Homonis (Hom-on-is)

by AsianPon3

Elements United

Chapter 3

The next day

Light shone brilliantly down through the upstairs window that overlooked the main road to the house. Luna was laying on her bed, continually looking through the window while waiting to see a familiar figure walk down the path with Applejack in tow. About five minutes or so passed before a soft rapping come from Luna’s door. Luna averted her gaze from the window and magically opened the door, seeing Twilight standing in the doorway. A smile was upon Luna’s face as she motioned for Twilight to step in. Twilight quickly stepped through the door, closing it behind her.

“Hello dear Twilight. How can we help you?” Luna asked. Even though Luna was better versed in modern speaking, due to interacting with Leo and other ponies over the past few years, she still had a habit of substituting we for I. This didn’t seem to bother Twilight though, returning her question with a smile before speaking.

“Well, I was actually wondering if I could ask you a few questions about Leo?” Twilight asked, Luna perking her ears up.

“Oh, but of course Twilight. We will try to answer to the best of our abilities,” Luna responded, Twilight nodding her head and proceeding.

“Thank you. I was wondering what you could tell me about Fluttershy and Leo. Two night’s ago I was having trouble sleeping. Even though it was late, I assumed everypony was asleep. I then heard somepony’s hoofsteps along the wooden floor outside my room. Curious, I got up from my bed and peaked through my door. I then saw Fluttershy standing in front of Leo’s door before it opened all the way and she entered,” before Twilight could finish, she was interrupted with a slight giggle from Luna.

“No dear Twilight, it is not what you think. They are not acquainted in that sort of way,” Luna said, another giggle sounding from her. Twilight was confused by her answer.

“What other explanation could there be for Fluttershy to do that?” Twilight asked herself, being pulled out of her thought when a slight cough and serious tone from Luna caught her attention.

“It is not a subject we like to dwell on. As you know, most ponies were sold into slavery,” Luna said, Twilight nodding her head in agreement.

“Well, some of us were sent to farms and mines for physical labor. Some other ponies had a more horrific place of where they were sent. Have you heard of a whorehouse Twilight?” Luna asked, Twilight shaking her head.

“A whorehouse is a place humans frequent. The purpose of this place is to provide sex, usually for men, in exchange for money and or other services. Fluttershy was unfortunate enough to have been sent to one of these places. It was there that Leo saved Fluttershy, risking his life for her. It happened only a couple of years ago.”

Flashback Two Years Ago (Leo’s P.O.V.)

I walked along a wide dirt road. It was still light outside, though the sky was turning a beautiful shade of red and pink from the setting sun. It would be dark soon and I wanted to make my way to my destination as fast as I could. Picking up the pace, I began to walk slightly faster than normal, a brisk walk compared to most people. It was only another twenty minutes until I reached my destination. I looked at the building that lye in front of me. It was a large-wooden building, run down by the looks of it, and smelt of pungent odors that made me gag. Walking up to the front door, I was met with a loud source of music, followed by the distinguished smell of alcohol. I knew I had found the right place and gave a knock on the door. To my surprise it was answered fairly quickly, even though the music was blaring on the other side. I could only see the man’s eyes that stared at me through a slot about three-fourths of the way up the door.

“Password,” the man asked, his voice cold and unemotional. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a hundred dollar bill. I held it to the slot on the door where the man promptly took it and closed the slide. A moment later the door was unlocked and the man motioned me in.

“Welcome brother,” the man said as I stepped through the door, closing it behind me. I looked around the room at all the drunk, but more importantly, gun bearing people in the tavern portion of this whorehouse. It was a small tavern, only around ten or so people in the main area. I turned to the man who had let me in before he motioned me over to a quieter spot. We both walked over to a secluded room near the back of the main floor.

“So what can I do for you today boy?” the man asked.

“I'm here for a certain pony. I overheard some people talking about her and would like to see it for myself,” I said, the man grinning in return.

