Luna’s Story 4: Traitor Among Us

Part 6: Two Bloody Re-Births

A pair of double doors slammed open as a rolling hospital bed was rushed down a hall. Two doctors, a trio of nurses, and a smattering of Lunar Stallions followed it. “In here, in here now!” One doctor said. “Clear surgery room seven, we have to operate right now!”

Panzer Hoof lay on the moving bed, pale as a sheet, losing blood rapidly. One side the mattress was already dark red. His armor was bent in odd directions, and great shards of metal were pressed into his flesh. The horrific stub that used to be one of his legs had been wrapped and wrapped to try and slow the bleeding but it was doing little good. One did not lose a limb and live for very long. He whimpered, tears going down either side of his face. Pain had long stolen his voice, for the ripping screams had torn his throat raw. His eyes began to roll into his head. “Stay awake! Panzer, stay awake!” Glitter Star shouted at him, cuffing his nose. The stallion snuffle-snorted, moaning and squirming on the bed as it came to a stop. “Say the oath! Say the oath with me!” she bade him. “In the dark we tear and rend!”

“T-tear… ruh…. Rurgle…” he said incoherently. “Tear an’… an’ rend…” he was shaking like a leaf while doctors rushed back and forth.

The hospital team rushed wicked-looking metallic tools back and forth. They started to strap him down, they didn’t have time to put him under. The soldier grunted when a local anesthetic poked his arm. The needle bent, unable to pierce his skin. The nurse lifted the syringe, looking at it in horror.

“To end all evils with spines to bend!” Glitter Star said loudly while medical ponies rushed back and forth. “Say the words, Panzer! Say them!” she said, swatting his face a few times. “Don’t you die on me! I won’t let you!”

“Spuh… spines and… and…and-and-and…” he sputtered while they tightened him down. The powerful stallion was weak, but still nearly indestructible. A doctor rushed a pair of pliers into his shoulder, trying to pry out a piece of shrapnel. When it was removed he tossed it into a tray with a sickening clank. Blood kept pouring from his gaping wound, going everywhere. “Buh… bend and… and spines and…” the warrior whimpered deliriously, his head turning back and forth. “L-let me die! Luhh! AUUGH!” he shrieked when more shrapnel came away. Another nurse had tears in her eyes when she finally sliced him open to get a blood bag started.

“It’s melded to his body, the muscles are like stone!” One surgeon said, panicking when his scalpel snapped right in two. Panzer’s body was too tough, too powerful. Their regular tools just could not do their jobs. “What’re we supposed to do?!” he asked the other surgeon.

“Everything we can.” The doctor hooked what looked rather horrifically like a dentist’s drill into the wall, and went right for the straps of the armor that was hurting him. It spat sparks in all directions, and he tried to pry it all loose so they could get to the injury more easily. Turning suddenly, he worked another piece of shrapnel out of his body. Bits of gold fell from the cavernous wound of the dying pony. “What is that?!” he said, snatching it up. “What hit him, this isn’t—?!”

Panzer’s head began to tilt back as he wept. “Lust and power!” Glitter Star gripped his good shoulder, leaning over his face and holding his eyes with her own. Tears were going down her cheeks. “You stay with me, Panzer, stay with me!” she said hoarsely. He screamed in her face as a fresh fountain of blood came with another sliver of golden metal. They dropped it in a pan with the other bits. “He’s dying!” she yelled at the surgeons. “Work faster!”

“Lust and… puhrrhgle…” Panzer began to foam at the mouth, and his eyes rolled into his head. The heart monitor began to sputter and beep wildly. “Pow-wurgle…” Surgeons were getting blood all over themselves, rerouting and stitching as quickly as they could. Healing magick was flying back and forth, but it wasn’t enough. The injury was too grave. The ancestors within his armor cried and wailed, covering their heads as their handsome warrior’s body began to shut down. The armor could only do so much, they could not save him without draining his life energy completely dry—a moot exchange! Why was there solar steel lodged in his body?! They couldn’t work with that!

