Predatory

by Crazy Laughter

Fire purifies all...

Fire purifies all...

“The spell I used to heal Fenrir was more… violent in nature than I originally thought, sister. I harmed more souls I should have any right to for my foolish act of kindness and I am so sorry. The man you saw was…” Luna paused as she felt a twinge of pain in her temple and her throat closed up.

“Okay, you have successfully given one life in exchange for another. I hope you feel accomplished. You would be better off telling her Soldier was an asshole, or she might question the choice of getting rid of the one human that had the power to overpower you, directly, at least.” Smuggler’s voice echoed in her head, distinguishable from her own internal monologue only by the fact his voice was male. It was a strange and invasive thing to have another mind along with your own.

“He was the most noble human I had the chance to meet… and now he is gone, just so that I would not be left alone.” Luna forced the lump in her throat away and told the truth, before Smuggler could convince her otherwise. She would not allow herself to be led astray by egotistical self-serving spectres.

“Even in our world, which is painted in more extreme colours when compared to yours, it was a rarity to see a man with such a strong determination to do the right thing. There is no question as to the severity of the torment he was forced to go through, or of the animosity he held for those who wronged him, but he still found the strength of character to do the right thing. I pray that he has found the peace he deserves, even when it was taken from him once before, by your reckless act of kindness.” Priest’s pleasant and accented voice talked to her with clarity and a solemn tone Luna immediately linked to funeral services. She had been the one to give eulogies occasionally, when one of her night guard died in the line of duty. She must have been crying, as it was exceedingly hard to breathe. Her human body felt strange and wrong and her chest hurt.

“A righteous man is gone, taken from us by the love and naivete of a sister who did the wrong thing, with the best of intentions. He was a solemn man who never let his sense of self-preservation overcome his ironclad morals and you took advantage of that to save a life you thought to be more valuable than his. It does not matter if he agreed with you; to embrace the idea itself is cold pragmatism, the kindest face of evil.” Luna could feel Priest’s presence retreating deeper into her mind. letting the world around her come back into focus. The sense of sadness and righteous anger she thought to have been radiating from the alien holy man only grew in intensity as the voice fell silent.

She looked inwards as her alien body shivered and felt both Priest and Smuggler fall further from her, driven back by the strength of her emotions. They would return, as they were bound to her as solidly as they had been to Fenrir. They would be a constant reminded of what she had done and who had paid the price for her weakness.

She became aware of her sister’s warm presence around her when the first sob jerked her body. She was beyond thoughts or words of any kind now, Priest’s words having pushed her over the edge of control. She used the human body’s appendages to clumsily grapple her sister’s neck and hold her close to get what comfort she could. She could feel the gentle vibrations coming off of Celestia as she hummed a calming tune as she cried. She couldn’t register whatever Celestia might have said, but her tone was soothing and gentle.

Finally, after what felt like hours of her strange body hurting and trying expel the mental pain in ways that were natural, yet felt painfully alien to her, her sobs finally subsided and she was left with a hollow feeling in her chest and a chill in her bones from being nearly naked in the Everfree forest at night, despite Celestia offering her warmth. Her human body hurt all over and she could feel a wave of mental lethargy starting to wash over her. Her eyelids were heavy and Celestia was a warm and comforting presence, humming a tune that calmed her even more…

“Yeah, as if you’re going to nod off now.” Luna barely registered Smuggler’s voice, but the shrill high-pitched screech jabbing pain into her ears made her jerk away from Celestia’s soothing embrace and slap her hands over her ears. The sound continued for a few seconds, before Luna could feel Smuggler’s presence weaken and the sound dissipated with him, leaving her clutching her ears, with a worried Celestia asking her if she was harmed. She felt jittery and her head hurt from the shock of the sudden sound, but strangely there was no pain in her ears themselves.

“Smuggler is not in the mood for discretion, as you can see. I will help keep you awake, as you still have duties to fulfill here.” Priest’s presence grew with his words and Luna could feel the weight on her eyelids lift and a sense of energy flow into her limbs. The human holy man having this much control over her body was a frightening concept, but it was not the time to worry about that just yet.

“Celestia, we have to see this through. I have to see this through. It is the right thing to do.” Luna explained to her worried sister as she stood up on shaky legs. Priest had made her alert again, but had done nothing to the forming headache Smuggler’s trick with her hearing had caused. The two humans had rather legitimate reasons to dislike her, but she didn’t like the juvenile ways they chose to show it. “Kamos, any news on the dogs? Where is the mut that shot my sister?”

