The Warlock

There was a long silence in the room. Nobody felt like talking. The sisters sat at one end of the small coffee table, with me at the other. Luna and Celestia were both seated on over-stuffed bean bags, and I was kneeling on the ground, and sitting on my heals. My ruck was slung off to one side, and my plate-carrier to another.

The tension in the room was almost tangible in its intensity. I needed some real answers.

"I assume you want to know more about why I made you a citizen." Luna stated.

I nodded, not feeling like speaking. The stress from the past two days was beginning to set in.

She sighed and set her cup down.

"A long time ago, there was a human named Z'ant. Z'ant was single handedly responsible for the human condition. He indirectly caused the humans to devolve into the monsters of legend."

"What did he do?" I asked.

Celestia spoke up this time. "He activated an ancient relic of unspeakable evil. The Krivbeknih. A book of forbidden knowledge."

Luna continued. "What makes a curse a curse is how it effects you. A compulsion effects the mind, a binding effects the will, and a curse effects the connection to the magic of the world.

"The magic of Earth is an ambient force that permeates everything, with the exceptions of natural and artificial thaumatological dead zones. All sentient creatures are capable of utilizing this energy with a focus and converter. The focus in a creature is a crystalline structure that channels magic into their body. The converter is a tiny organ directly next to the focus which turns raw magic into usable magic, stores it for later use, and feeds it back into the focus to be used. The larger the converter, the larger a pool of magic a creature has. In unicorns, the focus is their horn, and the converter is a usually a pea sized speck behind it, though one has been recorded to be the size of a walnut. With pegasi, it is the wing bones as a focus, and a thin band spanning the area between the wings. Earth ponies hooves act as both the focus and converter. Alicorns have all three of these, for a total of seven foci, and six converters. This rule can be seen in every sentient species in the world, with the exception of one.

"Humans were different. Instead of having a focus and a converter, they a one-way-focus had two converters. One in the brain, and one just behind the navel, with the focus being in the center of the sternum. Humans had almost no magic, save for levitation and rituals. The lack of a normal focus caused the humans to internalize the magic, creating augmentations to their bodies. Most notably, the humans were renowned for having an astounding intellect. An average human could out think even the smartest ponies. But because of this abnormality, the humans were effected by curses in a drastically different way. Because of the one-way-focus, they could not remove a curse until a counter curse was delivered.

"When Z'ant cursed the humans, he did it in a way so as to make the curse self replicating, and permanent. All humans were cursed to be monsters, and they were monsters from the time they were born. If the curse sensed someone with the one-way-focus unique to humans, it would infect them, and permanently alter their psyche. There is no counter curse, because it was designed to adapt to all attempts to lift the curse. Every time we tried, it would work for a second, then take root again, only more established. As long as there is still one cursed human in the world, there is no hope for a cure.

"What keeps you from being effected by the curse is that you have an even more unique connection to magic than humans. Rare to the point where I have only ever seen one other with it. You are something called a Warlock."

I knew what a warlock was. I had a buddy I gamed with who loved his warlock character. His character was not too bright. He did not use spells too often, and would instead make full use of his enchanting feats. He once killed the BBEG in the campaign by remotely putting a bag of holding in a portable hole. Needless to say, that was a fun game (and a TPK).

Luna continued with the explanation. "Warlocks only have a focus. However, it is not a physical focus. The focus is their soul. They can channel magic with it a grand total of thirteen times. Any more and the soul could fracture. When the decided on spell is learned, the magic creates a physical change in the body that allows magic like abilities. Unlike other magical beings however, Warlocks use caloric energy to power these abilities. They convert food energy into magical energy."

That sounded sort of right. However different from D&D it was, it still followed the basic rule of thirteen spells. Looks like I was going to be eating a lot more food.

"Because of this, Warlocks are immune to the curse Z'ant inflicted on the world. I was fully convinced that you were not much of a threat to Equestria when you stepped in front of the guards to protect me. No cursed human would have done that. That, coupled with your other actions, lead me to the conclusion that you are a genuinely good person. Someone who would be a benefit to Equestria as a whole."

