Chapter 10: Power Surge
"I sat with my anger long enough until she told me her real name was grief…"
C. S. Lewis
Twilight POV
As the man slowly turned after watching his cap be destroyed, small red sparks of electricity shot up his arm out of his clenched shaking fist, arcing to anything metal nearby with small buzzes filling the room.
"Y-you…" The sparking man stammers as he takes a single menacing step forward toward the pegasus who wronged him.
Spike and I share a look of panic as we know exactly what Charlie's gonna do next. We immediately jump up out of our seats and sprint over to them as fast as we can knowing this can't end well, but it's too late… The deed was done.
Charlie raises his arms as if he were to crush a now frightened Rainbow Dash, "I'll FUCKING KILL YO-RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!"
A gigantic clap of lightning flashes the room knocking me back towards the table, deafening me as I slam against somepony still sitting down and tumble downwards into a hurt mess on the floor. As my ears are ringing, I slowly shake my head to keep the disoriented feeling at bay and notice I'm tangled around Rarity who also seems to be as dazed as me.
"-hat really hur-" is all I make out as I see her lips move.
I feel a hoof on my side and look over to see a focused Flash Sentry looking me over as his lips move as he begins shouting at me, but I can't make out what he's saying.
"-iligh-ou-oka-" Is all I hear, and I shake my head again as he shouts yet again this time more clearly. "Twilight, are you alright?!"
I rub a hoof on my aching head and answer, "Yeah… Oh Celestia that hurt…" I look up at him as he's still checking my welfare. "What happened?"
He shakes his head still focused on me and Rarity but he eventually answers, "I don't know! Charlie exploded or something! Are you sure you're okay? You tumbled pretty hard."
"Charlie?" I ignore his comment asking about my health as the thought of the man now enters my head.
Some bright flashes cause me to look over towards the origin and I gasp in horror realizing the smoking body of Charlie lying face down on the floor in a small crater a little ways away by a now melted oven. Spike was between us shaking his head with one eye squinted shut as if it was hurting and he looks over at me seemingly confused what happened. He turns slowly over towards where Charlie laid motionless and the drake recoils at the sight.
"CHARLIE!" He screams but the human doesn't move a muscle, still smoldering as small arcs of lightning buzz around him every now and again.
The drake, with great effort, pulls himself up on his feet and sprints over to man. As he touches him an arc sends him backwards a couple of feet and he rubs his head as the pain strikes him, but this doesn't stop him from slowly returning to his side, albeit without touching him this time. Seeing this, I pull myself up and limp as fast as I could toward the pair, and I gasp as I get closer.
Charlie was in tatters. His shirt was all but singed off him exposing some of his burnt and bubbled torso making me cringe as it didn't look like it tickled. One of his pant legs seemed to of blown off him above the knee, burned just like his shirt. One of his brown boots now looked of charcoal, seemingly for good. Using my magic, though it was difficult to concentrate as I was still hurting, I flip him over onto his back.
Spike and I gasp even louder.
His wavy brown hair was scorched and patchy in spots like someone lit a campfire on his head, burns starting on the right side of his neck float downwards toward his hand, getting more severe the further down you look. In his palm was the mark, the W glowing red as if it were sitting in a forge for an extended amount of time. Spike touches him again getting zapped but not enough to send him away like before and slightly shakes him.
"Charlie? Charlie, wake up!" He shakes him harder but no response. The drake frowns and puts his head on his chest as if he was listening for something, he practically does a back flip from distress and looks over at me in hysterics. "Twilight! He's not breathing!"
Looking at Charlies chest, I see no movement whatsoever making my blood run cold and I stare at him not knowing what to do as panic begins to take me.
Spike grabs me and starts shaking with tears in his eyes. "WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!"
I shake my head knowing my little friend is right knocking some sense into me. With everything I have, I feel my magic course through my body and concentrates on my horn as I prepare a spell, I've prayed to the stars that I'd never have to use. The human slowly gets enveloped in the glow of magic as I feel his very essence. I frown through my concentration as I sense it.
His soul. It's faint but it is there.
Somethings… Somethings wrong. It's…
I shake my head as I feel the spell waver and I know I don't have enough time to analyze what I'm feeling. I have to act! Finally, when I feel my magic grip it in its entirety, I let loose the magic sending a course of energy through his body. I grit my teeth as the power and complications of the spell take hold of me but persevere to save my friend. Charlie jerks every couple of seconds as the incantation does its job but nothing.
Then, to my relief, it finally happens.
Charlie eyes open partially, and he takes in a big gulp of air, though it still sounded incredibly weak. He takes a couple quicker heavy breaths, but his eyes eventually close and he starts breathing shallowly. Thankfully, he doesn't stop letting me release my bated breath I didn't know I was holding. Spike laughs in elation hearing him breathing and hugs the human still crying, sniffling now and again. Feeling woozy from the spell I collapse out of exhaustion and here some hoof steps behind me.
"Is… Is he alright?" Flash asks concerned.
"Oh no!" Before I could answer a voice rings out by the kitchen table and the sight of Fluttershy descending on the human looking at his wounds fervently. "This is bad! This is really, really, bad! He's in a lot of pain! I've got to go get my first aid kit!" Before I could even say anything the timid pegasus bolts out a window, letting a chill in, towards no doubt her medical bag.
I hear some more hoof steps behind me causing me to turn. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity all looking at Charlie in horror.
"I-I… How is he even alive?" Rarity blurts out as she starts to turn green looking at his wounds.