“Ah, you must mean that yellow one with the pink mane. She is quite a score. Doesn’t fuss or anything, just lies there and takes it. She is so helpless I almost feel bad,” the man said with a short laugh, eyeing me up and down.

“So the going rates are three-hundred an hour for her,” the man said, making my fist clench faintly, but was unnoticed by the man.

“That is all the time I will need,” I replied, taking out three hundred dollars and handing it to the man. The man smiled as he happily counted his money, making sure that he wasn’t getting shortchanged. He then led me upstairs and into a corridor filled with rooms. I wasn’t sure how many rooms I had passed, it had to have been at least five to six before he stopped and opened the door to my right. I walked into the room and the door closed behind me with a lock. Looking in front of me I was horrified at what I saw. It was a yellow Pegasus pony with a pink mane and tail. She was restrained to the bed, each hoof tied down to a bedpost. Her fur, tail, and main had stains of semen and blood, which was shockingly visible. A small trickle of dried blood was on the front of her muzzle and under her nose. She had been forcefully given drugs, most likely cocaine, and beaten many times. Bruises and bare patches of fur covered her body along with cigar burns to the fur and skin. Her hooves had small cuts on them from where the rope was rubbing against fur and skin. The only thing left unscathed were her wings, which looked like they were still healthy. Taking a step closer to the mare, I truly noticed how life threatening her condition was. She was malnourished and probably dehydrated from the lack of care she was receiving. Wasting no time, I took off my backpack and opened it. I then walked over to her and cut her restraints loose with my boot-knife that I always carried. Once all her hooves were free, I gently moved the water bottle I had and tilted it to her muzzle for her to drink. I let a light stream of water wash over her muzzle; Fluttershy taking almost insignificant swallows of the cold refreshment. After a slow few minutes, I pulled the water bottle away from the mare and reached back into my back and pulled out a small piece of bread. I broke the bread into even smaller pieces, no bigger than a nickel or quarter, before feeding it to her one by one. I then took out my water bottle again and started another small stream of water on her muzzle. This time however, she greedily took in all the water I was pouring, making sure that she wouldn’t waste a drop. Once my water bottle was near empty, I pulled it away from her and she slowly opened her eyes for the first time during the whole ordeal. It shocked me at what I saw. I was looking into the eyes of mare that should have given up all hope; but instead I found a pool of innocence and hope in those cyan-green eyes of her. This only infuriated me more. My blood was boiling over and I knew what I had to do. I looked at the mare that regarded me with fear, which was completely understandable to see. I would act the same way if I had another species violate me in both physical and mental ways, taking away my innocence when I was such a loving creature. With the best smile I could muster, I gently leaned in and kissed the mare on the forehead. She flinched at my contact with her, but still stared at me with innocence in her eyes. I then began to rummage through my backpack, pulling out part after part. I then assembled all the parts into their specified order, thus producing a fully functional AK-47. I then took out a large magazine for the gun, loaded with sixty rounds before I looked back to Fluttershy on the bed.

“Everything is going to be fine Fluttershy. I'm not going to hurt you. I will be back here to get you in a minute or two. Please stay right there, cover your ears, and close your eyes please,” I asked, Fluttershy trying to make sense of the situation she was in. She complied with my demands though, and soon her hooves were covering her ears and her eyes were closed. I wasn’t sure how much that was going to help, but it should be better than nothing, I reasoned, reaching for the handle and trying to turn it. It was locked from the outside so I did the only logical thing I could think of. I knocked on the door and began to say that I was finished. A moment later the door was open and my AK-47 had claimed its first victim. It was a security guard who was stationed outside every room when occupied, just in case something happened with the mare, but more likely to tell a client when his time is up. When the door had opened, I pulled the trigger to my AK-47, making a large hole in the guard’s head. To my relief, Fluttershy had her eyes closed so she didn’t have to see the carnage that my AK-47 had done on another human’s cranium cavity. Walking out of the room, I heard the music from downstairs blaring. To my surprise and generous relief, the shot had not awakened anybody to the onslaught that was about to happen. Switching my AK-47 to fully automatic mode, I proceeded down the stairs, where everyone was enjoying music and booze. They had no idea what was about to happen, and I wasn’t going to let them know. With no warning, I pulled the trigger to my AK-47 and let the bullets do the rest. Within five seconds, the entire lobby was leveled and littered with corpses of humans. I made sure to not strike anypony that may have been in the crossfire, and luckily enough I didn’t even graze any. Walking over to the stage, I saw a pony with a treble cleft cutie mark playing a large instrument of sorts. I now know that the instrument that was being played was in fact a cello. Smiling, I helped her off the stage and gave her a list of instructions of what to do.

