"Sir, is it true that you were a part of the organized crime group inside of ponyville?"
"Yes...it is."
"And can you tell me exactly what happened the other day?" Asked the news reporter holding the mic up to the man who was burnt over a large part of his body. He was one of the men working for Donnie.
"Well... I was just sitting inside, and I can't say I was completely innocent, but suddenly this guy kicks up the huge metal door... He KICK OPEN...THE METAL DOORS!" He said. "And I've never seen anything like it happen. He started snapping his fingers and suddenly everything is bursting into flames."
"Can you describe what he looked like?" Asked the new reporter.
"He was a slim guy, tall, but his muscles were tense. He had burning red eyes, and sharp teeth, and claws, and everything around him caught fire. His left arm had the strange tattoos on it that glowed red like fire. His hair burnt and floated and flickered like fire. He was a demon... He carried a huge seven foot sword with one hand, had it slung over his shoulder. The blade was on fire and the bottom of it was wrapped in chains. I watched as he jumped into the air, landed in the middle of a crowd, and he spun and swung his sword and everybody in a seven foot radius of him just fell in half."
"Do you know who it was?" Asked the new reporter.
"No...I don't know a name... But there's a guy round ponyville...some kind of adventurer, been cleaning the streets for like...two months now." He said. "The boss must h e figured he'd come for us soon, so he set a trap and planted a bomb."
"And was that the explosion on East Street two weeks ago?"
"Yes. We thought he pull be dead, but I guess not, and he didn't like that one bit." He said.
"Alright...sir is there any last thing you'd like to say before we move on?"
"Yes..." He said. He stopped for a second and looked down at his own body, then looked back at the camera. "I've seen hell..." He said. "I've heard the screams of burning bodies... I've seen blood and guts spilled all over the floor, and... I've learned my lesson."
"Well thank you..." She said pulling the microphone away. I just grabbed the remote and shut off the TV.
"I'm sorry that your apartment got destroyed Zack..." Said twilight who walked over with a tray of tea on it floating right beside her.
"Ooh... Tea... Thank you twilight." Said Itt who eagerly grabbed a cup.
"It's fine..." I said. "But I owe you one for letting us stay here until we can save up some money from our jobs to get a new place."
"Are you going to move back into your old apartment?" Asked twilight.
"Actually we've been thinking of relocating somewhere else like west ponyville." Said Itt. "We've been saving up a lot of money and we sold whatever we could from the old apartment... But we still need to think about the cost of furniture and stuff...right now we could easily afford a place of our own."
"And I had a bunch of money that I had saved away at the bank, luckily there was still that... So we're close." I said.
"How much do you think you would need to buy new furniture and appliances if you moved into a new place?" Asked twilight.
"Well we still need to think about food, and other things too." I said. "I think once we've got a solid 50'000 bits we should be able to go looking around, do some shopping and replace our old furniture with some better stuff now, upgrade a bit."
"How close are you?" Asked twilight.
"Very..." I said grabbing one of the cups of tea and taking a sip. "We've got 46,000 saved up in the bank."
"That's good..." Said twilight. "When are you two going to go back to work?"
"Today actually..." Said Itt.
"Today?" Asked twilight.
"We were going to wait until the news guys left ponyville, but we need to make some money... And the sooner we reach our goal and get a place of our own and get out of your hair the better..." I said. "But I do appreciate you letting me and Itt stay here."
"Well... You did stop a crazed gang boss from painting the walls with my face... So why don't we just say that we're even." Said twilight jokingly.
"Alright then... We're even... And still friends." I said smiling.
"The best..." Said twilight raising her cup as did I. Itt did too and we all smiled.
"Should we be going now darling?" Asked Itt putting down her cup of tea.
"Mmmm... We should head out." I said. "Let's go Itt." I said holding out my hand. She smiled and grabbed my hand and started glowing. She changed into her great sword form and strapped around me creating the blood red, plate leggings, black loin cloth, red and black hood and cape, as well as the strap for Itt and the symbols on my arm began to glow red. I lifted Itt up with one hand and carried her over my shoulder.
"Isn't she heavy...how can you just lift her like that?" Asked twilight.
