Second Breath

Second Breath
By: Duelist96
Prologue

Damian placed his hand on the hot rock as he scaled the tall cliff side. The sun was high in the air and was warming up the rocks. He scaled the cliff as the hot rocks burned his skin. During his climb, he would curse the evil sun and grunt in pain from the searing heat. The only thing that kept him from blowing up was the fact that he was on a mission. He looked up to see his other two partners standing on the edge waiting for him.

He wanted to do this mission by himself since he had the skill, but the guild master decided that he should take two other members. He would never question the guild master, but sometimes he wondered if the master was still sane. He pushed these thoughts aside so he could go over the known information about his target.

The target was an outstanding noble to the people of Divergence, but that’s what he allowed them to see. The dark truth to the noble, was that he hunted down anyone that was part of the Underground. To say that he was ecstatic would be a complete understatement. He has wished for this moment for many nights and now he has his chance at revenge. He couldn’t help the malicious grin that formed on his face.

He reached the top of the mountain where his two comrades were waiting. He looked towards the sun to see that they still had a few hours until they begin their job. Making sure that this would be one assassination that he would enjoy, he grabbed his pouch on his left. He opened the pouch and pulled out the many tools that he planned on using. He was going to make this noble suffer for all his wrong doing, and he was going to revel in that pain.

Happy with the condition of his supplies and the amount that he had, he placed the pouch back on his side. With nothing to do but wait, he walked over to the mountain’s edge and sat down. He looked down into the deep chasm as he remembered stories that the master told him. He was told about when water once filled the chasm to the brim and everyone used its life giving water. He thought it was all fantasy until he finally took a good look at the chasm.

As he looked at the worn and discolored rocks he believed that it could have been possible that water once filled the chasm. He couldn’t help the smile that was forming as he dreamed of a better future. He was too far into his thoughts that he didn’t hear the other two members walk up behind him. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked at the culprit.

The member gave a slight jerk of his head, signaling that they should get moving so they were in position. Damian silently cursed himself for letting his thoughts get the better of him and allowing one of the members to sneak up on him. Deciding he would make his punishment for himself after the mission he rose to his feet. Once standing, he brushed off some of the dirt and pulled his hood up.

He nodded to the two members who nodded back. He took one step forward and then felt a sharp pain in his gut. He gave a slight cough and could taste iron running across his tongue. He brought a hand up to his mouth and wiped at it. He looked at his palm and saw fresh blood. His mind was sent into a panic as he looked towards the searing pain that he was feeling. When he looked down, his eyes widened at the sight.

He saw one of a few hidden daggers that Underground members used for assassination attempts. He lifted his gazed to see the first member smiling at him. He could feel his rage boil as he took another step towards the traitor. The second member moved quickly and pierced his sternum with another hidden dagger. He grunted in pain as the dagger went through his sternum, but stopping barely away from his heart.

He looked at the two of them and felt disgusted at the huge smiles they had on their faces. He could feel the strength from his body leave him and couldn’t continue to stand. He fell to his knees and stared at the ground as his blood dripped onto its surface. Through the pain and the haze of his fleeting life, he had only one question.

“Why are you doing this?” Damian asked with no emotion.

“It’s just simple business, Damian. You aren’t the first that fell by our hands and you certainly will not be the last,” the first member said, pulling Damian’s head up to look at him.

“The noble promised us wealth and power if we took out the high ranking members of the Shadow Step. Now with Night Angel out of the picture, we can finally take out the last few members,” the second member said.

Damian felt as two separate hands grabbed him by the shoulders and dangled him over the edge of the mountain. He had no strength left to fight back, and resigned to his fate. He let a few tears fall as he pictured the Underground up in flames and the laughing noble. The two members gave one final smirk as they released Damian and let him fall to the bottom.

He could hear the rushing wind and looked towards the sky as he imagined the laughing noble. He knew that he should feel angry about the noble laughing at his failure, but he could only feel the tears fall from his eyes. Judging by how long he had fallen he knew he was about to hit the ground. Taking in a deep breath, he let his body go limp and waited for the impact on the rocky ground.

