Chapter Five: Make It Right.

"He sleeps alone,
He needs no army where he’s heading cos he knows,
That they’re just ghosts,
And they can’t hurt him if he can’t see them, oh.
And I may go,
To places I have never been to just to find,
The deepest desires of my mind…"
Two Door Cinema Club, Sleep Alone.

***

There was a deep breath before she next spoke:

"And do you remember her?"

He smiled, a cold thing, before answering:

"Most especially."

She looked him in the eyes. She asked:

"Did you do it then?"

He raised an eyebrow at her:

"Do you not remember?"

Her voice was cold and full of something - almost like fear - as she replied:

"I was dead. I asked you a question. Did you do it? Did you kill her?"

His voice was cold and serious as he replied:

"Yes."

And she asked him:

"Could you do it now?"

There was a shrug:

"Maybe."

Her eyes bored into him:

"Will you?"

He looked right back at her, and his voice was cold as he asked:

"Do you want me to?"

***

The self proclaimed "Avatar of Albion" marched slowly back toward the defensive line. As he did so, the armour all around him began dissolving into dust, revealing the clothes he had worn beneath them. By the time he reached Sam, a soft smile on his face, he was David Elliot again.

"I guess," he said quietly, "that answers your question."

"What… what was that?" Sam asked, eyes wide. "Not even an Iron Clad could take on so many golems at once, not on their own. That shouldn’t be possible."

"You brought me here to kill your Solamina," Elliot pointed out. "You had to expect I had the power to do so."

"I…" Sam said, eyes wide. To know, rationally, that this man was the man who had been his friend and whom he had fought alongside, was one thing. To see what he had seen and still believe it was another. "We… need to see Twilight about this."

"Agreed," Elliot said, rolling his shoulders. "I think the Commander might be happy her spell worked."

"Captain," Sam corrected.

"Captain," Elliot said softly. "Yes, Captain. That is her rank, isn’t it?"

"Yeah," Sam said, frowning at him slightly. "You remembering something else?"

"I am," Elliot said quietly, frowning slightly in concentration. "I am remembering…"

"If you think that you have a chance against me, little ones," he said as he marched on them, his voice now tinged with a dark amusement, "then by all means… come at me."

He saw her - Twilight Sparkle, commander of the Equestrian forces, the chief of this little force. She was gathering magic around herself, all manner of different spells, as though she believed this would be enough to protect her from his power. He saw her charge at him, bellowing her war cry. He lashed out with one hand, the force of his blow sending her careening through her forces like a projectile. He smiled beneath his helmet, approaching her corpse. Ponies gave way before him as he approached her broken body.

"Twilight Sparkle," he said to her, his voice almost soft, yet still filled with that power. "Only now, at the end, do you see the futility of your struggle. Do you understand now?"

"The… the Empress… will defeat… you…" Sparkle struggled to say with the last of her strength,.

"Fool. You are a tool of the false goddess, nothing more. Blinded even now by implanted loyalty and her dark magics," he said. Oddly enough, he almost pitied this one - to lose so much in service of one who would never have reciprocated this loyalty. He raised a hand. "As a final gift… I shall release you."

Sparkle’s eyes widened as he shattered the chains that bound her mind. He sensed her feelings - the rage and despair she felt as the sudden sense of everything she had done flooded back to her.

He raised his blade and stabbed her through her abdomen, ending her life. Once he had drained her body of the power it held - a substantial amount, to be sure - he looked up at Canterlot itself, now undefended.

"And now, you," he said softly…

Elliot shook his head, reaching out a hand to steady himself against Sam.

"I… remember… a battle…" he said softly. "I was… I was in…"

He shook his head, coughing slightly. Blood flecked his hand. Sam caught the blood and stared at it with wide eyes.

"Shit," he swore. "Small Mercy won’t be thrilled."

"No," Elliot said. "I guess she won’t."

***

The minute they had returned to the small pseudo base, Small Mercy was fussing over Elliot.

"Are you okay? What happened? Where does it hurt?" she asked rapidly after seeing the blood. While her tone was calm, her eyes were practically screaming for an answer.

"He’s fine," Sam said, holding up a hand and laughing slightly at the mare’s insistence. "He managed to hold off five Crystal Golems single handed, actually, which makes him better than fine, it makes him fucking awesome."

"Had a cough," Elliot explained with a shrug. To emphasise his point, he was seized by another coughing fit, and blood flecked his hand again.

"See to him," Sam said to Small Mercy. "I need to chat with Twilight."

