Soul Boundby maelstrom21ChaptersChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter OneI awoke to the sounds of my father at the anvil, hammering away at what would be a great weapon or piece of armor used by a great adventurer some day. My father, Hard Iron, is one of the most well known blacksmiths in canterlot. He has even designed armor for the Royal battlements. Even with the wealth he has gained, we still live a simple life with a simple house and a simple forge. My mother died when I was young. I don't remeber much of her, but it really broke my father when she did. You couldn't tell behind his strong demeaner, but he isn't as strong as he once was. I jumped out of bed, exitement clear on my face. Now, normally, I would be dreading waking up, but today is my birthday. I'm turning twelve years old today and my father has promised me a special day out hunting! I have never been hunting before. I've never even left the city. So fatigue would not get in my way today. I grabbed my cape from off the floor and tied it around my neck, making sure to double knot so it does not fly off. I run over to the window and jump onto my hindlegs so to get a good look outside. I slide the window open and get a good wiff of the air outside. Smells like fresh, clean air, mixed in with a slight twinge of metal. Most likely from the burning forge downstairs. I take a look down to see the townsponies wandering about their days. A look into the skies shows a slightly cloudy Fall day. "This day is going to be amazing!" I squeeled out my window, then slamming it shut. I landed back on all four before staggering and racing to my door. When I opened the door though, what I smelled made me feel like I had awoken in heaven. Nopony could ever deny the sweet smell of waffles floating past them. Who would? Breaking away from my astonishment, I rushed downstairs to see an empty house, but the smell of waffles still grew strong. I rushed into the kitchen, but he wasn't there either. My mind can't be playing tricks on me. I take a sniff in the air to make sure what I smelled had not been conjured by my mind. That is most definitely waffles I smell. "Dad!" I yell out, not knowing where he or the waffles may be. "At the forge son!" I here him reply through an open window above the stove. I take a moment to ponder why he would have brought the waffles out there, but quickly dismiss it, knowing that my question would be answered once I had gone outside. Upon reaching him, I can see the waffles that I could smell earlier lying on the anvil. I look over at him and see him sitting down at the grindstone. He turns his head back towards me and says, "Give me one moment, Bound, I need to finish this real quick. Head back into the house and prepare for breakfast." I quickly rush back into the house and into the kitchen. Opening a drawer, I grab a fork and a knife and rush over to the dining table. I set the silverware at my spot and hop into my chair. Hearing the grindstone stop, I can't help but hop up and down in my chair. Dad comes into the house with a pile of waffles on his back. He walks over to the table and plops them down on the table in front of me. "Breakfast is served, straight from the forge." He says before stabbing a metal spike through the top, then spreading butter on top. I turn all my attention onto the waffles and begin to chow down, not noticing him leave back to the forge. I mean, who could care when you have a four stack high mountain of pure deliciousness awaiting you right in front of your nose. These taste even better than normal waffles. What did he say, fresh from the forge? Ha! wouldn't that be funny, you're mining and you come across a rich vein of waffle ore. I wonder what a waffle sword would look like? Maybe waffle armor? Probably wouldn't protect very much. I don't know, can you reinforce waffles? Before I can even finish my thoughts, a sharp feeling goes through my mind. A sense of dread and evil. I have eaten all the waffles. How am I still hungry? That was like a pound of waffles. Before I can even finish those thoughts, something lands on the table in front of me, startling me and making me jump. I look down at it to see a nice, new, polished hoofbow. I turn my head to look at the one who set it down to see my father with a massive grin on his face. "Happy birthday son. Some of my finest work, that one." He says to me, pointing to the weapon on the table in front of me. Flabergasted I turn back to the hoofbow, then to my father, then the hoofbow, then my father. My dad goes to say something but I cut him of by tackling him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is the best birthday ever!" I exclaim, leaving him to chuckle a bit. This is so cool. I've always wanted my own hoofbow. Oh! And I get to use it because we're going hunting. With this realization, I hug him even tighter. He pushes me off and grabs the hoofbow off the table. "Here, let me show you how to put it on. Come out to the forge and I'll give you the run through." Walking outside to the forge feels like an eternity with this much energy and exitement. Finally we got out there and he tells me to sit up onto the grindstone. I do as he says and wait anxiously. He walks back over to me and gives me the hoofbow. "Before you try it on, let me tell you what this thing's made of. A normal hoofbow, even of my expertise, would cost around ten to twenty bits. What your holding in your hooves is worth a small fortune. That stock is made from dark oak. It's more expensive, but well worth it in the long run because of it's great durability. That string is no ordinary string. It's made of giant spider silk from the everfree jungle. That stuff cost me a pound of gold, but it was worth every ounce. As far as I can tell, that string will live longer than you will. Those straps are made of rockadile skin. On the market, that hoofbow would be well over five hundred bits. But with my skill and your heart, it is worthless. Take good care of it and it will take good care of you. Your welcome son." "Sweet celestia," I say in astonishment, "I'll never let it leave my sight." "Good. Now let's see about getting it on. First, take the bow and place it on the front of your dominant forleg. Next, slide it up away from your hoof so that you can still walk while wearing it. Now tighten the straps tight enough so that it doesn't fall off but still keep it comfortable." He stops to let me configure the positions. I find a nice position and he continues. "Now take the string and pull it back to the end of the stock and place it behind the small lever that's poking out. This is where you would normally load a bolt, but let's save that for later. That's pretty much it, nice and simple to use. Just flex your wrist and let it soar." I flex my wrist and the string lets go of the lever and snaps forward. "So can we go hunting now?" "Hold up, hold up. There's still one final thing." He grabs a small satchel off of the workbench and hoofs it to me. I look inside to see about twenty hoofbow bolts. "These bolts are made of a crystal iron alloy. They are magicaly charged to resist wind and gravity. They will fly farther and faster than any other bolt. Make sure to collect them once you have shot them because these don't come easy." He takes the satchel from me and straps it to my side. A breeze comes blowing by and my father steps back, looking at me quizzically. "What?" "With the hoofbow and that cape of yours blowing in the wind, your starting to look like a proper warrior." He says to me. I take a second before facing the wind and giving my best heroic stance. My father chuckles at me and says, "Tell you what. You go get my old sword from the basement and I may give you a lesson on how to use it when we're out hunting." My face flashes into one of pure joy before I race off, yelling back to him, "I'll be back in no time!" Chapter TwoI gallop around the house, to the basement doors. I've only been down here once before and I was six so I got really scared. I open up the doors and climb down. Just as dark as I remember. The only light I can currently see is the light coming from the entrance. I begin to look around for my dad's old sword. I look around book shelves and empty barrels. For all I know, it's right in the middle of the room, I just cant see because of the darkness. Stepping around a