But I don't want to go out in a spectacular way...

As soon as Celestia told me this, the pressure in my head increased, and soon, I lost consciousness, but I was still able to think freely. I have no idea how long I was out for, and I have no memory of what happened. It was just black, and I was left alone with my thoughts.

At this point, I was starting to regret the idea of Celestia taking the elements back, as the proposition of being able to use magic was starting to sound really, really fun. But realistically, I had no say in the matter. The elements were not mine. Actually, thinking about it, were they even the princesses? I mean, they were the first to use them yes, but were they-

I was ripped from my thoughts by a great pain erupted in my head. I still could not see or feel anything, besides the pain. I started to panic. I was trapped my own body, and there was nothing I could do to even determine the cause of the pain, let alone stop it. The pain stopped for a moment.

WHAM!

If I could scream, I would have. A ridiculously sharp pain shot through my mind, then stopped.

WHAM!

Again. And again, there was nothing I could do.

WHAM!

...please stop...

WHAM!

...

WHAM!

At this point, I could feel my thoughts fading, as if I was falling unconscious while being unconscious. It was a strange feeling, and I could-

WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM!

My thoughts faded completely, and then, all was dark. Again.

My eyes slowly opened as I regained consciousness, shutting to stop the light form blinding me. Before I could register any other feeling, a wave of immense pain washed over me. My head, predominantly. I winced, and tried to block out anything I could. The sun, the pain, the feeling of having no idea as to where I was, coupled with the potential fact that the elements were gone, it was all too much for me. The pain was incredible, like nothing I have ever felt before. Before anything else could happen, I felt the pull of unconsciousness, and soon, everything was quiet again.

Later, though I have no idea how much later, I awoke to the sound of a voice.

"What now?"

"Now, we wait,"

"We can't just wait! He's unconsciousness, we could just take them, and call it an accident!"

No, two voices. There were two voices, and they were talking about me.

"Don't you get it? We can't take them back, they're-"

I groaned loudly, catching the attention of the two individuals in the room.

"We will discuss this with the both of them, am I clear?"

I slowly opened my eyes, noting the ceiling. Pushing myself up, I appeared to be back in the same room as I was placed in when I was in a coma. I gazed across the room, to see Austin not in his bed. I looked to my right, to see the two princesses standing by my bed.

"...where's Austin?" I said through my teeth, as I finished sitting up in my bed.

"He awoke up while I was exploring your mind. He must have had a small panic attack, but we managed to get him under control. He is with Doctor Windy right now, hopefully taking the physical that you were supposed to take," Celestia told me, with a hint of annoyance.

"Is he okay," I asked her.

"He seemed just as stable as you when he awoke, but the stress of not knowing where he is might have overwhelmed him. Hopefully Doctor Windy won't have a hard time with him. In retrospect, we should have explained things a bit more clearly, but it is of no matter now," she told me.

I looked to Luna, who had a somber look on her face. Back to Celestia, her face matched that of her sisters. I speculated that something was wrong.

"...what's wrong?" I asked them. Celestia looked to me. Her gaze darkened.

"We were not able to extract the elements from you. Quite the contrary, actually," she told me.

Internally, the implications of this were quite happy for me. The prospect of being able to conjure and use magic came back to me, and the idea stuck with me. My gaze went back to Luna, who had turned her look of solemness in that of... anger? Anger, again.

What's new?

"...why not?" I asked, barely above a whisper. The room was deathly quiet. People talk about being able to hear a pin drop when it's quiet, but I swear I could hear my heart beating inside of me.

Celestia lowered her head in thought.

"The elements have done something that I have never in my lifetime seen before. When mind diving, I have the ability to identify different parts of your being, because that's how the spell was written, with simplicity in mind. I can identify your emotions, different points in your life, and even... your soul." Celestia told me. My gaze hardened, and I opened my ears a little bit wider.

