Balance of the Mind and Body

by Swift Blaze

Chapter 51: Tell Me, What Do You See?

"Now to the next matter at 'hand'. As you humans would put it," Princess Celestia said with a smile.

"How come I got the feeling that your agenda for today involves me?" Blaze asked.

"It was put into the agenda from the last time we met."

"Alright, so what is the next thing you wish to discuss?"

“The next topic is about the special tactical group that you’re to lead.”

“Ah, yes. I think before we inform them, we should actually discuss what you want us to do, who should know about us, etc.”

“Very well.”

Princess Celestia summoned a round table and two chairs at the bottom of the throne steps. They made their way down and sat in the closest chair to them. Blaze started off by explaining some of the teams that were back on Earth that he had heard about and some of the things they had to do. He left out some of the gruesome tasks of assassins and tortures, as he didn’t want to explain how cruel the human race has become since the middle ages.

“Bob,” the white Alicorn said, “I know you’re trying to hide some of the crueler things humans have done.”

“Are you trying to read my thoughts again?” Blaze asked in a shy tone.

“No, your expression revealed that you were not telling me everything. I figured then that you didn’t want to talk about some of the bad stuff.”

Blaze lets out a sigh, “You’re correct. I’ve heard of some of the terrible things some of these groups had to do. Just thinking about some of them makes my skin crawl. I never really gave thought to them. I guess it was human nature to accept some of them. When your opponent does some of the cruelest things to innocent people going out of their everyday business.”

Blaze then recalled the morning of September eleventh and what happened. It was the second time he cried so hard after seeing the devastation that occurred. He knew some of the people that lived there and just prayed and hoped they were ok back then. A tear was rolling down his face as he looked back at those memories.

He felt something against his shoulder. It was a wing of white feathers. Blaze looked to his other side and saw the Princess was sitting next to him with her wing on the other side. “I take it you just remembered another sad memory from your past?” She asked.

“Yes, the devastation I pray to never see happen here. I don’t think this world could handle something like that.”

“Discord must have corrupted some of the humans before they left. The hatred and corruption must have been passed down from parent to child if your world really needed these kinds of teams.”

“I think it existed before any humans ever came here. It always starts with a ruler either wanting more power or money that caused the conflicts in the past. I’m just glad I wasn’t around when actual wars happened. I would have grown up differently and more than likely killed in one of the battles.”

“Well, you didn’t. You’re now here and have the heart that loves this world and every creature that lives here.” Celestia then got up and folded her wing back to her side. “Let’s finish our discussion so we can inform your team what they will be expected to do.”

Blaze nodded as he wiped the tears away. They chatted for several more hours until they have gone over everything that they can at this point. The white Alicorn sent the table and chairs away. She then had a guard come in to send a chariot to Ponyville to summon the others on the team. An hour passed before the doors opened once again. In comes walking Al, Start Dust, Lightning Trails, Colorful Sparks, Dragon, Cancer, and Fang. They bowed to Princess Celestia as she sat on her throne.

When they stood straight up, Al was the first to notice Blaze over against the wall. “Ah, so this is where you disappeared off to this morning,” he said.

“Princess Celestia wanted to start early on her agenda and I was first on her docket,” the black hair human replied.

“Then, why have you summoned us, your highness?” Lightning Trails asked.

“I’ve called you here to tell you what your positions are going to be in the Royal Guard. There’s no secret why you all were part of the same training group. You all have a unique ability or talent,” Princess Celestia said.

“If you already knew we were going to be put into a team, then why have us go through the training?” Dragon asked.

“The week-long part of the exercises were first to help you build a bond with the others that you are going to be working with. The tournament was to let you see how the others handle combat. It was also to help determine who will be the captain of this group. Swift Blaze won, so he’ll be your captain.”

Al walked over to Blaze and gave him a high five. “Way to go! Already a captain. Did you know this was going to happen before we met?”

“Not everything. I just mentioned the idea of one,” he replied quietly to the white hair human.

