Where did you come from?

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 5: Listening

Cheerilee slowly walked back towards the room where Val was being tended. She could barely believe how quiet the hospital was today, she wondered if Val was their only patient. At the very least, he was their most difficult. She found the room, barred and locked. Four aids were sitting down against the wall. They looked as if they'd seen a ghost, sweat billowed down their bodies and they were bundled up in thick blankets. “What happened?”

Nurse Redheart glanced up. “Ah, Cheerilee. You've returned. You'll be happy to know that the... child you've brought in has a few more tricks up his sleeve than we initially believed.”

“Oh no,” she said, a feeling of dread in her stomach. She then caught sight of the social worker, rocking back and forth, bundled up. “What happened?”

“Well, as a sign of good faith, she removed the horn neutralizer from the child. His... magical aptitude is apparently more in control than we initially believed.”

“Oh no...”

“Indeed. Please, come with me,” she said before trotting back down the hall, leading her to her office. Once the door was closed the nurse gave a soft sigh. “I only... saw the magic, but it was... quite a fright. Two orbs of this... black void like magic. They shot out and hit the two nearest ponies. There doesn't seem to be much physical damage, but the emotional and magical damage it caused is quite severe. I'm sure you noticed them.”

“It would have been very difficult not to.”

“One of them said it felt as if their very soul had been drained. As far as I can tell, it seems to have been some sort of mind spell. Very, very dark magic. I can't even begin to imagine where a child would learn such magic.”

Cheerilee nodded. “I see. What now?”

“I'm not altogether sure. We have no more leads on where he is from. I'm half tempted to ask the princess to come here. If anypony knows about magic, it's her. The child is... frankly, beyond anything we're prepared for. Our tests on his horn haven't even returned yet.” For the first time today, the mare looked slightly frazzled. A hair was even out of place.

“There's... something else, isn't there?”

“We haven't found any hint to who the child may be. It's... not outside the realms of possibility that he was abandoned. Magic like that... his parents could have been very, very bad ponies. The princess may wish to question him thoroughly. After that... with magic like that and his... desire to use it...”

Cheerilee nodded, the mare didn't have to say any more. She thought back to Discord. Maybe she had been wrong, maybe he wasn't responsible. She then thought about the other things he said. Maybe it was time she asked him, really asked him. “I'd... like to go back and speak with him again.” After all, he was just child in the end, like any one of her students. It was time she started acting like a teacher, not just an adult.

“I'm sorry?” Redheart asked.

“I'd like to try talking to Val again,” she said with a smile.

“I'm not sure that's wise. After his last... display, there's no telling what he could do.”

“I'll be careful. I promise. Besides, I'd like to try something new.”

Redheart sighed, before giving a nod. “I... suppose. It's not exactly... procedure. But then, you did rescue him. Maybe he will respond better to you than he has to any of us.”

Cheerilee nodded and smiled, before following the nurse back to the room. She knocked on the glass. “Val?”

“Go away!”

“It's me, Cheerilee. I'm coming in.”

“I'll blast you just like I did the others!”

She took a deep breath before pushing open the door. Val's horn was already starting to glow. “Now you knock that off right this instant, young colt, or you're going to time out!” She wasn't sure if it was her words or the tone, but the spell fizzled as the colt stared up at her with wide eyes. She shut the door behind her and trotted forward with determination, her head held high as she went. He just looked confused.

“I'll blast you,” he said again, though he sounded unsure.

“We're going to have a nice, long talk,” she said firmly, putting on her best teacher voice. She wasn't sure what it was about it, but she could see he was responding to it, quickly.

“Well, too bad. I don't want to talk to a pony,” he said bitterly. But he wasn't looking her in the eye anymore. His hooves were twitching a little and he had tensed up, moving away from her. He was finally just a little colt being talked to by an adult. Most importantly, he was listening, no matter how vehemently he denied it.

“That's too bad. I'm going to talk, and you're going to talk with me. Now, let's start from the beginning, Val. Who's your mother?”

“I already told you that,” he snapped angrily. “None of you listen to me! You'll all end up dead, you know. If you're lucky.”

“If we're not?”

He stared down at his bed for a few moments, before sighing. “She won't let you die.”

She nodded slowly. He was a rather... grim child. “Let's move on. That magic you used on the others, what was that?”

“Oh, that? Hah! Fel magic! My specialty,” he said with a chuckle. “Drains the very life force from you.”

She kept nodding. “I... see. It has had quite the effect on the staff here. Where did you learn it from?”

“Learn it? Do I look like a WIZARD to you?” He made a face, sticking out his tongue. “I am a warlock, like my mother. Magic like that is innate to me.”

She nodded slowly, watching him. She'd heard of all kinds of talents, but she found it hard to believe anypony could have a talent in such dark magic. Especially one so young. “And your mother has the same magic?”

His confident smirk wavered. “She's... far more powerful. Mine wears off after a few hours. If she had cast a spell like that, though... you'd be nothing but wights.”