“Please, take everypony you can to the city of Ponyville. I will have one of my friends help you shortly,” I said, walking over to the bar and staring at the pony that was behind it.

“You can come out now, it’s safe,” I stated, the pony poking her head up from behind the counter. She was a bright white with a blue mane and tail. Her cutie mark resembled that of an eighth note. The most notable feature on this pony was actually a pair of purple shaded sunglasses she wore.

“Please help that pony with taking everypony you can to Ponyville. You will be safe there and away from my kind,” I said, turning to leave.

“Wait,” the mare shouted out to me, causing me to turn around and stare at her.

“Who are you?” she asked, me turning back around and beginning to walk back towards the stairs.

“A man trying to find redemption,” I plainly stated, walking back upstairs. A few minutes later, I had disassembled my AK-47 and stored the parts for later. I then grabbed Fluttershy and was carrying her down the stairs in my arms. She was in no condition to travel and I could think of no other way to transport her. The poor mare was shaking though, obviously terrified of what was happening. I tried my best to calm her, but nothing seemed to work. She just continued to shake in my arms. Reaching the lobby, I saw a familiar face that I was glad to see.

“Nice of you to finally join us Princess,” I somewhat sarcastically remarked, Luna turning to me with a coy smile.

“You sure did a lot of damage here,” she responded, looking around the room at all the dead people. I shrugged my shoulders the best I could with Fluttershy in them and responded with my answer.

“They all had it coming. Anyway, all the ponies downstairs have been moved to a safe location and are on their way to Ponyville. There are two more mares upstairs that I was unable to move. They have been cut free from their bonds and I want you to teleport them to Ponyville hospital. They should be well cared for there. As for the building itself, when you are done, burn it to the ground,” I said, turning towards the door and walking away from Luna. Luna nodded her head and proceeded to do as I said. In ten minutes time, I was already on my way down the road, Luna beside me and a large cloud of smoke filtering through the night sky. I turned to look at Luna and gave a smile of content before looking at the mare that was now sleeping in my arms. I smiled as I continued to walk down the dirt path, knowing that my journey for restoring balance to Equestria had finally begun.

End Flashback

“She finds safety in Leo. Her memories still haunt her to this day, though they are not as bad as they used to be. At night, she sometimes has nightmares of her time in that horrible place. I have seen them for myself and couldn’t wish that fate upon my greatest enemy. Though when she is with Leo, she is at ease, feeling safe and secure. When she first came here to this house, weeks went by to where she had to constantly have me around to comfort her. After realizing that Leo was no threat to her though, she found relief just being with him,” Luna calmly stated, looking at the window.

Twilight’s eyes were a wide mixture of feelings. The most dominant of these feelings was sympathy, followed by anger then sadness.

“How... how could any being do this to somepony?” Twilight asked, not directing her question to Luna, but to herself. Luna shook her head and looked towards the window again.

“We don’t know Twilight. We simply don’t know,” Luna said, sighing for a quick moment before shooting to her hooves. Luna had a bright smile on her face as she saw two figures walking down the road and towards the house. One of them was clearly undeniable. It was an orange pony with a blonde mane and tail. The other one was no doubt I, but something seemed off. Luna focused her vision more intently and soon her smile turned to one of panic.

