Emerald lit his horn and gave Steelskin a quick scan as Luna levitated the colt through town.
“I concur, Princess. No major injuries, just evidence of healed bite wounds, severe muscle fatigue, residual traces of magical electricity and some highly focused mind alteration,” Emerald reported, almost showing emotion as he gave his diagnosis. “His magical field seems to be rejecting some electricity based magic that is trying to merge with it, which I doubt is comfortable, but does not appear to be of any long term trouble.”
“Why did I not see his plight earlier?” Luna asked herself. “I had even seen his dreams. He may not have needed redemption, but he most certainly believed that he needed it.”
“Pardon my intrusion, Your Highness,” Emerald interjected. “He was meeting regularly with Weyul. You had every reason to believe he was in good hooves.”
Luna’s ears flattened further when Steelskin’s house came into view. “How has his house not been repaired? It has been days since the attack.”
“Ah, well, you see,” Emerald began. “He removed it from the list of properties associated with the attack. Neighbors have made sure that it is structurally sound and he is liked enough that the pegasi are happy to keep the rain away from that roof.”
“Even still...” Luna stared at the makeshift repairs to the roof and the front siding.
As they entered, they met Weyul, already having set up temporary residence in Steelskin’s home, expecting the colt to need extensive emotional healing. Weyul smiled at Luna, amused and admiring her insistence on carrying Steelskin despite the obvious discomfort of her guards. He wondered if she even realized how far beneath her it was for a princess to be carrying the colt when there were so many ‘lesser’ ponies that could be doing it.
“Greetings, Your Highness,” Weyul said with a bow, grinning quietly to himself at her discomfort.
“Rise, friend,” Luna replied. “Please.”
Steelskin lay in bed, a trash can, having been recently emptied and rinsed out, sat within easy reach. He was almost thankful for the magic poisoning from eating that lightning; it took his mind off what he’d done... and what he’d almost done.
“Steelskin, please...” Scootaloo stood in the doorway to his bedroom, hooves pawed at the floor as she waited for a response of any kind.
Alex and Dash stood behind her, expressions unreadable.
“It wasn’t your fault. They cast a spell on you.” Scootaloo had trotted up and was nuzzling Steelskin, breathing into the nape of his neck.
Desperation to get some sort of response pushed her to lean in close.
“And you broke what Princess Luna says was a high level mind enchantment even though I gave you permission,” she whispered quietly. “...I know what you’re really like, and nothing you did there would change that.”
Walking over, Alex overheard that comment, but decided to let it pass for now. He’d have a conversation with his daughter later. For now, he sat down on the bed and mussed up Steelskin’s mane.
“When you’re ready, Steel,” Alex muttered. “When you’re ready.”
Scootaloo smiled up at her dad.
Diamond Tiara walked into the hospital room where her mother was recovering from what Steelskin... No, she was recovering from what she pushed Steelskin to do to her. She still loved her mother, but she hated her too.
“Hello, Mother,” Diamond Tiara stated flatly.
“Hi, sweetie,” her mother replied sweetly.
“I’m not interested in meadow muffins, Mother.” Tiara’s tone was icy. “I just wanted to see how well Steelskin bucked you up.”
Her mother raised an eye, but said nothing as her daughter coldly took stock of her injuries. Her foreleg was splinted five ways and there were several bandages that were stained red by still-seeping wounds.
“He didn’t do enough,” Tiara stated, turning towards the door. “I hope I never see you again.”
Later that evening, Scootaloo returned to Steelskin’s place, this time accompanied by their friends.
Valus padded carefully into the room, the rest of the CMC standing just outside the doorway.
“Noble Steelskin, I do not understand your pain,” Valus began tentatively. “In the Griffon Kingdom what they did to you would have been punishable by whatever you or your alternate decided to do to them. If you had not had opportunity before their capture, you would have been well within your rights to do what you did after their trial... But I know ponies are not wargs. If you need to talk, I would be honored to listen.”
Steelskin didn’t raise his head, but he did reach out a hoof to touch Valus’ shoulder.
Encouraged by this, Valus padded over to the other side of the bed and hopped up, settling down next to him. The presence of a friend let Steelskin relax slightly, although he still didn’t have the strength to move.
Rocky, finding his own courage, came in and gave Steelskin a nuzzle. “I don’t care what you did. You’re a good pony.”
