• Published 15th Jul 2019
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The Centurion Project - TheEighthDayofNight



Elias "Rubrum Aquilae" Bright, the former leader of the Legio I Americana, on the run from his past, finds himself thrown into the conflicts of Equestria.

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Chapter 10: Making Friends

Journal Entry

Day 2019

It finally happened! Thirty people! I found thirty whole people! This isn’t just some stray, they all stick together, and they already know how to fight! I tried to get closer yesterday, but they have a few firearms, so they shot at me, probably thought I was some sort of raider or other animal. If they only knew. We’re near an old town for the night, and they even have the discipline to cover their campfire, they’re perfect! I’m going to try approaching them noisy like at dawn. Tristan always tells me to approach people with open hands, I really hope I can get them to the community. 30 people! That’s almost as much as I’ve found in the last month! I really hope I can make friends with these people, can’t tackle the world alone! I know, I’ve tried.

Elias sat alone at what he called lunch, but what most of the ponies called mid-meal. Exactly at midnight, and noon, the entirety of the guard went off shift for an hour, all packing into the massive room that made up the mess hall. Elias thought it would be massively inefficient and slow, but the cooks always matched the rapid influx of guards, feeding the long lines within minutes. The food was always hot, and always tailored to the needs of whoever it was given to. Before Elias sat a half-eaten plate of spaghetti, a meal he had become quickly familiar with. Since most of their more exotic foods required hay, Elias usually had something simple; pasta, a lettuce-based salad, and occasionally a plate of meat. Pasta was the most common however, since ponies ate the exact same ingredients. In truth, it was always good, but Elias wished he could eat something more diverse. A long untouched part of his mind wondered if they could make hotdogs. Elias pictured a pony pressing a dozen mystery meats into one link of sausage, then shook his head. A steak was one thing, but ground meats were entirely different.

In his hands, Elias was re-reading a book on the short, but evidently brutal, Nightmare Wars. It was one of the only periods of great physical turmoil in all of Equestria’s written history. Thousands of years passed without war, and Elias, despite his studious disposition, quickly found himself bored trying to learn it all. It didn’t help that the copies that Sparkle had given him included useless information, such as the price of peaches during a few centuries of peach shortages, during which time apples made a rise to power as Equestria’s number one fruit. Elias really wished he didn’t know that. He took another bite of his spaghetti, savoring a chunk of tomato that waited in the sauce. If he had known what was coming, he wouldn't have taken a bite at all.

“Hey Red!” Night Flash shouted across the mess hall.

Elias inhaled quickly, and as a result, the treasonous tomato lodged itself in his windpipe. Elias shoved the book from his lap as he bent over, slamming his fist into his armored chest. That was the reason. He had always wondered why the ponies took off their armor to eat, and now he was learning firsthand why. The steel was blocking his attempts to dislodge the demon fruit in his throat. As Elias sent a damning curse to tomato crops everywhere, he felt a hoof slam into his back. The red fruit from hell hit his plate, and Elias dragged in a ragged breath as he coughed loudly. Night Flash poked his head into view as he patted Elias’ back. Concern was written clearly on the pony’s face. Elias glared at him.

“First, thanks for that. Second, why the fuck did you call me that Night Flash?”

The pegasus cocked his head.

“I thought Red was your name, because of the big mark you have on your back. I assumed it wasn’t a cutie mark, but you never know.”

Upon hearing Red used as his name again, Elias ran a hand through his hair. While choking, his brain had temporarily forgotten, but now it hit him in a wave. Elias felt his vision blur, and heard an immense ringing in his ears. The concern on Night Flash’s face deepened.

“Are you all right? Was it something I did?” the pony asked.

Elias held up a finger.

“J-just…”

He took hold of his functions for a single moment to say;

“Give me a second. I need to freak out.”

Then his head was hidden in his arms. Elias panted violently as his eyes darted around the now dark space. The ringing became whispering, tinged with distant screams. His hands felt sticky, and he felt overwhelmingly hot. He bit his lip as he tried not to cry out in pain. His legs were on fire, and he could smell the burning hair. Liquid rolled down his arms, it was in his hair, on his face. He could taste the blood…

Like a bucket of cold water, it all vanished. The blood he tasted was from where he was biting into his lip. His hands were hot and sweaty, so was his neck. That’s what was running down his back and arms. The rest wasn’t real. It simply wasn’t. Elias took a deep breath and looked around. It was darker than his arms could have made. To his right something fuzzy pressed against his side. A quick look saw Night Flash staring back, watching him intently. Elias blinked once.

“W- what happened?”

“I saw you eating and said hi, using the name Red. You responded in shock and began choking, which I helped fix. You then asked why I used the name again, and I made the mistake of saying it again. You then said you had to freak out and curled up. You looked panicked, so I covered and am still covering you with my wings.”

Elias looked up, and confirmed that, indeed, wings were causing the darkness around him. Elias took another breath.

“I didn’t do anything else?” he asked.

Night Flash shook his head.

“Nope. You just started whispering to yourself and started sweating. That’s it.”

Elias nodded. He took a few more breaths to ensure that he was back being mentally stable, then looked back at Night Flash.

“Sorry about that. That name used to… It was bad. It’s been a very long time since I’ve heard it.”

