Rugia

Victor checked Rarity out of the hospital at three o’clock that afternoon. Rarity thanked Victor for taking good care of her, and vacated the hospital with her friends to see what was left of her once beautiful home. All though she was happy to be out of the hospital, Rarity was in a lot of emotional pain over the loss of Opalescence. Her friends didn’t like to her so depressed, granted they were upset about Opal’s passing as well. Another thing that had them down was that for one thing; Rugia had kept his powers hidden from them and lied to them about his reason for leaving his home. The other was the fact that they were going to end up fighting in a war they can’t win without Rugia’s help, but Rugia refuses to fight in that war because he’s afraid of loosing control. The six, plus Spike made their way through Ponyville until they reached the location of where the Carousel Boutique once stood. Rugia was moving large chunks of the Carousel Boutique out of the way in hopes of finding something that survived. Unfortunately, each piece of the house moved was just a fruitless attempt. Rugia saw them but paid no heed to them. A time or two Rugia would kick a brick or some kind of object out of the way as he walked around the rubble. Rugia dug his way into the remains of the kitchen and disappeared. Rarity looked at what was left of her home. She looked at what remained of a dress she had started that morning before she was attacked by Daxis and his cohorts. Rarity began to weep again and she wrapped her forelegs around her nearest friend, which happened to be Spike. Spike could feel Rarity’s tears on his shoulder as she cried. It tore him apart to see the pony he was in love with so broken hearted. Rarity’s weeping made him tear-up as well.

“Hey Rarity,” they heard Rugia call as he came out of the destroyed kitchen, “look what I found!”

“What is it Rugia?” Rarity said letting go of Spike and turning to see what Rugia had found. Rugia came walking up holding something in his arms.

“You’re going to love this Rarity.” Rugia said. A meow came from the object, and Rugia revealed it to be Opalescence.

“Opal!” Rarity cried as Rugia placed the cat on the ground. Rarity galloped over to her beloved Opalescence and embraced her, “Oh Opalescence, thank goodness you are alive.” Rarity hadn’t lost everything after all, she still had her cat. “Where ever did you find her Rugia?”

“Believe it or not,” he replied, “one of the cabinets survived and that’s where I found her.”

“I don’t how you survived,” Rarity said to her cat, “but I’m glad that you are safe Opal. But what are we going to do about my house?”

Rugia looked at the rubble and said, “I would rebuild it with my keyboard, but according to my PDA the keyboard has a short in it. So its going to be a while before your house is rebuilt and completed.”

“Hmm, well I suppose I should stay with someone until my house is fixed.” Rarity said petting Opalescence.

“Why don’t you stay with my wife and I?” Rugia offered, “Its least I could do since I can’t fix your house.”

“Oh darling,” Rarity replied, “that’s very thoughtful of you but I couldn’t possibly put a burden on you.”

“Please,” Rugia smiled, “I insist, besides Candace would love to have you around the house. She talks a lot about how she enjoys visiting you. It would be like a slumber party for her.”

“Very well,” Rarity said, “I accept your offer.”

“Hey guys!” exclaimed Pinkie, “Lets have a slumber party at Rugia’s house!”

“We should see if its ok with Rugia first.” Fluttershy said turning to Rugia, “Um… you don’t mind do you?”

“Sounds like a good idea to me.” Rugia replied, “We could use a slumber party after the day we have been through.”

Five o’clock rolled around and everyone had settled in. Although Candace felt bad for her, she was very happy to welcome her greatest fashion friend into her home. Having Rarity around for a while meant Candace was going to get a lot of tips on keeping her hair nice and beautiful. Candace and Rarity didn’t waste anytime, the instant everyone settled into the living room they started talking up a storm on clothing their hair styles. For everyone else, it was hard to get a conversation going. Rugia going ape and nearly killing someone was still on Rainbow’s mind. Also Rugia lying about his reason for leaving Earth had them wondering what else he was hiding. And if things weren’t bad enough, a war was going to be waged between Equestria and the Rucan Shadow Armada, which at this point seemed like it was completely useless to try and fight back.