The purple mare had been stood nearby, a questioning glance thrown at Elliot the minute he stepped into the room. Now, Sam and Twilight went to the back of the room, talking in hushed voices.

There was brief pause before Mercy spoke up. "Did the coughing start as soon as you stopped the attack?"

"As soon as the armour went away," Elliot said. "Give or take a minute."

Mercy stood there for a moment, the healing magic of her horn washing over Elliot. Her eyes lingered on the blood decorated handkerchief in Elliot’s hand.

"How do you feel now?" she asked timidly.

"Fine," he murmured, frowning. "I remember…"

The glow of her horn stopped. "What…"

He looked up at her, eyes full of something she couldn’t describe. "I think wherever I’m from, I might have been… I was a…"

"Take your time," she said, moving closer to him.

"I was a monster," he said softly. "I remember… I remember killing ponies. Hundreds of them." His eyes widened, and searched for something he couldn’t see. "Thousands."

"You fought against Solamina." Her expression sombered. "Sadly that’s bound to happen."

"No…" he said, frowning. "They… they were…"

...running in terror, children, mares, stallions… all of them. He slew indiscriminately. his blade moved faster than thought, faster than sound, faster than anything. He drew in the sweet, sweet power, and let it heal his wounds as they filled him…

"... children." He slumped slightly. "I killed… children…"

Small Mercy’s eyes left Elliot, but only for a moment. Her hooves rocked her back and forth from the Avatar. You could see the mental discussion she was having about Elliot’s realisation. She took a deep breath and her gaze turned stern.

"Have you told anyone else?" Mercy asked.

"No," he said quietly. "No I haven’t."

Mercy sighed with relief. "Good," she said, her voice returning to her usual self. "I can help when you do." she trailed off. "Maybe that is why you are here?"

"What’s that supposed to mean?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

The mare half smiled at his expression. "You said you were a monster. You’d never..." She stopped herself. "Do what you did again."

"How do you know?" Elliot said with a frown.

"Are you saying you would?" Mercy asked swiftly.

"I don’t know why I did before," he said softly, not looking at her. "I don’t remember..."

"It’s the way you remember it that you should focus on," Mercy timed in. "You said you were a monster. Only regretful men look back and call themselves monsters."

Silence. The two souls remained silent in each other's presence for a few moments. The only sound was the ticking of a half broken clock. Images of what Elliot had spoken of ran through their minds. For Elliot, they were almost unnatural memories. For Small Mercy, they were ‘what ifs’ that she wanted gone from her head.

"I think," Mercy began, ending the silence as quickly as it came. "That maybe your powers affect, your mind and physical health on a bigger scale than we thought."

"Burnout," he said idly, frowning at his hand.

"Burnout," Mercy echoed. "You know?"

He looked up at her, but she could tell he wasn’t really looking at her. "Magic burnout. Every cell, irradiated by magic, dying, blood and disintegration. Only way to stop it is to stop using magic. Can’t do that. Too many relying on me. Relying on me to save them. I can’t…"

He paused, his eyes wide.

"I can’t die yet," he whispered. "I can’t die yet."

"Then rest," Small Mercy noted. "With Sam and Twilight’s help, we could slow it down maybe. At least stop the effects on the mind for you." She fetched some cups of water from the side. "For now, please rest."

"You don’t get it," he said, his eyes wide. "You don’t understand."

Children - but they had magic. Magic he could use.

"I know what I did," he whispered. "It’s right there, right on the edge of my…"

He suddenly erupted in a coughing fit, blood flying out of his mouth, splattering his hand, some of the spray even catching Small Mercy as he fell to his knees on the floor.

"Stay calm," she whispered to him before she turned her head. "Medical assistance immediately! Bring me anesthetic, a blanket and three other unicorns!"

Her orders were almost a new mare in themselves, sterner and older. The cups of water lay on the floor where they had fallen.

Suddenly he grabbed her forehoof with one hand. He looked up at her, and she was shocked to see his eyes were glowing, his face expressionless and devoid of any emotion, not so much as a twitch.

"Now!" she ordered, looking away from Elliot once more. Mercy turned back to him but could not look him in his eyes. "Speak to me Elliot, stay with me."

The voice of Small Mercy had returned to it’s softer self, although now she was shaking.

"She knows," he said, his voice full of some sort of unnatural echo. "She knows I am here. She is watching. She will sense it."

"Who?" Mercy asked, practically forcing herself to meet Elliot’s soulless gaze.

