A week later September 1, early in the morning Onyx POV

A small issue I have come across lately, when I was trying to cut and polish the unrefined element crystals, I learned that they react poorly to being cut and the magic of the small pieces that are grinded off or cut off, tend to produce severe problems.

I have tried many times and as soon as the gem was as much as filed, the dust or shards would emit the damaging elemental energies around in arcs, causing harm to anything organic near.

So I have to figure out how to properly refine and cut the elemental crystals safely, I don't want to get necrotizing energy arcing across the webs of my toes again, even those small ones cause intense pain, not much but it's painful and I'm not immune to any element other than toxin and cold.

The necrotic energy also has the side effect of leaving small dead areas of tissue that take days to heal, it's painful and the implications are really bad, I can't imagine what being attacked by a real necrotic spell would do to me or any other living being, it would not be pretty.

No wonder the necromancy school of magic was completely forbidden...

Cutting this crystals was a big ordeal, one I needed to somehow find a solution to if I wanted to become the ultimate lifeform of this planet. A lofty goal, yes but having immunity to almost all magic was in a way, the biggest hurdle, of course I wouldn't be invincible, I could still be cut in half with the right sword wielded by a strong enough combatant, or ran through with a spear, or crushed too, but having to not worry about also being blasted into bits by a beam of radiant energy or being hit by a necromantic attack was, as far as I could tell, a big improvement on my chances of survival, gaining immunity to as many elements as possible would be a big advantage when it came to fighting mages.

I was not naive enough to think that the next Dungeon would be easy, I needed to prepare and be ready, even by myself, as there was no way I would take mom and dad when they had their babies to look after.

I realized that I couldn't just trust on my body's natural abilities to just shrug off the damage of coming into contact with the gem dust, it was non reactive with my scales, yes, but once it touched the skin of the webbed toes or any other living tissue, it would react and start to hurt in different ways.

So I had to resort to custom made leather gloves and safety goggles, a mask that covers my snout and prevents me from breathing in the gem dust, even a lab coat around my body that covered every possible sensitive area.

Anything that wasn't covered in scales I added protection to, all of this gem needed to be cleaned and diluted in some way to become less dangerous.

I tried using water too, to wash away the dust, it made the water either toxic, necrotizing, acidic, electrified all depending on what type of crystal I used, so water was useful to remove the dust, and by diluting it enough I could completely neutralize the effect, it was good to know this worked because it meant I could dump this water down the drain without worry, i even tried tasting the water before to make sure it was safe, only tasting a slight grittiness of the crystal powder.

Completely safe to dump in the sink, perfect!

Now I needed to prepare a room for safely handling this... I may need a laboratory, a room I would need to clean often, a vacuum cleaner, do ponies even have those? I haven't seen them in stores.

Further testing will be paused for now, and I will try to just eat the smallest gems I already have, starting slow seems like the prudent approach, I still remember what Koen the diamond dog told me, those creatures that eat this glowing gems tend to get very sick or die, but I... No, I need to inform mom and dad about this before I try it, now that I think about it, I never checked up on dad's stat screen.

I suppose he wouldn't mind if I take a peek...

Name: Coconut Cream
Evolution Path: ??? / Rank: Unranked
Level: 16
EXP: 600/1848
HP: 100HP formula: Starter HP: 20HP + 5HP x level
MP: 110MP
STAMINA: 110 Stamina formula: Starter STM: 30 + 5stm x level
Carry Capacity: 112kg
Species: Unicorn Pony
Gender: male
Age: 25 Years old, adult.
Job: Ice cream maker.
Abilities: Persuasion.

Perks

Unicorn Telekinesis: this unicorn Is experienced with telekinesis and can handle multiple objects with precision, but his power is not strong enough to restrain an adult pony.

Fatherly instincts: this creature will not back down from a fight to defend his family unless he is terrified or suffers an altered condition, specially the young ones he sired, cannot be mind controlled into attacking his wife or children in any way.

Lover's Embrace: this creature has resistance to any demoralizing attacks or spells when near his wife, this also means that he is less likely to run from a fight if his wife doesn't retreat. Losing his wife in battle will demoralize the creature and leave it helpless. Fighting alongside his wife increases XP gian by 50% for the whole party.

Weaknesses and resistances: none.

Condition immunities: none.

Stats

Points to allocate: 0
Base / Bonus / Allocated / Total
STR 10 / 0 / 4 / 14
DEX 10 / 0 / 4 / 14
CON 16 / 0 / 4 / 20
INT 12 / 0 / 8 / 20
WIS 14 / 0 / 8 / 22
CHA 18 / 0 / 4 / 22
Total 80 / 0 / 32 / 112

Spells

Telekinesis: can manipulate objects using an magical telekinetic field, which can lift and move one or more objects at the same time.

Oh, he is not bad at all! He has some room for improvement and he also could learn some spells, but I wondered what class he could get, I would need to check with him, if he believed in any god he could choose to become a cleric of that deity.

What was the main god that was worshipped by ponies? Faust was it? I must know how he feels about them, and then maybe following the guide steps from the book I bought from the Item Shop could explain how to have him become a Cleric for her! Yes this could work, I have seen pony churches in some places, there's one even here in Canterlot, I don't know what they worship but they clearly have a religion too.

