Homecoming of a Jumper

by tosety

24 Sleeping Dragons

Three ponies in the room, probably more I can’t see.

Hooves tied by rope.

Not enough magic to cut them.

Help most likely on the way.

“And to think that we would have been more than willing to let you have the crippled chicken. I’m even in favor of you adding my daughter to your herd, since you seem to care so much about her. Tartarus, I might even ditch that rich buffoon to be yours.” Spoiled Rich smirked lecherously, turned away from Steelskin, and went over to a box. “Well, we have one more thing that might convince you before we decide to torment both those fillies until they break.”

Steelskin calmed himself like Tallic had taught him and felt around for magic to supplement his weakened body. Everything tasted of chaos and was actively fighting against him, but he was able to start to force it to his will, letting his dragon greed loose more than he had ever allowed before. The violence and bloodlust of his dragon magic screamed at him to kill, eat, and take.

“Sadly, we never thought up a good name for this wonderful little gem.” Spoiled had turned and was holding aloft a red moonstone with inlaid aluminum runic tracings. “I’d describe the effect, but it’s much more fun to watch your face as you figure it out for yourself.”

I froze.

I froze and not only pissed all over my hooves, but shat my tail too.

Tallic was muzzle deep in the belly of a manticore. He told me not to watch, but the screams and tearing sounds made me believe that the sight of him eating it couldn’t be as bad as what my imagination was telling me it would be like.

I was so wrong.

I didn’t know there was that much blood in a manticore... Despite soaking into the ground, it still managed to cover an area almost as big as Tallic... And he was covered. His tail whipped back and forth through the blood-muddied earth, getting smeared with the red-brown muck and tracing semicircles as he smeared the blood across his muzzle with his tongue in ghastly, terrifying enjoyment.

The smell of blood clung to my noze, urging me to run as fast as I could. The sight of a dragon tearing apart a monster froze my hooves to the ground.

Steelskin’s small but growing magic responded violently to the gemstone being placed against his forehead. It grabbed the magic and attempted to pull it away from the stone. The cultists looked on in surprised anticipation at the stronger than normal effect.

The gem had very little magic, but was full of freedom. Steelskin smiled as his reservations slipped to the back of his mind and his worries about morality and acceptance faded. He no longer had to worry about keeping himself in check. He could now be the powerful dragon that waited inside him. He no longer had to worry about the chaos magic around him changing him. He could now take all the magic he wanted and the only effect would be more freedom.

He could be their king... He could be their owner... He could do whatever he wanted to them... Their lives were in his hooves.

He felt his body adjusting to all the magic swirling chaotically around him. It pulled in the magic with barely a thought from him. The ropes snapped as his iron dragon scales grew. His hooves split and formed into spikes resembling talons.

One cultist decided they didn’t like the smile on Steelskin’s face and shuffled towards the exit.

Steelskin thought about the pain they caused Scootaloo and Diamond and, while not upset about it anymore, decided that some unrighteous payback was in order. He lashed his tail out, forming it into a whip that wrapped around the cultist’s neck and lifted the pony into the air.

An audible crack could be heard.

“Oops,” Steelskin chuckled malevolently. “Looks like I grabbed a little too tightly.”

He tossed the lifeless body away like a piece of trash and looked around at the two remaining ponies. Spoiled was frozen in fear and the other cultist, now seen to be a stallion, was standing in a puddle of his own piss.

Steelskin revelled in their fear.

“So, were you trying to make yourselves a king?” Steelskin asked haughtily.

The stallion quickly bowed to him. “That was not our original intent, but I welcome you.”

Steelskin looked at the puddle beneath the obsequious pony and had a wonderfully cruel idea.

“Back up two steps and try that again,” Steelskin ordered.

Poor pony, he’s intelligent enough to see what I intend, Steelskin thought with a grin. Well, at least the first half.

The stallion backed up and bowed again, putting his face right in the puddle of urine.

“What do you think, Spoiled Rich,” Steelskin asked, keeping his eyes on the mare frozen in place as he strode over to the prostrate stallion. “Is he showing me enough devotion?”

He put the tip of one of the clawlike spikes of his forehoof on the bridge of the stallion’s nose, forcing it into the reeking mud. The almost-dragon’s eyes closed and his smile grew as he increased the pressure, feeling the first bone break.

