Chivalry Reborn

Chapter 24:

Baker’s Struggle

“I don’t remember why or how,” Baking Soda began, staring at the bed sheets laid out underneath him, “but I found myself lying on some kind of old ruin of some kind in the middle of a forest.” He lowered his head, stroking down a crease in the sheet as he continued to recall his experiences in Everfree Forest. “I recall being in a long corridor, with a big hole in the wall that showed a huge tower... If I had to take a guess, I’d had to say it probably of some castle…”

“The ancient royal castle,” Twilight clarified to herself, seeming to be familiar with the place, “The old location of the Royal Sisters before Princess Luna was banished.”

“You’ve been there, I take it?” I asked, looking towards her. No one really made mention of Everfree forest, unless it was to tell someone to stay away from it at night.

“Yes,” she answered in a serious tone, “we had to travel there to obtain the Elements of Harmony.”

The Elements of Harmony: Powerful magical weapons fueled by the powerful bonds of friendship used by chosen ponies. I knew about how the Elements of Harmony were used to stop great evil threats such as Discord or Princess Luna gone rampant, and that Twilight and the others were considered the new holders, but they have never really talked about this before except once or twice, both accounts being Rarity mentioning how kind she’s being.

“I see…” I mumbled, digesting all this information.

Twilight got a look of intense thought on her expression, before asking carefully. “But how could you wind up there? The way to the castle is really dangerous.”

Soda just shook his head slowly, still looking down and rubbing his hoof against the crease. “I don’t recall anything about this place or who I am, much less walking towards a ruin. When I woke up, it was morning I think. My head was throbbing, so I guess it was.” He lightly chuckled at his own joke, stopping his hoof from moving anymore. He slowly sighed, letting his eyes wonder around the bed.

“Please,” Twilight urged, “continue your story.”

“I got up, and looked around the place, and decided to go out and find out…” His eyes peered towards his own bandaged torso, looking a bit upset. “….You could guess how that went….

“Running in a forest, with no real knowledge of where to go, trying to hide yourself when night fell so those….those THINGS wouldn’t find and kill you…” his voice grew louder as he listed his trials. He nudged his head toward his back angrily. “I got THIS from falling from a tree to hide away from what I think was a mix between a lion, a freakin’ scorpion with some DAMNED wings!” He was practically shouting by this point.

“I understand that that was rough,” I tried to calm him down, “but please keep your voice down, you don’t have that kind of energy to-”

WHAMP

“You don’t understand WHAT IT WAS LIKE!” He yelled enraged, slamming his foreleg into the mattress.  “You don’t know what it’s like to run through a jungle for your life, not knowing where you are, why you’re there, or even WHO YOU ARE!”

“Please…” Fluttershy broke in, risking her turn to attempt to soothe the stallion.  She was practically on the verge of hiding, she was shaking so much. “Calm down…we don’t mean to cause anything…”

“But the worst thing of all..!” He wasn’t listening anymore; he had everyone else blocked out now. He hold the sides of his head with his hooves, eyes widening to the limit. I could barely make out his iris, it was so small. “the worst thing of all, were the DREAMS…”

“Dr-dreams…?” Fluttershy squeaked, almost on the verge of tears she was so afraid.

“EVERY GODDAMNED NIGHT!” He screeched, clamping his eyes shut. Fluttershy flew back at the sudden outburst, yelping quietly. “Every night, when I tried to rest from barely surviving another day in that death zone, I had these….these voices in my head. Those damned voices….!” He was clenching his teeth as he mentioned them, as though they were a mortal enemy. “They’d tell me I had no reason to stay alive, no purpose to live. They wanted me to cause mayhem, wreck havoc however I can… They told me to rob….to torture…so many horrible things…..so many….so many…” He kept mumbling that for a little while, almost curling up, holding his head.

“…” Fluttershy faltered back, about to turn tail and run. But she didn’t. She stopped, turning around, and looking on with that ever caring look of hers

Spike was hiding behind Twilight leg on the other hand. He was only a kid, after all. He didn’t know what the world really had.