“Rugia,” Twilight asked slowly, “why did you keep your powers a secret from us?”

“I didn’t want any of you to fear me for what I am.” Rugia replied, regret in his eyes. Before anyone could ask another question, there was a knock at Rugia’s door. Rugia excused himself from the room to see who it was. Upon opening the door, Rugia was greeted by Princess Celestia.

“Rugia we need to talk.” she said bluntly.

“Of course,” Rugia said stepping out of the way so she could come in. Rugia came into the living room with Celestia behind him. Rugia took a seat on the couch where he was before and offered Celestia a seat on the love-seat next to the window.

“So what do you want to know?” Rugia asked calmly.

“Who and what were those creatures that attacked Ponyville.” Celestia asked.

Rugia rested his right leg over his left and replied, “They were Rucans, very evil Rucans who are part of an army called the Shadow Armada. These Rucans will attack and conquer planets and turn their residents into slaves. They are led by a Rucan by the name of Resnoff Arteze.”

“You seem to know a lot about the Shadow Armada,” Celestia eyed Rugia with suspicion, “you weren’t part of them at one point were you?”

“No,” replied Rugia, “I was never apart of them.”

“How can we be so sure?” Celestia raised an eye brow, “You lied about your reason for leaving your home. Can we be sure your telling us the truth? For all we know you could be lying to us now.” As soon as she said these words, Rugia gripped the chair and shot a very aggressive look at Celestia.

“I would never intentionally harm an innocent creature.” he said as calmly as he could. Rugia was sensitive about being accused of doing harm to an innocent. “The day my powers developed I made a vow to use my powers to protect the defenseless.”

“Twilight’s letter said you have trouble controlling your powers when you get angry.” Celestia’s eyes thinned, “You claim that your powers are unstable,” she watched Rugia closely, “but according to what Rainbow Dash saw, you looked like you were in complete control of your actions.” Candace saw Rugia’s expression, he was growing frustrated by Celestia’s words. When Celestia said her next sentence, the inevitable happened.

“I think your just making excuses for your actions.” She said.

Rugia’s pupils shrank and he screamed at Celestia, “WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MY POWERS!!!” Everyone jumped when Rugia responded to Celestia’s comment. “YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT MY POWERS!!!” Rugia’s irises changed to the same light blue they become in his transformed state. “HOW COULD YOU KNOW? YOU ARE NOT ME! YOU WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO LIVE EVERY DAY IN FEAR, AFRAID THAT YOU COULD LOSE CONTROL AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT!!!” white aura flashed around Rugia’s body and vanished. “DON’T YOU DARE TELL ME THAT I’M MAKING EXCUSES!!! I KNOW MORE ABOUT MYSELF THAN YOU EVER COULD!!!” Rugia was standing now, breathing heavier and shaking the same way he was that morning when he fought the Rucans.

“Rugia please,” Celestia asked calmly, “calm down. I was just testing you to see if there was a truth to what you said to Twilight.”

Rugia’s anger exploded and he changed into his Super Ruca form. In a movement that was to quick to see, Rugia was on top of Celestia, pressing her head down against the couch. Celestia tried to use a levitation spell to get Rugia off of her, but it had no effect on him. Twilight realized that Celestia didn’t know magic had no effect on Rugia. The six knew that if they didn’t stop Rugia somehow, he would kill Celestia. Rugia tightened his grip on Celestia’s head and she yelped in pain. Celestia tried to squirm so Rugia’s grip would loosen, but Rugia only tightened his grip more.

“Rugia stop it!” shouted Twilight, “You’re going to kill her!” Sadly, Rugia didn’t respond. It was like Rugia didn’t even hear her. The six tried to get him to stop, but could get no reaction from him. Two guards came in the house to see what was happening. Seeing Rugia attacking Princess Celestia led them attack him, but Candace stopped them and warned them that attacking him would only result in him turning on them. She calmly walked over to Rugia, who was on the verge of crushing Celestia’s skull, and she slowly hugged Rugia from behind.

