Playing With Power

As the train pushed onward, a chill was sent down his spine, the air in the car becoming colder and colder as it went. Turning his head to the still sleeping Celestia, he watched as her chest rose and fell with the soft snores that emanated from her. The mane atop her head was strangely still, maybe it was because she was sleeping?

"It would be so easy, take it. Take the light," He muttered to himself. "A second chance at going home, that's what you wanted. The light is powerful, it can do lots of things. They call it magic, but you know better, there's no such thing as magic." His head throbbed, groaning, he raised his hands to the side of his head. Trying to calm the drums that pounded in his head. "She sent you away with it, she can do it again, she will. You don't belong here, take it, feed us. We can take you home." He reached out towards Celestia with a hand, body shaking as his arm slowly outstretched towards the slumbering Alicorn. "Take you away from this nightmare."

Sticking his fingers into the nostrils of Celestia, he giggled to himself. Watching her struggle as his fingers plugged her snout. She awoke with a snort and a cough, her eyes blinking away the sleep before resting on him. Her brows furrowed and a frown wormed its way onto her muzzle. "What are you doing?" She asked, her usual motherly voice turned nasally. Her mane slowly beginning to go back to its natural flowing state.

He giggled once more. "Definitely not a dream."

Celestia's horn ignited as she removed the fingers from her nostrils, her muzzle crinkling at the alien experience. "Need I remind you that it was you who wanted to ride the train. Canterlot isn't that far anymore, flying would not be a problem."

"Yeah but," he paused, his face contorting in thought before he shrugged. "I've got nothing." A sigh escaped him. His body loosened and he sank back into the seat next to Celestia. "So what's the plan?"

"Plan?"

"For my reformation? You had a plan for Discord, what about me?"

Celestia hummed. "To be honest. I don't have a plan, you are a threat, that much I do know. Unhinged, careless, you have a power that Tirek once had. But I can't say for sure if you are even close to his level."

"What if I said I can't steal magic from living things?"

Celestia shook her head. "You are still new, you can't control it, you merely guide it. The magic that I felt from that cave was... troubling to say the least."

"You seem pretty relaxed next to something so troubling."

Celestia huffed. "I feared for Twilight and her friends. Although she is capable, I was afraid that if the magic had gone off, that there'd be no time to shield herself and the others."

"What about you?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow, the frown falling away as she looked to the human. "What about me?"

"Are you afraid of me?"

"No," she replied simply.

A tooth filled grin grew on the human's face. "But it'd be so simple. One flick of the wrist, a twist of the knife, and you're mine."

"Is that you're attempt at frightening me?" Her brows furrowed.

"No. Just saying, us humans are crafty, and you ponies are so trusting, all it'd take is one of your–"

Celestia ignited her horn, cutting the human off as a strangled mewl escaped him. A golden aura squeezing his throat like a tightened collar.

"All it'd take is a flick of my horn." Celestia mocked.

"Do it," he hissed through clenched teeth. He spat weakly, the saliva landed on the floor just in front of Celestia with a quiet splat.

"You say you want to be saved, but all you do is threaten and complain."

"I don't want to be saved, I want assurance that I'll get to have whatever I want, spending all those years alone leaves a man wanting."

Once the magic died down the human coughed and hacked, sucking in air like it was a drug.

"Next time you do that, press a little harder?" He asked in between coughs.

"You're disgusting." Celestia turned her muzzle to the roof of the train.

"Wow, kink shaming me are we?" The human cackled at the look of disgust that wormed its way onto Celestia's face.

Her once flowing mane now still. "You are, if not one of, the most vile creatures I've ever had the misfortune to come across."

The grin shrunk a little. "I love you too. But hey, that streak broke my habit of chewing my fingernails, so I have that going for me."

Celestia had known a Minotaur noble that chewed her fingernails. A nasty habit, she had called it. Turning her eyes to the human, Celestia peered at his hands. Sporting wrinkles at every joint, even some farther up on his hand, but that was all Celestia could see. "Why are you the way you are?" She asked, turning her gaze away from the human's hand up to his face. Where she had expected to see some kind of twisted grin, all she received was confusion.

"What the hell kind of question is that?"