The white Alicorn cleared her throat to regain everyone’s attention. The humans rejoined the others back in front. “Now then, I was just going over the details with Captain Blaze in order to find the best way for this to work. This team will be covert style, so no one will know what you actually do. You’ll live every day doing normal Royal Guard duties in Ponyville. I’ll have some engineers come down to build living quarters next to Blaze and Al’s home.”

The ponies and Zebras in the group were happy to hear this. Some were happy to not have to keep on sleeping either on the couch or in another’s bed. Others were glad they were still going to be close to their human friends. After the quiet cheers among them, they straighten back out to listen to the next thing the Princess will have to say.

“The only ones that will know what you actually will be doing is me, my sister, Princess Luna, and Captain Shining Armor. Other ponies might be told if the need arrives that they need to know. Next, I’ll allow Swift Blaze to explain what the team will be learning.”

He stepped forward and turned to face the team. “What this group is expected to be is an elite class of warriors. I’ll be training you in some new moves to improve your fighting style. You’ve actually started with the morning exercises by improving your balance. Behind my house, I’ll build our training area within the forest. I will say this right now, you will get injured while doing this.”

The black hair human walked back and forth in front of them. “I’ve seen soldiers with lots of training to fight the enemy. One thing they failed to learn is how to deal with pain. Al, would you come up here.”

He shrugged. “Why do I have to be the guinea-pig for this?” He stepped out of line to face his captain.

The black hair human had his hands behind him as he faced the other human. “One, you have dealt with this before. ‘B’, you can heal yourself. Lastly, . . .” Before Al could react, Blaze had brought out a hunting knife he summoned and stabbed the white hair human in his upper right leg. “ . . you said you like the pain.”

Al’s face cringed from the massive jolt his body was telling him about the pain. He didn’t scream though. The blade was still in the leg as purple blood came out of it. With one quick motion, he pulled the blade out with his right hand. Still holding onto the blade, he looked towards Blaze and said, “If you were an enemy, I would have sent the blade up where the sun doesn’t shine afterward.” He let the blade drop onto the ground and began to concentrate on healing. “Be happy you are my friend.” With that, the wound was healed with no scar. All that was left was the hole in his jeans and the blood that soaked around it. “I’ll let you explain to Rarity why you ruined something she made.”

“I’ll mend that later.” Blaze turned toward the others. “Now then, if you still want to be part of this team to serve the Princesses and Equestria, step forward. Remember once you do, you are committed to my training and harsh tactics.”

They all didn’t even hesitate as each one took one step forward, together. Both the Princess and Blaze smiled to see how determined these ponies were after the demonstration. He looked into each of their eyes and saw how strong their devotion and pride is.

“Welcome to the Phantom Regiment.”

Blaze began his pacing once again. "Training will begin next week after the Gala. I still have some things to go over with Princess Celestia. So, until then, dismissed."

The ponies and the white hair human saluted before turning and heading out of the throne room. Once the doors closed behind them, Blaze turned his gaze back to Celestia. The look on her face was starting to worry him. She looked very angry, almost wanting to cause injury to Blaze.

"Was that demonstration really necessary?" She asked in a strong tone.

After taking a big gulp of his dry throat, he replied, "I wanted to see their reaction of me injuring a friend for no reason. Also, it demonstrated how they need to be when in battle."

"Next time, tell me what your plans are. I was two seconds from sending a magic bolt at you."

"I’m sorry, your highness. I also wanted to see your reaction as well. You took it rather well."

"I have seen many things in my lifetime. Some of which you could not even understand."

"I can only imagine. What you lived through and experienced must have been hard. I don't even want to even think about the many friends you have made. Only to see them die before your eyes."

The white Alicorn lowered her head a bit as she was recalling them all. "Yes, each one was painful as the last. But my new ones helped me through it. Also, they’re still alive within my memories." She began to chuckle at some of the happy ones. "I could tell you some of the fun times we had."

"If you told me every one of them, it would overfill the Canterlot Library."

She chuckled louder at that thought. After she calmed back down and regained her posture, Celestia said, "Onto the next thing on the agenda."

"The armor for my squad."

"What’s wrong with normal Royal Guard Armor?"

"It would be hard to be covert if you wear something shiny and clang as you move, would it?"

"I can see your way of thinking.”