"She might be heavy to everybody else, but to me she's as light as a feather." I said smiling. "We'll be back later twilight..." I said walking over to the door.
"Tell twilight that when we get home I'll cook dinner." Said Itt talking in my head.
"Oh... And Itt says that she'll cook dinner when we get home." I said smiling.
"Sounds nice... Be safe, don't do anything stupid." Said twilight. I just smiled back at her and opened up the door. I walked out into the open world and closed the door behind me. It was midsummer now an it was a beautiful summer day. The birds were chirping, the bees were buzzing, and the wind blew a nice soft breeze through the air which felt great against the suns heat. Being imbued with the element of fire I don't really get bothered by intense heats anymore... In fact, hot summer days like this make me feel stronger. I took in a nice breath of fresh air and smiled. I walked down the steps from twilight's house and started making my way through the streets.
The streets were crowded and everybody looked at me and they all smiled, it was strange, seeing so many people ogle over me, it felt different, but it made me smile. Since that accident at the apartment on eat street my body has been covered in scars. And since I don't wear any chest armor, everybody can see them. But I wear them proudly. I kept making my way through town trying to get to the wooly sheep, but you could imagine how not surprised I was when I arrived at the inn and it was surrounded by news teams.
"There he is." Said somebody sicking the news teams on me. It didn't take long for a bunch of people and ponies with microphones and cameras to rush over to me and they started blaring questions. I didn't stay completely silent, but I was a vague in my answers as humanly possible.
"Is it true that you can use fire magic?" Asked a reporter.
"Maybe..."
"Do you live in ponyville?"
"I might..." I said as I made my way into the wooly sheep inn. I walked in and the news reporters were still on my trial sticking microphones at me and asking me questions. I didn't respond to any more questions. I just walked over to the notice board and noticed there were quite a few bills posted. I took them all down and started running through them getting a good gist of what I'm going to do today, though the sound of the reporters still trying to get my attention was deafening. "HEY!" I shouted getting their attention, thinking that I was going to say something they became quiet, and it was kinda nice. "Do you mind shutting up please...I can't hear myself think." I said looking back at the bills. It didn't take them long to start bombarding me with questions again. I just let out a defeated sigh and made my way out of the tavern to the first bill.
It was close by, on Peach Street. Apparently this guy is having trouble with spiders. So I started making my way down to the person's house and the news crews still wouldn't give up and kept following me. I looked from house to house once I got to Peach Street. I looked left and right and eventually got to the right house, it was a rather big house. I walked up to the doorway and the reporters grew silent, probably so that they can watch me work. I knocked on the door and waited before a stallion answered the door, he looked at me and smiled.
"Oh thank goodness...you've accepted my bill." He said.
"I hear you have a bit of a spider problem." I said.
"Yes... This way." He said waking out onto the front step. He then noticed the large group of news reporters behind me.
"Don't worry about them... They're my own problem." I said. "Just show me where to go." I said. He smiled and I followed him across the lawn and to the back yard. Once we got in he walked me over to a well which had been closed off. "Are they in the well?" I asked.
"Yeah... I went to check it out when I had noticed that the water in my house was turning yellow and tasted horrid..." He said. "I walked over to see what it was, maybe just a dead animal or something. So I shined my flashlight down there and I swear I must have been the fastest stallion in the world, because I ran to the shed, grabbed the lid and secured it over the well is something like five seconds." He said laughing a bit.
"Well... I'm no expert... But I'd say that even when I do get rid of the spiders, you probably aren't going to be using this well anymore." I said.
"I know... I've started making plans to use public water." He said. "I had a guy come in and he said that the only way to cleanse the water would be to super heat it and let it boil away, but my boiler isn't capable of doing that, so I can't filter it out."
"Hmm... I may be able to help with that actually." I said. I walked over to the well and placed my foot up on the side of it and threw the cover off of the well. Once it was gone I could already see a big ass spider right there near the top, and it just stared at me with all eight of its big black eyes. I held up my left hand and looked over at the news crew who had their camera fixed on me. If I do this... Then there's going to be no end to all the shit I'm going to get for this.
"Are you sure about this?" Asked Itt.
