It had been a week since Daniel had been discovered with his powers. He was in the middle of some unknown forest, have been teleported by some unknown being. He remembered what led up to his situation like it happened not two minutes before. When the two mares ran from the home, screaming like banshees, he donned his armor, grabbed as much of the bits he had worked hard to acquire and stuffed them into the pocket dimension he was given long ago… the rest of the mares arrived at the home. While Fluttershy and Pinkie kept their distance, sobbing, the rest stepped into the home.

He stopped moving, the heavy footfalls of the armor he wore would surely attract attention. He heard their voices, as well as the voices whispering to him. Telling him to run. Telling him to maim the ponies close to him. He sighed heavily, ignoring the voices. He stood up from the bed, sagging under the armor’s weight, and made his way to the door. All noise stopped besides the heavy footfalls. He opened the door, and one of the mares stood before him. Rarity stood before him, staring up at the visor.

“D-Daniel…?” Her voice rang through the speakers of the helmet. He didn’t say a word, instead turning down the hall, marching down the stairs, where Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood at random spots in the room, looking at random things and pictures, and Twilight in the kitchen, for some odd reason. “Daniel!” Rarity called out. He stopped at the base of the stairs. He gave a deep sigh, lifting his visor up.

“Oh no… He’s…” Rainbow whispered, her eyes going to pinpricks.

“Stay away from me. Don’t look for me. If you do… I have no idea what my body would do. I have little control over it now.” He said, each word slow, sluggish, as he fought to speak them.

“We can help you Daniel!” Twilight said, walking up next to him, giving a small smile.

“There’s no helping me… I’m no longer Daniel, no longer human…” He murmured, wiping the smile from her face. “I’m just a monster. I hold powers that I don’t comprehend. My body is not itself anymore. Leave me be.” He said, taking a step towards the door. As soon as his foot touched the floor, the door was immersed in a violet aura, and a click sounded.

“We’re not going to give up our friend Discord!” She said. “I doubt you can help him now, my little ponies!” He said, his voice joyous and light.

“He’s already made up his mind on what he’s going to do to stop himself from killing everyone! I’ve seen his powers at work! He can kill everyone in your capital city within a blink of an eye!” They each gasped at his words.

“What he said is sadly true… That’s why I’m going to Canterlot so that the princesses can banish me to Tartarus, to keep me from destroying this world.” Another gasp, this one out of pure shock.

“But… Daniel! You are no monster! You may be different from ponies, but you’ve done nothing but help us since you’ve arrived here!” Twilight said.

“Why do you think Pinkie and Fluttershy,” He could feel them flinch at their words, but he continued. “is so eager to rid their lives of me? I saw their reaction. I lay at rest, and my powers find their way to emerge. I become an animal. A fiend. A monster of immense power. I’m going to where I belong. To hell.” He took another step to the door.

“I doubt yer makin’ it out to be as bad as you are Danny Boy. I mean, what could make you that powerful?” Applejack asked.

“Remember my absence, when I was teleported across the dimensions?” He asked. They each nodded slowly. “During one of the trips, I was attacked by what looked like a normal human… But he gave me an immense power, at the cost of my humanity. I’m able to accomplish feats that nobody normal would be able to do, and create weapons that could cut through and maim anything I touch like a hot knife through butter. I can absorb others bodies through my own and gain their powers and anomalies. I can sprout wings and fly. I can grow a horn and use magic. I can breath fire and grow dragon scales over my skin. My power is endless, but at a great cost. I’m an outcast. I’m a freak of nature. I am not natural. I am not a human anymore.” He was right next to the door now, and grabbed the knob. Twilight’s horn shined brightly, but he only scoffed.

“You think magic can affect me?” He said, his voice turning dark. The mares backed away from him, their eyes wide. Twilight had a victorious grin, and she tried to pick his body up with magic. Before she could react, he merely punched the door. The door broke down the middle vertically, the pieces flying off into the forest, barely avoiding Pinkie and Fluttershy, who both screamed in fear. Twilight looked dumbly at the door, his fist, and then to his face her eyes wide. “I wasn’t able to do that before. Now, I can barely flick my wrist and I break things. And I grow more powerful with the things I absorb. So please, for your sake… Inform the princesses that I’m visiting, and prepare a one way ticket to Hell.” He said, before stepping outside. He looked around, his eyes lingering on the two mares he loved, and he could feel his heart breaking a little as they quivered beneath him, before pulling the visor over his face and marching towards the mountain where Canterlot was held.

