Chapter 11: Continuing the Fight
Name: Princess Celestia
Date: December 10 (August 23 2015)
Location: Canterlot Castle Dining Room
Time: 0800
It had been two days since she had last spoken to Adam. After she had told him about the spell and how long it takes to cast she saw him lose all hope in his eyes. She had feared something like that would happen which was what made her so hesitant in the first place. He hadn't left his room in the past two days according to her guards who periodically check up on him, they didn't have to worry about him trying to escape to hide more of his belongings because they had already taken everything. All his food is brought up to him, but he hardly even touches it besides the water.
From what Luna had told her, he hadn't been sleeping either because Luna could not sense his dreams like she would be any other pony. Celestia felt a mental link connect with her from her sister sitting next to her. She understood why Luna would choose to talk with her mentally and not out in the open. Sitting at the table with them were the six bearers and what they might talk about might worsen their moods, each of them had taken the situation hard in their own way.
Tia, we need to find a way to fix this. He has lost his spirit and I fear if he continues on like this he will slowly kill himself.
I know Lulu, I might have an idea as to how to fix this, but its going to require Twilight and her friends help. They know him the best out of everypony, though I doubt they will be able to relate to his problems, they could at least distract him from them for a while.
Looking at the mares at the table with them, Luna agreed. Celestia then spoke to the others, "Twilight, I would like to ask a favor of you and your friends, if you wouldn't mind."
Twilight looked to her friends, who all nodded in approval before replying, "Anything Princess Celestia, what do you need us to do."
A warm motherly smile formed on Celestia's mouth at the willingness of these six mares to help even without knowing what is being asked of them.
"I require your assistance with Adam. After what transpired a couple of days ago, he has not left his room. Luna and I fear for his health and since his arrival to our country, you six have gotten to know him the best. We ask that you all try to improve his mood and, if possible, help him regain the spirit he has lost, since there is much he can do to help others now that he is here."
"Of course Princess, we would gladly help, especially if it means helping Adam."
With that the six of them stood and left to go and attempt their own plans to help out Adam and get him out of his depression.
There was a knock on Adam's door, there had been a few the past couple of days, though he never answered them. He knew it wasn't the maid bringing his food because that was already sitting in the corner of the room, where it would remain besides the water. He hadn't felt like eating in days but he knew better than to not have something so he always drank the water even if he didn't want to. The knocking continued.
Maybe if I ignore them they will just go away like the rest.
This didn't appear to be working, because it only seemed to continue but steadily at a faster pace than the last set before long it just became a steady stream of knocks. Finally forcing him out of the chair that was facing the window, the one he had been sitting in for the past few days, and went to go tell off the person at the door. Opening the door he found none other than the pink menace that was top on his list of ponies he did not want to see that day. Knowing exactly what to do he slammed the door in her face, then opened it again, see that she wasn't there anymore and stepped out and closed the door behind himself. When the door had closed he heard the sound of something slamming into it and falling to the floor from the other side followed by an "Ouch" from Pinkie Pie.
Not wanting to stand around just for her to open the door and begin her never ending hyperactive speech, he started walking down a random hall that lead away from his room and more importantly her. He didn't make it far from his room before he came across another mare he didn't want to see that day, Rarity. When she saw him come around a corner she let out a loud gasp.
"Darling you look absolutely dreadful."
He really didn't need her to tell him that, he knew that already. His eyes were horribly bloodshot with dark bags under them, from lack of sleep, while his mane was messy and unkempt. His uniform looked as if he had tried to put it on in the dark with only one hoof, and could use some cleaning.
"Come with me, we must fix this at once."
Before he could protest she started to drag him down the hall with her magic, leading them straight to her room.
"I was waiting to give this to you but now is just as good as later," she said as she levitated a parcel over to him.
Opening it up he found the new uniform he had asked her to make for him to wear. Feeling the material, he found that it matched the one he was currently wearing and the camo design matched the description he had given to her.
