New Dawn

“So Doc, how's it looking?” Jerrod leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees.

A page flipped and Doctor Stable tsked a few times before moving to the next page, repeating the process each time until he got to the end of the chart and put it down on the counter next him. “Not good. Honestly I'm not sure how your even up and about. This is...well it's beyond anything I have ever seen in my life. Honestly son, how are you not lying in a coffin already.” The doctor moved over to Jerrod. “Shirt up please.” The doctor winced a little as Jerrod's chest was barred. “I don't know what kinda life you have had but I must admit that I find you an admirable character. You must be as stubborn as a mule to have not keeled over from more than half of the wounds that caused some of these scars or whatever the disease is that is afflicting you.”

Jerrod gasped as a frozen stethoscope touched his nipple as it made a quick trip across his chest to listen to his other lung. “It isn't be that bad Doc. I mean really, I know it looks bad but I am running around still so it ain't that bad.” He glanced at the doctor with a cocky smile on his lips as the doctor clicked his tongue a few times before moving to a new spot. “It's not that bad right doc?”

Doctor Stable shook his head and dropped his stethoscope back around his neck. “I don't know what to say Jerrod, it is that bad but at the same time it isn't.” The doctor lit his horn and grabbed the chart off the counter and flipped it open to the page he wanted. “According to these tests you can't exist. Every single creature in this world has magic as a basic part of it. It is in our very DNA, the four base proteins that make up all life on Equus and your missing one of them. That's not even the weirdest part, the weird part is that your not missing it completely. Every time one of your cells goes through mitosis there seems to be a 75 percent chance of failure meaning the cell doesn't divide and dies and this is because magic tries to work its way into the pairings.”

The doctor threw the chart behind him onto the counter and began pacing back and forth. “First we have your non magic cell. Its just like any other cell in any other creature except there's no magic in it but then it tries to divide and it vulnerable to change. During that time magic tries to enter the equation. Why, I don't know, it shouldn't because its not there but it does.” He stopped were he was and smacked himself on the side of the head. “This is just wrong. Magic doesn't behave like this, ever. Everything I know of magic everything we know of magic says it shouldn't do this. If there is no magic then magic doesn't effect it, it just , it ignores it. Sure magic can still effect the cells but it shouldn't invade them. This whole scenario is wrong.” The doctor whirled towards Jerrod and took a deep breath, then did it again..

Shaking his head he continued. “So we have these normal cells, dividing like normal but not all of them survive. A cell divides and the new cell has only a twenty five percent chance of survival. The original cell goes on ticking like nothing happened if the mitosis fails and will divide again later at the same odds. Basically the cell either lives and you get a magic and a non magic cell or your just left with an ordinary cell. The body sees the new magic cell as a threat and attacks it, both cells attack each other. Magic cells attack non magic and non magic attack magic. It's just, nothig about you is happening the way it should.” He took a deep breath and stared up at Jerrod, rubbing his temples with a hoof. “YOUR IMPOSSIBLE!” He jumped on the table with Jerrod and poked him the chest. “IMPOSSIBLE!”

Jerrod furrowed his brow and leaned  away from the doctor, pushing his hoof away. “Great, theirs turf war going on at a cellular level in body and to top it off one side is exploiting the others breeding program.” Jerrod chuckled to himself and tapped his chest with a fist before making and odd four fingered salute. “Earth side.” He tapped his chest with his other hand and saluted with a fist. “Equus Side. The epic showdown continues in Jerrod's lungs tonight and now and until one side wins. Well I guess it could be worse, I could have only a few days to live or something.”

Doctor Stable shook his head and sat back on the table chuckling. “Nothing so drastic. Currently whatever is happening to you seems to have balanced out. It's sitting somewhere around thirty five percent of your cells are magic and thirty five percent are earth based and then something like  twenty percent of the remainder just dye off during mitosis.” The unicorn stallion hopped off the table. “Though I guess that's what makes you so impossible, your body shouldn't be able to sustain itself with those conditions.” Looking back over the notes Doctor Stable cocked his head to the side. “According to the nurses you had a rudimentary understanding of what was going on, can you explain how you figured that out?”