bookshelf, I spot a hole in the ceiling of the basement that's letting light shine through. I follow the light that's able to be seen through the thick dust and come upon a book resting on an old log. I pick up the book and hold it up to the light. Enchanting: The earth pony guide Written by Obsidian Bound Cool! How long has this been sitting here. Obsidian Bound, Where have I heard that name before? Oh well, let's see what it says. I open the book to the cover page. It just says what the cover did. Where's the interesting stuff? I flip to the next page which reads, This book was made from the blood and tears from my brothers and against the unicorns that plague this land with their magic and insanity. Let this be our salvation. Wow. Deep stuff. I look on the next page to see the table of contents. Let's see, Basics, captuing, novice, intermediate, advenced. Ooh! Ultimate enchantments. I'm sure everything else is interesting but let's see the cool stuff. I flip to the page that starts the ultimate enchantments and skim through until I see something cool. Something, something plant souls. Something, something hellfire. Something, something, Oh! This enchantment allows the wearer of the enchanted item to be unaffected by time, allowing the bearing to live eternal. Holy crap. I'd like to live forever. Looks like I better start learning this book if I'm ever to beco- CRASH What was that? I think I may have gotten a bit distracted. I quickly shove the book into my satchel. Where was that sword? I look around to see it sitting by the bookshelf I had past to find this book. I trot over to it, dust it off, and plonk it in my mouth to hold onto it. Although it's heavy, I'm able to get a good hold before making my way out of the basement. While turning around to close the door, I hear a scream come flying by from the other side of the house. I come rushing around the corner to see what all the comotion is about. What I see cuts me deep. Like I had been shot by an arrow. The house across from mine is in a blaze. I can see the owner, lying dead on the porch with several wounds placed on her chest and face. Just then, a mare runs by being chased by a couple bandits. I look around to see several scattered bodies of gaurds and townsponies. In the distances, smoke could be seen rising from the burning city. But what I see next, I will never forget. I turn my head over to where my dad had been at the forge to see him laying on the ground with a pegasus bandit over him. The bandit holding himself up with a sword that has penetrated through my father's chest. I can see the bandit with an evil grin on his face. Now, anger filling my every being, without hesitation, I pull a bolt out of my satchel and load my hoofbow. Without taking much aim, I lift up my leg and flex my wrist. The bolt goes flying through the air, Hitting the bandit right in the upper spine. He flinches for a moment and falls over, sliding the sword out with him. I race over to my father's body, his wound bleeding everywhere. He looks up at me with clear misery. "Son. I'm sorry I couldn't take you out hunting today." He says before coughing up some blood. "This is that last thing that you would want to see, Don't let this change you my son. Grow up to be strong and smart, like your mother would want you to be. And don't forget that I will always love." He stares up at me and exhales his final breath. I can't do anything. There's nothing I can do. I just sit and stare into those lifeless eyes. I reach down and close his eyes before falling on top of him and letting it all go. Amongst the city ablaze I lay on my father and let all time flash by. How can I ever live without him. After what feels like forever, I can here a voice calling to me. "Help me. Please. Help." It says from behind me. I rise from atop my father to see the pony who had killed him writhing in pain on the ground. I examine him for a moment to find that he is in fact parlyzed. I slowly walk over to him and retrieve my bolt from his back, placing it back in the satchel. "How much I wish that bolt had killed you. It would have been so much easier. Well I'll tell you what. I'm not some murderer like you But you will find no redemption in me. I will not help you, and I'll make sure nopony can.I will not kill you, but I will let you die." I say to him as I start to drag him away. The sword being left behind. I open the basement doors and drag him in. "Down here, I will let you die in peace." I walk back out and close the basement doors. I come out to see the gaurd walking about, looking for any stragglers. It looks like it's over. I walk into the house and take off my satchel and hoofbow. I sit down on the couch and stare into the wall. I am at a complete loss at what to do. I just sit there and wait. After a while, I hear a knock on my door. I walk over and open it to see a gaurd standing there. "Is the owner of this residence available." I look out the door and point over to the forge where my dad's corpse lies. He looks over and then back at me. He puts on a poker face, but I can see the empathy in his eyes. "I have been ordered to tell all residence that are under loss to report to one of us gaurd. They are to be given full assurence that all losses will be replaced and/or fixed." He says coming out of his professional tone. "As for you, I think it's best if you come with me back to the castle." I do as he says and I follow him up to the castle where several ponies are waiting out front in mournful silence. "If you would please wait here with the others who have lost their family, you will be seen by the princesses to recieve their pardons." I don't really care about their pardons or anypony's feelings anymore. The only things that run through my head are anger, sadness and a repeating voice in my head mocking me saying Happy birthday! Chapter ThreeI sit and wait at the castle grounds with all of the other ponies. Taking a look around, I can see that the majority of the ponies here are about my age. I would assume that the children were told to hide while their parents went to try to protect them. Their are a few mares around. Unsurprisingly, no stallions. Taking in my surroundings, I notice one of the fillies walk over. This particular filly is one of my friends from school. Her name is Dandy Daisy and you can expect by her name that she's usually pretty happy. From the look on her face, I can tell that she is definitely not happy. She probably looks sadder than I do. "Hey soul bound, what happened to you?" She asked my very tiredly. "My dad was killed by one of those bandits. I can still see the look on his face. One of pure joy. How can anypony be so happy about commiting murder? What kind of sick soul would feel that way?" I ask knowing that she wouldn't have an answer. "I know, it doesn't make any sense. I was hiding in my room. When it was over, I came downstairs to see my mother and father impaled by one sword. I will never be able to forget that image." She says to me as she breaks down in front of me. I walk over to her and hug her. "Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine. Hey! Guess who's birthday it is today?" "Who's?" She says coming out of her tears. Does she seriously not know it's my birthday? "Mine!" I exclaim. "And I got my very own hoofbow." "Really? That's so cool." She says, coming completely out of her sadness. Distractions are working. "Yeah. Tell you what, if you come over to my house tomorrow, I'll let you see it and I'll take you out hunting. Does that sound cool?" I tell her. I really have no plans for tomorrow. I don't usually have plans on sundays. "Yeah! I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to go check on the others. Have a better day!" She says before scrambling off. See dad, I won't let this change me. And you owe me a hunting day, but I think I'll swap it out for a day with her. "Soul Bound!" I hear a voice call over the croud. I look over the croud to see a guard looking around. I raise my hand and he beckons me forward. "Princess Celestia would like to speak with you." He turns around and begins to walk into the castle. He takes me down a hall and into an office. Sitting behind a desk is the princess of the sun awaiting my entrance. The gaurd shoves me inside and closes the door behind me. I walk over to the desk and sit at a chair in front of