Subject 27

by Phyrexian

Meet Subject 27

Chapter 39 - Meet Subject 27

I barely get to my hands and feet as I retake control over my body, my tail unwraps itself from around my neck and helps me to my feet. My vision is spinning and everything just blurs together. I feel woozy and all my stomach wants to do is purge everything in my system. I can hear S.K. yelling and arguing with Isaac, they both sound very far away.

“Why did you have to go and kill him?!” S.K.’s voice is ragged and horse, I can tell she’s near her limit.

“You knew what he did to me, to my family! Think with that bird brain that you have!” His voice is unsteady, I can tell that he’s been crying.

My tail wraps around my forehead, trying to make the spinning stop, I nearly fall over with the first step I take. My left arm lazily swings as I stumble; I’m going to regret doing this, but I have to re-set it. I grab my arm and take a deep breath before I force my ball and socket joint into its normal position. I quickly push upwards and inwards in one motion, a strange sucking noise followed by a loud pop is drowned out by my primal scream.

“Y-You’re still alive?! H-How’s that even possible?!” The pain causes my head to stop spinning and I can see how fatigued the kid is.

“You’re going to have to try a lot harder than that to kill me.” I stumble forward, S.K. rushes to my side and catches me before I fall flat onto my face.

My body heals itself before my scales retreat back underneath my skin, revealing the massive scarring on my torso. I lean against S.K. and stop walking all together until I get my bearings.

“You’ve killed my entire family, you took everything from me! EVERYTHING! And now I want your blood as payment!” He tries to charge up a spell, but it fizzles and causes the kid to flinch with pain.

“Isaac, I have no idea who you’re talking ab-.” The kid’s face fills with angry and he screams at me.

“SUBJECT 27! That’s your real name, ISN'T IT? You’ve killed my sister, Test Subject 00; you’ve killed her. She was in a room with runes and seals in it, she’d been possessed and consumed by a spirit.” The room with the demon foal comes flooding back to me, the room that awakened my powers.

“Subject 27 is the name I’ve been going with, and no, it’s not my real name. I don’t know anything about my past...”

“My father, who went by the name of The Master, you’ve killed him in cold blood. Y-You took everything from me, and I want to spill your blood for payment!” The kid charges at me, tail gently pushes S.K. to the side and I simply let the kid attack.

Tears run down his face as he repeatedly hits me with his hooves, I kneel down and he continues to strike me, his hooves now hitting against my chest. Isaac continues to cry as he desperately tries to kill me with his small body, I just kneeled there letting him hit me. S.K. tries to speak but my tail places its tip against her beak.

“W-W-Why d-did you have to k-kill them?!” He finally subcomes to his fatigued body and mind and falls to the ground, crying.

“I’m sorry, Isaac, I’m truly am. If I could bring them back, I would. But killing me won’t ease your pain at all, trust me.” I place my hand on the filly who is weeping in front of me.

“W-What would you know?! Y-You’re a demon! Y-You don’t know anything about sorrow or pain!” He swats away my hand with his hoof.

“I had a family once, a mother who loved me, an older sister and brother, my father was never there. Mom said he was Killed In Action, but I never believed her. I killed my mother and my sister with my own hands... My brother was the lucky one and ran before I could turn on him... Trust me Isaac, the pain you’re feeling right now will fade in time, but will never go away completely.” The kid looks up with blood-shot eyes, his muzzle stained with tears.

“Look, I understand you if you still want revenge. But not now, live your life before you ruin it with seeking revenge on me. You’ve obtained a hefty debt to pay now, but if you, Cunning and Pride can coexist without any problems, then one day, if you do still wish to get revenge on me, than so be it.” The kid’s eyes look like they finally ran out of tears, his exhausted body finally gets the best of him and he passes out.

“I-Is that true?” S.K. is hesitant at first, but finally asks.

“Yes, every word I just spoke is true...” I look up to see S.K. looking down at me.

