Homecoming of a Jumper

by tosety

23 Despair

Scootaloo was curled up, weeping silently. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were nuzzling her.

“R-really, girls...” Scootaloo choked out between wheezing coughs, attempting to sound as strong as she wanted to be. “I’m ok-okay.”

Scootaloo drew in a shuddering breath, trying to calm herself down. Steelskin froze as he came upon the scene.

“It’s just more insults. Nothing I haven’t heard before,” Scootaloo continued. “And I know they’re not even true.”

“I thought she’d learned her lesson,” Apple Bloom drawled. “I cain’t believe she’s stupid enough to have done it. She’s getting banished for sure.”

Steelskin snapped out of his daze and trotted towards them. “Hey, what’s wr-”

He froze as he saw the letters smeared on the side of Scootaloo’s home. His experience with blood made it clear that it was just red paint, but the dead, plucked chicken was most certainly real.

Cold, hard fury filled Steelskin’s gut. The extreme anger was so far beyond blind rage that he barely felt any emotion at all. All that remained was a determination to make the one who caused Scootaloo’s pain to suffer as much as he could possibly manage.

He trotted up to Scootaloo and gently nuzzled her. “Don’t worry, I’ll deal with this.”

“Don’t do anything stupid, Steel.” She smiled at him and he returned it.

“I’ll do my best, but no promises,” Steelskin half-joked.

With determination he trotted towards the orphanage.

---

#CC-02#
@Arrival + 30 Minutes@

I was wrenched out of my jump induced haze by a buck to the ribs.

“You’ve got calloused frogs to bring your rutting plot back here,” Scootaloo threatened.

She was muscled, but more in the way that earth ponies were, and her wings were larger, with a slight ruby sheen to them. She also had a cutie mark - a knife.

I sat staring at her, unable to process all the differences.

Her hoof caught my jaw painfully. “Don’t you bucking ignore me! I don’t care if you’re clovered off your plot again, you’re going to answer me!”

I held my jaw as I looked into her feral eyes. This was not any Scootaloo I had ever seen before. “I’m sorry-”

“Sorry?” she screamed. “Don’t you bucking give me that! You left me five rutting months pregnant with Argentis!”

Ginsu popped in front of me, hissing at her even as my jaw fell open.

“Well,” she sneered, ignoring Ginsu, “I found a better family while you were off being all bucking macho and getting all that iron.”

With that, she turned, unfurled wings tipped with rubies, and flew towards the Everfree.

---

Steelskin found Diamond Tiara curled up on her bed. Her eyes were staring blankly ahead and the door was wide open.

Steelskin stood in the doorway, taking in the full picture. Her eyes were dry, but her face showed that it was because she was beyond crying.

“Hey...” Steelskin greeted.

Tiara just sat there.

“Equestria to Diamond, are you there?” Steelskin joked tentatively, waving a hoof in front of her face.

Tiara sighed heavily and turned slowly to look at him. “I don’t know what my mom’s done, but she came here with a... present...”

She stressed the last word heavily enough to make it clear how sarcastic she was being. Her eyes glanced over to her saddlebags in the corner. Tears were gathering in the corners of her eyes, but it was as if she didn’t have the strength left to even cry.

“Don’t bother continuing with the nice act. Nopony’s going to believe that it wasn’t me and, if what’s in there is any indication, you’re going to kill me for what she framed me for.” Diamond’s voice was monotone and filled with resignation.

Steelskin mumbled “Already saw it,” as he walked over and nosed open the saddlebags.

Inside was a paint brush with dried red paint on it and chicken feathers covering the bottom.

“She told me the only friends I will ever have are in the Everfree. I’m sure she’s one of the cultists that tricked me into helping them,” Diamond said, voice catching a few times as she fought back tears.

A royal blue cloud of sparkling magic hovered outside the window.

---

#CC-02#
@Arrival + 45 Minutes@

I stared for a while at the edge of the Everfree, desperately wanting to go find Scootaloo and get her out of that dangerous place, but with her animosity towards me and my own recovery from jump sickness not even close to complete, I decided to head into town and get more information on her past and mine.