"I… saved… him… barely…" I say between tired breaths and my head sinks to the floor, unable to keep it up much longer.
Pinkie Pie gasps dramatically as if something hit her, "I KNEW I felt a doozy!" Pinkie cries out in terror.
"Hwat!?" Applejack screams and scowls at the pink blob. "Why didn't you say somethin'!"
"I thought I was cold!" Pinkie shakes her head. "When we were eating right after he told us about his birthday! I felt a pinkie sense come on, but I just thought it was just chilly in here, not a doozy!"
"Unbelievable…" Applejack shakes her head and sighs staring at the charred mess in front of her, "It was a doozy alright… He practically all but popped! What happened?"
"The… mark…" Is all I rasp as I start feeling myself come back a little. I lift my head and continue. "The mark… set him off… Almost killed him…"
Spike still clenching onto the human turns to me. "B-but I've never seen it this bad! How could it get that out of hoof? He got incinerated in an instant!"
I slowly sit up and frown at the human, "He was very angry… Like Sugarcube Corner kind of angry… The mark must of reciprocated the level of anger he felt 10 fold, is what I'm guessing."
"That's a kind of anger ah really didn't want ta see again…" Applejack grimaces remembering that day.
"Darling, are you saying that this mark can actually kill him? I thought it was a deterrent, not-" Rarity shakes her head like she doesn't want to finish the sentence. "-a kill switch."
"I thought it was too, but it seems I was wrong." I frown staring at Spike still in tears, holding onto whats left of Charlie's shirt. "The Mark of Wrath is a lot more dangerous than I'd anticipated. It's a miracle he's not dead…"
"What did you do, Twilight? I saw yer magic, but it didn't look like no healin' spell ah've ever seen. Even if it were, he still doesn't look too good…" Applejack surmises.
"Because it wasn't a healing spell." I sigh being reminded of the magic. "It was a soul catcher incantation." The room looks at each other confused, obviously never hearing it before. "I held onto his soul so it couldn't escape into another realm…"
Pinkie Pie scratches her head. "Like with a butterfly net?"
"No, Pinkie, with magic…" I sigh once more and stand up, though very shakily as I continue, "What I did was very dangerous. Essentially, I prevented his passing, or in other words saving his life." I frown as I feel my ears lay back. "He was really close and I fear there may have been some repercussions because of it…"
"What'cha mean, Twi?" Applejack asks.
"I mean that when I cast the spell I may hav-" I pause as a whistling noise could be heard from the open window and it's getting louder and louder until a yellow streak of color bolts through and envelops the near dead human, knocking Spike to the side.
"It's gonna be okay now, Charlie…" a snow covered Fluttershy coos as she quickly gets to work pulling things out of her white medical bag. "Angel, help me get this shirt off him."
Angel, her bunny, hops out of the bag wearing a nurse's cap, holding a pair of scissors, and bounces over slowly cutting his way from his shoulder down to his waste. When the rabbit finishes his cuts, he slowly peals the shirt over causing all of us to gasp and the bunny to jump. All along his arm and towards his chest were what looked like glowing runes scribbled in a language I couldn't understand, but it looked sinister in nature. Upon closer inspection they looked like scare tissue, softly protruding outwards from his bald alien skin.
"What the hay is that!" Applejack screams.
"Oh! It looks so ghastly!" Rarity hides behind Pinkie. "And-and so horrifying!"
"What kind of cutie mark is that?" Pinkie all but shouts gazing upon the symbols.
"That's no cutie mark…" Flash states as stares at the scars warily.
Spike and I shake our heads completely befuddled as we've never seen them before today. It must have something to do with the explosion, it has to.
Fluttershy, ignoring the runes, turns to her bunny assistant. "Angel, I need as much ever-aloe you can find and start placing it around his hand." She instructs as she dumps the contents of the bag on the floor looking for something in particular and picks up a vial with golden liquid inside. "This is really gonna hurt…"
She slowly pours the vials contents in an area around his neck and the human immediately starts groaning in pain as Angel starts lathering the aloe on the burns. Fluttershy shushes him and rubs his head softly to tell him it's okay. One of his eyes open a little before shutting again and his noises cease. Before we could ask what, she did we watch as some of the burned area around where she poked him start to slowly heal back to normal, but not all of it. The affected area around his arm is still in shambles but the aloe seemed to have helped significantly as the bunny applied it diligently.
"What is that stuff, Shy" Spike asks between sniffles looking grateful that the burns are being healed.
"Oh. Well, living around the Everfree you learn some things about the plants that grow in them." She points at the aloe. "That's from a plant that grows by my house. I discovered it by accident one day when I walked through it after I burned my hoof working with Philomena ages ago. It worked wonders and the pain was gone by the end of the day!"
I feel my forehead knit together. "What about that glowing stuff you put in him? I've never seen anything like it."
"I needed a lot of help with one of my animals one day and Zecora happened by as I was tending to him. She showed me a vial of it and gave it to me to use and the little critter perked right up after I applied it. She called it 'Nirvana Nectar', I think, it comes from somewhere in her homeland. I try to get as much as I can from her when she visits home every year. Luckily, I still had a little left…"
Nirvana Nectar… That sounds really familiar. Maybe I happened upon it somewhere in my studies. I'll have to make a mental note to research this mythical plant some more. Just as I was about to ask her more questions about it a groan from the other side of the room pulls me away from Fluttershy.
