I would pay close attention to this chapter, the ending is a key factor to the whole story!
Two Days Later
The day started off nonchalantly enough. I was walking towards the kitchen at the moment. I had already checked in Austin's room to see if he was there. Of course, he wasn't and my next guess was the kitchen. Austin was usually thinking with his stomach, and I felt that this was the best place to go and look for him.
I pushed open the doors to the mess, and looked around. There were a few of the guard there, just sitting and eating, socializing. I smiled at this, before noticing Austin about halfway down the aisles of tables. Before I got there, I passed by a group of humans who were eating alone. A few of the glared at me, but I could swear that one of them was giving me an almost sympathetic gaze.
There had always been rumours about what the princesses were doing to us behind closed doors. Some of the theories I had heard were quite enthralling, some were rather disturbing, and some were downright disgusting. Things ranging from torture and experimenting to sexual encounter for a few of the more adventurous guards. I was pretty sure that the princesses knew about all of them but as for now, our presence still remained hidden to the public. A couple of kids was of no importance to the people of Equestria. But once those kids took the elements of harmony, a commonly known historical artifact, and all but destroy them, it becomes a much bigger story. So for now, things were hush hush.
I walked up to the table that Austin was sitting at, and he smiled at me as I walked up.
"Hey, did those guys over there look angry to you?" I asked him as I sat down, motioning to the group that I had passed when I came in.
"Who?" he asked as he looked to where I was pointing. "Oh, them? I mean, I didn't really pay any attention. I was hungry, so I just got my food and sat down," he told me. I nodded as I poured myself a glass of water from the table.
"Hm, oh well. How's the whole 'archer' thing going?" I asked him, taking a sip of water.
"I mean, once I started getting tired, I could barely pull back the string, but otherwise, it's not so bad," he told me.
I pulled my water over to me, and ran my finger around the rim. This was just something I liked to do when I was waiting. I ran my finger around the rim of the glass without looking at it, and pulled my hand back in surprise and a bit of pain. The glass apparently had a chip in it, on the rim, to be precise. I looked at my hand to see what had happened.
"I mean, it's kinda hard to pull back in general, but that's probably just because I need to work out more," he told me, lost in his own train of thought. I, however, was concentrated on another ordeal.
"Do we have a weight room in the castle? I mean, obviously. What else would the guards do to workout,"
My finger was bleeding. Okay, that's normal. But... something was off. My blood wasn't normal. It wasn't a deep red like it was supposed to be. It was yellow. And not a normal either. If it was a darker yellow, I could pass it off as being some sort of infection. But... this yellow was the brightest yellow I have ever seen. A bright, golden yellow tainted my finger. I stared at it in confusion.
"Hey, are you good? It's just a small cut,"
I looked to Austin, and flipped my hand around so he could see it. He looked at my finger for a few seconds before giving me confused look.
"Is it infected?" he asked me.
"See, that's what I thought when I first saw it. Look again. It's way too bright to be infected," I told him. He looked a little harder.
"What if it's something that we've never seen before?" he asked.
"We were perfectly healthy a few days ago, and if it is an infection, I don't feel sick at all," I told him. I reached for the napkin that wrapped the utensils, and unwrapped them. Before I had the napkin, my eyes landed on the knife. I tilted my head in thought. Slowly, I picked up the knife, and looked to Austin.
"Austin, when was the last time you had your blood done," I asked him.
"...like a week ago? A little more? Why?" he asked me. I took the knife and placed the blade against my finger, looking up to him.
"...why?" he asked me.
"What if this is what we're looking for? Something might have finally changed!" I told him. He gave me a concerned gaze, before sighing and sitting back, nodding to me. I took a breath in, and drew the blade across my finger in one quick motion. As I was hoping, a stream of golden coloured blood oozed from my finger, as I put the knife down. I held my finger upside down, letting the blood pool up into a drip. The liquid amassed on my finger until it could no longer support itself, and dripped off of my finger onto the table. We looked at the drop on the table, puzzled at the yellow colour. Austin looked up to me.
"Should we go show the princess?" he asked me.
"Uh... yeah, probably," I told him. We stood up, and went out the doors opposite where I entered.
Upon arriving at the throne room, we found the doors wide open. Celestia was behind her desk as usual, signing away at documents. She looked up to us as she walked in, giving us a smile.
"Hello Austin, Daniel. How can I help you today?" she asked us. I looked to Austin, before stepping up to her desk. I help up my finger, which was still freshly coated in blood, and was only starting to stop bleeding. She looked at it, and gave me a quizzical look.
"That's blood. Any idea why it's not red?" I asked her. She seemed almost dazed for a few moments.
Her eyes widened almost immediately.
She looked past us, and called to one of the guards who was on duty outside of the room. He came trotting in, and saluted the princess.
"Yes your highness?"
"Allow me to see your weapon soldier," she said to the guard. I could swear I caught a confused look my way, but before he could ask anything, he drew his sword from his scabbard, holding it up to the princess. Celestia thanked the guard, and he nodded, taking a step back. I looked back to the princess.
"Daniel? Do you know if it was just your finger that bled yellow?"she asked me.
"Uh, yeah, just my finger, I don't know about anywhere else," I told her. She nodded, and using her magic, placed the sword against the bare flesh of my other arm. I pulled away immediately.
"Whoa whoa! What are you doing?" I yelled to her.
"Daniel, if any other parts of your body bleed yellow, we have an extremely important matter to deal with. I can only tell you what this is if you let me know," she told me, lowering her gaze. I looked to Austin, who had moved back, and was standing beside the guard from earlier. I looked back, and swallowed nervously.
"I can cast a spell that will eliminate the pain," she told me. I looked into her eyes. She was serious.
Jesus...
I threw my caution to the wind, and held my arm out. She nodded, and ignited her horn. My arm was coated in a yellow aura, before it faded away. I clenched and opened my fist a few times, before holding it out. Celestia pressed the blade against my arm, and looked to me.
"How deep are you going to cut?" I asked cautiously. She gave me a reassuring smile.
"Nowhere near deep enough to hurt you permanently," she told me. I nodded.
She quickly drew the sword across my arm, and I practically jumped back in... nothing, actually. There was no pain, no pressure, nothing, which was good. I looked to my arm. Again, the golden yellow liquid from my finger was pouring out, dripping down my arm onto my elbow, and eventually onto the floor.
"...what the fuck is that stuff?" Austin asked, looking to the princess. She used her magic to clean the blade. I was frozen, looking at the huge gash in my arm. However... the main thing that captivated me... was the colour. It was the brightest, clearest shade of yellow that I have ever seen in my life. And it was my blood! Like, what the hell is this stuff?
"Then it is as I thought..." Celestia trailed off. I looked to her confusedly.
"What? What does that mean?" I asked, getting progressively more scared of what was to come. She then did something that I was not expecting.
Celestia held up her hoof, and drew the blade across her own hoof, putting the same style of gash in her leg. And just like me, the same golden yellow liquid flowed out of her wound. She looked to me.
"Daniel, the substance that courses through your veins has a name," she told me. I tilted my head in suspicion.
"It is called... ichor. In terms of liquid, it is the blood that runs through the veins of gods and immortals," she told me. My eyes widened.
"You have the same blood," I told her. She nodded.
"...you're immortal," I told her. She nodded.
The silence was deafening.
"...am... I immortal?" I asked her.
She nodded.