No matter what Ponyville I was in, there was always a warmth to it. Even the abandoned husks seemed to have a yearning for ponies to move back and a welcoming feel.

This one, on the other hoof, was downright cold and hostile. Ponies scowled at me until I looked in their direction, making sure to slam their door at me only after they saw that I knew exactly how they felt about having me in their town. Not even the realities where I was pony-non-grata due to excessive violence were as blatantly hostile as this one.

---

This was not going to fly. Steelskin had a new target and even more to pay back.

“I believe you,” Steelskin said with cold fury. “But I apologize in advance for the beating I’m gonna give your mother.”

Diamond Tiara nodded cautiously and Steelskin left with overly controlled steps.

Visions of pounding the adult mare’s face into a mass of blood and bruises vied for dominance in Steelskin’s mind along with the pained faces of Scootaloo and Diamond. He let his hooves guide him to Diamond’s house as he kept his mind clear, pushing the fury into a tight ball in the back of his mind. This was not a case of suppressing anger, but rather forming it into a more useful and accurate tool. This was a Dragon Promise to that hatred that it would be used to its fullest. Unrestrained anger was often counterproductive, Tallic had told him. Focused and guided anger could be used to maximum effect to accomplish precisely the pain that was desired.

---

#CC-02#
@Arrival + 2 Hours@

“Psssst!”

A pink hoof beckoned from behind Sugarcube Corner.

“Psssssssst!”

I trotted towards the only friendliness I had seen so far.

“Over here!” Pinkie whisper-yelled from behind the back door to Sugarcube Corner.

I was almost unsurprised by the hoof that pulled me backwards into the door despite not having passed it. Pinkie being Pinkie after all.

I was quickly dragged into the basement and found myself sitting in the dark, with a bright light shining in my face.

“Okay,” Pinkie said, mimicking a private investigator. “What did you do with Steelskin?”

Ginsu popped out of my saddlebags again and hissed at her. She pretended to ignore him even as she pulled a plate with a fish out of her tail and set it in front of him. Ginsu, of course, like any true cat, ignored my perceived danger and started eating it.

“Pinkie?” I asked, trying to get her to drop the act.

“This Ponyville isn’t yours, so tell me what you did with him and I’ll think about letting you go,” Pinkie continued.

“Pinkie,” I tried again. “I just got here and I don’t have any idea what happened to this world’s Steelskin.”

Pinkie switched off the lamp and turned on the room’s normal lighting, revealing her party cave.

“Fine, don’t play along,” Pinkie pouted in fake sadness. “Well, I guess that’s all the fun we can have before we get to all the bad news.”

---

Steelskin knocked on Spoiled Rich’s door again. He didn’t really expect an answer, but felt it would be stupid not to try.

Not that anything I’m about to do will be smart, he said in the back of his mind.

After a few more moments, he sniffed around, trying to locate where Diamond’s mother’s scent was the strongest. Catching it, he followed the trail straight into the Everfree.

He trotted through the woods, keeping himself from galloping by force of will alone. The scent of his prey mixed with the dragonish tendencies that came with the heightened sense of smell goaded him to charge in and rip his enemies to pieces. He knew they were likely to be well armed with various otherworldly weapons. Not only did the dragon hunter get equipped by them, but he had heard about the royal guards’ raid on their safehouse.

“Steelskin, you are stupid to be doing this alone,” he said to himself out loud.

---

#CC-02#
@Arrival + 3 Hours@

“Yupperooni,” Pinkie answered. “Once she got her cutie mark, you two declared your majority and moved into your parents’ house.”

“And then?” I asked.

Pinkie’s smile fell. “Well, did you see her cutie mark? She was unwilling to tell anypony how she got it.”

“Her parents?” I really didn’t want to be right in my guess.

Pinkie nodded her head. “She never forgave them. They disappeared the day before she got her cutie mark and what was left was found tied to a tree a week later.”

