The Successor: The Fourth Realm

David walked around the palace for a while to clear his mind from the talk he had with the others about his sister. He couldn’t hold in the anguish he felt and turned it into anger before lashing out at a nearby pillar with his sword and a cry of rage. The pillar collapsed with a resounding crack following from the crystalline floor and let out another cry, but this one had an overwhelming tone of sadness. His once stoic face was stained with tears as the memory resurfaced from the back of his mind.

He heard the tell tale sign of shoes against the floor before he found the nearest window and jumped out. He was falling fast as his body weight and the gravity of the planet worked in tandem to drag him to the unforgiving ground below. He was smart and could think straight enough at the to stick his sword into the outer walls of the palace to slow his descent to the ground.

He couldn’t do much but find a place to seclude himself to gain enough self control to revert back to his stoic attitude. He couldn’t do so as he found a disturbance in the street which was between a mare and a few stallions. Those creepy faces the stallions has only spelled trouble for the onlookers and the mare. He looked on as one of them grabbed her and tried to bring her close only for her to kick him between the legs. He yelped loudly before his hands darted down words as his compatriots advanced towards her making David’s blood boil.

Arcs of electricity danced around his body as he activated his passive ability as those who looked at him in curiosity watched him vanished with a crack. He caught the falling mare and held her bridal style before letting her get to her feet.

“Go, I’ll handle them.” David said before the woman ran away with a cry for help. He brought Excalibur to his right hand before he extended his arm to point at the stallions before his body let of arcs of electricity and he practically vanished into thin air.

One of the attackers fell over unconscious with the medium behind his falling body. David saw no threat against him so he dropped the blade of his sword into the crystalline walkway before speeding off to the last two. They didn’t have time to block or dodge as David’s hand was firmly on to their stomachs before he flooded their bodies with enough bolts of electricity to knock them out. It worked as they slumped onto his shoulders unconscious.

He waited for anyone to come and take the two unconscious bodies away. He didn’t wait long as he was now surrounded by crystal guards holding him at spear point. Many of them looked happy while some looked stoic.

Cadence appeared behind them with a flash of light, but looked almost pissed. “David, I know that your trying to adjust to your new lifestyle here, but the guards need to do their job. The ponies can’t lose faith in their only means of protection here.” She said in a stern tone, but he didn’t see the point of not stepping in to help her.

“Would you prefer if I just kill them instead?” She took a step back after hearing that as it seemed so unexpected to her and she couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not with that straight face.

She got her answer when he pulled his sword from the ground and held it in a reverse grip high up above the unconscious stallions. It seemed to happen in slow motion as the blade came down with almost unrealistic speeds. He was stopped, however, by Cadence as she seemed more complete pissed off at his attempt to kill.

“Are you trying to get the reputation of a merderer?!” She yell in horror and anger.

“Why stop me when none of your guards have blood on their hands.” His neutral expression made it near impossible for her to tell how he felt. “What’s three more live to the hundreds I’ve taken.” She stepped back as the guards advanced to him. He cut off all the spearheads from the shaft of the weapons before walking away.

“So you decide to spare them. You are an interesting creature indeed.” The unexpected voice caught him off guard and he instinctively forced electricity from an outstretched arm. It was blocked by a golden ethereal shield that glowed in the sun’s light. “One who can manipulate electricity as Cadence said. You are an odd one indeed.”

“Who are you?” He asked as two regal ponies came from the sky and landed. He prepared for a fight as more guards landed and raised their spears against him.

The two raised their hands to silently order them to stand down, but he kept his guard up. “You do not need to keep your sword up.” Said the one in a white dress and golden regalia.

“And why should I?” He bared his teeth while som of the guards recoiled in offense.

“How dare you talk to the prince—“ he couldn’t finish his sentence as David was already had his blade to his neck. Not a single one of the guards could see what he did and how he got there so fast.

“What was that?” He asked darkly causing a shiver to run down their spins; even the princesses couldn’t help but take a step back in fear.