Opening his eyes, he saw Spoiled had recovered and was torn between fear and admiration.

“So, was the risk worth it?” Steelskin asked dangerously.

“Depends if you’re going to buck me or rut me,” she replied.

“Well, I think I’m a little too short to rut you properly,” Steelskin said pragmatically as he felt blood flow around the spike that was now lodged deeply into the stallion’s nasal passage.

He watched with a smile as he saw the admiration fade and the fear increase.

She nodded cautiously, glancing towards the exit.

“Well, you know what’s more fun than hurting ponies?” Steelskin smiled maliciously.

He chuckled to himself as her panic rose, the sound of his victim’s whimpers giving a delicious counterpoint.

He took her silence as a negative. “Paying back the ponies who hurt your friends.”

Steelskin twisted the stallion’s head to its limit. A strangled cry of pain bubbled from the stallion’s lips.

“He’s a monster... How can he recover so fast?” she whispered to herself.

Spoiled Rich brought a hoof to the medallion around her neck, having temporarily forgotten about her trump card.

Steelskin’s body convulsed in electric agony.

She watched him twitch on the ground for a moment before giving him another burst. Steelskin forced an eye open as he writhed on the ground.

She noticed him still his body and concentrate. She hit him again with a blast from the medallion and ran for the door.

Just as she thought she had escaped, she looked back and froze...

I don’t know how long I stood there, but eventually, Tallic shook me out of my frozen state. I responded by puking everywhere.

“I am sorry, little one,” Tallic whispered gently. “Next time I shall make sure to leave you safely out of range. I had forgotten how badly averse to blood you ponies are.”

“No,” Steelskin replied, determinedly swallowing down the urge to void more of his stomach. “I don’t want to be separated from you. I’ll make myself get over it.”

Tallic nodded with an unreadable smile. “So be it.”

Steelskin was eating the lightning.

With the sort of terror that can only come from your enemy doing something impossible, she stared as Steelskin, lifted up his hoof/claw and examined the remains of the stallion’s skull.

“Now look what you made me do,” Steelskin accused in mock anger.

Steelskin laughed as he saw his hoofwork. He stumbled as his muscles continued to twitch painfully from their abuse.

“Well, looks like I only have you to play with now,” Steelskin said with mock sadness as he walked over to the mare and removed the medallion from around her neck.

Carefully, he put it back with the other artifacts, planning to examine what he had there after his ‘fun’ was over.

“I messed up pretty badly, didn’t I?” Tiara’s mother said with a laugh. “Well, the bit lands on both sides.”

“That it does,” Steelskin replied with a cruel calmness, touching his hoof gently to the knee of her left foreleg.

She briefly blacked out as her body locked up with a silent scream as she felt the electricity he ate surge through her body.

She found herself curled up on the ground, trembling.

“Do you like it?” he asked cruelly, putting his hoof back to the same spot and adding pressure. “Too bad I can only give you physical pain, but know that when they find your body here, your daughter’s story will be that much more believable.”

He watched her expression go from resignation to excruciating pain as he twisted his hoof into her foreleg. His hoof first dislocated, then began to crush her knee. He sent smaller shocks to force her muscles to move the fractured bones in all directions. The smell of blood was intoxicating. He thought back to the times he bathed in dragon blood and wondered if pony blood was magical enough to use.

Taking his other hoof, he sliced into her shoulder. He watched as the skin parted to reveal bloody muscle. Slowly, the blood began to fill up and then flow from the wound. He bent down and licked it.

Yes, the blood was magical, though not enough so to absorb through the skin. Still, the magic of life flowed in it and the coppery taste was a rare treat that he could now enjoy without the guilt he used to feel.

He was disappointed to see that she had passed out and decided to go over and examine what would be the first magical items of his hoard.

The smell of blood filled my nostrils and, while one part of me wanted to bolt in fear, another part revelled in both the smell and feel of it as it flowed over my mane and coat. It was burning hot, but, like an almost scalding bath after a long, hard day of work, the heat was a wonderful feeling.

The heat penetrated my muscles even as the blood soaked in and I let out a sigh of pleasure as the part of me that enjoyed it crowded out the fear. I had never felt so strong as I did then; I almost felt strong enough to fight Tallic.