Jerrod sat up straight and popped his back. “It was mostly theory. I studied a few of the others from my world and how they were adapting. None of them presented the same symptoms as I was, there cells were accepting magic into their structure just fine. It was the damnedest thing I found a few with similar problems but nothing like mine. Sure a few were having problems, mostly fevers or coughs but it presented like flu or something nothing as severe as what I had and then it just cleared right up after a little bed rest.” Jerrod laid back and put his hands on the table behind his head. “In all honesty my body wasn't accepting magic at all at first, but then something changed. I don't know what changed but something started this turf war in my body.”

Doctor Stable shook his head. “And I don't have any answers for you in this matter either. Like I said this is unprecedented and what the catalyst for this was is beyond me. The nurses told me that they were seeing weird results and to be ready for anything but I never expected to see...well what ever is going inside you. I don't think I have run half the tests I did on you on more than maybe half a dozen other ponies in the ten years I have been a doctor.”

Jerrod shrugged and swiveled up into a seat position with his feet hanging over the edge. “You and me both doctor. I thought it was related to my Addison's Disease but then I ran a test for it and I came out clean, no more Addison's.” He dropped from the table and stretched himself. Stepping forward he knelt in front of the doctor. “So wanna perform any more...tests?”

The doctor rolled his eyes. “And there it is, the nurses warned me about that.”

Jerrod leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “Oh really, and what exactly is it that the nurses warned you about?”

The doctor shook his head and moved away from Jerrod. “That you have an issue with personal boundaries and that you have issues keeping things put away. Oh and that you can never stay serious for long.” Opening the door he motioned to the hall. “Please follow me, we will get you a follow up appointment and something to help with the buildup of magic in your system. Please keep your hands to yourself.”

Jerrod followed the doctor and fell in stride beside him. “So tell me honestly Doc, how bad is it?”

Doctor Stable tapped his chin. “Well I would say your sitting at a thirty thirty five percent magic cells versus about the same for non magical and then twenty of the remainder dying during mitosis, like I said before. The numbers aren't perfect things are pretty wild in your body but a balance of some sort has been achieved. Those estimates are little high but I would rather guess high than low in this case.”

Jerrod froze, his mouthing moving and fingers twitching as he tried to do some math in his head. “HOW THE HELL AM I NOT DEAD?” He turned and grabbed the doctor by the cheeks. “That's like an insane die off rate, that's whole organs or at least enough to make the function of them questionable. I should have skin legions, organ failure, brain shut down, something.”

The doctor spoke through his pursed lips. “Prease rerease me.” Jerrod let go and the doctor rolled his jaw. “As I said before, I have never seen anything like this before in my life. You are right on all counts  except one. The magic cells are reproducing just like normal cells to. The rate may be a little slower but their still reproducing, honestly it's a loosing battle on the side of the non magic cells. It's so bad because you are loosing cells faster than your body can produce them. This should be fatal but it isn't in your case for some reason. There are a lot more tests we need to run before we have anything conclusive though. We need to determine what magic is infecting your body, it is not the normal background magic which is probably part of the problem but we can't be sure yet. We need to monitor the magic in your body and  try to control it a little, which is what the pills will do. There's a lot of work to be done before we even start to think of a better way to help you but I am confident we can.”

Jerrod starred blankly at the doctor for a moment before he heard a gasp and turned to notice a white blur barreling down the hall. In the moment it took him to turn his lungs had collapsed and the ceiling had decided to do its own impersonation of the wall. It took Jerrod a moment to understand what had happened but when he did he chuckled lightly and looked down. Two reds eyes stared up happily into his and past them he noticed a gray mare trotting down the hall towards them.

“Evening Music Butt. What brings you to this fine hospital and into my ribs?”

Vinyl Scratch chuckled to herself. “I have severe anemia, got it from my folks, and Tavi is wonderful enough to make sure I don't forget to visit the hospital once a week to stock up on blood bags so I don't have any issues through the week.” She smiled brightly. “So what brings you here?”