~Change of POV~

Twilight had never seen anything like what she saw previously. Her eyes watched the back of his helmet. She could tell he was staring at her two friends. Then, he lifted his hand up to his face and pulled something down, before walking through the grassy field in front of him. She could barely see the two piece of door in the forest, one embedded into a large tree, the other stuck in the ground, a large hole through a tree that stood in its way. Her mind processed how much power it would take to perform such a feat, and she could feel a headache growing as she continued her mental arithmetics.

“What.” She heard next to her, and she stopped her task to look at the voice. Rainbow was looking dumbfounded, her jaw unhinged from itself, Applejack sharing a similar face, although not as ridiculous looking. Rarity had a small blush on her face for some odd reason. Pinkie and Fluttershy sat together outside, holding each other, visibly shaking. Her muscles decided to not lock up anymore, and she quickly walked over to her friends. “It’ll be okay…” She murmured, hugging both of them. The rest of her friends soon joined her, and she stepped away, pulling out a quill, inkwell, and parchment. She wrote down a quick message, recording the interaction and words said, leaving the part out about a ticket to Tartarus, and started to jog towards the town. She reached the library, panting heavily, as she opened the door.

“Spike? Spike!” She called out. She could hear something clattering from upstairs. Then, a door opened.

“What is it Twilight?” Spike asked.

“I need you to send a letter of dire importance! Daniel is Discorded!” That woke Spike up.

“Doesn’t that mean… Discord is loose?” He asked, his eyes wide in fear.

“That’s very much a possibility. That’s why I need you to send this letter.” She said. Spike grabbed the letter, and Twilight turned away as she started walking towards one of the bookshelves, pulling out a few books to reveal a box. She placed the box on a nearby table as she looked for a book on ancient anomalies and diseases. Halfway through her search, she heard her response in the form of Spike belching. He grabbed it out of the air, only for it to be intercepted by Twilight, whom quickly skimmed it.

“It’ll take him five days to get up the mountain.” She muttered quietly. “Where are my bits Spike? I need tickets to Canterlot!” She yelled.

“Where they always are. On your desk, next to the pile of books that you plan on reading and take notes from.” He grumbled. She gave him a glare and went upstairs, grabbing her bits. She ran out the door, bits and books in saddlebags, making her way across the deserted town to the train station.

The rest of the mares were waiting there for her, each with their own bag of bits. She could feel the waves of fear coming from the party mare and Fluttershy. Rainbow sat next to her long time friend, hugging and whispering to her, while Applejack and Rarity tried to make Pinkie happy and joyful once more. She bought a ticket and waited with her friends, trying to cheer up both mares, without success.

~Change of POV~

The human had reached the base of the mountain that the proud city of Canterlot sat upon, ready to make his trek up, when a loud screeching noise was heard. He whipped around, leveling his rifle at the direction of the noise, when he was hit with the full force of a bus, sending him onto his back. He could feel a heavy weight set onto his eyes, but he forced them open, only to find himself staring up at the thick canopy of a forest, instead of the stars above him. He shifted himself onto his rump, looking around. He was in the middle of a clearing, vines hanging from the trees.

“Swamp? Jungle?” He murmured, looking at the ground. He found himself slowly sinking into mud, and quickly forced himself up and out of the murky depths. He heard an explosion of dirt and rocks, and looked up. A large plant like creature was standing before him. What looked like pink leaves acted as feet for the plant, its body consisting of some form of green plant life, in the shape of a jungle skirt. Four vines, with minds of their own, waved dangerously in the air, each ending in what looked like hooks. He could see some form of clear liquid dripping from each one. The final thing he observed was the way its ‘head’ was shaped. It looked like its head was caved in, large, orange and burgundy leaves acting as some sort of crown on top of its head, with large, sharp looking teeth waiting inside of the ‘head’ of the creature.

It looked heavy-weight and wasn’t able to move around a lot. He used the information to his advantage, as two of the vine arms shot out at him. He rolled to the right, which was hard to do in the armor, before activating the psi blade acting as a bayonet, and fired a quick three rounds into the beast. It gave some sort of squeal and lashed out again, using three of its arms. He shifted his stance on his feet, holding the rifle in front of him. At the last second, he pulled the rifle to the side and sliced through the vine, before unloading as much as he could into the creature, making it squeal once again. The next thing it did confused him. It went to sleep. He cocked an eyebrow but he could see its wounds starting to heal itself.