“S-Subject 27... That’s what you’ve been going by, yes? What are you going to do now?”

“S.K. call me whatever you like, and as for what I’m going to do now is go back to Equestria and make good on the promise that I made. My business here in Unyasi is done, I know you’re wing has been fully healed for quite some time, it’s safe for you to leave if you wish.” S.K. puffs her chest up after my comment.

“I won’t leave My Little Horror behind! This is what we’re going to do, we’re going back to Caesar and tell him what we did and collect some kind of reward. We’re going back to Equestria together and you’re coming with me back to the Family! Now let’s go!” And of course, she walks in the wrong direction again with her head held high.

“S.K... It’s this way.” She comes to a dead stop and turns around and walks past me.

Tail picks Isaac and the book up; cradles him; lets him rest. I feel sorry for the kid, he’s now an orphan because of me. No one should go through life alone, there’s no worse punishment than that. Even if he still wishes to seek revenge on me for what I did to him, I wouldn’t blame him. He and I are a lot alike now, both orphans and both carrying a great burden on our shoulders. S.K. and I walked in silence for a few clicks. The sun hangs high in the air as it was close to lunch time, both S.K. and my stomach gurgles as they demanded to be filled.

“Would you settle for some fruit? It would be faster than catching, preparing and cooking some random animal.”

“I guess, I like eating your meat though.” My brain trips over itself and I nearly follow suit as she says this.

I snicker to myself and found a nearby fruit bearing tree, S.K. and I sit under the tree and ate some of the fruit while we took a small break.

“Okay S.K., I would like to get back to the palace before dark, so hop on and we’ll go for a ride.” I get onto all fours and S.K. hops onto me, giggling as she does.

I start off in a slow jog, slowly working my way into a full on sprint. I’m able to keep this speed up for quite some time, we’re making great progress as I ran through the jungle. The sun creeps across the sky and nears dinner time, my body pleased with me to stop but I just keep on going. My heart pounds furiously and my limbs felt as if they were on fire, Isaac is still out cold in the makeshift cradle that is my tail. S.K. has fallen asleep as well, the urges to mount her come boiling back to the surface; but my body is too tired and over taxed for me to even care.

The palace comes into sight and I pour on the heat, pushing my body far past its limit, the sun is now starting to dip down and head off to bed as the moon starts to wake up and rise. I burst through the main gates of the palace and into the hall where Caesar sat, the doors swing open as I slide to a screeching halt across the floor. I collapse on the ground and S.K. climbs off my back and my tail places the kid and the book on the ground next to me and slams down onto the floor.

“You’re back, Demon!” Nyuel comes running towards me, I lay there panting heavily.

“You even surprise me, Demon. I take it that the cult has been dealt with?” Caesar rises from his throne and approaches me.

“Y-Y-Yeah... The cult is no more... I-I’ve dealt with the leader and the demon behind it... S-So very tired.” My eyelids feel like they're made out of lead. I have to fight to stay conscious.

“I’m glad that the spirits watched over you, Demon. Now rest and I’ll take care of the book.” Nyuel reaches for the book, but tail slivers up to it and snatches it before she can grab it.

“C-Can’t let you do that Nyuel, this book is too powerful for anyone to have. I’ll see to it that I destroy it when I get b-back to Equestria...” The Sandman is impatient with me and forces me to sleep.

- - -

I don’t even bother to open my eyes, all I want to do is get some rest. Friend is still reliving that memory in the prison, and Fade is off somewhere in the Darkness doing whatever she does while I’m not there. I can feel the pieces of my soul slowly reconnecting themselves during Fade and I’s little ‘event’ on my last visit to the Darkness. I felt our souls slowly merging together, I don’t know what will happen if our souls completely merge together, but I made a promise to Fade that I’ll make sure she’s never alone again and come hell or high water, I’m making sure I keep it. I let my mind slip into a deeper sleep and let everything fall away from me.

