Chapter 20- Prophecies and Ceremonies.
Aldon slowly lit his hands up, overlooking the beautiful rainbow of colored flames displayed in his hands. He wanted to test out something new; something dangerous and destructive to see if he could do it, but a hospital room on a mountain side with hundreds of guards was not the best place to do such a thing. He sighed the air around him as he banished the flames from his hands. He was stronger, much more so, but he still felt angry. Even though he avenged his friends, killed the god who took them, and saved a town too, he still felt angry, mad, and also sad.
He ran his hands through his head, feeling the prickles and slight heat coming off of his body. He could ignite his hair right there and have it stick. Flaming hair was something he loved to do sometimes. Although, until he figured out to do it safely that is. He did burn off his hair more than just in Ponyville, and he usually did it to himself. Luckily though, he learned to produce non burning flames. Just for intimidation factor he would let his hair "burn." It would work many times as well.
Such a time is when he was walking back to meet his friends, to rejoin them after he took a leave of absence. There, on the road to the center of the Rosic Kingdom, Aldon met with a few bandits. They insisted on nice talk, and that they "wouldn't hurt," Aldon if he handed over all of his valuables, but he knew first off that was a lie and second off they had very weak magic as they relied on weaponry. As to not have to lift a finger, he simply lit up his hair and gave a sinister smile, and watched everything play out. Swords clashed against the ground and boots stomped for as far as Aldon could see. It was amusing to watch them run for all they were worth, and afterwards he simply continued on his journey, with no other interference besides a town infested with vampires, Lily's brother's minions of darkness for the time being.
A knock came to the door and Aldon stumbled back onto his bed, extinguished his ongoing flames for good, and looked to the door. He cleared his throat.
"Come in!" Aldon yelled to the pony on the other side.
Surprisingly Nurse Redheart came in and gave a light smile. Aldon gave it back, slightly putting her off edge with his canines, until she realized he wasn't predator, to ponies at least.
"Hello Nurse Redheart. Why are you here?" Aldon asked absentmindedly, until he hit realization. "Are you here to sign me to go?" He asked with expectation and hope brimming in his eyes.
"No, I'm afraid not. The princesses gave strict instruction to keep you in recovery for a while longer. You may still be hurt. I mean no pony really comes back from the dead and faces a dragon unscathed." Aldon lightly chuckled, firstly at the fact of how they used 'pony,' for everything, and secondly for the fact that she was wrong. A day of recovery made him feel as fit as a whistle and that was an understatement.
"So then, when am I allowed to leave this place? I have to at least help rebuild Ponyville." Nurse Redheart was taken back. Some of the ponies there treated him so harshly, even after he saved the town, they called him a monster, or at least some did, but he still wished to help the town and receive no credit. He simply wished to leave and help rebuild. In Redheart's book, he was a hero to her, a true friend of ponies everywhere, even if he
did have rough edges.
"Well, I'm not entirely sure. The princesses just wish for you to recover, and until then they instructed me to take care of you." Aldon sighed over the reworded response. Like a robot, only with an actual brain. He couldn't blame her though, orders are orders and she got hers from the leaders of the nation.
"Very well. I still dislike being cooped up for too long."
"I'm sure they'll let you leave soon enough, especially due to the recent news." This gave Aldon a look of curiosity.
"What news?" He he cautiously asked with a raised brow.
"Hammerhoof has been promoted to Captain of the Royal Guard. The ceremonies are tomorrow evening." Aldon felt pride for the pony, but also sympathies. He didn't care for position or rank, just life itself and happiness for those around him. After his loss, he only wished for peace even more. He desperately felt lonely, and Aldon compassionately understood. He had lost those close to him, on more than one occasion. Still, he supposed the gruff pony wouldn't be sad over it, just neutral as neither happy nor angry to the matter.
If he wasn't allowed to the ceremony himself, he would sneak out if he had to. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that as he's not the sealthiest type of person, especially among ponies no less.
"Thinking of sneaking out huh?" Aldon inwardly groaned, but also gave a smile to the demon who smiled back, chuckling at the man.
"Well, is there anything you need right now?" Nurse Redheart asked, expecting an answer from the man. she was surprised when he shook his head 'no.'
"Are you sure? Have you even eaten since before the battle. I mean dying must have you starving." Again, Aldon shook his head, making her ponder with her hoof on her chin, until she 'hmphed' in accordance and left, leaving Aldon to talk with his soul partner.
"So, can you talk now?" The demon asked.
"Yes." Aldon stated, keeping the conversation inside of his mind as to not look crazy, even though that was already debatable.
"You know they're coming right?" The demon asked for clarification.
"Yes." Aldon stated again.
"Well, what are you going to do about them?"