Jerrod ruffled her mane. Shifting her to sit cross wise he pulled himself up, rolling her down into his lap eliciting a giggle from Vinyl. “Just a routine check up, make sure I haven't caught anything from my rambunctious lifestyle.” Holding the mare steady with one hand he pushed himself up and then cradled her in his arms.

Something poked at his leg and a pony spoke up form underneath Vinyl. “Would you mind putting my marefriend down please?”

Jerrod shifted Vinyl to the side, brushing a few fingers over her cutie mark causing her to shiver. He looked down past her nose at a grayish mare with an irritated look. “You must be Tavi, I think I will call you Guard Chucker.”

Octavi's eyes narrowed. “It's you.” Her legs shifted as she stood up on her back legs, front hooves raised in an odd boxers stance. “Put the unicorn down so we can settle things.”

Jerrod tilted his head and chuckled as he let Vinyl's back legs drop so he could hold her like a baby in front him. She put on her best pout, adding to the adorableness of the situation of a pony hanging by her forelegs in an apes hands.  “What things?” Jerrod smiled innocently. “Doesn't throwing a guard at someone count as settling the score?” Jerrod pouted. “You wouldn't hurt little ole me would you?”

Octavi sighed and dropped to all fours but the anger stayed in her face. “Yes, yes I would, but Vinyl seems to like you. There is also the matter of owing you one. Without you, me and Vinyl would not have started dating so I will concede to a truce. Now please hand over my marefriend so we can make our dinner date.”

Jerrod gently placed Vinyl over Octavi's back and smiled. “You two have fun and remember, even mare on mare needs protection.”

Doctor Stable rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. “If we could please get a move on.” He turned and started don the hall again. “I want to get you on the meds as soon as possible.” Jerrod pouted and waved to Vinyl who waved back and then he trotted after Doctor Stable.

Jerrod sighed and looked around, keeping quiet for a bit while they walked. He kept his hands clasped behind his back and took long swinging steps, swaying himself around in an exaggerated manner. “So Doc...what are these meds you want me to take exactly?”

“Nothing extravagant. They will help you process the magic and dispose of it.” He tapped his chin. “The magic will be gathered in your stomach and by the pill and then your body should just digest it like food.” He turned the corner to the pharmacy and walked up to the stallion behind the counter and exchanged a few quick words before the stallion ducked back into the shelves and returned a few seconds later. “Here we are, take one pill once a week and it should slow down the disease, if we're lucky it will halt it in it's tracks.” He waved Jerrod off. “See my receptionist on the way out to make you appointment and have yourself a wonderful afternoon.

~ ~ ~

Twilight smiled as she pulled away from the observatory telescope, the most powerful on in all of Equestria possibly even Equus. The night was perfect, not a cloud in site, the stars out en mass and the castle had gone to sleep for the night. She had been waiting all week for a chance to study the stars from Canterlot again, she may have loved Ponyville but the view from the top of the Canterhorn was unbeatable. With a sigh she snuggled deeper into the cushion she had brought with and brought a mug of cocoa to her lips.

Nothing can ruin this perfect... her thoughts were interrupted as raucous laughter echoed up from the gardens. Twilight's eye twitched slightly and she took a deep steady breath and held it for a moment. “Nothing can-” More laughter caused her teeth to grind. Closing her eyes for a moment she did a few quick breathing exercises before a barking laugh sounded out. She put her cup down gently before popping out of existence and reappearing in the garden next to two very drunk creatures.

“Jerrod? Luna?” Twilight tilted her head then shook it. She eyed the bottles the each clasped and the discarded glasses. Sighing she rubbed the bridge of her nose with a hoof. “I don't think I wanna know.”

Jerrod looked over at her with a wide smile. “JUST IN TIME STAR BUTT.” He boisterously pulled her close to him with same hand that held the bottle. “Just in time to hear how I met the Dragon Empress.” He smiled wistfully. “The first of three of the most beautiful creatures in this world.”

