MickeyAdaptus

Jack smiled. "Thank you, now I can get to work," Jack said, he enveloped his left hand in magic, and then suddenly did something rather bizarre. He grabbed the heated part with his hand, a burning sound was coming when he was gripping the hot metal. He used 3 fingers from his left hand to then put a good amount of pressure on the hot metal, including the force from the magic, which caused some of the metal got small dents in it from the left side. Jack let his left hand go and then smashed the dented side of the knife straight on a very hard rock. While the rock got a small crack in it, the knife itself now had 3 very sharp points on the left side of the metal, which almost made it look like a tiny saw with a very sharp edge on top. "Man, that actually did hurt, but the end result is what matters." Jack said as he was blowing at his hand from the very hot touch that it had exposed.

"I was thinking, do you still want that grow thing that I had been talking about earlier? I am not sure when i can gather the supplies that i need in order for you to help your wings grow faster." Jack asked him. Jack suddenly got an idea, he drew his knife out of the sudden. "Festus, could you heat up my knife with your fire breath?" Jack asked him, wich sounded a bit weird for asking that so out of the sudden.

"You got that one right!" Jack said with a laugh to Embers joke. He then sat down for a moment. "You are right Festus, at first I thought there was no longer any need since for your wings were already capable of flight by the time but it went past my knowing that it would benefit if your wings would grow faster from that process regardless. I guess I should learn more about a dragon's body structure in general, at first I could only speculate it from Vernomian body structures." Jack admitted. "Just tell us when you are rested up enough and we can continue our travel." Jack as he was inspecting his roasted scorpion.

"That depends, it perhaps would if we would want to escape another one's of Celestia's cake rampages, entire shops boozed clean." Jack joked in which he couldn't hold his laughter. After a few seconds of just laughing like crazy, he calmed down a bit. "I don't think it should be more then 30 minutes travelling by now if you want to rest for a moment, i don't have a problem with it," Jack said, his face is a bit red from all that laughing.

"I can imagine, I remember when we had to walk our way through this desert and suffice to say it was not that great..." Jack said, "But if I were to get stuck in the desert for some reason, I would be capable of surviving about 8 weeks without food or water, but that is excluding all the sickness, diseases and just overall being." Jack said. He looked a bit around until he saw some sort of tiny scorpion crawling trough the dunes, this however din't seem to be infected or from an actual strain. Jack wasted no time and blasted the animal with his magic, and then picked up the roasted and burned scorpion by its tail. "Atleast there is some food source in the desert, even if its not that good." Jack said with a laugh.

"I did tell her the location, but she didn't seem to recognize the name, although she should be able to sense my life energy with her powers, that she should be able to find us. But just in case to keep her update." Jack said to Ember. 'Evelyn, giving you a heads up, apparently Ember is already carrying me towards our destination, she seemed very hyped, my question is, do you still want to come? If you are then you should be able to follow my life energy, just like I can feel yours, then you should be able to find us.' Jack thought to her. "Festus is having a little bit of trouble with keeping up with us." Jack noted.

"That is alright with me Festus, Friends always help each other after all." Jack said with a smile to him. He couldn't help but smile at Embers enthusiasm. "You will see something really good, he won't fail in meeting up your expectations, that I can assure you! We do have to wait for Evelyn to meet up with us, she should be here any moment." Jack said with as smile. He looked up at the sky, hoping to spot her.

"Well, you are right when it comes to the instincts Ember, our instincts would be similar to dragons when it comes to the feral instincts, but there is something even deeper about it. Not only would I have to learn and tap into that state, I would have to manipulate my brain and regain but a very small portion of control from myself in that very state, so I could technically still maintain my real self but still have those benefits of this state." Jack said with a smile. "Suffice to say, it is very dangerous, but without taking such risk I will never reach my full potential, getting strong is one thing, but being able to overcome the limits of my own body will make it even better in the end." Jack noted. "In fact... My mentor could show you guess an example of how it looks like once we arrive there, he was the one who suggested me to learn this in the first place."

