The Human Hero

Chapter 13

The Monster inside Man

Nightmare Night in the Crystal Empire, three months after Luna turned back into Nightmare Moon and two after the events of Tirek's return. Shining Armor and Princess Cadence had set up a make shift carnival in the same stadium that the Equestria Games, a throne for both themselves and Allyn and Luna near the torch. The young fillies and colts in costume walked or ran from booth to booth with their parents, eventually ending with a chance to get autographs from 'Nightmare Moon' herself and a famous rockstar.

While Cadence was dressed up like Celestia, even going to the point of having a wig that looked like Tia's, Shining was almost lazily wearing his full Royal Guard armor including helmet and a dulled spear. Luna went as the pony this night was named for, which worried Allyn to the point of him repeatedly asking her to go as something else, but she repeatedly told him that she was just doing it for the fouls and that it was only make-up and plastic fangs. Allyn on the other hand stuck out like a sore thumb in his Jack Skellington costume, including a bald cap and face paint.

"How are you enjoying the carnival and the Crystal Empire, Captain Flynt," Shining Armor asked while Allyn and Luna were signing autographs.

"Oh just loving it, Prince Armor," Allyn replied in a snarky tone, not wanting to do anything too offensive while in front of young children.

"I, um," Armor tried to keep a smile on his face, "I prefer Shining or Captain, not Prince."

"And I prefer Allyn," Allyn snapped back, "I'm not a Captain. I don't deserve that title."

"It's alright, Allyn," Luna said, holding Allyn's arm, "You are more than deserving of the title Sister gave you."

"But I promised you that I would protect you," Allyn said looking at her, "I couldn't keep that promise for one month before failing you."

Cadence looked over at Allyn, "Please, you did the best you could do. Tirek was too strong for even Celestia to handle by that point, that's why we transferred our magic to Twilight."

"And besides," Shining Armor, "With the stories the guards tell you're more than worthy of this rank."

Allyn didn't want to think back to what happened to him on that dark day, what he did. He clenched his pants in his fist with the terror he brought himself. Luna wrapped her arm around him and pulled him close to her, calming him slightly.

"You managed, not only to run from the front gates to the throne room after your magic was taken away when ponies like Shining Armor and even Tia and I could barely stand after the same thing happened to us," Luna reminded Allyn, "But you fought both Tirek and Discord for almost twenty minutes. I know that you promised to protect me, and even if Tirek threw us into Tartarus, I'm safe now. And that's because you were able to hold off Tirek long enough for Princess Twilight to be able to defeat him."

He wasn't mad that he couldn't protect Luna, thought that was but a small part of it, he was more horrified about the battle.

Horrified by the monster he became.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two State Alchemists stood near the front gate of Canterlot Castle, Allyn Flynt and Trixie Lulamoon. They, along with eight members of the Royal Guard, waited for Tirek and Discord to attack. Allyn checked his watch, then looked to the sky.

"Shouldn't it be morning," Allyn asked, looking at the stars of the night sky out at almost 9 in the morning. As if someone had missed some hidden cue, the night sky was quickly replaced by a sun out of control. That or drunk by the way it flew back and forth through the sky.

"That's," Trixie added, "Slightly better."

"I do say," a voice called out, causing the eight guards ready their spears and the two alchemists throw their arms back in preparation for a quick transmutation, "Celestia must be pretty focused on us if she let her job slip for this long."

A long, slithering beast like a zoo had been put into a blender and turned on stood next to a fifteen foot high Centaur/bull hybrid that looked straight out of the Bible's depiction of one of Satan's spawns. The two monstrosities towered over the gate to the Castle. Allyn quickly reached for Genies Hilt, spinning it around his neck and turning it into Hozukimaru.

"Ten ponies," Tirek's booming voice called out, "You're all that the three Alicorn Princesses put in charge of the front gate?" Allyn and Trixie looked at each other, remembering their orders from Celestia not to say a word about Twilight if Tirek didn't already bring her up. The two alchemists stepped back, holding their golden lighters at the ready.