"I might as well..." I said to her but also out loud as well. So then I snapped my fingers creating a small spark and the whole entirety of the inside of the well went up in flames cooking everything in it. A pillar of flames burst out of the well in front of me and shot into the air. Through the roaring of the flames you could hear the screeching and the cries of the spiders inside that were burning alive. Suddenly tons of them started crawling rapidly out of the well all on fire. They didn't make it far before they crumbled to dust and ash. The flames died down and the well fumed with steam which smelled horrible.
"Oh my god..." Said the stallion. I stepped off of the well and walked over to the stallion. Everything was quiet now, I'm not sure what the consequences of my actions are going to be, but seeing their faces was priceless. I literally had to give all of my energy just not to laugh out loud and keep a straight face. Itt couldn't contain herself, she was giggling openly, but only I could hear her.
"I think that takes care of that..." I said.
"Yeah...I-it does... Uhm... Here's your payment, like the bill promised." Said the stallion still in a minor state of disbelief as he handed me a wad of bills. I took them gratefully and smiled.
"Thank you..." I said. "Let's see... The next bill is for the school house." I thought to myself as I looked at the next bill which was posted by the teacher there. It was the old school though, in north ponyville, where they teach kindergarten through third grade.
"Why don't we get out of here quickly..." Said Itt. "Avoid the media."
"You have a way?" I asked.
"For you love, of course." She said. I could feel her magic take over as soon the ground around me burnt brightly and I was soon engulfed in a circle of fire. The flames were bright, but when they faded I found myself outside of the old school which used to just be a barn before the farm died down, it's rather close to the everfree forest, but it doesn't get too much trouble, well...other than today I suppose. I looked over down the path to the school and saw that a decent ways down there was a mare, purple mane and light purple hair who was standing by a bunch of kids that were sitting on the ground. She had a smile on her face and I could tell she was the teacher, she was young for a teacher too. I smiled and started making my way over to the crowd of kids. One of them spotted me and pointed it out.
"Hey look... Guys. It's the hero." He said. This was an all pony school, it's a bit of a tradition, and it's been around for a while, everybody knows this. So all the kids there were just young fillies and colts. Once the kids saw me they got really excited and ran over.
"Hey mister... Are you gonna fight the monster?" Asked a little filly at my feet.
"I sure am..." I said smiling.
"Oh thank goodness you're here." Said the teacher walking over. "My name is cheerlilee." She said introducing herself.
"So I heard you have a problem... Though. I ring it strange that classes are being held during the summer." I said.
"This isn't school, this is just the daycare that I run during the summer. I was telling the kids a story." She said.
"Make sense... So where is this monster?" I asked.
"It's in the school house..." She said. "Please get rid of it."
"I'll do my best..." I said smiling. She smiled back and I started making my way to the school. All of the little kids kept their eyes on me and watched with smiles, especially the boys who are into these kinds of hero things. I walked up to the school doors and stood there for a second. I should probably keep the fighting inside so the kids don't have to see blood and guts go flying everywhere, probably not the best thing for them. So I pushed open the doors slowly until I got a sudden feeling in my gut. I quickly moved Itt in front of me as a block as a giant snake head lashed out from the doors, tearing them of their hinges, and the snake tried to bite down on me, and it was huge.
I fits well in its mouth and I had to place my foot on the bottom of its jaw and hold Itt up to stop the top jaw from closing in on me. At this point I was inside the mouth of the snake and it's fangs were right above my head. I looked as a large fang which was literally only an inch from piercing the top of my shoulder gleamed and glistened with powerful venom. So much for keeping the fight inside. I focused my energy and used it to superheat the air around me. The snake hissed from the burning pain and threw me from its mouth. I flew through the air and landed in the middle of the playground landing right on my back. The snake didn't take much time to slither over and try and strike me while I was down. I quickly rolled to the side and the snake struck the ground sinking its fangs into the dirt. I quickly got back up on my feet and gripped Itt tightly with both hands.
