Would you like to know more?
I was dropped from up high. Actually, more like thrown violently.
The ground met my face, and I felt something break.
I was half blind when I got up and began to run again, sprinting as fast as I could in desperation to escape.
The thudding and screeching of that thing made me cry out in horror. Thought I did not see it.
I lept, leaped, and lunged over and through fallen trees. Rocky outcroppings and a small crevice.
Dodging, Ducking and Diving put what little distance between me and it as I could manage, legs burning and lungs heaving.
Just how long have i managed to evade this thing for, or at least not get killed by it?
When i came to a river, I attempted to cross it.
Turns out, something that could fly, was almost always going to catch something crossing through water that was trying to sweep them off their feet.
I felt pain along my back, and through to my stomach. This made me collapse, arms wrapping around my stomach as I felt something fall out of me.
I only got a second to glance to my side, before i was punted away with a swift kick to my gut.
I landed in a daze. And everything was blurry.
I could feel the ground shake as the monster approached me. In response, my body tried to move, even an inch.
But i couldn’t, not for lack of trying either. I physically couldn’t move away.
My vision cleared for a moment, and see the Beast did my eyes.
With extreme force of willpower, I raised my arm in a feeble attempt to stop it.
It reached forward with its own, grabbing my arm. Placing its foot on my chest, it YANKED away my limb causing me to scream in pain.
A quick flash of light later, and my throat was sliced cleanly open.
On instinct alone, my remaining arm shot upwards, covering the opening. Or it would, if it wasn’t snapped due to my entire body being forced onto it upon my landing.
I gurgled around the blood pouring freely from my throat, leaking onto the creatures foot, and staining it red.
Almost in disgust, it pulled away its clawed extremity. Washing it in the river.
Falling forward, my body no longer supporting itself, i landed on my left side. The now missing arm not three feet away from me.
I began to feel cold, as my blood ran towards the clear water of the river.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Watching the subject, I took notes of the length of time before he was killed. Our allies had been generous in the donation of willing test subjects, and the subsequent information was astonishing to say the least.
“This Subject here, has shown us just how the Human body can operate under extreme stress from being chased by a Predator, which they frankly could do nothing against”
I said. Turning around from the one way window to address my team of Engineers, Scientists and High ranking Army officials.
“As I am sure you are all aware of by now. Our Human allies have asked us to help Magically Engineer there Soldiers to become more effective against our common foe.”
Flipping through my clipboard, which Levitated before me, I pulled several copies of a Two page document.
Humans were special cases. That is a pretty broad range statement, but I think it applies to how they deal with Magic.
More importantly, how they Absorb it. And these explained just how important it would be that we implement this immediately.
Magic absorbed by a Human male. Roughly 80-90KG. Normal levels of Body fat of 18 to 24% as described by Human books on physiology. And in his Late Teens, just barely becoming an adult. Was nearly Doubled in intensity, and allowed for spells of strength to work two fold, allowing the user to lift Quadruple their own body weight. As opposed to twice.
This applied to all magic. Such as were a simple magic missile would injure a pony. The same spell would be lethal to a human, being much more explosive in nature.
Hearing the screams of pain from the Human being chased by the Griffon, i turned to peer through the glass.
And I flinched.
Alerterio (A-ler-t-erio) was exceptionally large for a Griffon, this extended from everything from his talons to his brain.
With talons like Short swords, he had sliced across the Man’s back, and nearing the end had gone through the spinal column to exit the front. This caused the Man’s intestines to spill spi-
I retched. Placing one of my hooves at my mouth, I ran towards the nearest bucket like object. I settled on a trash can.
“Are you alright Princess? If this is too much for you we can-”
I shot a forehoof up.
“NO. . . No. We have only been given so many volunteers, keep studying the responses and actions that the Subject takes.”
I could almost hear the bow that my assistant did. And he trotted back over to the glass to peer at the carnage.
I already knew what would have happened to him. But I had to make a point to the Army, so that they would at least consider helping the Humans in their fight against the Changelings. A fight which we were also in.
