Chapter 8
My head is throbbing. My body feels weak. But I’m awake. I sit up and realize I’m in some sort of infirmary. There’s no needles or anything stuck in me. Good. I hate needles.
My head is still pounding when I hear someone walk in. It’s Twilight.
“So... how’d you like the show?” I ask weakly.
“I’m not sure if you’re amazing, or the most recklessly irresponsible person in history.”
I chuckle and attempt a smile. It hurts. “Why not be both?”
She sighs. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Awwww...” I give her a hug which she returns. Is this the strangest ‘friendship’ ever or what?
After the hug ends, she pulls a book out of her saddlebags. “I brought you something to read.”
I groan, remembering Rainbow Dash’s hospitalization story. “Not Daring Do, please?”
“Don’t worry, it’s a book on magic. You seemed interested, so I figured I’d get you something a bit more in-depth.”
“Actually Twilight.” Luna walks in with the diamond moon I made, wearing it like a pendant. Awww, she cares. “I think he should get some rest. All that energy usage was very draining for him.”
I actually think about that. “Hey Twilight, do you have a blank book, like a journal?”
“Not with me, but I could bring you one.” she says, smiling.
“Do that. I’ll get some rest. Just leave the book here if I’m still asleep.”
“Okay.” Both her and Luna leave me to my thoughts. I want the journal to write down the interesting things I know, want to know, and theories I have about my powers. For example, I’ve seen unicorns use spells and get tired. That’s normal, but using spells steadily drains them and eventually they get too weak to do anything. On the other hand, my powers take energy from me as well, but instead of steadily getting weaker, I can use my powers continually at full power, but once I stop, the fatigue hits me all at once.
Going into my Spark form alone doesn’t cost me anything, but using related abilities like speed and intangibility do have an effect, once I return to normal, I do notice being a bit tired. I’m tired now... Luna’s right, I should sleep...
I wake up and I look to the left. There’s a red book with a clasp on it. Must be the journal Twilight brought me. I reach for it, but I feel some resistance from my right arm. I look to the right and I see an IV stand. Oh no... I look down at my arm. Needle!
I scream, ripping the needle from my arm. I knock the IV stand as far away from me as possible. The scream has made a pony come into the room. I’m freaking out too much to notice what it looks like. My breathing is ragged as all I can do mutter is a mantra of fear.
“I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles.”
I look at the pony. “No more needles. N-no more needles...” The pony nods and backs away slowly, exiting the room once more.
It takes a while, but eventually I calm down. I then realize I had been holding my arms across my chest and shivering the entire time. I hate needles.
Exhausted, I pass out once more.
When I wake up, I snap my head side to side. No IV, no needle. I relax with a heavy sigh. I reach for the journal. There’s a small bag of coal next to it, a note on it saying
“Try this before you use a quill. Let me know how it goes. Twilight Sparkle.”
Heh, this could be interesting.
I pull some coal dust up and form them into letters, pressing them against the first page of the journal. They stick. I can even write with coal. I pull letters and punctuation marks back off. I even have a backspace button. Awesome. I can even make it fancy-looking! I can use coal instead of ink and it even looks better than my own handwriting, yay, I’m not hampered by my apraxia!
I ‘write’ down all I’ve learned about my powers, what I want to learn, and multiple theories. Wait. I can solve one right now.
I Spark up, and try to lift some coal into the air. It works, but it also forces me to power down. I try again, this time not lifting the coal, but setting it on fire. I Spark up and focus on the result. Fire. Heat. Burning. I see the glow around my arm pulse. Once, twice. I put more effort into it. I stop thinking about the coal and just what I want to happen. I want to see fire.
Suddenly, my arms lights up in a bright flash. When it subsides, I see that the glow has changed to a bright orange, my actual arm is a strong shade of vermillion. I then notice that the bed sheets have caught fire!
The coal didn’t heat up, I did! I realize that the flames of the blankets don’t hurt at all. I get up out of the bed. How far can I take this?
I focus on getting hotter. To burst into flames. And I do. My body is a blazing inferno, flames leaping from me. I look in a mirror. My features are obscured by the blazing, crackling fire. But my eyes are still visible as bright lights, shining brighter than the flames. Then I hear a loud, piercing, shrill noise. Then I’m wet. My fire is put out and so is the bed. It takes a few moments to realize I set off a fire alarm. Right after I finish that thought, a few ponies rush into the room. I’m standing there, shocked and wet. They stare at me. They probably weren’t entirely aware of exactly what was in this room. I grab the journal and the sack of coal, leaping out a nearby window. I then realize I was on the third or fourth floor. Crap.
Luckily, my neck breaks my fall. And by luckily, I mean. “Ohhhhhh holy mother of god that hurts...”