After falling for several seconds, Damian opened his eyes again. He looked around to see that he was still falling, but his surroundings had changed. The mountain was no longer in front of him and the breeze was a little cooler than before. He looked down to where his gut was and saw that it had stopped bleeding. Putting a hand to where he was stabbed he began feeling around it.

He noted that there was no scar or even a feeling to show that he was stabbed there. He turned to in the air to face the ground and saw the fast approaching trees. He quickly put his arms to his face and protected himself from the many branches. The trees slowed his descent a considerable amount, but not before doing some damage to him.

Damian finally hit the ground with an audible thud and groaned out in pain. He laid on the ground as he tried to let the pain pass. The pain eased away slowly and he lifted himself in a sitting position. He scooted back a bit and rested against a tree as he looked out into the forest. He couldn’t see far as pitch darkness encompassed the entire forest. Lifting his hand to the tree that he was leaning against, he channeled his magic.

His hand turned a black color before making contact with the tree. He only held his hand there for a few seconds before quickly removing it. Damian shook where he sat as the horrendous things that he felt wash away. He was never one to travel outside of Divergence but he had heard the stories about the Forest of Hell.

Even with the past knowledge of the forest it still didn’t explain how he got there. Taking a huge sigh, he slowly lifted himself to his feet. He stood on shaky legs as his body screamed in pain. Damian continued to lean against the tree until he could find the strength to take a step. While he waited for the pain to completely subside, he decided to do a quick inventory check.

He patted around his body to make sure that he had everything that he left with. He felt the pack that he kept on his left side and his two daggers on his right. Finding that everything was still there and that his heart was still beating; he set out to leave the forest. During his walk, Damian made sure to keep his eyes open for any kind of danger.

He was glad that the forest was encased in shadows, giving him the upper hand if he was attacked. As he walked through the forest he came across a decrepit looking castle. He gave it a few looks before continuing his walk. He wanted to take a look inside to see if there was anything of value, but with all the vines that were covering it he decided to keep on walking. He had been walking for two hours until he saw a light at the end of the forest.

Damian gave a small smile as he quickened his pace to get out of the accursed forest. He stepped through the light and smiled at the sight before him. He stared at the rows of apple trees that were in front of him and couldn’t help but chuckle. Sure he wanted to get back to the Underground as soon as possible, but he needed a little break.

Damian walked towards the nearest tree and climbed to the top. He grabbed two apples and slowly ate them as he looked out towards the field. He was certain that he was near one of the farming settlements that were outside the wall. There were only a few farms that survived outside the wall, and that was because only a few people knew how to survive.

The only time a farm was in danger was during the night when the demons came out hunting. Damian saw first-hand how blood-thirsty the demons were and shivered at the thought. Those demons lived only in the Forest of Hell, which was why he needed to leave the forest as fast as he could.

Damian finished off his second apple before settling in for a quick rest. He gave one last look over the apple trees as they shined in the morning light before he fell to sleep’s embrace.

Applejack

Applejack had a huge smile on her face as she exited her house and headed for the orchard near the Everfree forest. She was worried at first about planting trees there because of all the creatures that lurked in those woods. She was happy to know that there was a place that she could plant the trees without any fear of the creatures attacking her.

She adjusted her signature Stetson to cover her eyes from the rising sun. She trotted happily as she whistled a little tune to herself as she reached the orchard. Reaching her first tree of the day and didn’t hesitate to get started on her work. Applejack bucked and collected the fallen apples for four hours straight. She wiped the sweat from her brow as she stared at the final tree that needed bucking.

As she trotted over to the tree, she could hear the faint sounds of snoring. Applejack huffed as she concluded that Rainbow Dash was sleeping in one of her trees again. Her friend had been doing that for the past couple of weeks and it was starting to annoy her. Instead of yelling at her friend to find another place to sleep that wasn’t her tree, she decided to buck her out of it.