“What should I call you then?” Night Flash asked. “I’m sorry assumed, I’ll ask next time, but for now, is Bright okay?”

Elias thought for a second. He couldn’t do this every time he heard one of the most common colors in existence. He needed to be desensitized, and maybe Night Flash was just the pony to do it.

“No,” Elias said. “I want you to call me Red. I need to get past this, and the only way to do that is to hear it every single day from somebody I’m beginning to trust.”

Elias looked at Night Flash.

“Only you get to call me Red though. If anyone else does it, shut them down. I’m taking a big personal step allowing you to do it, and I won’t let just anyone say that name. Okay?”

Night Flash nodded and smiled.

“You got it Red.”

Elias flinched, but he kept control this time. Whether that was because he just finished a panic attack, or because he had allowed himself to be comfortable and let Night Flash in a little, Elias didn’t know. Still, it was a start.

“Thanks for this Flash.” Elias said pointing up to the wings still covering the pair.

The pony nodded and smiled.

“That’s what friends are for.”

Elias and Night Flash sat up, with the pegasus tucking his wings back under his armor. Almost as an afterthought, Elias slugged the pony in the shoulder. When he gasped in pain and looked to Elias, Elias pointed a finger at him.

“That’s for making me freak out.”

He then surprised the both of them by giving the pony a quick two second hug.

“And that’s for having my back.”

Night Flash rubbed his shoulder, but smiled widely, his goofy grin spreading across his face. Elias grimaced in response, trying to resume his attitude as the big mean human. It didn’t help that they had an audience. Night Flash plopped down next to Elias while the other three ponies took seats across the table, with all three staring at Elias. Night Flash smiled brightly.

“Red, meet my friends, Ice Blossom, Scarlet Shield, and Book Binder!”

The first two, a pair of pegasi; one with red fur and a brown mane, and the other with light blue fur and a white mane, glared at Elias. The third, a unicorn with light green fur and a red-violet mane, looked at Elias curiously. Night Flash smiled at Elias.

“We’ve been friends since training! They’re the best ponies I know!”

Elias rolled his jaw. He wanted to snap at the pegasi that were giving him a death glare, but decided not to, extending his hand to Book Binder.

“Elias.”

She smiled widely and shook his hand.

“Book Binder. Night Flash hasn’t stopped talking about you for the past two days.”

Elias side-eyed the pegasus who seemed suddenly interested in his food.

“Anything good?”

Book Binder snorted.

“Only good. From your fighting styles, to your weapons, to your help with White Shine. Thanks for that by the way. We all have issues with that bully, and we can’t touch him because of his family connections.”

The center pegasus, Scarlet Shield stopped glaring at Elias for a second, turning to Night Flash.

“Wait, this is the guy you were talking about? I thought you were talking about a weird pony, or a gryphon or something, not this…” his voice trailed off as he noticed Elias watching him.

The human motioned for the pony to continue.

“Well go on, I would love to hear what people think about me. Tells me the kind of reputation I need to uphold.”

Elias waited silently as the pony stammered for an answer. The pony ducked his head down and wisely began to eat his food. Elias nodded.

“Right.”

Elias reached under the table to grab his fallen book. The table fell into an awkward silence as the ponies ate, each now pointedly looking away from Elias, save for Night Flash who was munching happily. Elias supposed the pegasus was happy with baby steps.

Elias began to read again, picking up where he left off, particularly the difference in battle strategy between the Equestrian and Nightmare forces. According to the book, Nightmare Moon, a figure Elias needed to research more about later, was the superior strategist, outmaneuvering Celestia with smaller, more maneuverable forces. She won every battle, inflicting horrible losses on the princess, yet Celestia had numbers at her back. Elias drew a comparison between the Equestrian history and the story of Hannibal of Carthage. Hannibal rarely lost a battle, but he had no way to get more troops, while the Romans threw army after army at him. The same thing had happened to Nightmare Moon. Eventually, Celestia had turned the tables and had ambushed Nightmare Moon, using some kind of weapon to drive the pony away. The book said that Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon, but Elias attributed it to dramatic flair. The author seemed to take quite a few narrative liberties, especially at the part where it said Nightmare Moon was gone for a thousand years. That just seemed silly.

Elias then stopped reading and looked around him. He was currently sitting in a room full of talking, magical ponies. Silly had nothing to do with it. Elias nudged Night Flash, who was slurping away at a particularly long pasta noodle. The pony stopped mid-swallow, and looked to where Elias was pointing on the page.

“That isn’t true, is it?” Elias asked.

Night Flash sucked in the rest of the noodle, smacking his lips in satisfaction before he answered.

“It’s true alright!” Flash said. “Princess Luna came back after a thousand-year banishment, fought the Elements of Harmony, then got blasted! All of the evil left her, and now she’s back to being a princess like the old days!”

Elias stared at the pony.

“That would imply that both Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna are well over a thousand years old.”

Flash nodded.

“Yup! Alicorns live for a really long time. If I remember grade school right, it’s because of all of the magic they require to raise the sun and moon. Nopony really knows how old they are, but most ponies just assume they’re immortal.”

Elias sighed and closed the book, setting it on the table.

“And there goes my sanity again. Nothing here makes sense.” Elias scratched at his eyebrow as he rested his head in his hands, glaring at the book. “And I am clearly not reading the right material to get educated.”

