Affliction

by Abyss Walker

Chapter 2: Argent Rampage

Previous Chapter

The train ride to Ponyville was super fucking long. This was due to the fact that their technology was a century or two behind Earth's. The constant questions from Twilight Sparkle only made it even longer,

"Do all hoomans on your planet have glowing blue irises?"

"Wait did you just say glowing blue?" I say, giving her a wide eyed stare,

"Yes, yes I did."

I whip around to stare at my reflection in the window and sure enough, my whole iris was now an illuminating cobalt blue instead of the dark brown that they once were. I open my mouth to speak, but the pink pony bursts my bubble and starts talking a mile a minute,

"Whoa, that's pretty cool, you have blue eyes like me! When Twilight says you aren't here to hurt anypony, I'm gonna throw you the most amazingest party ever!"

"Pinkie contain yourself and why would you want to endanger yourself by befriending this barbaric and uncouth beast? I mean he's hurt Twilight for Celestia's sake!" That was Rarity, the white unicorn. Man does she talk. And her snobby demeanor is just...annoying to listen to.

"Yeah I have to agree with Rarity on this one Pinkie, that freaky thing is way to dangerous to be around. Not to mention the fact that he control lightning." That was Rainbow Dash the pegasus. She had a cyan coat with a rainbow mane and tail,

"I just hope he don't hurt Twilight again, for his sake." That was Applejack and let me say, out of all the ponies here in this train booth, she scared the hell out of me. Her kick was still hurting and these fucking restraints kept me from rubbing the place she hit.

"While you guys continue ridiculing me, I'll be taking a nap." I snapped to them as I leaned forward and put my head down on the desk. I ain't gonna lie, a nap is exactly what I need because all these insults about me are starting to get under my skin.

Sleep came quicker than I thought it would, what with Twilight and her friends constantly conversing about what they were gonna do to "punish" me whenever we'd arrive at Ponyville. But my dream was a little weird to say the least, I found myself in darkness, thick, gray plumes of smoke billowing out from an unknown source.

“Hello?” I say in vain, waiting for some type of reply. I look down at my hands and they were surprisingly visible, given the current location I found myself in.
I begin walking slowly, looking side to side, as if I was expecting for something to jump out at me. Maybe I'm trapped in some box? I turn on my power and shoot a bolt forward. I watch it as it kept moving, shrinking while it grew farther away from me. Soon the lightning bolt grew into a small blue dot and finally, it vanished. "C'mon man, I've dealt with enough bullshit already." I whined, as I continued to walk aimlessly. The smoke began to grow larger and larger, filling up the abyss. It's getting hard to breath, very hard to breath. I was gasping for air, only managing sucking in more smoke. Why can't I wake up? This felt too real to be a dream, am I dreaming? My lungs burned as they became hungry for precious oxygen, I start to writhe on the ground, gripping my neck. My vision is getting darker, I'm going to pass out. Oh fuck, this is it.

Please god let this be a dream.

I jolt awake, my chains banging against the table, waking the ponies from my dream induced delerium.

"What?! What happened?!" Twilight barks at me, I don't answer. I'm still reeling from my most recent dre-no, no that was a fucking nightmare. I attempt to answer her,

"I just had a bad dream. Don't worry about it, go back to sleep, I'm not going to kill you in your sleep so just calm down." My voice was shaky and rushed. They all stared at me with suspicious glares. Soon, they were back to sleep, all except for Twilight. Who just stared at me with those big and observant eyes. Then, she spoke,

"Alright, something is obviously up, let me tell you, if you're planning to hurt my friends or anypony, I"ll send you back to Celestia...in seperate pieces." I stared at her for a minute while her threat registered in my head. I was tempted shoot back at her words like "I'd like to see you try, Purple Nurple." But I held my tongue, not wanting to escalate the current issue I was in any further. I took a second to re-adjust my answer,

"Like I said, bad dream. Now leave me alone." She stayed quiet while she stared,

"NOW ARRIVING AT PONYVILLE!" The conductor yelled as the train came to a screeching halt. When the ponies grabbed their things, we made our way off. Ponyville's street lamps shone down on the houses lining the streets. The night sky was clear of clouds, showing off the beautiful stars. I had never seen this many stars in the sky back in the city. It was like there was no sky at all. I feel a hard tap on my thigh, I look down to see Rainbow Dash glaring up at me like she wanted to hit me.

