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Chapter 5

John floated in the middle of the orbiting dirt chunks, reveling in his newly-gained power.

The newly-minted god looked at his body and sneered. This pathetic body may have suited him when he was still mortal, but to a god it was an insult. He needed a new body; one better suited to his ascended status.

John snapped his fingers; columns of white light fell from the sky like cylindrical stars. His body warped and molded itself like putty until it reached his desired shape.

“John..?”

The now god-like John looked over his new body and grinned. His formerly scrawny arms were now slabs of solid muscle and sinew capable of smashing boulders. His chest and abs rippled with muscles that would have put a body builder’s to shame. The mass of greasy brown string that he’d called hair was gone; in it’s place was a flowing mane of golden locks.

“John!”

The newly-born god turned to the impudent creature, sneering with contempt. How dare she address him by his mortal name!

“IMPUDENT BEING!” John boomed with a voice like an earthquake. “I AM JOHN NO LONGER! FROM NOW ON, ALL SHALL ADDRESS ME AS…”

A bolt of blue lightning cut John off mid-sentence. He felt something close inside him, his mind conjured up an image of an armored safe closing, and he fell to the ground in a heap. Chunks of earth rained around him, while his crystalline worshipers turned to shards of broken, dirty glass.

Luna trotted over to John’s side. “I am sorry, but I did not quite catch your name.” She said with a smirk.

John looked at himself. His body had been returned to his original scrawny state. “What…what did you just do to me?”

The alicorn gave a resigned sigh. “I had hoped your race to be less susceptible to corruption than my own. However, it appears that was not the case.”

Probably shouldn‘t have sugarcoated human history so much. John mused

“Therefore, I had no choice but to contain the power within you. Thankfully, as a non-magical being, you were not used to handling such power, so it was relatively easy to penetrate your spiritual defenses”

John picked himself up. He could still feel the power within him, but it felt contained, isolated; as if someone had sealed a supernova inside a bottle.

“So, what, I can’t use the power anymore? How’s this work?”

“No, you can still use your power. Just not all at once.”

John raised an eyebrow. “I don’t follow.”

“How do I explain this? The power is still within you, but now there are limits. You can only use a certain portion of your power at a time. If you wish to use anything larger, it will have to be with my permission.”

“So basically, you’re putting me on a leash.”

Luna dipped her head. “I apologize, but it was the only way.”

John didn’t really blame her. What he’d done during his little power trip scared him.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of empowerment. Contained or not, having the powers of a demigod really did wonders for one’s self-confidence. His soul was a coat, and the power was a gun tucked into a pocket.

“So now what?” John slammed a fist into his palm. “Are we going to go kick that things’s ass?” He felt like he could take on an army with a tire iron.

Luna held out a fore hoof. “Not yet. First we must prepare ourselves for battle.”

“Battle?” John said. “Why can’t we just go into the dream, wave our hands, and blow that thing to bits?”

Luna sighed. “How do I explain this? While dreams do not follow the laws of the physical world, they still have their own sets of ‘rules‘, so to speak. Any alteration that breaks those rules will be quickly reverted.”

“Naturally, that creature will have control over the rules of its dreamscape. Not total control, otherwise our battle would be lost before it began, but it can still make our quest very difficult.”

“So, we can’t just enter its dreamscape and destroy it by snapping our fingers?”

Luna said “We could not simply enter its dream and wish the Phobovore dead with a thought, though I greatly wish we could. We will have to fight our way past the abominations’ defenses in order to slay it.”

John frowned “Then what‘s the point of having all this power?”

Luna grinned. “We may not be able to alter the creature’s dreamscape directly, but we can certainly alter ourselves.”

Luna’s eyes lit up with a blinding light, as if the gelatinous orbs had been replaced by stars. A coat of dark blue chain mail appeared out of nowhere, wrapping itself around the alicorn like metallic saran wrap. An elegant cuirass materialized on the alicorns’ chest, inscribed with a silvery crescent moon. Azure grieves and shinplates fastened themselves to the alicorns’ legs, while her stumpy hooves were capped by wicked-looking sabatons. Luna’s flowing mane cropped itself until it was the pony equivalent of a crew cut. Topping it all off was an elaborate metal helmet, studded with precious jewels.

John’s face broke out in a wicked grin. Oh hell yes!

Luna motioned to John. “Now it is your turn.”

“Uh ok.” John stood there. “What do I do?”

“ Just concentrate on what you want to look like. Your power will take care of the rest.”

After a minute of searching, he found something. It was kinda old- something he’d come up back in college. But it’d do.

“Ok, I’ve got something. Hit me!”
“Why would you want me to hit you? I fail to see the purpose in it.”

John rolled his eyes. “Just let me access my power.”

Something inside John opened. It was as if someone had opened a valve in his soul, letting the power flow freely. Eldritch energy crackled around him like static. The crystal-clear skies turned dark with clouds. Thick bolts of lightning slammed into the ground around John like tendrils of liquid light.
John could feel the power swirl around him, bending and molding itself according to his will. He could feel the power twist and harden itself into something solid. There was a final flash of light, and John found himself standing once again on the plain, staring like an idiot.
Luna just stood there, her already disproportionate eyes were practically bulging.
John reeled Everything felt, smaller. When he’d arrived, Luna had about the same size as him. Now he towered above her, as if he’d suddenly put on stilts.
Stilts, and a lead overcoat. His body felt much heavier than before. It was as if he was wearing a lead-lined coat.