I shuddered. Spitting away the last of my late lunch of hay fries and a Vegemite Sandwich (which one of the Australian commanders on site had given to me as a “Gift from Downunder”), i levitated some paper towels towards myself.
After I cleaned myself up. I took my place back at the front of the auditorium.
Making sure to keep my eyes averted from the gruesome scene happening underneath the hanging room. I addressed those in attendance once more.
“Sorry for that. Getting back on track, our Human allies have the ability to-”
One of the Officials raised a hoof. A Major.
“You have a question?” I asked.
With a simple nod, the Stallion stood.
“With all due respect Princess. I would just like to see what this demonstration is all about, unless you brung us out here to see a Human get slaughtered by one of the Regime? If that is the case, then I'm not disappointed in the least bit. Filthy ape got what was coming to him.”
With that. The Officer sat back onto his cushion.
I had to grit my teeth behind my teeth.
“No sir. What I brought you all out here to see.”
Turning around, I shucked off my labcoat and took flight. Gaining a few feet, I hovered midair.
The Man. . . Blake. Was on his side, seeming to stare at his disembodied hand a few feet away from him.
Alerterio rolled his eyes. I could see that from here.
{“Is this really the best soldier that Earth can send? Princess i feel CHEATED. For how long I chased him, i expected a half decent fight. . . And uh. Sorry for killing him, you did tell me to go with killing intent”} Came the voice of Alerterio from the Auditoriums loudspeaker system.
I closed my eyes, and focused to look for a specific magical aura.
I felt what I was looking for almost immediately. As the object of my desire was around Blakes neck, in the form of a necklace with a Metal Bat attached to it.
I opened my eyes, and ignited my horn in a wreath of magical energy. It swirled and circulated above my head, congealing into a single bolt, no bigger than a Bit.
I flicked my entire head forward, losing the projectile through a window to drop things into the gigantic room below.
It flew true. And landed directly on the Slightly Rusted bat around Blakes neck.
“This. This is what you came to see.”
Alerterio looked confused for a moment.
Blakes still form suddenly started to violently shake. Bits of gore flung from his wounds, as they began to mend themselves before everyone's eyes.
Broken legs were healed. Ribs that stuck out of his chest, retracted back into his body. And his throat stitched itself back together as new muscle, nerves and skin materializing at speeds never before documented.
The regeneration had moved Blake onto his back, and apart from the missing arm, he looked like nothing had ever happened.
With sudden speed. Blake was on his feet in a second, from unconscious to fully livid.
His eyes looked. . . dull. Looking around, his vision soon came to rest on his severed arm.
Lumbering over to it, he picked it up. Positioning it just the right way, he jammed it into the socket. A sickening crunch could be heard through the Loudspeakers, his bones breaking them selves in order to heal correctly.
It writhed for a few seconds before it stilled and settled. Blake shook it a few times, letting the reattached limb fall to his side.
Turning around. Blake stared at Alerterio, as the Griffons eyes constricted.
Blake growled. So powerful was he at the moment, it caused the Auditorium to rattle.
Alerterio threw himself at the ground, cowering in fear at Blake.
Turning midair, I stared at the Officer who made the upnosed comment.
“That. Sir. Is what you came to see.”
I heard the tunk of something hitting the glass and the shout of surprise that my assistant gave. As i landed i saw Blake, crouched in the windows frame.
“Blake here -in blunt terms- is roughly Twelve times stronger than he was previously. A combination of a Leaping spell, High Level Regeneration magic, Mighty Muscle spell, Dash Flash spell, and a general Sensory improvement spell combined with Night Vision. Has made him extremely dangerous. . . For his size at least. He is highly capable of fighting anything the size of a Manticore.”
He made his way over to me, coming to a rest at my side.
“But. There are some drawbacks.” I stated. Facing Blake, I issued a command. “Kneel. And begin to count Pi outloud from the beginning until I tell you to stop.”
Not even a moment passed before Blake knelt down on one knee and begin to recite the numbers of Pi. I waited until the second three, then i spoke again.