"Alright, I'm goin'." I mumble. We continue walking until we reach this huge castle, and this one was a hell of a lot more different than Sunbutt's castle. For starters, the whole thing was made of friggin' crystals! Not to mention the large crystal stem that held up the actual part of the castle reminded me of a tree. Twilight pulled ahead of the group and uses her magic to open the doors. Once I found myself casting glances around the castle like a dumbass. "Holy mother of god, this place is huge." I say out loud, earning a reply from Twilight,

"Thank you very much, Mr.Human."

"...It's Anthony,"

"What?" All the other ponies shot me quizzical looks, except for Fluttershy. She's been looking like she's about to piss herself.

"My name, it's Anthony."

"Well, thank you, Anthony." Twilight replies, rolling my name around in her mouth a couple of times.

"Is there a shower here?" Rarity raised a brow, and let show begin!

"Really? You filthy beasts have the mental capacity to bath yourselves? How suprising." Ok, now everything I've heard her and her friends say about me, I tolerated...barely. But that was the last straw. That's all I can stand.

"Sure, it's five doors down that hallway," My breathing became louder and louder. I was fuming, not caring about keeping my anger under control. I could hear the lightning crackling all over my body,

"Twilight! Twilight! Look!" The white bitch said pointing her hoof at me, I balled my fists so hard I could've sworn my fingernails were drawing blood. The lights flickered and a few bulbs even exploded, this was just like the hospital. Yet, the power I felt this time was dramatically stronger than before. I could feel a sharp tingle on my right and left shoulder, the power was brimming. I could feel each vein in my body bulge while my chest felt like it was going to burst.

"Twilight control em'!" Applejack yelled, knocking Twilight out of her starstruck gaze. Charging her magic, she fires a spell at me only to have disintegrate upon impact. The weight in my chest bubbled it's way up to my throat. All the muscles in my body flexed as I rip the chains apart, letting out a deafening roar,

"AAAAAAAARRRRGH!" The lightning that was around me had bounded off in different directions. I turn to see Twilight and her friends huddled up against each other in her dome and make my way over to them. With hideous venom dripping off of each word, I give them my two cents, "Listen up! I've had up to here with this shit! Before you fucks think of spewing more retarded comments on how I look, look in the mirror and tell me what makes you so perfect!" I scream, emphasizing the point by stomping my foot into the floor, leaving cracks in the ground. Getting my anger down a little, I say,
"I'm gonna go take a shower. When I come back, maybe we could try to bond or whatever the fuck your princess said." I quickly turn around and head to the bathroom for a much needed shower. After thundering (ha) about the castle in a fit of rage for a while, I found a bedroom with a bathroom. Luckily, this one had a shower to boot. Stepping inside, I flick on the light switch and pull my shirt off. Letting my shirt fall to the floor, I cast a look to the mirror. What I saw made me do a double take before looking again. Starting at my right collarbone and ending at my stomach, a large red scar snaked it's way down my body. "My god." I murmured quietly, out of curiosity, I reach down and slide my finger across it. The feeling sent a shiver down my spine, it was all rubbery. That wasn't the only thing though, I briefly turned to find out what had become of the tingling on my shoulders. Then I saw it, on my shoulders, there sat the roman numeral for 1. I. The numbers weren't small and subtle either, they were large and obnoxious. Transitioning from side to side, I examined them. "These fucking numbers make me look like a goddamned nascar." I grumbled, "How in the fuck did I go from having a hot pocket dinner to being able to control lightning in a world full of ponies that want me in prison or worse?...Fucking portals, that's how." Finally shedding the remaining amounts of clothing that was on me, I begin my shower. Lumbering my way to the bathtub, I twist the knob and yank the little pin to turn on the shower. Once the water got hot enough, I threw one foot over the tub, and then the other. Effectively banging my cranium into the shower head. "Ow, dammit!"

*Pop!*

"Hm? The fuck was that?" I say to no one in particular, as I poke my head around the shower curtains. Maybe it's time for me to get out. Shutting off the shower, I step out of the tub and grab one of the towels hanging up to dry off. Slipping my still dirty clothes back on, I mosey my way on out the door. After I got out of the main hall, I heard an all too familiar voice.