The snake pulled its face from the dirt tearing up the ground along with it. The snake hissed and two large flaps jetted from its head like a cobra. I slithered along and coiled its body up around itself. It's scales were shiny and black and its muscles were tense and powerful. Snakes are an interesting creature to fight. They don't have any arms or legs, but they're still very fast. Very powerful, and very poisonous. The snake swayed its head side to side taunting me and it glared at me with its dark black eyes. It flicked its tongue and hissed and soon lashed out at me. I quickly swung my sword and slashed at the snake and managed to ward off its attack. The snake hissed from pain and now had. Large bleeding gash across the front of its nose.
The snake lashed at me again and I jumped up above its head. I spun in the air and slashed it across the top of the head before landing somewhere on its back. I jabbed my sword into the snake and it hissed and thrashed around. I quickly jumped back off the snake and pulled my sword out which trailed a short stream of blood into the air. I landed on the ground and pointed my sword at the great snake. Red runes danced across the blade as it burst into a flurry of brilliant flames that covered the blade even around the grip and hilt. I swung the sword back over my shoulder and brought my left arm back like I was about to back hand somebody. I gripped my fist and when I opened my palm again there was a blazing ball of fire in the palm of my hand. The snake recovered from my attack and was now very mad and started making passing strikes at me. He would jab his head back and forth but never struck.
I thrusted my hand forward and launched the ball of fire toward the head on the snake. The ball of fire stuck the snake right in its face and exploded with an intense blast of burning fire. The snake was pushed back and it started hissing and flailing in pain as the dissipate but it's head was still partially on fire. It's scales and flesh started burning and turning to ash. One part of its face, where the blast had fully hit had been nothing but bone now which slowly started turning black from the heat. The snake thrashed around and it's body flailed before it finally fell to the ground with a huge thud and it's body went still. With no more life left in the snake's body the fires burning its face died down. The snakes face was nothing but burnt scales and flesh and bone. Open spots where the fire burn away the flesh revealed strands of tissue that connected one part of the face to the other, and the ligaments connecting the jaw to the skull.
"Whoa... Way cool." Said one of the colts back in the group of students who jumped up and down with excitement. The teacher just let out a relieved sigh.
"Thank goodness that's over with." She said as she started walking over to me. I walked over too and we met halfway. The kids in the group ran over and started saying things to me but I couldn't hear most of them. "Thank you... You saved the school." She said. "Things like this have never happened before... So it's. Good thing you were around." Said cheerilee.
"Hey, no problem." I said.
"Here... It's the reward... Thank you." She aid handing me a wad of bits. I grabbed them and put the money in my pocket.
"Thank you..." I said. "If you ever need any more help, just post a bill and I'll find get to it."
"Thank you... I will." She said smiling. I soon made my way out of the school grounds and went on the next bill. I went from job to job today fighting monsters, which is usually how it is. As soon as I had gotten back into town I ran back into the press again. They had split up so almost no matter where I went, they were there. I didn't get why they couldn't just let up... But I didn't care. I spent the whole rest of the day dodging the press and doing jobs. By the end of the day and after the final job I can proudly say that me and Itt have reached our goal of 50,000 bits and we can finally get out own place again.
I thought that happily but as I was making my way to twilight house I had been caught by the press again and I had to make a run for it as with every second another news station soon was on my tail. Itt couldn't just teleport me anymore because she was too exhausted from teleporting me everywhere. I was tired too, but I still ran and I ran all the way to twilight's house. I rushed up to the door and opened it right up. I closed the door shut behind me and hid behind it. I saw twilight sitting down on her couch reading a book and she looked over to me and smiled.
"Hey Zack... How'd it go?" She asked.
"Uh, great..." I said. "Twilight, I'm sorry, but I may have just lead every news station this side of Equestria onto your front door step." I said frantically waiting for them to start banging on the door.
"Oh don't worry about that..." Said twilight. "I figured with all the news reporters lurking around it would only be a matter of time before they followed you here... That's why I put up a shield." She said pointing to the window. I looked out the window and saw the news reporters getting mad because they can't get past the bubble shield twilight put up.
"Hehehe...nice." I said smiling. I shut all of the shades and collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. My armor and Itt started glowing and soon disappeared off my body and I was back in my normal clothes now. The glowing red light gathered next to me and soon Itt was back in her normal form. She knelt down by me and looked at me with a worried look. I just smiled at her and we both started to chuckle and laugh from the crazy day we had just had. She leaned in and planted a kiss on my cheek and blushed.
