Subject 27

by Phyrexian

Knightmare Knight: my Final Shred of Humanity

Chapter 67 - Knightmare Knight: my Final Shred of Humanity

“Any last words?” The Don says, raising his wing high into the air, the sun’s light reflects off of it and right into my eyes.

“...” I kneel there in silence, a clip of Tail being severed is on an infinite loop pla in my head.

“You’re a pathetic excuse for a Lunar Knight, Subject 27!” Everything comes to a standstill as the Don swings his wing at my neck. My body won’t move, nor do I try to command it to.

“No...” I whisper before traveling to the Darkness.

---

“Give me everything.” Friend sits there in his throne with a grin. Fade on the other hand looks at me with concern.

“27... I know you’re a bit upset about Tail’s death... but y-.”

“I said... give me everything!”

“HA! That’s the spirit, Lad! If you’re going to get revenge, do it with overkill! HAHAHA!”

“You’re going to kill yourself if you d-.”

“Give. Me. Everything. Now!”

“Atta boy! But one tiny, little problem. At your current state of humanity you won’t last long, two minutes tops.”

“Don’t care.”

“That’s the spirit! But I’m compelled to warn you; after two minutes you’ll either kill yourself, loose yourself, or both!”

“I’m going to enjoy this.” I return with untold power in hand; ready to obliterate anything that comes into my path.

---

- - -

My frost-flames erupt from my scales, but this time they’re not their original dark-blue, instead they’re blacker than black. My veins never pulsed like this before, it’s chaotic, destructive, it feels like they’re about to rupture at any moment; and I relish in it. Friend’s power... is... incredible! I never knew this amount of power could feel... so... awesome!

“Too little, too late!” My vision is filtered through a blood-red lens of unbridled anger. All I can hear is Friend’s insane laughter thrumming in my head like a massive war drum. Time resumes its normal flow. His wing, already in mid swing, speeds up. Slowly I shift my gaze upwards at him; I can see the fear in his eyes, I can smell it oozing out of his pores. His wing slices into my neck, furthering the previous gash in it.

“The toll must be paid, mere coinage won’t suffice. A crime so grave can only be paid with blood!” The Don rears up, screaming in agony as my flames burn his wing; not a normal burn, but frostburn. “You... You do not deserve the mercy of the Abyss. You do not deserve the punishments that the Abyss will bestow upon thee. For I claim your soul for my own!” Picking up Tail, I lash out with the icy scythe that my dearly departed friend had created on himself. “I have something special in store for you!” One slash, two slash, three slashes! His flesh is weak, Tail’s scythe cuts through him like butter. “Oh you’re bleeding, severely! I don’t want you to bleed out before I’m done having my fun with you!” Blood freely flows from the lacerations on his chest, the Don staggers backwards as he tries to stop the bleeding. “My gift, is your curse!” Slicing the palm of my hand open with my dull claw, blood boils to the surface, seeping out between the scales of my hand. “Open wide!” In a blink of an eye, I jump in front of him, prying open his beak and forcing my weaponized blood down his throat. “My blood in its current state will do whatever as I command, and I order you to live!” He ends up writhing in pain, flailing about on the ground kicking and screaming. The blood pouring from his wounds crystallizes, the burnt feathers on his wing molt away as they’re replaced with long, black spikes.

“Why! Won’t! You! Die?!” He thrusts his talons into my chest, I feel PRHL shift his weight as his talons penetrate my armor and rip out two of my False Ribs on the left side. “Why won’t you bleed?!” I laugh the the gaping hole freezes over. “Just DIE!” The jagged spikes of his newly morphed wing rips into my side.

---

- - -

“Horror! End this, now! Your b-.”

“I said to only worry about yourself!” I growled.

“Horror...” The last attack cut pretty deep into me, I’m grateful that PRHL didn’t get hit.

---

- - -

“I’m a man possessed, literally!” I drive the scythe into the underside of his chest, right behind his ribcage. “Get over here!” With ease, I yank on the end of Tail with my one good arm and swing him over my shoulder, slamming him on his back. “Let’s see if my wish will come true, shall we?!” Stepping on his stomach, I give Tail one quick tug, causing his ribcage to split into two. “Dang it! I didn’t get the wishbone out!” The Don doesn't give up fighting, not yet. He sweeps at my feet, his spikes slits the back of my left knee, it buckles under my own weight but I quickly recover. “Who wants a drumstick? I do!” In one motion, I slice off both of his hind legs. He opens his beak to scream again and with another fluid motion I slice off his front legs as well. “You want this to all end, I can see it in your eyes! But I won’t allow it, not yet!” Turning around to bask in the morbid expression of the mob before me, the Don lashes out at me for the last time.