They discussed the design concepts. The material for durability and resistance. The color choices from camo to full black, as well as others, depending on where they get deployed. The actual protection was going to be even more difficult to choose. Limited by what the ponies could produce, a lot of the ideas he had from humans designed had to be thrown out. They did finally come to a decision on the choice. A combo of metal and magic. To make it strong and light. When it came to the actual design, Blaze summoned a scroll he doodled on last night.

Celestia looked it over after the human handed it over. After a few minutes, she said, "Blaze, I’m rather impressed with what you have designed here. Where did you come up with it?"

"I took stuff from what the human military wears for some. Then the rest from video games and movies. Then adjust it to how a pony moves, even with wings as you see here."

"You humans do have an active imagination to dream something like this up. Would you mind if I ask you to design something to improve the Royal Guard's armor? I think it is time to . . ."

"To bring it out of the middle age era?"

The Princess blushed a little. "Is it that old to you?"

"To be honest, you have not needed to update the design as you don't deal with major battles every few years. Once the humans were away from magic, science and technology were what we depended on. Some were good, while others should have never been created."

"Like those things that created those massive mushroom clouds?"

Blaze this time lowered his head at that thought. "Yea. After they were used those two times during that war. They were never used again. Several nations have them and said they will use them if the other side does."

"So the threat of those coming down again was in the thoughts of every human mind?"

"No, those nations were all on good terms with each other. Yea, there were some small conflicts with smaller nations. They never escalated to another World War."

Princess Celestia looked at the human's face. She saw this topic was getting pretty hard for him. With gentle movement, her wing wrapped around the back of his body. "You miss your world, don't you?"

Blaze looked up at the Princess. A couple of tears were forming in his eyes. "I do. I just never expected the world to end like that. I had always thought it would end by some natural disaster or another great war where those bombs get used."

"Do you think you made the right choice in coming here instead of wanting to restore your world like that day never happened?"

Blaze was thinking about his decision again. ”Did I really make the right choice? God could have easily granted what Celestia said and made that day had never happened. Could I still call myself a human for being selfish and get what his fantasy dream comes true?” He felt something again tell him he did make the right choice. Those humans that went violent got what they deserved. This feeling was creating a slight headache as it occurred. His face did show some sign of pain.

"Are you alright, Blaze?"

He regained his senses as the pain went away. "I’m fine. I believe I did make the right decision to come here. It’s what my heart desired after seeing how peaceful this world is."

The Princess wasn't quite sure what was going on with Blaze when he was pondering her question. This human has been through a lot since coming here. She decided to put it in the back of her mind, for now.

The doors to the throne room opened. When they looked to see who was coming in, the black hair human smiled to see it was Princess Luna. "Good afternoon dear sister, I take your agenda with Swift Blaze is done. It’s almost time to lower the sun and raise the moon," she said.

The white Alicorn looked outside the window and saw how low the sun was. "Wow, the time has really flown by. I can't believe we worked right through lunchtime."

"I think I see where Twilight got her study habits from, your highness," Blaze said.

The blue Alicorn laughed as she walked up to the throne. "He’s right, Tia, your faithful student picked up your study habits. I sense many nights where she stays up till the morning working on different research projects."

Celestia cleared her throat before saying, "Yes, well, let's take care of our duties before we go and get dinner."

A loud stomach growl echoed in the chamber. Both Princess looked at each other for a little bit before turning their gaze at Blaze. He had his hands over his stomach. "Sorry about that. My stomach likes to speak out loud when I miss mealtime, sometimes." Everyone was laughing. Once they calmed down, they continued on doing the task at hand before going to dinner.

--------Meanwhile--------

Back at Al's and Blaze's house, the white hair human had gone to the basement to see what meat he could scrounge up for tonight's meal. Once in the meat locker, he looked around and saw there were only a few scraps of the less desired parts of the Manticore meat. Some organs and some chunks that came from the head. Looking at them, the human was thinking about what kind of dish he could do with the stuff he never used before. He felt like one of those chefs where they’re given odd ingredients and having to make a dish out of it. Al clearly knew he’s no master chef when making up fancy meals.