I look up and realize I’m in Canterlot. Massaging my neck, I decide to pay the princesses another visit. I approach the gates and there are more guards. I’m too tired to try anything. “I’m not feeling up to kicking your butts, so can you just get Princess Celestia for me? Thanks.”
They stare at me dumbfounded. After a minute, one of the guards flaps his wings, rising into the air and flying towards the castle.
I sit down cross-legged on the ground. I don’t feel like standing. After a few moments, the familiar flash of light appears in front of the guards. At Celestia’s presence, they immediately fall to their knees, bowing in respect. Pussies.
Celestia takes one look at me and sighs, rolling her eyes. One flash later and I’m inside the castle once more. “Anthony, if your current health condition wasn’t in question, I would hit you for your stupidity.”
“Wouldn’t be the worst I’ve gotten.” I smirk.
She rolls her eyes again. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Feed me?” I suggest.
The princess places her hoof to her forehead, sighing again. “Fine, if you’re hungry, I suppose I should oblige.”
“Got any chicken?”
She looks at me. “What?”
“Fried chicken. Or steak. I’m not picky.”
“You... eat meat?” I open my mouth wide, pointing to my cuspids, designed specifically for the tearing of meat. It takes a moment for Celestia to respond. “...I see. But you also seem to have teeth for grinding vegetables.”
“Fruit is fine too, but I personally prefer a protein-centered diet.”
“How many ponies know of this... preferred diet?”
“A vast majority seems to think I might eat them, but I won’t eat anything sentient. Especially not raw. Your subjects are perfectly safe, no matter how hungry I get. But there’s no guarantees if they piss me off.“
“I’m aware of what you did with my guards the other day.”
“Unless you consider a possibly bruised chest an injury, I didn’t cause them any harm.”
“What I heard was... different.”
“A panicked mind tends to exaggerate, I’m sure you know that.”
“I do. So, what do you want, aside from food? Oh, the kitchen is this way.” She leads me through the castle as we continue our conversation.
“Well, I have developed a new skill while I was in hospital.”
“You did? Interesting.” She quirks an eyebrow, and her tone is interested.
“Yeah. Also, speaking of hospitals, I’d prefer if you make some sort of clause for me where I am exempt from needles of any form.”
“But we may not be able to test your vitals or blood if I do.” She warns me.
“I’d rather take that risk, thank you.” I reply, dead serious.
“I suppose I could do something about that. As long as you understand the problems that might arise from this.”
“I am. I just hate needles a lot. So, when do we eat?”
“Well, I’m not sure what has been prepared, if anything, but the kitchen is right here.”
“Perfect. I’m starving.”
We walk into the kitchen, and I see a bowl of prepared cookie dough. Sweet! “Oooh, cookie dough.” I reach for a handful, but a hoof slaps my hand away.
“Animal!” the voice not nearly as cultured as is common with Canterlot. “You have not even washed your hooves! Do not touch my batter!”
“Yeah, whatever.” I grab the bowl and reach in, pulling out a chunk, the chef pony looks disgusted and stomps off. Don’t care, I have cookie dough.
Celestia looks a bit angry. I take another chunk of dough and hand it to her. “Oh, I’m sorry, did you want some?”
Celestia blinks. “No matter how much time I spend with you, I don’t know what to think of you. You request special privileges of a selfish nature, but then you freely offer what little you have. You terrorize my ponies for no apparent reason, but offer friendship and compassion at a moment’s notice. You insult others without much provocation, and yet value friends like priceless treasures.” she shakes her head. “I wonder if you are even sane, sometimes.”
“I’m probably not. Sanity is overrated.” I take another bite of the dough.
“You know raw eggs are not good for you. You could get sick. I insist you at least let us bake that first.”
“Nah, I’ll do it myself.” I Spark up and concentrate on what I did earlier. This time focusing the fire on just my hand rather than my entire body. My body glows reddish like before and flames engulf my hand and the ball of dough.
Celestia backs up in shock. I then stop the burning. I realize I’ve made an actual cookie, but burned it. “Huh, guess I need a bit more practice. Oh well.” I eat the burnt cookie anyway and power down. Celestia stammers. “H- how... is this the new power you mentioned developing?”
“Yep. It seems to be a separate skill from my coal manipulation, as it’s linked to my Spark form, but I can’t manipulate coal in my Spark form.”
“Amazing...” she looks contemplative, bringing another, baked, cookie up, this one for her. “How many powers do you think you have?”
“No idea, but this is so cool.” I grin and cook another piece of dough. “Relatively speaking, that is.”
This time, I stop the blaze sooner and I managed to bake the cookie properly. I hand it to Celestia. As soon as her hoof touches it, she pulls i away. “That’s hot!”