her. "Hello there Soul Bound." She says to me with quite a comforting voice. "I understand that you have lost your father to the bandit attack. It's absolutely terrible. He was a very skillful smith and he had done many services for our gaurd. He had even designed a few sets for my sister's battle armor. It is a shame that he had to die, but let us not remember him by his death. Let us remember him by the deeds he has made for the world. Now, onto official business. In his will, he has given pretty much everything to you. I know that this may seem a bit overwelming, but know that you do not hold much responsibility. The house has been completely payed off, he was in no debt whatsoever. The only thing that you really need to worry about is the money he left and it seems that he has been saving up for quite some time. In total, you now are in ownership of the house, all his possessions, and about 200,000 bits. On top of that, until you have reached stallionhood, your food and clothing will be paid for by the palace." She finally finishes with everything she had to say. By that time, my jaw is at the floor. Did she say 200,000 bits?!? Even without that care from the palace, I could live off that for well over ten years. Even after death, my dad is still surprising me. She looks down at me and notices my astonishment. "Onto the business of your father's funeral. It says in his will that he would like to be burried at his forge with hammer in hand. Interesting. I will have a service sent over tomorrow for the burrial." Oh crap, I'm sopposed to go hunting with dandy tomorrow. "Um, could we hold the funeral until monday, I'm a bit busy tomorrow?" "If that is what you would like, then the funeral can be postponed. If there is not any further question, then you may leave." She finishes, pointing to the door. I get up from my chair and make my way out of the room. On my way out of the castle, I pass by dandy who looks completely sad again. I don't think there's truly a way to help somepony get passed this. Got to give me credit for trying. I walk out of the castle and make my way past the gathered croud. On my walk back home, I can see the over all damage to the city. Near the city entrance, houses are in complete ashes and rubble. As you keep comintg further into the city, less houses are destroyed. Even then though, nopony could have been ready for this kind of attack. Looking back, I can see that even a few wall on the castle had been broken. There must have been hundreds of bandits. That only begs the question though. Where did they all come from and how did they get so organized? Coming by several house, I can see blood stains. Even further on, there seems to be a house that was crushed by a fallen water tower. Another hard thing to understand is how fast they were in and out. That must have been a total of an hour. Finally, I have made my way back to my house. My father's body is gone but the blood stain of where he was stabbed is still there. I step inside to find a deafening silence. Memories flashing by of all the time we were together. I slump myself onto the couch and lay down. I don't know how long it took but I fell asleep. Chapter FourI awoke later that evening to silence. I did not have any dreams during my slumber, nor do I really want any. The only dreams I'll probably get are just going to remind me of my fathers death. Then again, without any dreams, I'll come to the conclusion that I won't want any dreams because it would remind me of my father's death, and remind me of my father's death. It's a paradox that I can't fix, but the more I try to forget, the more I will remember. I sit up from my sleeping position. Now, because of my rest, I am full of energy and sleeping my day away is no longer an option. Oh, I know what I can do. I found that book yesterday. Or was it today? I can't tell, sleeping in the middle of the day confuses me. Well, let's go see what it has to say. I think I'll just start from the beginning though. I don't really care about the master level enchantments anymore. I stand back on four legs and stretch my muscles. All this stress is making my bones hurt. I walk over to where I had dropped my satchel on the ground and ruffle around in it to find the book. Upon finding it, I pull it out of the satchel and begin inpecting it. Now with more light, I can get a better look at the book. This time looking at it, I can see that the cover is engraved with a certain symbol that covers the front and the back. I take the book and walk back over to the couch, plomping my self down next to the arm so that I can hold up the book easier. I inspect the cover once more to see if I can spot anything different or new. Everything seems the same, let's get started then. Opening the book, I move past the contents page and onto what looks like the first chapter. Actually, is a chapter called a chapter in a tome? Is this considered a tome? I'd consider it a tome. Is there a difference between a tome and a book? Stop! Don't get distracted. Starting. Introduction and basics Hello young earth pony and welcome to the new and exciting world of enchanting. Before we begin, let me tell you that enchanting is not an easy activity. At some points, it may even disgust you. But if you are detemined to enter, then let us continue. Enchanting works in three steps. Capturing, designing, and applying. Capturing: Capturing is the task of finding and containing magical energy. This step will be covered much more in depth in the second chapter. Okay, so they are chapters. That's good to know. Designing: Designing is the task of creating an enchantment. Some enchantments are already given in later chapters but designing your own is possible, it's just a lot harder and failure is much more likely. It is recommended to stick with the preset enchantments until you are an advanced enchanter. This means mastering all novice and intermediate enchantments. In the step of designing, one must use their knowledge of magic while considering the attributes of the magical energy they have contained. With practice, more advanced enchanters are able to sense the attributes of the magical energy, but without this sense, one must figure out the attributes based on where the energy came from. Some magical energy may be stronger or weaker than others. Designing an enchantment is very difficult and must be taken cautiously. Applying: Applying is the task of exactly what it sounds like, applying your designed enchantment. Applying is almost always performed the same way, excluding a few master level enchantments. First, one must take their designed enchantment and hold it in their mind, clearing it of anything else. Next, you must touch the chosen piece and will it to change; will it to be what you have designed. Finally, you must complete the task. This part will be the most difficult to do and will involve to transfer of one's contained energy. This may take several tries and will leave the enchanter totally exausted. Only the most advanced enchanter can perform an enchantment without being fatigued. How fatigued you are is also based on how much magical energy you may exert. Your final warning is to not over exert your capabilities. If one exerts to much energy, they have the chance of ripping their own soul out. Many ponies have died trying to go all the way. Welp, that's a lot to take in. I scim over the steps a few more times to make sure I can remember everything. The next few pages of the book tell about the history or something of enchanting and why it's needed. I really don't care about that right now. I might come back to that later. From what I can tell about this book's age, the history of it doesn't quite seem as useful as it once may have been. I wonder what it means by different kinds of magical energy. From what I know, there's only three types of magic. Chaos, Harmony, and Passive magic. Maybe it means that the energy of it's type will base what kinds of enchantmkents are available, Like Chaos magic will create a destructive enchantment. Well, I guess it should tell me what it means in the next chapter. Moving on. Capturing Like I said before, capturing is the task of finding and containing magical energy. Before I tell you how it's done, let me give you a little magic lesson on enchanting. Unicorns are naturally gifted with the power of magic, along