Without warning, a portal opened up above him. Just as he looked up, slabs of meat were falling out of it and landed on top of him. Al was soon buried under a mound of meat in the meat locker. He struggled to pull himself free from it. It took some time, but without warning, the human popped out of the meat pile and slammed into a nearby wall.

His mouth drooled as the eyes now saw exactly how big the stack was. The bottom of the stack was roughly eight feet in diameter and was just as tall. He could see all the different kinds of meat he hasn’t seen before. Just before the portal closed, a scroll popped through and rolled down the mound to Al's feet. He picked it up and opened it to see what it says.

Dear Al,

Here’s the meat Princess Celestia and Luna have kindly allowed me to take for us to have. When you get this, I want you to sort the meat by species to make some sense in the chaotic pile. I’ll be home late as I’ll be having dinner with the Princesses again. See you in the morning.

Sincerely,
Captain Swift Blaze

P.S.: Don't go and sleep in my bed or I will make you wish you haven't.

Al thought to himself, ”Well, I no longer have to try and decide what to have. Just need to decide which species now. Oh, this is going to take a while.”

---------Back at the Castle---------

After dinner was done and they all had their fill, Celestia said goodnight as she left to head to her quarters. Luna asked Blaze to accompany her back to the throne room. Once there, he was about to take his leave when Princess Luna said, "Wait, I thought we could now take the time and discuss that dream you had last week."

"I see it, I’m also on your agenda for tonight," the human said.

"I really don't have one since hardly anyone comes here at night time."

Blaze saw this saddened Luna's face. Knowing he should not put it off any longer, he decided to take care of it tonight. "Luna, would you help me to understand a dream I had a couple of nights ago actually means?"

This perked up her spirit. She replied with, "Of course, Captain Swift Blaze." Princess Luna's horn lit up as she had a fluffy pillow appear for her and a couch that looked like what you see in a psychiatrist’s office. "Please, lay down and tell me what occurred in this dream of yours."

"Actually, how about I show you."

"How?"

"By diving into my mind of course."

"Normally, you cannot recall a dream like you can with a memory."

“As you can see, I'm not normal. Trust me, I know what I am doing."

The blue Alicorn thought about it for a few minutes. Then, nodded her head. The human sat next to her and closed his eyes and focused on his mind space. She closed her eyes and used her magic to enter his mind. When they opened again, the Princess of the Night saw she was in a blank white space. "Where are we?"

"I call it the Construct. This is where I go in meditations to practice jutsu and other fighting techniques. In this area, I can create anything from my imagination."

"Ah, so this is the place my sister talked about when you first showed her some of your abilities."

"That’s correct. I’ve also used this to imagine what the three energy sources in my body would look like."

"Three? I thought you only have two?"

"I did. It was that book on the Elements of Order changed me and granted me access to use magic. Remember?" Blaze said as he showed his tail to her.

"Ahh, yes. May I see the size of them?"

"Of course." Blaze turned away from the Princess. He placed his right hand in the air and a screen revealed itself. "Siri, bring up the mind design of the energy pools from the rock cliff."

The screen responded in a nice, computer voice, "Of course, Swift Blaze."

“Who was that?” Luna asked as the blank, white, landscape started to change to the desired view.

“Oh, just some random artificial voice I remember. Always find her to be a pain when she doesn't want to cooperate.”

The area around looked like they were traveling at sonic speeds as the scenery passed by them. They soon arrived at the same view the human had shown Twilight. "This is some view, Blaze. How come we are all the way over here instead of down there?"

"Down there, you would haven’t been able to see the actual size of the pools. If I had to actually guess the size, it would bet between a large lake or a very small bay."

"All three pools of energy? I didn’t realize you have an above-average magical font. Unicorn’s magic font average from the sizes of small to medium lakes. Twilight Sparkle is another Unicorn I know that has a way above average."

"Her special talent is magic. She’s also the bearer of the Element of Magic. One would think it should be above average. But mine is smaller than hers."

"Agreed. Now then, let's get back to why I’m in your mind. That dream you had. Can you please call it up?"

“Sure thing.” Blaze raised his right hand again to show the screen. “Siri, begin memory playback of E.N.-01.”

“Command confirmed. Begin memory playback.” The computer voice said.

