“Ow! Stop it, it was just a joke! Ow, ow, ow!”

“Young man, is there something more important for you than paying attention? Eyes front, please.”

“You are a fre~ak, you are a fre- ah FUCK, that hurt!”

“...your son has been a prime example of unacceptable behavior. Fighting in the corridors, in the yard, in the classrooms. This is not a fighting school, I hope you understand that.”

“...I know you can do better than that. You have the smarts, you don’t lack in willpower. So what’s the problem?”

“Don’t look at him, he’s a fucking psycho.”

“What’s with your ear? Cut it to seem cool, huh?”

“FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU!”

“I understand this must be a difficult period for you and your son, and you have my sympathy. However, that does not mean lashing out on others is acceptable. Mr. Turner may not even walk again for the rest of his life, and for what? A couple of words? He’s a promising student, and your son might have destroyed his future, all because of a couple of mean words? I am beyond disappointed.”

“Mom, mom... it’s, it’s... it’s dad.”

“What is it, honey?”

“Mom, come see...”

“What is... oh no no no no no no! Please, god, no!”

“I suppose you must believe you are too good for this institution, don’t you? But the truth is, you are lazy. Your grades are abysmal. You refuse to speak. If your goal is to be unemployed, rest assured, you are moving fast towards it.”

“Mom? Mom... no, mom, no, come on! Mom!”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Hey, you, get away from my dumpster you fucking hobo!”

“A’ight, I can give ya a couple bucks, sure. But you gotta do something for me. That mouth can’t talk, but can it suck cock?”

“It’s disgusting that our city lets this happen. No one, especially as young as you are, deserves to be out on the streets without support. Come, I’ll cook you something, not just some canned beans but the real good stuff. That’s the least you deserve for having to endure this.”

“Tenacious, isn’t he? You are, aren’t ya? But I’ll break your faggot ass in anyway, don’t you fucking worry.”

“Oooh, the little bitch is crying! This all is settling in, isn’t it, huh? This is your place now, underneath us.”

“I feel kinda bad for him, you know.”

“What do you mean? It’s best shit stains like him get off the streets and provide some fucking use.”

“Yeah, that’s true. But gotta say, so young and already out on the streets? Shit’s fucked up.”

“Should’a not been a faggot bitch then.”

“Ha, yep, exactly!”

“P-please, I, I can give y-you money, please, don’t kill me!”

BANG BANG BANG BANG

“...you know, you are still our bitch. Nothing you can do to me will wash out the taste of my cock from y- Fffuuuuck! You f-f-fucking bitch...”

“Plef let me die! Plef let me die! ‘M sorry! ‘M sorry!”

“You are not sorry.”

“Phleasss kill me! Phleasss! You won! Phleasss!”

“You see, w-we bof enjhoy phain. Iph y-you dfo this, you’ll b’come juss like me.”

“I am not like you and never will be. I will always be better than you in every way. You will die painfully and I will enjoy it.”

Wild became awake and aware in a rush of thoughts and jumbled memories. He could tell he was lying on a bed. He was pleasantly warm. It was so quiet around him he could hear his own heartbeat, and yet there was also a faint buzz that didn’t feel like a sound at all. There was a heaviness within him, although he didn’t know where exactly it came from. His whole body also felt oddly tingly, as if electrified. With surprise, he realized he was well-rested.

There was a door some distance in front of him, and it opened to reveal Princess Luna standing in the doorway. She swiftly made her way in, and Wild realized he could feel the thoughts of other ponies just beyond that door, although the feeling ceased immediately once the door was closed.

“Where am I?” Wild asked immediately.

“I’ll be more than happy to answer any of your questions, but can you answer a few questions for me first?” Luna asked, and her tone was... wary.

Wild, with some hesitation, nodded. He had a feeling something odd was going on.

“What is your name?”

“Wild.”

“Can you tell me the names of things in this room?”

Wild blinked at her, then a realization dawned on him.