"Oh… My head…" a pile of rubble on the floor slightly shifts and a dazed Rainbow Dash pokes her head up, her eyes spinning around. She shakes her head and pulls herself up and shakes the debris off her and slowly walks over still holding her head. "Is everypony oka-whoah! It looks like a bomb went off in here!"
Spike looks over at her and I see his face shift to something I'd only ever seen on one pony before and currently he's passed out on the floor. He stood up slowly, his tiny, clenched fists start shaking and his pupils dilate through his scowl. Before I could even blink the dragon rushed at her tackling her and started scratching her with his claws.
"Spike! Get off m- OW!" A clawed hand scratching her face ended her plea. Thankfully, Rarity grabbed him with her magic, pulling him off the pegasus, as my own magic is still weakened from the spell.
"That is enough, Spike!" Rarity exclaims as she pulls him closer to the rest of us but her grip on him doesn't relinquish its grasp.
"What was that for, you little cretin?!" She screams as she flies up off the floor looking down at him. "Can somepony explain what the hay even happened in here?!"
"What happened? What happened?! You happened! You-you-" Spike pauses in irritation as some green flames shoot out his nostrils, "-you shit!"
A collective gasp out of all of us could be heard.
Rainbow looks at Spike like he'd lost his marbles rubbing a fresh wound from the drake's attack, but before she could say anything she finally noticed Charlie on the floor not looking the best and her eyes widen like saucers.
"You almost killed him!" Rainbow looks over at spike still silent. "You just had to torture him! You and your ego! I know he beat you up, but he didn't kill you, Rainbow!"
She guffaws at the comment. "How could I of done this? I didn't do anything, Spike, so you really need to check your ey-Whoah!" A streak of green flames shoots up at her making her fly over to a new side of the room.
"The hat! The stupid hat! You kept just pushing and pushing!" Spike screams as Rarity's magic holds him a little tighter, "Just leave him alone! Can't you see that's all he wants?! He just wants to be left alone!"
Rainbow looks back and forth between Charlie and Spike incredulously, not believing what she was hearing before scowling at them both, "He should have thought about that before acting like the monster he is…"
"g-get… you… Bill…" The human groans causing most of us to look at man as he starts wreathing on the floor, delirious from the pain.
Rarity loosens her magical grip on the small dragon, and he waddles over to the grumbling man who's still being taken care of by a worried Fluttershy and a dutiful Angel.
Spike massages his forehead and turns to glare daggers at the pegasus. "The only monster I see is the one that burns things that matter to ponies." He snaps making Rainbow and I flinch at his attitude. He turns to me, "Tell her, Twilight…"
"You can't possibly agree with the little gremlin on this, right Twilight?"
"Rainbow…" I start as I shake my head as I'm very conflicted as what I'm about to say. "Rainbow, I think it's best if you don't come by the library for a while."
"What? B-but you can't be serious?!" Rainbow stutters. "You're my friend, Twilight, you can't just ask me to not come over anymore!"
I sigh, "I know I'm your friend and I still am…" I give her a very solemn look. "But I can't deal with the both of you in the same room anymore. Especially, now that I know this can kill him."
Rainbow stutters and blinks rapidly before finally her hooves raise to the ceiling out of frustration. "Why?! Why are you defending him?! Ever since he got here, you've been swooning over him like a lost colt and I don't understand why!"
"Because he's my responsibility, Rainbow! I brought him here and I'm the one who can't send him back! All of this is my fault! If you're gonna blame anypony, blame me! If I'd just left well enough alone, none of us would dealing with it like we have been!" Rainbow looks like she wants to argue but I continue. "So yeah, I have to defend him because I don't know what else to do. I can't live with myself if I know I ruined somepony's life when it could have been avoided." I sit down and feel my ears droop. "We're stuck in this mess because I must know everything there is to know and we're all paying for it…"
Rainbow shakes her head like she wasn't believing what she was hearing, "Twilight, this isn't your fault! If you-"
"Rainbow, please… Don't make this harder than it has to be." I shake my head and give a small sad laugh. "If you're not gonna help then I don't need you here."
She opens her mouth to argue, but nothing comes out. She looks between us, small tears start to form, and she sniffles, "Fine! I-I didn't want to be here anyways!"
With that she explodes out of the kitchen and into the cold leaving us in the somewhat destroyed kitchen with my feelings hurt over sending her away.
I heave a sigh and turn to the others. "You all can leave too. I won't make this your problem anymore."
"You don't think this is your fault, Twi, do you? Cause it ain't. I told Rainbow till her ears fell off to play nice and she won't listen to me." Applejack affirms. "Besides the Princess made him my responsibility as well and I'll happily take it."
Rarity nods, agreeing with the Cowmare. "Darling, I know you brought him here, but I assure you, he is as much my responsibility as he is yours. You mustn't blame yourself for something that's entirely out of your control."
"Twilight, you're the bestiest bestest bestie to ever best! You can't possibly think we'd leave a bestie hangin' like that." Pinkie dances.
Fluttershy after finishing applying some more aloe walks over and gives me a friendly smile. "All you did was what you thought was right and even now you're still doing that. If you're to be blamed, then so am I." she turns to Angel. "Right Angel?"
The rabbit puts his paw up and tilts it back and forth with a dubious expression to as if to say not really. Fluttershy then gave him the stare and gave me a nervous thumbs up making giggle softly. I can see why Charlie likes him.