"Don't underestimate the power of ten trained soldiers of the Royal Guard," Trixie said.

"Two State Alchemists are more than enough to handle you," Allyn finished Trixie's statement.

Tirek gave a menacing smirk, "Then your magic must be strong." He opened his jaw and began to inhale, the orange mist coming off the ponies as their magic was starting to be taken away starting to float towards the Colossus. This was their only shot, and Allyn took it.

"NOW!" He and Trixie struck their lighters, Trixie aiming for Tirek's mouth while Allyn did the same and continued around Discord's head. The three explosions, going off at almost the same time, struck Tirek straight in the throat and caused his to cough from the burns. Discord was slightly less knocked off balance by the attack, simply grabbing the ring of fire in his lion and bird hands and crumpled the flames up like paper.

Allyn quickly turned to his troops, '"Split up! Don't let them take you by surprise."

The ten guards ran for cover in different directions, readying for a counterattack. Allyn ran, using Hozukimaru in the fashion of an Olympic pole vaulter, and gained as much height as he could on Tirek. He spun around in the air, with the range of the zanpakuto, and intended to slice the monster's main means of crippling his troops.

All the attack managed to do would be less than a paper cut on a normal human, but Allyn was too determined to give up yet. He swapped out the sansetsukon for something he had a little less knowledge for, 3DM Gear. Allyn used the strange technology to swing around the large beast's chest and hopefully catch it from behind, though his lack of knowledge with the tool left him wide open.

Tirek, having seen Allyn fly around as he gaged on the initial attack, reach behind himself and grabbed the insect sized human, throwing him into the Castle. Allyn screamed at the pain of his spine and many other bones breaking as he bounced off the stone wall and fell to the dirt. Trixie quickly transmuted a large group of cannons out of the ground, firing them at Discord and Tirek as she ran over to her master.

He was still breathing, though labored, but he didn't seem to be moving. Trixie began to try to fuse his broken bones together again. She was almost complete when what seemed like a cannon ball slammed into the castle wall near where the two were lying. She recovered quickly and spun around to see Discord spinning three more cannon balls in the air over his hand.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Discord judged, "You should really make your cannons hit their targets before turning your back to them."

He sent another cannon ball flying, giving Trixie barely enough time to transmute a half dome barrier around her and Allyn. The stone sphere slammed into the barrier, smashing it to chunks that slid off the magic bubble Trixie created at the last second. Unfortunetly, the combinations of having some of her magic stolen, the rapid chain of transmutations, and the bubble shield caused Trixie to become extremely weak with Discord still having two shots left.

Trixie and Allyn began to float into the air by their necks, pulled by Tirek's magic. Trixie struggled against the spell, but had almost no energy left to fight. She looked at Allyn, still unresponsive from being slammed into the wall, then at the group of Guards, whom had already fallen victims to Tirek.

"Say farewell," Tirek said, holding his prey in front of his face, "To you precious magic."

Allyn opened his eyes, held his left arm out while reinforced by his right arm, and aimed his readied Thunder Spell straight into Tirek's left eye. With the sound of a loud explosion, and the screaming of a giant, Allyn and Trixie were now free of Tirek's spell holding them. Allyn threw down a soft bubble shield to catch Trixie and himself before they hit the ground, making a comedic 'Pop' when they were about three feet off the ground.

"You okay," Allyn asked Trixie.

"I'm weak," she panted out, "But fine."

Allyn stood up and turned to Discord and the one eyed Tirek. Tirek screaming at Discord, asking how Discord didn't see Allyn charge up the Thunder Spell. Allyn looked to where he had been slammed against the wall, holding out his hand as Genies Hilt flew towards him. He swung his arm around, crouching down as he turned, and aimed Magnhild in between the giants.