"I'll go make dinner... You rest." She said getting up and heading into the kitchen. I picked myself up off the floor and walked over to the couch twilight was sitting on. I slouched down next to her and let out a relaxed sigh.
"So... Take any damage this time?" Asked twilight.
"No... Not much." I said. "A few cuts and scrapes but they're hardly worth recognizing, got the wind knocked out of me a couple times though, and I'm exhausted."
"Your getting better at this..." Said twilight. "You've started to become famous, it might not be long before word reaches other cities, you might even start hearing from some of the guilds in Equestria."
"Well... I'm a human that can use magic..." I said. "How could people not be freaking about that."
"Speaking about that... I asked the princess to send me any books about fairies and I've been looking into all this... Stuff." She said. "When a fairy gives herself to her master and they get married they have to join first." She said. "During this each lover gives half of their soul to the one they love... And because of this they are eternal bound, so half of Itt is living in you, no half of you lives in her." She said.
"What else does it say?" I asked.
"Well... That's the reason you have your magic." Said twilight. "Fairy magic is a special kind of magic that resonates in the soul, that's why it's driven off emotion, and with half of its soul in you, you now have the capabilities of producing fairy magic."
"So... Itt is the element of fire... What does that mean?" I asked.
"Fire corresponds to the emotions of anger and hatred, but also love and passion." Said twilight. "Put there are other elements like ice, which responds to vengeance and depression. There's wind which responds to happiness and laughter, water which responds to peace of mind, and calmness." Said twilight.
"What else?" I asked.
"There's uh... Nature magic, which respond to caring, and kindness." She said, "Earth magic which responds to generosity and pride... And that's all I can remember right now."
"Hey... What are you two talking about in there?" Asked Itt from the kitchen.
"Just fairy stuff that twilights been reading about." I said.
"If you wanted to know about the fairies you could have asked me."
"Alright... So what do you know?" I asked.
"Well... Not much." She said sheepishly.
"Okay then..." I said jokingly.
"Hey, don't tease me..." She said running to the doorway. "That's not nice."
"I'm sorry..." I said still laughing. "I still love you..."
"Yeah... I know." She said walking back into the kitchen. When she was gone I chuckled to myself a little and looked back over at twilight.
"So what else is there?" I asked.
"Not much... Most of it just is based around their society, they live in large forests in the trees and have made cities on the tops of canopies." She said. "But there's almost nothing about what their society was like, religions, or their culture. Out of seven books the only one interesting thing I found out was that they did the fairy blade project millions of years ago... And every book seems to believe that it was the ultimate destruction of their whole civilization. None of them know why they would enslave themselves and become weapons... The books just say that this was around the time when the sun died."
"The sun died?" I asked.
"I didn't know what that meant so I looked into it, but I haven't found out anything." Said twilight. "All the books say is that one day the sun, nor the moon would raise into the sky and the whole world was void of both light and magic for an entire month before the sky finally returned." Said twilight. "And that was millions of years ago... Almost everything had been destroyed and consumed by darkness and that's when almost all the fairies had been enslaved.
"Hey Itt...did you hear all that?" I asked yelling into the kitchen.
"I did..." She replied. "But I don't know much about it since I wasn't born at that time." She said. "My parents were both free fairies, there were still some left from what I was told... But then one day the fairy order demanded that the new generation be enslaved... Nobody would tell us why, and so we were enslaved. I was part of the new generation, I was only twenty three at the time... And we became immortal weapons of destructive power...I fell though that I was lucky... I can still remember the faces of small children there. The only ones who were chosen were the fairies from ages 10-25 said Itt... That's how old the fairy weapons are now." She said.
"Do you know anything else?" Asked twilight.
"No... After we were transformed we were all put to sleep for a couple hundred years. During that time something happened, and when we woke up only us new generation of fairies were left there with the specific instructions to continue the legacy and find masters and live on. The idea was that we would find our true love... And the fairy culture would flourish again... But as for why we needed to enslave ourselves... I do not know."