with this gift, they are given easy access to enchanting using their natural magical output. Earth ponies on the other hoof, have no connection to magic. This makes enchanting nearly impossible and finding the magical energy to do so even harder. But through long study, we have discovered that earth ponies do in fact have connection to magic through the life force of other beings, so enchanting is still possible for us, just very difficult to ensue. In order for an earth pony to gain and use magical energy, they must absorb the soul of another being. This sounds scary, but the soul is transfered into magical energy and contained by the earth pony. The energy is not a living soul, nor does it have any affect to the earth pony containing the energy. In order to extract the soul from another being, the being must be nearly dead anyway. In fact, the closer to death the being is, the easier the extraction becomes. But that also comes with the fact that if it dies before the soul is absorbed, the energy will disperse, making it unabtainable. Before going into the steps needed for captuing a soul, remember that an enchantment is based upon what creature you absorb the soul from. For example, a bird's soul will be more equiped to enchant something to move swifter and lighter, while a dog's soul will be more equiped to give a forceful and powerful enchantment. The enchantment's strength is also based on the will of the soul. An elephant soul will have a more powerful enchantment then a racoon soul. Holy crap, I have the ability to absorb souls. That sounds awesome! Kind of messed up and slightly evil, but awesome! I wonder if this was sopposed to be that part where it said it would disgust me. It doesn't seem too bad. Maybe a little bit against most pony's morals, but nopony will care if they don't know about this stuff right. Yeah, I think it would be best to keep this secret for now. Someponies might think that I'm performing necromancy or some dark art mumbo jumbo. On to the subject of capturing a soul though, where would I find a strong soul to use? I mean, I guess I could capture some while out hunting with Dandy tomorrow. Wait a moment. Isn't there a nearly dead pony in my basement? Yeah, I'm sure that would put his soul to a better use than just sitting there awaiting death. I'm sure this would be a lot less painful than just letting him die naturally. Than again, I wouldn't be gaining anything if I just let him die. Yeah, I'l just steal his soul, he wasn't going to be needing it much longer anyway. With that, I close the book and shove it back into my satchel. I strap the satchel back on and head for the door. I walk out and close the door behind me. I continue walking but I get tugged backwards. I turn around and pull cape unstuck from the door and then go to the basement. I open the door to the basement and say, "I've come back to steal your soul." Chapter Five"What's up buddy, Have you been having a nice day?" I ask the bandit as I climb back down into the basement. I walk over to him and set down my satchel. "Look kid, just take me to the guard. Revenge is never the best option." He says to me completely panicked. There is no way I would ever let this guy live. Now I'm just doing this for enchanting training rather than revenge, so it shouldn't affect my future self as much as if I just killed purely for revenge. And really, With how ruthlessly I saw him kill my father, I'm sure what I'm about to do to him will be a greater contribution to society than anything he's ever done. "Revenge? Oh no, no, no. I've decided that what I would have done to you would have been way to much of a punishment, even for somepony like you. So i have decided to spare your soul and just kill you now." I say as I take out my book from the satchel and place it next to his body. I open the book to the page that tells me how to capture a soul. "Come on kid. Be the better stallion, don't do this." He begs. I'm just going to ignore him now. This guy's waisting my time. Who knows how long this could take. I sit down next to this guy and snap my back. "Alright, let's get to this. The first step says," I say as I look down at the book. I read over the first step to find that it says that I require a soul to contain and the best way to hold a creature still is to paralyze it. Take the creature and lay it on it's back, if it has one. "If it has one. I wonder what creatures I could use that don't have backs. I'm sure there is loads but none come to mind at the moment." "What are you talking about, are you going to kill me or not?" He says, now finally coming to acceptance that he is going to die. "Yeah, yeah, just hold on a minute and let me figure this out. Sucking souls from ponies is a very delicate process." I say as I look over the second step. It's very long and confusing, so it takes me a few times looking over it. "Sucking souls?!? What the hell are you talking about? Are you some kind of witch, demonic, necromancer? Not cool kid." He yells frantically up in my face. "Calm down, It's not as bad as it seems. Okay, so basically, I put one hoof on the heart, one hoof on the top of the head," I say aloud and do what I'm saying as I'm saying it. I place my right hoof on his left side of the chest where his heart would be, then my left hoof intop of his head, spreading apart his mane. "Now I comfort the-Oh! There, there, It won't be so bad. Your just going to fall asleep and wake up in the glorious light of celestia's great sun. You are going to bathe in it's wonderful warmth and feel freedom." That whole thing just made him look really unconforfable, but his heart beat actually slowed down. I can't believe that actually works, even after I have told him that I am going to eat his soul. I read over the third step and almost gasp at what I have to do. Before I do anything, I just need to say that I am a heterosexual colt. I have no desire to do this, nor will I ever want to. "Now, do you have any final words?" "You are going to regret this, your life is going to be ruined by this. I hope it kills you." He says to me. What a terrible choice of final words. Too bad, it was his choice, not mine. I follow what the instructions said and take a deep breath. I exhale as much as I can. This is going to be gross. I tilt his head back and go in for it. I close my eye and kiss him. I don't know what he may be thinking now, but I certainly know what I am. Alright, it's just CPR backwards, now suck. I breath in and nearly choke at the taste of his breath. Sweet celestia, his breath is worse than why I'm tasting it. At least it's taking my thoughts off the situation at hoof. I breathe back out of my nose and suck back in his disgusting breath. Oh celestia, this is worse than cancer. I feel like I'm going to throw up. I breath out once more, and try to suck again. Now I'm starting to face a lot of resistence and I don't feel any different. I can't take it anymore. I let go of him and pull back, coughing and nearly throwing up. He does the same. I look back at the steps and try to figure out what I have done wrong. Then I realize something. The heart is in the middle of the chest. Dang it. "What a breath. Haven't you ever brushed your teeth?" Before he can respond, I go back in and try again. I place my hooves in the correct positions and tilt his head again and kiss him again. I go through sucking as much air as I can before I feel something about him. His skin has become alot colder and stiffer. This is a good sign, just a little more. I suck in as hard as I possibly can, pulling his head off the ground. Before I know it, I hear a pop sound within his throat and let go. His head drops back down and hits the ground. To my astonishment, a wisp of incandecent air comes out of his mouth and into mine. That is about the weirdest thing I have ever experienced. I close the book and stuff it back into my satchel before tying it back on. I stand up and walk back out of the basement. I close the doors behind me and walk back around my house. Instead of going inside, I decide to sit outside by the forge and think about everything. Of all the things I could be wishing right now, the only thing I want is to either get used to that really quickly or to just find some other way to do it. get a pump or something. I think it would just be best to forget about the whole thing, or at least until I need the experience to do it again.