“We'd be white? It drains the color?”

“Not white, wights! You know, vengeful ghosts!”

She giggled softly. “Silly colt, ghosts aren't real. They're just stories to--”

“Stupid pony,” he growled, his horn flickering. “You really don't think ghosts are real? You've never been to the under dark, then.”

She frowned and narrowed her eyes. “No, I'm afraid not. Very well, she'd have turned us to vengeful ghosts. But yours doesn't?”

“It does if I do it enough times. If I drain enough of your life.” A grin spread across his lips. “Maybe I'll show you. If you refuse to fear me, maybe making a few ghosts out of you and your kind will help you understand my power.” He looked up at her.

Cheerilee met his gaze with her own, giving him the unamused teacher's glare. She was starting to get a good feel for him. He was very arrogant and talked big, but she couldn't help feeling it was all big talk. He kept looking away from her, staring off and not meeting her gaze. “Very well, tell me about your father.”

“What about him? I've never met him.”

She cringed. “He left you and your mother?”

“Of course not,” he said with a giggle. “My mother probably fed him to the spiders for having her bear a son. That or he was just another guard or something. I don't know.”

She frowned and cocked her head to the side. “So, again, who his your mother?”

“She's the matriarch of the house Araknioss. Ruler of the most powerful drow family in the underdark.”

“And what do you think she'll do when she finds you?”

And there it was, the full fear. His hooves moved up to his chest, pulling the blanket to him. “I-I don't know. I-I'll e-escape long before then.”

“Do you think she'll hurt you?”

He giggled. “She won't kill me, like she will you.”

“But you think she'll hurt you?” Her hooves started to reach out, but she stopped. “Are you... afraid of your mother?”

“Of course I'm afraid of her! Who wouldn't be? The only reason you're not terrified is because you don't know who she is!” He shook his head. “You have no idea the powers she wields. What she... what she does to those who--” His words were cut off as her hooves wrapped around him.

“You poor, poor child,” she whispered softly. “Val, I want you to listen to me. I promise, no matter what happens, I will keep your mother away from you.”

“W-what?” He snickered. “You should be scared for yourself, pony. She'll kill you happily to get to me. Even if she hates me, she won't stand for something taking her property.”

“She'll try,” she said vehemently, without an ounce of doubt in her voice. The child wasn't pulling away, but she could feel him lightly shaking.

“L-let me go,” he mumbled.

“No.” She slowly stroked his back. She didn't want to believe any of what the child said, it was impossible. But he wasn't changing his story. She'd loved to find some flaws in his story, but the entire thing made no sense so there was no reason to use against it. But she knew one thing. The child was afraid. Terrified, even, of his mother. She wouldn't let that stand. After a few moments she felt the trembling stop and she loosened her grip on the child, smiling down at him. “Okay then. I... want to try something.”

“What?” he asked with annoyance.

“I'm... going to believe you.”

He cocked an eye. “So?”

“No. I mean these things you tell me. This... other world. These drow. I can't explain where these come from, so I'm going to listen to you. But I need you to do something for me. I need you to believe that I know nothing about them. At all. I need you to explain them to me as you would somepony who had never seen or even heard of such creatures. And I need you to believe me when I say they are not here. That you are safe now.” She finally let him go.

He glared at her none the less. “Fine. Drow are the uncontested rulers of the under dark. I suppose you'd probably know us as dark elves.”

She nodded slowly. “Good, I see. What's an elves?”

His face lit up then. “Wait, you don't have wood elves here? Any elves?” She gave a shake of her head. “Ohhhh, this place just got a lot better!”

“Tell me about the drow. What do they look like? Imagine you're telling somepony who has never seen one and has only seen ponies before.”

He opened his mouth before pausing. He rubbed his chin. “Drow are... we walk on two legs. Don't have any fur. We have... arms, instead of second pairs of legs. We're beings of tremendous magic,” she said with a smirk. “As you can tell from me. I, for example, am considering a prodigy due to my talent with fel magic.”

She nodded. “And that's important to them?”

He blinked a few times before disappointment filtered over his features. “No... not particularly. We are a matriarchy. The high priestesses rule and... there are no high priests.”

She reached out and gave him another soft hug. “I see. A colt in a world with only room for fillies. Your mother then, she wasn't proud of you for your... accomplishments?”

“She's mad I haven't managed any spells powerful enough to truly kill anypony yet, aside from making them sick. I can light them on fire, though!”

She took another deep breath. What he was saying couldn't be possible, but she had to keep pretending she believed him. If nothing else, maybe she could find out more about why he felt he had to make up such stories. “I see. Now, how about I tell you a bit about our world?”

“You're ponies. What could there possibly be to tell?”

She smiled. “Quite a bit, child. Now, how about we start with the princesses?”

Comments

[josue]

first

[Cold Spike]

Well, story getting better as it goes.