"Thank you Rarity, I know ya went out of your way to make this for me especially when we have only known each other for about a week now. There are not a lot of people I know that would do this for another, it means a lot to me that ya would do this for me." A faint smile formed on his face as he examined the work up close, seeing where the patches go and where the pockets were located, like on the one he was wearing. She had even made him another shirt to wear underneath the jacket similar to the one he tore and used for bandages.
He wanted to change into it but he did not feel comfortable do that there in Rarity's room. Unlike most high end hotel rooms, ponies didn't worry about changing clothes so it was really just one giant room with both the bed and sofas and chairs. Convincing Rarity to let him return to his room to change proved to be easier than he expected, for a pony who was more assertive and demanding acting more docile would normally set off some sort of mental alarm that something was up but in his sleep deprived state he wasn't thinking clearly.
While they walked down the hall the two of them could hear the sounds of someone shouting and a faint sob from someone else. With their interest peeked they made a slight detour down another hall. When they arrived at the source of the sobs and shouting they found a white unicorn with a blonde mane standing over an earth pony maid who was cowering away from him.
Rarity glanced over towards Adam, knowing full well who that stallion was and was about to inform him when she saw a spark in his eye, though not as strong as it once was but it was there nonetheless. She decided to hold her tongue and see how he would react to Prince Blueblood's views on nobility and others. She stood there as Adam handed over the clothes she had made for him and walk up behind Blueblood, staring daggers into the back of his head. From their close proximity they could hear that the mare was being yelled at for knocking over his glass of wine while she was cleaning and that a few drops of the liquid had landed on his coat.
Adam spoke from behind Blueblood, in a threatening voice, "Apologize."
"Yes, apologize," repeated Blueblood.
"Not her asswipe, YOU."
Blueblood spun around as if a bee had stung him on the flank, to see who would dare speak to him like that. He found himself face-to-face with a pissed off Adam only inches away from him, causing him to jump back a foot.
"How dare you speak to me in such a way! Do you know who I am, and why should I apologize for her mistake," asked the irate unicorn.
"Because," Adam responded taking a few steps closer to make Blueblood as uncomfortable and himself more menacing as possible, "from what I heard from your screaming, you are taking a small accident way out of proportion. Those two drops on your coat will washout with only a few seconds of warm water. To answer the other question, I don't give a fuck who ya'll are and even if you tell me I still won't. Now are ya going to apologize to her or am I going to have to shove my fist so far up your ass that I can use you as a puppet?"
"I will not stand to be spoken to this way!"
"Then sit down, ya don't have to stand to apologize."
There was a brief pause as the two parties stared each other down neither willing to show weakness until Blueblood turned and began to walk away muttering a half hearted apology and said to Adam, "The princesses will be hearing about this, you scum of the streets." He then gave a huff and stomped away down the hallway.
Once Blueblood was gone the maid took a look at Adam and said in between hiccups, "Thank you for helping me, but you shouldn't have done that. Now you are going to get into trouble for yelling and threatening him like that."
"Oh yeah, and why should I fear what he might do?"
It was Rarity who responded to his inquiry, "That sorry excuse for a stallion, was none other than Prince Blueblood. He is the Princess Celestia and Luna’s nephew."
"Wonder how long that's going to take to come back to bite me."
"I'm not sure darling, but until that time comes I need to get you looking like your old self again."
The maid waved them goodbye as they turned back to head down the correct hall to his room. It took them a moment to get to the room, to find a bush with a mustache and glasses sitting opposite the door.
Eyeing the bush Adam asked, "Should I even bother asking how she thinks she is being clever?"
"Just play along dear, it will be over soon."
Coming towards them from the other end of the hall was Fluttershy, she seemed to shrink a little as soon as she saw the two of them. It looked like it was taking a lot of courage from her to take each step towards him but after glancing at the bulge under his left sleeve, where the bandages were, she picked up her pace.