Three shots; one to blind the two, one in Tirek's chest, and one at Discord's legs. As the succession of explosions hit their targets, Allyn ran towards Tirek, spinning the grenade launcher into its War hammer alternate form. Allyn jumped higher than he, or any human, had jumped before, preparing for one last attack.

He flew through the air when his weapon came to a sudden stop without him. Tirek grabbed Allyn out of the air again, this time not allowing him to recover. Tirek inhaled the remaining magic out of Allyn, squeezing with every second he held the unicorn. With the combination of pain, exhaustion, and having his magic stolen, Allyn lost conciseness and fell from Tirek's large hand.

Trixie crawled over to Allyn, shaking him and screaming for him to get up. She continued to scream at the human as Discord's tail wrapped around her and pulled her away from him. Her voice died out as Tirek took her magic from her. Equestria's only State Alchemists had been defeated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's it? You're finished?

That voice, where was it coming from? All Allyn could see was blackness, yet the voice sounded like it was right in front of him. In fact, it sounded like him. The voice called out again, repeating itself but this time sounding more angered.

That's it!? You're giving up!?

He tried to move, his entire body inflamed in pain. Even breathing hurt. The darkness seemed to brighten slightly when a pinhole of light began to shine at Allyn, the miniscule amount of light warming his body.

What about your friends back on Earth?

Allyn thought about it, the light growing from a pinhole to a small dot. He would have liked to see his friends, his family, everything he left behind on Earth one last time. The small light was about the size of a basketball now and growing.

What about Trixie? And Alois? Rim, Vinyl, Octavia, Swift? What about the friends you've made here?

He was sure they'd mourn him, his breath slowing more and more. The light the size of a yoga ball, then like an approaching car. If this was heaven welcoming him, he seemed highly calm with the end.

What about Luna? Are going to break your promise to her?

Allyn's eyes shot open, almost blinding himself from looking straight up at the sun. The pain returning all at once, causing him to spasm in agony. He rolled over to his stomach as Trixie and the other guards, all of whom were leaning or sitting against the wall near Allyn, look at him with surprise and joy.

"Allyn!" Trixie said, her tired voice trying to display relief.

"Glad to see you're alive," one of the older guards said, his gray beard sticking out of his helmet.

"You were touch and go there, sir," another guard said, this one a female pegasus.

You're awake, the voice continued to bark at Allyn, Do you want a medal that says 'Congrats for not dying?' GET THE HELL UP, YOU BASTARD!

Allyn, now equally as pissed off at the voice as it was at him, yelled as he stood up. He stood, the wind blowing pass him as if to applaud his triumph over Death's grasp. Now not even pain was on his mind. He ran as hard as his legs could take him towards Tirek and Discord. The guards and Trixie watched him, the guards impressed by his tenacity.

"How can he run after that," one of the guards asked.

"Because the answer is simple," Trixie said closing her eyes and sliding down the wall, "Allyn Flynt has spent most of his life without the need of magic..." She smiled as she looked at the destruction that Allyn and her caused to stop Tirek and Discord. "Why the hell would that stop him now."

As Allyn ran towards the throne room, following the path of fallen ponies, the only thing he thought was his promise to Luna. He slid around the corner, grabbing a sword as he slid in case Genies Hilt was useless without his magic. When he finally made it to the throne room, the sight he saw felt like his chest was blasted through by a tank.

Tirek, standing in front of Celestia, Luna, and Cadence. Behind Discord and Tirek, a portal revealing what looked like Hell itself. Allyn watched as the three Princesses were pulled into the portal, Luna having noticed him at the last second and screaming his name. As soon has he had watched the event, the portal, and Luna, was gone.

Allyn dropped the sword, falling to his knees as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. His head fell as he realized he had lost another person he loved, as he realized had failed to keep his promise a second time in his life. He understood now how Death the Kid felt about asymmetry, but this was much less funny than what that cartoon character made it look.