"Magic is pretty strong and all... But I have decided to take it a step further." Jack as he drew knife and inspected the metal. "If there is one that I have been taught, it is that I could turn from a novice into a killing machine if I can tap into full instincts and let them control me, it is one heck of an advantage since then anticipating my enemy's movements happens almost subconsciously that state. I guess that is an advantage that all Raukan, Terrans and Eldritch seem to possess that trait by default, but then I guess the question is how stable for someone it is, not everyone can learn to control it, but would rather lose control and let their instincts become the dominant part of the body for a period of time." Jack explained. "This knife and my body is all i will need for this." Jack said with confidence as he was waiting for Evelyn for to arrive.

Jack couldn't help but smile at Festus his enthusiasm. "We will have to head out of the city and to someplace further away in the desert called Grimnar's edge, should be a big ghost town, which we will have plenty of work for our training," Jack noted. 'Evelyn, we are heading towards a place called Grimnar's edge, it is a big ghost town a bit further into the desert, could you take me there? The others will be following us right behind.' Jack thought to her.

'I am thinking about both, give me one moment to talk it through with them.' Jack thought to Evelyn. "You are right Festus, we still need to try that thing out, how about you and Ember join me? By intensive training, i mean the type of training i always used to when i was younger, go into a part of No man's land, use the infected as target practice, the thrill of battle helps me train faster then usual practice training, we only have a few hours, and normal training won't cut it for me." Jack asked him.

5 hours later... The citizen of Ponyville was busy evacuating, while the others had arrived at Canterlot. The evacuation well, so far atleast, as massive groups of ponies where walking through the dense terrain while others were taking the train, it was a long journey for both, because for those on the train it did not seem so safe as it seemed... For the ponies on the train, hell broke loose when suddenly a few things slammed straight through the interior from one of the train cabins. It were Ork Stormboyz... One of the stormboyz who had crashed into the train cabin looked around, the ponies around him screaming in terror with looking at the scary ork. "Hey! dis mov'n trukk iz not full uv loot, but dose kolourful grass eaters!" The ork called out to his fellow Stormboyz. "Lets get ta stomp'n' Boyz!" One of the other orks shouted back. And for the poor civilians, it was a cruel fate, they had no way of escaping as the door cabins had been locked during the train ride for safety purposes, only this proved the very death trap for those civilians, being trapped in a cabin with a bunch of orks. The ork WAAAAAGH warcry rang out throughout the area, followed by the screaming of atleast 20 to 30 ponies, one by one they were killed, screams echoing all across the train cabin. It din't make it any better that the Royal guard ponies happened to be stationed in a separate train cabin, as they would have never expected their enemies to literly crash trough the train walls.

Jack was silent for a moment. "Alright, I am not leaving you guys, but I would like to make one thing clear when I do go in combat, I don't want any complaints or excuses when I choose the people I prefer to work together with and the ones who I don't work as well with, Ember is right because I let these problems go on for long enough." Jack said. "I am made for fighting and I should no longer let that factor be undermined. Now I am going to do some training, intensive training. I will see you all in 5 hours when we will gather for the attack at the City gates." Jack said. "I won't leave you Luna, but i do feel betrayed with the entire revelation, i really hope you will leave up to your word." Jack said to Luna, now with a bit more sadness. He did not know whether to feel sad, happy, angry, or scared about this entire situation, he had mixed feelings, but the only thing he could show was seriousness and straightforward emotion, it was how he could only feel now. 'Evelyn, are you there? I need you to take me somewhere.' He thought to her.