The words touched Steelskin’s heart, but he could not believe them to be true. Knowing that somepony believed that about him, especially somepony like Rocky, brought fresh tears to his eyes and made his body tremble with suppressed sobs.
With that, Rocky trotted out of the room. The rest, including Silver Spoon, came in and gave their own version of “Me, too.”
Lastly, Scootaloo came in. “I told Dad everything. He, of course, reminded me we can’t do anything.” Scootaloo smiled wryly. “He even gave some... interesting threats... but he says he’s gonna give you permission to date me when you’re feeling better. Seriously. He thinks you’ll make a good husband.”
Scootaloo nuzzled the base of his ear, backed up slightly, and gave him a long, deliberate breath hug before turning around. She trotted defiantly to the door, tail held slightly higher than appropriate.
He should geld me, Steelskin thought to himself. I don’t deserve friends like these.
With a final glance back before leaving, she added, “You’d better tell me everything. I don’t care if it gives me nightmares for the rest of my life; I won’t let you hold all this in.”
The thought of sharing what she demanded brought fresh terror to his heart. One piece of him quailed at the thought of her knowing how horrible he was while another actively wanted her to hate him as much as he hated himself.
After about half an hour, Steelskin spoke up. “Thanks, Valus.”
Valus smiled from his place next to his friend. “You are welcome. Your honor and loyalty more than deserves it.”
Steelskin fell back into silence; he could not process that statement and his mind shut down.
“Truly,” Valus continued, his physical presence adding weight to his words. “You have not only shown friendship to me, a carnivore, but you have given that Tiara pony exactly the opposite of what she deserved.”
“Well done, my son,” Weyul whispered to himself as he finished cooking dinner for the three of them.
Luna stared at the swirling chaos that was Steelskin’s dreamscape. She knew from past experience that it was inadvisable to even try to force her way in, but she also had a decent idea of what the poor colt was experiencing.
After several minutes of staring in the overly optimistic hope that a way could be found to enter, she gave up and returned to the waking world to deal with nightmares of another sort.
She opened her eyes just in time to see a parchment materialize in front of her.
Dear Princess Luna,
I regret to inform you that there has been little progress at Hidden Moon Village. Sharp Spear has been continuing to poison the minds of the other ponies and questions my authority at every opportunity, going so far as to insult the guardsponies under my command and challenge them to armed combat. Despite multiple matches under your rules of engagement, they still insist that “No injury is no defeat.”
Sadly, unless you have more ideas for me to try, I do believe I will need to up the ante and show them just how much damage a non-lethal weapon can do.
-Captain Nightshade
Luna’s mind jumped back to Steelskin.
“Maybe I can make use of his past.” she murmured to herself; it was not so much a happy thought as a certain reassurance that his pain could be made to serve a purpose.
Valus, Steelskin’s self-appointed honor guard nodded somberly to Diamond Tiara as she skittishly walked into Steelskin’s room.
“Hey, uhm... Steelskin,” Diamond Tiara began. “I kinda wanted to wait till you were feeling better, but, you know...”
After a moment of silence, she continued quickly, not daring to stop. “What I want to say is thanks. I know you didn’t have to, but you still defended me. I know and kinda already knew that you were honestly willing to be friends, but I was too afraid to let down my guard. I knew what I would’ve done if I were you... and... well... I’m sorry.”
Steelskin turned slowly to look at her, forcing a smile onto his face.
Diamond smiled back, seeing how much effort it had taken him. “Yeah, well, thanks. Also, the Crusaders wanted me to give you this... they’ve got some big news for you.”
She placed an invitation on his bedside table and hurried out the door.
Steelskin looked over to see a tri-colored shield embossed on the invite.
Spect climbed in through a window.
“Hey, Steel, heard you bagged two chaos cultists?” she stated questioningly.
“Mph,” Steelskin commented into his pillow.
“Wow, you really are sad about it.” Spect was confused and turned her head sideways.
Steelskin lifted his head from his pillow. “I. Killed. Two. Ponies.”
“But they were bad ponies, right?” Spect asked with confusion.
Steelskin sighed, shook his head, and dropped his face back into his pillow.
“Spect, come help me check on lunch,” Valus growled.
Steelskin closed his eyes again, all of the violence he’d done over the countless realities swirling in a maelstrom of blood, all of his enjoyment of battle making his stomach churn and bile threaten to fill his throat.