I take a bite of it. “Not really.” Still chewing, I power down again. Suddenly it feels like I just drank lava. I spit out the cookie. “Hot hot hot hot hot hot!” I rush to the sink and turn it on, gulping down water by the mouthful. My mouth has cooled down, but my tongue still feels scalded.
“It seems that you are immune to heat while in your fire form.” Celestia mused.
“Did you think of that yourself?” I ask sarcastically.
“I had a physical demonstration as a visual aid, but yes.” Comes the rather playful response. She’s definitely smiling impishly.
“Did I mention how human you are?” This only draws a chuckle.
I don’t realize what time it is until Celestia excuses herself to lower the sun. I don’t really understand it, but I guess in magic ponyland, all kinds of science stops working. Won’t stop me from applying it though. After all, it’s official that my powers aren’t based on magic.
I decide to give myself a tour of the castle. It’s not long before I get lost. This place is huge. Then I see a pony guard. I figure I can ask for direc- That’s not a pony!
It’s pony shaped, but the eyes are reptilian, noticeable fangs, and it’s wings aren’t feathered, they have a visible membrane like a bat. That is awesome!
I’m approached by the unusual ungulate, and so I address him. “Hiya, what’s up?”
He studies me for a moment before speaking. “I assume you are Anthony?”
It seems I’m famous. As I should be by now. “You would be correct.” I say, glad he knows me.
“I have been ordered to take you to the Princess of the Night, she wishes an audience with you.”
As girly as a princess position is, Luna has got to have the coolest title I have ever heard. “Alright.”
I follow him through the hallways. “So... what does Luna want with me?”
“She did not relay that information to me.” he says, face stony as a block of obsidian. “I was only instructed to retrieve you.”
I nod. “Ah.”
We walk in silence until we come to an ornate door, stylized with blacks and dark shades of blue, highlighted by specks of white or silver for stars. The doorknob is a waning (or is it waxing?) moon. Fancy.
The guard opens the door and ushers me inside, closing the door behind me. Luna is standing in the middle of the room. “Just the person I wanted to see.”
“I’m the only person to see, the rest of y’all are horses of some kind.”
“Yes...” she says, pausing for a moment. “Quite.”
I notice she’s still wearing the diamond moon I made. “Heh, liking my little creation, are we?”
“Yes. It is very beautiful.” she chuckles, smiling. “That makes it a very interesting product when one considers the source...”
“So did you bring me here just to throw me a few backhanded compliments, or did you just miss the wonderful sound of my voice?”
“Neither. I want to talk with you.” She settles onto a large beanbag chair for comfort.
“About what?”
“You.” I give a cocky smirk. “And your potential to be a dangerous threat that should be stopped.” Smirk is gone, serious business now.
“What.” I don’t like where this is going.
“Celestia shared the results of your... performance exam.” Lots of red flags going up.
“The one the guards take?”
“Exactly. With even your basic abilities, you are capable of causing a bit of trouble, but with your powers, and the ability to defuse magic at times...” She trails off, and I don’t like her tone.
“I’m pretty much the toughest guy in town.” I lightly pound my chest in a show of toughness.
“And possibly Equestria. With each new ability you develop, the more of a potential threat you become. If you chose to rampage, I’m not sure how much damage you could cause before you were finally stopped.”
“Probably a good portion of Equestria.” I say, shrugging. If this is just a threat assessment thingy, I’m sure I’m fine. I’m no godzilla, after all.
“Exactly my point. My sister may disagree, but I believe that with just how powerful you are, you could become a serious problem for the populace. Without a leash, that is.”
That pushes a serious metaphorical button. I can feel my heart rate slow, like there’s ice water in my veins. “Leash? Leash!? You want to tie me down? Lock me up like a beast!?”
“Well I-”
The ice water boils over. “Like a common animal? I don’t think so. I don’t care how you insult me or hurt me, because you’re a princess, I should respect you. But anyone and I mean anyone who tries to lock me up? They will not be spared.”
“Are you saying you are superior to me, mortal?” she says, standing once more.
I stick a finger in her direction, “I’m saying you should watch what you threaten me with.”
“If you oppose me, I will make sure you rot in a dungeon!” She tries to push me to my knees with her magic. I fight back, but with words.
“I know why you really did it.” My voice is as calm as I can manage.
Her eyes narrow. “Did what?”
“I know why you locked up Discord. The real reason.”
Her eyes go wide. “What? You may have heard our stories, but you know nothing of Discord!”
“Do I? You made him sound rather powerful. Dangerously powerful. So you imprisoned him in stone. You didn’t do it because he was evil, you did it because he opposed your positions as rulers, because he could potentially beat you.”
“You dare imply-”
“You don’t care about your subjects, you just want anyone stronger than you out of your way. You’re tyrants!”
“We are not!” she says, voice loud enough to blow my clothes back dramatically. “That is not why we imprisoned Discord!”