Twilight pulled away from Jerrod a little and wrinkled her nose. “By Celestia's cake, how drunk are you Jerrod? Your breath smells like a brewery or a college dorm.”

Jerrod took a huge swig of his drink. “Not drunk enough Princess Gender Changer.”

Luna choked on her drink and Jerrod fell over laughing as Twilight turned bright red. Her voice was an angry whisper as she spoke up. “Who told you?”

Jerrod pointed to Luna who smiled wolfishly. “Twas I fair Star Butt.” She giggled as she said star butt.

Twilight growled and grabbed one of the glasses. “I'll take some of that wine now.” She yanked the bottle from Luna and poured herself a full glass. Downing it one shot she poured another. “So what story were you about to regale us with Jerrod?”

Jerrod stared at Twilight for a moment. “Wow.” Shaking himself he took another swig. “So the most beautiful creature on the other side of Equus, the dragon empress.” Jerrod stood and placed a foot on the table and made a sweeping gesture across the garden. “So there I was, rowing the boat with the others when the whole ceiling vanished in this confag...conflagt....inferno.” He stumbled over a word but otherwise sounded rather coherent. “Of course we all froze and...hehe...this blue angel gently landed in the aisle. Covered in scales she looked like some sort of half lizard human except for the wings. Huge leathery things,” Jerrod paused and took a swig from the bottle he was holding and then made wing motions with his hand. “They were amazing. As wide as the ship and the held her just above our heads, flapping slowly and powerfully as she looked around at each of us. It wasn't long before her gaze turned to the Iffrit who was in charge of whipping us. Did you know Iffrit piss can light wood on fire?”

Both of them laughed uproariously at the thought and Twilight shook her head, she wasn't that drunk yet. Pouring herself a small bit of the liquor, Dragon Fire Whiskey was it read on the label, she turned her attention back to Jerrod's. “Go on please, as funny as Iffrit urine is I want to hear the rest of the story.”

A bit of liquor sloshed out of the bottle in Jerrod's hand as he swung his arms around. “Whoosh, fwoosh, the poor floorboards didn't stand a chance. Anyway, the poor bastard jumped ship the moment her feet touched the floor. He used a buddy of mine as a stepping board and climbed out of the hold onto the deck and right over the edge. 'Parently the poor bastard couldn't swim but Amadiel, shes the empress of dragons, sought fit to help him by throwing his buddy with the drum over the edge into the ocean as well.” Jerrod mimicked throwing something. “Never seen a deer fly before and haven't seen it since. So after she got rid of the slavers she started looking over the slaves. Talking about checking the merchandise she had just commandeered.” Jerrod paused to swig his drink and sway in his seat, his eyes misting a little as he thought about the story.

Luna poked him. “Go on, I wanna hear how you ended up bound to Amadiel.”

Twilight chocked on her sip of whiskey and spit out the rest over Jerrod's shirt. “YOUR BOUND TO THE DRAGON EMPRESS!?”

Jerrod's attention was snapped back to the present and he stared down at his shirt. He sniffed and pulled it away from his chest try and lick it off. “The poor whiskey, what did it do to you.” He let a few tears drip out of his eyes. “We will mourn your loss whiskey.”

Twilight jumped up on the table and grabbed Jerrod by the cheeks. “YOU'RE BOUND TO THE DRAGON EMPERESS?! YOU'RE SPIKE'S FATHER?!”

Jerrod looked at Twilight in confusion. “Um, I'm not that old, I think. I mean yea we did a lot of beast with two back renditions but I am pretty sure my little swimmers couldn't cross with her even if they are potent little bastards.”

Twilight shook her head and Jerrod's at the same time. “I AM SPIKE'S ADOPTIVE MOTHER AND THE DRAGON EMPRESS IS HIS BIOLOGICAL ONE.” She shook him harder. “IF YOU'RE BOUND TO HER, YOU'RE HIS FATHER BY WHAT IS BASICALLY MARRIAGE!”