"So in the couple hundred years you were asleep at first all the other fairies were destroyed." I said. "And you don't know."
"But anyway... I don't want to think about it... Come, dinner is finished." She said calling us in. We went in and twilight called down spike. We all sat at the table in twilight's kitchen and ate dinner. It was a bit of an awkward dinner but we managed to keep on a conversation.
"So...uh... I almost forgot." I said. "With all the jobs today me and Itt finally got enough money to find a place and purchase appliances and furniture..."
"You know, with fifty grand you could just buy a house..." Said spike.
"Yeah... But then what are we going to sleep on... The roof?" I said sarcastically.
"For now our only real option is to replace our old furniture and appliances and get a nice apartment someplace close... I think we might buy one over in west ponyville... What do you think Itt?" I asked.
"I think it sounds like a wonderful change from where we used to live...we should go house hunting tomorrow... And then once we find one we can buy furniture me decorate... Ooh, I've always wanted to decorate a house." She said getting excited.
"Well we aren't decorating a huge fancy house, it's just a small apartment." I said. "Then I think if we keep saving up after that maybe one day we could actually buy a house."
"Well you two seem to have tomorrow figured out..." Said twilight. "Just be careful, the press is still after your head and if they figure out where you live then that might be trouble." Said twilight.
"I think if we just go out normally they won't recognize me since they only know me by the armor that I wear..." I said.
"What about the tattoo..." Said spike.
"And if they see you leaving my house they'll know it's you, they did follow you here after all." Added twilight. I let out a defeated sigh and sunk back in my chair.
"Damn it all..." I said. "I'm out of ideas..."
"Well... I have an Idea..." Said Itt.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Well... Twilight's book might not have said so, but when. Fairy finds her true love she gets her wings..." She said.
"You have wings?" I asked surprised because I've seen her naked plenty of times after our wedding and I haven't seen a pair of wings.
"I do... But I can conceal them... And I thought it would be better that I did so that I don't stick out... I figured that I people saw me walking around with wings it would freak them out."
"She has a point..." Said twilight. "So do you just plan to fly Zack around all over the place...? And with no experience of flying?"
"It's our best bet... And I can still use my wings even when I'm in my sword and armor form." She said. "At that time me and Zack become one and I can channel my magic through him..." She said.
"Wait... Can't we just teleport?" I asked.
"Yes... But you saw how exhausted I got after teleporting so much today. If I waste too much energy then I'll revert back to normal." Said Itt.
"And if people see that your sword and armor is actually your wife...there will be no end to the questions you'll get." Said twilight. "A human with magical abilities is enough to make everypony go crazy... Add anything else and they'll probably just explode right then and there."
"That's true..." I said.
"Plus even if we fly we might not be able to keep the press away from us...but we'll get ahead of them and will have time to change back and blend in." Said Itt. "We could fly to south ponyville, and I can change back, the. We can head to a nearby clothing store and buy you some kind of long sleeve shirt to hide the markings."
"That's actually a good plan." Said twilight.
"Yeah...it is." I said. "Sure... Why not, the best and only plan we've got."
"We should rest up for tomorrow." She said getting up from the table.
"Yeah... I think some sleep would be nice." I said stretching my arms and yawning. "I'm beat..."
"I think that it is about time for bed now..." Said twilight getting up and nudging spike. So we all went off to bed, twilight has been letting us stay in her guest bedroom for the last few days since our apartment had been trashed. Me and Itt climbed into bed and held each other. I wore a pair of pajama pants without a shirt or underwear and Itt just slept naked... Like she usually does. I just wrapped my arms around her stomach and held her close to me.
"I can't wait until we have our own lace to stay again..." Said Itt. "And our own comfy bed and pillows and sheets to snuggle each other in." She said as she turned around and place her hands on my chest and she pushed herself into me so that her bare breasts pushed up against my naked chest. She gave me a devious smiled and gave me a kiss on the lips. "And I can't wait until we get to have one fun again..."
"I can't believe I used to ask myself why all of this was happening to me..." I said. "Now I can't think of what my life would be like if none of this ever happened."
"This is just the beginning of the story..." Itt said. "We've still got our whole lives ahead of us..."