Elias watched with dulled fascination as the book was lifted in a mint green aura. While it was interesting to watch magic function up close, Elias was quickly growing tired of not understanding it. The thought had crossed his mind to abandon any area of study that involved magic, but evidently all areas of study involved magic. Book Binder floated the book in front of her eyes, then tutted as she inspected the cover.

“Well here’s your issue; sompony in that library gave you an ancient tactics book when what you need is a non-pony basics primer.”

She rifled through her saddle bags, and Elias quickly found two books floating in front of him. One looked relatively normal; A Non-Equestrian Guide for All Things Equestrian. The second book however, looked like something he used to find in abandoned day-cares, complete with rainbow colored unicorns on the face. Gingerly, Elias took both of the books, setting down the one he was actually likely to read, while he turned the bright pink one around.

“Really? What is this for, three-year old’s?”

Book Binder shrugged.

“Basically. I borrowed it from my baby cousin. It’s got some useful things in it though. I can’t imagine you’ve gotten a proper school education since you’ve been here, so it might help you catch up.”

Elias opened his mouth to reply, but he just sighed and flipped the book back around before setting it on top of the guidebook.

“Thanks.” He said with a dead voice. He extended his hand, motioning for the tactics book. “I’d like that back though. It’s a great read save for the parts I lack context for.”

Book Binder seemed a bit shocked.

“You’re the one who chose this out?” she asked, passing the book to Elias.

The man nodded.

“Yep. It helps me put things into perspective. I studied a great deal of different military tactics some time ago. Greek, Roman, Celtic, Germanic, the works. It’s how I learned my ancestral history, I thought it would work here too.” He arranged the books into a stack, intentionally obscuring the child’s book. “But, unfortunately, as all things seem to work in this place, knowledge of magic is required to some degree.”

Elias spread his hands.

“Clearly I am lacking severely in that department being a non-magical creature.”

Scarlet Shield seemed to perk up slightly. For the first time since he had started eating, his head rose, looking at Elias.

“You like studying military tactics? How do the armies on your world fight?”

Elias felt Night Flash shift nervously. He looked over to pony, who was watching him intently. Technically speaking, that was a violation of rule number one, but Elias really didn’t care. Night Flash was biting his lip, as if Elias was a hand grenade, waiting to go off at the slightest provocation. Elias pretended for a moment that that wasn’t the case, and answered the question. Fighting was a subject he enjoyed talking about. Certain fights however…

“Depends where and when. I’ll stick to the historical period most similar to Equestria. My personal favorite, the Romans, fought in long shield walls with heavy armor. It’s where I actually take all of my fighting techniques from.”

And then he was off. Twilight had wanted to know about human culture; music, food and art. His focus areas, Roman oration and combat, were barely touched. Now Elias felt like he could actually talk about something. It helped that his audience seemed to become more in awe with every question answered. Elias and Scarlet Shield practically fed off each other’s excitement, with each ancient battle strategy bringing about more questions. Elias talked about what strategies worked and what strategies didn’t. He talked about the massive armies and the even more massive battles that spanned the Mediterranean Sea.

Lunch ended far too soon. Even as they disposed of their trash and collected their gear Scarlet Shield and Elias talked back and forth, with the pony asking lightning fast questions while Elias gave abridged answers, with the promise for the full versions when they had time. As they began to part ways, Elias found himself unwilling to tear himself away from the conversation. Only at the prodding of Night Flash did he shut up with a final wave to Scarlet, who seemed just as uneager to stop as the human was.

As Night Flash and Elias walked to their post for the night, Elias felt a bit… springy. He felt lighter in step, and for once Elias caught an honest smile that remained on his face for more than second. It had been a very long time since that had happened. As soon as he realized the fact, his temporarily dormant paranoia reared its nasty head, and Elias felt the mood slip away. A dozen suspicious thoughts sprang to the forefront of his mind, and while he could tell that he was being ridiculous, he couldn't drive the thoughts away. Was he being used for strategical information? Was this all a ruse to get the secrets of humanity out of him? The ponies had seemed almost antagonistic at the beginning of the meal, yet by the end one had him practically spilling his guts.

As he and Night Flash assumed their posts, Elias frowned, feeling more than a little bit confused as the two voices in his head warred with each other.

*****

The end of that shift found Elias pacing in his room. Back and forth, back and forth. Standing completely still for six more hours had done nothing to help his paranoia, and now it was back in full force. He eyed the mattress to his bed, underneath which his journals were hidden. He had been re-reading old entries to make sure he stayed on his toes, but he couldn’t remember if any of the entries were about trust. A memory of blood flashed in his mind, and Elias quickly shoved it away. Every time he had been betrayed; he had lost his mind. He doubted that anything coherent could be found in those entries, certainly nothing that would help him now.

Elias felt the presence as soon as it appeared in his room, and he scoffed loudly when he saw Other-Elias sitting calmly on his bed.

“Great, now you show up. Where were you earlier?”

Other-Elias cocked his head.

“Trying to make sure you didn’t do something stupid. If you haven’t noticed, you seem to lack full control over your emotions.”

Elias stopped momentarily to glare at Other-Elias before he resumed his pacing.