“…” Twilight merely watched as well, looking both concerned, and horrified at the scene.

"......" Even Pinkie Pie remained silent, a blank expression on her face.

“…” I just stood and listened, watching this mustang break down before me. I was absolutely appalled by what I was witnessing. This pony was telling us his greatest fear, shaking and slowly mentally melting down as he did so. What the hell kind of voice would pop in someone’s head, and tell them to rob, kill, and torture people..? Something was wrong here, and it wasn’t right. We can’t really afford to keep him in town, if he’s gonna be dangerous…

“…You didn’t listen, did you?” I finally asked quietly.

“THEY TOLD ME TO FUCKING KILL PEOPLE!!!” He shrieked in rage, leaping up to his hooves, and leaning in towards me. His eyes were bloodshot and about to break out in tears; moving so fast…

He was….absolutely terrified of this…

“To rape, steal, and laugh at the suffering! Becoming a goddamned monster! A walking NIGHTMARE. I didn’t want to do it! I WON’T do it! But they kept whispering in my fucking head, never stopping! Always there…...never leaving me alone….”

He started to cry, curling back up on the bed, and dipping his head into his hooves. “Wouldn’t stop…..wouldn’t stop….leave me alone…pleeeaase….”

We stood, shocked at what were seeing. He just absolutely tore down in fear, right before our eyes. I glanced at Twilight, then Fluttershy. Spike was trembling a little behind Twilight’s leg. He’s probably never seen anything like this before.

None of us moved, but both were filled with both concern for Soda’s wellbeing, and terrified of how he was just behaving.

I felt sorry for him. I don’t have clue what that was like at all, being in a place you didn’t know, and have know no idea who you were, or why you were there. I definitely didn’t know what it was like to have voices like that in your head. But I had to do something. *Anything*.

I stepped towards the bed slowly, pausing once more.

I couldn’t just STAND here, watching this. I’ve done that enough with watching friends break down from seeing or hearing a loved one has been killed or died suddenly, and then ultimately led them becoming a bitter person, moving towards drugs or crime to soothe the pain, or end it all – by ending themselves.

I won’t let that happen again, if I can do something, damn it all! So move Winston! MOVE!

My body finally answered, moving to the side of the bed, and sitting on the edge, quietly. I slowly moved my hand over to the sobbing stallion, reaching over to him. I lightly placed my hand on his shoulder, hoping he won’t snap at me.

He jumped at contact, but didn’t pull away. Just kept crying tears of intense fear, he was probably holding back.

“You’re okay, now.” I assured him silently, patting his shoulder gently. “You’ve fought one hell of battle to say no to such a big influence and press on. Not a easy feat, man. Not at all.”

Soda was still shaking, but he wasn’t crying anymore. He looked over to me, uncertain if I meant it what I just said. I merely smiled to say I was.

Fluttershy slowly hovered over and warped her forelegs around him, embracing him to further comfort. “He’s right. It’s not easy at all.” She  agreed, gently smiling at Baking Soda.

Pinkie Pie quickly followed, hugging both Soda and Fluttershy in a bear hug of sorts.

Twilight nodded her head, getting on the hug as well. “You have quite the heart to still be able to say no to such a thing.”

Spike hesitated for a moment, but then got into the hug as well.  Why the group hug..?

We stayed like that for a while, just letting him shake lightly as we stayed by him. Ever so quietly we could a very faint whisper from him.

“…..Thank you….”

“Are you sure you’re okay now?” Twilight pressed Baking Soda, still looking faintly worried.

We were now downstairs in the main room of the library. After Baking Soda had finished crying, we discussed how he was going to live now. We discussed his home, his lifestyle, his job, and the like; while Spike cleaned up upstairs in the meantime. He said he was “fine living wherever,” and was indifferent of where he would be staying. He could stand on his feet, and was capable of moving around with little trouble. However, he still wasn’t in the best shape, and still had a slight limp in his step.