Once again the scenery around them changed just like before. The area they could see was just outside of Ponyville. Something was off. Blaze looked towards the town. It did not look like it was destroyed and on fire. The skies were blue and the sun was shining as bright as ever.

“Hold up, this isn’t the dream I had,” the human said, while confused.

“Normally, bad dreams start out good before going bad. Let’s see what happens,” Luna said.

From behind, they heard something. Their gaze turned towards the sound. Off in the distance, you could barely hear something very happy and excited. Once the voice of the object rounded the bend of trees, it was clearly able to see where they were coming from.

It was Blaze, in his human form, wearing normal street clothes. He was jumping with joy as he made his way into town. He was now close enough so Luna and Blaze could hear him. “I Can’t Believe It! I. AM. IN. EQUESTRIA! I can’t wait to see Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. Plus all the other ponies! THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!” He was shouting at the top of his lungs.

The Blaze by Luna quickly said, “STOP PLAYBACK RIGHT NOW!” Instantly, the other one stopped dead in his tracks in midair. “I’m sorry you had to see that Princess. This is the wrong memory.” He revealed the screen once again. “Siri, this is the wrong memory. I asked for E.N.-01, you played E.F.-01. Playback the correct memory this time.”

The computer voice replied, “Sorry Blaze. Beginning playback of Equestria Nightmare 01.”

The scenery began to change once again. While it changed, Luna asked. “So, what was the memory that we saw?”

“Um, before I came here, I had other dreams of what it would be like if I came here. That was the first one I thought of,” the human said in a shy tone.

“You had fantasies?”

He nodded with a little blush.

“How many have you thought of?”

“Um, over three hundred,” he said in a quiet voice.

The blue Alicorn was a little surprised to hear that amount. “You really do like this world and all the lives that live here.”

“I do, Princess Luna.” The area around finally finished changing to that nightmare. “Ok, this is the correct one.”

Luna looked around at all the destruction that occurred. “This was your dream? I can see why you would classify it as a nightmare. How did you come up with this?”

“I didn’t. Nothing like this ever happened in the show and I never want it to get this way. Come along. There’s my dream version of me over there.”

The two followed the Dream Blaze as he reenacted the dream. Luna asked Blaze what was going through his mind as he saw all this. He said he was worried about his friends and wanted to know exactly what happened. Dream Blaze then teleported out of their sight.

“Where did you go?” Luna asked.

“I teleported to the castle. Let’s catch back up.”

Blaze did his teleport jutsu and brought them close to Canterlot. Once the smoke cleared, Luna looked around to see where he had teleported them. She saw Canterlot with its protection barrier active. It looked different than she last saw it get used.

“Blaze, I thought you were going straight to the castle? How come we are way over here?”

“I tried to teleport in, but that barrier prevented me from doing so. See, there I am analyzing it.”

The dream watchers continue to see it get played out. Dream Blaze made his way to the guarded entrance. Once those guards saw him, they began to fire their magic at him. He teleported away before getting hit.

“Pause playback.”

“This dream or nightmare is very confusing, I actually detected what spells they were using,” Luna said. “If you got hit by one of those spells, it might have actually killed you. I thought my sister and I had forbidden the use of those over a thousand years ago.”

“That’s the interesting part. I didn’t know what they were firing. How can I have a dream where I have knowledge of spells that haven’t been used in a very long time?”

“I’m beginning to think this is not actually a dream. Please, continue so I can get a better evaluation.”

The human resumed the playback. Then, took Princess Luna and himself to his place. They arrived just as Blaze found Al’s journal on the desk. The blue Alicorn walked over to read it over Dream Blaze’s shoulder. Her eyes widened at the same time he dropped the book.

She turned towards Blaze and said, “Discord is going to corrupt you?”

“Pause playback.” Everything froze. “That’s one thing I want to figure out how. Not wanting to reveal anything from the show, but I saw what he’s capable of. With that, if I hold onto my values and beliefs, this will not happen. Again, this is only a dream, right?”

“That remains to be seen. Continue the memory please.”