Princess Luna and Twilight Sparkle burst into the room. Twilight wrenched her pointed hat off of her head, snapping the bell off with her hoof. Luna grabbed it in midair, knocking a surgeon aside and crushing it in her hoof. The bauble inside was pressed to the bell’s walls, and it would never ring again. What was she doing?! The alicorn grabbed Panzer’s jaw, forcing his mouth open and jamming the bell inside. “Ancestors I speak to thee!” her horn ignited, blinding everypony present. Glitter Star shrieked, recoiling from the awesome power. “Take this mana battery in place of food! Save him!” She pressed his mouth closed and stroked his throat rapidly along his Adam’s apple. Panzer swallowed.

The ancestors perked their ears. Something had just been jammed into the stomach! Could they work with that? Could they?! They rushed forward to see. In the space between spaces, the group of ghostly stallions peered at the tiny metallic morsal that had been forced down Panzer’s throat. They poked at it. That was not food! What was wrong with--?! Suddenly the crushed metal object melted into a warm, syrupy silver glitter. It dispersed all around them. They recoiled in shock, jittering and rushing back like a panicked group of wild ponies. What was this magic?!

“C’mon… c’mon!” Twilight Sparkle pleaded, pawing through the blinding light as Luna begged the ancestors. “It has to work! I’ve poured so much magic into that, just for emergencies! It has to work!”

“Save him!” Luna commanded, her eyes turning milky white as she saturated Panzer Hoof with her own lunar magic. “I command thee and all thy descendants! Save him!”

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Beep! Beep!

Beep!

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee------

"PANZER-RRRRR!

=-----=-----=-----=-----=

The waiting room of the hospital was filled with Lunar Stallions. They felt like they’d been there for months. Word had travelled fast that Panzer, the immoveable object and indestructible stallion, had been utterly destroyed by an unknown enemy. They murmured quietly amongst themselves. Glitter Star was in a corner, surrounded by her big brothers as she wept. They’d pressed in all around her, their mere presence like a rock to hold herself against. Luna sat regally on a sitting pillow, a hat-less Twilight Sparkle next to her. Aegis Shield and Stalwart Hide were the last to arrive, and everypony in the Lunar Corps was accounted for. Even Pip was there, looking very upset.

“We could not heal him.” Luna whispered as Aegis Shield sat next to her. She leaned and set her chin against his shoulder, sighing quietly. “Twilight Sparkle and I both gave all the magic we could, but the armor can only heal so much so quickly.”

“What happened to Panzer?” Aegis Shield asked softly. “Is he…?”

“He was struck by a weapon made of Solar Steel.” Luna held up a tiny shard of yellow metal. The Lunar Stallions that were near enough wrinkled their muzzles in revulsion. Something about the tiny splinter of metal unsettled them. The ancestors didn’t like it either. Ancient memories of yellow weapons going through armor like cheese haunted them. “Solar Steel goes through Lunar Steel like a hot knife through butter, and visa versa.” She said softly, hanging her head. “I do not know how his attacker got his hooves on such a weapon, but there is no mistaking it. I cannot even grasp it with my magic.” She turned her hoof flat, lighting her horn. Her aura slipped and slid over the shard of solar steel, but it refused to hover into the air.

Aegis Shield took it so he could see. He held it up to the light, but the shine seemed to wiggle and move like fire. There were loud complaints in the back of his head. The ancestors did NOT like it and he needed to put that down RIGHT NOW. He gave it quickly back to Luna, and fought down a shiver. Something about it was wrong. It was too dense, too heavy for something so small. Too perfect to be a normal bit of metal. Godly. “What was it? A sword?” he asked, perking his ears.

“It was an arrow. An arrow from a rooftop.” said Glitter Star miserably, tears going down her cheeks. Two of her big brothers embraced her, and she shamefully hid her head under a wing. Hospital blankets had found their way to her, so it looked like a Lunar Mare nest now. She whimpered, shaking like a leaf.

“What’s happened to Panzer then?” Aegis pressed again. “Is he… dead?”

“Neigh.” Luna whispered. Aegis’ ears perked. “Not quite.”

“Not quite?” Aegis said, frowning. He settled again next to Luna, his brow rising into a hieroglyph of confusion. “I didn’t see this happen, but if it blew his arm off…” he lowered his voice to a whisper. “I mean, won’t he…?”

“Yes.” Luna nodded solemnly. “Crippled. His body is laced with shards of Solar Steel. The arrow exploded when it hit him, sending bits throughout his body. His armor cannot grasp them to remove them, so… they’re stuck there. Not even the best surgeries could remove so many tiny bits.” The Princess sighed, hanging her head sadly.