We ultimately decided that Baking Soda should rest for the day , so he’ll stay the night over at Fluttershy’s . Tomorrow, Twilight will pick him up in the morning and make arrangements with the Mayor about shelter. I said I’ll come over around 3 o’clock, and go with them to get him a job (hopefully involving bread).

Pinkie Pie...well, she could just be Pinkie Pie. Then again, she left as soon as she was certain everything was okay, so whatever.

“Yeah,” he answered, walking slowly towards the door, where Fluttershy waited by, “I’ll be just fine.”

He sounds a whole lot better, that’s for sure. I mentally snorted, watching his exit with a small grin on my face. His voice was still small and tender, making it girly, but it didn’t sound forced and scratchy, like before. I guess that soup really did the trick for his throat. He was a bit taller than both Twilight or Fluttershy, but he still had a girly frame. Seriously, if it wasn’t for his behavior, I’d say it was a girl.

“Alright then, we’ll see you tomorrow, then.” I slipped in, waving goodbye.

“Yeah,” Soda said, moving through the doorway, “later.”

“Goodbye, you two.” Fluttershy silently said farewell, as she put her mouth over the doorknob (Eeewwwww….), and carefully pulling the door shut behind them.

I sighed heavily, rolling my neck slowly to get kinks out of it. I hated touchy-feely moments like the ones I just got through. They just weren’t my thing. I didn’t dare hug him when the others did either.. I was never fond of them. I never even let my parents hug me a whole lot, because I hated being hugged so much. I don’t know why, however. It’s strange.

After a moment or two, I looked down at my watch. 5:20 P. M. I still had time to kill. I thought for a moment about what I wanted to do, but ultimately just decided to get that lesson from Twilight she’d been talking about.

“Hey, Twilight.” I turned to the librarian, pulling my hands out of my pockets. “Can we get a start on that lesson you were talking about yesterday?”

“Certainly,” Twilight replied, smiling as she towards a shelf to get some materials, “go ahead and transform, while I go get the spell book.”

“Ya-huh.” I said, standing upright and taking off my glasses. I slid them into my pocket as usually, exhaling slowly. Slowly, I let the image of the horse appear in my mind, and slowly let the horn fade onto it.   I blinked, just as I executed the technique.

Release

A flash appeared around me, and before I knew it, was a harder to stand on two feet. That usually meant that I transformed properly, so I let myself fall onto all fours.

Clop

Eeeyup. I’m a horse, alright. I shifted my eyes to look up at my forehead, just at the edge of my vision, I could see my black horn poking out of my head. Perfect.

I smiled to myself. It’s only been two weeks, and I already got this move down packed. Then again, I haven’t really bothered to look into the next scroll. I sighed, I guess I’ll look into that one when I get home.

“Any leads on how you’re learning these spells, Winston?” Twilight asked, as she turn with a light green spellbook surrounded by her magical aura following her.

“Nope,” I answer nonchalantly, “nothing yet.” I am such a goddamned liar.

“Rats” She sighed, before putting down the book with a small sigh. She sat on her haunches, as I did the same.

“Well then,” she began, turning back towards me, “let’s review first.” She pointed a hoof at me, giving me a sharp look.

“What’s the first thing about magic?”

“Magic comes from three things.” I answered quickly.

“Good.” she nodded, pleased with the right answer given. “And what are those three things?”

“Mind, focus, and energy from the heart.”

“And what has this energy?”

“Everypony and everything has it, no matter what it is.”

“Good!” Twilight nodded in approval once more. “Now, onto history…”

Oh jeez, pop quiz! But I didn’t complain. I merely sat there and answered each question as it came to me, one, by one, by one.

“Excellent, Winston!” She gave me a big smile, before turning her head towards the kitchen.

We went through every bloody subject we’ve ever touched on! My mind was begging for a small break, as I stretched out slowly, watching Twilight.