I loved it.

I wanted more.

I looked at Tallic and wondered if I could kill him.

Then Trace came barrelling into the clearing.

“Steelskin?”

The voice behind him was fearful.

Steelskin turned around to see Scootaloo standing in the entrance and a smile crept onto his face. He licked the blood off his lips as he gazed at her mostly adult body. It would be less than a year before her first heat and, while the wimpy, overcautious Steelskin didn’t even like the idea of covering her then, he was now free of having to worry about anypony but himself.

Her wings snapped to her sides as their eyes met.

It would be so fun to-

Scootaloo broke his train of thought as she, recognizing his thoughts, turned around, spread her wings shakily, and moved her tail to the side.

No! Steelskin screamed at himself. This is wrong!

The enchantment snapped and Steelskin’s eyes went wide. His legs locked up and all he could do was stare at everything around him. The blood in his mouth caused his stomach to churn.

Murderer.

He stared at Scootaloo, her wings trembling in fear even as she waited for him to do the worst thing that could be done to a mare.

Rapist.

The bio-magical armor fell away from him and clattered to the ground.

Scootaloo looked behind her to find him frozen in place. She ran to him and began nuzzling him in earnest, trying to wake him from his freeze.

Luna appeared in a flash of midnight blue. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene. “It appears that we have arrived too late...”

A gurgle escaped the lips of the lone survivor and Luna rushed over to her. A quick healing spell stabilized the mare, but, having an idea of what had transpired, she made no move to heal more than what was necessary to preserve life.

Scootaloo jumped as Steelskin suddenly bolted. Despite his speed and the suddenness of it, Luna caught him in her magic. He thrashed in mid air for several minutes before tiring and curling into a shaking ball of blood and hair.

“How didst thou know to find young Steelskin here?” Luna asked a quietly crying Scootaloo.

“I don’t really know...” Scootaloo answered shakily. “I just...”

Luna nodded her head with a knowing smile. “We understand. We have seen the bonds speak to ponies before our banishment.”

“What did they do to him?” Scootaloo asked, fresh tears leaking from her eyes.

Luna’s answer was halted by Alex, Matt, and several others bursting in.

“Ah, good. Thou hast found us. Please take the wretch back to town.” Luna motioned to Tiara’s mother. “We shall see to these two foals personally and send guards to identify and bury the other two.”

Every pony but the doctor, nurse, and guards ran back out, clutching their mouths while Alex ran to Scootaloo.

“Young Scootaloo is unharmed, Paladin Roberts,” Luna reassured. “Only her heart aches and that is for brave Steelskin’s plight.”

Alex and Matt glanced around the room, determining what had happened. They both looked with sadness at the colt curled up on the ground and the filly getting her muzzle bloody as she nuzzled his mane.

Tallic sat on the ledge just outside his cave. He stared down at Ponyville.

Sadly, it was not, and probably would never be his Ponyville.

The ponies were good creatures that deserved to be left in peace. More importantly, this world’s Steelskin lived down there with living parents. This world had Alex and Matt, but none of the other jumpers. None were comfortable in Tallic’s presence, but that was to be expected. He was of the Prime Species, after all.

There were few threats, but, for the sake of Steelskin, he had promised his help upon request.

Despite having a whole town as his horde, he still felt the Emptiness tugging at his soul. He had almost given in to it several realities back, but with the help of Alex and an ascended Twilight Sparkle, he had found new purpose as Defender of Ponyville, Steelskin’s home.

He felt a new reality begin its tug and wondered cheerlessly what sort of reality he would find himself in.

As he sat and observed, he noticed a slight difference to the feel. There was a subconscious link to the intentional pull into the reality that separated him from Steelskin.

A small smile graced the corners of his mouth as he remembered the state of that Alex Roberts. He snorted in amusement at his panicked attacks as he tried to defend himself while the effects of the jump wore off. The mangled body was most definitely missing its head with a cut far too clean to be from his claws.

And then, surprisingly, it stopped.

Well, this is new, he thought to himself.

He closed his eyes and sought to find why his mind linked this aborted jump to that other jump.

After an hour, he opened his eyes, unfurled his wings, and flew down to Ponyville to gather supplies for his potential trip.

And maybe say some goodbyes.