Pinkie’s hair was almost completely straight. “They’d been... cut... everywhere. Doc. Pulse says they had died only two days before they were found and the cuts were in various stages of healing. Everypony is pretty sure she did it and kept coming back to cut them more.”

“And then I disappeared.” I barely managed to choke out.

Pinkie sniffled, then wrapped her forelegs around me. “No, you silly, it was this world’s Steelskin. When he disappeared six months later, she decided he had left her, so, despite everypony wanting to help her, especially with her pregnant with a first heat foal, she burned down the house and ran off into the forest.” Pinkie’s hair drooped. “Those meanie stares and slams you got are because everypony thinks Steelskin just up and left because he was a jerky-jerkface. You showing up here makes them think they were right and that you didn’t get yourself hurt or killed.”

---

Following the scent, he made his way deeper into the forest. The further he went in, the more danger he felt, but he reminded himself that anger was a source of strength that he could draw on, and there had been few times he’d ever been as full of rage as he was now.

He pushed through a heavy mass of brambles and into a clearing. He was immediately hit by a wave of tiredness. Everything felt heavy and all he could think of was laying down and taking a nap. The determined part of his mind called out for him to reject that and reminded him of his task. He trudged forward, finally tasting the necromantic magic at work.

Any smart trap setter would have it activate well into the effective field, so it would be more prudent to get to the center and destroy the source.

As he forced his way forward, feeling like he was submerged in honey, he saw the half-rotted corpses of forest critters that had fallen to the same fate he was about to. They shifted. Their empty eye sockets glowed as they slowly stood up.

Panic filled Steelskin as they shambled towards him, their rotted lips spread to reveal teeth much sharper than they should have had. It motivated him to redouble his efforts to get to the source of the trap. Sadly, even with the extra incentive, he was still being outpaced by the zombie woodland critters. Worse, when he tried to toughen his skin, the magic was leached right out of him.

As the red-tinged onyx gem at the heart of the trap became visible in the long grass, the first of the rotting critters reached him. He screamed weakly as their yellow and overly sharp teeth bit through his normally tough hide.

For every one he crushed, two more bit into his legs and barrel. Still, he trudged forward.

A pair of eyes watched him from the opposite treeline as he reached the rune covered gemstone.

A part of his mind screamed that he was doing something insanely stupid, but he hadn’t been listening to that voice all day. He lifted a bloody hoof and brought it down on the gem, two zombies biting chunks out of his hind legs as he did it.

Nothing.

Tears of pain and rage streamed down his face as he lifted his hoof again and brought it down with all his remaining strength.

A shockwave of sound, force, magic, and darkness exploded outwards, throwing Steelskin backwards into a tree. A broken fang from one of the zombies was driven into his back.

“Well done, little colt,” a voice said over him before something slammed into his head, bringing darkness.

---

#CC-02#
@Arrival + 5 Hours@

I found her in a cave, not too far in. She had made it almost into a proper house.

As I landed, I toughened my skin and put a few plates over my jaw. Trotting up to the rough cut planks that made a serviceable wall over the entrance, I knocked on what appeared to be the door.

A tiny hatch opened up and her eyes peeked out of it. “You think I’m gonna come back aft-”

I cut her off. “I’m not your Steelskin. I’ve been jumping through different realities.”

That brought her up short.

“Can I come in? You deserve better than this.” I motioned to the cave entrance. “Argentis?” It came out as a question as I tried to remember the name she used. “...Deserves better than this.”

The hatch closed and Scootaloo opened the door slowly. I walked in, noticing that she was staring at the ground and blinking back tears.

Inside, the place was done up beautifully and brightly lit, even having a sink and faucet. The walls had been shaped into flat surfaces and the floor had paneled wood covering it. Next to a crafting table was a small gated area with toys of all types. A silvery-grey pegasus filly was playing with a magical cube that seemed to vibrate and change color with the filly’s touch.