"And you have my help as well, Miss Sparkle." Flash gleams. "After all, I was in charge of keeping Charlie out of harm's way, though I do have to admit I must start doing a better job." He laughs to himself. "If not, well, having him stuffed and put on the mantle might give me the same feeling of accomplishment."
Charlie mumbles something after Flashes comment making us look at him with one eye kinda propped open.
Spike grabs onto the hurt man. "Oh, thank Celestia you're awake! Can you say that again? I didn't quite hear you." He mumbles again getting used to talking. "One more time…"
"f-fuck… y-you… Flash…" Is all I hear as the human's eyes softly open fully and he winces, sitting up in a considerable amount of pain.
Flash shakes his head and sighs. "Welcome back, Charlie, not a moment too soon… You know, the next time you explode I'll bring marshmallows to roast." he deadpans causing Spike and I to giggle knowing things are back to normal for the most part.
Charlie winces like he trying to move something and looks over at his arm in complete tatters. I see one of his many fingers twitch a little and soon enough he balls a small fist groaning in pain while doing so. Even though the aloe and the nectar healed a lot of the wounds he still didn't look great. The new runes seemed to have embedded themselves permanently into his skin but at least they aren't glowing anymore. Same with the mark itself. He then just sits there with a look of disappointment slowly shaking his head as if he was just told something he didn't want to hear. After a second, he takes a deep breath before shifting to his side to roll onto his knees to get better leverage to stand.
Fluttershy moves to get in his way, "Oh no. You shouldn't be getting up right now, Charlie, you almos-whoa."
He softly places his good arm on fluttershy's back and uses her as leverage to assist himself onto his feet which she allows him to do. Somehow, despite his condition, he manages to stand fully erect and looks up at the ceiling like he was seeing stars from the pain. He takes one step forward nearly collapsing but thankfully Flash catches him and helps him to his feet again. Charlie pauses holding onto the stallion and looks over towards the melted oven. A look of genuine sorrow overtakes him no doubt being reminded of his beloved hat. Or was it something more?
Regardless Flash nudges him to get his attention and looks at him pitifully for a moment before speaking, "C'mon, let's get you to your room… Are you good to walk?"
He just grunts as an answer and takes another limp forward with the help of both Fluttershy and Flash at his sides as they slowly, but surely, head towards the exit leaving us alone. Spike gets up to follow but I grab him with my magic.
"Ah what? Twilight, I'm going with them!" He snarls.
I scowl at him, "No, you're not." I state rather curtly, "You're not going anywhere, not with the way you've been acting! Besides we have research to do, and I'd like to send Princess Celestia a letter regarding the mark."
Spike just grumbles like a certain primate who just left and crosses his arms out of contempt but doesn't argue with me further.
I turn to the rest of the mares still looking at me. "I'm sorry lunch was all ruined for us today, I know you all worked hard on the food, but Spike and I need to clean this mess and start researching immediately. If you mares would like to stay and help, you're more than welcome to and you have my thanks if you do."
"O' course, Twi, it's the least we can do!" Applejack turns to the rest, "C'mon, mares! Let's clean this mess up while they do their thing!"
They get to work without any complaint moving some of the debris and it makes me smile knowing how much they all mean to me. A tugging on my magic causes me to frown, knowing that Spike is trying to escape. I turn and lo and behold, he's basically digging at the ground trying to force himself out of my grasp and towards the exit. When I lift him up off the floor and pull him closer, he scowls at me and blows a raspberry in my face.
"That's it! We're gonna have a talk. Now!" I say impatiently and pull him away with me out of the kitchen.
Rarity looked like she wanted to say something as we walked by but decided against it as I marched away to the adjacent room. I stomped all the way to my Equestrian 101 makeshift classroom and throw spike into the school desk that was comically small for Charlie. He tried to make a run for it the moment I let go, but I cast a ball and chain around his ankle making him trip mid sprint and he scowls at me.
"What is your problem, Spike!" I start and pace back and forth. "Ever since Saturday, you've been fighting me every step of the way! I've noticed some small things about a month ago, like your snark, getting a little worse but this is getting out of hand! I say one thing and you do the other! I say put those books away and you throw them around making more of a mess. I say write a letter and you start snoring and goof off somewhere for the better part of the day. And now, cursing like a sailor? Attacking another pony? What is the matter with you?"
He takes a seat huffing while crossing his arms, doing his best Charlie impression. I'm not making a quip either, he looks exactly like the human who was sitting in the same spot about an hour ago.
"So, you're saying that your fine with what rainbow did." He sneers. "That you're okay that she almost killed him?"
"Of course not! I'm-" I groan knowing this is gonna end as bad as this morning. "Spike, please, it's bad enough I have Charlie to deal with but now I have to worry about you too?"
"I guess you do then!" She snarls. "Besides it's okay when Charlie does it, but when little Spikey-Wikey does something it's the end of the world. Just like always…"
"What are you talking about?"
He leans back in the chair and looks off in the distance without answering.
I sigh as my pacing stops and walk over to desk with pleading eyes, "Spike, I'm just worried about you." I place my head on the desk and smile at him. "C'mon, Spike, you're like family to me. I just want to know what's going inside of that noggin of yours. You can tell me anything!"
He sighs and looks at me frowning. "For the first time in my entire life I actually feel alive," He states as a scowl joins his frown. "And its amazing!"
I blink. "W-what?"
He shakes his head. "You wouldn't get it, Twilight… So just drop it, please."
I look at him unsure what to say. He didn't feel alive before? What does that mean?