She reached the tree and turned around. She prepared her body for the hardest buck that she has ever given to make sure that her message was clear. She shot out her rear hooves and hit the tree. The bark of where she hit splintered and caused the tree to shake. She heard her friend fall from the tree and land on the ground.

Grinning to herself a little, she trotted around to the other side to give her friend an ear full. She rounded the trunk of the tree, but stopped in mid-step as she stared at what was on the ground. Instead of her friend Rainbow Dash lying on the ground, it was some weird creature that she hasn’t seen before. She looked the creature up and down with caution to see if it posed any threat.

“Ouch,” the creature spoke.

Applejack took a few steps back when the creature spoke. She didn’t take her eyes off of the creature as it slowly stood up. When the creature was fully erect she was able to get a better look at it. If she were to stand on her hind hooves, then she would just reach under its chin. She couldn’t see what it looked like since it had a hood pulled over its face.

She noticed that he was wearing a black cloak that had white and red stripes running through them. There was a symbol on its right shoulder that were two daggers crossed together with a shadow hanging over them. She squinted her eyes to see if she could get her eyes to look through the darkness of its hood.

She was able to see that it had ocean blue eyes that stared right back at her emerald green ones. She jumped slightly as she saw the creature move its hand to its pocket. She steeled herself for an incoming fight. When the creature pulled its hand back out, it was holding an apple. The creature extended its hand forward, offering the apple to her.

Unsure of what to think of the action, she slowly walked towards the creature. As she neared the creature it placed the apple on the ground and stepped back a couple of steps. She looked down at the apple, then back up at the creature, before picking the apple up with her mouth. Instead of eating the apple she carried it over to one of the nearby baskets and placed it with the others.

With the apple safely placed with the others, she turned around and stared at the creature. The creature didn’t move from its spot and continued to stare at her. She felt a small shiver run down her spine as the creature continued to stare at her. She swallowed a lump in her throat as she walked away from the creature, hoping to walk out of her orchard and get her friend Twilight for help.

She started trotting off; looking like nothing was out of the ordinary. She noticed that the creature was watching her leave, but made no movements to stop her. She had her back turned towards the creature and picked up the pace a little. She didn’t get far, as she heard something hit the ground behind her. She looked behind her to see if the creature did anything.

When she turned around she was surprised by what she saw. Her friend Rainbow Dash was atop the creature and it was unconscious. Rainbow looked angry, but when her gaze met Applejack’s, she smiled. Rainbow got off the creature and walked towards her friend to see if she was okay.

“Hey there, Applejack. Are you okay?” Rainbow asked as she looked her friend over.

“I’m fine, Rainbow. Thanks for the concern. Any reason why you just tackled that thing to the ground?” Applejack asked. It wasn’t like she wasn’t thankful for her friend helping her, but it seemed that the creature didn’t want to attack her.

“Well, I saw this creature looking at you as you walked away and I just wanted to make sure that it didn’t hurt you. Now go and get Twilight while I keep an eye on this thing,” Rainbow said as she sat next to the creature, waiting for it to stir again.

Applejack gave a look between her friend and the creature before trotting off. She felt a pang of worry with leaving her friend with the creature but somepony needed to watch after it. Not wanting to take any chances, Applejack picked up her pace and headed for the direction of the library.

Damian

Damian was happily sleeping in the tree until he felt his face make contact with the ground. It took a few seconds for the haze of sleep to pass before he could register the pain. After letting his discomfort be known to no one in particular, he slowly got to his feet. Once he was standing and shook away the unease, he let his eyes wander.

His eyes settled on an orange pony that was staring at him. As the pony stared at him, he took the chance to get a look at the pony. The pony had an orange coat with a blonde mane and tail. The pony’s mane and tail were tied off into a pony tail near the ends. He noticed the three apples that were on both sides of the pony’s flanks. He reached the eyes of the pony and could see that her radiant emerald eyes were staring into his own.