Chapter OneI awoke to the sounds of my father at the anvil, hammering away at what would be a great weapon or piece of armor used by a great adventurer some day. My father, Hard Iron, is one of the most well known blacksmiths in canterlot. He has even designed armor for the Royal battlements. Even with the wealth he has gained, we still live a simple life with a simple house and a simple forge. My mother died when I was young. I don't remeber much of her, but it really broke my father when she did. You couldn't tell behind his strong demeaner, but he isn't as strong as he once was. I jumped out of bed, exitement clear on my face. Now, normally, I would be dreading waking up, but today is my birthday. I'm turning twelve years old today and my father has promised me a special day out hunting! I have never been hunting before. I've never even left the city. So fatigue would not get in my way today. I grabbed my cape from off the floor and tied it around my neck, making sure to double knot so it does not fly off. I run over to the window and jump onto my hindlegs so to get a good look outside. I slide the window open and get a good wiff of the air outside. Smells like fresh, clean air, mixed in with a slight twinge of metal. Most likely from the burning forge downstairs. I take a look down to see the townsponies wandering about their days. A look into the skies shows a slightly cloudy Fall day. "This day is going to be amazing!" I squeeled out my window, then slamming it shut. I landed back on all four before staggering and racing to my door. When I opened the door though, what I smelled made me feel like I had awoken in heaven. Nopony could ever deny the sweet smell of waffles floating past them. Who would? Breaking away from my astonishment, I rushed downstairs to see an empty house, but the smell of waffles still grew strong. I rushed into the kitchen, but he wasn't there either. My mind can't be playing tricks on me. I take a sniff in the air to make sure what I smelled had not been conjured by my mind. That is most definitely waffles I smell. "Dad!" I yell out, not knowing where he or the waffles may be. "At the forge son!" I here him reply through an open window above the stove. I take a moment to ponder why he would have brought the waffles out there, but quickly dismiss it, knowing that my question would be answered once I had gone outside. Upon reaching him, I can see the waffles that I could smell earlier lying on the anvil. I look over at him and see him sitting down at the grindstone. He turns his head back towards me and says, "Give me one moment, Bound, I need to finish this real quick. Head back into the house and prepare for breakfast." I quickly rush back into the house and into the kitchen. Opening a drawer, I grab a fork and a knife and rush over to the dining table. I set the silverware at my spot and hop into my chair. Hearing the grindstone stop, I can't help but hop up and down in my chair. Dad comes into the house with a pile of waffles on his back. He walks over to the table and plops them down on the table in front of me. "Breakfast is served, straight from the forge." He says before stabbing a metal spike through the top, then spreading butter on top. I turn all my attention onto the waffles and begin to chow down, not noticing him leave back to the forge. I mean, who could care when you have a four stack high mountain of pure deliciousness awaiting you right in front of your nose. These taste even better than normal waffles. What did he say, fresh from the forge? Ha! wouldn't that be funny, you're mining and you come across a rich vein of waffle ore. I wonder what a waffle sword would look like? Maybe waffle armor? Probably wouldn't protect very much. I don't know, can you reinforce waffles? Before I can even finish my thoughts, a sharp feeling goes through my mind. A sense of dread and evil. I have eaten all the waffles. How am I still hungry? That was like a pound of waffles. Before I can even finish those thoughts, something lands on the table in front of me, startling me and making me jump. I look down at it to see a nice, new, polished hoofbow. I turn my head to look at the one who set it down to see my father with a massive grin on his face. "Happy birthday son. Some of my finest work, that one." He says to me, pointing to the weapon on the table in front of me. Flabergasted I turn back to the hoofbow, then to my father, then the hoofbow, then my father. My dad goes to say something but I cut him of by tackling him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is the best birthday ever!" I exclaim, leaving him to chuckle a bit. This is so cool. I've always wanted my own hoofbow. Oh! And I get to use it because we're going hunting. With this realization, I hug him even tighter. He pushes me off and grabs the hoofbow off the table. "Here, let me show you how to put it on. Come out to the forge and I'll give you the run through." Walking outside to the forge feels like an eternity with this much energy and exitement. Finally we got out there and he tells me to sit up onto the grindstone. I do as he says and wait anxiously. He walks back over to me and gives me the hoofbow. "Before you try it on, let me tell you what this thing's made of. A normal hoofbow, even of my expertise, would cost around ten to twenty bits. What your holding in your hooves is worth a small fortune. That stock is made from dark oak. It's more expensive, but well worth it in the long run because of it's great durability. That string is no ordinary string. It's made of giant spider silk from the everfree jungle. That stuff cost me a pound of gold, but it was worth every ounce. As far as I can tell, that string will live longer than you will. Those straps are made of rockadile skin. On the market, that hoofbow would be well over five hundred bits. But with my skill and your heart, it is worthless. Take good care of it and it will take good care of you. Your welcome son." "Sweet celestia," I say in astonishment, "I'll never let it leave my sight." "Good. Now let's see about getting it on. First, take the bow and place it on the front of your dominant forleg. Next, slide it up away from your hoof so that you can still walk while wearing it. Now tighten the straps tight enough so that it doesn't fall off but still keep it comfortable." He stops to let me configure the positions. I find a nice position and he continues. "Now take the string and pull it back to the end of the stock and place it behind the small lever that's poking out. This is where you would normally load a bolt, but let's save that for later. That's pretty much it, nice and simple to use. Just flex your wrist and let it soar." I flex my wrist and the string lets go of the lever and snaps forward. "So can we go hunting now?" "Hold up, hold up. There's still one final thing." He grabs a small satchel off of the workbench and hoofs it to me. I look inside to see about twenty hoofbow bolts. "These bolts are made of a crystal iron alloy. They are magicaly charged to resist wind and gravity. They will fly farther and faster than any other bolt. Make sure to collect them once you have shot them because these don't come easy." He takes the satchel from me and straps it to my side. A breeze comes blowing by and my father steps back, looking at me quizzically. "What?" "With the hoofbow and that cape of yours blowing in the wind, your starting to look like a proper warrior." He says to me. I take a second before facing the wind and giving my best heroic stance. My father chuckles at me and says, "Tell you what. You go get my old sword from the basement and I may give you a lesson on how to use it when we're out hunting." My face flashes into one of pure joy before I race off, yelling back to him, "I'll be back in no time!"