“So he’ll have all that inside him for the rest of his life?” Aegis whispered. Luna nodded again. He put a comforting arm around her, looking at the floor. “But what about his career? He can’t be a soldier anymore, or anything like that…” the captain wondered.

Clip. Clip-a-clank.

Clip. Clip-a-clank.

Clip. Clip-a-clank.

Clip. Clip-a-clank.

Ears all around the room perked. They turned their heads towards the doorway that lead deeper into the hospital. They furrowed their brows. Everypony stood, even Luna and Glitter Star. The sound was drawing closer. No way. Not even Panzer Hoof was so strong. He’d been blown wide open by that Solar Steel arr— the door was eased open by a nurse, and a haggard-looking Panzer Hoof stood in the doorway. There was quiet. How in all the names of Tarturus was he standing?! One Lunar Stallion leaned forward and sniffed a little, as though to make sure it was really him. Their eyes drifted down his front. Engrafted open his left shoulder was a broad, heavy-looking metallic arm. “The ancestors preserve me…” Luna whispered.

“It just… grew there.” The nurse said helplessly. “I don’t know what to tell you, but he refused to sit still and we can’t exactly give him any sleeping injections.” She showed them a bent syringe. There was scattered chuckling, but only a little.

The phantom limb was bizarre, misshapen, and slick with its newness. Why had the armor not regrown a normal leg? It was a mystery. It seemed to sweat with a stinking sort of afterbirth, which dripped generously on the floor. It matched nicely with his armor, and fitted itself down into a black-outlined hoof. Panzer eyed the room a bit, looking both exhausted and very nearly dead. “M’here.” He husked. They stared at him, a countless number of pale faces. They didn't believe it. They couldn't believe it. “M’not dead yet.” He said, as though to reassure them. His head swerved slowly back and forth, as though to survey the room. “...Hungry.” He told them as his stomach suddenly rumbled.

“Panzer!” Glitter Star knocked down no less than eight of her brothers to get to him, throwing her arms around him in a powerful hug. He grunted loudly, favoring his injured side. She loosened her embrace quickly, for he couldn’t reach and hug her back yet. He wasn’t used to the fake limb. He wouldn’t be for a long time.

Panzer Hoof looked at Princess Luna as she approached. He tried to bow, but she stopped him. Glitter Star moved and pressed against his good side, helping him stand. “Princess.” He nodded slowly. “I didn’t get a good look at him, I’m sorry. I was too busy being… eh… disarmed.” He said lamely. There was painful wincing in the Lunar herd. That joke was so bitter and wrong it physically hurt. He sidled forward a little. Clip. Clip-a-clank. “This is gonna take some gettin’ used to. Can I have a few days off?” he asked, his deep bronze bell voice groaning a bit. Glitter leaned into him harder, concern written on her features.

“Thou may have many days off.” Luna said softly, leaning forward and wrapping him in a tender hug. Her massive wings opened, then wrapped around his large frame. He trembled. The rest of the herd pressed in around them. A long, tender moment was shared. They were just glad that he was alive.

“They told me my armor kept me alive till I got here… and somepony named Twilight Sparkle showed up with a mana battery?” they eased Panzer into a chair while he spoke. A few heads turned towards the purple mare, and she nodded embarrassedly. “Thank you.” He said, nodding gratefully.

“I had that bell on my hat for emergencies.” Twilight said. “It was a big storage of magic, in case I should ever need it for something life-or-death like this. I’m glad I knew enough about Lunar Stallion armor to know it would help. I never really told anypony about it. They either sensed it or they didn’t.” the purple mare blushed when several Lunar Stallions wanted to nuzzle her gratefully.

“Easy boys.” Stalwart Hide shoved them away a little roughly. “Don’t crowd like that.” Twilight giggled a little, nodding.

“It seems we’ve a larger problem on our hooves once more, my stallions.” Luna said, coming to sit next to Panzer. “I believe the pony that did this may have also been the one that dug up the Moon Champion’s grave.” She revealed. There was murmuring and scowling all around. Somepony was terrorizing them in particular. They didn’t like it. They didn’t like it at all. They bared their piranha-like teeth, growling and turning back and forth. The ripple of anger reverberated back and forth, until Twilight Sparkle pressed against Stalwart Hide a little. He soothed her with a look, and cleared his throat to calm the herd a bit.