"Spike, I'm trying to understand you, but I can't if you lock up on me." He growls at me as a warning which I ignore. "Does this have something to do with Charlie?"
"It has nothing to do with him, I don't know what you're talking about." Spike, states rather quickly letting me know it has everything to do with him.
"Really?" I snort. "Cause it's like I'm talking to a miniature version of him right now. Are you gonna make some crude joke about your genitals next? Threaten my life with a straw?"
He looks at me confused. "What are genie tails?"
I sigh, "Never mind…" He's acting like him so much I forgot how young he is. "I'm not trying to hurt you, you're like a brother to me, but saying things like you never felt alive before makes me very concerned! How can it not! Spike, just tell me that you're okay."
He looks unsure at the desk like he wants to spill the beans, however, his look hardens letting me know that I won't be getting a true answer out of him today.
"I'm fine, Twilight, just leave me alone." he looks down at the table and notices something before grabbing a very familiar leather-bound journal that belonged to a certain grump of a stallion. He opens it and flips through the pages with uninterested eyes like he's seen the contents before.
"He's not gonna like you flipping through that…" I warn, knowing full well the consequences should Charlie find out.
He just huffs. "I can't read any of it anyways, so his secrets are still safe, I just look at the pictures." he pauses on one and giggles and turns it towards me. "Like this one Bwahahaha"
Gazing upon the page he points at and notice a caricature of myself looking quite stupid. My eyes were cross eyed, my head was abnormally big with my brain pushing on my skull to encapsulate my know-it-all-ism as Charlie put it, and behind me was a pile of poop and stink lines coming off it as well as myself. A speech bubble was written above me in a language I can't read, but no doubt says something that humiliates me.
I find myself pouting as I hear Spike still laughing. He pulls it back closer and starts flipping again with childlike bemusement sparkling in his eyes when he spots another.
"And look how he draws the cannons!" He flexes and I pull the journal back over to me and almost gasp.
An entire page was a portrait of Spike sitting on the floor writing a letter. His tongue was sticking out like he was concentrating while the feather poked at the piece of paper and a stack of very detailed books were behind him was propping him up as he wrote away. The time and effort into it was insane and must have taken a long time to finish. To make it more clear about the quality the picture, it looks more real than the dragon who's literally sitting in front of me.
The next page was actually another drawing of what looked like Charlie's point of view lazing about the library. I can see his torso and his feet strewn on the floor like he was propped up on the wall resting. The area in the library in question was the main study room which was drawn in excellent detail to the point of making out labels of books that I recognized nearby. A couple of feet away was myself, not drawn like an idiot to my surprise, studying. I actually see the book I'm reading too! It was the Psychology of a Minotaur volume 3.
Hey… I remember this day.
It was about two months after his arrival, Spike had left for the day on Canterlot business and I was hoping maybe catching up on some Minotaur culture to see if it would help me deal with Charlie's terseness a little more. A hopeful dream indeed, as even he can out-crude one of those belligerent things given what I read. While I was studying, he asked if anyone was sitting where the picture was drawn from and he just sat their in relative silence for a good while. It made me nervous as I thought he had some ulterior motive, but it seemed he just wanted to draw what he thought was a good scene I realize. When he finished whatever he was doing he walked over to the table and asked me something really weird.
What was it?
"Do you think you'll be judged one day?" He asked kinda solemnly at the table.
I look over at him confused. "Like, at the way my mane looks?"
He shakes his head. "No, like, one day you'll be called upon to oversee all your actions up to that point and be judged if you're a good person or not."
I shake my head, "Well, that's just silly! Why would anypony do that?"
He donned a look that almost looked like fear. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Pretty silly of me…"
He then stood up and went to bed for the rest of the day I believe, unless I'm mistaken. He does that a lot, now that I think about it. He'll ask me a question that only he seems to have context for just to see how I'll react before dismissing it entirely. I guess it's because I'm nothing like anypony at home, but I always thought there was more to it. Like he wanted to talk more about it but couldn't.
Spike grabs the journal back from me and sets it back down where it was before, seemingly having his fill of the distraction of the conversation at hoof. We fall into an awkward silence as the clock behind me ticks away filling the room with the mechanical sound. I sigh as I decide to move the books back neatly where they belonged seeing that class is dismissed for the day. I didn't really know what else to do as Spike and I haven't resolved anything and we're still back at square one, that being the dragon acting like little booger.
I finally look over, setting down a book, and turn to Spike, "If I let you go can you please go find me any tome or book that may or may not contain curses?" Spike looked like he was about to protest. "It's for Charlie's sake, Spike…"
His mouth shuts and looks towards the door worriedly, no doubt thinking of the human, but finally looks back determined. "Okay, I know some that may help deeper in the library that I remember. I'll go fetch them for you."
I smile as we finally agree on something, that being Charlie's health. "Alright, I'll be in here cleaning up. Come get me when you're done, and we can go through them together."
I feel my almost drained magic yet again as I dissipate the illusion wrapped around his ankle. He nods and scampers off leaving me alone in the classroom I worked so hard on. All this work for Charlie and he couldn't care less for it. Maybe I'm trying too hard.
I frown thinking of the human again though not for the recent events in the kitchen. Sunday morning was something else entirely and its been bugging me since. He was shaking and had the shivers like you wouldn't believe, still that's what happens when you have a fever of 103. Sweat poured from him like oceans, his body actually radiated heat, and his face was red and flushed like one of Applejack's Apples. I almost took him to the hospital, but freaked out when I said it aloud.