Her horn shined bright, as two baskets came out, one with apples and the other empty. The basket with apples landed right between us, while Twilight lifted the other right over the hoop, just like always.

“Get two apples in the basket, and I’ll teach your first real spell.” Twilight gave me the instructions for the drill.

“Yes, Miss Sparkle~” I answer in a droning tone. The same kind you’d hear a class of students give to their elementary school teacher. She merely rolled her eyes, smiling still.

I looked down at the basket of apples, staring directly at the red fruit that was sitting on top. I imagine it levitating in my mind, lifting away from its carrier. Slowly, it became surrounded in an aura of black sparkles, hesitantly hovering up to my eye level. I looked back down to pick up another apple with my magic.

It had taken one full week to do, but I could finally pick things up using magic without having to close my eyes, or focusing too hard. I also figured out how to multitask with magic. It may be only two thing sat a time, and I have to be looking at them most of the time, but it was progress.

“Alright…” I mumbled, looking up towards the basket high along the wall. Silently, I stood there, calculating the angle I had to toss each apple.

Alright…I think I got it…I THINK

I readied the first apple, making it pull back slightly.

“There!” I threw the apple towards the basket, hoping it’ll make it.

It slowly went in a deep arc, sharply declining as it almost hit the ceiling.

Come on..

It slowly fell towards the basket, hitting the very rim in the back.

Come on…!

It then bounced off the rim, falling towards out and over the basket.

No, no no no no *no!***

“No way are you gonna mess with MY hopes again!” I threw the second apple straight towards the first, without thinking.

Wait….whoops. I quickly realized my mistake too late.

The second apple rocketed towards the first, whacking it back towards the basket, while it flew skyward.

Ba-thump

The first landed in the basket without further trouble.

The second was just starting to decent. In awe, I merely watched. Twilight watched with sudden interest, leaning forward as the apple plummeted.

Thunk It bounced off the front rim of the basket

….. It merely stood there, balancing on each side.

Just go in….go on… I stared at it, watching it rock back and forth.

Finally….

…

It fell into the basket, bumping into the first apple.

At that very moment, a victory theme coming from the final days of my childhood fantasies rang off in my head.

“YES!!!” I hopped to my hind legs, pumping my hooves into the air in victory. I couldn’t believe I got such an awesome shot like that! I was amazed I even got the first one in there, let alone both! Victory was MINE!

“Way to go, Winston!” Twilight cheered, applauding my success.

“Oh please, stop, you’ll make me blush.” I waved her down, getting back on all fours again and calming down. “Anyway, how about that spell?”

“Right.” Twilight put her hooves down as well, opening open the lime green book in front of her.

I walked around and stood next to her, peering at the book (Before you ask, yes, I can read just fine without my glasses. My eyes simply start to sting really bad if I read or focus on things for too long.)

There were all sorts of spells in there, with all kinds of effects. Emotion spells, transformation theories, Elemental spells, enhancement spells, hell, I think I even saw a spell to give you a mustache! (Why would you want that…?)

She then stopped turning the pages. The page she was looking at read “The Magican’s Touch” at the top.

“So this is the one I’ll be learning today?” I asked, looking up from the thick book.

“Yes.” She confirmed, looking up at me. “You said you got a special glove from Rarity, right?”

“Yeah, what’s your point?” I raised an eyebrow, as I asked for revelence.

“Well, you see, this spell basically causes the users hooves to become covered in an element of sorts, making this very useful to use.” Twilight began to explain the spell. “This spell is very simple to cast, other ponies can learn to use it, if they focus enough.

“So why don’t I see everypony using this spell?” I pressed.

“Because it causes the user to also suffer from the element as it would in a normal situation,” Twilight waved a hoof, coming up with an example, “like you’ll get burned if you use the spell to cover your hoof in flames.”

Ah, I thought, valid point.

“So why would I want to learn this spell?” I sat back down as I asked that.