Curious a out the whole process I opened the book, reading over the table of contents.

"Cleric: this is an advanced class, that requires devotion to a god and to be chosen by said god, not everyone can become a Cleric, one first must prove themselves worthy of the god, and get their attention.

There is several ways to do this but the simplest way is to pray to said god and to study it's teachings, to devote oneself to the deity in body and soul, this does not warrantee that the deity will choose you.

Becoming a Cleric means being a conduit for this god's powers, depending on the alignment of said deity one can gain healing powers, the ability to turn undead or in some cases, with certain evil deities, even the ability to raise and control undead is also one of the powers granted by the divine entity.

Clerics are a class who specializes on supporting and protecting others, this goes for even evil clerics, they don't work best as front light fighters but instead as the middle ground support, healing and empowering both the ranged and the merle combatants, while also weakening the opponents.

Now when it comes to becoming one, you must follow this four step plan.

First step: you must know what god you want to devote yourself to, but not just have a passing idea, you must study them, learn their ideals and know of their domain, the first step in this is to read on them as much information as you can find.

Second step: once you know enough, you can began to seek the favor of said god by praying and asking for guidance, hoping for an answer, your emotions must be genuine, it's never assured that the god of your choosing will listen to you, or will answer, but it never hurts to try more than once, actions speak louder than words, by doing deeds that make you more worthy on their eyes, you are likely to attract their attention, and it's more likely they will answer.

Third step: depending on the god you choose, you will need to do good or bad deeds, good deeds usually are helping the poor and healing the wounded or sick, always refuse thanks and direct those well wishes to your deity of choice.
Bad deeds are varied depending on the deity but can range from causing suffering and disease to outright killing others in painful ways as a sacrifice for the evil god. You must offer this sacrifices and torment to the evil deity you are seeking the favor of.

Fourth step: hopefully by now you will have garnered the attention of the desired deity, you must ask to become their messenger and hey will likely accept, if not, them you can keep trying step 3 and 4.

As I finished reading out loud a sleepy looking Coconut approached me, I was sitting in the sofa in the living room, and he came over and sat next to me, bumping his head gently to mine in greeting.

"Heey morning son! what you reading there? sounds interesting." He said in a sleepy sounding voice, he probably didn't get much sleep because of taking care of the foals during the night, mom and dad would take turns doing this.

I knew it was a pain, but they only usually woke up once per night, usually because it was bathroom time, taking care of little foals wasn't easy, they also have two cribs now where they sleep, I raised the very possible concern of the foals falling off the bed, it wasn't like a wolf den where they sleep at ground level, beds are dangerous for little ones, they can get wedged on the edge or fall down the side, and i don't think I need to explain why it's not a good idea.

"Oh hi dad! I was just reading a book on... Actually how you could help us a lot, do you believe in any god or gods? Do you even know about them?" I only knew the basic about gods of about 900 years ago, from a certain someone's memories.

I knew ponies believed in Faust as a deity, but other races have different gods that they worshipped, usually of their own race, I didn't know more than that.

"Oh! Uhh I believe in Faust, she is the goddess of ponykind and the one who made the world the way it is, harmony exists thanks to her, and I believe she created the ponies, why do you ask son? I haven't really talked a lot about it because I believe you and Sylf have a right to have your own beliefs, but if you want to we can speak about what I believe, I'm always happy to talk about her to you!" Oh, this was not going to be as hard as I thought then, he is clearly firm in his belief.

"Do you ever... Pray to her? How does it work?" I asked with genuine curiosity, I have never thought about other gods, I was never really religious, even after my admittedly religious experience of reincarnation, I simply assumed it was just some other powerful being asking things of me.

"W-well... No I don't pray, at first dad taught me how to, but I never did because... He just gave up on it after everything fell apart for him, but why do you think this will help us?"

"What do you think about becoming a chosen of Faust? You will try to become a healer and help not only us, your family, but also all creatures you come across that need it?" His eyes widen and he looks right at my own, some uncertainty but also hope and excitement in his eyes.

"Y-you think that I could do that? I'm not sure... I'm not sure im worthy of being chosen by a goddess to help others, but I do want to help others, I'm going to try! But the twins... we do this when the twins are older? I-i mean I want to do this but I'm not sure I'll have time, and I can't leave your mother to raise the foals on her own, that would go against everything that Faust stands for, but what can I do for now? I mean to be able to do this? Something that doesn't take too much time." Good, he didn't need to start working on this right away, I just wanted to ask him if he believed in any gods or not.

I don't see why he can't start by offering prayers to his goddess and just keep on being a good stallion, I must ask him, now that he is here.

"You can start by praying to her, try to offer your good deeds to her, wait... So what are the concepts your goddess reigns over? What does she want from ponies?" If I knew what that was I would know what she wants.

"Oh that's easy! Faust is the goddess of harmony and peace, she wants us all to be harmonious beings, if I remember correctly, there is kindness, generosity, honesty, loyalty, laughter and last but not least, friendship!" Oh this was not as hard as I thought...