His rogue sickness was scary, but his delusional state was even more so. He didn't even know where he was half the time, bringing up a place called Wellington's over and over again. I don't know what it is, however, I do know that it's somewhere the man fears. Also, it may have been a hospital of some kind given the way he was talking about it. He kept shouting at me like I was giving him 'medicine' and that he didn't need it. That he didn't do anything wrong and wanted to go home.
The part that stood out to me the most was towards the early morning. I had pretty much stayed up throughout the night nursing him back to health and he looked up at me with a type of innocence I'd never seen and spoke in a small sad voice.
"T-Twilight…?"
"Shh its okay, your just sick, try to rest." I dab a towel on his drenched forehead.
"C-can I ask you something?" He says between shivers. "D-do you think I'm a b-bad person?"
I pause as he looked genuinely scared, "No… I don't think you are. Now, please be quiet, you're very unwell."
He ignores me, "If you only knew what I've done… You wouldn't think that." His breath hitches a little, "I only ever d-did what I thought w-was right. I… I never wanted to hurt anybody…"
Before I could ask him what he meant he was passed out as the sickness wreaked havoc on his body. That was the first time I'd ever seen him so terrified. Or maybe he's always terrified and he just holds it in, not that I'll ever get a real answer out of him. I sigh as I think of his birthday stories and small snippets of his home, and they make me pause.
I think he had a really hard life.
Nothing like me, Spike or any other pony for that matter could possibly understand. I thought his world was something of a paradise when I read about it, a place full of knowledge, but it seemed it made residents of Tartarus blush at how harsh it was living there. How could someone beat on a colt, let alone on his birthday, and leave him for dead. I-I can't even fathom it!
His 10th birthday was another horror story that he told to shut me up and it really worked. He described what happened in detail making me sick to my stomach. He was thrown in a closet and locked in without food or water for almost a week. He barely survived; the worst yet was when he was released, he was beaten again for not listening well enough. By who? I don't know. Charlie never explicitly told me what this person was to him, but I can tell it was somepony who was supposed to be his 'guardian' if you can even call this pony that. After that story I never asked him about his past again, maybe his world, but nothing personal.
As I was moving some books off his small desk his journal accidentally topples down onto the floor and opens to a page. I curse under my breath watching it fall and I walk over to grab it, but something makes me pause as I see the open page and what's inside of it.
A picture.
Not a drawing, but an honest picture from a camera was held onto the page with a paperclip. Getting closer, I realize it's of Charlie smiling and more of his kind huddled around a table in what looked like a restaurant, judging by the background. Charlie himself looked a lot younger as he didn't have a beard and his mane was neatly groomed short, but it couldn't have been more than 5 years ago as he still looked fully grown. Charlie had his arms around two humans on either side of him with two more behind him all posing for the picture.
The one on the right looked the oldest with a bright red mane, but Charlie looked like he was taller and thicker than compared to his lanky friend. He also had brown dots all over his pale skin in a way that looked alien to me, but also looked natural somehow with his hair scheme. He was lifting a glass full of some kind of drink out towards the picture taker like he was cheering the camera man.
One of the two standing looked huge! He reminded me of Big McIntosh with the way his broad shoulders nearly absorbed the three sitting down. He had very dark, almost black, colored mane but the most pronounced thing on him was his eyes. They were really cross eyed. So cross eyed that he'd give Ditzy a run for her money if they'd met. The other standing man looked very different from the others as well as his skin tone was darker than the white looking skin I'm used to from Charlie. It looked of hazelnut, and he sported a black pencil thin mustache with very wavy thick hair matching it. He had a large looking wide hat on and he didn't look too happy about, as the larger one was laughing at him.
The last one that Charlie has his arm around makes me freeze as I notice something immediately. There was a way younger looking human, definitely younger than everypony else sitting around. It was even possible that this was a colt in all honesty. But that's not what made me freeze. On top of his head was the same hat that Charlie's been wearing since he got here. It looked newer and certainly didn't look as worn as when Charlie was wearing it. Other than that, the colt looked very similar in appearance to Charlie, including the same dark brown hair, wider face, and of course the same looking smile.
They all look so… happy.
In fact, I'd never seen Charlie look so elated in all the time I've spent with him over the months. Was this… was this his family? Was this who I dragged him away from? His family that felt like he'd never see again? I sigh as guilt fills me again staring at the group photo, knowing this is what I stole away from the man and put the journal back onto the desk, shutting its contents away from the world.
I hear a knock on the door making my head turn seeing Applejack giving me a small smile. "Hey there, sugarcube, you doin' okay?"
I look back over at the journal, "If I said yes, would you believe me?"
"Nnnope!" This makes me tiredly chuckle knowing I can't fool her. "In fact, this is probably the most ah've ever seen you stress out over somethin' before. Not even Pinkie's sense got you this riled."
I giggle at the memory. "Yeah, I guess you're right about that." Applejack walks closer and sits down by me and I join her. "I don't know, Applejack, it just feels like I can't catch a break. Between Charlie, Spike, and the town breathing down my neck it seems like nothing is gonna go right. And then there's-" I pause as a thought hit me that I really don't want to think about.
"And then there's what, Twi?" I look away a little ashamed and I feel a nudge. "C'mon, you can tell me. I've got an ear for these kinda things. Look, I even got two of em!" She wiggles her ears making me shake my head with a small laugh.