“And I wonder why that is,” Elias said.

Other-Elias smirked.

“Maybe if you would just listen to me once in your life, we might not be having these issues.”

“I tried listening to you once, a lot of people died. A lot of friends,” Elias replied.

Other-Elias scowled.

“There is no way to anticipate the actions of cowards. I gave you all the information I had and made a decision based on that. How was I supposed to know that-…”?

“Don’t you dare speak that bastard’s name!” Elias bellowed .

The specter raised his hands.

“Fine, fine. I had no way of knowing that would happen. Blaming us for counting on him is like blaming yourself for falling into that damn light show and ending up here. There was no way to predict what would happen.”

“I’m shocked that you aren’t happy we fell face into an anomaly with a gaping chest wound. You seemed keen to make light of the situation a few weeks ago.”

Other-Elias sighed.

“Look, I understand the paranoia; being unnaturally suspicious kept us alive and safe for a while, but the evidence is clear that you don’t need to think like that anymore! Look around us Elias! We’ve been in the same room for nearly a month and nothing significant has happened. Sure, we’ve had minor lows, but look at all the ups! Food that is hot and provided three times a day, no charge. We have new equipment that requires less maintenance. We have all the books we could ever want. We have a bed and a room, and both are in no danger of collapsing into a filth ridden pile of rot.” Other-Elias pointed to the bathroom. “I don’t think I have to mention the fully functioning heated shower. I don’t know about you, but bathing in mud puddles again does not sound like a good time to me.”

Elias growled in frustration.

“But what if it’s all a game? You know what we have in our head. We have enough knowledge to let them figure out modern weaponry. Jumping from gunpowder to nuclear armaments would take them a few years max! What if this is all a bid to get human military technology to… to…”

“To what?” Other-Elias laughed in disbelief. “Elias, they have a grand total of one war in their history books. One. It shouldn’t even count because it was a civil war. The ponies solve all of their problems with diplomacy. Why should we be any different?”

Elias glared at the man.

“We’re a problem that needs solved now?”

Other-Elias looked at him with a deadpan expression.

“We wouldn’t be having this conversation if we were anything less than a problem that needed solved. Even in the end times, people who talked to themselves like this were considered madmen. Just because we mostly have a handle on it doesn’t make it better. We’re clinically unstable, at best.”

Elias silently mouthed his words in a mocking manner. When Other-Elias simply crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, Elias clamped his mouth shut.

“All right then mastermind, how do we go about this? We what, trust them with our very soul?”

Other-Elias shrugged.

“I don’t see why we can’t continue like the end of lunch today. The rules you made are pretty solid, just stick to those. Let everything we like talking about be free game.”

Elias shook his head and turned away as he changed his pacing pattern, pacing between the bathroom and the front door.

“No, no. What if I let important stuff slip? What if I let them in too close and they get killed? We lost our mind last time, hell, every time we lost somebody important. If that happens here…”

Other-Elias sighed.

“You are really over thinking this Elias.”

From nowhere came a piece of paper and a pen. Other-Elias drew out a quick sketch on his lap.

“Here’s what you need to do, plan the battlefield, write it down if you have to. Plan out a conversation in detail, leave nothing untouched. Build a castle of subjects and stories that we like. Set them up in a maze that would take a master to work through. Each gate passed should be darker than the next. Start with the surface level stuff; cultural stuff, army logistics, everything. Then make the interior of the keep about the end times and the wasteland. A bit nastier and more personal, but still just the surface.”

Elias stopped pacing and stared at the page in Other-Elias’ hands. Unable to read it upside down, he moved to the bed, sitting beside the man as he watched over his shoulder. Other-Elias continued, shading the “keep” in.

“After that, move on to atrocities; this is where you test their mettle. If they can listen without reacting too severely, then you make the decision to let them in closer, but if they get emotional in a way we don’t like, shut the gates, draw closed the bridges and leave them stranded. Keep them outside where it’s safe, then we know for certain that they won’t survive being our friend and we can cut emotional ties early.”

Other-Elias handed the pen and the finished drawing over to Elias. Once in his hands, the image became clearer, as did the lists associated with each fortification. He had set up a multilayered castra, with each wall consisting of a list of subjects that he could man the barricade with. Elias twirled the pen in his right hand.

“I guess that works. But what happens if someone makes it all the way in-…”

Elias looked up to find that he was alone. His right hand was stained with ink, largely due to the quill he was spinning in his fingers. The paper was clear though, his handwriting labeling his social battle strategy out in detail. Elias sighed. It could work. He needed to make sure he was read up so he could hold a two-way conversation, rather than the semi-lecture he had shared with Scarlet Shield. Elias frowned, wandering over to his desk. On it sat the books Binder had given him. Part of a friendship was mutual trust, right? His instincts said yes, trust in others judgement was a positive.

Elias picked up the primer, thumbing it open briefly as he checked the reading level. It was largely pictureless, and the words were about the standard for a dime-novel. With the thickness of the book, Elias set it aside. He would need a few days and likely intense study to fully grasp whatever the book held. That left the other book.

Elias made sure his door was locked, and then barricaded before he even touched the frilly pink book. Why he was having such an adverse reaction to the book, he did not know. He had once worn a shirt made entirely out of cut up dresses and sun hats for three months, how could a children’s book be his mental match?