"You know who, little pony," he said, and his eyes widened. "She will be coming here. Flee. Flee if you want to survive the wrath."

And then he slumped to the ground, unconscious.

***

Sam and Sparkle headed for a small office at the back of the shop, Sam still feeling the slight sense of giddy excitement and awe he had felt seeing his friend become that armoured figure.

"So," Sparkle said, looking at him with interest. "What happened?"

"I’ll tell you what happened," Sam said, grinning excitedly. "He fucking tore apart six Crystal Golems without so much as breaking a fucking sweat. He’s the guy. He’s definitely the guy."

"That… that doesn’t sound…" Sparkle said, eyes wide with shock. "Can you tell me how?"

"He did some sort of transformation," Sam said, trying to recall it. "There was magic - sort of gold and glowing. And then… it was amazing. There was a sword, fucking massive sword as long as he was, and he was wearing armour…"

Twilight’s face, contrary to the excitement that Sam was showing, only seemed to fall as he spoke, looking slowly horrified. Sam trailed off, confused.

"... what?" he asked, frowning at her. "This is good, isn’t it? This is him being the magical warrior you summoned."

"Yes," Twilight said quietly, "yes it is. But I… um. Continue. He became armoured, and he had a sword?"

"Yeah," Sam said, still frowning. "And then he split a Crystal Golem in two. Then he walked out beyond the line and he killed the others, didn’t even…"

"He killed the remaining golems," Sparkle interrupted, holding up a hoof. "Easily?"

"Incredibly easily," Sam nodded. "And then he…"

"Did he speak?" Sparkle interrupted again.

"I was getting to that!" Sam said, slightly testily from being interrupted twice. "Maybe if you let me finish, you’d get the answer to your damn questions!"

Sparkle looked shamefaced for a moment. "Apologies Commander. I… got ahead of myself. Please continue."

"He wiped out the golems, then he turned to the other Equestrian forces," Sam said softly. "He… he spoke. His voice was weird, it was…"

He trailed off, not sure how to describe it.

"He wasn’t shouting, he didn’t even raise his voice, but everyone and everypony could hear him," Sparkle supplied, her tone morose. "Like he was broadcasting into your head."

Sam frowned. "Yeah, kinda… but… how did you…?"

"What did he say, Commander?" Sparkle asked earnestly, and he let her interrupt him this time. "Please, this is important - more important than you know."

"He said something about… he asked them if they understood, and then he…" Sam paused, unsure what to say. "He made them run. Just by speaking."

"I see," Sparkle said quietly. She put a hoof to her forehead, closing her eyes as though she had suddenly developed a headache. "Did he say anything about a title?"

"Yes," Sam replied, frowning in bewilderment. "But you were in here, how could you…?"

"The title," Sparkle interrupted. "I need to know the title he took."

"He… he called himself the Avatar of Albion," Sam told her, now definitely sure that the pony knew more than she was telling him. At that title, Sparkle’s eyes opened again, shock filling them, as though she had still been surprised by this despite her apparent foreknowledge. "Do you know something about this?"

"I…" Sparkle said. "Yes and no."

"Which is it?" Sam demanded, scowling. "If you know something important…"

"Kill him," Sparkle interrupted. "Kill him now."

Sam’s eyes widened in surprise at the bluntness in Sparkle’s voice. The war had taken a toll on everyone and everypony, but she had never been so callous.

"Excuse me?" he said. "We brought him here, we summoned him, and now…"

"Now I know that I’ve made a mistake that will kill us all," Sparkle interrupted. "A mistake that might have doomed this entire world,Resistance, BDF, Solaminan Empire and all. Kill him, Commander. Before…"

Before she could finish, they were interrupted.

"Commander Lake, Captain Sparkle! I need you here," came the shaking voice of Small Mercy down the hall.

"What is it?" Sam called, not looking away from Sparkle, who still looked shamefaced.

"It’s hard to explain. I need you now!" The last shout’s echo lingered for a for seconds

"Come on," Sam said to Sparkle, who nodded. The two of them went out to where Small Mercy was.

When they reached her, they found her and three more Unicorns standing over the unconscious Elliot.

"What the hell?" Sam said, eyes wide. "What happened?"

"He suffered another coughing fit while he was remembering something else," she replied as quickly but as clearly as she could. "His magical burnout is getting worse."

"Can you tell me what he was talking about?" Sparkle asked. "What he was remembering?"

She hesitated before turning to the three unicorns. "Thank you, we can look after him from here."