“I am fine,” he told her, “I am of good mind.”

“Nevertheless, it would be better to make certain.”

As Wild expected, he had no issue answering any of the other questions, and it was confirmed that he was, in fact, of sound mind.

“What do you remember last?” came the question, and Wild furrowed his brows.

It came slowly to him at first. The day of his massage, the anxiety he felt. Then how he made his way to Ponyville, how he found the Ponyville Day Spa, and then the massage itself. He chose not to share exactly how good he felt because that, he thought, was a bit private. In fact, now that he thought back to it, the sensation of getting a massage could almost be described as... sexual. Or, at least, how he imagined it would feel like with a lover. In truth, now that he had this massage done, he was not averse to more of it or more of... something else and something more.

Then came the memories of the danger at Ponyville. He described what exactly it was that he felt, the sense of something wrong in the air. He told Luna how the magical force field came down, how he thought of escaping, and how he decided to approach the danger and see exactly what it was before going to her. His frown deepened - if he did that, then why was she asking? He had a bad feeling about it.

He remembered seeing this self-described Great and Powerful Trixie, and he remembered the-

The Alicorn Amulet.

He remembered how easily he could feel the power radiating off it, how something within it and Trixie was intertwined, and how much he wanted that power. He recalled how easily he fooled Trixie into giving him the amulet, and now he could almost feel the memory of putting this amulet on.

“Power,” he said aloud, “It was... everything. It was years of training, but in a moment. I felt the, the energy in me, like I could do... anything.”

However, power came with a cost, and this cost was something trying to slither into his mind and make itself a part of it.

“I knew it was different than me,” he explained, “I felt it, and it was trying to be me but there was a difference. It was small, but I could feel it.”

And then, when he arrived at the orphanage to tell Luna about it, he tore that thing out. And then... there was nothing more he could remember. He grew silent as understanding dawned on him - he was in the hospital... somewhere, because he was hurt. Again. It was not the hospital wing of the Royal Orphanage, however - it felt, smelled, and looked entirely different if not completely dissimilar.

“And what do you feel now?” Luna asked him, her expression serious.

Wild blinked at her, “I feel... normal. Rested,” then a thought occurred to him, and so he asked, “How much time passed?”

“It is an hour before the sunrise,” Luna explained to him, although she was looking at him somewhat oddly, “You have been unconscious for less than a day.”

Wild sighed in relief, his fear of having been out of it for days dissuaded. He did not lose much time, although even the hours he did lose stung. He did something foolish, no doubt, and he, thankfully, only paid a low price.

“So, you are saying you feel normal?” Luna asked him.

Wild nodded in response. There were some odd feelings in his body, but he attributed them to what happened. As far as he could feel, there was nothing to really worry about.

Luna’s horn lit up, and a mirror was conjured in front of him. His gaze immediately snapped to his chest - on it, the Alicorn Amulet lay, still locked around his neck. There was something different to it, however - the colors seemed duller, and there was a noticeable crack splitting it in two diagonally. Inside the crack, something red pulsed, and he realized it pulsed along with his heartbeat. He summoned his magical hands - they seemed more solid somehow, and they gained a red tint in the same pulse that his heart beat and that the amulet gave. His left ear flicked, and his eyes turned to it. If he was holding the mirror, he would have no doubt dropped it at the shock of what he was seeing - the scar was gone. If he looked closer, he could see that the fur at the site of the scar was shorter, but it was there, and in little time any evidence of the scar ever being there.

He turned his head this and that way, marveling at the sight of a clean, clear head, completely devoid of any scars, big or small. It was, simply said, a miracle. He then inspected his own body, paying Luna no attention as she watched him, and he realized all his scars everywhere were gone. He remembered they were faded, almost to the point of disappearing, but now they were simply not there, and he struggled to imagine them in their places.