"An... extremely valid question. I already knew what drove Discord to preform the acts he had committed, he wished for entertainment, his powers are meant just for that, to entertain him. But what about you? Why do you do the things that you do?"

They both sat in silence for what seemed like hours, the rumbling of the tracks below them the only noise between them. "Have you ever had a nagging thought, that wanted to do something you never thought you'd do?"

Celestia pondered the question. "Skip court," she answered plainly after a moment of thought.

"Have you ever actually skipped court?" He asked in earnest. The train car jumped as he asked the question.

Celestia gently shook her head. "It's not as simple as that. I have a duty."

"It's like that." He rose to his feet and walked over to the opposite seats, his back towards Celestia as he stared out at the passing scenery. "At first it was boring, I'd have passing thoughts here and there, but never really did anything but sit, pace, or sleep. At some point, I had actually wondered the same thing that those passing thoughts had wondered." He shrugged walking to his left towards the train car door. "What would it feel like to this, what would it feel like to do that. Bust my nose on the floor, loose a few teeth to the walls, chew a finger off. It was fine because your magic brought it all back in the end." He turned around and waggled his fingers beside his head. "Good as new. I just started listening to my own thoughts more and more."

"Why?"

"Because it was my way of feeling alive, the beating of my own heart just didn't cut it. I needed to feel something other than cold stone. Besides starving, I wanted more."

The train lurched forward, the tracks screeching as it came to a grinding halt. Celestia watched as the human's eyes went wide, falling to the floor as the train stopped. A sickening crack and crunch echoed throughout the car as the humans skull connected with a corner of the wooden seat. "Just like that!" He screamed from the floor. A mist of blood slowly falling to his face.

Looking at the human, Celestia watched his limbs twitch and contract, hands formed a fist, while his toes curled. His face was something Celestia had never seen before. His eyes were pinpricks just above a field of tears as the corners of his mouth curled to the sky. Blood pooled around his head as the spasming of his body slowed. Celestia watched what little life he had left drain from his eyes, his features calming. It was over as quick as it had started.

Ba-Thump

The train car shook violently with the beat, a soft hum before the very earth seemed to jump.

Ba-Thump

A soft golden glow began to emanate from his body. It was a shade off from her own, as if the spell wasn't hers anymore. Her horn ignited, trying to find the source of the magic, she scanned the human's body. A spell this powerful had to be drawing energy from somewhere, and a large pool of magic like that would be easy to find. As she felt around for the spell, Celestia's neck snapped back, an arc of the golden magic connecting the human and her as the spell repelled the intruder.

Ba-Thump

Celestia only hissed at the stinging of her horn, watching the pool of blood slow its flow before retreating back to the point of origin. It was all she could do at this point.

Ba-Thump

"God that feels amazing!" The body cried. His lips were still as the body stitched itself back together. "Dying, whoa, but dying in reverse? Jesus Christ, forgive me!" The body cackled, movement slowly coming back to it as the limbs began to twitch once more.

Ba-Thump

With one final beat, the human jumped back to his feet, the once twisted grin he wore was now like that of child like glee. "Celestia, you sick freak, I could kiss you, but that ain't cool, so I'll just high-five myself!" Celestia would have laughed at the human's antics if it hadn't followed his quick demise and rebirth. "I feel awesome!" He yelled, raising his arms above his head. "Like I could take on the world," he lowered his arms and slapped himself on the chest with the palms of his hands. "Come on! Give it to me! Stab me with that sexy horn of yours!" He turned around and bent at the waist, craning his neck to look back at her. "Better yet, shove it up my–"

Celestia couldn't handle this, moving forward, Celestia touched her horn to his forehead, the magic ignited and flashed against the skin of the human. Who in turn, fell to the floor like a bag of rocks, his snores tearing through the air before she knew it. She sighed. Looking at the floor where the human laid, she inspected the area around him. Not a drop of blood in sight, not even a stain in the wood from said blood. There was no sign that he had died at all except her lingering memories.

Using her magic, Celestia lifted the human into the air. She stared at his sleeping form, turning him to look at where he had contacted the edge of the seat. How had he even died from that fall at all? Is he really that fragile? She frowned as she stepped through the train car to opposite door. No, he couldn't be, she had blasted him with her magic back at the cave with the Princess and her friends. He was fine then.