"Do you realize something, my dear father?" I asked in an innocent tone, hugging his side and smiling up at him.

"You worry me slightly with that look and tone... But what am I missing?" He said a slightly worried tone of voice, I think I shouldn't make him embarrassed so often, he's gonna start to think I'm evil.

"That youre all of those! You are extremely kind to everyone, ever since I met you, you are also generous, I saw you gift away ice cream to less fortunate foals that sometimes were short on bits."

"You're loyal to both your costumers at your job and to our family here, to mom, you never even mentioned you were interested in another mare, even during mom's late pregnancy you didn't seek another mare to satisfy you when mom couldn't satisfy you fully." He started turning red as I explained to him this.

"P-please don't say it like that! It's not true either, there are other ways to enjoy each other's company young dragon, someday soon you'll learn there's more than one way, since you already seem to know so much, if you want to talk any time, just ask me.
But I know what you mean, I would never do anything that endangered the foal's safety, I don't think anypony else would either, that's why stallions have herds, but I don't mind, it's not like I'm going to fall over dead because I can't... Do that every day."

"Yes that'd a good point, but you're still a loyal pony and more, you're also very fun to hang out with and you make both of us laugh and smile, so you also represent that virtue as well, and friendship... Well we are friends, sure you're my dad and im your son, but we got along like friends from the beginning, that's the vibe I got from you, that and you also were lonely until you and mom met, very closely." I said the last part with a small laugh that made him cover his face and groan softly, then he laughed with me, still looked slightly embarrassed, I knew that I would get payback for this when I was older, there's no way he would just let it slide.

"I'm glad to be able to count you as a friend too, you may be my son first and foremost but I appreciate your friendship, you act... Well much like an adult sometimes and like a close friend, of course you're still foalish sometimes, heck most of the time!
Now what do I have to do to start? Just pray and hope for an answer?"

"More or less, yes! But I have a way you may also be able to help heal others, here catch!" I throw the healing amulet up on his head, the amulet's hole actually landing right on his horn, like a ring tossed on it.

"Hey! D-dont throw things on my horn, it's sensitive! Hmph... I'll get back at you someday, just you wait until you're older and you'll know how it feels." He made an indignant huff and turned to look away, crossing his arms and lifting his head slightly, I start to worry I actually upset him, but he was playing, he turns around and boops me on the nose, and laughs.

"Gotcha! Haha but I'm serious about paying you back for all that." He says the last part with a serious tone and I nod slowly, swallowing audibly. I couldn't just say I was too young and didn't know what I was doing after I confessed to him about me being actually older than him in total.

He pokes his horn with his hoof until he finds it, then slowly with both front hooves lifts up the amulet and holds it, looking it over from different sides.

"What is even this thing? I don't see how this can help me."

"You don't know exactly what it is, but it's a very useful and powerful object, now how about we will go to the nearest hospital and I'll help you sneak inside, where you will put it to good use?" He thought about it for a minute, but then smiled and nodded at me.

"Hey if this means I get to heal somepony and make them recover faster, then let's go now! I really want to know how it works, can you tell me!?" His voice gets a bit too excited and even yells the last words, I put a hand to his muzzle to quiet him.

"Easy there , don't yell near my ears. And this is simple to use, just concentrate your mind in your remaining energy, and put it in the amulet, but don't put all of it in, or you'll grow too tired and pass out right away into sleep. Okay once you did that, think about that energy healing whoever you want to heal and release it to the amulet, then the person will glow slightly green and they will heal by a small part of energy you used, so you probably can't hear very much as you are now.

"Sorry, just feel very excited all of a sudden, this sounds like a wonderful thing to do, why aren't you doing this every day Onyx?" He asked me without realizing it sounds like he's blaming me for not doing enough.

"Coconut, this amulet has a side effect, I just told you about! it leaves you exhausted, and it's not very efficient, sure it can heal from bad accidents but I would need to sleep a lot to recover afterwards, how do you feel when you don't sleep? You'll feel like that often when using the amulet, you can at most use it once a day before going to bed, because of you use it early you'll spend the rest of the day sleeping and ruin your sleep schedule." He finally seems to realize he was wrong when I said that.

"Ah, sorry, got caught up in the excitement and didn't realize... Yes while that sounds not so bad on the surface I imagine trying to do this every day would be quite a problem and you would need to be carried back home from wherever you are at, but it should be fine as long as I don't use all of my energy right? Can I concentrate and use half?" His tone was hopeful when he asked this, and I smiled because I could give him good news this time.

"Well yeah, that's the good thing about it, but that would make it heal very little, it would still be a great help, specially to those who are really hurt, sometimes even a little bit would go a long way to help, so you ready? Because you will be doing this every day from now on, in the late afternoons, at least when it's not your turn to watch over the foals! So... Not every day but once every two days."

"Yes yes! I'm ready to go, are you? I don't mind being a little tired the rest of the day, I can just not open the ice cream parlor if I'm feeling exhausted, but I think we should tell Sylf, right?" I nod to him.