“Never turn your back on the enemy!” He says as his wing embeds itself into my back.

“I haven’t had hot wings in ages!” I cut off his last wing, leaving him a bloody mess of his former self. “Now its time for the main course!” I hook him in the back with the scythe, lifting him up so I can bite into his neck. Before I finish him off, I look over to Silver, she just stands there, eyes wide open and a daunting mask on her face. “L-Look away...” I muttered. “L-Look away!” Silver just stands there, her eyes fixated to me, I’ve never seen her so scared before. “I’m sorry you have to witness this.” I whisper before plunging my fangs into the Don’s neck; sucking out his soul. The warmth of his blood trickles down my chin and shortly after, my neck. The feeling of his life force as I steal it away is... magnificent! All that’s left is a husk of a gryphon, torn to shreds, limply hanging from my mouth. With one final jerk I toss him to the ground, rearing up my head I let out an ear piercing roar in triumph. “You will not know peace in the afterlife, I promise you th-.” Friend’s laughter comes to an abrupt halt, the only thing I hear is my heartbeat frantically racing; faster and faster it beats until I feel every power artery rupture in my body.

---

- - -

“I hate to say this, but I told you so!” I can feel PRHL scramble about inside me.

“L-Lighting... Listen to me very carefully...”

“Not now Horror! You’ve pushed yourself too far!”

“I-I’m b-bleeding out internally... D-Don’t worry about me... J--.”

“Shut up! I can save you!”

“M-Make sure that y-you’re alright, t-that’s an order.”

“You... bastard...”

---

- - -

Dropping to my knees, the robe of flames vanishes in a puff of smoke, along with my wings. The mob of gryphons and ponies stand there motionless, Silver frozen stiff with that same terrified look as before. Every fiber of my being screams in agony. My limbs feel heavy. Unable to move them, I slowly fall backwards. A sea of blue sky and silver clouds rushes past my eyes as I fall. Multiple things come to mind during this everlasting fall; one prominent thing being the promise I’ve made to Cloud to find her. I guess this is the only promise I won’t be able to keep. How badly I mistreated Fade, taking her power by force surely pissed her off. My best friend dying right before my eyes, how helpless I felt when I saw him laying on the ground; may you rest in peace, Tail. And Silver, the most aggravating, frustrating, hot-headed girl I’ve ever ran into...But that’s what I love about her. But one thing takes precedence over all of those and that’s how badly I fucked up. I could’ve, should've walked away from all of this senseless fighting. I should’ve gone and lived a life with this random assortment of friends I’ve made on this strange planet that I now call home. The fall finally comes to an end, blood leaking out from between my scales and pooling around me as I watched the clouds lazily float on by.

Fade appears right next to me, she looks down at me with a betrayed look. “Stupid... stupid man...” A tear runs down her cheek before she turns and walks away. My heart feels like its been ripped asunder as I watch her go. I try to get up, I try to scream, to tell her to come back but I can’t, my body won’t move. My heart breaking is the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. Like someone literally ripped it out of my chest and tore it in half. Fade disappears into the mob of people just standing there, I can’t breathe, I can’t think, I... I... I don’t want to lose her... Please! Come back Fade! Oh God, why?! I’m sorry! I’ll do anything Fade! P-Please! Just come back...

“27!” T-That voice? I haven’t heard the voice in ages... Can it be? It can’t be... “27!” It has to be, there’s no mistake about it, it’s Cloud! “You stupid idiot!” The next thing I see is a white blur tackle me, I would cringe in pain if I could. “Why?! Why did you have to go this far?!” There she is, the one person I went through hell to find, standing on top of me with tear-filled eyes. “Somepony get a doctor!” She screams, her voice unsteady, she’s near the edge of breaking down.

“H-Hey you...” I whisper, my words barely audible.

“Don’t talk 27! S-Save your strength!”

“I-I t-told you I w-would find y-you.” Cloud shakes her head, a few of her tears drop onto my cheek before running down.

“You idiot...” My right arm feels like its made of lead, I struggle to raise it but eventually I do, placing it on Cloud’s muzzle who’s taken by surprised by the sudden contact of my hand.