Elias scowled, shoving away his trepidation. Stopping only to wipe his hand free of ink, Elias quickly snatched up the book, opening the cover to the first page as he walked back to his bed. He was surprised to find that it had a table of contents.

A Pony’s Guide to Making Friends

Chapter 1: Starting out

Chapter 2: Trust

Chapter 3: Boundaries

Chapter 4: How to handle rough patches

Chapter 5: The importance of forgiveness

Chapter 6: Friendship is Magic

Elias shook his head at the last chapter title. If that wasn’t the most cheesiest line he had ever read. He had half a mind to toss the book back on the desk and be done for the day, but the now large voice in the back of his mind poked at him to at least read a chapter. Elias sighed, standing up to grab a sheet of paper and another quill. If he was going to suffer, he had to take notes so that he would only read it once.

*****

Elias rubbed at his eyes. He checked his watch; still thirty minutes before his shift began. What should have taken him less than hour had instead turned into an all-day project. A stack of notes sat on the desk at his side, covered front and back with comments and ideas for further areas of study. He had read through what he had termed the “friendship” book at least seven times now, each time combing through it carefully, noting minor details that he needed to clarify through questions or other sources. Overall, Elias felt overwhelmed. Pony society seemed so simple on the surface. Elias had thought human societal norms would apply, but he was incredibly wrong.

As he had gone through the friendship book, he had used the primer as a constant cross-reference, both answering questions while raising hosts of new ones. When he thought he understood a social norm, suddenly it was different for each type of pony. He had believed had almost figured it all out until he hit that sixth chapter. Then magic came into play, and Elias dove straight off the cliff, hitting the bottom of a well that would take him days of reading to climb out of.

On top of that, a migraine had begun to form somewhere around noon and hadn’t retreated. Elias had tried to walk away from the reading, but the pressure behind his eyes continued to build. It eventually spread to his nose and throat, and Elias found himself blowing his nose and coughing, which only seemed to make the headache worse.

With a groan, Elias checked his watch again. Fifteen minutes till he needed to be in the main guard room. He pushed back from the desk, standing up quickly. Too quickly. The room swam and Elias had to grip the desk to keep his balance. A cough wracked his chest. Elias growled as he tried to ignore whatever his body was trying to tell him. He attributed it to his lack of sleep and staggered to his armor stand. Quickly donning the armor and sword belt, Elias scooped up his shield and a single pilla, sliding it into a sheathe as he left his room.

Elias began to sweat profusely as he approached the guard room. He had to wipe his brow several times to keep it dry. His tunic was so drenched with sweat that it clung to his chest, almost as if he had been swimming. His shield felt heavy in his hand, like it had been loaded down with lead. Elias blinked rapidly as he tried to clear his vision.

Elias stumbled as he reached the guard room doorway, clinging to the frame with his open hand. His legs shook, and Elias felt aches in his elbows that he was sure weren’t there before. He leaned against the doorway for a second as he caught his breath. Once he felt slightly, but not really better, Elias pushed off the frame and walked into the guard room, looking for the closest seat possible. Luckily, Night Flash was a step ahead of him. The pegasus waved, smiling as he and Book Binder sat in the very first row, with a single seat saved for Elias. Elias gave a half-wave back, then did his best not to stumble about as he walked the few steps to the seat. He pulled the chair out far enough to sit in, then flopped down, taking off his helmet and setting it on the desk before him. Elias then leaned his elbows against the desk as he held his head. The pressure was reaching a peak, hammering away furiously at his forehead. He felt something touch his arm, looking over to find Night Flash looking at him with concern.

“Are you all right Red? You’re looking kind of pale.”

Elias nodded in response, opening his mouth to answer. Instead of words, a long, ragged cough tore through his chest, and Elias quickly found himself struggling to breathe as he covered his mouth with his hand. The hoof shifted from his arm to his back as Night Flash gave him pats to try and relieve the coughing. It eventually stopped, and Elias blinked dumbly as he stared at a spattering of blood in his palm. He quickly rubbed it on his tunic and sat up, hiding the hand under the desk. He swallowed roughly, tasting iron in his mouth as he looked at Night Flash. The pegasus was frowning.

“Are you all right? You look like you’ve come down with something. There’s no shame in taking a day off if you got sick.”

Elias shook his head. He was feeling slightly better after the coughing. His chest felt a bit looser, and while the headache was still getting worse, he felt substantially cooler.

“I’m fine,” Elias responded. “I just need to get to work, and I’ll be right as rain.”

As soon as Elias finished speaking, another bout of coughing welled up in his chest. His eyes and nose streamed as he fought to breathe once more. Elias cursed silently at his body. It wasn’t enough that he was barely functioning mentally, his body had decided today was the day to give up the ghost? Elias swore up and down at his rotten luck. If he was going to die of nothing at all, he really wished it had happened a long time ago, not when he had an opportunity to get himself together. Elias clamped down on his stomach as he felt bile rising his throat. Whether this was a new symptom, or just a result of the coughing, he had no idea, but he would not be vomiting today. Especially not with almost the entirety of the Lunar Guard watching. While Elias didn’t care about their opinions of him, he wasn’t going to open himself to ridicule.