Luna by this point had finished the bottle and popped another one and taking a large swig from it before she answered. “HA YOU'RE A DADDY!” She fell over laughing and Jerrod cracked a smile.

“I guess I should take the little guy out for a game of catch then.” He chuckled to himself, slowly growing into a full bellied guffaw before devolving into hysterics. “Wait, no that's not right.” He froze mid laugh and looked at Twilight. “Binding is nothing like marriage at all. It's deeper more meaningful and stuff but also more open. It's a show of trust and love, I gave her a piece of myself and she gave me a piece of herself.” He chuckled to himself and took another swig. “It's usually magic that is shared but I don't have any of it so we shared memories.” Jerrod sighed and looked off into the distance wistfully as he took another drink.

Twilight dropped back off the table and grabbed the bottle from Luna and chugged it in one go. “Spike's dad is a perverted horny bastard of a human. Spike is doomed, his mom is a princess with an anxiety problem and his dad is pervert.” Her horn glowed and crate popped into existence on the table. Smacking it with a hoof Twilight caused the crate to fall open, revealing several bottles of wine. “I am going to need more alcohol than either of you brought and neither of you are allowed to say shit about it.” Grabbing one at random Twilight popped it open and chugged the whole thing. Luna and Jerrod stared at her slack jawed for a moment before the started screaming in unison. “CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!”

Twilight slammed the bottle down on the table and belched loud enough to rattle the nearby trees. Both Luna and Jerrod blinked at her as she wiped her mouth with a hoof. “WHAT?”

Both shook their heads and spoke at the same time. “Nothing.”

Twilight grabbed a new bottle. “Jerrod, continue your story, NOW!”

Jerrod chugged the last of his bottle and grabbed a new one. “You got it Star Butt. So there I was in the slave hold, Amadeil walking down the line and checking each of us. I was terrified, and enraptured which made for a horrible way to be when you need to think. I made the genius decision of picking the lock on my cuffs and jumping out of my seat.” Jerrod jumped up and sideways. “I thought she was gonna obliterate me but I was smart.” Dropping to his knees and bowing forward with his hand outstretched he kept talking. “I bowed myself as low as I could and swore myself to her.” He got up and sat back at the table. “At first she looked pissed as hell but then she started to chuckle a little then laugh. Finally she picked me up and claimed me right then and there. Those dragon tongues, they have some serious dexterity.” Luna and Twilight both blushed and stared as Jerrod licked his lips. “Lasted a good five minutes before she put me down and slapped some weird cuff on me.” Jerrod stopped and rubbed his wrist, his thoughts traveling to other parts of his life.

Luna leaned forward and grabbed a new bottle. “Was it a slave cuff?” Jerrod nodded. “So that's how you met her but how did you end up bound to her?”

Twilight nodded enthusiastically and magicked up some quills and paper and started writing sloppily. “Please, how did you get that close to the Amadiel?”

Jerrod waved at them both. “Patience, she was my first love in this world and I love remembering our first meeting. Anyway, she put the cuff on and told me I was hers. I would do whatever she asked of me without question and in exchange she would treat me well and give me a home and limited freedom. I agreed as fast as I could, this was a goddess saving my sorry ass.” Jerrod grew silent and leaned back, sipping at the bottle in his hand. His smile was lopsided and he kept his eyes closed, sighing occasionally.

Twilight moved closer to Jerrod and poked him with a hoof. “Jerrod.” She poked him a little harder. “Jerrod!” He continued to stare off into space with his weird creepy smile so Twilight poked him again even harder. With a soft thump he hit the grass and sprawled out. Twilight sidled closer and leaned close to his face. “JERROD!”

Jerrod jumped but didn't move just stared up at Twilight. “Ye~es?”

“What happened after that?” Twilight moved away blushing and sat next to him, Luna quickly sidling up to his other side and nodding.

“Yes Jerrod, what went on between you and the Dragon Empress?” She laid down next to him, pushed against his side. Twilight glared at her and copied her on Jerrod's other side.