"Go ahead dad, tell her yourself from here, don't forget we all are linked by telepathy, but you know, I can spy on you two if you use that to talk, so dont get any ideas, or I'm gonna bite ya! It's my power after all, so of course I can hear anything sent through it." I give him a serious look, I mean he was free to use it as he saw fit but since every thought conveyed through the telepathic link went through me, I would hear it first, he nodded quickly.

"I'm offended you would think so lowly of me, that I would use your power for something inappropriate! But yeh, don't worry son, I'm able to control myself, I'm not a teenager anymore.
But soon you will be and I bet you won't think it's that funny when others tease you over it, just you wait." He explained to me with a smile and patted my head, I feel like I just done sealed my fate, not being able to do much else at the moment, I just hugged him and nuzzled his neck softly, enjoying his soft fluffy coat against my scales.

"Sorry dad, you're right I've been a bit of a pest, and it must be getting annoying, I won't be upset when it's payback time, I promise you that, as long as you dont go overboard... But even then I don't think I could get really angry at you, ever." He hugs me back and puts his head over mine, we stay like that for a few seconds that I enjoy so much, having a father, it was something I've lacked for so long, I was glad things turned out the way they did.

"You know I wouldn't Onyx, you helped me meet your mother, I would never try to get in between you and someone you were interested in, and I wouldn't play a prank on you that would cause any issue in your relationships, that's something I know I wouldn't someone to do to me, so I won't do it to others, now lets go, I'll tell Sylf." He then turns towards where she is sleeping or whatever she's doing, probably awake by now.

'Sorry my love, I don't want to interrupt whatever you're doing but I wanted to let you know Onyx and I are going out for today at his request, we will be back later, okay?' Coconut said over the telepathic link.

'Okay but don't get in trouble you two! You better not or there will be consequences, and neither of you want that... Onyx, if you or your dad get in trouble and there is a fight, teleport right back with him, don't try to fight back or be a hero or anything like that again, or you will get your scaly behind handed to you again like last time. Understood?'

Damn she was serious. 'yes ma'am!' I answered quicky and Coconut answered not long after the same.

'Okay you can go, I'm just worried for you, I don't want to know two of the most precious males in my life got hurt again... I love you both, now you can go.'

'we love you too! See you later' and with that, our telepathic communication ended.

"We will appear right outside the hospital, a bit to the side where there are usually no ponies, but there still could be, let's see..." Then I started preparing the spell.

"Let's hope this time it doesn't feel as nauseating to teleport..." I shook my head no, of course it wouldn't, he already experienced it and adapted to it.

Motes of indigo light surrounded us for a second before we teleported with a flash and an electric crack, appearing across the street from the Canterlot general hospital, other ponies nearby looked at us in confusion, before shrugging and moving on with their day.

They didn't know us, maybe they thought dad was a mage or something.

We entered the hospital and headed for the intensive care waiting area, this was... Simply put the worst area of the hospital, along with the emergency room waiting area, here ponies were crying, faces of anguish and fear were common, many of the ponies in the next room would not survive to see tomorrow, many were just old, others had terminal diseases and others have been in bad accidents ranging from getting broken bones to losing limbs, I knew for a fact that this amulet would not regrow a lost limb, it could reattach the limb and heal it, yes, but it would not regrow it, it was just too inefficient for that.

'Dad, you're sure you want to do this? I want you to have in mind that most of the ponies or creatures that are in there would most likely be too hurt to fully be healed by you, even if you were to give it all.
Remember that also we can't help more than one, we can't cure any diseases, not with this, we can only heal the body itself, so many diseases will be pushed back a few weeks, but not healed, do you understand?'

'I do now, I-i think I'm ready to go in, lets go to the bathroom so you can cast the spell without being seen, okay?' I nodded and we headed to the male bathroom, it was empty at the moment so I quickly made him invisible with greater invisibility, so if he was to bump into someone or do anything he would not lose it, then we walked back and he went inside, I hope he would be okay... This was not a nice place to be in, for anyone, I could feel the pain of those around me without even needing to have some ability, it was in their expression and posture, the fear of loss, the worry for a family member, or a friend.
It pained me, it made me want to go to those ponies and tell them everything was going to be okay.

But I knew for now, it wasn't as easy, I couldn't help them, not much but soon I hope that he would be the one to help them, I believe in him and I hope that the pony goddess will listen to his prayers.

POV Shift Coconut

I pushed the door to the intensive care unit, the room was a long straight room separated in many equally sized rooms, each with 3 beds on each side along with the medical equipment, heartbeat monitors, sometimes supports for broken legs, there were respirators too for those who couldn't breathe normally, there must be about 18 ponies here in total.

I started looking them over, going from room to room, many of them were bandaged from wounds or maybe surgery, others had casts on their broken limbs, neck braces for broken necks, some seemed to not have anything but looked sickly and weak.

Many of them were crying and in pain, they were all quiet either, tears started running down my face as I looked at more and more ponies, there was even a griffon, that has bandages on his chest and a broken wing covered in a cast.

This was awful, I couldn't heal all of them, and choosing felt like I was leaving everything else down, I tried to not make noise as I cried, sitting in the corner of the room, this felt like back then, I could almost see my father dying slowly in that hospital bed, and when they called me in to see him, lifeless and cold, laying there, that was the worst... I needed to focus my mind elsewhere.