=-----=-----=-----=-----=

Test Theory leaned over his… friend. The incantations were done. It was interesting to finally see the face of the shadowy stallion that had been aiding him lately. He was a handsome thing, sure, but… pretty unremarkable in the end. He’d been trusting enough to be put under by a sleeping spell, too, just to let the good mad scientist work in peace. Ballsy indeed. But! It was nice to have a willing test subject who had goals and needs that aligned with his own. Working in a straw pile in a prison cell was not the most ideal of working conditions, but it would have to do.

Pushing his sweaty mane out of his eyes, Test Theory nodded. “It’s all done. Now, you’re sure this is the activation sentence you want? It’s awfully long.” He said, cocking his head. Zafrican spells could be set to any sort of key words the user desired with enough fine-tuning, but this long passage was just a little bit silly.

Groaning, the armored pony slowly rose. He touched himself and felt his face. He smiled wickedly. “Yes. Perfect.” He said shortly, stroking his mane a few times. “A little more girth than I’m used to, but perfectly fine.” Rising with a moan of effort, he labored over to the wall and leaned against it. Complete bodily reconstruction was not easy work, for the surgeon or the patient. “You’re sure it all works and it will do as you say?”

“Yes. Merely speak the words and your face and form will change into… that.” Test Theory eyed him a little nervously. Sure, he was proud of his creation, but it didn’t make it any less unsettling. He liked to play god, sure, but to make something so stark and against the laws or nature— it made him a little giddy and a little frightened at the same time. “To change back, you need merely loosen your concentration. Like relaxing a muscle.”

The stallion yowled a little, like a great cat, stretching all his new muscles and body parts. He rubbed his side on a rough spot of the wall to see to a personal itch that had been hounding him. Purring a little, he cocked his head. “Well then, this is the end of our little exchange then, I suppose. Thank you, Test Theory.” He smiled a little weakly, unused to his new form.

“Finally, too!” Test chuckled, turning and rooting around in his straw bed for his things. Notepad, pencil, bits of food, a little money— his friend had been very generous with all his gifts. Wiggling his rump as he got it all into a little cloth bag, he pulled a piece of paper from his notebook. Drawing a complex series of runes on it, he slapped it on the wall. It began to glow a deep, sickly red. “Well, I suppose I’m off then! Time to lay low for a bit. Make myself a new face, and such! I got a lot of research done here, working with you.” He smiled happily. “Right under the Royal Guard’s noses, too! Hah! I should hug you!” he turned to do so while his teleport rune spell was firing up. “Thank—!” he suddenly got a knife in his ribs. He flinched, eyes wide. Looked down. “Wh… what…” his whole body shuddered. The knife was bright yellow, and shimmered like fire in the poor light. Solar steel. A solar steel knife.How...?

“Thank you, but I’m not a very huggy pony.” smiled the abomination with all of its jagged teeth. “I was going to use this knife on Princess Luna, but I think you deserve the first honor.” He gave it a savage twist. The scientist yelped shortly, blood starting to seep from his mouth.

“Nuh… no…” Test whimpered, tears forming in his eyes. His knees shivered, then began to buckle. “Nuhh-ooo…” Test Theory gagged blood onto his friend’s chest.

The stallion leaned into him tenderly, easing the quietly convulsing madpony to the straw bed. “Sh-sh-sh-shhh…” he soothed, pulling the knife gently from his chest. “Everything will be okay. Just sleep. Sleeeeeep…” he watched the shuddering turn into coughing, and Test clutched at his wound. Whimpering pathetically, the runemaster pawed at his murderer, pleading with his eyes. His throat was too full of blood now, his… his organs were… He knew a lot about pony anatomy, and he knew exactly what the knife had hit and what it hadn’t. “Good boy. Shhhh...” Whispered the stallion with a slow smile.

When he was sure that Test Theory was dead, he went to the door. He paused. There was a lot of evidence in this room. Smirking darkly, he gathered everything up onto the straw bed, the body included. With some effort, he set fire to it. It would be a while before the stench of smoke and cooking flesh reached the upper halls, outside the dungeon. By then, the monster was long gone.

End of Part 6