Chapter TwoI gallop around the house, to the basement doors. I've only been down here once before and I was six so I got really scared. I open up the doors and climb down. Just as dark as I remember. The only light I can currently see is the light coming from the entrance. I begin to look around for my dad's old sword. I look around book shelves and empty barrels. For all I know, it's right in the middle of the room, I just cant see because of the darkness. Stepping around a bookshelf, I spot a hole in the ceiling of the basement that's letting light shine through. I follow the light that's able to be seen through the thick dust and come upon a book resting on an old log. I pick up the book and hold it up to the light. Enchanting: The earth pony guide Written by Obsidian Bound Cool! How long has this been sitting here. Obsidian Bound, Where have I heard that name before? Oh well, let's see what it says. I open the book to the cover page. It just says what the cover did. Where's the interesting stuff? I flip to the next page which reads, This book was made from the blood and tears from my brothers and against the unicorns that plague this land with their magic and insanity. Let this be our salvation. Wow. Deep stuff. I look on the next page to see the table of contents. Let's see, Basics, captuing, novice, intermediate, advenced. Ooh! Ultimate enchantments. I'm sure everything else is interesting but let's see the cool stuff. I flip to the page that starts the ultimate enchantments and skim through until I see something cool. Something, something plant souls. Something, something hellfire. Something, something, Oh! This enchantment allows the wearer of the enchanted item to be unaffected by time, allowing the bearing to live eternal. Holy crap. I'd like to live forever. Looks like I better start learning this book if I'm ever to beco- CRASH What was that? I think I may have gotten a bit distracted. I quickly shove the book into my satchel. Where was that sword? I look around to see it sitting by the bookshelf I had past to find this book. I trot over to it, dust it off, and plonk it in my mouth to hold onto it. Although it's heavy, I'm able to get a good hold before making my way out of the basement. While turning around to close the door, I hear a scream come flying by from the other side of the house. I come rushing around the corner to see what all the comotion is about. What I see cuts me deep. Like I had been shot by an arrow. The house across from mine is in a blaze. I can see the owner, lying dead on the porch with several wounds placed on her chest and face. Just then, a mare runs by being chased by a couple bandits. I look around to see several scattered bodies of gaurds and townsponies. In the distances, smoke could be seen rising from the burning city. But what I see next, I will never forget. I turn my head over to where my dad had been at the forge to see him laying on the ground with a pegasus bandit over him. The bandit holding himself up with a sword that has penetrated through my father's chest. I can see the bandit with an evil grin on his face. Now, anger filling my every being, without hesitation, I pull a bolt out of my satchel and load my hoofbow. Without taking much aim, I lift up my leg and flex my wrist. The bolt goes flying through the air, Hitting the bandit right in the upper spine. He flinches for a moment and falls over, sliding the sword out with him. I race over to my father's body, his wound bleeding everywhere. He looks up at me with clear misery. "Son. I'm sorry I couldn't take you out hunting today." He says before coughing up some blood. "This is that last thing that you would want to see, Don't let this change you my son. Grow up to be strong and smart, like your mother would want you to be. And don't forget that I will always love." He stares up at me and exhales his final breath. I can't do anything. There's nothing I can do. I just sit and stare into those lifeless eyes. I reach down and close his eyes before falling on top of him and letting it all go. Amongst the city ablaze I lay on my father and let all time flash by. How can I ever live without him. After what feels like forever, I can here a voice calling to me. "Help me. Please. Help." It says from behind me. I rise from atop my father to see the pony who had killed him writhing in pain on the ground. I examine him for a moment to find that he is in fact parlyzed. I slowly walk over to him and retrieve my bolt from his back, placing it back in the satchel. "How much I wish that bolt had killed you. It would have been so much easier. Well I'll tell you what. I'm not some murderer like you But you will find no redemption in me. I will not help you, and I'll make sure nopony can.I will not kill you, but I will let you die." I say to him as I start to drag him away. The sword being left behind. I open the basement doors and drag him in. "Down here, I will let you die in peace." I walk back out and close the basement doors. I come out to see the gaurd walking about, looking for any stragglers. It looks like it's over. I walk into the house and take off my satchel and hoofbow. I sit down on the couch and stare into the wall. I am at a complete loss at what to do. I just sit there and wait. After a while, I hear a knock on my door. I walk over and open it to see a gaurd standing there. "Is the owner of this residence available." I look out the door and point over to the forge where my dad's corpse lies. He looks over and then back at me. He puts on a poker face, but I can see the empathy in his eyes. "I have been ordered to tell all residence that are under loss to report to one of us gaurd. They are to be given full assurence that all losses will be replaced and/or fixed." He says coming out of his professional tone. "As for you, I think it's best if you come with me back to the castle." I do as he says and I follow him up to the castle where several ponies are waiting out front in mournful silence. "If you would please wait here with the others who have lost their family, you will be seen by the princesses to recieve their pardons." I don't really care about their pardons or anypony's feelings anymore. The only things that run through my head are anger, sadness and a repeating voice in my head mocking me saying Happy birthday!
Chapter ThreeI sit and wait at the castle grounds with all of the other ponies. Taking a look around, I can see that the majority of the ponies here are about my age. I would assume that the children were told to hide while their parents went to try to protect them. Their are a few mares around. Unsurprisingly, no stallions. Taking in my surroundings, I notice one of the fillies walk over. This particular filly is one of my friends from school. Her name is Dandy Daisy and you can expect by her name that she's usually pretty happy. From the look on her face, I can tell that she is definitely not happy. She probably looks sadder than I do. "Hey soul bound, what happened to you?" She asked my very tiredly. "My dad was killed by one of those bandits. I can still see the look on his face. One of pure joy. How can anypony be so happy about commiting murder? What kind of sick soul would feel that way?" I ask knowing that she wouldn't have an answer. "I know, it doesn't make any sense. I was hiding in my room. When it was over, I came downstairs to see my mother and father impaled by one sword. I will never be able to forget that image." She says to me as she breaks down in front of me. I walk over to her and hug her. "Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine. Hey! Guess who's birthday it is today?" "Who's?" She says coming out of her tears. Does she seriously not know it's my birthday? "Mine!" I exclaim. "And I got my very own hoofbow." "Really? That's so cool." She says, coming completely out of her sadness. Distractions are working. "Yeah. Tell you what, if you come over to my house tomorrow, I'll let you see it and I'll take you out hunting. Does that sound cool?" I tell her. I really have no plans for tomorrow. I don't usually have plans on sundays. "Yeah! I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to go check on the others. Have a better day!" She says before scrambling off. See dad, I won't let this change me. And you owe me a hunting day, but I think I'll swap it out for a day with her. "Soul Bound!" I hear a voice call over the croud. I look over the croud to see a guard looking around. I raise my hand and he beckons me forward. "Princess Celestia would like to speak with you." He turns around and begins to walk into the castle. He takes me down a hall and into an office. Sitting behind a desk is the princess of the sun awaiting my entrance. The gaurd shoves me inside and closes the door behind me. I walk over to the desk and sit at a chair in front of her. "Hello there Soul Bound." She says to me