My head is throbbing. My body feels weak. But I’m awake. I sit up and realize I’m in some sort of infirmary. There’s no needles or anything stuck in me. Good. I hate needles.

My head is still pounding when I hear someone walk in. It’s Twilight.

“So... how’d you like the show?” I ask weakly.

“I’m not sure if you’re amazing, or the most recklessly irresponsible person in history.”

“Why not be both?”

She sighed. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Awwww...” I give her a hug which she returns. Is this the strangest ‘friendship’ ever or what?

After the hug ends, she pulls a book out of her saddlebags. “I brought you something to read.”

I groan, remembering Rainbow Dash’s hospitalization story. “Not Daring Do, please?”

“Don’t worry, it’s a book on magic. You seemed interested, so I figured I’d get you something a bit more in-depth.”

“Actually Twilight.” Luna walks in, wearing the diamond moon I made like a pendant. Awww, she cares. “I think he should get some rest. All that energy usage was very draining for him.”

I actually think about that. “Hey Twilight, do you have a blank book, like a journal?”

“Not with me, but I could bring you one.”

“Do that. I’ll get some rest. Just leave the book here if I’m still asleep.”

“Okay.” Both her and Luna leave me to my thoughts. I want the journal to write down the interesting things I know, want to know, and theories I have about my powers. For example, I’ve seen unicorns use spells and get tired. That’s normal, but using spells steadily drains them and eventually they get too weak to do anything. On the other hand, my powers take energy from me as well, but instead of steadily getting weaker, I can use my powers continually at full power, but once I stop, the fatigue hits me all at once.

Going into my Spark form alone doesn’t cost me anything, but using related abilities like speed and intangibility do have an effect, once I return to normal, I do notice being a bit tired. I’m tired now... Luna’s right, I should sleep...

I wake up and I look to the left. There’s a red book with a clasp on it. Must be the journal Twilight brought me. I reach for it, but I feel some resistance from my right arm. I look to the right and I see an IV stand. Oh no... I look down at my arm. Needle!

I scream, ripping the needle from my arm. I knock the IV stand as far away from me as possible. The scream has made a pony come into the room. I’m freaking out too much to notice what it looks like. My breathing is ragged as all I can do mutter is a mantra of fear.

“I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles I hate needles.”

I look at the pony. “No more needles. No more needles...” The pony nods and backs away slowly, exiting the room once more.

It takes a while, but eventually I calm down. I then realize I had been holding my arms across my chest and shivering the entire time. I hate needles.

Exhausted, I pass out once more.

When I wake up, I snap my head side to side. No IV, no needle. I relax with a heavy sigh. I reach for the journal. There’s a small bag of coal next to it, a note on it saying “Try this before you use a quill. Let me know how it goes. Twilight Sparkle.”

Heh, this could be interesting.

I pull some coal dust up and form them into letters, pressing them against the first page of the journal. They stick. I can even write with coal. I pull letters and punctuation marks back off. I even have a backspace button. Awesome.

I ‘write’ down all I’ve learned about my powers, what I want to learn, and multiple theories. Wait. I can solve one right now.

I Spark up, and try to lift some coal into the air. It works, but it also forces me to power down. I try again, this time not lifting the coal, but setting it on fire. I Spark up and focus on the result. Fire. Heat. Burning. I see the glow around my arm pulse. Once, twice. I put more effort into it. I stop thinking about the coal and just what I want to happen. I want to see fire.

Suddenly, my arms lights up in a bright flash. When it subsides, I see that the glow has changed to a bright orange, my actual arm is a strong shade of vermillion. I then notice that the bed sheets have caught fire!

The coal didn’t heat up, I did! I realize that the flames of the blankets don’t hurt at all. I get up out of the bed. How far can I take this?

I focus on getting hotter. To burst into flames. And I do. My body is a blazing inferno, flames leaping from me. I look in a mirror. My features are obscured by the blazing, crackling fire. But my eyes are still visible as bright lights. Shining brighter than the flames. Then I hear a loud, piercing, shrill noise. Then I’m wet. My fire is put out and so is the bed. It takes a few moments to realize I set off a fire alarm. Right after I finish that thought, a few ponies rush into the room. I’m standing there, shocked and wet. They stare at me. They probably weren’t entirely aware of exactly what was in this room. I grab the journal and the sack of coal, leaping out a nearby window. I then realize I was on the third or fourth floor. Crap.

Luckily, my neck breaks my fall. And by luckily, I mean. “Ohhhhhh holy mother of god that hurts...”

I look up and realize I’m in Canterlot. Massaging my neck, I decide to pay the princesses another visit. I approach the gates and there are more guards. I’m too tired to try anything. “I’m not feeling up to kicking your butts, so can you just get Princess Celestia for me? Thanks.”