“I... always... keep... my... p-r-o-m-i-s-e-s.” The world around me - the vast ocean of sky, the silver clouds floating on by, the sound of Cloud’s screams - all of these fade to black.

“27!!”

---

- - -

“You can put me down, Tiny...” I come to with me draped over Tiny’s shoulder like a goddamn towel. “Tiny? Tiny!”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Without thinking he drops me and I fall flat on my ass. “Sorry.” You clumsy oaf!

“H-Help me up. Gently!” I grab his giant hand, he lifts me back up to my feet and I dust myself off. “How long was I out?”

“Ahh... while I think.” Great... I don’t know how much time I have to think when Alex’s life is on the line.

“We better get a move on it, Tiny.” The horror’s toxin still runs through my system; my left leg is numb, my right arm is too, it hurts to breath, and my insides feel like they’re on fire. “Tiny, mind giving me back my blades?” He hands me them to my right arm, I try to move it but it limpy hangs there. “Thanks...” I say before grabbing both of them with my only functioning arm. “Tiny, mind telling me why you’re all the way over here in China?”

“I don’t know.”

“How don’t you know?” I asked in frustration as I limp down this hallway.

“I don’t know, one moment I was at home petting my kitten, Mittens, and the next I wake up here. I hope he’s okay.” He’s worried about his cat... This behemoth has a cat and he’s worried about it? To each his own I guess.

“I hate China...” I say as an automated patrol robot walks down the hallway at us.

“Please verify your ID.” It says with a robotic voice.

“Hmmm, what are we gonna do?” The robot isn’t a threat, 5, maybe 8 tops, a stick honestly. A human of its size would weigh maybe one-fifty; give or take a few pounds of course.

“Please verify your ID.” It asks again, sticking out its twig like robotic arm. “Security will be called if ID isn’t verified.”

“This is why I don’t like China... Their fetish with robots is really annoying.”

“Security will be mobilized if proper ID isn’t verified in five seconds. Five, four, thre-.”

“I’m tired of this little metal man!” Tiny bashes in the robot’s head in, another powerful punch follows into the robot’s destroyed head, sending it crashing into the wall. “Job’s done.” I’m impressed.

“Nicely done, Tiny.”

“Huh, thanks.”

“You deal with the robots and I got the security doors.”

“Okay.” Another security door falls to my swift hands. “Woow! I got’cha buddy!” Tiny catches me before I hit the floor. I fight to stay conscious but my body is still fighting off the toxin. “Ahh, you don’t look so good Arkis.”

“I-It feels... like...” I close my eyes, but only for a second. “I lost... a lot... blood.” The toxin must be affecting my brain because I hear a gurney being rolled down the hallway. “D-Do you... hear that?”

“Hear what?” I struggle to get to my feet, pushing off of Tiny I manage to prop myself up against the wall. “You sure you okay?”

“I-I’m fine!” I can’t stop, not now.

“Get him to the ER, now!” A male’s voice appears right next to me, I jerk my head to only see the door.

“Doctor, he’s lost too much blood, we need a donor or we’re going to lose him!” Another voice manifests on my other side, this one female.

“Arkis?” My hand slips and I tumble to the ground. I land face first, the blow to my head sends it spinning. “Nononono! Stay awake Arkis!” I stave it off as long as I can, but in the end, I fall into unconsciousness.

---

- - -

When I come to, I feel oddly cold, light headed, heart beating a mile a second, and extremely feeble. “Does anypony know his blood type?” Doctor Helping Hoof asks. I tell my body to move, but it doesn’t respond. All I can do is open my eyes; barely enough for me to see everything in grey.

“It doesn’t matter, any blood will do.” That voice... It sounds so very far away, I can’t make out who it is.

“Are you sure?”

“Certainly. Give him blood and the virus will do the rest.”

“Virus?!” The medical staff in the room quickly backpedal away from operating table that I lay on. “Nurse! Set up a quarantine spell, now!” The good Doctor orders. “You there! How does this virus spread?”

“Any bodily fluid will carry minute concentrations of the virus, but blood will house much more.”

“Everypony! Use extreme caution! That means a constant sterilization field at all times! Nurse Aide, Nurse Suel, you two are on sterilization duty! Nurse Red Cross, get me at least eight quarts of blood.”

“D-Doctor, we don’t h-.”