“The dogs have not attacked us in any other way after Fenrir fell. I fear that it’s likely they have abandoned the den and taken whatever technology or magic Fenrir shared with them along. The dog who operated what I presume to be a shoulder mounted cannon is being treated in our operational camp. We are yet to interrogate him… I am yet to interrogate him.” Kamos walked up to them calmly, expertly concealing his worry for her mental well-being. Celestia was giving her a look, no doubt wondering about the episode she just had.

“Celestia, thank goodness you’re okay!” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed and caused Celestia to look away from Luna, as she approached the sun monarch with tears flowing freely from her eyes. Luna felt a little guilty to feel relieved of the distraction the unicorn provided, but stepped back to give the two some space. “We weren’t sure if Soldier would be enough to bring you back and I was so scared of even the chance of…”

“You agreed to use the human’s life to save my own?” Celestia asked. Luna knew it would be disheartening for Celestia to see how far her prized student was ready to go, even if it was to save her. Luna had explained the mechanics of the spell to the unicorn, but Twilight Sparkle was not fully aware of how dark and dangerous Soul Magick could be, as she had not been there to see what Luna had been able to accomplish with it so long ago. Celestia was right to have some reservations on her student even glancing in the direction of such dangerous magic.

“I… I was the one who made the decision. Luna told me what the spell would do and that the human called Soldier would most likely not survive, but… any other choice would have meant your death...” Twilight Sparkle’s words tapered into quiet mumbles as the weight of the decision she had been forced to make finally settled on the young unicorn’s shoulders. Soldier had volunteered and had been sure to not draw undue attention to his sacrifice, but now that the situation had calmed Twilight Sparkle realized how easy it was to snuff out a life for a good cause.

“Twilight Sparkle, please tell me what you are feeling.” Celestia calmly asked in an authoritative tone. Luna knew it to be her “teacher” voice and that Twilight associated it with pop quizzes and tests of her ability. The unicorn’s first instinct would be to tell the full and complete truth, given the circumstances.

“Horrified. I feel absolutely terrified at the ease of it; To think that all it took to end a life was a few words and unfortunate circumstances… There must have been a better way, but I was too weak to see it, too stupid to even think of it.” As the words left the unicorn, her legs carefully folded under her and her eyes lost focus. Her eyes started to water and a trail of tears flowed down her cheeks, but the unicorn did nothing but lay there, staring into nothing while bitter tears streamed down her face.

“Twilight, what is wrong?” Celestia’s horn glowed for a moment as she checked Twilight Sparkle for any physical wounds. She knew the unicorn to not be the kind to simply shut down in a stressful situation, not in such a literal sense, at least. After Celestia was unable to pinpoint any physical ailment that would explain Twilight’s condition she turned to Luna with worry in her eyes. Luna did a quick scan of her own with a deliberate wave of her hand and gave her sister a reassuring smile.

“Worry not, sister. Her mind is simply dislocated from her body momentarily. It is a side-effect of her amateurish attempt at attacking Fenrir’s soul with the power of her Element. She should avoid bursts of intense emotion for a week or so and her body and mind should re-attach without any problem.” She brought a finger to her chin and tapped it in thought. Luna pointed a finger at the Element of Magic on the catatonic unicorn’s head. “She should also be kept away from her Element for at least a month or so, as the magic would strain the weakened connection. She would be in no real danger, but using the Elements would only prolong the healing process.”

“You sure about that?” Smuggler cooed in a saccharine tone in response. She could feel the smirk he held as his presence grew in the back of her mind. He was playing some angle and trying to push her into some mind game, she could sense that much, but she could not help but question him.

“What are you talking about?” Luna whispered as she idly turned toward Fenrir’s still form. Seeing the old wolf beaten and lifeless hurt her, but knowing he’d finally found peace was a calming thought.

“Tell me, how does our bond to you work? I’m in your mind, so I’ll see it, just try to remember.” There was an infuriating elation in his voice and Luna was becoming concerned as to what could be the cause. The mechanics of their bond, was it? Well, that was easy, it was the most basic of Soul Magick… She should… there should be…

“What have you done? Why can’t I…” Luna brought a hand to her head, as there was a strange headache forming. It felt like there was a cold emptiness in her head and her skull was in danger of imploding. She could not remember the mechanics of the Soul Magick holding the two human souls affixed to her, despite it being the very basis of the whole branch of magic.