With little knowledge of the creature, Damian moved his hand towards his pack. He noticed that the pony jerked a little from his action and he slowed down. He reached into his pack and pulled out an apple that he packed away. Guessing that the three red apples on her flanks meant that she liked apples, he placed it on the ground.

With the apple on the ground, he took a few steps back to allow the pony comfort to get the apple. He watched as the pony looked at him and the apple before slowly picking it up. He thought the pony was going to eat it, but was surprised to see the pony take it towards a bucket that was filled with apples.

Damian was surprised to see a pony not eat the offered food and have it put away for later use. He watched as the pony turned around to stare at him with confusion. He continued to stand in place as he let the pony observe him. After what felt like an eternity standing in the one place, the pony finally decided to move.

He watched as the pony walked around him to leave the orchard. He held his ground so he wouldn’t scare the pony away and allow her to leave. They cast each other one final glance before the pony’s back was towards him. He was about to set out for his next destination before something collided with him. He felt the darkness envelop him as he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Library Basement

Damian’s eyes slowly opened as he felt a throbbing pain in his head. There was a bright light and he tried to lift his hands to cover his face. He felt his hands stuck to something, and when he looked down, he saw they were tied to a chair. Taking a calming sigh, Damian took the chance to fully open his eyes. When his sight returned, he looked around at his surroundings.

He was in a barren wooden room with nothing in it except himself tied to the chair. The light was overhead and there were no shadows near him. He looked to his sides and saw that his knives and pack were missing. He struggled in his bonds, trying to get near the shadows or a hand free.

His struggles alerted someone to his presence, and they were headed his way. He could hear at least eight different steps being taken. The only thing that threw him off was the clopping sound that they made. He put it up with the wooden floor possibly making that sound for whoever was walking on it.

The door flew open and gave presence to eight ponies. He was able to pick out the one that he ran into at the orchard. Knocking that one out of the equation, he looked over the others. There was a pink one that had a poofy mane and tail with bright blue eyes. On her flanks were three party balloons. This one made him a little nervous because she had a big smile.

There was a white one that had a horn on its head. The white one also had a purple mane and tail and blue eyes. On her flanks were three diamonds. There was a lavender one that also had a horn. She had a purple mane and tail with a dark purple and pink streak, her eyes were purple. On her flanks was a six pointed star surrounded by six stars.

There was a cyan one that had wings on her back. She had a rainbow mane and tail with wine colored eyes. On her flanks was a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt. He could see that she was sizing him up. There was a cream colored one that also had wings. Her mane and tail were pink and he guessed that her eyes were teal. It was hard to tell since she trembled behind her curtain of mane. On her flanks were three butterflies.

The next two were taller compared to the other ponies. The first one was an alabaster white with light purple eyes. She had both wings and a horn. Her mane and tail were ethereal and were colored blue, light green, and pink. On her flanks was the sun. She held a stoic expression as she stared at him. The one next to her was a little smaller. She was a midnight blue with azure eyes. She also had both wings and a horn. Her mane and tail were ethereal and was blue with stars in them. On her flanks was a crescent moon and it was also splotched with black. She was staring angrily at him.

Damian returned the stare right back at her. This seemed to help as she became more infuriated with him. He was hoping to get her angry enough to kick him into the shadows. From there he could easily escape his confines and escape whatever prison he was in. He continued to stare back at the blue pony hybrid and she started walking forward. He grinned a little as his plan worked.

His hopes were crushed when the alabaster white pony hybrid stopped the blue one. The next thing that happened completely threw Damian through a loop.

“Sister, control yourself before you fall into his trap,” the alabaster pony said.

“What are you talking about, dear sister? This creature has no power what so ever, and he is currently tied down,” the blue one shot back.

“If you were listening to his mind then you would have known that he wanted to be knocked back in the shadows,” the alabaster one stated firmly.