“Nurse, now!” I’m so tired, so very tired; all I want to do is sleep, sleep for a long time. “Nyuel, whip me up the strongest healing remedy you can!”

My heart is beating abnormally fast; so fast it sounds like one continuous sound. “Of course.” The grey is washed out by a white light, not a blinding light but more a soft, beckoning light.

“Doctor! We’re losing him!” The Cardiac monitoring alarms blare up, drowning out the commotion of the operating room. Slowly I slip away, into the gentle white light; the only thing I can think about is how nice a good long sleep would be.

---

- - -

Well, this... is different. Friend has really outdone himself, or under-done himself with this one; It’s either hit or miss with him when it comes to decorating. The homey vibe that Fade created in the Darkness is null and void, now here stands a large, old gothic style church; with gargoyles. Not your normal ‘stone’ gargoyles of course. No, that would be too simple-minded for Friend; these are made from souls; a transparent blue with small chunks of obsidian floating on them; giving them a corporeal look.

“No no no! The bell tower goes over there!” Friend orders the gargoyles, who then just grunt and moan before demolishing the current bell tower and begin reconstructing it. “One can’t buy good slaves anywh-.” As I approach Friend, he lifts his cane in the air with such speed that I don’t have time to react; he nearly pokes me in the eye with it. “You done goofed, Lad.” He says before jabbing me in the forehead with the tip of his cane. “But boy, you do know how to put on one hell of a show!”

“What are you doing?” I asked, the expression on Friend’s face is a mixture of amusement and surprise.

“What aren’t I doing? I tell you what! A succubus, that’s what!”

“I meant right here...” I say flatly.

“Exactly!” I just stand there in silence with an unamused look. “You used to be so interesting and fun! A sense of humor, Lad, where hast thou hid it? But ever since that frozen banche-.”

“Please... don’t talk about Fade.”

“What’s wrong Lad? Wound too fresh? Too much salt? Not enough salt? One can never have enough salt in a fresh wound!”

“J-Just don’t.”

“You know what you do when life gives you lemons? Don’t give them back! Squeeze them into your fresh wounds! Pain is good! Pain is very good!” I knew Friend was a masochist, but he’s now showing his true colors.

“I’m done.” I shrug, my words steal away Friend’s smile. “I’m done with all of this, done with fighting, trying to protect everyone... I’m... I’m just done.” Everything comes to a screeching halt, productions, Friend’s mad rant, everything. “Where’s the door?” One of the gargoyles points to the church.

“You can’t up and quit on us, Lad.”

“Watch me.” Friend tries to block my path, but I easily bypass him.

“You just lost your drive, Lad! You’ll find another soon!”

“And there’s only one way to get that back... Sacrifice everything.”

“You can’t do that!” I ignore him as I push the heavy wooden doors open. “Don’t throw everything away over losing some stupid girl!” His comment stops me just as I was about to step over into the Abyss. “She’s-.”

“Another ill word of Fade and I will devour you!” The sound of his cane dropping to floor echos into the Darkness. “That’s what I thought.” Leaving him behind I walk into the Abyss, the gargoyle closes the church’s door behind me.

---

- - -

“So, you finally did it, aye?” I find myself sitting on the shores of the Abyss with my legs dangling in the river of souls leading to the ominous glow in the distances.

“Do what?” I replied, still peering at my reflection in the river.

“Pushed yourself, beyond the breaking point and kept on pushing.” Arkis’ reflection joins mine, I don’t bother looking up at him.

“That fight... it went from bad to worse the moment Tail died...” I’m actually contemplating about jumping into the river, my best friend was murdered before my eyes and the love of my life left me; really doesn’t give a guy much incentive to go on.

“That fight should’ve only lasted three hits at the most.”

“I really don’t care.”

“This isn’t like you.”

“How so?”

“The old you would’ve picked yourself up, dusted yourself off and did something horrible.”

“People change.”

“No, no they don’t, they really don’t. You’d just haven’t remembered your former self; thankfully.”

“And what if I do remember? What then?”

“Then the plan would be all for not, years of work gone.”

“Arkis, who is Warwick Freeman? I’ve been getting bits and pieces of his memories through Fade; what importance does he have to us?”

“He’s a man that you’d never want to walk amongst us again.” I get the feeling that Arkis really doesn’t want to talk about this subject. “If you jump in, it won’t change anything; Friend or I can control your body long enough to finish the plan.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“People die, shit happens, get over it.” I know this. But it really hits home when your best friend who happens to literally be apart of you dies; leaves you feeling hollow inside. “Limbs regrow. Or did you forget this?” What?