"I don't know Deus. The whole thing about it is that when it comes down to it, they're innocent here." Aldon's word held true. Gods were manipulative, and cunning. They would cut all ties from Sun Crusher, saying they tried to subdue him before he attacked, or even going as far as saying he was a crazy old dragon, looking for sadistic pleasure, when in reality he was instructed to do every last bit of the damage in Ponyville; to inspire fear.
"But when you see them? Will you strike, or will you remain dormant?" Aldon considered the demon's words. There would be no turning back at that point.
"We will have to see."
"Sister," the dark Alicorn stated, gaining the attention of her counterpart and family. The sun-encrusted alicorn looked at her sister and gave a heartwarming smile.
"Yes, what is it Luna?" Celestia asked to confirm any suspicions.
"I--"
Before Luna could finish, guards burst through the throne room door, urgent faces appearing on every single one of them.
"Your majesties." The group slowly bowed, with Luna and Celestia taken off guard, but resettling to the recent buzz in their formal courtroom.
"Why are you here?" Luna asked, almost sternly, but refraining from any harshness.
"Sorry your highness, but we come bearing a message we received only a few minutes ago." The guard said this with complete formality, keeping in line and never flinching at once. A seasoned veteran when it came to talking to practical gods among ponies, but yet again, gods are not nearly as strong as some portray them as.
"What kind of message?" Celestia asked, curiously puzzled in a motherly tone.
"Well, according to the apprehended suspect, he had no knowledge of what came out of his mouth, but the message was a warning." The two princesses suddenly had increased tension on that word: 'warning.'
"Exactly what kind of warning?" Luna clarified with increased tension in her voice.
The guard, levitating his notepad in a green aura began to read off the warning. Celestia and Luna knew from the first sentence it involved the human. It was very obvious, and luckily there really was no riddle to it, just a clear cut warning from unknowns.
"And just after he was announced new Captain, Hammerhoof had to put down a crook and save a mare," The guard continued after preaching the warning.
The regal sisters were slightly outraged by the added side note, but kept their composure in the long run.
"So sister," Luna directed her gaze at Celestia, "what shall we do?"
"I'm not sure. Should we even trust this message? Where is the proof?"
The guard slowly rose, slightly bowing to give a formal message of wishing to give to the conversation, "Princesses, I know this might not be my place, but that man, he saved my niece and nephew." Celestia remembered back to the two little foals back in Ponyville and the husk that was Aldon laying dead on the ground. This guard was their uncle. "I see no proof labeling him as a person of such destructive nature. He saved so many ponies including some of my own family."
"Sister--"
"I know Luna, but you saw what he did. He killed a dragon, with more magical power than I've ever experienced." And Luna, she saw what was truly lurking in his body.
It may go against what has transpired, but being cautious of the human was not a bad thing. It was for protective purposes. As the gods sensed this a lightning strike cracked into the wall, completely knocking through the castle structure. Holes lined all the way up to the ceiling, spelling true power all along the way as smoke trailed off the hole's serrated edges.
Everyone took cover, and the guards got into the position, moving to surround the lightning impact on the wall in front of the thrones, on top of the doors. A message read: "If you wish for proof, simply call out our name: Divine Trinity."
Aldon silently sat, waiting for something interesting to happen, or to be let out of the medical prison. He decided he would meditate on the true soul he contained. He slowly got out of the cover of the bed and got to the floor, crossing his legs and planting his hands firmly together, glue forming on contact. Flames slowly formed around his body, but contradicting usual purpose, they were merely to radiate magical power and connect with his inner spirit.
"Be careful. I only recently was able to break apart from it. There's a reason I tell you not to talk to it."
Aldon sighed to the demon standing in front of the double locked door in the void, urging the man to possibly walk away and not attempt his mission.
"Deus, I need to at least try. If I can conquer him, I can never have anyone become hurt again. I can protect everyone from everything."
Deus shook his demonic face, sighing all along the way. "Very well, but just make sure you don't let him consume you, or you definitely won't be a hero for long."
Aldon nodded, and slowly moved to the fading door into the eerie darkness, containing nothing but pure anger, malice and rage. It was something Aldon couldn't conquer, and frankly there were reasons.
The darkness was truly all encompassing, and the feeling of lifelessness filled the non existent air. Aldon could never get over not being able to breath, but he coped.
"I know you are here, so come out and talk to me!" Aldon yelled to the void.
The form truly terrified Aldon, the true puppet master of his past, his true purpose. Deep black eyes bore in from the darkness, surrounded by an everlasting figure of true carnage and destruction. Nothing but a creature's heavy breathing echoed in the darkness.
Aldon shuddered at the lifeless, malevolent eyes peering into his soul. Aldon, however didn't waiver and give into fear, for if he did it would allow the world to be encased in unending destruction.