“Oh hell no…” He growled, firing more rounds into the beast, charging forward and plunging the psi blade into its plant-like flesh. A sound of sizzling reached his ears, and he gave a victorious grin. A grin too soon, as a vine batted him away easily, before shifting itself on its feet, and jumped into the air towards him. He rolled backwards, landing clumsily on his feet. The ground shook beneath him, the large, heavy plant slamming into the ground in front of him. The force and shock of the landing, plus his clumsy stance, pushed him back onto his ass. The sound of a whip met his ears, and he could feel something flesh-like hit his armor. He looked down, and could see one of the vines buried deep into his abdomen. He grunted slightly, feeling an ounce of pain from it, as he grabbed a knife and cut the vine off, and pulled it out of his abdomen. Bringing his rifle back up, he unloaded the rest of the clip of ammo into the plant being, the squeals coming to a close as all that was left of the creature was a mess of green sap, bits of leaves, vines, and bark, and a bit of the clear liquid. Then he could feel his insides convulse. His hand immediately went to his stomach. His wound was healed, but he could almost feel the amount of clear liquid on his armor and skin.

Poison… He thought, as he could feel the poison coursing through him. His insides convulsed again, and he started to cough. Each cough brought out a spray of blood, across his visor, and when he lifted the visor, onto the clean dirt beneath him.

Get moving. The longer you stay in here, the longer the poison will have an effect on you. He heard whispered to him. He looked around, before realizing it was one of the voices in his head.

Which way do I go though? He asked himself.

North. You’re far below Equestria. Somewhere in the Badlands. When you reach the desert, you will be reaching the Macintosh Hills. He heard in response. He pulled the visor down, and looked at the on-screen compass. He turned slowly to North, and started to jog. He could feel his stomach convulse again.

Having to rebuild your insides will be difficult without food. Daniel blinked.

Well, what foods do you need for me to get? Stuff with lots of protein? He asked.

Biomass. You know what happened to the gryphon? She was absorbed into biomass. You need more of that in order for me to rebuild your stomach properly, unless you want a mishmash of internal organs that have no purpose other than for you to look good under X-Rays. The human grimaced.

You know I don’t like that… but if it helps me right now…

There’s an animal feeding not ten yards from you. Do whatever you want to it. Shoot it, chase it down with a knife, just kill it and allow your body to absorb the body. He grimaced again and looked around, seeing some form of deer grazing in the grass. He raised his arms and put a quick burst of three rounds into its barrel. He stepped towards it, and the body started to break down into the red and black tentacles once more. He felt better and worse when he did that. Better, because he could feel the poison being forced out, worse that he was forced to resort to that. He turned north again, and started to trek through the jungle.

This was basically how the entire week went, him walking, little to no rest. Soon enough, the human could see the canopy starting to thin, and trees starting to become scarce. Grass and dirt was replaced by sand. Far in the distance, mountains sat, as if to torture him with the distance.

How did I end up out here in the first place? He asked himself.

Discord… He heard whispered in his voice, before a bright light blinded him through the visor. He brought a hand up to block out the light as the other arm brought up the rifle, ready to fire on whoever was doing this. The light started to die away, and he found himself in the castle of Canterlot. Namely, in the throne room, where both sisters sat upon their thrones, the Elements of Harmony standing before them in an attacking stance, guards surrounding them, each armed with a weapon. He took a step back, placing his other hand on the rifle, gripping it gently. He took a deep breath.

“I see… Well, now that you found me, you can send me to Hell, where I belong.” He spoke, for what seemed like the first time in three months, even though it was a week.

“We’re here to banish Discord from your body!” Luna yelled, her voice echoing in the large chamber.

“I don’t need help! I need isolation! Confinement! A cell with no way of escaping! Lock me up and toss the key!” He yelled back.

“You have no control over your situation! Give up now!” Celestia said. He pulled the sights up to his eye, the rifle aimed at Celestia.

“Oh yeah?! You think I can be helped?! You think that the ‘magic of friendship’ will help me?! News flash, friendship doesn’t do SHIT. I know what I am, and I know where I belong!” He shouted back. The guards had pushed themselves forward, leveling spears at his chest. The mares behind them looked shocked and terrified, while the two sisters looked morbid.

“You’re wrong… Everypony needs friendship.” Celestia said.

“Everypony, not everyone! I’m not a pony, and you should’ve figured that out when you first saw me! I don’t need friends! I’m better off without them!” He shouted. Six gasps met his ears.

He grinned. “Enough talk! Let’s make this something that won’t be forgotten for decades. Crimson Day.” His grin grew as he started to press on the trigger. That’s when he saw a rainbow. Not out of the corner of his eyes, nor in a reflection, a pure, undiluted rainbow heading straight for him. He looked at it for a split second, before the rainbow slammed into his body. The ponies watched as the Elements of Harmony made short work of the human, some of the guards sighing in relief. Then, it was over, the Elements of Harmony stopping their power. The only sound that could be heard was the occasional shift of armor and… chuckling? Every pair of eyes shot towards the place where the human once stood. He stood proud and tall. And the rumbling laughter was coming from him. He lifted the visor covering his face, to reveal his face was still greyed out, his eyes the electric teal blue color.