With supreme effort, Elias was able to stop coughing for a moment, taking short breaths through his nose to avoid irritating his throat and chest further. He cleared his throat aggressively, rolling the mucus up and down as he tried to remedy the sudden ailments. Night Flash looked like he was going to ask if Elias was okay again, but at that moment Nightshade walked in.

The entirety of the Lunar Guard shot to their feet, and stood at a rigid attention, save for Elias, who swayed as if pushed by a breeze. Being at the front did him no favors for hiding his condition, and being the only human in the room likely didn’t help either. Nightshade stopped directly in front of the man, scowling at him.

“Guardsman Bright, nice to see you’re on time, but frankly, you look like you slept in Tartarus yesterday. Is there a good reason you cannot stand at an appropriate attention?”

Elias cleared his throat for a final time, trying to make his voice sound normal but failing miserably.

“No reason at all Captain. Just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night,” he rasped.

Night Flash cleared his throat as well, drawing Nightshade’s attention.

“I think Guardsman Bright is sick Captain. He’s been coughing something fierce and he came in all sweaty and stumble-y.”

Elias growled, letting the flash of irritation he felt at Night Flash carry away a bit of the pain from his headache.

“I’m fine. Guardspony Flash doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It’s just exhaustion, nothing I haven’t dealt with before. I can still do my job.”

Nightshade looked at him with a deadpan stare.

“Bright, you can’t stand straight, and you haven’t stood straight since I got here. Flash, take him to the Doc to get checked out. It might have something to do with that nasty looking gash on his arm.”

Elias shook his head in denial as Night Flash began to move to pull him to the infirmary.

“I said I’m fine,” he asserted forcefully. “A cough and a headache aren’t enough to stop me from doing anything.”

Nightshade exhaled heavily.

“All right Guardsman, if this is the game you want to play. Stand before me on the floor and we’ll test if you’re “fine”.”

Elias shoved the seat back with his legs, and then took a few confident steps to get around the desk. On the third step, he was on his knees, vomiting violently on the floor. It was initially yellow in color, but the second heave brought out a torrent of red. Elias tasted more iron in his mouth, and he heard several ponies call out for a healer. He tried to push himself up on his hands, but his legs gave out, the weakness returning. Instead of pushing himself to his feet, Elias collapsed completely onto his side. His hand spasmed before his eyes, and his vision quickly blurred before he fell away into blackness.

*****

Blackness met him when he woke up. Elias couldn’t open his eyes. For a split second, he panicked, wondering if falling had made him blind. Only when he rubbed his eye lids and felt a thick film of crust did he realize that they were simply still shut. He quickly scraped the crust from both of his eyes, opening them slowly. The familiar ceilings of the infirmary met his tired eyes. Elias groaned and tried to sit up, only for a firm pair of hooves to gently push him back down. Looking to his left, Elias saw Steel Scalpel. He flinched when he met the unicorn’s eyes, and for a second he didn’t know why. Then he remembered. Scalpel evidently did too, because his ears drooped, and he looked down. Elias tried to say something, but the only thing that escaped his throat was a dry cough. Scalpel sat up, lifting a cup of water with a straw to Elias’ mouth.

“Drink. You need to keep your fluids up,” Scalpel said gently.

Elias accepted the water without protest, drinking as fast as the straw would allow. Once the glass was empty, Elias released the straw and Scalpel floated it to rest on top of the nightstand. He then fluffed out Elias’ pillow, gently prodding the man to lay back. Elias did so silently, trying to get a bearing on his situation. His entire body hurt; not in the familiar over exhaustion manner either. It felt like he had been drained of every liquid he had and was left a dried-out husk filled with meat and bones. He looked over to Scalpel, who was still watching him with sad eyes.

“What happened?” Elias asked, his voice barely above a scratchy whisper.

“You passed out in the guard room after vomiting up an unhealthy amount of blood,” Scalpel responded simply. “That was two days ago. You’ve been here since.”

Elias closed his eyes, shutting out the light for a second. Using more than one sense at a time hurt right now.

“Why?”

Scalpel exhaled deeply.

“It’s complicated. Let’s start with the obvious; you haven’t been sleeping well, and Night Flash indicated that you pulled an all-nighter before the incident. Is that true?”

Elias nodded silently.

“Your body was already in desperate need of rest Elias. You’ve been pushing yourself physically every night and you haven’t been getting enough rest during the day. Staying up all day simply forced your body to start shutting down. That’s just the first cause, yet it’s more than enough to kill some ponies.”

Elias monitored weakly for him to continue.

“I’ve been having sleeping issues for years; I know it wasn’t that. What else?”

Scalpel sighed.

“The book you spent the entire night reading was coated in live Pony Flu cells. Normally it only affects children of all races. Everyone gets it once and then they’re immune for life. Your immune system was completely free of antibodies to it, so it attacked with vigor. Being exhausted made your response weaker than it should have been, and finally, your body was already busy trying to fight a different infection.”

Elias opened his eyes when he felt Scalpel reach across his chest to tap on his right arm, and more specifically, the now healed scar that ran down it. Because he had nowhere to hide the limb, Elias turned away from Scalpel, unwilling to meet the pony’s eyes. The unicorn sighed again.