Luna was done with her speech. She seemed to be impossibly tired. The memories must be weighing heavily on her. She had spent most of her early life fighting and killing the humans.

The silence returned tenfold from where it was before. I picked up my now cold cup of coffee and slammed it back. I needed the caffeine for the building headache.

After a few moments of silence, Celestia spoke to me. "Do you have any other questions?" This was asked with genuine concern. It seemed as if she had forgotten the minor spat in Luna's room not an hour earlier.

I thought for a moment. "Why have my eyes become more sensitive to the light?" This had been bothering me from this morning. I was normally very tolerant towards light, seeing how I lived in Gilbert. Cows and desert sun was normal to me. But now I was having a hard time with the light level in the sitting room without sunglasses.

Celestia thought for a moment before replying. "I think it might be because of a magical evolution. When exposed to high levels of magic, certain species develop physical changes to their body that is usually beneficial to their survival. In the case of humans, they develop acute night vision, as they live underground most of the time. Unlike a curse, this is based on the species, not the connection to magic."

"So you're telling me that I got a Shine-Job, and it didn't cost me two hundred menthols in a dark prison?" I smirked to my self.

"A what? And what is a 'Menthol'?"

"Never mind. Human popular culture. Anyway, do you know if it will get any worse? I am having a hard time seeing even in this light level without sunglasses."

She nodded. "It will become more sever, but not by much. You will always have a hard time going outside in the day time. However, you will have even better night vision than most thestrals."

I had the survival skills, and the eyes. I just needed a shave and an utterly ruthless attitude.

I decided to change the subject to a more relevant topic.

"So I know that I have TK as one of my spells, did I accidentally learn any others?"

"That would require a full medical scan, as the changes are all physical. Which might not be a bad idea anyway." Luna responded. "We need one to determine overall physical health. But that can wait for the morning."

I nodded. I would never turn down free medical care. I was overdue for a physical anyway.

I felt it building a moment later. A great pressure in the back of the skull. Trying and ultimately failing to contain it, I yawned.

The Princess noticed and levitated a small bell and rang it. Not a second later, the door opened to reveal the purple clad unicorn from before. His eyes immediately met mine, and an unspoken threat was passed between us.

"Captain, this is Mister Campbell. He will be staying in the Lunar wing of the castle for a few weeks, and will require someone to escort him to Lunar lieutenant Gust. He does not speak Germane, so make sure to talk to him in Gryphic." She turned to me. "Gareth, this is the captain of my personal guard, Shining Armor. He will be escorting you to one of Luna's lieutenants. She will then give you a room of your choice. Go and get some rest, and we will get you into the royal doctor for your physical in the morning. Good night, Gareth."

I bent over and hauled the eighty pound ruck onto my back and fastened the buckles. I bid the Princess and the Chief good night, using their first names, and left with the visibly angry captain.

O0o0O

We walked in awkward silence for a while. My time gallivanting through the castle air ducts did not do the castle's shear size justice. It was at least three times as big as I had originally thought it to be. The halls stretched on forever. The captain kept sending me acidic glares every so often.

Eventually he broke the silence. "Who do you think you are?! You don't just address the Princesses like that! Not even the Princesses' nephew addresses them by name! Do you have no respect for royalty?!" I simply smirked and kept on walking. A shimmering magenta barrier spring to life in front of me, halting my advance. "Oh no you don't! You are going to answer me, right now!"

I turned and looked at the supremely angry three and a half foot tall unicorn. His horn was glowing the same color as the barrier, and emitting a noise that could only be regarded as magical. I squatted down to his level.

"First, I know exactly who I am. I am a personal guest of both the Princess and the Commander In Chief. Second, I do not have any respect for royalty. My country was founded because they despised the tyrannical rule the royalty imposed on us. To this day we still do. Back home, every citizen of age was allowed to vote on a new head of government every four years. Even then we still hold a massive level of mistrust for them. If we didn't like them we would get rid of them. Legal, or otherwise."