“What was that supposed to be? The magic of friendship?” He said, chuckling more. Celestia’s eyes narrowed as she stared at his face, then at the armor. She gave a small smile and leaned over to her sister.

“Remove his armor. That’s what stopped him from being cleansed.” She whispered. Luna smiled and her magic lit up. A beam shot out and struck the center of his mass, and the armor started to fall into each individual plate, clattering to the ground beneath him. All he wore was a pair of well-worn pants, the bottom of them torn up slightly. Scars ran over his body and face. He looked down, and dropped the rifle with the armor, which surprised the ponies.

“Using that thing would break the right side of my body from the kick of it. No matter.” He said, as he clenched his hands into fists.

“We will not engage in combat with you. We know you can be saved Daniel.” He snorted at that.

“I was hoping for a little challenge when I ripped ya limb from limb.” He said, as his arms started to change. Each guard, princess, and Element of Harmony watched curiously as black and red tentacles started to form and twist over his arms. Pinkie and Fluttershy’s eyes both widened.

“Oh no… His arms are becoming…” Pinkie whispered, letting off a small whimper. Everyone watched as his arms changed, and formed into the blade. The other arm formed into what looked like a normal war axe. A chuckle escaped from him, but it was nothing like his normal voice.

“I like your imagination kid!” He said, his voice dark and echoing slightly.

“What a peculiar power…” Luna said, looking at his arms in curiosity.

“Now, how about we blow this joint and get back home? You need to kill that son of a bitch father of yours after all.” The voice said again. A dark chuckle erupted from him again. The guards became unnerved, the mares were nearly trembling, but the Princesses only smiled more.

“What’s with those smiles?” He asked.

“Oh, nothing… Just that you removed your one way of defending yourself from the Elements of Harmony, and you will be removed from Daniel as soon as it merely touches you?” His eyes widened.

“Let’s blow this joi-” He said, before the Elements of Harmony slammed into him. Only this time, it was met with a scream.

Not a scream of mere pain, or a battle cry.

The scream was of pure, unfiltered agony.

It sent shudders down each guards spines, the Princesses covered their ears to block out the noise, and the Element holders broke down in tears at the sound. His armor was blown off to the side, his weapon thrown into a pillar. The rainbow disappeared, and all that was left was a smoldering crater. Each pair of eyes widened in shock and fear.

“Oh no…” Luna whispered. Each guard started to slowly edge towards the crater, when a blackened stump met their eyes. Everypony stopped. They stared at the stump. A mangled hand landed next to it. Then, a head. A face not recognized. Each of them stared at the face, but the face was covered in smoke, making it hard to see. Next was what remained of shoulders. The smoke started to clear, and each guard recoiled. The princesses gasped. The mares were not even paying attention, each too busy crying.

His face was gone. Literally, cast into the void. All that was left was his head, and almost a quarter of that was missing. His left arm was missing completely. His right arm was almost nothing but bone. Every agonizing second spent staring at him was a moment closer for him to death. Even in his mutated and altered body could not handle this amount of damage, despite its best efforts to rebuild it. Legs were gone from the waist. Stomach, little left but a hole. Chest, burnt almost completely through. Nothing was left untouched. A skeletal hand met the stone, and pulled the rest of himself into view. Guards stared at the princesses, unsure of what to do, their eyes wide and their pupils pinpricks. The princesses were in too much shock to do anything besides stare. Twilight made the mistake of looking up at him, and her eyes widened to the point where they were ready to pop out of her head, her pupils almost nonexistent.

“D-Daniel?” She whimpered out. The faceless head looked up, as if it could hear her voice. She recoiled. “W-what h-h-happened?” She whispered, looking up at the princesses. They looked down at her, before standing, and running towards what was left of his body. The guards broke into action, yelling orders to each other, and helping the princesses.

They found his legs in the crater, surprisingly almost unscathed. His left arm was next to it, most of the muscle burnt from the inside out. His entrails were somewhere near the bottom of the crater, almost completely crispy. Guards vomited as they saw the sight before them. Celestia lifted what was left of Daniel into the air and rushed him to the medical ward. Luna was left to pick what was left of his body up. The guards started to pick up his armor and weapon, leaving only the six mares, Twilight staring at the crater. Fluttershy and Pinkie were sobbing uncontrollably, Rainbow and Applejack both trying to hold it in. Rarity had mascara running down her face, holding a handkerchief. The same question ran each of their heads.

How had Daniel suffered such a fate when the Elements of Harmony were used?