with quite a comforting voice. "I understand that you have lost your father to the bandit attack. It's absolutely terrible. He was a very skillful smith and he had done many services for our gaurd. He had even designed a few sets for my sister's battle armor. It is a shame that he had to die, but let us not remember him by his death. Let us remember him by the deeds he has made for the world. Now, onto official business. In his will, he has given pretty much everything to you. I know that this may seem a bit overwelming, but know that you do not hold much responsibility. The house has been completely payed off, he was in no debt whatsoever. The only thing that you really need to worry about is the money he left and it seems that he has been saving up for quite some time. In total, you now are in ownership of the house, all his possessions, and about 200,000 bits. On top of that, until you have reached stallionhood, your food and clothing will be paid for by the palace." She finally finishes with everything she had to say. By that time, my jaw is at the floor. Did she say 200,000 bits?!? Even without that care from the palace, I could live off that for well over ten years. Even after death, my dad is still surprising me. She looks down at me and notices my astonishment. "Onto the business of your father's funeral. It says in his will that he would like to be burried at his forge with hammer in hand. Interesting. I will have a service sent over tomorrow for the burrial." Oh crap, I'm sopposed to go hunting with dandy tomorrow. "Um, could we hold the funeral until monday, I'm a bit busy tomorrow?" "If that is what you would like, then the funeral can be postponed. If there is not any further question, then you may leave." She finishes, pointing to the door. I get up from my chair and make my way out of the room. On my way out of the castle, I pass by dandy who looks completely sad again. I don't think there's truly a way to help somepony get passed this. Got to give me credit for trying. I walk out of the castle and make my way past the gathered croud. On my walk back home, I can see the over all damage to the city. Near the city entrance, houses are in complete ashes and rubble. As you keep comintg further into the city, less houses are destroyed. Even then though, nopony could have been ready for this kind of attack. Looking back, I can see that even a few wall on the castle had been broken. There must have been hundreds of bandits. That only begs the question though. Where did they all come from and how did they get so organized? Coming by several house, I can see blood stains. Even further on, there seems to be a house that was crushed by a fallen water tower. Another hard thing to understand is how fast they were in and out. That must have been a total of an hour. Finally, I have made my way back to my house. My father's body is gone but the blood stain of where he was stabbed is still there. I step inside to find a deafening silence. Memories flashing by of all the time we were together. I slump myself onto the couch and lay down. I don't know how long it took but I fell asleep.
Chapter FourI awoke later that evening to silence. I did not have any dreams during my slumber, nor do I really want any. The only dreams I'll probably get are just going to remind me of my fathers death. Then again, without any dreams, I'll come to the conclusion that I won't want any dreams because it would remind me of my father's death, and remind me of my father's death. It's a paradox that I can't fix, but the more I try to forget, the more I will remember. I sit up from my sleeping position. Now, because of my rest, I am full of energy and sleeping my day away is no longer an option. Oh, I know what I can do. I found that book yesterday. Or was it today? I can't tell, sleeping in the middle of the day confuses me. Well, let's go see what it has to say. I think I'll just start from the beginning though. I don't really care about the master level enchantments anymore. I stand back on four legs and stretch my muscles. All this stress is making my bones hurt. I walk over to where I had dropped my satchel on the ground and ruffle around in it to find the book. Upon finding it, I pull it out of the satchel and begin inpecting it. Now with more light, I can get a better look at the book. This time looking at it, I can see that the cover is engraved with a certain symbol that covers the front and the back. I take the book and walk back over to the couch, plomping my self down next to the arm so that I can hold up the book easier. I inspect the cover once more to see if I can spot anything different or new. Everything seems the same, let's get started then. Opening the book, I move past the contents page and onto what looks like the first chapter. Actually, is a chapter called a chapter in a tome? Is this considered a tome? I'd consider it a tome. Is there a difference between a tome and a book? Stop! Don't get distracted. Starting. Introduction and basics Hello young earth pony and welcome to the new and exciting world of enchanting. Before we begin, let me tell you that enchanting is not an easy activity. At some points, it may even disgust you. But if you are detemined to enter, then let us continue. Enchanting works in three steps. Capturing, designing, and applying. Capturing: Capturing is the task of finding and containing magical energy. This step will be covered much more in depth in the second chapter. Okay, so they are chapters. That's good to know. Designing: Designing is the task of creating an enchantment. Some enchantments are already given in later chapters but designing your own is possible, it's just a lot harder and failure is much more likely. It is recommended to stick with the preset enchantments until you are an advanced enchanter. This means mastering all novice and intermediate enchantments. In the step of designing, one must use their knowledge of magic while considering the attributes of the magical energy they have contained. With practice, more advanced enchanters are able to sense the attributes of the magical energy, but without this sense, one must figure out the attributes based on where the energy came from. Some magical energy may be stronger or weaker than others. Designing an enchantment is very difficult and must be taken cautiously. Applying: Applying is the task of exactly what it sounds like, applying your designed enchantment. Applying is almost always performed the same way, excluding a few master level enchantments. First, one must take their designed enchantment and hold it in their mind, clearing it of anything else. Next, you must touch the chosen piece and will it to change; will it to be what you have designed. Finally, you must complete the task. This part will be the most difficult to do and will involve to transfer of one's contained energy. This may take several tries and will leave the enchanter totally exausted. Only the most advanced enchanter can perform an enchantment without being fatigued. How fatigued you are is also based on how much magical energy you may exert. Your final warning is to not over exert your capabilities. If one exerts to much energy, they have the chance of ripping their own soul out. Many ponies have died trying to go all the way. Welp, that's a lot to take in. I scim over the steps a few more times to make sure I can remember everything. The next few pages of the book tell about the history or something of enchanting and why it's needed. I really don't care about that right now. I might come back to that later. From what I can tell about this book's age, the history of it doesn't quite seem as useful as it once may have been. I wonder what it means by different kinds of magical energy. From what I know, there's only three types of magic. Chaos, Harmony, and Passive magic. Maybe it means that the energy of it's type will base what kinds of enchantmkents are available, Like Chaos magic will create a destructive enchantment. Well, I guess it should tell me what it means in the next chapter. Moving on. Capturing Like I said before, capturing is the task of finding and containing magical energy. Before I tell you how it's done, let me give you a little magic lesson on enchanting. Unicorns are naturally gifted with the power of magic, along with this gift, they are given easy access