“N-nothing.” David vanished and reappeared back in his original spot with a crack.

“What are you?” One guard asked with a little bit of fear.

“A Medium, or Biospirit if you want to be technical.” He looked more relaxed, but the trained guards and princesses could tell he was ready to fight in under a second. “But Biospirits are made, the only thing they’re born with is the genetic trait to create a bond with a spirit in body and soul. Although, with training, you can sever the link between one another... or at least the body portion. It would be helpful that we didn’t get a would at the same time.”

“Why is that?” The navy blue pony asked.

“When I mean body and soul, I mean that our souls are connected and body means that we can receive the same injuries unless we get specific training to sever the body like, but that doesn’t mean we can separately die. When one dies, the other dies.” They all were shocked to her that.

“How?” Cadence asked with sadness.

“When a Medium first makes contact with their spirit, they have to meet their end or, in other words, they have to die. What element or gas, liquid, solid, or plasma killed them; they’ll control it. In my case, I was killed when lightning struck me along with a power line snapping. I was weakened by the lightning, but when that power line hit the puddle I collapsed in, that killed me. That was when I met my spirit, Jason Gray, one of the princes of the Aether that survived the genocide.”

He stopped before he let anything else out. David was unsure if he was under any influence by any of the royals around him, but didn’t speak in a small bit of fear. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him; was there something in the air that was making him tell them about what he knows or was it something else.

“I think I should stop here. I don’t want to reveal anything privately about me.” ‘Especially since speaking about your or anyone else’s death is a taboo for all Mediums.’ He said nothing and walked away with his guard still up as he seemed to leave with his guard still up.

Cadence groaned in a slight bit of annoyance after seeing him walk away. “Why is he so difficult to keep an eye on?” She mumbled with her annoyance seeping into her tone.

“Well, since we’re here, why don’t we stay over for the night. A storm’s coming and I, for one, don’t want to fly through that.” The navy blue one said causing her sister to look at her with a sly grin.

“Aww, my little Luna is learning modern speech. I’m so proud of you.” The white one mocked, knowing that it would taunt her sisters proud nature.

“Thou should hold thy tongue, Celestia!” She practically bellowed as her sister as she laughed.

“So that’s their names.” David mumbled from a nearby alley before walking the rest of the way to the palace.

David walked around the city for a long while to clear his mind from the confrontation that happened a few hours ago. His mind was still in a state of sadness from the question about his sister, but he couldn’t place his finger on why he hasn’t forgotten about the question.

“Dammit, why haven’t I forgotten that damned question!” He whispered in a slight amount of anger and annoyance. “Fuck it!” He ran back to the palace with a loud crack. “I’ll sleep on it.” He ran all the way to the palace with one goal on mind: sleep.

When he reattached it, he was immediately greeted by two guards that saluted to him. He was confused by the sudden action to him especially after what he almost did hours ago. He didn’t show it since he mastered the ultimate poker face and can show little to no body language while speaking or standing. It would scare his enemies into thinking that he wasn’t terrified, but, in reality, he wanted to throw the sword and run.

“Sir, we have been tasked to find and escort you to the dining hall, sir!” One of the two yelled with a stoic expression and a distinct feminine tone. Their were cracks in it and many openings that can let other read it, but were meniscal to the untrained eye.

“Very Well. Take me to the ‘dining hall’ please.” His voice showed no emotion which scared the guards a little, but they complied with their orders.

The dining hall wasn’t far from the beginning of the palace. It was about a few turns from where the party of three began their small journey through the palace itself.

When they reached the crystalline doors to the dining hall, they swung open to reveal the four monarchs and all those who accompanied Twilight. Fluttershy, being the kind and caring soul she was, rushed to him and checked his body for any bruises, cuts, or broken bones.

“What are you doing?” David asked as Fluttershy began to realize what she was doing. She backed away from him with a nervous blush after being caught treating a sentient being like an animal.

“I was... Umm... seeing if you had...” She trailed off and rushed back to her seat with incredible speeds.

