters who are capable of fighting the real monsters that exist in our world.  The monsters that would destroy the innocent without cause, or provocation,” the Princess said sadly.  She then took a deep breath, and slowly let her disguise fall.  “What’s even more important, however, is that sometimes, even the worst of monsters may seek redemption for what they’ve done.  Do you think it's possible?  That one who was once so wicked, so ruthless, might one day find forgiveness for what they’ve done?”         “Of course it is!” Fluttershy said, her voice piping up as she stood up straight and tall.  She then withered a bit, when she realized that everypony was looking at her.  “I mean, that is, I think that they can.”         “Good, because right now, there is somebody here that needs that more than anyone,” Princess Luna said kindly.  “More importantly, however, is that he needs friends.  He needs ponies to show him that he doesn’t have to be alone anymore.  That he can open his heart, and his pain, to those around him.  Because in all honesty, I’m not sure if he’s even capable of shouldering it all by himself anymore.”         At this, Twilight’s face became filled with determination.  She then turned towards her friends, a grin on her face.  “She’s right, girls, we need to… get…” Twilight started to say, but trailed off as soon as she realized somepony was missing.  Somepony important.         “Where’s Pinkie Pie?” *        *        *         “I want blood tests, full urine and stool tests, as well as a level four magical scan; Princess Luna wants to know how he survived creating a total magical vacuum, and I have to agree with her,” Doctor Tender Care said to her staff as she marched towards her patient’s room.         “Maybe it has something to do with its reverting biology?” Doctor Level Head asked as he kept pace with his boss.         “It’s possible, but unlikely.  Run another check on his DNA anyway, just to be certain,” Care said as she put her hoof on the handle of the door.  “I also want him to be monitored twenty-four/seven, and…” she said, but trailed off as she pushed open the door, revealing the chaos that lurked inside.         There were streamers everywhere,  Balloons of every shape and size clung to every surface, and strung across the room was a giant banner that read ‘Hope You Feel Better!’.  There was even a large, three tier cake, as well as a number of plates and cups, all sitting on a table that had somehow been set up in the span of time it took for Tender Care to leave the room and summon the rest of her staff.         The room was oddly quiet, however, punctuated only by the soft snoring of the patient in the bed, who currently had his arms wrapped around something pink and poofy that had crawled into bed with him.         The pink pony brought her hoof up to her lips, then shushed.  “Be quiet, he’s sleeping!”         At that point, Doctor Tender Care’s mind decided to check itself out before things got any weirder.