I decided to instead pray to my goddess for help.

'Please, I beg of you! Grant me the power to heal all of this creatures, please, I can't stand to see them suffer like this!'

Bowing my head low to the ground, and crying while I prayed, my emotions overwhelming me as I could practically feel the pain of those creatures around me, all of them needed a miracle.

'I just can't... it breaks my heart to have to choose, I want to at least be able to heal a few, in exchange I offer myself in body and soul, to your service, i will help to bring harmony to your subjects, to bring them happiness and peace.'

Then I felt a sense of immense calm wash over me, an incredibly soft and warm feeling of being hugged, as if my beloved was embracing me, I felt the need to stand up, and slowly opened my eyes.

I was not in the hospital room anymore, instead I was in a large field of grass and wildflowers of every color of the rainbow, grass and distant mountains, a few trees, the sky was light blue and sunny, with only a few white fluffy clouds around.

"I must say, it has been a while since somepony has offered themselves to me in such a pure and honest prayer, over a thousand years." Suddenly I felt a voice behind me, I turned around to find an Alicorn mare with a beautiful white coat and bright red mane and tail, slightly larger than Princess Celestia, looking at me with a warm and kind smile, her eyes were a soft blue, like the sky.

I was unsure of what to do, do I bow? I couldn't think of anything, so I decided to speak instead.

"W-who are you? I never heard of... Another Alicorn, and where am I? Wait, offered... To you? Oh!" Finally my mind caught up with her words and I lowered myself into a respectful bow, but a hoof stopped my head before it could touch the ground, the fetlock holding it in place, when did she get so close?

"Oh none of that please, I'm not a princess, I don't think bowing to others has anything to do with harmony, but I see you have realized who I am, am I right?" She giggled and helped me up, a beautiful sound that made me feel all tingly and brought a big smile to my muzzle, she is beautiful.

"Y-yes I do, you're my goddess! Miss Faust I... I'm really honored to m-meet you, my name is Coconut Cream.
I-i really want to help the ponies at the hospital, I know my son put me up to this, and I know it seems selfish, but I just never thought I could actually help somepony and his words filled me with hope." I couldn't help myself but stutter with my words, I was overwhelmed with emotions, I was terrified of messing up, but also extremely happy to see her, the goddess I have always believed in, to know she was real!

"My precious colt, I am so very proud of you! I really am, you have lived all of your life, as difficult as it has been, while maintaining harmony in your heart, your mom is proud of you too, all of your family is, I want you to know something, your son, he is very special." I was happy at hearing her say that, feeling like I did things right, but when she said that last part I couldn't help it, i snorted and then started laughing, hard, rolling on the ground, I could barely breathe after a while, but eventually I pulled myself together, realizing she was giggling too, much more reagal like, a mischievous smirk on her muzzle.

"Hahaha! I-im really sorry! I-its just that my son and I have kind of an inside joke with that, it's... Hard to explain..." I said awkwardly as the laughter wore off, rubbing the back of my head, I think I messed up, but she just smiled at me, clearly amused.

"Oh believe me, I know that, that's why I said it like that!" We both giggled and I shook my head in disbelief, she had a sense of humor, now I felt way less tense and scared than before, it's like she understood me! There is no need to fear.

"And I'm very happy you feel more at ease with me now, but back to the topic I wanted to discuss, I know Onyx, well I've been looking at him as much as I can from here, fields of Elysium, as ponies call it, from here I just relax and watch you all, I tend to prefer not to interfere, but sometimes I wish someone would offer... While ponies believe in me, they all seem to be more devoted to my daughter, even when she has turned her back on harmony in favor of making ponies safer.

Harmony is not perfect order, it's not pushing away others because you fear what they can do, and harmony exists despite risks and trouble, and yet... Your son somehow has made an impression on her! That is why I keep watching him, your son, he is doing his best despite his terrible burden.

"He gets back up after being kicked down, and while he may not be perfect, at least he doesn't just kill those that get in his way, even if they threatened his life." She smiles and sits down next to me, to be at a more equal height.

"I will make sure he remains a good dragon, I really want him to, I promise I will do my best raising him as best as I can!" As a father this is what I intend to do, but I want her to know I mean it.

"You have my blessing, Coconut Cream.
I will grant you my divine power to do good, please, try to not abuse this power, you can claim it as your own and become famous if you want, I only ask two things of you in return, wait, no, three things!" She changes her mind in the last second.

"What are this conditions my goddess?" My tone is serious now, while she may be approachable and friendly, I still had to take this seriously, and her terms were very important to keep.

"I don't want to have to deal with ponies and other creatures begging me constantly for power, if I give you this blessing, to be my chosen, I don't want you to go telling anyone that I'm your chosen, can you imagine having to deal with thousands of prayers reaching your ears every day just begging for power? No thank you. I haven't interfered much with mortals for a reason, I already have enough do here." That made sense, I could imagine what it would feel like to having others constantly talking to you in your head asking for a thousand different things at once, even as a god, I would be incredibly annoyed too.

"I-i can do that, if you so requiere it, I swear to never tell it was from you, I understand why you wouldn't want that." I empathize with her in this, even if she could turn it off, it would still be very stressful to think you have so much to go through.