"H-h-hello Adam, hello Rarity. How is your leg feeling today, does it hurt at all?" Fluttershy's eyes never left Adam and it kinda unnerved him a bit at what he had experienced before with those eyes. The thought caused an involuntary shiver to run down his spine.
He sighed and said, "I've been-"
"SURPRISE," shouted the pink pony as she leapt out from behind the bush in the strangest getup he had ever seen before in his life. She was wearing a snorkel a float and a flipper on only two of her hooves but she also had balloons and confetti and streamers fly out from behind her too.
Fluttershy "Eeeped," then flipped over onto her back, legs sticking straight up as if she was playing dead.
"SO did I surprise you, did I, did I, did I?"
"Sure did, now are you done," Adam asked as he pushed Pinkie Pie out of his face.
"Nope."
"Well, what else do you plan on doing?"
"Well it wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you, now would it?"
As Adam went to open the door he said, "Pinkie, while I appreciate what ya are trying to do, I am really not in the mood."
"But making ponies smile is what I love to do, and you could use one right about now."
Gah, can't these ponies just leave me alone.
Opening the door fully he saw Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash all waiting for him in his room. The room was filled with even more streamers and balloons, with cake, punch and other snacks on the table in the corner of the room.
Apparently not.
"Ladies, like I just said to Pinkie, I really appreciate what ya'll are doing but I would really like to be alone right now."
"Sorry dear but we just simply cannot do that, especially when you are in the state you are in."
"I insist."
"Well I insist that we stay. You are in no state to be left by yourself and we would just be meeting up again in a few minutes anyway."
With Rainbow Dash's interest peeked she walked over to Rarity and asked, "What's up, what makes you say that?"
"It just so happens that Adam here-"
"So I yelled at some prick to get him to apologize, big deal."
"Do you not care that he was Prince Blueblood, that you threatened to ruff up," exclaimed Rarity now with irritation in her voice at Adam's behavior towards his current standing, though she couldn't say she didn't like seeing the Prince run off with his tail between his legs.
"Woah," said Dash, a grin spreading across her muzzle.
"Oh my," gasped Fluttershy.
"You didn't," Twilight asked as she facehoofed.
"What in tarnation were ya thinkin," asked Applejack, worry in her voice at what this would cause.
"Eh, could have been worse," Pinkie replied brushing off the problem as nothing.
"What do you mean "could be worse", what could possibly be worse," Twilight asked beginning to panic and thinking of all the different punishments that the princesses might put on Adam.
"Well," Pinkie began smiling the entire time, "he could have actually done it."
Twilight could not think of a possible way to respond, Pinkie was right in that regard. The situation could have been worse as Pinkie had said if Adam had actually followed through with his threat, just maybe he could get out of this with a lighter punishment.
The doors behind Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Adam flew open as a group of guards marched in forming a perimeter around him.
"You are under arrest for threatening the life of Prince Blueblood and are to be brought in front of the princesses for punishment."
Adam blinked then responded, "OK."
"If you do not quite resi-, oh then" the guard cleared his throat, "come with us then."
When the guards left the room, leaving the mares by themselves, Twilight said, "This is becoming a thing for him isn't it, being escorted around by a collection of guards. Well we better follow them and see how this goes, you were there Rarity maybe you can help him."
As Adam found himself before the thrones again, only Celestia sitting before them, he realised that he didn't really care much. It wasn't since last time he was in there, that had he really cared for what was going on. Everything seemed to have lost much meaning to him, maybe now that he was in trouble with threatening Blueblood he would be put in a room and left alone. He understood that there was a spell to take him back but the damage had been done, for all intents and purposes he was effectively dead in the other world and his return would only cause more problems than it would solve.
Looking at the princess again he could see the anger from what she had been told he had done, but he could see that there was more sadness than anything else. Blueblood on the other hand had the most triumphant smirk on his face at the victory that he saw coming his way.
"Adam it has been brought to our attention that you have threatened Prince Blueblood, our nephew, here. How do you plea?"