“We heard you took down a few thugs and she was worried you got hurt.” Rainbow Dash explained while looking not interested in the slightest.

“My personal health should not be any of your concerns. Besides, I don’t give a damn if I live or die.” All heads shot to him after that declaration, but he promptly ignored them and took his seat.

“Why don’t you care?” Cadence asked with sadness at the fact someone could care so little for their life.

“My sister and friends were killed by my parents, my school was massacred by them as well when they boomed it, I was forced to kill my own parents with a damn pencil, and if that isn’t enough; my realm is going under a full scale invasion from Infernus after a thousand years of them being dormant!” David’s voice began to raise as he recounted the hell he had been through in the past few years.

“Don’t say that!” A young voice yelled as a small black blur slammed into his chest. “Don’t say that!” It yelled in a wavering tone as the sentence became more and more incoherent as the voice began to sob. It’s wails of sadness affected the emotionless teen as tears welled in his eyes. “I need you big brother, I need you!” David Hughes the small mass with what no one suspected to see, sadness.

“I’m sorry Jason. I’m so sorry.” His voice was saddened as well as the occupats of the room watched with smiles at the brothers and found what made David’s emotionless shell crack: his brother.

“I’m sorry! I should’ve protected her! I was just so scared that I couldn’t do anything!” David held him tighter.

“No. I could’ve done something by killing those basturds sooner before they killed Aurora.” Jason Jason wails stopped as they turned into purring as he cuddled up to David who gave a smile to the two tailed cat.

“You had enough shrapnel in your leg to cripple someone for life! Your lucky that your mentor knew how to heal it!”

“I still did it after I saw her die. I could’ve done something, but I held on to the false hope of mom and dad seeing what they were doing.”

“I was hoping for that to, but some people can’t change! They abused you two for years after you guys became Mediums! They didn’t lay a finger on me, nor was I affected by the explosions! I could’ve done something... ANYTHING!!!”

“I know, I wish that I could save her after what they did, but no one can come back from getting an entire magazine of AK bullets slam into their backs at point blank.” Jason lowered his head and buried it into the chest of the apathetic human. David’s normally stoic face was damp from crying for a while and he was showing signs of a smile before it returned to his neutral expression. “We shouldn’t bother those with our problems. I know your hungry and we haven’t eaten in two weeks so let’s eat before we do anything... okay.”

The two tailed cat nodded and hopped onto the table before wiping his eyes with a paw to keep the remaining tears from falling. “Okay, David. Let’s eat.” Jason went back to his perch on Fluttershy’s head which was disturbed by the mares rush to see if the human was alright.

“Wow, I’m surprised that you handled that like an adult. Most would suffer in self pity so others can take care of it. You also looked like you raised Jason like a father.” Celestia said with a smile.

“True. After my school was boomed, I was blamed because I fled the seine and I was the only one alive. Jason came with me and we did everything we could while on the run. He would stay in our hideout while I... retrieved food and water so we could go on our way. I actually found this jacket in a ditch during our first winter on the run.”

“Why didn’t you stay?” Twilight asked in confusion.

“Easy, I had blood on my hands... literally. If the police say me like that; I would’ve been sent to prison immediately.”

They stopped as the food was served to them which consisted of fruits, vegetables, hay, and grass. David said nothing as he took fruits and vegetables along with a flowerless salad. He didn’t complain and actually disregarded all modesty in favor of getting as much food into his stomach as possible. Jason was doing the same as he noisily ate all his food which consisted of fruits and cat food. They didn’t care how it tasted as long as they got the food into them.

“Couldn’t you have used some table manners while you were eating?” Rarity asked in disgust as she recoiled from the sight.

“Like I said...” David paused to practically shove an orange slice into his mouth. “We haven’t eaten anything in two weeks...” he took a large gulp of water from the glass in front of him. “Not a single crumb.” He finished off the rest of his food in an instant while Jason was rubbing his bloated belly in satisfaction.