She rested her head on Rugia’s left shoulder and softly spoke, “Don’t do it Rugia,” she hugged him tighter, “Celestia is your friend.” Immediately Rugia gasped and released Celestia. Rugia was gasping for air as Candace guided him to the floor where she held him close to her. Celestia sat up slowly with one hoof on her head, it felt as if her heart was in the side of her head. Each pulse brought a searing pain to her.

“Are you alright Princess?” twilight asked franticly.

“I’ll be alright,” she said roughly as she closed her eyes tightly from the pain. Candace was softly shushing and Rugia’s gasping slowed to soft breathing.

“What jus’ happened?” Apple Jack asked scratching her head.

“It’s always been like this.” Candace replied quietly, “When Rugia would loose control, he would always come to his senses around me. Just the sound of my voice calms him down.”

“I understand what your saying darling.” Rarity said, “your saying that as his wife you provide comfort for him. So when he’s unhappy, you are like his safety blanket.”

“That’s exactly what I am to him.” Candace said rubbing Rugia’s back. His body slowly returned to normal and he opened his eyes and looked around at everyone. He saw the fright in their eyes and looked up at Candace.

“What happened Candace?” Rugia asked sitting up and placing his hand on his head.

“What do you mean, what happened?” Twilight shouted angrily.

“I… I can’t remember,” Rugia was still holding his head, “what was I doing?”

“What where you doing!?” Twilight jumped to her hooves and trotted over to Rugia.

“Twilight, take it easy on him.” Candace said putting her hand on Rugia, “After Rugia looses control he doesn't remember what he did. He can only remember what happened before he became enraged.” Rugia was staring at his right hand, as if waiting for something to happen. He flexed it a time or two before looking at Celestia. Celestia still had her hoof against the left side of her head where Rugia had previously made an attempt to crush her skull. Rugia turned away from her and slowly began to realize what had happened.

“I’m so sorry Celestia,” he said hanging his head an stared at the floor, “this is the second time I have accidentally attacked someone I cared about. It keeps getting worse every time I lose control.”

“Who was the first to be attacked by you?” Celestia asked.

“My own daughter,” he replied, “Jewly was the first.”

“What happened?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Rugia sat up in the cross-leg position.

“But if you tell us about it you-”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it!” Rugia hissed at Twilight. A bolt of white lightning shot up his body and he gripped his head in pain.

“Try to stay calm sweet-heart.” Candace embraced Rugia in a gentle hug. Rugia’s friends could see just how hard it was for Rugia to take control of his anger, he sat there holding his head while his wife comforted him. The two guards that had come in went back outside to wait by the carriage. Rugia’s pain subsided and he wrapped his arm around Candace to return the hug. Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe that Rugia had attacked Celestia, she wanted it to be a dream, but knew what she was seeing was real. Rainbow walked over to Rugia and looked him in the eyes and saw his depression. Rainbow wrapped her for-legs around him.

“Thank you Rainbow Dash.” Rugia said wrapping his arms around her, “Are you afraid of me?”

“I’m not afraid of you Rugia,” she said, “its your powers I’m afraid of.”

After twenty minutes, Rugia was finally ready to sit down and discuss the matters at hand. While Rugia had been calming down, Candace brought an icepack for Celestia to rest on her head. Everyone in the room had settled down and prepared to continue their discussion on what to do about the coming war at hand.

“About these Rucans,” Celestia began, “what should we do about them?”

“I’m not sure.” came Rugia’s reply.

“What?!” shouted Twilight, “What do you mean your not sure?!”

“Well excuse me for not being perfect,” Rugia said looking with a bored expression, “I don’t have all of the answers.”

“There has to be something you know about the Rucans that could help us.” Celestia encouraged him.

“Well,” Rugia tapped his chin, “I know that the Rucans have a rule that if their general is challenged and defeated, they will admit defeat.”

“Well then,” Celestia asked, “can’t you just challenge there general and-”

“No.” Rugia stopped her, “I refuse to use my powers at all.”

Celestia looked at Rugia, shocked that he said he won’t fight, “But if you don’t, we will lose the kingdom.”