“So, what’s this about?” Scootaloo demanded, trying to fake anger to cover a deep sadness.

I thought for a long time, Scootaloo staring at me both patiently and confrontationally.

“I love my home reality’s Scootaloo too much to leave any of you out in the cold,” I said, trying to sound matter-of-fact about it.

“Ha,” Scootaloo scoffed. “My... friends made sure I have all the luxuries I need. This place stays nice and warm, and I even have a magical faucet that delivers hot and cold water directly to my sink.”

I noticed the slight twinge of guilt when she said ‘friends.’

“Friends?” I kept my voice inquisitive rather than judgemental.

A determination filled her eyes and she puffed out her chest in defiance. “Yes. My friends gave me these.”

She fanned out her wings to show off the rubies, knives extending from the wing joints.

“They help me fly and let me defend myself against po-” A shadow fell across her eyes. “...Creatures that would hurt me.”

“You killed them, didn’t you?” My heart went out to her.

Even with how evil her parents were and how badly they hurt her, I knew it would have been traumatic for her to carry it out.

Anger flared and she took a threatening stance even as her eyes filled with tears. “I did what I had to. They found out about what Miss Sweetheart did and were going to get me back. I’d do it again. I got my cutie mark, I got rid of two horrible excuses for ponies and got a...” For a second, it looked like she was going to break down in tears before she swallowed hard and looked back at me. “I got rid of two horrible excuses for ponies.”

As she continued, her voice became a snarl. “My only regret is that they died too quick. I got carried away and cut too deep.”

A quiet whine from Argentis pulled Scootaloo’s attention away from me. She quickly trotted over and picked up her daughter tenderly. She carried her over and settled back down near me, Argentis seeking out a teat and settling into her meal.

“She needs friends,” I stated quietly.

“Yeah, well, I’ve given them my loyalty and they abandoned me.” Scootaloo’s anger was tempered by her unwillingness to upset her daughter. “It’s not the best, but I’m taken care of better here than I ever was in Ponyville.”

---

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” an unnaturally cheery voice chimed.

Steelskin groggily opened his eyes and a splitting headache greeted him. He forced his eyes to stay open despite the pain.

“Now, before I get started, I do need to give you a little taste of what will happen if you try anything... well, it’s actually more of a want.”

The sickly sweet voice was followed by a painful electric shock. Steelskin would have screamed, but he was still too weak to do more than moan. He felt his body twitch even after the shock was over.

Keep calm. Examine your surroundings. Steelskin ran through his own adaptation of the varied emergency training mantras taught to him by Tallic, Matt, Alex, and Butterscotch. Subtly test your bonds. Take inventory of your assets.

“Now, we really should just kill you, but the most wonderful thing about chaos is that we have complete freedom. Discord knew the danger of playing around with the Elements of Harmony, but, as the avatar of chaos, he not only is unbound by good and evil, there is also no reason to worry about what ‘the smart thing to do’ is. The closest thing we have to a rule is ‘don’t do something stupid unless the fun will outweigh the risk’ and even that is wonderfully loose.”

Steelskin recovered enough to level an unamused glare at the speaker. He couldn’t be completely sure, but was confident that it was Spoiled Rich. He surreptitiously moved his legs, testing the ropes binding them. They were securely tied, but if he could gather enough magic, he’d be able to cut through them easily. Two more ponies stood off to one side. The room seemed to be a converted cave, but was made just as comfortable as the one the discorded Scootaloo had. The biggest liability was that electric shock, since it disrupted his dragon magic and destroyed his ability to concentrate for several seconds.

“You do know,” the cultist continued. “Everypony is scared of you. You’re much too violent to have a true place in pony society... oh well, I can see by your expression that you have too many of those pesky ‘morals’ to be willing to accept a place with us.”

A brief shock ran through Steelskin’s body. It was painful and draining, but not nearly as long as the first. He examined the feeling and movement of the magical lightning. This was going to be very difficult.