Luna entered Steelskin’s room to find him curled under his blankets and staring at his bedside table. A warg pup she recognized as Weyul’s son sat on the bed just close enough that Steelskin would feel his presence.
Valus dipped his head in greeting. “It is an honor, Luna, Princess of the Moon, Mover of Stars, Favored of Fenrir, Font of Redemption.”
Luna blushed slightly at the last two titles, for slightly different reasons. “It is an honor to meet thee as well, Valus, son of Weyul, Friend, Guardian, and Comforter of Ponies,” Luna replied kindly. “I thank thee for thy comfort of Steelskin in his time of turmoil.”
“You honor me, Princess.” Valus hopped off the bed, ears back, but eyes bright. “I assume you wish to talk with Noble Steelskin, Son of Ponies and Dragons, alone.”
Luna smiled and nodded agreement, watching as Valus left the room, tail submissively between his legs, but wagging nonetheless. As she looked back to Steelskin, she saw a picture of opposites. She could not see more than his head, but how tightly his ears were pinned back and his unwillingness to look at or even talk with her made his mental state more than plain.
“Little colt,” Princess Luna stated as she moved beside his bed and put her face in his line of sight. “There is no need to blame thyself for thy actions.”
She rested a hoof on his shoulder, trying to add more compassion into her statements, noting that, while his head did not move, his eyes locked with hers and were filled with tears. “Thou hadst only harmed those vile ponies that sought you harm. Not only that, but thou wert under an enchantment that was most certainly strong enough to clear thee of any charges of wrongdoing.”
“I loved it...” Steelskin whispered, only his mouth moving. “They wanted to run.”
Luna lifted Steelskin out of his bed and into a tight hug. “Peace, little one.”
“I can still feel it...” Steelskin’s entire body shuddered as he sobbed quietly. “I still want it... and... I wanted... I want to...”
“Peace, brave one,” Luna repeated. “Even mine own sister hath her darker desires.”
At Steelskin’s silence, Luna continued. “Dost thou think that mine sister was completely innocent in my descent into infamy? While my actions were my own, my sister cared much for her honor among her little ponies. She was quite happy to labor under the delusion that her subjects gave me just as much honor.”
“They wanted to run and I wanted to torture them.” The emotionlessness of his voice tugged at Luna’s heart. “And then, when Scootaloo came, I was about to...”
Luna could feel Steelskin’s body shake with horror.
“You should have me gelded,” Steelskin whispered hoarsely.
“Neigh, little one. It is your very aversion to what you think you almost did which broke the enchantment’s hold on your mind.” Luna pressed the colt tightly against her chest. “The spell breaking when and how it did shows that you, above all your peers and most adults, can be fully trusted. Not even the bearers of Harmony can boast such a thing.”
On one level, he knew she was correct, but he could not believe it. All he could believe was the faces of the dead ponies that stared him in the face whenever he closed his eyes and Scootaloo’s terrified presenting herself to him.
Luna exited the bedroom to find Alex talking with Twilight and Weyul.
“Hey, Luna,” Alex greeted as Twilight gave her a deep bow and both Weyul and Valus lay on the floor with their heads between their forepaws.
“Greetings, Alex,” Luna said with a smile before turning to the ones showing her deference. “Please, Twilight, Weyul, and even little Valus, be at ease. I would much rather you treat me as close friends.”
Twilight was about to speak when Weyul replied. “My princess, I am treating you as a close friend because I am denying that request. I will be more than happy to say anything that needs to be said, but you are too honorable for me to neglect propriety. Please consider it an act of friendly defiance.”
Alex chuckled. “Well, when it rains, it pours. Weyul was telling me about your plans to use Steelskin to beat a little sense into your ‘devoted followers’ and Twilight just let me know that she’s ready to attempt to bring Tallic back for him.”
“And you are here to figure out how to best involve him in the celebration of the next generation of the cutie-bound?” Luna asked with a wry smile.
Tallic sat on his hoard, waiting. He wished that mana potions were available here; he wanted to have a keg between his forelegs in the hopes that drinking it just after the soon-to-come jump would speed his recovery from the effects of the jump.
He had felt a few, smaller pulls and was now certain that something was making preparations to collect him. He, in turn, was making his own preparations, pulling in as much magic from his surroundings as he could, toughening up his scales, and planning out his preemptive assault.
One thing was certain; he would not go quietly into some other creature’s hoard.