"Oh, too bad, Allyn my boy," Discord rested his elbow on the defeated Allyn Flynt, a devious smirk across his goat head, "You missed dear, sweet Luna by that much. But look, on the bright sides; she won't be alone this time around with the whole 'banishment' thing, and she can't be in any worse danger while she spends eternity in the deepest pit in Tartarus."

Discord flinched back with a stinging pain in his avian elbow, similar to one burning themselves on a hot oven. Discord looked at Allyn in confusion with a hint of fear, Allyn's body twitching with sorrow and hate. The thing that kept Tirek's attention, the fact that he knew that he had taken this unicorn's magic and yet dark gray magic energy was bubbling from his horn.

Allyn kept his head down as his arms slowly lifted behind his head, like claws on a creature ready to pounce. Discord, God of Chaos, a monster whose form could strike fear, was horrified as to what this lone pony was going to do to him. Discord stood by Tirek, who looked equally as confused as Discord yet showed no fear with his immense power.

"You bastards," Allyn's voice choked out, the sound making seem like Fluttershy was a lead singer in a Norwegian Death Metal band, "I swear..."

Allyn shot his head up as hundreds of golden glyphs formed out of thin air, every glyph aimed at Tirek and Discord. Allyn's eye, from what it looked like to Discord and Tirek, twisted itself into some heinous form. His copper iris seemed to bleed red as his pupil warped and mangled around to make a terrifying design that matched his rage.

"I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!"

Allyn threw his arms down, firing hundreds upon hundreds of swords, spears, daggers, axes, any and every weapon Allyn could think of at the two Gods. The space around them quickly clouded itself in the dust of the explosions. Allyn stopped the attack after a few seconds to see if his prey was dead.

The dust cleared, Tirek had placed a shield around himself and Discord that was near shredded by blades. Damn, Allyn was too slow. This time, a shield wasn't going to stand in his way. Nothing will.

A new glyph formed behind Allyn, firing out only one sword; Tensa Zangetsu. Allyn grabbed the sword with incredible speed, readying for his next attack nigh instantly. To Tirek and Discord, now fearing for their lives, Allyn's horn seemed to be lit ablaze by gray fire as a violet hazed streamed from his green and red eyes.

"Tenshou," Allyn needed only the one word to send the wave of dark energy to shatter the remnants of Tirek's shield. Just as the wave smashed through the shield, Allyn was ready with a second attack. Lightning sparked off Allyn's palm as he hovered directly in front of Tirek's chest, shards of Tirek's shield still hanging in the air.

"Chidori!" Allyn slammed his palm into Tirek's chest, sending the colossal beast through the Castle wall. Allyn turned his head towards the traitor, the animal could no longer be controlled. Allyn stood in the air, easily ten feet in the air, as two dragon wings seemed to pour from Allyn's back in a form that matched a black sludge.

"So what will the quick-witted Discord come up with today," Allyn asked, a smile on his face that Satan himself would fear. For the first time his long life, Discord was too horrified to even speak. All the draconequus could do is whimper.

"P-p-ple-please," Discord managed to spit out.

"Is," Allyn said, "Is the great Discord begging for his life?" Allyn laughed, but unlike his usual hearty laugh, this matched his dark nature. Allyn threw his left arm out, its usual shape dismantled and replaced with a monstrosity of a blade.

"Sorry, but that's not an option any more," Allyn said, folding what was his arm in front of his face. Before he could realize what hit him, Allyn was sent flying by a blast of magic energy. Allyn, using the blade on his arm to slow his speed, looked at what had attacked him. Tirek walked back through the Tirek-shaped hole in the wall, looking at the worm in the form of a draconequus.

"You're alive still," Allyn asked, slightly disappointed.

"You're strong," Tirek replied, "But one pony isn't enough to beat me with the power in my possession." A sinister smile came across Allyn's face. His arm returned to its natural form, his hand copying a combination that was muscle memory to him at this point.