“Because if I’m right, a lot of ponies around Ponyville have been checking out this book more and more, to the point the page has been marked.” Twilight get a little huffy at that last part, as she pointed out the obvious crease at the corner of the page. “And many of the ponies suddenly became able to pick up things that they normally have to use their mouths for.”

“So, you’re basically saying,” I jumped in, starting to catch on. “if I learn how to apply this spell right, I could pick up things without having to turn back human or levitating crap?”

“Exactly.” Twilight nodded.

I stood there staring at her for a couple minutes. Something……no - somepony kept bouncing around In my mind.

“Pinkie Pie was the first to check this out, wasn’t she..?”

Twilight looked surprised at the sudden question. “Yes,” she answer hesistantly, “yes she was.” I *knew** it!*  “But how did you know?”

“Just a guess.” I slipped by the topic of my guess. That explains why she’s able to grab me so damned tightly with a DAMNED hoof…

“Annnnd why am I the one to test this?” I asked, cocking another eyebrow. “Why don’t you learn it?”

“Because I can pick up things just fine as is, Winston.” She said, lifting up the book, the apples, and both baskets, putting both apples in the full basket, before putting it all down. “You, on the other hoof, can’t pick up more than two things without looking away.”

I groaned at her logic. Point taken. “Fine, I get it.” I grumbled, pulling the book towards me. “Lemme see.”

The page simply read like this:

The Magician’s Touch

A rather simply spell, that even a foal of any kind could learn if they tried! Simply hold your hoof out, think about the element you want around it, and viola!  New possibilities await at your touch!

At the very bottom it said something in tiny bold letters. I squinted a little to see what it said.

Warning: do not use without proper protection. May lead to cuts, bruises, burns, frostbite, impaling, and possibly death.

Oh, well, that’s pleasant….

I pushed the book away, thinking for a moment.

Okay, so all I have to do is imagine an element around my hand…hoof, and it’ll come to pass. Easy But which element..?

I began to check things off.

Water? Course not.

Fire? And burn down the whole damned library!?

Electricity? Noooope.

I slowly tapped my hoove against my chin thinking. What element attracts other things to i- Oh wait, magnetism, duh!

With the idea of an element settled, I held out my hoof over the empty apple basket. There was a small metal ring around the top, probably from it being lined with metal so it wouldn't break as easily.

Now imagine magnetic pulses going around my hoove…

I slowly sketched the image of my hand (I don’t care anymore, I’m still a human at heart.) and slowly put in red and white lines around it, calling to the basket. . I imagined it pulling itself into my hand.

Clump

I blinked, as it quickly came to pass. The basket didn’t get covered in any sort of aura, and zipped up to my hand.

“Neat.” I uttered aloud. I held up my hoof, looking at the rim of the basket sticking to the center. I let the image fade out, and the container simply fell my possession, landing easily on the floor.

“Be sure to practice this whenever you get time, along with your levitation.” Twilight insisted.

“You got it.” I put my hoof down, looking up at the clock. 8:25 P. M. Oh wow, I have got to go.

“Well, I’m going home, Twilight.” I began to walk to the door,  letting myself think of my human form as I went.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” She asked, glancing out the window. “It’s pretty dark.”

I let the flash wash over me for a moment, turning back to a human. “Eh, I’ll be fine.” I reassured her, standing up on my two legs, and slipping my glasses back on. “See ya.”

“Okay Winston…” Twilight blinked as I ducked under the door, walking outside. “Be careful.”

“Yep!” I called back, closing the door behind me as I started my way home.

Rustle

I stopped in my tracks. What was that..? I put my hand on my hip the moment I heard that. It was the sound of a bush rustling. The wind was still, so there was no way it could have been an accident.

I waited in silence, looking around in alert attention.

“…”

…..

Nothing could be heard now.

Maybe a forest animal of some kind, looking for scraps. I thought to myself. I continued on my way home, keeping my hand on my waist the entire way. You know, just in case.