- - -

I wake up to cold water being splashed on me, the shock causing me to jump to my feet. I see S.K. and Isaac both laughing hysterically as they rolled on the floor.

“Rise and Shine, Horror!” S.K. holds her sides as she cries out in laughter.

“Very funny guys.” I wipe off the excess water that’s on my chest, something is missing and this raises alarms in my head.

I look down to see my medallion is missing, I stormed out of the room and headed towards the hall. I walk through the doors and see Nyuel talking with Caesar and my medallion is resting on a small table next to them. I walked to them and Nyuel turns and greets me with a warm smile.

“Mind telling me why you took my medallion?” I storm up the steps and tower over Caesar and ignore Nyuel’s heartfelt greeting.

“Demon, Nyuel and I were discussing on how we could repay someone of your stature. We came to a conclusion that the best way we, the zebras of Unyasi, could repay you is giving you the ability to return back to your home among the stars.” Tail and I both tilt our heads to the side in confusion.

“What Caesar is saying, Demon. Is that we enchanted the medallion that Nightmare Moon gave you with the Feather Weight. You’ll be able to walk on the clouds and return to the stars above.” Tail and I tilt our heads even further, nearly snapping my neck in the process.

“T-Thank you, I guess?”

“You keep on surprising me, Demon. We could learn much from you if you let us.” Caesar and Nyuel both nod in unison.

“What I really want is to fulfill Nyuel’s wish, and that’s taking her to Equestria so she can learn more about the world. Would you grant us permission to leave Unyasi, Caesar?” He sits still and places his hoof on his chin, he ponders over my question in a deep train of thought.

“I’ll allow her to travel with you to Equestria,if and only if you vow to protect her from the unknown dangers that lie ahead.” Tail grabs my medallion and slips it over my head, the medallion feels lighter, as if I wasn’t wearing it at all.

“Thank you Caesar, I know that Demon will protect me as if I were one of his own.” I simply nod in agreement, my body starts to stiffen up after my workout earlier.

S.K. and Isaac come strolling into the hall, Isaac is reading the book as he walks alongside S.K. Nyuel greets them with a warm smile, she pokes me in the side with her hoof and I turned to see a pink vial in her mouth; I take the vial and look at it with a puzzled look.

“While you were out dealing with the cult, I gathered the ingredients needed for the cure to Poison Joke. Hopefully it’s not too late to reverse the effects of the Joke.” I take the top off of the vial and down the pink substance.

I ignore the flowery taste and let it take its course through my system, we sat there for roughly five minutes and nothing happened, I don’t feel any different.

“Looks like we were too late to reverse the effects. Oh well, I don’t mind having horns. Is there anything else we need to do before we head out to the port, Nyuel?” She’s already securing her saddlebags.

“There are a few things I need to gather from my village before we go, shouldn’t take too long. The port is about a half a day trot from here, if the feathered one takes me to my village and you and the little one can meet us at the port.”

“Yeah, I don’t mind taking Nyuel to her village, if I can support your weight for a few minutes than I can support anybody's weight. Let’s go Nyuel, daylight is burning!” S.K. flexes her wings before leaving the hall with Nyuel in tow.

“Thank you once again for your help, Demon. If the day comes that you might need the zebras of Unyasi help, don’t be afraid to ask. Just follow the path that leads to the ocean and you’ll find the port you seek.” I bow before Caesar and turn on my heel and see Isaac still deep in his book.

I force my body to move, it feels as if I was trying to swim through a pool of syrup. The kid doesn’t even bother to look up from his book but mutters something as I walk past him.

“Aren't you going to pick me up?” My tail forcibly picks him up, nearly causing him to drop the box from its levitation field.

“Wow! Gentle!” I’m too tired for his attitude, my tail gives him a shake as I walk out of the palace.

I only make a few hundred feet before I have to take a break, my body is refusing to even work.