“No they don’t. I’m not an iguana, I’m a Horror.”

“Yes they do, you have something not no one else does.”

“The ability to survive great falls? Or horns? Don’t tell me, I got this, a severed tail.”

“You have a Friend on your side.” He emphasized Friend.

“Not anymore because he’s dead! I... Oh.”

“That gets you there.” Friend, of course! How can I be so stupid to forget about him?

“I’m sorry, Arkis. I have this nagging feeling that I did something terrible to you, and whatever it was, I apologize deeply.”

“Looks like I stand corrected.” Arkis says with a smug tone. “You’d might want to see this.” He says, pulling me up and facing me to the silver screen of the outside world.

“It’s... Fade?” Who’s being escorted by three unicorns.

“Correct, but pay more attention to whose escorting her and tell me what you see.” They look like ordinary unicorns wearing armor? Armor with a sun on it... Why woul-.

“Secret Order of Sol.” The words seeping through my teeth as I grit them taste like poison. “Arkis... I need more power, just enough for three minutes worth.”

“You need to start using your own.”

“How? I can only use others-.”

“You’re more attuned to the Abyss than any other. Open the door, use your unbridled anger to hold it open.”

“There’s always consequences, what are they?”

“Abyss always requires payment, both body and soul will deteriorate the more you draw.”

“Double-edged sword? Is it instantaneous?”

“You’ll have to find out yourself, now go.” It’s only three of them, just a minute is all I need to murder these fools.

“Fine.” I storm out of the Abyss, rage in hand I prop the door open, ready to destroy.

---

- - -

The power of the Abyss feels oddly natural “Your guardian is no more, make it easier on everypony and come quietly, Shard of the Nightmare.” I wake up to thin white sheet laying over me. “The ponies of Celestia’s Equestria can sleep easy knowing that the last of Nightmare Moon’s monsters have been dealt with.” Everything is still grey, my body is stiff and cold, left arm misshapen and out of place; this is all fine by me, only need one arm to drive the rape train.

I push the sheet off of me and rise from the table. “Shame I couldn’t put it down, it’s horns would make a fine trophy.” One of the meatbags say, all of them with their backs to me. “Kind of disappointed honestly. Reports from Lone Wolf said this guy was one hell of a monster.” That pony is right, I am a monster, a monster who’s about to blow your damn mind wide open!

“Whoowhoo! All aboard the rape train! Next stop, YOU!” I yelled, aiming down range at these fleshy pincushions-to-be. “Pop goes the ‘you’!” Before they have the chance to turn around, I pump power into my pylons. My primary pylon emerges quickly before firing; it flies out of my wrist and impales one through the chest and pinning her to the wall like a poster. “Did I do that? Maybe... You gotta admit that was kinda cool. Let’s do it again!” Three shots remain, two targets left, and I’m one hell of a crack shot.

One of the S.O.S ponies reers in disgust at the horrifying sight of her fallen comrade pinned to the wall. The leader is already charging up a spell, but she’s too slow. I fire off another pylon at her, she narrowly dodges it and only grazes her side. Her spell goes off, creating six golden swords made of energy floating around her, each one flies at me, I take them head on; with the power of the Abyss at my fingertips I’m unstoppable.

“H-How can it be alive?! T-The doctor s-.” All six blades strike true, three in my chest, one in my left shoulder, another in my left leg and the last one driven itself into the base of my neck going at a downward angle.

“Get a hold of yourself, Steel Knight!” The leader says, his tone is calm and steady. “What do you expect from a Nightmare Knight?” Oh you got the ‘nightmare’ part right! Because I’m the got-damn boogeyman!

“Fade, move.” The Abyss’ power isn’t like Friend’s power at all, it’s serene, almost tranquil.

“27...” She says before stepping away from the ponies. “I-.”

“Don’t want to hear it.” My fiery black robe and wings manifest themselves. Steel Knight back-peddles at the sight of my wings flexing. “All we want is to live in peace! But you damn S.O.S. agents won't leave us alone!”

“As long as the Shard is alive, Equestria is in danger!” The leader announces, his horn charging up again; an even brighter shade of gold.