“Elias… Why didn’t you come in for this? This could have killed you given long enough. You were at risk of blood poisoning, and if you had gotten the flu a day later your immune system would have been too compromised to function. What should have been a series of minor inconveniences turned into something very real, and…”

Scalpel stopped, and Elias heard the pony whimper. The pony buried his muzzle in his hooves as he cried.

“Oh Celestia, it’s my fault,” the pony sobbed. “I yelled at you for coming in and I almost got you killed.”

Elias felt a twinge in his chest, and it took a prod from the voice at the back of his head to realize it wasn’t a physical twinge. Maybe it was the delirium, but Elias reached out a hand toward Scalpel, an idea forming shakily in his head. The pony stopped instantly when Elias began scratching him lightly behind the ear.

“Isn’t your fault Doc,” Elias said softly. “I shouldn’t have been getting banged up so often. I put too much pressure on you.”

Scalpel sniffed, rubbing his nose as he looked at Elias’ chest.

“It wasn’t about the stupid injuries for you though. Sure, you got hurt and sure you needed help, but primarily, you were here to talk to me. You were reaching out in your own way, and how did I respond? By blowing up at you. I drove away your first attempt to make a friend. It is absolutely my fault.”

Elias noticed that the pony made no move to stop the ear scratching. If anything, Scalpel seemed to relax more and more as Elias continued. Interesting information. He could use that later for… Elias stopped himself mentally. For what? For once, no voices snapped back at him. Both the voice in the back of his head, as well as the voice in the center were silent. It had been years since he had felt alone in his own head, even for a moment. It felt… clean. Like he wasn’t sharing it with a pair of rabid dogs anymore. His thoughts, at least for the moment, came from just him. Those thoughts told him that running wasn’t an option anymore. His grand plan to live alone in some forest shelter didn’t mesh with how he felt now. He had no plan. No contingency for the future, no wall to throw up in the face of life. Life that he had the opportunity, right now, to change for himself. He hoped for the better. There was only one way to find out.

Elias stopped scratching behind Scalpel’s ears, and the pony looked up at him.

“I think…” Elias paused, nervousness popping up for a second. He quickly ran through what he wanted to say, then, confident in his course, continued. “I think we shouldn’t lay blame here Doc. What happened happened, and I think we should just move on.”

Scalpel sniffed again.

“You don’t blame me?” he asked.

Elias smiled slightly, then resumed scratching the pony’s ears. Unknowingly, Scalpel cooed softly, bending into Elias’ hand. Elias made a mental note. He would need to do more research to make sure this wasn’t seen as a romantic act; he didn’t want to send to wrong message. Still, it felt right, and he had a strong feeling the friendly message got across.

“Not at all. I’d like to ask a favor though.”

Scalpel sighed and smiled, his eyes closing.

“Anything. I want to make it up to you for yelling at you. You were hurting and I just got so mad that you kept getting hurt. I should have talked to you about it, and I can’t express how sorry I am for that, and I hope you can forgive me.”

“I will if you’ll be my friend,” Elias responded.

Scalpel’s eyes opened, and he put a hoof on Elias’ arm, gently pushing away the hand from his ears.

“A-are you sure? I-I don’t want to intrude, and I know I hurt you by…”

Elias just smiled silently at Scalpel and the pony’s voice tapered off. Scalpel slowly smiled back, and Elias saw tears on the corners of his eyes.

“Okay Elias. Friends it is.”

The unicorn shifted nervously for a second, and Elias rolled his eyes. He opened his arm.

“Get it over with you fuzzy monstrosity.”

Scalpel smiled, and like a cat, he carefully pounced on Elias, landing mostly on the bed, but still wrapping Elias in a hug. Elias scoffed, trying to deny how nice the hug felt.

“I swear, everybody has been staring at me with that look in their eyes for weeks.”

Scalpel stepped back, hopping off the bed and returning to his seat.

“It’s pony nature to try and hug someone that looks unhappy. If friendship wasn’t magic, I would imagine that hugs would be.”

Elias grimaced as if in pain and rolled over onto his side, facing away from the pony.

“All right, that’s enough niceness for a lifetime. I’m going back to being a violent, anti-social human.”

Scalpel smiled at his back.

“It’s too late Elias. We’ve gotten our hugs in you now. First, we make friends with you and give you hugs, then we find you a special somepony to cuddle with. Before you know it, you’ll be a healthy, happy member of Equestria.”

Elias groaned and tried to cover his ears.

“I should punch you. I should throw this bed out of that window and jump. I feel like I should fight a bear just to compensate for what you just said. You can’t possibly make this day any lamer.”

Elias swore he could hear Scalpel smirk.

“Maybe not, but I know two ponies who can. They should be arriving any minute now.”

As he said that, the door to the infirmary slammed open. Elias looked over his shoulder and saw Book Binder staring at him, her eyes wide. Night Flash was right beside her with the same expression. They both looked like they had just run a few miles in full armor. Elias looked to Scalpel, who smiled back. His horn lit up, and their night guard armor disappeared from their bodies. The pair of ponies didn’t even seem to notice. They simply rushed at him in a flying sprint, pouncing onto the bed. They both chose a side, Binder to his left, and Flash to his right. Unlike Scalpel’s respectful, soft hug that had lasted only a few seconds, these two decided to lock onto Elias, hugging him tightly as they nuzzled into his sides. Elias felt himself flush red as he realized he was unable to maneuver his arms to pry the fuzzy attackers free. He would have to result to diplomacy.