“Twilight, gather Fluttershy and the first aid kit now!” Luna shouted, racing out of her room and down the stairs. Twilight did as she was told and quickly found Fluttershy and the first aid kit. Luna had practically ripped the front door off its hinges trying to get out. She raced towards Applejack and me, becoming more worried by the second. I was being supported by Applejack, walking slowly in sync with her hoofsteps. I then noticed Luna racing down the pathway towards me. I stuck out my arm to reach for Luna, but lost my balance. I fell onto my side and both Applejack and Luna helped me to my feet. Upon helping me up from the ground, Luna noticed many tiny spikes that were protruding from the right side of my chest and back.

“What the hay happened?” Luna yelled, enveloping me in her magic and levitating me off the ground. I was rushed into the house where Fluttershy and Twilight were waiting downstairs, along with everypony else. Luna quickly levitated me into the kitchen and placed me sideways on top of the kitchen table. Fluttershy ran into the room and quickly began to work, Luna offering aid as much as she could.

I let out a demoralizing scream as more spikes were taken out of my back. The process had been going on for around ten minutes and it had been the most painful ten minutes of my life. Pulling another spike from my back, I cringed in pain but suppressed my pain-induced scream. Fluttershy was hard at work, doing the best she could to save me. With one final tug on a spike, my back was now free of any metal extrusions. A large pad was placed on my back where all the spikes had been. Blood was not flowing heavily from the wounds, and the pad was now absorbing any blood that did flow. Turning me over onto my back, I let out a small grunt.

It was very uncomfortable on my back, but that was the least of my worries. If I thought my back was in pain, I was sorely mistaken. Removing the metal spikes from my chest was a more meticulous task, requiring more precision and about ten times the pain. With every metal spike removed from my chest, my screams of pain became harsher and more demoralizing. It also didn’t help that everypony was sitting in the next room, listening to everything unfold. Every cry of pain made everypony in the next room cringe or tear up. Their friend and savior, who had risked everything for them, was now experiencing some of the most intense pain in his entire life with nothing anypony could do to help it.

Another grueling twenty minutes passed before Fluttershy walked out of the kitchen, a smile on her face.

“He is going to be fine. We have removed all of the metal spikes from his body and he should make a full recovery,” Fluttershy happily said, everypony breathing a sigh of relief.

“What were those things that were protruding from his body?” Rainbow asked. Fluttershy wasn’t even able to answer before I beat her to it.

“They are called flechette rounds. They are most commonly used in shotgun shells. They are basically little spikes that hit our target and wound them, usually not killing them. I will tell you what though, they hurt like a motherbucker if you get shot, and even worse if you try to get them out,” I said, slowly walking into the living room and taking a seat in an unoccupied chair.

“Leo, you shouldn’t be up right now. You need your rest,” Fluttershy stated, a worried tone in her voice. I smiled and nodded my head.

“I know Fluttershy, this will only take a minute or two,” I said, turning to everypony in the room.

“Alright everypony, we are another step closer to returning Equestria to its rightful owners. We now have all the Elements of Harmony, which was no easy task, but has finally been achieved,” I said, looking around and smiling at the ponies around me.

“I also have some very disturbing news,” I said, pulling out a piece of parchment from my pocket.

“I found this on the man that shot me. Take a look at what it says,” I said, handing it over to all the ponies so they could read it.

“What... what does this mean?” Twilight asked, not sure how to interrupt it.

“It means that they know about you and about the Elements of Harmony. They have placed large bounties on your heads for your capture, more than likely to stop you from using the elements,” I said, everypony still staring at the paper I handed them.

“What it also means is that these idiots are going to play right into our hands... um hooves I mean?” I said, standing up from the chair with a smirk on my face. Everypony was looking puzzled, including Luna.

“We’re going to rescue Celestia. And this is how we’re going to do it.”