“That was so good!” Jason smiled with a bit of drool falling from his mouth as he was imagining what good food tasted like here. “But I doubt we could do that again.” Jason poked his enlarged stomach while Fluttershy poked him in it as well.

Jason giggled childishly at the unintentional tickling. Fluttershy tickled him relentlessly as he squealed in laughter from Fluttershy’s assault against his belly. The shy mare tried to pull her hand away, but it was grabbed by Jason who allowed himself to be lifted by the animal lover.

“I guess with this as a fitting end to an already eventful day, we should go to bed to sleep off the fatigue.” David said as he prepared himself to walk out the door. “Jason, do you want to stay with Fluttershy or come with me?”

“I’m feline lazy, so I’ll stay with Ms. Fluttershy.” Jason responded with a cheeky smile while David deadpanned at the black cat. Most couldn’t tell the difference between his normal look and this one.

“That was a bad pun and you should be ashamed.” David left and was followed by the same two guards who guided him to the dining room.

The doors closed with a resounding light boom from the large crystal doors. Cadence looked at the rest with amazement at seeing what they just saw.

“Is anyone else amazed at what they saw?” Nods and sounds of agreement could be seen or heard by the pink alicorn. “Does he normally show this much emotion with you Jason?”

“...”

“Jason?”

The occupants of the room looked at the now sleeping cat who was being cradled in Fluttershy’s arms.

“Oh... I’m sorry. Was I not supposed to help him sleep?” Fluttershy asked in a meek tone while hiding behind her hair.

“No... no you didn’t do anything you weren’t supposed to. There was no need to apologize.” Cadence said with a smile aimed towards the sleeping cat.

“If it makes you feel better Cadence, I’ll search his memories for anything alarming. He sounds genuin and Jason seems to agree with him on somethings. But I suspect that that was all he’s not telling everything.” Luna said which got a nod from everyone else except for one.

“Isn’t that an invasion of privacy?” Fluttershy asked unsurely. “We could risk our friendship with him.”

“It’s only for to night and I’ll make triple sure that I won’t be caught.” With that, she teleported out with a pop and a gust of wind.

“I guess we should all go to bed.” Twilight said before seeing Pinkie Pie still sitting at the table while playing with what little food was left on her plate. “Are you alright Pinkie?”

“Sort of. I’m just waiting for the author to learn how to write my lines correctly.” She said with her trademark smile.

Twilight was about to ask her what she was talking about before a voice spoke out of nowhere. “Dammit Pinkie! I’ve told you before chapter one not to break the fourth wall. I don’t have a job that I can go to and just got my damn learners permit. I can’t afford to rebuild it a second time.” The sound of glass shattering in reverse echoed throughout the room. Everyone were shocked to hear the omnipotent being that was writing down the events for a story.

“Well sorry grumpy pants.” The sound of glass shattering was heard once again.

“YOU FUCKING BITCH!!!” A slap could be heard.

“No cursing!” An older male yelled.

“Sorry dad.” The author made himself visible to glare at her. “Don’t. Break it. Again. I don’t have the money to repair it and this is the second freebie I’ll get. I have one more... ONE MORE! Don’t waste it.” He pauses and smiled at the pink mare. “See you in the authors notes.” He disappeared with the same sound of glass shattering in reverse echoing through the room.

“That was weird.” Rainbow said while scratching her head.

“No, he’ll most likely wipe your memory of the events from you minds so you won’t mention it to the protagonist. That will start in five... four... three... two... one.”

All was quiet in the castle late in the night while most guards decided to pull a prank on two of the sleeping occupants in the castle. More specifically, the human and a princess.

All was peaceful and quiet until, “STOP!!! THIEF!!!” Twilight yelled as a hooded figure ran throughout the castle and into a mirror, but Twilight tackles her just before the thief just before going through. She saw a red and yellow mane and a yellow coat.

“WHAT THE HELL/HAY!!!” Two specific ponies and person yelled as they woke up and were trying to figure out what happened.