"When you look at someone's soul, in their mind at least, you can see a general idea as to what that person is like. Turmoil, pain, happiness, ecstasy, it all correlates with their soul. And I can see that in the... window, if you will. I can look in, and see how they feel. When I looked inside of your window, however..." she trailed off. I turned to look at Luna with and inquisitive gaze, to which she matched my look.

Celestia looked back up to me with a hard gaze. I felt the blood in my veins turn to ice. The gaze was rock, and I listened intently.

"When I looked into your soul, I saw a multi-coloured swirling orb of human essence, and that's what tipped me off. The elements of harmony, however you agitated them, have merged with your soul. I have never in my life seen anything like it, but when I saw your soul, I knew what I was looking at. The colors were a dead giveaway. Somehow, someway, the elements found a home in you, and merged their magic, their very essence, with your soul, your being," she explained to me.

I sat back, and pondered the thought that she had just put into my mind.

...how... does... how does that even work? My soul?

"At this point in time, we don't know how we would even begin to extract them, or if we even could. Tampering with an individuals soul had been known to have very negative effects, ranging from a simple change of character, to very violent, aggressive deaths. And trust me, nobody want that. Not me, not you, for sure, and certainly not the custodians," she said with a small amount of a smile.

For one, she was right. A violent and aggressive death was not on my list of things that I wanted to accomplish in the immediate future.

Or ever, actually...

Also, there was the whole ordeal of the elements. What in the actual fuck does that mean? My soul? I thought was just an idea to get people to go to church, not an actual thing. And I made my question well known. I raised my had slightly.

"I have a few questions. Uh... how in the actual fuck does that work?" I practically yelled. Celestia raised her eyebrow, and turned to Luna. They exchanged a glance, before carrying on.

"Like I said, at the moment, we are not sure as to how this happened. And if I had to place a bet, I would be willing to wager that the elements are not coming out of your soul anytime soon. We will look into it, old spells and tomes, but for now, the elements will remain with you. Presently, we can also assume that Austin took a bit of the magic with him, based on the fact that he was in the cave with you, and the aura of magic that he gives off. It is there, but not quite as pronounced as your aura. Your aura is significantly larger than your friends, but his is there," she told me.

The idea of using magic danced back and forth in my head, and I posed my question.

"If the elements are inside me, what about magic? You said it earlier, that I might be able to cast spells. What about that? Can I use magic?" I asked, speaking rather quickly, expressing my excitement. Celestia looked down for a few seconds.

"At the moment, again, we don't know, but in the future? When the elements magic has had the opportunity to set in? Possibly. Just possibly though, I would not get my hopes up at the moment,"

This excited me. It really, really did. As a human, and especially in Dismith, pony and human interaction was commonplace. But seeing unicorns be able to lift things with their magic, watching pegasi fly through the sky, and seeing earth ponies tend to their crops with ease, it made me feel a little bit... inadequate? Hm... handicapped was more of and appropriate word, I think. Regardless, I always felt a little bit cheated when it came to the spectrum of things ponies could do in this world. I mean, sure we had our hands, but compared to what could be done with magic? Looking back on it, I felt a little bit more than cheated, in retrospect.

I looked at Luna, and then back to Celestia.

"So... what happens now?" I asked, at a loss for words.

"Now, we monitor you. We watch you, closely. We monitor your vitals, your physical prowess, you mental coordination, your emotional stability. We watch your style choice, your speech habits, your dietary choices, everything. We put you under a lens, and leave you out in the sun. We make sure that what the elements did to you doesn't make you a danger to the well beings of my little ponies. And then, when we sure you aren't? We rehabilitate you, and introduce you back into society. But for now? You are to remain under constant watch," she finished conducting me. Luna smirked sadistically at me. I looked between the two.

"Fucking... good..."

Sorry for the long absence in updates. The holidays rolled around, and then the new year happened, and now I am in the middle of the exam period. I didn't stop, as I have been constantly adding to the chapter, little by little. I'll try to get back to a more consistent upload schedule now. Let me know what you think!