“The fucker actually pulled it off! I thought he would kill himself doing it, but not only did he actually save Sun butt, but he took it with him!” Smuggler started laughing uncontrollably and Luna could feel Priest pushing the other human’s consciousness deeper, as to not distract them. There was a pause where her headache subsided somewhat and she could sense a compassionate smile from Priest’s mind radiating into hers. She glanced around and saw the world move in slow-motion. Priest was seemingly even able to affect her perception of time. She reasoned that the man had done it for him to have time to explain the situation, but she was even more convinced that she needed to get him out of her head as soon as possible.

“Soldier did not trust you with the capability to cause similar harm to any other beings, so he clung to your knowledge of Soul Magick as you tore at his soul again. It was his last act of defiance towards you and it is your penance for the wrongs you have committed.” The world slid back into its normal speed as Priest retreated back to being a warm tickle at the back of her mind.

“... na, are you alright? Are you really fit to make decisions right now? I can see this matter to a close, if you wish.” Kamos bluntly asked with both worry and professional detachment in his eyes. Luna stared at the zebra for a brief moment, her mind struggling to catch up with the situation the three humans had landed her in. Soldier had taken the knowledge she had accumulated on Soul Magick with him and now she knew next to nothing about its inner workings. She stood there in her alien body, feeling lost and debating if she should blame herself, or the man who had given his own life for her sister’s.

“I have little choice, Kamos. I’ve just been dealt a dose of my own medicine and I have no right to complain if it is bitter.” She winced and brought a hand up to her forehead as her headache intensified as she tried to even think about Soul Magick. She twirled her fingers in front of her face and wondered why turning back into a pony hadn’t even crossed her mind yet. She was far too comfortable in the alien body the humans had forced her into, but could she really afford the disorientation of acclimating her senses and the two human consciousnesses to her original body? The humans had done a rather thorough job in instilling the subconscious muscle memories that helped her move with such ease, so having to concentrate on ignoring those in her original body could be an uncomfortable distraction.

“Plus, it would be embarrassing if you tried to do it and couldn’t. Soldier was not one for finesse, he might have done more damage to your magical capabilities than he intended. I suggest you try and avoid doing anything too complex while there’s the chance it could backfire horribly. There are fillies present, after all.” Priest commented, a image of a horrible mash of twisted bones and stretched and bleeding flesh flashed in her mind as Smuggler’s presence grew for a moment. She gritted her teeth as the image refused to leave the forefront of her mind, even after she had suppressed Smuggler’s presence.

As much as she wanted to simply ignore the humans, they had a point. Transforming her body was not Soul Magick, but it was a complex enough magic to be almost exclusive to her and other alicorns. Soldier’s dismantling of her mind, or the attempted brainwashing before that, could have forced her to forget an important part of the process, or the lack of knowledge on how Soul Magick affected other magic in her could cause severe complications.

“Gather up your men, we will build a pyre for Fenrir. His body needs to be purged of magic with fire for us to be bring this tragedy to a real close.” Luna turned towards Kamos, hoping she looked more authoritative than she felt. Her memories of her time as Nightmare Moon were all but gone and she was grateful for that small mercy, seeing Fenrir. Luna remembered Fenrir’s kind from before that time and to see what she had turned one of those great wolves into broke her heart further. She did not want to imagine the depths of magick she had sunk into to turn one of the proud beasts she remembered into the savage warmonger she was forced to put down.

“We should get the Element bearers home. With any luck the three fillies will think all of this a dream…” Kamos commented as his ponies were already gathering an impressive pile of more or less dry wood from the surrounding forest. It was subtle, but Luna could hear some fatigue creep into the zebra’s voice. “We should also see to clearing the dog’s den of whatever made them capable of doing what they did. There was something in the weapons they used that increased their destructive potential.”

“Dragon bone, most probably, it is unstable when not in contact with dragon blood, but it could be used to achieve the effect we saw. As soon as we get the fire going, I will go with your ponies and retrieve whatever is left. The dogs will not get off easy, as soon as the dragons hear what has been done to one of their own.” Luna glanced in the direction of her sister, glad to see that she had taken it upon herself to deal with Twilight and her friends. Luna really didn’t want to face them right now, not with the two humans in her head and in her alien body. She was more than happy to leave the decision of what to do to her sister.

“The dragon’s buried at the base of the mountain. The dogs only got a few ribs out of it. Also, I think Kamos was hinting for you to mindwipe the fillies tonight, just now. Seems a little 1984:ish to me, but they could end up pretty fucked up if you don’t. They could at least do without having Celestia getting gunned down right in front of them knocking around in their heads.” Smuggler pushed memories of seeing the dragon buried into the forefront of her mind, with jumbled references to a book titled 1984 to give his comment some context. He gave her a moment to process the information, before flooding her mind with pictures and disturbingly vivid memories of something called Boku no Pico, while cackling with glee. He only laughed harder as Priest and Luna both mentally slammed him out of the picture and reduced him into an easily ignored presence somewhere in the darkest corner of her mind.