“Giving up already?” The kid retorts.

“I’m just too tired to even walk, just give me a minute and I’ll be able to continue walking.” Isaac lets out a long sigh before finally looking up from his book.

“I know where this port is, I’ve been there a few times. Hold still.” The kid envelopes us in a dark red glow and the next thing I know is I’m standing in front of the ocean.

“Warn me the next time you’re going to do that!” My legs tremble, I’m not a fan being teleported, not after the last time.

I can feel the kid breathing heavily in my tail, looks like the kid hasn’t had time to fully recharge from his fight with Friend. I look up and down the beach and see the small port with a ship docked and ponies loading up crates. I drag my feet along the beach and one of the pegasi stops, I see him shouting at the other ponies a few start to approach me with weapons drawn.

I raise my hands into the air and tail hides the kid behind my back, they’re only a handful of them, three earth ponies and one pegasus.

“Who and what are you?!” One of the earth ponies yells out in a commanding tone.

“I’m a Lunar Knight, I work directly for Princess Luna.” I raise my medallion into the air, the pegasus flies a little closer to inspect it.

“That’s the Princess’s medallion alright! I’ve seen Princess Celestia’s marks, but never Luna’s before!.” The pegasus yells back to his group, they lowered their weapons and wave me on.

We walked back to the ship in silence, Isaac stayed silent and continued to read his book. One of the deck-hooves sees my tail and drops one of the crates, a few ponies stop working and now cast their gaze onto me.

“T-Tentacle monster!” He shrieks, a few of the guards come rushing to his aid with weapons drawn.

“Easy boys, it’s not a tentacle monster, it’s just Tail and Isaac, he’s with me.” My tail drops the kid to his hooves and waves hello at everyone.

“The princess said nothing about her knight having a tail... W-What exactly happened to you?!” One of the guards finally musters up the strength to step forward.

“An old problem from my past decided to make itself known and I died in the process, you know, just a normal day for me.” I shrug as if it was nothing, the guards just stand there speechless.

“R-Remind me to never mess with you... ever...” I let out a chuckle and the ponies shake their heads and continued on with their work.

“How long before we shove off to Equestria?”

“Roughly two hours, we still have some cargo to load up.”

“Okay, there’s a gryphon who goes by the name Sure Kill, and a zebra by the name of Nyuel who will be joining us shortly, they’re with me. I’m going to take a quick nap on the beach, have them wake me up when they get here.” He nods and I walk over to a shady spot on the beach and collapse, my eyes close before my body even hits the sand.

- - -

I see Fade meditating on something, I soak in the beautiful sight and just watch her. Her face goes from a peaceful one to more of a disturbed look. I kneel down and place my hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her on whatever she’s thinking about. Fade opens her eyes and looks up to me, a smile quickly replaces the frown and she embraces me in a hug.

“Everything okay, Fade? Looked like you were having a nightmare or something.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just going through some of your memories again, came across a slightly disturbing one, that’s all.” She pulls away from the hug and gives me another smile.

“Just be careful with those things, they’re quite powerful. I-”

“Horror, wake up!” S.K.’s voice penetrates into the Darkness.

“Go, 27. I’m fine.”

Credits

Editor

frieD195

Comments

[SgtCarrotop]

me gusta i love every thing about this fic.... except the family i dont like them. Issacs father was the master and he is part of the family so.... the family must have been running the laboratory and im not cool with any organisation that conducted such cruel experiments and i at least would expect 27 to feel the same but im not sure because he seems interested. mostly due to S.K. but....still they just scream bad news to me.

[Archmagejay]

847022
I second this opinion

[Quantum_Shift]

I wonder how 27 is going to react to finding out that Colt's having issues with Celestia... and what Luna's response is going to be.
sigh... I guess I'll just have to wait for more chapters of DWUA and this fic to show up...

[Dragaen]

845659 b/c where's the fun in that?