“Not only will Humans with this condition follow orders to the letter. And I do mean, to the letter. But they also will do so, regardless of any worldly constraints. Such as religion and beliefs, to being mentally challenged. Effectively turning any viable Human, into a ruthless soldier of war.”
As I explained this, the Military ponies in the room were all whispering to each other. And more than a few of them had an almost painfully apparent glint in their eyes.
“Wait a second Princess. . .” Said my assistant, peering down over the windows leadge. “That’s at least a forty foot drop. . . Did he jump up here!” He exclaimed. This made several ponies in attendance exclaim and question if that was true.
I forget. Putting numbers to things usually gets actual reactions out of Ponies.
“Stop counting Blake. And stand up.”
Blake followed my commands without a second of hesitation. Standing, he looked blankly ahead. His eyes a swirl of white darkness. Completely entrapped by the magic now pouring from his chest.
With a quick spell -one which only I knew because I developed the cursed thing- the magical outpour of the infused item ceased immediately.
Clutching at his head. Blake let out a soft groan.
“No matter the action Blake does while empowered, the reaction has been consistent with length. Not intensity. A few minutes under the spell will give him a light headache. While prolonged uses of up to Four hours lead to Severe cranial and limb pains, and the furthest Blake gave me permission to go too, was exactly Eight hours. . . this resulted in a Cardiac Arrest and Sudden limb fractures.” I moved over enough so that my side was against Blakes, and i extended a wing up his back. Touching the small of his back, I gave him a regretful smile. “It took us upwards of Thirty Minutes to restart his Heart, and a day of constant Healing magic for a complete recovery. . . almost a complete recovery.”
I shut my eyes. Too. . . angry with myself to agree with him for going that Eight hours.
“It made me Sterile. As well as lowered sperm count and makes it a bitch to get it up.” Blake flatly stated, placing a hand on my head. His fingers combed through my mane, and scratched at my scalp.
It helped a little for the shame I felt.
The ability to reproduce was a sacred thing for ponies, due to the complete imbalance of males to females. And having that ability stolen from a stallion was always devastating, usually being the talk of whatever town had the misfortune of such an event.
“Twilight it’s no big deal to me, seriously. It really doesn’t bother me at all. . . besides, I’ve always wanted to adopt, bring some lucky kids to a decent home to grow and mature!” Blake jovily remarked. A small grin on his face.
Damn Australian making jokes at the cost of himself.
Facing the audience once more. I addressed them formerly.
“Mares and Stallions of the Audience. This is a massive breakthrough of the ‘Super Soldier Initiative’ and a leap in our ongoing war effort against the changeling Horde. “ I paused. Scanning the eyes of those in attendance, trying to see some malicious intent of any kind. “With funding from the Crown and an agreement from our Human Allies, Operation ‘Mass Cas’ may yet prove to be successful.”
A hoof shot up.
“Yes Major?”
“Princess that is a highly classified Operation. How exactly did you-”
I wasn’t the only one with a Horn that hit him with a few spells.
The Majors charred body dropped to the floor dead. His corpse flaring with green flame. A Changeling infiltrator.
The lights went dark almost immediately afterwards. Plunging the room into darkness.
I lit up my horn, my ears picking up the noise of someone running away.
Looking in the direction of the noise, I shot a luminous spell in its direction. A Scientist was running down the corridor.
The room was in chaos, multiple Military personnel using their personal radios to call for an alarm.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. Blake.
“Do it Twilight.” He said coldly.
Looking up at him, i must of given off a worried look.
“I can get them before any of these ponies even think of giv-.”
“You know that they more than likely have an extraction team ready to get them our. Right!? They could overrun and capture you Blake, i cannot allo-”
Blake was already running though. And I could see him round the illuminated corner, just as the Facility lit up with a Red hue. Backup power. Dammit.
“BLAKE STOP YOU IDIOT!!!” I screamed half in frustration of the stubbornness of Humans, half at how stubborn Blake was in particular. And i began to run myself.
Then the doors to the room slammed shut.
“What t-”
Author's Note
And that is all you are getting for now.
I'll might continue this. Maybe not. 