---

#CC-02#
@Arrival + 1 Week@

I smiled as I watched Argentis play with the Cake twins. Scootaloo was talking with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, but casting sidelong glances at me. She’d been making passes at me despite my explanation that I could jump at any time.

She’d even caught me alone near the Everfree and presented to me.

Argentis, Pumpkin, and Pound were taking turns chasing each other. My heart ached as I looked at Argentis’ silvery coat and pale blue eyes. Every fiber of my heart told me she could be my daughter if I only accepted Scootaloo’s affections.

Luckily for everypony involved, my waning willpower was made irrelevant as the familiar tug just above my navel presented itself.

“Daddy?”

Horseapples, what has she been telling her daughter? I thought to myself as I bolted.

I dug out the letter I’d written for Scootaloo and dropped it as I ran, pretty certain I’d be followed.

The horrible, burning white light filled my senses as I left that reality.

---

Steelskin smiled despite the pain as he reminded himself that this could easily have been Diamond. There was no way she’d have been able to deal with these monsters. He’d at least have a chance to escape and, failing that, should at the very least be able to survive until help found him.

Living in a town with the Elements of Harmony and the Paladins of Redemption meant that there’d be help arriving soon.

Dear Princess Luna Diarch of the Night,

It is in accordance with your wishes that I update you on any noteworthy events or changes in regards to Steelskin. I am happy to report that he is reaching out beyond his current circle of friends and with much more intentionality than in the past.

It has come to light that the recent star beast attack was orchestrated by a group of chaos cultists. This same group has enlisted the help of a brat of a filly filly that had been bullying Steelskin’s friends, most notably Scootaloo, Alex Robert's adopted daughter. There is an ongoing investigation on where the cultist got the eggs and why they gave it to a filly. She has been disowned by her parents and appears to be remorseful, especially as her one friend was injured in the attack.

The reason this pertains to Steelskin is that after her trial and sentencing, he has been taking an interest in befriending her, going so far as to help her in her community service, although he did work out a deal with the construction pony for the rebuilding of his house.* His methods seem to be working, as I have documented a 23.7% drop in antisocial behavior from her.

Steelskin, as well, has displayed a 48.0% increase in mood and energy during this time in addition to the 21.6% increase from the ‘Happy Dream Therapy’ with none of the melancholic traits from the HDT. This has given me some new insights into the power and nature of the magic of friendship and I will soon be sending Princess Celestia a report on it.

I expect you to have a special interest in this as it relates to your ‘Paladins of Redemption,’ especially as it will be a companion to my study of Alex Roberts. The tentative title is ‘On the Positive Influence of Undeserved Kindness.’

Your friend,

Twilight Sparkle

* The filly in question, Diamond Tiara, was sentenced to community service in helping in the rebuilding of the damaged houses. Alex Roberts, followed by Steelskin requested that the damage to their houses be removed from the list of those she has to rebuild. Steelskin has brokered a deal with the construction pony that took on responsibility for both the rebuilding and oversight of Tiara’s community service for a to be determined discount for the rebuilding of his house in exchange for his assistance in the rebuilding of all damaged structures. I believe that the exercise involved along with the sense of accomplishment he is gaining is contributing to his increased happiness.

Comments

[Fireeaters]

Steelskin has Dragon Slayer magic, right? Why didn't he just breathe shrapnel into that cultist's face?

[tosety]

6659180

That necro-mine sucked virtually all his magic out. That trap was sucking out his magic and life force to animate the zombies. He's got nothing left to attack with. In addition, the electrocution disrupted his nervous system.

[Fireeaters]

6659616 You know, I wonder what would happen if he turned part of his body into metal and then had the magic sucked out. Would it be like his limb is amputated and the metal part falls off the meat part? Would it turn back into flesh?

[tosety]

6659891

I would say that it would turn back into flesh if still attached to him, but would stay metal if separated.

[Fireeaters]

6659930 That works. I stopped at episode 133 in the anime. (I couldn't power through another boring arc.) I don't think that was ever covered.