"Guilty."
"Wait, Princess Celestia," Rarity shouted to get Celestia's attention, "allow me to explain."
"Explain what exactly? He has admitted guilty to threatening the life of a prince."
Adam looked towards Celestia, then to Blueblood, then back to Celestia and asked, "Ma'am I am confused, when did the ass of a pony become a necessity to their survival."
Celestia gave him a blank look before looking between him and Blueblood. Turning her full attention to Rarity she said, "Please explain."
"Well your highness, Adam and I were walking along the halls when we heard what sounded like shouting. Him and I went to see what was all the commotion when we found Prince Blueblood screaming at a maid to the point that she was crying. Adam was gallant enough to go to her aid and demand that the prince apologies. When he refused Adam, encouraged him, but he did not at any point threaten Prince Blueblood's life."
"Blueblood," at the mention of his name everyone present saw the smirk fade from his face.
"Yes, your highness?"
"You came to me saying that Adam had come threatening to end your life for no reason, but now I have been told otherwise by an eye witness. If I were to find the mare, that has been mentioned, would her testimony match with Rarity's?"
"L-l-lies its all lies. They are trying to trick you. He-"
"Enough, Blueblood. I will not hear of this anymore and I shall deal with you in a moment, now leave."
Blueblood's face soured at being denied his victory when it was right there, but he complied with Celestia's order and left.
"Now then, just because you did not threaten his life does not get you off the hook. I hereby confine you to your room until I have deemed it acceptable to let you leave. Guards see that Adam makes it there without delay." As the guards once again escorted Adam back to his room, Celestia called out, "Girls, I need you all to stay for a moment. I know that my sister and I asked you six to help with getting Adam's spirit back but for now Luna wishes to try something. Until tomorrow please relax, enjoy yourselves and have a good night's sleep."
-----Adam's Room-----
Luna stood waiting in a dark corner of the room. Adam would return shortly and she was needing to speak with him, she had not seen him in two days and wished to help him and to do that she needed to try something.
The sound of the door opening could be heard in the quiet room and she watched from her corner as Adam came into view. He turned around and watched the door close behind him and he sighed before walking over towards the bed to toss the clothes, that had been lying across his back, onto the bed. He didn't stop at the bed but continued to the chair that sat by the window and resumed his watch. From her location she could see the poor condition he was in and could understand how he must feel, alone and far away from everything he understood for a long length of time.
Walking out of the shadows, she made her way over to the chair to speak with him. As she neared the chair however he spoke, "And how did I earn the pleasure of your visit this fine evening?"
She was surprised that he had spotted her though he did not indicate it when he had been walking around. She had to find out how, "What was it that gave me away?"
"Well if you're going to hide in a dark corner, it would be best to get your mane to not sparkle like a bunch of stars in the night sky. That sort of thing tends to give ya away."
"I'll keep that in mind for next time. In the meantime I am here to help you Adam."
"Oh yeah, and how do ya plan on doing that?"
"To begin with I need you to sleep, from there I can help."
"Well it looks like we are going to have a problem then. I can't sleep."
"That is not a problem that I cannot fix. Just hold still and I will cast a simple spell that will allow you to get a good nights sleep."
His eyes opened in panic as he tried to get out of the chair shouting for her to stop but was too late as her horn touched his head. He felt his eyelids turn to lead weights and close no matter how hard he tried to keep them open. His reaction to her offer confused Luna but she did not dwell on it as she lifted up his sleeping form from the chair, with her magic, and place him on the bed. When she was sure he would not fall from the bed she inserted a piece of torn paper between his hooves, for when he wakes.
Adam knew where he was, he was in another of his older memories that he didn't wish to be in. He was out on a mission to eliminate a known leader of the "freedom fighters," as they liked to call themselves. The two of them had been lying in wait for the past three days, in an old abandoned building for this moment.