The three unicorns nodded and left the room.

Mercy wondered over and opened one of Elliot’s eyelids. "Back to normal" she mumbled

As she approached Sam and Twilight again, she kept looking back at Elliot.

"What I say won’t leave this room, will it?" Mercy asked.

"That depends on what it is," Sparkle said. "But unless it threatens us all, no."

Sam nodded, confirming Sparkle’s words.

"It was more about who he was," Mercy went on. "He regrets who he was. He called himself a monster. I can see it. He’s hates the thought of it and…"

"What did he do?" Sparkle asked, leaning forward. "This is important, Mercy. Did he tell you what he did?"

Mercy leaned in closer as well. "He remembers slaughtering thousands of ponies. Not just soldiers, foals as well."

"What?" Sam asked, eyes wide. "No, that’s… why would…"

"Like I said, Commander," Sparkle said heavily. "Kill him now before he has a chance to do it to us."

"No!" Mercy ordered. "Why would you say that?"

"You said it yourself," Sparkle said. "He killed foals. He will do it again, Small Mercy. Of that you may be assured."

"You said that your spell found a hero to fight against Solamina. What if this is his redemption?" her soft voice had completely hardened. Then she looked away from Sparkle and back to the sleeping riddle of Elliot. "I picture him slaughtering foals and it makes my stomach churn. The way he talks about who he was, it’s like two different people." A thought. She shifted her gaze back to Sparkle. "His powers are effecting his mind is drastic ways. Is there anyway we could calm his mind?"

Sparkle sighed. "It isn’t worth the effort, Small Mercy. I know this… man. I know him better than you, better than even you, Commander Lake. I have seen the truth of him." She scowled at the unconscious Elliot. "There is nothing to redeem in this man. The moment he remembers everything, the moment he remembers what he is and what he can be… we’re dead. Better him first. Better him than everything we have spent the last eight years building falling to nothing."

"Why?" Sam said. "Why does he have to die? What makes that necessary? What do you know about him, Captain Sparkle?"

"More than you!" Sparkle snapped. "I’ve seen him before…"

She clamped her forehooves over her mouth, eyes wide, as though she had said something she didn’t mean to.

"How?" Sam asked simply, folding his arms. Sparkle lowered her hooves and glowered at him.

"Just listen to me," she said. "If you let him live, he will destroy us. If you let him remember what he is, he will destroy us."

"You didn’t see his face when he remembered," Mercy growled. "Letting him remember won’t make him a monster, he’ll remember and it will devastate him. If we let the memories flow again, it might be the only way to stop these fits." She paused. With a stone gaze, Mercy turned her attention to Sam. "I think would should delve into his mind and help him unlock his memories. Find out the whole truth."

"Can that be done?" Sam asked Sparkle.

"Yes," the purple mare replied heavily, "but I do not advise it."

"Can you do it?" Sam asked Small Mercy.

"I can and will," she replied.

"And is there any risk involved?" he asked the two mares.

"Plenty," Sparkle snorted. "You could go too deep and be trapped in his subconscious. You could be lobotomised by whatever defences he has, or rendered brain dead by magical feedback. You could unleash him - bad idea, by the way. There's any number of ways this could go wrong. And that's without considering that doing it at all is a very, very bad idea." She scowled. "I won't stop saying that we should kill him."

"I'd still like to know why," Sam muttered, narrowing his eyes at her. "I could order you to tell me."

"And I wouldn't listen," she replied with an even glare. "My reasons are complicated and I suspect, ironically enough, that only he would understand."

Sam scowled and rubbed his face with his hand, ignoring the scratching of the armour on his face.

"Mercy," he said quietly. "Make your preparations."

"Of course," a smile returned to Mercy’s face and she was off for supplies as fast as she could.

Sam turned to Sparkle as Mercy ran off. "Whatever your issue is, I want it resolved."

"You can always count on my professionalism, sir," Sparkle said stiffly. "May I take it you will not be following my recommendation?"

"You may indeed," Sam said with a scowl. "I will not kill my friend."

"I understand," Sparkle said quietly. "In that case, I'll monitor you from out here. I'd rather not venture into... that mind."

"I see," Sam said quietly. "Well, I guess we'll find out what's in there without you, Captain."

With that, he too stalked off to prepare something. Sparkle sighed.

"I only hope you don't regret what you find," she said quietly.

***

Author's Notes:

Ah, the actual Chapter Five. I am so happy. Especial thanks to The Void (Matt) for his sterling work helping me on this Chapter.