His body was unblemished for the first time since... since he was eight, perhaps. He couldn’t help a choked sob that escaped his mouth even as it stretched into a genuine smile. Tears prickled at his eyes, and he let them roll down his cheeks as he experienced... he didn’t need the Atlas of Emotions to realize that it was joy, that it was euphoria.

His body had never felt this clean before. Whatever taint lingered, whatever had stuck with him since his death, it was all gone. Now, perhaps, it was a body that he could truly call his and his alone. He wondered if he would feel like that if those scars fully disappeared after he used the descarring ointment to its fullest, and he didn’t know. Maybe he would simply get used to having less and less of the scars over time, but to see them gone in an instant... That felt good.

At the sight of his smile and joy, tension in Luna disappeared, and she smiled at him in return. The Alicorn Amulet had caused much grief - it had never caused happiness in all of its recorded, elusive history.

Once Wild calmed down, Luna began her explanation.

“By tearing out the malevolence from the amulet, you have destabilized it,” she said, “It has caused a magical surge, and the site of it is being cleansed as we speak. I was there within seconds, and I swiftly transported you to Canterlot, where you are now. This is Royal Canterlot Hospital, Magic Damage Ward. We could do nothing but wait for you to come awake.”

Wild fidgeted in place slightly - he was in Canterlot? Two visits to the city, and both times he was hurt, although the circumstances were vastly different. And he was going to it the third time, though, hopefully, it would be on his terms and would pass peacefully.

“The Alicorn Amulet, what you are wearing right now, is - or, at the very least, certainly was - a very dangerous artifact. Since you have been brought here, arrests have been made. Trixie Lulamoon, the one you have taken it from, as well as the seller who did not make a report about possessing such an artifact. Their shop was seized as well, where a number of other artifacts of various values and dangers - plenty of them illegal to own without a proper license - was confiscated. All things considered, the fallout of the Alicorn Amulet emerging yet again was negligible. No one was killed and no one was seriously hurt, although one pony needed to have a spell reversal done - Trixie removed their muzzle to silence them for speaking out against her. We are very lucky Trixie did not have any murderous urges.”

Wild shuddered to imagine what removal of the entire muzzle would look like.

“The Alicorn Amulet was cursed to drive its user to more and more heights of cruelty. It twisted the minds of the wearer, and only the wearer could remove it. Even now, I cannot remove it from around your neck, certainly not without extensive research into the enchantments of the amulet. Those who wear the amulet are always not cooperative when it comes to others removing it from them. In the past... drastic measures had to be taken when things grew out of control.”

“Beheading?” Wild blurted out.

“I am afraid that is correct,” Luna nodded seriously, and Wild was very glad it did not happen to him, “Thankfully, it appears you are entirely your own person. What you did to the amulet seems to have removed the curse, although evidence of its existence continues to linger in wisps of magic that are even now fading away.”

Wild was very glad to know that. To have his mind twisted, to become cruel... He knew he was very capable of cruelty. He knew he was capable of torturing others. The Alicorn Amulet, had it taken control of him, could make him do... truly terrible things. His sadism, he now knew, was not inherently evil, but it would not take much to make it vile beyond belief.

He realized was a fool for putting it on, and he was glad he hadn’t paid the high price.

“Now, the amulet is, as far as I can tell, falling apart,” Luna continued, “The power contained within is leaking out of it. You have been receiving it ever since the surge that started its destruction.”

“Should I take it off?”

“No,” Luna, to his surprise, denied, “Right now, the magic inside of it is still strong, but it is connected to you, feeding you. So far, it has been entirely beneficial to you. Were the amulet removed, the effects would be unknown, possibly dangerous to yourself. I strongly believe it would be best for you to keep it on your body for as long as it takes for it to drain itself of power. Once it does, it should be nothing but an ugly trinket.”

“And I will become more powerful?”

“Without a doubt,” Luna nodded, “Your magical reserves are growing as we speak. There should not be any downsides or negative consequences to this aside from you having to learn how to deal with that amount of power.”