“I wish I could help but my powers are too unstable.” Rugia shook his head, “I would take a chance on loosing control like I did earlier. Each time I loose control it gets worse.”

“There must be something you can do to control your anger, Rugia.” Celestia said. Rugia just looked at the floor, eyes closed and shook his head. At this point it was clear that they were not going to convince him at all to fight to protect Equestria, but if Rugia would not fight, how could they save themselves?

“If it’s alright with all of you,” Rugia requested, “I would rather just get off the subject and just have dinner. Your welcome to stay if you like, Celestia.” Rugia eased out of the chair and made his way into the kitchen. Celestia could see that Rugia did not like one bit of the situation at hand. Involuntarily attacking her probably wasn’t easy on him either. To not make him feel worse, Celestia decided to stay for dinner. For the dinner menu, Rugia and his wife had prepared fruit salads for everyone in the home. Rugia and Candace delivered the salads one by one to each of their guests and took a seat themselves. Rugia asked the blessing and they commenced eating the food prepared for them. For a few minutes no one said anything, but soon the silence was broken.

“Rugia darling,” asked Rarity, “would you mind telling us a little about your family?”

“Of course.” came Rugia’s reply as he picked up a photo album from the coffee table.

“I’ll go take my shower while you do.” Candace said leaving the room and putting her empty bowl in the kitchen and heading to the back room.

“Ok why don’t w-” Rugia was interrupted by the sound of Candace screaming in the bathroom and Rugia shot up from the couch and ran off to the bathroom to see what was wrong. He came to the bathroom as Candace came running out. “Sweet-heart what’s wrong, what is it?”

“There is something drinking out of the toilet!” she squeaked. Rugia looked inside the bathroom and saw a very large bird with dark red feathers drinking out of the white porcelain bowl. The bird lifted its head out of the toilet and revealed it had feathers that stuck up in a straight line in the center of its head and went in a long curve down the back of its head. Its tail feathers were longer than any normal bird’s as well. It was larger than a bald eagle, but had the beak of one. It saw Rugia and let out an unusual squawk. Rugia recognized the bird rigth away.

“Arckamedes!” shouted Rugia. The bird leaped to the counter and tilted its head, “Where have you been you silly bird?! You disappeared the instant we got out of the plane and weren’t heard from again. And now here you are drinking out of the toilet and frightening Candace, again!”

“I’m-a-sorry” Arckamedes said.

“You better be you naughty bird.” Rugia replied. Arckamedes flapped his wings and jumped onto Rugia’s shoulder. He then laid his head on top of Rugia’s and made a cat’s purring sound. Rugia pat the large bird on the back and said, “You are a strange animal Arckamedes. But you’re my strange bird.” Rugia left Candace to shower and walked back to the living room with Arckamedes on his shoulder. Fluttershy saw Arckamedes and was filled with excitement.

“What a pretty bird.” she said and the others looked in Rugia’s direction.

“This is Arckamedes,” Rugia said stroking the birds back, “he is my pet and a pest at the same time.” Arckamedes lifted his head off of Rugia and looked him in the eyes, “Yeah, you know you are a pest.” Arckamedes blew a raspberry and turned his head so he wasn’t looking at Rugia.

“What kind of bird is he?” asked Fluttershy, “I’ve never seen a bird like him before.”

“He’s a Ruzoark.” Rugia replied.

“A Ruzoark?” repeated Rainbow Dash.

“This bird is from the Rucan home world,” Rugia said picking the album up again, “This particular bird species are very intelligent. Arckamedes can repeat words said, mimic any animal noise, and do a lot of other things too. Go say hi Arckamedes.” The large bird hopped off of Rugia’s shoulder and landed on the floor in front of Rainbow and said hello in Rugia’s voice. While his friends were distracted by his pet, Rugia looked at the album’s cover and thought about how much he missed his family. He looked at the ponies in his living room, they reminded him a lot of his children. They may not be related, but his new friends were now part of his family. Rugia set the album down and sat on the couch and watched Arckamedes mock Rarity in her voice. Every one of them was laughing at Rarity’s expense, but soon she was laughing too. For a moment, everyone had forgotten about the Rucans.