They stare at me dumbfounded. After a minute, one of the guards flaps his wings, rising into the air and flying towards the castle.

I sit down cross-legged on the ground. I don’t feel like standing. After a few moments, the familiar flash of light appears in front of the guards. At Celestia’s presence, they immediately fall to their knees, bowing in respect. Pussies.

Celestia takes one look at me and sighs, rolling her eyes. One flash later and I’m inside the castle once more.

“Anthony, if your current health condition wasn’t in question, I’d smack you for your stupidity.”

“Wouldn’t be the worst I’ve gotten.” I smirk.

“What am I going to do with you?”

“Feed me?”

The princess places her hoof to her forehead, sighing again.

“Fine, if you’re hungry, I suppose I should oblige.”

“Got any chicken?”

She looks at me. “What?”

“Fried chicken. Or steak. I’m not picky.”

“You... eat meat?”

I open my mouth wide, pointing to my cuspids, designed specifically for the tearing of meat.

It takes a moment for Celestia to respond. “...I see. But you also seem to have teeth for grinding vegetables.”

“Fruit is fine too, but I prefer a protein-centered diet.”

“How many ponies know of this... preferred diet?”

“A vast majority seems to think I might eat them, but I won’t eat anything sentient. Especially not raw. Your subjects are perfectly safe, no matter how hungry I get. But there’s no guarantees if they piss me off.“

“I’m aware of what you did with my guards the other day.”

“Unless you consider a possibly bruised chest an injury, I didn’t cause them any harm.”

“What I heard was... different.”

“A panicked mind tends to exaggerate, I’m sure you know that.”

“I do. So, what do you want, aside from food? Oh, the kitchen is this way.” She leads me through the castle as we continue our conversation.

“Well, I have developed a new skill while I was in hospital.”

“You did? Interesting.”

“Yeah. Also, speaking of hospitals, I’d prefer if you make some sort of clause for me where I am exempt from needles of any form.”

“But we may not be able to test your vitals if I do.”

“I’d rather take that risk, thank you.”

“I suppose I could do something about that. As long as you understand the problems that might arise from this.”

“I am. I just hate needles a lot. So, when do we eat?”

“Well, I’m not sure what has been prepared, if anything, but the kitchen is right here.”

“Perfect. I’m starving.”

We walk into the kitchen, and I see a bowl of prepared cookie dough. Sweet! “Oooh, cookie dough.” I reach for a handful, but a hoof slaps my hand away.

“Animal! You have not even washed your hooves! Do not touch my batter!”

“Yeah, whatever.” I grab the bowl and reach in, pulling out a chunk, the chef pony looks disgusted. Don’t care, I have cookie dough.

Celestia looks a bit angry. I take another chunk of dough and hand it to her. “Oh, I’m sorry, did you want some?”

Celestia blinks. “No matter how much time I spend with you, I don’t know what to think of you. Your hygiene is terrible, and yet you share. You terrorize my ponies, but offer friendship and compassion. You insult others without much provocation, and yet value friends like priceless treasures. I wonder if you are even sane, sometimes.”

“I’m probably not. Sanity is overrated.” I take another bite of the dough.

“You know raw eggs are not good for you. You could get sick. I insist you at least let us bake that first.”

“Nah, I’ll do it myself.” I Spark up and concentrate on what I did earlier. This time focusing the fire on just my hand rather than my entire body. My body glows reddish and flames engulf my hand and the ball of dough.

Celestia backs up in shock. I then stop the burning. I realize I’ve made an actual cookie, but burned it. “Huh, guess I need a bit more practice. Oh well.” I eat the burnt cookie anyway and power down. Celestia stammers. “H- how... I thought you could only do that with coal?”

“I told you, I developed an new power. It seems to be a separate skill from my coal manipulation, as it’s linked to my Spark form, but I can’t manipulate coal in my Spark form.”

“Amazing... how many powers do you think you have?”

“No idea, but this is so cool.” I grin and cook another piece of dough. “Figuratively speaking, that is.”

This time, I stop the blaze sooner and I managed to bake the cookie properly. I hand it to Celestia. As soon as her hoof touches it, she pulls away. “That’s hot!”

I take a bite of it. “Not really.” Still chewing, I power down again. Suddenly it feels like I just drank lava. I spit out the cookie. “Hot hot hot hot hot hot!” I rush to the sink and turn it on, gulping down water by the mouthful. My mouth has cooled down, but my tongue still feels scalded.

“It seems that you are immune to heat while in your fire form.” Celestia mused.

“Did you think of that yourself?”

“I had a physical demonstration as a visual aid, but yes.”

“Did I mention how human you are?” Next Chapter: Chapter 16 Estimated time remaining: 32 Hours, 32 Minutes