"Well I'm glad to see you empathize, and let's go to the second condition now. I don't want you to give my daughter any credit either, I don't want anypony to think you are able to do this in any way thanks to her, I don't want her to get any more ego from this than she already has! Is that clear?" Oh fudge... She is definitively not happy with her daughter, but I had no love for Princess Celestia, not after I found out about her ways to deal with other species.

"I'm not exactly a big fan of the Princess, she has made my son worry and suffer and... While I still respect her as a Princess I won't ever claim to have anything to do with her."

"Good, perfect! Yes she's not bad as a ruler, not for ponies at least, but she has harmed so many others with her action that I am still pretty upset with her... She needs to be humbled, and while I won't do it, I'm hoping someday someone that is aligned with harmony will." She declared with a scheming tone.

"Well now the last condition I have is to help Onyx, yes I know you were going to do that anyways, but you have to help him, as in, actually go with him and fight the largest threat the world faces now, you know? I think Onyx explained it to you, he has to go into this very scary places where he and Sylf fight to the death with monstrosities, well... You will have to do it too, you will be essential for their survival, your divine spells will be the only way for them to survive all of this, do you accept? You'll have to become much stronger too... But for now you will be able to cure the ponies in this hospital much easier, and more efficiently." I knew the risks, and I have already accepted to help them, my family.

I would risk anything for them, now I hoped I would be strong enough to stand next to them in battle, but that was what training was for, after all.

"I accept, my goddess! I sweat to follow your conditions to the letter! They are completely reasonable, and... I'm really thankful to you! Anything else you need?" I was feeling extremely excited, and eager to get back to help, I stood next to face with my goddess, we looked at each other lovingly.

"This... I hope you aren't upset at me for asking this, but can I get a hug? It's not necessary for the process of getting the powers but I really want to hold you, I think you will want this too, two certain someones are hoping you accept." Faust said in a very soft and gentle voice, I was really surprised, and nodded with a smile, I approached and hugged her, she hugged back.

In that moment I felt a sudden sense of belonging, I felt... I felt as if I was a foal once again, first I felt father's embrace, his scent, my eyes brimming with tears almost immediately, but then I felt also one more pony join the hug, it was a pegasus mare, a mare I didn't recognize, not at first.

Then I remembered when dad described mom, a pegasus, she had a white coat, pink mane, beautiful white wings and the scent was like the crisp morning air at the end of winter, it was there when I realized who was hugging me, mom and dad together, I couldn't see them, not literally.

But I could feel them, it was as if I could see without seeing, like I was sensing them with my heart and soul. They were here with me right now! I couldn't help the sob that escaped me as I held onto them, unable to even speak.

"My son. You have grown into a file young stallion! You even got yourself a wife and foals... I'll be honest son, at first when I saw you had a non pony wife I was a bit worried." My dad... He was always a bit like this, he didn't really hate any other race or anything, he was just a bit afraid of them, but I felt a sting of emotional pain at his words, it hurt to hear that from him, after all the suffering I went through during the least years of his life.

"Caramel Cream! Don't say that! Can't you see you are breaking his heart?!" Mom... I don't really know her, only that her name was Snowy Heart.

"No! I'm so sorry Coconut! I meant to say... I was worried you wouldn't be able to produce foals together! I just didn't know ponies could make foals with other species like that, I should have worded that better, I hope you can forgive me, I have to congratulate you too my son, your little ones are as adorable as you were when I first met you, you're always in my mind and your mother's!" I felt myself relax a bit, the pain from before receding, i was glad he approved, he was the only one I had during most of my life.

"O-oh thank the goddess dad! Mom was right you really made me feel hurt from that poorly worded introduction... But I forgive you, I'm glad to see you too, you know the last time we met it was... It still hurts to remember dad, I still cry sometimes." I gently caressed mom with my hoof softly across her back as she held me tightly.

I felt mom crying softly as she held me tightly, she clearly was feeling as much emotion as I was, I decided to talk to her instead.

"Mom? I have always... All my life hoped I would get to meet you, my dear mum... I'm sorry for what you went through because of me, I cost you both your entire marriage and happiness, and your life mom, I will never be able to repay you for that, I'm so sorry!" It was hard to speak clearly without breaking down again, but it was important of me to say this, I have always felt what happened with my family was my own fault for being born.

She stopped crying slowly and looked at me, I felt her gaze on me, I could feel how she was looking at me, our souls were so close now.

"Coconut, I know we don't really know eachother, I know you have carried this horrible burden with you all your life, you have endured all the pain of both growing without a mother and then your father getting sick and passing away, but please..." She held my face gently with her wing, making my eyes focus on her own.

"Please let go of it, Caramel and I are very happy here, we are free and we can do whatever we want, anytime, we can also look at what happens back in Equestria! It's wonderful here my sweet colt, you will always be my little sweet colt, sorry hehe I didn't get the chance to dote on you." She giggled softly, while I smiled even while I was unable to stop crying like a foal, this was really mom, she has been watching over me... I couldn't help myself, I lunged and hugged her tightly, I just cried on her shoulder, loudly and ugly, without a care in the world about anything else, as she held me.