"I know you want to run tests on him Twilight, but judging from the letter you just sent me,"

"Oh of course, because you did an absolutely "stellar" job judging me the first time." I say internally while I still eavesdropped on the conversation,

"He sounds like he doesn't have enough control over his ability to have here. I have changed my mind, I will be taking him back to the castle with me and Luna." Not if I can help it, you won't. A thunderclap rumbled from above,

"Hey Rainbow, was there a forecast of rain today?" The rainbow haired mare, shook her head.

"No, if there was, then I would be out all day on weather patrol, dealing with it." Celestia's eyes went wide, she knew what this was and who was causing it. Spinning like a top, she spots me. She charges her horn for an attack, but before she could discharge it, I run out of the doors. My powers helping me run at the speed of a supercar. Just when I thought I was clear, a blinding beam of golden light explodes into the night sky. Almost immediately, she flies ahead of me and turns around, flying in my direction, like a speeding car in the oncoming lane. Either this was a demented game of chicken or she was trying to gore me like a bull with that ridiculously huge horn she had. Probably the latter. Right before she could impale me, I jump into the air and takeoff. I was faster than I was the first time I tried this. I was soaring in the sky like a Harrier or I guess in my case you could say, A-10 Thunderbolt. Suddenly, she appeared in front of me, causing me to quickly ascend,

"You stay away from me!" I scream down at her, turning on my powers. Waiting for her to attack me, ready for anything. Celestia looked up and bolted to me.

"Calm down, Anthony," (Twilight probably told her) "I need you to listen to me."

"Why should I, you didn't even listen to me when told you what happened when I first came here!" I was getting pissed again,

"You have to come with me to Canterlot." I hate how calm she is, like she planned this. I opened my palms and shot out an arc of lightning at her

BRRRRRRRRRT!

Just barely missing the unforgiving volley, she created a shield, making the bolts of lightning bank off of the shield and light a few trees in the forest, igniting a few of them. For a follow-up attack, I nose dived for her shield. I clenched my fists, drawing my right arm back, but before I could hit her bubble, Celestia's horn lit up and my vision was overcome by a bright white light. When I came to, I took in my surroundings to find myself in the Canterlot castle. With Celestia next to a dark blue mare that looked exactly like her, but shorter. In a voice that made my ears ring,

"THOU HAVE CAUSED ENOUGH PAIN AND STRIFE TO OUR SUBJECTS! AND YOU DARE ASSAULT OUR SISTER IN A HEINOUS MATTER?! IF A BATTLE IS WHAT YOU DESIRE, THEN A BATTLE YE SHALL RECIEVE!"

"Kill them, kill them both, your King demands it." A deep and raspy voice said, but it sounded like the sound was near me. Right next to me in fact, I turned my head to the right. No one there. From a hallway to the right, more of those guards came into the large room. A lot more...and they looked loaded for bear.

"Give me control and our enemies will perish." the voice growled. Not soon after, the colors of the enviroment faded to a sickly grey and black. Darkness set in.

Celestia's P.O.V.

Anthony just stood there staring at us, with electricity going haywire around his form. Once Luna finished her words, the lightning went from blue. To red. Causing my guards to hesitate, he raised his hand, a bolt of electricity forming under his hand. In a split second, it became a sword. Larger than any sword I had ever seen in my many years of existence on Equus. Once he slammed it into the ground, the first line of the guard charged him. One guard lunged at him with his battle axe, Anthony pulled the sword from the cracked tile floor and sidestepped. He was so quick, my guard was still facing where he was once stood. Much to my surprise, Anthony slid the blade across my soldier's neck and kicked him toward us. His hooves were planted firmly on his neck but the arterial spurting remained strong as more guards rushed Anthony. I acted quickly, using my magic to press down on his wound.

"Guard! Get bandages! Now!" I screamed. The stallion slowed his thrashing, performing one more blood drowned gurgle. Anthony let out an all to familiar laugh,

"AHAHAHAHAA! YOU WILL ALL DIE HERE!" He bellowed,

"Sombra?"


Author's Note

Let the rampage commence...