“Wrong! As long as I’M alive, Equestria is in danger!” His spell goes off, typical laser beam attack, it knocks my aim off and my next shot goes wild. It flies through the open door and through Cloud’s mane as she flutters in. “Cloud, move!” She freezes, on her face is plastered an expression of utter disbelief.

“27-?!” Fade grabs Cloud by the hoof and pulls her out of the way.

Steel Knight charges me head on, her horn glowing a faint yellow as she summons a phantom long sword. I fire my second-to-last shot off at her, she deflects it with the sword. I grab the primary spike from my left elbow and yank it out. This particular primary itself is roughly a foot long, about the same size of a short sword. Steel swings her long sword at me, I go to parry it but the attack was false and she runs me through. Steel Knight twists her sword, slices upwards. “No mercy!” Steel says with overzealous triumph.

“You think the battle is over? You think you’ve won? Nay, nay, a thousand times nay! You will never know victory as long as I’m your opponent!” The captain hammers the sword in my neck with a mace. I backhand Steel Knight; stunning her long enough for the phantom longsword to dissolve. I look up long enough to see to see a mace barreling toward my face.

The relentless face-bashing-by-mace makes my last pylon go wild. My luck finally seems to be turning around for me as my pylon pierces through Steel’s armor and protrudes through her chest. “Where’s a dispenser when a gal needs one?” Captain bashes in my left knee, bending it in ways that was never meant to be bent. “You bore me!” Gripping my short sword-like pylon, I smack the captain with the side of it, hard, sending him flying into a nearby wall with a meaty thud. “Such weak creatures, the lot of yah!” I overload the collapsed power artery in my left arm, forcing it to work well enough for me to load another of my primary pylons into one of the launchers. “Dangerous? Oh very much so. You know, there was this time when I was fiddling around with this thing... When was it? It’s on the tip of my tongue; God this is going to kill me! Regardless, my peers said not to because it was dangerous. But it’s only fun when it’s dangerous! Now I’m just babbling. So, to make this interesting, but long, story short, it ended up blowing up in my face, literally! It even singed off my eyebrows!” Channeling the Abyss’ power into the collapsed artery in my right arm, my arm begins to shake violently; making it difficult to aim properly. “Oh! I remember now! It was a experimental plasma weapon!” Any more power and my arm might explode, excellent! “Pray to whatever God you worship, your time is nigh!” I grab hold of my trembling right arm, trying to steady it as I aim down at the injured captain who just lays there on the ground, barely breathing.

---

- - -

“Yes! Yes! Do it Lad! DO IT!” Friend screams, his chaotic laughter filling my head. “Kill him! Kill him and finally cross over! Become even more powerful!” Yes, power is everything! With it I can... “What are you waiting for?! Murder this fool in the dirt already!” I look behind me too see Fade and Cloud holding each other, they have that same fearful look in their eyes Silver did. “DO IT!” They’re not scared of the S.O.S, they’re scared of me... It was me who pushed Fade away, and for what? Power? “I SAID DO IT!”

---

- - -

“I--. I’m sorry.” I whispered. The shot goes off, my arm is dislocated from the recoil and slings backwards. The wall behind the captain explodes as my pylon rockets through it, as do several others walls, clearing a path to the training grounds outside. “N-No more...” I whisper again. “I was the one who pushed you away, Fade...” My head hangs low and I finally see the attempt of surgery the good Doctor tried to do, but stopped midway; leaving a large incision in my chest.

“H-Help me...” The pinned pony on the wall wheezes, I’m taken by surprise to see she’s still alive. “F-Frash... I-I’m cold...”

“I hate doing this.” I thought to myself as I placed my right hand in between my knees and push up and inwards with my bum left arm. My right arm goes back into its socket with a loud sucking noise; needless to say it hurt like hell.

“F-Frash... I...” She doesn’t have much time left, her life is fading fast. “S--. Cold...” Dragging my left leg behind me, I slowly limped over to the fading pony. The faint life that’s left in her eyes fixate on me, pleading for help. “I--. Wi--.”

“You’re dying.” She cringes.

“D-Did yo--. come to g-gloat?” She doesn’t deserve this fate, nobody does.

“No.” If the pylon is removed, she’ll bleed out. My knowledge on pony anatomy is lacking at best, by how badly she’s wheezing between each breath and where the pylon is sticking out of her chest; she must have a collapsed lung, internal hemorrhaging and a handful of other various things.