Jerrod was oblivious to it and just smiled. “We spent the next two years side by side. She never let me leave her sight.” Jerrod dropped the bottle and put his hands behind his head. “It was an interesting time but the best of them. I helped her with everything and I mean everything. I was there to cook her food, to help her bathe, to help her dress when she bothered to. I was her go to servant for all her needs for two wonderful years.”

Luna smiled snugged against Jerrod's side. “So why did you ever leave her if you were so happy?”

Jerrod stopped smiling instantly and sat up. “Hey, any of you got any interesting stories?” His voice was slightly hollow, like he was forcing himself to sound cheery.

Twilight furrowed her brow and put a hoof on Jerrod's shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Jerrod threw his hands up in the air and shrugged Twilight's hoof of his shoulder. “I'm peachy. Just fanfuckingtastic.” He swirled around and grabbed the last bottle off the table and  shattered the neck of it against the table. Lifting in the air with his hands spread wide he let out a scream, “FANFUCKINGTASTIC!!” and chugged the bottle in one go.

Luna and Twilight stood up with quizzical looks at each other before approaching Jerrod slowly. Luna reached out with a hoof intestinal and let it rest on his shoulder. “Jerrod?”

Jerrod responded by turning to his left and hurling the bottle at a tree. “New topic, I don't wanna ruin this lovely night.”

Twilight move to stand in front of Jerrod and lifted up on her back hooves so she could drape her hooves over his shoulders. “It's okay Jerrod, we won't judge you.”

She pulled him into a hug and Luna rose to her back hooves and hugged Jerrod from behind like Twilight was in front of him. “She's right Jerrod, no matter what you tell us we won't judge you.”

Jerrod slumped against Twilight and sniffled. “I need more booze.” Twilight giggled and a bottle popped into existence next to Jerrod. He promptly grabbed it as the cork was pulled free by Luna. He took a deep draft of it as he pulled free from Twilight and Luna. He moved to a clearing with a great view of the sky and looked up at it. “I left because I made mistake. A very big mistake and then it was thrown back in my face. I did something incredibly unintelligent and then it all came back to bite me.”

Luna walked up with Twilight leaning against her, staggering a little as she tried to walk. “I know more than I care to admit about mistakes. So does my sister.”

Jerrod slumped back against the mares, his elbows resting on the back with his arms bent. “I killed her son. It wasn't on purpose, heck we don't even understand how it happened. He was helping me with something and things just went wrong. His sacrifice made the research succeed but then my good deed was thrown back in my face by almost everyone it affected and the dragons started screaming for my head. The Empress smuggled me out but if I ever return there it would not be a pretty site.”

Everyone was silent as the short vague tale was processed. Really vague actually, no details at all. “So what exactly were you and the Amadiel's son doing?”

Jerrod shook his head. “Something we never should have dabbled in. I should have known it wouldn't work out, I should have known.” Jerrod slung his bottle back, pouring the last of the alcohol down his gullet. Smacking his lips he smiled cheerily and smacked Twilight’s flank. “ENOUGH OF THIS. Let us go find more booze. I wanna hear some stories from you two.”

Twilight shot straight up, her wings flaring out as she eeped. “Jerrod, don't do that.” She whacked him with a wing gently and he laughed to himself as he stole Twilight's bottle and took a sip of it. “I do know were we can find some more though, follow me.”

Jerrod started to move and looked back at Luna who was just staring at him. He motioned to her and she smiled a little, then dove towards Jerrod. Her lips wrapped around his for a moment before she shot off giggling to herself. “LET US REEK HAVOC UPON MY SISTER'S SPECIAL STASH TONIGHT!”

Jerrod shook himself and laughed and started to jog after her but stopped as a purple flash blinded him. He heard through the blindness. “I can't let her get ahead of me.” He felt a pair of lips take his own and then he was dragged off, floating behind whatever had caused the purple flash.

Jerrod laughed loudly and raised his fist. “TO THE ALCOHOL SUNBUTT HAS HOARDED FROM HER SUBJECTS.” A resounding cheer greeted his ears and he was pulled forward even faster with laughter echoing around him.