I stood, now towering over the pony in front of me. "So no. I do not have respect for them because they are royalty. I respect them because of Celestia's ability to single handedly ruling a country for thousands of years, and I defiantly respect Luna's combat prowess. I respect Celestia's ability to remain incorruptible in the face of near ultimate power, and I respect Luna's title, as it is the same title as of the head of my government back home. I respect them as friends, not as political figure heads. They are immortal and if your reaction was anything like the rest of Equestria's, then I might be the first person outside the two of them to refer to them by name in a thousand years."

The pony was now visibly shaking in rage. "Look asshole, I don't give a shit just how mad at me you are, or what your opinions are, your superior gave you an order to escort me to the Lunar Wing, and I don't think it would be a good idea to go against her wishes." I hooked my left thumb behind the hammer of my 1911. Not in anyway near firing, and looks as if I was just resting it there, but I could see his eyes flicker to it briefly. "Now, are you going to drop the shields, or will I have to do it myself?"

I could see his internal conflict playing out before me. I could tell that he really wanted to hurt me, but he also wanted to please his superiors. Thankfully the later won. The shield dropped, and without another word, he marched on.

Smirking, I followed.

O0o0O

We eventually reached the Lunar barracks. It was little more than a darkly stained wood door in the hall. Armor knocked, and was greeted by a familiar face.

"Oh! Kapitän Rüstung! Haben Sie brauchen etwas, Sir?(Oh! Captin Armor! Did you need something, Sir)?" The Boot asked. She snapped off a crisp salute, and stood at what I assumed was attention.

"Können Sie mir Lieutenant Gust bringen, bitte? Die Prinzessinnen will sie ihn foalsit (Can you bring me Lieutenant Gust, please? The Princesses want her to foalsit him.)" He gestured to me, which I responded by raising my favorite finger in response.

"Yes, Sir!" She scampered off.

A slightly older mare came up to the entrance and stood at attention. "Die Prinzessin hat dich gebeten, Herr Campbell zu einem Zimmer seiner Wahl zu begleiten. Er speek nicht Deutsch, nur Englisch. Wenn Sie nichts dagegen haben, werde ich weg sein (The Princess has asked you to escort Mister Campbell to a room of his choosing. He doesn't speak Germane, only Gryphic. If you don't mind, I will be off)." He proceeded to walk off.

The mare looked to me. "I still have some paper work to finish up, but I will be done in a few minutes." She waved me in.

Stepping into the room, I noticed three things immediately. One; There were two armed guards on either side of the door. Both were in full combat gear, and armed to the teeth. Two; There were only a few other ponies in the room, all of them thestrals. And three; They had hammocks. Finally someone understands!

I followed the lieutenant to her office, where she proceeded to sign a few papers, and stamp some others. After about ten minutes, she was done.

"So you are the one who tried to take a bolt for the Chief huh?" She looked me over. "Never even heard of somepony doing that for a non-family member, let alone a stranger. Whatever the reason, you will always have friends in the Military for that." She nodded to me. "The Chief sent me a letter about twenty minutes ago to expect you, and to give you an open room of your choice."

The Lieutenant proceeded to give me dozens of options. Ranging from what amounted to a cupboard under the stairs, to a full on royal suite. Unfortunately, none of them appealed to me.

"Lieutenant." I got her attention. "Do you have an open hammock in here?"

This shocked her. "You are a strange one. First you get temporarily detained, then go full on Tunnel Pony for three hours, protect a stranger from a group of unknown assailants. Then you curse out the Princess, and have yourself declared a foreign dignitary. And to top it all off, you want to sleep in a hammock in an enlisted ponies barrack when you could have chosen literally any other open room in the castle."

I paused for a second. "Yep, sounds 'bout right."

She smiled and passed me a lock and a key on a necklace. "Find an open hoof locker and lock your shit up. Find any open hammock and get some shut eye."

"Thanks, Lieutenant." I took the lock and key and headed into the barracks. There were rows of large steamer trunks lining the walls, most with locks on them. I eventually found one without a lock and unloaded the ruck, my vests, my rifles, and my boots into. I locked it shut, and wandered off to the nearest hammock.

It was little more than some rope tied together, but it was still awesome to me. I laid down and promptly fell asleep.