As far as Wild could tell, it was a good thing. He needed more power. He would then be able to defend himself and, possibly more importantly, defend everyone he cared about.

“How powerful?” he asked.

“You will be able to do what Trixie Lulamoon did,” Luna said, “And I will teach you to wield your power. Can you recall the spells the Alicorn Amulet gave you access to?”

He cast his mind to it, but all he got was a bunch of jumbled nonsense. He knew he teleported, and he could even retrace the steps, but only partially. Whatever knowledge the Amulet gave him, it was now gone, so he shook his head.

“Very well,” Luna nodded, “For some time, I have been thinking about training you in the art of magic, and it appears it can no longer be delayed. Uncontrolled power can bring much destruction, and you must learn how to gain control, especially since you have not grown into it naturally.”

Wild nodded - despite the circumstances, he was excited to hear it. While he hadn’t had much mental energy to spare on actually taking steps towards learning more magic, he was not at all averse to learning more. He wondered what limits magic had, and perhaps now he would be able to find out. Maybe there were also spells to improve his life in different ways, maybe even ways he hadn’t thought of.

Job! He could get a job with doing magic! He imagined powerful sorcerers did not have to even think about getting a job because, naturally, there would be plenty available.

“However, before we can do that, there is one thing that must happen,” Luna said, “Until the amulet is drained of magic and becomes inert, you must remain here in Canterlot under observation. We must make certain this will not hurt you or others. I am afraid this cannot be negotiated.”

Wild nodded in understanding - a lot of magic was dangerous, and he also didn’t want to wake up one day only to realize something happened that made his body explode or turn into a portal or... whatever it was that could happen to people with a lot of magic they didn’t get naturally.

“Of course, that doesn’t mean you have to stay here in the hospital,” Luna assured him, “You will be moved to the Canterlot Castle, where you will stay until it is deemed safe for you to return to the Royal Orphanage.”

“I will live... in the castle?” Wild asked, a note of fear in his voice.

“My sister will not hurt you,” Luna replied to the unasked question, the tone of her voice leaving no cause to doubt her words, “You will be treated properly, I can assure you of that.”

“How long will I have to stay?”

“It depends. Could be mere days, could be weeks. At worst, a month or two,” Luna said, “Be not afraid, visitations can be arranged for your friends to see you, as long as it is deemed safe. You will not be alone and you will not be lacking in anything, I assure you.”

Wild simply nodded. Once again, he wasn’t sure about the whole friendship thing, but he did believe he could call some ponies his friends, maybe. Or, at least, they seemed to care enough about him to not want to see him dead, so that had to count for something.

All in all, he considered the day to be... not bad. Despite what happened, it appeared it would only benefit him in the end. He was aware that it was all likely due to luck, but he would take it over being unlucky any day.

He flicked his left ear again. It felt so good to not have scars anymore. He would treasure it until the day he couldn’t.

Perhaps life was looking up for him. He would take that. Oh, he absolutely would take that, and he would hold onto it and not let go. He was given a chance to get something good, and he would do his best not to squander it.

Author's Note

Finally, some trouble Wild gets into that doesn't entirely ruin the way things were going for him.

A bit of clarification for what happened in the beginning of the chapter - it was essentially Amulet's last ditch effort at influencing Wild, so he got a bunch of bad memories thrown at him. However, because the Amulet broke, it ended up not being as effective since it never reached Wild properly.

Wild got bombarded with memories growing in intensity from his anger issues when he was young, to school trouble because of those issues as well as other mental issues, to losing his parents, to becoming homeless, to becoming a sex slave, and then killing those who enslaved him. The Amulet is a bit sapient in this story, so it tried to use Wild's bad memories to convince him that he needed power, and this was the power the Amulet had.

If the Amulet remained perfectly functional, Wild would have certainly done terrible things and would have felt very justified in doing so. Whether anyone would be able to reason with him and talk him down or he would have to be killed in order to save others from his wrath, I leave it up to imagination.