“So Luna. John said. He started. His voice had changed. It was much deeper, much raspier than before; sort of like Clint Eastwood with a bit of Chuck Norris.

The blue alicorn shook her head. “ Why don’t you see for yourself.” A gold-framed mirror rose from the ground. John grinned. “Sweet.”

John’s new form was everything he’d imagined it to be. His scrawny, featherweight body was now encased in a blocky exoskeleton, plated with slabs of thick grey armor. His hands were encased in massive powered gauntlets, while the scrawny sticks that he had called legs were encased in blocky, piston-like grieves. The only part of his body that wasn’t completely encased in armor was his head, which was covered with a hood of metallic scales like an astronaut‘s cap.

Some would’ve called it overcompensation. John just called it awesome.

A string of what felt like bee stings traveled up John’s back. He winced.

“All you all right, John? What is the matter with your armor”

“ Nothing, Luna.” John said through clenched teeth. “Just the neural interface plugging into my spine.”
” Probably shoulda left out that part.”

Finally, the stinging stopped. The heavy armor suddenly became like a second skin. He could feel the cool night air blow across his titanium-composite skin, could feel the armor’s quantum tap reactor as if it was his own heart.

Something behind John’s eyes twitched, and lines of text began to scroll across his vision.

MARK III ARMORED COMBAT EXOSKELETON INTERFACE COMPLETE.WELCOME USER:JOHN.

BEGINNING SYSTEMS CHECK

The armor began listing armor systems, from jumpjets to weapon power feed. Icons began to pop up in John’s vision, representing everything from armor status to weapons selection.

“Such…interesting armor.” Luna said. “But surely you will not attempt to face the creature unarmed.”

“’course not.” John reached behind his armored back. Were they there? Should be; they were one of the best parts of the…Yes, there they were!

John unclamped two massive, blocky pistols from their niches on his armor. The gunmetal gray weapons looked exactly like they had in his imagination; big, bulky, and masculine. A faint tingling sensation flowed into his arms as the pistols interfaced with his armor. In seconds, two targeting reticules appeared in his field of vision.

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Boxes? You mean to fight the creature with those strange boxes?”

“Not boxes. Lasers.” John gave one of the guns a twirl. “Mark XV Directed Energy Pistols to be exact” John said. “Give me some targets and I’ll show you how they work.”

Luna raised a fore hoof. Six straw targets rose from the ground, each painted with a blue bullseye.

“Watch.” John centered the crosshairs on the closest target. He squeezed the firing studs; six beams of electric-blue light lanced through the straw target, each striking dead center.

John raised an eyebrow. Guess I’m a better shot than I thought. He trained his guns on the five remaining As if by reflex, his arm jerked from target to target, lancing each with a beam of coherent light. In seconds, each target had a smoldering hole in its center.

The hell? The first shot he could understand, but six in a row? No way.

“Impressive weapons.” Luna said, clearly impressed. She tilted her head. “What is it? Why are you so surprised?” Luna said.

John held out the guns. “Luna, I’ve never fired a gun in my life, and yet I just nailed six bullseyes in less than five seconds!” He’d expected he’d need a least a little practice before he got used to the things.

“You forget, this is a dream.” Luna chided. “You can be as skilled or as unskilled as you choose.”

John grinned. He had the combat skills of a seasoned veteran, nay, a supersoldier, despite never having fought in his life. Awesome.

“Now, while those “lazers” of yours seem effective,”- Luna materialized a katana the size of a man-“What would happen if the enemy drew too close for you to use them?

“Way ahead of you.” John clamped the pistols to his waist and thought-clicked an icon on his HUD. Two massive, mirror-like blades popped out of his gauntlets.
John held up a hand “Watch”. He strutted over to a tree and slashed with his right gauntlet. The paper-thin blade cut through the dream-tree’s trunk like air in the middle. For a second, the tree stood there, as if nothing had happened. Then the two halves slowly slid apart.

The look on Luna’s face said everything.

John sheathed his blades. “Right, we’re all set. Lets’ go kick some ass.”

“One second.” Luna walked over to John. “Please kneel.”

John obeyed. He felt the Princess touch her horn to his forehead. It wasn’t anything like he’d expected; more like cartilage than bone.
He felt a slight tingling sensation trickle into his brain.

[There. Our minds are now connected.]

John reeled. [What the hell?]

[Apologies for the disorientation. This will help us communication much easier during combat.]

John rubbed his head. It made sense. Being able to communicate instantly and discretely would be a huge advantage on the battlefield.

“So are we ready now?”

A globe of liquid mercury appeared in front of them.

“Yes.” Luna stepped up to the sphere. “ Let us purge this monster from your mind!”

John slammed a fist into his open palm.

It was time for some payback.

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