The shot itself would not be difficult, it was doing it while going undetected, was where the challenge came in. They were only about a football field's length away and there were men everywhere. Adam was to take the shot and to cover up the sound, he was going to use the noise from one of their louder trucks to make it harder to find their location. Lady luck was not smiling on them that day. As he took the shot, the truck's engine cut off so that everyone could hear the shot. The target dropped from the hole in his chest while his men either went to his aid or charged the building.
"SHIT, they going to be here in a few second and we do not want to be here when they do," screamed Steve.
They quickly gathered up their gear and were about to head to another room when they heard the sound of the door downstairs burst open. Their exit was across the hall where a rope was tied to a support beam. Steve was the first to run across to the next room but when it came time for Adam, his path was blocked by a wall of lead being fired at him. The enemy had already made it up the stairs and had a clean line of sight down the hall.
Steve stood waiting in the next room ready to go for when Adam made it across. Adam un holstered his pistol and fired a few rounds down the hall before making a dash for it. He felt the first round slam into his shoulder and tear into his flesh causing him to spin slightly. The second round he felt caught him in the thigh making him fall into the door frame before hitting the floor. He had made it but he was not going to be able to escape with a hole in his leg. He was in a tremendous amount of pain and could hardly move his left arm without causing even more pain.
Looking over to Steve he saw that he was trying to help him to the rope but he shoved him away.
"I'm not going anywhere with this hole in my leg, get out of here while I slow them down."
"Bullshit I'm leaving you."
One of the pursuers entered the room and was met with two rounds in the chest from Adam.
"I won't be able to get very far with my leg fucked up as it is. There is no point if we both die here when one of us could get away, besides Samantha is waiting for you. Now go before I shoot you myself."
Steve gave a pained look, he didn't want to leave his best friend behind but he knew Adam would be happy in knowing that one of them escaped. With all the enemies thinking they were trapped inside, no one was outside, making for an easy getaway for anyone not injured.
Adam watched out of the corner of his eye, as his friend of twenty-six years repelled out the window. He fired a few more rounds into the next two people before his magazine ran dry. Try as he might, he couldn't keep his left hand steady enough to insert the next mag into the receiver. The next man charged through the door after blind firing his weapon, rounds punching small holes in the walls around Adam. His response was to throw the empty pistol, hitting the man in the face, and lunged himself into the assailant's midsection, combat knife in hand. The two of them fell back into the hallway in a struggle for dominance.
The fight only lasted a few seconds until he was able to plunge the knife into his attackers chest, ending his life. Rolling off the body he felt a boot connect with his face, forcing him back to the ground. Another boot stepped on his wrist holding the knife preventing him from fighting further.
This new attacker glared down at him with venom in his eyes as he brought the butt of his rifle down on Adam. Not feeling anything he opened his eyes again, finding the stock of the rifle just inches away from his face but on top of that everything was still. Feeling no more pain, he worked his way back then stood up. Everything looked as if someone had taken a photo of what was happening at that moment. None of the enemy guards reacted to his movements in the slightest.
"How did you get away?"
Hearing a new yet familiar voice startled Adam and found that standing next to him was Princess Luna. After he composed himself he replied, "I didn't, they thought it would be better to capture and interrogate me rather than put a bullet in my head."
"And this is how you got those two scars, the one on your leg and shoulder I mean?"
"Yes, it was during the interrogations that I aquired the other two and lost a piece of my ear."
"I saw in the mirror them cutting your chest with a knife but I didn't know what was behind the reasoning behind it. Did you tell them anything?"
"No and that is why they had their fun beating me and cutting me, nothing lethal but would hurt all the same."
"Are these the reasons you cannot sleep at night, because your memories haunt you?"
"Yes and I am well aware that it is something that I will have to live with."
"Do you regret any of it?"
The question made him think for a moment before he replied, "No, I don't regret what I have done. It was simply something that had to be done and I could do it."
"Then why do you let it cause you so much pain?"