Jack said nothing for a few moments until he then responded. "You finally told the thing that I have been wanting to hear for 5 months Maple... I respect you for that, I really do." Jack said, not looking at her. "But I don't have a reason to lash out at you, I now know the truth. For all this time I thought there was a hope, that there would be at least one planet where it at least care for others, to see the light and do what is right, but I realise that Equestria doesn't care for the outside races, but does so that it will remain standing in the end while everyone else perished.. You don't know how much it hurts to feel so betrayed, for months I tought all of you actually cared at first, but my suspicions were getting truer as the time went on..." "Do you know what is the worst part Maple? Many of us are still fighting to this very day, instead of all trying to flee and hide among the further sectors, we instead decided to remain ad stand our ground, buying time at the same time so many other races could evacuate while we had to pay the price because others did not care for us. And now it is this all over again." Jack said, he was talking a rather cold but calm tone at the same time, which gave a disturbing edge to it. He then looked at Maple, his face revealing a mixture of sorrow and a scowl. "How can I live among those who will happily leave my own race to rot and die like that? I can't, you want to know why I sometimes discard my death as nothing? Because then I will meet those who at least do care, those who I truly felt at home with, i would be with them again... That is what means to be one of us, many may look down upon us... but if there is one thing we take in stride, it is that we will all die with our honour intact." He then suddenly stood up. "I am leaving, i am going to handle things my own way from now on, like i have always done, atleast my mentor was the one who spurred me on to fight on, the very person that some of you accused, i won't forget those accusations, because i am the only friend he has got." Jack said, giving Maple one final glance, before walking away.

Jack looked at the ground still. "Perhaps I went too far there.. But what they said.. I told them things, they keep telling about their things, their memories, their loved ones, i even MOURNED for them. But what do i get in return? I tell them about my things, my past, the ones i loved, but how do they respond? They give me these empty stares and try to avoid the subject altogether, like I am not word it, like anything i tell about it is not even relevant, where is their morality? Are they devoid of it? Countless out there are dying, yet they have not yet shed a single tear for anyone who is not part of our current group, what if one of my friends were to die? They would not care, they wouldn't even mourn, that is the problem, how can they be so cold? That is one thing i will never understand." Jack said with a mix of anger and sadness. "Even some of the coldest killers in my race are capable of mourning, feeling sadness, and they are alot more brutal than these ponies, so why... Or is everyone going to avoid this subject altogether as well? Because I have the feeling that will the case when no one dares to admit it.." "Next time when my sister ends up dying, they will be acting again like it is not even bad in the slighest, like they always do... Unless it is someone among us that is dead... I wan't an answer for this.. If they won't answer it... I will never speak to them again, i swear it upon my life, because i CARE about the living." Jack said But to Evelyn's question, he did not move, but he was still throbbing with anger, not as much as before, but it was still there....

"I wish it where so easy for me Festus, I have already tried to tell them things countless of times, the only way I sometimes can get a proper point across is that I have to explode in their faces with anger before they stop questioning me, but even then they question the legitimacy like I am some sort of convict... But you want to know the even worse part? They don't admire or even care for anything that isn't their own culture or origin, you would not even hear anyone of them say things like, *We could learn something from them!* or *Please teach us something!*." "I admire their culture and devotion to a great length, but do you know how they respond when I tell them about my culture? They look at me like I am sort of crazy person, those very reactions make it clear that they think insignificant to anyone who isn't from Equestria, they might deny it, because they don't want to be confronted with the fact that they are not so *friendship* dedicated as they make out to be, I am pretty sure that friendship involves not looking down upon the other person, but they sure are doing a bad job considering from their reactions.." Jack said, his emotion reaching a similar state to how Festus was a few minutes ago. "I even heard Luna whine about how they the pony race is being underestimated and considered not strong enough, well..." Jack said His anger started to rise even further. "MABY THEY WOULDN'T BE UNDERESTIMATED IF THEY EVEN BOTHERED TO SHOW US ANY ADMIRATION BACK, INSTEAD OF TRYING TO JUSTIFY EVERY MISTAKE THEY MAKE, DO THEY THINK THEY ARE SOME SORT OF MASTER RACE?! WE ADMITTED OUR MISTAKES AND PAID THE PRICE, YET THEY DARE TO DISAPPROVE OF THE THINGS WE DO, WHILE THEY LET THEIR OWN PEOPLE DIE BECAUSE THEY THINK THEIR OWN SOLUTIONS ARE SUPERIOR WHILE ALL THE OTHER SOLUTIONS THEY DON'T LIKE ARE TABOO!!" Jack roared with an immense build up anger, Festus knew he was referring to the ponies, but it was also obvious that Jack was venting out his anger, something that has been bothering him for very long. "I have tried everything to help them, warn them, make sure they would live on, and yet... They presume I would want to live among them while they don't even care about all the lives that are being destroyed while they still have a proper world. I mourn their deaths, and yet these ponies don't even seem to care about the billions of lives that are being murdered from not only my race but every other race out there, if they did care, they would show grief, they would show sadness, but NO! They are like *Just let them die, we don't even know them*. And of course telling them this would be useless since they would once again try to defend themselves. As long as it doesn't include them, they have the AUDACITY to look down at others and judge them!!" Jack roared as he slammed both his fist straight into the stone pavement, it caused a small crack, but it caused his hands to bleed terribly. He sat there on the ground looking down, tears dropping on the ground.

