The Wolf and the Unicorn

“You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.”― Friedrich Nietzsche

"...NOT your fault Twilight. It was my..."

"...is a threat..."

"Awake, Child."

As my mind floated in the void with voices coming in and out of focus, that one jarred my mind.  A voice I knew so very well.

"Ow, my fucking head."

The room was entirely too bright as I opened my eyes.  At least I could tell I was back in my home, apparently surrounded by more ponies.  Why I keep getting knocked out, I don't know but it is better then dead I guess.  As I tried to sit up I did realize a few things though.  My body felt great.  Aches and pains I'd had for years weren't there, even the fuzziness at the edge of my vision had vanished.  One thing came to mind though.

"So what the hell happened? I thought you planned for this Celestia.  Getting impaled WAS NOT part of our deal.  I could deal with Armor's magic, but trees through the chest piss me off."

You know, I never realized how coarse the fabric of my couch was until I was shirtless on it and turning to glare at a certain solar princess.  All she could do was look at the floor as she started to talk.  Pretty sure she knew this fell apart, and badly at that.

"The letter was sent as planned to inform Twilight.  We just didn't expect Spike to be out helping Rarity hunt gemstones when it happened.  It was an assumption on my part, and a poor one at that, which nearly cost you your life.  We are sorry Hex.  Then there is the matter of your crystals.  We'll need to talk about that later."

I sighed, unsure of what to say to all of this.  Nearly getting killed on a screw that really couldn't have been prevented without blowing the plan.  Sure, life sucks sometimes, but I can't around letting it control me.  Fuck it, I'll deal with this later and maybe milk a favor or two out of it.  Maybe a vacation for me and Luna or something.  Worst case, I can always rub the fact that I'm railing her sister in her pony face.

"Celes..."

And that was the sign for everypony to start talking at once.

"SHUT UP!  Fucking hell, I get stabbed through the chest and everyone can't even give me the courtesy to take a goddamn number and wait in line?!  Let me talk."

A small squeak from the back of the group pretty much said that Fluttershy was here.  Probably to check on Ponyville's latest invulnerable resident.

"As I was saying.  Celestia, the fact that Spike was out of reach was something we could and should have planned around.  We both screwed up there, so no hard feelings.  We'll, maybe a few since I got stabbed.  Either way, for some crazy reason I am fine and feel fantastic, so I'll leave it be for now.  As for the rest of you vultures, you can talk one at a time if you want to be welcome in my house."

I think that got their attention as the small group shuffled a little bit, until a quiet voice broke through the silence.

"Well, um, I'm glad you are okay Hex.  If you are in pain or anything, let me know."

With that, small mumbles came from the group, mostly apologies and whatnot as ponies came and went.  Thankfully, a short while passed and only a few figures were left.  They were going to be the most interesting ones to talk to as they had the most to do with all of this.

"Ah sure am for tying you up like ah did Hex.  If ah knew what was goin on, ah would have stayed out of the way."

Its got to be the southerner in me, but seeing Applejack apologize like that with her stetson off, definitely made everything ok.  A slight nod in her direction seemed to brighten her demeanor quite a bit.  When I was about to open my mouth to speak, a certain pony exhaled loudly behind me.  One that I've purposely been putting in the corner since I woke up.

"Yes Shining Armor?  And you better not be trying to apologize.  You did exactly what I expected you to do.  Granted I got a little bruised up, but it was fun in a way."

"In the forest we could track you.  It wasn't easy and apparently you are very good at what you do there.  What I want to know is how you kept all of our combined magic from hurting you?"

"Magic didn't hurt him?"

"Nope, didn't do a thing to me Twilight.  And its a dirty secret of mine Armor.  I don't think you ponies are capable of doing it as it is based in my magic, but I'll try to explain.  Back home, I was what religions called a Pagan.  There were different types, but I was one of those that followed what was in their blood.  In my case, religions that were called Asatru and Voudoun.  And bear with me, I'll get to your answers."

I gave them a short lecture on what humans believed and why it was relevant to all of this.  Naturally Twilight was taking notes on pretty much everything, occasionally interjecting the odd question or comment.  As a whole, I managed to boil down centuries of human experience into its essence in regards to this.

"...So, there are lots of different things that humans believe.  In my religions, there are also beliefs about shielding ones self from others, both physical or mental.  A lot of people believed, but more didn't back home.  When I got here and started learning about my magic, I tried to create what we called wardstones or wyrd depending on where you went.  Basically, you put everything you need for the shield into the clay, even using the magic to dry and bake it.  When the ward is overwhelmed it lets you know by breaking.  Hex bags are another similar thing, but I won't get into that."

I could tell Twilight had an idea floating around in her mind about trying all this.  It probably wouldn't work, but if it did, more power to the ponies.  From there, the conversation sort of went everywhere.  I had completely forgotten that Celestia was in the room until she chimed in with bits of her knowledge.

All in all, for a day that I died, it didn't turn out to be a bad day.  It wasn't until about midnight that I realized that I hadn't even thought about how my firearms were and if they survived whatever the hell happened.

"SON OF A BITCH!"