“Get off of me you two!” he growled.

The words had the opposite affect than he had in mind. Both of their grips tightened as Book Binder cried in his ear.

“No! You need hugs! I won’t let you die on us!”

Elias looked helplessly to Night Flash, hoping the pegasus would have common sense or reason. He evidently had neither.

“We won’t let you go Red! I have to break rule two to make sure you’re safe. Our friendship is worth that!”

Elias looked to his last ally in the room.

“Doc! Help me!” he said desperately.

Steel Scalpel smiled.

“Elias, as both your doctor and your friend, I assure you that you are perfectly safe. In fact, this can only help you. It’s best to just accept your situation.”

“You traitor!” Elias shouted back.

As the pair of snuggling ponies settled down, they also both relaxed. Binder tucker herself under his arm, pressing firmly into his side as she set her head under his chin. Night Flash spread his wings out slightly, covering most of Elias’ chest as the pony got comfortable, his muzzle resting next to Elias’ ear. It took the man a second to realize that the maneuver was strategic. Now he couldn’t move his head to glare at either of them. Book Binder’s horn sat dangerously at his throat. It wouldn’t be a threat unless he resisted. The clever bastards.

Elias huffed, blowing a stray piece of hair from his face.

“I am going to ask this calmly once. Please get off, I don’t need to be hugged. I’m fine.”

Elias heard Book Binder sniff softly and he mentally groaned. He had already helped one crying pony today, wasn’t that enough?

“No, you’re not fine Elias,” she whimpered softly. “I gave you a book covered in flu germs. I could have killed you!”

“But you didn’t,” Elias protested. “I just got a little sick, that’s all.”

Book Binder sat up and glared at him with tears in her eyes.

“That’s not the point you big idiot!” she shouted at him. “What kind of friend infects another friend with a deadly virus the first time they meet?” She sniffed and looked down. “I hurt you really badly, and if it weren’t for Night Flash and Doctor Scalpel you might have died.” She sniffed again, wiping at her muzzle as she whimpered; “I’m a terrible pony.”

Elias felt his heart palpitate. This was the most emotional contact he had had in well over a year, and he felt like it was going to overwhelm the strained muscle. If he didn’t already know how soul crushing absolute loneliness could be, he imagined he would wish for it back. That, however, was not an option Elias wanted to take. If he wanted to ensure it didn’t return, he needed friends, and these ponies were his best, and likely only, option. He had to do the right thing, even if it stabbed at a core part of his being.

Book Binder eeped in surprised when Elias grabbed her and pulled her close to his chest. He waited for her to resettle before he spoke, her big eyes watching him intently, still rimmed with tears.

“Let’s start with the obvious Binder; you’re not a terrible pony. You had no way of knowing the book was covered in germs. You said it was your cousin’s, when was she sick with the flu?”

“Three weeks ago,” Book Binder responded softly.

“See, I would think any germs would be dead by then. Either way, aren’t all the adults in Equestria already immune to the Pony Flu?”

She sniffled.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Elias smiled.

“So, do you really think I would blame you for making an honest mistake? I certainly didn’t expect to contract a violent, potentially killer case of the flu overnight. What would my grave read? Here lies Elias Bright, he died because of a pink children’s book?”

Book Binder giggled and smacked him lightly over the head.

“That isn’t funny.” She sighed. “But no. I guess you wouldn’t blame me. I’m still sorry Elias. If just one more thing went wrong, you could have died.”

Elias shrugged.

“You can’t live on ifs. If you sit here all day pondering what could have been, you’ll never move forward.”

Book Binder smiled and nuzzled his ribcage.

“I guess you’re right. Thanks Elias. You are far too nice.”

He groaned loudly.

“Don’t say that. Give me another poison book. Put another arrow in my chest. Anything but calling me nice.”

She giggled.

“You’re the nicest human I’ve ever met,” she said, mocking him. “Standing up to bullies, saying nice things, being so forgiving. You’re a big softy.”

Elias tried to push himself up to run from the soft, kind ponies, almost succeeding as the pair of ponies at his side protested, unable to stop him. The unicorn traitor reared his fuzzy head however, and Elias quickly found himself pinned under three fuzzy ponies, with Steel Scalpel resting calmly on his chest.

“I’ll come for all of you!” Elias growled. “Nowhere will be safe! I’m Elias Bright damnit! That name should inspire fear!”

Night Flash stuck his tongue out at Elias.

“Tough, we only know you as a friend now. And there is nothing you can do to get rid of us.”

Elias smiled at the pony’s words, content to remain silent for a moment. Only when he heard a snore at his side did he realize that he made a mistake. He blinked and looked at the pony on his chest, then to the one at his left, then finally to the one at his right. All three had fallen asleep, smiling in contentment. Elias thought about prodding them awake, then decided against it. He felt wonderfully warm, as if covered by a living blanket. His own eyes drooped, and Elias sighed softly as he let sleep claim him peacefully.

Author's Note:

EDIT 2022: Here is the tenth chapter in the official Centurion Project reading

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