I look up at her as my expression falters, "What if he never finds a way home, Applejack? And he's stuck here forever. I don't know what I'll do, what he'll do! Charlie's struggling as it is, but I'm afraid if he can never return home, he'll do something…" I look down at the floor again before continuing. "…drastic…"
Applejack just huffs, "It ain't yer fault, Twi. He's the one makin' himself as miserable as he is. Sure, he was snatched from home, but he's the one makin' it hard on everypony, even himself."
"But what if it was you, Applejack? What if you got sent away and you'd never see your farm, Povyville, or even your family? What if you can never see Apple Bloom again? How would you react to the pony that did it?"
She looked over at me staring a bit as if she was thinking about how to word her next sentence. "Well, it sure would suck apple seeds…" This made me giggle. "But in all honesty, I'd make the best of it. Would I be sad? Sure. I'd probably miss home every day, but if it's out of yer control then there's no point in wallowin' over it. And if I saw that the person who did it had no ill will against me then I'd simply try my best given the circumstance."
I hear her words, but I stay silent as I mull them over.
"And here's another thing to think about, Twi. Do you actually know if Charlie hates ya for what ya did? Sure, he's angry, but that's just in general. If he's as mad at ya as you think he is, do you think he'd stay with you as long as he has? In fact, I actually think he likes ya, even though he'll never say it himself. Why else would he keep talkin' with ya?"
My ears lift a little, "I guess… That makes sense when you put it like that."
"Then there ya go!" She gleams. "He ain't mad at ya, sugarcube, he's just," She taps her chin thinking of the right word. "…Grumpy. If the day comes that he's told he can't go home, then I doubt he'd take it out on you. Besides…" She looks over at the door as if she were remembering something ugly. "Home fer him don't sound none too pleasant, if ya ask me he should be thankin' ya."
I actually laugh at that. "I'd like to see you say that to him yourself!"
"I don't have a death wish!" She joins my laugh, "I think I'd disintegrate into dust with the look he'd give me, sugarcube."
I nudge her out of amusement when some noise catches our attention. Spike came waddling in with a tower of books nearly 3 times taller than him and drops them ungracefully onto the floor making my face twist in annoyance.
He looks over proud of his mess, "Here's all the volumes I could find on curses, hexes, jinxes, and whatever else I could find." He picks up one of the books in particular that was especially thick, "We might be here a while…" He laments staring at it.
"Well! What're we waitin fer? I'll go get the others and we'll sort this right out." Applejack exclaims and proceeds to trot out of the room leaving me and the dragon alone.
Spike sighs as he starts moving the books toward the desk, "You know, if you just told Celestia to not put the stupid mark on him none of this would have happened."
I blink and my eyes narrow, "Do you think I wanted this, Spike? I thought it wasn't a good idea from the start."
He scowls back at me. "I don't remember you saying any of that to the Princess when she explained it to us…" He scratches his face. "In fact, I was the only one who said anything about it and you just shushed me."
"Because it was right after he destroyed the town!" I groan as I float a book over, "Honestly, Spike, I don't have the energy nor the time to argue about this with you. What's done is done."
"Real easy for you to say," He scoffs as he plops a book harshly onto the table, "You're not the one exploding every time a rainbow happens by."
I turn to Spike. "What is it you want me to say? That I should have done more? That I should have prevented Charlie from destroying the town?" I narrow my eyes as I start reading one of the volumes, "If I recall correctly, you're the one that handed him that letter that started this whole mess to begin with."
He actually got red in the face at that, "and if I recall correctly, you're the one who told the Princess he needed to be banished!" I freeze and slowly turn to him, "Yeah, that's right! I overheard your conversation with her the day before it happened, so don't stand there and tell me you've done everything you can for him."
"Spike…" I warn but he gets more defiant.
"What was it you said?" He taps on his chin, but it was an act, "Oh that's right, that he was too much to handle and that it'd be better if he was sent away to a nation that would suit him better, like the Minotaur's or the Griffin's, for his own 'safety' is how you put it."
"Spike, you don't know what you're talking about, and I suggest you watch your tone."
"No! You watch yours, Twilight!" He sticks up an angry finger at me. "You were making life altering decisions without me again, like it wouldn't affect me! Like I didn't matter! Like he wasn't my friend! I may be young and stupid, but I know a betrayal when I see it!"
I slam my book shut and fully face him, "Betrayal?! Is that what you saw that as? That I was betraying Charlie?! If that's what you think then you really must have not been paying attention."
"You didn't betray Charlie, Twilight, you betrayed me!" He screams as steam comes out of his nose. My eyes widen at that, "I asked you, no, I begged you to tell the Princess not to send him away and you did you do? The exact opposite of what I wanted! You do this all the time! You disregard me entirely and do whatever you want! I'm so tired of it!"
I open my mouth to counter him, but a cough catches our attention. Applejack, Flash, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were all standing by the entrance looking like they walked into something they really weren't supposed to see.
Flash looks between us, "uh… We can come back later if you want?"
As I open my mouth Spike answers for me, "It's fine!" He looks up at me still glaring. "We just finished!" he snarled.
He grabs one of the books and walks towards a seat in the desk and starts reading as the rest look at him warily. The group looks at me for what looks like permission, and I finally sigh nodding my head to beckon them over. They approach and look at the big pile of books scattered on the floor.
"Everypony grab a book and start looking for the right curse." I order as I flip through one quickly.
"How're we supposed to know what we're lookin' for, Twi?" Applejack asks as she opens one of them.