Sliding open the door, Celestia winced at the offending light that assaulted her eyes, blinking it away, her eyes adjusted, meeting the gazes of multiple ponies who stared at her and the human in her magic, the shaking of the train car might have been what drew their attention in the first place.

She smiled sheepishly, bowing her head slightly as she made her way past them. Their eyes widened even further.

Celestia's pace quickened, trying to get the human out of the public eye, such a compromising position would do her no good. As she made her way to the castle, with the sun creeping overhead, she stared at the unconscious human, his soft snores blending with the whistling of the breeze.

"Sure must be peaceful," Celestia muttered, the cool wind on her coat coaxed a yawn from her. As her eyes shut with the yawn, a wall of stone rose from the darkness before her. Celestia's eyes snapped open, her gallop coming to a halt to avoid the collision. But her gaze was met with nothing but an empty alley. The shadows seemed to dance as the sun above glared down at them, the bricks that made up the floor were undisturbed. She turned her gaze to the still sleeping human, was this like what had happened on the train?

Celestia shook her head, she needed to get back to the castle, Luna would know what to do. Dreams were her domain after all.

"Why are you the way that you are?" He asked himself, staring at the stone wall of his cell. His words echoing off into the darkness beyond the spiked dome. He sat on the floor, his legs outstretched in front of him, rocking from side to side as his upper body leaned back, his arms supporting him. The cold stone chilled his skin, sending goosebumps all across his body. He reveled at the feeling.

"Why are you the way that you are?" A voice asked from beyond the wall, muffled by the stone.

A frown found itself on his his usually smiling face. "Why am I the way that I am?" He rocked over, facing the stone floor before pushing himself away from the ground, rising to his feet as he dusted off his bottom, the dark green fabric faded with the years, spots of dirt still clung to it from his time in that forest.

He fell back down to a knee as his stomach cried out, his body seizing as talons of fire gripped and clawed at his innards, the hunger wasn't something to forget about. It would be remembered, no matter how many times he died, it'd always be there to remind him why.

Opening his eyes, he wasn't greeted by stone, but by dirt. The soft soil hugged his feet as he clenched his toes, the sound of leaves rustling traveled on the wind, he was back. Getting to his feet, he felt something cold settle against his chest, the soft clinking of metal met his ears. He puffed out his chest and looked down at the necklace that hung around his neck. The three metal plates that dangled from the chain glittered in the soft light, etching barely visible on the steel tags. His heart ached at the sight.

"Why?" He muttered to himself. Falling to his knees as he stared at the ground below him. "Why do you have the gall to ask me that!" He slammed a fist into the dirt, "Why am I the way that I am?!" The question brought a lump to his throat. He brought the other fist down, raising the other back up before bringing it back down. The dirt shook and the earth cracked under his fists. With every fist brought down to the ground, his ministrations grew weaker.

He let out a throaty whine as his punches slowed. Looking down at his bruised and bloodied hands, he watched as his vision warped and distorted. A burning sensation crawled down his face. "What do you want me to do?"

Bringing the hands up to his face, he wiped away the tears with a forearm, before dragging his hands over his head. His dirtied and unkempt hair was slicked back with the blood. "I don't even know who I am. I'm not human anymore..."

"She took everything." A voice whispered to him, echoing in his head as the tears fell to the dirt below.

"Memories." This voice was different, deep and refined, but barely above a growl as he choked on the lump in his throat.

"Our humanity. She made us a—"

"A monster." He interrupted. Wiping away the tears once more, he pushed himself from the ground. Looking to the forest, he watched as the trees stood still in the unfelt breeze, their leaves swaying as if a storm were raging just above them. Looking back down, his gaze met a single mangled tree, its bark twisted and torn, as if the tree itself had long been destroyed and stitched back together. He stepped towards the tree, an arm reaching out to touch the deep brown bark as he walked. With every step, the world began to melt away, the colors fading to nothing but a mixture of greys and whites. The slop pooled at his feet, sticking to him like mud as his feet grew heavier with every step.

