Denial, Acceptance, and Everything in Between

===============Denial, Acceptance, and Everything in Between===============

Well, I finally got around to writing again, so I guess that’s good. Uh, I kind of have a plan going for the rest of the story, at least for generic storyboard, anyway. Also, a friend of mine will be appearing in the later chapters, when things get interesting, anyway. I am in the process of interviewing her to get a good idea of how to do this. So yeah, I will make the later chapters veeeeery interesting, so stick around, we’ll see what happens. Also, I finished watching Highschool of the Dead, and yes, that does have something to do with the later chapters. Btw, fucking EPIC anime. Anyway, I uh, I don’t know when I’ll have any more chapters out after this one, my life is a little hectic right now, but I will try. And I will try to update Secret Lightning at least once too.

==============Chapter 8==============

“Uuurgh” John’s senses slowly returned to him. First off, his whole body was numb, and it was quiet. Deathly quiet.  He forced his eyes open and took a look at his surroundings.

He was in the hospital again. This time, almost all of his body, save for his face, was wrapped in bandages. Looking at the foot of the bed, he saw a familiar white and blue blob that he easily identified as a curled up Vinyl.

He coughed suddenly, now aware of his very dry throat. He grabbed the glass of water that was on the stand next to the bed and gulped it down, hoping for all he was worth he didn’t wake Vinyl. This prayer went unanswered, as she lifted her head, yawned, and looked around, blinking rapidly. Her eyes were red. Well, they always were red, but this time they were very red and puffy, like she had been crying.

“John? You…you’re awake?”

“Of course I am. What, you thought I would be killed that easily?” he said with a lot more confidence than he had. While it was true it had taken several C-4 charges to kill him in the other world, he still could have easily died this time as well. And that scared the living hell out of him.

Vinyl shook her head, tears in her eyes. “John, I’m…I’m so sorry! If I hadn’t brought you to my place, then you never would have….”

John reached down to the foot of his bed, ignoring the little twinges of pain that seeped through the stupor of the pain medication. Or pain spell, he discovered they did those too, if the doctor was a unicorn. He grabbed the now sobbing white mare, and pulled her into a hug. For about a minute or so, he just let her cry, releasing her pent up emotions into his shoulder. Then, he started to talk.

“Shush, Vinyl, I don’t want to hear it”

She pulled back a little and looked up at him with bleary eyes. “Wha…?”

“What happened could never have been your fault. And just think about it, if I hadn’t been there, you would have been home alone when Steel broke in, and I…I would never be able to forgive myself if that happened. So please, I don’t want to hear it’s your fault, I’m just glad you’re ok.”

John noticed that when he mentioned Steel, she shrunk back a little. He was going to ask, but she answered for him before he could.

“But…Steel…I…I killed him! I killed a pony! I killed somepony in cold blood! How can you ever forgive me for something like that?!”

“Ssh, Vinyl. It’s okay. You didn’t kill him in cold blood, you killed him because you had to. Because if you didn’t, he would have done bad things to you, therefore it was self-defense. I don’t think there’s anyone in this entire world that honestly would blame you for what you did. So why would I need to forgive you? I was never mad in the first place.”

She pushed herself closer to him, and buried her head in his chest. “Th…thanks, John. I…I just wish no one had to get hurt. I…I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at myself the same way again.”

She completely broke down, crying loudly into his chest, her tears soaking through the custom made hospital gown he was wearing. He did the only thing he could, he just sat there and held her while she cried, stroking her back lightly in an effort to calm her.

After a few minutes, her sobs had declined, turning into light hiccups. Deciding now was better than ever, he began to speak again.

“It’s okay, Vinyl. I’m not upset with you. And, while it was a rather…different way of dealing with Steel, I can guarantee that you won’t have any more problems with him. In truth, I’d rather die than have him do something horrible to you. You deserve so much more than you get, Vinyl, it seems like no one really respects you. But I do.”

She stopped crying now, and was looking away from him, a huge blush overtaking most of her face. “You…you really mean that?” She asked finally.

“Yes, yes I do.” Was his response.

“Sweet Celestia, would the two of you get a room?” Came an unfamiliar male voice from behind the curtain next to the bed

“Red Wind?” Vinyl asked, climbing down off of John and walking over to the curtain. She pulled it back, and there was that same red Pegasus, in a bed on the other side of the room, directly parallel with his.

His right wing was in some kind of brace device, it enclosed the wing like a cage and had wires going down to different parts of it, ensuring the bones set properly. His right foreleg was also in a cast, as well as a good portion of him was bandaged up from cuts, scratches and bruises. Now normally, you wouldn’t bandage a bruise, but John discovered early on that Equestrian bandages had some kind of healing power in them, probably enchanted.

“Yeah, that’s me.” The Pegasus responded.

“Oh, Red Wind!” Vinyl cried, grabbing the very surprised Pegasus in a crushing hug. “I was so worried that Steel had killed you!”

“You’re…going…to…if…you…don’t…let…go… CAN’T BREATHE!!!!”