“What the fuck are you?” Damian couldn’t keep quiet from the current events.

All the ponies snapped their attention to him with their mouths agape. A silence slowly filled the room as no one dared to talk. Getting tired of the silence, Damian finally spoke again.

“So is anyone going to say something or are we just going to look like idiots?” Damian asked irritated.

“You can talk?” The lavender pony asked as she got a little closer to investigate him.

“Yes, I can and so can all of you. Mind telling me your names, since I apparently have nowhere better to be?” Damian emphasized his point by slightly moving his hands.

“You are certainly a rude creature, aren’t you.” The white pony stated.

“Well let’s see why: I’m in some God forsaken place that I don’t know, and I’m apparently getting interrogated by a bunch of ponies,” Damian said sternly.

“Does somepony need a cupcake?” The pink pony asked as she pulled a cupcake from her mane.

“No, I don’t need a cupcake. What I need is some fucking answers here,” Damian said, his voice growing more firm.

“That is no way to talk to somepony that was just trying to be nice. The least you could have done was be polite and let her down gently,” the orange pony said with some anger.

“Well, excuse me for my poor behavior. Maybe I should thank you all for tying me to this chair and having me locked in some dark room,” Damian said sarcastically. An argument was about to be under way when the alabaster pony slammed her hoof down and yelled at them.

“Enough, all of you!” The alabaster pony stated firmly.

“Let’s get these pleasantries out of the way so we can deal with it accordingly,” the blue pony said.

“Hello there, my name is Twilight Sparkle. These are my friends Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. These two next to me are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,” Twilight introduced all her friends and pointed to them as she spoke their names.

Damian could feel his eye twitch at the mention of the princesses. Every fiber in his being was begging him to break free of the bonds and kill them. He took slow even breaths, trying to keep himself collected. After a few seconds and with a clear mind he spoke.

“My name is Damian. Before we get any further into this interrogation I want to know what you are. I can tell they are regular ponies, but what does that make the rest of you?” Damian asked as he kept his face expressionless.

“Well, Rarity and I are unicorns, while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are pegasi. The princesses on the other hoof are alicorns,” Twilight stated happily.

“What does being an ‘alicorn’ entail?” Damian heard stories of unicorns and pegasi, but the thought of alicorns was baffling.

“Well being an alicorn means that you possess the traits of all ponies,” Twilight continued to answer.

“So does that mean you and your friend along with those princesses are able to use magic?” Damian asked, trying to figure out the capabilities of his captors.

“Yes, we can. Can you perform magic?” Twilight asked, bringing over a quill and parchment using her magic.

“Why don’t you untie me and we can find out,” Damian said as he smirked a little.

Damian then felt a hoof collide with his left cheek. It wasn’t hard enough to draw blood or break any teeth, but it still hurt. He looked over and saw that it was Luna that had struck him. He gave off a low growl as he pulled against his bonds, hoping they would break and he could strangle the arrogant princess.

“You better learn to control yourself, or the next one won’t be so gentle,” Luna threatened with venom in her words.

“You know, I was going to kill you when I broke free from my bonds, but now that you hit me you gave me a whole other reason.”

“Oh, and why were you going to kill me in the first place?” Luna asked with a cocky grin.

“Just because I want my knives back, and I don’t much like nobles,” Damian answered.

“Are these the knives that you are referring to?” Celestia asked, levitating two knives over in a golden aura.

“They are, and I would like them back before you break them.”

“Why should I?” Celestia asked as she looked him up and down.

“Because those knives hold more sentimental value than my own life.”

“Did somepony important give you these knives?” Celestia continued to question.

“Yes, and those are the only things I can remember him by,” everypony watched as Damian physically sagged in his chair.

“Before making a decision about your fate, I would like to know what you are.”

“I’m just a human with many dreams and aspirations,” Damian answered as he looked back into her light purple eyes.