Reaching the tree, he stretched out an arm to touch the twisted bark, only for the tree to disappear in the blink of an eye. Leaving nothing but a wall of stone. Turning his head from side to side, he stared at his surroundings. He was back in the cell. The dull grey was a sight that would never escape him.

With a sigh, he bent at the waist, easing himself back to the ground before laying out and staring to the sky. "Maybe I should have just stayed," He muttered into the void above. The massive emptiness did nothing but stare back, the feelings of pain left him as he spoke to it. "I knew there was no way to go home, and even if there was, what would I do? For all I know, home doesn't exist, no memories, no reminders. "

"What's the point?" A voice sobbed. He could feel the tears roll down his face, but as he reached up to wipe them away, the feeling faded. "There's nothing for me here." A soft chiming was carried with every word, tugging at his heart with gentle pulls that made the lump in his throat swell. He tried to speak past it but the words were twisted into whimpers. His hands balled up into fists shaking, white knuckled. His teeth grinding as he tried to speak, the tears burned his face as they fell.

"S-S-Ssh-Shut it!" He screamed. His body shook as laughter thundered from his chest. He rolled onto his chest before pushing himself from the ground, jumping to his feet, his feet slapping the stone floor as he paced back and forth. "For the love of all that is holy, just sh-shut it! Out of all the the ones I hear, you, are the one worse than fear! S-Sadness! Fucking sadness?! No point?! I'll give you a point!" He inhaled sharply before resuming his tirade. "Once upon a time, there was a human, he was a fairly normal human, at least he'd like to say he was average. This human doesn't remember if he was average or not! Now one day, he was in the forest, starving, hungry, the only food he could get would either kill him, or leave him bed ridden in that little cave of his. But one day, along comes a group of ponies. Now at this point, the human would've eaten his left foot if he could have, he sees the ponies and thinks to himself, 'They sure do look tasty' and guess what? They were! They were fucking delicious!"

He stopped his pacing, his voice softening as he visibly shrunk. "He was sorry, but being sorry doesn't bring back the dead. And when the ponies found him, cooked, half eaten corpses by his side, they were a little more than upset. He couldn't speak, he couldn't do a single thing, what could he do? He had found out he ate something like him, a person, he had killed someone... He ate someone... They wanted to punish him, lock him away, and he was okay with that. He was okay with spending his final days rotting away in a cell... but somebody else had plans." Retuning to a hoarse scream, he began to throw his arms around haphazardly, swinging at the air as he shouted. "He was cursed, and the pony who had cursed him would lift the curse once he spent three lifetimes paying for the three lives that had took! That was fine! I was okay with that! But you never came back! You locked me away and threw away the key! You wanted something to punish and you didn't care what happened to me!" His hands clawed at his face as his teeth clacked together, fingers dipping into the snapping maw before being chewed and gnawed on. Skin slipping from the slim digits as teeth tore and scraped at the pale appendages. His body twitched and writhed as muscles flexed and spasmed, his bloodied hands painting his face as he tried to pull away the mask.

"You saw me as nothing but an animal to cage!" His eyes burned with tears as blood reddened his vision. "You were mad! Furious! Not at me! Something else!? Something that took someone dear to you, just as I did to your ponies, you looked at me and saw the very same thing that took dear little Luna!" He cackled, spitting a crimson mist as he did so. "You couldn't get your cute little slippered hooves on the thing that took Luna, so I was the next best thing!" He thrusted his arms to either side and craned his neck to look up at the abyss that hovered just above him, his chest heaving, face ablaze. "And now I'm back, and you know what I want?!" The air throbbed with every breath he took, a pink mist gathering around the human as he danced in his prison. Spinning and leaping as the pink miasma thickened with every second that passed.

"I want you to punish me! Love me until I'm nothing but a bloody pulp! Use me as stress ball and squeeze me until I pop!" He giggled, stamping his feet as his arms rose to the air and spread out once more. His head swam with a fiery passion and the world began to spin, sweat dripping down his body as he panted with chittering teeth. The blood that soaked his face now mingled with the excitement that soaked his body. "Send me to the heavens wanting for nothing!"

"Enough!" A voice thundered, a wave of dark blue magic washed through the cell. The world around him fell away, leaving nothing but a blinding white that consumed his being. The echoes of his cries disappearing into the infinite as the dream faded.