"There is no one more reasonable then Ember when it comes to this Festus, From what I know she encourages people to get stronger, isn't that how she encouraged you to get stronger? Anyway, I always seem to be comfortable around you and Ember in general, especially in the battlefield, you remember that time when we were trying to escape that slave center? The 3 of us were working together perfectly." Jack said with a smile. "But you are right with the *everyone doesn't want me to see in combat* part, I think it has to do because of my overall status, it all has to do with my father and my bloodline, something that i personally just don't like in general, some may absolutely love all the attention, but for me it only serves as a liability, since lots of individuals want to capture me, and either hold me for ransom or use my powers as a tool for progression." He said. "Come think of it... I haven't heard anything about my old mother, I know for a fact she would not waste any more time in Equestria since I was the only real reason she came there in the first place, i do remember tough how Ember managed to hold her own against one of the most experienced and deadly assassin's to ever exist. If we compare our entire group, Ember is the only one who seems to be capable of defeating her, Ember just seems to have a special sense against these type of opponents, and then for the fact that those with 4 legs just aren't capable of producing enough flexibility when it comes to the attack phase that my mother uses, it's just to darn fast. Or at least i think, i mean, with 4 legs you would have to constantly change your rotation of your body against such a fast and dodging opponent, what i always like think is that quadruples have a more stable stance but Bipeds have a better flexibility, when you start take to take these things into account when working in a varied team, you can take advantage of one's body build in order to get an good advantage againts your opponent, i think that is pretty overlooked by many if i have to admit, but then again... I am looking way to deep into this.." Jack said to Festus as they where walking.

Jack recoiled a bit back, but it was not because of fear, it was because of admiration. He waited a bit until he had calmed down "You speak the very truth here Festus, It is something I have been wanting to tell everyone for a long time, but I could never find the words." Jack said. "Even with their entire discussion going, I am still going to save my sister, I need to get stronger, stronger then I was ever before." "Shall we perhaps meet up with Ember? I was hoping we could still train some more, we still got plenty of time left before we end up going." Jack asked.

'HAH! This one gets it!' The voice said, referring to Festus. 'And then Luna's claim about the daemon realm, that is one is going to bite her back hard soon, very very hard. But she is partly right, you are not the same anymore, you are starting to become one of us, even Karthspire cannot help but smile behind that poker face of him. This a good step Jack, This is the first step to uncovering who you really are.' The voice said. Jack was not saying anything back to Luna and Maple, he was only giving them a short stare that clearly said *You disappointed me* He let Festus drag him along, he was glad he was there for him, Festus was someone that had always believed him.

Jack smile faltered as he saw the tensity in the room, but he did not exactly know why they where so tense, even the questions of Evelyn and Maple did not really give it away for him. "Well, I have to go, if I don't then I will never find out, and when she goes... I want to be there, because if i don't want kind of brother would i be? If i can be a better brother then i was before everything happened, then i must take that chance." Jack said. "Besides, I will have to go to Cyril eventually, that is going to be alot more dangerous than this, alot." Jack added, trying to be reassuring, but didn't really did a good job there.

"Actually, we could try it now if you want, it sounds pretty cool! Tough I first have to great them, they must be worried sick about me." Jack said to Festus. He stood up and walked to the others who were in the discussion. "Hey everyone, what is up?" Jack asked with a smile to everyone.