I use my magic and crudely draw the symbol on Charlie's hand on the chalkboard. "We're looking for something called the Mark of Wrath, but it may have another name. Just look for a symbol that may or may not look like this one."
Pinkie grabs a book first and gasps when she opens it, "Ya mean like this one?" Pinkie pie exclaims shoving the open book onto the table with an image of the mark strewn about it.
I look at her incredulously, "How on Equestria did you find it so fast?"
She shrugs, "I just opened a random page! Lucky me!"
"Only Pinkie Pie…" We all say in tandem before chuckling.
Spike being the only one not amused, grabs the book and gives it a once over. "This is it, alright…" He flips the book over to see the cover and his eyebrows shoot up, "This was written by Star Swirl, Twilight. I don't even remember grabbing this one…" He scratches his head holding it.
"What? It can't be!" I look over and see the cover and gasp.
The books cover held the Cutie Mark of Star Swirl the bearded, this was of course his calling card as he did with all of his other works I've collected over the years. And Spikes right, I don't remember this one either…
The title of the book made me frown as I read it aloud. "The Accursed and the Damned…" I get the willies, "That's not foreboding…"
Spike flips back to the page and clears his throat before reading.
"The Mark of Wrath, also known as the Mark of Containment or colloquially, the Thunder Stamp.
The only written account of the mark or its description being used was on a young aspiring conductor by the name of Ensemble of Canterlot.
Princess Luna cursed him with the mark for a crime now lost to time, the effects of it were immediate to the composer. One account says he was struck by lightning on the spot and died, another claims he became a part of the Everfree and is the reason why we can no longer control its weather. All nonsense of course, as I've happened upon documents of the real events that transpired. The source of the account is from Ensemble himself. Transcribing his works towards the end of his sentence paints a bleak picture of what the musician went through, and it was disturbing to say the least.
After Ensemble was donned the mark a magnitude of shocks persisted through his daily life for some time, however that wasn't all. As far as I could tell, he slowly lost his mind to forces unknown. He kept spewing about a creature who haunts him in the night, but no further recordings could describe or classify it any further than that. If his works were any indicator, then I'd assume the madness of Discord consumed him, but this was different. The symbols he'd draw over and over and over again on his 'masterpieces' connect with a known primordial language that even predates Discord. Perhaps even the universe itself. What they say, I cannot tell as I've yet to translate it properly.
(Mental note: Ask Celestia to gaze upon the archives for more information)
Ensemble one day, in his insanity, broke his way into the Grand Opera alone to display his magnum opus for all to see. His last entry describes in detail his plans to finally win over the 'demon' he's been fighting for the better part of a year. He then burned the facility to ground with him still inside. A final blaze of glory I assume… Some say it was an accident, but as I said before, the stallion was insane and his plans were delicately made. It was more than likely a… su… suy…"
Spike pauses on a word like he didn't know how to pronounce and looked over at me for help.
I shake my head walking over, "We need to catch up on your classes, Spike…"
I look over at the spot he was pointing at and start again. "It was more than likely a s-" My eyes fly open like saucers at the word the drake couldn't understand, and I stutter.
"Twilight, what is it?" Rarity insists.
I turn to everyone with a horrified look, "It-it was more than likely a suicide…" a collective gasp could be heard. "The mark made him lose his mind and he couldn't take it…"
Horror consumed the faces of everyone in the room as I explained what had actually happened to the famous composure. The only one who looked confused was Spike.
"What's sue-iside?" Spike asks innocently, "Whatever it is, that's not gonna happen to Charlie. Right, Twilight?" He looks up at me when I don't answer, "Right…?"
"I'm… I'm sure he's going be fine, Spike."
OoOoO
Charlie POV
Fluttershy and Flash had helped me to bed after my apparent thunderstruck moment. AC/DC would be proud. They gave me the rundown of what happened, but surprisingly I actually remember not that I told them that. I was too tired to.
The hat and Rainbow… Fuck my life. Getting killed over a hat.
The prick of a stallion left some time ago after I settled in my bed and Fluttershy was still poking and prodding my wounds, but I was far too tired and in pain to stop her. Even if I wasn't, I don't think I'd have the fight in me to really care. She's sitting in a chair she'd pulled over and was still applying some weird smelly goop on my burned forearm, at least it felt nice despite how uncomfortable the situation is.
"This Aloe will only do so much, Charlie." She smiles at me, "You need to rest now, okay? You went through a lot."
I just grunt again in response not really in the mood to talk.
She nods as if she understood the meaning of it and flew up towards the door, "If you need anything don't be afraid to call. I'm sure Twilight and Spike will be around if you need anything." She nods one more time leaving me alone in the somewhat dark room. Some light shined through my makeshift curtain made out of a sheet but other than that it was almost complete darkness. Worked for me as my head is on fire, not from my episode, but from the headache that felt like a piece of broken glass was worming it's way into my head. Made it really hard to think or do anything.
I shut my eyes and try to catch some shut eye.
"You know, I think I finally figured you out."
My eyes fly open at a loud voice that sounded viscerally familiar. I look around the room, but I can't make out anything or where it came from.
"Who's fuckin' there! Hello? Spike? Spike, if that's you I'm making new boots outta ya!" I blink a few times not sure what to do next.
Silence.
That's not fuckin' funny. That's not fuckin' funny at all. Great, I'm dealing with fuckin' ghosts now? Fuck my life. I lay my head back on the pillow after an uncomfortable about of time and stare at the ceiling before shutting my eyes again as I drift off to sleep.