“Heh, sorry.” Vinyl apologized as she dropped back down to the floor.

“That’s…okay” he said once he managed to regain his breath, “Just good to know I’m appreciated”

“You’re not hurt too bad, are you?” she asked .

He glanced forlornly back at his wing for a second, and tried to move it, but gave up a second later when the brace around it proved that effort futile. “No, they say I’ll be healed up pretty quickly. Apparently, I’m pretty lucky, getting thrown against a wall and only getting a mild concussion and a broken wing.”

Vinyl smiled at this news. “Well, that’s good. Glad to hear you’re going to be ok”

The red Pegasus just nodded in reply. “But what about you?” he asked John. “What happened to you?”

That was actually a good question, John couldn’t remember a whole lot about what had happened after the…confrontation with Steel. “I…I don’t know. All I can remember is fighting with Steel, and then…walls and pain. Lots of pain”

“Yes, John, I’d say you are very lucky to be alive. You endured quite a bit of damage.” The doctor, a unicorn, suddenly and rudely interrupted as he cantered into the room.

Putting aside his annoyance at the interruption by the doctor, John turned his attention to him. “How…how much damage?”

“Well, several bones in your arms and legs were shattered into pieces, your sternum was cracked, and your spine had several herniated disks. All in all, a lot of broken bones.”

John was confused. He slowly rotated his arm around with a rather puzzled look on his face. “Then…how come I can move?”

“Well, our doctors were able to heal most of the broken bones. Oh, and you are on one of the most powerful painkiller spells we have available. Unfortunately, we were unable to heal any of the flesh or muscular damage, and the herniated disks. So you’re going to be off your feet for a little while.”

Well, this is just great, there goes your plans of finding a job and a place to live for a while, John silently berated himself.

John grunted a response and started to rise from the hospital bed, only to be forced to lay back down seconds later by an excruciating pain in his back. “Feels like I got hit with a Volkswagen” he groaned.

All three ponies in the room looked extremely confused. “John…what’s a Volkswagen?” Vinyl asked.

John chuckled. “Right, you’re not familiar with my world, “ He started to explain. “You see, a Volkswagen is a type of…..”

“OOH! OOH! I KNOW THIS ONE!” Cried Pinkie Pie, who appeared seemingly out of thin air. “A Volkswagen is a brand of car that a specific group of humans from a country called Germany created!”

“That’s….very good Pinkie, but how did you know that?” He asked the extremely energetic pink mare.

“It was under Eeeeee!” She practically sang, while bouncing around the room on all four hooves, then suddenly bouncing out the door and disappearing. In her wake, she left two very confused ponies, one puzzled human, and a laughing Vinyl.

“Wha…but…how…she…what?!” John stammered. Vinyl just laughed, and said: “John, in the time I’ve spent in Ponyville, I’ve learned there is nothing more random than Pinkie Pie. You can’t fight it, you can’t argue with it, you can’t even throw logic at it, you have to just accept that Pinkie Pie is simply….Pinkie Pie.”

“But…that still doesn’t explain how she…”

“Believe me, I’ve seen that mare walk on thin air, stand upside down with no kind of support, and somehow have a fifth hoof. Don’t try using logic John, I already tried, it just gets you nowhere. Just laugh and go along with it.”

“But I..alright.” John resigned, although he still had many many unanswered questions about that strange pink mare. Then a thought hit him. “Hey, wait, if she’s here, does that mean that the rest…”

At that moment, the white alicorn sun princess known as Celestia strode into the room, wings raised, head tilted back, she…looked quite majestic, actually, more than usual at least. At once, Vinyl turned her gaze away from John and towards the door. When she saw the sun princess, she immediately dropped to her knees and bowed. “Princess Celestia! What an honor!” She exclaimed. John looked around and noticed the unicorn doctor doing the same.

“Rise, my little ponies, there is no need for formalities on this occasion. I am simply here on a casual visit to speak with this human you call John.”

Oh crap.

Celestia picked up on this sudden tension, and spoke. “Relax, John. I just wanted to thank you for taking such good care of one of my little ponies. Oh, and I have your weapon, you may take it back now, I simply was fascinated by the design of it. Projectile weaponry was something that we ponies had never been able to perfect past bows and arrows. Regardless, I studied the type of ammunition it requires, and had an old friend of mine craft some more for you. I suspect you will be needing it, considering you seem to be almost like a personal guard to miss Scratch here. Will this be enough?” She reached out with her magic and grabbed a cardboard box seemingly out of nowhere, (John was wary of any random Pinkie Pies this time) and floated it over to him, as well as his gun. John just gaped at the box. It was a box that was easily big enough to fit a motorcycle helmet, filled almost to the top with round after round of .45 ammo.

John was speechless for a few minutes, finally finding his voice soon after. “Well, I….thank you, but…why give me more ammunition? I mean, a gun is a weapon, used to kill. How do you know I won’t use this ammunition against you?”