"Just because I said I do not regret what I had to do, doesn't mean I enjoyed it either. In some cases what I regret is that I couldn't do more, something more to help, something to stop my friends from dieing before me."
"I am truly sorry for your loss, but you must now continue living for their sake if not your own. Would they approve of you giving up when there is the chance of returning home, would your son be proud to know that his father gave up on trying to return to him."
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK ABOUT MY SON AS IF YOU KNOW HIM. Do you think I don't want to return, that I just want to roll over and die. If I was to return home after being gone for about twenty-five years there would be no end to the problems that would pop up. In my world I would be listed as Killed In Action and would have a nice empty coffin in the ground since they couldn't find my body. The will I left behind listed my son as the sole inheritor of all my belongings, I might not have had much but what I did I gave to him."
"Adam, those may be true but it is something, that with the help of Celestia and myself, we could easily repair. No, there is something else that worries you, something else that you fear beyond anything else."
Everything in the room turned hazy and unfocused until they found themselves in a white void. Standing in front of them was eight year old John, smiling up at his father. John walked up to his father grabbing onto his hand with his own smaller one and said "Hey dad, lets go play."
Adam knelt down to his son wrapping him in a hug as tears flowed down his face. He leaned back and turned his head towards Luna and said, "You want to know what I really fear. I fear that when I go back that my son won't even recognize me, that he won't even be able to picture my face in his head. I fear that I was not a good father. When I return I will have missed most of his life. I would have missed all of his achievements that he will have made and possibly even his marriage. I fear that he will come to hate me if I was to return and deep down I know that I probably deserve it."
Luna walked over to the man and wrapped a wing around him as he cried hugging his son. The silence that followed stretched on and wasn't broken until Luna said in a soft voice, "You must still not give up. There is still hope that me and my sister may find a way to send you home sooner than what we originally estimated. In my absence my sister had been forced to find the way on her own but now, with my return, I too can help think of a way. There is always hope. When you wake up in the morning come speak with me and my sister, the guards have their orders to let you leave, we wish to speak with you about something."
When Adam awoke the next morning, he found that someone had placed him in his bed and in his hooves was his picture. He held it close to him before he placed it in one of the breast pockets of his jacket. Getting out of bed he looked over to the other pair of clothes Rarity had made for him. Taking the photo out of his pocket again he slipped it into the other jacket's breast pocket and changed clothes. It felt refreshing being in a new clean uniform.
Grabbing a comb he fixed his mane to make himself look presentable again. The bags under his eyes were gone and he looked good as new.
Walking over to the door he opened it.
I'm back in the saddle.
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Ever got tortured?
Try getting tortured by the medic and you'll have no choice but to spill the beans.
*shudders*
Beans, man that guy is wonkers.
another good chapter of this great story.
Such an awful destiny for Adam. As of now, virtually everything he had is gone, even his body. I wish he would at least demand a stable human form from the princesses, since they seem so eager to help.
So it took a little spell to help him? After admitting what happened or would happen, he would probably be in a worse condition or the same but he just shrugged it off
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Think of it as him going to therapy, him talking about it was the first step to him getting better. This will come up again in later chapters, that isn't something that will go away instantly but talking about it does help to some extent.
2087147
The problem is the amount of abuse and violation this man has suffered. He has been threatened and attacked so many times. He has had his mind read, put to sleep against his will, had his dreams violated against his will (don't care if beneficial still a violation of a private area), he has been literally dragged around via magic, had his property that connects him to his world and his duty and cutie mark's description stolen, had his body transformed, is not able to get to his world for most of his son's life, he has been given absolutely no trust whatsoever, had to suffer Pinkie's attempts that would only harm with the surprises. I'm trying to figure out the good things the ponies have done. I wouldn't put the Princesses in anything but a @#$% list. Sorry, my rant is just anger at the ridiculousness continuing from last chapter. Now I'm going to continue reading :)
its a few seconds not a few second and its dying not dieing there is no e in dying