“But it’s why you want to imprison me. If you try it now, what’s to say you didn’t do it before?”
“If you knew Discord, you wouldn’t say that.” she says, severely.
“I don’t know him.” An idea flashes into my mind. “But I intend to.”
“What!?” Her voice is strangled, and a look of shock comes over her face.
“I’m going to release Discord. I want his story!”
“Everyone experiences things differently, he will make himself sound like the victim!” she says sounding desperate.
“Just like the eight of you did earlier?”
“Th- that’s different!”
I jab my finger at her once more, stepping forward to make my point. “Says you.”
“You believe you can fairly judge us?”
“I’m not just judging you, I’m telling you what I see from your actions, and right now, I see power-hungry dictators using the guise of kind protectors!”
She snarls. “To think I considered you a friend! You will not release Discord, I forbid it!”
I Spark up and ignite, Luna becoming shocked at my new form. “I. Obey. Nobody.”
I grab her by the horn and charge my flames into it. I hear her scream in pain as I burn what I had learned was the most sensitive part of a unicorn or Alicorn’s body. Thank you Twilight, your books are very helpful.
I squeeze harder and she screams. The bat-pony guard rushes in. I let go of Luna’s horn and watch her slump to the floor. The guard charges at me, but my intangibility makes him phase right through me. I spin around, grab him by the neck, and smash his face into the floor of Luna’s room. Still holding him by the neck, I carry him out of the room and stare into his eyes with my red starbursts. “Take me to the gardens. Show me where Discord is.” I then drop him to the ground. He begins walking weakly down the hall.
Now we are outside, and he is leading me around a corner. We come to a medium-sized wooden building that definitely looks rather well-reinforced, and it’s unguarded.
I power down, and access the sack of coal in my pocket. I fashion a lump of coal into a dagger and hold it to the guard’s neck. “You think I’m stupid?” I whisper harshly. “You think I don’t know what a barracks looks like? I walk in there with a wounded guard, and I’m swarmed by whatever members of the platoon aren’t on-duty. That’s your game?” I coat the dagger in flames. “Well, playtime’s over, you have one more chance. Try and play me for a fool again, and your corpse won’t even be solid.” He nods, gritting his teeth angrily. Like I actually give a shit.
Finally, we come up to a bunch of statues. A lot of them are of ponies in various poses. Then, there’s a special one. It certainly looked like what Discord was described as looking, though a lot less dangerous. He actually looks scared. I knew that the princesses were just spewing propaganda. Well, let’s see what they think of imprisoning others once their prisoners are broken loose...
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Ok then... this definitely won't blow up in is face.
6542410 Only if he and Discord don't get along...
6542488
and she said no 
soooo yha that'll work out
They probably will but we must not forget that he.. ahem grabbed lunas nice big magical horn
And things are about to get started.
Ps. I really hope you don't bring in the other humans later in the story. If I recall that turned the story into "meh" material.
6542688 I will, but the amount of humans will be culled and they will have less focus when Anthony is doing stuff. They'll be side characters mostly. Also I'm surprised nobody noticed that the "Celestia punishing and chaining Anthony for being an asshole" scene has been completely removed.
Figured more people would notice that missing.
6542558 Oh yeah, Celly's gonna be fucking pissed.
6542922 well, it has been a while since we read the first chapters.
6539913
Holy f*ck YEAHS! I remember reading that one a while back too! Pokemon trainer Anthony alongside cheeseburger-eating Twilight and carsick Rarity. Voltato is/was best lightning legume.
Wait sh*t, potatoes are tubers...
6544984 Ha, in that case I'll see about getting the story reinstated.
6542922
I noticed that, but i approve of the removal. Because from my point of view, she was trying to install the fear of death in him, when she thought what she was doing was something that would make him respect her. - i just dont see how anyone could not see the difference
I really want someone to give him a reality check someone to show him what he is doing is wrong
Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should
I notice some differences from the original story, but I am getting a bad feeling that nothing is going to really change. This is where I am going to stop reading for now until I am assured the story wont end in a paradox loop.
With him fucking everything up to the point where he needs to reset the timeline again.
10102337
Would the author directly stating that "it won't be the same" be a good enough assurance for you? Yes there will be several elements that are the same, but many events have been removed or revised and new ones added.
The primary reasoning for the rewind thing was mainly that it's a logical way to explain the reset rather than just deleting the original and starting over like the original never existed. There were many things in the original that seemed like good ideas at the time, but eventually wound up being confusing or not particularly interesting to read and only satisfied the purpose of continuing a narrative I wasn't entirely enthused by and had also received a lot of criticism.
This is a different story, but not an entirely new one, either. I cannot guarantee you will like the changes made, or that anything you disliked about the original is completely absent in this, and if you find this version is not to your liking, you are fully entitled to that opinion.