“W-What t-then..?” Her head dips, death is at her door and she’s fighting to stay with us.

I feel remorseful, I attacked somebody out of pure hatred, somebody who didn’t attack me. “I’m going to give you a choice, one that was forced upon myself. I can ease your pain, making your brief moments left peaceful. Or...” I pause, taking in a deep breath before continuing. “Or I can save you.” I say grimly. “But at a grave cost; you will never be the same.”

“S-Save... Me.” I cut my palm open, unfortunately, what little blood I have pools to the surface; barely the size of a penny. I lower my hand in front of her muzzle, she tries to drink from my palm but fails.

“Don’t be afraid.” I say as gently and comforting as I can. “Here.” I kneeled down, grunting in pain; my left knee giving off an unnatural crunching sound. I take my palm and drink my blood, using my saliva to give my blood more volume. My wings wrap around her, engulfing her in my flames. She doesn’t wither in pain, nor does she panic. “This might hurt.” My flames lick at her body, cauterizing her wounds as I dislodge her from the wall and pull out the pylon. “Whoa, I got’cha.” She slumps down into my arms, and to my surprise not shying away from the flames but more seeking shelter in them. I place my claw under her chin, lifting her head up and kiss her. My tongue pushes the mixture of blood and saliva into her mouth. She involuntary swallows as my tongue reaches the back of her mouth, I pull away with a strand of saliva bridging across our mouths. “I order you to live.”

“T--Thank... Y--.” She passes out before finishing her sentence.

“Step away from her!” I look up to see the captain lunging at me, his mace already mid swing. My wing swings at him, passing clean through. He drops to the ground with the ‘What the hell just happened?’ expression on his face.

“If I wanted you dead, you would be. Now drop your weapon.” He does a double check on himself, seeing no flames on him before unsummoning his gold mace. “Now, let’s sit down and talk this out, there’s no need for anymore bloodshed.”

“You? You want to be civil? After you attacked us? Why should I trust you? You’re the Nightmare Knight!”

“I acted rashly, I apologize for everything I did to you and your group; I was just protecting Fade.”

“I didn’t think you were capable of...”

“Of apologizing?”

“No. Capable of remorse. Fine, I’ll listen to what you have to say.”

“Thank you. We’re on the same side.” I reach for my chest, but I realise that I don’t have anything foreign inside me. “I’m a Lunar Knight... I would show you my medallion as proof but it seems I’ve misplaced it.” Fade timidly tugs my arm, I turn to see her holding out my medallion. “Oh, thank you, Fade.” She silently nods before returning to her corner with Cloud and now Silver and everyone else. “Princess Luna knows of Fades existence and she knows that she’s with me. Nothing happened when those two spoke. No Nightmare Moon, nothing.”

“We saw the fight between you and the Don. The Doctor declared you dead, that’s when we acted.“ He pauses for a moment, studying the medallion before continuing. “The Secret Order of Sol did not know of this. I’ll make sure that they do when I report.”

“Doctor Helping Hoof? Is this true?” The good Doctor steps forward from the crowd of onlookers.

“Y-Yes! It’s amazing, no, a miracle that you’re alive! Massive hemorrhaging, damage to your lunges, heart, take your pick. Broken bones in your leg, arm, missing ribs and tail. Ruptured arteries, and after those several blows to your head, a severe concussion. You died on the operating table two minutes ago... H-How are you alive?”

“It’s a very long story, one that I don’t have the luxury of time to tell.” The girls stand there in shock, not saying a word amongst themselves. “Captain, in your report, mention that I died in battle.”

“Why?”

“Because, this is where my story ends. Subject 27 died today and I plan on keeping it that way.”

Credits

Editors

frieD195 - Tsujin Rilauco

Comments

[Archmagejay]

I'm still confused as mortally possible...

[Phyrexian]

2034856 Ah, yes, I was vague on this; at best. 27 is very much alive, but gravely injured from both battles. He is running on pure power from the Abyss (which greatly dwarfs Friend's power), The good Doctor made a rash call on 27's mortality, but 27 is going to seize this opportunity and stay 'dead', the ultimate cover for him to disappear.

[Willis]

Did it end!? Because I don't want this to end! This chapter would make a great ending for a cliff hanger but... Subject 27 is just too amazing to end now. If you are going to make more chapters, then I can't wait to find out what happens next!

[Dragaen]

wow... just wow... did he Pull a Doctor Who death on them?