"One's not enough huh," Allyn said, a spark flew off of the fire on his horn and landing to the left of him, "How about two?"

With a puff of smoke, a perfect copy of Allyn stood beside him. The clone matched Allyn perfectly, from the contortion of his iris and pupil to the tears in his clothing. The copy matched even to the rage in Allyn's voice.

"Or three," the copy continued. Another spark fell off of Allyn's horn, landing to his right and forming another perfect copy. The three Allyns spoke as one.

"Or thirty."

An explosion of smoke shrouded the entry to the Throne Room as now a crowd of Allyn clones stood before Tirek and Discord. The giants watched in fear as one pony, in the form of many, repeated the pattern one last time. Tirek, the monster that Celestia and Luna feared, was on the verge of buckling in terror at the sight of Allyn Flynt.

"MAYBE A HUNDRED!?"

An army of one hundred stood in perfect rows, every Allyn holding the same hand sign in front of their face. The men lowered their arms in unison, their arms transforming back into the large blades. As if some yelled the order, the army charged at the giants at full sprint.

Tirek fired a beam of magic into the tsunami of clones, destroying some and blasting other off their feet. Discord sent a cloud of Chaos magic into the crowd, which imploded a small group. No matter what the two did to the clones, their numbers never seemed to diminish in size.

The real Allyn, the only Allyn, stood in the middle of an empty Throne Room. He watched as Tirek and Discord swung and shot at imaginary hordes of copies of Allyn Flynt. His genjustu had worked perfectly, now he waited for the perfect moment to strike. Allyn preformed another hand sign, summoning two orbs of swirling, blue energy.

Discord noticed as one Allyn was different than the others, this one had arms. Allyn charged towards the monsters, the orbs aimed straight ahead. Discord roared at Allyn, the thunderous roar sending out visible ripples towards Allyn. Allyn stopped and thrust the orbs towards the ripples, sending them back at Discord and Tirek in an explosion.

Allyn slid backwards after the explosion, using his hands like an animal's claws. Meanwhile, Discord and Tirek were separated and disoriented after the explosion and the return of Discord's visible shockwaves. Allyn slammed his knee into the ground, his arms across his chest, as the Buster Sword and Masamune shot out of two glyphs.

"EX-" Allyn said, the blades beginning to glow gold, "-CALIBAR!"

The Centaur and Draconequus were sent flying by the, thought to be, unstoppable attack. Allyn stood to his feet, the two colossal blades resting against the floor. Allyn, his rage at a point where it was beyond berserk and wrapped around itself to return his psyche to a calm sense, walked after Discord.

Discord, still dazed after the counter to his own attack, slithered the hedges around the Royal Garden when he heard Allyn's voice. Discord still tried to figure how Allyn had done that trick with the infinite copies of himself. Discord held his breath as Allyn walked pass the hedges he was hiding behind, a tactic that failed him.

With a single 'Click' the hedges were ablaze with the flames from Allyn's lighter. Allyn summoned a glyph to shoot up a saber as Discord, in a desperate attempt to hit Allyn, swung at him with his lion's claw. Allyn parried the paw with ease, continuing to a slash across the monster's hand.

Discord screamed in pain as blood spilled from the wound, but Allyn was far from over yet. Allyn was going to make Discord beg for death long before this was over. Allyn spun the blade in his hand then sliced at Discord's stomach, chest, and arm, hitting all three.

Allyn stabbed Discord in the arm, pulling the blade through the muscle and bone. Allyn tossed the saber into the air, a glyph swapping out the saber for Typhoon Swell. Allyn spun around, flipping the blade to a reverse grip. One slice to the leg and the coward was on the ground.

Allyn had done what few ponies even questioned if it was possible to conceive doing, Discord's equine leg was cut clean... Well, "clean" isn't the word anyone else would use. Allyn walked towards Discord's head, the katana against his back as he avoided the puddle of blood forming the point where Discord's left leg was. Allyn pointed the blade of the weapon between Discord's eyes, his expression as blank as marble.