When someone stares into the eyes of a nuclear bomb, or perhaps into the end of a gun barrel or even into the eyes of the death himself, one wonders if he should be afraid or simply be. There is not much one could do, so should you be afraid when there's nothing you can do about it?
Aldon didn't stare into the death of himself, but of everyone around him. Only once did it come out, and to say it was fearsome and destructive would be like saying shark infested waters are unsafe and unrecommended to swim in.
The beast, monster more so, or even the king of destruction, or harbinger of death would be more fitting, didn't need to simply speak to voice his opinion. All it needed to do was simply stare and give off its power through its memories. How it formed the world through conflict with the gods.
Hammerhoof smiled. He genuinely smiled since he had his own family. Love was truly toxic and for Hammerhoof it came in droves from the mare Merry.
She smiled back and with the contagious flu of happiness, he continued the favor, both of them peering into each other's eyes, fantasizing and fawning over each other. The normal Hammerhoof would calculate, hypothesize and predict, but the love entranced Hammerhoof simply waved happily with a gleeful face.
True love had struck Hammerhoof again, and the virus was unstoppable, and on the other side, the virus was slowly winning as well.
"So, whatcha want to do?" Merry asked with a merry expression.
"I suppose we should order." Hammerhoof replied, lightly coming out of the trance and realizing they were in a five star restaurant and technically on a date.
"Oh--wow." Merrily stated this with awe at how quickly she had gotten lost in the moment as well. The whole time though still having a smile and cheerful attitude. An attitude of pure innocence and fondful memories. The act was working.
"So, where do you hail from exaclty?" Hammerhoof inquired the mare, who slightly frowned at the question.
"Eeeh, just some backwater town you've probably never heard of."
"Really? Try me." Hammerhoof said this with clear challenge in his voice.
"A stallion who can be put to the test," she said with a devious smile, which made Hammerhoof lightly blush. Dirtiness aside, the stallion was actually quite curious how a beauty of a mare hailed from some backwater area and not from a noble family in Canterlot.
"So, let me ask you a simple question Ms. Merry," Hamerhoof said this with a clear need for it to be answered, "why would a mare such as yourself not be taken by now?"
Merry considered it fully, not for the sake of getting a response out, but to make the stallion lust for her even more.
"No Stallion has ever been able to handle me," Merry said, inciting a slightly heavier blush from Hammerhoof, which in turn told her to give out a big ol' laugh. Hammerhoof had quite the charmer on his hands, quite the charmer indeed, but he never thought of disliking it.
"Are all of the preparations complete for tonight's ceremony of Hammerhoof?" Celestia asked one of the mare maids instructing others.
"Yes Princess," the mare maid stated as she turned around, gave a slight bow and a meek smile, making Celestia return the favor.
"Good," Celestia replied with the hint of hidden concern for the message. She would have to see both sides before she decided what to do. She would ask to see their memories to be concrete on what she heard and saw, nothing less to accuse Aldon of such future atrocities.
The second regal sister silently approached, startling the sun princess as she turned to greet Luna. Smiles were exchanged and a quick sisterly hug given.
"Sister, are the preparations complete?" Luna asked.
"Almost, and I believe after these festivities we should delve deep." Celestia's words sunk into Luna's mind, where the sister, while hesitant due to the help he gave, couldn't disagree. While it completely crippled her heart to distrust someone who had essentially saved an entire town, and their own lives, he still posed a dangerous threat, that would need to be rectified if proven as a monster.
"You may think you're all powerful, but don't think you can simply waltz by me." Aldon's words gave no pause to the demon's attempt at intimidation, which Aldon felt no need to be anymore. "You do not intimidate me."
The monster slowly started to hum, resonating his booming voice in the void. Then a smile formed, electing the same, eerie, yet powerful response to come.
"I am your greatest weapon. Relinquish control and I will do away with all of your problems." The response rang true.
"And why should I?" Aldon asked. He expected the answer, but still, he wished to hear the monster speak the truth.
"Treated as dirt, trampled on as a pebble and discarded like trash. You have suffered more than any person, god, or creature, yet you retain your sanity and peace of mind. Have you ever considered why human?" The monster's words brought inquiry to Aldon's mind.
"What do you mean?" Aldon asked for clarification. He thought of the question, as to what the dark entity could be saying. And yet, Aldon also knew any normal person would've given up by now, yet he still felt at equilibrium.
"You will find out soon enough, human." The dark voice echoed out. "You may wish to hide me, but understand that we are nothing without the other." The demon's mouth lunged for Aldon and closed as darkness truly enveloped the man, sending him into shock.
Aldon channeled abruptly back to the hospital room, gasping frantically for the luxurious air of the world. It was truly connected to him, but he never wished to show it again.
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until the a/n, I liked this story... have fun getting a large majority of people to read further.