to enchanting using their natural magical output. Earth ponies on the other hoof, have no connection to magic. This makes enchanting nearly impossible and finding the magical energy to do so even harder. But through long study, we have discovered that earth ponies do in fact have connection to magic through the life force of other beings, so enchanting is still possible for us, just very difficult to ensue. In order for an earth pony to gain and use magical energy, they must absorb the soul of another being. This sounds scary, but the soul is transfered into magical energy and contained by the earth pony. The energy is not a living soul, nor does it have any affect to the earth pony containing the energy. In order to extract the soul from another being, the being must be nearly dead anyway. In fact, the closer to death the being is, the easier the extraction becomes. But that also comes with the fact that if it dies before the soul is absorbed, the energy will disperse, making it unabtainable. Before going into the steps needed for captuing a soul, remember that an enchantment is based upon what creature you absorb the soul from. For example, a bird's soul will be more equiped to enchant something to move swifter and lighter, while a dog's soul will be more equiped to give a forceful and powerful enchantment. The enchantment's strength is also based on the will of the soul. An elephant soul will have a more powerful enchantment then a racoon soul. Holy crap, I have the ability to absorb souls. That sounds awesome! Kind of messed up and slightly evil, but awesome! I wonder if this was sopposed to be that part where it said it would disgust me. It doesn't seem too bad. Maybe a little bit against most pony's morals, but nopony will care if they don't know about this stuff right. Yeah, I think it would be best to keep this secret for now. Someponies might think that I'm performing necromancy or some dark art mumbo jumbo. On to the subject of capturing a soul though, where would I find a strong soul to use? I mean, I guess I could capture some while out hunting with Dandy tomorrow. Wait a moment. Isn't there a nearly dead pony in my basement? Yeah, I'm sure that would put his soul to a better use than just sitting there awaiting death. I'm sure this would be a lot less painful than just letting him die naturally. Than again, I wouldn't be gaining anything if I just let him die. Yeah, I'l just steal his soul, he wasn't going to be needing it much longer anyway. With that, I close the book and shove it back into my satchel. I strap the satchel back on and head for the door. I walk out and close the door behind me. I continue walking but I get tugged backwards. I turn around and pull cape unstuck from the door and then go to the basement. I open the door to the basement and say, "I've come back to steal your soul."
Chapter Five"What's up buddy, Have you been having a nice day?" I ask the bandit as I climb back down into the basement. I walk over to him and set down my satchel. "Look kid, just take me to the guard. Revenge is never the best option." He says to me completely panicked. There is no way I would ever let this guy live. Now I'm just doing this for enchanting training rather than revenge, so it shouldn't affect my future self as much as if I just killed purely for revenge. And really, With how ruthlessly I saw him kill my father, I'm sure what I'm about to do to him will be a greater contribution to society than anything he's ever done. "Revenge? Oh no, no, no. I've decided that what I would have done to you would have been way to much of a punishment, even for somepony like you. So i have decided to spare your soul and just kill you now." I say as I take out my book from the satchel and place it next to his body. I open the book to the page that tells me how to capture a soul. "Come on kid. Be the better stallion, don't do this." He begs. I'm just going to ignore him now. This guy's waisting my time. Who knows how long this could take. I sit down next to this guy and snap my back. "Alright, let's get to this. The first step says," I say as I look down at the book. I read over the first step to find that it says that I require a soul to contain and the best way to hold a creature still is to paralyze it. Take the creature and lay it on it's back, if it has one. "If it has one. I wonder what creatures I could use that don't have backs. I'm sure there is loads but none come to mind at the moment." "What are you talking about, are you going to kill me or not?" He says, now finally coming to acceptance that he is going to die. "Yeah, yeah, just hold on a minute and let me figure this out. Sucking souls from ponies is a very delicate process." I say as I look over the second step. It's very long and confusing, so it takes me a few times looking over it. "Sucking souls?!? What the hell are you talking about? Are you some kind of witch, demonic, necromancer? Not cool kid." He yells frantically up in my face. "Calm down, It's not as bad as it seems. Okay, so basically, I put one hoof on the heart, one hoof on the top of the head," I say aloud and do what I'm saying as I'm saying it. I place my right hoof on his left side of the chest where his heart would be, then my left hoof intop of his head, spreading apart his mane. "Now I comfort the-Oh! There, there, It won't be so bad. Your just going to fall asleep and wake up in the glorious light of celestia's great sun. You are going to bathe in it's wonderful warmth and feel freedom." That whole thing just made him look really unconforfable, but his heart beat actually slowed down. I can't believe that actually works, even after I have told him that I am going to eat his soul. I read over the third step and almost gasp at what I have to do. Before I do anything, I just need to say that I am a heterosexual colt. I have no desire to do this, nor will I ever want to. "Now, do you have any final words?" "You are going to regret this, your life is going to be ruined by this. I hope it kills you." He says to me. What a terrible choice of final words. Too bad, it was his choice, not mine. I follow what the instructions said and take a deep breath. I exhale as much as I can. This is going to be gross. I tilt his head back and go in for it. I close my eye and kiss him. I don't know what he may be thinking now, but I certainly know what I am. Alright, it's just CPR backwards, now suck. I breath in and nearly choke at the taste of his breath. Sweet celestia, his breath is worse than why I'm tasting it. At least it's taking my thoughts off the situation at hoof. I breathe back out of my nose and suck back in his disgusting breath. Oh celestia, this is worse than cancer. I feel like I'm going to throw up. I breath out once more, and try to suck again. Now I'm starting to face a lot of resistence and I don't feel any different. I can't take it anymore. I let go of him and pull back, coughing and nearly throwing up. He does the same. I look back at the steps and try to figure out what I have done wrong. Then I realize something. The heart is in the middle of the chest. Dang it. "What a breath. Haven't you ever brushed your teeth?" Before he can respond, I go back in and try again. I place my hooves in the correct positions and tilt his head again and kiss him again. I go through sucking as much air as I can before I feel something about him. His skin has become alot colder and stiffer. This is a good sign, just a little more. I suck in as hard as I possibly can, pulling his head off the ground. Before I know it, I hear a pop sound within his throat and let go. His head drops back down and hits the ground. To my astonishment, a wisp of incandecent air comes out of his mouth and into mine. That is about the weirdest thing I have ever experienced. I close the book and stuff it back into my satchel before tying it back on. I stand up and walk back out of the basement. I close the doors behind me and walk back around my house. Instead of going inside, I decide to sit outside by the forge and think about everything. Of all the things I could be wishing right now, the only thing I want is to either get used to that really quickly or to just find some other way to do it. get a pump or something. I think it would just be best to forget about the whole thing, or at least until I need the experience to do it again.