Discord looked at the man who stood over him. The stranger looked and sounded like Allyn Flynt, but the way it spoke, the way it acted, and the way it showed no mercy was nothing like the unicorn he had met months ago. Another thing that was different from Allyn, this animal had magic, when he saw Tirek steal everything from Allyn firsthand.

"How," Discord tried to speak, the fear and shock controlling his voice, "Y-y-your magic. I saw Tirek." Allyn stabbed the katana into Discord's shoulder.

"You know what," Allyn interrupted, "Even though it belongs to John de Lancie, who I enjoy as an actor, your voice has always ANNOYED ME!" Allyn dug the blade deeper into Discord's muscles and tissue. "You betrayed us," Allyn continued, "You are unworthy of having friends like Twilight and Fluttershy."

Allyn was sent flying by a beam of magic before he could remove a second limb from the draconequus. Tirek leaned against the hole in the castle wall, holding his left arm to his right shoulder. Tirek jumped out of the Throne Room and walked over to Discord.

"What happened to stealing all of his magic," Discord demanded as he mended his leg back to his hip.

"I did," Tirek replied, looking at Discord in horror, "This isn't his magic."

"YOU!" Allyn yelled at Tirek. Allyn pulled himself out of the wall, landing on one knee. He looked at Tirek, his mangled eyes and horn lit ablaze by unholy magic fire both burning at the same rate as when he started this fight.

Tirek readied another beam of magic, this time he intended to kill Allyn Flynt. Allyn was equally ready with a spell that needed half the time, yet had five times the power. Allyn opened his mouth as the magic glowed out from his throat.

"Yol," Allyn said, "Toor, SHUL!"

A ring of fire shot out of Allyn's throat, turning into a serpent that slithered at breakneck speed to Tirek. Tirek took the fire square to the face, burning his already red face. Tirek turned and fired his magic at Allyn, whom was ready for the attack but not what followed.

Tirek grabbed Allyn through the magic flames and slammed him, repeatedly, into the ground before throwing him into the mountain. Allyn was momentarily stunned, more than enough to finish the battle. Tirek appeared and slammed his whole body into the mountain with Allyn's body in direct center of the crater. Tirek then proceeded to repeatedly punch Allyn, the crater growing larger and larger with each strike.

Allyn's now bloody and unconscious body fell down the crater, rolling down the mountain before Tirek's magic grabbed him by the throat. Tirek threw Allyn into Canterlot, Allyn's body slamming through multiple office buildings. Allyn bounced off the concrete and asphalt as he finally slowed down, creating a ditch down the middle of the street near the Canterlot Station.

Allyn, parts of his skeleton exposed as his flesh hung off of him from being turned into a rag doll, attempted to sit up in the ditch dug by his corpse. Tirek appeared in front of Allyn, firing off five separate burst of magic into Allyn's chest. Before Tirek could fire off a sixth and seventh beam, Discord grabbed onto Tirek.

"Enough!" Discord said, turning to the lone being in the universe who had managed to do physical harm to him, "I don't think he's getting back up again anytime soon."

Allyn's horn had returned to its normal form, the inferno of magic was extinguished. His breath was nearly nonexistent, blood falling from his mouth three drops at a time. Allyn Flynt was broken, his will had been destroyed.

"Indeed," Tirek said, turning back towards Canterlot Castle, "It's a miracle that his body is still noticeable after what I did."

Tirek and Discord disappeared from the station, leaving only silence. After a few moments, making sure that both demons were gone, a few ponies ran out from cover and jumped into the ditch. Rim Shot was the first pony to reach Allyn.