I felt her warmth, I felt her love and compassion, she could also feel my emotions now, in those moments I felt as if we had known each other for years, she knew me, but now i knew her too now.

Meanwhile dad watched on with a tearful smile, I could sense him too, he was giving us time to get to know each other.

"I hope that... Someday you both and I are reunited, I want you to meet my wife Sylf and my son Onyx, even my little sweet colt Lightning and the adorable Wander!" I somehow managed to calm myself as I whispered my thoughts to mom, mom... I know I'll miss her now, but I could feel myself more complete now, I felt like I wasn't broken, not anymore.

I have a mom, I-i still have much to process, this was...

I slowly started to calm down, finally, I was a mess damn it!

"Maybe... If Faust permits it sometime, we could meet them for a little while here, but this isn't something that is allowed usually my son, you see this place is only meant for those who already have passed away, and you are only here as a gracious gift from our goddess, she is generous yes, but you are her chosen, so... We will see" mom said and nuzzled my neck lovingly, I had to suppress my emotions to not be overcome with emotions again.

I just nuzzled back and let out a sigh, understanding perfectly what she meant, she was right, I was extremely lucky to even get a chance to see my parents again, I didn't want to ask too much from the generous goddess who already has given me so much, just by giving us this moments, it felt like hours, Im pretty sure I cried for hours, or that's what it felt like.

"You're right mom, I will always remember you and... Thanks to your words today, I feel like a new pony, like... The weight I have been carrying ever since I learned that you passed away has been taken off my shoulders, I'll never forget what you did for me tho."

I gave her a kiss on the side of the muzzle, finally feeling normal again, even happy, she returned the smile and started giving me kisses too, kissing my forehead and side of the head, I giggled and blushed a bit from all this silly and adorable display of affection.

"Heheh mooom! I'm not a little colt! Hahh that's ticklish! You're just like my son, who always loves to tickle me!" I was suddenly tickled on all my sensitive spots by big white wings and I laughed and rolled on the ground as I was tickled, squirming a bit but not really resisting, it felt wonderful to do this, to feel like a little colt again, a small game shared with mom that I never got to experience.

In the end all three of us ended cuddling on a pile on the ground, so... This is what it felt to have both parents? A small tear slowly fell down my muzzle as we just cuddled together, tuckered out from playing, dad was fine he just wanted an excuse to join the pony pile.

"I hope to see you two again soon." I said gently while letting out a content sigh.

"Hopefully... There's two ways for you to come here son, the one now is by the grace of the goddess, the other one is when you pass away, so let's hope it's the first, you still have foals to look after and you have to help your son finish his mission, and you're only 24!" Dad answered with a pointed look.

"Oh no no, don't worry! I'm not planning on dying or something like that, don't be silly dad! I would never abandon my foals, but I mean... Seeing you two together and being here, its like I'm getting back everything I've missed out on, seeing you two together and happy, I'll never forget this!" I say and squeeze the two close to me, I'm not as strong as my son Onyx but I know how he feels now when he is between Sylf and I.

I know how good it feels, how wonderful it is to have parents that love you, who love each other.

Suddenly a voice is heard around us.
"Sorry to interrupt you three extremely adorable and cuddly ponies, but it's time for young Coconut to return to the material plane, even with my powers I can't stretch this moment for more than a few hours, and you three have been here for those few hours by now so... Sorry, time to go!" It was the goddess voice, I couldn't be mad, this has given me so much back!

"Goodbye mom, dad! I'm thankful that I had this chance, we will meet again!" I smiled and gave them a last nuzzle to each, then I was suddenly back where I had been all those hours ago, at the hospital, like nothing had happened, like no time had passed at all.

You have become a Cleric of Faust! Congratulations!
Your domain is harmony and life.

You have access to divine spells (given to you by your goddess), you don't need to learn them, as the knowledge is directly given to you when you pray and in your sleep, the spells given to you so far are the following.

You can use your regular mana for casting this spells, as if they were normal spells.

You have learned the following tier 1 divine spells: Spare the dying, Bane, Bless, Cure Wounds, Detect Poison and Disease, Healing Word, Purify food and drink, Sanctuary, Guiding Bolt.

You have learned the following tier 2 divine spells: Aid, Calm Emotions, Enhance Ability, Lesser Restoration, Prayer of Healing, Protection from Poison, Spiritual weapon.

You have learned the following tier 3 divine spells: Aura of Vitality, Revivify, Beacon of Hope, Remove Curse, Spirit Guardians, Water Walk, Protection from Energy, Dispel Magic, Glyph of Warding, Mass Healing Word.

Your goddess has blessed the Amulet of Exhaustion, improving it into the Amulet of Vitality, now you can heal creatures at a rate of 1 to 1! This amulet now shines with a white mysterious light, instead of healing it can be used to regenerate a lost limb or missing body part (except the head) but using it for this will most likely use all of your stamina and leave you unconscious.