He does so and it began where it had left off. Luna continued to read the entry as Dream Blaze did. As this was happening, the other Blaze saw the cloaked figure enter the room. He knew who it actually was. He played this part several times the past two nights, trying to get some clue to spot the fake. There was none, it was a perfect copy of Al.

Dream Blaze finished reading and placed the book down on the table. Luna looked up and saw the cloaked figure. “Blaze! Look Out Behind You!” She shouted, not at the Royal Canterlot Voice level.

“Luna, it’s a memory, remember?”

She blushed a little as she joined the real Blaze to watch the events. The dream characters discussed what happened to catch Dream Blaze on what happened. Once done, the two made their way to the basement. Just as before, once Blaze opened the weapons depot, Al shot his crossbow into the shoulder of Blaze. Just before Al, now Shadow Torch, could fire the weapon and end the dream, Blaze paused the playback.

"The next part wakes me up. Also, I don't know if it will actually show how that weapon will do damage to me. It's definitely something I should have never brought here," Blaze said as he looked at Shadow Torch.

"You could have never predicted something like this could happen, or might."

"What do you mean?"

"I believe this is not a dream. Dreams are places where you can never get hurt. Yes, you can get scared in nightmares. But no bodily injury."

"Then, what is this then?"

"I think you had a vision of the future."

Blaze mouth dropped as he fell back a bit, to lean against the worktable. "A vision?" He stumbled to say. "How, how did I get one?"

"Even my sister and I are unclear how ponies get them. They might be something brief, say knowing when a beautiful sight might occur. In your case, your mind and body entered the vision and became part of it. To interact with it in order to see what transpires."

Blaze turned around and placed his hands on the table. His head hung low. "Tell me, Princess Luna, do all these visions come true?" He then looked again at Shadow Torch.

"I’m afraid they mostly do. I’ve yet to hear of one not coming true." Luna placed a hoof on his shoulder. "A wise creature once said, if you try and prevent the future, you may as well be leading it to the outcome."

The human looked at the Alicorn with tears forming in his eyes. "I said that."

"Not word for word, but you made your point. Knowing what the future may hold is anyone’s guess. You have to take one day at a time and deal with what is given to you."

Blaze wiped the tears away. As he stood back up, Luna took her hoof off his shoulder. She was then surprised as he went for a hug with her. After a few seconds, her hooves and wings wrapped around Blaze.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Not a problem. Just remember, you have friends here that are willing to help you with whatever situation that comes up. You don’t have to attack it head-on by yourself.”

With that, Blaze ended the vision recall and exited the mind space. They both opened their eyes to see they were back in the throne room. In slow motion, they got up and stretched out their stiff joints. The human bowed to the Princess and began to take his leave.

“Blaze, one sec,” Luna said.

He turned around and said, “Yes, your highness?”

“I’ll be discussing this with my sister in the morning of what you shared with me. If we come up with something, I’ll summon you.”

“Thank you. Also, next time you teleport me, just send me a letter. I don’t want to arrive naked if you snagged me from the bathroom.”

This caused Princess Luna to blush through her dark coat. Before another word could be said, Blaze teleported out of there, back to his home. He knew he wasn’t going to get that much sleep tonight. Instead, he went into meditation to begin the plans.

Author's Note:

Here's the latest chapter. It was proofread by Darksoul85.

We're getting close to the last of the rewrites. The posting frequency will change as I'll be writing new content. Thank you for your patients in getting here.

With what happened in this chapter, please post a comment of what you thought.

Comments

[Greenhorn]

“Siri, this is the wrong memory. I asked for E.N.-01, you played E.F.-01. Playback the correct memory this time.”

This Siri need patches to fix her indexing.

[Shisarakage]

“Thank you. Also, next time you teleport me, just send me a letter. I don’t want to arrive naked if you snagged me from the bathroom.”

This caused Princess Luna to blush through her dark coat. Before another word could be said, Blaze teleported out of there, back to his home.

Looks like our lovable Moonbutt is susceptible to some saucy mental images like the rest of us. And yet, I find this somehow makes her even more adorable.

[vortex123]

The fact that he’s having trouble with Siri in his own head is funny, Blaze is lucky as hell he decided to label E as in Equestria and not E as in Erotic.