The Princess chuckled. “Because, if you had wanted to kill us with your gun, you would have already. The fact that you didn’t even shoot it when you had Steel backed into a corner after he broke into the library tells me that you’d rather not use it unless you really have to. No, instead, you’ve been using it to protect ponies, rather than hurt them. So I am perfectly fine with giving you more ammunition. I also took the liberty of making you several more magazines for your weapon, I just couldn’t help myself, this technology just fascinates me!”

“Well, that’s good to know, Princess, perhaps I can give you a lesson on firearms one day.”

She smiled and nodded. “And I think I can help you with your current situation as well.” She said, standing over him, horn glowing. She lowered her head till her horn just touched his chest. Immediately, a large surge of energy jolted through John, and he flailed around in the bed, his muscles completely out of control. Steam came out of his pores as impurities were driven out of his body, as well as all of the cuts, bruises, and visible wounds on his skin faded away as if they never existed while the bandages fell away from his body, their presence no longer needed. Finally, his back arched upwards with such force, that it made several loud snap noises, making Vinyl and the doctor wince.

And just like that, it was over. John settled back into the bed, consciousness already returning to him.

“What…what the hell was that?” He almost demanded when his breath returned to him.

The Princess smiled. “Speed healing. Not very comfortable, but it gets the job done very quickly. Of course, there was also the bit of magic I imbedded inside you.”

“Well gee, I…wait, WHAT?!”

She smiled again. “Nothing special, really. With practice, you’ll have a form of the unicorn telekinesis spell. However, this version does not require you to possess a horn, can handle a lot more objects at once, as well as a lot more weight, and is far more precise. However, I must warn you: this power, it is almost like a muscle for your brain. You must start off with small objects, and gradually work yourself up to larger ones. Try moving something too large, and you will strain this metaphorical muscle, and you don’t want to know what happens if you do that.”

John was beyond stunned. “So…you’re telling me…that with some practice, I’ll be able to move thing with my MIND?!”

She nodded. “Exactly. Oh, and there was one other spell I gave you control of.” The look on his face just said ‘There’s MORE?!?!’, which made her giggle “This ammunition I had made for you is no regular ammunition. It is magical ammo, and can be controlled by the second spell your mind now has control of. So now, before you fire, think of what kind of ammunition you want the gun to fire, be it explosive, incendiary, electroshock, regular lead, or anything else you can think of. Your gun has also been modified to be able to handle these special rounds, as otherwise it would take quite a beating with the first few.”

John was in a state of shock. “I…I can’t thank you enough, Princess, but what do I have to do in return for all this you have given me?”

The Princess simply smiled. “Your task is simple. Keep Vinyl safe. She has a tendency to…attract trouble, no offense to her. It’s just that trouble always manages to find her wherever she goes.”

“I..I will, Princess, you can count on me.”

Still smiling, Princess Celestia nodded. “Good. I must go, however, there is a lot in Canterlot I must attend to, and I have been gone far too long already. But we shall see each other again soon.” She said, before walking out into the hallway where there was a bright pink flash, John guessed she teleported back to wherever she was going.

John mentally debated what to do now that she was gone. Get up or play with telekinesis? Get up or play with telekinesis? Get up, or….get up.

He placed his gun and the box of ammo on the bed beside him, and started to get up. This time, there was no pain. No dull ache, no sharp pains, nothing. In fact, he felt better than he ever had in a long time. his feet hit the ground, and he bounded off the bed with an energy he never knew he had in him. Better watch that before he turned into a human Pinkie Pie.

“Wow, that was quick!” Vinyl exclaimed, noticing how quickly john had recovered.

“Yeah, well, I feel like a million bucks!” He replied, which brought a slight frown to Vinyl’s face. “That term must mean something different in the human world.” She said, looking away and blushing. She was terrible at hiding that, by the way, since her coat was white. “Well, what does it mean in this world?” John asked her. She motioned for him to bend down, and when he did, she whispered it in his ear. He almost immediately straightened back up, his entire face red. “Uhh, well then, I’d say it definitely means something different in the human world.”

“What about me? Don’t I get healed or anything?” a voice suddenly interrupted John and Vinyl. He turned to notice Red Wind still lying there, wing still in a brace, with a pretty pissed look on his face. “I’m…I’m sorry Red Wind, I didn’t…”

“Meh, that’s okay, it’ll give me a couple days of time to myself to think. Something I don’t usually get to do very often anymore.”

“I suppose I had better get dressed.” John said, noticing he was basically standing there in his underwear, and man, didn’t that bring a blush to his face!

Once he put his clothing back on, had stowed away his gun, and had the box of ammunition stored under his arm, he turned around. “C’mon Vinyl” he said “it’s a beautiful day out, let’s go for a walk.”

==================END CHAPTER 8==================

Well, there you have it. Got a few more chapters to go, and then things get interesting. That is also when my friend will make her appearance. Like I said though, idk exactly when I’ll be working on more chapters, but I WILL be working on them. Took me what, a couple months to finish this chapter? And that was only the first couple of paragraphs, the rest I banged out in a couple hours tonight. So yeah. also, if the gun, special ammo, and special power aren't enough of a hint, something quite interesting is going to happen, mwa-ha-ha!