Celestia only nodded as she gathered the rest of the ponies and left Damian alone. As Celestia walked up the stairs, she stopped and placed the knives on a table that was far away from Damian. He showed no signs going towards them, but instead opted on looking at them. She left the human to think his own thoughts as she felt a pang of sadness for him.

Library Main Floor

“So what should we do with him?” Twilight asked, looking towards her mentor.

“I believe we should throw him into the Everfree and feed him to the timber wolves,” Rainbow suggested. This got her a glare from almost every other pony.

“I personally think that he should be executed before he can harm any of the residents,” Luna stated.

Celestia rolled her eyes and shook her head from her sister’s answer. She had told her time and time again that things have changed. Execution was banned after Celestia found a different way of judging ponies and handing out punishments accordingly. Celestia made a mental note to try and explain this to her sister again when they got back to the castle.

“I don’t think we would have to worry much about that. The only ones that would feel his ire would be the ones in Canterlot. I can’t really blame him, since some of those ponies aren’t the best of the bunch. What do you think, Applejack, since you were the first to meet him?” Celestia asked as her gaze fell on the earth pony.

“Honestly princess, I don’t rightfully know. I feel that he has something good inside of him, but his outburst towards us says otherwise. The only thing I can’t understand was when he gave me an apple and allowed me to leave. He could have attacked me if he wished, but he didn’t,” Applejack said as her gaze drifted from the door and back to the princess.

“Do you believe that he should be given a chance and see what he is capable of?” Celestia asked.

All the ponies looked at each other as they took today’s events into account. He hasn’t shown much of what he could do, but he has been somewhat cooperative. Looking at each other one final time, they had an answer. They looked towards the princess and nodded their heads. The princess gave a small smile as they headed for the basement.

Basement

Damian was lost in his own world as he stared at the knives. His mind was filled with so many memories that he didn’t hear the door open and close again. His attention was pulled when he heard one of the ponies clearing their throats. He turned his attention towards them, but remained expressionless.

“Damian, with much consideration among my sister, me, and Twilight and her friends, we have decided what to do with you,” Celestia started.

“You’re going to cut my head off and place it on a pike for all your enemies to see,” Damian stated and this caused Twilight and her friends to shiver.

“As much as I would love to do that, Damian, we have come up with something else,” Luna said, a little disappointed.

“You will be free from your confines but on a few conditions. You will have your magic cut off, my sister and I will be watching over you from afar, and you are to stay within distance of a designated pony and do what is asked of you. Escape will not be possible, as my sister and I can read your thoughts and we know the land better than you,” Celestia stated with a firm expression.

“Very well. So who am I going to be staying with?” Damian asked.

“You will be staying with Applejack and her family on the farm. You will help her with chores if she asks, but you can still decline. You are free to do as you see fit, but remember the conditions that you have to follow.” Celestia said. Damian only nodded his head slightly in approval.

Celestia’s horn lit in a golden aura as the ropes and chair disappeared. The entire room was bathed in light, leaving no shadows behind. Celestia walked over to Damian and placed her horn on his head. He felt the magic from Celestia travel from her horn and into his body as it locked away his magic. When she was finished he walked towards the table that had his knives.

The knives disappeared from sight and he looked over at the princess. They were levitating near her and Damian made his anger known.

“Why can’t I have my knives back?” He asked with slight irritation.

“You may be free, but I will not allow you to have these on you at any time. Don’t worry though, as I will keep them somewhere safe,” Celestia said as she puffed them out of existence.

“They better stay safe, or we will have a huge problem,” Damian threatened. Celestia was unfazed by his threat.

“Well you best be on your way since it’s getting late. Don’t forget that we are always watching you, Damian, and you cannot escape our grasp,” Celestia said before walking off with her sister.

When the princesses were gone Damian looked at Applejack and gestured for her to lead the way. Applejack let out a nervous chuckle as she trotted up the stairs and out of the library. He stayed a couple of feet behind her, but kept pace with where she was going. Applejack could feel the sweat start to form as she thought of ways to explain this situation to her family.