"Holy shit man," Rim said, looking over the body of his friend. He placed his hand against Allyn's wrist, looking for any sign that Allyn was still alive. After a couple of seconds, Rim called up to the ponies on the ridge to help Allyn get to the hospital as quickly as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I am deeply sorry, Allyn Flynt," Nighting Gale apologized. Both he and Allyn sat in total darkness, their auras giving off the only light. "The Fear from Sombra's scythe wound did not seem to have worn off after a thousand years of being stuck in limbo," Gale continued, his hand at the slash in his breastplate.

"When I had my magic taken away," Allyn started, "Yours took over, and the Dark Magic mixed with the Light. That's why I was able to open the Gates of Babylon, able to preform those ninjustu and genjustu attacks?"

"I believe so."

"All of that rage," a shiver ran down Allyn's back, "I felt so right doing those things to Tirek and Discord. I'm no better than they are."

Nighting Gale put his hand on Allyn's shoulder, "This is my fault, you are innocent to my crimes."

"But it was my body," Allyn shot back, "My hand! MY attacks!"

Gale sighed, the loss of Luna meant the same to both men. Nighting Gale took a small necklace, a small glass orb containing nothing more than a small twinkling speck in a cloud of black smoke. He placed the necklace over Allyn's head, letting it hang gently against his neck.

"This small vial," Nighting Gale told Allyn, "Contains a star. One that fell on the first night of Celestia and Luna's rule. Luna caught it for me and placed it in this vial, saying that her love shall last longer than this star will live. My time to carry this star is long over. So I, Nighting Gale, First Captain of Luna's Royal Guard, give this to you, Allyn Flynt, First Alchemist of Luna's Royal Guard."

Allyn held the small star in his hand, the glass resting against his silver and turquoises ring. He lightly wrapped his fingers around the pendant. He looked up at his ancient reflection, their features matching perfectly.

"I thank you," Allyn said.

"No," Nighting Gale replied, "I thank you, for letting our Luna know love again. She could not be in more perfect hands than yours."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What," Princess Celestia tried to understand what the doctor watching over Allyn was trying to say to her, "What do you mean? How is that even possible?"

"Well," Doctor Crutch explained as he rested his cane against the table and held the medical clipboard, "Mr. Flynt appeared to have a sum total of over nine hundred broken bones, all of which had complete remodeling. Every muscle seemed to simultaneously rip itself from his bones and yet fuse back them. His throat, inner mouth, vocal cords, and lungs looked like they had recently recovered from beyond third degree burns. His heart showed strains from experiencing fifty heart attacks."

The doctor put the clip board down and walked over to the window looking in on Allyn on his hospital bed, and his friends sitting around him. Luna held Allyn's hand, gently stroking it back and forth with her thumb. Dr. Crutch sighed and looked back at Celestia.

"If you were in the same situation that that unicorn was in," Dr. Crutch continued, "I would say that you surviving would be a miracle. Whatever kept him alive, it's stronger than that."

"That would be his own stubbornness," Discord said as he walked towards Celestia and Dr. Crutch in his pony form, a limp in his formally removed leg.

"What are you implying," Celestia asked the limping God of Chaos.

"When Tirek put you three in Tartarus," Discord said, "I joked about his promise to Luna about protecting her, and he cut my leg off and nearly took my arm with it. I don't think he'd die knowing he broke his promise to your sister."

Celestia smiled at the thought of Allyn's loyalty to Luna. Allyn was at Death's door and refused to give in because he couldn't handle breaking a promise. Truly, he was a man of great honor.

"Ahm," Dr. Crutch took a few pills before continuing, "In any case, it's my medical opinion that he doesn't get any nookie for the next year or so. His heart is barely hanging on as it is, it couldn't take that abuse again or his whole body might just blow itself apart."

"Thank you, Dr. Crutch," Celestia said, excusing the doctor.

"There's something you need to know," Discord broke the silence, "The magic he used wasn't his. It was more powerful, and much darker."

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked, giving Discord a worried look.

"Keep an eye on him," Discord turned and started walking away, "He's not just a unicorn or some human, he's something stronger than you and the Elements could hope of beating."