I could... I really could do this now! Thanks to my goddess, thanks to Faust! I felt knowledge flood my mind, it took a few minutes, about 10 or 15 but now... Now I knew how to use spells! Actually powerful spells for the first time! I felt extremely energized and powerful for the first time in my life, and the amulet Onyx gave me! This was... Just unbelievable! I felt as if my body was glowing, despite being invisible. I got to work

I used the spell to detect poison and diseases, and various beds in the nearby rooms started glowing, even though the thin curtains separating them, I approached the first one, a sickly and weak looking mare, probably some disease... She reminded me of what my father looked like before he passed away, now I could actually think much more clearly and feel my more analytical side taking over, I went to all the other beds, checking who was more sickly and more weak looking, and I found a poor mare who not only looked worse but also seems to have been here the longest, as she malnourished, probably a side effect of being in bed for so long... -10 100/110mp

This was all really painful to see, I quickly used lesser respiration on her, then headed towards the other mare, younger looking and a big heathier but still seems to have been here a while. -40 60/110mp

After that there was a stallion who was also sick with something, who I also used it on him, curing his disease or at least I hoped so. -20 40/110mp

Now there wasn't anyone who was sick, nor poisoned, but there were many hurt ponies, and I knew I didn't have enough mana for all of them, a sad sigh escaping my lips. But I could try something... What if I stood in one side and used the prayer of healing and then used it on the other side?

I decided to do just that! I healing 12 ponies out of 18 before I ran out of mana and I also approached the griffon who was hurt and used the amulet it glowed with a white light, I used half of my stamina to heal him, he immediately opened his eyes and started to move, hopefully feeling fine and full healed, I ran out before I could get caught. -40MP 0/110

I came out of the intensive care unit, sweating and panting from both physical exhaustion and feeling a headache starting to form as my mana was spent fully, good thing i didn't try to cast again or it would be a lot worse.

Despite the magical exhaustion, I felt amazing! Emotionally, mentally, I headed towards Onyx and picked him up in my hooves and pulled him into a hug, not caring that I was invisible or that he was reading a book, I simply squeezed him with all my strength against my chest, nuzzling him happily.

Seems he wasn't expecting that because as soon as lifted him up to hug him the spell winked out and I became visible again, shocking many of the nearby ponies, who couldn't figure out where I just came from.

"Gaah! Dad! Too tight! What has given you the idea that spooking me like that is okay?!" He scolded me, but his tone had a playful tone, even if a bit annoyed too, then he returned the hug way stronger than I could.

I wheezed from the sudden emptying of my lungs as he squeezed the air out of me, I tapped him in surrender with a hoof and then he let me go, I could only whimper as the mighty dragon held me gently now, showing just how much stronger than me he was, I was lucky he knew exactly how hard to squeeze to not hurt me, I need to get stronger, and maybe I'll regain some of my dignity.

"M-mercy Onyx! I just wanted to tell you something important, but let's go home first 'kay? I'm developing mana exhaustion and I need an ice pack for my horn and now... Probably my ribs, ow."

It wasn't that bad, but he didn't need to know that, I was more in pain from magical overuse than from a little squeeze.

Healing those ponies, it felt incredibly amazing! Even more so because no one knows I did it, I hope it stays that way, if Onyx can take me here every week at least, I can save so many... Maybe I could do this in other places too? I could dream, I knew I wasn't strong enough to heal more creatures, I needed twice the mana I have now, at least!

"Sure let's go outside now dad! I really want to know what you've been up to in there, you weren't in much longer than 20 minutes, so... Well you'll tell me soon, I'll wait."

After that, a few minutes later we were back home thanks to my son's spell, it felt good now, to teleport, it made traveling a lot easier I must admit.

Then I told him everything, spent hours talking with him and telling stories about my parents, smiling, laughing and having a wonderful time, he was really surprised and confused at my description of the place where my goddess lives.

He seemed to struggle to comprehend the last part.
"That sounds- But I was told that- That there is no afterlife! How can that be?! Was I tricked? No, I was just naive enough to believe everything I was told, wasn't I? That only reincarnation was the only possible end... I was just not told the other option, maybe for me it was?" His face became flustered and angry, then sad, finally he calmed down.

"Sorry Coco, it's just... Really shocking to learn this, maybe I didn't have an afterlife back then to go to, maybe I messed up, and choosing to be an atheist was the wrong move? but I'm glad I'm here, I shouldn't be getting angry or sad, this life, as scary as it is to have to go and fight, this is... Better in many ways, I have you, mom, friends, all of you love me and I am happy too!" I was held in a gentle hug as he went back to normal.

"But I'm really really happy this worked out in our favor! You are a true Cleric now! That is amazing! Yeeeess we have to celebrate this dad! Let's go get some of your ice cream, okay? I'm craving that right now, specially in this heat..." And with that, we both headed to the kitchen and ate a lot of ice cream, well, Onyx did, I just had a few spoonfulls.

He ate a full kilo! At least he mixed flavors, then went to lay down and so did I, an ice pack over my head as I recovered slowly. I felt like I forgot to tell him something... Oh well, I'm sure things will be fine now. With a shrug I went to bed and fell asleep not long after.

Author's Note

Finally the party gets a healer! And he is able to see his parents together and happy.

Has Onyx been tricked? Would it be surprising anymore? He was kind of tricked once before, by those who have given him power.