“You okay, Princess?” Kamos carefully asked as Luna covered her eyes with one hand and let out a defeated sigh as the images refused to subside. She could feel her face heating up in stark contrast to the cool night air and hoped her dark complexion and the poor lighting of the forest hid her blush from anyone that was not right next to her.

“I’m fine, Kamos. The other two souls are just giving me trouble. They say the dogs only got away with a couple of ribs and the rest is buried at the base of the mountain, near the cave.” Luna motioned for Kamos’ ponies to get clear of the impressive pyre they had built and levitated Fenrir’s weight on top of it with a few measured movements of her hands. Now that the Soul Magick keeping the wolf both alive and young had been dismantled, the grey of his fur had given away to a dirty white and his impressive form was both covered in half-healed wounds and clear patches where something had burnt his fur and the skin beneath it. She turned to Kamos to ask for a torch to light the pyre, as any excess magic could set of the lingering magic in the old wolf’s body, but the suspicious look the zebra was giving her made her reconsider.

“The humans had no real agency to what Fenrir did, they only suggested things and handled his aggression the best they could.” Luna made sure to not break eye-contact with Kamos as she explained the situation, to let the zebra’s innate magic see the truth in her words. “You should not concern yourself with them, they are my cross to bear… I mean that they’re my responsibility.”

“I will keep a close eye on you, Princess. If I deem your will to be compromised, I will go to your sister.” Kamos declared, the steel returning to his voice as he knew there were two foreign souls listening to his words. Her slip up of using a human phrase to describe the situation had not gone unnoticed by the zebra. Luna knew the zebra would keep to his word and keep watch on her mental health through any means he had. The humans had a surprising amount of power over her, so such close scrutiny was welcomed, as she did not want to see what the humans wanted to make her do. From all that she’d seen of them and the nature of their animosity toward her, it could very well bring harm to other ponies, or the nation as a whole; all to get to her in some convoluted way.

“I thank you for your service, Kamos… Now, hand me a torch. Any foreign magic on Fenrir’s body could set off the remnants of magic still present. I owe at least this much to the old beast.” Kamos made an imperceptible move with his head and a pegasus appeared next to him with a lit torch in his teeth. Luna stomped over to the pony and grabbed the torch with her new fingers, savoring in the ease of manipulating objects without magic. She felt alien in this new body, but she could see how having hands would ease her daily life considerably.

Luna walked over to Fenrir’s pyre with the lit torch held above her head, pausing to drill the image of the broken beast into her memory. She had driven him into becoming this, to be a machine of war fueled by unending loyalty and mindless anger. The memories of her sins, along with the entity that had committed them, might have been taken away from her, but the consequences were all too real and for her to weather.

“I am sorry for what my foolishness made you into. May you find peace, wherever your spirit roams.” Luna spoke in a reverent tone as she extended her hand over the wood to drop the torch on the dry wood. Her hand refused to unclasp and Priest’s presence grew in her mind.

“You never strayed from the path you thought was true. Your actions were abhorrent, but your creed was selfless.” Priest said with Luna’s lips as the torch still lingered above the wooden pyre built under and around Fenrir’s body.

“You almost made it, Fido. Too bad you were way too insane to be smart about it.” Smuggler cut in, as Priest’s presence was fading and Luna’s involuntary death grip on the torch was loosening. She was finally able to let go of the torch and she took a few hurried steps back from it. She had the image of the pyre bursting into flames violently superimposed in her mind by Smuggler and she really didn’t like the feeling of the two humans overriding her control of her body like that. The wood did catch the flames, but it was a gradual and wholly dull affair, the high flames eventually obscuring Fenrir’s form, apart from the occasional discoloration the flames from the residual magic.

Fenrir received a warrior’s funeral, no matter the transgressions he committed toward the end of his life.

Author's Note:

I'll get to this later. Took a while, though. Work and shit.

Comments

[DerpedRainbow]

“The humans had no real agency to what Fenrir did, they only suggested things and handled ”

Handled the explosives I presume. Would suck to be blown up after getting everything set to kill Sun Butt.

[Bazing]

Boku no Pico

Do not mention that abomination of an anime again

[ChronoMitsurugi]

4569855
Boku no Pico.

Ah the return of the why boner...

...with a vengeance.